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ARTES
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SCIENTIA
VERITAS
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SEMURIOUS
UNUM
TUEBOR
· QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM AMŒNAM.
CIRCUMSPICE
1
388
H8od
tr33
1796
THE
ODYSSEY
R
OF
HOME R.
TRANSLATED BY
ALEXANDER POPE, Esq.
...
1
Ḥomarus
THE
ODYSSEY
OF
HOME R.
TRANSLATED EY
ALEXANDER POPE, Esq.
A NEW EDITION,
WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES, CRITICAL AND ILLUSTRATIVE,
BY GILBERT WAKEFIELD, B. A.
VOLUME I.
}
LONDON:
Printed by Bye and Law :
FOR T. LONGMAN, B. LAW, J. JOHNSON, C. DILLY, G. G. AND J. ROBINSON,
W. OTRIDGE AND SON, J. NICHOLS, R. BALDWIN, G. NICOL, F. AND C.
RIVINGTON, LEIGH AND SOTHEBY, T. PAYNE, J. WALKER, J. CLARKE
AND SON, R. FAULDER, HOOKHAM AND CARPENTER, J. SCATCHERD, B.
AND J. WHITE, J. EDWARDS, CADELL AND DAVIES, C. AND G. KEARSLEY,
AND M. POTE.
MDCCXCVI.
}
17-32 dr
English
Zolloway
111-15-307
26962
EX
A
GENERAL VIEW
OF THE
EPICK POEM,
1
AND OF THE
ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
Extracted from BOSSU [A]
THE
SECT. I.
HE Fables of Poets were originally em-
ployed in repreſenting the Divine Nature,
according to the notion then conceived of it.
This fublime fubject occafioned the firſt Poets
VOL. I.
[A] Of the Nature of Epick Poetry.
2
ii
A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
to be called Divines [B], and Poetry the lan-
guage of the Gods. They divided the divine
attributes into ſo many perfons; becauſe the
infirmity of a human mind cannot fufficiently
conceive, or explain, ſo much power and action
in a fimplicity fo great and indiviſible as that of
God. And perhaps they were alſo jealous of
the advantages they reaped from fuch excellent
and exalted learning, and of which they thought.
the vulgar part of mankind was not worthy.
They could not deſcribe the operations of
this almighty cauſe, without fpeaking at the
fame time of its effects: fo that to Divinity
they added Phyfiology, and treated of both,
without quitting the umbrages of their allego-
rical expreffions.
But Man being the chief and moſt noble of
all that God produced, and nothing being fo
proper, or more ufeful to Poets than this fub-
ject; they added it to the former, and treated
of the doctrine of Morality after the fame man-
ner as they did that of Divinity and Philoſophy:
and from Morality thus treated, is formed that
kind of Poem and Fable which we call Epick.
[B] As, for example, in Odyffey, A. 336. Delor aoidor, the divine
bard. But the name rather arofe, I prefume, from their office, as
teachers of religion and morality, commiffioned and inſpired by
the Gods; as their reprefentatives and meffengers to mankind.
EDITOR.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
iif
The Poets did the fame in Morality, that the
Divines had done in Divinity. But that infinite
variety of the actions and operations of the
Divine Nature, (to which our underſtanding
bears fo fmall a proportion) did as it were force
them upon dividing the fingle idea of the only
one God into feveral perfons, under the different
names of Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, and the reſt.
And on the other hand, the nature of Moral
Philofophy being fuch, as never to treat of
things in particular, but in general; the Epick
Poets were obliged to unite in one fingle idea,
in one and the fame perfon, and in an action
which appeared fingular, all that looked like it
in different perfons, and in various actions;
which might be thus contained as fo many
Species under their Genus.
The prefence of the Deity, and the care fuch
an auguſt cauſe is to be fuppofed to take about
any action, obliges the Poet to repreſent this
action as great, important, and managed by
[c] kings and princes. It obliges him likewife
to think and ſpeak in an elevated way above
the vulgar, and in a ſtyle that may in ſome fort
keep up the character of the divine perfons he
[c] Res geftæ regumque ducumque. Hor. Art. Poet.
a 2
iv A VIEW OF THE ÉPICK POEM,
introduces. [D] To this end ferve the poetical
and figurative expreffion, and the majefty of the
Heroick Verſe.
But all this, being divine and furpriſing, may
quite ruin all probability: therefore the Poet
ſhould take a peculiar care as to that point, fince
his chief aim is to inftruct, and without proba-
bility any action is lefs likely to perſuade.
Laftly, fince precepts ought to be [E] concife,
to be the more eaſily conceived, and lefs oppreſs
the memory; and fince nothing can be more
effectual to this end than propofing one fingle
idea, and collecting all things fo well together,
as to be preſent to our minds all at once; there-
fore the Poets have reduced all to one [F] fingle
action, under one and the fame defign, and in
a body whofe members and parts fhould be
homogeneous.
What we have obferved of the nature of the
Epick Poem, gives us a juft idea of it, and we
may define it thus:
66
"The Epick Poem is a difcourſe invented
by art, to form the manners, by fuch inftruc-
❝tions as are diſguiſed under the allegories of
[D]
Cui mens divinior atque os
Magna fonaturum, des nominis hujus honorem.
[] Quicquid præcipies efto brevis, ut citò dicta
E
Percipiant animi dociles, teneantque fideles.
Horat.
Hor. Poet.
[F] Denique fit quodvis fimplex duntaxat, & unum. Her. Post.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
"fome one important action, which is related
"in verſe, after a probable, diverting and
furpriſing manner."
66
SECT. II[G].
IN every deſign which a man deliberately
undertakes, the end he propoſes is the firſt thing
in his mind, and that by which he governs the
whole work, and all its parts: thus fince the
end of the Epick Poem is to regulate the man-
ners, it is with this firſt view the Poet ought to
begin.
But there is a great difference between the
philofophical and the poetical doctrine of man-
ners. The ſchoolmen content themſelves with
treating of virtues and vices in general: the
inftructions they give are proper for all ftates,
people, and for all ages. But the Poet has a
nearer regard to his own country, and the necef-
fities of his own nation. With this deſign he
makes choice of fome piece of morality, the
moſt proper and juft he can imagine: and in
order to preſs this home, he makes leſs uſe of
the force of reaſoning, than of the power of
infinuation; accommodating himſelf to the par-
[G] The Fable of the Iliad.
a 3
vi
A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
ticular cuſtoms and inclinations of thofe, who
are to be the fubject, or the readers, of his
work.
Let us now ſee how Homer has acquitted
himſelf in theſe refpects.
He faw the Grecians, for whom he deſigned
his Poem, were divided into as many ſtates as
they had capital cities. Each was a body poli-
tick apart, and had its form of government in-
dependent from all the reft. And yet theſe
diftinct ftates were very often obliged to unite
together in one body against their common
enemies. Theſe were two very different forts
of government, fuch as could not be compre-
hended in one maxim of morality, and in one
fingle Poem [H].
The Poet therefore has made two diſtinct
fables of them. The one is for Greece in gene-
ral, united into one body, but compofed of parts
independent on each other; and the other for
each particular ſtate, confidered as they were in
time of peace, without the former circumftances
and the neceffity of being united,
[H] The reader will follow his own diſcretion in giving what
proportion of affent he pleafes to theſe fine-fpun fpeculations à
priori; mindful, in the mean time,
How critics in old Homer view
Things, that old Homer never knew.
EDITOR.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
vii
As for the firſt fort of government, in the
union or rather in the confederacy of many in-
dependent ftates; experience has always made
it appear,
"That nothing fo much caufes
"ſucceſs as a due fubordination, and a right
underſtanding among the chief commanders.
"And on the other hand, the inevitable ruin
❝of fuch confederacies proceeds from the heats,
jealoufies and ambition of the different leaders,
"and the diſcontents of fubmitting to a ſingle
66
66
66
general." All forts of ftates, and in parti-
cular the Grecians, had dearly experienced this
truth. So that the moſt uſeful and neceffary
inſtruction that could be given them, was, to
lay before their eyes the lofs which both the
people and the princes muft of neceffity fuffer,
by the ambition, difcord, and obftinacy of the
latter.
Homer then has taken for the foundation of
his fable this great truth; that a mifunder-
ſtanding between princes is the ruin of their
own ſtates. "I fing (fays he) the anger of
"Achilles, fo pernicious to the Grecians, and
"the cauſe of fo many heroes' deaths, occa-
"fioned by the difcord and feparation of Aga-
"memnon and that prince."
But that this truth may be compleatly and
fully known, there is need of a fecond to fup-
port it. It is neceffary in fuch a defign, not
a 4
viii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
only to repreſent the confederate ſtates at firſt
difagreeing among themſelves, and from thence
unfortunate; but to fhow the ſame ſtates after-
wards reconciled and united, and of confequence
victorious.
Let us now ſee how he has joined all theſe in
one general action.
66
66
"Several princes independent on one another
were united against a common enemy. The
perfon whom they had elected their general,
"offers an affront to the moſt valiant of all the
"confederates. This offended prince is ſo far
provoked, as to relinquish the union, and
obftinately refuſe to fight for the common
cauſe. This miſunderſtanding gives the
“enemy fuch an advantage, that the allies are
46
66
66
very near quitting their defign with dif
"honour. He himſelf who made the fepara-
*tion, is not exempt from ſharing the misfor-
"tune which he brought upon his party. For
having permitted his intimate friend to fuc-
cour them in a great neceffity, this friend is
"killed by the enemy's general. Thus the
" contending princes being both made wiſer at
their own coft, are reconciled, and unite
"again: then this valiant prince not only ob-
"tains the victory in the publick cauſe, but
revenges his private wrongs by killing with
"his own hands the author of the death of his
"friend."
46
66
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
ix
This is the firft platform of the Poem, and
the fiction which reduces into one important
and univerſal action all the particulars upon
which it turns.
In the next place it muſt be rendered probable
by the circumſtances of times, places and per-
fons: fome perfons muſt be found out, already
known by hiſtory or otherwife, whom we may
with probability make the actors and perfonages
of this fable. Homer has made choice of the
fiege of Troy, and feigned that this action [1]
happened there. To a phantom of his brain,
whom he would paint valiant and cholerick, he
has given the name of Achilles; that of Aga-
memnon to his general; that of Hector to the
enemy's commander, and fo to the reft.
Befides, he was obliged to accommodate him-
ſelf to the manners, cuſtoms, and genius of the
Greeks his auditors, the better to make them
attend to the inftruction of his Poem; and to
gain their approbation by praiſing them: ſo that
[1] By this our author feems to fuppofe, that no fuch people
ever exiſted;
fed non ego credulus illi.
I am rather of opinion, that the teſtimony of Homer in points of
geography, biography, and hiſtory, may be accepted as authentic,
with very little limitation. It feems to be with him as with
Truth: Commenta opinionum delet dies, naturæ verique judicia
confirmat. His authority on theſe points gains ftrength from
progreffive inveſtigation and experience,
EDITOR.
A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
}
they might the better forgive him the repre-
fentation of their own faults in fome of his chief
perfonages. He admirably diſcharges all theſe
duties, by making theſe brave princes and thoſe
victorious people all Grecians, and the fathers
of thofe he had a mind to commend.
But not being content, in a work of fuch a
length, to propofe only the principal point of
the moral, and to fill up the reft with uſeleſs or-
naments and foreign incidents, he extends this
moral by all its neceffary confequences. As for
inſtance in the ſubject before us, it is not enough
to know, that a good underſtanding ought al-
ways to be maintained among confederates: it is
likewife of equal importance, that if there hap-
pens any divifion, care muſt be taken to keep it
fecret from the enemy, that their ignorance of
this advantage may prevent their making uſe of
it. And in the fecond place, when their con-
cord is but counterfeit and only in appearance,
one ſhould never prefs the enemy too cloſely; for
this would diſcover the weakneſs which we
ought to conceal from them.
The Epiſode of Patroclus moft admirably fur-
niſhes us with theſe two inftructions. For when
he appeared in the arms of Achilles, the Trojans,
who took him for that prince now reconciled
and united to the Confederates, immediately.
gave ground, and quitted the advantages they
had before over, the Greeks. But Patroclus,
*
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
xi
who ſhould have been contented with this fuc-
cefs, preffes upon Hector too boldly, and by
obliging him to fight, foon diſcovers that it was
not the true Achilles who was clad in his armour,
but a hero of much inferiour prowess. So that
Hector kills him, and regains thoſe advantages
which the Trojans had loft, on the opinion that
Achilles was reconciled.
SECT III. [K]
THE Odyffey was not defigned, like the
Iliad, for the inftruction of all the ftates of
Greece joined in one body, but for each ſtate in
particular. As a ftate is compofed of two parts;
the head which commands, and the members
which obey; there are inftructions requifite to
both, to teach the one to govern, and the others
to fubmit to government.
There are two virtues neceffary to one in au-
thority, prudence to order, and care to fee his
orders put in execution. The prudence of a po-
litician is not acquired but by a long experience
in all forts of bufinefs, and by an acquaintance
with all the different forms of governments and
ftates. The care of the adminiſtration ſuffers
not him that has the government to rely upon
others, but requires his own preſence: and kings
[x] The Fable of the Olyffey.
xii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
who are abſent from their ftates, are in danger
of loſing them, and give occafion to great dif-
orders and confufion.
Theſe two points may be eaſily united in one
and the fame man. "A king forfakes his king-
"dom to vifit the courts of feveral princes,
"where he learns the manners and cuftoms of
"different nations. From hence there naturally
❝arifes a vaft number of incidents, of dangers,
"and of adventures, very uſeful for a political
"inftitution. On the other fide, this abfence
gives way to the diforders which happen in
"his own kingdom, and which end not till his
return, whoſe preſence only can re-eſtabliſh
"all things." Thus the abſence of a king has
the fame effects in this fable, as the divifion of
the princes had in the former.
66
66
The ſubjects have ſcarce any need but of one
general maxim, which is, To fuffer themfelves
to be governed, and to obey faithfully; whatever
reaſon they may imagine againſt the orders they
receive [L]. It is eafy to join this inftruction
with the other, by beſtowing on this wife and
induſtrious prince fuch fubjects, as in his abfence
[L] The fabricator of this theory would have received with
implicit reverence the fage directions of the Mighty Mother in
the Dunciad, iv. 187.
May you, my Çam, and Ifis, preach it long!
"The RIGHT DIVINE of kings to govern wrong.
EDITOR.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
XH1
would rather follow their own judgment than his
commands; and by demonftrating the misfor-
tunes which this difobedience draws upon them,
the evil confequences which almoſt infallibly at-
tend theſe particular notions, which are intirely
different from the general idea of him who ought
to govern.
But as it was neceffary that the princes in the
Iliad ſhould be cholerick and quarrelfome, ſo it
is neceffary in the fable of the Odyſſey that the
chief perſon ſhould be fage and prudent. This
raiſes a difficulty in the fiction; becauſe this
perfon ought to be abfent for the two reafons
aforementioned, which are effential to the fable,
and which conftitute the principal aim of it:
but he cannot abſent himſelf, without offending
againſt another maxim of equal importance, viz.
That a king ſhould upon no account leave his
country.
It is true, there are fometimes fuch neceffities
as fufficiently excuſe the prudence of a politician
in this point. But fuch a neceffity is a thing
important enough of itſelf to fupply matter for
another poem, and this multiplication of the
action would be vicious. To prevent which, in
the firſt place, this neceffity, and the departure
of the hero, must be disjoined from the poem;
and in the ſecond place, the hero having been
obliged to abſent himſelf, for a reaſon antecedent
to the action and placed diſtinct from the fable,
tiv A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
he ought not fo far to embrace this opportunity
of inſtructing himſelf, as to abfent himſelf vo-
luntarily from his own government. For at
this rate, his abſence would be merely voluntary,
and one might with reafon lay to his charge all
the diſorders which might arrive.
Thus in the conftitution of the fable he ought
not to take for his action, and for the foundation
of his poem, the departure of a prince from his
ówn country, nor his voluntary ſtay in any other
place; but his return, and this return retarded
ágainſt his will. This is the firſt idea Homer
gives us of it [M]. His hero appears at firſt in
a defolate iſland, fitting upon the fide of the ſea,
which with tears in his eyes he looks upon as the
obſtacle that had fo long oppoſed his return,
and detained him from reviſiting his own dear
country.
And lastly, fince this forced delay might more
naturally and ufually happen to fuch as make
voyages by fea; Homer has judiciouſly made
choice of a prince whofe kingdom was in an
ifland.
Let us fee then how he has feigned all this
action, making his hero a perſon in years, be-
cauſe years are requifite to inftruct a man in
prudence and policy.
[M] Odyffey v.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
66
"A prince had been obliged to forfake his
"native country, and to head an army of his
fubjects in a foreign expedition. Having
glorioufly performed this enterpriſe, he was
marching home again, and conducting his
"fubjects to his own ftate. But ſpite of all
"the attempts, with which the eagerness to
"return had infpired him, he was ftopt by the
way by tempefts for feveral years, and caft
Ca
upon ſeveral countries differing from each
"other in manners and government. In theſe
66
dangers his companions not always following
"his orders, periſhed through their own fault.
"The grandees of his country ſtrangely abuſe his
“abſence, and raiſe no ſmall diſorders at home.
"They confume his eſtate, conſpire to deſtroy
his fon, would conftrain his queen to accept
"of one of them for her huſband; and indulge
"themſelves in all violence, fo much the more,
"becauſe they were perfuaded he would never
"return. But at laſt he returns, and diſcover-
66
ing himſelf only to his fon and fome others,
"who had continued firm to him, he is an
"eye-witneſs of the infolence of his enemies,
"puniſhes them according to their deferts, and
"reftores to his ifland that tranquility and re-
"poſe to which they had been ſtrangers during
his abfence.”
As the truth, which ferves for foundation to
this fiction, is, that the abfence of a perfon
vi A VIEW OF THE EPIČK POEM,
from his own home, or his neglect of his own
affairs, is the cauſe of great diſorders: fo the
principal point of the action, and the moſt ef-
fential one, is the abfence of the hero. This
fills almoſt all the poem: for not only this real
abfence lafted feveral years, but even when the
hero returned, he does not diſcover himſelf; and
this prudent diſguiſe, from whence he reaped
ſo much advantage, has the ſame effect upon the
authors of the diſorders, and all others who
knew him not, as his real abſence had before,
fo that he is abfent as to them, 'till the very
moment of their puniſhment.
After the Poet had thus compofed his fable,
and joined the fiction to the truth, he then
makes choice of Ulyffes the king of the iſle of
Ithaca, to maintain the character of his chief
perfonage, and beſtowed the reſt
upon Telema-
chus, Penelope, Antinous, and others, whom he
calls by what names he pleaſes.
I fhall not here inſiſt
upon the
many excellent
advices, which are ſo many parts and natural
confequences of the fundamental truth; and
which the Poet very dextrouſly lays down in
thofe fictions which are the epiſodes and mem-
bers of the entire action. Such for inftance are
theſe advices: Not to intrude one's felf into the
myſteries of government, which the prince keeps
fecret this is repreſented to us by the winds
fhut up in a bull-hide, which the miſerable
AND OF THE ILIÁD AND ÓDYSSEY. xvii
companions of Ulyffes would needs be ſo fooliſh
as to pry into. Not to fuffer one's felf to be led
away by the ſeeming charms of an idle and in-
active life, to which the Siren's fong invited [N].
Not to fuffer one's felf to be fenfualized by plea-
fures, like thoſe who were changed into brutes
by Circe and a great many other points of
morality neceffary for all forts of people.
This poem is more uſeful to the people than
the Iliad, where the ſubjects fuffer rather by the
ill conduct of their princes, than through their
own miscarriages [o]. But in the Odyſſey, it
is not the fault of Ulyffes that is the ruin of his
fubjects. This wife prince leaves untried no
method to make them partakers of the benefit
of his return. Thus the Poet in the Iliad fays,
"He fings the anger of Achilles, which had
"cauſed the death of fo many Grecians ;" and
on the contrary, in the [P] Odyffey, he tells his
readers, "That the fubjects periſhed through
86 their own fault.
[N] Improba Siren defidia. Horat.
[o] Agreeably to the remark of Horace on this fubject,
Epift. ii. 2.
Quicquid delirant reges, pleduntur Achivi.
Howe'er capriciouſly kings play their part,
Their fubjects, loyal fubjects, feel the ſmart.
Nevile's Imitations. EDITOR.
Odyff. i.
[*] Αυτῶν γὰς σφετέρησιν ατασθαλιήσιν ὅλοντο.
b
xviii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
SECT. IV. [q]
ARISTOTLE beftows great encomiums
upon Homer for the fimplicity of his defign [R],
becauſe he has included in one fingle part all
that happened at the fiege of Troy. And to this
he oppoſes the ignorance of fome Poets who
imagined that the unity of the fable or action
was fufficiently preferved by the unity of the
hero; and who compofed their Thefeids, He-
racleids, and the like, wherein they only heaped
up in one poem every thing that happened to
one perfonage.
He finds fault with thofe Poets who were for
reducing the unity of the fable into the unity
of the hero, becaufe one man may
have per-
formed ſeveral adventures, which it is impoffible
to reduce under any one general and fimple head.
This reducing of all things to unity and fim-
plicity is what Horace likewife makes his firft
rule:
6C
Denique fit quodvis fimplex duntaxat, & unum.
According to thefe rules, it will be allowable
to make uſe of ſeveral fables; (or to ſpeak more
correctly) of feveral incidents which may be
divided into feveral fables; provided they are fo
[] Of the unity of the fable.
[*] In his Poetics, cap. ix.
EDITOR
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
xlx
ordered, that the unity of the fable be not ſpoiled.
This liberty is ftill greater in the Epick Poem,
becauſe it is of a larger extent, and ought to be
entire and compleat.
K
I will explain myſelf more diſtinctly by the
practice of Homer.
No doubt but one might make four diſtinct
fables out of theſe four following inftructions,
1. Divifion between thofe of the fame party ex-
poſes them entirely to their enemies.
2. Conceal your weakness, and you will be dreaded
as much, as if you had none of thoſe imperfections,
of which they are ignorant.
3. When your ftrength is only feigned, and founded
only in the opinion of others; never venture fo far
as if your ſtrength was real.
4. The more you agree together, the leſs hurt
Ean your enemies do you.
I
+
It is plain, I fay, that each of theſe particular
maxims might ſerve for the ground-work of a
fiction, and one might make four diftinct fables
out of them. May not one then put all theſe
into one fingle epopea? Not unleſs one fingle
fable can be made out of all. The Poet indeed
may have ſo much ſkill as to unite all into one
body, as members and parts, each of which
taken aſunder would be imperfect; and if he
b 2
XX A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
joins them fo, this conjunction fhall be no
hindrance at all to the unity and the regular fim-
plicity of the fable. This is what Homer has
done with fuch fuccefs in the compofition of
the Iliad.
1. The divifion between Achilles and his allies
tended to the ruin of their deſigns. 2. Patroclus
comes to their relief in the armour of this hero, and
Hector retreats. 3. But this young man puſhing
the advantage which his diſguife gave him, too far,
ventures to engage with Hector himself; but not
being master of Achilles's firength (whom be, only
repreſented in outward appearance) he is killed, and
by this means leaves the Grecian affairs in the fame
diforder, from which in that diſguiſe he came to
free them. 4. Achilles provoked at the death of
his friend, is reconciled, and revenges, his lofs, by
the death of Hector. Thefe various incidents
being thus united, do not make different actions
and fables, but are only the uncompleat and un-
finiſhed parts of one and the fame action and
fable, which alone when taken thus complexly,
can be faid to be compleat and entire and all
theſe maxims of the moral, are easily reduced
into theſe two parts, which in my opinion can-
not be ſeparated without enervating the force of
both. The two parts are thefe, [s] That a right
[s] Concordia res parvæ crefcunt: difcordiâ magnæ dilabun-
tur Salluft, de bello Jug.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
xxi
underſtanding is the prefervation, and diſcord
the deftruction of ſtates.
Though then the Poet has made úſe of two
parts in his poems, each of which might have
ferved for a fable, as we have obferved: yet
this multiplication cannot be called a vicious
and irregular polymythia, contrary to the necef-
fary unity and fimplicity of the fable; but it
gives the fable another qualification, altogether
neceſſary and regular, namely its perfection and
finiſhing ſtroke.
SECT. V. [T]
THE action of a poem is the ſubject which
the Poet undertakes, propofes, and builds upon.
So that the moral and the inftructions which are
the end of the epick poem are not the matter
of it. Thofe the Poets leave in their allegorical
and figurative obfcurity. They only give notice
at the exordium, that they fing fome action. The
revenge of Achilles, the return of Ulyffes, &c.
Since then the action is the matter of a fable,
it is evident that whatever incidents are eſſential
to the fable, or conftitute a part of it, are ne-
ceffary alſo to the action, and are parts of the
epick matter, none of which ought to be omitted.
[r] Of the Action of the Epick Poem.
b3
xxii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
Such, for inſtance, are the contention of Aga-
memnon and Achilles, the flaughter Hector
makes in the Grecian army, the re-union of the
Greek princes; and laftly, the re-fettlement
and victory which was the conſequence of that
re-union.
There are four qualifications in the epick ac-
tion: the first is its unity, the fecond its inte-
grity, the third its importance, the fourth its
duration.
The unity of the epick action, as well as the
unity of the fable, does not conſiſt either in the
unity of the hero, or in the unity of time;
three things I fuppofe are neceffary to it. The
firft is, to make ufe of no epiſode but what arifes
from the very platform and foundation of the
action, and is as it were a natural member of
the body. The ſecond is, exactly to unite theſe
epiſodes and theſe members with one another,
And the third is, never to finiſh any epiſode fo
as it may ſeem to be an entire action; but to
let each epiſode ſtill appear in its own particular
nature, as the member of a body, and as a part
of itſelf not compleat.
[U] Ariftotle not only fays that the epick
action fhould be one, but adds, that it ſhould be
entire, perfect and compleat, and for this pur-
poſe ought to have a beginning, a middle, and an
[u] Of the Beginning, Middle, and end of the Action,
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
xxiii
end. Theſe three parts of a whole are too ge-
nerally and univerfally denoted by the words,
beginning, middle, and end; we may interpret
them more preciſely, and fay, That the caufes
and deſigns of an action are the beginning: that
the effects of theſe cauſes, and the difficulties
that are met with in the execution of theſe de-
figns, are the middle; and that the unravelling
and reſolution of theſe difficulties are the end.
[x] Homer's defign in the Iliad is to relate
the anger and revenge of Achilles. The be-
ginning of this action is the change of Achilles
from a calm to a paffionate temper. The middle
is the effects of his paffion, and all the illuſtriou
deaths it is the cauſe of. The end of this fame
action is the return of Achilles to his calmneſs
of temper again. All was quiet in the Grecian
camp, when Agamemnon their general provokes
Apollo againſt them, whom he was willing to
appeaſe afterwards at the coft and prejudice of
Achilles, who had no part in his fault. This
then is an exact beginning: it fuppofes nothing
before, and requires after it the effects of this
anger. Achilles revenges himſelf, and that is
an exact middle; it fuppofes before it the anger
of Achilles, this revenge is the effect of it.
Then this middle requires after it the effects
[x] The Action of the Iliad,
b 4
xxiv A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
of this revenge, which is the fatisfaction of
Achilles for the revenge had not been com-
pleat, unleſs Achilles had been fatisfied. By
this means the Poet makes his hero, after he
was glutted by the miſchief he had done to Aga-
memnon, by the death of Hector, and the
honour he did his friend, by inſulting over his
murderer; he makes him, I fay, to be moved
by the tears and misfortunes of King Priam,
We fee him as calm at the end of the poem,
during the funeral of Hector, as he was at the
beginning of the poem, whilſt the plague raged
among the Grecians. This end is juſt, ſince
the calmneſs of temper Achilles re-enjoyed, is
only an effect of the revenge which ought to
have preceded and after this nobody expects
any more of his anger. Thus has Homer been
very exact in the beginning, middle and end of
the action he made choice of for the fubject of
his Iliad.
[Y] His defign in the Odyſſey was to deſcribe
the return of Ulyffes from the fiege of Troy,
and his arrival at Ithaca. He
opens this poem
with the complaints of Minerva againſt Nep-
tune, who oppoſed the return of this hero, and
againſt Calypfo who detained him in an iſland,
from Ithaca. Is this a beginning? No; doubt-
lefs, the reader would know why Neptune is
[x] The Action of the Odyſſey.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. xxv
diſpleaſed with Ulyffes, and how this prince
came to be with Calypfo? He would know how
he came from Troy thither? The Poet anfwers
his demands out of the mouth of Ulyffes him-
felf, who relates thefe things, and begins the
action, by the recital of his travels from the city
of Troy. It fignifies little whether the begin-
ning of the action be the beginning of the poem.
The beginning of this action is that which hap-
pens to Ulyffes, when upon his leaving Troy he
bends his courfe for Ithaca. The middle com-
prehends all the misfortunes he endured, and all
the diſorders of his own government. The end
is the re-inſtating of the hero in the peaceable
poffeffion of his kingdom, where he was acknow-
ledged by his fon, his wife, his father, and
feveral others. The Poet was ſenſible he ſhould
have ended ill, had he gone no farther than the
death of theſe princes, who were the rivals and
enemies of Ulyffes, becauſe the reader might have
looked for fome revenge which the ſubjects of
theſe princes might have taken, on him who
had killed their fovereigns: but this danger
over, and the people vanquished and quieted,
there was nothing more to be expected. The
poem and the action have all their parts, and no
more.
But the order of the Odyffey differs from that
of the Iliad, in that the poem does not begin
with the beginning of the action.
xxvi A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
[z] The Caufes of the Action are alſo what
the Poet is obliged to give an account of. There
are three forts of caufes, the humours, the in-
tereſts, and the defigns of men; and thefe dif-
ferent cauſes of an action are likewiſe often the
caufes of one another, every man taking up
thoſe intereſts in which his humour ingages
him, and forming thoſe deſigns to which his
humour and intereſt incline him. Of all theſe
the Poet ought to inform his readers, and render
them confpicuous in his principal perfonages.
Homer has ingenioufly begun his Odyffey
with the tranſactions at Ithaca, during the ab-
fence of Ulyffes. If he had begun with the
travels of his Hero, he would ſcarce have
fpoken of any one elſe, and a man might have
read a great deal of the Poem, without con-
ceiving the leaſt idea of Telemachus, Penelope,
or her fuitors, who had ſo great a ſhare in the
action; but in the beginning he has pitched
upon, befides theſe perfonages whom he diſco-
vers, he repreſents Ulyffes in his full length,
and from the very firft opening one fees the in-
tereſt which the Gods take in the action.
?
The ſkill and care of the fame Poet may be
feen likewiſe in inducing his perfonages in the
firſt book of his Iliad, where he diſcovers the
[z] Of the cauſes and beginning of the action.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. xxvii
humours, the intereſts, and the deſigns of Aga-
memnon, Achilles, Hector, Ulyffes, and feveral
others, and even of the Deities. And in his
fecond he makes a review of the Grecian and
Trojan armies, which is full evidence, that all
we have here faid is very neceffary.
[A] As theſe Cauſes are the Beginning of the
Action, the oppofite defigns againſt that of the
Hero are the Middle of it, and form that Dif
ficulty or Intrigue, which makes up the greateſt
part of the Poem; the Solution or Unravelling
commences when the reader begins to fee that
difficulty removed, and the doubts cleared up.
Homer has divided each of his Poems into two
parts, and has put a particular intrigue, and the
folution of it into each part.
The first part of the Iliad is the anger of
Achilles, who is for revenging himſelf upon
Agamemnon by the means of Hector and the
Trojans. The Intrigue comprehends the three
days fight which happened in the abfence of
Achilles: and it confifts on one fide in the re-
fiſtance of Agamemnon and the Grecians: and
on the other in the revengeful and inexorable
humour of Achilles, which would not fuffer
him to be reconciled. The lofs of the Greci
ans, and the defpair of Agamemnon, prepare
{
[A] Of the middle or intrigue of the action.
xxviii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
}
for a folution by the fatisfaction which the in-
cenſed hero received from it. The death of
Patroclus join'd to, the offers of Agamemnon,
which of itſelf had proved ineffectual, remove
this difficulty, and make the unravelling of the
firft part.
This death is likewife the beginning of the
fecond part; fince it puts Achilles upon
the de-
fign of revenging himſelf on Hector. But the
defign of Hector is oppofite to that of Achilles:
this Trojan is valiant and refolved to ftand on
his own defence. This valour and refolution
of Hector, are on his part the cauſe of the in-
trigue. All the endeavours Achilles ufed to
meet with Hector and be the death of him;
and the contrary endeavours of the Trojan to
keep out of his reach, and defend himſelf, are
the intrigue; which comprehends the battle of
the last day. The unravelling begins at the
death of Hector; and befides that, it contains
the infulting of Achilles over his body, the
honours he paid to Patroclas, and the intreaties
of king Priam. The regrets of this king and
the other Trojans, in the forrowful obfequies
they paid to Hector's body, end the unravelling;
they juſtify the fatisfaction of Achilles, and de-
monftrate his tranquillity.
The firſt part of the Odyſſey is the return of
Ulyffes into Ithaca. Neptune oppoſes it by
raiſing tempeſts, and this makes the intrigue.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. xxix
The unravelling is the arrival of Ulyffes upon
his own ifland, where Neptune could offer him
no farther injury. The fecond part is the re-
inftating this hero in his own government.
The princes that are his rivals, oppoſe him, and
this is a freſh intrigue: the folution of it begins
at their deaths, and is compleated as foon as the
Ithacans were appeaſed.
Theſe two parts in the Odyſſey have not one
common intrigue. The anger of Achilles forms
both the intrigues in the Iliad; and it is fo får
the matter of this Epopea, that the very bé-
ginning and end of this Poem depend on the
beginning and end of this anger. But let the
defire Achilles had to revenge himſelf, and the
defire Ulyffes had to return to his own country
be never fo near allied, yet we cannot place
them under one and the fame notion: for that
defire of Ulyffes is not a paffion that begins and
ends in the Poem with the action: it is a natu-
ral-habit: nor does the Poet propofe it for his
fubject as he does the anger of Achilles.
We have already obferved what is meant by
the Intrigue, and the Unravelling thereof; let
us-now ſay ſomething of the manner of forming
both. Theſe two ſhould arife naturally out of
the very effence and fubject of the Poem, and
are to be deduced from thence. Their conduct
is fo exact and natural, that it ſeems as if their
action had prefented them with whatever they
XXX A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
inferted, without putting themſelves to the
trouble of a farther inquiry.
What is more ufual and natural to warriours,
than anger, heat, paffion, and impatience of
bearing the leaſt affront or diſrefpect? This is
what forms the intrigue of the Iliad; and every
thing we read there is nothing elſe but the effect
of this humour and theſe paffions.
What more natural and ufual obftacle to thoſe
who take voyages, than the fea, the winds, and
the ſtorms? Homer makes this the intrigue of
the firſt part of the Odyffey: and for the fecond,
he makes ufe of almoft the infallible effect of
the long abſence of a maſter, whofe return is
quite deſpaired of, viz. the infolence of his ſer-
vants and neighbours, the danger of his fon and
wife, and the fequeftration of his eftate. Be-
fides, an abfence of almoft twenty years, and
the infupportable fatigues joined to the age of
which Ulyffes then was, might induce him to
believe that he ſhould not be owned by thoſe
who thought him dead, and whoſe intereſt it
was to have him really fo. Therefore if he had
preſently declared who he was, and had called
himſelf Ulyffes, they would eafily have deſtroyed
him as an impoftor, before he had an opportu-
nity to make himſelf known.
There could be nothing more natural nor
more neceffary than this ingenious diſguiſe, to
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. xxxi
which the advantages his enemies had taken of
his abſence had reduced him, and to which his
long misfortunes had inured him. This allowed
him an opportunity, without hazarding any
thing, of taking the beſt meaſures he could,
againſt thoſe perfons who could not ſo much as
miſtruſt any harm from him. This way was
afforded him, by the very nature of his action,
to execute his defigns, and overcome the obſta-
cles it caft before him. And it is this conteſt
between the prudence and the diffimulation of a
fingle man on one hand, and the ungovernable
infolence of ſo many rivals on the other, which
conſtitutes the intrigue of the ſecond part of the
Odyſſey.
[B] If the Plot or Intrigue muſt be natural,
and fuch as fprings from the very fubject, as has.
been already urged; then the Winding-up of
the plot, by a more fure claim, muſt have this
qualification, and be a probable confequence of
all that went before. As this is what the readers
regard more than the reft, ſo ſhould the Poet be
more exact in it. This is the end of the Poem,
and the laft impreffion that is to be ftamped
upon them.
We ſhall find this in the Odyffey. Ulyffes
by a tempeft is caft upon the iſland of the Pha-
$
}
[B] Of the end or unravelling of the action.
xxxii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
acians, to whom he diſcovers himſelf, and de-
fires they would favour his return to his own
country which was not very far diftant. One
cannot ſee any reaſon why the king of this iſland
fhould refufe fuch a reaſonable requeft, to a
hero whom he ſeemed to have in great eſteem.
The Phæacians indeed had heard him tell the
ftory of his adventures; and in this fabulous
recital confifted all the advantage that he could
derive from his prefence; for the art of war
which they admired in him, his undauntedneſs
under dangers, his indefatigable patience, and
other virtues, were fuch as theſe iſlanders were
not uſed to. All their talent lay in finging and
dancing, and whatſoever was charming in at
quiet life. And here we fee how dextrouſly
Homer prepares the incidents he makes ufe of.
Theſe people could do no leſs, for the account
with which Ulyffes had fo much entertained
them, than afford him a ſhip and a ſafe convoy,
which was of little expence or trouble to them.
When he arrived, his long abſence, and the
travels which had disfigured him, made him
altogether unknown; and the danger he would
have incurred, had he diſcovered himſelf too
foon, forced him to a diſguiſe: laſtly, this dif-
güife gave him an opportunity of furpriſing
thoſe young fuitors, who for feveral years toge-
ther had been accuſtomed to nothing but to
fleep well, and fare daintily.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. xxxiii
It was from theſe examples that Ariſtotle
drew this rule, that "Whatever concludes the
"Poem fhould fo fpring from the very confti-
❝tution of the Fable, as if it were a neceffary,
"or at leaſt a probable confequence [c]."
SECT. VI [D].
THE Time of the Epick Action is not
fixed, like that of the Dramatick Poem: it is
much longer; for an uninterrupted duration is
much more neceffary in an action which one
fees and is preſent at, than in one which we
only read or hear repeated. Befides Tragedy is
fuller of paffion, and confequently of fuch a
violence as cannot admit of fo long a duration.
The Iliad containing an action of Anger and
Violence, the Poet allows it but a fhort time,
about forty Days. The defign of the Odyſſey
required another conduct; the character of the
Hero is Prudence and Long-fuffering; therefore
the time of its duration is much longer, above
eight Years.
[E] The Paffions of Tragedy are different
from thoſe of the Epick Poem. In the former,
[c] In his Poetics, cap. xi.
[D] The time of the action.
[B] The paffions of the Epick Poem.
EDITOR.
VOL. I.
C
Xxxv A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
1
?
Terrour and Pity have the chief place; the
Paffion that ſeems moft peculiar to Epick Poetry,
is Admiration.
Befides this Admiration, which in general
diſtinguiſhes the Epick Poem from the Drama-
tick; each Epick Poem has likewiſe ſome pecu-
liar Paffion, which diftinguishes it in particular
from other Epick Poems, and conſtitutes a kind
of fingular and individual difference between
thefe Poems of the fame fpecies. Thefe fingular
Paffions correfpond to the Character of the Hero.
Anger and Terrour reign throughout the Iliad,
becaufé Achilles is angry, and the moſt terrible
of all men.
The Eneid has all the foft and
tender Paffions, becauſe that is the character of
Eneas. The prudence, wifdom and conftancy
of Ulyffes do not allow him either of theſe
extremes, therefore the Poet does not permit
one of them to be predominant in the Odyffey.
He confines himſelf to Admiration only, which
he carries to an higher pitch than in the Iliad:
and it is upon this account that he introduces a
great many more machines, in the Odyffey,
into the body of the action, than are to be feen
in the actions of the other two Poems.
[F] The Manners of the Epick Poem ought
to be poetically good, but it is not neceſſary they
>
[F] The Manners.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. ****
bé always morally fo. They are poetically good,
when one may diſcover the virtue or vice, the
good or ill inclinations, of every one who ſpeaks
or acts: they are poetically bad, when perfons
are made to ſpeak or act out of character, or
inconfiftently or unequally. The manners of
Æneas and of Mezentius are equally good, con-
fidered poetically, becauſe they equally demon-
ftrate the piety of the one, and the impiety of
the other.
[G] It is requifite to make the fame diftinc-
tion between a hero in morality, and a hero in
poetry, as between moral and poetical goodneſs.
Achilles had as much right to the latter as
Eneas. Ariftotle fays, that the Hero of a Poem
fhould be neither good nor bad; neither ad-
vanced above the reſt of mankind by his virtues,
or funk beneath them by his vices: that he may
be the proper and fuller example to others, both
what to imitate and what to decline.
The other qualifications of the Manners are;
that they be fuitable to the cauſes which either
raiſe or diſcover them in the perſons; that they
have an exact Reſemblance to what Hiſtory, or
Fable, have delivered of thoſe perſons, to whom
they are aſcribed; and that there be an Equality
[G] Character of the Hero.
C 2
xxxvi A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
in them, fo that no man is made to act; or
fpeak, out of his character.
[H] But this equality is not fufficient for the
Unity of the Character; it is further neceffary,
that the fame ſpirit appear in all fort of encoun-
ters. Thus Æneas acting with great Piety and
Mildneſs in the firſt part of the Æneid, which
requires no other character; and afterwards
appearing illuftrious in heroick valour, in the
wars of the ſecond part; but there, without
any appearance either of a hard or a foft difpo-
fition; would, doubtlefs, be far from offending
againſt the Equality of the Manners; but yet
there would be no Simplicity or Unity in the
Character. So that, befides the qualities that
claim their particular place upon different occa-
fions, there muſt be one appearing throughout,
which commands over all the reft; and without
this, we may affirm, it is no character.
One may indeed make a Hero as valiant as
Achilles, as pious as Eneas, and as prudent as
Ulyffes. But it is a meer chimæra to imagine
a Hero that has the valour of Achilles, the piety
of Æneas, and the prudence of Ulyffes, at one
and the fame time. This vifion might happen
to an author, who would fuit the character of a
Hero to whatever each part of the action might
Н
[H] Unity of the Character,
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. xxxvii
naturally require, without regarding the effence
of the Fable, or the unity of the character in
the fame perſon upon all forts of occafions:
this Hero would be the mildeft, beſt-natured
Prince in the world, and alſo the moſt cholerick,
hard-hearted, and implacable creature imagin-
able; he would be extremely tender like Æneas,·
extremely violent like Achilles, and yet have
the indifference of Ulyffes, that is incapable
of the two extremes. Would it not be in vain
for the Poet to call this perſon by the fame name
throughout ?
Let us reflect on the effects it would produce
in feveral poems, whofe authors were of opinion,
that the chief character of a Hero is that of an
accompliſhed man. They would be all alike;
all valiant in battle, prudent in council, pious
in the acts of religion, courteous, civil, mag-
nificent; and, laftly, endued with all the pro-
digious virtues, any Poet could invent. All
this would be independent of the action and the
fubject of the Poem; and, upon ſeeing each
Hero feparated from the reſt of the work, we
ſhould not eaſily gueſs, to what Action, and to
what Poem, the Hero belonged, So that we
fhould fee, that none of thoſe would have a
Character; fince the Character is that, which
makes a perfon difcernible, and which diftin-
guiſhes him from all others.
c3
xxxviii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
This commanding quality in Achilles, is his
anger, in Ulyffes the art of diffimulation, in
Æneas meeknefs. Each of theſe may be ſtiled,
by way of eminence, the Character in thefe
Heroes.
But theſe characters cannot be alone. It is
abfolutely neceſſary that fome other fhould give
them a luftre, and embelliſh them as far as they
are capable: either by hiding the defects that
are in each, by fome noble and fhining quali
ties; as the Poet has done the anger of Achilles,
by fhading it with extraordinary valour: or by
making them entirely of the nature of a true
and folid virtue, as is to be abferved in the two
others. The diffimulation of Ulyffes is a part
of his prudence; and the meeknefs of Eneas
is wholly employed in ſubmitting his will to the
Gods. For the making up this union, our
Poets have joined together fuch qualities as are
by nature the moſt compatible; Valour with
Anger, Meeknefs with Piety, and Prudence
with Diffimulation. This laft union was necef-
fary for the Goodnefs of Ulyffes; for without
that, his diffimulation might have degenerated
into wickedness and double-dealing.
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. xxxix
SECT VII. [1]
WE come now to the Machines of the epick
poem. The chief paffion which it aims to ex-
cite being admiration, nothing is fo conducive
to that as the marvellous; and the importance
and dignity of the action is by nothing fo greatly
elevated as by the care and interpofition of
heaven.
The machines are of three forts. Some are
theological, and were invented to explain the
nature of the Gods. Others are phyfical, and
repreſent the things of nature. The laft are
moral, and are the images of virtues and vices.
Homer and the antients have given to their
Deities the manners, paffions, and vices of men.
Their poems are wholly allegorical; and in this
view it is eaſier to defend Homer, than to blame
him. We cannot accufe him for making men-
tion of many Gods, for his beſtowing paffions.
upon them, or even introducing them fighting
againſt men. The Scripture ufes the like figures
and expreffions.
The
If it be allowable to ſpeak thus of the Gods in
theology, much more in the fictions of natural
philoſophy, where, if a poet deſcribes the Deities,
[1] Of the Machinery.
· C4 ·
A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
氰
​he muſt give them fuch manners, fpeeches, and
actions, as are conformable to the nature of the
things they repreſent under thoſe Divinities. The
cafe is the fame in the morals of the Deities:
Minerva is wife becauſe ſhe repreſents prudence;
Venus is both good or bad, becauſe the paffion
of love is capable of theſe contrary qualities.
Since among the Gods of a poem fome are
good, ſome bad, and ſome indifferently either
and fince of our paffions we make fo many alle-
gorical Deities; we may attribute to the Gods
all that is done in the poem, whether good or
evil. But thefe Deities do not act conftantly in
one and the fame manner.
Sometimes they act inviſibly, and by meer In-
fpiration; which has nothing in it extraordinary
or miraculous: being no more than what we fay
every day, "That fome God has affifted us, or
"fome dæmon has inftigated us.
At other times they appear viſibly, and mani-
feft themſelves to men, in a manner altogether
miraculous and præternatural.
The third way has fomething of both the
others; it is in truth a miracle, but is not
commonly ſo accounted: this includes dreams,
oracles, &c.
All theſe ways muſt be probable; for how-
ever neceſſary the marvellous is to the epick
action, as nothing is fo conducive to admira-
tion; yet we can, on the other hand, admire
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
xli
nothing, that we think impoffible. Though
the probability of theſe machines be of a very
large extent, (fince it is founded upon divine
power) it is not without limitations. There
are numerous inftances of allowable and pro-
bable machines in the epick poem, where the
Gods are no leſs actors than the men. But the
lefs credible fort, fuch as metamorphofes, &c.
are far more rare.
This fuggefts a reflection on the method of
rendering thoſe machines probable, which in
their own nature are hardly fo. Thofe, which
require only divine probability, ſhould be ſo dif-
engaged from the action, that one might fubtract
them from it, without deftroying the action.
But thofe, which are effential and neceſſary,
ſhould be grounded upon human probability,
and not on the fole power of God. Thus the
epiſodes of Circe, the Syrens, Polyphemus, &c.
are neceffary to the action of the Odyffey, and
yet not humanly probable: yet Homer has arti-
ficially reduced them to human probability, by
the fimplicity and ignorance of the Phæacians,
before whom he cauſes thoſe recitals to be made.
The next question is, Where, and on what
occafions machines may be uſed? It is certain
Homer and Virgil make uſe of them every
where, and ſcarce fuffer any action to be per-
formed without them. Petronius makes this a
precept: Per ambages deorumque minifteria, &c.
xlii A VIEW OF THE EPICK POEM,
The Gods are mentioned in the very propofition
of their works, the invocation is addreft to
them, and the whole narration is full of them.
The Gods are the causes of the action, they
form the intrigue, and bring about the folution.
The precept of Ariftotle and Horace, that the
unravelling of the plot fhould not proceed from
a miracle, or the appearance of a God, has place
only in dramatick poetry, not in the epick. For
it is plain, that both in the folution of the Iliad
and Odyffey, the Gods are concerned in the
former, the Deities meet to appeaſe the anger
of Achilles: Iris and Mercury are fent to that
purpoſe, and Minerva eminently affifts Achilles
in the decifive combat with Hector. In the
Odyffey, the fame Goddefs fights cloſe by Ulyffes
againſt the Suitors, and concludes that peace
betwixt, him and the Ithacenfians, which com
pleats the poem.
We may therefore determine, that a machine
is not an invention to extricate the Poet out of
any difficulty which embarraffes him but that
the preſence of a Divinity, and fome action fur-
prifing and extraordinary, are inferted into almoft
all the parts of his work, in order to render it
more majestick and more admirable. But this
mixture ought to be fo made, that the machines
might be retrenched, without taking any thing
from the action at the fame time that it gives
the readers a leſſon of piety and virtue; and
AND OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.
xhi
teaches them, that the moſt brave and the moſt
wife can do nothing, and attain nothing great
and glorious, without the affiftance of heaven.
Thus the machinery crowns the whole work,
and renders it at once, marvellous, probable,
and moral [K].
[x] If the reader fhall receive any help front this long dif
ſertation, either with reſpect to the general conſtruction of the
Iliad and Odyſſey, or the beauty and propriety of detached parts,
he is much more fortunate than the Editor: who prefers a ſingle
particle of taſte to all this maſs of ingenious and baſeleſs ſpecu-
lation, which gratuitously determines, that every thing done by
Homer is unexceptionably juft; that his plan is incapable of
amendment, and his execution, Rectitude itſelf. True Tafte and
fuch Theories differ in the Editor's eſtimation, as the fhields of
Diomede and Glaucus; Iliad vi. 292.
Χρυσία χαλκείων, εκατομβοί εννεαβοίων.
GENERAL
OBSERVATION S.
BY THE
EDITOR.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS,
RÈLATIVE TỬ
HOMER AND HIS TRANSLATOR.
Each wight, who reads not, and but fcans and ſpells,
Each word-catcher, that lives on fyllables,
Evin fuch fmall critics fome regard may claim,
Preferv'd in Milton's or in Shakspeare's name.
'
WHAT miſcellaneous obfervations, of the leaft
probable importance, have preſented them-
felves to notice in the courſe of my former ſtudies,
refpecting Homer and his writings, and what fug-
geftions, relative to our countryman and his tranf-
lation, which have unavoidably arifen during the
diſcharge of my office, as an editor of the work be-
fore us; would be exhibited more agreeably, I pre-
fumed, in this detached form, than as énormous notes
to the preliminary differtation of our tranflator, at
the bottom of the page.
The time, at which HOMER lived, feems fixed
within a determinate æra by that peculiarity of
the Æolic dialect, which uniformly employed the
xlviii
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
digamma [A] as a diftinct character before certain
words and betwixt certain fyllables; and of which
peculiarity no regular traces are diſcoverable but in
him and Hefiod: an æra, more or lefs contemporary
with that age, in which various parts of Italy were
colonized by different emigrations of Æolian Greeks,
who communicated this criterion of their dialect to
the Roman language. Fofter, in his effay on Accent
and Quantity [B], has illuſtrated this point from nu-
merous examples of Latin terms, conftructed by the
application of this letter; to which I fhall take this
opportunity of adding a few more. Oixos, focus:
παιω, ρανίο: είλω, νοίυο: σεργοι, Hefychius, for
σεp Fol, cervi: wawv, pavo: Boos, bovis: awv, ævum:
σκαιος, fcavus : αιω, audio : ιαχω, voco : βολω, ποιο
volo
aopvov, Avernum, Virgil, Æn. vi. 242. from Lucre-
tius, vi. 740. VEOs, novus: Heneti, Veneti, Liv. i. 1, 2.
ſee more with reſpect to this form in Feftus, voce
fedum, and the commentators there: annuvit, bovantes,
Enn. Ann. ii. & xiv. ioca, veftire, Hom. Od. 2.
249. σmaрw, Spargo: dios, divus: dia, diva: Eμew,
vomo: raños, vitulus: EvTepov, venter [c]. This cor-
refpondence, therefore, in the language of thofe
Ætolians, who ſettled in Italy, and imparted their
σπαρω,
εμεω,
[A] So called, becaufe reprefented by a character reſembling
the modern F, not unlike a double r, if we fuppofe one placed
on the ſhoulders of another.
[B] Pages 105 and 106. fecond edition: fee alſo the quota-
tions from Prifcian, p. 97. and other parts of that entertaining
and inftructive work; with Dion. Hal. antt. Rom. i. fin.
[c] See too Sanctii Minerv. iv. 16, 13. for other inftances:
who has anticipated fome of mine; as others, perhaps, befides
him have done, but without my conſciouſneſs of ſuch prevention.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. xlix
peculiarity to the primary fabric of the aboriginal
tongue in uſe with thofe diftricts, where they ſettled,
indicates thofe migrations to be nearly fynchronous
with Homer; in whofe works this property is, I pre-
fume, invariably preferved. For thofe paffages of
the Iliad and Odyffey, that form exceptions to this
practice, are probably corrupted, from time and the
careleffnefs of tranfcribers, or are interpolations by
fubſequent writers and grammarians; who made theſe
infertions to prefèrve continuity and coherence in a
poem, originally compofed by Homer in detached
portions, and fung in this ftate of feparation by Homer
himfelf and the bards of fucceeding times [D].
Again: As HESIOD only, of all the Grecian poets
befides Homer, maintains with undeviating accuracy
this peculiarity of the digamma through all his extant
works, we are led to conclude from this coincidence,
what indeed very well agrees with the beft teftimonies
of ancient writers, no great diſparity between the
ages of Hefiod and of Homer. Now Héfiod in his
Works and Days, ver. 172. fpeaks of himſelf, it
fhould feem, as living in the age fucceeding the
Trojan war: and this circumftance alfo will carry
the date of thefe poets to a very high antiquity.
Laftly, Some particularities in the works of Homer,
both hiſtorical, moral, and philological, conftitute a
collection of internal evidence, that pleads loudly for
ǎ very early period of time to his exifténce. I muſt
forewarn the reader, to prevent a charge of un-
[D] See Achilles Tatius, il. init. et p. 296, ed. Boder.
VOL. I.
d
1 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
acknowledged plagiariſm, which I abhor, that fome
of my ſpecifications on theſe topics will not be alto-
gether new, but will come accompanied, perhaps, by
fuch additional enforcement and illuftration, as will
render them not unworthy the acceptance of the
public.
1. It has been remarked, that the river Nile is
called the river Egyptus, wherever it is mentioned
in the Odyſſey; for there alone it is mentioned: and
by no other name. Plutarch informs us, in his
treatiſe on Rivers, that the firſt appellation of this
river was Melas, correfponding to the Sehor of the
prophet [E]. This affertion, however, may well be
difputed; and it ſeems more probable to me, as well
from the uſage of more ancient authors, as from
connecting circumſtances, that the earlieft name of
the Nile was the ſecond in Plutarch's lift, namely
Ægyptus; naturally fo denominated from the country
itſelf: that is," the river of Egypt:" for fuch is
the name in uſe with undoubtedly the earlieſt hifto-
rians in exiſtence, who have mentioned this river; I
mean Mofes and fofhua [F]. Now the plain in-
ference from this particular of hiſtoric evidence is,
that Homer lived in an age, when no other name of
the river in queftion was current among nations;
and, perhaps, when no other name was known: and
from this confideration we are alfo led to fix the æra
[E] Jerem. ii. 18. See my Silva Critica, fect. ii.
[F] Gen. xv. 18. Jof. xv. 47. which furniſhes a ſymptom of
pleafing conformity to the pretended antiquity of thofe books.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
li
of Homer at fome years previous to that of Hefiod,
who mentions the Nile exprefly among other
rivers [G].
Strabo [H] has obſerved, in atteſtation of the high
antiquity of Homer, that the poet was not acquainted
with the empire either of the Syrians or Medes :
"otherwife," fays the philofophical Geographer,
with great appearance of reafon, "when he mentions
"Ægyptian Thebes, it's opulence, and the riches
"of Phoenicia, he would not have left unnoticed
"the wealth of Babylon, Nineveh, and Ecbatana.”
In another place [1] the fame writer has remarked,
"that Homer no where ſpeaks of Tyre."-Nów the
probable conclufions from theſe facts are inevitable,
and amount to very powerful preſumptions in favour
of the preſent argument.
<c
$
"With the ufes of elephant, or ivory (I quote
"the words of Paufanias [K]) in artificial work-
manſhip, many, it is plain, were acquainted from
"remote antiquity; but the beafts themſelves had
"been ſeen by none, if you except the Indians, and
Libyans, and the borderers on the countries, that
produced theſe animals, before the Macedonian
"expedition into Afia. Homer is a proof of this:
८८
cc
[G] In his Theogony, ver. 338.
•
Νειλον τ', Αλφειόν τε, και Ηριδανον βαθυδίνην :
The Nile, Alpheus, and the gulfy Po.
[H] Towards the end of book xv.
[1] Book xvi.
[K] In Atticis, fect. xii.
1
d 2
4
lii GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
"who speaks of the couches and houſes of kings
« and rich men, as adorned with elephant, but has
"no memorial of the beaft; which, if he had ever
<<< feen it, or heard of it, he would have been much
« more forward to commemorate, than the battle of
"cranes and pigmies [L]."
The ſcholiaft on Sophocles [M] fpeaks of the in-
troduction of the Tuſcan trumpet into Greece as con-
temporary with the war of the Heraclide: and, in
addition to this piece of hiftory, the fcholiaft on
Euripides [N] informs us, that Homer was acquainted
with the trumpet [o], but never afcribes the uſe of
it to his heroes in the Iliad. Whence this inference
feems not unreafonable, that the trumpet was not
commonly employed as a warlike inftrument in the
days of Homer; unless we can fuppofe a perpetual
caution against all anachroniſm and anticipation, in
every inftance perfectly fcrupulous and exact; with
a facrifice, at the fame time, perfectly unaccount-
able, of every opportunity for fimilitude, allufion,
and illuſtration from the customs and peculiarities in
queftion, which had been introduced within the in-
terval of the Trojan war and his own days; whence,
as poetry might receive frequent embellishment, it
is perfectly inconceivable, that a man of tafte and
fancy fhould not employ.
[L] See Iliad F. 3-7. to which paffage Paufanias alludes.
[M] Ajax, ver. 17.
[N] At the Phoeniffe, ver. 1386. See alfo Aurelios Victor,
cap. ix. 8. and the commentators there, for more authorities on
this point.
[0] See Iliad 2. 249.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
liti
Clemens Alexandrinus [P] tells us, that chaplets
of flowers in feftal entertainments were not known
to the ancient Greeks; and accordingly are not at-
tributed by Homer either to the luxurious fuitors or
effeminate Phæacians. Our learned author afcribes
the first introduction of flowery crowns to the public
games of the Grecian ftates. Now the firſt Olym-
piad is placed by the generality of chronologers [Q]
about the year 884 antecedent to the Chriſtian æra.
Pliny [R] remarks, that unguents, or mixed per-
fumes [s], were unknown in the times of the Trojan
war. Accordingly, neither the term μupov, by which
thoſe unguents are denominated, nor even fav',
Eaſtern incenſe, is found in the poems of Homer :
who could ſcarcely, therefore, be much acquainted
with their ufe; and that uſe muſt of courſe have
been partial at leaſt in his age.
It is almoft certain from Homer's filence, when
fo many opportunities of mentioning an artifice,
wonderful beyond all example, prefented themfelves,
[P] Pædag. ii. p. 212. ed. Oxon.
[Q] I fpeak thus guardedly with a view to the chronological
fyftem of Sir Ifaac Newton, which appears to me, who am not
competent to decide on this ſubject, unaffailable on the ground
of heathen teſtimony.
[R] Nat. hift. xiii. 1.
[s] See my Silva Critica, part v. p. 57, and the reader may
find more on this topic in Athenæus, Deipn. i. 15. and on the
ſubject in general in Huntingford's apology for his Monoftro-
phics. From an ignorance of the diftinct fenfe of pupa, or
mixed perfumes, aroſe that erroneous criticiſm of our countryman
on Iliad xiv. 198.
d 3
liv
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
►
that alphabetical writing, which migrated from the
Eaſt into the ſtates of Greece at a very early period,
was not known to Homer and his contemporaries.
The tablets, which Proetus configned to the care of
Bellerophon [T], could be only marked with certain
emblematical or hieroglyphic characters, in currency
at that period: and the fcholiaft properly reminds
us [u], that, as each of the Grecian chiefs are faid
to mark his lot, before he caft it into the helmet,
alphabetical writing was not practiſed by Homer's
heroes.
In addition to theſe obſervations, which may con-
tribute their affiftance in fixing the precife time, at
which Homer flouriſht, and which certainly exhibit
cogent prefumptions in favour of the high antiquity
of that æra; I ſhall put together a few thoughts of
another kind, reſpecting Homer; in my judgement,
not deftitute of probability, and therefore worthy of
communication in this place: firſt premifing, that,
though they may appear derogatory in fome measure
to the reputation of the Father of Poetry, as an un-
parallelled inventor, they will folve a puzzling pro-
blem in the theory of the human mind, and may
contribute indeed to fix that reputation on the durable
bafis of true and rational deductions.
We are generally inſtructed to believe, that Poetry
iffued from the hands of Homer, like Minerva from
the brain of Jupiter, perfect and mature at once,
without the cuſtomary progreſs from lifping infancy
[T] Iliad Z. 168.
[u] At Iliad H. 175.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lv
to the full articulation of maturer years: a fuppofi-
tion, irreconcileable at once to reafon, to hiſtory, and
experience; a fuppofition, inconfiftent with the in-
variable proceſs attendant on every intellectual opera-
tion of humanity, which is doomed to labour through
all the intermediate gradations of improvement to
the fummit of compleat efficiency. The fame bold
theory, which no ingenuity can defend, is imputable
to the invention of Alphabetic Characters, upon the
prevalent hypothefis; by which that moft curious
and matchlefs art is attributed to the progreffive
exertions of mental fagacity and experiment [x].
Now, in addition to this philofophical incongruity,
which amounts to little leſs than a phyſical impoffibi-
lity, and is, abſtractedly confidered, all but an effect
without a cauſe; a remarkable fact obtrudes itſelf on
our notice, fubverfive of this very prevalent, but
[x] See my effay on this fubject in the memoirs of the Man-
chefter philofophical fociety; or, with improvements, in my
own Memoirs. In Godwin's Political Juſtice, vol. i. p. 47. this
queſtion is ſtated with a fullneſs and fairneſs very honourable to
the candour of that writer, confidering the intractability of this
ſubject to his purpoſe; and is anſwered with equal imbecillity.
I will venture to affert, that no man living can give any thing
like a political folution of this problem, confiftently with either
hiftory, experience, or philoſophy: and that Alphabetical Writing
will ſtand an unaffailable bulwark againſt all the batteries of
Atheiſm, and a moſt powerful preſumption againſt even Deiſm
itſelf, to the end of time. If I thought the public faw this fubject
in fo ftriking a light as that in which I cannot but confider it, I
would give a ſeparate edition of that effay, with very numerous and
important corroborations of the pofition, on which it proceeds.
d 4
lvi
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
wild, imagination. The poetry of Hefiod, but efpe-
cially his epic fpecimen, "The Shield of Hercules,"
which is not excelled, I think, in real fublimity of
thought, or ſplendour of verfification, by any portion
of the Iliad, with which it can be properly com-
pared; this poem, I fay, fo exactly reſembles the
acknowledged works of Homer, not only in the
character of it's numbers, and in every circumſtance
of phraſeology, but the adoption too of fimilar epi-
thets, kindred expreffions, and verſes of the fame
ſtructure; that either one must have borrowed from
the other, or both muſt have drawn their ſupplies
from the fame common fountain. But, as no hifto-
rical tradition, and no internal peculiarity, will autho-
rife us to exculpate one of theſe poets from the
charge of plagiariſm at the expence of the other; fo
ſuch a ſuppoſition will give us no affiſtance, at all
adequate to the prefent exigency, in explaining that
philofophical difficulty juft ftated, with refpect to
Homer's inftantaneous perfection, as it were, in the
poetic art. We diſcover then no alternative, to which
recourſe can be had for the folution of our problem,
but that of fome common original, fome preexifting
models of poetical execution; by which both theſe
favourites of the Mufes were diſciplined to that pitch
of excellence, which has been acknowledged in their
writings by the beſt literary judges of every fucceed-
ing age to the prefent day: an acknowledgment, not
imputable, I am perfuaded, to an undiſtinguiſhing
veneration for antiquity, or a fenfelefs acquiefcence in
the dogmatical edicts of former critics. We know
very well, that poetical effufions of untutored genius
*
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lvii
are not uncommon even in that ftage of political
imperfection, which ſchool-taught pride has too rudely
ftigmatifed with the name of favage life; and that
Poetry is at leaſt the invariable concomitant of en-
creaſing civilization and refining manners. Is it not
morally certain then, that a numerous race of bards
muſt have exerciſed their genius in fo poliſhed a lan-
guage, as that of Greece was undoubtedly become in
the days of Homer, for feveral generations before
the birth of their immortal fucceffor; of which in-
deed that language itſelf, thus methodized and at-
tuned, is of itſelf a filent, but irrefragable, proof?
The hiſtories of Orpheus, Amphion, and many others,
are blended, doubtless, with a copious infufion of
traditionary fiction; and the merit of thefe poetical
theologians is feen enlarged through the mifty me-
dium of mythological obfcurity: but the tuneful pre-
deceffors of the Homeric age, amounting to no leſs
than ſeventy in number, according to Fabricius [Y],
muſt have made, with fome abatements from this
catalogue (though many certainly exifted, unknown
to written records now in being) fuch improvements
in their art, as muft contribute greatly to the perfec-
tion of all their followers. But, as in a building,
the foundation, which is the more important part, is
concealed under ground, while the fuperftructure,
ſupported by it, alone is feen, and engroffes our ad-
miration; fo Homer has concentrated in himfelf that
blaze of glory, which the irradiations of former ages
muſt have effentially contributed to form: and, as
[x] See, the beginning of his Bibliotheca Graca.
lviii GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
honey, though collected from every variety of plants
and flowers, abundantly diverfified in the quality of
their fweets, becomes one luſcious mafs, in which
no individual flavour is now perceptible [z]; fo
the poetry of Homer compounds and abforbs the
feparate excellencies of all the mufical fraternity,
that preceded him. Nor am I unperfuaded, that the
ſtanding epithets of his Gods and Heroes, with other
appropriate forms of fpeech, were already provided
to his hands, and become fanctified by long pre-
fcription to invariable uſe. Whether any other
affiſtances might be derived by Homer, who pro-
bably makes but few excurfions in the main facts
beyond the high road of authentic hiſtory, from the
fz] Waller in his Chloris and Hylás:
Sweeteft! you know the ſweeteſt of things
Of various flowers the bees do compoſe;
Yet no particular taſte it brings
Of violet, woodbine, pink, or rofe:
So Love the refult is of all the graces,
Which flow from a thouſand ſeveral faces.
Of this elegant compariſon Quintilian was the fource, inft. i.
10. in a paffage of fuperlative excellence: Nifi fortè antidotum
quidèm, atque alia, quæ morbis et vulneribus medentur, ex
multis atque interim contrariis quoque inter fe effectibus com-
poni videmus, quorum ex diverfis fit illa mixtura una, quæ nulli
corum fimilis eft, quibus conftat, fed proprias vires ex omnibus
fumit: et muta animalia mellis illum inimitabilem humanæ ra-
tioni faporem, vario florum ac fucorum genere perficiunt: nos
mirabimur, fi oratio, quâ nihil præftantius homini dedit provi-
dentia, pluribus artibus eget; quæ etiàm, cùm fe non oftendunt
in dicendo nec proferunt, vim tamèn occultam fuggerunt, et
tacitè quoque fentiuntur:-alluding to Virgil, Geo. iii. 397.
Et falis occultum referunt in lacte faporem. -
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lix
remains of older bards, in the general plan and ftruc-
ture of his wonderful performances, the eye of Cri-
ticifm cannot poffibly defcry, from her low elevation
on the wreck of literature, through the palpable
darkneſs and wide waſte of ſuch remote antiquity.
From theſe previous obfervations on the poetry
and age of Homer, my attention muſt be now directed
to our illuftrious countryman, the fublime and elegant
tranſlator of this prime hero in the grand affemblage
of ancient genius. Of the qualifications requifite for
fuch an arduous undertaking, both from it's nature
and extent, it cannot be difputed, that POPE was en-
dowed with fympathetic Genius, with a delicate per-
ception of poetic beauty, a trembling fenfibility, pre-
pared to vibrate at every impulſe of fentimental paf-
fion, an ear finely tuned, by the hand of Nature and
the key of art, to the voice of melody; with a com-
prehenfive dominion over all the poetical verſatilities of
language, and all the harmonious capacities of Engliſh
verfe: that theſe qualifications, I fay, were concen-
trated in Pope, the texture of his original compofi-
tions, richly beauteous and delicately graceful, abun-
dantly demonſtrates. But another endowment, emi-
nently advantageous to a faithful execution of fuch
a project, the competency of his learning, I mean,
may be the ſubject of reaſonable controverfy; and,
as my opinion of him in this refpect exceeds, I be-
lieve, to his prejudice, that ever entertained of him
to this hour, not only by neutral readers, but even
by thoſe, who have fhewn themſelves moft inclined
to difparage his attainments in the learned languages;.
Ix-
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
I fhall engage in a circumftantial difcuffion of this
point, and lay at once my collection of evidences
before the public, without fear and without reſerve :
confcious as I am, that my fupreme admiration of
the poetical powers of this extraordinary man, which
has bordered on enthuſiaſm from my very infancy,
will amply fecure, with the difpaffionate and candid,
my exertions on this argument, without an appeal
to general character, from every ſuſpicion of petu-
lant fingularity, pedantic affectation, or barbarous
malignity. In theſe reſpects I can adopt, I truſt, the
words of Horace with indifputable appropriation:
Hic nigræ fucus loliginis, hæc eft
Ærugo mera: quod vitium procùl afore chartìs,
Atque animo priùs, ut fi quid promittere de me
Poffum aliud verè, promitto.
With what accuracy and to what extent Pope may
have purfued his juvenile application to the languages
of Greece and Rome, I would not prefume to fpe-
cify: but we know, that a ready and familiar inter-
courſe with theſe difficult and copious tongues is not
to be maintained, but by vigorous exertion and un-
relaxing induſtry. I fhall firft ftate, however, in few
words my deliberate opinion on this point, and ſhall
fubjoin my reaſons for it: I fhall afterwards corro-
borate my pofition by an inveſtigation of all the
material evidence on record, either in the declara-
tions of Pope himſelf, or in the teſtimonies of his ac-
quaintance.
It is my perfuafion then, that our poet, far from
apprehending with, fuitable promptitude the original
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lxi
language of the author, whom he undertook to
exhibit in an Engliſh drefs, was not fo familiarly
acquainted even with the Latin tongue, as to form
an inſtantaneous conception of a paffage by reading
Homer in the Latin interpretation of him, that
accompanies the ſchool editions: by which expref-
fions I underſtand fuch a ready conception of a fen-
tence, as would enable a reader to give an adequate
tranflation of it with a fidelity, that fuperſeded a re-
peated and laborious perufal; a perufal, altogether
incompatible, it is evident, with a timely execution
of fo tong a work. In proof of this affertion, I can
decifively pronounce, after an experimental exami-
nation of his whole performance, that he appears
uniformly to have collected the general purport of
every paffage from fome of his predeceffors, Dryden,
Dacier, Chapman, or Ogilby: a proceſs, not to be
fuppoſed, for a moment, invariably purſued by any
man, capable of forming a diftinct and, generally
fpeaking, a true delineation of his author from the
verbal metaphraſe of a Latin verfion. The truth of
this declaration will admit of no controverfy after a
practical examination fhall be inftituted by a fpecific
compariſon of our poet's verfion with thofe of the
tranflators here mentioned: a truth, fufficiently cor-
roborated by our ability to refer all his miſreprefen-
tations, which are frequent, and in many cafes fingu-
lar and grofs, with all his alterations and additions,
which are innumerable, to one or other of his pre-
deceffors; except in very few inftances, which ana-
logy will fet to the account of my incompetency,
from reading not fufficiently extenfive and imperfect
lxii
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
information, to trace all his authorities and affiftances,
rather than aſcribe this failure to a fundamental error,
in my fuppofition. But the notes, I prefume, which
I have interfperfed through the courſe of the poems,
will aſcertain this determination beyond all poffibility
of contradiction.
An additional prefumption, of great cogency, in
fupport of Pope's ignorance in the Greek and Roman.
languages, may reaſonably be refted on the ftrange
and ſcandalous blunders in the typography of the
Greek and Latin quotations throughout the notes on
the Iliad and Odyſſey, for which the fuperiour cor-
rectneſs of the Engliſh part will not allow any other,
affignable cauſe whatever. I thought it proper, as
an incontrovertible and indelible teftimony to this
effect, as the queftion may excite further difcuffion
and enquiry, that moſt of theſe quotations fhould be
left with all the improprieties of that edition, which
paſt under his own inſpection; and particularly with
the original fingularities of punctuation, which could
never have been fo exhibited (though his ſyſtem in
this reſpect, it muſt be owned, with regard to his
own language is unaccountably extraordinary) by
one but moderately familiar with the phraſeology of
his extracts. To furnish fome examples out of
many, the reader is referred to the notes on Iliad iii.
280. Odyſſey xii. 485. and to v. 28. for a moſt
ignominious and puerile miſtake of the language of
his author. But nothing can more loudly proclaim
his ignorance of the Greek, or, if he were acquainted
with it, his inexcufable negligence in omitting to
confult it, than the moſt vicious pronunciation of
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. xiii
proper names, throughout the poem: fo miſtaking
and confounding even the long and ſhort vowels with
each other, as to prove, when he is right, that he is
right by accident: fee Iliad ii. 756. v. 705. Odyſſey
iii. 575. xii. 483. This fpecies of blunder, how-
ever, has been frequently adverted to in my notes,
as occafion offered. But a fingular proof, how much
he tranflated on the authority of others without re-
courfe to his original, is furniſhed in the note on
Iliad iii. 475. for which my thanks are due to one,
qualified by the correcteft tafte and the moft exqui-
fite learning, beyond all competition, for the illuftra-
tion of theſe ſubjects.
to
{
}
Befides, fuch of Pope's notes, as contain any
quotations from the learned languages, or any re-
ferences to ancient authors, are in moſt inſtances
uniformly afcribed to their proper owners, Eufta-
thius, Dacier, and Spondanus: fome, however, de-
duced from the fame fources, are not acknowledged,
either from forgetfulneſs, or (as there is but too much
reaſon to ſurmiſe) a difingenuous affectation of eru-
dition, very inconfiftent with thofe profeffions of
good faith and impartial diftribution, fo explicitly
exhibited in the preliminary obſervations to his ver-
fion. For this reaſon, the few learned remarks, for
which my circumſcribed excurfions have not been
able to find an owner, may be concluded, I appre-
hend, upon the fairest probability, of a congenial
extraction with the reſt.
Broome and Fenton, his coadjutors in the Odyffey,
enjoyed the advantages of a regular and academical
education, Accordingly, their obligations to Dacier,
ixiv GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
Chapman, and Ogilby, either for fenfe or rhyme, will
be found far lefs frequent, than thofe of Pope.
It may be rejoined, however, and with much
plaufibility, and even truth, as a general remark, that
in traverfing a country, which has been paffed by a
former traveller of reputation, we are infenfibly faf-
cinated by the charm of fuch an affociation, into the
path of our predeceffor, when a more direct road
was obvious; and even when the propenfity of our
guide to deviation and irregularity was too well
known. We have indeed a very remarkable and
appoſite inftance of this pofition in our poet's blind
adherence to Dryden in his tranflation of the firft
Iliad. Though Pope was fo well aware of his maſter's
immoralities in literature, (greatly palliated, no doubt,
by the untowardnefs of his fituation) we fee our
poet, nevertheleſs, falling into the moſt flagrant ab-
furdities and wild mifreprefentations of that rambling
verfion, when Dacier was open before him, and fo well
qualified to furnifh the true purport of his author.
Of the fame fafcination from the predominant in-
fluence of a great example, we have a no lefs fingular
proof in the cafe even of Broome himfelf, who has
left a decifive fpecimen of his claffical abilities in an
elegant Latin ode preferved in his works; and who,
therefore, is a witnefs in this caufe beyond all excep-
tion. He has given us a tranflation of part of the
tenth Iliad in the ftyle of Milton; one or two quota-
tions from which will fuffice to fhew the reader, how
he followed the ſteps of Pope, from undiftinguiſhing
reverence, or fupine careleffhefs, when Pope had given
a very inaccurate exhibition of his original,
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lxv
Ver. 15. of that book is thus rendered by Pope:
He rends his hairs in facrifice to Jove;
and thus copied in his interpretation by Broome :
now from his royal head
Rends the fair curl in facrifice to Jove.
See my note on the paffage.
Homer:
Verfe 85. runs thus in
Speak, nor approach in filence: tell thy will.
Pope renders:
Stand off, approach not, but thy purpoſe tell :
by the ſpirit of which Broome feems to have been
led a ſtep further from his author:
Speak inftant; filent to advance is death.
But I forbear: for, though other inftances might
readily be adduced, for want of dates in the life of
Broome, I cannot certainly determine, whether his
tranſlation of this, and part of the eleventh book,
might not be prior in time to Pope's. I fhould fup-
poſe otherwiſe, from various confiderations: if not,
a compariſon of the two verfions, with a view to
point out the obligations of Pope, would have been
a curious and entertaining part of my undertaking.
Now, after this accumulation of internal evidence,
which appears to me upon the whole incapable of
evafion, and demonftrably declarative of the juftice
of my perfuafion on this fubject; let us turn our at-
tention in the next place to what our poet has inci-
dentally teftified of himſelf, and to the judgement and
information of his contemporaries.
VOL. I..
e
lavi GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
A
The moſt expreſs teftimony of Pope himſelf to
this effect, within my recollection, occurs in his imi-
tation of the fecond epiftle in the fecond book of
Horace, verſe 52 [z].
Bred up at home, full early I begun
To read in Greek the wrath of Peleus' fon.
As this paffage, however, aſcertains an attempt only,
without any intimation of proficiency, we might leave
it as we find it without any detriment to the pofition,
which I maintain, and without referve of allowance
for the prompt accommodation of an imitator to his
model; if Warburton's note on the verfe did not
put in a claim with confiderable emphaſis on behalf
of the claffical erudition of our poet. "At eight,"
we are told, “ Pope was put under one Taverner, a
"prieſt, who taught him the rudiments of the Latin
"and Greek tongues together. From him, in a
"little time, he was fent to a private fchool at
"Twiford, near Wincheſter. Here he continued
removed to another
* about a year; and was then
« near Hyde-Park corner. Under theſe two laft
"mafters, he loft the little he had got under the
"prieft. At twelve, he went with his father into
the Foreft; where he was, for a few months, under
“ another prieſt, and with as little fucceſs as before.
So far, it is plain, his knowledge of the Greek
and Latin languages muſt be flender indeed. At eight
years of age he had been, for a fhort time only,
initiated in the rudiments; and his learning, for the
[z] Romæ nutriri mihi contigit, atque doceri
Iratus Graiis quantum nocuiffet Achilles.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. lxvii
next four years, is repreſented as ftationary at beſt,
if not retrograde. But our commentator, whofe
energy and decifion were confpicuous in all his under-
takings, thus proceeds: He at length thought fit
"to become his own mafter. So that, while he
"was intent upon the ſubject, with a ſtrong appetite
" for knowledge, and an equal paffion for poetry,
«he
he infenfibly got Latin and Greek. And, what
"was extraordinary, his impatience of reftraint, in
"the ufual forms, did not hinder his fubjecting him-
"felf, now he was his own mafter, to all the drudgery
"and fatigue of perpetually recurring to his Grammar
"and Lexicon."
Now who does not defcry, upon the very furface
of this narrative, if not an appearance of contra-
diction between an infenfible and laborious acquiſition
of knowledge at the fame time and in the fame per-
ſon, at leaſt a romantic exaggeration, with a view to
aggrandiſe the fubject of his encomium, and to fu-
perfede the circumftantial ſpecification of direct proof,
by fuperinducing the veil of indiftinct and general
panegyric? In oppofition to theſe pompous, but
gratuitous, pretenfions, I might content myſelf with
confronting only thofe allegations, founded on exiſt-
ing and unquestionable documents, before adduced;
but I fhall rather prefer a reply in the words of Pope
himſelf, which virtually contain a pofitivè confuta-
tion of this rambling ftatement, warped from the
line of truth by the potent and combined attractions
of reverence for the Genius and affection for the
man.
e 2
Ixviii GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
"The [A] greater part of thoſe deviations from
"the Greek, which you have obferved, I was led
"into by Chapman and Hobbes: who are (it feems)
"as much celebrated for their knowledge of the
<<
original as they are decryed for the badnefs of
« their tranſlations. For my part, I generally took
"the author's meaning to be as you have explained
"it yet their authority, joined to the knowledge
"of my own imperfectneſs in the language, over-
"ruled me."
We may defcry in this paffage, under the cover
of ingenuous acknowledgement, a lurking affecta-
tion, which impairs confiderably the merit of fo frank
a confeffion of infufficiency, by an ungracious referve
in behalf of his independant acceptation of his author:
this, however, whether fincere or not, will by no
means vouch the large pretenfions of Warburton in
his behalf. The remainder of the letter, to which I
refer, will appear to every fagacious reader a genteel
but artful attempt to undervalue critical attainments,
by a fuperiour commendation of poetic powers;
yet not unattended by a wifh at the fame time to
convey an opinion of no flender acquirements in that
very department of literature, which he is endea-
vouring to depreciate; in confequence rather, he
would wiſh us to conclude, of an experimental con-
viction of it's infufficiency and unimportance, than
from any defect of information in himſelf.
2
[A] Pope's letter to Mr. Bridges, fubjoined to his life by Dr.
Johnfon.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. lxix
But now breaks in upon the glimmering twilight
of our enquiries the flaming teftimony of Dr.
Blair [B]! a teftimony, as Longinus remarks of
the eloquence of Demofthenes, calculated to con-
found, and fhiver into atoms by a fingle blaft, all our
meagre and infipid probabilities, in an inſtant.
"I remember alfo diftinctly, (though I have not
"for this the authority of my journal) that the con-
"verfation going on concerning Mr. Pope, I took
"notice of a report which had been fometimes pro-
"pagated, that he did not underſtand Greek. Lord
"Bathurft faid to me, that he knew that to be falſe;
"for that part of the Iliad was tranflated by Mr.
<<
<c
Pope in his houfe in the country; and that in the
morning when they affembled at breakfaft, Mr.
Pope ufed frequently to repeat, with great rapture,
"the Greek lines which he had been tranflating,
"and then to give them his verſion of them, and
"to compare them together."
Now I may fafely challenge any unprejudiced per-
fon, at all acquainted with the circumſtances of this
queftion, not to confefs immediately his perfuafion
of fome effential exaggeration in the ſtatement be-
fore us; refulting either from the memory or miſ
conception of the relator, or from fome involuntary
deception on the part of Lord Bathurft. His Lord-
fhip, in the former cafe, it is poffible, from a failure
in his eye-fight, might miſtake fome old Engliſh
[B] See Bofwell's life of Johnfon, vol. iii. p. 199 of the
8vo. edition.
e 3
1xx GENERAL OBSERVATIONS,
print for Greek characters; or feè no books at all,
and Pope truly tranflate at his houfe, but from Chap-
man, Dacier, and Ogilby: and, in the latter circum-
ftance of comparing the verfion with it's original,
even Pope himſelf, under the operation of vanity
and felf-importance, might make this oftentatious
exhibition of his pretended erudition before a com-
pany, whoſe flender acquirements he knew would
qualify them to become the dupes of fuch a folemn
impofition. However this be, it is moſt certain, and
demonftrable from experiment, that no portion of
Pope's tranflation for ten lines together can endure
a contraft with his author without manifeft proof of
the poffibility of melioration by clofer adherence to
him, with no facrifice, at the fame time, of elegance
and ſpirit: ſuch a melioration, too, as a proficient in
the Greek language muſt be fuppofed defirous to
accompliſh, as well from inclination as from duty,
and againſt which not an argument, I apprehend,
accompanied by a mere fhadowy ſemblance of pro-
bability, can be alledged by the verfatile ingenuity of
the moſt fagacious and devoted advocate. The re-
maining particular of Dr. Blair's report, which relates
to the Sonorous spoutings of Mr. Pope, reminds me of
a child, who was taught, like the parrot from his
cage, by an abfurd preceptrefs, to mouth an ode of
Anacreon in aſtoniſhment of the gaping ladies, be-
fore he could articulate even his mother-tongue; and
may be amuſingly contraſted with the facetious dia-
logue between the Surgeon and Parfon Adams, from
the pen of Fielding:
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lxxi
*
"The company were all attentive, expecting to
hear the doctor, who was what they call a dry fel-
"low, expofe the gentleman.
ex
*c
"He began therefore with an air of triumph: I
fuppofe, Sir! you have travelled. No, really, Sir!
faid the gentleman. Ho! then you have practiſed
" in the hoſpitals, perhaps.-No, Sir! Hum! not
"that neither? Whence, Sir! then, if I may be fo
"bold to enquire, have you got your knowledge in
furgery? From books. Books! cries the doctor.
"What? I fuppofe you have read Galen and Hip-
pocrates! No, Sir! faid the gentleman. How!
you underſtand furgery, anfwers the doctor, and
"not read Galen and Hippocrates !-I very feldom
go without them both in my pocket. They are
pretty large books! faid the gentleman. Aye,
"faid the doctor, I believe I know how large they
"are better than you. (At which he fell a winking,
" and the whole company burft into a laugh).
cc
<<
<c
"I fuppofe, brother, you underſtand Latin? A
little, fays the gentleman. Aye, and Greek now,
"I'll warrant you :
"Ton dapomibominos poluflofboio Thalaffes.
"But I have almoſt forgot theſe things: I could have
"repeated Homer by heart once.-Ifags! the gentle-
"man has caught a Traytor, fays Mrs. Tow-woufe:
"at which they all fell a laughing."
After this unpalatable and hazardous enquiry into
the claffical attainments of our poet, it will not be
unfeaſonable to ſay a few words refpecting the notes,
€ 4
Ixxii GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
which accompany the Iliad and Odyffey of his own
edition.
In general, the felection, which has been made
from Euftathius, Dacier, Spondanus, and other com-
mentators, is not injudicious, nor ill calculated to`
illuftrate and vindicate his author. Some of a critical
and philological complexion are impertinent and
empty in the extreme: pompous inanities! fuch as
might be preſuppoſed to appear in a cafual collection
by one, who rafhly ventured to over-ſtep the pro-
vince prefcribed to his operations by Nature and by
Study. Moſt of theſe I have paffed by uncenfured,
as derogatory to the dignity of criticifm; when
the unlearned reader would not have profited from
critical correction, and the learned could not re-
quire it. Such notes as appear altogether original,
which are few in number, come recommended to
our acceptance by thofe unequivocal marks of taſte
and fancy, of urbanity and acutenefs, which could
not but diftinguifh the fpontaneous animadverfions
of fo fine a genius upon the illuftrious founder of his
profeffion, and the great exemplar of the poetic art.
In this light, the notes of Pope are very valuable
and curious.
£
With reſpect to the notes on the Odyſſey, I vehe-
mently fufpect, I must acknowledge, fome undif
covered impofition upon the public. Theſe are
generally aſcribed to Broome, and are indeed afferted
as his own by Broome himſelf in the concluding note
to this poem. And yet, if I miſtake not, a reader
of fagacity will defcry in many of them a delicacy of
thought and a gaiety of expreffion, indubitably cha-
+
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lxxiii
racteriſtic of Pope himſelf: and it is fcarcely con-
ceivable, that ſuch a teeming imagination ſhould tranf-
late twelve books of the Odyffey, and correct the
remainder, without overflowing in fome remarks on
fuch an extraordinary and interefting performance.
In corroboration of my fufpicion, I wiſh the reader to
confult in particular the notes on verfes 24 and 192
of the xvth book.
I feel myſelf engaged with an ungracious topic,
but feek a ſhelter from the malice of infinuation
under a conſcious rectitude of purpoſe, and a deter-
mination to diſcharge, to the beſt of my abilities, the
duty of an editor to the public. I muſt infiſt, there-
fore, that it will be in vain to combat the reaſonable-
nefs of my conjecture, by oppofing the improbability
of an uſeleſs falfhood on this occafion, whilft we are
acquainted with fuch repeated proofs of infincerity and
abfurd deception, with regard to the diſtinct portions
of tranflation, ſeverally executed by our triumvirate.
Broome, in the laft note of the Odyffey, deliberately
ſtates his performance to have been the 6th, 11th,
and 18th books, and that of Fenton, the 4th and
20th; but, in the poſtſcript to this poem, Pope him-
felf, as if determined, from the compunction of re-
pentance for this delufion of the public on the part
of his coadjutor, to make an ample and ingenuous
confeffion of the truth, aggravates their offence by
an odious repetition of impoſture, under the fpecious
pretence of a final and moſt ſcrupulous adjuſtment of
their reſpective claims. "What affiſtance I received,"
fays he, "was made known in general to the publick
"in the original propoſals for this work, and the
Ixxiv GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
"particulars are ſpecify'd at the concluſion of it:
" to which I muft add (to be punctually juft) fome
part of the 10th and 15th books."
"
Now the difingenuous chicanery of this folemn
adjudication is univerfally acknowledged from abon-
dant evidence; and may be collected, moreover,
from my preliminary note to the firft book of the
Odyſſey.
If we turn our attention from this unpleafing re-
prehenſion to the tranſlation itſelf, and confider the
great extent and multifarious difficulties of fuch an
undertaking; we muft pronounce it an unrivalled
effort, in it's kind, of ingenuity and tafte. In the de-
ſcriptive parts of the poem, fuch as the catalogue of
the ſhips and the lift of warriours, the tranflation of
our countryman is at leaft equal to it's original: and
in the fublimer exhibitions of Homer's genius, par-
ticularly the deſcriptions of his battles, our Engliſh
bard ſeems inſtinct with all the genuine fire, with all
the divine enthuſiaſm, of his fublime exemplar, and
kindles in his progrefs with the unborrowed raptures
of native rage. His failings (for even the Iliad of
Pope is ſtamped with this fignature of Humanity)
may be ranked, I think, under the following heads:
1. A defect in ſuitable fidelity to his author: 2. A
want of fimplicity: 3. Unneceffary and incongruous
additions: 4. Careless, or injudicious, omiffions: and
5. laftly, Unpardonable rhymes, whether of diffimilar
found, or vicious pronunciation. I fhall prefume to
offer a few remarks upon each of theſe particulars.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. lxxv
1. Want of Fidelity.
This defect muſt not be afcribed to negligence,
indolence, or precipitation, caufes highly culpable,
but to his ignorance of the dead languages; or at
leaſt to that flender acquaintance with them, which
could not aſcertain the fenfe of a paragraph with a
facility and expedition compatible with ſo long a taſk.
Hence Pope was neceffitated, at a period too late for
laborious ſtudies, to confult his eaſe by reforting to
fuch guides as were acceffible to his enquiries: an
irreparable difadvantage this, and a lafting occafion
of regret to thofe, who would have been gratified by
a more exact repreſentation of the Father of ancient
poetry in fuch a garb: that is, to every admirer
of the English mufe. It would be poffible, beyond
all controverfy, to model Pope's verfion to an exact
conformity with it's prototype: but ſuch an accom-
modation, with whatever taſte and elegance it might
be accompliſhed, and with whatever preſervation of
every real ornament of the prefent verfion, would
never pleaſe; partly from a prepoffeffion, not to be
eradicated, in favour of ſo great an artiſt, which would
not allow it's proper merit to an execution of this
nature; and partly from an unconquerable propenſity
in the mind to revolt with irreconcileable antipathy
to fuch a motley compofition of diſcordant work-
manſhip. The notation, however, of fuch infideli-
ties has it's uſe, both in furniſhing the true fenfe of
Homer to thoſe unacquainted with his language, and
in quickening the diligence and exciting the ambition
of future adventurers, by fhewing the inefficiency of
even the fineſt genius, unfeconded by every auxiliary
of art and learning.
**
xxvi GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
2. Want of Simplicity.
In the preſent inftance, the confequences of this de-
fect, namely, diffimilarity and incongruity of charac-
ter, are more lamentable from their importance, than
thoſe originating in any other fource. Homer is not
more valuable to the votary of poefy for his numbers
and his fancy, than to the hiftorian, the moralift, and
the philofopher, for his facts and manners. He is,
in the first place, with an exception of Hefiod only,
by far the moſt ancient ſpecimen of heathen literature
now extant in the world. His poems compriſe an
extenſive delineation of the geographical, aftrono-
mical, phyfical, and medical attainments of his con-
temporaries; they exhibit the religious fentiments
and devotional practices of numerous nations, the
moft renowned of antiquity; the various policies of
the moſt civilized countries in Europe and in Afia;
the whole œconomy of focial inftitutions and domeſtic
manners; and, in fhort, whatever can contribute to
afcertain the peculiarities of condition, and the ex-
tent of civilization, as it refpects intellectual im-
provement, political ſtability, and manual dexterities,
in thoſe remote ages of the world. An accurate re-
preſentation, therefore, in their own tongue, of fuch
a poem, which may be ſtiled with propriety the mirrour
of ancient times, would certainly be an invaluable
acquifition to that numerous claſs of literary enquirers,
whofe education and opportunities have not been
favourable to a full acquirement of the Greek language.
Now, in many inſtances, our illuftrious countryman,
partly, it should feem, from a certain ficklinefs of
taſte, and partly from a defire of compliance with the
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. lxxvii
falfe delicacy of faftidious readers, has omitted, or
diſguiſed, characteriſtic circumftances of his author,
which he ſuppoſed would not appear, without danger
of diſguſt, in modern poetry. Thus the native
lineaments of Homer are fometimes buried, and
fometimes diſtorted, by the indifcriminate colouring
of modern art: the wine is well bodied, rich, and
flavourous; but has loft by adulterate infufion ſome-
thing of that congenial racinefs, which indicates and
diftinguishes the parent foil. This defect of true
taſte, or rather this accommodated deviation from it,
is the more remarkable, as our tranflator, with a
fingular inconſiſtency, enlarges in feveral places of
his notes on the effențial importance of his author, as
characteriſtical of the fimple cuſtoms and inartificial
manners of thofe early ages of the world. It is not
improbable, I think, that Rofcommon, whom Pope
juftly reverenced, might have ſome ſhare in fixing
the fentiments of the public and of our tranflator, by
thoſe excellent verſes in his Effay on tranflated verſe,
immediately connected with our preſent fubject.
For who, without a qualm, has ever look'd
On holy garbage [D], though by Homer cook'd?
Whoſe railing heroes, and whoſe wounded Gods,
Make fome fufpect he fnores, as well as nods [E].
[D] Alluding to Iliad i. 459–467. ver. 609–612. of Pope's
tranflation.
1
[] In allufion to Horace, art. poët. 359.
idemque
Indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
lxxviii GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
But, in my judgement, (to comment on the caſe
here ſpecified, though not particularly applicable to
this occafion from a failure of Pope on that paffage)
a minute detail of fuch a curious opération, as that
of an ancient feaft on facrifice, will readily com-
penfate a hazard of difguft from the employment of
terms, intrinfically unoffending, and merely rendered
obnoxious by fuperinduced fentiments and uſages,
wholly unauthoriſed by the fimple fuggeftions of
Truth and Nature [F]. Thefe artificial difaffections
have been productive of much inconvenience both
in the concerns of literature, by annihilating a con-
fiderable portion of ferviceable language to the
fqueamish writer, and in the habitudes of common
life. All fuch acquired niceties are indeed in fome
reſpect juftly regarded as the criterion of depraved
opinion and immoral practice; as the incentives of
vice and luft, unknown among nations in the pri-
mæval fimplicity of innocence, and doomed to final
obliteration from that confummation of human virtue,
which Reaſon proclaims to be attainable from the
perfectibility of our Nature, and to which we are
ftrenuouſly exhorted by the reiterated precepts of
Chriſtian purity for, as the fatirift juſtly teaches,
Nunquàm aliud Natura, aliud Sapientia, dixit:
Religion's voice, and Nature's, is the fame.
On this fubject our epic poet, (to whoſe merits as
a poet, a patriot, and a man, it is not eaſy for
Panegyric to be juft) has expreffed himſelf with a
[F] Quià nec fit vox ulla naturâ turpis. Quint. inft. orat. viii. 3.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. Ixxix
!
manly indignation, becoming the rigorous fanctity
of his character:
Then was not guilty Shame, diſhoneſt Shame,
Of Nature's works, honor difhonorable.
Sin-bred! how have ye troubled all mankind
With fhews inftead, mere fhews of feeming pure;
And banish'd from man's life his happieſt life,
Simplicity and ſpotlefs Innocence! [G]
3. Unneceffary and incongruous additions.
It will happen not unfrequently from the charac
ter of Engliſh verfification and the inevitable cir-
cumſtances of a paffage, that a couplet, or a verſe,
muft of neceffity be fabricated from a portion of the
author not verbally commenfurate to the quantity of
verfion requifite to complete the period: in which
cafe the amplification, or addition, now become in-
difpenfable, ſhould harmonize with the peculiar ſcope
of the context, and the general character of the
writer. Let me explain my meaning by one, or
two examples upon this point.
At Iliad ii. 731. it was found convenient to con-
struct more than one Engliſh verfe from the follow-
ing portions of two in Homer:
Ασκληπιε δυο παιδε,
Ιητηρ' αγαθώ :
Two good phyſicians, Æfculapius' ſons,
This fenfe, it is plain, without injurious defalca-
tion, could fcarcely be included, by any poffibility
[G] Apud Salluftium dictà fanctè et antiquè, ridentur à nobis:
-quam culpam non fcribentium quidèm judico, fed legentium;
-quatenùs verba honefta moribus perdidimus. Quintil. ibid.
lxxx GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
of contrivance, in a ſingle verſe: there was no alter-
native, therefore, even under that conceffion, but a
triplet, of which Pope was not fond, and which, fre-
quently employed, would be unacceptable to the
generality of modern readers; or otherwife of an en-
tire couplet. The latter expedient ſeemed preferable
to the tranſlator: and accordingly, by a dextrous
amplification and a periphrafis incomparably elegant,
in complete unifon with the ſpirit and ſentiment of
his author, he has executed the paffage with a felicity
of excellence, that fills up the largeſt expectation of
the moſt admiring votary of Pope:
To them his fkill their Parent-God imparts,
Divine profeffors of the healing arts.
The reader will be pleaſed, perhaps, with another
ſpecimen alfo of venial expanfion, in which no
extraneous and unfuitable thought is introduced, but
a perfect correſpondence in every reſpect with the
tenour of his original is happily preferved: a fpeci-
men, that riſes to the higheſt point of ingenuity,
taſte, and beauty; delightful, beyond the delineations
of language, to the genuine feelings of poetic rapture.
Και τοτε δη μιν επεσσιν αμειβομενα προσεειπον
Ο Κιρκη, τις γαρ ταυτην ὁδὸν ἡγεμονεύσει ;
Εις Αίδα δ' ε πω τις αφίκετο νηί μελαινῇ :
of which, for the information of the English reader,
and to diſplay with more juftice and perfpicuity the
confummate elegance and ſkill of Pope, I fhall fub-
join a literal tranſlation:
Her with theſe anſwering words I then addreſt :
But on that way, O! Circe, who ſhall guide ?
None yet reacht Pluto's dome in fable ſhip.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
lxxxi
Hear now the voice of poetic infpiration, in a
bliſsful ſtrain of immortality!
How fhall I tread, I cry'd, oh! Circe, fay,
The dark deſcent? and who fhall guide the way?
Can living eyes behold the realms below?
What bark to waft me, and what wind to blow?
Of fome thoughts, engrafted on the original, it is
not ſo eaſy to decide, whether they merit praiſe or
reprehenfion at the fame time that they are unne-
ceffary, they are not incongruous; elegant, but ad-
ventitious; fuch as may be denominated not unaptly,
ingenious fuperfluities: upon thefe, I fay, it were
hazardous to pronounce a poſitive ſentence of con-
demnation. In Iliad x. 9. the couplet
By fits one flaſh fucceeds, and one expires;
And heaven flames thick with momentary fires:
is an addition of the tranflator, with a view to faci-
litate and clear the connection between the com-
pariſon and the fubject; to which purpoſe it is in-
deed well adapted. Again, in Iliad xxi. 73. where
I find lefs difficulty in determining, of the following
verſe,
Earth, whoſe ſtrong grafp has held down Hercules:
the fentiment is general in Homer, and the ſpecifica-
tion of Hercules is too bold, and an appendage of the
tranſlator, who found this fingular innovation ready to
his hands in Chapman. So in that fine paffage of
Dryden's Virgil, Æn. xii. 1351. lefs liable to exception,
as conformable to truth in a very appofite inftance
and on a very critical occafion:
VOL. I.
f
lxxxii GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
Yet think, oh! think, if mercy may be fhewn,
(Thou hadſt a father once, and haft a fon)
that pathetic clauſe in Italics is not found in Virgil.
It may be deemed, I am aware, a pedantic aufterity
of criticiſm and a meagre deficiency of taſte to pafs
a cold fentence of difapprobation on fuch happy
efforts of inventive enthuſiaſm: but the firft and in-
difpenfible requifite of tranſlation is a punctual exhi-
bition of the author, without exaggeration, diminu-
tion, and diſtortion: fo that deviations of this kind,
upon a difinterefted view of the fubject, are barely
fufferable after all on the fcore of extraordinary
merit, and in cafe of failure muſt incur unavoidably
an unqualified condemnation.
With reſpect to incongruous interpolations, of
fuch a character, as disfigure, mifrepreſent, and per-
vert the model, no indulgence can be given them.
Some fuch occur even in Pope's tranflation of the
Iliad and Odyffey; but, as they are pointed out in the
notes, a diſtinct exemplification here may be thought
fuperfluous.
4. Careleſs, or injudicious, omiffions.
Various defects of this clafs were inevitable in our
poet's verfion from a cauſe largely infifted on before;
namely, his ignorance of the Greek and Latin lan-
guages; or, if that fhould not be conceded, what
would be equivalent in it's operation on the preſent
topic, but much more cenfurable, his inattention
to his author, and the contemplation of him through
the medium of previous tranflations only: fuch de-
fects, I fay, were inevitable, unleſs we could fuppoſe
an undeviating fidelity throughout on the part of his
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. Ixxxiii
predeceffors. My notes are fo generally occupied
in animadverting upon improprieties of this defcrip-
tion, as to render a particular inveſtigation unne-
ceffary now.
5. Unpardonable rhymes, of diffimilar found, or
affected pronunciation.
Rhymes of the former imperfection occur in
every
page, and are abundantly noted by me in my pro-
greſs through the poem: my meaning in the latter
ſhall be unfolded by one example, from Iliad, xiii. 161.
Nor deem this day, this battle, all you lofe;
A day more black, a fate more vile, enſues:
and one from Odyffey, xii. 397.
There o'er my hands the living wave I pour;
And Heaven and Heaven's immortal thrones adore.
The latter, moſt vicious, and, to my tafte, infuf-
ferably barbarous, pronunciation, though very pre-
valent in our times alfo, is the lefs allowable, as it
confounds the word in queftion with another of very
different fignification; and a language is effentially
injured by a voluntary acceffion of inconveniencies,
arifing from this confufion, too frequent already in
moſt, and abundantly in our own. To him, who
ſhall be inclined to cenfure this judgement as unrea-
fonably fevere, or affectedly delicate, I fhall reply
in the words of Horace, as rendered by Roſcommon
in a pure tenuity of unlaboured diction, well adapted
to didactic poetry [H]:
[#] Art. poët. ver. 366–379.
O major juvenum, quamvis et voce paternâ
Fingeris ad rectum, et per te fapis; hoc tibi dictum
f @
lxxxiv GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
1
Remember this as an important truth ;
Some things admit of mediocrity:
A counſellor, or pleader at the bar,
May want Meffala's powerful eloquence,
Or be lefs read than deep Cafcellius;
Yet this indifferent lawyer is eſteem'd:
But no authority of gods or men
Allows of any mean in poefy.
As an ill concert, or a coarſe perfume,
Difgrace the delicacy of a feaſt,
And might with more difcretion have been fpar'd;
So poefy, whofe end is to delight,
Admits of no degrees; but muſt be ſtill
Sublimely good, or deſpicably ill.
Befides, one principal fource of the gratification,
that ſprings from poetry, is undoubtedly derived
from a diſplay of fkill in the artift, and a conception
of difficulty, on the part of the reader, furmounted
by dexterity of execution: but what an abatement
muſt be occaſioned of courſe to this pleaſure, when
words are either adopted for the mere convenience
of the rhyme, as they cafually prefent themſelves,
independent of their fitnefs; or are admitted to a
?
Tolle memor: certis medium et tolerabile rebus
Rectè concedi: confultus juris et actor
Caufarum mediocris abeſt virtute diferti
Meffalæ, nec fcit quantum Cafcellius Aulus ;
Sed tamen in pretio eft: mediocribus effe poëtis
Non homines, non dî, non conceffere columnæ.
Ut gratas inter menfas fymphonia difcors,
Et craffum unguentum, et Sardo cum melle papaver,
Offendunt, poterat duci quià cœna fine iftis ;
Sic animis natum inventumque poëma juvandis,
Si paullùm fummo deceffit, vergit ad imum,
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. lxxxv
rhyming ftation, without a fcrupulous regard to
proximity of found: and we are thus feelingly ad-
vertiſed at every ſtep of the lazineſs and inattention
of the tranflator?
In many inftances, that the reader may not be
precipitate in his cenfures, I have omitted the men-
tion of exceptionable rhymes, when the fame or
fimilar had been noticed before, from a defire of all
poffible brevity in fuch minute and unintereſting cri-
ticiſm, mingled with a confideration for his time and
a refpect for his fagacity. Words of the fame form,
but different in pronunciation, fuch as love, move,
Jove; live, thrive, &c. with a great variety of other
terminations, muſt be conceded to the poet without
demur, in my judgement; or we ſhall impoſe a taſk
upon him tranſcending all the verſatility of human
wit, and fhall unavoidably produce a too frequent
recurrence of the only rhyming words, that would
be left for occupation. There are fome others alſo,
ſtill more unlike, as even, given, Heaven, &c. of
fuch perpetual neceffity and convenience, fo com-
modious in particular to the ends of verfes, and
accommodated by fuch a fcarcity of parallels; fo
prevalent moreover in our moſt accepted writers; as
to claim an unreſerved indulgence from the rigorous
fentence of profcription.
Thus, under the impreffion of a reverential diffi-
dence, bordering on religious awe, but fuftained by
a conviction of difintereſted purpoſe, and protected,
I truſt, by my enthuſiaſtic admiration of the mighty
genius and exquiſite accompliſhments of our tranfla-
£ 3
lxxxvi GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
is
tor, have I prefumed, but with a trembling hand of
conſcious imbecility, to delineate a few dark ſpots,
fcarcely vifible but to the teleſcopic eye of fearching
Criticiſm, on this luminary of tranfcendent bright-
nefs; from whofe fountain the urns of all future
adventurers in English verfe will be replenished. I
commend, however, my well-intentioned efforts to
the candid acceptance of the reader, and proceed to
the conclufion of my remarks.
We ſhould ſuppoſe of courſe, that any tranſlator,
and much more an original genius, naturally impa-
tient of fuch reſtraint, would gradually fink under
the fatigues of fo long a work. This was undoubt-
edly the cafe of Pope even by his own confeffion,
in his Farewell to London:
Why ſhould I ſtay? Both parties rage:
My vixen miſtreſs ſqualls:
The wits in envious feuds engage,
And Homer (damn him!) calls.
Accordingly, if I miftake not, an attentive reader
will diſcover more frequent inftances of careleffneſs,
and a languor creeping upon him with accelerated
progrefs, towards the conclufion of the longer books
even in the Iliad: but theſe ſymptoms become more
numerous and ſtrong throughout the Odyffey; dif-
coverable by frequent and confiderable abridgements
of his author, and by inferiour correctnefs. Indeed,
there is reaſon to ſuppoſe, that the fecond under-
taking partook much lefs of a ſpontaneous. effort
than the former; and was prompted, in a great mea-
fure perhaps, by the cold incentive of pecuniary profit;
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. lxxxvii
&
and in part from a defire of exhibiting a complete
performance to the public.
In my opinion, if Time and Inclination had con-
ſpired to that allotment, Dryden's genius and mode
of verfification were better fuited to a verfion of
Homer than of Virgil: as Pope was eminently calcu-
lated in every point of view for a noble exhibition
of the Roman majeſty in an Engliſh drefs. It muſt
be owned, however, that poetry has fuſtained no
great lofs by the diſcontinuance of Dryden's attempt
on Homer with the conclufion of the firft Iliad.
The extreme careleffneſs of that extraordinary genius,
and his extravagant licentiouſneſs in every ſpecies
of deviation, have rendered that fpecimen of his
powers rather a difparagement to the reputation of
fo glorious a poet, than a motive of regret to his
readers though Pope, indeed, from a fincere vene-
ration for the vaſt endowments of his maſter, bor-
dering in this inftance, I think, on puerile extrava-
gance and affected candour, has declared his difincli-
nation to have attempted Homer after Dryden, had
he proſecuted his undertaking. On the fuppofition
of a proportionate diligence in Dryden, the freedom
and fimplicity of his diction, his exuberant and
flowing verſe, diſtinguiſhed by an unaffected facility,
that accommodated the moft familiar paffages, and a
ſtatelineſs that would have kept pace with the majefty
of the moft fublime, feconded by an unexampled
verfatility of phrafe and exuberance of compofition,
characteriſe him as the congenial tranflator of the
Grecian bard; as Pope, from a moft delicate fenfi-
bility of taſte, a judgement unimpeachably accurate
:
£ 4
f
lxxxviii GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
and refined, a texture of verfification mellifluous,
fonorous, and majeftic; with every embelliſhment of
poetical phrafeology, at once magnificent and chaſte :
ſeemed preeminently qualified to produce a tranſcript
of Virgil, which the fondeft admirer of antiquity
would not have prefumed to diſparage in competition
with the great original. Yet, in the preſent ſtate of
things, we could not conſent to exchange our Engliſh
Iliad for an Æneid, even of the fame artificer: and
much leſs for ſuch a Homer as he would have left us,
could Dryden's Virgil be ſpared to our country;' a
work, which contributed fo much to the improve-
ment of Pope, as an excellent model, as a treaſury
of poetic beauties, and as an incentive of emula-
tion: a work, which made him indeed in a great
meaſure what he was. The ſtream of Pope's poetry,
clear, and full, and ſtrong, may be justly compared
to the grandeur and exuberance of the Nile: but it's
fountains, like thoſe of the river of Ægypt, are not
unknown.
The characters of the poetical tranflators of
Homer's poems, who preceded Pope, may be ſtated
in few words: and have been in fome meaſure fairly
and fully drawn by the hand of Pope himſelf.
Chapman was not deftitute of genius. His expref-
fion is copious, diverfified, and vigorous; his execu-
tion, ſpirited, and occafionally rifing into fublimity.
The effect, however, of his tranflation is much
weakened by paraphraſtical prolixity and unauthoriſed
interpolations to a degree of frivolous puerility and
wild licentiouſneſs. His phrafes and epithets are
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. lxxxix
.
fometimes eminently happy: of which, and of his
rhymes, our poet will be fhewn to have availed him-
felf on many occafions with little ceremony and no
fcrupulous acknowledgement of obligation. Such
redundancy of fentiment and bold luxuriance of lan-
guage afforded many opportunities of felecting
flowers to fo careful a fcrutinizer in the wilds of
Poetry, as the bee of Twickenham.
Hobbes is ftiff, jejune, and crabbed; devoid of
ornament, and deſtitute of taſte: he cramps, hud-
dles, mutilates, and burleſques his author: he is
coarſe, and vulgar, and flat beyond the infipidity of
verbal profe.
Homer, in the hands of the rigid philofopher of
Malmſbury, undergoes the harſh diſcipline of the
dwarfs compreffed in boxes by the ancients [1].
The unmerciful ftrictures of the operator not only
prevent an appearance of the body in it's native
form and juſt proportions, but cruſh it to deformity.
A tranſlator like this, in all reſpects illaudable, could
have but flender charms for the hilarity and elegance
of a teeming fancy and an improved taſte: and ac-
cordingly the obligations of Pope to Hobbes are few
and trivial.
The chief merit of Ogilby confifts in a com-
mendable and uniform fidelity to the fenfe of his
author. As a poet, his pretenfions to praiſe of any
kind can ſcarcely be ſupported: he has neither ani-
mation of thought, accuracy of tafte, fenfibility of
feeling, nor ornament of diction. Yet our tranſlator
[1] See Longinus de fub. fect. ult.
XC
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
will be found to have confulted his verfion with un-
remitting ſteadinefs, and to have profited by his
rhymes in more inftances than would be previouſly
fuppofed. The fimilar ftructure of his verfification
may be reaſonably deemed a principal cauſe of ſuch
particular attention from Pope, who reflects upon this
tranſlator, by condefcending to borrow from him,
an honour, which his own folitary efforts would never
have procured; and has thus fecured, perhaps, the
future exiſtence of a verfion, juft finking into the
gulph of perpetual oblivion.
Pretty! in amber to obſerve the forms
Of hairs, or ſtraws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms!
The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,
But wonder how the devil they got there.
As I have occaſionally quoted, for the entertain-
ment of the reader and to relieve the drynefs of
verbal criticiſm, feveral tranflators, fubfequent to
Pope; it may be expected, that I fhould paſs a fhort
judgement upon them alſo.
In the year 1740 H. Travers publifht by fubfcrip-
tion a miſcellaneous collection of poetry: among
which are tranflations of the three firſt Iliads, and
from the fixth the ſtory of Bellerophon. The whole
of this collection evinces a man of genuine poetic
talents; and the tranſlations juſt mentioned are exe-
cuted with confiderable ability. But he treads clofely
in the ſteps of Pope: and, though he frequently
improves on his predeceffor, the general effect of
his verfion is cold and feeble in compariſon, and
fufficiently fhews at every ſtep the extent of his
obligations to the model, which lay before him. He
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
xci
too, though a man of learning, has fupinely adopted
fome of his maſter's mifreprefentations of their author.
The merits of Mr. Cowper it is much more diffi-
cult to eſtimate, with a benevolent regard at the fame
time to the facred feelings of an amiable writer, under
a reverence inſpired by a man of fine genius, and
with juftice to the public by a religioufly fcru-
pulous adherence to fincerity. I fpeak with un-
willing emphafis, but unaffected hefitation, when I
affert, If my own ears are not abfolutely unattuned
to the mellifluous cadence of poetic numbers, the
ftructure of Mr. Cowper's verfe is harfh, broken,
and inharmonious, to a degree inconceivable in a
writer of ſo much original and intrinfic excellence.
His fidelity to his author is, however, entitled to
unreſerved praife, and proclaims the accuracy and
intelligence of a critical proficient in his language.
The true fenfe of Homer and the character of his
phrafeology may be feen in Mr. Cowper's verfion to
more advantage beyond all compariſon, than in any
other tranſlation whatſoever within the compafs of
my knowledge. His epithets are frequently com-
bined after the Greek manner, which our language
moſt happily admits, with fingular dexterity and com-
plete fuccefs: his diction is grand, copious, energetic,
and diverfified; full fraught with every embellifh-
ment of poetic phraſeology: his turns of expreffion
are on many occafions hit off with moft ingenious
felicity; and there are fpecimens of native fimplicity
alfo in his performance, that place him at leaſt on a
level with his author, and vindicate his title in this
reſpect to a fuperiority over all his predeceffors in
xcii
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
this moſt arduous and painful enterpriſe. Bofwell,
in his life of Johnſon, has ſpoken of Mr. Cowper's
tranſlation with an unfeeling petulance, with an in-
folent dogmatiſm, perfectly congenial to that raſh and
audacious cenfor [K].
In conclufion, I muſt folicit the indulgence of the
reader, whilſt I detain his attention by a few words
concerning myſelf more immediately, and, in parti-
cular, on my conduct as the editor of thefe noble,
poems. I have fome explanations to give, many
apologies to make, and much candour to implore,
or ever I can expect a favourable acceptance of my
labours.
:
It did not appear to fall within my province, as
the publiſher of an Engliſh verfion, to digrefs into
criticiſms, verbal or fentimental, on Homer himſelf;
into difquifitions on points of hiſtory and geography,
and the oeconomical diftribution of his poem: ani-
madverſions of this kind, therefore, will be fparingly
diſcovered, and only on occafions, when they were
immediately demanded from their connection with the
tranſlation of our poet. What I conceived to have
become my principal duty, under this engagement,
was, 1. To point out the material deviations of the
tranſlator from the fenfe of his original: 2. To open
་
[K] This fentence would have been accompanied by fome
additional chaſtiſement; but the object of it is beyond the reach
of human reformation :
From zeal or malice now no more to dread;
And Engliſh vengeance wars not with the dead,
$
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
xciii
the fources of theſe deviations, and at the fame time
exhibit the verfions of thoſe predeceffors, by which
he had effentially modelled his own: and 3. laftly,
To paſs a free cenfure, to the beſt of my judgement,
on the defects of his verfification, that I might pre-
vent as far as poffible the pernicious effects of weighty
authority from fo diftinguiſhed an example; and
might thus contribute, as far as the mediocrity of my
talents and tafte would enable me, to the melioration
of Engliſh poetry.
1. A deficiency of claffical knowledge could not
fail of detection during the progreſs of ſo long a
work as the tranſlation of Homer's Iliad, though he
is the moſt fimple and perfpicuous of writers: and
Pope's aberrations from the fenfe of his author are
much too oblique and frequent to be explained on
any other conceivable hypothefis, without a grofs
impeachment of his character as a literary profligate:
otherwiſe, it were a moſt fraudulent impoſture on the
public, and an immoral violation of this reaſonable
confidence, that a man, who profited fo abundantly
by his undertaking [L] fhould fpare no labour within
the compaſs of his abilities in a confcientious diſcharge
[1] But thanks to Homer fince I live and thrive,
Indebted to no prince or peer alive,
are his own words of himſelf and his tranſlation; uttered, alas!
with little truth and lefs modefty. The lift of his ſubſcribers is
emblazoned with royalty and nobility; and the man, who con-
defcends to folicit the public for fubfcriptions, let his genius and
accompliſhments be as eminent as they pleafe, is indebted to the
benefaction of every contributor.
xciv GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
of his engagement. Had he been adequately verſed,
therefore, in the language of his author, fuch a neglect,
as experiment will prove upon him, would demon-
ftrate an indifference to his duty, or a lazy precipi-
tation in the completion of his talk, for which no
apology can be offered. And it feemed of fome
moment, as a literary curiofity at leaſt, that ſome
examiner, not incompetent to fuch an office, fhould
fubmit to the invidious drudgery of pointing out to
the Engliſh reader in what reſpects this fublime and
elegant production diſagreed with it's great original.
2. It ſeemed alfo, not unlikely to be productive
of ſome amuſement to the lovers of poetry, and a
help to the formation of a true eſtimate of our poet's
merit in this work, to trace his fteps through the
paths of his predeceffors, as far as they were dif
coverable now. Perhaps, however, the deduction
from his praiſe of invention on this fcore may be
more than counterbalanced by the refult of compariſon
in favour of his tafte: by contemplating the rich
tiffue of poetical embelliſhment, in which he has fo
gorgeouſly enrobed the rags and nakednefs of his
predeceffors. They at leaft, as I before infinuated,
are indebted to him for innumerable fpecimens of
their ſtraw preſerved in the pellucid amber of his
genius; for abundant converfions of their difregarded
and forgotten rubbiſh by his magic touch into the
pureft gold.
3. It may appear on the firft afpect, with every
femblance of propriety, a moſt hardy and unwarrant-
able prefumption, an unequivocal token of an over-
weening confidence in my own attainments, for an
GENERÁL OBSERVATIONS. xcv
uninſpired reſident in the very loweft regions of Par-
naffus, who "glows while he reads, but trembles as
he writes;" to have ventured not only an indication of
the failings of Pope, but a frequent attempt to com-
penfate or correct them. I muſt entreat the reader,
however, to confider me in my true character; not
as an abfurd pretender to rivalry in my fubftitutions,
but merely as an officious adventurer in his fervice,
by endeavouring his gratification through a more
pleaſant medium than a dry recital of remarks in un-
adorned profe; and this too with the facrifice of all
ſelfiſhneſs in ſo unreſerved an expoſure of myſelf to
an imputation of audacity and the free laſh of ridi-
cule. But my chief intention by this conduct was,
to give ſome intimation of the manner, in which
Pope might have delineated the phraſe and ſentiment
of his author with inculpable preciſion; with no ex-
tinction of fire, and no impediment to the flowing
facility of his numbers. I regard myſelf as little
more than the lifeless guide-poft, ftationed merely to
point the road; not as the vigorous traveller, who
can purſue it. It is within the reach of very mode-
rate difcernment and very flender talents to defcry
miſtakes; but true genius only can correct them. It
is a fact indubitably certain, that an accurate know-
ledge of the Greek tongue would have enabled Pope
to give us a tranſlation of Homer perfectly preciſe
and faithful, without hazard of evaporation to a fingle
atom from the vital fpirit of poetic phrenzy.
I have much reafon alfo to apprehend fatiety and
diſguſt on the part of my reader from a current
fimilarity of remark; which, however, feemed in-
xcvi GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
:
feparable from the requifition of my undertaking:
and with ſtill ſtronger apprehenfion may I fuppofe
the probability of wearinefs from a fameneſs of ex-
preffion in the delivery of theſe remarks. But I
choſe to encounter this danger, in preference, on the
one hand, to the ſelf-torment of perpetual excurfion
in purſuit of new expreffion; and, on the other, to
the cenfure of moft ridiculous and pedantic affecta-
tion, by a diſproportionate inveſtment of meager cri-
ticiſms in the gorgeous habiliments of technical and
fonorous phrafe [M]. Who could exclaim, without
a moſt ridiculous felf-fufficiency, for the IIa σтw of
Archimedes to move a brick, or elevate a feather?
Parturiunt montes, naſcetur ridiculus mus.
The mountains labour, and a moufe is born.
Laſtly; to remove from myſelf no improbable ac-
cufation of cenforial malignity, imputable either to
conſtitutional fournefs, to an envious difparagement
of unattainable accompliſhments, or an infolent affec-
tation of delicate fenfibility and ſuperior diſcernment;
I muſt advertiſe the reader, that to notice imper-
fections was more confonant to my duty, than to ex-
patiate on excellence. The numberless elegances of
Pope's tranſlation would in this caſe have reduced me
to the neceffity of perpetual exclamation only, with
no great deference to the taſte and fagacity of the
[M] Quod alibi magnificum, tumidum alibi: et, quæ humilia
circa res magnas, apta circa minores videntur: et, ficut in ora-
tione nitidâ, notabile eft humilius verbum, et velùt macula; ità
à fermone tenui fublime nitidumque difcordat, fitque corruptum,
quià in plano tumet. Quintil. inftit. orat. viii. 3.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
xcvii
reader: Pulchrè, benè, rectè! muſt have been the
wearifome and monotonous burthen of every para-
graph. The gay profufion of poetic flowers through
this paradife of the Mufes beams with a bloom of
beauty, and breathes with a gale of fragrance, which
muſt excite vibrations of pleaſure on the dull fenfo-
rium even of the moſt inanimate obſerver; and will
charm the more delicate fenfations of fympathetic
fouls with inexpreffible and eternal rapture!
As when to them, who fail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are paſt.
Mozambic, off at ſea north-eaft winds blow
Sabean odours from the ſpicy fhore
Of Araby the bleft: with ſuch delay
Well pleas'd, they flack their courfe, and many a league
Cheer'd with the grateful fmell old Ocean fmiles.
GILBERT WAKEFIELD..
Hackney, Sept. 21, 1795.
Vou. I.
譬
​to
THE
FIRST BOOK
}
OF THE
ODYSSEY.
VOL. I.
B
1
THE ARGUMENT.
Minerva's Deſcent to Ithaca.
THE Poem opens within forty-eight days of the arrival
of Ulyffes in his dominions. He had now remained
Seven years in the island of Calypfo, when the Gods af-
fembled in council propofed the method of his departure
from thence, and his return to his native country. For
this purpoſe it is concluded to fend Mercury to Calypfo,
and Pallas immediately defcends to Ithaca. She holds a
conference with Telemachus, in the fhape of Mentes King
of the Tapbians; in which she adviſes him to take a
journey in quest of his Father Ulyffes, to Pylos and Sparta,
where Neftor and Menelaus yet reigned; then, after
having visibly displayed her divinity, disappears. The
fuitors of Penelope make great entertainments, and riot
in her palace till night. Phemius fings to them the re-
turn of the Grecians, till Penelope puts a stop to the fong.
Some words arife between the fuitors and Telemachus,
who fummons the council to meet the day following. P.
NOTES PRELIMINARY.
WE
E fhall proceed in the fame method through the courfe of
theſe Annotations upon the Odyſſey, as thoſe in the Iliad ;
confidering Homer chiefly as a Poet, endeavouring to make his
beauties understood, and not to praiſe without a reafon given. It
is equally an extreme, on the one hand to think Homer has no
human defects; and on the other to dwell fo much upon thoſe
defects, as to depreciate his beauties. The greater part of Cri-
ticks form a general character, from the obfervation of particular
errors, taken in their own. oblique or imperfect views; which is
as unjuſt, as to make a judgment of the beauty of a man's body
from the fhadow it happens to caft, in fuch or fuch a pofition.
To convince the Reader of this intended impartiality, we readily
allow the Odyffey to be inferior to the Iliad in many refpects. It
has not that fublimity of ſpirit, or that enthuſiaſm of poetry's
but then it must be allowed, if it be lefs noble, it is more in-
ftructive: the other abounds with more Heroifm, this with more
Morality. The Iliad gives us a draught of Gods and Heroes, of
difcord, of contentions, and fcenes of flaughter; the Odyffey fets
before us a ſcene more amiable, the landſcapes of nature; the
pleaſures of private life, the duties of every ſtation, the hoſpitality
of antient times; a lefs bufy, but more agreeable portrait. The
Iliad concludes with the ruin, the Odyffey with the happineſs of
a nation. Horace was of the fame opinion, as is evident from
the epiftle to Lollius.
་
Seditione, dolis, fcelere, atque libidine, & ira,
"Iliacos intra muros peccatur & extra.
CC
66
Rurfus, quid virtus & quid fapientia poffit,
Utile propofuit nobis exemplar Ulyffem."
P₁
In a copy of the first edition of the Odyſſey, I find the following
MS. memorandum;
"Mr. Brome tranflated of Pope's Odyffey the following books,
“ viz. ii. vi. viii. xi. xii. xvi. xviii. xxiii.
"Mr. Fenton theſe, viz. i. iv. xix. xx.
"This account I had from Mr. Brome.
" WILL. NOBLE,
"This paper I had from Mr. Noble.
"WILL. THOMPSON."
•
鸞
​་
4 ปี
་
THE
FIRST BOOK
OF THE
ODYSSEY.
+
THE
HE Man, for Wifdom's various arts re-
nown'd,
Long exercis'd in woes, oh Muſe! reſound.
NOT E S.
Ver. 1. The Man, for Wisdom, &c.] Homer opens this Poem
with the utmoft fimplicity and modefty; he continually grows
upon the reader,
"Non fumum ex fulgore, fed ex fumo dare lucem
"Cogitat, ut fpeciofa dehinc miracula promat."
Cicero lays this down as a rule for the Orator, Principia vere-
¿cunda, non elatis intenſa verbis; and Horace for the Poet, Nec fic
incipies, &c. He propoſes the beginning of the Odyffey as a
pattern for all future poems, and has tranflated them in his Art of
Poetry.
"Dic mihi, Mufa, virum, captæ poft tempora Troja,
Qui mores hominum multorum vidit, & urbes."
<<
May I be forgiven the arrogance, if I fhould offer a criticiſm
upon this tranſlation? The fufferings of Ulyffes are the fubject of
В3
B 3
6
BOOK I.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Who, when his arms had wrought the deftin'd fall
Of facred Troy, and razʼd her heav'n-built wall,
the whole Odyffey, and yet Horace has omitted the mention of
thofe fufferings: ὃς μάλα πολλὰ πλάγχθη. There is another word
alſo which feems effential, that is, woλúrporov, this is likewife
omitted. For the fufferings of Ulyffes, and the wiſdom by which
he extricated himſelf from them, enter into the very deſign of the
Poem. But indeed in another place he has plainly had regard to
all theſe circumſtances.
"Qui domitor Troja, multorum providus urbes
"Et mores hominum infpexit, latumque per æquor
"Dum fibi, dum fociis, reditum parat, aſpera multa
"Pertulit"
Epift. ad Loll.
I muſt alſo refute a criticiſm of Rapin, who will have it that the
word woλurpose includes a character of craft and low cunning,
unworthy of a brave fpirit. But Euftathius admirably vindicates
the Poet in this refpect; he fhews us that Tpón no where in
Homer fignifies (0) or Morals; and that it implies a man who
could accommodate himſelf to every condition of life; one who
in the worſt eſtate had ſtill a referve to free himſelf from it; it
therefore, fays he, fignifies a man that through experience has
learned wiſdom. I have likewiſe the authority of Horace for this
fenfe, in the above-cited paffage,
"Qui domitor Troja, multorum providus urbes."
I take providus in this place to fignify not only a man who noted.
the manners of various nations with care, but alſo one who in
calamity could forefee methods to extricate himſelf from it. And
furely nothing can be more unjuſt than what Rapin objects againſt
Ulyffes, in employing his wiſdom only in his own prefervation,
while all his companions were loft: Homer himſelf fufficiently re-
futes this objection, and directly tells us, that he employed his
wiſdom in the care of their fafety, but that they through their
folly defeated his wisdom. The words of Homer, fays Euftathius,
fhew that a wife man neglects not his friends in adverfity. But,
fays Rapin, what could oblige Homer to begin with ſo diſhonour-
able an action, and place the greateſt weakneſs of his Hero in the
very frontiſpiece of his Poem? and invoke his Muſe to fing the
man who with difficulty faved himſelf, and fuffered his companions
to be deſtroyed? There had been ſome weight in this objection,
BOOK I.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Wand'ring from clime to clime, obfervant ſtray'd,
Their manners noted, and their ſtates ſurvey'd. 6
if Ulyffes had faved his own, with the lofs of their lives; but I
cannot fee any diſhonour in his preferving himſelf by wiſdom,
when they deſtroyed themſelves by fully: it was chiefly by ftorms.
that they perished; it can be no imputation to his character, not
to be able to reſtrain the effects of a tempeft: he did all that a
wife man could do, he gave them fuch admonitions upon every
emergency, that if they had purfued them, they had been pre-
ferved as well as Ulyffes.
P.
Ver. 1. For Wisdom's various arts renown'd.] Boffu's obſerva-
tions in relation to this Epithet oλrpor, given to Ulyffes, is
worth tranfcribing. The Fable of the Odyffey (fay's he) is
wholly for the conduct and policy of a State: therefore the quality
it requires is Wisdom; but this virtue is of too large an extent
for the fimplicity which a juft and preciſe character requires; it is
therefore requifite it ſhould be limited. The great art of Kings
is the myſtery of Diffimulation. It is well known, that Lewis the
Eleventh, for the inftruction of his fon, reduced all the Latin
language to theſe words only, viz. Qui neſcit diſſimulare neſcit
regnare. It was likewife by this practice that Saul began his
reign, when he was first elected, and as yet full of the Spirit of
God. The first thing we read of him in holy writ is, * that he
made as if he did not hear the words which feditious people ſpoke
againſt him.
This then is the character which the Greek Poet gives his
Ulyffes in the Propofition of his Poem, he calls him ävdpa woλ=
Tponov; to denote this prudent diffimulation, which diſguiſed him
fo many ways, and put him upon taking fo many fhapes.
Without any thing having been mentioned of Circe, who de-
tained him with her a whole year, and who was famous for the
transformations ſhe made of all forts of perfons; the reader finds
him at firſt with Calypfo the daughter of wife Atlas, who bore up
the vaſt pillars that reached from earth to heaven, and whoſe
knowledge penetrated into the depths of the unfathomable Ocean:
that is to fay, who was ignorant of nothing in Heaven, Earth or
Sea. And as the firft product and principal part of fo high, ſo
* Ille vero diffimulabat fe audire. Reg. lib. i.
B 4
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
BOOK
to
On ftormy feas unnumber'd toils he bore,
Safe with his friends to gain his natal fhore:
folid, and fo profound a knowledge, was to know how to conceal
one's felf; this wife man called his daughter by a name that
fignified a * fecret. The Pt makes his Hero, whom he defigned
for a Politician, to ftay feven whole years with this Nymph. She
taught him fo well, that afterwards he loft no opportunity of
-putting her leffons in practice: for he does nothing without a dif
guife. At his parting from Ogygia he is caft upon the Iſle of
Phæacia: as kind as his reception was, yet he ſtays till the night
before he went off, e'er he would diſcover himſelf. From thence
he goes to Ithaca: the firſt adventure that happened to him there
was with Minerva, the moſt prudent among the Deities, as Ulyffes
was the moſt prudent among men. She fays fo exprefly in that
very paffage. Nor did they fail to diſguiſe themſelves. Minerva
takes upon her the fhape of a fhepherd, and Ulyffes tells her he
was obliged to fly from Crete, becauſe he had murdered the fon
of King Idomeneus. The Goddefs difcovers herſelf firft, and
commends him particularly, becauſe theſe artifices were fo eafy
and natural to him, that they ſeemed to be born with him. After-
wards the Hero under the form of a beggar deceives firſt of all
Eumeus, then his fon, and laſt of all his wife and every body
elfe, till he found an opportunity of puniſhing his Enemies, to
whom he discovered not himſelf till he killed them, namely on
the laft night. After his difcovering himſelf in the Palace, he
goes the next day to deceive his father, appearing at firſt under a
borrowed name; before he would give him joy of his return.
Thus he takes upon him all manner of fhapes, and diffembles to
the very laft. But the Poet joins, to this character a valour and a
conftancy which render him invincible in the moft daring and
deſperate adventures.
P.
This poor introductory couplet was formed on Dryden's exor-
dium to the Iliad:
The wrath of Peleus' fon, O Mufe! refound.
May the following fubftitution be propoſed?
The various wifdom, and th' adventurous fate,
Of that much-fuffering man, O! Mufe, relate,
Καλύπλεινο
BOOK
- 9
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
10
Vain toils! their impious folly dar'd to prey
On herds devoted to the God of Day;
The God vindictive doom'd them never more
(Ah men unblefs'd!) to touch that natal ſhore.
Oh fnatch fome portion of theſe acts from fate,
Celeſtial Muſe! and to our world relate.
1
Who raz'd Troy's facred bulwarks, widely ftray'd,
Saw numerous ftates, their policies furvey❜d.
Ver. 3. Who, when his arms had wrought the deftin'd fall
1
Of facred Troy -
·]
Whence is it that Ulyffes is faid to have overthrown Troy?
and not Achilles, who was of more remarkable courage than
Ulyffes Euftathius tells us, that the deftruction of Troy ought
to be afcribed chiefly to Ulyffes, as he not only took away the
Palladium, but was the inventor of the ftratagem of the wooden
horfe, by which that city was conquered. Virgil in his fecond
-book of the Æneis gives us a noble defcription of its deftruction,
by which we find that Ulyffes was not only the contriver of its
ruin, but bore a great ſhare in the actions of the night in which
that city was overturned.
Ver. 7.] Thus exactly to the original:
His mind by fea vexations numerous bore.
P.
Ver. 9. Vain toils! their impious folly, &c.] By this fingle
trait, Homer marks an effential difference between the Iliad and
the Odyffey; namely, that in the former Poem the people perished
by the folly of their Kings:
"Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi.”
In this, the people perish by their own folly, while their Prince
omits nothing to procure their felicity. A plain reaſon why the
'Odyſſey is more calculated for the people, than the Iliad. Dacier.
Ver. 12.] Chapman is faithful.
O men unwife,
They perisht by their own impieties.
&
P.
Ver. 13. Oh fnatch fome portion of theſe acts from fate.] It
may be asked why the Poet invokes the Muſe to recount only part
TO
BOOK Í.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Now at their native realms the Greeks arriv'd;
All who the wars of ten long years furviv'd,
16
of the fufferings of Ulyffes? and why thofe words, To Us also,
are inferted? To the first it may be anſwered, that an heroick
Poem dwells chiefly upon incidents of importance, and paffes over
every thing that does not contribute to raiſe our idea of the
Hero, or the main defign of the Poem. To the other Euftathius
anſwers feveral ways: either, fays he, the word xal is to be taken
as an expletive, as it is in a thouſand places in Homer; or it
means that this is a ſubject ſo conſiderable, that it will be a theme
to many poets: or that being a true Hiſtory it had ſpread over
many nations of the world, and that Homer himſelf received the
ftory of the Poem from Egypt; and then the meaning will be,
Sing, oh Mufe, to the Greeks as well as to other nations, the
ſufferings of Ulyffes." I ſhould prefer the firſt as being the
moſt natural: the reft feem forced, and confequently improper for
the opening of a Poem, where the utmoſt plainnefs is neceffary;
eſpecially, if we confider that Ulyffes was a Grecian, and it is not
probable that the Grecians fhould be the leaſt acquainted with the
story, or the lateſt to celebrate the actions, of a Grecian.
rr
P.
Ver. 15. Now at their native realms the Greeks arriv'd.] It is
neceffary for the better underſtanding of the Poem, to fix the
period of Time from which it takes its beginning: Homer, as
Euftathius obferves, does not begin with the wanderings of
Ulyffes; he ſteps at once into the latter end of his actions, and
leaves the preceding ſtory to be told by way of narration. Thus
in his Iliad, he dates his Poem from the anger of Achilles, which
happened almoſt at the conclufion of the Trojan war. From
hence Horace drew his obfervation in his Arte Poet.
Semper ad eventum feftinat; & in medias res
"Non fecus ac notas, auditorem rapit."
There are but forty-eight days from the departure of Ulyffes from
Calypfo, to his difcovery in Ithaca; he had been one year with
Circe, and feven with Calypfo, when the Gods difpatched Mer-
cury to that Goddeſs; from which point of time we are to date
the Odyffey.
This obfervation gives a reaſon why the Poet invokes the Muſe
to recount the wanderings of this Hero in part only; for Ulyffes,
as appears from the beginning of the ninth book, after he left
BOOK I.
11
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
And 'ſcap'd the perils of the gulfy Main.
Ulyffes fole of all the victor train,
An exile from his dear paternal coaft,
Deplor'd his abfent Queen, and Empire loft. 29
Calypfo in her caves conftrain'd his ſtay,
With fweet, reluctant, amorous delay:
In vain-for now the circling years difclofe
The day predeftin'd to reward his woes.
the fhores of Troy, was driven to Ifmarus of the Ciconians. An
Hiftorian muſt have begun from the fall of Troy, and related his
wanderings with truth and order; for Hiftory is chiefly for in-
ftruction: but a Poet takes another method, and difpofes every
circumſtance arbitrarily; he chufes or rejects, as fuits beft with
his principal defign, and in ſuch a manner as to give at once de-
light and inftruction.
P.
Ver. 19.1 The rhymes are not fufficiently coincident. I fhall
propoſe a couplet more unexceptionable in this reſpect :
Sad exile from his dear paternal ſhores!
His empire loft, and abfent queen, deplores.
Ver. 21. Calypfo in her caves conftrain'd his stay.] To the
Remark before cited of Boffu, upon the abode of Ulyffes with
Calypfo, may be added this of the Abbé Fraguier: that his re-
fiding ſeven years in the caves of Calypfo (the Goddeſs of Secrecy)
may only mean that he remained fo long hid from the knowledge
and inquiry of all men; or that whatever befel him in all that
time, was loft to Hiftory, or made no part in the Poem. P.
Ver. 22.] A verfe, very happily tranfplanted, in my opinion,
from Paradife Loft, iv. 311.
coy ſubmiſſion, modeſt pride,
And fweet, reluctant, amorous delay:
A paffage, which the learned reader may be pleafed to compare
with one of Claudian, de Mall. Theod. conf. v. 246.
rigidi fed plena pudoris
Elucet gravitas faftu jucunda modeſto.
Ver. 24.] Rather,
The day predeftin'd to conclude his woes.
12
·BOOK 1.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
25
At length his Ithaca is giv'n by Fate,
Where yet new labours his arrival wait;
At length their rage the hoſtile Pow'rs reſtrain,
All but the ruthlefs Monarch of the Main.
But now the God, remote, a heav'nly gueft,
In Æthiopia grac'd the genial feast,
30
Ver. 27. Or thus, with greater perfpicuity, and faithfulneſs?
At length their rage the pitying gods reftrain.
Chapman gives the paffage more fully, and after a little correction
may be quoted with pleaſure :
The Gods at length took pity; all but he,
That circles with the cincture of the fea
The ſpacious Earth: he ftill indulg'd his íre,
And made the fhores of Ithaca retire.
Ver. 28. All but the ruthlefs Monarch of the Main.] It may be
afked why Neptune is thus enraged against Ulyffes? Homer
himſelf tells us, becauſe that Hero had put out the Eye of his fon
Cyclops. But if we take Neptune by way of Allegory for the
Ocean, the paffage implies, that the fufferings of Ulyffes were
chiefly by fea; and therefore poetry, which adds a grandeur to
the meaneft circumftance, introduces the God of it as his greateſt
enemy. Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 30. In Æthiopia, &c.] Strabo in his firſt book delivers his
opinion, that the ancient Grecians included all thoſe people
"who lived upon the fouthern Ocean, from eaſt to weſt, in the
“general name of Ethiopians, and that it was not confined to
"thofe only who lay fouth of Egypt." Ptolemy fays, " that
"under the Zodiack, from eaft to weft, inhabit the Ethiopians,
black of colour.”" And elſewhere the fame Geographer divides
Ethiopia into the eaſtern and the western. Theſe eaſtern and
weſtern Ethiopians were feparated by the Arabian or Ægyptian
Gulf; which though never mentioned by Homer, as Ariftarchus
remarked, yet it is not probable (fays Strabe) that he ſhould be
ignorant of it, it being but a thouſand ftadia diftant from the
Mediterranean, when he knew the Ægyptian Thebes, which was
four times as far off. Strab. Plin. Spondan.
I will not repeat what was obſerved upon the Gods being gone
to the Æthiopians, in the firſt book of the Iliad; it is fufficient in
BOOK I. HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
13
(A race divided, whom with floping rays
The rifing and defcending Sun furveys)
There, on the world's extreameft verge, rever'd
With hecatombs and pray'r in pomp prefer'd,
Diſtant he lay while in the bright abodes
:
Of high Olympus, Jove conven'd the Gods:
Th' affembly thus the Sire fupreme addreſt,
Ægyfthus' fate revolving in his breaſt,
Whom young
Oreftes to the dreary coaſt
Of Pluto fent, a blood-polluted Ghoſt.
35
40
Perverſe Mankind! whofe Wills created free,
Charge all their woes on abfolute Decree;
general to obſerve, that the Æthiopians were a people very reli-
gious towards the Gods, and that they held a pompous feaſt
twelve days annually to their honour; and in particular, that the
Poet very judiciouſly makes uſe of this folemnity to remove
Neptune out of the way, who was the enemy of Ulyffes, that he
may with the greater fecurity bring off his Hero from Calypfo's
Ifland. Euftathius.
P
This couplet does not exprefs the genuine ſenſe of the original.
Thus?
A race far fever'd; where the fun afcends
From Ocean's bed, and where his circuit ends.
Chapman is faithful to his author with elegance and great accu-
racy, but gives us one of his own conceits, in which he gratified
to the full the propenfity of his age:
(In two parts parted; at the funnes deſcent,
And underneath his golden orient,
The first and laft of men) t' enjoy their feaſt
Of buls and lambes, in hecatombs addreft.
Ver. 35.] Rather,
Well-pleas'd he lay.
Ver. 41. Jupiter's speech.] The folemnity and fententiouſneſs
of this fpeech is taken notice of by Euftathius; and furely Poetry
14
BOOK I.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
All to the dooming Gods their guilt tranflate,
And Follies are miſcall'd the Crimes of Fate.
When to his luft Ægyfthus gave the rein,
Did Fate, or We, th' adult'rous act conſtrain ?
45
muſt be highly valuable, when it delivers fuch excellent inftruc-
tions. It contained the whole of religion among the ancients;
and made Philofophy more agreeable, This paffage is an inſtance
of it, a paffage worthy of a Chriftian; it fhews us that the Supreme
Being is fovereignly good; that he rewards the juft, and puniſhes
the unjust; and that the folly of man, and not the Decree of
Heaven, is the cauſe of human calamity,
P.
Ver. 41.] Chapman, confidering his age, is excellent, and
much cloſer to his model than our tranſlator:
His memorie to the Immortals then
Mov'd Jove thus deeply: O how falfely men
Accufe us Gods, as authors of their ill,
When, by the bane their owne bad lives inſtill,
They fuffer all the miſeries of their ſtates,
Paſt our inflictions, and beyond their fates,
Ver. 45. Egyfthus.] It is difficult to find a reaſon why, in-
the original, Jupiter fhould give fuch an honourable appellation.
to Ægyfthus, as áμýpov, unblameable, who had diſhonoured the
bed of Agamemnon, and taken his life away; eſpecially in that
very inſtant when he condemns the Fact with ſo great folemnity.
Euftathius fays, that Homer, an enemy to cenfure and invective,
introduces that God as having refpect only to his good qualities,
and commending him for his general character; and adds that it
had been an indecency in the Poet to have given countenance to
that baſe cuſtom by the authority of Jupiter. Dacier is not fatis-
fied with this reafon, and tells us that Homer gives Ægyfthus
this title, to vindicate Jupiter from the imputation of his crimes:
he gives us to underſtand that Heaven is not the cauſe of man's
failings; that he is by Creation able to act virtuouſly, and that it
is through his own miſconduct that he deviates into evil; and
therefore the meaning is this; " Jupiter calling to mind Ægyft-
"hus, that Ægyfthus whom he had created wife and virtuous,
"and made capable to fuftain that character." And this agrees
BOOK I.
15
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Did Fate, or We, when great Atrides dy'd,
Urge the bold traitor to the regicide?
Hermes I fent, while yet his foul remain'd
Sincere from royal blood, and faith profan'd; 50
admirably with the beginning of the fpeech of Jupiter, who
there vindicates his own Divinity.
But if this fhould feem too refined, it may be ſufficient to take
the word in that good ſenſe which Ægyfthus might have deſerved
for many good qualities: thus Achilles is called the fwift of foot,
even when he ſtands, or fleeps; the firft being his general charac-
ter. It may be further confirmed by a paffage fomething re-
fembling it in the holy Scriptures: the Egyptian midwives were
guilty of a lye to Pharoah, and yet God pardons it, and bleſſes
them: he bleſſes them not becauſe they lyed, but becauſe they
preſerved the children of the Ifraelites.
P.
Ver. 49. Hermes I fent, &c.] It would be endleſs to obſerve
every moral paffage in the Odyſſey, the whole of it being but one
leffon of Morality. But furely it muſt be a pleaſure to the Reader
to learn what notions the ancients had of a Deity, from the oldeſt
book extant, except the book of Moſes.
Jupiter here declares that he never fails to warn mankind from
evil, and that he had fent Mercury for this purpoſe to Ægyfthus.
It may be aſked what is this Mercury whom Jupiter fends? It is
the light of Nature, which Heaven implants in the breaſt of every
man: and which, as Cicero fays, is not only more ancient than the
world, but co-eval with the Mafter of the world himſelf. He
writes to this effect: There was from the beginning ſuch a thing as
Reaſon, a direct emanation from Nature itself, which prompted to
good, and averted from evil. A Reafon which did not then become a
law, when it was first reduced to writing, but was fo even from the
moment it exifted, and it exifted from ever, of an equal date with the
divine Intelligence: it is the true and primordial Law, proper to com-
mand and to forbid, it is the Reafon of the great Jupiter.
That Reaſon of the fupreme Being, is here called Mercury;
that Reaſon flowing from God, which is conftantly dictating to
the moſt corrupted hearts, this is good, or this is evil. Hence
arofe an ancient Proverb, recorded by Simplicius, Reaf n is a
Mercury to all men. Epictetus [lib. iii. Arrian.] fays, Apollo knew
16
BOOK I
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
To warn the wretch, that young Oreftes, grown
To manly years, ſhould re-affert the throne.
Yet impotent of mind, and uncontroll'd,
He plung'd into the gulf which Heav'n fore-
told.
56
Here paus'd the God; and penfive thus replies
Minerva, graceful with her azure eyes.
O thou! from whom the whole creation fprings,
The fource of pow'r on earth deriv'd to Kings!
His death was equal to the direful deed;
So may the man of blood be doom'd to bleed! 69
that Laius would not obey his Oracle. Apollo nevertheless did not
neglect to prophesy to Laius thofe evils that threatened him. The
goodness of the Divinity never fails to advertiſe mankind; that fource
of truth is ever open and free: but men are ever incredulous, difobe-
dient, and rebellious. Dacier.
P.
Ver. 57. Minerva's speech.] It may be aſked what relation
Ulyffes has to Ægyfthus, that the mention of the one ſhould imme
diately give occafion for the remembrance of the other? And it
may appear unnatural in the Poet to give rife to his Poem by fo
unexpected a tranfition from Ægyfthus to Ulyffes. Euftathius
vindicates Homer, by fhewing that it is not only beautiful but
natural, to take rife from what offers itſelf to our immediate obfer-
vation. What can be more natural, when Jupiter is relating how
he puniſhes the wicked, than for Wiſdom or Minerva to fuggeft,
that the good ought to be rewarded? There is no forced intro-
duction, no artful preparation; but the whole arifes from the
occafion, which is a great beauty. Euftathius.
P,
Ogilby is not defpicable; and has contrived a facrificial com
ment in honour of his royal maſter:
Then Pallas; Thou who rul'ft thefe bles'd abodes,
Great king of kings, and father of the gods,
Defervedly he fell, and may they all
Who murther princes, in like manner fall,
BOOK I.
17
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
But grief and rage alternate wound my breaſt
For brave Ulyffes, ftill by Fate oppreft.
Amidſt an ifle, around whofe rocky ſhore
The forefts murmur, and the furges roar,
The blameleſs hero from his wifh'd-for home 65
A Goddeſs guards in her inchanted dome.
(Atlas her fire, to whofe far-piercing eye
The wonders of the deep expanded lie ;
Ver. 63. Amidst an ifle, &c.] There was, according to true
hiftory, fuch an island of Calypfo, of which Strabo writes; that
Solon gives an account of the iſland Atlantis bordering upon
Ægypt, and that he went thither to make inquiry, and learned
that an iſland was once there, but by time was vaniſhed. Eufta-
thius.
P.
This is very elegant, but Ogilby is in one reſpect more accurate :
A fea-guirt ifle, the navel of the main,
And fair Calypfo's blandiſhments detain.
But Fenton was freſh at the employment, and appears at prefent
to make no uſe of his predeceffors; nor languishes into careleff
nefs: which gives eaſe to his commentator.
Ver. 67. Atlas her fire, to whofe far-piercing eye
The wonders of the deep expanded lie ;
Th' eternal columns which on earth he rears
End in the furry vault, and prop the ſpheres.]
Atlas is here faid to underſtand all the depths of the fea: but the
epithet ¿ãoó por applied to him, has two different fignifications.
It implies either, one whofe thoughts are full of terrible and diſmal
things, or one who has infinite and unbounded views, and it is doubt-
ful which of them Homer means. To reconcile both, may we
not think our Author had heard ſomething of the ancient tradition
which makes Atlas the fame perfon with Enoch, and repreſents
him as a great aftronomer, who prophefied of the univerfal deluge,
and exhorted mankind to repentance? Therefore he named his
ſon Methuselah, to shew that after his death the waters fhould
VOL. I.
с
18
BOOK I
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Th' eternal columns which on earth he rears.
End in the ſtarry vault, and prop the ſpheres.) 70
By his fair daughter is the chief confin❜d,
Who foothes to dear delight his anxious mind:
overfpread the face of the earth. His continuaf lamentations on
this occafion cauſed him to be called the Weeper; for the world is
always an enemy to melancholy predictions. Thus Homer upon
the credit of this tradition might very well call Atlas, one whofe
thoughts ran upon difmal things, or one whoſe views and cares were
vaftly extended.
I infift no otherwife upon this, but as a conjecture; yet it is
further ftrengthened by what follows in the next lines: That Atlas
fuftains thofe columns, which being fixed upon the earth fupport the
Heavens. This is generally interpreted of his great ſkill in Aftro-
nomy and Geography. But may not the reafon be more parti-
cular? Since Atlas or Enoch had prophefied of the Deluge, and
fince that prediction was looked upon as the effect of his ſkill in
Aftronomy; might it not be faid he knew the abyffes of the Sea,
and fuftained the pillars of Heaven, to exprefs that he knew how
the fountains of the deep, and the waters above the Heavens
fhould unite to drown the earth?
As to the image of the pillars of Heaven, it is frequent in the
facred books, and nfed to exprefs the height of vaft mountains.
(Pindar calls Ætna the paviar xíova :) and there might probably
be fomething more particular that furnished Homer with this
idea; I mean the pillars of Hercules, well known in his time,
and neighbouring to the mountain he defcribes. Dacier.
See the defcription of this mountain in the fourth book of
Virgil, where the fame image is preferved without any hint of
allegory: as indeed it is no more than a poetical manner of
expreffing the great height and extensive prospect of the moun-
tain.
P.
Ver. 2. Dear delight.] This phrafe, which I cannot admire,
might be fupplied in the correction by Pope, who employs it in
his Imitations of Horace, fat. ii. 1. 75.
Peace is my dear delight
I
BOOK I.
19
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Succefsleſs all her foft careffes prove,
To baniſh from his breaſt his Country's love;
To ſee the ſmoke from his lov'd palace rife, 75
While the dear ifle in diftant profpect lies,
With what contentment could he clofe his eyes?
And will Omnipotence neglect to ſave
The ſuffering virtue of the wife and brave?
Muſt he, whoſe altars on the Phrygian fhore 80
With frequent rites, and pure, avow'd thy pow'r,
Ver. 75. To ſee the ſmoke from his lov'd palace rife.] There is
an agreeable tenderneſs in this image, and nothing can better
paint the ardent defire a man naturally has to review his native
country after a long abfence. This is ftill ftronger than that
which Cicero extols in feveral places of his works, that Ulyſſes
preferred the fight of Ithaca to the immortality proffered him by
Calypfo. He here defires to purchaſe, at the price of his life,
the pleaſure, not of returning to his country, but even of ſeeing
at a diſtance the very fmoke of it. Dacier.
There are fome things difperfed in this ſpeech of Pallas, which
I fhall lay together; as that Minerva makes it an aggravation to
the calamity of Ulyffes, to be detained by a Goddeſs that loves
him; that he is incloſed in an iſland; and fhe adds, round which
the Seas flow; as if that was not common to all iflands; but theſe
expreffions are used to fhew the impoffibility of the eſcape of
Ulyffes, without the interpofition of Jupiter.
In the conclufion fhe obferves, that Ulyffes never neglected to
facrifice before Troy: this is faid to fhew the great piety of
Ulyffes, who not only paid his facrifices in Ithaca, where he
abounded in riches, but amongſt ftrangers in an enemy's country,
where there might be a ſcarcity of offerings. Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 80.] Perhaps, the following ſubſtitution may be approved,
on account of the imperfect rhymes of this tranflation:
Muſt he, by whom on Phrygia's ſhore were given
Such grateful victims to the powers of heaven.
C 2
20
BOOK I.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Be doom'd the worſt of human ills to prove,
Unblefs'd, abandon'd to the wrath of Jove?
Daughter! what words have pafs'd thy lips
unweigh'd?
(Reply'd the Thund'rer to the martial Maid) 85
Deem not unjustly by my doom oppreft
Of human race the wiſeſt and the beſt.
Neptune, by pray'r repentant rarely won,
Afflicts the chief, t' avenge his giant-fon,
Ver. 84. Daughter! what words, &c.] This verſe is fre-
quently repeatedly both in the Iliad and the Odyſſey; it has here
a particular energy. Jupiter reproves Minerva for fuppofing he
could ever be unmindful of an Hero fo pious as Ulyffes. It is
ſpoken with vehemence; an instance, fays Euftathius, that it is not
only equitable, but an attribute of Divinity, for rulers to remember
thoſe who ſerve them faithfully.
P.
Ver. 87.] A portion of the original is omitted here, which
may be thus fupplied:
Whoſe hallow'd offerings ever wont to riſe
In fteams of odorous favour to the ſkies.
Ver. 88.] There is no refemblance to the language and fenti-
ments of the original in this intervening claufe. Thus ? more
faithfully:
But ftill purſues with unrelenting ire
Earth-girding Neptune; he, whom call'd his fire
The god-like Polypheme, of wond'rous might,
Whofe viſual orb the chief bereav'd of light.
Ver. 89. T' avenge his giant-fon.] It is artful in the Poet to
tell the Reader the occafion of the ſufferings of Ulyffes in the
opening of the Poem; it is a juſtice due to his character, to ſhew
that his misfortunes are not the confequence of his crimes, but
the effect of Neptune's anger.
It is obfervable, that Homer does not ftop to explain how
Ulyffes put out the eye of the Cyclops: he haftens forward into
BOOK I. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
21
90
Whoſe viſual orb Ulyffes robb'd of light;
Great Polypheme, of more than mortal might!
Him young Thoöfa bore (the bright increaſe
Of Phorcys, dreaded in the founds and feas :)
Whom Neptune ey'd with bloom of beauty bleft,
And in his cave the yielding nymph compreft. 95
For this, the God conftrains the Greek to roam,
A hopeleſs exile from his native home,
From death alone exempt-but ceaſe to mourn;
Let all combine t'atchieve his wifh'd return:
Neptune aton'd, his wrath ſhall now refrain, 100
Or thwart the fynod of the Gods in vain,
Father and King ador'd! Minerva cry'd,
Since all who in th' Olympian bow'r reſide
the middle of his Poem, and leaves that for the future narration
of Ulyffes.
P.
Ver. 92.] Thefe verfes are poor in themſelves, and not expref-
five of their original. I fhall propoſe a ſubſtitution ;
Him bore Thoöfa; ſhe, whose being gave
Great Phorcys, ruler of th' unfruitful wave,
Her Neptune ey'd —
Ver. 96.] The fenfe of Homer is not happily exhibited in
this diftich; and that which follows is vicious in rhyme, and un-
poliſhed in numbers. Thus?
For this, the god preferves him but to roam,
A hopeleſs exile from his much-lov'd home;
But come, and take we counſel to reſtore
The wandering hero to his native shore.
Ver. 103.] A hobbling verfe.. Is the fubjoined effort pre-
férable?
+
C3
22
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK I.
7
Now make the wand'ring Greek their publick
care,
Let Hermes to th' * Atlantick-ifle repair; 105
Bid him, arriv'd in bright Calypfo's court,
The fanction of th' affembled pow'rs report:
That wife Ulyffes to his native land
Muſt ſpeed, obedient to their high command.
Meantime Telemachus, the blooming heir
Of fea-girt Ithaca, demands my care;
Minerva then: O! fire, fupreme in power!
Since the bless'd natives of th' æthereal bower
The wife Ulyffes make their common care-.
The language of Homer is at leaſt more faithfully reprefented.
*
Ver. 105.] Thus Ogilby:
Ogygia.
-Let Hermes ftreight repair
To bright Calypfo, and your will declare.
Ver. 108.] Rather,
The prince, much-fuffering, to his native land.
Ver. 110. Meantime Telemachus-demands my care, &c.] Rapin
has raiſed ſeveral objections againſt this piece of conduct in
Homer; he tells us that the action of the Odyffey is imperfect,
that it begins, with the voyages of Telemachus, and ends with
thoſe of Ulyffes that the four firſt books are all concerning
Telemachus that his voyage bears no proportion to that of
Ulyffes: that it contributes nothing to his return, which is brought
about by Jupiter, and the affiftance of the Phæacians: that this
gave occafion to Beni in his Academical Difcourfes to affert, that
the Fable of the Odyffey is double: that the four firft books of it
are neither epiſode, nor part of an action, nor have any connec-
tion with the reft of the work.
I am of opinion, that theſe objections are made with too great
feverity; the deftruction of the Suitors is the chief hinge upon
which the Poem turns, as it contributes chiefly to the re-eſtabliſh-
ment of Ulyffes in his country and regality; and whatever con-
BOOK Í.
23
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
1
"Tis mine, to form his green, unpractis'd years,
In fage debates; furrounded with his peers,
tributes to this end, contributes to the principal action, and is of
a piece with the reft of the Poem; and that this voyage does fo
is evident, in that it gives a defeat to the Suitors, and controls
their infolence; it preferves Ulyffes's throne and bed inviolate, in
that it gives Telemachus courage to refift their attempts: it fets
his character in a fair point of light, who is the ſecond perfonage
of the Poem, and is to have a great ſhare in the future actions
of it.
Euftathius judiciouſly obferves, that Homer here prepares the
way for the defeat of the Suitors, the chief defign of his Poem;
and lays the ground-work of probability on which he intends to
build his Poem, and reconcile it to the rules of credibility.
If it be aſked for what end this voyage of Telemachus is made;
the anſwer is, to inquire after Ulyffes: fo that whatever epiſodes
are interwoven, Ulyffes is ftill in view; and whatever Telema-
chus acts, is undertaken folely upon his account; and confequently,
whatever is acted, contributes to the principal defign, the reſtora-
tion of Ulyffes. So that the Fable is intire, and the Action not
double.
It is to be remembered alfo, that the fufferings of Ulyffes are
the ſubject of the Poem; his perſonal calamities are not only in-
tended, but his domeftick misfortunes; and by this conduct
Homer fhews us the extent of his misfortunes: his Queen is at-
tempted, his throne threatened, and his wealth confumed in
riot; Ulyffes fuffers in Telemachus, and in every circumſtance of
life is unhappy.
P.
Ver. 112. 'Tis mine, to form his green, unpractis'd years, &c.}
In this the Poet draws the out-limes of what he is to fill up in
the four fubfequent books: and nothing can give us a greater
idea of his unbounded invention, than his building upon fo plain
a foundation ſuch a noble ſuperſtructure: he entertains us with
variety of epiſodes, hiftorical relations, and manners of thoſe
ancient times: it must be confeffed, that the characters in the
Odyffey, and the number of the chief actors, are but few; and
C 4
24
BOOK I.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
1
To ſave the ſtate; and timely to reſtrain
The bold intrufion of the Suitor-train ;
Who croud his palace, and with lawleſs pow'r
His herds and flocks in feaſtful rites devour,
To diſtant Sparta, and the ſpacious waſte
Of fandy Pyle, the royal youth ſhall haſte.
yet the Poet never tires; he varies and diverfifies the ftory fa
happily, that he is continually opening new fcenes to engage our
attention. He reſembles his own Proteus, he is capable of all
fhapes, yet in all fhapes the fame Deity.
P.
The turn of the paffage is ingenious and poetical, but not cor-
refpondent to the purport of his author, whofe intention will be
better feen in the following effày:
'Tis mine, ye Powers! to mould his pliant will;
'Tis mine, an active boldneſs to inftill,
That dares the Greeks affemble, and reſtrain…….
Ver. 117. Or better, perhaps, (as the term rites has an extenuat-
ing quality, not intended by the original) and more accurately, thus:
In feafts perpetual flocks and herds devour.
Ver. 118. To diftant Sparta, and the spacious wafte
Of Jandy Pyle]
Rapin is very fevere upon this conduct, When Telemachus,
fays he, is to fearch for his father in the courts of Greece, he can-
not make the leaft progrefs without Minerva; it is fhe who in-
fpires his thoughts, and affills in the execution. Could not
honour, duty, or nature have moved his heart towards an abfent
father? The machine, adds he, has not the leaft appearance of
probability, inasmuch as the Goddeſs conducts him to every place,
except only where Ulyffes refides; of which he ought by no
means to be ignorant, upon the account of her Divinity,
But furely nothing can be more natural, than for a fọn, in
Order to gain intelligence of an abſent father, to inquire in thoſe
places, and of thofe perfons, where and from whom he is mot
likely to have information. Such is the conduct of Telemachus:
and Poetry, which delights in the Wonderful, becauſe this conduct.
agrees with Wisdom, afcribes it to Minerva the Goddefs of it,
BOOK I.
25
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
}
There, warm with filial love, the cauſe inquire
That from his realm retards his God-like Sire: 121
Deliv'ring early to the voice of Fame
The promiſe of a great, immortal name.
She faid: the fandals of celeſtial mold
Fledg'd with ambroſial plumes, and rich with
gold,
125
Surround her feet; with theſe ſublime ſhe fails
Th' aerial ſpace, and mounts the winged gales:
O'er earth and ocean wide prepar'd to foar,
Her dreaded arm a beamy jav'lin bore,
Pon'drous and vaft; which, when her fury burns,
Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hofts o'er-
turns.
129
No doubt but Minerva knew where Ulyffes refided: but men muſt
act as men; ſuch an immediate interpofition as Rapin requires,
had ſtopped at once the fountain of the Poet's invention. If what
a Poet invents be natural, it is juſtifiable; and he may give the rein
to his imagination, if he reftrain it from running into extravagance
and wildnefs.
P.
Ver. 122.] This couplet is conflructed from the following
verfe of Homer:
And gain a good renown among mankind:
But Dacier renders thus: "Et que par cette recherche il acquiere
un renom immortel parmi les hommes."
Ver. 126.] More gracefully, perhaps,
Embrace her feet.
But the tranſlation of this paffage is extremely elegant. One ex-
preffion feems borrowed from Dryden, at Æn. iv. 351.
Hermes obeys; with golden pinions binds
His flying feet, and mounts the western winds.
Ver. 130.] This couplet, with very trivial variation, is tranf
ferred from Iliad, v. 924..
26
BOOK I.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
From high Olympus prone her flight the bends,
And in the realm of Ithaca deſcends.
Her lineaments divine, the grave diſguiſe
Of Mentes' form conceal'd from human eyes: 135
(Mentes, the monarch of the Taphian land)
A glitt❜ring ſpear wav'd awful in her hand.
There in the portal plac'd, the heav'n-born maid
Enormous riot and miſ-rule furvey❜d.
}
Ver. 134.] Thus Milton, Par. Loft, v. 278.
fix wings he wore, to ſhade
His lineaments divine.
Ver. 136. Mentes, the monarch of the Taphian land.] We are
told by tradition, that Homer was fo fenfible of friendſhip, that
to do honour to his particular friends, he immortaliſed their names
in his Poems. In the Iliad he has fhewn his gratitude to Tychius ;
and in the Odyffey, to Mentes, Phemius, and Mentor. This
Mentes was a famous merchant of the ifle of Leucade, who re-
ceived Homer at Smyrna, and made him his companion in all his
voyages. It is to this Mentes we owe the two Poems of Homer;
for the Poet in all probability had never wrote them without thoſe
lights and informations he received, and the diſcoveries he was
enabled to make, by thoſe travels. Homer is not contented to
give his name to the King of the Taphians, but feigns alſo that
the Goddeſs of Wiſdom chofe to appear in his ſhape preferably to
that of all the Kings who were nearer neighbours to Ithaca.
Euftathius thinks there might have been a real King of Taphos of
this name, who was a friend to Ulyffes. This may poffibly be;
but I would chufe to adhere rather to the old tradition, as it does
honour to friendſhip. Dacier.
P.
7'
Ver. 139. Enormous riot and mif-rule.] This is the first appear-
ance of the Suitors; and the Poet has drawn their pictures in fuch
colours, as are agreeable to their characters through the whole
Poem. They are, as Horace expreffes it,
Fruges confumere nati,
"Sponfi Penelopes, nebulones"
1
BOOK I.
27
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
On hides of beeves, before the palace gate, 140
(Sad fpoils of luxury) the Suitors fat.
With rival art, and ardour in their mien,
At chefs they vie, to captivate the Queen;
Divining of their loves. Attending nigh,
A menial train the flowing bowl ſupply:
145
The Poet gives a fine contraft between them and Telemachus; he
entertains himfelf with his own thoughts, weighs the fum of things,
and beholds with a virtuous forrow the diforders of the Suitors:
he appears (like Ulyffes among his transformed companions in the
tenth book) a wife man, among brutes.
Ver. 141.] Rather, as more expreffive of the original,
Spoils of their luxury.
P.
Ver. 142.] The whole of this period, except the former claufe
of the next verſe, is the interpolated explanation of the tranflator.
Ver. 143. At chefs they vie, to captivate the Queen;
Divining of their loves.]
There are great diſputes what this game was, at which the Suitors
played. Athenæus relates it from Apian the Grammarian, who
had it from Ctefon a native of Ithaca, that the ſport was in this
manner. The number of the Suitors being one hundred and
eight, they equally divided their men or balls; that is to ſay,
fifty-four on each fide; theſe were placed on the board oppofite, to
each other. Between the two fides was a vacant ſpace, in the
midſt of which was the main mark, or Queen, the point which all
were to aim at. They took their turns by lot; he who took ar
diſplaced that mark, got his own in its place; and if by a fecond
man, he again took it, without touching any of the others, he
won the game; and it paffed as an omen of obtaining his mistress.
This principal mark, or Queen, was called by whatever name the
gameſters pleaſed; and the Suitors. gave it the name of Penelope.
It is faid, this game was invented by Palamedes during the ſiege
of Troy. [Sophocles in Palam.] Euftathius. Spondanus. Dacier. P.
Ver. 144.] Our tranflator involves in general expreſſion the
circumſtantial ſpecification of his author, who may be thus literally
exhibited:
£
28
BOOK I.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
150
Others, apart, the fpacious hall prepare,
And form the coftly feaſt with bufy care.
There young Telemachus, his bloomy face
Glowing celeſtial fweet, with God-like:
grace
Amid the circle fhines: but hope and fear
(Painful viciffitude !) his boſom tear.
Now imag'd in his mind, he fees reſtor❜d
In peace and joy, the people's rightful Lord;
The proud oppreffors fly the vengeful ſword.
While his fond foul theſe fancied triumphs
fwell'd;
The ſtranger gueſt, the royal youth beheld:
Griev'd that a vifitant fo long ſhould wait
Unmark'd, unhonor'd, at a Monarch's gate;
Inſtant he flew with hofpitable haſte,
155
And the new friend with courteous air embrac'd,
Heralds and active fervants on them wait;
With water fome were tempering cups of wine,
Some wiping tables with the porous ſponge,
Meat others brought, and carv'd in many a diſh.
Ver. 157. Griev'd that a vifitant fo long should wait.] The
reader will lofe much of the pleafure of this Poem, if he reads it
without the reflection, that he peruſes one of the most ancient
books in the world; it fets before him perfons, places and actions
that exifted three thousand years ago: here we have an inſtance
of the humanity of thofe early ages: Telemachus pays a reve-
rence to this ſtranger, only becaufe he is a ftranger: he attends
him in perſon, and welcomes him with all the openneſs of ancient
hofpitality.
P.
Ver. 159.] Milton, Par. Loft, viii. 618.
To whom the angel, with a ſmile that glow'd
Celeſtial rofy red.
BOOK I.
29
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Stranger! whoe'er thou art, fecurely reft,
Affianc'd in my faith, a friendly gueſt:
Approach the dome, the focial banquet fhare,
And then the purpoſe of thy foul declare.
161
170
Thus affable and mild, the Prince precedes, 165
And to the dome th' unknown Celeſtial leads.
The fpear receiving from her hand, he plac'd
Againſt a column, fair with fculpture grac'd;
Where feemly rang'd in peaceful order ſtood
Ulyffes' arms, now long difus'd to blood.
He led the Goddeſs to the fov'reign feat,
Her feet ſupported with a ſtool of ſtate;
(A purple carpet ſpread the pavement wide)
Then drew his feat, familiar, to her fide;
Far from the Suitor-train, a brutal crowd,
With infolence, and wine, elate and loud:
175
Ver. 166.] The verfe may be invigorated, and rendered more
faithful, by a very flight correction :
Through the high dome th' unknown Celeſtial leads.
Ver. 167.] Ogilby below:
Then in a chair, with a rich cuſhion grac'd
And a carv'd foot-ftool, he Minerva plac'd.
Ver. 170.] The latter claufe is interpolated; for the purpoſe,
perhaps, of variation from Ogilby, whofe lines are thefe:
There 'gainſt a column fets her lance, where flood
Ulyffes' javelins, planted like a wood:
which is only an exaggerated likeneſs of their author.
Ver. 171.] It required but ſmall attention to make the rhymes
of this couplet unexceptionably correct; thus:
Then he the Goddeſs to the fov'reign ſeat
Conducts; a tool of ftate receives her feet,
30
BOOK I,
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Where the free gueft, unnoted, might relate,
If haply conſcious, of his father's fate.
The golden ew'r a maid obfequious brings,
Repleniſh'd from the cool, tranflucent fprings; 180
With copious water the bright vafe fupplies
A filver laver of capacious fize:
They waſh. The tables in fair order ſpread,
They heap the glitt'ring caniſters with bread:
Viands of various kinds allure the taſte,
Of choiceſt fort and favour, rich repaſt!
Ver. 183.] So Chapman:
A table fairly polifht then was ſpread,
On which a reverend officer fet bread.
185
Ver. 185, &c. The Feaft defcrib'd.] There is nothing that has
drawn more ridicule upon Homer, than the frequent defcriptions
of his entertainments: it has been judged, that he was more than
ordinarily delighted with them, fince he omits no opportunity to
deſcribe them; nay his temperance has not been unfufpected, ac-
cording to that verfe of Horace,
Laudibus arguitur vini vinofus Homerus."
But we muſt not condemn without ſtronger evidence: a man may
commend a ſumptuous entertainment, or good wines, without
being either a drunkard or a glutton. But fince there are fo many
entertainments deſcribed in the Poem, it may not be improper to
give this fome explanation.
They waſh before the feaſt; perhaps, fays Euftathius, becauſe
they always, at the feaſt, made libations to the Gods. The ewer
was of gold, the veffel from whence the water was poured of
-filver, and the cups out of which they drank, were of gold.
A damfel attends Mentes, but heralds wait upon the Suitors:
Euftathius obferves a decency in this conduct; the Suitors were
lewd debauchees, and confequently a woman of modesty would
have been an improper attendant upon fuch a company. Beautiful
youths attend the company in quality of cup-bearers.
BOOK I HOMER's ODYSSEY.
31
Delicious wines th' attending herald brought;
The gold gave luftre to the purple draught.
Lur'd with the vapour of the fragrant feaſt,
In rush'd the Suitors with voracious haſte :
Marfhall'd in order due, to each a few'r
Prefents, to bathe his hands, a radiant ew'r.
A
190
A matron who has the charge of the houshold (rain) brings in
the bread and the cold meats, for fo Euftathius interprets dara; an
officer, whofe employ it was to portion out the victuals, brings in
the meats that furniſhed out the reft of the entertainment; and after
the feaft, a Bard diverts them with vocal and inſtrumental mufick.
Dacier is in great pain about the cold victuals; ſhe is afraid leſt
the reader ſhould think them the leavings of a former day: and
tells us they might poffibly be in the nature of our cold Tongues,
Jambons, &c. But I think ſuch fears to be groundleſs: we muſt
have reference to the cuftoms of thofe early ages; and if it was
customary for cold meats to be ferved up (neither is it neceffary
to ſuppoſe them the leavings of the former entertainment) it can
be no difgrace to the hofpitality of Telemachus.
P.
Ver. 189.] This undignified reprefentation of the Suitors, as
a parcel of hungry mice, is unauthoriſed by his original; which
may be exhibited literally thus:
Then came the haughty Suitors, and in rows
Along the thrones and couches took their feats.
Dacier too miſconceived the paffage, in fuppofing the entrance
of the Suitors to be accidental and unexpected: when it is plain,
that a feparate entertainment was providing for them alſo.
Ver. 191.] Thus Chapman above:
And then the Sewre,
1
Pour'd water from a great and golden ewre :
Here Ogilby alſo has adopted the fame rhymes.
Ver. 192.] The omiffion of the tranflator after this verfe may
be thus faithfully fupplied:
Then bread in baſkets brought a female train:
The jovial Suitors ply their hands amain,
And feaft luxurious; while, obfervant, round-
32
BOOK 1.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Luxurious then they feaſt. Obfervant round
Gay ſtripling youths the brimming goblets crown'd.
The rage of hunger quell'd, they all advance, 195
And form to meaſur'd airs the mazy dance :
To Phemius was confign'd the chorded lyre,
Whoſe hand reluctant touch'd the warbling wire:
Phemius, whofe voice divine could ſweeteſt fing
High ſtrains, reſponſive to the vocal ſtring.
200
Meanwhile, in whiſpers to his heav'nly gueſt
His indignation thus the Prince expreſt.
Ver. 195.] Through the medium of Hobbes' verfion a clearer
conception may be formed of their original :
When they of hunger had pluck't out the fting,
The lufty Suiters thoughts converted were
To dancing, and to hear the Minſtril fing,
Sports that are confecrated to good chear.
Ver. 197. To Phemius was confign'd the chorded lyre.] In ancient
times, Princes entertained in their families certain learned and
wife men, who were both Poets and Philofophers, and not only
made it their buſineſs to amuſe and delight, but to promote wiſdom
and morality. Ulyffes, at his departure for Troy, left one of
thefe with Penelope : and it was uſual to confign in this manner,
the care of their wives and familes to the Poets of thoſe days, as
appears from a ſignal paffage in the third book, verſe (of the
original) 267, &c. To this man Homer gives the name of
Phemius; to celebrate one of his friends, who was fo called, and
who had been his Præceptor (fays Euftathius.) I muſt add one
remark, that though he places his maſter here in no very good
company, yet he guards his character from any imputation, by
telling us, that he attended the Suitors by compulfion. This is
not only a great inftance of his gratitude, but alſo of his tender-
nefs and delicacy.
Ver. 202.] I should prefer, as more congenial to the ſcope of
the paffage,
His anxious thoughts th' illuftrious Prince expreft.
BOOK I:
33
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Indulge my rifing grief, whilft thefe (my friend)
With fong and dance the pompous revel end.
Light is the dance, and doubly ſweet the lays, 205
When, for the dear delight, another pays.
His treafur'd ftores theſe Cormorants confume,
Whoſe bones, defrauded of a regal tomb
And common turf, lie naked on the plain,
Or doom'd to welter in the whelming main. 210
Should he return, that troop fo blithe and bold,
With purple robes inwrought, and ſtiff with gold,
Precipitant in fear, would wing their flight,
And curfe their cumb'rous pride's unwieldy
weight.
But ah I dream !—th' appointed hour is fled, 215
And Hope, too long with vain delufion fed,
Ver. 209.] Thus, with more fidelity:
All bleaching lie, and mouldering with the rain,
On land, or batter'd by the billowy main.
Ogilby requires but ſmall correction to become good:
Whilft on ſome ſhore his bones lie bleach'd with rain,
Or tumbled o'er with billows through the main.
Ver. 213.] Ogilby might be confulted here, whofe verfion is
more exact
Whom ſhould they fee, rather they'd wings defire
Than large poffeffion, gold, or rich attire.
Ver. 214] The word weight is pronounced to this day in
Lancashire and Cheshire, and probably other northern counties, fo
as to rhyme with flight; and this might juſtify our early writers,
from whom later poets have improperly adopted what is no longer
confonant to modern pronunciation.
VOL. I.
D
34
BOOK F
HÖMER'S ODYSSEY.
Deaf to the rumour of fallacious fame,
Gives to the roll of death his glorious name!
With venial freedom let me now demand
Thy name, thy lineage, and paternal land: 220
Sincere, from whence began thy courfe, recite,
And to what ſhip I owe the friendly freight?
Now firſt to me this vifit doft thou deign,
Or number'd in my father's focial train ?
All who deferv'd his choice, he made his own, z25
And curious much to know, he far was known.
My birth I boaſt (the blue-ey'd Virgin cries)
From great Anchialus, renown'd and wife :
Mentes my name; I rule the Taphian race,
Whofe bounds the deep circumfluent waves em-
brace:
A duteous people, and induſtrious ifle,
To naval arts inur'd, and ftormy toil.
{
230
Ver. 225. All who deferv'd his choice ] It is evident from
this and many other places in the Iliad, that hofpitality was here-
ditary; an happineſs and honour peculiar to thofe heroick ages.
And furely nothing can fet the character of Ulyffes in a more
agreeable point of light, than what Telemachus here delivers of
it:He was the friend of all mankind.” Euftathius obferves,
that inis papos has a middle fignification; that it implies that Ulyffes
behaved benevolently to all men; or that all men behaved bene-
volently to Ulyffes; either fenfe makes Ulyffes a very amiable
perfon: he muſt be a friend to all men, to whom all men are
friends.
P.
Ver. 229. The latter claufe of this verſe, and the three fuc-
ceeding verfes are fpun from four words only of Homer, which
may be repreſented thus :
Of the fea-faring Taphians am I King.
BOOK I.
35
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Freighted with iron from my native land,
I fteer my voyage to the Brutian ſtrand;
To gain by commerce, for the labour'd maſs, 235
A juſt proportion of refulgent braſs.
Far from your capital my ſhip refides
At Reithrus, and ſecure at anchor rides;
Where waving groves on airy Neion grow,
Supremely tall, and fhade the deeps below. 240
Ver. 234. I ſteer my voyage to the Brutian ftrand.] In the
country of the Brutians, in the lower part of Italy, was a town
called Temefe. That Homer here meant this city, and not one of
the fame name in Cyprus, appears not only becauſe this was famous
for works of braſs, but becauſe (as Strabo obſerves) Ithaca lay in
the direct way from Taphos to this city of the Brutii; whereas it
was confiderably out of the way to paſs by Ithaca to that of
Cyprus. The fame author fays, that the rooms for preparing of
braſs were remaining in his time, though then out of uſe. Ovid.
Met. xv.
Hippotadæque domos regis, Temefefque metalla.”
And Statius, Sylv.
fe totis Temeſe dedit haufta metallis.”
Bochart is of opinion, that the name of Temeſe was given to this
town by the Phoenicians, from the brafs it produced, Temes in
their language fignifying fufion of metals: an art to which the
Phoenicians much applied themſelves. Euftathius. Dacier.
Ver. 238.] Ogilby renders thus ; with much more compact-
nefs:
Our veffel in the Rheithran harbour rides
Safe under Neium's grove from wind and tides.
Ver. 239.] The words only,
under woody Neïum,
P.
are the fabric of this couplet; which is elegant, but fufceptible,
perhaps, of improvement. Thus ?
Where groves umbrageous, that on Neion grow,
Shed their brown horrors o'er the deeps below.
D 2
36
BOOK. I
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Thence to re-vifit your imperial dome,
An old hereditary gueſt I come :
Your father's friend. Laertes can relate
Our faith unſpotted, and its early date;
Who preſt with heart-corroding grief and years,
To the gay court a rural ſhed prefers,
Where fole of all his train, a matron fage
Supports with homely food his drooping age,
246
Ver. 245. Laertes's retirement.] This most beautiful paffage of
Laertes has not eſcaped the cenfure of the Criticks: they fay he
acts an unmanly part, he forgets that he is a King, and reduces
himſelf unworthily into the condition of a fervant. Euftathius
gives two reafons for his retirement, which anſwer thofe objec
tions; the firſt is, that he could not endure to ſee the outrage and
infolence of the Suitors; the fecond, that his grief for Ulyffes
makes him abandon fociety, and prefer his vineyard to his court.
This is undoubtedly the picture of human nature under affliction;
for forrow loves folitude. Thus it is, as Dacier well obferves,
that Menedemus in Terence laments his loft fon: Menedemus is
the picture of Laertes. Nor does it make any difference, that the
one is a King, the other a perfon of private ftation: Kings are
but ennobled humanity, and are liable, as other men, to as great,
if not greater fenfibility.
The word prúcola (creeping about his vineyard) has alſo given
offence, as it carries an idea of meannefs with it; but Euftathius
obferves, that it excellently expreffes the melancholy of Laertes,
and denotes no meanneſs of ſpirit: the fame word is applied to
the great Achilles in the Iliad, when he laments at the obfequies
of Patroclus; and Horace no doubt had it in his view,
“ — — — Tacitum fylvas inter-reptare falubres."
The rhymes are not correct. Thus ?
Who, press'd with years and heart-corroding woes,
For rural folitude the town foregoes.
P.
1
BOOK 1.
37
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
With feeble ſteps from marshalling his vines
Returning fad, when toilfome day declines.
250
With friendly ſpeed, induc'd by erring fame,
To hail Ulyffes' fafe return I came :
But ftill the frown of fome celeſtial pow'r
With envious joy retards the bliſsful hour.
Let not your foul be funk in fad deſpair ; 255
He lives, he breathes this heav'nly vital air,
Among a ſavage race, whoſe ſhelfy bounds
With ceaſeleſs roar the foaming deep furrounds,
Ver. 249.] Literally, as expreffive of care and imbecillity,
With creeping ſteps:
for old age is a ſecond childhood: fee my note on the Trachini
of Sophocles, ver. 750, and on his Philodetes, ver. 702.
Ver. 255.] Thus Dryden, at Æn. i. 770.
If yet he lives, and draws this vital air,
Nor we his friends of ſafety ſhall deſpair.
Ver. 256.] Or thus:
Still lives your fire, ftill breathes the vital air.
Ver. 257. Among a favage race, &c.] It is the obſervation of
Euftathius, that what Minerva here delivers bears reſemblance to
the Oracles, in which part is falſe, and part true: that Ulyffes is
detained in an iſland, is a truth; that he is detained by Barbarians,
a falfhood: this is done by the Goddefs, that ſhe may be thought
to be really a man, as fhe appears to be; ſhe ſpeaks with the
dubiouſneſs of a man, not the certainty of a Goddeſs; ſhe raiſes
his expectation by fhewing ſhe has an infight into futurity; and to
engage his belief fhe diſcovers in part the truth to Telemachus.
Neither was it neceffary or convenient for Telemachus to know
the whole truth: for if he had known that Ulyffes inhabited a
defert, detained by a Goddefs, he muft of confequence have
known of his return, (for he that could certify the one, could
certify the other) and fo had never gone in fearch of him ; and it
D 3
38
J
HOMER's ODYSSEY:
I
BOOK The thoughts which roll within my raviſh'd
breaſt,
To me, no Seer, th' inſpiring Gods fuggeſt; 260
Nor fkill'd, nor ftudious, with prophetick eye
To judge the winged omens of the ſky.
Yet hear this certain fpeech, nor deem it vain ;
Tho' adamantine bonds the chief reſtrain,
The dire reſtraint his wifdom will defeat,
And ſoon reſtore him to his regal feat.
But, gen'rous youth! fincere and free declare,
Are you, of manly growth, his royal heir?
265
would hence have happened, that Homer had been deprived of
giving us thofe graces of poetry which ariſe from the voyage of
Telemachus. Euftathius.
Or, with advantage to fidelity, as well as numbers,
Some favage race detains, whoſe ſhelfy bounds
With ceaſeleſs roar th' expanded deep furrounds:
Or, with the rhymes of Ogilby:
Or,
In fome lone ifle, deep-circled by the main,
A lawless race of savage men detain.
Ver. 261.] Thus Milton, Par. Loft, ix. 42.
me, of theſe
Nor ſkill'd nor ftudious, higher argument
Remains.
Ver. 262.] I ſhould prefer,
To ſcan the winged omens of the ſky.
Ver. 263.] Or thus?
Yet mark my word, nor deem th' aſſertion vain;
Though bonds of adamant the chief reſtrain,
Soon will his various wiles reftraint o'ercome,
And ſafe reſtore him to his native home :
Soon will his wiles of wiſdom fet him free,
And ſafe restore him to his realm and thee.
P.
1
BOOK I.
39
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
For fure Ulyffes in your look appears,
The fame his features, if the fame his years. 270
Such was that face, on which I dwelt with joy
E'er Greece affembled ſtemm'd the tides to Troy;
But parting then for that detefted fhore,
Our eyes, unhappy! never greeted more.
To prove a genuine birth (the Prince replies)
On female truth affenting faith relies ;
Ver. 269.] Dryden, at Æn. iii. 440. a fimilar paffage:
What hopes are promis'd from his blooming years?
How much of Hector in his face appears?
Ver. 273.] Chapman is literally faithful and neat:
But fince that time, mine eyes could never fee
Renown'd Ulyffes, nor met his with me.
275
Ver. 275. To prove a genuine birth, &c.] There is an appear-
ance of fomething very fhocking in this fpeech of Telemachus.
It literally runs thus: My mother affures me that I am the son of
Ulyffes, but I know it not. It ſeems to reflect upon his mother's
chaſtity, as if he had a doubt of his own legitimacy. This feem-
ing fimplicity in Telemachus, fays Euftathius, is the effect of a
troubled ſpirit; it is grief that makes him doubt if he can be
the ſon of the great, the generous Ulyffes; it is no reflection upon
Penelope, and confequently no fault in Telemachus it is an un-
doubted truth that the mother only knows the legitimacy of the
child: thus Euripides,
Ἡ μὲν, γὰρ αὐτῆς οἶδεν ἄνα, δ᾽ οἴέλας.
that is, the mother knows the child, the father only believes it.
Thus alfo Menander,
Αὐτὸν γὰς ἐδεὶς οἶδε, το πότ᾽ ἐγένετο
Αλλ᾽ ὑπονοῦμεν πάνες, ή τσιςεύσομενο
that is, No man knows affuredly who begot him, we only guefs
it, and believe it.
Ariſtotle in his Rhetorick is alſo of this opinion:
*Αριςα περὶ τῶν τέκνων κρίνεσιν αἱ γυναῖκες.
D 4
40
BOOK N
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Thus manifeft of right, I build my claim
Sure-founded on a fair maternal fame,
Ulyffes' fon but happier he, whom fate
Hath plac'd beneath the ftorms which tofs the
great!
Happier the fon, whoſe hoary fire is bleſt
With humble affluence, and domeſtick reft!
Happier than I, to future empire born,
280
J
But doom'd a father's wretched fate to mourn!
To whom, with aſpect mild, the gueſt divine.
Oh true defcendent of a ſcepter'd line!
The Gods, a glorious fate from anguiſh free
To chafte Penelope's increaſe decree,
286
What I have here faid, is literally tranflated from Euftathius, and
if it edifies the reader I am content. But the meaning of the
paffage is this, Mentes aſks Telemachus if he be the fon of Ulyffes;
he replies,
"So my mother affures me; but nothing fure fo
wretched as I am could proceed from that great man."
But however this may be reconciled to truth, I believe few
ladies would take it as a compliment, if their fons ſhould tell them
there was room to doubt of their legitimacy; there may be abun-
dance of truth in it, and yet very little decency.
P.
The tranflator has executed this very difficult paffage with ex-
traordinary dexterity, and no common elegance.
Ver. 277.] The conftruction is a Latinifm, adopted before by
Dryden, as I find him quoted in Johnson's Dictionary:
Califtho there ftood manifeft of shame.
Ver. 283.] The rhyme is exceptionable, and the verfion itſelf
not accurate. I fhall propoſe a ſubſtitution, of more fidelity to
the author:
But him, of whom thy partial words enquire,
Him, moſt unbleſs'd of men! I deem my fire.
Ver, 287.] This turn mif-ftates the ſenſe of the original, and
BOOK I.
41
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
299
But fay, yon' jovial troop fo gaily dreft,
Is this a bridal or a friendly feaſt!
Or from their deed I rightlier may divine,
Unſeemly flown with infolence and wine?
Unwelcome revellers, whoſe lawleſs joy
Pains the fage ear, and hurts the fober eye.
Magnificence of old (the prince reply'd) 295
Beneath our roof with Virtue could refide;
Unblam'd abundance crown'd the royal board,
What time this dome rever'd her prudent lord;
was adopted merely for the convenience of a rhyme. The fol-
lowing couplet has more fidelity, if lefs elegance:
Thee not inglorious doom'd the powers of heaven,
When to Penelope thy birth was given.
Ver. 289.] The rhymes are not venial, but an eaſy and neat
correction does not preſent itſelf to my excurfions. Thus ?
But tell me, what this croud of gueſts intends ?
A bridal banquet, or a feaſt of friends?
Ver, 292.] From Paradiſe Loft, i. 502.
And when night
Darkens the ftreets, then wander forth the fons
Of Belial, flown with infolence and wine.
Theſe imitations, if other proofs were wanting, fufficiently prove
the veneration, with which our great epic poet was regarded by
Fenton.
Ver. 293.] The defect of rhyme in this beautiful couplet is
much to be regretted. I cannot produce an accurate ſubſtitute of
equal elegance:
Unwelcome revellers, whofe lawleſs chear
Pains the chafte eye, and wounds the gentler ear :
Or, not unfaithfully;
whofe clamorous joy
Dares the chafte ear and prudent breaft annoy.
Ver. 297.] Or thus, on account of imperfection in the rhymes a
What time this dome it's prudent lord contain'd,
Throughout a boſpitable plenty reign'd.
4.2
BOOK I.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
豐
​·300
Who now (fo heav'n decrees) is doom'd to mourn,
Bitter conſtraint! erroneous and forlorn.
Better the chief, on Ilion's hoftile plain,
Had fall'n furrounded with his warlike train ;
Or fafe return'd, the race of glory paſt,
New to his friends embrace, had breath'd his laft!
Then grateful Greece with ftreaming eyes would
raife
Hiſtorick marbles, to record his praiſe;
His praiſe, eternal on the faithful ſtone,
Had with tranfmiffive honour grac'd his fon.
Now fnatch'd by harpies to the dreary coaft,
Sunk is the hero, and his glory loft:
Ver. 300.] Thus Milton, Par. Loft. vii, 20.
on th' Aleian field I fall
Erroneous there to wander, and forlorn.
But the rhyme is not properly correct. Thus ?
Who now (fo heav'n decrees) to forrows born,
Walks the wide world, erroneous and forlorn.
Ver. 303.] Or thus?
Or, fafe returning from his glorious race,
Breath'd his fond foul out in his friends' embrace.
Ver. 305.] This tenfe cannot be tolerated. Thus?
Then Greece had rais'd his monumental mound,
With all her hoft of heroes weeping round.
305
310
Ver. 307.] Inaccurate rhymes. I would propoſe the following
fubftitution:
'
His praiſe eternal through the race had run,
And all the father's honour grac'd the ſon ;
Now, fnatch'd by harpies on ſome dreary ſhore,
Loft is the hero, and his fame no more!
Ver. 309. Now fnatch'd by harpies, &c.] The meaning of this
expreffion is, that Ulyffes had not had the rites of fepulture.
BOOK I.
43
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Vaniſh'd at once, unheard-of, and unknown!
And I his heir in mifery alone.
Nor for a dear, loft father only flow
The filial tears, but woe fucceeds to woe.
To tempt the fpoufelefs Queen with am'rous wiles,
Refort the Nobles from the neighb'ring ifles; 316
From Samos, circled with th' Iönian main,
Dulichium, and Zacynthus' filvan reign:
Ev'n with prefumptuous hope her bed t' aſcend,
The Lords of Ithaca their right pretend.
320
This among the ancients was eſteemed the greateſt of calamities,
as it hindered the ſhades of the deceaſed from entering into the
ſtate of the happy.
P.
Ver. 315. To tempt the spoufelefs Queen-refort the Nobles.] It
is neceffary to reconcile the conduct of the Suitors to probability,
fince it has fo great a fhare in the process of the Odyffey. It may
feem incredible that Penelope, who is a Queen, in whom the
fupreme power is lodged, ſhould not difmifs fuch unwelcome in-
truders, eſpecially fince many of them were her own ſubjects:
beſides it ſeems an extraordinary way of courtſhip in them, to
ruin the perfon to whom they make their addreffes.
To folve this objection we muſt confider the nature of the
Grecian governments: the chief men of the land had great au-
thority: though the government was monarchical, it was not
defpotick: Laertes was retired, and diſabled with age; Tele-
machus was yet in his minority; and the fear of any violence
either againſt her own perſon, or againſt her fon, might deter
Penelope from uſing any endeavours to remove men of ſuch in-
folence, and fuch power. Dacier.
P.
Ver. 319.] I difapprove this elifion totally, but cannot pro-
'mife a preferable couplet:
E'en by the Nobles of our iſle are fed
The hopes prefumptuous of my mother's bed,
44
BOOK I
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
She feems attentive to their pleaded vows,
Her heart deteſting what her ear allows.
They, vain expectants of the bridal hour,
My ſtores in riotous expence devour,
In feaſt and dance the mirthful months employ,
And meditate my doom, to crown their joy. 326
With tender pity touch'd, the Goddeſs cry'd:
Soon may kind heav'n a fure relief provide,
Soon may your fire diſcharge the vengeance due,
And all your wrongs the proud oppreffors rue!
Oh! in that portal ſhould the chief appear, 331
Each hand tremendous with a brazen ſpear,
In radiant panoply his limbs incas'd;
335
(For fo of old my father's court he grac❜d,
When focial mirth unbent his ferious foul,
O'er the full banquet, and the ſprightly bowl)
He then from Ephyré, the fair domain
Of Ilus, fprung from Jaſon's royal ſtrain,
Meaſur❜d a length of feas, a toilſome length, in
vain.
For voyaging to learn the direful art
To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart;
340
Ver. 327.] The true force of the original is better ſeen in
Chapman :
This Pallas figh'd, and anfwer'd: O (faid fhe)
Abfent Ulyffes is much mift by thee.
Ver. 334.] The original preſcribes, and not inelegantly, in
my opinion,
My father's court (I faw him) thus he grac'd.
Ver, 341. To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart.] It is
BOOK I.
45
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Obfervant of the Gods, and fternly juſt,
Ilus refus'd t' impart the baneful truſt:
With friendlier zeal my father's foul was fir'd,
The drugs he knew, and gave the boon defir'd.
Appear'd he now with fuch heroick port,
As then confpicuous at the Taphian court;
Soon fhould yon' boafters ceaſe their haughty ftrife,
Or each atone his guilty love with life.
:
346
neceffary to explain this paffage. It feems at firft view, as if
Ulyffes had requeſted what a good man could not grant. Ilus,
fays Mentes, denied the poiſon, becauſe he feared the anger of the
Gods; and the poifon itſelf is called by Homer 'Avdpopóvor, as if it
were defigned againſt mankind. Euftathius defends Ulyffes va-
riouſly he intended, fays he, to employ it againſt beaſts only,
that infefted his country, or in hunting. He affigns another
reaſon, and ſays that the Poet is preparing the way to give an air
of probability to the deftruction of the Suitors. He poiſons his
arrows, that every wound may be mortal; on this account the
poifon may be called andpopórov; for it is certain in the wars of
Troy poisoned arrows were not in uſe, for many perſons who were
wounded recovered; fo that of neceffity they must be reſerved for
domeſtick occaſions. From what has been faid we may collect the
reaſon why Anchialus granted the poifon to Ulyffes, and flus
denied it; Anchialus was the friend of Ulyffes, and knew that hę
would not employ it to any ill purpoſe: but Ilus, who was a
ftranger to him, was afraid left he ſhould abuſe it. Euftathius. P.
Ver. 343.] This ungraceful elifion inclines me to propofé a
couplet of more fidelity:
Ilus, in fear of heav'n's avenging ire,
Refus'd the baneful fecret to thy fire.
Ver. 344.] Or thus, with Ogilby's rhymes:
The boon, his timorous fcruples had deni'd,
My father's warmth of friendly zeal fuppli’d.
Ver. 348.] An admirable couplet! but fome attempt ſhould
have been made to preferve the beautiful phrafeology of the
46
BOOK I.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
But of his wifh'd return the care refign;
~350
Be future vengeance to the pow'rs divine.
My ſentence hear: with ſtern diſtaſte avow'd,
To their own diſtricts drive the Suitor-crowd:
When next the morning warms the purple eaft,
Convoke the Peerage, and the Gods atteſt ; · 355
The forrows of your inmoft foul relate ;
And form fure plans to fave the finking ſtate.
Should fecond love a pleafing flame inſpire,
And the chaſte Queen connubial rites require ;
Difmifs'd with honour, let her hence repair 360
To great Icarius, whofe paternal care
:
A
original. I can only point the path of fuccefs to a more ſkilful
artist:
Soon would this crew be number'd with the dead;
Soon Fate's cold hands would dreſs their nuptial bed!
Ver. 352.] Ogilby is more faithful, and, in my opinion, pre-
ferable after fome caftigation :
But hear my fentence, and confider well,
How beſt thou may'ft this haughty tribe expell.
Ver. 357.] After this verſe the couplet above should be thus
inſerted, with fuitable adjuſtments of connection:
Their lawless revels with diſtaſte avow'd,
'To their own diftricts drive the Suitor-crowd:
>
for the preceding couplet is unauthoriſed by the original.
Ver. 360. Difmifs'd with honour, let her hence repair] I will lay
before the reader literally what Euftathius obſerves upon theſe
words. There is a folecifm, fays he, in theſe verſes or words,
that cannot be reduced to the rules of conftruction. It ſhould be
μήτης, not μητέρα ἄψ᾽ ἴτω. How then comes the accufative cafe to
be uſed inſtead of the nominative? Mentes, adds he, may be fup-
poſed to have intended to have faid amoréuor, (fend thy mother
away;) but confidering in the midft of the fentence, that fuch
advice was not fuitable to be given to Telemachus, he checks
BOOK I.
47
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
•
Will guide her paffion, and reward her choice
With wealthy dow'r, and bridal gifts of price.
Then let this dictate of my love prevail :
Inftant, to foreign realms prepare to fail,
To learn your father's fortunes: Fame may prove,
Or omen'd voice,, (the meffenger of Jove)
365
imſelf and fuppreffes &oréμov; and no other word immediately
occurring, that required an accufative cafe, he falls into a folecifm.
But perhaps this is more ingenious than true; though Mentes
was in hafte when he fpoke it, Homer was not when he compoſed
it. Might not an errour creep into the original by the negligence
of a tranſcriber, who might write Mélépa for Márng? This is the
more probable, becauſe the one ſtands in the verſe in every reſpect
as well as the other.
t
What Euftathius adds is very abfurd: 'he fays that Telemachus
muft obferve both the interpretations, either fend thy mother
away, or let thy mother retire. So that the advice was double,
fend thy mother away if thou doft not love her; but if thou art
unwilling to grieve her, let her recefs be voluntary.
P.
Our tranflator feems willing to engage in philological difcuffions,
for which his ſtudies had not qualified him. Thefe fuſpended and
abrupt, conſtructions are very common, in modern as well as
ancient poetry. See an inftance of a fimilar complexion in my
note on v. 525 of this book. Such is the language of Nature and
Paffion.
Ver. 362.] Rhymes beyond all ſufferance. Thus ? more exactly:
Will guide her paffion, and that dower beſtow,
Such fond affections to a fav'rite owe.
Ver. 367. Omen'd voiceof Jove.] There is a difficulty in
this paffage. In any cafe of enquiry, any words that were heard
by accident were called by the Latins, omens; by Homer, the
voice of Jupiter; and he ftiles them ſo, becauſe it is through his
providence that thoſe words come to our knowledge: xxíe, fignifies
fame or rumour; and the ancients referred all voices or founds to
Jupiter; and ftiled him Zeus waruparos. So that the voice of
Jove implies any words that we hear by chance, from whence we
can draw any thing that gives light to our concerns or enquiries.
Dacier. Euftathius.
P.
1
48
BOOK ÍJ
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
1
Propitious to the ſearch. Direct your toil
Thro' the wide ocean firft to fandy Pyle;
Of Neftor, hoary fage, his doom demand:
Thence ſpeed your voyage to the Spartan ſtrand;
For young Atrides to th' Achaian coaſt
Arriv'd the laſt of all the victor hoft.
If yet Ulyffes views the light, forbear,
370
'Till the fleet hours reſtore the circling year. 375
But if his foul hath wing'd the deſtin'd flight,
Inhabitant of deep diſaſtrous night;
Homeward with pious ſpeed repaſs the main,
To the pale fhade funereal rites ordain,
Plant the fair column o'er the vacant grave, 380
A hero's honours let the hero have.
With decent grief the royal dead deplor'd,
1
For the chafte Queen felect an equal Lord.
Then let revenge your daring mind employ,
By fraud or force the Suitor-train deftroy, 385
And ſtarting into manhood, fcorn the boy.
Ver. 368.] The vicious rhymes require a fubftitution. Thus?
Propitious to the fearch. First o'er the main
Direct thy way to Pylos' fandy plain.
፡
Ver. 378.] By a fimple fubftitution in this verſe, under a full
compliance with every demand of the original, I would fupplant
the preceding couplet, which is but a heavy exaggeration, thus:-
If dead, with pious ſpeed-.
Ver. 379.] This and the four fucceeding lines are the repre-
fentatives of only the following portion of his author :
A mound conſtruct, the funeral rites perform
With fit profufion; and thy mother wed.
Ver. 384.] Thus Ogilby:
BOOK I.
49
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Haft thou not heard how young Oreftes, fir'd
With great revenge, immortal praiſe acquir'd?
His virgin-fword, Egyfthus' veins imbru'd;
The murd❜rer fell, and blood aton'd for blood. 399
O greatly blefs'd with every blooming grace
With equal ſteps the paths of glory trace;
Join to that royal youth's your rival name,
And ſhine eternal in the ſphere of fame.
But my affociates now my ſtay deplore,
Impatient on the hoarſe-refounding ſhore.
Then let thy mother wed, and laſt imploy,
Thy wits how thou theſe Suitors mai’ſt deſtroy,
By force or fraud.
395
Ver. 387. Haft thou not heard, &c.] It may feem that this
example of Oreftes does not come fully up to the purpoſe in-
tended: there is a wide difference in the circumftances: Oreftes
flew an adulterer, and a fingle perſon, with an adultereſs. The
defigns of Telemachus are not againſt one, but many enemies;
neither are they adulterers, nor have they flain the father of
Telemachus, as is the cafe of Oreftes: nor is Penelope an adul-
terefs. The intent therefore of the Goddeſs is only to fhew what
a glorious act it is to defend our parents. Oreftes, ſays Mentes,
is every where celebrated for honouring his father, and thou fhalt
obtain equal honour by defending thy mother.
The fenfe that walpopóveve here bears is remarkable. It fignifies
not only a perſon who kills his own father, but who kills the
father of any other perfon. Euftathius.
Ver. 389.] Thus? on account of the vicious rhymes:
His virgin-ſword, to filial duty true,
His father's murderer, falſe Ægifthus, flew.
Our tranſlator, I prefume, improved his couplet from Ogilby :
He in Egifthus' breaft, that regicide.
Who Agamemnon flew, his weapon dy'd:
who again labours to recommend himſelf to his royal maſter.
VOL. I.
E
P.
HÖMER'S ODYSSEY.
BOOK T.
}
400
Thou, heedful of advice, fecure proceed;
My praiſe the precept is, be thine the deed.
The counſel of my friend (the youth rejoin'd)
Imprints conviction on my grateful mind.
So fathers ſpeak (perſuaſive ſpeech and mild)
Their fage experience to the fav'rite child.
But, fince to part, for fweet refection due,
The genial viands let my train renew:
And the rich pledge of plighted faith receive, 405
Worthy the heir of Ithaca to give.
Ver. 399.] The rhymes cannot be approved. Thus? more
faithfully:
To Pallas then the prudent youth replies:
Thy counfels fpeak a faithful friend and wife:
Such counſel fathers to their fons impart;
No lapſe of time ſhall wear them from my heart.
Ver. 403.] So Milton, Par. Loft, viii. 645.
Go, heav'nly gueft!
Since to part,
But our tranflator is too concife. The following reprefentation is
literal:
Yet ftay, thought bent on fpeed; and let the bath
Refreſh thy limbs, and food recruit thy heart;
Nor, by fome boon ungratified, return:
Some precious, honour'd gift, memorial ſweet
Of me; and fuch as friends to friends may give.
Ver. 405.] The rhymes are vicious; but the turn of the next
couplet is exquifitely happy, and gloriously poetical: to make
amends for the uncommon flovenlinefs and inaccuracy of the re-
mainder of this ſpeech. Thus Chapman, with fidelity to his author:
Detaine me not (faid fhe), fo much inclinde
To hafte my voyage. What thy loved minde
Commands to give, at my returne this way,
Beftow on me; that I directly may
Convey it home; which (more of price to me)
The more it aſkes my recompence to thee.
->
BOOK I. HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
SI
Defer the promis'd boon, (the Goddeſs cries,
Celeſtial azure bright'ning in her eyes)
And let me now regain the Reithrian port:
From Temefé return'd, your royal court
I ſhall revifit; and that pledge receive ;
And gifts, memorial of our friendſhip, leave.
Abrupt, with eagle-ſpeed fhe cut the ſky;
Inftant inviſible to mortal eye,
410
Then firft he recognis'd th' ætherial gueft; 415
Wonder and joy alternate fire his breaſt:
Heroick thoughts, infus'd, his heart dilate :
Revolving much his father's doubtful fate,
At length, compos'd, he join❜d the fuitor-throng;
Huſh'd in attention to the warbled fong.
420
Ver. 408.] Spence in his Eſſay cenfures this verfe: to me it
appears an ingenious variation of the ftanding epithet yλavxwwıs.
Ver. 413. With eagle-speed fhe cut the fky;
Inftant invifible
-]
Ca
I paſs over the ſeveral interpretations that have been given to the
word avotas2; fome fay it implies the flew up the chimney,
In reality it fignifies a ſpecies of an eagle: but it may alſo fignify
the fame as aparès (inviſible,) either of the latter ſenſes are natural:
or both together, like an eagle ſhe diſappeared. Euftathius.
Ver. 414.] From Par. Loft, iii. 55.
Of things invifible to mortal fight.
P.
Ver. 419. The unauthorifed interpolations of this paffage L
would venture to abbreviate by the following adjuſtment :
He found, with ears erect the fuitor-throng
The theme imbibing of the warbled fong;
The fad return from Troy acroſs the main,
Impos'd by Pallas on the Grecian train.
Ver. 420. Hufh'd in attention to the warbled fong.]
There
There may
E 2
52
BOOK I.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
His tender theme the charming Lyrift chofe
Minerva's anger, and the direful woes
Which voyaging from Troy the victors bore,
While ſtorms vindictive intercept the fhore.
The fhrilling airs the vaulted roof rebounds, 425
Reflecting to the Queen the filver founds.
be two reasons why this is inferted; either the Suitors were pleaſed
with the ſweetneſs of the fong, or the fubject of it; they fat' at-
tentive to hear the death of Ulyffes, in the procefs of his ftory.
This gives us a reafon why immediately Penelope defeended to
top the fong; the feared left he might touch upon the ſtory of
Ulyffes, and fay that he died in his return. This would have
reduced her to the utmoft neceffity, and fhe could not have de-
ferred to marry. Phemius would have certainly found credit, for
Poets were believed to be inſpired by the Gods; they were looked
upon as Prophets, and to have fomething of divinity in them,
as appears from Demodocus in the eighth book of the Odyſſey.
Befides there was a further neceffity to put a stop to the fong. If
Phemius had declared him to be dead, Penelope could not have
avoided marriage; if alive, the Suitors might have defifted, of
armed themſelves against Ulyffes, and then their deaths, one of
the principal incidents of the Poem, could not have followed;
neither could Telemachus have gone in ſearch of his father, if
he had foreknown his death, or fudden return. It is therefore
artful in the Poet to cut the fong ſhort; he referves the ſtory of
Ulyffes for future narration; and brings all this about by a very
probable method, by the interpofition of Penelope, who requeſts
that fome other ftory may be chofen, a ſtory that ſhe can hear
without forrow.
It is very cuſtomary for women to be prefent at the entertain-
ments of men; as appears from the conduct of Helen, Arete,
Nauficaa, and Penelope, in divers parts of the Odyffey: the is
here introduced with the greateſt decency; fhe enters not the
room, but ſtands with tears at the threſhold; and even at that.
distance appears with her face fhaded by a veil. Euftathius.
Pope's St. Cecilia:
Ver. 425.]
'Till the roofs all around.
The brill echoes rebound.
P.
BOOK I.
53*
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
With grief renew'd the weeping fair deſcends ;
Their fov'reign's ſtep a virgin train attends :
A veil of richeſt texture wrought, ſhe wears,
And filent to the joyous hall repairs.
There from the portal, with her mild command
Thus gently checks the minstrel's tuneful hand..
430
Phemius! let acts of Gods, and heroes old,
What ancient bards in hall and bow'r have told,
Attemper❜d to the lyre, your voice employ; 435
Such the pleas'd ear will drink with filent joy.
But oh! forbear that dear, diſaſtrous name,
To forrow facred, and fecure of fame:
My bleeding bofom fickens at the ſound,
And ev'ry piercing note inflicts a wound.
Why, deareft object of my duteous love,
(Reply'd the Prince) will you the Bard reprove?
Ver. 431.] More fully expreffive of the author, thus:
There, from the portal, he with mild command,
Her maids befide her, checks the minſtrel's hand.
Ver. 435.] Dunciad, ii. 256.
Such as from lab'ring lungs th' enthufiaft blows;
High found, attemper'd to the vocal nofe.
440
Ver, 438.] The latter claufe is a miſerable botch, for the re-
lief of the verfifier. Thus ?
Or thus:
But oh! that haplefs name, for ever dear!
To tears and fadneſs confecrate, forbear.
That name, for ever fad, for ever dear!
To filent forrow confecrate, forbear.
Ver. 440.] After this verſe a diſtich of his original is paſſed
by, which may thus be rendered:
That man, whoſe glory Greece and Argos fills,
On my fond memory fuch regret inftills !
E 3
54
BOOK I,
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Oft', Jove's ætherial rays (refiſtleſs fire)
The chanter's foul and raptur'd fong inſpire;
Inſtinct divine! nor blame fevere his choice, 445
Warbling the Grecian woes with harp and voice:
For novel lays attract our raviſh'd ears;
But old, the mind with inattention hears;
Ver. 443. Oft, Jove's ætherial rays, &c.] Telemachus here
reproves his mother for commanding Phemius to defift, or not to
make Ulyffes the ſubject of his fong: by ſaying, that it was not
in the Poet's own power to chufe his fubject, which was frequently
dictated and inspired by the Gods. This is a particular inftance
of the opinion the ancients held as to the immediate infpiration of
their Poets. The words in the original evidently bear this ſenſe.
If the ſubject diſpleaſe you, it is not the Poet, but Jupiter is to blame,
who inspires men of invention, as he himself pleafes. And Madam
Dacier ftrangely miſtakes this paffage, in rendering it, it is not
the Poet, but Jupiter, who is the cause of our misfortunes, for it is
he who difpenfes to wretched mortals good or evil as he pleases. At
the fame time fhe acknowledges the word anonsal, which the here
renders laborious, or wretched, to fignify perfons of wit, in the
beginning of lib. vị. and perfons of ſkill and ability in their art,
in lib. xiii.
P.
Our tranflator, treading in the fteps of Chapman and Ogilby,
moft miferably miſtakes his author, his criticiſms notwithſtanding;
nor leſs the last runner of this race, Mr. Cowper himſelf. Hobbes
and Dacier are right. The paffage is parallel to Il. T. 86. and to
Virg. Æn. ii. 601. referred to by Clarke. Thus beginning the
line before us, and proceeding to ver. 449.
Let the ſweet ſongſter's unreftrained choice
Wake his free lyre, and tune his varied voice.
No bard with woes our teeming meaſure fills;
Great Jove alone difpenfes human ills.
What, if his theme the woes of Greece diſplay?
Our raviſh'd ears approve the novel lay.
Ver. 447.] Dryden's St. Cecilia:
With ravish'd ears
The monarch bears,
BOOK I.
55
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Patient permit the fadly-pleafing ftrain;
Familiar now with grief, your tears refrain, 450
And in the publick woe forget your own;
You weep not for a perifh'd Lord, alone.
What Greeks, now wand'ring in the Stygian gloom,
With your Ulyffes fhar'd an equal doom!
Your widow'd hours, apart, with female toil 455
And various labours of the loom beguile;
There rule, from palace-cares remote and free,
That care to man belongs, and moſt to me.
Mature beyond his years the Queen admires
His fage reply, and with her train retires.
Ver. 449.] Pope in his St. Cecilia:
In a ſadly-pleaſing ſtrain,
Let the warbling lute complain.
460
Ver. 455. Your widow'd hours, apart, with female toil, &c.]
Theſe verſes are taken literally from the fixth book of the Iliad,
except that μlos is inferted inſtead of wóλeμos; Euftathius explains
the paffage thus: Women are not forbid intirely to speak, for women
are talking animals, haλntor (wor, they have the faculty of talking, and
indeed are rational creatures; but they muſt not give too much liberty
to that unruly member, in the company of men. Sophocles adviſes
well,
Γύναι, γυναιξὶ κόσμον η
Γη φέρει.
O woman, filence is the ornament of thy fex. Madam Dacier, though
ſhe plunders almost every thing, has fpared this obfervation.
P.
Bad rhymes. Thus more accurately, and faithfully to the
original:
You with the maids, in your fequefter'd room,
Beguile your hours with labours of the loom.
'There from debates and broils continue free:
Theſe to our fex belong, and moſt to me.
E 4
56
BOOK I.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Then fwelling forrows burſt their former bounds,
With echoing grief afreſh the dome reſounds;
"Till Pallas, piteous of her plaintive cries,
In flumber clos'd her filver-ſtreaming eyes.
Meantime, rekindl'd at the royal charms, 465
Tumultuous love each beating bofom warms;
Intemp'rate rage a wordy war began;
But bold Telemachus affum'd the man.
Inftant (he cry'd) your female difcord end,
Ye deedleſs boaſters! and the fong attend; 470
Obey that ſweet compulfion, nor profane
With diffonance the ſmooth melodious ftrain.
Pacifick now prolong the jovial feaſt;
But when the dawn reveals the rofy eaſt,
7
Ver. 461.] Better, perhaps, with the brevity of the original :
There each fad eye freſh ftreams of forrow ſteep,
'Till Pallas clos'd with the foft feal of fleep.
Ver. 471.] A very happy complication of phrafe, congenial
with this before us, occurs in Vincent Bourne's verfion of Addi-
fon's Hymns:
While in the confidence of prayer
My foul took hold on thee:
Dum fe recepit anima numen ad tuum
Confifa humillimæ precum violentiæ.
Our tranflator's expreffion is from Milton, Par. Loft, ix. 473.
Thoughts, whither have ye led me! with what fweet
Compulfion thus tranſported to forget
What hither brought us!
Ver. 472.] Paradife Loft, vii. 32.
But drive far off the barbarous diffonance
Of Bacchus and his revelers.
BOOK I.
57
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
}
I, to the Peers affembled, ſhall propoſe
The firm refolve, I here in few diſcloſe.
475
No longer live the cankers of my court;
All to your feveral ſtates with ſpeed refort;
Waſte in wild riot what your land allows,
There ply the early feaft, and late carouſe. 480
But if, to honour loft, 'tis ftill decreed
For you my bowl fhall flow, my flock fhall bleed;
Judge and revenge my right, impartial Jove !-
By him and all th' immortal thrones above,
(A facred oath) each proud oppreffor, flain, 485
Shall with inglorious gore this marble ſtain.
Aw'd by the Prince, thus haughty, bold, and
young,
Rage gnaw'd the lip, and wonder chain'd the
tongue.
Ver. 476.] Dryden, An. x. 24.
Thus Jupiter in few unfolds the charge.
Ver. 480.] Homer preſcribes the following alteration:
There in alternate banquetings carouſe.
Ver. 483.] This repreſentation of the paffage is not correct,
Rather, thus:
I witness now th' eternal powers above,
If chance thy fovereign will, avenging Jove!
Will grant to view each proud oppreffor's gore
Shed on this violated manfion's floor.
Ver. 487.] Chapman is nervous, and reflects a good image of
his author. I only ſubſtitute a ſingle word:
At this, all bit their lips, and much admire
His words fent from him with fuch phrafe and fire.
58
{
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
BOOK I.
Silence at length the gay Antinous broke,
Conftrain'd a fmile, and thus ambiguous fpoke. 490
What God to your untutor'd youth affords
This headlong torrent of amazing words?
Ver. 490.] This line is mere interpolation. I fhould propofe
the baniſhment of the whole couplet by an adjustment of the next,
as follows:
What God to your untutor'd youth affords
(Antinous cries) this flood of boisterous words?
Ver. 491. The Speech of Antinous.] Antinous and Eurymachus
are Ithacenfians, and are called the chief of the Suitors. It is
therefore neceffary to diſtinguiſh their characters; Antinous is
violent, and determined againſt Ulyffes; Eurymachus more gentle
and fubtle; Antinous derides, Eurymachus flatters.
This fpeech of Antinous is a concealed raillery; he tells Tele-
machus, that Jove infpires his foul with wiſdom, but means that
his education has been fuch, that he had learned nothing from
man; he wishes (out of a feemingly kind concern for him) that
he may never reign in Ithaca, becauſe the weight of a crown is a
burden; and concludes with mentioning his hereditary title to it,
to infinuate that it is by his deſcent only, and not by merit.
Telemachus, in his anfwer, wifely diffembles the affront of
Antinous, he takes it in the better ſenſe, and ſeems to differ only
in opinion about the regality. Think you, ſays he, that to be a
King is to be miferable? To be a King, in my judgment, is to
enjoy affluence and honour. He afferts his claim to the fucceffion
of his father, yet ſeems to decline it, to lay the fufpicions of the
Suitors aſleep, that they may not prevent the meaſures he takes to
obtain it. Euftathius.
The fpeech of Eurymachus confirms the former obfervation,
that this Suitor is of a more foft and moderate behaviour than
Antinous he cloaths ill defigns with a feeming humanity, and
appears a friend, while he carries on the part of an enemy: Tele-
machus had faid, that if it was the will of Jupiter, he would
afcend the throne of Ithaca: Eurymachus anſwers, that this was
as the Gods ſhould determine; an infinuation that they regarded
not his claim from his father. Telemachus faid he would main-
tain himſelf in the poffeffion of his prefent inheritance: Euryma
BOOK I.
59
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
•
May Jove delay thy reign, and cumber late
So bright a genius with the toils of ftate!
495
Thoſe toils (Telemachus ferene replies)
Have charms, with all their weight, t' allure the
wife.
Faſt by the throne obfequious Fame refides,
And Wealth inceffant rolls her golden tides.
Nor let Antinous rage, if ftrong defire
Of wealth and fame a youthful bofom fire: 500
Elect by Jove his delegate of fway,
With joyous pride the fummons I'd obey.
Whene'er Ulyffes roams the realm of Night,
Shou'd factious pow'r diſpute my lineal right,
chus wiſhes that no one may arrive to diſpoſſeſs him: the latent
meaning of which is, "we of your own country are fufficient
"for that defign." If theſe obſervations of Euftathius be true,
Eurymachus was not a leſs enemy than Antinous, but a better
diffembler.
•
Ver. 496.] This inelegant elifion may be readily removed:
Have charms, with all their weight, to win the wiſe.
P.
But this couplet of the tranſlation is general, and bears little
or no reſemblance to the original; the fenſe and order of which
are more correctly exhibited by Chapman, as follows;
Be not offended (he replide) if I
Shall fay, I would affume this emperie,
If Jove gave leave. You are not he that fings,
"The rule of kingdomes is the worft of things."
Nor is it ill, at all, to fway a throne.
Ver. 503.] The purport of theſe two couplets, as far as they
are authorized by the original, may be well digefted into one, and
with more fidelity; thus;
But, finçe Ulyffes roams the realm of night,
Others there are to claim the fovereign right,
な
​60
BOOK I.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
+
Some other Greeks a fairer claim may plead; 505
To
your pretence their title wou'd precede.
At leaſt, the ſcepter loft, I ftill fhou'd reign
Sole o'er my vaſſals, and domeſtick train.
To this Eurymachus. To heav'n alone
Refer the choice to fill the vacant throne.
Your patrimonial ſtores in
peace poſſeſs ;
Undoubted all your filial claim confeſs :
Your private right fhou'd impious pow'r invade,
The peers of Ithaca wou'd arm in aid.
510
But fay, that ſtranger-gueft who late withdrew,
What and from whence? his name and lineage
fhew.
His grave demeanour, and majeſtick grace
Speak him defcended of no vulgar race;
Ver. 513.] The original runs thus:
Let not that man appear, who dares by force
To wreſt thy wealth, while Ithaca has men.
516
And, through the whole of this book, the tranflation is very
general in it's repreſentation of Homer's fenfe, with little atten-
tion to the complexion of his language: and in numerous inftances
has more of a commentary than a verſion: but betrays, notwith-
ſtanding, in the execution, an uncommon fhare of technical inge-
nuity and the true genius of poetry.
Ver. 517.] Thus, more faithfully to the original:
How ſwift he paſt, as fhunning to be ſeen!
No common worth befpake his noble mien.
And in Homer this couplet follows the next of the verfion, and
concludes the ſpeech.
Ver. 518.] So Dacier: "A fon air on voit bien que ce n'eſt pas un
« homme d'une naiffance obfcure." But I deem this reſemblance
cafual: for Fenton, whofe portion of tranſlation was inconfider-
BOOK I.
61
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
520
Did he fome loan of antient right require,
Or came fore-runner of your fcepter'd Sire?
Oh fon of Polybus! the Prince replies,
No more my Sire will glad theſe longing eyes:
The Queen's fond hope inventive rumour cheers,
Or vain diviners' dreams divert her fears.
That ſtranger-gueft the Taphian realm obeys, 525
A realm defended with incircling feas.
Mentes, an ever-honour'd name, of old
High in Ulyffes' ſocial liſt inroll'd.
530
Thus he, tho' confcious of th' ætherial gueft,
Anſwer'd evaſive of the fly requeſt.
Meantime the lyre rejoins the ſprightly lay;
Love-dittied airs, and dance, conclude the day.
But when the ſtar of eve, with golden light
Adorn'd the matron-brow of fable night;
The mirthful train difperfing quit the court, 535
And to their feveral domes to reſt reſort.
able, appears to have derived little or no benefit from his predecef-
fors; confulted by Pope, who was wearied with the length of his
undertaking, and unacquainted with the original language of his
author, with unfailing affiduity.
Ver. 525.] The rhymes will not paſs with an ear of feeling.
Thus ?
But know, that ftranger-gueft, his regal fway
The Taphians, fam'd for naval ſkill, obey.
I have ſpoken elſewhere in theſe notes with approbation of that
adoption into Engliſh poetry of the fufpended nominative, from the
Greeks and Romans, on occaſion of a fimilar inftance in Pope's
tranflation.
Ver. 534.] So Chapman :
The fable even deſcended.
62
BOOK I.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
}
A tow'ring ftructure to the palace join'd;
To this his ſteps the thoughtful Prince inclin'd;
In his pavilion there, to fleep repairs;
The lighted torch, the fage Euryclea bears: 540
(Daughter of Ops, the juft Pifenor's fon,
For twenty beeves by great Laertes won;
In rofy prime with charms attractive grac❜d,
Honour'd by him, a gentle lord and chaſte,
With dear efteem: too wife, with jealous ftrife
To taint the joys of fweet, connubial life. 546
Sole with Telemachus her fervice ends,
A child fhe nurs'd him, and a man attends.)
Whilft to his couch himſelf the Prince addreft,
The duteous dame receiv'd the purple veft: 550
The purple veſt with decent care difpos'd,
The filver ring fhe pull'd, the door reclos'd;
Ver. 537.] The rhymes are exceptionable, and require a
fubftitution.
A towering chamber from the hall aſcends :
To this the prince in penfive forrow bends.
Ver. 540. The fage Euryclea.] Euryclea was a very aged per-
fon; the was bought by Laertes to nurfe Ulyffes; and in her old
age attends Telemachus: fhe coft Laertes twenty oxen; that is,
2 certain quantity of money (ύλης μεταλλικῆς) which would bay
twenty oxen or perhaps the form of an ox was ſtamped upon the
metal, and from thence had its appellation.
The fimplicity of thefe heroick times is remarkable; an old
woman is the only attendant upon the fon of a King: fhe lights
him to his apartment, takes care of his cloaths, and hangs them
up at the fide of his bed. Greatneſs then confifted not in fhew,
but in the mind: this conduct proceeded not from the meanness of
poverty, but from the fimplicity of manners Euftathius.. P..
BOOK I.
63
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
The bolt, obedient to the filken cord,
To the ſtrong ſtaple's inmoft depth reftor'd,
Secur❜d the valves. There, wrapt in filent
fhade,
555
Penfive, the rules the Goddefs gave, he weigh'd;
Stretch'd on the downy fleece, no reſt he knows,
And in his raptur'd foul the viſion glows.
Ver. 545.] So Hobbes:
T' avoid fufpicion, and domeſtick ftrife.
Ver. 548.] A moſt elegant and delightful verfe!
Ver. 552.] Thus Chapman:
Then made ſhe hafte forth from him; and did bring
The doore together with a filver ring.
Ver. 555.] If the following alteration be made, perfectly cor-
reſpondent to the original,
Secur❜d the valves. All night on fleeces laid;
the concluding couplet may be ſpared, as an elegant vifion of the
tranflator's only.
Editor.
Having now gone through the firſt book, I ſhall only obſerve
to the reader, that the whole of it does not take up the compafs
of an intire day: when Minerva appears to Telemachus, the
Suitors were preparing to fit down to the banquet at noon; and
the buſineſs of the first book concludes with the day. It is true,
that the Gods hold a debate before the deſcent of Minerva, and
fome ſmall time muſt be allowed for that tranfaction. It is re-
markable, that there is not one fimile in this book, except we
allow thore three words to be one, ὄρνις δ᾽ ὡς ἀνόπαια; the fame
obſervation is true of the firſt book of the Iliad. See the notes
on that place.
ως
P.
THE
SECOND BOOK
OF THE
ODYSSEY.
VOL. I.
F
THE ARGUMENT.
The Council of Ithaca.
TELE
ELEMACHUS, in the affembly of the Lords of Ithaca,
complains of the injuftice done him by the Suitors,
and infifts upon their departure from his Palace; appeal-
ing to the Princes, and exciting the people to declare
against them. The Suitors endeavour to justify their
Stay, at least till be shall fend the Queen to the Court of
Icarius ber father; which he refufes. There appears a
prodigy of two Eagles in the sky, which an Augur
expounds to the ruin of the Suitors. Telemachus then
demands a veſſel to carry him to Pylos and Sparte, there
to enquire of his father's fortunes. Pallas in the ſhape
of Mentor (an ancient friend of Ulyffes) helps him to a
fhip, affifts him in preparing neceſſaries for the voyage,
and imbarks with him that night; which concludes the
Second day from the opening of the Poem.
The Scene continues in the palace of Ulyffes in Ithaca. P.
£
F 2
NOTE PRELIMINARY.
HIS book opens with the first appearance of Telemachus
THI
upon the ſtage of action. And Boffu obferves the great
judgment of the Poet, in beginning with the tranfactions of Ithaca
in the abſence of Ulyffes: by this method he fets the conduct of
Telemachus, Penelope, and the Suitors, in a ſtrong point of light;
they all have a large ſhare in the ſtory of the Poem, and confe-
quently ought to have diftinguiſhing characters. It is as necef
fary in Epick Poetry, as it is on the Theatre, to let us immediately
into the character of every perſon whom the Poet introduces:
this adds perfpicuity to the ftory, and we immediately grow
acquainted with each perfonage, and intereft ourſelves in the good
or ill fortune that attends them through the whole relation.
Telemachus is now about twenty years of age: in the eleventh
book, the Poet tells us, he was an infant in the arms of his
mother when Ulyffes failed to Troy; that Hero was abſent near
twenty years, and from hence we may gather the exact age of
Telemachus. He is every where deſcribed as a perſon of piety
to the Gods, of duty to his parents, and as a lover of his country:
he is prudent, temperate, and valiant: and the poet well ſets off
the importance of this young Hero, by giving him the Goddeſs
of War and Wiſdom for his conftant attendant.
P.
1
•
+
THE
SECOND BOOK
Z
?
*
OF THE
ODYSSEY.
·
1
Now
W red'ning from the dawn, the morn
ing-ray
Glow'd in the front of heav'n, and gave the day,
The youthful hero, with returning light,
Roſe anxious from th' inquietudes of night.
A royal robe he wore with graceful pride,
.
A two-edg'd falchion threaten'd by his fide,
5
?
NOTE
S.
- Ver. 5.] Thus his author: (but fidelity made the verfification
much more difficult, and a hackneyed deſcription was eafily accom-
modated to the tranflator's purpoſe)
A royal robe with graceful pride he wore;
And a sharp fword athwart bis fhoulders bore.
1
+
F 3
70
BOOK IN
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Embroider'd fandals glitter'd as he trod,
And forth he mov'd, majeftick as a God.
Then by his heralds, reſtleſs of delay,
"
To council calls the peers: the peers obey. 10
Soon as in folemn form th' affembly ſat,
From his high dome himſelf deſcends in ſtate.
Bright in his hand a pond'rous javʼlin ſhin'd;
Two dogs, a faithful guard, attend behind;
Ver. 7 So Chapman:
who, when he trod
The open earth, to men fhewd like a god.
`Ver. 13.
In his hand à pond'rous jav'lin ſhin'd.] The
Poet deſcribes Telemachus as if he were marching againſt an
enemy, or going to a council of war, rather than to an aſſembly
of peers in his own country: two reafons are affigned for this
Tonduct; either this was the common ufage of princes in thoſe
times, or Telemachus might look upon the Suitors as enemies,
and confequently go to council in-arms as againſt enemies. Eufta-
-thius.
P.
Ver. 14. Tivo dog's, a faithful guard, attend behind.] This
paffage has not escaped the raillery of the Criticks; they look upon
it as a mean defcription of a hero and a prince, to give him, a
brace of dogs only for his guards or attendants: but fuch was the
Aimplicity of ancient princes, that except in war they had rarely
any attendants or equipage. And we may be confident Homer
copies after the cuftom of the time, unless we can be fo abfurd as
to fuppofe, he would feign low circumſtances unneceffarily, through
a want of judgment.
Virgil judged otherwiſe, and thought this circumftance worthy
of his imitation.
"Quin etiam gemini cuftodes limine ab alto
"Procedunt, greffumque canes comitantur Herilem."
Patroclus is deſcribed in the Iliad with the fame attendants.
nine large dogs domeſtick at his board.` B. xxiii.
BOOK II.
ヴェ
​HOMER's ODYSSEY.
'
Pallas with grace divine his form improves, 15
And gazing crouds admire him as he moves.
His father's throne he fill'd: while diftant ſtood
žo
The hoary peers, and aged Wiſdom bow'd.
-"Twas filence all, at laft Egyptius fpoke;
Ægyptius, by his age and forrows broke :
A length of days his foul with prudence crown'd,
A length of days had bent him to the ground.
*His eldeſt * hope in arms to Ilion came,
By great Ulyffes taught the path to fame';
Poetry, obferves Dacier, is like painting, which draws the
greateſt beauties from the fimpleft cuftoms: and even in hiſtory,
we receive a fenfible pleafare from the leaft circumftance that
denotes the cuſtoms of ancient times. It may be added, that the
poet, as well as the painter, is obliged to follow the cuſtoms of
the age of which he writes, or paints: a modern drefs would ill
become Achilles or Ulyffes, fuch a conduct would be condemned
as an abfurdity in painting, and ought to be ſo in poetry.
P.
Ver. 15.] Or thus, as the former verfe of the couplet feems
fafceptible of improvement:
Mound him Pallas grace cæleftial throws;
And gazing crouds admire him as he goes.
Ver. 18.] The latter claufe is the tranflator's interpolation,
for the gain of an intolerable rhyme. Thus ?
The throne he mounted of his father's fway:
The hoary feniors to the prince give way.
Ver. 20.] The fentiment of the fucceeding couplet ſhould not
be anticipated. The following attempt is not wide of the
original:
The council throng'd in liſtening filence fate:
At length Ægyptius open'd the debate.
Amiphus,
**
72
BOOK II
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
But, hapless youth! the hideous Cyclops tore 25
His quiv'ring limbs, and quaff'd his ſpouting gore.
Three fons remain'd: to climb with haughty fires
The royal bed, Eurynomus afpires;
3º
The reft with duteous love his griefs affwage,
And eaſe the fire of half the cares of age.
Yet ſtill his Antiphus he loves, he mourns;
And as he ſtood, he spoke and wept by turns.
Since great Ulyffes fought the Phrygian plains,
Within theſe walls inglorious filence reigns.
Ver. 25.] It were eaſy to obſerve more fidelity, as follows:
Of all his comrades laft, the Cyclops tore→→.
Ver. 27.] The phrafe haughty fires feems harfh and forced. I
fhall propoſe a ſubſtitution :
Three fons remain'd: with wild ambition fir'd's
To win the queen Eurynomus afpir'd.
Ver. 31. Yet still his Antiphus he loves, he mourns.] Homer,
fays Euftathius, inferts thefe particularities concerning the family
of Ægyptius, to give an air of truth to his ftory: it does not
appear that Ægyptius knew the certainty of the death of Anti-
phus (for it is the poet who relates it, and not the father;)
whence, as Dacier obferves, fhould he learn it? He only laments
him, according to the prevailing opinion that all the companions
of Ulyffes were loft with Ulyffes.
}
May the inaccuracy of the rhyme be fuperfeded thus ?
Yet ftill the flame of ftrong affection burns
For Antiphus. He pake, and wept by turns.
P.
Ver. 33.] Since great Ulyffes, &c.] We here are told, that
there never had been any council convened in Ithaca, fince the
departure of Ulyffes. The general defign and moral of the
Odyſſey, is to inform us of the miſchievous effects which the
abfence of a king and father of a family produces: we deprive,
as Boffu obferves, the poem of its very foul, and ſpoil the fable,
if we retrench from it the diſorders which the Suitors create in the
BOOK II. HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
73
40
Say then, ye peers! by whofe commands we meet?
Why here once more in folemn council fit? 36
Ye young, ye old, the weighty cauſe diſcloſe :
Arrives fome meffage of invading foes?
Or fay, does high neceffity of ftate
Inſpire ſome patriot, and demand debate ?
The preſent Synod ſpeaks its author wife;
Affift him, Jove, thou regent of the ſkies!
He fpoke. Telemachus with tranſport glows,
Embrac'd the omen, and majeſtick roſe:
(His royal hand th' imperial ſcepter ſway'd)
Then thus, addreffing to Ægyptius, faid.
45
abfence of Ulyffes, both in his family and dominions. Nothing
can give us a greater image of thoſe diſorders, than what is here
related: what muſt a kingdom fuffer in twenty years without a
ruler, without a council to make laws or puniſh enormities? Such
is the condition of Ithaca: Laertes is fuperannuated; Penelope
oppreffed by the violence of the Suitors; and Telemachus to this
time, in his minority.
It is very artful in the poet to open the affembly by Ægyptius:
Telemachus was the perfon who convened it: and being the
greateſt perfonage prefent, it might be expected that he ſhould
open the deſign of it: but to give Telemachus courage, who was
young and inexperienced, Ægyptius firft rifes, and by praiſing the
perfon who had fummoned them (of whom he ſeems ignorant)
gives Telemachus to underſtand he has friends among the affembly:
this he could no other way fo fafely have done, confidering the
power of the Suitors. By this means Telemachus is encouraged
to ſpeak boldly, and arraign the diſorders of the Suitors with the
utmoſt freedom.
Ver. 35.1 No proper rhymes. Thus?
Why then in folemn council meet to-day?
By whofe commands, ye Ithacenfians! fay?
P.
Ver. 45.] Our tranflator is too hafty and conciſe. The fol-
lowing attempt is conformable to the original :
·74
BOOK Å.
·HÒMER's ODYSSEY.
Rev'rend old man! to here confeft he ftands
By whom ye meet; my grief your care demands.
No ftory I unfold of publick woes,
Nor bear advices of impending foes:
Peace the bleft land, and joys inceffant crown;
肯
​1
Of all this happy realm, I grieve alone.
For my loft fire continual forrows fpring,
The great, the good; your father, and your king.
Yet more: our houfe from its foundation bows, 55
Our foes are pow'rful, and your fons the foes:
}
The prince, to fpeak impatient, takes his ſtand
In the mid council: (then receiv'd his hand
The fceptre from Pifenor, wife with age)
And thus addreft Ægyptius, reverend fagė:
Old man rever'd! lo here he stands confeft
1
?
By whom ye meet: fuch grief o'erwhelms my breaſt!
Ver. 51.] This is wide of the original. Chapman is exact:
Onely mine owne affaires all this procure,
That in my houfe a double ill endurè..
+
Ver. 54. Your father, and your king.] Telemachus here fets
the character of Ulyffes, as a king, in the most agreeable point
of light: he ruled his people with the fame mildneſs as a father
rules his children. This muft needs have a very happy effect upon
the audience; not only as it fhews Ulyffes to have been a good
governor; but as it recalls the memory of the happineſs they
received from that mild government, and obliquely condemns them
of ingratitude who had forgot it. By this method alſo the poet
interefts us deeply in the fufferings of Ulyffes; we cannot fee a
good man and good king in diftrefs, without the moſt tender
emotions.
Ver. 55. Yet more; our houſe, &c.]
fays, has given offence to the Criticks;
P.
What Telemachus here
they think it indecent for
a fon to ſay, 'that he bears with more regret the diſorder of his
family than the lofs of his father; yet this objection will vanish,
BOOK II,
75
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
бо
Hither, unwelcome to the Queen they come ;
Why feek they not the rich Icarian dome?
If the muft wed, from other hands require
The dow'ry is Telemachus her fire?
Yet thro' my court the noiſe of revel rings,
And waſtes the wife frugality of kings.
Scarce all my herds their luxury fuffice;
Scarce all my wine their midnight hours fupplies.
if we weigh Penelope, Telemachus; and his whole poſterity,
againſt the ſingle perfon of Ulyffes.
But what chiefly takes away this objection is, that Telemachus
was ftill in hopes of his father's return: for åσà does not im-
ply neceffarily his death, but abfence: and then both with juſtice
and decency, Telemachus may fay that he grieves more for the
deſtruction of his family, than for the abſence of Ulyffes.
A very inaccurate reprefentation of his author. Thus ?
A weightier evil ftill our houſe deplores;
Such wafteful riot fquanders all our ſtores.
Unwelcome Suitors to my mother come
Your fons: but dread to ſeek th' Icarian dome.
P.
Ver. 63. Scarce all my herds their luxury fuffice.] This paffage
is ridiculed by the Criticks; they fet it in a wrong light, and
then grow very pleaſant upon it: Telemachus makes a fad outcry
becauſe the Suitors eat his ſheep, his beeves and fatted goats; and
at laft falls into tears. The truth is, the riches of Kings and
Princes, in thofe early ages, confifted chiefly in flocks and cattle;
thus Æneas and Paris are defcribed as tending their flocks, &c.
And Abraham in the fcriptures, as abounding in this kind of
wealth.
Thefe Criticks would form a different idea of the ſtate and con-
dition of Telemachus, if they confidered that he had been capable
to maintain no fewer than an hundred and eight perſons in a man-
ner very expenfive for many years; for fo many (with their at-
tendants) were the Suitors, as appears from the fixteenth book:
and at the fame time he kept up the dignity of his own court,
and lived with great hoſpitality.
76
BOOK II.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY,
65
Safe in my youth, in riot ſtill they grow,
Nor in the helpleſs orphan dread a foe.
But come it will, the time when manhood grants
More pow'rful advocates than vain complaints.
Approach that hour! unfufferable wrong
Cries to the Gods, and Vengeance fleeps too long.
Rife then, ye peers! with virtuous anger rife; 71
Your fame revere, but moſt th' avenging fkies.
By all the deathleſs pow'rs that reign above,
By righteous Themis and by thund'ring Jove,
(Themis, who gives to councils, or denies
Succeſs; and humbles, or confirms the wiſe)
75
But it is a fufficient anſwer to the objections againſt this paffage,
to obferve, that it is not the expence, but manner of it, that
Telemachus laments: this he exprefly declares by the word
padias; and furely a fober man may complain againft luxury,
without being arraigned of meannefs; and againſt profufion, with-
out being condemned for parfimony.
Ver. 66.] More faithfully,
Nor in my father's abſence dread a foe.
Ver. 67.] Thus his author, literally exhibited:
Unfit am I for vengeance: all too weak,
All inexpert, my ftrength betrays my will;
With power reſponſive foon would vengeance come.
P.
And to this the couplet before us, which is defective in rhyme,
and perverſe in meaning, is intended to correſpond.
Ver. 75.] Themis, who gives to councils, or denies
Success;
-]
be
Euftathius obferves, that there was a cuſtom to carry the ſtatue of
Themis to the affemblies in former ages, and carry it back again
when thoſe affemblies were diffolved; and thus Themis may
ſaid to form, and diſſolve an aſſembly. Dacier diſlikes this affer-
tion, as having no foundation in antiquity; the thinks that the
BOOK II.
77
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
ર
:
Rife in my aid! fuffice the tears that flow
For my
loft fire, nor add new woe to woe.
If e'er he bore the ſword to ſtrengthen ill,
Or having pow'r to wrong, betray'd the will, so
On me, on me your kindled wrath aſſwage,
And bid the voice of lawleſs riot rage.
If ruin to our royal race ye doom,
Bę you
the ſpoilers, and our wealth conſume.
Then might we hope redreſs from juſter laws, 85
And raiſe all Ithaca to aid our cauſe:
But while your fons commit th'unpuniſh'd wrong,
You make the arm of violence too ftrong.
While thus he spoke, with rage and grief he
frown'd,
And dafh'd th' imperial fcepter to the ground. 90
affertion of Telemachus is general, that he intimates, it is juſtice
alone that eſtabliſhes the councils of mankind, and that injuftice
confounds and brings the wicked defigns of men to confuſion.
I have followed this interpretation, not only as it fuits beſt with
the ufual morality of Homer, but alſo as Jupiter is mentioned
with Themis; and no fuch cuftom is pretended concerning his
ftatue. He is exprefly ftiled by the ancients Zeus ȧyopałos. In
Sicily there was an altar of Zeus άyopaîos, or of Jupiter, who pre-
fides over Councils. Euftathius from Herodotus.
P.
Ver. 84. Be you the spoilers, and our wealth confume.] To un-
derſtand this paffage, we muſt remember, as Euftathius remarks,
that Telemachus is pleading his caufe before the Ithacenfians;
them he conſtitutes the judges of his caufe: he therefore prevents
an anſwer which they might make, viz. We are not the men that
are guilty of theſe outrages; Telemachus rejoins, "It were better
"for me to fuffer from your hands; for by your quieſcence you
"make my affairs defperate ;" an intimation that they ſhould rife
in his defence.
P.
78
BOOK IL
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The big round tear hung trembling in his eye:
The fynod griev'd, and gave a pitying figh,
Then filent fat-at length Antinous burns
With haughty rage, and fternly thus returns.
Q infolence of youth! whoſe tongue affords 95
Such railing eloquence, and war of words.
Studious thy country's worthies to defame,
Thy erring voice diſplays thy mother's fhame.
Eluſive of the bridal day, ſhe gives
Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives. roe
Ver. 91. The big round tear hung trembling in his eye.] This
paffage is not one of thoſe, where the Poet can be blamed for
caufing a hero to weep. If we confider the youth of Telemachus,
together with the tenderneſs agreeable to that time of life; the
ſubjects that demand his concern; the apprehenfion of the lofs of
a father; and the defolate ſtate of his mother and kingdom: all
theſe make his readiness to burst into tears an argument, not of
any want of ſpirit in him, but of true ſenſe, and goodneſs of
nature; and is a great propriety, which ſhews the right judgment
of the Poet.
P.
Ver. 95. O infolence of youth! &c.] We find Antinous always
fetting himſelf in the ftrongeft oppofition to Telemachus; and
therefore he is the first that falls by the fpear of Ulyffes; the Poet
obſerves juſtice, and as Antinous is the firſt in guilt, he is the firſt
in puniſhment. What Antinous fays in this ſpeech, concerning
the treachery of the female fervant of Penelope, prepares the
way for the puniſhment Ulyffes inflicts on fome of the maids in
the conclufion of the Poem: this is an act of poetical juftice; and
it is as neceflary in Epick as in Tragick Poety, to reward the juſt,
and punish the guilty, Euftathius.
Ver. 98.] Rather, perhaps,
Thy erring voice but ſpeaks thy mother's ſhame.
Ver. 99. Elufive of the bridal day, he gives
Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives.]
P.
1
It will be neceffary to vindicate the character of Penelope, the
BOOK II.
79
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
.
Did not the fun, thro' heav'n's wide azure roll'ḍ,
For three long years the royal fraud behold?
While fhe, laborious in delufion ſpread
The fpacious loom, and mix'd the various thread :
heroine of the Poem, from the aſperſion of Antinous. It must be
conféft that fhe has a very hard game to play, fhe neither dares
confent, nor deny: if the confents, fhe injures Ulyffes, whom
The ftill expects to return; if the denies, fhe endangers the throne,
and the life of Telemachus, from the violence of the Suitors; fo
that no other method is left to elude their addreffes.
I'muft not conceal what Euftathius has mentioned from fome
authors, as Lycophron, &c. who fay that Penelope was xaoowpida,
in plain Engliſh, an harlot : and he quotes Herodotus, as affirm-
ing that he had a fon, named Pan, by Hermes; but the Biſhop
declares it is all a fcandal; and every body must conclude the
fame, from her conduct, as deſcribed in Homer.
*
To vindicate her in this place, we must confider who it is that
fpeaks: Antinous, an unfuccefsful lover: and what he blames as
a crime, is really her glory; he blames her becauſe ſhe does not
comply with their defires; and it had been an act of guilt to have
complied. He himſelf fufficiently vindicates her in the conclufion
of his ſpeech, where he extols her above all the race of woman-
kind: fo that the feeming inconfiftence of Penelope must be im-
puted to the neceffity of her affairs: fhe is artful, but not cri-
minal.
The original fays, the deceived the Suitors by her meffages; a
plain intimation, that ſhe uſed no extraordinary familiarities with
her admirers; and through the whole courfe of the Poem fhe
feldom appears in their aſſemblies,
P.
This rhyme is of perpetual recurrence in our correcteſt verſi-
fiers; but is, in my opinion, juftly exceptionable. Thus?
She gives, elufive of the bridal day,
Fond hopes to all; but all thefe hopes betray.
Ver. 102. This royal fraud I fufpect to be one of Pope's
corrections; who loft no occafion of a fatirical fling at the reign-
ing family as I have before remarked.
80
BOOK 11.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
•
Where as to life the wond'rous figures rife, 105
Thus fpoke th' inventive Queen, with artful fighs.
Tho' cold in death Ulyffes breathes no more,
Ceafe yet a while to urge the bridal hour;
"Ceafe, 'till to great Laërtes I bequeath
"A tafk of grief, his ornaments of death.
"Left when the fates his royal aſhes claim,
"The Grecian matrons taint my ſpotleſs fame
"When he, whom living mighty realms obey'd,
“Shall want in death a ſhroud to grace his ſhade."
110
00
Ver. 105.] A playful invention has fabricated this couplet
from the following words of Homer:
and ſpake to us apart.
Ver. 107.] Rhymes not to be borne. Thus?
Though my fam'd ſpouſe have clos'd his vital day,
Awhile, ye youths! my bridal hour delay.
Or otherwiſe :
Awhile, ye youths! though death's all-conquering power
Have claim'd my ſpouſe, defer the bridal hour.
Ver. 109.] Ceaſe, 'till to great Laërtes I bequeath
A taſk of grief, his ornaments of death.}
It was an ancient cuſtom to dedicate the fineſt pieces of weaving
and embroidery, to honour the funerals of the dead: and theſe
were uſually wrought by the neareſt relations in their life-time.
Thus in the twenty-fecond Iliad, Andromache laments, that the
body of Hector muſt be expofed to the air, without thoſe orna-
ments.
-
ἀτάς τοι εἵματ᾽ ἐνὶ μεγάροισι κέονται,
Διπλά τε καὶ χαριέντα, τελυγμένα χερσὶ γυναικῶν.
And the mother of Euryalus in Virgil, to her fon,
Nec te tua funera mater
"Produxi, preffive oculos, aut vulnera layi,
"Vefte tegens, tibi quam noctes feftina diefque
Urgebam, & tela curas folabar aniles,"
66
BOOK II.
81
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Thus fhe at once the gen'rous train com-
115
plies,
Nor fraud miftrufts in virtue's fair difguife.
The work the ply'd; but ſtudious of delay,
By night revers'd the labours of the day.
While thrice the fun his annual journey made,
The conſcious lamp the midnight fraud furvey'd ;
Unheard, unfeen, three years her arts prevail; 121
The fourth, her maid unfolds th' amazing tale.
We faw, as unperceiv'd we took our ſtand,
The backward labours of her faithleſs hand.
Then urg'd, the perfects her illuftrious toils; 125
A wond'rous monument of female wiles!
But
you, oh peers! and thou, oh prince! give
ear;
(I fpeak aloud, that every Greek may hear)
130
Diſmiſs the Queen; and if her fire approves,
Let him eſpouſe her to the peer ſhe loves :
Bid inftant to prepare the bridal train,
Nor let a race of princes wait in vain.
Tho' with a grace divine her foul is bleft,
And all Minerva breathes within her breaſt, 134
Ver. 116.] We are indebted for this beautiful verſe to the
invention of the tranflator only. The whole paffage is executed
with fuperior tafte.
Ver. 135.] This couplet is foreign in it's purport, and un-
fatisfactory in its rhymes. Thus?
Lamenting then her fruftrated deceit,
Conſtrain'd the makes the lingering work complete,
VOL. I,
}
G
.82
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK II;
140
In wond'rous arts than woman more renown'd,
And more than woman with deep wiſdom crown'd;
Tho' Tyro nor Mycene match her name,
Nor great Alcmena (the proud boaſts of fame)
Yet thus by heav'n adorn'd, by heav'n's decree
She ſhines with fatal excellence, to thee:
With thee, the bowl we drain, indulge the feaſt,
'Till righteous heav'n reclaim her ſtubborn breaſt.
What tho' from pole to pole reſounds her name!
The fon's deftruction waits the mother's fame:
For 'till the leaves thy court, it is decreed, 145.
Thy bowl to empty, and thy flock to bleed.
While yet
he ſpeaks, Telemachus replies:
Ev'n Nature ſtarts, and what ye afk denies.
Ver. 140.] She shines with fatal excellence to thee.] Euftathius
obferves, that Antinous, in the opening of his ſpeech, throws
the fault upon Penelope, to engage the favour of the multitude :
But being confcious that he had faid things which Penelope would
refent, he extols her in the conclufion of it. He afcribes an ob-
Atinacy of virtue to her, and by this double conduct endeavours
to make both Penelope and the multitude his friends.
P.
Ver. 145.] This is lefs accurate to the original, than the fol-
lowing attempt:
Not one, 'till ſhe the fav'rite youth ſhall take,
Of all her Suitors 'will this houfe forfake.
Ver. 147. Telemachus's reply.] Telemachus every where ſpeaks,
with an openness and bravery of fpirit; this ſpeech is a teftimony
of it, as well as his former; he anfwers chiefly to the difmiffion
of Penelope, fays it would be an offence againſt heaven and earth;
and concludes with a vehemence of expreffion, and tells Antinous
that fuch a word, μulov, fhall never fall from his tongue.
The Criticks have found fault with one part of the ſpeech, as
betraying a ſpirit of avarice and meanneſs in Telemachus.
BOOK II.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
t
Thus, fhall I thus repay a mother's cares,
Who
gave me life, and nurs'd
my infant years?
How to Icarius, in the bridal hour,
Shall I, by waſte undone, refund the dow'r ?
They think it unworthy of Telemachus to make the dower of
Penelope an argument against her difmiffion, and confequently
afcribe his detention of her, not to duty, but to covetouſneſs.
To take away this objection, they point the verſes in a different
manner, and place a ſtop after åmotive, and then the ſenſe runs
thus: "I cannot conſent to diſmiſs her who bore me, and nurfed
me in my infancy, while her huſband is abfent, or perhaps
"dead; befides, hard would be the puniſhment I fhould fuffer, if
"I ſhould voluntarily fend away Penelope to Icarius.”
<
Dacier diſlikes this folution, and appeals to the cuſtoms of thofe
ages, to justify her opinion: if a fon forced away his mother
from his houfe, he was obliged to reſtore her dower, and all fhe
brought in marriage to her huſband: but if ſhe retired voluntarily
to engage in a ſecond marriage, the dower remained with the fon
as lawful heir. This opinion of Dacier may be confirmed from
Demofthenes in his orations, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς τελευτής
σαλα, απολιπᾶσα τὸν οἶκον, καὶ κομισαμένη την προίκα. Afterwards
upon the decease of her husband, leaving his family, and receiving
back her portion, &c. The fame author adds, that the reaſon why
the Suitors are fo urgent to fend away Penelope, is, that fhe may
chuſe to marry fome one of them, rather than return to Icarius ;
fo that Telemachus only takes hold of their argument for her
difmiffion, in order to detain het. They addreffed Penelope more
for the fake of her riches than her beauty, (for ſhe muſt be about
forty years old) and he tells them, that if he ſends her away
against her confent, he muſt reſtore thofe riches, which they covet
more than the perſon of Penelope. This I confefs is very refined;
and perhaps it may be fufficient to take off the objection of covet-
ouſneſs in Telemachus, to underſtand no more than what the
words at the firſt view feem to imply, viz. an abhorrence of their
riots, deſcribed by Telemachus to have ariſen to fuch a degree as
to have almoſt ruined his kingdom, and made their demands im-
G 2
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
BOOK II,
While fad on foreign fhores Ulyffes treads,
Or glides a ghoft with unapparent ſhades;
How to Icarius in the bridal hour
151
Shall I, by waſte undone, refund the dow'r?
How from my father ſhould I vengeance dread?
How would my mother curſe my hated head? 156
And while in wrath to vengeful fiends ſhe cries,
How from their hell would vengeful fiends ariſe?
poffible. I fee nothing unnatural or mean in this interpretation,
eſpecially if we remember that the prodigious diforders of his
family enter into the effence of the Poem. The greater the dif-
orders are, the greater are the ſufferings of Ulyffes.
P.
This variation is deftitute of authority. The tranſlator ſhould
have contented himſelf with the practice of his predeceffors, and
the direct preſcription of his author.
To him, difcreet Telemachus replies.
Ver. 151.] Faulty rhymes. Thus ?
Whether my father ftrays fome diſtant coaſt,
Or Pluto's gloom detains his hapleſs ghoſt.
Ver. 155. How from my father should I vengeance dread ]
There is an ambiguity in the word Father; it may either fignify
Icarius or Ulyffes, as Euftathius obſerves: but I think the context
determines the perfon of Ulyffes; for Telemachus believes him
to be yet living, and confequently might fear his vengeance, if
he offered any indignity to Penelope.
Ver. 157. And while in wrath to vengeful fiends fhe cries,
How from their hell would vengeful fiends arife ?]
P.
In the ninth Iliad we are told that the father of Phoenix impre
cated the furies againſt his fon.
My fire with curfes loads my hated head,
And cries," Ye Furies! barren be his bed."
Infernal Jove, the vengeful fiends below,
And ruthleſs Proferpine, confirm'd his vow.
In the fame book the furies hear the curfes of Althea upon her
fon,
BOOK II.
85
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Abhorr❜d by all, accurs'd my name would grow,
The earth's difgrace, and humankind my foe. 160
If this diſpleaſe, why urge ye here your ſtay?
Hafte from the court, ye fpoilers, haſte away;
Waſte in wild riot what your land allows,
There ply the early feaſt, and late carouſe.
But if, to honour loft, 'tis ftill decreed
For you my bowl fhall flow, my flocks fhall bleed;
Judge and affert my right, impartial Jove!
By him, and all th' immortal hoſt above,
(A facred oath) if heav'n the pow'r fupply,
Vengeance I vow, and for your wrongs ye die.
164
170
She beat the ground, and call'd the pow'rs beneath,
On her own fon to wreak her brother's death.
Hell heard her curfes from the realms profound,
And the fell fiends who walk the nightly round.
Thefe paffages fhew the opinion the ancients had of the honour
due from children to parents, to be fuch, that they believed there
were Furies particularly commiffioned to puniſh thoſe who failed
in that reſpect, and to fulfil the imprecations made againſt them
by their offended parents. There is a greatneſs in this idea, and
it muſt have had an effect upon the obedience of the youth. We
fee Telemachus is full of the fenfe of it. Dacier.
P.
Ver. 160.] After this verfe, an omiffion of a fentiment in the
original may be thus fupplied;
Never, ye Suitors! never hope from me
(My will is fix'd) this bafe unkind decree!
Ver. 163.] This paffage, to the conclufion of the ſpeech, has
already occurred in book i. verſe 479. with ſome variations of
the tranſlators; to which I refer the reader,
;
G 3
86
BOOK II.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
With that, two eagles from a mountain's height
By Jove's command direct their rapid flight;
Swift they defcend, with wing to wing conjoin'd,
Stretch their broad plumes, and float upon the
wind.
Above th' aſſembled peers they wheel on high, 175
And clang their wings, and hov'ring beat the fky;
With ardent eyes the rival train they threat,
And fhrieking loud, denounce approaching fate.
Ver. 171, &c. The prodigy of the two eagles.] This prodigy
is ufhered in very magnificently, and the verfes are lofty and
fonorous. The eagles are Ulyffes and Telemachus: by Jove's
command they fly from a mountain's height: this denotes that the
two heroes are infpired by Jupiter, and come from the country to
the deftruction of the Suitors: the eagles fly with wing to wing
conjoin'd; this fhews, that they act in concert and unity of coun-
cils at firft they float upon the wind; this implies the calmneſs
and fecrefy of the approach of thoſe heroes: at laft they clang
their wings, and hovering beat the fkies; this fhews the violence of
the affault: with ardent eyes the rival train they threat. This, as
the poet himſelf interprets it, denotes the approaching fate of the
Suitors. Then failing o'er the domes and tow'rs they fly, Full tow'rd
the east; this fignifies that the Suitors alone are not doomed to
deſtruction, but that the men of Ithaca are involved in danger, as
Halitherfes interprets it.
Nor to the great alone is death decreed ;
We, and our guilty Ithaca muſt bleed.
See here the natural explication of this prodigy, which is very in-
genious! Euftathius, verbatim.
P.
Ver. 173.] I would thus fupplant the vicious rhymes of this
couplet, with one more faithfully adherent to the original:
The pair, at firft, with wings contiguous fail,
And ſkim, majestic, with the driving gale:
But, o'er th' affembled peers.
Ver. 177.] More correctly thus:
BOOK II.
87
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
}
They cuff, they tear; their cheeks and neck they
rend,
And from their plumes huge drops of blood de-
fcend:
180
Then failing o'er the domes and tow'rs, they fly
、
Full tow'rd the eaſt, and mount into the ſky.
The wond'ring rivals gaze with cares oppreft,
And chilling horrours freeze in ev'ry breaſt.
"Till big with knowledge of approaching woes 185
The prince of augurs, Halitherfes, rofe:
Prefcient he view'd th' aërial tracks, and drew
A fure prefage from ev'ry wing that flew.
190
Ye fons (he cry'd) of Ithaca, give ear,
Hear all! but chiefly you, oh rivals! hear.
Deftruction fure o'er all your heads impends
Ulyffes comes, and death his ſteps attends.
Nor to the great alone is death decreed;
We, and our guilty Ithaca muſt bleed.
Why ceaſe we then the wrath of heav'n to ſtay?
Be humbled all, and lead, ye great! the way.
For lo! my words no fancy'd woes relate:
I ſpeak from ſcience, and the voice is fate.
View with fierce eyes the Suitors as they fate;
And in loud ſcreams pronounce the voice of Fate.
194.
Perhaps, however, another orthography is preferable, to diftin-
guiſh this verb from fate, to fatisfy: as perfpicuity, which is the
firſt aim of good writing, demands every difcrimination of this
nature, that a language will admit.
G 4
88
BOOK II,
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
1
}
200
When great Ulyffes fought the Phrygian ſhores
To ſhake with war proud Ilion's lofty tow'rs,
Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold
Heav'n feal'd my words, and you thofe deeds
behold,
I fee (I cry'd) his woes, a countleſs train;
I fee his friends o'erwhelm'd beneath the main ;
How twice ten years from fhore to fhore he
roams ;
205
Now twice ten years are paft, and now he comes!
Ver. 199.] The rhymes are faulty. Thus, with more fidelity.
alfo to the original:
His courfe from home when wife Ulyffes bore,
To war with Greece combin'd on Ilium's fhore.
Ver. 203. I fee (I cry'd) his woes
I fee his friends o'erwhelm'd, &c.]
In three lines (obferves Euftathius) the Poet gives us the whole
Odyſſey in miniature: and it is wonderful to think, that ſo plain
a fubject ſhould produce fuch variety in the proceſs of it. Ariſtotle
obferves the fimplicity of Homer's platform; which is no more
than this a prince is abfent from his country; Neptune deftroys
his companions; in his abfence his family is difordered by many
princes that addrefs his wife, and plot againſt the life of his only
fon; but at laſt after many ftorms he returns, puniſhes the Suitors,
and re-eſtabliſhes his affairs: this is all that is effential to the
poem, the reſt of it is made up of epiſodes. And yet with what
miracles of poetry (Speciofa miracula, as Horace ftyles them) has
he furniſh'd out his poem?
Ver. 204.] More accurately thus:
See all his comrades whelm'd beneath the main.
P.
Ver. 205.] The following couplet is lefs exceptionable in its
rhymes:
1
He twice ten years from ſhore to ſhore will roam
These years are pass'd; expect your hero home.
}
BOOK II.
89
HOMER'S ODYSSEY,
To whom Eurymachus: Fly, dotard, fly;
With thy wife dreams, and fables of the ſky.
Go prophefy at home; thy fons adviſe:
Here thou art fage in vain I better read the
ſkies,
Unnumber'd birds glide thro' th' aërial way,
Vagrants of air, and unforeboding ſtray.
Cold in the tomb, or in the deeps below
Ulyffes lies: oh wert thou laid as low!
210
Then would that bufy head no broils fuggeſt, 215
Nor fire to rage Telemachus's breaſt,
From him fomé bribe thy venal tongue requires,
And int'reft, not the god, thy voice infpires.
His guideleſs youth, if thy experienc'd age
Miſlead fallacious into idle rage,
220
Vengeance deferv'd thy malice fhall reprefs,
And but augment the wrongs thou would'ft re-
drefs.
Ver. 207. The Speech of Eurymachus.] It has been obferved,
that Homer is the father of oratory as well as poetry, and it muſt
be confeffed, that there is not any one branch of it, that is not to
be found in his poetry. The invective, perſuaſive, ironical, &c.
may all be gathered from it. Nothing can be better adapted to
the purpoſe than this fpeech of Eurymachus: he is to decry the
credit of the predictions of Halitherfes: he derides, he threats,
and deſcribes him as a venal prophet. He is fpeaking to the
multitude, and endeavours to bring Halitherfes into contempt, and
in order to it he ufes him contemptuouſly.
Thus Ogilby:
Thy children fo perfwade,
Dotard, at home.
P.
go;
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK II.
Telemachus may bid the
queen repair
To great Icarius, whoſe paternal care
1
Will guide her paffion, and reward her choice, 225
With wealthy dow'r, and bridal gifts of price.
"Till fhe retires, determin'd we remain,
And both the prince and augur threat in vain :
His pride of words, and thy wild dream of fate,
Move not the brave, or only move their hate. 230
Threat on, oh prince! elude the bridal day,
Threat on, 'till all thy ſtores in waſte decay.
True, Greece affords a train of lovely dames,
In wealth and beauty worthy of our flames:
But never from this nobler fuit we ceaſe;
For wealth and beauty leſs than virtue pleaſe.
To whom the youth. Since then in vain I
tell
My num'rous woes, in filence let them dwell.
235
Ver. 223.] Compare book i. verſe 360.
Ver. 227.] Thefe two couplets afford as fine a fpecimen of
tranſlation, at once faithful, elegant, and compact, as can be found
in the English language.
Ver. 233.] The verfion here is rambling and carelefs. Let
the reader accept a literal tranſlation, and commenfurate to the
original:
We Virtue fue, nor other flames regard,
Such as might elfe become our rank to wed.
Ogilby with very flight correction is not amifs :
Her Virtue fō allures, and curious arts:
None, none but the can captivate our hearts,
BOOK II.
91
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
But heav'n, and all the Greeks, have heard my
wrongs:
To heav'n, and all the Greeks, redreſs belongs. 240
Yet this I aſk (nor be it aſk'd in vain)
A bark to waft me o'er the rolling main ;
The realms of Pyle and Sparta to explore,
And feek my royal fire from fhore to ſhore:
Ver. 239.
All the Greeks have heard my wrongs.] It is
neceffary for the reader to carry in his mind, that this affembly
confiſts not only of the peers, but of the people of Ithaca: for to
the people Telemachus here appeals.
It is evident, that the place of the affembly was at leaft open
to the air in the upper parts: for otherways how ſhould the eagles
be vifible to the Suitors? and ſo very plainly, as to be difcovered
to threat them with their eyes? There was no doubt a place fet
apart for council, ufually in the market: for Telemachus is faid
to feat himſelf in his father's throne, in the beginning of this
book: but Ulyffes had been abfent twenty years; and therefore
it is evident, that his throne had ſtood in the fame place for the
ſpace of twenty years. It is paft contradiction, that in Athens,
and other cities of Greece, there were Beλurópa, publick halls for
the confultation of affairs.
P.
Ver. 241.] Chapman is not deſpicable, and gives the circum-
ſtantial language of his original:
Yet with my other friends, let love prevaile
To fit me with a veffell, free of faile;
And twentie men; that may divide to me
My readie paffage through the yeelding ſea.
Ver. 242.] The reader may compare Fenton's execution of
the fame verſes in book i. verfe 365.
Ver. 243.] Thus Chapman:
For Sparta, and Amathoon Pylos bore
I now am bound; in purpoſe to explore
My long lackt father.
92
BOOK II;
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
If, or to Fame his doubtful fate be known,
Or to be learn'd from Oracles alone?
If yet he lives; with patience I forbear,
"Till the fleet hours reftore the circling year:
But if already wand'ring in the train
245
Of empty ſhades; I meaſure back the main, 250
Plant the fair column o'er the mighty dead,
And yield his confort to the nuptial bed.
He ceas'd; and while abaſh'd the peers attend,
Mentor arofe, Ulyffes' faithful friend:
[When fierce in arms he fought the ſcenes of
66
war,
255
My friend (he cry'd) my palace be thy care;
+
Ver. 253.] The portion that intervenes the ſpeech of Mentor,
is the moft licentious tranflation, which has yet occurred; and
withal grofsly miſrepreſents the original, as Chapman and Dacier
had done before. The following effort is plain and faithfµl :
Thus fpeaking, he fat down; and next arofe
That Mentor, whom renown'd Ulyffes choſe,
When firſt for Troy he left his native land,
To rule the houſehold with a friendly hand;
That all ſhould own his delegated fway.
The reverend fenior thus began to fay.
Ver. 254. Mentor arofe, Ulyffes' faithful friend,] The name
of Mentor is another inftance of the gratitude of our Poet's
temper, it being the fame which belonged to a friend of his by
whom he was entertained in Ithaca, during a defluxion on his eyes
which feized him in his voyages: and at whofe houſe he is faid to
have laid the plan of this poem. This character of Mentor is
well fuſtained by his ſpeech, and by the affiftance he gratefully
gives to young Telemachus on all occafions.
P.
!
BOOK II.
93
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
"Years roll'd on years my god-like fire decay,
"Guard thou his age, and his beheſts obey.”]
Stern as he rofe, he caft his eyes around,
That flash'd with rage; and as he spoke, he
frown'd.
O never, never more! let king be juſt,
Be mild in pow'r, or faithful to his truſt!
Let tyrants govern with an iron rod,
Oppreſs, deſtroy, and be the fcourge of God;
Since he who like a father held his reign,
So foon forgot, was juſt and mild in vain!
260
265
True, while my friend is griev'd, his griefs I
fhare;
Yet now the rivals are my ſmalleſt care:
Ver. 258. Guard thou my fire, and his behefts obey.] The original
fays only, "Obey the old man."
that the expreffion means Laertes.
Euftathius rightly determines,
The Poet lofes no opportunity
of giving Ulyffes an.excellent character; this is as neceſſary as
continually to repeat the diſorders of the Suitors.
"Servetur ad imum
"Qualis ab incœpto procefferit, & fibi conftet."
This conduct contributes admirably to the defign of the poem;
and when the Poet in the unravelling of his fable comes to reward
and punish the chief actors, we acknowledge his juftice in the
death of the Suitors, and re-eſtabliſhment of Ulyffes.
P.
Euftathius is moft certainly mistaken. And fo Hobbes and
-Ogilby feem to have thought; and undoubtedly Mr. Cowper, with
his uſual accuracy.
Ver. 261.] Ogilby is not to be deſpiſed:
No more let kings be pious, mild, nor juft;
Nor act by law, nor reaſon, but their luft,
Since none Ulyffes minds, who rul'd this land,
Rul'd, like a father, with a gentle hand.'
1
94
BOOK 11,
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
They, for the mighty miſchiefs they deviſe,
E'er long fhall pay: their forfeit lives the price. 270
But againſt you, ye Greeks! ye coward train,
Gods! how my foul is mov'd with juſt diſdain ?
Dumb ye all ſtand, and not one tongue affords
His injur❜d prince the little aid of words.
275
While yet he ſpoke, Leocritus rejoin'd :
O pride of words, and arrogance of mind!
Would'st thou to rife in arms the Greeks adviſe?
Join all your pow'rs! in arms, ye Greeks, arife!
Yet would your pow'rs in vain our ſtrength op-
pofe;
The valiant few o'ermatch an hoft of foes. 280
Should great Ulyffes ſtern appear in arms,
While the bowl circles, and the banquet warms;
Ver. 269.] The rhyme is incorrect. Thus, more faithfully
and fully:
For all their deeds of force and rapine, they
A grievous price, their forfeit lives, fhall pay :
Ulyffes' wealth, infatiate, they deſtroy,
Nor think him deftin'd to return from Troy.
Ver. 275.] The remark on verfe 147. is alike applicable here;
and the rhymes are bad. Thus ?
To Mentor then Leocritus replied:
O fraught with malice, fottiſhneſs, and pride!
And, l' now fee, theſe are the rhymes of Chapman, who has ac-
quitted himſelf very well, as follows:
Evenor's fonne (Liocritus) replide;
Mentor! the railer, made a foole with pride!
Ver. 282. While the bowl circles, and the banquet warms.] The
original is not without obfcurity: it fays, wapi Aari: or, in the
time of the banquet. Euftathius interprets it, a o spalnyši®.
BOOK II.
95
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Tho' to his breaft his fpoufe with tranſport flies,
Torn from her breaſt, that hour, Ulyffes dies.
"
!
aurois, The wine as it were fighting on their fide; and this agrees
with what follows.
The defign of this ſpeech is to deter the people of Ithaca from
rifing in the cauſe, of Ulyffes: Mentor ſpeaks juftly; Leocritus
infolently; Mentor fets before them the worth of Ulyffes; Leo-
critus the power of the Suitors: Mentor fpeaks like a brave man ;
Leocritus (obferves Euftathius) like a coward, who wanting true
courage, flies to the affiſtance of wine to raiſe a falſe one.
Perhaps it may be objected, that there is not a fufficient diftinc-
tion in the characters of feveral Suitors; they are all deſcribed as
infolent voluptuaries. But though they agree in this general
character, yet there is fomething diſtinguiſhing in the particular
perfons: thus Antinous derides, Eurymachus covers villainy with
mildness; Antinous is ever the foremoſt in outrage, Eurymachus
generally his fecond: a greater diftinction is neither neceſſary,
nor poffible to be repreſented. What the Poet is to deſcribe, is
the infolence of the Suitors, and the diforders they create in his
family and kingdom; he is obliged to dwell upon theſe circum-
ftances, becauſe they are effential to his defign: and confequently
that general reſemblance of their characters is not a fault in the
Poet.
P.
Our annotator, in the former part of this remark, has wrongly
tranflated the words of Euftathius: they fhould be rendered thus:
"The wine leading them on to battle;" like a general.
Ver. 283.] This turn is ingenious, but not fufficiently exact.
Ogilby's verfes are above contempt in point of neatness, and much
more faithful:
When we with wine are heightmed at a feaft,
Should then Ulyffes, an unwelcome gueſt,
Arrive, and think to drive us from his houſe,
Small joy would find his long-expecting ſpouſe,
Ore-match'd, to ſee him ſlain at his return.
You counfel ill. Let ftraight this court adjourn;
Then thou and Halitherfes, if you lift,
Who were his father's friends, may him affiſt.
96
BOOK II.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
;
But hence retreating to your domes repair; 285
To arm the veffel, Mentor! be thy care,
And Halitherfes! thine: be each his friend
Ye lov'd the father: go, the fon attend.
But yet, I truſt, the boafter means to ftay
Safe in the court, nor tempt the wat'ry way. 290
Then, with a ruſhing found, th' affembly bend,
Diverſe their ſteps: the rival rout aſcend
The royal dome; while fad the prince explores
The neighb'ring main, and forrowing treads the
fhores.
1
There, as the waters o'er his hands he ſhed, 295
The royal fuppliant to Minerva pray'd.
O Goddess! who defcending from the fkies
Vouchfaf'd thy preſence to my wond'ring eyes,
Ver. 291. Then, with a rushing found, &c.] The affembly
which was convened by Telemachus, is broke up in a riotous
manner by Leocritus, who had no right to diffolve it. This
agrees with the lawleſs ſtate of the country in the abfence of its
king, and fhews (fays Euftathius) that the Suitors had ufurped
the chief authority.
There is a fine contraft between the behaviour of Telemachus
and that of the Suitors. They return to repeat their diſorders
and debauches; Telemachus retires to fupplicate the Goddeſs of
Wiſdom, to affift him in his enterpriſes. Thus the Poet raiſes the
character of Telemachus; he has fhewed him to be a youth of a
brave ſpirit, a good ſpeaker, and here repreſents him as a perſon
of piety..
Ver. 295.] Good poetry will not endure theſe rhymes. Thus ?
To Pallas there a lowly fuppliant ſtands ;
And pours the cleanfing waters o'er his hands.
P.
BOOK II. HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
97
By whofe commands the raging deeps I trace,
And ſeek my fire thro' ftorms and rolling feas! 300
Hear from thy heav'ns above, oh warriour-maid!
Deſcend once more, propitious to my aid.
Without thy preſence, vain is thy command;
Greece, and the rival train, thy voice withſtand.
Indulgent to his pray'r, the Goddeſs took 305
Şage Mentor's form, and thus like Mentor ſpoke.
O prince, in early youth divinely wife,
Born, the Ulyffes of thy age to rife!
If to the fon the father's worth deſcends,
O'er the wide waves fucceſs thy ways attends: 310
To tread the walks of death he ſtood prepar'd,
And what he greatly thought, he nobly dar'd.
Ver. 299.] There is the fame imperfection here; which de-
mands fome fubftitution :
By whofe commands I go to tempt the main,
And feek my father thro' the watʼry reign-.
Ver. 305.]. Here alfo, from the ſame objection, I would pro-
poſe the following couplet:
Then Pallas, liſtening to the youth's request,
With Mentor's form and Mentor's voice addreft.
Ver. 307. The speech of Minerva.] This fpeech of Minerva is
fuited to encourage a young man to imitate the virtue of his father,
and not to fuffer himself to be overcome by any appearance of
difficulties. She fets his father before his eyes, and tells him,
there was never any danger which he durft not encounter; if he
ſhould fuffer himſelf to be difcouraged, he would prove himſelf
an unworthy ſon of a brave father. Dacier. Euftathius. P.
VOL. I.
H
98
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
BOOK fr.
314
Were not wife fons defcendent of the wife,
And did not heroes from brave heroes rife ;
Vain were my hopes: few fons attain the praiſe
Of their great fires, and moſt their fires diſgrace.
But fince thy veins paternal virtue fires,
And all Penelope thy foul inſpires:
320
Go, and fucceed! the rivals' aims defpife;
For never, never, wicked man was wife.
Blind they rejoice, tho' now, ev'n now they fall;
Death haftes amain: one hour o'erwhelms them
all!
And lo, with ſpeed we plough the wat❜ry way;
My pow'r fhall guard thee, and my hand convey:
The winged veffel ftudious I prepare,
325
Thro' feas and realms companion of thy care.
Thou to the court afcend; and to the fhores
(When night advances) bear the naval ſtores;
Ver. 313.] Thus, with fuperior fidelity; and more unexcep
tionable rhymes:
Wert thou not born of parents good and wife,
And did not heroes ſtill from heroes riſe,
Vain were my hopes. Few, fons in glories race
Outſtrip their fires: moft lag with failing pace.
¿
Ver. 321.] This couplet is not elegant, but laboured and
profaic. Thus?
Fools! in one day their tranfient glories fade;
Black Fate involves them in his deadly fhade.
Ver. 325.] Or thus, more faithfully:
I, erft thy father's friend, the ship prepare.
Or, with Ogilby's rhymes, as follows:
The ſhip, now thine, as erft thy father's friend
Myfelf will furnish, and thy fteps attend.
BOOK I.
99
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Bread, that decaying man with ftrength fupplies,
And gen'rous wine, which thoughtful forrow
flies.
33
Meanwhile the mariners by my command
Shall ſpeed aboard, a valiant choſen band.
Wide o'er the bay, by veffel veſſel rides;
The best I chufe to waft thee o'er the tides.
She ſpoke to his high dome the prince re-
turns,
And as he moves, with royal anguifh mourns.
'Twas riot all, among the lawleſs train ;
Boar bled by boar, and goat by goat lay flain.
Arriv'd, his hand the gay Antinous preft,
And thus deriding, with a ſmile addreſt.
335
340
Ver. 329.] Chapman has preferved the very phraſe of his
author; and, in my opinion at leaſt, very elegantly:
And meale, the very marrow of a man.
Ver. 334.] Thus, more faithfully:
Ships numerous, new and old, our harbour ride:
The best I chufe to waft us o'er the tide.
Ver. 335.] A wretched couplet all together, and too concife
for his author. I fhall propofe the following fubftitution:
Thus, Jove's unconquer'd daughter, Pallas faid;
And now no more Telemachus delaid.
. Soon as his ear the heavenly founds impreft,
He homeward haften'd with a penfive breaſt.
Ver. 339.] To avoid a too quick return of theſe rhymes, em-
ployed in the fubftitution juft propofed, we may thus modify the
prefent couplet: the rhymes of which, however, though per-
petually uſed without fcruple by our beft Poets, will not pafs
mufter with a tafte properly faftidious in it's poetical perceptions:
Arriv'd, his hand the gay Antinous takes,
And thus with counterfeited fmiles befpeaks.
H 2
100
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK II.
Grieve not, oh daring prince! that noble
heart;
Ill fuits gay youth the ſtern heroick part.
Indulge the genial hour, unbend thy foul,
Leave thought to age, and drain the flowing
bowl.
Studious to eaſe thy grief, our care provides 345
The bark, to waft thee o'er the fwelling tides.
Is this (returns the prince) for mirth a time?
When lawleſs gluttons riot, mirth's a crime;
Ver. 341.] Antinous's speech.] This fpeech muft be under-
ftood ironically: pyov Te Tos Te is uſed as before, and has relation
to the preceding harangues of Telemachus to the people, and his
intended voyage; by way of derifion Antinous bids him not
trouble his brave ſpirit in contriving any more orations, or in any
bold attempt to find out Ulyffes; or to act the orator, or hero's part.
The Criticks have almoſt generally condemned theſe pieces of
gaiety and raillery, as unworthy of heroick Poetry: if ever they
are proper, they must be fo in the mouths of theſe Suitors; per-
fons of no ferious or noble characters: mirth, wine and feaſting
is their conftant employment; and confequently if they fall into
abfurdities, they act fuitably to their characters. Milton, the
beft and greatest imitator of Homer, has followed him unworthily
in this refpect; I mean, has debaſed even this low raillery into
greater lowneſs, by playing upon words and fyllables. But in
this place the raillery is not without its effect, by fhewing the
utmoſt contempt of Telemachus; and furely it is the loweſt degree
of calamity to be at once oppreffed and defpifed.
P.
Ver. 346.] We may thus fupply what the tranſlator has omitted
of his author, after this verfe:
With a choice band of failors. Go, enquire
In fandy Pylos for thy noble fire.
Ver. 348.] This is colloquial and undignified. Thus ?
With lawless gluttons, mirth I deem a crime.
BOOK II.
101.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
1
The luſcious wines, diſhonour'd, loſe their tafte ;
The fong is noife, and impious is the feaft, 350
Suffice it to have ſpent with ſwift decay
The wealth of Kings, and made my youth a
prey.
355
But now the wiſe inſtructions of the fage,
And manly thoughts infpir'd by manly age,
Teach me to feek redreſs for all my woe,
Here, or in Pyle-in Pyle, or here, your foe.
Deny your veffels, ye deny in vain ;
A private voyager I paſs the main.
Free breathe the winds, and free the billows flow,
And where on earth I live, I live your foe. 360
He ſpoke and frown'd, nor longer deign'd to
ſtay,
Sternly his hand withdrew, and ftrode away.
Ver. 349.] The rhymes of this couplet alfo are incorrect, nor
is the couplet authoriſed by the original.
Ver. 355.] This couplet is unneceffary, and is in itſelf con-
ftrained and clumfy. The fenfe and rhymes immediately return
below. But fome adjuſtment of the preceding lines is hereby
rendered neceffary; as thus;
But now th' inftructive precepts of the fage
Infpire my foul, matur'd by manly age.
Ver. 360.] Better, perhaps,
Or,
Alike in Pyle and here I live your foe:
In Pyle I live, I live at home, your fɑe.
Ver. 362.] Rather, as the original preſcribes,
His hand in hafte withdrew.
H 3
102
BOOK II.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Meantime, o'er all the dome, they quaff, they
feaſt,
Derifive taunts were ſpread from gueſt to gueſt,
And each in jovial mood his mate addreft. 365J
Tremble ye not, oh friends! and coward fly,
Doom'd by the ftern Telemachus to die?
To Pyle or Sparta to demand fupplies,
Big with revenge, the mighty warriour flies:
Or comes from Ephyré with poiſons fraught, 370
And kills us all in one tremendous draught?
Or who can fay (his gamefome mate replies)
But while the dangers of the deeps he tries,
He, like his fire, may fink depriv'd of breath,
And puniſh us unkindly by his death?
What mighty labours would he then create,
To ſeize his treaſures, and divide his ſtate,
375
Ver. 363.] For the fake of accuracy in the rhymes, we might
alter,
they quaff, they jeſt.
Ver. 368. To Pyle or Sparta to demand fupplies.] It is obſervable,
fays Euftathius, that the Poet had in his choice feveral expedients
to bring about the deftruction of the Suitors, but he rejects them,
and chufes the most difficult method, out of reverence to truth,
being unwilling to falfify the hiftories of Sparta and Pylos.
This has a double effect; it furniſhes the Poet with a ſeries of
noble incidents; and alfo gives an air of probability to the fory
of Ulyffes and Telemachus.
P.
Ver. 369.] It is very inartificial to employ rhymes with fach
trivial variation as diſtinguiſhes thefe from the preceding. At
leaft, a different word ſhould have been introduced here; and one
was at hand, fufficiently elevated for the ſubject:
the mighty warriour hies.
BOOK II.
r03
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
The royal palace to the Queen convey,
Or him ſhe bleſſes in the bridal day!
Meantime the lofty rooms the prince furveys,
Where lay the treaſures of th' Ithacian race: 38'1
Ver. 378. The royal palace to the Queen convey.] The Suitors
allot the paláce to Penelope : it being, fays Euftathius, the only
thing that they cannot confume; and adds, that the expreffion of
the Suitors, concerning the labour they ſhould undergo in dividing
the ſubſtance of Ulyffes, fhews the wealth and abundance of that
hero. Dacier has found out an allufion between pórov in the firſt
fpeech, and wórov in the fecond; they differing only in one letter:
ſhe calls this a beauty, which fhe laments fhe cannot preſerve in
her tranſlation. She is the only Commentator that ever was quick-
fighted enough to make the diſcovery. The words have no re-
lation; they ftand at a fufficient diſtance; and I believe Homer
would have thought fuch trifling unworthy of his poetry. So that
all the honour which accrues from that obfervation muſt be aſcribed
(in this caſe, as in many others) to the Commentator, and not
the Author.
P.
Ver. 380.] Vile rhymes indeed! I would thus correct; and
with more exactneſs :
Mean time, the lofty rooms the prince explores,
Where treafur'd lay his father's wealthy ftores.
Here gold and brass were feen in piled rows;
There polish'd coffers many a veft enclofe.
Here oils their fragrance breath'd; there pureft wine
Stood rang'd in caſks, of nectarous juice divine.
Ver. 381. Where lay the treasures of th' Ithacian race.] Such
paffages as theſe have ever furniſhed Criticks with matter of
ràillery; they think fuch houfhold cares unworthy of a King, and
that this conduct fuits better with vulgar perſons of leſs fortune.
I confefs, fuch deſcriptions now would be ridiculous in a Poet,
becauſe unſuitable to our manners. But if we look upon fuch
paffages as pictures and exact reprefentaions of the old world, the
reader will find a fenfible pleafure in them.
It is a true obfervation, that the Iliad is chiefly ſuitable to the
condition of Kings and Heroes; and confequently filled with cir
H 4
104
BOOK II.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Here ruddy brafs and gold refulgent blaz'd;
There poliſh'd chefts embroider'd veftures grac'd;
Here jars of oil breath'd forth a rich perfume;
There cafks of wine in rows adorn'd the dome. 385
(Pure flav'rous wine, by Gods in bounty giv'n,
And worthy to exalt the feaſts of heav'n.)
Untouch'd they ſtood, 'till his long labours o'er
The great Ulyffes reach'd his native ſhore.
A double ſtrength of bars fecur'd the gates: 390
Faſt by the door the wife Euryclea waits;
Euryclea, who, great Ops! thy lineage ſhar'd,
And watch'd all night, all day; a faithful guard.
cumſtances in which the greateſt part of mankind can have no
concern or intereft: the Odyſſey is of more general uſe; the ſtory
of it is a ſeries of calamities, which concern every man, as every
man may feel them. We can bring the fufferings of Ulyffes
in fome degree home to ourſelves, and make his condition our
own; but what private perfon can ever be in the circumſtances of
Agamemnon or Achilles? What I would infer from this is, that
the reader ought not to take offence at any fuch deſcriptions,
which are only mean as they differ from the faſhions of the latter
ages. In the Iliad, Achilles, when he acts in the common offices
of life, and not as an hero, is liable to the fame objection. But
if the manners of the ancient ages be confidered, we ſhall be
reconciled to the actions of the ancient heroes; and confequently
to Homer.
P.
Ver. 386.] This couplet may well be expunged, as an expan-
fion of two epithets, pure and divine, comprehended in the pre-
ceding fubftitution.
Ver. 392.] The rhymes are faulty, but the correction of all
were endleſs, and might endanger the patience of the reader,
who cannot dwell with pleaſure upon paffages not intereſting by
magnificence of language or fublimity of fentiment.
BOOK II.
105
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
To whom the prince. O thou, whofe guardian
care
394
Nurs'd the moſt wretched King that breathes the
air;
Untouch'd and facred may theſe veſſels ſtand,
'Till great Ulyffes views his native land.
400
But by thy care twelve urns of wine be fill'd,
Next theſe in worth, and firm thofe urns be feal'd;
And twice ten meaſures of the choiceft flour
Prepar'd, ere yet deſcends the evʼning hour.
For when the fav'ring fhades of night ariſe,
And peaceful flumbers cloſe
mother's eyes,
Ver. 394.
my
O thou, whofe guardian care
Nurs'd the most wretched King]
Euryclea was not properly the nurſe of Telemachus, but of Ulyffes;
fo that ſhe is called fo not in a ſtrict ſenſe, but as one concerned
in his education from his infancy, and as a general appellation of
honour. Telemachus here reſerves the beſt wines for Ulyffes; a
leffon (obferves Euftathius) that even in the ſmalleſt matters we
ought to pay a deference to our parents. Thefe occafional and
feemingly-trivial circumſtances are not without their uſe, if not
as poetical ornaments, yet as moral inſtructions.
P.
There is but a faint fhadow of the original in this verfion,
which may be literally given, as follows:
Nurfe, draw me off fome wine in two-ear'd urns,
Sweet wine, beſt flavour'd next to that you keep,
Your hapless lord expecting, if, perchance
Divine Ulyffes come, efcap'd from death.
Twelve veffels fill, and fit them well with lids:
And pour me flour in cloſe-compacted ſkins.
Twelve meaſures let there be of flour well-ground;
Plenteous provifion, only known to thee.
And this extends to verfe 401 of our tranſlator.
}
106
BOOK IT.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Me from our coaft ſhall ſpreading fails convey,
To feek Ulyffes thro' the watʼry way.
405
While yet he spoke, the fill'd the walls with cries,
And tears ran trickling from her aged eyes.
Oh whither, whither flies my fon? the cry'd,
To realms, that rocks and roaring feas divide?
In foreign lands thy father's days decay'd,
And foreign lands contain the mighty dead.
The watʼry way ill-fated if thou try,
All, all muſt periſh, and by fraud you die!
Then ſtay, my child! ftorms beat, and rolls the
main ;
410
414
Oh beat thoſe ſtorms, and roll the feas in vain !
Ver. 404.] More accurately, thus:
Or,
Me fhall the fails, to feek my fire, convey
To Pyle and Sparta thro' the wat❜ry way.
Ver. 409.] I fhould prefer,
To realms, that Ocean's ample waves divide?
To realms, far fever'd by the raging tide ?
Vér. 410.
This carelessnefs of verfification is highly cenfur-
able. Thus, with more fullneſs and fidelity; and în connection
with the foregoing coupleť:
Our only hope thy father now no more!
A corfe neglected on fome foreign fhore.
Ver. 413.] Thus, accurately:
Your wealth is fquander'd, and by fraud you die!
Ver. 415.] The reader muft have obferved, how extremely
fond our tranflator appears of thefe reduplications of expreffion,
from the frequent employment of them in this book. An occa-
fional uſe is elegant and gratifying: but too ftudied a repetition,
like every other artifice of language, betrays that effort and con-
trivance, which is repugnant to Nature, and ceafes for that reafon
to be pleafing.
1
BOOK II. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
107
Far hence (reply'd the prince) thy fears be driv'n:
Heav'n calls me forth; theſe counfels are of
heav'n.
But by the pow'rs that hate the perjur'd, ſwear,
To keep my voyage from the royal ear,
Nor uncompell'd the dang'rous truth betray, 420
'Till twice fix times defcends the lamp of day:
Left the fad tale a mother's life impair,
And grief deſtroy what time a-while would fpare.
Thus he. The matron with uplifted eyes
Atteſts th' all-ſeeing Sov'reign of the ſkies. 425
Then ſtudious ſhe prepares the choiceft flour,
The ſtrength of wheat, and wines an ample ſtore.
While to the rival train the prince returns,
The martial Goddeſs with impatience burns;
Ver. 418.] An omitted verſe of his author might have been
well introduced after this, to form a triplet, as follows:
Unleſs fhe afk, and of my abfence hear.
Ver. 421. 'Fill twice fix times defcends the lamp of day.] It may
be demanded how it was probable, (if poffible) that the departure
of Telemachus could be concealed twelve days from the know-
ledge of ſo fond a mother as Penelope? It must be allowed, that
this would not be poffible, except in a time of fuch great diſorder
as the Suitors created: Penelope confined herſelf almoft continually
within her own apartment, and very feldom appeared publickly;
ſo that there is no improbability in this relation. Dacier.
Euftathius makes a criticiſm upon the words opvúvaι and
ouvvat, the former is ufed negatively, the latter affirmatively;
namely, the former in fwearing not to perform a thing, the latter
to perform it.
Ver. 426.] The pretence to rhyme may be realifed thus:
Then wine in urns her hands officious pour,
And fill the ſkins with ſtore of choiceſt flours
P.
108
BOOK II.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Like thee, Telemachus, in voice and fize, 430
With ſpeed divine from ſtreet to ſtreet ſhe flies,
She bids the mariners prepar'd, to ſtand,
When night defcends, embody'd on the ſtrand.
Then to Noemon ſwift ſhe runs, ſhe flies,
And aſks a bark: the chief a bark ſupplies. 435
And now, declining with his floping wheels,
Down funk the fun behind the weſtern hills.
The Goddeſs fhov'd the veffel from the fhores,
And ftow'd within its womb the naval ftores.
Ver. 432. She bids the mariners, &c.] It is probable that this
paffage of Minerva preparing the mariners, &c. is thus to be
understood: the men of Ithaca retaining in memory the ſpeech
of Telemachus, and believing that what he then ſaid, and now
requeſts, was agreeable to juftice; and having as it were his image
graven upon their hearts, voluntarily refolve to lend him affiftance:
fo that Minerva is to be taken allegorically, to imply that it was
every perſon's own reaſon that induced him to affift Telemachus.
Euftathius.
· P.
Ver. 434] This repetition of fenfe and rhymes is very un-
feaſonable and inaccurate: and the cuftomary failing is imputable
to the fucceeding couplet. Thus ?
A bark to furnish, then the maid addreſt
Noemon: he denied not her requeſt.
At length the fun's defcending glories fade,
And earth lies darken'd in furrounding ſhade.
Ver. 435. Noemon-the bark fupplies.] It may be afked why
this particularity is neceffary, and may it not be thought that fuch
a little circumſtance is infignificant? The anſwer is, that a great
deal depends upon this particularity; no less than the diſcovery
of the voyage of Telemachus to the Suitors; and confequently,
whatever the Suitors act in order to intercept him, takes its rife
from this little incident; the fountain is indeed fmall, but a large
ftream of poetry flows from it.
P.
>
BOOK II.
109
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Full in the op'nings of the ſpacious main
It rides; and now defcends the failor-train.
440
Next, to the court, impatient of delay,
With rapid ftep the Goddeís urg'd her way :
There ev'ry eye with flumb'rous chains fhe bound,
And dafh'd the flowing goblet to the ground. 445
Drowfy they rofe, with heavy fumes oppreſt,
Reel'd from the palace, and retir'd to reſt.
Then thus, in Mentor's rev'rend form array'd,
Spoke to Telemachus the Martial Maid.
Ver. 440.] There is no care and accuracy here.
exactly :
At the bay's end it rides: the naval band,
Thus,
Chear'd by her voice, comes crouding on the ſtrand.
Ver. 444. There ev'ry eye with flumb'rous chains ſhe bound.] The
words in the original are den and üπ, which are not to be
taken for being aſleep, but drowſy; this is evident from the uſage
of xabeúde, in the conclufion of the firſt book of the Iliad, where
the fignification has been miſtaken by moſt tranſlators: they make
Jupiter there to be aſleep; though two lines afterwards, in the
fecond book, Homer exprefly fays,
Th' immortals flumber'd on their thrones above
All, but the ever-waking eyes of Jove.
It may be aſked how Minerva can be faid to occafion this drowſi-
neſs in the Suitors, and make them retire fooner than uſual ?
Euftathius replies, that the perſon who furniſhed the wine ſupplied
it in greater quantities than ordinary, through which wine they
contracted a drowfinefs: in this fenſe Minerva, or wiſdom, may
be faid to affift the deſigns of Telemachus.
P.
Ver. 446.] We fhall come nearer the words of the author by
the following correction :
With drowſy ſtupifying fumes oppreſs'd,
They rofe; and through the city reel'd to reft.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
BOOK II.
Lo! on the feas, prepar'd the veffel ftands, 450
Th' impatient mariner thy ſpeed demands.
Swift as ſhe ſpoke, with rapid pace ſhe leads ;
The footsteps of the Deity he treads.
Swift to the ſhore they move: along the ſtrand
The ready veſſel rides, the failors ready ſtand. 455
He bids them bring their ftores; th' attending
train
Load the tall bark, and lanch into the main.
The prince and Goddefs to the ſtern aſcend;
To the ſtrong ſtroke at once the rowers bend.
Full from the weft fhe bids freſh breezes blow
The fable billows foam and roar below.
Ver. 450.] Rhymes too fimilar recur too foon. Thus ?
Lo! on the feas prepar'd the veffel rides :·
Thy stay the mariner impatient chides.
46
;
Ver. 456.] Into this couplet the haſte and lazineſs of the tranf-
lator has huddled ſeven verſes of his author.
Then ſpake the blooming vigorous youth divine:
Be now, dear comrades! our provifions brought:
All ftor'd at home they lie: our purpoſe yet
Nor knows my mother, nor her maids, fave one.
He fpake, and led the way: they follow'd ſtraight;
The ftores together brought, and in their bark,
Ulyffes' much-lov'd fon directing, ftow'd.
Ver. 458.] This couplet alfo condenfes twice the compaſs of
his original, who may be thus literally given:
On board he goes: Minerva leads the way,
And at the ſtern fits down: there by her fide
He takes his feat: the failors looſe the ropes,
Scale the fhip's fides, and on the benches range.
Ver. 460.
She bids fresh breezes blow.] This alſo is
an allegory, and implies that the failors had the experience and
BOOK II,
III
HOMER'S ODYSSEY,
The chief his orders gives; th' obedient band
With due obfervance wait the chief's command';
With ſpeed the maſt they rear, with ſpeed unbind
The fpacious fheet, and ſtretch it to the wind, 465
High o'er the roaring waves the ſpreading fails
Bow the tall maſt, and ſwell before the gales;
The crooked keel the parting furge divides,
And to the ſtern retreating roll the tides.
And now they ſhip their oars, and crown with
wine
The holy goblet to the pow'rs divine:
479
art to guide the ſhip before the winds; but poetry, that delights
to raiſe every circumftance, exalts it into the marvellous, and
aſcribes it to the Goddeſs of Wiſdom. Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 464. With Speed the maft they rear.] It is obfervable, that
Homer never paffes by an opportunity of defcribing the fea, or a
fhip under fail; and in many other places, as well as in this, he
dwells largely upon it: I take the reaſon to be, not only becauſe
it furniſhed him with variety of poetical images, but becauſe he
himſelf having made frequent voyages, had a full idea of it, and
confequently was delighted with it: this is evident from his con-
duct in the Iliad, where variety of allufions and ſimilitudes are
drawn from the fea, and are not the ſmalleſt ornaments of his
poetry.
P.
Ver. 469.] This line excepted, the paffage is finely executed.
I fhall propoſe an alteration, which confults fidelity at the fame
time:
Swift flies the vessel; roar the purple tides.
Ver. 470.
And crown with wine
The holy goblet to the Pow'rs divine.]
This cuſtom of libations, was frequent upon all folemn occafions,
before meat, before fleep, voyages, journies, and in all religious
rites, facrifices, &c. They were always made with wine, pure
and unmixed, whence, äxpalo is a word frequent in ancient authors.
Sometimes they uſed mixed wines in facrifices; but Euftathius fays,
112
BOOK II.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Imploring all the Gods that reign above,
But chief, the blue-ey'd Progeny of Jove.
Thus all the night they ſtem the liquid way,
And end their voyage with the morning ray. 475
'
that this mixture was of wine with wine, and not of wine with
water; hence came the diſtinction of voπovdov and acrovdov, the un-
lawful and lawful libation; wine unmixed was lawful, the mixed
unlawful. Homer in this place uſes iπiçe❤éas xprîñpas, or goblets
crowned with wine; that is, filled till the wine ftood above the
brim of the goblet; they eſteemed it an irreverence to the Gods
not to fill the cups full, for then only they eſteemed the libation
whole and perfed, ὅλον καὶ τέλειον.
Ver. 472.] Thus Chapman :
Of all yet thron'd above,
They moft obferv'd the grey-ey'd feed of Jove.
P.
This book takes up the ſpace of one day and one night: it
opens with the morning; the fpeeches in the Counsel, with the
preparations for the voyage of Telemachus, are the ſubject of
the day; and the voyage is finiſhed by the next morning. By this
laſt circumſtance we may learn that Ithaca was diftant from Pylos
but one night's voyage, nay fomething lefs, there being ſome
time ſpent after the ſetting of the fun, in carrying the provifions
from the palace to the veſſel.
The book confifts chiefly in the ſpeeches of Telemachus and
his friends against thofe of the Suitors. It fhews the great judg-
ment of the Poet in chufing this method: hence we ſee the cauſes
preceding the effects, and know from what ſpring every action
flowed: we are never at a lofs for a reaſon for every incident; the
ſpeeches are as it were the ground-work upon which he builds all
that relates to the adventures of Telemachus.
In the Iliad, after the diffolution of the Council in the first book,
and the diffenfion between Agamemnon and Achilles, we imme-
diately fee upon what hinge the fable turns. So in the Odyſſey,
after the Poet has laid before us the warm debates between the
Suitors and Telemachus, we immediately expect them to act as
enemies the war is declared, and we become judges as well as
Spectators of the ſcenes of action. Thus Homer adds the perfpi-
cuity of History to the ornaments of Poetry.
P.
THE
THIRD BOOK
OF THE
ODYSSEY.
VOL. I.
I
THE ARGUMENT.
The Interview of Telemachus and Neftor.
TELEMACHUS, guided by Pallas in the shape of Mentor,
arrives in the morning at Pylos, where Neftor and
bis fons are facrificing on the fea-fhore to Neptune. Tele-
machus declares the occafion of his coming, and Neftor
relates what paft in their return from Troy, how their
fleets were ſeparated, and he never fince heard of Ulyffes.
They difcourfe concerning the death of Agamemnon, the
revenge of Oreftes, and the injuries of the Suitors. Neftor
adviſes him to go to Sparta, and inquire further of Me-
nelaus. The facrifice ending with the night, Minerva
vaniſhes from them in the form of an eagle: Telemachus
is lodged in the palace. The next morning they facrifice
a bullock to Minerva, and Telemachus proceeds on his
journey to Sparta, attended by Pififtratus.
The Scene lies on the Sea-fhore of Pylos.
P.
1 2
TH
NOTE PRELIMINARY.
HE fcene is now removed from Ithaca to Pylos, and with it
a new vein of poetry is opened: inftead of the riots of the
Suitors, we are entertained with the wiſdom and piety of Neſtor.
This and the following book are a kind of Supplement to the
Iliad; the nature of Epick Poetry requires that fomething fhould
be left to the imagination of the reader, nor is the picture to be
intirely drawn at full length. Homer therefore, to fatisfy our
curiofity, gives an account of the fortunes of thoſe great men,
who made fo noble a figure at the fiege of Troy. This conduct
alſo fhews his art: variety gives life and delight; and it is much
more neceſſary in Epick than in Comick or Tragick Poetry, fome-
times to ſhift the ſcenes, to diverſify and embelliſh the ſtory. But
as on the ſtage the Poet ought not to ſtep at once from one part
of the world to a too remote country, (for this deſtroys credi-
bility, and the auditor cannot fancy himſelf this minute here, and
the next a thouſand miles diftant) fo in Epick Poetry, every re-
moval muſt be within the degrees of probability. We have here
a very eafy tranfition; the Poet carries his hero no farther than
he really might fail in the compaſs of time he allots for his voyage.
If he had ftill dwelt upon the diforders of the Suitors without
interruption, he muft grow tirefome; but he artfully breaks the
thread of their ſtory with beautiful incidents and epiſodes, and
referves the further recital of their diforders for the end of his
Poem: by this method we fit down with freſh appetite to the
entertainment, and rife at laſt not cloyed, but fatisfied.
P:
1
THE
THIRD BOOK
OF THE
ODYSSEY.
>
THE
HE facred fun, above the waters rais'd,
Thro' heav'n's eternal, brazen portals blaz❜d;
And wide o'er earth diffus'd his chearing ray,
To Gods and men to give the golden day.
Now on the coaſt of Pyle the veſſel falls,
Before old Neleus' venerable walls.
5
NOT E S.
Ver. 2. Thro' heav'n's eternal, brazen portals] The ori
ginal calls heaven woλéxaλxor, or brazen; the reaſon of it arifes
either from the palaces of the Gods being built of brass by Vulcan;
or rather the word implies no more than the ftability of heaven,
which in other places is called Cidépeior, or framed of iron. Eu-
Rathius.
P.
Ver. 3.] Or, with ſomewhat more exactnefs, and, I think, a
better conſtruction:
And wide o'er bounteous earth with chearing ray
To Gods and mortals gave the golden day.
...t
..13
I
118
BOOK III.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
There, fuppliant to the Monarch of the flood,
At nine green theatres the Pylians ſtood,
Each held five hundred, (a deputed train)
At each, nine oxen on the fand lay flain.
They taſte the entrails, and the altars load
With ſmoking thighs, an off'ring to the God.
10
Ver. 8. At nine green theatres.] It may be aſked why the Poet
is fo very particular as to mention that the Pylians were divided
into nine affemblies; and may it not feem a circumſtance of no
importance? Euftathius anſwers from the ancients, that there were
nine cities fubject to the power of Neftor: five in Pylos, the reſt
in Boeotia; the Poet therefore allots one bank or theatre to every
city, which confifted of five hundred men, the whole number
amounting to four thousand five hundred: thefe cities furniſhed
the like compliment of men to Neftor 'for the war at Troy: he
failed in ninety veffels, and allowing fifty men to each veſſel, they
amount to that number. Hence it appears that this was a national
facrifice, every.city furnished nine bulls, and by confequence the
whole nation were partakers. of it.
P.
The facrifice of the Pylians.] This was a very folemn facrifice
of the Pylians: how comes it then to paſs, that Homer paffes it
over in one line? Euftathius anfwers, that the occafion difallows
a longer deſcription, and Homer knows when to speak, and when
to be filent. He chuſes to carry on the adventures of Telema-
chus, rather than amufe himſelf in defcriptions that contribute
nothing to the ſtory; he finds a time of more leiſure in the latter
part of this book, and there he defcribes it at length.
P.
Ver. 11. They taste the entrails.] That is, every perſon eat a
ſmall portion of the facrifice, and by, this method every perſon
became partaker of it.
There is nothing in Homer that fhews where this facrifice was
offered, whether in a temple, or in the open air. But Euftathius
tells us from Strabo, that it was in the temple of Samian Neptunes
ἐν ἱερῷ Σαμιν Ποσειδώνα,
P.
I have no better couplet than the following, as a ſubſtitute for
the vicious rhymes of that before us:
BOOK NI:
119
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
1
45
Full for the port the Ithacenfans ftand,
And furl their fails, and iffue on the land.
Telemachus already preft the fhore;
Not firft, the pow'r of Wiſdom march'd before,
And ere the facrificing throng he join'd,
Admonish'd thus his well attending mind.
20
Proceed, my fon! this youthful fhame expel;
An honeft buſineſs never bluſh to tell.
To learn what fates thy wretched fire detain,
We paft the wide, immeafurable main.
Meet then the fenior far renown'd for fenfe,
With rev'rend awe, but decent confidence :
Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies; 25
And fure he will: for Wifdom never lies.
L
They taste the entrails; and, a grateful load!
On the god's altars fmoaking thighs beſtow'd.
L
Ver. 17.] Upon the fame exception, I would here propoſe, as
follows:
And, ere he join'd the facrificing throng,
The prince admonisht as they walk along.
Ver. za.] A line of interpretation, feaſonably inferted by our
tranflator to render perfpicuous the fententious brevity of his
author.
Ver. 21.
Thus his original:
To learn what fate, what land, my fire detain:
Qr, with ftill more fidelity :
To learn what lands thy wretched father hide,
*
What fate befalls, we meafur'd ocean's tide.
Ver. 25. Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies 3
And fure he will: for Wisdom never lies.]
1
This fentiment is truly noble, and as nobly expreffed: the fimpli
•I 4
120
BOOK Ha
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Oh tell me, Mentor! tell me, faithful guide,
(The youth with prudent modeſty reply'd)
How ſhall I meet, or how accoft the Sage,
Unſkill'd in ſpeech, nor yet mature of age? 30
Awful th' approach, and hard the taſk appears,
To queſtion wiſely men of riper years.
To whom the martial Goddeſs thus rejoin'd.
Search, for fome thoughts, thy own fuggeſting
mind;
And others, dictated by heav'nly pow'r,
35
Shall riſe ſpontaneous in the needful hour.
For nought unprofp'rous fhall thy ways attend,
Born with good omens, and with heav'n thy friend.
city of the diction correfponds with that of the thought. Homer
in many places teftifies the utmoſt abhorrence of a lie. This
verfe is twice repeated in the prefent book, as in ſome others;
and nothing can be ſtronger in the fame view than that of Achilles
in the ninth Iliad:
Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detefts him as the gates of hell.
P.
Ver. 38. Born with good omens, and with heav'n thy friend.]
There is ſome obſcurity in the Greek expreffion, and the ancient
Criticks have made it more obfcure by their falſe interpretations;
they imagine that the Poet only meant to fay, that Telemachus
was the legitimate fon of Penelope and Ulyffes. Euftathius.
c
Dacier very juftly condemns this explication, as unworthy of
Homer; and gives us a more plain and natural interpretation,
viz. “You were not born in defpight of the gods; that is, you
" are well made, and of a good preſence, you have good incli-
“nations, and in a word, your birth is happy." She explains
τρα έμεν after the fame manner. "You were not educated in
"defpight of the gods;" that is, "the gods have bleffed your
"education." This explication feems to be juft, and anſwers
•
BOOK III.
121
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
40
She ſpoke, and led the way with ſwifteſt ſpeed:
As fwift, the youth purfu'd the way ſhe led;
And join'd the band before the facred fire,
Where fat, encompaſt with his fons, the Sire.
The youth of Pilos, fome on pointed wood
Transfix'd the fragments, fome prepar'd the food.
In friendly throngs they gather to embrace
Their unknown gueſts, and at the banquet place.
Pififtratus was firft, to grafp their hands,
And ſpread foft hides upon the yellow fands;
45
perfectly the defign of Minerva; which was to give a decent
affurance to Telemachus: you are a perſon, ſays the goddefs, of a
good preſence, and happy education, why then ſhould you be
aſhamed to appear before Neftor?
Ver. 39.] Faulty rhymes; and may be thus fuperfeded:
Minerva Spake, and goes before with ſpeed:
The prince the footsteps of the Goddeſs lead.
P.
Ver. 48. And ſpread ſoft hides upon the yellow fands.] It is
with great pleaſure that I read fuch paffages in an author of ſo
great antiquity, as are pictures of the fimplicity of thoſe heroick
ages: it is the remark of Euftathius, that Pififtratus the fon of a
king does not feat theſe ftrangers upon purple tapeſtry, or any
other coftly furniture, but upon the fkins of beafts, that had
nothing to recommend them but their ſoftneſs; being ſpread upon
the fand of the fea-fhores.
This whole paffage pleaſes me extremely; there is a ſpirit of
true devotion, morality and good ſenſe in it; and the decency of
behaviour between Neftor and Telemachus is deſcribed very hap-
pily: Neftor fhews great benevolence to Telemachus; Telema-
chus great reverence to Neftor: the modefty of the one, and the
humanity of the other, are worthy of our obfervation. We fee
the fame picture of Neftor in the Odyffey, that was drawn of him
in the Iliad, with this only difference, that there he was a counſellor
of war, here he is painted in fofter colours, ruling his people in
+22
BOOK TIE,
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Along the fhore th' illuftrious pair he led,
Where Neftor fat with youthful Thrafymed. jo
To each a portion of the feaft he bore,
And held a golden goblet foaming o'er ;
Then firſt approaching to the elder gueſt,
The latent Goddefs in thefe words addreft.
Whoe'er thou art, whom fortune brings to keep
Thefe rites of Neptune, monarch of the deep, 56
Thee firft it fits, oh ftranger! to prepare
The due libation and the folemn pray'r ;
Then give thy friend to fhed the facred wine:
Tho' much thy younger, and his years like mine,
He too, I deem, implores the pow'rs divine; 6)
For all mankind alike require their grace,
All born to want; a miſerable race!
61
peace, and diffuſing a ſpirit of piety through his whole territories,
He had now ſurvived the war of Troy almoft ten years; and the
Gods reward the old age of this wife and religious Prince with
peace and happineſs.
P.
Ver. 51.] This appears to me a poor couplet. What follows,
is more clofe, if not more poetical:
To each a portion of the feaft ferv'd up,
And wine prefented in a golden cup.
Ver. 59.] An erroneous conception of the original disfigures
this paffage, which may be obviated thus:
Then, nor till then, thy friend the facred wine
May fhed; thy younger, and his years like mine.
The words of Homer are perfectly perfpicuous, and are clearly
apprehended by every tranflator but Chapman; who was, unfor-
tunately, our Poet's guide on this occafion.
For I fuppofe, his youth doth prayers uſe,
Since all men need the Gods.
Book I.
123
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
་
6.5
He ſpake, and to her hand preferr❜d the bowl:
A fecret pleaſure touch'd Athena's foul,
To ſee the pref'rence due to facred age
Regarded ever by the juft and fage.
7༠
Of Ocean's King the then implores the
grace.
Oh thou! whofe arms this ample globe embrace,
Fulfil our wifh, and let thy glory fhine
On Neftor firſt, and Neftor's royal line;
Next grant the Pylian ſtates their just defires,
Pleas'd with their hecatomb's afcending fires;
Laſt deign Telemachus and me to bleſs,
And crown our voyage with defir'd fuccefs.
7$
Ver. 68.] Our tranflator has given us a compound of Chapman
and Ogilby together; of whom the former renders thus:
Heare thou whoſe vaſt embrace
Enfpheres the whole earth; nor difdaine thy grace
To us that afke it:
and thus the latter:
Oh thou! great king, whoſe circling armes are hurl’¿
Round the vast body of the mighty world.
Homer fays only,
Hear, earth-containing Neptune!
Ver. 74. Last, deign Telemachus and me to blefs -] Since
Minerva here mentions the name of Telemachus in her prayer;
how comes it to paſs, that Neftor is at a loſs to know Telemachus?
Minerva fat clofe by Neftor; he must therefore be ſuppoſed to
hear the prayer; and yet in the following lines he enquires who
thefe ftrangers are? We can ſcarce imagine Neſtor ignorant that
the ſon of Ulyffes was named Telemachus, there being ſo ſtrict a
friendſhip between Neftor and Ulyffes. Perhaps therefore Minerva
prayed in fecret mentally; or perhaps Neftor might not take notice
of what was not addreft immediately to him, and confequently
make inquiry about it for the greater certainty.
4
P.
'
1
124
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK Iff.
7
80
Thus the; and having paid the rite divinė,
Gave to Ulyffes' fon the rofy wine.
Suppliant he pray'd. And now the victims dreſt
They draw, divide, and celebrate the feaſt.
The banquet done, the narrative old man,
Thus mild, the pleafing conference began.
Now, gentle gueſts! the genial banquet o'er,
It fits to alk
you, what your native fhore,
And whence your race? on what adventure, fay,
Thus far wander thro' the wat'ry way?
ye
Relate, if buſineſs, or the thirſt of gain,
Engage your journey o'er the pathleſs main:
85
Ver. 76.] Our poet follows Ogilby in omitting a clauſe of
his author, which is quaintly exhibited by Chapman :
:
;
Thus praid ſhe and her felfe, her felfe obaid
In th' end performing all for which ſhe praid.
Ver. 82.] There is more vivacity in the turn of the original,
thus preſerved by Chapman :
Now life's defire is ferv'd, as farre as fare;
Time fits me to enquire, what gueſts theſe are.
Faire gueſts, what are ye?
Ver. 86. Relate, if business, or the thirst of gain, &c.] If we
form our images of perfons and actions in ancient times, from the
images of perfons and actions in modern ages, we fhall fall into
great miſtakes: thus in the prefent paffage, if we annex the fame
'idea of piracy, as it was practifed three thouſand years paſt, to
piracy as it is practiſed in our ages; what can be a greater affront
than this inquiry of Neftor? But, fays Euftathius, piracy was
formerly not only accounted lawful, but honourable. I doubt not
but Thucydides had this paffage in view, when he fays, that the
ancient poets introduce men inquiring of thoſe who frequent the
fea, if they be pirates, as a thing no way ignominious. Thucy-
dides tells us in the ſame place, that all thoſe who lived on the fea-
coaſt, or in the iſlands, maintained themſelves by frequent inroads
BOOK III. HOMER's ODYSSEY.´
125
Where favage pirates ſeek thro' feas unknown
The lives of others, vent'rous of their own.
Urg'd by the precepts by the Goddeſs giv❜n, 90
And fill'd with confidence infus'd from heav'n,
The youth, whom Pallas deftin'd to be wife
And fam'd among the fons of men, replies.
Inquir'ft thou, father! from what coaſt we
came?
(Oh grace and glory of the Grecian name!) 95
From where high Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Brown with o'er-arching fhades and pendenț
woods,
100
Us to theſe ſhores our filial duty draws,
A private forrow, not a publick cauſe.
My fire I feek, where-e'er the voice of fame
Has told the glories of his noble name,
The great Ulyffes; fam'd from ſhore to ſhore
For valour much, for hardy fuff'ring more.
Long time with thee before proud Ilion's wall
In arms he fought; with thee beheld her fall. 105
upon unfortified towns, and if ſuch piracies were nobly performed,
they were accounted glorious. Herodotus alfo writes, that many
of the ancients, especially about Thrace, thought it ignominious
to live by labouring the ground, but to live by piracy and plunder
was eſteemed a life of honour. Euftathius.
Ver. 89.] Thus, more fluently:
The lives of others, and expofe their own.
P.
Ver. 90.] An aukwardneſs attends the repetition of this tri-
yial word, which I fhould wish to fee removed:
Urg'd by Minerva's precepts lately giv'n-.
126
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK III.
Of all the chiefs, this hero's fate alone
Has Jove referv'd, unheard of, and unknown;
Whether in fields by hoftile fury flain,
Or funk by tempefts in the gulfy main ?
Of this to learn, oppreft with tender fears,
Lo, at thy knee his fuppliant fon appears.
If or thy certain eye, or curious eaf,
Have learnt his fate, the whole dark ſtory clear:
And oh! whate'er heav'n deftin'd to betide,
Let neither flatt'ry footh, nor pity hide.
Prepar'd I ftand: he was but born to try
The lot of man; to fuffer, and to die.
Ver. 108.] Thus Chapman :
If on the continent, by enemies flaine;
Or with the waves eat, of the ravenous maine.
115
And the reader of difcernment and tafte will diſcover through the
fine flow of verfe and unlaboured elegance of expreffion the hand
of a fuperiour artift, the hand of Pope himself, in the verfion of
this fpeech.
Ver. 110.] I know not whether the reader, to avoid too great
a fimilarity of rhymes, will approve the following ſubſtitution;
Of this to learn, with tender fears difmaid,
Lo, at thy knee his fuppliant fon is laid,
Or thus:
From tender fears his boding foul to free,
Behold his fon a fuppliant at thy knee.
Thus, with more fidelity:
Ver. 112.
If knows thy certain eye, or curious ear,
That wretch's fate, the whole dark ſtory clear:
or, if this difpleafe, " his wretched' fate:" but I prefer the
former.
Ver. 116.] A beautiful couplet; but miſtakenly amplified from
a fentiment briefly expreffed in the preceding fubſtitution.
!
1
BOOK IH.
$27
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
સ
Oh then, if ever thro' the ten years war
The wife, the good Ulyffes claim'd thy care;
If e'er he join'd thy council, or thy fword,
True in his deed, and conftant to his word;
Far as thy mind thro' backward time can ſee,
Search all thy ftores of faithful memory :
'Tis facred truth I afk, and afk of thee.
120
}
To him experienc'd Neftor thus rejoin'd. 125
O friend! what forrows doft thou bring to mind?
Shall I the long, laborious feene review,
And open all the wounds of Greece anew?
What toils by fea! where dark in queft of prey
Dauntlefs we rov'd; Achilles led the way: 139
Ver. r2z.] This triplet is fwollen from one line of Homer:
Now think on this, and all the truth unfold.
Ver. 125. The Speech of Neftor.] Euftathius obferves the modeſty
of Neftor: Telemachus had aſcribed the fall of Troy in a great
meaſure to Neftor; but Neftor fpeaks not in particular of himself,
but is content with his fhare of glory in common with other
warriours; he fpeaks in the plural number, and joins all the Greeks
as in the war, ſo in the glory of it. Neftor mentions the ſufferings
of the Greeks by fea, as well as by land, during the fiege of
Troy to underſtand this, it is neceflary to remember, that the
Greeks made many expeditions against other places during the
war, both by fea and land, as appears from many paffages in the
Iliad, particularly from what Achilles fays in the ninth book. P.
This frequent ſpecimen of vicious rhyme I have often cenfured,
and often paffed without notice, from an apprehenfion of diſguſt
to the reader in fuch an uniformity of remark. In the prefent
inftance, we may adopt the following fuccedaneum:
To him, the fage Gerenian knight replies:
Friend! what old forrows to my mind arife?
128
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK III.
What toils by land! where mixt in fatal fight
Such numbers fell, fuch heroes funk to night:
There Ajax great, Achilles there the brave,
There wife Patroclus, fill an early grave:
There too my fon-ah once my beft delight, 135
Once ſwift of foot, and terrible in fight,
In whom ſtern courage with ſoft virtue join'd,
A faultless body, and a blameleſs mind;
Ver. 132.] He fhould have written,
fuch heroes fank to night:
funk, the abbreviation of funken, is the participle.
Ver. 133. There Ajax great, Achilles there the brave.] I have
obferved, that the Poet inſerts into the Odyffey ſeveral incidents
that happened after the fall of Troy, and by that method agree-
ably diverfifies his poetry, and fatisfies the curiofity of the reader.
Euftathius remarks here, that he gives a title of honour to all the
heroes he mentions, except only to Achilles. Achilles had been
the occafion of the ſufferings and death of many of the Greeks
by his anger, and obftinacy in refufing to obey Agamemnon;
therefore while Neftor is lamenting the calamities of the Greeks,
he paffes over Achilles without any honourable mention, who had
fo greatly added to their ſufferings. But I think this remark
chimerical: one may as well fay Achilles needed no epithet to
diſtinguiſh him.
:
It is with pleaſure I fee the old man dwell upon the praiſe of
Antilochus the father enlarges upon the fame of the fon; he
gives him four epithets of glory; and while Ajax is only praiſed
as a warriour, Antilochus is great and good, excellent in the
fanding fight, or fwift to purſue an enemy. Longinus has ob-
ferved upon the beauty of this paffage,
P.
Ver. 137.] To avoid this imperfection of rhyme, and to keep
cloſer to the compafs of the original, which ſtands as follows;
There my Antilochus, both brave and good;
Moft dear! undaunted warriour, fwift of foot:
I could wish to fee the tranflation confined to a couplet. Thus?
*BOOK III. HOMER's ODYSSEY:
129
Antilochus-what more can I relate?
How trace the tedious feries of our fate?
140
{
145
Not added years on years my tafk could cloſe,
The long hiftorian of my country's woes:
Back to thy native iflands might'ft thou fail,
And leave half-heard the melancholy tale.
Nine painful years on that detefted fhore;
What ftratagems we form'd, what toils we bore?
Still lab'ring on, 'till fcarce at laſt we found
Great Jove propitious, and our conqueft crown'd.
Far o'er the reſt thy mighty father ſhin'd,
In wit, in prudence, and in force of mind.
There brave Antilochus, my beft delight;
All virtuous! fwift to run, and bold to fight.
Ver. 142.] Thus Goldfmith in his Deferted Village:
The fad hiftorian of the penfive plain:
a verfe, not inferiour in merit to that before us.
150
Ver. 144.] This is poetry indeed! and yet I ſhould like to
fee the leading thought of the author not excluded, if poffible.
Thus ?
Thou, fated, to thy native iſle wouldſt fail—.
Ver. 148.] This verfe wants either ſenſe or conſtruction,
according to the two ways, in which it may poffibly be appre-
hended. I fhall fubjoin a remedy:
Great Jove propitious, and our struggles crown'd.
Ver. 149. Far o'er the reft thy mighty father fhin'd.] Neftor
fpeaks of Ulyffes as an infeparable friend; and it fhews an excel-
lent difpofition in them both, to be rivals, and yet without envy.
But the art of Neftor is remarkable; he firſt gives the character
to Ulyffes of being fuperiour in wifdom to all the Greeks; and
yet at laſt he finds a way ſecretly to fet himſelf on a level with
him, if not above him: we ever, fays he, thought the fame
VOL. I.
1
K
130
BOOK III.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Art thou the ſon of that illuftrious fire?
With joy I grafp thee, and with love admire.
So like your voices, and your words fo wife,
Who finds thee younger muft confult his eyes.
Thy fire and I were one; nor vary'd aught 155
In publick ſentence, or in private thought;
Alike to council or th' affembly came,
With equal fouls, and fentiments the fame.
But when (by wiſdom won) proud Ilion burn'd,
And in their ſhips the conqu'ring Greeks return'd;
thoughts, and were ever of the fame fentiments; which though
it may imply that they were of equal wifdom, yet there is room
left for it to fignify, that Ulyffes always affented to the wiſdom of
Neftor. Euftathius.
P.
This wrong formation of the tenſe is common with our poet,
and I might have contented myſelf with having noticed it before,
as I cannot promiſe the reader a fubftitute that will content him.
In powers of mind thy father ſtood alone :
..
Such art, fuch wit, in word and action ſhone I
Ver. 151.] Thus Ogilby:
And now I view thee better, I admire;
Thou look'ft fo like, and ſpeak'ft fo like, thy fire.
Ver. 157. The council or the affembly.] There is a remarkable
difference between Bean and yopà. The former denotes a felect
number of men affembled in council, the latter a publick affembly
where all the people were prefent. Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 158.] The original is already fufficiently dilated: other-
wife, a neglected, but important, fentiment, might be introduced
thus:
Or thus:
Greece joy'd our ſchemes in harmony to ſhare
The public intereft was our only care:
There, anxious only for the public good,
Harmonious counfellors of Greece we flood.
}
BOOK III.
131
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
1
'Twas God's high will the victors to divide,
161
And turn th' event, confounding human pride :
Some he deſtroy'd, fome ſcatter'd as the duft,
(Not all were prudent, and not all were juſt)
Then Diſcord, fent by Pallas from above,
Stern daughter of the great avenger Jove,
The brother-kings infpir'd with fell debate;
Who call'd to council all th' Achaian ftate,
165
Ver. 163.1 This compariſon of the dust was interpolated by
the tranſlator, not willing to encounter the trouble of deviſing a
different turn for the verſe, from an obvious reafon. And the
fentiment too, as far as it was authorized by his author, had been
given in verfe 161. Thus? with fidelity :
On numbers, Fate with fwift perdition flies:
Not all were righteous, and not all were wiſe.
Ver. 165. Sent by Pallas → ] Neftor in modefty conceals
the reafon of the anger of the Goddeſs; out of reſpect to Ajax
the Locrian, who was then dead: the crime of Ajax was the
violation of Caffandra even in the temple of Minerva before her
image. But why ſhould the Goddeſs be angry at others for the crime
of Ajax? This is becauſe they omitted to punish the offender.
If Ajax was criminal in offending, others are criminal for not
puniſhing the offence. Euftathius.
The crime of Ajax is mentioned in Virgil, Æn. i.
"Pallafnè exurere claffem
"Argivûm, atque ipfos potuit fubmergere ponto,
"Unius ab noxam, & furias Ajacis Oilei ?" &c.
Could angry Pallas with revengeful ſpleen
'The Grecian navy burn, and drown the men?
She for the fault of one offending foe,
The bolts of Jove himſelf prefum'd to throw.
Dryd.
Virgil borrowed the deſcription of the puniſhment of Ajax from
the fourth of the Odyffey.
Ver. 168, &c. Who call'd to council
P.
•
But call'd untimely, &c.]
K 2
132
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK III,
But call'd untimely (not the facred rite
Obferv'd, nor heedful of the fetting light,
Nor herald fworn the feffion to proclaim)
Sour with debauch, a reeling tribe they came.
To theſe the cauſe of meeting they explain,
And Menelaus moves to croſs the main;
170
Not fo the King of men: he will'd to ſtay; 175
The facred rites and hecatombs to pay,
*
And calm Minerva's wrath. Oh blind to fate!
The Gods not lightly change their love, or hate.
It may feem at firſt view, that the Poet affirms the night to be an
improper feafon to convene a council. This is not his meaning:
in the Iliad, there are ſeveral councils by night; nay, iv vvulì Beλà
is uſed proverbially to expreſs the beſt concerted councils. What
therefore Neftor here condemns is the calling not a ſelect, but a
publick affembly of the foldiers in the night, when they are in
no danger of an enemy, and when they are apt to fly into info-
lence through wine, and the joy of victory. The night is then
undoubtedly an ill choſen ſeaſon: becauſe the licence of the foldier
cannot be fo well restrained by night as by day. Euftathius. P.
Ver. 169.] Where our Poet found his commentary I have not
diſcovered from the books before me; but the following line of
his author is repreſented by theſe three verſes:
Rafh, in diſorder, at the fetting fun.
Ver. 177. Oh blind to fate!] It may be afked why Neftor
condemns fo folemnly this hero, calling him Nir, when he de-
fcribes him in fo pious an action? This is not becaufe the Gods
are implacable, for as Homer himſelf writes, Experloi de xj Deod
auroì; but becauſe he vainly imagined that they would fo foon be
appeaſed, without any juftice done upon the offender; or padias
αλίντροπον are the words of Euftathius.
Chapman is more explicit :
Foole, that did not know
She would not ſo be wonne: for not with eaſe
Th' eternall gods are turn'd from what they pleaſe.
Pr
BOOK III. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
133
180
With ire-full, taunts each other they oppoſe,
"Till in loud tumult all the Greeks aroſe.
Now diff'rent counfels ev'ry breaſt divide,
Each burns with rancour to the adverſe fide.
Th' unquiet night ſtrange projects entertain'd
(So Jove, that urg'd us to our fate, ordain'd.)
We, with the rifing morn our fhips unmoor'd, 185
And brought our captives and our ſtores a-board;
But half the people with refpect obey'd
The King of men, and at his bidding ſtay'd.
Now on the wings of winds our courſe we keep,
(For God had fmooth'd the waters of the deep) 190
For Tenedos we ſpread our eager oars,
There land, and pay due victims to the pow'rs:
To blefs our fafe return we join in pray'r,
But angry Jove difpers'd our vows in air,
Ver. 187.] This couplet is poliſhed from Ogilby:
The other half with Agamemnon ſtay,
And as their king and general obey.
Thus, literally, their model:
Half of the people checkt themſelves, and ftaid
With Agamemnon, fhepherd of the hoft.
Ver. 190.] Better, perhaps, as more exactly, thus:
God fmooth'd the ſurface of the spacious deep.
J
Ver. 191.] A moft wretched diftich indeed in every reſpect:
the diction is mean and vague, and the rhymes intolerable. Thus?
To Tenedos we come; our victims flay,
And honours due to powers immortal pay.
+
K 3
134
BOOK III.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
And rais'd new diſcord. Then (fo heav'n de-
creed)
Ulyffes firft and Neftor diſagreed:
195
Wife as he was, by various counfels fway'd,
He there, tho' late, to pleaſe the monarch, ſtay'd.
But I, determin'd, ftem the foamy floods,
Warn'd of the coming fury of the Gods.
200
Ver. 195.] Ogilby, who fully expreffes the true fenfe of his
author, will ferve to point out the deviation and interpolation of
our Poet in the following period.
Ulyffes' fquadron on our general's fcore
Sail'd back, and anchor'd where they rode before.
Ver. 197. Wife as he was, by various counfels fway'd,
He there, tho' late, to please the monarch, ftay'd.]
It is with great addreſs that Neſtor relates the return of Ulyffes
to Agamemnon; he afcribes it not directly to Ulyffes, but to his
afſociates in the voyage; he mollifies it, in complaifance to Tele-
machus. But Neftor, according to Dacier, conceals the true
reaſon of his return; it was not to pleaſe Agamemnon, but out
of fear of the Goddeſs Minerva, whofe ftatue he had taken by
force from Troy: to appease that Goddeſs, he returns to join in
facrifice with Agamemnon. Euftathius.
Ver. 199.] Bad rhymes. May I venture a fubftitution?
I ſwiftly ſteer'd with all my navy home;
My mind prefaging the dire woes to come.
P.
Nor are the rhymes of the next couplet to be applauded, or at
verſe 205,
Ver. 200. Warn'd of the coming fury of the Gods.] It may be
aſked how Neftor attained this knowledge of evils which the Gods
were preparing? Euftathius afcribes it to his great wiſdom, which
gave him an infight into futurity. Dacier with more reafon tells
us, that Neftor knew that Minerva had been offended, and might
confequently apprehend a puniſhment was to be inflicted for the
offence,
P.
BOOK III.
135
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
With us, Tydides fear'd, and urg'd his haſte :
And Menelaus came, but came the laſt.
He join'd our veffels in the Leſbian bay,
While yet we doubted of our wat'ry way;
If to the right to urge the pilot's toil,
(The fafer road) befide the Pfyrian iſle;
Or the ſtraight courſe to rocky Chios plow,
And anchor under Mimas' fhaggy brow?
We fought direction of the pow'r divine:
The God propitious gave the guiding fign;
Thro' the mid feas he bid our navy ſteer,
And in Euboea fhun the woes we fear.
The whiſtling winds already wak'd the ſky;
Before the whiſtling winds the veſſels fly,
With rapid fwiftneſs cut the liquid way,
And reach Gereftus at the point of day.
205
210
215
Ver. 212.] The prefent time can never be employed with pro-
priety in fuch connection with the paſt. We may alter thus:
Thro' the mid feas he bids our navy go,
And in Euboea fhun th' impending woe.
Ver. 213.] Our tranflator has curiously accommodated the
rhymes to his own purpoſe from a fingular effort of Chapman.
. Then did a whistling wind begin to rife,
And fwiftly flew we through the fiſhie ſkies.
Ver. 214.] Rather, to avoid a fating uniformity from the fre-
quent repetition of the article,
J
Before the whiſtling winds our veffels fly.
Ver. 216.] More properly, I think,
And reach Gerefțus e'er the dawn of day.
KA
136
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK III.
There hecatombs of bulls, to Neptune flain,
High-flaming pleaſe the monarch of the main.
The fourth day fhone, when all their labours o'er
Tydides' veffels touch'd the wifh'd-for fhore: 220
But I to Pylos fcud before the gales,
The God ftill breathing on my fwelling fails;
Sep'rate from all, I fafely landed here;
Their fates or fortunes never reach'd my ear.
Yet what I learn'd, attend; as here I fat, 225
And afk'd each voyager each hero's fatè;
Curious to know, and willing to relate.
Safe reach'd the Myrmidons their native land,
Beneath Achilles' warlike fon's command.
Ver. 218.] Accurately to the original, thus:
Our run reward through fuch a length of main:
But more poetically, as follows, nor with lefs fidelity:
We numerous thighs of bulls to Neptune gave,
Our kind conductor through the ſpacious, wave.
Ver. 221. But I to Pylos, &c.] Euftathius obferves from the
ancients, that the Poet with great judgment ſuſpends, and breaks
off this relation of Neftor; by this method he has an opportunity
to carry Telemachus to other countries, and infert into his poem
the ftory of Menelaus and Helen: this method likewife gives an
air of probability to what he writes; the Poet feems afraid to
deceive, and when he fends Telemachus to other parts for better
intelligence, he feems to confult truth and exactnefs.
Ver. 224.] More exactly, thus:
Nor reacht their fates, of life or death, mine ear.
专
​P.
Ver. 229. Achilles' warlike fon.] The fon of Achilles was
named Neoptol mus, by others Pyrrhus; his ftory is this: when
he had reached Theffaly with the Myrmidons of Achilles, by the
advice of Thetis he fet fire to his veffels; and being warned by
Helenus, from the oracles, to fix his habitation where he found
BOOK III.
137
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Thoſe, whom the heir of great Apollo's art, 230
Brave Philoctetes, taught to wing the dart;
And thoſe whom Idomen from Ilion's plain
Had led, fecurely croft the dreadful main.
How Agamemnon touch'd his Argive coaſt,
And how his life by fraud and force he loſt, 235
a houfe whofe foundations were iron, whofe walls were wood,
and whofe roof was wool; he took his journey on foot, and
coming to a certain lake of Epirus, he found fome perſons fixing
their ſpears with the point downwards into the earth, and covering
the tops of them with their cloaks, and after this manner making
their tents: he looked upon the oracle as fulfilled, and dwelt
there. Afterwards having a fon by Andromache the wife of
Hector, he named him Moloffus, from whom the region took the
name of Moloffia. From this country are the Moloffi canes, men-
tioned by Virgil. Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 230.] This couplet is expanded from the following verfe:
Safe, Philoctetes, Poean's fon renown'd:
lefs violence, therefore, fhould have been offered to his author
by an effort more congenial to the tenour of his language. Thus?
And Philoctetes fafely too, they fay,
Poan's fam'd fon, o'er ocean urg'd his way:
than which no verfes, correfpondent to the original, can poffibly
be more exact.
Ver. 234.] Though the found be the fame, a word fimilarly
written feems preferable, thus:
How brought our general back his Argive hoſt -.
But our tranſlator has executed the remainder of this fpeech with
but little attention to his author. The reader muſt accept a plain
tranflation, as nearly commenfurate, as our poetry will admit, to
the original.
Ye hear, tho' diftant, how Atrides ſped:
Our king return'd, by fell Ægifthus bled.
The crafty murderer foon the forfeit paid,
And dy'd with blood the fon's avenging blade,
r
138
BOOK II
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
And how the murd❜rer paid his forfeit breath;
What lands fo diftant from that ſcene of death
But trembling heard the fame? and heard, ad-
mire
240
How well the fon appeas'd his flaughter'd fire!
Ev'n to th' unhappy, that unjuſtly bleed,
Heav'n gives poſterity, t' avenge the deed.
So fell Ægyfthus; and may'ſt thou, my friend,
(On whom the virtues of thy fire deſcend)
Make future times thy equal act adore,
And be what brave Oreftes was before!
245
Blefs'd goes that father to the Stygian coaft,
Who leaves a child to foothe his murder'd ghoſt!
Thou too, my friend! affert a warriour's name :
Thy form and ftature promiſe future fame.
Ver. 236.] Thus Chapman:
Done by Ægiſthus to a bitter death;
Who miferably paid for forced breath.
Ver. 242. So fell Ægyfthus; and may'ft thou, my friend, &c.]
Neftor introduces the mention of Ægyfthus very artfully; it is to
raiſe an emulation in Telemachus to revenge Ulyffes, as Oreſtes
had Agamemnon; it has the intended effect, and we find that:
Telemachus dwells upon his ftory with a virtuous envy; yet at
the fame time with great modefty; Euftathius gives a different
reading in
ἐσσομένοισι πύθεσθαι, Οι
ἐσσομένοισιν ἀοιδὴν.
Both the expreffions are uſed in Homer, the preference is therefore
fubmitted to the reader.
P.
Ver. 245.] Homer does not appear to me to have intended
fo direct an application; but Chapman and Dacier agree with our
tranflator, lefs agreeably to the fequel.
}
BOOK III,
139
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The prudent youth reply'd.
grace
ނ
O thou the
And lafting glory of the Grecian race!
Juſt was the vengeance, and to lateſt days
Shall long poſterity refound the praiſe.
Some God this arm with equal prowefs blefs!
And the proud Suitors fhall its force confefs:
Injurious men! who while my foul is fore
Of freſh affronts, are meditating more.
But heav'n denies this honour to my hand,
Nor ſhall my father repoffefs the land:
The father's fortune never to return,
And the fad fon's to fuffer and to mourn!
249
255
Thus he; and Neftor took the word: My fon,
Is it then true, as diſtant rumours run,
259
That crowds of rivals for thy mother's charms
Thy palace fill with infults and alarms?
Ver. 248.] So Chapman:
And him the Greeks will give a maſter praiſe;
Verſe finding him, to làft all after daies.
1
Ver. 250.] He should have ſeparated theſe fimilar terminations,
or have fubftituted another word. For example:
Some God this arm with equal vigour bleſs!
Ver. 254.] To thefe four verfes correfponds the following
portion of his author:
But nor for me the Gods fuch blifs have wovën,
Nor for my fire: dull patience is my lot!
Thus? more faithfully and conciſely :
But for my fire no fav'ring Gods appear,
Nor me; ftill doom'd to ſuffer, and forbear!
140
BOOK HI
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Say, is the fault, thro' tame fubmiffion, thine?
Or leagu'd againſt thee, do thy people join,
Mov'd by fome Oracle, or voice divine?
And yet who knows, but ripening lies in fate 265
An hour of vengeance for th' afflicted ſtate;
When great Ulyffes fhall fupprefs thefe harms,
Ulyffes fingly, or all Greece in arms.
Ver. 263.] A more accurate rhyme was obvious, and more
fidelity:
Or do thy people from diflike combine?
Ver. 264. Mov'd by fome oracle, or voice divine?] The words
in the original are, following the voice of fome God, that is, ſome
oracle; Homer does not confine the expreffion either to a good
or bad fenfe, but the context plainly fhews, that they muſt be
underſtood in a bad fenfe; namely to imply, that the people had
recourſe to pretended Oracles to justify their rebellion. This is
evident from what follows, where Neftor encourages Telemachus
to expect that Ulyffes may punish them for their crimes, apripelas
20wif there had been no crime, there ought to be no
puniſhment.
>
P.
Ver. 268. Ulyffes fingly, or all Greece in arms.] The Poet ſhews
his great judgment in preparing the reader for the deſtruction of
the Suitors; that great cataſtrophe is managed by few hands, and
it might feem incredible that fo few could deftroy fo many: the
Poet therefore, to give an air of truth to his action, frequently
inculcates the affiftance of Pallas, which muft at leaft fhew, that
fuch a great exploit is not impoffible to be executed by ftratagems-
and valour: it is by art, not ftrength, that Ulyffes conquers.
All Greece in arms.
This is fpoken in a general fenfe, and comprehends not only
the fubjects of Ulyffes, or even the Pylians and Spartans, but
implies, that all the Greeks would rife in the caufe of Ulyffes.
What the Suitors had fpoken fcoffingly in the preceding book,
that Telemachus was failing to Pyle or Sparta for ſupplies, appears
in this not to be impracticable; fo that it was choice and not
neceffity that determined the Poet to make uſe of no fuch eafy
expedients for the deftruction of the Suitors. Euftathius,
BOOK III. HOMER's ODYSSEY,
141
But if Athéná, war's triumphant maid,
270
The happy fon, will, as the father, aid,
(Whoſe fame and fafety was her conftant care
In ev'ry danger and in ev'ry war:
Never on man did heav'nly favour fhine
With rays fo ſtrong, diſtinguiſh'd and divine,
As thofe with which Minerva mark'd thy fire) 275
So might ſhe love thee, fo thy foul infpire!
Soon ſhould their hopes in humble duft be laid,
And long oblivion of the bridal bed.
It may be added, that the very nature of Epick Poetry, and
of the Odyſſey in particular, requires fuch a conduct in the Iliad,
Achilles is the chief agent, and performs almoſt all the great
actions; Æneas is painted after the fame manner by Virgil; the
one kills Hector, the other Turnus, both which are the decifive
actions: it was equally neceffary to exalt the character of Ulyffes,
by bringing him into difficulties from which he is perfonally to
extricate himſelf: this the Poet fufficiently brings about by re-
fufing all the eafy methods for his re-eſtabliſhment, becauſe the
more difficult ways are moſt conducive to the honour of his hero:
thus as Achilles and Æneas kill Hector and Turnus with their
own hands, fo the Suitors fall chiefly by the hand of Ulyffes. It
is neceffary for the hero of the Poem to execute the decifive
action, for by this method the Poet compleats his character, his
´own greatneſs furmounts all difficulties, and he goes off the ſtage
with the utmoſt advantage, by leaving a noble character upon the
mind of the ſpectators.
P.
Ver. 271.] Bad rhymes. Thus ? more exactly, to the end
of the ſpeech, which is dilated beyond meaſure, and not accurate :
(At Ilium ſhe his kind protectreſs ſtood,
Or,
In every danger of that ſcene of blood.
Ne'er deign'd fuch open grace the powers of heav'n,
As that by Pallas to thy father given)
Soon would that lawleſs crew their wrongs bewail,
The nuptials fhrouded by oblivion's veils
And ſhroud their nuptials black oblivion's veil.
142
BOOK Ift,
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Ah! no fuch hope (the prince with fighs replies)
Can touch my breaft; that bleffing heav'n denies.
Ev'n by celeſtial favour were it giv'n,
281
Fortune or Fate would croſs the will of heav'n.
What words are theſe, and what imprudence
thine?
(Thus interpos'd the martial maid divine)
Ver. 279.] Rather, to confult fidelity and our ears,
the prudent youth replies.
Ver. 281.] As thefe rhymes have recently occurred in a pro-
pofed fubftitution, this and the next couplet may be thus adjuſted:
E'en fhould on me cœleftial favour fhine,
Fortune or Fate would croſs the will divine.
What words, Telemachus! thy lips eſcape?
(Replied the Goddeſs, loft in Mentor's fhape.)
Ver. 282. Fortune or Fate wou'd cross the will of heav'n.] It
may be aſked how an expreffion ſo near blafphemy, as Euftathius
obferves, could eſcape a perſon of ſuch piety as Telemachus ? It
is true, the Poet makes Minerva herfelf correct it; but yet the
objection remains, viz. how could Telemachus fpeak it? I think
fince the Poet himſelf condemns it, we may give it up as an in-
decency in Telemachus; it is natural for men in deſpair (and that
was the condition of Telemachus) to uſe a vehemence of expref-
fion, and this might tranſport Telemachus beyond the bounds of
prudence. The only poffible way that occurs to me to take off
the impiety, is to have recourſe to deſtiny: it was the opinion of
the antients, that the Gods could not alter deftiny: and then
Telemachus may mean no more, than that it was decreed by the
deſtinies that Ulyſſes ſhould return no more, ſo the Gods them-
felves could not reſtore him.
Thus in the xvth of the Metamorphofis, Venus in vain applies
to the Gods to preferve Julius Cæfar.
"Superofque movet, qui rumpere quanquam
"Ferrea non poffunt veterum decreta fororum," &c.
And a little lower Jupiter fays to Venus,
"Sola infuperabile fatum,
Nata, movere paras ?”
P
BOOK III.
143
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Forgetful youth! but know, the Pow'r above 285
With eaſe can ſave the object of his love;
Wide as his will, extends his boundleſs grace;
Nor loft in time, nor circumfcrib'd by place.
Happier his lot, who many forrows paſt,
Long lab'ring gains his natal fhore at laft;
Than who too ſpeedy, haftes to end his life
By ſome ſtern ruffian, or adult'rous wife.
Death only is the lot which none can miſs,
And all is poffible to heav'n, but this.
290
Ver. 289. Happier his lat, who, &c.] Nothing can be better
imagined to encourage Telemachus, than what the Poet here
delivers: Minerva fets Agamemnon in oppofition to Ulyffes:
Agamemnon made a ſpeedy voyage to his country, and there fell
by treachery; Ulyffes has long been abſent, but yet is happier
than Agamemnon: the Gods perhaps referve him for better for-
tunes, at leaſt nothing can be concluded from his long abſence,
and this is fufficient to teach Telemachus not to defpair. Eu-
ftathius.
P.
Ver. 291.] Thus, more faithfully and explicitly:
Than end at home, like Atreus' fon, his life,
By fome falfe ruffian, or adult'rous wife.
Thus Chapman, very tolerably:
As Agamemnon did; who loft his life,
By falfe Ægifthus, and his falſer wife :
whom Ogilby has followed:
So hapless Agamemnon loſt his life,
By fly Ægiftus, and his curfed wife.
Ver. 293.]
Or thus?
Not e'en th' immortal power of Gods can ſave
Their deareſt votary from th' all-claiming grave.
All fink, obedient to the general doom
Prefcrib'd by Fate, in death's eternal gloom.
Ver. 294. And all is poſſible to heav'n, but this.] What Minerva
here fays juftifies the remark I made, that what Telemachus feemed
144
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK TI
The best, the dearest fav'rite of the fky
Muſt taſte that cup, for man is born to die.
295
Thus check'd, reply'd Ulyffes' prudent heir:
Mentor, no more—the mournful thought forbear;
For he no more muft draw his country's breath,
Already fnatch'd by Fate, and the black doom of
death!
Paſs we to other fubjects; and engage
On themes remote the venerable fage:
300
to have ſpoken rafhly, may be faftened, if not vindicated, by
having recourſe to deſtiny: it is evident from this paffage, that
deſtiny was fuperiour to the power of the Gods: otherwiſe Mi-
nerva ſpeaks as blafphemouſly as Telemachus: for what difference
is there between faying, that the Gods cannot preſerve even thoſe
they love from death, and faying that the Gods could not fave
Ulyffes? Why therefore may not the words of Telemachus be
thought to have a reſpect to deſtiny?
I am of opinion, that the Poet had fomething further in view
by putting theſe words into the mouth of Minerva: the words of
Telemachus, if taken grofsly, might appear fhocking to ſo pious
a perfon as Neftor, and make an ill impreffion upon him to the
diſadvantage of Telemachus; Minerva therefore artfully explains
it, and foftens the horrour of it by reconciling it to the theology
of thoſe ages.
P.
Ver. 299.] This feems a ftrange phrafe; and fuch, I think,
as the reader will not judge tolerable. Perhaps, even the fol-
lowing line were preferable:
For he no more, at home, muft draw his breath.
Ver. 301.] Pafs we to other fubjects ;] Telemachus here
puts feveral questions, as it were in a breath, 'to Neftor; and
Plutarch obferves upon this paffage, that he who enquires any
thing of an old man, though the old man himſelf has no concern
in the ftory, wins.his heart at once; and incites a perfon, who is
upon all occafions very willing to difcourfe. He introduces this
as an inftance of the art Telemachus ufes, in adapting himself by
· BOOK III.
145
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
A
(Who thrice has ſeen the perifhable kind
Of men decay, and thro' three ages fhin'd,
Like Gods majeſtick, and like Gods in mind.) 305
For much he knows, and juft conclufions draws
From various precedents, and various laws.
O fon of Neleus! awful Neftor, tell
How he, the mighty Agamemnon fell?
309
his queſtions to the temper of the perfon with whom he converfes:
he puts together, continues he, feveral queftions upon feveral
fubjects, which is more judicious than to confine his anſwer to a
fingle interrogatory, and by that method deprive Neftor of one
of the moſt pleaſant enjoyments of old age, I mean the pleaſure
of talking. Plutarch. Sympofiac.
Ver. 303. Who thrice had feen the perishable kind
Of men decay,]
P.
The Poet here tells us that Neftor was now in his fourth genera-
tion: Ovid took the word yéva to figñify an hundred years; but
then Neſtor muſt have been above three hundred years old. Others
with more probability underſtand it to fignify a generation, or
fuch a portion of time in which any race of men flouriſh together,
which is computed to be about thirty years. I refer the reader to
the Note of the 333d verſe of the firſt book of the Iliad, for the
particular age of Neftor. According to that computation, he muſt
now be about ninety-five years of age.
P.
Ver. 304.] Here he properly employs the legitimate participle
of the verb fine: fee the note on verſe 149 of this book.
Ver. 306.] His author fays only,
In laws and prudence eminently wife:
but our tranflator feems to have recollected at the time a well-
known couplet by Creech, if my memory fail me not, in his
Lucretius:
Which from firm premiſes juſt reafon draws,
And a deep infight into nature's laws.
Ver. 309. How he, the mighty Agamemnon fell?] Telemachus
does not aſk this queſtion out of curioſity, but with great judg-
VOL. I.
tou
146
BOOK IN.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
By what ſtrange fraud Ægyfthus wrought, relate,
(By force he could not) fuch a hero's fate?
Liv'd Menelaus not in Greece! or where
Was then the martial brother's pious care?
Condemn'd perhaps fome foreign fhore to tread;
Or fure Ægyſthus had not dar'd the deed.
}
305
To whom the full of days. Illuftrious youth,
Atfend (tho' partly thou haft gueſt) the truth.
For had the martial Menelaus found
The ruffian breathing yet on Argive ground;.
Nor earth had hid his carcafe from the fkies, 320
Nor Grecian virgins fhriek'd his obfequies,
But fowls obfcene difmember'd his remains,
And dogs had torn him on the naked plains.
ment; he knows there were deſigns againſt his life, as well as
there had been againſt Agamemnon; he therefore aſks it, that he
may learn how to defeat them; chiefly to inftruct himſelf how
´beſt to affiſt his father upon his return, by aiding him in eſcaping
the Snares of the Suitors. Dacier.
Ver. 314.] The rhymes are bad. Thus? more accurately:
P.
An exile, doom'd a wand'ring life to lead?
}
Ver. 316.] Ogilby renders, as follows:
Then Neftor thus; I fhall moſt noble youth,
Refolve thee ftreight, thou hint'ft upon the truth;
Had Menelaus there arriving found
Ægyfthus, living, he not under ground
Had lay'd his body.
Ver. 323.] Our tranſlater ſhould have cloſely expreffed his
model:
And dogs had torne him on the diftant-plain.
1
2147
“BOOK III.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
While us the works of bloody Mars employ'd,
The wanton youth inglorious peace enjoy'd; 325
He, ftretch'd at eafe in Argos' calm recefs,
(Whoſe ſtately ſteeds. luxuriant paſtures bleſs)
With flattery's infinuating art
Sooth'd the frail queen, and poifon'd all her heart.
"At fifft with worthy fhame and decent pride, 330
The royal dame his lawleſs fuit dèny’d.
For virtue's image yet poffeft her mind,
Taught by a maſter of the tuneful kind :
Ver. 324.] More accurately, thus:
Whilft as continual toils of war employ'd.
Ver. 330. Or thus? with more fidelity and concifeneſs, and
rhymes unexceptionable:
At first, protected by ingenuous fhame,
His lawleſs fuit rejects the royal dame.
For virtue's image yet poffeft her foul
By ſtains of vice unfullied: fuch controul
Still o'er his charge maintain'd the virtuous bard
Atrides left her chaſtity to guard.
Ver. 333. Taught by a master of the tuneful kind.] Homer
through the whole Odyffey fpeaks much in honour of the art which
he himſelf loved, and in which he fo eminently excelled: from
theſe and other paffages we may learn the ftate of poetry in thoſe
ages: "Poets (fays Euftathius) were ranked in the claſs of Phi-
lofophers; and the ancients made ufe of them as preceptors in
mufick and morality:" Strabo quotes this very paflage as an
inftance of the excellence of poetry in forming the foul to worthy
actions: Egyfthus could not debauch Clytemneftra, until he
baniſhed the Poet who was her guide and inſtructor.
rr
Various are the conjectures of the antients about the name of
the bard here celebrated: fome, fays Euftathius, tell us, it was
Chariades, fome Demodocus, fome Glaucus, &c. but I pafs them
over, because they are conjectures.
L 2
t
BOOK ILI,
14.8
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Atrides, parting for the Trojan war,
Confign'd the youthful confort to his care. 335
True to his charge, the Bard preferv'd her long
In honour's limits; fuch the pow'r of Song.
But when the Gods theſe objects of their hate
Dragg'd to deftruction, by the links of fate;
The Bard they baniſh'd from his native ſoil,
And left all helpleſs in a defert ifle:
There he, the fweeteft of the facred train,
Sung dying to the rocks, but fung in vain.
340
There were many degrees of thefe dodo; fome were doidos
θρήνων, others ἀοιδοὶ περὶ γάμος; but fuch bards as are here men-
tioned were of an higher ſtation, and retained as inftructors by
kings and princes.
I cannot omit one remark of Euftathius: he tells us, that fome
perfons write that theſe dodol had their names from hence, s
αἰοιδοῖα μὴ ἔχοντες ; exactly refembling the modern Italian fingers:
madam Dacier is not to be forgiven for paffing over a remark of
fuch importance; if this be true, it makes a great difference be-
tween the antient and modern Poets, and is the only advantage I
know we have over them.
P.
Ver. 340.] Thus correct the verſification and the ambiguity:
The bard he baniſht from his native land,
Left helpless on an iſland's deſert ſtrand.
And the reader will excuſe in a profeffor of the tuneful art this
excurfion in celebration of a predeceffor: otherwiſe, this fubject
of the minstrel is diſpatched in two verfes of Homer, thus faith-
fully exhibited:
He to a defert ifle the bard convey'd,
And left, a prey to prowling vultures made.
Thus, with Chapman's rhymes:
He to a defart ifle the minstrel led:
The prowling birds the minstrel's carcafe fed.
BOOK III.
149
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
+
Then Virtue was no more; her guard away,
She fell, to luft a voluntary prey.
345
Ev'n to the temple ſtalk'd th' adult'rous ſpouſe,
With impious thanks, and mockery of vows,
With images, with garments, and with gold;
And od❜rous fumes from loaded altars roll'd.
Meantime from flaming Troy we cut the way,
With Menelaus, thro' the curling fea.
Ver. 344. Then Virtue was no more; her guard away,
She fell,
&c.]
351-
There is a fine moral couched in the ftory of the Bard and Cly-
temneftra; it admirably paints the advantage we draw from wife
companions for the improvement of our virtues: Clytemneftra
was chafte, becauſe her inſtructor was wife: his wifdom was an
infuperable guard to her modefty. It was long before ſhe yielded;
virtue and honour had a long conteft; but fhe no fooner yielded
to adultery, but the affifted in the murder of her husband; from
whence we may draw another moral, that one vice betrays us into
another: and when once the fences of honour are thrown down,
we become a prey to every paffion. Dacier.
P,
Ver. 346. Ev'n to the temple ftalk'd th' adult'rous spouse.] Here
is a ſurpriſing mixture of religion and impiety: Ægyſthus, upon
the accompliſhment of fo great a crime as adultery, returns thanks
to the Gods by oblations, as if they had aſſiſted him în the execu-
tion of it. Neftor dwells upon it at large, to fhew that Ægyfthus
greatly aggravated his guilt by fuch a piece of impious devotion.
Dacier.
Thus, more exactly:
•
Pleas'd with his feat, to heaven th' adult'rous ſpouſe
Paid impious thanks, and mockery of vows;
With gifts adorn'd the fanes, rich vefts and gold,
Whilst victim-fumes from laden altar's roll'd.
P,
Ver. 350.]. A vicious rhyme; of perpetual recurrence, More
accurately, thus ;
}
L 3
1,50.
BOOK III
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
ง
355
But when to Sunium's facred point we came,
Crown'd with the temple of th? Athenian dame;
Atrides' pilot, Phrontes, there expir'd;;
(Phrontes, of all the fons of men admir'd
Tofteer the bounding bark with fteady toil,
When the ſtorm thickens, and the billows boil)
While yet he exercis'd the fteerman's art,.
Apollo touch'd him with his gentle dart ;.
Meantime, myſelf and Sparta's prince.convey
Our focial ſquadrons o'er the watʼry way:.
Or, as follows:
Now me, with Sparta's friendly monarch, bore
The fleet from Ilium to our native fhore.
Ver. 356.] Steady toil appears to me but an aukward phrafe, and,
much leſs elegant than commodious. Thus? with no lefs fidelity:
With steadieft fkill the bounding bark to guide,
Or,
When winds blow furious, and when fwells the tide :
When blasts tempestuous rouſe the rolling tide.
Ver. 358.] There is too much amplification here with no, great.
fidelity; and the word hell fhould be fent to the place, whence it,
came. Let the reader excufe a prefumption, that grows upon me:
He held the rudder, and the veffel fled,
When the mild fhafts of Phoebus ftruck him dead.
There ftopt the king, by pious office bound,.
To lay his dear companion in the ground.
And now, the rites difcharg'd, their courfe they keep:
and conformable to this conftruction fhould the fequel be con
ducked; for Neftor is not fpeaking now of his own adventures,
but of the fates of Menelaus only.
Ogilby corrected feems preferable to our author, efpecially in
fidelity:
}
The rites perform❜d, their fleet through ocean glides,
Till rife in air Malea's rocky fides:
• There a dread paffage thundering Jove defign'd;
And waves, like mountains, fwell'd before the wind.
Ver. 359. Apollo touch'd him, with his gentle dart.] Homer
-
L
BOOK III.
151
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
360
Ev'n with the rudder in his hand, he fell.
To pay. whofe honours to the fhades of hell,
We check'd our hafte, by pious office bound,
And laid our old companion in the ground.
And now the rites diſcharg'd, our courfe we keep
Far on the gloomy bofom of the deep:-
Soon as Malea's mifty tops arife,
T
365
Sudden the Thund'rer blackens all the fkies,
And the winds whiftle, and the furges roll
Mountains on mountains, and obfcure the pole.
The tempeft ſcatters, and divides our fleet;
Part, the ſtorm urges on the coaſt of Crete,
{
370
calls the darts of Apollo ayavá, or gentle; to fignify that thofe
who die thus fuddenly, die without pain. Euftathius.
Dacier complains that fome Criticks think Homer worthy of
blame for enlarging upon fo mean a perſon as a pilot. It is a
fufficient anfwer to obferve, that arts were in high eſteem in thoſe
times, and men that were eminent in them were in great honour.
Neither were arts then confined as in thefe ages to mean per-
fonages; no lefs a perſon than Ulyffes builds a veſſel in the ſequel
of the Odyffey; fo that this is a falfe piece of delicacy. If
Homer be culpable, fo is Virgil; he gives the genealogy of Pali-
nuruş, as well as Homer of Phrontes. Virgil's deſcription is cen-
fured as too long, Homer concludes his in feven lines; and laftly,
Virgil's Epifode has been judged by the Criticks to be an unne-
ceffary ornament, and to contribute nothing to the poem; Homer
relates the death of Phrontes, to introduce the difperfion of the
fleet of Menelaus; the fleet might well be fcattered, when it
wanted fo excellent a pilot,
P.
Ver. 371. Part, the form urges on the coaft of Crete.] Homer
does not amuſe us by relating what became of theſe companions
of Menelaus; he omits this judiciouſly, and follows the thread of
+
..
I 4
152
BOOK IIF,
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Where winding round the rich Cydonian plain,
The ſtreams of Jardan iffue to the main.
There ſtands a rock, high eminent and ſteep,
Whoſe ſhaggy brow o'erhangs the ſhady deep, 375
And views Gortyna on the weſtern ſide;
On this rough Auſter drove th' impetuous tide :
With broken force the billows roll'd away,
And heav'd the fleet into the neighb'ring bay,
Thus fav'd from death, they gain'd the Phæftan
fhores,
With ſhatter'd veffels, and difabled oars:
But five tall barks the winds and waters toft,
Far from their fellows, on th' Ægyptian coaſt.
38Q
P.
his ftory: Menelaus is the perfon whom the Poet has in view; he
therefore paffes over the ftory of his companions, to carry on the
fable of the Poem by leading us directly to Menelaus.
Ver. 382.] The imperfection of the rhymes emboldens me to
propoſe a ſubſtitution, more congenial to the original:
Five blue-prow'd ſhips the wind and water drave,
Where Nile's full current meets the briny wave,
Ver. 383 On the Egyptian coaft.] In the original it
is, The wind and water carried them to Egyptus. Homer by
Ægyptus means the river Nile, and then it is always ufed in the
maſculine gender; the region about it took its name from the
river Ægyptus, this is always uſed in the feminine gender; but
the country had not received that name in the days of Homer.
Euftathius.
What Dacier adds to this obſervation, may affift in determining
the diſpute concerning the priority of Homer and Hefiod: Hefiod
makes mention of the river Nilus; if therefore it be true that
Egyptus had not been called by the name of Nilus in the times
of Homer, it is a demonftration. that Hefiod was pofterior to
BOOK III.
153
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
1
385
There wander'd Menelaus thro' foreign fhores,
Amaffing gold, and gath'ring naval ftores;
While curft Ægyfthus the detefted deed
By fraud fulfill'd, and his great brother bled.
Sev❜n years, the traitor rich Mycenæ fway'd,
And his ſtern rule the groaning land obey'd;
The eighth, from Athens to his realm reftor'd,
Oreftes brandiſh'd the revenging fword,
Slew the dire pair, and gave to fun'ral flame
The vile affaffin, and adult'rous dame.
That day, ere yet the bloody triumphs ceafe,
Return'd Atrides to the coaft of Greece,
And fafe to Argos' port his navy brought,
391
395.
With gifts of price and pond'rous treaſure fraught.
Homer; otherwiſe he could not have been acquainted with any
other name but that of Ægyptus.
P.
Ver. 386.] Better rhymes and more fidelity may eafily be
effected:
L
Then curft Ægifthus plann'd the direful deeds;
At home fupplanted, his great brother bleeds.
Ver. 389.] Or thus ?
The groaning land his rigorous rule obey'd.
Ver. 390. From Athens to his realm
1 There is a dif
ferent reading in this place; inftead of an 'Anváwv, fome write
ȧnò Dannov; for Oreftes was educated by Strophius king of Phocis,
and father of Pylades: the ancients reconcile the difference; by
faying that Oreftes might be fent from Phocis to Athens for his
education, and returning thence to his own country, might re-
venge the death of his father Agamemnon; fo that although he
was firſt bred up in Phocis, he was afterwards a fojourner in
Athens. Euftathius.
P.
$54
BOOK III
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Hence warn'd, my fon beware! nor idly ftand
Too long a ftranger to thy native land;
Left heedlefs abfence wear thy wealth away, 400
While lawleſs feafters in thy palace ſway;
Perhaps may feize thy realm, and ſhare the ſpoil
And thou return, with diſappointed toil,
From thy vain journey, to a rifled iſle.
Howe'er, my friend, indulge one labour more,
And ſeek Atrides on the Spartan fhore.
He, wand'ring long, a wider circle made,
And many-languag'd nations. has furvey'd;
And meaſur'd tracts unknown to other ſhips,
Amid the monftrous wonders of the deeps; 410
(A length of ocean and unbounded ſky,
Which ſcarce the fea-fowl in a year o'erfly)
406.
Ver. 402.] For the fake of fidelity,. I fhould propoſe fome
alteration of this verfe, as follows,
""
Thefe plunderers all thy ftores may fhare and ſpoil:
and omit the concluding, verfe of the triplet as wholly fuperfluous,
and impaired by a vicious rhyme. Our tranflator feems to have
confulted Dacier on this paffage: De peur qu' ils n' achévent
"de vous ruiner, en partageant entr' eux votre royaume.'
Ver. 407.] Our tranflator, to wave particular exceptions, has
given us a very inaccurate reprefentation of this paffage in general.
Ifhall fubmit a plain literal verfron to the candour of the reader :
He from thofe diftant nations lately came,
Where no fad exile's fondeft heart could frame
One hope of ſafety, if the ſtorms. had caſt
On that drear ocean's bofom, deep and vaſt!
No bird, while Phoebus wheels his annual round,
Could, ftretch it's pinions o'er the dire: profound
-Ver. 411. A length of ocean and unbounded Sky,
}
Which Scarce the fea-fowl in a year o'erfly.]
A
BOOK III.
155
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Go then; to Sparta take the watʼry way,
Thy fhip and failors but for orders ftay;
Or if by land thou chufe thy courſe to bend, 415,
My ſteeds, my chariots, and my fons attend:
Thee to Atrides they ſhall ſafe convey,
Guides of thy road, companions of thy way.
Urge him, with truth to frame his free replies,
And, fure he will: for Menelaus is wife.
420
It must be confeft, that Neftor greatly-exaggerates this defcription:
Homer himſelf tells us, that a ſhip may fail in five days from Crete
to Ægypt; wherefore then this hyperbole of Neftor? It might
perhaps be to deter Telemachus from a defign of failing to Crete,
and he through his inexperience might believe the deſcription..
It may be added, that what Neſtor ſpeaks concerning the flight of
birds, *may be only faid to fhew the great diftance of that fea:
nay, by a favourable interpretation it may be reconciled to truth;
the meaning then must be this: fhould a perfon obferve that fea a
whole year, he would not ſee one bird flying over it, both becauſe
of the vaſtneſs and dreadfulneſs of it; and perhaps the whole of
this might ariſe from the obfervation, that this fea is not fre-
quented by birds. This is wholly and almoſt literally taken from
Euftathius; and if we add to this the ignorance of the fea and:
fea-affairs in thoſe ages, we ſhall the lefs wonder to hear ſo wife
a man as Neſtor deſcribing it with ſo much terrour. Navigation
is now greatly improved, and the moderns fail further in a month,
than the ancients could in a year; their whole art confifting chiefly,
in coafting along the fhores, and confequently they made but little.
way.
P.
Ver. 417.] Thefe rhymes have but juft paffed through our
ears. Thus, more clofely to the language of the original:
Thefe fhall attend thee; thefe, thy faithful guides
To Lacedæmon, where the king refides.
Ver. 419.] Chapman, though covered with the ruft of anti-
quity, has a venerable couplet, worthy of quotation:
Intrease the truth of him; nor loves he lies;
Wifdome in truth is; and hee's paffing wife.
;
>
156
BOOK III.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Thus while he ſpeaks, the ruddy fun defcends,
And twilight grey her ev'ning fhade extends.
Then thus the blue-ey'd maid: O full of days!
Wife are thy words, and juſt are all thy ways.
Now immolate the tongues, and mix the wine,
Sacred to Neptune and the pow'rs divine.
The lamp of day is quench'd beneath the deep,
And ſoft approach the balmy hours of fleep:
Nor fits it to prolong the heav'nly feaſt,
Timeleſs, indecent, but retire to reſt.
426
430
Ver. 425. Now immolate the tongues] Various are the
reaſons which Euftathius reports concerning this oblation of the
tongues at the conclufion of the facrifice. It was to purge them-
felves from any evil words they might have uttered; or becauſe
the tongue was reckoned the best part of the facrifice, and fo
referved for the completion of it; or they offered the tongue to
the Gods, as witneffes to what they had spoken. I omit the reft
as fuperfluous. They had a cuftom of offering the tongues to
Mercury, becauſe they believed him the giver of eloquence.
Dacier expatiates upon this cuftom. The people, fays ſhe, might
fear, left through wine and the joy of the feftival, they might
have uttered fome words unbecoming the fanctity of the occafion:
by this facrifice of the tongues, they fignified that they purged
away whatever they had ſpoken amifs during the feſtival; and
asked in particular pardon of Mercury, who prefided over diſ-
courfe, to the end they might not carry home any uncleanneſs
which might ſtop the bleffings expected from the facrifice.
Ver. 429. Nor fits it to prolong the heav'nly feast,
Timeless, indecent, &c.]
P.
Euftathius fhews the difference between topla, feftivals, and Quoat,
or facrifices in the former it was cuftomary to ſpend the whole
night in wine and rejoicing: in the latter, this was reckoned an
unlawful cuſtom, through the fear of falling into any indecencies
through wine. He likewife gives another reaſon of this injunc-
tion, by telling us that it was the cuſtom to offer facrifices to the
BOOK III. HOMER'S ODYSSEY,
157
So fpake Jove's daughter, the celeftial maid.
The fober train attended and obey'd.
The facred heralds on their hands around
Pour'd the full urns; the youths the goblets
crown'd:
From bowl to bowl the holy bev'rage flows; 435
While to the final facrifice they roſe.
The tongues they caft upon the fragrant flame,
And pour, above, the confecrated ſtream.
And now, their thirst by copious draughts allay'd,
The youthful hero and th' Athenian maid
Propoſe departure from the finish'd rite,
And in their hollow bark to paſs the night :
440
celeſtial powers in the day, and even to finiſh them about the
fetting of the fun: and that thoſe who dealt in incantations per-
formed their facrifices to the infernal powers by night, and finiſhed
them before fun-rifing. Either of theſe reaſons fufficiently explains
the words of the Goddefs; and the former carries in it an excel-
lent moral, that particular care fhould be taken in our acts of
devotion, not to turn religion into impiety.
P.
Vicious rhymes! The following attempt is agreeable to the
fcope of the paffage:
Now reft is feemly, nor to midnight hours
The feafts to lengthen of th' immortal powers.
Ver. 433.] Thus Ogilby:
Young men with ſparkling wine their goblets crown'd,
They drink about, and ſtill the bowle goes round.
Ver. 437.] It is not eafy for me to remedy this defect of
rhyme. Thus?
First on the fragrant flame the tongues they fpred,
Then with due reverence the libation fhed.
958
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK III.
But this the hofpitable fage deny'd.
Forbid it, Jove! and all the Gods! he cry'd,
Thus from my walls the much-lov'd fon to fend
Of fuch a hero, and of fuch a friend!
446
Me, as fome needy peaſant, would
ye leave,
Whom heav'n denies the bleffing to relieve?
Me would you leave, who boaft imperial fway,
When beds of royal ſtate invite your ſtay? 450
Ver. 448.] Thefe are not allowable rhymes, nor worthy of
The following fubftitution is not lefs faithful, than the
the name.
verfe of our tranflator:
No veſts to warm, no mañfion to receive.
Ver. 450. When beds of royal ftate invite your fay] This
paffage gives us a full infight into the manners of theſe hofpitable
ages; they not only kept a treaſury for bowls or vafes of gold or
filver, to give as genia, or gifts of hofpitality, but alſo a ward-
robe of various habits and rich furniture, to lodge and beftow
upon ftrangers. Euftathius relates, that Tellias of Agrigentum
was a perfon of fo great hofpitality, that five hundred horfemen
coming to his houſe in the winter feafon, he entertained them, and
gave every man a cloak and a tunick. This laudable cuftom pre-
vailed, and ſtill prevails, in the eaſtern countries: it was the prac-
tice of Abraham of old, and is at this day of the Turks, as we
may learn from their caravanferas, erected for the reception of
travellers. And yet Dacier obſerves, that a French Critick has
fhewed fo.ill a tafte as to ridicule this paffage. "Telemachus
rr
(fays that author) being entertained by Neftor, intimates his
"intention of returning to lodge on fhip-board with his compa-
"nions: but Neftor detains him, by aſking him if he thought he
"had not quilts or coverlets to give a night's lodging: upon this
"Telemachus goes to bed in a refounding gallery, and Neftor in
rr a bed which his wife made ready for him." The nobleft things
are moſt liable to burlefque, by perverting their meaning; as
fome pictures, by varying the pofition, repréſent a man or a
monster. He is very fevere upon the refounding gallery, which in
BOOK HI. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
$59
1
No-long as life this mortal fhall infpire,
Or as my children imitate their fire,
Here fhall the wand'ring ftranger find his home,
And hoſpitable rites adorn the dome.
-
Well haft thou fpoke (the blue-ey'd maid re-
plies)
!
Beloy'd old man! benevolent, as wife.
45-5
460
Be the kind dictates of thy heart obey'd,
And let thy words Telemachus perfuade :
He to thy palace fhall thy fteps purfue;
I to the fhip, to give the orders due,
Preſcribe directions and confirm the crew.
For I alone fuftain their naval cares,
Who boaſt experience from theſe filver hairs;
All youths the reft, whom to this journey move
Like years, like tempers, and their prince's love.
There in the veffel fhall I pafs the night; 466
And foon as morning paints the fields of light,
I
go
to challenge from the Caucons bold,
A debt, contracted in the days of old.
truth means no more than very lofty or elevated, and by confe-
quence very noble and magnificent.
Ver. 452.] His original preſcribes,
Or fons remain to imitate their fire.
P.
› Ver. 468. I go to challenge from the Caucons.] The Poet
makes a double uſe of theſe words of the Goddeſs; the gives am
air of probability to her excufe, why ſhe ſhould not be preffed to
stay; and at the fame time Homer avoids the abfurdity of intro-
ducing that Goddeſs at Sparta ; Menelaus and Helen are celebrating
160
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK III.
But this thy gueft, receiv'd with friendly care, 470
Let thy ftrong courfers fwift to Sparta bear;
Prepare thy chariot at the dawn of day,
And be thy fon companion of his way.
475
Then turning with the word, Minerva flies,
And foars an eagle thro' the liquid fkies.
Vifion divine! the throng'd fpectators gaze
In holy wonder fixt, and ftill amaze.
But chief the rev'rend fage admir'd; he took
The hand of young Telemachus, and ſpoke.
the nuptials of their fon and daughter: Minerva is a virgin deity,
and confequently an enemy to all nuptial ceremonies. Euftathius.
But it may be neceſſary to obſerve who thefe Caúcons are: we
find in the tenth book of the Iliad, the Caucons mentioned as
auxiliaries to Troy: there Dolon fays,
The Carians, Caucons, the Pelafgian hoft,
And Leleges encamp along the coaft.
Are theſe Caucons the fame with thoſe here mentioned? Euftathius
informs us, that there was a people of Triphyly, between Elis
and Pylos, named Caucons: but Strabo fays, that the whole race
is now extinct, and that theſe here mentioned are of Dymæa, and
take their name from the river Caucon: whereas thofe in the Iliad
are Paphlagonians: they were a wandering nation, and confe-
quently might be the fame people originally, and retain the fame
name in different countries.
*Ver. 477.] But a moderate verfe, in my opinion. Thus?
With reverence fix'd, and filent with amaze.
P.
Ver. 478. But chief the rev'rend fage admir'd] It may be
aſked why Neftor is in fuch a furpriſe at the diſcovery of the
-Goddefs: it is evident from the Iliad, that he had been no ftranger
to ſuch intercourſes of the deities; nay, in this very book Neftor
tells us, that Ulyffes enjoyed almoft the conftant prefence of
Minerva; infomuch that Sophocles, the great imitator of Homer,
relates, that he knew the Goddeſs by her voice, without feeing
200k fit. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
161
قسم
Oh-happy youth! and favour'd of the fkies,
Diſtinguiſh'd care of guardian deities!
481
her. Euftathius anfwers, that the wonder of Neftor arofe not
from the diſcovery of that deity, but that ſhe ſhould accompany
fo young a perfon as Telemachus: after her departure, the old
man ſtood amazed, and looked upon that hero as fome very extra-
ordinary perſon, whom in fuch early years the Goddeſs of War
and Wiſdom had vouchfafed to attend. This interpretation agrees
perfectly with what Neftor fpeaks to Telemachus.
Theſe incorrect rhymes occur in Ogilby:
Then by the hand the prince old Neftor took,
And thus to him, admiring, kindly spoke.
Ver. 480.] Thus Ogilby:
This of all pow'rs, who plant the ftarrie ſky,
Is Pallas, for no other deity
Thy father fo befriended.
P.
Ver. 481. Diftinguifh'd care of guardian deities!] I will take
this opportunity to obviate an objection that may be made againſt
all interpofition of the Gods in affifting the heroes of the Odyſſey:
it has been thought by fome Criticks a difparagement to them to
ſtand in continual need of fuch fupernatural fuccour: if two per-
fons were engaged in combat, and a third perſon fhould immedi-
ately ftep in to the affiftance of one of the parties, and kill the
adverfary, would it not reflect upon the valour of his friend who
was ſo weak as to want fuch affiftance? Why, for inſtance, ſhould
Jupiter help Æneas to kill Turnus? Was not he brave enough to
fight, and ftrong enough to conquer his enemy by his own
prowess? and would not Turnus have killed Æneas with the fame
alliftance? It is therefore a difparagement to the actors, thus
continually to ſupply the defects of a hero by the power of a
Deity.
But this is a falfe way of arguing, and from hence it might be
inferred, that the love and favour of a Deity ſerves only to make
thoſe whom he affifts, and thoſe who depend upon fuch affittance,
appear weak, impotent, cowardly, and unworthy to be conquerors.
Can any doubt arife whether the love and favour of a God be a
difparagement or honour to thofe whom he favours? According
VOL. I.
M
162
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK III,
Whoſe early years for future worth engage,
No vulgar manhood, no ignoble age.
For lo! none other of the court above
Than fhe, the daughter of almighty Jove, 485
Pallas herſelf, the war-triumphant maid,
Confeft is thine, as once thy father's aid.
to theſe Criticks, we ſhould find the character of a perfect hero in
an impious Mezentius, who acknowledges no God but his own arm
and his own fword: it is true, the objection would be juft, if the
hero himſelf performed nothing of the action; or if when he were
almost conquered by the fuperiour valour of his enemy, he owed
his life and victory to Gods and miracles: but the hero always.
behaves himſelf in all his actions, as if he were to gain ſucceſs
without the affiftance of the Deity; and the prefence of the Gods
is ſo ordered, that we may retrench every thing that is miracu-
lous, without making any alteration in the action or character of
the human perfonages. Thus in the inftance of Æneas and
Turnus, though Jupiter favours Æneas, yet Æneas is painted in
ftronger colours of fortitude, he appears fuperiour, as a man un-
affifted, and able to conquer Turnus; and confequently the favour
of Jupiter makes no alteration in the action or character of
Æneas.
There is likewiſe a wide difference between the affiftance of a
man and of a God: the actions of men belong only to the per-
formers of thoſe actions; but when a Deity affiſts us by inſpiring
us with ftrength and courage, the actions we perform are really
our own, and the more he favours us, the more glory he gives us :
fo that the aſſiſtance of man eclipſes, but the affiſtance of a God
exalts, our glory. Thus, for inftance, when Achilles is purſuing
Hector, he charges the Greeks to keep off from Hector, their
affiftance might leffen his glory: but when Pallas offers her affift-
ance, he immediately embraces it as an honour, and boafts of it
as fuch to Hector. I have been large upon this objection, becauſe
the reader ought to carry it in his memory through the whole
poem, and apply it to every action, in which any ſhare is afcribed
to any Deity. See Boffu more at large concerning this objec
tion.
1
P.
BOOK III.
163
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
So guide me, Goddeſs! ſo propitious ſhine
On me, my confort, and my royal line!
A yearling bullock to thy name fhall fmoke, 490
Untam'd, unconſcious of the galling yoke,
With ample forehead, and yet tender horns,
Whoſe budding honours ductile gold adorns.
Submiffive thus the hoary fire preferr'd
•
His holy vow the fav'ring Goddeſs heard. 495
Then flowly rifing, o'er the fandy ſpace
Precedes the father, follow'd by his race,
(A long proceffion) timely marching home
In comely order to the regal dome.
There when arriv'd, 'on thrones around him
plac'd,
His fons and grandfons the wide circle grac'd.
500
Ver. 488.] The form of an abrupt addrefs fhould have been
preferved, as in his author, in ſome fuch manner as this:
But, Goddeſs! with propitious afpect ſhine-.
Ver. 493.] Better, perhaps, as attempting to reprefent the
ſpecific expreffions of the Greek Poet, thus:
With ample forehead grac'd; whofe Sprouting horns
A radiant ring of ductile gold adorns.
Ver. 495.] This rhyme is juft indeed according to the preva-
lent pronunciation of the word beard; but that pronunciation I
deem highly improper, not only as differing without reafon from
that of the verb in it's fimpleft ftate-bear, but as deftroying a
commodious and neceffary diftinction between this and another
word of a very different acceptation: I mean herd. Theſe re◄
marks may appear trifles to ſome readers, but without a due ob-
fervance of theſe trifles, it were abfurd and vain to expect either
propriety or perfpicuity of poetical compofition.
M 2
164
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK II
A
To theſe the hofpitable fage, in fign
Of focial welcome, mix'd the racy wine,
(Late from the mellowing caſk reftor'd to light,
By ten long years refin'd, and rofy-bright.) 505
To Pallas high the foaming bowl he crown'd,
And ſprinkled large libations on the ground.
Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares,
And to the gifts of balmy ſleep repairs.
Deep in a rich alcove the prince was laid,
And ſlept beneath the pompous colonade
Faſt by his fide Piſiſtratus lay ſpread,
(In age his equal) on a fplendid bed:
But in an inner court, fecurely clos❜d,
510
The rev'rend Neftor and his queen repos'd. 515
When now Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rofy luftre purpled o'er the lawn ;
Ver. 505.] As this phraſe rofy-bright is unauthoriſed by the
original, and calculated merely for the rhiming conveniences of
our tranflator, the reader, perhaps, will endure the propofal of a
fubftitution, as follows:
Now from the mellowing caſk reftor'd to day;
Full ten long years the juice refining lay.
Ver. 511.] A majeftic verfe. Thus in fourth Efay on Man;
verſe 304.
the
And haunt their flumbers in the pompous ſhade :
the whole of which paffage is intended as a ſpecific ſatire of
Duke of Marlborough, intermingled with very few circumſtances
indeed of general application.
The tranflation of the verfes, now before us, is uncommonly
beautiful and happy.
Ver. 516.] A good and accurate couplet may be framed from
the rhymes of Ogilby:
BOOK III.
165
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The old man early rofe, walk'd forth, and fat
On poliſh'd ftone before his palace gate:
With unguents ſmooth the lucid marble ſhone,
Where ancient Neleus fat, a ruftick throne; 521
But he defcending to th' infernal ſhade,
Sage Neftor fill'd it, and the ſcepter ſway'd.
His fons around him mild obeifance pay,
And duteous take the orders of the day.
525
Now had Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
The bars of day with rofy fingers drawn,
Ver. 518.
And fat On poliſh'd ſtone before his
palate gate.] We have here an ancient cuftom recorded by the
Poet; a King places himſelf before the gate of his palace upon a
feat of marble, worn fmooth by long ufe, fays Euftathius, or
perhaps ſmoothed exquifitely by the hand of the workman. What
I would chiefly obferve is, that they placed themſelves thus in
publick for the diſpatch of juſtice: we read in the fcripture of
judges fitting in the gate: and that this procedure of Neftor was
for that purpoſe, is probable from the expreffion, He fat in the feat
where Neleus [unswę, or Confiliarius,] uſed to fit, (which ſeems to
expreſs his wiſdom in the diſcharge of juftice.) Neftor is alfo de-
fçribed as bearing his feepter in his hand, which was never uſed but
upon ſome act of regality, in the diſpatch of juftice, or other folemn
occafions. Perhaps, fays Dacier, theſe feats or thrones might be
confecrated with oil, to draw a reverence to the feats of juftice as
by an act of religion; but I rather judge (adds fhe) that no more
is meant than to exprefs the fhining of theſe thrones, they being
undoubtedly made of marble. .
P.
I dislike this open vowel, and the fuperfluous word. Thus ?
The ſenior roſe alert, walkt forth
and the rhymes are thofe of Ogilby;
:.
But Neftor rofe, and down before his gate,
On Nelius throne of polliſh'd marble fate.
Ver. 525.] A verfe interpolated by the tranflator, but in full
harmony with the ſcope and ſpirit of his author.
M 3
靠
​166
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK II
Firſt Echephron and Stratius quit their bed;
Then Perfeus, Aretus, and Thrafymed.;.
The laft Pififtratus aroſe from reſt:
They came, and near him plac'd theftranger-gueft.
To theſe the fenior thus declar'd his will:
My fons! the dictates of
your
fire fulfil.
530
To Pallas, firft of Gods, prepare the feaft,
Who grac'd our rites, a more than mortal gueſt.
Let one, diſpatchful, bid fome fwain to lead
A well-fed bullock from the graffy-mead ; 535
One feek the harbour where the veffels moor,
And bring thy friends, Telemachus! afhore,
(Leave only two the galley to attend)
Another to Laerceus muft we fend,
1
Ver. 527.] His bad accent came from Chapman. Had he
made his original his guide, he would have given the verſe thus:
Perfeus, Aretus then, and Thrafymed.
Ver. 528. Pififtratus.]. Would I indulge my fancy in a con-
jecture, I might fuppofe that the famous tyrant Pififtratus was
defcended, or borrowed his name from this fon of Neftor. Hero-
dotus informs us, as Euftathius obferves, that all the Pififtrati were
originally Pylians. If this be true, we have a very strong evi-
dence that Homer is not all fiction, but that he celebrates the
great men of thoſe ages with reality, and only embellishes the true
story with the ornaments of poetry.
PA
Ver. 532.] Theſe rhymes, often cenfured before, are em-
ployed alfo by Ogilby:
Pallas let's now atone, fince fhe our feaft
In publick grac'd, as an invited guest.
Ver. 536.] Thefe rhymes alfo will not paſs an accurate exa◄
miner. Thus ?
One from the harbour, where the veffels ridt,
Our noble ſtranger's comrades hither guide.
BOOK III. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
167
540
Artift divine, whofe fkilful hands infold
The victim's horn with circumfufile gold.
The reſt may here the pious duty ſhare,
And bid the handmaids for the feaft prepare,
The feats to range, the fragrant wood to bring,
And limpid waters from the living ſpring.
He faid, and bufy each his care beſtow'd;
Already at the gates the bullock low'd,
Already came the Ithacenfian crew,
545
The dext'rous fmith the tools already drew:
His pond'rous hammer, and his anvil found, 550
And the ſtrong tongs to turn the metal round.
Ver. 540. Laerceus Artift divine, &c.] The author of the
Parallel quotes this paffage to prove that Homer was ignorant of
the mechanick arts: we have here, fays he, a gilder with his
anvil and hammer; but what occafion has he for an anvil and
hammer in the art of a gilder? Boileau has excellently vindicated
Homer from this objection, in his reflections upon Longinus; this
gilder was a gold-beater: Neftor, we fee, furnished the gold,
and he beat it into leaves, fo that he had occafion to make uſe of
his anvil and hammer; the anvil was portable, becauſe the work
was not laborious. Our modern travellers affure us, that it is at
this day the practice in the eaſtern regions, as in Perfia, &c. for
the artiſts in metals to carry about with them the whole imple-
ments of trade, to the houſe of the perſons where they find em-
ployment; it is therefore a full vindication of Homer, to obferve
that the gold this artiſt uſed in gilding, was nothing but gold beat,
into fine leaves.
Thus Chapman below;
Then th' old knight Neftor gave the fmith the gold,
With which he ftrait did both the hornes infold.
P.
M 4
168
BOOK IIL
HOMER'S ODYSSEY,
Nor was Minerva abfent from the rite,
She view'd her honours, and enjoy'd the fight.
With rev'rend hand the King prefents the gold,"
'Which round th' intorted horns the gilder roll'd;
So wrought, as Pallas might with pride behold. 556
Young Aretus from forth his bridal bow'r
Brought the full laver, o'er their hands to pour,
And caniſters of confecrated flour.
Stratius and Echephron the victim led;
The ax was held by warlike Thrafymed,
560
Ver. 552. Nor was Minerva abſent -] It may be aſked in
what fenfe Minerva can be faid to come to the facrifice? Eufta-
thius anſwers, that the ancients finding the inclinations of men to
be bent incontinently upon pleaſures, to oblige them to uſe them
moderately, diftinguiſhed times, ordained facrifices, and repre-
ſenting the Gods in the forms of men, brought them to uſe thoſe
pleaſures with difcretion; they taught them that the Gods came
down to their libations and facrifices, to induce them to govern
their converfation with reverence and modefty: thus Jupiter and
the other Gods in the Iliad, and Neptune in the Odyffey, are faid
to fealt with the Ethiopians.
If I might be pardoned a conjecture, I would fuppofe, that
Minerva may in another ſenſe be ſaid to come to the facrifice; I
mean by her image or ftatue: and what may ſeem to confirm this
opinion, is what Diodorus relates in his third book concerning the
abovementioned Æthiopians; they carried about the ftatues of
Jupiter and the other Gods twelve days, during which time the
Gods were faid to be gone to the Æthiopians: and if the Gods
may be faid to come to the Ethiopians by their ſtatues, why may
not the fame be faid of Minerva, from the introduction of her
ſtatue among the Pylians? So that the appearance of the Goddeſs
may poffibly mean the appearance of her ſtatue.
逸
​P.
Ver. 560, Stratius and Echephron, &c.] Neftor here, makes ufe
only of the miniftry of his fons; the reafon of it is, becauſe it
reckoned honourable to ferve in the performance of facrifice,
was
BOOK III,
169
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
In act to ftrike: before him Perfeus ſtood,
The vaſe extending to receive the blood.
The king himſelf initiates to the pow'r;
Scatters with quiv'ring hand the facred flour, 565
And the ſtream fprinkles: from the curling brows
The hair collected in the fire he throws.
Soon as due vows on ev'ry part were paid,
And facred wheat upon the victim laid,
Strong Thrafymed diſcharg'd the ſpeeding blow 579
Full on his neck, and cut the nerves in two.
Down funk the heavy beaft: the females round,
Maids, wives, and matrons, mix a fhrilling found.
this being in fome fenfe an attending upon the Gods: or becauſe
it was the practice of thofe ages for great perfons to do thoſe
offices with their own hands, which in the latter have been per-
formed by fervantș.
Euftathius reports a faying of Antigonus, who obferving his
fon behaving himſelf imperiously to his fubjects, "Know'ft thou
not, fays he, that royalty itſelf is but illuftrious fervitude!”
An intimation that he himfelf was but a fervant of the publick,
and therefore fhould ufe his fervants with moderation..
1
But the true reafon of Neftor's affifting in the facrifice is, be-
cauſe kings anciently had the inſpection of religion, and prieſt-
hood was joined to royalty, according to that of Virgil,
P.
Rex Anius, rex idem hominum Phoebique facerdos."
Ver. 570.] Theſe rhymes appear exceptionable to my judge-
ment. I ſhall ſubmit a ſubſtitution to the criticiſm of the reader:
Strong Thrafymed a blow diſcharg❜d amain
Full on his neck, and cut the nerves in twain :
which I fince diſcover to be the rhymes of Ogilby.
-
* Ver. 573. Maids, wives, and matrons, mix a ſhrilling found.]
I have kept the meaning of the word in the original, which figni
fes prayers made with loud cries, ολόλυξαν. Ολολύγη, fays Hefy-
Chius, is, φωνή γυναικῶν ἣν ποιῦνται ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς εὐχόμεναι, the voice of
1
170
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK II.
Nor fcorn'd the queen the holy choir to join,
(The firſt-born fhe, of old Clymenus' line; 575
In youth by Neftor lov'd, of ſpotleſs fame,
And lov'd in age, Eurydice her name.)
From earth they rear him, ftruggling now with
death;
And Neftor's youngeſt ſtops the vents of breath.
The foul for ever flies: on all fides round 580
Streams the black blood, and fmokes upon the
ground.
women, which they make at facrifices in their prayers. But there is
ftill ſomething in it more to the preſent purpoſe; the Scholiaft
upon Æſchylus remarks that this word is not uſed properly but
when applied to the prayers offered to Minerva, for Minerva is
the only Goddeſs to whom prayers are made with loud cries, fhe
being the Goddeſs of war; to other Deities they offer prayer with
thankfgiving; καὶ γάρ μόνη τῇ ᾿Αθηνᾷ δαίμονι ἔση πολεμική ολολύζεσι,
τοῖς δ᾽ ἄλλοις Θεοῖς παιωνίζεσι.
Thus alfo in the fixth book of the Iliad, ver. 301.
Αἳ δ᾽ ὀλολυγῇ πᾶσαι Αθήνῃ χεῖρας ἄνεσχον.
They fill the dome with fupplicating cries.
And in the prefent paffage in the Odyffey,
- αἱ δ᾽ ὀλόλυξαν
Θυ[ατέρες τε, νυοί τε, &c.
Dacier.
P.
Ver. 575.] It is not poffible, that any tranflator, who con-
fulted the language of Homer himfelf, could ever endure fuch
à pronunciation of this word. A tolerable remedy may be found
in tranſpoſition :
The firft-born fhe, of Clymenus' old line.
Ver. 580.] Or literally thus; without any intermixture of
unauthoriſed thoughts:
The vital ſpirit left the joints, and round
The purple current floated o'er the ground.
}
:
BOOK III.
171
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The beaſt they then divide, and difunite
The ribs and limbs, obfervant of the rite:
On thefe, in double cawls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lay from ev'ry part..
585
The facred fage before his altar ftands,
Turns the burnt-off'ring with his holy hands,
And pours the wine, and bids the flames aſpire:
The youth with inftruments furround the fire.
The thighs now facrific'd, and entrails dreft, 590
Th' affiftants part, transfix, and broil the reſt.
While thefe officious tend the rites divine,
The laft fair branch of the Neftorian line,
Sweet Polycafte, took the pleafing toil
To bathe the prince, and pour the fragrant oil.*
Ver. 594. Sweet Polycafte, took the pleafing toil.
To bathe the Prince, &c.]
594
>
!
It is very neceffary to ſay ſomething about this practice of women.
bathing and anointing men; it frequently occurs through the whole
Odyſſey, and is fo contrary to the ufage of the moderns, as to
give offence to modefty; neither is this done by women of in-
feriour quality, but we have here a young princefs, bathing,
anointing, and cloathing the naked Telemachus. Euftathius in-
deed tells us, it was undoubtedly by her father's command: but
if it was a piece of immodefty, it does not folve the objection,
whoever commanded it. I confeſs it would be immodeft in theſe
ages of the world, and the only excufe that occurs to me is, to
ſay that cuſtom eſtabliſhed it. It is in manners, in fome degree,
as in drefs; if a faſhion never fo indecent prevails, yet no perfon
is ridiculous, becauſe it is faſhionable; ſo in manners, if a practice
prevails univerfally, though not reconcilable to real modefty, yet
no perſon can be faid to be immodeft who comes into it, becauſe
it is agreeable to the cuſtom of the times and countries.
fo
P.
But is it neceffary to underſtand any more, than that the lady
fupplied Telemachus with this apparatus, without perfonal inter-
172
BOOK III.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
"
600
O'er his fair limbs a flow'ry veft he threw,
And iffu'd, like a God, to mortal view.
His former feat beſide the king he found,
(His people's father with his peers around)
All plac'd at eaſe the holy banquet join,
And in the dazzling goblet laughs the wine.
The rage of thirſt and hunger now fuppreft,
The monarch turns him to his royal gueſt ;
And for the promis'd journey bids prepare
The fmooth-hair'd horſes, and the rapid car. 605
ference in the application of them? As we fay now, « He built
a houſe," and mean only, that he employed builders for the
purpoſe. No figure of language more common than this both in
ancient and modern writings.
If the reader will compare book vi. verfes 210, 216. of the
original, he will ſee an actual proof of the truth of this expla-
nation from Homer himſelf.
Ver. 596.] Ogilby, with very flight correction, has a good
couplet:
The vest he takes, and, with a godlike grace,
By ancient Neftor reaffumes his place.
Ver. 600.]- The rhymes are bad, but I cannot promiſe a
couplet, that will win the acceptance of the reader:
All in the genial banquet chear their fouls;
´Th' attendants wine difpenfe in golden bowls.
Ver. 604.] Our tranflator follows Chapman in neglecting the
addreſs of his author, Thus his predeceffor:
Neftor his ſonnes bad fetch his high-man'd horſe,
And them in chariot joyne, to runņe the courſe
The prince refolv'd.
But the form of the original, and greater fidelity, with correcter
rhymes, might have eaſily been preſerved:
The rage of thirſt and hunger now fuppreft,
The reverend monarch thus his fons addreft:
My fmooth-hair'd horſes yoak without delay,
To bear our ftranger on his deftin'd way.
Book II. HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
173
610
Obfervant of his word; the word ſcarce ſpoke,
The fons obey, and join them to the yoke.
Then bread and wine a ready handmaid brings,
And prefents, fuch as fuit the ſtate of kings.
The glitt'ring feat Telemachus afcends ;
His faithful guide Pififtratus attends;
With hafty hand the ruling reins he drew:
He lafh'd the courfers, and the courfers flew.
Beneath the bounding yoke alike they held
Their equal pace, and fmok'd along the field. 615
The tow'rs of Pylos fink, its views decay,
Fields after fields fly back, 'till clofe of day:
Then funk the fun, and darken'd all the way.
*
To Phere now, Diocleus ftately ſeat,
(Of Alpheus race) the weary youths retreat. 620
His houſe affords the hofpitable rite,
And pleas'd they fleep (the bleffing of the night.)
}
ſt
Ver. 609.] Our tranſlator miſrepreſents his author, who may
be fimply and truly reported thus :
เ
And viands, fuited to the taste of kings..
ここ
​Ver. 614.] The fenfe of theſe five verfes might be compre-
hended with advantage in a triplet:
Now the high Pylian towers elude the fight;
Their courſe they hold, 'till Sol withdraws his light,
And the dim roads involves the veil of night.
Ver. 617.] Thus Chapman :
Both holding yoke, and ſhooke it all the day;
But now the funne fet, darkning every way:
'which are Ogilby's rhymes alfo.
Ver. 621.] To avoid a recurrence of rhymes, fimilar to thoſe
of the propofed correction in the preceding note, I would thus
adjust the place before us:
174
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK HI,
LA
But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rofy luftre purpled o'er the lawn;
Again they mount, their journey to renew, ´625
And from the founding portico they flew.
Along the waving fields their way they hold,
The fields receding as their chariot roll'd:
Then flowly funk the ruddy globe of light,
And o'er the ſhaded landſcape ruſh'd the night. 630
Beneath that hofpitable roof repos'd;
And the day's toils a focial banquet clos'd.
Our tranſlator had his eye on Chapman :
A
-flept all that night;
Who gave them each due hoſpitable rite.
Ver. 623.] This couplet occurred above, ver. $16, and I
wonder, that our tranflator, who is not fcrupulous of his own in-
vention on moft occafions, fhould not have ſtudied a variety on
this.
But, when the rofy-finger'd morn again
Shed her new luftres o'er the fparkling plain
Ver. 629.] Chapman's couplet is eafily rectified to excellence:
Their journey ended, as the fun went down,
And o'er the ways the ſhades of night were thrown.
Editor.
I fhall lay together what I have further to obſerve on the con-
cluſion of this book: it is remarkable that the Poet does not amuſe
himſelf in deſcribing the prefent Telemachus received from Neftor,
or the provifions for the journey, or even the journey itſelf at large;
he diſpatches the whole in a few lines very judiciouſly; he carries
his hero directly to Menelaus, who is to furnish many incidents
that contribute to the defign of the poem, and paffes over other
matters as unneceffary.
We have likewiſe a piece of poetical geography, and learn that
it is exactly two days journey from Pyle to Lacedæmon.
This book takes up three days; the firſt is ſpent in the inquiries
Telemachus makes of Neftor concerning Ulyffes; the two laſt in
BOOK III.
175
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
the morning facrifice at Pylos, and in the journey of Telemachus
to Lacedæmon'; fo that five days have now paffed fince the open-
ing of the poem. I have faid nothing about the facrifice, though
it be the moſt exact defcription of the facrifices, as practifedby
the ancients, perhaps extant in any author; I refer to the obſer-
vations upon the firſt book of the Iliad.
I would here remark that the three first books are written with
the utmoſt fimplicity, there has been no room for fuch exalted
ſtrokes of poetry as are to be found in the Iliad, or in the future
parts of the Odyffey: but this is not owing to the decay of genius
in Homer, as fome Criticks have affirmed, (who look upon the
Odyſſey as bearing marks of his declining years) but to the nature
of the fubject. The characters of Achilles and Ulyffes are both
very great, but very different. The Iliad confifts of battles and
a continual commotion; the Odyffey in patience and wiſdom:
and confequently the ftyle of the two poems must be as different
as the characters of the two heroes. A noble fountain of poetry
opens in the next book, and flows with an uninterrupted courſe
almoſt through the whole Odyffey.
P.
THE
FOURTH BOOK
OF THE
QDYSSEY.
VOL. I.
N
THE ARGUMENT.
$
The Conference with Menelaus.
TELEMACHUS, with Pifftratus arriving at Sparta, is
bofpitably received by Menelaus, to whom he relates the
cauſe of his coming, and learns from him many particulars
of what befel the Greeks fince the deftruction of Troy.
He dwells more at large upon the prophecies of Proteus to
him in his return, from which he acquaints Telemachus,
that Ulyffes is detained in the island of Calypfo.
In the meantime the Suitors confult to deftroy Telema-
chus in his voyage home. Penelope is apprized of this,
but comforted in a dream by Pallas, in the shape of her
fifter Ipthima.
P.
N 2
A
*
NOTE PRELIMINARY.
ARISTOTLE in his Poeticks reports, that certain ancient
Criticks reproached Homer for an indecency in making
Telemachus take his abode with Menelaus, and not with his own
grandfather Icarius: this Monfieur Dacier fufficiently anſwers, by
fhewing that Icarius had fettled himſelf in Acarnania, and not in
Lacedæmon,
P.
$
THE
FOURTH BOOK
OF THE
ODYSSEY.
A
ND now proud Sparta with their wheels
refounds,
Sparta whoſe walls a range of hills furrounds:
At the fair dome the rapid labour ends;
Where fat Atrides 'midft his bridal friends,
With double vows invoking Hymen's pow'r, 3
To bleſs his fons and daughters nuptial hour.
de
N Ở T ES.
Ver. 5 invoking Hymen's pow'r.] Athenæus has been
very fevere upon this paffage, as Euftathius obferves, and Dacier
from Euftathius.
Ariftarchus, fays Athenæus, miſguides us, the words ròv d'εupor
Saúla led him into an errour; whereas the marriage is com-
pleated, the wedded couple gone away from Menelaus, and he
and Helen at Lacedæmon. The five verfes, continues he, (the
fifteenth to the twentieth inclufively in the Greek) are taken from
N 3
182
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
・.
That day, to great Achilles' fon refign'd,
Hermione, the fairest of her kind,
the eighteenth book of the Iliad, and inferted very improperly
in this place by Ariftarchus. Athenæus gives feveral reaſons for
his opinion, as that mufick and dancing were very contrary to the
fevere manners of the Lacedæmonians; befides the dance was a
Cretan dance, how then could it be practiſed among the Spartans?
The Poet mentions neither the name of the Bard, nor one word
of the fubject of the ſongs: neither can the words µodañç ékápxovles
be applied at all to the dancers, but the muſicians; and laftly, it is
not to be imagined that Telemachus and Pififtratus fhould be fo
unpolite, as not to be at all affected with the mufick, had there
been any, and yet break out into fuch wonder at the fight of the
beauty of the palace of Menelaus. Ariftarchus, adds he, thought
the deſcription of the wedding of the fon and daughter of a king
was too meanly and concifely defcribed, and therefore made this
addition.
But it is eafy to refute Athenæus, and vindicate Ariftarchus.
Athenæus underſtood wéμπe and "ydo in the wrong tenſe, they are
of the imperfect, he was fending, or about to fend, and not had
fent, &c. If the marriage had been abfolutely finiſhed, why ſhould
Minerva abfent herſelf from Menelaus, when the celebration of
the nuptials is the only reafon of the abfence of that Goddefs?
And as for mufick and dancing being contrary to the fevere man-
Aers of the Lacedæmonians, this is all conjecture: Menelaus lived
more than three hundred years before Lycurgus; and becauſe
fuch diverfions were forbid in Sparta in the days of Lycurgus,
muft it follow that they were not ufed in thoſe of Menelaus? And
fhould it be granted that mufick and dancing were not uſed in his
times, might he not relax a little from the ſeverity of his times,
upon fuch an occafion of joy as the marriage of a ſon and daughter ?
I am fure thefe diverfions are not more contrary to the feverity of
the Spartans, than the magnificence of the palace. of Menelaus
was to their fimplicity. "But he does not name the Bard, or the
fubject of his fongs." But is this a reafon why the verſes are
fpurious? We should rather admire the judgment of the Poet,
who having ſo fair an opportunity to deſcribe theſe nuptials, yet
rejects the temptation, difmiffes the whole in a few lines, and fol
lows where his fubject leads him. The objection about the dance
}
¿BOOK IV.
183
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Was fent to crown the long protracted joy,
Efpous'd before the final doom of Troy:
With feeds and gilded cars, a gorgeous train
Attend the nymph to Phthia's diſtant reign.
Meanwhile at home, to Megapenthes² bed
The virgin-choir Alector's daughter led.
Brave Megapenthes, from a ftol'n amour
To great Atrides' age his hand-maid bore:
To Helen's bed the Gods alone affign
Hermione, t' extend the regal line;
10
15
1
being Cretan is not more valid: Menelaus (as we may learn from
the preceding book) had been in Crete, and might bring it thence
to Lacedæmoh. And as for the Criticifm upon itápxores, it is but
a fallacy; Cafaubon has fhewn beyond contradiction, that iápx
is applied indifferently to all thofe who give example to others;
and confequently may be applied to dancers as well as muſicians.
It may be further added, that although it ſhould be allowed that
the word tape is only properly applied to mufick, yet in this
place the word would not be improperly applied to dancers; for
the dancers, without ufurping upon the province of the finger,
might μoλs iάper or chufe thofe fongs, to which they defired
to dance, as is the ufage at this day.
Diodorus is of opinion, that the whole twelve lines after the
ſecond to the fifteenth are not genuine; but what has been ſaid of
Athenæus, may be applied to Diodorus.
P.
Ver. 11.] The rhymes were probably borrowed from Ogilby:
With horfe, with chariots, and a stately train
To Pyrrhus, where in Phthya he did reign.
Ver. 18.] This elifion cannot be admitted. As our tranſlator
has already ſpecified the name, a repetition of it ſeems unneceſſary;
and we might ſubſtitute, as follows:
One daughter, to fuftain the regal line.
N 4
· 184
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK IV,
#
On whom a radiant pomp of graces wait,
Refembling Venus in attractive ſtate.
20
While this gay friendly troop the king furround,
With feſtival and mirth the roofs refound:
A Bard amid the joyous circle fings
High airs, attemper'd to the vocal ſtrings;
Whilft warbling to the varied ſtrain, advance 25
Two fprightly youths to form the bounding dance.
'Twas then, that iffuing thro' the palace gate
The fplendid car roll'd flow in regal ſtate:
On the bright eminence young Neſtor ſhone,
And faſt befide him great Ulyffes' fon:
Grave Eteoneus faw the pomp appear,
And ſpeeding, thus addrefs'd the royal ear.
30
Ver. 19.] Here our tranflator, which is Fenton, commences
his recurrence to his favourite Milton, Par. Loft, viii. 61.
With Goddefs-like demeanour forth fhe went,
Not unattended, for on her as queen
A pomp of winning graces waited ftill.
Ver. 22.] This circumftance is not from Homer, but from
Dacier: "Le palais retentiſſoit de cris de joie mêlés avec le fon
"des inftrumens.”
Ver. 24.] Paradife Loft, vii. 597.
All founds on fret by firing or golden wire
Temper'd foft tunings, intermix'd with voice
Choral or unifon.
Ver. 25.] The rhymes feem to have been fricken out from
Chapman, who gives a more complete difplay of his original:
Amongst whom likewife danc't
Two; who in that dumbe motion advanc't,
Would prompt the finger, what to fing and play.
BOOK IV.
185
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Two youths approach, whoſe ſemblant features
prove
Their blood devolving from the fource of Jove.
Is due reception deign'd, or muſt they bend
Their doubtful courſe to ſeek a diſtant friend?
35
Infenfate! (with a figh the king replies)
Too long, mif-judging, have I thought thee wife:
But.fure relentleſs folly ſteels thy breaſt,
Obdurate to reject the ſtranger-gueft;
To thoſe dear hofpitable rites a foe,
40
Which in my wand'rings oft' reliev'd my woe :
Fed by the bounty of another's board,
'Till pitying Jove my native realm reftor'd-
Straight be the courfers from the car releaſt, 45
Conduct the youths to grace the genial feaſt.
The Seneschal rebuk'd in hafte withdrew
With equal hafte a menial train purſue:
Ver. 37. Menelaus blames Eteoneus.] This is the firſt appear-
ance of Menelaus; and furely nothing can more reconcile him to
the favour of the fpectators, than thoſe amiable colours in which
the Poet paints him. There is an overflow of humanity and
gratitude in his expreffions, like that of Dido in Virgil,
"Non ignara mali miferis fuccurrere diſco."
They contain a fine piece of morality, and teach that thoſe men
· are more tender-hearted and humane who have felt the reverſe
of fortune, than thofe who have only lived in a condition of
profperity.
P.
Infenfate alfo is a word of Milton's. But our tranflator ſhould
have written, moreover, as follows:
Infenfate! much diftarb'd the king replies.
✰ Ver. 47.] Paradiſe Loft, ix. 38.
་
then marshal'd feaſt
Serv'd up in hall with fewers, and fenehals.
186
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
Part led the courfers, from the car enlarg'd,
Each to a crib with choiceft grain furcharg'd; 50
Part in a portico, profufely grac'd
55
60
With rich magnificence, the chariot plac'd:
Then to the dome the friendly pair invite,
Who eye the dazzling roofs with vaſt delight;
Refplendent as the blaze of fummer-noon,
Or the pale radiance of the midnight moon.
From room to room their eager view they bend;
Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile, defcend;
Where a bright damfel-train attends, the gueſts
With liquid odours, and embroider'd vefts.
Refresh'd, they wait them to the bow'r of ftate,
Where circled with his peers Atrides fat:
Thron'd next the king, a fair attendant brings
The pureft product of the cryſtal ſprings;
High on a maffy vafe of filver mold,
The burniſh'd laver flames with folid gold:
In folid gold the purple vintage flows,
And on the board a fecond banquet rofe.
When thus the king with hofpitable port :-
Accept this welcome to the Spartan court;
65
70
I
Ver. 56.] I should prefer,
Or the pure radiance
Ver. 63.] This paffage is very finely tranflated, and in the
beſt ſtile of Pope himfelf. The reader may compare a different
repreſentation of it, where the original is the fame, by the fame
artiſt, Fenton, book i. verfe 179.
BOOK IV.
187
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The waſte of nature let the feaft repair,
75
Then your high lineage and your names declare:
Say from what ſcepter'd anceſtry ye claim,
Recorded eminent in deathlefs fame?
For vulgar parents cannot ſtamp their race
With fignatures of ſuch majeſtick grace.
Ceafing, benevolent he ſtraight affigns
The royal portion of the choiceft chines
To each accepted friend: with grateful hafte
They fhare the honours of the rich repaſt.
Suffic'd, foft-whiſpering thus to Neftor's fon,
His head reclin'd, young Ithacus begun.
80
85
View'st thou unmov'd, O ever-honour'd moft!
Theſe prodigies of art, and wond'rous coft!
Above, beneath, around the palace ſhines
The fumleſs treaſure of exhauſted mines:
The ſpoils of elephants the roofs inlay,
And ftudded amber darts a golden ray :
Ver. 80.] The following verſe will accommodate the rhyme,
and, in fome meaſure, the original:
Th' illuſtrious youths the proffer'd viands taſte.
Ver. 81. Soft-whispering thus to. Neftor's fon.] This may be
thought a circumstance of no importance, and very trivial in
Telemachus; but it fhews his addrefs and decency: he whifpers,
to avoid the appearance of a flatterer, or to conceal his own in-
experience, in fhewing too much ſurpriſe at the magnificence of
the palace of Menelaus. Euftathius.
Ver. 86.] Paradife Loft, viii. 36.
fuch a fumlefs journey brought
Of incorporeal speed.
P.
t
788
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV
Such, and not nobler, in the realms above
My wonder dictates is the dome of Jove.
go
The monarch took the word, and grave reply'd.
Prefumptuous are the vaunts, and vain the pride
W
1
I
Ver. 91. The monarch took the word, &c.] The ancients, fays
Euftathius, obſerve the prudence of Menelaus, in his reply to
Telemachus; and the prudence of Telemachus in his behaviour
to Menelaus: Menelaus denies not his riches and magnificence;
but to take off the envy which they might attract, he throws the
calamities he has undergone into the contrary ſcale, and balances
his felicity with his misfortunes and Telemachus coming, into
the palace at the time of an entertainment, chufes to fatisfy his
curiofity rather than his appetite. Plutarch, I confefs, condemns
Telemachus of inexperience; who when he faw the palace of
Neftor furniſhed only with things uſeful to life, as beds, tables,
&c. is feized with no admiration; but the fuperfluities of Mene-
laus, his ivory, amber and gold, &c. carry him into tranſports:
whereas a Socrates or a Diogenes would have exclaimed, What
heaps of vanities have I beheld! It is true; fuch a judgment
might become philofophers; but who, as Dacier obferves, can
think the character of a Socrates or a Diogenes fuitable to young
Telemachus? What is decent in a prince, and a young man,
would ill become the gravity and wiſdom of a philoſopher.
P.
This repreſentation of his author to verfe 97 is inaccurate and
unfaithful. The following attempt is literal:
The prince with amber locks o'erheard his words,
And in ſwift accents thus the youths addreſt:
Dear fons, no mortal ſhould contend with Jove:
His domes and wealth defy decays and death.
Some mortal may, perchance, with me contend
In wealth, or not; for fuff'ring, wand'ring, much,
In fhips I brought it after feven long years.
Or in rhymes as follows:
As thus th' admiring ftranger whiſpers near,
His eager accents reach the monarch's ear:
What mortal, deareft youths! with Jove fhall vie
His fumptuous domes decays and death defy.
BOOK IV.
1-89
HOMER'S ODYSSEY:
Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove conteſt,
Unchang'd, immortal, and fupremely bleft!
With all my affluence when my woes are weigh'd,
Envy will own, the purchaſe dearly paid.
For eight flow-circling years by tempeſt toſt,
From Cyprus to the far Phoenician coaſt,
(Sidon the capital) I ſtretch'd
96
my toil
Thro' regions fatten'd with the flows of Nile. 100
Next, Ethiopia's utmoſt bound explore,
And the parch'd borders of th' Arabian fhore:
*
Some prince, perchance, may rival all my ftate,
The fad memorials of a hapless fate!
Thro' ſeven long years what feas and dangers paſt,
What lands, to Sparta faw them brought at laſt!
Ver. 97.] Thus Ogilby:
eight years toft
Through worlds of miferies from coast to coaft.
Ver. 100. Thro' regions fatten'd with the flows of Nile.
५
Next, Ethiopia, &c.]
The words are in the original Αἰγυπτίας ἐπαλήθεις, others read them
Αἰγυπλίας ἐπ' αληθείς, from their veracity in oracles, for which they
were very famous; and indeed the word izaλnds is not neceſſary,
it being uſed in the very fame fentence, though it muſt be con-
feffed fuch repetitions are frequent in Homer. There is alfo a
diferent reading of the word ἐρέμβες; fome have it ἐρέμνας, or
blacks; others, Zidories 'Apácas re; but the common reading is
thought the beft. The Erembi are the Arabian Troglodytes.
Strabo informs us, that in former ages the bounds of the Æthio-
pians lay near to Thebes in Egypt, fo that Menelaus travelling
to Thebes, might with eafe vifit the Ethiopians. Others have
without any foundation imagined that he paffed the ſtreights of
Gibraltar, and failed to the Indies. Sidon is the capital of the
Phoenicians. Euftathius.
P.
190
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Then warp my voyage on the fouthern gales,
O'er the warm Libyan wave to fpread my fails:
That happy clime! where each revolving year 105
The teeming ewes a triple offspring bear;
And two fair crefcents of tranſlucent-horn
The brows of all their young increaſe adorn
The ſhepherd ſwains with fure abundance bleft,
On the fat flock and rural dainties feaſt ;
Nor want of herbage makes the dairy fail,
But every feafon fills the foaming pail.
Ver. 105.
where each revolving year
The teeming ewes, &c.]
Thefe fheep, as defcribed by Homer, may be thought the creation
of the Poet, and not the production of nature: but Herodotus,
fays Euftathius, writes, that in Scythia the oxen have no horns
through the extremity of the cold: he quotes this very verſe,
rightly intimating, fays Herodotus, that in hot regions the horns
of cattle ſhoot very fpeedily. Ariftotle directly afferts, that in
Libya the young ones of horned cattle have horns immediately
after they are brought into the world. So that Ariftotle and
Herodotus vindicate Homer. The Poet adds, that the ſheep
breed three times. in the year; thefe words may have a different
interpretation, and imply that they breed in three feaſons of the
year, and not only in the fpring, as in other countries; or that
the ſheep have at once three lambs; but the firit is the better in-
terpretation. Athenæus upon this paffage writes, that there are
things in other countries no leſs ſtrange than what Homer relates
of theſe ſheep of Libya, Thus in Lufitania, a country of Spain,
now Portugal, there is a wonderful fruitfulness in all-cattle, by
reaſon of the excellent temper of the air; the fruits there never
rot, and the roſes, violets and afparagus, never fail above three
months in the year. Euftathius,
P.
Ver. 109.] Or thus, because of inaccurate rhymes:
E'en the poor fhepherd there with joyful eyes
Sees rural wealth abundant round him rife,
BOOK IV. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
191
115
Whilst heaping unwiſh'd wealth, I diſtant roam;
The beſt of brothers, at his natal home,
By the dire fury of a traitreſs wife,
Ends the fad evening of a ſtormy life:
Whence with inceffant grief my foul annoy'd,
Theſe riches are poffefs'd, but not enjoy'd!
My wars, the copious theme of ev'ry tongue,
To you, your fathers have recorded long:
120
Ver. 113. I cannot more effectually do juftice to this fine
paffage of the verſion, than by exhibiting to the reader the fimple
materials, from which it was wrought:
Whilft I, theſe copious ftores collecting, ftray'd
Thofe climes remote, my brother flaughter'd lay
By wiles unlook'd-for of his wife accurs'd.
Ver. 114. The beſt of brothers,
a traitrefs wife.]
Menelaus neither mentions Agamemnon, Clytemneftra, nor Ægyſt-
hus by name; a juft indignation and refentment is the occafion of
his fuppreffing the names of Clytemnestra and Ægyfthus. Through
the whole 'Iliad Menelaus is defcribed as a very affectionate bro-
ther, and the love he bears Agamemnon is the reafon why he
paffes by his name in filence. We fee that he diſpatches the
whole in one verfe and a half; Neftor had told the ftory pretty
largely in the preceding book, and as he was a perfon leſs nearly
concerned, might ſpeak of it with more eaſe and better temper
than Menelaus; the Poet avoids a needlefs repetition, and a re-
petition too of a ſtory univerfally known to all the Greeks. The
death of Agamemnon is diſtributed into four places in the Odyffey;
Neftor, Menelaus, Proteus, and the fhade of Agamemnon in the
eleventh book, all relate it, and every one very properly. Pro-
teus as a prophet more fully than Neftor and Menelaus, and Aga-
memnon more fully than 'them all, as being beft acquainted with
it. Euftathius.
Ver. 119., My wars, the copious theme, c.
Menelaus fays, hate deſtroyed a house, &c.
P.
In the original
There is an ambi-
192
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.:
How fav'ring heav'n repaid my glorious toils
With a fack'd palace, and barbarick ſpoils.
Oh! had the Gods fo large a boon deny'd,
And life, the juft equivalent, fupply'd
124
To thoſe brave warriours, who with glory fir'd,
Far from their country in my cauſe expir'd!
guity in the expreffion, as Euftathius obferves: for it may either
fignify the house of Priam, or his own in Argos; if it be under-
ſtood of his own, then the meaning is,
"I have indeed great
"wealth, but have purchafed it with the lofs of my people; I
• could be content with the third part of it, if I could reſtore
"thoſe to life who have periſhed before Troy." If it be under
ftood of the kingdom of Priam, the regret he fhews will ftill
appear
the greater. He is enumerating his domeftick happineſs, and his
foreign conqueft of Troy; but he throws the deftruction of ſo
many brave men who fell before it, in the contrary fcale; and it
fo far outweighs both his wealth and his glory, that they both are
joyless to him. Either of theſe interpretations fhew an excellent
temper of humanity in Menelaus, who thinks the effufion of blood
too dear a price for glory. At the fame time the Poet gives an
admirable picture of human nature, which is refſtleſs in the purſuit
of what it miſcalls happineſs, and when in poffeffion of it, neglects.
it. But the difquiet of Menelaus arifes not from inconftancy
of temper, but wifdom; it fhews that all happineſs is unfatif
factory.
P,
Ver. 122. Our tranflator had in view a verſe of Virgil,'
n. ii. 504.
Barbarico poftes auro fpoliifque fuperbi:
Spoils of barbaric gold the columns grace;
or rather the paffage of Milton, which profited by that verſe,
Par. Loft. ii. 4.
Or where the gorgeous eaft with richeft hand
Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,
Ver, 126.] Thus, exactly to his author:
From Argos far, on Trojan plains, expir'dı .
·
1
+
BOOK IV.
193
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
1
Still in fhort intervals of pleafing woe,
Regardful of the friendly dues I
owe,
130
I to the glorious dead, for ever dear!
Indulge the tribute of a grateful tear.
But oh! Ulyffes-deeper than the reſt
That fad idea wounds my anxious breaſt!
My heart bleeds freſh with agonizing pain ;
The bowl, and tafteful viands tempt in vain,
Nor fleep's foft pow'r can cloſe my ſtreaming
eyes,
When imag'd to my foul his forrows riſe.
No peril in my cauſe he ceas'd to prove,
His labours equall'd only by my love:
And both alike to bitter fortune born,
135
For him, to fuffer, and for me to mourn!
£40
Ver. 127.] A very noble verfe! concentrating moft happily
the complex ideas of it's original.
Ver. 131. But ob! Ulyffes-&c. It is with admirable addreſs
that the Poet falls into his fubject: it is art, but it ſeems to be
nature : this conduct has a double effect, it takes away all ſuſpicion
of flattery, for Menelaus is ignorant that the perfon with whom
he diſcourſes is Telemachus; this gives him a manifeſt evidence
of the love he bears to Ulyffes; the young man could not but be
pleaſed with the praife of his father, and with the fincerity of it.
It is alio obfervable, that Menelaus builds his friendſhip for Ulyffes
upon a noble foundation; I mean the fufferings which Ulyffes
underwent for his friend: Menelaus afcribes not their affection to
any familiarity or intercourſe of entertainments, but to a more
fincere cauſe, to the hazards which brave men undertake for a
friend. In fhort, the friendship of Menelaus and Ulyffes is the
friendſhip of heroes. Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 139.], Vicious rhymes! The following fubftitution is
VOL. I.
194
BOOK IT
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Whether he wanders on fome friendly coaft,
Or glides in Stygian gloom a penfive ghoſt,
No fame reveals; but doubtful of his doom,
His good old fire with forrow to the tomb
Declines his trembling fteps; untimely care 145
Withers the blooming vigour of his heir;
And the chaſte partner of his bed and throne,
Waftes all her widow'd hours in tender moan.
While thus pathetick to the prince he ſpoke :
From the brave youth the ftreaming paffion
broke:
Studious to veil the grief, in vain repreft,
His face he ſhrouded with his purple veft:
150
propofed, not as faithful to Homer, but as an amendment of
the paraphraſtical repreſentation of our tranflator, in the fame
fpirit:
An equal pace our woful fortunes keep;
He doom'd to fuffer, and myſelf to weep.
Ver. 143.] The latter part of this line, and the five following
verfes are expanded from little more than two of his author, which
are as fully expreffed in one couplet by Ogilby; whom I quote
with flight corrections:
His aged fire, his prudent wife, and heir,
An infant left, are wafting in deſpair.
Our tranſlator might have his eye on Hobbes, who is not much
amiſs:
1
Meanwhile, as for a fon of life bereft
Laërtes weeps: fo does Penelope;
Telemachus, whom, young, Ulyffes left,
Spends his beſt age in pain and mifery.
BOOK IV.
195
HOMER'S
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The conſcious monarch pierc'd the coy diſguiſe,
And view'd his filial love with vaſt ſurpriſe :
Dubious to preſs the tender theme, or wait 155
To hear the youth enquire his father's fate.
In this fufpenfe bright Helen grac'd the room;
Before her breath'd a gale of rich perfume,
Ver. 154.
The phrafe with vaft furprife is a moft miſerable
expletive indeed, and totally unauthorized by his author. Thus?
more conformably to the ſcope of the original:
**
The conſcious monarch through the coy diſguiſe
Saw forrow's dew-drops glift'ning in his eyes.
Ver. 157.
bright Helen grac'd the room.] Menë-
laus conjectured that the perſon he had entertained was the fon of
Ulyffes, from the tears he ſhed at the name of his father, and
from the reſemblance there was between Ulyffes and Telemachus ;
it might therefore have been expected that Menelaus fhould
immediately have acknowledged Telemachus, and not delayed a
fall diſcovery one moment, out of regard to his abfent friend;
but Menelaus defers it upon a two-fold account, to give fome
time to Telemachus to indulge his forrow for his father, and re-
cover himſelf from it, and alſo to avoid the repetition of a dif-
covery upon the appearance of Helen, who would be curious to
know the condition of the ftrangers.
❤
It may be neceffary to fay fomething concerning Helen, that
fatal beauty that engaged Greece and Afia in arms; fhe is drawn
in the fame colours in the Odyffey as in the Iliad; it is a vicious
character, but the colours are ſo admirably ſoftened by the art of
the Poet, that we pardon her infidelity. Menelaus is an uncom-
mon inftance of conjugal affection, he forgives a wife who had
been falſe to him, and receives her into a full degree of favour.
But perhaps the reader might have been fhocked at it, and pre-
judiced againſt Helen as a perfon that ought to be forgot, or have
her name only mentioned to difgrace it: the Poet therefore, to
reconcile her to his reader, brings her in as a penitent, con-
demning her own infidelity in very strong expreffions; the fhews
0 2
196.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
So moves, adorn'd with each attractive grace,
The filver-fhafted Goddeſs of the chace!
The ſeat of majeſty Adraſte brings,
With art illuftrious for the
pomp of kings.
To ſpread the pall (beneath the regal chair)
Of ſofteſt woof, is bright Alcippe's care.
A filver caniſter divinely wrought,
160
165
In her foft hands the beauteous Phylo brought :
To Sparta's queen of old the radiant vaſe
Alcandra gave, a pledge of royal grace:
For Polybus her lord, (whoſe fov'reign ſway
The wealthy tribes of Pharian Thebes obey) 170
When to that court Atrides came, careſt
With vaft munificence th' imperial gueſt:
true modefty, when ſhe calls herſelf impudent, and by this conduc
'we are inclined, like Menelaus, to forgive her.
Thus his author:
In this ſuſpenſe, the beauteous regal dame
From her high-vaulted fragrant chamber came.
1
P.
Ver. 161, &c. Adrafte, Alcippe, Helen's maids.] It has been
øbſerved, that Helen has not the fame attendants in the Odyſſey
as fhe had in the Iliad; they perhaps might be Trojans, and con
fequently be left in their own country: or rather, it was an act
of prudence in Menelaus, not to fuffer thofe fervants about her
who had been her attendants and confidents in her infidelity.
Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 165.] Thus Chapman, at verfe 179 of our verfion, where
thefe rhymes are repeated:
Faire gifts; a diſtaffe that of gold was wrought 3
And that rich cabinet that Phylo brought.
BOOK IV. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
197
175.
Two lavers from the richeſt ore refin'd,
With filver tripods, the kind hoſt affign'd;
And bounteous, from the royal treaſure told
Ten equal talents of refulgent gold.
Alcandra, confort of his high command,
A golden diftaff gave to Helen's hand;
And that rich vafe, with living ſculpture wrought,
Which heap'd with wool the beauteous Phylo
►
brought:
The filken fleece impurpl'd for the loom,
180
Rival'd the hyacinth in vernal bloom.
The fovereign feat then Jove-born Helen preſs'd,
And pleafing thus her ſcepter'd lord addrefs'd.
Who grace our palaçe now, that friendly
185
pair,
Speak they their lineage, or their names declare ?
Uncertain of the truth, yet uncontroll❜d
Hear me the bodings of my breaſt unfold.
With wonder wrapt, on yonder cheek I trace
The feature of the Ulyffean race:
Diffus'd o'er each reſembling line appear,
In juſt fimilitude, the grace and air
Ver. 173.] Or thus;
Two lavers, that with filvery radiance glow'd;
Two coftly tripods, the kind hoſt beſtow'd.
Ver. 190.] Or thus ?
The genuine features of Ulyffes' face.
Ver. 192.
the grace and air
Of young Telemachus!
-]
190
{
O 3
198
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Of young Telemachus! the lovely boy,
Who blefs'd Ulyffes with a father's joy,
What-time the Greeks combin'd their focial
arms,
195
T' avenge the ſtain of my ill-fated charms
Juft is thy thought, the king affenting cries,
Methinks Ulyffes ftrikes my wond'ring eyes:
Full ſhines the father in the filial frame,
His port, his features, and his ſhape the fame:
Such quick regards his ſparkling eyes beſtow
Such wavy ringlets o'er his fhoulders flow!
;
200
It may feem ftrange that Helen fhould at firft view recollect the
features of Ulyffes in Telemachus; and that Menelaus, who was
better acquainted with him, and his conftant friend, fhould not
make the fame obfervation. But Athenæus, to reconcile this to
probability, fays, that women are curious and ſkilful obfervers of
the likeness of children to parents, for one particular reaſon, that
they may, upon finding any diffimilitude, have the pleaſure of
hinting at the unchaftity of others.
1
Ver. 195.] Thus, with more fidelity:
In my
fad caufe when Greece affembled came,
And breath'd deftruction on the Trojan name.
PL
Ver. 199.] Dryden, at the parallel paffage of Virgil, Æn. iii,
635.
His eyes fo sparkled with a lively flame;
Such were his motions, fuch was all his frame;
And, ah! had heaven fo pleas'd, his years had been the fame.
Ver. 201.] Our tranflator fhould have endeavoured to preſerve
the beautiful expreffion of his author. Thus?
His ſparkling eyes fuch vivid glances throw
on which metaphor I have remarked at large in a note on Virgil's
Georgics, iii. 219. and at Lucretius, ii. 1046.
BOOK IV,
199
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
And when he heard the long difaftrous ftore
Of cares, which in my cauſe Ulyffes bore;
Difmay'd, heart-wounded with paternal woes, 205
Above reſtraint the tide of forrow roſe:
Cautious to let the guſhing grief appear,
His purple garment veil'd the falling tear.
See there confeft, Pififtratus replies,
The genuine worth of Ithacus the wiſe!
Of that heroick fire the youth is ſprung,
But modeft awe hath chain'd his tim'rous tongue.
Thy voice, O king! with pleas'd attention heard,
Is like the dictates of a God rever'd.
age
210
With him at Neftor's high command I came, 215
Whofe I honour with a parent's name.
By adverſe deſtiny conſtrain'd to fue
For counſel and redreſs, he fues to you.
Whatever ill the friendlefs orphan bears,
Bereav'd of parents in his infant years,
Ver. 203.] Or thus, more briefly :
When late he heard my tongue recording tell
Thoſe dire diftreffes, which his fire befell,
Thoſe ils immenſe, for me; the guſhing tide
His purple robe eſſay'd in vain to hide.
220
Ver. 216.] This line is an unauthorized inſertion by the
tranflator.
Ver. 219.] The conclufion of this ſpeech is rambling and
inaccurate. I ſhall attempt a more cloſe and faithful
What ills that orphan's hapless houſe await,
Where no kind friends fupport his falling ftate,
Thofe ills Telemachus is doom'd to bear ;
His fire an exile, and no fuccour near!
rfion:
0 4
200
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
225
Still muſt the wrong'd Telemachus ſuſtain,
If hopeful of your aid, he hopes in vain :
Affianc'd in your friendly pow'r alone,
The youth wou'd vindicate the vacant throne,
Is Sparta bleft, and theſe defiring eyes
View my friend's fon? (the king exulting cries)
Son of my friend, by glorious toils approv'd,
Whofe fword was facred to the man he lov'd:
Mirrour of conſtant faith, rever'd, and mourn'd!-
When Troy was ruin'd, had the chief return'd, 230
No Greek an equal fpace had e'er poffeft,
Of dear affection, in my grateful breaſt,
I, to confirm the mutual joys we ſhar'd,
For his abode a capital prepar'd;
Argos the feat of fovereign rule I choſe;
Fair in the plan the future palace roſe,
Where my Ulyffes and his race might reign,
"And portion to his tribes the wide domain.
235
Ver. 229.] For this couplet of imperfect rhymes I would pro-
poſe ſomewhat more congenial to the tenour of the original;
I thought if thundering Jove's protecting hand
Would fafe conduct us to our native land,
No Greek an equal ſpace had then poffefs'd-
Dryden, as quoted in Johnſon's Dictionary:
Mirrour of ancient faith in early youth.
Ver. 234. For his abodę a capital prepar'd.] The Poet puts
thefe words in the mouth of Menelaus, to exprefs the fincerity of
his friendſhip to Ulyffes; he intended him all advantage, and no
detriment: we must therefore conclude, that Ulyffes was ftill to
retain his fovereignty over Ithaca, and only remove to Argos, to
live with fo fincere a friend as Menelaus, Euftathius.
?,
BOOK IV.
201
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
To them my vaffals had refign'd a ſoil,
240
With teeming plenty to reward their toil.
There with commutual zeal we both had ftrove
In acts of dear benevolence, and love:
Brothers in peace, not rivals in command,
And death alone diffolv'd the friendly band!
Some envious pow'r the bliſsful ſcene deſtroys;
Vaniſh'd are all the vifionary joys:
The foul of friendſhip to my hope is loſt,
Fated to wander from his natal coaſt!
246
He ceas'd; a guft of grief began to riſe:
Faft ftreams a tide from beauteous Helen's eyes;
Ver. 241.] The proper participle is not ftrove, but ſtriven.
Thus?
Or,
There converſe ſweet had charm'd the focial day;
And, unobferv'd, life's evening worn away:
There our laſt fun roll'd, unperceiv'd, away.
Ver. 247.] The rhymes are incorrect. Thus?
The rapturous proſpect charms theſe eyes no more:
Loft the fad mourner to his native ſhore !
Ver. 249.
a guſt of grief began to rife, &c.] It has
been obferved through the Iliad, and may be obferved through
the whole Odyffey, that it was not a difgrace to the greateſt heroes
to ſhed tears; and indeed I cannot ſee why it ſhould be an honour
to any man, to be able to diveft himſelf of human nature ſo far
as to appear infenfible upon the most affecting occafions. No man
is born a Stoick: it is art, not nature; tears are only a fhame,
when the cauſe from whence they flow is mean or vicious.
Here Menelaus laments a friend, Telemachus a father, Pififtratus
a brother: but from what cauſe arife the tears of Helen? It'is to
be remembered that Helen is drawn in the ſofteft colours in the
Odyffey; the character of the adultrefs is loft in that of the
penitent: the name of Ulyffes throws her into tears, becauſe the
202
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV,
Faſt for the fire the filial forrows flow;
251
The weeping monarch fwells the mighty woe:
Thy cheeks, Pififtratus, the tears bedew,
While pictur'd to thy mind appear'd in view
Thy martial * brother: on the Phrygian plain 255
Extended pale, by fwarthy Memnon flain!
But filence foon the fon of Neftor broke,
And melting with fraternal pity fpoke.
Frequent, O king, was Neftor wont to raife
And charm attention with thy copious praiſe : 260
To crown thy various gifts, the fage affign'd
The glory of a firm capacious mind :
With that fuperiour attribute controul
This unavailing impotence of foul.
Let not your roof with echoing grief refound, 265
Now for the feaft the friendly bowl is crown'd:
is the occafion of all the fufferings of that brave man ; the Poet
makes her the firft in forrow, as fhe is the cauſe of all their tears. P.
Perhaps, the language of this paffage is capable of ſome im-
provement, by the following flight touches of correction:
He ceaft; the waves of grief begin to rife:
Faſt ſtream the forrows from fair Helen's eyes:
Faft for the fire the filial currents flow:
The weeping monarch ſwells the tide of woe.
"
Ver. 265. Let not your roof with echoing grief reſound,
Now for the feaft the friendly bowl is crown'd.].
It may be asked why forrow for the dead ſhould be more unfeafon-
able in the evening than the morning? Euftathius anſwers, left
others fhould look upon our evening tears as the effect of wine,
and not of love to the dead.
Antilochus.
:
BOOK IV..
203
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.-
But when from dewy fhade emerging bright,
Aurora ſtreaks the fky with orient light,
Let each deplore his dead: the rites of woe
Are all, alas!´the living can beſtow :
O'er the congenial duſt injoin'd to ſhear
The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear.
Then mingling in the mournful pomp with
I'll
pay my brother's ghoſt a warriour's due,
"Intempeftivus venit inter pocula fletus,
"Nec lacrymas dulci fas eft mifcere Falerno."
270
you,
I fancy there may be a more rational account given of this ex-
preffion; the time of feafting was ever looked upon as a time of
joy and thankſgiving to the Gods; it bore a religious veneration.
among the ancients, and confequently to fhed tears when they
ſhould expreſs their gratitude to the Gods with joy, was eſteemed
a profanation,
P.
Ver. 267.] Our tranflator here moft grofsly miſrepreſents his
author; following, perhaps, the fteps of Chapman and Ogilby,
who are alike miſtaken. A conformity may be thus effe&ted:
And now, emerging from yon orient ſkies,
Soon on our wailings would 'Aurora riſe.
To wail the dead I grudge not: rites of woe.
I, in the pomp of forrow join'd with you,
Will pay my brother's ghoſt a warrior's due.
Ver. 270.] Dryden, at Æn. xi. 35.
The laſt reſpect the living can beftow,
To ſhield their fhadows from contempt below.
Ver. 272.] Thus Ogilby:
Tears we as duties pay, and treſſes curl'd;
and Chapman at the beginning of Iliad xviii.
Then tumbl'd round, and tore
His gracious curles,
The original runs thus:
The tear from eye-lids dropp'd, the fever'd hair,
Theſe the poor honours wretched man can give!
}
204
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
275
And mourn the brave Antilochus, a name
Not unrecorded in the rolls of fame:
With ftrength and fpeed fuperiour form'd, in fight
To face the foe, or intercept his flight:
Too early fnatch'd by fate ere known to me!
I boaſt a witneſs of his worth in thee.
age.
280
286
Young and mature! the monarch thus rejoins,
In thee renew'd the foul of Neftor fhines:
Form'd by the care of that confummate fage,
In early bloom an oracle of
Whene'er his influence Jove vouchfafes to ſhow't.
To bleſs the natal, and the nuptial hour;
From the great fire tranfmiffive to the race,
The boon devolving gives diftinguiſh'd grace.
Such, happy Neftor! was thy glorious doom;
Around thee full of years, thy offspring bloom,
Expert of arms, and prudent in debate :
The gifts of heaven to guard thy hoary ſtate.
But now let each becalm his troubled breaft,
Waſh, and partake ferene the friendly feaſt.
Ver. 276.] Or, more exactly,
Not laft in records roll'd of Argive fame.
291
Ver. 281.] The rhymes are defective. If the next couple
were properly adjuſted, I ſhould prefer here a correction of Ogilby:
Then thus the king: Not unexperienc'd age
Thy words proclaim, but years mature and fage.
Ver. 283.] Thus ? adapted to the preceding fubſtitution:
I fee true wiſdom all thy thoughts infpire,
And all thy words; the wifdom of thy fire.
Ver. 288.] Better, perhaps,
Devolving virtues all the lineage graco,
:
205
BOOK IV. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
To move thy fuit, Telemachus, delay,
'Till heav'n's revolving lamp reftores the day.
He faid, Afphalion fwift the laver brings;
Alternate all partake the grateful ſprings:
Then from the rites of purity repair,
295
And with keen guft the fav'ry viands fhare. 300
Meantime with genial joy to warm the foul,
Bright Helen mix'd a mirth-inſpiring bowl:
Ver. 302. Bright Helen mix'd a mirth-inspiring bowl,' &c.]
The conjectures about this cordial of Helen have been almoft in-
finite. Some take Nepenthes allegorically, to fignify hiftory,
mufick or philofophy. Plutarch in the firſt of the Sympofiacks.
affirms it to be, difcourfe well fuiting the prefent paffions and con-.
ditions of the hearers. Macrobius is of the fame opinion, Delini-
mentum illud quod Helena vino miſcuit, non herba fuit, non ex Indiâ
fuccus, fed narrandi opportunitas, quæ hofpitem mæroris oblitum flexit
ad gaudium. What gave a foundation to this fiction of Homer,
as Dacier obſerves, might be this. Diodorus writes that in Ægypt,
and chiefly at Heliopolis, the fame with Thebes, where Menelaus
fojourned, as has been already obferved, there lived women wha
boaſted of certain potions, which not only made the unfortunate
forget all their calamities, but drove away the moſt violent fallies
of grief or anger. Eufebius directly affirms, that even in his
time the women of Diofpolis were able to calm the rage of grief
or anger by certain potions. Now whether this be truth or
fiction, it fully vindicates Homer, fince a Poet may make uſe of
a prevailing, though falfe opinion.
Milton mentions this Nepenthes in his excellent Maſque of
Comus.
Behold this cordial julep here,
That flames and dances in his cryſtal bounds!
Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
Is of fuch pow'r as this to ftir up joy,
To life ſo friendly, or fo cool to thirst.
But that there may be fomething more than fiction in this is very
probable, fince the Egyptians were fo notoriouſly ſkilled in phy-
206'
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Temper'd with drugs of fov'reign ufe, t' affuage
The boiling boſom of tumultuous rage;
To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care, 305
And dry the tearful fluices of deſpair :
fick; and particularly fince this very Thon, or Thonis, or Thoon,
is reported by the ancients to have been the inventor of phyfick
among the Ægyptians. The defcription of this Nepenthes agrees
admirably with what we know of the qualities and effects of opium.
It is further faid of Thon, that he was king of Canopus, and
entertained Menelaus hofpitably before he had feen Helen; but
afterwards falling in love with her, and offering violence, he was
flain by Menelaus. From his name the Ægyptians gave the name
of Thoth to the first month of their year, and alfo to a city the
name of Thonis. Elian writes, that Menelaus, when he travelled
to the Æthiopians, committed Helen to the protection of Thonis;
that she fell in love with him; that Polydamna growing jealous
confined her to the iſland of Pharos, but gave her an herb to pre-
ferve her from the poifon of ferpents, there frequent, which from
Helen was called Helenium. Strabo writes, that at Canopus, on
the mouth of the Nile, there flands a city named Thonies, from
king Thonis, who received Helen and Menelaus. Herodotus
relates, that 'Thonis was governour of Canopus, that he repre-
fented the injury which Paris had done to Menelaus, to Proteus
who reigned in Memphis. Euftathius.
This laft remark from Herodotus is fufficient to fhew, that
Homer is not fo fictitious as is generally imagined, that there
really was a king named Proteus, that the Poet builds his fables
upon truth, and that it was truth that originally determined Homer
to introduce Proteus into his poetry; but I intend to explain this
P,
more largely in the ftory of Proteus.
Ver. 306.] Tears, I think, are not characteriſtic of despair.
Indeed, there is too much amplification of the original, and I
ſhall venture to propofe a fubftitution, with a view to conciſenefs
and fidelity, as follows:
Mean time, with genial joy to warm the foul,
Bright Helen mixt a care-compofing bowl:
That juice oblivious every ill could fwage,
And cool the bofom of tumultuous rage.
BOOK IV.
207
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Charm'd with that virtuous draught, th' exalted
mind
310
All fenfe of woe delivers to the wind.
Tho' on the blazing pile his parent lay,
Or a lov'd brother groan'd his life away,
Or darling fon, opprefs'd by ruffian-force,
Fell breathleſs at his feet, a mangled corfe;
From morn to eve, impaffive and ferene,
The man entranc'd would view the deathful ſcene.
Theſe drugs, fo friendly to the joys of life, 315
Bright Helen learn'd from Thone's imperial wife;
"Who ſway'd the fcepter, where prolifick Nile
With various fimples clothes the fatʼned foil.
The next couplet I ſhould baniſh altogether as fuperfluous. The
third line of the fubftitution might be turned with eaſe in a more
agreeable manner, but I have pointed out by a word employed
there, how I ſhould baniſh the aukward elifion from verfe 303. of
our Poet's verfion. Thus Milton, Par. Loft, i. 556.
Nor wanting power to mitigate and fwage
With folemn touches troubled thoughts.
Ver. 309.] Thus, not more poetically indeed, but with more
brevity and exactneſs:
Or,
No tear would trickle through the live-long day,
Though dead before him either parent lay;
Though fire, or mother, dead before him lay;
Though his own eyes ſhould ſee the lifeblood run
From a dear brother, or a dearer fon.
Ver. 313.] A couplet of fingular excellence; the purport
of which I have delivered in the firſt verſe of the laſt effay, with
a concifeneſs commenfurate to the Greek original.
Ver. 317.] Better rhymes may be readily provided, thus:
Who fway'd the fceptre, where Ægyptus leads
His flood prolific to the fubject meads.
208
BOOK IV
HOMER'S ODYSSEY
320'
With wholeſome herbage mix'd, the direful bane
Of vegetable venom, taints the plain ;
From Pæon fprung, their patron-god imparts
To all the Pharian race his healing arts.
The bev'rage now prepar'd t' infpire the feaſt,
The circle thus the beauteous queen addreft.
Thron'd in omnipotence, fupremeft Jove 325
Tempers the fates of human race above;
By the firm fanction of his fov'reign will,
Alternate are decreed our good and ill.
To feaſtful mirth be this white hour affign'd,
And fweet difcourfe, the banquet of the mind. 330
Myſelf affifting in the focial joy,
Will tell Ulyffes' bold exploit in Troy:
Ver. 321.] Here our tranflator had freſh in his recollection a
divine couplet of Pope's, at Iliad i. ver. 890.
To theſe his ſkill the Parent-god imparts;
Divine profeffors of the healing arts.
Ver. 323.] A miferable diftich, but not of eafy correction.
The following attempt is perfectly accurate :
She bids difpenfe the bowl, which thus infufe
Her beauteous hands; and converfe then renews.
Ver. 329.] Or thus, with more fidelity:
To mirth and converfe be this hour affign'd,
Illuftrious guests! the banquet of the mind.
Ver. 331. Myself --
Will tell Ulyffes' bold exploit --]
What is here related fhews the neceflity of the introduction of
Helen, and the ufe the Poet makes of it: fhe is not brought in
merely as a muta perfona, to fill up the number of perfons; but the
relates feveral incidents, in which the herſelf was concerned, and
which ſhe could only know; and confequently not only diverfifies,
but carries on the defign of the ftory. Euftathius..
P.
*
BOOK IV.
209
HOMER's ODYSSEY:
Sole witneſs of the deed I now declare;
Speak you (who faw) his wonders in the war.
Seam'd o'er with wounds, which his own fabre
gave,
In the vile habit of a village-flave,
335
Ver. 333.] The fenfe is foreign to his author, and the rhymes
not admiffible. The foregoing couplet may be continued thus:
'Midft Greece combin'd. One fuffering I diſcloſe :
What powers of mine could reckon all his woes?
Or,
Vain were th' attempt to number all his woes.
Ver. 335. Seam'd o'er with wounds, &c.] The Poet here fhews
his judgment in paffing over many inftances of the fufferings of
Ulyffes, and relating this piece of conduct, not mentioned by any
other author. The art of Ulyffes in extricating himself from
difficulties is laid down as the ground-work of the poem, he is
woλúrpoños, and this is an excellent example of it. This further
fhews the neceffity of the appearance of Helen, no other perfon
being acquainted with the ftory. If this ftratagem be not a reality,
yet it bears the reſemblance of it; and Megabyfus the Perfian (as
Euftathius obferves) practifed it, as we learn from history. We
may reaſonably conjecture that Ulyffes was committed to Helen,
in hopes that he would diſcover the affairs of the army more freely
to her than any other perfon: for what could be more agreeable
to a Greek, than to be committed to the care of a Greek, as-
Ulyffes was to Helen? By the fame conduct the Poet raifes the
character of Helen, by making her fhew her repentance by an act
of generoſity to her countrymen. The original fays ſhe gave an
oath to Ulyffes not to diſcover him before he was in ſafety in the
Grecian army: now this does not imply that fhe ever difcovered
to the Trojans that Ulyffes had entered Troy: the contrary opi-
nion is moſt probable; for it cannot be imagined but all Troy
muſt have been incenfed greatly againſt her, had they known that
ſhe had concealed one of their mortal enemies, and difmiffed him
ſafety: it was fufficient for Ulyffes to take her oath that the
would not diſcover him, till he was in fecurity: he left her future
VOL. I.
P
210
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The foe deceiv'd, he paſs'd the tented plain,
In Troy to mingle with the hoftile train.
In this attire fecure from fearching eyes,
"Till haply piercing thro' the dark diſguiſe
The chief I challeng'd; he, whoſe practis'd wit
Knew all the ſerpent-mazes of deceit,
340
Eludes my
fearch but when his form I view'd
Freſh from the bath with fragrant oils renew'd,
conduct to her own difcretion. It is probable that ſhe furniſhed
Ulyffes with a fword, for in his return he flew many Trojans: he
came to Troy, obferves Euftathius, in rags, and like a ſlave; and
to have concealed a fword, would have endangered his life upon a
diſcovery of it, and given ftrong fufpicions of an impoftor.
This tranſlation is erroneous, in my opinion. Hobbes rightly
underſtood the paffage :
P.
Bloody with ſtripes, from no hand but his own:
and Dacier: «Un jour, aprês s'être déchiré le corps à coups de
"verges." It is not improbable, that Chapman led the way for
our tranſlator:
-how with ghafly wounds
Himfelfe be mangl'd.
Ver. 338.] A fentiment of his author, fuppreffed by our poet,
may be thus exhibited:
And perfonates a beggar; though no Greek
That ignominious femblance lefs became.
Ver. 341.] No correct taste will endure thefe rhymes; bat I
cannot promiſe the reader fatisfaction from my own attempt:
he, whoſe practis❜d heart
Knew all the ferpent-fubtilties of art—.
Ver. 343.] The verfion here is very looſe and rambling. The
following attempt is literally commenfurate with the original, and
accompanies the tranflation before us to verfe 353.
But, when with oil I ſmooth'd him from the bath,
And veſtments gave, and ſwore a folemn oath,
Ne'er to divulge Ulyffes to his foes,
"Till at the ſhips and tents arriv'd; he then
Detail'd the whole intention of the Greeks.
BOOK IV.
211
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
His limbs in military purple drefs'd;
345
Each bright'ning grace the genuine Greek con-
fefs'd.
A previous pledge of facred faith obtain'd,
'Till he the lines and Argive fleet regain'd,
To keep his ſtay conceal'd; the chief declar'd
The plans of war againſt the town prépar'd. 350
Exploring then the fecrets of the ſtate,
He learn❜d what beft might urge the Dardan fate :
And ſafe returning to the Grecian hoſt,
Sent many a ſhade to Pluto's dreary coaſt.
Loud grief refounded thro' the tow'rs of Troy, 355
But my pleas'd boſom glow'd with ſecret joy :
For then with dire remorfe, and confcious fhame,
I view'd th' effects of that difaftrous flame,
Ver. 351. Exploring then the fecrets of the state.] The word
Opóns is here fed in a large ſenſe: it takes in all the obſervations
Ulyffes made during his continuance in Troy, it takes in the
deſigns and counfels of the enemy, his meaſuring the gates, the
height of the walls, the eaſteſt place for an affault or ambuſh, the
taking away the Palladium, or whatever elſe a wife man may be
ſuppoſed to obſerve, or act, in execution of ſuch a ſtratagem.
Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 353.] The ſenſe of Homer will be better ſeen in a couplet
with Chapman's rhymes :
Then, many Trojans flaughter'd, he retir'd
Unhurt, for wife contrivance much admir'd.
Ver. 355.] Ifhould have thought more proper on this occafion,
thro' the ſtreets of Troy.
Ver. 357. For then with dire remorse, &c.] The conclufion of
this ſpeech is very artful: Helen afcribes her feduction to Venus,
P 2
.212
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Which kindled by th' imperious Queen of love,
Conſtrain'd me from my native realm to rove: 360
And oft in bitterneſs of foul deplor'd
My abfent daughter, and my dearer lord;
Admir'd among the firſt of human race,
For ev'ry gift of mind, and manly grace.
Right well, reply'd the king, your ſpeech dif
plays
The matchleſs merit of the chief you praiſe :
365
Inftead of naming Troy, fhe
carried thither, leaving Troy
and mentions nothing of Paris.
conceals it, and only fays fhe was
to the imagination of Menelaus; fhe fuffers not herſelf to mention
names fo odious now to herfelf, and ever to Menelaus, as Paris and
Troy. She compliments Menelaus very handfomely, and fays,
that he wanted no accomplishment either in mind or body: it
being the nature of man not to reſent the injuries of a wife fo
much upon the account of her being corrupted, but of the pre-
ference the gives to another perfon; he looks upon fuch a prefe-
rence as the moſt affecting part of the injury. Euftathius.
P.
Ver. 364.] This is one of thoſe paffages in which the majeſtic
Alexandrine of Dryden would have been introduced with much
advantage to dignity and fullness of the period:
and every manly grace.
The judgment of the Poet in
Ulyffes is not obſerved by any
For every gift of mind,
Ver. 365. Menelaus's anſwer.]
continuing the ftory concerning
commentator. Ulyffes is the chief hero of the poem, every thing
ſhould have a reference to him, otherwiſe the narration ſtands ſtill
without any advance towards the conclufion of it. The Poet.
therefore to keep Ulyffes in our minds, dwells upon his fufferings
and adventures: he ſupplies his not appearing in the preſent ſcene
of action, by fetting his character before us, and continually
forcing his prudence, patience, and valour upon our obſervation.
He uſes the fame art and judgment with relation to Achilles in the
Iliad: the hero of the poem is abfent from the chief fcenes of
action during much of the time which that poem compriſes, but
he is continually brought into the mind of the reader, by re-
counting his exploits and glory.
P.
}
BOOK IV.
213
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Heroes in various climes myſelf have found,
For martial deeds, and depth of thought re-
nown'd:
But Ithacus, unrival'd in his claim,
May boaſt a title to the loudeft fame:
370
In battle calm, he guides the rapid ftorm,
Wife to refolve, and patient to perform.
What wond'rous conduct in the chief appear'd,
When the vaſt fabrick of the fteed we rear'd!
Some dæmon anxious for the Trojan doom, 375
Urg'd you with great Deiphobus to come,
Ver. 368.] His original preſcribes,
For counsel fage and depth of thought renown'd.
But our tranſlator is very inaccurate and inattentive to his author
in this paffage. The following attempt exhibits the ſpeech
literally to verſe 373 of this verſion,
The prince with amber hair thus, anſwering, ſpake:
Thy words, O! wife, are, doubtleſs, juſt and true.
Myſelf the counſel and the thoughts have known
Of many a hero, and have wandered wide;
But ne'er beheld theſe eyes a chief to match
The prudent foul of that much-fuffering man,
Ver. 371.] In this inappofite paffage our Poet was thinking
of the celebrated lines in Addiſon's Campaign:
But, pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the form.
Ver. 374-] Here an omiffion of our tranflator may be fupplied
by a couplet corrected from Ogilby;
That well-wrought ſteed, where all we chieftains fate,
Big with deftruction to the Trojan ſtate.
Ver. 375. Some dæmon anxious for the Trojan doom.] It is the
obſervation of `Euftathius, that theſe words are very artfully in-
P 3
214
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
T'explore the fraud; with guile oppos'd to guile,
Slow-pacing thrice around th' infidious pile;
troduced to vindicate Helen; they imply that what ſhe acted was
by compulfion, and to evidence this more clearly, Deiphobus is
given her for an attendant, as a ſpy upon her actions, that ſhe
might not conceal any thing that fhould happen, but act her part
well, by endeavouring to deceive the Greeks in favour of Troy.
It is the dæmon, not Helen, that is in fault; this, continues Euſta-
thius, anſwers many objections that lie againſt Helen: for if ſhe
was a real penitent, as ſhe herſelf affirms, how comes fhe to en-
deavour to deceive the Greeks by the diſguiſe of her voice, into
more miſery than had yet arifen from a ten years war? Or in-
deed is it credible that any perſon could modulate her voice fo
artfully as to reſemble ſo many voices? And how could the
Greeks incloſed in the wooden horſe believe that their wives who
were in Greece, could be arrived in fo fhort a ſpace as they had
been concealed there, from the various regions of Greece, and
meet together in Troy? Would the wives of theſe heroes come
into an enemy's country, when the whole army, except theſe
latent heroes, were retired from it? this is ridiculous and impof-
fible. I must confefs there is great weight in theſe objections :
but Euftathius anfwers all by the interpofition of the dæmon;
and by an idle tradition that Helen had the name of Echo, from
the faculty of mimicking founds; and that this gift was bestowed
upon her by Venus when the married Menelaus, that the might
be able to detect him, if he ſhould prove falfe to her bed, by
imitating the voice of the ſuſpected perfon, (but Menelaus had
more occafion for this faculty than Helen.) As for the excufe of
the dæmon, it equally excufes all crimes: for inftance, was Helen
falfe to Menelaus? The dæmon occafioned it: does fhe act an
impoftor to deſtroy all her Grecian friends, and even Menelaus?
The dæmon compels her to it: the dæmon compels her to go
with Deiphobus, to furround the horſe thrice, to found the fides
of it, to endeavour to ſurpriſe the latent Greeks by an imitation
of the voices of their wives, and in fhort, to act like a perfon
that was very fincere în miſchief.
Dacier takes another courfe, and gives up Helen, bnt remarks
the great addrefs of Menelaus. Helen had, faid fhe, long defired
४
215
BOOK IV. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Each noted leader's name you thrice invoke,
Your accent varying as their ſpouſes ſpoke: 380
nothing fo much as to return to Lacedæmon; and her heart had
long been wholly turned to Menelaus: Menelaus is not at all
convinced of this pretended fincerity; but it would have been
too grofs, after he had taken her again to his bed, to convict her
of falfhood: he therefore contents himſelf barely to reply, that
ſome dæmon, an enemy to the Greeks, had forced her to a con-
duct diſagreeable to her fincerity. This (continues Dacier) is an
artful, but ſevere irony.
As for the objection concerning the impoffibility of the Greeks
believing their wives could be in Troy; fhe anſwers, that the
authors of this objection have not fufficiently confidered human
nature. The voice of a beloved perſon might of a ſudden, and
by ſurpriſe, draw from any perfon a word involuntary, before he
has time to make reflection. This undoubtedly is true, where
circumſtances make an impofture probable; but here is an impof-
fibility; it is utterly impoffible to believe the wives of thefe
heroes could be in Troy. Befides, Menelaus himſelf tells us, that
even he had fallen into the fnare, but Ulyffes prevented it; this
adds to the incredibility of the ftory.; for if this faculty of
mimickry was given upon his marriage with Helen, it was nothing
new to him; he muſt be ſuppoſed to be acquainted with it, and
confequently be the leſs liable to ſurpriſe: nay it is not impoffible,
but the experiment might have been made upon him before Helen
fled away with Paris.
In ſhort, I think this paffage wants a further vindication; the
circumſtances are low, if not incredible. Virgil, the great imitator
of Homer, has given us a very different and more noble deſcrip-
tion of the deftruction of Troy; he has not thought fit to imitate
him in this defcription.
If we allow Helen to act by compulfion, to have feared the
Trojans, and that Deiphobus was fent as a ſpy upon her actions ;
yet this is no vindication of her conduct: ſhe ftill acts a mean
part, and through fear becomes an accomplice in endeavouring to
betray and ruin the Greeks.
PA
216
·BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The pleafing founds each latent warriour warm'd,
But moſt Tydides' and my heart alarm'd:
To quit the ſteed we both impatient preſs,
Threat'ning to anſwer from the dark recefs.
Unmov'd the mind of Ithacus remain'd:
And the vain ardours of our love reſtrain'd;
But Anticlus unable to controul,
385
Spoke loud the language of his yearning foul;
Ulyffes ftraight with indignation fir'd,
(For fo the common care of Greece requir'd) 390
Firm to his lips his forceful hands apply'd,
Till on his tongue the flutt'ring murmurs dy'd.
Meantime Minerva from the fraudful horfe,
Back to the court of Priam bent your courſe.
I fhall juft add, that after the death of Paris, Helen married
Deiphobus; that the ftory of the wooden horfe is probably
founded upon the taking of Troy by an engine called a horfe, as
the like engine was called a ram by the Romans.
P.
Ver. 387.] This conclufion of the ſpeech is very licentious
and diffuſe, as the reader may judge from a literal tranſlation ;
Anticlus only labour'd to reply;
But ftraight Ulyffes with his powerful hands
Inceffant preft his mouth, and fav'd us all :
Nor left his hold, 'till Pallas led thee off.
I could not venture to write the proper past tense of the verb ſave';
which I could wiſh to ſee reſtored, that 'we might have a regular
feries of variety in the tenfes of this word: fave, faft, faved.
་
Ver. 391.] Ogilby's verfion is ludicrously vulgar, and is caleu-
lated to refreſh the reader with a tranfient ſmile:
Only Anticlus opens; ftreight his chops
Ithacus ftarting up, with both hands ſtops.
BOOK IV. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
217
Inclement fate! Telemachus replies,
Frail is the boaſted attribute of wife:
The leader, mingling with the vulgar hoft,
Is in the common-maſs of matter loft!
But now let ſleep the painful waſte repair
Of ſad reflection, and corroding care.
395
400
He ceas'd; the menial fair that round her wait,
At Helen's beck prepare the room of ſtate;
Beneath an ample portico, they fpread
The downy fleece to form the flumb'rous bed;
And o'er foft palls of purple grain, unfold
Rich tapeſtry, ſtiff with inwoven gold:
405
Ver. 395.] The verfion here is unpardonably vague. I fhall
give a literal repreſentation of the former paragraph of the
ſpeech.
To him difcreet Telemachus replied:
Divine Atrides! fovereign chief! more hard
His fate, if all theſe virtues, and a foul
Of ſteel, were weak to ward his ruin off.
Ver. 399.] Or thus, a correction of Ogilby:
But feek we now the comforts of repoſe,
Į
And fleep with lenient hand our eye-lids cloſe.
Ver. 403.] Thus Ogilby:
Helen, this fayd, ftreight bids them make a bed,
And purple o're, and royal taps'try ſpread.
Ver. 405.] The term, here employed, is familiar to Milton
in this acceptation; of which let the following example fuffice
from his Penferofo:
All in a robe of darkeſt grain,
Flowing with majeſtic train.
Ver. 406.] A ſtrange unmuſical verfe; which, perhaps, might
be more agreeably written thus:
Rich tap'try, ftiff with interwoven gold.
218
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
410
Then thro' th' illumin'd dome, to balmy reft
Th' obfequious herald guides each princely gueft;
While to his regal bow'r the king afcends,
And beauteous Helen on her lord attends.
Soon as the morn, in orient purple dreſt,
Unbarr'd the portal of the roſeate eaſt,
The monarch rofe; magnificent to view,
Th' imperial mantle o'er his veft he threw:
The glitt❜ring zone athwart his ſhoulder caft, 415
A ſtarry falchion low-depending grac'd;
But, in reality, it's untuneableneſs conſtitutes it's moſt trivial ob-
jection. This intermixture of gold is unauthoriſed by the original,
and is alike inconfiftent with the purpoſe in view and the preceding
verfe. I have before had occafion to pafs the fame cenfure, but
the particular place has eſcaped my memory.
Ver. 407.] That part of his author, which our tranſlator in-
tended to exhibit in this couplet, is given with much greater fide-
lity, and in a ftile not contemptible, by Ogilby:
Forth went her damſels with a lighted torch;
The gueſts a herald uſhers to the porch:
O're the refounding gates the princes lay,
Whom Morpheus golden fetters bound till day.
Ver. 411.] Where our tranflator's imagination was left fo
much at liberty by the frequent recurrence of this line in his
author, fo as to make variation excufable, and even eligible; a
couplet of unexceptionable rhymes fhould have been deviſed. I
ſhall propoſe a ſubſtitution:
Soon as the môrn emerg'd from ocean's bed,
And o'er th' ætherial plains her roſes fhed-.
Ver. 415.] Our poet probably had in view a moſt poetical
paffage of Milton, Par. Loft. xi. 245.
His Starry helm unbuckled fhow'd him prime
In manhood where youth ended; by his fide
As in a glift'ring zodiac hung the ſword.
2
BOOK IV.
219
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
420
Claſp'd on his feet th' embroider'd fandals fhine;
And forth he moves, majeſtick and divine :
Inftant to young Telemachus he prefs'd,
And thus benevolent his ſpeech addreſs'd.
Say, royal youth, fincere of foul, report
What cauſe hath led you to the Spartan court?
Do publick or domeftick cares conſtrain
This toilfome voyage o'er the furgy main?
425
O highly-favour'd delegate of Jove!
(Replies the prince) inflam'd with filial love,
And anxious hope, to hear my parent's doom,
A fuppliant to your royal court I come.
Our fov'reign feat a lewd ufurping race
With lawleſs riot, and mif-rule diſgrace;
To pamper'd infolence devoted fall
Prime of the flock, and choiceft of the ftall:
For wild ambition wings their bold defire,
And all to mount th' imperial bed aſpire.
Ogilby alfo was not difregarded by him:
Puts on his veft, athwart his ſhoulders flings
His well-hatchd faulchion, on his fandals ties,
And forth, with a majestick prefence, hies.
7
439
Ver. 427.] I know not, whether the reader will judge the
following fubftitution preferable to the couplet before us with im-
perfect rhymes:
And anxious hope, my parent's doom to hear,
I at your court, a fuppliant fad, appear.
་
Ver. 433-1 Pope in his prologue to Cato:
And wild ambition well deferves it's woe.
?
220
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
}
7
But proftrate I implore, oh king! relate
The mournful ſeries of my father's fate:
Each known difafter of the man difclofe,
Born by his mother to a world of woes!
Recite them! nor in erring pity fear
To wound with ſtoried grief the filial ear:
If e'er Ulyffes, to reclaim your right,
Avow'd his zeal in council or in fight,
If Phrygian camps the friendly toils atteft,
To the fire's merit give the fon's requeſt.
435
440
Deep from his inmoſt foul Atrides figh'd, 445
And thus indignant to the prince reply'd:
Heav'ns! would a foft, inglorious, daftard train
An abfent hero's nuptial joys profane!
Ver. 435.] The reader may amuſe himſelf with comparing
the fame paffage of the original in Pope's tranflation, book iii.
verfe 111.
Ver. 447. Heav'ns! would a foft, inglorious, dafiard train.]
Menelaus is fired with indignation at the injuries offered his friend
by the Suitors: he breaks out into an exclamation, and in a juſt
contempt vouchſafes not to mention them: he thinks he fully dif
tinguiſhes whom he intends, by calling them aránnides avroi, thoſe
cowards. The compariſon which he introduces is very juſt, they
are the fawns, Ulyffes is the lion.
This is the firft fimile that Homer has inferted in the Odyſſey;
but I cannot think it proceeded from a barrenneſs of invention, or
through phlegm in the declenfion of his years, as fome have
imagined. The nature of the poem requires a difference of ſtyle
from the Iliad: The Iliad rushes along like a torrent; the
Odyffey flows gently on like a deep ftream, with a ſmooth tran
quillity; Achilles is all fire, Ulyffes all wifdom.
The fimile in Homer is really beautiful; but in Hobbs ridicu
lous.
BOOK IV.
221
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
450
So with her young, amid the woodland ſhades,
A tim❜rous hind the lion's court invades,
Leaves in the fatal lair the tender fawns,
Climbs the green cliff, or feeds the flow'ry lawns:
Meantime return'd, with dire remorſeleſs ſway
The monarch-favage rends the trembling prey.
With equal fury, and with equal fame,
Ulyffes foon fhall re-affert his claim.
455
O Jove, fupreme, whom Gods and men revere !
thou, to whom 'tis giv'n to gild the
ſphere!
And
With pow'r congenial join'd, propitious aid
The chief adopted by the martial maid!
460
As when a ſtag and hind entʼring the den
Of th' abfent lion, lulls his whelps with tales,
Of hills and dales; the lion comes agen,
And tears them into pieces with his nails.
Can any thing be more foreign to the fenfe of Homer, or worfe
tranflated? He conftrues xpnuvès iepéro, by telling ſtories of hills
and dales to the lion's whelps, inſtead of Juga investigat: but
fuch miſtakes are fo frequent in Hobbs, that one would almoſt
ſuſpect his learning in Greek: he has difgraced the beſt Poet, and
a very great hiſtorian; Homer, and Thucydides.
Ver. 451.] Thus Ogilby:
As in a lyon's den, a hinde her fauns
Securing, ftraies ore hills and fertile lawns.
P.
Ver. 457.] One verfe of Homer is here dilated into four. A
couplet at moſt might have fufficed, thus:
Would Jove, fupreme of Gods and mortals, aid;
Would fav'ring Phoebus and the martial maid-.
* Apollo.
P.
222
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
Such to our wiſh the warriour foon reſtore,
As when contending on the Leſbian ſhore
His prowess Philomelides confeſs'd,
And loud-acclaiming Greeks the victor bleſs'd:
Then foon th' invaders of his bed and throne, 465
Their love prefumptuous fhall with life atone.
With patient ear, oh royal youth, attend
The ſtoried labours of thy father's friend:
Fruitful of deeds, the copious tale is long,
But truth fevere fhall dictate to my tongue: 470
Learn what I heard the fea-born feer relate,
Whoſe eye can pierce the dark recefs of Fate.
Long on th' Ægyptian coaſt by calms confin'd,
Heav'n to my fleet refus'd a profp'rous wind:
No vows had we preferr'd, nor victim flain! 475
For this the Gods each fav'ring gale reftrain:
Jealous, to fee their high behefts obey'd;
Severe, if men th' eternal rights evade.
'High o'er a gulfy fea, the Pharian iſle
Fronts the deep roar of difemboguing Nile:
480
Ver. 462. As when contending on the Lefbian fhore.] The Poet
here gives an account of one of Ulyffes's adventures. Philome-
lides was king of Lefbos, and Euftathius obſerves, that there was
a tradition that Ulyffes and Diomedes flew him, and turned a
ſtately monument he had raiſed for himſelf into a publick place
for the reception of ſtrangers.
P.
Vér. 479. The Pharian ifle.] This defcription of Pharos has
given great trouble to the Criticks and Geographers; it is gene-
rally concluded, that the diſtance of Pharos is about ſeven ſtadia
from Alexandria; Ammianus Marcellinus mentions this very
1
}
BOOK IV. HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
223
•
}
Her diſtance from the ſhore, the courſe begun
At dawn, and ending with the ſetting fun,
paffage thus; 1. xxii. Infula Pharos, ubi Protea cum Phocarum gre-
gibus diverfatum Homerus fabulatur inflatius, à civitatis littore mille
paffibus difparata, or, about a mile diftant from the fhores. How
then comes Homer to affirm it to be diſtant a full day's fail?
Dacier anſwers, that Homer might have heard that the Nile, con-
tinually bringing down much earthy ſubſtance, had enlarged the
continent: and knowing it not to be fo diſtant in his time, took
the liberty of a Poet, and deſcribed it as ſtill more diſtant in the
days of Menelaus. But Dacier never fees a miſtake in Homer.
Had his poetry been worſe if he had deſcribed the real diſtance of
Pharos ? It is allowable in a Poet to diſguiſe the truth, to adorn
his ftory; but what ornament has he given his poetry by this
enlargement? Bochart has fully proved that there is no acceffion
to the continent from any ſubſtance that the Nile brings down
with it: the violent agitation of the feas prohibit it from lodging,
and forming itſelf into folidity. Eratofthenes is of opinion, that
Homer was ignorant of the mouths of Nile: but Strabo anſwers,
that his filence about them is not an argument of his ignorance,
for neither has he ever mentioned where he was born. But Strabo
does not enter fully into the meaning of Eratofthenes: Eratoft-
henes does not mean that Homer was ignorant of the mouths of
Nile from his filence, but becauſe he places Pharos at the diſtance
of a whole day's fail from the continent. The only way to unite
this inconfiftence is to fuppofe, that the Poet intended to specify
the Pelufiac mouth of Nile, from which Pharos ftands about a
day's fail: but this is fubmitted to the Criticks.
I cannot tell whether one fhould venture to make uſe of the
word Nile in the tranflation, it is doubtlefs an anachroniſm; that
name being unknown in the times of Homer and Menelaus, when
the Nile was called Egyptus. Homer in this very book
Αἰγύπλοιο Δι πετέος ποταμοῖο.
Yet on the other hand, this name of Ægyptus is fo little known,
that a common reader would ſcarce diſtinguiſh the river from the
country; and indeed univerſal cuſtom has obtained for ufing the
Latin name inſtead of the Grecian, in many other inftances which
are equally anachroniſms: witneſs all the names of the Gods and
224
BOOK IV
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
490
A galley meaſures; when the ftiffer gales
Rife on the poop, and fully ſtretch the fails.
There, anchor'd veffels fafe in harbour lye, 485
Whilft limpid fprings the failing caſk ſupply.
And now the twentieth fun deſcending, laves
His glowing axle in the weſtern waves;
Still with expanded fails we court in vain
Propitious winds, to waft us o'er the main :
And the pale mariner at once deplores
His drooping vigour, and exhauſted ſtores.
When lo! a bright coerulean form appears,
The fair Eidothea! to difpel my fears;
Proteus her fire divine. With pity prefs'd, 495
Me fole the daughter of the deep addreſs'd;
What-time with hunger-pin'd, my abfent mates
Roam the wild ifle in fearch of rural cates,
Bait the barb'd fteel, and from the fishy flood
Appeaſe th' afflictive. fierce defire of food.
500
Goddeffes throughout Homer; Jupiter for Zeus, Juno for Erè,
Neptune for Pofidaon, &c.
P.
Ver. 484.] There is fomething profaic in this verfe. The
couplet may be improved, perhaps, thus ; with more adherence to
Homer's language:
A well-rigg'd galley meaſures, when the gales
Rife whistling on the poop, and fell the fails.
Ver. 487.] This part of the narration is very finely tranflated.
Ver. 499. Bait the barb'd steel, and from the fifby flood.] Mene-
laus fays, hunger was fo violent among his companions, that they
were compelled to eat fish. Plutarch in his Sympofiacks obferves,
that among the Syrians and Greeks, to abſtain from fiſh was
eſteemed a piece of fanctity; that though the Greeks were en-
BOOK IV.
225
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Whoe'er thou art (the azure Goddefs cries)
Thy conduct ill deſerves the praiſe of wiſe:
Is death thy choice, or mifery thy boaſt,
That here inglorious on a barren coaſt
Thy brave affociates droop, a meagre train
With famine pale, and afk thy care in vain?
Struck with the kind reproach, I ſtraight reply;.
Whate'er thy title in thy native ſky,
A Goddeſs fure! for more than mortal
Speaks thee defcendant of ætherial race:
grace
505
510
camped upon the Hellefpont, there is not the leaft intimation that
they eat fish, or any ſea proviſion; and that the companions of
Ulyffes, in the twelfth book of the Odyffey, never fought for fiſh
till all their other proviſions were conſumed, and that the fame
neceffity compelled them to eat the herds of the fun which induced
them to taſte fiſh. No fiſh is ever offered in facrifice: the Pytha-
goreans in particular command fiſh not to be eaten more strictly
than any other animal: fiſh afford no excuſe at all for their deſtruc-
tion, they live as it were in another world, diſturb not our air,
confume not our fruits, or injure the waters; and therefore the
Pythagoreans, who were unwilling to offer violence to any
animals, fed very little, or not at all on fiſhes. I thought it
neceſſary to infert this from Plutarch, becauſe it is an obſervation
that explains other paffages in the fequel of the Odyſſey.
Ver. 504.] Thus, with more fidelity,
That lingering here on this wave-beaten coaſt.
P.
Ver. 508.] Thefe three verfes are amplified from little more
than the fame number of words in his original, after the model of
a parallel paffage below in book vi. verfe 149. of the Greek, and
Virgil's imitation of it in his firſt Æneid.
VOL. I.
*
226
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
515
Deem not, that here of choice my fleet remains;
Some heav'nly pow'r averſe my ſtay conſtrains:
O, piteous of my fate, vouchfafe to fhew,
(For what's fequefter'd from celeſtial view?)
What pow'r becalms th' innavigable feas?
What guilt provokes him, and what vows appeafe?
I ceas'd, when affable the Goddeſs cry'd;
Obferve, and in the truths I fpeak confide:
Th' orac❜lous feer frequents the Pharian coaft,
From whoſe high bed my birth divine I boaſt: 520
Proteus, a name tremendous o'er the main,
The delegate of Neptune's wat'ry reign.
Ver. 511.] The remainder of this fpeech is liable to various
exceptions. I fhall propoſe a more faithful verſion:
Unwilling here I ftay; fome deathlefs power
Incens'd detains, who dwells th' Olympian bower.
But (for thou know'ft) what God detains me, fay;
And binds my paffage o'er the wat'ry way?
Ver. 521. Proteus, a name tremendous o'er the main.] Euftathius
enumerates various opinions concerning Proteus; fome underftand
Proteus allegorically to fignify the firſt matter which undergoes
all changes; others make him an emblem of true friendſhip, which
ought not to be ſettled till it has been tried in all ſhapes: others
make Proteus a picture of a flatterer, who takes up all ſhapes, and
fuits himſelf to all forms, in compliance to the temper of the perfon
whom he courts. The Greeks (obferves Diodorus) imagined all
theſe metamorphofes of Proteus to have been borrowed from the
practices of the Ægyptian kings, who were accuftomed to wear
the figures of lions, bulls or dragons in their diadems, as emblems
of royalty, and fometimes that of trees, &c. not ſo much for orna-
ment as terrour. Others took Proteus to be an enchanter; and
Euftathius recounts feveral that were eminent in this art, as Cra-
sifthenes the Phliaſian (which Dacier renders by miſtake Caliſt-
BOOK IV.
227
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Watch with infidious care his known abode ;
There faft in chains conſtrain the various God;
Who bound, obedient to fuperiour force,
Unerring will preſcribe your deſtin'd courſe.
525
L
henes the Phyfician) who when he pleafed could appear all on fire,
and affume other appearances to the aſtoniſhment of the ſpectators:
fuch alfo was Xenophon, Scyminus of Tarentum, Philippides of
Syracufe, Heraclitus of Mitylene, and Nymphodorus, all practiférs
of magical arts; and Euftathius recites that the Phocæ were made
uſe of in their incantations. Some write that Proteus was an
Ægyptian tumbler, who could throw himſelf into variety of figures
and poſtures; others, a ftage-player; others, that he was a great
general, killed in all the arts and ftratagems of war: Dacier
looks upon him to have been an enchanter, or Savμaronoids. It
is certain from Herodotus, that there was in the times of Mene-
laus, a king named Proteus, who reigned in Memphis; that
Egypt was always remarkable for thoſe who excelled in magical
arts; thus Jannes and Jambres changed, at leaft in appearance, a
rod into a ferpent, and water into blood: it is not therefore im-
probable but that Menelaus, hearing of him while he was in
Ægypt, went to confult him as an enchanter, which kind of men
always pretended to foreknow events: this perhaps was the real
foundation of the whole ftory concerning Proteus; the reft is the
fiction and embelliſhment of the Poet, who afcribes to his Proteus
whatever the credulity of men ufually aſcribes to enchanters.
P.
Concerning the first interpretation of the character Proteus, men-
tioned, as affigned by Euftathius, at the beginning of this note,
the curious reader may fee fome elegant difquifitions in the Fhilo-
fophical Arrangements of Mr. Harris, chapter iv.
Ver. 523.] Thefe are imperfect rhymes of perpetual occur-
rence; and the paffage is unneceffarily dilated. The following
couplet is no leſs expreffive of the original:
He, feiz'd in ambuſh, and detain'd by force,
O'er the wide ocean will preſcribe thy courſe.
Q2
228
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
530
If ftudious of your realms, you then demand
Their ftate, fince laft you left your natal land
Inſtant the God obfequious will diſcloſe
Bright tracks of glory, or a cloud of woes.
She ceas'd, and fuppliant thus I made reply;
O Goddeſs! on thy aid my hopes rely :
Dictate propitious to my duteous ear,
What arts can captivate the changeful feer?
For perilous th' affay, unheard the toil,
T'elude the preſcience of a God by guile.
535
Thus to the Goddeſs mild my fuit I end.
Then the. Obedient to my rule, attend:
When thro' the zone of heav'n the mounted
fun
Hath journey'd half, and half remains to run; 540
The feer, while zephyrs curl the fwelling deep,
Baſks on the breezy ſhore, in grateful ſleep,
His oozy limbs. Emerging from the wave,
The Phocæ fwift furround his rocky cave,
Ver. 527] The verfion here ſeems to me much too pompous
and ftiff for his author and the occafion. The fubjoined attempt
is literal.
*
And if you wiſh, illuftrious chief! to know,
What good or ill your houfe betides, fince firft
Began your woeful wand'rings, he can tell.
Ver. 534] There is nothing in Homer to countenance this
epithet changeful, which anticipates the fequel of the ftory. And
the next couplet is miferable beyond correction.
1
BOOK IV.
229
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Frequent and full; the confecrated train
545
Of her, whoſe azure trident awes the main :
There wallowing warm, th' enormous herd
exhales
An oily fteam, and taints the noon-tide gales.
To that recefs, commodious for ſurpriſe,
When purple light ſhall next fuffuſe the ſkies, 550
With me repair; and from thy warriour band
Three chofen chiefs of dauntlefs foul command:
Let their auxiliar force befriend the toil,
For ftrong the God, and perfected in guile.
Stretch'd on the fſhelly fhore, he firſt ſurveys 555
The flouncing herd aſcending from the ſeas;
Their number fumm'd, repos'd in fleep profound
The ſcaly charge their guardian God ſurround:
So with his batt'ning flocks the careful fwain
Abides, pavilion'd on the graffy plain,
560
Ver. 545.] So Milton, Par. Loft. i. 797.
A thouſand demi-gods on golden feats,
Frequent and full.
Ver. 553.] Vicious rhymes, and wretched poetry, in my
opinion. Thus?
A needful aid! Attend, and thou fhalt hear
The fell devices of the reverend ſeer.
Ver. 555.1 The rhymes are not good. Thus, more cloſely:
The monstrous herd, fpread on the ſhelly banks,
He firft will view, and, numb'ring, range their ranks:
Then in the circle will the prophet fleep,
As refts the rural guardian of the fheep,
Amphitrite.
1
Q.3
230
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
With pow'rs united, obftinately bold
Invade him, couch'd amid the ſcaly fold
Inſtant he wears, elufive of the rape,
The mimick force of ev'ry favage ſhape :
Or glides with liquid lapfe a murm'ring ſtream,
Or wrapt in flame, he glows at ev'ry limb, 566
Yet ftill retentive, with redoubled might
Thro' each vain paffive form conſtrain his flight.
But when, his native ſhape refum'd, he ſtands
Patient of conqueft, and your cauſe demands; 570
The caufe that urg'd the bold attempt declare,
And ſoothe the vanquiſh'd with a victor's pray'r,
The bands relax'd, implore the feer to ſay
What Godhead interdicts the wat'ry way?
Who ſtraight propitious, in prophetick ftrain 575
Will teach you to repaſs th' unmeaſur'd main.
She ceas'd, and bounding from the fhelfy fhore,
Round, the defcending nymph the waves re-
dounding roar,
Ver. 565.] A very poor couplet indeed! Thus?
Or in a ſtream the liquid prophet flows;
Or in a fire, by change as fudden, glows.
I must confefs, that this whole paffage, fo fufceptible of beauty,
and of fuch obvious tranflation, is very indifferently executed by
our tranflator, and in fuch a manner as to deferve but little regard
of criticiſm.
+
Ver. 569. But when, his native ſhape refum'd, &c.] This is
founded upon the practice of enchanters, who never give their
anfwers, till they have aftoniſhed the imagination of thoſe who
confult them with their juggling delufions. Dacier.
P.
BOOK IV.
231
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
High wrapt in wonder of the future deed,
With joy impetuous, to the port I ſpeed:
The wants of nature with repaſt ſuffice,
580
"Till night with grateful ſhade involv'd the ſkies,
And ſhed ambrofial dews. Faft by the deep,
Along the tented fhore, in balmy ſleep,
-
584
Our cares were loft. When o'er the eaſtern lawn,
In faffron robes the daughter of the dawn
Advanc'd her rófy ſteps; before the bay,
Due ritual honours to the Gods I pay;
Then feek the place the fea-born nymph affign'd,
With three affociates of undaunted mind.
Arriv'd, to form along th' appointed ftrand
+
599
For each a bed, fhe fcoops the hilly fand:
Then from her azure car, the finny ſpoils
Of four vaft Phocæ takes, to veil her wiles :
Beneath the finny ſpoils extended prone,
Hard toil! the prophet's piercing eye to fhun;
New from the corfe, the fcaly frauds diffufe
Unfavoury stench of oil, and brackiſh ooze :
Ver. 579. Literally, thus:
With heart revolving deep the future deed,
Straight to the fands, where ftood our fhips, I fpeed.
595
Ver. 587.] Our tranflator had his Milton in view, Par. Loft, v. 1.
Now morn, her rofy steps in th' eaſtern clime
Advancing, fow'd the earth with orient pearl.
Ver. 593.] Theſe three couplets are executed in a mean ſtile
of poetry, and a ſlovenly verſification.
Q4.
232
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
But the bright fea-maid's gentle pow'r implor'd,
With nectar'd drops the fick❜ning fenſe reſtor❜d. 600
Thus 'till the fun had travell'd half the fkies,
Ambuſh'd we lie, and wait the bold empriſe:
When thronging quick to bafk in open air,
The flocks of Ocean to the ſtrand repair :
Couch'd on the funny fand, the monſters fleep: 605
Then Proteus mounting from the hoary deep,
Surveys his charge, unknowing of deceit :
(In order told, we make the fum compleat.)
Pleas'd with the falfe review, fecure he lies,
And leaden flumbers prefs his drooping eyes. 610
Ruſhing impetuous forth, we ſtraight prepare
A furious onfet with the found of war,
And ſhouting feize the God: our force t' evade
His various arts he foon refumes in aid:
Ver. 608.] This line of explanation is added by the tranflator.
Ver. 611.] The rhymes of this couplet are imperfect: and
that ungraceful elifion of the next is from Ogilby.
He ſkilfull fuch confpirators t' evade -.
Ver. 613. And shouting feize the God:] Proteus has,
through the whole ftory, been defcribed as a God who knew all
things; it may then be aſked, how comes it that he did not fore-
know the violence that was defigned againſt his own perfon? and
is it not a contradiction, that he who knew Menelaus without
information, ſhould not know that he lay in ambuſh to ſeize him?
The only anſwer that occurs to me is, that theſe enchanters
never pretend to have an inherent fore-knowledge of events, but
learn things by magical arts, and by recourſe to the fecrets of
their profeffion; fo that Proteus having no fufpicion, had not
confulted his art, and confequently might be furprized by Mene
Jaus: fo far is agreeable to the pretenſions of fuch deluders: the
BOOK IV.
233
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
A lion now, he curls a furgy mane;
615
Sudden, our bands a ſpotted pard reſtrain ;
Then arm'd with tuſks, and light'ning in his eyes,
A boar's obſcener ſhape the God belies:
On fpiry volumes, there, a dragon rides;
Here, from our ſtrict embrace a ſtream he glides:
And laſt, ſublime his ſtately growth he rears, 621
A tree, and well-diffembled foliage wears.
Vain efforts! with fuperiour pow'r comprefs'd,
Me with reluctance thus the feer addrefs’d.
Say, fon of Atreus, fay what God infpir'd 625
This daring fraud, and what the boon defir'd?
I thus; O thou, whofe certain eye foreſees
The fix'd event of Fate's remote decrees;
After long woes, and various toil endur'd,
Still on this defert ifle my fleet is moor'd;
Unfriended of the gales. All-knowing! ſay,
What Godhead interdicts the wat❜ry way?
630
Poet indeed has drav n him in colours ftronger than life; but poetry
adds or detracts at pleaſure, and is allowed frequently to ſtep out
of the way, to bring a foreign ornament into the ſtory.
P.
Ver. 618.] Our tranſlator imitates here Dryden's Ode on St.
Cecilia:
A dragon's fiery form bely'd the God:
Sublime on radiant ſpires he rode.
Ver. 627.] Or, with more fidelity, as follows:
**
I thus: O! reverend fage! whofe eye forefees
(Why then theſe queftions ?) Fate's remote decrees;
Pines my fad foul, to ſee (ſuch labours paſt)
On this lone ile my fleet detain'd at laf
234
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
What vows repentant will the pow'r appeaſe,
To ſpeed a profp'rous voyage o'er the ſeas?
To Jove (with ſtern regard the God replies) 635
And all th' offended fynod of the ſkies,
Juft hecatombs with due devotion flain,
Thy guilt abfolv'd, a profp'rous voyage gain.
To the firm fanction of thy fate attend!
!
An exile thou, nor cheering face of friend, 640
Nor fight of natal fhore, nor regal dome
Shalt yet enjoy, but ſtill art doom'd to roam.
Once more the Nile,, who from the fecret fource
Of Jove's high feat deſcends with ſweepy force,
Ver. 633.] Or thus:
K
&c.] Homer
Our navy here what power offended keeps,
Nor yields a paffage o'er the fiſhy deeps.
Ver. 635. To Jove Just becatombs
continually inculcates morality, and piety to the Gods; he gives
in this place a great inftance of the neceffity of it. Menelaus
cannot fucceed in any of his actions, till he pays due honours to
the Gods; the neglect of facrifice is the occafion of all his cala-
mity, and the performance of it opens a way to all his future
profperity.
Ver. 643.
Nile, who from the ſecret ſource
}
P.
Of Jove's high feat defcends
Homer, it muſt be confeffed, gives the epithet Alwers generally
to all rivers; if he has uſed it here peculiarly, there might have
been room to have imagined that he had been acquainted with the
true cauſe of the inundations of this famous river: the word
Arrerns implies it: for it is now generally agreed, that theſe pro-
digious hundations proceed from the vaft rains and the melting of
the fnows on the mountains of the Moon in Æthiopia, about the
autumnal Equinox; when thoſe rains begin to fall, the river by
degrees increafes, and as they abate, it decreaſes; the word
Alwerns is therefore peculiarly proper when applied to the Nile;
BOOK IV.
235
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Muft view his billows white beneath thy oar, 645
And altars blaze along his fanguine fhore.
Then will the Gods, with holy pomp ador'd,
To thy long vows a ſafe return accord.
650
He ceas'd: heart-wounded with afflictive pain,
(Doom'd to repeat the perils of the main,
A ſhelfy tract, and long!) O feer, I cry,
To the ſtern ſanction of th' offended fky
My prompt obedience bows. But deign to ſay,
What fate propitious, or what dire difmay
Suſtain thoſe peers, the reliques of our hoft, 655
Whom I with Neftor on the Phrygian coaſt
Embracing left? Muſt I the warriours weep,
Whelm'd in the bottom of the monſtrous deep?
Or did the kind domeftick friend deplore
*
The breathleſs heroes on their native fhore? 660
Prefs not too far, reply'd the God; but ceaſe
To know, what known will violate thy peace:
Too curious of their doom! with friendly woe
Thy breaſt will heave, and tears eternal flow.
for though all rivers depend upon the waters that fall from the air,
or in Aids, yet the Nile more eſpecially; for when the rain ceaſes,
the Nile confifts only of feven empty channels.
Or thus, more accurately :
Once more th' Ægyptian ftream, whofe waters flow
From Jove's high manfions to the plains below-
P.
Ver. 653.] The tranflation of this paffage is unneceffarily
dilated, and the ſpirit weakened by infipid dilution. I would
contract it thus:
I bow: but fay, what fates attend our hoft,
Whom I and Neftor,
236
BOOK IT.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Part live! the reft, a lamentable train!
665
Range the dark bounds of Pluto's dreary reign.
Two, foremoft in the roll of Mars renown'd,
Whoſe arms with conqueft in thy caufe were
crown'd,
Fell by diſaſtrous fate; by tempefts toſt,
A third lives wretched on a diſtant coaſt.
By Neptune refcu'd from Minerva's hate,
On Gyræ, fafe Oïlean Ajax fat,
*
670
675
His ſhip o'erwhelm'd; but frowning on the floods,
Impious he roar'd defiance to the Gods;
To his own prowefs all the glory gave,
The pow'r defrauding who vouchfaf'd to fave.
This heard the raging Ruler of the main;
His fpear, indignant for fuch high difdain,
He lanch'd; dividing with his forky mace
Th' aërial fummit from the marble baſe:
The rock rufh'd fea-ward with impetuous roar
Ingulf'd, and to th' abyfs the boaſter bore.
Ver. 669.] Or thus ;
Are dead: one lives his forrows to deplore,
Impriſon'd exile on a fea-girt fhore !
Ver. 673.] The vicious rhymes of Ogilby:
But that the impious faid, thoſe raging floods
He would eſcape, in fpite of all the Gods.
Ver. 679.] This couplet is uncommonly dignified.
Ver. 681.] Thus, more accurately:
One fragment ftay'd; and with impetuous roar,
One to the fwelling deeps the boafter bore:
There floating long, the fuffocating wave
At length ingulf'd him in a watry grave.
680
Ver. 682. ----- and to th' abyss the boafter bore.] It is in the
BOOK IV. HOMER's ODYSSEY.
237
686
By Juno's guardian aid, the watʼry vaſt
Secure of ſtorms, your royal brother paſt :
'Till coafting nigh the Cape, where Malea ſhrouds
Her fpiry cliffs amid furrounding clouds;
A whirling guft tumultuous from the ſhore,
Acroſs the deep his labʼring veffel bore.
In an ill-fated hour the coaft he gain'd,
Where late in regal pomp Thyeftes reign'd; 690
original, He died, having drunk the falt water. This verfe has
been omitted in many editions of Homer; and the ancients, fays
Euftathius, blame Ariftarchus for not marking it as a verfe that
ought to be rejected; the fimplicity of it confifts in the ſenſe,
more than in the terms, and it is unworthy of Proteus to treat the
death of Ajax with pleafantry, as he feems to do, by adding
having drunk falt water: but why may not Proteus be ſuppoſed to
be ferious, and the term "Aaµuçov ödwę, to imply no more than that
he was drowned in the waves of the ocean? I know only one
reaſon that can give any colour to the objection, viz. its being
poffibly become a vulgar expreffion, and uſed commonly in a
ludicrous fenfe; then indeed it is to be avoided in poetry, but it
does not follow, becauſe perhaps it might be uſed in this manner
in the days of theſe Criticks, that therefore it was ſo uſed in the
days of Homer. What was poetical in the time of the Poet,
might be grown vulgar in the time of the Criticks.
Ver. 683.] Or thus :
Your brother held his courfe, fecure from harm
By venerable Juno's potent arm.
P.
Ver. 689.] Here our tranflator begins to mifrepreſent his
author, of whom I ſhall give a literal verſion :
To the land's end, where once Thyeftes dwelt,
But then his fon Ægifthus: hence appear'd
An eaſy paffage home; for fav'ring Gods
Chang'd the rough breeze, and gave a ſafe return.
The king ſprang joyful to his native fhore,
And fondly kift the ground: with rapture view'd
The bliſsful ſpot, and ſteept with many a tear.
None of his predeceffors appear to have mifconceived the meaning
of their author.
238
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
But when his hoary honours bow'd to fate,
Ægyfthus govern’d in paternal ſtate.
The furges now fubfide, the tempeſt ends
From his tall fhip the king of men defcends:
There fondly thinks the Gods conclude his toil!
Far from his own domain falutes the foil : 696
With rapture
oft' the verge of Greece reviews,
And the dear turf with tears of joy bedews.
Him thus exulting on the diſtant ſtrand,
A ſpy diſtinguiſh'd from his airy fſtand ;
To bribe whoſe vigilance, Ægyfthus told
A mighty fum of ill perfuading gold:
700
There watch'd this guardian of his guilty fear,
'Till the twelfth moon had wheel'd her pale
career;
705
And now admoniſh'd by his eye, to court
With terrour wing'd conveys the dread report.
Ver. 698.] Thus Ogilby:
With a full flood of joyful tears bedews.
Ver. 699.] This notion of difcovering Agamemnon by his
geftures, which feems implied in our Poet's verfion, is altogether
unknown to his author, and might probably be fuggeſted by his
favourite Milton. Let the reader compare Par. Loft, iv. 128. 568.
Ver. 704.] Thus Milton, Par. Loft, i. 784.
while over-head the moon
Sits arbitrefs, and nearer to the earth
Wheels her pale courſe.
Ver. 705.] The remainder of this account is poorly executed.
The reader muſt content himſelf with a plain literal tranſlation =
The news he carried to Ægiſthus' houſe
Who ftraight a crafty ftratagem devis’d.
Seven of his fturdieft men, felected all,
In ambuſh lay: a feaſt he bids prepare :
BOOK IV.
239
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
↑
Of deathful arts expert, his lord employs
The miniſters of blood in dark ſurpriſe
And twenty youths in radiant mail incas'd,
Cloſe ambuſh'd nigh the ſpacious hall he plac❜d. 710
Then bids prepare the hofpitable treat:
715
Vain fhews of love to veil his felon hate!
To grace the victor's welcome from the wars,
A train of courfers, and triumphal cars
Magnificent he leads: the royal gueſt
Thoughtlefs of ill, accepts the fraudful feaſt.
The troop forth iffuing from the dark recefs,
With homicidal rage the king oppreſs!
So, whilſt he feeds luxurious in the ſtall,
The fov'reign of the herd is doom'd to fall. 720
The partners of his fame and toils at Troy,
Around their lord, a mighty ruin! lie:
Mix'd with the brave, the baſe invaders bleed;
Ægyſthus fole ſurvives to boaſt the deed.
Himfelf with horfe and cars, on mifchief bent,
Meets and invites the king of men; conducts
Without fufpicion, and at ſupper flays,
Juft at his manger as an ox might fall.
Not one the royal train furviving faw;
A
Not one, Ægifthus: all were flaughter'd there.
Ver. 719. So, whilft he feeds luxurious in the ftall, &c.] Dacier
tranſlates Bev, by taureau, a bull; and miſunderſtands Euftathius,
who directly fays, that in the fecond Iliad the Poet compares
Agamemnon to a bull, in this place to an ox, Taupo sixater võv de
βοῖ αὐτὸν ὡμοίωσεν. The one was undoubtedly defigned to defcribe
the courage and majeſtick port of a warriour, the other to give
us`an` image of a prince falling in full peace and plenty, ŵs ßăr
ἐπὶ φάτνη.
P.
240
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
He ſaid; chill horrours fhook my fhiv'ring
725
foul,
Rack'd with convulfive pangs in duft I roll;
And hate, in madneſs of extreme deſpair,
To view the fun, or breathe the vital air.
But when fuperiour to the rage of woe,
I ftood reftor'd, and tears had ceas'd to flow; 730
Lenient of grief, the pitying God began-
Forget the brother, and refume the man:
To Fate's fupreme difpofe the dead refign,
That care be Fate's, a fpeedy paffage thine.
Still lives the wretch who wrought the death
deplor❜d,
But lives a victim for thy vengeful fword;
Ver. 729.] Better, perhaps, as follows:
At length, when, fated with excess of woe,
My limbs I`rais'd, and tears had ceas'd to flow -.
735
Ver. 732.] This thought is not in Homer, and was probably -
ſuggeſted to the tranſlator by Chapman's verſion a little below :
a generous fpring began.
A.
•
1
Of fitting comfort, as I was a man;
But, as a brother, I muft ever mourne.
Ver. 735.1 Theſe fix verfes are dilated from two of Homer;
and their contents may be exhibited in an equal number in Engliſh,
if a common form of conftruction in the ancient languages may
be allowed in our's: (and all poffible indulgence of this kind
ſhould be conceded in poetry) namely, that of including the ſub-
ftantive in the pronoun; thus:
Alive thou ftill wilt find him, or partake
His funeral feaſt, by young Oreftes flain.
The reader may confult my note on the Trachiniæ of Sophocles,:
verſe 260.
A +
LOOK IV.
241
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
740
Unleſs with filial rage Oreftes glow,
And fwift prevent the meditated blow:
You timely will return a welcome gueft,
With him to ſhare the fad funereal feaſt.
Hefaid: new thoughts my beating heart employ,
My gloomy foul receives a gleam of joy.
Fair hope revives; and
and eager I addreft
The preſcient Godhead to reveal the reft.
The doom decreed of thoſe diſaſtrous two
I've heard with pain, but oh! the tale purſue;
What third brave ſon of Mars the fates conſtrain
To roam the howling defert of the main :
Or in eternal fhade if cold he lies,
745
Provoke new ſorrow from theſe grateful eyes. 750
Ver. 748.1" He found him in a deſert land, and in the waſte
bowling wilderness" Deut. xxxii. 10.
Ver. 749. Or in eternal ſhade if cold he lies.] Proteus in the
beginning of his relation had faid, that one perſon was alive, and
remained encloſed by the ocean: how then comes Menelaus here to
fay, Give me an account of that other perſon who is alive, or
dead? Perhaps the forrow which Menelaus conceived for his friend
Ulyffes, might make him fear the worft; and Proteus adding,
enclosed by the ocean, might give a fufpicion that he was dead, the
words being capable of ambiguity. However this be, it fets the
friendſhip of Menelaus in a ſtrong light: where friendſhip is
ſincere, a ſtate of uncertainty is a ſtate of fears, we dread even
poffibilities, and give them an imaginary certainty. Upon this, one
of the fineſt compliments that a Poet ever made to a patron turns,
that of Horace to Mecanas, in the firft of the Epodes.
-
It may not perhaps be difagreeable to the reader to obſerve,
that Virgil has borrowed this ftory of Proteus from Homer, and
tranflated it almoft literally. Rapin fays, that Homer's defcription
VOL. I.
R
243
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
That chief (rejoin'd the God) his race derives
From Ithaca, and wond'rous woes furvives;
is more ingenious and fuller of invention, but Virgil's more
judicious. I wish that Critick had given his reaſons for his opinion.
I believe in general, the plan of the Iliad and Odyffey is allowed
by the beſt of Criticks to be more perfect than that of the Æneis.
Homer, with reſpect to the unity of time, has the advantage very
manifeftly Rapin confeffes it, and Ariftotle propoſes him as an
example to all Epick authors. Where then is the fuperiority of
judgment? Is it that there are more fabulous, I mean incredible,
ſtories in Homer than Virgil? as that of the Cyclops, the fhips
of Alcinous, &c. Virgil has imitated moſt of theſe bold fables,
and the ſtory of the ſhips of Alcinous is not more incredible than
the transformation of the ſhips of Æneas. But this is too large a
ſubject to be difcuffed in the compaſs of theſe Annota tions. In
particular paffages 1. freely allow the preference to Virgil, as in
the deſcent of Æneas into hell, &c. but in this ftory of Proteus,
I cannot fee any fuperiority of judgment. Virgil is little more
than a tranſlator; to fhew: the particulars would be too tedious: I
refer it to the reader to compare the two authors, and fhall only
inſtance in one paffage.
Ἡμεῖς δ' αίψ' ἰάχοντες ἐπεσσύμεθ', ἀμφὶ δὲ χεῖρας
Βάλλομεν ἐδ᾽ ὁ γέρων δολίης ἐπελήθεια τέχνης,
Αλλ' ήτοι πρώτισα λέων γένετ' ηϋγένειος,
Αὐτὰς ἔπειτα δράκων, καὶ πάρδαλις, ἠδὲ μέγας σᾶς,
Γίνετο δ' ὑγρὸν ὕδωρ, καὶ δένδρεον ὑψιπέτηλον, &c.
"Cum clamore ruit magno, manicifque jacentem.
Occupat: ille fuæ contra non immemor artis,
*
" Omnia transformat fefe in miracula rerum,
« Ignèmque, horribilemque feram, fluviumque fiquentem," &c.
Homer has a manifeft advantage in the occafion of the ſtory:
the lofs of a few bees feems to be a cauſe too trivial for an under-
taking fo great as the furprife of a Deity: whereas the whole
happineſs of Menelaus depends upon this confultation of Proteus:
this is a far more important caufe, and confequently in this
reſpect fomething more is due to Homer than the fole honour of
an inventor:
P
2
.BOOK IV.
243
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Laertes' fon: girt with circumfluous tides,
He ſtill calamitous conſtraint abides.
755
760
Him in Calypfo's cave of late I view'd,
When ſtreaming grief his faded cheek bedew'd.
But vain his pray'r, his arts are vain to move
Th' enamour'd Goddeſs, or elude her love :
His veffel funk, and dear companions loft,
He lives reluctant on a foreign coaſt.
But oh belov'd by heav'n! referv'd to thee
A happier lot the fmiling Fates decree :
Free from that law, beneath whoſe mortal ſway
Matter is chang'd, and varying forms decay;
Elyfium fhall be thine; the bliſsful plains
Of utmoſt earth, where Rhadamanthus reigns.
765
Ver. 763.] This diftich is altogether foreign to his original.
The following fubftitution is more congenial to the language and
ſpirit of the author:
Nor (fo heaven wills) ſhall death's refiftleſs hand
At Argos feize thee, in thy native land.
Ogilby, whom our Poet feems to have confulted, is not con-
temptible, and has more fidelity :
And, Menelaus, know, 'tis not thy fate
To dye at home; the Gods will thee tranflate
To feats of blifs, the blefs'd Elyzian plains,
At the world's end, where Rhadamanthus reigns.
And the remainder of this defcription is finiſhed in a ftile not in-
ferior to that of Pope himfelf; to whofe touches the paffage is
probably indebted for no fmall portion of it's elegance.
*
Vet. 765. Elyfium fhall be thine; the blissful plains
Of utmost earths &c.]
This is the only place in which the Elyfian field is mentioned in
Homer. The conjectures of the ancients are very various about
•
R
2
244
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Joys ever young, unmix'd with pain or fear,
Fill the wide circle of th' eternal year:
Stern winter ſmiles on that aufpicious clime:
The fields are florid with unfading prime : 770
From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow,
Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy fnow;
But from the breezy deep the bleſt inhale
The fragrant murmurs of the weſtern gale.
This grace peculiar will the Gods afford
To thee the fon of Jove, and beauteous Helen's
lord.
775
4
it: Plato in his Phæd. places it in cælo ftellate, or the region of
the ſtars; but finee Homer fixes it elę weípara yains, or (as Milton
expreffes it) at the earth's green end, I will paſs over the con-
jectures of others, efpecially fince the paxáp Nhoos, by which
athers exprefs. Elyfium, confine it to this world.
Strabo, fays Euftathius, places it not far from Maurufia, that
lies near the Streights: it is fuppofed by Bochart, as Dacier ob-
ferves, that the fable is of Phoenician extraction, that alixuth in
Hebrew fignifies joy or exultation, which word the Greeks, adapt-
ing to their way of pronunciation, called Elyfius. If this be true,
I ſhould come into an opinion that has much prevailed, that the
Greeks had heard of Paradife from the Hebrews; and that the
Hebrews defcribing Paradife as a place of aliaeth, or joy, gave
occafion to all the fables of the Grecian Elyfium.
P.
Ver. 771.] Thefe two couplets, and particularly the former,
are very mafterly indeed, and are confpicuous even in the midst of
'excellence.
Ver. 773.1 An accurate and elegant couplet may be wrought
with trivial correction from Ogilby:
Where winter mild nor fnow deforms, nor rain;
But whispering gales breathe comfort from the main
BOOK IV.
245
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
}
He ceas'd, and plunging in the waft profound,
Beneath the God the whirling billows bound.
Then ſpeeding back, involv'd in various thought,
My friends attending at the thore I fought. 780
Arriv❜d, the rage of hunger we controll,
'Till night with filent ſhade inveſts the pole;
Then loſe the cares of life in pleaſing reſt.
Soon as the morn reveals the roſeate eaſt,
With fails we wing the mafts, our anchors weigh,
Unmoor the fleet, and rush into the ſea.
Rang'd on the banks, beneath our equal oars
White curl the waves, and the vex'd ocean roars.
Then ſteering backward from the Pharian iſle,
We gain the ftream of Jove-defcended Nile: 790
There quit the fhips, and on the deftin'd fhore
With ritual hecatombs the Gods adore:
786
Ver. 777.] Or thus?
He ſaid: and headlong to the bottom goes:
Beneath the God the waves in eddies roſe.
Ver. 783.] Or thus, on account of imperfect rhymes, with
more exactneſs:
There, footh'd by fleep, along the fhore we lay.
When morn with rofy hand led on the day,
Our ſhips we drag to fea, we ſpread our fails
On the rear'd maſts, and catch the rifing gales.
Rang'd on the banks we fit; our oars are ply'd;
With every ſtroke curls up the foaming tide.
Ogilby, ſomewhat corrected, furniſhes a full and elegant couplet:
Our bawfers loos'd, mafts rear'd, and fails unfurl'd,
We launch our veffels to the watery world,
R 3
246
HOMER's ODYSSEY. BOOK IV
Their wrath aton'd, to Agamemnon's name.
A Cenotaph I raife, of deathlefs fame.
Theſe rites to piety and grief diſcharg'd,
The friendly Gods a fpringing gale inlang'd:
The fleet ſwift tilting o'er the furges flew,
'Till Grecian cliffs appear'd, a bliſsful view!
795
809
Thy patient ear hath heard me long relate.
A ftory, fruitful of difaftrous fate:
And now, young prince, indulge my fond re-
queſt;
Be Sparta honour'd with his royal gueſt,
Till from his eaſtern goal, the joyous fun
His twelfth diurnal race begins to run.
Meantime my train the friendly gifts prepare, 805
Three fprightly courfers, and a poliſh'd car :
With theſe, a goblet of capacious mould,
Figur'd with art to dignify the gold,
Ver. 795.] Too much dilatation, when a verfion commenfurate
with his author were practicable, and much to be preferred.
Thus
Theſe honours duly paid, the gods command
A gale, that wafts me to my native land.
Ver. 799.] A couplet wholly added by the tranſlator to a
paffage immoderately amplified with gratuitous interpolations.
It ſeems an enlargement of Dacier: "Voilà tout ce que je puis
"vous apprendre."
Ver. 806. Three sprightly courfers.] How comes it to paſs that
Menelaus proffers three horſes to Telemachus? This was a com-
pleat fet among the ancients, they uſed one pole-horfe and two
leaders. Euftathius.
P.
BOOK IV
247
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
+
(Form'd for libation to the Gods) fhall prove *~
A pledge and monument of facred love: 810
My quick return, young Ithacus rejoin❜d, :
Damps the warm wishes of my raptur'd mind:
Did not my fate mý needful hafte ¨conſtrain,
Charm'd by your fpeech, fo graceful and humane,
Loft in delight the circling year would roll, -815
While deep attention fix'd my lift'ning foul.
But now to Pyle permit my deftin'd way,
My lov'd affociates chide my long delay:
In dear remembrance of your royal grace,
I take the preſent of the promis'd vafe;
The courfers for the champaign fports, retain;
That gift our barren rocks will render vain:
820
ค
Ver. 809.] Or thus, more accurately:
Great prince, replies Telemachus again,
Me, all too willing! ftrive not to detain.
I, loitering here, my friends expectant wrong,
Charm'd by the graceful accents of your tongue.
Ver. 822. That gift our barren rocks will render vain.] This
paffage where Telemachus refufes the horfes has been much ob-
ſerved, and turned to a moral fenfe, viz. as a leffon to men tố
defire nothing but what is ſuitable to their conditions. Horace
has introduced it into his epiftles,
"Haud malè Telemachus, proles patientis Ulyffei;
"Non eft aptus equis Ithacæ locus, ut neque planis
"Porrectus fpaciis, nec multæ prodigus herbæ :
"Atride, magis apta tibi tua dona relinquam."
This is the reaſon why Ulyffes (as Euftathius obferves upon the
tenth of the Iliad) leaves the horſes of Rheſus to the diſpoſal of
Diomedes; fo that the fame ſpirit of wiſdom reigned in Telema
R 4
248
LOOK IV
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Horrid with cliffs, our meagre land allows
Thin herbage for the mountain goat to browze,
But neither mead nor plain ſupplies, to feed 825
The sprightly courfer, or indulge his ſpeed:
To fea-furrounded realms the Gods affign
Small tract of fertile lawn, the leaſt to mine.
chus, that was fo, remarkable in Ulyffes. This is the reaſon why.
Menelaus fmiled; it was not at the frankness or fimplicity of
Telemachus, but it was a ſmile of joy, to fee the young prince.
inherit his father's, wifdom.
It is the remark of Euftathius, that Telemachus is far from
exalting the nature of his country; he confeffes it to be barren,
and more barren than the neighbouring iflands; yet that natural
and laudable affection which all worthy perfons have for their
country, makes him prefer it to places of a more happy fituation.
This appears to me a replication to what Menelaus had before
offered concerning the tranſplantation of Ulyffes to Sparta; this
is contained in iwbóτow; and then the meaning is, it is true
Ithaca is a barren region, yet more defireable than this country of
Lacedæmon, this immébolas yata. It is the more probable from the
offer of horſes which Menelaus had then made, and is alſo another
reafon for the ſmile of Menelaus.
Euftathius remarks that Menelaus, though he has expreffed the
greatest friendſhip for Ulyffes, yet makes no offer to restore the
fortunes of his friend by any military affiftance; though he hád a
moſt fair opportunity given him to repay the past kindneſs, of
Ulyffes to his wife Penelope and his fon Telemachus; and how
comes Telemachus not to aſk it either of Neftor or Menelaus ?
He anfwers, that this depended upon the uncertainty they were
*yet under, concerning the life of Ulyffes. But the true reafon
in my opinion is, that the nature of epick poetry requires a con-
trary conduct: the hero of the poem is to be the chief agent, and
the re-establishment of his fortunes muft be owing to his own
wiſdom and valour. I have enlarged upon this already, ſo that
there is no occafion in this place to infift upon it.
P.
BOOK IN HOMER LODYSSEY,
149
His hand the king with tender paffion prefs'd,
And ſmiling thus, the royal youth addrefs'd :´- 830
Q.early worth! a fout fo wife, and young,
Proclaims you from the fage Ulyffes fprung.
Selected from my ftores, of matchlefs price
An urn ſhall recompence your prudent choice:
Not mean the maffy mould of filver, grac'd 835
By Vulcan's art, the verge with gold enchas'd;
A pledge the ſcepter'd pow'r of Sidon gave,*··
When to his realm I plough'd the orient wave.
Thus they alternate; while with artful care
The menial train the regal feaſt prepare:
840
The firſtlings of the flock are doom'd to dye ; :
Rich fragrant wines the chearing bowl fupply
A female band the gift of Ceres bring;
And the gilt roofs with genial triumph ring.
Meanwhile, in Ithaca, the Suitor-pow'rs 845
In active games divide their jovial hours:
In areas vary'd with moſaick art,
Some whirl the diſk, and fome the jav'lin dart.
Afide, fequefter'd from the vaſt reſort,
Antinous fat ſpectator of the ſport;
850
Ver. 833.] Shocking rhymes! but the poetry of this part
will not endure, as it deferves not, the niceties of criticiſm.
Ver. 844.] This line is from the invention of the tranſlator.
Ver. 846.] He might eafily have exhibited the full fenſe of
his author, in fame fuch manner as the following:
With equal riot pafs their jovial hours.
250
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
With great Eurymachus, of worth confeſt,
And high deſcent, fuperiour to the reft;
Whom young Noëmon lowly thus addreſt.
My ſhip equipp'd within the neighb'ring port,
The prince, departing for the Pylian court, 855
Requeſted for his fpeed; but courteous, fay
When ſteers he home, or why this long delay?
For Elis I fhould fail with utmoſt fpeed,
T'import. twelve mares which there luxurious
feed,
And twelve young mules, a ſtrong laborious race,
New to the plough, unpractis'd in the trace. 861
Unknowing of the courſe to Pyle defign'd,
A fudden horrour feiz'd on either mind:
The prince in rural bow'r they fondly thought,
Numb'ring his flocks and herds, not far remote.
Relate, Antinous cries, devoid of guile,
When ſpread the prince his fail for diſtant Pyle?
866
Ver. 864.] This does not deferve the name of poetry: ſo
that, although the example of Pope's Iliad, already delivered to
the world, and his final correction of all the Odyffey, would
greatly. contribute to produce a general fimilarity between his
parts of the verfion and thofe of his coadjutors; the following
affertion by Dr. Jaktafon, in his Life of Fenton, would be ſpeedily
rejected as unfubftantial by any reader of difcernment and taſte,
who ſhould undertake a careful confideration of a few paffages in
their reſpective parts.
"How the two affociates performed their parts is well known
"to the readers of poetry, who have never been able to diſtin-
"guish their books from thofe of Pope,"
*
BOOK IV. HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
251
Did chofen chiefs acroſs the gulfy main
Attend his voyage, or domeſtick train?
Spontaneous did you ſpeed his fecret courſe, 870
Or was the veffel feiz'd by fraud or force?
With willing duty, not reluctant mind,
(Noëmon cry'd) the veffel was refign'd.
Who in the balance, with the great affairs 874
Of courts preſume to weigh their private cares
With him, the peerage next in pow'r to you:
And Mentor, captain of the lordly crew,
Or fome celeftial in his rev'rend form,
Safe from the fecret rock and adverſe ſtorm,
Pilots the courſe: for when the glimmʼring ray
Of yeſter dawn diſclos'd the tender day,
881
Mentor himſelf I faw, and much admir'd.-
Then ceas'd the youth, and from the court re-
tir'd.
Confounded and appall'd, th', unfiniſh'd
game
The Suitors quit, and all to council came : 885
Antinous firſt th' affembled peers addreſt,
Rage fparkling in his eyes, and burning in his
breaft.
O ſhame to manhood! fhall one daring boy
The ſcheme of all our happineſs deſtroy?
Fly unperceiv'd, feducing half the flow'r
Of nobles, and invite a foreign pow'r ?
890
Ver. 891.] There is nothing in the original, that correſponds
to the latter claufe of this verfe: and indeed, in thefe unim-
252
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
The pond'rous engine rais'd to cruſh us all,
Recoiling, on his head is fure to fall.
Inſtant prepare me, on the neighb'ring ftrand,
With twenty chofen mates a veſſel mann'd; 89
For ambuſh'd cloſe beneath the Samian fhore
His ſhip returning fhall my ſpies explore:
He foon his raſhneſs ſhall with life atone,
Seek for his father's fate, but find his own.
With vaſt applauſe the ſentence all approve ;
Then rife, and to the feaſtful hall remove: 901-
·
portant parts of narrative, a degree of amplification and laxity
fhould be indulged to a tranflator, or the moft poetical verſatility
would be unable to accommodate itſelf on occafions, deftitute of
all embelliſhment from the nature of the ſubject, with any toler-
able ſhare of dignity.
Ver. 896. For ambush'd clofe, &c.] We have here another ufe
which the Poet makes of the voyage of Telemachus. Euftathius
remarks that theſe incidents not only diverfify but enliven the
poem. But it
But it may be aſked why the Poet makes not uſe of ſo
fair an opportunity to infert a gallant action of Telemachus, and
draw him not as eluding, but defeating his adverfaries? The
anfwer is eafy; that the Suitors failed compleatly armed, and
Telemachus unprovided of any weapons: and therefore Homer
confults credibility, and forbears to paint his young hero in the
colours of a knight in romance, who upon all difadvantages
engages and defeats his oppofers. But then to what purpoſe is
this ambush of the Suitors, and what part of the defign of the
Poem is carried on by it? The very chief aim of it; to fhew
the fufferings of Ulyffes: he is unfortunate in all relations of
life, as a king, as an hufband, and here very eminently as a
father; thefe fufferings are laid down in the propofition of the
Odyffey as effential to the poem, and confequently this ambuſh
laid by the Suitors againſt the life of Telemachus is an eſſential
ornament.
R.
BOOK IV.
+253
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Swift to the queen the herald Medon ran,
Who heard the confult of the dire divan
Before her dome the royal matron ſtands,
And thus the meffage of his hafte demands. gos
What will the Suitors? muft my fervant train
Th' allotted labours of the day refrain,
For them to form fome exquifite repaft?
Heav'n grant this feftival may prove their laſt!
Ver..903.] Thus Milton, Par. Loft. x. 457.
Forth ruſh'd in hafte the great confulting peers,
Rais'd from their dark divan.
Ver. 906. The Speech of Penelope.] Longinus in particular
commends this ſpeech as a true picture of a perſon that feels
various emotions of foul, and is borne by every guft of paffion
from fentiment to fentiment, with fudden and unexpected tranfi-
tions. There is fome obfcurity in the Greek; this arifes from
the warmth with which the ſpeaks, fhe has not leiſure to explain-
herſelf fully, a circumſtance natural to a perſon in anger.
Penelope gives a very beautiful picture of Ulyffes: "The
"beſt of princes are allowed to have their favourites, and give
"a greater fhare of affection than ordinary to particular perfons.
"But Ulyffes was a father to all his people alike, and loved
"them all as his children; a father, though he bears a more
« tender affection to one child than to another, yet fhews them
"all an equal treatment; thus alſo a good king is not ſwayed by
"inclination, but juſtice, towards all his fubjects." Dacier.
One circumſtance is very remarkable, and gives us a full view
of a perſon in anger; at the very fight of Medon, Penelope flies
out into paſſion; the gives him not time to ſpeak one fyllable,
but ſpeaks herſelf as if all the Suitors were prefent, and reproaches
them in the perſon of Medon, though Medon is juſt to her and
Ulyffes; but anger is an undiſtinguiſhing paffion. What fhe fays
of ingratitude, recalls to my memory what is to be found in
Laertius: Ariftotle being asked what thing upon earth ſooneft
grew old replied an obligation. Tì ráxıça jupáons; refpondit,
χάρις..
P.
$54
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
Or if they ſtill muft live, from me remove già
The double plague of luxury and love!
Forbear, ye
fons of infolence! forbear,
In riot to conſume a wretched heir.
In the young foul illuftrious thought to raiſe,
Were ye not tutor'd with Ulyffes' praiſe?
Have not your fathers oft' my lord defin'd,
Gentle of fpeech, beneficent of mind?
Some kings with arbitrary rage devour,
Or in their tyrant-minions veft the pow'r :
Ulyffes let no partial favours fall,
The people's parent, he protected all :
But abfent now, perfidious and ingrate!
His ſtores ye ravage, and ufurp his ſtate.
915
920
Ver. 916.] This verfion is not true to the ſenſe of the original,
and may feem modelled from Ogilby:
Ah! would they quit my houfe, and that this might
Their farewell banquet be, and laft good night.
Chapman is without elegance, but exactly faithful:
I would to heaven, that (leaving wooing me,
Nor ever troubling other companie)
Here might the laſt feaſt be, and moſt extreme,
That ever any ſhall addreffe for them.
Ver. 917.] This fpeech is very well executed. The following
literal tranſlation extends from this verſe to the concluſion:
To none injurious, or in deed or word,
Among his people; as capricious kings
View, partial, this with hatred, that with love..
Harſh and unkind was he to none: but ye
In actions miſbecoming fhew your hearts,
Loft to the memory of his favours paft.
Ver. 922.]. Paradiſe Loft. iii. 97.
BOOK IV.
255
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
He thus; O were the woes you ſpeak the worſt!
They form a deed more odious and accurft; 925
More dreadful than your boding foul divines:
But pitying Jove avert the dire deſigns!
The darling object of your royal care
Is mark'd to periſh in a deathful ſnare;
Before he anchors in his native port,
From Pyle re-failing and the Spartan court;
Horrid to ſpeak! in ambuſh is decreed
The hope and heir of Ithaca to bleed!
930
Sudden ſhe funk beneath the weighty woes,
The vital ſtreams a chilling horrour froze : 935
The big round tear ſtands trembling in her eye,
And on her tongue imperfect accents dye.
At length, in tender language, interwove
With fighs, the thus expreſs'd her anxious love.
Why rafhly wou'd my ſon his fate explore, 940
Ride the wild waves, and quit the fafer ſhore?
Ingrate, he had of me
All he could have.
Ver. 935.] This verſe is an addition from the tranſlator: as
the next has profited by a well-known paffage in Shakfpere.
Ver. 938.] Thus Milton, Par. Loft. i. 621.
Tears, fuch as angels weep, burſt forth: at laſt
Words interwove with fighs found out their way.
}
Ver. 941. Ride the wild waves ------ 1 Were this paffage to be
rendered literally, it would run thus, climb the fwift ships, which
are horſes to men on the feas. Euftathius obferves the allufion is
very juſt, and that the only doubt is, whether it be brought in
opportunely by Penelope ? It may be doubted, if the mind could
find leiſure to introduce ſuch allufions. Dacier anſwers that Pene-
256
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Did he with all the greatly wretched, crave
A blank oblivion, and untimely grave!
945
'Tis not, reply'd the fage, to Medon givʼn
To know, if ſome inhabitant of heav'n,
In his young breaſt the daring thought inſpir'd;
Or if alone with filial duty fir'd,
The winds and waves he tempts in early bloom,
Studious to learn his abfent father's doom.
950
The fage retir'd: unable to controul
The mighty griefs that fwell her lab'ring foul,
Rolling convulfive on the floor, is feen
The piteous object of a proftrate queen.
Words to her dumb complaint a paufe fupplies,
And breath, to wafte in unavailing cries. 955
Around their fov'reign wept the menial fair,
To whom he thus addrefs'd her deep defpair.
Behold a wretch whom all the Gods confign
To woe! Did ever forrows equal mine?
Long to my joys my deareft lord is loft,
His country's buckler, and the Grecian boaſt:
960
lope speaks thus through indignation: the grief that the conceives
at the hardiness of men, in finding out a way to paſs the ſeas as
well as land, furnished her with thefe figures very naturally; for
figures are agreeable to paffion.
P.
Ver. 948.] This early bloom is a wretched botch indeed, for
the convenience of the rhyme.
Thus?
To know his father's fate the waves he tries,
If yet he live, or death have clos'd his eyes.
Ver. 960.] Rhymes, inaccurate as thofe of Ogilby:
Firft I a wife and valiant huſband loft,
His fame divulg'd through all the Grecian coaſt.
BOOK IV.
257
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
965
970
Now from my fond embrace, by tempefts torn,
Our other column of the ftate is borne:
Nor took a kind adieu, nor fought confent!-
Unkind confed'rates in his dire intent!
Ill fuits it with your fhews of duteous zeal,
From me the purpos'd voyage to conceal :
Tho' at the folemn midnight hour he roſe,
Why did you fear to trouble my repofe?
He either had obey'd my fond defire,
Or feen his mother pierc'd with grief expire.
Bid Dolius quick attend, the faithful ſlave
Whom to my nuptial train Icarius gave,
T'attend the fruit-groves: with inceffant ſpeed
He ſhall this violence of death decreed,
To good Laertes tell. Experienc'd age
May timely intercept the ruffian-rage,
Convene the tribes, the murd'rous plot reveal,
And to their pow'r to fave his race appeal.
975
Then Euryclea thus. My deareft dread! 980
Tho' to the fword I bow this hoary head,
And how inadequately this exordium of the ſpeech is rendered by
our artiſt, will appear from a verbal tranſlation moſt effectually :
My dear companions! liften: Heaven to me
Has woes beyond my fellows' portion given.
My ſpouſe illuftrious firft, of lion-heart,
I loſt, for every virtuous grace renown'd
Amongſt his Greeks, and glorious far and wide.
Ver. 980.] So Spencer in his introduction to the Faerie Queen:
The which to heare vouchſafe, O dearest dread, a while.
VOL. I.
S
}
258
HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BOOK IV.
Or if a dungeon be the pain decreed,
I own me conſcious of th' unpleaſing deed:
Auxiliar to his flight, my aid implor'd,
With wine and viands I the veffel ftor'd: 985
A folemn oath, impos'd, the fecret feal'd,
'Till the twelfth dawn the light of heav'n re-
veal'd.
Dreading th' effect of a fond mother's fear,
He dar'd not violate your royal ear.
But bathe, and in imperial robes array'd,
Pay due devotions to the * martial Maid,
And reft affianc'd in her guardian aid.
Send not to good Laertes, nor engage
In toils of ſtate the miſeries of
age:
'Tis impious to furmiſe, the pow'rs divine
To ruin doom the Jove-defcended line:
990
995
Ver. 987.] Ogilby is more faithful:
Not in twelve daies to make his abfence known,
Unleſs you aſk'd, or heard the prince was gon.
Ver. 989.] So Chapman:
Not to report it to your royall eare.
Ver. 994.] Or, exactly to his author:
In new affliction, felf-afflicted age.
Ver. 997.] Chapman ſeems to have ſupplied his epithet:
The feed of righteous Arcefiades.
Thus, without any needlefs interpolation :
Long ſhall deſcendants of Arcefius reign.
* Minerva.
3
}
BOOK IV.
259
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
Long ſhall the race of juſt Arcefius reign,
And ifles remote enlarge his old domain.
The queen her ſpeech with calm attention
hears,
Her
1000
eyes reſtrain the ſilver-ſtreaming tears:
She bathes, and rob'd, the facred dome aſcends;
Her pious ſpeed a female train attends :
,
Ver. 998. And ifles remote enlarge his old domain.] Dacier offers
a criticiſm upon theſe laſt words of Euryclea. It cannot be ima-
gined theſe fertile fields can be ſpoken of Ithaca; Plutarch's
deſcription of it is intirely contradictory to this: "Ithaca, fays
"he, is rough and mountainous, fit only to breed goats; upon
"cultivation it ſcarce yields any fruits, and thefe fo worthlefs,
"as ſcarce to recompenfe the labour of gathering." Homer
therefore by this expreffion intended the other dominions of
Ulyffes, fuch as Cephalenia, &c.
But I queftion not, that the whole dominions of Ulyffes are
included, Ithaca as well as Cephalenia; for though Ithaca was
mountainous, yet the vallies were fruitful, according to the deſcrip
tion of it in the thirteenth of the Odyffey.
The rugged foil allows no level ſpace
For flying chariots, or the rapid race;
Yet not ungrateful to the peafant's pain,
Suffices fulnèfs to the fwelling grain:
The loaded trees their various fruits produce,
And cluft'ring grapes afford a gen'rous juice, &c.
As for her remark upon aπórpol, it is of no validity; the word
ftands in oppofition to Aúpala, and implies no more than here, or
at a diſtance in general.
P.
It were eaſy to exprefs his original with unexceptionable
fidelity:
Sway this high dome, this rich and wide domain.
Ver. 999.] Or thus, with more exactneſs:
The queen her dictates with attention hears:
They calm her forrows, and fupprefs her tears.
S 2
260
BOOK IV,
HOMER'S ODYSSEY,
The falted cakes in caniſters are laid,
And thus the queen invokes Minerva's aid.
Daughter divine of Jove, whofe arm can
wield
1005
Th' avenging bolt, and ſhake the dreadful fhield!
If e'er Ulyffes to thy fane preferr'd
The beſt and choiceft of his flock and herd;
Hear, goddeſs, hear, by thoſe oblations won ;
And for the pious fire preferve the ſon:
His wiſh'd return with happy pow'r befriend,
And on the Suitors let thy wrath deſcend.
1910
>
She ceas'd; fhrill extafies of joy declare
The fav'ring Goddeſs preſent to the pray'r :
The Suitors heard, and deem'd the mirthful voice
A fignal of her hymenaal choice:
1016
Ver. 1005.] Our tranſlator borrows, with trivial variation,
Pope's tranſlation of this verfe at Iliad x. verfe 326. to which I
remand the reader.
Ver. 1013.] Thefe two fanciful couplets are wrought from as
many verfes of Homer, who is thus faithfully exhibited by Chap-
man :
This faid, the fhriekt; and Pallas heard her praire.
The wooers broke with tumult all the-aire
About the fhadie houſe.
He and Ogilby make no connection between the cry of Penelope
and the conduct of the Suitors, nor does it ſeem authorized by
the original; but our Poet followed Hobbes :
Her prayer granted was. Then fhouted they.
The Suitors heard it in the hall:
or Dacier: "Cependant les pourfuivans, qui avoient entendre
« le bruit que la reine et ſes femmes avoient fait.”—
Ver. 1015. The Suitors beard, and deem'd the mirthful voice
A fignal of her hymenaal choice.]
BOOK IV.
261
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
1019
Whilſt one moft jovial thus accófts the board;
"Too late the queen felects a fecond lord:
"In evil hour the nuptial rite intends,
"When o'er her fon difaftrous death impends."
Thus he unfkill'd of what the fates provide!
But with fevere rebuke Antinous cry'd.
Thefe empty vaunts will make the voyage
vain;
Alarm not with difcourfe the menial train;
It may be aſked whence this conjecture of the Suitors arifes?
Penelope is deſcribed as weeping grievously, and fainting away,
and yet immediately the Suitors conclude fhe is preparing for the
nuptials. Euftathius anfwers, that undoubtedly the Suitors under-
ftood the queen had purified herſelf with water, and ſupplicated
the Goddeſs Minerva, though the Poet omits the relation of fuch
little particularities. But whence is it that the Poet gives a greater
ſhare of wiſdom to Euryclea than to Penelope? Penelope com-
mands a fervant to fly with the news of the abfence of Telema-
chus to Laertes, which could not at all advantage Telemachus,
and only grieve Laertes: Euryclea immediately diverts her from
that vain intention, adviſes her to have recourſe to heaven, and
not add mifery to the already miferable Laertes: this is wiſdom
in Euryclea. But it muſt be confeffed that the other is nature in
Penelope Euryclea is calm, Penelope in a paffion: and Homer
would have been a very bad painter of human nature, if he had
drawn Penelope, thus heated with paffion, in the mild temper of
Euryclea; grief and refentment give Penelope no time to delibe-
rate, whereas Euryclea is lefs concerned, and confequently capable
of thinking with more tranquillity.
P.
Ver. 1022. With rebuke fevere Antinous cry'd.] Antinous fpeaks
thus in return to what had been before ſaid by one of the Suitors
concerning Telemachus, viz. “ the queen little imagines that her
"fon's death approaches;" he fears left Penelope ſhould know
their intentions, and hinder their meaſures, by raiſing the ſubjects
of Ithaca that ftill retained their fidelity. Dacier.
P.
鼻
​S 3
262
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
$
The great event with filent hope attend; 1025
Our deeds alone our counſel muſt commend,
His fpeech thus ended ſhort, he frowning rofe,
And twenty chiefs renown'd for valour chofe :
Down to the ſtrand he ſpeeds with haughty
ftrides,
Where anchor'd in the bay the veffel rides, 1030
Replete with mail and milita y ftore,
In all her tackle trim to quit the fhore.
The defp'rate crew afcend, unfurl the fails;
(The fea-ward prow invites the tardy gales)
Then take repaſt, 'till Hefperus diſplay'd
His golden circlet in the weſtern ſhade.
1035
$
Ver. 1027.] Thus literally:
He ſaid, and twenty choice affociates took :
but the tranſlator had Milton in his memory, at Par. Loft, ii. 106.
He, ended frowning, and his look denounc'd
Defp'rate revenge:
See below verſe 1033.
Ver. 1929.] Another fancy interpolated from Milton, Par,
Loft, vi. 109.
Satan with vaſt and haughty strides advanc'd
Came tow'ring, arm'd in adamant and gold.
Ver. 1035.] Exactly thus:
Then take repaft, and wait the ftar of Even:
but the tranflator was thinking of a most beautiful paffage in
Milton's morning hymn, Par. Loft, v. 169. where our great epic
Bard, the hierophant of thoſe kindred Goddeffes, LIBERTY and
the MUSES! uſes the fame expreffion in ſpeaking of the fame ftar:
Sure pledge of day, that crown'ft the fmiling morn
With thy bright circlet.
¿
BOOK IV.
263
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
Meantime the queen without refection due,
Heart-wounded, to the bed of ftate withdrew:
In her fad breaſt the prince's fortunes roll,
And hope and doubt alternate ſeize her foul. 1040
So when the wood-man's toil her cave furrounds,
And with the hunter's cry the grove refounds;
With grief and rage the mother-lion ftung,
Fearleſs herſelf, yet trembles for her young.
While penfive in the filent ſlumb'rous ſhade, 1045
Sleep's gentle pow'rs her drooping eyes invade;
Ver. 1041. So when the wood-man's toil, &c.] The Poet, to
ſhew the majeſty and high ſpirit of Penelope, compares her to a
lioneſs: he manages the allufion very artfully: he deſcribes the
lioneſs not as exerting any dreadful acts of violence, (for ſuch a
compariſon is only proper to be applied to a hero) but incloſed
by her enemies; which at once fhews both her danger and noble-
neſs of ſpirit under it: it is in the Greek dóλov xúxλov, which may
fignify either a circle of toils or nets, or a circle of enemies: the
former is perhaps preferable, as correfponding beft with the con-
dition of Penelope, who was furrounded with the fecret ambuthes
and fnares of the Suitors. Euftathius.
P.
A ftrange tranſlation indeed of this fimile, which with the
fequel may be faithfully reprefented in the following manner:
CC
Thus, as a lion all expedients tries,
Alarm'd, hemm'd in by tribes of circling fwains:
With various thoughts diftracted, grateful fleep
Seiz'd her reclining, and relaxt her limbs.
Our tranflator feems to have enlarged from Dacier: « Une lionne,
qui ſe voit environné d'une multitude de chaffeurs, qui l' ont
furpriſe après lui avoir ôté fes lionceaux."
Ver. 1045.] A better couplet may be made from the rhymes
of Ogilby:
At length ſweet ſleep her limbs recumbent bound,
And all her forrows in oblivion drown'd.
S 4
264
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
5
Minerva, life-like on imbody'd air
Impreſs'd the form of Iphthima the fair;
(Icarius' daughter fhe, whofe blooming charms
Allur'd Eumelus to her virgin-arms;
1050
A ſcepter'd lord, who o'er the fruitful plain
Of Theffaly, wide ftretch'd his ample reign :)
As Pallas will'd, along the fable ſkies
To calm the queen the phantom-fifter flies.
Ver. 1047. Minerva, life-like on imbody'd air
Impreft the form, &c.]
We have here an imaginary being introduced by the Poet: the
whole is managed with great judgment; it is fhort, becauſe it has
not a direct and immediate relation to the progrefs of the poem,
and becauſe ſuch imaginary intercourfes have ever been looked
upon as fudden in appearance, and as fudden in vaniſhing away.
The uſe the Roet makes of it, is to relieve Penelope from the
extremity of deſpair, that ſhe may act her part in the future foenes
with courage and conftancy. We fee it is Minerva who fends this
phantom to Penelope to comfort her: now this is an allegory to
exprefs that as foon as the violence of forrow was over, the mind
of Penelope returned to fome degree of tranquillity: Minerva is
no more than the refult of her own reflection and wiſdom, which
banished from her breaft thofe melancholy apprehenfions. The
manner likewiſe of its introduction is not lefs judicious; the mind
is apt to dwell upon thoſe objects in fleep which make a deep im-
preffion when awake: this is the foundation of the Poet's fiction;
it is no more than a dream which he here deſcribes, but he clothes
it with a body, gives it a momentary, exiftence; and by this
method exalts a low circumſtance into dignity and poetry.
P.
1
Ver. 1048.] This error in the quantity of the word is peculiar
to our tranſlator, who had good examples in Chapman and Ogilby.
It were moſt eaſy to be faultleſs in this reſpect;
Impreft the femblance of Iphihima fair.
:
Chapman, I think, is elegantly expreffive of his author's diction:
霉
​· An idofl, that Iphthima, did preſent.
In ſtructure of her every lineament.
BOOK IV.
265
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
oss
Swift on the regal dome defcending right,
The bolted valves are pervious to her flight.
Cloſe to her head the pleaſing viſion ſtands,
And thus performs Minerva's high commands.
O why, Penelope, this caufelefs fear,
To render Sleep's foft bleffing unfincere?
Alike devote to forrow's dire extreme
The day-reflection, and the midnight-dream!
Thy ſon, the Gods propitious will reſtore,
And bid thee ceaſe his abſence to deplore.
1060
To whom the queen, (whilft yet her penſive
mind
Was in the filent gates of fleep confin'd)
O fifter, to my foul for ever dear,
1065
Why this firſt viſit to reprove my fear?
How in a realm ſo diſtant ſhould you know
From what deep fource my ceaſeleſs forrows
flow?
To all my hope my royal lord is loft,
1070
His country's buckler, and the Grecian boaft?
Ver. 1061.] A very elegant couplet, but without fanction
from his author.
Ver. 1063.] Thus, more faithfully:
The gods thy unoffending fon reftore:
or cloſely,
Th' immortals bless'd thy guiltless fön reſtore.
Ver. 1071.] The fame paffage occurred above at verſe 960.
Chapman has executed the paragraph with entire precifion:
266
BOOK IV.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
And with confummate woe to weigh me down,
The heir of all his honours, and his crown,
having loft before
A huſband, that of all the vertues bore
The palme amongſt the Greeks; and whoſe renowne
So ample was, that Fame the found hath blowne
Through Greece and Argos.
Ver. 1073. And with confummate woe, &c.] In the original,
Penelope fays plainly, ſhe is more concerned for her fon than her
hufband. I fhall tranflate Dacier's obfervations upon this paffage.
We ought not to reproach Penelope for this feemingly ſhocking
declaration, in preferring a fon to a huſband: her fentiment is
natural and juft; fhe had all the reafon in the world to believe
that Ulyffes was dead, ſo that all her hopes, all her affection was
entirely placed upon Telemachus: his lofs therefore muft unavoid-
ably touch her with the highest degree of fenfibility; if he is loft,
ſhe can have recourſe to no fecond comfort. But why may we
not allow the reafon which Penelope herſelf gives for this fupe-
riority of forrow for Telemachus? «Telemachus, fays fhe, is
re
unexperienced in the world, and unable to contend with diffi-
"culties: whereas Ulyffes knew how to extricate himſelf upon
« all emergencies." This is a fufficient reaſon why ſhe ſhould
fear more for Telemachus than Ulyffes: her affection might be
greater for Ulyffes than Telemachus, yet her fears might be
ftronger for the fon than the hufband, Ulyffes being capable to
furmount dangers by experience, Telemachus being new to all
difficulties.
P.
The deviations and fuppreffions of the tranflator will be ſeen
from a literal verfion :
Now my dear child acroſs the feas is
gone,
Unpractis'd youth! in counfels or in toils:
For him I more lament, than for his fire.
A trembling fear has feiz'd me, left ſome ill
In nations ftrange, or on the waves, befall:
For numerous foes to fhed his blood contrive,
E'er his fhip reach his native fhores again.
BOOK, IV.
267
HOMER'S ODYSSEY,
My darling fon is fled! an eafy prey
1075
To the fierce ftorms, or men more fierce than
· ¡they:
Who in a league of blood affociates fworn,
1080
Will intercept th' unwary youth's return.
Courage refume, the fhadowy form reply'd,
In the protecting care of heav'n confide:
On him attends the blue-ey'd martial Maid;
What earthly can implore a furer aid?
Me now the guardian Goddeſs deigns to fend,
To bid thee patient his return attend.
The
queen replies: If in the bleft abodes 1085
A Goddeſs, thou haſt commerce with the Gods;
Say, breathes my lord the bliſsful realm of light,
Or lies he wrapt in ever-during night ?
Ver. 1075.] Pope in his Windfor-Foreft, verfe 45.
To favage beaſts and favage laws a prey,
And kings more furious and ſevere than they.
Ver. 1080.] Or thus, leſs heavily:
In heaven's protecting providence confide.
Ver. 1082.] Milton alfo employs the fame word as a fubftan-
tive, Par. Loft, viii. 453.
My earthly by his heav'nly overpower'd:
and again, ix. 1081.
thofe heav'nly ſhapes
Will dazzle now this earthly with their blaze
Infufferably bright.
Ver. 1087.] Thus, more accurately:
Say, views my wretched lord this orb of light—.
Ver. 1088.] Paradife Loft, iii. 45.
But cloud inſtead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me.
568
BOOK IV.
HOMER's ODYSSÉY.
18h0
Enquire not of his doom, the phantom cries,
I fpeak not all the counsel of the fkies:
Nor muſt indulge with vain diſcourfe, or long,
The windy fatisfaction of the tongue.
Swift thro' the valves the vifionary fáir
?
Repafs'd, and viewlefs mix'd with common air.
The queen awakes, deliver'd of her woes; rogs
With florid joy her heart dilating glows:
The vifion, manifeft of future fate,
Makes her with hope her fon's arrival wait.
Meantime the Suitors plough the watʼry plain,
Telemachus in thought already flain!
A
When fight of lefs'ning Ithaca was loſt,
Their fail directed for the Samian coaft,
1100
Ver. 1089. Enquire not of his doom, &c.] It may be aſked
what is the reaſon of this conduct, and why fhould the phantom
refufe to relate any thing concerning the condition of Ulyffes?
Euftathius anſwers, that if the phantom had related the full truth
of the ſtory, the poem had been at an end; the very conſtitution
of it requires that Ulyffes fhould arrive unknown to all, but
chiefly to his wife, as will appear in the profecution of the ftory:
the queſtion is very natural for an affectionate wife to make con-
cerning an abfent hufband; but this being an improper place for
the diſcovery, the Poet defers the folution of it, 'till the unra-
velling of the whole in the conclufion of the poem.
Ver. 1094] Paradife Loft, iii. 518.
Viewless.
-drawn up to heav'n fometimes
Ver. 1099.] Thus Ogilby:
with fails unfurl'd,
The plotting fuitor's plow the waterie world.
P.
Ver. 1101.] The fallowing is a literal verfion of this con-
cluding paragraph:
BOOK IV.
269
HOMER's ODYSSEY.
1105
A ſmall but verdant iſle appear'd in view,
And Afteris th' advancing pilot knew:
An ample port the rocks projected form,
To break the rolling waves, and ruffling ftorm:
That fafe recefs they gain with happy ſpeed,
And in cloſe ambuſh wait the murd'rous deed.
In the mid fea there lies a rocky ifle,
"Twixt Ithaca and Samos' rugged ſhore,
But ſmall, nam'd Afteris; with ports each way
Acceffible: there ambuſh'd lay the Greeks.
EDITOR.
The action of this book takes up the ſpace of two nights and
one day, ſo that from the opening of the poem to the introduction
of Ulyffes are fix days completed.
But how long a time Telemachus afterwards ftaid with Mene-
laus is a queſtion, which has employed fome modern French cri-
ticks; one of which maintains, that he ftaid no longer than theſe
two nights at Lacedæmon: but it is evident from the fequel of
the Odyffey, that Telemachus arrived again at Ithaca two days.
after Ulyffes; but Ulyffes was twenty-nine days in paffing from
Ogygia to Ithaca, and conſequently during that whole time
Telemachus muſt have been abſent from Ithaca. The ground of
that Critick's miftake was from the filence of Homer as to the
exact time of his ſtay, which was of no importance, being diſtin-
guiſhed by no action, and only in an epifodical part. The fame.
thing led me into the like error in the note on ver. 421 of the
fecond book, where it was faid that Telemachus returned to Ithaca
in less than twelve days.
P.
份
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