University of Virginia Library

Verse 1. But Pallas now, &c.] As in every just History Picture there is one principal Figure, to which all the rest refer and are subservient; so in each Battel of the Iliad there is one principal Person, that may properly be call'd the Hero of that Day or Action. This Conduct preserves the Unity of the Piece, and keeps the Imagination from being distracted and confused with a wild Number of independent Figures, which have no Subordination to each other. To make this probable, Homer supposes these extraordinary Measures of Courage to be the immediate Gift of the Gods; who bestow them sometimes upon one, and sometimes upon another, as they think fit to make them the Instruments of their Designs; an Opinion conformable to true Theology. Whoever reflects upon this, will not blame our Author for representing the same Heroes brave at one time, and dispirited at another; just as the Gods assist, or abandon them on different Occasions.

Verse 1. Tydides.] That we may enter into the Spirit and Beauty of this Book, it will be proper to settle the true Character of Diomed who is the Hero of it. Achilles is no sooner retired, but Homer raises his other Greeks to supply his Absence; like Stars that shine each in his due Revolution, till the principal Hero rises again, and eclipses all others. As Diomed is the first in this Office, he seems to have more of the Character of Achilles than any besides. He has naturally an Excess of Boldness and too much Fury in his Temper, forward and intrepid like the other, and running after Gods or Men promiscuously as they offer themselves. But what differences his Character is, that he is soon reclaim'd by Advice, hears those that are more experienced, and in a word, obeys Minerva in all things. He is assisted by the Patroness of Wisdom and Arms, as he is eminent both for Prudence and Valor. That which characterizes his Prudence is a quick Sagacity and Presence of Mind in all Emergencies, and an undisturb'd Readiness in the very Article of Danger. And what is particular in his Valor is agreeable to these Qualities; his Actions being always performed with remarkable Dexterity, Activity, and Dispatch. As the gentle and manageable Turn of his Mind seems drawn with an Opposition to the boisterous Temper of Achilles, so his bodily Excellencies seem design'd as in Contraste to those of Ajax, who appears with great Strength, but heavy and unwieldy. As he is forward to act in the Field, so is he ready to speak in the Council: But 'tis observable that his Counsels still incline to War, and are byass'd rather on the side of Bravery than Caution. Thus he advises to reject the Proposals of the Trojans in the seventh Book, and not to accept of Helen her self, tho' Paris should offer her. In the ninth, he opposes Agamemnon's Proposition to return to Greece, in so strong a manner, as to declare he will stay and continue the Siege himself, if the General should depart. And thus he hears without Concern Achilles's Refusal of a Reconciliation, and doubts not to be able to carry on the War without him. As for his private Character, he appears a gallant Lover of Hospitality in his Behaviour to Glaucus in the sixth Book; a Lover of Wisdom in his Assistance of Nestor in the eighth, and his Choice of Ulysses to accompany him in the tenth; upon the whole, an open sincere Friend, and a generous Enemy.

The wonderful Actions he performs in this Battel, seem to be the Effect of a noble Resentment at the Reproach he had receiv'd from Agamemnon in the foregoing Book, to which these Deeds are the Answer. He becomes immediately the second Hero of Greece, and dreaded equally with Achilles by the Trojans. At the first Sight of him his Enemies make a Question, Whether he is a Man or a God? Æneas and Pandarus go against him, whose Approach terrifies. Sthenelus, and the Apprehension of so great a Warrior marvellously exalts the Intrepidity of Diomed. Æneas himself is not sav'd but by the interposing of a Deity: He pursues and wounds that Deity, and Æneas again escapes only by the Help of a stronger Power, Apollo. He attempts Apollo too, retreats not till the God threatens him in his own Voice, and even then retreats but a few Steps. When he sees Hector and Mars himself in open Arms against him, he had not retir'd tho' he was wounded, but in Obedience to Minerva, and then retires with his Face toward them. But as soon as she permits him to engage with that God, he conquers, and sends him groaning to Heaven. What Invention and what Conduct appears in this whole Episode? What Boldness in raising a Character to such a Pitch, and what Judgment in raising it by such Degrees? While the most daring Flights of Poetry are employ'd to move our Admiration, and at the same time the justest and closest Allegory, to reconcile those Flights to moral Truth and Probability? It may be farther remark'd, that the high Degree to which Homer elevates this Character, enters into the principal Design of his whole Poem; which is to shew, that the greatest Personal Qualities and Forces are of no Effect when Union is wanting among the chief Rulers, and that nothing can avail till they are reconciled so as to act in Concert.

Verse 5. High on his Helm Celestial Light'nings play.] This beautiful Passage gave occasion to Zoilus for an insipid Piece of Raillery, who ask'd how it happen'd that the Hero escap'd burning by these Fires that continually broke from his Armor? Eustathius answers, that there are several Examples in History, of Fires being seen to break forth from human Bodies as Presages of Greatness and Glory. Among the rest, Plutarch in the Life of Alexander describes his Helmet much in this manner. This is enough to warrant the Fiction, and were there no such Example, the same Author says very well that the Imagination of a Poet is not to be confined to strict Physical Truths. But all Objections may easily be removed, if we consider it as done by Minerva, who had determined this Day to raise Diomed above all the Heroes, and caused this Apparition to render him formidable. The Power of a God makes it not only allowable but highly noble, and greatly imagined by Homer; as well as correspondent to a Miracle in holy Scripture, where Moses is described with a Glory shining on his Face at his Descent from Mount Sinai, a Parallel which Spondanus has taken notice of.

Virgil was too sensible of the Beauty of this Passage not to imitate it, and it must be owned he has surpassed his Original.

In Homer's Comparison there is no other Circumstance alluded to but that of a remarkable Brightness: Whereas Virgil's Comparison, beside this, seems to foretel the immense Slaughter his Hero was to make, by comparing him first to a Comet, which is vulgarly imagin'd a Prognostick, if not the real Cause of much Misery to Mankind; and again to the Dog-star, which appearing with the greatest Brightness in the latter end of Summer, is suppos'd the Occasion of all the Distempers of that sickly Season. And methinks the Objection of Macrobius to this Place is not just, who thinks the Simile unseasonably apply'd by Virgil to Æneas, because he was yet on his Ship, and had not begun the Battel. One may answer, that this miraculous Appearance could never be more proper than at the first Sight of the Hero, to strike Terror into the Enemy, and to prognosticate his approaching Victory.

Verse 27. Idæus fled, Left the rich Chariot.] It is finely said by M. Dacier, that Homer appears perhaps greater by the Criticisms that have been past upon him, than by the Praises which have been given him. Zoilus had a Cavil at this Place; he thought it ridiculous in Idæus to descend from his Chariot to fly, which he might have done faster by the help of his Horses. Three things are said in answer to this; first, that Idæus knowing the Passion which Diomed had for Horses, might hope the Pleasure of seizing these would retard him from pursuing him. Next, that Homer might design to represent in this Action of Idæus the common Effect of Fear, which disturbs the Understanding to such a degree, as to make Men abandon the surest means to save themselves. And then, that Idæus might have some Advantage of Diomed in Swiftness, which he had reason to confide in. But I fancy one may add another Solution which will better account for this Passage. Homer's word is ετλη, which I believe would be better translated non perseveravit, than non sustinuit defendere fratrem interfectum: and then the Sense will be clear, that Idæus made an Effort to save his Brother's Body, which proving impracticable, he was obliged to fly with the utmost Precipitation. One may add, that his alighting from his Chariot was not that he could run faster on foot, but that he could sooner escape by mixing with the Crowd of common Soldiers. There is a Particular exactly of the same Nature in the Book of Judges, Ch. 4. V. 15. where Sisera alights to fly in the same manner.

Verse 40. Who bathe in Blood.] It may seem something unnatural, that Pallas at a time when she is endeavouring to work upon Mars under the Appearance of Benevolence and Kindness, should make use of Terms which seem so full of bitter Reproaches; but these will appear very properly applied to this warlike Deity. For Persons of this martial Character, who scorning Equity and Reason, carry all things by Force, are better pleas'd to be celebrated for their Power than their Virtue. Statues are rais'd to the Conquerors, that is, the Destroyers of Nations, who are complemented for excelling in the Arts of Ruine. Demetrius the Son of Antigonus was celebrated by his Flatterers with the Title of Poliorcetes, a Term equivalent to one here made use of.

Verse 46. The God of Arms and martial Maid retreat.] The Retreat of Mars from the Trojans intimates that Courage forsook them: It may be said then, that Minerva's Absence from the Greeks will signify that Wisdom deserted them also. It is true she does desert them, but it is at a time when there was more occasion for gallant Actions than for wise Counsels. Eustathius.

Verse 48. The Greeks the Trojan Race pursue.] Homer always appears very zealous for the Honour of Greece, which alone might be a Proof of his being of that Country, against the Opinion of those who would have him of other Nations.

It is observable thro' the whole Iliad, that he endeavours every where to represent the Greeks as superior to the Trojans in Valor and the Art of War. In the beginning of the third Book he describes the Trojans rushing on to the Battel in a barbarous and confus'd manner, with loud Shouts and Cries, while the Greeks advance in the most profound Silence and exact Order. And in the latter Part of the fourth Book, where the two Armies march to the Engagement, the Greeks are animated by Pallas, while Mars instigates the Trojans, the Poet attributing by this plain Allegory to the former a well-conducted Valor, to the latter rash Strength and brutal Force: So that the Abilities of each Nation are distinguish'd by the Characters of the Deities who assist them. But in this Place, as Eustathius observes, the Poet being willing to shew how much the Greeks excell'd their Enemies when they engag'd only with their proper Force, and when each side was alike destitute of divine Assistance, takes occasion to remove the Gods out of the Battel, and then each Grecian Chief gives signal Instances of Valor superior to the Trojans.

A modern Critick observes that this constant Superiority of the Greeks in the Art of War, Valor, and Number, is contradictory to the main Design of the Poem, which is to make the Return of Achilles appear necessary for the Preservation of the Greeks; but this Contradiction vanishes when we reflect that the Affront given Achilles was the occasion of Jupiter's interposing in favour of the Trojans. Wherefore the Anger of Achilles was not pernicious to the Greeks purely because it kept him inactive, but because it occasion'd Jupiter to afflict them in such a manner, as made it necessary to appease Achilles in order to render Jupiter propitious.

Verse 63. Back from the Car he tumbles.] It is in Poetry as in Painting, the Postures and Attitudes of each Figure ought to be different: Homer takes care not to draw two Persons in the same Posture; one is tumbled from his Chariot, another is slain as he ascends it, a third as he endeavours to escape on Foot, a Conduct which is every where observed by the Poet. Eustathius.

Verse 75. Next artful Phereclus .] This Character of Phereclus is finely imagined, and presents a noble Moral in an uncommon manner. There ran a Report, that the Trojans had formerly receiv'd an Oracle, commanding them to follow Husbandry, and not apply themselves to Navigation. Homer from hence takes occasion to feign, that the Shipwright who presumed to build the Fleet of Paris when he took his fatal Voyage to Greece, was overtaken by the divine Vengeance so long after as in this Battel. One may take notice too in this, as in many other Places, of the remarkable Disposition Homer shews to Mechanicks; he never omits an Opportunity either of describing a Piece of Workmanship, or of celebrating an Artist.

Verse 92.]

Homer in this remarkable Passage commends the fair Theano for breeding up a Bastard of her Husband's with the same Tenderness as her own Children. This Lady was a Woman of the first Quality, and (as it appears in the sixth Iliad) the high Priestess of Minerva: So that one cannot imagine the Education of this Child was imposed upon her by the Authority or Power of Antenor; Homer himself takes care to remove any such derogatory Notion, by particularizing the Motive of this unusual Piece of Humanity to have been to please her Husband, χαριζομενη ποσει ω.. Nor ought we to lessen this Commendation by thinking the Wives of those Times in general were more complaisant than those of our own. The Stories of Phœnix, Clytemnestra, Medea, and many others, are plain Instances how highly the keeping of Mistresses was resented by the married Ladies. But there was indeed a difference between the Greeks and Asiaticks as to their Notions of Marriage: For it is certain the latter allowed Plurality of Wives; Priam had many lawful ones, and some of them Princesses who brought great Dowries. Theano was an Asiatick, and that is the most we can grant; for the Son she nurs'd so carefully was apparently not by a Wife, but by a Mistress; and her Passions were naturally the same with those of the Grecian Women. As to the Degree of Regard then shewn to the Bastards, they were carefully enough educated, tho' not (like this of Antenor) as the lawful Issue, nor admitted to an equal share of Inheritance. Megapenthes and Nicostratus were excluded from the Inheritance of Sparta, because they were born of Bond-Women, as Pausanias says. But Neoptolemus, a natural Son of Achilles by Deidamia, succeeded in his Father's Kingdom, perhaps with respect to his Mother's Quality who was a Princess. Upon the whole, however that Matter stood, Homer was very favourable to Bastards, and has paid them more Complements than one in his Works. If I am not mistaken Ulysses reckons himself one in the Odysseis. Agamemnon in the eighth Iliad plainly accounts it no Disgrace, when charm'd with the noble Exploits of young Teucer, and praising him in the Rapture of his Heart, he just then takes occasion to mention his Illegitimacy as a kind of Panegyrick upon him. The Reader may consult the Passage, V. 284 of the Original and V. 334 of the Translation. From all this I should not be averse to believe that Homer himself was a Bastard, as Virgil was, of which I think this Observation a better Proof, than what is said for it in the common Lives of him.

Verse 100.]

From the Number of Circumstances put together here, and in many other Passages, of the Parentage, Place of Abode, Profession, and Quality of the Persons our Author mentions; I think it is plain he composed his Poem from some Records or Traditions of the Actions of the Times preceding, and complied with the Truth of History. Otherwise these particular Descriptions of Genealogies and other minute Circumstances would have been an Affectation extremely needless and unreasonable. This Consideration will account for several things that seem odd or tedious, not to add that one may naturally believe he took these Occasions of paying a Complement to many great Men and Families of his Patrons, both in Greece and Asia.

Verse 108. Down sinks the Priest.] Homer makes him die upon the cutting off his Arm, which is an Instance of his Skill; for the great Flux of Blood that must follow such a Wound, would be the immediate Cause of Death.

Verse 116. Thus Torrents swift and strong.] This whole Passage (says Eustathius) is extremely beautiful. It describes the Hero carry'd by an Enthusiastick Valor into the midst of his Enemies, and so mingled with their Ranks as if himself were a Trojan. And the Simile wonderfully illustrates this Fury proceeding from an uncommon Infusion of Courage from Heaven, in resembling it not to a constant River, but a Torrent rising from an extraordinary Burst of Rain. This Simile is one of those that draws along with it some foreign Circumstances: We must not often expect from Homer those minute Resemblances in every Branch of a Comparison, which are the Pride of modern Similes. If that which one may call the main Action of it, or the principal Point of Likeness, be preserved; he affects, as to the rest, rather to present the Mind with a great Image, than to fix it down to an exact one. He is sure to make a fine Picture in the whole, without drudging on the under Parts; like those free Painters who (one would think) had only made here and there a few very significant Strokes, that give Form and Spirit to all the Piece. For the present Comparison, Virgil in the second Æneid has inserted an Imitation of it, which I cannot think equal to this, tho' Scaliger prefers Virgil's to all our Author's Similitudes from Rivers put together.

Verse 139. The Dart stopt short of Life.] Homer says it did not kill him, and I am at a Loss why M. Dacier translates it, The Wound was slight; when just after the Arrow is said to have pierc'd quite thro', and she herself there turns it, Perçoit l'espaule d'outre en outre. Had it been so slight, he would not have needed the immediate Assistance of Minerva to restore his usual Vigor, and enable him to continue the Fight.

Verse 164. From mortal Mists I purge thy Eyes.] This Fiction of Homer (says M. Dacier) is founded upon an important Truth of Religion, not unknown to the Pagans, that God only can open the Eyes of Men, and enable them to see what they cannot discover by their own Capacity. There are frequent Examples of this in the Old Testament. God opens the Eyes of Hagar that she might see the Fountain, in Genes. 21. V. 14. So Numbers 22. V. 31. The Lord open'd the Eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in his way, and his Sword drawn in his Hand. A Passage much resembling this of our Author. Venus in Virgil's second Æneid performs the same Office to Æneas, and shews him the Gods who were engag'd in the Destruction of Troy.

Milton seems likewise to have imitated this where he makes Michael open Adam's Eyes to see the future Revolutions of the World, and Fortunes of his Posterity, Book 11.

This distinguishing Sight of Diomed was given him only for the present Occasion and Service in which he was employ'd by Pallas. For we find in the sixth Book that upon meeting Glaucus, he is ignorant whether that Hero be a Man or a God.

Verse 194. No mystic Dream.] This Line in the Original, Τοις ουκ ερχομενοις ο γερων εκρινατ' ονειρους, contains as puzzling a Passage for the Construction as I have met with in Homer. Most Interpreters join the negative Particle ουκ with the Verb εκρινατο, which may receive three different Meanings: That Eurydamas had not interpreted the Dreams of his Children when they went to the Wars, or that he had foretold them by their Dreams they should never return from the Wars, or that he should now no more have the Satisfaction to interpret their Dreams at their Return. After all, this Construction seems forced, and no way agreeable to the general Idiom of the Greek Language, or to Homer's simple Diction in particular. If we join ουκ with ερχομενοις, I think the most obvious Sense will be this; Diomed attacks the two Sons of Eurydamas an old Interpreter of Dreams; his Children not returning, the Prophet sought by his Dreams to know their Fate; however they fall by the Hands of Diomed. This Interpretation seems natural and poetical, and tends to move Compassion, which is almost constantly the Design of the Poet in his frequent short Digressions concerning the Circumstances and Relations of dying Persons.

Verse 202. To Strangers now descends his wealthy Store.] This is a Circumstance than which nothing could be imagined more tragical, considering the Character of the Father. Homer says the Trustees of the remote collateral Relations seiz'd the Estate before his Eyes (according to a Custom of those Times) which to a covetous old Man must be the greatest of Miseries.

Verse 212. Divine Æneas .] It is here Æneas begins to act, and if we take a View of the whole Episode of this Hero in Homer, where he makes but an Under-part, it will appear that Virgil has kept him perfectly in the same Character in his Poem, where he shines as the first Hero. His Piety and his Valor, tho' not drawn at so full a length, are mark'd no less in the Original than in the Copy. It is the manner of Homer to express very strongly the Character of each Person in the first Speech he is made to utter in the Poem. In this of Æneas, there is a great Air of Piety in those Strokes, Is he some God who punishes Troy for having neglected his Sacrifices? And then that Sentence, The Anger of Heaven is terrible. When he is in Danger afterwards, he is saved by the heavenly Assistance of two Deities at once, and his Wounds cured in the holy Temple of Pergamus by Latona and Diana. As to his Valor, he is second only to Hector, and in personal Bravery as great in the Greek Author as in the Roman. He is made to exert himself on Emergencies of the first Importance and Hazard, rather than on common Occasions: he checks Diomed here in the midst of his Fury; in the thirteenth Book defends his Friend Deiphobus before it was his Turn to fight, being placed in one of the hindmost Ranks (which Homer, to take off all Objection to his Valor, tells us happen'd because Priam had an Animosity to him, tho' he was one of the bravest of the Army.) He is one of those who rescue Hector when he is overthrown by Ajax in the fourteenth Book. And what alone were sufficient to establish him a first-rate Hero, he is the first that dares resist Achilles himself at his Return to the Fight in all his Rage for the Loss of Patroclus. He indeed avoids encountering two at once, in the present Book; and shews upon the whole a sedate and deliberate Courage, which if not so glaring as that of some others, is yet more just. It is worth considering how thoroughly Virgil penetrated into all this, and saw into the very Idea of Homer; so as to extend and call forth the whole Figure in its full Dimensions and Colours from the slightest Hints and Sketches which were but casually touch'd by Homer, and even in some Points too where they were rather left to be understood, than express'd. And this, by the way, ought to be consider'd by those Criticks who object to Virgil's Hero the want of that sort of Courage which strikes us so much in Homer's Achilles. Æneas was not the Creature of Virgil's Imagination, but one whom the World was already acquainted with, and expected to see continued in the same Character; and one who perhaps was chosen for the Hero of the Latin Poem, not only as he was the Founder of the Roman Empire, but as this more calm and regular Character better agreed with the Temper and Genius of the Poet himself.

Verse 242. Skill'd in the Bow, &c.] We see thro' this whole Discourse of Pandarus the Character of a vain-glorious passionate Prince, who being skill'd in the Use of the Bow, was highly valued by himself and others for this Excellence; but having been successless in two different Trials of his Skill, he is rais'd into an outragious Passion, which vents itself in vain Threats on his guiltless Bow. Eustathius on this Passage relates a Story of a Paphlagonian famous like him for his Archery, who having miss'd his Aim at repeated Trials, was so transported by Rage, that breaking his Bow and Arrows, he executed a more fatal Vengeance by hanging himself.

Verse 244. Ten polish'd Chariots.] Among the many Pictures Homer gives us of the Simplicity of the Heroic Ages, he mingles from time to time some Hints of an extraordinary Magnificence. We have here a Prince who has all these Chariots for Pleasure at one time, with their particular Sets of Horses to each, and the most sumptuous Coverings in their Stables. But we must remember that he speaks of an Asiatic Prince, those Barbarians living in great Luxury. Dacier.

Verse 252. Yet to Thrift inclin'd.] 'Tis Eustathius his Remark, that Pandarus did this out of Avarice, to save the Expence of his Horses. I like this Conjecture, because nothing seems more judicious, than to give a Man of a perfidious Character a strong Tincture of Avarice.

Verse 261. And undissembled Gore pursu'd the Wound.] The Greek is ατρεκες αιμα. He says he is sure it was real Blood that follow'd his Arrow; because it was anciently a Custom, particularly among the Spartans, to have Ornaments and Figures of a purple Colour on their Breast-Plates, that the Blood they lost might not be seen by the Soldiers, and tend to their Discouragement. Plutarch in his Instit. Lacon. takes notice of this Point of Antiquity, and I wonder it escap'd Madam Dacier in her Translation.

Verse 273. Nor Phœbus' honour'd Gift disgrace.] For Homer tells us in the second Book, V. 334 of the Catalogue, that the Bow and Shafts of Pandarus were given him by Apollo.

Verse 284. Haste, seize the Whip, &c.] Homer means not here, that one of the Heroes should alight or descend from the Chariot, but only that he should quit the Reins to the Management of the other, and stand on Foot upon the Chariot to fight from thence. As one might use the Expression, to descend from the Ship, to signify to quit the Helm or Oar, in order to take up Arms. This is the Note of Eustathius, by which it appears that most of the Translators are mistaken in the Sense of this Passage, and among the rest Mr. Hobbes.

Verse 320. One Chief at least beneath this Arm shall die.] It is the manner of our Author to make his Persons have some Intimation from within, either of prosperous or adverse Fortune, before it happens to them. In the present Instance, we have seen Æneas, astonish'd at the great Exploits of Diomed, proposing to himself the Means of his Escape by the Swiftness of his Horses, before he advances to encounter him. On the other hand, Diomed is so filled with Assurance, that he gives Orders here to Sthenelus to seize those Horses, before they come up to him. The Opposition of these two (as Mad. Dacier has remark'd) is very observable.

Verse 327. The Coursers of Æthereal Breed.] We have already observed the great Delight Homer takes in Horses. He makes some Horses, as well as Heroes, of celestial Race: and if he has been thought too fond of the Genealogies of some of his Warriors, in relating them even in a Battel; we find him here as willing to trace that of his Horses in the same Circumstance. These were of that Breed which Jupiter bestow'd upon Tros, and far superior to the common Strain of Trojan Horses. So that (according to Eustathius's Opinion) the Translators are mistaken who turn Τρωιοι ιπποι, the Trojan Horses, in V. 222 of the Original, where Æneas extolls their Qualities to Pandarus. The same Author takes notice, that Frauds in the Case of Horses have been thought excusable in all Times, and commends Anchises for this Piece of Theft. Virgil was so well pleas'd with it as to imitate this Passage in the seventh Æneid.

Verse 353. Full in his Face it enter'd.] It has been ask'd, how Diomed being on Foot, could naturally be suppos'd to give such a Wound as is describ'd here. Were it never so improbable, the express mention that Minerva conducted the Javelin to that Part, would render this Passage unexceptionable. But without having recourse to a Miracle, such a Wound might be receiv'd by Pandarus either if he stoop'd; or if his Enemy took the Advantage of a rising Ground, by which means he might not impossibly stand higher, tho' the other were in a Chariot. This is the Solution given by the ancient Scholia, which is confirm'd by the Lowness of the Chariots, observed in the Essay on Homer's Battels.

Verse 361. To guard his slaughter'd Friend Æneas flies.] This protecting of the dead Body was not only an Office of Piety agreeable to the Character of Æneas in particular, but look'd upon as a Matter of great Importance in those Times. It was believ'd that the very Soul of the deceas'd suffer'd by the Body's remaining destitute of the Rites of Sepulture, as not being else admitted to pass the Waters of Styx.

Whoever considers this, will not be surpriz'd at those long and obstinate Combates for the Bodies of the Heroes, so frequent in the Iliad. Homer thought it of such Weight, that he has put this Circumstance of want of Burial into the Proposition at the beginning of his Poem, as one of the chief Misfortunes that befell the Greeks.

Verse 371. Not two strong Men.] This Opinion of a Degeneracy of human Size and Strength in the Process of Ages, has been very general.

The active Life and Temperance of the first Men, before their native Powers were prejudiced by Luxury, may be supposed to have given them this Advantage. Celsus in his first Book observes, that Homer mentions no sort of Diseases in the old Heroic Times but what were immediately inflicted by Heaven, as if their Temperance and Exercise preserved them from all besides. Virgil imitates this Passage, with a farther Allowance of the Decay in Proportion to the Distance of his Time from that of Homer. For he says it was an Attempt that exceeded the Strength of twelve Men, instead of two.

Juvenal has made an agreeable Use of this Thought in his fourteenth Satyr.

Verse 391. Hid from the Foe behind her shining Veil.] Homer says, she spread her Veil that it might be a Defence against the Darts. How comes it then afterwards to be pierc'd thro', when Venus is wounded? It is manifest the Veil was not impenetrable, and is said here to be a Defence only as it render'd Æneas invisible, by being interposed. This is the Observation of Eustathius, and was thought too material to be neglected in the Translation.

Verse 403. To bold Deipylus—Whom most he lov'd.] Sthenelus (says M. Dacier) loved Deipylus, parce qu'il avoit la mesme humeur que luy, la mesme sagesse. The Words in the Original are οτι οι φρεσιν αρτια ηδη. Because his Mind was equal and consentaneous to his own; which I should rather translate, with regard to the Character of Sthenelus, that he had the same Bravery, than the same Wisdom. For that Sthenelus was not remarkable for Wisdom appears from many Passages, and particularly from his Speech to Agamemnon in the fourth Book, upon which see Plutarch's Remark, Note 28.

Verse 408. The Chief in chace of Venus flies.] We have seen with what Ease Venus takes Paris out of the Battel in the third Book, when his Life was in danger from Menelaus; but here when she has a Charge of more Importance and nearer Concern, she is not able to preserve her self or her Son from the Fury of Diomed. The difference of Success in two Attempts so like each other, is occasion'd by that Penetration of Sight with which Pallas had endu'd her Favorite. For the Gods in their Intercourse with Men are not ordinarily seen but when they please to render themselves visible; wherefore Venus might think her self and her Son secure from the Insolence of this daring Mortal; but was in this deceiv'd, being ignorant of that Faculty, wherewith the Hero was enabled to distinguish Gods as well as Men.

Verse 419. Her snowie Hand the razing Steel profan'd.] Plutarch in his Symposiacks l. 9. tells us, that Maximus the Rhetorician propos'd this far-fetch'd Question at a Banquet, On which of her Hands Venus was wounded? and that Zopyrion answer'd it by asking, On which of his Legs Philip was lame? But Maximus reply'd it was a different Case: For Demosthenes left no Foundation to guess at the one, whereas Homer gives a Solution of the other, in saying that Diomed throwing his Spear across, wounded her Wrist: so that it was her right Hand he hurt, her left being opposite to his right. He adds another humorous Reason from Pallas's reproaching her afterwards, as having got this Wound while she was stroking and solliciting some Grecian Lady, and unbuckling her Zone; An Action (says this Philosopher) in which no one would make use of the left Hand.

Verse 422. Such Stream as issues from a wounded God.] This is one of those Passages in Homer which have given occasion to that famous Censure of Tully and Longinus, That he makes Gods of his Heroes, and Mortals of his Gods. These, taken in a general Sense, appear'd the highest Impiety to Plato and Pythagoras; one of whom has banish'd Homer from his Commonwealth, and the other said he was tortured in Hell, for Fictions of this Nature. But if a due Distinction be made of a difference among Beings superior to Mankind, which both the Pagans and Christians have allowed, these Fables may be easily accounted for. Wounds inflicted on the Dragon, Bruising of the Serpent's Head, and other such metaphorical Images are consecrated in holy Writ, and apply'd to Angelical and incorporeal Natures. But in our Author's Days they had a Notion of Gods that were corporeal, to whom they ascribed Bodies, tho' of a more subtil Kind than those of Mortals. So in this very Place he supposes them to have Blood, but Blood of a finer and superior Nature. Notwithstanding the foregoing Censures, Milton has not scrupled to imitate and apply this to Angels in the Christian System, when Satan is wounded by Michael in his sixth Book.

Aristotle, Cap. 26. Art. Poet. excuses Homer for following Fame and common Opinion in his Account of the Gods, tho' no way agreeable to Truth. The Religion of those Times taught no other Notions of the Deity, than that the Gods were Beings of human Forms and Passions; so that any but a real Anthropomorphite would probably have past among the ancient Greeks for an impious Heretick: They thought their Religion, which worshipped the Gods in Images of human Shape, was much more refin'd and rational than that of Ægypt and other Nations, who ador'd them in animal or monstrous Forms. And certainly Gods of human Shape cannot justly be esteemed or described otherwise, than as a celestial Race, superior only to mortal Men by greater Abilities, and a more extensive Degree of Wisdom and Strength, subject however to the necessary Inconveniencies consequent to corporeal Beings. Cicero in his Book de Nat. Deor. urges this Consequence strongly against the Epicureans, who tho' they depos'd the Gods from any Power in creating or governing the World, yet maintain'd their Existence in human Forms. Non enim sentitis quam multa vobis suscipienda sunt si impetraveritis ut concedamus eandem esse hominum & deorum figuram; omnis cultus & curatio corporis erit eadem adhibenda Deo quæ adhibetur homini, ingressus, cursus, accubatio, inclinatio, sessio, comprehensio, ad extremum etiam sermo & oratio. Nam quod & mares Deos & fæminas esse dicitis, quid sequatur videtis.

This Particular of the wounding of Venus seems to be a Fiction of Homer's own Brain, naturally deducible from the Doctrine of corporeal Gods above-mentioned; and considered as Poetry, no way shocking. Yet our Author as if he had foreseen some Objection, has very artfully inserted a Justification of this bold Stroke, in the Speech Dione soon after makes to Venus. For as it was natural to comfort her Daughter, by putting her in mind that many other Deities had receiv'd as ill Treatment from Mortals by the Permission of Jupiter; so it was of great Use to the Poet, to enumerate those ancient Fables to the same Purpose, which being then generally assented to might obtain Credit for his own. This fine Remark belongs to Eustathius.

Verse 424. Unlike our gross, diseas'd, terrestrial Blood, &c.] The Opinion of the Incorruptibility of Celestial Matter seems to have been receiv'd in the Time of Homer. For he makes the Immortality of the Gods to depend upon the incorruptible Nature of the Nutriment by which they are sustained: As the Mortality of Men to proceed from the corruptible Materials of which they are made, and by which they are nourished. We have several Instances in him from whence this may be inferred, as when Diomed questions Glaucus if he be a God or a Mortal, he adds, One who is sustained by the Fruits of the Earth. Lib. 6. V. 142.

Verse 449. Low at his Knee she begg'd.] All the former English Translators make it, she fell on her Knees, an Oversight occasion'd by the want of a competent Knowledge in Antiquities (without which no Man can tolerably understand this Author.) For the Custom of praying on the Knees was unknown to the Greeks, and in use only among the Hebrews.

Verse 472. And share those Griefs inferior Pow'rs must share.] The word Inferior is added by the Translator, to open the Distinction Homer makes between the Divinity itself, which he represents impassible, and the subordinate celestial Beings or Spirits.

Verse 475. The mighty Mars , &c.]

Homer in these Fables, as upon many other Occasions, makes a great Show of his Theological Learning, which was the manner of all the Greeks who had travell'd into Ægypt. Those who would see these Allegories explained at large, may consult Eustathius on this Place. Virgil speaks much in the same Figure when he describes the happy Peace with which Augustus had blest the World,

Verse 479. Perhaps had perish'd.] Some of Homer's Censurers have inferr'd from this Passage, that the Poet represents his Gods subject to Death, when nothing but great Misery is here described. It is a common way of Speech to use Perdition and Destruction for Misfortune. The Language of Scripture calls eternal Punishment perishing everlastingly. There is a remarkable Passage to this Purpose in Tacitus, An. 6. which very lively represents the miserable State of a distracted Tyrant: It is the beginning of a Letter from Tiberius to the Senate, Quid scribam vobis, P. C. aut quomodo scribam, aut quid omnino non scribam hoc tempore, Dii me deæque pejus perdant quam perire quotidie sentio, si scio.

Verse 498. No Infant on his Knees shall call him Sire.] This is Homer's manner of foretelling that he shall perish unfortunately in Battel, which is infinitely a more artful way of conveying that Thought than by a direct Expression. He does not simply say, he shall never return from the War, but intimates as much by describing the Loss of the most sensible and affecting Pleasure that a Warrior can receive at his Return. Of the like Nature is the Prophecy at the end of this Speech of the Hero's Death, by representing it in a Dream of his Wife's. There are many fine Strokes of this kind in the Prophetical Parts of the Old Testament. Nothing is more natural than Dione's forming these Images of Revenge upon Diomed, the Hope of which Vengeance was so proper a Topick of Consolation to Venus.

Verse 500. To stretch thee pale, &c.] Virgil has taken notice of this threatning Denunciation of Vengeance, tho' fulfill'd in a different manner, where Diomed in his Answer to the Embassador of K. Latinus enumerates his Misfortunes, and imputes the Cause of them to this impious Attempt upon Venus.

Verse 501. Thy distant Wife.] The Poet seems here to complement the Fair Sex at the Expence of Truth, by concealing the Character of Ægiale, whom he has describ'd with the Disposition of a faithful Wife; tho' the History of those Times represents her as an abandon'd Prostitute, who gave up her own Person and her Husband's Crown to her Lover. So that Diomed at his Return from Troy, when he expected to be receiv'd with all the Tenderness of a loving Spouse, found his Bed and Throne possess'd by an Adulterer, was forc'd to fly his Country, and seek Refuge and Subsistence in foreign Lands. Thus the offended Goddess executed her Vengeance by the proper Effects of her own Power, by involving the Hero in a Series of Misfortunes proceeding from the Incontinence of his Wife.

Verse 517. The Sire of Gods and Men superior smil'd.] One may observe the Decorum and Decency our Author constantly preserves on this Occasion: Jupiter only smiles, the other Gods laugh out. That Homer was no Enemy to Mirth may appear from several Places of his Poem; which so serious as it is, is interspers'd with many Gayeties, indeed more than he has been follow'd in by the succeeding Epic Poets. Milton, who was perhaps fonder of him than the rest, has given most into the ludicrous; of which his Paradise of Fools in the third Book, and his Jesting Angels in the sixth, are extraordinary Instances. Upon the Confusion of Babel, he says there was great Laughter in Heaven: as Homer calls the Laughter of the Gods in the first Book ασβεστος γελως, an inextinguishable Laugh: But the Scripture might perhaps embolden the English Poet, which says, The Lord shall laugh them to Scorn, and the like. Plato is very angry at Homer for making the Deities laugh, as a high Indecency and Offence to Gravity. He says the Gods in our Author represent Magistrates and Persons in Authority, and are designed as Examples to such: On this Supposition, he blames him for proposing immoderate. Laughter as a thing decent in great Men. I forgot to take notice in its proper Place, that the Epithet inextinguishable is not to be taken literally for dissolute or ceasless Mirth, but was only a Phrase of that time to signify Chearfulness and seasonable Gayety; in the same manner as we may now say, to die with Laughter, without being understood to be in danger of dying with it. The Place, Time, and Occasion were all agreeable to Mirth: It was at a Banquet; and Plato himself relates several things that past at the Banquet of Agathon, which had not been either decent or rational at any other Season. The same may be said of the present Passage: Raillery could never be more natural than when two of the Female Sex had an Opportunity of triumphing over another whom they hated. Homer makes Wisdom her self not able, even in the Presence of Jupiter, to resist the Temptation. She breaks into a ludicrous Speech, and the supreme Being himself vouchsafes a Smile at it. But this (as Eustathius remarks) is not introduced without Judgment and Precaution. For we see he makes Minerva first beg Jupiter's Permission for this Piece of Freedom, Permit thy Daughter, gracious Jove ; in which he asks the Reader's leave to enliven his Narration with this Piece of Gayety.

Verse 540. He dreads his Fury, and some Steps retires.] Diomed still maintains his intrepid Character; he retires but a Step or two even from Apollo. The Conduct of Homer is remarkably just and rational here. He gives Diomed no sort of Advantage over Apollo, because he would not feign what was entirely incredible, and what no Allegory could justify. He wounds Venus and Mars, as it is morally possible to overcome the irregular Passions which are represented by those Deities. But it is impossible to vanquish Apollo, in whatsoever Capacity he is considered, either as the Sun, or as Destiny: One may shoot at the Sun but not hurt him, and one may strive against Destiny but not surmount it. Eustathius.

Verse 546. A Phantome rais'd.] The Fiction of a God's placing a Phantome instead of the Hero, to delude the Enemy and continue the Engagement, means no more than that the Enemy thought he was in the Battel. This is the Language of Poetry, which prefers a marvellous Fiction to a plain and simple Truth, the Recital whereof would be cold and unaffecting. Thus Minerva's guiding a Javelin, signifies only that it was thrown with Art and Dexterity; Mars taking upon him the Shape of Acamas, that the Courage of Acamas incited him to do so, and in like manner of the rest. The present Passage is copied by Virgil in the tenth Æneid, where the Spectre of Æneas is raised by Juno or the Air, as it is here by Apollo or the Sun; both equally proper to be employ'd in forming an Apparition. Whoever will compare the two Authors on this Subject, will observe with what admirable Art, and what exquisite Ornaments, the latter has improved and beautify'd his Original. Scaliger in comparing these Places, has absurdly censured the Phantome of Homer for its Inactivity; whereas it was only form'd to represent the Hero lying on the Ground, without any Appearance of Life or Motion. Spencer in the eighth Canto of the third Book seems to have improved this Imagination, in the Creation of his false Florimel, who performs all the Functions of Life, and gives occasion for many Adventures.

Verse 575. The Speech of Sarpedon to Hector .] It will be hard to find a Speech more warm and spirited than this of Sarpedon, or which comprehends so much in so few Words. Nothing could be more artfully thought upon to pique Hector, who was so jealous of his Country's Glory, than to tell him he had formerly conceiv'd too great a Notion of the Trojan Valor; and to exalt the Auxiliaries above his Countrymen. The Description Sarpedon gives of the little Concern or Interest himself had in the War, in Opposition to the Necessity and imminent Danger of the Trojans, greatly strengthens this Preference, and lays the Charge very home upon their Honour. In the latter Part, which prescribes Hector his Duty, there is a particular Reprimand in telling him how much it behoves him to animate and encourage the Auxiliaries; for this is to say in other Words, You should exhort them, and they are forc'd on the contrary to exhort you.

Verse 611. Ceres' sacred Floor.] Homer calls the Threshing Floor sacred (says Eustathius) not only as it was consecrated to Ceres, but in regard of its great Use and Advantage to human Kind; in which Sense also he frequently gives the same Epithet to Cities, &c. This Simile is of an exquisite Beauty.

Verse 641. So when the th'embattel'd Clouds.] This Simile contains as proper a Comparison, and as fine a Picture of Nature as any in Homer: Yet however it is to be fear'd the Beauty and Propriety of it will not be very obvious to many Readers, because it is the Description of a natural Appearance which they have not had an Opportunity to remark, and which can be observed only in a mountainous Country. It happens frequently in very calm Weather, that the Atmosphere is charg'd with thick Vapors, whose Gravity is such, that they neither rise nor fall, but remain poiz'd in the Air at a certain Height, where they continue frequently for several Days together. In a plain Country this occasions no other visible Appearance, but of an uniform clouded Sky; but in a Hilly Region these Vapors are to be seen covering the Tops and stretch'd along the Sides of the Mountains, the clouded Parts above being terminated and distinguish'd from the clear Parts below by a strait Line running parallel to the Horizon, as far as the Mountains extend. The whole Compass of Nature cannot afford a nobler and more exact Representation of a numerous Army, drawn up in Line of Battel, and expecting the Charge. The long-extended even front, the Closeness of the Ranks; the Firmness, Order, and Silence of the whole, are all drawn with great Resemblance in this one Comparison. The Poet adds, that this Appearance is while Boreas and the other boisterous Winds which disperse and break the Clouds, are laid asleep. This is as exact as it is Poetical; for when the Winds arise, this regular Order is soon dissolv'd. This Circumstance is added to the Description, as an ominous Anticipation of the Flight and Dissipation of the Greeks, which soon ensued when Mars and Hector broke in upon them.

Verse 651. Ye Greeks be Men, &c.] If Homer in the longer Speeches of the Iliad, says all that could be said by Eloquence, in the shorter he says all that can be said with Judgment. Whatever some few modern Criticks have thought, it will be found upon due Reflection, that the Length or Brevity of his Speeches is determined as the Occasions either allow Leisure or demand Haste. This concise Oration of Agamemnon is a Masterpiece in the Laconic way. The Exigence required he should say something very powerful, and no Time was to be lost. He therefore warms the Brave and the Timorous by one and the same Exhortation, which at once moves by the Love of Glory, and the Fear of Death. It is short and full, like that of the brave Scotch General under Gustavus, who upon Sight of the Enemy, said only this; See ye those Lads? Either fell them or they'll fell you.

Verse 652. Your brave Associates and your selves revere.] This noble Exhortation of Agamemnon is correspondent to the wise Scheme of Nestor in the second Book: where he advised to rank the Soldiers of the same Nation together, that being known to each other, all might be incited either by a generous Emulation or a decent Shame. Spondanus.

Verse 691. Mars urg'd him on.] This is another Instance of what has been in general observ'd in the Discourse on the Battels of Homer, his artful manner of making us measure one Hero by another. We have here an exact Scale of the Valor of Æneas and of Menelaus; how much the former outweighs the latter, appears by what is said of Mars in these Lines, and by the Necessity of Antilochus's assisting Menelaus: as afterwards what Over-balance that Assistance gave him, by Æneas's retreating from them both. How very nicely are these Degrees mark'd on either Hand? This Knowledge of the Difference which Nature itself sets between one Man and another, makes our Author neither blame these two Heroes for going against one, who was superior to each of them in Strength; nor that one for retiring from both, when their Conjunction made them an Overmatch to him. There is great Judgment in all this.

Verse 696. And all his Country's glorious Labours vain.] For (as Agamemnon said in the fourth Book upon Menelaus's being wounded) if he were slain, the War would be at an end, and the Greeks think only of returning to their Country. Spondanus.

Verse 726. Mars, stern Destroyer, &c.] There is a great Nobleness in this Passage. With what Pomp is Hector introduced into the Battel, where Mars and Bellona are his Attendants? The Retreat of Diomed is no less beautiful; Minerva had remov'd the Mist from his Eyes, and he immediately discovers Mars assisting Hector. His Surprize on this Occasion is finely imag'd by that of the Traveller on the sudden Sight of the River.

Verse 784. What brings this Lycian Counsellor so far?] There is a particular Sarcasm in Tlepolemus's calling Sarpedon in this Place Λυκιων Βουληφορε, Lycian Counsellor, one better skill'd in Oratory than War; as he was the Governor of a People who had long been in Peace, and probably (if we may guess from his Character in Homer) remarkable for his Speeches. This is rightly observed by Spondanus, tho' not taken notice of by M. Dacier.

Verse 792. Troy felt his Arm.] He alludes to the History of the first Destruction of Troy by Hercules, occasion'd by Laomedon's refusing that Hero the Horses, which were the Reward promis'd him for the Delivery of his Daughter Hesione.

Verse 809. With base Reproaches and unmanly Pride.] Methinks these Words κακω ηνιπαπε μυθω include the chief Sting of Sarpedon's Answer to Tlepolemus, which no Commentator that I remember has remark'd. He tells him Laomedon deserv'd his Misfortune, not only for his Perfidy, but for injuring a brave Man with unmanly and scandalous Reproaches; alluding to those which Tlepolemus had just before cast upon him.

Verse 848. Nor Hector to the Chief replies.] Homer is in nothing more admirable than in the excellent Use he makes of the Silence of the Persons he introduces. It would be endless to collect all the Instances of this Truth throughout his Poem; yet I cannot but put together those that have already occurr'd in the Course of this Work, and leave to the Reader the Pleasure of observing it in what remains. The Silence of the two Heralds when they were to take Briseis from Achilles in Lib. 1. of which see Note 39. In the third Book, when Iris tells Helen the two Rivals were to fight in her Quarrel, and that all Troy were standing Spectators; that guilty Princess makes no Answer, but casts a Veil over her Face and drops a Tear; and when she comes just after into the Presence of Priam, she speaks not, till after he has in a particular manner encourag'd and commanded her. Paris and Menelaus being just upon the Point to encounter, the latter declares his Wishes and Hopes of Conquest to Heaven, the former being engag'd in an unjust Cause, says not a word. In the fourth Book, when Jupiter has express'd his Desire to favour Troy, Juno declaims against him, but the Goddess of Wisdom, tho' much concern'd, holds her Peace. When Agamemnon too rashly reproves Diomed, that Hero remains silent, and in the true Character of a rough Warrior, leaves it to his Actions to speak for him. In the present Book when Sarpedon has reproach'd Hector in an open and generous manner, Hector preserving the same warlike Character, returns no Answer, but immediately hastens to the Business of the Field; as he also does in this Place, where he instantly brings off Sarpedon, without so much as telling him he will endeavour his Rescue. Chapman was not sensible of the Beauty of this, when he imagined Hector's Silence here proceeded from the Pique he had conceiv'd at Sarpedon for his late Reproof of him. That Translator has not scrupled to insert this Opinion of his in a groundless Interpolation altogether foreign to the Author. But indeed it is a Liberty he frequently takes, to draw any Passage to some new, far-fetch'd Conceit of his Invention; insomuch, that very often before he translates any Speech, to the Sense or Design of which he gives some fanciful Turn of his own; he prepares it by several additional Lines purposely to prepossess the Reader of that Meaning. Those who will take the Trouble may see Examples of this in what he sets before the Speeches of Hector, Paris, and Helena in the sixth Book, and innumerable other Places.

Verse 858. But Boreas rising fresh.] Sarpedon's fainting at the Extraction of the Dart, and reviving by the free Air, shews the great Judgment of our Author in these Matters. But how Poetically has he told this Truth in raising the God Boreas to his Hero's Assistance, and making a little Machine of but one Line? This manner of representing common Things in Figure and Person, was perhaps the Effect of Homer's Ægyptian Education.

Verse 860. The gen'rous Greeks , &c.] This slow and orderly Retreat of the Greeks with their Front constantly turn'd to the Enemy, is a fine Encomium both of their Courage and Discipline. This manner of Retreat was in use among the ancient Lacedæmonians, as were many other martial Customs describ'd by Homer. This Practice took its Rise among that brave People from the Apprehensions of being slain with a Wound receiv'd in their Back. Such a Misfortune was not only attended with the highest Infamy, but they had found a way to punish them who suffer'd thus even after their Death, by denying them (as Eustathius informs us) the Rites of Burial.

Verse 864.]

This manner of breaking out into an Interrogation, amidst the Description of a Battel, is what serves very much to awaken the Reader. It is here an Invocation to the Muse that prepares us for something uncommon; and the Muse is suppos'd immediately to answer, Teuthras the great, &c. Virgil, I think, has improved the Strength of this Figure by addressing the Apostrophe to the Person whose Exploits he is celebrating, as to Camilla in the eleventh Book.

Verse 885. And now Heav'ns Empress calls her blazing Car, &c.] Homer seems never more delighted than when he has some Occasion of displaying his Skill in Mechanicks. The Detail he gives us of this Chariot is a beautiful Example of it, where he takes occasion to describe every different Part with a Happiness rarely to be found in Descriptions of this Nature.

Verse 904. Pallas disrobes.] This Fiction of Pallas arraying herself with the Arms of Jupiter, finely intimates (says Eustathius) that she is nothing else but the Wisdom of the Almighty. The same Author tells us, that the Ancients mark'd this Place with a Star, to distinguish it as one of those that were perfectly admirable. Indeed there is a Greatness and Sublimity in the whole Passage, which is astonishing and superior to any Imagination but that of Homer, nor is there any that might better give occasion for that celebrated Saying, That he was the only Man who had seen the Forms of the Gods, or the only Man who had shewn them. With what Nobleness he describes the Chariot of Juno, the Armor of Minerva, the Ægis of Jupiter, fill'd with the Figures of Horror, Affright, Discord, and all the Terrors of War, the Effects of his Wrath against Men; and that Spear with which his Power and Wisdom overturns whole Armies, and humbles the Pride of the Kings who offend him? But we shall not wonder at the unusual Majesty of all these Ideas, if we consider that they have a near Resemblance to some Descriptions of the same Kind in the sacred Writings, where the Almighty is represented arm'd with Terror, and descending in Majesty to be aveng'd on his Enemies: The Chariot, the Bow, and the Shield of God are Expressions frequent in the Psalms.

Verse 913. A Fringe of Serpents.] Our Author does not particularly describe this Fringe of the Ægis, as consisting of Serpents; but that it did so, may be learn'd from Herodotus in his fourth Book. “The Greeks (says he) borrowed the “Vest and Shield of Minerva from the Lybians, only with this Difference, that the Lybian Shield was fringed with Thongs of Leather, the Grecian with Serpents.” And Virgil's Description of the same Ægis agrees with this, Æn. 8. V. 435.

This Note is taken from Spondanus, as is also Ogilby's on this Place, but he has translated the Passage of Herodotus wrong, and made the Lybian Shield have the Serpents which were peculiar to the Grecian. By the way I must observe, that Ogilby's Notes are for the most part a Transcription of Spondanus's.

Verse 920. So vast, the wide Circumference contains A hundred Armies.] The Words in the Original are εκατον πολεων πρυλεεσσ' αραρμ=αν, which are capable of two Meanings; either that this Helmet of Jupiter was sufficient to have covered the Armies of an hundred Cities, or that the Armies of an hundred Cities were engraved upon it. It is here translated in such a manner that it may be taken either way, tho' the Learned are most inclined to the former Sense, as that Idea is greater and more extraordinary, indeed more agreeable to Homer's bold manner; and not extravagant if we call in the Allegory to our Assistance, and imagine it (with M. Dacier) an Allusion to the Providence of God that extends over all the Universe.

Verse 928. Heav'n Gates spontaneous open'd.] This marvellous Circumstance of the Gates of Heaven opening themselves of their own accord to the Divinities that past thro' them, is copied by Milton, Lib. 5.

And again in the seventh Book,

As the Fiction that the Hours are the Guards of those Gates, gave him the Hint of that beautiful Passage in the beginning of his sixth,

This Expression of the Gates of Heaven is in the Eastern manner, where they said the Gates of Heaven, or of Earth, for the Entrance or Extremities of Heaven or Earth; a Phrase usual in the Scriptures, as is observ'd by Dacier.

Verse 929. Heav'ns golden Gates, kept by the winged Hours.] By the Hours here are meant the Seasons, and so Hobbes translates it, but spoils the Sense by what he adds,

Which is utterly unintelligible, and nothing like Homer's Thought. Natalis Comes explains it thus, Lib. 4. c. 5. Homerus libro quinto Iliadis non solum has, Portas cœli servare, sed etiam nubes inducere & serenum facere, cum libuerit; quippe cum apertum cœlum, serenum nominent Poetæ, at clausum, tectum nubibus.

Verse 954. To tame the Monster-God Minerva knows.] For it is only Wisdom that can master Strength. It is worth while here to observe the Conduct of Homer. He makes Minerva, and not Juno, to fight with Mars; because a Combate between Mars and Juno could not be supported by any Allegory to have authorized the Fable: whereas the Allegory of a Battel between Mars and Minerva is very open and intelligible. Eustathius.

Verse 960. Far as a Shepherd, &c.] Longinus citing these Verses as a noble Instance of the Sublime, speaks to this Effect. “In what a wonderful manner does Homer exalt his Deities; measuring the Leaps of their very Horses by the whole Breadth of the Horizon? Who is there that considering the Magnificence of this Hyperbole, would not cry out with Reason, that if these heavenly Steeds were to make a second Leap, the World would want room for a third?” This puts me in mind of that Passage in Hesiod's Theogony, where he describes the Height of the Heavens, by saying a Smith's Anvil would be nine Days in falling from thence to Earth.

Verse 971. Smooth as the gliding Doves.] This Simile is intended to express the Lightness and Smoothness of the Motion of these Goddesses. The Doves to which Homer compares them, are said by the ancient Scholiast to leave no Impression of their Steps. The Word βατην in the Original may be render'd ascenderunt as well as incesserunt; so may imply (as M. Dacier translates it) moving without touching the Earth, which Milton finely calls smooth-gliding without Step.

Virgil describes the gliding of one of these Birds by an Image parallel to that in this Verse.

This kind of Movement was appropriated to the Gods by the Egyptians, as we see in Heliodorus, Lib. 3. Homer might possibly have taken this Notion from them. And Virgil in that Passage where Æneas discovers Venus by her Gate, Et vera incessu patuit Dea, seems to allude to some manner of moving that distinguish'd Divinities from Mortals. This Opinion is likewise hinted at by him in the fifth Æneid, where he so beautifully and briefly enumerates the distinguishing Marks of a Deity,

This Passage likewise strengthens what is said in the thirtieth Note on the first Book.

The Allegory of this whole Book lies so open, is carry'd on with such Closeness, and wound up with so much Fulness and Strength, that it is a wonder how it could enter into the Imagination of any Critick, that these Actions of Diomed were only a daring and extravagant Fiction in Homer, as if he affected the Marvellous at any rate. The great Moral of it is, that a brave Man should not contend against Heaven, but resist only Venus and Mars, Incontinence and ungovern'd Fury. Diomed is propos'd as an Example of a great and enterprizing Nature, which would perpetually be venturing too far, and committing Extravagancies or Impieties, did it not suffer itself to be check'd and guided by Minerva or Prudence: For it is this Wisdom (as we are told in the very first Lines of the Book) that raises a Hero above all others. Nothing is more observable than the particular Care Homer has taken to shew he designed this Moral. He never omits any Occasion throughout the Book, to put it in express Terms into the Mouths of the Gods or Persons of the greatest Weight. Minerva, at the beginning of the Battel, is made to give this Precept to Diomed; Fight not against the Gods, but give way to them, and resist only Venus . The same Goddess opens his Eyes, and enlightens him so far as to perceive when it is Heaven that acts immediately against him, or when it is Man only that opposes him. The Hero himself, as soon as he has perform'd her Dictates in driving away Venus, cries out, not as to the Goddess, but as to the Passion, Thou hast no Business with Warriors, is it not enough that thou deceiv'st weak Women? Even the Mother of Venus while she comforts her Daughter, bears Testimony to the Moral: That Man (says she) is not long-liv'd who contends with the Gods. And when Diomed, transported by his Nature, proceeds but a Step too far, Apollo discovers himself in the most solemn manner, and declares this Truth in his own Voice, as it were by direct Revelation: Mortal, forbear! consider, and know the vast difference there is between the Gods and Thee. They are immortal and divine, but Man a miserable Reptile of the Dust.