University of Virginia Library

Verse 18. Tears bathe their Arms, and tears the Sands bedew,— — Thetis aids their Woe—] It is not easy to give a reason why Thetis should be said to excite the Grief of the Myrmidons, and of Achilles; it had seem'd more natural for the Mother to have compos'd the Sorrows of the Son, and restored his troubled Mind to Tranquillity.

But such a Procedure would have outrag'd the Character of Achilles, who is all along describ'd to be of such a Violence of Temper, that he is not easy to be pacify'd at any time, much less upon so great an Incident as the Death of his Friend Patroclus. Perhaps the Poet made use of this Fiction in honour of Achilles; he makes every Passion of his Hero considerable, his Sorrow as well as Anger is important, and he cannot grieve but a Goddess attends him, and a whole Army weeps.

Some Commentators fancy'd that Homer animates the very Sands of the Seas, and the Arms of the Myrmidons, and makes them sensible of the Loss of Patroclus; the preceding Words seem to strengthen that Opinion, because the Poet introduces a Goddess to raise the Sorrow of the Army. But Eustathius seems not to give into this Conjecture, and I think very judiciously; for what Relation is there between the Sands of the Shores, and the Arms of the Myrmidons? It would have been more poetical to have said, the Sands and the Rocks, than the Sands and the Arms; but it is very natural to say, that the Soldiers wept so bitterly, that their Armour and the very Sands were wet with their Tears. I believe this Remark will appear very just by reading the Verse, with a Comma after τευχεα, thus,

Then the Construction will be natural and easy, Period will answer Period in the Greek, and the Sense in English will be, the Sands were wet, and the Arms were wet, with the Tears of the Mourners.

But however this be, there is a very remarkable Beauty in the run of the Verse in Homer, every Word has a melancholy Cadence, and the Poet has not only made the Sands and the Arms, but even his very Verse, to lament with Achilles.

Verse 23.

------] I could not pass by this Passage without observing to my Reader the great Beauty of this Epithet, ανδροφονους. An ordinary Poet would have contented himself with saying, he laid his Hand upon the Breast of Patroclus, but Homer knows how to raise the most trivial Circumstance, and by adding this one Word, he laid his deadly Hands, or his murderous Hands on Patroclus Breast, he fills our Minds with great Ideas, and by a single Epithet recalls to our Thoughts all the noble Atchievements of Achilles thro' the Iliad.

Verse 25. All hail Patroclus , &c.] There is in this Apostrophe of Achilles to the Ghost of Patroclus, a sort of Savageness, and a mixture of Softness and Atrocity, which are highly conformable to his Character. Dacier.

Verse 51.

] This is conformable to the Custom of the Orientals: Achilles will not be induc'd to wash, and afterwards retires to the Seashore, and sleeps on the Ground. It is just thus that David mourns in the Scriptures; he refuses to wash, or to take any Repast, but retires from Company, and lies upon the Earth.

Verse 78. The Ghost of Patroclus .] Homer has introduc'd into the former parts of the Poem the Personages of Gods and Goddesses from Heaven, and of Furies from Hell: He has embellished it with Ornaments from Earth, Sea, and Air; and he here opens a new Scene, and brings to the view a Ghost, the Shade of the departed Friend: By these Methods he diversifies his Poem with new and surprizing Circumstances, and awakens the Attention of the Reader; at the same time he very poetically adapts his Language to the Circumstances of this imaginary Patroclus, and teaches us the Opinions that prevail'd in his time, concerning the State of separate Souls.

Verse 92. Forbid to pass th'irremeable Flood.] It was the common Opinion of the Ancients, that the Souls of the Departed were not admitted into the Number of the Happy till their Bodies had receiv'd the funeral Rites; they suppos'd those that wanted them wander'd an hundred Years before they were wafted over the infernal River: Virgil perhaps had this Passage of Homer in his view in the sixth Æneis, at least he coincides with his Sentiments concerning the State of the departed Souls.

It was during this Interval, between their Death and the Rites of Funeral, that they suppos'd the only Time allow'd for separate Spirits to appear to Men; therefore Patroclus here tells his Friend,

For the fuller understanding of Homer, it is necessary to be acquainted with his Notion of the State of the Soul after Death: He follow'd the Philosophy of the Ægyptians, who suppos'd Man to be compounded of three Parts, an intelligent Mind, a Vehicle for that Mind, and a Body; the Mind they call'd φρην, or ψυχη, the Vehicle ειδωλον, Image or Soul, and the gross Body σωμα. The Soul, in which the Mind was lodg'd, was suppos'd exactly to resemble the Body in Shape, Magnitude, and Features; for this being in the Body as the Statue in its Mold, so soon as it goes forth is properly the Image of that Body in which it was enclos'd: This it was that appear'd to Achilles, with the full Resemblance of his Friend Patroclus. Vid. Dacier on the Life of Pythagoras, p. 71.

Verse 108. May mix our Ashes in one common Grave.] There is something very pathetical in this whole Speech of Patroclus; he begins it with kind Reproaches, and blames Achilles with a friendly Tenderness; he recounts to him the inseparable Affection that had been between them in their Lives, and makes it his last Request, that they may not be parted even in Death, but that their Bones may rest in the same Urn. The Speech itself is of a due Length, it ought not to be very short, because this Apparition is an Incident entirely different from any other in the whole Poem, and consequently the Reader would not have been satisfy'd with a cursory mention of it; neither ought it to be long, because this would have been contrary to the Nature of such Apparitions, whose Stay upon Earth has ever been describ'd as very short, and consequently they cannot be suppos'd to use many Words.

The Circumstance of being buried in the same Urn, is entirely conformable to the Eastern Custom: There are innumerable Instances in the Scriptures of great Personages being buried with their Fathers: So Joseph would not suffer his Bones to rest in Ægypt, but commands his Brethren to carry them into Canaan to the Burying-place of his Father Jacob.

Verse 122.

]

The Words of Homer are

In which there seems to be a great Difficulty; it being not easy to explain how Achilles can say that the Ghost of his Friend had no Understanding, when it had but just made such a rational and moving Speech: Especially when the Poet introduces the Apparition with the very Shape, Air, and Voice of Patroclus.

But this Passage will be clearly understood, by explaining the Notion which the Ancients entertain'd of the Souls of the Departed, according to the fore-cited triple Division of Mind, Image, and Body. They imagin'd that the Soul was not only separated from the Body at the Hour of Death, but that there was a farther Separation of the φρην, or Understanding, from its ειδωλον, or Vehicle; so that while the ειδωλον, or Image of the Body, was in Hell, the φρην, or Understanding, might be in Heaven: And that this is a true Explication is evident from a Passage in the Odysseis, Book II. V. 600.

By this it appears that Homer was of opinion that Hercules was in Heaven, while his ειδωλον, or Image, was in Hell: So that when this second Separation is made, the Image or Vehicle becomes a mere thoughtless Form.

We have this whole Doctrine very distinctly deliver'd by Plutarch in these Words. “Man is a compound Subject; but not of two Parts, as is commonly believed, because the Understanding is generally accounted a Part of the Soul; whereas indeed it as far exceeds the Soul, as the Soul is diviner than the Body. Now the Soul, when compounded with the Understanding, makes Reason, and when compounded with the Body, Passion: Whereof the one is the Source or Principle of Pleasure or Pain, the other of Vice or Virtue. Man therefore properly dies two Deaths; the first Death makes him two of three, and the second makes him one of two.” [Plutarch of the Face in the Moon.

Verse 139. O'er Hills, o'er Dales, o'er Rocks, o'er Crags they go— On all sides round the Forest hurls her Oaks Headlong—] The Numbers in the Original of this whole Passage are admirably adapted to the Images the Verses convey to us. Every Ear must have felt the Propriety of Sound in this Line,

That other in its kind is no less exact,

Dionysius of Halicarnassus has collected many Instances of these sorts of Beauties in Homer. This Description of felling the Forests, so excellent as it is, is comprehended in a few Lines, which has left room for a larger and more particular one in Statius, one of the best (I think) in that Author.

I the rather cite this fine Passage, because I find it copied by two of the greatest Poets of our own Nation, Chaucer and Spencer. The first in the Assembly of Fowls, the second in his Fairy Queen. lib. 1.

Verse 158. Each in refulgent Arms, &c—] 'Tis not to be suppos'd that this was a general Custom used at all Funerals; but Patroclus being a Warrior he is buried like a Soldier, with military Honours. Eustathius.

Verse 164. O'er all the Corse their scatterd Locks they throw.] The Ceremony of cutting off the Hair in honour of the Dead was practis'd not only among the Greeks, but also among other Nations; Thus Statius Thebaid. VI.

This Custom is taken notice of in holy Scripture: Ezekiel describing a great Lamentation, says, They shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, ch. 27. V. 31. I believe it was done not only in token of Sorrow, but perhaps had a conceal'd Meaning, that as the Hair was cut from the Head, and was never more to be join'd to it, so was the Dead for ever cut off from the Living, never more to return.

I must just observe that this Ceremony of cutting off the Hair was not always in token of Sorrow; Lycophron in his Cassandra, V. 976. describing a general Lamentation, says

And that the Ancients sometimes had their Hair cut off in token of Joy is evident from Juvenal Sat. 12. V. 82.

This seeming Contradiction will be solv'd by having respect to the different Practices of different Nations. If it was the general Custom of any Country to wear long Hair, then the cutting it off was a token of Sorrow; but if it was the Custom to wear short Hair, then the letting it grow long and neglecting it, shew'd that such People were Mourners.

Verse 166. Supporting with his Hands the Hero's Head.] Achilles follows the Corpse as chief Mourner, and sustains the Head of his Friend: This last Circumstance seems to be neral; thus Euripides in the Funeral of Rhesus, V. 886.

What God, O King, with his Hands supports the Head of the deceased?

Verse 173. And sacred grew to Sperchius honour'd Flood.] It was the Custom of the Ancients not only to offer their own Hair, but likewise to consecrate that of their Children to the River-Gods of their Countrey. This is what Pausanias shews in his Attics: Before you pass the Cephisa (says he) you find the Tomb of Theodorus, who was the most excellent Actor of his Time for Tragedy; and on the Banks you see two Statues, one of Mnesimachus, and the other of his Son, who cut off his Hair in honour of the Rivers; for that this was in all Ages the Custom of the Greeks, may be inferr'd from Homer's Poetry where Peleus promises by a solemn Vow to consecrate to the River Sperchius the Hair of his Son, if he returns safe from the Trojan War. This Custom was likewise in Ægypt, where Philostratus tells us, that Memnon consecrated his Hair to the Nile. This Practice of Achilles was imitated by Alexander at the Funeral of Hephæstion. Spondanus.

Verse 226. Cœlestial Venus , &c.] Homer has here introduc'd a Series of Allegories in the Compass of a few Lines: The Body of Hector may be suppos'd to have continued beautiful even after he was slain; and Venus being the President of Beauty, the Poet by a natural Fiction tells us it was preserv'd by that Goddess.

Apollo's covering the Body with a Cloud is a very natural Allegory: For the Sun (says Eustathius) has a double Quality which produces contrary Effects; the Heat of it causes a Dryness, but at the same time it exhales the Vapours of the Earth, from whence the Clouds of Heaven are form'd. This Allegory may be founded upon Truth; there might happen to be a cool Season while Hector lay unburied, and Apollo, or the Sun, raising Clouds which intercept the Heat of his Beams, by a very easy Fiction in Poetry may be introduc'd in Person to preserve the Body of Hector.

Verse 261. The Allegory of the Winds.] A Poet ought to express nothing vulgarly; and sure no Poet ever trespass'd less against this Rule than Homer; the Fruitfulness of his Invention is continually raising Incidents new and surprising. Take this Passage out of its poetical Dress, and it will be no more than this: A strong Gale of Wind blew, and so increased the Flame that it soon consum'd the Pile. But Homer introduces the Gods of the Winds in Person: And Iris, or the Rainbow, being (as Eustathius observes) a Sign not only of Showers, but of Winds, he makes them come at her Summons.

Every Circumstance is well adapted: As soon as the Winds see Iris, they rise; that is, when the Rainbow appears, the the Wind rises: She refuses to sit, and immediately returns; that is, the Rainbow is never seen long at one time, but soon appears, and soon vanishes: She returns over the Ocean; that is, the Bow is compos'd of Waters, and it would have been an unnatural Fiction to have describ'd her as passing by Land.

The Winds are all together in the Cave of Zephyrus, which may imply that they were there as at their general Rendezvous; or that the Nature of all the Winds is the same; or that the Western Wind is in that Countrey the most constant, and consequently it may be said that at such Seasons all the Winds are assembled in one Corner, or rendezvous with Zephyrus.

Iris will not enter the Cave: It is the Nature of the Rainbow to be stretch'd entirely upon the Surface, and therefore this Fiction is agreeable to Reason.

When Iris says that the Gods are partaking Hecatombs in Æthiopia, it is to be remember'd that the Gods are represented there in the first Book, before the Scenes of War were open'd, and now they are closed, they return thither. Eustathius—Thus Homer makes the Anger of his Hero so important, that it rouz'd Heaven to Arms, and now when it is almost appeas'd, Achilles as it were gives Peace to the Gods.

Verse 306. Hereafter Greece a nobler Pyle shall raise.] We see how Achilles consults his own Glory; the desire of it prevails over his Tenderness for Patroclus, and he will not permit any Man, not even his belov'd Patroclus, to share an equality of Honour with himself, even in the Grave. Eustathius.

Verse 320. The Games for Patroclus .] The Conduct of Homer in enlarging upon the Games at the Funeral of Patroclus is very judicious: There had undoubtedly been such Honours paid to several Heroes during this War, as appears from a Passage in the ninth Book, where Agamemnon to enhance the Value of the Horses which he offers Achilles, says, that any Person would be rich that had Treasures equal to the Value of the Prizes they had won; which Races must have been run during the Seige: for had they been before it, the Horses would now have been too old to be of any Value, this being the tenth Year of the War. But he Poet passes all those Games over in Silence, and reserves them for this Season; not only in honour of Patroclus, but also of his Hero Achilles; who exhibits Games to a whole Army; great Generals are Candidates for the Prizes, and he himself fits the Judge and Arbitrator: Thus in Peace as well as War the Poet maintains the Superiority of the Character of Achilles.

But there is another Reason why the Poet deferr'd to relate any Games that were exhibited at any preceding Funerals: The Death of Patroclus was the most eminent Period; and consequently the most proper Time for such Games.

'Tis farther observable, that he chuses this peculiar Time with great Judgment. When the Fury of the War rag'd, the Army could not well have found Leisure for the Games, and they might have met with Interruption from the Enemy: But Hector being dead, all Troy is in Confusion: They are in too great a Consternation to make any Attempts, and therefore the Poet could not possibly have chosen a more happy Opportunity. Eustathius.

Verse 347. Lost is Patroclus now, &c.] I am not ignorant that Homer has frequently been blamed for such little Digressions as these; in this Passage he gives us the Genealogy of his Horses, which he has frequently told us in the preceding part of the Poem. But Eustathius justifies his Conduct, and says that it was very proper to commend the Virtue of these Horses upon this Occasion, when Horses were to contend for Victory: At the same time he takes an Opportunity to make an honourable Mention of his Friend Patroclus, in whose Honour these Games were exhibited.

It may be added as a farther Justification of Homer, that this last Circumstance is very natural: Achilles while he commends his Horses remembers how careful Patroclus had been of them: His Love for his Friend is so great, that the minutest Circumstance recalls him to his Mind; and such little Digressions, such Avocations of Thought as these, very naturally proceed from the Overflows of Love and Sorrow.

Verse 363. Whom rich Echepolus , &c.] One wou'd think that Agamemnon might be accus'd of Avarice, in dispensing a Man from going to the War for the sake of a Horse; but Aristotle very well observes, that this Prince is praise-worthy for having preferr'd a Horse to a Person so cowardly, and so uncapable of Service. It may also be conjectur'd from this Passage, that even in those elder Times it was the Custom, that those who were willing to be excus'd from the War, should give either a Horse or a Man and often both. Thus Scipio going to Africa order'd the Sicilians either to attend him, or to give him Horses or Men: And Agesilaus being at Ephesus and wanting Cavalry, made a Proclamation, that the rich Men who wou'd not serve in the War should be dispens'd with, provided they furnish'd a Man and a Horse in their stead: In which, says Plutarch, he wisely follow'd the Example of King Agamemnon, who excus'd a very rich Coward from serving in Person, for a Present of a good Mare. Eustathius. Dacier.

Verse 369. Experienc'd Nestor , &c.] The Poet omits no Opportunity of paying Honour to his old favourite Nestor, and I think he is no where more particularly complemented than in this Book. His Age had disabled him from bearing any share in the Games; and yet he artfully introduces him not as a mere Spectator, but as an Actor in the Sports. Thus he as it were wins the Prize for Antilochus, Antilochus wins not by the Swiftness of his Horses, but by the Wisdom of Nestor.

This fatherly Tenderness is wonderfully natural: We see him in all imaginable Inquietude and Concern for his Son; He comes to the Barrier, stands beside the Chariot, animates his Son by his Praises, and directs him by his Lessons: You think the old Man's Soul mounts on the Chariot with his Antilochus, to partake the same Dangers, and run the same Career.

Nothing can be better adapted to the Character than this Speech; he expatiates upon the Advantages of Wisdom over Strength, which is a tacit Complement to himself: And had there been a Prize for Wisdom, undoubtedly the old Man would have claim'd it as his Right. Eustathius.

Verse 426. The Lots their place dispose.] According to these Lots the Charioteers took their Places; but to know whether they stood all in an equal Front, or one behind the other, is a Difficulty: Eustathius says the Ancients were of Opinion that they did not stand in one Front; because it is evident that he who had the first Lot had a great Advantage of the other Charioteers: If he had not, why should Achilles cast Lots? Madam Dacier is of Opinion that they all stood a-breast at the Barrier, and that the first would still have a sufficient Advantage, as he was nearer the Bound, and stood within the rest, whereas the others must take a larger Circle, and consequently were forc'd to run a greater Compass of Ground. Phœnix was plac'd as an Inspector of the Race, that is, says Eustathius, he was to make report whether they had observ'd the Laws of the Race in their several Turnings.

Sophocles observes the same Method with Homer in relation to the Lots and Inspectors, in his Electra.

The constituted Judges assign'd the Places according to the Lots.

The Ancients say that the Charioteers started at the Sigæum, where the Ships of Achilles lay, and ran towards the Rhæteum, from the Ships towards the Shores. But Aristarchus affirm'd that they run in the Compass of Ground of five Stadia, which lay between the Wall and the Tents toward the Shore. Eustathius.

Verse 457. And seem just mounting on his Car behind.] A more natural Image than this could not be thought of. The Poet makes us Spectators of the Race, we see Diomed pressing upon Eumelus so closely, that his Chariot seems to climb the Chariot of Eumelus.

Verse 464. Rage fills his Eye with Anguish to survey, &c.] We have seen Diomed surrounded with innumerable Dangers, acting in the most perilous Scenes of Blood and Death, yet never shed one Tear: And now he weeps on a small occasion, for a mere Trifle: This must be ascrib'd to the Nature of Mankind, who are often transported with Trifles; and there are certain unguarded Moments in every Man's Life; so that he who could meet the greatest Dangers with Intrepidity, may thro' Anger be betray'd into an Indecency. Eustathius.

The reason why Apollo is angry at Diomed, according to Eustathius, is because he was interested for Eumelus, whose Mares he had fed, when he serv'd Admetus; but I fancy he is under a Mistake: This indeed is a Reason why he should favour Eumelus, but not why he should be angry at Diomed. I rather think that the Quarrel of Apollo with Diomed was personal; because he offer'd him a Violence in the first Book, and Apollo still resents it.

The Fiction of Minerva's assisting Diomed is grounded upon his being so wise as to take a couple of Whips to prevent any Mischance: So that Wisdom, or Pallas, may be said to lend him one. Eustathius.

Verse 486. The Speech of Antilochus to his Horses.] I fear Antilochus his Speech to his Horses is blameable; Eustathius himself seems to think it a Fault that he should speak so much in the very Heat of the Race. He commands and sooths, counsels and threatens his Horses, as if they were reasonable Creatures. The subsequent Speech of Menelaus is more excusable as it is more short, but both of them are spoken in a Passion, and Anger we know makes us speak to every thing, and we discharge it upon the most senseless Objects.

Verse 563. The Dispute between Idomeneus and Ajax .] Nothing could be more naturally imagin'd than this Contention at a Horse-Race: The Leaders were divided into Parties, and each was interested for his Friend: The Poet had a two-fold Design, not only to embellish and diversify his Poem by such natural Circumstances, but also to shew us, as Eustathius observes, from the Conduct of Ajax, that passionate Men betray themselves into Follies, and are themselves guilty of the Faults of which they accuse others.

It is with a particular Decency that Homer makes Achilles the Arbitrator between Idomeneus and Ajax: Agamemnon was his Superior in the Army, but as Achilles exhibited the Shows he was the proper Judge of any Difference that should arise about them; had the Contest been between Ajax and Idomeneus, consider'd as Soldiers, the Cause must have been brought before Agamemnon; but as they are to be consider'd as Spectators of the Games, they ought to be determin'd by Achilles.

It may not be unnecessary just to observe to the Reader the Judiciousness of Homer's Conduct in making Achilles exhibit the Games, and not Agamemnon: Achilles is the Hero of the Poem, and consequently must be the chief Actor in all the great Scenes of it: He had remain'd inactive during a great Part of the Poem, yet the Poet makes his very Inactivity contribute to the carrying on the Design of his Ilias: And to supply his Absence from many of the busy Scenes of the preceding Parts of it, he now in the Conclusion makes him almost the sole Agent: By these means he leaves a noble Idea of his Hero upon the Mind of his Reader, and as he rais'd our Expectations when he brought him upon the Stage of Action, so he makes him go off with the utmost Pomp and Applause.

Verse 580. High o'er his Head the circling Lash he wields.] I am persuaded that the common Translation of the Word Κατωμαδον, in the Original of this Verse, is faulty: It is render'd, he lash'd the Horses continually over the Shoulders; whereas I fancy it should be translated thus, assiduè (Equos) agitabat scuticâ ab humero ductâ. This naturally expresses the very Action, and whirl of the Whip over the Driver's Shoulder, in the Act of lashing the Horses, and agrees with the Use of the same Word in the 431st Line of this Book, where ουρα δισκου κατωμαδ ιοιο must be translated Jactus Disci ab humero vibrati.

Verse 613. Fortune denies, but Justice, &c.] Achilles here intends to shew, that it is not just Fortune should rule over Virtue, but that a brave Man who had perform'd his Duty, and who did not bring upon himself his Misfortune, ought to have the Recompence he has deserv'd: And this Principle is just, provided we do not reward him at the Expence of another's Right: Eumelus is a Thessalian, and it is probable Achilles has a Partiality to his Countryman. Dacier.

Verse 632. But this, my Prize, I never shall forego— There is an Air of Bravery in this Discourse of Antilochus: He speaks with the Generosity of a gallant Soldier, and prefers his Honour to his Interest; he tells Achilles if he pleases he may make Eumelus a richer Present than his Prize; he is not concern'd for the Value of it, but as it was the Reward of Victory, he would not resign it, because that would be an Acknowledgment that Eumelus deserv'd it.

The Character of Antilochus is admirably sustain'd thro' this whole Episode; he is a very sensible Man, but transported with youthful Heat, and ambitious of Glory: His Rashness in driving so furiously against Menelaus must be imputed to this; but his Passions being gratify'd by the Conquest in the Race, his Reason again returns, he owns his Error, and is full of Resignation to Menelaus.

Verse 662. And touch the Steeds, and swear—] 'Tis evident, says Eustathius, from hence, that all Fraud was forbid in the Chariot-Race; but it is not very plain what unlawful Deceit Antilochus used against Menelaus; perhaps Antilochus in his Haste had declin'd from the Race-Ground, and avoided some of the uneven Places of it, and consequently took an unfair Advantage of his Adversary; or perhaps his driving so furiously against Menelaus as to endanger both their Chariots and their Lives, might be reckon'd foul play; and therefore Antilochus refuses to take the Oath.

Verse 678. Joy swells his Soul, as when the vernal Grain, &c.] Eustathius is very large in the Explication of this Similitude, which at the first view seems obscure: His Words are these

As the Dew raises the Blades of Corn, that are for want of it weak and depressed, and by pervading the Pores of the Corn animates and makes it flourish, so did the Behaviour of Antilochus raise the dejected Mind of Menelaus, exalt his Spirits, and restore him to a full Satisfaction.

I have given the Reader his Interpretation, and translated it with the Liberty of Poetry: It is very much in the Language of Scripture, and in the Spirit of the Orientals.

Verse 706. Accept thou this, O sacred Sire!] The Poet in my Opinion preserves a great deal of Decency towards this old Hero, and venerable Counsellour: He gives him an honorary Reward for his superior Wisdom, and therefore Achilles calls it αεθλον, and not δωρον, a Prize, and not a Present. The Moral of Homer is, that Princes ought no less to honour and recompense those who excel in Wisdom and Counsel, than those who are capable of actual Service.

Achilles, perhaps, had a double view in paying him this Respect, not only out of Deference to his Age, and Wisdom, but also because he had, in a manner, won the Prize by the Advice he gave his Son: So that Nestor may be said to have conquer'd in the Person of Antilochus. Eustathius.

Verse 718. Nestor's Speech to Achilles .] This Speech is admirably well adapted to the Character of Nestor: He aggrandizes, with an Infirmity peculiar to Age, his own Exploits; and one would think Horace had him in his Eye,

Neither is it any Blemish to the Character of Nestor thus to be a little talkative about his own Atchievements: To have describ'd him otherwise would have been an Outrage to human Nature, in as much as the wisest Man living is not free from the Infirmities of Man: and as every Stage of Life has some Imperfection peculiar to it self.

The Reader may observe that the old Man takes abundance of pains to give Reasons how his Rivals came to be Victors in the Chariot-Race: He is very solicitous to make it appear that it was not thro' any want of Skill or Power in himself: And in my Opinion Nestor is never more vainglorious than in this recital of his own Disappointment.

It is for the same reason he repeats the Words I have cited above: He obtrudes (by that Repetition) the Disadvantages under which he labour'd, upon the Observation of the Reader, for fear he should impute the Loss of the Victory to his want of Skill.

Nestor says that these Moliones overpower'd him by their Number. The Criticks, as Eustathius remarks, have labour'd hard to explain this Difficulty; they tell us a formal Story, that when Nestor was ready to enter the Lists against these Brothers, he objected against them as unfair Adversaries, (for it must be remember'd that they were Monsters that grew together, and consequently had four Hands to Nestor's two) but the Judges would not allow his plea, but determin'd, that as they grew together so they ought to be consider'd as one Man.

Others tell us, that they brought several Chariots into the Lists, whose Charioteers combin'd together in favour of Eurytus and Cteatus, these brother-Monsters.

Others say, that the Multitude of the Spectators conspir'd to disappoint Nestor.

I thought it necessary to give my Reader these several Conjectures; that he might understand why Nestor says he was overpower'd by Πληθει, or Numbers; and also, because it confirms my former Observation, that Nestor is very careful to draw his own Picture in the strongest Colours, and to shew it in the fairest Light.

Verse 820. A female Captive valu'd but at four.] I cannot in Civility neglect a Remark made upon this Passage by Madam Dacier, who highly resents the Affront put upon her Sex by the Ancients, who set (it seems) thrice the Value upon a Tripod as upon a beautiful female Slave: Nay, she is afraid the Value of Women is not rais'd even in our Days; for she says there are curious Persons now living who had rather have a true antique Kettle, than the finest Woman alive: I confess I entirely agree with the Lady, and must impute such Opinions of the fair Sex to want of Taste in both Ancients and Moderns: The Reader may remember that these Tripods were of no use, but made entirely for Show, and consequently the most satyrical Critick could only say, the Woman and Tripod ought to have born an equal Value.

Verse 827. Like two strong Rafters, &c.] I will give the Reader the Words of Eustathius upon this Similitude, which very happily represents the Wrestlers in the Posture of Wrestling. Their Heads lean'd one against the other, like the Rafters that support the Roof of a House; at the Foot they are disjoin'd, and stand at a greater Distance, which naturally paints the Attitude of Body in these two Wrestlers, while they contend for Victory.

Verse 850. He barely stirr'd him, but he could not raise.] The Poet by this Circumstance excellently maintains the Character of Ajax, who has all along been describ'd as a strong, unweildy Warrior: He is so heavy that Ulysses can scarce lift him. The Words that follow will bear a different Meaning, either that Ajax lock'd his Leg within that of Ulysses, or that Ulysses did it. Eustathius observes, that if Ajax gave Ulysses this Shock, then he may be allow'd to have some appearance of an Equality in the Contest, but if Ulysses gave it, then Ajax must be acknowledg'd to have been foil'd: But (continues he) it appear'd to be otherwise to Achilles, who was the Judge of the Field, and therefore he gives them an equal Prize, because they were equal in the Contest.

Madam Dacier misrepresents Eustathius on this Place, in saying he thinks it was Ulysses who gave this second Stroke to Ajax, whereas it appears by the foregoing Note that he rather determines otherwise in consent with the Judgment given by Achilles.

Verse 902. Assist O Goddess! (thus in Thought he pray'd)] Nothing could be better adapted to the present Circumstance of Ulysses than this Prayer: It is short, and ought to be so, because the Time would not allow him to make a longer; nay he prefers this Petition mentally, ον κατα θυμον; all his Faculties are so bent upon the Race, that he does not call off his Attention from it, even to speak so short a Petition as seven Words, which comprehend the whole of it: Such Passages as these are Instances of great Judgment in the Poet.

Verse 926. And takes it with a Jest.] Antilochus comes off very well, and wittily prevents Raillery; by attributing the Victory of his Rivals to the Protection which the Gods gave to Age. By this he insinuates, that he has something to comfort himself with; (for Youth is better than the Prize) and that he may pretend hereafter to the same Protection, since 'tis a Privilege of Seniority. Dacier.

Verse 935. For who can match Achilles ?] There is great Art in these transient Complements to Achilles: That Hero could not possibly shew his own Superiority in these Games by contending for any of the Prizes, because he was the Exhibiter of the Sports: But Homer has found out a way to give him the Victory in two of them. In the Chariot-Race Achilles is represented as being able to conquer every Opponent, and tho' he speaks it himself, the Poet brings it in so happily, that he speaks it without any Indecency: And in this place Antilochus with a very good grace tells Achilles, that in the Foot-Race no one can dispute the Prize with him. Thus tho' Diomed and Ulysses conquer in the Chariot and Foot-Race, it is only because Achilles is not their Antagonist.

Verse 951. Who first the jointed Armour shall explore.] Some of the Ancients have been shock'd at this Combat, thinking it a Barbarity that Men in Sport should thus contend for their Lives; and therefore Aristophanes the Grammarian made this Alteration in the Verses.

But it is evident that they entirely mistook the Meaning and Intention of Achilles; for he that gave the first Wound was to be accounted the Victor. How could Achilles promise to entertain them both in his Tent after the Combat, if he intended that one of them should fall in it? This Duel therefore was only a Tryal of Skill, and as such single Combats were frequent in the Wars of those Ages against Adversaries, so this was proposed only to shew the Dexterity of the Combatants in that Exercise. Eustathius.

Verse 973. Yet still the Victor's Due Tydides gains.] Achilles In this place acts the part of a very just Arbitrator: Tho' the Combat did not proceed to a full issue, yet Diomed had evidently the Advantage, and consequently ought to be rewarded as Victor, because he would have been victorious, had not the Greeks interpos'd.

I could have wish'd that the Poet had given Ajax the Prize in some of these Contests. He undoubtedly was a very gallant Soldier, and has been describ'd as repulsing a whole Army; yet in all these Sports he is foil'd. But perhaps the Poet had a double View in this Representation, not only to shew, that Strength without Conduct is usually unsuccessful, but also his Design might be to complement the Greeks his Countreymen; by shewing that this Ajax, who had repell'd a whole Army of Trojans was not able to conquer any one of the Grecian Worthies: For we find him overpower'd in three of these Exercises.

Verse 987. If he be one, enrich'd, &c.] The Poet in this place speaks in the Simplicity of ancient Times: The prodigious Weight and Size of the Quoit is describ'd with a noble Plainness, peculiar to the oriental way, and agreeable to the Manners of those heroick Ages. He does not set down the Quantity of this enormous piece of Iron, neither as to its Bigness nor Weight, but as to the Use it will be of to him who shall gain it. We see from hence, that the Ancients in the Prizes they propos'd, had in view not only the Honourable, but the Useful; a Captive for Work, a Bull for Tillage, a Quoit for the Provision of Iron. Besides it must be remember'd, that in those Times Iron was very scarce; and a sure sign of this Scarcity, is, that their Arms were Brass. Eustath. Dacier.

Verse 1032. He takes the Bow.] There having been many Editions of Homer, that of Marseilles represents these two Rivals in Archery as using two Bows in the Contest; and reads the Verses thus,

Our common Editions follow the better Alteration of Antimachus, with this only Difference, that he reads it

It is evident that these Archers had but one Bow, as they that threw the Quoit had but one Quoit; by these means the one had no Advantage over the other, because both of them shot with the same Bow. So that the common Reading is undoubtedly the best, where the Lines stand thus,

This Teucer is the most eminent Man for Archery of any thro' the whole Iliad, yet he is here excell'd by Meriones: And the Poet ascribes his Miscarriage to the neglect of invoking Apollo, the God of Archery; whereas Meriones, who invokes him, is crown'd with Success. There is an excellent Moral in this Passage, and the Poet would teach us, that without addressing to Heaven we cannot succeed: Meriones does not conquer because he is the better Archer, but because he is the better Man.

Verse 1053. Nor here disdain'd the King of Men to rise.] There is an admirable Conduct in this Passage; Agamemnon never contended for any of the former Prizes, tho' of much greater Value; so that he is a Candidate for this, only to honour Patroclus and Achilles. The decency which the Poet uses both in the choice of the Game, in which Agamemnon is about to contend, and the giving him the Prize without a Contest, is very remarkable: The Game was a warlike Exercise, fit for the General of an Army; the giving him the Prize without a Contest is a Decency judiciously observed, because no one ought to be suppos'd to excel the General in any military Art: Agamemnon does Justice to his own Character, for whereas he had been represented by Achilles in the opening of the Poem as a covetous Person, he now puts in for the Prize that is of the least Value, and generously gives even that to Talthybius. Eustathius.

As to this last Particular, of Agamemnon's presenting the Charger to Talthybius, I can't but be of a different Opinion. It had been an Affront to Achilles not to have accepted of his Present on this Occasion, and I believe the Words of Homer,

mean no more, than that he put it into the Hands of this Herald to carry it to his Ships; Talthybius being by his Office an Attendant upon Agamemnon.