The Iliad of Homer Translated by Mr. Pope |
 | I, II, III, IV, V, VI. |
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
THE CATALOGUE of the SHIPS.
|
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
|
| 9. |
| 10. |
| 11. |
| 12. |
|
| 13. |
| 14. |
| 15. |
| 16. |
|
| 17. |
| 18. |
| 19. |
| 20. |
| 21. |
|
| 22. |
| 23. |
| 24. |
 | The Iliad of Homer |  |
THE CATALOGUE of the SHIPS.
Observations on the Catalogue.
If we look upon this Piece with an Eye to ancient Learning,
it may be observ'd that however fabulous the other
Parts of Homer's Poem may be according to the Nature of
Epic Poetry, this Account of the People, Princes, and Countries
is purely Historical, founded on the real Transactions
of those Times, and by far the most valuable Piece of History
and Geography left us concerning the State of Greece in
that early Period. Greece was then divided into several Dynasties,
which our Author has enumerated under their respective
Princes; and his Division was look'd upon so exact,
that we are told of many Controversies concerning the Boundaries
of Græcian Cities which have been decided upon the
Authority of this Piece. Eustathius has collected together
the following Instances. The City of Calydon was adjudg'd
to the Ætolians notwithstanding the Pretensions of Æolia,
because Homer had rank'd it among the Towns belonging to
the former. Sestos was given to those of Abydos, upon the
Plea that he had said, the Abydonians were Possessors of Sestos,
Abydos, and Arisbe. When the Milesians and People of
Priene disputed their Claim to Mycale, a Verse of Homer
carry'd it in favour of the Milesians. And the Athenians
were put in Possession of Salamis by another which was cited
by Solon, or (as some think) interpolated by him for that
Purpose. Nay in so high Estimation has this Catalogue been
held, that (as Porphyry has written) there have been Laws
in some Nations for the Youth to learn it by heart, and particularly
Cerdias (whom Cuperus de Apoth. Homer. takes to
be Cercydas a Law-giver of the Megalopolitans) made it one
to his Countrymen.
But if we consider the Catalogue purely as poetical, it will
not want its Beauties in that Light. Rapin who was none of
the most superstitious Admirers of our Author, reckons it
among those Parts which had particularly charm'd him. We
may observe first, what an Air of Probability is spread over
the whole Poem by the particularizing of every Nation and
People concern'd in this War. Secondly, what an entertaining
Scene he presents to us, of so many Countries drawn in
their liveliest and most natural Colours, while we wander
along with him amidst a beautiful Variety of Towns, Havens,
Forests, Vineyards, Groves, Mountains, and Rivers,
and are perpetually amus'd with his Observations on the different
Soils, Products, Situations, or Prospects. Thirdly,
what a noble Review he passes before us of so mighty an Army,
drawn out in order Troop by Troop; which had the
Number only been told in the Gross, had never fill'd the
Reader with so great a Notion of the Importance of the
Action. Fourthly, the Description of the differing Arms and
manner of fighting of the Soldiers, and the various Attitudes
he has given to the Commanders: Of these Leaders, the
greatest Part are either the immediate Sons of Gods, or the
Descendants of Gods; and how great an Idea must we have
of a War, to the waging of which so many Demi-Gods and
Heroes are assembled? Fifthly, the several artful Compliments
he paid by this means to his own Country in general,
and many of his Contemporaries in particular, by a Celebration
of the Genealogies, ancient Seats, and Dominions of
the great Men of his Time. Sixthly, the agreeable Mixture of
Narrations from Passages of History or Fables, with which he
amuses and relieves us at proper Intervals. And lastly, the
admirable Judgment wherewith he introduces this whole Catalogue,
just at a Time when the Posture of Affairs in the
Army render'd such a Review of absolute Necessity to the
Greeks; and in a Pause of Action, while each was refreshing
himself to prepare for the ensuing Battels.
Macrobius in his Saturnalia, lib. 5 cap. 15. has given us a
judicious Piece of Criticism, in the Comparison betwixt the
Catalogues of Homer and of Virgil, in which he justly allows
the Preference to our Author for the following Reasons. Homer
(says he) has begun his Description from the most noted
Promontory of Greece (he means that of Aulis, where
was the narrowest Passage to Eubœa.) From thence with a
regular Progress he describes either the maritime or mediterranean
Towns as their Situations are contiguous; he never passes
with sudden Leaps from Place to Place, omitting those
which lie between; but proceeding like a Traveller in the
way he has begun, constantly returns to the Place from whence
he digress'd, 'till he finishes the whole Circle he design'd. Virgil
on the contrary has observ'd no Order in the Regions describ'd
in his Catalogue, l. 10. but is perpetually breaking
from the Course of the Country in a loose and desultory
manner. You have Clusium and Cosæ at the beginning, next
Populonia and Ilva, then Pisæ, which lie at a vast distance in
Etruria; and immediately after Cerete, Pyrgi, and Graviscæ,
Places adjacent to Rome: From hence he is snatch'd to Liguria,
then to Mantua. The same Negligence is observable
in his Enumeration of the Aids that follow'd Turnus in l. 7.
Macrobius next remarks, that whatever Persons are nam'd by
Homer in his Catalogue, are afterwards introduc'd in his Battels,
and whenever any others are kill'd, he mentions only
a Multitude in general. Whereas Virgil (he continues) has
spar'd himself the Labour of that Exactness; For not only
several whom he mentions in the List are never heard of in
the War, but others make a Figure in the War of whom we
had no notice in the List. For Example, he specifies a
thousand Men under Massicus who came from Clusium, l. 10.
V. 167. Turnus soon afterwards is in the Ship which had
carry'd King Osinius from the same Place, l. 10. V. 655.
This Osinius was never nam'd before, nor is it probable a
King should serve under Massicus. Nor indeed does either
Massicus or Osinius ever make their Appearance in the Battels
—He proceeds to instance several others, who tho' celebrated
for Heroes in the Catalogue, have no farther notice
taken of them throughout the Poem. In the third Place he
animadverts upon the Confusion of the same Names in Virgil:
As where Corinæus in the ninth Book is kill'd by Asylas, V.
571. and Corinæus in the twelfth kills Ebusus, V. 298.
Numa is slain by Nisus, l. 9. V. 554. and Æneas is afterwards
in pursuit of Numa, l. 10. V. 562. Æneas kills Camertes
in the tenth Book, V. 562. and Juturna assumes his Shape
in the twelfth, V. 224. He observes the same Obscurity in
his Patronymics. There is Palinurus Iasides, and Iapix Iasides,
Hippocoon Hyrtacides, and Asylas Hyrtacides. On the
contrary the Caution of Homer is remarkable, who having
two of the Name of Ajax is constantly careful to distinguish
them by Oïleus or Telamonius, the lesser or the greater Ajax.
I know nothing to be alledg'd in Defence of Virgil, in
answer to this Author, but the common Excuse that his Æneis
was left unfinish'd. And upon the whole, these are such trivial
Slips as great Wits may pass over, and little Criticks rejoice at.
But Macrobius has another Remark which one may accuse
of evident Partiality on the side of Homer. He blames Virgil
for having vary'd the Expression in his Catalogue to avoid
the Repetition of the same Words, and prefers the bare and
unadorn'd Reiterations of Homer; who begins almost every
Article the same way, and ends perpetually, Μελαιναι νηες εποντο, &c. Perhaps the best reason to be given for this, had
been the artless Manner of the first Times, when such Repetitions
were not thought ungraceful. This may appear
from several of the like Nature in the Scripture; as in the
twenty sixth Chapter of Numbers, where the Tribes of Israel
are enumerated in the Plains of Moab, and each Division recounted
in the same Words. So in the seventh Chapter of the
Revelations: Of the Tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand, &c.
But the Words of Macrobius are Has copias fortasse putat aliquis
Divinæ illi simplicitati præferendas. Sed nescio quo modo Homerum
repetitio illa unicè decet, & est genio antiqui Poetæ
digna. This is exactly in the Spirit, and almost in the Cant
of a true modern Critick. The Simplicitas, the Nescio quo
modo, the Genio antiqui Poetæ digna, are excellent general
Phrases for those who have no Reasons. Simplicity is our
Word of Disguise for a shameful unpoetical Neglect of Expression:
The Term of the Je ne sçay quoy is the very Support
of all ignorant Pretenders to Delicacy; and to lift up our
Eyes, and talk of the Genius of an Ancient, is at once the
cheapest way of shewing our own Taste, and the shortest
way of criticizing the Wit of others our Contemporaries.
One may add to the foregoing Comparison of these two
Authors, some Reasons for the Length of Homer's, and the
Shortness of Virgil's Catalogues. As, that Homer might have
a Design to settle the Geography of his Country, there being
no Description of Greece before his Days; which was not
the Case with Virgil. Homer's Concern was to compliment
Greece at a time when it was divided into many distinct States,
each of which might expect a Place in his Catalogue: But
when all Italy was swallow'd up in the sole Dominion of Rome,
Virgil had only Rome to celebrate. Homer had a numerous
Army, and was to describe an important War with great and
various Events; whereas Virgil's Sphere was much more confined.
The Ships of the Greeks are computed at about one
thousand two hundred, those of Æneas and his Aids but at
two and forty; and as the Time of the Action of both Poems
is the same, we may suppose the Built of their Ships, and
the Number of Men they contain'd, to be much alike. So
that if the Army of Homer amounts to about a hundred thousand
Men, that of Virgil cannot be above four thousand. If
any one be farther curious to know upon what this Computation
is founded, he may see it in the following Passage of
Thucidydes, lib. 1. “Homer's Fleet (says he) consisted of
one thousand two hundred Vessels: those of the Bœotians
carry'd one hundred and twenty Men in each, and those
of Philoctetes fifty. By these I suppose Homer exprest the
largest and the smallest Size of Ships, and therefore mentions
no other sort. But he tells us of those who sail'd
with Philoctetes, that they serv'd both as Mariners and Soldiers,
in saying the Rowers were all of them Archers.
From hence the whole Number will be seen, if we estimate
the Ships at a Medium between the greatest and the least.”
That is to say, at eighty five Men to each Vessel (which is the
Mean between fifty and a hundred and twenty) the Total comes
to a hundred and two thousand Men. Plutarch was therefore
in a Mistake when he computed the Men at a hundred and
twenty thousand, which proceeded from his supposing a hundred
and twenty in every Ship; the contrary to which appears
from the above-mention'd Ships of Philoctetes, as well
as from those of Achilles, which are said to carry but fifty
Men a-piece, in the sixteenth Iliad, V. 167.
Besides Virgil's Imitation of this Catalogue, there has scarce
been any Epic Writer but has copy'd after it; which is at least
a Proof how beautiful this Part has been ever esteem'd by the
finest Genius's in all Ages. The Catalogues in the ancient
Poets are generally known, only I must take notice that the
Phocian and Bœotian Towns in the fourth Thebaid of Statius
are translated from hence. Of the Moderns, those which
most excel, owe their Beauty to the Imitation of some single
Particular only of Homer. Thus the chief Grace of Tasso's
Catalogue consists in the Description of the Heroes, without any
thing remarkable on the side of the Countries: Of the Pieces
of Story he has interwoven, that of Tancred's Amour to Clorinda
is ill placed, and evidently too long for the rest. Spencer's
Enumeration of the British and Irish Rivers in the eleventh
Canto of his fourth Book, is one of the noblest in the
World; if we consider his Subject was more confined, and can
excuse his not observing the Order or Course of the Country;
but his Variety of Description, and Fruitfulness of Imagination
are no where more admirable than in that Part. Milton's List
of the fallen Angels in his first Book is an exact Imitation of
Homer, as far as regards the Disgressions of History and Antiquities,
and his manner of inserting them: In all else I believe
it must be allow'd inferior. And indeed what Macrobius
has said to cast Virgil below Homer, will fall much more
strongly upon all the rest.
I had some cause to fear that this Catalogue which contributed
so much to the Success of the Author, should ruin that
of the Translator. A meer heap of proper Names tho' but
for a few Lines together, could afford little Entertainment to
an English Reader, who probably could not be appriz'd either
of the Necessity or Beauty of this Part of the Poem.
There were but two things to be done to give it a chance to
please him; to render the Versification very flowing and musical,
and to make the whole appear as much a Landscape or
Piece of Painting as possible. For both of these I had the
Example of Homer in general; and Virgil, who found the
Necessity in another Age to give more into Description,
seem'd to authorise the latter in particular. Dionysius of Halicarnassus
in his Discourse of the Structure and Disposition
of Words, professes to admire nothing more than that harmonious
Exactness with which Homer has placed these
Words, and soften'd the Syllables into each other, so as to
derive Musick from a Croud of Names which have in themselves
no Beauty or Dignity. I would flatter my self that I
have practis'd this not unsuccessfully in our Language, which
is more susceptible of all the Variety and Power of Numbers
than any of the modern, and second to none but the Greek
and Roman. For the latter Point, I have ventured to open
the Prospect a little, by the addition of a few Epithets or short
Hints of Description to some of the Places mention'd; tho'
seldom exceeding the Compass of half a Verse (the Space to
which my Author himself generally confines these Pictures in
Miniature.) But this has never been done without the best
Authorities from the Ancients, which may be seen under the
respective Names in the Geographical Table following.
The Table itself I thought but necessary to annex to the
Map, as my Warrant for the Situations assign'd in it to several
of the Towns. For in whatever Maps I have seen to this
Purpose, many of the Places are omitted, or else set down at
random. Sophianus and Gerbelius have labour'd to settle the
Geography of old Greece, many of whose Mistakes were rectify'd
by Laurenbergius. These however deserv'd a greater
Commendation than those who succeeded them; and particularly
Sanson's Map prefix'd to Du Pin's Bibliotheque Historique
is miserably defective both in Omissions and false Placings;
which I am obliged to mention, as it pretends to be
design'd expresly for this Catalogue of Homer. I am persuaded
the greater Part of my Readers will have no Curiosity
this way, however they may allow me the Endeavour of gratifying
those few who have: The rest are at liberty to pass
the two or three following Leaves unread.
If we look upon this Piece with an Eye to ancient Learning, it may be observ'd that however fabulous the other Parts of Homer's Poem may be according to the Nature of Epic Poetry, this Account of the People, Princes, and Countries is purely Historical, founded on the real Transactions of those Times, and by far the most valuable Piece of History and Geography left us concerning the State of Greece in that early Period. Greece was then divided into several Dynasties, which our Author has enumerated under their respective Princes; and his Division was look'd upon so exact, that we are told of many Controversies concerning the Boundaries of Græcian Cities which have been decided upon the Authority of this Piece. Eustathius has collected together the following Instances. The City of Calydon was adjudg'd to the Ætolians notwithstanding the Pretensions of Æolia, because Homer had rank'd it among the Towns belonging to the former. Sestos was given to those of Abydos, upon the Plea that he had said, the Abydonians were Possessors of Sestos, Abydos, and Arisbe. When the Milesians and People of Priene disputed their Claim to Mycale, a Verse of Homer carry'd it in favour of the Milesians. And the Athenians were put in Possession of Salamis by another which was cited by Solon, or (as some think) interpolated by him for that Purpose. Nay in so high Estimation has this Catalogue been held, that (as Porphyry has written) there have been Laws in some Nations for the Youth to learn it by heart, and particularly Cerdias (whom Cuperus de Apoth. Homer. takes to be Cercydas a Law-giver of the Megalopolitans) made it one to his Countrymen.
But if we consider the Catalogue purely as poetical, it will not want its Beauties in that Light. Rapin who was none of the most superstitious Admirers of our Author, reckons it among those Parts which had particularly charm'd him. We may observe first, what an Air of Probability is spread over the whole Poem by the particularizing of every Nation and People concern'd in this War. Secondly, what an entertaining Scene he presents to us, of so many Countries drawn in their liveliest and most natural Colours, while we wander along with him amidst a beautiful Variety of Towns, Havens, Forests, Vineyards, Groves, Mountains, and Rivers, and are perpetually amus'd with his Observations on the different Soils, Products, Situations, or Prospects. Thirdly, what a noble Review he passes before us of so mighty an Army, drawn out in order Troop by Troop; which had the Number only been told in the Gross, had never fill'd the Reader with so great a Notion of the Importance of the Action. Fourthly, the Description of the differing Arms and manner of fighting of the Soldiers, and the various Attitudes he has given to the Commanders: Of these Leaders, the greatest Part are either the immediate Sons of Gods, or the Descendants of Gods; and how great an Idea must we have of a War, to the waging of which so many Demi-Gods and Heroes are assembled? Fifthly, the several artful Compliments he paid by this means to his own Country in general, and many of his Contemporaries in particular, by a Celebration of the Genealogies, ancient Seats, and Dominions of the great Men of his Time. Sixthly, the agreeable Mixture of Narrations from Passages of History or Fables, with which he amuses and relieves us at proper Intervals. And lastly, the admirable Judgment wherewith he introduces this whole Catalogue, just at a Time when the Posture of Affairs in the Army render'd such a Review of absolute Necessity to the Greeks; and in a Pause of Action, while each was refreshing himself to prepare for the ensuing Battels.
Macrobius in his Saturnalia, lib. 5 cap. 15. has given us a judicious Piece of Criticism, in the Comparison betwixt the Catalogues of Homer and of Virgil, in which he justly allows the Preference to our Author for the following Reasons. Homer (says he) has begun his Description from the most noted Promontory of Greece (he means that of Aulis, where was the narrowest Passage to Eubœa.) From thence with a regular Progress he describes either the maritime or mediterranean Towns as their Situations are contiguous; he never passes with sudden Leaps from Place to Place, omitting those which lie between; but proceeding like a Traveller in the way he has begun, constantly returns to the Place from whence he digress'd, 'till he finishes the whole Circle he design'd. Virgil on the contrary has observ'd no Order in the Regions describ'd in his Catalogue, l. 10. but is perpetually breaking from the Course of the Country in a loose and desultory manner. You have Clusium and Cosæ at the beginning, next Populonia and Ilva, then Pisæ, which lie at a vast distance in Etruria; and immediately after Cerete, Pyrgi, and Graviscæ, Places adjacent to Rome: From hence he is snatch'd to Liguria, then to Mantua. The same Negligence is observable in his Enumeration of the Aids that follow'd Turnus in l. 7. Macrobius next remarks, that whatever Persons are nam'd by Homer in his Catalogue, are afterwards introduc'd in his Battels, and whenever any others are kill'd, he mentions only a Multitude in general. Whereas Virgil (he continues) has spar'd himself the Labour of that Exactness; For not only several whom he mentions in the List are never heard of in the War, but others make a Figure in the War of whom we had no notice in the List. For Example, he specifies a thousand Men under Massicus who came from Clusium, l. 10. V. 167. Turnus soon afterwards is in the Ship which had carry'd King Osinius from the same Place, l. 10. V. 655. This Osinius was never nam'd before, nor is it probable a King should serve under Massicus. Nor indeed does either Massicus or Osinius ever make their Appearance in the Battels —He proceeds to instance several others, who tho' celebrated for Heroes in the Catalogue, have no farther notice taken of them throughout the Poem. In the third Place he animadverts upon the Confusion of the same Names in Virgil: As where Corinæus in the ninth Book is kill'd by Asylas, V. 571. and Corinæus in the twelfth kills Ebusus, V. 298. Numa is slain by Nisus, l. 9. V. 554. and Æneas is afterwards in pursuit of Numa, l. 10. V. 562. Æneas kills Camertes in the tenth Book, V. 562. and Juturna assumes his Shape in the twelfth, V. 224. He observes the same Obscurity in his Patronymics. There is Palinurus Iasides, and Iapix Iasides, Hippocoon Hyrtacides, and Asylas Hyrtacides. On the contrary the Caution of Homer is remarkable, who having two of the Name of Ajax is constantly careful to distinguish them by Oïleus or Telamonius, the lesser or the greater Ajax.
I know nothing to be alledg'd in Defence of Virgil, in answer to this Author, but the common Excuse that his Æneis was left unfinish'd. And upon the whole, these are such trivial Slips as great Wits may pass over, and little Criticks rejoice at.
But Macrobius has another Remark which one may accuse of evident Partiality on the side of Homer. He blames Virgil for having vary'd the Expression in his Catalogue to avoid the Repetition of the same Words, and prefers the bare and unadorn'd Reiterations of Homer; who begins almost every Article the same way, and ends perpetually, Μελαιναι νηες εποντο, &c. Perhaps the best reason to be given for this, had been the artless Manner of the first Times, when such Repetitions were not thought ungraceful. This may appear from several of the like Nature in the Scripture; as in the twenty sixth Chapter of Numbers, where the Tribes of Israel are enumerated in the Plains of Moab, and each Division recounted in the same Words. So in the seventh Chapter of the Revelations: Of the Tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand, &c. But the Words of Macrobius are Has copias fortasse putat aliquis Divinæ illi simplicitati præferendas. Sed nescio quo modo Homerum repetitio illa unicè decet, & est genio antiqui Poetæ digna. This is exactly in the Spirit, and almost in the Cant of a true modern Critick. The Simplicitas, the Nescio quo modo, the Genio antiqui Poetæ digna, are excellent general Phrases for those who have no Reasons. Simplicity is our Word of Disguise for a shameful unpoetical Neglect of Expression: The Term of the Je ne sçay quoy is the very Support of all ignorant Pretenders to Delicacy; and to lift up our Eyes, and talk of the Genius of an Ancient, is at once the cheapest way of shewing our own Taste, and the shortest way of criticizing the Wit of others our Contemporaries.
One may add to the foregoing Comparison of these two Authors, some Reasons for the Length of Homer's, and the Shortness of Virgil's Catalogues. As, that Homer might have a Design to settle the Geography of his Country, there being no Description of Greece before his Days; which was not the Case with Virgil. Homer's Concern was to compliment Greece at a time when it was divided into many distinct States, each of which might expect a Place in his Catalogue: But when all Italy was swallow'd up in the sole Dominion of Rome, Virgil had only Rome to celebrate. Homer had a numerous Army, and was to describe an important War with great and various Events; whereas Virgil's Sphere was much more confined. The Ships of the Greeks are computed at about one thousand two hundred, those of Æneas and his Aids but at two and forty; and as the Time of the Action of both Poems is the same, we may suppose the Built of their Ships, and the Number of Men they contain'd, to be much alike. So that if the Army of Homer amounts to about a hundred thousand Men, that of Virgil cannot be above four thousand. If any one be farther curious to know upon what this Computation is founded, he may see it in the following Passage of Thucidydes, lib. 1. “Homer's Fleet (says he) consisted of one thousand two hundred Vessels: those of the Bœotians carry'd one hundred and twenty Men in each, and those of Philoctetes fifty. By these I suppose Homer exprest the largest and the smallest Size of Ships, and therefore mentions no other sort. But he tells us of those who sail'd with Philoctetes, that they serv'd both as Mariners and Soldiers, in saying the Rowers were all of them Archers. From hence the whole Number will be seen, if we estimate the Ships at a Medium between the greatest and the least.” That is to say, at eighty five Men to each Vessel (which is the Mean between fifty and a hundred and twenty) the Total comes to a hundred and two thousand Men. Plutarch was therefore in a Mistake when he computed the Men at a hundred and twenty thousand, which proceeded from his supposing a hundred and twenty in every Ship; the contrary to which appears from the above-mention'd Ships of Philoctetes, as well as from those of Achilles, which are said to carry but fifty Men a-piece, in the sixteenth Iliad, V. 167.
Besides Virgil's Imitation of this Catalogue, there has scarce been any Epic Writer but has copy'd after it; which is at least a Proof how beautiful this Part has been ever esteem'd by the finest Genius's in all Ages. The Catalogues in the ancient Poets are generally known, only I must take notice that the Phocian and Bœotian Towns in the fourth Thebaid of Statius are translated from hence. Of the Moderns, those which most excel, owe their Beauty to the Imitation of some single Particular only of Homer. Thus the chief Grace of Tasso's Catalogue consists in the Description of the Heroes, without any thing remarkable on the side of the Countries: Of the Pieces of Story he has interwoven, that of Tancred's Amour to Clorinda is ill placed, and evidently too long for the rest. Spencer's Enumeration of the British and Irish Rivers in the eleventh Canto of his fourth Book, is one of the noblest in the World; if we consider his Subject was more confined, and can excuse his not observing the Order or Course of the Country; but his Variety of Description, and Fruitfulness of Imagination are no where more admirable than in that Part. Milton's List of the fallen Angels in his first Book is an exact Imitation of Homer, as far as regards the Disgressions of History and Antiquities, and his manner of inserting them: In all else I believe it must be allow'd inferior. And indeed what Macrobius has said to cast Virgil below Homer, will fall much more strongly upon all the rest.
I had some cause to fear that this Catalogue which contributed so much to the Success of the Author, should ruin that of the Translator. A meer heap of proper Names tho' but for a few Lines together, could afford little Entertainment to an English Reader, who probably could not be appriz'd either of the Necessity or Beauty of this Part of the Poem. There were but two things to be done to give it a chance to please him; to render the Versification very flowing and musical, and to make the whole appear as much a Landscape or Piece of Painting as possible. For both of these I had the Example of Homer in general; and Virgil, who found the Necessity in another Age to give more into Description, seem'd to authorise the latter in particular. Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his Discourse of the Structure and Disposition of Words, professes to admire nothing more than that harmonious Exactness with which Homer has placed these Words, and soften'd the Syllables into each other, so as to derive Musick from a Croud of Names which have in themselves no Beauty or Dignity. I would flatter my self that I have practis'd this not unsuccessfully in our Language, which is more susceptible of all the Variety and Power of Numbers than any of the modern, and second to none but the Greek and Roman. For the latter Point, I have ventured to open the Prospect a little, by the addition of a few Epithets or short Hints of Description to some of the Places mention'd; tho' seldom exceeding the Compass of half a Verse (the Space to which my Author himself generally confines these Pictures in Miniature.) But this has never been done without the best Authorities from the Ancients, which may be seen under the respective Names in the Geographical Table following.
The Table itself I thought but necessary to annex to the Map, as my Warrant for the Situations assign'd in it to several of the Towns. For in whatever Maps I have seen to this Purpose, many of the Places are omitted, or else set down at random. Sophianus and Gerbelius have labour'd to settle the Geography of old Greece, many of whose Mistakes were rectify'd by Laurenbergius. These however deserv'd a greater Commendation than those who succeeded them; and particularly Sanson's Map prefix'd to Du Pin's Bibliotheque Historique is miserably defective both in Omissions and false Placings; which I am obliged to mention, as it pretends to be design'd expresly for this Catalogue of Homer. I am persuaded the greater Part of my Readers will have no Curiosity this way, however they may allow me the Endeavour of gratifying those few who have: The rest are at liberty to pass the two or three following Leaves unread.
Verse 586. The hardy Warriors.] The Catalogue begins in this Place, which I forbear to treat of at present: only I must acknowledge here that the Translation has not been exactly punctual to the Order in which Homer places his Towns. However it has not trespass'd against Geography; the Transpositions I mention being no other than such minute ones, as Strabo confesses the Author himself is not free from: Ο δε Ποιητης γενια μεν χωρας λεγει συνεχως, ωσπερ και ηειται. Οιθ' υριην ενεμοντο, και Αυλιδα, & Αλλο τε δ'ουχως εστι τη ταξει, Σκοινοντε Σκολον τε, Θεσπειαν Γραιαντε. Lib. 8. There is not to my Remembrance any Place throughout this Catalogue omitted; a Liberty which Mr. Dryden has made no difficulty to take and to confess, in his Virgil. But a more scrupulous Care was owing to Homer, on account of that wonderful Exactness and unequal'd Diligence, which he has particularly shewn in this Part of his Work.
Peneleus, Leitus, Prothoënor led:
With these Arcesilaus and Clonius stand,
Equal in Arms, and equal in Command.
These head the Troops that Rocky Aulis yields,
And Eteon's Hills, and Hyrie's watry Fields,
And Schœnos, Scolos, Græa near the Main,
And Mycalessia's ample Piny Plain.
Those who in Peteon or Ilesion dwell,
Or Harma where Apollo's Prophet fell;
Heleon and Hylè, which the Springs o'erflow;
And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low;
Or in the Meads of Haliartus stray,
Or Thespia sacred to the God of Day.
Copæ, and Thisbè, fam'd for silver Doves,
For Flocks Erythræ, Glissa for the Vine;
Platæa green, and Nisa the divine.
And they whom Thebè's well-built Walls inclose,
Where Mydè, Eutresis, Coronè rose;
And Arnè rich, with purple Harvests crown'd;
And Anthedon, Bœotia's utmost Bound.
Full fifty Ships they send, and each conveys
Twice sixty Warriors thro' the foaming Seas.
Who plow the spacious Orchomenian Plain.
Two valiant Brothers rule th'undaunted Throng,
Iälmen and Ascalaphus the strong:
Sons of Astyochè the Heav'nly Fair,
Whose Virgin Charms subdu'd the God of War:
(In Actor's Court as she retir'd to Rest,
The Strength of Mars the blushing Maid comprest)
Their Troops in thirty sable Vessels sweep
With equal Oars, the hoarse-resounding Deep.
Epistrophus and Schedius head the War.
From those rich Regions where Cephisus leads
His silver Current thro' the flow'ry Meads;
From Panopëa, Chrysa the Divine,
Where Anemoria's stately Turrets shine,
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cyparissus stood,
And fair Lilæa views the rising Flood.
These rang'd in Order on the floating Tide,
Close, on the left, the bold Bœotians side.
Ajax the less, Oileus' valiant Son;
Skill'd to direct the flying Dart aright;
Swift in Pursuit, and active in the Fight.
Him, as their Chief, the chosen Troops attend,
Which Bessa, Thronus, and rich Cynos send:
Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe's Bands;
And those who dwell where pleasing Augia stands,
And where Boägrius floats the lowly Lands,
In forty Vessels cut the yielding Tide.
And sends the brave Abantes to the Wars:
Breathing Revenge, in Arms they take their Way
From Chalcis' Walls, and strong Eretria;
Th'Isteian Fields for gen'rous Vines renown'd,
The fair Carystos, and the Styrian Ground;
Where Dios from her Tow'rs o'erlooks the Plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighb'ring Main.
Verse 649. Down their broad Shoulders, &c.] The Greek has it οπιθεν κομοωντες, à tergo comantes. It was the Custom of these People to shave the fore-part of their Heads, which they did that their Enemies might not take the Advantage of seizing them by the Hair: the hinder Part they let grow, as a valiant Race that would never turn their Backs. Their manner of fighting was hand to hand, without quitting their Javelins (in the way of our Pike-men.) Plutarch tells us this in the Life of Theseus, and cites to strengthen the Authority of Homer, some Verses of Archilocus to the same Effect. Eobanus Hessus who translated Homer into Latine Verse was therefore mistaken in his Version of this Passage.
Præcipuè Jaculatores, hastamque peritiVibrare, & longis contingere pectora telis.
Their Hands dismiss not the long Lance in Air;
But with protended Spears in fighting Fields,
Pierce the tough Cors'lets and the brazen Shields.
Twice twenty Ships transport the warlike Bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in Arms, commands.
Led by Menestheus thro' the liquid Plain,
(Athens the fair, where great Erectheus sway'd,
That ow'd his Nurture to the blue-ey'd Maid,
The mighty Offspring of the foodful Earth.
Him Pallas plac'd amidst her wealthy Fane,
Ador'd with Sacrifice and Oxen slain;
Where as the Years revolve, her Altars blaze,
And all the Tribes resound the Goddess' Praise.)
No Chief like thee, Menestheus! Greece could yield,
To Marshal Armies in the dusty Field,
Th'extended Wings of Battel to display,
Or close th'embody'd Host in firm Array.
Nestor alone, improv'd by Length of Days,
For martial Conduct bore an equal Praise.
Whom the Gigantic Telamon commands;
In twelve black Ships to Troy they steer their Course,
And with the great Athenians join their Force.
From high Trœzenè, and Maseta's Plain,
And fair Ægina circled by the Main:
And Epidaure with Viny Harvests crown'd:
And where fair Asmen and Hermion show
Their Cliffs above, and ample Bay below.
These by the brave Euryalus were led,
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed,
But chief Tydides bore the Sov'reign Sway;
In fourscore Barks they plow the watry Way.
Cleonè, Corinth, with Imperial Tow'rs,
Fair Arethyrea, Ornia's fruitful Plain,
And Ægion, and Adrastus' ancient Reign;
And those who dwell along the sandy Shore,
And where Pellenè yields her fleecy Store,
Where Helicè and Hyperesia lie,
And Gonoëssa's Spires salute the Sky.
Great Agamemnon rules the num'rous Band,
A hundred Vessels in long Order stand,
And crowded Nations wait his dread Command.
And his refulgent Arms in Triumph wears;
Proud of his Host, unrival'd in his Reign,
In silent Pomp he moves along the Main.
The hardy Spartans, exercis'd in Arms:
Phares and Brysia's valiant Troops, and those
Whom Lacedæmon's lofty Hills inclose:
Or Messèe's Tow'rs for silver Doves renown'd,
Amyclæ, Laäs, Augia's happy Ground,
And those whom O Etylos' low Walls contain,
And Helos, on the Margin of the Main.
These, o'er the bending Ocean, Helen's Cause
In sixty Ships with Menelaus draws:
Verse 711. Eager and loud from Man to Man he flies.] The Figure Menelaus makes in this Place is remarkably distinguish'd from the rest, and sufficient to shew his Concern in the War was personal, while the others acted only for Interest or Glory in general. No Leader in all the List is represented thus eager and passionate; he is louder than them all in his Exhortations; more active in running among the Troops; and inspirited with the Thoughts of Revenge, which he still encreases with the secret Imagination of Helen's Repentance. This Behaviour is finely imagined.
The Epithet βοην αγαθος which is apply'd in this and other Places to Menelaus, and which literally signifies loud-voiced, is made by the Commentators to mean valiant, and translated bello strenuus. The reason given by Eustathius is, that a loud Voice is a Mark of Strength, the usual Effect of Fear being to cut short the Respiration. I own this seems to be forc'd, and rather believe it was one of those kind of Sir-Names given from some distinguishing Quality of the Person (as that of a loud Voice might belong to Menelaus) which Mons. Boileau mentions in his ninth Reflection upon Longinus; in the same manner as some of our Kings were called Edward Long-shanks, William Rufus, &c. But however it be, the Epithet taken in the literal Sense has a Beauty in this Verse from the Circumstance Menelaus is described in, which determined the Translator to use it.
Revenge and Fury flaming in his Eyes;
While vainly fond, in Fancy oft he hears
The Fair one's Grief, and sees her falling Tears.
Nestor the Sage conducts his chosen Host:
Where Æpy high, and little Pteleon stand;
Where beauteous Arenè her Structures shows,
And Thryon's Walls Alphëus' Streams inclose:
And Dorion, fam'd for Thamyris' Disgrace,
Superior once of all the tuneful Race,
'Till vain of Mortal's empty Praise, he strove
To match the Seed of Cloud-compelling Jove.
Too daring Bard! whose unsuccessful Pride
Th'Immortal Muses in their Art defy'd.
Th'avenging Muses of the Light of Day
Depriv'd his Eyes, and snatch'd his Voice away;
No more his heav'nly Voice was heard to sing;
His Hand no more awak'd the silver String.
The shaded Tomb of old Æpytus stood;
From Ripè, Stratie, Tegea's bord'ring Towns,
The Phenean Fields, and Orchomenian Downs,
Where the fat Herds in plenteous Pasture rove;
And Stymphelus with her surrounding Grove;
And high Enispè shook by wintry Wind,
And fair Mantinea's ever-pleasing Site;
In sixty Sail th'Arcadian Bands unite.
Bold Agapenor glorious at their Head,
(Ancœus' Son) the mighty Squadron led.
Their Ships, supply'd by Agamemnon's Care,
Thro' roaring Seas the wond'ring Warriors bear;
The first to battel on th'appointed Plain,
Verse 746. New to all the Dangers of the Main.] The Arcadians being an Inland People were unskill'd in Navigation, for which reason Agamemnon furnish'd them with Shipping. From hence, and from the last Line of the Description of the Sceptre, where he is said to preside over many Islands, Thucydides takes occasion to observe that the Power of Agamemnon was superior to the rest of the Princes of Greece, on account of his Naval Forces, which had render'd him Master of the Sea. Thucyd. lib. 1.
Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrsinus confine,
And bounded there, where o'er the Vallies rose
Th'Olenian Rock; and where Alisium flows;
Beneath four Chiefs (a num'rous Army) came:
The Strength and Glory of th'Epean Name.
In sep'rate Squadrons these their Train divide,
Each leads ten Vessels thro' the yielding Tide.
One was Amphimachus, and Thalpius one;
(Eurytus' this, and that Teätus' Son)
And great Polyxenus, of Force divine.
From the blest Islands of th'Echinades,
In forty Vessels under Meges move,
Begot by Phyleus, the Belov'd of Jove.
To strong Dulichium from his Sire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy Warriors led.
A Chief, in Wisdom equal to a God.
With those whom Cephalenia's Isle inclos'd,
Or till'd their Fields along the Coast oppos'd;
Or where fair Ithaca o'erlooks the Floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving Woods,
Where Ægilipa's rugged Sides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
These in twelve Galleys with Vermillion Prores,
Beneath his Conduct sought the Phrygian Shores.
From Pleuron's Walls and chalky Calydon,
And Chalcis, beaten by the rolling Deep.
He led the Warriors from th'Ætolian Shore,
For now the Sons of Oeneus were no more!
The Glories of the mighty Race were fled!
Oeneus himself, and Meleager dead;
To Thoas' Care now trust the martial Train,
His forty Vessels follow thro' the Main.
Of Gnossus, Lyctus, and Gortyna's Bands,
And those who dwell where Rhytion's Domes arise,
Or white Lycastus glitters to the Skies,
Or where by Phœstus silver Jardan runs;
Crete's hundred Cities pour forth all her Sons.
These march'd, Idomeneus, beneath thy Care,
And Merion, dreadful as the God of War.
Led nine swift Vessels thro' the foamy Seas;
From Rhodes with everlasting Sunshine bright,
Jalyssus, Lindus, and Camirus white.
From Ephyr's Walls, and Sellè's winding Shore,
Where mighty Towns in Ruins spread the Plain,
And saw their blooming Warriors early slain.
The Hero, when to Manly Years he grew,
Alcides' Uncle, old Lycimnius, slew;
For this, constrain'd to quit his native Place,
And shun the Vengeance of th'Herculean Race,
A Fleet he built, and with a num'rous Train
Of willing Exiles wander'd o'er the Main;
Where many Seas, and many Suff'rings past,
On happy Rhodes the Chief arriv'd at last:
There in three Tribes divides his native Band,
And rules them peaceful in a foreign Land:
Encreas'd and prosper'd in their new Abodes,
By mighty Jove, the Sire of Men and Gods;
With Joy they saw the growing Empire rise,
And Show'rs of Wealth descending from the Skies.
Verse 815. Three Ships with Nireus .] This Leader is no where mention'd but in these Lines, and is an Exception to the Observation of Macrobius that all the Persons of the Catalogue make their Appearance afterwards in the Poem. Homer himself gives us the reason, because Nireus had but a small Share of Worth and Valour; his Quality only gave him a Privilege to be nam'd among Men. The Poet has caused him to be remember'd no less than Achilles or Ulysses, but yet in no better manner than he deserv'd, whose only Qualification was his Beauty: 'Tis by a bare Repetition of his Name three times, which just leaves some Impression of him on the Mind of the Reader. Many others, of as trivial Memory as Nireus, have been preserv'd by Poets from Oblivion; but few Poets have ever done this Favour to Want of Merit with so much Judgment. Demetrius Phalereus περι Ερμηνειας, Sect. 61. takes notice of this beautiful Repetition, which in a just Deference to so delicate a Critick is here preserv'd in the Translation.
Nireus, whom Agläe to Charopus bore,
The loveliest Youth of all the Grecian Race;
Pelides only match'd his early Charms;
But few his Troops, and small his Strength in Arms.
Of those Calydnœ's Sea-girt Isles contain;
With them the Youth of Nisyrus repair,
Casus the strong, and Crapathus the fair;
Cos, where Eurypylus possest the Sway,
'Till great Alcides made the Realms obey:
These Antiphus and bold Phidippus bring,
Sprung from the God, by Thessalus the King.
From Alos, Alopè, and Trechin's Tow'rs;
From Pthia's spacious Vales; and Hella, blest
With Female Beauty far beyond the rest.
Full fifty Ships beneath Achilles' Care
Th'Achaians, Myrmidons, Helleneans bear,
Thessalians all, tho' various in their Name,
The same their Nation, and their Chief the same.
They hear the brazen Voice of War no more;
No more the Foe they face in dire Array;
Close in his Fleet their angry Leader lay:
Since fair Briseïs from his Arms was torn,
The noblest Spoil from sack'd Lyrnessus born,
Then, when the Chief the Theban Walls o'erthrew,
And the bold Sons of great Evenus slew.
There mourn'd Achilles, plung'd in Depth of Care,
But soon to rise in Slaughter, Blood, and War.
Itona, famous for her fleecy Breed,
And grassy Pteleon deck'd with chearful Greens,
The Bow'rs of Ceres, and the Sylvan Scenes,
Sweet Pyrrhasus, with blooming Flourets crown'd,
And Antron's watry Dens and cavern'd Ground.
These own'd as Chief Protesilas the brave,
Who now lay silent in the gloomy Grave:
The first who boldly touch'd the Trojan Shore,
And dy'd a Phrygian Lance with Grecian Gore:
Unfinish'd his proud Palaces remain,
And his sad Consort beats her Breast in vain.
His Troops in forty Ships Podarces led,
Iphiclus' Son, and Brother to the Dead;
Nor he unworthy to command the Host;
Yet still they mourn'd their ancient Leader lost.
Where Hills encircle Bœbe's lowly Lake,
Where Pheræ hears the neighb'ring Waters fall,
Or proud Iölcus lifts her Airy Wall:
In ten black Ships embark'd for Ilion's Shore,
With bold Eumelus, whom Alcestè bore.
All Pelias' Race Alcestè far outshin'd,
Verse 871. The Grace and Glory of the beauteous Kind.] He gives Alcestis this Elogy of the Glory of her Sex, for her conjugal Piety, who dy'd to preserve the Life of her Husband Admetus. Euripides has a Tragedy on this Subject, which abounds in the most masterly Strokes of Tenderness: In particular the first Act, which contains the Description of her Preparation for Death and her Behaviour in it, can never be enough admired.
Olyzon's Rocks, or Mœlibæa's Fields,
With Philoctetes sail'd, whose matchless Art
From the tough Bow directs the feather'd Dart.
Skill'd in his Science of the Dart and Bow.
But he lay raging on the Lemnian Ground,
A pois'nous Hydra gave the burning Wound,
There groan'd the Chief in agonizing Pain;
Whom Greece at length shall wish, nor wish in vain.
His Forces Medon led from Lemnos' Shore,
Oïleus' Son whom beauteous Rhena bore.
Where once Eurytus in proud Triumph reign'd,
Or where her humbler Turrets Trica rears,
Or where Ithomè, rough with Rocks, appears;
In thirty Sail the sparkling Waves divide,
Which Podalirius and Machaon guide.
To these his Skill their Parent-God imparts,
Divine Professors of the Healing Arts.
In forty Barks Eurypilus commands,
Where Titan hides his hoary Head in Snow,
And where Hyperia's silver Fountains flow.
And Eleon, shelter'd by Olympus' Shades,
Girtonè's Warriors; and where Orthè lies,
And Oloössons's chalky Cliffs arise.
Sprung from Pirithoüs of immortal Race,
The Fruit of fair Hippodamè's Embrace,
(That Day, when hurl'd from Pelion's cloudy Head,
To distant Dens the shaggy Centaurs fled)
With Polypætes join'd in equal Sway
Leonteus leads, and forty Ships obey.
Verse 906. In twenty Ships the bold Perrhæbians came.] I cannot tell whether it be worth observing that, except Ogilby, we have not met with one Translator who has exactly preserv'd the Number of the Ships. Chapman puts eighteen under Eumelius instead of eleven. Hobbes but twenty under Ascalaphus and Ialmen instead of thirty, and but thirty under Menelaus instead of sixty. Valterie (the former French Translator) has given Agapenor forty for sixty, and Nestor forty for ninety. Madam Dacier gives Nestor but eighty. I must confess this Translation not to have been quite so exact as Ogilby's, having cut off one from the Number of Eumelus's Ships, and two from those of Guneus: Eleven and two and twenty would sound but oddly in English Verse, and a Poem contracts a Littleness by insisting on such trivial Niceties.
From Cyphus, Guneus was their Leader's Name.
With these the Ænians join'd, and those who freeze
Where cold Dodona lifts her Holy Trees;
Or where the pleasing Titaresius glides,
And into Peneus rolls his easy Tides;
Yet o'er the silver Surface pure they flow,
The sacred Stream unmix'd with Streams below,
Sacred and awful! From the dark Abodes
Styx pours them forth, the dreadful Oath of Gods!
Prothous the swift, of old Tenthredon's Blood;
Who dwell where Pelion crown'd with Piny Boughs
Obscures the Glade, and nods his shaggy Brows,
Or where thro' flow'ry Tempè Peneus stray'd,
(The Region stretch'd beneath his mighty Shade)
In forty sable Barks they stem'd the Main;
Such were the Chiefs, and such the Grecian Train.
Verse 925. Or rein'd the noblest Steeds.] This coupling together the Men and Horses seems odd enough, but Homer every where treats these noble Animals with remarkable Regard. We need not wonder at this Enquiry, which were the best Horses? from him, who makes his Horses of heavenly Extraction as well as his Heroes, who makes his Warriours address them with Speeches and excite them by all those Motives which affect a human Breast, who describes them sheding Tears of Sorrow, and even capable of Voice and Prophecy: In most of which Points Virgil has not scrupled to imitate him.
Eumelus' Mares were foremost in the Chace,
As Eagles fleet, and of Pheretian Race;
Bred where Pieria's fruitful Fountains flow,
And train'd by Him who bears the Silver Bow.
Fierce in the Fight, their Nostrils breath'd a Flame,
Their Height, their Colour, and their Age the same;
O'er Fields of Death they whirl the rapid Car,
And break the Ranks, and thunder thro' the War.
Ajax in Arms the first Renown acquir'd,
While stern Achilles in his Wrath retir'd:
And his, th'unrival'd Race of Heav'nly Steeds)
But Thetis' Son now shines in Arms no more;
Verse 939. His Troops, &c.] The Image in these Lines of the Amusements of the Myrmidons, while Achilles detain'd them from the Fight, has an exquisite Propriety in it. Tho' they are not in Action, their very Diversions are Military, and a kind of Exercise of Arms. The cover'd Chariot and feeding Horses, make a natural Part of the Picture; and nothing is finer than the manly Concern of the Captains, who as they are suppos'd more sensible of Glory than the Soldiers, take no share in their Diversions, but wander sorrowfully round the Camp, and lament their being kept from the Battel. This difference betwixt the Soldiers and the Leaders (as Dacier observes) is a Decorum of the highest Beauty. Milton has admirably imitated this in the Description he gives in his second Book of the Diversions of the Angels during the Absence of Lucifer.
Part on the Plain, or in the Air sublime,Upon the Wing, or in swift Race contend;
Part curb their fiery Steeds, or shun the Goal
With rapid Wheels, or fronted Brigades form.
But how nobly and judiciously has he raised the Image, in proportion to the Nature of those more exalted Beings, in that which follows.
Others with vast Typhœan Rage more fellRend up both Rocks and Hills, and ride the Air
In Whirlwind; Hell scarce holds the wild Uproar.
In empty Air their sportive Jav'lins throw,
Or whirl the Disk, or bend an idle Bow:
Unstain'd with Blood his cover'd Chariots stand;
Th'Immortal Coursers graze along the Strand;
But the brave Chiefs th'inglorious Life deplor'd,
And wand'ring o'er the Camp, requir'd their Lord.
The shining Armies swept along the Ground;
Swift as a Flood of Fire, when Storms arise,
Floats the wide Field, and blazes to the Skies.
Verse 950. As when angry Jove .] The Comparison preceding this, of a Fire which runs thro' the Corn and blazes to Heaven, had exprest at once the dazling of their Arms and the Swiftness of their March. After which Homer having mention'd the Sound of their Feet, superadds another Simile, which comprehends both the Ideas of the Brightness and the Noise: for here (says Eustathius) the Earth appears to burn and groan at the same time. Indeed the first of these Similes is so full and so noble, that it scarce seem'd possible to be exceeded by any Image drawn from Nature. But Homer to raise it yet higher, has gone into the Marvellous, given a prodigious and supernatural Prospect, and brought down Jupiter himself, array'd in all his Terrors, to discharge his Lightnings and Thunders on Typhœus. The Poet breaks out into this Description with an Air of Enthusiasm, which greatly heightens the Image in general, while it seems to transport him beyond the Limits of an exact Comparison. And this daring manner is particular to our Author above all the Ancients, and to Milton above all the Moderns.
Hurls down the forky Light'ning from above,
On Arimè when he the Thunder throws,
And fires Typhœus with redoubled Blows,
Where Typhon, prest beneath the burning Load,
Still feels the Fury of th'avenging God.
Speeds on the Wings of Winds thro' liquid Air;
In Priam's Porch the Trojan Chiefs she found,
The Old consulting, and the Youths around.
Polites' Shape, the Monarch's Son, she chose,
Who from Æsetes' Tomb observ'd the Foes;
High on the Mound; from whence in Prospect lay
The Fields, the Tents, the Navy, and the Bay.
In this dissembled Form, she hasts to bring
Th'unwelcome Message to the Phrygian King.
War, horrid War, approaches to your Walls!
Assembled Armies oft' have I beheld;
But ne'er 'till now such Numbers charg'd a Field.
Thick as Autumnal Leaves, or driving Sand,
The moving Squadrons blacken all the Strand.
Thou, Godlike Hector! all thy Force employ,
Assemble all th'united Bands of Troy;
In just Array let ev'ry Leader call
The foreign Troops: This Day demands them all.
The Council breaks, the Warriors rush to Arms.
The Gates unfolding pour forth all their Train,
Nations on Nations fill the dusky Plain,
Men, Steeds, and Chariots shake the trembling Ground;
The Tumult thickens, and the Skies resound.
Amidst the Plain in sight of Ilion stands
A rising Mount the Work of human Hands,
(This for Myrinnè's Tomb th'Immortals know,
Tho' call'd Bateïa in the World below)
Beneath their Chiefs in martial Order here,
Th'Auxiliar Troops and Trojan Hosts appear.
Shakes his huge Spear, and nods his Plumy Crest:
In Throngs around his native Bands repair,
And Groves of Lances glitter in the Air.
Anchises' Son, by Venus' stol'n Embrace,
Born in the Shades of Ida's secret Grove,
(A Mortal mixing with the Queen of Love)
The Warrior's Toils, and combate by his side.
Fast by the Foot of Ida's sacred Hill:
Or drink, Æsepus, of thy sable Flood;
Were led by Pandarus, of Royal Blood.
To whom his Art Apollo deign'd to show,
Grac'd with the Present of his Shafts and Bow.
High Teree's Summits, and Pityea's Bow'rs;
From these the congregated Troops obey
Young Amphius and Adrastus' equal Sway;
Old Merops Sons; whom skill'd in Fate to come
The Sire forewarn'd, and prophecy'd their Doom:
Fate urg'd them on! the Sire forewarn'd in vain,
They rush'd to War, and perish'd on the Plain.
Verse 1012. From Practius' Stream, Percote's Pasture Lands.] Homer does not expresly mention Practius as a River, but Strabo, lib. 13. tells us it is to be understood so in this Passage. The Appellative of Pasture Lands to Percote is justify'd in the 15th Iliad, V. 547. where Hicetaon is said to feed his Oxen in that Place.
And Sestos and Abydos' neighb'ring Strands,
From great Arisba's Walls and Sellè's Coast,
Asius Hyrtacides conducts his Host:
His fiery Coursers thunder o'er the Plains.
March from Larissa's ever-fertile Ground:
In equal Arms their Brother-Leaders shine,
Hippothous bold, and Pyleus the Divine.
In dread Array, from Thracia's wintry Coasts;
Round the bleak Realms where Hellespontus roars,
And Boreas beats the hoarse-resounding Shores.
Sprung from Trezenian Ceus, lov'd by Jove.
Skill'd in the Fight their crooked Bows to bend;
From Axius' ample Bed he leads them on,
Axius, that laves the distant Amydon,
Verse 1032. Axius, that swells with all his neighb'ring Rills.] According to the common Reading this Verse should be translated, Axius that diffuses his beautiful Waters over the Land. But we are assured by Strabo that Axius was a muddy River, and that the Ancients understood it thus, Axius that receives into it several beautiful Rivers. The Criticism lies in the last word of the Verse, Αιη, which Strabo reads Αιης, and interprets of the River Æa, whose Waters were pour'd into Axius. However Homer describes this River agreeable to the vulgar reading in Il. 21. V. 158. Αξιου, ος καλλιστον υδωρ επι γαιαν ιησιν. This Version takes in both.
And wide around the floated Region fills.
Where rich Henetia breeds her savage Mules,
Thy Groves of Box, Cytorus! ever green;
And where Ægyalus and Cromna lie,
And lofty Sesamus invades the Sky;
And where Parthenius, roll'd thro' Banks of Flow'rs,
Reflects her bord'ring Palaces and Bow'rs.
Whom Odius and Epistrophus command,
From those far Regions where the Sun refines
The ripening Silver in Alybean Mines.
And Augur Ennomus, inspir'd in vain,
For stern Achilles lopt his sacred Head,
Roll'd down Scamander with the Vulgar Dead.
Th'Ascanian Phrygians, eager for the Fight.
Or whom the Vales in Shade of Tmolus hide,
Mestles and Antiphus the Charge partake;
Born on the Banks of Gyges' silent Lake.
High Mycalè, and Latmos' shady Brows,
And proud Miletus; came the Carian Throngs,
With mingled Clamors, and with barb'rous Tongues.
Amphimachus and Naustes guide the Train,
Naustes the bold, Amphimachus the vain,
Who trick'd with Gold, and glitt'ring on his Car,
Rode like a Woman to the Field of War.
Fool that he was! by fierce Achilles slain,
The River swept him to the briny Main:
There whelm'd with Waves the gawdy Warrior lies;
The valiant Victor seiz'd the golden Prize.
Which blameless Glaucus and Sarpedon lead;
The warlike Bands that distant Lycia yields,
Where gulphy Xanthus foams along the Fields.
| The Iliad of Homer | |