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Verse 3. Immortal Hebe .] The Goddess of Youth is introduc'd as an Attendant upon the Banquets of the Gods, to shew that the divine Beings enjoy an eternal Youth, and that their Life is a Felicity without end. Dacier.

Verse 9. Two Pow'rs Divine.] Jupiter's reproaching these two Goddesses with neglecting to assist Menelaus, proceeds (as M. Dacier remarks) from the Affection he bore to Troy: Since if Menelaus by their help had gain'd a compleat Victory, the Siege had been rais'd, and the City deliver'd. On the contrary, Juno and Minerva might suffer Paris to escape, as the Method to continue the War to the total Destruction of Troy. And accordingly a few Lines after we find them complotting together, and contriving a new Scene of Miseries to the Trojans.

Verse 18. Tho' great Atrides gain'd the glorious Strife.] Jupiter here makes it a Question, Whether the foregoing Combate should determine the Controversy, or the Peace be broken. His putting it thus, that Paris is not killed, but Menelaus has the Victory, gives a Hint for a Dispute whether the Conditions of the Treaty were valid or annulled; that is to say, whether the Controversy was to be determined by the Victory or by the Death of one of the Combatants. Accordingly it has been disputed whether the Articles were really binding to the Trojans or not? Plutarch has treated the Question in his Symposiacks l. 9. qu. 13. The Substance is this. In the first Proposal of the Challenge Paris mentions only the Victory, And who his Rival shall in Arms subdue: Nor does Hector who carries it say any more. However Menelaus understands it of the Death, by what he replies: Fall he that must beneath his Rival's Arms, And live the rest—Iris to Helen speaks only of the former; and Idæus to Priam repeats the same Words. But in the solemn Oath Agamemnon specifies the latter, If by Paris slain—and If by my Brother's Arms the Trojan bleed. Priam also understands it of both, saying at his leaving the Field, What Prince shall fall Heav'n only knows—(I do not cite the Greek because the English has preserv'd the same Nicety.) Paris himself confesses he has lost the Victory, in his Speech to Helen, which he would hardly have done had the whole depended on that alone: And lastly Menelaus (after the Conquest is clearly his by the Flight of Paris) is still searching round the Field to kill him, as if all were of no effect without the Death of his Adversary. It appears from hence that the Trojans had no ill Pretence to break the Treaty, so that Homer ought not to have been directly accus'd of making Jupiter the Author of Perjury in what follows, which is one of the Chief of Plato's Objections against him.

Verse 31. Tho' secret Anger swell'd Minerva's Breast.] Spondanus takes notice that Minerva, who in the first Book had restrain'd the Anger of Achilles, had now an Opportunity of exerting the same Conduct in respect to herself. We may bring the Parallel close, by observing that she had before her in like manner a Superior, who had provok'd her by sharp Expressions, and whose Counsels ran against her Sentiments. In all which the Poet takes care to preserve her still in the Practice of that Wisdom of which she was Goddess.

Verse 55. Let Priam bleed, &c.] We find in Persius's Satyrs the Name of Labeo, as an ill Poet who made a miserable Translation of the Iliad; one of whose Verses is still preserv'd, and happens to be that of this Place.

It may seem from this, that his Translation was servilely literal (as the old Scholiast on Persius observes.) And one cannot but take notice that Ogilby's and Hobbes's in this Place are not unlike Labeo's.

Verse 61. But should this Arm prepare to wreak our Hate On thy lov'd Towns—] Homer in this Place has made Jupiter to prophecy the Destruction of Mycenæ the favour'd City of Juno, which happen'd a little before the Time of our Author. Strab. l. 8. The Trojan War being over, and the Kingdom of Agamemnon destroy'd, Mycenæ daily decreas'd after the Return of the Heraclidæ: For these becoming Masters of Peloponnesus, cast out the old Inhabitants; so that they who possess'd Argos overcame Mycenæ also, and contracted both into one Body. A short time after, Mycenæ was destroy'd by the Argives, and not the least Remains of it are now to be found.

Verse 96. Th'Advice approve'd.] This is one of the Places for which Homer is blamed by Plato, who introduces Socrates reprehending it in his Dialogue of the Republick. And indeed if it were granted that the Trojans had no Right to break this Treaty, the present Machine where Juno is made to propose Perjury, Jupiter to allow it, and Minerva to be commission'd to hasten the Execution of it, would be one of the hardest to be reconciled to reason in the whole Poem. Unless even then one might imagine, that Homer's Heaven is sometimes no more than an Ideal World of abstracted Beings; and so every Motion which rises in the Mind of Man is attributed to the Quality to which it belongs, with the Name of the Deity who is suppos'd to preside over that Quality superadded to it. In this Sense the present Allegory is easy enough. Pandarus thinks it Prudence to gain Honour and Wealth at the Hands of the Trojans by destroying Menelaus. This Sentiment is also incited by a Notion of Glory, of which Juno is represented as Goddess. Jupiter who is suppos'd to know the Thoughts of Men, permits the Action which he is not Author of, but sends a Prodigy at the same time to give warning of a coming Mischief, and accordingly we find both Armies descanting upon the sight of it in the following Lines.

Verse 120. Pandarus for Strength renown'd.] Homer, says Plutarch in his Treatise of the Pythian Oracle, makes not the Gods to use all Persons indifferently as their second Agents, but each according to the Powers he is endu'd with by Art or Nature. For a Proof of this, he puts us in Mind how Minerva when she would persuade the Greeks, seeks for Ulysses; when she would break the Truce, for Pandarus; and when she would conquer, for Diomed. If we consult the Scholia upon this Instance, they give several Reasons why Pandarus was particularly proper for the Occasion. The Goddess went not to the Trojans, because they hated Paris, and (as we are told in the end of the foregoing Book) would rather have given him up, than have done an ill Action for him: She therefore looks among the Allies, and finds Pandarus who was of a Nation noted for Perfidiousness, and had a Soul avaricious enough to be capable of engaging in this Treachery for the hopes of a Reward from Paris: as appears by his being so covetous as not to bring Horses to the Siege for fear of the Expence or Loss of them; as he tells Æneas in the fifth Book.

Verse 141. Sixteen Palms.] Both the Horns together made this Length; and not each, as Madam Dacier renders it. I do not object it as an Improbability that the Horns were of sixteen Palms each; but that this would be an extravagant and unmanageable Size for a Bow, is evident.

Verse 144. This, by the Greeks unseen, the Warrior bends.] The Poet having held us thro' the foregoing Book in Expectation of a Peace, makes the Conditions be here broken after such a manner, as should oblige the Greeks to act thro' the War with that irreconcileable Fury which affords him the Opportunity of exerting the full Fire of his own Genius. The Shot of Pandarus being therefore of such Consequence (and as he calls it, the ερμα οδυναων, the Foundation of future Woes) it was thought fit not to pass it over in a few Words, like the Flight of every common Arrow, but to give it a Description some way corresponding to its Importance. For this, he surrounds it with a Train of Circumstances; the History of the Bow, the bending it, the covering Pandarus with Shields, the Choice of the Arrow, the Prayer, and Posture of the Shooter, the Sound of the String, and Flight of the Shaft; all most beautifully, and livelily painted. It may be observed too, how proper a time it was to expatiate in these Particulars; when the Armies being unemploy'd, and only one Man acting, the Poet and his Readers had leisure to be the Spectators of a single and deliberate Action. I think it will be allow'd that the little Circumstances which are sometimes thought too redundant in Homer, have a wonderful Beauty in this Place. Virgil has not fail'd to copy it, and with the greatest Happiness imaginable.

Verse 160. Pallas assists, and weaken'd in its force Diverts the Weapon—] For she only designed, by all this Action, to encrease the Glory of the Greeks in the taking of Troy: Yet some Commentators have been so stupid as to wonder that Pallas should be employ'd first in the wounding of Menelaus, and after in the protecting him.

Verse 163. Wafts the wing'd Hornet.] This is one of those humble Comparisons which Homer sometimes uses to diversify his Subject, but a very exact one in its kind, and corresponding in all its Parts. The Care of the Goddess, the unsuspecting Security of Menelaus, the Ease with which she diverts the Danger, and the Danger itself, are all included in this short Compass. To which it may be added, that if the Providence of heavenly Powers to their Creatures is exprest by the Love of a Mother to her Child, if Men in regard to them are but as heedless sleeping Infants, and if those Dangers which may seem great to us, are by them as easily warded off as the Simile implies; there will appear something sublime in this Conception, however little or low the Image may be thought at first sight in respect to a Heroe. A higher Comparison would but have tended to lessen the Disparity between the Gods and Man, and the Justness of the Simile had been lost, as well as the Grandeur of the Sentiment.

Verse 170. As when some stately Trappings, &c.] Some have judg'd the Circumstances in this Simile to be superfluous, and think it foreign to the Purpose to take notice that this Ivory was intended for the Bosses of a Bridle, was laid up for a Prince, or that a Woman of Caria or Meonia dy'd it. Eustathius was of a different Opinion, who extols this Passage for the Variety it presents, and the Learning it includes: We learn from hence that the Lydians and Carians were famous in the first Times for their staining in Purple, and that the Women excell'd in Works of Ivory: As also that there were certain Ornaments which only Kings and Princes were privileged to wear. But without having recourse to Antiquities to justify this Particular, it may be alledg'd, that the Simile does not consist barely in the Colours; It was but little to tell us, that the Blood of Menelaus appearing on the Whiteness of his Skin, vyed with the purpled Ivory; but this implies that the honourable Wounds of a Heroe are the beautiful Dress of War, and become him as much as the most gallant Ornaments in which he takes the Field. Virgil, 'tis true, has omitted the Circumstance in his Imitation of this Comparison, Æn. 12.

But in this he judges only for himself, and does not condemn Homer. It was by no means proper that his Ivory should have been a Piece of martial Accoutrement, when he apply'd it so differently, transferring it from the Wounds of a Heroe to the Blushes of the fair Lavinia.

Verse 177. As down thy snowy Thigh.] Homer is very particular here, in giving the Picture of the Blood running in a long Trace, lower and lower, as will appear from the Words themselves.

The Translator has not thought fit to mention every one of these Parts, first the Thigh, then the Leg, then the Foot, which might be tedious in English: But the Author's Design being only to image the streaming of the Blood, it seem'd equivalent to make it trickle thro' the Length of an Alexandrine Line.

Verse 186. Oh dear as Life, &c.] This Incident of the Wound of Menelaus gives occasion to Homer to draw a fine Description of fraternal Love in Agamemnon. On the first sight of it, he is struck with Amaze and Confusion, and now breaks out in Tenderness and Grief. He first accuses himself as the Cause of this Misfortune, by having consented to expose his Brother to the single Combate which had drawn on this fatal Consequence. Next he inveighs against the Trojans in general for their Perfidiousness, as not yet knowing it was the Act of Pandarus only. He then comforts himself with the Confidence that the Gods will revenge him upon Troy; but doubts by what Hands this Punishment may be inflicted, as fearing the Death of Menelaus will force the Greeks to return with Shame to their Country. There is no Contradiction in all this, but on the other side a great deal of Nature, in the confused Sentiments of Agamemnon on the occasion, as they are very well explained by Spondanus.

Verse 212. While some proud Trojan , &c.] Agamemnon here calls to mind how, upon the Death of his Brother, the ineffectual Preparations and Actions against Troy must become a Derision to the World. This is in its own Nature a very irritating Sentiment, tho' it were never so carelesly exprest; but the Poet has found out a peculiar Air of Aggravation, in making him bring all the Consequences before his Eyes, in a Picture of their Trojan Enemies gathering round the Tomb of the unhappy Menelaus, elated with Pride, insulting the Dead, and throwing out disdainful Expressions and Curses against him and his Family. There is nothing which could more effectually represent a State of Anguish, than the drawing such an Image as this, which shews a Man increasing his present Unhappiness by the Prospect of a future Train of Misfortunes.

Verse 222. Let not thy Words the Warmth of Greece abate.] In Agamemnon, Homer has shewn an Example of a tender Nature and fraternal Affection, and now in Menelaus he gives us one of a generous warlike Patience and Presence of Mind. He speaks of his own Case with no other Regard, but as this Accident of his Wound may tend to the Discouragement of the Soldiers; and exhorts the General to beware of dejecting their Spirits from the Prosecution of the War. Spondanus.

Verse 253. The Trojans rush tumultuous to the War.] They advanced to the Enemy in the Belief that the Shot of Pandarus was made by Order of the Generals. Dacier.

Verse 256. Nor had you seen.] The Poet here changes his Narration, and turns himself to the Reader in an Apostrophe. Longinus in his 22d Chapter commends this Figure, as causing a Reader to become a Spectator, and keeping his Mind fixed upon the Action before him. The Apostrophe (says he) renders us more awaken'd, more attentive, and more full of the Thing described. Madam Dacier will have it, that it is the Muse who addresses herself to the Poet in the second Person: 'Tis no great matter which, since it has equally its Effect either way.

Verse 264. Thro' all the martial Ranks he moves, &c.] In the following Review of the Army, which takes up a great Part of this Book, we see all the Spirit, Art, and Industry of a compleat General; together with the proper Characters of those Leaders whom he incites. Agamemnon considers at this sudden Exigence, that he should first address himself to all in general; he divides his Discourse to the Brave and the Fearful, using Arguments which arise from Confidence or Despair, Passions which act upon us most forcibly: To the Brave, he urges their secure Hopes of Conquest since the Gods must punish Perjury; to the Timorous, their inevitable Destruction if the Enemy should burn their Ships. After this he flies from Rank to Rank, applying himself to each Ally with particular Artifice: He caresses Idomeneus as an old Friend who had promised not to forsake him; and meets with an Answer in that Hero's true Character, short, honest, hearty, and Soldier-like. He praises the Ajaxes as Warriors whose Examples fired the Army; and is received by them without any Reply, as they were Men who did not profess Speaking. He passes next to Nestor, whom he finds talking to his Soldiers as he marshal'd them; here he was not to part without a Compliment on both sides; he wishes him the Strength he had once in his Youth, and is answer'd with an Account of something which the old Heroe had done in his former Days. From hence he goes to the Troops which lay farthest from the Place of Action; where he finds Menestheus and Ulysses, not intirely unprepar'd nor yet in Motion, as being ignorant of what had happen'd. He reproves Ulysses for this, with Words agreeable to the Hurry he is in, and receives an Answer which suits not ill with the twofold Character of a wise and a valiant Man: Hereupon Agamemnon appears present to himself, and excuses his hasty Expressions. The next he meets is Diomed, whom he also rebukes for Backwardness but after another manner, by setting before him the Example of his Father. Thus is Agamemnon introduced, praising, terrifying, exhorting, blaming, excusing himself, and again relapsing into Reproofs; a lively Picture of a great Mind in the highest Emotion. And at the same time the Variety is so kept up, with a regard to the different Characters of the Leaders, that our Thoughts are not tired with running along with him over all his Army.

Verse 296. For this, in Banguets.] The Ancients usually in their Feasts divided to the Guests by equal Portions, except when they took some particular occasion to shew Distinction and give the Preference to any one Person. It was then look'd upon as the highest Mark of Honour to be allotted the best Portion of Meat and Wine, and to be allowed an Exemption from the Laws of the Feast, in drinking Wine unmingled and without Stint. This Custom was much more ancient than the time of the Trojan War, and we find it practised in the Banquet given by Joseph to his Brethren in Ægypt, Gen. 43. V. ult. And he sent Messes to them from before him, but Benjamin's Mess was five times so much as any of theirs. Dacier.

Verse 336. There rev'rend Nestor ranks his Pylian Bands.] This is the Prince whom Homer chiefly celebrates for martial Discipline, of the rest he is content to say they were valiant and ready to fight: The Years, long Observation and Experience of Nestor render'd him the fittest Person to be distinguished on this account. The Disposition of his Troops in this Place (together with what he is made to say, that their Fore-fathers used the same Method) may be a Proof that the Art of War was well known in Greece before the Time of Homer. Nor indeed can it be imagined otherwise, in an Age when all the World made their Acquisitions by Force of Arms only. What is most to be wonder'd at, is, that they had not the use of Cavalry, all Men engaging either on Foot, or from Chariots (a Particular necessary to be known by every Reader of Homer's Battels.) In these Chariots there were always two Persons, one of whom only fought, the other was wholly employ'd in managing the Horses. Madam Dacier in her excellent Preface to Homer is of Opinion, that there were no Horsemen 'till near the Time of Saul, threescore Years after the Siege of Troy; so that altho' Cavalry were in use in Homer's Days, yet he thought himself obliged to regard the Customs of the Age of which he writ, rather than those of his own.

Verse 344. The middle Space suspected Troops supply.] This Artifice, of placing those Men whose Behaviour was most to be doubted, in the middle, (so as to put them under a necessity of engaging even against their Inclinations) was followed by Hannibal in the Battel of Zama; as is observed and praised by Polybius, who quotes this Verse on that occasion in Acknowledgment of Homer's Skill in military Discipline. That our Author was the first Master of that Art in Greece is the Opinion of Ælian, Tactic, c. 1. Frontinus gives us another Example of Pyrrhus King of Epirus's following this Instruction of Homer. Vide Stratag. lib. 2. c. 3. So Ammianus Marcellinus l. 14. Imperator catervis peditum infirmis, medium inter acies spacium, secundùm Homericam dispositionem, præstituit.

Verse 353. He whom the Fortune of the Field shall cast From forth his Chariot, mount the next—&c.] The Words in the Original are capable of four different Significations, as Eustathius observes. The first is, that whoever in fighting upon his Chariot shall win a Chariot from his Enemy, he shall continue to fight, and not retire from the Engagement to secure his Prize. The second, that if any one be thrown out of his Chariot, he who happens to be nearest shall hold forth his Javelin to help him up into his own. The third is directly the contrary to the last, that if any one be cast from his Chariot and would mount up into another Man's, that other shall push him back with his Javelin, and not admit him for fear of interrupting the Combate. The fourth is the Sense which is followed in the Translation as seeming much the most natural, that every one should be left to govern his own Chariot, and the other who is admitted fight only with the Javelin. The reason of this Advice appears by the Speech of Pandarus to Æneas in the next Book: Æneas having taken him up into his Chariot to go against Diomed, compliments him with the Choice either to fight, or to manage the Reins, which was esteem'd an Office of Honour. To this Pandarus answers, that it is more proper for Æneas to guide his own Horses; lest they not feeling their accustomed Master, should be ungovernable and bring them into Danger.

Upon occasion of the various and contrary Significations of which these Words are said to be capable, and which Eustathius and Dacier profess to admire as an Excellence; Mons. de la Motte in his late Discourse upon Homer very justly animadverts, that if this be true, it is a grievous Fault in Homer. For what can be more absurd than to imagine, that the Orders given in a Battel should be delivered in such ambiguous Terms, as to be capable of many Meanings? These double Interpretations must proceed not from any design in the Author, but purely from the Ignorance of the Moderns in the Greek Tongue: It being impossible for any one to possess the dead. Languages to such a degree, as to be certain of all the Graces and Negligences; or to know precisely how far the Licences and Boldnesses of Expression were happy, or forced. But Criticks, to be thought learned, attribute to the Poet all the random Senses that amuse them, and imagine they see in a single Word a whole heap of Things, which no modern Language can express; so are oftentimes charmed with nothing but the Confusion of their own Ideas.

Verse 385. Remote their Forces lay.] This is a Reason why the Troops of Ulysses and Menestheus were not yet in Motion. Tho' another may be added in respect to the former, that it did not consist with the Wisdom of Ulysses to fall on with his Forces 'till he was well assured. Tho' Courage be no inconsiderable Part of his Character, yet it is always join'd with great Caution. Thus we see him soon after in the very Heat of a Battel, when his Friend was just slain before his Eyes, first looking carefully about him, before he would throw his Spear to revenge him.

Verse 431. I saw him once, when, &c.] This long Narration concerning the History of Tydeus, is not of the Nature of those for which Homer has been blam'd with some Colour of Justice: It is not a cold Story but a warm Reproof, while the particularising the Actions of the Father is made the highest Incentive to the Son. Accordingly the Air of this Speech ought to be inspirited above the common Narrative Style. As for the Story itself, it is finely told by Statius in the second Book of the Thebais.

Verse 453. No Words the Godlike Diomed return'd.] “When Diomed is reproved by Agamemnon, he holds his Peace in respect to his General, but Sthenelus retorts upon him with Boasting and Insolence. It is here worth observing in what manner Agamemnon behaves himself; he passes by Sthenelus without affording any Reply; whereas just before, when Ulysses testify'd his Resentment, he immediately return'd him an Answer. For as it is a mean and servile thing, and unbecoming the Majesty of a Prince, to make Apologies to every Man in Justification of what he has said or done; so to treat all Men with equal Neglect is meer Pride and Excess of Folly. We also see of Diomed, that tho' he refrains from speaking in this Place when the Time demanded Action; he afterwards expresses himself in such a manner, as shews him not to have been insensible of this unjust Rebuke: (as in the ninth Book) when he tells the King, he was the first who had dar'd to reproach him with want of Courage.” Plutarch of reading the Poets.

Verse 461. We storm'd the Theban Wall.] The first Theban War, of which Agamemnon spoke in the preceding Lines, was seven and twenty Years before the War of Troy. Sthenelus here speaks of the second Theban War, which happen'd ten Years after the first: when the Sons of the seven Captains conquer'd the City, before which their Fathers were destroyed. Tydeus expired gnawing the Head of his Enemy, and Capaneus was Thunder-struck while he blasphemed Jupiter. Vid. Stat. Thebaid.

Verse 479. As when the Winds.] Madam Dacier thinks it may seem something odd, that an Army going to conquer should be compared to the Waves going to break themselves against the Shore; and would solve the appearing Absurdity by imagining the Poet laid not the Stress so much upon this Circumstance, as upon the same Waves assaulting a Rock, lifting themselves over its Head, and covering it with Foam as the Trophy of their Victory (as she expresses it.) But to this it may be answer'd, that neither did the Greeks get the better in this Battel, nor will a Comparison be allowed intirely beautiful, which instead of illustrating its Subject stands itself in need of so much Illustration and Refinement, to be brought to agree with it. The Passage naturally bears this Sense. As when, upon the rising of the Wind, the Waves roll after one another to the Shore; at first there is a distant Motion in the Sea, then they approach to break with Noise on the Strand, and lastly rise swelling over the Rocks, and toss their Foam above their Heads: So the Greeks, at first, marched in order one after another silently to the Fight—Where the Poet breaks off from prosecuting the Comparison, and by a Prolepsis, leaves the Reader to carry it on; and image to himself the future Tumult, Rage, and Force of the Battel, in Opposition to that Silence in which he describes the Troops at present, in the Lines immediately ensuing. What confirms this Exposition is, that Virgil has made use of the Simile in the same Sense in the seventh Æneid.

Verse 479. As when the Winds, &c.] This is the first Battel in Homer, and it is worthy Observation with what Grandeur it is described, and raised by one Circumstance above another, 'till all is involved in Horror and Tumult: The foregoing Simile of the Winds, rising by degrees into a general Tempest, is an Image of the Progress of his own Spirit in this Description. We see first an innumerable Army moving in order, and are amus'd with the Pomp and Silence, then waken'd with the Noise and Clamour; next they join, the adverse Gods are let down among them; the Imaginary Persons of Terror, Flight, Discord succeed to re-inforce them; then all is undistinguish'd Fury and a Confusion of Horrors, only that at different Openings we behold the distinct Deaths of several Heroes, and then are involv'd again in the same Confusion.

Verse 503. Discord, dire Sister, &c.] This is the Passage so highly extoll'd by Longinus, as one of the most signal Instances of the noble Sublimity of this Author: where it is said, that the Image here drawn of Discord, whose Head touch'd the Heavens, and whose Feet were on Earth, may as justly be apply'd to the vast Reach and Elevation of the Genius of Homer. But Mons. Boileau informs us that neither the Quotation nor these Words were in the Original of Longinus, but partly inserted by Gabriel de Petra. However the best Encomium is, that Virgil has taken it word for word, and apply'd it to the Person of Fame.

Aristides had formerly blamed Homer for admitting Discord into Heaven, and Scaliger takes up the Criticism to throw him below Virgil. Fame (he says) is properly feign'd to hide her Head in the Clouds, because the Grounds and Authors of Rumours are commonly unknown. As if the same might not be alledg'd for Homer, since the Grounds and Authors of Discord are often no less secret. Macrobius has put this among the Passages where he thinks Virgil has fallen short in his Imitation of Homer, and brings these Reasons for his Opinion. Homer represents Discord to rise from small beginnings, and afterwards in her Encrease to reach the Heavens: Virgil has said this of Fame, but not with equal Propriety; for the Subjects are very different. Discord, tho' it reaches to War and Devastation, is still Discord; nor ceases to be what it was at first. But Fame, when it grows to be universal, is Fame no longer, but becomes Knowledge and Certainty. For who calls any thing Fame, which is known from Earth to Heaven? Nor has Virgil equal'd the Strength of Homer's Hyperbole, for one speaks of Heaven, the other only of the Clouds. Macrob. Sat. l. 5. c. 13. Scaliger is very angry at this last Period, and by mistake blames Gellius for it, in whom there is no such thing. His Words are so insolently dogmatical, that barely to quote them is to answer them, and the only Answer which such a Spirit of Criticism deserves. Clamant quòd Maro de Fama dixit eam inter nubila caput condere, cùm tamen Homerus unde ipse accepit, in cœlo caput Eridis constituit. Jam tibi pro me respondeo. Non sum imitatus, nolo imitari: non placet, non est verum, Contentionem ponere caput in cœlo. Ridiculum est, fatuum est, Homericum est, Græculum est. Poetic, l. 5. c. 3.

This fine Verse was also criticiz'd by Mons. Perault, who accuses it as a forc'd and extravagant Hyperbole. M. Boileau answers, that Hyperboles as strong are daily used even in common Discourse, and that nothing is in effect more strictly true than that Discord reigns over all the Earth, and in Heaven itself, that is to say, among the Gods of Homer. It is not (continues this excellent Critick) the Description of a Giant, as this Censor would pretend, but a just Allegory; and as he makes Discord an allegorical Person, she may be of what Size he pleases without shocking us; since it is what we regard only as an Idea and Creature of the Fancy, and not as a material Substance that has any Being in Nature. The Expression in the Psalms, that the impious Man is lifted up as a Cedar of Libanus , does by no means imply that the impious Man was a Giant as tall as the Cedar. Thus far Boileau; and upon the whole we may observe, that it seems not only the Fate of great Genius's to have met with the most malignant Criticks, but of the finest and noblest Passages in them to have been particularly pitch'd upon for impertinent Criticisms. These are the divine Boldnesses which in their very Nature provoke Ignorance and Short-sightedness to shew themselves; and which whoever is capable of attaining, must also certainly know, that they will be attack'd by such as cannot reach them.

Verse 509. Now Shield with Shield, &c.] The Verses which follow in the Original are perhaps excell'd by none in Homer; and that he had himself a particular Fondness for them, may be imagin'd from his inserting them again in the same Words in the eighth Book. They are very happily imitated by Statius lib. 7.

&c.

Verse 517. As Torrents roll.] This Comparison of Rivers meeting and roaring, with two Armies mingling in Battel, is an Image of that Nobleness, which (to say no more) was worthy the Invention of Homer and the Imitation of Virgil.

The word populatus here has a Beauty which one must be insensible not to observe. Scaliger prefers Virgil's, and Maerobius Homer's, without any Reasons on either side, but only one Critick's positive Word against another's. The Reader may judge between them.

Verse 523. The bold Antilochus .] Antilochus the Son of Nestor is the first who begins the Engagement. It seems as if the old Hero having done the greatest Service he was capable of at his Years, in disposing the Troops in the best order (as we have seen before) had taken care to set his Son at the head of them, to give him the Glory of beginning the Battel.

Verse 540. As o'er their Prey rapacious Wolves engage.] This short Comparison in the Greek consists only of two Words, Λυκοι ως, which Scaliger observes upon as too abrupt. But may it not be answer'd that such a Place as this, where all things are in Confusion, seems not to admit of any Simile, except of one which scarce exceeds a Metaphor in Length? When two Heroes are engag'd, there is a plain View to be given us of their Actions, and there a long Simile may be of use, to raise and enliven them by parallel Circumstances; but when the Troops fall in promiscuously upon one another, the Confusion excludes distinct or particular Images, and consequently Comparisons of any Length would be less natural.

Verse 542. In bloom of Youth fair Simoïsius fell.] This Prince receiv'd his Name from the River Simois on whose Banks he was born. It was the Custom of the Eastern People to give Names to their Children deriv'd from the most remarkable Accidents of their Birth. The holy Scripture is full of Examples of this kind. It is also usual in the Old Testament to compare Princes to Trees, Cedars, &c. as Simoïsius is here resembled to a Poplar. Dacier.

Verse 552. So falls a Poplar.] Eustathius in Macrobius prefers to this Simile that of Virgil in the second Æneid.

Mr. Hobbes in the Preface to his Translation of Homer has discours'd upon this Occasion very judiciously. Homer (says he) intended no more in this Place than to shew how comely the Body of Simoïsius appear'd as he lay dead upon the Bank of Scamander, striat and tall, with a fair Head of Hair, like a strait and high Poplar with the Boughs still on; and not at all to describe the manner of his falling, which (when a Man is wounded thro' the Breast as he was with a Spear) is always sudden. Virgil's is the Description of a great Tree falling when many Men together hew it down. He meant to compare the manner how Troy after many Battels, and after the Loss of many Cities, conquer'd by the many Nations under Agamemnon in a long War, was thereby weaken'd and at last overthrown, with a great Tree hewn round about, and then falling by little and little leisurely. So that neither these two Descriptions nor the two Comparisons can be compared together. The Image of a Man lying on the Ground is one thing; the Image of falling (especially of a Kingdom) is another. This therefore gives no Advantage to Virgil over Homer. Thus Mr. Hobbes.

Verse 585. But Phœbus now.] Homer here introduces Apollo on the side of the Trojans: He had given them the Assistance of Mars at the beginning of this Battel; but Mars (which signifies Courage without Conduct) proving too weak to resist Minerva (or Courage with Conduct) which the Poet represents as constantly aiding his Greeks; they want some prudent Management to rally them again: He therefore brings in a Wisdom to assist Mars, under the Appearance of Apollo.

Verse 592. Achilles fights no more.] Homer from time to time puts his Readers in mind of Achilles, during his Absence from the War; and finds occasions of celebrating his Valour with the highest Praises. There cannot be a greater Encomium than this, where Apollo himself tells the Trojans they have nothing to fear, since Achilles fights no longer against them. Dacier.

Verse 630. Had some brave Chief.] The turning off in this Place from the Actions of the Field, to represent to us a Man with Security and Calmness walking thro' it, without being able to reprehend any thing in the whole Action; this is not only a fine Praise of the Battel, but as it were a Breathing-place to the Poetical Spirit of the Author, after having rapidly run along with the Heat of the Engagement: He seems like one who having got over a Part of his Journey, stops upon an Eminence to look back upon the Space he has pass'd, and concludes the Book with an agreeable Pause or Respite.

The Reader will excuse our taking notice of such a Trifle, as that it was an old Superstition, that this fourth Book of the Iliads being laid under the Head, was a Cure for the Quartan Ague. Serenus Sammonicus, a celebrated Physician in the time of the younger Gordian and Preceptor to that Emperor, has gravely prescrib'd it among other Receipts in his medicinal Precepts, Præc. 50.

I believe it will be found a true Observation, that there never was any thing so absurd or ridiculous, but has at one time or other been written even by some Author of Reputation: A Reflection it may not be improper for Writers to make, as being at once some Mortification to their Vanity, and some Comfort to their Infirmity.