University of Virginia Library

Verse 9. Without the Gods how short a Period, &c.] Homer here teaches a Truth conformable to sacred Scripture, and almost in the very Words of the Psalmist; Unless the Lord build the House, they labour in vain that build it.

Verse 15. Then Neptune and Apollo , &c.] This whole Episode of the Destruction of the Wall is spoken as a kind of Prophecy, where Homer in a poetical Enthusiasm relates what was to happen in future Ages. It has been conjectur'd from hence that our Author flourish'd not long after the Trojan War; for had he lived at a greater Distance, there had been no occasion to have Recourse to such extraordinary means to destroy a Wall, which would have been lost and worn away by Time alone. Homer (says Aristotle) foresaw the Question might be ask'd, how it came to pass that no Ruins remain'd of so great a Work? and therefore contrived to give his Fiction the nearest Resemblance to Truth. Inundations and Earthquakes are sufficient to abolish the strongest Works of Man, so as not to leave the least Remains where they stood. But we are told this in a manner wonderfully noble and poetical: We see Apollo turning the Course of the Rivers against the Wall, Jupiter opening the Cataracts of Heaven, and Neptune rending the Foundations with his Trident: That is, the Sun exhales the Vapours, which descend in Rain from the Air or Æther, this Rain causes an Inundation, and that Inundation overturns the Wall. Thus the Poetry of Homer, like Magick, first raises a stupendous Object, and then immediately causes it to vanish.

What farther strengthens the Opinion, that Homer was particularly careful to avoid the Objection which those of his own Age might raise against the Probability of this Fiction, is, that the Verses which contain this Account of the Destruction of the Wall seem to be added and interpolated after the first writing of the Iliad, by Homer himself. I believe the Reader will incline to my Opinion, if he considers the manner in which they are introduced, both here, and in the seventh Book, where first this Wall is mention'd. There, describing how it was made, he ends with this Line,

After which is inserted the Debate of the Gods concerning the Method of its Destruction, at the Conclusion whereof immediately follows a Verse that seems exactly to connect with the former,

In like manner in the present Book, after the fourth Verse,

That which is now the thirty sixth, seems originally to have follow'd.

And all the Lines between (which break the Course of the Narration, and are introduced in a manner not usual in Homer) seem to have been added for the Reason above-said. I do not insist much upon this Observation, but I doubt not several will agree to it upon a Review of the Passages.

Verse 24. Nine Continual Days.] Some of the Ancients thought it incredible that a Wall which was built in one Day by the Greeks, should resist the joint Efforts of three Deities nine Days: To solve this Difficulty, Crates the Mallesian was of Opinion, that it should be writ, εν ημαρ, one day. But there is no occasion to have Recourse to so forc'd a Solution; it being sufficient to observe, that nothing but such an extraordinary Power could have so entirely ruin'd the Wall, that not the least Remains of it should appear; but such a one (as we have before said) Homer stood in need of. Eustathius.

Verse 99. The Forces part in five distinguish'd Bands.] The Trojan Army is divided into five Parts, perhaps because there were five Gates in the Wall, so that an Attack might be made upon every Gate at the same Instant: By this means the Greeks would be obliged to disunite, and form themselves into as many Bodies, to guard five Places at the same time.

The Poet here breaks the Thread of his Narration, and stops to give us the Names of the Leaders of every Battalion: By this Conduct he prepares us for an Action entirely new, and different from any other in the Poem. Eustathius.

Verse 125. Asius alone confiding in his Car.] It appears from hence that the three Captains who commanded each Battalion, were not subordinate one to the other, but commanded separately, each being impower'd to order his own Troop as he thought fit: For otherwise Asius had not been permitted to keep his Chariot when the rest were on Foot. One may observe from hence, that Homer does not attribute the same regular Discipline in War to the barbarous Nations, which he had given to his Grecians; and he makes some use too of this Defect, to cast the more Variety over this part of the Description. Dacier.

Verse 127. Unhappy Hero! &c.] Homer observes a poetical Justice in Relation to Asius; he punishes his Folly and Impiety with Death, and shews the Danger of despising wise Counsel, and blaspheming the Gods. In Pursuance of this Prophecy, Asius is killed in the thirteenth Book by Idomeneus.

Verse 143. This Polypœtes—And that Leonteus , &c.] These Heroes are the Originals of Pandarus and Bitias in Virgil. We see two gallant Officers exhorting their Soldiers to act bravely; but being deserted by them, they execute their own Commands, and maintain the Pass against the united Force of the Battalions of Asius: Nor does the Poet transgress the Bounds of Probability in the Story: The Greeks from above beat off some of the Trojans with Stones, and the Gate-way being narrow, it was easy to be defended. Eustathius.

Verse 185. The Speech of Asius .] This Speech of Asius is very extravagant: He exclaims against Jupiter for a Breach of Promise, not because he had broken his Word, but because he had not fulfill'd his own vain Imaginations. This Conduct, tho' very blameable in Asius, is very natural to Persons under a Disappointment, who are ever ready to blame Heaven, and turn their Misfortunes into a Crime. Eustathius.

Verse 233. Jove's Bird on sounding Pinions, &c.] Virgil has imitated this Passage in the eleventh Æneid, V. 751.

Which Macrobius compares with this of Homer, and gives the Preference to the Original, on account of Virgil's having neglected to specify the Omen. His prætermissis, (quod sinistra veniens vincentium prohibebat accessum, & accepto à serpente morsu prædam dolore dejecit; factoque Tripudio solistimo, cum clamore dolorem testante, prætervolat) quæ animam Parabolæ dabant, velut exanime in latinis versibus corpus remansit. Sat. l. 5. c. 14. But methinks this Criticism might have been spared, had he consider'd that Virgil had no Design, or occasion, to make an Omen of it; but took it only as a natural Image, to paint the Posture of two Warriors strugling with each other.

Verse 245. The Speech of Polydamas .] The Address of of Polydamas to Hector in this Speech is admirable: He knew that the daring Spirit of that Hero would not suffer him to listen to any mention of a Retreat: He had already storm'd the Walls in Imagination, and consequently the Advice of Polydamas was sure to meet with a bad Reception. He therefore softens every Expression, and endeavours to flatter Hector into an Assent; and tho' he is assured he gives a true Interpretation of the Prodigy, he seems to be diffident; but that his personated Distrust may not prejudice the Interpretation, he concludes with a plain Declaration of his Opinion, and tells him that what he delivers is not Conjecture, but Science, and appeals for the Truth of it to the Augurs of the Army. Eustathius.

Verse 267. The Speech of Hector .] This Speech of Hector's is full of Spirit: His Valour is greater than the Skill of Polydamas, and he is not to be argu'd into a Retreat. There is something very heroic in that Line,

And if any thing can add to the Beauty of it, it is in being so well adapted to the Character of him who speaks it, who is every where describ'd as a great Lover of his Country.

It may seem at the first View that Hector uses Polydamas with too much Severity in the Conclusion of his Speech: But he will be sufficiently justify'd, if we consider that the Interpretation of the Omen given by Polydamas might have discourag'd the Army; and this makes it necessary for him to decry the Prediction, and insinuate that the Advice proceeded not from his Skill but his Cowardice. Eustathius.

Verse 281. To right, to left, unheeded take your way.] Eustathius has found out four Meanings in these two Lines, and tells us that the Words may signify East, West, North, and South. This is writ in the true Spirit of a Critick, who can find out a Mystery in the plainest Words, and is ever learnedly obscure: For my part, I cannot imagine how any thing can be more clearly express'd; I care not, says Hector, whether the Eagle flew on the right, towards the Sun-rising, which was propitious, or on the left towards his setting, which was unlucky.

Verse 299. Jove rais'd a Whirlwind.] It is worth our Notice to observe how the least Circumstance grows in the Hand of a great Poet. In this Battel it is to be supposed that the Trojans had got the Advantage of the Wind of the Grecians, so that a Cloud of Dust was blown upon their Army: This gave room for this Fiction of Homer, which supposes that Jove, or the Air, rais'd the Dust, and drove it in the Face of the Grecians. Eustathius.

Verse 348. Till great Sarpedon , &c.] The Poet here ushers in Sarpedon with Abundance of Pomp: He forces him upon the Observation of the Reader by the Greatness of the Description, and raises our Expectations of him, intending to make him perform many remarkable Actions in the Sequel of the Poem, and become worthy to fall by the Hand of Patroclus. Eustathius.

Verse 357. So press'd with Hunger, from the Mountain's Brow, Descends a Lion.] This Comparison very much resembles that of the Prophet Isaiah, Ch. 31. V. 4. where God himself is compared to a Lion: Like as the Lion, and the young Lion roaring on his Prey, when a Multitude of Shepherds is call'd forth against him, he will not be afraid of their Voice, nor abase himself for the Noise of them: So shall the Lord of Hosts come down that he may fight upon Mount Sion . Dacier.

Verse 371. The Speech of Sarpedon to Glaucus .] In former Times Kings were look'd upon as the Generals of Armies, who to return the Honours that were done them, were oblig'd to expose themselves first in the Battel, and be an Example to their Soldiers. Upon this Sarpedon grounds his Discourse, which is full of Generosity and Nobleness. We are, says he, honour'd like Gods; and what can be more unjust, than not to behave our selves like Men? he ought to be superior in Virtue, who is superior in Dignity; What Strength is there, and what Greatness in that Thought? it includes Justice, Gratitude, and Magnanimity; Justice, in that he scorns to enjoy what he does not merit; Gratitude, because he would endeavour to recompense his Obligations to his Subjects; and Magnanimity, in that he despises Death, and thinks of nothing but Glory. Eustathius. Dacier.

Verse 387. Could all our Care, &c.] There is not a more forcible Argument than this, to make Men contemn Dangers, and seek Glory by brave Actions. Immortality with eternal Youth, is certainly preferable to Glory purchas'd with the Loss of Life; but Glory is certainly better than an ignominious Life; which at last, tho' perhaps late, must end. It is ordain'd that all Men shall die, nor can our escaping from Danger secure us Immortality; it can only give us a longer Continuance in Disgrace, and even that Continuance will be but short, tho' the Infamy everlasting. This is incontestable, and whoever weighs his Actions in these Scales, can never hesitate in his Choice: But what is most worthy of Remark is, that Homer does not put this in the Mouth of an ordinary Person, but ascribes it to the Son of Jupiter. Eustathius. Dacier.

Verse 444. Whose fatal Bow the strong Pandion bore.] It is remarkable that Teucer who is excellent for his Skill in Archery, does not carry his own Bow, but has it born after him by Pandion: I thought it not improper to take notice of this, by reason of its Unusualness. It may be suppos'd that Teucer had chang'd his Arms in this Fight, and comply'd with the Exigence of the Battel which was about the Wall: He might judge that some other Weapon might be more necessary upon this Occasion, and therefore committed his Bow to the Care of Pandion. Eustathius.

Verse 454. A Rocky Fragment, &c.] In this Book both Ajax and Hector are describ'd throwing Stones of a prodigious Size. But the Poet who loves to give the Preference to his Countrymen, relates the Action much to the Advantage of Ajax: Ajax by his natural Strength performs what Hector could not do without the Assistance of Jupiter. Eustathius.

Verse 455. Not two strong Men.] The Difference which our Author makes between the Heroes of his Poem, and the Men of his Age, is so great, that some have made use of it as an Argument that Homer liv'd many Ages after the War of Troy: But this Argument does not seem to be of any Weight; for supposing Homer to have writ two hundred and fifty or two hundred and sixty Years after the Destruction of Troy, this Space is long enough to make such a Change as he speaks of; Peace, Luxury, or Effeminacy would do it in a much less Time. Dacier.

Verse 483. Swift to the Battlement the Victor flies.] From what Sarpedon here performs, we may gather that this Wall of the Greeks was not higher than a tall Man: From the great Depth and Breadth of it, as it is described just before, one might have concluded that it had been much higher: But it appears to be otherwise from this Passage; and consequently the Thickness of the Wall was answerable to the Wideness of the Ditch. Eustathius.

Verse 511. As on the Confines of adjoining Ground.] This Simile, says Eustathius, is wonderfully proper; it has one Circumstance that is seldom to be found in Homer's Allusions; it corresponds in every Point with the Subject it was intended to illustrate: The Measures of the two Nighbours represent the Spears of the Combatants: The Confines of the Fields, shews that they engag'd hand to hand; and the Wall which divides the Armies, gives us a lively Idea of the large Stones that were fix'd to determine the Bounds of adjoining Fields.

Verse 521. As on the Confines of adjoining Ground.] This Comparison is excellent on account of its Justness; for there is nothing better represents an exact Equality than a Balance: But Homer was particularly exact, in having neither describ'd a Woman of Wealth and Condition, for such a one is never very exact, not valuing a small Inequality; nor a Slave, for such a one is ever regardless of a Master's Interest: But he speaks of a poor Woman that gains her Livelihood by her Labour, who is at the same time just and honest; for she will neither defraud others, nor be defrauded her self. She therefore takes care that the Scales be exactly of the same Weight.

It was an ancient Tradition, (and is countenanced by the Author of Homer's Life ascribed to Herodotus) that the Poet drew this Comparison from his own Family; being himself the Son of a Woman who maintain'd her self by her own Industry: He therefore to extol her Honesty, (a Qualification very rare in Poverty) gives her a Place in his Poem. Eustathius.