University of Virginia Library

Verse 1.] Quintilian has told us, that from the beginning of Homer's two Poems the Rules of all Exordiums were deriv'd. “In paucissimis versibus utriusque operis ingressu, legem Proœmiorum non dico servavit, sed constituit.” Yet Rapin has been very free with this Invocation, in his Comparison between Homer and Virgil ; which is by no means the most judicious of his Works. He cavils first at the Poet's insisting so much upon the Effects of Achilles's Anger, That it was “the Cause of the Woes of the Greeks,” that it “sent so many Heroes to the Shades,” that “their Bodies were left a Prey to Birds and Beasts,” the first of which he thinks had been sufficient. One may answer, that the Woes of Greece might consist in several other things than in the Death of her Heroes, which was therefore needful to be specify'd: As to the Bodies, he might have reflected how great a Curse the want of Burial was accounted by the Ancients, and how prejudicial it was esteem'd even to the Souls of the deceas'd: We have a most particular Example of the Strength of this Opinion from the Conduct of Sophocles in his Ajax; who thought this very Point sufficient to make the Distress of the last Act of that Tragedy after the Death of his Heroe, purely to satisfy the Audience that he obtain'd the Rites of Sepulture. Next he objects it as preposterous in Homer to desire the Muse to tell him the whole Story, and at the same time to inform her solemnly in his own Person that 'twas the Will of Jove which brought it about. But is a Poet then to be imagin'd intirely ignorant of his Subject, tho' he invokes the Muse to relate the Particulars? May not Homer be allow'd the Knowledge of so plain a Truth, as that the Will of God is fulfill'd in all things? Nor does his Manner of saying this infer that he informs the Muse of gt, but only corresponds with the usual way of desiring Information from another concerning any thing, and at the same time mentioning that little we know of it in general. What is there more in this Passage? “Sing, O Goddess, that Wrath of Achilles, which prov'd so pernicious to the Greeks: We only know the Effects of it, that it sent innumerable brave Men to the Shades, and that it was Jove's Will it should be so. But tell me, O Muse, what was the Source of this destructive Anger?” I can't apprehend what Rapin means by saying, it is hard to know where this Invocation ends, and that it is confounded with the Narration, which so manifestly begins at Λητους και Διος υιος. But upon the whole, methinks the French Criticks play double with us, when they sometimes represent the Rules of Poetry to be form'd upon the Practice of Homer, and at other times arraign their Master as if he transgress'd them. Horace has said the Exordium of an Epic Poem ought to be plain and modest, and instances Homer's as such; and Rapin from this very Rule will be trying Homer and judging it otherwise (for he criticises also upon the beginning of the Odysses) But for a full Answer we may bring the Words of Quintilian (whom Rapin himself allows to be the best of Criticks) concerning these Propositions and Invocations of our Author. “Benevolum Auditorem invocatione dearum quas præsidere vatibus creditum est, intentum propositâ rerum magnitudine, & docilem summä celeriter comprehensâ, facit.

Verse 1.]

Plutarch observes there is a Defect in the Measure of this first Line (I suppose he means in the Eta's of the Patronymick.) This he thinks the fiery Vein of Homer making haste to his Subject, past over with a bold Neglect, being conscious of his own Power and Perfection in the greater Parts; as some (says he) who make Virtue their sole Aim, pass by Censure in smaller Matters. But perhaps we may find no occasion to suppose this a Neglect in him, if we consider that the word Pelides, had he made use of it without so many Alterations as he has put it to in Πηληιαδεω, would still have been true to the Rules of Measure. Make but a Diphthong of the second Eta and the Iota, instead of their being two Syllables (perhaps by the fault of Transcribers) and the Objection is gone. Or perhaps it might be design'd that the Verse in which he professes to sing of violent Anger should run off in the Rapidity of Dactyles. This Art he is allow'd to have us'd in other Places, and Virgil has been particularly celebrated for it.

Verse 8. Will of Jove.] Plutarch in his Treatise of reading Poets, interprets Διος in this Place to signify Fate, not imagining it consistent with the Goodness of the supreme Being, or Jupiter, to contrive or practise any Evil against Men. Eustathius makes [Will] here to refer to the Promise which Jupiter gave to Thetis, that he would honour her Son by siding with Troy while he should be absent. But to reconcile these two Opinions, perhaps the Meaning may be that when Fate had decreed the Destruction of Troy, Jupiter having the Power of Incidents to bring it to pass, fulfill'd that Decree by providing Means for it. So that the Words may thus specify the Time of Action, from the beginning of the Poem, in which those Incidents work'd, 'till the Promise to Thetis was fulfil'd, and the Destruction of Troy ascertain'd to the Greeks by the Death of Hector. However it is certain that this Poet was not an absolute Fatalist, but still suppos'd the Power of Jove superior: For in the sixteenth Iliad we see him designing to save Sarpedon tho' the Fates had decreed his Death, if Juno had not interposed. Neither does he exclude Free-will in Men; for as he attributes the Destruction of the Heroes to the Will of Jove in the beginning of the Iliad, so he attributes the Destruction of Ulysses's Friends to their own Folly in the beginning of the Odysses,

Verse 9. Declare, O Muse.] It may be question'd whether the first Period ends at Διος δ' ετελειετο βουλη, and the Interrogation to the Muse begins with Εξ ου δη τα πρωτα—Or whether the Period does not end 'till the words, διος Αχιλλευς, with only a single Interrogation at Τις τ' αρ σφωε θεων—? I should be inclin'd to favour the former, and think it a double Interrogative, as Milton seems to have done in his Imitation of this Place at the beginning of Paradise Lost.

&c. And just after,

Besides that I think the Proposition concludes more nobly with the Sentence Such was the Will of Jove . But the latter being follow'd by most Editions, and by all the Translations I have seen in any Language, the general Acceptation is here comply'd with, only transposing the Line to keep the Sentence last: And the next Verses are so turn'd as to include the double Interrogation, and at the same time do justice to another Interpretation of the Words Εξ ου δη τα, Ex quo tempore; which marks the Date of the Quarrel from whence the Poem takes its Rise. Chapman would have Ex quo understood of Jupiter, from whom the Debate was suggested; but this clashes with the Line immediately following, where he asks What God inspir'd the Contention? and answers It was Apollo.”

Verse 11. Latona's Son.] Here the Author who first invok'd the Muse as the Goddess of Memory, vanishes from the Reader's view, and leaves her to relate the whole Affair through the Poem, whose Presence from this time diffuses an Air of Majesty over the Relation. And lest this should be lost to our Thoughts by the Continuation of the Story, he sometimes refreshes them with a new Invocation at proper Intervals. Eustathius.

Verse 20. The Sceptre and the Laurel Crown.] There is something exceedingly venerable in this Appearance of the Priest to command Attention. He comes with the Ensigns of the God he belong'd to; the Laurel Crown, now carry'd in his Hand to show he was a Suppliant; and a golden Sceptre which the Ancients gave in particular to Apollo, as they did a silver one to the Moon, and other sorts to other Planets. Eustathius.

Verse 23. Ye Kings and Warriors.] The Art of this Speech is remarkable. Chryses considers the Constitution of the Greeks before Troy, as made up of Troops partly from Kingdoms and partly from Democracies: Wherefore he begins with a distinction which comprehends all. After this, as Apollo's Priest, he prays that they may obtain the two Blessings they had most in view, the Conquest of Troy, and a safe Return. Then as he names his Petition, he offers an extraordinary Ransom, and concludes with bidding them fear the God if they refuse it; like one who from his Office seems to foresee their Misery and exhorts them to shun it. Thus he endeavours to work by the Art of a general Application, by Religion, by Interest, and the Insinuation of Danger. This is the Substance of what Eustathius remarks on this Place; and in pursuance to his last Observation, the Epithet Avenging is added to this Version, that it may appear the Priest foretells the Anger of his God.

Verse 33. He with Pride repuls'd.] It has been remark'd in Honour of Homer's Judgment, and the Care he took of his Reader's Morals, that where he speaks of evil Actions committed, or hard Words given, he generally characterises them as such by a previous Expression. This Passage is given as one Instance of it, where he says the Repulse of Chryses was a proud injurious Action in Agamemnon: And it may be remark'd that before his Heroes fall on one another with hard Language, in this Book, he still takes care to let us know they were under a Distraction of Anger. Plutarch of reading Poets.

The Greek is αντιοωσαν, which signifies either making the Bed, or partaking it. Eustathius and Madam Dacier insist very much upon its being taken in the former Sense only, for fear of presenting a loose Idea to the Reader, and of offending against the Modesty of the Muse who is suppos'd to relate the Poem. This Observation may very well become a Bishop and a Lady: But that Agamemnon was not studying here for Civility of Expression, appears from the whole Tenour of his Speech; and that he design'd Chryseis for more than a Servant-Maid may be seen from some other things he says of her, as that he preferr'd her to his Queen Clytemnestra, &c. The Impudence of which Confession Madam Dacier herself has elsewhere animadverted upon. Mr. Dryden in his Translation of this Book, has been juster to the Royal Passion of Agamemnon; tho' he has carry'd the Point so much on the other side, as to make him promise a greater Fondness for her in her old Age than in her Youth, which indeed is hardly credible.

Nothing could have made Mr. Dryden capable of this Mistake but extreme haste in Writing; which never ought to be imputed as a Fault to him, but to those who suffer'd so noble a Genius to lie under the necessity of it.

Verse 47. The trembling Priest.] We may take notice here, once for all, that Homer is frequently Eloquent in his very Silence. Chryses says not a word in answer to the Insults of Agamemnon, but walks pensive along the Shore, and the melancholy Flowing of the Verse admirably expresses the Condition of the mournful and deserted Father.

Verse 61. The fav'ring God attends.] Upon this first Prayer in the Poem Eustathius takes occasion to observe, that the Poet is careful throughout his whole Work to let no Prayer ever fall entirely which has Justice on its side; but he who prays either kills his Enemy, or has Signs given him that he has been heard, or his Friends return, or his Undertaking succeeds, or some other visible Good happens. So far instructive and useful to Life has Homer made his Fable.

Verse 67. He bent his deadly Bow.] In the tenth Year of the Siege of Troy a Plague happen'd in the Grecian Camp, occasion'd perhaps by immoderate Heats and gross Exhalations. At the Introduction of this Accident Homer begins his Poem, and takes occasion from it to open the Scene of Action with a most beautiful Allegory. He supposes that such Afflictions are sent from Heaven for the Punishment of our evil Actions, and because the Sun whom the Heathens worship'd was a principal Instrument of it, he says it was sent to punish Agamemnon for despising that God and injuring his Priest. [Eustathius.]

Verse 69. Mules and dogs.] Hippocrates observes two things of Plagues; that their Cause is in the Air, and that different Animals are differently touch'd by them according to their Nature or Nourishment. This Philosophy Spondanus refers to the Plague here mention'd. First, the Cause is in the Air, by reason of the Darts or Beams of Apollo. Secondly, the Mules and Dogs are said to die sooner than the Men; partly because they have by Nature a Quickness of Smell which makes the Infection sooner perceivable; and partly by the Nourishment they take, their feeding on the Earth with prone Heads making the Exhalation the more easy to be suck'd in with it. Thus has Hippocrates so long after Homer writ, subscrib'd to his Knowledge in the Rise and Progress of this Distemper. There have been some who have refer'd this Passage to a religious Sense, making the Death of the Mules and Dogs before the Men to point out a kind Method of Providence in punishing, whereby it sends some previous Afflictions to warn Mankind so as to make them shun the greater Evils by Repentance. This Monsieur Dacier in his Notes on Aristotles's Art of Poetry calls a Remark perfectly fine, and agreeable to God's Method of sending Plagues on the Ægyptians, where first Horses, Asses, &c. were smitten, and afterwards the Men themselves.

Verse 74. Thetis' Godlike Son convenes a Council.] On the tenth Day a Council is held to enquire why the Gods were angry? We may observe with Plutarch, how justly he applies the Characters of his Persons to the Incidents; not making Agamemnon but Achilles call this Council, who of all the Kings was most capable of making Observations upon the Plague, and of foreseeing its Duration, as having been bred by Chiron to the Study of Physick. One may mention also a Remark of Eustathius in pursuance to this, that Juno's advising him in this case might allude to his Knowledge of an evil Temperament in the Air, of which she was Goddess.

Verse 79. Why leave we not the fatal Trojan Shore, &c.] The Artifice of this Speech (according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his second Discourse, περι εσχηματισμενων) is admirably carry'd on to open an Accusation against Agamemnon, whom Achilles suspects to be the Cause of all their Miseries. He directs himself not to the Assembly, but to Agamemnon; he names not only the Plague but the War too, as having exhausted them all, which was evidently due to his Family. He leads the Augurs he would consult, by pointing at something lately done with respect to Apollo. And while he continues within the guard of civil Expression, scattering his Insinuations, he encourages those who may have more Knowledge to speak out boldly, by letting them see there is a Party made for their Safety; which has its Effect immediately in the following Speech of Chalcas, whose demand of Protection shows upon whom the Offence is to be plac'd.

Verse 85. By mystic Dreams.] It does not seem that by the word ονειροπολοςan Interpreter of Dreams is meant, for we have no hint of any preceding Dream which wants to be interpreted. We may therefore more probably refer it to such who us'd (after performing proper Rites) to lie down at some sacred Place, and expect a Dream from the Gods upon any particular Subject which they desir'd. That this was a Practice amongst them, appears from the Temples of Amphiaraus in Bœotia, and Podalirius in Apulia, where the Enquirer was oblig'd to sleep at the Altar upon the Skin of the Beast he had sacrific'd in order to obtain an Answer. It is in this manner that Latinus in Virgil's seventh Book goes to dream in the Temple of Faunus, where we have a particular Description of the whole Custom. Strabo, Lib. 16. has spoken concerning the Temple of Jerusalem as a Place of this Nature: “where (says he) the People either dream'd for themselves, or procur'd some good Dreamer to do it:” By which it should seem he had read something concerning the Visions of their Prophets, as that which Samuel had when he was order'd to sleep a third time before the Ark, and upon doing so had an Account of the Destruction of Eli's House: or that which happen'd to Solomon after having sacrific'd before the Ark at Gibeon. The same Author also has mention'd the Temple of Serapis in his seventeenth Book as a Place for receiving Oracles by Dreams.

Verse 97. Belov'd of Jove, Achilles !] These Appellations of Praise and Honour with which the Heroes in Homer so frequently salute each other, were agreeable to the Style of the ancient Times, as appears from several of the like Nature in the Scripture. Milton has not been wanting to give his Poem this Cast of Antiquity, throughout which our first Parents almost always accost each other with some Title that expresses a Respect to the Dignity of human Nature.

&c.

Verse 115. Not even the Chief.] After Achilles had brought in Chalcas by his dark Doubts concerning Agamemnon, Chalcas who perceiv'd them, and was unwilling to be the first that nam'd the King, artfully demands a Protection in such a manner, as confirms those Doubts, and extorts from him that warm and particular Expression “that he would protect him even against Agamemnon,” who, as he says, is now the greatest Man of Greece, to hint that at the Expiration of the War he should be again reduc'd to be barely King of Mycenæ. This Place Plutarch takes notice of as the first in which Achilles shews his Contempt of Sovereign Authority.

Verse 117. The Blameless Priest.] The Epithet Αμυμον or Blameless, is frequent in Homer, but not always us'd with so much Propriety as here. The Reader may observe that Care has not been wanting thro' this Translation to preserve those Epithets which are peculiar to the Author, whenever they receive any Beauty from the Circumstances about them: as this of Blameless manifestly does in the present Passage. It is not only apply'd to a Priest, but to one who being conscious of the Truth, prepares with an honest Boldness to discover it.

Verse 131. Augur accurst.] This Expression is not meerly thrown out by chance, but proves what Chalcas said of the King when he ask'd Protection; that he harbour'd Anger in his Heart. For it aims at the Prediction Chalcas had given at Aulis nine Years before, for the sacrificing his Daughter Iphigenia.

This, and the two following Lines are in a manner Repetitions of the same thing thrice over. It is left to the Reader to consider how far it may be allow'd, or rather praised for a Beauty, when we consider with Eustathius that it is a most natural Effect of Anger to be full of Words and insisting on that which galls us. We may add, that these reiterated Expressions might be suppos'd to be thrown out one after another, according as Agamemnon is struck in the Confusion of his Passion, first by the Remembrance of one Prophecy, and then of another, which the same Man had utter'd against him.

Verse 143. Not half so dear were Clytemnestra's Charms.] Agamemnon having heard the Charge which Chalcas drew up against him in two Particulars, that he had affronted the Priest, and refus'd to restore his Daughter; he offers one Answer which gives softening Colours to both, that he lov'd her as well as his Queen Clytemnestra for her Perfections. Thus he would seem to satisfy the Father by Kindness to his Daughter, to excuse himself before the Greeks for what is past, and to make a Merit of yielding her in the following Lines, and sacrificing his Passion for their Safety.

Verse 155. Insatiate King.] Here, where this Passion of Anger grows loud, it seems proper to prepare the Reader, and prevent his Mistake in the Character of Achilles, which might shock him in several Particulars following. We should know that the Poet has rather study'd Nature than Perfection in the laying down his Characters. He resolv'd to sing the Consequences of Anger; he consider'd what Virtues and Vices would conduce most to bring his Moral out of the Fable; and artfully dispos'd them in his chief Persons after the manner in which we generally find them; making the Fault which most peculiarly attends any good Quality, to reside with it. Thus he has plac'd Pride with Magnanimity in Agamemnon, and Craft with Prudence in Ulysses. And thus we must take his Achilles, not as a meer heroick dispassion'd Character, but as one compounded of Courage and Anger; one who finds himself almost invincible, and assumes an uncontroul'd Carriage upon the Self-consciousness of his Worth; whose high Strain of Honour will not suffer him to betray his Friends or fight against them, even when he thinks they have affronted him; but whose inexorable Resentment will not let him hearken to any Terms of Accommodation. These are the Lights and Shades of his Character, which Homer has heighten'd and darkned in Extreams; because on the one side Valour is the darling Quality of Epic Poetry, and on the other, Anger the particular Subject of his Poem. When Characters thus mix'd are well conducted, tho' they be not morally beautiful quite through, they conduce more to the end, and are still Poetically perfect.

Plutarch takes occasion from the Observation of this Conduct in Homer, to applaud his just Imitation of Nature and Truth, in representing Virtues and Vices intermixed in his Heroes: contrary to the Paradoxes and strange Positions of the Stoicks, who held that no Vice could consist with Virtue, nor the least Virtue with Vice. Plut. de and. Poetis.

Verse 169. Great as thou art, and like a God in Fight.] The Words in the Original are θεοεικελ Αχιλλευ. Ulysses is soon after call'd Διος, and others in other Places. The Phrase of Divine or God-like is not used by the Poet to signify Perfection in Men, but apply'd to considerable Persons upon account of some particular Qualification or Advantage which they were possess'd of far above the common Standard of Mankind. Thus it is ascrib'd to Achilles upon account of his great Valour, to Ulysses for his Preheminence in Wisdom, even to Paris for his exceeding Beauty, and to Clytemnestra for several fair Endowments.

Verse 172. First let the just Equivalent.] The Reasoning in point of Right between Achilles and Agamemnon seems to be this. Achilles pleads that Agamemnon could not seize upon any other Man's Captive without a new Distribution, it being an Invasion of private Property. On the other hand, as Agamemnon's Power was limited, how came it that all the Grecian Captains would submit to an illegal and arbitrary Action? I think the legal Pretence for his seizing Briseis must have been founded upon that Law, whereby the Commander in Chief had the Power of taking what part of the Prey he pleas'd for his own Use: And he being obliged to restore what he had taken, it seem'd but just that he should have a second Choice.

Verse 213.

] The Anger of these two Princes was equally upon the account of Women, but yet it is observable that there is a different Air with which they are conducted. Agamemnon appears as a Lover, Achilles as a Warriour: The one speaks of Chryseis as a Beauty whom he valu'd equal to his Wife, and whose Merit was too considerable to be easily resign'd; the other treats Briseis as a Slave, whom he is concern'd to preserve in point of Honour, and as a Testimony of his Glory. Hence it is that we never hear him mention her but as his Spoil, the Reward of War, the Gift the Græcians gave him, or the like Expressions: and accordingly he yields her up, not in Grief for a Mistress whom he loses, but in Sullenness for an Injury that is done him. This Observation is Madam Dacier's, and will often appear just as we proceed farther. Nothing is finer than the Moral exhibited to us in this Quarrel, of the Blindness and Partiality of Mankind to their own Faults: The Græcians make a War to recover a Woman that was ravish'd, and are in danger to fail in the Attempt by a Dispute about another. Agamemnon while he is revenging a Rape, commits one; and Achilles while he is in the utmost Fury himself, reproaches Agamemnon for his passionate Temper.

Verse 225. Fly, mighty Warriour.] Achilles having threaten'd to leave them in the former Speech, and spoken of his Acts of War; the Poet here puts an artful Piece of Spite in the Mouth of Agamemnon, making him opprobriously brand his Retreat as a Flight, and lessen the Appearance of his Courage by calling it the Love of Contention and Slaughter.

Verse 229. Kings, the Gods distinguish'd Care.] In the Original it is Διοτρεφεις, or nurst by Jove. Homer often uses to call his Kings by such Epithets as Διογενεις, born of the Gods, or Διοτρεφεις, bred by the Gods; by which he points out to themselves, the Offices they were ordain'd for; and to their People, the Reverence that should be pay'd them. These Expressions of his are perfectly in the exalted Style of the Eastern Nations, and correspondent to those Places of holy Scripture where they are call'd Gods, and the Sons of the most High.

Verse 261. Minerva swift descended from above.] Homer having by degrees rais'd Achilles to such a Pitch of Fury as to make him capable of attempting Agamemnon's Life in the Council, Pallas the Goddess of Wisdom descends, and being seen only by him, pulls him back in the very Instant of Execution. He parlies with her a while as imagining she would advise him to proceed, but upon the promise of a time wherein there should be a full Reparation of his Honour, he sheaths his Sword in Obedience to her. She ascends to Heaven, and he being left to himself, falls again upon his General with bitter Expressions. The Allegory here may be allow'd by every Reader to be unforc'd: The Prudence of Achilles checks him in the rashest Moment of his Anger, it works upon him unseen to others, but does not entirely prevail upon him to desist, 'till he remembers his own Importance, and depends upon it that there will be a necessity of their courting him at any Expence into the Alliance again. Having persuaded himself by such Reflections, he forbears to attack his General, but thinking that he sacrifices enough to Prudence by this Forbearance, lets the thought of it vanish from him, and no sooner is Wisdom gone but he falls into more violent Reproaches for the Gratification of his Passion. All this is a most beautiful Passage whose Moral is evident, and generally agreed upon by the Commentators.

Verse 268. Known by the Flames that sparkled from her Eyes.] They who carry on this Allegory after the most minute manner, refer this to the Eyes of Achilles, as indeed we must, if we entirely destroy the bodily Appearance of Minerva. But what Poet designing to have his Moral so open, would take pains to form it into a Fable? In the proper mythological Sense, this Passage should be referr'd to Minerva: according to an Opinion of the Ancients, who suppos'd that the Gods had a peculiar Light in their Eyes. That Homer was not ignorant of this Opinion appears from his use of it in other Places, as when in the third Iliad Helena by this means discovers Venus: and that he meant it here is particularly asserted by Heliodorus in the third Book of his Æthiopick History. “The Gods, says he, are known in their Apparitions to Men by the fix'd Glare of their Eyes, or their gliding Passage through Air without moving the Feet; these Marks Homer has us'd from his Knowledge of the Ægyptian Learning, applying one to Pallas, and the other to Neptune.” Madam Dacier has gone into the contrary Opinion, and blames Eustathius and others without overthrowing these Authorities, or assigning any other Reason but that it was not proper for Minerva's Eyes to sparkle, when her Speech was mild.

Verse 298. Thou Dog in Forehead.] It has been one of the Objections against the Manners of Homer's Heroes, that they are abusive. Mons. de la Motte affirms in his Discourse upon the Iliad, that great Men differ from the vulgar in their manner of expressing their Passion; but certainly in violent Passions (such as those of Achilles and Agamemnon) the Great are as subject as any others to these Sallies; of which we have frequent Examples both from History and Experience. Plutarch, taking notice of this Line, gives it as a particular Commendation of Homer, that “he constantly affords us a fine Lecture of Morality in his Reprehensions and Praises, by referring them not to the Goods of Fortune or the Body, but those of the Mind, which are in our Power, and for which we are blameable or praise-worthy. Thus, says he, Agamemnon is reproach'd for Impudence and Fear, Ajax for vain-bragging, Idomeneus for the Love of Contention, and Ulysses does not reprove even Thersites but as a Babbler, tho' he had so many personal Deformities to object to him. In like manner also the Appellations and Epithets with which they accost one another, are generally founded on some distinguishing Qualification of Merit, as Wise Ulysses, Hector equal to Jove in Wisdom, Achilles chief Glory of the Greeks ,” and the like. Plutarch of reading Poets.

Verse 299. In ambush'd Fights to dare.] Homer has magnify'd the Ambush as the boldest manner of Fight. They went upon those Parties with a few Men only, and generally the most daring of the Army, on Occasions of the greatest Hazard, where they were therefore more expos'd than in a regular Battel. Thus Idomeneus in the thirteenth Book expressly tells Meriones that the greatest Courage appears in this way of Service, each Man being in a manner singled out to the Proof of it. Eustathius.

Verse 309. Now by this sacred Sceptre.] Spondanus in this Place blames Eustathius, for saying that Homer makes Achilles in his Passion swear by the first thing he meets with; and then assigns (as from himself) two Causes which the other had mention'd so plainly before, that it is a wonder they could be over-look'd. The Substance of the whole Passage in Eustathius is, that if we consider the Sceptre simply as Wood, Achilles after the manner of the Ancients takes in his Transport the first thing to swear by; but that Homer himself has in the Process of the Description assign'd Reasons why it is proper for the Occasion, which may be seen by considering it Symbolically. First, That as the Wood being cut from the Tree will never re-unite and flourish, so neither should their Amity ever flourish again, after they were divided by this Contention. Secondly, That a Sceptre being the mark of Power and Symbol of Justice, to swear by it might in effect be construed swearing by the God of Power, and by Justice itself; and accordingly it is spoken of by Aristotle, 3 l. Polit. as a usual solemn Oath of Kings.

I cannot leave this Passage without showing in Opposition to some Moderns who have criticiz'd upon it as tedious, that it has been esteem'd a Beauty of so fine a Nature by the Ancients as to engage them in its Imitation. Virgil has almost transcrib'd it in his 12 Æn. for the Sceptre of Latinus.

But I cannot think this comes up to the Spirit or Propriety of Homer, notwithstanding the Judgment of Scaliger who decides for Virgil upon a trivial comparison of the Wording in each, l. 5. cap. 3. Poet. It fails in a greater Point than any he has mention'd, which is that being there us'd on occasion of a Peace, it has no emblematical reference to Division, and yet describes the cutting of the Wood and its Incapacity to bloom and branch again, in as many Words as Homer. It is borrow'd by Valerius Flaccus in his third Book, where he makes Jason swear as a Warriour by his Spear,

And indeed, however he may here borrow some Expressions from Virgil or fall below him in others, he has nevertheless kept to Homer in the Emblem, by introducing the Oath upon Jason's Grief for sailing to Colchis without Hercules, when he had separated himself from the Body of the Argonauts to search after Hylas. To render the Beauty of this Passage more manifest, the Allusion is inserted (but with the fewest Words possible) in this Translation.

Verse 324. Thy Rashness made the bravest Greek thy Foe.] Tho' self-praise had not been agreeable to the haughty Nature of Achilles, yet Plutarch has mention'd a Case, and with respect to him, wherein it is allowable. He says that Achilles has at other times ascrib'd his Success to Jupiter, but it is permitted to a Man of Merit and Figure who is injuriously dealt with, to speak frankly of himself to those who are forgetful and unthankful.

Verse 333. Two Generations.] The Commentators make not Nestor to have liv'd three hundred Years (according to Ovid's Opinion;) they take the word γενεα not to signify a Century or Age of the World; but a Generation, or compass of Time in which one Set of Men flourish, which in the common Computation is thirty Years; and accordingly it is here translated as much the more probable.

From what Nestor says in this Speech, Madam Dacier computes the Age he was of, at the end of the Trojan War. The Fight of the Lapithæ and Centaurs fell out fifty five or fifty six Years before the War of Troy: The Quarrel of Agamemnon and Achilles happen'd in the tenth and last Year of that War. It was then sixty five or sixty six Years since Nestor fought against the Centaurs; he was capable at that time of giving Counsel, so that one cannot imagine him to have been under twenty: From whence it will appear that he was now almost arriv'd to the Conclusion of his third Age, and about fourscore and five, or fourscore and six Years of Age.

Verse 339. What Shame.] The Quarrel having risen to its highest Extravagance, Nestor the wisest and most aged Greek is raised to quiet the Princes, whose Speech is therefore fram'd entirely with an opposite Air to all which has been hitherto said, sedate and inoffensive. He begins with a soft affectionate Complaint which he opposes to their Threats and haughty Language; he reconciles their Attention in an awful manner, by putting them in mind that they hear one whom their Fathers and the greatest Heroes have heard with deference. He sides with neither, that he might not anger any one, while he advises them to the proper Methods of Reconciliation; and he appears to side with both while he praises each, that they may be induc'd by the Recollection of one another's Worth to return to that Amity which would bring Success to the Cause. It was not however consistent with the Plan of the Poem that this should entirely appease them, for then the Anger would be at an end which was propos'd to be sung through the whole. Homer has not therefore made this Speech to have its full Success; and yet that the Eloquence of his Nestor might not be thrown out of Character by its proving unavailable, he takes care that the Violence with which the Dispute was manag'd should abate immediately upon his speaking; Agamemnon confesses that all he spoke was right, Achilles promises not to fight for Briseis if she should be sent for, and the Council dissolves.

It is to be observ'd that this Character of Authority and Wisdom in Nestor, is every where admirably used by Homer, and made to exert itself thro' all the great Emergencies of the Poem. As he quiets the Princes here, he proposes that Expedient which reduces the Army into their Order after the Sedition in the second Book. When the Greeks are in the utmost Distresses, 'tis he who advises the building the Fortification before the Fleet, which is the chief means of preserving them. And it is by his Persuasion that Patroclus puts on the Armour of Achilles, which occasions the Return of that Heroe, and the Conquest of Troy.

Verse 394. ]

When Achilles promises not to contest for Briseis, he expresses it in a sharp despising Air, I will not fight for the sake of a Woman: by which he glances at Helena, and casts an oblique Reflection upon those Commanders whom he is about to leave at the Siege for her Cause. One may observe how well it is fancy'd of the Poet, to make one Woman the ground of a Quarrel which breaks an Alliance that was only form'd upon account of another: and how much the Circumstance thus consider'd contributes to keep up the Anger of Achilles, for carrying on the Poem beyond this Dissolution of the Council. For (as he himself argues with Ulysses in the 9th Iliad) it is as reasonable for him to retain his Anger upon the account of Briseis, as for the Brothers with all Greece to carry on a War upon the score of Helena. I do not know that any Commentator has taken notice of this Sarcasm of Achilles, which I think a very obvious one.

Verse 413. The Ablutions.] All our former English Translations seem to have err'd in the Sense of this Line; the word λυματα being differently render'd by them, Offals, or Entrails, or Purgaments, or Ordures, a gross Set of Ideas of which Homer is not guilty. The word comes from λουω, eluo, the same Verb from whence επιλυμαινοντο, which precedes in the Line, is deriv'd. So that the Sense appears to be as it is render'd here [They wash'd, and threw away their Washings .] Perhaps this Lustration might be used as a Physical Remedy in cleansing them from the Infection of the Plague: as Pausanias tells us it was by the Arcadians, from whence he says the Plague was called λυμη by the Greeks.

Verse 430. At awful distance silent.] There was requir'd a very remarkable Management to preserve all the Characters which are concern'd in this nice Conjuncture, wherein the Heralds were to obey at their Peril. Agamemnon was to be gratify'd by an Insult on Achilles, and Achilles was to suffer so as might become his Pride, and not have his violent Temper provok'd. From all this the Poet has found the Secret to extricate himself, by only taking care to make his Heralds stand in sight, and silent. Thus they neither make Agamemnon's Majesty suffer by uttering their Message submissively, nor occasion a rough Treatment from Achilles by demanding Briseis in the peremptory Air he order'd; and at the same time Achilles is gratify'd with the Opportunity of giving her up, as if he rather sent her than was forc'd to relinquish her. The Art of this has been taken notice of by Eustathius.

Verse 451.She in soft Sorrows.] The Behaviour of Briseis in her Departure is no less beautifully imagin'd than the former. A French or Italian Poet had lavish'd all his Wit and Passion in two long Speeches on this Occasion, which the Heralds must have wept to hear; instead of which Homer gives us a fine Picture of Nature. We see Briseis passing unwillingly along, with a dejected Air, melted in Tenderness, and not able to utter a word: And in the Lines immediately following, we have a Contraste to this in the gloomy Resentment of Achilles, who suddenly retires to the Shore and vents his Rage aloud to the Seas. The Variation of the Numbers just in this Place adds a great Beauty to it, which has been endeavour'd at in the Translation.

Verse 458. There bath'd in Tears.] Eustathius observes on this Place that it is no Weakness in Heroes to weep, but the very Effect of Humanity and Proof of a generous Temper; for which he offers several Instances, and takes notice that if Sophocles would not let Ajax weep, it is because he is drawn rather as a Madman than a Heroe. But this general Observation is not all we can offer in excuse for the Tears of Achilles: His are Tears of Anger and Disdain (as I have ventur'd to call them in the Translation) of which a great and fiery Temper is more susceptible than any other; and even in this case Homer has taken care to preserve the high Character, by making him retire to vent his Tears out of sight. And we may add to these an Observation of which Madam Dacier is fond, which is, the Reason why Agamemnon parts not in Tears from Chryseis, and Achilles should from Briseis: The one parts willingly from his Mistress, and because he does it for his People's Safety it becomes an Honour to him: the other is parted unwillingly, and because his General takes her by force the Action reflects a Dishonour upon him.

Verse 464. The Thund'rer ow'd.] This alludes to a Story which Achilles tells the Embassadors of Agamemnon, Il. 9. That he had the Choice of two Fates: one less glorious at home, but blessed with a very long Life; the other full of Glory at Troy, but then he was never to return. The Alternative being thus propos'd to him (not from Jupiter but Thetis who reveal'd the Decree) he chose the latter, which he looks upon as his due, since he gives away length of Life for it: and accordingly when he complains to his Mother of the Disgrace he lies under, it is in this manner he makes a demand of Honour.

Mons. de la Motte very judiciously observes, that but for this Fore-knowledge of the Certainty of his Death at Troy, Achilles's Character could have drawn but little Esteem from the Reader. A Heroe of a vicious Mind, blest only with a Superiority of Strength, and invulnerable into the bargain, was not very proper to excite Admiration; but Homer by this exquisite Piece of Art has made him the greatest of Heroes, who is still pursuing Glory in contempt of Death, and even under that Certainty generously devoting himself in every Action.

Verse 478. From Thebæ .] Homer who open'd his Poem with the Action which immediately brought on Achilles's Anger, being now to give an Account of the same thing again, takes his Rise more backward in the Story. Thus the Reader is inform'd in what he should know, without having been delay'd from entering upon the promis'd Subject. This is the first Attempt which we see made towards the Poetical Method of Narration, which differs from the Historical in that it does not proceed always directly in the Line of Time, but sometimes relates things which have gone before when a more proper Opportunity demands it to make the Narration more informing or beautiful.

The foregoing Remark is in regard only to the first six Lines of this Speech. What follows is a Rehearsal of the preceding Action of the Poem, almost in the same Words he had used in the opening it; and is one of those Faults which has with most Justice been objected to our Author. It is not to be deny'd but the Account must be tedious, of what the Reader had been just before inform'd: and especially when we are given to understand it was no way necessary, by what Achilles says at the beginning, that Thetis knew the whole Story already. As to repeating the same Lines, a Practice usual with Homer, it is not so excusable in this Place as in those where Messages are deliver'd in the Words they were receiv'd, or the like; it being unnatural to imagine, that the Person whom the Poet introduces as actually speaking, should fall into the self-same Words that are us'd in the Narration by the Poet himself. Yet Milton was so great an Admirer and Imitator of our Author, as not to have scrupled even this kind of Repetition. The Passage is at the end of his tenth Book, where Adam having declar'd he would prostrate himself before God in certain particular Acts of Humiliation, those Acts are immediately after describ'd by the Poet in the same Words.

Verse 514. Oft hast thou triumph'd.] The Persuasive which Achilles is here made to put into the Mouth of Thetis, is most artfully contriv'd to suit the present Exigency. You, says he, must intreat Jupiter to bring Miseries on the Greeks who are protected by Juno, Neptune, and Minerva: Put him therefore in mind that those Deities were once his Enemies, and adjure him by that Service you did him when those very Powers would have bound him, that he will now in his turn assist you against the Endeavours they will certainly oppose to my Wishes.

As for the Story itself, some have thought (with whom is Madam Dacier) that there was some imperfect Tradition of the Fall of the Angels for their Rebellion, which the Greeks had receiv'd by Commerce with Ægypt: and thus they account the Rebellion of the Gods, the Precipitation of Vulcan from Heaven; and Jove's threatning the inferior Gods with Tartarus in Il. 8. but as so many Hints of Scripture faintly imitated. But it seems not improbable that the Wars of the Gods, described by the Poets, allude to the Confusion of the Elements before they were brought into their natural Order. It is almost generally agreed that by Jupiter is meant the Æther, and by Juno the Air. The ancient Philosophers suppos'd the Æther to be igneous, and by its kind Influence upon the Air to be the Cause of all Vegetation: Therefore Homer says in the 14th Iliad, V. 346. That upon Jupiter's embracing his Wife, the Earth put forth its Plants. Perhaps by Thetis's assisting Jupiter, may be meant that the watry Element subsiding and taking its natural Place, put an end to this Combat of the Elements.

Verse 523. Whom God's Briareus, Men Ægeon name.] This manner of making the Gods speak a Language different from Men (which is frequent in Homer) is a Circumstance that as far as it widens the distinction between divine and human Natures, so far might tend to heighten the Reverence paid the Gods. But besides this, as the difference is thus told in Poetry, it is of use to the Poets themselves: For it appears like a kind of Testimony of their Inspiration, or their Converse with the Gods, and thereby gives a Majesty to their Works.

Verse 554.]

The Æthiopians, says Diodorus, l. 3. are said to be the Inventors of Pomps, Sacrifices, solemn Meetings, and other Honours paid to the Gods. From hence arose their Character of Piety, which is here celebrated by Homer. Among these there was an annual Feast at Diospolis, which Eustathius mentions, wherein they carry'd about the Statues of Jupiter and the other Gods, for twelve Days, according to their Number: to which if we add the ancient Custom of setting Meat before Statues, it will appear a Rite from which this Fable might easily arise. But it would be a great Mistake to imagine from this Place, that Homer represents the Gods as eating and drinking upon Earth: a gross Notion he was never guilty of, as appears from these Verses in the fifth Book, Line 340.

Macrobius would have it, that by Jupiter here mention'd is meant the Sun, and that the Number Twelve hints at the twelve Signs; but whatever may be said in a critical Defence of this Opinion, I believe the Reader will be satisfy'd that Homer consider'd as a Poet would have his Machinery understood upon that System of the Gods which is properly Græcian.

One may take notice here, that it were to be wish'd some Passage were found in any authentic Author that might tell us the time of the Year when the Æthiopians kept this Festival at Diospolis: For from thence one might determine the precise Season of the Year wherein the Actions of the Iliad are represented to have happen'd; and perhaps by that means farther explain the Beauty and Propriety of many Passages in the Poem.

Verse 600. The Sacrifice.] If we consider this Passage, it is not made to shine in Poetry: All that can be done is to give it Numbers, and endeavour to set the Particulars in a distinct View. But if we take it in another Light, and as a Piece of Learning, it is valuable for being the most exact Account of the ancient Sacrifices any where left us. There is first the Purification, by washing of Hands. Secondly the offering up of Prayers. Thirdly the Mola, or Barley Cakes thrown upon the Victim. Fourthly the manner of killing it with the Head turn'd upwards to the celestial Gods (as they turn'd it downwards when they offer'd to the Infernals.) Fifthly their selecting the Thighs and Fat for their Gods as the best of the Sacrifice, and the disposing about them pieces cut from every part for a Representation of the whole: (Hence the Thighs, or μηρια are frequently us'd in Homer and the Greek Poets for the whole Victim.) Sixthly the Libation of Wine. Seventhly consuming the Thighs in the Fire of the Altar. Eighthly the Sacrificers dressing and Feasting on the rest, with Joy and Hymns to the Gods. Thus punctually have the ancient Poets and in particular Homer, written with a care and respect to Religion. One may question whether any Country as much a Stranger to Christianity as we are to Heathenism, might be so well inform'd by our Poets in the Worship belonging to any Profession of Religion at present.

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I am obliged to take notice how intirely Mr. Dryden has mistaken the Sense of this Passage, and the Custom of Antiquity; for in his Translation, the Cakes are thrown into the Fire instead of being cast on the Victim; the Sacrificers are made to eat the Thighs and whatever belong'd to the Gods; and no part of the Victim is consum'd for a Burnt-offering, so that in effect there is no Sacrifice at all. Some of the Mistakes (particularly that of turning the Roast-meat on the Spits, which was not known in Homer's Days) he was led into by Chapman's Translation.

Verse 681. The faithful, fix'd, irrevocable Sign.] There are among Men three things by which the Efficacy of a Promise may be made void; the Design not to perform it, the want of Power to bring it to pass, and the Instability of our Tempers, from all which Homer saw that the Divinity must be exempted, and therefore he describes the Nod, or Ratification of Jupiter's word, as faithful in Opposition to Fraud, sure of being perform'd in Opposition to Weakness, and irrevocable in Opposition to our repenting of a Promise. Eustathius.

Verse 683. He spoke, and awful bends.] This Description of the Majesty of Jupiter has something exceedingly grand and venerable. Macrobius reports, that Phidias having made his Olympian Jupiter which past for one of the greatest Miracles of Art, he was ask'd from what Pattern he fram'd so divine a Figure, and answer'd, it was from that Archetype which he found in these Lines of Homer. The same Author has also taken notice of Virgil's imitating it, l. 10.

Here indeed he has preserv'd the Nod with its stupendous Effect, the making the Heavens tremble. But he has neglected the Description of the Eyebrows and the Hair, those chief Pieces of Imagery from whence the Artist took the Idea of a Countenance proper for the King of Gods and Men.

Thus far Macrobius, whom Scaliger answers in this manner; Aut ludunt Phidiam, aut nos ludit Phidias: Etiam sine Homero puto illum scisse, Jovem non carere superciliis & cæsarie.

Verse 694. Jove assumes the Throne.] As Homer makes the first Council of his Men to be one continued Scene of Anger, whereby the Græcian Chiefs became divided, so he makes the first Meeting of the Gods to be spent in the same Passion; whereby Jupiter is more fix'd to assist the Trojans and Juno more incens'd against them. Thus the Design of the Poem goes on: the Anger which began the Book overspreads all existent Beings by the latter end of it: Heaven and Earth become engag'd in the Subject, by which it rises to a great Importance in the Reader's Eyes, and is hasten'd forward into the briskest Scenes of Action that can be fram'd upon that violent Passion.

Verse 698. Say, artful Manager.] The Gods and Goddesses being describ'd with all the Desires and Pleasures, the Passions and Humours of Mankind, the Commentators have taken a Licence from thence to draw not only moral Observations, but also satyrical Reflections out of this part of the Poet. These I am sorry to see fall so hard upon Womankind, and all by Juno's means. Sometimes she procures them a Lesson for their Curiosity and Unquietness, and at other times for their loud and vexatious Tempers. Juno deserves them on the one hand, Jupiter thunders them out on the other, and the learned Gentlemen are very particular in enlarging with Remarks on both sides. In her first Speech they make the Poet describe the inquisitive Temper of Womankind in general, and their Restlesness if they are not admitted into every Secret. In his Answer to this, they trace those Methods of grave Remonstrance by which it is proper for Husbands to calm them. In her Reply, they find it is the Nature of Women to be more obstinate for being yielded to: and in his second Return to her, they see the last Method to be used with them upon failure of the first, which is the Exercise of Sovereign Authority.

Mr. Dryden has translated all this with the utmost Severity upon the Ladies, and spirited the whole with satyrical Additions of his own. But Madam Dacier (who has elsewhere animadverted upon the good Bishop of Thessalonica, for his sage Admonitions against the Fair Sex) has not taken the least notice of this general Defection from Complaisance in all the Commentators: She seems willing to give the whole Passage a more important Turn, and incline us to think that Homer design'd to represent the Folly and Danger of prying into the Secrets of Providence. 'Tis thrown into that Air in this Translation, not only as it is more noble and instructive in general, but as it is more respectful to the Ladies in particular; nor should we (any more than Madam Dacier) have mention'd what those old Fellows have said, but to desire their Protection against some modern Criticks their Disciples, who may arraign this Proceeding.

Verse 713. Roll'd the large Orbs.] The Greek is Βοωπις ποτνια Ηρη, which is commonly translated The venerable Oxey'd Juno. Madam Dacier very well observes that βου is only an augmentative Particle, and signifies no more than valdè. It may be added, that the Imagination of Oxen having larger Eyes than ordinary is ill grounded, and has no Foundation in Truth; their Eyes are no larger in proportion than those of Men, or of most other Animals. But be it as it will, the design of the Poet which is only to express the Largeness of her Eyes, is answer'd in this Paraphrase.

Verse 741. Thus interpos'd the Architect Divine.] This Quarrel of the Gods being come to its height, the Poet makes Vulcan interpose, who freely puts them in mind of Pleasure, inoffensively advises Juno, illustrates his Advice by an Example of his own Misfortune, turning the Jest on himself to enliven the Banquet; and concludes the Part he is to support with serving Nectar about. Homer had here his Minerva or Wisdom to interpose again, and every other Quality of the Mind resided in Heaven under the Appearance of some Deity: So that his introducing Vulcan, proceeded not from a want of Choice, but an Insight into Nature. He knew that a Friend to Mirth often diverts or stops Quarrels, especially when he contrives to submit himself to the Laugh, and prevails on the angry to part in good Humour or in a Disposition to Friendship; when grave Representations are sometimes Reproaches, sometimes lengthen the Debate by occasioning Defences, and sometimes introduce new Parties into the Consequences of it.

Verse 760. Once in your Cause I felt his matchless Might,] They who search another Vein of Allegory for hidden Knowledges in Natural Philosophy, have consider'd Jupiter and Juno as Heaven and the Air, whose Alliance is interrupted when the Air is troubled above, but restor'd again when it is clear'd by Heat, or Vulcan the God of Heat. Him they call a divine Artificer, from the Activity or general Use of Fire in working. They suppose him to be born in Heaven where Philosophers say that Element has its proper Place; and is thence deriv'd to the Earth which is signify'd by the Fall of Vulcan; that he fell in Lemnos, because that Island abounds with Subterranean Fires; and that he contracted a Lameness or Imperfection by the Fall; the Fire not being so pure and active below, but mix'd and terrestrial. Eustathius.

Verse 767. Which with a Smile the white-arm'd Queen receiv'd.] The Epithet λευκωλενος or white-arm'd, is used by Homer several times before in this Book. This was the first Passage where it could be introduced with any Ease or Grace, because the Action she is here describ'd in, of extending her Arm to the Cup, gives it an occasion of displaying its Beauties, and in a manner demands the Epithet.

Verse 771. Laughter shakes the Skies.] Vulcan design'd to move Laughter by taking upon him the Office of Hebe and Ganymede, with his aukward limping Carriage. But tho' he prevail'd and Homer tells you the Gods did laugh, yet he takes care not to mention a word of Lameness. It would have been cruel in him and Wit out of Season, to have enlarg'd with Derision upon an Imperfection which is out of one's Power to remedy.

According to this good-natur'd Opinion of Eustathius, Mr. Dryden has treated Vulcan a little barbarously. He makes his Character perfectly comical, he is the Jest of the Board, and the Gods are very merry upon the Imperfections of his Figure. Chapman led him into this Error in general, as well as into some Indecencies of Expression in particular, which will be seen upon comparing them.

Verse 778. Then to their starry Domes.] The Astrologers assign twelve Houses to the Planets, wherein they are said to have Dominion. Now because Homer tells us Vulcan built a Mansion for every God, the Ancients write that he first gave occasion for this Doctrine.

Verse 780. Jove on his Couch reclin'd his awful Head.] Eustathius makes a distinction between καθευδειν and υπνουν; the Words which are used at the end of this Book and the beginning of the next, with regard to Jupiter's sleeping. He says καθευδειν only means Lying down in a Disposition to sleep; which salves the Contradiction that else would follow in the next Book, where it is said Jupiter did not sleep. I only mention this to vindicate the Translation which differs from Mr. Dryden's.

It has been remark'd by the Scholiasts, that this is the only Book of the twenty four without any Simile, a Figure in which Homer abounds every where else. The like Remark is made by Madam Dacier upon the first of the Odysses; and because the Poet has observ'd the same Conduct in both Works, it is concluded he thought a Simplicily of Style without the great Figures was proper during the first Information of the Reader. This Observation may be true, and admits of refin'd Reasonings; but for my part I cannot think the Book had been the worse, tho' he had thrown in as many Similes as Virgil has in the first Æneid.