THE 
 
 ODYSSEY 
 
 OF 
 
 HOMER. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 ALEXANDER POPE. Esq. 
 
* 
 
 B. R Gilbert, Printers, 
 St. John’s-Square, London . 
 
THE 
 
 ODYSSEY 
 
 or 
 
 / 
 
 HOMER. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 ALEXANDER POPE, Esq. 
 
 TE SEQUOR, O GRAIJE GENTIS DECUS ! INQUE TUIS NUNC 
 FIXA PEDUM PONO PRESSIS VESTIGIA SIGNIS : 
 
 NON ITA CERTANDI CUPIDUS, QUAM PROPTER AMOREM, 
 
 QUOD TE IMITARI AVEO. LXJCRF.T. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, 
 
 7 f 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES, SELECTED FROM THE EDITION PUBLISHED 
 
 By GILBERT WAKEFIELD, B.A. 
 
 i “ i “ s> 
 
 VOLUME I* 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON ; J. NICHOLS AND SON; G. AND W. 
 NICOL; W. CLARKE AND SONS; J. CUTIIELL ; J. NUNN; G. WILKIE; 
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 1817 
 
 
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 CHESTNUT HILL., MASS. 
 
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 BOSTON COM F.GE LIBRARY 
 CHESTNUT uku MASSL 
 
 : H- 0£5 
 
 •AS 
 
 Pu 
 1817 
 v. i 
 
 131636 
 
 / 
 
 O'NEILL LIBRARY 
 BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
 APR 04 1396 
 
THIS 
 
 FIRST BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 B 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 MINERVA’S DESCENT TO ITHACA. 
 
 THE Poem opens within forty-eight days of the 
 arrival of Ulysses in his dominions. He had noio 
 remained sevenyears in the island of Calypso, when 
 the Gods assembled in council proposed the method 
 of his departure from thence, and his return to his 
 native country. For this purpose it is concluded to 
 send Mercury to Calypso, and Pallas immediately 
 descends to Ithaca. She holds a conference with 
 Telemachus, in the shape of Mentes King of the 
 Tapliians ; in which she advises him to take a journey 
 in guest of his Father Ulysses, to Pylos and Sparta, 
 where Nestor and Menelaiis yet reigned; then, 
 after having visibly displayed her divinity, dis¬ 
 appears. The suitors of Penelope make great en¬ 
 tertainments, and riot in her palace till night. 
 Phemius sings to them the return of the Grecians, 
 till Penelope puts a stop to the song. Some words 
 arise between the suitors and Telemachus, who sum* 
 mons the council to meet the day following. P, 
 
NOTES PRELIMINARY. 
 
 WE shall proceed in the same method through the course of 
 these Annotations upon the Odyssey, as those in the Iliad; 
 considering Homer chiefly as a Poet, endeavouring to make his 
 beauties understood , and not to praise without a reason given. 
 It is equally an extreme, on the one hand to think Homer has 
 no human defects; and on the other to dwell so much upon 
 those defects, as to depreciate his beauties. The greater part 
 of Criticks form a general character, from the observation of 
 particular errors, taken in their own oblique or imperfect views ; 
 which is as unjust, as to make a judgment of the beauty of a 
 man’s body from the shadow it happens to cast, in such or such 
 a position. To convince the Reader of this intended impar¬ 
 tiality, we readily allow the Odyssey to be inferior to the Iliad 
 in many respects. It has not that sublimity of spirit, or that 
 enthusiasm of poetry ; but then it must be allowed, if it be less 
 noble, it is more instructive: the other abounds with more 
 Heroism, this with more Morality. The Iliad gives us a draught 
 of Gods and Heroes, of discord, of contentions, and scenes of 
 slaughter; the Odyssey sets before us a scene more amiable ; 
 the landscapes of nature, the pleasures of private life, the duties 
 of every station, the hospitality of antient times; a less busy, 
 but more agreeable portrait. The Iliad concludes with the 
 ruin, the Odyssey with the happiness of a nation. Horace was 
 of the same opinion, as is evident from the epistle to Lollius. 
 
 fi Seditione, dolis, scelere, atque libidine, et ira, 
 
 Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra. 
 
 “ Rursus, quid virtus et quid sapientia possit, 
 
 “ Utile proposuit nobis exemplar Ulyssem.” P. 
 
 In a copy of the first edition of the Odyssey , I find the fol¬ 
 lowing MS. memorandum: 
 
 “ Mr. Brome translated of Pope’s Odyssey the following 
 c< books, viz. ii. vi. viii. xi. xii. xvi. xviii. xxiii. 
 
 Mr. Fenton these, viz. i. iv. xix. xx. 
 
 (( This account I had from Mr. Brome. 
 
 “ Will. Noble. 
 
 u This paper 1 had from Mr. Noble. 
 
 “ Will. Thompson.’* 
 
THE 
 
 FIRST BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 4 
 
 The Man, for Wisdom’s various arts renown’d,, 
 Long exercis’d in woes, oh Muse ! resound. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver* 1 . For Wisdom 9 s various arts renown’d,"] Bossu’s ob¬ 
 servations in relation to this Epithet tooKvTpov®'} given to Ulys¬ 
 ses, is worth transcribing. The Fable of the Odyssey (says he) 
 is wholly for the conduct and policy of a State : therefore the 
 quality it requires is Wisdom ; but this virtue is of too large an 
 extent for the simplicity which a just and precise character ve» 
 quires ; it is therefore requisite it should be limited. The great 
 art of Kings is the mystery of Dissimulation. It is well known, 
 that Lewis the Eleventh, for the instruction of his son, re¬ 
 duced all the Latin language to these words only, viz. Qui 
 nescit dissimulare nescit regnare. It was likewise by this prac¬ 
 tice that Saul began his reign, when he was first elected, and 
 as yet full of the Spirit of God. The first thing we read of him 
 in holy writ is *, that Ire made as if he did not hear the words 
 which seditious people spoke against him. 
 
 This then is the character which the Greek Poet gives his 
 Ulysses in the Proposition of his Poem, he calls him < sro>.v- 
 
 * llle vero dissimulahat se audire, Reg. lib. i. 
 
6 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Who, when his arms had wrought the destin’d fall 
 Of sacred Troy, and raz’d her heaven-built wall, 
 
 rpoirov ; to denote this prudent dissimulation, which disguised 
 him so many ways, and put him upon taking so many shapes. 
 
 Without any thing having been mentioned of Circe, who de¬ 
 tained him with her a whole year, and who was famous for the 
 transformation she made of all sorts of persons, the reader finds 
 him at first with Calypso the daughter of wise Atlas, who bore 
 up the vast pillars that reached from earth to heaven, and whose 
 knowledge penetrated into the depths of the unfathomable 
 Ocean: that is to say, who was ignorant of nothing in Heaven, 
 Earth or Sea. And as the first product and principal part of 
 so high, so solid, and so profound a knowledge, was to know 
 how to conceal one’s self; this wise man called his daughter by 
 a name that signified a * secret. The Poet makes his Hero, 
 whom he designed for a Politician, to stay seven whole years 
 with this Nymph. She taught him so well, that afterwards he 
 lost no opportunity of putting her lessons in practice: for he 
 does nothing without a disguise. At his parting from Ogygia 
 he is cast upon the Isle of Phaeacia: as kind as his reception 
 was, yet he stays till the night before he went off, ere he would 
 discover himself. From thence he goes to Ithaca: the first 
 adventure that happened to him there was with Minerva, the 
 most prudent among the Deities, as Ulysses was the most pru¬ 
 dent among men. She says so expressly in that very passage. 
 Nor did they fail to disguise themselves. Minerva takes upon 
 her the shape of a shepherd, and Ulysses tells her he was 
 obliged to fly from Crete, because he had murdered the son of 
 King Idomeneus. The Goddess discovers herself first, and 
 commends him particularly, because these artifices were so easy 
 and natural to him, that they seemed to be born with him. 
 Afterwards the Hero under the form of a beggar deceives first 
 of all Eumaeus, then his son, and last of all his wife and every¬ 
 body else, till he found an opportunity of punishing his ene¬ 
 mies, to whom he discovered not himself till he killed them, 
 namely on the last night. After his discovering himself in the 
 palace, he goes the next day to deceive his father, appearing 
 at first under a borrowed name ; before he would give him joy 
 of his return. Thus he takes upon him all manner of shapes. 
 
 * KaXtwhu'. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 7 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY, 
 
 Wandering from clime to clime, observant stray’d, 5 
 Their manners noted, and their states survey’d. 
 
 On stormy seas unnumber’d toils he bore, 
 
 Safe with his friends to gain his natal shore : 
 
 Vain toils! their impious folly dar’d to prey 
 On herds devoted to the God of Day ; 10 
 
 The God vindictive doom’d them never more 
 (Ah men unbless’d!) to touch that natal shore. 
 
 Oh snatch some portion of these acts from fate, 
 Celestial Muse ! and to our world relate. 
 
 Now at their native realms the Greeks arriv’d; 15 
 All who the wars of ten long years surviv’d, 
 
 and dissembles to the very last. But the Poet joins to this 
 character a valour and a constancy which render him invinci¬ 
 ble in the most daring and desperate adventures. P. 
 
 Ver. 3. Who, 'when his arms had wrought the destin'dfall 
 Of sacred Troy ,-] 
 
 Whence is it that Ulysses is said to have overthrown Troy ? 
 and not Achilles, who was of more remarkable courage than 
 Ulysses ? Eustathius tells us, that the destruction of Troy ought 
 to be ascribed chiefly to Ulysses, as he not only took away the 
 Palladium, but was the inventor of the stratagem of the wooden 
 horse, by which that city was conquered. P. 
 
 Ver. 15. Now at their native realms the Greeks arriv’d;] It 
 is necessary for the better understanding of the Poem, to fix 
 the period of time from which it takes its beginning : Homer, 
 as Eustathius observes, does not begin with the wanderings of 
 Ulysses ; he steps at once into the latter end of his actions, and 
 leaves the preoeding story to be told by way of narration. Thus 
 in his Iliad, he dates his Poem from the anger of Achilles, 
 which happened almost at the conclusion of the Trojan war. 
 From hence Horace drew his observation in his Arte Poet . 
 
 “ Semper ad eventum festinat; et in medias res 
 “ Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit/* 
 
 There are but forty-eight days from the departure of Ulysses 
 from Calypso, to his discovery in Ithaca; he had been one 
 
8 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I* 
 
 And scap’d the perils of the gulfy Main. 
 
 Ulysses sole of all the victor train, 
 
 An exile from his dear paternal coast, 
 
 Deplor’d his absent Queen, and Empire lost. 20 
 Calypso in her caves constrain’d his stay, 
 
 With sweet, reluctant, amorous delay : 
 
 In vain—for now the circling* years disclose 
 The day predestin’d to reward his woes. 
 
 At length his Ithaca is given by Fate, 25 
 
 Where yet new labours his arrival wait ; 
 
 At length their rage the hostile Powers restrain. 
 
 All but the ruthless Monarch of the Main. 
 
 But now the God, remote, a heavenly guest, 
 
 In /Ethiopia grac’d the genial feast. 30 
 
 year with Circe, and seven with Calypso, when the Gods dis¬ 
 patched Mercury to that Goddess; from which point of time 
 we are to date the Odyssey. P. 
 
 Ver. 24.] Rather, 
 
 The day predestin'd to conclude his woes. W. 
 
 Ver. 27*] Or thus, with greater perspicuity, and faithfulness: 
 
 At length their rage the pitying gods restrain. W. 
 
 Ver. 28. All but the ruthless Monarch of the Main. ] It may 
 be asked why Neptune is thus enraged against Ulysses ? Ho¬ 
 mer himself tells us, because that Hero had put out the eye 
 of his son Cyclop*. But if we take Neptune by way of alle¬ 
 gory for the Ocean, the passage implies, that the sufferings of 
 Ulysses were chiefly by sea ; and therefore poetry, which adds 
 a grandeur to the meanest circumstance, introduces the God 
 of it as his greatest enemy. Eustathius. P. 
 
 Ver. 30. In 2Ethiopia , &c.] Strabo in his first book delivers 
 his opinion, that “ the ancient Grecians included all those 
 “ people who lived upon the southern Ocean, from east to 
 “ west, in the general name of /Ethiopians, and that it was 
 u not confined to those only ^ho lay south of Egypt/' Ptole¬ 
 my says, “ that under the Zodiack, from east to west, inhabit 
 u the /Ethiopians, black of colour.’* And elsewhere the same 
 
\ 
 
 book i. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 9 
 
 (A race divided, whom with sloping rays 
 The rising and descending sun surveys) 
 
 There on the world’s extremest verge, rever’d 
 With hecatombs and prayer in pomp prefer’d. 
 Distant he lay ; while, in the bright abodes 35 
 Of high Olympus. Jove conven’d the Gods: 
 
 The’ assembly thus the Sire supreme addrest, 
 iEgysthus’ fate revolving in his breast. 
 
 Whom young Orestes to the dreary coast 
 Of Pluto sent, a blood-polluted Ghost. 40 
 
 Perverse Mankind! whose wills created free. 
 Charge all their woes on absolute Decree ; 
 
 All to the dooming Gods their guilt translate. 
 
 And Follies are miscall’d the Crimes of Fate. 
 
 Geographer divides ^Ethiopia into the eastern and the western. 
 These eastern and western ^Ethiopians were separated by the 
 Arabian or ^Egyptian Gulf; which though never mentioned by 
 Homer, as Aristarchus remarked, yet it is not probable (says 
 Strabo) that he should be ignorant of it, it being but a thou¬ 
 sand stadia distant from the Mediterranean, when he knew 
 the Egyptian Thebes, which was four times as far off. Strab . 
 Vlin. Spondan. 
 
 I will not repeat what was observed upon the Gods being 
 gone to the ^Ethiopians, in the first book of the Iliad; it is suf¬ 
 ficient in general to observe, that the ^Ethiopians were a peo¬ 
 ple very religious towards the Gods, and that they held a 
 pompous feast twelve days annually to their honour; and in 
 particular, that the Poet very judiciously makes use of this 
 solemnity to remove Neptune out of the way, who was the 
 enemy of Ulysses, that he may with the greater security bring 
 off his Hero from Calypso’s Island. Eustathius P. 
 
 This couplet does not express the genuine sense of the 
 original. Thus ? 
 
 A race far sever’d ; where the sun ascends 
 
 From Ocean’s bed, and where his circuit ends. W. 
 
 Ver. 35.] Rather, 
 
 Well-pleas’d he lay. 
 
 W. 
 
10 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOR I. 
 
 When to his lust /Egysthus gave the rein, 45 
 
 Did Fate, or We, the’ adulterous act constrain ? 
 
 Did Fate, or We, when great Atrides died. 
 
 Urge the bold traitor to the regicide ? 
 
 Hermes I sent, while yet his soul remain’d 
 Sincere from royal blood, and faith profan’d, 50 
 To warn the wretch, that young Orestes, grown 
 To manly years, should re-assert the throne. 
 
 Ver. 49. Hermes I sent, &c.] It would be endless to observe 
 every moral passage in the Odyssey, the whole of it being but 
 one lesson of Morality. But surely it must be a pleasure to 
 the Reader to learn what notions the ancients had of a Deity, 
 from the oldest book extant, except the book of Moses. 
 
 Jupiter here declares that he never fails to warn mankind 
 from evil, and that he had sent Mercury for this purpose to 
 iEgysthus. It may be asked what is this Mercury whom 
 Jupiter sends? It is the light of Nature, which Heaven im¬ 
 plants in the breast of every man : and which, as Cicero says, 
 is not only more ancient than the world, but co-eval with the 
 Master of the world himself. He writes to this effect: There 
 was from the beginning such a thing as Reason, a direct ema¬ 
 nation from Nature itself, ’which ‘prompted to good and averted 
 from evil . A Reason which did not then become a law, when it 
 wasfr&t reduced to writing, but was so even from the moment it 
 existed ; and it existed from ever, of an equal date with the divine 
 Intelligence : it is the true and primordial Law, proper to com¬ 
 mand and to forbid, it is the Reason of the great Jupiter. 
 
 That Reason of the supreme Being, is here called Mercury ; 
 that Reason flowing from God, which is constantly dictating to 
 the most corrupted hearts, this is good, or this is evil. Hence 
 arose an ancient Proverb, recorded by Simplicius, Reason is a 
 Mercury to all men. Epictetus [lib. iii. Arrian.] says Apollo 
 hiexv that Laius would not obey his Oracle . Apollo nevertheless 
 did not neglect to prophesy to Laius those evils that threatened 
 him. The goodness of the Divinity never fails to advertise man¬ 
 kind ; that source of truth is ever open and free: but men are ever 
 incredulous, disobedient, and rebellious • Dacier P* 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 11 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Yet impotent of mind, and uncontroll’d. 
 
 He plung’d into the gulf which Heaven foretold. 
 
 Here paus’d the God; and pensive thus replies 55 
 Minerva, graceful with her azure eyes. 
 
 O thou ! from whom the whole creation springs. 
 
 The source of power on earth deriv’d to Kings 1 
 His death was equal to the direful deed; 
 
 So may the man of blood be doom’d to bleed ! 6 & 
 
 But grief and rage alternate wound my breast 
 For brave Ulysses, still by Fate opprest. 
 
 Amidst an isle, around whose rocky shore 
 The forests murmur, and the surges roar. 
 
 The blameless hero from his wish’d-for home 65 
 A Goddess guards in her enchanted dome. 
 
 (Atlas her sire, to whose far-piercing eye 
 The wonders of the deep expanded lie ; 
 
 Ver. 63. Amidst an isle , &c.] There was, according to true 
 history, such an island of Calypso, of which Strabo writes ; that 
 Solon gives an account of the island Atlantis bordering upon 
 ./Egypt, and that he went thither to make inquiry, and learned 
 that an island was once there, but by time was vanished. Eusta¬ 
 thius. P. 
 
 This is very elegant, but Ogilby is in one respect more 
 accurate: 
 
 A sea-girt isle, the navel of the main. 
 
 And fair Calypso’s blandishments detain. W* 
 
 Ver. 67. Atlas her sire t to 'whose for-piercing eye 
 The wonders of the deep expanded lie ; 
 
 The 9 eternal columns which on earth he rears 
 End in the starry vault , and prop the spheres.] 
 
 Atlas is here said to understand all the depths of the sea: 
 but the epithet o^ootppov^ applied to him, has two different 
 significations. It implies either, one whose thoughts are full of 
 terrible and dismal things , or one who has infinite and unbounded 
 views , and it is doubtful which of them Homer means. To 
 reconcile both, may we not think our Author had heard some- 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 12 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 The’ eternal columns which on earth he rears 
 End in the starry vault, and prop the spheres.) 70 
 By his fair daughter is the chief confin’d, 
 
 Who soothes to dear delight his anxious mind : 
 Successless all her soft caresses prove, 
 
 To banish from his breast his Country’s love : 
 
 To see the smoke from his lov’d palace rise, 75 
 While the dear isle in distant prospect lies. 
 
 With what contentment could he close his eyes! 
 
 1 
 
 thing of the ancient tradition which makes Atlas the same per¬ 
 son with Enoch, and represents him as a great astronomer, 
 who prophesied of the universal deluge, and exhorted mankind 
 to repentance ? Therefore he named his son Methuselah, to 
 shew that after his death the waters should overspread the 
 face of the earth. His continual lamentations on this occasion 
 caused him to be called the Weeper ; for the world is always 
 an enemy to melancholy predictions. Thus Homer upon the 
 credit of this tradition might very well call Atlas , one whose 
 thoughts ran upon dismal things , or one whose views and cares 
 were vastly extended. 
 
 I insist no otherwise upon this, but as a conjecture; yet it 
 is further strengthened by what follows in the next lines : That 
 Atlas sustains those columns , which being fixed upon the earth 
 support the Heavens . This is generally interpreted of his great 
 skill in Astronomy and Geography. But may not the reason 
 be more particular ? Since Atlas or Enoch had prophesied 
 of the Deluge, and since that prediction was looked upon as 
 the effect of his skill in Astronomy, might it not be said he 
 knew the abysses of the Sea, and sustained the pillars of 
 Heaven, to express that he knew how the fountains of the 
 deep, and the waters above the Heavens should unite to drown 
 the earth ? 
 
 As to the image of the pillars of Heaven 9 it is frequent in 
 the sacred books, and used to express the height of vast moun¬ 
 tains. (Pindar calls iEtna the ypcmav x)ovcc :) and there might 
 probably be something more particular that furnished Homer 
 with this idea; I mean the pillars of Hercules, well known in his 
 time, and neighbouring to the mountain he describes. Dacier. P. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 13 
 
 And will Omnipotence neglect to save 
 The suffering virtue of the wise and brave 
 Must he, whose altars on the Phrygian shore so 
 With frequent rites, and pure, avow’d thy power, 
 
 Be doom’d the worst of human ills to prove, 
 Unbless’d, abandon’d to the wrath of Jove ? 
 
 Daughter ! what words have pass’d thy lips 
 unweigh’d 1 
 
 (Replied the Thunderer to the martial Maid) 85 
 Deem not unjustly by my doom opprest 
 Of human race the wisest and the best. 
 
 Neptune, by prayer repentant rarely won. 
 
 Afflicts the chief, to’ avenge his giant-son. 
 
 Whose visual orb Ulysses robb’d of light; 90 
 
 Great Polyplieme, of more than mortal might! 
 
 Him young Thoosa bare (the bright increase 
 Of Phorcys, dreaded in the sounds and seas :) 
 Whom Neptune eyed with bloom of beauty blest. 
 And in his cave the yielding nymph comprest. 95 
 For this, the God constrains the Greek to roam, 
 
 A hopeless exile from his native home, 
 
 Ver. 87.] A portion of the original is omitted here, which 
 may be thus supplied: 
 
 Whose hallow’d offerings ever wont to rise 
 In steams of odorous savour to the skies. W. 
 
 Ver. 88.] There is no resemblance to the language and 
 sentiments of the original in this intervening clause. Thus? 
 more faithfully: 
 
 But still pursues with unrelenting ire 
 Earth-girding Neptune; he, whom call’d his sire 
 The god-like Polypheme, of wonderous might, 
 
 Whose visual orb the chief bereav’d of light. W. 
 
 Ver. 96.] The sense of Homer is not happily exhibited in 
 this distich; and that which follows is vicious in rhyme, and 
 unpolished in numbers. Thus ? 
 
14 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 book r. 
 
 From death alone exempt—but cease to mourn ; 
 
 Let all combine to’ achieve his wish’d return : 
 Neptune aton’d, his wrath shall now refrain, 100 
 Or thwart the synod of the Gods in vain. 
 
 Father and King* ador’d ! Minerva cried. 
 
 Since all who in the’ Olympian bower reside 
 Now make the wandering* Greek their publick care. 
 Let Hermes to the’ * Atlantick isle repair; 105 
 
 Bid him arriv’d in bright Calypso’s court. 
 
 The sanction of the’ assembled powers report: 
 That wise Ulysses to his native land 
 Must speed, obedient to their high command. 
 Meantime Telemachus, the blooming heir no 
 Of sea-girt Ithaca, demands my care : 
 
 ’Tis mine, to form his green, unpractis’d years, 
 
 In sage debates ; surrounded with his peers, 
 
 To save the state ; and timely to restrain 
 The bold intrusion of the Suitor-train ; 115 
 
 Who crowd his palace, and with lawless power 
 His herds and flocks in feastful rites devour. 
 
 For this, the god preserves him hut to roam, 
 
 A hopeless exile from his much-lov’d home ; 
 
 But come , and take we counsel to restore 
 The wandering hero to his native shore f W, 
 
 Ver. 108.] Rather, 
 
 The prince , much-sufferings to his native land. W. 
 Ver. 112. ' Tis mine , to form his green , unpractised years , &c.] 
 The turn of the passage is ingenious and poetical, but not 
 correspondent to the purport of his author, whose intention 
 will be better seen in the following essay: 
 
 'Tis mine, ye Powers ! to mould his pliant will; 
 
 'Tis mine, an active boldness to instill, 
 
 That dares the Greeks assemble, and restrain— 
 
 * Ogygia, 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 15 
 
 To distant Sparta, and the spacious waste 
 Of sandy Pyle, the royal youth shall haste. 
 
 There, warm with filial love, the cause inquire 120 
 That from his realm retards his God-like Sire : 
 Delivering early to the voice of Fame 
 The promise of a great, immortal name. 
 
 She said: the sandals of celestial mold 
 Fledg’d with ambrosial plumes, and rich with gold, 
 Surround her feet; with these sublime she sails 126 
 The’ aerial space, and mounts the winged gales : 
 O’er earth and ocean wide prepar’d to soar. 
 
 Her dreaded arm a beamy javelin bore. 
 
 Ponderous and vast; which, when her fury burns, 130 
 Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hosts o’erturns. 
 From high Olympus prone her flight she bends, 
 And in the realm of Ithaca descends. 
 
 Her lineaments divine, the grave disguise 
 Of Mentes’ form conceal’d from human eyes: 135 
 (Mentes, the monarch of the Taphian land) 
 
 A glittering spear waved awful in her hand. 
 
 There in the portal plac’d, the heaven-born maid 
 Enormous riot and mis-rule survey’d. 
 
 On hides of beeves, before the palace gate, 140 
 (Sad spoils of luxury) the Suitors sat. 
 
 With rival art, and ardour in their mien, 
 
 At chess they vie, to captivate the Queen ; 
 
 Ver. 122.] This couplet is constructed from the following 
 verse of Homer: 
 
 And gain a good renown among mankind. W. 
 
 Ver. 141.] Rather, as more expressive of the original, 
 Spoils of their luxury. W. 
 
 Ver. 142.The whole of this period, except the former clause of 
 the next verse, is the interpolated explanation of the translator. W. 
 Ver. 143. At chess they vie , to captivate the Queen; 
 
 Divining of their loves .-] 
 
16 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book i. 
 
 Divining of their loves. Attending nigh, 
 
 A menial train the flowing bowl supply: 
 
 Others, apart, the spacious hall prepare, 
 
 And form the costly feast with busy care. 
 
 There young Telemachus, his bloomy face 
 Glowing celestial sweet, with God-like grace 
 Amid the circle shines : but hope and fear 
 (Painful vicissitude!) his bosom tear. 
 
 Now imag’d in his mind, he sees restor’d 
 In peace and joy the people’s rightful Lord ; 
 
 The proud oppressors fly the vengeful sword. 
 While his fond soul these fancied triumphs swell’d. 
 The stranger guest the royal youth beheld : 1 56 
 
 There are great disputes what this game was, at which the Sui¬ 
 tors played. Atheneeus relates it from Apian the Grammarian, 
 who had it from Cteson a native of Ithaca, that the sport was in 
 this manner. The number of the Suitors being one hundred 
 and eight, they equally divided their men or balls; that is to 
 say, fifty-four on each side; these were placed on the board 
 opposite to each other. Between the two sides was a vacant 
 space, in the midst of which was the main mark, or Queen , 
 the point which all were to aim at. They took their turns by 
 lot; he who took or displaced that mark, got his own in its 
 place ; and if by a second man, he again took it, without touch¬ 
 ing any of the others, he won the game; and it passed as an 
 omen of obtaining his mistress. This principal mark, or Queen , 
 was called by whatever name the gamesters pleased; and the 
 Suitors gave it the name of Penelope. 
 
 It is said, this game was invented by Palamedes during the 
 siege of Troy. [Sophocles in Palam.~\ Eustathius . Spondanus . 
 Dacier. P. 
 
 Yer. 144.] Our translator involves in general expression the 
 circumstantial specification of his author, who may be thus 
 literally exhibited: 
 
 Heralds and active servants on them wait; 
 
 With water some were tempering cups of wine, 
 
 Some wiping tables with the porous sponge, 
 
 Meat others brought, and carv’d in many a dish. W. 
 
 
BOOK r. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 17 
 
 Griev’d that a visitant so long should wait 
 Unmark’d, unhonor’d, at a Monarch’s gate. 
 Instant he flew with hospitable haste, 
 
 And the new friend with courteous air embrac’d. 160 
 Stranger! whoe’er thou art, securely rest. 
 
 Affianc’d in my faith, a friendly guest: 
 
 Approach the dome, the social banquet share, 
 
 And then the purpose of thy soul declare. 
 
 Thus affable and mild, the Prince precedes, 165 
 And to the dome the’ unknown Celestial leads. 
 
 The spear receiving from her hand, he plac’d 
 Against a column, fair with sculpture grac’d ; 
 Where seemly rang’d in peaceful order stood 
 Ulysses’ arms, now long disus’d to blood. 170 
 
 He led the Goddess to the sovereign seat. 
 
 Her feet supported with a stool of state; 
 
 (A purple carpet spread the pavement wide) 
 
 Then drew his seat, familiar, to her side ; 
 
 Far from the Suitor-train, a brutal crowd, 175 
 
 With insolence, and wine, elate and loud: 
 
 Ver. 157. Griev'd that a visitant so long should wait'] The 
 reader will lose much of the pleasure of this Poem, if he reads 
 it without the reflection, that he peruses one of the most 
 ancient books in the world; it sets before him persons, places 
 and actions that existed three thousand years ago: here we 
 have an instance of the humanity of those early ages: Tele- 
 machus pays a reverence to this stranger, only because he is a 
 stranger: he attends him in person, and welcomes him with all 
 the openness of ancient hospitality. P. 
 
 Ver. 170.] The latter clause is interpolated; for the pur¬ 
 pose, perhaps, of variation from Ogilby, whose lines are these ? 
 There ’gainst a column sets her lance, where stood 
 Ulysses’ javelins, planted like a wood : 
 which is only an exaggerated likeness of their author. W. 
 
 vol. 1 . C 
 
18 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Where the free guest, unnoted, might relate. 
 
 If haply conscious, of his father’s fate. 
 
 The golden ewer a maid obsequious brings, 
 Replenish’d from the cool, translucent springs; iso 
 With copious water the bright vase supplies 
 A silver laver of capacious size : 
 
 They wash. The tables in fair order spread. 
 
 They heap the glittering canisters with bread : 
 Viands of various kinds allure the taste, 185 
 
 Of choicest sort and savour, rich repast! 
 
 Ver. 185, &c. The Feast described.*] There is nothing that 
 has drawn more ridicule upon Homer, than the frequent de¬ 
 scriptions of his entertainments: it has been judged, that he 
 was more than ordinarily delighted with them, since he omits 
 no opportunity to describe them; nay, his temperance has not 
 been unsuspected, according to that verse of Horace, 
 
 “ Laudibus arguitur vini vinosus Homerus.” 
 
 But we must not condemn without stronger evidence: a man 
 may commend a sumptuous entertainment, or good wines, with¬ 
 out being either a drunkard or a glutton. But since there are 
 so many entertainments described in the Poem, it may not be 
 improper to give this some explanation. 
 
 They wash before the feast; perhaps, says Eustathius, because 
 they always, at the feast, made libations to the Gods. The 
 ewer was of gold, the vessel from whence the water was 
 poured, of silver, and the cups out of which they drank, were 
 of gold. 
 
 A damsel attends Mentes, but heralds wait upon the Suitors : 
 Eustathius observes a decency in this conduct; the Suitors were 
 lewd debauchees, and consequently a woman of modesty would 
 have been an improper attendant upon such a company. Beau¬ 
 tiful youths attend the company in quality of cup-bearers. 
 
 A matron who has the charge of the household (ra^/nj) brings 
 in the bread and the cold meats, for so Eustathius interprets 
 tt^arcc; an officer, whose employ it was to portion out the vic¬ 
 tuals, brings in the meats that furnished out the rest Of the 
 entertainment; and after the feast, a Bard diverts them with 
 vocal and instrumental musick. P. 
 
book r. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 19 
 
 Delicious wines the’ attending herald brought; 
 
 The gold gave lustre to the purple draught. 
 
 Lur’d with the vapour of the fragrant feast, 
 
 In rush’d the Suitors with voracious haste : 190 
 
 Marshall’d in order due, to each a sewer 
 Presents, to bathe his hands, a radiant ewer. 
 Luxurious then they feast. Observant round 
 Gay stripling youths the brimming goblets crown’d. 
 The rage of hunger quell’d, they all advance, 195 
 And form to measur’d*airs the mazy dance: 
 
 To Phemius was consign’d the chorded lyre. 
 
 Whose hand reluctant touch’d the warbling wire: 
 
 Ver. 189.] This undignified representation of the Suitors, as 
 a parcel of hungry mice, is unauthorised by his original; which 
 may be exhibited literally thus: 
 
 Then came the haughty Sectors, and in rows 
 Along the thrones and couches took their seats. 
 
 Dacier too misconceived the passage, in supposing the entrance 
 of the Suitors to be accidental and unexpected: when it is 
 plain, that a separate entertainment was providing for them 
 also. W. 
 
 Ver. 192 ] The omission of the translator after this verse 
 may be thus faithfully supplied: 
 
 Then bread in baskets brought a female train: 
 
 The jovial Suitors ply their hands amain, 
 
 And feast luxurious ; while, observant, round—. W. 
 
 Ver. 197. To Phemius teas consign*d the chorded lyre .] In an¬ 
 cient times, Princes entertained in their families certain learned 
 and wise men, who were both Poets and Philosophers, and not 
 only made it their business to amuse and delight, but to pro¬ 
 mote wisdom and morality. Ulysses, at his departure for Troj r , 
 left one of these with Penelope: and it was usual to consign in 
 this manner, the care of their wives and families to the Poets 
 of those days, as appears from a signal passage in the third 
 book, verse (of the original) 267, &c. To this man Homer 
 gives the name of Phemius; to celebrate one of his friends, 
 who was so called, and who had been his Preceptor (says Eus- 
 
 c 2 
 
so 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Phemius, whose voice divine could sweetest sing 
 High strains, responsive to the vocal string. 200 
 Meanwhile, in whispers to his heavenly guest 
 His indignation thus the Prince exprest. 
 
 Indulge my rising grief, whilst these (my friend) 
 With song and dance the pompous revel end. 
 
 Light is the dance, and doubly sweet the lays, 205 
 When for the dear delight another pays. 
 
 His treasur’d stores these Cormorants consume. 
 Whose bones, defrauded of a regal tomb 
 And common turf, lie naked on the plain, 
 
 Or doom’d to welter in the whelming main. 210 
 Should he return, that troop so blithe and bold. 
 With purple robes inwrought, and stiff with gold. 
 Precipitant in fear, would wing their flight. 
 
 And curse their cumberous pride’s unwieldy weight. 
 But ah I dream!—the’appointed hour is fled, 215 
 And Hope, too long with vain delusion fed. 
 
 Deaf to the rumour of fallacious fame, 
 
 Gives to the roll of death his glorious name! 
 
 With venial freedom let me now demand 
 
 Thy name, thy lineage, and paternal land : 220 
 
 Sincere, from whence began thy course, recite. 
 
 And to what ship I owe the friendly freight ? 
 
 Now first to me this visit dost thou deign. 
 
 Or number’d in my father’s social train ? 
 
 tathius.) I must add one remark, that though he places his 
 master here in no very good company, yet he guards his cha¬ 
 racter from any imputation, by telling us, that he attended the 
 Suitors by compulsion. This is not only a great instance of his 
 gratitude, but also of his tenderness and delicacy. P. 
 
book i. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. §1 
 
 All who deserv’d his choice, he made his own, 225 
 And curious much to know, he far was known. 
 
 My birth I boast (the blue-ey’d Virgin cries) 
 From great Anchialus, renown’d and wise : 
 
 Mentes my name; I rule the Taphian race, 229 
 Whose bounds the deep circumfluent waves embrace: 
 A duteous people, and industrious isle, 
 
 To naval arts inur’d, and stormy toil. 
 
 Freighted with iron from my native land, 
 
 I steer my voyage to the Brutian strand ; 
 
 To gain by commerce, for the labour’d mass, 235 
 A just proportion of refulgent brass. 
 
 Far from your capital my ship abides 
 At Reithrus, and secure at anchor rides; 
 
 Where waving groves on airy Neion grow. 
 Supremely tall, and shade the deeps below. 240 
 Thence to re-visit your imperial dome. 
 
 An old hereditary guest I come : 
 
 Your father’s friend. Laertes can relate 
 Our faith unspotted, and its early date; 
 
 Ver. 229. The latter clause of this verse, and the three suc¬ 
 ceeding verses, are spun from Jour tvords only of Homer, which 
 may be represented thus : 
 
 Of the sea-faring Taphians am I King. W. 
 
 Ver. 234. I steer my voyage to the Brutian strand. ] In the 
 country of the Brutians, in the lower part of Italy, was a town 
 called Temese, That Homer here meant this city, and not one 
 of the same name in Cyprus, appears not only because this was 
 famous for works of brass, but because (as Strabo observes) 
 Ithaca lay in the direct way from Taphos to this city of the 
 Brutii; whereas it was considerably out of the way to pass by 
 Ithaca to that of Cyprus. P. 
 
 Ver. 239.J The words only, 
 
 under woody Nefum, 
 
 W 
 
 * 
 
 are the fabric of this couplet. 
 
23 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Who prest with heart-corroding grief and years, 245 
 To the gay court a rural shed prefers. 
 
 Where sole of all his train, a matron sage 
 Supports with homely food his drooping age. 
 
 With feeble steps from marshalling his vines 
 Returning sad, when toilsome day declines. 250 
 
 With friendly speed, induc’d by erring fame. 
 
 To hail Ulysses’ safe return I came : 
 
 Rut still the frown of some celestial power 
 With envious joy retards the blissful hour. 
 
 Let not your soul be sunk in sad despair; 255 
 
 He lives, he breathes this heavenly vital air. 
 
 Among a savage race, whose shelfy bounds 
 With ceaseless roar the foaming deep surrounds, 
 
 Ver. 245. Laertes*s retirement.'] This most beautiful passage 
 ©f Laertes has not escaped the censure of the Criticks: they say 
 he acts an unmanly part, he forgets that he is a King, and reduces 
 himself unworthily into the condition of a servant. Eustathius 
 gives two reasons for his retirement, which answer those object 
 tions; the first is, that he could not endure to see the outrage 
 and insolence of the Suitors; the second, that his grief for Ulysses 
 makes him abandon society, and prefer his vineyard to his court. 
 This is undoubtedly the picture of human nature under affliction; 
 for sorrow loves solitude. Thus it is, as Dacier well observes, 
 that Menedemus in Terence laments his lost son : Menedemus 
 is the picture of Laertes. Nor does it make any difference, that 
 the one is a King, the other a person of private station: Kings 
 are but ennobled humanity, and are liable, as other men, to as 
 great, if not greater sensibility. P. 
 
 Ver. 257. Among a savage race , &c.] It is the observation of 
 Eustathius, that what Minerva here delivers bears resemblance 
 to the Oracles, in which part is false, and part true : that Ulysses 
 is detained in an island, is a truth ; that he is detained by Bar¬ 
 barians, a falsehood : this is done by the Goddess, that she may 
 be thought to be really a man, as she appears to be ; she speaks 
 with the dubiousness of a man, not the certainty of a Goddess \ 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 23 
 
 The thoughts which roll within my ravish'd breast, 
 To me, no Seer,, the' inspiring Gods suggest; 260 
 
 " Nor skill'd, nor studious with prophetick eye 
 To judge the winged omens of the sky. 
 
 Yet hear this certain speech, nor deem it vain ; 
 Tho' adamantine bonds the chief restrain, 
 
 The dire restraint his wisdom will defeat, 265 
 
 And soon restore him to his regal seat. 
 
 But, generous youth ! sincere and free declare. 
 
 Are you, of manly growth, his royal heir ? 
 
 For sure Ulysses in your look appears. 
 
 The same his features, if the same his years. 270 
 Such was that face, on which I dwelt with joy 
 Ere Greece assembled stemm’d the tides to Troy ; 
 But parting then for that detested shore, 
 
 Our eyes, unhappy ! never greeted more. 
 
 To prove a genuine birth (the Prince replies) 275 
 On female truth assenting faith relies ; 
 
 she raises his expectation by shewing she has an insight into 
 futurity ; and to engage his belief she discovers in part the truth 
 to Telemachus. Neither was it necessary or convenient for 
 Telemachus to know the whole truth; for if he had known that 
 Ulysses inhabited a desert, detained by a Goddess, he must of 
 consequence have known of his return, (for he that could certify 
 the one, could certify the other) and so had never gone in search 
 of him; and it would hence have happened, that Homer had 
 been deprived of giving us those graces of poetry which arise 
 from the voyage of Telemachus. Eustathius . P. 
 
 * Milton. 
 
 Ver. 275. To prove a genuine birth , &c.] There is an appear¬ 
 ance of something very shocking in this speech of Telemachus. 
 It literally runs thus : My mother assures me that lam the son oj 
 Ulysses , but I know it not . It seems to reflect upon his mother’s 
 chastity, as if he had a doubt of his own legitimacy. This seem¬ 
 ing simplicity in Telemachus, says Eustathius, is the effect of a 
 troubled spirit; it is grief that makes him doubt if he can be 
 

 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK. I. 
 
 Thus manifest of right, I build my claim 
 Sure-founded on a fair maternal fame, 
 
 Ulysses’ son : but happier he, whom fate 
 Hath plac’d beneath the storms which toss the great! 
 Happier the son, whose hoary sire is blest 28 1 
 With humble affluence, and domestick rest! 
 
 Happier than I, to future empire born. 
 
 But doom’d a father’s wretched fate to mourn ! 
 
 To whom, with aspect mild, the guest divine. 285 
 Oh true descendent of a scepter’d line ! 
 
 The Gods, a glorious fate from anguish free 
 To chaste Penelope’s increase decree. 
 
 the son of the great, the generous Ulysses ; it is no reflection 
 upon Penelope, and consequently no fault in Telemachus: it is 
 an undoubted truth that the mother only knows the legitimacy 
 of the child: thus Euripides, 
 
 “ The mother knows the child, the father only believes it.*' 
 
 Thus also Menander, 
 
 “ No man knows assuredly who begot him, we only guess it, 
 and believe it.” 
 
 Aristotle in his BlidoricJc is also of this opinion. 
 
 What I have here said, is literally translated from Eustathius, 
 and if it edifies the reader I am content. But the meaning of 
 the passage is this, Mentes asks Telemachus if he be the son of 
 Ulysses ; he replies, “ So my mother assures me; but nothing 
 sure so wretched as I am could proceed from that great man.” 
 
 But however this may be reconciled to truth, I believe few 
 ladies would take it as a compliment, if their sons should tell 
 them there was room to doubt of their legitimacy ; there may be 
 abundance of truth in it, and yet very little decency. P. 
 
 The translator has executed this very difficult passage with ex¬ 
 traordinary dexterity, and no common elegance. W. 
 
 Ver. 287.] This turn mis-states the sense of the original, and 
 was adopted merely for the convenience of a rhyme. The fol¬ 
 lowing couplet has more fidelity, if less elegance : 
 
 Thee not inglorious doom’d the powers of heaven, 
 
 When to Penelope thy birth was given. W. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 25 
 
 But say, yon’jovial troop so gaily drest. 
 
 Is this a bridal or a friendly feast ? 290 
 
 Or from their deed I rightlier may divine,, 
 
 Unseemly “ flown with insolence and wine* I” 
 Unwelcome revellers,, whose lawless joy 
 Pains the sage ear, and hurts the sober eye. 
 
 Magnificence of old (the Prince replied) 295 
 Beneath our roof with Virtue could reside ; 
 Unblam’d abundance crown’d the royal board. 
 What time this dome rever’d her prudent lord ; 
 Who now (so heaven decrees) is doom’d to mourn. 
 Bitter constraint! fC erroneous and forlorn 300 
 Better the chief, on Ilion’s hostile plain. 
 
 Had fallen surrounded with his warlike train ; 
 
 Or safe return’d, the race of glory past. 
 
 New to his friends’ embrace, had breath’d his last! 
 Then grateful Greece with streaming eyes would raise 
 Historick marbles, to record his praise ; 306 
 
 His praise, eternal on the faithful stone. 
 
 Had with transmissive honour grac’d his son. 
 
 Now snatch’d by harpies to the dreary coast, 
 
 Sunk is the hero, and his glory lost: 310 
 
 Vanish’d at once, unheard-of, and unknown ! 
 
 And I his heir in misery alone. 
 
 Nor for a dear, lost father only flow 
 The filial tears, but woe succeeds to woe. 
 
 * Milton. 
 
 Ver. 309. Notv snatch'd by harpies , &c.] The meaning of 
 this expression is, that Ulysses had not had the rites of sepulture. 
 This among the ancients was esteemed the greatest of calamities, 
 as it hindered the shades of the deceased from entering into the 
 state of the happy. p. 
 
2 6 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 To tempt the spouseless Queen with amorous wiles. 
 Resort the Nobles from the neighbouring isles; 316 
 From Samos, circled with the' Ionian main, 
 Dulichium, and Zacynthus’ silvan reign : 
 
 Even with presumptuous hope her bed to' ascend. 
 The Lords of Ithaca their right pretend. 320 
 
 She seems attentive to their pleaded vows. 
 
 Her heart detesting what her ear allows. 
 
 They, vain expectants of the bridal hour. 
 
 My stores in riotous expence devour, 
 
 In feast and dance the mirthful months employ, 323 
 And meditate my doom, to crown their joy. 
 
 With tender pity touch'd, the Goddess cried : 
 Soon may kind heaven a sure relief provide. 
 
 Soon may your sire discharge the vengeance due, 
 And all your wrongs the proud oppressors rue! 330 
 
 Ver. 315. To tempt the spouseless Queen—resort the Nobles*"] 
 It is necessary to reconcile the conduct of the Suitors to proba¬ 
 bility, since it has so great a share in the process of the Odyssey. 
 It may seem incredible that Penelope, who is a Queen, in whom 
 the supreme power is lodged, should not dismiss such unwelcome 
 intruders, especially since many of them were her own subjects : 
 besides it seems an extraordinary way of courtship in them, to 
 ruin the person to whom they make their addresses. 
 
 To solve this objection we must consider the nature of the 
 Grecian governments: the chief men of the land had great au¬ 
 thority: though the government was monarchical, it was not 
 despotick: Laertes was retired, and disabled with age; Tele- 
 machus was yet in his minority ; and the fear of any violence 
 either against her own person, or against her son, might deter 
 Penelope from using any endeavours to remove men of such in¬ 
 solence, and such power. Dacier. P. 
 
 Ver. 327.] The true force of the original is better seen in 
 Chapman: 
 
 This Pallas sigh’d, and answer’d : O (said she) 
 
 Absent Ulysses is much mist by thee, \\\ 
 
»r>STON COLLEGE UBBAB 
 
 SOS 10 i41LL mas*. 
 
 CHESTTNUT HIU, 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 T MT T r *T T'* • 
 
 Oh ! in that portal should the chief appear. 
 
 Each hand tremendous with a brazen spear. 
 
 In radiant panoply his limbs incas’d ! 
 
 (For so of old my father’s court he grac’d, 
 
 When social mirth unbent his serious soul. 
 
 O’er the full banquet, and the sprightly bowl) 
 
 He then from Ephyre, the fair domain 
 Of Ilus, sprung from Jason’s royal strain. 
 
 Measured a length of seas, a toilsome length, 
 vain. 
 
 For voyaging to learn the direful art 
 To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart. 
 Observant of the Gods, and sternly just, 
 
 Ilus refus’d to’ impart the baneful trust: 
 
 With friendly zeal my father’s soul was fir’d. 
 
 The drugs he knew, and gave the boon desir’d. 
 
 Ver. 341. To taint 'with deadly drugs the barbed dart ,♦] It is 
 necessary to explain this passage. It seems at first view, as if 
 Ulysses had requested what a good man could not grant. Ilus, 
 says Mentes, denied the poison, because he feared the anger of 
 the Gods; and the poison itself* is called by Homer ’AvfyzQovov, as 
 if it were designed against mankind. Eustathius defends Ulysses 
 variously : he intended, says he, to employ it against beasts only, 
 that infested his country, or in hunting. He assigns another 
 reason, and says that the Poet is preparing the way to give an air 
 of probability to the destruction of the Suitors. He poisons his 
 arrows, that every wound may be mortal: on this account the 
 poison may be called (pcnov ; for it is certain in the wars of 
 Troy poisoned arrows were not in use, for many persons who 
 were wounded recovered; so that of necessity they must be re¬ 
 served for domestick occasions. From what has been said, we 
 may collect the reason why Anchialus granted the poison to 
 Ulysses, and Ilus denied it; Anchialus was the friend of Ulysses, 
 and knew that he would not employ it to any ill purpose: but 
 Ilus, who was a stranger to him, was afraid lest he should abuse 
 $t. J'Mtfaihiiis, P, 
 
 235 
 
 in i 
 
 340 
 
 345 
 
28 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Appear'd he now with such heroick port, 
 
 As then conspicuous at the Taphian court. 
 
 Soon should yon' boasters cease their haughty strife. 
 Or each atone his guilty love with life. 
 
 But of his wish'd return the care resign ; 350 
 
 Be future vengeance to the powers divine. 
 
 My sentence hear : with stern distaste avow'd. 
 
 To their own districts drive the Suitor-crowd : 
 When next the morning warms the purple east. 
 Convoke the Peerage, and the Gods attest; 355 
 
 The sorrows of your inmost soul relate ; 
 
 And form sure plans to save the sinking state. 
 Should second love a pleasing flame inspire. 
 
 And the chaste Queen connubial rites require. 
 Dismiss'd with honour, let her hence repair 360 
 To great Icarius, whose paternal care 
 Will guide her passion, and reward her choice 
 With wealthy dower, and bridal gifts of price. 
 Then let this dictate of my love prevail: 
 
 Instant, to foreign realms prepare to sail, 365 
 
 To learn your father’s fortunes : Fame may prove. 
 Or omen'd voice, (the messenger of Jove) 
 
 Ver. 352.] Ogilby is more faithful, and, in my opinion, pre¬ 
 ferable after some castigation: 
 
 But hear my sentence , and consider well. 
 
 How best thou may’st this haughty tribe expell. W. 
 Ver. 357.] After this verse the couplet above should be thus 
 inserted, with suitable adjustments of connection : 
 
 Their lawless revels with distaste avow’d. 
 
 To their own districts drive the Suitor-crowd : 
 for the preceding couplet is unauthorised by the original. W. 
 
 Ver. 367. Omen’d voice - of Jove.'] There is a difficulty in 
 
 this passage. In any case of enquiry, any words that were heard 
 by accident were called by the Latins, omens ; by Homer, the 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 29 
 
 Propitious to the search. Direct your toil 
 Thro’ the wide ocean first to sandy Pyle ; 
 
 Of Nestor, hoary sage, his doom demand : 370 
 
 Thence speed your voyage to the Spartan strand; 
 For young Atrides to the’ Achaian coast 
 Arriv’d the last of all the victor host. 
 
 If yet Ulysses views the light, forbear, 
 
 ’Till the fleet hours restore the circling year. 375 
 But if his soul hath wing’d the destin’d flight. 
 Inhabitant of deep disastrous night ; 
 
 Homeward with pious speed repass the main. 
 
 To the pale shade funereal rites ordain. 
 
 Plant the fair column over the vacant grave, 3S0 
 A hero’s honours let the hero have. 
 
 With decent grief the royal dead deplor’d. 
 
 For the chaste Queen select an equal Lord. 
 
 Then let revenge your daring mind employ, 
 
 By fraud or force the Suitor-train destroy, 385 > 
 
 And starting into manhood, scorn the boy. ) 
 
 t »- 
 
 Hast thou not heard how young Orestes, fir’d 
 With great revenge, immortal praise acquir’d ? 
 
 voice of Jupiter; and he stiles them so, because it is through 
 his providence that those words come to our knowledge: xA*oj 
 signifies fame or rumour ; and the ancients referred all voices or 
 sounds to Jupiter; and stiled him Zivq ^avo^tpaToi;. So that the 
 voice of Jove implies any words that we hear by chance, from 
 whence we can draw any thing that gives light to our concerns 
 or enquiries. Dacier . Eustathius . P. 
 
 Ver. 379.] This and the four succeeding lines are the repre* 
 sentatives of only the following portion of his author: 
 
 A mound construct, the funeral rites perform 
 With fit profusion; and thy mother wed. W. 
 
 Ver. 387. Hast thou not heard , &c.] It may seem that this 
 example of Orestes does not come fully up to the purpose in¬ 
 tended ; there is a wide difference in the circumstances: Orestes 
 
30 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 His virgin-sword, iEgysthus’ veins imbru’d; 
 
 The murderer fell, and blood aton’d for blood. 390 
 O greatly bless’d with every blooming grace ! 
 
 With equal steps the paths of glory trace ; 
 
 Join to that royal youth’s your rival name. 
 
 And shine eternal in the sphere of fame.— 
 
 But my associates now my stay deplore, 395 
 
 Impatient on the hoarse-resounding shore. 
 
 Thou, heedful of advice, secure proceed ; 
 
 My praise the precept is, be thine the deed. 
 
 The counsel of my friend (the youth rejoin’d) 
 Imprints conviction on my grateful mind. 400 
 
 So fathers speak (persuasive speech and mild) 
 
 Their Sage experience to the favourite child. 
 
 But, since to part, for sweet refection due, 
 
 The genial viands let my train renew: 
 
 And the rich pledge of plighted faith receive, 405 
 Worthy the heir of Ithaca to give. 
 
 slew an adulterer, and a single person, with an adulteress. The 
 designs of Telemachus are not against one, but many enemies; 
 neither are they adulterers, nor have they slain the father of 
 Telemachus, as is the case of Orestes: nor is Penelope an adul¬ 
 teress. The intent therefore of the Goddess is only to shew 
 what a glorious act it is to defend our parents. Orestes, says 
 Mentes, is every where celebrated for honouring his father, and 
 thou shalt obtain equal honour by defending thy mother. P. 
 Yer. 403.] So Milton, Par. Lost, viii. 645. 
 
 - Since to party 
 
 Go, heavenly guest! 
 
 But our translator is too concise. The following representation 
 is literal: 
 
 Yet stay, though bent on speed; and let the bath 
 Refresh thy limbs, and food recruit thy heart; 
 
 Nor, by some boon ungratified, return : 
 
 Some precious, honour’d gift, memorial sweet 
 Of me; and such as friends to friends may give. 
 
 W. 
 
BOOK It 
 
 31 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Defer the promis'd boon, (the Goddess cries. 
 Celestial azure brightening in her eyes) 
 
 And let me now regain the Reithrian port: 
 
 From Temese return’d, your royal court 410 
 
 I shall revisit; and that pledge receive; 
 
 And gifts, memorial of our friendship, leave. 
 
 Abrupt, with eagle-speed she cut the sky ; 
 Instant invisible to mortal eye. 
 
 Then first he recognis’d the’ ethereal guest; 415 
 
 Wonder and joy alternate fire his breast: 
 
 Heroick thoughts, infus’d, his heart dilate : 
 Revolving much his father’s doubtful fate. 
 
 At length, compos’d, he join’d the suitor-throng; 
 Hush’d in attention to the warbled song. 420 
 
 His tender theme the charming Lyrist chose 
 Minerva’s anger and the direful woes 
 Which voyaging from Troy the victors bore. 
 
 While storms vindictive intercept the shore. 
 
 The shrilling airs the vaulted roof rebounds, 425 
 Reflecting to the Queen the silver sounds. 
 
 With grief renew’d the weeping fair descends ; 
 Their sovereign’s step a virgin-train attends: 
 
 A veil of richest texture wrought, she wears. 
 
 And silent to the joyous hall repairs. 430 
 
 There from the portal, with her mild command 
 Thus gently checks the minstrel’s tuneful hand. 
 
 Phemius ! let acts of Gods, and heroes old. 
 
 What ancient bards in hall and bower have told, 
 
 Ver. 419.] The unauthorised interpolations of this passage 
 I would venture to abbreviate by the following adjustment: 
 
 He found, with ears erect the suitor-throng 
 The theme imbibing of the warbled song ; 
 
 The sad return from Troy across the main, 
 
 Impos’d by Pallas on the Grecian train. 
 
 W. 
 
I 
 
 32 HOMEE’s ODYSSEY. BOOK I. 
 
 Attemper’d to the lyre,, your voice employ; 435 
 
 Such the pleas’d ear will drink with silent joy. 
 
 But oh ! forbear that dear, disastrous name. 
 
 To sorrow sacred, and secure of fame: 
 
 My bleeding bosom sickens at the sound. 
 
 And every piercing note inflicts a wound. 440 
 
 Why, dearest object of my duteous love, 
 (Replied the Prince) will you the Bard reprove? 
 Oft’, Jove’s ethereal rays (resistless fire) 
 
 The chanter’s soul and raptur’d song inspire; 
 Instinct divine ! nor blame severe his choice, 445 
 Warbling the Grecian woes with harp and voice : 
 For novel lays attract our ravish’d ears ; 
 
 But old, the mind with inattention hears; 
 
 Patient permit the sadly-pleasing strain ; 
 
 Familiar now with grief, your tears refrain, 450 
 
 Ver. 438.] The latter clause is a miserable botch, for the 
 relief of the versifier. Thus ? 
 
 But oh! that hapless name, for ever dear ! 
 
 To tears and sadness consecrate, forbear. 
 
 Or thus: 
 
 That name, for ever sad, for ever dear: 
 
 To silent sorrow consecrate, forbear. W. 
 
 Ver. 440.] After this verse a distich of his original is passed 
 by, which may thus be rendered: 
 
 That man, whose glory Greece and Argos fills. 
 
 On my fond memory such regret instills! W. 
 
 Ver. 443.] Our translator, treading in the steps of Chapman 
 and Ogilby, most miserably mistakes his author. Correct thus? 
 beginning the line before us, and proceeding to ver. 449. 
 
 Let the sweet songster’s unrestrained choice 
 Wake his free lyre, and tune his varied voice. 
 
 No bard with woes our teeming measure fills; 
 
 Great Jove alone dispenses human ills. 
 
 What, if his theme the woes of Greece display ? 
 
 Our ravish’d ears approve the novel lay. W. 
 
BOOK 1. 
 
 HOMER s ODYSSEY. 
 
 33 
 
 And in the publick woe forget your own ; 
 
 You weep not for a perish’d Lord, alone. 
 
 What Greeks, now wandering in the Stygian gloom. 
 With your Ulysses shar’d an equal doom ! 
 
 Your widow’d hours, apart, with female toil 455 
 And various labours of the loom beguile ; 
 
 There rule, from palace-cares remote and free. 
 
 That care to man belongs, and most to me. 
 
 Mature beyond his years the Queen admires 
 His sage reply, and with her train retires. 46# 
 Then swelling sorrows burst their former bounds. 
 With echoing grief afresh the dome resounds; 
 
 ’Till Pallas, piteous of her plaintive cries. 
 
 In slumber clos’d her silver-streaming eyes. 
 
 Meantime, rekindled at the royal charms. 
 Tumultuous love each beating bosom warms; 
 Intemperate rage a wordy war began ; 
 
 But bold Telemachus assum’d the man. 
 
 Instant (he cried) your female discord end. 
 
 Ye deedless boasters ! and the song attend ; 
 
 Obey that sweet compulsion, nor profane 
 With dissonance the smooth melodious strain. 
 Pacifick now prolong the jovial feast ; 
 
 But when the dawn reveals the rosy east, 
 
 I, to the Peers assembled, shall propose 
 The firm resolve, I here in few disclose. 
 
 No longer live the cankers of my court ; 
 
 All to your several states with speed resort; 
 
 Waste in wild riot what your land allows. 
 
 There ply the early feast, and late carouse. 
 
 Ver, 480.] Homer prescribes the following alteration ; 
 
 There in alternate banquetings carouse. W, 
 
 VOL. 1, D 
 
 465 
 
 470 
 
 475 
 
 4S0 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 34 
 
 But if, to honour lost, ’tis still decreed 
 
 For you my bowl shall flow, my flock shall bleed ; 
 
 Judge and revenge my right, impartial Jove — 
 
 By him and all the’ immortal thrbnes above, 
 
 (A sacred oath) each proud oppressor, slain, 4S5* 
 Shall with inglorious gore this marble stain. 
 
 Awed by the Prince, thus haughty, bold,and young. 
 Rage gnaw’d the lip, and wonder chain’d the tongue. 
 Silence at length the gay Antinous broke. 
 Constrain’d a smile, and thus ambiguous spoke. 490 
 What God to your untutor’d youth affords 
 This headlong torbent of amazing words ? 
 
 May Jove delay thy reign, and cumber late 
 So bright a genius with the toils of state ! 
 
 Those toils (Telemachus serene replies) 495 
 Have charms, with all their weight, to’ allure the wise. 
 
 Ver. 483.] This representation of the passage is not correct. 
 
 Rather, thus : 
 
 * • 
 
 I 'witness now the’ eternal powers above. 
 
 If chance thy sovereign will , avenging Jove ! 
 
 Will grant to view each proud oppressor’s gore 
 Shed on this violated mansion's jloor . W. 
 
 Ver. 490.] This line is mere interpolation. I should propose 
 the banishment of the whole couplet by an adjustment of the 
 next, as follows: 
 
 What God to your untutor’d youth affords 
 ( Antinous cries) this Jlood of boisterous words ? W. 
 
 Ver. 496.] This inelegant elision may be readily removed: 
 
 Have charms, with all their weight, to win the wise. 
 
 But this couplet of the translation is general, and bears little 
 or no resemblance to the original; the sense and order of which 
 are more correctly exhibited by Chapman, as follows: 
 
 Be not offended (he replide) if I 
 Shall say, I would assume this emperie, 
 
 If Jove gave leave. You are not he that sings, 
 
 “ The rule of kingdomes is the worst of things,” 
 
 Nor is it ill, at all, to sway a throne. 
 
 W. 
 
boor i; HOMER’s Ot)YSSEYi 35 
 
 Fast by the throne obsequious Fame resides. 
 
 And Wealth incessant rolls her golden tides. 
 
 Nor let Antinous rage, if strong desire 
 
 Of wealth and fame a youthful bosom fire : 500 
 
 Elect by Jove his delegate of sway* 
 
 With joyous pride the summons Pd obey. 
 
 Whene’er Ulysses roams the realm of Night, 
 
 Should factious power dispute my lineal right. 
 
 Some other Greeks a fairer claim may plead; 505 
 
 To your pretence their title would precede. 
 
 At least, the scepter lost, I still should reigri 
 Sole o’er my vassals, and domestick train. 
 
 To this Eurymachus. To heaven alone 
 Refer the choice to fill the vacant throne. 510 
 
 l - 
 
 Your patrimonial stores in peace possess 
 Undoubted all your filial claim confess ; 
 
 Your private right should impious power invade, 
 The peers of Ithaca would arm in aid. 
 
 But say, that stranger- guest who late withdrew, 51 5 
 What and from w hence ? his name and lineage shew, 
 His grave demeanour, and majestick grace 
 Speak him descended of no vulgar race ; 
 
 Ver. 513.] The original runs thus i 
 
 Let not that man appear, who dares by force 
 To wrest thy wealth, while Ithaca has men. 
 
 And, through the whole of this book, the translation is very 
 general in its representation of Homer’s sense, with little atten¬ 
 tion to the complexion of his language : and in numerous in¬ 
 stances has more of a commentary than a version: but betrays, 
 notwithstanding, in the execution, an uncommon share of tech¬ 
 nical ingenuity and the true genius of poetry. W. 
 
 Ver. 51 7.] Thus, more faithfully to the original : 
 
 How swift he past, as shunning to be seen! 
 
 No common worth bespake his noble mien. 
 
 n 2 
 
36 
 
 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Did he some loan of antient right require, 
 
 Or came fore-runnel of your scepter’d Sire ? 520 
 
 Oh son of Polybus ! the Prince replies. 
 
 No more my Sire will glad these longing e} T es : 
 
 The Queen’s fond hope inventive rumour cheers, 
 
 Or vain diviners’ dreams divert her fears. 
 
 That stranger-guest the Taphian realm obeys, 525 
 A realm defended with incircling seas. 
 
 Mentes, an ever-honour’d name, of old 
 High in Ulysses’ social list inroll’d. 
 
 Thus he, tho’ conscious of the’ ethereal guest. 
 Answer’d evasive of the sly request. 530 
 
 Meantime the lyre rejoins the sprightly lay ; 
 Love-dittied airs, and dance, conclude the day. 
 
 But when the star of eve with golden light 
 Adorn’d the matron-brow of sable night. 
 
 The mirthful train dispersing quit the court, 535 
 And to their several domes to rest resort. 
 
 A towering structure to the palace join’d ; 
 
 To this his steps the thoughtful Prince inclin’d ; 
 
 In his pavilion there, to sleep repairs ; 
 
 The lighted torch, the sage Euryclea bears : 540 
 
 And in Homer this couplet follows the next of the version, and 
 concludes the speech. W. 
 
 Ver. 540. The sage Euryclea.~\ Euryclea was a very aged 
 person ; she was bought by Laertes to nurse Ulysses; and in 
 her old age attends Telemachus : she cost Laertes twenty oxen ; 
 that is, a certain quantity of money which would buy twenty 
 oxen: or perhaps the form of an ox was stamped upon the 
 metal, and from thence had its appellation. 
 
 The simplicity of these heroick times is remarkable ; an old 
 woman is the only attendant upon the son of a King: she lights 
 him to his apartment, takes care of his cloathes, and hangs them 
 up at the side of his bed. Greatness then consisted not in shew, 
 
BOOR I. 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY 
 
 37 
 
 (Daughter of Ops, the just Pisenor’s son. 
 
 For twenty beeves by great Laertes won ; 
 
 In rosy prime with charms attractive grac’d. 
 Honour’d by him, a gentle lord and chaste. 
 
 With dear esteem : too wise, with jealous strife 545 
 To taint the joys of sweet, connubial life. 
 
 Sole with Telemachus her service ends, 
 
 A child she nurs’d him, and a man attends.) 
 
 Whilst to his couch himself the Prince addrest, 
 
 The duteous dame receiv’d the purple vest: 550 
 
 The purple vest with decent care dispos’d. 
 
 The silver ring she pull’d, the door reclos’d; 
 
 The bolt, obedient to the silken cord. 
 
 To the strong staple’s inmost depth restor’d. 
 
 Secur’d the valves. There wrapt in silent shade, 555 
 Pensive, the rules the Goddess gave, he weigh’d ; 
 Stretch’d on the downy fleece, no rest he knows. 
 And in his raptur’d soul the vision glows. 
 
 but in the mind : this conduct proceeded not from the meanness 
 of poverty, but from the simplicity of manners. Eustathius . P. 
 
 Ver. 555.] If the following alteration be made, perfectly 
 correspondent to the original, 
 
 Secur'd the valves. All night onfleeces laid ; 
 the concluding couplet may be spared, as an elegant vision of 
 the translator’s only. W. 
 
 Having now gone through the first book, I shall only ob¬ 
 serve to the reader, that the whole of it does not take up the 
 compass of an intire day : when Minerva appeared to Telema¬ 
 chus, the Suitors were preparing to sit down to the banquet at 
 noon; and the business of the first book concludes with the 
 day. It is true, that the Gods hold a debate before the des¬ 
 cent of Minerva, and some small time must be allowed for that 
 transaction. It is remarkable, that there is not one simile in 
 this book, except we allow those three words to be one, opw 
 
 u<; uvciTrccict ; the same observation is true of the first book of 
 the Iliad. See the notes on that place, Ik 
 
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 H * i • l.i '•'• •* t - 'if <.;■■•' ' •• • J.. f " • t !*,. o ii.ij 
 
 5- • i ! r r* / •" V 
 
THE 
 
 SECOND BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 

 •, V, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : :o,i a : 
 
 
 
 
 '•■it : • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE COUNCIL OF ITHACA. 
 
 TELEMACHUS, in the assembly of the Lords 
 of Ithaca, complains of the injustice done him by 
 the Suitors, and insists upon their departure from 
 his palace : appealing to the Princes, and exciting 
 the people to declare against them. The Suitors 
 endeavour to justify their stay, at least till he shall 
 send the Queen to the Court of Icarius her father ; 
 which he refuses. There appears a prodigy of two 
 Eagles in the sky, which an Augur expounds to the 
 ruin of the Suitors, Telemachus then demands a 
 vessel to carry him to Pylos and Sparta, there to 
 enquire of his father's fortunes. Pallas in the shape 
 of Mentor (an ancient friend of Ulysses) helps him 
 to a ship, assists him in preparing necessaries for 
 the voyage, and imbarks with him that night; which 
 concludes the second day from the opening of the 
 Poem. 
 
 i 
 
 The Scene continues in the Palace of Ulysses in 
 Jthaca. P- 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 THIS book opens with the first appearance of Telemachus 
 upon the stage of action. And Bossu observes the great judg¬ 
 ment of the Poet, in beginning with the transactions of Ithaca 
 in the absence of Ulysses: by this method he sets the conduct 
 of Telemachus, Penelope, and the Suitors, in a strong point of 
 light; they all have a large share in the story of the Poem, and 
 consequently ought to have distinguishing characters. It is as 
 necessary in Epick Poetry, as it is on the Theatre, to let us 
 immediately into the character of every person whom the Poet 
 introduces: this adds perspicuity to the story, and we imme¬ 
 diately grow acquainted with each personage, and interest our¬ 
 selves in the good or ill fortune that attends them through the 
 whole relation. 
 
 * 
 
 Telemachus is now about twenty years of age: in the eleventh 
 book, the Poet tells us, he was an infant in the arms of his 
 mother when Ulysses sailed to Troy; that Hero was absent near 
 twenty years, and from hence we may gather the exact age of 
 Telemachus. He is every where described as a person of piety 
 to the Gods, of duty to his parents, and as a lover of his country: 
 he is prudent, temperate, and valiant; and the poet well sets o$* 
 the importance of this young Hero, by giving him the Goddess 
 t>f War and Wisdom for fiis constant attendant. P» 
 

 THE 
 
 SECOND BOOK 
 
 r 1 f 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 * T 
 
 Now reddening from the dawn, the morning-ray 
 Glow’d in the front of heaven, and gave the day. 
 The youthful hero, with returning light. 
 
 Rose anxious from the* inquietudes of night. 
 
 A royal robe he wore with graceful pride, $ 
 
 A two-edg’d falchion threaten’d by his side. 
 Embroider’d sandals glitter’d as he trod. 
 
 And forth he mov’d, majestick as a God. 
 
 Then by his heralds, restless of delay, 
 
 To council calls the peers : the peers obey. 
 
 Soon as in solemn form the’ assembly sat. 
 
 From his high dome himself descends in state. 
 
 10 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver 5.] Thus his author: (but fidelity made the versification 
 much more difficult, and a hackneyed description was easily 
 accommodated to the translator’s purpose) 
 
 A royal robe with graceful pride he wore; 
 
 And a sharp sxvord athwart his shoulders bore # W, 
 
44 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Bright in his hand a ponderous javelin shin’d; 
 
 Two dogs, a faithful guard, attend behind ; 
 
 Pallas with grace divine his form improves, 15 
 And gazing crouds admire him as he moves. 
 
 His father’s throne he fill’d : while distant stood 
 The hoary peers, and aged Wisdom bow’d. 
 
 ’Twas silence all, at last yEgyptius spoke; 
 JEgyptius, by his age and sorrows broke : 20 
 
 A length of days his soul with prudence crown’d, 
 
 A length of days had bent him to the ground. 
 
 Ver. 13. —*— In his hand a ponderous javelin shin'd.] The 
 Poet describes Telemachus as if he were marching against an 
 enemy, or going to a council of war, rather than to an assembly 
 of peers in his own country : two reasons are assigned for this 
 conduct; either this was the common usage of princes in those 
 times, or Telemachus might look upon the Suitors as enemies, 
 and consequently go to council in arms as against enemies. 
 Eustathius . / P. 
 
 # k 1 » - / • ■ ~ - ’ * ‘ * 
 
 Ver. 14. Two dogs , a faithful guard , attend behind.] This 
 passage has not escaped the raillery of the Criticks; they look 
 upon it as a mean description of a hero and a prince, to give 
 him a brace of dogs only for his guards or attendants: but such 
 was the simplicity of ancient princes, that except in war they had 
 rarely any attendants or equipage. And we may be confident 
 Homer copies after the custom of the time, unless we can be so 
 absurd as to suppose, he would feign low circumstances unne- 
 cessarity, through a want of judgment. P. 
 
 Ver. 18.] The latter clause is the translator’s interpolation, 
 for the gain of an intolerable rhyme. Thus ? 
 
 The throne he mounted of his father’s sway: 
 
 The hoary seniors to the prince gave way. W. 
 
 Ver. 20.] The sentiment of the succeeding couplet should 
 not be anticipated. The following attempt is not wide of the 
 original: 
 
 The council throng’d in listening silence sate : 
 
 At length iEgyptius open’d the debttfe, W. 
 
/ 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 45 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 His eldest * hope in arms to Ilion came. 
 
 By great Ulysses taught the path to fame; 
 
 But, hapless youth ! the hideous Cyclops tore 23 
 His quivering limbs, and quaff’d his spouting gore. 
 Three sons remain’d : to climb with haughty fires 
 The royal bed, Eurynomus aspires ; 
 
 The rest with duteous love his griefs assuage. 
 
 And ease the sire of half the cares of age. 30 
 
 Yet still his Antiphus he loves, he mourns ; 
 
 And as he stood he spoke and wept by turns. 
 
 Since great Ulysses sought the Phrygian plains. 
 Within these walls inglorious silence reigns. 
 
 Say then, ye peers! by whose commands we meet? 35 
 Why here once more in solemn council sit ? 
 
 Ye young, ye old, the weighty cause disclose : 
 Arrives some message of invading foes ? 
 
 Or say, does high necessity of state 
 
 Inspire some patriot, and demand debate ? 40 
 
 The present Synod speaks its author wise; 
 
 Assist him, Jove, thou regent of the skies ! 
 
 He spoke. Telemacbus with transport glows. 
 Embrac’d the omen, and majestick rose: 
 
 (His royal hand the’ imperial scepter sway’d) 45 
 Then thus, addressing to iEgyptius, said. 
 
 * Antiphus. 
 
 Ver. 25.] It were easy to observe more fidelity, as follows: 
 
 Of all his comrades last , the Cyclops tore— W. 
 
 Ver. 45.] Our translator is too hasty and concise. The fob 
 lowing attempt is conformable to the original: 
 
 The prince, to speak impatient, takes his stand 
 In the mid council: (then receiv’d his hand 
 The sceptre from Pisenor, wise with age) 
 
 And thus addrest Aigyptius, reverend sage: 
 
 Old man rever’d! lo here he stands confest 
 
 By whom ye meet: such grief o’erwhehns my breast! W. 
 
46 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book ii. 
 
 Reverend old man ! lo here confest he stands 
 By whom ye meet; my grief your care demands. 
 No story I unfold of publick woes. 
 
 Nor bear advices of impending foes : 50 
 
 Peace the blest land, and joys incessant crown; 
 
 Of all this happy realm, I grieve alone. 
 
 For my lost sire continual sorrows spring. 
 
 The great, the good ; your father, and your king. 
 Yet more : our house from its foundation bows, 55 
 Our foes are powerful, and your sons the foes : 
 Hither, unwelcome to the Queen they come ; 
 
 Why seek they not the rich Icarian dome ? 
 
 If she must wed, from other hands require 
 
 The dowery : is Telemachus her sire ? Co 
 
 Yet thro’ my court the noise of revel rings. 
 
 And wastes the wise frugality of kings, 
 
 Ver. 51.] This is wide of the original. Chapman is exact : 
 Onely mine owne affaires all this procure, 
 
 That in my house a double ill endure. W. 
 
 Ver. 55. Yet more: our house , fyc.~\ What Telemachus here 
 says, has given offence to the Criticks; they think it indecent for 
 a son to say, that he bears with more regret the disorder of his 
 family than the loss of his father ; yet this objection will vanish, 
 if we weigh Penelope, Telemachus, and liis whole posterity* 
 against the single person of Ulysses. 
 
 But what chiefly takes away this objection is, that Telema- 
 clius was still in hopes of his father’s return ; for a.'rru’Kiact doe? 
 not imply necessarily his death, but absence: and then both 
 with justice and decency, Telemachus may say that he grieves 
 more for the destruction of his family, than for the absence of 
 Ulysses. P. 
 
 A very inaccurate representation of his author. Thus ? 
 
 A weightier evil still our house deplores; 
 
 Such wasteful riot squanders all our stores. 
 
 Unwelcome Suitors to my mother come 
 
 Your sons: but dread to seek the’ Icarian dome. W. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 47 
 
 Scarce all my herds their luxury suffice; 
 
 Scarce all my wine their midnight hours supplies* 
 Safe in my youth, in riot still they grow, 65 
 
 Nor in the helpless orphan dread a foe. 
 
 But come it will, the time when manhood grants 
 More powerful advocates than vain complaints. 
 Approach that hour ! unsufferable wrong 
 Cries to the Gods, and Vengeance sleeps too long. 70 
 Rise then, ye peers ! with virtuous anger rise; 
 Your fame revere, but most the’ avenging skies. 
 
 By all the deathless powers that reign above. 
 
 By righteous Themis and by thundering Jove, 
 (Themis, who gives to councils, or denies 75 
 
 Success; and humbles, or confirms the wise) 
 
 Ver. 63. Scarce all my herds their luxury srcffice.~\ This pas¬ 
 sage is ridiculed by the Criticks; they set it in a wrong light, 
 and then grow very pleasant upon it: Telemachus makes a sad 
 outcry because the Suitors eat his sheep, his beeves and fatted 
 goats; and at last falls into tears. The truth is, the riches of 
 Kings and Princes, in those early ages, consisted chiefly in 
 flocks and cattle; thus Aeneas and Paris are described as tend¬ 
 ing their flocks, &c. And Abraham in the Scriptures, as 
 abounding in this kind of wealth. 
 
 But it is a sufficient answer to the objections against this pas¬ 
 sage, to observe, that it is not the expence but the manner of it 
 that Telemachus laments ; this he expressly declares by the word 
 and surely a sober man may complain against luxury, 
 without being arraigned for meanness; and against profusion, 
 without being condemned for parsimony. P. 
 
 Ver. 66.] More faithfully. 
 
 Nor in my fathers absence dread a foe. W. 
 
 Ver. 67.] Thus his author, literally exhibited; 
 
 Unfit am I for vengeance; all too weak. 
 
 All inexpert, my strength betrays my will; 
 
 With power responsive soon would vengeance come. 
 
 And to this the couplet before us, which is defective in rhyme, 
 and perverse in meaning, is intended to correspond. W. 
 
48 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book n. 
 
 Rise in my aid! suffice the tears that flow 
 For my lost sire, nor add new woe to woe. 
 
 If e'er he bore the sword to strengthen ill. 
 
 Or having power to wrong, betray'd the will, so 
 On me, on me your kindled wrath assuage. 
 
 And bid the voice of lawless riot rage. 
 
 If ruin to our royal race ye doom. 
 
 Re you the spoilers, and our wealth consume. 
 
 Then might we hope redress from juster laws, 85 
 And raise all Ithaca to aid our cause ; 
 
 But while your sons commit the' unpunish'd wrong, 
 You make the arm of violence too strong. 
 
 While thus he spoke, with rage and grief he frown'd. 
 And dash'd the’ imperial scepter to the ground. 90 
 The big round tear hung trembling in his eye : 
 The synod griev’d, and gave a pitying sigh. 
 
 Then silent sat—at length Antinous burns 
 With haughty rage, and sternly thus returns. 
 
 O insolence of youth ! whose tongue affords 
 Such railing elocpience, and war of words. 
 
 Studious thy country’s worthies to defame. 
 
 Thy erring voice displays thy mother’s shame. 
 
 Elusive of the bridal day she gives 
 
 Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives. 100 
 
 Yer. 84. Be you the spoilers , and our wealth consume.1 To 
 understand this passage, we must remember, as Eustathius re* 
 marks, that Telemachus is pleading his cause before the Itha- 
 censians ; them he constitutes the judges of his cause : lie there¬ 
 fore prevents an answer which they might make, viz. We are not 
 the men that are guilty of these outrages; Telemachus rejoins, 
 “ It were better for me to suffer from your hands ; for by your 
 “ quiescence you make my affairs desperate an intimation 
 that they should rise in his defence. P. 
 
 Ver. 99. Elusive of the bridal day\ she gives 
 
 Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives .} 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 49 
 
 Did not the sun,, thro’ heaven’s wide azure roll’d. 
 For three long years the royal fraud behold ? 
 
 While she, laborious in delusion spread 
 The spacious loom,, and mix’d the various thread i 
 Where as to life the wonderous figures rise. 105 
 Thus spoke the’ inventive Queen, with artful sighs. 
 “ Tho’ cold in death Ulysses breathes no more, 
 
 " Cease yet a while to urge the bridal hour ; 
 
 Cease, ’till to great Laertes I bequeath 
 “ A task of grief, his ornaments of death. 110 
 
 It will be necessary to vindicate the character of Penelope, 
 the heroine of the Poem, from the aspersion of Antinous. It 
 must be confest that she has a very hard game to play, she 
 neither dares consent, nor deny: if she consents, she injures 
 Ulysses, whom she still expects to return; if she denies, she 
 endangers the throne, and the life of Telemachus, from the 
 violence of the Suitors ; so that no other method is left to elude 
 their addresses. 
 
 To vindicate her in this place, we must consider who it is 
 that speaks: Antinous, an unsuccessful lover: and what he 
 blames as a crime, is really her glory ; he blames her because 
 she does not comply with their desires; and it had been an act 
 of guilt to have complied. He himself sufficiently vindicates 
 her in the conclusion of his speech, where he extols her above all 
 the race of .woman-kind: so that the seeming inconsistence of 
 Penelope must be imputed to the necessity of her affairs: she is 
 artful, but not criminal. 
 
 The original says, she deceived the Suitors by her messages ; 
 a plain intimation, that she used no extraordinary familiarities 
 with her admirers; and through the whole course of the Poem 
 she seldom appears in their assemblies. P. 
 
 Ver. 102.] This royal fraud, I suspect to be one of Pope's 
 corrections ; who lost no occasion of a satirical fling at the reign¬ 
 ing family : as I have before remarked. W. 
 
 Ver. 105.] A playful invention has fabricated this couplet 
 from the following words of Homer: 
 
 -and spake to us apart. W# 
 
 Ver. 109. Cease , 3 till to great Laertes I bequeath , 
 
 A task of grief his ornaments of death. J 
 
 E 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
50 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book it. 
 
 “ Lest when the fates his royal ashes claim, 
 
 “ The Grecian matrons taint my spotless fame ; 
 
 <c When he, whom living mighty realms obey’d, 
 
 “ Shall want in death a shroud to grace his shade/' 
 Thus she; at once the generous train complies, 115 
 Nor fraud mistrusts in virtue’s fair disguise. 
 
 The work she plied ; but studious of delay. 
 
 By night revers’d the labours of the day. 
 
 While thrice the sun his annual journey made. 
 
 The conscious lamp the midnight fraud survey’d; 120^ 
 Unheard, unseen, three years her arts prevail; 
 
 The fourth, her maid unfolds the’ amazing tale. 
 
 We saw, as unperceiv’d we took our stand. 
 
 The backward labours of her faithless hand. 
 
 Then urg'd, she perfects her illustrious toils; 125 
 
 A wonderous monument of female wiles ! 
 
 But you, oh peers ! and thou, oh prince! give ear; 
 (I speak aloud, that every Greek may hear) 
 
 Dismiss the Queen ; and if her sire approves. 
 
 Let him espouse her to the peer she loves : 130 
 
 Bid instant to prepare the bridal train, 
 
 Nor let a race of princes wait in vain. 
 
 It was an ancient custom to dedicate the finest pieces of weav** 
 ing and embroider}', to honour the funerals of the dead: and 
 these were usually wrought by the nearest relations in their life¬ 
 time. Thus in the twenty-second Iliad, Andromache laments 
 that the body of Hector must be exposed to the air, without 
 those ornaments. P. 
 
 Ver. 116.] We are indebted for this beautiful verse to the 
 invention of the translator only. The whole passage is executed 
 with superior taste. W. 
 
 Ver. 125.] This couplet is foreign in it's purport, and un¬ 
 satisfactory in it’s rhymes. Thus ? 
 
 Lamenting then her frustrated deceit. 
 
 Constrain’d she makes the lingering work complete. W. 
 
BOOK ir. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 51 
 
 Tho’ with a grace divine her soul is blest. 
 
 And all Minerva breathes within her breast. 
 
 In wonderous arts than woman more renown’d, 135 
 And more than woman with deep wisdom crown’d; 
 Tho’ Tyro nor Mycene match her name. 
 
 Nor great Alcmena (the proud boasts of fame) 
 
 Yet thus by heaven adorn’d, by heaven’s decree 
 She shines w ith fatal excellence, to thee: 110 
 
 With thee, the bowl we drain, indulge the feast, 
 ’Till righteous heaven reclaim her stubborn breast. 
 What tho’ from pole to pole resounds her name ! 
 The son’s destruction w r aits the mother’s fame : 
 
 For ’till she leaves thy court it is decreed 145 
 
 Thy bowl to empty, and thy flock to bleed. 
 
 While yet he speaks, Telemachus replies : 
 
 Even Nature starts, and what ye ask denies. 
 
 Thus, shall I thus repay a mother’s cares. 
 
 Who gave me life, and nurs’d my infant years? 1 50 
 While sad on foreign shores Ulysses treads. 
 
 Or glides a ghost with unapparent shades. 
 
 How to Icarius in the bridal hour 
 
 Shall I, by waste undone, refund the dower? 
 
 How from my father should I vengeance dread ! 155 
 How r would my mother curse my hated head ! 
 
 And while in wrath to vengeful fiends she cries. 
 How from their hell would vengeful fiends arise ! 
 
 4 *.’ ^ % 
 
 Ver. 145,] This is less accurate to the original, than the fol¬ 
 lowing attempt : 
 
 Not one, ’till she the favorite youth shall take. 
 
 Of all her Suitors will this house forsake. W. 
 
 Ver. 157. And while in wrath to vengefulfends she cries. 
 How from their hell would vengeful fends arise!} 
 
52 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY 
 
 BOOR II. 
 
 Abhorr’d by all,, accurs’d my name would grow. 
 
 The earth's disgrace, and human-kind my foe. 160 
 If this displease, why urge ye here your stay ? 
 
 Haste from the court, ye spoilers, haste away : 
 Waste in wild riot what your land allows. 
 
 There ply the early feast and late carouse. 
 
 But if, to honour lost, 'tis still decreed 165" 
 
 For you my bowl shall flow, my flocks shall bleed. 
 Judge and assert my right, impartial Jove! 
 
 By him, and all the' immortal host above, 
 
 (A sacred oath) if heaven the power supply. 
 Vengeance I vow, and for your wrongs ye die. 170 
 
 In the ninth Iliad we are told that the father of Phoenix impre¬ 
 cated the Furies against his son. 
 
 My sire with curses loads my hated head, 
 
 And cries, Ye Furies ! barren be his bed.** 
 
 * • 
 
 Infernal Jove, the vengeful fiends below, 
 
 And ruthless Proserpine, confirm’d his vow. 
 
 In the same book the Furies hear the curses of Althea upon her 
 son: 
 
 She beat the ground, and call’d the powers beneath, 
 
 On her own son to wreak her brother s death. 
 
 Hell heard her curses from the realms profound, 
 
 And the fell fiends who walk the nightly round. 
 
 These passages shew the opinion the ancients had of the honour 
 due from children to parents, to be such, that they believed 
 there were Furies particularly commissioned to punish those 
 who failed in that respect, and to fulfil the imprecations made 
 against them by their offended parents. There is a greatness 
 in this idea, and it must have had an effect upon the obedience 
 of the youth. We see Telemachus is full of the sense of it. 
 Dacier. P. 
 
 Ver. 160.] After this verse, an omission of a sentiment in 
 the original may be thus supplied: 
 
 Never, ye Suitors! never hope from me 
 
 (My will is fix’d) this base unkind decree ! W. 
 
book ii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 53 
 
 With that,, two eagles from a mountain's height 
 By Jove’s command direct their rapid flight; 
 
 Swift they descend, with wing to wing conjoin'd. 
 Stretch their broad plumes, and float upon the wind. 
 Above the’ assembled peers they wheel on high, 175 
 And clang their wings, and hovering beat the sky; 
 With ardent eyes the rival train they threat. 
 
 And shrieking loud, denounce approaching fate. 
 They cuff, they tear; their cheeks and neck they rend. 
 And from their plumes huge drops of blood descend: 
 Then, sailing o'er the domes and towers, they fly 1 si 
 Full toward the east, and mount into the sky. 
 
 The wondering rivals gaze with cares opprest. 
 And chilling horrors freeze in every breast. 
 
 'Till big with knowledge of approaching woes is$ 
 The prince of augurs, Halitherses, rose: 
 
 Ver. 171, &c. The prodigy of the hvo eagles .] This pro¬ 
 digy is ushered in very magnificently, and the verses are lofty 
 and sonorous. The eagles are Ulysses and Telemachus: by 
 Jove’s command they fly from a mountain's height: this denotes 
 that the two heroes are inspired by Jupiter, and come from the 
 country to the destruction of the Suitors : the eagles fly with 
 wing to wing conjoin'd ; this shews, that they act in concert and 
 unity of councils: at first they foat upon the wind; this implies 
 the calmness and secresy of the approach of those heroes: at 
 last they clang their wings , and hovering beat the shies ; this shews 
 the violence of the assault: with ardent eyes the rival train they 
 threat ; this, as the poet himself interprets it, denotes the 
 approaching fate of the Suitors: then sailing o'er the domes 
 and towers they fly, Full toward the east; this signifies that the 
 Suitors alone are not doomed to destruction, but that the men 
 of Ithaca are involved in danger, as Halitherses interprets it. 
 
 Nor to the great alone is death decreed; 
 
 We, and our guilty Ithaca must bleed. 
 
 See here the natural explication of this prodigy, which is very 
 Ing^ious! Eustathius , verbatim, IN 
 
54 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Prescient he view’d the’ aerial tracks, and drew 
 A sure presage from every wing that flew. 
 
 Ye sons (he cried) of Ithaca, give ear. 
 
 Hear all! but chiefly you, oh rivals! hear. 190 
 Destruction sure o’er all your heads impends; 
 Ulysses comes, and death his steps attends. 
 
 Nor to the great alone is death decreed ; 
 
 We, and our guilty Ithaca must bleed. 
 
 Why cease we then the wrath of heaven to stay ? 195 
 Be humbled all, and lead, ye great! the way. 
 
 For lo ! my words no fancied woes relate: 
 
 I speak from science, and the voice is fate. 
 
 When great Ulysses sought the Phrygian shores. 
 To shake with war proud 11 ion’s lofty towers, 200 
 Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold : 
 Heaven seal’d my words, and you those deeds behold. 
 I see (I cried) his woes, a countless train ; 
 
 I see his friends o’erwhehn’d beneath the main ; 
 Now twice ten years from shore to shore he roams; 
 Now twice ten years are past, and now he comes! 206' 
 To whom Eurymachus : Fly, dotard, fly; 
 
 With thy wise dreams, and fables of the sky. 
 
 Go prophesy at home; thy sons advise: 209 
 
 Here thou art sage in vain—I better read the skies. 
 Unnumber’d birds glide thro’ the' aerial way. 
 Vagrants of air, and unforeboding stray. 
 
 Ver. 204.1 More accurately thus : 
 
 See all his comrades whelm’d beneath the main. W. 
 Ver. 233.] The version here is rambling and careless. Let 
 the reader accept a literal translation, and commensurate to the 
 original: 
 
 We Virtue sue, nor other flames regard, 
 
 Such as might else become our rank to wed, W, 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 55 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Cold in the tomb, or in the deeps below 
 Ulysses lies: oh wert thou laid as low ! 
 
 Then would that busy head no broils suggest, 215 
 Nor fire to rage Telemachus’s breast. 
 
 From him some bribe thy venal tongue requires. 
 And interest, not the god, thy voice inspires. 
 
 His guideless youth, if thy experienc’d age 
 Mislead fallacious into idle rage, 220 
 
 Vengeance deserv’d thy malice shall repress. 
 
 And but augment the wrongs thou would’st redress. 
 Telemachus may bid the queen repair 
 To great Icarius, whose paternal care 
 Will guide her passion, and reward her choice, 225 
 With wealthy dower, and bridal gifts of price. 
 
 ’Till she retires, determin’d we remain, 
 
 And both the prince and augur threat in vain : 
 
 His pride of words, and thy wild dream of fate. 
 Move not the brave, or only move their hate. 230 
 Threat on, oh prince! elude the bridal day, 
 
 Threat on, ’till all thy stores in waste decay. 
 
 True, Greece affords a train of lovely dames. 
 
 In wealth and beauty worthy of our flames : 
 
 But never from this nobler suit we cease; 235 
 
 For wealth and beauty less than virtue please. 
 
 To whom the youth. Since then in vain I tell 
 My numerous woes, in silence let them dwell. 
 
 But heaven, and all the Greeks, have heard my 
 wrongs: 
 
 To heaven, and all the Greeks, redress belongs. 2 iq 
 
 Ver. 239. - All the Grech have heard my “wrongs :] It 
 
 is necessary for the reader to carry in his mind, that this assembly 
 consists not only of the peers, but of the people of Ithaca s 
 for to the people Telemachus here appeals. 
 
56 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Hook u. 
 
 Yet this I ask (nor be it ask’d in vain) 
 
 A bark to waft me o’er the rolling main ; 
 
 The realms of Pyle and Sparta to explore. 
 
 And seek my royal sire from shore to shore : 
 
 If, or to Fame his doubtful fate be known, 245 
 Or to be learn’d from Oracles alone ? 
 
 If yet he lives; with patience I forbear, 
 
 'Till the fleet hours restore the circling* year: 
 
 Rut if already wandering in the train 
 
 Of empty shades; I measure back the main, 250 
 
 Plant the fair column o’er the mighty dead. 
 
 And yield his consort to the nuptial bed. 
 
 He ceas’d ; and while abash’d the peers attend. 
 Mentor arose, Ulysses’ faithful friend; 
 
 It is evident, that the place of the assembly was at least open 
 to the air in the upper parts: for otherwise how should the 
 eagles be visible to the Suitors ? and so very plainly, as to be 
 discovered to threat them with their eyes ? There was no 
 doubt a place set apart for council, usually in the market: for 
 Telemachus is said to seat himself in his father’s throne, in the 
 beginning of this book: but Ulysses had been absent twenty 
 years; and therefore it is evident, that his throne had stood in 
 the same place for the space of twenty years. It is past con¬ 
 tradiction, that in Athens, and other cities of Greece, there 
 were BaAevT^ia, publick halls for the consultation of affairs. P. 
 
 Ver. 253.] The portion that intervenes the speech of Men¬ 
 tor, is the most licentious translation which has yet occurred; 
 and withal grossly misrepresents the original, as Chapman and 
 Dacier had done before. The following effort is plain and 
 faithful: 
 
 Thus speaking, he sat down ; and next arose 
 That Mentor, whom renown’d Ulysses chose, 
 
 When first for Troy he left his native land. 
 
 To rule the household with a friendly hand; 
 
 That all should own his delegated sway. 
 
 The reverend senior thus began to say, W. 
 
I 
 
 book. ii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 57 
 
 (When fierce in arms he sought the scenes of war, 255 
 “ My friend (he cry’d) my palace be thy care ; 
 
 “ Years roll'd on years my god-like sire decay, 
 
 “ Guard thou his age, and his behests obey.”) 
 
 Stern as he rose, he cast his eyes around, 259 
 
 That flash’d with rage; and as he spoke, he frown’d. 
 
 O never, never more ! let king be just. 
 
 Be mild in power, or faithful to his trust 1 
 Let tyrants govern with an iron rod. 
 
 Oppress, destroy, and be the scourge of God ; 
 
 Since he who like a father held his reign, 265 
 
 So soon forgot, was just and mild in vain ! 
 
 True, while my friend is griev’d, his griefs I share ; 
 Yet now the rivals are my smallest care : 
 
 They, for the mighty mischiefs they devise. 
 
 Ere long shall pay : their forfeit lives the price. 270 
 But against you, ye Greeks ! ye coward train, 
 
 Gods ! how my soul is mov’d with just disdain ! 
 Dumb ye all stand, and not one tongue affords 
 His injur’d prince the little aid of words. 
 
 While yet he spoke, Leocritus rejoin’d: 2 75 
 
 O pride of words, and arrogance of mind! 
 Would’st thou to rise in arms the Greeks advise ? 
 Join all your powers ! in arms, ye Greeks, arise! 
 Yet would your powers in vain our strength oppose; 
 The valiant few o’ermatch an host of foes. 280 
 
 Ver. 269.] The rhyme is incorrect. Thus, more faithfully 
 and fully: 
 
 For all their deeds of force and rapine, they 
 A grievous price, their forfeit lives, shall pay: 
 
 Ulysses’ wealth, insatiate, they destroy, 
 
 >}or think him destin’d to return from Troy. W* 
 
58 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IT. 
 
 Should great Ulysses stern appear in arms. 
 
 While the bowl circles, and the banquet warms, 
 Tho’ to his breast his spouse with transport flies. 
 Torn from her breast, that hour, Ulysses dies. 
 
 But hence retreating to your domes repair; 285 
 To arm the vessel. Mentor! be thy care. 
 
 And Ilalitherses ! thine : be each his friend; 
 Yejov’d the father: go, the son attend. 
 
 But yet, I trust, the boaster means to stay 
 Safe in the court, nor tempt the watery way. 290 
 Then, with a rushing sound, the' assembly bend. 
 Diverse their steps : the rival rout ascend 
 The royal dome; while sad the prince explores 
 The neighbouring main, and sorrowing treads the 
 shores. 
 
 There, as the waters o’er his hands he shed, 295 
 The royal suppliant to Minerva pray’d. 
 
 O Goddess! who descending from the skies 
 Vouchsaf’d thy presence to my wondering eyes. 
 
 By whose commands the raging deeps I trace. 
 
 And seek my sire thro’ storms and rolling seas! 300 
 Hear from thy heavens above, 0I1 warrior-maid! 
 Descend once more, propitious to my aid. 
 
 Without thy presence, vain is thy command ; 
 Greece, and the ri\al train, thy voice withstand. 
 
 Indulgent to his prayer, the Goddess took 305 
 Sage Mentor’s form, and thus like Mentor spoke. 
 
 O prince, in early youth divinely wise. 
 
 Born, the Ulysses of thy age to rise 1 
 If to the son the father’s worth descends. 
 
 O’er the wide waves success thy ways attends : 3x0 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 59 
 
 To tread the walks of death he stood prepar’d. 
 
 And what he greatly thought, he nobly dar’d. 
 
 Were not wise sons descendent of the wise. 
 
 And did not heroes from brave heroes rise. 
 
 Vain were my hopes: few sons attain the praise 315 
 Of their great sires, and most their sires disgrace. 
 But since thy veins paternal virtue fires. 
 
 And all Penelope thy soul inspires : 
 
 Go, and succeed ! the rivals’ aims despise ; 
 
 For never, never, wicked man was wise. 620 
 
 Blind they rejoice, tho’ now, even now they fall; 
 Death hastes amain : one hour o’erwhelms them all! 
 And lo, with speed we plough the watery way ; 
 
 My power shall guard thee, and my hand convey: 
 The winged vessel studious I prepare, 325 
 
 Thro’ seas and realms companion of thy care. 
 Thou to the court ascend; and to the shores 
 (When night advances) bear the naval stores ; 
 Bread, that decaying man with strength supplies. 
 And generous wine, which thoughtful sorrow flies. 
 Meanwhile the mariners by my command 331 
 
 Shall speed aboard, a valiant chosen band. 
 
 Ver. 313.] Thus, with superior fidelity; and more unex¬ 
 ceptionable rhymes: 
 
 Wert thou not horn of parents good and wise, 
 
 And did not heroes stilt from heroes rise. 
 
 Vain were my hopes. Few sons in glorious race 
 Outstrip their sires : most lag with failing pace* W. 
 
 Ver. 325.] Or thus, more faithfully ; 
 
 I, erst thy father's friend , the ship prepare. W. 
 
 Ver. 329.] Chapman has preserved the very phrase of his 
 author; and, in my opinion at least, very elegantly ; 
 
 And meale, the very marrow of a man. W. 
 
60 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Wide o’er the bay, by vessel vessel rides; 
 
 The best I chusc to waft thee o’er the tides. 334 
 She spoke: to his high dome the prince returns, 
 And as he moves, with royal anguish mourns. 
 
 'Twas riot all, among the lawless train; 
 
 Boar bled by boar, and goat by goat lay slain. 
 Arriv’d, his hand the gay Antinous prest. 
 
 And thus deriding, with a smile addrest. 340 
 
 Grieve not, 0I1 daring prince! that noble heart; 
 
 Ill suits gay youth the stern heroick part. 
 
 Indulge the genial hour, unbend thy soul. 
 
 Leave thought to age, and drain the flowing bowl. 
 Studious to ease thy grief, our care provides 345 
 The bark, to waft thee o’er the swelling tides. 
 
 Is this (returns the prince) for mirth a time ? 
 When lawless gluttons riot, mirth’s a crime; 
 
 The luscious wines, dishonour’d, lose their taste; 
 The song is noise, and impious is the feast. S5Q 
 Suffice it to have spent with swift decay 
 The wealth of Kings, and made my youth a prey. 
 
 Ver. 334.] Thus, more faithfully : 
 
 Ships numerous, neiv and old , our harbour ride : 
 
 The best I chuse to waft us o’er the tide . W. 
 
 Ver. 335.] A wretched couplet all together, and too con¬ 
 cise for his author. I shall propose the following substitution: 
 Thus, Jove’s unconquer’d daughter, Pallas said: 
 
 And now no more Telemachus delayed. 
 
 Soon as his ear the heavenly sounds imprest, 
 
 He homeward hasten’d with a pensive breast. W, 
 Ver. 346.] We may thus supply what the translator has 
 omitted of his author, after this verse: 
 
 With a choice band of sailors. Go, enquire 
 In sandy Pylos for thy noble sire. W, 
 
 Ver. 349.] The rhymes of this couplet also are incorrect, 
 nor is the couplet authorised by the original. W. 
 
BOOR II. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 61 
 
 But now the wise instructions of the sage. 
 
 And manly thoughts inspir’d by manly age. 
 
 Teach me to seek redress for all my woe, 3 5 $ 
 
 Here, or in Pyle—in Pyle, or here, your foe. 
 
 Deny your vessels, ye deny in vain ; 
 
 A private voyager I pass the main. 
 
 Free breathe the winds, and free the billows flow. 
 And where on earth I live, I live your foe. 360 
 He spoke and frown’d, nor longer deign’d to stay, 
 Sternly his hand withdrew, and strode away. 
 
 Meantime, o’er all the dome, they quaff, they'X 
 feast, f 
 
 Derisive taunts were spread from guest to guest, ( 
 And each in jovial mood his mate addrest. 3 
 Tremble ye not, 0I1 friends ! and coward fly. 
 Doom’d by the stern Telemachus to die ? 
 
 To Pyle or Sparta to demand supplies. 
 
 Big with revenge, the mighty warrior flies: 
 
 Or comes from Ephyre with poisons fraught, 370 
 And kills us all in one tremendous draught! 
 
 Or who can say (his gamesome mate replies) 
 
 But while the dangers of the deeps he tries. 
 
 He, like his sire, may sink depriv’d of breath. 
 
 And punish us unkindly by his death ? 37 * 
 
 What mighty labours would he then create. 
 
 To seize his treasures, and divide his state. 
 
 The royal palace to the Queen convey. 
 
 Or him she blesses in the bridal day ! 
 
 1 • 
 
 Ver. 362.] Rather, as the original prescribes, 
 
 H is hand in haste withdrew. W. 
 
 Ver. 378. The royal palace to the Queen convey ,The Sui¬ 
 tors allot the palace to Penelope : it being, says Eustathius, the 
 
6a 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK II, 
 
 Meantime the lofty rooms the prince surveys, 380 
 Where lay the treasures of the’ Ithacian race : 
 
 Here ruddy brass and gold refulgent blaz’d ; 
 
 There polish’d chests embroider’d vestures grac’d; 
 Here jars of oil breath’d forth a rich perfume; 
 There casks of wine in rows adorn’d the dome. 385 
 (Pure flavorous wine, by Gods in bounty given, 
 
 And worthy to exalt the feasts of heaven.) 
 
 Untouch’d they stood, ’till his long labours o’er 
 The great Ulysses reach’d his native shore. 
 
 A double strength of bars secur’d the gates: 390 
 
 Fast by the door the wise Euryclea w r aits; 
 
 Euryclea, who, great Ops ! thy lineage shar’d. 
 
 And watch’d all night, all day ; a faithful guard. 
 
 To whom the prince. O thou, whose guardian care 
 Nurs’d the most wretched King that breathes the air: 
 
 only thing that they cannot consume; and adds, that the ex¬ 
 pression of the Suitors, concerning the labour they should un¬ 
 dergo in dividing the substance of Ulysses, shews the wealth 
 and abundance of that hero. P. 
 
 Ver. 394?. — - — O thou, ivhose guardian care 
 
 Nurs'd the most ivretched King -3 
 
 Euryclea was not properly the nurse of Telemachus, but of 
 Ulysses; so that she is called so not in the strict sense, but as one 
 concerned in his education from his infancy, and as a general 
 appellation of honour. Telemachus here reserves the best wines 
 for Ulysses; a lesson (observes Eustathius) that even in the 
 smallest matters we ought to pay a deference to our parents. 
 These occasional and seemingly trivial circumstances are not 
 without their use, if not as poetical ornaments, yet as moral 
 instructions. P. 
 
 There is but a faint shadow of the original in this version* 
 which may be literally given, as follows : 
 
 Nurse, draw me off some wine in two-ear’d urns. 
 
 Sweet wine, best flavour’d next to that you keep, 
 
 Your hapless lord expecting, if, perchance 
 Divine Ulysses comes, escap’d from death. 
 
book ii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 63 
 
 Untouch’d and sacred may these vessels stand, 395 
 ’Till great Ulysses views his native land. 
 
 But by thy care twelve urns of wine be fill’d, 
 
 Next these in worth, and firm those urns be seal’d; 
 And twice ten measures of the choicest flour 400 
 Prepar’d, ere yet descends the evening hour. 
 
 For when the favoring shades of night arise. 
 
 And peaceful slumbers close my mother’s eyes, 
 
 Me from our coast shall spreading sails convey, 
 
 To seek Ulysses thro’ the watery way. 405 
 
 While yet he spoke, she fill’d the walls with cries. 
 And tears ran trickling from her aged eyes. 
 
 Oh whither, whither flies my son ? she cried. 
 
 To realms, that rocks and roaring seas divide ? 
 
 In foreign lands thy father’s days decay’d, 410 
 And foreign lands contain the mighty dead. 
 
 The watery way ill-fated if thou try, 
 
 All, all must perish, and by fraud you die! 
 
 Then stay, my child! storms beat, and rolls the main; 
 Oh beat those storms, and roll the seas in vain ! 415 
 Far hence (reply’d the prince) thy fears be driven: 
 Heaven calls me forth; these counsels are of heaven. 
 But by the powers that hate the perjur’d, swear. 
 
 To keep my voyage from the royal ear, 
 
 Twelve vessels fill, and fit them well with lids: 
 
 And pour me flour in close-compacted skins. 
 
 Twelve measures let there be of flour well-ground ; 
 Plenteous provision, only known to thee. 
 
 And this extends to verse 401 of our translator. W. 
 
 Ver. 413.] Thus, accurately: 
 
 Your wealth is squander*d> and by fraud } r ou die ! W . 
 Ver. 418.] An omitted verse of his author might have been 
 well introduced after this, to form a triplet, as follows: 
 
 Unless she ask, and of my absence hear. 
 
64 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 book ir. 
 
 Nor un compelled the dangerous truth betray, 420 
 ’Till twice six times descends the lamp of day: 
 
 Lest the sad tale a mother’s life impair. 
 
 And grief destroy what time awhile would spare. 
 
 Thus he. The matron with uplifted eyes 
 Attests the’ all-seeing Sovereign of the skies. 425 
 Then studious she prepares the choicest flour. 
 
 The strength of wheat, and wines an ample store. 
 While to the rival train the prince returns, 
 
 The martial Goddess with impatience burns; 
 
 Like thee, Telemachus, in voice and size, 430 
 
 With speed divine from street to street she flies, 
 
 She bids the mariners prepar’d, to stand. 
 
 When night descends, embodied on the strand. 
 Then to Noemon swift she runs, she flies. 
 
 And asks a bark: the chief a bark supplies. 435 
 
 And now, declining with his sloping wheels, 
 Down sunk the sun behind the western hills. 
 
 Ver. 421. 9 Till twice six times descends the lamp of day.~\ It 
 
 may be demanded how it was probable, (if possible) that the 
 departure of Telemachus could be concealed twelve days from 
 the knowledge of so fond a mother as Penelope ? It must be 
 allowed, that this would not be possible, except in a time of 
 such great disorder as the Suitors created: Penelope confined 
 herself almost continually within her own apartment, and very 
 seldom appeared publickly; so that there is no improbability in 
 this relation. Dacier. P. 
 
 Ver. 435. Noemon - the harh supplies.'] It may be asked 
 
 why this particularity is necessary, and may it not be thought 
 that such a little circumstance is insignificant. ? The answer is, 
 that a great deal depends upon this particularity; no less than 
 the discovery of the voyage of Telemachus to the Suitors; and 
 consequently, whatever the Suitors act in order to intercept him, 
 takes its rise from this little incident; the fountain is indeed 
 small, but a large stream of poetry flows from it. P. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 65 
 
 The Goddess shov’d the vessel from the shores, 
 
 And stow’d within its womb the naval stores, 
 
 Full in the openings of the spacious main 440 
 It rides ; and now descends the sailor-train. 
 
 Next, to the court, impatient of delay, 
 
 With rapid step the Goddess urg’d her way: 
 
 There every eye with slumberous chains she bound. 
 And dash’d the flowing goblet to the ground. 445 
 Drowsy they rose, with heavy fumes opprest. 
 
 Reel’d from the palace, and retir’d to rest. 
 
 Then thus, in Mentor’s reverend form array’d. 
 Spoke to Telemachus the Martial Maid. 
 
 Lo! on the seas, prepar’d the vessel stands, 450 
 The’ impatient mariner thy speed demands. 
 
 Swift as she spoke, with rapid pace she leads ; 
 
 The footsteps of the Deity he treads. 
 
 Swift to the shore they move: along the strand 
 The ready vessel rides, the sailors ready stand. 455 
 
 He bids them bring their stores; the’attending train 
 Load the tall bark, and launch into the main. 
 
 Ver. 444. There every eye voith slumberous chains she bound. J 
 It may be asked how Minerva can be said to occasion this drow¬ 
 siness in the Suitors, and make them retire sooner than usual ? 
 Eustathius replies, that the person who furnished the wine sup* 
 plied it in greater quantities than ordinary, through which wine 
 they contracted a drowsiness: in this sense, Minerva, or wisdom, 
 may be said to assist the designs of Telemachus. P. 
 
 Ver. 456-3 Into this couplet the haste and laziness of the 
 translator has huddled seven verses of his author. 
 
 Then spake the blooming vigorous youth divine: 
 
 Be now, dear comrades! our provisions brought; 
 
 All stor’d at home they lie: our purpose yet 
 Nor knows my mother, nor her maids, save one. 
 
 He spake, and led the way: they follow’d straight; 
 
 The stores together brought, and in their bark, 
 
 Ulysses’ much-lov’d ion directing, stow’d. W. 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 The prince and Goddess to the stern ascend ; 
 
 To the strong stroke at once the rowers bend. 
 
 Full from the west she bids fresh breezes blow; 4do 
 The sable billows foam and roar below. 
 
 The chief his orders gives; the 5 obedient band 
 With due obedience wait the chief’s command; 
 With speed the mast they rear, with speed unbind 
 The spacious sheet, and stretch it to the wind. 46s 
 High o’er the roaring waves the spreading sails 
 Bow the tall mast, and swell before the gales; 
 
 The crooked keel the parting surge divides. 
 
 And to the stern retreating roll the tides. 4 69 
 
 And now they ship their oars, and crown with wine 
 The holy goblet to the powers divine : 
 
 * 
 
 Ver. 458.] This couplet also condenses twice the compass 
 of his original, who may be thus literally given: 
 
 On board he goes : Minerva leads the way, 
 
 And at the stern sits down : there by her side 
 He takes his seat: the sailors loose the ropes* 
 
 Scale the ship’s sides, and on the benches range. W. 
 
 Ver. 469.] 'I his line excepted, the passage is finely exe-* 
 cuted. I shall propose an alteration, which consults fidelity at 
 the same time: 
 
 Swift files the vessel; roar the purple tides. W. 
 
 Ver. 470.- And crown with wine 
 
 The holy goblet to the Powers divine.] 
 
 This custom of libations was frequent upon all solemn occasions, 
 before meat, before sleep, voyages, journies, and in all religious 
 rites, sacrifices, 8$c. They were always made with wine, pure 
 and unmixed, whence axpalov is a word frequent in ancient 
 authors. Sometimes they used mixed wines in sacrifices: but 
 Eustathius says, that this mixture was of wine with wine, and 
 not of wine with water; hence came the distinction of e\c 7 rov$ov 
 and a.trnov^v, the unlawful and lawful libation; wine unmixed 
 was lawful, and mixed unlawful. Homer in this place uses 
 tnirttplou; xprUyput;, or goblets crowned with voine ,• that is, filled till 
 the wine stood above the brim of the goblet; they esteemed it 
 
ROOK II. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 67 
 
 Imploring all the Gods that reign above. 
 
 But chief, the blue-ey’d Progeny of Jove. 
 
 Thus all the night they stem the liquid way. 
 
 And end their voyage with the morning ray. 455 
 
 an irreverence to the Gods not to fill the cups full* for then only 
 they esteemed the libation vohole and perfect , oXov xal rehuov. P. 
 
 This book takes up the space of one day and one night: it 
 opens with the morning; the speeches in the Council, with the 
 preparations for the voyage of Telemachus, are the subject of 
 the day; and the voyage is finished by the next morning. By 
 this last circumstance we may learn that Ithaca was distant from 
 Pylos but one night’s voyage, nay something less, there being 
 some time spent after the setting of the sun, in carrying the 
 provisions from the palace to the vessel. P. 
 
 
 
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THE 
 
 THIRD BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
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THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE INTERVIEW OF TELEMACHUS AND NESTOR. 
 
 TELEMACHUS, guided by Pallas in the shape 
 
 of Mentor, arrives in the morning at Pylos 3 where 
 
 Nestor and his sons are sacrificing on the sea-shore 
 
 to Neptune . Telemachus declares the occasion of 
 
 his coming, and Nestor relates what past in their 
 
 return from Troy, how their fleets were separated, 
 
 and he never since heard of Ulysses. They discourse 
 
 concerning the death of Agamemnon, the revenge 
 
 of Orestes, and the injuries of the Suitors. Nestor 
 
 advises him to go to Sparta, and inquire further of 
 
 Menelaus. The sacrifice ending with the night, 
 
 Minerva vanishes from them in the form of an 
 
 eagle : Telemachus is lodged in the palace. The 
 
 next morning they sacrifice a bullock to Minerva, 
 
 * 
 
 and Telemachus proceeds on his journey to Sparta 
 attended by Pisistratus. 
 
 The scene lies on the Sea-shore of Pylos. P t 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 THE scene is now removed from Ithaca to Pylos, and with 
 it a new vein of poetry is opened: instead of the riots of the 
 Suitors, we are entertained with the wisdom and piety of Nestor. 
 This and the following book are a kind of Supplement to the 
 Iliad; the nature of Epick Poetry requires that something 
 Should be left to the imagination of the reader, nor is the picture 
 to be intirely drawn at full length. Homer therefore, to satisfy 
 our curiosity, gives an account of the fortunes of those great 
 men, who made so noble a figure at the siege of Troy. This 
 conduct also shews his art: variety gives life and delight; and 
 it is much more necessary in Epick than in Comick or Tragick 
 Poetry, sometimes to shift the scenes, to diversify and embellish 
 the story. But as on the stage the Poet ought not to step at 
 once from one part of the world to a too remote country, (for 
 this destroys credibility, and the auditor cannot fancy himself 
 this minute here, and the next a thousand miles distant) so in 
 Epick poetry, every removal must be within the degrees of 
 probability. We have here a very easy transition; the Poet 
 carries his hero no farther than he really might sail in the com-* 
 "pass of time he allots for his voyage. If he had still dwelt upon 
 the disorders of the Suitors without interruption, he must grow 
 tiresome; but he artfully breaks the thread of their story with 
 beautiful incidents and episodes, and reserves the further recital 
 of their disorders for the end of his Poem: by this method we 
 sit down with fresh appetite to the entertainment, and rise at 
 last not cloyed, but satisfied, P, 
 
THE 
 
 THIRD BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 f' 
 
 The sacred sun, above the waters rais'd. 
 Thro' heaven’s eternal, brazen portals blaz’d; 
 And wide o’er earth diffus’d his cheering ray. 
 To Gods and men to give the golden day. 
 Now on the coast of Pyle the vessel falls. 
 Before old Neleus’ venerable walls. 
 
 There, suppliant to the Monarch of the flood. 
 At nine green theatres the Pylians stood. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 2. Thro 9 heaven's eternal, brazen portals -] The 
 
 original calls heaven <w or brazen ; the reason of it 
 arises either from the palaces of the Gods being built of brass 
 by Vulcan; or rather the word implies no more than the stabi¬ 
 lity of heaven, which in other places is called Q&nftn* or framed 
 of iron . Eustathius. P. 
 
 Ver. 8. At nine green theatres .] It may be asked why the 
 Poet is so very particular as to mention that the Pylians were 
 divided into nine assemblies; and may it not seem a circumstance 
 of no importance. ? Eustathius answers from the ancienu, that 
 
74 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book hi. 
 
 Each held five hundred, (a deputed train) 
 
 At each, nine oxen on the sand lay slain. 1 © 
 
 They taste the entrails, and the altars load 
 With smoaking thighs, an offering to the God. 
 
 Full for the port the Ithacensians stand, 
 
 And furl their sails, and issue on the land. 
 Telemachus already prest the shore ; 15 
 
 Not first, the power of Wisdom march’d before. 
 And ere the sacrificing throng he join’d, 
 Admonish’d thus his well-attending mind. 
 
 Proceed, my son ! this youthful shame expel; 
 
 An honest business never blush to tell. 20 
 
 To learn what fates thy wretched sire detain. 
 
 We past the wide, immeasurable main, 
 
 Meet then the senior far renown’d for sense. 
 
 With reverend awe, but decent confidence : 
 
 there were nine cities subject to the power of Nestor: five in 
 Pylos, the rest in Bceotia; the Poet therefore allots one bank 
 or theatre to every city, which consisted of five hundred men, 
 the whole number amounting to four thousand five hundred: 
 these cities furnished the like compliment of men to Nestor for 
 the war at Troy: he sailed in ninety vessels, and allowing fifty 
 men to each vessel, they amount to that number. Hence it ap¬ 
 pears that this was a national sacrifice, every city furnished nine 
 bulls, and by consequence the whole nation were partakers 
 of it. P. 
 
 Ver, 11. They taste the entrails .] That is, every person eat 
 a small portion of the sacrifice, and by this method every per¬ 
 son became partaker of it. P. 
 
 Ver. 20 ] A line of interpretation, seasonably inserted by 
 pur translator, to render perspicuous the sententious brevity of 
 his author. 
 
 Ver. 21.] Thus his original: 
 
 To learn what fate, what land, thy sire detain; 
 
 Or, with still more fidelity : 
 
 To learn what lands thy wretched father hide. 
 
 What fate befalls, we measur’d ocean’s tide, W. 
 
BOOK III. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. To 
 
 Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies ; 25 
 
 And sure he will: for Wisdom never lies. 
 
 Oh tell me. Mentor ! tell me, faithful guide, 
 
 (The youth with prudent modesty replied) 
 
 How shall I meet, or how accost the Sage, 
 
 Unskill’d in speech, nor yet mature of age ? 30 
 
 Awful the’ approach, and hard the task appears. 
 
 To question wisely men of riper years. 
 
 To whom the martial Goddess thus rejoin’d. 
 Search, for some thoughts, thy own suggesting mind; 
 And others, dictated by heavenly power, 35 
 
 Shall rise spontaneous in the needful hour. 
 
 For nought unprosperous shall thy ways attend, 
 Born with good omens, and with heaven thy friend. 
 
 She spoke, and led the way with swiftest speed: 
 As swift, the youth pursu’d the way she led; 40 
 
 And join’d the band before the sacred fire. 
 
 Where sat, encompast with his sons, the Sire. 
 
 The youth of Pylos, some on pointed wood 
 Transfix’d the fragments, some prepar’d the food. 
 In friendly throngs they gather to embrace 4 3 
 
 Their unknown guests, and at the banquet place. 
 Pisistratus was first, to grasp their hands. 
 
 And spread soft hides upon the yellow sands; 
 Along the shore the’ illustrious pair he led. 
 
 Where Nestor sat with youthful Thrasymed. 50 
 To each a portion of the feast he bore. 
 
 And held a golden goblet foaming o’er; 
 
 Then, first approaching to the elder guest. 
 
 The latent Goddess in these words addrest. 
 Whoe’er thou art, whom fortune brings to keep, 55 
 These rites of Neptune, monarch of the deep 
 
76 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Thee first it fits, oh stranger! to prepare 
 The due libation and the solemn prayer; 
 
 Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine : 
 
 Tho’ much thy younger, and his years like mine, > 
 He too, I deem, implores the powers divine; 61' 
 
 For all mankind alike require their grace. 
 
 All born to want; a miserable race ! 
 
 He spake, and to her hand preferr’d the bowl: 
 
 A secret pleasure touch’d Athena’s soul, 65 
 
 To see the preference due to sacred age 
 Regarded ever by the just and sage. 
 
 Of Ocean’s King she then implores the grace. 
 
 Oh thou ! whose arms this ample globe embrace. 
 Fulfil our wish, and let thy glory shine 70 
 
 On Nestor first, and Nestor’s royal line; 
 
 Next grant the Pylian states their just desires. 
 Pleas’d with their hecatomb’s ascending fires ; 
 
 Last deign Telemachus and me to bless. 
 
 And crown our voyage with desir’d success. 75 
 
 f 
 
 Ver. 59.] An erroneous conception of the original disfigures 
 this passage, which may be obviated thus: 
 
 Then, nor till then , thy friend the sacred wine 
 May shed; thy younger, and his years like mine. 
 
 The words of Homer are perfectly perspicuous, and are clearly 
 apprehended by every translator but Chapman; who was, un¬ 
 fortunately, our Poet’s guide on this occasion. 
 
 For I suppose, his youth doth prayers use, 
 
 Since all men need the Gods. W. 
 
 Ver. 68.] Homer says only, 
 
 Hear, earth-containing Neptune! W. 
 
 Ver. 74. Last deign Telemachus and me to bless --] Since 
 
 Minerva here mentions the name of Telemachus in her prayer; 
 how comes it to pass, that Nestor is at a loss to know Telema¬ 
 chus ? Minerva sat close by Nestor; he must therefore be sup¬ 
 posed to hear the prayer; and yet in the following lines he en- 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 77 
 
 Thus she; and having paid the rite divine. 
 
 Gave to Ulysses* son the rosy wine. 
 
 Suppliant he pray’d. And now the victims drest 
 They draw, divide, and celebrate the feast. 
 
 The banquet done, the narrative old man, so 
 
 Thus mild, the pleasing conference began. 
 
 Now, gentle guests ! the genial banquet o’er. 
 
 It fits to ask you, what your native shore, 
 
 And whence your race ? on what adventure, say. 
 Thus far ye wander thro’ the watery way ? 85 
 
 Relate, if business, or the thirst of gain. 
 
 Engage your journey o’er the pathless main : 
 
 4 
 
 quires who these strangers are ? We can scarce imagine Nes¬ 
 tor ignorant that the son of Ulysses was named Telemachus, 
 there being so strict a friendship between Nestor and Ulysses. 
 Perhaps therefore Minerva prayed in secret mentally ; or per¬ 
 haps Nestor might not take notice of what was not addrest im¬ 
 mediately to him, and consequently make inquiry about it for 
 the greater certainty. P. 
 
 Ver. 76.] Our poet follows Ogilby in omitting a clause of 
 his author, which is quaintly exhibited by Chapman: 
 
 Thus praid she : and her selfe, her selfe obaid; 
 
 In the’ end performing all for which she praid. W. 
 
 Ver. 86. Relate , if business, or the thirst of gain, & c.] If 
 we form our images of persons and actions in ancient times, 
 from the images of persons and actions in modern ages, we 
 shall fall into great mistakes : thus in the present passage, if we 
 annex the same idea of piracy, as it was practised three thou¬ 
 sand years past, to piracy as it is practised in our ages; what 
 can be a greater affront than this inquiry of Nestor ? But, 
 says Eustathius, piracy was formerly not only accounted lawful, 
 but honourable. I doubt not but Thucydides had this passage 
 in view, when he says, that the ancient poets introduce men 
 inquiring of those who frequent the sea, if they be pirates, as 
 a thing no way ignominious. Thucydides tells us in the same 
 place, that all those who lived on the sea-coast, or in the 
 islands, maintained themselves by frequent inroads upon unfor* 
 
78 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Where savage pirates seek thro’ seas unknown 
 The lives of others, venturous of their own. 
 
 Urg’d by the precepts by the Goddess given, 9a 
 And fill’d with confidence infus’d from heaven. 
 
 The youth, whom Pallas destin’d to be wise 
 And fam’d among the sons of men, replies. 
 
 Inquir’st thou, Father! from what coast we came ? 
 (Oh grace and glory of the Grecian name!) 95 
 
 From where high Ithaca o’erlooks the floods. 
 
 Brown with o’er-arching shades and pendent woods. 
 Us to these shores our filial duty draws, 
 
 A private sorrow, not a publick cause. 
 
 My sire I seek, where-e’er the voice of fame 100 
 Has told the glories of his noble name. 
 
 The great Ulysses; fam’d from shore to shore 
 For valour much, for hardy suffering more. 
 
 Long time with thee before proud Ilion’s wall 
 In arms he fought; with thee beheld her fall. 10^ 
 Of all the chiefs, this hero’s fate alone 
 Has Jove reserv’d, unheard-of, and unknown ; 
 Whether in fields by hostile fury slain, 
 
 Or sunk by tempests in the gulfy main ? 
 
 Of this to learn, opprest with tender fears, no 
 Lo, at thy knee his suppliant son appears. 
 
 If or thy certain eye, or curious ear. 
 
 Have learnt his fate, the whole dark story clear : 
 
 And oh! whate’er heaven destin’d to betide. 
 
 Let neither flattery sooth, nor pity hide. 115. 
 
 tified towns, and if such piracies were nobly performed, they 
 w r ere accounted glorious. Herodotus also writes, that many of 
 the ancients, especially about Thrace, thought it ignominious 
 to live by labouring the ground, but to live by piracy and plun¬ 
 der was esteemed a life of honour, Eustathius. P. 
 
KOOK III. HOMEll’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 79 
 
 Prepar’d I stand : he was but born to try 
 The lot of man; to suffer,, and to die. 
 
 Oh then, if ever thro’ the ten years’ war 
 The wise, the good Ulysses claim’d thy care; 
 
 If e’er he join’d thy council, or thy sword. 
 
 True in his deed, and constant to his word; 
 
 Far as thy mind thro’ backward time can see. 
 Search all thy stores of faithful memory : 
 
 ’Tis sacred truth I ask, and ask of thee. 
 
 To him experienc’d Nestor thus rejoin’d. 
 
 O friend! what sorrows dost thou bring to mind 
 Shall I the long, laborious scene review. 
 
 And open all the wounds of Greece anew ! 
 
 i 
 
 What toils by sea ! where dark in quest of prey 
 Dauntless we rov’d; Achilles led the way : 
 What toils by land! where mixt in fatal fight , 
 Such numbers fell, such heroes sunk to night: 
 There Ajax great, Achilles there the brave. 
 There w ise Patroclus, fill an early grave : 
 
 There too my son—ah once my best delight. 
 Once swift of foot, and terrible in fight. 
 
 In whom stern courage with soft virtue join’d, 
 
 A faultless body, and a blameless mind: 
 Antilochus—what more can I relate? 
 
 How trace the tedious series of our fate ? 
 
 V" 
 
 * 
 
 120 
 
 I 
 
 125 
 
 150 
 
 135 
 
 140 
 
 Ver. 122.] This triplet is swollen from one line of Homer: 
 
 Now think on this, and all the truth unfold. W. 
 
 Ver. 135.] To avoid this imperfection of rhyme, and to keep 
 closer to the compass of the original, which stands as follows: 
 There my Antilochus, both brave and good; 
 
 Most dear ! undaunted warrior, swift of foot: 
 
 I could wish to see the translation confined to a couplet. Thus? 
 There brave Antilochus, my best delight: 
 
 All virtuous ! swift to run , and bold to fight. W. 
 
80 ' HOMER's ODYSSEY. book nr. 
 
 Not added years on years my task could close. 
 
 The long historian of my country’s woes: 
 
 Back to thy native islands might’st thou sail. 
 
 And leave half-heard the melancholy tale. 
 
 Nine painful years on that detested shore, 145\ 
 What stratagems we form’d, what toils we bore ! 
 Still labouring on, ’till scarce at last we found 
 Great Jove propitious, and our conquest crown’d. 
 Far o’er the rest thy mighty father shin’d. 
 
 In wit, in prudence, and in force of mind. iso 
 Art thou the son of that illustrious sire ? 
 
 With joy I grasp thee, and with love admire. 
 
 So like your voices, and your words so wise. 
 
 Who finds thee younger must consult his eyes. 
 
 Thy sire and I were one; nor varied aught 155 
 In publick sentence, or in private thought ; 
 
 Alike to council or the’ assembly came. 
 
 With equal souls, and sentiments the same. 
 
 But when (by wisdom won) proud Ilion burn’d. 
 
 And in their ships the conquering Greeks return’d, 
 ’Twas God’s high will the victors to divide, 161 
 
 And turn the’ event, confounding human pride : 
 
 \ 
 
 Ver. 157. The council or the assembly."] There is a remark¬ 
 able difference between fiaXy and ayop«. The former denotes a 
 select number of men assembled in council, the latter a publick 
 assembly where all the people were present. Eustathius. P. 
 
 -Ver. 158.] The original is already sufficiently dilated: other¬ 
 wise, a neglected, but important, sentiment, might be intro¬ 
 duced thus: 
 
 Greece joy’d our schemes in harmony to share: 
 
 The public interest was our only care: 
 
 Or thus 1 
 
 There, anxious only for the public good, 
 
 Harmonious counsellors of Greece we stood. W. t 
 
book hi. HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 81 
 
 Some he destroy’d, some scatter’d as the dust, 
 
 (Not all were prudent, and not all were just) 
 
 Then Discord, sent by Pallas from above, 165 
 Stern daughter of the great avenger Jove, 
 
 The brother-kings inspir’d with fell debate. 
 
 Who call’d to council all the’ Achaian state ; 
 
 But call’d untimely (not the sacred rite 
 Observ’d, nor heedful of the setting light, xjq 
 
 Ver. 163.] This comparison of the dust was interpolated by 
 the translator, not willing to encounter the trouble of devising 
 a different turn for the verse, from an obvious reason. And the 
 sentiment too, as far as it was authorized by his author, had 
 been given in verse 16T. Thus? with fidelity: 
 
 On numbers , Fate with swift perdition flies: 
 
 Not all were righteous , and not all were wise. W. 
 
 Ver. 165. Sent by Pallas -] Nestor in modesty conceals 
 
 the reason of the anger of the Goddess; out of respect to Ajax 
 the Locrian, who was then dead: the crime of Ajax was the 
 violation of Cassandra even in the temple of Minerva before her 
 image. But why should the Goddess be angry at others for the 
 crime of Ajax? This is because they omitted to punish the 
 offender. If Ajax was criminal in offending, others are criminal 
 for not punishing the offence. Eustathius. P. 
 
 Ver. 168, &c. Who call’d to council -- 
 
 But call’d untimely , &c.[] 
 
 It may seem at first view, that the Poet affirms the night to be an 
 improper season to convene a council. This is not his meaning: 
 in the Iliad, there are several councils by night; nay, h w>Hl 
 /SaX»? is used proverbially to express the best concerted councils. 
 What therefore Nestor here condemns is the calling not a select, 
 but a publick assembly of the soldiers in the night, when they 
 are in no danger of an enemy, and when they are apt to fly into 
 insolence through wine, and the joy of victory. '1 he night is 
 then undoubtedly an ill chosen season: because the licence of 
 the soldier cannot be so well restrained by night as by day, 
 Eustathius. P* 
 
 Ver. 169.] Where our Poet found his commentary I have 
 not discovered from the books before me; but the following line 
 cf his author is represented by these three verses; 
 
 Rash, in disorder, at the setting sun. W . 
 
 VOL. i. G 
 
82 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 
 
 BOOK. Ill, 
 
 Nor herald sworn the session to proclaim) 
 
 Sour with debauch, a reeling tribe they came. 
 
 To these the cause of meeting they explain. 
 
 And Menelaiis moves to cross the main; 
 
 Not so the King of men : he will’d to stay ; 175 
 
 The sacred rites and hecatombs to pay, 
 
 * 
 
 And calm Minerva’s wrath. Oh blind to fate ! 
 
 / r - - f -■ * 2" S -I 
 
 The Gods not lightly change their love, or hate. 
 With ireful taunts each other they oppose, 
 
 ’Till in loud tumult all the Greeks arose. iso 
 
 Now different counsels every breast divide. 
 
 Each burns with rancour to the adverse side. 
 
 The’ unquiet night strange projects entertain’d ; 
 
 (So Jove, that urged us to our fate, ordain’d.) 
 
 We with the rising morn our ships unmoor’d, iss 
 And brought our captives and our stores a-board ; 
 
 Rut half the people with respect obey’d 
 
 • 
 
 The King of men, and at his bidding stay’d. 
 
 Now on the wings of winds our course we keep, 
 (For God had smooth’d the waters of the deep) 190 
 For Tenedos we spread our eager oars. 
 
 There land, and pay due victims to the powers; 
 
 To bless our safe return we join in prayer, 
 
 Rut angry Jove dispers’d our vows in air, 
 
 And rais’d new discord. Then, (so heaven decreed) 
 Ulysses first and Nestor disagreed ■ 196 
 
 -Wise as he was, by various counsels sway’d. 
 
 He there, tho’ late, to please the monarch, stay’d. 
 
 Ver. 195.] Ogilby, who fully expresses the true sense of his 
 author, will serve to point out the deviation and interpolation of 
 cur Poet in the following period. 
 
 Ulysses’ squadron on our general's score 
 
 Sail’d baclq and anchor’d where they rode before. \V r . 
 
BOOK. HI. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 83 
 
 But I, determin'd, stem the foamy floods. 
 
 Warn’d of the coming fury of the Gods. 200 
 
 With us, Tydides fear’d, and urg’d his haste : 
 
 And Menelaiis came, but came the last. 
 
 He join’d our vessels in the Lesbian bay. 
 
 While yet we doubted of our watery way; 
 
 If to the right to urge the pilot’s toil, 204 
 
 (The safer road) beside the Psyrian isle; 
 
 Or the straight course to rocky Chios plow. 
 
 And anchor under Mimas’ shaggy brow ? 
 
 We sought direction of the power divine; 
 
 The God propitious gave the guiding sign : 210 
 
 Thro the mid seas he bid our navy steer. 
 
 And in Euboea shun the woes we fear. 
 
 The whistling winds already wak’d the sky ; 
 
 Before the whistling winds the vessels fly. 
 
 With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way, 215 
 
 And reach Gerestus at the point of day. 
 
 There hecatombs of bulls, to Neptune slain. 
 High-flaming please the monarch of the main. 
 
 The fourth day shone, when all the labours o’er 
 Tydides’ vessels touch’d the wish’d-for shore : 220 
 
 But I to Pylos scud before the gales. 
 
 The God still breathing on my'swelling sails ; 
 Separate from all, I safely landed here ; 
 
 Their fates or fortunes never reach’d my ear, 
 
 Ver. 216.] More properly, I think, 
 
 And reach Gerestus ere the dawn of day. \V. 
 
 Ver. 218.] Accurately to the original, thus: 
 
 Our run reward through such a length of main: 
 
 But more poetically as follows, nor with less fidelity: 
 
 We numerous thighs of bulls to Neptune gave, 
 
 Our kind conductor through the spacious wave. W. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Yet what I learn’d, attend; as here I sat, 225 ) 
 And ask’d each voyager each hero’s fate; > 
 
 Curious to know, and willing to relate. 3 
 
 Safe reach’d the Myrmidons their native land. 
 Beneath Achilles’ warlike son’s command. 
 
 Those, whom the heir of great Apollo’s art, 230 
 Brave Philoctetes, taught to wing the dart ; 
 
 And those whom Idomen from Ilion’s plain 
 Had led, securely crost the dreadful main. 
 
 How Agamemnon touch’d his Argive coast. 
 
 And how his life by fraud and force he lost, 235 
 
 Ver. 229 . Achilles' warlike son .] The son of Achilles was 
 named Neoptolemus, by others Pyrrhus ; his story is this : when 
 he had reached Thessaly with the Myrmidons of Achilles, by the 
 advice of Thetis he set lire to his vessels; and being warned by 
 Helenus, from the oracles, to fix his habitation where he found 
 a house whose foundations were iron, whose walls were wood, 
 and whose roof was wool: he took his journey on foot, and 
 coming to a certain lake of Epirus, he found some persons fixing 
 their spears with the point downwards into the earth, and cover¬ 
 ing the tops of them with their cloaks, and after this manner 
 making their tents; he looked upon the oracle as fulfilled, and 
 dwelt there. Afterwards having a son by Andromache, the wife 
 of Hector, he named him Molossus, from whom the region took 
 the name of Molossia. From this country are the Molossi canes, 
 mentioned by Virgil. Eustat/uus . P. 
 
 Ver. 234 , ] Though the sound be the same, a word similarly 
 written seems preferable, thus: 
 
 How brought our general back his Argive host— 
 
 But our translator has executed the remainder of this speech 
 with but little attention to his author. The reader must accept 
 a plain translation, as nearly commensurate, as our poetry will 
 admit, to the original. 
 
 Ye hear, thp* distant, how Atrides sped: 
 
 Our king return’d, by fell AEgysthus bled. 
 
 The crafty murderer soon the forfeit paid, 
 
 Apd dyed with blood the son’s avenging blade,, 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 85 
 
 And how the murderer paid his forfeit breath/ 
 What lands so distant from that scene of death 
 But trembling heard the fame ? and heard, admire 
 How well the son appeas’d his slaughter’d sire ! 
 Even to the’ unhappy, that unjustly bleed, 210 
 Heaven gives posterity, to’ avenge the deed. 
 
 So fell /Egysthus; and may’st thou, my friend, 
 
 (Oa whom the virtues of thy sire descend) 
 
 Make future times thy equal act adore, 
 
 And be what brave Orestes was before! 245 
 
 The prudent youth replied. O thou the grace 
 And lasting glorj' of the Grecian race ! 
 
 Just was the vengeance, and to latest days 
 Shall long posterity resound the praise. 
 
 Some God this arm with equal prowess bless! 250 
 
 And the proud Suitors shall its force confess : 
 Injurious men! who while my soul is sore - 
 Of fresh affronts, are meditating more. 
 
 But heaven denies this honour to my hand. 
 
 Nor shall my father repossess the land : 255 
 
 The father’s fortune never to return. 
 
 And the sad son’s to suffer and to mourn ! 
 
 Thus he ; and Nestor took the word : My son. 
 
 Is it then true, as distant rumours run, 
 
 Bless’d goes that father to the Stygian coast, 
 
 Who leaves a child to soothe his murder’d ghost! 
 
 Thou too, my friend! assert a warrior’s name: 
 
 Thy form and stature promise future fame. W. 
 
 Ver. 254.] To these four verses corresponds the following 
 portion of his author : 
 
 But nor for me the Gods such bliss have woven, 
 
 Nor for my sire : dull patience is my lot! 
 
 Thus ? more faithfully and concisely : 
 
 But for my sire no favouring Gods appear, 
 
 Nor me; still doom’d to suffer, and forbear! W* 
 
86 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOR III. 
 
 That crowds of rivals for thy mother’s charms 260 
 
 v' 
 
 Thy palace fill with insults and alarms ? 
 
 Say, is the fault, thro’ tame submission, thine ? } 
 
 Or leagued against thee, do thy people join, > 
 Mov’d by some Oracle, or voice divine ? ) 
 
 And yet who knows, but ripening lies in fate 265 
 An hour of vengeance for the’ afflicted state ; 
 
 When great Ulysses shall suppress these harms, 
 Ulysses singly, or all Greece in arms. 
 
 But if Athena, war’s triumphant maid. 
 
 The happy son, will, as the father, aid, 2 70 
 
 (Whose fame and safety was her constant care 
 In every danger and in every war: 
 
 Never on man did heavenly favour shine 
 With rays so strong, distinguish’d and divine. 
 
 As those with \Yhich Minerva mark’d thy sire) 275 
 So might she love thee, so thy soul inspire! 
 
 Soon should their hopes in humble dust be laid. 
 
 And long oblivion of the bridal bed. 
 
 Ah ! no such hope (the prince with sighs replies) 
 Can touch my breast; that blessing heaven denies. 
 Even by celestial favour were it given, 28 i 
 
 Fortune or Fate would cross the will of heaven. 
 
 Ver. 264*. Mov'd hy some Oracle , or voice divine?] The word* 
 in the original are, following the voice of some God , that is, some 
 oracle.' Homer does not oonfine the expression either to a good 
 or bad seiise, but the context plainly shews, that they must be 
 understood in a bad sense; namely, to imply, that the people had 
 recourse to pretended Oracles to justify their rebellion. This is 
 evident from whftt follows* where Nestor encourages Telemachus 
 to expect that Ulysses may punish them for their crimes, unor'icr-Hat 
 -if there had been no crime, there ought to be no pu- 
 
 » a Gar¬ 
 
 nishment. P. 
 
 Ver. 282. Fortune or Fate would cross the will of heaven .] 
 It may be asked how an expression so near blasphemy, as Eus- 
 
 1 
 
book hi. HOMER’s ODYSSEY 87 
 
 — ^ 1 
 
 What words are these, and what imprudence thine! 
 (Thus interpos’d the martial maid divine) 
 
 Forgetful youth! but know,, the Power above 285 
 With ease can save the object of his love ; 
 
 Wide as his will., extends his boundless grace ; 
 
 Nor lost in time, nor circumscrib’d by place. 
 Happier his lot, who many sorrows past. 
 
 Long labouring gains his natal shore at last, 290 
 Than who too speedy, hastes to end his life 
 By some stern ruffian, or adulterous wife. 
 
 Death only is the lot which none can miss. 
 
 And all is possible to heaven, but this. 
 
 The best, the dearest favourite of the sky 295 
 Must taste that cup, for man is born to die. 
 
 tathius observes, could escape a person of such piety as Telema* 
 chus? It is true, the Poet makes Minerva herself correct it 
 but yet the objection remains, viz. how could Telemachus speak 
 it ? I think since the Poet himself condemns it, we may give it 
 tip as an indecency in Telemachus: it is natural for men in 
 despair (and that was the condition of Telemachus) to use a 
 vehemence of expression, and this might transport Telemachus 
 beyond the bounds of prudence. The only possible way that 
 occurs to me to take off the impiety, is to have recourse to des¬ 
 tiny: it was the opinion of the antients, that the Gods could 
 not alter destiny: and then Telemachus may mean no more, 
 than that it was decreed by the destinies that Ulysses should re¬ 
 turn no more, so the Gods themselves could not restore him. P. 
 
 Ver. 291.] Thus, more faithfully and explicitly: 
 
 Than end at home , like Atreus’ son , his life. 
 
 By some false ruffian, or adulterous wife. W. 
 
 Ver. 294-. And all is possible to heaven , but this.] What Mi¬ 
 nerva here says justifies tile remark I made, that what Telema¬ 
 chus seemed to have spoken rashly, may be softened, if not vin¬ 
 dicated, by having recourse to destiny: it is evident from this 
 passage, that destiny was superior to the power of the Gods: 
 otherwise Minerva speaks as blasphemously as Telemachus: for 
 what difference is there between saying, that the Gods cannot 
 
88 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Thus cheek’d, replied Ulysses’ prudent heir : 
 Mentor, no more—the mournful thought forbear; 
 For he no more must draw his country’s breath. 
 Already snatch’d by Fate, and the black doom of 
 ' death ! 300 
 
 Pass we to other subjects ; and engage 
 On themes remote the venerable sage: 
 
 (Who thrice has seen the perishable kind 
 Of men decay, and thro’ three ages shin’d. 
 
 Like Gods majestick, and like Gods in mind.) 305 
 For much he knows, and just conclusions draws 
 From various precedents, and various laws. 
 
 preserve even those they love from death, and saying that the 
 Gods could not save Ulysses ? Why therefore may not the 
 words of Telemachus be thought to have a respect to destiny? 
 
 I am of opinion, that the Poet had something further in view 
 by putting these words into the mouth of Minerva: the words of 
 Telemachus, if taken grossly, might appear shocking to so pious 
 a person as Nestor, and make an ill impression upon him to the 
 disadvantage of Telemachus; Minerva therefore artfully ex¬ 
 plains it, and softens the horror of it by reconciling it to the 
 theology of those ages. P. 
 
 Ver. 303. Who thrice has seen the perishable hind 
 Of men decay ,-] 
 
 The Poet here tells us that Nestor was now in his fourth gene¬ 
 ration : Ovid took the word to signify an hundred years; 
 but then Nestor must have been above three hundred years old. 
 Others with more probability understand it to signify a genera¬ 
 tion, or such a portion of time in which any race of men flourish 
 together, which is computed to be about thirty years. I refer 
 the reader to the Note of the 333d verse of the first book of the 
 Iliad, for the particular age of Nestor. According to that com¬ 
 putation, lie must now be about ninety-five years of age. P. 
 
 Ver. 306.] His author says only, 
 
 In laws and prudence eminently wise: 
 but our translator seems to have recollected at the time a well- 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 89 
 
 O son of Neleus ! awful Nestor, tell 
 How he, the mighty Agamemnon fell ? 
 
 By what strange fraud iEgysthus wrought, relate, 310 
 (By force he could not) such a hero’s fate ? 
 
 Liv’d Menelaiis not in Greece! or where 
 Was then the martial brother’s pious care ? 
 Condemn’d perhaps some foreign shore to tread; 
 
 Or sure iEgysthus had not dar’d the deed. 31$ 
 To whom the full of days. Illustrious youth. 
 Attend (tho’ partly thou hast guest) the truth. 
 
 For had the martial Menelaiis found 
 
 The ruffian breathing yet on Argive ground. 
 
 Nor earth had hid his carcase from the skies, 320 
 Nor Grecian virgins shriek’d his obsequies. 
 
 But fowls obscene dismember’d his remains. 
 
 And dogs had torn him on the naked plains. 
 
 While us the works of bloody Mars employ’d, 
 
 Tile wanton youth inglorious peace enjoy’d ; 825 
 
 He, stretch’d at ease in Argos’ calm recess, 
 
 (Whose stately steeds luxuriant pastures bless) 
 
 With flattery’s insinuating art 
 Sooth’d the frail queen, and poison’d all her heart. 
 At first with worthy shame and decent pride, 330 
 The royal dame his lawless suit denied. 
 
 known couplet by Creech, if my memory fail me not, in his 
 Lucretius: 
 
 Which from firm premises just reason draws, 
 
 And a deep .insight into nature’s laws. W. 
 
 Ver. 323.] Our translator should have closely expressed his 
 model: 
 
 And dogs had torn him on the distant plain. W. 
 Ver. 324.] More accurately, thus: 
 
 Whilst us continual toils of'war employ’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 330.] Or thus ? with more fidelity and conciseness, 
 and rhymes unexceptionable: 
 
90 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 For virtue’s image yet possest her mind, 
 
 Taught by a master of the tuneful kind : 
 
 Atrides, parting f r the Trojan war. 
 
 Consign’d the youthful consort to his care. 33^ 
 True to his charge, the Bard preserv’d her long 
 In honour’s limits; such the power of Song. 
 
 But when the Gods these objects of their hate 
 Dragg’d to destruction, by the links of fate. 
 
 The Bard they banish’d from his native soil, 34** 
 And left all helpless in a desert isle : 
 
 At first, protected by ingenuous shame. 
 
 His lawless suit rejects the royal dame* 
 
 For virtue’s image yet possest her soul 
 By stains of vice unsullied : such controul 
 Still o’er his charge maintain’d the virtuous bard 
 Atrides left her chastity to guard. 
 
 Ver. 333. Taught by a master of the tuneful kind.2 Homer 
 through the whole Odyssey speaks much in honour of the art 
 which he himself loved, and in which he so eminently excelled: 
 from these and other passages we may learn the state of poetry 
 in those ages: “ Poets (says Eustathius) were ranked in the 
 “ class of Philosophers; and the ancients made use of them as 
 te preceptors in musick and morality Strabo quotes this very 
 passage as an instance of the excellence of poetry in forming 
 the soul to worthy actions: iEgysthus could not debauch Cly- 
 temnestra, until he banished the Poet who was her guide and 
 instructor. 
 
 There were many degrees of these uoi^o ); some were «<>»<? < 
 fyijvwv, others ya/xa?; but such bards as are here men¬ 
 
 tioned were of an higher station, and retained as instructors by- 
 kings and princes. P. 
 
 Ver. 340.] Thus correct the versification and the ambiguity: 
 The bard he banisht from his native land, 
 
 Left helpless on an island’s desert strand . 
 
 And the reader will excuse in a professor of the tuneful art this 
 excursion in celebration of a predecessor: otherwise, this sub¬ 
 ject of the minstrel is dispatched in two verses of Homer, thus 
 faithfully exhibited: 
 
 He to a desert isle the bard convey’d, 
 
 And left, a prey to prowling vultures mado. W. 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 91 
 
 There he., the sweetest of the sacred train. 
 
 Sung dying to the rocks, but sung in vain. 
 
 Then Virtue was no more ; her guard away, 
 
 She fell, to lust a voluntary prey. 345 
 
 Even to the temple stalk’d the’ adulterous spouse. 
 With impious thanks, and mockery of vows. 
 
 With images, with garments, and with gold; 
 
 And odorous fumes from loaded altars roll’d. 
 
 Meantime from flaming Troy w r e cut the way. 
 With Menelaiis, thro’ the curling sea. 351 
 
 But when to Suniurn’s sacred point we came. 
 Crown’d with the temple of the’ Athenian dame; 
 Atrides’ pilot, Phrontes, there expir’d; 
 
 (Phrontes, of all the sons of men admir’d 355 
 To steer the bounding bark with steady toil, 
 
 When the storm thickens, and the billow r s boil) 
 While yet he exercis’d the steersman’s art, 
 
 Apollo touch’d him with his gentle dart ; 
 
 Even with the rudder in his hand, he fell. 360 
 
 To pay whose honours to the shades of hell 
 We check’d our haste, by pious office bound. 
 
 And laid our old companion in the ground. 
 
 And now the rites discharg’d, our course we keep 
 Far on the gloomy bosom of the deep : 365 
 
 Soon as Malsea’s misty tops arise. 
 
 Sudden the Thunderer blackens all the skies. 
 
 And the winds whistle, and the surges roll 
 Mountains on mountains, and obscure the pole. 
 
 The tempest scatters, and divides our fleet; 370 
 
 Part, the storm urges on the coast of Crete, 
 
 Ver. 359. Apollo touch 9 d him Keith his gentle dart .] Homer 
 calls the darts of Apollo ayuva, or gentle ; to signify that those 
 who die thus suddenly, 1 ie without pain. Eustathius . P. 
 
92 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 ElOOK Ilf. 
 
 Where winding round the rich Cydonian plain, 
 
 The streams of Jardan issue to the maijl. 
 
 There stands a rock, high eminent and steep. 
 Whose shaggy brow o’erhangs the shady deep, 3 75 
 And views Gortyna on the western side ; 
 
 On this rough Auster drove the’ impetuous tide: 
 With broken force the billows roll’d away. 
 
 And heav’d the fleet into the neighbouring bay ; 
 Thus sav’d from death, they gain’d the Phaestan 
 shores, 38 $ 
 
 With shatter’d vessels, and disabled oars : 
 
 Rut five tall barks the winds and waters tost. 
 
 Far from their fellows, on the’ ^Egyptian coast. 
 There wander’d Menelaiis thro’ foreign shores. 
 Amassing gold, and gathering naval stores; 385 
 While curst /Egystlius the detested deed 
 By fraud fulfill’d, and his great brother bled. 
 
 Ver. 383.- On the * Egyptian coast.'] In the original 
 
 it is, The wind and water carried them to TEgypius. Homer by 
 /Egyptus means the river Nile, and then it is always used in the 
 masculine gender; the region about it took its name from the 
 river iEgyptus, this is always used in the feminine gender; but 
 the country had not received that name in the days of Homer. 
 Eustathius. 
 
 W hat Dacier adds to this observation, may assist in determin¬ 
 ing the dispute concerning the priority of Homer and Hesiod; 
 Hesiod makes mention of the river Nilus; if therefore it be true 
 that iEgyptus had not been called by the name of Nilus in the 
 times of Homer, it is a demonstration that Hesiod was posterior 
 to Homer; otherwise he could not have been acquainted with 
 any other name but that of ^gyptus. P. 
 
 Ver. 386.] Better rhymes and more fidelity may easily be 
 effected; 
 
 Then curst iEgysthus plannd the direful deeds ; 
 
 At home supplanted, his great brother bleeds. 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 
 
 93 
 
 Seven years, the traitor rich Mycenae sway’d. 
 
 And his stern rule the groaning land obey’d; 
 
 The eighth, from Athens to his realm restor’d, 390 
 Orestes brandish’d the revenging sword, 
 
 Slew the dire pair, and gave to funeral flame 
 The vile assassin, and adulterous dame. 
 
 That day, ere yet the bloody triumphs cease. 
 Return’d Atrides to the coast of Greece, 395 
 
 And safe to Argos’ port his navy brought. 
 
 With gifts of price and ponderous treasure fraught. 
 Hence warn’d, my son beware! nor idly stand 
 Too long a stranger to thy native land'; 
 
 Lest heedless absence wear thy wealth away, 400 
 While lawless feasters in thy palace sway; 
 
 Perhaps may seize thy realm, and share the spoil 
 
 And thou return, with disappointed toil. 
 From thy vain journey, to a rifled isle. 
 
 How r e’er, my friend, indulge one labour more, 405 
 And seek Atrides on the Spartan shore. 
 
 He, wandering long, a wider circle made. 
 
 And many languag’d nations has survey’d ; 
 
 4 
 
 Ver. 402.3 For the sake of fidelity, I should propose some 
 alteration of this verse, as follows, 
 
 7 'hese j)limderers all thy stores may share and spoil: 
 and omit the concluding verse of the triplet as wholly super¬ 
 fluous, and impaired by a vicious rhyme. W. 
 
 Ver. 407.] Our translator, to waive particular exceptions, 
 has given a very inaccurate representation of this passage in 
 general. I shall submit a plain literal version to the candour of 
 the reader: 
 
 He from those distant nations lately came, 
 
 Where no sad exile’s fondest heart could frame 
 One hope of safety, if the storms had cast 
 On that drear ocean’s bosom, deep and vast! 
 
94 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 And measur’d tracts unknown to other ships. 
 
 Amid the monstrous wonders of the deeps; 4 io 
 (A length of ocean and unbounded sky. 
 
 Which scarce the sea-fowl in a year o’erfly) 
 
 Go then ; to Sparta take the watery way. 
 
 The ship and sailors but for orders stay ; 
 
 Or if by land thou chuse thy course to bend, 415 
 My steeds, my chariots, and my sons attend: 
 
 Thee to Atrides they shall safe convey. 
 
 Guides of thy road, companions of thy way. 
 
 Urge him with truth to frame his free replies. 
 
 And sure he will: for Menelaiis is wise. 420 
 
 No bird, while Phcebus wheels his annual round, 
 
 Could stretch it’s pinions o’er the dire profound. W. 
 
 Ver. 411. A length of ocean and unbounded slcy, 
 
 Which scarce the sea-fovol in a year oerfiyJ\ 
 
 It must be confest, that Homer greatly exaggerates this descrip¬ 
 tion : Homer himself tells us, that a ship may sail in five days 
 from Crete to Egypt; wherefore then this hyperbole of Nestor ? 
 It might perhaps be to deter Telemachus from a design of sail¬ 
 ing to Crete, and he through his inexperience might believe the 
 description. It may be added, that what Nestor speaks con r 
 cerning the flight of birds, may be only said to shew the great 
 distance of that sea: nay, by a favourable interpretation it may 
 be reconciled to truth; the meaning then must be this : should 
 a person observe that sea a whole year, he would not see one bird 
 flying over it, both because of the vastness and dreadfulness of 
 it; and perhaps the whole of this might arise from the observa* 
 tion, that this sea is not frequented by birds. This is wholly and 
 almost literally taken from Eustathius ; and if we add to this 
 the ignorance of the sea and sea-affairs in those ages, we shall 
 
 the less wonder to hear so wise a man as Nestor describing it 
 
 % 
 
 with so much terror. Navigation is now greatly improved, and 
 the moderns sail further in a month, than the ancients could in 
 a year; their whole art consisting chiefly in coasting along the 
 shores, aiid consequently they made but little way. P. 
 

 book in. HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 95 
 
 Thus while he speaks, the ruddy sun descends. 
 And twilight grey her evening shade extends. 
 
 Then thus the blue-ey’d maid : O full of days ! 
 Wise are thy words, and just are all thy ways. 
 
 Now immolate the tongues, and mix the wine, 425 - 
 Sacred to Neptune and the powers divine. 
 
 The lamp of day is quench’d beneath the deep. 
 
 And soft approach the balmy hours of sleep : 
 
 Nor fits it to prolong the heavenly feast. 
 
 Timeless, indecent, but retire to rest 430 
 
 So spake Jove’s daughter, the celestial maid. 
 
 The sober train attended and obey’d. 
 
 * V ' i 
 
 Ver. 425. Notv immolate the tongues -] Various are the 
 
 reasons which Eustathius reports concerning this oblation of the 
 tongues at the conclusion of the sacrifice. It was to purge them¬ 
 selves from any evil words they might have uttered; or because 
 the tongue was reckoned the best part of the sacrifice, and so 
 reserved for the completion of it; or they offered the tongue to 
 the Gods, as witnesses to what they had spoken. I omit the rest 
 as superfluous. They had a custom of offering the tongues to 
 Mercury, because they believed him the giver of eloquence. P. 
 
 Ver. 429. Nor Jits it to prolong the heavenly feast, 
 
 Timeless, indecent, 8$c .] 
 
 Eustathius shews the difference between loflu'i, festivals, and 
 Sva-itt), or sacrifices: in the former it was customary to spend 
 the whole night in wine and rejoicing: in the latter, this was 
 reckoned an unlawful custom, through the fear of falling into 
 any indecencies through wine. He likewise gives another reason 
 of this injunction, by telling us that it was the custom to offer 
 sacrifices to the celestial powers in the day, and even to finish 
 them about the setting of the sun ; and that those who dealt in 
 incantations performed their sacrifices to the infernal powers by 
 night, and finished them before sun-rising. Either of these 
 reasons sufficiently explains the words of the Goddess; and the 
 former carries in it an excellent moral, that particular care 
 should be taken in our acts of devotion, not to turn religion into 
 impiety. , P» 
 
96 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. book hi. 
 
 The sacred heralds on their hands around 
 Pour’d the full urns; the youths the goblets crown’d: 
 From bowl to bowl the holy beverage flows; 435 
 
 While to the final sacrifice they rose. 
 
 The tongues they cast upon the fragrant flame. 
 
 And pour, above, the consecrated stream. 
 
 And now, their thirst by copious draughts allay’d. 
 The youthful hero and the’ Athenian maid 440 
 Propose departure from the finish’d rite. 
 
 And in their hollow bark to pass the night: 
 
 But this the hospitable sage denied. 
 
 Forbid it, Jove! and all the Gods ! he cried. 
 
 Thus from my walls the much-lov’d son to send 415 
 Of such a hero, and of such a friend ! 
 
 Me, as some needy peasant, would ye leave. 
 
 Whom heaven denies the blessing to relieve ? 
 
 Me would you leave, who boast imperial sway. 
 When beds of royal state invite your stay ? 450 
 
 No—dong as life this mortal shall inspire. 
 
 Or as mj children imitate their sire, 
 
 Ver. 450. When beds of royal state invite your stay ?] This 
 passage gives us a full insight into the manners of these hospitable 
 ages; they not only kept a treasury for bowls or vases of gold or 
 silver, to give as f eivwot, or gifts of hospitality, but also a ward¬ 
 robe of various habits and rich furniture, to lodge and bestow 
 upon strangers. Eustathius relates, that Tellias of Agrigentum 
 was a person of so great hospitality, that five hundred horsemen 
 coming-to his house in the winter season, he entertained them, 
 and gave every man a cloak and a tunick. This laudable custom 
 prevailed, and still prevails, in the eastern countries : it was the 
 practice of Abraham of old, and is at this day of the Turks, as 
 we may learn from their caravanseras, erected for the reception 
 of travellers. P, 
 
 Ver. 452.] His original prescribes, 
 
 Or sons remain to imitate their sire. 
 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 97 
 
 Here shall the wandering stranger find his home ; 
 And hospitable rites adorn the dome. 
 
 Well hast thou spoke (the blue-eyed maid replies) 
 Belov’d old man ! benevolent, as wise. 
 
 Be the kind dictates of thy heart obey'd. 
 
 And let thy words Telemachus persuade ; 
 
 He to thy palace shall thy steps pursue ; 
 
 I to the ship, to give the orders due, 
 
 Prescribe directions and confirm the crew. 
 
 For I alone sustain their naval cares. 
 
 Who boast experience from these silver hairs ; 
 
 All youths the rest, whom to this journey move 
 Like years, like tempers, and their prince's love. 4 65 
 There in the vessel shall I pass the night ; 
 
 And soon as morning paints the fields of light, 
 
 I go to challenge from the Caucons bold, 
 
 A debt, contracted in the days of old. 
 
 Ver. 468. I go to challenge from the Caucons.'] The Poet 
 makes a double use of these words of the Goddess: she gives an 
 air of probability to her excuse, why she should not be pressed to 
 Stay; and at the same time Homer avoids the absurdity of in¬ 
 troducing that Goddess at Sparta; Menelaiis and Helen are 
 celebrating the nuptials of their son and daughter : Minerva is 
 a virgin deity, and consequently an enemy to all nuptial cere¬ 
 monies. Eustathius, 
 
 But it may be necessary to observe these Caucons are: 
 We find in the tenth book of the Iliad, the Caucons mentioned 
 as auxiliaries to Troy: there Dolon says, 
 
 The Carians, Caucons, the Pelasgian host, 
 
 And Leleges encamp along the coast. 
 
 Are these Caucons the same with those here mentioned ? Eusta¬ 
 thius informs Us, that there was a people of Triphyly, between 
 Blis and Pylos, named Caucons ; but Strabo says, that the whole 
 race is now pxtinct, and that these here mentioned are of Dyrnasa, 
 and take their name from the river Caucon: whereas those in 
 vol, x . H 
 
98 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IIU 
 
 Rut this thy guest, receiv’d with friendly care, 470 
 Let thy strong coursers swift to Sparta bear; 
 Prepare thy chariot at the dawn of day. 
 
 And be thy son companion of his way. 
 
 Then turning with the word, Minerva flies. 
 
 And soars an eagle thro* the liquid skies. 475 
 
 Vision divine ! the throng’d spectators gaze 
 In holy wonder fixt, and still amaze. 
 
 But chief the reverend sage admir’d ; he took 
 The hand of young Telemachus, and spoke. 
 
 Oh happy youth ! and favour’d of the skies, 480 
 Distinguish’d care of guardian deities! 
 
 the Iliad are Paphlagonians: they were a wandering nation, and 
 consequently might be the same people originally, and retain 
 the same name in different countries. P. 
 
 V er. 478. But chief the reverend sage admir'd -] It may be 
 
 asked why Nestor is in such a surprise at the discovery of the 
 Goddess: it is evident from the Iliad, that he had been no 
 stranger to such intercourses of the deities; nay, in this very 
 book Nestor tells us, that Ulysses enjoyed almost the constant 
 presence of Minerva; insomuch that Sophocles, the great imi¬ 
 tator of Homer, relates, that he knew the Goddess by her voice, 
 without seeing her. Eustathius answers, that the wonder of 
 Nestor arose not from the discovery of that deity, but that she 
 should accompany so young a person as Telemachus : after her 
 departure, the old man stood amazed, and looked upon that 
 hero as some very extraordinary person, whom in such early 
 years the Goddess of War and Wisdom had vouchsafed to attend. 
 This interpretation agrees perfectly with what Nestor speaks to 
 Telemachus. P. 
 
 Ver. 481. Distinguish’d care of guardian deities /] I will take 
 this opportunity to obviate an objection that may be made against 
 all interposition of the Gods in assisting the heroes of the Odyssey: 
 it has been thought by some Criticks a disparagement to them to 
 stand in continual need of such supernatural succour: if two 
 persons were engaged in combat, and a third person should 
 immediately step in to the assistance of one of the parties, and 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 99 
 
 Whose early years for future worth engage. 
 
 No vulgar manhood, no ignoble age. 
 
 kill the adversary, would it not reflect upon the valour of his 
 friend who was so weak as to want such assistance ? Why, for 
 instance, should Jupiter help Eneas to kill Turnus? Was not 
 he brave enough to fight, and strong enough to conquer his 
 enemy by his own prow r ess ? and would not Turnus have killed 
 Eneas with the same assistance ? It is therefore a disparagement 
 to the actors, thus continually to supply the defects of a hero 
 by the power of a Deity. 
 
 But this is a false way of arguing, and from hence it might be 
 inferred, that the love and favour of a Deity serves only to 
 make those whom he assists, and those who depend upon such 
 assistance, appear weak, impotent, cowardly, and unworthy to be 
 conquerors. Can any doubt arise whether the love and favour of 
 a God be a disparagement or honour to those whom he favours? 
 According to these Criticks, we should find the character of a 
 perfect hero in an impious Mezentius, who acknowledges no God 
 but his own arm and his own sword: it is true, the objection 
 Would be just, if the hero himself performed nothing of the 
 action; or if when he were almost conquered by the superior 
 valour of his enemy, he owed his life and victory to Gods and 
 miracles: but the hero always behaves himself in all his actions, 
 as if he were to gain success without the assistance of the Deity; 
 and the presence of the Gods is so ordered, that we may re¬ 
 trench every thing that is miraculous, without making any 
 alteration in the action or character of the human personages. 
 Thus in the instance of Eneas and Turnus, though Jupiter 
 favours Eneas, yet Eneas is painted in stronger colours of for¬ 
 titude : he appears superior, as a man unassisted, and able to 
 conquer Turnus; and consequently the favour of Jupiter makes 
 no alteration in the action or character of .Eneas. 
 
 There is likewise a wide difference between the assistance of a 
 man and of a God: the actions of men belong only to the per¬ 
 formers of those actions; but when a Deity assists us by inspiring 
 us with strength and courage, the actions we perform are really 
 our own, and the more he favours us, the more glory he gives 
 us: so that the assistance of man eclipses, but the assistance of 
 a God exalts, our glory. Thus, for instance, when Achilles is 
 pursuing Hector, he charges the Greeks to keep off from Hector; 
 
 h 2 
 
100 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book iii 
 
 For lo ! none other of the court above 
 
 Than she, the daughter of almighty Jove, 485 
 
 Pallas herself, the war-triumphant maid, 
 
 Confest is thine, as once thy father’s aid. 
 
 * 
 
 So guide me. Goddess ! so propitious shine 
 On me, my consort, and my royal line ! 
 
 A yearling bullock to thy name shall smoke, 490 
 Untam’d, unconscious of the galling yoke. 
 
 With ample forehead, and yet tender horns. 
 
 Whose budding honours ductile gold adorns. 
 
 Submissive thus the hoary sire preferr’d 
 His holy vow : the favouring Goddess heard. 49$ 
 Then, slowly rising, o’er the sandy space 
 Precedes the father, follow’d by his race, 
 
 (A long procession) timely marching home 
 In comely order to the regal dome. 
 
 There when arriv’d, on thrones around him plac’d. 
 His sons and grandsons the wide circle grac’d. 501 
 To these the hospitable sage, in sign 
 Of social welcome, mix’d the racy wine, 
 
 (Late from the mellowing cask restor’d to light. 
 
 By ten long years refin’d, and rosy-bright.) 505 
 To Pallas high the foaming bowl he crown’d. 
 
 And sprinkled large libations on the ground. 
 
 their assistance might lesson his glory; but when Pallas offers her 
 assistance, he immediately embraces it as an honour, and boasts 
 of it as such to Hector. 1 have been large upon this objection, 
 Jbecause the reader ought to carry it in his memory through the 
 whole poem, and apply it to every action, in which any share 
 is ascribed to any Deity. See Bossu more at large concerning 
 this objection. P. 
 
 Ver. 493. Better, perhaps, as attempting to represent the 
 specific expressions of the Greek poet, thus : 
 
 With ample forehead grac'd ; whose sprouting horns 
 A radiant ring of ductile gold adorns. W- 
 
book hi. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 10 ! 
 
 % 
 
 Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares. 
 
 And to the gifts of balmy sleep repairs. 
 
 Deep in a rich alcove the prince was laid, 510 
 And slept beneath the pompous colonnade; 
 
 Fast by his side Pisistratus lay spread, 
 
 (In age his equal) on a splendid bed : 
 
 But in an inner court, securely clos'd. 
 
 The reverend Nestor and his queen repos'd. 515 
 When now Aurora, daughter of the dawn. 
 
 With rosy lustre purpled o'er the lawn. 
 
 The old man early rose, walk'd forth, and sat 
 On polish’d stone before his palace gate: 
 
 With unguents smooth the lucid marble shone, 5 $q 
 Where ancient Neleus sat, a rustick throne; 
 
 But he descending to the' infernal shade. 
 
 Sage Nestor fill’d it, and the scepter sway'd. 
 
 Ver. 518. —w* —- And sat 
 
 On ‘polish'd stone before his palace gate .] 
 
 We have here an ancient custom recorded by the poet; a 
 JCing places himself before the gate of his palace upon a seat 
 of marble, worn smooth by long use, says Eustathius, or per¬ 
 haps smoothed exquisitely by the hand of the workman. 
 What I would chiefly observe is, that they placed themselves 
 thus in publick for the dispatch of justice: we read in the 
 scripture of judges sitting in the gate : and that this procedure 
 of Nestor was for that purpose, is probable from the expression, 
 Tie sat in the scat tvhere Neleus or Consiliarius,] used to 
 
 sit, (which seems to express his wisdom in the discharge of jus¬ 
 tice.) Nestor is also described as bearing his scepter in his 
 hand, which was never used but upon some act of regality, in 
 the dispatch of justice, or other solemn occasions. Perhaps, 
 says Dacier, these seats or thrones might be consecrated with 
 oil, to draw a reverence to the seats of justice as by an act of 
 religion; but I rather judge (adds she) that no more is meant 
 than to express the shining of these thrones, they being un¬ 
 doubtedly made of marble. 
 
102 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 His sons around him mild obeisance pay,, 
 
 And duteous take the orders of the day. 525 
 
 First Echephron and Stratius quit their bed ; 
 
 Then Perseus, Aretus, and Thrasymed; 
 
 The last Pisistratus arose from rest: 
 
 They came, and near him plac'd the stranger-guest. 
 To these the senior thus declar'd his will: 530 
 
 My sons ! the dictates of your sire fulfil. 
 
 To Pallas, first of Gods, prepare the feast. 
 
 Who grac’d our rites, a more than mortal guest. 
 
 Let one, dispatchful, bid some swain to lead 
 A well-fed bullock from the grassy-mead ; 535 
 
 One seek the harbour where the vessels moor. 
 
 And bring thy friends, Telemachus ! ashore, 
 
 (Leave only two the galley to attend) 
 
 Another to Laerceus must we send, 
 
 Artist divine, whose skilful hands infold 540 
 
 The victim's horn with circumfusile gold. 
 
 Yer. 525.3 A verse interpolated by the translator, but in full 
 harmony with the scope and spirit of his author. W. 
 
 Yer. 527.] His bad accent came from Chapman. Had he 
 made his original his guide, he would have given the verse thus: 
 
 Perseus, Aretus then, and Thrasymed. W. 
 
 Ver. 540. Laerceus - Artist divine, The author of the 
 
 Parallel quotes this passage to prove that Homer was ignorant of 
 the mechanick arts : we have here, says he, a gilder with his 
 anvil and hammer ; but what occasion has he for an anvil and 
 hammer in the art of a gilder ? Boileau has excellently vindi¬ 
 cated Homer from this objection, in his reflections upon Lon¬ 
 ginus ; this gilder was a gold-beater: Nestor, we see, furnished 
 the gold, and he beat it into leaves, so that he had occasion to 
 make use of his anvil and hammer; the anvil was portable, be¬ 
 cause the work was not laborious. Our modern travellers assure 
 us, that it is at this day the practice in the eastern regions, as 
 in Persia, &c. for the artists in metals to carry about with them 
 the whole implements of trade, to the house of the persons 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 103 
 
 The rest may here the pious duty share. 
 
 And bid the handmaids for the feast prepare. 
 
 The seats to range, the fragrant wood to bring, 
 
 And limpid waters from the living spring. 545 
 
 He said, and busy each his care bestow’d; 
 Already at the gates the bullock low’d. 
 
 Already came the Ithacensian crew. 
 
 The dexterous smith the tools already drew: 
 
 His ponderous hammer, and his anvil sound, 550 
 And the strong tongs to turn the metal round. 
 
 Nor was Minerva absent from the rite. 
 
 She view’d her honours, and enjoy'd the sight. 
 
 where they find employment: it is therefore a full vindication 
 of Homer, to observe that the gold this artist used in gilding, 
 was nothing but gold beat into fine leaves. P. 
 
 Ver. 552. Nor was Minerva absent -] It may be asked in 
 
 what sense Minerva can be said to come to the sacrifice ? Eusta¬ 
 thius answers, that the ancients finding the inclinations of men to 
 be bent incontinently upon pleasures, to oblige them to use them 
 moderately, distinguished times, ordained sacrifices, and repre¬ 
 senting the Gods in the forms of men, brought them to use those 
 pleasures with discretion ; they taught them that the Gods came 
 down to their libations and sacrifices, to induce them to govern 
 their conversation with reverence and modesty: thus Jupiter 
 and the other Gods in the Iliad, and Neptune in the Odyssey, 
 are said to feast with the Ethiopians. 
 
 If I might be pardoned a conjecture, I would suppose, that 
 Minerva may in another sense be said to come to the sacrifice; I 
 mean by her image or statue; and what may seem to confirm 
 this opinion, is what Diodorus relates in his third book concern¬ 
 ing the above-mentioned .Ethiopians: they carried about the 
 statues of Jupiter and the other Gods twelve days, during which 
 time the Gods were said tQ be gone to the Ethiopians; and if 
 the Gods may be said to come to the Ethiopians by their statues, 
 why may not the same be said of Minerva, from the introduction 
 of her statue among the Pylians ? So that the appearance of the 
 Goddess may possibly mean the appearance of her statue. P, 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 book hi. 
 
 104 
 
 With reverend hand the K;ng presents the gold, } 
 Which round the’ intorted horns the gilder roll’d ; > 
 So wrought, as Pallas might with pride behold. 5563 
 Young Aretus from forth his bridal bower 1 
 
 Brought the full laver, o’er their hands to pour, > 
 And canisters of consecrated flour. 3 
 
 Strati us and Echephron the victim led ; 560 
 
 The ax was held by warlike Thrasymed, 
 
 In act to strike : before him Perseus stood. 
 
 The vase extending to receive the blood. 
 
 The king himself initiates to the power ; 
 
 Scatters with quivering hand the sacred flour, 565 
 And the stream sprinkles : from the curling brows 
 The hair collected in the fire he throws. 
 
 Soon as due vows on every part were paid. 
 
 And sacred wheat upon the victim laid. 
 
 Strong Thrasymed discharg’d the speeding blow 570 
 Full on his neck, and cut the nerves in two. 
 
 Ver. 560. Stratius and Echephron, fyc.*] Nestor here makes 
 use only of the ministry of his sons ; the reason of it is, because 
 it was reckoned honourable to serve in the performance of sa¬ 
 crifice, this being in some sense an attending upon the Gods: 
 or because it was the practice of those ages for great persons to 
 do those offices with their own hands, which in the latter have 
 been performed by servants. 
 
 Eustathius reports a saying of Antigonus, who observing his 
 son behaving himself imperiously to his subjects, u Knowest thou 
 ** not,” says he, “ that royalty itself is but illustrious servitude!’* 
 An intimation that he himself was but a servant of the publick, 
 and therefore should use his servants with moderation. 
 
 But the true reason of Nestor’s assisting in the sacrifice is, 
 because kings anciently had the inspection of religion, and priest¬ 
 hood was joined to royalty, according to that of Virgil, 
 
 Ilex Anjus, rex idem hominum Phcebique sacerdc^.” P, 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 105 
 
 Down sunk the heavy beast: the females round., 
 Maids, wives, and matrons, mix a shrilling sound. 
 Nor scorn’d the queen the holy choir to join, 
 
 (The first-born she, of old Clymenus’ line; 57 5 
 
 In youth by Nestor lov’d, of spotless fame. 
 
 And lov’d in age, Eurydice her name.) 
 
 From earth they rear }iim, struggling now with death; 
 And Nestor’s youngest stops the vents of breath. 
 The soul for ever flies : on all sides round 5so 
 Streams the black blood, and smokes upon the ground. 
 The beast they then divide, and disunite 
 The ribs and limbs, observant of the rite : 
 
 On these, in double cawls involv’d with art. 
 
 The choicest morsels lay from every part. 585 
 The sacred sage before his altar stands, 
 
 Turns the burnt-offering with his holy hands. 
 
 And pours the wine, and bids the flames aspire : 
 The youth with instruments surround the fire. 
 
 Ver. 573. Maids , wives, and matrons , mix a shrilling sound.'] 
 I have kept the meaning of the word in the original, which sig¬ 
 nifies prayers made with loud cries. The Scholiast upon 
 iEschylus remarks that this word is not used properly but when 
 applied to the prayers offered to Minerva, for Minerva is the 
 only Goddess to whom prayers are made with loud cries, she 
 being the Goddess of war: to other Deities they offer prayer 
 with thanksgiving. P. 
 
 Ver. 575.] It is not possible, that any translator, who con¬ 
 sulted the language of Homer himself, couid ever endure such 
 a pronunciation of this word. A tolerable remedy may be found 
 in transposition: 
 
 The first-born she, of Clymenus’ old line. W. 
 
 Ver. 580.] Or literally thus; without any intermixture of 
 unauthorised thoughts: 
 
 The vital spirit left the joints, and round 
 
 The purple current floated o’er the ground. W, 
 
106 
 
 HOMERS ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 The thighs now sacrific’d, and entrails drest, 590 
 The’ assistants part, transfix, and broil the rest. 
 While these officious tend the rites divine. 
 
 The last fair branch of the Nestorian line. 
 
 Sweet Polycaste, took the pleasing toil 
 
 To bathe the prince, and pour the fragrant oil. 595 
 
 O’er his fair limbs a flowery vest he threw. 
 
 And issued, like a God, to mortal view. 
 
 His former seat beside the king he found, 
 
 (His people’s father with his peers around) 
 
 Ver. 594. Sweet Poly caste, took the pleasing toil 
 To bathe the prince, Sfc."] 
 
 It is very necessary to say something about this practice of women 
 bathing and anointing men; it frequently occurs through the 
 whole Odyssey, and is so contrary to the usage of the moderns, 
 as to give offence to modesty ; neither is this done by women of 
 inferior qualit}?-, but we have here a young princess, bathing, 
 anointing, and cloathing the naked Telemachus. Eustathius in¬ 
 deed tells us, it was undoubtedly by her father’s command: but 
 if it was a piece of immodesty, it does not solve the objection, 
 whoever commanded it. I confess it would be immodest in these 
 ages of the world, and the only excuse that occurs to me is, to 
 say that custom established it. It is in manners, in some de¬ 
 gree, as in dress; if a fashion never so indecent prevails, yet 
 no person is ridiculous, because it is fashionable: so in man¬ 
 ners, if a practice prevails universally, though not reconcilable 
 to real modesty, yet no person can be said to be immodest who 
 comes into it, because it is agreeable to the custom of the times 
 and countries. P. 
 
 But is it necessary to understand any more, than that the lady 
 supplied Telemachus with this apparatus, without personal in¬ 
 terference in the application of them ? As we say now, “ He 
 “ built a house,” and mean only, that he employed builders for 
 the purpose. No figure of language more common than this 
 both in ancient and modern writings. W. 
 
 If the reader will compare book vi. verses 210, 216, of the 
 original, he will see an actual proof of the truth of this expla¬ 
 nation from Homer himsel£ W. 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 107 
 
 t 
 
 All plac’d at ease the holy banquet join, 600 
 
 And in the dazzling goblet laughs the wine. 
 
 The rage of thirst and hunger now supprest. 
 
 The monarch turns him to his royal guest; 
 
 And for the promis’d journey bids prepare 
 The smooth-hair’d horses, and the rapid car. 605 
 
 Observant of his word, the word scarce spdke. 
 
 The sons obey, and join them to the yoke. 
 
 Then bread and wine a ready handmaid brings. 
 
 And presents, such as suit the state of kings. 
 
 The glittering seat Telemachus ascends ; 610 
 
 His faithful guide Pisistratus attends ; 
 
 With hasty hand the ruling reins he drew: 
 
 He lash’d the coursers, and the coursers flew. 
 Beneath the bounding yoke alike they held 
 Their equal pace, and smok’d along the field. 615 
 The towers of Pylos sink, its views decay, V 
 
 Fields after fields fly back, ’till close of day : > 
 
 Then sunk the sun, and darken’d all the way. j 
 
 To Pherm now, Diocleus’ stately seat, 
 
 (Of Alplieus’ race) the weary youths retreat. 620 
 His house affords the hospitable rite. 
 
 And pleas’d they sleep (the blessing of the night.) 
 But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn. 
 
 With rosy lustre purpled o’er the lawn, 
 
 Ver. 609.] Our translator misrepresents his author, who 
 may be simply and truly reported thus: 
 
 And viands , suited to the taste of kings. W. 
 
 Ver. 614.] The sense of thes ejive verses might be compre¬ 
 hended with advantage in a triplet: 
 
 Now the high Pylian towers elude the sight: 
 
 Their course they hold, ’till Sol withdraws his light, 
 
 And the dim roads involves the veil of night. W* 
 
108 
 
 HOMERS ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Again they mount, their journey to renew, 625 
 And from the sounding portico they flew. 
 
 Along the waving fields their way they hold, 
 
 The fields receding as their chariot roll’d: 
 
 Then slowly sunk the ruddy globe of light. 
 
 And o’er the shaded landscape rush’d the night. 630 
 
 I shall lay together what I have further to observe on the con¬ 
 clusion of this book: it is remarkable that the Poet does not 
 amuse himself in describing the present Telemachus received 
 from Nestor, or the provisions for the journey, or even the 
 journey itself at large : he dispatches the whole in a few lines 
 very judiciously ; he carries his hero directly to Menelaus, who 
 is to furnish many incidents that contribute to the design of the 
 poem, and passes over other matters as unnecessary. 
 
 We have likewise a piece of poetical geography, and learn 
 that it is exactly two days journey from Pyle to Lacedaemon. 
 
 This book takes up three days; the first is spent in the inquiries 
 Telemachus makes of Nestor concerning Ulysses; the two last in 
 the morning sacrifice at Pylos, and in the journey of Telemachus 
 to Lacedaemon; so that five days have now passed since the open¬ 
 ing of the poem. I have said nothing about the sacrifice, though 
 it be the most exact description of the sacrifices, as practised 
 by the ancients, perhaps extant in any author; I refer to the 
 observations upon the first book of the Iliad. 
 
 I would here remark that the three first books are written with 
 the utmost simplicity; there has been no room for such exalted 
 strokes of poetry as are to be found in the Iliad, or in the future 
 parts of the Odyssey ; but this is not owing to the decay of genius 
 in Homer, as sonje Criticks have affirmed, (who look upon the 
 Odyssey as bearing marks of his declining years) but to the 
 nature of the subject. The characters of Achilles and Ulysjjea 
 are both very great, but very different. The Iliad consists of 
 battles and a continual commotion: the Odyssey in patience 
 and wisdom ; and consequently the style of the two poems must 
 be as different as the characters of the two heroes. A noble 
 fountain of poetry opens in the next book, and flows with au 
 uninterrupted course almost through the whole Odyssey. P, 
 
THE 
 
 FOURTH BOOK 
 
 • 4 
 
 OF THE 
 
 I 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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 ■ •■ 
 
 
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 - -s 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE CONFERENCE WITH MENELAUS. 
 
 TELEMACHUS with Pisistratus arriving at 
 Sparta, is hospitably received by Menelaus, to whom 
 he relates the cause of his coming, and learns from 
 
 him many particulars of what befel the Greeks 
 
 * 
 
 since the destruction of Troy. He dwells more at 
 large upon the prophecies of Proteus to him in his 
 return, from which he acquaints Telemachus, that 
 Ulysses is detained in the island of Calypso. 
 
 In the meantime the Suitors consult to destroy 
 Telemachus in his voyage home. Penelope is ap¬ 
 prized of this, but comforted in a dream by Pallas r 
 in the shape of her sister Ipthima. P. 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 • . > 
 
 ARISTOTLE in his Poeticks reports, that certain ancient 
 Criticks reproached Homer for an indecency in making Tele* 
 machus take his abode with Menelaiis, and not with his own 
 grandfather Icarius: this Monsieur Dacier sufficiently answers, 
 by shewing that Icarius had settled himself in Acarnania, and 
 not in Lacedaemon. P« 
 
THE 
 
 fourth book 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 * «r - • % 
 
 And now proud Sparta with their wheels resounds, 
 Sparta whose walls a range of hills surrounds : 
 
 At the fair dome the rapid labour ends. 
 
 Where sat Atrides 'midst his bridal friends ; 
 
 With double vows invoking Hymen's power, 5 
 To bless his son's and daughter’s nuptial hour. 
 
 That day, to great Achilles’ son resign’d, 
 Hermione, the fairest of her kind. 
 
 Was sent to crown the long-protracted joy. 
 Espous’d before the final doom of Troy : 10 
 
 With steeds and gilded cars, a gorgeous train 
 Attend the nymph to Phthia's distant reign. 
 Meanwhile at home, to Megapenthes' bed 
 The virgin-choir Alector’s daughter led. 
 
 Brave Megapenthes, from a stolen amour 15 
 
 To great Atrides’ age his hand-maid bore: 
 
 To Helen’s bed the Gods alone assign 
 Hermione, to’ extend the regal line ; 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 On whom a radiant pomp of graces wait, 
 Resembling Venus in attractive state. 20 
 
 While this gay friendly troop the king surround. 
 With festival and mirth the roofs resound : 
 
 A Bard amid the joyous circle sings 
 High airs, attemper’d to the vocal strings; 
 
 Whilst warbling to the varied strain, advance 25 
 Two sprightly youths to form the bounding dance. 
 'Twas then, that issuing thro’ the palace gate 
 The splendid car roll’d slow in regpd state : 
 
 On the bright eminence young Nestor shone. 
 
 And fast beside him great Ulysses’ son : 30 
 
 Grave Eteoneus saw the pomp appear. 
 
 And speeding, thus address’d the royal ear. 
 
 Two youths approach, whose semblant features 
 prove 
 
 Their blood devolving from the source of Jove. 
 
 Is due reception deign’d, or must they bend 35 
 Their doubtful course to seek a distant friend ? 
 
 Insensate ! (with a sigh the king replies) 
 
 Too long, mis-judging*, have I thought thee wise : 
 But sure relentless folly steels thy breast. 
 
 Obdurate to reject the stranger-guest; 40 
 
 To those dear hospitable rites a foe. 
 
 Which in my wanderings oft’ reliev’d my woe: 
 
 Fed by the bounty of another’s board, 
 
 ’Till pitying Jove my native realm restor’d — 
 Straight be the coursers from the car releast, 46 
 Conduct the youths to grace the genial feast. 
 
 \ 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 22.1 This circumstance is not from Homer, but from 
 Dacier: “ Le palais rclcntissoit de cris de joie m&les avec le son 
 “ des instrumens. ,, W. 
 
hook iv. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 115 
 
 The Seneschal rebuk’d in haste withdrew; 
 
 With equal haste a menial train pursue : 
 
 Part led the coursers, from the car enlarg’d. 
 
 Each to a crib with choicest grain surcharg’d; so 
 
 Part in a portico, profusely grac’d 
 
 With rich magnificence, the chariot plac’d : 
 
 Then to the dome the friendly pair invite. 
 
 Who eye the dazzling roofs with vast delight; 
 Resplendent as the blaze of summer-noon, 55 
 
 Or the pale radiance of the midnight moon. 
 
 From room to room their eager view they bend ; 
 Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile, descend; 
 Where a bright damsel-train attends the guests 
 With liquid odours, and embroider’d vests. 60 
 Refresh’d, they wait them to the bower of state. 
 Where circled with his peers Atrides sat: 
 
 Thron’d next the king, a fair attendant brings 
 The purest product of the crystal springs ; 
 
 High on a massy vase of silver mold, 65 
 
 The burnish’d laver flames with solid gold: 
 
 In solid gold the purple vintage flows. 
 
 And on the board a second banquet rose. 
 
 When thus the king with hospitable port:—• 
 
 Accept this welcome to the Spartan court; 70 
 
 The waste of nature let the feast repair. 
 
 Then your high lineage and your names declare : 
 Say from what sceptred ancestry ye claim, 
 
 Recorded eminent in deathless fame ? 
 
 For vulgar parents cannot stamp their race 75 
 With signatures of such majestick grace. 
 
 Ceasing, benevolent he straight assigns 
 The royal portion of the choicest chines 
 
116 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IY. 
 
 To each accepted friend: with grateful haste 
 They share the honours of the rich repast. so 
 
 Suffic'd, soft-whispering thus to Nestor’s son. 
 
 His head reclin’d, young Ithacus begun. 
 
 View’st thou unmov’d, O ever-honoured most! 
 These prodigies of art, and wonderous cost! 
 
 Above, beneath, around the palace shines S5 
 
 The sumless treasure of exhausted mines : 
 
 The spoils of elephants the roofs inlay. 
 
 And studded amber darts a golden ray : 
 
 Such, and not nobler, in the realms above 
 My wonder dictates is the dome of Jove. 90 
 
 The monarch took the word, and grave replied. 
 Presumptuous are the vaunts, and vain the pride 
 Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove contest. 
 Unchang’d, immortal, and supremely blest! 
 
 With all my affluence when my woes are weigh’d. 
 Envy will own the purchase dearly paid. 9$ 
 
 For eight slow-circling* years by tempest tost. 
 
 From Cyprus to the far Phoenician coast, 
 
 (Sidon the capital) I stretch’d my toil 
 
 Thro’ regions fatten’d with the flows of Nile. 100 
 
 Ver. 80.] The following verse will accommodate the rhyme, 
 and, in some measure, the original: 
 
 The’ illustrious youths the proffer’d viands taste. W. 
 Ver. 91. j This representation of his author to verse 97, is 
 inaccurate and unfaithful. The following attempt is literal: 
 The prince with amber locks o’erheard his words, 
 
 And in swift accents thus the youths addrest: 
 
 Dear sons, no mortal should contend with Jove : 
 
 His domes and wealth defy deca} r s and death. 
 
 Some mortal may, perchance, with me contend 
 In wealth, or not; for suffering, wandering, much, 
 
 In ships I brought it after seven long years. W. 
 
BOOK IT. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 117 
 
 Next, ^Ethiopia's utmost bound explore. 
 
 And the parch’d borders of the’ Arabian shore: 1 
 
 Then warp my voyage on the southern gales. 
 
 O’er the warm Libyan wave to spread my sails: 
 That happy clime! where each revolving year 105 
 The teeming ewes a triple offspring bear ; 
 
 And two fair crescents of translucent horn 
 The brows of all their young increase adorn : 
 
 The shepherd swains with sure abundance blest. 
 
 On the fat flock and rural dainties feast; no 
 
 Nor want of herbage makes the dairy fail. 
 
 But every season fills the foaming pail. 
 
 • ■ v 
 
 Ver. 105.- •where each revolving year , 
 
 The teeming ewes y fycJ] 
 
 These sheep, as described by Homer, may be thought the 
 creation of the Poet, and not the production of nature; but 
 Herodotus, says Eustathius, writes, that in Scythia the oxen 
 have no horns through the extremity of the cold : he quotes 
 this very verse, rightly intimating, says Herodotus, that in hot 
 regions the horns of cattle shoot very speedily. Aristotle di¬ 
 rectly asserts, that in Libya the young ones of horned cattle 
 have horns immediately after they are brought into the world. 
 So that Aristotle and Herodotus vindicate Homer. The Poet 
 adds, that the sheep breed three times in the year; these words 
 may have a different interpretation, and imply that they breed 
 in three seasons of the year, and not only in the spring, as in 
 other countries : or that the sheep have at once three lambs ; 
 but the first is the better interpretation. Athenaeus upon this 
 passage writes, that there are things in other countries no less 
 strange than what Homer relates of these sheep of Libya. 
 Thus in Lusitania, a country of Spain, now Portugal, there is 
 a wonderful fruitfulness in all cattle, by reason of the excellent 
 temper of the air; the fruits there never rot, and the roses, 
 violets and asparagus, never fail above three months in the year, 
 Eustathius , P< 
 
118 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Whilst heaping unwish’d wealth, 1 distant roam. 
 The best of brothers, at his natal home. 
 
 By the dire fury of a traitress wife, 115 
 
 Ends the sad evening of a stormy life : 
 
 Whence with incessant grief my soul annoy’d. 
 These riches are possess’d, but not enjoy’d ! 
 
 My wars, the copious theme of every tongue. 
 
 To you, your fathers have recorded long: 120 
 
 How favouring heaven repaid my glorious toils 
 With a sack’d palace, and barbarick spoils. 
 
 Oh ! had the Gods so large a boon denied. 
 
 And life, the just equivalent, supplied 
 
 Ver, 113.] I cannot more effectually do justice to this fine 
 passage of the version, than by exhibiting to the reader the 
 simple materials from which it was wrought: 
 
 Whilst I, these copious stores collecting, stray’d 
 Those climes remote, my brother slaughter’d lay 
 By wiles unlook’d-for of his wife accurs’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 114. The best of brothers , - - — 
 
 - a traitress "wfe,] 
 
 Menelaiis neither mentions Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, nor 
 iEgysthus by name; a just indignation and resentment is the 
 occasion of his suppressing the names of Clytemnestra and 
 iEgysthus. Through the whole Iliad Menelaiis is described as. 
 a very affectionate brother, and the love he bears Agamemnon 
 is the reason why he passes by his name in silence. W r e see that 
 he dispatches the whole in one verse and a half; Nestor had 
 told the story pretty largely in the preceding book, and as he 
 was a person less nearly concerned, might speak of it with more 
 ease and better temper than Menelaiis ; the Poet avoids a need¬ 
 less repetition, and a repetition too of a story universally known 
 to all the Greeks. The death of Agamemnon is distributed intQ 
 four places in the Odyssey; Nestor, Menelaiis, Proteus, and the 
 shade of Agamemnon in the eleventh book, all relate it, and 
 every one very properly. Proteus as a prophet more fully than 
 Jtfestor and Menelaiis, and Agamemnon more fully than them 
 all, as being best acquainted with it. Eustathius , P, 
 
book iv. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 119 
 
 To those brave warriors, who with glory fir’d, 125 
 Far from their country in my cause expir’d! 
 
 Still in short intervals of pleasing woe. 
 
 Regardful of the friendly dues I owe, 
 
 I to the glorious dead, for ever dear! 
 
 Indulge the tribute of a grateful tear. 130 
 
 Rut oh ! Ulysses—deeper than the rest 
 That sad idea wounds my anxious breast! 
 
 My heart bleeds fresh with agonizing pain; 
 
 The bowl, and tasteful viands tempt in vain, 134 
 Nor sleep’s soft power can close my streaming eyes. 
 When imag’d to my soul his sorrows rise. 
 
 No peril in my cause he ceas’d to prove. 
 
 His labours equall’d only by my love : 
 
 And both alike to bitter fortune born. 
 
 For him to suffer, and for me to mourn ! 14 Q 
 
 Whether he wanders on some friendly coast. 
 
 Or glides in Stygian gloom a pensive ghost. 
 
 No fame reveals : but doubtful of his doom. 
 
 His good old sire with sorrow to the tomb 
 Declines his trembling steps; untimely care 14 5 
 Withers the blooming vigour of his heir ; 
 
 And the chaste partner of his bed and throne. 
 Wastes all her widow’d hours in tender moan. 
 
 While thus pathetick to the prince he spoke: 
 From the brave youth the streaming passion broke : 
 
 Ver. 126.] Thus, exactly to his author: 
 
 From Argos far, on Trojan plains , expir’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 143. ] The latter part of this line, and the Jive follow¬ 
 ing verses are expanded from little more than tivo of his author, 
 which are as fully expressed in one couplet by Ogilby ; whom I 
 tpiote with slight corrections : 
 
 His aged sire , his prudent wife, and heir, 
 
 An infant left, are wasting in despair, W, 
 
120 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IT 
 
 Studious to veil the grief, in vain represt, 151 
 
 His face he shrouded with his purple vest: 
 
 The conscious monarch pierc’d the coy disguise. 
 
 And view’d his filial love with vast surprise: 
 
 Dubious to press the tender theme, or wait 155 
 To hear the youth enquire his father’s fate. 
 
 In this suspense bright Helen grac’d the room ; 
 Before her breath’d a gale of rich perfume: 
 
 Yer. 154.] The phrase with vast surprise is a most miserable 
 expletive indeed, and totally unauthorized by his author. Thus? 
 more conformably to the scope of the original: 
 
 The conscious monarch through the coy disguise 
 Saw sorrow’s dew-drops glistening in his eyes . V/. 
 
 Ver. 157.- bright Helen grac’d the room. ] Mene- 
 
 laiis conjectured that the person he had entertained was the son 
 of Ulysses, from the tears he shed at the name of his father, and 
 from the resemblance there was between Ulysses and Telema- 
 chus; it might therefore have been expected that Menelaus 
 should immediately have acknowledged Telemachus, and not 
 delayed a full discovery one moment, out of regard to his ab¬ 
 sent friend; but Menelaus defers it upon a two-fold account, to 
 give some time to Telemachus to indulge his sorrow for his 
 father, and recover himself from it, and also to avoid the repe¬ 
 tition of a discovery upon the appearance of Helen, who would 
 be curious to know the condition of the strangers. 
 
 It may be necessary to say something concerning Helen, that 
 fatal beauty that engaged Greece and Asia in arms; she is 
 drawn in the same colours in the Odyssey as in the Iliad; it is a 
 vicious character, but the colours are so admirably softened by 
 the art of the Poet, that we pardon her infidelity. Menelaus is 
 an uncommon instance of conjugal affection, he forgives a wife 
 who had been false to him, and receives her into a full degree 
 of favour. But perhaps the reader might have been shocked 
 at it, and prejudiced against Helen as a person that ought to be 
 forgot, or have her name only mentioned to disgrace it: the 
 Poet therefore, to reconcile her to his reader, brings her in as 
 a penitent, condemning her own infidelity in very strong ex¬ 
 pressions ; she shews true modesty, when she calls herself im*. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 121 
 
 So moves, adorn’d with each attractive grace. 
 
 The silver-shafted Goddess of the chace ! 160 
 
 The seat of majesty Adraste brings. 
 
 With art illustrious for the pomp of kings. 
 
 To spread the pall (beneath the regal chair) 
 
 Of softest woof, is bright Alcippe’s care. 
 
 A silver canister divinely wrought, 165 
 
 In her soft hands the beauteous Phylo brought: 
 
 To Sparta’s queen of old the radiant vase 
 Alcandra gave, a pledge of royal grace : 
 
 For Polybus her lord, (whose sovereign sway 
 The wealthy tribes of Pharian Thebes obey) 170 
 When to that court Atrides came, carest 
 With vast munificence the’ imperial guest: 
 
 Two lavers from the richest ore refin’d. 
 
 With silver tripods, the kind host assign’d ; 
 
 And bounteous, from the royal treasure told 175 
 Ten equal talents of refulgent gold. 
 
 Alcandra, consort of his high command, 
 
 A golden distaff gave to Helen’s hand; 
 
 And that rich vase, with living sculpture wrought. 
 Which heap’d with wool the beauteous Phylo 
 brought: ' 180 
 
 The silken fleece impurpled for the loom, 
 
 Ilivall’d the hyacinth in vernal bloom. 
 
 The sovereign seat then Jove-born Helen press’d. 
 And pleasing thus her sceptred lord address’d. 
 
 pudent, and by this conduct we are inclined, like Menelaus, to 
 forgive her. P* 
 
 Thus his author: 
 
 In this suspense, the beauteous regal dame 
 
 I 7 rom her high-vaulted fragrant chamber came. W. 
 
122 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IT. 
 
 Who grace our palace now, that friendly pair 185 
 Speak they their lineage, or their names declare ? 
 Uncertain of the truth, yet uncontrolPd 
 Hear me the bodings of my breast unfold. 
 
 With wonder wrapt, on yonder cheek I trace 
 The feature of the Ulyssean race: 190 
 
 Diffus’d o’er each resembling line appear. 
 
 In just similitude, the grace and air 
 Of young Telemachus ! the lovely boy. 
 
 Who bless’d Ulysses with a father’s joy. 
 
 What time the Greeks combin’d their social arms, 195 
 To’ avenge the stain of my ill-fated charms ! 
 
 Just is thy thought, the king assenting cries, 
 Methinks Ulysses strikes my wondering eyes : 
 
 Full shines the father in the filial frame. 
 
 His port, his features, and his shape the same : 200 
 Such quick regards his sparkling eyes bestow ; 
 
 Such wavy ringlets o’er his shoulders flow ! 
 
 Ver. 192.--- the grace and air 
 
 Of young Telemachus l -] 
 
 It may seem strange that Helen should at first view recollect the 
 features of Ulysses in Telemachus; and that Menelaiis, who 
 was better acquainted with him, and his constant friend, should 
 not make the same observation. But Athenaeus, to reconcile 
 this to probability, says, that women are curious and skilful 
 observers of the likeness of children to parents, for one parti¬ 
 cular reason, that they may, upon finding any dissimilitude, 
 have the pleasure of hinting at the unchastity of others. P. 
 
 Ver. 195.] Thus, with more fidelity: 
 
 In my sad cause when Greece assembled came, . 
 
 And breath’d destruction on the Trojan name. V/. 
 
 Ver. 201.] Our translator should have endeavoured to pre¬ 
 serve the beautiful expression of his author. Thus ? 
 
 Ills sparkling eyes such vivid glances throw : W. 
 
book iv. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 123 
 
 And when he heard the long disastrous store 
 Of cares, which in my cause Ulysses bore. 
 Dismay'd, heart-wounded with paternal woes, 205 
 Above restraint the tide of sorrow rose : 
 
 Cautious to let the gushing grief appear. 
 
 His purple garment veil'd the falling tear. 
 
 See there confest, Pisistratus replies. 
 
 The genuine worth of Ithacus the wise ! 21(> 
 
 Of that heroick sire the youth is sprung. 
 
 But modest awe hath chain'd his timorous tongue. 
 Thy voice, O king! with pleas'd attention heard. 
 
 Is like the dictates of a God rever’d. 
 
 With him at Nestor's high command I came, 215 
 Whose age I honour with a parent's name. 
 
 By adverse destiny constrain'd to sue 
 For counsel and redress, he sues to you. 
 
 Whatever ill the friendless orphan bears, 
 
 Bereav'd of parents in his infant years, ow 
 
 Still must the wrong’d Telemachus sustain. 
 
 If hopeful of your aid, he hopes in vain : 
 
 Affianc'd in your friendly power alone. 
 
 The youth would vindicate the vacant throne. 
 
 Is Sparta blest, and these desiring eyes 2 26 
 View my friend’s son? (the king exulting cries) 
 
 Son of my friend, by glorious toils approv’d. 
 
 Whose sword was sacred to the man he lov’d: 
 
 Ver. 216.] This line is an unauthorized insertion by the 
 translator. W. 
 
 Ver. 219.] The conclusion of this speech is rambling and 
 inaccurate. I shall attempt a more close and faithful version: 
 What ills that orphan’s hapless house await, 
 
 Where no kind friends support his falling state, 
 
 Those ills Telemachus is doom’d to bear; 
 
 His sire an exile, and no succour near! W. 
 
124 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book iv. 
 
 Mirror of constant faith, rever'd, and mourn'd!— 
 When Troy was ruin’d, had the chief return'd, 230 
 No Greek an equal space had e’er possest. 
 
 Of dear affection, in my grateful breast. 
 
 I, to confirm the mutual joys we shar’d. 
 
 For his abode a capital prepar'd; 
 
 Argos the seat of sovereign rule I chose; 235 
 
 Fair in the plan the future palace rose, 
 
 Where my Ulysses and his race might reign, 
 
 And portion to his tribes the wide domain. 
 
 To them my vassals had resign’d a soil. 
 
 With teeming plenty to reward their toil. 240 
 
 There with commutual zeal we both had strove 
 In acts of dear benevolence, and love : 
 
 Brothers in peace, not rivals in command. 
 
 And death alone dissolv’d the friendly band! 
 
 Some envious power the blissful scene destroys; 245 
 Vanish’d are all the visionary joys: 
 
 The soul of friendship to my hope is lost. 
 
 Fated to wander from his natal coast! 
 
 He ceas’d ; a gust of grief began to rise : 249 
 
 Fast streams a tide from beauteous Helen’s eyes; 
 
 Ver. 229.] For this couplet of imperfect rhymes I would 
 propose somewhat more congenial to the tenor of the original: 
 I thought if thundering Jove’s protecting hand 
 Would safe conduct us to our native land, 
 
 No Greek an equal space had then/>emmV—. W. 
 
 Ver. 234. For his abode a capital prepar’d.'] The Poet puts 
 these words in the mouth of Menelaiis, to express the sincerity 
 of his friendship to Ulysses; he intended him all advantage, and 
 no detriment: we must therefore conclude, that Ulysses was 
 still to retain Ills sovereignty over Ithaca, and only remove to Ar¬ 
 gos, to live with so sincere a friend as Menelaiis. Eusta¬ 
 thius, 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 125 
 
 Fast for the sire the filial sorrows flow; 
 
 The weeping monarch swells the mighty woe : 
 
 Thy cheeks, Pisistratus, the tears bedew. 
 
 While pictur’d to thy mind appear’d in view 
 Thy martial * brother : on the Phrygian plain 255 
 Extended pale, by swarthy Memnon slain ! 
 
 Rut silence soon the son of Nestor broke, 
 
 And melting with fraternal pity spoke. 
 
 Frequent, O king, was Nestor wont to raise 
 And charm attention with thy copious praise : 260 
 
 To crown thy various gifts, the sage assign’d 
 The glory of a firm capacious mind : 
 
 With that superior attribute controul 
 This unavailing impotence of soul. 
 
 Let not your roof with echoing grief resound, 2 65 
 Now for the feast the friendly bowl is crown’d: 
 
 But when from dewy shade emerging bright, 
 Aurora streaks the sky with orient light, 
 
 * Antilochus. 
 
 Ver. 265 . Let not your rof with echoing grief resound , 
 
 Now Jar the feast the friendly bowl is crown'd .] 
 
 It may be asked why sorrow for the dead should be more un¬ 
 seasonable in the evening than the morning ? Eustathius an¬ 
 swers, lest others should look upon our evening tears as the 
 effect of wine, and not of love to the dead. 
 
 “ Intempestivus venit inter pocula fletus, 
 u Nec lacrymas dulci fas est miscere Falerno. ,> 
 
 I fancy there may be a more rational account given of this ex¬ 
 pression ; the time of feasting was ever looked upon as a time 
 of joy and thanksgiving to the Gods; it bore a religious venera¬ 
 tion among the ancients, and consequently to shed tears when 
 they should express their gratitude to' the Gods with joy, was 
 esteemed a profanation. P. 
 
 Ver. 267.3 Our translator here most grossly misrepresents 
 his author; following, perhaps, the steps of Chapman and 
 
126 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Let each deplore his dead : the rites of woe 
 Are all, alas! the living’ can bestow: 270 
 
 O’er the congenial dust injoin’d to shear 
 The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear. 
 
 Then mingling in the mournful pomp with you. 
 
 I’ll pay my brother’s ghost a warrior’s due. 
 
 And mourn the brave Antilochus, a name 275 
 
 Not unrecorded in the rolls of fame : 
 
 With strength and speed superior form’d, in fight 
 To face the foe, or intercept his flight: 
 
 Too early snatch’d by fate ere known to me ! 
 
 I boast a witness of his worth in thee. 280 
 
 Young and mature ! the monarch thus rejoins. 
 
 In thee renew’d the soul of Nestor shines: 
 
 Form’d by the care of that consummate sage. 
 
 In early bloom an oracle of age. 2 S 4 
 
 Whene’er his influence Jove vouchsafes to shower 
 To bless the natal, and the nuptial hour; 
 
 From the great sire transmissive to the race. 
 
 The boon devolving gives distinguish'd grace. 
 
 Such, happy Nestor! was thy glorious doom; 
 Around thee full of years, thy offspring bloom, 290 
 Expert of arms, and prudent in debate : 
 
 The gifts of heaven to guard thy hoary state. 
 
 Ogilby, who are alike mistaken. A conformity may be thus 
 effected: 
 
 And now, emergingyroM yon orient skies. 
 
 Soon on our wailings would Aurora rise* 
 
 To wail the dead I grudge not: rites of woe. 
 
 I, in the pomp of sorrow join 9 d with you, 
 
 Will pay my brother’s ghost a warrior’s due. W. 
 Ver. 276.] Or, more exactly. 
 
 Not last in records rolled of Argive fame. W. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 12? 
 
 HOMERS ODYSSEY. 
 
 Rat now let each becalm his troubled breast. 
 
 Wash, and partake serene the friendly feast. 
 
 To move thy suit, Telemachus, delay, 
 
 'Till heaven's revolving lamp restores the day. 
 
 He said, Asphalion swift the laver brings ; 
 Alternate all partake the grateful springs : 
 
 Then from the rites of purity repair. 
 
 And with keen gust the savory viands share. 300 
 Meantime with genial joy to warm the soul. 
 
 Bright Helen mix'd a mirth-inspiring bowl : 
 
 Ver. 302. Bright Helen mix'd a mirth-inspiring bovcl , Sfc.] 
 The conjectures about this cordial of Helen have been almost 
 infinite. Some take Nepenthes allegorically, to signify history, 
 musick or philosophy. Plutarch in the first of the Symposiacks 
 affirms it to be, discourse well suiting the present passions and 
 conditions of the hearers. Macrobius is of the same opinion. 
 What gave a foundation to this fiction of Homer, as Dacier 
 observes, might be this. Diodorus writes that in Egypt, and 
 chiefly at Heliopolis, the same with Thebes, where Menelaiis 
 sojourned, as has been already observed, there lived women 
 who boasted of certain potions, which not only made the unfor¬ 
 tunate forget all their calamities, but drove away the most vio¬ 
 lent sallies of grief or anger. Eusebius directly affirms, that 
 even in his time the women of Diospolis were able to calm the 
 rage of grief or anger by certain potions. Now whether this 
 be truth or fiction, it fully vindicates Homer, since a Poet may 
 make use of a prevailing, though false opinion. 
 
 Milton mentions this Nepenthes in his excellent Masque of 
 Comus. 
 
 -Behold this cordial julep here, 
 
 That flames and dances in his crystal bounds! 
 
 Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone 
 In -dSgypt gave to Jove-born Helena, 
 
 Is of such power as this to stir up joy, 
 
 To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst. 
 
 But that there may be something more than fiction in this is very 
 probable, since tin? ^Egyptians were so notoriously skilled in 
 physick; and particularly since this very Thon, or 'i honis, or 
 
128 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Temper'd with drugs of sovereign use, to' assuage 
 The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage; 
 
 To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care, 305 
 And dry the tearful sluices of despair : 
 
 Charm'd with that virtuous draught, the’ exalted mind 
 All sense of woe delivers to the wind. 
 
 Tho' on the blazing pile his parent lay. 
 
 Or a lov’d brother groan’d his life away, 310 
 
 Or darling son, oppress’d by ruffian-force. 
 
 Fell breathless at his feet, a mangled corse; 
 
 From morn to eve, impassive and serene. 
 
 The man entranc’d would view the deathful scene. 
 These drugs, so friendly to the joys of life, 315 
 Bright Helen learn’d from Thone’s imperial wife; 
 Who sway’d the sceptre, where prolifick Nile 
 With various simples clothes the fattened soil. 
 
 With wholesome herbage mix’d, the direful bane 
 Of vegetable venom taints the plain ; 320 
 
 From Paeon sprung, their patron-god imparts 
 To all the Pharian race his healing arts. 
 
 The beverage now prepar’d to’ inspire the feast. 
 The circle thus the beauteous queen addrcst. 
 
 Thron’d in omnipotence, supremest Jove 32s 
 Tempers the fates of human race above ; 
 
 By the firm sanction of his sovereign will. 
 
 Alternate are decreed our good and ill. 
 
 To feastful mirth be this white hour assign’d. 
 
 And sweet discourse, the banquet of the mind. 330 
 
 Thoon, is reported by the ancients to have been the inventor 
 of physick among the ^Egyptians. The description of this 
 Nepenthes agrees admirably with what we know of the qualities 
 and effects of opium-, P. 
 
*odK tv. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 129 
 
 Myself assisting* in the social joy. 
 
 Will tell Ulysses’ bold exploit in Troy: 
 
 Sole witness of the deed I now declare; 
 
 Speak you (who saw) his wonders in the war. 
 Seam’d o’er with wounds, which his own sabre 
 gave, 335 
 
 In the vile habit of a village slave. 
 
 The foe deceiv’d, he pass’d the tented plain. 
 
 In Troy to mingle with the hostile train. 
 
 In this attire secure from searching eyes, 
 
 ’Till haply piercing thro’ the dark disguise 340 
 The chief I challeng’d; he, whose practis’d wit 
 Knew all the serpent mazes of deceit. 
 
 Eludes my search : but when his form I view’d 
 Fresh from the bath with fragrant oils renew’d, 
 
 Ver. 335. This translation is erroneous, in my opinion. 
 Hobbes rightly understood the passage: 
 
 Bloody with strives , from no hand but his own : 
 and Dacier: “ Un jour, apres s’etre declare Ic corps a coups de 
 “ verges.” It is not improbable, that Chapman led the way for 
 our translator: 
 
 -how ‘with ghastly wounds 
 
 Himselfe he mangl'd . W. 
 
 Ver. 33S.] A sentiment of his author, suppressed by our 
 poet, may be thus exhibited: 
 
 And personates a beggar ; though no Greek 
 That ignominious semblance less became* W. 
 
 Ver. 343 ] The version here is very loose and rambling. 
 The following attempt is literally commensurate with the origi¬ 
 nal, and accompanies the translation before us to verse 353. 
 But, when with oil I smooth’d him from the bath, 
 
 And vestments gave, and swore a solemn oath, 
 
 Ne’er to divulge Ulysses to his foes, 
 
 ’Till at the ships and tents arriv’d; he then 
 Detail’d the whole intention of the Greeks. W. 
 
 K 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
130 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 fcOOK IV. 
 
 His limbs in military purple dress'd; 345 
 
 Each brightening grace the genuine Greek con¬ 
 fess’d. 
 
 A previous pledge of sacred faith obtain'd, 
 
 'Till he the lines and Argive fleet regain'd. 
 
 To keep his stay conceal’d; the chief declar'd 
 The plans of war against the town prepar’d. 356 ' 
 Exploring then the secrets of the state. 
 
 He learn'd what best might urge the Dardan fate: 
 And safe returning to the Grecian host. 
 
 Sent many a shade to Pluto’s dreary coast. 
 
 Loud grief resounded thro’ the towers of Troy, 3 55 
 But my pleas’d bosom glow'd with secret joy: 
 
 For then with dire remorse, and conscious shame, 
 
 I view’d the' effects of that disastrous flame. 
 
 Which kindled by the’ imperious Queen of love. 
 Constrain’d me from my native realm to rove: sdo 
 
 And oft in bitterness of soul deplor’d 
 
 > ^ , 
 
 My absent daughter, and my dearer lord ; 
 
 Admir’d among the first of human race. 
 
 For every gift of mind, and manly grace. 364. 
 
 Right well, replied the king, your speech displays 
 The matchless merit of the chief you praise : 
 Heroes in various climes myself have found. 
 
 For martial deeds, and depth of thought renown'd: 
 
 Ver. 368.] His original prescribes, 
 
 For counsel sage and depth of thought renovvn’d. 
 
 But our translator is very inaccurate and inattentive to his 
 author in this passage. The following attempt exhibits the 
 speech literally to verse 373 of this version. 
 
 The prince with amber hair thus, answering, spake: 
 
 Thy words, O! wife, are, doubtless, just and true. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 131 
 
 But Ithacus, unrivall’d in his claim. 
 
 May boast a title to the loudest fame: 370 
 
 In battle calm, he guides the rapid storm. 
 
 Wise to resolve, and patient to perform. 
 
 What wonderous conduct in the chief appear’d. 
 When the vast fab rick of the steed we rear’d ! 
 Some demon, anxious for the Trojan doom, 375 
 Urg’d you with great Deiphobus to come. 
 
 Myself the counsel and the thoughts have known 
 Of many a hero, and have wandered wide ; 
 
 But ne’er beheld these eyes a chief to match 
 
 The prudent soul of that much-suffering man. W. 
 
 Yer. 374.] Here an omission of our translator may be sup* 
 plied by a couplet corrected from Ogilby i 
 
 That ’ivell-M'ought steed, ivhere all ive chieftains sate, 
 
 Big with destruction to the Trojan state. W. 
 
 Ver. 375. Some demon anxious for the Trojan doom.] It is 
 the observation of Eustathius, that these words are very artfully 
 introduced to vindicate Helen ; they imply that what she acted 
 was by compulsion; and to evidence this more clearly, Deiphobus 
 is given her for an attendant, as a spy upon her actions, that she 
 might not conceal any thing that should happen, but act her part 
 well, by endeavouring to deceive the Greeks in favour of Troy. 
 It is the demon, not Helen, that is in fault; this, continues 
 Eustathius, answers many objections that lie against Helen : for 
 if she was a real penitent, as she herself affirms, how comes 
 she to endeavour to deceive the Greeks by the disguise of her 
 voice, into more misery than had yet arisen from a ten years 
 war ? Or indeed is it credible that any person could modulate 
 her voice so artfully as to resemble so many voices ? And how 
 could the Greeks inclosed in the wooden horse believe that 
 their wives, who were in Greece, could be arrived in so short a 
 space as they had been concealed there, from the various re¬ 
 gions of Greece, and meet together in Troy? Would the 
 wives of these heroes come into an enemy’s country, when the 
 whole army, except these latent heroes, were retired from it ? 
 This is ridiculous and impossible. I must confess there is great 
 w r eight in these objections: but Eustathius answers all by the 
 
 k 2 
 
132 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 To’ explore the fraud; with guile oppos’d to guile. 
 Slow-pacing thrice around the’ insidious pile, 
 
 interposition of die demon ; and by an idle tradition that Helen 
 had the name of Echo, from the faculty of mimicking sounds; 
 and that this gift was bestowed upon her by Venus when she 
 married Menelaus, that she might be able to detect him, if he 
 should prove false to her bed, by imitating the voice of the 
 suspected person, (but Menelaus had more occasion for this 
 faculty than Helen.) As for the excuse of the demon, it 
 equally excuses all crimes: for instance, was Helen false to 
 Menelaus? The demon occasioned it. Does she act an impos¬ 
 tor to destroy all her Grecian friends, and even Menelaus ? 
 The demon compels her to it. The demon compels her to go 
 with Deiphobus, to surround the horse thrice, to sound the 
 sides of it, to endeavour to surprise the latent Greeks by aa 
 imitation of the voices of their wives; and in short, to act like 
 a person that was very sincere in mischief. 
 
 Dacier takes another course, and gives up Helen, but remarks 
 the great address of Menelaus. Helen had, said she, long 
 desired nothing so much as to return to Lacedaemon; and her 
 heart had long been wholly turned to Menelaus : Menelaus is 
 not at all convinced of this pretended sincerity; but it would 
 have been too gross, after he had taken her again to his bed, to 
 convict her of falsehood: he therefore contents himself barely 
 to reply, that some demon, an enemy to the Greeks, had 
 forced her to a conduct disagreeable to her sincerity. This 
 (continues Dacier) is an artful, but severe irony. 
 
 As for the objection concerning the impossibility of the 
 Greeks believing their wives could be in Troy she answers, 
 that the authors of this objection have not sufficiently consi¬ 
 dered human nature. The voice of a beloved person might of 
 a sudden, and by surprise, draw from any person a word invo¬ 
 luntary, before he has time to make reflection. This undoubt¬ 
 edly is true, where circumstances make an imposture probable; 
 but here is an impossibility; it is utterly impossible to believe 
 the wives of these heroes could be in Troy. Besides, Menelaus 
 himself tells us, that even lie had fallen into the snare, but 
 Ulysses prevented it; this adds to the incredibility of the story; 
 for if this faculty of mimickry was given upon his marriage 
 with Helen, it v/as nothing new to him; he must be supposed 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 133 
 
 Each noted leader's name you thrice invoke. 
 
 Your accent varying as their spouses spoke : sso 
 The pleasing sounds each latent warrior warm'd. 
 
 But most Tydides’ and my heart alarm'd: 
 
 To quit the steed we both impatient press. 
 Threatening to answer from the dark recess. 
 Unmov’d the mind of Ithacus remain’d ; 385 
 
 And the vain ardours of our love restrain'd: 
 
 But Anticlus unable to controul. 
 
 Spoke loud the language of his yearning soul: 
 Ulysses straight with indignation fir’d, 
 
 (For so the common care of Greece requir'd) 39Q 
 Firm to his lips his forceful hands applied. 
 
 Till on his tongue the fluttering murmurs died. 
 
 to be acquainted with it, and consequently be the less liable to 
 surprise: nay it is not impossible, but the experiment might 
 have been made upon him before Helen fled away with Paris. 
 
 In short, I think this passage wants a further vindication; the 
 circumstances are low, if not incredible. Virgil, the great 
 imitator of Homer, has given us a very different and more noble 
 description of the destruction of Troy; he has not thought fit , 
 to imitate him in this description. 
 
 If we allow Helen to act by compulsion, to have feared the 
 Trojans, and that Deiphobus was sent as a spy upon her ac¬ 
 tions ; yet this is no vindication of her conduct: she still acts 
 a mean part, and through fear becomes an accomplice in en¬ 
 deavouring to betray and ruin the Greeks. 
 
 I shall just add, that after the death of Paris, Helen married 
 Deiphobus; that the story of the wooden horse is probably 
 founded upon the taking of Troy by an engine called a horse, 
 as the like engine was called a ram by the Romans. P. 
 
 Ver. 387-] This conclusion of the speech is very licentious 
 and diffuse, as the reader may judge from a literal translation; 
 Anticlus only labour’d to reply; 
 
 But straight Ulysses with his powerful hands 
 Incessant prest his mouth, and sav’d us all: 
 
 ISIor left his hold, ’till Pallas led thee orfl W, 
 
134 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book iy. 
 
 Meantime Minerva from the fraudful horse 
 Back to the court of Priam bent your course. 
 
 Inclement fate ! Telemachus replies., 395 
 
 Frail is the boasted attribute of wise: 
 
 The leader, mingling with the vulgar host,, 
 
 Is in the common mass of matter lost! 
 
 But now let sleep the painful waste repair 
 Of sad reflection, and corroding care. 400 
 
 He ceas’d ; the menial fair that round her wait, 
 
 At Helen’s beck prepare the room of state ; 
 
 Beneath an ample portico, they spread 
 
 / 
 
 The downy fleece to form the slumberous bed; 
 
 And o’er soft palls of purple grain, unfold 405 
 Rich tapestry, stiff with inwoven gold: 
 
 Then thro’ the’ illumin’d dome, to balmy rest 
 The’ obsequious herald guides each princely guest: 
 While to his regal bower the king ascends. 
 
 And beauteous Helen on her lord attends. 410 
 
 Soon as the morn, in orient purple drest, 
 Unbarr’d the portal of the roseate east. 
 
 Ver. 395.] The version here is unpardonably vague. I shall 
 give a literal representation of the former paragraph of the 
 speech. 
 
 To him discreet Telemachus replied; 
 
 Divine Atrides ! sovereign chief! more hard 
 
 His fate, if all these virtues, and a soul 
 
 Of steel, were weak to ward his ruin off. \Y. 
 
 Ver. 407*3 That part of his author, which our translator 
 intended to exhibit in this couplet, is given with much greater 
 fidelity, and in a stile not contemptible, by Ogilby ; 
 
 Forth went her damsels with a lighted torch ; 
 
 The guests a herald ushers to the porch : 
 
 O’er the resounding gates the princes lay, 
 
 Whom Morpheus’ golden fetters bound till day. \\\ 
 
book iy. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 135 
 
 .The monarch rose; magnificent to view. 
 
 The’ imperial mantle o’er his vest he threw : 
 
 The glittering zone athwart his shoulder cast, 415 
 A starry falchion low-depending grac’d; 
 
 Clasp’d on his feet the’ embroider’d sandals shine; 
 And forth he moves, majestick and divine : 
 
 Instant to young Telemachus he press’d. 
 
 And thus benevolent his speech address’d. 420 
 Say, royal youth, sincere of soul, report 
 What cause hath led you to the Spartan court ? 
 
 Do publick or domestick cares constrain 
 This toilsome voyage o’er the surgy main ? 
 
 O highly-favour’d delegate of Jove! 425 
 
 (Replies the prince) inflam’d with filial love. 
 
 And anxious hope, to hear my parent’s doom, 
 
 A suppliant to your royal court I come. 
 
 Our sovereign seat a lewd usurping race 
 
 With lawless riot, and misrule disgrace; 430 
 
 To pamper’d insolence devoted fall 
 
 Prime of the flock, and choicest of the stall; 
 
 For wild ambition wings their bold desire. 
 
 And all to mount the’ imperial bed aspire. 
 
 But prostrate I implore, oh king! relate 435 
 
 The mournful series of my father’s fate : 
 
 Each known disaster of the man disclose. 
 
 Born by his mother to a world of woes ! 
 
 Recite them ! nor in erring pity fear 
 
 To wound with storied grief the filial ear: 4 to 
 
 If e’er Ulysses, to reclaim your right. 
 
 Avow’d his zeal in council or in fight, 
 
 If Phrygian camps the friendly toils attest. 
 
 To the sire’s merit give the son’s requests 
 
136 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book it. 
 
 Deep from his inmost soul Atrides sigh'd, 445 
 And thus indignant to the prince reply’d: 
 
 Heavens ! would a soft, inglorious, dastard train 
 An absent hero's nuptial joys profane 1 
 So with her young, amid the woodland shades, 
 
 A timorous hind the lion's court invades, 450 
 
 Leaves in the fatal lair the tender fawns. 
 
 Climbs the green cliff, or feeds the flowery lawns: 
 Meantime return’d, with dire remorseless sway 
 The monarch-savage rends the trembling prey. 
 With equal fury, and with equal fame, 455 
 
 Ulysses soon shall re-assert his claim. 
 
 O Jove, supreme, whom Gods and men revere 1 
 And thou *, to whom 'tis given to gild the sphere ! 
 With power congenial join'd, propitious aid 
 The chief adopted by the martial maid 1 460 
 
 Such to our wish the warrior soon restore. 
 
 As when contending on the Lesbian shore 
 
 * Apollo. 
 
 Yer. 447.] This is the first simile that Homer has inserted 
 in the Odyssey; but I cannot think it proceeded from a barren¬ 
 ness of invention, or through phlegm in the declension of his 
 years, as some have imagined. The nature of the poem requires 
 a difference of style from the Iliad: the Iliad rushes along like 
 a torrent; the Odyssey flows gently on like a deep stream, 
 with a smooth tranquillity; Achilles is all fire, Ulysses all 
 wisdom. P. 
 
 Ver. 457.] One verse of Homer is here dilated into four , 
 A couplet at most might have sufficed, thus: 
 
 Would Jove, supreme of Gods and mortals, aid; 
 
 Would favouring Phoebus and the martial maid—. W. 
 
 Ver. 462, As ivhen contending on the Lesbian shore.~] The 
 Poet here gives an account of one of Ulysses’s adventures. Phi- 
 lomelides was king of Lesbos, and Eustathius observes, that 
 there was a tradition that Ulysses and Diornedes slew him, and 
 turned a stately monument he had raised for himself into a pub* 
 lick place for the reception of strangers. P, 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 137 
 
 His prowess Philomelides confess’d. 
 
 And loud-acclaiming- Greeks the victor bless’d : 
 
 Then soon the’ invaders of his bed and throne, 465 
 Their love presumptuous shall with life atone. 
 
 With patient ear, oh royal youth, attend 
 The storied labours of thy father’s friend : 
 
 Fruitful of deeds, the copious tale is long, 
 
 But truth severe shall dictate to my tongue : 470 
 
 Learn what I heard the sea-born seer relate. 
 
 Whose eye can pierce the dark recess of Fate. 
 
 Long on the’ ^Egyptian coast by calms confin’d. 
 Heaven to my fleet refus’d a prosperous wind : 
 
 No vows had we preferr’d, nor victim slain ! 475 . 
 
 For this the Gods each favouring gale restrain : 
 Jealous, to see their high behests obey’d : 
 
 Severe, if men the’ eternal rights evade. 
 
 High o’er a gulfy sea, the Pharian isle 
 
 Fronts the deep roar of disemboguing Nile : 4 S 0 
 
 Ver. 479. The Pharian isle. 3 This description of Pharos has 
 given great trouble to the Criticks and Geographers ; it is gene¬ 
 rally concluded, that the distance of Pharos is about seven stadia 
 from Alexandria; Ammianus Marcellinus mentions this very 
 passage thus ; 1. xxii. Insula Pharos, ubi Protea cum Phocarum 
 gregibus diversatum Homerus Jabuiatur irifiatius , a civitatis littors 
 miLle passibus disparata, or, about a mile distant from the shores , 
 How then comes Homer to affirm it to be distant a full day’s 
 sail ? Dacier answers, that Homer might have heard that the 
 Nile, continually bringing down much earthy substance, had 
 enlarged the continent; ar.d knowing it not to be so distant in 
 his time, took the liberty of a Poet, and described it as still 
 more distant in the days of Menelaiis. But Dacier never sees 
 a mistake in Homer. Had his poetry, been worse if he had 
 described the real distance of Pharos? Jt is allowable in a Poet 
 to disguise the truth, to adorn his story; but what ornament 
 has he given his poetry by this-enlargement ? Bochart has fully 
 proved that there is no accession to the continent from any sub* 
 
138 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Her distance from the shore, the course begun 
 At dawn, and ending with the setting sun, 
 
 A galley measures; when the stiffer gales 
 Rise on the poop, and fully stretch the sails. 
 
 There, anchor’d vessels safe in harbour lye, 483 
 Whilst limpid springs the failing cask supply. 
 
 And now the twentieth sun descending, laves 
 His glowing axle in the western waves ; 
 
 Still with expanded sails we court in vain 
 Propitious winds, to waft us o’er the main ; 4 $q 
 
 And the pale mariner at once deplores 
 His drooping vigour, and exhausted stores. 
 
 stance that the Nile brings down with it: the violent agitation 
 of the seas prohibit it from lodging and forming itself into 
 solidity. Eratosthenes is of opinion, that Homer was ignorant 
 of the mouths of Nile; but Strabo answers, that his silence 
 about them is not an argument of his ignorance, for neither has 
 he ever mentioned where he was born. But Strabo does not 
 enter fully into the meaning of Eratosthenes: Eratosthenes does 
 not mean that Homer was ignorant of the mouths of Nile from 
 his silence, but because he places Pharos at the distance of a 
 whole day’s sail from the continent. The only way to unite this 
 inconsistence is to suppose, that the Poet intended to specify the 
 Pelusiac mouth of Nile, from which Pharos stands about a day’s 
 sail; but this is submitted to the Criticks. 
 
 I cannot tell whether one should venture to make use of the 
 word Nile in the translation; it is doubtless an anachronism; 
 that name being unknown in the times of Homer and Menelaiis, 
 when the Nile was called iEgyptus. Homer in this very book 
 —— — — Alyvn ]ore Au <nrsT eoj 'moTupoio. 
 
 Yet on the other hand, this name of ^Egyptus is so little known, 
 that a common reader would scarce distinguish the river from 
 the country ; and indeed universal custom has obtained for 
 using the Latin name instead of the Grecian, in many other 
 instances which are equally anachronisms: witness all the names 
 of the Gods and Goddesses throughout Homer; Jupiter for 
 Zeus, Juno for Ere, Neptune for Poseidon, &c, P, 
 
book iv. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 139 
 
 When lo ! a bright cerulean form appears. 
 
 The fair Eidothea ! to dispel my fears ; 
 
 Proteus her sire divine. With pity press’d, 495 
 Me sole the daughter of the deep address’d : 
 
 What time, with hunger pin’d, my absent mates 
 Roam the wild isle in search of rural cates, 
 
 Bait the barb’d steel, and from the fishy flood 
 Appease the’ afflictive fierce desire of food. 500 
 
 Whoe’er thou art (the azure Goddess cries) 
 
 Thy conduct ill deserves the praise of wise : 
 
 Is death thy choice, or misery thy boast. 
 
 That here inglorious on a barren coast 
 
 Thy brave associates droop, a meagre train 503 
 
 With famine pale, and ask thy care in vain ? 
 
 Ver. 499. Bait the barb’d steely andfrom the fishy floodS] Me- 
 relaiis says, hunger was so violent among his companions, that 
 they were compelled to eat fish. Plutarch in his Symposiacks 
 observes, that among the Syrians and Greeks, to abstain from 
 fish was esteemed a piece of sanctity; that though the Greeks 
 were encamped upon the Hellespont, there is not the least inti¬ 
 mation that they eat fish, or any sea provision ; and that the 
 companions of Ulysses, in the twelfth book of the Odyssey, 
 never sought for fish till all their other provisions were con¬ 
 sumed, and that the same necessity compelled them to eat the 
 herds of the sun which induced them to taste fish. No fish is 
 ever offered in sacrifice: the Pythagoreans in particular com¬ 
 mand fish not to be eaten more strictly than any other animal: 
 fish afford no excuse at all for their destruction, they live as it 
 were in another world, disturb not our air, consume not our 
 fruits, or injure the waters; and therefore the Pythagoreans, 
 who were unwilling to offer violence to any animals, fed very 
 little, or not at all on fishes. I thought it necessary to insert 
 this from Plutarch, because it is an observation that explains 
 pther passages in the sequel of the Odyssey. P. 
 
 Ver. 504.] Thus, with more fidelity, 
 
 'fhat lingering here on this xuave-bcaten coast* W« 
 
140 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IT. 
 
 Struck with the kind reproach, I straight reply ; 
 Whate’er thy title in thy native sky, 
 
 A Goddess sure ! for more than mortal grace 
 Speaks thee descendant of ethereal race : 510 
 
 Deem not, that here of choice my fleet remains ; 
 Some heavenly power averse my stay constrains : 
 
 O, piteous of my fate, vouchsafe to shew, 
 
 (For what’s sequester’d from celestial view?) 
 
 What power becalms the’ innavigable seas ? 515 
 
 What guilt provokes him, and what vows appease ? 
 
 I ceas’d, when affable the Goddess cried; 
 Observe, and in the truths I speak confide: 
 
 The’ oraculous seer frequents the Pharian coast. 
 From whose high bed my birth divine I boast: 520 
 
 Proteus, a name tremendous o’er the main. 
 
 The delegate of Neptune’s watery reign. 
 
 Ver. 508.] These three verses are amplified from little more 
 than the same number of words in his original, after the model 
 of a parallel passage below in book vi. verse 149. of the Greek, 
 and VirgiPs imitation of it in his first TEneid. W. 
 
 Ver. 511.] The remainder of this speech is liable to various 
 exceptions. I shall propose a more faithful version: 
 
 Unwilling here I stay; some deathless power 
 Incens’d detains, who dwells the’ Olympian bower. 
 
 But (for thou know’st) what God detains me, say; 
 
 And binds my passage o’er the watery way l W. 
 
 Ver. 521. Proteus , a name tremendous o'er the main.~\ Eusta¬ 
 thius enumerates various opinions concerning Proteus; some 
 Understand Proteus allegorically to signify the first matter which 
 undergoes all changes; others make him an emblem of true 
 friendship, which ought not to be settled till it has been tried in 
 all shapes; others make Proteus a picture of a flatterer, who 
 takes up all shapes, and suits himself to all forms, in compli¬ 
 ance to the temper of the person whom he courts. The Greeks 
 (observes Diodorus) imagined all these metamorphoses of Pro¬ 
 teus to have been borrowed from the practices of the ^Egyptian 
 
%00K IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 141 
 
 Watch with insidious care his known abode; 
 
 There fast in chains constrain the various God; 
 Who bound, obedient to superior force, 525 
 
 Unerring will prescribe your destin’d course. 
 
 If studious of your realms, you then demand 
 Their state, since last you left your natal land, 
 
 kings, who were accustomed to wear the figures of lions, bulls 
 or dragons, in their diadems, as emblems of royalty, and some¬ 
 times that of trees, &c. not so much for ornament as terror. 
 Others took Proteus to be an enchanter; and Eustathius re¬ 
 counts several that were eminent in this art, as Cratisthenes the 
 Phliasian (which Dacier renders by mistake Calisthenes the 
 Pltysician) who when he pleased could appear all on fire, and. 
 assume other appearances to the astonishment of the spectators: 
 such also was Xenophon, Scymnus of Tarentum, Philippides of 
 Syracuse, Heraclitus of Mitylene, and Nymphodorus, all prac¬ 
 tises of magical arts ; and Eustathius recites that the Phocae 
 were made use of in their incantations. Some write that Pro¬ 
 teus was an ^Egyptian tumbler, who could throw himself into a 
 variety of figures and postures ; others, a stage-player; others, 
 that he was a great general, skilled in all the arts and stratagems 
 of war: Dacier looks upon him to have been an enchanter, or 
 Stfu/mroTrcuo?. It is certain from Herodotus, that there was in 
 the times of Menelaiis, a king named Proteus, who reigned in. 
 Memphis; that ./Egypt was always remarkable for those who 
 excelled in magical arts; thus Jannes and Jambres changed, at 
 least in appearance, a rod into a serpent, and water into blood: 
 it is not therefore improbable but that Menelaiis, hearing of 
 him while he was in Aigypt, w'ent to consult him as an enchan¬ 
 ter, w r hich kind of men always pretended to foreknow events: 
 this perhaps was the real foundation of the whole story concern¬ 
 ing Proteus; the rest is the fiction and embellishment of the 
 Poet, who ascribes to his Proteus whatever the credulity of men 
 usually ascribes to enchanters. P. 
 
 Concerning the first interpretation of the character Proteus, 
 mentioned, as assigned by Eustathius, at the beginning of this 
 note, the curious reader may see some elegant disquisitions in 
 the Philosophical Arrangements of Mr. Harris, chapter iv. W. 
 
UZ HOMER’S ODYSSEY. book iv. 
 
 Instant the God obsequious will disclose 
 Bright tracks of glory, or a cloud of woes. 53 0 
 She ceas’d, and suppliant thus I made reply ; 
 
 O Goddess ! on thy aid my hopes rely: 
 
 Dictate propitious to my duteous ear. 
 
 What arts can captivate the changeful seer ? 
 
 For perilous the’ assay, unheard the toil, 535 
 
 To’ elude the prescience of a God by guile. 
 
 Thus to the Goddess mild my suit I end. 
 
 Then she : Obedient to my rule, attend: 
 
 When thro’ the zone of heaven the mounted sun 
 Hath journey’d half, and half remains to run, 540 
 The seer, while zephyrs curl the swelling deep. 
 Basks on the breezy shore, in grateful sleep. 
 
 His oozy limbs. Emerging from the wave. 
 
 The Phocse swift surround his rocky cave, 
 
 <( Frequent and full” * ; the consecrated train 545 
 Of f her, whose azure trident awes the main : 
 There wallowing warm, the’ enormous herd exhales 
 An oily steam, and taints the noon-tide gales. 
 
 To that recess, commodious for surprise. 
 
 When purple light shall next suffuse the skies, 550 
 With me repair; and from thy Warrior band 
 Three chosen chiefs of dauntless soul command: 
 Let their auxiliar force befriend the toil. 
 
 For strong the God, and perfected in guile. 
 Stretch’d 011 the shelly shore, lie first surveys 555 
 The flouncing herd ascending from the seas; 
 
 * Milton. Amphitrifce. 
 
 Ver. 534.] There is nothing in Homer to countenance this 
 epithet changeful, which anticipates the sequel of the story. W. 
 
BOOK. IV. 
 
 HOMER'b ODYSSEY. 
 
 US 
 
 Their number summ’d, repos’d in sleep profound 
 The scaly charge their guardian God surround: 
 
 So with his battening flocks the careful swain 
 Abides, pavilion’d on the grassy plain. 560 
 
 With powers united, obstinately bold 
 Invade him, couch’d amid the scaly fold: 
 
 Instant he wears, elusive of the rape. 
 
 The mimick force of every savage shape : 
 
 Or glides with liquid lapse a murmuring stream, 565 
 Or wrapt in flame, he glows at every limb. 
 
 Yet still retentive, with redoubled might 
 Thro’ each vain passive form constrain his flight. 
 But when, his native shape resum’d, he stands 
 Patient of conquest, and your cause demands; 570 . 
 
 The cause that urg’d the bold attempt declare. 
 
 And soothe the vanquish’d with a victor’s prayer. 
 The bands relax’d, implore the seer to say 
 What Godhead interdicts the watery way ? 
 
 Who straight propitious, in prophetick strain 575 
 Will teach you to repass the’ unmeasur’d main. 
 
 She ceas’d, and bounding from the shelfy shore. 
 Round the descending nymph the waves redounding 
 roar. 
 
 High wrapt in wonder of the future deed. 
 
 With joy impetuous, to the port I speed: 580 
 
 The wants of nature with repast suffice, 
 
 ’Till night with grateful shade involv’d the skies, 
 
 Ver. 569. But when, his native shape resum'd , This is 
 
 founded upon the practice of enchanters, who never give their 
 answers, till they have astonished the imagination of those who 
 consult them with their juggling delusions. Dacier. P. 
 Ver. 579.] Literally, thus ; 
 
 With heart revolving deep the future deed, 
 
 Straight to the sands, where stood our ships, I speed. W. 
 
144 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 ROOK IV. 
 
 And shed ambrosial dews. Fast by the deep, 
 Along the tented shore, in balmy sleep. 
 
 Our cares were lost. When o’er the eastern lawn, 58.5 
 In saffron robes the daughter of the dawn 
 Advanc’d her rosy steps, before the bay. 
 
 Due ritual honours to the Gods I pay ; 
 
 Then seek the place the sea-born nymph assign’d. 
 
 With three associates of undaunted mind. 590 
 
 \ 
 
 Arriv’d, to form along the’ appointed strand 
 For each a bed, she scoops the hilly sand: 
 
 Then from her azure car, the finny spoils 
 Of four vast Phocm takes, to veil her wiles: 
 Beneath the finny spoils extended prone, 595 
 
 Hard toil! the prophet's piercing eye to shun; 
 
 New from the corse, the scaly frauds diffuse 
 Unsavoury stench of oil, and blackish ooze: 
 
 But the bright sea maid’s gentle power implor'd. 
 With ncctar’d drops the sickening sense restor’d, Cco 
 Thus ’till the sun had travell’d half the skies. 
 Ambush’d we lie, and wait the bold emprise: 
 
 When thronging quick to bask in open air. 
 
 The flocks of Ocean to the strand repair: 
 
 Couch’d on the sunny sand, the monsters sleep: 605 
 Then Proteus, mounting from the hoary deep. 
 Surveys his charge, unknowing of deceit: 
 
 (In order told, we make the sum complete.) 
 
 Pleas’d with the false review, secure he lies. 
 
 And leaden slumbers press his drooping eyes. 6 10 
 
 Rushing impetuous forth, we straight prepare 
 A furious onset with the sound of war, 
 
 Ver. 608.] This line of explanation is added by the trans¬ 
 lator. W. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 145 
 
 And shouting seize the God: our force to’ evade 
 His various arts he soon resumes in aid : 
 
 A lion now, he curls a surgy mane; 615 
 
 Sudden,, our bands a spotted pard restrain ; 
 
 Then arm’d with tusks,, and lightening in his eyes, 
 A boar’s obscener shape the God belies: 
 
 On spiry volumes, there, a dragon rides ; 
 
 Here, from our strict embrace a stream he glides: 620 
 And last, sublime his stately growth he rears, 
 
 A tree, and well-dissembled foliage wears. 
 
 Vain efforts! with superior power compress’d. 
 
 Me with reluctance thus the seer address’d. 
 
 Say, son of Atreus, say what God inspir’d 625 
 This daring fraud, and what the boon desir’d ? 
 
 I thus; O thou, whose certain eye foresees 
 The fix’d event of Fate’s remote decrees. 
 
 After long woes, and various toil endur’d. 
 
 Still on this desert isle my fleet is moor’d; 63 0 
 
 Ver. 613. And shouting seize the God: -] Proteus lias, 
 
 through the whole story, been described as a God who knew all 
 things; it may then be asked, how comes it that he did not 
 foreknow the violence that was designed against his own person ? 
 and is it not a contradiction, that he who knew Menelaiis with¬ 
 out information, should not know that he lay in ambush to seize 
 him ? The only answer that occurs to me is, that these enchan¬ 
 ters never pretend to have an inherent fore-knowledge of events, 
 but learn things by magical arts, and by recourse to the secrets 
 of their profession; so that Proteus, having no suspicion, had 
 not consulted his art, and consequently might be surprized by 
 Menelaiis: so far is agreeable to the pretensions of 6ueh delu- 
 ders: the Poet indeed has drawn him in colours stronger than 
 life; but poetry adds or detracts at pleasure, and is allowed fre¬ 
 quently to step out of the way to bring a foreign ornament into 
 the story. P. 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Unfriended of the gales. All-knowing ! say. 
 
 What Godhead interdicts the watery way ? 
 
 What vows repentant will the power appease. 
 
 To speed a prosperous voyage o’er the seas? 
 
 To Jove (with stern regard the God replies) 635 
 And all the’ offended synod of the skies. 
 
 Just hecatombs with due devotion slain, 
 
 ✓ 
 
 Thy guilt absolv’d, a prosperous voyage gain. 
 
 To the firm sanction of thy fate attend! 
 
 An exile thou, nor cheering face of friend, 640 
 Nor sight of natal shore, nor regal dome 
 Shalt yet enjoy, but still art doom’d to roam. 
 
 Once more the Nile, who from the secret source 
 Of Jove’s high seat descends w ith sweepy force. 
 Must view his billows white beneath thy oar, 645 
 
 And altars blaze along his sanguine shore. 
 
 Then will the Gods, with holy pomp ador’d. 
 
 To thy long vows a safe return accord. 
 
 He ceas’d: heart-wounded with afflictive pain, 
 (Doom’d to repeat the perils of the main, - 650 
 
 A shelfy tract, and Jong !) O seer, I cry. 
 
 To the stern sanction of the’ offended sky 
 My prompt obedience bows. But deign to say. 
 What fate propitious, or what dire dismay 
 Sustain those peers, the reliques of our host, 655 
 Whom I with Nestor on the Phrygian coast 
 Embracing left? Must I the warriors weep. 
 Whelm’d in the bottom of the monstrous deep ? 
 
 Or did the kind domestick friend deplore 
 The breathless heroes on their native shore ? 66 o 
 
 Press not too far, replied the God; but cease 
 To know', what known will violate thy peace: 
 
BOOK. V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 147 
 
 Too curious of their doom ! with friendly woe 
 Thy breast will heave, and tears eternal flow. 
 
 Part live ! the rest, a lamentable train ! 665 
 
 Range the dark bounds of Pluto’s dreary reign. 
 Two, foremost in the roll of Mars renown’d. 
 Whose arms with conquest in thy cause were crown’d. 
 Fell by disastrous fate; by tempests tost, 
 
 A third lives wretched on a distant coast. 670 
 
 By Neptune rescu’d from Minerva’s hate, 
 
 On Gyrse, safe, Oilean Ajax sat. 
 
 His ship o’erwhelm’d ; but, frowning on the floods. 
 Impious he roar’d defiance to the Gods; 
 
 To his own prowess all the glory gave, 675 
 
 The power defrauding who vouchsaf’d to save. 
 
 This heard the raging Ruler of the main; 
 
 His spear, indignant for such high disdain. 
 
 He launch’d; dividing with his forky mace 
 The’ aerial summit from the marble base : 6 so 
 
 The rock rush’d sea-ward with impetuous roar 
 Ingulf’d, and to the’ abyss the boaster bore. 
 
 By Juno’s guardian aid, the watery vast 
 Secure of storms, your royal brother past: 684 
 
 ’Till coasting nigh the Cape, where Malea shrouds 
 Her spiry cliffs amid surrounding clouds, 
 
 A whirling gust tumultuous from the shore. 
 
 Across the deep his labouring vessel bore. 
 
 In an ill-fated hour the coast he gain’d. 
 
 Where late in regal pomp Thyestes reign’d; 690 
 
 * 
 
 + • 9 • * * 
 
 Ver. 689-3 Here our translator begins to misrepresent his 
 author, of whom I shall give a literal version : 
 
 To the land’s end, where once Thyestes dwelt, 
 
 But then his son iEgysthus : hence appear’d 
 
148 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV- 
 
 But when his hoary honours bow’d to fate, 
 iEgysthus govern’d in paternal state. 
 
 The surges now subside, the tempest ends; 
 
 From his tall ship the king of men descends: 
 
 There fondly thinks the Gods conclude his toil! 695 
 Far from his own domain salutes the soil: 
 
 With rapture oft’ the verge of Greece reviews. 
 
 And the dear turf with tears of joy bedews. 
 
 Him thus exulting on the distant strand, 
 
 A spy distinguish’d from his airy stand ; 700 
 
 To bribe whose vigilance, JEgysthus told 
 A mighty sum of ill-persuading gold : 
 
 There watch’d this guardian of his guilty fear, 
 ’Till the twelfth moon had wheel’d her pale career; 
 And now, admonish’d by his eye, to court 705 
 With terror wing’d conveys the dread report. 
 
 An easy passage home; for favouring Gods 
 Chang’d the rough breeze, and gave a safe return. 
 
 The king sprang joyful to his native shore, 
 
 And fondly kist the ground : with rapture view’d 
 The blissful spot, and steept with many a tear. 
 
 None of his predecessors appear to have misconceived the 
 meaning of their author. W. 
 
 Ver. 705.] The remainder of this account is poorly exe¬ 
 cuted. The reader must content himself with a plain literal, 
 translation: 
 
 The news he carried to iEgysthus’ house; 
 
 Who straight a crafty stratagem devis’d. 
 
 Seven of his sturdiest men, selected all. 
 
 In ambush lay: a feast he bids prepare: 
 
 Himself with horse and cars, on mischief bent. 
 
 Meets and invites the king of men; conducts 
 Without suspicion, and at supper slays, 
 
 Just at his manger as an ox might fall. 
 
 Not one the royal train surviving saw; 
 
 Not one, iEgysthus; all were slaughter’d there. W. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 149 
 
 Of deathful arts expert, his lord employs 
 The ministers of blood in dark surprise : 
 
 And twenty youths in radiant mail incas’d, 
 Close-ambush’d nigh the spacious hall he plac’d. 710 
 Then bids prepare the hospitable treat: 
 
 Vain shews of love to veil his felon hate! 
 
 To grace the victor’s welcome from the wars, 
 
 A train of coursers, and triumphal cars 
 Magnificent he leads: the royal guest 71^ 
 
 Thoughtless of ill, accepts the fraudful feast. 
 
 The troop forth issuing from the dark recess, j 
 With homicidal rage the king oppress ! 
 
 So, whilst he feeds luxurious in the stall. 
 
 The sovereign of the herd is doom’d to fall. 720 
 The partners of his fame and toils at Troy, 
 
 Around their lord, a mighty ruin ! lie : 
 
 Mix’d with the brave, the base invaders bleed ; 
 /Egysthus sole survives to boast the deed. 
 
 He said; chill horrors shook my shivering soul, 725 
 Rack’d with convulsive pangs in dust I roll ; 
 
 And hate, in madness of extreme despair. 
 
 To view the sun, or breathe the vital air. 
 
 But when superior to the rage of woe, 
 
 I stood restor’d, and tears had ceas’d to flow; 730 
 Lenient of grief, the pitying God began— 
 
 Forget the brother, and resume the man ; 
 
 Ver. 720.] Better, perhaps, as follows; 
 
 At length , when, sated with excess of woe, 
 
 My limbs I rais'd , and tears had ceas’d to flow—. W. 
 
 Ver. 732.] This thought is not in Ilomer, and was pro- 
 . bably suggested to the translator by Chapman’s version a little 
 below; 
 
150 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY: 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 To Fate’s supreme dispose the dead resign. 
 
 That care be Fate’s, a speedy passage thine. 734 
 Still lives the wretch who wrought the death deplor’d, 
 But lives a victim for thy vengeful sword ; 
 
 Unless with filial rage Orestes glow. 
 
 And swift prevent the meditated blow: 
 
 You timely will return a welcome guest. 
 
 With him to share the sad funereal feast. 740 
 
 He said: new thoughts my beating heart employ. 
 My gloomy soul receives a gleam of joy. 
 
 Fair hope revives; and eager I addrest 
 The prescient Godhead to reveal the rest. 
 
 The doom decreed of those disastrous two 745 
 I’ve heard with pain, but oh! the tale pursue; 
 What third brave son of Mars the fates constrain 
 To roam the howling desert of the main• 
 
 Or in eternal shade if cold he lies. 
 
 Provoke new sorrow from these grateful eyes. 750 
 
 -a generous spring began. 
 
 Of fitting comfort,, as I was a man ; 
 
 But, as a brother, I must ever mourne. W. 
 
 Ver. 735.J These six verses are dilated from two of Homer; 
 and their contents may be exhibited in an equal number in 
 English, if a common form of construction in the ancient lan¬ 
 guages may be allowed in ours: (and all possible indulgence of 
 this kind should be conceded in poetry) namely, that of in¬ 
 cluding the substantive in the pronoun ; thus : 
 
 Alive thou still wilt find him, or partake 
 
 His funeral feast, by young Orestes slain. W. 
 
 Ver. 749. Or in eternal shade if cold he lies. ] Proteus in 
 the beginning of his relation had said, that one person was alive t 
 and remained enclosed by the ocean : how then comes Menelaiis 
 here to say, Give me an account of that other person who is 
 alive, or dead ? Perhaps the sorrow which Menelaiis conceived 
 for his friend Ulysses, might make him fear the worst; and 
 
book iv. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 151 
 
 That chief (rejoin’d the God) his race derives 
 From Ithaca,, and wonderous woes survives ; 
 Laertes’ son : girt with circumfluous tides. 
 
 He still calamitous constraint abides. 
 
 Him in Calypso’s cave of late I view’d, 755 
 
 When streaming grief his faded cheek bedew’d. 
 But vain his prayer, his arts are vain to move 
 The’ enamour’d Goddess, or elude her love : 
 
 His vessel sunk, and dear companions lost. 
 
 He lives reluctant on a foreign coast, 760 
 
 But oh belov’d by heaven ! reserv’d to thee 
 A happier lot the smiling Fates decree : 
 
 Free from that law, beneath whose mortal sway 
 Matter is chang’d, and varying forms decay; 
 Elysium shall be thine; the blissful plains 765 
 Of utmost earth, where Rhadamaathus reigns. 
 
 Proteus adding, enclosed by the ocean , might give a suspicion 
 that he was dead, the words being capable of ambiguity. How¬ 
 ever this be, it sets the friendship of Menelaiis in a strong 
 light: where friendship is sincere, a state of uncertainty is a 
 state of fears, we dread even possibilities, and give them an 
 imaginary certainty. Upon this, one of the finest compliments 
 that a Poet ever made to a patron turns, that of Horace to 
 Mecsenas, in the first of the Epodes. P. 
 
 Ver. 763.] This distich is altogether foreign to his original. 
 The following substitution is more congenial to the language 
 and spirit of the author : 
 
 Nor (so heaven wills) shall death’s resistless hand 
 At Argos seize thee, in thy native land— . W. 
 
 Ver. 765. Elysium shall be thine ; the blissful plains 
 Of utmost earth , &;c.~\ 
 
 This is the only place in which the Elysian field is mentioned in 
 Homer. The conjectures of the ancients are very various about 
 it: Plato in his Phacd. places it in ccelo stellato , or the region of 
 the stars; but since Homer fixes it tjAp*ret yah??, or (as 
 MUton expresses it) at the earth’s green end , I will pass oyqv 
 
152 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Joys ever young*, unmix’d with pain or fear. 
 
 Fill the wide circle of the’ eternal year: 
 
 Stern winter smiles on that auspicious clime : 
 
 The fields are florid with unfading prime: 770 
 
 From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow. 
 Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow ; 
 
 Rut from the breezy deep the blest inhale 
 The fragrant murmurs of the western gale. 
 
 This grace peculiar will the Gods afford 775 
 
 To thee the son of Jove, and beauteous Helen’s lord. 
 He ceas’d, and plunging in the vast profound. 
 Beneath the God the whirling billows bound. 
 
 Then speeding back, involv’d in various thought. 
 My friends attending at the shore I sought. 780 
 Arriv’d, the rage of hunger we control, 
 
 ’Till night with silent shade invests the pole; 
 
 Then lose the cares of life in pleasing rest.— 
 
 Soon as the morn reveals the roseate east, 784 
 With sails we wing the masts, our anchors weigh. 
 Unmoor the fleet, and rush into the sea. 
 
 Rang’d on the banks, beneath our equal oars 
 White curl the waves, and the vex’d ocean roars, 
 
 the conjectures of others, especially since the /xaxapun Njjctoj, by 
 which others express Elysium, confine it to this world. 
 
 Strabo, says Eustathius, places it not far from Maurusia, that 
 lies near the Streights: it is supposed by Bochart, as Dacier 
 observes, that the fable is of Phoenician extraction ; that alizuth 
 in Hebrew signifies joy or exultation , which word the Greeks, 
 adapting to their way of pronunciation, called Elysius. If this 
 be true, I should come into an opinion that has much prevailed, 
 that the Greeks had heard of Paradise from the Hebrews; and 
 that the Hebrews describing Paradise as a place of alizuth, or 
 Joj/y gave occasion to all the fables of the Grecian Elysium, P» 
 
15001C IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 153 
 
 Then steering backward from the Pharian isle. 
 
 We gain the stream of Jove-descended Nile: 790 
 There quit the ships, and on the destin'd shore 
 With ritual hecatombs the Gods adore : 
 
 Their wrath aton'd, to Agamemnon's name 
 A Cenotaph I raise of deathless fame. 
 
 These rites to piety and grief discharg’d, 795 
 
 The friendly Gods a springing gale inlarg'd : 
 
 The fleet swift tilting o’er the surges flew, 
 
 ’’Till Grecian cliffs appear’d, a blissful view! 
 
 Thy patient ear hath heard me long relate 
 A story, fruitful of disastrous fate: soo 
 
 And now, young prince, indulge my fond request; 
 Be Sparta honour’d with his royal guest, 
 
 'Till from his eastern goal, the joyous sun 
 His twelfth diurnal race begins to run. 
 
 Meantime my train the friendly gifts prepare, 805 
 Three sprightly coursers, and a polish’d car: 
 
 With these, a goblet of capacious mould. 
 
 Figur’d with art to dignify the gold, 
 
 Ver. 795.3 Too much dilatation, when aversion commensUf 
 rate with his author were practicable, and much to be preferred, 
 Thus ? 
 
 These honours duly paid, the gods command 
 A gale, that wafts me to my native land. W. 
 
 Ver. 799.3 A couplet wholly added by the translator to 
 a passage immoderately amplified with gratuitous interpola¬ 
 tions. W. 
 
 Ver. 806. Three sprightly coursers ,3 How comes it to pass 
 that Menelaiis proffers three horses to Telemachus ? This was a 
 compleat set among the ancients, they used one pole-horse and 
 two leaders. Eustathius » P* 
 
154 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book iv. 
 
 (Form’d for libation to the Gods) shall prove 
 A pledge and monument of sacred love. 810 
 
 My quick return, young Ithacus rejoin’d., 
 
 Damps the warm wishes of my raptur’d mind: 
 
 Did not my fate my needful haste constrain. 
 Charm’d by your speech, so graceful and humane. 
 Lost in delight the circling year would roll, si 5 
 While deep attention fix’d my listening soul. 
 
 But now to Pyle permit my destin’d way. 
 
 My lov’d associates chide my long delay : 
 
 In dear remembrance of your royal grace, 
 
 I take the present of the promis’d vase ; 820 
 
 The coursers for the champaign sports, retain; 
 
 * 
 
 That gift our barren rocks will render vain : 
 
 Horrid with cliffs, our meagre land allows 
 Thin herbage for the mountain goat to browze. 
 
 But neither mead nor plain supplies, to feed 825 
 The sprightly courser, or indulge his speed: 
 
 To sea-surrounded realms the Gods assign 
 Small tract of fertile lawn, the least to mine. 
 
 His hand the king with tender passion press’d. 
 And smiling, thus the royal youth address’d : 830 
 
 O early worth! a soul so wise, and young. 
 
 Proclaims you from the sage Ulysses sprung. 
 Selected from my stores, of matchless price 
 An urn shall recompence your prudent choice; 
 
 • * « . ? 
 Ver. 809.] Or thus, more accurately: 
 
 Great prince, replies Telemachus again, 
 
 Me, all too willing! strive not to detain. 
 
 I, loitering here, my friends expectant wrong, 
 
 Charm’d by the graceful accents of your tongue. W. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 155 
 
 Not mean the massy mould of silver,, grac’d 835 
 By Vulcan’s art, the verge with gold enchas’d; 
 
 A pledge the sceptred power of Sidon gave. 
 
 When to his realm I plough’d the orient wave. 
 
 Thus they alternate; while with artful care 
 The menial train the regal feast prepare: S40 
 
 The firstlings of the flock are doom’d to dye ; 
 
 Rich fragrant wines the chearing bowl supply; 
 
 A female band the gift of Ceres bring; 
 
 And the gilt roofs with genial triumph ring. 
 
 Meanwhile, in Ithaca, the Suitor-powers 845 
 In active games divide their jovial hours : 
 
 In areas varied with mosaick art. 
 
 Some whirl the disk, and some the javelin dart. 
 Aside, sequester’d from the vast resort, 
 
 Antinous sat spectator of the sport; 850 
 
 With great Eurymachus, of worth confest, -j 
 And high descent, superior to the rest; v 
 
 Whom young Noemon lowly thus addrest. j 
 
 My ship equipp’d within the neighbouring port. 
 The prince, departing for the Pylian court, 855 
 Requested for his speed; but courteous, say 
 When steers he home, or why this long delay ? 
 
 For Elis I should sail with utmost speed. 
 
 To’ import twelve mares which there luxurious feed. 
 And twelve young mules, a strong laborious race. 
 New to the plough, unpractis’d in the trace. 86 1 
 
 Ver. 844.] This line is from the invention of the translator. W. 
 Ver. 846.] He might easily have exhibited the full sense of 
 his author, in some such manner as the following : 
 
 With equal riot pass their jovial hours. 
 
 W. 
 
156 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book iv. 
 
 * 
 
 Unknowing of the course to Pyle design'd, 
 
 A sudden horror seiz'd on either mind : 
 
 The prince in rural bower they fondly thought. 
 Numbering his flocks and herds, not far remote. 865 
 Relate, Antinous cries, devoid of guile. 
 
 When spread the prince his sail for distant Pyle? 
 Did chosen chiefs across the gulfy main 
 Attend his voyage, or domestick train ? 
 
 Spontaneous did you speed his secret course, 870 
 Or was the vessel seiz’d by fraud or force ? 
 
 With willing duty, not reluctant mind, 
 
 (Noemon cried) the vessel was resign’d. 
 
 Who in the balance, with the great affairs 874 
 Of courts presume to weigh their private cares ? 
 With him, the peerage next in power to you: 
 
 And Mentor, captain of the lordly crew. 
 
 Or some celestial in his reverend form. 
 
 Safe from the secret rock and adverse storm. 
 
 Pilots the course : for when the glimmering ray sso 
 Of yester-dawn disclos’d the tender day. 
 
 Mentor himself I saw, and much admir’d.— 
 
 Then ceas'd the youth, and from the court retir’d. 
 
 Confounded and appall’d, the’ unfinish’d game 
 ♦The Suitors quit, and all to council came : 885 
 
 Antinous first the' assembled peers addrest. 
 
 Rage sparkling in his eyes, and burning in his breast. 
 
 O shame to manhood ! shall one daring boy 
 The scheme of all our happiness destroy ? 
 
 Fly unperceiv'd, seducing half the flower $90 
 
 Of nobles, and invite a foreign power ? 
 
 The ponderous engine rais’d to crush us all. 
 Recoiling, on his head is sure to fall. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 15T 
 
 Instant prepare me, on the neighbouring strand, 
 With twenty chosen mates a vessel mann’d; 895 
 
 For ambush’d close beneath the Samian shore 
 His ship returning shall my spies explore : 
 
 He soon his rashness shall with life atone,, 
 
 Seek for his father’s fate, but find his own. 
 
 With vast applause the sentence all approve; 900 
 Then rise, and to the feastful hall remove: 
 
 Swift to the queen,the herald Medon ran. 
 
 Who heard the consult of the dire divan : 
 
 Before her dome the royal matron stands. 
 
 And thus the message of his haste demands. 905 
 What will the Suitors ? must my servant train 
 The’ allotted labours of the day refrain. 
 
 For them to form some exquisite repast ? - 
 Heaven grant this festival may prove their last! 
 
 Or if they still must live, from me remove 910 
 
 The double plague of luxury and love ! 
 
 Forbear, ye sons of insolence ! forbear. 
 
 In riot to consume a wretched heir. 
 
 In the young soul illustrious thought to raise. 
 
 Were ye not tutor’d with Ulysses’ praise? 915 
 Have not your fathers oft’ my lord defin’d. 
 
 Gentle of speech, beneficent of mind ? 
 
 Some kings with arbitrary rage devour. 
 
 Or in their tyrant-minions vest the power: 
 
 Ver. 910.3 This version is not true to the sense of the ori¬ 
 ginal. Chapman is without elegance, but exactly faithful: 
 
 I would to heaven, that (leaving wooing me, 
 
 Nor ever troubling other companie) 
 
 Here might the last feast be, and most extreme, 
 
 That ever any shall addresse for them. W. 
 
158 
 
 HOMER J s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Ulysses let no partial favours fall, 920 
 
 The people’s parent, he protected all: 
 
 But absent now, perfidious and ingrate! 
 
 His stores ye ravage, and usurp his state. 
 
 He thus : O were the woes you speak the worst! 
 They form a deed more odious and accurst; 925 
 
 More dreadful than your boding soul divines : 
 
 But pitying Jove avert the dire designs ! 
 
 The darling object of your royal care 
 Is mark’d to perish in a deathful snare; 
 
 Before he anchors in his native port, 930 
 
 From Pyle re-sailing and the Spartan court. 
 
 Horrid to speak ! in ambush is decreed 
 The hope and heir of Ithaca to bleed ! 
 
 Sudden she sunk beneath the weighty woes. 
 
 The vital streams a chilling horror froze: 935 
 
 The big round tear stands trembling in her eye. 
 And on her tongue imperfect accents dye. 
 
 At length, in tender language, interwove 
 With sighs, she thus express’d her anxious love. 
 Why rashly would my son his fate explore, 910 
 Ride the wild waves, and quit the safer shore ? 
 
 Did he, with all the greatly wretched, crave 
 A blank oblivion, and untimely grave! 
 
 ’Tis not, replied the sage, to Medon given 
 To know, if some inhabitant of heaven 945 
 
 In his young breast the daring thought inspir’d; 
 
 Or if alone with filial duty fir’d, 
 
 * ■ , 
 
 Ver. 935.] This verse is an addition from the translator: as 
 the next has profited by a well-known passage in Shakspeare. W. 
 Ver. 938.] Thus Milton, Par. Lost, i. 621. 
 
 Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth: at last 
 Words interwove w th sighs found out their way. W. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 159 
 
 The winds and waves he tempts in early bloom. 
 Studious to learn his absent father’s doom. 
 
 The sage retir’d: unable to controul 950 
 
 The mighty griefs that swell her labouring soul. 
 Rolling convulsive on the floor, is seen 
 The piteous object of a prostrate queen. 
 
 Words to her dumb complaint a pause supplies. 
 And breath, to waste in unavailing cries. 955 
 
 Around their sovereign wept the menial fair. 
 
 To whom she thus address’d her deep despair. 
 
 Behold a wretch whom all the Gods consign 
 To woe ! Did ever sorrows equal mine ? 
 
 Long to my joys my dearest lord is lost, 96b 
 
 His country’s buckler, and the Grecian boast: 
 
 Now from my fond embrace, by tempests torn. 
 
 Our other column of the state is borne : 
 
 Nor took a kind adieu, nor sought consent!— 
 Unkind confederates in his dire intent! 965 
 
 Ill suits it with your shews of duteous zeal. 
 
 From me the purpos’d voyage to conceal: 
 
 Tho’ at the solemn midnight hour he rose. 
 
 Why did you fear to trouble my repose ? 
 
 He either had obey’d my fond desire, 970 
 
 Or seen his mother pierc’d with grief expire. 
 
 Ver. 960*3 How inadequately this exordium of the speech 
 is rendered by our artist, will appear from a verbal translation 
 most effectually: 
 
 My dear companions! listen: Heaven to me 
 Has woes beyond my fellows* portion given. 
 
 My spouse illustrious first, of lion-heart, 
 
 I lost, for every virtuous grace renown’d 
 Amongst his Greeks, and glorious far and wide. W. 
 
160 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Bid Dolus quick attend, the faithful slave 
 Whom to my nuptial train Icarius gave. 
 
 To’ attend the fruit-groves : with incessant speed 
 He shall this violence of death decreed, 975 
 
 To good Laertes tell. Experienc'd age 
 May timely intercept the ruffian-rage. 
 
 Convene the tribes, the murderous plot reveal, 
 
 And to their power to save his race appeal. 
 
 Then Euryclea thus. * My dearest dread ! 980 
 
 Tho’ to the sword I bow this hoary head. 
 
 Or if a dungeon be the pain decreed, 
 
 I own me conscious of the' unpleasing deed : 
 Auxiliar to his flight, my aid implor'd, 
 
 With wine and viands 1 the vessel stor'd : 935 
 
 A solemn oath, impos’d, the secret seal’d, 
 
 'Till the twelfth dawn the light of heaven reveal’d. 
 Dreading the’ effect of a fond mother's fear. 
 
 He dar’d not violate your royal ear. 
 
 But bathe, and in imperial robes array’d, 990*1 
 
 Pay due devotions to the * martial Maid, v 
 
 And rest affianc’d in her guardian aid. j 
 
 Send not to good Laertes, nor engage 
 In toils of state the miseries of age : 
 
 'Tis impious to surmise the powers divine 995 
 
 To ruin doom the Jove-descended line : 
 
 Long shall the race of just Arcesius reign. 
 
 And isles remote enlarge his old domain. 
 
 * Minerva. 
 
 Ver. 994.3 Or, exactly to his author: 
 
 In new affliction , self-afflicted age. W. 
 
 Ver. 998.] It were easy to express his original with unex¬ 
 ceptionable fidelity: 
 
 Sway this high dome , this rich and wide domain. W, 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 iet 
 
 The queen her speech with calm attention hears. 
 Her eyes restrain the silver-streaming tears : 1000 
 
 She bathes, and rob’d, the sacred dome ascends ; 
 Her pious speed a female train attends : 
 
 The salted cakes in canisters are laid. 
 
 And thus the queen invokes Minerva’s aid. 
 
 Daughter divine of Jove, whose arm can wield 1005 
 The’ avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield ! 
 If e’er Ulysses to thy fane preferr’d 
 The best and choicest of his flock and herd; 
 
 Hear, goddess, hear, by those oblations won ; 
 
 And for the pious sire preserve the son 1010 
 
 His wish’d return with happy power befriend. 
 
 And on the Suitors let thy wrath descend. 
 
 She ceas’d ; shrill extasies of joy declare 
 The favouring Goddess present to the prayer : 
 
 The Suitors heard, and deem’d the mirthful voice 
 
 A signal of her hymeneal choice : 101G 
 
 * 
 
 Ver. 999.] Or thus, with more exactness : 
 
 The queen her dictates with attention hears: 
 
 They calm her sorrows, and suppress her tears. W. 
 Ver. 1013 ] These tivo fanciful couplets are wrought from 
 as many verses of Homer, who is thus faithfully exhibited by 
 Chapman: 
 
 This said, she shriekt; and Pallas heard her praire. 
 
 The wooers broke with tumult all the aire 
 About the shadie house. 
 
 He and Ogilby make no connection between the cry of Penelope 
 and the conduct of the Suitors, nor does it seem authorized by 
 the original; but our Poet followed Hobbes: 
 
 Her prayer granted was. Then shouted they. 
 
 The Suitors heard it in the hall: 
 or Dacier: “ Cependant les poursuivants, qui avoient entendue 
 “ le bruit que la reine et ses femmes avoient fait.”— W. 
 Ver. 1015. 2'he Suitors heard , and deem'd the mirtliful voice 
 A signal of her hymeneal choice .] 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
162 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Whilst one most jovial thus accosts the board : 
 
 “ Too late the queen selects a second lord: 
 
 “ In evil hour the nuptial rite intends, 
 
 “ When o’er her son disastrous death impends.” 
 Thus he unskill’d of what the fates provide! 1021 
 
 But with severe rebuke Antinous cried. 
 
 . » 
 
 These empty vaunts will make the voyage vain ; 
 Alarm not with discourse the menial train: 
 
 The great event with silent hope attend ; 10 25 
 
 Our deeds alone our counsel must commend. 
 
 His speech thus ended short, he frowning rose. 
 And twenty chiefs renown’d for valour chose : 
 
 Down to the strand he speeds with haughty strides. 
 Where anchor’d in the bay the vessel rides, 1030 
 Replete with mail and military store. 
 
 In all her tackle trim to quit the shore. 
 
 ✓ 
 
 It may be asked whence this conjecture of the Suitors arises? 
 Penelope is described as weeping grievously, and fainting away, 
 and yet immediately the Suitors conclude she is preparing for the 
 nuptials. Eustathius answers, that undoubtedly - the Suitors 
 understood the queen had purified herself with water, and sup¬ 
 plicated the Goddess Minerva, though the Poet omits the rela¬ 
 tion of such little particularities. But whence is it that the 
 Poet gives a greater share of wisdom to Euryclea than to Pene¬ 
 lope ? Penelope commands a servant to fly with the news of the 
 absence of Telemachus to Laertes, which could not at all ad¬ 
 vantage Telemachus, and only grieve Laertes: Euryclea imme¬ 
 diately diverts her from that vain intention, advises her to have 
 recourse to heaven, and not add misery to the already miserable 
 Laertes: this is wisdom in Euryclea. But it must be confessed 
 that the other is nature in Penelope : Euryclea is calm, Penelope 
 in a passion ; and Homer would have been a very bad painter 
 of human nature, if he had drawn Penelope, thus heated with 
 passion, in the mild temper of Euryclea ; grief and resentment 
 give Penelope no time to deliberate, whereas Euryclea is less 
 concerned, and consequently capable of thinking with more 
 tranquillity. P. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMEIVs ODYSSEY. 
 
 163 
 
 The desperate Crew ascend, unfurl the sails ; 
 
 (The sea-ward prow invites the tardy gales) 
 
 Then take repast, ’till Hesperus display’d 1035 
 His golden circlet in the western shade. 
 
 Meantime the queen without refection due. 
 Heart-wounded, to the bed of state withdrew : 
 
 In her sad breast the prince’s fortunes roll. 
 
 And hope and doubt alternate seize her soul. ioio 
 So when the wood-man’s toil her cave surrounds, 
 And with the hunter’s cry the grove resounds ; 
 
 With grief and rage the mother-lion stung. 
 
 Fearless herself, yet trembles for her young\ 
 
 While pensive in the silent slumberous shade, io 4 A 
 Sleep’s gentle powers her drooping eyes invade, 
 Minerva, life-like on imbodied air 
 Impress’d the form of Iphthima the fair t 
 (Icarius’ daughter she, whose blooming charms 
 Allur’d Eumelus to her virgin arms ; 1030 
 
 A scepter’d lord, who o’er the fruitful plain 
 Of Thessaly, wide stretch’d his ample reign :) 
 
 As Pallas will’d, along the sable skies 
 To calm the queen the phantom-sister flies. 
 
 Ver. 1035.] Exactly thus t 
 
 Then take repast, and wait the star of Even. W. 
 
 Ver. 104-1.] A strange translation indeed of this simile , which 
 with the sequel may be faithfully represented in the following 
 manner ‘ 
 
 Thus, as a lion all expedients tries, 
 
 Alarm’d, liemm’d in by tribes of circling swains i 
 With various thoughts distracted, grateful sleep 
 Seiz’d her reclining, and relaxt her limbs. W* 
 
 Ver. 104-8.] This error in the quantity of the word is peculiar 
 to our translator, who had good examples in Chapman and 
 Ogilby. It were most easy to be faultless in this respect: 
 
 Imprest the semblance of Iphthima fair. W 
 
 m 2 
 
 / 
 
164 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book iv. 
 
 Swift on the regal dome descending right, 1055 
 The bolted valves are pervious to her flight. 
 
 Close to her head the pleasing vision stands. 
 
 And thus performs Minerva's high commands. 
 
 O why, Penelope, this causeless fear. 
 
 To render Sleep's soft blessing unsincere ? 1060 
 
 Alike devote to sorrow’s dire extreme 
 
 The day-reflection, and the midnight-dream ! 
 
 Thy son, the Gods propitious will restore. 
 
 And bid thee cease his absence to deplore. 1064 
 
 To whom the queen, (whilst yet her pensive mind 
 Was in the silent gates of sleep confin’d) 
 
 O sister, to my soul for ever dear. 
 
 Why this first visit to reprove my fear ? 
 
 How in a realm so distant should you know 
 From what deep source my ceaseless sorrows flow? 
 To all my hope my royal lord is lost, 1071 
 
 His country's buckler, and the Grecian boast: 
 
 And with consummate woe to weigh me down. 
 
 The heir of all his honours, and his crown, 
 
 Ver. 1061.] A very elegant couplet, but without sanction 
 from bis author. W. 
 
 Ver. 1063.] Thus, more faithfully: 
 
 The gods thy unoffending son restore : 
 or closely. 
 
 The’ immortals hless y d thy guiltless son restore. W. 
 
 Ver. 1073. Aiid with consummate tvoe, &c»] In the original, 
 Penelope says plainly, she is more concerned for her son than 
 her husband. I shall translate Dacier’s observations upon this 
 passage. We ought not to reproach Penelope for this seemingly 
 shocking declaration, in preferring a son to a husband: her sen¬ 
 timent is natural and just; she had all the reason in the world 
 to believe that Ulysses was dead, so that all her hopes, all her 
 affection, was entirely placed upon Telemachus: his loss there¬ 
 fore must unavoidably touch her with the highest degree of sen- 
 
book iv. HOMER f s ODYSSEY. 165 
 
 My darling son is fled 1 an easy prey 1075 
 
 To the fierce storms, or men more fierce than they: 
 Who in a league of blood associates sworn, 
 
 Will intercept the’ unwary youth’s return. 
 
 Courage resume, the shadowy form replied. 
 
 In the protecting care of heaven confide : ioso 
 
 On him attends the blue-ey’d martial Maid; 
 
 What earthly can implore a surer aid ? 
 
 Me now the guardian Goddess deigns to send. 
 
 To bid thee patient his return attend. 
 
 The queen replies : If in the blest abodes loss 
 A Goddess, thou hast commerce with the Gods, 
 
 Say, breathes my lord the blissful realm of light. 
 
 Or lies he wrapt in ever-during night ? 
 
 Enquire not of his doom, the phantom cries, 
 
 I speak not all the counsel of the skies ; 1090 
 
 sibility; if he is lost, she can have recourse to no second comfort. 
 But why may we not allow the reason which Penelope herself 
 gives for this superiority of sorrow for Telemachus? “ Telema- 
 <c chus,” says she, “ is unexperienced in the world, and unable to 
 Cf contend with difficulties: whereas Ulysses knew how to extri- 
 “ cate himself upon all emergencies.” This is a sufficient reason 
 why she should fear more for Telemachus than Ulysses: her 
 affection might be greater for Ulysses than Telemachus, yet her 
 fears might be stronger for the son than the husband, Ulysses 
 being capable to surmount dangers by experience, Telemachus 
 being new to all difficulties. P. 
 
 The deviations and suppressions of the translator will be seen 
 from a literal version: 
 
 Now my dear child across the seas is gone, 
 
 Unpractis’d youth ! in counsels or in toils : 
 
 For him I more lament than for his sire. 
 
 A trembling fear has seiz’d me, lest some ill 
 In nations strange, or on the waves, befall: 
 
 For numerous foes to shed his blood contrive, 
 
 Ere his ship reach his native shores again, W. 
 
166 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Nor must indulge with vain discourse, or long. 
 
 The windy satisfaction of the tongue. 
 
 Swift thro’ the valves the visionary fair 
 Repass’d, and viewless mix’d with common air. 
 
 The queen awakes, deliver’d of her woes ; 1095. 
 
 With florid joy her heart dilating glows ; 
 
 The vision, manifest of future fate. 
 
 Makes her with hope her son’s arrival wait. 
 
 Meantime the Suitors plough the watery plain, 
 Telemachus in thought already slain ! 11OQ 
 
 When sight of lessening Ithaca was lost. 
 
 Their sail directed for the Samian coast, 
 
 A small but verdant isle appear’d in view, 
 
 And Asteris the’ advancing pilot knew ; 
 
 An ample port the rocks projected form, ii 05 
 
 To break the rolling waves, and ruffling storm : 
 That safe recess they gain with happy speed. 
 
 And in close ambush wait the murderous deed. 
 
 Ver. 1101.] The following is a literal version of this con* 
 eluding paragraph: 
 
 In the mid sea there lies a rocky isle, 
 
 ’Twixt Ithaca and Samos’ rugged shore, 
 
 But small, nam'd Asteris; with ports each way 
 Accessible; there ambush’d lay the Greeks. W. 
 
 The action of this book takes up the space of two nights and 
 one day, so that from the opening of the poem to the introduc¬ 
 tion of Ulysses are six days completed. 
 
 But how long a time Telemachus afterwards stayed withMene- 
 laiis, is a question, which has employed some modern French 
 erilicks; one of which maintains, that he staid no longer than 
 these two nights at Lacedaemon: but it is evident from the 
 sequel of the Odyssey, that Telemachus arrived again at Ithaca, 
 two days after Ulysses ; but Ulysses was twenty-nine days in 
 passing from Ogygia to Ithaca, and consequently during that 
 Yfhole time Telemachus must have been absent from Ithaca, 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 167 
 
 The ground of that Critick’s mistake was from the silence of 
 Homer as to the exact time of his stay, which was of no im¬ 
 portance, being distinguished by no action, and only in an epi¬ 
 sodical part. Pc 
 

 
 
 . 
 
 
 - 
 
 ' 
 
 V J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s. 
 
 
 
\ 
 
 THE 
 
 .FIFTH BOOK 
 
 OE THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 

 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
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 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE DEPARTURE OF ULYSSES FROM CALYPSO, 
 
 PALLAS in a council of the Gods complains of 
 the detention of Ulysses in the island of Calypso ; 
 whereupon Mercury is sent to command his re¬ 
 moval. The seat of Calypso described. She con¬ 
 sents with much difficulty, and Ulysses builds a 
 vessel with his own hands, on which he embarks. 
 Neptune overtakes him with a terrible tempest, in 
 which he is shipwrecked, and in the last danger of 
 death ; till J^eucothea a sea-goddess assists him, 
 and after innumerable perils he gets ashore on 
 flmacia. P. 
 
 A 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 ULYSSES makes his first entry in this book* It may be asked 
 where properly is the beginning of the action ? It is not necessary 
 that the beginning of the action should be the beginning of the 
 poem; there is a natural and an artificial order, and Homer 
 makes use of the latter. The action of the Odyssey properly 
 begins neither with the poem, nor with the appearance of Ulysses 
 here, but with the relation he makes of his departure from Troy 
 in the ninth book. Bossu has very judiciously remarked, that 
 in the constitution of the fable, the Poet ought not to make the 
 departure of a prince from his own country the foundation of 
 his poem, but his return, and his stay in other places involuntary. 
 For if the stay of Ulysses had been voluntary, he would have 
 been guilty in some degree of all the disorders that happened 
 during his absence. Thus in this book Ulysses first appears in 
 a desolate island, sitting in tears by the side of the ocean, and 
 looking upon it as the obstacle to his return. 
 
 This artificial order is of great use ; it cuts off all languishing 
 and unentertaining incidents, and passes over those intervals of 
 time that are void of action; it gives continuity to the story, and 
 at first transports the reader into the middle of the subject. In 
 the beginning of the Odyssey, the gods command Mercury to go 
 down to the island of Ogygia, and charge Calypso to dismiss 
 Ulysses; one would think the poem was to end in the compass of 
 a few lines, the Poet beginning the action so near the end of the 
 story ; and we wonder how he finds matter to fill up his poem, 
 in the little space of time that intervenes between his first ap¬ 
 pearance and his re-establishment. 
 
 This book, as well as the first, opens with an assembly of the 
 gods. This is done to give an importance to his poem, and to 
 prepare the mind of the reader to expect every thing that is great 
 and noble, when Heaven is engaged in the care and protection of 
 his heroes. Both these assemblies are placed very properly, so 
 as not to interrupt the series of action : the first assembly of the 
 gods is only preparatory to introduce the action ; and the second 
 is no more than a bare transition from Telemachus to Ulysses; 
 from the recital of the transactions in Ithaca, to what more im¬ 
 mediately regards the person of Ulysses. 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 In the former council, both the voyage of Telemachus and the 
 return of Ulysses were determined at the same time: the day of 
 that assembly is the first day both of the principal action, (which 
 is the return of Ulysses) and of the incident , which is the voyage 
 of Telemachus: with this difference, that the incident was 
 immediately put in practice, by the descent of Minerva to 
 Ithaca; and the execution of it takes up the four preceding 
 books; whereas the principal action was only then prepared, 
 and the execution deferred to the present book, where Mercury 
 is actually sent to Calypso. v 
 
 Eustathius therefore judges rightly when he says, that in the 
 first council, the safety alone of Ulysses was proposed; but the 
 means how to bring it about are here under consultation, which 
 makes the necessity of the second council. P« 
 
■ 
 
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 * 
 
 
 
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 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE 
 
 FIFTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 1 HE saffron morn, with early blushes spread. 
 Now rose refulgent from Tithonus’ bed. 
 
 With new-born clay to gladden mortal sight. 
 And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light. 
 Then met the’ eternal Synod of the sky. 
 
 Before the God who thunders from on high. 
 Supreme in might, sublime in majesty. 
 
 Pallas, to these, deplores the’ unequal fates 
 Of wise Ulysses, and his toils relates ; 
 
 Her hero’s danger touch’d the pitying power. 
 The nymph’s seducements, and the magick bow 
 Thus she began her plaint. Immortal Jove ! 
 And you who fill the blissful seats above! 
 
 Let kings no more with gentle mercy sway. 
 
 Or bless a people willing to obey. 
 
 But crush the nations with an iron rod. 
 
 And every monarch be the scourge of God : 
 
176 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY, 
 
 BOOK. V. 
 
 If from your thoughts Ulysses you remove. 
 
 Who rul'd his subjects with a father’s love. 
 
 Sole in an isle, encircled by the main, 520 
 
 Abandon’d, banish’d from his native reign. 
 
 Unblest he sighs, detain’d by lawless charms. 
 
 And press’d unwilling in Calypso’s arms. 
 
 Nor friends are there, nor vessels to convey. 
 
 Nor oars to cut the’ immeasurable way. 25 
 
 And now fierce traitors, studious to destroy 
 His only son, their ambush’d fraud employ ; 
 
 Who, pious, following his great father’s fame. 
 
 To sacred Pylos and to Sparta came. 29 
 
 What words are these! (replied thePower who forms 
 The clouds of night, and darkens heaven with storms) 
 Is not already in thy soul decreed. 
 
 The chief’s return shall make the guilty bleed ? 
 What cannot Wisdom do ? Thou may’st restore 
 The son in safety to his native shore ; 35 
 
 While the fell foes who late in ambush lay. 
 
 With fraud defeated measure back their way. 
 
 Then thus to Hermes the command was given. 
 Hermes, thou chosen messenger of heaven ! 
 
 Go, to the Nymph be these our orders borne : 40 
 
 ’Tis Jove’s decree Ulysses shall return : 
 
 \ * 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 28.] It is impossible, I should think, for an English 
 reader to annex the sense required by his author to the language 
 of this verse; that of “ going in quest of some intelligence con¬ 
 cerning his father : 5> nor, I presume, did our Poet mean to be 
 understood thus, but was misled either by the common Latin 
 translation post patrisfamam^ or by Chapman’s version : 
 
 •-since his father’sfame 
 
 He puts in pursuits, and is gone as farre 
 As sacred Pylos. 
 
 W. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 177 
 
 The patient man shall view his old abodes. 
 
 Nor help’d by mortal hand, nor guiding gods : 
 
 In twice ten days shall fertile Scheria find, 
 
 Alone, and floating to the wave and wind. 45 
 
 The bold Phmacians there, whose haughty line 
 Is mixt with gods, half human, half divine, 
 
 Ver. 43 . Nor help'd by mortal hand, nor guiding gods .] This 
 passage is intricate : why should Jupiter command Ulysses to 
 return without the guidance either of man or god ? Ulysses had 
 been just declared the care of heaven, why should he be thus 
 suddenly abandoned ? Eustathius answers, that it is spoken 
 solely with respect to the voyage which he immediately under¬ 
 takes. This indeed shews a reason why this command is given ; 
 if he had been under the guidance of a god, the shipwreck (that 
 great incident which brings about the whole catastrophe of the 
 poem) must have been prevented by his power ; and as for men, 
 where were they to be procured in a desolate island ? What con¬ 
 firms this opinion is, that during the whole shipwreck of Ulysses, 
 there is no interposition of a deity, not even of Pallas, who used 
 to be his constant guardian; the reason is, because this com¬ 
 mand of Jupiter forbids all assistance to Ulysses: Leucothea 
 indeed assists him, but it is not till he is shipwrecked. P. 
 
 Ver. 44.] Our translator pays but little attention to his 
 author here. The following attempt is closer: 
 
 His skiff of rafters* many a danger pass’d, 
 
 In twice ten days shall Scheria reach at last. W. 
 
 Ver. 46.- ivhose haughty line 
 
 Is mixt ivith gods.~\ 
 
 The Phaeacians were the inhabitants of Scheria, sometimes called 
 Drepane, afterwards Corcyra, now Corfu, in the possession of 
 the Venetians. But it may be asked in what these people re¬ 
 semble the gods ? they are described as a most effeminate nation: 
 whence then this god-like quality ? Eustathius answers, that is 
 either from their undisturbed felicity, or from their divine qua¬ 
 lity of general benevolence : he prefers the latter ; but from the 
 general character of the Phaeacians, I should prefer the former. 
 Homer frequently describes the gods as the gods that live in end¬ 
 less ease: this is suitable to the Phaeacians, as will appear more 
 fully in the sequel of the Odyssey. P. 
 
 vol. r. N 
 
178 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK. V. 
 
 The chief shall honour as some heavenly guest. 
 
 And swift transport him to his place of rest. 
 
 His vessels loaded with a plenteous store 50 
 
 Of brass, of vestures, and resplendent ore; 
 
 (A richer prize than if his joyful isle 
 Receiv'd him charg’d with Ilion's noble spoil) 
 
 His friends, his country, he shall see, tho' late; 
 
 Such is our sovereign will, and such is fate. 55 
 
 He spoke. The god who mounts the winged winds 
 Fast to his feet the golden pinions binds. 
 
 That high thro' fields of air his flight sustain 
 O’er the wide earth, and o’er the boundless main. 
 He grasps the wand that causes sleep to fly, 60 
 Or in soft slumber seals the wakeful eye: 
 
 Then shoots from heaven to high Pieria’s steep. 
 And stoops incumbent on the rolling deep. 
 
 So watery fowl, that seek their fishy food. 
 
 With wings expanded o'er the foaming flood, 65 
 
 Ver. 56* The god mho mounts the voinged minds."] This is a 
 noble description of Mercury ; the verses are lofty and sonorous. 
 Virgil has inserted them in his iEneis, lib. iv. 240. What 
 is here said of the rod of Mercury, is, as Eustathius ob¬ 
 serves, an allegory: it is intended to shew the force of elo¬ 
 quence, which has a power to calm, or excite, to raise a pas¬ 
 sion, or compose it: Mercury is the god of eloquence, and he 
 may very properly be said to cool or inflame the passions, ac¬ 
 cording to the allegorical sense of these expressions* P. 
 
 Ver. 63.] More exactly. 
 
 And skims mith minged speed the rolling deep. 
 
 Ver. 64. So materyfoml .] Eustathius remarks, that this is 
 a very just allusion; had the Poet compared Mercury to an 
 eagle, though the comparison had been more noble, yet it had 
 been less proper; a sea-fowl most properly represents the pas¬ 
 sage of a deity over the seas; the comparison being adapted to 
 the element. P. 
 
BOOK r. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 179 
 
 Now sailing smooth the level surface sweep. 
 
 Now dip their pinions in the briny deep. 
 
 Thus o’er the world of waters Hermes flew, 
 
 J Till now the distant island rose in view. 
 
 Then swift ascending from the azure wave, 70 
 He took the path that winded to the cave. 
 
 Large was the grot in which the nymph he found, 
 (The fair-hair’d nymph with every beauty crown’d) 
 
 Ver. 72. The nymph hefound .] Homer here introduces an 
 episode of Calypso : and as every incident ought to have some 
 relation to the main design of the poem, it may be asked what 
 relation this bears to the other parts of it ? A very essential 
 one: the sufferings of Ulysses are the subject of the Odyssey: 
 here we find him inclosed in an island: all his calamities arise 
 from his absence from his own country : Catypso then, who de¬ 
 tains him, is the cause of all his calamities. It is w T ith great 
 judgment that the poet feigns him to be restrained by a deity, 
 rather than a mortal. It might have appeared somewhat dero¬ 
 gatory from the prudence and courage of Ulysses, not to have 
 been able by art or strength to have freed himself from the 
 power of a mortal: but by this conduct the Poet at once excuses 
 his hero, and aggravates his misfortunes: he is detained invo¬ 
 luntarily, but it is a goddess who detains him, and it is no dis- 
 
 ». 
 
 grace for a man not to be able to overpower a deity. 
 
 Bossu observes, that the art of disguise is part of the cha¬ 
 racter of Ulysses: now this is implied in the name of Calypso, 
 which signifies concealment , or secret. The Poet makes his hero 
 ' stay seven whole years with this goddess; she taught him so 
 well, that he afterwards lost no opportunities of putting her 
 instructions in practice, and does nothing without disguise. 
 
 Virgil has borrowed part of his description of Circe in the 
 seventh book of the iEneis, from this of Calypso. 
 
 What I have here said shews likewise the necessity of this 
 machine of Mercury: it is an established rule of Horace. 
 
 “ Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus 
 “ Incident 
 
 Calypso w^as a goddess, and consequently all human means were 
 insufficient to deliver Ulysses. There was therefore a necessity 
 to have recourse to the gods. P. 
 
 N 2 
 
>180 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 She sat and sung-; the rocks resound her lays: 
 
 The cave was brighten’d with a rising blaze: 
 
 Cedar and frankincense, an odorous pile. 
 
 Flam’d on the hearth, and wide perfum’d the isle; 
 While she with work and song the time divides. 
 And thro’ the loom the golden shuttle guides. 
 Without the grot, a various silvan scene so 
 
 Appear’d around, and groves of living green ; 
 Poplars and alders ever quivering play’d. 
 
 And nodding cypress form’d a fragrant shade; 
 
 On whose high branches, waving with the storm. 
 The birds of broadest wing their mansion form, S 5 
 The chough, the sea-mew, the loquacious crow. 
 And scream aloft, and skim the deeps below. 
 Depending vines the shelving cavern screen. 
 
 With purple clusters blushing thro’ the green. 
 
 Four limpid fountains from the clefts distil, 90 
 And every fountain pours a several rill. 
 
 In mazy windings wandering down the hill: 
 
 Where bloomy meads with vivid greens were crown’d. 
 And glowing violets threw odours round. 
 
 Ver. 74.] The latter clause is added by our translator, who 
 has found this thought a commodious interpolation in many 
 former instances. Thus? with more fidelity: 
 
 There trill’d her voice divine enchanting lays. W. 
 
 Ver. 89. The purple clusters blushing thro* the green.] Eus¬ 
 tathius endeavours to fix the season of the year when Ulysses 
 departed from that island: lie concludes it to be in the latter 
 end of autumn, or the beginning of winter; for Calypso is de* 
 scribed as making use of a fire; so is Arete in the sixth book, 
 and Eumaeus and Ulysses in other parts of the Odyssey. This 
 gives us reason to conclude, that the summer heats were past; 
 and what makes it still more probable is, that a vine is in this 
 place said to be loaded with grapes, which plainly confines the 
 season of the year to the autumn, P. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 181 
 
 A scene, where if a God should cast his sight, 95 
 A God might gaze, and wander with delight! 
 
 Joy touch’d the messenger of heaven : he stay’d 
 Entranc’d, and all the blissful haunt survey’d. 
 
 Him entering in the cave. Calypso knew; 
 
 For powers celestial to each other’s view 100 
 
 Stand still confest, tho’ distant far they lie 
 To habitants of earth, or sea, or sky. 
 
 But sad Ulysses, by himself apart. 
 
 Pour’d the big sorrows of his swelling heart; 
 
 All on the lonely shore he sat to weep, 10 5 
 
 And roll’d his eyes around the restless deep ; 
 Toward his lov’d coast he roll’d his eyes in vain, 
 ’Till dimm’d with rising grief, they stream’d again. 
 
 Now graceful seated on her shining throne. 
 
 To Hermes thus the nymph divine begun. 110 
 God of the golden wand! on what behest 
 Arriv’st thou here, an unexpected guest? 
 
 Lov’d as thou art, thy free injunctions lay; 
 
 ’Tis mine, with joy and duty toobey. 
 
 Till now a stranger, in a happy hour 115 
 
 Approach, and taste the dainties of my bower. 
 
 Thus having spoke, the nymph the table spread, 
 (Ambrosial cates, with Nectar rosy-red) 
 
 t , . * \ 
 
 Ver. 102.J The meaning conveyed by this verse is not very 
 conspicuous to me, nor has it any resemblance to it’s original. 
 Mejre similarity may be produced thus: 
 
 Immortals 'scape not an immortal's eye. W. 
 
 Ver. 107.] This appears to me a very inferior couplet, and 
 has no praises of fidelity to challenge. The following presump¬ 
 tuous substitution is preferable in that respect: 
 
 There, pin’d with sorrows, many a live-long day 
 The pensive chief had sobb’d and wept away,. \\\ 
 
182 
 
 IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK Y. 
 
 Hermes the hospitable rite partook. 
 
 Divine refection ! then recruited, spoke. 120 
 
 What mov’d this journey from my native sky, 
 
 A Goddess asks, nor can a God deny : 
 
 Hear then the truth. By mighty Jove’s command 
 Unwilling, have I trod this pleasing land; 124 
 
 For who, self-mov’d, with weary wing would sweep 
 Such length of ocean and unmeasur’d deep : • 
 
 A world of waters ! far from all the ways 
 Where men frequent, or sacred altars blaze ? 
 
 But to Jove’s will submission we must pay; 
 
 What power so great, to dare to disobey ? 130 
 
 A man, he says, a man resides with thee. 
 
 Of all his kipd most worn with misery : 
 
 The Greeks (whose arms for nine long years em¬ 
 ployed 
 
 Their force on Ilion, in the tenth destroy’d) 
 
 At length embarking in a luckless hour, 13> 
 
 With conquest proud, incens’d Minerva’s power : 
 Hence on the guilty race her vengeance hurl’d 
 With storms pursued them through the liquid world. 
 There all his vessels sunk beneath the wave! 139 
 
 There all his dear companions found their grave! 
 Sav’d from the jaws of death by heaven’s decree. 
 The tempest drove him to these shores and thee. 
 Him, Jove now orders to his native lands 
 Straight to dismiss ; so Destiny commands: 
 Impatient Fate his near return attends, 113 
 
 And calls him to his country, and his friends. 
 
 Even to her inmost soul the Goddess shook; 
 
 Then thus her anguish and her passion broke. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 183 
 
 Ungracious Gods ! with spite and envy curst! 
 
 Still to your own ethereal race the worst! 150 
 
 Ye envy mortal and immortal joy,, 
 
 And love, the only sweet of life, destroy. 
 
 Did ever Goddess by her charms engage 
 A favour’d mortal, and not feel your rage ? 
 
 So when Aurora sought Orion’s love, 155 
 
 Her joys disturb’d your blissful hours above, 
 
 'Till in Ortygia, Dian’s winged dart 
 Had pierc’d the hapless hunter to the heart. 
 
 So when the covert of the thrice-ear’d field 
 Saw stately Ceres to her passion yield, 160 
 
 Scarce could Iasion taste her heavenly charms. 
 
 But Jove’s swift lightning scorch’d him in her arms. 
 
 -- V. ' 
 
 Ver. 155. Orio?i.] The love of Calypso to Ulysses might 
 seem too bold a fiction, and contrary to all credibility, Ulysses 
 being a mortal, she a Goddess: Homer, therefore, to soften the 
 relation, brings in instances of the like passion, in Orion and 
 Iasion: and by this he fully justifies his own conduct; the Poet 
 being at liberty to make use of any prevailing story, though it 
 were all fable and fiction. 
 
 But why should the death of Orion be here ascribed to Dia¬ 
 na : whereas in other places she is said to exercise her power 
 only over women ? The reason is, she slew him for offering 
 violence to her chastity; for though Homer be silent about his 
 crime, yet Horace relates it. 
 
 Eustathius gives another reason why Aurora is said to be in 
 love with Orion. He was a great hunter, as appears from the 
 eleventh book of the Odyssey; and the morning or Aurora is 
 most favourable to those diversions. P. 
 
 ,Ver. 161. Scarce could Iasion, fyc."] Ceres is here understood 
 allegorically, to signify the earth ; Iasion was a great husband¬ 
 man, and consequently Ceres may easily be feigned to be in love 
 with him: the thunderbolt with which he is slain signifies the 
 excess of heat, which frequently disappoints the hopes of the 
 labourer. Eustathius . P* 
 
181 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V- 
 
 And is it now my turn,, ye mighty powers! 
 
 Am I the envy of your blissful bowers ? 
 
 A man, an outcast to the storm and wave, 165 
 It was my crime to pity, and to save * 
 
 When he who thunders rent his bark in twain. 
 
 And sunk his brave companions in the main. 
 
 Alone, abandon’d, in mid-ocean tost, 
 
 The sport of winds, and driven from every coast. 
 Hither this man of miseries I led, 171 
 
 Receiv’d the friendless, and the hungry fed ; 
 
 Nay promis’d (vainly promis’d!) to bestow 
 Immortal life, exempt from age and woe. 
 
 ’Tis past: and Jove decrees he shall remove; 175 
 Gods as we arc, we are but slaves to Jove. 
 
 Go then he may; (he must, if he ordain, 
 
 Try all those dangers, all those deeps, again) 
 
 But never, never shall Calypso send 
 
 To toils like these, her husband and her friend, iso 
 
 What ships have I, what sailors to convey, 
 
 What oars to cut the long laborious way ? 
 
 Yet, I’ll direct the safest means to go: 
 
 That last advice is all I can bestow. 
 
 To her, the power who bears the charming rod. 
 Dismiss the man, nor irritate the God; is (5 
 
 Prevent the rage of him who reigns above. 
 
 For what so dreadful as the wrath of Jove? 
 
 Thus having said, he cut the cleaving sky. 
 
 And in a moment vanish’d from her eye. 190 
 
 - 
 
 Ver. 189.] This couplet is fabricated from a single verse of 
 his author to the following purport: 
 
 The mighty Mercury with these words departs. \Y« 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 185 
 
 The nymph, obedient to divine command. 
 
 To seek Ulysses, pac’d along the sand. 
 
 Him pensive on the lonely beach she found. 
 
 With streaming eyes in briny torrents drown’d. 
 
 And inly pining for his native shore ; 195 
 
 For now the soft enchantress pleas’d no more: 
 
 For now, reluctant, and constrain’d by charms. 
 Absent he lay in her desiring arms, 
 
 Ver. 193.] The Greek is exquisitely beautiful here. I shall 
 venture a plain exact translation: 
 
 Him on the beach she found: with ceaseless woe 
 Still stream’d his eyes, still ran to waste in tears 
 Ilis precious life ; the nymph distasteful grown. W. 
 
 Ver. 197*] The literal beauties of his author might have 
 been transplanted, I think, with success into the version, thus; 
 For, sated now with her celestial charms , 
 
 He lay unwilling in her willing arms. 
 
 Chapman has a pretty line: 
 
 The willing goddesse and the’ unwilling guest. W. 
 
 Ver. 198. Absent he lay in her desiring arms. ] This passage 
 has fallen under the severe censure of the criticks, they con¬ 
 demn it as an act of conjugal infidelity, and a breach of mora¬ 
 lity in Ulysses: it would be sufficient to answer, that a Poet is 
 not obliged to draw a perfect character in the person of his 
 hero: perfection is not to be found in human life, and conse¬ 
 quently ought not to be ascribed to it in poetry: neither Achilles 
 nor JEneas are perfect characters: TEneas in particular, is as 
 guilty, with respect to Dido, in the desertion of her, (for Vir¬ 
 gil tells us they were married, connubio jungam stabili) as 
 Ulysses can be imagined to be by the most severe critick, with 
 jrespect to Calypso. 
 
 But those who have blamed this passage, form their judg¬ 
 ments from the morality of these ages, and not from the theo¬ 
 logy of the ancients: Polygamy was then allowed, and even 
 concubinage, without being esteemed any breach of conjugal 
 fidelity; if this be not admitted, the heathen Gods are as guilty 
 as the heathen heroes, and Jupiter and Ulysses are equally cri¬ 
 minals. 
 
186 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 In slumber wore the heavy night away. 
 
 On rocks and shores consum’d the tedious day; 200 
 There sat all desolate, and sigh’d alone. 
 
 With echoing sorrows made the mountains groan. 
 And roll’d his eyes o’er all the restless main, 
 
 ’Till, dimm’d with rising grief, they stream’d again. 
 
 Here, on the musing mood the Goddess prest, 205 
 Approaching soft; and thus the chief addrest. 
 Unhappy man ! to wasting woes a prey. 
 
 No more in sorrows languish life away : 
 
 Free as the winds I give thee now to rove— 
 
 Go, fell the timber of yon’ lofty grove, 210 
 
 And form a raft, and build the rising ship. 
 
 Sublime to bear thee o’er the gloomy deep. 
 
 To store the vessel let the care be mine. 
 
 With water from the rock, and rosy wine. 
 
 And life-sustaining bread, and fair array, 215 
 
 And prosperous gales to waft thee on the way. 
 
 '4 
 
 This very passage shews the sincere affection which Ulysses 
 retained for his wife Penelope; even a Goddess cannot persuade 
 him to forget her; his person is in the power of Calypso, but 
 his heart is with Penelope. Tully had this book of Homer in 
 his thought when he said of Ulysses, Vetulam suam prcetulit im- 
 mortalitati. P» 
 
 Ver. 200.] The following attempt is a literal exhibition of 
 these Jive verses: 
 
 By day midst rocks and cliffs he sate, and tore, 
 
 With tears, and sighs, and griefs, his inmost soul; 
 
 Still eyes the sea, and, eying, streams with tears. W. 
 
 Ver. 211.] A wretched rhyme! Accuracy in this respect, 
 and additional fidelity may be consulted with little difficulty, 
 thus: 
 
 And form a raft, and raise it's lofty sides , 
 
 To bear thee safely o’er the gloomy tides • W, 
 
kook v. 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 187 
 
 These if the Gods with my desires comply, 
 
 (The Gods, alas ! more mighty far than I, 
 
 And better skill'd in dark events to come) 
 
 In peace shall land thee at thy native home. 220 
 With sighs, Ulysses heard the words she spoke. 
 Then thus his melancholy silence broke. 
 
 Some other motive. Goddess ! sways thy mind, 
 (Some close design, or turn of w r omankind) 
 
 Nor my return the end, nor this the way, 225 
 
 On a slight raft to pass the swelling sea 
 Huge, horrid, vast! where scarce in safety sails 
 The best built ship, though Jove inspire the gales. 
 The bold proposal how shall I fulfil ; 
 
 Dark as I am, unconscious of thy will? 230 
 
 Swear then, thou mean’st not what my soul fore¬ 
 bodes ; 
 
 Swear by the solemn oath that binds the Gods. 
 
 Him, while he spoke, with smiles Calypso eyed. 
 And gently grasp’d his hand, and thus replied : 234 
 This shews thee, friend, by old experience taught. 
 And learn’d in all the wiles of human thought. 
 
 How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise ! 
 But hear, oh earth, and hear ye sacred skies ! 
 
 Vcr. 221.] His original rather dictates, 
 
 With horrour thrill'd , he heard the words she spake. W. 
 Ver. 224.] The latter clause is interpolated by our sati¬ 
 rist. W. 
 
 Ver. 238. But hear , oh earth , and hear ye sacred skies /] The 
 oath of Calypso is introduced with the utmost solemnity. Itapin 
 allows it to be an instance of true sublimity. The ancients at¬ 
 tested all Nature in their oaths, that all Nature might conspire 
 to punish their perjuries. Virgil has imitated this passage, but 
 has not copied the full beauty of the original. 
 
188 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 And thou, O Styx ! whose formidable floods 239 
 Glide thro’ the shades, and bind the 5 attesting Gods 1 
 No form’d design, no meditated end 
 Lurks in the counsel of thy faithful friend; 
 
 Kind the persuasion, and sincere my aim ; 
 
 The same my practice, were my fate the same. 
 Heaven has not curst me with a heart of steel, 2 *5 
 But given the sense, to pity, and to feel. 
 
 Thus having said, the Goddess march’d before. 
 He trod her footsteps in the sandy shore. 
 
 At the cool cave arriv’d, they took their state. 
 
 He fill’d the throne where Mercury had sat; 250 
 
 For him, the nymph a rich repast ordains. 
 
 Such as the mortal life of man sustains; 
 
 Before herself were plac’d the cates divine. 
 Ambrosial banquet, and celestial wine. 
 
 Their hunger satiate, and their thirst represt, 2 55 
 
 Thus spoke Calypso to her God-like guest. 
 
 Ulysses ! (with a sigh she thus began) 
 
 O sprung from Gods ! In wisdom more than man! 
 
 Is then thy home the passion of thy heart ? 
 
 Thus wilt thou leave me, are we thus to part ? 26a 
 
 Farewell! and ever joyful may’st thou be. 
 
 Nor break the transport with one thought of me. 
 But ah Ulysses! wert thou given to know 
 What fate yet dooms thee, yet, to undergo; 
 
 It Is the remark of GrotiuE, that the like expression is found 
 in Deuteronomy, Hear, oh ye heavens, the words that I speak , 
 and let the earth hear the words of my mouth . P. 
 
 Ver. 262.] This line is from the translator only; and re¬ 
 minds us of a passage in his Eloisa, ver. 291. 
 
 Ah, come not, write not, think not once of me, 
 
 Nor share one pang of all I felt for thee. \\\ 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 189 
 
 Thy heart might settle in this scene of ease, 265 
 And even these slighted charms might learn to please. 
 A willing Goddess and immortal life, 
 
 Might banish from thy mind an absent wife. 
 
 Am I inferior to a mortal dame ? 
 
 Less soft my feature, less august my frame? 270 
 Or shall the daughters of mankind compare 
 Their earth-born beauties with the heavenly fair ? 
 
 Alas! for this (the prudent man replies) 
 
 Against Ulysses shall thy anger rise ? 
 
 Lov’d and ador’d, 0I1 Goddess as thou art, 275 
 Forgive the weakness of a human heart. 
 
 Tho’ well I see thy graces far above 
 The dear, tho’ mortal, object of my love. 
 
 Of youth eternal w T ell the difference know. 
 
 And the short date of fading charms below; 280 
 
 Yet every day, while absent thus I roam, 
 
 I languish to return, and die at home. 
 
 Whate’er the Gods shall destine me to bear 
 In the black ocean, or the watery war, 
 
 ’Tis mine to master with a constant mind ; 285 
 
 Enur’d to perils, to the worst resign’d. 
 
 By seas, by wars, so many dangers run ; 
 
 Still I can suffer: their high will be done 1 
 
 Ver. 279.] A fine couplet; but the following effort is a more 
 faithful representation of the original: 
 
 Her charms are mortal charms, and fade away; 
 
 Eternal thine, nor subject to decay. W. 
 
 Ver. 283.] Neither the rhyme nor the sense can be com-* 
 mended for accuracy. Thus ? 
 
 Me should some God in vengeance plunge again, 
 
 From the wreck’d vessel in the raging main. \V« 
 Ver. 287.] Thus, with more fidelity : 
 
 I, who by war and sea such conflicts bore, 
 
 Will bear, unterrified, one conflict more. W. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 190 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 * 
 
 Thus while he spoke, the beamy sun descends, 
 And rising night her friendly shade extends. 290 
 To the close grot the lonely pair remove, 
 
 And slept delighted with the gifts of love. 
 
 When rosy morning call’d them from their rest, 
 Ulysses robed him in the cloak and vest. 
 
 The nymph’s fair head a veil transparent grac’d, 295 
 Her swelling loins a radiant zone embrac’d 
 With flowers of gold : an under robe, unbound. 
 
 In snowy waves flow’d glittering on the ground. 
 Forth-issuing thus, she gave him first to wield 
 A weighty axe, with truest temper steel’d, soo 
 And double-cdg’d ; the handle smooth and plain. 
 Wrought of the clouded olive’s easy grain ; 
 
 And next, a wedge to drive with swecpy sway : 
 Then to the neighbouring forest led the way. 
 
 On the lone island’s utmost verge there stood 305 
 Of poplars, pines, and firs, a lofty wood. 
 
 Whose leafless summits to the skies aspire. 
 
 Scorch’d by the sun, or sear’d by heavenly fire : 
 (Already dried.) These pointing out to view. 
 
 The nymph just skew’d him, and with tears with¬ 
 drew. 310 
 
 « 
 
 Ver. 290.] This epithet, friendly, seems to me as foreign to 
 ' the purport of his author, as it is unauthenticated by his lan¬ 
 guage. I should like better, 
 
 And rising night her shadowy veil extends. W. 
 
 Ver. 308.] These are the fancies of the translator. Ogilby 
 is more accurate, as well as simple. The following couplet is 
 corrected from him: 
 
 Where alders grew, and poplars, light and dry, 
 
 For sailing Jit ; and firs that scaled the sky. \YV 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 191 
 
 Now toils the hero; trees on trees o’erthrown 
 Fall crackling round him, and the forests groan : 
 Sudden, full twenty on the plain are strow’d. 
 
 And lopp’d, and lighten’d of their branchy load. 
 
 At equal angles these dispos’d to join, 315 
 
 He smooth’d and squar’d ’em, by the rule and line. - 
 (The wimbles for the work Calypso found) 
 
 With those he pierc’d ’em, and with clinchers bound. 
 Long and capacious as a shipwright forms 319 
 Some bark’s broad bottom to out-ride the storms, 
 
 Ver. 311, &c. Ulysses builds his ship.] This passage has fal¬ 
 len under censure, as outraging all probability: Rapin believes 
 it to be impossible for one man alone to build so complete a 
 vessel in the compass of four days; and perhaps the same opi¬ 
 nion might lead Bossu into a mistake, who allows twenty days 
 to Ulysses in building it; he applies the word £ lxo&Ij 01* 6)ztIj ^ 
 
 to the days, which ought to be applied to the trees; Seytytu. is 
 understood, for the Poet immediately after declares, that the 
 whole was completed in the space of four days; neither is there 
 any thing incredible in the description. It is to be observed, 
 that this vessel is but a float, or raft; it is true, Ulysses 
 
 cuts down twenty trees to build it; this may seem too great a 
 provision of materials for so small an undertaking: but why 
 should we imagine these to be large trees? The description 
 plainly shews the contrary, for it had been impossible to have 
 felled twenty large trees in the space of four days, much more 
 to have built a vessel proportionable to such materials: but the 
 vessel was but small, and consequently such were the trees. 
 Homer calls these dry trees; this is not inserted without reason, 
 for green wood is unfit for navigation. 
 
 Homer in this passage shews his skill in mechanicks; a ship¬ 
 wright could not have described a vessel more exactly; but what 
 is chiefly valuable is the insight it gives us to what degree this 
 art of ship-building was then arrived: we find likewise what use 
 navigators made of astronomy in those ages; so that this pas¬ 
 sage deserves a double regard, as a fine piece of poetry, and a 
 valuable remain of antiquity. P. 
 
192 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK t. 
 
 So large he built the raft: then ribb’d it strong 
 From space to space,, and nail’d the planks along ; 
 These form’d the sides : the deck he fashion’d last; 
 Then o’er the vessel rais’d the taper mast. 
 
 With crossing sail-yards dancing in the wind ; 325 
 And to the helm the guiding rudder join’d. 
 
 (With yielding osiers fenc’d, to break the force 
 Of surging waves, and steer the steady course) 
 
 Thy loom, Calypso ! for the future sails 
 Supplied the cloth, capacious of the gales. 330 
 With stays and cordage last he rigg’d the ship, 
 
 And, roll’d on levers, launch’d her in the deep. 
 
 Four days were past, and now the work complete, 
 Shone the fifth morn: when from her sacred seat 334 
 The nymph dismist him, (odorous garments given) 
 And bath’d in fragrant oils that breath’d of heaven : 
 Then fill’d two goat-skins with her hands divine, 
 With water one, and one with sable wine: 
 
 Of every kind, provisions heav’d aboard; 
 
 And the full decks with copious viands stor’d. 340 
 The Goddess, last, a gentle breeze supplies. 
 
 To curl old Ocean, and to warm the skies. 
 
 And now rejoicing in the prosperous gales, 
 
 With beating heart Ulysses spreads his sails ; 
 
 Plac’d at the helm he sat, and mark’d the skies, 345 
 Nor clos’d in sleep his ever-watchful eyes. 
 
 There view’d the Pleiads, and the northern team, 
 
 And great Orion’s more refulgent beam, 
 
 / 
 
 Ver. 341.] An elegant couplet, amplified from this verse of 
 his author: 
 
 And sent before a safe and gentle breeze, W. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 193 
 
 To which, around the axle of the sky 
 
 The bear revolving, points his golden eye : 350 
 
 Who shines exalted on the 5 ethereal plain, 
 
 Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main. 
 
 Far on the left those radiant fires to keep 
 The nymph directed, as he sail’d the deep. 
 
 Full seventeen nights he cut the foamy way; 355 
 
 The distant land appear’d the following day : 
 
 Then swell’d to sight Phaeacia’s dusky coast. 
 
 And woody mountains, half in vapours lost: 
 
 That lay before him, indistinct and vast, 
 
 Like a broad shield amid the watery waste. 360 
 
 Ver. 355. Full seventeen nights he cut the foamy tmy.] It 
 may seem incredible that one person should be able to manage a 
 vessel seventeen days without any assistance; but Eustathius 
 vindicates Homer by an instance that very much resembles this 
 of Ulysses. A certain Pamphylian being taken prisoner, and 
 carried to Tamiathis (afterwards Damietta) in iEgypt, conti¬ 
 nued there several years; but being continually desirous to 
 return to his country, he pretends a skill in sea affairs: this suc¬ 
 ceeds, and he is immediately employed in maritime business, 
 and permitted the liberty to follow it according to his own incli¬ 
 nation, without any inspection. He made use of this opportu¬ 
 nity, and furnishing himself with a sail, and provisions for a 
 long voyage, committed himself to the sea all alone; he crossed 
 that vast extent of waters that lies between IEgypt and Pam* 
 phylia, and arrived safely in his own country: in memory of 
 this prodigious event he changed his name, and was called 
 (jlovovolvti,Cj or the sole sailor ; and the family was not extinct in 
 the days of Eustathius. 
 
 It may not be improper to observe, that this description of 
 Ulysses sailing alone, is a demonstration of the smallness of his 
 vessel; for it is impossible that a large one could be managed by 
 a single person. It is indeed said that twenty trees were taken 
 down for the vessel, but this does not imply that all the trees 
 were made use of, but only so much of them as was necessary 
 to his purpose. 
 
 vol. 1 . 
 
 O 
 
194 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 But him, thus voyaging the deeps below. 
 
 Prom far, on Solyme’s aerial brow. 
 
 The king* of Ocean saw, and seeing burn’d, 
 
 (From ^Ethiopia’s happy climes return’d) 
 
 The raging monarch shook his azure head, 365 
 And thus in secret to his soul he said: 
 
 Heavens ! how uncertain are the powers on high! 
 Is then revers’d the sentence of the sky, 
 
 In one man’s favour ; while a distant guest 
 I shar’d secure the ^Ethiopian feast ? 370 
 
 Behold how near Phaeacia’s land he draws! 
 
 The land affix’d by Fate’s eternal laws 
 To end his toils. Is then our anger vain ? 
 
 1 
 
 No; if this sceptre yet commands the main. 
 
 * • 
 
 Ver. 362. From Sulyme’s aerial broxuJ] There is some diffi¬ 
 culty in this passage. Strabo, as Eustathius observes, affirms 
 that the expression of Neptune’s seeing Ulysses from the moun¬ 
 tain of Sotyme, is to be taken in a general sense, and not to 
 denote the Solymaean mountains in Pisidia ; but other eastern 
 mountains that bear the same appellation. In propriety, the 
 *Solym3eans inhabit the summits of mount Taurus, from Lycia 
 even to Pisidia; these were very distant from the passage of 
 Neptune from the ^Ethiopians, and consequently could not be 
 the mountains intended by Homer ; we must therefore have re¬ 
 course to the preceding assertion of Strabo, for a solution of 
 the difficulty. Dacier endeavours to explain it another way; 
 who knows, says she, but that the name of Solymaean was an¬ 
 ciently extended to all very elevated mountains? Bochart 
 affirms, that the word Solimi is derived from the Hebrew selem , 
 or darkness ; why then might not this be a general appellation ? 
 But this is all conjecture, and it is much more probable that 
 such a name should be given to some mountains by way of dis¬ 
 tinction and emphatically, from some peculiar and extraordinary 
 quality; than extend itself to all very lofty mountains, which 
 could only introduce confusion and error. P. 
 
 Ver. 373.] This translation is quite beside his author. The 
 subjoined attempt is plain, but faithful: 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 195 
 
 He spoke, and high the forky trident hurl’d, 375 
 Rolls clouds on clouds, and stirs the watery world; 
 At once the face of earth and sea deforms. 
 
 Swells all the winds, and rouses all the storms. 
 Down rush’d the night: east, west, together roar; 
 And south, and north, roll mountains to the shore; 
 Then shook the hero, to despair resign’d, 331 
 And question’d thus his yet-unconquer’d mind. 
 
 Wretch that I am ! what farther fates attend 
 This life of toils, and what my destin’d end ? 
 
 Too well, alas ! the island Goddess knew, 385 
 
 On the black sea what perils should ensue. 
 
 New horrors now this destin’d head enclose ; 
 Unfill’d is yet the measure of my woes: 
 
 With what a cloud the brows of heaven are crown’d 1 
 What raging winds ! what roaring waters round ! 
 ’Tis Jove himself the swelling tempest rears; 391 
 
 Death, present death on every side appears. 
 
 Happy ! thrice happy ! _ who, in battle slain, 
 
 Prest, in Atrides’ cause, the Trojan plain : 
 
 To end his labours. But, not yet secure, 
 
 Abundant toils I doom him to endure. W. 
 
 Ver. 381.] Exactly thus : 
 
 The chief, while sinks his heart and members quake, 
 Thus with a sigh his mighty soul bespake. W. 
 
 Ver. 393. Happy ! thrice happy ! who , in battle slain , 
 
 Prest , in Atrides’ cause , the Trojan plain.~\ 
 Plutarch in his Symposiacks relates a memorable story con¬ 
 cerning Memmius, the Roman general: when he had sacked the 
 city of Corinth, and made slaves of those who survived the ruin of 
 it, he commanded one of the youths of a liberal education to 
 write down some sentence in his presence, according to his own 
 inclinations. The youth immediately wrote this passage from 
 Ilomer. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 book y. 
 
 Oh ! had I died before that well-fought wall! 395 
 
 Had some distinguish’d day renown’d my fall; 
 
 (Such as was that, when showers of javelins fled 
 From conquering Troy around Achilles dead) 
 
 All Greece had paid me solemn funerals then, 
 
 And spread my glory with the sons of men. 400 
 
 Happy! thrice happy ! who in battle slain, 
 
 Prest, in Atrides’ cause, the Trojan plain. 
 
 Memmius immediately burst into tears, and gave the youth and 
 all his relations their liberty. 
 
 Virgil has translated this passage in the first book of his 
 iEneis. The storm and the behaviour of AEneas are copied 
 exactly from it. The storm, in both the Poets, is described 
 concisely, but the images are full of terror; Homer leads the 
 way, and Virgil treads in his steps without any deviation. Ulysses 
 falls into lamentation, so does iEneas: Ulysses wishes he had 
 found a nobler death, so does AEneas: this discovers a bravery 
 of spirit; they lament not that they are to die, but only the in¬ 
 glorious manner of it. This fully answers an objection that has 
 been made both against Homer and Virgil, who have been 
 blamed for describing their heroes with such an air of mean¬ 
 spiritedness. Drowning was esteemed by the ancients an ac¬ 
 cursed death, as it deprived their bodies of the rites of sepul¬ 
 ture; it is therefore no wonder that this kind of death tvas 
 greatly dreaded, since it barred their entrance into the happy 
 regions of the dead for many hundreds of years. P. 
 
 Ver. 397. (Such as teas that , to hen shotcers of javelins Jled 
 
 From conquering Troy around Achilles dead.)] 
 These words have relation to an action, no where described in 
 the Iliad or Odyssey. When Achilles was slain by the trea¬ 
 chery of Paris, the Trojans made a sally to gain his body, but 
 Ulysses carried it off upon his shoulders, while Ajax protected 
 him with his shield. The war of Troy is not the subject of the 
 Iliad, and therefore relates not the death of Achilles; but, as 
 Longinus remarks, he inserts many actions in the Odyssey 
 which are the sequel of the story of the Iliad. This conduct 
 has a very happy effect; he aggrandizes the character of Ulysses 
 by these short histories, and has found out the way to make him 
 praise himself, without vanity. . P. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 197 
 
 A shameful fate now hides my hapless head. 
 Unwept, unnoted, and for ever dead ! 
 
 A mighty wave rush’d o’er him as he spoke, 
 
 The raft it cover’d, and the mast it broke; 
 
 Swept from the deck, and from the rudder torn, 40 5 
 Far on the swelling surge the chief was borne: 
 While by the howling tempest rent in twain 
 Flew sail and sail-yards rattling o’er the main. 
 
 Long press’d he heav’d beneath the weighty wave, 
 Clogg’d by the cumbrous vest Calypso gave : 410 
 
 At length emerging from his nostrils wide 
 And gushing mouth, effus’d the briny tide ; 
 
 Even then not mindless of his last retreat. 
 
 He seiz’d the raft, and leapt into his seat. 
 
 Strong with the fear of death. The rolling flood 415 
 Now here, now there, impell’d the floating wood. 
 
 As when a heap of gather’d thorns is cast 
 Now to, now fro, before the’ autumnal blast ; 
 Together clung, it rolls around the field ; 
 
 So roll’d the float, and so its texture held : 420 
 
 And now the south, and now the north, bear sway,T 
 And now the east the foamy floods obey, > 
 
 And now the west wind whirls it o’er the sea. 3 
 
 Ver. 411.] Our translator was more studious of convenient 
 language for versification, than of fidelity to his author, who 
 may be very accurately represented thus : 
 
 At length he rose, and sputter’d from his mouth 
 The brine, which from his head ran murmuring down. W. 
 Ver. 415.] His original dictates, 
 
 And thus scapes instant death. The rolling flood—. W. 
 
 Ver. 420.] The latter clause of the verse is mere interpola¬ 
 tion, and the rhymes are insufferable. Thus? more faithfully: 
 Together clung, around the field it sweeps : 
 
 So the light skiff floats diverse thro* the deeps . W, 
 
198 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 The wandering chief, with toils on toils opprest, 
 Leucothea saw, and pity touch’d her breast: 425 
 
 (Herself a mortal once, of Cadmus’ strain. 
 
 But now an azure sister of the main) 
 
 Swift as a sea-mew springing from the flood, 
 
 All radiant on the raft the Goddess stood : 
 
 Then thus address’d him. Thou, whom heaven de¬ 
 crees 430 
 
 To Neptune’s wrath, stern tyrant of the seas, 
 (Unequal contest!) not his rage and power. 
 
 Great as he is, such virtue shall devour. 
 
 What I suggest thy w isdom will perform ; 
 
 Forsake thy float, and leave it to the storm ; 435 
 
 Strip off thy garments ; Neptune’s fury brave 
 With naked strength, and plunge into the wave. 
 
 To reach Phaeacia all thy nerves extend. 
 
 There Fate decrees thy miseries shall end. 
 
 Ver. 424. The wandering chiefs with tolls on toils opprest, 
 Leucothea saw, and pity touch'd her breast. ] 
 
 It is not probable that Ulysses could escape so great a danger by 
 his own strength alone; and therefore the Poet introduces Leu¬ 
 cothea to assist in his preservation. But it may be asked, if this 
 is not contradictory to the command of Jupiter in the beginning 
 of the book ? Ulysses is there forbid all assistance either from 
 men or Gods; whence then is it that Leucothea preserves him ? 
 The former passage is to be understood to imply an interdiction 
 only of all assistance, until Ulysses was shipwrecked; he was to 
 suffer, not to die: thus Pallas afterwards calms the storm ; she 
 may be imagined to have a power over the winds, as she is the 
 daughter of Jupiter, who denotes the air, according to the ob¬ 
 servation of Eustathius : here Leucothea is very properly intro¬ 
 duced to preserve Ulysses; she is a sea-goddess, and had been 
 a mortal, and therefore interests herself in the cause of a 
 mortal. P. 
 
BOOK y. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 199 
 
 This heavenly scarf beneath thy bosom bind, 440 
 And live; give all thy terrors to the wind. 
 
 Soon as thy arms the happy shore shall gain. 
 
 Return the gift, and cast it in the main ; 
 
 Observe my orders, and with heed obey, 
 
 Cast it far off, and turn thy eyes away. 445 
 
 With that, her hand the sacred veil bestows. 
 Then down the deeps she div’d from whence she rose; 
 A moment snatch’d the shining form away. 
 
 And all was cover’d with the curling sea. 
 
 Struck with amaze, yet still to doubt inclin’d, 450 
 He stands suspended, and explores his mind. 
 
 Ver. 440. This heavenly scarf beneath thy bosom bind . J This 
 passage may seem extraordinary, and the Poet be thought to 
 preserve Ulysses by incredible means. What virtue could there 
 be in this scarf against the violence of storms ? Eustathius very 
 well answers this objection. It is evident that the belief of the 
 power of amulets or charms prevailed in the times of Homer ; 
 thus Moly is used by Ulysses as a preservative against fascination, 
 and some charm may be supposed to be implied in the zone or 
 cestus of Venus. Thus Ulysses may be imagined to have worn a 
 scarf, or cincture, as a preservative against the perils of the sea. 
 They consecrated antiently votiva , as tablets, &c. in the temples 
 of their Gods : so Ulysses, wearing a zone consecrated to Leu- 
 cothea, may be said to receive it from the hands of that Goddess. 
 Eustathius observes, that Leucothea did not appear in the form 
 of a bird, for then how could she speak, or how bring this cinc¬ 
 ture or scarf? The expression has relation only to the manner 
 of her rising out of the sea, and descending into it; the action, 
 not the person, is intended to be represented. Thus Minerva is 
 said in the Odyssey to fly away, opng w; avowaia, not in the /om, 
 but with the swiftness of an eagle. Most of the translators have 
 rendered this passage ridiculously ; they describe her in the real 
 form of a sea-fowl, though she speaks, and gives her scarf. So 
 the version of Hobbes: 
 
 She spoke, in figure of a water-hen. * P» 
 
200 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V* 
 
 What shall I do ? Unhappy me ! who knows 
 But other gods intend me other woes ? 
 
 Whoe’er thou art, I shall not blindly join 
 Thy pleaded reason, but consult with mine : 455 
 
 For scarce in ken appears that distant isle 
 Thy voice foretells me shall conclude my toil. 
 
 Thus then I judge ; while yet the planks sustain 
 The wild waves’ fury, here I fix’d remain : 
 
 But when their texture to the tempest yields, 460 
 I launch adventurous on the liquid fields ; 
 
 Join to the help of Gods the strength of man. 
 
 And take this method since the best I can. 
 
 While thus his thoughts an anxious council hold, 
 The raging God a watery mountain roll’d ; 465 
 
 Like a black sheet the whelming billows spread. 
 Burst o’er the float, and thunder’d on his head. 
 Planks, beams, disparted fly ; the scatter’d wood 
 Roils diverse, and in fragments strows the flood. 
 
 So the rude Boreas, o’er the field new shorn, 470 
 Tosses and drives the scatter’d heaps of corn. 
 
 And now a single beam the chief bestrides ; 
 
 There, pois’d a-while above the bounding tides. 
 
 His limbs discumbers of the clinging vest. 
 
 And binds the sacred cincture round his breast: 475 
 Then prone on ocean in a moment flung. 
 
 Stretch’d wide his eager arms, and shot the seas along. 
 All naked now, on heaving billows laid. 
 
 Stern Neptune eyed him, and contemptuous said : 
 
 Ver. 466.] This comparison is from the translator only. W. 
 Ver. 472.] Our translator, like Hobbes, omits after this line 
 the simile of his author, which may be given in the words of 
 Chapman : 
 
 Like to a rider of a running horse. 
 
 W 
 
book v. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 201 
 
 \ ' '' 
 
 Go, learn’d in woes, and other woes essay! 480 
 
 Go, wander helpless on the watery way : 
 
 Thus, thus find out the destin’d shore, and then 
 (If Jove ordains it) mix with happier men. 
 
 Whate’er thy fate, the ills our wrath could raise 
 Shall last remembered in thy best of days. 485 
 
 This said, his sea-green steeds divide the foam. 
 And reach high ./Egse and the towery dome. 
 
 Now, scarce withdrawn the fierce earth-shaking 
 power, 
 
 Jove’s daughter Pallas watch’d the favouring hour. 
 Back to their caves she bade the winds to fly, 490 
 And hush’d the blustering brethren of the sky. 
 
 The drier blasts alone of Boreas sway. 
 
 And bear him soft on broken waves away ; 
 
 With gentle force impelling to that shore. 
 
 Where Fate has destin’d he shall toil no more. 495 
 And now two nights, and now two days were past. 
 Since wide he wander’d on the watery waste; 
 Heav’d on the surge with intermitting breath, 
 
 And hourly panting in the arms of death. 
 
 Ver. 480.] The version of this speech is diffuse, and not 
 properly exact. I shall give a literal representation of it: 
 
 Thus wander, numerous ills endur’d, the main, 
 
 Thus, ’till thou mix with people nurs'd by Jove: 
 
 But thee no trivial woes e en there await. W. 
 
 Ver. 492. J His original requires the following adjustment of 
 the passage, and compare verse 502. 
 
 The blasts alone of rapid Boreas sway, 
 
 And bear him swift on broken waves away; 
 
 With vigorous force—. W. 
 
 Ver. 495.] This translation stands in contradiction with 
 verse 485 as properly represented. His author says only, 
 
 ’Till with Phaeacians, skill’d in naval arts, 
 
 Ulysses mingle, scap’d from death and fates. 
 
 W. 
 
202 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 The third fair morn now blaz’d upon the main; 500 
 Then glassy smooth lay all the liquid plain. 
 
 The winds were hush’d, the billows scarcely curl’d. 
 And a dead silence still’d the watery world; 
 
 When lifted on a ridgy wave, he spies 
 
 The land at distance, and with sharpen’d eyes. 505 
 
 As pious children joy with vast delight 
 
 When a lov’d sire revives before their sight, 
 
 (Who lingering long has call’d on death in vain, 
 Fixt by some demon to the bed of pain, 
 
 *Till heaven by miracle his life restore) 510 
 
 So joys Ulysses at the’ appearing shore; 
 
 And sees (and labours onward as he sees) 
 
 The rising forests, and the tufted trees. 
 
 And now, as near approaching as the sound 
 Of human voice the listening ear may wound, 515 
 Amidst the rocks he hears a hollow roar 
 Of murmuring surges breaking on the shore : 
 
 Nor peaceful port was there, nor winding bay, 
 
 To shield the vessel from the rolling sea. 
 
 Rut cliffs, and shaggy shores, a dreadful sight! 520 
 ' All rough with rocks, with foamy billows white. 
 Fear seiz’d his slacken’d limbs and beating heart; 
 As thus he commun’d with his soul apart. 
 
 Ah me ! when o’er a length of waters tost, 
 
 These eyes at last behold the’ unhop’d-for coast, 525 
 No port receives me from the angry main. 
 
 But the loud deeps demand me back again. 
 
 Ver. 509. Fixt by some demon to the bed of pain.'] It was a 
 prevailing opinion among the ancients, that the Gods were the 
 authors of all diseases incident to mankind. Hippocrates himself 
 confesses that he had found some distempers in which the hand 
 pf the Gods was manifest, S-eTov t<, as Dacier observes. P, 
 
ROOK y. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 203 
 
 Above sharp rocks forbid access ; around 
 Roar the wild waves ; beneath, is sea profound! 
 
 No footing sure affords the faithless sand, 530 
 
 To stem too rapid, and too deep to stand 
 If here 1 enter, my efforts are vain. 
 
 Dash'd on the cliffs, or heav’d into the main ; 
 
 Or round the island if my course I bend. 
 
 Where the ports open, or the shores descend, 535 
 Back to the seas the rolling surge may sweep. 
 
 And bury all my hopes beneath the deep. 
 
 Or some enormous whale the God may send, 
 
 (For many such on Amphitrite attend) 
 
 Too well the turns of mortal chance I know, 540 
 And hate relentless of my heavenly foe. 
 
 While thus he thought, a monstrous wave up-bore 
 The chief, and dash’d him on the craggy shore: 
 Torn was his skin, nor had the ribs been whole. 
 
 But instant Pallas enter’d in his soul. 545 
 
 Ver. 530.] I can make no sense of this couplet. His original is: 
 Close within shore the sea is deep; my feet 
 Could find no stand, nor could I danger ’scape : 
 but our Poet was plainly misled by Chapman : 
 
 So neare which ’tis so deepe, that not a sand 
 Is there, for any tired foot to stand . W. 
 
 Ver. 544.] Thus his author : 
 
 Then had his skin been torn, nor ribs left whole; 
 as Ogilby and Hobbes : of whom the former thus : 
 
 There had his flesh been rent, fractur’d his bones, 
 ’Mongst rowling pebbles, and sharp pointed stones: 
 but our translator chose to follow Chapman : 
 
 -While thus discourse he held, 
 
 A curst surge, ’against a cutting rocke impell’d 
 His naked bodie, which it gaslit and tore; 
 
 And had his bones broke, if but one sea more 
 Had cast him on it. W. 
 
204 
 
 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. book v. 
 
 Close to the cliff with both his hands he clung. 
 
 And stuck adherent, and suspended hung, 
 
 ’Till the huge surge roll’d off: then backward sweep 
 The refluent tides, and plunge him in the deep. 
 
 As when the Polypus, from forth his cave 550 
 
 Torn with full force, reluctant beats the wave, 
 
 v 
 
 His ragged claws are stuck with stones and sands: 
 So the rough rock had shagg’d Ulysses’ hands. 
 
 And now had perish’d, whelm’d beneath the main. 
 The’ unhappy man—even Fate had been in vain:— 
 But all-subduing Pallas lent her power, 5 $6 
 
 And prudence sav’d him in the needful hour. 
 Beyond the beating surge his course he bore, 
 
 (A wider circle, but in sight of shore) 
 
 With longing eyes, observing, to survey 550 
 
 Some smooth ascent, or safe-sequester’d bay. 
 Between the parting rocks at length he spied 
 A falling stream with gentler waters glide ; 
 
 Where to the seas the shelving shore declin’d. 
 
 And form’d a bay, impervious to the wind. 565 
 To this calm port the glad Ulysses prest. 
 
 And hail’d the river, and its God addrest. 
 
 Whoe’er thou art, before whose stream unknown 
 I bend, a suppliant at thy watery throne, 
 
 Ver. 562.] This is not an accurate translation. Ogilby is 
 more faithful to his author : 
 
 At last a pleasant rivers mouth he finds, 
 
 Free from rough clifts, safe from disturbing winds. 
 
 Our translator might take Hobbes for his guide: 
 
 And ’tvoixt the rocks a pause there did appear. W. 
 Ver. 566.] This line is added by the translator, and the next 
 Stands thus in his author : 
 
 He clearly saw the stream, and silent pray’d. W. 
 
book v. (HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 205 
 
 u* 
 
 Hear,, azure king! nor let me fly in vain 570 
 
 To thee from Neptune and the raging main. 
 Heaven hears and pities hapless men like me ; 
 
 For sacred even to Gods is misery : 
 
 Let then thy waters give the weary rest. 
 
 And save a suppliant, and a man distrest. 575 
 
 He pray’d, and straight the gentle stream subsides. 
 Detains the rushing current of his tides. 
 
 Before the wanderer smooths the watery way. 
 
 And soft receives him from the rolling sea. 
 
 That moment, fainting as he touch’d the shore, 580 
 He dropt his sinewy arms : his knees no more 
 Perform’d their office, or his weight upheld : 
 
 His swollen heart heav’d ; his bloated body swell’d : 
 From mouth and nose the briny torrent ran ; 
 
 And lost in lassitude lay all the man, 585 
 
 Depriv’d of voice, of motion, and of breath; 
 
 The soul scarce waking in the arms of death. 
 
 Soon as warm life its wonted office found. 
 
 The mindful chief Leucothea’s scarf unbound; 
 Observant of her word, he turn’d aside 590 
 
 His head, and cast it on the rolling tide. 
 
 Behind him far, upon the purple waves 
 The waters waft it, and the nymph receives. 
 
 Now parting from the stream, Ulysses found 
 A mossy bank with pliant rushes crown’d ; 595 > 
 
 The bank he press’d, and gently kiss’d the ground ;) 
 Where on the flowery herb as soft he lay, 
 
 Thus to his soul the sage began to say. 
 
 What will ye next ordain, ye powers on high ! 
 And yet, ah yet, what fates are we to try ! 6oq 
 
206 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 Here by the stream,, if I the night out-wear. 
 
 Thus spent already, how shall nature bear 
 The dews descending, and nocturnal air ; 
 
 Or chilly vapours, breathing from the flood 
 When morning rises ? If I take the wood, 605 
 And in thick shelter of innumerous boughs 
 Enjoy the comfort gentle sleep allows; 
 
 Tho’ fenc’d from cold, and tho’ my toil be past. 
 What savage beasts may wander in the waste ? 
 Perhaps I yet may fall a bloody prey 610 
 
 To prowling bears, or lions in the way. 
 
 Thus long debating in himself he stood : 
 
 At length he took the passage to the wood. 
 
 Whose shady horrors on a rising brow 
 
 Wav’d high, and frown’d upon the stream below. 6i5 
 
 There grew two olives, closest of the grove. 
 
 With roots intwin’d, and branches interwove; 
 
 Alike their leaves, but not alike they smil’d 
 With sister-fruits ; one fertile, one was wild. 
 
 Nor here the sun’s meridian rays had power, 620 
 Nor wind sharp piercing, nor the rushing shower, 
 
 A » 
 
 Ver. 609.] The paragraph might have been finished thus, 
 with rhymes unexceptionable, and complete justice to his 
 author: 
 
 Some savage monsters may devour at last: 
 for Homer mentions wild beasts merely, without specification. W. 
 
 Ver. 612.] The translation here is fanciful and paraphrastical. 
 Mr. Cowper’s version is excellent, and only runs one line beyond 
 the compass of his author. I shall present it to the reader: 
 Long time he mused, but, at the last, his course 
 Bent to the woods, which not remote he saw 
 From the sea-brink, conspicuous on a hill; 
 
 Arriv'd, between two neighbour shrubs he crept. 
 
 Both olives, this the fruitful, that the wild. W. 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 207 
 
 The verdant arch so close its texture kept; 
 
 Beneath this covert, great Ulysses crept. 
 
 Of gather’d leaves an ample bed he made, 
 
 (Thick strown by tempest thro’ the bowery shade) 625 
 Where three at least might winter’s cold defy, 
 
 Tho’ Boreas rag’d along the’ inclement sky. 
 
 This store, with joy the patient hero found. 
 
 And sunk amidst ’em, heap’d the leaves around. 
 
 As some poor peasant, fated to reside 630 
 
 Remote from neighbours in a forest wide, 
 
 Studious to save what human wants require. 
 
 In embers heap’d, preserves the seeds of fire. 
 
 Hid in dry foliage thus Ulysses lies, 
 
 ’Till Pallas pour’d soft slumbers on his eyes ; 635 
 
 And golden dreams (the gift of sweet repose) 
 
 Lull’d all his cares, and banish’d all his woes. 
 
 Ver. 634.] Thus, with more fidelity: for these golden dreams 
 past through the ivory gate of our translator’s fancy: 
 
 And instant clos’d his lids , that sweet repose 
 
 Might sooth his toils i and banish all his woes. W. 
 
 The Conclusion.'] This book begins with the seventh day, and 
 comprehends the space of twenty-five days ; the first of which is 
 taken up in the message of Mercury, and interview between 
 Calypso and Ulysses ; the four following in the building of the 
 vessel; eighteen before the storm, and two after it. So that one 
 and thirty days are completed, since the opening of the poem. P. 
 

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 THE 
 
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 ODYSSEY. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 B 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 TALL AS appearing in a dream to Nausicaa, 
 (the daughter of Alcinous king of Phceacia) com- 
 mands her to descend to the river, and wash the 
 robes of state, in preparation to her nuptials . 
 Nausicaa goes with her handmaids to the river; 
 where, while the garments are spread on the bank, 
 they divert themselves in sports. Their voices 
 awake Ulysses, who addressing himself to the 
 princess, is by her relieved and clothed, and re¬ 
 ceives directions in what manner to apply to the 
 king and queen of the island\ P, 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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 SIXTH BOOK 
 
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 ODYSSEY. 
 
 While thus the weary wanderer sunk to rest. 
 And peaceful slumbers calm’d his anxious breast. 
 The martial maid from heaven’s aerial height 
 Swift to Phseacia wing’d her rapid flight. 
 
 In elder times the soft Phseacian train 
 In ease possest the wide Ilyperian plain ; 
 
 ’Till the Cyclopean race in arms arose, 
 
 A lawless nation of gigantick foes : 
 
 5 
 
 Then great Nausithous from Hyperia far. 
 
 Thro' seas retreating from the sound of war, 10 
 The recreant nation to fair Scheria led. 
 
 Where never Science rear’d her laurel’d head : 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 11.] This epithet recreant , as applied to the Phccacians, 
 can only signify spiritless , or cowardly. It is certainly an un- 
 happy word in this place. W. 
 
 Ver. 12. Where never Science rear’d her laurel’d head.'] The 
 Phocacians having a great share in the succeeding parts of the 
 
214 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 COOK VI. 
 
 There, round his tribes a strength of wall he rais’d; 
 To heaven the glittering domes and temples blaz’d: 
 Just to his realms, he parted grounds from grounds, 15 
 And shared the lands, and gave the lands their bounds. 
 
 Odyssey, it may not be improper to enlarge upon their charac¬ 
 ter. Homer has here described them very distinctly : he is to 
 make use of the Phaeacians to convey Ulysses to his country; he 
 therefore, by this short character, gives the reader such an 
 image of them, that he is not surprised at their credulity and 
 simplicity, in believing all those fabulous recitals which Ulysses 
 makes in the progress of the poem. The place likewise in which 
 he describes them is well chosen : it is before they enter upon 
 action, and by this method we know what to expect from them, 
 and see how every action is naturally suited to their character. 
 
 Bossu observes, that the Poet has inserted this verse with great 
 judgment: Ulysses, says he, knew that the Phaeacians were simple 
 and credulous; and that they had all the qualities of a lazy 
 people, who admire nothing so much as romantick adventures: 
 he therefore pleases them by recitals suited to their own humour; 
 but even here the Poet is not unmindful of his more understand¬ 
 ing readers; and the truth intended to be taught by way of 
 moral is, that a soft and effeminate life breaks the spirit, and 
 renders it incapable of manly sentiments or actions. 
 
 Plutarch seems to understand this verse in a different manner: 
 he quotes it in his Dissertation upon Banishment , to shew that 
 Nausithous made his people happy though he left his own coun¬ 
 try, and settled them far from the commerce of mankind, 
 ayfywv oc'hfprsuuv, without any particular view to the Phaeacians; 
 which was undoubtedly intended by Homer, those words being 
 a kind of a preface to their general character. 
 
 This Phaeacia' of the ancients is the island now called Corfu. 
 The inhabitants of it were a colony of the Hyperians: Eusta¬ 
 thius remarks, that it has been a question whether Hyperia were 
 a city or an island; he judges it to be a city: it was infested by 
 the Cyclops; but they had no shipping, as appears from-the ninth 
 book of the Odyssey, and consequently if it had been an island, 
 they could not have molested the Phaeacians ; he therefore con¬ 
 cludes it to be a city, afterwards called Camarina in Sicily. 
 
 Mr. Barnes has here added a verse that is not to be found in 
 any other edition; and I have rendered it in the translation. P. 
 
hook vi. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 215 
 
 Now in the silent grave the monarch lay. 
 
 And wise Alcinous held the regal sway. 
 
 To his high palace thro’ the fields of air 
 The Goddess shot; Ulysses was her care. 20 
 
 There as the night in silence roll’d away, 
 
 A heaven of charms divine Nausicaa lay : 
 
 Thro’ the thick gloom the shining portals blaze; 
 Two nymphs the portals guard, each nymph a Grace, 
 Light as the viewless air, the warrior-maid 2 5 
 Glides thro’ the valves, and hovers round her head; 
 A favourite virgin’s blooming form she took. 
 
 From % mas sprung, and thus the vision spoke : 
 
 Oh indolent! to waste thy hours away ! 
 
 And sleep’st thou careless of the bridal day ? so 
 Thy spousal ornament neglected lies ; 
 
 Arise, prepare the bridal train, arise ! 
 
 Ver. 19.] The couplet before us is loosely and indolently 
 clone. The following is a literal version: 
 
 Straight to his palace went the grey-eyed maid* 
 
 Providing for the great-soul’d chief's return. W. 
 
 Ver. 31. The spousal ornaitient neglected lies; 
 
 Arise , prepare the bridal train -] 
 
 Here is a remarkable custom of antiquity. Eustathius observes, 
 that it was usual for the bride to give changes of dress to the 
 friends of the bridegroom at the celebration of the marriage, and 
 Homer directly affirms it. Dacier quotes a passage in Judges 
 concerning Sampson’s giving changes of garments at his marriage 
 feast, as an instance of the like custom amongst the Israelites: 
 but I believe, if there was such a custom at all amongst them, it 
 is not evident from the passage alleged; nothing is plainer, 
 than that Sampson had not given the garments, if his riddle had 
 not been expounded: nay, instead of giving, he himself had 
 received them, if it had not been interpreted. I am rather of 
 opinion that what is said of Sampson, has relation to another 
 custom amongst the ancients, of proposing an enigma at festi¬ 
 vals, and adjudging a reward to him that solved it. These the 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 §16 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 A just applause the cares of dress impart. 
 
 And give soft transport to a parent’s heart. 
 
 Haste, to the limpid stream direct thy way, 35 
 
 When the gay morn unveils her smiling ray : 
 
 Greeks called ypftpu; £v/*9ro]txa$; griphos convivales ; Athenaeus 
 has a long dissertation about this practice in his tenth book, and 
 gives a number of instances of the enigmatical propositions in 
 use at Athens, and of the forfeitures and rewards upon the solu¬ 
 tion, and non-solution of them ; and Eustathius in the tenth 
 book of the Odyssey comes into the same opinion. So that if it 
 was a custom amongst the Israelites as well as Greeks, to give 
 garments, (as it appears to be to give other gifts) this passage is 
 no instance of it: it is indeed a proof that the Hebrews as well 
 as Greeks had it custom of entertaining themselves at their festi¬ 
 vals, with these griphi convivales: I therefore believe that these 
 changes of garments were no more than rewards or forfeits, ac¬ 
 cording to the success of the interpretation. P. 
 
 Ver. 32.] An idle verse, nothing like his authof, who runs 
 thus: 
 
 Thy wedding comes, when beauteous robes thyself 
 
 Must wear, and give to all thy nuptial train. W. 
 
 Vei*. 35. Haste to the limpid stream .] This passage has not 
 escaped the raillery of the criticks; Homer, say they, brings 
 the Goddess of Wisdom down from heaven, only to advise Nau- 
 sicaa to make haste to wash her cloaths against her wedding: 
 what necessity is there for a conduct so extraordinary upon so 
 trivial an occasion ? Eustathius sufficiently answers the objec¬ 
 tion, by observing that the Poet very naturally brings about the 
 safety of Ulysses by it; the action of the washing is the means, 
 the protection of Ulysses the end of the descent of that Goddess ; 
 so that she is not introduced lightly, or without contributing to 
 an important action ; and it must be allowed, that the means 
 made use of are very natural: they grow out of the occasion, 
 and at once give the fable a poetical turn, and an air of proba¬ 
 bility. 
 
 It has been farther objected, that the Poet gives an unworthy 
 employment to Nausicaa, the daughter of a king; but such 
 criticks form their idea of ancient from modern greatness : it 
 would be now a meanness to describe a person of quality thus 
 employed, because custom has made it the work of persons of 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 217 
 
 Haste to the stream ! companion of thy care, 
 
 Lo, I thy steps attend, thy labours share. 
 
 Virgin awake ! the marriage hour is nigh, 39 
 
 See ! from their thrones thy kindred monarclis sigh! 
 The royal car at early dawn obtain. 
 
 And order mules obedient to the rein; 
 
 For rough the way, and distant rolls the wave. 
 Where their fair vests Phaeacian virgins lave. 
 
 In pomp ride forth; for pomp becomes the great, 45 
 And majesty derives a grace from state. 
 
 Then to the palaces of heaven she sails. 
 Incumbent on the wings of wafting gales : 
 
 The seat of Gods; the regions mild of peace. 
 
 Full joy, and calm eternity of ease. 50 
 
 There no rude winds presume to shake the skies. 
 No rains descend, no snowy vapours rise; 
 
 But on immortal thrones the blest repose ; 
 
 The firmament with living splendours glows. 
 
 Hither the Goddess wing’d the’ aerial way, 55 
 Thro’ heaven’s eternal gates that blaz’d with day. 
 
 Now t from her rosy car Aurora shed 
 The dawn, and all the orient flam’d with red. 
 Uprose the virgin with the morning light. 
 
 Obedient to the vision of the night. 60 
 
 low condition : it would now be thought dishonourable for a 
 lady of high station to attend the flocks ; yet we find in the 
 most ancient history extant, that the daughters of Laban and 
 Jethro, persons of power and distinction, were so employed, 
 without any dishonour to their quality. In short, these passages 
 are to be looked upon as exact pictures of the old world, and 
 consequently as valuable remains of antiquity. P. 
 
HOMER'* ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOR VI; 
 
 -21S 
 
 The queen she sought: the queen her hours bestow’d 
 In curious works ; the whirling spindle glow’d 
 With crimson threads, while busy damsels cull 
 The snowy fleece, or twist the purpled wool. 
 Meanwhile Phaeacia’s peers in council sat; 65 
 
 Prom his high dome the king descends in state. 
 Then with a filial awe the royal maid 
 Approach’d him passing, and submissive said— 
 Will my dread sire his ear regardful deign. 
 
 And may his child the royal car obtain ? 
 
 Say, with thy garments shall I bend my way. 
 Where thro’ the vales the mazy waters stray ? 
 A dignity of dress adorns the great. 
 
 And kings draw lustre from the robe of state. 
 Five sons thou hast; three wait the bridal day. 
 And spotless robes become the young and gay : 
 So when with praise amid the dance they shine. 
 By these my cares adorn’d, that praise is mine. 
 Thus she: but blushes ill-restrain’d betray 
 Her thoughts intentive on the bridal day: 
 
 70 
 
 \ 
 
 75 
 
 Ver. 61. — — — the queen her hours lestoiv’d 
 In curious works - -] 
 
 This is another image of ancient life: we see a queen amidst 
 her attendants at work at the dawn of day: de node surrexit , ct 
 digiti ejus apprehenderant Jusum . This is a practice as con¬ 
 trary to the manners of our ages, as the other of washing the 
 robes: it is the more remarkable in this queen, because she 
 lived amongst an idle effeminate people, that loved nothing but 
 pleasures. Dacier. P. 
 
 Ver. 79.] The translator indulges his own fancy, instead of 
 attending to the sense of his author. Chapman is faithful: 
 
 This general cause she shew’d ; and would not name 
 Her mind of nuptials to her sire, for shame. 
 
 He understood her yet; and thus replide. \V. 
 
BOOK vr. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 219 
 
 The conscious sire the dawning blush survey’d. 
 
 And smiling thus bespoke the blooming maid. 
 
 My child, my darling joy, the car receive ; 
 
 That, and whate’er our daughter asks, we give. 
 
 Swift at the royal nod the’ attending train sa 
 The car prepare, the mules incessant rein. 
 
 The blooming virgin with dispatchful cares 
 Tunicks, and stoles, and robes imperial bears. 
 
 The queen assiduous, to her train assigns 
 
 The sumptuous viands, and the flavorous wines, 90 
 
 The train prepare a cruise of curious mould, 
 
 A cruise of fragrance, form’d of burnish’d gold; 
 Odour divine ! whose soft refreshing streams 
 Sleek the smooth skin, and scent the snowy limbs. 
 
 Now mounting the gay seat, the silken reins 95 
 Shine in her hand: along the sounding plains 
 
 Ver. 83.] What follows is a literal version of this answer 5 
 
 Nor grudge I, child! the mules, nor aught besides. 
 
 Go: and the servants shall prepare a car. 
 
 Lofty, well-wheel’d, in all things full-equipp’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 8S. Tunicks , and stoles , and robes imperial bears."] It 
 is not without reason that the Poet describes Nausicaa carrying 
 the whole wardrobe of the family to the river: he inserts these 
 circumstances so particularly, that she may be able to clothe 
 Ulysses in the sequel of the story: he further observes the 
 modesty and simplicity of those early times, when the wdiole 
 dress of a king and his family (who reigned over a people that 
 delighted in dress) is without gold: for we see Nausicaa carries 
 with her all the habits that were used at the greatest solemni¬ 
 ties ; which had they been wrought with gold could not have 
 been washed. Eustathius . P. 
 
 Ver. 93.] A rambling couplet of execrable rhymes, to re¬ 
 present the following line of his author: 
 
 Ointment for her, and her attendant maids. W. 
 
§20 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK TI. 
 
 Swift fly the mules : nor rode the nymph alone; 
 Around, a bevy of bright damsels shone. 
 
 They seek the cisterns where Phaeacian dames 
 Wash their fair garments in the limpid streams ; 
 Where gathering into depth from falling rills, 101 
 The lucid wave a spacious bason fills. 
 
 Ver. 101. Where gathering into depth from falling rills * 
 
 The lucid reave a sjjacious hasonfdls.~\ 
 
 It is evident, that the antients had basons, or cisterns, conti¬ 
 nually supplied by the rivers for this business of washing; they 
 were called, observes Eustathius, wo 1, or /3o0po»; and were 
 sometimes made of marble, other times of wood. Thus in the 
 Iliad, book xxii. 
 
 Each gushing fount a marble cistern fills. 
 
 Whose polish’d bed receives the falling rills, 
 
 Where Trojan dames, ere yet alarm’d by Greece, 
 Wash’d their fair garments in the days of peace. 
 
 The manner of washing was different from what is now in 
 use: they trode them with their feet, 'ZtzTQqv, trpGov to*? 
 Eustathius. 
 
 It may be thought that these customs are of small importance, 
 and of little concern to the present ages: it is true; but time 
 has stamped a value upon them: like ancient medals, their in¬ 
 trinsic worth may be small, but yet they are valuable, because 
 images of antiquity. 
 
 Plutarch in his Symposiacks proposes this question, Why 
 Nausicaa washes in the river, rather than the sea, though it was 
 more nigh, more hot, and consequently more fit for the purpose 
 than the river ? Theon answers from Aristotle, that the sea¬ 
 water has many gross, rough, and earthy particles in it, as 
 appears from its saltness, whereas fresh water is more pure and 
 unmixt, and consequently more subtle and penetrating, and 
 fitter for use in washing. Themistocles dislikes this reason, and 
 affirms that sea-water being more rough and earthy than that of 
 rivers, is therefore the most proper, for its cleansing quality : 
 this appears from observation, for in washing, ashes, or some 
 such substance are thrown into the fresh water to jnake it effec¬ 
 tual, for those particles open the pores, and conduce to the 
 effect of cleansing. The true reason then is, that there is an 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 321 
 
 The mules unharness’d range beside the main. 
 
 Or crop the verdant herbage of the plain. 
 
 Then emulous the royal robes they lave,, 105 
 And plunge the vestures in the cleansing wave ; 
 (The vestures cleans’d o’erspread the shelly sand. 
 Their snowy lustre whitens all the strand :) 
 
 Then with a short repast relieve their toil. 
 
 And o’er their limbs diffuse ambrosial oil; 110 
 
 And while the robes imbibe the solar ray. 
 
 O’er the green mead the sporting virgins play: 
 (Their shining veils unbound.) Along the skies 
 Tost, and re-tost, the ball incessant flies. 114, 
 
 They sport, they feast; Nausicaa lifts her voice. 
 And warbling sweet, makes earth and heaven rejoice. 
 As when o’er Erymanth Diana roves. 
 
 Or wide Taygetus’ resounding groves: 
 
 A sylvan train the huntress queen surrounds. 
 
 Her rattling quiver from her shoulder sounds: 120 
 
 Fierce in the sport, along the mountain’s brow 
 They bay the boar, or chase the bounding roe: 
 
 unctuous nature in sea-water (and Aristotle confesses all salt to 
 be unctuous) which hinders it from cleansing: whereas river- 
 water is pure, less mixt, and consequently more subtle and pe¬ 
 netrating, and being free from all oily substance, is preferable 
 and more effectual than sea-water. P. 
 
 Ver. 103.] Thus, more faithfully: 
 
 The mules, unharness’d, by the river go ; 
 
 And crop the herbs that on the margin groin. W. 
 Ver, 108.] This verse is added by the translator; nor is it 
 unseasonable or inelegant. W. 
 
 Ver. 115.] Our Poet is sufficiently audacious here. Plis 
 author had said merely, 
 
 For them Nausicaa fair began the song. W. 
 
 Ver. 120 ] This verse is expanded from a single word in h(s 
 original, the epithet of Diana, signifying rejoicing in arrovis. W. 
 
222 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 book vr. 
 
 High o’er the lawn, with more majestick pace. 
 Above the nymphs she treads with stately grace; 
 Distinguish’d excellence the Goddess proves; 125 
 Exults Latona, as the virgin moves. 
 
 With equal grace Nausicaa trod the plain. 
 
 And shone transcendent o’er the beauteous train. 
 
 Meantime (the care and favourite of the skies) 
 Wrapt in embowering shade, Ulysses lies, 130 
 His woes forgot! but Pallas now addrest 
 To break the bands of all-composing rest. 
 
 Forth from her snowy hand Nausicaa threw 
 The various ball; the ball erroneous flew, 134 
 
 Ver. 129.] The rambling licentiousness of our Poet will be 
 jnost effectually seen from a literal and commensurate version; 
 When now the princess for return prepar’d, 
 
 With harness’d mules, and vestments folded up, 
 
 The blue-eyed Goddess fram’d a new device, 
 
 To shew the waking chief the beauteous maid, 
 
 His kind conductress to Phaeacia’s town. 
 
 The ball, which toward her damsel cast the queen, 
 Erroneous, in a whirlpool deep was plung’d. 
 
 Loudly they shriek, and straight Ulysses wakes; 
 
 Sits upright, musing in his troubled mind. W. 
 
 Ver. 133. Forth from her snowy hand Nausicaa threw 
 The various ball -] 
 
 This play with the ball was called and itptrUSoty by the 
 
 ancients; and from the signification of the word, which is decep - 
 tion , we may learn the nature of the play: the ball was thrown 
 to some one of the players unexpectedly, and he as unexpect¬ 
 edly threw it to some other of the company to catch, from which 
 surprise upon one another it took the name of (ptwU. It was a 
 sport much in use among the ancients, both men and women; 
 it caused a variety of motions in throwing and running, and was 
 therefore a very healthful exercise. The Lacedaemonians were 
 remarkable for the use of it; Alexander the Great frequently 
 exercised at it; and Sophocles wrote a play, called nxt>»Va?, or 
 Lotrices ; in which he represented Nausicaa sporting w T ith heir 
 damsels at this play ; it is not now extant. P« 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 223 
 
 And swam the stream: loud shrieks the virgin train. 
 And the loud shriek redoubles from the main. 
 
 , Wak’d by the shrilling sound, Ulysses rose. 
 
 And to the deaf woods wailing, breath’d his woes. 
 
 Ah me! on what inhospitable coast. 
 
 On what new region is Ulysses tost: uo 
 
 Possest by wild barbarians fierce in arms ; 
 
 Or men, whose bosom tender pity warms ? 
 
 What sounds are these that gather from the shores ? 
 The voice of nymphs that haunt the sylvan bowers. 
 The fair-hair’d Dryads of the shady wood; 145 
 
 jOr azure daughters of the silver flood; 
 
 Or human voice ? but, issuing from the shades. 
 Why cease I straight to learn what sound invades? 
 Then, where the grove with leaves umbrageous 
 bends. 
 
 With forceful strength a branch the hero rends; 
 Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads i5x 
 A wreathy foliage and concealing shades. 
 
 Ver. 151. Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads 
 A wreathy foliage and concealing shades . 
 
 This passage has given great offence to the criticks, The inter* 
 view between Ulysses and Nausicaa, says Rapin, outrages all the 
 rules of decency: she forgets her modesty, and betrays her vir¬ 
 tue, by giving too long an audience: she yields too much to his 
 complaints, and indulges her curiosity too far at the sight of a 
 person in such circumstances. But perhaps Rapin is too severe: 
 Homer has guarded every circumstance with as much caution as 
 if he had been aware of the objection: he covers his loins with 
 a broad foliage, he makes Ulysses speak at a proper distance, 
 and introduces Minerva to encourage her virgin modesty. Is 
 there here any outrage of decency l Besides, what takes off 
 this objection of immodesty in Nausicaa, is, that the sight of a 
 naked man was not unusual in those ages: it was customary for 
 virgins of the highest quality to attend heroes to the bath, and 
 
224 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 HOMER'S ODYSSEY. 
 
 As when a lion in the midnight hours. 
 
 Beat by rude blasts and wet with wintery showers. 
 Descends terrifick from the mountain's brow, 15& 
 With living’ flames his rolling eye-balls glow; 
 
 With conscious strength elate, he bends his way 
 Majestically fierce, to seize his prey; 
 
 (The steer or stag:) or with keen hunger bold 
 Springs o'er the fence, and dissipates the fold— 160 
 No less a terror, from the neighbouring groves 
 (Rough from the tossing surge) Ulysses moves; 
 Urg’d on by want, and recent from the storms; 
 
 The brackish ooze his manly grace deforms. 
 
 Wide o’er the shore with many a piercing cry 163 
 To rocks, to caves, the frighted virgins fly; 
 
 All but the nymph : the nymph stood fix'd alone^ 
 
 By Pallas arm'd with boldness not her own. 
 Meantime in dubious thought the King awaits. 
 
 And self-considering, as he stands, debates; 170 
 
 even to assist in bathing them, without any breach of modesty; 
 as is evident from the conduct of Polycaste in the conclusion of 
 the third book of the Odyssey, who bathes and perfumes Tele-r 
 machus. Yet it may seem that the other damsels had a diffe¬ 
 rent opinion of this interview, and that through modesty they 
 ran away, while Nausicaa alone talks with Ulysses: but this 
 only shews, not that she had less modesty, but more prudence, 
 than her retinue. The damsels fled not out of modesty, but 
 fear of an enemy : whereas Nausicaa wisely reflects that no such 
 person could arrive there, the country being an island; and from 
 his appearance, she rightly concluded him to be a man in cala¬ 
 mity. P. 
 
 Ver. 169.] Our translator is very concise with his author. 
 Chapman is full and accurate, and may be read with pleasure; 
 
 -And here was he 
 
 Put to his wisdome; if her virgin knee, 
 
book vi. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 235 
 
 Distant his mournful story to declare. 
 
 Or prostrate at her knee address the prayer* 
 
 But fearful to offend, by wisdom sway*d. 
 
 At awful distance he accosts the maid* 
 
 If from the skies a Goddess, or if earth 17£ 
 (Imperial virgin !) boast thy glorious birth. 
 
 To thee I bend! if in that bright disguise 
 Thou visit earth, a daughter of the skies. 
 
 Hail, Dian, hail! the huntress of the groves 
 So shines majestick, and so stately moves, iso 
 
 So breathes an air divine! But if thy face 
 Be mortal, and this earth thy native place. 
 
 Blest is the father from whose loins you sprung. 
 Blest is the mother at whose breast you hung. 
 
 Blest are the brethren who thy blood divide, iss 
 To such a miracle of charms allied: 
 
 Joyful they see applauding princes gaze. 
 
 When stately in the dance you swim the’ harmoni¬ 
 ous maze* 
 
 But blest o’er all, the youth with heavenly charms. 
 Who clasps the bright perfection in his arms! 190 
 
 Never, I never view’d ’till this blest hour 
 Such finish’d grace! I gaze and I adore ! 
 
 He should be bold, but kneeling, to embrace, 
 
 Or keepe aloofe, and trie with w ; ords of grace* 
 
 In humblest suppliance, if he might obtaine 
 Some cover for his nakednes, and gaine 
 Her grace to shew and guide him to the tovvne* 
 
 The last, he best thought, to be worth his owne. 
 
 In weighing both well: to keepe still aloofe, 
 
 And give with soft words, his desires their proofe. 
 
 Lest pressing so neare, as to touch her knee, 
 
 He might encense her maiden modestie. 
 
 This faire and fil’d speech then, shewd this was he. W. 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 Thus seems the palm with stately honours crown’d 
 By Phoebus’ altars ; thus o’erlooks the ground; 
 
 The pride of Delos. (By the Delian coast, 195 
 I voyag’d, leader of a warrior-host. 
 
 But ah how chang’d ! from thence my sorrow flows; 
 O fatal voyage, source of all my woes!) 
 
 Ver. 193. Thus seems the palm.'] This allusion is introduced 
 to image the stateliness, and exactness of shape in Nausicaa, 
 to the mind of the reader; and so Tully, as Spondanus ob¬ 
 serves, understands it. The story of the Palm is this : t( When 
 “ Latona was in travail of Apollo in Delos, the earth that in- 
 “ stant produced a large Palm, against which she rested in her 
 u labour.” Plomer mentions it in his hymns. This allusion is 
 after the Oriental manner. Thus in the Psalms, how frequently 
 are persons compared to Cedars. And in the same author, 
 children are resembled to Olive-branches. 
 
 This palm was much celebrated by the ancients, the super¬ 
 stition of the age had given it a religious veneration, and even 
 in the times of Tully the natives esteemed it immortal; (for so 
 the above-mentioned words imply.) This gives weight and 
 beauty to the address of Ulysses; and it could not but be very 
 acceptable to a young lady, to hear herself compared to the 
 greatest wonder in the creation. P. 
 
 Ver. 198. O fatal voyage, source of all my xcoes!] There 
 is some obscurity in this passage: Ulysses speaks in general, and 
 does not specify what voyage he means. It may therefore be 
 asked how is it to be understood ? Eustathius answers, that the 
 voyage of the Greeks to the Trojan expedition is intended by 
 the Poet; for Lycophron writes, that the Greeks sailed by Delos 
 in their passage to Troy. 
 
 Homer passes over the voyage in this transient manner with¬ 
 out a farther explanation: Ulysses had no leisure to enlarge 
 upon that story, but reserves it more advantageously for a future 
 discovery before Alcinous and the Fhaeacian rulers. By this 
 conduct he avoids a repetition, which must have been tedious 
 to the reader, who would have found little appetite afterwards, 
 if he had already been satisfied by a full discovery made to 
 Nausicaa. The obscurity therefore arises from choice, not 
 want of judgment. P» 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 227 
 
 Raptur’d I stood, and as this hour amaz’d. 
 
 With reverence at the lofty wonder gaz’d: 200 
 
 Raptur’d I stand ! for earth ne’er knew to bear 
 A plant so stately, or a nymph so fair. 
 
 Awed from access, I lift my suppliant hands; 
 
 For Misery, oh Queen, before thee stands! 
 
 Twice ten tempestuous nights I roll’d, resign’d 20 6 
 To roaring billows, and the warring wind ; 
 
 Heaven bade the deep to spare ! but heaven, my foe. 
 Spares only to inflict some mightier woe ! 
 
 Inur’d to cares, to death in all its forms. 
 
 Outcast I rove, familiar with the storms ! 210 
 
 Once more I view the face of human-kind: 
 
 O let soft pity touch thy generous mind! 
 Unconscious of what air I breathe, I stand 
 
 * 1 • 
 
 Naked, defenceless on a foreign land. 
 
 Propitious to my wants, a vest supply 215 
 
 To guard the wretched from the’ inclement sky: 
 
 So nlay the Gods who heaven and earth controul. 
 Crown the chaste wishes of thy virtuous soul; 
 
 On thy soft hours their choicest blessings shed; 
 
 Blest with a husband be thy bridal bed ; 220 
 
 Blest be thy husband with a blooming race. 
 
 And lasting union crown your blissful days. 
 
 Ver. 208.] Thus, more closely to the purport of the original 
 language: 
 
 Spares only to exhaust it's stores of woe. 
 
 The next couplet is prosaic, and might be spared, as unautho¬ 
 rised by Homer. W. 
 
 Ver. 222.] The following attempt is a literal translation*^ 
 the conclusion of this address : 
 
 May heaven the fondest wishes of thy soul 
 Indulge, and grant a husband, and a home, 
 
228 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 The Gods, when they supremely bless, bestow 
 Firm union on their favourites below: 
 
 Then Envy grieves, with inly-pining hate ; 225 
 
 The good exult, and heaven is in our state. 
 
 To whom the nymph : O stranger cease thy care. 
 Wise is thy soul, but man is born to bear: 
 
 Jove weighs affairs of earth in dubious scales* 
 
 And the good suffers, while the bad prevails : 230 
 
 Bear, with a soul resign’d, the will of Jove; 
 
 Who breathes, must mourn: thy woes are from 
 above. 
 
 But since thou tread’st our hospitable shore, 
 
 ’Tis mine to bid the wretched grieve no more. 
 
 To cloath the naked, and thy way to guide— 235 
 
 Know, the Phaeacian tribes this land divide : 
 
 From great Alcinous’ royal loins I spring, 
 
 A happy nation, and a happy king. 
 
 Then to her maids—Why, why, ye coward train. 
 These fears, this flight ? ye fear, and fly in vain., 240 
 Dread ye a foe ? dismiss that idle dread, 
 
 ’Tis death with hostile step these shores to tread: 
 
 And mutual love: for sure of blessings first 
 Is harmony of souls in wedded pair; 
 
 Sight hateful and tormenting, to their foes; 
 
 To friends, delicious, to themselves the most. W. 
 Ver. 229. J This is not the sentiment of his original, which 
 may be more faithfully represented as follows: 
 
 Dispens’d at will by all-controlling heaven, 
 
 To good and bad terrestrial wealth is given. 
 
 Chapman has three excellent lines on this passage: 
 
 Jove onely orders man’s felicitie 
 To good and bad ; his pleasure fashions still 
 The whole proportion of their good and ill. W. 
 Ver. 238.] Or thus, more faithfully: 
 
 Phaeacia calls my potent sire her king. Wi 
 
< 
 
 \ 
 
 book vi. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 229 
 
 Safe in the love of heaven, an ocean flows 
 Around our realm, a barrier from the foes; 
 
 'Tis ours this son of sorrow to relieve, 245 
 
 Chear the sad heart, nor let affliction grieve. 
 
 By Jove the stranger and the poor are sent. 
 
 And what to those we give, to Jove is lent. 
 
 Then food supply, and bathe his fainting limbs 
 Where waving shades obscure the mazy streams. 
 
 Obedient to the call, the chief they guide 25 1 
 
 To the calm current of the secret tide ; 
 
 Close by the stream a royal dress they lay, 
 
 A vest and robe, with rich embroidery gay; 
 
 Then unguents in a vase of gold supply, 255 
 
 That breath’d a fragrance thro’ the balmy sky. 
 
 To them the King. No longer I detain 
 Your friendly care : retire, ye virgin train ! 
 
 Retire, while from my wearied limbs I lave 
 The foul pollution of the briny wave: 260 
 
 Ye Gods ! since this worn frame refection knew. 
 What scenes have I survey’d of dreadful view ! 
 
 Ver. 248.] This sentiment is not at all in Homer, but from 
 Proverbs, xix. 17. “ He that hath pity upon the poorlendeth 
 
 (i unto the Lord; and that, which he hath given, will he pay 
 “ him again.” W. 
 
 Ver. 251.] A literal version will shew the slovenly execution 
 ©f our Poet: 
 
 He spake ; they stopt, and chear’d each others hearts. 
 Then led Ulysses to the shelter’d stream. 
 
 As brave Alcinous* daughter gave command. 
 
 Close by, they place a tunic, and a robe. 
 
 And give a golden cruse of purest oil; 
 
 Then in the river’s current bid him plunge: 
 
 But first the chief divine bespake the maids. W. 
 Ver. 261.] This couplet is not accurate. Chapman has very 
 well represented the thought of his author: 
 
230 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book yi. 
 
 But, nymphs, recede! sage chastity denies 
 To raise the blush, or pain the modest eyes. 
 
 The nymphs withdrawn, at once into the tide 2 65 
 Active he bounds; the flashing wayes divide : 
 
 And then use oile, which long time did not shine 
 On my poore shoulders. 
 
 Ver. 263. But , nymphs, recede ! c^c.] This place seems con¬ 
 tradictory to the practice of antiquity, and other passages in the 
 Odyssey: nothing is more frequent than for heroes to make use 
 of the ministry of damsels in bathing, as appears from Polycaste 
 and Telemachus, &c. Whence is it then that Ulysses commands 
 the attendants of Nausicaa to withdraw while he bathes ? Spon- 
 danus is of opinion, that the Poet intended to condemn an in¬ 
 decent custom of those ages solemnly by the mouth of so wise a 
 person as Ulysses: but there is no other instance in all his works 
 to confirm that conjecture. I am at a loss to give a better 
 reason, unless the difference of the places might make an alter¬ 
 ation in the action. It is possible that in baths prepared for 
 publick use, there might be some convenience to defend the 
 person who bathed, in some degree from observation, which 
 might be wanting in an open river, so that the action might be 
 more indecent in the one instance than in the other, and conse¬ 
 quently occasion these words of Ulysses: but this is a conjecture, 
 and submitted as such to the reader’s better judgment. P. 
 
 On the subject of this note, the reader may consult my ob¬ 
 servation on Book iii. verse 594. W. 
 
 Ver. 265.- -at once into the tide 
 
 Active he bounds -—-j 
 
 It may be asked why Ulysses prefers the river waters in washing, 
 to the waters of the sea, in the Odyssey; whereas in the tenth 
 book of the Iliad, after the death of Dolon, Diomed and Ulysses 
 prefer the seawaters to those of the river? There is a different 
 reason for this different regimen: in the Iliad, Ulysses was fa¬ 
 tigued, and sweated with the labours of the night, and in such a 
 case the sea waters being more rough are more purifying and 
 corroborating: but here Ulysses comes from the seas, and, as 
 Plutarch in his Symposiacks observes upon this passage, the 
 more subtle and light particles exhale by the heat of the sun, 
 but the rough and the saline stick to the body, till washed away 
 by fresh^ waters. P. 
 
BOOK vr. HOMER'S ODYSSEY. 231 
 
 O’er all his limbs his hands the wave diffuse. 
 
 And from his locks compress the weedy ooze; 
 
 The balmy oil, a fragrant shower, he sheds ; 
 
 Then, drest, in pomp magnificently treads. 270 
 The warrior Goddess gives his frame to shine 
 With majesty enlarg’d, and air divine: 
 
 Back from his brows a length of hair unfurls. 
 
 His hyacinthine locks descend in wavy curls. 
 
 As by some artist, to whom Vulcan gives 275 
 
 His skill divine, a breathing statue lives; 
 
 By Pallas taught, he frames the wonderous mould, 
 And o’er the silver pours the fusile gold— 
 
 So Pallas his heroick frame improves 
 With heavenly bloom, and like a God he moves. 280 
 A fragrance breathes around: majestick grace 
 Attends his steps : the’ astonish’d virgins gaze. 
 
 Soft he reclines along the murmuring seas. 
 
 Inhaling freshness from the fanning breeze. 
 
 The wondering nymph his glorious port survey’d. 
 And to her damsels, with amazement, said— 286' 
 
 Not without care divine the stranger treads 
 This land of joy : his steps some Godhead leads: 
 
 Ver. 276*3 There is nothing about statues in Homer: the 
 sense is much better exhibited by Ogilby: 
 
 So shews ’bout silver a gilt border, wrought 
 By one whom Vulcan and Minerva taught. 
 
 A simile , not unlike this in purport occurs in Proverbs, xxv. 11. 
 “ A word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in pictures of 
 “ silver.” W. 
 
 Ver. 281.] This fragrance is from the translator ; and the 
 rhymes are truly wretched. Thus ? more faithfully; 
 
 A roseate beauty and majestic grace 
 
 His limbs inspirit and illume his face, W« 
 
23 % 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 Would Jove destroy him, sure he had been driven 
 Far from this realm, the favourite isle of heaven. 290 
 Late a sad spectacle of woe, he trod 
 The desert sands, and now he looks a God. 
 
 Oh heaven ! in my connubial hour decree 
 This man my spouse, or such a spouse as he ! 
 
 But haste, the viands and the bowl provide— 295 
 
 The maids the viands, and the bowl supplied: 
 Eager he fed, for keen his hunger rag’d. 
 
 And with the generous vintage thirst assuag’d. 
 
 Now on return her care Nausicaa bends. 
 
 The robes resumes, the glittering car ascends, 300 
 Far blooming o’er the field : and as she press’d 
 The splendid seat, the listening chief address’d. 
 
 Stranger arise ! the sun rolls down the day, 
 
 Lo, to the palace X direct thy way : 
 
 Where in high state the nobles of the land 305 
 Attend my royal sire, a radiant band. 
 
 But hear., tho’ wisdom in thy soul presides. 
 
 Speaks from thy tongue, and every action guides ; 
 Advance at distance, while I pass the plain 
 Where o’er the furrows waves the golden grain : 310 
 Alone I re-ascend—With airy mounds 
 A strength of wall the guarded city bounds : 
 
 The jutting land two ample bays divides ; 
 
 Full thro’ the narrow mouths descend the tides : 
 The spacious basons arching rocks enclose, 315 
 A sure defence from every storm that blows. 
 
 Close to the bay great Neptune’s fane adjoins; 
 
 And negr, a fprum flank’d with marble shines. 
 
 Yer. 289.] A superfluous distich from the translator. \y. 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 233 
 
 Where the bold youth the numerous fleets to store. 
 Shape the broad sail, or smooth the taper oar; 320 
 For not the bow they bend, nor boast the skill 
 To give the feather’d arrow wings to kill ; 
 
 But the tall mast above the vessel rear. 
 
 Or teach the fluttering sail to float in air. 
 
 They rush into the deep with eager joy, 325 
 
 Climb the steep surge, and thro’ the tempest fly; 
 
 Ver. 325. They rush into the; deep tvith eager joy.] It is very 
 judicious in the Poet to let us thus fully into the character of 
 the Phaeacians, before he comes to shew what relation they have 
 to the story of the Odyssey: he describes Alcinous and the 
 people of better rank, as persons of great hospitality and huma¬ 
 nity ; this gives an air of probability to the free and benevolent 
 reception which Ulysses found: he describes the vulgar as ex¬ 
 cellent navigators; and he does this not only because they are 
 islanders, but, as Eustathius observes, to prepare the way for 
 the return of Ulysses, who was to be restored by their conduct 
 to his country, even against the inclination of Neptune, the 
 God of the ocean. But it may be asked, is not Homer incon¬ 
 sistent with himself, when he paints the Phaeacians as men of the 
 utmost humanity, and immediately after calls them a proud un¬ 
 polished race, and given up to censoriousness ? It is easy to 
 reconcile the seeming contradiction, by applying the character 
 of humanity to the higher rank of the nation, and the other to 
 the vulgar and the mariners. I believe the same character holds 
 good to this day amongst any people who are much addicted to 
 sea affairs ; they contract a roughness, by being secluded from 
 the more general converse of mankind, and consequently are 
 strangers to that affability, which is the effect of a more enlarged 
 conversation. But what is it that inclines the Phseacians to be 
 censorious ? It is to be remembered, that they are every where 
 described as a people abandoned to idleness; to idleness there* 
 fore that part of their character is to be imputed. When the 
 thoughts are not employed upon things , it is usual to turn them 
 upon persons: a good man has not the inclination, an indus¬ 
 trious man not the leisure, to be censorious; so that censure is 
 the property of idleness. This I take to be the moral, intended 
 tq be drawn from the character of the Phseacians, P, 
 
HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 234 
 
 A proud, unpolish’d race—To me belongs 
 The care to shun the blast of slanderous tongues ; 
 Lest malice, prone the virtuous to defame, 
 
 Thus with vile censure taint my spotless name. 330 
 “ What stranger this, whom thus Nausicaa leads ? 
 (i Heavens! with what graceful majesty lie treads 1 
 “ Perhaps a native of some distant shore, 
 
 <e The future consort of her bridal hour; 
 
 Or rather some descendant of the skies ; 335 
 
 <c Won by her prayer, the’ aerial bridegroom flies. 
 ff Heaven on that hour its choicest influence shed, 
 
 “ That gave a foreign spouse to crown her bed ! 
 
 Ail, all the God-like worthies that adorn 
 " This realm, she flies : Phaeacia is her scorn.” 340 
 And just the blame : for female innocence 
 Not only flies the guilt, but shuns the’ offence : 
 The’ unguarded virgin, as unchaste, I blame ; 
 
 And the least freedom with the sex is shame, 
 
 ’Till our consenting sires a spouse provide, 345 
 And publick nuptials justify the bride. 
 
 But would’st thou soon review thy native plain ? 
 Attend, and speedy thou shalt pass the main : 
 
 Nigh where a grove with verdant poplars crown’d. 
 To Pallas sacred, shades the holy ground, 350 
 
 Yer 344. - the leastfreedom with the sex is shame , 
 
 9 Till our consenting sires a spouse provide.] 
 
 This is an admirable picture of ancient female life among the 
 orientals; the virgins were very retired, and never appeared 
 amongst men but upon extraordinary occasions, and then always 
 in the presence of the father or mother; but when they were 
 married, says Eustathius, they had more liberty. Thus Helen 
 converses freely with Telemachus and Pisistratus, and Penelope 
 sometimes with the suitors. P, 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 235 
 
 We bend our way : a bubbling fount distills 
 A lucid lake, and thence descends in rills ; 
 
 Around the grove a mead with lively green 
 Falls by degrees, and forms a beauteous scene ; 
 Here a rich juice the royal vineyard pours ; 355 
 
 And there the garden yields a waste of flowers. 
 Hence lies the town, as far as to the ear 
 Floats a strong shout along the waves of air. 
 
 There wait embower’d, while I ascend alone 
 To great Alcinous on his royal throne. 360 
 
 Arrived, advance impatient of delay. 
 
 And to the lofty palace bend thy way : 
 
 The lofty palace overlooks the town. 
 
 From every dome by pomp superior known; 
 
 A child may point the way. With earnest gait 365 
 Seek thou the queen along the rooms of state; 
 
 Her royal hand a wonderous work designs. 
 
 Around a circle of bright damsels shines. 
 
 Fart twist the threads, and part the wool dispose. 
 While with the purple orb the spindle glows. 370 
 High on a throne, amid the Scherian powers. 
 
 My royal father shares the genial hours ; 
 
 But to the queen thy mournful tale disclose. 
 
 With the prevailing eloquence of woes : 
 
 Ver. 351.] I would propose a contraction of these four verses 
 into half the compass, without any infidelity to the original, 
 which supplies less than a line for this length of version : 
 
 \Y r e bend our way: a bubblin & fountain leads 
 It's lucid current o'er the verdant meads. W. 
 
 Ver. 371.] The following substitution is a much nearer re¬ 
 semblance to the sense of Homer: 
 
 There, like a God in bliss, with her alone, 
 
 My sire quaffs nectar on his gorgeous throne. W. 
 Ver. 373. But to the queen thy mournful tale disclose .] This 
 little circumstance, seemingly of small importance, is not without 
 
336 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VI* 
 
 So shalt thou view with joy thy natal shore, 375 
 Tho’ mountains rise between, and oceans roar. 
 
 She added not, but waving* as she wheel'd 
 The silver scourge, it glitter'd o’er the field : 
 
 With skill the virgin guides the' embroider’d rein. 
 Slow rolls the car before the’ attending train : 380 
 
 Now whirling down the heavens, the golden day 
 Shot thro’ the western clouds a dewy ray ; 
 
 The grove they reach, where from the sacred shade 
 To Pallas thus the pensive hero pray’d. 384 
 
 Daughter of Jove ! whose arms in thunder wield 
 The’ avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield. 
 Forsook by thee, in vain I sought thy aid 
 When booming billows clos'd above my head : 
 Attend, unconquer’d maid ! accord my vows, 
 
 Bid the great hear, and pitying heal my woes. 390 
 This heard Minerva, but forbore to fly 
 (By Neptune awed) apparent from the sky : 
 
 1 
 
 it’s beauty. It is natural for a daughter to apply to the mother, 
 rather than the father: women are likewise of a compassionate 
 nature, and therefore the Poet first interests the queen in the 
 cause of Ulysses. At the same time he gives a pattern of con¬ 
 jugal affection, in the union between Arete and Alcinous. P. 
 Ver. 375.] With more fidelity, as follows: 
 
 So may’st thou hope thy friends to view, and come 
 O’er the wide seas to thy dear native home. W. 
 
 Ver. 379.] His original dictates, 
 
 The stream they left; she guides the* embroider’d rein—. W» 
 
 Ver. 391.- but forbore to fiy 
 
 (By Neptune awed) apparentfrom the sky.] 
 
 We see the ancients held a subordination among the Deities, and 
 though different in inclinations, yet they act in harmony: one 
 God resists not another Deity. This is more fully explained, as 
 Eustathius observes, by Euripides, in his Hippolytus; where 
 Diana says, it is not the custom of the Gods to resist one the 
 other, when they take vengeance even upon the favourites of 
 
COOK VI. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 337 
 
 Stern God ! who rag’d with vengeance unrestrain'd., 
 'Till great Ulysses hail'd his native land. 
 
 other Deities. The late tempest that Neptune had raised for 
 the destruction of Ulysses, was an instance of Neptune’s impla¬ 
 cable anger: this makes Minerva take such measures as to avoid 
 an open opposition, and yet consult the safety of Ulysses: she 
 descends, but it is secretly. P. 
 
 This book takes up part of the night, and the whole thirty- 
 second day ; the vision of Nausicaa is related in the preceding 
 night, and Ulysses enters the city a little after the sun sets in the 
 following evening. So that thirty-two days are completed since 
 the opening of the poem. 
 
 This book in general is full of life and variety : it is true, the 
 subject of it is simple and unadorned, but improved by the Poet, 
 and rendered entertaining and noble. The muse of Homer is 
 like his Minerva, with respect to Ulysses, who from an object of 
 commiseration improves his majesty, and gives a grace to every 
 feature. . P. 
 

 
 
 
 I 
 
 •H * * * v ’ K ” " 
 
 1 • . . ■ . 
 
 . ,9. » : 5 > i v . . 
 
 1 ‘ 
 
 » * . r * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 v ■. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
/ 
 
 % 
 
 THE 
 
 SEVENTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ;il ■/'l ‘ 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE COURT OF ALCINOUS. 
 
 THE Princess Nausicaa returns to the city f 
 and Ulysses soon after follows thither . He is met 
 by Pallas in the form of a young virgin, who guides 
 him to the palace 3 and directs him in what manner 
 to address the queen Arete. She then involves him 
 in a mist } which causes him to pass invisible. The 
 palace and gardens of Alcinous described. Ulysses 
 falling at the feet of the queen, the mist disperses, 
 the Phceacians admire, and receive him with respect. 
 The queen enquiring by what means he had the gar¬ 
 ments he then wore } he relates to her and Alcinous 
 his departure from Calypso , and his arrival on 
 their dominions. 
 
 The saine day continues, and the book ends with 
 the night. P, 
 
 VOL. 1 . 
 
 R 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 THIS book opens witli the introduction of Ulysses to Alci- 
 nous; ever}' step the Poet takes carries on the main design 
 of the poem, with a progress so natural, that each incident seems 
 really to have happened, and not to be invention. Thus Nausicaa 
 accidentally meets Ulysses, and introduces him to Alcinous, her 
 father, who lands him in Ithaca: it is possible this might be true 
 history; the Poet might build upon a real foundation, and only 
 adorn the truth with the ornaments of poetry. It is to be wished* 
 that a faithful history of the Trojan war, and the voyages of 
 Ulysses, had been transmitted to posterity; it would have been 
 the best comment upon the Iliad and Odyssey. We are not to 
 look upon the poems of Homer as mere romances, but as true 
 stories, heightened and beautified by poetry : thus the Iliad is 
 built upon a real dissention, that happened in a real war be¬ 
 tween Greece and Troy ; and the Odyssey upon the real voyages 
 of Ulysses, and the disorders that happened through his absence 
 in his own country. Nay, it is not possible but that many of 
 those incidents that seem most extravagant in Homer, might 
 have an appearing truth, and be justified by the opinions, and 
 mistaken credulity of those ages. What is there in all Homer 
 more seemingly extravagant, than the story of the race of the 
 Cyclops, with one broad eye in their foreheads ? and yet, as Sir 
 Walter Raleigh very judiciously conjectures, this may be built 
 Upon a seeming truth: they were a people of Sicily, remarkable 
 for savageness and cruelty, and perhaps might in their wars 
 make use of a head-piece or vizor, which had but one sight in 
 it, and this might give occasion to sailors who coasted those 
 shores, to mistake the single sight of the vizor for a broad eye in 
 the forehead, especially when they before looked upon them as 
 monsters for their barbarity. I doubt not but we lose many 
 beauties in Homer for want of a real history*, and think him ex¬ 
 travagant, when he only complies with the opinions of former 
 ages. I thought it necessary to make this observation, as a ge¬ 
 neral vindication of Homer; especially in this place, immedi¬ 
 ately before he enters upon the relation of those stories which 
 have been thought most to outrage credibility : if then we look 
 upon the Odyssey as all fiction, we consider it unworthily; it 
 ought to be read as a story founded upon truth, but adorned 
 with the embellishments of poetry, to convey instruction with 
 pleasure the more effectually, P. 
 
THE 
 
 SEVENTH BOOK 
 
 01? THE 
 
 . 1 , _ T 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 / 
 
 -1 r • ' 
 
 
 
 
 The patient,, heavenly man thus suppliant, pray 'd ; 
 While the slow mules draw on the' imperial maid ; 
 Thro' the proud street she moves, the publick gaze : 
 The turning wheel before the palace stays. 
 
 With ready love her brothers gathering round, 5 
 Receiv'd the vestures,, and the mules unbound. 
 
 She seeks the bridal bower: a matron there 
 The rising fire supplies with busy care. 
 
 Whose charms in youth her father's heart inflam’d. 
 Now worn with age, Eurymedusa nam’d : 10 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 9.] Circumstances of this kind occur in other parts of 
 this poem, but I find nothing here to countenance the notion of 
 our lickerish translator. His original stands thus: 
 
 Her for Alcinous they selected once 
 Asa choice gift, because Phseacia’s realm 
 He sway’d, and homage as a God received. W. 
 
 Ver. 10. Eurymedusa nam'd.] Eustathius remarks, that the 
 Phaeacians were people of great commerce, and that it was cus* 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book vie 
 
 The captive dame Phaeacian rovers bore,, 
 
 Snatch’d from Epirus,, her sweet native shore, 
 
 (A grateful prize) and in her bloom bestow’d 
 On good Alcinous, honour’d as a God: 
 
 Nurse of Nausicaa from her infant years, 15 
 
 And tender second to a mother’s cares. 
 
 Now from the sacred thicket where he lay. 
 
 To town Ulysses took the winding way. 
 
 Propitious Pallas, to secure her care. 
 
 Around him spread a veil of thicken’d air ; 20 
 
 To shun the’ encounter of the vulgar crowd. 
 
 Insulting still, inquisitive and loud. 
 
 When near the fam’d Phaeacian walls he drew. 
 
 The beauteous city opening to his view. 
 
 His step a virgin met, and stood before: 25 
 
 A polish’d urn the seeming virgin bore, 
 
 tomary in those ages to exchange slaves in traffick; or perhaps 
 Eurymedusa might be a captive, piracy then being honourable*, 
 and such seizures of cattle or slaves frequent. The passage 
 concerning the brothers of Nausicaa has not escaped the censure 
 of the criticks: Homer in the original calls them like Gods , and 
 yet in the same breath gives them the employment of slaves; 
 they unyoke the mules, and carry into the palace the burdens 
 they brought. A two-fold answer may be given to this objec¬ 
 tion, and this conduct might proceed from the general custom 
 of the age, which made such actions reputable; or from the 
 particular love the brothers bore their sister, which might in¬ 
 duce them to act thus, as an instance of it. P. 
 
 Ver. 20. Around him spread a veil of thicken’d air.] It may be 
 asked what occasion there is to make Ulysses invisible ? Eusta¬ 
 thius answers, not only to preserve him from insults as he was a 
 stranger, but that he might raise a greater surprise in Alcinous 
 by his sudden appearance. But, adds he, the whole is an alle¬ 
 gory ; and Ulysses wisely chusing the evening to enter unob¬ 
 served, gave occasion to the Poet to bring in the Goddess of 
 Wisdom to make him invisible. P. 
 
 Ver. 26. -- The seeming virgin , fyc.] It may be asked why 
 
 Minerva does not appear as a Goddess, but in a borrowed form ? 
 
BOOK VII. 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 245 
 
 And youthful smil'd; but in the low disguise 
 Lay hid the Goddess with the azure eyes. 
 
 Shew me, fair daughter, (thus the chief demands) 
 The house of him who rules these happy lands. 30 
 Thro' many woes and wanderings, lo ! I come 
 To good Alcinous’ hospitable dome. 
 
 Far from my native coast, I rove alone, 
 
 A wretched stranger, and of all unknown ! 
 
 The Goddess answer’d. Father, I obey, 35 
 
 And point the wandering traveller his way : 
 
 Well known to me the palace you enquire. 
 
 For fast beside it dwells my honour’d sire ; 
 
 But silent march, nor greet the common train 
 With question needless, or enquiry vain. 40 
 
 A race of rugged mariners are these ; 
 
 Unpolish’d men, and boisterous as their seas : 
 
 The native islanders alone their care. 
 
 And hateful he that breathes a foreign air. 
 
 These did the ruler of the deep ordain 45 
 
 To build proud navies, and command the main ; 
 
 On canvas wings to cut the waterj^ way. 
 
 No bird so light, no thought so swift as they. 
 
 Thus having spoke, the' unknown celestial leads: 
 The footsteps of the Deity he treads, 30 
 
 And secret moves along the crowded space. 
 
 Unseen of all the rude Phaeacian race. 
 
 (So Pallas order’d, Pallas to their eyes 
 The mist objected, and condens’d the skies.) 
 
 The chief with wonder sees the’ extended streets, 55 
 The spreading harbours, and the riding fleets ; 
 
 The Poet has already told us, that she dreaded the wrath of 
 Neptune; one Deity could not openly oppose another Deity, 
 and therefore she acts thus invisibly. J\ 
 
246 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book vii. 
 
 He next their princes’ lofty domes admires. 
 
 In separate islands crown’d with rising spires ; 
 
 And deep intrenchments, and high walls of stone. 
 That gird the city like a marble zone. 6 o 
 
 At length the kingly palace gates he view’d : 
 
 There stopp’d the Goddess, and her speech renew’d. 
 
 My task is done ; the mansion you enquire 
 Appears before you : enter, and admire. 
 High-thron’d, and feasting, there thou shalt behold 
 The sceptred rulers. Fear not, but be bold : 66 
 
 A decent boldness ever meets with friends. 
 Succeeds, and even a stranger recommends. 
 
 First to the queen prefer a suppliant’s claim, V 
 Alcinous’ queen. Arete is her name, 70 > 
 
 The same her parents, and her power the same. 3 
 For know, from Ocean’s God Nausithous sprung. 
 And Peribaea, beautiful and young : 
 
 (Eurymedon’s last hope, who rul’d of old 
 
 The race of giants, impious, proud, and bold ; 75 
 
 Perish’d the nation in unrighteous war, 
 
 Perish’d the prince, and left this only heir.) 
 
 !* ' J • » » i I ." * * I 4. 
 
 Ver. 60.] A verse exquisitely beautiful, solely due to the 
 invention of our translator. W. 
 
 Ver. 74*. Eurymedon> This passage is worthy observation, 
 as it discovers to us the time when the race of the ancient giants 
 perished; this Eurymedon was grandfather to Nausithous, the 
 father of Alcinous; so that the giants were extirpated forty or 
 fifty years before the war of Troy. This exactly agrees with 
 ancient story, which informs us, that Hercules and Theseus 
 purged the earth from those monsters. Plutarch in his Life of 
 Theseus tells us, that they were men of great strength, and 
 public robbers, one of whom was called the Bender of Pines . 
 Now Theseus stole away Helen in her infancy, and consequently 
 these giants were destroyed some years before the Trojan ex¬ 
 pedition. Dacier t Plutarch . , P. 
 
ROOK VII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. C M 7 
 
 Who now by Neptune’s amorous power comprest. 
 Produc’d a monarch that his people blest. 
 
 Father and prince of the Phmacian name ; 30 
 
 From him Rhexenor and Alcinous came. 
 
 The first by Phoebus’ burning arrows fir’d. 
 
 New from his nuptials, hapless youth ! expir’d. 
 
 No son surviv’d : Arete heir’d his state. 
 
 And her, Alcinous chose his royal mate. 85 
 
 With honours yet to womankind unknown. 
 
 This queen he graces, and divides the throne: 
 
 In equal tenderness her sons conspire. 
 
 And all the children emulate their sire. 
 
 When thro’ the street she gracious deigns to move. 
 (The publick wonder, and the publick love) 91 
 The tongues of all with transport sound her praise. 
 The eyes of all, as on a Goddess, gaze. 
 
 Ver. 84. Arete, fyc,*] It Is observable that this Arete was both 
 wife and niece to Alcinous, an instance that the Grecians mar- 
 ried with such near relations ; the same appears from Demost¬ 
 henes and other Greek orators. But what then is the notion of 
 incest amongst the ancients? The collateral branch was not 
 thought incestuous, for Juno was the wife and sister of Jupiter. 
 Brothers likewise married their brothers* wives, as Deiphobus 
 Helen, after the death of Paris : the same was practised amongst 
 the Jews, and consequently being permitted by Moses was not 
 incestuous. So that the only incest was in the ascending, not 
 collateral or descending branch; as when parents and children 
 married; thus when Myrrha lay with her father, and Lot with 
 his daughters, this was accounted incest. The reason is very 
 evident, a child cannot pay the duty of a child to a parent, and 
 at the same time of a wife or husband; nor can a father act 
 with the authority of a father towards a person who is at onco 
 his wife and daughter. The relations interfere, and introduce 
 confusion, where the law of nature and reason requires regu¬ 
 larity. - - P, 
 
248 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. boor vii. 
 
 A 
 
 She feels the triumph of a generous breast, } 
 To heal divisions, to relieve the’ opprest; 95 V 
 
 In virtue rich ; in blessing others, blest. 3 
 
 Go then secure, thy humble suit prefer. 
 
 And owe thy country and thy friends to her. 
 
 With that the Goddess deign’d no longer stay. 
 But o’er the world of waters wing’d her way : ioo 
 Forsaking Scheria’s ever pleasing shore, 
 
 The winds to Marathon the virgin bore; 
 
 Thence, where proud Athens rears her towery head. 
 With opening streets and shining structures spread. 
 She past, delighted with the well-known seats; 105 
 And to Erectheus’ sacred dome retreats. 
 
 Meanwhile Ulysses at the palace waits, 
 
 There stops, and anxious with his soul debates, v 
 Fix’d in amaze before the royal gates. ) 
 
 The front appear’d with radiant splendors gay, 110 
 Bright as the lamp of night, or orb of day. 
 
 The walls were massy brass: the cornice high 
 Blue metals crown’d, in colours of the sky : 
 
 Rich plates of gold the folding doors incase ; 
 
 The pillars silver, on a brazen base; 115 
 
 Silver the lintels deep-projecting o’er. 
 
 And gold, the ringlets that command the door. 
 
 Ver. 94.] This triplet is a loose and luxuriant representation 
 of his author, who may be literally given thus : 
 
 Nor wants the queen benevolence of soul; 
 
 Her kind interposition solves disputes. W. 
 
 Ver. 105.] This verse is interpolated by our Poet; and the 
 next might be more properly written thus: 
 
 Arid to Erectheus’ ixell-xurouL Kt dome retreats. W. 
 
book vii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. fM 9 
 
 Two rows of stately dogs, on either hand. 
 
 In sculptur’d gold and labour’d silver stand. 
 
 These Vulcan form’d with art divine, to wait 120 
 Immortal guardians at Alcinous’ gate ; 
 
 Alive each animated frame appears. 
 
 And still to live beyond the power of years. 
 
 Fair thrones within from space to space were rais’d. 
 Where various carpets with embroidery blaz’d, 125 
 The work of matrons : these the princes prest. 
 
 Day following day, a long-continu’d feast. 
 Refulgent pedestals the walls surround. 
 
 Which boys of gold with flaming torches crown’d; 
 
 Ver. 118 . Two roves of stately dogs , fyc.] We have already 
 seen that dogs were kept as a piece of state, from the instance of 
 those that attended Telemachus: here Alcinous has images of 
 dogs in gold, for the ornament of his palace; Homer animates 
 them in his poetry: but to soften the description, he introduces 
 Vulcan, and ascribes the wonder to the power of a God. If we 
 take the poetical dress away, the truth is, that these dogs were 
 formed with such excellent art, that they seemed to be alive, 
 and Homer, by a liberty allowable to poetry, describes them as 
 really having that life, which they only have in appearance. In 
 the Iliad he speaks of living tripods with greater boldness. 
 Eustathius recites another opinion of some of the ancients, who 
 thought these not to be animals, but a kind of large nails 
 (^Aaj) or pins, made use of in buildings, and to this day the 
 name is retained by builders, as dogs of iron, &c. It is certain 
 the words will bear this interpretation, but the former is more 
 after the spirit of Homer, and more noble in poetry. Besides, 
 if the latter were intended, it would be absurd to ascribe a 
 work of so little importance to a Deity. P. 
 
 Ver. 128. Refulgent pedestals the'walls surround, 
 
 Which boys of gold with faming torches crown\L~\ 
 This is a remarkable piece of grandeur: lamps, as appears from 
 the eighteenth of the Odyssey, were not at this time known to 
 the Grecians, but only torches : these were held by images in the 
 shape of beautiful youth?, and those images were of gold. F. 
 
250 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VII* 
 
 The polish’d ore,, reflecting every ray, 130 
 
 Blaz’d on the banquets with a double day. 
 
 Full fifty handmaids form the household train; 
 Some turn the mill, or sift the golden grain ; 
 
 Some ply the loom; their busy fingers move 
 Jiike poplar-leaves when Zephyr fans the grove. 135 
 Not more renown’d the men of Scheria’s isle. 
 
 For sailing arts and all the naval toil. 
 
 Than works of female skill their women’s pride. 
 The flying shuttle thro’ the threads to guide : 
 
 Ver. 130.] A beautiful couplet, but unauthorised by his ori* 
 ginal, as a literal version will discover; 
 
 There boys of gold on polish’d bases stood; 
 
 Their hands held blazing torches, to dispense 
 
 Rays for the banquet thro’ the gloom of night. W, 
 
 Ver. 135. Like 'poplar-leaves •when Zephyr Jans the grove.] 
 There is some obscurity in this short allusion, and some refer it 
 to the work, others to the damsels employed in work: Eustathius 
 is of the opinion that it alludes to the damsels, and expresses the 
 quick and continued motion of their hands: I have followed this 
 interpretation, and think that Homer intended to illustrate that 
 quick and intermingled motion, by comparing them to the 
 branches of a poplar agitated by winds, all at once in motion, 
 some bending this, some that way. The other interpretations 
 are more forced, and less intelligible. P. 
 
 The verse omitted after this by our Poet, I would thus 
 translate: 
 
 The new-wrought texture gleam’d an oily gloss. 
 
 The ancients were accustomed to perfume their garments with 
 fragrant oils: let the reader compare Iliad xviii. verse 686, of 
 this translation, and especially the original of that passage. W. 
 
 Ver. 138.- works ojfemale skill their women'spride.] We 
 
 may gather from what Homer here relates concerning the skill 
 of these Phseacian damsels, that they were famed for these 
 works of curiosity: the Corcyrians were much given to traffic, 
 and perhaps they might bring slaves from the Sidoniaps, who 
 instructed them in these manufactures. Dacier. J 1 . 
 
book vii. HOMER’S ODYSSEY, 251 
 
 Pallas to these her double gifts imparts, no 
 
 Inventive genius, and industrious arts. 
 
 Close to the gates a spacious garden lies. 
 
 From storms defended and inclement skies. 
 
 Four acres was the 5 allotted space of ground. 
 Fenc’d with a green enclosure all around, 145 
 Tall thriving trees confess’d the fruitful mould ; 
 The reddening apple ripens here to gold. 
 
 Here the blue fig with luscious juice o’erflcrws. 
 
 With deeper red the full pomegranate glows, 
 
 • v 
 
 Ver. 142. Close to the gates a spacious garden lies.'] This fa* 
 mous garden of Aleinous contains no more than four acres of 
 ground, which in those times of simplicity was thought a large 
 one even for a prince. It is laid out, as Eustathius observes, 
 into three parts: a grove for fruits and shade, a vineyard, and 
 an allotment for olives and herbs. It is watered with two foun* 
 tains, the one supplies the palace and town, the other the gar¬ 
 den and the flowers. But it may be asked what reality there is 
 in the relation, and whether any trees bear fruit all the year in 
 this island ? Eustathius observes, that experience teaches the 
 contrary, and that it is only true of the greatest part of the 
 year; Homer, adds he, disguises the true situation of the Phaea- 
 cians, and here describes it as one of the happy islands ; at once 
 to enrich his poetry, and to avoid a discovery of his poetical 
 exaggeration. The relation is true of other places, if Pliny 
 and Theophrastus deserve credit, as Dacier observes; thus the 
 Citron bears during the whole year fruits and flowers. The 
 same is related of other trees by Pliny. So that what Homer 
 relates is in itself true, though not entirely of Phseacia. Or 
 perhaps it might be only intended for a more beautiful and poe¬ 
 tical manner of describing the constant succession of one fruit 
 after another in a fertile climate. P. 
 
 Ver. 145.] These seven verses are luxuriantly expanded from 
 three of Horner, which may be literally represented thus: 
 
 lliere stately trees with ample foliage grew; 
 
 Pomegranates, pears, and apples, noble fruit! 
 
 Pigs, sweetly luscious ; olives, spreading wide. W. 
 
BOOK VII. 
 
 252 HOMER'* ODYSSEY. 
 
 The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear. 
 And verdant olives flourish round the year. 151 
 The balmy spirit of the western gale 
 Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail: 
 
 Each dropping pear a following pear supplies. 
 
 On apples apples, figs on figs arise : 155 
 
 The same mild season gives the blooms to blow. 
 The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow. 
 
 Here order’d vines in equal ranks appear. 
 
 With all the’ united labours of a year; 
 
 Some to unload the fertile branches run, 160 
 
 Some dry the blackening clusters in the sun. 
 
 Others to tread the liquid harvest join; 
 
 The groaning presses foam with floods of wine. 
 Here are the vines in early flower descried, 1 
 Here grapes discolour’d on the sunny side, 165 r 
 And there in autumn’s richest purple dyed. 3 
 
 Ver. 161. Some dry the blackening clusters in the sww.] To 
 understand this passage aright, it is necessary to know the 
 manner of ordering the vintage amongst the Greeks, First, 
 they carried all the grapes they gathered into a house for a sea¬ 
 son ; afterwards they exposed them ten days to the sun, and let 
 them lie abroad as many nights in the freshness of the air ; then 
 they kept them five days in cool shades, and on the sixth they 
 trod them, and put the wine into vessels. This we learn from 
 Hesiod: tfFuv, verse 229. 
 
 Homer distinguishes the whole into three orders: first, the 
 grapes that have already been exposed to the sun are trod; the 
 second order is of the grapes that are exposed, while the others 
 are treading; and the third, of those that are ripe to be ga¬ 
 thered, while the others are thus ordering. Homer himself thus 
 explains it, by saying, that while some vines were loaded with 
 black and mature grapes, others were green, or but just turning 
 to blackness. Homer undoubtedly founds this poetical relation 
 upon observing some vines that bore fruit thrice annually. Pliny 
 affirms this to be true, lib, xvi. cay, 27 . F« 
 
book vii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 253 
 
 Beds of all various herbs for ever green. 
 
 In beauteous order terminate the scene. 
 
 Two plenteous fountains the whole prospects 
 crown’d ; 169 / 
 
 This thro’ the gardens leads its streams around, £ 
 Visits each plant, and waters all the ground : ) 
 
 While that in pipes beneath the palace flows. 
 
 And thence its current on the town bestows; 
 
 To various use their various streams they bring. 
 The people one, and one supplies the king. 175 
 Such were the glories which the Gods ordain’d. 
 To grace Alcinous, and his happy land. 
 
 Even from the chief, who men and nations knew. 
 The’ unwonted scene surprise and rapture drew; 
 
 In pleasing thought he ran the prospect o’er, iso 
 Then hasty enter’d at the lofty door. 
 
 Night now approaching, in the palace stand. 
 
 With goblets crown’d, the rulers of the land ; 
 Prepar’d for rest, and offering to * the God 
 Who bears the virtue of the sleepy rod. iS 5 
 
 Unseen he glided through the joyous crowd. 
 
 With darkness circled, and an ambient cloud. 
 
 % Mercury. 
 
 Ver. 183.] This is not from Homer, but Chapman: 
 
 -where all the peeres he found, 
 
 And eaptaines of Phoeacia, with cups crown'd. W. 
 
 Ver. 184*. Prepar'dfor rest , and (foering to the God 
 Who bears the virtue of the sleepy rod .] 
 
 I have already explained from Athenaeus this custom of offering 
 to Mercury at the conclusion of entertainments: he was thought 
 by the ancients to preside over sleep: Pat somnos adimitque , 
 according to Horace, as Dacier observes. In the following ages 
 this practice was altered, and they offered not to Mercury, but 
 to Jove the perfecter, or to rcAitO*. P. 
 
254 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. noon vn. 
 
 Direct to great Alcinous’ throne lie came. 
 
 And prostrate fell before the’ imperial dame. 
 
 Then from around him dropp’d the veil of night; 190 
 Sudden he shines, and manifest to sight. 
 
 The nobles gaze, with awful fear opprest; 
 
 Silent they gaze, and eye the God-like guest. 
 
 Daughter of great Rhexenor ! (thus began 
 Low at her knees, the much-enduring man) 195 
 To thee, thy consort, and this royal train. 
 
 To all that share the blessings of your reign, 
 
 A suppliant bends : oh pity human woe! 
 
 ’Tis what the happy to the’ unliappy owe. 
 
 A wretched exile to his country send, 200 
 
 Long worn with griefs, and long without a friend. 
 
 Ver. 196. To ihee> thy consort> and this royal train."] Minerva 
 commanded Ulysses to supplicate the queen: why then does he 
 exceed the directions of the Goddess, and not only address him¬ 
 self to Alcinous, but to the rest of the assembly? Spondanus 
 answers, tl*at Ulysses adapts himself to the present circumstances, 
 and seeing the king and other peers in the same assembly, he 
 thought it improper not to take notice of them: he therefore ad¬ 
 dresses himself to all, that he may make all his friends. But 
 then does not Minerva give improper directions ? and is not 
 Ulysses more wise than the Goddess of Wisdom ? The true rea¬ 
 son therefore may perhaps be, that Ulysses really complies with 
 the injunctions of the Goddess: she commands him to address 
 himself to the queen: and he does so: this I take to mean 
 chiefly or primarily, but not exclusively of the king: if the 
 passage be thus understood, it solves the objection. P. 
 
 Ver. 200. A mr etched exile to his country send.] Ulysses here 
 speaks very concisely: and he may seem to break abruptly into 
 the subject of his petition, without letting the audience either 
 into the knowledge of his condition or person. Was this a proper 
 method to prevail over an assembly of strangers ? But his ges¬ 
 ture spoke for him, he threw himself into the posture of a sup¬ 
 pliant, and the persons of all suppliants were esteemed to be 
 
KOOK VII. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 So may the Gods your better days increase. 
 
 And all your joys descend on all your race ; 
 
 So reign for ever on your country’s breast. 
 
 Your people blessing, by your people blest! 20 3 
 
 Then to the genial hearth he bow’d his face, 
 
 And humbled in the ashes took his place. 
 
 Silence ensued. The eldest first began, 
 
 Echeneus sage, a venerable man! 
 
 Whose well-taught mind the present age surpast. 
 And join’d to that the’ experience of the last. «u 
 
 sacred: he declared himself to be a man in calamity, and re¬ 
 serves his story to be told more at large, when the surprise of 
 the Phaeacians at the sudden appearance of a stranger was 
 over; this conciseness therefore is not blameable, but rather an 
 instance of Homer’s judgment, who knows when to be short, 
 and when to be copious. P. 
 
 Ver. 202.] Or thus, on account of the rhymes: 
 
 So may the Gods your days tvith blessings grace — 
 
 Ver. 207. And humbled in the ashes , §c.~\ This was the cus* 
 tom of suppliants: they betook themselves to the hearth as sa¬ 
 cred, and a place of refuge. It was particularly in the protection 
 of Vesta, as Tully remarks, lib. ii. de Natura Deorum . Apollonius 
 likewise, as Spondanus observes, takes notice of this custom of 
 suppliants. He says, “ they betook themselves to the hearth, and 
 there “ sat mute, which is the custom of all unhappy suppliants.” 
 If it was a custom, as Apollonius observes, to sit mute, this gives 
 another reason why Ulysses used but few’ words in his supplica¬ 
 tion : he had greatly outraged a practice that w r as established as 
 sacred amongst the Greeks, and had not acted in the character 
 of a suppliant, if he had launched out into a long oration. 
 
 This was the most sure and effectual way of supplication; 
 thus when Themistocles fled to Admetus king of the Molossians, 
 he placed himself before the hearth, and w as received, though 
 that king had formerly vowed his destruction. Plutarch indeed 
 calls it an unusual way of supplication, but that proceeded from 
 his carrying a child in his arms to move the greater compassion, 
 not from his throwing himself into the protection of the house¬ 
 hold Gods. P. 
 
256 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 Fit words attended on his weighty sense. 
 
 And mild persuasion flow’d in eloquence. 
 
 Oh sight (he cried) dishonest and unjust! 
 
 A guest, a stranger, seated in the dust! 215 
 
 To raise the lowly suppliant from the ground 
 Befits a monarch. Lo ! the peers around - 
 But wait thy word, the gentle guest to grace. 
 
 And seat him fair in some distinguish’d place. 
 
 Let first the herald due libation pay 220 
 
 To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way; 
 Then set the genial banquet in his view. 
 
 And give the stranger-guest a stranger’s due. 
 
 His sage advice the listening king obeys, 224 
 He stretch’d his hand the prudent chief to raise. 
 And from his seat Laodamas remov’d, 
 
 (The monarch’s offspring, and his best belov’d) 
 There next his side the God-like hero sat; 
 
 With stars of silver shone the bed of state. 
 
 The golden ewer a beauteous handmaid brings, 23 u 
 Replenish’d from the cool translucent springs. 
 Whose polish’d vase with copious streams supplies 
 A silver laver, of capacious size. 
 
 The table next in regal order spread. 
 
 The glittering canisters are heap’d with bread: 235 
 Viands of various kinds invite the taste. 
 
 Of choicest sort and savour, rich repast! 
 
 Ver. 221.] The following attempt, if it can be borne, is 
 faithful to the original: 
 
 Let first the heralds due libations shower, 
 
 To Jove, of awful suppliants guardian power « W. 
 
 Ver. 229.] Homer says here only in general (( on a resplen¬ 
 dent throne .’ 1} W. 
 
book vii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 257 
 
 Thus feasting high, Alcinous gave the sign. 
 
 And bade the herald pour the rosy wine. 
 
 Let all around the due libation pay 240 
 
 To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way. 
 
 He said. Pontonus heard the king’s command; 
 The circling goblet moves from hand to hand: 
 
 Each drinks the juice that glads the heart of man. 
 Alcinous then, with aspect mild, began. 245 
 
 Princes and peers, attend! while we impart 
 To you, the thoughts of no inhuman heart. 
 
 Now pleas’d and satiate from the social rite 
 Repair we to the blessings of the night: 
 
 But with the rising day, assembled here, 250 
 
 Let all the elders of the land appear. 
 
 Pious observe our hospitable laws. 
 
 And heaven propitiate in the stranger’s cause; 
 Then join’d in council, proper means explore 
 Safe to transport him to the wisht-for shore : 255 
 
 (How distant that, imports not us to know. 
 
 Nor weigh the labour, but relieve the woe) 
 Meantime, nor harm nor anguish let him bear: 
 
 This interval, heaven trusts him to our care ; 
 
 Ver. 240.- the due libation pay 
 
 To Jove -] 
 
 We have already seen that the whole assembly wa s about to 
 pour libations to Mercury ; whence is it then that they now offer 
 to Jupiter ? Eustathius observes, it was because of the arrival 
 of this stranger, and Jupiter presides over all strangers, and is 
 frequently stiled Zau? and Zsu? Ir*S?^. P. 
 
 Ver. 251.3 This open vowel is bad; and his original pre¬ 
 scribes. 
 
 More frequent let our senators appear. W. 
 
 Ver. 256.] This elegant couplet is expanded from the follow¬ 
 ing words of his author: 
 
 -far distant though it be. W. 
 
 S 
 
 VQL. I. 
 
25S 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 But to his native land our charge resign’d, 260 
 Heaven’s is his life to come, and all the woes behind. 
 Then must he suffer what the Fates ordain ; 
 
 For Fate has wove the thread of life with pain, f 
 And twins even from the birth, are misery andf 
 man! * 
 
 But if descended from the’ Olympian bower, 26s 
 Gracious approach us some immortal power; 
 
 If in that form thou com’st a guest divine : 
 
 Some high event the conscious Gods design. 
 
 As yet, unbid they never graced our feast. 
 
 The solemn sacrifice call’d down the guest; 270 
 
 Then manifest of heaven the vision stood. 
 
 And to our eyes familiar was the God. 
 
 Oft with some favour’d traveller they stray. 
 
 And shine before him all the desert way: 
 
 With social intercourse, and face to face, 275 
 
 The friends and guardians of our pious race. 
 
 So near approach we their celestial kind. 
 
 By justice, truth, and probity of mind; 
 
 As our dire neighbours of Cyclopaean birth. 
 
 Match in fierce wrong the giant-sons of earth. 2so 
 
 Ver. 262.] The rhymes are not equally correct, nor is the 
 sense in tolerable correspondence with his model. I shall pre¬ 
 sume to propose a couplet of much more faithful interpretation: 
 Then must he suffer what the thread of Fate 
 Wove at his entrance on this earthly state . W. 
 
 Ver. 273.] We have here no less than eight verses spun from 
 three of Ilomer; which the subjoined version literally exhibits; 
 Then if some lonely traveller chance to meet, 
 
 They scorn disguise: so near are we allied; 
 
 As Cyclops near, and the wild giant-tribes. 
 
 In his interpretation of the concluding paragraph our translator 
 follows Ogilby and Dacier; erroneously, and by a construction 
 forced and unnatural, in my opinion. W. 
 
book vii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 259 
 
 Let no such thought (with modest grace rejoin’d 
 The prudent Greek) possess the royal mind. 
 
 Alas ! a mortal,, like thyself, am I ; 
 
 No glorious native of yon azure sky: 
 
 In form, ah how unlike their heavenly kind ! 285 
 
 How more inferior in the gifts of mind ; 
 
 Alas, a mortal! most opprest of those 
 Whom Fate has loaded with a weight of woes; 
 
 By a sad train of miseries alone 
 Distinguish’d long and second now to none ! 290 
 
 By heaven’s high will compell’d from shore to shore ; 
 With heaven’s high will prepar’d to suffer more. 
 What histories of toil could I declare! 
 
 But still long-wearied nature wants repair; 
 
 Spent with fatigue, and shrunk with pining fast, 295 
 My craving bowels still require repast. 
 
 Howe’er the noble, suffering mind, may grieve 
 Its load of anguish, and disdain to live. 
 
 Necessity demands our daily bread ; 
 
 Hunger is insolent, and will be fed. 300 
 
 But finish, oh ye peers ! what you propose. 
 
 And let the morrow’s dawn conclude my woes. 
 Pleas’d will I suffer all the Gods ordain. 
 
 To see my soil, my son, my friends, again. 
 
 That view vouchsaf’d, let instant death surprise 305 
 With ever-during shade these happy eyes ! 
 
 Ver. 287.] The version here is very licentious. The seven 
 next lines are designed to represent the following portion of his 
 author: 
 
 Those, whom ye know, of all the race of man 
 With sorrows laden most, I match in woe: 
 
 Nay, ills surpassing their’s in number far 
 
 Could I recount, at heaven’s high will endur’d. W, 
 
260 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book vii. 
 
 The’ assembled peers with general praise approv’d 
 His pleaded reason, and the suit he mov’d. 
 
 Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares. 
 
 And to the gifts of balmy sleep repairs. 
 
 Ulysses in the regal walls alone 
 Remain’d: beside him, on a splendid throne. 
 
 Divine Arete and Alcinous shone. 
 
 The queen, on nearer view, the guest survey’d 
 Robed in the garments her own hands had made: 315 
 Not without wonder seen. Then thus began. 
 
 Her words addressing to the God-like man. 
 
 Camest thou not hither, wonderous stranger! say. 
 From lands remote, and o’er a length of sea ? 
 
 Tell then whence art thou ? whence that princely 
 air ? 320 
 
 And robes like these, so recent and so fair! 
 
 Hard is the task, oh princess ! you impose: 
 (Thus sighing spoke the man of many woes) 
 
 The long, the mournful series to relate 
 Of all my sorrows, sent by Heaven and Fate ! 325 
 
 Yet what you ask, attend. An island lies 
 Beyond these tracts, and under other skies, 
 
 Ogygia named, in Ocean’s watery arms: 
 
 Where dwells Calypso, dreadful in her charms! 
 Remote from Gods or men she holds her reign, 330 
 Amid the terrors of the rolling main. 
 
 310 
 
 i 
 
 Ver. 310.] Thus, exactly: 
 
 Each io his domefor balmy sleep repairs. \V. 
 
 Ver. 313.] A portion of his author, omitted after this verse 
 by our Poet, cannot be better given than from Chapman: 
 
 -The handmaids then 
 
 The vessells of the banquet took away. 
 
 W. 
 
BOOK VII. 
 
 IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 261 
 
 Me,, only me, the hand of fortune bore 
 Unblest! to tread that interdicted shore: 
 
 When Jove tremendous in the sable deeps 
 Launch’d his red lightning at our scatter’d ships : 335 
 Then, all my fleet, and all my followers lost. 
 
 Sole on a plank, on boiling surges tost. 
 
 Heaven drove my wreck the’ Ogygian isle to find. 
 Full nine days floating to the wave and wind. 
 
 Met by the Goddess there with open arms, 340 
 She brib’d my stay with more than human charms; 
 Nay promis’d, vainly promis’d, to bestow 
 Immortal life, exempt from age and woe. 
 
 But all her blandishments successless prove. 
 
 To banish from my breast my country’s love. 345 
 I stay reluctant seven continued years. 
 
 And water her ambrosial couch with tears. 
 
 The eighth, she voluntary moves to part. 
 
 Or urged by Jove, or her own changeful heart. 
 
 A raft was form’d to cross the surging sea; 350^ 
 
 Herself supplied the stores and rich array ; > 
 
 And gave the gales to waft me on the way. ) 
 In seventeen days appear’d your pleasing coast. 
 
 And woody mountains half in vapours lost. 
 
 Joy touch’d my soul: my soul was joy’d in vain, 355 
 For angry Neptune rous’d the raging main; 
 
 Ver. 345.] This is unauthorised by Homer : and, therefore, 
 he might have written, with less deviation from the purport of 
 the passage, as follows: 
 
 Her form celestial, and unbounded love. W, 
 
 Ver. 346.]] Thus, with more fidelity : 
 
 I stay, still watering seven continued years 
 
 The 1 ambrosial vest she gave me, with my tears. WV 
 
262 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book vii. 
 
 The wild winds whistle, and the billow's roar; V 
 The splitting’ raft the furious tempest tore; > 
 
 And storms vindictive intercept the shore. j 
 
 Soon as their rage subsides, the seas I brave 360 
 With naked force, and shoot along the wave. 
 
 To reach this isle: but there my hopes were lost. 
 The surge impell’d me on a craggy coast. 
 
 I chose the safer sea, and chanced to find 
 A river’s mouth impervious to the wind, 365 
 
 And clear of rocks. I fainted by the flood; 
 
 Then took the shelter of the neighbouring wood. 
 5 Twas night; and cover’d in the foliage deep, 
 
 Jove plung’d my senses in the death of sleep. 
 
 All night I slept, oblivious of my pain : 370 
 
 Aurora dawn’d, and Phoebus shin’d in vain. 
 
 Nor ’till oblique he sloped his evening ray. 
 
 Had Somnus dried the balmy dews away. 
 
 Then female voices from the shore I heard: 
 
 A maid amidst them, goddess-like, appear’d : 375 
 
 To her I sued, she pitied my distress; 
 
 Like thee in beauty, nor in virtue less. 
 
 Who from such youth could hope considerate care ? 
 In youth and beauty wisdom is but rare ! 
 
 She gave me life, reliev’d with just supplies 380 
 My wants, and lent these robes that strike your eyes. 
 This is the truth : and oh ye powers on high! 
 Forbid that want should sink me to a lye. 
 
 Ver. 377.] For this line we are indebted to the translator 
 only. W. 
 
 Ver. 382.] This couplet is poor, I think, in itself, and gives 
 a wrong turn to his author’s meaning, which is more fully deli¬ 
 vered by Virgil in the beginning of the second iEneid, at the 
 conclusion of iEneas’ preamble to the history of his adventures. 
 
book vii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 263 
 
 To this the king. Our daughter but exprest 
 Her cares imperfect to our god-like guest. 385 
 
 Suppliant to her, since first he chose to pray, } 
 
 Why not herself did she conduct the way, > 
 
 And with her handmaids to our court convey ? j 
 
 Hero and king! (Ulysses thus replied) 
 
 Nor blame her faultless, nor suspect of pride : 390 
 She bade me follow in the* attendant train; 
 
 But fear and reverence did my steps detain. 
 
 Lest rash suspicion might alarm thy mind : 
 
 Man's of a jealous and mistaking kind. 
 
 Far from my soul (he cried) the Gods efface 395 
 All wrath ill -grounded, and suspicion base ! 
 Whate'er is honest, stranger, I approve. 
 
 And would to Phoebus, Pallas, and to Jove 
 
 Thus ? 
 
 This, the whole truth, my sorrowing thoughts disclose; 
 
 Truth, that revives the memory of my woes. W. 
 
 Ver. 391. She bade me follow 
 
 But fear and reverence , &c.] 
 
 This is directly contrary to what is before asserted in the preced¬ 
 ing book, where Nausicaa forbids Ulysses to attend her, to avoid 
 suspicion and slander. Is not Ulysses then guilty of falsehood, 
 and is not falsehood beneath the character of a hero ? Eus¬ 
 tathius confesses that Ulysses is guilty, ^sv&loa ; and 
 
 he adds, that a wise man may do sometimes opportunely: 
 ’o7rsp uv Iv o rvtpoq. I fear this concession of the 
 
 Bishop’s would not pass for good casuistry in these ages. Spon- 
 danus is of the same opinion as Eustathius; Virprudens certo 
 loco et tempore mendaciis officiosissimis uti novit. Dacier con¬ 
 fesses that he somewhat disguises the truth. It will be difficult 
 to vindicate Ulysses from the imputation, if the notions of truth 
 and falsehood were as strict in former, as in these ages: but we 
 must not measure by this standard; it is certain that anciently 
 lying was reckoned no crime by a whole nation; and it still 
 bears a dispute, An omnefalsi-loquium sit mendacium ? Some 
 casuists allow of the officiosum mendacium , and su.<?h is this of 
 Ulysses, intirely complimental and officious* P* 
 
2 64 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 Such as thou art, thy thought and mine were one. 
 Nor thou unwilling to be call’d my son. 400 
 
 In such alliance could’st thou wish to join, 
 
 A palace stor’d with treasures should be thine. 
 
 But if reluctant, who shall force thy stay ? V 
 
 Jove bids to set the stranger on his way, \ 
 
 And ships shall wait thee with the morning ray. 405 3 
 J Till then, let slumber close thy careful eyes ; 
 
 The wakeful mariners shall watch the skies, > 
 And seize the moment when the breezes rise : 3 
 
 Then gently waft thee to the pleasing shore. 
 Where thy soul rests, and labour is no more. 410 
 Far as Euboea tho’ thy country lay. 
 
 Our ships with ease transport thee in a day. 
 
 Ver. 400. Nor thou unwilling to be call'd my son.] The an¬ 
 cients observe, that Alcinous very artfully inserts this proposi¬ 
 tion to Ulysses, to prove his veracity. If he had embraced it 
 without hesitation, he would have concluded him an impostor; 
 for it is not conceivable that he should reject all the temptation 
 to marriage made him by Calypso a Goddess, and yet imme¬ 
 diately embrace this offer of Alcinous to marry his daughter. 
 But if we take the passage in another sense, and believe that 
 Alcinous spoke sincerely without any secret suspicions, yet his 
 conduct is justifiable. It has I confess appeared shocking, that 
 Alcinous, a king, should at the very first interview offer his 
 daughter to a stranger, who might be a vagrant and impostor: 
 but examples are frequent in antiquity of marriages thus con¬ 
 cluded between strangers, and with as little hesitation: thus 
 Bellerophon, Tydeus, and Polinices were married. Great per¬ 
 sonages regarded not riches, but were only solicitous to procure 
 worthy husbands for their daughters, and birth and virtue were 
 the best recommendations. P. 
 
 Ver. 411. Far as Euboea tho 9 thy country lay ] Euboea, as 
 Eustathius observes, is really far distant from Coreyra, the 
 country of the Phaeacians: but Alcinous still makes it more 
 distant, by placing it in another part of the world, and describ- 
 
I 
 
 book vii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 265 
 
 Thither of old. Earth's * Giant-son to view. 
 
 On wings of winds with Rhadamanth they flew : 
 This land, from whence their morning course begun. 
 Saw them returning with the setting sun. 416 
 
 Your eyes shall witness and confirm my tale. 
 
 Our youth how dexterous, and how fleet our sail. 
 When justly timed with equal sweep they row. 
 
 And Ocean whitens in long tracks below. 420 
 Thus he. No word the' experienc'd man replies. 
 But thus to heaven (and heavenward lifts his eyes) 
 O Jove ! oh father! what the King accords 
 Do thou make perfect! sacred be his words! 
 
 Wide o'er the world Alcinous’ glory shine ! 425 
 
 Let fame be his, and ah ! my Country mine ! 
 Meantime Arete, for the hour of rest 
 
 Ordains the fleecy couch, and covering vest: 
 
 . « ■ 
 
 ing it as one of the fortunate islands: for in the fourth book 
 Ithadamanthus is said to inhabit the Elysian fields. Alcinous 
 therefore endeavours to have it believed that his isle is near 
 those fields, by asserting that Rhadamanthus made use of 
 Phaeacian vessels in his voyage to Tityus. Eustathius farther 
 adds, that Rhadamanthus was a prince of great justice, and 
 Tityus a person of great impiety, and that he made this voyage 
 to bring him over to more virtuous dispositions. P. 
 
 * Tityus. 
 
 Ver. 414.] This beautiful thought, not authorised by his 
 original, might be suggested by a clumsy line in Ogilby: 
 
 That swift as swallows fly from coast to coast. W. 
 Ver. 423. The prayer of Ulysses."] It is observable, that Ulysses 
 makes no reply directly to the obliging proposition which the 
 King made concerning his daughter. A refusal might have been 
 disadvantageous to his present circumstances, yet an answer is 
 implied in this prayer, which shews the impatience he has to re¬ 
 turn to his country, and the gratitude he feels for his promises 
 to effect it: and consequently it discovers that he has no inten¬ 
 tions of settling with his daughter amongst the Phaeacians. 
 Dacier. P. 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 266 
 
 Bids her fair train the purple quilts prepare. 
 
 And the thick carpets spread with busy care. 430 
 With torches blazing* in their hands they past. 
 
 And finish’d all their Queen’s command with haste : 
 Then gave the signal to the willing guest: 
 
 He rose with pleasure, and retir’d to rest. 
 
 There, soft-extended, to the murmuring sound 435 
 Of the high porch, Ulysses sleeps profound! 
 Within, releas’d from cares Alcinous lies; 
 
 And fast beside, were clos’d Arete’s eyes. 
 
 Ver. 431.] The rhymes will not pass. Thus ? more faith¬ 
 fully : 
 
 Swift thro ’ the palace, at their Queen’s commands, 
 
 They pass, with torches blazing in their hands. W. 
 Ver. 437, 438.] Thus, more accurately: 
 
 Far in a deep recess Alcinous lies; 
 
 Beside him, queen Arete clos’d her eyes. W. 
 
 This book takes up no longer time than the evening of the 
 thirty-second day. P. 
 
 j 
 
 1 
 
I 
 
 THE 
 
 EIGHTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 

 
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THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 ALCINOUS calls a council, in which it is re¬ 
 solved to transport Ulysses into his country. After 
 which splendid entertainments are made, where tli& 
 celebrated Musician and Poet Demodocus plays and 
 sings to the guests. They next proceed to the 
 games, the race, the wrestling, Discus , fyc. inhere 
 Ulysses casts a prodigious length, to the admiration 
 of all the spectators. They return again to the 
 banquet, and Demodocus sings the loves of Mars 
 and Venus. Ulysses, after a compliment to the 
 Poet, desires him to sing the introduction of the 
 wooden horse into Troy ; which subject provoking 
 his tears, Alcinous inquires of his guest, his name, 
 parentage, and fortunes. P. 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 THIS book has been more severely censured by the criticks 
 than any in the whole Odyssey: it may therefore be thought 
 necessary to lay before the reader what may be offered in the 
 Poet’s vindication. 
 
 Scaliger in his Poeticks is very warm against it. Demodocus, 
 observes that Critick, sings the lusts of the Gods (fceditates) at 
 the feast of Alcinous. And Bossu, though he vindicates the 
 Poet, remarks that we meet with some offensive passages in 
 Homer, and instances in the adultery of Mars and Venus. 
 
 To know (says Aristotle in his Art of Poetry) whether a 
 thing be well or ill spoken, we must not only examine the thing 
 whether it be good or ill, but we must also have regard to him 
 that speaks or acts, and to the person to whom the Poet ad¬ 
 dresses ; for the character of the person who speaks, and of him 
 to whom he speaks, makes that to be good, which would not 
 come well from the mouth of any other person. It is not on this 
 account we vindicate Homer with respect to the immorality that 
 is found in the fable of the adultery of Mars and Venus': we 
 must consider that it is neither the Poet, nor his hero, that re¬ 
 cites that story: but a Phaeacian sings it to Phaeacians, a soft 
 effeminate people, at a festival. Besides, it is allowable even in 
 grave and moral writings to introduce vicious persons, who de¬ 
 spise the Gods ; and is not the Poet obliged to adapt his poetry 
 to the characters of such persons ? And had it not been an ab¬ 
 surdity in him to have given us a philosophical or moral song be¬ 
 fore a people who would be pleased with nothing but gaiety and 
 effeminacy ? The moral that we are to draw from this story is, 
 that an idle and soft course of life is the source of all criminal 
 pleasures ; and that those persons who lead such lives, are gene¬ 
 rally pleased to hear such stories, as make their betters partak¬ 
 ers in the same vices. This relation of Homer is a useful les- 
 son to them who desire to live virtuously ; and it teaches, that if 
 we would not be guilty of such vices, we must avoid such a 
 method of life as inevitably leads to the practice of them. 
 
 Rapin attacks this book on another side, and blames it not for 
 its immorality, but lowness. Homer, says he, puts off that air 
 of grandeur and majesty which so properly belongs to his cha¬ 
 racter ; he debases himself into a droll, and sinks into a familiar 
 way of talking: he turns things into ridicule, by endeavouring 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 to entertain his reader with something pleasant and diverting: for 
 instance, in the eighth book of the Odyssey, he entertains the 
 Gods with a comedy, some of whom he makes buffoons : Mars 
 and Venus are introduced upon the stage, taken in a net laid by 
 Vulcan, contrary to the gravity which is so essential to Epick 
 poetry. 
 
 It must be granted, that the Gods are here painted in colours 
 unworthy of Deities, yet still with propriety, if we respect the 
 spectators; who are ignorant, debauched Phaeacians. Homer was 
 obliged to draw them, not according to his own idea of the Gods, 
 but according to the wild fancies of the Phseacians. The Poet 
 is not at liberty to ascribe the wisdom of a Socrates to Alcinous : 
 he must follow Nature, and like a painter, he may draw Deities 
 or monsters, and introduce, as he pleases, either vicious or vir¬ 
 tuous characters, provided he always makes them of a piece, 
 consistent with their first representation. 
 
 This rule of Aristotle in general vindicates Homer, and it is 
 necessary to carry it in our minds, because it ought to be applied 
 to all incidents that relate to the Phaeacians, in the sequel of 
 the Odyssey. P. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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tiie 
 
 EIGHTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 Now fair Aurora lifts her golden ray. 
 
 And all the ruddy Orient flames with day : 
 Alcinous, and the chief, with dawning light. 
 Rose instant from the slumbers of the night; 
 Then to the council-seat they bend their way. 
 And fdl the shining thrones along the bay. 
 
 Meanwhile Minerva, in her guardian care. 
 Shoots from the starry vault thro’ fields of air; 
 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 6 . And fill the shining thrones along the hayi] This place 
 of council was between the two ports, where the temple of Nep¬ 
 tune stood ; probably, like that in the second book, open to the 
 air. P« 
 
 But why not literally ? 
 
 And sit on polish’d stones along the bay : 
 rather than obliterate those characteristic marks of primaeval 
 simplicity, which constitute a chief beauty and value of this 
 Poem. W. 
 
 Yer. 7.] A superfluous couplet, which may be superseded thus: 
 
 Whilst Pallas , like a royal herald, flies—. \V. 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY, book yiii. 
 
 In form, a herald of the King she flies 
 
 From Peer to Peer, and thus incessant cries : 10 
 
 Nobles and chiefs, who rule Phaeacia’s states. 
 
 The King in council your attendance waits; 
 
 A Prince of grace divine your aid implores. 
 
 O’er unknown seas arriv’d from unknown shores. 
 
 She spoke, and sudden with tumultuous sounds 15 
 Of thronging multitudes the shore rebounds : 
 
 At once the seats they fill: and every eye 
 Gaz’d, as before some brother of the sky. 
 
 Pallas, with grace divine his form improves. 
 
 More high he treads, and more inlarg’d he moves : 
 She sheds celestial bloom, regard to draw; 21 
 
 And gives a dignity of mien, to awe; 
 
 With strength, the future prize of fame to play. 
 
 And gather all the honours of the day. 
 
 Ver. 19. Valias , 'withgrace divine hisform improves.'] This cir¬ 
 cumstance has been repeated several times almost in the same 
 words, since the beginning of the Odyssey. I cannot be of 
 opinion that such repetitions are beauties. In any other Poet, 
 they might have been thought to proceed from a poverty of in¬ 
 vention, though certainly not in Homer, in whom there is rather 
 a superfluity than barrenness. Perhaps having once said a thing 
 well, he despaired of improving it, and so repeated it; or per¬ 
 haps he intended to inculcate this truth, that all our accomplish¬ 
 ments, as beauty, strength, &c. are the gifts of the Gods; and 
 being willing to fix it upon the mind, he dwells upon it, and in¬ 
 serts it in many places. Here indeed it has a particular pro¬ 
 priety, as it is a circumstance that first engages the Phaeacians 
 in the favour of Ulysses: his beauty was his first recommenda¬ 
 tion, and consequently the Poet with great judgment sets his hero 
 off to the best advantage, it being an incident from which he 
 dates all his future happiness ; and therefore to be insisted upon 
 with a particular solemnity. P. 
 
 Ver. 21.] Or thus, with much greater fidelity: 
 
 O’er his broad shoulders manly vigour spread, 
 
 And bloom celestial settles on his head, W. 
 
HOOK Tin. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 275 
 
 Then from his glittering throne Alcinous rose : 
 Attend, he cried, while we our will disclose. 26 
 Your present aid this god-like stranger craves. 
 
 Tost by rude tempest thro’ a war of waves ; 
 
 Perhaps from realms that view the rising day. 
 
 Or nations subject to the western ray. 30 
 
 Then grant, what here all sons of woe obtain, 
 
 (For here affliction never pleads in vain :) 
 
 Be chosen youths prepar’d, expert to try 
 The vast profound, and bid the vessel fly : 
 
 Launch the tall bark, and order every oar; 35 
 
 Then in our court indulge the genial hour. 
 
 Instant, you sailors, to this task attend ; 
 
 Swift to the palace, all ye Peers ascend; 
 
 Let none to strangers honours due disclaim: 
 
 Be there Demodocus, the Bard of Fame, 40 
 
 Taught by the Gods to please, when high he sings 
 The vocal lay, responsive to the strings. 
 
 Ver. 35. Launch the tall bark -] The word in the original 
 
 is 'et^wtoVaoos; which signifies not only a ship that makes its first 
 voyage, but a ship that outsails other ships, as Eustathius ob¬ 
 serves. It is not possible for a translator to retain such singu¬ 
 larities with any beauty; it would seem pedantry and affecta¬ 
 tion, and not poetry. P. 
 
 Few readers of taste will acquiesce, I think, in this deci¬ 
 sion. W. 
 
 Ver. 41. Taught by the Gads to please ] Homer here insi¬ 
 nuates that all good and great qualities are the gifts of God. He 
 shews us likewise, that musick was constantly made use of in the 
 courts of all the Oriental princes; we have seen Phemius in Ithaca, 
 a second in Lacedaemon with MenelaiAs, and Demodocus here with 
 Alcinous. The Hebrews were likewise of remarkable skill in 
 musick ; every one knows what effect the harp of David had upon 
 the spirit of Saul. Solomon tells us, that he sought out singing 
 men and singing women to entertain him, like these in Homer, at 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 Thus spoke the Prince: the’ attending Peers obey. 
 In state they move; Alcinous leads the way : 
 
 Swift to Demodocus the herald flies, 45 
 
 At once the sailors to their charge arise ; 
 
 They launch the vessel, and unfurl the sails, 
 
 And stretch the swelling canvas to the gales ; 
 
 Then to the palace move : A gathering throng. 
 Youth, and white age, tumultuous pour along : 50 
 
 Now all accesses to the dome are fill’d ; 
 
 Eight boars, the choicest of the herd, are kill’d : 
 Two beeves, twelve fatlings from the flock they bring 
 To crown the feast; so wills the bounteous King. , 
 The herald now arrives, and guides along 55 
 
 The sacred master of celestial song : 
 
 Dear to the Muse ! who gave his days to flow 
 With mighty blessings, mix’d with mighty woe: 
 
 the time of feasting: thus another Oriental writer compares 
 musick at feasts to an emerald inclosed in gold; as a signet of 
 an emerald set in a work of gold , so is the melody of musick with 
 pleasant wine. Eccles. xxxii. 6. Dacier . P. 
 
 Ver. 46.] These three verses concentrate the following portion 
 of his original. 
 
 Then two-and-fifty youths, selected, went, 
 
 As bade the king, to barren Ocean’s shore; 
 
 There to- the deep they dragg’d the sable ship, 
 
 The mast uprear’d, and bring the sails aboard: 
 
 With leather thongs they bound their oars, array’d 
 In order meet, and spread the snowy sails. 
 
 In the main sea the vessel moors. W. 
 
 Ver. 54.] The following couplet, such as it is, supplies an 
 omission of our translator, and completes the period: 
 
 They flay, they dress, the victims : and prepare 
 The genial banquet with officious care. W. 
 
 Ver. 57. Dear to the Muse! who gave his days to flow 
 With mighty blessings, mix'd with mighty xvoe.~\ 
 
 It has been generally thought that Homer represents himself in 
 the person of Demodocus; and Dacier imagines that this passage 
 
BOOK VIII. 
 
 277 
 
 IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 / 
 
 With clouds of darkness quench’d his visual ray, 
 
 But gave him skill to raise the lofty lay. 60 
 
 High on a radiant throne sublime in state. 
 
 Encircled by huge multitudes, he sat: 
 
 With silver shone the throne ; his lyre well strung 
 To rapturous sounds, at hand Pontonous hung: 
 Before his seat a polish’d table shines, 65 
 
 And a full goblet foams with generous wines : 
 
 His food a herald bore : and now they fed ; 
 
 And now the rage of craving hunger lied. 
 
 Then fir’d by all the Muse, aloud he sings 
 The mighty deeds of Demigods and Kings : 70 
 
 gave occasion to the ancients to believe that Homer was blind. 
 But that he really was blind is testified by himself in his hymn 
 to Apollo, which Thucydides asserts to be the genuine produc¬ 
 tion of Homer, and quotes it as such in his history. It is true, 
 as Eustathius observes, that there are many features in the two 
 Poets that bear a great resemblance; Demodocus sings di¬ 
 vinely, the same is true of Homer ; Demodocus sings the adven¬ 
 tures of the Greeks before Troy, so does Homer in his Iliad. 
 
 If this be true, it must be allowed that Homer has found out a 
 way of commending himself very artfully 2 had he spoken plainly, 
 lie had been extravagantly vain ; but by this indirect way of 
 praise, the reader is at liberty to apply it either solely to Demo¬ 
 docus, or obliquely to Homer, 
 
 It is remarkable, that Homer takes a very extraordinary care 
 of Demodocus his brother Poet; and introduces him as a person 
 of great distinction. lie calls him in this book the Hero Demo¬ 
 docus : he places him on a throne studded with silver, and gives 
 him an herald for his attendant; nor is he less careful to provide 
 for his entertainment: he has a particular table, and a capacious 
 bowl set before him to drink as often as he had a mind, as the 
 original expresses it. Some merry wits have turned the last cir¬ 
 cumstance into raillery, and insinuate that Homer in this place, 
 as well as in the former, means himself in the person of De¬ 
 modocus ; an intimation, that he would not be displeased ta 
 meet with the like hospitality. I\ 
 
 Ver. 70.] Or thus, with more fidelity : 
 
 The far-fam’d glories of illustrious kings, \\q 
 
 1 
 
2 78 
 
 IiOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 From that fierce wrath the noble song* arose,, 
 
 That made Ulysses and Achilles foes : 
 
 How o’er the feast they doom the fall of Troy ; 
 
 The stern debate Atrides hears with joy : 
 
 For heaven foretold the contest, when he trod 75 
 The marble threshold of the Delphick God., 
 
 Curious to learn the counsels of the sky, 
 
 Ere yet he loos’d the rage of war on Troy. 
 
 Touch’d at the song, Ulysses straight resign’d 
 To soft affliction all his manly mind : so 
 
 Before his eyes the purple vest he drew. 
 
 Industrious to conceal the falling dew: 
 
 But when the musick paus’d, he ceas’d to shed 
 The flowing tear, and rais’d his drooping head : 
 
 Ver. 74. The stern debate Atrides hears with joy .This passage 
 is not without obscurity, but Eustathius thus explains it from 
 Athenaeus. In the Iliad the generals sup with Agamemnon with 
 sobriety and moderation; and if in the Odyssey we see Achilles 
 and Ulysses in contention to the great satisfaction ofAgamemnon, 
 it is because these contentions are of use to his affairs; they con¬ 
 tend whether force or stratagem is to be employed to take Troy ; 
 Achilles, after the death of Hector, persuaded to assault it by 
 storm, Ulysses by stratagem. There is a further reason given 
 for the satisfaction which Agamemnon expresses at the contest 
 of these two heroes : before the opening of the war of Troy, he 
 consulted the oracle concerning the issue of it; Apollo answered, 
 that Troy should be taken when two Princes most renowned, 
 the one for wisdom and the other for valour, should contend at 
 a sacrifice of the Gods ; Agamemnon rejoices to sec the predic¬ 
 tion fulfilled, knowing that the destruction of Troy was at hand, 
 the oracle being accomplished by the contest of Ulysses and 
 Achilles. P. 
 
 Ver. 82.] The sense of the author may be in some degree 
 better consulted by the following corrections: 
 
 Abash’d, and studious screen’d the falling dew: 
 
 But, when the bard’s celestial raptures rest, 
 
 He dried his sorrows, and remov’d the vest. W. 
 
book viir. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 279 
 
 And lifting to the Gods a goblet crown’d, 85 
 
 He pour’d a pure libation to the ground. 
 
 Transported with the song, the listening train 
 Again with loud applause demand the strain : 
 
 Again Ulysses veil’d his pensive head. 
 
 Again unmann’d a shower of sorrow shed : go 
 
 Conceal’d he wept: the king observ’d alone 
 The silent tear, and heard the secret groan: 
 
 Then to the bard aloud : O cease to sing. 
 
 Dumb be thy voice, and mute the’harmonious string; 
 Enough the feast has pleas’d, enough the power 95 
 Of heavenly song has crown’d the genial hour ! 
 Incessant in the games your strength display. 
 Contest, ye brave, the honours of the day ! 
 
 That pleas’d the’ admiring stranger may proclaim 
 In distant regions the Phaeacian fame : 100 
 
 None wield the gauntlet with so dire a sway. 
 
 Or swifter in the race devour the way ; 
 
 Ver. 93.] There is no correspondence here with his author; 
 who may be more faithfully represented thus: 
 
 Then to the fam’d Phaeacians gives command: 
 
 Ye potentates and rulers of the land ! 
 
 Give ear: forbid we now the bard to sing: 
 
 Dumb be his voice- W. 
 
 Ver. 101. None wield the gauntlet with so dire a swayd] Eusta¬ 
 thius asks how Alcinous could make such an assertion, and give 
 the preference to his people before all nations, when he neither 
 knew, nor was known to, any heroes out of his own island ? He 
 answers, that he speaks like a Phaeacian, with ostentation and 
 vanity; besides it is natural for all people to form, not illaud- 
 ably, too favourable a judgment of their own country : and this 
 agrees with the character of the Phaeacians in a more particular 
 manner, who called themselves and the favourites of 
 
 the Gods. P« 
 
280 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VIII 
 
 None in the leap spring* with so strong* a bound. 
 
 Or firmer, in the wrestling, press the ground. 
 
 Thus spoke the king; the’ attending peers obey. 
 In state they move, Alcinous leads the way : 106 
 
 His golden lyre Demodocus unstrung. 
 
 High on a column in the palace hung : 
 
 And guided by a herald’s guardian cares. 
 
 Majestic to the lists of Fame repairs. 110 
 
 Now swarms the populace ; a countless throng. 
 Youth and hoar age ; and man drives man along : 
 The games begin ; ambitious of the prize, 
 Acroneus, Thoon, and Eretmeus rise ; 
 
 The prize Ocyalus and Prymneus claim, 115 
 
 Anchialus and Ponteus, chiefs of fame : 
 
 There Proreus, Nautes, Eratreus appear^ 
 
 And fam’d Amphialus, Polyneus’ heir ; 
 
 Euryalus, like Mars terrifick, rose. 
 
 When clad in wrath he withers hosts of foes : 120 
 
 Naubolides with grace unequall’d shone. 
 
 Or equall’d by Laodamas alone. 
 
 Ver. 112.] Or, with greater accuracy, 
 
 Of sturdy youths, and skilful, prest along. W. 
 
 Ver. 119- Euryalus, like Mars terrifick , rose .] I was at a loss 
 for a reason why this figure of terror was introduced amongst an 
 unwarlike nation, upon an occasion contrary to the general de¬ 
 scription, in the midst of games and diversions. Eustathius takes 
 notice, that the Poet distinguishes the character of Euryalus, to, 
 force it upon our observation ; he being the person who uses 
 Ulysses with roughness and inhumanity, and is the only peer 
 that is described with a sword, which lie gives to Ulysses to re¬ 
 pair his injury. He further remarks, that almost all the names 
 of the persons who are mentioned as candidates in these games 
 are borrowed from the sea, Phaeacia being an island, and the, 
 people greatly addicted to navigation. P. 
 
BOOK VIII. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 281 
 
 With these came forth Ambasineus the strong ; 
 
 And three brave sons, from great Alcinous sprung. 
 
 Rang’d in a line the ready racers stand, 125 
 Start from the goal, and vanish o’er the strand: 
 Swift as- on wings of wind upborne they fly, 
 
 ♦ 
 
 And drifts of rising dust involve the sky. 
 
 Before the rest, what space the hinds allow 
 Between the mule and ox, from plough to plough ; 
 Clytonius sprung : he wing’d the rapid way, 131 
 And bore the’ unrivalled honours of the day. 
 
 With fierce embrace the’ brawny wrestlers join: 
 The conquest, great Euryalus, is thine. 
 
 Amphialus sprung forward with a bound, 135 
 
 Superior in the leap, a length of ground : 
 
 Ver. 129.- What space the hinds alloto 
 
 Between the mule and ox,from plough to plough.’] 
 
 This image drawn from rural affairs is now become obsolete, and 
 gives us no distinct idea of the distance between Clytoneus and the 
 other racers ; but this obscurity arises not from Homer’s want of 
 perspicuity, but from the change which has happened in the 
 method of tillage, and from a length of time which has effaced the 
 distinct image which was originally stamped upon it; so that what 
 w r as understood universally in the days of Homer is grown almost 
 unintelligible to posterity. Eustathius only observes, that the 
 teams of mules were placed at some distance from the teams of 
 oxen; the mule being more swift in his labour than the ox, and 
 consequently the more ground was allowed to the mule than the 
 ox by the husbandman. This gives us an idea that Clytoneus was 
 the foremost of the racers, but how much is not to be discovered 
 with any certainty. Aristarchus, as Didymus informs us, thus 
 interprets Homer: “ As much as a yoke of mules set to work 
 il at the same time with a yoke of oxen, outgoes the oxen, (for 
 “ mules are swifter than oxen) so much Clytoneus outwent his 
 “ competitors/’ The same description occurs in the tenth book 
 of the Iliad, verse 419, to which passage I refer the reader for 
 a more large and different explication. P. 
 
282 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BOOK VIII. 
 
 From Elatreus’ strong arm the Discus flies, 
 
 And sings with unmatch’d force along the skies. 
 And Laodam whirls high, with dreadful sway. 
 
 The gloves of death, victorious in the fray. 140 
 
 While thus the peerage in the games contends. 
 In act to speak, Laodamas ascends : 
 
 O friends, he cries, the stranger seems well skill’d 
 To try the’ illustrious labours of the field : 
 
 I deem him brave; then grant the brave man’s claim. 
 Invite the hero to his share of fame. 146 
 
 What nervous arms he boasts! how firm his tread ! 
 His limbs how turn’d! how broad his shoulders spread! 
 
 By age unbroke !-but all-consuming care 
 
 Destroys perhaps the strength that time would spare: 
 
 Ver. 148.] This is not from Homer, but Ogilby. W. 
 
 Ver. 149. By age unbroke /] It is in the original literally, he 
 wants not youth ; this is spoken according to appearance only, for 
 Ulysses must be supposed to be above forty, having spent twenty 
 years in the wars of Troy, and in his return to his country. It is 
 true Hesiod calls a person a youth, aV^ov, who was forty years of 
 age, but this must be understood with some allowance, unless we 
 suppose that the life of man was longer in the times of Hesiod, 
 than in these later ages; the contrary of which appears from many 
 places in Homer, where the shortness of man’s life is compared 
 to the leaves of trees, fyc. But what the Poet here relates is 
 very justifiable, for the youth which Ulysses appears to have, 
 proceeds from Minerva; it is not a natural quality, but con¬ 
 ferred by the immediate operation of a Goddess. 
 
 This speech concludes with an address of great beauty; 
 Laodamas invites Ulysses to act in the games, yet at the same 
 time furnishes him with a decent excuse, to decline the invitation 
 if it be against his inclinations; should he refuse, he imputes the 
 refusal to his calamities, not to any want of skill, or personal 
 inability. P. 
 
 Thus, with more fidelity : 
 
 Nor youth is jloivn ; but all-consuming care 
 
 Has broke , perhaps, the strength that Time would spare. W. 
 
. 283 
 
 ' jiooK viii. . HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Dire is the ocean, dread in all its forms! 151 
 
 Man must decay, when man contends with storms. 
 
 Well hast thou spoke, (Euryalus replies) 
 
 Thine is the guest, invite him thou to rise. 
 
 Swift at the word advancing from the crowd 155 
 lie made obeisance, and thus spoke aloud. 
 
 Vouchsafes the reverend stranger to display 
 His manly worth, and share the glorious day ? 
 Father, arise ! for thee thy port proclaims 
 Expert to conquer in the solemn games. 160 
 
 To fame arise ! for what more fame can yield 
 Than the swift race, or conflict of the field ? 
 
 Steal from corroding care one transient day. 
 
 To glory give the space thou hast to stay ; 
 
 Short is the time, and lo! even now the gales 160 
 Call thee aboard, and stretch the swelling sails. 
 
 To whom with sighs Ulysses gave reply: 
 
 Ah why the’ ill-suiting pastime must I try ? 
 
 To gloomy care my thoughts alone are free ; 
 
 Ill the gay sports with troubled hearts agree : 170 
 
 Sad from my natal hour my days have ran, 
 
 A much-afflicted, much-enduring man ! 
 
 Who suppliant to the king and peers, implores 
 A speedy voyage to his native shores. 
 
 Wide wanders, Laodam, thy erring tongue, 175 
 The sports of glory to the brave belong, 
 
 Ver. 165.] These ready rhymes invited our Poet to disregard 
 his author. I can promise nothing beyond fidelity on this occa¬ 
 sion : 
 
 W. 
 
 To glory give the moments of thy stay. 
 For now that stay must momentary be ; 
 The sailors ready, and the ship at sea. 
 
c m HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book. viii. 
 
 ' i 
 
 (Retorts Euryalus :) he boasts no claim 
 Among the great, unlike the sons of Fame. 
 
 A wandering merchant he frequents the main. 
 
 Some mean sea-farer in pursuit of gain ; iso 
 
 Studious of freight, in naval trade well skill’d. 
 
 But dreads the* athletick labours of the field. 
 
 Incens’d Ulysses with a frown replies, 
 
 O forward to proclaim thy soul unwise ! 
 
 With partial hands the Gods their gifts dispense; is5 
 Some greatly think, some speak with manly sense ; 
 Here heaven an elegance of form denies, 
 
 But wisdom the defect of form supplies : 
 
 This man with energy of thought controuls. 
 
 And steals with modest violence our souls, 190 
 He speaks reserv’dly, but he speaks with force. 
 
 Nor can one word be chang’d but for a worse; 
 
 In publick more than mortal he appears, 
 
 And as he moves the gazing crowd reveres. 
 
 While others, beauteous as the’ ethereal kind, 195 
 The nobler portion want, a knowing mind. 
 
 In outward show heaven gives thee to excell. 
 
 But heaven denies the praise of thinking well. 
 
 Ill bear the brave a rude ungovern’d tongue. 
 
 And, youth, my generous soul resents the wrong: 
 Skill’d in heroick exercise, I claim 201 
 
 A post of honour with the sons of Fame : 
 
 Such was my boast while vigour crown’d my days. 
 Now care surrounds me, and my force decays; 
 
 Ver. 179.] Rather, in conformity with his author, 
 
 A greedy merchant.— W. 
 
 Ver. 183.] Exactly, and, I think, better: 
 
 The sage Ulysses—. W. 
 
book viii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 285 
 
 2(55 
 
 Inur’d a melancholy part to bear, 
 
 In scenes of death, by tempest and by war. 
 
 Yet thus by woes impair’d, no more I waive 
 To prove the hero.—Slander stings the brave. 
 
 Then striding forward with a furious bound. 
 
 He wrench’d a rocky fragment from the ground. 210 
 By far more ponderous and more huge by far, 
 
 Than what Phaeacia’s sons discharg’d in air. 
 
 Fierce from his arm the’ enormous load he flings ; 
 Sonorous through the shaded air it sings ; 
 
 Couch’d to the earth, tempestuous as it flies, 213 
 The crowd gaze upward while it cleaves the skies. 
 Beyond all marks, with many a giddy round 
 Down rushing, it up-turns a hill of ground. 
 
 That instant Pallas, bursting from a cloud. 
 
 Fix’d a distinguish’d mark, and cried aloud. 220 
 Even he who sightless w T ants his visual ray. 
 
 May by his touch alone award the day : 
 
 Thy signal throw transcends the utmost bound 
 Of every champion by a length of ground : 
 
 Securely bid the strongest of the train 223 
 
 Arise to throw : the strongest throws in vain. 
 
 She spoke ; and momentary mounts the sky : 
 The friendly voice Ulysses hears with joy; 
 
 Ver. 210.] His original dictates, 
 
 Unrob'd , a disk he lifted from the ground. \V. 
 
 Ver. 211.] Bad rhymes. Thus? more exactly: 
 
 A dishy by far more ponderous and more vast, 
 
 Tlian what Phaeacia’s strongest sons had cast. \V. 
 Ver 217.] This passage is wide of his author, who says only, 
 
 -o’er all their marks it flew, 
 
 Swift issuing from his hand: the limit fixt 
 Pallas, in human semblance; and thus spake. W. 
 Ver. 227.] The strange licentiousness of our translator will 
 appear from Ogilby, who is sufficiently exact: 
 
HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 2 S 6 
 
 Then thus aloud, (elate with decent pride) 
 
 Rise ye Phaeacians, try your force, he cried ; 230 
 
 If with this throw the strongest caster vye. 
 
 Still, further still, I bid the Discus fly. 
 
 Stand forth, ye champions, who the gauntlet wield. 
 Or you, the swiftest racers of the field! 
 
 Stand forth, ye wrestlers, who these pastimes grace ! 
 I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race. 236 
 
 In such heroick games I yield to none. 
 
 Or yield to brave Laodamas alone: 
 
 Shall I with brave Laodamas contend ? 
 
 A friend is sacred, and I style him friend. 210 
 Ungenerous were the man, and base of heart. 
 
 Who takes the kind, and pays the’ ungrateful part; 
 Chiefly the man, in foreign realms confin’d, 
 
 Base to his friend, to his own interest blind: 
 
 All, all your heroes I this day defy; 245 
 
 Give me a man, that we our might may try. 
 
 Expert in every art, I boast the skill 
 To give the feather’d arrow wings to kill; 
 
 Should a whole host at once discharge the bo^v, 249 
 My well-aim’d shaft with death prevents the foe: 
 Alone superior in the field of Troy, 
 
 Great Philoctetes taught the shaft to fly. 
 
 From all the sons of earth unrivalPd praise 
 I justly claim ; but yield to better days. 
 
 To those fam’d days when great Alcides- rose, 2 55 
 And Eurytus, who bade the Gods be foes: 
 
 These words buoy’d up Ulysses’ sinking heart, 
 
 Glad he had found a friend would take his part. W. 
 
book viii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 287 
 
 (Vain Eurytus, whose art became his crime. 
 
 Swept from the earth, he perish’d in his prime ; 
 Sudden the’ irremeable way he trod. 
 
 Who boldly durst defy the Rowyer-God.) 260 
 
 In fighting- fields as far the spear I throw. 
 
 As flies an arrow from the well-drawn bow. 
 
 Sole in the race the contest I decline. 
 
 Stiff are my weary joints ; and I resign 
 
 Ver. 257. Vain Eurytus -] This Eurytus was King of 
 
 Oechalia, famous for his skill in archery; he proposed his 
 daughter Iole in marriage to any person that could conquer him 
 at the exercise of the bow. Later writers differ from Homer, 
 as Eustathius observes, concerning Eurytus. They write that 
 Hercules overcame him, and he denying his daughter, was slain, 
 and his daughter made captive by Hercules: whereas Homer 
 writes that he was killed by Apollo, that is, died a sudden 
 death, according to the import of that expression. The an¬ 
 cients differ much about Oechalia; some place it in Euboea, and 
 some in Messenia, of which opinion is Pausanias. But Homer 
 in the Iliad places it in Thessaly: for he mentions with it Tricca 
 and Ithome, which, as Dacier observes, were cities of Thes- 
 f£lly. _ P. 
 
 Ver. 262.] Or, more perspicuously and closely; 
 
 As flies an arrow from another's bow. W. 
 
 Ver. 263. Sole in the race the contest I decline.] This is di¬ 
 rectly contrary to his challenge in the beginning of the speech, 
 where he mentions the race amongst the other games. How 
 then is this difference to be reconciled ? Very naturally. Ulysses 
 speaks with a generous warmth,, and is transported with anger 
 in the beginning of his oration : here the heat of it is cooled, 
 and consequently reason takes place, and he has time to reflect, 
 that a man so disabled by calamities is not an equal match for a 
 younger and less fatigued antagonist. This is an exact repre¬ 
 sentation of human nature; when our passions remit, the vehe¬ 
 mence of our speech remits; at first he speaks like a man in an¬ 
 ger, here like the wise uij \sses. p. . 
 
 I his conclusion seems but moderately executed, nor with 
 suitable fidelity. I shall attempt a substitution in the simplicity 
 of the original; 
 
388 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 book vrn. 
 
 By storms and hunger worn: age well may fail. 265 
 When storms and hunger both at once assail. 
 
 Abash'd, the numbers hear the God-like man, 
 ’Till great Alcinous mildly thus began. 
 
 Well hast thou spoke, and well thy generous 
 tongue 
 
 With decent pride refutes a publick wrong: 270 
 
 Warm are thy words, but warm without offence; 
 Fear only fools, secure in men of sense ; 
 
 Thy worth is known. Then hear our country’s claim. 
 And bear to heroes our heroick fame; 
 
 In distant realms our glorious deeds display, 2 7$ 
 
 Repeat them frequent in the genial day; 
 
 When blest with ease thy woes and wanderings end. 
 Teach them thy consort, bid (by sons attend; 
 
 How lov’d of Jove he crown’d our sires with praise, 
 IIow we their offspring dignify our race* 2S0 
 
 Let other realms the deathful gauntlet wield. 
 
 Or boast the glories of the’ athletick field; 
 
 We in the course unrivall’d speed display, 
 
 Or thro’ cerulean billows plough the way ; 
 
 * 
 
 To dress, to dance, to sing our sole delight, 285 
 The feast or bath by day, and love by night: 
 
 Rise then, ye skill’d in measures; let him bear 
 Your fame to men that breathe a distant air: 
 
 t 
 
 A contest in the race alone I fear; 
 
 Some swift Phaeacian may outstrip me there. 
 
 Long toils and hunger on tempestuous seas 
 
 Have spent m}' vigour, and relax’d my knees. W. 
 
 Ver. 284.] This does not express his author with requisite 
 precision. Thus ? 
 
 With skill unrivalVdplough the tvafery way. W. 
 
book viii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 289 
 
 And faithful say. to you the powers belong 
 To race, to sail, to dance, to chant the song. 290 
 But, herald, to the palace swift repair. 
 
 And the soft lyre to grace our pastimes bear. 
 
 Swift at the word, obedient to the king, 
 
 The herald flies the tuneful lyre to bring. 
 
 Up rose nine seniors, chosen to survey 295 
 
 The future games, the judges of the day : 
 
 With instant care they mark a spacious round. 
 
 And level for the dance the’ allotted ground; 
 
 The herald bears the lyre: intent to play. 
 
 The Bard advancing meditates the lay. 300 
 
 Skill’d in the dance, tall youths, a blooming band. 
 Graceful before the heavenly minstrel stand; 
 Light-bounding from the earth, at once they rise. 
 Their feet half-viewless quiver in the skies : 
 
 Ulysses gaz’d, astonish’d to survey 305 
 
 The glancing splendors as their sandals play. 
 Meantime the Bard, alternate to the strings, 
 
 The loves of Mars and Cytherea sings ; 
 
 How the stern God enamour’d with her charms. 
 Clasp’d the gay panting Goddess in his arms, 31a 
 By bribes seduc’d ; and how the Sun, whose eye 
 Views the broad heavens, disclos’d the lawless joy. 
 Stung to the soul, indignant thro’ the skies 
 To his black forge vindictive Vulcan flies; 
 
 Arriv'd, his sinewy arms incessant place 315 
 
 The’ eternal anvil on the massy base. 
 
 A vvonderous net he labours, to betray 
 The wanton lovers, as entwin’d they lay, 
 
 Ver. 314.J His author prescribes: 
 
 To his black forge, deefi-mnsing , Vulcan flies. W. 
 VOL. 1 . U 
 
290 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY, book via 
 
 Indissolubly strong! Then instant bears 
 
 To his immortal dome the finish’d snares. 320 
 
 Above,, below, around, with art dispread. 
 
 The sure in closure folds the genial bed ; 
 
 Whose texture even the search of Gods deceives. 
 Thin as the filmy threads the spider weaves. 
 
 Then, as withdrawing from the starry bowers, 3 25 
 He feigns a journey to the Lemnian shores. 
 
 His favourite isle ! Observant Mars descries 
 His wish’d recess, and to the Goddess Hies ; 
 
 He glows, he burns: the fair-hair’d Queen of love 
 Descends smooth-gliding from the courts of Jove, 
 Gay blooming in full charms : her hand he prest 331 
 With eager joy, and with a sigh addrest. 
 
 Come, my belov’d ! and taste the soft delights; 
 Come, to repose the genial bed invites : 
 
 Thy absent spouse, neglectful of thy charms, 335 
 Prefers his barbarous Sintians to thy arms! 
 
 Ver. 325.] Literally thus: 
 
 When thus the God had spread his curious guile , 
 
 He feigns a journey to the Lemnian isle . W. 
 
 Ver. 330.] His author says : 
 
 Had come smooth gliding —: 
 
 as if the more forward of the two lovers. W. 
 
 Ver. 336. Prejers his barbarous Sintians to thy arms.~\ The 
 Sintians were the inhabitants of Lemnos, by origin Thracians: 
 Homer calls them barbarous of speech, because their language 
 was a corruption of the Greek, Asiatick, and Thracian. But 
 there is a concealed raillery- in the expression, and Mars ridicules 
 the ill taste of Vulcan for leaving so beautiful a Goddess to visit 
 his rude and barbarous Sintians. The Poet calls Lemnos the 
 favourite isle of Vulcan; this alludes to the subterraneous fires 
 frequent in that island, and he is feigned to have his forge there, 
 as the God of fire. This is likewise the reason why he is said 
 to fall into the island Lemnos when Jupiter threw him from 
 Heaven. Dacier . P. 
 
kook viii. HOMER s ODYSSEY. 291 
 
 Then,, nothing loath., the’ enamour’d fair lie led, 
 And sunk transported on the conscious bed. 
 
 Down rush’d the toils, inwrapping as they lay 
 The careless lovers in their wanton play : 340 
 
 In vain they strive, the’ intangling snares deny 
 (Inextricably firm) the power to fly : 
 
 Warn’d by the God who sheds the golden day. 
 Stern Vulcan homeward treads the starry way: 344 
 Arriv’d, he sees, he grieves, with rage he burns; 
 Full horrible he roars, his voice all heaven returns : 
 
 O Jove, he cried, oh all ye powers above. 
 
 See the lewd dalliance of the Queen of Love ! 
 
 Me, aukward me, she scorns ; and yields her charms 
 To that fair lecher, the strong God of arms. 350 
 If I am lame, that stain my natal hour 
 By fate impos’d; such me my parent bore: 
 
 Why was I born ? See how the wanton lies ! 
 
 O sight tormenting to a husband’s eyes 1 
 But yet I trust, this once even Mars would fly 355 
 His fair-one’s arms—he thinks her, once, too nigh. 
 But there remain, ye guilty, in my power, 
 
 'Till Jove refunds his shameless daughter’s dower, 
 
 Ver. 340.] More exactly to the original, 
 
 The lovers, bent in vain on amorous play* W. 
 
 Ver. 342. J With greater truth, 
 
 Inextricable, power to move or fly. W. 
 
 Ver. 358. 9 Till Jove refunds his shameless daughter's dower *] 
 I doubt not but this was the usage of antiquity; it has been ob¬ 
 served that the bridegroom made presents to the father of the 
 bride, which were called £<W ; and if she was afterwards false 
 to his bed, this dower was restored by the father to the husband* 
 Besides this restitution, there seems a pecuniary mulct to have 
 been paid, as appears evident from what follows ; 
 
 v 2 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY, bookyiii. 
 
 292 
 
 Too clear I priz’d a fair enchanting* face: 
 
 Beauty unchaste is beauty in disgrace. 360 
 
 Meanwhile the Gods the dome of Vulcan throng, 
 Apollo comes, and Neptune comes along. 
 
 With these gay Hermes trod the starry plain; 
 
 But modesty with-held the Goddess-train. 
 
 All heaven beholds, imprison’d as they lie, 36 5 
 And unextinguish’d laughter shakes the sky. 
 
 Then mutual, thus they spoke : Behold on wrong 
 Swift vengeance waits; and Art subdues the strong! 
 Dwells there a God on all the’ Olympian brow 369 
 More swift than Mars, and more than Vulcan slow? 
 Yet Vulcan conquers, and the God of arms 
 Must pay the penalty for lawless charms. 
 
 --- —«— the God of arms 
 
 Must pay the penalty for lawless charms. 
 
 Homer in this, as in many other places, seems to allude to the 
 laws of Athens, where death was the punishment of adultery. 
 Pausanias relates, that Draco the Athenian lawgiver granted 
 impunity to any person that took revenge upon an adulterer. 
 Such also was the institution of Solon; “ If any one seize an 
 (( adulterer, let him use him as he pleases.” And thus Eratos¬ 
 thenes answered a person who begged his life after he had in¬ 
 jured his bed, “ It is not I who slay thee, but the law of thy 
 “ country.” But still it was in the power of the injured per¬ 
 ron to take a pecuniary mulct by way of atonement: for thus 
 the same Eratosthenes speaks in Lysias, xa) ixfrtvt ^ 
 
 avrov xkivai, upyvpMv G7{u%a.7()cti > u He entreated me not to 
 “ take his life, but exact a sum of money.” Nay, such penal¬ 
 ties were allowed by way of commutation for greater crimes 
 
 than adultery, as in the case of murder: Iliad ix. 
 
 • ¥ ' ..... 
 
 -If a brother bleed, 
 
 On just atonement, we remit the deed: 
 
 A sire the slaughter of his son forgives; 
 
 The price of blood discharg’d, die murderer lives. P. 
 
book viii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 293 
 
 Thus serious they: but he who gilds the skies, 
 The gay Apollo, thus to Hermes cries : 374 
 
 Would’st thou enchain’d like Mars, 0 I 1 Hermes, lie, 
 And bear the shame like Mars, to share the joy ? 
 
 O envied shame ! (the smiling youth rejoin’d,) 
 Add thrice the chains, and thrice more firmly bind ; 
 Gaze all ye Gods, and every Goddess gaze, 
 
 Yet eager would I bless the sweet disgrace. 3 so 
 Loud laugh the rest, even Neptune laughs aloud. 
 Yet sues importunate to loose the God : 
 
 And free, he cries, oh Vulcan ! free from shame 
 Thy captives; I ensure the penal claim. 
 
 Will Neptune (Vulcan then)-the faithless trust? 
 He suffers who gives surety for the’ unjust: 33 d 
 
 But say, if that lewd scandal of the sky 
 To liberty restor’d, perfidious fly ; 
 
 Say, wilt thou bear the mulct? He instant cries. 
 The mulct I bear, if Mars perfidious flies. 390 
 To whom appeas’d; No more I urge delay; 
 When Neptune sues, my part is to obey. 
 
 Ver. 382. Neptune sues to loose tfie God .] It may be asked 
 why Neptune in particular interests himself in the deliverance 
 of Mars, rather than the other Gods ? Dacier confesses she 
 can find no reason for it; hut Eustathius is of opinion, that 
 Homer ascrihes it to that God out of decency, and deference 
 to his superior majesty and eminence amongst the other Deities: 
 it is suitable to the character of that most ancient, and conse¬ 
 quently honourable God, to interrupt such an indecent scene 
 of mirth, which is not so becoming his personage, as those 
 more youthful Deities Apollo and Mercury. Besides, it agrees 
 well with Neptune's gravity tetbe the first who is first mindful 
 of friendship; so that what is here said of Neptune is not acci¬ 
 dental, but spoken judiciously by the Poet in honour of that 
 Deity. I\ 
 
294 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY, book viii. 
 
 Then to the snares his force the God applies ; 
 
 They burst; and Mars to Thrace indignant flies: 
 To the soft Cyprian shores the Goddess moves, 39 5 
 To visit Paphos and her blooming groves, 
 
 Where to the Power a hundred altars rise. 
 
 And breathing odours scent the balmy skies : 
 Conceal’d she bathes in consecrated bowers, 
 
 The Graces unguents shed, ambrosial showers, 400 
 Unguents that charm the Gods ! she last assumes 
 Her wonderous robes; and full the Goddess blooms. 
 
 Thus sung the Bard : Ulysses hears with joy, 
 And loud applauses rend the vaulted sky. 404 
 
 Then to the sports his sons the king commands. 
 Each blooming youth before the monarch stands. 
 
 Ver. 394.- Mars to Tlirace indignant dies : 
 
 To the soft Cyprian shores the Goddess moves. 3 
 
 There is a reason for this particularity: the Thracians were a 
 warlike people: the Poet therefore sends the God of War thi¬ 
 ther: and the people of Cyprus being effeminate, and addicted 
 to love and pleasures, he feigns the recess of the Goddess of 
 Love to have been in that island. It is further observable, that 
 he barely mentions the retreat of Mars, but dwells more largely 
 upon the story of Venus. The reason is, the Phaeacians had 
 no delight in the God of War, but the soft description of Venus 
 better suited with their inclinations. Eustathius. P. 
 
 Ver. 395.3 These tivo couplets are more fashioned from 
 Virgil, than from Ilomer; whose verses may be fully represented 
 thus: 
 
 To Cyprian Paphos went the smiling dame. W. 
 
 Ver. 403.3 His author is but little seen in this poor couplet. 
 Take a literal and commensurate translation: 
 
 Thus sang the Bard reno^vri’d: Ulysses hears 
 
 With soul enraptur’d; nor Phseacia’s tribes 
 ' Delight not, skill’d in every naval art. \Y. 
 
rook vni. HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 295 
 
 In dance unmatch’d ! A wonderous ball is brought, 
 (The work of Polybus, divinely wrought) 
 
 This youth with strength enormous bids it fly. 
 
 And bending backward whirls it to the sky ; 410 
 
 His brother springing with an active bound. 
 
 At distance intercepts it from the ground: 
 
 The ball dismiss’d, in dance they skim the strand. 
 Turn and return, and scarce imprint the sand. 
 
 The’ assembly gazes with astonish’d eyes, 415 
 And sends in shouts applauses to the skies. 
 
 Then thus Ulysses : Happy king, whose name 
 The brightest shines in ail the rolls of fame : 
 
 In subjects happy ! with surprise I gaze ; 419 
 
 Thy praise was just; their skill transcends thy praise. 
 
 Pleas’d with his people’s fame the monarch hears. 
 And thus benevolent accosts the peers. 
 
 Since Wisdom’s sacred guidance he pursues. 
 
 Give to the stranger-guest a stranger’s dues : 
 Tw r elve princes in our realm dominion share, 425 
 
 ' j 
 
 O’er whom supreme, imperial pow r er I bear: 
 
 Ver. 407.] Homer says, 
 
 -a purple ball is brought, W. 
 
 Ver. 410. And bending backward whirls it to the sky.~\ Eus¬ 
 tathius is most learnedly trifling about this exercise of the ball, 
 which was called ovpx/nx, or aerial; it was a kind of dance, and 
 while .they sprung from the ground to catch the ball, they 
 played with their feet in the air after the manner of dancers. 
 He reckons up several other exercises a,t the ball, and explains 
 them all largely. P. 
 
 Ver. 413.] Our translator did not see the meaning of his 
 author here. I shall give a verbal exhibition of him; 
 
 Then danc’d the pair, with quick alternate step. 
 
 Tripping the ground : the youthful circle strike 
 prom clashing fingers loud accordant sounds, W* 
 
396 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book viii. 
 
 Bring gold, a pledge of love ; a talent bring, 
 
 A vest, a robe ; and imitate your king: 
 
 Be swift to give ; that he this night may share 
 The social feast of joy, with joy sincere. 430 
 
 And thou, Euryalus, redeem thy wrong : 
 
 A generous heart repairs a slanderous tongue. 
 
 The’ assenting peers, obedient to the king. 
 
 In haste their heralds send the gifts to bring. 
 
 Then thus Euryalus : O prince, whose sway 435 
 Rules this blest realm, repentant I obey! 
 
 Be his this sword, whose blade of brass displays 
 A ruddy gleam • whose hilt, a silver blaze; 
 
 Whose ivory sheath inwrought with curious pride. 
 Adds graceful terror to the wearer’s side. 440 
 
 He said, and to his hand the sword consign’d ; 
 And if, he cried, my words affect thy mind. 
 
 Far from thy mind those words, ye whirlwinds bear. 
 And scatter them, ye storms, in empty air! 
 
 Crown, oh ye heavens, with joy his peaceful hours. 
 And grant him to his spouse and native shores! 44 6 
 And blest be thou, my friend, Ulysses cries. 
 Crown him with every joy, ye favouring skies ; 
 
 To thy calm hours continued peace afford. 
 
 And never, never inay’st thou want this sword ! 450 
 He said, and o’er his shoulder flung the blade. 
 Now o ? er the earth ascends the evening shade: 
 
 The precious gifts the’ illustrious heralds bear. 
 
 And to the court the’ embodied peers repair. 
 
 Before the queen Alcinous- sons unfold 455 
 
 The vests, the robes, and heaps of shining gold ; 
 Then to the radiant thrones they move in state; 
 
 i 
 
 Aloft, the king in pomp imperial sat, 
 
29 ? 
 
 book viii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Thence to the queen. O partner of our reign, 
 
 O sole belov’d ! command thy menial train 4Go 
 
 A polish’d chest and stately robes to bear. 
 
 And healing waters for the bath prepare : 
 
 That bath’d, our guest may bid his sorrows cease. 
 Hear the sweet song, and taste the feast in peace. 
 
 A bowl that flames with gold, of wonderous frame. 
 Ourself we give, memorial of our name : 466 
 
 To raise in offerings to almighty Jove, 
 
 And every God that treads the courts above. 
 
 Instant the queen, observant of the king. 
 Commands her train a spacious vase to bring, 470 
 The spacious vase with ample streams suffice. 
 
 Heap high the wood, and bid the flames arise. 
 
 The flames climb round it with a fierce embrace. 
 The fuming waters bubble o’er the blaze. 
 
 Herself the chest prepares : in order roll’d 475 
 The robes, the vests are rang’d, and heaps of gold: 
 And adding a rich dress inwrought with art, 
 
 A gift expressive of her bounteous heart. 
 
 Thus spoke to Ithacus : To guard with bands 
 Insolvable these gifts, thy care demands : 4so 
 
 Lest, in thy slumbers on the watery main. 
 
 The hand of Rapine make our bounty vain. 
 
 Then bending with full force, around he roll’d 
 A labyrinth of bands in fold on fold, 
 
 Ver. 476.] Or, with more fidelity: 
 
 The beauteous gifts are rang’d, the vests and gold. W. 
 
 Ver. 483.] More faithfully : 
 
 Then strait he Jits the lid , and round it roll’d—. W. 
 
298 HOMER's ODYSSEY, book viii. 
 
 Clos’d with Circaean art. A train attends 485 
 Around the bath : the bath the king ascends : 
 (Untasted joy, since that disastrous hour. 
 
 He sail’d ill-fated from Calypso’s bower) 
 
 Where, happy as the Gods that range the sky. 
 
 He feasted every sense, with every joy. 490 
 
 He bathes; the damsels with officious toil. 
 
 Shed sweets, shed unguents, in a shower of oil: 
 Then o’er his limbs a gorgeous robe he spreads. 
 And to the feast magnificently treads. 
 
 Full where the dome its shining valves expands, 495 
 Nausicaa blooming as a Goddess stands ; 
 
 With wondering eyes the hero she survey’d, 
 
 And graceful thus began the royal maid. 
 
 Ver. 485. Clos'd iuith Circcean art .-] Such passages as 
 
 these have more of nature than art, and are too narrative, and 
 different from modern ways of speaking, to be capable of much 
 ornament in poetry. Eustathius observes that keys were not in 
 use in these ages, but were afterwards invented by the Lacedae¬ 
 monians ; but they used to bind their carriages with intricate 
 knots. Thus the Gordian knot was famous in antiquity. And 
 this knot of Uiysses became a proverb, to express any insolv- 
 able difficulty ; this is the reason why he is said to have learned 
 it from Circe; it was of great esteem amongst the ancients, 
 and not being capable to be untied by human art, the invention 
 of it is ascribed, not to a man, but to a Goddess. 
 
 A Poet would now appear ridiculous if he should introduce a 
 Goddess only to teach a hero such an art, as to tie a knot with 
 intricacy; but we must not judge of what has been, from what 
 now is; customs and arts are never at a stay, and consequently 
 the ideas of customs and arts are as changeable as those arts and 
 customs; this knot in all probability was in as high estimation 
 formerly, as the finest watch-work or machines are at this day: 
 and were a person famed for an uncommon skill in such works, 
 it would be no absurdity in the language of poetry, to ascribe 
 his knowledge in them to the assistance of a Deity. P. 
 
BOOK VIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 299 
 
 Hail god-like stranger 1 and when heaven restores 
 To thy fond wish thy long-expected shores,, 500 
 This ever grateful in remembrance bear, 
 
 To me thou owest, to me, the vital air. 
 
 O royal maid, Ulysses straight returns. 
 
 Whose worth the splendors of thy race adorns, 504 
 So may dread Jove (whose arm in vengeance forms 
 The writhen bolt, and blackens heaven with storms,) 
 Restore me safe, thro’ weary wanderings tost, 
 
 To my dear country’s ever-pleasing coast, 
 
 As while the spirit in this bosom glows, 
 
 To thee, my Goddess, I address my vows ; 510 
 
 My life, thy gift I boast! He said, and sat, 
 
 Fast by Alcinous on a throne of state. 
 
 Now each partakes the feast, the wine prepares, 
 Portions the food, and each his portion shares. 
 
 The bard a herald guides : the gazing throng 515 
 Pay low obeisance as he moves along : 
 
 Ver. 510. To thee , my Goddess , I address my vows.] This may 
 seem an extravagant compliment, especially in the mouth of the 
 wise Ulysses, and rather profane than polite. Dacier commends 
 it as the highest piece of address and gallantry; but perhaps it 
 may want explication to reconcile it to decency. Ulysses only 
 speaks comparatively, and with relation to that one action of her 
 saving his life: “ As therefore, says he, I owe my thanks to the 
 “ heavens for giving me life originally, so I ought to pay my 
 “ thanks to thee for preserving it; thou hast been to me as a 
 * Deity. To preserve a life, is in one sense to give it. ,, If 
 this appears not to soften the expression sufficiently, it may be 
 ascribed to an overflow of gratitude in the generous disposition 
 of Ulysses; he is so touched with the memory of her benevo¬ 
 lence and protection, that his soul labours for an expression 
 great enough to represent it, and no wonder if in this struggle 
 of thought, his words fly out into an excessive but laudable 
 boldness.. p. 
 
300 HOMER’s ODYSSEY, book viii. 
 
 Beneath a sculptur’d arch he sits enthron’d, 
 
 The peers encircling form an awful round. 
 
 Then from the chine, Ulysses carves with art 
 Delicious food, an honorary part; 520 
 
 This, let the Master of the Lyre receive, 
 
 A pledge of love ! ’tis all a wretch can give. 
 
 Lives there a man beneath the spacious skies. 
 
 Who sacred honours to the Bard denies ? 
 
 The Muse the Bard inspires, exalts his mind; 525 
 
 The Muse indulgent loves the’ harmonious kind. 
 
 The herald to his hand the charge conveys. 
 
 Not fond of flattery, nor unpleas’d with praise. 
 
 When now the rage of hunger was allay’d. 
 
 Thus to the Lyrist wise Ulysses said. 530 
 
 Or more than man! thy soul the Muse inspires. 
 
 Or Phoebus animates with all his fires: 
 
 For who by Phoebus uninform’d, could know 
 The woe of Greece, and sing so well the woe ? 
 
 Just to the tale, as present at the fray, 535 
 
 Or taught the labours of the dreadful day : 
 
 The song recalls past horrors to my eyes, 
 
 And bids proud Uion from her ashes rise.! 
 
 Ver. 519. — From the chine, Ulysses carves voith art.] Were 
 this literally to be translated, it would be that Ulysses cut a piece 
 from the chine of the white-toothed boar, round which there was 
 much fat. This looks like burlesque to a person unacquainted 
 with the usages of antiquity : but it was the highest honour that 
 could be paid to Demodocus. The greatest heroes in the Iliad 
 are thus rewarded after victory, and it was esteemed an equiva¬ 
 lent for all dangers. So that what Ulysses here offers to th? 
 Poet, is offered out of a particular regard and honour to his 
 poetry. P. 
 
 Ver. 536.] More accurately, 
 
 Or some spectator taught that dreadful day. W. 
 
 Ver. 537*] A spirited couplet, invented by our translator. W. 
 
book viii. IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. 301 
 
 Once more harmonious strike the sounding string. 
 The’ Epaean fabrick, fram’d by Pallas, sing: 540 
 
 How stern Ulysses, furious to destroy. 
 
 With latent heroes sack’d imperial Troy, 
 
 If faithful thou record the tale of Fame, 
 
 The God himself inspires thy breast with flame : 
 And mine shall be the task, henceforth to raise 545 
 In every land, thy monument of praise. 
 
 Full of the God he rais’d his lofty strain. 
 
 How the Greeks rush’d tumultuous to the main; 
 How blazing tents illumin’d half the skies. 
 
 While from the shores the winged navy flies: 550 
 
 How even in IIion’s walls, in deathful bands, 
 
 Came the stern Greeks by Troy’s assisting hands : 
 All Troy up-heav’d the steed ; of differing mind. 
 Various the Trojans counsell’d; part consign’d 
 The monster to the sword, part sentence gave 555 
 To plunge it headlong in the whelming wave; 
 
 The’ unwise award to lodge it in the towers. 
 
 An offering sacred to the immortal powers : 
 
 The’ unwise prevail, they lodge it in the walls, 
 
 And by the Gods’ decree proud Ilion falls; 5 60 
 
 Destruction enters in the treacherous wood. 
 
 And vengeful Slaughter, fierce for human blood. 
 
 Ver. 54-3.] His author’s meaning is but ill represented here. 
 Thus ?' 
 
 This great adventure should thy tuneful lay 
 In faithful measures to our ear convey, 
 
 Then through the spacious world these lip3 proclaim 
 Thy raptures kindled by celestial flame. W. 
 
 Ver. J551.] A material circumstance of his author is sup¬ 
 pressed. Thus, with greater accuracy : 
 
 How in Troy’s forum, fill’d with Grecians, stood 
 (Ulysses led their bands) the fashion’d wood. \V. 
 
HOMER's ODYSSEY, book viii. 
 
 302 
 
 He sung the Greeks stern-issuing from the steed. 
 How Ilion burns, how all her fathers bleed: 
 
 How to thy dome, Deiphobus ! ascends 565 
 
 The Spartan king; how Ithacus attends, 
 
 (Horrid as Mars) and how with dire alarms 
 He fights, subdues : for Pallas strings his arms. 
 
 Thus while he sung, Ulysses’ griefs renew, 569 
 Tears bathe his cheeks, and tears the ground bedew: 
 As some fond matron views in mortal fight 
 Her husband falling in his country’s right, 
 
 Frantick thro’ clashing swords she runs, she flies. 
 As ghastly pale he groans, and faints, and dies; 
 Close to his breast she grovels on the ground, 575 
 And bathes with floods of tears the gaping wound; 
 She cries, she shrieks; the fierce insulting foe 
 Relentless mocks her violence of woe; 
 
 To chains condemn’d, as wildly she deplores; 
 
 A widow, and a slave on foreign shores— sso 
 
 Ver. 563.] The figurative expressions of the original may be 
 more clearly preserved thus: 
 
 How from the steed the Grecians pour’d around, 
 
 He sang; and Ilion levelPd with the ground. W» 
 Ver. 569.] A more just representation of this simile may be 
 seen in Ogilby’s version, corrected and completed; 
 
 Thus sang the minstrel , whilst Ulysses steeps 
 His cheeks with tears: and, as a woman weeps. 
 
 Her dearest lord embracing on the plain. 
 
 For his dear children and his country slain: 
 
 He in the pangs of death convulsive lies; 
 
 She clasps the corse , and rends the air with cries: 
 
 Each strike her hack and shoulders with their spear, 
 
 To bondage then the wretched victim tear ; 
 
 From the dear object of her love to part 
 
 Constrain'd , grief wastes her eyes , and care her heart. 
 
 So from the sluices—. W. 
 
303 
 
 book vm, HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 So from the sluices of Ulysses’ eyes 
 Fast fell the tears, and sighs succeeded sighs: 
 Conceal’d he griev’d : the King observ’d alone 
 The silent tear, and heard the secret groan : 
 
 Then to the Rai d aloud : O cease to sing, 583 
 Dumb be thy voice, and mute the tuneful string: 
 
 To every note his tears responsive flow. 
 
 And his great heart heaves with tumultuous woe ; 
 Thy lay too deeply moves: then cease the lay. 
 
 And o’er the banquet every heart be gay : 590 
 
 This social right demands : for him the sails 
 Floating in air, invite the’ impelling gales: 
 
 His are the gifts of love: the wise and good 
 Receive the stranger as a brother’s blood. 
 
 Rut, friend, discover faithful what I crave, 59^ 
 Artful concealment ill becomes the brave : 
 
 Say what thy birth, and what the name you bore. 
 Impos’d by parents in the natal hour ? 
 
 (For from the natal hour distinctive names. 
 
 One common right, the great and lowly claims:) (Joa* 
 Say from what city, from what regions tost. 
 
 And what inhabitants those regions boast ? 
 
 So shalt thou instant reach the realm assign’d. 
 
 In wonderous ships self-mov’d, instinct with mind; 
 
 Ver. 5S8.] Or, more closely to his author: 
 
 And heaves his bosom with unceasing woe. W. 
 
 Ver. 593.] The Greek expression of this passage is superla¬ 
 tively beautiful, but neither preserved nor attempted, as it should 
 appear, by any translator. The reader must not expect an ade¬ 
 quate delineation of it in the subjoined effort, which can pretend, 
 to nothing beyond fidelity : 
 
 A suppliant pilgrim he a brother deems, 
 
 Whose bosom Virtue’s slightest touch can feel. \VY 
 Ver. 604. In ponderous ships self-mov'd , instinct with mind.'] 
 There is not a passage that more outrages all the rules.of credi- 
 
304 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 No helm secures their course, no pilot guides ; 605 
 Like man intelligent, they plough the tides. 
 Conscious of every coast, and every bay. 
 
 That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray ; 
 
 Tho’ clouds and darkness veil the’ encumber’d sky, 
 Eearless thro’ darkness and thro’ clouds they fly: 610 
 Tho’ tempests rage, tho’ rolls the swelling main. 
 The seas may roll, the tempests rage in vain ; 
 
 Even the stern God that o’er the waves presides. 
 Safe as they pass, and safe repass the tides, 
 
 bility than the description of these ships of Alcinous. The Poet 
 inserts these wonders only to shew the great dexterity of the 
 Phaeacians in navigation ; and indeed it was necessary to be very 
 full in the description of their skill, who were to convey Ulysses 
 home in despight of the very God of the Ocean. It is for the 
 same reason that they are described as sailing almost invisibly, 
 to escape the notice of that God.- Antiquity animated every 
 thing in Poetry; thus Argo is said to have had a mast made of 
 Dodonsean oak, endued with the faculty of speech. But this is 
 defending one absurdity, by instancing a fable equally ab¬ 
 surd ; all that can be said in defence of it is, that such extra¬ 
 vagant fables were believed, at least by the vulgar, in former 
 ages; and consequently might be introduced without blame in 
 poetry; if so, by whom could a boast of this nature be better 
 made, than by a vain Phscacian ? Besides, these extravagancies 
 let Ulysses into the humour of the Phaeacians, and in the fol¬ 
 lowing books he adapts his story to it, and returns fable for fa¬ 
 ble. It must likewise certainly be a great encouragement to 
 Ulysses to find himself in such hands as could so easily restore 
 him to his country: for it was natural to conclude, that though 
 Alcinous was guilty of great amplification, yet that his subjects 
 were very expert navigators. P. 
 
 Ver. 608.] This thought is foreign to his author. Better, 
 perhaps: 
 
 They pass, unerring, through the floating way. W. 
 
 Ver. 611.] This couplet is a fanciful appendage by the 
 translator. Thus ? 
 
 Tho’ blasts tempestuous scour the swelling main, 
 
 Tempestuous blasts pour out their rage in vain. W. 
 
book viii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 305 
 
 With fury burns ; while careless they convey 615 
 Promiscuous every guest to every bay. 
 
 These ears have heard my royal sire disclose 
 A dreadful story big' with future woes,, 
 
 How Neptune raged; and how, by his command. 
 Firm rooted in the surge a ship should stand 620 
 A monument of wrath : how mound on mound 
 Should bury these proud towers beneath the ground. 
 But this the Gods may frustrate or fulfill. 
 
 As suits the purpose of the’ eternal wilL 6 24 
 
 But say thro’ what waste regions hast thou stfay’d. 
 What customs noted, and what coasts survey’d ? 
 Possest by wild barbarians fierce in arms, 
 
 Or men, whose bosom tender pity warms ? 
 
 Say why the fate of Troy awak’d thy cares, 629 
 Why heav’d thy bosom, and why flow’d thy tears ? 
 
 Ver. 619.] It is but a conjecture, yet it is not without pro¬ 
 bability, that there was a rock which looked like a vessel, in the 
 entrance of the haven of the Phseacians; the fable may be built 
 upon this foundation, and because it was environed by the ocean, 
 the transformation might be ascribed to the God of it. P. 
 
 Ver. 621.] The following substitution is a safer representa® 
 tion of the original: 
 
 A monument of wrath ! and; here convey’d, 
 
 O’er-gloom our city with it’s horrid shade. 
 
 But the former paragraph is unfaithful also to the original, 
 which can be seen truly in a literal version only: 
 
 Neptune, he said, some trim Phseacian ship, 
 
 From convoy sailing home, would wreck at sea. 
 
 And with a mountain huge our city shroud. 
 
 Compare book xiii. verse 172. W. 
 
 Ver. 629.] These rhymes are inaccurate, and the remaining 
 paragraph is slovenly and imperfectly represented* I shall sub¬ 
 mit a substitution to the candour of the reader: 
 
 Say, why in floods of tears thy sorrow rose. 
 
 Pour’d to the tale of Greek and Trojan woes! 
 
 VOL. 1. X 
 
306 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY, book vm. 
 
 Just are the ways of Heaven : from Heaven proceed 
 The woes of man; Heaven doom’d the Greeks to 
 bleed, 
 
 A theme of future song ! Say then if slain 
 Some dear-lov’d brother press’d the Phrygian plain ? 
 Or bled some friend, who bore a brother’s part, 635 
 And claim’d by merit, not by blood, the heart ? 
 
 These woes- by heaven decreed, to man belong, 
 
 The future subject of the minstrel’s song. 
 
 Some dear relation there, perchance, might fall. 
 
 Thy wife’s fond sire, beneath the Trojan wall; 
 
 Or son-in-law belov’d ! who fondness claim, 
 
 Next to a parent’s ever-honour’d name. 
 
 Some virtuous friend might bleed: congenial mind ! 
 Sweet sympathy of soul with soul entwin’d ! 
 
 For sure a friend deserves, discreet and true, 
 
 The warm affection to a brother due. W. 
 
 This book takes up the whole thirty-third day, and part 
 of the evening: for the council opens in the morning, and at 
 sun-setting the Phscacians return to the palace from the games; 
 after which Ulysses bathes and sups, and sperfds some time of 
 the evening in discoursing, and hearing the songs of Demodocus. 
 Then iUcinous requests him to relate his own story, which he 
 begins in the next book, and continues it through the four sub¬ 
 sequent books of the Odyssey. P. 
 
 / 
 
THE 
 
 NINTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 O D Y S S E Y. 
 
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THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF THE CICONS, LOTOPHAGI, AND^ 
 
 CYCLOPS. 
 
 ULYSSES begins the relation of his adven¬ 
 tures ; how after the destruction of Troy, he with 
 his companions made an incursion on the Cicons, 
 by whom they were repulsed ; and meeting with a 
 storm, were driven to the coast of the Lotophagi. 
 From thence they sailed to the land of the Cyclops, 
 whose manners and situation are particularly cha¬ 
 racterised. The giant Polyphemus and his cave 
 described; the usage Ulysses and his companions 
 met with there ; and lastly, the method and artifice 
 by which he escaped. P, 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 AS we are now come to the episodical part of the Odj^ssey, it 
 may be thought necessary to speak something of the nature of 
 episodes. 
 
 As the action of the epick is always one, entire, and great 
 action; so the most trivial episodes must be so interwoven with 
 it, as to be necessary parts, or convenient, as Mr. Dryden ob¬ 
 serves, to carry on the main design; either so necessary, as 
 without them the poem must be imperfect, or so convenient, 
 that no others can be imagined more suitable to the place in 
 which they stand: there is nothing to be left void in a firm 
 building, even the cavities ought not to be filled up with rub¬ 
 bish destructive to the strength of it, but with materials of the 
 same kind, though of less pieces, and fitted to the main fabrick. 
 
 Aristotle tells us, that what is comprehended in the first plat¬ 
 form of the fable is proper, the rest is episode: let us examine 
 the Odyssey by this rule: the ground-work of the poem is, a 
 prince absent from his country several years, Neptune hinders his 
 return, yet at last he breaks through all obstacles, and returns, 
 where he finds great disorders, the authors of which he punishes, 
 and restores peace to his kingdom. This is all that is essential 
 to the model; this the Poet is not at liberty to change; this is 
 so necessary, that any alteration destroys the design, spoils the 
 fable, and makes another poem of it. But episodes are change¬ 
 able ; for instance, though it was necessary that Ulysses being 
 absent should spend several years ’with foreign princes, yet it w r as 
 not necessary that one of these princes should be Antiphates, 
 another Alcinous, or that Circe or Calypso should be the per¬ 
 sons w ho entertained him: it was in the Poet’s choice to have 
 changed these persons and states, without changing his design 
 or fable. Thus though these adventures or episodes become 
 parts of the subject after they are chosen, yet they are not orb 
 ginally essential to the subject. But in what sense then are 
 they necessary ? The reply is, Since the absence of Ulysses 
 was absolutely necessary, it follows that not being at home, he 
 must be in some other country ; and therefore though the Poet 
 was at liberty to make use of none of these particular adven* 
 tures, yet it was not in bis choice to make use of none at all; 
 if these had been omitted, he must have substituted others* o£ 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 else he would have omitted part of the matter contained in his 
 model, viz. the adventures of a person long absent from his 
 country; and the poem would have been defective. So that 
 episodes are not actions, but parts of an action. It is in poetry, 
 as Aristotle observes, as in painting; a painter puts many ac¬ 
 tions into one piece, but they all conspire to form one entire 
 and perfect action : a Poet likewise uses many episodes, but all 
 those episodes taken separately finish nothing, they are but im¬ 
 perfect members, which altogether make one and the same 
 action; like the parts of a human body, they all conspire to 
 constitute the whole man. 
 
 In a word, the episodes of Homer are complete episodes; 
 they are proper to the subject, because they are drawn from the 
 ground of the fable; they are so joined to the principal action, 
 that one is the necessary consequence of the other, either truly 
 or probably: and lastly, they are imperfect members which do 
 not make a complete and finished body; for an episode that 
 makes a complete action, cannot be part of a principal action j 
 as is essential to all episodes. 
 
 An episode may then be defined, “ A necessary part of an 
 “ action, extended by probable circumstances .” They are part 
 of an action, for they are not added to the principal action, but 
 only dilate and amplify that principal action : thus the Poet to 
 shew the sufferings of Ulysses brings in the several episodes of 
 Polyphemus, Scylla, the Syrens, Sfc. But why should the words, 
 “ extended by probable circumstances,” enter the definition ? 
 Because the sufferings of Ulysses are proposed in the model of 
 the fable in general only, but by relating the circumstances, the 
 planner how he suffered is discovered ; and this connects it with 
 ^he principal action, and shews very evidently the necessary re¬ 
 lation the episode bears to the main design of the Odyssey. 
 What I have said, I hope, plainly discovers the difference be¬ 
 tween the episodick and principal action, as well as the nature 
 of episodes. See Bossu more largely upon this subject. P a 
 
THE 
 
 NINTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 1 HEN thus Ulysses. Thou whom first in sway., 
 As first in virtue, these thy realms obey ; 
 
 How sweet the products of a peaceful reign ! 
 
 The heaven-taught Poet, and enchanting strain; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 3. Ilotv srveet the products of a peaceful reign , &c.] This 
 passage has given great joy to the criticks, as it has afforded them 
 the ill-natured pleasure of railing, and the satisfaction of believ¬ 
 ing they have found a fault in a good writer. It is fitter, say they, 
 for the mouth of Epicurus than for the sage Ulysses, to extol the 
 pleasures of feasting and drinking in this manner: he whom the 
 Poet proposes as the standard of human wisdom, says Rapin, 
 suffers himself to be made drunk by the Phaeacians. But it may 
 rather be imagined, that the critick was not very sober when he 
 made the reflection; for there is not the least appearance of a 
 reason for that imputation. Plato indeed in his third book de 
 Repub. writes, that what Ulysses here speaks is no very proper 
 example of temperance ; but every body knows that Plato, with 
 respect to Homer, wrote with great partiality. Athenaeus in 
 his twelfth book gives us the following interpretation. Ulysses 
 accommodates his discourse to the present occasion; he in ap- 
 
314 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 The well-fill'd palace, the perpetual feast, 5 
 
 A land rejoicing, and a people blest! 
 
 pearance approves of the voluptuous lives of the Phasacians, 
 and having heard Alcinous before say, that feasting and sing¬ 
 ing, $fc. was their supreme delight; he by a seasonable flattery 
 seems to comply with their inclinations; it being the most pro¬ 
 per method to attain his desires of being conveyed to his own 
 country. Eustathius observes that this passage has been con¬ 
 demned, but he defends it after the very same way with Athe- 
 naeus. 
 
 It is not impossible but that there may be some compliance 
 with the nature and manners of the Phaeacians, especially be¬ 
 cause Ulysses is always described as an artful man, not without 
 some mixture of dissimulation: but it is no difficult matter to 
 take the passage literally, and give it an irreproachable sense. 
 Ulysses had gone through innumerable calamities, he had lived 
 to see a great part of Europe and Asia laid desolate by a 
 bloody war; and after so many troubles, he arrives among a 
 nation that was unacquainted with all the miseries of war, 
 where all the people were happy, and passed their lives with 
 case and pleasure : this calm life fills him with admiration, and 
 he artfully praises what he found praiseworthy in it: namely, 
 the entertainments and musick, and passes over the gallan¬ 
 tries of the people, as Dacier observes, without any men¬ 
 tion. Maximus Tyrius fully vindicates Homer. It is my opi¬ 
 nion, says that author, that the Poet, by representing these 
 guests in the midst of their entertainments, delighted with the 
 song and musick, intended to recommend a more noble pleasure 
 than eating and drinking, such a pleasure as a wise man may 
 imitate, by approving the better part, and rejecting the worse, 
 and chusing to please the ear rather than the belly. 12 Dissert. 
 
 If we understand the passage otherwise, the meaning may be 
 this. I am persuaded, says Ulysses, that the most agreeable end 
 which a king can propose, is to see a whole nation in universal 
 joy, when musick and feasting are in every house, when plenty 
 is on every table, and wines to entertain every guest: this to me 
 appears a state of the greatest felicity. I will only add, that this 
 agrees with the oriental way of speaking; and in the poetical 
 parts of the scriptures, the voice of melody, feasting, and danc¬ 
 ing, are used to express the happiness of a nation. P. 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 315 
 
 How goodly seems it, ever to employ 
 Man’s social days in union and in joy; 
 
 The plenteous board high-heap’d with cates divine. 
 And o’er the foaming bowl the laughing wine ! 10 
 
 Amid these joys, why seeks thy mind to know 
 The’ unhappy series of a wanderer’s woe; 
 Remembrance sad, whose image to review, 
 
 Alas ! must open all my wounds anew ? 
 
 And oh, what first, what last shall I relate 15 
 
 Of woes unnumber’d, sent by Heaven and Fate ? 
 
 Know first the man (though now a wretch distrest) 
 Who hopes thee. Monarch, for his future guest. 
 Behold Ulysses ! no ignoble name. 
 
 Earth sounds my wisdom, and high heaven my fame. 
 
 My native soil is Ithaca the fair, 21 
 
 Where high Neritus waves his woods in air : 
 
 This verse has no prototype in the original. Thus ? 
 
 What bliss to hear, amid this jovial throng, 
 
 The tuneful lyrist and his heavenly song! 
 
 What bliss the palace, fill’d with many a guest—. W. 
 
 Ver. 21 . - Ithaca the fair, 
 
 Where high Neritus , &c.] 
 
 Eustathius gives various interpretations of this position of Ithaca; 
 some understand it to signify that it lies low ; others explain it to 
 signify that it is of low position, but high with respect to the 
 neighbouring islands; others take 'aro^wTrsfiuTvi (excellentissima) in 
 another sense to imply the excellence of the country, which, though 
 it lies low, is productive of brave inhabitants, for Homer imme¬ 
 diately adds aya&Tj xaf potyoc. Strabo gives a different exposition ; 
 Ithaca is ^Gapta?^, as it lies near to the continent, and mawrsplctTv 
 as it is the utmost of all the islands towards the north, &rpo; '<kpy\ov y 
 for thus <Erfo? tytpov is to be understood. So that Ithaca, adds he, 
 is not of a low situation, but as it lies opposed to the continent, 
 nor the most lofty (v^yjboldrvi) but the most extreme of the northern 
 islands ; for so usotvvmficcxvi signifies. Dacier differs from Strabo 
 in the explication of w r r?sAio> n } which he believes to mean 
 
316 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus crown'd 
 With shady mountains,, spread their isles around. 
 (These to the north and night’s dark regions run, 25 
 Those to Aurora and the rising sun.) 
 
 Low lies our isle, yet blest in fruitful stores ; 
 
 Strong are her sons, though rocky are her shores; 
 And none, ah none so lovely to my sight. 
 
 Of all the lands that heaven o’erspreads with light! 
 In vain Calypso long constrain’d my stay, si 
 
 With sweet, reluctant, amorous delay ; 
 
 With all her charms as vainly Circe strove. 
 
 And added magick, to secure my love. 
 
 In pomps or joys, the palace or the grot, 35 
 
 My country’s image never was forgot, 
 
 My absent parents rose before my sight. 
 
 And distant lay contentment and delight, 
 
 the South; she applies the words to the East, or South-east, and 
 appeals to the maps which so describe it. It is the most northern 
 of the islands, and joins to the continent of Epirus; it has Duli- 
 chium on the east, and on the south Samos and Zacynthus. P. 
 
 Ver. 22.] This vicious accent he found in Chapman and 
 Ogilby. Hobbes is correct. Thus ? more exactly: 
 
 Where his thick woods waves Neritus in air. W. 
 Yer. 24.] Or, more justly to his author : 
 
 With spreading foliage, range their isles around. W. 
 Ver. 26.] Chapman probably suggested these rhymes : but 
 conformity to the original demands the following corrections: 
 Low, towards Aurora and the rising sun, 
 
 Lies our rough island; bless’d in generous stores 
 Of hardy sons—. W. 
 
 Ver. 36 ] The translation is by no means accurate. Thus ? 
 very faithfully: 
 
 If from our friends in climes remote we live, 
 
 'Midst all the bliss that wealth and plenty give. 
 
 Our soul expatiates homeward still for rest; 
 
 Our parents’ dear idea still controuls our breast 1 W, 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. SI7 
 
 Hear then the woes,, which mighty Jove ordain’d 
 To wait my passage from the Trojan land. 40 
 The winds from Ilion to the Cicons’ shore. 
 
 Beneath cold Ismarus, our vessels bore. 
 
 We boldly landed on the hostile place. 
 
 And sack’d the city, and destroy’d the race ; 
 
 Their wives made captive, their possessions shared. 
 And every soldier found a like reward. 4# 
 
 I then advis’d to fly : not so the rest. 
 
 Who staid to revel, and prolong the feast: 
 
 Ver. 41.- to the Cicons ’ shore .] Here is the natural 
 
 and true meaning of the Odyssey, which comprehends all the 
 sufferings of Ulysses, and these sufferings take their date imme¬ 
 diately after his leaving the shores of Troy ; from that moment 
 he endeavours to return to his own country, and all the difficulties 
 he meets with in returning, enter into the subject of the poem. 
 But it may then be asked, if the Odyssey does not take up the 
 space of ten years, since Ulysses wastes so many in his return ; 
 and is not this contrary to the nature of Epick poetry, w’hich is 
 agreed must not at the longest exceed the duration of one year, 
 or rather campaign ? The answer is, the Poet lets all the time^ 
 pass which exceeds the bounds of epick action, before he opens 
 the poem; thus Ulysses spends some time before he arrives at 
 the island of Circe, with her he continues one year, and seven 
 with Catypso; he begins artificially at the conclusion of the 
 action, and finds an opportunity to repeat the most considerable 
 and necessary incidents which preceded the opening of the 
 Odyssey ; by this method he reduces the duration of it into less 
 compass than the space of two months. This conduct is abso¬ 
 lutely necessary, for from the time that the Poet introduces his 
 hero upon the stage, he ought to continue his action to the very 
 end of it, that he may never afterwards appear idle or out of 
 motion : this is verified in Ulysses ; from the moment he leave# 
 the island of Ogygia to the death of the suitors, he is never 
 out of view, never idle: he is always either in action, or pre¬ 
 paring for it, till he is re-established in his dominions. If the 
 Poet had followed the natural order of the action, he, like 
 Lucan, would not have wrote an epick poem, but a history in 
 verse. P. 
 
318 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book ix. 
 
 The fatted sheep and sable bulls they slay. 
 
 And bowls flow round, and riot wastes the day. 50 
 Meantime the Cicons, to their holds retir’d. 
 
 Call on the Cicons, with new fury fir’d; 
 
 With early morn the gather’d country swarms. 
 
 And all the continent is bright with arms; 
 
 Thick, as the budding leaves or rising flowers 55 
 O’erspread the land, when spring descends in 
 showers : 
 
 All expert soldiers, skill’d on foot to dare. 
 
 Or from the bounding courser urge the war. 
 
 Now fortune changes (so the Fates ordain) 
 
 Our hour was come to taste our share of pain. 60 
 Close at the ships the bloody fight began. 
 
 Wounded they wound, and man expires on man. 
 Long as the morning sun, increasing bright. 
 
 O’er heaven’s pure azure spread the growing light, 
 Promiscuous death the form of war confounds, 65 
 Each adverse battle gored with equal wounds ; 
 
 But when his evening wheels o’erhung the main. 
 Then conquest crown’d the fierce Ciconian train. 
 Six brave companions from each ship we lost. 
 
 The rest escape in haste, and quit the coast. 70 
 With sails outspread we fly the’ unequal strife. 
 
 Sad for their loss, but joyful of our life. 
 
 Yet as we fled, our fellows’ rites we paid. 
 
 And thrice we call’d on each unhappy shade. 
 
 Ver. 74. And thrice we call’d on each unhappy shade .This 
 passage preserves a piece of antiquity ; it was the custom of the 
 Grecians, when tlieir friends died upon foreign shores, to use this 
 ceremony of recalling their souls, though they obtained not their 
 bodies, believing by this method that they transported them to, 
 their own country: Pindar mentions the same practice. 
 
KOOK IX. f HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 319 
 
 Meanwhile the God, whose hand the thunder 
 forms, 75 
 
 Drives clouds on clouds, and blackens heaven with 
 storms : 
 
 Wide o’er the waste the rage of Boreas sweeps. 
 
 And Night rush’d headlong on the shaded deeps. 
 Now here, now there, the giddy ships are borne. 
 And all the rattling shrouds in fragments torn. so 
 We furl’d the sail, we plied the labouring oar. 
 
 Took down our masts, and row’d our ships to shore. 
 Two tedious days and two long nights we lay, 
 O’erwatch’d and batter'd in the naked bay. 
 
 But the third morning when Aurora brings, si 
 We rear the masts, we spread the canvas wings ; 
 Refresh’d, and careless on the deck reclin’d. 
 
 We sit, and trust the pilot and the wind. 
 
 Then to my native country had l sail’d : 
 
 But the cape doubled, adverse winds prevail’d, go 
 
 Thus the Athenians, when they lost any men at sea, went to 
 the shores, and calling thrice on their names, raised a cenotaph 
 or empty monument to their memories ; by performing which 
 solemnity, they invited the shades of the departed to return, 
 and performed all rites as if the bodies of the dead had really 
 been buried by them in their sepulchres. Eustathius. 
 
 The Romans as well as the Greeks followed the same custom. 
 The occasion of this practice arose from the opinion, that the 
 souls of the departed were not admitted into the state of the 
 happy, without the performance of the sepulchral solemni¬ 
 ties. P. » 
 
 Ver. 84.] Or rather, if we wish fidelity, thus: 
 
 Whilst toil and sorrow pin’d our souls away. W. 
 Ver. 85.] Exactly: 
 
 When the third morn fair tress’d Aurora brings : 
 that epithet is too beautiful £md picturesque to be neglected. W. 
 
S20 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 Strong’ was the tide, which by the northern blast 
 Imped'd, our vessels on Cythera cast. 
 
 Nine days our fleet the’ uncertain tempest bore 
 Far in wide ocean, and from sight of shore ; 
 
 The tenth we touch’d, by various errors tost, 9.5 
 The land of Lotos, and the flowery coast. 
 
 Ver. 92.] Homer says, 
 
 -our vessels from Cythera cast. W. 
 
 Ver. 95. The tenth ive touch’d - 
 
 The land of Lotos -] 
 
 This passage has given occasion for much controversy; for since 
 the Lotophagi in reality are distant from the Malean cape twenty- 
 two thousand five hundred stades, Ulysses must sail above two 
 thousand every day, if in nine days he sailed to the Lotophagi. 
 This objection would be unanswerable, if we place the nation in 
 the Atlantick ocean ; but Dacier observes from Strabo, that Po¬ 
 lybius examined this point, and thus gives us the result of it. 
 This great historian maintains, that Homer has not placed the 
 Lotophagi in the Atlantic Ocean, as he does the islands of Circe 
 and Calypso, because it was improbable that in the compass of 
 ten days the most favourable winds could have carried Ulysses 
 from the Malean cape into that ocean ; it therefore follows, that 
 the Poet has given us the true situation of this nation, conform¬ 
 able to geography, and placed it as it really lies, in the Medi¬ 
 terranean ; now in ten days a good wind will carry a vessel 
 from Malea into the Mediterranean, as Homer relates. 
 
 This is an instance that Homer sometimes follows truth with¬ 
 out fiction, at other times disguises it. But I confess I think 
 Homer’s poetry would have been as beautiful if he had described 
 all his islands in their true positions : his inconsistency in this 
 point, may seem to introduce confusion and ambiguity, when 
 the truth would have been more clear, and as beautiful in his 
 poetry. 
 
 Nothing can better shew the great deference which former 
 ages paid Homer, than these defences of the learned ancients; 
 they continually ascribe his deviations from truth, (as in the in¬ 
 stance before us) to design, not to ignorance; to his art as a 
 Poet, and not to want of skill as a geographer. In a writer of 
 
book ix. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 ’ 321 
 
 We climb’d the beach, and springs of water found. 
 Then spread our hasty banquet on the ground. 
 Three men were sent, deputed from the crew, 
 
 (A herald one) the dubious coast to view, 100 
 
 And learn what habitants possest the place. 
 
 They went, and found a hospitable race ; 
 
 Not prone to ill, nor strange to foreign guest. 
 
 They eat, they drink, and Nature gives the feast; 
 The trees around them, all their fruit produce; 105 
 Lotos, the name ,* divine nectareous juice! 
 
 less fame, such relations might be thought errors, but in Homer 
 they are either understood to be no errors, or if errors, they are 
 vindicated by the greatest names of antiquity. 
 
 Eustathius adds, that the ancients disagree about this island: 
 some place it about Cyrene, from Maurusia of the African 
 Moors: it is also named Meninx, and lies upon the African 
 coast, near the lesser Syrte. It is about three hundred and fifty 
 stades in length, and somewhat less in breadth: it is also named 
 Lotophagitis from Lotos. P. 
 
 The rhymes are faulty, and the sense unfaithful. Thus ? 
 The tenth, our wanderings cease, the land we gain, 
 Whose men with flowery Lotos life sustain. 
 
 In the following account of these people, our translator is para- 
 phrastical and inaccurate. For precision the reader must have 
 recourse to Mr. Cowper. W. 
 
 Ver. 100. An herald one.~\ The reason why the Poet mentions 
 the herald in particular, is because his office was sacred ; and 
 by the common law of nations his person inviolable; Ulysses 
 therefore joins an herald in this commission, for the greater 
 security of those whom he sends to search the country. Eusta¬ 
 thius. P. 
 
 Ver. 106. Lotos.~\ Eustathius assures us, that there are vari¬ 
 ous kinds of it. It has been a question whether it is an herb, a 
 root, or a tree : he is of opinion, that Homer speaks of it as an 
 herb ; for he calls it tl^up, and that the word Iptvleo-bcu is in 
 
 its proper sense applied to the grazing of beasts, and therefore he 
 judges it not to be a tree, or root. He adds, there is an ./Egyp¬ 
 tian Lotos, which, as Herodotus affirms, grows in great abufo* 
 
 VOL. i. Y 
 
322 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 (Thence call’d Lotophagi) which whoso tastes. 
 Insatiate riots in the sweet repasts. 
 
 Nor other home nor other care intends, 
 
 JBut quits his house, his country, and his friends : no 
 The three we sent, from off the’ inchanting ground 
 We dragg’d reluctant, and by force we bound: 
 
 The rest in haste forsook the pleasing shore. 
 
 Or, the charm tasted, had return’d no more. 
 
 Now plac’d in order on their banks, they sweep 115 
 The sea’s smooth face, and cleave the hoary deep : 
 
 dance along the Nile in the time of its inundations; it resembles 
 (says that historian in his Euterpe) a lily ; the ^Egyptians dry it 
 in the sun, then take the pulp out of it, which grows like the head 
 of a poppy, and bake it as bread ; this kind of it agrees likewise 
 with the "Ayfiivov of Homer. Athenaeus writes of the Lybian 
 Lotos in the fourteenth book of his Deipnosophist; he quotes 
 the words of Polybius in the twelfth book of his history, now not 
 extant; that historian speaks of it as an eye-witness, having ex¬ 
 amined the. nature of it. 44 The Lotos is a tree of no great height, 
 44 rough and thorny: it bears a green leaf, somewhat thicker 
 44 and broader than that of the bramble or briar; its fruit at 
 “ first is like the ripe berries of the myrtle, both in size and co- 
 44 lour, but when it ripens it turns to purple; it is then about 
 44 the bigness of an olive ; it is round, and contains a very small 
 44 kernel; when it is ripe they gather it, and bruising it among 
 M bread-corn, they put it up into a vessel, and keep it as food 
 44 for their slaves; they dress it after the same manner for their 
 44 other domesticks, but first take out the kernel from it: it has 
 44 the taste of a fig, or dates, but is of a far better smell: they 
 4i likewise make a wine of it, by steeping and bruising it in 
 44 water ; it has a very agreeable taste, like wine tempered with 
 44 honey. They drink it without mixing it with water, but it 
 44 will not keep above ten days, they therefore make it only in 
 44 small quantities, for immediate use.” Perhaps it was this last 
 kind of Lotos, which the companions of Ulysses tasted; and 
 if it w as thus prepared, it gives a reason why they were over¬ 
 come with it; for being a wine, it had the power of intoxica¬ 
 tion. P. 
 
OOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 323 
 
 With heavy hearts we labour through the tide. 
 
 To coasts unknown, and oceans yet untried. 
 
 The land of Cyclops first; a savage kind. 
 
 Nor tam’d by manners, nor by laws confin’d : 120 
 
 Untaught to plant, to turn the glebe and sow; 
 
 They all their products to free nature owe. 
 
 Ver. 119. The land of Cyclops first."] Homer here confines 
 himself to the true geography of Sicily; for, in reality, a ship 
 may easily sail in one day from the land of the Lotophagi to 
 Sicily : these Cyclops inhabited the western part of that island, 
 about Drepane and Lilybaeum. Bochart shews us, that they 
 derive their name from the place of their habitation; for the 
 Phaenicians call them Chek-lub, by contraction for Chek-lelub; 
 that is, the gulf of Lilybaeum, or the men who dwell about the 
 Lilybaean gulf. The Greeks (who understood not the Phaeni- 
 cian language) formed the word Cyclop, from Chek-lub, from 
 the affinity of sound; which word in the Greek language, signify¬ 
 ing a circular eye, might give occasion to fable that they had but 
 one large round eye in the middle of their foreheads. Dncier. 
 
 Eustathius tells us, that the eye of Cyclops is an allegory, to 
 represent that in anger, or any other violent passion, men see but 
 one single object, as that passion directs, or see but with one 
 eye: and passion transforms us into a kind of savages, and makes 
 us brutal and sanguinary, like this Polypheme ; and he that by 
 reason extinguishes such a passion, may, like Ulysses, be said to 
 put out that eye that made him see but one single object. 
 
 I have already given another reason of this fiction; namely, 
 their wearing a head-piece, or martial vizor, that had but one 
 sight through it. The vulgar form their judgments from appear¬ 
 ances ; and a mariner, who passed these coasts at a distance, 
 observing the resemblance of abroad eye in the forehead of one 
 of these Cyclops, might relate it accordingly, and impose it as a 
 truth upon the credulity of the ignorant; it is notorious that 
 things equally monstrous have found belief in all ages. 
 
 But it may be asked if there were any such persons who bore 
 the name of Cyclops ? No less a historian than Thucydides in¬ 
 forms us, that Sicily was at first possessed and inhabited by 
 giants, by the Laestrigons and Cyclops, a barbarous and inhuman 
 people : but he adds, that these savages dwelt only in one part 
 
 y 2 
 
HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 
 The soil untilPd a ready harvest yields. 
 
 With wheat and barley wave the golden fields; 
 Spontaneous wines from weighty clusters pour, i25 v 
 And Jove descends in each prolifick shower. 
 
 By these no statutes and no rights are known, 
 
 No council held, no monarch fills the throne. 
 
 of that island. Cedrenus gives us an exact description of the 
 Cyclops : “ Ulysses fell among the Cyclops in Sicily ; a people 
 « not one-eyed, according to the mythologists, but men like 
 « other men, only of a more gigantick stature, and of a bar- 
 “ barous and savage temper.” What Homer speaks of the fer¬ 
 tility of Sicily, is agreeable to history: it was called anciently 
 Romani Imperii Horreum. Pliny, lib. x. cap. 10. writes, that 
 the Leontine plains bear for every grain of corn, an hundred. 
 Diodorus Siculus relates in his history what Homer speaks in 
 poetry, that the fields of Leontium yield wheat without the cul¬ 
 ture of the husbandman : he was an eye-witness, being a native 
 of the island. From hence in general it may be observed, that 
 wherever we can trace Homer, we find, if not historick truth, 
 yet the resemblance of it; that is, as plain truth as can be re¬ 
 lated without converting his poem into a history. P. 
 
 Ver. 127. By these no statutes and no rights are hiotvn , 
 
 No council held, no monarch Jills the throne .3 
 Plato (observes Spondanus) in his third book of laws, treats of 
 government as practised in the first ages of the world; and re¬ 
 fers to this passage of Homer; mankind was originally indepen¬ 
 dent, every “ Master of a family was a kind of king of his fa- 
 “ mily, and reigned over his wife and children like the Cyclo- 
 “ peans,” according to the expression of Homer. 
 
 Aristotle likewise complains, that even in his times, in many 
 places, men lived without laws, according to their own fancies; 
 referring likewise to this passage of Homer. 
 
 Dacier adds from Plato, that after the deluge, three manners 
 of life succeeded among mankind; the first was rude and sa¬ 
 vage : men were afraid of a second flood; and therefore inha¬ 
 bited the summits of mountains, without any dependance upon 
 one another, and each was absolute in his own family: the se¬ 
 cond was less brutal; as the fear of the deluge wore away by de¬ 
 grees, they descended towards the bottom of mountains, and 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 325 
 
 But high on hills or airy cliffs they dwell, 
 
 Or deep in caves whose entrance leads to hell, iso 
 Each rules his race, his neighbour not his care. 
 Heedless of others, to his own severe. 
 
 Oppos’d to the Cyclopean coasts, there lay 
 An isle, whose hills their subject fields survey; 
 
 Its name Lachaea, crown’d with many a grove, 1 35 
 Where savage goats thro’ pathless thickets rove: 
 No needy mortals here, with hunger bold, 
 
 Or wretched hunters, thro’ the wintery cold 
 
 began to have some intercourse: the third was more polished ; 
 when a full security from the apprehensions of a flood was esta¬ 
 blished by time, they then began to inhabit the plains, and a 
 more general commerce by degrees prevailing, they entered into 
 societies, and established laws for the general good of the whole 
 community. These Cyclopeans maintained the first state of life 
 in the days of Ulysses; they had no intercourse with other so¬ 
 cieties, by reason of their barbarities, and consequently their 
 manners were not at all polished by the general laws of huma¬ 
 nity. This account agrees excellently with the holy Scriptures, 
 and perhaps Plato borrowed it from the writings of Moses; after 
 the deluge men retreated to the mountains for fear of a second 
 flood ; the chief riches, like these Cyclopeans, consisted in flocks 
 and herds; and every master of a family ruled his house with¬ 
 out any controul or subordination. P. 
 
 Ver. 129. But high on hills - or deep in caves .] This is 
 
 said, to give an air of probability to the revenge which Ulysses 
 takes upon this giant, and indeed to the whole story. He de¬ 
 scribes his solitary life, to shew that he was utterly destitute of 
 assistance : and it is for the same reason, continues Eustathius, 
 that the Poet relates that he left his fleet under a desart neigh¬ 
 bouring island; namely to make it probable, that the Cyclops 
 could not seize it, or pursue Ulysses, having no shipping. P. 
 
 Ver. 134. An isle , whose hills , &c.] This little isle is now 
 called 3Sgusa, which signifies the isle of goats. P. 
 
 Ver. 135.] Our Poet injudiciously follows the opinion of 
 some interpreters, mentioned by Eustathius, in making a proper 
 name of an epithet signifying little. W, 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IX, 
 
 326 
 
 Pursue their flight; but leave them safe to bound 
 From hill to hill, o’er all the desart ground. 140 
 Nor knows the soil to feed the fleecy care. 
 
 Or feels the labours of the crooked share; 
 
 But uninhabited, untill’d, unsown 
 
 It lies, and breeds the bleating goat alone. 
 
 For there no vessel with vermilion prorc, 145 
 
 Or bark of traffic, glides from shore to shore; 
 
 The rugged race of savages, unskill’d 
 The seas to traverse, or the ships to build. 
 
 Gaze on the coast, nor cultivate the soil; 
 
 Unlearn’d in all the’ industrious arts of toil. 150 
 Yet here all products and all plants abound, 
 
 Sprung from the fruitful genius of the ground; 
 Fields waving high with heavy crops are seen. 
 
 And vines that flourish in eternal green ; 
 
 Refreshing meads along the murmuring main, 155 
 And fountains streaming down the fruitful plain. 
 
 A port there is, inclos’d on either side. 
 
 Where ships may rest, unanchor’d and untied, 
 
 J Till the glad mariners incline to sail. 
 
 And the sea whitens with the rising gale, 160 
 
 Ver. 144. Bleating goat .] It is exactly thus in the original, 
 verse 124, balantes ; which Pollux, lib* v. observes not to 
 
 be the proper term for the voice of goats, which is P. 
 
 Ver. 153.] The translator misrepresents his author, and may 
 be rectified by the following adjustment, which is exact: 
 
 There waving harvests soon would load the field, 
 
 There vines unfading a full vintage yield: 
 
 By the hoar ocean stretch the blooming meadsj 
 Deep is the soil, and fertile moisture feeds. W. 
 
 Ver. 157.] The latter clause is interpolated: perhaps, from 
 
 Qgilty, W, 
 
327 
 
 book ix. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 High at its head, from out the cavern’d rock, 
 
 In living rills a gushing fountain broke : 
 
 Around it, and above, for ever green 
 The bushing alders form’d a shady scene. 
 
 Hither some favouring God, beyond our thought, 165 
 Thro’ all-surrounding shade our navy brought ; 
 
 For gloomy Night descended on the main. 
 
 Nor glimmer’d Phoebe in the’ ethereal plain : 
 
 But all unseen the clouded island lay. 
 
 And all unseen the surge and rolling sea, 170 
 ’Till safe we anchor’d in the shelter’d bay : 
 
 Our sails we gather’d, cast our cables o’er, 
 
 And slept secure along the sandy shore. 
 
 Soon as again the rosy morning shone. 
 
 Reveal’d the landscape and the scene unknown, 175 
 With wonder seiz’d, we view the pleasing ground. 
 And walk delighted, and expatiate round. 
 
 Rous’d by the woodland nymphs, at early dawn. 
 The mountain goats came bounding o’er the lawn : 
 
 Ver. 165. Hither some favouring God -] This circum¬ 
 
 stance is inserted with great judgment, Ulysses otherwise might 
 have landed in Sicily, and fallen into the hands of the Cyclo- 
 peans, and consequently been lost inevitably: he therefore 
 piously ascribes his safety, by being driven upon this desolate 
 island, to the guidance of the Gods; he uses it as a retreat, 
 leaves his navy there, and passes over into Sicily in one single 
 vessel, undiscovered by these gigantick savages ; this reconciles 
 the relation to probability, and renders his escape practicable. 
 Eustathius . P. 
 
 Ver. 178. The tvoodland nymphsd\ This passage is not with¬ 
 out obscurity, and it is not easy to understand what is meant by 
 the daughters of Jupiter . Eustathius tells us, the Poet speaks 
 allegorically, and that he means to specify the plants and herbs 
 of the field. Jupiter denotes the air, not only in Ilomer, but 
 in the Latin Poets, Thus Virgil: 
 
32 S HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book ix ' 
 
 Iii haste our fellows to the ships repair, iso 
 
 For arms and weapons of the sylvan war; 
 
 Straight in three squadrons all our crew we part. 
 And bend the bow, or wing the missile dart; 
 
 The bounteous Gods afford a copious prey. 
 
 And nine fat goats each vessel bears away: 185 
 
 The royal bark had ten. Our ships complete 
 We thus supplied, (for twelve were all the fleet). 
 
 Here, till the setting sun roll’d down the light. 
 We sat indulging in the genial rite: 
 
 Nor wines were wanting; those from ample jars 190 
 We drain’d, the prize of our Ciconian wars. 
 
 <e Turn pater omnipotens foecundis imbribus aether 
 “ Conjugisin gremium laetae descendit-” 
 
 and consequently the herbs and plants, being nourished by the 
 mild air and fruitful rains, may be said to be the daughters of 
 'Jupiter, or offspring of the skies; and these goats and beasts of 
 the field, being fed by these plants and herbs, may be said to be 
 awakened by the daughters of Jupiter, that is, they awake t6 
 feed upon the herbage early in the morning. Thus Homer 
 makes Deities of the vegetative faculties and virtues of the field. 
 I fear such boldnesses would not be allowed in modern 
 poetry. 
 
 It must be confessed that this interpretation is very refined : 
 but I am sure it will be a more natural explication to take these 
 for the real mountain nymphs (Oreades) as they are in many 
 places of the Odyssey; the very expression is found in the 
 sixth book, and there signifies the nymphs attending upon 
 Diana in her sports ; and immediately after Ulysses, being awa¬ 
 kened by a sudden noise, mistakes Nausicaa and her damsels 
 for nymphs of the mountains or floods. This conjecture will 
 not be without probability, if we remember that these nymphs 
 were huntresses, as is evident from their relation to Diana. 
 Why then may not this other expression be meant of the 
 nymphs that are fabled to inhabit the mountains ? P. 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 329 
 
 The land of Cyclops lay in prospect near; 
 
 The voice of goats and bleating flocks we hear, V 
 And from their mountains rising* smokes appear. ) 
 Now sunk the sun, and darkness cover’d o’er 195 
 The face of things: along* the sea-beat shore 
 Satiate we slept: but when the sacred dawn 
 Arising glitter’d o’er the dewy lawn, 
 
 I call’d my fellows, and these words addrest— 
 
 My dear associates, here indulge your rest, 900 
 While, with my single ship, adventurous I 
 Go forth, the manners of yon men to try ; 
 
 Whether a race unjust, of barbarous might. 
 
 Rude, and unconscious of a stranger’s right; 
 
 Or such who harbour pity in their breast, 20 5 
 
 Revere the Gods, and succour the distrest ? 
 
 1 
 
 This said, I climb’d my vessel’s lofty side; 
 
 My train obey’d me and the ship untied. 
 
 In order seated on their banks, they sweep 209 
 Neptune's smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep. 
 When to the nearest verge of land we drew. 
 
 Fast by the nearest verge of land we flew. 
 
 High, and with darkening laurels cover’d o’er; 
 Where sheep and goats lay slumbering* round the 
 shore. 
 
 Near this, a fence of marble from the rock, 215 
 Brown with o’er-arching pine, and spreading oak. 
 A giant-shepherd here his flock maintains 
 Far from the rest, and solitary reigns, 
 
 • i . * • . k , . . » v • , 1 
 
 Ver. 194.] The full sense of his author may be thus exhi¬ 
 bited : 
 
 1 1 1 . 
 
 And noise of men ; "whilst rising smokes appear. W. 
 
330 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 In shelter thick of horrid shade reclin’d ; 
 
 And gloomy mischiefs labour in his mind. 220 
 
 A form enormous! far unlike the race 
 Of human birth, in stature, or in face; 
 
 Ver. 221. A form enormous ! far unlike the race 
 Of human birth -] 
 
 Goropius Becanus, an Antwerpian, has wrote a large 
 discourse to prove, that there never were any such men as 
 giants; contrary to the testimony both of profane and sacred 
 history: thus Moses speaks of the Rephaims of Asteroth, the 
 Zamzummims of Ham, the Emims of Moab, and Anakims of 
 Hebron. Thus Goliah must be allowed to be a giant, for he 
 was six cubits and a span, that is, nine feet and a span in 
 height. We find the like relations in profane history: Plu¬ 
 tarch in his life of Theseus says, that age was productive of 
 men of prodigious stature, giants. Thus Diodorus Siculus; 
 JEgyptii scribunt , Isidis estate , fuisse vasto corpore homines , quos 
 Greed dixere gigantes . Herodotus affirms that the body of 
 Orestes was dug up, and appeared to be seven cubits long; but 
 Aulus Gellius believes this to be an error. Josephus writes, 
 l. xviii. c. 6. that Yitellius sent a Jew named Eleazar, seven 
 cubits in height, as a present from Artabanes king of the Par- 
 thians, to Tiberius Caesar; this man was ten feet and a half 
 high. Pliny vii. 16. speaks of a man that was nine feet nine 
 inches high; and in another place, vi. 30. Sybortas , gentem 
 JEthiopum Nomadum , octona cubita longitudine excedere . It 
 may seem strange that in all ancient stories the first planters of 
 most nations are recorded to be giants ; I scarce can persuade 
 myself but such accounts are generally fabulous; and hope to 
 be pardoned for a conjecture which may give a seeming reason 
 how such stories came to prevail. The Greeks were a people 
 of very great antiquity; they made many expeditions, as ap¬ 
 pears from Jason, &$c. and sent out frequent colonies: now the 
 head of every colony was called and these adventurers 
 
 being persons of great figure in story, were recorded as men 
 of war, of might and renown, through the old world; it is 
 therefore not impossible but the Hebrews might form their word 
 Anac , from the Greek avaf, and use it to denote persons of un¬ 
 common might and abilities. These they called Anac , and 
 sons of Anac; and afterwards in a less proper sense used it to 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 331 
 
 As some lone mountain’s monstrous growth he stood, 
 Crown’d with rough thickets, and a nodding wood. 
 I left my vessel at the point of land, 225 
 
 And close to guard it, gave our crew command: 
 With only twelve the boldest and the best, 
 
 I seek the’ adventure, and forsake the rest. 
 
 Then took a goatskin fill’d with precious wine, 
 
 The gift of Maron, of Evantheus’ line, 230 y 
 (The priest of Phoebus at the’ Ismarian shrine.) j 
 In sacred shade his honour’d mansion stood 
 Amidst Apollo’s consecrated wood ; 
 
 Him, and his house, heaven mov’d my mind to save. 
 And costly presents in return he gave; 235 
 
 Seven golden talents to perfection wrought, 
 
 A silver bowl that held a copious draught. 
 
 And twelve large vessels of unmingled wine. 
 Mellifluous, undecaying, and divine ! 
 
 Which now some ages from his race conceal’d, 240 
 The hoary sire in gratitude reveal’d. 
 
 Such was the wine: to quench whose fervent steam. 
 Scarce twenty measures from the living stream 
 To cool one cup suffic’d ; the goblet crown’d 
 Breath’d aromatick fragrancies around. 245 
 
 Of this an ample vase we heav’d aboard, 
 
 And brought another with provisions stor’d. 
 
 signify men of uncommon stature, or giants. So that in this 
 sense, all nations may be said to be originally peopled by a son 
 of Anac, or a giant. But this is submitted as a conjecture to 
 the reader’s judgment. P. 
 
 Ver. 243. Scarce twenty measures from the living stream 
 
 To cool one cup siiffic'd -] 
 
 There is no wine of so strong a body as to bear such a dispro- 
 portionable quantity; but Homer amplifies the strength of it 
 to prepare the reader for its surprising effects immediately upon 
 Polypheme, P. 
 
BOOK IX 
 
 332 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 My soul foreboded I should find the bower 
 Of some fell monster, fierce with barbarous power ; 
 Some rustick wretch, who liv’d in heaven’s despight, 
 Contemning laws, and trampling on the right. 251 
 The cave we found, but vacant all within, 
 
 (His flock the giant tended on the green) 
 
 But round the grot we gaze : and all we view. 
 
 In order rang’d, our admiration drew : 255 
 
 The bending shelves with loads of cheeses prest, 
 
 4 . r 
 
 The folded flocks each separate from the rest, 
 
 (The larger here, and there the lesser lambs. 
 
 The new-fallen young here bleating for their dams; 
 The kid distinguish’d from the lambkin lies :) 260 
 
 The cavern echoes with responsive cries. 
 
 Capacious chargers all around were laid, 
 
 Full pails, and vessels of the milking trade. 
 
 With fresh provisions hence our fleet to store 
 My friends advise me, and to quit the shore; 2 6& 
 
 Or drive a flock of sheep and goats away. 
 
 Consult our safety, and put off to sea. 
 
 Their wholesome counsel rashly I declin’d. 
 
 Curious to view the man of monstrous kind. 
 
 And try what social rites a savage lends : 270 
 
 Dire rites alas ! and fatal to my friends ! 
 
 Then first a fire we kindle, and prepare 
 For his return with sacrifice and prayer. 
 
 Ver. 257.] His author dictates, The crowded flocks—. W. 
 Ver. 261.] A paltry line, interpolated by the translator. W. 
 Ver. 271.] Or thus, more agreeably to Homer’s language : 
 Sad trial , view unlovely, to my friends! W. 
 
 Ver. 272.] This devout couplet is expanded from the fol¬ 
 lowing words of his author : 
 
 A fire we lit for sacrifice. 
 
 W. 
 
ROOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 333 
 
 The loaden shelves afford us full repast; 
 
 We sit expecting. Lo ! he comes at last. 275 
 Near half a forest on his back he bore. 
 
 And cast the ponderous burden at the door. 
 
 It thunder’d as it fell. We trembled then. 
 
 And sought the deep recesses of the den. 
 
 Now driven before him, thro’ the arching rock, 280 
 Came tumbling, heaps on heaps, the’ unnumber’d 
 flock : 
 
 Big-udder’d ewes, and goats of female kind, 
 
 (The males were penn’d in outward courts behind) 
 Then, heav’d on high, a rock’s enormous weight 
 To the cave’s mouth he roll’d, and clos’d the gate. 
 (Scarce twenty four-wheel’d cars, compact and 
 
 strong, 286 
 
 The massy load could bear, or roll along.) 
 lie next betakes him to his evening cares, 
 
 And sitting down, to milk his flocks prepares; 
 
 Of half their udders eases first the dams, 290 
 
 Then to the mother’s teat submits the lambs. 
 
 Half the white stream to hardening cheese hex 
 prest, f 
 
 And high in wicker-baskets heap’d : the rest, ( 
 Reserv’d in bowls, supplied his nightly fea^t. * 
 
 IIis labour done, he fir’d the pile that gave 2 95 
 
 A sudden blaze, and lighted all the cave. 
 
 We stand discover’d by the rising fires ; 
 
 Askance the giant glares, and thus inquires. 
 
 What are ye, guests ? on what adventure, say. 
 Thus far ye wander thro’ the watery way ? 300 
 
 Pirates perhaps, who seek thro’ seas unknown 
 The lives of others, and expose your own ? 
 
334 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book i*. 
 
 His voice like thunder thro’ the cavern sounds: 
 My bold companions thrilling fear confounds. 
 Appall’d at sight of more than mortal man ! 305 
 
 At length, with heart recover’d, I began. 
 
 From Troy’s fam’d fields, sad wanderers o’er the 
 main. 
 
 Behold the relicks of the Grecian train ! 
 
 Thro’ various seas by various perils tost. 
 
 And forc’d by storms, unwilling, on your coast; 310 
 Far from our destin’d course, and native land. 
 
 Such was our fate, and such high Jove’s command ! 
 Nor what we are befits us to disclaim, 
 
 Atrides’ friends, (in arms a mighty name) 
 
 Who taught proud Troy and all her sons to bow ; 
 Victors of late, but humble suppliants now ! 316 
 
 Low at thy knee thy succour we implore; 
 
 Respect us, human, and relieve us, poor. 
 
 At least some hospitable gift bestow; 
 
 ’Tis what the happy to the unhappy owe : 320 
 
 ’Tis what the Gods require : those Gods revere. 
 The poor and stranger are their constant care ; 
 
 To Jove their cause, and their revenge belongs. 
 
 He wanders with them, and he feels their wrongs. 
 
 Fools that ye are ! (the savage thus replies, 325 
 His inw r ard fury blazing at his eyes) 
 
 Ver. 310.] This epithet umvilling, which is not furnished by 
 Homer, implies no great compliment of engaging form or agree¬ 
 able speech to soothe the formidable stranger ; and reminds me 
 of a couplet in Hudibras, part iii. cant. i. verse 1185. 
 
 Didst thou not love her then ? speak true. 
 
 No more (quoth he) than I love you . W. 
 
 Ver. 325.] Ogilby’s version of this passage bids loud defiance 
 to the delicacy of modern manners; 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 335 
 
 Or strangers, distant far from our abodes, 
 
 To bid me reverence or regard the Gods. 
 
 Know then we Cyclops are a race, above 329 
 
 Those air-bred people, and their goat-nurs’d Jove : 
 And learn, our power proceeds with thee and thine. 
 Not as he wills, but as ourselves incline. 
 
 But answer, the good ship that brought ye o’er. 
 Where lies she anchored? near, or off the shore ? 
 
 Thus he. His meditated fraud I find, 335 
 
 (Vers’d in the turns of various human kind) 
 
 And cautious, thus. Against a dreadful rock. 
 
 Fast by your shore the gallant vessel broke. 
 
 Scarce with these few I ’scap’d ; of all my train, 
 Whom angry Neptune whelm’d beneath the/ 
 main; 34° £ 
 
 The scatter’d wreck the winds blew back again. J> 
 He answer’d with his deed. His bloody hand 
 Snatch’d two, unhappy ! of my martial band ; 
 
 And dash’d like dogs against the stony floor: 344 
 
 The pavement swims with brains and mingled gore 
 Torn limb from limb, he spreads his horrid feast; 
 And fierce devours it like a mountain beast: 
 
 He sucks the marrow, and the blood he drains. 
 
 Nor entrails, flesh, nor solid bone remains. 
 
 We see the death from which we cannot move, 350 
 And humbled groan beneath the hand of Jove. 
 
 Then roughly he replied : A fool thou art, 
 
 Or stranger: I not value Gods a —. W. 
 
 Ver. 326.] This line is added by the invention of the tran¬ 
 slator. W. 
 
 Ver. 851.] Thus, conformably to the words of his author : 
 
 And stretch with tears despairing hands to Jove. W. 
 
336 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 His ample maw with human carnage fill'd, 
 
 A milky deluge next the giant swill’d; 
 
 Then stretch’d in length o’er half the cavern’d rock. 
 Lay senseless, and supine, amidst the flock. 355 
 To seize the time, and with a sudden wound 
 To fix the slumbering monster to the ground. 
 
 My soul impels me ; and in act I stand 
 To draw the sword ; but Wisdom held my hand. 
 
 A deed so rash had finish’d all our fate, 360 
 
 No mortal forces from the lofty gate 
 
 Could roll the rock. In hopeless grief we lay, 
 
 And sigh, expecting the return of day. 
 
 Now did the rosy-finger’d morn arise. 
 
 And shed her sacred light along the skies; 365 
 
 He wakes, he lights the fire, he milks the dams. 
 And to the mother’s teat submits the lambs. 
 
 The task thus finish’d of his morning hours. 
 
 Two more he snatches, murders, and devours. 369 
 Then pleas’d and whistling, drives his flock before; 
 Removes the rocky mountain from the door. 
 
 And shuts again : with equal ease dispos’d. 
 
 As a light quiver’s lid is oped and clos’d. 
 
 His giant voice the echoing region fills: 
 
 Ilis flocks, obedient, spread o’er all the hills. 375 
 Thus left behind, e’en in the last despair 
 I thought, devis’d, and Pallas heard my prayer. 
 Revenge, and doubt, and caution w r ork’d my breast; 
 But this of many counsels seem’d the best: 
 
 Ver. 374.] This embellishment is not from Homer, but Da- 
 cier: “ Faisant retentir toute la campagne du son effroyable dc 
 son chalumeau.’* W. 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 837 
 
 580 
 
 The monster’s club within the cave I spied, 
 
 A tree of stateliest growth, and yet undried. 
 
 Green from the wood; of height and bulk so vast. 
 The largest ship might claim it for a mast. 
 
 This shorten’d of its top, I gave my train 
 A fathom’s length, to shape it and to plane; 385 
 The narrower end I sharpen’d to a spire ; 
 
 Whose point we harden’d with the force of fire. 
 And hid it in the dust that strew’d the cave. 
 
 Then to my few companions, bold and brave, 389 
 Propos’d, who first the venturous deed should try ? 
 In the broad orbit of his monstrous eye 
 To plunge the brand, and twirl the pointed wood. 
 When slumber next should tame the man of blood. 
 Just as I wish’d, the lots were cast on four: 
 
 Myself the fifth. We stand and wait the hour. 395 
 He comes with evening : all his fleecy flock 
 Before him march, and pour into the rock : 
 
 Not one, or male or female staid behind ; 
 
 (So fortune chanc’d, or so some God design’d) 
 
 Ver. 382.] Our Poet much curtails his author here; of 
 whom the following version is literal: 
 
 Green from the wood; cut off to help his steps, 
 
 When dried. Our eyes it’s monst’rous bulk compar’d 
 To the tall mast of some large merchant ship. 
 
 That skims the spacious deep with twenty oars : 
 
 Such was it’s length, it’s thickness such, to view. W. 
 Ver. 398.] The proper force of his author is not to be dis¬ 
 covered through this translation. We may rectify it thus: 
 None, male or female, left he then behind; 
 
 Or from suspicion, or so some God design’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 399. Or so some God design*d*2 Ulysses ascribes it to 
 the influence of the Gods that Polypheme drives the whole flock 
 into his den, and does not separate the females from the males as 
 he-had before done; for by this accident Ulysses makes his 
 
 VOL. I. Z 
 
338 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book ix* 
 
 Then heaving high the stone’s unwieldy weight. 
 
 He roll’d it on the cave, and clos’d the gate. 401 
 First down he sits, to milk the woolly dams. 
 
 And then permits their udder to the lambs. 
 
 Next seiz’d two wretches more, and headlong cast. 
 Brain’d on the rock; his second dire repast. 40 # 
 I then approach’d him reeking with their gore. 
 
 And held the brimming goblet foaming o’er : 
 
 Cyclop! since human flesh has been thy feast. 
 
 Now drain this goblet, potent to digest: 
 
 Know hence what treasures in our ship we lost, 4 io 
 And what rich liquors other climates boast. 
 
 We to thy shore the precious freight shall bear. 
 
 If home thou send us, and vouchsafe to spare. 
 
 But oh ! thus furious, thirsting thus for gore. 
 
 The sons of men shall ne’er approach thy shore. 
 And never shalt thou taste this nectar more. 416 
 He heard, he took, and pouring down his throat 
 Delighted, swill’d the large luxurious draught. 
 
 escape, as appears from the following part of the story. Homer 
 here uses the word oiWa^Evo?, to shew the suspicion which Poly- 
 pheme might entertain that Ulysses had other companions 
 abroad who might plunder his flacks; and this gives another 
 reason why he drove them all into his cave, namely for the 
 greater security, P. 
 
 Ver. 404.] This part is very ill done : I shall attempt some¬ 
 thing more exact: 
 
 When all his work was order’d as before, 
 
 Pie snatch’d for supper two companions more. 
 
 Then to the Cyclop with these words I went. 
 
 And a full bowl of purple wine present: 
 in which effort almost every word of Homer is exhibited, without 
 interpolation. W. 
 
 Ver. 405.] A mistake of the translator. This was the third 
 meal. See verses 343 and 360. W. 
 
book ix. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 339 
 
 More! give me more., he cried: the boon be thine. 
 Whoe’er thou art that bear’st celestial wine ! 420 
 
 Declare thy name; not mortal is this juice> 
 
 Such as the’ unblest Cyclopean climes produce, 
 (Tho’ sure our vine the largest cluster yields. 
 
 And Jove’s scorn’d thunder serves to drench our 
 fields) 
 
 But this descended from the blest abodes, 425 
 
 A rill of nectar, streaming from the Gods. 
 
 He said, and greedy grasp’d the heady bowl, 
 Thrice drain’d, and pour’d the deluge on his soul. 
 His sense lay cover’d with the dozy fume ; 
 
 While thus my fraudful speech I reassume. 430 
 Thy promis’d boon, O Cyclop ! now I claim, 
 
 And plead my title : Noman is my name; 
 
 By that distinguish’d from my tender years, 
 
 ’Tis what my parents call me, and my peers. 
 
 The giant then. Our promis’d grace receive • 435 
 The hospitable boon we mean to give: 
 
 When all thy wretched crew have felt my power, 
 Noman shall be the last I will devour. 
 
 He said : then nodding with the fumes of wine 
 Dropt his huge head, and snoring lay supine. 440 
 His neck obliquely o’er his shoulders hung, 
 
 Prest with the weight of sleep that tames the strong : 
 There belcht the mingled streams of wine and blood. 
 And human flesh, his indigested food. 
 
 Sudden I stir the embers, and inspire 445 
 
 With animating breath the seeds of fire ; 
 
 Ver. 424.] He goes wide of his author here. Thus ? 
 
 And Jove’s own showers but fertilize our fields. W. 
 
340 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book ix. 
 
 Each drooping spirit with bold words repair, 
 
 And urge my train the dreadful deed to dare. 
 
 The stake now glow’d beneath the burning bed 
 (Green as it was) and sparkled fiery red. 450 
 
 Then forth the vengeful instrument I bring; 
 
 With beating hearts my fellows form a ring. 
 
 Urg’d by some present God,, they swift let fall 
 The pointed torment on his visual ball. 
 
 Myself above them from a rising ground 455 
 
 Guide the sharp stake., and twirl it round and round. 
 As when a shipwright stands his workmen o’er. 
 Who ply the wimble, some huge beam to bore ; 
 Urg’d on all hands it nimbly spins about. 
 
 The grain deep-piercing till it scoops it out: 460 
 
 In his broad eye so whirls the fiery wood; 
 
 From the pierc’d pupil spouts the boiling blood; 
 Sing’d are his brows ; the scorching lids grow black j 
 The gelly bubbles, and the fibres crack. 
 
 And as when armourers temper in the ford 465 
 The keen-edg’d pole ax, or the shining sword. 
 
 The red-hot metal hisses in the lake. 
 
 Thus in his eye-ball hiss’d the plunging stake. 
 
 He sends a dreadful groan: the rocks around 
 Thro’ all their inmost winding caves resound. 470 
 Scar’d we receded. Forth, with frantick hand 
 He tore, and dash’d on earth the gory brand : 
 
 Then calls the Cyclops, all that round him dwell. 
 With voice like thunder, and a direful yell. 
 
 From all their dens the one eyed race repair, 475 
 From rifted rocks, and mountains bleak in air. 
 
 All haste assembled, at his well-known roar. 
 Enquire the cause, and crowd the cavern door. 
 
rook ix. HOMER’s ODYSSEY/ 341 
 
 What hurts thee. Polypherne ? what strange af¬ 
 fright 479 
 
 Thus breaks our slumbers, and disturbs the night ? 
 Does any mortal in the’ unguarded hour 
 Of sleep, oppress thee, or by fraud or power ? 
 
 Or thieves insidious the fair flock surprise ? 
 
 Thus they: the Cyclop from his den replies. 
 
 Friends, Noman kills me; Noman in the hour 485 
 Of sleep, oppresses me with fraudful power. 
 
 If no man hurt thee, but the hand divine 
 
 Inflict disease, it fits thee to resign : 
 
 To Jove or to thy father Neptune pray:” 
 
 The brethren cried, and instant strode away. 490 
 
 Joy touch’d my secret soul, and conscious heart. 
 Pleas’d with the’ effect of conduct and of art. 
 Meantime the Cyclop, raging with his wound. 
 Spreads his wide arms, and searches round and round: 
 At last, the stone removing from the gate, 495 
 With hands extended in the midst he sat: 
 
 And search’d each passing sheep, and felt it o’er. 
 Secure to seize us ere we reach’d the door, 
 
 Ver. 489.] His author dictates this: 
 
 Come , to thy father, sovereign Neptune, pray. W. 
 
 Ver. 491.] A very meagre couplet. On Ogilhy’s rhymes 
 may be constructed a better, and one literally faithful: 
 
 My secret soul with conscious rapture smil’d, 
 
 That thus the name and artful scheme beguil’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 495.- The stone removing from thegate.~\ This con¬ 
 
 duct of Polypheme may seem very absurd, and it looks to be im-< 
 probable that he should not call the other giants to assist him, in 
 the detection of the persons who had taken his sight from him ; 
 especially when it was now day-light, and they at hand. Eusta¬ 
 thius was aware of the objection, and imputes it to his folly and 
 dulness. V, 
 
342 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 (Such as his shallow wit, he deem’d was mine) 
 
 But secret I revolv’d the deep design ; 500 
 
 ’Twas for our lives my labouring bosom wrought; 
 Each scheme I turn’d, and sharpen’d every thought; 
 This way and that, I cast to save my friends, 
 
 ’Till one resolve my varying counsel ends. 
 
 Strong were the rams, with native purple fair, 505 
 Well fed, and largest of the fleecy care. 
 
 These three and three, with osier bands we tied, 
 (The twining bands the Cyclop’s bed supplied) 
 
 The midmost bore a man ; the outward two 
 Secur’d each side : so bound we all the crew. 510 
 One ram remain’d, the leader of the flock ; 
 
 In his deep fleece my grasping hands I lock. 
 
 And fast beneath, in wooly curls inwove. 
 
 There cling implicit, and confide in Jove. 
 
 When rosy morning glimmer’d o’er the dales, 515 
 He drove to pasture all the lusty males : 
 
 The ewes still folded, with distended thighs 
 Unmilk’d, lay bleating in distressful cries. 
 
 But heedless of those cares, with anguish stung, 
 
 He felt their fleeces as they pass’d along. 520 
 
 (Fool that he was) and let them safely go. 
 
 All unsuspecting of their freight below. 
 
 The master ram at last approach’d the gate. 
 Charg’d with his wool, and with Ulysses’ fate. 
 
 Ver. 514 .] The latter clause is interpolated, as furnishing a 
 ready rhyme. I shali venture on a substitution, more nearly 
 expressive of Homer’s language: 
 
 There cling beneath, in woolly curls inivcin'd ; 
 
 And call up all the patience of my mind. W. 
 
 Ver. 515.] Before this verse our translator has omitted the 
 following : 
 
 Thus the bless’d morn we wait with groaning hearts. W. 
 
book ix. HOMEIi’s ODYSSEY. 343 
 
 Him while he past the monster blind bespoke: 525 
 
 What makes my ram the lag of all the flock ? 
 
 First thou wert wont to crop the flowery mead, 
 First to the field and river’s bank to lead ; 
 
 And first with stately step at evening hour 
 Thy fleecy fellows usher to their bower. 530 
 
 Now far the last, with pensive pace and slow 
 Thou mov’st, as conscious of thy master’s woe ! 
 Seest thou these lids that now unfold in vain ? 
 
 (The deed of Noman and his wicked train) 
 
 Oh ! didst thou feel for thy afflicted Lord, 535 
 And would but Fate the power of speech afford ; 
 Soon might’st thou tell me, where in secret here 
 The dastard lurks, all trembling with his fear : 
 Swung round and round, and dash’d from rock to 
 rock. 
 
 His batter’d brains should on the pavement smoke. 
 No ease, no pleasure my sad heart receives, 541 
 While such a monster as vile Noman lives. 
 
 The giant spoke, and thro’ the hollow rock 
 Dismiss’d the ram, the father of the flock. 
 
 No sooner freed, and thro’ the’ enclosure past, 545 
 First I release myself, my fellows last; 
 
 Fat sheep and goats in throngs we drive before. 
 And reach our vessel on the winding shore. 
 
 With joy the sailors view their friends return’d. 
 And hail us living whom as dead they mourn’d. 550 
 J 3 ig tears of transport stand in every eye : 
 
 I check their fondness, and command to fly. 
 
 Ver. 547.] Thus, precisely : 
 
 We drive the sheep, by circuit 'wide , before.. W. 
 
344 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book rx. 
 
 Aboard in haste they heave the wealthy sheep. 
 
 And snatch their oars, and rush into the deep. 
 
 Now off at sea, and from the shallows clear, 555 
 As far as human voice could reach the ear ; 
 
 With taunts the distant giant I accost, 
 
 Hear me, oh Cyclop! hear ungracious host! 
 
 *Twas on no coward, no ignoble slave. 
 
 Thou meditat’st thy meal in yonder cave ; 560 
 
 But one, the vengeance fated from above 
 Doom'd to inflict; the instrument of Jove. 
 
 Thy barbarous breach of hospitable bands. 
 
 The God, the God revenges by my hands. 
 
 These words the Cyclop’s burning rage provoke: 
 From the tall hill he rends a pointed rock; 565 
 
 High o’er the billows flew the massy load. 
 
 And near the ship came thundering on the flood. 
 
 It almost brush’d the helm, and fell before : 
 
 The whole sea shook, and refluent beat the shore. 570 
 The strong concussion on the heaving tide 
 Roll’d back the vessel to the island’s side: 
 
 Again I shov’d her off; our fate to fly. 
 
 Each nerve we stretch, and every oar we ply. 
 
 Just ’scap’d impending death, when now again 575 
 We twice as far had furrow’d back the main, 
 
 Once more X raise my voice; my friends afraid. 
 With mild entreaties my design dissuade. 
 
 What boots the godless giant to provoke. 
 
 Whose arm may sink us at a single stroke ? 5$0 
 
 Ver. 559.] Our Poet exhibits a wrong conception of his 
 author. The subjoined attempt is exact: 
 
 Thij lawlessJorce devour'd in yonder cave 
 
 The dear companions of no coward slave. W. 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 345 
 
 Already, when the dreadful rock he threw. 
 
 Old Ocean shook, and back his surges flew. 
 
 The sounding voice directs his aim again; 
 
 The rock o’er whelms us, and we 'scap’d in vain. 
 
 Rut I, of mind elate, and scorning fear, sss 
 Thus with new taunts insult the monster’s ear. 
 Cyclop ! if any, pitying thy disgrace. 
 
 Ask who disfigur’d thus that eyeless face ? 
 
 Say ’twas Ulysses; ’twas his deed, declare, 
 
 Laertes’ son, of Ithaca the fair ; 590 
 
 Ulysses, far in fighting fields renown’d. 
 
 Before whose arm Troy tumbled to the ground. 
 
 The’ astonish’d savage with a roar replies : 
 
 Oh heavens ! oh faith of antient prophecies ! 
 
 This, Telemus Eurymedes foretold, 59s 
 
 (The mighty seer who on these hills grew old; 
 Skill’d the dark fates of mortals to declare. 
 
 And learn’d in all wing’d omens of the air) 
 
 Long since he menac’d, such was Fate’s command; 
 And nam’d Ulysses as the destin’d hand. Goo 
 
 Ver. 584.] Our translator might have included the whole 
 sense of his author in a triplet: 
 
 The rock overtakes us, and we ’scap’d in vain ; 
 
 Ourselves and vessel dash’d , and plung’d beneath the main . W. 
 Ver. 592.] His author gives no specification, thus : 
 
 Whose prowess tumbles cities to the ground. W. 
 
 Ver. 595. This , Telemus Eurymedes foretold .] This incident 
 sufficiently shews the use of that dissimulation which enters into 
 the character of Ulysses: if he had discovered his name, the 
 Cyclop had destroyed him as his most dangerous enemy. P. 
 
 Ver. 596.] These three verses are expanded from the follow¬ 
 ing portion of his original; 
 
 -who in prophecy excell’d, 
 
 And here grew old in practice of his art. W, 
 
346 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book ix. 
 
 I deem’d some godlike giant to behold. 
 
 Or lofty hero, haughty, brave, and bold ; 
 
 Not this weak pigmy wretch, of mean design. 
 
 Who not by strength subdued me, but by wine. 
 
 But come, accept our gifts, and join to pray 605 
 Great Neptune’s blessing on the watery way : 
 
 For his I am, and I the lineage own; 
 
 The’ immortal father no less boasts the son. 
 
 His power can heal me, and re-light my eye; 
 
 And only his, of all the Gods on high. 610 
 
 Oh ! could this arm (I thus aloud rejoin’d) 
 
 From that vast bulk dislodge thy bloody mind, 
 
 And send thee howling to the realms of night. 
 
 As sure, as Neptune cannot give thee sight! 
 
 Thus I; whilst raging he repeats his cries, 615 
 With hands uplifted to the starry skies. 
 
 Hear me, oh Neptune ! thou whose arms are hurl’d 
 From shore to shore, and gird the solid world. 
 
 Ver. 601.] Thus, more faithfully : 
 
 I deem’d some noble hero to behold, 
 
 Of size mnjesliclc , comely , strongs and bold. W. 
 
 Ver. 603. Not this iveak pigmy ivretch -] This is spoken 
 
 in compliance with the character of a giant; the Phaeacians 
 wondered at the manly stature of Ulysses ; Polypheme speaks of 
 him as a dwarf; his rage undoubtedly made him treat him with 
 so much contempt. Nothing in nature can be better imagined 
 than this story of the Cyclops, if we consider the assembly before 
 which it was spoken; I mean the Phaeacians, who had been 
 driven from their habitation by the Cyclopeans, as appears from 
 the sixth book of the Odyssey, and compelled to make a new 
 settlement in their present country: Ulysses gratifies them by 
 shewing what revenge he took upon one of their antient enemies, 
 and they could not decently refuse assistance to a person, w T ho 
 had punished those who had insulted their forefathers. P. 
 
 Ver. 61*\ The prayer of the Cyclop .] This is a master-piece 
 of art in Ulysses; he shews Neptune to be his enemy, which 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 34? 
 
 If thine I am ; nor thou my birth disown,, 
 
 And if the’ unhappy Cyclop be thy son ; 620 
 
 Let not Ulysses breathe his native air, 
 
 Laertes’ son, of Ithaca the fair. 
 
 If to review his country be his fate. 
 
 Be it thro’ toils and sufferings, long and late ; 
 
 His lost companions let him first deplore ; 625 
 
 Some vessel, not his own, transport him o’er ; 
 
 And when at home from foreign sufferings freed. 
 More near and deep, domestick woes succeed 1 
 
 With imprecations thus he fill’d the air. 
 
 And angry Neptune heard the’ unrighteous prayer. 
 A larger ro< k then heaving from the plain, 631 
 
 He whirl’d it round : it sung across the main : 
 
 It fell, and brush’d the stern : the billows roar, 
 Shake at the weight, and refluent beat the shore. 
 
 might deter the Phaeacians from assisting in his transportation, 
 yet brings this very circumstance as an argument to induce them 
 to it. 0 Neptune , says the Cyclop , destroy Ulysses , or if he be 
 fated to return , may it be in a vessel not of his own ! Here he 
 plainly tells the Pbaeacians, that the prayer of the Cyclop was 
 almost accomplished, for his own ships were destroyed by Nep¬ 
 tune, and now he was ready to sail in a foreign vessel; by which 
 the whole prayer would be compleated. By this he persuades 
 them, that they were the people ordained by the Fates to land 
 him in his own country. P. 
 
 His original may be fully rendered thus : 
 
 Thou, Neptune ! hear, whose liquid arms are hurl’d, 
 God with green tresses ! round the solid world. W. 
 
 Yer. 624.] Thus, more precisely ; 
 
 Be it thro* sufferings dire, and be it late. W. 
 
 Ver. 627.] Homer says only, 
 
 t- -and havoc find at home. W. 
 
348 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book ix. 
 
 With all our force we kept aloof to sea, 635 
 
 And gain’d the island where our vessels lay. 
 
 Our sight the whole collected navy cheer’d. 
 
 Who, waiting long, by turns had hoped and fear’d. 
 There disembarking on the green sea side. 
 
 We land our cattle, and the spoil divide : 6 40 
 
 Of these due shares to every sailor fall; 
 
 The master ram was voted mine by all; 
 
 And him (the guardian of Ulysses’ fate) 
 
 With pious mind to heaven I consecrate. 
 
 But the great God, whose thunder rends the skies. 
 Averse, beholds the smoking sacrifice ; 646 
 
 And sees me wandering still from coast to coast; 
 And all my vessels, all my people, lost! 
 
 While thoughtless we indulge the genial rite. 
 
 As plenteous cates and flowing bowls invite ; 650 
 'Till evening Phoebus roll’d away the light: 
 Stretch’d on the shore in careless ease we rest, 
 
 'Till ruddy morning purpled o’er the east. 
 
 Then from their anchors all our ships unbind. 
 
 And mount the decks, and call the willing wind. 655 
 
 Ver. 635.] The rhyme is insufferable, and the sentiment 
 unknown to his author here. The following substitution is 
 faithful: 
 
 The surge ahsorht us backward in the lay . 
 
 At length the island, where our vessels lay. 
 
 We gain’d: our sight the crews collected cheer’d—. W, 
 Ver. 645.] Our Poet, to be accurate, should have written 
 thus: 
 
 With pious mind to Jove I consecrate. 
 
 That sovereign God, whose clouds involve the skies—. W. 
 Ver. 654.] Or thus, without interpolated thoughts : 
 
 Without delay my comrades I command, 
 
 To mount the decks, and loose the ship from land. W. 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 349 
 
 Now rang’d in order on our banks, we sweep 
 With hasty strokes the hoarse-resounding deep ! 
 Blind to the future., pensive with our fears. 
 
 Glad for the living, for the dead in tears. 
 
 The book concludes with a testimony of this hero’s humanity; 
 in the midst of the joy for his own safety his generous heart finds 
 room for a tender sentiment for the loss of his companions; both 
 his joys and his sorrows are commendable and virtuous. 
 
 Virgil has borrowed this episode of Polyphemus, and inserted 
 it into the third of the iEneis. I will not presume to decide 
 which author has the greatest success, they both have their 
 peculiar excellencies. Rapin confesses this episode to be equal 
 to any part of the Iliad, that it is an original, and that Homer 
 introduced that monstrous character to shew the marvellous, 
 and paint it in a new set of colours. Demetrius Phalereus 
 calls it a piece of sublime strangely horrible; and Longinus, 
 even while he is condemning the Odyssey, allows this adven¬ 
 ture of Polypheme to be very great and beautiful; (for so 
 Monsieur Boileau understands Longinus, though Monsieur Da- 
 cier differs from his judgment.) In Homer we find a greater va¬ 
 riety of natural incidents than in Virgil, but in Virgil a greater 
 pomp of verse. Homer is not uniform in his description, but 
 sometimes stoops perhaps below the dignity of epick poetry; Vir¬ 
 gil walks along with an even, grave, and majestick pace : they 
 both raise our admiration, mixed with delight and terror. P. 
 

 
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 TENTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
f 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 ADVENTURES WITH iEOLUS, THE L/ESTRIGONS, AND CIRCE. 
 
 ULYSSES arrives at the island of AEolus, who 
 gives him prosperous winds, and incloses the ad- 
 verse ones in a bag, which his companions untying, 
 they are driven back again and rejected. Then 
 they sail to the Lcestrigons, where they lose eleven 
 ships, and with one only remaining, proceed to 
 the island of Circe. Eurylochus is sent first with 
 some companions, all which, except Eurylochus, 
 are transformed into swine, Ulysses then under¬ 
 takes the adventure , and by the help of Mercury, 
 who gives him the herb Moly, overcomes the En¬ 
 chantress, and procures the restoration of his 
 men. After a year’s stay with her, he prepares at 
 her instigation for his voyage to the infernal 
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NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 \ 
 
 POETRY is a mixture of History and Fable ; the foundation 
 is historical, because the Poet does not entirely neglect truth; 
 the rest is fabulous, because naked truth would not be sufficiently 
 Surprising; for the marvellous ought to take place, especially in 
 epick poetry. But it maybe asked, does not Homer offend against 
 fell degrees of probability in these Episodes of the Sirens, Scylla 
 and Charybdis, Cyclops and Antiphates ? Flow are these in¬ 
 credible stories to be reduced into the bounds of probability ? 
 It is true, the marvellous ought to be used in epick Poetry ; but 
 ought it to transgress all power of belief? Aristotle in his Art 
 of Poetry lays down a rule to justify these incidents : A Poet , 
 says that author, ought to 'prefer things impossible, provided they 
 are probable, before things possible, that are nevertheless incredi¬ 
 ble. Chap. xv. This rule is not without obscurity; but Mon¬ 
 sieur Dacier has explained it in his Annotations upon that au¬ 
 thor: a thing may be impossible, and yet probable: thus when 
 the Poet introduces a Deity, any incident humanly impossible 
 receives a full probability by being ascribed to the skill and 
 power of a God; it is thus we justify the story of the transfor¬ 
 mation of the ship of the Phacacians into a rock, and the fleet 
 of JEneas into sea-nymphs. But such relations ought not to be 
 too frequent in a poem ; for it is an established rule, that all in¬ 
 cidents which require a divine probability only, should be so 
 disengaged from the action, that they may be subtracted from 
 it without destroying it; for instance, if we omit the transforma¬ 
 tion of the ship, the action of the Odyssey will retain the same 
 perfection. And therefore those episodes which are necessary, 
 and make essential parts of the poem, ought to be grounded 
 upon human probability ; now the episodes of Circe, Polypheme, 
 the Sirens, &c. are necessary to the action of the Odyssey: but 
 will any man say they are within the bounds of human probabi¬ 
 lity ? How then shall we solve this difficulty ? Homer artificially 
 has brought them within the degrees of it; lie makes Ulysses 
 relate them before a credulous and ignorant assembly; he lets 
 us into the character of the Phseacians, by saying they were a 
 very dull nation, in the sixth book. 
 
 Where never Science rear’d her laurel’d head. 
 
 It is thus the Poet gives probability to his fables, by reciting 
 them to a people who believed them, and who through a laziness 
 
 Aa % 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 of life were fond of romantick stories; he adapts himself to his 
 audience, and yet even here he is not unmindful of his more in¬ 
 telligent readers: he gives them, (observes Bossu) in these fa¬ 
 bles all the pleasure that can be reaped from physical or moral 
 truths, disguised under miraculous allegories, and by this method 
 reconciles them to poetical probability. 
 
 There are several heads to which probability may be reduced; 
 either to divinity, and then nothing is improbable, for every 
 thing is possible to a Deity; or to our ideas of things whether 
 true or false: thus in the descent of Ulysses into hell, there is 
 not one word of probability or historick truth; but if we exa¬ 
 mine it by the ideas that the old world entertained of hell, it 
 becomes probable; or lastly^, we may have respect to vulgar 
 opinion or fame ; for a Poet is at liberty to relate a falsehood, 
 provided it be commonly believed to be true. We might have 
 recourse to this last rule, which is likewise laid down by Aris¬ 
 totle, to vindicate the Odyssey, if there were occasion for it; 
 for in all ages such fables have found belief. 
 
 I will only add, that Virgil has given a sanction to these sto¬ 
 ries, by inserting them in his iEneis ; and Horace calls them by 
 the remarkable epithet of specious miracles. 
 
 (( -Ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat; 
 
 Antiphaten, Scyllamque et cum Cyclope Charybdim.” 
 Longinus calls these fables dreams, but adds, that they are the 
 dreams of Jupiter; he likewise blames those episodes, because 
 in all of them there is much more fable and narration than ac¬ 
 tion : which criticism may perhaps be too severe, if we consider 
 that past adventures are here brought into present use, and 
 though they be not actions, yet they are the representations of 
 actions, agreeable to the nature of episodes. 
 
 It may be questioned if Virgil is so happy in the choice of the 
 audience to which he relates many of these fables ; the Cartha¬ 
 ginians were not ignorant like the Phseacians: from whence then 
 do his stories receive their probability ? It is not so easy to an¬ 
 swer this objection, unless we have recourse to common fame ; 
 
 / , , 
 
 Virgil was not the author of them, Homer had established them, 
 and brought them into fame, so that Virgil had common opinion 
 to vindicate him, joined with Homer’s authority. P, 
 
THE 
 
 TENTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 AT length we reach'd iEoIla’s sea-girt shore y 
 Where great Hippotades the sceptre bore, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 1. We reach'd JEolia's shore . J It is difficult to distinguish' 
 wliat is truth from what is fiction in this relation: Diodorus, who 
 was a Sicilian, speaks of AEolus, and refers to this passage :— 
 “ This is that iEolus,” says he, “ who entertained Ulysses in his 
 “ voyages: he is reported to have been a pious and just prince, 
 “ and given to hospitality, and therefore tpfaoq uQy»*Ton, as Homer 
 “ expresses it.” But whence has the fable of his being the 
 governor of the winds taken its foundation . ? Eustathius tells us, 
 that he was a very wise man, and one who from long observation 
 could foretel what weather was like to follow: others say he was 
 an astronomer, and studied chiefly the nature of the winds >* 
 and as Atlas, from his knowledge in astrology, was said to sustain 
 the heavens ; so iEolus, from his experience and observation, was 
 fabled to be the ruler or disposer of the winds. But w r hat expli¬ 
 cation can be given of this bag, in which he is said to bind the 
 winds ? Eratosthenes, continues Eustathius, said pleasantly, that 
 we shall then find the places where Ulysses voyaged, when we 
 have discovered the artist, or cobler, rov o-y.UTtu, who sewed up 
 this bag of the winds. But the reason of the fiction is supposed 
 
358 
 
 IIOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 A floating isle ! higli-rais’d by toil divine. 
 
 Strong walls of brass the rocky coast confine. 
 
 to be this: JEoIus taught the use and management of sails, and 
 having foretold Ulysses from what quarter the winds would blow, 
 he may be said to have gathered them into a kind of enclosure, 
 and retained them as use should require. Diodorus explains it 
 a little differently, lib. v. “ He taught the use of sails, and liav- 
 ‘‘ ing learned from observing the bearing of the smoke and fires 
 u (ofthose Vulcanian islands) what winds would blow, he usu- 
 “ ally foretold them with exactness, and from hence he is fabled 
 “ to be the disposer of the winds.” The words of Varro, 
 quoted by Servius, are to the same purpose. 
 
 Polybius will not admit that this story of iEolus is entirely 
 fable; and Strabo is of the same opinion, that Ulysses was in 
 the Sicilian seas ; and that there was such a king as .Eolus, he 
 affirms to be truth ; but that he met with such adventures is, in 
 the main, fiction. There may another reason, as Eustathius ob¬ 
 serves, be given for the fiction of binding up the winds in a bag: 
 they who practised the art of incantation or charms, made use 
 of the skin of a dolphin, and pretended by certain ceremonies 
 to bind or loose the winds as they pleased ; and this practice is 
 a sufficient ground to build upon in poetry. 
 
 The solution also of Bochart is worth our notice: Homer bor¬ 
 rowed the word A’loX from the Phoenician Aol , which signifies a 
 whirlwind or tempest, from whence the Greeks formed their word 
 uihXoi ; the Phoenicians observing the king of this island to be very 
 expert in foretelling the winds, called him king Aolin, or king 
 of the winds and storms ; from hence Homer formed a proper 
 name, and called him A U\o$. It must be confessed, that this 
 solution is ingenious, and not without an appearance of proba¬ 
 bility. 
 
 But, having laid together what may be rgid in vindication of 
 this story of Eolus, Justice requires that I should not suppress 
 what has been objected against it by no less a critick than 
 Longinus: he observes that a genius naturally lofty sometimes 
 falls into trifling; an instance of this, adds he, is what Homer 
 $ays of the bag wherein Eolus inclosed the winds. Cap. vii. 
 
 v « *> ** T> 
 
 <arcpi vy/n;. -r. 
 
 Ver. 3. A floating isle —] The word in the original is 'zaXury : 
 some take it, as Eustathius remarks, for a proper name; but 
 Aristarchus believes Homer intended to express by it a floating 
 
\ 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 359 
 
 Six blooming youths,, in private grandeur bred, 5 
 And six fair daughters, graced the royal bed: 
 
 island, that was frequently removed by concussions and earth¬ 
 quakes, for it is seen sometimes on the right, at other times on 
 the left hand: the like has been said of Delos ; and Herodotus 
 thus describes the island Echemis in the ^Egyptian seas. Dio¬ 
 nysius, in his <Erip>j 7 »}<TK, affirms, that this island is not called by 
 the name of 'toAwt»?, by reason of its floating, but because it is an 
 island of fame, and much sailed unto, or 'n'huw, by navigators; 
 that is, or tv tottok <m\to[A,stoK; or lying in seas of 
 
 great navigation. These islands were seven in number, (but 
 eleven at this day) Strongyle, Hiera, Didyme, Hicesia, Lipara, 
 Erycodes, and Phsenicodes, all lying in the Sicilian seas, as 
 Diodorus Siculus testifies ; but differs in the name of one of the 
 islands. Strabo is of opinion, that the island called by Homer, 
 the iEolian, is Strongyle. “ 1 his island Strongyle abounds with 
 “ subterraneous fires, &c. and here AEolus is said to have 
 “ reigned.” Pliny agrees with Strabo, lib. iii. but Dacier un« 
 derstands it to be Lipara, according to Virgil, iEn. lib. viii. but 
 in reality the seven were all called the iEolian islands. 
 
 But why is it fabled to be surrounded with a wall of brass ? 
 Eustathius says, that this may proceed from its being almost 
 inaccessible ; but this reason is not sufficient to give foundation 
 to such a fiction. Dacier observes that it is thus described, be¬ 
 cause of the subterranean fires, which from time to time break 
 out from the entrails of this island. Aristotle speaking of Li¬ 
 para, which is the most considerable of the iEolian islands, thus 
 describes it: “ All night long the island of Lipara appears en- 
 “ lightened with fires.” The same relation agrees with Stron¬ 
 gyle, called Strombolo at this day. 
 
 I will take the liberty to propose a conjecture, which may 
 perhaps not unhappily give a reason of this fiction of the wall of 
 brass, from this description of Aristotle : all night fires appear 
 (says that author) from this island, and these fires falling upon 
 the seas, might cast a ruddy reflection round the island, which 
 to navigators might look like a wall of brass enclosing it. This 
 is but a conjecture drawn from appearances; but to write ac¬ 
 cording to appearances is allowable in poetry, where a seeming 
 or a real truth may be used indifferently. P. 
 
 Ver. 5. Six blooming youths—and sixjair daughters .] Dio¬ 
 dorus Siculus mentions the names of the six sons of /Eolus, but 
 
 I 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 360 
 
 These sons their sisters wed, and all remain 
 Their parents’ pride, and pleasure of their reign. 
 
 All day they feast, all day the bowls flow round. 
 
 And joy and musick thro" the isle resound : 10 
 
 is silent concerning his daughters, and therefore others, who 
 Can find mysteries in the plainest description, assure us, that 
 this is not to be understood historically, but allegorically: iEolus 
 represents the year, his twelve children are the twelve months, 
 six of which are female, to denote those six months in which the 
 earth brings forth her fruits ; by his six sons the other mo'nths 
 are understood, in which the seed is sown, or in which the herbs, 
 fruits, &c. are nourished in order to production; these may 
 therefore be called males. But this is to darken an author into 
 mystery, not to explain him. Dacier gives us another allegori¬ 
 cal interpretation: the Poet makes him the governor of the 
 winds, and gives him twelve children, these denote the twelve 
 principal winds ; half of which children are males, half females; 
 the males denote the winter winds, which as it were brood upon 
 the earth, and generate its increase ; the females those warmer 
 seasons of the year, when the more prolifick winds blow, and 
 make the earth teem with fruitfulness : these children of iEolus 
 are in continual feasts in his palace; that is, the winds are con¬ 
 tinually fed by the exhalations from the earth, which may be 
 called their food or nourishment: the brothers and sisters in¬ 
 termarry ; this denotes the nature of the winds, which blow pro¬ 
 miscuously, and one wind unites itself with another from all 
 quarters of the world indifferently : the brothers and sisters are 
 said to sleep by night together; that is, the winds are usually 
 still and calm, and as it were rest together, at that season. But 
 what occasion is there to have recourse to an uncertain allegory, 
 when such great names as Polybius, Strabo, and Diodorus assure 
 us, that this relation is in part true history; and if there was 
 really such a king as Aeolus, why might he not be a father of 
 six sons and as many daughters ? I should prefer a plain history 
 to a dark allegory. P. 
 
 Ver. 7.] More distinctly perhaps: 
 
 These, wedded to the sons, at home , remain. W. 
 
 Ver. lO.] I know not what could lead him to this needless 
 deviation. His author dictates: 
 
 And joy and music thro’ the dome resound 
 
 W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 361 
 
 At night each pair on splendid carpets lay. 
 
 And crown'd with love the pleasures of the day. 
 
 This happy port affords our wandering fleet 
 A month’s reception, and a safe retreat. 
 
 Full oft’ the monarch urg’d me to relate 15 
 
 The fall of Ilion, and the Grecian fate ; 
 
 Full oft’ I told : at length for parting mov’d ; 
 
 The king with mighty gifts my suit approv’d. 
 
 The adverse winds in leathern bags he brac’d. 
 Compress’d their force, and lock’d each struggling 
 blast : 20 
 
 For him the mighty Sire of Gods assign’d 
 The tempest’s lord, the tyrant of the wind ; 
 
 His word alone the listening storms obey. 
 
 To smooth the deep, or swell the foamy sea. 
 
 These in my hollow ship the monarch hung, 25 
 Securely fetter’d by a silver thong; 
 
 But Zephyrus exempt, with friendly gales 
 He charg’d to fill, and guide the swelling sails : > 
 
 Rare gift! but oh, what gift to fools avails ! ) 
 
 Nine prosperous days we plied the labouring oar ; 
 The tenth presents our welcome native shore : 31 
 
 The hills display the beacon’s friendly light. 
 
 And rising mountains gain upon our sight. 
 
 Then first my eyes, by watchful toils opprest. 
 Complied to take the balmy gifts of rest; 3.5 
 
 Ver. 32. The hills display the beacon's friendly light .] Eusta¬ 
 thius observes, that these fires were a kind of beacons kept con¬ 
 tinually burning to direct navigators ; the smoke gave notice by 
 day, the light of the flame by night. Ithaca was environed with 
 rocks, and consequently there was a necessity for this care, to 
 guide seafaring men to avoid these rocks, and to point out the 
 places of landing with security, P, 
 
362 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BOOR X. 
 
 Then first my hands did from the rudder part, 
 
 (So much the love of home possess’d my heart) 
 When lo ! on board a fond debate arose ; 
 
 What rare device those vessels might enclose ? 
 What sum, what prize from iEolus I brought? 40 
 Whilst to his neighbour each express’d his thought. 
 
 Say, whence, ye Gods, contending nations strive 
 Who most shall please, who most our hero give ? 
 Long have his coffers groan’d with Trojan spoils; 
 Whilst we, the wretched partners of his toils, 45 
 Reproach’d by want, our fruitless labours mourn. 
 And only rich in barren fame return. 
 
 Now iEolus, ye see, augments his store: 
 
 But come my friends, these mystick gifts explore. 
 They said : and (oh curs’d fate !) the thongs un¬ 
 bound 1 50 
 
 The gushing tempest sweeps the ocean round ; 
 Snatch’d in the whirl, the hurried navy flew. 
 
 The ocean widen'd, and the shores withdrew". 
 Rous’d from my fatal sleep, I long debate 
 If still to live, or desperate plunge to fate : 55 
 
 Thus doubting*, prostrate on the deck I lay, 
 
 ’Till all the coward thoughts of death gave way. 
 
 Ver. 50. They said: and (oh curs'dfate !) the thongs unbound,'] 
 This relation has been blamed as improbable; what occasion was 
 there to unbind the bag, when these companions of Ulysses might 
 have satisfied their curiosity that there was no treasure in it from 
 the lightness of it ? But Homer himself obviates this objection, 
 by telling us that iEolus fastened it in the vessel, as Eustathius 
 observes. P. 
 
 Ver. 57.] For this line Homer says only. 
 
 But resolute I bore. W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 363 
 
 Meanwhile our vessels plough the liquid plain, 
 And soon the known /Eolian coast regain ; v 
 
 Our groans the rocks remurmur’d to the main. 6oJ 
 We leap’d on shore, and with a scanty feast 
 Our thirst and hunger hastily repress’d; 
 
 That done, two chosen heralds strait attend 
 Our second progress to my royal friend ; 
 
 And him amidst his jovial sons we found ; 65 
 
 The banquet steaming, and the goblets crown’d : 
 There humbly stopp’d with conscious shame and awe. 
 Nor nearer than the gate presum’d to draw. 
 
 But soon his sons their well-known guest descried. 
 And starting from their couches loudly cried, 70 
 Ulysses here ! what demon couldst thou meet 
 To thwart thy passage, and repel thy fleet ? 
 
 Wast thou not furnish’d by our choicest care 
 For Greece, for home, and all thy soul held dear! 
 Thus they; in silence long my fate I mourn’d, 75 
 At length these words with accent low return’d. 
 
 Me, lock’d in sleep, my faithless crew bereft 
 Of all the blessings of your god-like gift! 
 
 But grant, oh grant our loss we may retrieve ; 
 
 A favour you, and you alone can give. so 
 
 Ver. 60.] Our translator has here interwoven his favourite 
 thought: for his original had simply given, 
 
 -and my comrades groan'd. W. 
 
 Ver. 67.] Our Poet indulges his fancy here. These Jour 
 verses correspond to the subjoined tivo of Homer: 
 
 Come to the mansion, by the threshold posts 
 We sate: amaz’d they view’d, and thus enquir’d. W. 
 Ver. 75.] This couplet is amplified, with misrepresentation, 
 from the following line: 
 
 Thus they : and I, with sorrow wrung, replied. W. 
 
364 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 Thus I with art to move their pity tried, 
 
 And touch’d the youths; but their stern sire replied. 
 Vile wretch, be gone! this instant I command 
 Thy fleet accurs’d to leave our hallow’d land. 
 
 His baneful suit pollutes these bless’d abodes, s 5 
 
 Whose fate proclaims him hateful to the Gods. 
 
 Thus fierce he said : we sighing* went our way. 
 And with desponding hearts put off to sea. 
 
 The sailors spent with toils their folly mourn. 
 
 But mourn in vain; no prospect of return. 90 
 Six days and nights a doubtful course we steer, 1 
 The next proud Lamos’ stately towers appear, > 
 And Laestrigonia’s gates arise distinct in air. J 
 The shepherd quitting here at night the plain, 
 .Calls, to succeed his cares, the watchful swain ; 95 
 
 Ver. 83. Vile wretch, begone /] This unhospitable character 
 of iEolus may seem contrary to the humane disposition which 
 Homer before ascribed to him; he therefore tells us, that Ulysses 
 appeared to him to be an object of divine vengeance, and that 
 to give him assistance would be to act against the will of the 
 Gods. But, observes Eustathius, is not this an ill-chosen rela¬ 
 tion to be made to the Phaeacians, as the Criticks have re¬ 
 marked, and might it not deter them from assisting a man 
 whom iEolus had rejected as an enemy to the Gods ? He an¬ 
 swers, that it was evident to the Phaeacians, that Ulysses was 
 no longer under the displeasure of heaven, that the impreca¬ 
 tions of Polypheme were fulfilled; he being to be transported 
 to his own country by strangers, according to his prayer in the 
 ninth of the Odyssey, and consequently the Phaeacians have 
 nothing to fear from the assistance which they lend Ulysses. P. 
 
 Ver. 94. The shepherd quitting here at night the plain , &c.] 
 This passage has been thought to be very difficult; but Eusta¬ 
 thius makes it intelligible: the land of the Laestrigons was 
 fruitful, and fit for pasturage; it was the practice to tend the 
 sheep by day, and the oxen by night; for it was infested by a 
 kind of fly that was very grievous to the oxen by day, whereas 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 365 
 
 But he that scorns the chains of sleep to wear. 
 And adds the herdsman's to the shepherd's care. 
 
 the wool of the sheep defended them from it: and therefore 
 the shepherds drove their oxen to pasture by night. If the 
 same shepherd who watched the sheep by day, could pass the 
 night without sleep, and attend the oxen, he performed a dou¬ 
 ble duty, and consequently merited a double reward. Homer 
 says, that the ways of the night and daj' were near to each 
 other, that is, the pastures of the sheep and oxen, and the 
 ways that led to them were adjacent; for the shepherd that 
 drove his flocks home> could call to the herdsman, who drove 
 his herds to pasture, and be heard with ease, and therefore the 
 roads must be adjoining. 
 
 Crates gives us a very different interpretation: he asserts that 
 Homer intended to express the situation of the Laestrigons, and 
 affirms that they lay under the head of the dragon, KepaXyw 
 tyxxov t©-, (which Dacier renders the tail of the dragon) accord¬ 
 ing tp Aratus. 
 
 If this be true, the Poet intended to express that there was 
 scarce any night at all among the Laestrigons, according to that 
 of Manilius, 
 
 “ Vixque ortus, occasus erit”- 
 
 But how will this agree with the situation of the Laestrigons, 
 who were undoubtedly Sicilians, according to the direct affirma¬ 
 tion of Thucydides, lib. vi. of his History? Besides, if Laestri- 
 gonia lay under the head of the dragon, Ulysses must have 
 spent seven months instead of seven days, in sailing from the 
 iEolian islands to that country. Neither is there any necessity 
 to have recourse to this solution : for what signifies the length 
 or shortness of the day to the double wages of the shepherds, 
 when it was paid to him who took upon him a double charge of 
 watching the whole day and night, which comprehends the 
 space of four and twenty hours; which alone, whether the 
 greater part of it was by night or day, entitled the shepherd 
 to a double reward ? I therefore should rather chuse the for¬ 
 mer interpretation, with which Didymus agrees. P. 
 
 It is most apparent to me, that Homer means to describe a 
 country, in which the twilight was so powerful, and the interval 
 of total darkness so transitory, that the flocks continued feeding 
 day and night. Upon this notion (whether the historical pro- 
 
366 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 So near the pastures,, and so short the way. 
 
 His double toils inay claim a double pay. 
 
 And join the labours of the night and day. 
 
 Within a long* recess a bay there lies. 
 
 Edg'd round with cliffs, high pointing to the skies; 
 The jutting shores that swell on either side 
 Contract its mouth, and break the rushing tide. 
 
 Our eager sailors seize the fair retreat, 105 
 
 And bound within the port their crowded fleet: 
 
 For here retir’d the sinking billows sleep. 
 
 And smiling calmness silver’d o'er the deep. 
 
 I only in the bay refus’d ta moor. 
 
 And fix'd, without, my halsers to the shore. no 
 From thence we climb’d a point, whose airy brow 
 Commands the prospect of the plains below: 
 
 No tracks of beasts, or signs of men we found. 
 But smoky volumes rolling from the ground. 
 
 Two with our herald thither we command, it5 
 
 With speed to learn what men possess’d the land. 
 They went, and kept the wheel’s smooth beaten road 
 Which to the city drew the mountain wood ; 
 
 priety will hold, or not, upon any explanation; of which Ho¬ 
 mer’s accuracy will scarce admit a doubt) the passage is obvious 
 at once, and perfectly intelligible. The following attempt is 
 literal: 
 
 To shepherd, unremitting, shepherd calls; 
 
 Alternate yields the flock, alternate feeds. 
 
 There, could a man keep sleepless, he might gain 
 A double hire, now herds, now tending sheep; 
 
 So close the confines of the day and night i W. 
 
 Ver. 109.] Thus, more faithfully, and with abetter rhyme; 
 
 I outwards, to the verge, my vessel bore ; 
 
 And tied my halsers to the rocky shore* 
 
 W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 367 
 
 When lo ! they met, beside a crystal spring. 
 
 The daughter of Antiphates the king; 120 
 
 She to Artacia’s silver streams came down, 
 (Artacia’s streams alone supply the town :) 
 
 The damsel they approach, and ask’d what race 
 The people were ? who monarch of the place? 124 
 With joy the maid the’ unwary strangers heard. 
 And shew’d them where the royal dome appear’d. 
 They went; but as they entering saw the queen 
 Of size enormous, and terrifick mien. 
 
 Ver. 120. The daughter of Antiphates, &<?.] It is not evident 
 from whence Ulysses had the knowledge of these particulars; 
 the persons whom he sent to search the land perished in the at¬ 
 tempt ; or were destroyed with the fleet by the Leestrigons : how 
 then could this relation be made to Ulysses ? It is probable that 
 he had his information from Circe or Calypso, for Circe in the 
 sequel of the Odyssey tells Ulysses, that she was acquainted with 
 all the sufferings that he had undergone by sea; and if she, as a 
 Goddess, knew his adventures, why might she not relate to him 
 these particulars ? Homer a little lower tells us, that the Laes- 
 trigons transfixed (pjdpovhs) the companions of Ulysses, and then 
 carried them away on their weapons like so many fishes; others 
 prefer Upotlig, that is, connecting them together like a range of 
 fishes; both which very well express the prodigious strength of 
 these giants: others chuse the word acrwaipoda?, or, “ they eat 
 them yet alive (palpitantes) like fishes.” The preference is 
 submitted to the reader. Eustathius . 
 
 I will only add, that possibly the relation of the barbarity of 
 Polypheme, and Antiphates, with respect to their eating the 
 flesh of men, may not be entirely fabulous: modern history 
 assures us, that savages have been found in parts of the world 
 lately discovered, who eat the bodies of their enemies: it is 
 therefore no wonder that the more polite and civilized nations 
 of antiquity, looked upon such men as monsters, and that their 
 poets painted them as such, or perhaps aggravated the jierte , or 
 fierceness of their features, struck with horror at their brutal 
 inhumanity. P. 
 
368 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 (Not yielding to some bulky mountain’s height) 
 
 A sudden horror struck their aking sight. 130 
 
 Swift at her call her husband scour’d away 
 To wreak his hunger on the destin’d prey; 
 
 One for his food the raging glutton slew. 
 
 But two rush’d out, and to the navy flew. 
 
 Balk’d of his prey, the yelling monster flies, 135 
 And fills the city with his hideous cries; 
 
 A ghastly band of giants hear the roar. 
 
 And pouring down the mountains, crowd the shore. 
 Fragments they rend from off* the craggy brow, 
 And dash the ruins on the ships below: 140 
 
 The crackling vessels burst; hoarse groans arise. 
 And mingled horrors echo to the skies; 
 
 The men, like fish, they stuck upon the flood. 
 
 And cramm’d their filthy throats with human food. 
 Whilst thus their fury rages at the bay, J45 
 
 My sword our cables cut, I call’d to weigh ; 
 
 And charg’d my men, as they from Fate would fly, 
 Each nerve to strain, each bending oar to ply. 
 
 The sailors catch the word, their oars they seize, 
 And sweep with equal strokes the smoky seas ; 159 
 Clear of the rocks the’ impatient vessel flies ; 
 
 Whilst in the port each wretch encumber’d dies. 
 
 Ver. 130.] More accurately, 
 
 They view with horror the detested sight: 
 which would make a slight correction necessary in verse 127. 
 
 -but, as they enter 9 d, saw the queen. W. 
 
 Ver. 146.] They could not weigh, if the cables were cut. 
 Ogilby is not amiss: 
 
 Their oars I bid them ply, their lives to save, 
 
 Death at their heels: they brush the briny wave, 
 
 And soon our ship the open sea enjoy’d; 
 
 But all the rest the Lsestrigons destroy’d. W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 309 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 With earnest haste my frighted sailors press. 
 
 While kindling transports glow'd at our success ; 
 But the sad fate that did our friends destroy 155 
 Cool’d every breast, and damp’d the rising joy. 
 
 Now dropp’d our anchors in the’ /Eagan bay. 
 Where Circe dwelt, the daughter of the day; 
 
 Her mother Perse, of old Ocean’s strain, 
 
 Thus from the Sun descended, and the main; 160 
 
 (From the same lineage stern iEetes came 
 The far-fam’d brother of the’ enchantress dame) 
 Goddess, and queen, to whom the powers belong 
 Of dreadful magick, and commanding song. 
 
 Some God directing, to this peaceful bay 165 
 
 Silent we came, and melancholy lay. 
 
 Spent and o’erwatch’d. Two days and nights roll’d on. 
 And now the third succeeding morning shone. 
 
 Ver. 158. Where Circe dwelt .] Hesiod in his Theogony agrees 
 with Homer as to the genealogy of Circe and /Eetes. 
 
 “ Perseis the daughter of Oceanus bore to Phoebus, 
 “ Circe and king /Eetes.” But why are they fabled to be the 
 offspring of the sun ? Eustathius answers, either from their high 
 birth, as the great personages of antiquity wore called AtoymiV, 
 or the sons of Jupiter, and the sun in the antient mythology 
 represented that deity; or from their extraordinary beauty, 
 which might be compared to the sun, or from their illustrious 
 actions. But perhaps the whole might be derived from the w r ay 
 of speaking among the orientals; at this day we are informed 
 from the best historians, that such language prevails in the eas¬ 
 tern countries, and kings and great personages are called the 
 brothers or offspring of the sun. 
 
 This /Ejea is a mountain or promontory in Italy: perhaps 
 originally an island, and still keeping the resemblance of it. P. 
 
 Ver. 163.] This couplet corresponds to a verse of his author, 
 which may be verbally given thus: 
 
 Melodious, fair-tress’d Circe, goddess dire! \V. 
 
 vol. i. B b 
 
370 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 book x. 
 
 I climb’d a cliff, with spear and sword in hand. 
 Whose ridge o’erlook’d a shady length of land; 170 
 To learn if aught of mortal works appear. 
 
 Or cheerful voice of mortal strike the ear ? 
 
 From the high point I mark’d, in distant view, 
 
 A stream of curling smoke, ascending blue. 
 
 And spiry tops, the tufted trees above, 175 
 
 Of Circe’s palace bosom’d in the grove. 
 
 Thither to haste, the region to explore. 
 
 Was first my thought: but speeding back to shore 
 I deem’d it best to visit first my crew. 
 
 And send out spies the dubious coast to view. 18 Q 
 As down the hill I solitary go. 
 
 Some power divine who pities human woe 
 Sent a tall stag, descending from the wood, 
 
 To cool his fervour in the crystal flood; 
 
 Luxuriant on the wave-worn bank he lay, 185 
 
 Stretch’d forth, and panting in the sunny ray. 
 
 I launch’d my spear, and with a sudden wound 
 Transpierc’d his back, and fix’d him to the ground. 
 He falls, and mourns his fate with human cries; 
 Thro’ the wide wound the vital spirit flies. 190 
 
 Ver. 179.] Thus his author: 
 
 I deem’d it 'prudent to refresh my crew. W. 
 
 Ver. 183.] Ogilby is closer to his original, whom our trans¬ 
 lator but little heeds in this passage. The following portion is a 
 correction of his predecessor; 
 
 The raging fervours of the solar beam 
 
 Had sent to lave him in the crystal stream. 
 
 Just as he clomb the bank , my spear I threw; 
 
 Clear through his chine the well-aim’d javelin flew. 
 
 He fell, with cries , expiring , to the ground : 
 
 My foot impress'd , the weapon quits the wound. W. 
 
 Ver. 190.] This thought of human cries is engrafted by the 
 translator, who has interwoven several beautiful inventions in his 
 
 1 k , 
 
book x. -HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 I drew, and casting on the river side 
 The bloody spear, his gather’d feet I tied 
 With twining osiers which the bank supplied. 
 
 An ell in length the pliant wisp I weav’d. 
 
 And the huge body on my shoulders heav’d : 
 
 Then leaning on the spear with both my hands. 
 Upbore my load, and press’d the sinking sands 
 With weighty steps, ’till at the ship I threw 
 The welcome burden, and bespoke my crew. 
 
 Cheer up, my friends ! it is not yet our fate 200 
 To glide with ghosts thro’ Pluto’s gloomy gate. 
 Pood in the desert land, behold ! is given : 
 
 Live, and enjoy the providence of heaven. 
 
 The joyful crew survey his mighty size. 
 
 And on the future banquet feast their eyes, 20s 
 
 As huge in length extended lay the beast; 
 
 Then wash their hands, and hasten to the feast. 
 There, ’till the setting sun roll’d down the light. 
 They sat indulging in the genial rite. 
 
 When evening rose, and darkness cover’d o’er 210 
 The face of things, we slept along the shore. 
 
 But when the rosy morning warm’d the east. 
 
 My men T summon’d, and these words addrest. 
 
 Followers and friends ; attend what I propose : 
 Ye sad companions of Ulysses’ woes ! 215 
 
 delicate version of this passage. The reader, who wishes per¬ 
 fect accuracy, must betake himself to Mr. Cowper. W. 
 
 Ver. 226.] This verse is not in Homer, but is translated from 
 Virgil, iEn. iii. 193. 
 
 -ccelum undique, et undique pontus: 
 
 With only seas around and skies above; 
 as Drydcn represents the verse. W, 
 
 b b 2 
 
372 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 We know not here what land before us lies., 
 
 Or to what quarter now we turn our eyes 
 Or where the sun shall set, or where shall 
 Here let us think (if thinking be not vain) 
 
 If any counsel, any hope remain. 
 
 Alas ! from yonder promontory’s brow, 
 
 I view’d the coast, a region Hat and low; 
 
 An isle incircled with the boundless flood; 
 
 A length of thickets, and entangled wood. 
 
 Some smoke I saw amid the forest rise. 
 
 And all around it only seas and skies ! 
 
 With broken hearts my sad companions stood. 
 Mindful of Cyclops and his human food. 
 
 And horrid Laeslrigons, the men of blood. 
 Presaging tears apace began to rain; , 
 
 But tears in mortal miseries are vain. 
 
 In equal parts I straight divide my band. 
 
 And name a chief each party to command; 
 
 I led the one, and of the other side 
 Appointed brave Eurylochus the guide. 
 
 Then in the brazen helm the lots we throw. 
 
 And fortune casts Eurylochus to go : 
 
 He march’d, with twice eleven in his train : 
 Pensive they march, and pensive we remain. 
 
 The palace in a woody vale they found, 
 
 High rais’d of stone; a shaded space around : 
 Where mountain wolves and brindled lions roam, 
 (By magick tamed) familiar to the dome. 
 
 220 
 
 225 
 
 230 
 
 235 
 
 240 
 
 Ver. 241.] His author says, 
 
 Of polish’d stones. W. 
 
 Ver. 242. There is a beautiful moral couched under this 
 fable or allegory : Homer intended to teach, as Eustathius re- 
 
BOOK. X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 373 
 
 With gentle blandishment our men they meet, 
 
 And wag their tails., and fawning lick their feet. 245 
 
 marks, that pleasure and sensuality debase men into beasts. 
 Thus Socrates understood it, as Xenophon informs us. Perhaps, 
 adds Dacier, by the fawning wolves and lions that guard the 
 portals of Circe's palace, the Poet means to represent the 
 attendants of such houses of debauchery, which appear gentle 
 and courteous, but are in reality of a brutal disposition, and 
 more dangerous than lions. But upon what foundation is this 
 fable built ? Many writers inform us, that Circe was a famous 
 courtezan, and that her beauty drew her admirers as it were 
 by enchantment. It is evident, that Ulysses had a very inti¬ 
 mate commerce with Circe, for Hesiod writes that he had two 
 sons by her, Agrius and Latinus, who afterwards reigned in 
 Tuscany; other authors call them Nausithous and Telegonus. 
 
 Dionysius Halicarnassus and Aristotle mention Telegonus as 
 the son of Circe and Ulysses, who afterwards slew his father 
 with the bone of a fish inadvertently. But then is not this in¬ 
 trigue a breach of morality, and conjugal fidelity in that hero ? 
 I refer the reader to note on ver. 198. of the fifth book of the 
 Odyssey: I shall only add, that the notions of morality are now 
 very different from what they were in former ages. Adultery 
 alone was esteemed criminal, and punished with death by the 
 antient heathens; concubinage was not only permitted, but 
 thought to be honourable, as appears from the practice, not 
 only of heroes, but even of the Pagan Deities; and conse¬ 
 quently this was the vice of the age, not in particular of Ulysses. 
 But there is a stronger objection against Ulysses, and it may be 
 asked, how is he to be vindicated for wasting no less space than 
 a whole year in dalliance with a harlot ? Penelope and his 
 country seem both forgotten, and consequently he appears to 
 neglect his own re-establishment, the chief design of the Odys¬ 
 sey : what adds some weight to this observation is, that his com¬ 
 panions seem more sensible of his long absence from his coun¬ 
 try, and regret it mere than that hero ; for they awake him out 
 of his dream, and intreat him to depart from the island. It is 
 therefore necessary to take away this objection: for if it be un¬ 
 answerable, Ulysses is guilty of all the miseries of His family 
 and country, by neglecting to redress them by returning, and 
 therefore he must cease to be a hero, and is no longer to be 
 
374 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 As from some feast a man returning late. 
 
 His faithful dogs all meet him at the gate, 
 
 Rejoicing round, some morsel to receive, 
 
 (Such as the good man ever used to give—) 
 Domestick thus the grisly beasts drew near; 250 
 
 They gaze with wonder, not unmix’d with fear. 
 Now on the threshold of the dome they stood. 
 
 And heard a voice resounding thro’ the wood : 
 Placed at her loom within, the Goddess sung ; 
 
 The vaulted roofs and solid pavement rung. 255 
 O’er the fair web the rising figures shine. 
 
 Immortal labour ! worthy hands divine. 
 
 Polites to the rest the question mov’d, 
 
 (A gallant leader, and a man I lov’d.) 
 
 proposed as a pattern of wisdom, and imitation, as he is in the 
 opening of the Odyssey. But the stay of Ulysses is involuntary, 
 and consequently irreproachable ; he is in the power of a Deity, 
 and therefore not capable of departing without her permission : 
 this is evident: for upon the remonstrance made by his compa¬ 
 nions, he dares not undertake his voyage without her dismission. 
 His asking consent plainly shews that it was not safe, if practi¬ 
 cable, to go away without it; if he had been a free agent, her 
 leave had been unnecessary: it is true, she tells him she will 
 not detain him any longer against his inclinations: but this does 
 not imply that his stay till then had been voluntary, or that he 
 never had intreated to be dismissed before, but rather intimates 
 the contrary: it only shews that now at last she is willing he 
 should go away. But why should Ulysses stand in need of 
 being admonished by his companions ? Does not this imply 
 that he was unmindful of returning ? This is only an evidence 
 that they were desirous to return as well as he; but he makes 
 a wise use of their impatience, and takes an occasion from their 
 importunities to press for an immediate dismission. P. 
 
 Thus, with more fidelity: 
 
 Made harmless , there wild wolves and lions roam, 
 
 By potent drugs , familiar to her dome. W» 
 
book x. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 375 
 
 What voice, celestial, chanting 1 to the loom 260 
 (Or nymph, or goddess) echoes from the room ? 
 
 Say shall we seek access? With that they call; 
 And wide unfold the portals of the hall. 
 
 The Goddess, rising, asks her guests to stay. 
 Who blindly follow where she leads the way. 2 65 
 Eurylochus alone of all the band, 
 
 Suspecting fraud, more prudently remain’d. 
 
 On thrones around with downy coverings graced. 
 With semblance fair the’ unhappy men she placed. 
 Milk newly press’d, the sacred flour of wheat, 270 
 And honey fresh, and Pramnian wines the treat: 
 But venom’d was the bread, and mix’d the bowl. 
 With drugs of force to darken all the soul: 
 
 Soon in the luscious feast themselves they lost. 
 
 And drank oblivion of their native coast. 2 75 
 
 Instant her circling wand the Goddess waves, 
 
 To hogs transforms ’em, and the sty receives. 
 
 No more was seen the human form divine; 
 
 Head, face, and members, bristle into swine: 
 
 Still curst with sense, their minds remain alone, 2SO 
 And their own voice affrights them when they groan. 
 
 Ver. 275.] We much regret the imperfection of rhyme in so 
 fine a verse: the metaphor , however, of the translation is not 
 from the present passage of Homer, but from Virgil, JEn. vi. 
 714 . 
 
 — —- —-Lethsei ad fluminis undam 
 
 Securos latices et longa oblivia potant; 
 thus incomparably rendered by Pitt: 
 
 To yon dark streams the gliding ghosts repair, 
 
 And quaff deep draughts oj long oblivion there. W. 
 Ver. 281.] An admirable thought of the translator only, 
 transferred from more than one passage, if my memory fails me 
 not, of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. W. 
 
376 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book x. 
 
 Meanwhile the Goddess in disdain bestows 
 The mast and acorn, brutal food! and strows 
 The fruits of cornel,, as their feast, around; 
 
 Now prone and groveling on unsavoury ground. 2S5 
 Eurylochus, with pensive steps and slow. 
 
 Aghast returns; the messenger of woe. 
 
 And bitter fate. To speak he made essay. 
 
 In vain essay’d, nor would his tongue obey; 
 
 His swelling heart denied the words their way: 
 
 But speaking tears the want of words supply, 291 
 And the full soul bursts copious from his eye. 
 Affrighted, anxious for our fellows’ fates. 
 
 We press to hear what sadly he relates. 
 
 We went, Ulysses ! (sucli was thy command) 295 
 Thro’ the lone thicket, and the desert land. 
 
 A palace in a woody vale we found 
 
 Brown with dark forests, and with shades around. 
 
 A voice celestial echoed from the dome. 
 
 Or nymph, or goddess, chanting to the loom. 300 
 Access we sought, nor was access denied : 
 
 Radiant she came; the portals open’d wide: 
 
 The Goddess mild invites the guests to stay: 
 
 They blindly follow where she leads the way. 
 
 I only wait behind, of all the train ; 305 
 
 I waited long, and eyed the doors in vain : 
 
 The rest are vanish’d, none repass’d the gate ; 
 
 And not a man appears to tell their fate. 
 
 Ver. 282.3 Thus, more faithfully: 
 
 There to the ‘wretches, as they weep, she throws 
 The mast and acorn—. W. 
 
 Ver. 285.] Thus his original: 
 
 The feasts of swine fow-groveling on the ground. W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 377 
 
 > 
 
 I heard, and instant o’er my shoulders flung 
 The belt in which my weighty falchion hung; 310 
 
 (A beamy blade) then seiz’d the bended bow. 
 
 And bade him guide the way, resolv’d to go. 
 
 He, prostrate falling, with both hands embrac’d 
 My knees, and weeping thus his suit address’d. 
 
 O king belov’d of Jove ! thy servant spare, 315 
 And ah, thyself the rash attempt forbear! 
 
 Never, alas ! thou never shalt return. 
 
 Or see the wretched for whose loss w T e mourn. 
 
 With what remains from certain ruin fly, 
 
 And save the few not fated yet to die. 320 
 
 I answer’d stern. Inglorious then remain, 
 
 Here feast and loiter, and desert thy train. 
 
 Alone, unfriended, will I tempt my way ; 
 
 The law's of Fate compel, and I obey. 
 
 This said, and scornful turning from the shore 325 
 My haughty step, I stalk’d the valley o’er. 
 
 ’Till now approaching nigh the magick bow'er, 
 Where dwelt the’ enchantress skill’d in herbs of 
 power, 
 
 A form divine forth issued from the wood, 
 
 (Immortal Hermes with the golden rod) 330 
 
 In human semblance. On his bloomy face 
 Youth smil’d celestial, with each opening grace. 
 
 Ver. 321.] Our translator is not countenanced either by his 
 author or his predecessors in giving this turn of insult and seve¬ 
 rity to this speech. I shall quote Chapman’s version: 
 
 I answered him: Eurylochus ! stay thou 
 And kepe the ship then ; eate and drinke: I now 
 Will undertake th’ adventure: there is cause 
 In great Necessities unaltered lavves, W. 
 
378 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 He seiz’d my hand, and gracious thus began. 
 
 Ah whither roam’st thou? much-enduring man ! 
 
 O blind to fate! what led thy steps to rove 335 
 The horrid mazes of this magick grove ? 
 
 Each friend you seek in yon’ enclosure lies. 
 
 All lost their form, and habitants of sties. 
 
 Think’st thou by wit to model their escape? 
 
 Sooner shalt thou, a stranger to thy shape, 340 
 Fall prone their equal: first thy danger know. 
 Then take the antidote the Gods bestow. 
 
 The plant I give thro’ all the direful bower 
 Shall guard thee, and avert the evil hour. 
 
 Now hear her wicked arts. Before thy eyes 345 
 The bowl shall sparkle, and the banquet rise; 
 
 Take this, nor from the faithless feast abstain. 
 
 For temper’d drugs and poisons shall be vain. 
 
 Soon as she strikes her wand, and gives the word. 
 Draw forth and brandish thy refulgent sword, 350 
 And menace death : those menaces shall move 
 Her alter’d mind to blandishment and love. 
 
 Nor shun the blessing proffer’d to thy arms. 
 
 Ascend her bed, and taste celestial charms: 
 
 So shall thy tedious toils a respite find, 355 
 
 And thy lost friends return to human kind. 
 
 But swear her first by those dread oaths that tie 
 The powers below, the blessed in the sky; 
 
 Lest to thee naked secret fraud be meant. 
 
 Or magick bind thee, cold and impotent. 360 
 
 Ver. 348.] Or, more faithfully: 
 
 This drug shall make her temper’d potion vain. W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 379 
 
 Thus while he spoke,, the sovereign plant he drew, 
 Where on the’ all-bearing earth unmark’d it grew, 
 And skew’d its nature and its wonderous power : 
 Black was the root, but milky-white the flower; 
 Moly the name, to mortals hard to find, 365 
 
 But all is easy to the’ ethereal kind. 
 
 This Hermes gave, then gliding off the glade 
 Shot to Olympus from the woodland shade. 
 
 While full of thought, revolving fates to come, 
 
 I speed my passage to the’ enchanted dome: 370 
 
 Arrived, before the lofty gates I stay’d ; 
 
 The lofty gates the Goddess wide display’d ; 
 
 She leads before, and to the feast invites ; 
 
 1 follow sadly to the magick rites. 
 
 Radiant with starry studs, a silver seat 375 
 
 Receiv’d my limbs; a footstool eas’d my feet. 
 
 She mix’d the potion ; fraudulent of soul ; 
 
 The poison mantled in the golden bowl. 
 
 Ver. 361.- The sovereign plant he drew, 
 
 Where on the 9 all-hearing earth unmarlc 9 d it grew, Szc.\ 
 Tills whole passage is to be understood allegorically. Mercury 
 is Reason, he being the God of Science: the plant which he 
 gives as a preservative against incantation is instruction; the 
 root of it is black, the flower white and sweet; the root denotes 
 that the foundation or principles of instruction appear obscure 
 and bitter, and are distasteful at first, according to that saying 
 of Plato, The beginnings of instruction are always accompanied 
 with reluctance and pain . The flower of Moly is white and 
 sweet; this denotes that the fruits of instruction are sweet, 
 agreeable, and nourishing. Mercury gives this plant; this in¬ 
 timates, that all instruction is the gift of heaven: Mercury 
 brings it not with him, but gathers it from the place where he 
 stands, to shew that Wisdom is not confined to places, but that 
 every where it may be found, if heaven vouchsafes to discover 
 
 and we are disposed to receive and follow it. P. 
 
380 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 I took, and quaff'd it, confident in heaven: 
 
 Then waved the wand, and then the word was given 
 Hence to thy fellows ! (dreadful she began) 351 
 Go, be a beast!—I heard, and yet was man. 
 
 Then sudden whirling, like a waving flame. 
 
 My beamy falchion, I assault the dame. 
 
 Struck with unusual fear, she trembling cries, 385 
 She faints, she falls ; she lifts her weeping eyes. 
 What art thou ? say ! from whence, from whom 
 you came ? 
 
 O more than human I tell thy race, thy name. 
 Amazing strength, these poisons to sustain ! 
 
 Not mortal thou, nor mortal is thy brain. 390 
 
 Or art thou he ? the man to come (foretold 
 By Hermes powerful with the wand of gold) 
 
 The man from Troy, who wander’d Ocean round; 
 The man for Wisdom’s various arts renown’d, 
 
 Ver. 379 . 1 tool :, and quaff'd it , confident in heaven.'] It may 
 be asked if Ulysses is not as culpable as his companions, in drink¬ 
 ing this potion ? Where lies the difference ? and how is the alle¬ 
 gory carried on, when Ulysses yields to the solicitation of Circe, 
 that is, pleasure, and indulges, not resists his appetites ? The 
 moral of the fable is, that all pleasure is not unlawful, but the 
 excess of it: we may enjoy, provided it be with moderation. 
 Ulysses does not taste till he is fortified against it; whereas his 
 companions yielded without any care or circumspection; they 
 indulged their appetites only, Ulysses takes merely out of a de¬ 
 sire to deliver his associates: he makes himself master of Circe, 
 or pleasure, and is not in the power of it, and enjoys it upon his 
 own terms; they are slaves to it, and out of a capacity ever to 
 regain their freedom but by the assistance of Ulysses. The ge¬ 
 neral moral of the whole fable of Circe is, that pleasure is as 
 dreadful an enemy as danger, and a Circe as hard to be con¬ 
 quered as a Polypheme. P. 
 
 Ver. 382.] 1 like the simple words of his author better: 
 
 Go, to the sty ! W. 
 
BOOK. X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 381 
 
 Ulysses ? oh ! thy threatening fury cease, 395 
 Sheath thy bright sword, and join our hands in peace; 
 Let mutual joys our mutual trust combine. 
 
 And love, and love-born confidence be thine l 
 And how, dread Circe! (furious I rejoin) 
 
 Can love, and love-born confidence be mine, 400 
 Beneath thy charms when my companions groan. 
 Transform'd to beasts, with accents not their own ? 
 O thou of fraudful heart! shall I be led 
 To share thy feast-rites, or ascend thy bed ; 
 
 That, all-unarm’d, thy vengeance may have vent, 405 
 And magick bind me, cold and impotent ? 
 
 Celestial as thou art, yet stand denied > 
 
 Or swear that oath by which the Gods are tied. 
 Swear, in thy soul no latent frauds remain. 
 
 Swear, by the vow which never can be vain. 410 
 The Goddess swore : then seiz’d my hand, and led 
 To the sweet transports of the genial bed. 
 Ministrant to the queen, with busy care 
 Four faithful handmaids the soft rites prepare; 
 Nymphs sprung from fountains, or from shady woods, 
 Or the fair offspring of the sacred floods. 416 
 
 One o’er the couches painted carpets threw. 
 
 Whose purple lustre glow’d against the view : 
 White linen lay beneath. Another placed 
 The silver stands with golden flaskets graced : 420 
 With dulcet beverage this the beaker crown’d, 
 
 Fair in the midst, with gilded cups around: 
 
 Ver. 404.] Or rather, 
 
 To climb thy chamber, and jmrtahe thy bed. W. 
 
 Ver. 416.] Or, accurately to his original: 
 
 Or the fair race of sea descending floods. W. 
 
382 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 That in the tripod o’er the kindled pile 
 The water pours ; the bubbling’ waters boil: 
 
 An ample vase receives the smoking- wave ; 425 
 
 And, in the bath prepared, my limbs I lave : 
 Reviving- sweets repair the mind’s decay. 
 
 And take the painful sense of toil away. 
 
 A vest and tunick o’er me next she threw. 
 
 Fresh from the bath, and dropping balmy dew ; 430 
 Then led and placed me on the sovereign seat. 
 With carpets spread ; a footstool at my feet. 
 
 The golden ewer a nymph obsequious brings, 
 Replenish’d from the cool translucent springs ; 
 With copious water the bright vase supplies 435 
 A silver laver of capacious size. 
 
 I wash’d. The table in fair order spread. 
 
 They heap the glittering canisters with bread ; 
 Viands of various kinds allure the taste. 
 
 Of choicest sort and savour, rich repast! 440 
 
 Circe in vain invites the feast to share ; 
 
 Absent I ponder, and absorpt in care : 
 
 While scenes of woe rose anxious in my breast, 
 
 The queen beheld me, and these words addrest. 
 
 Why sits Ulysses silent and apart, 445 
 
 Some hoard of grief close-harbour’d at his heart ? 
 Untouch’d before thee stand the cates divine. 
 
 And unregarded laughs the rosy wine. 
 
 Can yet a doubt, or any dread remain. 
 
 When sworn that oath which never can be vain ! 
 
 I answer’d, Goddess! Humane is thy breast, 431 
 By justice sway’d, by tender pity prcst: 
 
 Ver. 446.] To preserve the metaphor of his original, we may 
 thus correct: 
 
 The tooth of sorrow gnaws his secret heart. W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 383 
 
 Ill fits it me, whose friends are sunk to beasts. 
 
 To quaff thy bowls, or riot in thy feasts. 
 
 Me would’st thou please ? for them thy cares em¬ 
 ploy, 455 
 
 And them to me restore, and me to joy. 
 
 With that, she parted : in her potent hand 
 She bore the virtue of the magick wand. 
 
 Then hastening to the sties set wide the door. 
 Urged forth, and drove the bristly herd before ; 4 60 
 Unwieldy, out they rush’d, with general cry. 
 Enormous beasts dishonest to the eye. 
 
 Now touch’d by counter-charms, they change agen. 
 And stand majestick, and recall’d to men. 
 
 Those hairs of late that bristled every part, 4 65 
 
 Fall off; miraculous effect of art! 
 
 ’Till all the form in full proportion rise. 
 
 More young, more large, more graceful to my eyes. 
 They saw, they knew me, and with eager pace 
 Clung to their master in a long embrace : 470 
 
 Sad, pleasing sight! with tears each eye ran o’er. 
 And sobs of joy re-echoed thro’ the bower : 
 
 Even Circe wept, her adamantine heart 
 Felt pity enter, and sustain’d her part. 
 
 Ver. 461.] A poor couplet, in my opinion : totally unnecessary 
 to the sense of his author, and would be well expunged. W. 
 
 Ver. 468. More youngs—more graceful to my eyes ,] Homer 
 excellently carries on his allegory : he intends by this expression 
 of the enlargement of the beauty of Ulysses’s companions, to 
 teach that men who turn from an evil course, into the paths of 
 virtue, excel even themselves ; having learned the value of virtue 
 from the miseries they suffered in pursuit of vice, they become 
 new men, and as it were enjoy a second life. Eustathius . P. 
 
 Ver. 473.] This couplet is amplified from these few words 
 of his author : 
 
 —-— _ and even the Goddess pity felt. W. 
 
384 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 v Son of Laertes ! (then the queen began) 475 
 Oh much-enduring, much-experienced man ! 
 
 Haste to thy vessel on the sea-beat shore. 
 
 Unload thy treasures, and the galley moor ; 
 
 Then bring thy friends, secure from future harms. 
 And in our grottos stow thy spoils and arms; 480 
 She said. Obedient to her high command 
 I quit the place, and hasten to the strand. 
 
 My sad companions on the beach I found. 
 
 Their wistful eyes in floods of sorrow drown’d. 
 
 As from fresh pastures and the dewy field 4S5 
 
 (When loaded cribs their evening banquet yield) 
 The lowing herds return ; around them throng 
 With leaps and bounds their late-imprison’d young. 
 Rush to their mothers with unruly joy. 
 
 And echoing hills return the tender cry— 490 
 
 So round me press’d, exulting at my sight. 
 
 With cries and agonies of wild delight. 
 
 The weeping sailors; nor less fierce their joy 
 Than if return’d to Ithaca from Troy. 
 
 Ah master ! ever-honour’d, ever-dear, 495 
 
 (These tender words on every side I hear) 
 
 What other joy can equal thy return ? 
 
 Not that lov’d country for whose sight we mourn. 
 The soil that nurs’d us, and that gave us breath ! 
 But ah ! relate our lost companions’ death. 500 
 
 Ver. 490.] A favourite interpolation of our translator ; and 
 the less acceptable on this occasion on account of the speedy re¬ 
 turn of the same rhyme. P. 
 
 Ver. 495.3 This is from Virgil, ^En. v. 49. 
 
 — — —• — — quern semper acerbum , 
 
 Semper honoratum , sic di voluistis, habebo: 
 see my note on Iliad xxii. 422. 
 
 W 
 
1500K X. 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 385 
 
 I answer’d cheerful. Haste, your galley moor. 
 And bring our treasures and our arms ashore : 
 Those in yon' hollow caverns let us lay ; 
 
 Then rise and follow where I lead the way. 
 
 Your fellows live: believe your eyes, and come 505 
 To take the joys of Circe’s sacred dome. 
 
 With ready speed the joyful crew obey : 
 
 Alone Eurylochus persuades their stay. 
 
 Whither (he cry’d) ah whither will ye run ? 
 
 Seek ye to meet those evils ye should shun P 510 
 Will you the terrors of the dome explore. 
 
 In swine to grovel, or in lions roar, 
 
 Or wolf-like howl away the midnight hour 
 In dreadful watch around the magick bower ? 
 Remember Cyclops, and his bloody deed ; 515 
 
 The leader’s rashness made the soldiers bleed. 
 
 I heard incens’d, and first resolv’d to speed 
 My flying falchion at the rebel's head. 
 
 Dear as he was, by ties of kindred bound. 
 
 This hand had stretch’d him breathless on the ground; 
 But all at once my interposing train 521 
 
 For mercy pleaded, nor could plead in vain. 
 
 Leave here the man who dares his prince desert. 
 Leave to repentance and his own sad heart, 
 
 Ver. 501.j Thus Lis author: 
 
 The}' said; and I with soothing words replied: 
 but Ogilby had rendered: 
 
 * -—-I cheerfully replied. W. 
 
 Ver. 506.] Or, more exactly : 
 
 To taste with them the joys of Circe’s dome. W. 
 Ver. 513.] All this embellishment, beyond the name of the 
 animal, in this verse, is his own ; suggested, perhaps, by Dryden, 
 ASn. vii. 22. W. 
 
 VOL. u 
 
 Cc 
 
386 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 To guard the ship. Seek we the sacred shades <25 
 Of Circe’s palace, where Ulysses leads. 
 
 Th is with one voice declar’d, the rising train 
 Left the black vessel by the murmuring main. 
 Shame touch’d Eurylochus’s alter’d breast. 
 
 He fear’d my threats, and follow’d with the rest. 530 
 Meanwhile the Goddess, with indulgent cares 
 And social joys, the late-transform’d repairs ; 
 
 The bath, the feast, their fainting soul renews ; 
 
 Rich in refulgent robes, and dropping balmy dews: 
 Brightening with joy their eager eyes behold 335 
 Each other’s face, and each his story told; 
 
 Then gushing tears the narrative confound. 
 
 And with their sobs the vaulted roofs resound. 
 When hush’d their passion, thus the Goddess cries; 
 Ulysses, taught by labours to be wise, 540 
 
 Let this short memory of grief suffice. 
 
 To me are known the various woes ye bore. 
 
 In storms by sea, in perils on the shore ; 
 
 Forget whatever was in Fortune’s power. 
 
 And share the pleasures of this genial hour. 545 
 Such be your minds as ere ye left your coast. 
 
 Or learn’d to sorrow for a country lost. 
 
 Exiles and wanderers now, where’er ye go. 
 
 Too faithful memory renews your woe ; 
 
 The cause remov’d, habitual griefs remain, 550 
 And the soul saddens by the use of pain. 
 
 Her kind intreaty mov’d the general breast; 
 Tired with long toil, we willing sunk to rest. 
 
 We plied the banquet and the bowl we crown’d, 
 ’Till the full circle of the year came round. 555 
 But when the seasons, following in their train. 
 Brought back the months, the days, and hours again; 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 387 
 
 As from a lethargy at once they rise. 
 
 And urge their chief with animating cries. 
 
 Is this, Ulysses, our inglorious lot ? 560 
 
 And is the name of Ithaca forgot? 
 
 Shall never the dear land in prospect rise. 
 
 Or the lov’d palace glitter in our eyes ? 
 
 Melting I heard; yet ’till the sun’s decline 
 Prolong’d the feast, and quaff d the rosy wine : 5GB 
 But when the shades came on at evening hour, 
 
 And all lay slumbering in the dusky bower ; 
 
 I came a suppliant to fair Circe’s bed. 
 
 The tender moment seiz’d, and thus I said. 
 
 Be mindful, Goddess, of thy promise made; 570 
 
 Must sad Ulysses ever be delay’d ? 
 
 Around their lord my sad companions mourn. 
 
 Each breast beats homeward, anxious to return : 
 
 If but a moment parted from thy eyes, 574 
 
 Their tears flow round me, and my heart complies. 
 
 Go then, (she cried) ah go! yet think, not I, 
 
 Not Circe, but the Fates your wish deny : 
 
 Ah hope not yet to breathe thy native air! 
 
 Far other journey first demands thy care; 
 
 Ver. 568.] Tlius his author literally i 
 
 But I, who clomb the Goddess* sumptuous bed, 
 Besought her knees : to hear the Goddess deign’d * 
 
 I thus in winged words my suit prefer* W* 
 
 Ver. 579. Far other journey — — 
 
 To tread the’ uncomfortable paths beneath."] 
 
 There should in all the episodes of epick poetry appear a con* 
 venience, if not a necessity of every incident; it may therefore 
 be asked what necessity there is for this descent of Ulysses into 
 hell, to Consult the shade of Tiresias ? Could not Circe, who 
 was a Goddess, discover to him all the future contingencies of 
 his life ? Eustathius excellently answers this objection ; Circe 
 
 c c2 
 
388 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK x. 
 
 To tread the’ uncomfortable paths beneath,, 580 
 And view the realms of darkness and of death. 
 There seek the Theban Bard, depriv’d of sight; 
 Within, irradiate with prophetick light; 
 
 To whom Persephone, entire and whole. 
 
 Gave to retain the’ unseparated soul: 583 
 
 declares to Ulysses the necessity of consulting Tiresias, that he 
 may learn from the mouth of that prophet, that his death was to 
 be from the ocean; she acts thus in order to dispose him to stay 
 with her, after his return from the regions of the dead : or if she 
 cannot persuade him to stay with her, that she may at least secure 
 him from returning to her rival Calypso ; she had promised him 
 immortality, but by this descent, he will learn that it is decreed 
 that he should receive his death from the ocean ; for he died by 
 the bone of a sea-fish called Xiphias. Her love for Ulysses in¬ 
 duces her not to make the discovery herself, for it was evident 
 she would not find credit, but Ulysses would impute it to her 
 love, and the desire she had to deter him from leaving her island. 
 This will appear more probable, if we observe the conduct of 
 Circe in the future parts of the Odyssey : she relates to him the 
 dangers of Scylla and Charybdis, of the oxen of Phoebus, and 
 the Sirens; but says nothing concerning his death : this like¬ 
 wise gives an air of probability to the relation. The isle of 
 Cir. ~ was adjoining to Scylla and Charybdis, &c. and conse¬ 
 quently she may be supposed to be acquainted with those 
 places, and give an account of them to Ulysses with exactness, 
 but she leaves the decrees of heaven and the fate of Ulysses to 
 the narration of the prophet; it best suiting his character to see 
 into futurity. By the descent of Ulysses into hell may be sig¬ 
 nified, that a wise man ought to be ignorant of nothing; that 
 he ought to ascend in thought into heaven, and understand the 
 heavenly appearances, and be acquainted with what is contained 
 in the bowels of the earth, and bring to light the secrets of 
 nature : that he ought to know the nature of the soul, what it 
 suffers, and how it acts after it is separated from the body. 
 Eustathius. P. 
 
 Ver. 584*. To ’whom Persephone , &c.] Homer here gives the 
 reason why Tiresias should be consulted, rather than any other 
 ghost. This expression is fully explained, and the notion of 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 389 
 
 The rest are forms,, of empty aether made; 
 Impassive semblance, and a flitting shade. 
 
 Struck at the word, my very heart was dead: 
 Pensive I sat; my tears bedew’d the bed ; 
 
 To hate the light and life my soul begun, 590 
 
 And saw that all was grief beneath the sun. 
 Compos’d at length, the gushing tears supprest. 
 And my tost limbs now wearied into rest. 
 
 How shall I tread (I cried) ah Circe! say, 
 
 Tbe dark descent, and who shall guide the way ? 
 Can living eyes behold the realms below ? 596 
 
 What bark to waft me, and what wind to blow ? 
 
 the soul after death, which prevailed among the ancients, is set 
 in a clear light, verse 92, and 124, of the xxiiid book of the 
 Iliad, to which passages I refer the readers. But whence had 
 Tiresias this privilege above the rest of the dead ? Callima*? 
 chus ascribes it to Minerva. Tully mentions this pre-eminence 
 of Tiresias in his first book of Divination. Perhaps the whole 
 fiction may arise from his great reputation among the ancients 
 for prophecy; and in honour to his memory they might imagine 
 that his soul after death retained the same superiority, Ovid in 
 his Metamorphoses gives us a very jocular reason for the blind*? 
 ness and prophetick knowledge of Tiresias, from a matrimonial 
 contest between Jupiter and Juno. P. 
 
 Ver. 591.] Ecclesiastes, i. 14. “I have seen all the works 
 u that are done under the sun ; and behold! all is vanity ant\ 
 ,c vexation of spirit.” 
 
 The translation here is inimitably fine. The reader will form 
 a better judgment of it , s excellence from a plain literal trans*. 
 lation: 
 
 She said: my heart was shatter’d with her words. 
 
 Fix’d to the couch, I wept: nor longer wisht 
 My soul to live, and see the solar beam. 
 
 At length with tears and tossings sated, thus 
 In winged accents I bespake the queen. W. 
 
 Ver. 596.] It is impossible for any praise to transcend the 
 merits of this glorious couplet, wrought by our matchless artist 
 from the following verse of his author: 
 
 None yet by ship to Pluto’s region went. W. 
 
3 90 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK. X, 
 
 Thy fated road (the magick power replied) 
 
 Divine Ulysses! asks no mortal guide. 
 
 Rear but the mast, the spacious sail display, 60$ 
 The northern winds shall wing thee on thy way. 
 Soon shalt thou reach old Ocean’s utmost ends. 
 Where to the main the shelving shore descends ; 
 
 Now, for the sake of contrast, hear Ogilby: 
 
 Does any to the devil go by sea ? 
 
 Some of my readers, I fear, will pronounce, that such a trans¬ 
 lator should have been sent there, either by land or sea. W. 
 
 Ver. 602. Soon shalt thou reach old Ocean's utmost ends , &c.J 
 This whole scene is excellently imagined by the Poet, as Eusta¬ 
 thius observes; the trees are all barren, the place is upon the 
 shores where nothing grows ; and all the rivers are of a melan¬ 
 choly signification, suitable to the ideas we have of those infer¬ 
 nal regions. Ulysses arrives at this place, where he calls up the 
 shades of the dead, in the space of one day ; from whence we 
 may conjecture, that he means a place that lies between Cumae 
 and Baiae, near the lake Avernus, in Italy; which, as Strabo 
 remarks, is the scene of the Necromancy of Homer, according 
 to the opinion of antiquity. Pie further adds, that there really 
 are such rivers as Homer mentions, though not placed in their 
 true situation, according to the liberty allowable to poetry. 
 Others write, that the Cimmerii once inhabited Italy, and that 
 the famous cave of Pausilipe was begun by them about the time 
 of the Trojan wars; here they offered sacrifice to the Manes, 
 which might give occasion to Homer’s fiction. The Grecians, 
 who inhabited these places after the Cimmerians, converted 
 these dark habitations into stoves, baths, &c. 
 
 Silius Italicus writes, that the Lucrine lake was anciently 
 called Cocytus. It is also probable, that Acheron w'as the an¬ 
 cient name of Avernus, because Acherusia, a large water near 
 Cumae, flows into it by concealed passages. Silius Italicus in¬ 
 forms us, that Avernus was also called Styx. Here Hannibal 
 offered sacrifice to the Manes, as it is recorded by Livy; and 
 Tully affirms it from an ancient poet. This may seem to justify 
 the observation that Acheron was once the name of Avernus, 
 though the words are capable of a different interpretation. 
 
 If these remarks be true, it is probable that Homer does not 
 pcglect geography, as most commentators judge. Virgil de* 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 391 
 
 The barren trees of Proserpine’s black woods,, 
 Poplars and willows trembling’ o’er the floods: 605 
 
 There fix thy vessel in the lonely bay. 
 
 And enter there the kingdoms void of day : 
 
 Where Phlegethon’s loud torrents rushing down. 
 Hiss in the flaming gulf of Acheron ; 
 
 And where, slow-rolling from the Stygian bed, 610 
 Cocytus’ lamentable waters spread : 
 
 Where the dark rock o’erhangs the’ infernal lake. 
 And mingling streams eternal murmurs make. 
 
 First draw thy falchion, and on every side 
 Trench the black earth a cubit long and wide: 615 
 To all the shades around libations pour. 
 
 And o’er the’ ingredients strew r the hallow’d flour: 
 New wine and milk, with honey temper’d, bring. 
 And living water from the crystal spring. 
 
 Then the wan shades and feeble ghosts implore, 
 With promis’d offerings on thy native shore; 62 1 
 
 A barren cow, the stateliest of the isle. 
 
 And, heap’d with various wealth, a blazing pile: 
 These to the rest; but to the Seer must bleed 
 A sable ram, the pride of all thy breed. 625 
 
 These solemn vows and holy offerings paid 
 To all the phantom-nations of the dead; 
 
 •cribes iEneas descending into hell by Avernus, after the ex¬ 
 ample of Homer. Milton places these rivers in hell, and beau¬ 
 tifully describes their natures, in his Paradise Lost. 
 
 Thus also agreeably to the idea of hell the offerings to the 
 infernal powers are all black, the Cimmerians lie in a land of 
 darkness; the heifer which Ulysses is to offer is barren, like that 
 in Virgil, to denote that the grave is unfruitful, that it devours 
 ail things, that it is a place where all tilings are forgotten. P. 
 
392 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK. X. 
 
 Be next thy care the sable sheep to place 
 Full o'er the pit, and hell-ward turn their face : 
 
 But from the' infernal rite thine eye withdraw, 633 
 And back to Ocean glance with reverend awe: 
 Sudden shall skim along* the dusky glades 
 Thin airy shoals, and visionary shades. 
 
 Then give command the sacrifice to haste, 
 
 Let the flay’d victims in the flame be cast, 635 
 And sacred vows, and mystick song, applied 
 To grisly Pluto, and his gloomy bride. 
 
 Wide o’er the pool, thy falchion wav’d around 
 Shall drive the spectres from forbidden ground: 
 The sacred draught shall all the dead forbear, 649 
 'Till awful from the shades arise the Seer. 
 
 Let him, oraculous, the end, the way, 
 
 The turns of all thy future fate, display, > 
 
 Thy pilgrimage to come, and remnant of thy day .) 
 
 So speaking, from the ruddy orient shone 645 
 The Morn conspicuous on her golden throne. 
 
 The Goddess with a radiant tunick drest 
 My limbs, and o’er me cast a silken vest. 
 
 Long flowing robes, of purest white, array 
 
 The nymph, that added lustre to the day: 650 
 
 A tiar wreath’d her head with many a fold; 
 
 Her waist was circled with a zone of gold. 
 
 Forth issuing then, from place to place I flew; 
 Rouse man by man, and animate my crew. 
 
 Rise, rise my mates ! tis Circe gives command : 655 
 Our journey calls us ; haste, and cpiit the land. 
 
 All rise and follow, yet depart not all, 
 
 For Fate decreed one wretched man to fall. 
 
 Ver. 650.] The latter clause is unauthorised by Homer. W. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 393 
 
 A youth there was, Elpenor was he nam’d, 659 
 Not much for sense, nor much for courage fam’d; 
 The youngest of our band, a vulgar soul 
 Born but to banquet and to drain the bowl. 
 
 He, hot and careless, on a turret’s height 
 With sleep repair’d the long debauch of night: 
 The sudden tumult stirr’d him where he lay, 66$ 
 And down he hasten’d, but forgot the way; 
 
 Pull endlong from the roof the sleeper fell. 
 
 And snapp’d the spinal joint, and waked in hell. 
 
 The rest crowd round me with an eager look; 
 
 I met them with a sigh, and thus bespoke. 670 
 Already, friends! ye think your toils are o’er. 
 
 Your hopes already touch your native shore : 
 
 Alas! far otherwise the nymph declares. 
 
 Far other journey first demands our cares ; 
 
 To tread the’ uncomfortable paths beneath, 67 $ 
 
 The dreary realms of darkness and of death : 
 
 To seek Tiresias’ awful shade below. 
 
 And thence our fortunes and our fates to know. 
 
 My sad companions heard in deep despair ; 
 Frantick they tore their manly growth of hair; 6so 
 To earth they fell; the tears began to rain; 
 
 But tears in mortal miseries are vain. 
 
 Sadly they far’d along the sea-beat shore ; 
 
 Still heav’d their hearts, and still their eyes ran o’er. 
 
 Ver, 669. This couplet is expanded from the subjoined verse 
 of his author: 
 
 To them assembled in these words I spake. W. 
 
 Ver. 683.] What could induce him to forsake his author here ? 
 
 Sadly tve far’d along the sea-beat shore; 
 
 Still heav’d our hearts, and still our eyes ran o’er. W. 
 
394 
 
 HOMERS ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 The ready victims at our bark we found, 6 s$ 
 
 The sable ewe, and ram, together bound. 
 
 For swift as thought, the Goddess had been there. 
 And thence had glided, viewless as the air: 
 
 The paths of Gods what mortal can survey ? 6sg 
 Who eyes their motion ? who shall trace their way ? 
 
 Ver. 685.] The following is a literal representation of the 
 passage, to shew the luxuriancy of the translator: 
 
 Meanwhile had Circe to the vessel been 
 And bound the ram and sahle ew*e, with ease 
 Gliding by us, unseen. What eye shall ken 
 A God unwilling, here his path, or there ? W. 
 
 i 
 
THE 
 
 ELEVENTH BOOK 
 
 OE THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 / 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 THE DESCENT INTO HELL. 
 
 AA 
 
 ULYSSES continues his narration, Horn he ar¬ 
 rived, at the land of the Cimmerians, and what 
 ceremonies he performed to invoke the dead. The 
 manner of his descent, and the apparition of the 
 shades : his conversation with Elpenor, and with 
 Tiresias, who informs him in a prophetick manner 
 of his fortunes to come. He meets his mother 
 Anticlea, from whom he learns the stale of his 
 family. He sees the shades of the antient Heroines, 
 afterwards of the Heroes, and converses in parti¬ 
 cular with Agamemnon and Achilles. Ajax keeps 
 at a sullen distance, and disdains to ansiver him . 
 He then beholds Tityus } Tantalus , Sysiphus, Her¬ 
 cules : till he is deterred from further curiosity 
 by the apparition of horrid spectres, and the cries 
 of the ivicked in torments . P. 
 

 
 
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 ( I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 THE antients called this book N exvopctvlsiu, or Nsm«, the 
 book of Necromancy : because (says Eustathius) it contains an 
 interview between Ulysses and the shades of the dead. 
 
 Virgil has not only borrowed the general design from Homer, 
 but imitated many particular incidents: L’ Abb6 Fraguier in the 
 Memoirs of Literature gives his judgment in favour of the Ro¬ 
 man Poet, and justly observes, that the end and design of the 
 journey is more important in Virgil than in Homer. Ulysses 
 descends to consult Tiresias, iEneas his father. Ulysses takes H 
 review of the shades of celebrated persons that preceded his 
 times, or whom he knew at Troy, who have no relation to the 
 story of the Odyssey: iEneas receives the history of his own 
 posterity; his father instructs him how to manage the Italian 
 war, and how to conclude it with honour; that is, to lay the 
 foundations of the greatest empire in the world; and the Poet 
 by a very happy address takes an opportunity to pay a noble 
 compliment to his patron Augustus. In the iEneid there is $ 
 magnificent description of the descent and entrance into hell; 
 and the diseases , cares and terrors that iEneas sees in his jour¬ 
 ney, are very happily imagined, as an introduction into the re¬ 
 gions of death: whereas in Homer there is nothing so noble, 
 we scarce are able to discover the place where the Poet lays his 
 scene, or whether Ulysses continues below or above the ground. 
 Instead of a descent into hell, it seems rather a conjuring up, 
 pr an evocation of the dead from hell; according to the words 
 of Horace, who undoubtedly had this passage of Homer in his 
 thoughts. Satira viii. lib. 1. 
 
 “ —•-Scalpere terram 
 
 “ Unguibus, et pullam divellere mordicus agnam 
 “ Coeperunt: cruor in fossam confusus, ut inde 
 “ Manes elicerent, animas responsa daturas.” 
 
 But if it be understood of an evocation only, how shall we ac¬ 
 count for several visions and descriptions in the conclusion of 
 this book ? Ulysses sees Tantalus in the waters of hell, and 
 Sisyphus rolling a stone up an infernal mountain; these Ulysses 
 could not conjure up, and consequently must be supposed to 
 have entered at least the borders of those infernal regions. In 
 short, Fraguier is of opinion, that Virgil profited more by the 
 Frogs of Aristophanes than by Homer ; and Mr. Dryden pre- 
 
KOTE PHELIMINARY. 
 
 fers the sixth book of the iEneid to the eleventh of the Odys¬ 
 sey, I think with very great reason. 
 
 I will take this opportunity briefly to mention the original of 
 ftll these fictions of infernal rivers, judges, &c. spoken of by 
 Homer, and repeated and enlarged by Virgil. They are of 
 ^Egyptian extract, as Mr. Sandys (that faithful traveller, and 
 judicious poet) observes, speaking of the mummies of Memphis, 
 p. 134. 
 
 “ These ceremonies performed, they laid the corpse in a boat, 
 f< to be wafted over Acherusia, a lake on the south of Memphis, 
 “ by one only person, whom they called Charon; which gave 
 “ Orpheus the invention of his infernal ferryman; an ill-favoured 
 tf slovenly fellow, as Virgil describes him, JEneid vi. About 
 
 this lake stood the shady temple of Hecate, with the ports of 
 iil Cocytus and Oblivion, separated by bars of brass, the original 
 et of like fables. When landed on the other side, the bodieft 
 * i were brought before certain judges ; if convicted of an evil 
 ** life, they were deprived of burial; if otherwise, they were 
 ** suffered to be interred.” This explication shews the founda¬ 
 tion of those antient fables of Charon, Rhadamanthus, &c. and 
 also that the Poets had a regard to truth iir their inventions, 
 and grounded even their fables upon some remarkable customs, 
 which grew obscure and absurd only because the memory of 
 the customs to which they allude is lost to posterity. 
 
 I will only add from Dacier, that this book is an evidence of 
 the antiquity of the opinion of the soul’s immortality. It is upon 
 this that the most antient of all divinations was founded, I mean 
 that which was performed by the evocation of the dead. There 
 is a very remarkable instance of this in the holy Scriptures, in an 
 age not very distant from that of Homer. Saul consults one of 
 these infernal agents to call up Samuel, who appears, or some evil 
 spirit in his form, and predicts his impending death and calami¬ 
 ties. This is a pregnant instance of the antiquity of Necromancy, 
 and that it was not of Homer’s invention; it prevailed long be¬ 
 fore his days among the Chaldeans, and spread over all the ori¬ 
 ental world. AEschylus has a tragedy intitled Persae, in which 
 the shade of Darius is called up, like that of Samuel, and fore- 
 tells queen Atossa all her misfortunes. Thus it appears that 
 there was a foundation for what Homer writes : he only embel¬ 
 lishes the opinions of antiquity with the ornaments of poetry. 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 I must confess that Homer gives a miserable account of a fu¬ 
 ture state ; there is not a person described in happiness, unless 
 perhaps it be Tiresias: the good and the bad seem all in the 
 same condition : whereas Virgil has a hell for the wicked, and 
 an Elysium for the just. Though perhaps it may be a vindica-^ 
 tion of Homer to say, that the notions of Virgil of a future state 
 were different from those of Homer; according to whom hell 
 might only be a receptacle for the vehicles Gf the dead, and that 
 while they were in hell, their (pfiv or spirit might be in heaven 9 
 as appears from what is said of the of Hercules in this 
 
 xith book of the Odyssey. P B 
 
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THE 
 
 ELEVENTH BOOK 
 
 OF THl? 
 
 ODYSSEY 
 
 to the shores we bend,, a mournful train. 
 
 Climb the tall bark, and launch into the main: 
 
 At once the mast we rear, at once unbind 
 The spacious sheet, and stretch it to the wind: 
 Then pale and pensive stand, with cares opprest, 5 
 And solemn horror saddens every breast. 
 
 A freshening breeze the * magick power supplied. 
 While the wing’d vessel flew along the tide; 
 
 Our oars we shipp’d : all day the swelling sails 
 Full from the guiding pilot catch’d the gales. 10 
 Now sunk the sun from his aerial height. 
 
 And o’er the shaded billows rush’d the night: 
 
 NOTE S. 
 * Circe. 
 
 Ver. 5.] Rather, as more faithfully. 
 Then tveejring , pensive, stand—, 
 
 D d 2 
 
 w. 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 104 
 
 When lo ! we reach’d old Ocean's utmost bounds. 
 Where rocks control his waves with ever-during 
 mounds. 
 
 There in a lonely land, and gloomy cells, 15 
 The dusky nation of Cimmeria dwells; 
 
 Ver. 14.] This line is interpolated by the translator. Thus ? 
 without any extraneous sentiment: 
 
 When lo ! it’s- course our gliding vessel bore, 
 
 Where the last waves of Ocean lash the shore. W. 
 
 Ver. 15. There in a lonely land , and gloomy cells , 
 
 The dusky nation of Cimmeria dwells. 
 
 It is the opinion of many commentators, that Homer constantly 
 in these voyages of Ulysses makes use of a fabulous geography; 
 but perhaps the contrary opinion in many places may be true : 
 in this passage, Ulysses in the space of one day sails from the 
 island of Circe to the Cimmerians : now it is very evident from 
 Herodotus and Strabo, that they inhabited the regions near the 
 Bosphorus, and consequently Ulysses could not sail thither in 
 the compass of a day; and therefore, says Strabo, the Poet re¬ 
 moves not only the Cimmerians, but their climate and darkness, 
 from the northern Bosphorus into Campania in Italy. 
 
 But that there really were a people in Italy named Cimme¬ 
 rians is evident from the testimony of many authors. So Lyco- 
 phron plainly understands this passage, and relates these adven¬ 
 tures as performed in Italy. He recapitulates all the voyages of 
 Ulysses, and mentioning the descent into hell, and the Cimme¬ 
 rians, he immediately describes the infernal rivers, and adds, 
 (speaking of the Apennine) “ From whence all the rivers, and 
 ei all the fountains flow through the regions of Italy." And 
 these lines of Tibullus, 
 
 “ Cimmerion etiarn obscuras accessit ad arces, 
 
 Queis nunquam candente dies apparuit ortu, 
 
 “ Sive supra terras Phoebus, seu curreret infra,” 
 are understood by all interpreters to denote the Italian Cimme¬ 
 rians who dwelt near Baise and the lake Avernus; and therefore 
 Homer may be imagined not entirely to follow a fabulous geo¬ 
 graphy. It is evident from Herodotus that these Cimmerians 
 w ere anciently a powerful nation : for passing into Asia (says that 
 author in his Clio) they possessed themselves of Sardis, in the 
 
book xi. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 405 
 
 The sun ne’er views the’ uncomfortable seats. 
 When radiant he advances, or retreats: 
 
 Unhappy race ! whom endless night invades. 
 
 Clouds the dull air, and wraps them round in shades. 
 
 The ship we moor on these obscure abodes; 21 
 
 Dis-bark the sheep, an offering to the Gods ; 
 
 And hell-ward bending, o’er the beach descry 
 The dolesome passage to the’ infernal sky. 
 
 The victims, vow’d to each Tartarean power, 25 
 Eurylochus and Perimedes bore. 
 
 Here open’d Hell, all Hell I here implor’d, 
 
 And from the scabbard drew the shining sword; 
 And trenching the black earth on every side, 
 
 A cavern form’d, a cubit long and wide. 30 
 
 New wine, with honey-temper’d milk, we bring. 
 Then living waters from the crystal spring; 
 
 time of Ardyes, the son of Gyges. If so, it is possible they 
 might make several settlements in different parts of the world, 
 and call those settlements by their original name, Cimmerians ; 
 and consequently there might be Italian, as well as Scythian 
 Cimmerians. P. 
 
 Ver. 31. Neiv tvine, tvith honey-temper d milk,"] The word in 
 the original is, pt?Siy.pctlov, which (as Eustathius observes) the an¬ 
 cients constantly understood to imply a mixture of honey and 
 milk; but all writers who succeeded Homer as constantly used 
 it to signify a composition of water mixed with honey. The 
 Latin Poets have borrowed their magical rites from Homer. 
 
 This libation is made to all the departed shades; but to what 
 purpose (objects Eustathius) should these rites be paid to the 
 dead, when it is evident from the subsequent relation that they 
 were ignorant of these ceremonies till they had tasted the liba¬ 
 tion ? He answers from the ancients, that they were merely ho¬ 
 norary to the regents of the dead, Pluto and Proserpina; and 
 used to obtain their leave to have an interview with the shades 
 in their dominions. P. 
 
406 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 O’er these was strew’d the consecrated flour, 
 
 And on the surface shone the holy store. 
 
 * 
 
 Now the wan shades we hail, the’infernal Gods, 35 
 To speed our course, and waft us o’er the floods : 
 
 So shall a barren heifer from the stall 
 Beneath the knife upon your altars fall ; 
 
 So in our palace, at our safe return. 
 
 Rich with unnumber’d gifts the pile shall bum; 4$ 
 So shall a ram the largest of the breed. 
 
 Black as these regions, to Tiresias bleed. 
 
 Thus solemn rites and holy vows we paid 
 To all the phantom-nations of the dead. 
 
 Then died the sheep ; a purple torrent flow’d, 45 
 And all the caverns smok’d with streaming blood. 
 When lo! appear’d along the dusky coasts, 
 
 Thin, airy shoals of visionary ghosts; 
 
 Ver. 47. When lo l appear'd along the dusky coasts, 
 
 Thin , airy shoals of visionary ghosts.~\ 
 
 We are informed by Eustathius, that the ancients rejected these 
 six verses, for say they, these are not the shades of persons 
 newly slain, but who have long been in these infernal regions: 
 how then can their wounds be supposed still to be visible, espe¬ 
 cially through their armour, when the soul was separated from 
 the body ? Neither is this the proper place for their appear¬ 
 ance, for the Poet immediately subjoins, that the ghost of El- 
 penor was the first that he encountered in these regions of dark¬ 
 ness. But these objections will be easily answered by having 
 recourse to the notions which the ancients entertained concern¬ 
 ing the dead; we must remember that they imagined that the 
 soul though freed from the body had still a vehicle, exactly re¬ 
 sembling the body; as the figure in a mould retains the resem¬ 
 blance of the mould, when separated from it; the body is but 
 ns a case to this vehicle, and it is in this vehicle that the wounds 
 are said to be visible; this was supposed to be less gross than 
 the mortal body, and less subtile than the soul; so that what¬ 
 ever wounds the outward body received when living, were be- 
 
COOK XI.’ 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 407 
 
 Fair, pensive youths, and soft enamour’d maids; 
 And wither’d elders, pale and wrinkled Shades ; 50 
 
 Ghastly with wounds the forms of warriors slain 
 Stalk’d with majestick port, a martial train : 
 
 These and a thousand more swarm’d o’er the ground^ 
 And all the dire assembly shriek’d around. 
 
 lieved to affect this inward substance, and consequently iriight 
 be visible after separation. 
 
 It is true that the Poet calls the ghost of Elpenor the first 
 ghost, but this means the first whom he knew: Elpenor w%s not 
 yet buried, and therefore was not yet received into the habita¬ 
 tion of the dead, but wanders before the entrance of it. This 
 is the reason why his shade is said to present itself the foremost: 
 it comes not up from the realm of death, but descends towards 
 it from the upper world. 
 
 But these shades of the warriors are said still to wear their 
 armour in which they were slain, for the Poet adds that it was 
 stained with blood: how is it possible for these ghosts, which 
 are only a subtile substance, not a gross body, to wear the ar¬ 
 mour they wore in the other world ? How was it conveyed to 
 them in these infernal regions ? All that occurs to me in an¬ 
 swer to this objection is, that the Poet describes them suitably 
 to the characters they bore in life; the warriors on earth are 
 warriors in hell; and that he adds these circumstances only to 
 denote the manner of their death, which was in battle, or by the 
 sword. No doubt but Homer represents a future state accord¬ 
 ing to the notions which his age entertained of it, and this suf¬ 
 ficiently justifies him as a Poet, who is not obliged to write 
 truths, but according to fame and common opinions. 
 
 But to prove these verses genuine, we have the authority of 
 Virgil: he wsrs too sensible of their beauty not to adorn his 
 Poems with them. Georg, iv. 470. It must be confessed that 
 the Roman poet omits the circumstance of the armour in his 
 translation, as being perhaps contrary to the opinions prevailing 
 in his age; but in the sixth book of the iEneis he describes his 
 heroes with arms, horses, and infernal chariots ; and in the story 
 of Deipliobus we see his shade retain the wounds in hell, which 
 lie received at the time of his death in Troy, P, 
 
408 
 
 IIOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 Astonish’d at the sight, aghast I stood, 55 
 
 And a cold fear ran shivering thro’ my blood ; 
 Straight I command the sacrifice to haste. 
 
 Straight the flay’d victims to the flames are cast. 
 And mutter’d vows, and mystick song applied 
 To grisly Pluto, and his gloomy bride. 60 
 
 Now swift I wav’d my falchion o’er the blood; 
 Back started the pale throngs, and trembling stood. 
 Bound the black trench the gore untasted flows, 
 r Till awful from the shades Tiresias rose. 
 
 There, wandering thro’ the gloom I first survey’d. 
 New to the realms of death, Elpenor’s shade : 66 
 
 His cold remains all naked to the sky 
 On distant shores unwept, unburied lie. 
 
 Sad at the sight 1 stand, deep fix’d in woe. 
 
 And ere I spoke the tears began to flow. 70 
 
 O sa) what angry power Elpenor led 
 To glide in shades, and wander with the dead ? 
 
 How could thy soul, by realms and seas disjoin’d. 
 Out-fly the nimble sail, and leave the lagging wind ? 
 
 Ver. 62.] An animated line, suggested by the translator's 
 fancy. " W. 
 
 Ver. 67.] Thus his author, literally : 
 
 Him earth’s broad bosom had not yet receiv’d; 
 
 PI is corse we left, urg’d on by other care, 
 
 In Circe’s dome, unwept, and unentomb’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 73. How could thy soul, by realms and seas disjoin d > 
 
 ' Out-jly the nimble saiH~\ 
 
 Eustathius is of opinion, that Ulysses speaks pleasantly to EIpe* 
 nor, for were his words to be literally translated they would be, 
 Elpenor , thou art come hither on foot , sooner than I in a ship. I 
 suppose it is the worthless character of Elpenor that led that 
 Critick into this opinion ; but I should rather take the sentence 
 to be spoken seriously, not only because such railleries are an 
 
book xi. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 409 
 
 The ghost replied : To hell my doom I owe., 75 
 Demons accurst, dire ministers of woe! 
 
 My feet thro’ wine unfaithful to their weight. 
 Betray’d me tumbling from a towery height ; 
 Staggering I reel’d, and as I reel’d I fell, 
 
 Lux’d the neck-joint—my soul descends to hell, so 
 But lend me aid, I now conjure thee lend. 
 
 By the soft tie and sacred name of friend ! 
 
 By thy fond consort! by thy father’s cares! 
 
 By lov’d Telemachus’s blooming years! 
 
 For well I know that soon the heavenly powers 8 * 
 Will give thee back to day, and Circe’s shores: 
 There pious on my cold remains attend. 
 
 There call to mind thy poor departed friend ; 
 
 The tribute of a tear is all I crave, 
 
 And the possession of a peaceful grave. 90 
 
 But if unheard, in vain compassion plead. 
 
 Revere the Gods, the Gods avenge the dead ! 
 
 insult upon the unfortunate, and levities perhaps unworthy of 
 epick poetry, but also from the general conduct of Ulysses, 
 who at the sight of Elpenor burst into tears, and compassionates 
 the fate of his friend. Is there any thing in this that looks like 
 railleryif there be, we must confess that Ulysses makes a very 
 quick transition from sorrow to pleasantry. The other is a more 
 noble sense, and therefore I have followed it, and it excellently 
 paints the surprise of Ulysses at the unexpected sight of Elpe¬ 
 nor, and expresses his wonder that the soul, the moment it 
 leaves the body, should reach the receptacle of departed 
 shades. P. 
 
 Ver. 83.] The translation here is very loose and unfaithful. 
 Thus Fenton: 
 
 -I beg by those indearing names 
 
 Of parent, wife, and son ; though distant, dear 
 To your remembrance. W. 
 
HOMEIls ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 410 
 
 A tomb along the watery margin raise,, 'j 
 
 The tomb with manly arms and trophies grace,, > 
 To shew posterity Elpenor was. 95) 
 
 There high in air, memorial of my name. 
 
 Fix the smooth oar, and bid me live to fame. 
 
 To whom with tears; These rites, 0I1 mournful 
 shade, 
 
 Due to thy ghost, shall to thy ghost be paid. 
 
 Still as I spoke the phantom seem’d to moan, 100 
 Tear followed tear, and groan succeeded groan. 
 
 But as my waving sword the blood surrounds. 
 
 The shade withdrew, and mutter’d empty sounds. 
 
 There as the wonderous visions I survey’d, 
 
 All pale ascends my royal mother’s shade: 105 
 
 A queen, to Troy she saw our legions pass; 
 
 Now a thin form is all Anticlea was ! 
 
 Struck at the sight I melt with filial woe. 
 
 And down my cheek the pious sorrows flow ; 
 
 Yet as I shook my falchion o’er the blood, no 
 Regardless of her son the parent stood. 
 
 Ver. 96.] Or thus exactly, with the rhymes of Ogilby : 
 
 Full on the summit fix my favourite oar, 
 
 Oft, with my comrades, plied from shore to shore. WV 
 Ver. 100.] Our translator misrepresents his original here, 
 when all his predecessors arc unexceptionable in this respect. I 
 shall give a literal version : 
 
 Thus we discoursing sat in accents sad: 
 
 I, here, with falchion brandish’d o’er the blood ; 
 
 There, the loquacious phantom of my mate. W. 
 Ver. 110.] This is very strange : rather thus : 
 
 Tho’ griev’d, regardless of her wish I stood. 
 
 Nor gave her honour’d ghost to taste the blood : 
 
 Still o’er the gory pool 1 flasht my blade, 
 
 'Till the hoar seer should raise his awful shade. W. 
 
KOOK XT. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 411 
 
 When lo ! the mighty Theban I behold; 
 
 To guide his steps he bore a staff of gold ; 
 
 Awful he trod ! majestick was his look ! 
 
 And from his holy lips these accents broke. 115 
 Why, mortal, wanderest thou from cheerful day. 
 
 To tread the downward, melancholy way ? 
 
 What angry Gods to these dark regions led 
 Thee yet alive, companion of the dead ? 
 
 But sheath thy poniard, while my tongue relates 12p 
 Heaven's stedfast purpose, and thy future fates. 
 
 Ver. 114.] This line is interpolated by the translator. W. 
 
 Ver. 120. But sheath thy poniard. -] The terror which 
 
 the shades of the departed express at the sight of the sword of 
 Ulysses has been frequently censured as absurd and ridiculous: 
 Risum cui non moveat, says Scaliger, cum ensem ait et vulnera 
 metuisse ? What have the dead to fear from a sword, who are 
 beyond the power of it, by being reduced to an incorporeal 
 shadow? But this description is consistent with the notions of 
 the ancients concerning the dead. I have already remarked, 
 that the shades retained a vehicle, which resembled the body, 
 and was liable to pain as well as the corporeal substance ; if not, 
 to what purpose are the Furies described with iron scourges, or 
 the vulture tearing the liver of Tityus ? 
 
 Virgil ascribes the like fears to the shades in the iEneis; for 
 the Sibyl thus commands AEneas ; 
 
 t( Tuque invade viam, vaginaque eripe ferrum.’' 
 
 And the shades of the Greeks are there said to fly at the sight 
 of his arms. 
 
 “ At Danaum proceres, Agamemnoniaeque phalanges, 
 
 “ Ut vid&re virum fulgentiaque arma per umbras, 
 
 “ Ingenti trepidare metu.” 
 
 Tiresias is here described consistently with the character be¬ 
 fore given him by the Poet, I mean with a pre-eminence above 
 the other shades; for (as Eustathius observes, he knows Ulysses 
 before he tastes the ingredients ; a privilege not claimed by 
 any other of the infernal inhabitants. Elpenor indeed did the 
 same, but for another reason ; because he was not yet buried, * 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 412 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 While yet he spoke, the prophet I obey’d. 
 
 And in the scabbard plunged the glittering* blade : 
 Eager he quaff’d the gore, and then exprest 
 Dark things to come, the counsels of his breast. 125 
 Weary of light, Ulysses here explores 
 A prosperous voyage to his native shores ; 
 
 But know—by me unerring fates disclose 
 New trains of dangers, and new scenes of woes ; 
 
 I see ! I see ! thy bark by Neptune tost, 130 
 
 For injur’d Cyclops, and his eye-ball lost! 
 
 Yet to thy woes the Gods decree an end. 
 
 If heaven thou please ; and how to please attend ! 
 Where on Trinacrian rocks the ocean roars. 
 
 Graze numerous herds along the verdant shores ; 135 
 Tho’ hunger press, yet fly the dangerous prey. 
 
 The herds are sacred to the God of day. 
 
 Who all surveys vritli his extensive eye 
 Above, below, on earth and in the sky ! 
 
 Rob not the God, and so propitious gales 140 
 
 Attend thy voyage, and impel thy sails : 
 
 But if his herds ye seize, beneath the waves 
 I see thy friends o’erwhelm’d in liquid graves! 
 
 The direful wreck Ulysses scarce survives l 
 Ulysses at his country scarce arrives ! 14 5 
 
 nor entered the regions of the dead, and therefore his soul was 
 yet intire. P. 
 
 Ver. 145. Ulysses at his country scarce arrives !~\ The Poet 
 conducts this interview with admirable judgment. The whole 
 design of Ulysses is to engage the Phseacians in his favour, ir\ 
 order to his transportation to his own country : how does he 
 bring this about ? By shewing that it was decreed by the Gods 
 that he should be conducted thither bv strangers; so that the 
 Phceacians immediately conclude, that they are the people des¬ 
 tined by heaven to conduct him home ; to give this the greater 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 413 
 
 IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Strangers thy guides ! nor there thy labours end. 
 New foes arise, domestick ills attend ! 
 
 There foul adulterers to thy bride resort. 
 
 And lordly gluttons riot in thy court. 
 
 But vengeance hastes amain ! These eyes behold 150 
 The deathful scene, princes on princes roll’d ! 
 
 That done, a people far from sea explore. 
 
 Who ne’er knew salt, or heard the billows roar, 
 
 weight, he puts the speech into the mouth of the prophet 
 Tiresias, and exalts his character in an extraordinary manner, 
 to strengthen the credit of the prediction: by this method 
 likewise the Poet interweaves his episode into the texture and 
 essence of the poem, he makes this journey into hell contri¬ 
 bute to the restoration of his hero, and unites the subordinate 
 parts very happily with the main action. P. 
 
 Ver. 152. That done , a people Jar from sea explore , 
 
 Who ne'er knew salt. -] 
 
 It is certain that Tiresias speaks very obscurely, after the man¬ 
 ner of the oracles ; but the ancients generally understood this 
 people to be the Epirots. Thus Pausanias in his Atticks. 
 
 “ The Epirots even so lately as after the taking of Troy, 
 were ignorant of the sea, and the use of salt, as Homer tes- 
 ee tifies in his Odyssey 
 
 Who ne’er knew salt, or heard the billows roar. 
 
 So that the} 7 who were ignorant of the sea, were likewise igno¬ 
 rant of the use of salt, according to Homer: whence it may be 
 conjectured, that the Poet knew of no salt but what was made 
 of sea-water. The other token of their ignorance of the sea 
 was, that they 7 should not know an oar, but call it a corn-van. 
 Eustathius tells us the reason of this command given to Ulysses, 
 to search out a people ignorant of the sea : it was in honour of 
 Neptune, to make his name regarded by a nation which was 
 entirely a stranger to that Deity ; and this injunction was 
 laid by Tray of atonement for the violence offered to his son 
 Polyphemus. P. 
 
 Ver. 153.] Or thus, more exactly : 
 
 They salt no food , they hear no billows roar. W. 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 414 HOMERs ODYSSEV. 
 
 Or saw gay vessel stem the watery plain, 
 
 A painted wonder flying on the main ! 15 
 
 Bear on thy back an oar : with strange amaze 
 A shepherd meeting thee, the oar surveys. 
 
 And names a van : there fix it on the plain. 
 
 To calm the God that holds the watery reign ; 
 
 A threefold offering to his altar bring, 160 
 
 A bull, a ram, a boar; and hail the Ocean-king. 
 
 But home return’d, to each ethereal power 
 Slay the due victim in the genial hour : 
 
 So peaceful shalt thou end thy blissful days. 
 
 And steal thyself from life by slow decays : 165 
 
 Unknown to pain, in age resign thy breath, 
 
 When late stern Neptune points the shaft with death : 
 
 Ver. 165.] The six concluding verses of this address are 
 much amplified from the following portion of his author: 
 
 -then from the sea thy death awaits ; 
 
 An easy death ! to slay with gentle hand 
 Thine age in comfort spent, thy people round. 
 
 All happy ! These, the words of truth, I speak. W. 
 
 Ver. 167. When late stem Neptune 'points the shaft with death.'] 
 The death of Ulysses is related variously, but the following 
 account is chiefly credited : Ulysses had a son by Circe named 
 Telegonus, who being grown to years of maturity, sailed to 
 Ithaca in search of his father; where seizing some sheep for the 
 use of his attendants, the shepherds put themselves into a pos¬ 
 ture to rescue them; Ulysses being advertised of it, went with 
 his son Telemachus to repel Telegonus, who in defending 
 himself wounded Ulysses, not knowing him to be his father. 
 Thus Oppian, Hyginus, and Dictys relate the story. Many 
 Poets have brought this upon the stage, and Aristotle criti¬ 
 cizing upon one of these tragedies gives us the title of it, which 
 was, Ulysses wounded. But if Ulysses thus died, how can 
 Neptune be said to point the shaft with death ? We are in¬ 
 formed that the spear with which Telegonus gave the wound, 
 was pointed with the bone of a sea turtle ; so that literally his 
 death came from the sea, or 1$ s: and Neptune being the God 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 415 
 
 To the dark grave retiring as to rest, 
 
 Thy people blessing, by thy people blest! 
 
 Unerring truths, oh man, my lips relate ; 170 
 
 This is thy life to come, and this is fate. 
 
 To whom unmov’d : If this the Gods prepare. 
 What heaven ordains, the wise with courage bear. 
 But say, why yonder on the lonely strands. 
 Unmindful of her son, Anticlea stands ? 175 
 
 Why to the ground she bends her downcast eye ? 
 Why is she silent, while her son is nigh ? 
 
 The latent cause, 0I1 sacred seer, reveal ! 
 
 Nor this, replies the seer, will I conceal. 
 
 of the ocean, his death may without violence be ascribed to 
 
 that Deity. It is true, some Criticks read as one word, 
 
 and then it will signify that Ulysses should escape the dangers 
 
 of the sea, and die upon the continent far from it; but the 
 
 former sense is most consonant to the tenor of the Poem, 
 
 through which Neptune is constantly represented as an enemy 
 
 to Ulvsses. 
 
 «/ 
 
 I will only add the reason why Ulysses is enjoined to offer a 
 bull, a ram, and a boar to Neptune : the bull represents the 
 roaring of the sea in storms : the ram the milder appearance of 
 it when in tranquillity : the boar was used by the ancients as an 
 emblem of fecundity, to represent the fruitfulness of the ocean. 
 This particular sacrifice of three animals was called rpirlvu. 
 Eustathius. P. 
 
 For this beautiful turn our translator is indebted to his co¬ 
 adjutor Fenton: 
 
 At length, •when Neptune points the dart of deaths 
 Without a pang you’ll die. W. 
 
 Ver. 178.] This bears no resemblance to his author, who 
 may be better seen in Ogilby, unadorned as he is, but not con¬ 
 temptible : 
 
 These Heaven decrees, and ever-fixed Fate. 
 
 But say, blest prophet, and the truth relate; 
 
 I see my mother’s shade, who not her son 
 Will speak to, nor so much as look upon: 
 
416 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book xi. 
 
 Know ; to the spectres, that thy beverage taste, iso 
 The scenes of life recur, and actions past ; 
 
 They, seal’d with truth, return the sure reply; 
 
 The rest, repell’d, a train oblivious fly. 
 
 . The phantom Prophet ceas’d, and sunk from sight 
 To the black palace of eternal Night 185 
 
 Still in the dark abodes of death I stood. 
 
 When near Anticlea mov’d, and drank the blood. 
 Straight all the mother in her soul awakes. 
 
 And owning her Ulysses, thus she speaks. 
 
 Com’st thou my son, alive, to realms beneath, 190 
 The dolesome realms of darkness and of death : 
 Com’st thou alive from pure, ethereal day ? 
 
 Dire is the region, dismal is the way ! 
 
 Here lakes profound, there floods oppose their waves. 
 There the wide sea with all his billows raves ! 195 
 
 Or (since to dust proud Troy submits her towers) 
 Com’st thou a wanderer from the Phrygian shores ? 
 Or say, since honour call’d thee to the field. 
 
 Hast thou thy Ithaca, thy bride, beheld ? 
 
 Source of my life, I cried, from earth I fly 200 
 To seek Tiresias in the nether sky. 
 
 To learn my doom : for tost from woe to woe, 
 
 In every land Ulysses finds a foe : 
 
 Nor have these eyes beheld my native shores. 
 
 Since in the dust proud Troy submits her towers. 205 
 But, when thy soul from her sweet mansion fled. 
 Say, what distemper gave thee to the dead ? 
 
 Has life’s fair lamp declin’d by slow decays. 
 
 Or swift expir’d it in a sudden blaze ? 
 
 Silent she sits by sacred blood : ah, bow 
 
 May she, poor shadow! her dear offspring know ? W. 
 
BOOR XI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 41 ? 
 
 Say, if my sire, good old Laertes, lives ? 210 
 
 If yet Telemachus, my son, survives ? 
 
 Say, by his rule is my dominion aw’d. 
 
 Or crush’d by traitors with an iron rod ? 
 
 Say, if my spouse maintains her royal trust, 
 
 Tho’ tempted chaste, and obstinately just ? 2l£ 
 
 Or if no more her absent lord she wails. 
 
 But the false woman o’er the wife prevails ? 
 
 Thus I, and thus the parent-shade returns. 
 
 Thee, ever thee, thy faithful consort mourns: 
 Whether the night descends, or day prevails, 220 
 Thee she by night, and thee by day bewails. 
 
 Thee in Telemachus thy realm obeys; 
 
 In sacred groves celestial rites he pays. 
 
 And shares the banquet in superior state. 
 
 Graced with such honours as become the great. 225 
 Thy sire in solitude foments his care: 
 
 The court is joyless, for thou art not there ! 
 
 Ver. 224 . And shares the banquet in superior state , &c.] This 
 passage is fully explained by Eustathius: he tells us, that it 
 was an ancient custom to invite kings and legislators to all 
 public feasts ; this was to do them honour : and the chief seat 
 was always reserved for the chief magistrate. ' Without this 
 observation, the lines are unintelligible. It is evident that the 
 words are not spoken of sacrifices or feasts made to the Gods, 
 but social entertainments, for they are general, 'sradt? y.u^taert, 
 “ all the people of the realm invite Telemachus to their feasts.’ 3 ' 
 And this seems to have been a right due to the chief magis¬ 
 trate, for uXiyvvtif implies it, which word Eustathius explains 
 by U x6yu cromaSau ; “ such an honour as ought not to be neg- 
 “ lected,” or 
 
 Graced with such honours as become the great. 
 
 It gives a very happy image of those ages of the world, when 
 we observe such an intercourse between the king and the sub¬ 
 ject : the idea of power carries no terror in it, but the ruler 
 himself makes a part of the public joy. P. 
 
 vol. 1 . Ee 
 
418 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. bookm. 
 
 No costly carpets raise his hoary head, 
 
 No rich embroidery shines to grace his bed ; 
 
 Even when keen w inter freezes in the skies, 230 
 Rank’d w ith his slaves, on earth the monarch lies : 
 Deep are his sighs, his visage pale, his dress 
 The garb of woe and habit of distress. 
 
 And when the autumn takes his annual round. 
 
 The leafy honours scattering on the ground; 23 S 
 
 Regardless of his years, abroad he lies. 
 
 His bed the leaves, his canopy the skies. 
 
 Thus cares on cares his painful days consume, 
 
 And bow his age with sorrow to the tomb ! 
 
 For thee, my son, I wept my life away ; 240 
 
 For thee thro’ hell’s eternal dungeons stray : 
 
 Nor came my fate by lingering pains and slow. 
 
 Nor bent the silver-shafted queen her bow ; 
 
 No dire disease bereav’d me of my breath ; 
 
 Thou, thou my son, wert my disease and death; 245 
 Unkindly with my love my son conspir’d. 
 
 For thee I liv’d, for absent thee expir’d. 
 
 Thrice in my arms I strove her shade to bind, V 
 Thrice thro’ my arms she slipt like fempty wind, % 
 Or dreams, the vain illusions of the mind. 2503 
 
 Wild with despair, I shed a copious tide 
 Of flowing tears, and thus with sighs replied. 
 
 Fly’st thou, loved shade, while I thus fondly mourn ? 
 Turn to my arms, to my embraces turn ! 
 
 Ver. 248. Thrice in my arms I strove her shade to bind, 
 
 Thrice through my arms — —3 
 
 This passage plainly shews that the vehicles of the departed 
 were believed by the ancients to be of an aerial substance, and 
 retain nothing of corporeal grossness. 
 
 Virgil has borrowed these verses. Pi 
 
book xi. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 41 $ 
 
 Is it, ye powers that smile at human harms ! 255 
 
 Too great a bliss to weep within her arms ? 
 
 Or has hell's queen an empty image sent. 
 
 That wretched I might even my joys lament ? 
 
 O son of woe, the pensive shade rejoin’d. 
 
 Oh most inur’d to grief of all mankind ! 260 
 
 ’Tis not the queen of hell who thee deceives : 
 
 All, all are such, when life the body leaves; 
 
 No more the substance of the man remains. 
 
 Nor bounds the blood along the purple veins: 
 These the funereal flames in atoms bear, 2 65 
 
 To wander with the wind in empty air ; 
 
 While the impassive soul reluctant flies. 
 
 Like a vain dream, to these infernal skies. 
 
 But from the dark dominions speed thy way. 
 
 And climb the steep ascent to upper day ; 270 
 
 To thy chaste bride the wonderous story tell. 
 
 The woes, the horrors, and the laws of hell. 
 
 Thus while she spoke, in swarms hell’s empress 
 brings 
 
 Daughters and wives of heroes and of kings ; 
 
 Thick and more thick they gather round the blood, 27.3 
 Ghost throng'd on ghost (a dire assembly) stood! 
 Dauntless my sword I seize : the airy crew. 
 
 Swift as it flash’d along the gloom, withdrew; 
 
 Then shade to shade in mutual forms succeeds. 
 
 Her race recounts, and their illustrious deeds. 280 
 
 Ver. 267.] The soul impassive from the realms of day, 
 
 Like a fleet dream, to darkness wings her way. 
 But haste to light : there to thy bride relate 
 The wonderous visions of the' infernal state. 
 
 All the rest in our Poet's version is unauthorised amplification, 
 from Virgil rather than Homer. W. 
 
 . e e 2 
 
BOOK XI, 
 
 420 IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Tyro began : whom great Salmoneus bred ; 
 
 The royal partner of fam’d Cretheus’ bed. 
 
 For fair Enipeus’s, as from fruitful urns 
 He pours his watery store, the virgin burns; 
 
 Ver. 281. Tyro —— whom great Salmoneus bred. ] Virgil 
 gives a very different character of Salmoneus from this of Ho¬ 
 mer : he describes him as an impious person who presumed to 
 imitate the thunder of Jupiter, whereas Homer stiles him blame¬ 
 less, or uyv^uv; an argument, says Eustathius, that the preced¬ 
 ing story is a fable invented since the days of Homer. This 
 may perhaps be true, and we may naturally conclude it to be 
 true from his silence of it, but not from the epithet ; for 
 
 in the first book of the Odyssey, Jupiter gives the same appel¬ 
 lation to iEgysthus, even while he condemns him of murder 
 and adultery. Eustathius adds, that Salmoneus was a great 
 proficient in mechanicks, and inventor of a vessel called fifoi/leTov, 
 which imitated thunder by rolling stones in it, which gave 
 occasion to the fictions of the Poets. P. 
 
 Ver. 283. For fair Enipeus , as from fruitful urns 
 
 He pours his •watery store^ the virgin burns."] 
 
 There are no fables in the Poets that seem more bold than 
 these concerning the commerce between women and river 
 Gods ; but Eustathius gives us a probable solution : I will trans¬ 
 late him literally. It was customary for young virgins to re¬ 
 sort frequently to rivers to bathe in them; and the ancients have 
 very well explained these fables about the intercourse between 
 them and the water Gods : Receive my virginity, 0 Scamander ! 
 says a lady ; but it is very apparent who this Scamander was : 
 her lover Cimon lay concealed in the reeds. This was a good 
 excuse for female frailty, in ages of credulity: for such ima¬ 
 ginary intercourse between the fair sex and deities was not only 
 believed, but esteemed honourable. No doubt the ladies w r ere 
 frequently deceived; their lovers personated the. deities, and 
 they took a Cimon to their arms in the disguise of a Scamander. 
 
 It is uncertain where this Enipeus flows : Strabo (says Eusta¬ 
 thius) imagines it to be a river of Peloponnesus, that disem¬ 
 bogues its waters into the Alphaeus ; for the Thessalian river is 
 Eniseus, and not Enipeus: this rises from mount Othrys, and 
 receives into it the Epidanus. The former seems to be the river 
 intended by Homer, for it takes its source from a village called 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 421 
 
 Smooth flows the gentle stream with wanton pride, 285 
 And in soft mazes rolls a silver tide. 
 
 As on his banks the maid enamour'd roves. 
 
 The monarch of the deep beholds and loves ; 
 
 In her Enipeus’ form and borrow’d charms. 
 
 The amorous God descends into her arms : 290 
 
 Around, a spacious arch of waves he throws. 
 
 And high in air the liquid mountain rose ; 
 
 Thus in surrounding floods conceal’d he proves 
 The pleasing transport, and completes his loves. 
 Then softly sighing, he the fair addrest, 295 
 
 And as he spoke, her tender hand he prest. 
 
 Hail happy nymph ! no vulgar births are ow’d 
 To the prolifick raptures of a God: 
 
 Lo ! when nine times the moon renews her horn. 
 Two brother heroes shall from thee be born ; 300 
 
 Thy early care the future worthies claim. 
 
 To point them to the arduous paths of fame ; 
 
 But in thy breast the’ important truth conceal. 
 
 Nor dare the secret of a God reveal ; 
 
 For know, thou Neptune view’st! and at my nod 305 
 Earth trembles, and the waves confess their God. 
 
 He added not, but mounting spurn’d the plain. 
 Then plung’d into the chambers of the main. 
 
 Salmone; and what strengthens this conjecture is the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of the ocean (or Neptune in this fable) to that river, 
 Lucian has made this story of Enipeus the subject of one of his 
 dialogues. 
 
 This image is not from Homer, but from Fenton : 
 
 Enipeus, swift from whose reclining urn 
 liolls a delicious flood. W. 
 
 Ver. 302 .J This verse is wholly interpolated by the trans¬ 
 lator. W. 
 
422 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book xi. 
 
 Now in the time’s full process forth she brings 
 Jove’s dread vicegerents, in two future kings ! 310 
 O’er proud Iolcos Pelias stretch’d his reign. 
 
 And god-like Neleus rul’d the Pylian plain : 
 
 Then fruitful, to her Cretheus’ royal bed 
 She gallant Pheres and fam’d iEson bred : 
 
 From the same fountain Amythaon rose, 315 
 
 Pleas’d with the din of war, and noble shout of foes. 
 
 There mov’d Antiope with haughty charms. 
 Who blest the’ Almighty Thunderer in her arms: 
 Hence sprung Amphion, hence brave Zethus came. 
 Founders of Thebes, and men of mighty name ; 320 
 
 Ver. 319. Hence sprung Amphion -j The fable of Thebes 
 
 built by the power of musick is not mentioned by Homer, and 
 therefore may be supposed to be of later invention. Homer re¬ 
 lates many circumstances in these short histories differently 
 from his successors ; Epicaste is called Jocasta, and the trage¬ 
 dians have entirely varied the story of Oedipus : they tell us he 
 tore out his eyes, that he was driven from Thebes, and being 
 conducted by his daughter Antigone, arrived at Athens, where 
 entering the temple of the Furies, he died in the midst of a 
 furious storm, and was carried by it into hell; whereas Homer 
 directly affirms, that he continued to reign in Thebes after all 
 his calamities. 
 
 It is not easy to give a reason why the mother, and not the 
 father, is said to send the Furies to torment Oedipus, especially 
 because he was the murderer of his father Laius: Eustathius 
 answers, that it was by accident that he slew Laius; but upon 
 the discovery of his wickedness in marrying his mother Jocasta, 
 he used her with more barbarity and rigour than was necessary, 
 and therefore she pursues him with her vengeance. The story 
 of Oedipus is this: Laius being informed by the oracle, that 
 he should be slain by his son, caused Oedipus immediately to 
 be exposed by his shepherds to wild beasts ; but the shepherds 
 preserved him, and gave him education : when he came to 
 years of maturity he went towards Thebes in search of his 
 father, but meeting Laius by the way, and a quarrel arising, 
 
book xl HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 423 
 
 Tho’ bold in open field, they yet surround 
 The town with walls, and mound inject on mound ; 
 Here ramparts stood, there towers rose high in air. 
 And here thro’ seven wide portals rush'd the war. 
 
 There with soft step the fair Alcmena trod, 325 
 Who bore Alcides to the thundering God; 
 
 And Megara, who charm’d the son of Jove, 
 
 And soften’d his stern soul to tender love. 
 
 Sullen and sour with discontented mien 
 Jocasta frown’d, the’ incestuous Theban queen ; 330 
 With her own son she join’d in nuptial bands, 
 
 Tho’ father’s blood imbrued his murderous hands : 
 The Gods and men the dire offence detest, 
 
 The Gods with all their furies rend his breast : 
 
 In lofty Thebes he wore the’ imperial crown, 335 
 A pompous wretch ! accurs’d upon a throne. 
 
 The wife self-murder’d from a beam depends. 
 
 And her foul soul to blackest hell descends ; 
 
 Thence to her son the choicest plagues she brings. 
 And the fiends haunt him with a thousand stings. 340 
 And now the beauteous Chloris I descry, 
 
 A lovely shade, Amphion’s youngest joy ! 
 
 With gifts unnumber’d Neleus sought her arms. 
 Nor paid too dearly for unequall’d charms ; 
 
 Great in Orchomenos, in Pylos great, 345 
 
 He swayed the sceptre with imperial state. 
 
 he slew him ignorantly, and married Jocasta his mother. This 
 is the subject of two tragedies in Sophocles. P« 
 
 Ver. 344.] For this line, which is eminently beautiful and 
 poetical, we are indebted to the taste of our translator only. W. 
 
 Ver. 345. Great in Orchomenos -] This is a very con¬ 
 
 siderable city lying between Boeotia and Phocis, upon the river 
 Cephisus : Ilomer calls it the Minyan Orchomenos, because the 
 
/ 
 
 \ 9 A HOMER s ODYSSEY. book xr. 
 
 Three gallant sons the joyful monarch told. 
 
 Sage Nestor, Periclimenus the bold, 
 
 And Chromius last; but of the softer race. 
 
 One nymph alone, a miracle of grace. 350 
 
 Kings on their thrones for lovely Pero burn. 
 
 The sire denies, and kings rejected mourn. 
 
 To him alone the beauteous prize he yields. 
 
 Whose arm should ravish from Phylacian fields 
 The herds of Iphyclus, detain'd in wrong; 355 
 
 Wild, furious herds, unconquerably strong ! 
 
 This dares a seer, but nought the seer prevails. 
 
 In beauty’s cause illustriously he fails ; 
 
 Minyans an ancient people inhabited it: it was the colony of 
 these Minyans that sailed to Iolcos, and gave name to the Ar¬ 
 gonauts. Eustathius. P. 
 
 Ver. - Periclimenus the hold.'] The reason why 
 
 Homer gives this epithet to Periclimenus may be learned from 
 Hesiod : Neptune gave him the power to change himself into 
 all shapes, but he was slain by Hercules: Periclimenus as¬ 
 saulted that hero in the shape of a bee, or fly, who discovering 
 him in that disguise, by the means of Pallas, slew him with his 
 club. This is the person of whom Ovid speaks, but adds that 
 he was slain in the shape of an eagle by Hercules. P. 
 
 Yer. 357. This dares a seer , &C.3 This story is related with 
 great obscurity, but we learn from the xvth book that the name 
 of this prophet was Melampus. Iphyclus was the son of Dei- 
 oneus, and uncle to Tyro ; he had seized upon the goods of 
 Tyro the mother of Neleus, among which were many beautiful 
 oxen: these Neleus demands, but is unjustly denied by Iphy¬ 
 clus ; Neleus had a daughter named Pero, a great beauty, who 
 was courted by all the neighbouring princes, but the father re¬ 
 fuses her unless to the man who recovers these oxen from Iphy¬ 
 clus : Bias was in love with Pero, and persuades his brother 
 Melampus, a prophet, to undertake the recovery; he attempts 
 it, but being vanquished, is thrown into prison ; but at last set at 
 liberty, for telling Iphyclus, who was childless, how to procure 
 issue, iphyclus upon this gave him the oxen for a reward. 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 425 
 
 Twelve moons the foe the captive youth detains 
 In painful dungeons and coercive chains ; 360 
 
 The foe at last, from durance where he lay, 
 
 His art revering, gave him back to day ; 
 
 Won by prophetick knowledge, to fulfill 
 The steadfast purpose of the’ Almighty will. 
 
 Nothing can be more ridiculous than the explanation of this 
 story in Eustathius, which I will lay before the reader for his 
 entertainment. Melampus after he was made a prisoner, was 
 trusted to the care of a man and a woman; the man used him 
 with mercy, and the woman with cruelty: one day he heard a 
 low noise, and a family of worms in conference. (He understood 
 the language of all the animal creation, beasts and reptiles.) 
 These worms were discoursing how they had eaten through a 
 great beam that lay over the head of Melampus: he immedi¬ 
 ately provides for his own safety, feigns a sickness, and begs to 
 be carried into the fresh air: the woman and the man immedi¬ 
 ately comply with this request; at which instant the beam fall¬ 
 ing, kills the woman : an account of this is forthwith carried to 
 Iphyclus, who sending for Melampus, asks who he is ? He tells 
 him, a prophet, and that he came for the oxen of Neleus : Iphy¬ 
 clus commands him to declare how he may have an heir ? Me¬ 
 lampus kills an ox, and calls all the birds of the air to feast on 
 it; they all appear except the vulture ; he proposes the case to 
 them, but they give no satisfactory answer; at last the vulture 
 appears, and gives Melampus a full information: upon this Iphy¬ 
 clus obtains a child, and Melampus the oxen of Neleus. P. 
 
 Ver. 364. The steadfast purpose of the* Almighty will.'] These 
 words seem to come in without any connexion with the story, 
 and consequently unnecessarily; but Homer speaks of it con¬ 
 cisely, as an adventure well known in his times, and therefore 
 not wanting a further explication : but Apollodorus relates the 
 whole at large, lib. 1. The reason why these words are in¬ 
 serted is, to inform us that there were ancient prophecies con¬ 
 cerning Iphyclus, that it was decreed by Jupiter he should 
 have no children till he had recourse to a prophet, who ex¬ 
 plaining these prophecies to him, should shew him how l. 
 obtain that blessing; in this sense the will of Jupiter maybe 
 said to be fulfilled. P. 
 
426 IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. book xl 
 
 With graceful port advancing now I spied 365 
 Leda the fair, the god-like Tyndar’s bride : 
 
 Hence Pollux sprung, who wields with furious sway 
 The deathful gauntlet, matchless in the fray : 
 
 And Castor glorious on the’ embattled plain 
 Curbs the proud steed, reluctant to the rein : 370 
 
 By turns they visit this ethereal sky. 
 
 And live alternate, and alternate die : 
 
 In hell beneath, on earth, in heaven above 
 
 * 
 
 Reign the twin-gods, the favourite sons of Jove. 
 
 There Iphimedia trod the gloomy plain, 375 
 Who charm’d the monarch of the boundless main ; 
 Hence Ephialtes, hence stern Otus sprung. 
 
 More fierce than giants, more than giants strong; 
 The earth o’erburthen’d groan’d beneath their weight. 
 None but Orion e’er surpass’d their height: 330 
 
 The wonderous youths had scarce nine winters told. 
 When high in air, tremendous to behold, 
 
 Ver. 372. And live alternate , and alternate die .] Castor and 
 Pollux are called Adawfoi, or the sons of Jupiter ; but what 
 could give occasion to this fiction, of their living and dying al¬ 
 ternately ? Eustathius informs us that it is a physical allegory : 
 they represent the two hemispheres of the world; the one of 
 which is continually enlightened by the sun, and consequently 
 the other is then in darkness: and tfiese being successively 
 illuminated according to the order of the day and night, one of 
 these sons of Jupiter may be said to revive when one part of the 
 world rises into day, and the other to die, when it descends into 
 darkness. What makes this allegory the more probable is, that 
 Jupiter denotes, in many allegories of Homer, the air, or the 
 upper regions of it. P« 
 
 Ver. 377.] Thus his author ; 
 
 Two sons she bare, but transient was their date ! 
 
 Fam’d Ephialtes, Otus like the Gods. 
 
 Them foodful earth, o’er all in size and grace 
 Preeminent, except Orion, nurst. W« 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 427 
 
 HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 Nine ells aloft they rear’d their towering head. 
 
 And full nine cubits broad their shoulders spread. 
 Proud of their strength and more than mortal size, 3s5 
 The Gods they challenge, and affect the skies ; 
 Heav’d on Olympus tottering Ossa stood ; 
 
 On Ossa, Pelion nods with all his wood: 
 
 Such were they youths ! had they to manhood grown. 
 Almighty Jove had trembled on his throne. 390 
 But ere the harvest of the beard began 
 To bristle on the chin, and promise man. 
 
 His shafts Apollo aim’d; at once they sound. 
 
 And stretch the giant-monsters o’er the ground. 
 
 There mournful Phaedra with sad Procris moves. 
 Both beauteous shades, both hapless in their loves; 396 
 And near them walk’d with solemn pace and slow, 
 Sad Ariadne, partner of their woe ; 
 
 The royal Minos Ariadne bred.. 
 
 She Theseus lov’d ; from Crete with Theseus fled; 100 
 Swift to the Dian isle the hero flies. 
 
 And towards his Athens bears the lovely prize; 
 
 Vcr. 387.- On Olympus tottering Ossa stood, &c.] Strabo 
 
 takes notice of the judgment of Homer, in placing the moun¬ 
 tains in this order; they all stand in Macedonia ; Olympus is 
 the largest, and therefore he makes it the basis upon which 
 Ossa stands, that being the next to Olympus in magnitude, and 
 Pelion being the least is placed above Ossa, and thus they rise 
 pyramidically. Virgil follows a different regulation. P. 
 
 Homer says, Pelion leaf-waving. W. 
 
 Ver. 395.] These two couplets are wrought with elegant in¬ 
 genuity from the following unadorned sentence of his author : 
 Phgedra and Procris there I also saw, 
 
 And beauteous Ariadne. W. 
 
 Ver. 402. And towards his Athens hears the lovely prize. ] Ho¬ 
 rner justifies Theseus from any crime with relation to Ariadne, 
 he « guilty of no infidelity as succeeding Poets affirm ; she died 
 
BOOK xr. 
 
 428 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 There Bacchus with fierce rage Diana fires. 
 
 The Goddess aims her shaft, the nymph expires. 
 
 There Clymene,. and Mera I behold. 
 
 There Eriphyle weeps, who loosely sold 
 Her lord, her honour, for the lust of gold. 
 
 But should I all recount, the night would fail. 
 Unequal to the melancholy tale : 
 
 And all-composing rest my nature craves, 410 
 Here in the court or yonder on the waves ; 
 
 In you I trust, and in the heavenly powers. 
 
 To land Ulysses on his native shores. 
 
 He ceas’d : but left so charming on their ear 
 His voice, that listening still they seem’d to hear. 415 
 ’Till rising up. Arete silence broke. 
 
 Stretch’d out her snowy hand, and thus she spoke: 
 
 What wonderous man heaven sends us in our guest! 
 Thro’ all his woes the hero shines confest ; 
 
 Ilis comely port, his ample frame express 420 
 A manly air, majestick in distress. 
 
 He, as my guest, is my peculiar care. 
 
 You share the pleasure,—then in bounty share; 
 
 suddenly in Dia, or Naxos (an island lying between Thera and 
 Crete); Diana slew her at the instigation of Bacchus, who ac¬ 
 cused her to that Goddess, for profaning her temple by too free 
 an intercourse with Theseus ; this Homer calls pctprvpin Aiovvo-a. 
 Clymene was a daughter of Mynias, Maera of Prcetus and Antaea, 
 who having made a vow to Diana of perpetual virginity, broke 
 it; and therefore fell by that Goddess. Phaedra was wife to 
 Theseus, and fell in love with her son Hippolytus. Eriphyle was 
 the daughter of Taliius and Lysimache, wife of the prophet Am- 
 phiaraus ; who being bribed with a collar of gold by Polynices, 
 obliged her husband to go to the war of Thebes, though she 
 knew he was decreed to fall before that city: she was slain by 
 her son Alcmseon. Eustathius . P. 
 
ROOK XI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 429 
 
 To worth in misery,, a reverence pay. 
 
 And with a generous hand reward his stay; 425 
 
 For since kind heaven with wealth our realm has 
 blest. 
 
 Give it to heaven, by aiding the distrest. 
 
 Then sage Echeneus, whose grave, reverend brow 
 The hand of Time had silver’d o’er with snow. 
 Mature in wisdom rose: Your words, he cries, 430 
 Demand obedience, for your words are w r ise. 
 
 But let our king direct the glorious way 
 To generous acts; our part is to obey. 
 
 While life informs these limbs, (the king replied) 
 Well to deserve, be all my cares employ’d: 435 
 
 But here this night the royal guest detain, 
 
 "Till the sun flames along the’ ethereal plain : 
 
 Be it my task to send with ample stores 
 The stranger from our hospitable shores : 
 
 Tread you my steps! ’Tis mine to lead the race, 440 
 The first in glory, as the first in place. 
 
 To whom the prince : This night with joy I stay, 
 O monarch great in virtue as in sway! 
 
 If thou the circling year my stay controul. 
 
 To raise a bounty noble as thy soul; 445 
 
 The circling year I wait, with ampler stores 
 And fitter pomp to hail my native shores : 
 
 Then by my realms due homage would be paid;* 
 For wealthy kings are loyally obey’d ! 
 
 Ver. 427.] This sentiment is not from Homer, but from 
 Solomon, Prov. xix. 17. “ He that hath pity upon the poor, 
 
 “ lendcth unto the Lord.” W. 
 
 Ver. 448.] Thus his author: 
 
 More reverend then to all men shall I be, 
 
 And dear, who see me come from Ilion home. W. 
 
430 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book xt 
 
 O king-! for such thou art, and sure thy blood 450 
 Thro' veins (he cried) of royal fathers flow’d; 
 Unlike those vagrants who on falsehood live. 
 
 Skill’d in smooth tales., and artful to deceive; 
 
 Thy better soul abhors the liar’s paft. 
 
 Wise is thy voice, and noble is thy heart. 455 
 Thy words like miisick every breast controul. 
 
 Steal thro’ the ear, and win upon the soul; 
 
 Soft, as some song divine, thy story flows. 
 
 Nor better could the muse record thy woes. 
 
 But say, upon the dark and dismal coast, 460 
 Saw’st thou the worthies of the Grecian host ? 
 
 The god-like leaders who in battle slain. 
 
 Fell before Troy, and nobly prest the plain ? 
 
 And lo! a length of night behind remains, 
 
 The evening stars still mount the’ ethereal plains. 
 Thy tale with raptures I could hear thee tell, 4 66 
 
 Thy woes on earth, the wonderous scenes in hell, 
 ’Till in the vault of heaven the stars decay. 
 
 And the sky reddens with the rising day* 
 
 O worthy of the power the Gods assign’d, 47a 
 (Ulysses thus replies) a king in mind! 
 
 Since yet the early hour of night allows 
 Time for discourse, and time for soft repose, 
 
 > 
 
 Ver. 468.] This couplet is spun from two words only of 
 Homer— divine morning —with most licentious amplification j 
 and is borrowed either from Pope or Dryden, but my memory 
 cannot recall the station of the passage. W. 
 
 Ver. 472.] Our translator, with all the rest, seem to misre* 
 present their author here, and inconsistently with verse 410. 
 This appears to me the true meaning of Homer : “ There is in* 
 “ deed time for a long relation, though it is also a proper time 
 “ for rest. However, if you still wish to hear— /’ W. . 
 
HOOK XI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 43l 
 
 If scenes of misery can entertain. 
 
 Woes I unfold, of woes a dismal train. 473 
 
 Prepare to hear of murther and of blood ; 
 
 Of god-like heroes who uninjur’d stood 
 Amidst a war of spears in foreign lands, 
 
 Yet bled at home, and bled by female hands. 
 
 Now summon'd Proserpine to hell’s black hall 4 SQ 
 
 •' T- , ! 
 
 The heroine shades; they vanish’d at her call. 
 
 When lo! advanc’d the forms of heroes slain ^ 
 By stern iEgysthus, a majestick train, y 
 
 And high above the rest, Atrides prest the plain. ) 
 He quaff'd the gore : and straight his soldier knew. 
 And from his eyes pour’d down the tender dew; 486 
 His arms he stretch’d; his arms the touch deceive. 
 Nor in the fond embrace, embraces give : 
 
 His substance vanish’d, and his strength decay’d. 
 Now all Atrides is an empty shade. 490 
 
 Mov’d at the sight, I for a space resign’d 
 To soft affliction all my manly mind ; 
 
 At last with tears—O what relentless doom. 
 Imperial phantom, bow’d thee to the tomb,? 
 
 Say while the sea, and while the tempest raves, 495 
 Has fate oppress’d thee in the roaring waves, 
 
 Or nobly seiz’d thee in the dire alarms 
 Of war and slaughter, and the clash of arms? 
 
 The ghost returns: O chief of human kind 
 For active courage and a patient mind ; 500 
 
 Nor while the sea, nor while the tempest raves. 
 
 Has fate oppress’d me on the roaring waves! 
 
 Nor nobly seiz’d me in the dire alarms. 
 
 Of war and slaughter, and the clash of arms. 
 Stabb’d by a murderous hand Atrides died, 505 
 A foul adulterer, and a faithless bride; 
 
433 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BOOK XI. 
 
 Even in my mirth and at the friendly feast, 
 
 O’er the full bowl, the traitor stabb’d his guest; 
 Thus by the gory arm of slaughter falls 
 The stately ox, and bleeds within the stalls. 510 
 But not with me the direful murther ends. 
 
 These, these expir’d! their crime, they were my 
 friends : 
 
 Thick as the boars, which some luxurious lord 
 Kills for the feast, to crown the nuptial board. 
 When war has thunder’d with its loudest storms, 515 
 Death thou hast seen in all her ghastly forms ; 
 
 In duel met her, on the listed ground, 
 
 .When hand to hand they wound return for wound; 
 But never have thy eyes astonish’d view’d 
 So vile a deed, so dire a scene of blood. 520 
 
 Even in the flow of joy, when now the bowl 
 Glows in our veins, and opens every soul. 
 
 We groan, we faint; with blood the dome is died. 
 And o’er the pavement floats the dreadful tide— 
 Her breast all gore, with lamentable cries, 525 
 The bleeding innocent Cassandra dies ! 
 
 Then tho’ pale death froze cold in every vein. 
 
 My sword I strive to wield, but strive in vain ; 
 
 Nor did my traitress wife these eye-lids close. 
 
 Or decently in death my limbs compose. * 530 
 
 Ver. 512.] Thus more literally, and, perhaps, better: 
 
 Their rage incessant slaughter’d all my friends. W. 
 
 Ver. 519.] This couplet is not accurate, nor equal to the 
 merit of the preceding, which are poetical. Homer’s meaning 
 may be thus exhibited: 
 
 This dreadful scene with horrors yet unknown 
 Thine eye had view’d, ; • * W» 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 HOMER/s ODYSSEY. 
 
 433 
 
 O woman, woman, when to ill thy mind 
 Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend: 
 
 And such was mine! who basely plunged her sword 
 Thro’ the fond bosom where she reign'd ador'd! 
 Alas ! I hoped, the toils of war o'ercome, 535 
 
 To meet soft quiet and repose at home; 
 
 Delusive hope ! O wife, thy deeds disgrace 
 The perjur'd sex, and blacken all the race! 
 
 And should posterity one virtuous find. 
 
 Name Clytemnestra, they will curse the kind. 540 
 O injur'd shade, I cried, what mighty woes 
 To thy imperial race from woman rose ! 
 
 By woman here thou tread’st this mournful strand. 
 And Greece by woman lies a desert land. 
 
 Warn'd by my ills beware, the shade replies, 545 
 Nor trust the sex that is so rarely wise; 
 
 When earnest to explore thy secret breast. 
 
 Unfold some trifle, but conceal the rest. 
 
 But in thy consort cease to fear a foe. 
 
 For thee she feels sincerity of woe: 550 
 
 When Troy first bled beneath the Grecian arms 
 She shone unrivail'd with a blaze of charms ; 
 
 Thy infant son her fragrant bosom prest. 
 
 Hung at her knee, or wanton'd at her breast; 
 
 Ver. 541.- What mighty uooes 
 
 To thy imperial race from tvoman rose !]J 
 Ulysses here means Aerope the wife of Atreus, and mother of 
 Agamemnon, who being corrupted by Thyestes, involved the 
 whole family in the utmost calamities, Eustathius . P. 
 
 The following attempt is literal: 
 
 Ye Gods! sure thundering Jove to Atreus" race 
 Shews hate peculiar; such their women’s schemes 
 Of old! In numbers we for Helen fell: 
 
 Thy wife for thee far distant wrought this plot. W. 
 voi.. j, r f 
 
434 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 But now the years a numerous train have ran ; 555 
 The blooming boy is ripen’d into man ; 
 
 Thy eyes shall see him burn with noble fire. 
 
 The sire shall bless his son, the son his sire: 
 
 But my Orestes never met these eyes. 
 
 Without one look the murther’d father dies : 560 
 
 Then from a wretched friend this wisdom learn. 
 Even to thy queen disguis’d, unknown, return; 
 
 For since of womankind so few are just, 
 
 Think all are false, nor even the faithful trust. 
 
 But say, resides my son in royal port, 565 
 
 In rich Orchomenos, or Sparta’s court ? 
 
 Or say in Pyle ? for yet he views the light. 
 
 Nor glides a phantom thro’ the realms of night, 
 
 Then I; Thy suit is vain, nor can I say 
 If yet he breathes in realms of cheerful day; 570 
 
 Or pale or wan beholds these nether skies. 
 
 Truth I revere: for Wisdom never lies, 
 
 Ver.565, But say, resides my son -] Eustathius gives uS 
 
 the reason why Agamemnon mentions Pyle, Sparta, and Orcho¬ 
 menos, as places where Orestes might make his residence: Sparta 
 was under the dominion of his brother MenelaiAs : Pyle, of his 
 old friend and faithful counsellor Nestor ; and Orchomenos was 
 a city of great strength, and therefore of great security. We 
 may evidently gather from this passage what notion the ancients 
 had concerning a future state : namely, that persons after death 
 were entirely strangers to the affairs of this world ; for Orestes 
 his son had slain his murderer iEgysthus, and reigned in peace¬ 
 able possession of his dominions ; when Agamemnon is ignorant 
 of the whole transaction, and desires Ulysses to give him infor¬ 
 mation. P. 
 
 Ver. 572.] Very poor indeed! Take a verbal translation of 
 the speech : 
 
 Atrides! why this question ? Live or dead, 
 
 Tv> rne unknown ; nor good is random speech. W. 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 435 
 
 Thus in a tide of tears our sorrows flow. 
 
 And add new horror to the realms of woe ; 
 
 'Till side by side along the dreary coast 575 
 
 Advanc’d Achilles’ and Patroclus’ ghost, 
 
 A friendly pair ! near these the * Pylian stray’d. 
 And towering Ajax, an illustrious shade l 
 War was his joy, and pleas’d with loud alarms. 
 None but Pelides brighter shone in arms. 580 
 
 Thro’ the thick gloom his friend Achilles knew. 
 And as he speaks the tears descend in dew. 
 
 Com’st thou alive to view the Stygian bounds, 
 Where the wan spectres walk eternal rounds; 
 
 Nor fear’st the dark and dismal waste to tread, 585 
 Throng’d with pale ghosts, familiar with the dead ? 
 
 To whom with sighs: I pass these dreadful gates 
 To seek the Theban, and consult the Fates : 
 
 For still distrest I rove from coast to coast, 
 
 Lost to my friends, and to my country lost. 590 
 Put sure the eye of Time beholds no name 
 So blest as thine in all the rolls of fame; 
 
 Alive we hail’d thee with our guardian Gods, 
 
 And dead, thou rul’st a king in these abodes. 
 
 * Antilochus. 
 
 Ver. 577. I shall presume to present the reader with a more 
 accurate translation of this speech, though the difficulty be en« 
 creased by reading the execution of another artist. 
 
 Thus we in mutual converse pensive stood, 
 
 While stream’d our eyes the sympathetic flood; 
 
 His stately shade Pelides then uprear’d; 
 
 With him his friend, and Nestor’s son, appear’d; 
 
 Great Ajax too, of all the Grecian name 
 In manly grace unpeer’d, but by Achilles’ fame. 
 
 Me the fleet warrior’s shade that instant knew; 
 
 And from his lips, with sighs, these accents flew. W. 
 
 F f 2 
 
436 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom, 595 
 Nor think vain words (he cried) can ease my doom. 
 Rather I chuse laboriously to bear 
 A weight of woes, and breathe the vital air, 
 
 A slave to some poor hind that toils for bread ; 
 
 Than reign the sceptred monarch of the dead. 600 
 
 Ver. 599. A slave to some poor hind that toils for bread; 
 
 Than reign the sceptred monarch of the dead ,] 
 Nothing sure can give us a more disadvantageous image of a 
 future state, than this speech which Homer puts into the mouth 
 of so great a hero as Achilles. If the Poet intended to shew 
 the vanity of that destructive glory which is purchased by the 
 sword, and read a lecture to all the disturbers of mankind, 
 whom we absurdly honour as heroes, it must be allowed he has 
 done it effectually: if this was not his design, the remark of 
 Plato 3 Repub. is not without a foundation; he there proscribes 
 this whole passage as dangerous to morals, and blames the Poet 
 for making Achilles say he prefers misery and servitude to all the 
 honours which the dead are capable of enjoying. For what, 
 says he, can make death more terrible to young persons ? And 
 will it not dispose them to suffer all calamities to avoid it, deter 
 them from exposing themselves to danger, even in defence of 
 their country, and teach them to be cowards and slaves ? Lucian 
 was of Plato’s opinion,, for he mentions this passage, and ridi¬ 
 cules it in his Dialogues. Daeier gives a different turn to it, 
 and endeavours to shew that there is no danger of such conse¬ 
 quences, as Plato draws from it: “ Achilles, adds she, speaks 
 “ directly contrary to his declared sentiments and actions, and 
 c * therefore there is no danger he should persuade mankind to 
 “ prefer servitude before death, when he himself died, rather 
 than not revenge his friend Patroclus. Such words, which are 
 contradicted both by the sentiments and actions of him that 
 <c speaks, have on the contrary a very good effect.” But I can¬ 
 not come into her opinion; I will let Achilles answer for him¬ 
 self out of Lucian ; “ In the other world I was ignorant, says 
 “ he, of the state of the dead, l had not experienced the differ-? 
 ence between the two states, when I preferred g little ejnpty 
 glory to life.” 
 
 Ibis is an answer to what Daeier advances, fop Achilles speak? 
 
book xi. MOMER’s ODYSSEY. 43? 
 
 But say, if in my steps my son proceeds. 
 
 And emulates his god-like father’s deeds ? 
 
 If at the clash of arms, and shout of foes. 
 
 Swells his bold heart, his bosom nobly glows ? 
 
 Say if my sire, the reverend Peleus, reigns 6o5 
 Great in his Phthia, and his throne maintains ; 
 
 Or weak and old, my youthful arm demands* 
 
 To fix the sceptre steadfast in his hands ? 
 
 O might the lamp of life rekindled burn. 
 
 And death release me from the silent urn ! 610 
 
 This arm that thundered o’er the Phrygian plain* 
 And swell’d the ground with mountains of the slain* 
 Should vindicate my injur’d father’s fame. 
 
 Crush the proud rebel, and assert his claim. 
 
 Illustrious shade, (I cried) of Peleus’ fates 6i5 
 No circumstance the voice of Fame relates : 
 
 But hear with pleas’d attention the renown, 
 
 The wars and wisdom of thy gallant son : 
 
 With me from Scyros to the field of fame 
 Radiant in arms the blooming hero came. 620 
 
 When Greece assembled all her hundred states 
 To ripen counsels, and decide debates, ^ 
 Heavens ! how he charm’d us with a flow of sense* 
 And won the heart with manly eloquence ! 
 
 He first was seen of all the peers to rise, 625 
 
 The third in w isdom where they all were wise ; 
 
 with experience, and yet prefers misery and life before glory and 
 death. I know not how to vindicate Homer, unless it be a vin¬ 
 dication to say, that he wrote according to the opinions that 
 anciently prevailed in the world; or that like Hercules, while 
 the vehicle of Achilles is in this state of horror, his soul may 
 be in heaven ; especially since he received divine honours after 
 death, as well as Hercules. Tull. Nat. Deor. 3. Astypalcea AchiU 
 lew sanctissime colit, qui $1 JDeus est, et Orpheus, 8fc. F- 
 
438 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 COOK XI, 
 
 Cut when to try the fortune of the day. 
 
 Host mov’d toward host in terrible array. 
 
 Before the van, impatient for the fight. 
 
 With martial port he strode, and stern delight; 630 
 Heaps strewed on heaps beneath his falchion groan’d. 
 And monuments of dead deform the ground. 
 
 The time would fail should I in order tell 
 What foes were vanquish’d, and what numbers fell: 
 How, lost thro’ love, Eurypylus was slain, 635 
 
 And round him bled his bold Cetaean train. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Ver. 635. How, lost thro ’ love , Eurypylus was slain.] It must 
 be owned that this passage is very intricate: Strabo himself 
 complains of its obscurity: the Poet (says that author) rather 
 proposes an tenigma , than a clear history: for who are these 
 Cetaeans, and what are these presents of women ? And adds, 
 that the grammarians darken, instead of clearing the obscurity. 
 But it is no difficulty to solve these objections from Eustathius. 
 
 It is evideht from Strabo himself, that Eurypylus reigned near 
 the river Ca’icus, over the Mysians, and Pliny confines it to 
 Teuthranes ; this agrees with what Ovid writes, Metam. ii. And 
 Virgil shews Us that Ca'icus was a river of Mysia, Georg, iv. 
 
 But what relation has Ca’icus to the Cetaeans? Hesychius 
 informs us, that they are a people of Mysia, so called from the 
 river Cetium, which runs through their country. This river 
 discharges itself into the Caicus, and consequently the Cetceans 
 were Mysians, over whom Eurypylus reigned. 
 
 But how are we to explain the second objection, or ywsuxu* 
 s 'InHct ^&>puv ? Some (says Eustathius) understand the expression 
 as applied to Neoptolemus, and not Eurypylus ; namely, Eury¬ 
 pylus and his soldiers fell by means of the gifts of women ; that 
 is, Neoptolemus was led to the war by the promise of having 
 Hermione in marriage, the daughter of Menelaiis, which pro¬ 
 mise occasioned the death of Eurypylus, by bringing Neopto¬ 
 lemus to the siege of Troy. Others understand it to be spoken 
 of a golden vine, sent by Priam to his sister Astyoche the mo¬ 
 ther of Eurypylus, to induce her to persuade her son to under¬ 
 take this expedition to Troy, where he was slain by the son of 
 Achilles; this vine was said to be given to Tros the father of 
 
BOOK HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 43» 
 
 To Troy, no hero came of nobler line. 
 
 Or if of nobler, Memnon, it was thine. 
 
 When Ilion in the horse receiv’d her doom. 
 
 And unseen armies ambush’d in its womb, 640 
 
 Greece gave her latent warriors to my care, 
 
 ’Twas mine on Troy to pour the’ imprison’d war : 
 Then when the boldest bosom beat with fear, 
 
 When the stern eyes of heroes dropp’d a tear * 
 Fierce in his look his ardent valour glow’d, 645 
 Flush’d in his cheek, or sallied in his blood ; 
 Indignant in the dark recess he stands. 
 
 Pants for the battle, and the war demands ; 
 
 His voice breath’d death, and with a martial air 649 
 He grasp’d his sword, and shook his glittering spear. 
 And when the Gods our arms with conquest crown’d. 
 When Troy’s proud bulwarks smoked upon the 
 ground, 
 
 Priam by Jupiter, as a recompence for his carrying away his 
 son Ganymede to be his cup-bearer; but this is too much a 
 fable to be followed. Others more probably assert, that Priam 
 had promised one of his daughters to Eurypylus, to engage his 
 assistance in the war ; and this agrees very well with Homer’s 
 manner of writing in many places of the Iliad; and there is a 
 great resemblance between Eurypylus in the Odyssey and 
 Othryoneus in the Iliad, lib. xiii. 461. 
 
 Cassandra’s love he sought, with boasts of power. 
 
 And promis’d conquest was the proffer’d dower. 
 
 Spondanus cites a passage from Dictys, lib. iv. that very well 
 explains these difficulties : Inter quce lam leta , (nimirum mortem 
 Achillis, fyc.J Priamo supervenit nunciasEurypylum TelephiJilium 
 ex Mysia adventare , quern rex mult is anted, Meet urn pratniis, ad 
 postremum oblatione Cassandrce conjtnnaverat, addiderat etiam 
 auream vitem , et oh id per populos memorabilem. P. 
 
 Ver. 637.] This couplet wants nothing but fidelity alas! to 
 make it delicately beautiful. Thus his author : 
 
 In form exact, and comeliness, and grace, 
 
 Excell’d alone by Memnon’s heavenly face, W 
 
440 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book xt. 
 
 Greece to reward her soldier’s gallant toils 
 Heap’d high his navy with unnumber’d spoils. 
 
 Thus great in glory, from the din of war 655 
 Safe he return’d, without one hostile scar ; 
 
 Tho’ spears in iron tempests rain’d around. 
 
 Yet innocent they play’d, and guiltless of a wound. 
 
 While yet I spoke, the shade with transport glow’d, 
 Rose in his majesty and nobler trod ; 66 0 
 
 With haughty stalk he sought the distant glades 
 Of warrior kings, and join’d the’ illustrious shades. 
 Now without number ghost by ghost arose. 
 
 All wailing with unutterable woes. 
 
 Alone, apart, in discontented mood 665 
 
 A gloomy shade, the sullen Ajax stood; 
 
 For ever sad, with proud disdain he pined. 
 
 And the lost arms for ever stung his mind; 
 
 Tho’ to the contest Thetis gave the laws. 
 
 And Pallas, by the Trojans judged the cause. 670 
 
 ; . Ver. 664.] Or with more fidelity i 
 
 All wailing, eager all to tell their woes. W. 
 
 Ver. 669.] Tho 1 to the contest Thetis gave the laws. 
 
 And Pallas , by the Trojans, judged the cause .] 
 There are two particulars which want explication in these ver¬ 
 ses : how did Thetis give the-law to the contest between Ajax 
 and Ulysses ? and how could the Trojans be made judges to 
 determine between two Grecian heroes ? Thetis the mother 
 of Achilles was a Goddess, and out of honour to her, the chiefs 
 of the Grecian army proposed the arms of her son as a reward 
 to the most worthy ; and poetry, to give a magnificence to the 
 story, introduces the Goddess as acting in person what is done 
 upon her account. Thetis may properly be said to be desirous 
 that the memory of her son should be honoured ; and Homer 
 to express this desire poetically, tells us it was the act of that 
 Goddess, to propose the arms of Achilles as a reward to tire 
 most worthy of the Grecian heroes. 
 
BOOK XI. 
 
 441 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 O why was I victorious in the strife; 
 
 O dear-bought honour with so brave a life ! 
 
 With him the strength of war,, the soldiers pride., 
 Our second hope to great Achilles died! 
 
 Touch’d at the sight from tears I scarce refrain, 675 
 And tender sorrow thrills in every vein ; 
 
 Pensive and sad I stand, at length accost 
 With accents mild the' inexorable ghost. 
 
 Still burns thy rage ? and can brave souls resent 
 Even after death ? Relent, great shade, relent! tfso 
 Perish those arms which by the Gods’ decree 
 Accurs’d our army with the loss of thee I 
 With thee we fell; Greece wept thy hapless fates ; 
 And shook astonish’d thro’ her hundred states ; 
 
 Not more, when great Achilles prest the ground, 685 
 And breath’d his manly spirit thro’ the wound. 
 
 The second difficulty is fully explained by Eustathius : Aga¬ 
 memnon finding it an invidious affair to give the preference to 
 any one of the Grecian heroes, and being willing to avoid the 
 reproach of partiality, commanded the Trojan prisoners to be 
 brought before the whole army, and asked from which of the 
 two heroes, Ajax or Ulysses, they had received the greater de¬ 
 triment ; they immediately replied from Ulysses ; thus the Tro¬ 
 jans adjudged the cause. The Poet adds, that this was done by 
 Minerva ; that is, the affair was conducted with wisdom, the re¬ 
 sult of which in poetry is usually ascribed to the Goddess of it; 
 and no doubt but the Goddess of wisdom must always prefer 
 wisdom to mere valour, or an Ulysses to an Ajax. This deci¬ 
 sion is related in a very different manner by other Poets ; in par¬ 
 ticular, by Ovid in his Metamorphoses; but Lucian in his Dia¬ 
 logues agrees with Homer in every point very circumstantially; 
 and consequently, with some obscurity ; but what I have here 
 said fully explains that dialogue of Lucian, as well as this pas¬ 
 sage of Homer. P. 
 
 Ver. 675.] This is enormously paraphrastical, to dilate into 
 four lines a single verse of his author : 
 
 Him then with soothing words I thus bespake. W. 
 
442 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book xt, 
 
 O deem thy fall not ow'd to man's decree,, 
 
 Jove hated Greece, and punish’d Greece in thee ! 
 Turn then, oh peaceful turn, thy wrath controul. 
 And calm the raging tempest of thy soul. 690 
 
 While yet I speak, the shade disdains to stay. 
 
 In silence turns, and sullen stalks away. 
 
 Touch’d at his sour retreat, thro’ deepest night. 
 Thro’ hell’s black bounds I had pursued his flight. 
 And forced the stubborn spectre to reply ; - 695 
 
 But wonderous visions drew my curious eye. 
 
 High on a throne tremendous to behold. 
 
 Stern Minos waves a mace of burnish’d gold ; 
 Around ten thousand thousand spectres stand 
 Thro’ the wide dome of Dis, a trembling band, 700 
 Still as they plead, the fatal lots he rolls. 
 
 Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls. 
 
 There huge Orion of portentous size. 
 
 Swift thro’ the gloom a giant-hunter flies ; 
 
 A ponderous mace of brass with direful sway 70 5 
 
 Aloft he whirls, to crush the savage prey ; 
 
 Stern beasts in trains that by his truncheon fell. 
 Now grisly forms, shoot o’er the lawns of hell. 
 
 There Tityus large and long, in fetters bound, 
 O’erspreads nine acres of infernal ground ; 710 
 
 Ver. 703.- Orion of portentous size , 
 
 Swift thro* the gloom a giant-hunter files* J 
 The diversion of this infernal hunter may seem extraordinary in 
 pursuing the shades of beasts; but it was the opinion of the an¬ 
 cients, that the same passions to which men were subject on 
 earth continued with them in the other world; and their shades 
 were liable to be affected in the same manner as their bodies: 
 thus we frequently see them shedding tears, and Sisyphus sweats 
 in rolling the stone up the mountain. P. 
 
 Ver. 709. There Tityus -] It is needless to mention that 
 
HOOK XI. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 44 S 
 
 Two ravenous vultures, furious for their food. 
 Scream o'er the fiend, and riot in his blood. 
 Incessant gore the liver in his breast. 
 
 The* immortal liver grows, and gives the' immortal 
 feast. 
 
 For as o’er Panope’s enamell’d plains 715 
 
 Latona journey’d to the Pythian fanes. 
 
 With haughty love the’ audacious monster strove 
 To force the Goddess, and to rival Jove. 
 
 There Tantalus along the Stygian bounds 
 Pours out deep groans; (with groans all hell re¬ 
 sounds) 720 
 
 Even in the circling floods refreshment craves. 
 
 And pines with thirst amidst a sea of waves ; 
 
 When to the water he his lip applies. 
 
 Rack from his lip the treacherous water flies. 
 
 Above, beneath, around his hapless head, 725 
 
 Trees of all kinds delicious fruitage spread ; 
 
 Virgil has adorned his descent into hell with most of these fables 
 borrowed from Homer ; it is equally unnecessary to relate what 
 antiquity says of these fabled persons, and their histories; but 
 the moral of them all is observed by Eustathius, and fully ex¬ 
 plained by Lucretius. I will only add the reason from Eusta¬ 
 thius, why Tityus was fabled to be the son of the earth ; it was 
 from his being immersed in worldly cares, and from his center¬ 
 ing all his affections upon the earth, as if he had sprung from 
 it. Spondanus gives us another reason ; Elara being pregnant 
 by Jupiter, he to avoid the jealousy of Juno concealed her in 
 a cavern of the earth, where Tityus being born, is fabled to be 
 the son of the earth: he adds, that the fiction of his covering 
 nine acres, arose from that space of ground which was enclosed 
 for his place of burial. Perhaps the story of Tantalus was in¬ 
 vented solely to paint the nature of a covetous person, who 
 starves amidst plenty, like Tantalus in the midst of »vater. Thus 
 Horace applies it, Satyr, i. v, 70. J\ 
 
444 HOMER's ODYSSEY. rook *i. 
 
 There figs sky-dyed, a purple hue disclose. 
 
 Green looks the olive, the pomegranate glows. 
 There dangling pears exalted scents unfold. 
 
 And yellow apples ripen into gold; 730 
 
 The fruit he strives to seize: but blasts arise. 
 
 Toss it on high, and whirl it to the skies. 
 
 I turn’d my eye, and as I turn’d survey’d 
 A mournful vision ! the Sisyphian shade ; 
 
 With many a weary step, and many a groan, 735 
 Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone ; 
 The huge round stone resulting with a bound, 
 Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the 
 
 Again the restless orb his toil renews. 
 
 Dust mounts in clouds, and sweat descends in dews. 740 
 
 Now I the strength of Hercules behold, 
 
 A towering spectre of gigantick mould, 
 
 A shadowy form ! for high in heaven’s abodes 
 Himself resides, a God among the Gods ; 
 
 There in the bright assemblies of the skies, 745 
 
 He nectar quaffs, and Hebe crowns his joys. 
 
 Ver. 743.- Hercules , a shadowy form,'] This is the pas¬ 
 
 sage formerly referred to in these annotations, to prove that Her¬ 
 cules was in heaven, while his shade was in the infernal regions $ 
 a full evidence of the partition of the human composition into 
 three parts : the body is buried in the earth; the image or ttiuMv 
 descends into the regions of the departed ; and the soul, or the 
 divine part of man, is received into heaven : thus the body of 
 Hercules was consumed in the flames, his image is in hell, and 
 his soul in heaven. There is a beautiful moral couched in the 
 fable of his being married to Hebe, or youth , after death : to 
 imply that a perpetual youth, or a reputation which never grows 
 old, is the reward of those heroes, who like Hercules employ 
 their courage for the good of human-kind. P. 
 
ROOK XI. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 445 
 
 Here hovering ghosts, like fowl, his shade surround. 
 And clang their pinions with terrifick sound ; 
 Gloomy as night he stands, in act to throw 
 The’ aerial arrow from the twanging bow. 750 
 Around his breast a wonderous zone is roll'd. 
 
 Where vroodland monsters grin in fretted gold: 
 There sullen lions sternly seem to roar. 
 
 The bear to growl, to foam the tusky boar. 
 
 There War and Havock and Destruction stood, 715 
 And vengeful Murther red with human blood. 
 
 Thus terribly adorn'd the figures shine. 
 
 Inimitably wrought with skill divine. 
 
 The mighty ghost advanc’d with awful look. 
 
 And turning his grim visage, sternly spoke. 760 
 O exercis'd in grief! by arts refin’d ! 
 
 O taught to bear the wrongs of base mankind ! 
 Such, such was I! still tost from care to care. 
 While in your world I drew the vital air ! 
 
 Even I, who from the Lord of thunders rose, 765 
 Bore toils and dangers, and a weight of woes ; 
 
 To a base monarch still a slave confin'd, 
 
 (The hardest bondage to a generous mind !) 
 
 Down to these worlds I trod the dismal way. 
 
 And dragg’d the three-mouth’d dog to upper day; 77a 
 Even hell I conquer’d, through the friendly aid 
 Of Maia’s offspring and the martial Maid. 
 
 Thus he, nor deign’d for our reply to stay. 
 
 But turning stalk'd with giant strides away. 
 
 Curious to view the kings of ancient days, 775 
 The mighty dead that live in endless praise, 
 
 Ver. 764.] Homer says, 
 
 -beneath the solar rays, W. 
 
 Ver. 773.] Homer says only, 
 
 He spake, and went to Pluto’s dome again; W. 
 
446 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 Resolv'd I stand ! and haply had survey’d 
 The god-like Theseus, and Pirithous’ shade; 
 
 But swarms of spectres rose from deepest hell. 
 With bloodless visage, and with hideous yell; 780 
 
 Ver. 777 . — — And haply had survey'd 
 The god-like Theseus -] 
 
 Plutarch in his life of Theseus informs us, that this verse has 
 been thought not genuine ; but added to the Odyssey in honour 
 of the Athenians by Pisistratus. 
 
 The Poet shews us that he had still a noble fund of invention, 
 and had it in his power to open new scenes of wonder and enter¬ 
 tainment ; but that this infernal episode might not be too long, 
 he shifts the scene: the invention of the Gorgon, which terrifies 
 him from a longer abode in these realms of darkness, gives a 
 probable reason for his immediate return. Eustathius informs 
 tis from Athenaeus, that Alexander the Midian writes in his His¬ 
 tory of Animals, that there really was a creature in Lybia, which 
 the Nomades called a gorgon : it resembled a wild ram, or as 
 some affirm a calf; whose breath was of such a poisonous na¬ 
 ture, as to kill all that approached it: in the same region the 
 catoblepton is found, a creature like a bull, whose eyes are so 
 fixed in the head as chiefly to look downward ; Pliny calls it 
 catoblepaSy lib. viii. cap. 21. which is likewise supposed to kill 
 with its eyes: the gorgon (proceeds Athenaeus) has its hair 
 hanging over its eyes down from the forehead, of such thickness 
 that it scarce is able to remove it, to guide itself from danger; 
 but it kills not by its breath, but with emanations darted from 
 its eyes: the beast was well known in the time of Marius, for 
 certain of his soldiers seeing it, mistook it for a wild sheep, and 
 pursued to take it; but the hair being removed by the motion 
 of its flying, it slew all upon whom it looked: at length the No¬ 
 mades, who knew the nature of the beast, destroyed it with 
 darts at a distance, and carried it to the general Marius. How¬ 
 soever little truth there be in this story, it is a sufficient ground 
 for poetical fictions, and all the fables that are ascribed to the 
 gorgon. - P. 
 
 Ver. 779 .] The ten following verses are excellent, but dilated 
 from four only of the original; 
 
HOMERs ODYSSEY. 
 
 ROOK XI. 
 
 447 
 
 They scream, they shriek; sad groans and dismal 
 sounds 
 
 Stun my scared ears, and pierce hell’s utmost bounds. 
 No more my heart the dismal din sustains. 
 
 And my cold blood hangs shivering in my veins ; 
 Lest Gorgon rising from the’ infernal lakes, 785 
 With horrors arm’d, and curls of hissing snakes. 
 Should fix me, stiffen’d at the monstrous sight, 
 
 A stony image, in eternal night! 
 
 Straight from the direful coast to purer air 
 I speed my flight, and to my mates repair. 790 
 My mates ascend the ship ; they strike their oars ; 
 The mountains lessen, and retreat the shores; 
 
 Swift o’er the waves we fly; the freshening gales 
 Sing thro’ the shrouds, and stretch the swelling sails. 
 
 But tribes, meanwhile, innumerous of ghosts 
 Swarm with dread shrieks: then me pale horror seiz’d. 
 Lest from her realm grim Proserpine should send 
 Against me, the dire monster’s gorgon head. W. 
 
 Ver. 792.] This line is interpolated by the translator. Chap¬ 
 man is full and accurate. 
 
 Where boorded, set, and lancht, th’ ocean wave, 
 
 Our ores and forewinds, speedie passage gave. W. 
 

 
 
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 TIIE SIRENS, SCYLLA, xlND CHARYBDIS 
 
 HE relates , how after his return from the shades, 
 he was sent by Circe on his voyage , by the coast of 
 the Sirens , and by the streight of Scylla and Cha- 
 rybdis : the manner in which he escaped those 
 dangers : how, being cast on the island Trinacria, 
 his companions destroyed the oxen of the Sun : the 
 vengeance that followed ; how all perished by ship¬ 
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NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 WE are now drawing to a conclusion of the episodick narra* 
 lion of the Odyssey ; it may therefore not be unentertaining to 
 speak something concerning the nature Of it, before we dismiss it. 
 
 There are two ways of relating past subjects: the one, simply 
 and methodically by a plain rehearsal, and this is the province 
 of history: the other artificially, where the author makes no ap¬ 
 pearance in person, but introduces speakers, and this is the 
 practice of epick poetry. By this method the Poet brings upon 
 the stage those very persons who performed the action he repre¬ 
 sents : he makes them speak and act over again the words and 
 actions they spoke or performed before, and in some sort tran¬ 
 sports his auditors to the time when, and the places where, the 
 action was done. This method is of great use; it prevents the 
 Poet from delivering his story in a plain simple way like a histo¬ 
 rian, it makes the auditors witnesses of it, and the action disco¬ 
 vers itself. Thus for instance, it is not Homer, but Ulysses who 
 speaks; the Poet is withdrawn, and the hero whose story we 
 hear is as it were raised from the grave, and relates it in person 
 to the audience* Aristotle observes, that the epick poem ought 
 to be dramatick, that is active ; Homer (says that author) ought 
 to be especially commended for being the only Poet who knew 
 exactly what to do ; he speaks little himself, but introduces some 
 of his persons, a man or a woman, a God or a Goddess; and 
 this renders his poem active or dramatick. Narration is the 
 very soul that animates the poem, it gives an opportunity to the 
 Poet to adorn it with different episodes; it has, as it were, the 
 whole world for its stage, and gives him liberty to search through 
 the creation for incidents or adventures for the employment of 
 his heroes. Thus for instance, he was at liberty to ascribe the 
 several dangers of Scylla and Charybdis, of Polypheme and 
 Antiphates, to Ulysses, though that Hero had been as unac¬ 
 quainted with those dangers, as iEneas was in reality with 
 Dido; the choice of the episodes being not essential, but arbi¬ 
 trary* 
 
 In short, it is from this episodick narration that the Poet could 
 at all find room to place these episodes in the Odyssey. Aristotle, 
 
NOTE PRELIMINARY. 
 
 I confess, has set no precise limits to the time of the action, but 
 the Criticks in general confine it to one campaign ; at least, they 
 affirm this to be the most perfect duration, according to the model 
 of the IJiad and Odyssey. Now this episodick narration gives 
 the Poet an opportunity to relate all that is contained in four 
 books without breaking in upon the time of the action ; for all 
 
 that we read between the eighth book and the thirteenth, com- 
 
 * 
 
 prehends only the space of one evening; namely, the evening of 
 the thirty-third day. The Poet inserts all the adventures that 
 happened to Ulysses in almost ten years from his departure from 
 Troy, into the compass of one evening by way of narration, and 
 so maintains the unity both of the time and action. 
 
 I speak not of the narration in general: concerning which the 
 curious may consult Bossu, or Dry den’s preface to the transla¬ 
 tion of the iEneis. P« 
 
 
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 o*er the rolling surge the vessel flies,* 
 *Till from the waves the’ iEaean hills arise. 
 Here the gay Morn resides in radiant bowers, 
 Here keeps her revels with the dancing Hours; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 J ' ; !; )V * ' / • ■ ’ > 1 ■ ■ [ . 
 
 Ver. 3. Here the gay Morn resides in radiant lowers, • 
 Here keeps her revels -] 
 
 This passage is full of obscurity: for how is it possible to sup¬ 
 pose this island of Circe to be the residence of the Morning ; that 
 is, for the day to rise immediately upon it, when it is known to 
 lie in a western situation ? Some have imagined that this is spoken 
 solely with respect to Ulysses, who returning from the shades, 
 might properly say that he arrived at the place where the day 
 resides, that is, to a place enlightened by the sun. Others un¬ 
 derstand it comparatively, with respect to the Cimmerians, or 
 rather to the realms of death, which Homer places in the west; 
 with regard to these, iEaea may be said to lie in the east, or in the 
 poetical language, to be the residence of the Morning. Besides, 
 the Circacan promontory is of an extraordinary altitude, and con¬ 
 sequently the beams at sun-rising may fall upon it; nay, it is said 
 
 * 
 
456 HOMER's ODYSSEY. book xii. 
 
 Here Phoebus rising in the’ ethereal way, 5 
 
 Thro’ heaven’s bright portals pours the beamy day. 
 At once we fix our halsers on the land. 
 
 At once descend, and press the desert sand; 
 
 There worn and wasted, lose our cares in sleep 
 To the hoarse murmurs of the rolling deep. 10 
 Soon as the morn restor’d the day, we paid 
 Sepulchral honours to Elpenor’s shade. 
 
 Now by the axe the rushing forest bends, 
 
 And the huge pile along the shore ascends. 
 
 to be illustrated by the sun even by night. Others have con¬ 
 jectured, that what is here said implies no more than that Ulysses 
 landed upon the eastern parts of the island; and lastly, others not 
 improbably refer the whole to the word ocean in the former line, 
 end then the whole passage will be clear, and agree with the fable 
 of the sun’s rising and setting in the ocean. This is what Eusta¬ 
 thius remarks, who adds, that the ancients understood x°P Ql not 
 to signify dances , but the regions of the morning. 1 have- 
 
 translated it in the former sense, according to the consent of most 
 interpreters i and I am persuaded it is used to denote the plea¬ 
 sure and gaiety which the sun restores to the whole creation, 
 when dispelling the melancholy darkness, he restores light and 
 gladness to the earth ; which is imaged to us by the playing or 
 dancing of the first beams of the sun; or rather of Aurora, who 
 properly may be said to dance, being a Goddess. Dacier ren¬ 
 ders x°P 0l > dances ; but judges that Homer here follows a fabu¬ 
 lous geography, and that as he transported the Cimmerians with 
 all their darkness from the Bosphorus to Catnpania; so like¬ 
 wise he now removes JEae a with all its light from Colchis into 
 Italy i and therefore the Poet gives the properties and situation 
 to the island of Circe> which are only true of the eastern 
 Colchis. P. 
 
 Ver. 9.] Thus his author: 
 
 There ibait the morn , and lose our cafes in sleep. W. 
 Ver. 12 ] This line corresponds to the following distich of 
 his author: 
 
 I sent my comrades then to Circe’s dome 
 
 To fetch the carcase of Elpenor dead* 
 
 W. 
 
book xii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 45? 
 
 Around we stand a melancholy train, 15 
 
 And a loud groan re-echoes from the main. 
 
 Fierce o’er the pyre, by fanning breezes spread. 
 The hungry flame devours the silent dead. 
 
 A rising tomb, the silent dead to grace. 
 
 Fast by the roarings of the main we place ; 20 
 
 The rising tomb a lofty column bore. 
 
 And high above it rose the tapering oar. 
 
 Meantime the * Goddess our return survey’d 
 From the pale ghosts, and hell’s tremendous shade. 
 Swift she descends : a train of nymphs divine 2$ 
 Bear the rich viands and the generous wine : 
 
 In act to speak the * power of magick stands. 
 
 And graceful thus accosts the listening bands. 
 
 O sons of woe ! decreed by adverse fates 
 Alive to pass thro’ hell’s eternal gates ! 30 
 
 All, soon or late, are doom’d that path to tread ; 
 More wretched you ! twice number’d with the dead! 
 This day adjourn your cares; exalt your souls. 
 Indulge the taste, and drain the sparkling bowls : 
 And when the Morn unveils her saffron ray, 35 
 Spread your broad sails, and plough the liquid way ; 
 Lo I this night, your faithful guide, explain 
 Your woes by land, your dangers on the main. 
 
 The Goddess spoke; in feasts we waste the day, 
 ’Till Phoebus downward plunged his burning ray : 
 
 1 * <■ , 1 ‘ . 
 
 * Circe. 
 
 V'er. 39.] The preceding speech is well done. Here our 
 translator is licentious, as a literal translation of the portion of 
 his original, corresponding to the eight next verses, will evince: 
 Her words at once persuade our easy minds. 
 
 Thus, to the close of light, the live-long day 
 
458 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 Then sable night ascends, and balmy rest 41 
 
 Seals every eye, and calms the troubled breast. 
 
 Then curious she commands me to relate 
 The dreadful scenes of Pluto’s dreary state; 
 
 She sat in silence while the tale 1 tell, 45 
 
 The wonderous visions, and the laws of Hell. 
 
 Then thus : The lot of man the Gods dispose; 
 These ills are past; now hear thy future woes. 
 
 O Prince attend ! some favouring- power be kind. 
 And print the’ important story on thy mind ! 50 
 
 Next, where the Sirens dwell, you plough the seas; 
 Their song is death, and makes destruction please. 
 
 We sat, in plenteous viands and rich wine 
 Indulging. When Sol set, and darkness came, 
 
 By the ship’s halsers my associates slept; 
 
 Me by the hand she took, my crew apart, 
 
 And made me sit; converst, and question’d full 
 Of every circumstance. I told her all. W. 
 
 Ver. 51. Next, where the Sirens dwell -] The Criticks 
 
 have greatly laboured to explain what was the foundation of this 
 fiction of the Sirens. We are told by some, that the Sirens were 
 queens of certain small islands, named Sirenusae, that lie near 
 Capreae in Italy, and chiefly inhabited the promontory of Mi¬ 
 nerva, upon the top of which that Goddess had a temple, as 
 some affirm, built by Ulysses, according to this verse of Seneca, 
 Epist. lxxvii. 
 
 “ Alta procelloso speculatur vertice Pallas.” 
 
 Here, there was a renowned academy in the reign of the Sirens, 
 famous for eloquence and the liberal sciences, which gave occa¬ 
 sion for the invention of this fable of the sweetness of the voice, 
 and attracting songs of the Sirens. But why then are they fa¬ 
 bled to be destroyers, and painted in such dreadful colours ? We 
 are told that at last the students abused their knowledge, to 
 the colouring of wrong, the corruption of manners, and sub¬ 
 version of government; that is, in the language of poetry, they 
 were feigned to be transformed into monsters, and with their 
 musick to have enticed passengers to their ruin, who there con- 
 
tfOOK Xtl. 
 
 IIOMERs ODYSSEY. 459 
 
 Unblest the man, whom musick wins to stay 
 Nigh the curst shore, and listen to the lay ; 
 
 No more that wretch shall view the joys of life, 
 
 His blooming offspring, or his beauteous wife! 
 
 In verdant meads they sport, and wide around 
 Lie human bones, that whiten all the ground; 
 
 The ground polluted floats with human gore. 
 
 And human carnage taints the dreadful shore. 6 (* 
 
 Fly swift the dangerous coast; let every ear 
 Be stopp’d against the song ! ’tis death to hear 1 
 Firm to the mast with chains thyself be bound. 
 
 Nor trust thy virtue to the’ enchanting sound. 
 
 sumed their patrimonies, and poisoned their virtues with riot 
 and effeminacy. The place is now called Massa. In the days 
 of Homer the Sirens were fabled to be two only in number, as 
 appears from his speaking of them in the dual; their names 
 (adds Eustathius) were Thelxiepaea, and Aglaopheme. Other 
 writers, in particular Lycophron, mention three Sirens, Ligaea, 
 Parthenope, and Leucosia. Some are of opinion (continues 
 the same author) that they were “ singing women and harlots,” 
 ■who by the sweetness of their voices drew the unwary to ruin 
 their health and fortune. Others tell us of a certain bay con¬ 
 tracted within winding streights and broken cliffs, which by the 
 singing of the winds, and beating of the waters, returns a de¬ 
 lightful harmony, that allures the passenger to approach, who 
 is immediately thrown against the rocks, and swallowed up by 
 the violent eddies. 
 
 But others understand the whole passage allegorically, or as 
 a fable containing an excellent moral, to shew that if we suffer 
 ourselves to be too much allured by the pleasures of an idle life, 
 the end will be destruction: thus Horace moralizes it; 
 
 “-Vitanda est improba Siren 
 
 “ Desidia”- 
 
 But the fable may be applied to all pleasures in general, which 
 if too eagerly pursued betray the uncaulious into ruin; while 
 wise men, like Ulysses, making use of their reason, stop their 
 ears against their insinuations. P. 
 
460 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK Xll 
 
 If mad with transport, freedom thou demand, 65 
 Be every fetter strain’d, and added band to band* 
 These seas o’erpass’cl, be wise ! but I refrain 
 To mark distinct thy voyage o’er the main : 
 
 New horrors rise ! let prudence be thy guide. 
 
 And guard thy various passage thro’ the tide. 70 
 High o’er the main two rocks exalt their brow. 
 The boiling billows thundering roll below; 
 
 Ver. 71. High o’er the main tivo rocks -] There is un** 
 
 doubtedly a great amplification in the description of Scylla and 
 Charybdis; it may not therefore be unnecessary to lay before 
 the reader, what is truth and what fiction.' 
 
 Thucydides, lib. iv. thus describes it. 41 This streight is the 
 e< sea that flows between Rhegium and Messene, where at the 
 u narrowest distance, Sicily is divided from the Continent; and 
 “ this is that part of the sea which Ulysses is said to have passed, 
 “ and it is called Charybdis ; this sea, by reason of the streights, 
 4< and the concourse of the Tyrrhene and Sieilian seas break- 
 <l krg violently into it, and there raising great commotions, is 
 with gbod reason called or destructive/’ Charybdis, 
 
 stands on the coast of Sicily; Scylla on the coast of Italy* 
 
 Mr. Sandys examined these rocks and seas with a particular 
 view to the descriptions of the Poets : speaking of Charybdis, he 
 writes, “ When the winds begin to ruffle, especially from the 
 <€ south, it forthwith runs round with violent eddies, so that 
 44 many vessels miscarry by it. The stream through the streight 
 44 runs toward the Ionian, and part of it sets into the haven, 
 44 which turning about, and meeting with other streams, makes 
 “ so violent an encounter that ships are glad to prevent the 
 44 danger by coming to an anchor. Scylla, adds he, is seated in 
 44 the midst of a bay, upon the neck of a narrow mountain, 
 44 which thrusts itself into the sea, having at the uppermost end 
 44 a steep high rock, so celebrated .by the Poets, and hyperbo- 
 44 lically described by Homer as inaccessible. The fables are 
 44 indeed well fitted to the place, there being divers little sharp 
 44 rocks at the foot of the greater: these are the dogs that are 
 44 said to bark there, the waters by their repercussion from them 
 il make a noise like the barking of dogs; and the reason why 
 “ Scylla is said to devour the fishes, as Homer expresses it, 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 461 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 Thro’ the vast waves the dreadful wonders move. 
 Hence nam’d Erratick by the Gods above. 
 
 When stung with hunger she embroils the flood, 
 
 The sea-dog and the dolphin are her food, 
 
 She makes the huge leviathan her prey, 
 
 And all the monsters of the watery w r ay. 
 u The reason of this is, because these rocks are frequented by 
 “ lamprons, and greater fishes, that devour the bodies of the 
 <c drowned. But Scylla is now without danger, the current 
 “ not setting upon it; and I much wonder at the proverb, 
 
 “ Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim,” 
 u when they stand twelve miles distant: I rather conjecture, 
 t( adds he, that there has been more than one Charybdis, occa- 
 “ sioned by the recoiling streams: as there is one between the 
 u south end of this bay of Scylla and the opposite point of 
 “ Sicily; there the waves justling make a violent eddy, which 
 “ when the winds are rough, more than threaten destruction to 
 4t ships, as I have heard from the Scyllians, when seeking per- 
 t( haps to avoid the then more impetuous turning, they have 
 “ been driven by weather upon the not far distant Scylla.” 
 
 Strabo (as Eustathius remarks) speaking of the Leontines, 
 says, that they were an unhospitable people, Cyclopeans, and 
 Laestrigons : and adds, that Scylla and Charybdis were inhabited 
 by robbers and murderers. From the terrible situation of those 
 rocks, and the murders and depredations of the robbers, these 
 fictions might arise: they might murder six of the companions 
 of Ulysses, and throw them into the sea from Scylla, which may 
 be expressed in their being said to be swallowed up by that 
 monster. 
 
 Bochart judges that the names of Scylla and Charybdis are 
 of Phoenician extract, the one derived from Sool, which signi¬ 
 fies loss and ruin, the other from Chorobdam, which implies the 
 pbyss of destruction. 
 
 It is highly probable that these rocks were more dangerous 
 formerly than at these times, the violence of the waters may not 
 only have enlarged their channel by time, but by throwing up 
 banks and sands have diverted their course from bearing upon 
 these rocks with the same violence as anciently; add to this, 
 that men by art may have contributed to render these seas more 
 $afe, being places of great resort and navigation. Besides, the 
 
462 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOR XI ]U 
 
 No bird of air, no dove of swiftest wing*, 75 
 
 That bears ambrosia to the’ ethereal king, 
 
 unskilfulness of the ancients in sea affairs, and the smallness and 
 form of their vessels, might render those seas very dangerous 
 to them, which are safe to modern navigators. P. 
 
 Ver. 72.] Tlius, literally : 
 
 Green Amphitrite's billows dash below. W. 
 
 Ver. 74. Hence nam 9 d ErraticJc — -—] It will reconcile the 
 deader in some measure to the boldness of these fictions, if he 
 considers that Homer, to render his poetry more marvellous, 
 joins what has been related of the Symplegades, to the descrip¬ 
 tion of Scylla and Charybdis: such a fiction of the justling of 
 these rocks could not be shocking to the ears of the ancients, 
 who had before heard of the same property in the Symplegades. 
 The whole fable is perhaps grounded upon appearance; navi¬ 
 gators looking upon these rocks at a distance, might in different 
 views, according to the position of the ship, sometimes see them 
 in a direct line, and then they would appear to join, and after 
 they had passed a little further they might look upon them 
 obliquely, and then they would be discovered to be at some dis¬ 
 tance; and this might give occasion to the fable of their meet¬ 
 ing and recoiling alternately. Strabo agrees, that Homer bor¬ 
 rowed his description of Scylla and Charybdis from the Sym¬ 
 plegades; Homer (says he) describes these, like the Cyanean 
 rocks; he continually lays the foundation of his fables upon 
 some well known history: thus he feigns these rocks to be full 
 of dangers and horrors, according to the relations of the Cya¬ 
 nean, which from their justling are called Symplegades. P. 
 
 Ver. 75.- No dove ofsiviftest whig. 
 
 That bears ambrosia to the * ctlierial king.~\ 
 
 What might give Homer this notion, might be what is related of 
 the Symplegades. Phineus being asked by Jason if he could 
 pass those rocks with safety, he desires to know how swift the 
 vessel was ; Jason answers, as swift as a dove ; Then, said Phi-, 
 neus, send a dove between the rocks, and if she escapes, you 
 may pass in safety : Jason complies, and the pigeon in her pas¬ 
 sage lost only her tail, that hero immediately set sail, and 
 escapes with the loss only of his rudder: this story being re¬ 
 ported of the Symplegades, might give Homer the hint of apply¬ 
 ing the crushing of the doves to Scylla and Charybdis. Von 
 may find in Eustathius several far-fetched notions upon this pas- 
 
book xu, HOMER S ODYSSEY. 463 
 
 Shuns the dire rocks : in vain she cuts the skies. 
 The dire rocks meet, and crush her as she flies; 
 
 Not the fleet bark, when prosperous breezes play. 
 Ploughs o’er that roaring surge its desperate way ; 
 O’erwhelm’d it sinks : while round a smoke expires, 
 And the waves flashing seem to burn with fires. 82 
 Scarce the fam’d Argo pass’d these raging floods. 
 The sacred Argo, fill’d with demigods ! 
 
 Even she had sunk, but Jove’s imperial bride s5 
 Wing’d her fleet sail, and push’d her o’er the tide. 
 
 High in the air the rock its summit shrouds. 
 
 In brooding tempests, and in rolling clouds ; 
 
 Loud storms around and mists eternal rise. 
 
 Beat its bleak brow, and intercept the skies. 90 
 When all the broad expansion bright with day 
 Glow r s with the’ autumnal or the summer ray. 
 
 The summer and the autumn glow in vain. 
 
 The sky for ever lours, for ever clouds remain. 
 Impervious to the step of man it stands, 9.5 
 
 Tho’ borne by twenty feet, tho’ arm’d with twenty 
 hands: 
 
 Smooth as the polish of the mirror rise 
 The slippery sides, and shoot into the skies. 
 
 • # * r t r y " 
 
 sage, but I shall pass them over in silence. Longinus blames 
 it, and I have ventured in the translation to omit that particular 
 which occasioned his censure. p, 
 
 Ver. 78.] We may consult exactness, and make up the defh 
 ciency of the translation, by the following substitution: 
 
 The dire rocks meet, and graze her as she flies: 
 
 One in her room the sovereign Sire supplies. W. 
 
 Ver. 97.] This pleasing couplet represents one line -of 
 Hpmer, which may be thus exhibited : 
 
 Smooth is the rock, as polish’d round with art. W, 
 
464* 
 
 BOOK XI*. 
 
 HOM fell’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 Full in the center of this rock display'd, 
 
 A yawning cavern casts a dreadful shade : joo 
 
 Nor the fleet arrow from the twanging bow. 
 
 Sent with full force, could reach the depth below. 
 Wide to the west the horrid gulf extends. 
 
 And the dire passage down to hell descends. 
 
 O fly the dreadful sight! expand thy sails, 105 
 Ply the strong oar, and catch the nimble gales; 
 Here Scylla bellows from her dire abodes. 
 Tremendous pest 1 abhorred by man and Gods ! 
 Hideous her voice, and with less terrors roar 
 The whelps of lions in the midnight hour. no 
 Twelve feet deform’d and foul the fiend dispreads; 
 Six horrid necks she rears, and six terrifick heads ; 
 Her jaws grin dreadful with three rows of teeth; 
 Jaggy they stand, the gaping den of death; 
 
 Ver. 102.] It is not easy to discover wliat our translator meant 
 by this. Mr. Cowper, with whom Chapman and Ogilby agree, 
 has rendered thus: 
 
 Pass it, renown’d Ulysses ! but aloof 
 
 So far, that a keen arrow, smartly sent 
 
 Forth from thy bark, should fail to reach the cave. 
 
 Very mistakingly, in my opinion. Hobbes is right, but low ? ag 
 usual: 
 
 The mouth o’ the’ cave is more above your bark 
 Than the youngest man can shoot to with a bow: 
 and Dacier : “ Et cette caverne est si haute, que le plus habile 
 “ archer passant pres de-Ik sur son vaisseau, ne pourroit poussey 
 “ sa fleche jusqu’ a son sommet.” 
 
 The passage i6 beyond measure plain and unembarrassed. W# 
 Ver. KH. And the dire passage down to hell descends .] Ho¬ 
 mer means by hell, the regions of death, and uses it to teach u& 
 that there is no passing by this rock without destruction, or in, 
 Homer’s words it is a sure passage into the kingdom of death* 
 Eustathius. P* 
 
 Ver. 109.] For this couplet Homer says only. 
 
 Her voice is like that of a whelp new-born. W t 
 
BOOK XII. 
 
 465 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY; 
 
 Her parts obscene the raging billows hide; 115 
 
 Her bosom terribly o’erlooks the tide. 
 
 When stung with hunger she embroils the flood. 
 The sea-dog and the dolphin are her food; 
 
 She makes the huge leviathan her prey^ 
 
 And all the monsters of the watery way ; 120 
 
 The swiftest racer of the azure plain 
 Here fills her sails and spreads her oars in vain ; 
 Fell Scylla rises,* in her fury roars. 
 
 At once six mouths expands, at once six rrien devours; 
 
 Close by, a rock of less enormous height 125 
 Breaks the wild waves, and forms a dangerous 
 streight ; 
 
 Full on its crown a fig’s green branches rise. 
 
 And shoot a leafy forest to the skies ; 
 
 Beneath, Charybdis holds her boisterous reign 
 'Midst roaring whirlpools, and absorbs the main ; 130 
 Thrice in her gulfs the boiling seas subside, 
 
 Thrice in dire thunders she refunds the tide. 
 
 Oh if thy vessel plough the direful waves 
 When seas retreating roar within her caves, 
 
 Ver. 118. The sea-dog and the dolphin are herfood.~\ Poly- 
 bius (as Strabo remarks) contends, that Homer in all his fictions 
 alludes to the customs of antiquity: for instance, Scylla was a 
 famous fishery for taking such fishes as Homer mentions: this 
 was the manner of taking tlie sea-dog ; several small boats went 
 out each with only two men in it, the one rowed, the other stood 
 with his instrument ready to strike the fish ; all the boats had one 
 speculator in common, to give notice when the fish approached, 
 which usually swam with more than half the body above water: 
 Ulysses is this speculator, who stands armed with his spear; and 
 it is probable, adds Polybius, that Homer thought Ulysses really 
 visited jScylln, since he ascribes to Scylla that manner of fishing 
 which is really practised by the Scyllians. . P* 
 
 VOL. i. H h 
 
466 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book xii. 
 
 Ye perish all! tho’ he who rules the main iss 
 Lend his strong aid,, his aid he lends in vain. 
 
 Ah shun the horrid gulf! by Scylla fly, 
 
 ’Tis better six to lose, than all to die. 
 
 I then: O nymph propitious to my prayer. 
 Goddess divine, my guardian power, declare, 140 
 Is the foul fiend from human vengeance freed ? 
 
 Or if I rise in arms, can Scylla bleed ? 
 
 Then she : O worn by toils, oh broke in fight. 
 Still are new toils and war thy dire delight ? 
 
 Will martial flames for ever fire thy mind, 145 
 And never, never be to heaven resign’d ? 
 
 How vain thy efforts to avenge the wrong ! 
 Deathless the pest! impenetrably strong! 
 
 Furious and fell, tremendous to behold. 
 
 Even with a look she withers all the bold ! 150 
 
 She mocks the weak attempts of human might ; 
 
 O fly her rage ! thy conquest is thy flight. 
 
 If but to seize thy arms thou make delay. 
 
 Again the fury vindicates her prey. 
 
 Her six mouths yawn, and six are snatch’d away. 
 From her foul womb Cratseis gave to air 156 
 
 This dreadful pest! To her direct thy prayer, 
 
 Ver. 143.] The following paragraph is but moderately exe¬ 
 cuted. As a specimen of its fidelity, the subjoined lines of the 
 original correspond to this and the next couplet of the version : 
 
 I spake, and thus replied the nymph divine: 
 
 W retch ! are the feats of war, and labour, still 
 Thy care: nor yield'st thou to the’ immortal Gods ? 
 
 The purport of which sentiment is very different from the com¬ 
 plexion of our Poet’s translation. W* 
 
 Ver. 156.- Cratais gave to air 
 
 This dreadful pest -] 
 
467 
 
 book xii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 To curb the monster in her dire abodes. 
 
 And guard thee thro’ the tumult of the floods. 159 
 Thence to Trinacria’s shore you bend your way, 
 Where graze thy herds, illustrious source of day!' 
 Seven herds, seven flocks enrich the sacred plains. 
 Each herd, each flock full fifty heads contains; 
 
 The woriderous kind a length of age survey. 
 
 By breed increase not, nor by death decay. 165 
 Two sister Goddesses possess the plain. 
 
 The constant guardians of the woolly train; 
 
 It is not evident who this Crataeis is whom the Poet makes the 
 mother of Scylla: Eustathius informs us that it is Hecate, a 
 Goddess very properly recommended by Circe; she, like Circe, 
 being the president over sorceries and enchantments. But why 
 should she be said to be the mother of Scylla ? Dacier ima¬ 
 gines that Homer speaks enigmatically? and intends to teach us 
 that these monsters are merely the creation or offspring of ma* 
 gick, or poetry. P. 
 
 Ver. 161. Where graze thy herds --] This fiction con¬ 
 
 cerning the immortal herds of Apollo, is bold, but founded 
 upon truth and reality. Nothing is more certain than that in 
 ancient times whole herds of cattle were consecrated to the 
 Gods, and were therefore sacred and inviolable: these being 
 always of a fixed number, neither more nor less than at the first 
 consecration, the Poet feigns that they never bred or increased: 
 and being constantly supplied upon any vacancy, they were fa¬ 
 bled to be immortal, or never to decay ; (for the same cause one 
 of the most famous legions of antiquity was called immortal .) 
 Eustathius informs us, that they were labouring oxen employed 
 in tillage, and it was esteemed a particular profanation to de¬ 
 stroy a labouring ox: it was criminal to cat of it, nay it was 
 forbid to be offered even in sacrifices to the Gods ; and a crime 
 punishable with death by the laws of Solon. So that the moral 
 intended by Homer in this fable of the violation of the herds 
 of Apollo is, that in our utmost necessity we ought not to offend 
 the Gods. As to the flocks of sheep, Herodotus informs U3, 
 that in Apollonia along the Ionian gulf, flocks of sheep were 
 consecrated to that Deity, and were therefore inviolable. P. 
 
 h h 2 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book x\i. 
 
 468 
 
 Lampetie fair, and Phaethusa young. 
 
 Prom Phoebus and the bright Neagra sprung: 
 
 Here watchful o’er the flocks, in shady bowers 170 
 And flowery meads they waste the joyous hours. 
 Rob not the God! and so propitious gales 
 Attend thy voyage, and impel thy sails ; 
 
 But if thy impious hands the flocks destroy. 
 
 The Gods, the Gods avenge it, and ye die ! 171 
 
 ’Tis thine alone (thy friends and navy lost) 
 
 Thro’ tedious toils to view thy native coast. 
 
 She ceas’d: and now arose the morning ray; 
 Swift to her dome the Goddess held her way. 
 
 Then to my mates I measur’d back the plain, iso 
 Climb’d the tall bark, and rush’d into the main ; 
 Then bending to the stroke, their oars they drew 
 To their broad breasts, and swift the galley flew. 
 Up sprung a brisker breeze; with freshening gales 
 The friendly Goddess stretch’d the swelling sails; 
 We drop our oars: at ease the pilot guides; 185 
 
 The vessel light along the level glides. 
 
 When rising sad and slow, with pensive look. 
 
 Thus to the melancholy train I spoke : 
 
 O friends, oh ever partners of my woes, 190 
 Attend while I what Heaven foredooms disclose. 
 Hear all 1 Fate hangs o’er all! on you it lies 
 To live, or perish ! to be safe, be wise ! 
 
 In flowery meads the sportive Sirens play. 
 
 Touch the soft lyre, and tune the vocal lay; 1 gg 
 
 Me, me alone, with fetters firmly bound. 
 
 The Gods allow to hear the dangerous sound, 
 
 Ver. 194.] Thus his author, accurately: 
 
 First, of the Sirens’ song the’ enchanting powers 
 She bade me shun, and mead adorn’d with dowers. W„ 
 
BOOK XII. 
 
 HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 469 
 
 Hear and obey : if freedom I demand. 
 
 Be every fetter strain’d, be added band to band. 
 
 While yet I speak the winged galley flies, 20a 
 And lo ! the Siren shores like mists arise. 
 
 Sunk were at once the winds ; the air above. 
 
 And waves below, at once forgot to move ! 
 
 Some demon calm’d the air, and smooth’d the deep. 
 Hush’d the loud winds, and charm’d the waves to 
 sleep. 205 
 
 Now every sail we furl, each oar we ply; 
 
 Lash’d by the stroke the frothy waters fly. 
 
 The ductile wax with busy hands I mould. 
 
 And cleft in fragments, and the fragments roll’d; 
 The’ aerial region now grew warm with day, 210 
 The wax dissolv’d beneath the burning ray ; 
 
 Then every ear I barr’d against the strain. 
 
 And from access of phrenzy lock’d the brain. 
 
 Now round the mast my mates the fetters roll’d, 
 And bound me limb by limb, with fold on fold. 215 
 Then bending to the stroke, the active train 
 Plunge all at once their oars, and cleave the main. 
 
 While to the shore the rapid vessel flies. 
 
 Our swift approach the Siren quire descries; 
 Celestial musick warbles from their tongue, 220 
 And thus the sweet deluders tune the song. 
 
 Oh stay, 0I1 pride of Greece ! Ulysses stay \ 
 
 O cease thy course, and listen to our lay | 
 
 Blest is the man ordain’d our voice to hear. 
 
 The song instructs the soul, and charms the ear. 225 
 
 Ver. 224.] Thus his author: 
 
 ’Till now none sail’d this way, but stopt to hear 
 Our honied accents warble in his ear; 
 
470 HOMER's ODYSSEY, book xm 
 
 Approach! thy soul shall into raptures rise! 
 Approach ! and learn new wisdom from the wise ! 
 We know whate’er the kings of mighty name 
 Achiev’d at Ilion in the field of Fame ; 
 
 Whate’er beneath the sun’s bright journey lies. 230 
 O stay and learn new wisdom from the wise! 
 
 Thus the sw r eet charmers warbled o’er the main : 
 My soul takes wing to meet the heavenly strain ; 
 
 I give the sign, and struggle to be free: 
 
 Swift row my mates, and shoot along the sea; 235 
 New chains they add, and rapid urge the wa}^ 
 
 ’Till dying off, the distant sounds decay : 
 
 Then scudding swiftly from the dangerous ground. 
 The deafen’d ear unlock’d, the chains unbound. 
 
 Now all at once tremendous scenes unfold ; 240 
 
 Thunder’d the deeps, the smoking billow T s roll’d! 
 
 Tumultuous waves embroil’d the bellowing flood. 
 All trembling, deafen’d, and aghast we stood! 
 
 No more the vessel plough’d the dreadful w r ave. 
 Fear seiz’d the mighty, and unnerv’d the brave; 245 
 Each dropp’d his oar : but swift from man to man 
 With look serene I turn’d, and thus began. 
 
 ./ ' . . **!': 1 
 
 But felt his soul with pleasing raptures thrill’d: 
 
 But found his mind with stores of knowledge fill’d. W. 
 
 Ver. 240.] Thus, literally: 
 
 That isle we leave; and soon a smoke appears, 
 
 And swelling surge : loud sounds invade our ears. 
 
 They dropt their oars ; such horror seiz’d each man 1 
 Deep humming noises o’er the waters ran. 
 
 Her course no more the lagging vessel held; 
 
 The lagging vessel no long oar impell’d. 
 
 Swift thro’ the decks I past; each fainting breast 
 I cheer’d, and thus in soothing words addrest. W, 
 
471 
 
 book xii, HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 O friends ! Oh often tried in adverse storms ! 
 
 With ills familiar in more dreadful forms 1 
 Deep in the dire Cyclopean den you lay, 250 
 
 Yet safe return’d—Ulysses led the way. 
 
 Learn courage hence ! and in my care confide; 
 
 Lo ! still the same Ulysses is your guide ! 
 
 Attend my words! your oars incessant ply; 
 
 Strain every nerve, and bid the vessel fly. 2 55 
 
 If from yon justling rocks and wavy war v 
 Jove safety grants, he grants it to your care : 
 
 And thou whose guiding hand directs our way. 
 Pilot, attentive listen and obey ! 259 
 
 Bear wide thy course, nor plough those angry waves 
 Where rolls yon smoke, yon tumbling ocean raves; 
 Steer by the higher rock; lest whirl’d around 
 We sink, beneath the circling eddy drown’d. 
 
 While yet I speak, at once their oars they seize. 
 Stretch to the stroke, and brush the working seas. 
 Cautious the name of Scylla I supprest; 266 
 
 That dreadful sound had chill’d the boldest breast, _ 
 Meantime, forgetful of the voice divine. 
 
 All dreadful bright my limbs in armour shine ; 
 High on the deck I take my dangerous standj 270 
 Two glittering javelins lighten in my hand ; 
 
 Ver. 253.] The purport of a sentiment, here suppressed by 
 our translator, may be thus exhibited: 
 
 These dangers too, like dangers tried before. 
 
 Will soothe remember’d, and alarm no more. W. 
 Yer. 264-.] Thus Hobbes, with a fidelity unknown to our 
 translator; 
 
 This said, my fellows speedily obey’d ; 
 
 Of the monster Scylla not a word I told. 
 
 Lest they should throw away their oars, dismaid, 
 
 And for their shelter run into the hold. W. 
 
472 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK XII 
 
 Prepar’d to whirl the whizzing spear I stay, 
 
 ’Till the fell fiend arise to seize her prey. 
 
 Around the dungeon, studious to behold 
 The hideous pest, my labouring eyes I roll’d; 2 75 
 In vain ! the dismal dungeon dark as night 
 Veils the dire monster, and confounds the sight. 
 
 Now thro 5 the rocks, appal’d with deep dismay. 
 We bend our course, and stem the desperate way; 
 Dire £cylla there a scene of horror forms, 2SG 
 And here Charybdis fills the deep with storms. 
 When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves 
 The rough rock roars; tumultuous boil the waves ; 
 They toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise. 
 
 Like waters bubbling o’er the fiery blaze : 285 
 
 Eternal mists obscure the 5 aerial plain. 
 
 And high above the rock she spouts the main : 
 When in her gulfs the rushing sea subsides, 
 
 She drains the ocean with the refluent tides: 
 
 The rock rebellows with a thundering sound ; 29a 
 
 Deep, wonderous deep, below appears the ground, 
 Strqckwith despair, with trembling hearts we 
 view’d 
 
 The yawning dungeon, and the tumbling flood ; 
 When lo ! fierce Seylla stoop’d to seize her prey. 
 Stretch’d her dire jaws, and swept six men away; 295 
 Chiefs of renown ! loud echoing shrieks arise; 
 
 I turn, and view them quivering in the skies; 
 
 They call, and aid with out-stretch’d arms implore: 
 In vain they call! those arms are stretch’d no more. 
 
 V 292.3 Thus literally : 
 
 Straight o’er our cheeks a livid horror spread ; 
 
 We view appall’d, and instant ruin dread. W 
 
book xii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 473 
 
 As from some rock that overhangs the flood, 30d 
 The silent fisher casts the’ insidious food. 
 
 With fraudful care he waits the finny prize. 
 
 And sudden lifts it quivering to the skies : 
 
 So the foul monster lifts her prey on high. 
 
 So pant the wretches, struggling in the sky: 305 
 
 In the wide dungeon she devours her food. 
 
 And the flesh trembles while she churns the blood. 
 Worn as I am with griefs, with care decay’d. 
 Never, I never, scene so dire survey’d ! 
 
 My shivering blood, congeal’d, forgot to flow; 310 
 Aghast I stood, a monument of w r oe ! 
 
 Now from the rocks the rapid vessel flies. 
 
 And the hoarse din like distant thunder dies ; 
 
 To Sol’s br ight isle our voyage we pursue. 
 
 And now the glittering mountains rise to view. 315 
 There, sacred to the radiant God of day. 
 
 Graze the fair herds, the flocks promiscuous stray; 
 Then suddenly was heard along the main 
 To low the ox, to bleat the woolly train. 
 
 Straight to my anxious thoughts the sound convey’d 
 The words of Circe and the Theban shade ; ' 321 
 
 Warn’d by their awful voice these shores to shun. 
 With cautious fears opprest, I thus begun. 
 
 Ver. 308.] Thus exactly : 
 
 In all the seas I searcht, the toils I bore, 
 
 These eyes ne’er viewed so dire a scene before ! 
 
 The next couplet has occurred elsewhere in nearly the same 
 terms, and may be expunged, as a mere superfluous interpola¬ 
 tion of our inaccurate translator. W. 
 
 Ver. 314.] To Sol’s bright isle -] This isle is evidently 
 
 Sicily; for he has already informed us, that these herds were on 
 Trinacria, (so anciently called from the three promontories of 
 X-ilyboeum, Pelorus, and Pachynus). P. 
 
 i 
 
BOOK XII. 
 
 474* HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 O friends ! oh ever exercis'd in care! 
 
 Hear Heaven's commands, and reverence what ye 
 hear! 325 
 
 To fly these shores the prescient Theban shade 
 And Circe warns ! O be their voice obey’d : 
 
 Some mighty woe relentless heaven forebodes : 
 
 Fly these dire regions, and revere the Gods! 
 
 While yet I spoke, a sudden sorrow ran 330 
 Thro’ every breast, and spread from man to man, 
 'Till wrathful thus Eurylochus began. 
 
 O cruel thou ! some Fury sure has steel’d 
 That stubborn soul, by toil untaught to yield! 
 
 From sleep debarr’d, we sink from woes to woes; 335 
 And cruel, enviest thou a short repose ? 
 
 Still must we restless rove, new seas explore, 
 
 The sun descending, and so near the shore ? 
 
 And lo ! the night begins her gloomy reign. 
 
 And doubles all the terrors of the main. 340 
 
 Oft in the dead of night loud winds arise. 
 
 Lash the wild surge, and bluster in the skies ; 
 
 Ver. 333.] Thus, literally: 
 
 Untamed thy strength, thy limbs no labour feel; 
 
 Chief unsubmitting ! with a frame of steel I W. 
 
 Ver. 336.] More truly : 
 
 Repast thou enviest, and a short repose. W, 
 
 Ver. 341.] Or thus, with greater fidelity ; 
 
 Hoiv oft hy night fierce-wrecking winds arise. 
 
 But a literal version of the original, correspondent to these three 
 couplets, will best point out the deviation of our Poet. 
 
 By night fierce winds, the bane of ships, arise : 
 
 And who shall scape destruction, if should burst, 
 
 With sudden gust tempestuous, or the South, 
 
 Or blustering West ? winds, fatal to the bark; 
 
 Winds, that disdain their sovereign lord’s controul! W« 
 
book xii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 475 
 
 Oh should the fierce south-west his rage display. 
 And toss with rising storms the watery way, 
 
 Tho’ Gods descend from heaven’s aerial plain 345 
 To lend us aid, the Gods descend in vain : 
 
 Then while the Night displays her awful shade. 
 Sweet time of slumber ! be the night obey’d ! 
 
 Haste ye to land! and when the morning ray 
 Sheds her bright beams, pursue the destin’d way. 350 
 A sudden joy in every bosom rose ; 
 
 So will’d some demon, minister of woes ! 
 
 To whom with grief—O swift to be undone ! 
 Constrain’d I act what wisdom bids me shun. 
 
 But yonder herds, and yonder flocks forbear; 355 
 
 Attest the heavens, and call the Gods to hear : 
 Content, an innocent repast display. 
 
 By Circe given, and fly the dangerous prey. 
 
 Thus I : and while to shore the vessel flies. 
 
 With hands uplifted they attest the skies ; 3Q0 
 
 Then where a fountain’s gurgling waters play. 
 They rush to land, and end in feasts the day : 
 
 They feed; they quaff; and now (their hunger fled) 
 Sigh for their friends devour’d, and mourn the dead. 
 Nor ceas’d the tears, ’till each in slumber shares 365 
 A sweet forgetfulness of human cares. 
 
 Now far the Night advanc’d her gloomy reign. 
 And setting stars roll’d down the azure plain : 
 
 Ver. 367*] I shall give a plain faithful version of this pas¬ 
 sage, to verse 38]. to help the reader’s judgment of the fidelity 
 of our translator. 
 
 The night now waned apace, the stars declin’d, 
 
 When Jove against us rous’d a furious wind 
 Of blast tempestuous : sable horror shrouds i 
 
 AH earth and sea; the heavens, a night of clouds. 
 
476 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. book xit; 
 
 When,, at the voice of Jove,, wild whirlwinds rise,, 
 And clouds and double darkness veil the skies ; 370 
 The moon,, the stars, the bright ethereal host 
 Seem as extinct, and all their splendours lost; 
 
 The furious tempest roars with dreadful sound: 
 
 Air thunders, rolls the ocean, groans the ground. 
 
 All night it raged ; when morning rose, to land 375 
 We haul’d our bark, and moor’d it on the strand. 
 Where in a beauteous grotto’s cool recess 
 Dance the green Nereids of the neighbouring seas- 
 There while the wild winds whistled o’er the main* 
 Thus careful I addrest the listening train. 380 
 
 O friends be wise ! nor dare the flocks destroy 
 Of these fair pastures ! if ye touch, ye die. 
 
 Warn’d by the high command of Heaven, be aw’d; 
 Holy the flocks, and dreadful is the God ! 
 
 That God who spreads the radiant beams of light, 385 
 And views wide earth and heaven’s un measur’d height. 
 
 And now the Moon had run her monthly round, 
 The south-east blustering with a dreadful sound; 
 Unhurt the beeves, untouch’d the woolly train 
 Low thro’ the grove, or range the flowery plain : 39Q 
 Then fail’d our food ; then fish we make our prey, 
 Or fowl that screaming haunt the watery way. 
 
 ’Till now, from sea or flood no succour found > 
 Famine and meagre want besieged us round, 
 
 Her light when morn with rosy fingers gave. 
 
 We moor’d our vessel in a sheltering cave: 
 
 Nymphs, a fair quire ! the beauteous grot possess. 
 
 I call my comrades, and these words address. 
 
 All beyond this is common-placed interpolation, and nothing 
 more. W, 
 
book xii. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 477 
 
 Pensive and pale from grove to grove I stray’d, 395 
 From the loud storms to find a silvan shade; 
 
 Then o’er my hands the living wave I pour; 
 
 And Heaven, and Heaven’s immortal thrones adore. 
 To calm the roarings of the stormy main. 
 
 And grant me peaceful to my realms again. 400 
 Then o’er my eyes the Gods soft slumber shed. 
 While thus Eurylochus arising said. 
 
 O friends, a thousand ways frail mortals lead 
 To the cold tomb, and dreadful all to tread; 
 
 But dreadful most, when by a slow decay 40 £ 
 
 Pale hunger w T astes the manly strength away. 
 
 Why cease ye then to’ implore the powers above. 
 And offer hecatombs to thundering Jove ? 
 
 Why seize ye not yon beeves, and fleecy prey ? 
 Arise unanimous ; arise and slay ! 4 iu 
 
 And if the Gods ordain a safe return. 
 
 To Phcebus shrines shall rise, and altars burn. 
 
 % 
 
 Ver. 395.] The translation here is strangely rambling; a 
 Censure due to numberless other passages. The subjoined 
 attempt is verbally faithful: 
 
 I through the island vvalkt apart, to pray 
 The Gods, if some the method would disclose 
 Of our return. When from my friends remote, 
 
 With washen hands, where shelter from the wind 
 I found, to all the' Olympian Gods I pray’d: 
 
 They on mine eye lids pour’d delicious sleep. W. 
 Ver. 407.] Two verses of his author are here very feebly and 
 injudiciously expanded into as many couplets ; otherwise the 
 preceding verses of this speech are excellent. Thus ? 
 
 Come, seize these heifers of the Sun ; and kill 
 To all the Gods, who sway the’ Olympian hill. W. 
 Ver. 411.] It is to be lamented, that the latter part of this 
 speech wants accuracy, and the concluding distich, elegance. 
 1 shall attempt a substitution, exactly conformable to the words 
 of 4he original: 
 
478 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK. XIX. 
 
 But should the powers that o’er mankind preside, 
 Decree to plunge us in the whelming* tide, 
 
 Better to rush at once to shades below, 415 
 
 Than linger life away, and nourish woe ! 
 
 Thus he : the beeves around securely stray. 
 When swift to ruin they invade the prey. 
 
 They seize, they kill!—but for the rite divine. 
 
 The barley fail’d, and for libations, wine. 420 
 
 Swift from the oak they strip the shady pride; 
 
 And verdant leaves the flowery cake supplied. 
 
 With prayer they now address the’ ethereal train. 
 Slay the selected beeves, and flay the slain: 
 
 The thighs, with fat involv’d, divide with art, 425 
 Strew’d o’er with morsels cut from every part. 
 Water, instead of wine, is brought in urns. 
 
 And pour’d profanely as the victim burns. 
 
 The thighs thus offered, and the entrails drest. 
 They roast the fragments, and prepare the feast. 430 
 ’Twas then soft slumber fled my troubled brain: 
 Back to the bark I speed along the main. 
 
 When lo ! an odour from the feast exhales. 
 
 Spreads o’er the coast, and scents the tainted gales; 
 A chilly fear congeal’d my vital blood, 4 35 
 
 And thus, obtesting Heaven, I mourn’d aloud. 
 
 O Sire of men and Gods, immortal Jove ! 
 
 Oh all ye blissful powers that reign above ! 
 
 Why were my cares beguil’d in short repose ? 
 
 0 fatal slumber, paid with lasting woes ! 440 
 
 *1 
 
 With rich and numerous gifts adorn’d, a dome 
 Shall rise to Phoebus at our native home. 
 
 But, if his wrath should whelm us in the wave. 
 
 f. 
 
 And all the* assenting Gods refuse to save, 
 
 The choaking flood shall sooner stop my breath, 
 
 Than barren famine and a lingering death. W. 
 
COOK. XII. 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 479 
 
 A deed so dreadful all the Gods alarms. 
 
 Vengeance is on the wing, and Heaven in arms i 
 Mean time Lampetie mounts the aerial way. 
 
 And kindles into rage the God of day : 
 
 Vengeance, ye powers, (he cries) and thou whose 
 hand 445 
 
 Aims the red bolt, and hurls the writhen brand ! 
 Slain are those herds which I with pride survey, ^ 
 When thro' the ports of heaven I pour the day, > 
 Or deep in ocean plunge the burning ray. ) 
 
 Vengeance, ye Gods ! or I the skies forego, 450 
 And bear the lamp of heaven to shades below! 
 
 To whom the thundering Power! O source of day. 
 Whose radiant lamp adorns the azure way, 
 
 Still may thy beams thro’ heaven’s bright portals rise. 
 The joy of earth, and glory of the skies ; 455 
 
 Lo ! my red arm I bare, my thunders guide. 
 
 To dash the’ offenders in the whelming tide. 
 
 To fair Calypso from the bright abodes, 
 
 Hermes convey’d these councils of the Gods. 
 
 Mean thne from man to man my tongue exclaims. 
 My wrath is kindled, and my soul in flames. 461 
 In vain ! I view perform’d the direful deed. 
 
 Beeves, slain by heaps, along the ocean bleed. 
 
 Now Heaven gave signs of wrath ; along the^ 
 ground I 
 
 Crept the raw hides, and with a bellowing sound \ 
 Roar’d the dead limbs; the burning entrails I 
 groan’d. 466 J 
 
 Yer. 439.] The whole sense of his author may bemore clearly 
 comprised in a single couplet, thus: 
 
 A cruel sleep ye sent me, to my bane: 
 
 My lawless crew have dared this deed profane! W. 
 
480 HOMER’s ODYSSEY, book *if. 
 
 Six guilty days my wretched mates employ 
 In impious feasting, and unhallow’d joy ; 
 
 The seventh arose, and now the Sire of Gods 
 Rein’d the rough storms, and calm’d the tossing 
 floods: 470 
 
 With speed the bark we climb ; the spacious sails 
 Loos’d from the yards invite the’ impelling gales. 
 Past sight of shore, along the surge we bound. 
 
 And all above is sky, and ocean all around ! 
 
 When lo ! a murky cloud the Thunderer forms 4 75 
 Full o’er our heads, and blackens heaven with storms* 
 Night dwells o’er all the deep : and now out flies 
 The gloomy West, and whistles in the skies. 
 
 The mountain-billows roar ! the furious blast 
 Howls o’er the shroud, and rends it from the mastf 
 The mast gives way, and crackling as it bends, 48 £ 
 Tears up the deck; then all at once descends : 
 
 The pilot by the tumbling ruin slain. 
 
 Dash’d from the helm, falls headlong in the main. 
 Then Jove in anger bids his thunders roll, 4$$ 
 And forky lightnings flash from pole to pole; 
 
 Ver. 469.] Thus, with fidelity: 
 
 When the seventh morning Jove Saturnian gave, 
 
 Hush’d was the tempest’s roar, and smooth the wave. W* 
 
 Ter. 483.] Thus his author *. 
 
 -then at the vessel’s stern 
 
 The pilot’s head it smote, and instant crusht 
 The bones together squeez’d : he o’er the sides 
 Fell, like a diver: life forsook his bones. W. 
 
 Ver. 485.] All this paragraph is executed in a very inferior 
 style; and Chapman has a much better notion of his original: 
 Together, all this time, Jpve’s thunder chid, 
 
 And through and through the ship his lightning glid i 
 
rook xii. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 481 
 
 Fierce at our heads his deadly bolt he aims, 
 
 Red with uncommon wrath, and wrapt in flames ; 
 Full on the bark it fell; now high, now low, 
 
 Toss’d and retoss’d, it reel’d beneath the blow ; 490 
 At once into the main the crew it shook : 
 Sulphureous odours rose, and smouldering smoke. 
 Like fowl that haunt the floods, they sink, they rise. 
 Now lost, now seen, with shrieks and dreadful cries; 
 And strive to gain the bark; but Jove denies. 495 
 Firm at the helm I stand, when fierce the main 
 Rush’d with dire noise, and dash’d the sides in twain; 
 Again impetuous drove the furious blast, 
 
 Snapt the strong helm, and bore to sea the mast. 
 Firm to the mast with cords the helm I bind, 500 
 And ride aloft, to Providence resign’d, 
 
 Thro’ tumbling billows, and a war of wind. 
 
 Now sunk the West, and now a southern breeze, 
 More dreadful than the tempest, lash’d the seas ; 
 For on the rocks it bore where Scylla raves, 505 
 And dire Charybdis rolls her thundering waves. 
 
 All night I drove ; and, at the dawn of day, 
 
 Fast by the rocks beheld the desperate way : 
 
 Just when the sea within her gulfs subsides. 
 
 And in the roaring whirlpools rush the tides. 510 
 
 .Till it embrac’t her round; her bulke was filld 
 With nasty sulphur, and her men were killd : 
 
 Tumbl’d to sea, like sea-mews swamme about, 
 
 And there the date of their returne was out. W. 
 Ver. 496.] His author says, 
 
 I thro 9 the ship tvas passing, 9 till the main—• W. 
 
 Ver. 504.] Chapman is correct: 
 
 — --and then arose 
 
 The South, that bred me more abhorred woes. W. 
 vol. 1. I i 
 
4 S& HOMERS ODYSSEY. uookxIi. 
 
 Swift from the float I vaulted with a bounds 
 The lofty fig' tree seized, and clung* around ; 
 
 So to the beam the bat tenacious clings. 
 
 And pendant round it clasps his leathern wings. 
 High in the air the tree its boughs display’d, 513 
 And o’er the dungeon cast a dreadful shade ,* 
 
 All unsustain’d between the wave and sky. 
 
 Beneath my feet the whirling billows fly. 
 What-time the judge forsakes the noisy bar 
 To take repast, and stills the wordy war, 520 
 
 Ver. 513.] This couplet is spun from tvjo words of his author, 
 thus fully exhibited in Ogilby : 
 
 And bat-like clang. W. 
 
 Ver. 519. What-time the judge forsakes the noisy bar 
 To take repast -] 
 
 This passage has been egregiously misunderstood by Monsieur 
 Perrault. Ulysses being carried (says that author) on his mast 
 towards Charybdis, leaps from it, and clings like a bat round a 
 fig-tree, waiting till the return of the mast from the gulfs of it; 
 and adds, that when he saw it, he was as glad as a judge when he 
 rises from his seat to go to dinner, after having tried several 
 causes. But Boileau fully vindicates Homer in his reflections 
 on Longinus: before the use of dials or clocks, the ancients dis 
 tinguished the day by some remarkable offices or stated employ¬ 
 ment: as from the dining of the labourer, 
 
 -What time in some sequester’d vale 
 
 The weary woodman spreads his sparing meal. 
 
 Iliad xi. ver. 119. See the Annotations; so here from the rising 
 of the judges; and both denote the mid-day or noon-tide hour. 
 Thus it is used by Hippocrates, who speaking of a person wounded 
 with a javelin in the liver, says he died a little before the break¬ 
 ing up of the assembly, or before the judge rises from his tribu¬ 
 nal ; or as some understand it, a little before the finishing of the 
 market: there is a parallel expression in Xenophon. This rising 
 of the judge Perrault mistakes for a comparison, to express the 
 joy which Ulysses conceived at the sight of the return of his 
 mast; than which nothing*can be more distant from Homer’s 
 sentiment* 
 
W XII, HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 483 
 
 Charybdis, rumbling from her inmost caves. 
 
 The mast refunded on her refluent waves. 
 
 Swift from the tree, the floating* mast to gain. 
 Sudden I dropp’d amidst the flashing* main : 
 
 Once more undaunted on the ruin rode, 52 J 
 
 And oar’d with labouring* arms along the flood. 
 Unseen I pass’d by Scyila’s dire abodes : 
 
 So Jove decreed, (dread Sire of men and Gods) 
 Then nine long days I plough’d the calmer seas, 
 Heaved by the surge, and wafted by the breeze. 530 
 Weary and wet the’ Ogygian shores I gain. 
 
 When the tenth sun descended to the main. 
 
 There in Calypso’s ever-fragrant bowers 
 Refresh'd*! lay, and joy beguiled the hours. 
 
 From this description we may precisely learn the time that 
 passed while Ulysses clung round the fig-tree. 
 
 -At tire dawn of day, 
 
 Fast by the rocks I plough’d the desperate way. 
 
 So that at morning he leaped from his float, and about noon re¬ 
 covered it: now Eustathius affirms, that in the space of twenty- 
 four hours there are three tides, and dividing that time into three 
 parts, Ulysses will appear to have remained upon the rock eight 
 hours. The exact time when the judge rose from his tribunal is 
 not apparent: Boileau supposes it to be about three o’clock in 
 the afternoon, Dacier about two ; but the time was certain among 
 the ancients, and is only dubious to us, as we are ignorant of the 
 hour of the day when the judge entered his tribunal, and when 
 he left it. P. 
 
 Ver. 527.] Thus, with all fidelity : 
 
 Unseen by Scylla, or my ruin then 
 Were sure : so will’d the sire of Gods and men! W. 
 Ver. 533.] His author thus, to a word : 
 
 -Calypso there, 
 
 Fair-tress’d, inhabits; dreadful, vocal God! 
 
 Who loved and entertain’d me. 
 
 W. 
 
484 
 
 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 BOOK Xll. 
 
 My following* fates to thee, oh king, are known. 
 And the bright partner of thy royal throne. 53d 
 Enough. In misery can words avail ? 
 
 And what so tedious as a twice-told tale ? 
 
 
 END OF VOL. I 
 
 R. &. R. Gilbert, Printers, St. Johu’s Square, London. 
 
 
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