I 
 
 T H 
 
 WiiK ^Lrt6SICS. 
 
 ODYSSEY 
 
 O F 
 
 H O M 
 
 Tranflated by 
 
 ALEXANDER POPE, Efq ; 
 
 VOLUME THE THIRD. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed for J. Whiston, Baker and Leigh, W. Strahan, 
 T. Payne, J. and i\ Rivington, T. Davies, Hawes 
 Clarke and Collins, R. Horsfield, W, Johnston, 
 B, White, T. Caslon, S. Crowder- T. I.n»irM«w R 
 Law, C. Rivington, R. Withy, T 
 and Roberts, T. Cadell, G. Pea 
 
 C» Marsh, T, Becket, and Wilson 
 
 MDCCLXXI. 
 

 PA 
 
 ^< 
 
 f4 
 
 n>! 
 
THIRTEENTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 I 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 Yol, III. 
 
 B 
 
V 
 
 THE 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The Arrival of UlyfTes in Ithaca. 
 
 ULYSSES takes his leave of Alcinous and Arete , and em¬ 
 barks in the evening. Next morning the Jhip arrives at 
 Ithaca ; where the Jailors , as UlyJJes is yet feeping , lay 
 him on the Jhore vuith all his treafures , On their returnt 
 Neptune changes their fhip into a rock. In the mean-time 
 UlyJJes awaking , knovus not his native Ithaca , by reafon of 
 a mijl which Pallas had cajl round him. He breaks into 
 loud lamentations j 'till the Goddefs appearing to him in the 
 form of a Jhepherd , difcovers the country to him , and points 
 out the particular places. He then tells a feigned Jlory of his 
 adventures , upon which Jhe manifejls herfelf and they con- 
 fult together of the tneafures to be taken to dejlroy the fuitors, 
 'To conceal his return , and difguife his perfon the more effec¬ 
 tually , Jhe changes him into the fgure of an old beggar * 
 
 / 
 
THE 
 
 THIRTEENTH BOOK 
 
 G F T H E 
 
 O D Y S S E Y. 
 
 / I , 
 
 H e ceas’d ; but left fo pleafmg on their ear 
 
 His voice, that lifl’ning {till they feem’d t$ 
 hear* 
 
 A paufe of filence hufli’d the fhady rooms: 
 
 The grateful conf’rence then the king refumes. 
 
 Whatever toils the great UlylTes paft, 3 
 
 Beneath this happy roof they end at laft; 
 
 t 
 
 v. 3.«-*—■ 'The fhady rooms.] The epithet irl the orl* 
 ginal is £Wsvt*, or gloomy ; it is here ufed with a peculiar 
 propriety, to keep in the reader’s mind the exafr time 
 when Ulyffes made his narration to the Phaeacians, namely, 
 in the evening of the thirty-third day : we may likewife 
 gather from this diftin&ion of times, the etfadt ftay of 
 XJlyffes among the Phaeacians ; he Was thrown upon their 
 ftiores on the thirty-firft day in the evening, and lands 
 about day-break on the thirty-fifth day in his own coun¬ 
 try ; fo that he ftayed three nights only with Alcinous, 
 one night being {pent in his voyage to Ithaca from 
 Phseacia, 
 
 B a 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 4 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIII. 
 
 No longer now from fhore to fhore to roam, 
 
 Smooth Teas, and gentle winds invite him home. 
 
 But hear me, princes ! whom thefe walls inclofe, 
 
 For whom my chanter fmgs, and goblet flows 10 
 With wine unmixt, (an honour due to age. 
 
 To chear the grave, and warm the poet’s rage) 
 
 Tho’ labour’d gold and many a dazzling veil 
 Lie heap’d already for our god-like gueft; 
 
 Without new treafures let him not remove, 15 
 Large, and expreflive of the publick love : 
 
 Each peer a tripod, each a vafe beftow, 
 
 A gen’ral tribute, which the Hate fhall owe. 
 
 This fentence pleas’d : then all their Heps addreft 
 To fep’rate manflons, and retir’d to reft. 20 
 
 Now did the rofy-Anger’d mom arife, 
 
 And fhed her facred light along the Ikies. 
 
 Down to the haven and the fhips in hafte 
 They bore the treafures, and in fafety plac’d. 
 
 v. to. For whom my chanterfmgs, and goblet fo-zvs 
 With v wine unmixt, &c.J 
 
 Homer calls the wine yeguriov, or wine drank at the enter¬ 
 tainment of elders, yegovlow, or men of diftindtion, fays Eu- 
 flathiusj by the bard, he means Demodocus. 
 
 The fame critick further remarks, that Homer judici- 
 oufly Ihortens every circumftance before he comes to the 
 difmillion of Ulyfles: thus he omits the defcription of the 
 facrifice, and the fubjedt of the fong of Demodocus 
 thefe are circumftances that at bell would be but ufelefs 
 ornaments, and ill agree with the impatience of Ulyfles to 
 begin his voyage toward his country. Thefe therefore 
 the poet briefly difpatches. 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. $ 
 
 The king liimfelf the vafes rang’d with care; 25 
 
 Then bade his- followers to the feaft repair. 
 
 A victim ox beneath the facred hand 
 Of great Alcinous falls, and ftains the fand. 
 
 To Jove th’ Eternal, (Pow’r above all Pow’rs ! 
 
 Who wings the winds, and darkens heav’n with 
 fhow’rs) 3° ' 
 
 The flames afcend : till evening they prolong 
 The rites, more facred made by heav’nly fong: 
 
 For in the midft, with publick honours grac’d, 
 
 Thy lyre divine, Demodocus ! was plac’d ; 
 
 All, but Ulyfles, heard with fixt delight: 35 
 
 He fat, and ey’d the fun, and wifh’d the night; 
 
 Slow feem’d the fun to move, the hours to roll, 
 
 His native home deep-imag’d in his foul. 
 
 As the tir’d ploughman fpent with ftubborn toil, 
 Whofe oxen long have torn the furrow’d foil, 40 
 
 v. 39. As the tir'd ploughman , &c.] The fimile which 
 Homer chufes is drawn from low life, but very happily 
 fets off the impatience of Ulyfles: it is familiar, but ex- 
 preflive. Horace was not of the judgment of thofe wfio 
 thought it mean, forheufes it in hisepiftles. 
 
 “-diefque 
 
 “ Longa videtur opus debentibus : ut piger annus 
 “ Papillis, quos dura premit cuftodia matrum ; 
 
 “ Sic rnihi tarda fluunt, ingrataque tempora, quae 
 “ fpem 
 
 “ Conflliumque morantur, See, 
 
 » 
 
 It was neceflary to dwell upon this impatience of Ulyfles 
 jio return: it would have been abfurd to have reprefented 
 
 « 3 
 
4 
 
 6 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIIT; 
 
 Sees with delight the fun’s declining ray, 
 
 When home with feeble knees, he bends his way 
 To late repaft, (the day’s hard labour done :) 
 
 So to Ulylfes welcome fet the fun, 
 
 Then inftant, to Alcinous and the reft, 45 
 
 (The Scherian ftates) he turn'd, and thus addreft. 
 
 O thou, the firft in merit and command ! 
 
 And you the peers and princes of the land! 
 
 May ev’ry joy be yours! nor this the leaft, 
 
 When due libation fhall have crown’d the feaft, 
 Safe to my home to fend your happy gueft. 51 
 Compleat are now the bounties you have giv’n, 
 
 Be all thofe bounties but confirm’d by Heav’n ! 
 
 So may I find, when all my wand’rings ceafe. 
 
 My confort blamelefs, and my friends in peace. 55 
 
 him cool, or even moderately warm upon this occadon § 
 he had refufed immortality through the love of his coun¬ 
 try ; it is now in his power to return to it $ he ought there¬ 
 fore confidently with his former chara6Ver to be drawn 
 with the utmoft earnednefs of foul, and every moment 
 mud appear tedious that keeps him from it; it thews 
 therefore the judgment of Homer to defcribe him in this 
 manner, and not to pafs it over curforily, but force it 
 upon the notice of the reader, by infiding upon it fome- 
 what largely, and illudrating it by a proper dmilitude, to 
 fix it more drongly upon our memory. 
 
 v. 53. Be all thofe bounties but confirm'd byHeav'n /] This 
 is a pious and indru6tive fentence, and teaches, that 
 though riches were heaped upon us with the greated 
 abundance and fuperfluity $ yet unlefs Heaven adds its 
 benedi&ion, they will prove but at bed a burden and ca¬ 
 lamity. 
 
BookXIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 7 
 
 On you be ev’ry blifs ; and ev’ry day, 
 
 In home-felt joys delighted, roll away ; 
 
 Yourfelves, your wives, your long^defcending race. 
 May ev’ry God enrich with ev’ry grace ! 
 
 Sure fixt on virtue may your nation Hand, 6o 
 
 And publick evil never touch the land ! 
 
 His words well weigh’d, the gen’ral voice approv’d 
 Benign, and inflant his difmiflion mov’d. 
 
 The monarch to Pontonous gave the fign. 
 
 To fill the goblet high with rofy wine : 6$ 
 
 Great Jove the Father, firfb (he cry’d) implore ; 
 
 Then fend the ftranger to his native fhore. 
 
 The lufcious wine th’ obedient herald brought; 
 Around the manfion flow’d the purple draught: 
 Each from his feat to each immortal pours, yq 
 Whom glory circles in th’ Olympian bow’rs. 
 
 UlyfTcs foie with air majeftick ftands. 
 
 The bowl prefenting to Arete’s hands j 
 
 v. 73. The bo'ivlprefenting to Arete's hands j 
 Then thus — — — 
 
 It may be afked why Ulyfles addrefles his words to the 
 queen rather than the' king: the reafon is, becaufe the 
 was his patronefs, and had firft received him with hofpi- 
 tality, as appears from the feventh book of the Odyfley. 
 
 Ulyfles makes a libation to the Gods, and prefents the 
 bowl to the queen: this was the pious prattice of anti¬ 
 quity upon all folemn occafions : UlylTes here does it, be¬ 
 caufe he is to undertake a voyage, and it implies a prayer 
 for the profperity of it. The reafon why he prefents the 
 bowl to the queen is, that fhe may firft drink out of it, fo r 
 
 B + 
 
$ HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXIH; 
 
 Then thus: O Queen farewel! be ftill pofleft 
 Of dear remembrance, blefling ftill and bleftl 7$ 
 ’Till age and death fhall gently call thee hence, 
 (Sure fate of ev’ry mprtal excellence !) 
 
 Farewel ! and joys fucceflive ever fpring 
 To thee, to thine, the people, and the king ! 
 
 Thus he; then parting prints the fandy fhore 80 
 To the fair port: a herald march’d before. 
 
 Sent by Alcinous; of Arete’s train 
 Three chofen maids attend him to the main; 
 
 This does a tunick and white veft convey, 
 
 A various caiket that, of rich inlay, 85 
 
 And bread and wine the third. The chearful mates 
 Safe in the hollow poop difpofe the cates : 
 
 Upon the deck foft painted robes they fpread, 
 
 With linen cover’d for the hero’s bed. 
 
 lie clim’d the lofty flern ! then gently prefl go 
 
 The fwelling couch, and lay compos’d to reft. 
 
 Now plac’d in order, the Phaeacian train 
 Their cables loofe, and lanch into the main : 
 
 At once they bend, and flrike their equal oars. 
 
 And leave the finking hills, and leff’ning fhores. 
 While on the deck the chief in filence lies, 96 
 And pleafmg {lumbers fteal upon his eyes. 
 
 fo vrgovivetv properly and originally lignifies, to eaUShM. 
 vsli Tivt «rn£iv, fays Euilathius, Propino is uled differently 
 by the Romans. 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 9 
 
 As fiery courfers in the rapid race 
 Urg’d by fierce drivers thro the dufty fpace, 
 
 r * 
 
 v. 98. As fiery courftrs in the rapid race — 
 
 Tofs their high heads , &c.] 
 
 The poet introduces two fimilitudes to reprefent the fail¬ 
 ing of the Phasacian veffel: the former defcribes the mo¬ 
 tion of it, as it bounds and rifes over the waves, like 
 horfes tolling their heads in a race ; and alfo the fteadi- 
 nefs of it, in that it fails with as much firmnefs over the 
 billows, as horfes tread upon the ground. The latter 
 comparifon is folely to thew the fwiftnefs of the vetfel. 
 
 The word in the original is 'telgaogoi ; an inftance, that 
 four horfes were fometimes joined to the chariot. Virgil 
 has borrowed this comparifon, JEn. v. 
 
 “ Non tam praecipites bijugo certamine campum 
 ** Corripuere, ruuntque effufi carcere currus, 
 
 “ Nec fic immifis aurigss- undantia lora 
 
 Concufiere jugis, pronique in verbera pendent.'” 
 
 It muft be allowed that nothing was ever more happily ex¬ 
 ecuted than this defcription, and the copy far exceeds the 
 original. Macrobius, Saturnal. lib. v. gives this as his 
 opinion, and his reafons for it. The Greek poet (fays that 
 author) paints only the fwiftnefs of the horfes when 
 fcourged by the driver; Virgil adds, the rulhing of the 
 chariot, the fields as it were devoured by the rapidity of 
 the horfes ; we fee the throwing up of the reins, in undan¬ 
 tia lora : and the attitude of the driver, leaning forward 
 in the a6l of lathing of the horfes, in the words, Pronique 
 in Berber a pendent . It is true, nothing could be added 
 more elegantly than the v^o<r dei^o/j.evoi, in Homer; it paints 
 at once the fwiftnefs of the race, and the riling pollureof 
 the horfes in the a£t of running; but Virgil is more copi¬ 
 ous, and has omitted no circumtlance, and fet the whole 
 
JO HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XIIL 
 
 T ofs their high heads, and fcour along the plain ; 
 
 Bo mounts the bounding veffel o’er the main, ioi 
 B ack to the dern the parted billows flow, 
 
 .And the black ocean foams and roars below. 
 
 Thus with ip read fails the winged galley flies; 
 jLefs fwift an eagle cuts the liquid Ikies ; 105 
 
 Divine Ulyfies was her facred load, 
 
 A man, in wifdom equal to a God l 
 
 1 
 
 Much danger, long and mighty toils he Lore, 
 
 In dorms by fea, and combats on the (bore : 
 
 ✓ 
 
 All which foft deep now banifh’d from his bread* 
 Wrapt in a pleafing, deep, and death-like reft. 111 
 But when the morning Ear with early ray 
 Blam’d in the front of heav’n, and promis’d day ; 
 
 race fully before our eyes; we may add, that the verfifica- 
 tion is as beautiful as the defeription compleat; every ear 
 muft be fenfible of it. 
 
 I will only further obferve the judgment of Homer in 
 fpeaking of every perfon in his particular chara&er. When 
 a vain-glorious Pbreacian deferibed the failing of his own 
 ve/Tels, they were fwift as thought, and endued with rea- 
 fon ; when Komer fpeaks in his own perlon to his readers, 
 they are faid only to be fwift as hawks orhorfes: Homer 
 fpeaks like a poet, with fome degree of amplification, but 
 not with fo much hyperbole as Alcinous. No people 
 l'peak fo focdly as Tailors of their own fhips to this day> 
 and particularly are ftili apt to talk of them as of living 
 creatures. 
 
 v. 112. But when the ?norning far with early ray 
 Flam'd in the front of hea<v'n — — ] 
 
 From this paffage we may gather, that Ithaca is diftant 
 from Corcyra ®r Phccacia no farther than a veflel fails in 
 
Book XIII. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 ii 
 
 Like diftant clouds the mariner defcries 
 
 Fair Ithaca's emerging hills arife. 115 
 
 Far from the town a fpacious port appears, 
 
 Sacred to Phorcys’ pow’r, whofe name it bears: 
 Two craggy rocks projecting to the main, 
 
 The roaring wind’s tempeftuous rage reftrain ; 
 
 the compafs of one night; and this agrees with the real 
 ■diftance between thofe iflands ; an inftance that Homer 
 was well acquainted with geography: this is the morning 
 of the thirty-fifth day. 
 
 V. 116 . — A . fpacious port appears , 
 
 Sacred, to Phorcys' — •—J 
 
 Phorcys was the fon of Pontus and Terra, according to 
 Hefiod’s genealogy of the Gods : this haven is faid to be 
 facred to that Deity, becaufe he had a temple near it, from 
 whence it received its appellation. 
 
 The whole voyage of Ulyfies to his country, and indeed 
 the whole Odyfiey, has been turned into allegory ; which 
 I will lay before the reader as an inftance of a trifling in- 
 duftry and ftrong imagination. Ulyfies is in fearch of 
 true felicity, the Ithaca and Penelope of Homer: he runs 
 through many difficulties and dangers; this fhews that 
 happinefs is not to be attained without labour and afflic¬ 
 tions. He has feveral companions, who perifh by their 
 vices, and he alone efcapes by the affiftance of the Phsea- 
 cians, and is tranfported in his fleepto his country $ that 
 is, the Phaeacians, w'hofe name implies blacknefs, q>am % 
 are the mourners at his death, and attend him to his 
 grave: the fhip is his grave, which is afterwards turned 
 into a rock ; which reprefents his monumental marble; 
 his fieep means death, through which alone man arrives 
 at eternal felicity. Spondanus, 
 
*2 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIII. 
 
 Within, the waves in fofter murmurs glide, 12® 
 And fhips fecure without their halfers ride, 
 
 High at the head a branching olive grows, 
 
 And crowns the pointed cliffs with fhady boughs. 
 
 Beneath a gloomy grotto’s cool receis 
 
 Delights the Nereids of the neighb'ring feas 125 
 
 v. 124. — <*- a gloomy grotto's cool recefsS] Porphyry has 
 wrote a volume to explain this cave of the Nymphs, with 
 more piety perhaps than judgment; and another perfon 
 has perverted it into the utmoft obfcenity, and both alle¬ 
 gorically. Porphyry (obferves Euftathius) is of opinion, 
 that the cave means the world ; it is called gloomy, but 
 agreeable, becaufe it was made out of darknefs, and af¬ 
 terwards fet in this agreeable order by the hand of the 
 Deity. It is confecrated to the Nymphs ; that is, it is def*- 
 ' tined tothe habitation of fpiritual fubftances united to the 
 body : the bowls and urns of living ftone, are the bodies 
 which are formed out of the earth ;the bees that make their 
 honey in the cave are the fouls of men, which perform all 
 their operations in the body, and animate it; the beams 
 on which the Nymphs roll their w j ebs, are the bones over 
 which the admirable embroidery of nerves, veins and ar¬ 
 teries are fpread ; the fountains which water the cave are 
 the feas, rivers and lakes that wmter the world ; and the 
 two gates, are the two poles ; through the northern the 
 fouls defcend from heaven to animate the body, through 
 the foutliern they afcend to heaven, after they are feparated 
 from the body by death. But I confefs I fliould rather 
 chufe to underftand the defcription poetically, believing 
 that Homer never dreamed of thefe matters, though the 
 age in which he flourillied was addi&ed to allegory. How 
 often do painters draw from the imagination only, merely 
 to pleafe the eye ? And why might not Homer write after 
 it, efpecially in this place where he manifeftly indulges his 
 fancv, while he brings his hero to the firft dawning of 
 
 * ' sJ D 
 
BookXIII. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 13 
 
 ’ * r* • _} 
 
 Where bowls and urns were form’d of living flone, 
 Andmally beams in native marble (hone ; 
 
 On which the labours of the nymphs were roll’d, 
 Their webs divine of purple mix’d with gold. 
 Within the cave the cluft’ring bees attend 130 
 Their waxen works, or from the roof depend. 
 Perpetual waters o’er the pavement glide; 
 
 Two marble doors unfold on either fide ; 
 
 Sacred the fouth, by which the Gods defcend, 
 
 But mortals enter at the northern end. 135 
 
 happinefs ? He has long dwelt upon a feries of horrcurs, 
 and his imagination being tired with the melancholy dory, 
 it is not impoiTible but his fpirit might be enlivened with 
 the fubjett while he wrote, and this might lead him to in¬ 
 dulge his fancy in a wonderful, and perhaps fabulous de¬ 
 scription. In fhort, I fliould much rather chufe to believe 
 that the memory of the things to which he alludes in the 
 defcription of the cave is loll, than credit fuch a laboured 
 and diftant allegory. 
 
 v. t 34- Sacred the fouth, by which the Gods defcend ] Vir¬ 
 gil has imitated the defcription of this haven, TEn. lib. i. 
 
 f 1 
 
 “ Eft in feceftu longo locus, infula portum 
 “ Efficit, obje&u laterum, quibus omnis ab alto 
 “ Frangitur,” Sc c.- 
 
 Within a long recefs there lies a bay. 
 
 An iftand (hades it from the rolling fea. 
 
 And forms a port fecure for (hips to ride, 
 
 Broke by the jutting land on either fide, 
 
 In double ftreamsthe briny waters glide. 
 
 Betwixt two rows of rocks, a (ilvan fcene 
 Appears above, 'and groves for ever green : 
 
H HOMER's ODYSSEY. Book XHL 
 
 Thither they bent, and haul’d their (hip to land, 
 (The crooked keel divides the yellow fand) 
 
 i 
 
 A grot is form’d beneath with moffy feats, 
 
 To reft the Nereids, and exclude the heats ; 
 
 Down from the crannies of the living walls 
 The cryftal ftreams defcend in murmuring falls. 
 
 No halfers need to bind the vefiels here. 
 
 Nor bearded anchors, for no ftorms they fear. 
 
 Dry den. 
 
 Scaliger infinitely prefers the Roman poet: Homer, fay& 
 he, fpeaks humilia humiliter , Virgilius grandiora magnijice ; 
 but what I would chiefly obferve is, not what Virgil has 
 imitated, but what he has omitted } namely, all that feems 
 odd, or lefs intelligible} I mean the w'orks of the bees in a 
 cave fo damp and moift } and the two gates through which 
 the Gods and men enter. 
 
 I thall offer a conjefture to explain thefe two lines : 
 
 Sacred the fouth, by which the Gods defcend. 
 
 But mortals enter at the northern end. 
 
 It has already been obferved, that the ./Ethiopians held 
 an annual facrifice of twelve days to the Gods: all that 
 time they carried all their images in proceftlon, and placed 
 them at their feftivals, and for this reafon the Gods were 
 faid to feaft with the /Ethiopians } that is, they were pre- 
 feut with them by their ftatues: thus alfo Themis was 
 faid to form or dilfolve aflemblies, becaufe they carried 
 her image to the aflemblies when they were convened, 
 and when they were broken up they carried it away. Now 
 we have already remarked, that this port was facred to 
 Phorcys, becaufe he had a temple by it: it may not then 
 be impoffible, but that this temple having two doors, they 
 might carry the ftatues of the Gods in their proceflions 
 through the fouthern gate, which might be confecrated to 
 this ufe only, and the populace be forbid to enter by it s 
 
Book xm. H O M E R’s O D Y S S E Y. 15 
 
 Ulyfles fleeping on his couch they bore, 
 
 And gently plac’d him on the rocky {here. 
 
 X 
 
 for that reafon the Deities were faid to enter, namely, by 
 their images. As the other gate being allotted to com¬ 
 mon ufe, was faid to be the pailage for mortals. 
 
 v. 138. UlyJfes fleeping on his couch they bore } 
 
 And gently plac'd him on the rocky Jhore.] 
 
 There is nothing in the whole OdyfTey that more fhocks 
 our reafon than the expofmg Ulyfles afleep on the fliore by 
 the Phseacians. “ The paffage (fays Ariftotle in his Po~ 
 eticks) where u Ulyfles is landed in Ithaca, is fo full of 
 * ( abfurdities, that they would be intolerable in a bad 
 poet; but Homer has concealed them under an infinity 
 <c of admirable beauties, with which he has adorned a]! 
 ** that part of the OdyfTey ; thefe he has crowded toge- 
 €( ther, as fo many charms to hinder our perceiving the 
 “ defers of the ftory.” Ariftotle mud be allowed to 
 fpeak with great judgment; for what probability is there 
 that a man fo prudent as Ulyfles, who was alone in a vef- 
 fel at the diferetion of ftrangehs, fhould fleep fo foundly, 
 as to be taken out of it, carried with all his baggage on 
 ihore, and the Phacacians fhould fet fail, and he never 
 awake ? This is ftill more abfurd, if we remember that 
 Ulyfles has his foul fo ftrongly bent upon his country; 
 is it then poflible, that he could be thus funk into a 
 lethargy, in the moment when he arrives at it ? Howe- 
 ver'(fays Monf. Dacier in his reflexions upon Ariflotle's 
 4< Poeticks) Homer was not afhamed of that abfurdity, 
 « but not being able to omit it, he ufed it to give proba- 
 « bilit.y to the fucceeding ftory : it was neceflary forUlyf- 
 « fes to land alone, in order to his concealment : if lie 
 « had.been difeovered, the fuitors would immediately 
 « have deftroyed him, if not as the real Ulyfles,yet under 
 
*6 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIII, 
 
 His treafures next, Alcinous’ gifts, they laid 140 
 
 In the wild olive’s unfrequented (hade, 
 
 \ 
 
 te the pretext of his being an impoftor ; they would then 
 C£ have feized his dominions, and married Penelope : now 
 <£ if he had been waked, the Phaeacians would have been 
 “ obliged to have attended him, which he could not have 
 rc denied with decency, nor accepted with fafety : Homer 
 ct therefore had no other way left to unravel his fable hap- 
 <c pily : but he knew what was abfurd in this method, 
 fc and ufes means to hide it; he Iavilhes out all his wit 
 ec and addrefs, and lays together fuch an abundance of 
 cc admirable poetry, that the mind of the reader is fo 
 “ inchanted, that he perceives not the defeat; he is like 
 “ Ulyifes lulled afleep, and knows^no more than that hero, 
 <e how he ccmes there. That great poet firft defcribes the 
 tl ceremony of Ulyifes taking leave of Alcinous and his 
 Ci queen Arete ; then he fets off the fwiftnefs of the velfel 
 tc by t\yo beautiful companions; he defcribes the haven 
 <c with great exa&nefs, and adds to it the defcription of 
 the cave of the Nymphs ; this laft aftonilhes the reader, 
 “ and he is fo intent upon it, that he has no attention 
 “ to confider the abfurdity in the manner of Ulylfes’s 
 (f landing: in this moment when he perceives the mind 
 * { of the reader as it were intoxicated with thefe beauties, 
 t( he Heals Ulyifes on Ihore, and difmiffes the Phaeacians ; 
 “ all this takes up but eight verfes; And then, left the 
 “ reader fhould relleft upon it, he immediately introduces 
 “ the Deities, and gives us a dialogue between Jupiter 
 <c and Neptune. This keeps up ftill our wonder, and 
 “ our reafon has not time to deliberate ; and when the 
 “ dialogue is ended, a fecond wonder fucceeds, the bark 
 “ is transformed into a rock : this is done in the fight of 
 “ the Phaeacians, by which method the poet carries us a 
 “ while from the conlideration of Ulyifes, by removing 
 “ the feene to a diftant illand 5 there he detains us till 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 17 
 
 Secure from theft: then Janch’d the bark again. 
 Refum’d their oars, and meafur’d back the main. 
 
 <f we may be fuppofed to have forgot the paft abfurdi- 
 “ ties, by relating the aftonifhment of Alcinous at the 
 “ fight of the prodigy, and offering up to Neptune, to ap- 
 “ peafe his anger, a facrifice of twelve bulls. Then he 
 “ returns to Ulyffes who now wakes, and not knowing 
 “ the place where he was, (becaufe Minerva made ail 
 ** things appear in a difguifed view) he complains of his 
 “ misfortunes, and accufes the Phaeacians of infidelity; 
 " at length Minerva comes to him in the fhape of a young 
 “ fhepherd, &c. Thus this abfurdity, which appears in 
 <4 the fable when examined alone, is hidden by the beau- 
 " ties that furround it $ this palfage is more adorned 
 with fiction, and more wrought up with a variety of 
 “ poetical ornaments than moft other places of the Odyf- 
 “ fey. From hence Ariftotle makes an excellent obfer- 
 “ vation. All efforts imaginable (fays that author) ought 
 “ to be made to form the fable rightly from the begin- 
 “ ning ; but if it fo happen that fome places muff: necef- 
 “ farily appear abfurd, they mull be admitted, efpecially 
 if they contribute to render the reft more probable j 
 “ but the poet ought to referve all the ornaments of dic- 
 <{ tion for thefe weak parts : the places that have either 
 “ fhining fentiments or manners have no occafion for 
 “ them, a dazzling expreffion rather damages them, and 
 “ ferves only to eclipfe their beauty.” 
 
 v. 142. — — 'then lanch'dthe bark again.] This volun¬ 
 tary and unexpected return of the Phaeacians, and their 
 landing Ulyffes in his deep, feems as unaccountable <$1 the 
 part of the Phaeacians as of Ulyffes : for what can be more 
 abfurd than to fee them expofing a king and his effeCts 
 upon the fhores without his knowledge, and flying away 
 fecretly as from an enemy ? Having therefore in the pre- 
 Vol. III. C 
 
5 
 
 iS HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XIII. 
 
 Nor yet forgot old ocean’s dread Supreme 
 
 The vengeance vow’d for eyelefs Polypheme. 145 
 
 ceding note (hewed what the criticks fay in condemnation 
 of Homer, it is but juftice to lay together what they fay 
 in his defence. 
 
 That the Phaeacians (hould fly away in fecret is no won¬ 
 der : Ulyfies had through the whole courle of the ele¬ 
 venth book, (particularly by the mouth of the prophet 
 Tirefias) told the Phaeacians that the fuitors plotted his de- 
 ftru&ion $ and therefore the mariners might very reafon- 
 ably be apprehenflve that the fuitors would ufe any per- 
 fons as enemies, who (hould contribute to reftore Ulyfles 
 to his country. It was therefore neceflary that they (hould 
 fail away without any flay upon the Ithacan (hores. Thi« 
 is the reafon why they made this voyage by night} namely 
 to avoid difeovery; and it was as neceflary to return im¬ 
 mediately, that is, juft at the appearance of day, before 
 people were abroad, that they might efcape obfervation. 
 
 Eullathius remarks, that the Phaeacians were an unwar¬ 
 like nation, cr as it is exprefled by a Phaeacian, 
 
 OZ ycig <p^iK)iss-yi fx'o^zi &il' } <page tj > j , 
 
 and therefore they were afraid to teach any penfpns the 
 way to their own country, by difcovering the cctarfe of 
 navigation to it; for this reafon they begin their voyage 
 to Ithaca by night, land Ulyfles without waking him, and 
 return at the appearance of day-light, that they might 
 not (hew what courfe was to be (leered to come to the Phse- 
 acian (hores. 
 
 Plutarch in his treatife of Reading the Poets, tells us, 
 t)iat there is a tradition among the Tufcans, that Ulyfles 
 was naturally dro*wJy t and a perlon that could not easily 
 be converfed with, by reafon of that Jleefy difpofition. But 
 perhaps this might be only artful in a man of fo great wif- 
 doin, and lb great difguife or diffimulation ; he was flow 
 
BookXIII. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. i 9 
 
 t 
 
 Before the throne of mighty Jove he flood j 
 And fought the fecret counfels of the God. 
 
 to give anfwers when he had no mind to give any at all: 
 though indeed it muft be confeffed, that this tradition is 
 countenanced by his behaviour in the Odyffey,, or rather 
 may be only a ftory formed from it : his greatefl calami¬ 
 ties rife from his fieeping: when he was ready to land up¬ 
 on his own country by the favour of ^Eolus, he falls 
 . o.Jleep , and his companions let loofe a wind that bears 
 him from it: he is ajlcep while they kill the oxen of 
 Apollo j and here he fleeps while he is landed upon his 
 own country. It might perhaps be this conduct in Ho¬ 
 mer, that gave Horace the hint to fay, 
 
 “-Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus. - ” 
 
 Implying, that when Homer was at a lofs to bring any 
 difficult matter to an iffue, he immediately laid his hero 
 ■ajleep, and this folved all the difficulty $ as in the above- 
 mentioned inftances. 
 
 Plutarch is of opinion, that this Jleep of UlyfTes was 
 feigned : and that he made ufe of the pretence of a natu¬ 
 ral infirmity , to conceal the flraights he was in at that time 
 in his thoughts j being afhamed to difmifs the Phxacians 
 without entertainment and gifts of hofpitality; and afraid 
 of being difcovered by the fuitors, if he entertained filch 
 a multitude j therefore to avoid both thefe difficulties, he 
 feigns a fleep while they land him, till they fail away. 
 
 Euftathius agrees with Plutarch in the main, and adds 
 another reafon why the Phaeacians land UlyfTes fieeping j 
 namely, becaufe they were afiiamed to wake him, left he 
 fhould think they did it out of avarice, and expectation of 
 a reward for bringing him to his own country. 
 
 I will only add, that there might be a natural reafon, 
 for the fleep of UlyfTes; we are to remember that this is a 
 voyage in the night, the feafon of repofe : a^d his fpjriu 
 
 Ci 
 
30 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XIII, 
 
 Shall then no more, O Sire of Gods ! be mine 
 The rights and honours of a Pow’r divine ? 
 
 Scorn’d ev’n by man, and (oh fevere difgrace) 150 
 By foft Phaeacians, my degenerate race ! 
 
 Againft yon’ deftin’d head in vain I fwore, 
 
 And menac’d vengeance, ere be reach’d his fhore ; 
 To reach his natal fhore was thy decree ; 
 
 Mild I obey’d, for whofhall war with thee ? 155 
 
 Ob 
 
 having been long agitated and fatigued by his calamities, 
 might upon his peace of mind at the return to his country, 
 fettle into a deep calmnefs and tranquillity, and fo link 
 him into a deep deep $ Homer himfelf feems to give this 
 as a reafon of it in the following lines * 
 
 Much danger, long and mighty toils he bore, 
 
 In dorms by lea, and combats on the lliore j 
 All which foft deep now banTlh’d from his bread, 
 Wrapt in a pleading, deep, and death-like red. 
 
 It mud be allowed that the lad line admirably paves the 
 way for the following account j and the poet undoubtedly 
 inferted it, to prevent our furprife at the manner of his 
 being fet on diore, by calling his deep 
 
 -a pleading, deep, and death-like red. 
 
 How far a wife man is obliged to redd the calls of nature 
 I leave to the difeuflior. of philofopliers; thofe of deep are 
 no more to be redded, than thofe of third or hunger. 
 But yet I con feds Ulyfles yielded unfeafonably, and the 
 ftrong padion and love for his country that lo fully pof* 
 fedfed his foul, fhould have given him a few hours of vi¬ 
 gilance, when he was ready to fee it after an abfenceof al- 
 mod twenty years. 
 
Book XIII. HOMER's ODYSSEY, it 
 
 Behold him landed, carelefs and afleep, 
 
 From all th* eluded dangers of the deep! 
 
 Lo where he lies, amidft a fhining (lore 
 Ofbrafs, rich garments, and refulgent ore: 
 
 And bears triumphant to his native ifle 160 
 
 A prize more worth than Ilion’s noble food.. 
 
 To whom the Father of th’ immortal Pow’rs, 
 
 Who fwells the clouds, and gladdens earth with 
 fhow’rs. 
 
 % 
 
 Can mighty Neptune thus of man complain ! 
 Neptune, tremendous o’er the boundlefs main! 
 Rever’d and awful ev’n in heav’n’s abodes, 3 66 
 Antient and great! a God above the Gods ! 
 
 If that low race offend thy pow’r divine, 
 
 (Weak, daring creatures !) is not vengeance thine ? 
 Go then, the guilty at thy will chaflife. 170 
 
 He faid : the Shaker of the earth replies. 
 
 This then I doom ; to fix the gallant (hip 
 A mark of vengeance on the fable deep : 
 
 v. 172. This then I doom j to fix the gallant fhip 
 
 A mark of ‘vengeance - 
 
 And roots her dovun, an everlafiling rock, j 
 
 < I refer the reader to the eighth book of the Odyffey, for a 
 further account ©f this transformation. .Scaiiger con¬ 
 demns it, UljJJis navis in faxum mutatur a Neptuno, ut im- 
 mortalejn fiaciat , quern odio habere debuit. But will it not 
 be an anfwer to fay, that it is an immortal monument of 
 the vengeance and power of Neptune, and that whenever 
 the flory of the veffel -was mentioned, the punifhment 
 hkewife muft be remembered in honour of that Deity ? 
 
 C 3 
 
52 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Boot XIH* 
 
 To warn the thoughtlefs felf-confiding train. 
 
 No more unlicens’d thus to brave the main. 175 
 
 Some are of opinion, that it is a phyfical allegory, and 
 that Homer delivers the opinion of the ancients concern¬ 
 ing the tranfmutation of onefpecies into another, as wood 
 •into ftone, by water, that is, by Neptune the God of it y 
 according to thofe lines of Ovid, 
 
 “ Flumen habent Cicones, quod potum faxea reddifc 
 
 te Vifcera, quod tadtis inducit marmora rebus.” 
 
 But perhaps this is only one of thofe marvellous fittions 
 Written after the tafte of antiquity, which delighted in 
 wonders, and which the nature of Epick Poetry allow’s. 
 “ The marvellous (fays Ariftotle in his Poeticks) ought 
 “ to take place in tragedy, but much more in the epick, 
 “ in which it proceeds even to the extravagant; for the 
 ec marvellous is always agreeable ; and a proof of it is, 
 *that thofe who relate any thing, generally add fome- 
 t{ thing to the truth of it, that it may better pleafe thofe 
 <( who hear it. Homer (continues he) is the man who 
 “ has given the bell inftrudlions to other poets how to tell 
 s ‘ lies agreeably.” Horace is of the fame opinion. 
 
 <c Atque ita mentitur, fic veris falfa remifcet, 
 
 “ Trimo ne medium, medio ne difcrepet imum.” 
 
 However, we muft not think that Arillotle advifes poets 
 to put things evidently falfe and impoflible into their 
 poems, or gives them licenfe to run out into wildnefs ; he 
 on!)' means (as Monf. Dacier obferves) that the wonder¬ 
 ful fhould exceed the probable, but not deftroy itj and this 
 will be eftedted, if the poet has the addrefs to prepare the 
 reader, and to lead him h) a probable train of things that 
 depend on miracle, to the miracle itfelf, and reconcile him 
 to it by degrees, fo that his reafon does not perceive, at 
 feaft is not {hocked at the illufion: thus for inftance* 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 23 
 
 Full in their port a fhady hill {hall rife, 
 
 Iffuch thy will. —We will it, Jove replies. 
 
 Ev’n when with tranfport black’ning all the flrand, 
 The fwarming people hail their {hip to land, 
 
 Fix her for ever, a memorial ftone : 180 
 
 Still let her feem to fail, and feem alone ; 
 
 The trembling crouds {hall fee the fudden {hade 
 Of whelming mountains overhang their head! 
 
 With that, the God whofe earthquakes rock the 
 ground, < 
 
 Fierce to Phoeacia croft the vaft profound. 18j 
 
 Swift as a fwallow fweeps the liquid way. 
 
 The winged pinnace fhot along the fea. 
 
 The God arrefts her with a fudden ftroke. 
 
 And roots her down an everlafting rock. 
 
 Homer puts this transformation into the hands of a Deity ? 
 He prepares us for it in the eighth book, he gives us the 
 reafon of the transformation ; namely, the anger of Nep¬ 
 tune ; and at laft he brings in Jupiter affenting to it. This 
 is the method Homer takes to reconcile it to probability; 
 Virgil undoubtedly thought it a beauty : for, after Ho¬ 
 mer’s example, he gives us a transformation of the fliips 
 of ./Eneas into fea-nymphs. 
 
 I have already remarked from Bofiu, that fuch miracles 
 as thefe ought not to be too frequent in an epick poem ; 
 all the machines that require divine probability ought to 
 be fo detached from the aftion of the poem, that they may 
 be retrenched from it, without deftroying the action : 
 thofe that are effential to the action, ought to be founded 
 upon human _ probability. Thus if we take away this 
 transformation, there is no chafm$ and it ki no way af- 
 fe&s the integrity of the action. 
 
 C 4 
 
24 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XIII, 
 
 Aghaft the Scherians Hand in deep furprife ; 190 
 
 All prefs to fpeak, all queftion with their eyes. 
 What hands unfeen the rapid bark rcftrain ! 
 
 And yet it fwims, or feems to fwim, the main ! 
 Thus they, unconfcious of the deed divine : 
 
 Till great Alcinous rifing own’d the fign. 195 
 Behold the long predeftin’d day! (he cries) 
 
 Oh certain faith of antient prophecies ! 
 
 Thefe ears have heard my royal fire difclofe 
 A dreadful ftory, big with future woes ; 199 
 
 How mov’d with wrath, that carelefs we convey 
 Promifcuous ev’ry gueft to ev’ry bay, 
 
 Stern Neptune rag’d ; and how by his command 
 Firm rooted in the furge a {hip fhould hand ; 
 
 (A monument of wrath) and mound on mound 
 Shou’d hide our walls, or whelm beneath the 
 ground. 205 
 
 The Fates have follow’d as declar’d the feer. 
 
 Be humbled, nations ! and your monarch hear. 
 
 No more unlicens’d brave the deeps, no more 
 With ev’ry ftranger pafs from fhore to fhore ; 
 
 On angry Neptune now for mercy call: 210 
 
 To his high name let twelve black oxen fall. 
 
 So may the God reverfe his purpos’d will, 
 
 Nor o’er our city hang the dreadful hill. 
 
 The monarch fpoke : they trembled and obey’d. 
 Forth on the fands the vidfim oxen led: 215 
 
 v. 112. So may the God reverfe his purpos'd will.] This 
 agrees with what Homer writes in a former part of the 
 
 Odyffey, 
 
25 
 
 BookXIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 ✓ 
 
 The gather’d tribes before the altars Hand, 
 
 And chiefs and rulers a majeftick band. 
 
 The King of Ocean all the tribes implore ; 
 
 The blazing altars reddsn all the fliore. 
 
 Meanwhile Ulyffes in his country lay, 2 20 
 Releas’d from deep, and round him might furvey 
 The folitary fhore, and rolling fea. 
 
 Yet had his mind thro’ tedious abfence loft 
 The dear remembrance of his native coaft; 
 
 - Cgtirlol ^ ■S'EOi avroi. 
 
 That the Gods themfelves may be prevailed upon to change 
 their anger by prayer: a fentiment agreeable to true reli¬ 
 gion. Homer does not tell us that the laft denunciation 
 of covering the town with a mountain was fulfilled : it is 
 probable that it-was averted by the piety of Alcinous. But 
 (as Euftathius obferves) it was artful in tli-e poet to leave 
 this point doubtful, to avoid detection in deviating from 
 true hiftory ; for fhould pofterity enquire where this land 
 of the Phaeacians lay, it would be found to be Corfu of 
 the Venetians, and not covered with any mountain ; but 
 fhould this city have happened to have been utterly abo- 
 lifhed by time, and fo loft to pofterity, it would have 
 agreed with the relation of Homer, who leaves room to 
 fuppofe itdeftroyed by Neptune. But how could Neptune be 
 faid to cover it with a mountain? Had not an inundation 
 been more fuitable to the God of the ocean ? Neptune is 
 called hvo<?lyai'& > and or the Earth-fliaker ; earth¬ 
 
 quakes were fuppofed to be occafioned by the ocean, or 
 waters concealed in the caverns of the ground 5 and con- 
 fequently Neptune may tumble amountain upon this city 
 of the Phaeacians. r ■/ 
 
/ 
 
 l 
 
 26 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIII. 
 
 Befides, Minerva, to fecure her care, 225 
 
 Diffus'd around a veil of thicken'd air: 
 
 v. 225. Befides, Minerva, to fecure her care, 
 
 Diffus'd around a veil cf thicken'd air.] 
 
 The meaning of this whole pnffage is probably no more 
 than that UlyfTes by his long abfence had forgot the face 
 of his own country : the woods by almroft twenty years 
 growth had a different appearance; and the public roads 
 were altered by fo great a length of time. How then 
 fhptild Uiyffes come to the knowledge of the place ? He 
 goes to a fhepherd, and by telling him a plaufible ftory, 
 draws it from him. This artifice is the Minerva that gives 
 him information. By theveil of thicken'd air is meant, that 
 Uiyffes, to accomplifh his re-cftablifhment, took upo» 
 him a difguife, and concealed himfelf from the Ithacans; 
 a*d this too being the dictate of wifdom, Homer aferibes 
 it to Pallas. 
 
 The wo»ds of the original are, 
 
 >— —- Ofctt fx.iv ttirlv 
 “Ayvazov rsfecev — —— 
 
 which are nfually applied by interpreters to Uiyffes, and 
 mean that the Goddefs difguifed him with this veil, that 
 no one might know him. Dacier is of opinion that dyva?®' 
 ought to be ufed adively $ that is, the Goddefs aded thus 
 to make him unknowing where he was, not unknown to the 
 people 5 for that this W3S the effed of the veil, appears 
 from the removal of it; for immediately upon the difper- 
 fion. 
 
 The king with joy confefs’d his place of birth. 
 
 That the word dyvc^/T®* will bear an adive fignification, 
 fhe proves from the fcholiaff upon Oedipus of Sophocles. 
 But perhaps the context will not permit this interpretation. 
 
 \ • 
 
BookXIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY 
 
 a# 
 
 For fo the Gods ordain’d to keep unfecn 
 His royal perfon from his friends and queen ; 
 
 ’Till the proud fuitors for their crimes afford 
 An ample vengeance to their injur’d lord. 230 
 Now all the land another profpedl bore, 
 
 Another port appear’d, another fhore, 
 
 And long-continu’d ways, and winding floods, 
 
 And unknown mountains, crown’d with unknown 
 woods. 
 
 Penfive and flow with fudden grief opprefl 235 
 The king arofe, and beat his careful bread:. 
 
 Call a long look o’er all the coaft and main. 
 
 And fought, around, his native realm in vain : 
 
 Then w r ith eredled eyes flood fix’d in woe. 
 
 And as he fpoke, the tears began to flow. 240 
 
 though we fhould allow that the word ayvooc®' will hezft' it. 
 The paffage run* thus : Pallas call round a veil of air, that 
 fhe might make him unknown, that fhe might inftrudt 
 him, and that his wife and friends might not know him ; 
 for thus Homer interprets ayvcc<rov in the very next line, 
 f/,h yvoln aXo^^. It is therefore probable that this veil had 
 a double effe£t, both to render Ulyffes unknown to the 
 country, and the country to Ulyffes. I am perfuaded 
 that this is the true meaning of ayv^ir ^ 1 from tlieufage of it 
 in this very book of the Odyffey. 
 
 S AXX’, a ye, a uyvw^av 'rtvfcoj •aavl&ara'i B^oloiir^ 
 
 t * / 
 
 Here it can poflibly fignify nothing, but J will render 
 
 thee unknown to all mankind ; it is therefore probable, that 
 in both places it bears the fame fignification. 
 
, a 8 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIIL 
 
 Ye Gods I he cry’d, upon what barren coaft 
 In what new region is UlyfTes toft ? 
 
 Pofiefs’d by wild barbarians, fierce in arms ? 
 
 Or men whofe bofom tender pity warms ? 
 
 Where fiiall this treafure now in fafety lie ? 245 
 
 And whither, whither, its fad owner fly ? 
 
 Ah why did I Alcinous’ grace implore? 
 
 Ah why forfake Phxacia’s happy fhore ? 
 
 Some jufter prince perhaps had entertain’d. 
 
 And fafe reftor’d me to my native land. 250 
 
 Is this the promis’d long-expe£ted coaft, 
 
 And this the faith Phxacia’s ruler’s boaft ? 
 
 Oh righteous Gods ! of all the great, how few 
 Are juft to Ileav’n, and to their promife true 1 
 But he, the Pow’r to whofe all-feeing eyes 255 
 The deeds of men appear without difguife, 
 
 *Tis his alone t’ avenge tlje wrongs I bear: 
 
 For ftill th T opprefs’d are his peculiar care. 
 
 To count thefe prefents, and from thence to prove 
 Their faith, is mine : the reft belongs to Jove. 260 
 Then on the fands lie rang’d his wealthy (tore. 
 The gold, the veils, the tripods, number’d o’er: 
 
 V * 
 
 v. 262. The go hi, the <veJ 1 s, the tripods number'd o'er.] 
 The conduct of UlyfTes in numbering his efFe&s has been 
 cenfnred by feme criticks as avaricious : but we find him 
 vindicated by Plutarch in his treatife of Reading the Poets: 
 c< If (fays that author) UlyfTes finding himfelf in a folitary 
 4< place, and ignorant of the country, and having no fecu- 
 rity even for his own perfon, is neverthelefs chiefly fo- 
 licitous for his effects, felt any part might have been 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 29 
 
 All thefe he found, hut ftill in errour lofl: 
 Difconfolate he wanders on the coafl, 
 
 Sighs for his country, and laments again 265 
 
 To the deaf rocks, and hoarfe-refoimding maim 
 When lo ! the guardian Goddefs of the wife, 
 Celeftial Pallas, flood before his eyes 5 
 In fhow a youthful fwain, of form divine. 
 
 Who feem’d defcended from feme princely line, 
 
 A graceful robe her flender body drefl, 271 
 
 Around her (boulders (lew the waving veft, 
 
 Her decent hand a (hining jav’Iin bore, 
 
 And painted fandals on her feet (lie wore. 
 
 To whom the king. Whoe’er of human race 
 Thou art, that wander’d in this defert place! 276 
 
 With joy to thee, as tofome God, I bend, 
 
 To thee my treafures and myfelf commend. 
 
 O tell a wretch in exile doom’d to (tray, 
 
 What air I breathe, what country I furvey ? 280 
 
 u ftolen j his covetoufnefs is really to he pitied and de- 
 li tefted. But this is not the cafe : he counts his goods 
 “ merely to prove the fidelity of the Phaeacians, and to 
 “ gather from it, whether they had landed him upon liis 
 ** own country; for it was not probable that they would 
 “ expofe him in a ftrange region, and leave lvis goods 
 “ untouched, and by con feci ucnce reap no advantage 
 “ from their diihonefty : this therefore was a proper teft 
 <c from which to difeover, if he was in his own country, 
 f< and he deferved commendation for his wifdom in that 
 “ a£tion.” 
 
3 o HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIIR 
 
 The fruitful continent’s extreameft bound, 
 
 Or fome fair ifle which Neptune’s arms furround 1 
 
 From what fair clime (faid fhe) remote from fame, 
 Arriv’ft thou here a ftranger to our name ? 
 
 Thou feeft an ifland, not to thofe unknown 285 
 Whofe hills are brighten’d by the rifing fun, 
 
 Nor thofe that plac'd beneath his utmofi: reign 
 Behold him finking in the weftern main. 
 
 The rugged foil allows no level fpace 
 
 For flying chariots, or the rapid race *, 290 
 
 Yet not ungrateful to the peafant’s pain, 
 
 Suffices fulnefs to the fwelling grain : 
 
 The loaded trees their various fruits produce, 
 
 And cluft’ring grapes afford a gen’rous juice: 294 
 
 v. 293. fhe haded trees their various fruits produce .J 
 Nothing is more notorious, than that an epick writer 
 ought to give importance and grandeur to his a£lion as 
 much as pofTible in every circumftance ; here die poet 
 takes an opportunity to fet the country of UlyfTes in the' 
 raoft advantageous light, and fliews that it was a prize 
 worth the conteft, and all the labour which UlyfTes be¬ 
 llows to regain it. Statius is very faulty in this particu¬ 
 lar j he declaims againft the defigns he aferibes to his he¬ 
 roes, he debafes his own fubjedt, and fliews that the great 
 labour he puts them upon was ill employed for To wretched 
 and pitiful a kingdom as that of Thebes. Thebaid, lib. i. 
 
 “ -. Bellum eft de paupere regno." 
 
 But UlyfTes was not king of Ithaca alone, but of Zacyn- 
 thus, and Cephalenia, and the neighbouring iflands. This 
 appears from the fecond book of the Iliad, where he leads 
 his fubje&s to the walls of Troy, 
 
Book XIII. HOMEPC ODYSSEY. 31 
 
 Woods crown our mountains, and in cv’ry grove 
 The bounding goats and frifking heifers rove; 
 
 Soft rains and kindly dews refrefh the field, 
 
 And rifing fprings eternal verdure yield. 
 
 ' With thole whom Cephalenia’s ille inclos’d. 
 
 Or till’d their fields along the coaft oppos’d. 
 
 Or where fair Ithaca o’erlooks the floods. 
 
 Where high Neritos fliakes his waving woods. 
 
 Where JHEgilipa’s rugged fides arefeen, 
 
 Crocylia rocky, and Zacynt lms green. 
 
 It is true that Ithaca contains little more than fift y miles 
 in circuit, now called Val de Compare; Cephalenia is 
 larger, and is one hundred and fixty miles in circumfe¬ 
 rence : Zacy/ithus, now Zant, is in circuit about fixty 
 miles, unfpeakably fruitful, fays Sandys, producing the 
 heft oil in the world, and excellent flrong wines; but the 
 ■chief riches of the ifland confift; in corinths, which the in¬ 
 habitants of Zant have in fuch quantities that they know 
 not what to do with them; for befides private gains, a- 
 motinting to fifteen hundred thoulandzechins, they yearly 
 pay forty-eight thoufand dollars forcuftoms and other du¬ 
 ties. It is impoflib^e fo little a portion of earth fliould be 
 more beneficial. 
 
 This obfervation is neceffary to fiiew the value of 
 Ulyfles’s dominions, and that the fubjeft of the Odyiley 
 is not trivial and unimportant; it is likevvife of ufe to con¬ 
 vince us, that the domeftick cares and concerns of Tele- 
 machus proceeded not from meannefs, but from the man¬ 
 ners of the age ; when pomp and luxury had not yet Found 
 countenance from princes ; and that when we fee Eumgeus, 
 who has the charge of Ulyfles’s hogs, we are not to fup- 
 pofe him a perfon of low rank and fortunes, but an offi¬ 
 cer of ltate and traft : the riches of thole ages confuting in 
 Hocks and herds, in fiwine and oxen. 
 
32 HOMER’s O D YSSE Y. Book XIII. 
 
 Ev’n to thofe (bores is Ithaca renown’d, 299 
 
 Where Troy’s majeftick ruins (trow the ground. 
 
 At this, the chief with tranfport was pofTeft, 
 
 His panting heart exulted in his bread : 
 
 Yet well difiembling his untimely joys, 
 
 And veiling truth in plaufible difguife, 
 
 Thus, with an air (incere, in fidlien bold, 305 
 His ready tale th’ inventive hero told. 
 
 Oft’ have I heard in Crete, this ifland’s name ; 
 For ’twas from Crete my native foil I came, 
 
 Self-ban idl’d thence. I fail’d before the wind, 
 
 And left my children and my friends behind. 310 
 From fierce Idomeneus’ revenge I (lew, 
 
 Whcfefon, the fwift Orfilochus, I (lew: 
 
 < . , 1 4 ’ Y, 
 
 v. 299. E<v'n to thofe fhcres Is Ithaca renown d.] Nothing 
 can more raife ourefteem of the judgment of Homer than 
 fuch Ifrokes of art. Here he introduces Minerva to Jet 
 UlvlTes into the knowledge of his countrv : How does (he 
 do this ? the geographically deferibes it to him; fo that 
 he nnift almoft know it by the defeription : but Hill the 
 lupprefles the name, and this keeps him in a pleafing fuf- 
 penfe ; he attends to every fyliable to hear her name Itha¬ 
 ca, which flie hill defers, to continue his doubts and hopes, 
 and atlaft, in the very clofe of her fpeecb, (lie indiredlly 
 mentions it. This difeovery, in my judgment, is carried 
 on with great addrefs, and cannot fail of awakening the 
 curiofity of the reader ; and I wonder how it could efcape 
 the obfervation of all the commentators upon the OdyfTey. 
 
 v. 311. From fierce Idomeneus' revenge 1 fiew, 
 
 JVhofefon , the fiwift Orfilochus , I J!env.~\ 
 
 Euftathius ob erves, that this relation is not confonant to 
 
Book XIII. HOMERS ODYSSEY; 33 
 
 With brutal force he feiz’d my Trojan prey, 
 
 Due to the toils of many a bloody day) 
 
 antient hiftories but invented to make the difguifed Ulyf- 
 fes more acceptable to the fuitors, fliould he be brought 
 before them. For this perfon whom they could not know 
 to be Ulyfles, could not fail of finding favour with them, 
 having flam the fon of Idomeneus the friend of Ulyfles : 
 and though it be not recorded by the antients, yet it may 
 be conjedtured, that Orfilochus was thus (lain, though 
 not by Ulyfles. If the death of Orfilochus was a ftory 
 that made a noife in the world about that time, it was 
 very artful in Ulyfles to make ufe of it, to gain credit 
 with this Teeming Ithacan ; for he relating the fadl truly, 
 might juftly be believed to fpeak truly when he named 
 bimfelf the author of it, and confequently avoid all fufpi- 
 cion of being Ulyfles. It is obfervable that Ulyfles is very 
 circumftantial in his ftory : he relates the time, the place, 
 the manner, and the reafon of his killing Orfilochus : this 
 is done to give the ftory a greater air of truth j for it Teems 
 almoft impoflible that To many circumftances could be in¬ 
 vented in a moment, and To well laid together as not to 
 difcover their own falfity. What he fays concerning the 
 Phaeacians leaving his effedfs entire without any damage, 
 is not fpoken (as Euftathius obferves) in vain : he extols 
 the fidelity of the Phseacians, as an example to be imi¬ 
 tated by this Teeming Ithacenfian, and makes it an argu¬ 
 ment that he fhould pradiife the Tame integrity, in not of¬ 
 fering violence or fraud to his effedts or perfon. 
 
 It is true, the manner of the death of Orfilochus is liable 
 to Tome objedtion, as it was executed clandeftinely, and 
 not heroically, as might be expedted from the valour of 
 Ulyfles : but if it was a truth that Orfilochus was killed 
 in that manner, Ulyfles could not falfify the ftory : but in 
 reality he is no way concerned in it; for he Tpeaks in the 
 charadter of a Cretan, not in the perfon of Ulyfles. 
 
 Vol, III. D 
 
34 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Boole XIII. 
 
 IJnfeen I ’fcap’d ; and favour’d by the night 315 
 In a Phoenician veflel took my flight, 
 
 v. 316. In a Phoenician 'vejfel took my flight .] The whole 
 ftory of the voyages of Ulyffes is related differently by 
 Diftys Cretenfis, in his Hiftory of the war of Troy : I will 
 tranferibe it, if not as a truth, yet as a curiofity. 
 
 “ About this time Ulyffes arrived at Crete with two 
 ie veffels hired of the Phoenicians : for Telamon, enraged 
 “ for the death of his fon Ajax, had feized upon all that 
 “ belonged to Ulyffes and his companions, and he himfelf 
 “ was with difficulty fet at liberty. While he was in 
 “ Crete, Idomeneus afked him how he fell into iuch great 
 “ calamities ; to whom he recounted all his adventures. 
 “ He told him, that after his departure from Troy, he 
 il made an incurlion upon Ifmarus of the Ciconians, and 
 <c there got great booty ; then touching upon the coaft of 
 <c the Lotophagi, he met with ill fuccefs, and failed away 
 “ to Sicily; there Cyclops and Lreftrigon, two brothers f 
 “ uied him barbaroufiy j and at length he loft moll of his- 
 “ companions through the cruelty ofPolypheme and Anti- 
 “ phates, the fons of Cyclops and Laeftrigon : but being 
 afterwards received into favour by Polypheme, his com- 
 (< panions attempted to carry off Arene, the king’s daugh- 
 <£ ter, who was fallen in love with Elpenor, one of his af- 
 <c fociates: but the affair being difeovered, and Ulyffes 
 (i difmiffed, he failed away by the ^lolian idands, and 
 “ came to Circe and Calypfo, who were both queens of 
 “ two illes: there his companions wafted fome time in 
 “ dalliance and pleafures: thence he failed to a people 
 “ that w r ere famed for magical incantations, to learn his 
 “ future fortunes. He efcaped the rocks of the Sirens, 
 “ Scylla, and Charybdis, though he there loft many of 
 “ his companions j then he fell into the hands of Phceni- 
 “ cian rovers, who fpared him ; and afterwards coming 
 “ to Crete, he w r as difmiffed by Idomeneus with two vef- 
 “ lels, and arrived at the coaft of Alcinous, who being 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 35 
 
 For Pyle or Elis bound: but teippefts toft 
 And raging billows drove us on your coaft. 
 
 In dead of night an unknown port we gain’d, 
 
 Spent with fatigue, and flept fecure on land. 320 
 But here the rofy morn renew’d the day, 
 
 While in th’ embrace of pleafmg deep I lay, 
 
 “ prevailed upon by the glory of his name, entertained 
 “ him courteoufly: from him he learned that Penelope was 
 “ addrefled by thirty princes ; upon this, with much in- 
 fi treaty, he perfuaded Alcinous to undertake a voyage to 
 “ re-eftablifh him iij. his territories} they fet fail together, 
 <f and concealing tliemfelves withTelemachustill all things 
 “ were concerted, they led their friends to the palace, 
 
 and flew the fuitors opprefied with fleep and drow- 
 “ finefs,” 
 
 The difference between the poet and the hiftorian lies 
 chiefly in what is here faid of the death cf Orfllochus; 
 Didtys tells us, that Ulyfles w r as entertained like a friend 
 by Idomeneus, and Homer waites that he flew his fon ; 
 now Idomeneus cannot be fuppofed to have favoured the 
 murther of his foil : but this is no objedtion, if we confi- 
 der that Ulyfles fpeaks not as Ulyfles, but in a perfonated 
 chara&er, and therefore Orfllochus mud be judged to have 
 fallen by the hand of the perfon whole character Ulyfles 
 aflumes } that is, by a Cretan, and not Ulyfles. 
 
 Didtys is fuppofed to haveferved under this Idomeneus, 
 and to have wrote an hiftory of the Trojan war in Phoeni¬ 
 cian characters : and Tzetzes tells us, that Homer formed 
 liis poem upon his plan 5 but the hiftory now extant, pub- 
 lifhed by Mrs. Le Fevre, is a counterfeit: fo that what I 
 have here tranfiated, is inferted not as an authority, but 
 as the opinion of an unknown writer} and I lay no other 
 weight upon it. 
 
36 HOMEPC ODYSSEY. Book XIII, 
 
 •Sudden, invited by aufpicious gales, 
 
 I hey land my goods, and hoift their flying fails. 
 Abandon’d here, my fortune I deplore, 325 
 
 A haplefs exile on a foreign fhore. 
 
 Thus while he fpoke, the blue-ey’d Maid began 
 With pleafing fmiles to view the god-like man: 
 
 Then chang’d her form : and now, divinely bright, 
 Jove’s heav’nly Daughter flood confefs’d to fight. 
 Like a fair virgin in her beauty’s bloom, 
 
 Skill’d in th’ illuflrious labours of the loom. 
 
 O ftill the fame Ulyfles ! fhe rejoin’d, 
 
 In ufeful craft fuccefsfully refin’d ! 
 
 Artful in fpeech, in a£tion, and in mind ! 
 
 Suffic’d it not, that thy long labours paft 
 Secure thou feeft thy native fliore at Iafl ? 
 
 But this to me ? who, like thyfelf, excell 
 In arts ofcounfel, and diffembling well; 
 
 v. 33S.- Who, like thyfelf, ex cell 
 
 In arts of counfel , and diffembling nxiellf 
 
 It has been obje&ed againft Homer, that he gives a de¬ 
 gree of diffimulation to his hero, unworthy of a brave 
 man, and an ingenuous difpofition : here we have a full 
 vindication of UlyfTes, from the mouth of the Goddefs of 
 Wifdom; he ufes only a prudent diffimulation j he is 
 which we may almoft literally render, majler of a 
 great prefence of mind: that is, upon every emergency he 
 finds an immediate refource to extricate himfelf from it. If 
 his diffimulation had been vicious, it would have been an 
 abfurdity to have introduced Minerva praifing and recom¬ 
 mending it; on the contrary, all difguife which confifts 
 with innocence and prudence, is fo far from being mean. 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 37 
 
 To me, whofe wit exceeds the pow’rs divine, 340 
 No lefs than mortals are furpafs’d by thine. 
 
 Know’ll thou not me ? who made thy life my care, 
 Thro* ten years wand’ring, and thro’ ten years war : 
 Who taught thee arts, Alcinous to perfuade, 
 
 To raife his wonder, and engage his aid : 345 
 
 And now appear, thy treafures to protect, 
 
 Conceal thy perfon, thy defigns direct, l 
 
 And tell what more thou mult from Fate expert. J 
 Domeftick woes far heavier to be borne ! 
 
 The pride of fools, and Haves infulting fcorn. 350 
 But thou be filent, nor reveal thy Hate; 
 
 Yield to the force of unrefiHed fate. 
 
 And bear unmov’d the wrongs of bafe mankind. 
 The laft, and hardeft, conquell of the mind. 
 
 that it really is a praife to a perfon who ufes it. I fpeak 
 not of common life, or as if men Ihould always a 61 under 
 a malk, and in difguife; that indeed betrays defign and in- 
 fincerity: I only recommend it as an inftance how men 
 fhould behave in the article of danger, when it is as repu¬ 
 table to elude an enemy as to defeat one. 
 
 — —. (t Dolus an virtus quisin holle requirit.* 
 
 This is the charafter of Ulylfes, who ufes only fuch an ar¬ 
 tifice asisfuggefted by wiltlom. fuch as turns to his benefit 
 in all extremities, fuch as Minerva may boaft to pra&ife 
 without a rival among the Gods, as much as Ulylfes among 
 mankind. In fhort, this diffimulation in war may be 
 called ftratagem and conduct, in other exigencies addrefs 
 and dexterity j nor is Ulylfes criminal, but artful. 
 
38 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BooleXIII. 
 
 ] 
 
 Goddefs ofWifdom! Ithacus replies, 
 
 He who difcerns thee muff be truly wife, 
 
 So feldom view’d, and ever in difguife ! 
 
 When the bold Argives led their warring pow’rs, 
 Againfl proud Ilion’s well defended tow’rs; 
 
 Ulyffes was thy care, celeftial Maid ! 360 
 
 Grac’d with thy fight, and favour’d with thy aid. 
 But when the Trojan piles in allies lay, 
 
 And bound for Greece we plough’d the wat’ry way; 
 Our fleet diipers’d and driv’n from coaft to coaft, 
 
 Thy facred prefence from that hour I loll: 
 ’Till I beheld thy radiant form once more, 
 And heard thy counfels on Phteacia’s flhore. 
 But, by th’ almighty author of thy race, 
 Tell me, oh tell, is this my native place? 
 
 3 6 5 
 
 v. 369. Tell me, oh tell, is this my native place P] It may 
 appear fomewdi at extraordinary that Ulyffes fhould not be¬ 
 lieve Minerva, who had already affured him that he was 
 landed in his own country: but two anfwersmay be given 
 to this objection, and his doubts may be afcribed to his 
 having loft the knowledge of it through his long abfence, 
 for that is the veil which is caft before his eyes j or to the 
 nature of man in general, who when he defires any thing 
 vehemently, fcarce believes himfelf in the pofieflion of it, 
 even while he poffeffes it. Nothing is more frequent than 
 fuch expreflions upon the theatre, and in the tranfport of 
 an unexpe&ed happinefs, we are apt to think it a delu- 
 fl°n j from hence the fears of Ulyffes arife, and they are 
 to be imputed to his vehement love of his country, not to 
 his unbelief. 
 
BookXIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 39 
 
 For much I fear, long tra£ls of land and fea 370 
 Divide this coaft from diftant Ithaca; 
 
 The fvveet delufion kindly you impofe, 
 
 To foothe my hopes, and mitigate my woes. 
 
 Thus he. The blue-ey’d Goddefs thus replies. 
 How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wife! 375 
 Who, vers’d in fortune, fear the flatt’ring {how, 
 And tafte not half the blifs the Gods bellow. 
 
 The more {hall Pallas aid thy juft defires, 
 
 And guard the wifdom which herfeif infpires. 
 Others long abfent from their native place, 380^) 
 
 > 
 
 Straight feek their home, and fly with eager pace 
 To their wives arms, and children’s dear em- j 
 brace. J 
 
 Not thus Ulyfles : he decrees to prove 
 His fubje£ls faith, and queen’s fufpedted love ; 
 
 Who mourn’d her lord twice ten revolving 
 
 years, 385 
 
 And waftes the days in grief, the nights in tears. 
 But Pallas knew (thy friends and navy loft,) 
 
 Once more ’twas giv’n thee to behold thy coaft : 
 
 Yet how could I with adverfe Fate engage. 
 
 And mighty Neptune’s unrelenting rage ? 390 
 
 Now lift thy longing eyes, while I reftore 
 The pleafmg profpe£l of thy native fhore. 
 
 Behold the port of Phorcys ! fenc’d around 
 With rocky mountains, and with olives crown’d. 
 Behold the gloomy grot! whofe cool recefs 395 
 
 Delights the Nereids of the neighb’ring feas: 
 
 D* 
 
40 HOMERS ODYSSEY. Book XIII. 
 
 Whole now-negle&ed altars, in thy reign 
 Blufh’d with the blood of fheep and oxen flain> 
 Behold ! where Neritus the clouds divides. 
 
 And (hakes the waving forefts on his Tides. 400 
 
 So fpake the Goddefs, and the profpe£l clear'd. 
 The mifts difpers’d, and all the coaft appear’d. 
 
 The king with joy confefs’d his place of birth, 
 
 And on his knees falutes his mother earth: 
 
 Then with his fuppliant hands upheld in air, 405 
 Thus to the fea-green Sifters fends his pray’r. 
 
 All hail! ye virgin-daughters of the main! 
 
 ^ e ftreams, beyond my hopes beheld again! 
 
 To you once more your own XJlyftes bows ; 
 
 Attend his tranfports, and receive his vows ! 410 
 
 Xi Jove prolong my days, and Pallas crown 
 I he growing virtues of my youthful fon. 
 
 To youfhall rites divine be ever paid. 
 
 And grateful ofF ’rings on your altars laid. 4 t 4 
 
 Then thus Minerva. From that anxious breaft 
 Difmifs thofe cares, and leave to Hcav’n the reft. 
 Our talk be now thy treafur’d ftores to fave, 
 
 Deep in the clofe recedes of the cave: 
 
 ^ hen future means confult - ftie fpoke, and trod 
 The fliady grot, that brighten’d with the God. 
 
 The clofeft caverns of the grot ftie fought; 421 
 
 Ihe gold, tne brafs, the robes Ulyftes brought; 
 Thefe in the fecret gloom the chief difpos’d ; 
 
 The entrance with a rock the Goddefs clos’d. 
 
Boole XIII. ROMER’s ODYSSEY. 41 
 
 Now, feated in the olive’s facred (hade, 425 
 Confer the hero and the martial Maid. 
 
 The Goddefs of the azure eyes began : 
 
 Son of Laertes ! much-experienc’d man ! 
 
 The fuitor-train thy earli’ft care demand, 
 
 Of that luxurious race to rid the land: 430 
 
 Three years thy houfe their lawlefs rule has feen, 
 And proud addrefles to the matchlefs queen. 
 
 But {he thy abfence mourns from day to day, 
 
 And inly bleeds, and filent waftes away: 
 
 Elufive of the bridal hour, fhe gives 435 
 
 Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives. 
 
 To this Ulyfles. Oh celeftial maid! 
 
 Prais’d be thy counfel, and thy timely aid : 
 
 Elfe had I feen my native walls in vain. 
 
 Like great Atrides juft reftor’dand (lain. 440 
 
 Vouchfafe the means of vengeance to debate, 
 
 And plan with all thy arts the feene of fate. 
 
 Then, then be prefent, and my foul infpire, 
 
 As when we wrapt Troy’s heav’n-built walls in fire. 
 Tho’ leagu’d againft me hundred heroes ftand, 445 
 Hundreds fliall fall, if Pallas aid my hand. 
 
 v.445. Tho' leagu'd again]} vie hundreds, &c,] Nothing 
 is more judicious than this conduft in Homer : the whole 
 number of fuitors are to be (lain by a few hands, which 
 might (hock our reafon if it were related fuddenly, with¬ 
 out any preparation to (hew us the probability of it: this 
 is the intent of Homer in this and various other places of 
 the Odyfley : he foftens the relation, and reconciles us to 
 it by fuch infertions, before he deferibes that great event* 
 
42 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. BookXIII, 
 
 She anfwer’d: in the dreadful day of fight 
 Know, I am with thee, ftrong in all my might. 
 
 If thou but equal to thyfelf be found, 
 
 What gafping numbers then fhall prefs the 
 ground! 450 
 
 What human vi&ims ftain the feaftful floor! 
 
 How wide the pavements float with guilty gore I 
 It fits thee now to wear a dark difguife, 
 
 And fecret walk, unknown to mortal eyes. 
 
 For this, my hand (hall wither ev’ry grace, 455 
 And ev’ry elegance of form and face, 
 
 The antients (fays Euflathius) would not here allow Ulyf- 
 fes to fpeak hyperbolicaily j he is that hero whom we have 
 already feen in the Iliad refill whole bands of Trojans, 
 when the Greeks were repulfed, where he flew numbers 
 of enemies, and fuftained their afiaults till he was difen- 
 gaged by Ajax. Befides, there is an excellent moral in 
 what Ulyfles fpeaks; it contains this certain truth, (adds 
 Dacier) that a man afiifted by heaven, has not only no¬ 
 thing to fear, but is allured to triumph over all the united 
 powers of mankind. 
 
 v. 452. How wide the pavements float with guilty gore /] 
 The words in the Greek are aV vslov which Euflathius 
 
 imagines to fignify the land of Ithaca 5 for the hall even of 
 a palace is too narrow’ to be Ailed immenfe or ao-vflov. But 
 this contradicts the matter of fa£t, as appears from the 
 place where the fuitors were {lain, which was not in the 
 fields of Ithaca, but in the palace of Ulyfles : Za-ndov really 
 flgnifies large or fpacious ; and a palace that could enter¬ 
 tain at one time fo great a number of fuitors might be 
 called vaft or Z<r re'l^, which Hefychius interprets by *iav 
 woxls, Dacier . 
 
BookXIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 43 
 
 O’er thy Tmooth (kin a bark of wrinkles fpread, 
 
 Turn hoar the auburn honours of thy head, 
 Disfigure ev’ry limb with coarfe attire, 
 
 And in thy eyes extinguifh all the fire ; 46° 
 
 Add all the wants and the decays of life, 
 
 Eftrange thee from thy own ; thy fon, thy wife ; 
 From the loath’d objedl ev’ry fight {hall turn, 
 
 And the blind fuitors their dellrudlion fcorn. 
 
 Go firft the mailer of thy herds to find, 
 
 Trtie to his charge, -a loyal fwain and kind : 
 
 For thee he fighs ; and to the royal heir 
 And challe Penelope extends his care. 
 
 At the Coracian rock he now refides, 
 
 Where Arethufa’s fable water glides ; 
 
 v. 465. Go firft the tnafier of thy herds to find.] There 
 are maliy reafons why this injun&ion wasneceffary : the 
 hero of a poem ought never to be out of light, never out 
 of adlion: neither is Ulyffes idle in this recefs; he goes thi¬ 
 ther to acquaint himfelf with the condition of his affairs, 
 both publick and domeftick : he there lays the plan for 
 the deftru&ion of the fuitors, enquires after their num¬ 
 bers, and the ftate of Penelope and Telemachus. Befides, 
 he here refides in full fecurity and privacy, till he has pre¬ 
 pared all things for the execution of the great event of the 
 whole OdylTey. 
 
 v. 469,- Coracian rock -] This rock was fo x 
 
 called from a young man whofe name was Corax, who 
 in purfuit of an hare fell from it and broke his neck: 
 Arethufa his mother hearing of this accident, hanged; 
 herfelf by the fountain, which afterwards took its name 
 from her, and was called Arethufa* Lufiathius . 
 
 465 
 
 470 
 
4-j. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIII, 
 
 The fable water and the copious mail 
 Swell the fat herd ; luxuriant, large repall! 
 
 With him, reft peaceful in the rural cell. 
 
 And all you alk his faithful tongue {hall tell. 
 
 Me into other realms my cares convey, 475 
 
 To Sparta, ftill with female beauty gay: 
 
 For know, to Sparta, thy lov’d offspring came, 
 
 To learn thy fortunes from the voice of Fame. 
 
 At this the father, with a father’s care. ^ 
 
 Muft he too fuffer ? he, oh Goddefs ! bear 480 > 
 Of wand’rings and of woes a wretched {hare ? 3 
 
 Thro’ the wild ocean plough the dang’rous way, 
 And leave his fortunes and his houfe a prey ? 
 
 Why would’ft not thou, oh all-enlighten’d Mind ! 
 Inform him certain, and protect him, kind? 485 
 To whom Minerva. Be thy foul at reft ; 
 
 And know, whatever Fleav’n ordains, is beft. 
 
 To fame I fent him, to acquire renown : 
 
 To other regions is his virtue known. 
 
 Secure he fits, near great Atrides plac’d ! 490 
 
 With friendfhips ftrengthen’d, and with honours 
 grac’d. 
 
 But lo! an ambufti waits his paffage o’er ; 
 
 Fierce foes infidious intercept the fhore : 
 
 Itf vain ! far fooner all the murth’rous brood 
 This injur’d land fhall fatten with their blood. 
 
 She fpake, then touch’d him with her pow’rful 
 wand: 496 
 
 The fkin fhrunk up, and wither’d at her hand: 
 
BookXIir. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 
 
 45 
 
 A fwift old age o’er all his members fpread ; 
 
 A fudden froft was fprinkled on his head ; 
 
 Nor longer in the heavy eye-ball fhin’d 500 
 
 The glance divine, forth-beaming from the mind. 
 His robe, which fpots indelible befmear, 
 
 In rags difhoneft flutters with the air: 
 
 A flag’s torn hide is lapt around his reins ; 
 
 A rugged flaff his trembing hand fuftains ; 505 
 
 v. 502. His robe with, fpots indelible befmear , &c.] I doubt 
 not but Homer draws after the life. We have the whole 
 equipage and accoutrements of a beggar, yet fo drawn by 
 Homer, as even to retain a noblenefs and dignity: let 
 any perfbn read the defcription, and he will be con¬ 
 vinced of it j what can be more lofty and fonorous 
 than this verfe ? 
 
 'PufaXea, {vnovila xaxx [AtfJLOgvf/Jiiva 
 
 It is no humility to fay that a tranflator muft fall fliort of 
 the original in fuch paflages 5 the Greek language has 
 words noble and founding to exprefs all fubjetts, which 
 are wanting in our tongue j all that is to be expected to 
 keep the diction from appearing mean or ridiculous. They 
 are greatly miftaken who impute this difguife of Ulyfies 
 in the form of a beggar, as a fault to Homer : there 
 is nothing either abfurd or mean in it 5 for the way 
 to make a king undifcoverable, is to drefs him as un¬ 
 like himfelf as poflible. David counterfeited madnefs, 
 as Ulyfles poverty, and neither of them ought to lie 
 under any imputation} it is eafy to vindicate Homer, 
 from the difguife of the greateft perfons and generals in 
 hiftory, upon the like emergencies j but there is no occa- 
 fion for it. 
 
46 HOMER's ODYSSEY. Book XIII. 
 
 And at his fide a wretched fcrip was hung, 
 Wide-patch’d, and knotted to a twifted thong. 
 
 So look’d the chief, fo mov’d ! to mortal eyes 
 Object uncouth ! a man of miferies ! 
 
 While Pallas, cleaving the wide fields of air, 510 
 To Sparta flies, Telemachus her care. 
 
 v. 510. While Palius , cleaving the wide fields of air , 
 
 'To Sparta flies -] 
 
 Homer is now preparing to turn the relation from Ulyfles 
 to Telemachus, whom we left at Sparta with Menelaus in 
 the fourth book of the Odyffey. He has been long out of 
 fight, and we have heard of none of his actions j Tele¬ 
 machus is not the hero of the poem: he is only an under¬ 
 agent, and confequentiy the poet was at liberty to omit 
 any or all of his adventures, unlefs fuch as have anecefiary 
 connexion with the ftory of the Odyftey, and contribute 
 to the re-eftablifhment of Ulyftes ; by this method Homer 
 gives variety to his poetry, and breaks or gathers up the 
 thread of it, as it tends to diverfify the w'hole : we may 
 confider an epick poem as a fpacious garden, where there 
 are to be different walks and views, left the eye fhould be 
 tired with too great a regularity and uniformity: the 
 chief avenue ought to be the moll ample*and noble, but 
 there fhould be by-walks to retire into fometimes for 
 our eafe and refrefhment. The poet thus gives us feveral 
 openings to draw us forward with pleafure: and though 
 the great event of the poem be chiefly in view, yet he 
 fometimes leads us alide into other fhort paffages which 
 -end in it again, and bring us with pleafure to thecon- 
 clufion of it. Thus, for inftance, Homer begins with 
 the ftory of Telemachus and the fuitors : then he leaves 
 them a-while, and more largely lays before us the adven- 
 
Book XIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 47 
 
 - / 
 
 tures of Ulyfles, the hero of his poem j when he has fa- 
 tisfied the curiofity of the reader by a full narration of 
 what belongs to him, he returns to Telemachus and the 
 fuitors: at length lie unites the two llories, and pro¬ 
 ceeds directly to the end of the Odyffey. Thus, all the 
 collateral and indireft paflages fall into one center and 
 main point of view. The eye is continually entertained 
 with fome new objeft, and we pafs on from incident to 
 incident, not only without fatigue, but with pleafure and 
 admiration. 
 
I 
 
- 
 
 
 I 
 
 THE 
 
 FOURTEENTH BOOK 
 
 . #>*» *' t 
 
 • ? • • * - v> i i «. .. f *' 
 
 4 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 / . 
 
 • 1 
 
 Vol. III. E 
 
 I 
 
THE 
 
 argument. 
 
 The Converfation with Eumseus. 
 
 ULYSSES arrives in dijguife at the houfe of Eumaus f 
 where he is received , entertained , and lodged , with tke 
 utmojl hofpitality. fhe feveral difcourfes of that faithful 
 oldfervant , with the feignedJlory told by Uly/Jes to conceal 
 himfelfy and other converfatiom ott various fubjefts, take 
 up this entire book. 
 
 I 
 
 
 
THE 
 
 * FOURTEENTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 ^ / 
 
 * 1 V * ' 
 
 B ut he, deep-mufing, o’er the mountains ftray’d 
 Thro’ mazy thickets of the woodland {hade, 
 And cavern’d ways, the fhaggy coafl along, 
 
 With cliffs and nodding forefts over-hung. 
 
 * We fee in this book the character of a faithful, wife^ 
 benevolent old man in Eumaeus; one happily innocent, 
 unambitious, and wholly employed in rural affairs. The 
 whole interview between Ulyfies and Eumseus has fallen 
 into ridicule j Eumaeus has been judged to be of the 
 fame rank and condition with our modern fwineherds. 
 But herds and flocks were then kept and attended by the 
 fons of kings ; thus Paris watched the flocks of Priam in 
 the groves of Ida, and the fame is faid of many of the 
 heroes in the Iliad j thefe offices were places of dignity, 
 and filled by perfons of birth ; and fuch was Eumaeus, 
 defcended froma prince, named Ctelius : thus the mailer 
 of the horfe is a poll of honour in modern ages. 
 
 It is in poetry, as in painting j where the artifh does not 
 confine himfelf to draw only Gods or heroes, palaces and 
 princes ; but he frequently employs his pencil in repre- 
 fenting landfchapes, rural fcenes, groves, cottages, and 
 Ihepherds tending their flocks. 
 
 E z 
 
S 2 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XIV, 
 
 Eumseus at his filvan lodge he fought, 5 
 
 A faithful fervant, and without a fault. 
 
 There is a paffage in monfieur Boileau’s reflexions up¬ 
 on Longinus, which fully vindicates all the places of Ho¬ 
 mer that have been cenfured as low and too familiar* 
 “ There is nothing (obferves that author) that more 
 a difgraces a competition than the ufe of vulgar words : 
 «< a mean thought expreffed in noble terms, is generally 
 “ more taking than a noble thought debafed by mean 
 <c terms : the reafon is, every perfon cannot judge of the 
 juftnefs and ftrength of -a thought, but there are very 
 <e few, efpecially in living languages, who are not fhock- 
 £c ed at mean words : and yet almoft all writers fall into 
 ee this fault. Longinus accufes Herodotus, the raoft po- 
 « life of all the Greek hiftorians, of this defeX j and 
 « Livy, Salluft, and Virgil, have fallen under the fame 
 « imputation. Is it not then very furprifing that 110 re- 
 < £ proach upon this account has fallen upon Homer ? 
 “ efpecially, though he has compofed two large poems, 
 “ and though no author has defeended more frequently 
 t{ into the detail of little particularities j yet he never 
 «« ufes terms which are not noble, or if he ufes humble 
 (i words or phrafes, it is with fo much art, that, as 
 “ Dionyflus Halicarnaflus obferves, they become noble 
 * ( and harmonious. We may learn from hence the ig- 
 £< norance of thofe modern criticks, who judge of the 
 <l Greek without the knowledge of it; and having never 
 <{ read Homer but in low and inelegant tranflations, im- 
 ££ pute the meannefles of the tranflator to the poet. Be- 
 <c Tides, the words of different languages are not exaXly 
 * £ correfpondent, and it often happens, that an expreliion 
 < £ which is noble in the Greek cannot be rendered in a 
 < £ verfion but by words that are either mean in the found 
 or ufage. Thus afs , and af.nu,s in Latin, are mean tq 
 <£ the laft degree j though e»< 9 * in the Greek be ufed in 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 53 
 
 UJyfTes found him bulled, as he fat 
 Before the threfhold of his ruflick gate ; 
 
 u the moll magnificent defcriptions, and has nothing 
 “ mean in it 3 in like manner the terms ho'gherd and cow 
 <{ keeper , are not to be ufed in our poetry 5 but there are 
 “ no finer words in the Greek language than ffax ax®- and 
 “ c-vGoi ; and Virgil, who entitles his Eclogues Bucolicks 
 ct in the Roman tongue, would have been alhamed to 
 (( call them in our language the dialogues of conukeepers 
 
 Homer hinlfelf convinces us of the truth of this obfer- 
 vation ; nay, one would imagine that he intended in- 
 duflrioully to force it upon our notice ; for he frequently 
 calls Eumaeus avfyuv, or prince of men ; and his 
 
 common epithet is SeT©- or Sf©-Homer would 
 not have applied thefe appellations to him, if he had not 
 been aperfon of dignity ; it being the fame title that he 
 bellows upon his greatell heroes Ulylfes or Achilles. 
 
 v. 1. But he, deep mufing, o'er the mountain fray'd.] I 
 {hall tranfcribe the obfervation of Dionyfius Halicarnalfus 
 upon the firft verfes in this book : the fame method, re¬ 
 marks that author, makes both profe and verfe beauti¬ 
 ful; which confifts in thefe three things, the judicious 
 coaptation and ranging of the words, the pofition of the 
 members and parts of the verfe, and the various meafure 
 of the periods. Whoever would write elegantly, mull 
 have regard to the different turn and juncture of every 
 period, there mull be proper dillances and paufes ; every 
 verfe mull be a complete fentence, but broken and inter¬ 
 rupted, and the parts made unequal, fome longer, fome 
 Ihorter, to give a variety of cadence to it. Neither the 
 turn of the parts of the verfe, nor the length, ought to be 
 alike. This is abfolutely necelfary : for the epick or he- 
 roick verfe is of a fixed determinate length, and we can” 
 hot, as in the lyrick, make one longer, and another 
 fiiorter j therefore to avoid an identity of cadence, and a 
 
 E 3 
 
54 HOMEIVs ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 Around, the manfion in a circle {hone; 
 
 A rural portico of rugged ftone : 10 
 
 perpetual return of the fame periods, it is requifite to con¬ 
 tra#, lengthen, and interrupt the paufe and ftru£ture of 
 the members of the verfes, to create an harmonious in¬ 
 equality, and out of a fixed number of fyllables to raife a 
 perpetual diverfity. For inftance, 
 
 AVTCtg 0 fjt W£0<TeG>1 
 
 Here one line makes one fentence } the next is fliorter, 
 XoSgov a.V isvla — — 
 
 The next is ftill fliorter. 
 
 The next fentence compofes two hemyfticks, 
 
 — —— r H oi ’A0ib» 
 
 riifgCt&'E £~0V l i<pogGov —— — 
 
 and is entirely unlike any of the preceding periods*. 
 
 ■ -- *’o cl Piorow (xoixi^a, 
 
 K vfelo oiKrux'V aj x%cra1o ’O^ucre-eu*. 
 
 Here again the fentence is not finifhed with the former 
 verfe, but breaks into the fourth line j and left we fhould 
 be out of breath, with the length of the fentence, the 
 period and the verfe conclude together at the end of it. 
 
 Then Homer begins a new fentence, and makes it 
 paufe differently from any of the former. 
 
 Toy y a? In evg k/uevov 1 ■ 
 
 , Then he adds, 
 
 — - 1 "E'jQo. cl avXh 
 
 feb/unlo — ■ - ■ ■ — 
 
 This is perfectly unequal to the foregoing period, and the 
 paufe of the fentence is carried forward into the fecond 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 55 
 
 (In abfence of his Lord, with honeft toil 
 His own induftrious hands had rais’d the pile) 
 
 The wall was ftone from neighboring quarries borne) 
 Encircled with a fence of native thorn, 
 
 And ftrong with pales, by many a weary ftroke 15 
 Of ftubborn labour hewn from heart of oak ; 
 
 verfe j and what then follows is neither diftinguifhed by 
 the paufes nor parts periodically, but almoft at every word 
 there is a ftop. 
 
 ——— ri££l£r;ti7rbj EVi xfigtof 
 K<xX^te, fxefeiXvlE. 
 
 No doubt but Homer was a perfeft matter of numbers; 
 a man can no more be a poet than a mufician, without 
 a good ear, as we ufually exprefs it. It is true, that 
 • verification is but the mechanifm of poetry, but it fets 
 off good fenfe to the bell advantage; it is a colouring 
 that enlivens the portrait, and makes even a beauty more 
 agreeable. 
 
 I will conclude this note, with obferving what Mr« 
 Dryden fays of thefe two lines of Cowper’s Hill. 
 
 Tho' deep, yet clear, tho’ gentle, yet not dull. 
 Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full. 
 
 “ There are few, (fays he) who make verfes, that have 
 “ obferved the fweetnefs of thefe lines, and fewer who 
 cc can find the reafon of it.” But I believe no one will 
 be at alofs to folve the difficulty who conliders this obfer- 
 vation of Dionyfius : and I doubt not but the chief fweet¬ 
 nefs arifes from the judicious and harmonious paufes of 
 the feveral periods of the verfes j not to mention the happy 
 choice of the words, in which there is fcarce one rough 
 confonant, many liquids, and thofe liquids foftened with, 
 a multitude of vowels. 
 
 E 4. 
 
S 6 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XlV. 
 
 Frequent and thick. Within the fpace were rear’d 
 Twelve ample cells, the lodgement of his herd. 
 Full fifty pregnant females each contain’d; 
 
 The males without (a fmaller race) remain’d ; 20 
 
 Doom’d tb fupply the fuitors wafteful feaft, 
 
 A flock by daily luxury deereaft; 
 
 Now fcarce fotir hundred left. Thefe to defend} 
 Four favage dogs, a watchful giiard, attend. 
 
 Here fat Eumaeus, and his cares apply’d 25 
 
 To form ftrong build ns of well-feafon’d hide. 
 
 Of four afiiflants who his labour {hare, 
 
 Three now were abfent on the rural care; 
 
 The fourth drove victims to the fuitor train: 
 
 But he, of antient faith, a fimple fwairi, 30 
 
 v. 25. liere fat Eumaus, and his cares apply'd y &c.] I 
 doubt not but this employment of Eumasus has been ano¬ 
 ther caufe of the mean char after that has been formed of 
 his condition : but this miftake arifes from our judging 
 of the dignity of men from the employments they follow¬ 
 ed three thoufand years paft, by the notions we have of 
 thofe employments at prefent} and becaufe they are now 
 only the occupation of the vulgar, we imagine that they 
 were fo formerly: kings and princes in the earlier ages 
 of the world laboured in arts and occupations, and w’ere 
 above nothing that tended to promote the conveniencies 
 of life ; they performed that with their own hands, which 
 We now perform by thofe of our fervants ; if this were 
 not fo, the cookery of Achilles in the Iliad would equally 
 difparage that hero, as this employment would diigrace 
 Eurnseus in the Odyfley : arts were then in their infancy, 
 ?.tld were honourable to the praftifers : thus Ulyfles builds 
 a veflei with his own hands, as Ikilfully as a (hipwright. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 5? 
 
 Sigh’d, while he furnifti’d the luxurious board, 
 And weary’d heav’n with wifhes for his lord. 
 
 Betides, even at this day arts are in high efceem in the 
 oriental world, and are praftifed by the greateft perfon- 
 ages. Every man in Tiuky is of fome trade ; fultan 
 Achmet was a maker of ivory rings, which the Turks 
 wear upon their thumbs when they flioot their arrows* 
 and in this occupation he worked feveral hours daily h 
 and another of their emperors was depofed, became he 
 refufed to work in his occupation. 
 
 It muft be confefl'ed that our translations have contri¬ 
 buted to give thole who are unacquainted with the 
 Greek, a mean idea of Eumaeus. This place is thus 
 rendered by two of his tranflators. 
 
 Himfelf there fat ord’ring a pair of brogues. 
 
 Of a py’d bullock's fkin- 
 
 Himfelf was leather to his foot applying, 
 Made of a good cow-hide well coloured. 
 
 O 
 
 Whereas Homer is as lofty and harmonious, as thefe are 
 flat and inelegant. 
 
 Auto? iy.fyl ceoS'scrciV eo~? ttgzgts-Ks mehX 
 T.x ( avao? sCygoe;. 
 
 a 
 
 It is true, a tranflator in fuch places as thefe has an 
 hard talk ; a language like the Greek, which is always 
 flowing, mulical, and fonorous, is very difficult to be 
 imitated in other tongues, efpecially where the corref- 
 pondiug words are not equally fignificant and graceful. 
 
 In ffiort, the reader is to consider this whole defcrip- 
 tion as a true pifture of antieut life ; and then he will not 
 fail of the pleafure of knowing how the great men of an- 
 tient times paded their lives, and how thofe heroes, who 
 peiformed fuch noble parts on the publick (tage of life } 
 aifted in private when withdrawn from notice and obfer- 
 
58 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 Soon as Ulyfles near th’ enclofure drew. 
 
 With open mouths the furious maftives flew : 
 Down fat the fage* and cautious to withftand, 35 
 Let fall th’ oflenfive truncheon from his hand. 
 
 vation. Thofe ages retained an univerfal fimplicity of 
 manners : Telemachus and Eumaeus have both dogs for 
 their attendants ; nay, and in later times, before luxury 
 prevailed among the Romans, we read of a di&ator 
 brought from the plough, to lead the braveft foldiers in 
 the world to conquer it. 
 
 v. 35. Down fat the fage ; and cautious to withfand. 
 
 Let fall th' offenfi've truncheon from his hand . ] 
 
 Homer lias been cenfured by reprefenting his hero un¬ 
 worthily: is it probable that he who had met whole 
 armies in battle, Ihould now throw away his ftaff out of 
 fear of a dog ? that he Ihould abandon his defence by 
 calling himfeif on the ground, and leave himfelf to his 
 mercy ? But Euftathius fully vindicates Ulyfles. It is 1 
 natural defence to avert the fury of a dog, to call: away 
 our weapons, to Ihew that we intend him no violence. 
 Pliny has the like cbfervation in the eighth book of his 
 Natural Hillary : hnfetus canum & fauitia mitigatur ab 
 komine hitmi confidente. 
 
 All that Homer fays of the dogs, is imitated by Theo¬ 
 critus, Idyll, xxv. v. 68. 
 
 Gectt rhncv (V I’KaoV^tc; ETTE^a^ov ri\Xo9zv aXX(§X< 
 
 Tif? ju|V oy£ XaEJ-civ air'o ccr<rov uzlgw 
 
 <bzvyz[j.z'j aT onlo-w d'e&tro'slo, See, 
 
 What Homer fpeaks of Ulyfles, Theocritus applies to 
 Hercules ; a demonftration that he thought it to be a 
 picture of nature, and therefore inferted it in that lieroick 
 Idy Ilium. 
 
59 
 
 BookXIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 
 
 # 
 
 Sudden, the matter runs ; aloud he calls 9 
 And from his hafty hand the leather falls ; 
 
 With ttiow’rs of ftones he drives them far away; 
 The featuring dogs around at dittance bay. 40 
 Unhappy ttranger ! (thus the faithful fwain 
 Began with accent gracious and humane) 
 
 v. 37. Sudden , the mafer rum , &c.] This is thought to 
 be an adventure that really happened to the poet himfelf5 
 it is related in the life of Homer aferibed to Herodotus* 
 Theftorides having perfuaded Homer to permit him to 
 tranfcribe his verfes, he immediately removed to Chios, 
 and proclaimed himfelf the author : Homer being inform¬ 
 ed of it, let fail for Chios, and landing near it, he was in 
 danger of being torn in pieces by the dogs of Glaucus, 
 who protected him, and received him hofpitably : the poet 
 in return laboured to reward his kindnefs, bv relating tc 
 him the moft curious of his adventures that had happened 
 in the courfe of his voyages. When therefore (adds 
 Dacier) we fee Ulylfes entertained by Eumreus, we have 
 the fatisfafrion of imagining we lee Homer himfelf in dif* 
 courfe with his courteous friend Glaucus. 
 
 v. 41. *- Thus the faithful fwain , &c.] The words 
 
 in the Greek are literally rendered, the divine 
 
 fwineherd t which are butlefque in modern languages, aiid 
 would have been no lefs in Greek, if the perfon of 
 Eumams had not been honourable, and his office a fta- 
 tion of dignity: for the foie reafon w hy fuch a tranfla- 
 tion would now be ridiculous, is becaufe fuch employ¬ 
 ments are now fallen into contempt. Let any perfon afk 
 this queftion, Would Homer have applied the epithet 
 divine to a modern fwineherd ? If he would not, it is an 
 evidence that Eumseus was a man of confequence, and his 
 poll a place of honour ; cthei wife Homer would have 
 been guilty of burlefqiung his own poetry. 
 
HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXlV. 
 
 What forrow had been mine, if at my gate 
 Thy reverend age had met a fhameful fate ? 
 
 Enough of woes already have I known ; 45 
 
 Enough my mailer’s forrows and my own. 
 
 While here, (ungrateful talk !) his herds I feed, 
 Ordain’d for lawlefs rioters to bleed ; 
 
 Perhaps fupported at another’s board, 
 
 Far from his country roams my haplefs lord ! 50 
 
 Or figh’d in exile forth his lateft breath, 
 
 Now cover’d with th’ eternal fhade of death ! 
 
 But enter this my homely roof, and fee 
 Our woods not void of hofpitality. 
 
 Dacier very well remarks, that the words Eumneus here 
 fpeaks, and indeed his whole converfation, fhew him to be 
 a perfort of a good education, and of noble and pious fen- 
 timents; he difeovers a natural and flowing eloquence, 
 and appears to be a man of great humanity and wifdom. 
 
 There is a peculiarity in Homer’s manner of apflro- 
 phizing Eumseus, and fpeaking of him in the fecond per- 
 ion , it is generally applied by that poet only to men of 
 account and diftin&ion, and by it the poet, as it were, 
 addretfes them with refpedt ; thus in the Iliad he intro¬ 
 duces Menelaus. 
 
 Ov$e M enKa's, &£« eXaOcvJo, 
 
 - .TovS'e 'sreoa-i-png ITaljoxXf, 
 
 This enlivens the diftion, and awakens the attention of 
 the reader. Eullathius obferves that Eumseus is the only 
 perfon of whom Homer thus fpeaks in the whole Odyfley ; 
 no doubt (continues that author) he does it out of love 
 of this benevolent old fervant of Ulyfles ; and to honour 
 and dillinguifli his fidelity. 
 
Boole XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 61 
 
 Then tell me ■whence thou art ? and what the 
 
 (hare 55 
 
 Of woes and wand’rings thou wert bom to bear ? 
 
 He find, and feconding the kind requeft, 
 
 With friendly flep precedes his unknown gueft. 
 
 A fhaggy goat’s foft hide beneath him fpread, 
 And with frefh rufhes heap’d an ample bed : 60 
 
 Joy touch’d the hero’s tender foul, to find 
 So juft reception from a heart fo kind : 
 
 And oh, ye Gods ! with all your blefiings grace- 
 (He thus broke forth) this friend of human race ! 
 
 The fwain reply’d. It never was our guife 65 
 To flight the poor, or aught humane defpife ; 
 
 V- 66. To flight the poor, or aught humane defpife ; 
 
 For Jove unfolds our ho [pit able door , 
 
 ’Tis Jove that fends the f ranger and the poor. 
 
 This paftage contains an admirable le< 5 hire of morality 
 and humanity. The perfon who beft underftood the 
 beauty of it, and beft explained the precepts it compre¬ 
 hends, was Epi&etus, from whom Monfieur Dacier fur- 
 nifties us with this explication from Arrian : “ Keep (fays 
 “ that author) continually in thy memory, whatEumaeus 
 “ fpeaks in Homer to the difguifed Ulylles.” Ofriend, it 
 is unlawful to defpife the f ranger ; fpeak thus to thy brother , 
 father , and neighbour : it is my duty to ufe you with benevo¬ 
 lence, tho'your circumfances were meaner than they are ; for 
 you come from God. Here we fee Epi&etus borrowing his 
 morality from Homer ; and philofophy embellifted with, 
 the ornaments of poetry. Indeed there is fcarce any 
 writer of name among all the antients that has not been 
 obliged to Homer, whether moralifts, poets, philosophers, 
 or legiflators. 
 
62 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book'XIT. 
 
 For Jove unfolds our bofpitable door, 
 
 *Tis Jove that fends the ftranger and the poor. 
 Little, alas 1 is all the good I can ; 
 
 A man crppreft, dependant, yet a man : 70 
 
 Accept fuch treatment as a Twain affords. 
 
 Slave to the infolence of youthful lords ! 
 
 Far hence is by unequal Gods remov’d 
 That man of bounties, loving and belov’d ! 
 
 To whom whate’er his Have enjoys is ow’d, 75 
 And more, had Fate allow'd, had been bellow’d : 
 
 v. 75. Ttf whom nvhate'er his Jlanse enjoys is ow'd. 
 
 And more, had Fate allow'd, -] 
 
 This paffage has been greatly miftaken by almoll all who 
 have tran Hated Homer: the words at firft view feem to 
 imply that Ulyfles had given Eumausa wife, a houfe, and 
 an inheritance ; hut this is not the meaning. The words 
 are thus to be rendered j “ Ulylfes (fays Eumceus) greatly 
 46 loved me, and gave me a poffeffion, and fuch things as 
 ce an indulgent mailer gives a faithful fervant j namely, 
 cc a wife, inheritance, and an houfe.” Thefe gifts are to 
 be applied to av«£ ei&vfx^, and not to Ulyfles j and the 
 Sentence means, that it is the cullom of good kings in 
 that manner to reward their faithful fervants. It is very 
 evident from Homer, that Ulyfles had not yet given a wife 
 to Eomarus j for he promifes him and Philietius all thefe 
 rewards, lib. xxi. of the Odyfley. 
 
 dfAtyetegotc aXo^ue, ktyi fjutl' hr are op, 
 
 O Met t* iFyvs e/xt 7 o t sivf/usva, xa! y.% sTTStla, 
 
 'ma^ca Te, xa,tnfvnraj te eVecS'ov. 
 
 'it appeal's therefore that Eumzeus was not married, and 
 therefore this whole period is to be applied to the word 
 «W£, and not to Ulyfles. Eujlathius . 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 63 
 
 But Fate condemn’d him to a foreign fliore ; 
 
 Much have I forrow’d, but my matter more. 
 
 Now cold he lies, to death’s embrace refign’d : 
 
 Ah perifh Helen ! perifh all her kind ! 80 
 
 For whofe curs’d caufe, in Agamemnon’s name, 
 He trod fo fatally the paths of Fame. 
 
 His veil fuccin£t then girding round his watte, 
 Forth rutti’d the fvvain with hofpitable hatte, 
 Straight to the lodgements of his herd he run, 85 
 Where the fat porkers flept beneath the fun ; 
 
 Of two, his cutlace lanch’dthe fpouting blood ; 
 Thefe quarter’d, findg’d, and fix’d on forks of wood, 
 All hafty on the hiding coals he threw ; 
 
 And fmoking back the tafteful viands drew, go 
 Broachers and all; then on the board difplay’d 
 The ready meal, before Ulyfles laid 
 With flour imbrown’d ; next mingled wine yet new. 
 And lufcious as the bees ne£lareous dew: 
 
 I will only add, that in the above-mentioned verfes 
 Ulyfles promifes that Eumaeus {hall be # the companion and 
 brother of Telemachus ; an inllance, that he was not a 
 vulgar perfon whom Ulyfles thus honours, by making him. 
 allied to the royal family. 
 
 v. 93. With flour imbronvn'd -] We find here acuf- 
 
 tom of antiquity : this flour was made of parched corn 5 
 when the antients fed upon any thing that had not been 
 offered in facrifice, they fprinkled it with flour, which 
 was ufed inftead of the hallowed barley, with which they 
 confecrated their viftims. I doubt not, (flnce fome ho¬ 
 nours were paid to the Gods in all feafts) but that this 
 
64 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 Then fat companion of the friendly fead, 95 
 With open look ; and thus befpoke his gueft. 
 
 Take with free welcome what our hands prepare. 
 Such food as falls to fimple fervants (hare; 
 
 The bed our Lords confume ; thofe thoughtlefs 
 peers, 
 
 Rich without bounty, guilty without fears! 100 
 Yet fure the Gods their impious adts deted, 
 
 And honour juftice and the righteous bread. 
 Pirates and conquerors, of harden’d mind, 
 
 The foes of peace, and fccurges of mankind, 
 
 To whom offending men are made a prey 105 
 
 When Jove in vengeance gives a land away ; 
 
 Ev*n thefe, when of their ill-got fpoils poffefs’d, 
 Find fure tormentors in the guilty bread;: 
 
 Some voice of God clofe whifp’ring from within, 
 u Wretch! this is villany, and this is fin.** no 
 But thefe, no doubt, fome oracle explore, 
 
 That tells, the great Ulyffes is no more. 
 
 Hence fprings their confidence, and from our fighs 
 Their rapine ffrcngthens, and their riots rife: 
 Cendant as Jove the night and day bedows, 115 
 Bleeds a whole hecatomb, a vintage flows. 
 
 None match’d this hero’s wealth, of all who reign 
 O’er the fair iflands of the neighb’ring main. 
 
 Nor all the monarchs whofe far dreaded fway 
 The wide-extended continents obey: 120 
 
 fprinkling of flour by Eumaeus was an act of religion. 
 Dacitr. 
 
Book XIV. HOMERS ODYSSEY. 65 
 
 Firft, on the main-land, of Ulyfles’ breed 
 Twelve herds, twelve flocks, on ocean’s margin 
 feed ; 
 
 v. 122. Twelve herds, twelve flocks, &c.] I have al¬ 
 ready remarked, that Ulyfles was a wealthy king, and 
 this place is an inftance of it. He is matter of twelve 
 herds of oxen, which probably amounted to fourteen 
 thoufand four hundred j for if we count the herds by the 
 fame way of computation as the droves of fwine, they will 
 make that number, each drove confiding of twelve hun¬ 
 dred : for though Homer mentions but three hundred and 
 fixty boars, yet he tells u«, the reafon why they were in¬ 
 ferior to the females was becaufe of the luxury of the 
 fuitors. If this be allowed, then he had likewife the 
 fame number of Iheep, and as many hogs : for Eumasus 
 had the charge only of one herd, eleven more were un¬ 
 der the care of other officers : Ulyfles likewife had thirteen 
 thoufand two hundred goats. This will appear to be a 
 true calculation from the words of Homer, who tells us, 
 that twenty of the greateft heroes of the age were not fo 
 wealthy as Ulyfles. 
 
 The old poets and hiftorians, to exprefs a perfon of 
 great riches, gave him the epithet of <E7oXwtgv«v, 
 
 or 'GroXuppjjvoc; that is, “ a perfon that had a great number 
 “ of flieep or cattle, or a perfon of great wealth.” This 
 is likewife evident from the holy Scriptures : David had 
 his officers, like Ulyfles, to attend his flocks and herds : 
 thus 1 Chron. xxvii. Jehonathan was fet over his treafures 
 in the field, cities and villages ; Shimei over his vine¬ 
 yards ; Zabdi over his wine-cellars ; Baal-hanan over his 
 olive-trees, and Joafh over his oil: he had herdfmen that 
 had charge over his cattle, flieep, camels, and afles. It wa» 
 by cattle that the antient kings enriched themfelves from 
 he earlieft ages : thus no lefs a perfon than Pharoah, a 
 powerful king of ./Egypt, gave Jofeph. leave to appoint 
 
 Vol. III. F 
 
66 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXIV. 
 
 As many flails for fliaggy goats are rear’d; 
 
 As many lodgements for the tufky herd ; 124 
 
 Thofe foreign keepers guard : and here are feen 
 Twelve herds of goats that graze our utmofl green ; 
 To native pallors is their charge affign’d ; 
 
 And mine the care to feed the brillly kind : 
 
 Each day the fatted bleeds of either herd, 
 
 All to the fuitors wadeful board preferr’d. 130 
 
 Thus he, benevolent; his unknown gued 
 With hunger keen devours the fav’ry fead ; > 
 
 While fchemes of vengeance ripen in his bread. J 
 Silent and thoughtful while the board he ey’d, 
 Eumseus pours on high the purple tide ; 135 
 
 The king with fmiling looks his joy expred, 
 
 And thus the kind inviting hod addred. 
 
 Say now, what man is he, the man deplor’d, 
 
 So rich, fo potent, whom you dyle your lord ? 
 
 Late with fuch affluence and podeffions bled, 140 
 A nd now in honour’s glorious bed at red. 
 
 Whoever was the warriour, he mud be 
 To Fame no dranger, nor perhaps to me ; 
 
 Ids brethren to be rulers over his cattle ; and we read in 
 all the Greek poets, that the wealth of kings originally 
 confuted in herds and flocks. They lofe much of the 
 pleafure of Homer who read him only as a poet; he gives- 
 us an exa6t image of antient life, their manners, cuftoms, 
 laws, and politicks; and it mull double our fatisfa<dion, 
 when we confider that in reading Homer we are reading 
 the mod antient author in the w'orld, except the great 
 lawgiver Mofes. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYS SEY. 67 
 
 Who (fo the Gods, and fo the Fates ordain’d) 
 Have wander’d many afea, and many a land. 145 
 Small is the faith, the prince and queen afcribe 
 (Reply’d Eumaeus) to the wand’ring tribe. 
 
 For needy ftrangers ftill to flatt’ry fly, 
 
 And want too oft’ betrays the tongue to lye. 
 
 Each vagrant traveller that touches here, 150 
 Deludes with fallacies the royal ear, 
 
 To dear remembrance makes his image rife, 
 
 And calls the fpringing forrows from her eyes. • 
 Such thou may’ll be. But he whofe name you crave 
 Moulders in earth, or welters on the wave, 155 
 Or food for filh, or dogs, his reliques lie, 
 
 Or torn by birds are fcatter’d thro’ the Iky. 
 
 So perilh’d he: and left (for ever loft) 
 
 Much woe to all, but fure to me the moft. 
 
 So mild a mailer never {hall I find ; * 160 *) 
 
 Lefs dear the parents whom 1 left behind, > 
 
 Lefs foft my mother, lefs my father kind. J 
 
 Not with fuch tranfport wou’d my eyes run o’er. 
 Again to hail them in their native fhore j 
 As lov’d TJlyffes once more to embrace, 165 
 
 Reftor’d and breathing in his natal place. 
 
 That name for ever dread, yet ever dear, 
 
 Ev’n in his abfence I pronounce with fear : 
 
 v. 167. That nan#for ever dread, &c.] Eaftathius ex¬ 
 cellently explains the fentiment of Eumaeus, which is full 
 of tendernefs and humanity. I will not call Ulyffes, cries 
 Eumaeus, by the name of Ulylfes, for from ftrangers he 
 
 F 2. 
 
68 HOMER's ODYSSEY. BookXIV. 
 
 In my refpe£t, he bears a prince's part; 
 
 But lives a very brother, in my heart. 170 
 
 Thus fpoke the faithful Twain, and thus rejoin’d 
 The matter of his grief, the man of patient mind. 
 Ulyttes, friend ! {hall view his old abodes, 
 (Diftruftful as thou art) nor doubt the Gods. 
 
 Nor fpcak I rafhly, but with faith averr’d, 175 
 And what I fpeak attefting Heav’n has heard. 
 
 If fo, a cloak and vefture be my meed ; “) 
 
 ’Till his return, no title fliall I plead, j- 
 
 Tho* certain be my news, and great my need. J 
 Whom want itfelf can force untruths to tell, 180 
 My foul detefts him as the gates of hell. 
 
 Thou firft be witnefs, hofpitable Jove ! 
 
 And ev’ry God infpiring focial love ; 
 
 And witnefs ev’ry houfhold pow’r that waits 
 Guard of thefe fires, and angel of thefe gates ! 185 
 
 receives that appellation j I will not call him my matter, 
 for as fuch he never was towards me j I will then call him 
 brother, for he always ufed me with the tendernefs of a 
 brother. * h 6 bTo ; properly fignilies an elder brother. 
 
 What I would further obferve is, the wonderful art of 
 Homer in exalting the character of his hero : he is the 
 braveft and the beft of men, good in every circumftance 
 of life : valiant in war, patient in adverfity, a kind fa¬ 
 ther, hulband, and matter, as well as a mild and merci¬ 
 ful king : by this conduct the poet deeply engages our 
 affe&ions in the good or ill fortune of the hero : he makes 
 himielf matter of our paflions, and we rejoice or grieve at 
 his fuccefs or calamity through the whole Odylfey. 
 
BookXIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 6$ 
 
 Ere the next moon increafe, or this decay, 
 
 His antient realms Ulyfles (hall furvey, 
 
 v. 186. Ere the next moon increafe , or this decay .] Thefe 
 verfes have been thought to be ufed ^enigmatically by 
 Ulyfles. 
 
 Ta ¥ aura XwtaCavl®* B\Evo-fai sv9d¥ ’Oivafftvg, 
 
 Ta [a tv (pBivovl®* /uwo(, t a ¥ ifafAtvoio, 
 
 In the former verfe Euftathius tells us there is a various 
 reading, and judges that it ought be written rS ¥ *Z 
 Ta, and not tS S' 1 «tra j and it muft be allowed that the 
 repetition of Ta gives a greater emphafis to the words, and 
 agrees better with the vehemence of the fpeaker in mak¬ 
 ing his afleveration. 
 
 The latter verfe in the obvious fenfe feems to mean that 
 Ulyfles would return in the fpace of a month, and fo 
 Eumseus underftood it j but in reality it means in the 
 compafs of a day. Solon was the firft who difcovered th e 
 latent fenfe of it, as Plutarch informs us : u Solon, fay s 
 “ that author, obferving the inequality of the months, 
 ( * and that the moon neither agreed with the riling or 
 “ fetting of the fun, but that often in the fame day fhe 
 “ over-took and went before it, named that fame day 
 <( hn ^ vUy the old and ne<w moon j and allotted that part of 
 “ the day that preceded the conjun6tion, to the old moon, 
 i( anti the other part of it to the new j from hence vre 
 may judge that he was the firfl: that comprehended the 
 (( fenfe of this verfe of Homer. 
 
 Ta* fxh <p9tm1o<; /u.»voc, rS ¥ lrct/XEVot$. 
 
 accordingly he named the following day, the day of the 
 ,f neiv moon . Ulyfles then means that he will return on 
 the laft day of the month, for on that day the moon 
 is both old and new j that is, Ihe finiihes one month, 
 and begins another.” This is taken from the life of 
 Solon j but whether the obvious fenfe in which Eumxut 
 
 F 3 
 
7o HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 In blood and duft each proud oppreflor mourn, 
 And the loft glories of his houfe return. 
 
 Nor fhall that meed be thine, nor ever more 190 
 Shall lov’d Ulyffes hail this happy ftiore, 
 
 (Reply’d Eunueus :) to the prefent hour 
 
 Now turn thy thought, and joys within our pow’r. 
 
 From fad reflection let my foul repofe j 
 
 The name of him awakes a thoufand woes. 195 
 
 But guard him G^ds ! and to thefe arms reftore ! 
 
 Not his true confort can defire him more ; 
 
 Not old Laertes, broken with defpair ; 
 
 Not young Telemachus, his blooming heir. 
 
 Alas, Telemachus ! my forrows flow 200 
 
 Afrefh for thee, my fecond caufe of woe ! 
 
 Like fome fair plant fet by a heav’nly hand, 
 
 He grew, he flourifh’d, and he bleft the land ; 
 
 In all the youth his father’s image ftiin’d. 
 
 Bright in his perfon, brighter in his mind. 205 
 
 is fuppofed to underftand it, or the latent meaning of 
 Solon be preferable, is fubmitted to the reader’s judgment; 
 I confefs I fee no occafion to have recourfe to that myfte- 
 rious explication : what Ulyffes intended was to certify 
 Eumoeus, that Ulyffes would affuredly return very l’pee* 
 dily ; and the verfe will have this effe£t, if it be under- 
 flood literally and plainly : befides, Ulyffes is to continue 
 in an abfolute difguife; why then fhould he endanger a 
 difcovery, by ufing an ambiguous fentence, which might 
 poffibly be underftood ? But if it was fo dark that it was 
 utterly unintelligible to Eumaeus, then it is ufedin vain, 
 and a needlefs ambiguity. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 71 
 
 What man, or God, deceiv’d his better fenfe, 
 
 Far on the fwelling feas to wander hence ? 
 
 To diftant Pylos haplefs is he gone, 
 
 To feek his father’s fate, and find his own ! 
 
 For traitors wait his way, with dire defign 210 
 To end at once the great Arcefian line. 
 
 But let us leave him to their wills above ; 
 
 The fates of men are in the hand of Jove. 
 
 And now, my venerable gueft! declare 214, 
 
 Your name, your parents, and your native air : 
 Sincere from whence begun your courfe relate* 
 
 1 
 
 And to what fhip I owe the friendly freight ? 
 
 Thus he: and thus (with prompt invention bold) 
 The cautious chief his ready ftory told. 
 
 On dark referve what better can prevail, 220 
 Or from the fluent tongue produce the tale, 
 
 Than when two friends, alone, in peaceful place "J 
 Confer, and wines and cates the table grace ; i. 
 
 But moft, the kind inviter’s chearful face ? J 
 
 Thus might we fit, with focial goblets crown’d, 
 ’Till the whole circle of the year goes round ; 226 
 
 Not the whole circle of the year wou’d ciofe 
 
 \ 
 
 My long narration of a life of woes. 
 
 But fuch was Heav’n’s high will! Know then, I came 
 From facred Crete, and from a fire of Fame : 230 
 
 v. zz9. —- — Know then , I came 
 
 From facred Crete , —— — ] 
 
 This whole narration is a notable inftance of that artful 
 diflimulation fo remarkable in the char after of UlyiTe$, 
 
 F 4 
 
72 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. RookXIV 
 
 Caftor Hylacides (that name he bore) 
 
 Belov’d and honour’d in his native fhore ; 
 
 Bleft in his riches, in his children more. 
 
 and an evidence that Homer excellently fuftains it through 
 the whole poem ; for Ulyfles appears to be as 
 
 he is reprefented in the firffc line, throughout the Odyfley. 
 This narrative has been both praifed and cenfured by the 
 criticks, efpecially by Rapin. I will lay his obfervations 
 before the readei. 
 
 Homer is guilty of verbofity, and of a tedious prolix 
 manner of fpeaking. He is the greateft talker of all 
 “ antiquity: the very Greeks, though chargeable with 
 “ an excefs this way above all nations, have reprehended 
 e{ Homer for his intemperance of words j he is ever upon 
 (i his rehearfals, and not only of the fame words, but of 
 “ the fame things, and confequently is in a perpetual 
 * c circle of repetitions. It is true he always fpeaks natu- 
 “ rally, but then he always fpeaks too much : his ad- 
 “ ventures in JEgypt, which he relates to Eumaeus, are 
 te truly idle impertinent (lories, purely for amufement ; 
 * l there is no thread in his difcourfe, nor does it feem to 
 “ tend to any propofed end, but exceeds all bounds : that 
 “ yaft fluency of fpeech, and thofe mighty overflowings 
 “ of fancy, make him (hoot beyond the mark. Hence 
 ** his draughts are too accurate, and leave nothing to be 
 te performed by the imagination of the reader, a fault 
 “ which (as Cicero obferves) Apelles found in the antient 
 painters.” This objection is intended only againfl: the 
 fullnefs of Homer’s expreflion, not againfl: the fubjeft of 
 the narration ; for Rapin in another place fpeaking of the 
 beauties of Horner, gives this very ltory as an inftance 
 of his excellency. Thefe are his words : 
 
 “ I (hall fay nothing of all the relations which Ulyfles. 
 “ makes to Eumaeus upon his return to his country, and 
 “ his wonderful management to. bring about his re-eftab-. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 73 
 
 Sprung of a handmaid, from a bought embrace, 
 
 I fhar’d his kindnefs with his lawful race : 235 
 
 “ lifhment; the whole ftory is dreft in colours fo decent, 
 <{ and at the fame time fo noble, that antiquity can hard- 
 “ ly match any part of the narration.” 
 
 If what Rapin remarks in the latter period be true, 
 Homer will eafily obtain a pardon for the fault of pro* 
 lixity, imputed to him in the aforementioned objedtioti. 
 For who would be willing to retrench one of the moffc 
 decent and noble narrations of antiquity, merely for the 
 length of it ? But it may, perhaps, be true that this ftory 
 is not impertinent, but well fuited to carry on the defign 
 of Ulyftes, and confequently tends to a propofed end : for 
 in this confifts the ftrength of Rapin’s obje&ion. 
 
 Nothing is more evident than that the whole fuccefs of 
 Ulyftes depends upon his difguife; a difcovery would be 
 fatal to him, and at once give a fingle unaftifted perfon 
 into the power of his enemies. How then is this difguife 
 to be carried on ? efpecially when Ulyftes in perfon is re¬ 
 quired to give an account of his own ftory ? Muft it not 
 be by afluming the name of another perfon, and giving 
 a plaufible relation of his life, fortunes, and calamities, 
 that brought him to a ftrange country, where he has no 
 acquaintance or friend ? This obliges him to be circum- 
 ftantial, nothing giving a greater air of probability than 
 defcemTing to particularities, and this neceftitates his pro¬ 
 lixity. The whole relation is comprehended in the com- 
 pals of an hundred and feventy lines ; and an epifode of 
 no greater length may not perhaps deferve to be called 
 verbofe, if compared with the length of the Odyftey : nay> 
 there may be a reafon given why it ought to be of a con- 
 fiderable length : there is a paufe in the afrion, while Mi¬ 
 nerva palfes from Ithaca to Telemachus in Lacedaemon : 
 this interval is to be filled up with fome incident relating 
 
 Ulyftes, until Telemachus is prepared to return ; for 
 
74 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 But when that fate, which all mufl undergo, 
 
 From earth remov’d him to the {hades below ; 
 
 The large domain his greedy fons divide, 
 
 And each was portion’d as the lots decide. 
 
 Little alas ! was left my wretched {hare, 24® 
 
 Except a houfe, a covert from the air : 
 
 But what by niggard fortune was deny’d, 
 
 A willing widow’s copious wealth fupply’d. 
 
 his afliftance is necefiary to re-eftablifh the affairs of 
 Ulyifes. This then is a time of leifure, and the poet fills 
 it up with the narrations of Ulyfles till the return of Te- 
 lemachus, and confequently there is room for a long 
 relation. Befides (remarks Euftathius) Homer mterdfts 
 all men of all ages in the ftory, by giving us pieces of true 
 hiftory, antient cuftoms, and exa& defciptions of perfons 
 and places, inftru&ive and delightful to all the world, 
 and thefe incidents are adorned with all the embellifh- 
 ments of eloquence and poetry. 
 
 v. 234. Sprung of a handmaid -] Ulyffes fays he 
 
 was the fon of a concubine: this was not a matter of 
 dilgrace among the antients, concubinage being allowed 
 by the laws. 
 
 The fons call lots for their patrimony, an evidence that 
 this was the pra 61 ice of the antient Greeks. Hence an in¬ 
 heritance had the name kx^ow/xU, that is, from the lots , 
 parents put it to the decifion of the lot, to avoid the envy 
 and imputation of partiality in the diftribution of their 
 eftates. It has been judged that the poet writes according 
 to the Athenian laws, at leaft this cuftom prevailed in the 
 days of Solon ; for he forbad parents who had feveral le. 
 gitimate fons to make a will, but ordered that all the legi. 
 
 timate fons Ihould have an equal fhare of their father’* 
 effects. Eufathius. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 7S 
 
 .1 
 
 My valour was my plea, a gallant mind ^ 
 
 That, true to honour, never lagg’d behind, 245 > 
 (The fex is ever to a foldier kind,) J 
 
 Now wafting years my former ftrength confound, 
 And added woes have bow’d me to the ground ; 
 Yet by the ftubble you may guefs the grain, 
 
 And mark the ruins of no vulgar man. 25® 
 
 Me, Pallas gave to lead the martial ftorm, 
 
 And the fair ranks of battle to deform: 
 
 Me, Mars infpir’d to turn the foe to flight, 
 
 And tempt the fecret ambufti of the night. 
 
 Let ghaftly death in all his forms appear, 251 
 
 I faw him not; it was not mine to fear. 
 
 Before the reft I rais’d my ready fteel ; 
 
 The firft I met, he yielded, or he fell. 
 
 But works of peace my foul difdain’d to bear, 
 
 The rural labour, or domeftick care. 260 
 
 V. 759. — — My foul difdain’d to bear, 
 
 The rural labour -] 
 
 I 
 
 Plutarch, in his comparifon of Ariftides and Cato, cites 
 thefe verfes, 
 
 —» — fgfov Je [xoi a (piXov eVxe*, 
 
 Ov? Sec, 
 
 and tells us, that they who negleCt their private and do¬ 
 meftick concerns, ufually draw their 1'ubiiftence from vio¬ 
 lence and rapine. This is certainly a truth : men are apt 
 to fupply their wants, occafioned by idlenefs, by plunder 
 and injuftice : but it is as certain that no reflection is in- 
 
76 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXIY. 
 
 t ’i 
 
 To raife the mart, the miffile dart to wing. 
 
 And fend fwift arrows from the bounding firing. 
 Were arts the Gods made grateful to my mind; 
 Thofe Gods, who turn (to various ends defign’d) > 
 The var ious thoughts and talents of mankind. 
 Before the Grecians touch’d the Trojan plain, 266 
 Nine times commander or by land or main. 
 
 In foreign fields I fpread my glory far, 
 
 Great in the praife, rich in the fpoils of war: 
 Thence charg’d with riches, as increas’d in fame. 
 To Crete return’d, an honourable name. 271 
 But when great Jove that direful war decreed. 
 Which rous’d all Greece, and made the might? 
 bleed ; 
 
 Our dates myfelf and Idomen employ 
 To lead their fleets, and carry death to Troy. 275 
 Nine years we warr’d ; the tenth faw Ilion fall * 
 Homeward we fail’d, but Heav’n difpers’d us all. 
 One only month my w r ife enjoy’d my flay ; 
 
 So will’d the God who gives and takes away. 
 
 Nine fhips I mann’d, equipp’d with ready flores, 
 Intent to voyage to th’ ^Egyptian fhores j 281 
 
 tended to be call upon this way of living by Ulyfles,for in 
 his age piracy was not only allowable, but glorious ; and 
 fudden inroads and incurfions were pra&ifed by the great- 
 eft heroes. Homer therefore only intends to (hew that the 
 difpofition of Ulyfies inclined him to purfue the more 
 dangerous, but more glorious, way of living by war, than 
 the more lucrative, but more fecure method of life, by 
 agriculture and hulbandry. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 77 
 
 In feafl: and facrifice my chofen train 
 Six days confum’cl; the feventh we plough’d the 
 main. 
 
 Crete’s ample fields diminifh to our eye ; 
 
 Before the Boreal blafts the veflels fly ; 285 
 
 Safe thro’ the level feas we fweep our way ; 
 
 The (leer-man governs, and the (hips obey. 
 
 The fifth fair morn we ftem th’ ^Egyptian tide: 
 And tilting o’er the bay the vefTels ride : 
 
 To anchor there my fellows I command, 29® 
 And fpies commiflion to explore the land. 
 
 But foray’d by luft of gain, and headlong will. 
 
 The coafls they ravage, and the natives kill. 
 
 The fpreading clamour to their city flies. 
 
 And horfe and foot in mingled tumult rife. 295 
 The red’ning dawn reveals the circling fields 
 Horrid with brifliy fpears, and glancing fhields. 
 Jove thunder’d on their fide. Our guilty head "l 
 We turn’d to flight > the gathering vengeance i 
 fprcad 299 f 
 
 On all parts round, and heaps on heaps lie dead. J 
 I then explor’d my thought, what courfe to prove ? 
 (And fure the thought was dictated by Jove, 
 
 Oh had he left me to that happier doom, 
 
 And fav’d a life of miferies to come !) 
 
 The radiant helmet from my brows unlac’d, 305 
 And low on earth my fhield and javelin caft, 
 
 I meet the monarch with a fuppliant’s face, 
 Approach his chariot, and his knees embrace. 
 
58 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 ‘ I 
 
 He heard, he fav’d, he plac’d me at his fide; 
 
 My flate he pity’d, and my tears he dry'd, 310 
 Reftrain’d the rage the vengeful foe exprefl, 
 
 And turn’d the deadly weapons from my breafl. 
 Pious ! to guard the hofpitable rite, 
 
 And fearing Jove, whom mercy’s works delight. 
 
 In iEgypt thus with peace and plenty bleft, 315 
 I liv’d (and happy {bill had liv’d) a gueft, 
 
 On fev’n bright years fucceffiye bleflings wait; 
 
 The next chang’d all the colour of my fate. 
 
 A falfe Phoenician of infiduous mind, 
 
 Vers’d in vile arts, and foe to humankind, 320 
 With femblance fair invites me to his home j 
 I feiz’d the proffer (ever fond to roam) 
 
 Domeflick in his faithlefs roof I flay’d, 
 
 ’Till the fwift fun his annual circle made. 
 
 To Lybia then he meditates the way ; 325 
 
 With guileful art a flranger to betray, 
 
 And fell to bondage in a foreign land: 
 
 Much doubting, yet compell’d, I quit the flrand. 
 Thro’ the mid feas the nimble pinnace fails, 
 
 Aloof from Crete, before the northern gales : 330 
 But when remote her chalky cliffs we loft, 
 
 And far from ken of any other coafl, 
 
 When all was wild expanfe of fea and air ; 
 
 Then doom’d high Jove due vengeance to pre¬ 
 pare, 
 
 He hung a night of horrours o’er their head, 3^5 
 (The fhaded ocean blacken’d as it fpread) 
 
BookXIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. *j 9 
 
 He lanch’d the fiery bolt; from pole to pole 
 Broad burft the lightnings, deep the thunders roll; 
 In giddy rounds the whirling fhip is toft, 
 
 And all in clouds of fmoth’ring fulphur loft. 340 
 As from a hanging rock’s remendous height, 
 
 The fable crows with intercepted flight 
 Drop endlong; fcarr’d and black with fulph’rous 
 hue : 
 
 So from the deck are hurl’d the ghaftly crew. 
 
 Such end the wicked found ! But Jove’s intent 
 Was yet to fave-th’ oppreft and innocent. 346 
 Plac’d on the maft (the laft recourfe of life) 
 
 With winds and waves I held unequal ftrife ; 
 
 For nine long days the billows tilting o’er. 
 
 The tenth foft wafts me to Thefprotia’-s fhore. 350 
 The monarch’s fon a fhepwreckt wretch reliev’d. 
 The fire with hofpitable rites receiv’d, 
 
 And in his palace like a brother plac’d, 
 
 With gifts of price and gorgeous garments 
 grac’d. 
 
 While here I fojourn’d, oft’ I heard the fame 355 
 How late Ulyfles to the country came. 
 
 How lov’d, how honour’d in this court he ftay’d. 
 And here his whole collected treafure lay’d ; 
 
 I faw myfelf the vaft unnumber’d ftore 
 Of fteel elab’rate, and refulgent ore, 360 
 
 And brafs high heap’d amidft the regal dome ; 
 Immense fupplies for ages yet to come ! 
 
So HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXIV. 
 
 Meantime he voyag’d to explore the will 
 Of Jove on high Dodona’s holy hill, 
 
 v, 363 — Hevoyag'd to explore the 'will 
 Of Jo-ve on high Dodona s holy hill.] 
 
 Thefe oaks of Dodona were held to be oraculous, and to 
 be endued with fpeech, by the antients ; and pigeons 
 were fuppofed to be the priefteffes of the Deity. Herodotus 
 in Euterpe gives a full account of what belongs to this 
 oracle, who tells us, that he was informed by the prieft- 
 efies of Dodona, that two black pigeons flew away from 
 Thebes in Egypt, and one of them perching upon a tree 
 in Dodona, admonifhed the inhabitants with a human 
 voice, to erecl an oracle in that place to Jupiter. But 
 Herodotus folves this fable after the following manner : 
 “ There were two priefteffes carried away from iEgypt, 
 “ and one of them was fold by the Phoenicians in Greece, 
 “ where fhe in her fervitude confecrated an altar to Ju- 
 u piter under an oak; the Dodonseans gave her the 
 “ name of a pigeon becaufe fhe was a barbarian, and her 
 i( fpeech at firft no more underftood than the chattering 
 “ of a bird or pigeon$ but as foon as fhe had learned 
 
 the Greek tongue, it was prefently reported that the 
 “ pigeon fpoke with an human voice. She had the epi- 
 u thet Blacky becaufe fhe was an ^Egyptian.” 
 
 Euftathius informs us, that Dodona was antiently a 
 city of Thefprotia; and in procefs of time the limits of it 
 being changed, it became of the country of the Mo- 
 loflians, that is, it lay between Theffaly and Epirus. Near 
 this city was a mountain named Timarusor Timourus : on 
 this mountain there ftood a temple, and within the precin< 51 s 
 of it were thefe oraculous oaks of Jupiter: this was the 
 moft antient temple of Greece, according to Herodotus, 
 founded by the Pelafgians, and at firft ferved by priefti 
 called Selli} and theGoddefs Dionc being joined with Ju¬ 
 piter in the worfhip, the fervice was performed by three 
 
BbokXIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 8r 
 
 What means might beft his fafe return avail, 365 
 To come in pomp, or bear a fecret fail ? 
 
 aged prieftefles, called in the Moloffian tongue as 
 
 old men were called (perhaps from the corrupted 
 
 word 'araXuioi, or antients) and the fame word •srlxewt flg- 
 nifying alfo pigeons, gave occafion to the fable of the tem¬ 
 ple of Dodona having doves for prieftefles. But if, as He¬ 
 rodotus affirms, the Phoenicians fold this prieftefs of Ju- 
 piter originally to the Greeks, it is probable they were 
 called doves, after the Phoenician language, in which the 
 fame word, with a fmall alteration, fignifies both a dove 
 and a prieftefs. See note on v. 75. of the twelfth OdylTey. 
 
 Euftathius gives us another folution of this difficulty, 
 and telis us, that as there were ttcy^vleig, or augurs , who 
 drew predictions from the flight and geftures of Crows; fo 
 there were others who predicted from obfervations made 
 upon doves ; and from hence thefe doves were called the 
 prophetefles of Dodona, that being the way by which the 
 decrees of the Gods weredifcovered by the augurs. 
 
 I have remarked that the temple of Dodona flood upon 
 the mouutain Timourus; hence the word rlyugcu came to 
 fignify thofe oracles, and thus t iystf& is ufed by Lyco- 
 phron. Now Homer in another place writes, 
 
 E? yi yh ah/rio-ea-t Aio; yzfuXoio $ iyig-Bg. 
 
 Strabo therefore, inftead of 3 s yurts, reads rlye^ai ; for, ob- 
 ferves that author, ti e oracles, not the laws of Jupiter, 
 are preferved at Dodona. Euftathius. 
 
 But whence arofe the fable of thefe oaks being vocal ? I 
 doubt not but this w r as an illufton of thofe who gave out 
 the oracles to the people : they concealed themfelves 
 within the cavities or hollow of the oaks, and from thence 
 delivered their oracles; and impofmgby this method upon 
 the fuperftition and credulity of thole ages, perfuaded the 
 world that the Gods gave a voice and utterance to the oaks. 
 Vos.. III. G 
 
g2 HOMER's ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 Full oft’ has Phidon, whild he pour’d the wine, 
 Atteding folemn all the Pow’rs divine, 
 
 That foon Ulyfles would return, declar’d, 
 
 The Tailors waiting, and the {hips prepar’d. 370 
 But firft the king difmifs’d me from his fhores, 
 
 For fair Dulichium crown’d with fruitful {lores ; 
 
 To good Acadus’ friendly care confign’d : 
 
 But other counfels pleas’d the failors mind: 
 
 New frauds were plotted by the faithlefs train, 
 
 And mifery demands me once again. 37$ 
 
 Soon as remote from fhore they plough the wave, 
 With ready hands they rufii to feize their Have; 
 Then with thefe tatter’d rags they wrapt me round, 
 (Stript of my own) and to the veflel bound. 380 
 At eve, at Ithaca’s delightful land 
 The (hip arriv’d: forth-ifluing on the fand 
 They fought repaid ; while to th’ unhappy kind, 
 
 The pitying Gods themfelves my chains unbind. 
 Soft I defcended, to the fea apply’d 385 
 
 My naked bread, and {hot along the tide. 
 
 Soon pad beyond their fight, I left the flood, 
 
 And took the fpreading ihelter of the wood. 
 
 Their prize efcap’d the faithlefs pirates mourn’d ; 
 But deem’d enquiry vain, and to their {hip re¬ 
 turn’d. 390 
 
 I refer the reader, for a larger account of thefe Dodo- 
 noean oracles, to the annotations upon book xvi. verfir 285. 
 of the Iliad. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 S3 
 
 Screen’d by protecting Gods from hoftile eyes, 
 
 They led me to a good man and a wife * 
 
 To live beneath thy hofpitable care, 
 
 And wait the woes Heav'n dooms me yet to bear. 
 
 v. 391. Screen'd by protecting Gods from hofile eyes , ' 
 
 They led me to a good man and a ‘wife. ] 
 
 This is a very artful compliment which Ulylfes pays to Eu- 
 mseus : The Gods guided me to the habitation of a perfon of 
 wifdom , and names not Eumasus, leaving it to him to ap¬ 
 ply it. 
 
 I doubt not but the reader agrees with Ulylfes as to the 
 character of Eumseus ; there is an air of piety to the Gods 
 in all hefpeaks, and benevolence to mankind ; he is faith¬ 
 ful to his king, upright in his trull, and hofpitable to the 
 ftranger. 
 
 Dacier is of opinion, that <*%$$$? Imrzumio takes in virtue 
 as well as wifdom ; and indeed Homer frequently joins 
 vohfxoveq rM Sfitaicj, and v't Yikblici ; that is, wifdom. 
 
 and virtue, folly and impiety, throughout the Odylfey. 
 For never, never wicked man was wife. Virtue in a great 
 meafure depends upon education : it is a fcience, and may 
 be learned like other fciences ; in reality, there is no 
 knowledge that deferves the name without virtue ; if vir¬ 
 tue be wanting, fcience becomes artifice : as Plato demon- 
 ftrates from Homer; who, though he is an enemy to this 
 poet, has enriched his writings with his fentiments. 
 
 v. 394. And vj ait the woes Heav'n dooms me yet to bear.] 
 It may not perhaps be unfatisfadtory to fee how Ulylfes 
 keeps in light of truth through this whole fabulous, ftory. 
 
 He gives a true account of his being at the war of 
 Troy ; he flays feven years in /Egypt, fo long he conti¬ 
 nued with Calypfo ; the king of /Egypt, whofe name Eu- 
 
 G 2 
 
84 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Rook XIV. 
 
 Unhappy gueft! whofeforrows touch my mind! 395 
 (Thus good Eumseus with a figh rejoin’d) 
 
 For real fufF’rings fince I grieve fincere, 
 
 Check not with fallacies the fpringing tear; 
 
 Nor turn the paflion into groundlefs joy 
 
 For him, whom Heav'n has deftin’d to deftroy. 400 
 
 Oh ! had he perifht on fome well-fought day, 
 
 Or in his friends embraces dy’d away ! 
 
 That grateful Greece with ftreaming eyes might 
 raife 
 
 Hiftorick marbles, to record his praife : 
 
 ffathius tells us was Sethon, according to the antients, en¬ 
 tertains him hofpitably like that Goddefs ; a Phoenician 
 detains him a whole year; the fame has been obferved of 
 Circe j the veil'd of this Phoenician is loft by a ftorm, and 
 all the crew perilhes except UlylTes: the fame is true 
 of all the companions of UlylTes. He is thrown upon 
 the land of the Thefprotians by that tempeff, and re¬ 
 ceived courteoully by Phidon, the king of that country ; 
 this reprefents his being call upon the Phasacian fliore by 
 the Itorm, and the hofpitable Phidon means Alcinous, 
 king of the Phaeacians : the manner likewife of his being 
 introduced to Phidon, agrees with his introduction to 
 Alcinous j the daughter introduces him to Alcinous, 
 and the fon to Phidon. Thus we fee there is a concordia 
 dtfcors through the whole narration, the poet only chang¬ 
 ing the names of perfons and places. UlylTes lay under 
 an abfolute neceffity thus to falfify his true hiltory, and 
 reprefent himfelf as a Itranger to the whole Illand of Itha¬ 
 ca, otherwife it would have been natural for Eumaeus to 
 offer to guide him to his friends, upon which a difcovery 
 mult inevitably have followed, which would have proved 
 fatal to that hero. 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY 
 
 His praife, eternal on the faithful ftone. 
 
 Had with tranfmiffive honours grac’d his fon. 
 
 Now fnatch’d by harpies to the dreary coaft, 
 
 Sunk is the hero, and his glory loft! 
 
 While penfive in this folitary den, 
 
 Far from gay cities, and the ways of men, 
 
 I linger life ; nor to the court repair, 
 
 But when the conftant queen commands my care ; 
 
 v. 407. Non# fnatch'd by harpies •— —] This place 
 feems to evince, that the exprefiion of being torn by the 
 harpies, means that the dead perfon is deprived of the 
 rites of fepulture ; and not as Dacier underftands it, that 
 he is difappeared, or that it is unknown what is become 
 of him : for the whole lamentation of Eumaeus turns 
 upon this point, namely, that UlylTes is dead, and de¬ 
 prived of the funeral ceremonies. 
 
 v. 411.- Nor to the court repair , 
 
 But nvhen the queen -] 
 
 It may appear, at firft view, as if Eumaeus thought his 
 abfence from the court an aggravation to his calamities : 
 but this is not his meaning : he fpeaks thus to prevent 
 UlyfTes fromafking him to introduce him immediately to 
 Penelope 5 and this is the reafon why he enlarges upon 
 the dory of the ./Etolian, who had deceived him by raif- 
 ing his immediate expeditions of the return of UlyfTes. 
 
 It is remarkable, that almofl all thefe fidlions are made 
 by Cretans, or have Tome relationto theilland of the Cre¬ 
 tans : thus UlyfTes feigns himfelf to be of Crete, and this 
 ,/Etolian lays the Tcene of his falfhood in the fame ifland : 
 which, as Euftathius obferves, may poflibly be a latent 
 fatyr upon that people, who were become a reproach and 
 proverb for their remarkable lying. This agrees exadfly 
 
 G 3 
 
 85 
 
 405 
 
86 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 Or when, to tafle her hofpitable board. 
 
 Some gueft arrives, with rumours of her lord ; 
 
 And thefe indulge their want, and thofe their 
 woe, 415 
 
 And here the tears, and there the goblets flow. 
 
 By many fuch I have been warn’d ; but chief 
 By one /Etolian robb’d of all belief, 
 
 Whofe hap it was to this our roof to roam, 
 
 For murder banifh’d from his native home, 420 
 
 He fwore, Ulyfles on the coal! of Crete 
 Staid but a feafon to refit his fleet 5 
 
 with the character given them by St. Paul from Epime- 
 nides. 
 
 K dzi ^evfai. 
 
 And xgyfllfeiv fignifies to lie,. 
 
 St. Chryfoftom fills up the broken verfe thus, 
 
 — — ydg rd<pcv } cb dva y crtio 
 KfvrE? et sxlpvczviof a-'v o’ d stcI yds ahl. 
 
 Put this is added from Callimachus in his hymn to Jupi¬ 
 ter, thus mandated by Mr. Prior, 
 
 The Cretan boafts thy natal place: but oft’. 
 
 He meets reproof deferv’d : for he prefumptuous 
 bias built a tomb for thee, who never know’ll 
 To die, but liv’d: the fame to day and ever. 
 
 That the latter part of thefe verfes belongs to Epimenides* 
 is evident, for Sr. Paul quotes the verfe thus: 
 
 Kgrrsc dst 4f^ra«, flc-nd 
 
 The two lad; words are not in Callimachus, and conse¬ 
 quently the reft is only a conjectural and erroneous ad* 
 ditieui. 
 
BookXIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 87 
 
 A few revolving months fhou’d waft him o’er, 
 Fraught with bold warriours, and a boundlefs (lore. 
 O thou! whom age has taught to underhand, 
 
 And Heav’n has guided with a fav’ring hand ! 426 
 On God or mortal to obtrude a lie 
 Forbear, and dread to flatter, as to die. 
 
 Not for fuch ends my houfe and heart are free, 
 
 But dear refpe£t to Jove, and charity. 430 
 
 And why, oh fwain of unbelieving mind! 
 
 (Thus quick reply’d the wifeft of mankind) 
 
 Doubt you my oath ? yet more my faith to try, 
 
 A folemn compact let us ratify, - . > 
 
 And witnefs ev’ry Pow’r that rules the Iky ! 435 J 
 
 If here Ulyfles from his labours reft, 
 
 Be then my prize a tunick and a veil; 
 
 And, where my hopes invite me, ftraight tranfport 
 In fafety to Dulichium’s friendly court. 
 
 But if he greets not thy defiring eye, 440 ^ 
 
 Hurl me from yon’ dread precipice on high ; s 
 
 The due reward of fraud and perjury. 3 
 
 Doubtlefs, oh gueft ! great laud and praife were 
 mine 
 
 (Reply’d the fwain for fpotlefs faith divine) 
 
 If, after focial rites and gifts bellow’d, 445 
 
 I ftain’d my hofpitable hearth with blood, 
 
 How would the Gods my righteous toils fucceed. 
 And blefs the hand that made a ftranger bleed ? 
 
 No more—th’ approaching hours of filent night 
 
 Firft claim refection, then to reft invite j 450 
 
 G 4 
 
88 HOMER’s ODYSSEY/ Book XIV. 
 
 Beneath our humble cottage let us hafte, 
 
 And here, unenvy’d, rural dainties tafte. 
 
 Thus commun’d thefe; while to their lowly 
 dome 
 
 The full-fed fwine return’d with evening home ; 
 CompelFd, reluctant, to their fev’ral flies, 455 
 With din obftrep’rous, and ungrateful cries. 
 
 Then to the {laves—Now from the herd the befl 
 Sele£f, in honour of our foreign gueft: 
 
 With him, let us the genial banquet {hare, 
 
 For great and many are the griefs we bear ; 460 
 
 While thofe who from our labours heap their board, 
 Blafpheme their feeder, and forget their lord. 
 
 v. 455. Comp ell'd , relu£lant> to their fenj'ral JHes , 
 
 With din obflrefrous , and imgrateful cries. ] 
 
 There is fcarce a more fonorous verfe in the whole Odyfiey. 
 
 S’ao-’jrsl@> J cvSn al}.i^o/u£vdsnv. 
 
 The word fwine is what debates our idea; which is evi¬ 
 dent, if we fubflitute Shepherd in the room of Hogherd, 
 and apply to it the moft pompous epithet given by Homer 
 to Eumaeus. For inftance, to fay or the illuftrious 
 hogherd is mean enough : but the image is more tolerable 
 when we fay, the illuftrious fhepherd ; the office of a ffiep- 
 herd (efpecially as it is familiarized and dignified in poetry 
 by the frequent ufe of it) being in repute. The Greeks 
 have magnificent words to exprefs the moft common ob¬ 
 jects: we want words of equal dignity, and have the dif- 
 gdvantage of being obliged to endeavour to raife a fub- 
 je£t that is now in the utmoft contempt, fo as to guard it. 
 from meanpefs and ignominy. 
 
BookXIV. HOMERS ODYSSEY. g 9 
 
 Thus fpeaking, with difpatchful hand he took 
 A weighty ax, and cleft the folid oak ; 
 
 This on the earth he pil’d ; a boar full fed 465 
 Of five years age, before the pile was led: 
 
 The fwain, whom a£ls of piety delight, 
 
 Obfervant of the Gods begins the rite ; 
 
 Firft {hears the forehead of the briftly boar, "J 
 
 And fuppliant {lands, invoking ev’ry Pow’r 470 5 - 
 To fpeed Ulyfles to his native fhore. J 
 
 v. 469. Firjl J,hears the forehead of the briflly boar.~\ I have 
 already obferved, that every meal among the antients was 
 a kind of facrifice and thankfgiving to the Gods j and the 
 table, as it were, an altar. 
 
 This facrifice being different from any other in Homer, 
 I will fully defcribe the particulars of it from Euftathius. 
 It is a rural facrifice ; we have before feen facrifices in 
 camps, in courts, and in cities, in the Iliad j but this is 
 the only one of this nature in all Homer. 
 
 They cut off the hair of the vi£fim in commemoration 
 of the original way of cloathing, which was made of hair 
 and the flcins of beafts. 
 
 Eumaeus ftrows flour upon it5 in remembrance, that be* 
 fore incenfe was in ufe, this was the antient manner of of¬ 
 fering to the Gods, or as Dacier obferves, of confecrat- 
 ing the vkftim, inftead of the barley mixed with fait, 
 which had the name of immolation. 
 
 Eumaeus cut a piece from every part of the vidlim 5 by 
 this he made it an holocauf , or an entire facrifice. 
 
 Eumaeus divides the reft at fupper ; which was always 
 the office of the moft honourable perfon j and thus we fee 
 Achilles and other heroes employed throughout the Iliad. 
 He portions it into feven partsj one he allots to Mercury 
 
9 a HOME TVs ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 A knotty ftake then aiming at his head, 
 
 Down dropp’d he groaning, and the fpirit fled. 
 
 The fcorching flames climb round on ev’ry fide; 
 Then the flndg’d members they with fkill divide; 
 On thefe, in rolls of fat involv’d with art, 476 
 The choiceft morfels lay from ev’ry part. 
 
 Some in, the flames beftrow’d with flour, they 
 threw: 
 
 Some cut in fragments, from the forks they drew ; 
 Thefe while on fev’ral tables they difpofe, 480 
 As prieft himfelf the blamelefs ruftick rofe ; 
 
 Expert the deftin’d victim to dif-part 
 In fev’n juft portions, pure of hand and heart. 
 
 One facred to the Nymphs apart they lay; 
 
 Another to the winged fon of May : 485 
 
 and the Nymphs, and the reft he referves for himfelf, 
 Ulyfles, and his four fervants. He gives the chine to 
 Ulyfies, which was ever reputed an honour and diftinc- 
 tion ; thus Ajax after a victory over Heitor, is rewarded 
 in the fame manner. 
 
 'Kcutokti o'’ A "avia hnivniicrai ytgai^iv, 
 
 ’ArgJiS'wf. 
 
 V. 484.. One facred to the Nymphs — — 
 
 Another to the winged fon of May.] 
 
 It may be ailced why Eumceus allots part of the viitim to 
 Mercury and the Nymphs, fmce there is nothing of the 
 like nature to be found in the whole Iliad and Odyfley ? 
 This is done in compliance to the place and perfon of 
 Eumseus, whofe employment lies in the country, and 
 
Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 91 
 
 The rural tribe in common {hare the reft, 
 
 The king the chine, the honour of the feaft, 
 
 Who fat delighted at his fervant’s board ; 
 
 The faithful fervant joy’d his unknown lord. 
 
 Oh be thou dear, (UlyfTes cry’d) to Jove, 490 
 As well thou claim’ft a grateful ftranger’s love ! 
 
 Be then thy thanks, (the bounteous fwain reply’d) 
 Enjoyment of the good the Gods provide. 
 
 who has the care of the herds of UlyfTes ; he therefore of¬ 
 fers to the Nymphs, as they are the presidents of the foun¬ 
 tains, rivers, groves, and furnifh fuftenance and food for 
 cattle : and Mercury was held by the antients to be the 
 patron of fhepherds. Thus Simonides, 
 
 ©u«ivNu ( u<j>ajf k, M 71x03 
 O.tw yctg avS'gaiv aTfs.ct, ‘Woifx.al'jxV* 
 
 Euflathius adds, (from whom this is taken) that Mer¬ 
 cury was a lucrative God, and therefore Euraoeus facri- 
 fices to him for increafe of his herds : or becaufe he was 
 i o\i<& and, like UlyfTes, matter of all the arts of cun¬ 
 
 ning and diffimulation, and then Eumasus may be under¬ 
 flood to offer to him for the fafety of UlyfTes, that he 
 might furnifh him with artifice to bring him in fecurity to 
 his country ; and we fee this agrees with his prayer. 
 
 What Dacieradds is yet more to the purpofe. Eumseus 
 joins Mercury with the Nymphs becaufe he was patron of 
 flocks, and the antients generally placed the figure of a 
 ram at the bafe of his images ; fometimes he is repre- 
 fented carrying a ram upon his arms, fometimes upon 
 his fhoulders: in fhort it fuffices that he was efteemed a 
 rural Deity, to make the facrifice proper to be offered to. 
 him by a perfon whofe occupation lay in the country. 
 
9 2 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 From God’s own hand defccnd our joys and woes ; 
 Thefe he decrees, and he but fufFers thofe : 495 
 
 All pow’r is his, and whatfoe’er he wills, 
 
 The will itfelf, omnipotent, fulfills. 
 
 This faid, theTrft-fruits to the Gods he gave ; 
 
 Then pour’d of offer’d wine the fable wave: 
 
 In great Ulyffes’ hand he plac’d the bowl, 500 
 He fat, and fweet refection chear’d his foul. 
 
 The bread from caniflers Mefaulius gave, 
 
 (Eumseus’ proper treafure bought this Have, 
 
 And led from Taphos, to attend his board, 
 
 A fervant added to his abfent lord) 505 
 
 v. 504. — — And led from 'Taphos.] This cuflom of 
 purchafing flaves prevailed over all frhe world, as appears 
 not only from many places of Homer, but of the holy 
 Scriptures, in which mention is made of flaves bought 
 with money. The Taphians lived in a fmallifland adja¬ 
 cent to Ithaca: Mentes was king of it, as appears from 
 the firft of the Odyffey : they were generally pirates, and 
 are fuppofed to have had their name from their way of 
 living, which in the Phoenician tongue (as Bochart ob- 
 ferves) fignifies rapine: Hataph , and by contraction Taph f 
 bearing that fignification. 
 
 Frequent life has been made of the Phoenician interpre_ 
 tations through the courfe of thefe notes, and perhaps it 
 may be judged neceffai y to fay fomething why they may 
 be fuppofed to give names to countries and perfons more 
 than any other nation. 
 
 They are reported to be the inventors of letters, Lucan, 
 lib. iii. 
 
 t( Phcenices primi, famx fi creditin', aufi 
 Manfuram rudibus vocem fignare figuris.” 
 
93 
 
 Book XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY* 
 
 His talk it was the wheaten loaves to lay. 
 
 And from the banquet take the bowls away. 
 
 And now the rage of hunger was repreft, 
 
 And each betakes him to his couch to reft. 509 
 
 and were the greateft navigators in the world. Dionyfius 
 fays they were the firft, 
 
 Of <nr^a;T0i vveortv iTnitfvrado SiXarcnc, 
 
 . IlgWTOl y IfJLTTO^Uq ttAjS'm©-' s/uvitrcivlo. 
 
 *The firft who ufied navigation, the firft who trafficked by the 
 ocean. If we put thefe two ' qualities together? it is no 
 wonder that a great number of places were called by Phoe¬ 
 nician names : for they being the firft navigators, rauft 
 neceftarily difcover a multitude of iflands, countries, and 
 cities, to which they would be obliged to give names 
 when they defcribed them. And nothing is fo probable 
 as that they gave thofe names according to the observa¬ 
 tions they made upon the nature of the feveral countries, 
 or employment of the inhabitants. In the prefent in- 
 ftance, the Taphians being remarkable pirates, as ap¬ 
 pears from Homer, 
 
 — — T dfmi WrcfEfsh'S'fE? 
 
 — — Xvicrgcriv t7ricr7rsp.EV& 1 Tct<pioi<rt.J 
 
 The Phoenicians, who firft difcovered this ifiand, called it 
 T'aph, the Ifiand of Pirates. Places receive appellations 
 according to the language of the difcoverer, and gene¬ 
 rally from obfervations made upon the people. It will 
 add a weight to this fuppohtion, if we remember that Ho¬ 
 mer was well acquainted with the traditions and cuf- 
 toms of the Phoenicians; for he fpeaks frequently of that 
 people through the courfe of the Odyfiey. 
 
$4 HOME R’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 Now came the night, and darknefs cover’d o’er 
 The face of things *, the winds began to roar ; 
 
 V. 510. Now came the nighty — — 
 
 —- —*'the winds began to roar $ &c.] 
 
 Euftathius obferves, that Homer introduces the following 
 (lory by a very artful connexion, and makes it, as it were, 
 grow out of the fubjeft : the coldnefs of the prefent fea- 
 fbn brings to his mind a time like it, when he lay before 
 Troy. 
 
 It is remarkable, that almoft all poets have taken an op¬ 
 portunity to give long defcriptions of the night j Virgil, 
 Statius, Apollonius, TalTo, and Dryden, have enlarged 
 upon this fubjeft : Homer feems induftrioufly to have 
 avoided it: perhaps he judged fuch defcriptions to be no 
 more than excrefcencies, and at beft but beautiful fuper- 
 fluities. A modern hyper-critick thinks Mr. Dryden to 
 have excelled all the poets in this point. 
 
 All things are huffi’d as nature’s felf lay dead. 
 
 The mountains feem to nod their drowfy head, &c. 
 
 Thelaft verfe is franflated from Statius, 
 
 “ Et fimulant felfos curvata cacumina fomnos.” 
 
 which I mention only to propofe it to confideration, whe¬ 
 ther cacumina muft, in this place, of neceffity lignify the 
 tops of mountains ; why may it not be applied, as it is 
 frequently, to the tops of the trees ? I queftion whether'thc 
 nodding of a mountain, or the appearance of its nodding,, 
 be a natural image : whereas if we underhand it of the 
 trees, the difficulty vaniffies; and the meaning w ill be 
 much more eafy, that the very trees feem to nod, as in 
 fleep. 
 
 I beg the reader's patience to mention another verfe of 
 Statius, that has been undoubtedly miftaken. 
 
95 
 
 Boot XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 The driving ftorm the wat’ry weft-wind pours, 
 
 And Jove defcends iii deluges of ftiow’rs. 
 
 Studious of reft and warmth, UlyiTes lies, 
 Forefeeing from the firft the ftorm would rife ; 
 
 In mere neceffity of coat and cloak, 516 
 
 With artful preface to his hoft he fpoke. 
 
 Hear me, my friends ! who this good banquet 
 grace ; 
 
 5 Tis fweet to play the fool in time and place, 
 
 <( Qualis ubi audito venantum murmure Tigris, 
 
 «* Horruit in maculas.” — — 
 
 Which Cowley renders, 
 
 — — he fwells with angry pride, 
 
 And calls forth all his fpots on ev’ry fide. 
 
 In which fenfe alfo the author of the Spectator quotes it 
 from Cowley. But it is impofiible to imagine that the 
 hair of any creature can change into fpots; and if any 
 creature could change it by anger, would not the fpots re¬ 
 main when the palfion was over ? The aflertion is abfolute- 
 ly againft nature, and matter of fa6t; and as abfurdas to 
 affirm that the hair of a tiger blufhes. This miflake aril'es 
 from the double fenfe of the word macula, which lignifies 
 alfo the mejhes of a net , as any common dictionary will 
 inform us. So Tully, Reticulum mihutis maculis 5 Colu¬ 
 mella, Rete grandi macula 5 Ovid, Dijlinftum maculis rete. 
 This way the fenfe is obvious; no wonder that a tiger, 
 when inclofed in the toils, fhould horrere m maculis , or 
 ereCt his hair when he flies againft the mefhes, endeavour- 
 ingto efcape ; and it agrees with the nature cf that ani¬ 
 mal, to roughen his hair when he is angry. I beg the 
 reader’s pardon for all this j but the mention of a hyper- 
 critick was infeCting, and led me into it unawares. 
 
g 6 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV* 
 
 And wine can of their wits the wife beguile, 520 
 Make the fage frolick, and the ferious fmile, 
 
 The grave in merry meafures folk about. 
 
 And many a long-repented word bring out. 
 
 Since to be talkative I now commence, 
 
 Let wit call off the fullen yoke of fenfe. 525 
 
 Once I wasftrong (wou’d Heav’n reftore thofe days) 
 And with my betters claim’d a fhare of praife. 
 Ulyffes, Menelaus led forth a band, 
 
 And join’d me with them, (’twas their own com¬ 
 mand ;) 
 
 A deathful ambufh for the foe to lay, 530 
 
 Beneath Troy walls by night we took our way: 
 There, clad in arms, along the marfhes fpread, 
 
 We made the olier-fringed bank our bed. 
 
 Full foon th’ inclemency of Heav’n I feel, 
 
 Nor had thefe fhoulders cov’ring, but of fteel. 
 
 Sharp blew the north ; fnow whitening all the 
 fields 536 
 
 Froze with the blaft, and gath’ring glaz’d our fhields. 
 There all but I, well fenc’d with cloak and veil:. 
 
 Lay cover’d by their ample fhields at reft. 
 
 Fool that I was ! I left behind my own ; 540 *1 
 
 ♦The Ikill of weather and of winds unknown, > 
 And trufted to my coat and Ihield alone! J 
 
 y. 540. I left behind my cloak, &c.] To underfland this 
 paflage, we mull remember, that in thofe eaftern regions, 
 after very hot days an extream cold night would fome- 
 tirnes fucceed, even with froft and fnow, contrary to the 
 
Boole XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 97 
 
 When now was wafted more than half the night. 
 
 And the ftars faded at approaching light; 
 
 Sudden I jogg’d Ulyfles, who was laid 545 
 
 Faft by my fide, and fhiv’ring thus I faid : 
 
 Here longer in this field I cannot lie, 
 
 The winter pinches, and with cold I die, 
 
 And die afham’d (oh wifeft of mankind) 
 
 The only fool who left his cloak behind. 550 
 
 He thought, and anfwer’d: hardly waking yet. 
 Sprung in his mind the momentary witj 
 (That wit, which or in council, or in fight, 
 
 Still met th’ emergence, and determin’d right) 554, 
 Hufh 'thee, he cry’d, (foft-whifp’ring in my ear) 
 Speak not a word, left any Greek may hear— 
 
 And then (fupporting on his arm his head) 
 
 Hear me, companions ! (thus aloud he faid) 
 
 ufual order of the feafon. If it had been winter, no doubt 
 Ulyfles would have armed himfelf againft the nofturnal 
 cold, and not have been reduced to fuch an extremity. 
 
 There is one incident in this llory that feems extraordi¬ 
 nary : Ulyfles and Menelaus are faid to form an ambulh 
 under the very walls of Troy, and yet are defer-ibed to be 
 fleeping while they thus form it. The words are eZfov 
 ttunXoi. eSS 'ov does not neceflarily flgnify to be afleep, as is 
 already proved from the concluflon of the firfl: Iliad : but 
 here it muft have that import; for Ulyfles tells his com¬ 
 panions, that he has had an extraordinary dream. Be- 
 fides, even a tendency towards fleep fliould be avoided by 
 foldiers in an ambufeade, efpecially by the leaders of it. 
 The only anfwer that occurs to me is, that perhaps they 
 had centinels waking while they fleptj but even this 
 would be unfoldier-like in our age. 
 
 Vo l. III. H 
 
98 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV. 
 
 Methinks too diflant from the fleet we lie : 560 
 
 Ev’n now a vifion flood before my eye, > 
 
 And fure the warning vifion was from high*: J 
 
 Let from among us fome fwift courier rife, 
 
 Hafte to the gen’ral and demand fupplies. 
 
 Upflarted Thoas flraight, Andrsemon’s fon, 565 
 Nimbly he rofe, and call his garment down ; 
 Inflant, the racer vanifh’d off the ground ; 
 
 That inflant, in his cloak I wrapt me round: 
 
 And fafe I flept, till brightly- dawning flione 
 The morn, confpicuous on her golden throne 570 
 Oh were my flrength as then, as then my age! 
 Some friend would fence me from the winter’s rage. 
 Yet tatter’d as I look, I challeng’d then 
 The honours and the offices of men: 
 
 Some mailer, or fome fervant would allow 575 
 A cloak and veil—but I am nothing now ! 
 
 Wellhafl thou fpoke (rejoin’d th’ attentive fvvain) 
 Thy lips let fall no idle word or vain ! 
 
 Nor garment fhalt thou want, nor ought befide, 
 Meet, for the wand’ring fuppliant to provide. 58® 
 But in the morning take thy cloaths again, 
 
 For here one veil fuffices ev’ry fwain ; 
 
 v. 581. But in the morning take thy cloaths a%ain.~\ This 
 is not fpoken in vain} it was necelfary for UlyfTes to ap¬ 
 pear in the form of a beggar, to prevent difcovery. 
 
 The word in the Greek is Jvo7raXi'£g»j, which it is impof- 
 fible to tranflate without a circumlocution. It paints (ob- 
 ferves Euftathius) exa&ly the drefs of a beggar, and the 
 difficulty he labours under in drawing his rags to cover 
 one part of his body that is naked, and while he covers 
 
I 
 
 BookXIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 99 
 
 No change of garments to our hinds is known ; 
 
 But when return’d, the good Ulyfles’ fon 
 
 that, leaving the other part bare: Svo?raX»£**? is iraTi <nraA»- 
 /xai; tiovricrsii; or hvrnrsit 9 and exprefies how a beggar is em- 
 barrafled in the a£t of covering his body, by reafon of the 
 rents in his cloaths. 
 
 v. 582. For here one t'cjt fuffices ev'ry Jkvain .] It is not 
 at firft view evident why Ulyfles requefts a change of rai¬ 
 ment from Eumzeus, for a better drefs would only have 
 expofed him to the danger of a difcovery. Befides, this 
 w'ould have been a direct oppofition to the injun&ions of 
 theGoddefs of Wifdom,w r liohad not only difguifed him in 
 the habit of a beggar, but changed his features to a con¬ 
 formity with it. Why then fiiould he make this petition ? 
 The anfwer is, to carry on his difguife the better before 
 Eumaeus ; he has already told him that he w^as once a 
 perfon of dignity, though now reduced to poverty by ca* 
 lamities: and confequently a perfon who had once known 
 better fortunes, would be uneafy under fuch mean cir- 
 cumftances, and defire to appear like himfelf $ therefore 
 he afks a better drefs, that Eumaeus may believe his for¬ 
 mer flory. 
 
 What Eumteus fpeaks of not having any changes of 
 garments, is not a fign of poverty, but of the fimplicity of 
 the manners of thofe ages. It is the chara&er of the 
 luxurious vain Phaeacians, to delight in changes of drefs, 
 and agrees not with this plain, fincere, induftrious Itha¬ 
 can, Eumaeus. 
 
 I wonder this laft part of the relation of Ulyfies has 
 efcaped the cenfure of the criticks : the circumftance of 
 getting the cloak of Thoas in the cold night, though it 
 fhews the artifice of Ulylfes effential to his character, yet 
 perhaps may be thought unworthy the majefty of epicl* 
 poetry, where every thing ought to be great and magni¬ 
 ficent. It is of fuch a nature as to raife a fmile, rather 
 
 H a 
 
ICO Homer’s ODYSSEY. Book XIV, 
 
 With better hand fhall grace with fit attires 585 
 His gueft, and fend thee where thy foul defires. 
 
 The honeft herdfman rofe, as this he faid, 
 
 And drew before the hearth the Granger’s bed 
 The fleecy fpoils of flieep, a goat’s rough hide 
 He fpreads *, and adds a mantle thick and wide ; 
 With ftore to heap above him, and below, 591 
 And guard each quarter as the tempefts blow. 
 
 There lay the king, and all the reft fupine ; 
 
 All, but the careful mafter of the fwine :‘ 
 
 Forth halted he to tend his briftly care: 595 
 
 Well arm’d, and fenc’d againft nodturnal air; 
 
 than admiration 5 and Virgil lias utterly rejedted fucli le¬ 
 vities. Perhaps it may be thought that Ulylfes adapts 
 himfelf to Eumaeus, and endeavours to engage his favour 
 by that piece of pleafantry; yet this does not folve the 
 objection, for Eumaeus is not a perfon of a low charadter : 
 no one in the Odyfley fpeaks with better fenfe, or better 
 morality. One would almoft imagine that Homer was 
 fenfible of the weaknefs of this ftory, he introduces it fo 
 artfully. He tells us in a fhort preface, that wine unbends 
 themoit ferious and wife perfon, and makes him laugh, 
 dance, and fpeak, without his ufual caution: and then 
 he proceeds to the fable of his ambufh before Troy. But 
 no introduction can reconcile it to thofe who think fucli 
 comick relations lhould not at all be introduced into epick 
 poetry. 
 
 v.595. Forth hajled he to tend his briftly care.~[ A French 
 critick has been very fevere upon this condudt of Eu- 
 nlseus* ‘The divine hogherd, fays he, halving given the di¬ 
 vine Ulyffes his [upper, fends him to fleep vuitk his hogs , that 
 had'white teeth . When criticks tind fault, they ought to 
 
Boole XIV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. ioi 
 
 His weighty falchion o’er his fhoulder ty’d : 
 
 His fhaggy cloak a mountain goat fupply’d: 
 
 With his broad fpear, the dread of dogs arid men, 
 He feeks his lodging in the rocky den. 600 
 
 There to the tulky herd he bends his way, 
 
 Where fereen’d from Boreas, high o’er-arch’d they 
 lay. 
 
 take care that they impute nothing to an author but what 
 the author really fpeaks, otherwifeit is not criticifm, but 
 calumny and ignorance. Monfieur Perrault is here guilty 
 of both, for Ulyfies fleeps in the houfe of Eurastus, and 
 Eumjeus retires to take care of his charge, not to deep, 
 but to watch with them. 
 
 This and the preceding book take up no more than 
 the fpace of one day. Ulyfies lands in the morning, which 
 is fpent in confultation with Minerva how to bring about 
 his reftoration. About noon he comes to Eumaeus, for 
 immediately after his arrival they dine : they pafs the af¬ 
 ternoon and evening in conference : fo that thirty-five 
 days are exactly completed fince the beginning of the 
 Qdyfiey. 
 
 H 3 
 
THE 
 
 i 
 
 FIFTEENTH BOOK 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 . / „ i 
 
 / 
 
 L 
 
/ 
 
 THE 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The Return of Telemachus. 
 
 THE Goddefs Minerva commands Telemachus in a vifion to re¬ 
 turn to It/;aca. P iff rat us and he take leave of Menelaus, 
 and arrive at Pylos, where they part ; and Telemachus 
 fets fail, after having received on hoard Theoclymenus the 
 foothfayer. The fccne then changes to the cottage of Eu- 
 rnaus, who entertains Ulyjfes vjith a recital of his adven¬ 
 tures. In the i 7 iean tune Telemachus arrives on the coaft, 
 andfending the vejfel to the town, proceeds by himfelf to the 
 lodge of Eumaus. 
 
 i 
 
THE 
 
 * FIFTEENTH BOOK 
 
 i 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 O D Y S S E Y. 
 
 N ow had Minerva reach’d thofe ample plains, 
 Fam’d for the dance, where Menelaiis reigns ; 
 Anxious fire flies to great Ulyfles’ heir, 
 
 His inftant voyage challeng’d all her care. 
 
 * Neither this book, nor indeed feme of the following, 
 are to be reckoned among the mod Alining parts of the 
 Odyfley. They are narrative, and generally low; yet na¬ 
 tural, and juft enough, confidering Homer was refolved 
 to deferibe and follow low life fo very minutely. This 
 great poet here refembles an evening fun ; he has not the 
 fame heat or brightnefs ; there are feveral little clouds 
 about him, though in fome places gilded and adorned ; 
 however, to make us amends, he breaks out again before 
 the conclufion of his courfe, and fets at laft in glory. 
 
 There is no doubt, but all the parts of a poem are 
 not capable of equal luftre ; nay, they ought not to dazzle 
 us alike, or tire us by a perpetual drain upon the imagi* 
 nation. But in thefe cooler relations a tranflator has a 
 hard talk : he is expe&ed to fhine , where the author is not 
 bright: and the unreasonable critick demands a copy more 
 noble than the original. It is true, thefe are the palfages 
 of which he ought to take particular care, and to fet them 
 
 \ 
 
o6 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 4 ' 4 
 
 Beneath the royal portico clifplayM, 5 
 
 With Neftor’s fon, Telemachus was lay’d ; 
 
 off to the belt advantage : but however he may polifh a 
 vulgar ftone, it will ftill retain its inherent degree of 
 cloudinefs ; and the man is ignorant indeed, who thinks 
 one can make it a diamond. 
 
 The flory now turns to Telemachus, and the poet 
 briefly defcribes his voyage to his country : there is a ne- 
 ceffity to be concife, for the hero of an epick poem is 
 never to be out of fight, after his introduction. The little 
 time that Homer employs in the return of Telemachus is 
 not fpent unufefully by Ulyfies 5 during this interval, he 
 learns the ftate of his publick and domeftick affairs from 
 Eumaeus, and prepares the way for the deltrudtion of the 
 fuitors, the chief defign of the whole Odyffey. There is 
 another reafon why the poet ought not to dwell at large 
 upon the {lory of Telemachus ; he bears but an inciden¬ 
 tal relation to the Odyffey, and confequently Homer was 
 necefiitated to pafs over his actions with brevity, that fre 
 might defcribe the hero of his poem at full length. It 
 has been obje&ed, that no mention has been made of any 
 a£lion at all of Telemachus during his whole flay with 
 Menelaus, and that he lies there idly, without making his 
 voyage contribute any thing to the reftitution of Ulyfies ; 
 but from the former obfervation it is evident, that this 
 filence in the poet proceeds from judgment; nothing is to 
 be inferted in an epick poem but what has fome affinity 
 with the main defign of it: but what affinity could the 
 sidtions of Telemachus in the Spartan court have with 
 thofe of Ulyfies ? This would have been to make two 
 heroes in one poem, and would have broken the unity of 
 the adlion j whereas by the contrary condutt Homer 
 unites the two ftories, and makes the voyage of Tele¬ 
 machus fubfervient to the chief action ; namely, the refti¬ 
 tution of Ulyffes. Telemachus undertakes a voyage to make 
 tpquiry after Ulyffes; this the poet fully defqribes, becaufc 
 
Book XV. HOME R*’s ODYSSEY. 107. 
 
 In fleep profound the fon of Neftor lies ; 
 
 Not thine, Ulyffes ! Care unfeal’d his eyes : 
 
 it has an immediate relation to Ulyffes ; but paffes over 
 all other adventures during the abfence of Telemachus, 
 becaufe they have no relation to the defign. 
 
 I know it has been obje£ted, that the whole ftory of 
 Telemachus is foreign to the Odyffey, and that the four 
 firft books have not a fufficient connexion with the reft 
 of the poem, and therefore that there is a double atftion : 
 but this obje&ion will ceafe, if it be made appear, that 
 this voyage contributes to the reftoration of Ulyffes ; for 
 whatever incident has fuch an effect, is united to the fub- 
 je£l and effential to it. Now that this voyage has fuch an 
 effect is very evident; the fuitors were ready to feize the 
 throne of Ulyffes, and compel his wife to marry; but by 
 this voyage Telemachus breaks their whole defigns. In- 
 Head ofufurping the throne, they are obliging to defend 
 themfelves : they defer their purpofe, and wafle much 
 time in endeavouring to intercept him in his return. By 
 this method leifure is gained from the violence and ad- 
 dreffes of the fuitors, till Ulyffes returns and brings about 
 his own re-eftablifhment. This voyage therefore is the 
 fecret fourcefrom which all the happinefs of Ulyffes flows : 
 for had not Telemachus failed to Pyle, Penelope inuft 
 have been compelled to marry, and the throne of Ulyffes 
 ufurped. I have been more large upon this obje£tion, 
 becaufe many foreign criticks lay great weight upon it* 
 See note on v. 110 of the firft book. 
 
 There has lately been a great difpute amongft the 
 French, concerning the length of the ftay of Telemachus 
 from his country. The debate is not very material, nor 
 is it very difficult to fettle that point. Telemachus fail¬ 
 ed from Ithaca in the evening of the fecond day, and re¬ 
 turns to it on the thirty-eighth in the morning, fo that 
 he is abfent thirty-five days compleatly. 
 
10 8 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Pieftlefs he griev’d, with various fears oppreft, 
 
 And all thy fortunes roll’d within his bre^ft. 10 
 
 v. i. No'-w had Minerva, &c.] If this had been related 
 by an hiftorian, he would have only faid that Telemachus 
 judged it neceffary for his affairs to fail back to bis own 
 country ; but a poet fteps out of the common beaten road, 
 aferibes the wifdom of that hero to the Goddefs of it, and 
 introduces her in perfon, to give a dignity to his poetry. 
 
 The reader may confult in general the extra&s from 
 Boffu, (placed before the Odyffey) concerning machines 
 or the interpolition of Deities in epick poetry. I will here 
 beg leave to fet them in a different and more particular 
 light. 
 
 It has been imagined that a Deity is never to be intro¬ 
 duced but when all human means are ineffeftual : if this 
 were true, Minerva would be in vain employed in bring¬ 
 ing Telemachus back, when a common meffenger might 
 have anfwered that purpofe as well as the Goddefs. I 
 doubt not but the verfe of Horace has led many into this 
 error: 
 
 “ Nec Deus interfit nifi dignus vindice nodus.” 
 
 This rule is to be applied only to the Theatre, of which 
 Horace there fpeaks, and means no more, than when the 
 knot of the play is to be united, and no other way is left 
 lor making the difeovery, then let a God defeend and 
 clear the intricacy to the auditors. But, as Mr. Dryden 
 obferves, it has no relation to epick poetry. 
 
 It is true, that a Deity is never to be introduced upon 
 little and unworthy occafions ; the very delign of machines 
 is to add weight and dignity to the ftory, and confequently 
 an unworthy employment defeats the very intent of thenij 
 and debafes the Deities by making them aft in offices un¬ 
 worthy of the charafters of divine perfonages: but then 
 it is as true, that a poet is at liberty to ufe them for or¬ 
 nament as well as neceffty. For inftance, both Virgil 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 109 
 
 When, O Telemachus ! (the Goddefs faid) 
 
 Too long in vain, too widely haft thou ftray’d. 
 Thus leaving carelefs thy paternal right 
 The robbers prize, the prey to lawlefs might. 
 
 On fond purfuits negledlful while you roam, 15 
 Ev’n now, the hand of rapine faeks the dome. 
 
 and Homer in their defcriptions of ftorms introduce 
 Deities, Neptune and /Eolus, only to fill our minds with 
 grandeur and terror $ for in reality a ilorm might have 
 happened without a miracle, and ./Eneas and Ulyfies 
 both have been driven upon unknown fhores, by a com¬ 
 mon ftorm as well as by the immediate interpofition of 
 Neptune or JEolus. But machines have a very happy 
 effect ; the poet feems to converfe with Gods, gives ligns 
 of a divine tranfport, and diftinguifties his poem in all 
 parts from an hiftory. 
 
 v. 5. Beneath the royal portico, &c.] Minerva here finds 
 Telemachus in bed : it is neceflary to remember that 
 Ulyfies landed in Ithaca in the morning of the thirty-fifth 
 day ; and when Minerva left him, flie went to the Spartan 
 court to Telemachus ; this vifion therefore appears to that 
 hero in the night following the thirty-fifth day. On the 
 thirty-fixth he departs from Menelaus, and lodges that 
 night with Diodes j on the thirty-feventh he embarks to¬ 
 wards the evening, fails all night, and lands on the thirty- 
 eighth in the morning in his own country. From this 
 obfervation it is likewile evident, that Ulyfies pafies two 
 days in difcourfe with Eumaeus, though the poet only dif- 
 tinguilhes the time by the voyage of Telemachus ; for th e 
 preceding book concludes with the thirty-fifth day, and 
 Telemachus fpends the thirty-fixth and thirty-feventh and 
 he following night in his return, and meets Ulyfies in the 
 morning of the thirty-eighth day. This remark is ne- 
 ©eflary to avoid confufion, and to make the two fiories 
 
no HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXV. 
 
 Hence to Atrides ; and his leave implore 
 To launch thy veflelfor thy natal fhore ; 
 
 Fly, whilft thy mother virtuous yet with Hand's 
 Pier kindred’s wifhes, and her fire’s commands ; 20 
 Thro’ both, Eurymachus purfues the dame, 
 
 And with the noblefl gifts aflerts his claim. 
 
 ©f UlyfTes and Telemachus coincide, in this and the next 
 book of the OdyfTey. 
 
 v. 20. Her kindred's njuifhes, and her fire's commands .] 
 Ovid had thefe lines in his view in his Epiflle of Pcnelopt 
 to UlyfTes. 
 
 “ Me pater Icarius viduo decedere leito 
 
 “ Cogit, & immenfas increpat ufque moras.” 
 
 But why fhould Minerva make ufe of thefe arguments, to 
 perfuade Telemachus to return immediately ; and give 
 him no information concerning the fafety of UlyfTes, who 
 was now aitually landed in his own country ? The poet 
 referves this difcovery to be made in the future part of 
 the flory : if Telemachus had known of his father’s being 
 already returned, there could have been no room for the 
 beautiful interview between the father and the Ton ; for 
 the doubts and fears, the furprife and filial tendernefs, 
 on the part of Telemachus; and for the paternal fond- 
 nefs, the yearnings of nature, and the tranfports of joy, 
 on the part of UlyfTes. Ariftotle particularly commends 
 this conduit of Homer with refpeit to UlyfTes. Thefe 
 difguifes and concealments (fays that author) perplex the 
 fable with agreeable plots and intricacies, furprife us with 
 a variety of incidents, and give room for the relation of 
 many adventures; while UlyfTes ftill appears in afTumed 
 cliaraiters, and upon every occalion recites a new hiflory. 
 At the Time time the poet excellently fultains his charac¬ 
 ter, which is every where diftinguifhed by a wife and 
 ready diflimulation. 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 in 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 Hence therefore, while thy ftores thy own remain 
 Thou know’ft the pra£Hce of the female train, 
 
 Loft in the children of the prefent fpoufe 
 They flight the pledges of their former vows 
 Their love is always with the lover paft; 
 
 Still the fucceeding flame expells the laft. 
 
 Let o’er thy houfe fome chofen maid prefide, 
 
 ’Till heav’n decrees to blefs thee in a bride. 
 
 But now thy more attentive ears incline, 
 
 Obferve the warnings of a Pow’r divine : 
 
 For thee their fnares the fuitor lords (hall lay 
 In Samos faiids, or ftraits of Ithaca, 
 
 v. 24. 'Thou htQ'ivJ} the fraSlice of the female train.'} This 
 is not fpoken in derogation of Penelope, nor applied to 
 her in particular 5 it is laid down as an univerfal maxim, 
 arid uttered by the Goddefs of Wifdom : but (fays Madam 
 Dacier) I with the poet had told us, if the hufbands in 
 his days had better memories toward their departed wives. 
 But what advantage would this be to the fair fex, if we 
 allow that an hufband may pofiibly forget a former wife ? 
 I chufe rather to congratulate the modern ladies, againfl 
 whom there is not the leaft objection of this nature. Is 
 it not evident, that all our widows are utterly difeonfo- 
 late, appear many months in deep mourning ? and when¬ 
 ever they are prevailed upon to a fecond marriage, do they 
 not chufe out the ftrongeft, bed built, and molt vigorous 
 youth of the nation ? For what other reafon but that fuch 
 conflitutions maybe a fecurity againfl: their ever feeling 
 the like calamity again ? What I have here faid (hews 
 that the world is well changed fince the times of Homer y 
 and however the race of man is dwindled and decayed fince 
 thofe ages, yet it is a demonfiration that the modernladies 
 are not to blame for it. 
 
1 12 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 To feize thy life fhalMurk the murd’rous band, 35 
 E’er yet thy footfteps prefs thy native land. 
 
 No-fooner far their riot and their Iuffc 
 
 All cov’ring earth fhall bury deep in dull I 
 Then diftant from the fcatter’d iflands fleer, 
 
 Nor let the night retard thy full career; 4© 
 
 Thy heavn’ly guardian fliall inftnnfl the gales 
 To fmooth thy paflage, and fupply thy fails: 
 
 And when at Ithaca thy labour ends. 
 
 Send to the town thy vefiel with the friends ; 
 
 But feek thou firft the mafter of the fwine, 45 
 (For ftill to thee his loyal thoughts incline) 
 
 There pafs the night: while he his courfe purfues 
 To bring Penelope the wifh’d-for news, 
 
 That thou fafe failing from the Pylian ftrand 
 Art come to blefs her in thy native land. 50 
 
 Thus fpoke the Goddefs, and refum’d her flight 
 To the pure regions of eternal light. 
 
 Meanwhile Pififtratus he gently fhakes, 
 
 And with thefe words the flumb’ring youth awakes. 
 
 Rife, fon of Neftor ! for the road prepare, 55 
 And join the harnefs’d courfers to the car. 
 
 What caufe, he cry’d, can juftify our flight. 
 
 To tempt the dangers of forbidding night ? 
 plere wait we rather, ’till approaching day 
 Shall prompt our fpeed, and point the ready 
 way. 6 <j 
 
 Nor think of flight before the Spartan king 
 Shall bid farewel, and bounteous prefents bring ; 
 
Book XV. HOMEB’s ODYSSEY. 113 
 
 Gifts, which to diftant ages fafely ftor’d, 
 
 The facred a<ft of friendffiip fhall record. 
 
 Thus he. But when the dawn beftreak’d the 
 Eaft, 65 
 
 The king from Helen rofe, and fought his gueft. 
 As foon as his approach the hero knew, 
 
 The fplendid mantle round him firft he threw, 
 Then o’er his ample fhouldcrs whirl’d the cloak, 
 Refpe&ful met the monarch, and befpoke. 70 
 Hail, great Atrides, favour’d of high Jove ! 
 
 Let not thy friends in vain for licence move. 
 
 Swift let us meafure back the wat’ry way, 
 
 Nor check our fpeed, impatient of delay. 
 
 If with defire fo ftrong thy bofom glows, 75 
 Ill, faid the king, fliou’d I thy wifh oppofe ; 
 
 For oft’ in others freely I reprove 
 The ill-tim’d efforts of officious love ; 
 
 Who love too much, hate in the like extream. 
 And both the golden mean alike condemn. 80 
 Alike he thwarts the hofpitable end, 
 
 Who drives the free, pr ftays the hafty friend; 
 True friendfhip’s laws are by this rule expreft. 
 Welcome the coming, fpeed the parting gueft. 
 
 v. 84. Welcome the coming , fpeed the parting guej}.] Ho¬ 
 mer has here laid together admirable precepts for focial 
 life j the palfage was much admired $ Herodotus borrow¬ 
 ed it, as we are informed by Euftathius. 
 
 Tf37T£^>J 
 
 uirtireupcii ett*- eSsAvc; 
 
 VOL III. 
 
 I 
 
114 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Yet flay, my friends, and in your chariot take 85 
 The nobleft prefents that our love can make : 
 Meantime commit we to our women’s care 
 Some choice domeftick viands to prepare; 
 
 The trav’ler riling from the banquet gay. 
 
 Eludes the labours of the tedious way. 90 
 
 Then if a wider courfe fhall rather pleafe 
 Thro’ fpacious Argos, and the realms of Greece, 
 Atrides in his chariot fhall attend ; 
 
 Himfelf thy convoy to each royal friend. 
 
 No prince will let UlyfTes’ heir remove 95 
 
 Without fome pledge, fome monument of love: 
 Thefe will the caldron, thefe the tripod give, 
 Fromthofethe well-pair’d mules we fhall receive, > 
 Or bowl embofs’d whofe golden figures live. * 
 To whom the youth, for prudence fam’d, re- 
 ply’d, 100 
 
 O monarch, care of Heav’11 ! thy people’s pride ! 
 No friend in Ithaca my place fupplies, 
 
 No pow’rful hands are there, no watchful eyes: 
 
 My ftores expos’d and fencelefs houfe demand 
 The fpeediefl fuccour from my guardian hand ; 105 
 Left in afearch too anxious and too vain 
 Of one loft joy, Ilofe what yet remain. 
 
 But perhaps Euftathius quoted by memory, or through 
 inadvertency wrote down Herodotus for Theocritus, in 
 whom thefe lines are to be found : 
 
 MflSj ^EJVoSaxcv Kaxov aXXa 
 
 MaXl'e-VT ufLi rs t u-^ai t Ivkv iOi'kmvn „ 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 115 
 
 His purpofe when the gen’rous warriour heard, 
 He charg’d the houfliold cates to be prepar’d. 
 
 Now with the dawn, ffom his adjoining home, no 
 Was Boethoedes Eteonus come; 
 
 Swift as the word he forms the rifing blaze, 
 
 And o’er the coals the fmoking fragments lays. 
 
 v. 109. He charg'd the houfliold cates to be prepar'd .] It is 
 in the original, He commanded Helen and her maids to do it. 
 The moderns have blamed Meneiaus for want of delicacy 
 in commandinghis queen to perform fuch houfliold offices. 
 I read fuch palfages with pleafure, becaufethey are exa£t 
 pi£tures of antient life : we may as well condemn the firit 
 inhabitants of the world for want of politenefs, in living 
 in tents and bowers, and not in palaces. This command 
 of Meneiaus agrees with tbofe manners, and with the pa¬ 
 triarchal life. Gen. xviii. 6. Abraham hajiened into his 
 tent , and faid unto Sarah his wife , make ready quickly three 
 meafures of fine meal t knead it } and make cakes upon the 
 hearth . 
 
 I doubt not but the continual deferiptions of entertain¬ 
 ments have likewife given offence to many j but we may 
 be in fome degree reconciled to them, if we confiderthey 
 are not only inftances of the hofpitality of the antients, 
 but of their piety and religion : every meal was a re¬ 
 ligious a£t, a facrifice, or a feaft of thankfgiving: liba¬ 
 tions of wane, and offerings of part of the flelh, w-ei e con- 
 flantly made at every entertainment. This gives a dig¬ 
 nity to the defeription, and when we read it, we are not 
 to conlider it as an a£t merely of eating or drinking, but 
 as an office cf worfhip to the Gods. 
 
 This is a note of the criticks; but perhaps the fame 
 thing might as well be faid of our modern entertainments, 
 wherever the good practice of faying grace before and 
 after meat is not yet laid afde. 
 
 I 2 
 
n6 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Meantime the king, his fon, and Helen, went 
 Where the rich wardrobe breath’d acoftly fcent. 115 
 The king feletled from the glitt’ring rows 
 A bowl; the prince a filver beaker chofe. 
 
 The beauteous queen revolv’d with careful eyes 
 Her various textures of unnumber’d dyes. 
 
 And chofe the larged;; with no vulgar art 12© 
 Her own fair hands embroider’d ev’ry part: 
 
 Beneath the reft it lay divinely bright, 
 
 Like radiant Hefper o’er the gems of night. 
 
 Then with each gift they haften’d to their gueft:, 
 
 And thus the king Ulyfles’ heir addreft. 125 
 
 Since fix’d are thy refolves, may thund’ring Jove 
 With happieft omens thy defires approve ! 
 
 v. 123. Like radiant Hefper o'er the gems of night. ] If this 
 pafiage were tranflated literally, it would dand thus, 
 Helen chofe a ajefure of mof beautiful embroidery , and of the 
 large ft extent, a njefture that lay beneath the ref. We are 
 to underhand by the laft circumftance, that this vedure 
 was the choice!!: of her wardrobe, it being reported with 
 the greateft care, or mdi<& a\\av. The verfes are taken 
 from lib. vi. of the Iliad. This robe was the work of He¬ 
 len’s own hands : an inftance that in thole days a great 
 lady, or a great beauty, might be a good workwoman : 
 and the here l'eems to take particular care to obviate am 
 opinion one might otherwife have, that die did not apply 
 berfelf to thofe works till her bed days were pad. We are 
 told in the-Iliad, 
 
 Her in the palace, at her loom die found, 
 
 The golden web her own fad dory crown’d : 
 
 The Trojan wars die weav’d, herfelf the prize. 
 
 And the dire triumphs. of her fatal eyes. 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 117 
 
 This filver bowl, whofe codly margins fiiine 
 Enchas’d with gold, this valu’d gift be thine; 
 
 To me this prefent, of Vulcanian frame, 130 
 
 From Sidon’s hofpitable monarch came ; 
 
 To thee we now conflgn the precious load, 
 
 The pride of kings, and labour of a God. 
 
 Then gave the cup; while Megapenthe brought 
 The filver vafe with living fculpture wrought. 135 
 The beauteous queen advancing next, difplay’d 
 The fhining veil, and thus endearing faid. 
 
 Accept, dear youth, this monument of love, 
 Long fince, in better days, by Helen wove: 
 
 Safe in thy mother’s care the vedure lay, 140 
 
 To deck thy bride and grace thy nuptial day. 
 Meantime may’ll thou with happiefl fpeed regain 
 Thy (lately palace, and thy wide domain. 
 
 She faid, and gave the veil; with grateful look 
 The prince the variegated prefent took. 145 
 
 And now, when thro’ the royal dome they pafs’d. 
 High on a throne the king each llranger plac’d. 
 
 A golden ew’r th’ attendant damfel brings, 
 
 Replete with water from the cryllal fprings; 
 
 With copious dreams the fhining vafe fupplies 150 
 A filver laver of capacious fize. 
 
 They wafh. The tables in fair order fpread, 
 
 The glitt’ring caniders are crown’d with bread; 
 Viands of various kinds allure the tade 
 Of choiced fort and favour; rich repall! 155 
 
118 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Whild Eteoneus portions out the (hares, 
 
 Atrides’ fon the purple draught prepares. 
 
 And now (each fated with the genial feaft, 
 
 And the fhort rage of third and hunger cead) 
 UlyfTes* fon, with his illudrious friend, 160 
 
 The horfes join, the polifh’d car afcend. 
 
 Along the court the fiery deeds rebound. 
 
 And the wide portal echoes to the found. 
 
 The king precedes j a bowl with fragrant wine 
 (Libation dedin’d to the Pow’rs divine) 165 
 
 His right-hand held: before the deeds he dands, 
 Then, mix’d with pray’rs, he utters thefe com¬ 
 mands. 
 
 Farewell and profper, youths ! let Nedor know 
 What grateful thoughts dill in this bofom glow. 
 
 For all the proofs of his paternal care, 170 
 
 Thro’ the long dangers of the ten years war. 
 
 Ah ! doubt not our report (the prince rejoin’d) 
 
 Of all the virtues of thy generous mind. 
 
 And oh! return’d might we UlyfTes meet! 
 
 To him thy prefents drew, thy words repeat: 175 
 
 v. 174. And oh! return'dmight nve Ulyjfcs meet! &c.] It is 
 net impoftible but a ialfe reading may have crept into the 
 text in this verfe. In the preient edition it Hands thus. 
 
 t| \ > x 
 
 - — at yag sycav cat; 
 
 Koc>io'«?- iQuuW o* xlcm ’osv; ei y.'M 
 
 b * /» Glj CC % ■” 1 1 
 
 The fenfe will be lefs intricate, and the conftru <dion 
 more eafy,* if inHcad of we infert and read the 
 line thus pointed. 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY, n 
 
 How will each fpeech his grateful wonder raife ? 
 How will each gift indulge us in thy praife? 
 
 Scarce ended thus the prince, when on the right 
 Advanc’d the bird of Jove: aufpicious fight ! 
 
 A milk-white fowl his clinching talons bore, 180 
 With care domeftick pamper’d at the floor. 
 
 Peafants in vain with threat’ning cries purfue, 
 
 In folemn fpeed the bird majeftick flew 
 Full dexter to the car : the profp’rous fight 
 Fill’d evry breaft with wonder and delight. 185 
 
 But Neftor’s fon the chearful filence broke, 
 
 And in thefe words the Spartan chief befpoke. 
 
 Say if to us the Gods thefe omens fend. 
 
 Or fates peculiar to thyfelf portend? 
 
 Whilft yet the monarch paus’d, with doubts op- 
 preft, 190 
 
 The beauteous queen reliev’d his lab’ring breaft. 
 Hear me, {he cry’d, to whom the Gods have 
 giv’11 
 
 To read this fign, and myftick fienfe of Heav’n. 
 
 N oq-furaq 'iQavwot, xjp£!wv'Ooim~ tv i oixm 
 Ei7T0l l U > . 
 
 Then the verfe will have this import, “ O may I, upon 
 “ my return to Ithaca, finding Ulyfles in his palace, give 
 <c him an account of their friendfliip!” whereas in the 
 common editions there is a tautology, and either xt»v cr 
 voirrurttq muft be allowed to be a fuperfluity. 
 
 v. 192. Hear me, Jlie erfd , See. J It is not clear why 
 the poet aferibes a greater quicknefs and penetration to 
 Helen in the folution of this prodigy, than to Menelaus, 
 
 I 4 
 
1 20 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXV. 
 
 As thus the plumy fov’relgn of the air 
 
 Left on the mountain’s brow his callow care, 195 
 
 Is it, as Euftathius afferts, from a fuperiour acutenefs of 
 nature and prefence of mind in the fair fex ? Or is it, 
 that Helen in this refembles fo.me modern beauties, who 
 (though their hufbands be afked the queftion) will make 
 the anfwer tliemfelves ! I would unllingly believe that He¬ 
 len might happen to (land in fuch apofition, as to be 
 able to make more minute obfervation upon the flight of 
 the eagle, than Menelaus ; and being more circumflantial 
 in the obfervation, the might for that reafon be more 
 ready and circumflantial in the interpretation. But Ho¬ 
 mer himfelf tells us, that flie received it from the Gods, 
 This is a pious leffon, to teach us in general, that all 
 knowledge is the gift of God, and perhaps here particu¬ 
 larly inferted to raife the chara&er of Helen, and make 
 us lefs furprifed to fee her forgiven by Menelaus, when flie 
 is not only pardoned, but favoured thus with infpiration. 
 And indeed it was neceflary to reconcile us to this fatal 
 beauty; at whom the reader is naturally enough of¬ 
 fended : flie is an a&refs in many of the feenes of the 
 Odyfley, and confequently to be redeemed from contempt: 
 this is done by degrees ; the poet deals away the adultrefs 
 from our view, to let before us the amiable penitent. 
 
 v. 194. As thus the plumy fov"reigny &c.] Ulyfles is the 
 eagle, the bird reprefents the fuitors: the cries of the 
 men and women when the eagle feized his prey, denote the 
 lamentations of the relations of the fuitors, who are flain 
 by Ulylfes. The circumftance of the flight of the eagle, 
 clofe to the horfes, is added to fliew r that the prodigy had 
 a fixed and certain reference to a perfon prefent; namely 
 Telemnchus : the eagle comes fuddenly from a moun¬ 
 tain : this means that Ulyfles ihall unexpectedly arrive 
 from the country to the fuitors deflruciion. The fowd is 
 (aid to be fed by the family, this is a full defignation of 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 121 
 
 And wander’d thro’ the wide tethereal way 
 To pour his wrath on yon’ luxurious prey; 
 
 So {hall thy god-like father, tofs’d in vain 
 Thro’ all the dangers of the boundlefs main. 
 
 Arrive, (or is perchance already come) 200 
 
 From llaughter’d gluttons to releafe the dome. 
 
 Oh ! if this promis’d blifs by thund’ring Jove, 
 (The prince reply’d) ftand fix’d in fate above; 
 
 To thee, as to fome God, I’ll temples raife, 
 
 And crown thy altars with the coftly blaze. 205 
 He faid; and bending e’er his chariot, {lung 
 Athwart the fiery fteeds the fmartiag thong ; 
 
 The bounding fhafts upon the harnefs play, , 
 
 Till night defeending intercepts the way. 
 
 To Diocleus, at Pherae, they repair, 210 
 
 Whofe boafted fire was facred Alpheus’ heir; 
 
 With him all night the youthful ilrangers flay’d, 
 Nor found the hofpitable rites unpay’d. 
 
 But foon as morning from her orient bed 
 Had ting’d the mountains with her carliefl red, 215 
 They join’d the fteeds, and on the chariot fprung, 
 The brazen portals in their pafiage rung. 
 
 To Pylos foon they came ; when thus begun j 
 To Neftor’s heir UJyfTes’ god-like foil: 
 
 the fuitors, who feed upon Ulyfies, and prey upon his fa¬ 
 mily. And as this bird is killed by the talons of the eagle, 
 fo the fuitors fall by the fpearof Ulyfles. Euflathius. 
 
122 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXV. 
 
 Let not Pififtratus in vain be preft, 220 
 
 Nor unconfenting hear his friend’s requefl; 
 
 His friend by long hereditary claim, 
 
 In toils his equal, and in years the fame. 
 
 No farther from our veflel, I implore, 
 
 The courfers drive; but laih them to the fhore. 225 
 Too long thy father would his friend detain ; 
 
 I dread his proffer’d kindnefs urg’d in vain. 
 
 v. 2 26. Too long thy father would his friend detain."] This 
 has been objected againft, as contrary to the promife of Te¬ 
 lemachus, who affured Menelaus that he would acquaint 
 Nefor nvitk his great friend/kip and hofpiiality : is he there¬ 
 fore not guilty of faifhopd, by embarking immediately 
 without fulfilling his promife ? Euftathius anfwers, that 
 the prodigy of the eagle occafions this alteration, and that 
 the not fulfilling his promife is to be afcribed to accident 
 and neceffity. But the words of Telemachus fufficiently 
 juftify his veracity ; they are of the plural number xarax s- 
 %0/x-cv. land Piffratus c will infonn. Nefor of your hofpitality : 
 this promife he leaves to be performed by Pififtratus, who 
 returns directly to Neffor. Others blame Telemachus as 
 impolite, in leaving Neftor without any acknowledge¬ 
 ment for his civilities. Dacier has recourfe to the com¬ 
 mand of Minerva, and to the prodigy of the eagle, for 
 his vindication : he is commanded by the Gods to return 
 immediately ; and therefore not blameable for complying 
 with their injunctions. But perhaps it is a better reafon 
 to fay, that the nature of the poem requires fuch a con¬ 
 duct: the aCtion of the Odyffey Hands ftill till the return 
 of Telemachus, (whatever happens to him in Pyle being 
 foreign to it) and therefore Homer fhews his judgment, 
 in precipitating the aftions of Teh nachus, rather than 
 trifling away the time, while the f.. ry fleeps, only tofhew a 
 / piece of complaifance and ceremony. 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 123 
 
 The hero paus’d, and ponder’d this requed, 
 While love* and duty warr’d within his bread. 
 
 At length refolv’d, he turn’d his ready hand, 230 
 And lafh’d his panting courfers to the drand. 
 
 There, while within the poop with care he ftor’d 
 The regal prefents of the Spartan lord ; 
 
 With fpeed be gone, (faid he) call ev’ry mate, 
 
 E’er yet to Nedor I the talc relate: 235 
 
 ’Tis true, the fervour of his gen’rous heart 
 Brooks no repulfe, nor could’ft thou foon depart; 
 Himfelf will feek thee here, nor wilt thou find, 
 
 In words alone, the Pylian monarch kind. 
 
 But when arriv’d, he thy return fhall know, 240 
 Plow will his bread with honed fury glow ? 
 
 This faid, the founding drokes his horfesfire. 
 
 And foon he reach’d the palace of his fire. 
 
 Now, (cry’d Telemachus) with fpeedy care 
 Ploife ev’ry fail, and ev’ry oar prepare. 245 
 
 Swift as the word his willing mates obey. 
 
 And feize their feats, impatient for the fea. 
 
 Meantime the prince with facrifice adores 
 Minerva, and her guardian aid implores ; 
 
 When lo ! a wretch ran breathlefs to the fhore, 250 
 New from his crime, and reeking yet with gore. 
 
 A feer he w r as, from great Melampus fprung, 
 Melampus, who in Pylos flourilh’d long. 
 
 v. 252.- From great Melampus fprung.] There is 
 
 fame obfcurity in this genealogical hiftory. Melampus 
 
124 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 ’Till urg’d by wrongs a foreign realm he chofe, 
 
 Far from the hateful caufe of all his woes. 255 
 Neleus his treafures one long year detains ; 
 
 As long, he groan’d in Phylacus’s chains : 
 Meantime, what anguifh and what rage, combin’d. 
 For lovely Pero rack’d his lab’ring mind ! 
 
 Yet ’fcap’d he death; and vengeful of his wrong 260 
 To Pylos drove the lowing herds along: 
 
 Then (Neleus vanquifh’d, and confign’d the Fair 
 To Bias’ arms) he fought a foreign air; 
 
 Argos the rich for his retreat he chofe. 
 
 There form’d his empire ; there his palace rofe. 265 
 
 was a prophet, lve lived in Pylos, and was a perfon of 
 great wealth ; his uncle Neleus feized his riches, and de¬ 
 tained them a whole year, to oblige him to recover 
 his herds detained by Iphyclus in Phylace; he failed in 
 the attempt, and was kept in prifon by Iphyclus, the fon 
 ofPhylacus. Bias, the brother of Melampus, was in love 
 with Pero the daughter of Neleus $ Neleus, to engage 
 Melampus more ftrongly in the enterprize, promifes to 
 give Pero in marriage to his brother Bias, upon the reco¬ 
 very of his herds from Iphyclus. At length Iphyclus re- 
 leafes Melampus from prifon, upon liis difcovering to him 
 how he might have an heir to fucceed to his dominions, 
 and rewards him with reffcoring the herds of Neleus : then 
 Neleus retra&s his promife, andrefufes to give his daugh¬ 
 ter Pero to Bias the brother of Melampus j upon this Ne¬ 
 leus and Melampus quarrel, and engaging in a fingle 
 combat, Neleus is vanquifhed, and Melampus retires 
 to Argos. See lib. xi. v. 350, &c, and the annotations, 
 note 23. 
 
125 
 
 Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 From him Antiphates and Mantius came: 
 
 The firfl begot Oiclus great in fame, 
 
 And he Amphiaraus, immortal name! 
 
 The people’s faviour, and divinely wife, 
 
 Belov’d by Jove, and him who gilds the Ikies, 270 
 Yet fhort his date of life! by female pride he dies. 
 
 v. 270. Belov'd by Jove, and him who gilds the flies , 
 
 Yet fhort his date of life! by female pride he dies.] 
 
 The poet means Eryphyle, who, being bribed with a 
 golden bracelet by Polynices, perfuaded her hufband Am¬ 
 phiaraus to go to the Theban war, where he loft his life. 
 This is a remarkable paffage : Though he was loved 
 by Jupiter and Apollo , yet he reached not to old age. Is a 
 Ihort life the greateft inftance of the love of the Gods ? 
 Plato quotes the verfe to this purpofe. “ The life of 
 (( man is fo loaded wi}h calamity, that it is an inftance 
 ** of the favour of Heaven to take the burthen from us 
 4t with fpeed.” The fame author in Axiochus (if that 
 dialogue be his) afferts, that the Gods, having a perfe6t 
 infight into human affairs, take fpeedily to themfelves 
 thofe whom they love. Thus when Trophonius and Aga- 
 medes, had built a temple to Apollo, they prayed to re¬ 
 ceive a bleflxng the molt beneficial to mankind : the God 
 granted their prayers, and they were both found dead 
 the next morning. Thus likewile the prieftefs of Juno, 
 when her two fons had yoked themfelves to her chariot, 
 and drawn her for the greater expedition to the temple, 
 prayed to the Goddefs to reward their filial piety, and 
 they both died that night. This agrees with the expref- 
 fion of Menander, He whom the Gods love dies young. 
 
 r Ov e; Sed ’KSa'ii dmOyritrxsi 
 
126 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. BookXV. 
 
 From MantiusClitus, whom Aurora’s love 
 Snatch’d for his beauty to the thrones above: 
 
 And Polyphides on whom Phoebus (hone 
 "With fulleft rays, Amphiaraus now gone ; 275 
 
 In Hyperefia’s groves he made abode, 
 
 And taught mankind the counfels of the God. 
 
 From him fpnmg Theoclymenus, who found 
 (The facred wine yet foaming on the ground) 
 
 v. 272. •—- Aurora's love 
 
 Snatch'd for his beauty to the thrones above. ] 
 
 There is nothing more common than fuch accounts of 
 men being carried away by Goddefles, in all the Greek 
 poets; and yet what offends more againft credibility ? 
 The poets invented thefe fables merely out of compliment 
 to the dead. When any perfon happened to be drowned 
 in a river ; if a man, fome Water Nymph ftole him; if a 
 woman, fhe was feized to be the wife of the River God. 
 If any w ere loft at fea, Neptune or fome of the Sea Gods 
 or Goddeffes had taken them to their beds. But to fpeak 
 to the prefent purpofe; if any perfon died in the fields, 
 and his body happened not to be found, if he was mur¬ 
 dered and buried, or devoured by wild beafts, fo that no 
 account was heard of his death, he was immediately ima¬ 
 gined to be taken from the earth by fome Deity who was 
 in love with his beauty. Thus Clitus being loft in his 
 morning fports, like Orion while he was hunting, he was 
 fabled to be carried to heaven by Aurora; being loft at 
 the time of the morning over which that Deity prefdes. 
 
 v, 278. from hint fprung Theoclymenus —] We have had 
 a long genealogical digreffion to introduce Theoclyme¬ 
 nus : I fear the whole paflage will prove diftafteful to an 
 Englifh palate, it not being capable of any ornaments of 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 127 
 
 Telemachus: whom, as to Heav’n he prefl 280 
 His ardent vows, the ftranger thus addreft. 
 
 O thou ! that doffc thy happy courfe prepare 
 With pure libations, and with folemn pray’r ; 
 
 By that dread Pow’r to whom thy vows are paid ; 
 
 By all the lives of thefe ; thy own dear head, 285 
 
 Declare fmcerely to no foe’s demand 
 
 Thy name, thy lineage, and paternal land. 
 
 poetry. I could with Homer had omitted or fliortened 
 fuch paffages, though they might be ufeful in his age; for 
 by fuch honourable infertions he made his court to the 
 beft families then in Greece. It is true the ftory is told 
 concifely, and this occafions tome obfcurity j diftance of 
 time as well as place, makes us fee all objects feme what 
 confufedly and indiftin&ly. In the days of Homer thefe ' 
 llories were univerfally known, and confequently wanted 
 no explication; the obfcurity therefore is not to be 
 charged upon Homer, but to time, which has defaced and 
 worn away fome parts of the impreflion, and made the 
 image lefs difcernible. 
 
 The ufe the poet makes of the adventure of Theocly- 
 menus, is to give encouragement to Telemachus : he al- 
 fifts him with his advice, and by his gift of prophecy ex¬ 
 plains to him a prodigy in the conclulion of this book. By 
 this method he connects it with the main action, in giving 
 Telemachus affurances that his affairs haften to a re-efta- 
 blilhment, Befides thefe Ihort relations are valuable, as 
 they convey to pofterity brief hidories of ancient fads 
 and families that are extant no where elfe. 
 
 v. 287. Declare — thy name , and lineage , &c.] Thefe 
 queftions may be thought fomewhat extraordinary; for 
 what apparent reafon is there for this fugitive to be told 
 
128 HOMER's ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Prepare then, faid Telemachus, to know 
 A tale from falfhood free, not free from woe. 
 
 From Ithaca, of royal birth, I came, 290 
 
 And great Ulyfles (ever honour’d name!) 
 
 Was once my fire: tho’ now for ever loft 
 In Stygian gloom he glides a penfive ghoft! 
 
 the name of the parents of Telemachus ? But the inter¬ 
 rogations are very material 5 he makes them to learn if 
 Telemachus or his father are friends to theperfon (lain by 
 his hand ? if they were, inftead of failing with him, he 
 would have reafon to fly from him, as from a perfon who 
 might ttfke away his life by the laws of the country. Thus 
 in the Hebrew law, Numb. xxxv. 19. 1 he revenger of 
 blood, (0 afyitriubv, or fropinquus) J.ball fay the murderer when 
 he?neeieth him . But the Jews had cities of refuge, to which 
 the murderers fled as to a fanftuary: the Greeks in like 
 manner, if the homicide fled into a voluntary exile, per¬ 
 mitted him to be in fecurity till the murder was atoned, 
 either by fulfilling a certain time of banifhment, or by a 
 pecuniary mulft or expiation. 
 
 I will only further remark the concifenefs of thefe inter¬ 
 rogations of Theoclymenus: he alks four queftions in a 
 breath, in the compafs of one line; his apprehenfions of 
 being purfued give him no leifure to expatiate. Homer 
 judicioufly adapts his poetry to the circumftances of the 
 murderer, a man in fear being in great hafte to be in fe¬ 
 curity. Telemachus anfwers with equal brevity, being 
 under a neceflity to finifli his voyage in the night to avoid 
 the ambufli of the fuitors. For this reafon Homer lhortens 
 the relation, and complies with the exigency of Telema¬ 
 chus : with this further view, to unite the fubordinate 
 llory of Telemachus with that of Ulyfles, it being necef- 
 fary tohaften to the chief a£lion, and without delay carry 
 on the main defign of the OdyfiTey in the re-eftablidimeiu: 
 of Ulyfles. 
 
129 
 
 BookXV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 * - ' 
 
 Whofe fate enquiring thro’ the world we rove; 
 
 The laft, the wretched proof of filial love. 295 
 The ftranger then. Nor (hall I aught conceal. 
 But the dire fecret of my fate reveal. 
 
 Of my own tribe an Argive wretch I flew; 
 
 Whofe pow’rful friends the lucklefs deed purfue 
 With unrelenting rage and force from home 300 
 The blood-ftain’d exile, ever doom’d to roam. 
 
 But bear, oh bear me o’er yon’ azure flood ; 
 Receive the fuppliant! fpare my deftin’d blood! 
 
 Stranger (reply’d the prince) fecurely reft 
 Affianc’d in our faith ; henceforth our gueft. 3 °S 
 Thus affable, Ulyffes’ god-like heir 
 Takes from the ftranger’s hand the glitt’ring fpear: 
 He climbs the ffiip, alcends the ftern with hafte. 
 And by his fide the gueft accepted plac’d. 309 
 The chief his orders gives : th’ obedient band 
 With due obfervance wait the chief’s command ; 
 With fpeed the maft they rear, with fpeed unbind 
 The fpacious (beet, and ftretch it to the wind. 
 Minerva calls ; the ready gales obey 
 With rapid fpeed to whirl them o’er the fea. 315 
 Crunus they pafs’d, next Chalcis roll’daway. 
 
 When thick’ning darknefs clos’d the doubtful day ; 
 
 v. 316. Crunus they pafs'd, next Chalcis — &c.] This 
 whole paflage has been greatly corrupted; one line is 
 omitted in all our editions of Homer, and the verfes thera- 
 felves are printed erroneoufly: for thus they ftand, lib. 
 viii. p. 539. of Strabo’s Geography. 
 
 Vo l. III. . K 
 
i 3 o HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XV.' 
 
 The filver Phtea’s glitt’ring rills they loft, 
 
 And fkimm’d along by Elis’ facred coaft. 
 
 Bav Si K$uvu<; x) Xa\x,t$a xaXXig££0fOV, 
 
 &.VC-JZT0 r^eXi^ Tuio'cvro re ruderai ayvial , 
 
 S H« •beat; E7rs/3aXXiv dyaWoftevn hifVgM. 
 
 The firft line is added from Strabo : thus in Latin, 
 
 ** Prxterierunt Crunos, & Chalcida fluentis amcenam.” 
 
 lie writes dya.’KXo/uew for l7teiy6y.evn : and <j>ed? inftead of <J>£f«c. 
 The courfe that Telemachus fleered is thus explained by 
 the fame author : he firft failed northwardly as far as Elis, 
 then he turned towards the eaft, avoiding the direct 
 coune to Ithaca, to efcape the ambufh of the fuitors, who 
 lay between Samos and Ithaca. Then he palled the Echi- 
 liades (called Goal , that is i£e?at, or Jhar^-pointed t by Ho¬ 
 mer. See Strabo, lib. x. They are called Oxias by Pliny) 
 lying near the gtdf of Corinth, and the mouths of Ache- 
 lous ; thus leaving Ithaca on the eaft, and palling it, he 
 alters his courfe again, fails northwardly betv/een Ithaca 
 and Acarnania, and lands on the coaft oppofite to the Ce- 
 phallenian ocean, where the fuitors formed their ambufh. 
 The places mentioned by Homer lie in this order, Cruni, 
 ,Chalcis, andPhcea : and are all rivers of fmallnote, or ra¬ 
 ther brooks, as Strabo exprelfes it: vrorupuy o>a- 
 
 (xarcty [xaXXov SI ’0 ^£ruiVj 
 
 It is highly probable that Phxa, and not Pherac, is the 
 true reading, for Phene lay in Meffenia, and not in Elis, 
 as Strabo writes, and was in the pofleffion of Agamemnon $ 
 for he mentions that city amongft the feven which he pro- 
 mifes Achilles, in the ninth book of the Iliad. 
 
 Sev’n ample cities fhall confefs thy fway. 
 
 Thee Enope, and Pherx thee obey. 
 
 If it had not been under his dominion, how could he 
 transfer the right to Achilles ? Belides, it would be abfurd 
 to join Pherss dire&ly with Chalcis, when the one was in 
 
BookXV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 * 3 * 
 
 320 
 
 Then cautious thro’ the rocky reaches wind, 
 
 N 
 
 And turning fudden, (hun the death defign’d. 
 
 Meantime the king, Eumaeus, and the reft, 
 
 Sat in the cottage, at their rural feaft : 
 
 The banquet paft, and fatiate ev’ry man, 
 
 To try his hoft Ulyffes thus began. 325 
 
 Yet one night more, my friends, indulge your 
 gueft; 
 
 The Iaftl purpofe in your walls to reft: 
 
 To-morrow for myfelf I muft provide, 
 
 And only aik your counfel, and a guide : 
 
 Patient to roam the ftreet, by hunger led, 330 
 And blefs the friendly hand that gives me bread. 
 There in Ulyftes’ roof I may relate 
 Ulyfles’ wand’rings to his royal mate ; 
 
 Or mingling with the fuitors haughty train 
 Not undeferving fome fupport obtain. 335 
 
 Hermes to me his various gifts imparts, 
 
 Patron of induftry and manual arts : 
 
 V 
 
 Meflenia, the other in Elis; this would make the courfe 
 of Telemachus’s navigation unintelligible, if Elis and 
 MelTenia were confounded in the relation, and ufed pro- 
 jnifcuoufly without order or regularity. 
 
 I will only add that Strabo inthexxth book of his Geo¬ 
 graphy, inftead of k axxtgh&gw, reads 'sr{]priota-a-av f perhaps 
 through a flip of his memory. 
 
 v. 336. Hermes to me his various gifts imp arts t 
 Patron of indujlry and manual arts, ] 
 
 Mercury was the fervant and minifter of the Gods, and 
 
 K 2 
 
j 3 2 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Few can with me in dext’rous works contend, 
 
 The pyre to build, the ftubborn oak to rend ; 
 
 To turn the taftefui viand o’er the flame; 340 
 
 Or foam the goblet with a purple ftream. 
 
 Such are the talks of men of mean eftate, 
 
 Whom fortune dooms to ferve the rich and great. 
 
 Alas ! (Eumasus with a figh rejoin’d) 
 
 Flow fprung a thought fo monftrous in thy mind? 
 
 If on that god lefs race thou would’ft attend, 346 
 Fate owes thee fure a miferable end ! 
 
 was feigned to be the patron of all perfons of the like fla- 
 tion upon earth ; it was fuppofedto be by his favour that 
 all fervants and attendants were fuccefsful in their feveral 
 funfHons. In this view the connexion will be eafy, “ I 
 “ will go (fays Ulylfes) and offer my fervice to the fuit- 
 « { ors, and by the favour of Mercury who gives fuccefs to 
 ft perfons of my condition, fhall profperj for no man is 
 “ better able to execute the offices of attendance, than 
 tl myfelf.” It may be objected, that thefe functions are 
 unworthy of the chara£ter, and beneath the dignity of an 
 hero j but Ulyffes is obliged to a£l in his affumed, not real 
 charadler; as a beggar, not as a king. Athenaeus (lib. i. 
 pwi8.) vindicates Ulyffes in another manner, “ Men (fays 
 ** he) in former ages performed their own offices, and 
 tl gloried in their dexterity in fuch employments. Thus 
 fi Homer describes Ulyffes as the molt dextrous man 
 i( living, in ordering wood for the fire, and in the 
 6t arts of cookery But it is no more derogation to him 
 to put on the appearance of a beggar, than it was to Pal¬ 
 las to affume that of a fwain, as (lie frequently does 
 throughout the Odyffey. 
 
BookXV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 133 
 Their wrongs and blafphemies afcend the fky, 
 
 And pull defcending vengeance from on high. 
 
 Not fuch, my friend, the fervants of their feaft; 350 
 A blooming train in rich embroid’ry dreft, 
 
 With earth’s whole tribute the bright table bends, 
 And finding round celeftial youth attends. 
 
 Stay then : no eye alkance beholds thee here ; 
 Sweet is thy converfe to each focial ear ; 355 
 
 Well pleas’d, and pleafing, in our cottage reft, 
 
 ’Till good Telemachus accepts his gueft 
 With genial gifts, and change of fair attires, 
 
 And fafe conveys thee where thy foul defires. 
 
 Tohim the man of woes. O gracious Jove 1 360 
 
 Reward this ftranger’s hofpitable love, 
 
 Who knows the fon of forrow to relieve, 
 
 Chears the fad heart, nor lets affliction grieve. 
 
 Of all the ills unhappy mortals know, 
 
 A life of wand’rings is the greateft woe : 365 
 
 On all their weary ways wait care and pain, 
 
 And pine and penury, a meagre train. 
 
 To fuch a man fince harbour you afford, 
 
 Relate the farther fortunes of your lord ; 
 
 v. 348. Their wrongs and blafphemies afcend the fky."\ The 
 fenfe of this pafi'age appears to me very obyious ; Da- 
 cier renders it, whofe violence and infclence is fo great that 
 they regard not the Gods y and that they attack even the hea¬ 
 vens. I fhould rather chufe to underfland the words in 
 the more plain and eafy conftru&ion: Grotius is of this 
 judgment, and thinks they bear the fame import as thefe 
 in Gen. xviii. 21. / will go down and fee if they have done 
 according to the cry which is come unto heaven : and indeed 
 there is a great fimilitude between the expreflions. 
 
 . K 3 
 
i 3 4 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 What cares his mother’s tender breafl engage, 370 
 And fire, forfaken on the verge of age ; 
 
 Beneath the fun prolong they yet their breath, 
 
 Or range the houfe of darknefs and of death ? 
 
 To whom the fwain. Attend what you enquire, 
 Laertes lives, the miferable fire, 375 
 
 V, 370. What cares his mother's tender breaf engage , 
 
 And fire , forfaken on the verge of age.] 
 
 i * w 4 ; ** « *» h * s , 
 
 Thefe queftionsmay fcemto be needlefs,becaufe Ulyffies had 
 been fully acquainted with the ftory of Laertes, and the 
 death of his mother Anticlea, by the (hade of Tirefias ; 
 but UlylTes perfonates a ftranger, and to carry on that 
 chara&er, pretends to be unacquainted with all the af¬ 
 fairs of his own family. I cannot affirm that fuch fre¬ 
 quent repetitions of the fame circumftances are beautiful 
 in Homer: the retirement of Laertes has been frequently 
 mentioned, and the death of Anticlea related in other 
 parts of the Odyffey; however neceffary fuch reiterated 
 accounts may be, I much queftion whether they will 
 prove entertaining; Homer himfelf in this place feems 
 to apprehend it $ for Eumaeus paffes over the queftions 
 made by Ulyffies with a very (hort anfwer, and enharges 
 upon other circumftances, relating to his family and af¬ 
 fairs, to give, as Euftathius obferves, variety to his po¬ 
 etry. But this condu6f is very judicious upon another 
 account; it lets Ulyffies into the knowledge of his condi¬ 
 tion, and by it he is able to take his meafures with the 
 greater certainty, in order to bring about his own re-efta- 
 blilhment. This is a demonftration that the obje6!ion of 
 Rapin is without foundation ; he calls thefe interviews be¬ 
 tween Ulyffies and Eumasus mere idle fables, invented 
 folely for amufement, and contributing nothing to the 
 a6lion of the Odyffey ; but the contrary is true, for Ulyf- 
 fes bire&s his ccurfe according to thefe informations. 
 
BookXV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 13$ 
 
 Lives, but implores of ev’ry Pow’r to lay 
 The burden down, and wifhes for the day. 
 
 Torn from his offspring in the eve of life. 
 
 Torn from th’ embraces of his tender wife. 
 
 Sole, and all comfortlefs, he waftes away 380 
 Old age, untimely polling ere his day. 
 
 She too, fad mother ! for Ulyffes loll 
 Pin’d out her bloom, and vanilh’d to a ghofl. 
 
 (So dire a fate, ye righteous Gods ! avert. 
 
 From ev’ry friendly, ev’ry feeling heart!) 385 
 
 While yet (he was, tho’ clouded o’er with grief, 
 Her pleating converfe minifter’d relief: 
 
 With Ctimene, her youngell daughter, bred. 
 
 One roof contain’d us, and one table fed. 
 
 But when the foftly-Healing pace of time 390 
 Crept on from childhood into youthful prime, 
 
 To Samos’ ille (he fent the wedded fair ; 
 
 Me to the fields, to tend the rural care ; 
 
 Array’d in garments her own hands had wove, 
 
 Nor lefs the darling objecl of her love. 395 
 
 Her haplefs death my brighter days o’ercafl, 
 
 Yet Providence deferts me not at leall; 
 
 My prefent labours food and drink procure. 
 
 And more, the pleafure to relieve the poor. 
 
 v. 399. And more , thepleafure to relieve the poor.] This 
 verfe, 
 
 Ta;v l<pa,yovT } ewiovIe, kcli alfroiciTtv US'&xct, 
 
 has been traduced into the utmofl obfcenity j Euftathius 
 vindicates the expreffion: it means, if I hnve fiillained 
 
 K 4 
 
136 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Small is the comfort from the queen to hear 400 
 Unwelcome news, or vex the royal ear ; 
 
 Blank and difcountenanc’d the fervants ftand, 
 
 Nor dare to queflion where the proud command : 
 
 No profit fprings beneath ufurping pow’rs ; 
 
 Want feeds not there, where luxury devours, 405 
 Nor harbours charity where riot reigns: 
 
 Proud are the lords, and wretched are the fwains. 
 
 The fuff’ring chief at this began to melt; 
 
 And, oh Eumseus ! thou (he cries) haft felt 
 The fpite of fortune too ! her cruel hand 410 
 Snatch’d thee an infant from thy native land! 
 Snatch’d from thy parents arms, thy parents eyes, 
 To early wants ! a man of mifer-ies ! 
 
 Thy whole fad ftory, from its firft, declare : 
 
 Sunk the fair city by the rage of war, 415 
 
 Where once thy parents dwelt ? or did they keep. 
 In humbler life, the lowing herds and fheep ? 
 
 * e myfelf with meat and‘drink by an honeft induftry, and 
 a have got wherewithal to relieve virtue that wants.” He 
 interprets alSoioio-iv, by dvfyds-iv aio'a? atlois, or, men worthy of 
 regard and honour ; voig x) luiratg. The following words, 
 
 — — Qu [Xti'Kiyov hgiv axStrai 
 Olt* iiVoj, are tj sgyov - - 
 
 are capable of a double conftruftion, and imply either that 
 I take no delight in hearing of Penelope, Jhe being in difrefs, 
 and in the power of the fuitors j or that the fuitors fo befiege 
 the palace, that it is impofible for ?ne to hear one gentle word 
 from Penelope, or receive one obliging a SI ion from her hand . 
 The preference is fubmitted to the reader’s judgment} 
 they both contain images of tendernefs and humanity. 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 137 
 
 So left perhaps to tend the fleecy train, 
 
 Rude pirates feiz’d, and {hipp’d thee o’er the main ? 
 Doom’d a fair prize to grace fome 
 The worthy purchafe of a foreign 1 
 
 If then my fortunes can delight 
 A ftory fruitful of events attend : 
 
 Another’s forrow may thy ear 
 And wine the lengthen’d inter 
 nights the now declining 
 A part we confecrate to foft repc 
 A part in pleafing talk we enter 
 For too much reft itfelf becomes a pain. 
 
 Let thofe, whom fleep invites, the call obey, 4.30 
 Their cares refuming with the dawning day : 
 
 Here let us feaft, and to the feaft be join’d 
 Difcourfe, the Tweeter banquet of the mind ; 
 Review the feries of our lives, and tafte 
 The melancholy joy of evils paft : 435 
 
 v. 416. Long nights the now declining year befows^ See. ] 
 From hence we may conclude, that the return of UlyfTes 
 was probably in the decline of the year, in the latter part 
 of the autumn, and not in the hammer 5 the nights then, 
 being fhort cannot be called Nwm? JdnayeiTot. Eufathius* 
 
 v. 429. —- Too much ref itfelf becomes a pain.] This 
 
 aphorifm is agreeable to nature and experience j the fame 
 thing is afferted by Hippocrates, Sleep or 'watchfulnefs, when 
 excejji , ve i become difeafes ; too much fleep occafions an ex- 
 cefs of perfpiration, and confequently weakens and difli-r 
 pates the animal fpirits. Dacier. 
 
 v, 434. — —-- and tajle 
 
 The melancholy joy of evils pajl .] 
 
i 3 3 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXV, 
 
 For he who much has fufFer’d, much will know; 
 And pleas’d remembrance builds delight on woe. 
 
 Above Ortygia lies an ifle of fame. 
 
 Far hence remote, and Syria is the name ; 
 
 (There curious eyes infcrib’d with wonder trace 
 The fun’s diurnal, and his annual race) 441 
 
 There is undoubtedly a great pleafure in the remembrance 
 of paft fufferings : nay calamity has this advantage over 
 profperity ; an evil when pad turns into a comfort $ but 
 a paft pleafure though innocent, leaves in its room an 
 anxiety for the want of It, and if it be a guilty pleafure, a 
 remorfe. The reafon (obferves Euftathius) why paft evils 
 delight, is from the confcioufnefs of the praife due to our 
 prudence, and patience under them, from the fenfe of 
 our felicity in being delivered from them, and from gra¬ 
 titude to divine Providence, which has delivered us. It is 
 the joy of good men to believe thcmfelves the favourites 
 of Heaven. 
 
 v. 438. Ortygia ] This is an ancient name ofDelos, fo 
 called from a quail, from the great numbers of thofe 
 birds found upon that ifland. Lycophron, in his obfcure 
 way of writing, calls it ogrvt or the twinged, quail ; 
 
 perhaps from the fable of Afteria being turned into that 
 bird in her flight from Jupiter, and giving name to the 
 ifland from the transformation flie fuffered upon it. . It is 
 one of the Cyclades, and lies in the JEgean ocean. Syria, 
 or Syros, is another fmall ifland lying ealbvard of Ithaca, 
 according to true geography. 
 
 v. 440. There curious eyes infcrib'd with wonder trace 
 The fun's diurnal, and his annual race.] 
 
 The words in Homer are rpoirai bsxtoio, or foils connjerfiones. 
 Monfieur Perault infults the poet as ignorant of geogra¬ 
 phy, for placing Syros under the tropick j an errour (fays 
 
BookXV, HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 139 
 
 Not large, but fruitful; ftor’d with grafs to keep 
 The bellowing oxen, and the bleating fheep 5 
 
 he) which commentators in vain have laboured to defend, 
 by having recourfe to a fun-dial of Pherecydes on which 
 the motions of the fun (the r^ona] htxUo) were defigned. 
 The laft defence would indeed be ridiculous, lince Phere¬ 
 cydes flourilhed three hundred years after the time of 
 Homer : no one (replies Monfieur Boileau) was ever at 
 any difficulty about the fenfe of this paflage ; Euftathius 
 proves that rgewerdai fignifies the fame as Stfrstv, and denotes 
 the fetting of the fun $ fo that the words mean, that Syros 
 is fituate above Ortygia, on that fide where the fun lets, 
 or weflerly, to. $vtix<£ fxtgn vyUg. It is true, Eu- 
 
 ftathius mentions a bower, i<jrhXaiov, in which the con- 
 verfions of the fun were figured. This indeed would fully 
 vindicate Homer: but Bochart and others affirm, that 
 Euftathius is in an errour, and that Syros is fo far from 
 lying to the w r eft, ir^oq bexioro, that it bears an eaflern 
 
 pofition both with refpedl to Ithaca and Delos : how is 
 this objedlion to be anfwered ? Bochart, p. 411. of his 
 Geographia facra , explains it by having recourfe to the 
 bower mentioned by Euftathius, in which the motions of 
 the fun were drawn. Pherecydes (fays Hefychius Milefius) 
 having colle6ted the writings of the Phoenicians, from the 
 ufe of them alone without any inftrudfor, became famous 
 in the world by the ftrength of his own genius : and 
 Laertius writes, that an heliotrope made by him was pre- 
 ferved in the ifland of Syros. Thus it is evident, that he 
 borrowed his knowledge from the Phoenicians, and pro¬ 
 bably his fkill in aftronomy, they being very expert in 
 that fcience, by reafonof its ufe in their navigation. Why 
 then might there not be a machine which exhibited the 
 motions of the fun, made by the Phoenicians, and why 
 might not Homer be acquainted with it? It is probable 
 that Pherecydes took his pattern from this heliotrope, 
 which being one of the greateft rarities of antiquity, might 
 
140 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 Her floping hills the mantling vines adorn, 
 
 And her rich valleys wave with golden corn. 445 
 
 give a great reputation to Syros, and confequently was 
 worthy to be celebrated by Homer, the great preferver of 
 antiquities. Faliitur igitur, (fays Boclnrt) Eufiathius, cum 
 *vult intelligi, quafi fita fit Syrus ad occiduas partes Deli ; cum 
 contra Deli ad ortumfit Syrus , non ad occafum ; & rem fc fe 
 habere ex ipfo Homero patet, apud quern Eumaus in Ithaca , 
 Syriam ajferit ejfe trans Delum , quo nihil did potuit falfus , fi 
 Syrus fit ad occafum Deli. If this anfwer appears to any 
 perfon too ftudied and abftrufe, the difficulty may be 
 folved, by fuppofing Eumaus fpeaking of Delos, as it lay 
 with refpe6t to Syrus, before he was carried from it; for 
 inflance, if Syrus lies on the eaft of Delos to a man in 
 Ithaca, both Ithaca and Delos will lie on the weft of 
 Syrus to one of that ifland; I would therefore imagine 
 that Eumseus fpeaks as a native of Syrus, and not as a 
 fojourner in Ithaca, and then Delos will lie towards the 
 fun-fetting, or w^g fcxfa r^oTrag : but this laft I only propofe 
 as a conje&ure, not prefuming to offer it as a decifion. 
 
 v. 44.2. Not large , but fruitful ; for'd with grafs to keep 
 The bellowing oxen, and the bleating Jheep.~\ 
 
 It is probable that Homer was well acquainted with the na¬ 
 ture of this ifland, and that it really enjoyed an admir¬ 
 able temperature of air ; and therefore was exceedingly 
 healthful ; the fertility of the foil proves the happinefs of 
 the air, which would naturally free the inhabitants from 
 the maladies arifing from a lefs falubrious fituation. It is 
 for thisreafon that they are faid to be flain by Diana and 
 Apollo. All deaths that were fudden, and without fick- 
 nefs, were aferibed to thofe Deities. Bochart (p. 410.) 
 tells us, that the name of Syros was given to the ifland 
 by the Phoenicians ; Afira, or Sira, fignifying rich , in their 
 language ; or rather it was fo called from Sura, or Afura, 
 fignifying happy $ either of thefe derivations fully denote 
 
BookXV. HOMERS ODYSSEY. 141 
 
 No want, no famine the glad natives know, 
 
 Nor fink by fickncfs to the fhades below ; 
 
 But when a length of years unnerves the ftrong, 
 Apollo comes, and Cynthia comes along. 
 
 They bend the filver bow with tender fkill, 450 
 And void of pain, the filent arrows kill. 
 
 Two equal tribes this fertile land divide. 
 
 Where two fair cities rife with equal pride. 
 
 But both in conflant peace one prince obey, 
 
 And Ctefius there, my father, holds the fway. 455 
 Freighted, it feems, with toys of ev’ry fort 
 A {hip of Sidon anchor’d in our port; 
 
 t 
 
 the excellence both of the foil and air : and that this 
 name is of Phoenician extract is probable from the words 
 of Homer, who allures us that they flayed a whole year 
 upon this ifland, and confequcntly had opportunity to 
 know the healthfulnefs and fertility of it. 
 
 v. 457. A fhip of Sidon •—] Here is a full teftimony, 
 that the Phoenicians were remarkable for arts and navi¬ 
 gation over all the old world. They were expulfed from 
 their country by Jofhua, (as Bochart informs us) and then 
 fettling along the fea-coafts, they fpread over all the Me¬ 
 diterranean, and by degrees fent out colonies into Europe* 
 Afia, and Africk j that they were in Africk appears from 
 Procopius, wdiere he mentions a pillar, with a Phoenician 
 infcription. ‘H/^eTc IcfAv cl ^vycvTtg anTO 7f bccmtth ’inra nrS 
 vlu Nctvn ; that is, IVe are a people that ply from jofhua the fon 
 of Nun , the robber ; they gave him that title out of refent- 
 ment for their dilpoffelTion. The character they bear in 
 the Scriptures agrees w’ith this in Homer. Ifaiah xxiii. z. 
 *The merchants of Sidon , that pafs over the feas ; and it like- 
 wife appears bom the Scriptures, that they excelled in 11 
 arts of embroidery, and works of curiofTty. 
 
J 4 2 HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BookXV. 
 
 What-time it chanc’d the palace entertain’d. 
 Skill’d in rich works, a woman of their land : 
 
 This nymph, where anchor’d the Phoenician 
 train 4.60 
 
 To walh her robes defcending to the main, 
 
 A fmooth-tongu’d failor wen her to his mind ; 
 
 (For love deceives the bed of woman-kind.) 
 
 A fudden trufl from fudden liking grew ; 
 
 She told her name, her race, and all {he knew. 
 
 I too ({he cry’d) from glorious Sidon came, 466 
 
 My father Arybas, of wealthy fame $ 
 
 v. 458. What-time it chanc'd the palace entertain'd. 
 
 Skill'd in rich works, a woman of their land.] 
 
 T was furprifed to find that Euftathius miftook this Phoe¬ 
 nician woman for the mother of Eumasus j fhe herfelf tells 
 us, that file was only his governefs. 
 
 * A 
 
 avSfo? !?,'©. ivt /ueydeots dmaWcD. 
 
 — t 
 
 It is not probable that Eumaeus would have painted his 
 own mother in the drefs of an adulterefs, and an abandon¬ 
 ed traitrefs : nay, he direftly diftinguilhcs his mother from 
 this Phoenician in the fequel of the ftory (where he calls 
 her ttotvicc W'.rri^y or his ^venerable mother') and when he 
 fpeaks of the Phoenician, he confiantly calls her yon 1, not 
 fxh Nor indeed could he have called her mo-rvi* at all, 
 if fhe had been a perfon of fuch a deteftable charadter. 
 Spondanus adopts the miftake of Euftathius, and endea¬ 
 vours to vindicate her from the manner of her frailty. 
 Modefle decepta donis, &c. ut eorum libidini obfecundaret , “ it 
 ** was a modeft adultery, file being deceived by bribes to 
 i( yield to their folicitation.” However erroneous this 
 opinion is, yet it fiiews Spondanus to be a kind and com- 
 plaifant cafuift. 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 143 
 
 But (hatch’d by pirates from my native place. 
 
 The Taphians fold me to this man’s embrace. 
 
 Hade then (the falfe dedgning youth reply’d) 470 
 Hade to thy country ; love {hall be thy guide ; 
 
 Hade to thy father’s houfe, thy father’s bread. 
 
 For dill he lives, and lives with riches bled. 
 
 Swear fird (fhe cry’d ) ye failors! to redore ^ 
 < £ A wretch in fafety to her native Ihore.’* 475 > 
 Swift as {he alk’d, the ready failors fwore. 
 
 She then proceeds: Now let our compact made 
 Be nor by fignal nor by word betray’d, 
 
 Nor near me any of your crew defery’d 
 By road frequented, or by fountain fide. 480 
 
 Be filence dill our guard. The monarch’s fpies 
 (For watchful age is ready to furmife) 
 
 Are dill at hand ; and this, reveal’d, mud be 
 Death to yourfelves, eternal chains to me. 
 
 Your vefi'el loaded, and your traffick pad, 485 
 Difpatch a weary meffenger with hade: 
 
 Then gold and codly treafures will I bring, 
 
 And more, the infant-offspring of the king. 
 
 Him, child-like wand’ring forth, I’ll lead away, 
 
 (A noble prize !) and to your fhip convey. 490 
 Thus fpoke the dame, and homeward took the 
 road. 
 
 A year they traffick, and their veffel load, 
 
 Their dorcs com pleat, and ready now to weigh, 
 
 A fpy was fent their fummons t<? convey: 
 
144 HOMER’s ODYSSE Y. Book XV. 
 
 An artift to my father’s palace came, 495 
 
 With gold and amber chains, elab’rate frame : 
 
 Each female eye the glitt’ring links employ, 
 
 They turn, review, and cheapen ev’ry toy. 
 
 He took th’ occafion as they flood intent. 
 
 Gave her the fign, and to his vefTel went. 500 
 She flraight purfu’d, and feiz’d my willing arm ; 
 
 I follow’d fmiling, innocent of harm. 
 
 Three golden goblets in the porch fhe found, 
 
 (The guefts not enter’d, but the table crowned) 
 
 Hid in her fraudful bofom, thefe fhe bore : 505 
 
 Now fet the fun, and darken’d all the fhore. 
 Arriving then, where tilting on the tides 
 Prepar’d to lanch the freighted vefTel rides; 
 
 Aboard they heave us, mount their decks, and fweep 
 With level oar along the glaffy deep. 510 
 
 v. 502. I followed fmiling , innocent of harm.'] There is a 
 little incredibility in this narration j for if Eumaeus was 
 fuc’n an infant as he is defcribed to be at the time when 
 lie was betrayed by his Phoenician governefs, what pro¬ 
 bability is there that he fhould be able to retain all thefe 
 particulars fo circumftantially ? He was not of an age ca¬ 
 pable of making, or remembering fo many obfervations. 
 The anfwer is, that he afterwards learned them from 
 Laertes, who bought him of the Phoenicians : and no 
 doubt they told him the quality of Eumseus, to enhance 
 the pi ice and make the better bargain. It is alfo natural 
 to imagine, that Eumseus, when he grew up to manhood, 
 would be inquifitive after his own birth and fortunes, and 
 therefore might probably learn thefe particulars from 
 Laertes, Eufaihius. 
 
/ 
 
 Book XV. HOMER’S ODYS SET. 145 
 
 Six calmy days and fix fmooth nights we fail, 
 
 And conftant Jove fupply’d the gentle gale. 
 
 The feventh, the fraudful wretch, (no caufe de- 
 fcry’d) 
 
 Touch’d by Diana’s vengeful arrow dy’d. 574 
 Down dropt the caitiff-corfe, a worthlefs load, 
 Down to the deep ; there roll’d, the future food 
 Of fierce fea-wolves, and monfters of the flood. 
 
 An helplefs infant, I remain’d behind ; 
 
 Thence borne to Ithaca by wave and wind ; 
 
 Sold to Laertes, by divine command, 520 
 
 And now adopted to a foreign land. 
 
 v. 5T1. Six calmy day Si &c,] It is evident from thispaf- 
 fage, that it is above fix days fail from Ithaca to Syros, 
 though carried with favourable winds. Dacier. 
 
 v. 514. —— Diana's vengeful arrovo -] I would juft 
 
 obferve the poetical juftice of Homer, in the punifhment 
 of this Phoenician. Misfortune generally purfues wicked- 
 nefs, and though we efcape the vengeance of man, yet 
 Heaven frequently overtakes us when we think we are in 
 fecurity, and death calls us from our impiohs acquifitions. 
 
 v. 521. And novo adopted to a foreign land .] Homer has 
 here given us an hiftory of the life of Eumseus; the epi- 
 fode contains near an hundred lines, and may feem en¬ 
 tirely foreign to the a£fion of the Odyflfey. I will not affirm 
 that it is in every refpe< 5 t to be jullified. The main flory 
 Is at a ftand ; but we are to confider that this relation takes 
 up but fmall part of one leifnre evening, and that the 
 adlion cannot proceed till the return of Telemachus. It 
 is of ufe to fet off the character of Eumseus, and Ihew him 
 
 VOL. Ill, 
 
 L 
 
i 4 6 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XV. 
 
 To him the king. Reciting thus thy cares. 
 
 My fecret foul in all thy forrows lhares: 
 
 But one choice blefling (fuch is Jove’s high will) 
 Has fweeten’d all thy bitter draught of ill : 525 
 
 Torn from thy country to no haplefs end. 
 
 The Gods have, in a mailer, giv’n a friend. 
 Whatever frugal nature needs is thine, 
 
 (For Ihe needs little) daily bread and wine. 
 
 While I, fo many wand’rings pall and woes, 530 
 Live but on what thy poverty bellows. 
 
 So pall in pleafmg dialogue away n 
 
 The night; then down to Ihort repofe they lay ; > 
 Till radiant rofe the melfenger of day. * 
 
 While in the port of Ithaca, the band 535 
 
 Of young Telemachus approach’d the land ; 
 
 to be a perfon of quality, worthy to be an agent in an 
 epick poem, where every character ought to be remote 
 from meannefs: fo the llory has a diftant relation to the 
 Odyfiey, and perhaps is not to be looked upon merely as 
 an excrefcence from the main building, but a fmall pro- 
 je&ion to adorn it. 
 
 v. s 34.. 'Till radiant rofe the mejfenger of day.] This is 
 the morning of the thirty-eighth day fince the beginning 
 of the Odyfi'ey. It is obfervable that Telemachus takes 
 more time in his return from Pylos,than in failing thither 
 from his own country j for in the latter end of the fecond 
 book he fets fail after fun-fetting, and reached Pyle in 
 the morning: here he embarks in the afternoon, and yet 
 arrives not at Ithaca till after break of day. The reafon 
 of it is not to be afcribed to a lefs profperous wind, but to 
 the greater compafs he was obliged to fetch, to efcape the 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 147 
 
 Their fails they loos’d, they lafh’d the mad afide, 
 And caft their anchors, and the cables ty’d : 
 
 Then on the breezy fhore defcending join 
 In grateful banquet o’er the rofy wine. 540 
 
 When thus the prince : Now each his courfc 
 purfue ; 
 
 I to the fields, and to the city you. 
 
 Long abfent hence, I dedicate this day 
 My fwains to vifit, and the works furvey. 
 
 Expert me with the morn, to pay the fkies 545 
 Our debt of fafe return, in feaft and facrifice. 
 
 Then Theoclymenus. But who fhall lend, 
 Meantime, protection to thy ftranger-friend ? 
 Straight to the queen and palace fhall I fly, 
 
 Or yet more diftant, to fome lord apply ? 550 
 
 The prince return’d. Renown’d in days of yore 
 Has flood our father’s hofpitable door ; 
 
 No other roof a ftranger fliou’d receive. 
 
 Nor other hands than ours the welcome give. 
 
 But in my abfence riot fills the place, 555 
 
 Nor bears the modeft queen a ftranger’s face, 
 
 From noifeful revel far remote fhe flies, 
 
 But rarely feen, or feen with weeping eyes. 
 
 No-let Eurymachus receive my gueft. 
 
 Of nature courteous, and by far the belt 3 560 
 
 t. 
 
 atnbufh of the fuitors. In the former voyage he fleered a 
 direct courfe; in this he fails round about to the north of 
 Ithaca, and therefore waftes more time in his voyage to it. 
 
 L a 
 
I 4 S HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXV. 
 
 He wooes the queen with more refpe£tful flame, 
 And emulates her former hufband’s fame : 
 
 With what fuccefs, ’tis Jove’s alone to know. 
 
 And the hop’d nuptials turn to joy or woe. 
 
 Thus fpeaking, on the right up-foar’d in air 
 The hawk, Apollo’s fwift-wing’d meflenger ; 566 
 
 v. 561. He hx' ooes the queen <voith ?hore refpeBfulflame. 
 And emulates her former hufand's famed] 
 
 The words in the original are yega; ?£e which may 
 
 cither be rendered, to obtain the honour of marrying Penelope , 
 agreeably to the former part of the verfe ; or it means that 
 Eurymachus has the faireft hopes to marry Penelope, and 
 obtain the throne or yips of Ulyffes. Hobbs tranflates the 
 verfe almoft obfcenely in the former fenfe : 
 
 •— — — He bell loves my mother; 
 
 And what my father did, would do the fame. 
 
 The former in my judgment is the better conftrudlion, 
 Specially becaufe it avoids a tautology, and gives a new 
 image in the fecond part of the verfe, very different from 
 the fenfe exprefled in the former part of it. But of all 
 the meanings it is capable of I fhould prefer this ; “ That 
 {l he courts her upon the molt honourable principles, and 
 u feems defirous to have the honour of Ulyffes, by imitat- 
 “ ing his worthand this is agreeable to the charafter 
 of Eurymachus, which diflinguiflies him from all the other 
 fuitors. 
 
 v. 566. The hawk, Apollo's fwift-wing'd mejfengerd] The 
 augury is thus to be interpreted ; Ulyffes is the hawk, the 
 fuitors the pigeon ; the hawk denotes the valour of Ulyffes, 
 being a bird of prey ; the pigeon reprefents the cowardice 
 ©f the fuitors, that bird being remarkable for her timorous 
 
I 
 
 Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 149 
 
 His deathful pounces tore a trembling dove~; 
 
 The clotted feathers, fcatter’d from above, 
 
 Between the hero and the vcflel pour 569 
 
 Thick plumage, mingled with a (anguine fhow’r. 
 
 Th’ obferving augur took the, prince afide, 
 
 Seiz’d by the hand, and thus prophetick cry’d. 
 Yon’ bird that dexter cuts th’ aerial road, 
 
 Rofe ominous, nor flies without a God : 
 
 No race but thine fhall Ithaca obey, 575 
 
 To thine, for ages, Heav’11 decrees the fway. 
 Succeed the omen, Gods ! (the youth rejoin’d) 
 Soon fhall my bounties fpeak a grateful mind. 
 
 nature. The hawk flies on the right, to denote fucccfs 
 to Ulyfies. 
 
 Homer calls this bird the meflenger of Apollo ; not that 
 this augury was fent by that Deity, (though that be no 
 forced interpretation) but the expreflion implies, that the 
 hawk was facred to Apollo ; as the peacock was to Juno, 
 the owl to Pallas, and the eagle to Jupiter. Thus ./Elian, 
 anim. lib. X. C. 14. Aiyvirhoi rov le^ana 'x'f An roAX&m ti/acIv iOLKurii 
 &c. and he gives the reafon of it, for the hawk is the 
 only bird that is capable to bear the luftre of the fun with¬ 
 out inconvenience and difficulty j the fame is faid of the 
 eagle, but this hawk is reckoned to be of the aquiline kind. 
 It was death among the Egyptians to kill this bird, be- 
 caufe it was dedicated to Apollo. 
 
 There is another reafon why any bird that was taken 
 notice of by way of augury, may be faid to be the meflen¬ 
 ger of Apollo, that Deity prefiding over divination. 
 
 v. 571. ’Tli' obferving augur took the prince afide.] The 
 reafon why Tlieoclymenus withdraws Telemachus, whit* 
 
 I 
 
I 5 0 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. BookXV, 
 
 And foori each envy’d happinefs attend 
 
 The man, who calls Telemachus his friend. 580 
 
 Then to Peineus-Thou whom time has prov’d 
 
 A faithful fervant, by thy prince belov’d ! 
 
 ’Till we returning (hall our gueil demand, 
 
 Accept this charge with honour^ at our hand. 
 
 To this Peirscus ; Joyful I obey, 585 
 
 Well pleas'd the hofpitable rites to pay. 
 
 The prefence of thy gueft {hall bell reward 
 (If long thy flay) the abfence of my lord. 
 
 he interprets the augury, is not apparent at the firft view, 
 but he does it out of an apprehenfion left he fliould be 
 overheard by fome of the company, who might difclofe 
 the fecret to the fuitors, and fuch a difcovery might prove 
 fatal to his own perfon, or to the fortunes of Telemachus. 
 JHuJiathiuff 
 
 v. 581. Then to Petrous — Thou whom time has fronSd, 
 &c.] We find that Telemachus intended to deliver Theo- 
 clymenus to the care of Eurymachus: what then is the 
 reafon why he thus fuddenly alters that refolution, and 
 intruffs him to Peirseus ? This is occafioned by the dif¬ 
 covery of the fkill of Theoclymenus in augury : he fears 
 left the fuitors fhould extort fome predi&ion from him 
 that might be detrimental to his affairs, or fliould he re- 
 fufe it, to the perfon of Theoclymenus. Eujlathius . 
 
 This book comprehends fomewhat more than the fpace 
 of two days and one night j for the vifion appears to Te¬ 
 lemachus a little before the dawn, in the night preced¬ 
 ing the thirty-fixth day, and he lands in Ithaca, on the 
 thirty-eighth in the morning. 
 
Book XV. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. *51 
 
 With that, their anchors he commands to weigh, 
 Mount the tall bark and lanch into the fea. 590 
 All with obedient hafte forfake the {bores. 
 
 And plac’d in order, fpread their equal oars. 
 
 Then from the deck the prince his fandals takes ; 
 Pois’d in his hand the pointed jav’lin {hakes. 594 
 They part; while lefs’ning from the hero’s view. 
 Swift to the town the well-row’d galley flew: 
 
 The hero trod the margin of the main, 
 
 And reach’d the manfion of his faithful fwain. j 
 
I 
 
 THE 
 
 SIXTEENTH BOOK 
 
 * 
 
 0 F T H E 
 
 O D Y S S E Y. 
 
 I 
 
THE 
 
 argument. 
 
 « 
 
 The Difcovery of Ulyfles to Telemachus. 
 
 TELEMA CH US arriving at the lodge of Eumaus fends 
 him to carry Penelope the news of his return • Minerva ap¬ 
 pearing to Ulyjfes commands him to difcover himfelf to his fon . 
 Ehe Princes, who had lain in ambufh to uitercept Eelemachus 
 in his way, their project being defeated) return to Ithaca . 
 
 • * 
 
THE 
 
 SIXTEENTH BOOK 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
 S oo N as the morning blufh’d along the plains, 
 Ulyfles, and the monarch of the fwains, 
 
 Awake the fleeping fires, their meal prepare. 
 
 And forth to paflure fend the briftly care. 
 
 v. i. Scon as the morning blu/h'd along the plains , &c.J 
 This book opens with the greateft fimplicity imaginable. 
 Dionyfius Halicarnaflus quotes the fixteen firft lines to this 
 purpofe : the poet, fays that author, defcribes a low and 
 vulgar action, yet gives it an inexpreffible fweetnefs j the 
 ear is pleafed with the harmony of the poetry, and yet 
 there is nothing noble in the fentiments. Whence, con¬ 
 tinues he, does this arife ? from the choice of the words, or 
 from the placing of them? No one will affirm that it confifts 
 in the choice of the words, for the diction is entirely low 
 and vulgar, fo vulgar, that a common artificer orpeafant, 
 who never ftudied elocution, would ufe it in converfa- 
 tion; turn the verfes into profe, and this will appear. 
 There are no tranfpofitions, no figures, no variety of di¬ 
 aled, nor any new and ftudied expreffions. Where then 
 h the beauty of the poetry ? It rnuft, be entirely alcribed 
 
156 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XVL 
 
 The prince’s near approach the dogs defcry, 5 
 
 And fawning round his feet confefs their joy. 
 
 to the harmonious juncture and pofition of the words ; 
 and he concludes that the collocation of words has a greater 
 efficacy both in profe and poetry, than the choice. And 
 indeed a judicious difpofition of them (like what is feign¬ 
 ed of Minerva in this book) makes a mean, deformed* 
 and vulgar period, rife, like Ulyffes from beggary, into 
 pomp and dignity. This may be exemplified from the 
 rules of mechanick arts; an architect, w'hen he gathers 
 his materials for a building, has thefe three things chiefly 
 in view r : firft, with what, piece of Hone, wood, &c. a 
 correfpondent piece will heft agree: next he confiders 
 their feveral formations, and how it will belt Hand in the 
 ftruflure : and laftly, if any part of the materials fuits 
 not with the allotted place, he rejefls it or new r fhapeS 
 it, till it agrees with the whole work : the fame care is 
 to be taken by a good writer : he is firft to confider what 
 noun or verb is to be joined to other nouns or verbs fo 
 fitly as not poffibly to be placed more conveniently j for 
 a promifeuous connecting of words indiferiminately fpoils 
 both profe and poetry: next he confiders the frame or 
 turn of the verb or noun, and how it will ftand in the 
 place he allots it; and if it fuits not exa&ly, he changes 
 .it, fometimes by varying the numbers, fometimes the' 
 cafes, and at other times the genders : and laftly, if a 
 word prove fo ftubborn as not to bend to the level of the 
 period, he entirely reje£ls it, and introduces another that 
 preferves a due conformity ; or at leaft, if an inharmo¬ 
 nious word be necefiary, he places it lo judicioufly be¬ 
 tween more agreeable and tuneful w'ords, that their har¬ 
 mony fteals away our imagination from obferving the 
 roughnefs of the others: likewife generals, who in order¬ 
 ing the ranks of their fold iers, ftrengthen the weaker files 
 fey fuftaining them with the ftronger i and by this method 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. i 57 
 
 Their gentle blandilhment the king furvey’d, 
 
 Heard his refounding ftep, and inftant laid : 
 
 render the whole invincible. See likewife cap. xxxii. of 
 Longinus, of the difpofition of words. 
 
 v. 3. --. their meal prepare. ] The word in the ori¬ 
 
 ginal is which here denotes very evidently the morn¬ 
 ing repaft : it is ufed but in one other place in all Homer 
 in this fenfe : Iliad, lib. xxiv. v. 124. 
 
 *EcrcrviufvvsE7rsm1o xj Ivluvovlo agjyov. 
 
 But we are not therefore to imagine that this was an ufual 
 
 o 
 
 meal j Homer in other places exprefles it by SfelVvo», as is 
 obferved by Athenscus, lib. i. 
 
 a ■ 
 
 Ol f S’ «£* $t~7Tvov t’Kovr ano S' aira S'cw^rc'ovJ®. 
 
 “ At the dawn of the day they took repaft and armed 
 “ themfelves for battle.” The Greeks had three cuftom- 
 ary meals, which are diftin&ly mentioned by Palamede* 
 in iEfchylus, 
 
 "a £tca, S'EiVyrt, SogyraQ’ a.lgB~<r 6 ai r^trx, 
 
 Homer, adds Athenseus, mentions a fourth repaft, lib.- 
 xvii, of the Odyfley : 
 
 — - - * 
 
 -— <ru S’ S£^s^^^c■af, 
 
 This the Romans call commejjationem , we a collation, a re¬ 
 paft taken, as the fame author explains it, between din¬ 
 ner and fupper : the word is derived «7ro rr? 0or 
 the evening twilight. But Athenasus refutes himfelf, lib. v, 
 p. 193. I have already (fays he) obferved that the an- 
 tients eat thrice a day, and it is ridiculous to imagine that 
 they eat four times from thefe words of Homer. 
 
 ■— 7i» S' 
 
i 5 8 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVI. 
 
 Some well-known friend (Eurmeus) bends this 
 way ; 
 
 His fleps 1 hear ; the dogs familiar play. 10 
 
 While yet he fpoke, the prince advancing drew 
 Nigh to the lodge, and now appear’d in view. 
 
 Tranfported from hi3 feat Eumseus fprung, 
 
 Dropp’d the full bowl, and round his bofom hung ; 
 
 For that exprefllon meant only that Eumseus' fhould re¬ 
 turn in the evening, hi\tvov xs° VOVm But this is not 
 
 the full import of the word for it undoubtedly 
 
 means, to take the evening repaft or fupper, as is evident 
 from the conclufion of the feventeenth book of the Odyf- 
 fey : Return , fays Telemachus toEumaeus, but firjl take re - 
 frefhment ; and Eumaeus accordingly eats, and the poet 
 immediately adds, becaufe the evening <was come, or inn— 
 Xl-Ac JitsAov npag. However, in no fenfe can this word be 
 brought to prove that the Greeks eat four times in the 
 day; but if any perfon will imagine that it fignifies in 
 that place an immediate meal, all that can be gathered 
 from it is, that Telemachus out of kindnefs to Eumaeus 
 commands him to eat before the ufual hour of repaft, 
 before he leaves his palace: but Hefychius rightly inter- • 
 prets it by ri featvav xd€xv e/u Gpoo/au, that is, eating his fupper ; 
 for as $e~7 tvov and a^g-ov fignify the dinner, fo tynov and 
 denote the time of fupper promifcuoufly. 
 
 I will add no more, but refer the reader for a full ex¬ 
 plication of h'ln-.ov, u^ov and SsOuvov, to lib. viii. Queft. 6. of 
 Plutarch’s Sympofiacks. 
 
 v. 34. Dropp'd the full hovel -] In the original it is, 
 
 Eumseus dropped the bowl as he tempered it with water. 
 
 It was cuftomary not to drink wine unmixed with water 
 among the ancients j there was no certain proportion ob- 
 ferved in the mixture, fome to one veftel of wine poured 
 in two of water, others to two of wine, five of wa- 
 
BookXVI. HOMERS ODYSSEY. 159 
 
 Killing his cheek, his hand, while from his eye 15 
 The tears rain’d copious in a fhow’r of joy. 
 
 As fome fond fire who ten long winters grieves, 
 From foreign climes an only fon receives, 
 
 (Child of his age) with ftrong paternal joy 
 Forward he fprings, and clafps the fav’rite boy: 2 Q 
 So round the youth his arms Eumasus fpread, 
 
 As if the grave had giv’n him from the dead. 
 
 And is it thou ! my ever-dear delight! 
 
 O art thou come to blefs my longing fight! 
 
 Never, I never hop’d to view this day, 25 
 
 When o’er the waves you plough’d the defp’rate way. 
 
 ter. Homer tells us that the wine of Maron was fo 
 ftrong as to require twenty meafures of water to one 
 ©f wine; but perhaps this is fpoken hyperbollically, 
 to fhew the uncommon ftrength of it. The Lacedaemo¬ 
 nians ufed to boil their wine till the fifth part was con- 
 fumed, and then keeping it four years, drank it; but 
 fometimes the Grecians drank it without water (but this 
 they called reproachfully hrirxv&is-at, or to a£t like a Scy¬ 
 thian, from whom they borrowed'the cuftom.) It was 
 ufual even for children to drink wine thus tempered 
 amongft the Grecians, thus in this book Eurymachus, 
 
 . Si olvov l^vBgov, 
 
 AndPhcenix in the ninth of the Iliad, fpeaking of Achilles 5 
 
 —-oTvov tTrir^ccv 
 
 IloXXaxt /otot Kcmfouruc, 
 
 At Athens there was an altar erecled to Bacchus 
 becaufe from thus tempering the wine men returned up¬ 
 right or fober from entertainments ; and alaw w'as enacted 
 by Amphytrion, and afterwards revived by Solon, that 
 no unmixed wine (hould be drank at any enteitainment. 
 
i6o HOMER’s ODtSSEY. BookXVI. 
 
 Enter my child! beyond my hopes reflor’d, 
 
 O give thefe eyes to feaft upon their lord. 
 
 Enter, oh feldom feen ! for lawlefs pow’rs 
 Too much detain thee from thefe lilvan bow’rs. 30 
 The prince reply’d ; Eumreus, I obey ; 
 
 To feek thee, friend, I hither took my way. 
 
 But fay, if in the court the queen refide, 
 
 Severely chafte, or if commenc’d a bride ? 
 
 V. 33.- if in the court the queen refide 
 
 Securely chafe , or if commenc'd a bride P] 
 
 Romer here makes ufe of a proverbial expreflion. It may 
 thus be literally tranflated, 
 
 Or fay if obftinate no more to wed, 
 
 She dooms to fpiders nets th’ imperial bed : 
 
 Telemaclms means by this queftion, if Penelope be deter¬ 
 mined no more to marry; for the marriage bed was ef- 
 teemed fo facred, that upon the deceafe or abfence of the 
 hufband, it remained unufed. 
 
 Euftathius quotes the fame expreflion from other au¬ 
 thors of antiquity 5 thus Hefiod, 
 
 'Ek o'' afyixv ehacrsla; ngayyia. 
 
 tc You (hall clear the veflels from fpiders websmean¬ 
 ing that you fall have fo full employment for your vef¬ 
 fels, that the fpiders fhall no more fpread their looms there . 
 And another poet praying for peace, wiihcs fpiders may 
 weave their nets upon the foldiers arms; ertg®* 'bto^tvc 
 
 sigmvv t'jfca.aSxt, BTrivysrat vvy.a.'rx. l<pdva.i T0~f 'in rAc;$> 
 
 Thus we find among the Greeks it was an expreflion of 
 dignity, and applied to great and ferious occafioiis; I 
 am not certain that it is fo ufed by the Romans. Catul- 
 Ivs ufes it jocofely, fpeaking of his empty purfe. 
 
 -“ nam tui Catulli 
 
 “ Plenusfacculus eft araneartma.” 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. i6j 
 
 Thus he : and thus the monarch of the fwains; 
 Severely chafte Penelope remains, 36 
 
 But loft to ev’ry joy, fhe waftes the day 
 In tedious cares, and weeps the night away. 
 
 He ended, and (receiving as they pafs 
 The jav’lin, pointed with a ftar of brafs) 40 
 
 They reach’d the dome ; the dome with marble 
 {hin’d. 
 
 His feat Ulyfles to the prince refign’d. 
 
 Not fo—(exclaims the prince with decent grace) 
 
 For me, this houfe fliall find an humbler place: 
 
 T’ ufurp the honours due to filver hairs 45 
 
 And rev’rend ftrangers, modeft youth forbears. 
 
 Plautus does the fame in his Aulularia: 
 
 — — — “ anne quis sedes auferat ? 
 
 “ Nam hie apud nos nihil eft aliud qusefti furibus, 
 
 “ Ita inaniis funt oppletcs, atque araneis.” 
 
 Tam doubtful if it be not too mean an image for Englifh 
 poetry. 
 
 v. 43. Not fo —— (exclaims the prince - ] Nothing can 
 
 more ftrongly reprefent the refpett which antiquity paid 
 to ftrangers, than this conduct of Telemachus: Ulyfles 
 is in rags, in the difguife of a beggar, and yet a prince 
 refufes to take his feat. I doubt not but every good man 
 ^will be pleafed with fuch inftances of benevolence and hu¬ 
 manity to his fellow-creatures : one well-natured a£tion is 
 preferable to a thouland great ones, and Telemachus ap¬ 
 pears with more advantage upon this heap of hides and 
 ofiers, than a tyrant upon his throne, 
 
 Vol. Ill, '• M 
 
 [ 
 
162 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 Inftantthe Twain the fpoils of beafls fupplies. 
 
 And bids the rural throne with ofiers rife. 
 
 There fat the prince : the feafl Eumceiis fpread. 
 
 And heap’d the fhining canifters with bread. 5 0 
 
 Thick o’er the board the plenteous viands lay. 
 
 The frugal remnants of the former day. 
 
 Then in a bowl he tempers gen’rous wines. 
 
 Around whofe verge a mimick ivy twines. 
 
 And now the rage of thirft and hunger fled, 55 
 Thus young Ulyfles to Eumseus faid. 
 
 Whence father, from what {hore this ftranger, 
 fay! 
 
 What veflel bore him o’er the wat’ry way? 
 
 To human ftep our land impervious lies, 
 
 And round the coaft circumfluent oceans rife. 60 
 
 v. 52. The frugal remnants of the farmer day.] This 
 entertainment is neither to be aferibed to parfimony nor 
 poverty, but to the cuftom and hofpitality of former ages. 
 It was a common expreflion among the Greeks at table, 
 leave fomething for the Medes ; intimating that fomething 
 ought to be left for a guelt that might come accidentally. 
 Plutarch in his feventh book of the Sympof. Queftion 3. 
 commends this condutt. Eumseus (fays that author) a 
 wife fcholar of a wife matter, is no way difeompofed when 
 Telemachus pays him a vifit, he immediately fets before 
 him 
 
 The frugal remnants of the former day. 
 
 Befides the table was accounted facred to the Gods, and 
 nothing that was facred was permitted to be empty ; this 
 was another reafon why the ancients always referved part 
 of their provifions, not folely out of hofpitality to mem 
 but piety to the Gods. 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 163 
 
 The Twain returns. A tale of forrows hear ; 
 
 In fpacious Crete he drew his natal air, 
 
 Long doom’d to wander o’er the land and main, 
 
 For Heav’n has wove his thread of life with pain. 
 Half-breathlefs ’leaping to the land he flew 65 
 From Thefprot mariners, a tnurd’rous crew. 
 
 To thee, my fon, the fuppliant I refign, 
 
 I gave him my protection, grant him thine. 
 
 Hard talk, he cries, thy virtue gives thy friend, 
 Willing to aid, unable to defend. 70 
 
 v. 70. Willing to aid — j It has beeil obferved that Ho¬ 
 mer intended to give us the picture of a complete hero in 
 his two poems, drawn from the characters of Achilles and 
 Ulyfles : Achilles has corifummate valour, but wants the 
 wifdom of Ulyfles : Ulyfles has courage, but courage in¬ 
 clining to caution and ftratagem, as much as that of 
 Achilles to raflinefs. Virgil endeavoured to form a com¬ 
 plete hero in /Eneas, by joining in his perfon the forward 
 courage of Achilles, with the wifdom of Ulyfles, and by 
 this conduit gives us a perfect character. The fame ob- 
 fervation holds good with refpeCt to the fubordinate cha¬ 
 racters introduced into the two poems of the Iliad and 
 Odyfley : and makes an eflential difference between them s 
 thus the Iliad exhibiting an example of heroick valour, 
 almoft all the characters are violent and heroick. Diomed, 
 Ajax, Heitor, &c. are all chiefly remarkable for courage x 
 but the Odyfley being intended to reprefent the patience 
 and wifdom of an hero, almoft all the characters are dif- 
 tinguifhed by benevolence and humanity. Telemachus and 
 Eumaeus, Alcinous, Neftor, andMenelaus are every where 
 reprefented in the mild light of wifdom and hofpitality. 
 This makes a continued difference of flyle in the poetry 
 of the tw r o poems, and the characters of the agents in the 
 
 M a . 
 
16 4 IIOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 Can (hangers fafely in the court refide, 
 
 Mid(l the fwell’d infolence ofluftand pride? 
 
 Ev’n I unfafe: the queen in doubt to wed. 
 
 Or pay due honours to the nuptial bed ? 
 
 Perhaps (lie weds regardlefs of her fame, 75 
 
 Deaf to the mighty Ulyfiiean name. 
 
 However, ftranger ! from our grace receive 
 Such honours as befit a prince to give ; 
 
 Odyfley neceflarily exhibit lectures of piety and morality. 
 The reader fliould keep this in his view. In reading Ho¬ 
 mer, the Odyifey is to be looked upon as a fequel of the 
 lliadj* and then he will find in the two poems the perfec¬ 
 tion of human nature, confummate courage joined with 
 confummate piety. He muft be an unobferving reader, 
 who has not taken notice of that <vein of humanity that runs 
 through the whole Odyfley; and a bad man, that has not 
 been pleafed with it. In my opinion, Eumaeus tending 
 his herds is more amiable than Achilles in all his deftruc- 
 tiv'e glory. There is fcarce a fpeech made in the Odyfley 
 by Eumseus, Telemachus or Ulyfles, but what tends to 
 the improvement of mankind : it was this that endeared 
 the Odyfley to the ancients, and Homer’s fentences of mo¬ 
 rality were in every mouth, and introduced in allconver- 
 fations for the better condufl of human life. This verfis 
 was thus applied by fome of the antients ; a perfon being 
 afked what was the duty of an orator, or pleader, anfwered 
 from Homer, 
 
 i.’jt'j.y.'ota.aQo.i Sts tk ^aX£7rr,v)i. 
 
 In fhort, I will not deny but that the Iliad is by far the 
 nobler poem with refpeft to the poetry ; it is fit to be 
 read by kings and heroes ; but the Odyfley is of ufe to all 
 mankind, as it teaches us to be good men rather than gFeat, 
 and to prefer morality to glory. 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 165 
 
 Sandals, a fword, and robes, refpeft to prove, 
 
 And fafe to fail with ornaments of love. So 
 
 Till then, thy gueft amid the rural train 
 Far from the court, from danger far, detain. 
 
 ’Tis mine with food the hungry to fupply. 
 
 And cloath the naked from th’ inclement fky. 
 
 Here dwell in fafety from the fuitors wrongs, 85 
 And the rude infults of ungovern’d tongues. 
 
 For fhould’ft thou fuffer, pow’rlefs to relieve 
 I muft behold it, and can only grieve. 
 
 The brave encompafs’d by an hoftile train, 
 O’erpower’d by numbers, is but brave in vain. 90 
 To whom, while anger in his bofom glows. 
 With warmth replies the man of mighty woes. 
 
 v. 92. With warmth replies the man of mighty woes.] There 
 is not a more fpirited fpeech in all the Odylfey than this 
 ofUlyfiesi his refentment arifes from the laft words of 
 Telemachus, obferves Eullathius: 
 
 The brave encompafs’d by an hoftile train ,1 
 O’erpower’d by numbers, is but brave in vain. 
 
 He is preparing his fon for the deftru6Kon of the fuitors, 
 and animating him againft defpair by reafon of their num¬ 
 bers. This he brings about, by reprefenting thata brave 
 man in a good caufe prefers death to difhonour. By the 
 fame method Homer exalts the chara£ler ofUlyftes: Te¬ 
 lemachus thinks it impolfible to refill the fuitors; Ulyftes 
 not only refills them, but almoft without aflillance works 
 their deftruftion. There is a fine contrail between the 
 tried courage of Ulyfles, and the inexperience of Tele¬ 
 machus. 
 
 M 3 
 
166 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 Since audience mild is deign’d, permit my tongue 
 At once to pity and refent thy wrong. 
 
 My heart weeps blood to fee a foul fo brave 95 
 
 Live to bafe infolence of pow’r a Have. 
 
 But tell me, doll thou, prince, doft thou behold. 
 And hear, their midnight revels uncontroll’d ? 
 
 Say, do thy fubjedls in bold faction rife, 
 
 Or prielts in fabled oracles advife ? loo 
 
 Or are thy brothers, who fhould aid thy pow’r, 
 
 1 urn’d mean deferters in the needful hour ? 
 
 O that I were from great Uiylfes fprung, 
 
 Or that tilde wither’d nerves Lke thine were ftrung; 
 Or, Heav’ns ! might he return ! (and foon appear 
 He fhall, I truft; a hero fcorns delpair) 106 
 
 v. 105,- (And, foon appear 
 
 He fhall , I truft 3 a hero fcorns defpair).'] 
 
 Some antient criticks, as Euftathius informs us, rejected 
 this verfe, and thus read thepalfage: 
 
 "H 'aia.Xq t? O dy.vy.cv<^, r,t ^ avrof ; 
 
 AuTiK. £7TBn a-nd ifxtTo Toofxci aXXorgj©* tyc&q. 
 
 Then the fenfe will be, Oh that 1 nvere the fon of Ulyffes , or 
 
 UljJjes hitnfelf Sec. 
 
 I'or, add they, if this verfe be admitted, it breaks the 
 traniport of Ulyffes'’s refentment, and cools the warmth of 
 the exprefiion j Euffathius confeffes that he was once of 
 the fame opinion, but afterwards lee ms dubious; for, con¬ 
 tinues he, Ulyfles by laying. Oh that I -mere the fon of Ulyf¬ 
 fes > or Ulyffes hbnfelj , gave room to lufped that he was him- 
 fed Ulyffes; and therefore to efface this impreffion, he 
 adds with great addrefs, 
 
fcookXVL HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 167 
 
 Might he return, I yield my life a prey 
 To my worft foe, if that avenging day 
 Be not their laft : but fhould I lofe my life 
 OpprefsM by numbers in the glorious ftrife, no 
 I chufe the nobler part, and yield my breath. 
 
 Rather than bear diihonour, worfe than death ; 
 
 Than fee the hand of violence invade 
 The rev’rend fhranger, and the fpotlefs maid ; 
 
 Than fee the wealth of kings confum’d in wafte, 
 The drunkards revel, and the gluttons feaft. 116 
 Thus he, with anger flafhing from his eye; 
 
 Sincere the youthful hero made reply. 
 
 Nor leagu’d in fa£lious arms my fubjedls rife, 
 
 Nor priefts in fabled oracles advife j 120 
 
 — --(And foon appear 
 
 He (hall, I trail: a hero fcorns defpair) 
 
 And by this method removes all jealoufy that might arife 
 from his former exprefiion. JDacier mifreprefents Eufta- 
 thius j (he fays, II a-voit dome lieu a quelque fub^on quit ne 
 fuji njentablement Vlyffe ; whereas he diredlly fays y.r> Ittott- 
 r£j jQn ot{ 'o^aVrEi/f Iov 6 Ku\mv, that is, et he ufes this expref- 
 “ fion, that it may not be fufpefled that he is Ulylfes who 
 “ fpeaks in reality he inferts thefe words foleiy to avoid 
 difcovery, not judging it yet reafcnable to reveal himfelf 
 to Telemachus, much lefs to Eumaeus. 
 
 v. 108. "To my nvorjl foe.~\ The words in Greek are a’xXoV 
 or, may I fall by the hand of a Jlranger: that is, 
 by the worft of enemies, foreigners being ufually the moil 
 barbarous enemies. This circumftance therefore aggra¬ 
 vates the calamity. Eufathius. 
 
 M 4 
 
168 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI, 
 
 Nor are my brothers who fhould aid my pow’r 
 Turn’d mean deferters in the needful hour. 
 
 Ah me ! I boaft no brother ; Heav’n’s dread King 
 Gives from our flock an only branch to fpring: 
 
 Alone Laertes reign’d Arcefius’ heir, 125 
 
 Alone Ulyffes drew the vital air, 
 
 And I alone the bed connubial grac’d, 
 
 An unblefl offspring of a fire unblefl! 
 
 Each neighb’ring realm, conducive to our woe, 
 
 Sends forth her peers, and ev’ry peer a foe : 130 
 
 The court proud Samos and Dulichium fills, 
 
 And lofty Zacinth crown’d with fhady hills, 
 
 Ev’n Ithaca and all her lords invade 
 Th’ imperial fcepter, and the regal bed : 
 
 The queen averfe to love, yet aw’d by pow’r, 135 
 Seems half to yield, yet flies the bridal hour : 
 Meantime their licence uncontrolled, I bear ; 
 
 Ev’n now they envy me the vital air: 
 
 But Heav’n will fure revenge, and Gods there are. 
 
 But go, Eumteus ! to the queen impart 140 
 Our fafe return, and eafe a mother’s heart. 
 
 v. 127. And I alone the bed connubial grac'd .] Homer men¬ 
 tions but one fon of Ulyfles 5 other authors name another, 
 Archefilaus ; and Sophocles, Eurylaus (lain by Telema- 
 chus; but perhaps thefe defeended not from Penelope. 
 JEuJlathius. 
 
 v. 140. But go, Eunicem ! to the queen i?npart.~\ There 
 is nothing more wonderful in Homer, than the diftribu- 
 tion of his incidents j and how fully mull he be poflefled of 
 his whole fubjeft, and take it in all at one view, to bring 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 169 
 
 Yet fecret go ; for num’rous are my foes, 
 
 And here at leaft I may in peace repofe. 
 
 To whom the fwain ; I hear and I obey: 
 
 But old Laertes weeps his life away, 145 
 
 And deems thee loft: fhall I my fpeed employ 
 To blefs his age ; a mefienger of joy ? 
 
 The mournful hour that tore his fon away 
 Sent the fad fire in folitude to ftray ; 
 
 Yet bufied with his flaves, to eafe his woe, 150 
 He dreft the vine, and bade the garden blow, 
 
 Nor food nor wine refus’d : but fince the day 
 That you to Pylos plough’d the wat’ry way. 
 
 Nor wine nor food he taftes ; but funk in woes, 
 
 Wild fprings the vine, no more the garden blows : 
 Shut from the walks of men, to pleafure loft, 156 
 Penfive and pale he wanders, half a ghoft. 
 
 about the feveral parts of it naturally? Minerva in the 
 beginning of the fifteenth book commanded Telemachus 
 to difpatch Eumaeus to Penelope, to inform her of his re¬ 
 turn. Here this command is executed : but is this all the 
 ufe the poet makes of that errand ? It is evident it is not: 
 this command furnifhes him with a natural occafion for 
 the removal of Eumaeus while Ulyfles difeovers himfelf to 
 Telemachus. But why might not thedifeovery have been 
 made before Eumaeus ? It was fuitable to the cautious cha- 
 radter of Ulyfles not to truft the knowledge of his perfon 
 to too many people: befides, if he had here revealed 
 himfelf to Eumaeus, there would not have been room for 
 the difeovery which is made in the future parts of the 
 Odyffey, and confequently the reader had been robbed of 
 the pleafure of it: and it rauft be allowed, that the feve¬ 
 ral concealments and difeoveries of Ulyfies through the 
 OdyflTey add no finall pleafure and beauty to it. 
 
X 70 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 Wretched old man! (with tears the prince re¬ 
 turns) 
 
 Yet ceafe to go—what man fo blefl but mourns ? 
 Were ev’ry wifh indulg’d by fav’ring fkies, 160 
 This hour fhould give UlyfTes to my eyes. 
 
 v. 159. Yet ceafe to go— n.vhat man fo lief but mourns ?*\ 
 Euftathius reads the words differently, either tZyyipim <2% 
 or ap^vJ/uE mi If we ufe the former reading, it. w r ill be 
 lmderftood according to the recited tranflation ; if the lat¬ 
 ter, it muff then be referred to Telemachus, and imply, 
 let us ceafe to inform Laertes , though voe grieve for him. I 
 fuppofe fome criticks were fhocked at the words in the for¬ 
 mer fenfe, and thought it cruel in Telemachus, not to 
 relieve the forrow r s of Laertes, which were occafioned 
 chiefly through fondnefs to his perfon : Dacier is fully of 
 this opinion : Euftathius prefers neither of the le&ions ; I 
 doubt not but Homer wrote -we* ; this agrees with 
 
 the whv-le context. 
 
 Wretched old man! (with tears the prince returns) 
 Yet ceafe to go—what man fo bleff but mourns ? 
 Were every wifh indulg’d by fav’ring fkies. 
 
 This hour fhould give Ulyffes to my eyes. 
 
 .Aijd as for the cruelty of Telemachus, in forbidding Eu~ 
 niasus to go to Laertes, there is no room for this objec¬ 
 tion : he guards againft it, by requefting Penelope to give 
 him immediate information 5 which might be done almofl 
 as foon by a meflenger from her, as by Eumaeus, Beiides, 
 fuch amefiage to Laertes would he entirely foreign to the 
 poem ; for his knowledge of the return of Telemachus 
 could contribute nothing to the defign of the Odyfiey : 
 whereas the information given to Penelope has this ef¬ 
 fect ; it puts the fuitors upon new meafures, and inftrudls 
 her how to regulate her own condufl with regard to 
 them ; and therefore the poet judicioufly dwells upon 
 this, and paffes over the other. 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. i 7 i 
 
 But to the queen with fpeed difpatchful bear 
 Our fafe return, and back with fpeed repair: 
 
 And let fome handmaid of her train refort 
 To good Laertes in his rural court. 165 
 
 While yet he fpoke, impatient of delay 
 He brac'd hisfandals on, and ftrode away: 
 
 Then from the heav’ns the martial Goddefs flies 
 Thro’ the wide fields of air, and cleaves the Ikies ; 
 In form, a virgin in foft beauty’s bloom, 170 
 
 Skill’d in th’ illuftrious labours of the loom. 
 
 v. 170. In form, a virgin —] Some of the antient phi- 
 lofophers thought the poets guilty of impiety, in repre- 
 fenting the Gods affuming human appearances j Plato in 
 particular (lib. ii. de Repub.) fpeaks with great feverity* 
 <c If a God (fays that author) changes his own fhape, 
 i( muft he aflume a more or lefs perfeCt form? undoubt- 
 «* edly a fhape .lefs perfeCt ; for a Deity, as a Deity, can 
 want no perfection ; therefore all change muft be for 
 te the worfe : now it is abfurd to imagine that a Deity 
 “ can be willing to aflume imperfection, for this would be 
 “ a degradation unworthy of a divine power, and confe- 
 “ quently it is abfurd to imagine that a Deity can be wil- 
 “ ling to change the form of a Deity; it therefore follows, 
 ** that the Gods enjoying a perfection of nature, muft 
 ** eternally and unchangeably appear in it. Let no poet 
 <f therefore (meaning Homer) perfuade you that the Gods 
 4( aflume the form of ftrangers, and are vifible in fuch 
 appearances.” It muft be confefled, that if Plato had 
 thus fpoken only to refute the abfurd opinions of anti¬ 
 quity, which imagined the Gods to aflume unworthy 
 fhapes of bulls, dragons, fwans, See. only to perform fome 
 rape, or adtion unbecoming a Deity, re&fon would have 
 
I 7 2 HOMER’S ODYSSEY.' Book XVI f 
 
 Alone to Ithacus fhe flood difplay’d, 
 
 But unapparent as a viewlefs (hade 
 
 Efcap’d Telemachus : (the Pow’rs above 
 
 Seen or unfeen, o’er earth at pleafure move) 1 75 
 
 The dogs intelligent confefs’d the tread 
 
 Of pow’r divine, and howling, trembling fled. 
 
 been on bis fide : but the argument proves too much ; it 
 fuppofes that a Deity muft lofe his perfections by any ap¬ 
 pearance, but of a Deity $ which is an errour: if a God 
 acts fuitably to the character of a God, where is the de¬ 
 gradation ? Ariftotle was of this judgment, in oppofition 
 to his mafter Plato ; and thought it no diminution to a 
 God to appear in the fhape of man, the glory of the cre¬ 
 ation : in reality, it is a great honour to Homer, that his 
 opinions agree with the verity of the fcriptures, rather 
 thap the conjectures of philofophers j nay, it is not impof- 
 fible but thefe relations might be borrowed from the fa- 
 cred hiftory: it being manifeft that Homer had been in 
 AEgypt, the native country of Mofes, in whofe writings 
 there are frequent inftances of this nature. 
 
 v. 176. The dogs intelligent confefs'd the treaa 
 Of po-zv'r di<vine -] 
 
 This may feem a circumftance unworthy of poetry, and 
 ridiculous to afcribe a greater fagacity to the brute crea¬ 
 tion, than to man ; but it may be anfwered, that it was 
 the defign of the Goddefs to be invifible only to Telema¬ 
 chus, and confequently fhe was vifible to the dogs. But 
 I am willing to believe that there is a deeper meaning, and 
 a beautiful moral couched under this ftory : and perhaps 
 Homer fpeaks thus, to give us to underhand, that the 
 brute creation itfelf confeffes the divinity. Dader , 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 173 
 
 The Goddefs, beck’ning, waves her deathlefs hands; 
 Dauntlefs the king before the Goddefs (lands. 
 
 Then why ((he faid) O favour’d of the (kies I 
 Why to thy god-like fon this long difguife? 181 
 Stand forth reveal’d : with him thy cares employ 
 Againft thy foes; be valiant, and deftroy ! 
 
 Lo I defcend in that avenging hour, 
 
 To combat by thy fide thy guardian Pow’r. 185 
 
 She faid, and o’er him waves her wand of gold; 
 Imperial robes his manly limbs infold ; 
 
 v. 178. The Goddefs, beck'ning, waves her deathlefs hands.] 
 The Goddefs evidently a6ts thus, that Telemachus might 
 not hear her fpeak to UlyfTes ; for this would have made 
 the difcovery, and precluded that beautiful interview be¬ 
 tween Ulyfles and Telemachus that immediately follows. 
 It is for the fame reafon that (he conceals herfelf from. 
 Telemachus, for the difcovery muft have been fully and 
 convincingly made by the appearance and veracity of a 
 Deity ; and then there could have been no room for all 
 thofe doubts and fears of Telemachus, that enliven and 
 beautify the manner of the difcovery. The whole rela¬ 
 tion is indeed an allegory : the wifdom of Ulyfles (in po¬ 
 etry, Minerva) fuggefls to him, that this is a proper time 
 to reveal himfelf to Telemachus ; the fame wifdom (or 
 Minerva) inftrufrs him to drefs himfelf like a king, that 
 he may find the readier credit with his fon : in this drefs 
 he appears a new man, young and beautiful, which gives 
 occafion to Telemachus to imagine him a Deity; efpeci- 
 ally becaufe he was an infant when his father failed to 
 Troy, and therefoie though he now appears like Ulyfles, 
 Telemachus does not know him to be his father. This 
 is the naked (lory, when ftript of its poetical ornaments. 
 
174 HOMER’S ODYSSEY* BookXVI* 
 
 At once with grace divine his frame improves ; 
 
 At once with majefty enlarg’d he moves : 
 
 Youth flufh’d his red’ning cheek, and from his 
 brows 190 
 
 A length of hair in fable ringlets flows ; 
 
 His black’ning chin receives a "deeper (hade ; 
 
 Then from his eyes upfprungthe Warriour-maid. 
 
 The hero re-afcends : the prince o’eraw’d 
 Scarce lifts his eyes, and bows as to a God. 195 
 
 v. 194. — The prince o'eranv'd 
 
 Scarce lifts his eyes, and bonus as to a GodP\ 
 
 I muft offer a remark in oppofition to that of Dacierupon 
 this place : “ This fear of Telemachus (fays that author) 
 “ proceeds from the opinion of the antients when the 
 “ Gods came down vilibly ; they thought themfelves fo 
 unworthy of fuch a manifeftation, that whenever it 
 u happened, they believed they fhould die, or meet with 
 “ fome great calamity”: thus the Ifraelites addrefs 
 Mofes : Speak thou to us y and nve nvill hear , but let not the 
 Lord J'peak to us, lej } nve die. Thus alfo Gideon ; Alas ! O 
 Lord, my God, becaufe I have feen an angel of the Lord face 
 to face ; and the Lord [aid to him, Fear not, thou Jhalt not die , 
 Hence it is very evident, that this notion prevailed 
 amongft the Ifraelites : but how does it appear that the 
 Greeks held the fame opinion ? The contrary is manifeft 
 almoft to a demonftration: the Gods are introduced al- 
 moft in every book both of the Iliad and Odyffey j and 
 yet there is not the leak foundation for fuch an aflertion : 
 nay, Telemachus himfelf in the fecond book returns 
 thanks to Minerva for appearing to him, and prays for 
 a fecond vilion. 
 
 O Goddefs 1 who defcending from the ikies, 
 Vouchfaf'd thy prefence to my longing eyesj 
 
 / 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. i 75 
 
 Then with furprife (furprife chaftis’d by fears) 
 
 How art thou chang’d ! (he cry’d) a God appears ! 
 Far other veils thy limbs majeilic grace, 
 
 Far other glories lighten from thy face ! 
 
 If heav’n be thy abode, with pious care 200 
 
 Lo ! I the ready facrifice prepare : 
 
 Lo ! gifts of labour’d gold adorn thy flirine. 
 
 To win thy grace: O fave us, Pow’r divine ! 
 
 Few are my days, Ulyfles made reply, 
 
 Nor I, alas ! defcendant of the Iky. 205 
 
 I am thy father. O my fon ! my fon ! 
 
 That father, for whofe fake thy days have run 
 One fcene of woe ; to endlefs cares confign’d. 
 
 And outrag’d by the wrongs of bafe mankind. 
 
 Hear from thy heav’ns above, O warri'our Maid, 
 
 Defcend once more propitious to my aid ! 
 
 It is not to be imagined thatTelemac hus would have pre¬ 
 ferred this prayer, if the prefence of the Deity denoted 
 death, or fome great calamity $ and all the heroes through¬ 
 out the Iliad efteem fucli intercourfes as their glory, and 
 converfe with the Gods without any apprehenfions. But 
 whence then proceeds this fear of Telemachus ? entirely 
 from a reverential awe and his own modefty while he 
 ftands in the prefence of a Deity $ for fucli he believes 
 Ulyfles. The words of Telemachus agree with his beha¬ 
 viour ; he fpeaks the language of a man in furprife : it is 
 this furprife at the fudden change of Ulyfles, that firlt 
 makes him imagine him a Deity, and upon that imagina¬ 
 tion offer him facrifice and prayer ; the whole behaviour 
 paints the nature of man under furprife, and which trans¬ 
 ports the fpeaker into vehemence and emotion. 
 
176 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVl. 
 
 Then rufhing to his arms, he kifs’d his boy 210 
 With the ftrong raptures of a parent’s joy. 
 
 Tears bathe his cheek, and tears the ground bedew: 
 He ftrain’d him clofe, as to his bread he grew. 
 
 Ah me ! (exclaims the prince with fond defire) 
 
 Thou art not-no, thou canft not be my fire. 215 
 
 Heav’n fuch illufion only can impofe. 
 
 By the falfe joy to aggravate my woes. 
 
 Who but a God can change the general doom, 
 
 And give to wither’d age a youthful bloom ? 
 
 « 
 
 Late, worn with years, in weeds obfeene you trod 5 
 Now, cloath’d in majefty, you move a God ! 221 
 
 Forbear, he cry’d; for He-av’n referve that name, 
 Give to thy father but a father’s claim: 
 
 Other UlylTes (halt thou never fee, 
 
 I am UlylTes, I (my fon) am he. 225 
 
 Twice ten fad years o’er earth and ocean toft, 
 
 ’Tis giv’n at length to view my native coaft. 
 
 Pallas, unconquer’d Maid, my frame furrounds 
 With grace divine ; her pow’r admits no bounds: 
 She o’er my limbs old age and wrinkles {bed ; 230 
 Now flrorig as youth, magnificent I tread. 
 
 The Gods with cafe frail man deprefs orraife. 
 
 Exalt the lowly, or the proud debafe. 
 
 Fie fpoke and fat. The prince with tranfport flew, 
 Flung round his neck, while tears his cheek be¬ 
 dew ; ' 235 
 
 Nor lefs the father pour’d a focial flood ! 
 
 They wept abundant, and they wept aloud. 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 177 
 
 As the bold eagle with fierce for row flung. 
 
 Or parent vultur, mourns her ravi fil’d young ; 
 
 v. 238. As the bold eagle - ] This is a beautiful com- 
 
 parifon ; but to take its full force, it is neceffary to ob¬ 
 serve the nature of this <pw or vultur : Homer does not 
 compare Ulyffes to that bird merely for its dignity, it be¬ 
 ing of the aquiline kind, and therefore the king of birds j 
 but from the knowledge of the nature of it, which dou¬ 
 bles the beauty of the allufion : this bird is remarkable 
 for the love it bears towards its young: Tearing open her 
 oven thigh , Jhe feeds her young with her own blood : thus 
 alfo another author j 
 
 Tsv l)llifXVO\'TBEf r{J,CLloO[j).BVOl$ 
 
 rdXaKT& LoiTrvgun t d 0ge<pv. 
 
 Femore exfeclo, fanguineo ladlis defluxu fuos foetus refccillant # 
 And the ^Egyptians made the vultur their hieroglyphic, 
 to reprefent a compafiionate nature. This gives a reafcn 
 why this bird is introduced w r ith peculiar propriety to re¬ 
 prefent the fondnefs of Ulyffes for Telemaclius. But where 
 is the point of the fimilitude ? Ulyffes embraces his fon, 
 but the vultur is faid to mourn the lofs of her young : 
 Euflathius anfwers, that the forrow alone, and vehemence 
 of it, is intended to be illuflrated by the companion j I 
 think he fhould have added the affection Ulylfes bears to 
 Telemachus. 
 
 It is obfervable, that Homer inferts very few limili- 
 tudes in his Odyffey, though they occur frequently al- 
 mofl in every book of the Iliad. The Odyffey is wrote with 
 more fimplicity, and confequently there is lefs room for 
 allufions. If w'e obferve thefimilies themfelves infertedin 
 each poem, we fhall find the fame difference : in the Iliad 
 they are drawn from lions, florins, torrents, conflagra¬ 
 tions, thunder, &c. In the Odyffey, from lower ob¬ 
 jects, from an heap of thorns, from a fhip-wright ply- 
 Vol. HI. N 
 
i 7 8 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 They cry, they fcrearo, their unfledg’d brood a 
 prey 240 
 
 To fome rude churl, and borne by flealth away ; 
 
 \ 
 
 ing the wimble, an armourer tempering iron, a matron 
 weeping over her dying hufband, See. The fimilies are 
 likewiie generally longer in the Iliad than the Odyfley, 
 and lei's refemblance between the thing iliuftrated, and 
 the illuftration; the reafon is, in the Iliad the fimilitudes 
 are introduced to illufli ate Tome great and noble objedl, 
 and therefore the poet proceeds till he has raifed fome no¬ 
 ble image to inflame the mind of the reader; whereas in 
 thefe calmer feenes the poet keeps clofer to the point of 
 allufion, and needs only to reprelent the objedl, to render 
 it entertaining : by the former conduit he raifes our ad¬ 
 miration above the fubjedt, by adding foreign embellifli- 
 ments; in the latter he brings the copy as clofe as poflible 
 to the original, to poflfefs us with a true and equal image 
 of it. 
 
 It has been objected by a French critick,that Homer is 
 blameable for too great a length in his fimilitudes; that 
 in the heat of an aition he hops Ihort, and turns to fome 
 alluflon, which calls off our attention from the main fub- 
 jedt. It is true, companions ought not to be too long, 
 and are not to be placed in the heat of an adtion, as Mr. 
 Dryden obferves, but when it begins to decline : thus in 
 the firlt iEneis, when the ftorm is in its fury, the poet 
 introduces no companion, becaufe nothing can be more 
 impetuous than the ftorm itfelf; but when the heat of the 
 defeription abates, then, left we fhould cool too foon, he re¬ 
 news it by fome proper flmilitude, which ftill keeps up our 
 attention, and fixes the whole upon our minds. The li- 
 militude before us is thus placed at the conclufion of the 
 hero’s lamentation, and the poet by this method leaves 
 the whole deeply fixed upon the memory. Virgil has imi¬ 
 tated this comparifon in hjs fourth Georgic, byt very ju- 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 1 79 
 
 So they aloud : and tears in tides had run, 
 
 Their griefs unfinilh’d with the fetting fun: 
 
 But checking the full torrent in its flow, 
 
 The prince thus interrupts the folemn woe. 245 
 
 dicioufly fubftituted the nightingale in the place of the 
 vultur, that bird being introduced to reprefent the 
 mournful mufick of Orpheus. 
 
 “ Qualis populea mcerens Philomela fub umbra 
 “ AmifTos queritur foetus, quos durus arator 
 “ Obfervans nido implumes detraxit: at ilia 
 “ Flet nottem, &c. 
 
 Nothing can be Tweeter than this comparifon of Virgil, but 
 the learned Huetius thinks he has found a notorious 
 blunder in it: this nightingale (fays he) in the firft line 
 fits in the fhade of a poplar, and yet in the fourth Ihe 
 mourns by night, flet noftem. It is evident that Monfieur 
 Huet mi flakes the word umbra for the ftiade of a tree, 
 which it calls while the fun Ihines upon it $ whereas it 
 only means that the bird lings fub foliis , or concealed in 
 the leaves of it, which may be done by night as well as by 
 day : but if it be thought that this is not a fufficientan- 
 fwer, the palfage may be thus underftood : the nightin¬ 
 gale mourning under the lhade of a poplar, &c. ceafe* 
 not all night, or flet notlem j that is, (lie begins her fong 
 in the evening by day, but mourns all night. Either of 
 thefe anfwers are fufficient for Virgii’s vindication. 
 
 v. 245. 'The prince thus interrupts the folemn woe.] It 
 does not appear at firfl view why the poet makes Tele- 
 machus recover himfelf from his tranfport of forrow 
 fooner than Ulyfles : is Telemachus a greater mailer of 
 his paflions ? or is it to convince Ulyfles of his Ton’s wif- 
 
 N 2 
 
x8o HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 What {hip tranfported thee, O father, fay, 
 
 And what blefs’d hands have oar’d thee on the way? 
 
 All, all (Ulyfies inftant made reply) 
 
 I tell thee all, my child, my only joy ! 
 
 Pheeacians bore me to the port affign’d, 250 
 
 A nation ever to the {trail ger kind; 
 
 Wrapt in th’ embrace of fleep, the faithful train 
 O’er feas convey’d me to my native reign: 
 Embroider’d veflures, gold, and brafs are laid 
 Conceal’d in caverns in the filvan {hade. 255 
 
 \ 
 
 dom, as Euftathius conjectures? this can fcarce be fup- 
 pos’d, Ulyfles being fuperior in wifdom. I would chufe 
 rather to afcribe it to human nature ; for it has been cb- 
 ferved, that aifeCtion feldom fo ftrongly afcends, as it 
 defcends: the child feldom loves the father fo tenderly, 
 as the father the child : this obfervation has been made 
 from the remoteft antiquity. And it is wifely defigned 
 by the great Author of our natures ; for in the common 
 courfe of life, the child muft bury the parent : it is there¬ 
 fore a merciful difpenfation, that the tie of blood and af¬ 
 fection {hould be loofened by degrees, and not torn vio¬ 
 lently afunder in the full ftrength of it. It is expeCted 
 that aged perfons {hould die, their lofs therefore grows 
 more familiar to us, and it lofes much of its horrour 
 through the long expectation of it. 
 
 v. 250. Vliaacians bore vie to the fort aJJign'dJ] Here is a 
 repetition of what the reader knows entirely, from many 
 parts of the preceding Itory ; but it being ntceflary in this 
 place, the poet judicioufly reduces it into the compafs of 
 fix line* >smd by this method avoids prolixity. EuJIathius . 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 181 
 
 Hither, intent the rival rout to flay, 
 
 And plan the fcene of death, I bend my way: 
 
 So Pallas wills—but thou, my fon, explain 
 The names, and numbers of th’ audacious train; 
 
 ? Tis mine to judge if better to employ 267 
 
 Afliflant force, or fingly to deftroy. 
 
 O’er earth (returns the prince) refounds thy name, 
 Thy well-try’d wifdom, and thy martial fame, 
 
 Yet at thy words I ftart, in wonder loft ; 
 
 r* 
 
 Can we engage, not decads, but an hoft? 265 
 Can we alone in furious battle ftand, 
 
 Againft that num’rous, and determin’d band ? 
 
 Hear then their numbers: from Dulichium came 
 Twice twenty-fix, all peers of mighty name, 
 
 Six are their menial train : twice twelve the boaft 
 Of Samos ; twenty from Zacynthus coaft : 271 
 
 v*z(%. Hear then their numbers--] According to this 
 catalogue, the fuitors with their attendants (the two 
 fewers, and Medon, and Phemius) are a hundred and 
 eighteen: but the two laft are not to be taken for the 
 enemies of Ulyfles ; and therefore are not involved in 
 their punifhment in the conclufion of the Odyfley. Eujla* 
 thius. 
 
 Spondanus jniftakes this paflage egregioufly. 
 
 ”V-% • 
 
 MsS'wy Kj &£?(§>■' asiJoj. 
 
 He underftands it thus, “ Medon who was an herald and 
 “ a divine bard” Praco units qui &? idem Muficus: it is 
 true, the conftruftion will bear this interpretation ; but it 
 is evident from the latter part of the xxiid Odyffey, that 
 the k%w£ and the ’a01X0$ were two perfons, namely, Medon 
 and Phemius: Medon acts all along as a friend to Pene* 
 
 N 3 
 
182 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 And twelve our country’s pride : to thefe belong 
 Medon and Phemius fkill’d in heav’nly fong. 
 
 Two few’rs from day to day the revels wait, 
 
 Exa£t of tafte, and ferve the feaft in ftate. 
 
 With fuch a foe th’ unequal fight to try, 
 
 Were by falfe courage unreveng’d to die. 
 
 Then what afliftant pow’rs you boaft, relate, 
 
 Ere yet we mingle in the Item debate. 
 
 Mark well my voice, Ulyfles ftraight replies: 
 What need of aids, if favour’d by the Skies? 
 
 If {hielded to the dreadful fight we move, 
 
 By mighty Pallas, and by thund’ring Jove. 
 
 Sufficient they (Telemachus rejoin’d) 
 
 Againft the banded pow’rs of all mankind : 
 
 They, high enthron’d above the rolling clouds; 
 Wither the ftrength of man, and awe the Gods. 
 
 Such aids expert, he cries, when ftrong in might 
 Wc rife terrifick to the talk of fight. 
 
 lope and Telemachus, and Phemius is affirmed to be de¬ 
 tained by the fuitors involuntarily, and confequeixtly they 
 are both guiltlefs. 
 
 v. 288. Such aids expert, he cries , nvhen jirong in might 
 We rife terrifck to the tafk of fight.] 
 
 This whole difcourfe between UlylTes and Telemachus is 
 introduced to prepare the reader for the cataftrophe of the 
 poem: Homer judicioufly interefts Heaven in the caufe, 
 that the reader may not be furprifed at the event, when 
 he fees fuch numbers fall by the hands of thefe heroes : 
 its confults probability, and as the poem now draws to 
 a conclufion. fets the advance of Heaven full before the 
 loader* 
 
 275 
 
 279 
 
 285 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 183 
 
 But thou, when morn falutes tli’ aerial plain, 290 
 The court revifit and the lawlefs train : 
 
 It is likewife very artful to let us into fome knowledge 
 of the event of the poem; all care muftbe taken that it 
 be rather guefled than known. If it be entirely known, 
 the reader finds nothing new to awaken his attention ; if 
 on the contrary it be fo intricate, that the event cannot 
 poifibly be guefled at, we wander in the dark, and are 
 loft in uncertainty. The art of the poet confifts not in 
 concealing the event intirely: blit when it is in fome 
 meafure forefeen, in introducing fuch a number of inci¬ 
 dents that now r bring us almoft into the light of it, then 
 by new obftacles perplex the ftory to the very conclufton 
 of the poem ; every obftacle, and every removal of it fills 
 us with furprife, with pleafure or pain alternately, and 
 confequently calls up our whole attention. This is ad¬ 
 mirably defcribed by Vida, lib. ii. 
 
 u —-Eventus nonnullis ftepe canendo 
 
 “ Indiciis porro oftendunt, in luce maligna 
 “ Subluftrique ; aliquid dant cernere noclis in umbra”. 
 
 Th? event fhould glimmer with a dubious ray. 
 
 Not hid in clouds nor glare in open day. 
 
 This rule he afterwards illuftrates by a very happy fimi- 
 litude. 
 
 “ Haud aliter longinqua petit qui forte viator 
 ** Mtenia, fi pofltas altis in collibus arces 
 “ Nunc etiam dubias oculis videt, incipit ultro 
 “ Lxtior ire viam, placidurnque urgere laborem, 
 
 “ Quam cum nufquam ullse cernuntur quas adit arces, 
 * ( Obfcurum fed iter tendit convallibus imis,” 
 
 The conduct both of Virgil and Homer are agreeable to 
 this obfervation ; for inftance, Anchifes and Tirefias in 
 the fhades, foretel JEneas andUlyfles that all their troubles 
 
 N* 
 
184 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI* 
 
 Me thither in difguife Eurmeus leads, 
 
 An aged mendicant in tatter’d weeds. 
 
 There, if bafe fcorn infult my rev’rend age ; 
 
 Bear it, my fon ! reprefs thy rifing rage. 295 
 If outrag’d, ceafe that outrage to repel ; 
 
 Bear it, my fon ! howe’er thy heart rebel. 
 
 fhall end profperoufly,that the one {hall found the Roman 
 empire, the other regain his kingdoms ; but the means 
 being kept concealed, our appetite is rather whetted than 
 cloyed, to know by what means thefe events are brought 
 about: thus, as in Vida’s allufion, they {hew us the city 
 at a great diftance, but how we are to arrive at it, by 
 what roads they intend to guide us to it, this they keep 
 concealed ; the journey difcovers itfelf, and every Hep 
 we advance leads us forward, and (hews where we are to 
 take the next : neither does the poet dire&ly lead us in 
 the ftraight path : fometimes we are as it were in a la¬ 
 byrinth, and we know not how to extricate ovrfelves 
 out of it; fometimes he carries us into bye-ways, and we 
 almoft lofe fight of the direct way, and then fuddenly 
 they open into the chief road, and convey us to the jour¬ 
 ney’s end. In this conlifts the {kill of the poet ; he mull 
 form probable intricacies, and then folve them probably; 
 he mull fethis hero in dangers, and then bring him out 
 of them with honour. This obfervatkm is necellary to be 
 applied to all tliofe paffages in the Odyfley, where the 
 event of it is obfcurely foretold, and which fome taftelefs 
 critics have blam’d, as taking aw r ay the curiofity of the 
 reader by an unfeafonable difcovery. 
 
 » 1 
 
 v. 296. If outrag'd, ceafe that outrage to repel , , 
 
 Bear it my fon ! howe'er* thy heart rebel.] 
 
 Plutarch in his Treatife upon reading Poems, obferve* 
 the wifdom of UlylTes in thefe inftru&ions : he is the per- 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. i 8 $ 
 
 Yet drive by pray'r and counfel to redrain 
 Their lawlefs infults, tho’ thou drive in vain: 
 
 For wicked ears are deaf to wifdom’s call, 300 
 And vengeance drikes whom Heav’n has doom’d 
 to fall. 
 
 Once more attend : When # She whofe powY 
 infpires 
 
 The thinking mind, my foul to vengeance fires ; 
 
 I give the fign: that indant, from beneath. 
 
 Aloft convey the indruments of death, 305 
 
 fon who is more immediately injured, yet he not only 
 retrains his own refentment, but that of Telemachus : he 
 perceives that his fon is in danger of flying out into 
 fome paflion, he therefore very wifely arms him againfl: 
 it. Men do not put bridles upon horfes when they are 
 already running with full fpeed, but they bridle them 
 before they bring them out to the race : this very well 
 illuflrates the condudl of Ulyfles; he fears the youth of 
 Telemachus may be too warm, and through an unfeafon- 
 able ardour at the fight of his wrongs, betray him to his 
 enemies ; he therefore perfuades him to patience and 
 calmnefs, and predifpofes his mind with rational confi- 
 derations to enable him to encounter his paflions, and 
 govern his refentment. 
 
 • .7 
 
 V. 304,-— That infant, from beneath , 
 
 Aloft convey the infruments of death .] 
 
 Thefe ten lines occur in the beginning of the nineteenth 
 book, and the andents (as Euftathius informs us) were 
 of opinion, that they are here placed improperly; for 
 how, fay they, fliould Ulyfles know that the arms were in 
 a lower apartment, when he was in the country, and had 
 
 * Minerva. 
 
186 HOMER’s OD YSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 Armour and arms ; and if miftruft arife, 
 
 Thus veil the truth in plaufible difguife. 
 
 u Thefe glitt’ring weapons, ere he fail’d to 
 “ Troy, 
 
 “ Ulyfies view’d with ftern heroic joy : 
 u Then, beaming o’er th* illumin’d wall they 
 “ fhone : 
 
 <c Now dull difhonours, all their luftre gone. 
 
 <c I bear them hence (fo Jove my foul infpires) 
 From the pollution of the fuming fires ; 
 
 <c Left when the bowl inflames, in vengeful mood 
 <c Ye rufh to arms, and ftain the feafl with 
 
 blood; 315 
 
 {C Oft ready fwords in lucklefs hour incite 
 
 “ The hand of wrath, and arm it for the fight.” 
 
 not yet feen his palace ? But this is no real obje&ion ; 
 his repofitory of arms he knew was in the lower apart¬ 
 ment, and therefore it was rational to conclude that the 
 arms were in it. The verfes are proper in both places $ 
 here Ulyfies prepares Telemachus againft: the time of the 
 execution of his defigns ; in the nineteenth book that 
 time is come, and therefore he repeats his inftru&ions, 
 
 v. 316. Oft ready fwords in lucklefs hour incite 
 
 ’The hand of wrath, and arm it for the fight.] 
 
 This feems to have been a proverbial expreflion, at leaft 
 it has been fo ufedby latter writers: the obfervation holds 
 true to this day, and it is manifeft that more men fall by 
 the fword in countries where the inhabitants daily wear 
 fwords, than in thofe where a fword is thought no part 
 ef drefs or ornament. Dacier . 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 1S7 
 
 Such be the plea, and by the plea deceive: 
 
 For Jove infatuates all, and all believe. 
 
 Yet leave for each of us a fword to wield, 320 
 A pointed jav’lin, and a fenceful fhield. 
 
 But by my blood that in thy bofom glows, 
 
 By that regard a fon his father owes ; 
 
 The fecret, that thy father lives, retain 
 
 Lock’d in thy bofom from the houfhold train ; 325 
 
 Hide it from all; ev’n from Eumaeus hide, 
 
 From my dear father, and my dearer bride. 
 
 One care remains, to note the loyal few 
 Whofe faith yet lafts among the menial crew ; 
 
 And noting, ere we rife in vengeance, prove 330 
 Who loves his prince ; for fure you merit love. 
 
 To whom the youth : to emulate I aim 
 The brave and wife, and n?y great father’s fame. 
 
 V, 314.. *The fecret , that thy father lives, retain 
 Lock'd in thy bofom - — ] 
 
 1 
 
 This injunttion of fecrecy is introduced by Ulyfles with 
 the utmoft folemnity; and it was very neceflary that it 
 Ihould be fo ; the whole hopes of his re-eftabliftiment de¬ 
 pending upon it: befides, this behaviour agrees with the 
 chara&er of Ulyfles, which is remarkable for difguife 
 and concealment. The poet makes a further ufe of it $ 
 namely, to give him an opportunity to defcribe at large 
 the feveral difcoveries made to Penelope, Laertes, and 
 Eumaeus perfonally by Ulyfles, in the fequel of the 
 Odyfley, which are no fmall ornaments to itj yet muft 
 have been omitted, or have loft their effeft, if the return 
 of Ulyfles had been made known by Telemachus $ this 
 would have been like difcovering the plot before the be- 
 
j 88 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 But re-confider, fmce the wifeft err, 
 
 Veng’ance refolv’d, ’tis dang’rous to defer. 335 
 What length of time muft we confume in vain, 
 
 Too curious to explore the menial train ? 
 
 While the proud foes, induftrious to deftroy 
 Thy wealth in riot, the delay enjoy, 
 
 Suffice it in this exigence alone 34 ° 
 
 To mark the damfels that attend the throne : 
 Difpers’d the youth refides ; their faith to prove 
 Jove grants henceforth, if thou haft fpoke from 
 Jove. 
 
 ginning of the play. At the fame time this dire&ion is 
 an excellent rule to be obferved in management of all 
 weighty affairs, the fuccefs of which chiefly depends upon 
 fecrefy. 
 
 r 
 
 v. 33 a,.. But re-confider The poet here defcribesTe- 
 lemachus rectifying the judgment of Ulyffes ; is this any 
 difparagement to that hero ? It is not; but an exaft re¬ 
 prefen tation of human nature ; for the wifeft men may 
 receive, in particular cafes, inftruCtions from men lefs 
 wife; and the eye of the underftanding in a young man, 
 may fometitnes fee further than that of age ; that is, in 
 the language of the poet, a wife and mature Ulyffes may 
 Sometimes be inftructed by a young and unexperienced 
 Telemachus. 
 
 v. 343 * If thou, hafi fpoke from Jo<ve.] The expreffion in 
 the Greek is obfcure, and it may be afked, to what re¬ 
 fers Aw? TEfa? ? Dacier renders it, S' il <vray que <vous ayesi 
 ‘ vu un prodige ; or “ if it be true that you have feen a 
 “ prodigy now there is no mention of any prodigy 
 feen by Ulyffes in all this interview, and this occafions 
 the obfcurity; but it is implied, for UlylTes dire&ly pro*. 
 
BookXVI. HOMEPC ODYSSEY. 189 
 
 While in debate they wafte the hours away, 
 
 TV aflociatcs of the prince repafs’d the bay ; 345 
 
 With fpeed they guide the veflel to the fhores ; 
 With fpeed debarking land the naval ftores ; 
 
 mifes the afliftance of Jupiter ; and how cquld he depend 
 upon it, but by fome prodigy from Jupiter ? Euftathius 
 thus underftands the words : Te^ag, If 5 cgud^svcg ipyg 
 a/^vvloga Toy Am* hfjuv ec-eo-Scu:. And then the meaning will 
 be, “ If the prodigy from Jupiter be evident, there is no 
 * e occafion to concern ourfelves about the houfhold train.” 
 But then does not that expreflion imply doubt, and a 
 jealoufy, that Ulyftes might poftibly depend too much 
 upon fupernatural afliftance ? It only infinuates, that he 
 ought to be certain in the interpretation of the prodigy, 
 but Telemachus refers himfelf intirely to Ulyfles, and 
 acquiefces in his judgment. 
 
 v. 345. tt' affociates of the prince repafs'd the hayd\ It is 
 manifeft that this veftel had fpent the evening of the pre¬ 
 ceding day, the whole night, and part of the next morn¬ 
 ing, in failing from the place where Telemachus embark¬ 
 ed : for it is neceffary to remember that Telemachus, to 
 avoid the fuitors, had been obliged to fetch a large com- 
 pafs, and land upon the northern coaft of Ithaca ; and 
 confequently the veftel was neceftitated to double the 
 whole ifle on the weftern fide to reach the Ithacan bay. 
 This is the reafon that it arrives not till the day after¬ 
 wards, and that the herald difpatched by the aftociates 
 of Telemachus, and Eumasus from the country, meet upon 
 the road, as they go to carry the news of the return of 
 Telemachus to Penelope. It is likewife evident that the 
 lodge of Eumaeus was not far diftant from the palace ; for 
 he fets out toward the city after eating in the morning, 
 and paftmg fome time in conference with Telemachus, 
 delivers his meffage, and returns in the evening of the 
 fame day. 
 
I 9 0 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVT. 
 
 Then faithful to their charge, to Clytius bear. 
 
 And trufl the prefents to his friendly care. 
 
 Swift to the queen a herald flies t’ impart 350 
 Her fon’s return, and eafe a parent’s heart; 
 
 Left a fad prey to ever-mufmg cares, 
 
 Pale grief deftroy what time a-while forbears. 
 
 Th’ uncautious herald with impatience burns. 
 And cries aloud ; Thy fon, oh queen, returns : 355 
 Eumseus fage approach’d th’ imperial throne, 
 
 And breath’d his mandate to her ear alone, 
 
 Then meafur’d back the way—The fuitor band 
 Stung to the foul, abafh’d, confounded ftand ; 
 
 v. 355, And cries aloud ; Thy fon, oh queen , returns.'] This 
 little circumftance diftinguifhes characters, and gives va¬ 
 riety to poetry : it is a kind of painting, which always 
 varies its figures byforae particular ornament, or attitude, 
 fo as no two figures are alike : the contrary conduCt would 
 make an equal confufion both in poetry and painting, and 
 an indiftinCtion of perfons and characters. I will not pro- 
 mife that thefe particularities are of equal beauty, as ne- 
 ceflity, efpecially in modern languages 5 the Greek is 
 always flowing, lonorous, and harmonious j the language, 
 like leaves, oftentimes conceals barrennefs, and a want 
 of fruit, and renders the fenfe at leaft beautiful, if not 
 profitable 5 this is wanted in fome degree in Englifh 
 poetry, where it is not always in our power to conceal 
 the nakednefs with ornaments : this particularity before 
 us is of abfolute neceflity, and could not well be avoid¬ 
 ed j the indilcretion of the herald in fpeaking aloud, dif- 
 covers the return of Telemachus to the fuitors, and is 
 the incident that brings about their following debates, 
 aqd furnifhesout the entertainment of the fucceeding part 
 of this book. 
 
BookXVI/ HOMER’s ODYSSEY. jg Z 
 
 And i{Tiling from the dome, before the gate, 360 
 With clouded looks, a pale afiembly fat. 
 
 At length Eurymachus. Our hopes are vain ; 
 Telemachus in triumph fails the main. 
 
 Hafte, rear the mart, the fwelling (hroud difplay ; 
 Hafte, to our ambufh’d friends the news con¬ 
 vey ! 365 
 
 Scarce had he fpoke, when turning to the ftrand 
 Amphinomus furvey’d th’ aflociate band ; 
 
 Full to the bay within the winding fhores 
 W ith gather’d fails they flood, and lifted oars. 
 
 O friends ! he cry’d, elate with riling joy, 370 
 See to the port fecure the veflel fly! 
 
 Some God has told them, or themfelves furvey 
 The bark efcap’d ; and meafure back their way. 
 
 Swift at the word defcending to the (bores, 
 
 They moor the veflel and unlade the {lores : 375 
 
 Then moving from the ftrand, apart they fat, 
 
 And full and frequent, form’d a dire debate. 
 
 Lives then the boy ? he lives (Antinous cries) 
 The care of Gods and fav’rite of the Ikies. 
 
 All night we watch’d, till with her orient wheels 
 Aurora flam’d above the eaftern hills, 381 
 
 And from the lofty brow of rocks by day 
 Took-in the ocean with abroad furvey : 
 
 Yet fafe he fails ! the Pow’rs coeleftial give 
 To Thun the hidden fnares of death, and live. 
 
 But die he {hall, and thus condemn’d to bleed. 
 
 Be now the feene of inftant death decreed ; 
 
192 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 Hope ye fuccefs ? undaunted crufh the foe. 
 
 Is he not wife ? know this, and ftrike the blow. 
 Wait ye, till he to arms in council draws 390 
 The Greeks, averfe too juflly to our caufe ? 
 
 v. 391. "The Greeks , civerfe too juflly to our caufe. ] This 
 verfe is inferted with great judgment, and gives an air 
 of probability to the whole relation : for if it be afked 
 why the fuitors defer to feize the fupreme power, and to 
 murder Telemachus, they being fo fuperior in number ? 
 Antinous himfelf anfwers, that they fear the people, 
 ■who favour the caufe of Telemachus, and would revenge 
 his injuries : it is for this reafon that they formed the am« 
 bulb by fea 5 and for this reafon Antinous propofes to in¬ 
 tercept him in his return from the country : they dare 
 not offer open violence, and therefore make ufe of trea¬ 
 chery. This fpeech of Antinous forms a fhort under¬ 
 plot to the poem ; it gives us pain (fays Euftathius) for 
 Telemachus, and holds us in fufpenfe till the intricacy 
 is unravelled by Amphinomus. 
 
 The whole harangue is admirable in Homer : the dic¬ 
 tion is excellently fuited to the temper of Antinous, who 
 fpeaks with precipitation : his mind is in agitation and 
 diforder, and confequently his language is abrupt, and 
 not allowing himfelf time to explain his thoughts at full 
 length, he falls into ellipfes and abbreviations. For in- 
 ftance, he is to fpeak againft Telemachus, but his con¬ 
 tempt and refentment will not permit him to mention 
 his name, he therefore calls him tcv a\fya ; thus in y.nn 
 Kan.™ a, Ithiv-a is underftood, thus likewife in this 
 verfe, 
 
 ’AXX* aytri -argiV kb “vov Ifjunyv^la-ao'bui 
 
 ’Ei? ayogr.v - 
 
 the w’ord oXoOgevo-a>fxev f or *vIxm/u-bv, muft be underftood, to 
 make the fenfe intelligible. Thus alfo after si 1 /xTv ch 
 ftZQog to make axx« in the next fentence begin it 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 193 
 
 Strike, ere, the ftates conven’d, the foe betray 
 Our murd’rous ambufh on the wat’ry way. 
 
 Or chufe ye vagrant from their rage to fly 
 Outcafts of earth, to breathe an unknown Iky ? 395 
 The brave prevent misfortune ; then be brave, 
 
 And bury future danger in his grave. 
 
 Returns he ? ambufh’d we’ll his walk invade, 
 
 Or where he hides in folitude and (hade : 
 
 And give the palace to the queen a dow’r, 400 
 Or him fhe blefles in the bridal hour. 
 
 But if fubmiflive you refign the fway. 
 
 Slaves to a boy ; go, flatter and obey. 
 
 Retire we inftant to our native reign. 
 
 Nor be the wealth of kings confum’d in vain ; 405 
 Then wed whom choice approves : the queen be 
 giv’n 
 
 To fome blefl; prince, the prince decreed by 
 Heav’n. 
 
 fignificantly, we mult fupplv xdt u foxci x*Xov o $;vcc; then 
 the fenfe is complete ; If this opinion difpleafe , and his 
 death appear not honourable, but you would have him live, 
 &c. otherwife a’xx* 0 ute<rSe mult be conftrued like 
 U } and lhftly, to image the diforder of Antinous more 
 ftrongly, Homer inlerts a falfe quantity, by making the 
 firft fyllable in ^aXecrSe ftiort. Antinous attends not» 
 through the violence of his fpirit, to the words he ut¬ 
 ters, and therefore falls into this error, which excellently 
 reprefents it. It is impoflible to retain thefe ellipfes in 
 the tranflation, but I have endeavoured to fliew the 
 warmth of the fpeaker, by putting the words into inter¬ 
 rogations, which are always uttered with vehemence, and 
 are figns of hurry and precipitation. 
 
 Vol. IIL O 
 
i 9 4 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 Abafh’d, the fuitor train his voice attends ; 
 
 ’Till from his throne Amphinomus afcends, 
 
 Who o’erDulichium ftretch’d his fpacious reign, 410 
 A land of plenty, bleft with ev’ry grain : 
 
 Chief of the numbers who the queen addreft, 
 
 And tho’ difpleafing, yet difpleafing leaft. 
 
 Soft were his words ; his actions wifdom fway’d ; 
 Graceful a-while he paus’d, then mildly faid. 415 
 
 O friends forbear ! and be the thought with- 
 ftood: 
 
 ’Tis horrible to fhed imperial blood ! 
 
 Confult we firft th’ all-feeing Pow’rs above, 
 
 And the lure oracles of righteous Jove. 
 
 v. 413. And tho' difpleafing,yet difpleafing leaft.} We are 
 not to gather from this expreffion, that Penelope had any 
 particular tendernefs for Amphinomus, but it means only 
 that he was a perfon of fome juftice and moderation. At 
 firft view, there feems no reafon why the poet fhould dif- 
 tinguifli Amphinomus from the reft of the fuitors, by 
 giving him this humane character ; but in reality there 
 is an abfolute neceffity for it. Telemachus is doomed to 
 die by Antinous : here is an intricacy formed, and how 
 is that hero to be preferved with probability ? The poet 
 afcribes a greater degree of tendernefs and moderation to 
 one of the fuitors, and by this method preferves Tele¬ 
 machus. Thus wee fee the leaft circumftance in Homer 
 has its ufe and effett ; the art of a good painter is vilible 
 in the fmalleft fketch, as well as in the largeft draught. 
 
 v. 419. And the fure oracles of righteous Jove.] Strabo, 
 Eb. vii. quotes this verfe of Homer, and t-ells us that 
 fome criticks thus read it. 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. i 9 $ 
 
 If they aflent, ev’n by this hand he dies ; 420 
 
 If they forbid, I war not with the fkieSi 
 
 He faid : The rival train his voice approv’d. 
 
 And riling inftant to the palace mov’d. 
 
 Arriv’d, with wild tumultuous noife they fat, 
 Recumbent on the Alining thrones of ftate. 42$ 
 
 E" (xsv x ahruroctri Ato $ /ueyaXoio rofxa^ot. 
 
 preferring to 3 for, add they, no 
 
 where in Homer fignifies oracles, but conftantly laws or 
 councils. Tmarus or Tomarus was a mountain on which 
 the oracle of Jupiter flood, and in procefs of time it 
 was ufed to denote the oracles themfelves. To>ygc? is 
 formed like the word outvgk, the former fignifies cuftos 
 T mariy the latter cujlos domus : in this fenfe Amphinomus 
 advifes to confult the Dodonian oracles, which were given 
 from the mountain Tmarus : but, adds Strabo, Homer 
 is to be underflood more plainly 5 and by f, the 
 
 councils, the will, and decifions of the oracles are implied, 
 for thofe decifions were held as laws ; thus 0 a\h 9 as well 
 as Sepis-ss, fignifies the Dodonian oracles. 
 
 ’Ex &£voj U'pixo/uioio A to; Iraxyc-a;. 
 
 Neither is it true (obfervesthe fcholiafl upon Strabo) that 
 Sipig-zg never fignifies oracles in Homer : for in the hymn 
 to Apollo, (and Thucydides quotes that hymn as Ho¬ 
 mer’s) the poet thus ufes it, 
 
 -— d!y SEfJUtraq 
 
 ’ATroWxvog ■ - 
 
 Strabo himfelf ufes 9 e/xi&Uv in this fenfe, lib. xvii. and in 
 the oracles that are yet extant, Stfxtrevw frequently figni¬ 
 fies oracula reddcre : and in ./Elian (continues the fcho- 
 liaft) lib. iii. chap. 43, 44. a o-l $Mi<rev<r&, fignifies non 
 tibi oracula reddam 3 and Hefychius renders by 
 
 fUftyTtla, x,wcu 9 i, prophecy or oracles, 
 
 O z 
 
196 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVI. 
 
 Then Medon, confcious of their dire debates, 
 The murd’rous council to the queen relates. 
 
 v. 426.—— Medon, confcious of their dire debates .] After 
 this verfe Euftathius recites one that is omitted in moft of 
 
 the late editions as fpurioas, at leaft improper. 
 
 •» 
 
 AvXrq exto? e iuv } ol S'’ evS'oQs fxnTiv £Jcf>«tvov. 
 
 That is, Medon was out of the court, whereas the fuit- 
 ors formed their council within it : the line is really to be 
 fufpedted; for a little above, Homer dire&ly tells us> 
 that the fuitors left the palace. 
 
 Then ifluing from the dome, before the gate. 
 With clouded looks, a pale aflembly fat. 
 
 It is likewife very evident that they ftood in the open air, 
 for they difcover the (hip returning from the ambulh, and 
 failing into the bay. How then can it be faid of the 
 fuitors, that they formed their aflembly in the court* 
 V evSciSe C<f>ai vov. Befides, continues Dacier, they left 
 
 the palace, and placed themfelves under the lofty wall 
 of it. 
 
 ’Ex STxSov 'sra^ax /ulyu rei^tcv avX»fc. 
 
 How then is it poflible to fee the fhip entering the port, 
 when this wall muft neceflarily obftruft the fight: the 
 two verles therefore evidently contradift themfelves, and 
 one of them muft confequently be rejected : Ihe would 
 have the line read thus } 
 
 A u\vg svdk Ecuv, 0 ] txloQe, See. 
 
 But all the difficulty vaniflies by taking a v\i, as it is fre¬ 
 quently ufed, to denote any place open to the air, and 
 confequently not the court, but the court-yard, and this 
 is the proper flgnification of the word. Then Medon 
 may ftand on the outfide of the wall of the court-yard, 
 lurk and over-hear the debates of the fuitors w ho 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 197 
 
 # 
 
 Touch’d at the dreadful ftory (lie defcends : 
 
 Her hafty fteps a damfel* train attends. 4 2 9 
 
 Full where the dome its {hining valves expands, 
 Sudden before the rival pow’rs (he hands : 
 
 And veiling decent with a model! lhade 
 Her cheek, indignant to Antinous faid : 
 
 O void of faith ! of all bad men the word ! 
 Renown’d for wifdom, by th’ abufe accurs’d ! 435 
 Miftaking fame proclaims thy gen’rous mind ! 
 
 Thy deeds denote thee of the bafeft kind. 
 
 Wretch ! to deftroy a prince that friendlhip gives, 
 While in his guell his murd’rer he receives : 
 
 Nor dread fuperior Jove, to whom belong 44 ° 
 The caufe of fuppliants, and revenge of wrong. 
 
 Haft thou forgot, (ingrateful as thou art) 
 
 . Who fav’d thy father with a friendly part ? 
 
 Lawlefs he ravag’d with his martial pow’rs 
 The Taphyan pirates on Thefprotia’s fliores ; 445 
 
 Enrag’d, his life, his treafures they demand ; 
 Ulyfles fav’d him from th’ avenger’s hand. 
 
 form their council within it, or Fvfrofls /uira tyaiw. And 
 as for the wall intercepting the view of the fuitors, this 
 is merely conjetture ; and it is more rational to imagine 
 that the court-yard was open fea-ward, that f'o beautiful 
 a profpeft as the ocean might not be (hut up from the 
 palace of a king ♦, or atleaft, the palace might Hand upon 
 fuch an eminence as to command the ocean. 
 
 v. 447. — —- From th' avenger's hand.~\ This whole 
 paflage isthusunderftoodby Euftathius ; By toeTev Mki<nts 
 Homer means the Ithacans j and he likewile affirms that 
 
 O 3 
 
198 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 And would’ft thou evil for his good repay ? 
 
 His bed difhonour and his houfe betray ? 449 
 
 Affiidt his queen ? and with a murd’rous hand 
 Deftroy his heir ?—but ceafe, J tis I command. 
 
 Far hence thofe fears, (Eurymachus reply’d) 
 
 O prudent princefs ! bid thy foul confide. 
 
 the people who demanded vengeance of Ulyffes were alfo 
 the Ithacans. It is not here tranflated in this fenfe $ the 
 conftru&ion rather requires it to be underftood of the 
 Thefprotians, who were allies of Ulylfes, and by virtue of 
 that alliance demanded Eupithes, the father of Antinous, 
 out of the hands of Ulylfes. But I fubmit to the reader’s 
 judgment. 
 
 v. 449. His bed di/honour , and his houfe betray ? 
 
 AffliEl his queen ? &c.] 
 
 It is obfervable, that Penelope in the compafs of two 
 lines recites four heads of her complaint j fuch contrac- 
 tions of thought and expreflion being natural to perfons 
 in anger, as Eullathius obferves; Ihe fpeaks with heat, 
 and confequently ftarts from thought to thought with 
 precipitation. The whole fpeecli is animated with a ge¬ 
 nerous refentment, and Ihe concludes at once like a mo¬ 
 ther and a queen ; like a mother, with affeftion for Te- 
 lemachus j and like a queen with authority, <nraur<t<r$*i 
 
 jdXo/xaj, 
 
 v. 452. (- Eurymachus reply'd."] This whole dif- 
 
 courfe of Eurymachus is to be underltood by* way of con¬ 
 trariety : there is an obvious and a latent interpretation j 
 for inftance, when lie lays. 
 
 His blood in vengeance fmokes upon my fpear j 
 
 it obvioudy means the blood of the perfon who offers vio. 
 fence to Telemachus j but it may likewife mean the blood 
 
BookXVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 199 
 
 Breathes there a man who dares that hero flay, 
 "While I behold the golden light of day ? 455 
 
 No : by the righteous Pow’rs of heav’n I fwear. 
 
 His blood in vengeance fmokes upon my fpear. 
 Ulyfles, when my infant days I led, 
 
 With wine fuffic’d me, and with dainties fed : 
 
 My gen’rous foul abhors th’ ungrateful part, 460 
 And my friend’s fon lives dearefl; to my heart. 
 Then fear no mortal arm ; if Heav’n deflroy, 
 
 We mull refign : for man is born to die. 
 
 Thus fmooth he ended, yet his death confpir’d : 
 Then forrowing, with fad ftep the queen retir’d, 
 With ftreaming eyes all comfortlefs deplor’d, 466 
 Touch’d with the dear remembrance of her lord ; 
 
 of Telemachus, and the conftru&ion admits both inter¬ 
 pretations : thus alfo when he fays, that no perfon fliall 
 lay hands upon Telemachus, while he is alive, he means 
 that he will do it himfelf : and laftly, when he adds, 
 
 Then fear no mortal arm : if heav’n deflroy, 
 
 We muft refign $ for man is born to die. 
 
 the apparent fignification is, that Telemachus has occafion 
 only to fear a natural death $ but he means if the oracle 
 of Jupiter commands them to deflroy Telemachus, that 
 then the fuitors will take away his life. He alludes to the 
 foregoing fpeech of Amphinomus : 
 
 Confult we firft th’ all-feeing Pow’rs above. 
 
 And the fure oracles of righteous Jove. 
 
 If they aflent, ev’n by this hand he dies j 
 If they forbid, I war not with the Ikies. 
 
 Eujlathius, 
 
200 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BooliXVI, 
 
 Nor ceas’d, till Pallas bid her forrows fly, 
 
 And in foft flumber feal’d her flowing eye. 
 
 And now Eumaeus, at the ev’ning hour, 470 
 Came late returning to his filvan bow’r. 
 
 Ulyfles and his foil had drefl with art 
 A yearly boar, and gave the Gods their part, 
 
 Holy repaid! That inltant from the Ikies 
 The martial Goddefs to Ulyfles flies : 475 
 
 She waves her golden wand, and reaflumes 
 From ev’ry feature every grace that blooms ; 
 
 At once his veftures change ; at once (lie flieds 
 
 Age o’er his limbs, that tremble as he treads. 
 
 § 
 
 Left to the queen the fwain with tranfport fly, 480 
 Unable to contain th’ unruly joy. 
 
 When near he drew, the prince breaks forth > 
 proclaim 
 
 What tidings, friends ? what fpeaks the voice of 
 fame ? 
 
 Say, if the fuitors meafure back the main, 
 
 Or frill in ambufli third: for blood in vain ? 485 
 
 Whether, he cries, they meafure back the flood. 
 Or ftill in ambufli third: in vain for blood, 
 
 Efcap’d my care : where lawlefs fuitors fway, 
 
 Thy mandate born, my foul difdain’d to flay. 
 
 But from th’ Hermaean height I call a view, 490 
 Wliere to the port a bark high bounding flew ; 
 
 v. 490. From th' Hermaean height —- — ] It would be 
 fuperfluous to tranflate all the various interpretations of 
 this paifage $ it will be fufHciently intelligible to the reader* 
 
Book XVI. HOMER’s ODYSSEY, a< 5 1 
 
 Her freight a Aiming band: with martial air 
 Each pois’d his fhield, and each advanc’d his fpear: 
 
 if lie looks upon it only to imply that there was an hill in 
 Ithaca called the Hermaean hill, either becaufe there was 
 a temple, ftatue, or altar of Mercury upon it ; and fo call¬ 
 ed from that Deity. 
 
 It has been written that Mercury being the meflenger 
 of the Gods, in his frequent journeys cleared the roads* 
 and when he found any ftones he threw them in an heap 
 out of the way, and thefe heaps were called or 
 
 mercuries. The circumltance of his clearing the roads is 
 fomewhat odd ; but why might not Mercury as well as 
 Trivia prefide over them, and have his images erefted in 
 publick ways, becaufe he was fuppofed to frequent them 
 as the meflenger of the Gods ? 
 
 This book takes up no more time than the fpace of the 
 thirty-eighth day ; for Telemachus reaches the lodge of 
 Eumaeus in the morning ; a little after he difpatches 
 Eumaeus to Penelope, who returns in the evening of the 
 fame day. The book in general is very beautiful in the 
 original; the difcovery of Ulyffes to Telemachus is par¬ 
 ticularly tender and affe&ing: it has fome refemblance 
 with that of Jofeph’s difcovery of himfelf to his brethren, 
 and it may not perhaps be difagreeable to fee how two 
 fuch authors defcribe the fame pafllon, 
 
 I am Jofeph , I am your brother Jofeph. 
 
 I am Ulyjfes , I, my fon ! am he ! 
 and he wept aloud , and he fell on his brothers neck and wept. 
 
 He wept abundant , and he wept aloud. 
 
 t 
 
 But it muft be owned that Homer falls infinitely fhort 
 of Mofes : he muft be a very wicked man, that can read 
 the hiftory of Jofeph without the utmoft touches of com¬ 
 panion and tranfport. There is a majeftick fimplicity in 
 
202 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI. 
 
 And if aright thefe fearching eyes furvey, 
 
 Th’ eluded fuitors Item the wat’ry way. 495 
 
 The prince, well pleas’d to difappoint their wiles, 
 Steals on his fire a glance, and fecret fmiles. 
 
 And now a fhort repaid prepar’d, they feed, 
 
 ’Till the keen rage of craving hunger fled : 
 
 Then to repofe withdrawn, apart they lay, 500 
 And in foft fleep forgot the cares of day. 
 
 the whole relation, and fuch an affe&ing portrait of hu¬ 
 man nature, that it overwhelms us with viciifitudes of 
 joy and forrow. This is a pregnant inftance how much 
 the belt of heathen writers is inferiour to the divine lrif- 
 torian upon a parallel fubje£t, where the two authors en¬ 
 deavour to move the fofter paflions. The fame may with 
 equal truth be faid in refpe£t to fublimity $ not only in 
 the inftance produced by Longinus, viz. Lei there he light , 
 and there was light. Let the earth he made, and the earth was 
 made ; but in general, in the more elevated parts of Scrip¬ 
 ture, and particularly the wdiolejbook of Job; which, 
 with regard both to fublimity of thought, and morality, 
 exceeds beyond all comparifon the molt noble parts of 
 Homer. 
 
I 
 
 THE 
 
 . * » 
 
 SEVENTEENTH BOOK 
 
 O F T_H E 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
I 
 
 THE 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 T E LEM AC HU S returning to fne city , relates to Pens* 
 lope the fum of his travels. UlyJJes is conduced hy Eu- 
 maus to the palace, where his old dog Argus acknow¬ 
 ledges his tnafer, after an ahfence of twenty years, and 
 d.ies with joy. Eumaus returns into the country , and Uljf- 
 fes remains among the fuitdrs, whofe behaviour is defcribed. 
 
 % 
 
THE 
 
 
 SEVENTEENTH BOOK 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 O D Y S S E Y. 
 
 S o o N as Aurora, daughter of the dawn, 
 
 Sprinkled with rofeate light the dewy lawn; 
 
 In hafte the prince arofe, prepar’d to part; 
 
 His hand impatient grafps the pointed dart; 
 
 Fair on his feet the polifh’d fandals Ihine, 
 
 And thus he greets the mailer of the fwine. 
 
 My friend adieu ; let this Ihort Hay fufftce ; 
 
 I hafte to meet my mother’s longing eyes, 
 
 And end her tears, her forrows, and her fighs. 
 
 v. 8. / hafte to meet my mother's longing eyes.] There are 
 tvro reafons for the return of Telemachus : one, the duty 
 a fon owes to a mother 5 the other, to find an opportu¬ 
 nity to put in execution the defigns concerted with Ulyf- 
 fes: the poet therefore fhifts the fcene from the lodge to 
 the palace. Telemachus takes not Ulyfies along with 
 him, for fear he fhould raife fufpicion in the fuitors, that 
 a perfon in a beggar’s garb has fome fecret merit, to ob¬ 
 tain the familiarity of a king’s fon, and this might be an 
 
206 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 But thou attentive, what we order heed ; io 
 
 This haplefs ftranger to the city lead; 
 
 By publick bounty let him there be fed, 
 
 And blefs the hand that ftretches forth the bread. 
 To wipe the tears from all affli&ed eyes, 
 
 My will may covet, but my pow’r denies. 15 
 
 occafion of a difcovery ; whereas when Ulyfles afterwards 
 appears amongft: the fuitors, he is thought to be an entire 
 ftranger to Telemachus, which prevents all jealoufy and 
 gives them an opportunity to carry on their meafures, 
 without any particular obfervation. Befides, Eumseus is 
 ftill to be kept in ignorance concerning the perfon of 
 Ulyfles 5 Telemachus therefore gives him a plaufible 
 reafon for his return ; namely, that his mother may no 
 longer be in pain for his fafety : this likewife excellently 
 contributes to deceive Eumaeus. Now as the prefence of 
 Ulyfles in the palace is abfolutely neceflary to bring about 
 the fuitors deftru&ion, Telemachus orders Eumaeus to 
 conduCt him thither, and by this method he comes as 
 the friend and gueft of Eumaeus, not of Telemachus: 
 moreover, this injunction was neceflary : Eumaeus 
 was a perfon of fuch generofity, that he would have 
 thought himfelf obliged to detairrhis gueft under his own 
 care and infpe&ion : nay, before he guides him towards 
 the palace, in the fequel of this book, he tells Ulyfles 
 he does it l'olely in compliance with the order of Telema¬ 
 chus, and aCts contrary to his own inclinations. 
 
 v. 14. 'To'-wipe the tears from all afliBed eyes. 
 
 My will may covet, but my pow'r denies. ] 
 
 This might appear too free a declaration, if Telema¬ 
 chus had made it before he knew Ulyfles; for no cir- 
 cumftance could juflify him for ufing any difregard to¬ 
 ward the poor and ftranger, according to the ftriCt no¬ 
 tions, and the fanClity of the laws of hofpitality amongft 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 207 
 
 If this raife anger in the ftranger’s thought, 
 
 The pain of anger pumflies the fault: 
 
 The very truth I undifguis’d declare; 
 
 For what fo eafy as to be fincere? 
 
 To this Ulyfles. What the prince requires 20 
 Of fwift removal, feconds my defires. 
 
 To want like mine the peopled town can yield 
 More hopes of comfort than the lonely field. 
 
 Nor fits my age to till the labour’d lands. 
 
 Or ftoop to talks a rural lord demands. 25 
 
 Adieu! but fince this ragged garb can bear 
 So ill, th’ inclemencies of morning air, 
 
 A few hours fpace permit me here to flay ; 
 
 My fteps Eumseus {hall to town convey; > 
 
 With riper beams when Phoebus warms the day. J 
 Thus he: nor ought Telemachus reply’d, 31 
 But left the manfion with a lofty llride: 
 
 Schemes of revenge his pond’ring brealt elate. 
 Revolving deep the fuitors fudden fate. 
 
 Arriving now before th’ imperial hall; 35 
 
 Fie props his fpear againlt the pillar’d wall; 
 
 the antients: but as the cafe ftands, we are not in the 
 lead (hocked at the words of Telemachus; we know the 
 reafon why he thus fpeaks 5 it is to conceal Ulyfles. He 
 is fo far from (hewing any particular regard to him, that 
 he treats him with a feverity in fome degree contrary to 
 the laws of hofpitality ; by adding, that if he complains 
 of this hard ufage, the complaint will not redrefs but in- 
 creafe his calamity. 
 
2 o8 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVII. 
 
 Then like a lion o’er the threfhold bounds ; 
 
 The marble pavement with his flep refounds; 
 
 His eye firft glanc’d where Euryclea fpreads 
 With furry fpoils of beafts the fplendid beds: 40 
 
 She faw, flie wept, fhe ran with eager pace. 
 
 And reach’d her matter with a long embrace; 
 
 All crowded round the family appears 
 With wild entrancemcnt, and eftatick tears. 
 
 Swift from above defcends the royal fair ; 45 •% 
 
 (Her beauteous cheeks the blufh of Venus wear, > 
 
 Chaften’d with coy Diana’s penfive air) ' 
 
 » 
 
 V. 46. (Her beauteous cheeks the blujh ef Venus wear, 
 Chafiend with coy Diana's penfive air)] 
 
 This defcription prefents us with a noble idea of the 
 beauty and chaftity of Penelope } her perfon refembles Ve¬ 
 nus , but Venus with the modefi air of Diana. Dionylius Ha- 
 licarn. takes notice of the beauty and foftnefs of thefe 
 two verfes. 
 
 **H y iiv Ik Sa.’ktty.oio Trefitygav n>jvfXo7r«i<t 
 ’AjtI/i-uS'e IxeAtj, Si XS v<r P ’A<f>go$farj. 
 
 When Homer (remarks that author) paints a beautiful 
 face, or an engaging object, he chufes the fofteft vowels, 
 .and mod fmooth and flowing femivowels: he never clogs 
 the pronunciation with rough founds, and a collilion of 
 untunable confonants, but every fyllable, every letter con- 
 fpires to exhibit the beauty of the objeft he endeavours 
 to reprefent: there are no iefs than three and thirty 
 vowels in two lines, and no more than twenty-nine con¬ 
 fonants, which makes the verfes flow away with an agree¬ 
 able fmoothnefs and harmony. 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 209 
 
 Hangs o’er her fon; in his embraces dies ; 
 
 Rains kiffes on his neck, his face, his eyes: 
 
 Few words (he fpoke, tho’ much Hie had to fay, 
 And fcarce thofe few, for tears, could force their 
 way. 51 
 
 Light of my eyes ! he comes ! unhop’d-for joy ! 
 Has Heav’n from Pylos brought my^lovely boy ? 
 
 So fnatch’d from all our cares !—Tell) haft thou 
 known 
 
 Thy father’s fate, and tell me all thy own. 
 
 Oh deareft, moft rever’d of womankind ! 
 
 Ceafe with thofe tears to melt a manly mind, 
 (Reply’d the prince) nor be our fates deplor’d, 
 
 Frpm death and treafon to thy arms reftor’d. 
 
 Go bathe, and rob’d in white, afcend the tow’rs ; 
 With all thy handmaids thank th’ immortal Pow’rs ; 
 
 Penelope, we fee, embraces her fon with the utmoft af- 
 fe6fion : kijfing the lip was not in fafhion in the days of 
 Homer ; No one (remarks the bifhop) e<vet kiffes the lip or 
 mouth. Penelope here kiffes her fort’s eyes, and his head; 
 that is, his cheek, or perhaps forehead 5 and Eumaeus, in 
 the preceding book, embraces the hands, eyes, and head 
 of Telemachus. But for the comfort of the ladies, I re¬ 
 joice to obferve that all thefe were ceremonious kiffes from 
 a mother to a fon, or from an inferiour to a fuperiour: 
 this therefore is no argument that lovers thus embraced, 
 nor ought it to be brought as a reafon why the prefent 
 manner of falutation fhould be abrogated. Madam Da- 
 cier has been fo tender as to keep it a fecret from the 
 men, that there ever was a time in which the modern 
 method of kiffing was not in fafhicn: fhe highly deferves 
 their thanks and gratitude for it. 
 
 VOL. Ill, * P 
 
 55 
 
 59 
 
210 H O M E R’s O D Y S S E Y. Book XVII. 
 
 To ev’ry God vow hecatombs to bleed, 
 
 And call Jove’s vengeance on their guilty deed. 
 
 While to th’ allernbled council I repair ; 
 
 A ftranger fent by Heav’n attends me there j 65 
 My new accepted gueft I hafte to find, 
 
 Now to Piraeus’ honour’d charge confign’d. 
 
 The matron heard, nor was his word in vain. 
 
 She bath’d; and rob’d in white, with all her train* 
 
 To every God vow’d hecatombs to bleed, 70 
 
 And call’d Jove’s vengeance on the guilty deed. 
 Arm’d with his lance the prince then pafs’d the gate \ 
 Two dogs behind, a faithful guard, await; 
 
 v. 65. A granger fent by Heav'n attends me there .3 
 There is a vein of fincere piety that runs through the 
 words and adtions of Telemachus : he has no fooner deli¬ 
 vered his mother from her uneafy apprehenfions concern¬ 
 ing his fafety, but he proceeds to another adt of virtue to¬ 
 ward Theoclymenus, whom he had taken into his protec¬ 
 tion : he performs his duty towards men and towards the 
 Gods. It is by his direction that Penelope offers up her 
 devotions for fuccefs, and thanks for his return. It is he 
 who preferibes the manner of it; namely, by wafhing the 
 hands, in token of the purity of mind required by thofe 
 who fupplicate the Deities } and by putting on clean gar¬ 
 ments, to fhew the reverence and regard with which their 
 fouls ought to be poffelt when they appear before the 
 Gods. I am not ienfible that the laft ceremony is often 
 mentioned in other parts of Homer ; yet 1 doubt not but 
 it was pradlifed upon all religious folemnities. The mo¬ 
 ral of the whole is, that piety is a fure way to vidtory : 
 Telemachus appears every where a good man, and for this 
 reafon he becomes at lalt an happy one j and his calami¬ 
 ties contribute to his glory. 
 
Book XVII* HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 2 ir 
 
 Pallas his form with grace divine improves : 
 
 The gazing croud admires him as he moves : 75 
 
 Him, gath’ring round, the haughty fuitors greet 
 With femblance fair, but inward deep deceit. 
 Their falfe addrefies gen’rous he deny’d, 
 
 Paft on, and fat by faithful Mentor’s fide; 
 
 With Antiphus, and Halitherfes fage, 80 
 
 (His father’s counfellours, rever’d for age.) 
 
 Of his own fortunes, and Ulyfles’ fame, 
 
 Much afk’d the feniors j ’till Piraeus came. 
 
 The ftranger-gueft purfu’d him clofe behind j 
 Whom when Telemachus beheld, he join’d. 85 
 He, (when Piraeus afk’d for Haves to bring 
 The gifts and treafures of the Spartan king) 
 
 Thus thoughtful anfwer’d: Thofe we fhali not 
 move, 
 
 Dark and unconfcious of the will of Jove : 
 
 We know not yet the full event of all: 90 
 
 Stabb’d in his palace if your prince muft fall, 
 
 Us, and our houfe if treafon muft o’erthrow, 
 
 Better a friend pofiefs them, than a foe; 
 
 If death to thefe, and vengeance Heav’n decree, 
 Riches are welcome then, not elfe, to me. 95 
 ’Till then, retain the gifts. —The hero faid, 
 
 And in his hand the willing ftranger led. 
 
 Then dif-array’d, the fhining bath they fought, 
 (With unguents fmooth) of polifht marble wrought; 
 Obedient handmaids with affiftant toil 100 
 
 Supply the limpid wave, and fragrant oil; 
 
 P » 
 
2 a HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVIL 
 
 Then o’er their limbs refulgent robes they threw, 
 And frefh from bathing to their feats withdrew. 
 
 The golden ew’r a nymph attendant brings, 
 Replenifh’d from the pure tranflucent fprings ; 105 
 With copious dreams that golden ew’r fupplies 
 A filver laver of capacious fize. 
 
 They wafh : the table, in fair order fpread, 
 
 Is pil’d with viands and the ftrength of bread. 
 
 Full oppofite, before the folding gate, 110 
 
 The penfive mother fits in humble date; 
 
 Lowly die fat, and with deje&ed view 
 The fleecy threads her ivory fingers drew. 
 
 v. 117. Say , to tny mournful couch , &c.J Penelopehad 
 requefted Telemachus to give her an account of his 
 voyage to Pyle, and of what he had heard concerning 
 Ulyfles. He there waved the difcourfe, becaufe the queen 
 was in publick with her female attendants : by this con¬ 
 duct the poet fuftains both their charafters j Penelope is 
 impatient to hear of Ulyfles ; and this agrees with the afc- 
 fe6tioi\ of a tender wife 5 but the difcovery being unfea-- 
 fonable, Telemachus forbears to fatisfy her curiofity j in 
 which he' afrs like a wife man. Here, (obferves Eufta- 
 thius) fhe gently reproaches him fornotfatisfying her im¬ 
 patience concerning her hufband j flie inflnuates that it is 
 a piece of cruelty to permit her ftill to grieve, when it is 
 in his power to give her comfort; and this induces him 
 to gratify her defires. It ought to be obferved, that Ho¬ 
 mer chufes a proper time for this relation ; it was necef- 
 fary that the fuitors fhould be ignorant of the ftory of 
 Ulyfles; Telemachus therefore makes it when they are 
 withdrawn to their lports, and when none were prefent 
 but friends 
 
BookXVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 213 
 
 The prince and dranger fhar’d the genial fead, 
 
 ’Till now the rage of third and hunger cead. 11 $ 
 When thus the queen. My fon! my only 
 friend ! 
 
 Say, to my mournful couch fiiall I afcend ? 
 
 (The couch deferted now a length of years ; 
 
 The couch for ever water’d with my tears) 
 
 Say wilt thou not (ere yet the fuitor-crew 120 
 Return, and riot fhakes our walls anew) 
 
 Say wilt thou not the lead account afford ? 
 
 The lead glad tidings of my abfent lord ? 
 
 To her the youth. We reach’d the Pylian plains, 
 Where Nedor, Ihepherd of his people, reigns. 125 
 All arts of tendernefs to him are known, 
 
 Kind toUlyffes’ race as to his own ; 
 
 No father with a fonder grafp of joy,' 
 
 Strains to his bofom his long-abfent boy. 
 
 But all unknown, if yet Ulyffes breathe, 130 
 
 Or glide a fpe&re in the realms beneath ; 
 
 v. 134. There Argl<ve Helen I beheld, 'vohofe charms, 
 
 (So Heav'n decreed) &c.] 
 
 Euftathius takes notice of the candid behaviour of Tele- 
 machus, with refpe£t to Helen : the had received him. 
 courteoufly, and he tedifies his gratitude, by aferibing the 
 calamities the drew upon her country to the decree of 
 Heaven, not to her immtfdedy : this is particularly de¬ 
 cent in the mouth of Telemachus, becaufe he is now ac¬ 
 quainted with his father’s return ; otherwife he could not 
 have mentioned her name but to her dilhonour, who had 
 been the occafion of his death. 
 
 p 3 
 
214 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. Book XVU. 
 
 For further fearch, his rapid deeds tranfport 
 My lengthen’d journey to the Spartan court. 
 
 There Argive Helen I beheld, whofe charms 
 (So Heav’n decreed) engag’d the great in arms. 
 
 My caufe of coming told, he thus rejoin’d; 136 
 
 And dill his words live perfect in my mind. 
 
 Heav’ns! would a foft, inglorious, dadard train 
 An abfent hero’s nuptial joys profane! 
 
 So with her young, amid the woodland {hades, 
 
 A tim’rous hind the lion’s court invades, 141 
 Leaves in that fatal lair her tender fawns, 
 
 And climbs the cliff, or feeds along the lawns ; 
 Meantime returning, with remorfelefs fway 
 The monarch favage rends the panting prey : 145 
 
 With equal fury, and with equal fame, 
 
 Shall great Ulyffes re-affert his claim. 
 
 O Jove! Supreme! whom men and Gods revere j 
 And thou whofe ludre gilds the rolling fphere ! 
 
 1 
 
 v. 13S. He<z<v'ns ! would a foft, inglorious, daftard train 
 &c.] Thefe verles are repeated from the fourth Odyffey ; 
 and are not without a good effefl $ they cannot fail of com¬ 
 forting Penelope, by alluring her that Ulyffes is alive, and 
 reftrained by Calypfo involuntarily ; they give her hopes 
 of his return, and the fatisfa&ion of hearing his glory 
 from the mouth of Menelaus. The concifenefs of Te- 
 lemachus is likewife remarkable; he recapitulates in 
 thirty-eight lines the fubjedt of almoft three books, the 
 third, the fourth, and fifth : he fele&s every circum- 
 ftance that can pleaf'e Penelope, and drops thofe that 
 would give her pain. 
 
Book XVII. HOMERY ODYSSEY. 21,5 
 
 With pow’r congenial join’d, propitious aid 150 
 The chief adopted by the martial Maid ! 
 
 Such to our wifh the warriour foon rcftore, 
 
 As when, contending on theLefbian fhore, 
 
 His prowefs Philomelides confeft, 
 
 And loud acclaiming Greeks the victor bleft: 155 
 Then foon th’ invaders of his bed, and throne, 
 
 Their love prefumptuous fhall by death atone. 
 
 Now what you queftion of my antient friend, 
 
 With truth I anfwer; thou the truth attend. 
 
 Learn what I heard the * fea-born feer relate, 
 
 Whofe eye can pierce the dark recefs of fate. 161 
 Sole in an ifle, imprifon’d by the main, 
 
 The fad furvivor of his num’rous train, 
 
 Ulyfles lies ; detain’d by magick charms, 
 
 And preft unwilling in Calypfo’s arms. 165 
 
 No failors there, no veflels to convey, 
 
 Nor oars to cut th’ immeafurable way- 
 
 This told Atrides, and he told no more. 
 
 Thence fafe I voyag’d to my native Ihore. 
 
 He ceas’d; nor made the penfive queen reply, 
 But droop’d her head, and drew a fecret figh. 171 
 When Theoclymenus the feer began : 
 
 Oh fuff’ring confortof the fuff’ring man ! 
 
 v. 174. When ‘Theoclymenus the feet' began: See ] It is 
 with great judgment that the poet here introduces Theo¬ 
 clymenus j he is a perfon that has no dire< 5 l relation to 
 the ftory of the Odyfley, yet becaufe he appears acciden¬ 
 tally in it, Homer unites him very artificially with it, that 
 
 * Proteus. 
 
 P 4 
 
216 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 What human knowledge could, thofe kings might 
 tell; 
 
 But I the fecrets of high Heav’n reveal. 175 
 
 Before the firfl of Gods be this declar’d, 
 
 Before the board whofe bleflings we have {har’d $ 
 Witnefs the genial rites, and witnefs all 
 This houfe holds facred in her ample >vall! 
 
 he may not appear to no purpofe, and as an ufelefs orna-; 
 inent. He here fpeaks as an augur, and what he utters 
 contributes to the perfeverance of Penelope in refitting 
 the addrefles of the fuitors, by alluring her of the return 
 of Ulyttes j and confequently in feme degree Theocly- 
 menus promotes the principal adtion. But it may be 
 Paid, if it was neceflary that Penelope fhould be informed 
 of his return, why does not Telemachus allure her of it, 
 who was fully acquainted wdththe truth ? Tbe anfwer is, 
 that Penelope is not to be fully informed, but only en¬ 
 couraged by a general hope : Theoclymenus fpeaks from 
 his art, which may pottibly be liable to errour: but Te¬ 
 lemachus mult have fpokenfrom knowledge, which w’ould 
 have been contrary to the injun£tions of Ulyttes, and 
 might have proved fatal by an unfeafonable difeovery : it 
 was therefore judicious in the poet to put the alfurance 
 of the return of Ulyttes into the mouth of Theoclymenus, 
 and not of Telemachus. 
 
 There is an exprettion in this fpeech, which in the 
 Greek is remarkable : literally it is to be rendered, Ulyjfes, 
 is no-zu fitting or creeping in Ithaca , 55 egnuv ; that is, 
 
 Ulyttes is returned and concealed: it is taken from the 
 pofture of a perfon in the a£t of endeavouring to hide 
 himfelf: he fits down or creeps upon the ground, Eufta- 
 thius explains it by xgC £ y k af ’j 9 sv 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 217 
 
 Ev’n now this inftant, great Ulyffes lay’d 180 
 At reft, or wand’ring in his country’s (hade, 
 
 Their guilty deeds, in hearing, and in view 
 Secret revolves; and plans the vengeance due. 
 
 Of this fure auguries the Gods bellow’d, 
 
 When firftour veflel anchor’d in your road. 185 
 
 Succeed thofe omens, Heav’n! (the queen re- 
 join’d) 
 
 So fhall our bounties fpeak a grateful mind; 
 
 And ev’ry envy’d happinefs attend 
 The man, who calls Penelope his friend. 
 
 Thus commun’d they: while in the marble 
 court 190 
 
 (Scene of their infolence) the lords refort; 
 
 *• , 
 
 Athwart the fpacious fquare each tries his art 
 To whirl the difk, or aim the miflile dart. 
 
 v. 192. —■ — — each tries his art 
 
 To whirl the dijk , or aim the mijjile dart. ] 
 
 Euftatliius remarks that though the fuitors were aban¬ 
 doned to luxury, vice, and intemperance, yet they ex- 
 ercife themfelves in laudable fports: they tofs the quoit, 
 and throw the javelin, which are both heroick diverfions, 
 and form the body into ftrength and activity. This is 
 owing to the virtue of the age, not the perfons: fuch 
 fports were fafhionable, and therefore ufed by the fuitors, 
 and not becaufe they were heroick. However they may 
 inftruft us never to give ourfelves up to idlenefs and in- 
 aftion; but to make our very diverfions fubfervient to 
 nobler views, and turn a pleafure into a virtue. 
 
218 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. BookXVII. 
 
 Now did the hour of fweet repaft arrive, 194. 
 And from the field the vidlim flocks they drive: 
 Medon the herald (one who pleas’d them belt, 
 
 And honour’d with a portion of their feaft) 
 
 To bid the banquet, interrupts their play. ^ 
 
 Swift to the hall they hafte ; afide they lay > 
 
 Their garments, and fuccindl, the vi&ims flay. J 
 Then fheep and goats, and briflly porkers bled, 20I 
 And the proud fleer was o’er the marble fpread. 
 
 While thus the copious banquet they provide ; 
 Along the road converfing fide by fide. 
 
 Proceed Ulyfles and the faithful fwain : 205 
 
 When thus Eurmeus, gen’rous and humane. 
 
 To town, obfervant of our lord’s behefl, 
 
 Now let us fpecd; my friend, no more my guefl! 
 
 v. 196. Medon the herald {one nxho pleas'd them hej\."\ We 
 may obferve that the chara&er of Medon is very parti¬ 
 cular ; he is at the fame time a favourite of the fuitors, 
 and Telemachus, perfons entirely oppolite in their in- 
 terefl. It feldom happens any man can pleafe two parties, 
 without a&ing an infincere part: Atticus was indeed 
 equally acceptable to the two factions of Caefar and Pom- 
 pey, but it was becaufe he feemed neutral, and atted as 
 if they were both his friends ; or rather he was a man of 
 fuch eminent virtues, that they elleemed it an honour to 
 have him thought their friend. Homer every where re- 
 prefents Medon as a perfon of integrity \ he is artful, but 
 not criminal: no doubt but he made all compliances, that 
 eonfifted with probity, with the fuitors difpofitions; by 
 this method he faved Penelope more effectually than if 
 he had fhewed a more rigid virtue. He made himfelf 
 
BookXVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 2 r 9 
 
 Yet like myfelf I wifh’d thee here preferred, 
 
 Guard of the flock, or keeper of the herd. 210 
 But much to raife my mailer’s wrath I fear ; 
 
 The wrath of princes ever is fevere. 
 
 Then heed his will, and be our journey made 
 While the broad beams of Phoebus are difplay’d, * 
 Or ere brown ev’ning fpreads her chilly fhade. J 
 
 mafter of their hearts by an infinuating behaviour, and 
 was a fpy upon their aftions. Euftathius compares him 
 to a bufkin that fits both legs, o?<wv n$ k 69 op(& 5 he feems to 
 have been an Anti-Cato, and pra&ifed a virtuous gaiety. 
 
 V. 210. Guard of the flock, or keeper of the herd.~\ Such 
 little traits as thefe are very delightful $ for the reader 
 knowing that the perfon to whom this offer is made, is 
 Ulyfles, cannot fail of being diverted to fee the honeft and 
 loyal Eumseus promifing to make his mafter and king the 
 keeper of his herds or ftalls, <raQpa>v j and this is offered as 
 a piece of good fortune or dignity. 
 
 v. 215.- ere evening fpreads her chilly fhade .] Eu¬ 
 
 ftathius gathers from thefe words, that the time of the ac¬ 
 tion of the Odyffey was in the [end of autumn, or begin¬ 
 ning of winter, when the mornings and evenings are cold : 
 thus Ulyfles, in the beginning of this book, makes the 
 coldnefs of the morning an excufe for not going with 
 Telemachus : his rags being but an ill defence againft it ; 
 and here Eumseus mentions the coldnefs of the evening, 
 as a reafon why they fhould begin their journey in the 
 heat of the day \ fo that it was now probably about ten 
 of the clock, and they arrive at Ithaca at noon: from 
 hence we may conje&ure, that the lodge of Eumacus was 
 five or fix miles from the city: that is, about a two hours 
 walk. 
 
220 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 Juft thy advice, (the prudent chief rejoin’d) 216 
 And fuch as fuits the dictate of my mind. 
 
 Lead on : but help me to fome ftaff to flay 
 My feeble ftep, fince rugged is the way. 
 
 Acrofs his fhoulders, then the fcrip he flung, 220 
 Wide-patch’d, and fatten’d by a twitted thong. 
 
 A ftaff Eumaeus gave. Along the way 
 Cheerly they fare : behind, the keepers ftay ; 
 Thefe with their watchful dogs (a conftant guard) 
 Supply his abfence, and attend the herd. 225 
 
 And now'his city ftrikes the monarch’s eyes, 
 
 Alas ! how chang’d ! a man of miferies; 
 
 v. 224. Thefe, with their watchful dogs **- —] It is cer¬ 
 tain that if thefe little particulars had been omitted, there 
 would have been no chafm in the connexion ; why then 
 does Homer infert fuch circumftancesunnecelfarily, which 
 it muft be allowed are of no importance, and add no¬ 
 thing to the perfe&ion of the ftory ? nay, they are fuch 
 as may be thought trivial, and unworthy the dignity of 
 epick poetry. But, as Dacier very well obferves, they 
 are a kind of painting: were a painter to draw this fub- 
 jett, he would undoubtedly infert into the piece thefe 
 herdfmen and dogs after the manner of Homer j they are 
 natural ornaments, and confequently are no difgrace ei¬ 
 ther to the poet or the painter. 
 
 It is obfervable that Homer gives us an exa£l draught of 
 the country : he fets before us as in a pi&ure, the city, 
 the circular grove of poplars adjacent, the fountain fall¬ 
 ing from a rock, and the altar facred to the Nymphs, 
 ere&ed on the point of it. We are as it were tranfported 
 into Ithaca, and travel with Ulyflesand Eumaeus: Homer 
 verifies the obfervation of Horace above all poets j namely, 
 that poetry is painting. 
 
Book XVII. H O M E R’s ODYSSEY. 221 
 
 Propt on a ftaff, a beggar old and bare. 
 
 In rags difhoneft flutt’ring with the air! 
 
 Now pafs’d the rugged road, they journey down 
 The cavern’d way descending to the town, 231 
 Where, from the rock, with liquid lapfe diftills 
 A limpid fount; that Spread in parting rills 
 Its current thence to Serve the city brings: 
 
 An ufeful work ! adorn’d by antient kings. 235 
 Neritus, Ithacus, Poly&or there 
 In Sculptur’d ftone immortaliz’d their care, 
 
 In marble urns receiv’d it from above. 
 
 And fhaded with a green Surrounding grove ; 
 Where Silver alders, in high arches twin’d, 240 
 Drink the cold ftream, and tremble to the wind. 
 Beneath, fequefter’d to the Nymphs, is Seen 
 A mofly altar, deep embower’d in green ; 
 
 Where conftant vows by travellers are paid, 
 
 And holy horrours Solemnize the fhade. 245 
 
 Here with his goats, (not vow’d to Sacred flame, 
 But pamper’d luxury) Melanthius came : 
 
 v. 236. Neritus , Ithacus , Polyftor -] Publick bene¬ 
 
 factions demand publick honours and acknowledgments; 
 for this reafon Homer makes an honourable mention of 
 thefe three brothers. Ithaca was a fmall ifland, and def- 
 titute of plenty of frefh water; this fountain therefore 
 was a publick good to the whole region about it; and has 
 given immortality to the authors of it. They were the 
 Sons of Pterelaus (as Euftathius informs us) ; Ithacus gave 
 name to the country, Neritus to a mountain, and PolyC' 
 tor to a place called Poly&orium. 
 
/ 
 
 222 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 Two grooms attend him. With an envious look 
 He ey’d the ftranger, and imperious fpoke. 
 
 The good old proverb how this pair fulfil! 250 
 
 One rogue is ufher to another (till. 
 
 Heav’n with a fecret principle indu’d 
 Mankind, to feek their own fimilitude. 
 
 Where goes the fwine-herd with that ill-look’d 
 guefl ? 
 
 That giant-glutton, dreadful at a feaft! 255 
 
 Full many a poll have thofe broad (boulders worn, 
 From ev’ry great man’s gate repuls’d with fcorn $ 
 To no brave prize afpir’d the worthlefs fwain, 
 
 ’Twas but for feraps he alk’d, and afk’d in vain. 
 
 v. 258. To no brave prize afpir'd the wort kiefs /wain, 
 
 'Twas but for feraps he afk'd , and afk'd in vain.} 
 
 Dacier is very lingular in her interpretation of this paf- 
 fage: lhe imagines it has a reference to the games prac- 
 tifed amongft the fuitors, and to the rewards of the vic¬ 
 tors, which were ufually tripods and beautiful captives. 
 “ Thinkeft thou (fays Melanthius) that this beggar will 
 “ obtain the victory in our fports, and that they will give 
 “ him as the reward of his valour fome beautiful Have, or 
 “ fome precious tripod ?” But in Homer there is nothing 
 that gives the leaf: countenance to this explication : he 
 thus literally fpeaks: this fellow by going from door to door 
 will meet with correction) while he begs meanly for a few 
 feraps, not for things of price, fuch as a captive or tripod. 
 Eultathius explains it as fpoken in contempt of Ulylfes ; 
 that he appears to be fuch a vile perfon, as to have no 
 ambition or hope to expedl any thing better than a few 
 feraps, nor to afpire to the rewards of nobler ftrangers, 
 fuch as captives or tripods, a koXoi, fays the fame author. 
 
BookXVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 223 
 
 To beg, than work, he better underftands ; 260 
 
 Or we perhaps might take him off thy hands. 
 
 For any office could the Have be good. 
 
 To clcanfe the fold, or help the kids to food, 
 
 are the minuteft crumbs of bread, Cf xl3l ^' ecLr ° l I am 
 
 perfuaded, that the reader will fubfcribe to the judgment 
 of Euftathius, if he confiders the conftru&ion, and that 
 io^aq and X£&jTa? are govern’d by am£»v as effectually as 
 oxoXy?, and therefore mull refer to the lame aCl of begging, 
 not of claiming by victory in the games : alr'^eov is not a 
 word that can here exprefs a reward, but only a charity : 
 befides, would it not be abfurd to fay that a beggar goes 
 from door to door alking alms, and not rewards beltowed 
 upon viCtors in publick exercifes ? the words «7oXX?<ri <f>Xwr» 
 make the fenfe general, they denote the life of a beggar, 
 which is to go from door to door, and confequently they 
 ought not to be confined folely to the fuitorsj and if not, 
 they can have no reference to any games, or to any re¬ 
 wards bellowed upon fuch occafions. Befides, it is fcarce 
 to be conceived that Melanthius could think this beggar 
 capable of being admitted into the company, much lefs 
 into the diverfion of the fuitors, who were all perfons of 
 high birth and llation. It is true, lib. xxi. Ulylfes is 
 permitted to try the bow, but this is through the pecu¬ 
 liar grace of Telemachus, who knew the beggar to be 
 Ulylfes j and entirely contrary to their injunctions. 
 
 From this palfage we may correCt an errour in Hefy¬ 
 chius : (fays he) are ywaXueq $ vpwohq : the fen tehee is 
 
 evidently maimed, for Hefychius undoubtedly thus wrote 
 it, ttoge? ywa 7 nt; \eyovlui i for thus (adds he) Homer ufes it: 
 
 —— —■ —— ax do£a.g sSe XgC>JT«C* 
 
 That is.(fays Hefychius) a yuv«AKa.q, *?& vpiro&ec, referring 
 to this verfe of the Odyfley. 
 
224 HOMER’s O D Y SS EY. Book XVIL 
 
 If any labour thofe big joints could learn ; 264 
 
 Some whey, to walb his bowels, he might earn. 
 
 To cringe, to whine, his idle hands to fpread, 
 
 Is all, by which that gracelefs maw is fed. 
 
 Yet hear me ! if thy impudence but dare 
 Approach yon’ walls, I prophefy thy fare: 
 
 Dearly, full dearly (halt thou buy thy bread 270 
 With many a footftool thund’ring at thy head. 
 
 He thus: nor infolent of word alone, 
 
 Spurn’d with his ruftick heel his king unknown ; 
 Spurn’d, but not mov’d : he, like a pillar flood, 
 Nor ftirr’d an inch, contemptuous, from the road: 
 Doubtful, ar with his fluff to ftrike him dead, 276 
 Or greet the pavement with his worthlefs head. 
 Short was that doubt; to quell his rage inur’d. 
 
 The hero flood felf-conquer’d, and endur’d. 
 
 v. 279. The hero flood felf-conquer'd, and endur'd.] Homer 
 excellently fuftains the character of UlylTes ; he is a man 
 of patience, and mailer of all his pallions j he is here mif- 
 ufed by one of his own fervants, yet is fo far from return¬ 
 ing the injury, that he ftifles the fenfe of it, without 
 fpeaking one word : it is true he is defcribed as having 
 a conflict in his foul $ but this is no derogation to his 
 character : not to feel like a man is infenfibility, not vir¬ 
 tue j but to reprefs the motions of the heart, and keep 
 them within the bounds of moderation, this argues wif- 
 dom, and turns an injury into a virtue and glory. There 
 is an excellent contrail between the benevolent Eumams 
 and the infolent Melanthius. Eumreus refents the out¬ 
 rage of Melanthius more than Ulylfes ; he is moved with 
 indignation, but how does he exprefs it ? not by railing, 
 but by an appeal to Heaven in a prayer ; a conduct worthy 
 
BookXVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 225 
 
 But hateful of the wretch, Eumseus heav’d 280 
 His hands obtefting, and this pray’r conceiv’d. 
 Daughters of Jove ! who from th’ setherial bow’rs 
 Defcend to fwell the fprings, and feed the flow’rs ! 
 Nymphs of this fountain ! to whofe facred names 
 Our rural victims mount in blazing flames! 285 
 
 To whom Ulyfles’ piety preferr’d 
 The yearly firfllings of his flock, and herd ; 
 
 Succeed my wifh; your votary reftore : 
 
 Oh be fome God his convoy to our fhore ! 
 
 Due pains fhall punifh then this flave’s offence, 
 And humble all his airs of infolence, 291 
 
 Who proudly ftalking, leaves the herds at large. 
 Commences courtier, and negle&s his charge. 
 
 What mutters he ? (Melanthius fliarp rejoins) 
 This crafty mifcreant big with dark defigns ? 295 
 
 The day fhall come ; nay, ’tis already near. 
 
 When, flave ! to fell thee at a price too dear, 
 
 Muft be my care ; and hence tranfport thee o’er, 
 
 (A load and fcandal to this happy fhore.) 
 
 to be imitated in more enlightened ages. The word 
 sLyXctim; here bears a peculiar fignification; it does not im¬ 
 ply voluptuoufnefs as ufually, but pride, and means that 
 Ulyffes would fpoil his haughty airs, if he (hould ever re¬ 
 turn : this interpretation agrees with what follows, where 
 Eumaeus reproaches him for defpifing his rural charge, 
 and afpiring to politenefs, or, as we exprefs it, to be a 
 sna^i of the town. 
 
 Vol. ur. ^ 
 
 
226 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 Oh ! that as furely great Apollo’s dart, 300 
 
 Or fome brave fuitor’s fword, might pierce the 
 heart 
 
 Of the proud fon ; as that we {land this hour 
 In lafting fafety from the father’s pow’r. 
 
 So fpoke the wretch, but fhunning farther fray, 
 Turn’d his proud Hep, and left them on their 
 way. 305 
 
 Straight to the feaftful palace he repair’d, 
 
 Familiar enter’d, and the banquet {har’d ; 
 
 Beneath Eurymachus, his patron lord, 
 
 He took his place, and plenty heap’d the board. , 
 
 Meantime they heard, foft-circling in the fky, 
 Sweet airs afcend, and heav’nly minftrelfie ; 311 
 
 (For Phemius to the lyre attun’d the ftrain :) 
 
 UlyfTes hearken’d, then addreft the fwain. 
 
 Well may this palace admiration claim, 
 
 Great, and refpondent to the mailer’s fame ! 315 
 
 v.308. Beneath Eurymachus ——— He took his place >—— ] 
 We may gather from hence the truth of an obfervation 
 formerly made, That Melanthius, Eumasus, &c. were 
 perfons of diftin£lion, and their offices ports of honour: 
 we fee Melanthius, who had the charge of the goats of 
 Ulyfles, is a companion for princes. 
 
 The reafon why Melanthius in particular aflociates him* 
 felf with Eurymachus is, an intrigue which that prince 
 holds with Melantho his filler, as appears from the fol¬ 
 lowing book. There is a confederacy and league be¬ 
 tween them, and we find they all fuffer condign punifh- 
 mcnt in the end of the Odyfiey. 
 
Book XVII. HOMER's ODYSSEY. 
 
 227 
 
 Stage above ftage th’ imperial ftru&ure Hands, 
 Holds the chief honours, and the town commands: 
 High walls and battlements the courts inclofe, 
 
 And the ftrong gates defy an holt of foes. 
 
 Far other cares its dwellers now employ: 320 
 
 The throng’d alfembly, and the feaft of joy : 
 
 I fee the fmokes of facrifice afpire, 
 
 And hear (what graces ev’ry feaft) the lyre. 
 
 Then thus Eumseus. Judge we which were beft * 
 Amidft yon’ revellers a fudden gueft 
 Chufe you to mingle, while behind I ftay ? 
 
 Or I firft ent’ring introduce the way ? 
 
 W ait for a fpace without, but wait not long ; 
 
 This is the houfe of violence and wrong: 
 
 Some rude infult thy rev’rend age may bear ; 
 
 For Kke their lawlefs lords the fervants are. 
 
 v. 318. High walls and battlements , &c] We have here 
 a very particular draught or plan of the palace of Ulyfles; 
 it is a kind of caftle, at once defigned for flrength and 
 magnificence : this we may gather from vve^onhira-Airo, 
 which Hefychius explains by wreg7rvM:rat, Lmfiwat, not ea« 
 fily to be furmounted, or forced by arms. 
 
 Homer artfully introduces Ulyfles ftruck with wonder 
 at the beauty of the palace} this is done to confirm Eu- 
 mseus in the opinion that Ulyfles is really the beggar he 
 appears to be, and a perfeft ftranger among the Ithacans: 
 thus alfo when he complains of hunger, he fpeaks the 
 language of a beggar, as Euftathius remarks, to perfuade 
 Eumaeus that he takes his journey to the court, folely out 
 of want and hunger. 
 
 0* 
 
 32S 
 
 33 ° 
 
228 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVII. 
 
 Juft is, oh friend! thy caution, and addreft 
 (Reply’d the chief) to no unheedful breaft ; 
 
 The wrongs and injuries ofbafe mankind 
 Frefh to my fenfe, and always in my mind. 335 
 The bravely-patient to no fortune yields : 
 
 On rolling oceans, and in fighting fields, 
 
 Storms have I paft, and many a ftern debate ; 
 
 And now in humbler fcene fubmit to Fate. 
 
 What cannot Want ? the beft {he will expofe, 340 
 And I am learn’d in all her train of woes ; 
 
 She fills with navies, hofts, and loud alarms 
 The fea, the land, and (hakes the world with arms ! 
 
 Thus, near the gates conferring as they drew, 
 Argus, the dog his antient mafter knew; 345 
 
 v. 345. Argus, the dog his antient wafer knew, &c.] This 
 whole epifode has fallen under the ridicule of the cri- 
 ticks ; Monf, Perault’s in particular: <£ The dunghill be- 
 “ fore the palace (fays that author) is more proper for a 
 “ peafant than a king} and it is beneath the dignity of 
 “ poetry to defcribethe dog Argus almoft devoured with 
 “ vermin.” It mull be allowed that fuch a familiar epi¬ 
 fode could not have been properly introduced into the 
 Iliad : it is writ in a nobler ftyle, and diftinguifhed by a 
 boldnefs of fentiments and diftion } whereas the Odyffey 
 defcendsto the familiar, and is calculated more for com¬ 
 mon than heroick life. What Homer fays of Argus is 
 very natural, and I do not know any thing more beauti¬ 
 ful or more affe£ling in the whole poem : I dare appeal to 
 every perfon's judgment, if Argus be not as juftly and 
 properly reprefented, as the nobleil figure in it. It is 
 certain that the vermin which Homer mentions would de- 
 
BookXVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 229 
 
 He, not unconfcious of the voice, and tread. 
 
 Lifts to the found his ear, and rears his head ; 
 
 Bred by UlylTes, nourifhed at his board, 
 
 But ah ! not fated long to pleafe his lord ! 
 
 To him, his fwiftnefs and his ftrength were vain ; 
 The voice of glory call’d him o’er the main. 351 
 ’Till then in ev’ry filvan chace renown’d, 
 
 With Argus, Argus, rung the woods around; 
 With him the youth purfu’d the goat or fawn, 
 
 Or trac’d the mazy leveret o’er the lawn. 355 
 
 Now left to man’s ingratitude he lay, 
 
 Unhous’d, neglected in the publick way; 
 
 And where on heaps the rich manure was fpread, 
 Obfcene with reptiles, took his fordid bed. 
 
 bafe our poetry, but in the Greek that very word is noble 
 and fonorous, k : but how is the obje< 5 tion con¬ 
 cerning the dunghill to be anfwered ? We- mull have re- 
 eourfe to the fimplicity of manners amongft the antients, 
 who thought nothing mean that was of ufe to life. Ithaca 
 was a barren country, full of rocks and mountains, and 
 owed its fertility chiefly to cultivation, and for this 
 reafon fuch circumftantial cares were neceflary. It 
 is true fuch a defcription now is more proper for a 
 peafant than a king, but antiently it was no difgrace for 
 a king to perform with his own hands, what is now left 
 only to peafants. We read of a dictator taken from the 
 plough, and why may not a king as well manure his 
 field as plough it, without receding from his dignity ? 
 Virgil has put the fame thing into a precept: 
 
 ♦ 1 
 
 “Ne faturare fimo pingui pudeat fola.’* 
 
 QLj 
 
2 3 o HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 He knew his lord ; he knew, and ftrove to 
 meet •, 360 
 
 In vain he ftrove; to crawl, and kifs his feet; 
 
 Yet (all he could) his tail, his ears, his eyes 
 Salute his mafter, and confefs his joys. 
 
 Soft pity touch’d the mighty mafter's foul j 
 Adown his cheek a tear unbidden ftole, 365 
 
 v. 361. In ‘vain he ftrove , io crawl, and kifs his feet. ] It 
 may feem that this circumftance was inferted calually, or 
 at lead only to fhew the age and infirmity of Argus : but 
 there is a further intent in it: if the dog had ran to 
 UlyfTes and fawned upon him, it would have raifed a ftrong 
 fufpicion in Eumseus that he was not fuch a ftranger to the 
 Ithacans as he pretended, but fome perfon in difguife * 
 and this might have occaiioned an unfeafonable difcovery. 
 I yftathius. 
 
 v. 364. Soft pity touch'd the mighty mafters fould] Icon* 
 fefs myfelf touched with the tendernefs of thefe tears in 
 Ulyfl'es j I would willingly think that they proceed from 
 a better principle than the weaknefs of human nature, and 
 are an inftance of a really virtuous, and companionate 
 difpofition. 
 
 .—. . tiyaQol ¥ ayfrgSf. 
 
 Good pten are eaftly moved to tears : in my judgment Ulyftes 
 appears more amiable while he weeps over his faithful 
 dog,than when he drives an army of enemies before him : 
 That (hews him to be a great hero, This a good man. Ip 
 was undoubtedly an inftance of an excellent difpofition 
 in one of the fathers who prayed for the grace oj tears. 
 
 ___“ molliflima corda 
 
 Humano generi dare fe natura fatetur, 
 
 << Quxlachrymasdedit j haec noftri pars optima fenfus.” 
 
 Juv, Sat. xv. 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 2 jr 
 
 Stole unperceiv’d; he turn’d his head and dry’d 
 The drop humane : then thus impailion’d cry’d. 
 
 What noble beaft in this abandon’d ftate 
 Lies here all helplefs at Ulyfles’ gate ? 
 
 His bulk and beauty fpeak no vulgar praife *, 37G 
 
 If, as he feems, he was in better days, 
 
 Some care his age deferves: or was he priz’d 
 For worthlefs beauty ! therefore now defpis’d ? 
 
 Such dogs, and men there are, meer things of 
 ftate, 374 
 
 And always cherifh’d by their friends, the great. 
 
 Not Argus fo, (Eumaeus thus rejoin’d) 
 
 But ferv’d a mafter of a nobler kind, 
 
 Who never, never {hall behold him more ! 
 
 Long, long fince perifh’d on a diftant fhore! 
 
 Oh had you feen him, vig’rous, bold, and young. 
 Swift as a ftag, and as a lion ftrong ; 381 
 
 And Dry den, 
 
 Each gentle mind the foft infection felt. 
 
 For richeft metals are moft apt to melt. 
 
 v. 374. Such dogs, and men there are, meer things of fate. 
 And always cherijh'd by their friends, the great.] 
 
 It is in the Greek 4 Wte?, or kings ; but the word is not to 
 be taken in too ftri<St a fenfe ; it implies all perfons ofdif- 
 tinftion , or oinofoonrorm, like the word rex in Horace. 
 
 (t Regibus hie mos eft ubi equos mercantur.” 
 
 And regina in Terence (as Dacier obferves) is ufed in. 
 -the fame manner. 
 
 -— Eunuchum porro dixti velle te : 
 
 4< Qu_ia fol» utuntur his reginse.'* 
 
 <u 
 
232 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVI L 
 
 Him no fell favage on the plain withftood, 
 
 None ’fcap’d him, bofom’d in the gloomy wood ; 
 
 His eye how piercing, and his fcent how true, . 
 
 To winde the vapour in the tainted dew ! 385 
 
 Such, when Ulyfles left his natal coaft; 
 
 Now years un-nerve him, and his lord is loft! 
 
 The women keep the gen’rous creature bare, 
 
 A fleek and idle race is all their care : 
 
 The mafter gone, the fervants what reftrains ? 
 
 Or dwells humanity -where riot reigns ? 391 
 
 Jove fix’d it certain, that whatever day 
 Makes man a Have, takes half his worth away. 
 
 v. 392.-— Whatever day 
 
 Makes ?nan a Jlave , takes half his worth away.] 
 
 This is a very remarkable fentence, and commonly found 
 to be true. Longinus, in his enquiry into the decay of 
 human wit, quotes it. “ Servitude, be it never fo juftly 
 t( eftablifhed, is a kind of prifon, wherein the foul (brinks 
 <c in fome meafure, and diminifhes by conftraint : it has 
 <c the fame effeiSl with the boxes in which dwarfs are in- 
 « c clofed, which not only hinder the body from its 
 “ growth, but make it lefs by the conftri&ion. It is ob- 
 <e fervable that all the great orators flourilhed in repub- 
 <£ licks, and indeed what is there that raifes the fouls of 
 great men more than liberty ? In other governments 
 “ men commonly become inftead of orators, pompous 
 * c flatterers : a man born in fervitude may be capable of 
 <e other fciences j but no Have can ever be an orator j 
 <e for while the mind is depreft and broken by flavery, 
 * ( it will never dare to think or fay any thing bold and 
 noble ; all the vigour evaporates, and it remains as it 
 “ were confined in a prifon.” Etiam fera animalia , Ji 
 claufa teneas , virtutis oblivifeuntur . Tacit. Hift. lib. iv. 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 233 
 
 % 
 
 This faid, the honeft herdfman ftrode before : 
 The mufing monarch paufes at the door : 395 
 
 The dog whom Fate had granted to behold 
 His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll’d, 
 Takes alaft look, and having feen him, dies; 
 
 So clos’d for ever faithful Argus’ eyes! 
 
 , i 
 
 Thefe verfes are quoted in Plato, lib. vi. de legibus , but 
 fomewhat differently from our editions. 
 
 *'H {jucu yap rs yens ano/xeiperai svgi jotta 
 ’A vdeev a? av Svj, &c. 
 
 However thisaphorifm is to be qnderdood only generally, 
 not univerfally: Eumaeus who utters it is an inftance to 
 the contrary, who retains his virtue in a date of fub- 
 jedtion ; and Plato fpeaks to the fame purpofe, aflerting 
 that fome flaves have been found of fuch virtue as to be 
 • preferred to a fon or brother; and have often preferved 
 their mailers and their families. 
 
 v. 399. So clos'd forever faithful Argus' eyes /] Tt has 
 been a queflion what occafioned the death of Argus, at 
 the inftant he faw Ulyfies : Eullathius imputes it to the 
 joy he felt at the fight of his mailer. But there has 
 another obje6lion been darted againll Homer, forafcrib- 
 ing fo long a life as twenty years to Argus, and that 
 dogs never furpafs the fifteenth year; but this is an er- 
 rour ; Aridotle affirms, that fome dogs live two and 
 twenty, and other naturalids fubfcribe to his judgment. 
 Eudathius tells us, that other writers agree, that fome dogs 
 live twenty-four years. Pliny thus writes, Canes Laconict 
 *vivunt annis-denis, fee mince duo denis, ccetera genera quin - 
 decim annos , aliquando viginti. Madam Dacier mention^ 
 fome of her own knowledge that lived twenty-three 
 years; and the tranflator, not to fall fliort of thefe illuf- 
 trious examples, has known one that died at twenty-two 
 big with puppies. 
 
234 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 And now Telemachus, the firil of all, 400 
 Obferv’d Eumaeus ent’ring in the hall; 
 
 Diftant he faw, acrofs the fhady dome ; 
 
 Then gave a fign, and beckon’d him to come : 
 There flood an empty feat, where late was plac’d 
 In order due, the fleward of the feafl, 405 
 
 (Who now was bulled carving round the board) 
 Eumseus took, and plac’d it near his lord. 
 
 Before him inilant was the banquet fpread, 
 
 And the bright balket pil’d with loaves of bread. 
 
 Next cameUlyfies, lowly at the door, 410 
 A figure defpicable, old, and poor, 
 
 In fqualid veils with many a gaping rent, 
 
 Propt on a flaff, and trembling as he went. 
 
 Then, reiling on the threfhold of the gate, 
 
 Againfl a cyprefs pillar loan’d his weight; 415 
 
 (Smooth’d by the workman to a polifh’d plain) 
 
 The thoughtful fon beheld, and call’d his fwain : 
 
 Thefe viands, and this bread, Eumseus I bear, 
 And let yon’ mendicant our plenty fhare : 
 
 Then let him circle round the fuitors board, 420 
 And try the bounty of each gracious lord. 
 
 Bold let him aik, encourag’d thus by me ; 
 
 How ill, alas ! do want and fhame agree ? 
 
 v. 423. Honjo illy alas! do want and fhame agree ?] We 
 are not to imagine that Homer is here recommending im- 
 modefty ; but to underftand him as fpeaking of a decent 
 aflurance, in oppofition to a faulty fhame or bafhfulnefs. 
 The verfe in the Greek is remarkable. 
 
 AiSfck S'’ un ctyaQrj y.i’ggntxivoi clyfyl ttrgoixlji. 
 
BookXVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 235 
 
 His lord’s command the faithful fervant bears ; 
 The feeming beggar anfwers with his pray’rs. 
 
 Bled be Telemachus ! in ev’ry deed 426 
 
 Infpire him Jove ! in ev’ry wifh fucceed ! 
 
 This faid, the portion from his fon convey’d 
 With fmiles receiving on his fcrip he lay’d. 429 
 Long as the minftrel fwept the founding wire. 
 
 He fed, and ceas’d when filence held the lyre. 
 
 Soon as the fuitors from the banquet rofe, 
 
 Minerva prompts the man of mighty woes 
 
 A perfon of great learning has obferved that there is a 
 tautology in the three laft words $ in a beggar thativants : 
 as if the very notion of a beggar did not imply want. 
 Indeed Plato, who cites this verfe in his Charmides, ufes 
 another word inftead of argoixltj, and inferts ‘ara^Tyat. He- 
 fiod likewife, who makes ufe of the fame line, inftead of 
 reads xo/w.t£e<, which would almoft induce us to 
 believe that they thought there was a tautology in Ho¬ 
 mer. It has therefore been conje&ured, that the word 
 irgoixlne (hould be inferted in the place of ‘w^eixlp ; I am 
 forry that the conftru&ion will not allow itj that word 
 is of the mafculine gender, and ayaSri which of Yhe fe- 
 mine cannot agree with it. We may indeed fubftitute 
 dya.60 ;, and then the fenfe will be bafhfulnefs is no good pe¬ 
 titioner for a beggar ; but this muft be done without au¬ 
 thority. We muft therefore thus underftand Homer ; 
 “ Too much modefty is not good for a poor man, who 
 ** lives by begging,” 'orgoixlp j and this folution clears the 
 verfe from the tautology, for a man may be in want, and 
 not be a beggar ; or (as Homer exprefies it) and 
 
 yet not 
 
 v. 4.33. Minerva prompts, &c.] This is a circumftance 
 that occurs almoft in every book of tine Odyfiey, and 
 
236 HOME Ii’s ODYSSEY. Bock XVII. 
 
 To tempt their bounties with a fuppliant’s art, 
 
 And learn the gdn’rous from th’ ignoble heart; 
 
 Pallas has been thought to mean no more than the in¬ 
 herent wifdom of lfes, which guides all his actions up¬ 
 on all emergenc* •: it is not impoffible but the poet 
 might intend to i ( uicate, that the wifdom of man is the 
 gift of heaven, a a bleffing from the Gods. But then 
 is it not a derogation to UlyfTes, to think nothing but 
 what the Godde dilates ? and a reftraint of human 
 liberty, to a£t fob -- by the irnpulfe of a Deity ? Plutarch 
 in his life of Cor ’ anus excellently folves this difficulty > 
 Men (obferve? that author) are ready to cenfure and 
 tc defpife the poet, as if he deftroyed the ufe of reafon, 
 “ and the freedom of their choice, by continually aferib- 
 <f ing every fuggeftion of heart to the influence of a 
 “ Goddefs : whereas he introduces a Deity not to take 
 “ away the liberty of the will, but as moving it to adt 
 “ with freedom ; the Deity does not work in us the in- 
 t( clinations, but only offers the objedt to our minds, 
 u from whence we conceive the irnpulfe, and form our 
 “ refolutions.” However thefe influences do not make 
 the action involuntary, but only give a beginning to fpon- 
 taneous operations ; for we muff either remove God from 
 all manner of caufality, or confefs that he inviffbly affiffs 
 us by a fecret co-operation. For it is abfurd to imagine 
 that the help he lends us, confifts in fafhioning the pof- 
 tures of the body, or directing the corporeal motions : but 
 in influencing our fouls, and exciting the inward faculties 
 into adtion by fecret impulfes from above; or, on the 
 contrary, by railing an averfion in the foul, to reftrain us 
 from adtion. It is true in ordinary affairs of life, in mat¬ 
 ters that are brought about by the ordinary way of rea¬ 
 fon, Homer aferibes the execution of them to human 
 performance, and frequently reprelents his heroes calling 
 a council in their own breaffs, and adting according to 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 237 
 
 (Not but his foul, refentful as humane, 436 
 
 Dooms to full vengeance all th’ offending train) 
 
 the dictates of reafon : but in a£lions unaccountably dar¬ 
 ing, of a tranfcendent nature, there they are faid to be 
 carried away by a divine impulfe o( .thuflafm, and it is 
 no longer human reafon, but a God thi influences the foul. 
 
 I have already obferved, that H ier makes ufe of 
 machines fometimes merely for orna ‘nt ; this place is 
 an inftance of it : here is no aflion ot an uncommon na¬ 
 ture performed, and yet Pallas diredl Ulyfles : Plutarch 
 very juftly obferves, that whenever tfc heroes of Homer 
 execute any prodigious exploit of val. *<r, he continually 
 introduces a Deity, who afiifts in the Srformance of it • 
 but it is alfo true, that to (hew the dependance of man 
 upon the afliftance of Heaven, he frequently afcribes the 
 common dictates of wifdom to the Goddefs of it. If we 
 take the aft here infpired by Minerva, as it lies nakedly 
 in Homer, it is no more than a bare command to beg j 
 an a£l, that needs not the wifdom of a Goddefs to com¬ 
 mand : but we are to underhand it as a direction to 
 Ulyfles how to behave before the fuitors upon his firlt 
 appearance, how to carry on his difguife fo artfully as to 
 prevent all fufpicions, and take his meafures fo effedhially 
 as to work his own re*eftabiifhment: in this light, the 
 command becomes worthy of a Goddefs : the a£l of beg¬ 
 ging is only the method by which he carries on his de- 
 lignj the confequence of it is the main point in view, 
 namely, the fuitors deftrudtion. The reft is only the ftra- 
 tagem, by which he obtains the viftory. 
 
 v. 435. And learn the gen'rous from th ’ ignoble heart j 
 (Not but his foul , refentful as humane , 
 
 Dooms to full ‘vengeauce all th' offending train').'] 
 
 A Angle virtue, or a< 5 t of humanity, is not a fufficient atone¬ 
 ment for a whole life of infolence and oppreflion } fo that al¬ 
 though fome of the fuitors Ihould be found lefs guilty than, 
 the reft, yet they are Itill too guilty to deferve impunity. 
 
238 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVII. 
 
 With fpeaking eyes, and voice of plaintiff found, 
 Humble he moves, imploring all around. 
 
 The proud feel pity, and relief beftow, 440 
 
 With fuch an image touch’d of human woe $ 
 Enquiring all, their wonder they confefs, 
 
 And eye the man, majeftick in difhrefs. 
 
 While thus they gaze and queftion with their eyes, 
 The bold Melanthius to their thought replies. 445 
 My lords! this ftranger of gigantick port 
 The good Eumseus ufher’d to your court. 
 
 Full well I mark’d the features of his face, 
 
 Tho’ all unknown his clime, or noble race. 
 
 And is this prefent, fwineherd ! of thy hand ? 450 
 Bring’fl thou thefe vagrants to infefl the land ! 
 (Returns Antinous with retorted eye) 
 
 Objects uncouth ! to check the genial joy. 
 Enough of thefe our court already grace, 
 
 Of giant ftomach, and of famifh’d face. 455 
 
 v. 438, With fpeaking eyes , and voice of plantive found. 
 Humble he moves, &c.] 
 
 Homer inferts this particularity to fhew the complying 
 nature of UlylTes in all fortunes } he is every wher© 
 •sroKvr^'rr^, it is his diftinguHhing character in the firft 
 verfe of the Odyftey, and it is vifible in every part of it. 
 He is an artift in the trade of begging, as Euftathius ob- 
 ferves, and knows lw>w to become the loweft, as well the 
 higheft flation. 
 
 Homer adds, that the fuitors were ftruck with wonder 
 at the fight of Ulyfles. That is (fays Euftathius) becaufe 
 they never had before feen him in Ithaca, and concluded 
 him to be a foreigner. But I rather think it is a compli¬ 
 ment Homer pays to his hero to reprefent his port and 
 figure to be fuch, as though a beggar, ftruck them with 
 aftonifhment. 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 239 
 Such guefts Eumseus to his country brings, 
 
 fc. . 
 
 To (hare our feaft, and lead the life of kings. 
 
 To whom the hofpitable Twain rejoin’d : 
 
 Thy paffion, prince, belies thy knowing mind. 
 
 Who calls, from diftant nations to his own, 460 
 The poor, diftinguilh’d by their wants alone ? 
 Round the wide world are fought thofe men divine 
 Who publick ftru&ures raife, or who defign ; 
 
 Thofe to whofe eyes the Gods their ways reveal, 
 
 Or blefs with falutary arts to heal; 465 
 
 But chief to poets fuch refpeft belongs, 
 
 By rival nations courted for their fongs; 
 
 Thefe ftates invite and mighty kings admire, 
 
 Wide as the fun difplays his vital fire. 
 
 It is not fo with want ! how few that feed 470 
 A wretch unhappy, merely for his need ? 
 
 Unjuft to me and all that ferve the ftate. 
 
 To love Ulyfies is to raife thy hate. 
 
 For me, fuffice the approbation won 
 
 Of my great miftrefs, and her God-like fon. 475 
 
 v. 462. Round the <wide <voorld are fought thofe men di<vine, 
 &c.] This is an evidence of the great honour antlently 
 paid to perfons eminent in mechanick arts: the architeft, 
 and publick artifans, bi/ju^yoi, are joined with the pro¬ 
 phet, phyfician, and poet, who were efteemed almoft with 
 a religious veneration, and looked upon as publick blef- 
 lings. Honour was antiently given to men in proportion 
 to the benefits they brought to fociety : a ufelefs great 
 man is a burthen to the earth, while the meaneft artilan 
 is beneficial to his fellow-creatures, and ufefulin bis gene¬ 
 ration. 
 
I 
 
 24a HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII, 
 
 To him Telemachus. No more incenfe 
 The man by nature prone to infolence : 
 
 Injurious minds juft anfwers but provoke—• 
 
 Then turning to Antinous, thus he fpoke. 
 
 Thanks to thy care ! whofe abfolute command 
 Thus drives the ftranger from our court and 
 land. 481 
 
 Heav’n blefs its owner with a better mind ! 
 
 From envy free, to charity inclin’d. 
 
 This both Penelope and I afford : 
 
 Then, prince ! be bounteous of Ulyffes’ board. 
 
 T o give another’s is thy hand fo flow ? 486 
 
 So much more fweet, to fpoil, than to beftow ? 
 
 Whence, great Telemachus ! this lofty ftrain? 
 (Antinous cries with infolent difdain) 
 
 Portions like mine if ev’ry fuitor gave, 490 
 
 Our walls this twelvemonth fhould not fee the Have. 
 
 He fpoke, and lifting high above the board 
 Plis pond’rous footftool, fhook it at his lord. 
 
 The reft with equal hand conferr’d the bread ; 
 
 He fill’d his fcrip, and to the threfhold fped ; > 
 
 But firft before Antinous ftopt, and faid. 4Q6 ' 
 Beftow, my friend ! thou doft not feem the worft 
 Of all the Greeks, but prince-like and the firft ; 
 
 v. 497. Befto'iv my friend ! &c.] Ulyffes here a£fs with a 
 prudent diffxmulation ; he pretends not to have underftood 
 the irony of Antinous, nor to have obferved his prepa¬ 
 ration tortrike him : and therefore proceeds as if he ap¬ 
 prehended no danger. This at once thews the patience 
 of Ulyffes, who is inured to fufferings, and gives a found*- 
 
 1 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ©D YS S EY. 241 
 
 Then as in dignity, be firft in worth, 
 
 And I fhn.ll praife thee thro’ the boundlefs earth. 
 Once I enjoy’d in luxury of Hate 501 
 
 Whate’er gives man the envy’d name of great ; 
 Wealth, fervants, friends, were mine in better days ; 
 And hofpitality was then my praife ; 
 
 In ev’ry forrowing foul I pour’d delight, 505 
 
 And poverty flood fmiling in my fight. 
 
 But Jove, all -governing, whofe only will 
 Determines fate, and mingles good with ill, 
 
 Sent me (to punifh my purfuit of gain) 
 
 With roving pirates o’er th’ ^Egyptian main : 510 
 
 tionfor the punifhment of Antinousin the conclufion of 
 the Odyfley. 
 
 It is obfervable, that UlyfTes gives his own hiilory in the 
 fame words as in the fourteenth book, yet varies from it 
 in the conclufion; he there fpeaks to Euniceus, and 
 Eumaeus is here prefent, and hears the (lory : how is it 
 then that he does not oblerve the falfificatioii of UlyfTes, 
 and conclude him to be an impoftor ? Euftathius labours 
 for an anfwer ; he imagines that Eumaeus was inadvertent, 
 or had forgot the former relation, and yet aflerts that 
 the reafon why UlyfTes tells the fame hiilory in part to 
 Antinous, proceeds from a fear of detection in Eumacus, 
 I would rather imagine that Ulyfles makes the deviation, 
 trufting to the judgment of Eumseus, who might con¬ 
 clude that there was fome good reafon why he forbears 
 to let Antinous into the full hiftory of his life; efpeci- 
 ally, becaufe he was an enemy both to Ulyfles and Eu- 
 maeus: he might therefore ealily reflect, that the di.Fer- 
 ence of his ftory arofe from prudence and defign, rather 
 than from impofture and fallhood. 
 
 ' Vol. III. R 
 
242 IiOMER’s O D Y S S E Y. Book XVII. 
 
 By ./Egypt’s filver flood our fhips we moor ; 
 
 Our fpies commiflion’d flraight the coafl explore ; 
 But impotent of mind, with lawlefs will 
 The country ravage, and the natives kill. 
 
 The fpreading clamour to their city flies, 515 
 And horfe and foot in mingled tumult rife : 
 
 The redd’ning dawn reveals the hoftile fields 
 Horrid with briftly fpears, and gleaming fhields : 
 Jove thunder’d on their fide : our guilty head ^ 
 We turn’d to flight; the gath’ring vengeance I 
 fpread 5 2 ° | 
 
 On all parts round, and heaps on heaps lay dead.J 
 Some few the foes in fervitude detain ; 
 
 Death ill exchang’d for bondage and for pain I 
 Unhappy me a Cyprian took a-board, 
 
 And gave to Dmetor, Cyprus’ haughty lord : 525 
 
 y. 525. And gave to Dmetor , Cyprus' haughty lord.] We 
 are not to fearch too exa&ly into hiltorick truth among 
 the fiftions of poetry ; but it is very probable that this 
 Dmetor was really king of Cyprus. Eullathius is of this 
 opinion; but it may be obje&ed, that Cinyras was king cf 
 Cyprus in the time of UlyiPes. Thus lib. xi. Iliad. 
 
 The beaming cuirafs next adorn’d his breaft ; 
 
 The fame which once king Cinyras poflefl; 
 
 The fame of Greece, and her afiembled holt, 
 
 Had reach’d that monarch on the Cyprian coalt. 
 
 The anfwer is, there were almoft twenty years elapfed 
 fince the mention of this breall-plate of Cinyras; this 
 king therefore being dead, Dmetor pollefi the Cyprian 
 
 throne. 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 243 
 
 Hither, to ’fcape his chains, my courfe I (leer 
 Still curfl by fortune, and infulted here ! 
 
 To whom Antinous thus his rage exprefl. 
 
 What God has plagu’d us with this gormand guefl ? 
 Unlefs at difiance, wretch ! thou keep behind. 
 Another ifle, than Cyprus more unkind ; 531 
 
 Another Aigypt, {halt thou quickly find. 
 
 From all thou beg’fl, a bold audacious Have *, 
 
 Nor all can give fo much as thou canfl crave. 
 
 Nor wonder I, at fuch profufion fhown ; 535 
 
 Shamelefs they give, who give what’s not their own. 
 
 The chief, retiring. Souls like that in thee, 
 
 Ill fuit fuch forms of grace and dignity. 
 
 Nor will that hand to utmofl need afford 
 
 The fmallefl portion of a wafleful board, 540 
 
 Whofe luxury whole patrimonies fweeps, 
 
 Yet flarving want, amidfl the riot, weeps. 
 
 The haughty fuitor with refentment burns, 
 
 And fow’rly finding, this reply returns. 
 
 Take that, ere yet thou quit this princely^ 
 throng: 545 
 
 And dumb for ever be thy fland’rous tongue! 
 
 He faid, and high the whirling tripod flung. 
 
 v. 532. Another SEgypt, &c.] This paffage is afullde- 
 monftration that the country was called ./Egypt in the days 
 of Homer, as well as the river Nil us ; for in the fpeech he 
 ufes AfyuTrloc in the mafculine gender to denote the river, 
 and here he calls it a fyunlov in the feminine, to fhew 
 
 that he fpeaks of the country : the former word agreeing 
 with the latter with yu~a, 
 
 R 2 
 
244 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVII. 
 
 His fhoulder-blade receiv’d th’ ungentle fhock ; 
 
 Ele flood, and mov’d not, like a marble rock ; 
 
 But (hook his thoughtful head, nor more com¬ 
 plain’d, 550 
 
 Sedate of foul, his charadler fuflain’d, 
 
 And inly form’d revenge : then back withdrew ; 
 Before his feet the well-fill’d ferip he threw, > 
 And thus with femblance mild addrefl the crew. J 
 
 May what I fpeak your princely minds ap¬ 
 prove, 555 
 
 Ye peers and rivals in this noble love ! 
 
 Not for the hurt I grieve, but for the caufe. 
 
 If, when the fword our country’s quarrel draws, 
 
 v. 557. Not for the hurt I grieve, but for the caufe. ] The 
 reafoning of Ulyffes in the original is not without fome 
 obfeurity: for how can it be affirmed, that it is no great 
 affliction to hive our property invaded, and to be wounded 
 in the defence of jt ? The beggar who buffers for alking an 
 alms, has no injury done him, except the violence offer¬ 
 ed to his perfon ; but it is a double injury, to fuffer both 
 in our perfons and properties. We muff therefore fuppofe 
 that Ulyffes means, that the importance of the caufe, when 
 our rights are invaded, is equal to the danger, and that 
 we ought to fuffer wounds, or even death, in defence of 
 it; and that a brave man grieves not at fuch laudable ad¬ 
 ventures. Or perhaps Ulyffes fpeaks only with refpedlto 
 Antinous, and means that it is a greater injury to offer 
 violence to the poor and the ftranger, than to perfons of 
 greater fortunes and ftation. 
 
 Euftathius gives a deeper meaning to the fpeech of 
 Ulyffes j he applies it to his prefent condition, and it is 
 the fame as if he had faid openly ; It would be no great 
 matter if I had been wounded in defence of my palace 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 245 
 
 Or if defending what is juftly dear, ''l 
 
 From Mars impartial fome broad wound we I 
 bear ; 560 
 
 The gen’rous motive dignifies the fear. „ 
 
 But for mere want, how hard to fuffer wrong ? 
 Want brings enough of other ills along ! 
 
 Yet if injuftice never be fecure, 
 
 If fiends revenge, and Gods affert the poor, 565 
 Death (hall lay low the proud aggreflbr’s head. 
 
 And make the dull Ammons’ bridal bed. 
 
 Peace wretch ! and eat thy bread without 
 offence, 
 
 (The fuitor cry’d) or force fhall drag thee hence, 
 Scourge thro’ the publick ffreet, and call thee 
 there, * 570 
 
 A mangled carcafe for the hounds to tear. 
 
 His furious deed the gen’ral anger mov’d, 
 
 All, ev’n the worft, condemn’d: and fome re¬ 
 prov’d. 
 
 Was ever chief for wars like thefe renown’d ? 
 
 Ill fits the ftranger and the poor to wound. 575 
 Unblefl thy hand! if in this low difguife 
 Wander, perhaps, fome inmate of the Ikies ; 
 
 i 
 
 and other properties, but to fuffer only for afking an alms, 
 this is a deep affliftion. So that Ulyffes fpeaks in gene¬ 
 ral, but intends his own particular condition ; and the 
 import of the whole is, I grieve to fuffer, not upon any 
 weighty account, but only for being poor and hungry. 
 
 R 3 
 
246 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVII. 
 
 They (curious oft’ of mortal a&ions) deign 
 In forms like thefe, to round the earth and main, 
 Juft and unjuft recording in their mind, 580 
 
 And with fure eyes infpedting all mankind. 
 
 Telemachus abforpt in thought fevere, 
 
 Nourifh’d deep anguifh, tho’ he fhed no tear ; 
 
 v. 578. They (curious oft' of mortal aftions) &c.] We 
 have already obferved, that it was the opinion of the an- 
 tients, that the Gods frequently afluraed an human fhape. 
 Thus Ovid of Jupiter. 
 
 — --“ Summo delabor Olympo, 
 
 “ Et Deus. humana luftro fub imagine terras.” 
 
 I refer the reader to the objections of Plato, mentioned in 
 the preceding book. It is obfervable, that Homer puts 
 this remarkable truth into the mouth of the fuitors, to 
 ihew that it was certain and undeniable, when it is atteft- 
 ed even by fuch perfons as had no piety or religion. 
 
 y. 582, Telemachus — — — 
 
 Nourijh'd deep anguijh , tho' he fhcd no tear .J 
 This is fpoken with particular judgment; Telemachus is 
 here to a£t the part of a wife man, not of a tender fon j he 
 reftrains his tears left they ftiould betray Ills father, it be¬ 
 ing improbable that he fliould weep for a vagabond and 
 beggar. We find he has profited by the inftru&ions of 
 Ulylfes, and pra&ifes the injunctions given in the former 
 book. 
 
 -If fcorn infult my reverend age. 
 
 Bear it, my fon : reprefs thy riling rag«. 
 
 If outrag’d, ceale that outrage to repel, 
 
 Bear it my fon, tho’ thy brave heart rebel, 
 
 Telemachus ftruggles againft the yearnings of nature, and 
 lliews himfelf to be amafterofhispaflions ; he muft therefore 
 be thought to exert an'aft of wifdom, not of infenfibility. 
 
I 
 
 Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY, 247 
 
 But the dark brow of filent forrow fliook : 
 
 While thus his mother to her virgins fpoke. 585 
 «« On him and his may the bright God of day 
 i( That bafe, inhofpitable blow repay 1” 
 
 The nurfe replies : “ If Jove receives my pray’r, 
 i( Not one furvives to breathe to-morrow’s air.” 
 
 All, all are foes, and mifchief is their end ; 59 q 
 
 Antinous moll to gloomy death a friend ; 
 
 (Replies the queen) the ftranger begg’d their grace, 
 And melting pity foften’d ev’ry face ; 
 
 From ev’ry other hand redrefs he found, 
 
 But fell Antinous anfwer’d with a wound. 595 
 Amidft her maids thus fpoke the prudent queen, 
 Then bad Eumseus call the pilgrim in. 
 
 Much of th’ experienc’d man I long to hear, 
 
 If or his certain eye, or lift’ning ear 
 
 Have learn’d the fortunes of my wand’ring lord? 600 
 
 Thus Hie, and good Eumaeus took the word. 
 
 A private audience if thy grace impart. 
 
 The ftranger’s words may eafe the royal heart. 
 
 His faered eloquence in balm diftils, 
 
 And the footh’d heart with fecret pleafure fills. 605 
 Three days have fpent their beams, three nights 
 have run 
 
 Their filent journey, fince his tale begun, 
 Unfinilh’d yet! and yet I thirfl to hear ! 
 
 As when fome Heav’n-taught poet charms the ear, 
 (Sufpending forrow with celeftial (train 610 
 
 Breath’d from the Gods to foften human pain) 
 
 R 4 
 
248 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. BookXVII. 
 
 Time fteals away with unregarded wing* 
 
 And the foul hears him, tho’ he ceafe to fing. 
 
 Ulyfles late he faw, on Cretan ground, 
 
 (His father’s gueft) for Minos’ birth rehown’d. 615 
 He now but waits the wind, to waft him o’er 
 
 With boundlefs treafure, from Thefprotia’s fhore. 
 
 * 
 
 To this the queen. The wand’rer let me hear. 
 While yon luxuriant race indulge their cheer, 
 Devour the grazing ox and browzing goat, 620 
 And turn my gen’rous vintage down their throat. 
 For where’s an arm, like thine Ulyfles! ftrong. 
 
 To curb'wild riot and to punifh wrong ? 
 
 / * , / 
 
 v. - for Minos' birth renown'd.] Diodorus Sicu¬ 
 
 lus thus writes of Minos : “ He was the fon of Jupiter and 
 “ Europa, who was fabled to be carried by a bull, that is, 
 « in a flip called the bull, or that had the image of a bull 
 “ carved upon its prow) into Crete : here Minos reigned* 
 e< and built many cities ; he eftablilhed many laws among 
 “ the Cretans: he alfo provided a navy, by which he 
 “ fubdued many of the adjacent iflands. The expref- 
 te fon in the Greek will bear a two-fold fenfe j and im- 
 (i plies either where Minos was horny or where the de- 
 “ fcendants of Minos reign ; for Idomenaeus, who go- 
 <c verncd Crete in the days of Ulyfles, was a defcendant 
 (C of Minos, from his fon Deucalion.” 
 
 Homer mentions it as an honour to Crete, to have given 
 birth to fo great a law-giver as Minos ; and it is univer- 
 fally true, that every great man is an honour to his coun¬ 
 try : Athens did not give reputation to learned men, but 
 learned men to Athens. 
 
BookXVII. H OMER’s O D Y S SE Y. 249 
 
 She fpoke. Telemachus then fneez’d aloud ; 
 Conftrain’d, his noftril echo’d thro’ the crowd. 625 
 
 v. 624..- Telemachus then fneez'd aloud .] Euftathius 
 
 fully explains the nature of this omen; for fneezing was 
 reckoned ominous both by the Greeks and Romans. 
 While Penelope uttered thefe words, Telemachus fneezes; 
 Penelope accepts the omen, and expefts the words to be 
 verified. The original of the veneration paid to fneezing 
 is this : The head is the molt facred part of the body, the 
 feat of thought and reafon : now the fneeze coming 
 from the head, the antients looked upon it as a fign or 
 omen, and believed it to be fent by Jupiter; therefore 
 they regarded it with a kind of adoration: the reader 
 will have a full idea ofthe nature of theomen of fneezing 
 here mentioned, from a lingular inftance in lib. iii. of 
 Xenophon, in his expedition of Cyrus. Xenophon hav> 
 ing ended a fiiort fpeech to his foldiers with thefe words, 
 viz. i( We have many reafons to hope for prefervation 
 they were fcarce uttered, when a certain foldier fneezed : 
 the whole army took theomen, and at once paid adora¬ 
 tion to the Gods; then Xenophon refuming his difeourfe, 
 proceeded, “ Since, my fellow-foldiers, at the mention 
 “ of our prefervation, Jupiter has fent this omen,” &c. 
 So that Xenophon fully explains Homer. 
 
 Sneezing was likewife reckoned ominous by the Ro¬ 
 mans. Thus Catullus, 
 
 te Hoc ut dixit, Amor finiftra ut ante 
 
 “ Dextram fternuit approbationem.” 
 
 Thus alfo Propertius, 
 
 “ Num tibi nafeenti primis, mea vita, diebus 
 “ Arid us argutum llernuit omen amor. 
 
 We find in all thefe inftances that fneezing was conflantly 
 received as a good omen, or a fign of approbation from 
 
*50 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Rook XVII. 
 
 The fmiling queen the happy omen bleft: 
 
 So may thefe impious fall, by Fate oppreft !’* 
 Then to Eumseus : bring the ftranger, fly ! 
 
 And if my queftions meet a true reply. 
 
 Grac’d with a decent robe he fhall retire, 630 
 A gift in feafon which his wants require. 
 
 Thus fpoke Penelope. Eumseus flies 
 In duteous hafte, and to Ulyfles cries. 
 
 The queen invites thee, venerable gueft! 
 
 A fecret inftinT moves her troubled breaft, 
 Of her long abfent lord from thee to gain 
 Some light, andfoothe her foul’s eternal pain. 
 If true, if faithful thou ; her grateful mind 
 Of decent robes a prefent hasdefign’d : 
 
 the Gods. In thefe ages we pay an idle fuperftition to 
 fneezing, but it is ever looked upon as a bad omen, and 
 we cry, God blefs you, upon hearing it, as the Greeks in 
 later times faid & 9 i or ZeS Quo-ov. We are told this cuftom 
 arofe from a mortal diftemper that affe&ed the head, and 
 threw the patient into convulfive fneezings thatoccafioned 
 his death. 
 
 I will only add from Euftathius, that Homer exprefles 
 the loudnefs of the fneezing, to give a reafon why Pene¬ 
 lope heard it, (he being in an apartment at fome diftance 
 from Telemachus. 
 
 The fneezing likewife gives 'us the reafon why Pene¬ 
 lope immediately commands Eumaeus to introduce th® 
 beggar into her prefence : the omen gave her hopes to 
 hear of Ulyfles} fhe faw the beggar was a ftranger, and a 
 traveller, and therefore expected he might be able to give 
 her fome information. 
 
Book XVII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 251 
 
 So finding favour in the royal eye, 640 
 
 Thy other wants her fubjedls (hall fupply. 
 
 Fair truth alone (the patient man reply’d) 
 
 My words fhall dictate, and my lips (hall guide. 
 
 To him, to me, one common lot was giv’n, 
 
 In equal woes, alas! involv’d by Heav’n. 645 
 Much of his fates I know; but check’d by fear 
 I ftand : the hand of violence is here: 
 
 Here boundlefs wrongs the (tarry fkies invade. 
 
 And injur’d fuppliants feek in vain for aid. 
 
 Let for a fpace the penfive queen attend, 650 
 
 Nor claim my ftory till the fun defcend ; 
 
 Then in fuch robes as fuppliants may require, 
 Compos’d and chearful by the genial fire. 
 
 When loud uproar and lawlefs riot ceafe, 
 
 Shall her pleas’d ear receive my words in peace* 655 
 Swift to the queen returns the gentle fwain : 
 
 And fay, (fhe cries) does fear, or fhame, detain 
 
 V. 644. *To hint, tome , one cc?nmon lot m?as giv'n. 
 
 In equal vsoes, alas! involv'd, by Heav'n .] 
 
 Thefe words bear a double fenfe ; one applicable to the 
 fpeaker, the other to the reader: the reader, who knows 
 this beggar to be Ulyfles, is pleafed with the concealed 
 meaning, and hears with pleafure the beggar affirming 
 that he is fully inftrufred in the misfortunes of UlyiTes : 
 but fpeaking in the character of a beggar, he keeps Eu- 
 maeus in ignorance, who believes he is reciting the ad¬ 
 ventures of a friend, while he really gives his own hiitory. 
 
« 
 
 252 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVII. 
 
 The cautious ftranger ; With the begging kind 
 Shame fuits but ill. Eumseus thus rejoin’d : 
 
 tie only afks a more propitious hour, 660 
 
 And fhuns (who would not ?) wicked men inpow’rj 
 At ev’ning mild (meet feafon to confer) 
 
 By turns to queftion, and by turns to hear. 
 
 Whoe’er this gueft (the prudent queen replies) 
 His ev’ry ftep and ev’ry thought is wife. 665 
 
 For men, like thefe, on earth he {hall not find 
 In all the mifcreant race of human kind. 
 
 Thus fhe. Eumaeus all her words attends, 
 
 And parting, to the fuitor pow’rs defcends ; 
 
 There feeks Telemachus, and thus apart 670 
 In whifpers breathes the fondnefs of his heart. 
 
 The time, my lord, invites me to repair 
 Hence to the lodge ; my chargee demands my care. 
 Thefe fons of murder third: thy life to take ; 
 
 O guard it, guard it for thy fervant’s fake! 675 
 
 Thanks to my friend, he cries ; but now the hour 
 Of night draws on, go feek the rural bow’r : 
 
 But firfl refrefh : and at the dawn of day 
 Hither a vidlim to the Gods convey. 
 
 Our life to Heav’ns immortal Pow’rs we truft, 680 
 Safe in their care, for Heav’n protects the juft. 
 
 % * 
 
 v. 676. — but now the hour Of night draws on -] The 
 
 reader may look back to the beginning of the preceding 
 book, for the explication of «|ua§, here mentioned 
 by Homer. 
 
Book XVII. I-IOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 253 
 
 Obfervant of his voice, Eumacus fat 
 And fed recumbent on a chair of flate. 
 
 Then inftant rofe, and as he mov’d along 
 ’Twas riot all amid the fuitor-throng, 685 > 
 
 They feaft, they dance, and raife the mirthful fong. J 
 ■’Till now declining tow’rd the clofe of day, 
 
 The fun obliquely fhot his dewy ray. 
 
 This book does not fully comprehend the fpace of one 
 day: it begins with the morning, and ends before night, 
 fo that the time here mentioned by the poet, is the even* 
 ing of the thirty-ninth day. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 . _ it: e j >. ' -. 
 
 ih o (h b' w jyb \v « 
 
 ■ 
 
 • > • 1 
 
 
 r. . ( 
 
 •:«r j *rf .i* i‘ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 THE 
 
 EIGHTEENTH BOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ODYSSEY. 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 The Fight of UlyfTes and Irus. 
 
 THE beggar Irus infults Ulyjfes ; the fuitors promote the 
 quarrel^ in which Irus is nvorfted, and miferably handled. 
 Penelope defcends , and receives the prefents of the fuitors , 
 The Dialogue of Ulyjfes with Eurymachus, 
 
THE 
 
 / 
 
 * EIGHTEENTH BOOK 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 % 
 
 H I l E fix’d in thought the penfive hero 
 fat, 
 
 A mendicant approach’d the royal gate , 
 
 A furly vagrant of the giant kind, 
 
 The ftain of manhood, of a coward mind: 
 
 * Homer has been feverely blamed for defcribing Ulyf- 
 fes, a king, entering the lifts with a beggar: Rapin af-> 
 firms, that he demeans himfelf by engaging with an un¬ 
 equal adverfary. The obje£lion would be unanfwerable, 
 if Ulyfles appeared in his royal character: but it is as ne- 
 ceflary in epick poetry , as oh the theatre, to adapt the 
 behaviour of every perfon to the chara&er he is to repre- 
 fent, whether real or imaginary. Would it not have 
 been ridiculous to have reprefented him, while he was 
 difguifed in the garb of a beggar, refufing the combat, 
 becaufe he knew himfelf to be a king ? and would not 
 fuch a conduct have endangered a difcovery ? Ought we 
 not rather to look upon this epifode as an inftance of the 
 greatnefs of the calamities of Ulyffes, who is reduced to 
 
 VOL. Ill, 
 
2 5 B H O M E R*s ODYSSEY. Book XVIIL 
 
 From feafl to feaft, infatiate to devour 5 
 
 He flew, attendant on the genial hour. 
 
 Him on his mother’s knees, when babe he lay. 
 
 She nam’d Arnseus on his natal day : 
 
 fucli uncommon extremities as to be fet upon a level with 
 the meaneft of wretches ? 
 
 v. 8. She nam'd Arnaus -] It feems probable from 
 
 this paffage, that the mother gave the name to the child 
 in the days of Homer ; though perhaps not without the 
 concurrence of the father: thus in the feriptures it is 
 faid of Leah, that Jlje hare a fon and called his name Reu - 
 hen \ and again, fie called his name Simeon j and the fame 
 is frequently repeated both of Leah and Rachel. In the 
 age of Ariftophanes, the giving a name to the child feems 
 to have been a divided prerogative between the father 
 and mother : for in his Ns^eXa* there is a difpute between 
 Strep hades and his wife, concerning the name of their 
 fon : the wife was of noble birth, and would therefore 
 give him a noble name 5 the hufband was a plain vil¬ 
 lager, and was rather for a name that denoted frugality j 
 but the woman not waving the lead branch of her pre¬ 
 rogative, they compromifed the affair, by giving the child 
 a compounded name that implied both frugality and chi- 
 valry, derived from fefov to fpare> and itcx®* an horfe ; 
 and the young cavalier’s name was Phidippides. Eufta- 
 thius affirms, that antiently the mother named the child ; 
 and the fcholiafl upon Ariltophanes in avib, quotes a 
 fragment from Euripides to this purpofe from a play 
 called /Egeus. 
 
 Ti cr£ /xctreg h Sexa-ra rs'xov ojvo/xa.T£, 
 
 What was the name given on the tenth day by the mother to 
 thee , the child? Dacier tells us, that the name of Arnaeus 
 was prophetic t<£>* front the fheep the glutton would 
 
BookXVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 But Irus his affociates call’d the boy, 
 
 Practis’d the common meffengerto fly ; 
 
 Irus, a name expreflive of th’ employ. 
 
 From his own roof, with meditated blows. 
 
 He ftrove to drive the man of mighty woes. 
 
 Hence dotard, hence! and timely fpeed thy way, 
 Left dragg’d in vengeance thou repent thy ftay ; 15 
 
 See how with nodsaffent yon princely train! 
 
 But honouring age, in mercy I refrain; 
 
 In peace away! left, if perfuafions fail, 
 
 This arm with blows more eloquent prevail. 
 
 To whom, with ftern regard: O infolence, 20 
 Indecently to rail without offence ! 
 
 What bounty gives, without a rival (hare ; 
 
 I afk, what harms not thee, to breathe this air : 
 
 devour vohen he came to ma?ihood ; but this is mere fancy, 
 and it is no reafon, becaufe he proved a glutton, that 
 therefore the name foretold it 5 one might rather think 
 fhe fondnefs of the mother toward her infant, fuggefted 
 a very different view : the gave the name according to her 
 wilhes, and flattered herfelf that he -would prove a very 
 rich man, a man of many flocks a?td herds : and therefore 
 fhe called him : and this is the more probable, be¬ 
 
 caufe all riches originally confifted in flocks and herds. 
 
 v. 11. Irus a narne expreflive of tti employ. ] To under- 
 ftand this, we mull have recourfe to the derivation of the 
 Word Irus; it comes from sif®, which fignifies nuncio ; 
 Irus was therefore fo called, becaufe he was a public mef- 
 fenger; and Irus bears that name, as the meffenger of the 
 Gods; dnttyyi\x«y ; ’'aj'/eK©-* Hejy chins • 
 
 S z 
 
260 HOMER’S ODYSSEY. BookXVIIL 
 
 Alike on alms we both precarious live: 
 
 And canft thou envy, when the great relieve ? 25 
 
 Know from the bounteous Heav’ns all riches flow, 
 And what man gives, the Gods by man beftow; 
 Proud as thou art, henceforth no more be proud. 
 Left I imprint my vengeance in thy blood ; 
 
 Old as I am, fhould once my fury burn, 30 
 
 How would’ft thou fly* nor ev’n in thought return ? 
 
 Mere woman-glutton ! (thus the churl reply’d) 
 
 A tongue fo flippant, with a throat fo wide ! 
 
 Why ceafe I, Gods ! to dafli thofe teeth away, 
 
 Like fome vile boar’s, that greedy of his prey 33 
 Uproots the bearded corn ? rife, try the fight, 
 
 Gird well thy loins, approach and feel my might: 
 
 v. 34. — — To dafh thofe teeth away. 
 
 Like fome ‘wild boar's ] 
 
 Thefe words refer to a cuftom that prevailed in former 
 ages: it w'as allowed to ftrike out the teeth of any beaft 
 which the owner found in his groi^nds: Euftatliius in¬ 
 forms us, that this was a cuftom or law amongft the peo¬ 
 ple of Cyprus 5 but from what Homer here fpeaks, it 
 ieems to have been a general practice j at leaft it was in 
 ufe amongft the Ithacans. 
 
 v. 37. Gird ‘well thy loitis.~\ We may gather from hence 
 the manner of the Angle combat 5 the champions fought 
 naked, and only made ufe of a cin&ure round the loins 
 out of decency. Homer dire&ly affirms it, when Ulyfles 
 prepares for the fight. 
 
 Then girding his ftrong loins, the king prepares 
 To clofe in combat, and his body bares j 
 
BookXVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 2 6r 
 
 Sure of defeat, before the peers engage ; 
 
 Unequal fight! when youth contends with age ! 
 
 Thus in a wordy war their tongues difplay 40 
 More fierce intents, preluding to the fray ; 
 
 Antinous hears, and in a jovial vein, 
 
 Thus with loud laughter to the fuitor-train. 
 
 This happy day in mirth, my friends, employ, 
 And lo ! the Gods confpire to crown our joy. 45 
 
 4 
 
 See ready for the fight, and hand to hand, 
 
 Yon furly mendicants contentious Hand ; 
 
 Why urge we not to blows ? Well pleas’d they 
 fpring 
 
 Swift from their feats, and thick’ning form a 
 ring. 49 
 
 To whom Antinous. Lo! enrich’d with blood, 
 A kid’s well-fatted entrails (tafteful food) 
 
 On glowing embers lie ; on him bellow 
 The choicelt portion who fubdues his foe ; 
 
 4- 
 
 Broad fpread his Ihoulders, and his nervous thighs 
 By juft degrees like well turn’d columns rife j 
 Ample his cheft, his arms are round and long. 
 
 And each ftrong joint Minerva knits more ftrong. 
 
 Thus Diomed in the Iliad girds his friend Euryalus when 
 he engages Epseus. 
 
 Officious with the cin&ure girds him round. 
 
 The fpeeches here are Ihort, and the periods remarkably 
 concife, fuitable to the nature of anger. The reader may 
 confult the annotations on the xxth book, concerning the 
 goat’s entrails mentioned here by Antinous. 
 
5 t 62 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVIII. 
 
 Grant him unrival’d in thefe walls to flay, 
 
 The foie attendant on the genial day. 55 
 
 The lords applaud : Ulyffes then with art, 
 
 And fears well-feign’d, difguis’d his dauntlefs heart: 
 
 Worn as I am with age, decay’d with woe ; 
 
 Say, is it bafenefs, to decline the foe ? 
 
 Hard conflidl ! when calamity and age 60 
 
 With vig’rous youth, unknown to cares, engage! 
 Yet fearful of difgrace, to try the day 
 Imperious hunger bids y and I obey ; 
 
 But fwear, impartial arbiters of right, 
 
 Swear to fland neutral, while we cope in fight. 65 
 The peers alien t: when flraight his facred head 
 Telemachus uprais’d, and fternly faid. 
 
 Stranger, if prompted to chaftife the wrong 
 Of this bold infolent; confide, be flrong! . 
 
 Th’ injurious Greek that dares attempt a blow, 70 
 That inftant makes Telemachus his foe ; 
 
 v. 64. But /wear, impartial arbiters of right, 
 
 Swear to f and neutral, while we cope in fight."] 
 
 % 
 
 This is a very neceffary precaution : Ulyffes has reafon 
 to apprehend that the fuitors would interefl themfelves 
 in the caufe of Irus, who was their daily attendant, ra¬ 
 ther than in that of a perfect ftranger. Homer takes 
 care to point out the prudence of UlyfTes upon every emer¬ 
 gence : belides, he railes this fray between two beggars 
 into fome dignity, by requiring the fanftion of an oath 
 to regulate the laws of the combat. It is the fame folem- 
 nity ufed in the Iliad between Paris and Menelaus, and 
 reprefents thefe combatants engaging with the formality 
 cf two heroes. 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 263 
 
 And thefe my friends * {hall guard the facred ties 
 Of hofpitality, for they are wife. 
 
 Then girding his ftrong loins, the king prepares 
 To clofe in combat, and his body bares ; 7 5 
 
 Broad fpread his {boulders, and his nervous thighs 
 By juft degrees, like well-turn’d columns, rife : 
 Ample his cheft, his arms are round and long. 
 And each ftrong joint Minerva knits more ftrong, 
 (Attendant on her chief:) the fuitor-crowd 80 
 
 With wonder gaze, and gazing fpeak aloud ; 
 
 Irus ! alas ! {hall Irus be no more, 
 
 Black fate impends, and this th’ avenging hour ! 
 
 v. 72. And thefe my friends fall guard the facred ties 
 Of hofpitality , for they are wife. ] 
 
 When Telemachus {peaks thefe words, he is to be fup- 
 pofed to turn to Eurymachus and Antinous, to whom he 
 dire&s his difcourfe, It rauft be allowed that this is an 
 artful piece of flattery in Telemachus, and he makes ufe 
 of it to engage thefe two princes, who were the chief of 
 the fuitors, on his fide. 
 
 v. 82. Irus , alas ! Jhall Irus he no more.] This is lite¬ 
 rally tranflated : I confefs I wifh Homer had omitted thefe 
 little collufions of words : he fports with r i §©- It is 
 
 a low conceit, alluding to the derivation of Irus, and 
 means that he fnall never more be a mejfenger . The tranf- 
 lation, though it be verbal, yet it is free from ambiguity^ 
 and the joke concealed in ai'gf& this will be evident, if 
 we fubftitute another name in the place of Irus: we may 
 fay Achilles (hall be no longer Achilles, without defend¬ 
 ing from the gravity of epick poetry. 
 
 * Antinous and Eurymachus; 
 
 S 4 
 
264 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVIII. 
 
 Gods ! how his nerves a matchlefs flrength pro¬ 
 claim : 
 
 Swell o’er his wcll-flrung limbs, and brace his 
 frame ! 85 
 
 Then pale with fears, and fick’ning at the fight, 
 They dragg’d th’ unwilling Irus to the fight; 
 
 From his blank vifage fled the coward blood. 
 
 And his flefii trembled as aghaft he flood : 
 
 O that fuch bafenefs fhould difgrace the light! 
 
 O hide it, death, in everlafting night! 91 
 
 (Exclaims Antinous) can a vig’rous foe 
 Meanly decline to combat age and woe ? 
 
 But hear me, wretch! if recreant in the fray. 
 
 That huge bulk yield this ill-contefled day : 95 
 
 v. go. Of that fuch bafenefs fhould difgrace the light ! 
 
 Oh! hide it } deaths &c.] 
 
 Euftathius gives us an inflance of the deep penetration of 
 fome criticks, in their comments upon thefe words : they 
 have found in them the philofophy of Pythagoras, and the 
 tranfmigration of fouls. The verfe flands thus in Homer 5 
 
 Ni/y |U£V fxhr fieydi's, /uhr£ yevoio : 
 
 which they imagine is to be underflood after this man¬ 
 ner ; I nvijh thou hadf never been born! and mayf thou ne¬ 
 ver exifi again t or have a fecond being! To recite fuch 
 an ablurdity is to refute it. The verfe when literally ren¬ 
 dered bears this import; I nvi/k thou veert no'zu dead y or 
 hadf never been born', an imprecation very natural to per- 
 fons in anger, who feldom give themfelves time to fpeak 
 with profound allufions to philofophy. 
 
BookXVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 
 
 265 
 
 Inftant thou fail'll, to Echetus refign’cl; 
 
 A tyrant, fierceft of the tyrant-kind, 
 
 Who calls thy mangled ears and nofe a prey 
 To hungry dogs, and lops the man away. 
 
 While with indignant fcorn he llernly fpoke, 100 
 In ev’ry joint the trembling Irus fliook ; 
 
 Now front to front each frowning champion Hands, 
 And poifes high in air his adverfe hands. 
 
 The chief yet doubts, or to the {hades below 
 To fell the giant at one vengeful blow, 105 
 
 v. 96. Injlant thou fail'fi> to Echetus refign'd ; 
 
 A tyrant, fierccji of the tyrant-kind .] 
 
 The tradition concerning Echetus ftands thus : he was 
 -king of Epirus, the fon of Euchenor and Phlogea : he had 
 a daughter called Metope, or as others affirm, Amphifla ; 
 {he being corrupted by ^Echmodicus, Echetus put out 
 her eyes, and condemned her to grind pieces of iron 
 made in the refeinblance of corn ; and told her flie fhould 
 recover her fight when (he had ground the iron into flour. 
 He invited iEchmodicus to an entertainment, and cut off 
 the extremities from all parts of his body, and caftthem 
 to the dogs ; at length being feized with madnefs, he fed 
 upon his own flefli, and died. This hiftory is confirmed, 
 lib. iv. of Apollonius, 
 
 j/X»jva<; hi xevloa 
 
 Tln^t £??,covoevtj Si nd^entt oru, 
 
 *Og<pVttt>j hi %a.Xxh dtergdt/crct xaXiji. 
 
 I wonder how this laft quotation efcaped the diligence 
 of Euftathius. Dacier affirms, that no mention is made of 
 Echetus by any of the Greek hiftorians, and therefore flie 
 has recourfe to another tradition, preferved by Eulta- 
 
2 66 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVIII. 
 
 Or fave his life ; and foon his life to fave 
 The king refolves, for mercy fways the brave. 
 
 That inftant Irus his huge arm extends. 
 
 Full on the fhoulder the rude weight defcends ; 
 
 The fageUlyffes, fearful to difclofe 110 
 
 The hero latent in the man of woes, 
 
 Check’d half his might; yet riling to the ftroke. 
 His jaw-bone dalh’d, the crafhing jaw-bone broke: 
 Down dropp’d he flupid from the ftunning wound ; 
 His feet extended, quiv’ring beat the ground; 115 
 
 His mouth and noftrils fpout a purple flood ; 
 
 His teeth, all fhatter’d, rufh inmix’d with blood. 
 
 The peers tranfported, as outflretch’d he lies, 
 With burfts of laughter rend the vaulted Ikies ; 
 Then dragg’d along, all bleeding from the 
 wound, 1 20 
 
 His length of carcafs trailing prints the ground ; 
 Rais’d on his feet, again he reels, he falls, 
 
 ’Till propp’d, reclining on the palace walls ; 
 
 Then to his hand a ftaff the vi&or gave, 124 
 
 And thus with juft reproach addrefs’d the Have. 
 
 There terrible, affright the dogs, and reign 
 A dreaded tyrant o’er the beftial train ! 
 
 But mercy to the poor and ftranger fhow. 
 
 Left Heav’n in vengeance fend fome mightier woe. 
 
 thius, who tells us, that Echetus was contemporary with 
 Homer, that the poet had been ill ufed by him, and there¬ 
 fore took this revenge for his inhumanity. 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 267 
 
 Scornful he fpoke, and o’er his fliouldeiO 
 
 
 flung 130 
 
 The broad patch’d fcrip; the fcrip in tatters hung ( 
 Ill-join’d, and knotted to a twilled thong. J 
 
 Then, turning fhort, difdain’d a further flay ; 
 
 But to the palace meafur’d back the way. 
 
 There as he refted, gathering in a ring 135 
 
 The peers with fmiles addreft their unknown king : 
 
 Stranger, may Jove and all th* aereal Pow’rs, 
 With ev’ry blefling crown thy happy hours ? 
 
 Our freedom to thy prowefs’d arm we owe 
 From bold intrufion of thy coward foe ; 
 
 Inftant the flying fail the flave fhall wing 
 To Echetus, the monfler of a king. 
 
 While pleas’d he hears, Antinous bears the food, 
 A kid’s well fatted entrails, rich with blood: 
 
 140 
 
 The bread from canifters of fhining mold 145 
 Amphinous ; and wines that laugh in gold: 
 
 And oh ! (he mildly cries) may Heav’n difplay 
 A beam of glory o’er thy future day! 
 
 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 v. 140. From bold intrufion of thy coward foe.~\ The word 
 in the Greek is uvaxnv, ra$t?a. av*xrov is a voracious appe¬ 
 tite : afomach that nothing can fatisfy ; Hefychius thus ex¬ 
 plains it j avaXTov ttVctv^E?, rar’ ig-lv 'maw, H t»5v 
 
 aXcu. But there is undoubtedly an error in Hefychius j 
 inftead of Uavov we fliould read l?x v ° v t that is jneager, or a 
 fomach that appears always unfilled. The general moral 
 that we are to gather from the behaviour of Ulyffes and 
 Irus, is that infolence and boafting are fignsof cowardice. 
 
268 HOMER's ODYSSEY. Book XVIII. 
 
 Alas, the brave too oft is doom’d to bear 
 The gripes of poverty, and flings of care. 150 
 
 To whom with thought mature the king replies : 
 The tongue fpeaks wifely, when the foul is w T ife ; 
 Such was thy father! in imperial ftate, 
 
 Great without vice, that eft attends the great: 
 
 Nor from the fire art thou, the fon, declin’d; 
 
 Then hear my words, and grave them in thy 
 mind I 156 
 
 v. 156. Then hear my words, and grave them in thy mind!] 
 There never was a finer le£ture of morality read in any of 
 the fchools of the philofophers, than this which Ulyfies de¬ 
 livers to Amphinomus; he ufliers it in with great fo- 
 lemnity, and fpeaks to all mankind in theperfon of Am¬ 
 phinomus. It is quoted by a variety of authors : Pliny in 
 his preface to his Natural Hiftory, lib. 7. has wrote adif- 
 fertation on this fentence. 
 
 Of all that breathes, or grov’ling creeps on earth, 
 Moft vain is man, &c. 
 
 Ariftotle and Maximus Tyrius quote It; and Plutarch 
 twice refers to it. Homer confiders man both with re- 
 fpett to the errors of the mind, and the calamities inci¬ 
 dent to the body : and upon a review of all mortal crea¬ 
 tures, he attributes to man the unhappy fuperiority of mi- 
 feries. But indeed Homer isfo plain that he needs no in¬ 
 terpretation, and any words but his own mull difgrace 
 him. Befides, this fpeech is beautiful in another view> 
 and excellently fets forth the forgiving temper of Ulyfles; 
 he faw that all the fparks of virtue and humanity were 
 not extinguiflied in Amphinomus $ he therefore warns 
 him with great folemnity to forfake the fuitors j he im¬ 
 prints eonvi&ion upon his mind, though ineffectually. 
 
BookXVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 269 
 
 Of all that breathes, or grov’ling creeps on earth, 
 Molt vain is man ! calamitous by birth; 
 
 To-day with pow’r elate, in ftrength he blooms; 
 The haughty creature on that pow’r prefumes: 160 
 Anon from Heav’n a fad reverfe he feels ; 
 
 Untaught to bear, ’gainfl Heav’n the wretch rebels. 
 For man is changeful, as his blifs or woe ; 
 
 Too high when profp’rous, when diftreft too low. 
 
 and fhews by it, that when he falls by the hand of Ulyf- 
 fes in the fucceeding parts of the OdylTey, his death is not 
 a revenge but a punifliment. 
 
 v. 163. Forman is changeful, as his blifs or woe.] Moll 
 of the interpreters have greatly ^ mifreprefented thefe 
 words, 
 
 ToT^ yt voo? Irlv Inixpov'iMV av0ga7TMV 
 Olov Itc iLynai. 
 
 They thus tranflate it, tails mens hominum , qualem Deusfug _ 
 gerit ; or, “ Such is the mind of man, as Heav’n in- 
 «< fpires but this is an error, for oTov cannot refer to 
 v«<^, but to V a ^> an d the fentence is thus to be rendered, 
 T alls mens hominum , qualem diem Deus inducit j that is, 
 « The mind of man changes with the complexion of 
 <« the day, as Heav’n fends liappinefs or miferyor 
 as in the tranflation, 
 
 For man is changeful, as his blifs or woe ; 
 
 Too high when profp’rous, when diilrefs’d too low. 
 
 The reader will be convinced that the conftru&ion re¬ 
 quires this fenfe, by joining the prepofition with the verb, 
 B7 ti with a.yyc-i, and rendering it, olcv snayna ; nothing 
 being more frequent than fuch a divifion of the prepofi- 
 
2 7 o HOMER'S ODYSSEY. BookXVIIl. 
 
 There was a day, when with the fcornful great 
 I fwell’d in pomp and arrogance of date ; 166 
 
 Proud of the pow’r that to high bifth belongs $ 
 
 .And us’d that pow’r to judify my wrongs. 
 
 Then let not man be proud ; but firm of mind, 
 
 Bear the belt humbly, and the word refign’d; 170 
 Be dumb when Heav’n affli£ts 1 unlike yon train 
 Of haughty fpoilers, infolently vain ; 
 
 Who make their queen and all her wealth a prey ; 
 But vengeance and UlyfTes wing their way. 
 
 O may’ft thou, favour’d by fome guardian Pow’r, 
 Far, far be diftant in that deathful hour ! 176 
 
 For lure I am, if dern UlyfTes breathe, 
 
 Thefe lawlefs riots end in blood and death. 
 
 Then to the Gods the rofy juice he pours, 
 
 And the drain’d goblet to the chief redoxes. 180 
 Stung to the foul, o’ercaft with holy dread, 
 
 He fhook the graceful honours of his head ; 
 
 His boding mind the future woe forefhlls; 
 
 In vain ! by great Telemacbus he falls, 
 
 For Pallas feals his doom : all fad he turns 185 
 To join the peers; refumes his throne, and 
 mourns. 
 
 tion from the verb amongft the Greeks, It nnift be al¬ 
 lowed, that Homer gives a very unhappy, yet too juft a 
 picture, of human nature : man is too apt to be proud 
 and indolent in profperity, and mean and abjeft in adver- 
 fity j and thofemen who are moft overbearing in an happy 
 ft ate, are always moft bafe and mean in the day of 
 affii&ion. 
 
BookXVin. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. '2/* 
 
 Meanwhile Minerva with inftinCHve fires 
 Thy foul, Penelope, from Heav’n infpires : 
 
 With flatt’ring hopes the fuitors to betray, 
 
 And feem to meet, yet fly, the bridal day : igo 
 Thy hufband’s wonder, and thy ion’s, to raife ; 
 And crown the mother and the wife with praife. 
 
 V. 189. With flat? ring hopes the fuitors to betray. ] The 
 Greek is very concife, and the exprefflon uncommon, 
 1 'irooc njtTcLs-eit %uplv ; that is, Penelope thus aCted 
 
 that (lie might dilate the heart of the fuitors j meaning (as 
 Euftathius obferves) that flie might give them falfe hopes 
 by appearing in their company; for the heart flirinks, 
 and is contracted by forrow and defpair, and is again di¬ 
 lated by hope or joy : this is I believe literally true, the 
 fpirits flow brifkly when we are in joy, and a new pulfe 
 is given to the blood, which neceflarily muft dilate the 
 heart: on the contrary, when we are in forrow the fpirits 
 are languid, and the blood moves lefs actively; and there¬ 
 fore the heart flirinks and contracts, the blood wanting 
 vigour to dilate and expand it. 
 
 v. 191. Thy hufband's wonder, and thy fort's , to raife.] 
 This is fblely the aCt of Minerva, for Penelope is igno¬ 
 rant that flie is to appear before her hufband. This in¬ 
 terview is excellently managed by Homer: Ulyfles is to 
 be convinced of his wife’s fidelity $ to bring this about, 
 he introduces her upon the publick ftage, where her huf- 
 band ftands as a common unconcerned fpeCtator, and 
 hears her exprefs her love for him in the warmed terms ; 
 here is no room for art or defign, becaufe fiie is ignorant 
 that flie fpeaks before Ulyfles; and therefore her words 
 muft be fuppofed to proceed from the heart. This gives 
 us a reafon why Homer makes her dwell at large upon 
 her paflion for Ulyfles, and paint in the ftrongeft co- 
 
272 HOMER’s O D Y S S E Y. Book XVIII- 
 
 Then, while the ftreaming forrow dims her eyes, 
 Thus with a tranfient fmile the matron cries: 
 
 Eurynome ! to go where riot reigns 195 
 
 I feel an impulfe, though my foul difdains 5 
 
 lours, viz. to evidence her chaftity, and urge Ulyffes to 
 haften the definition of the fuitors, by convincing him 
 that lhe is able no longer to elude the marriage hour. 
 But then it may be objeted, if Penelope’s foie defign was 
 to give a falfe hope to the fuitors, does fhe not take a 
 very wrong method, by fpeaking fo very tenderly of 
 Ulyffes ? is not this a more probable reafon for defpair 
 than hope ? It is true, it would have been fo, if in the 
 conclufion of her fpeech fhe had not artfully added. 
 
 But when my fon grows man, the royal fway 
 Refign, and happy be thy bridal day 1 
 
 So that Telemachus being grown up to maturity, the 
 fuitors concluded that the nuptial hour was at hand. If 
 then we confider the whole conduct of Penelope in this 
 book, it mull be allowed to be very refined and artful j 
 (lie obferves a due regard towards Ulyffes, by fhewing 
 fhe is not to be perfuaded to marry : and yet by the fame 
 words fhe gives the fuitors hopes that the day is almofl 
 come when fhe intends to celebrate her nuptials ; fhe ma¬ 
 nages fo dexteroufly as to perfuade without a promife ; 
 and for this reafon the words are put into the mouth of 
 Ulyffes, and it is Ulyffes who gives the hopes, rather than 
 Penelope. 
 
 V. 193. Then, while the fir earning forrow dims her eyes. 
 Thus with a tranfient fmile the matron cries.] 
 
 Homer gives us a very beautiful and juft image in thefe 
 words. In the Iliad he ufed a fimilar expreffion concern¬ 
 ing Andromache, fraxfoosv yiXacraja ; A fmile chafiis'd with 
 teens. A^gsliv iyfrasreiv here bears the fame import. 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 273 
 
 To my lov’d fon the fnares of death to {how, 
 
 And in the traitor-friend unmalk the foe; 
 
 Who fmooth of tongue, in purpofe infincere. 
 
 Hides fraud in fmiles, while death is ambufh’d 
 there. 200 
 
 Go warn thy fon, nor be the warning vain, 
 (Reply’d the fageft of the royal train) 
 
 But bath’d, anointed, and adorn’d defcend ; 
 Pow’rful of charms, bid ev’ry grace attend ; 
 
 The tide of flowing tears a-while fupprefs ; 205 
 
 Tears but indulge the forrow, not reprefs. 
 
 Some joy remains : to thee a fon is giv’n. 
 
 Such as in fondnefs parents alk of Heav’n. 
 
 v. 207. — — *■—. To thee a fon is gi'v'n. 
 
 Such as in fondnefs parents afk of Hsa-v'n. ] 
 
 I am not certain that this is the exadff fenfe of Homer; Da- 
 cier underftands him very differently. Eurynome (ob- 
 ferves that author) is not endeavouring to comfort Pene¬ 
 lope becaufe her fon is now come to years of maturity ; 
 her purpofe is, to fhew the necefiity ihe has to have re- 
 courie to art, to affift her beauty : for (adds flie) your fon 
 is grown a man ; meaning that a lady who has a fon twenty 
 years old, muff have loll her natural beauty, and has oc- 
 cafion to be obliged to art to give her an artificial one. 
 This, I confefs, is too true, but it feems a little too ludi¬ 
 crous for epick poetry; I have followed a different fenfe, 
 that gives us a far nobler image; conformable to that 
 verfe of Horace. 
 
 “ Quid voveat dulci nutricula majus alurano, 
 
 “ Quam fapere, &c.” 
 
 Vo u III. T 
 
 l 
 
2 74 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVIII. 
 
 Ah me ! forbear, returns the queen, forbear, 
 
 Oh ! talk not, talk not of vain beauty’s care ; 219 
 
 No more I bathe, fince he no longer fees 
 Thofe charms, for whom alone I wifh to pleafe. 
 
 The clay that bore UlyfTes from this coaft, 
 
 Blafted the little bloom thefe cheeks could boaft. 
 
 But inftant bid Autonoe defcend, 215 
 
 Inftant Hippodame our fteps attend ; 
 
 Ill fuits it female virtue, to be feen 
 Alone, indecent, in the walks of men. 
 
 Then while Eurynome the mandate bears, 
 
 From heav’n Minerva fhoots with guardian cares ; 
 O’er all her fenfes, as the couch {he preft, 221 
 She pours a pleafmg, deep, and death-like reft, 
 With ev’ry beauty ev’ry feature arms, 
 
 Bids her cheeks glow, and, lights up all her 
 N charms, 
 
 In her love-darting eyes awakes the fires, 225 
 {Immortal gifts ! to kindle foft defires) 
 
 From limb to limb an air majeftick fheds, 
 
 And the pure iv’ry o’er her bofom fpreads. 
 
 This agrees with the tenour of Euryelea’s fpeech, and 
 a foundation of great comfort to Penelope. 
 
 v. aai. O'er all her fenfes, as the couch fhe prefi, 
 
 She pours a pleafmg , deep , and death-like refi.~\ 
 This is an admirable ftroke of art, to Ihew the determined 
 refolution of Penelope, to forbear the endeavour of making 
 her perfon agreeable in any eyes but thofe of Ulyffes : a 
 goddefs is obliged to caft her into an involuntary repof^j 
 and to fupply an adventitious grace while (he deeps. 
 
Book XVni. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 275 
 
 •» 
 
 Such Venus fliines, when with a meafur’d bound 
 She fmoothly gliding fwims th’ harmonious 
 round, • 230 
 
 When with the Graces in the dance lhe moves, 
 And fires the gazing Gods with ardent loves. 
 
 Then to the {kies her flight Minerva bends, 
 
 And to the queen the damfel-train defcends: 
 Wak’d at their fteps, her flowing eyes un* 
 clofe ; 235 
 
 The tear {he wipes, and thus renews her woes. 
 
 Howe’er ’tis well; that fleep a-while can free 
 With foft forgetfulnefs, a wretch like me ; 
 
 Oh ! were it giv’n to yield this tranfient breath, 
 Send, oh ! Diana, fend the fleep of death ! 240 
 
 Why muft I wade a tedious life in tears. 
 
 Nor bury in the filent grave my cares ? 
 
 v. 2,33. Then to the Jkies her flight Minerva bends.] We 
 fee Penelope is a woman of fo much wifdom, as to be the 
 favourite of Minerva. She a< 5 ts in every point with the 
 liigheft difcretion, and is inconfolable for her hufband ; 
 yet the poet forbears to let her into the fecret that Ulyfles 
 is returned : this is undoubtedly an intended fatire, and 
 Homer means, that a woman in every point difcreet, is 
 ftill to be fufpe&ed of loquacity : this feems to have been 
 the real fentiment of Homer, which he more fully de¬ 
 clares in the eleventh Odyfley. 
 
 When earned to explore thy fecret bread, 
 
 Unfold fome trifle, but conceal the reft; 
 
 For fince of woman-kind fo few are juft. 
 
 Think all are falfe, nor ev’n the faithful truft. 
 
 T a 
 
276 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVIII 
 
 O my Ulyfles ! ever honour’d name ! 
 
 For thee I mourn, till death diflfolves my frame. 
 
 Thus wailing, flow and fadly {he defcends, 245 
 On either hand a damfel-train attends : 
 
 Full where the dome its fhining valves expands. 
 Radiant before the gazing peers {he Hands j 
 A vail tranflucent o’er her brow difplay’d, 
 
 Her beauty feems, and only feems, to {hade : 250 
 
 Sudden Hie lightens in their dazled eyes. 
 
 And fudden flames in ev’ry bofom rife ; 
 
 They fend their eager fouls with ev’ry look, 
 
 ’Till filence thus th’ imperial matron broke: 
 
 O why ! my fon, why now no more appears 
 That warmth of foul that urg’d thy younger 
 years ? • 256 
 
 Thy riper days no growing worth impart, 
 
 A man in ftature, Hill a boy in heart ! 
 
 Thy well-knit frame unprofitably ftrong, 
 
 Speaks thee an hero from an hero fprung : 260 
 
 But the juft Gods in vain thofe gifts beftow, 
 
 O wife alone in form, and brave in ftiow ! 
 
 Heav’ns ! could a ftranger feel oppreflion’s hand 
 Beneath thy roof, and could’ft thou tamely ftand ? 
 If thou the ftranger’s righteous caufe decline, 265 
 His is the fufFrance, but the fliame is thine. 
 
 To whom with filial awe, the prince returns : 
 That gen’rous foul with juft refentment burns, 
 
 Yet taught by time, my heart has learn’d to glow, 
 For others good, and melt at others woe : 270 
 
I 
 
 Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 277 
 
 But impotent thefe riots to repel, 
 
 I bear their outrage, tho’ my foul rebel : 
 
 Helplefs amid the fnares of death I tread, 
 
 And numbers leagu’d in impious union dread ; 
 
 But now no crime is theirs : this wrong pro¬ 
 ceeds ' 275 
 
 From Irus, and the guilty Irus bleeds. 
 
 O would to Jove! or her whofe arms difplay 
 The fhield of Jove, or him who rules the day ! 
 That yon’ proud fuitors, who licentious tread 
 Thefe courts, within thefe courts like Irus bled: 
 Whofe loofe head tott’ring, as with wine op- 
 preft, 281 
 
 Obliquely drops, and nodding knocks his breafl ; 
 Pow’rlefs to move, his ftagg’ring feet deny 
 The coward wretch the privilege to fly. 
 
 Then to the queen Eurymachus replies ; 285 
 
 O juftly lov’d, and not more fair than wife ! 
 
 v. 175. — — this wrong proceeds 
 
 From Irus , and the guilty Irus bleeds d\ 
 
 Euftathius informs us, that we are here to underfland the 
 fray between Irus and Ulyffes. Penelope refers to the 
 violence intended to be offered to Ulyffes, when the foot- 
 ftool was thrown at him by Antinous ; we find that fiie 
 was acquainted with that alfault from her fpeech in the 
 preceding book. In reality, the queen was ignorant of 
 the combat between Irus and Ulyifes 5 but Telemachus 
 mifunderftands her with defign, and makes an apology 
 for the fuitors, fearing to raife a further diforder, or pro* 
 vokg them to fome more violent aft of refentment, 
 
 T 3 
 
278 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVlII. 
 
 » 
 
 Should Greece thro’ all her hundred flates furvey 
 Thy finifh’d charms, all Greece would own thy 
 fway, 
 
 In rival crouds contefl the glorious prize, 
 Difpeopling realms to gaze upon thy eyes : 290 
 
 O woman ! lovelieft of the lovely kind. 
 
 In body perfect, and compleat in mind \ 
 
 Ah me ! returns the queen, when from this {hore 
 Ulyfies fail’d, then beauty was no more ! 
 
 The Gods decreed thefe eyes no more fliould 
 keep 295 
 
 Their wonted grace, but only ferve to weep. 
 
 Should he return, whate’er my beauties prove, 
 
 My virtues lafb * my brighteft charm is love. 
 
 v. 233 . — all Greece would own thy f-vocty, &c.] Ho¬ 
 mer expreffes Greece by iao-ov Iafian Argos. The 
 
 word properly (as Euftathius obferves) denotes the Mbrea 
 or Peloponnefus, fo called from Iafus the fon of Argus, 
 and Io king of that country; Strabo agrees with Eufta. 
 thius. Chapman wonderfully miftakes Homer, and ex¬ 
 plains his own miftake in a paraphrafe of fix lines. 
 
 IVTofl wife Icarius’ daughter, if all thofe 
 That did for Colchos vent’rous fail difpofe. 
 
 For that rich purchafe ; had before but feen 
 Earth’s richer prize, in th’ Ithacenfian queen, 
 
 They had not made that voyage ; but to you 
 Would all their virtues, all their beings vow. 
 
 I need not fay how foreign this is to the original. In re¬ 
 ality Argos with different epithets, fignifies different 
 countries ; ‘a^suxov "a^o; means Theffaly, and lao-ov ”a 
 P eloponnefus; but here it denotes Greece univerfallyj 
 for it would appear abfurd to tell Penelope, that all the 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 279 
 
 Now, grief, thou all art mine ! the Gods o’ercad 
 My foul with woes, that long, ah long mud 
 lad! 30© 
 
 Too faithfully my heart retains the day 
 That fadly tore my royal lord away : 
 
 He grafp’d my hand, and oh my fpoufe! I leave 
 Thy arms, (he cry’d) perhaps to find a grave : 
 
 Fame fpeaks the Trojans bold ; they boad the 
 {kill 305 
 
 To give the feather’d arrow wings to kill, 
 
 To dart the fpear, and guide the rufhing car 
 With dreadful inroad thro’ the walks of war. 
 
 My fentence is gone forth, and ’tis decreed 
 Perhaps by righteous Heav’n that I mud bleed ! 
 My father, mother, all, I trud to thee ; 31 e 
 
 To them, to them transfer the love of me : 
 
 But when my fon grows man, the royal fway 
 Refign, and happy be thy bridal day! 
 
 Morea would admire her beauty, this would leflen the 
 compliment ; nor is any reafon to be afligned why 
 Peloponnefus ftiould admire her more than the reft of the 
 Greeks. 
 
 v. 313. But when my fon grows man, the royalfway 
 Refgny and happy be thy bridal day.] 
 
 The original fays, refign the palace to 'Telemachus : this is 
 fpoken according to the cuftoms of antiquity : the wife, 
 upon her fecond marriage, being obliged to refgn the 
 houfe to the heir of the family. This circumftance is in- 
 ferted with great judgment: the fuitors were determined 
 to feize it upon marriage with Penelope, as appears from 
 the fecond Odyfley. 
 
 T 4 
 
28o HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book X VIII. 
 
 Such were his words; and Hymen now prepares 
 To light his torch, and give me up to cares ; 316 
 
 Th’ affli&ive hand of wrathful Jove to bear : 
 
 A wretch the moil compleat that breathes the air ! 
 Fall’n ev’n below the rights to woman due ! 
 
 Carelefs to pleafe, with infolence ye woo ! 320 
 
 The gen’rous lovers, fludious to fucceed. 
 
 Bid their whole herds and flocks in banquets bleed ; 
 
 What mighty labours would he then create* 
 
 To feize his treafures, and divide his ftate. 
 
 The royal palace to the queen convey. 
 
 Or him fhe blefles in the bridal day ? 
 
 Penelope therefore by this declaration gives thefuitors to 
 underftand, that the palace belonged not to her, but Te- 
 lemachus. This aflertion has a double effedt 5 it is in¬ 
 tended to make the fuitors lefs warm in their addrefles; 
 or if they perfift, to fet the injuftice done to Telemachus 
 in open view. The beauty of all the fpeeches of Pene¬ 
 lope in this book is fo obvious that it needs no explana¬ 
 tion ; Homer gives her a very amiable character, the is 
 good in every relation of life, merciful to the poor and 
 ftranger, a tender mother, and an afle&ionate wife $ 
 every period is almcfl a lecture of morality. 
 
 My father, mother, all, I truft to thee; 
 
 To them, to them transfer the love of me. 
 
 This fhews the duty of the child to the parent; it may 
 be extended to all perfcns to whom we owe any duty; 
 and humanity requires that we fliould endeavour to eafe 
 the burthen of our friends in proportion to their calami¬ 
 ties ; we Ihould at all times confult their happinefs, but 
 chiefly in the hour of adverfity. A friend fliould be a 
 f upport to lean upon in ail our infirmities. 
 
iBook XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 28* 
 
 By precious gifts the vow fincere difplay: 
 
 You, only you, make her ye love your prey. 
 
 Well pleas’d Ulyfles hears his queen deceive 325 
 The fuitor-train, and raife a thirlt to give : 
 
 v. 323. By precious gifts the vow fincere difplay : 
 
 You , only you, ?nake her ye lo ve your prey. ] 
 
 Horace, lib. ii. Sat. 5. makes a very fevere reflection up¬ 
 on Penelope, and in her perfon (I fay not how juftly) up¬ 
 on the whole fex : he gives the avarice of the fuitors as 
 the foie reafon of Penelope’s chaftity ; and infinuates that 
 women would fell their virtue, if men would be at the ex¬ 
 pence to buy. 
 
 “ Venit enim magnum donandi parca juventus, 
 
 “ Nec tantum Veneris, quantum ftudiofa culinse, 
 
 (C Sic tibi Penelope frugi eft : quce ft femel uno 
 “ De fene guftarit, tecum partita lucellum ; 
 t( Ut canis, a corio nunquam abfterrebitur undo.'* 
 
 Horace had this paflage in view, and imputes the coldnefs 
 of Penelope to a want of generofity in her admirers. Dio¬ 
 dorus allures us, that Venus had a temple in Egypt dedi¬ 
 cated to her under the title of Xi va V ’AfgoMrj): or golden Ve¬ 
 nus 5 and it is her ufual epithet throughout all Homer. 
 Near Memphis there was an allotment of ground called 
 the field of golden Venus : but it ought not to be concealed, 
 that fome perfons believe Ihe bears that name from the 
 golden colour of her hair. Horace, to give his fatire the 
 greater ftrength, puts the words into the mouth of the pro¬ 
 phet Tirefias, a perfon of unerring veracity. 
 
 v. 325. Well-pleas'd Ulyjfes hears his queen deceive 
 Ihe fuitor-train , and raife a thirfi to give.'] 
 
 This conduCl may appear fomewhat extraordinary both in 
 Penelope and Ulyfles 5 Ihe not only takes, but allcs pre- 
 
282 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVHL 
 
 Falfe hopes (he kindles, but thofe hopes betray, 
 
 And promife, yet elude the bridal day. 
 
 fents from perfons whom die never [intends to marry : is 
 not this a fign either of avarice or falfhood ? and is not 
 Ulyffes equally guilty, who rejoices at it ? But in reality, 
 Penelope is no way faulty j (he deceives the fuitors with 
 hopes of marriage by accepting thefe prefents,- but it is 
 for this foie reafon that the accepts them j the intends to 
 give them falfe hopes, and by that method to defer the 
 nuptial hour: it is not injuftice, but an equitable repri- 
 fal; they had violently wafted her treafures, and (lie art¬ 
 fully recovers part of them by a piece of refined manage¬ 
 ment. Dacier defends her after another method: Ihe be¬ 
 lieves that Penelope thus a£ts, not out of intereft but ho¬ 
 nour ; it was a difgrace to fo great a princefs to have fo 
 many admirers, and never to receive from their hands 
 fuch prefents as cuftom not only allows, but commands j 
 neither is Ulyffes blameable, who rejoices at his wife’s po¬ 
 licy. He underftood her intent, and being artful himfelf, 
 fmiles to fee her artfulnefs. 
 
 Plutarch in his treatife of reading »poems, vindicates 
 Ulyffes very much in the feme way : if (fays that author) 
 Ulyffes rejoiced at Penelope’s art in drawing prefents from 
 the fuitors out of avarice, he difcovers himfelf to be a for¬ 
 did prollitutor of his wife ; but if through a wife forefight 
 he hoped by her acceptance of the prefents to get the fuitors 
 more into his power, by lulling them more into fecurity, 
 and laying all their fufpicions afleep thro’ a fudden profpeft 
 of marriage ; if this occafioned his joy, this joy arifing 
 from her artful management, and from a full confidence 
 in his wdfe, is no ways blameable, but proceeds from a 
 fufficient and laudable caufe. In fhort, the fuitors were 
 enemies, and nothing could be praftifed difhonourably 
 againft them, that either Ulyffes or Penelope could a£t 
 conliftently with their own honour. 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 283 
 
 While yet fhe fpeaks, the gay Antinous cries, 
 Offspring of kings, and more than woman wife ! 
 ’Tis right •> ’tis man’s prerogative to give* 331 
 And cuftom bids thee without fhame receive ; 
 
 Yet never, never, from thy dome we move, 
 
 ’Till Hymen lights the torch of fpoufal love. 
 
 The peers difpatch their heralds to convey 35$ 
 The gifts of love ; with fpeed they take the way. 
 
 A robe Antinous gives of fhining dyes, 
 
 The varying hues in gay confufion rife 
 Rich from the artifh’s hand ! twelve clafps of gold 
 Clofe to the lefs’ning waift the veil infold ; 340 
 
 Down from the fwelling loins the veil unbound 
 Floats in bright waves redundant o’er the ground. 
 
 A bracelet rich with gold, with amber gay, 
 
 That (hot effulgence like the folar ray, 
 
 v. 327. Falfe hopes Jhe kindles .] It is certain that the 
 words in the Greek will bear a double conftru6lion, and 
 QtXye Sv/uctv ixtChiyiois Inkj-ri may refer either to Penelope or 
 Ulyffes. Euftathius thinks they are fpoken of Ulyffes; 
 then the meaning is, that Ulyffes comforted himfelf with 
 her amufing words, while he formed a defign very dif¬ 
 ferent from what her words expreffed ; but Dacier refers 
 them to Penelope, perhaps with better reafon : de¬ 
 
 pends upon in the preceding line; and by thus un¬ 
 demanding it, the conftru&ion becomes eafy and natu¬ 
 ral : and the fentence means, that Penelope’s words flat¬ 
 tered the fuitors into hopes of marriage, while her 
 thoughts were very diftant from complying with their in¬ 
 clinations : this interpretation belt agrees with the gene¬ 
 ral defign of Penelope, which was to adl an artful part, and 
 neither comply with, nor abfolutely refufe their add relies. 
 
284 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVIII. 
 
 A 
 
 Eurymachus prefents: and ear-rings bright, 345 
 With triple fhrs, that cafl a trembling light. 
 Pifander bears a necklace wrought with art; 
 
 And ev’ry peer, expreflive of his heart, 
 
 A gift bellows : this done, the queen afcends, 
 
 And flow behind her damfel-train attends. 350 
 
 Then to the dance they form the vocal drain, 
 ill Hefperus leads forth the Harry train ; 
 
 And now he raifes, as the day-light fades, 
 
 His golden circlet in the deepening (hades : 
 
 Three vafes heap’d with copious fires difplay 355 
 O’er all the palace a fidlitious day ; 
 
 From fpace to fpace the torch wide-beaming burns, 
 And fprightly damfels trim the rays by turns. 
 
 v. 355. ‘Three <vafes heap'd with copious fires difplay 
 O'er all the palace a fictitious day.] 
 
 The word in the Greek is 7rn?, or a vafe which was 
 placed upon a tripod, upon which the antients burnt dry 
 and oftentimes odoriferous wood, to give at once both 
 perfume and light. Euftathius explains it by p^oVy?, ° r 
 aveflel railed on feet in the nature of an hearth. Hefy- 
 chius explains an hearth placed in the middle of 
 
 the houfe or hall, on which they burnt dry wood with in¬ 
 termingled torches to enlighten it. It is ftrange that there 
 is no mention of lamps, but only torches, in Homer; un¬ 
 doubtedly lamps were not yet in ufe in Greece, although 
 much earlier found out by the Hebrews : thus Exod. 
 xxv. 6. oil is mentioned, and injoined to be ufed in giv¬ 
 ing light to the fanftuary. 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 285 
 
 To whom the king: Ill fuits your fex to flay 
 Alone with men ! ye modelt maids, away! 360 
 
 Go, with the queen the fpindle guide ; or cull 
 (The partners of her cares) the filver wool; 
 
 Be it my talk the torches to fupply, 
 
 Ev’n till the morning lamp adorns the Iky ; 
 
 Ev’n till the morning, with unwearied care, 365 
 Sleeplefs I watch; for I have learn’d to bear. 
 
 Scornful they heard : Melantho, fair and young 
 (Melantho, from the loins ofDolius fprung. 
 
 Who with the queen her years an infant led, 
 
 With the foft fondnefs of a daughter bred) 370 
 Chiefly derides : regardlefs of the cares 
 Her queen endures, polluted joys Ihe Ihares 
 No£furnal with Eurymachus ! With eyes 
 That fpeak difdain, the wanton thus replies. 
 
 Oh ! whither wanders thy diftemper’d brain, 
 Thou bold intruder on a princely train ? 376 
 
 v. 359.- HI fuits your fex to fay 
 
 Alone with men! ye modef maids, away /] 
 
 Homer is perpetually giving us leflons of decency and mo¬ 
 rality. It may be thought that this interlude between 
 Ulyfles and the damfels of Penelope is foreign to the ac¬ 
 tion of the Odyfiey ; but in reality it is far from it: the 
 poet undertook to deferibe the diforders which the ab- 
 fence of a prince occafions in his family : this pafiage is 
 an inftance of it j and Homer with good judgment makes 
 thefe wantons declare their contempt of Ulyfles, and their 
 favour to their fuitors, that we may acknowledge thejuf- 
 tice of their puniflunent in the fubfequent parts of the 
 Odyfley. 
 
2.36 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. Book XVIII. 
 
 Hence to the vag’rant’s rendezvous repair; 
 
 Or fhun in feme black forge the midnight air. 
 Proceeds this boldnefs from a turn of foul. 
 
 Or flows licentious from the copious bowl? 380 
 Is it that vanquilh’d Irus fwells thy mind ? 
 
 A foe may meet thee of a braver kind, 
 
 v. 377. Hence to the vagrant's rendezvoies repair j 
 
 Or fhun in fome black forge the midnight air.] 
 
 I flatter myfelf that I have given the true fenfe of 
 
 and : in Greece the beggars in winter retired 
 by night to publick forges for their warmth, or to fome 
 rendezvous where they entertained themfelves as it were 
 in a common aflembly. Eullathius explains x&rjpj to be 
 a publick place without any doorsy where beggars were ufed to 
 lodge . Hefychius gives us feveral interpretations of the 
 word, that it fignilies an aflembly, a converfation ; it im¬ 
 plies alfo publick ftoves or baths ; and Eullathius informs 
 us from Ariltophanes, that beggars ufed to take up their 
 lodgings in the public baths, as well as in thefe places 
 mentioned by Homer $ is an office of men 
 
 that work in brafs. He further obferves that thefe two 
 places are ufed after the fame manner in Hefiod. 
 
 S'’ IQi p£aXx£iev Swtov, $ dXsa, 
 
 ° ,,3r ® T6 dvtgaq e'gyov 
 
 lr^dvei. — ■ — — 
 
 It may not be improper to obferve, that J’ ' 9 l %dx- 
 xticv is very ill tranflated by Accede ameam fedem , in the 
 Latin verfion; it Ihould be fuge officinam arariam . 
 
 V. 381. Is it that vanquifh'd Irus fwells thy mind?] The 
 word in Homer is dxCnq, which is ufed in various places i 
 fometimes (obferves Plutarch in his treatife upon reading 
 poems) it lignifies being difquieted in mind, 
 
 (far' r, dxCud «T«^yaTd, Tjtjcrj I' alvsTr. 
 
BookXVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 287 
 
 Who, fhort’ning with a ftorm of blows thy flay, 
 Shall fend thee howling all in blood away ! 384 
 
 To whom with frowns : O impudent in wrong ! 
 Thy lord (hall curb that infolence of tongue j 
 Know to Telemachus I tell th’ offence : 
 
 The fcourge, the fcourge fhall lafh thee into fenfe. 
 
 With confcious fhame they hear the flern rebuke, 
 Nor longer durft fuftain the fov’reign look. 390 
 Then to the fervile tafk the monarch turns 
 His royal hands: each torch refulgent burns 
 With added day : meanwhile in mufeful mood, 
 Abforpt in thought on vengeance fix’d he flood. 
 
 And now the martial Maid, by deeper wrongs 395 
 To roufe Ulyffes points the fuitors tongues, 
 
 * * , ' i* ■ •' • * 
 
 In other places it implies an infolent joyy or loafing \ and 
 then he quotes this verfe, 
 
 ”H OLhwq otj^Ijov tmthraq, 
 
 V. 395. And now the martial Maid , by deeper wrongs 
 T0 roufe Ulyjfes points the fuitors'' tongues.] 
 
 It may be thought unjuftifiable in Homer, to introduce 
 Minerva exciting the fuitors to violence. Dacier defends 
 the poet by fhewing that the fentiment is conformable to 
 true theology : and the all-wife Author of our being is 
 pleafed fometimes to harden the hearts of the wicked, (or 
 rather to permit them to harden their own hearts) that 
 they may fill up the meafure of their crimes, and be ripe 
 for judgment: yet we are not to imagine, that any per- 
 fon is neceflitated to be wicked : it is .not the hardening 
 the heart that originally makes men impious, but they 
 are firft impious, and then they are. delivered over to an 
 ftardnefs of heart. 
 
288 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVIIL 
 
 Scornful of age, to taunt the virtuous man ; 
 Thoughtlefs and gay, Eurymachus began. 
 
 Hear me (he cries) confederates and friends! 
 Some God no doubt this ftranger kindly fends; 400 
 The Aiming baldnefs of his head furvey, 
 
 It aids our torch-light, and refle&s the ray.— 
 
 But Homer maybe juftified another way j and Minerva 
 may be underftood to aft thus in favour of Ulyffes: the 
 Goddefs of Wifdom infatuates the fuitors to infult that 
 hero, and haften their own deftruCtion. 
 
 v. 400. Some God no doubt , this fir anger kindly fends .] 
 Ariftotle affirms that Homer is the father of poetry j not 
 only of the epick, but alfo of the dramatickj that he 
 taught how to write tragedy in the Iliad, and comedy by 
 feveral ffiort Iketches in the Odyffey. Euftathius here re¬ 
 marks, that he likewife gave a model for fatire, of which 
 the Cyclops of Euripides ftill extant is an example ; (which 
 is a fatirick poem founded upon the ftory of Polyplieme 
 in Homer.) I confefs my eye is not {harp enough to fee 
 the dignity of thefe railleries; and it may be thought 
 that Homer is the father of another kind of poetry, I 
 mean the farce, and that thefe low conceits are no way 
 to be juftified, but by being put into the mouths of the 
 fuitors, perfons of no dignity or charaffer. Longinus 
 brings fucli defcriptions of the fuitors, as inftances of the 
 decay of Homer’s genius. When that declines (obferves 
 that author) poets commonly pleafe themfelves with 
 painting manners : fuch is Homer’s defcription of the 
 lives led by the fuitors in the palace of Ulyffes: for in 
 reality all that defcription is a kind of comedy, wherein 
 the different characters of men are painted. 
 
 v. 40 x. The finning baldnefs of his head fur<vey y 
 
 It aids our torch-light, and reflects the ray.] 
 
 This in Paciet’s judgment is a raillery purely fatirical; it 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 289 
 
 Then to the king that levell’d haughty Troy. 
 
 Say, if large hire can tempt thee to employ 
 Thofe hands in works ; to tend the rural trade, 405 
 To drefs the walk, and form th’ embow’ring {hade? 
 So food and raiment conftant will I give; 
 
 But idly thus thy foul prefers to live, 
 
 And ftarve by (trolling, not by work to thrive. 
 
 To whom incens’d : Should we, O prince, en¬ 
 gage 410 
 
 In rival talks beneath the burning rage 
 Of fummer funs ; were both conftrain’d to wield, 
 Foodlefs, the fcythe along the burthen’d field ; 
 
 is drawn from the Ihining glofs of an old man’s bald head* 
 But if this be purely fatyrical, to be a fatyrift is to be a 
 bad man : to rally natural infirmities is inhumanity : old 
 age is venerable, and the bald head as well as the gray 
 hair is an honour, and ought not to be the fubjefl of rail¬ 
 lery. I doubt not but Homer put it into the mouth of 
 Eurymachus to make him more odious, and to ihew us 
 that the fame man who invades his prince’s property, in* 
 fults the ftranger, and outrages the poor j pays no defer¬ 
 ence to old age, but is bafe enough to contemn what he 
 ought to honour. Vice and folly are the province of fatyr, 
 not human infirmity. 
 
 v. 412.- were both constrain'd to weild, 
 
 Foodlefs , the fcythe along the burthen'd field.] 
 
 I doubt not but fuch employments as thefe, now only fuit- 
 able to low life, will feem mean to many readers, and un¬ 
 worthy of the dignity of epick poetry : it is no defence to 
 fay that they are mentioned by a beggar, and therefore 
 agreeable to his character : the words are addrefied to 
 a prince, and fuppofe that a Ikill in fuch works was not 
 Vol. lib U 
 
/ 
 
 zqo HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVIII. 
 
 . » . . 1 . • 
 
 Orfhouldwe labour, while the ploughfhare wounds. 
 With fleers of equal flrength, th’allotted grounds: 
 
 unufual to perfons of eminent ftations; otherwife the 
 challenge of Ulyfles is ridiculoufly abfurd. Who could 
 forbear laughing, if he fhould hear one of our beggars 
 challenge a peer, to plough or mow with him all day 
 without eating ? The truth is, the greateft perfons fol¬ 
 lowed fuch employments without any diminution of their 
 dignities; nay a fkill in fuch works as agriculture was a 
 glory even to a king : Homer here places it upon a level 
 with military fcience, and the knowledge of the cultiva¬ 
 tion of the ground is equalled to glory in war. In the 
 preface to the paftoralsof Virgil, (but not written by Mr, 
 Dryden) there is a paffage that thews that the fame fim- 
 plicity of manners prevailed amongft the antientLatins, as 
 amongft the antient Greeks: *< It ought not, fays that 
 “ author, to furprife a modern writer, that kings laid 
 “ down their firft rudiments of government in tending 
 their mute fubjedls, their herds and flocks: nor ought 
 * ( it to feem ftrange that the mailer of the horie to king 
 Latinus in the ninth ^neid was found in the homely 
 (i employment of cleaving blocks, when news of the firft 
 “ flcirmilh between the Trojans and Latins was brought 
 *< to him.” This paflage fully vindicates Homer, and fliews 
 that fuch employments were no dilhonour to the greateft 
 perfons; but there are two errours in the quotation ; it 
 is not taken from the ninth but the feventh JEneid ; nor is 
 Tyrrlieus, who cleaves the blocks, mailer of the horfe to 
 king Latinus, but the intend ant of his flocks j or as Dry¬ 
 den tranflates it, 
 
 lyrrheus, chief ranger to the Latian king, 
 
 “ -Tyrrheufque pater, cui regia parent 
 
 “ Amenta, & late cuftodia credita campi.” 
 
I 
 
 BookXVIII. HOMER’S ODYSSEY. 291 
 
 > 
 
 Beneath my labours, how thy wond’ring eyes 416 
 Might fee the fable field at once arife! 
 
 Should Jove dire war unloofe; with fpear and 
 fhield, 
 
 And nodding helm, I tread th’ enfanguin’d field, 
 Fierce in the van: then wou’dft thou, wou’dft 
 thou,—fay,— 420 
 
 Mifname me, glutton, in that glorious day ? 
 
 No, thy ill-judging thoughts the brave difgrace j 
 ’Tis thou injurious art, not lam bafe. i 
 
 Proud to feem brave among a coward train ! 
 
 But know, thou art not valorous but vain. 425 
 Gods ! fhould the fternUlyfles rife in might, 
 Thefe gates would feem too narrow for thy flight. 
 
 Tyrrheus is no otherwife a warriour, than as a deer un¬ 
 der his charge, being killed, engages him in a quarrel, 
 and he arms the rufticks to encounter the Trojans who 
 flew it. 
 
 f( -vocat agmina Tyrrheus 
 
 Quadrifidam quercum ctlneis ut forte coa&is 
 Seindebat”—- 
 
 Tyrrheus, the fofter father of the bead. 
 
 Then clench’d an hatchet in his horny fiitj 
 But held his hand from the defcending ftroke, 
 
 And left his wedge within the cloven oak. 
 
 * » 
 
 I 
 
 It is true, though Tyrrheus was not matter of the horfe 
 to the king, yet his office w r as a poll of dignity, otherwife 
 it had been very eafy for Virgil to have given him a more 
 noble employment. 
 
 U % 
 
292 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. EookXVIIL 
 
 While yet he fpeaks, Eurymachus replies. 
 
 With indignation fiafhing from his eyes. 
 
 Slave, I with juftice might deferve the wrong, 
 Should I not punifh that opprobrious tongue, 431 
 Irrev’rent to the great, and uncontroFd, 
 
 Art thou from wine, or innate folly, bold ? 
 
 Perhaps, thefe outrages from Irus flow, 
 
 A worthlefs triumph o’er a worthlefs foe! 435 
 
 He faid, and with full force a footftool threw: 
 Whirl’d from his arm with erring rage it flew; 
 Ulyfles, cautious of the vengeful foe, 
 
 Stoops to the ground, and difappoints the blow. 
 
 Not fo a youth who deals the goblet round, 440 
 Full on his fhoulder it inflidls a wound, 
 
 Dalh’d from his hand the founding goblet flies,’ 
 
 He fhrieks, he reels, he falls, and breathlefs lies. 
 
 Then wild uproar and clamour mounts the (ky, 
 ’Till mutual thus the peers indignant cry ; 445 
 
 O had this ftranger funk to realms beneath, 
 
 To the black realms of darknefsand of death. 
 
 Ere yet he trod thefe {bores ! to ftrife he draws 
 Peer againft peer; and what the weighty caufe ? 
 
 A vagabond ! for him the great deftroy 450 
 
 In vile ignoble jars, the feaft of joy. 
 
 'Fo whom the flern Telemachus uprofe ! 
 
 Gods ! what wild folly from the goblet flows ? 
 Whence this unguarded opennefs of foul, 
 
 But from the licence of the copious bowl ? 455 
 
Book XVIII. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 293 
 
 Or heav’n dclufion fends: but hence, away ! 
 
 Force I forbear, and without force obey. 
 
 Silent, abafli’d, they hear the flern rebuke, 
 
 ’Till thus Amphinomus the filence broke. 
 
 True are his words, and he whom truth offends 
 Not with Telemachus, but truth contends ; 461 
 
 Let not the hand of violence invade 
 The rev’rend flranger, or the fpotlefs maid; 
 
 Retire we hence ! but crown with rofy wine 
 The flowing goblet to the Pow’rs divine-, 465 
 Guard he his gueft beneath whofe roof he (lands, 
 This juftice, this the focial rite demands. 
 
 The peers aflent; the goblet Mulius crown’d 
 With purple juice, and bore in order round; 
 
 • 
 
 V. 457. Force I forbear , and without force obey.'] This 
 is very artful in Telemachus; he had fpoken warmly in 
 defence of Ulyfles, and he apprehends left he fhould have 
 provoked the fuitors too far j he therefore foftens his expref- 
 fxon,to avoid fufpicions of a latent cauie, why he interefts 
 himfelf fo vigoroufly in vindication of a beggar, againft 
 the princes of the country. Befides, too obftinate an op. 
 pofition might have provoked the fuitors to have con¬ 
 tinued all night in the palace, which would have hin¬ 
 dered Ulyfles and Telemachus from concerting their mea- 
 fures to bring about their deftru&ion : Telemachus there¬ 
 fore, to induce them to withdraw, ufes menaces, but me¬ 
 naces approaching to perfuafion : if he had ufed violence, 
 matters muft immediately have come to extremities. 
 
294 HOMER’s ODYSSEY. BookXVIIL 
 
 Each peer fucceflive his libation pours 470 
 
 To the blefl Gods that fill th’ aereal bow’rs j 
 
 V. 470. Each peer fuccejfvve his libation pour S 
 To the bleft Gods — -] 
 
 We have already obferved that libations were made to 
 the Gods before and after meals ; here we fee the fuitors 
 offer their libation before they retire to repofe. We are 
 not to afcribe this religious aft to the piety of thefe de¬ 
 bauchees, but to the cuftoms of the times; they praCtife 
 not true religion, but only the exteriors of it ; they are 
 not pious, but fafhionable. 
 
 The aCtion of this book is comprehended in a very 
 ftiort duration of time ; it begins towards the clofe of 
 the day, and ends at the time when the fuitors withdraw 
 to repofe ; this is the evening and part of the night of 
 the thirty ninth day. 
 
 In general, this book is in the Greek very beautiful s 
 the combat between Irus and Ulyffes is naturally defcrib- 
 ed; it is indeed between beggars, but yet not without 
 dignity, it being almoft of the fame nature with the 
 fingle combats praCtifed amongft heroes in their moft fo- 
 lemn games; as is evident from that in the Iliad, at the 
 funeral of Patroclus. I could wifh Homer had not con- 
 defcended to thofe low jefts and mean railleries towards 
 the conclufion : it is true, they are not without effeCt, as 
 they agree with the characters of the fuitors, and make 
 Ulyffes a fpeCtator of the diforders of his own family^ 
 and provoke him to a fpeedy vengeance: but might 
 not more ferious provocations have been found out, fuch 
 as might become the gravity and majefty of epick poe¬ 
 try ? or if gaiety was effential to his characters, are quib¬ 
 bles fo too ? Thefe may be thought to be of the fame le» 
 
BookXVm. HOMER’s ODYSSEY. 29S 
 
 *■ I 
 
 Then fwill’d with wine, with noife the: crowds 
 obey, 
 
 And rufliing forth tumultuous, reel away. 
 
 vel with thofe conceits which Milton puts into the mouth 
 of the devil, and which difgrace his poem. But the dig¬ 
 nity, the tendernefs, and juftnefsof the fentiments, in al} 
 the fpeeches of Penelope, more than atone for the low 
 railleries of Euryraachus. 
 
 
 END OF THE THIRD VOLUME. 
 

 
 
 
 
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