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AN 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 ORIGINAL GENIUS AND WRITINGS 
 
 HOME R: 
 
 A COMPARATIVE VIEW 
 
 Cp Ancient ann tlrrentt SbUtt of tt>t STroatre. 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 ROBERT WOOD, Esq. 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE DESCRIPTIONS OF PALMYRA AND BALBEC, 
 
 
 LONDON; 
 
 JOHN RICHARDSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE 
 
 AND RICHARD NEWBY, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 1824. 
 

 Printed by J. F, Dove, St. John»» Squar*. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 Having, in my Preface to the Ruins of Palmyra, 
 informed the Reader, that one of the objects of our 
 Eastern voyages was to visit one of the most cele- 
 brated scenes of ancient story, in order to compare 
 their present appearance with the early classical 
 ideas we had conceived of them ; and particularly, 
 that we proposed to read the Iliad and Odyssey in 
 the countries, where Achilles fought, where Ulysses 
 travelled, and where Homer sung; I considered 
 myself in some sort accountable to the public, and 
 my friends, for the result of this part of our scheme: 
 and therefore determined to employ my first leisure 
 in throwing together such observations, as this in- 
 quiry had furnished ; confining my first Essay of 
 this kind to what concerns the Greek Poet. 
 
 But, however ambitious I was to engage in the 
 cause of Homer, the difficulties I found as to the 
 manner of doing him justice, greatly embarrassed 
 me. For though our expectations from this object 
 of our curiosity were by no means disappointed, yet 
 I almost despaired of a satisfactory method of con- 
 veying to others a tolerable idea of the entertain- 
 ment we received from it on the spot. I must ac- 
 knowledge, that those difficulties may, with great 
 justice, be charged to my own account, rather than 
 to that of my subject ; for they do not arise so much 
 
 a 2 
 
4 TO THE READER. 
 
 from a scarcity, as from an exuberance of matter, 
 which crowds upon my choice too abundantly, to 
 admit of that contracted form, in which I think it 
 prudent to make an experiment of public taste, be- 
 fore I venture upon a work of more labour and ex- 
 tent. A review of Homer's scene of action leads 
 naturally to the consideration of the times, when he 
 lived ; and the nearer we approach his country and 
 age, the more we find him accurate in his pictures of 
 nature, and that every species of his extensive Imi- 
 tation furnishes the greatest treasure of original truth 
 to be found in any Poet, ancient or modern. 
 
 Desirous, however, of giving some idea of what 
 occurred to us, as travellers through those countries, 
 where Homer had formed his conception of things, 
 I submitted my thoughts upon this head some years 
 ago to the judgment of a friend, a who, from his pe- 
 culiar interest in the subject, his known respect for 
 the public, and his approved tenderness for me, 
 had a right to that compliment. 
 
 The sketch, which I communicated to him in the 
 form of a Letter, was so fortunate as to meet with 
 his approbation. But while, in compliance with his 
 wishes, I was preparing it for the press, I had the 
 honour of being called to a station, which, for some 
 years, fixed ray whole attention upon objects of so 
 very different a nature, that it became necessary to 
 lay Homer aside, and reserve the farther considera- 
 tion of my subject for a time of more leisure. 
 
 However, in the course of that active period, the 
 duties of my situation engaged me in an occasional 
 
 ■ The late Mr. Dawkins. 
 
TO THE READER. 5 
 
 attendance upon a nobleman, b who, while he pre- 
 sided at his Majesty's councils, reserved some mo- 
 ments for literary amusement. His Lordship was 
 very partial to this subject ; and I seldom had the 
 honour of receiving his commands on business, that 
 he did not lead the conversation to Greece and Ho- 
 mer. He desired to see the Letter here mentioned, 
 
 b The late Earl of Granville. Being directed to wait upon his 
 Lordship, a few days before he died, with the preliminary articles 
 of the Treaty of Paris, I found him so languid, that I proposed 
 postponing my business for another time : but he insisted that I 
 should stay, saying, it could not prolong his life, to neglect his duty? 
 and repeating the following passage, out of Sarpedon's speech, he 
 dwelled with particular emphasis on the third line, which recalled 
 to his mind the distinguishing part he had taken in public affairs. 
 
 ft ITETTOV, El flEV yap 7ToX£/LtOV TTEpl TOV%E (j)VyOVT£Q t 
 
 Aiei Srj fiEWoifXEV ayrjpio r adai/arto te 
 
 EoaE<x$', OYTE KEN AYTOS ENI IIPftTOI2I MAXOIMHN, 
 
 Ovte ke ae oreMoi/ii l^a-^rjv eq tcvdiavEtpav 
 Nw £', Ejjnrrjg yap KrjpEg E^Etrraaiv Savaroio 
 Mt/picu, ag ovk cert <f>vy£iv fipoTov, ov& i>7ra\v£cu, 
 Iv/liev II. xii. 322. 
 
 Could all our care elude the gloomy grave, 
 Which claims no less the fearful than the brave, 
 For lust of fame, I should not vainly dare 
 In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war. 
 But, since, alas! ignoble age must come, 
 Disease, and death's inexorable doom ; 
 The life, which others pay, let us bestow, 
 And give to Fame, what we to Nature owe. 
 
 Pope's Hom. II. xii. 387. 
 
 His Lordship repeated the last word several times, with a calm 
 and determinate resignation ; and after a serious pause of some mi- 
 nutes, he desired to hear the Treaty read; to which he listened 
 with great attention : and recovered spirits enough to declare the 
 approbation of a dying Statesman (I use his own words) on the 
 most glorious War, and most honourable Peace, this nation ever 
 saw. 
 
6 TO THE READER. 
 
 and was pleased to approve my method of treating 
 his favourite Poet. He advised me to publish the 
 substance of what I had written, changing the epis- 
 tolary style and form into that of a more regular 
 dissertation; and extending the work, from mate- 
 rials of the same sort (of which I laid a specimen 
 before him) into a more general Commentary upon 
 Homer. 
 
 I think, that I am justified in following only the 
 first part of this advice : for I consider it not only 
 respectful to him, for whom I write, but more pru- 
 dent with regard to myself, to trust these extracts 
 from my eastern observations to the Reader's indul- 
 gence, in their present contracted state, before I ven- 
 ture farther, even under the sanction of his Lord- 
 ship's respectable opinion. If the manner in which 
 this Essay is received, encourages me to proceed, I 
 shall, with more confidence, extend and methodise 
 the work, upon the plan his Lordship proposed ; if 
 not, there is already too much of it. 
 
 At present we shall confine our inquiry to Homer's 
 Mimetic Powers ; for, whether we consider him as 
 Geographer, Traveller, Historian, or Chronologer, 
 whether his Religion and Mythology, his Manners 
 and Customs, or his Language and Learning, are 
 before us ; in these several views his Imitation alone 
 is the great object of our attention. We shall admit 
 his ancient title of Philosopher only as he is a 
 Painter. Nor does it come within our plan to exa- 
 mine his pictures, except so far, as their truth and 
 originality are concerned. 
 
 * See the distinction of the Essay at p. 16. 
 
TO THE READER. 7 
 
 His sanguine admirers may perhaps allege, that 
 of all poets he stands least in need of this sort of 
 illustration ; that the accuracy of his description is 
 too striking to want any comment : which, while 
 it explains, also damps and extinguishes the true 
 spirit and fire of his imagery ; and that his natural 
 and unaffected manner carries with it those obvious 
 marks of original invention, which discover (at first 
 sight, or not at all) that the picture has been faith- 
 fully taken from life. 
 
 Admitting the justness of this encomium in its 
 utmost extent, it will surely be allowed, that he 
 enters most into the spirit of the Copy, who is best 
 acquainted with the Original. If, therefore, we 
 would do the Poet justice, we should approach, as 
 near as possible, to the time and place, when and 
 where, he wrote. This applies more properly to the 
 Odyssey; for, as that poem is more descriptive of 
 private and domestic life, so its beauties are more 
 local, and its paintings are of that finished kind, 
 which produces resemblance and character out of 
 very trivial incidents ; and these delicate touches, 
 though essentially concerned in making out the 
 likeness, are so minute, as to escape observation, if 
 the copy and original be not confronted. 
 
 May not this, in some degree, account for that 
 superiority, which the Iliad has assumed over the 
 Odyssey for many ages ? a superiority, which, if I 
 am not mistaken, must still gain ground, in propor- 
 tion to our distance from, and ignorance of, the 
 times which the Poet describes. For, supposing 
 their merit equal, that Poem must longest survive, 
 
8 TO THE READER. 
 
 which abounds most in the great tragic passions, 
 and partakes least of the fluctuating manners of 
 common life. It may, perhaps, be alleged on the 
 other hand, that, in d an early competition between 
 
 d Madame Dacier, in her Preface to the Odyssey, says, " II 
 est constant, que le jugement de I'Antiquite sur ses deux Poemes 
 est, que celui de l'lliade est d'autant plus beau que celui de 
 l'Odyssee, que la valeur d'Achille est superieure a celle d'Ulysse ; 
 c'est ce que Platon nous apprend dans le second Hippias, ou So- 
 crate dit a Eudicus, qu'il avoit sou vent oui porter ce jugement a 
 son pere Apemantus." I wish the Reader would turn to the pas- 
 sage, on which this confident appeal to the judgment of antiquity 
 is founded ; I am persuaded, he will see, that Madame Dacier 
 has been mistaken in the single instance, which she produces of an 
 ancient preference of the Iliad to the Odyssey ; and that this 
 learned Lady has not sufficiently attended, either to the grave 
 irony, which is the character of this dialogue, or to the sense of 
 the particular passage to which she alludes. Socrates advances no 
 opinion of his own here, nor does he seriously refer to the opinion 
 of Apemantus ; but, for argument's sake, he slyly suggests a topic, 
 which he knows will engage the sophist's vanity, and takes occasion 
 thence to exhibit a humorous caricatura of the pedantic pre- 
 sumption, bad taste, and absurd reasoning, of that set of men, 
 Nor is the valour of Achilles under consideration in this ridiculous 
 dispute. The word afieivuv, which, in its early signification, fre- 
 quently alluded to mere strength and courage, might indeed 
 have been equivocal, had not all ambiguity been removed, by a 
 thorough explanation, in the subsequent part of the dialogue, 
 where Socrates asks Hippias, which of the two, Achilles or 
 Ulysses, he preferred ? and in what the one excels the other ? 
 TroTEpov afjietru); kai vara n ; Hippias answers the first question by 
 saying, that he thinks Achilles the best (apiaror) of the Grecians ; 
 and second, by observing, that he excels as much in plainness and 
 truth, as Ulysses does in duplicity and falsehood. The veracitv 
 of the heroes of the Iliad and Odyssey being thus ludicrouslv laid 
 down as the test of their merit (in which that of the two Poems is 
 absurdly involved), Socrates proceeds to demonstrate, with much 
 ironical sophistry, that Achilles has no claim of preference under 
 this title. In short, if any conclusion at all could be drawn from 
 a detached paragraph of this dialogue, with regard to the judgment 
 of antiquity, upon the merit of those two Poems, it would be rather 
 
TO THE READER. 9 
 
 the two poems, the judgment of antiquity was fa- 
 vourable to the Iliad. But I believe, that, what- 
 ever weight such a preference ought to have, it can 
 be traced no higher than Longinus, whose partiality 
 for this poem (which, however, is but slightly 
 marked) seems founded, partly in his own genius, 
 and, perhaps, a little in that of his age, when the 
 modes of life differed so much from those of the 
 heroic times. It is not extraordinary, that a critic 
 of his fire and imagination, should prefer a pathetic 
 drama to a moral story, and kindle at pictures of 
 passions, which he had often felt, though indifferent 
 to the representation of manners, he never saw. 
 But I cannot help thinking, that the Odyssey, con- 
 sidered in its interesting character, as a picture of 
 ljfe, must have been most generally relished, by the 
 age and country, to which it was addressed ; and 
 that, if it has contributed less to the Author's fame 
 in later times, it is because the peculiar precision, 
 and closeness of its minute representation^ well in 
 manners, as landscape, must find fewer modern 
 judges, in proportion to our ignorance of the private 
 characters, familiar occurrences, and domestic sce- 
 nery, of the heroic ages : while the Iliad, addressing 
 
 unfavourable to M. Dacier's opinion, and could only amount to this, 
 that the dogmatical presumption of the Sophists (who had arro- 
 gantly assumed a right of decision in every province of Literature) 
 is exposed, on this occasion, by Plato, for preferring the Iliad to 
 the Odyssey, upon principles of criticism, equally void of taste and 
 reason. I must also observe, that Aristotle, Horace, and Quintilian, 
 the great professed critics of antiquity, make no such distinction 
 that I can find ; nor does Virgil (the best of all critics on Homer, 
 and his most distinguishing admirer) discover any partiality of this 
 kind. 
 
10 TO THE READER. 
 
 itself more universally to the passions, in. animated 
 pictures of human nature, appeals more forcibly to 
 those feelings, which are common to every age and 
 country. 
 
 I must confess I am a little surprised, there should 
 still be so large a field open for observation, of this 
 kind; and, particularly, that those who have af- 
 fected to discover so perfect a system of morals and 
 /politics in Homer, should have bestowed so little 
 consideration upon the character of the times for 
 which this instruction was calculated. For, though 
 the Poet's age, and that of his great critic, have 
 never been properly distinguished by any author I 
 have yet met with, I will venture to say, that they 
 differed as much, with regard to their reigning vir- 
 tues and vices, their state of police and degree of 
 civilization, their modes and tastes, in short, the 
 great business and leading pleasures of life, as we 
 do in these respects, from our Gothic ancestors in 
 the days of chivalry and romance. 
 
 I believe the truth is, that Homer's deep political 
 and ethic plan has been carried much farther than 
 he intended : his great merit, as an instructor of 
 mankind, seems to be that of having transmitted to 
 us a faithful transcript, or (which is, perhaps, more 
 useful) a correct abstract of human nature, impar- 
 tially exhibited under the circumstances, which be- 
 longed to his period of society, as far as his experi- 
 ence and observation went. Nor should we think 
 less respectfully of the important moral lessons 
 which may be collected from the Iliad, and still 
 more from the Odyssey: for elegant imitation has 
 
TO THE READER. 11 
 
 strange powers of interesting us in certain views of 
 nature. These we consider but transiently, till the 
 Poet or Painter awake our attention, and send us 
 back to life with a new curiosity, which we owe en- 
 tirely to the copies which they lay before us. In a 
 judicious collection of those pleasing and instruc- 
 tive sketches of manners, where the artist is happy 
 in his choice, the arrangement, and the truth of 
 his characters, have this advantage over real life, 
 that they are susceptible of a more deliberate exa- 
 mination and close comparison, than the fleeting 
 and dispersed originals will admit. 
 
 Should the fate of the experiment, I am now 
 making, convince me of a common error, of which 
 I have too much reason to be apprehensive, viz. that 
 of mistaking a fondness of my subject for a know- 
 ledge of it, I again promise to stand corrected, and 
 to spare at least the Public, if not myself, any far- 
 ther trouble on this head ; hoping that my partiality 
 to those romantic scenes of heroic action will meet * 
 with some indulgence, especially from those, who 
 can imagine, and therefore, I hope, excuse, that 
 species of enthusiasm, which belongs to such a 
 journey, performed in such society, where Homer 
 being my guide, and Bouverie and Dawkins my 
 fellow-travellers, the beauties of the first of poets 
 were enjoyed in the company of the best of friends. 
 However wild and unreasonable these feelings may 
 appear to judgments of a more sober cast, I must 
 still confess a return of their influence, whenever I 
 indulge in a grateful review of those happy days, 
 which we passed together, examining the Iliad on 
 
12 TO THE READER. 
 
 the Scamandrian plain, and tracing Ulysses, Me- 
 nelaus, and Telemachus, through the various scenes 
 of their adventures, with the Odyssey in our hands. 
 Had I been so fortunate as to have enjoyed their 
 assistance, in arranging and preparing for the Pub- 
 lic, the substance of our many friendly*conversa- 
 tions on this subject, I should be less anxious 
 about the fate of the following work. But whatever 
 my success may be in an attempt to contribute to 
 the amusement of a vacant hour, I am happy to 
 think, that though I should fail to answer the ex- 
 pectations of public curiosity, I am sure to satisfy 
 the demands of private friendship; and that, acting 
 as the only survivor and trustee for the literary con- 
 cerns of my late fellow-travellers, I am, to the 
 best of my judgment, carrying into execution the 
 purpose of men, for whose memory I shall ever 
 retain the greatest veneration. And though I may 
 do justice to the honest feelings, which urge me to 
 this pious task, by mixing an air of compliment in 
 an act of duty, yet I must not disown a private, 
 perhaps an idle consolation, which, if it be vanity 
 to indulge, it would be ingratitude to suppress, viz. 
 that as long as my imperfect descriptions shall pre- 
 serve from oblivion the present state of the Troade, 
 and the remains of Balbec and Palmyra, so long 
 will it be known that DAWKINS and BOU- 
 VERIE were my friends. 
 
 ROBERT WOOD. 
 
AN 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 THE ORIGINAL GENIUS 
 
 HOMER. 
 
 ORDER AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 SUBJECT. 
 
 Though the account we have given the reader of 
 that particular object of our eastern tour, which 
 furnished the subject of this Essay, may not have 
 entirely reconciled him to our views; yet, I hope, 
 the following fragment of ancient history will soften 
 the imputation of singularity, or affectation, to which, 
 I fear, our undertaking may, in some measure, be 
 exposed: as it will, at least, shew, that we were not 
 the first who thought of going to Troy to read 
 Homer. 
 
 When iEschines the orator was banished from 
 Athens to Rhodes, by his victorious rival in elo- 
 quence, we are told, that one of the amusements of 
 his exile was an excursion to Troy, accompanied 
 by his friend Cymon, in order to examine that cele- 
 brated spot, with the Iliad in his hand. We also 
 learn, that a very romantic piece of gallantry, in 
 which his fellow-traveller rashly engaged on the 
 banks of Scamander, in violation of the laws both 
 
14 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 of decency and hospitality, interrupted the execu- 
 tion of this scheme ; and perhaps by these means 
 deprived us of a valuable piece of criticism on the 
 geography of that poem. The reader, who wishes 
 to see this tale prettily embellished, must look for it 
 in Fontaine: in the mean time, I shall refer him to 
 the annexed note a for this curious historv, and the 
 authority upon which it is founded. 
 
 His attempt, however unsuccessful, suggests this 
 observation in our favour, viz. that about the most 
 refined period of Greek letters, when Homer was 
 best understood, and most relished, an Athenian 
 of distinguished taste, who was his great admirer, 
 had formed such expectations from reading the 
 Iliad on the Scamandrian plain, that he undertook 
 a voyage to Troy expressly with that view. 
 
 Whatever the object of our plan was, the reader 
 is only interested in the fruits which it may have 
 produced ; and of this he will be best enabled to 
 
 a Without vouching for the authenticity of those letters of 
 iEschines, in which this story is contained, I shall take from them 
 the following abstract of it. It was an annual custom at Troy, 
 that the girls, who were to be married that year, on a certain day, 
 bathe in the Scamander, and consecrate their virginity to the god 
 of that river. &schines and Cymon were admitted, as strangers, 
 to see this ceremony, at a proper distance. When Callirhoe, a 
 beautiful young lady of a good family, went into the river, and 
 pronounced the words used on that occasion, viz. " Scamander, 
 take my virgin flower;" Cymon, who had concealed himself among 
 the bushes, dressed like a river god, stepped forth, and answered, 
 u The god Scamander accepts your present, and prefers you to all 
 your companions," and retired with her. A few days after, when 
 the new-married couples assisted at the festival of Venus, the tra- 
 vellers also attended upon that occasion ; and Callirhoe discovering 
 Cymon, innocently pointed him out to her friend as the god Sca- 
 mander, to whom she had consecrated her virginity. The affair 
 was by these means discovered, and iEschines and his friend were 
 obliged to make their escape. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 15 
 
 form his own judgment, by comparing our survey 
 of the Troade, with the account which he finds of 
 it in the Iliad. If, at the same time, he will take 
 the pains of extracting from that poem a mere 
 journal of the siege of Troy, stripped of all poetical 
 embellishments, he will find, that, notwithstanding 
 the great share, which fancy has had in the compo- 
 sition, it contains in general a consistent narrative of 
 military events, connected, and supported, by that 
 due coincidence of the circumstances of time, and 
 place, which history requires. 
 
 But as his accuracy is by no means confined to 
 the principal scene of his action, I beg leave, before 
 we come to the examination of our map of Troy, 
 to take a view of that exactness, which runs through 
 his descriptions of every kind. If, upon the whole, 
 the observations which I shall offer on this head 
 have any weight, I think they will support this con- 
 clusion ; viz. That however questionable Homer's 
 superiority may be, in some respects, as a perfect 
 model for composition, in the great province of 
 imitation he is the most original of all poets, and 
 the most constant and faithful copier after nature. 
 
 I was the more confirmed in this judgment, the 
 more I referred myself back to the state of society 
 and manners of that early period. I therefore ex- 
 amined the materials of the Iliad and Odyssey, not 
 only where they were collected, but, as nearly as 
 possible, in the same order, in the same light, and 
 under the same point of view, in which I imagine 
 they presented themselves to the Poet's choice- 
 making it the chief object of my inquiry to investi- 
 gate the several circumstances, and various relations 
 of this kind, which may be supposed to have influ- 
 enced his conception of things. 
 
 Though, from what has been already said, the 
 
16 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 reader will not expect strict method in this speci- 
 men; yet, for the sake of perspicuity, it may not be 
 amiss to lay before him the general order, which I 
 propose to observe in treating my subject. 
 
 I shall begin by offering a few conjectures with 
 regard to Homer's Country. In the next place I 
 shall take into consideration his Travels. These 
 I shall chiefly deduce from his Navigation and 
 Geography ; the first will lead to some observa- 
 tions on his Winds, as the second will introduce a 
 review of that part of Mr. Pope's Translation, 
 which relates to this matter : and each of these 
 articles will give me an opportunity of vindicating 
 Homer from some unmerited imputations of inac- 
 curacy. I shall also enter into an examination of 
 his Religion, Mythology, Manners, and Cus- 
 toms ; and, having considered him as an Histo- 
 rian and Chronologer, shall take a view of his 
 Language and Learning: and shall conclude 
 with his pretensions as a Philosopher; confining 
 myself however, in what I shall offer under these 
 different heads, to what is connected with my sub- 
 ject, and may serve to throw light upon his Ori- 
 ginal Genius. 
 
 HOMER'S COUNTRY. 
 
 The opinion of the ancients in respect to that old 
 subject of controversy, the place of Homer's birth 
 and education, though it coincides, in a great mea- 
 sure, with my judgment on that head, is not so much 
 the object of this inquiry, as it is to learn, if possi- 
 ble, from the Poet himself, where his fancy began to 
 open to the wide field of matter, which he so hap- 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 17 
 
 pily collected and arranged in that wonderful epic 
 form, that still continues to hold the first rank 
 among compositions of genius. What occurs to me, 
 in favour of the most received opinion, that he was 
 an Asiatic, probably an Ionian or iEolian," and per- 
 haps of Chios or Smyrna, is as follows. 
 
 If we survey his map of the world with attention, 
 I think we may discover, that his first impressions 
 of the external face of Nature were made in a coun- 
 try east of Greece, at least as far as we may be 
 allowed to form a judgment from his describing- 
 some places under a perspective, to which such a 
 point of view is necessary : as for example, when 
 he places the Locrians beyond Eubcea. This piece 
 of geography, though very intelligible at Smyrna or 
 Chios, would appear strange at Athens or Argos. 
 
 His description of the situation of the Echinades, 
 beyond sea, opposite to Elis, c has something equi- 
 vocal in it, which is cleared up, if we suppose it 
 addressed to the inhabitants of the Asiatic side of 
 the Archipelago. But if, with Mr. Pope, d we un- 
 derstand the words beyond sea to relate to Elis, I 
 think we adopt an unnatural construction to come at 
 a forced meaning; for the old Greek historians tell 
 us, that those islands are so close upon the coast of 
 
 b When we consider in how narrow a compass those contiguous 
 countries lie, I believe we shall think it a little too nice to deter- 
 mine that Homer belonged to the latter upon the authority of his 
 language, and some customs which appear ^olian. 
 
 c Ueprjv aXoc, HXicioe avra. II. ii. 620. 
 
 d " And those who view fair Elis o'er the seas 
 
 From the blest islands of th' Echinades." II. ii. 759. 
 Madame Dacier has adopted the construction for which I contend, 
 without the least idea of applying it to the purpose for which I 
 quote the passage. Her words are, " Ceux de Dulichium et des 
 autres Echinades, de ces Isles sacrees qui sont a l'extremiK 1 de la, 
 mervisa visde la cote d'Elide." 
 
18 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 Elis, that in their time many of them had been 
 joined to it by means of the Achelons, which still 
 continues to connect them with the continent, by 
 the rubbish, which that river deposits at its month, 
 as I have had an opportunity of observing. 
 
 I think I can discover another instance of this 
 kind in the fifteenth book of the Odyssey, where 
 Eumaeus, the faithful servant of Ulysses, is de- 
 scribed, entertaining his disguised master with a 
 recital of the adventures of his youth. He opens 
 his story with a description of the island of Syros, 
 his native land, and places it beyond or above 
 Ortygia. Now, if we consider that Ithaca was the 
 scene of this conference between Ulysses and Eu- 
 maeus, it will appear, that the situation of Syros is 
 very inaccurately laid down ; for, in reality, this 
 island, so far from being placed beyond, or farther 
 from, Ithaca than Ortygia is, should have been de- 
 scribed as nearer to it. An ingenious friend thinks 
 that KaOvTTtpQev may relate to the latitude ; and that 
 Homer meant to describe Syros, as north of Orty- 
 gia : but I cannot help thinking that the application 
 of high to northern latitudes is much later than 
 Homer. 
 
 As therefore the same description would have 
 been perfectly agreeable to truth, had it been made 
 in Ionia, is it not reasonable to suppose, that the 
 poet received his early impressions of the situation 
 of Syros in that part of the world, and had upon 
 this occasion forgotten to adapt his ideas to the 
 spot, to which the scene is shifted ? 
 
 If my conjecture is thus far admitted, I beg leave 
 to proceed to a farther use of it, in attempting to 
 throw some light on this obscure expression, o0, 
 rpoTrai »?£Xtoio. It is important to that part of the 
 Poet's character now under consideration, to have 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 19 
 
 his sense of these words restored, if possible; for 
 they have been urged as an argument of his gross 
 ignorance of geography, by those, who think they 
 relate to the latitude of Syros, and that this descrip- 
 tion places that island under the tropic. 
 
 Without entering into that labyrinth e of learning, 
 
 e Mr. Pope and Madame Dacier's notes will point out to those, 
 who have farther curiosity on this head, some of the different ex- 
 planations which have added perplexity to this passage. 
 
 " There curious eyes inscribed with wonder trace 
 
 The sun's diurnal, and his annual race."— Od. xv. 440. 
 
 " The words in Homer (says Mr. Pope) are rpo-rrai ijeXioio, or solis 
 conversiones. M. Perrault insults the Poet as ignorant of geo- 
 graphy, for placing Syros under the tropic; an error (says he) 
 which commentators in vain have laboured to defend, by having 
 recourse to a sun-dial of Pherecydes on which the motions of the 
 sun (the rpoirat fjeXioto) were designed. The last defence would 
 indeed be ridiculous, since Pherecydes flourished three hundred 
 years after the time of Homer. No one (replies Monsieur Boileau) 
 was ever at any difficulty about the sense of this passage ; Eusta- 
 thius proves that rpe-Kzabai signifies the same as <t>vvetv, and denotes 
 the setting of the sun ; so that the words mean, that Syros is situ- 
 ate above Ortygia, on that side where the sun sets, or westerly, 
 Trpog to. Zvtikvl fj.ept] Ttjg OpTvyictQ. It is true, Eustathius mentions 
 a bower, I^Xato^, in which the conversions of the sun were 
 figured. This indeed would fully vindicate Homer ; but Bochart 
 and others affirm, that Eustathius is in an error ; and that Syros is 
 so far from lying to the west, or irpoq rpoirac yeXwio, that it bears 
 an eastern position both with respect to Ithaca and Delos : How is 
 this objection to be answered ? Bochart, p. 411. of his Geographia 
 sacra, explains it by having recourse to the bower mentioned by 
 Eustathius, in which the motions of the sun were drawn. Phere- 
 cydes (says Hesychius Milesius) having collected the writings of 
 the Phoenicians, from the use of them alone, without any instruc- 
 tor, became famous in the world by the strength of his own genius : 
 and Laertius writes, that an Heliotrope made by him was pre- 
 served in the island of Syros. Thus it is evident, that he borrowed 
 his knowledge from the Phoenicians, and probably his skill in astro- 
 nomy ; they being very expert in that science, by reason of its 
 use in their navigation. Why then might there not be a machine 
 which exhibited the motion of the sun, made by the Phoenicians,, 
 
 B 2 
 
20 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 with which the critics on both sides have so much 
 embarrassed this passage, that it is hard to say, 
 
 and why might not Homer be acquainted with it? It is probable 
 thatPherecydes took his pattern from this Heliotrope, which, being 
 one of the greatest rarities of antiquity, might give a great repu- 
 tation to Syros, and consequently was worthy to be celebrated by 
 Homer, the great preserver of antiquities. Fallitur igitur (says 
 Bochart) Eustathius, cum vult intelligi, quasi sita sit Syrus ad 
 occiduas partes Deli ; cum contra Deli ad ortum sit Syrus, non 
 ad occasum ; et rem sic se habere ex ipso Homer o patet, apud quern 
 Eumceus in Ithaca, Syriam asserit esse trans Delum, quo nihil dici 
 potuit falsius, si Syrus sit ad occasum Deli. If this answer ap- 
 pears to any person too studied and abstruse, the difficulty may 
 be solved, by supposing Euinaeus speaking of Delos as it lay with 
 respect to Syros, before he was carried from it; for instance, if 
 Syros lies on the east of Delos to a man in Ithaca, both Ithaca and 
 Delos will lie on the west of Syros to one of that island. I would 
 therefore imagine that Eumaeus speaks as a native of Syros and 
 not as a sojourner in Ithaca, and then Delos will lie towards the 
 sun-setting, or irpog i)\iov rpoTrac. But this last I only propose as 
 a conjecture, not presuming to offer it as a decision." So far Mr. 
 Pope. — Madame Dacier observes as follows : 
 
 " Voici u n passage tres-important. M. Despreaux, dans ses 
 Reflexions sur Longin, a fort bien refute la ridicule Critique que 
 l'Auteur du Parallele, homme qui etoit tres iguoraut en Grec, en 
 Latin, et sur-tout en Geographic, avoit faite contre Homere, c'est- 
 a-dire, contre le pere de la Geographie, en l'accusant d'etre tombe 
 dans la plus enorme bevue qu'un Poete ait jamais faite : C'est, 
 dit-il, d'avoir mis VIsle de Syros et la Isler Mediterrante sous le 
 Tropique ; btvue^ ajoute-t-il, que les Interprttes d Homere ont tdcht 
 en vain de sauver, en expliquant ce passage du Cadran que le Phi- 
 losophe Pherecyde, qui vivoit trois cens ans apres Homere, avoit fait 
 dans cette Isle. II n'y a rien-la, qui ne marque lignorance gros- 
 siere de cet Auteur; car il est 6galement faux et qu'Homere ait 
 place lisle de Syros sous le Tropique, et qu'on ait jamais voulu 
 justifier ce Poete, en expliquant ce passage du Cadran de Phere- 
 cyde,qui ne fut fait que trois cens ans apres. Mais je suis fachee 
 que M. Despreaux, qui refute cette malheureuse Critique avec tant 
 de raison et de solidite, ne soit pas mieux entre lui meme dans le 
 veritable sens de ce passage, et qu'il se soit laisse tromper par une 
 noted'Eustathe, qui lui a persuade que ces mots 6di-po-ai IjeXioio, 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 21 
 
 whether Homer has suffered most by his ignorant 
 enemies, or his officious friends ; I beg to carry the 
 
 veulent dire que lisle de Syros est au couchant de Delos ; car 
 c'est ainsi qu'Eustathe Pa d'abord explique, Keifxevrj irpog rpo-rrag 
 r/XioVj rjTot TTpog ra cvtikcl jj.epr) ttjq Oprvyiag, &c. C'est-a-dire, que 
 Syros est situee au Couchant du Soleil, au Couchant de l'Isle 
 d'Ortygie; car rpETrecrSai, se tourner, se dit du Soleil pour Svveiv, 
 se coucher. M. Despreaux devoit voir que cette explication est 
 insoutenable, car il est absolument faux que l'Isle de Syros soit au 
 Couchant de Delos. Aucun Geographe ne Pa jamais dit. Et 
 comment Homere auroit-il pu le dire dans le meme vers ou il a 
 dit OpTvyiag KaQvxepQev, au dcssus de l'Isle d'Ortygie ; ce qui est 
 au dessus ou au-de-la, de cette Isle par rapport a Eum6e qui est 
 a Ithaque, ne peut jamais etre au Couchant. Voici comme eu 
 parle le savant Bochart dans sa Chanaan, Liv. I. chap. xiv. Ens- 
 tathe se trompe quand il veut que par ijXtov rponag, on entende le 
 Couchant, comme si VIsle de Syros ttoit au Couchant de Delos, 
 car au contraire elle est au Levant et non au Couchant de cette 
 Isle. C'est la situation que lui donnent les Geographes, et il ne 
 faut que ce vers d' Homere pour prouver que c'est sa veritable posi- 
 tion, puisqu' Eumte, qui est a Ithaque, assure que Syros est au 
 dessus, au de Id d'Ortygie, ce qui seroit trts-faux si elle ttoit au 
 Couchant de Delos ; Eumee auroit plutot du dire en deed. II falloit 
 done s'en tenir a la seconde explication qu'Eustathe a .ajoutee 
 dans sa meme Remarque: D'autres, dit-il, expliquent ce passage en 
 disant que dans VIsle de Syros il y avoit un autre qui marquoit les 
 conversions du Soleil, c'est a-dire les Solstices, et quon appelloit 
 V autre du Soleil par cette raison. Et voild ce qu' Homere entend 
 par ces mots, oil sont les conversions du Soleil. Voila la seule ve- 
 ritable explication ; elle merite d'etre eclaircie. Nous voyons 
 par ce passage meme que les Pheniciens avoient fait un long sejour 
 dans l'Isle de Syros ; il est certain que le nom meme de Syros 
 vient des Pheniciens, comme nous le verrons plus bas, et nous 
 savons d'ailleurs que les Pheniciens etoient tres-savans en astrono- 
 mie, c'est de-la qu'il faut tirer l'explication de rpoirai fjeXioio et il 
 est aise de voir que c'est ifkioTponiov, l'heliotrope, e'est-a-dire le 
 Cadran, et par-la Homere nous apprend que les Pheniciens avoient 
 fait dans cette Isle un Cadran dont le style ou l'aiguille, par le 
 moyen de son ombre, marquoit les solstices. Et comme e'etoit 
 une chose fort rare et fort merveilleuse dans ces temps-la, Homere, 
 fort curieux et fort instruit de tous ces points d'Antiquite, la 
 
22 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 reader, for a moment, to the Asiatic side of the 
 Archipelago, in order to examine, whether a view 
 of things under that perspective, offers any appear- 
 ances, to which those words can be naturally ap- 
 plied, without violence to their literal meaning. 
 
 No part of our tour afforded more entertainment, 
 than the classical sea prospects from this coast, and 
 the neighbouring islands ; where the eye is naturally 
 carried westward by the most beautiful terminations 
 imaginable; especially when they are illuminated 
 by the setting sun, which shews objects so dis- 
 tinctly in the clear atmosphere, that from the top of 
 Ida I could very plainly trace the outline of Athos 
 on the other side of the iEgean sea, when the sun 
 set behind that mountain. This rich scenery prin- 
 cipally engaged the Poet's attention : and if we con- 
 sider him as a painter, we shall generally find his 
 
 marque comme une rarete qui distinguoit cette isle. Bientot apres 
 Ies Cadrans fureut plus comrauns. Environ six vingts ans apres 
 Homere, l'Ecriture sainte fait mention, 4 Rois. xx. 2. d'un Cadran 
 qui 6toit a Jerusalem, et qu'on appelloit le Cadran d'Achas, sur 
 lequel Dieu fit, en faveur de ce Prince, que Tombre retrograda de 
 dix degrez. Ce Cadran rnarquoit les heures, et non les solstices. 
 II y avoit done des Cadrans avant celui de Pherecyde, qui ne fit 
 le sien a Syros que deux cens ans apres celui d'Achas, et trois 
 cens ans apres celui des Phenicieus, et par consequent, pour ex- 
 pliquer ce passage d'Homere, on n'a eu recours qu'a ce Cadran 
 des Pheniciens, et nullement a celui de Pherecyde, qu'Homere n'a 
 jamais connu. II me semble que cela est- prouve. Mais il y a 
 plus encore, e'est qu'il y a biende lapparence que ce Cadran, que 
 Pherecyde fit a Syros trois cens ans apres Homere, ne fut fait que 
 sur les decouvertes des Pheniciens; car Hesychius de Mil t, dans 
 le livre qu'il a fait de ceux qui ont ete celebres par leur erudition, 
 nous assure que Pherecyde, qui etoit de Syros meme, n'eut point 
 de maitre, et qu'il se rendit habile en etudiant quelques litres se- 
 cretes des Pheniciens qu'il avoit recouvrez. Je me flate que ce pas- 
 sage d'Homere est assez eclairci, et e'est par le secours que M. 
 Dacier m'a donne." 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 23 
 
 face turned this way. In the infancy, and even 
 before the birth of astronomy, the distinct variety 
 of this broken horizon would naturally suggest the 
 idea of a sort of ecliptic to the inhabitants of the 
 Asiatic coast and islands, marking the annual 
 northern, and southern progress of the sun. Let us 
 suppose the Ionians looking south-west from the 
 heights of Chios at the winter solstice, they would 
 see the sun set behind Tenos, and towards Syros, 
 the next island in the same south-west direction : 
 and having observed, that when he advanced thus far, 
 he turned back, they would fix the turnings (r|0O7rai) 
 of the sun to this point. I submit it, as matter of 
 conjecture, whether this explanation does not offer 
 a more natural interpretation of the passage than 
 any, which has yet been suggested. 
 
 In pursuance of the same method of illustrating 
 Homer's Writings and his Country from each other, 
 I shall draw some conjectures with regard to the 
 place of his birth, or at least of his education^ from 
 his similes. Here we may expect the most satisfac- 
 tory evidence, that an inquiry of this obscure nature 
 will admit. It is from these natural and unguarded 
 appeals of original genius, to the obvious and fami- 
 liar occurrences of common life, that we may not 
 only frequently collect the custom, manners, and 
 arts, of remote antiquity ; but sometimes disco- 
 ver the condition, and, I think, in the following in- 
 stances, the country of the Poet. 
 
 I shall begin with that beautiful comparison f of 
 
 f 'fie & avefxot ()vo ttovtov opiverov i)(dvo£vra t 
 BOPEHI KAI ZEWP02, Til TE 0PHKH0EN AHTON, 
 E\0ovr' B^aTcivqQ* afivZiQ he te KVfxa KeXaivov 
 Kopdverai, ttoWov Se irapei, ct\a (}>vkoq eyevav' 
 'fie (.ZolI^eto OvfioQ evt erTtjdeaariv Kyanov, — II. ix. 4. 
 As from its cloudy dungeon issuing forth 
 A double tempest of the west and north . 
 
24 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 the wavering and irresolute perplexity of the Greeks, 
 to an agitated sea ; and take this passage into con- 
 sideration the more willingly, as it has given occa- 
 sion to some severe strictures on the Poet's geo- 
 graphy. 
 
 Here we not only find a happy allusion, but, if I 
 am not mistaken, a beautiful sea piece : and in order 
 to do justice to its perspective, we should place our- 
 selves on the spot, or in the point of view, where the 
 Painter made his drawing; which will only answer 
 to some part of the Asiatic coast, or its islands. 
 
 It would be a false and affected refinement to sup- 
 pose, that the simile acquires any additional beauty 
 by the discovery of a real landscape in those lines. 
 The Poet's purpose, which was to paint the struggle 
 of wavering indecision in the people, distracted be- 
 tween a sense of honour and of danger, and alter- 
 nately resolving to fly or to stay, is, no doubt, com- 
 pletely satisfied in the general image, which he 
 makes use of. But though his meaning went no 
 farther, I am not less of opinion, that, upon this oc- 
 casion, his imagination suggested to him a storm, 
 which he had seen : and having myself had more 
 than once an opportunity of observiug from the 
 coast of Ionia the truth of this picture in every cir- 
 cumstance^ I cannot help giving it as an instance of 
 the Poet's constant original manner of composition, 
 which faithfully (though perhaps in this case inad- 
 vertently) recalls the images, that a particular strik- 
 ing appearance of Nature had strongly impressed 
 upon his youthful fancy, retaining the same local as- 
 
 Swells o'er the sea, from Thracian's frozen shore, 
 Heaps waves on waves, and bids the iEgean roar; 
 This way and that, the boiling deeps are tost ; 
 Such various passions urg'd the troubled host. — Pope. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 25 
 
 sociations, which accompanied his first warm con- 
 ception of them. 
 
 But lest my testimony, as an eye-witness of the 
 exact correspondence of this copy to the original, 
 from which I suppose it taken, should not be satis- 
 factory; I would propose a test of this matter, upon 
 which every reader will be enabled to form his own 
 judgment. Suppose a painter to undertake this 
 subject from Homer, he will find each object, not 
 only clearly expressed, though within the compass 
 of four hexameters ; but its particular place on the 
 canvas distinctly marked ; and the disposition, as 
 well as perspective, of the whole ascertained, with 
 a precision of outline, from which it is impossible to 
 depart. The Thracian mountains must form the 
 back ground, thence the tempest is to burst on the 
 iEgean sea, which has its proper stormy colouring; 
 while the Ionian shore covered with sea-wreck, by 
 a succession of waves breaking on its beach, will 
 make the fore-ground, where the Poet views, ad- 
 mires, and describes the whole. 
 
 A curious and attentive observer of Nature is per- 
 haps most liable to retain those marks of locality, 
 which it has been my object to trace in the Poet. An 
 elegant conception of external forms cannot easily 
 divest itself of the precise order and arrangement of 
 objects, with which it has at any time connected the 
 idea of beauty; and this may account for that Io- 
 nian point of view, to which Homer's scenery is so 
 much adapted, sometimes even in violation of those 
 rules, which critics have since laid down in regard 
 to unity of place. 
 
 We shall find this negligence more excusable, if 
 we credit that probable tradition of the wandering 
 Bard's chanting his compositions to his countrymen, 
 in the manner practised at this day in the East: a 
 
26 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 tradition which is favoured by the dramatic cast of 
 the Iliad and Odyssey. I have often admired the 
 spirited theatrical action of Italian and Eastern 
 poets, when they recite in the open air, pointing out 
 each object of description in an imaginary scenery 
 of their own extemporaneous creation, but availing 
 themselves at the same time of every real appear- 
 ance of Nature within view of their audience, that 
 is applicable to their subject, and connects it, in 
 some degree, with the spot, where the recital is 
 made. 
 
 After what has been said on this passage, I should 
 think it needless to mention the censure Erato- 
 sthenes passed upon it, had it not been so frequently 
 produced to the Poet's disadvantage, and urged as 
 a proof of his ignorance in geography. The error 
 laid to his charge is, that of making the west wind 
 blow from Thrace. I rest his defence against this 
 accusation upon the obvious answer of Strabo to so 
 strange a piece of criticism ; which is, in substance, 
 that Eratosthenes mistakes the Poet, when he con- 
 cludes from this passage, that he asserts, as a ge- 
 neral proposition, that the west wind blows from 
 Thrace ; the wind here mentioned blows from the 
 Thracian mountains upon the iEgean sea, and must 
 of course be a west wind in respect to Ionia. 
 
 For though this may not be exactly true, if we 
 are to talk with the precision of a modern seaman ; 
 yet we should remember, that in Homer's time there 
 were but four points to the compass. I must ob- 
 serve, that there are but two passages in the Iliad, 
 where winds are described as blowing from the 
 Thracian mountains across the iEgean upon the 
 Asiatic coast ; and in both cases Boreas and Ze- 
 phyrus are employed together. 
 
 But to proceed to other instances of the same 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 27 
 
 kind : when the formidable march of Ajax with his 
 corps is compared to a threatening storm coming 
 from the sea, I must observe (as an illustration, not 
 of the obvious beauties of the simile, but of the Poet's 
 country) that this can be no other than an Ionian, 
 or, at least, an Asiatic storm ; for it is raised by a 
 west wind, which, in those seas, can blow on that 
 coast alone. 
 
 When again, the irresistible rage of Hector is 
 compared to the violence of Zephyrus buffeting the 
 waves, we are not immediately reconciled to this 
 wind's appearance in that rough character, so little 
 known to western climates, and so unlike the 
 playful Zephyr of modern poetry. But, before we 
 condemn Homer as negligent of Nature, we should 
 see, whether he is not uniform in this representation, 
 and whether this is not the true Ionian character of 
 Zephyrus. 
 
 The very next simile of the same book is as much 
 to our purpose, where the numbers, tumult, and 
 eagerness of the Grecian army collecting to engage, 
 are compared to a growing storm, which begins at 
 sea, and proceeds to vent its rage upon the shore. 
 The west wind is again employed in this Ionian pic- 
 ture ; and we shall be less surprised to see the same 
 allusion so soon repeated, when we find, that of all 
 the appearances of Nature, of a kind so generally 
 subject to variation, there is none so constant upon 
 this coast. For at Smyrna the west wind blows into 
 the gulf for several hours, almost every day during 
 the summer season, generally beginning, in a gentle 
 breeze, before twelve o'clock, but freshening consi- 
 derably towards the heat of the day, and dying away 
 in the evening. During a stay of some days in this 
 city, at three different times, I had an opportunity 
 of observing the various degrees of this progress. 
 
28 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 from the first dark curl on the surface of the water, 
 to its greatest agitation, which was sometimes vio- 
 lent. Though these appearances admit of variation, 
 both as to the degree of strength, and the precise 
 time of their commencement, yet they seldom fail en- 
 tirely. This wind, upon which the health and plea- 
 sure of the inhabitants so much depend, is, by them, 
 called the Inbat. The Frank merchants have long 
 galleries running from their houses, supported by 
 pillars, and terminating in a chiosque, or open sum- 
 mer-house, to catch this cooling breeze, which, when 
 moderate^ adds greatly to the Oriental luxury of 
 their coffee and pipe. 
 
 We have seen how happily the poet has made use 
 of the growing violence of this wind, when he paints 
 the increasing tumult and agitation of troops rush- 
 ing to battle ; but, in a still silent picture, the allu- 
 sion is confined to the first dubious symptoms of its 
 approach, which are perceived rather by the colour, 
 than by any sound or motion of the water, as in the 
 following instance : 
 
 When Hector challenges the most valiant of the 
 Greeks to a single combat, both armies are ordered 
 to sit down to hear his proposal. The plain, thus 
 extensively covered with shields, helmets, and spears, 
 is, in the moment of this solemn pause, compared to 
 the sea, when a rising western breeze has spread a 
 dark shade over its surface. 
 
 When the reader has compared the similes, I have 
 pointed out, with the original materials, which I 
 have also laid before him 5 I shall submit to his con- 
 sideration, as a matter of doubtful conjecture, whe- 
 ther the Poet, thoroughly familiarized to those Ionian 
 features, may not have inadvertently introduced 
 some of them in the following picture, to which they 
 do not so properly belong. When Eidothea, the 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 29 
 
 daughter of Proteus, informs Menelaus at Pharos of 
 the time, when her father is to emerge from the sea ; 
 the circumstance of Zephyrus, introduced in a de- 
 scription of noon, darkening the surface of the water, 
 is so perfectly Ionian, and so merely accidental to 
 the coast of Egypt, that I cannot help suspecting the 
 Poet to have brought this image from home. 
 
 It would add no small weight to this reasoning, 
 could I find Virgil on my side of the question. His 
 judgment with regard to the Greek Poet deserves 
 more attention, than the highest critical authority 
 we can appeal to on this subject ; and if we examine 
 the imitations he has left us of some of the last pas- 
 sages to which I have referred ; we shall see, that in 
 each instance, he has omitted the original Ionian 
 circumstance of Zephyrus. 
 
 In claiming the sanction of so respectable an opi- 
 nion, I do not conclude from this omission (what is 
 immaterial to my purpose) that Virgil saw these 
 pictures were Ionian : it is enough that he saw they 
 were not Italian .; as every reader must, who consi- 
 ders that Zephyrus is not the stormy wind of that 
 country, and that it does not blow directly on any 
 part of the Italian coast. 
 
 In short, though Virgil copied Homer, perhaps, ■ 
 more than is generally imagined, at least more than 
 I have seen pointed out; yet, in the instances before 
 us, he copied him no farther, than he found Homer [ 
 and Nature to,agree ; and if he rejected the circum- 
 stance, which I call local, and retained only the ge- 
 neral beauties of his great master, in so doing, he 
 very properly accommodated himself to the natural 
 history of his own country. Thus the compliment 
 of the Italian to the Ionian poet is such, as we might 
 expect from the superior judgment of the one to the 
 superior invention of the other. 
 
30 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 There is a passage in the Odyssey, where Ze- 
 phyrus appears as a freezing, and Eurus as a 
 thawing wind. One would think it impossible for a 
 Roman poet to introduce these winds in this man- 
 ner, as it is so contrary to their established charac- 
 ter in Italy. Yet I am much mistaken if Ovid had 
 not these lines in view, and imitated them, without 
 departing from the ideas of his own climate. Of this 
 the reader will judge, by comparing them together. 
 
 The old fable of a cave in the mountains of 
 Thrace, which was the habitation of the winds, was 
 most probably taken from Homer. But succeed- 
 ing poets, the inhabitants of more western climates, 
 have dropped the particularities of this piece of 
 mythology, which seem to mark it the peculiar 
 growth of Ionia, or that neighbourhood; and are 
 satisfied with the general idea of all the winds 
 dwelling, indiscriminately, in those lofty mountains. 
 Whereas Boreas and Zephyrus are the only winds 
 he describes as the settled inhabitants of this coun- 
 try; and when, upon one occasion, he assembles 
 them all here, it is at an entertainment in the house 
 of Zephyrus, who appears to be at home, whilst the 
 rest of the company are guests and visitants. 
 
 I think, nothing leads us more directly towards 
 the Poet's home, than his general manner of treating 
 countries, in proportion to their remoteness from 
 Ionia, in the style of a traveller, and with that reve- 
 rence and curiosity, which distance is apt to raise; 
 while this spot, and (which is more remarkable) 
 even the grand scene of action of the Iliad, in its 
 neighbourhood, seem to have been too familiar and 
 indifferent for description, and are introduced, not 
 upon their own account, but from their inseparable 
 connexion with facts. And yet it is very observ- 
 able, that, whenever they appear, it is always under 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 31 
 
 that exact and just representation, which shews 
 a perfect knowledge of the ground. 
 
 Should it be objected, that, notwithstanding the 
 distance of Egypt and Phoenicia from Ionia, we do 
 not find the speciosa miracula of the Poet in those 
 countries, nor are they chosen for scenes of the mar- 
 vellous; it may be answered, that they were too 
 much distinguished, the one by Arts, Commerce, 
 and Navigation, and the other by fertility, popula- 
 tion, and science, to have admitted any representa- 
 tions, not coinciding, in some measure, with these 
 notorious circumstances. While the unfrequented 
 southern coast of Italy, with the island of Sicily, 
 and the kingdoms of Alcinous and Ulysses, though 
 not more distant, were less known, and of course 
 gave a freer scope to the Poet's fancy. 
 
 The major I longinquo reverentia is an observation 
 too well founded in Nature to have escaped Homer. 
 And though I may be accused of refinement, should 
 I carry my conjectures on this head so far as to 
 suspect, that it influenced him in choosing the hero 
 of one of his poems from a country very remote 
 from his own ; yet I must observe, that, whether it 
 was a matter of accident or choice, of all the 
 Grecian princes, who went to Troy, Ulysses was 
 the most distant; it certainly was a circumstance, 
 which accommodated the Odyssey particularly to 
 an Ionian meridian. 
 
 Were I to be guided by the faint lights which 
 history has thrown upon this subject, I should say, 
 that Homer was of Chios or Smyrna; and were I, 
 upon the same information, to take a part in that 
 competition, which has subsisted above two thou- 
 sand years between these places, I should declare 
 for the first: though, when I collect my evidence 
 merely from the Iliad and Odyssey, I see nothing 
 
32 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 that can be seriously urged on either side of that 
 question. To say the truth, whatever has been 
 offered, as mere conjecture, to shew that the Poet 
 was an Asiatic, cannot, without refinement, be al- 
 leged as a reason to determine whether he was an 
 Ionian or an ^olian, and still less to decide bet* 
 Chios or Smyrna: if, therefore, I am at all prq 
 sessed in favour of either place, I am ready to g 
 it up for any other part of the Asiatic coast, from 
 Rhodes to Tenedos, which future travellers may. 
 upon more careful examination, find most worthy 
 of that honour.* 
 
 HOMERS TRAVELS: 
 
 AND, FIRST, HIS NAVIGATION 
 
 Having taken a short view of the Poet it hoi 
 if, according to our proposed order, we follow him 
 abroad; I think, we shall find him a traveller of 
 curiosity and observation. 
 
 If our conjectures with regard to his country 
 well founded, he lived in an island, or upon the s< a- 
 coast. The Asiatic Greeks did not spread iota the 
 inland parts of that continent, but confined them- 
 selves to the shore, looking towards their mother- 
 country with an attachment and respect link do wn 
 to later ages. 
 
 When the great objects of human pursuit, whether 
 wealth, power, honours, or science, were do! lo be 
 acquired at home, it is not reasonable to supp 
 that a turn of mind like Homer's, should sit d< 
 
 * See Homer's Mythology, page 33.36, for farther illustration 
 of his country. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 33 
 
 contented with the poverty, ignorance, and inglo- 
 rious insignificance of his native spot. For though 
 ambition or avarice might not, yet curiosity, which 
 we cannot doubt his possessing in a great degree, 
 would naturally draw him forth into the active 
 scene. An impatient thirst after knowledge was in 
 those days only to be satisfied by travelling. The 
 tranquillity and security essentially necessary to 
 studious retirement were unknown to that state, 
 either of letters or government, at least in Greece. 
 Homer therefore had only the great book of nature 
 to peruse, and was original from necessity, as well 
 as by genius. 
 
 Few countries of the same extent have so much 
 sea-coast as Greece. The intercourse of its inha- 
 bitants with other countries, or with one another, 
 was mostly kept up by water. There is no land- 
 journey regularly described, either in the Iliad or 
 Odyssey, except that short one of Teh uiachus from 
 Pylos to Sparta; and even there Nestor submits to 
 the choice of his guest the alternative of going by 
 sea, though much the longest way. 
 
 In this state of things, and considering how much 
 the various occupations of high and low life were 
 then confined to one rank and order of men, it is 
 not extraordinary, that we should find the Poet so 
 conversant in the language and manners of the sea, 
 and so knowing, as welj in the business of the ship- 
 wright as of the sailor'. Indeed, it is only by follow- 
 ing him through each of those arts, that history is 
 furnished with the earliest account of them. Let 
 us therefore first examine his method of building, 
 and next his manner of navigating a ship. 
 
 If we compare the naval force of the different 
 states of Greece at the time of the Trojan war with 
 that of the same countries afterward, when iEgina, 
 
 c 
 
34 ON THE ORIGINAL ■ 
 
 Corinth, and Athens, had turned their thoughts to 
 trade and navigation ; we shall find, that their pro, 
 cress as maritime powers did not correspond with 
 die account of their shipping, as it is accurately 
 stated in Homer. It is natural to suppose that Co- 
 rinth, from its advantageous situation, should be 
 among the first cities on the continent of Greece, 
 after that country began to have a settled govern- 
 ment, which would enrich itself by commerce ; and 
 it was undoubtedly a great maritime power. But 
 this was long after the heroic, or, which is the same 
 thing, the mystical age of Greece. When Corinth 
 furnished her quota under Agamemnon, who from 
 the extent of sea-coast, and from the islands under 
 his command, was by far the greatest naval power 
 of that time, she is barely mentioned, without any 
 distinction to point out the consideration which she 
 afterward acquired in maritime affairs. The fleet, 
 which assembled at Aulis, consisted of open half- 
 decked boats, a sort of galleys with one mast, fit for 
 rowing or sailing. They were launched, and drawn 
 up on the beach occasionally, or fastened on shore, 
 and served as mere transports for soldiers, who were 
 at the same time mariners. There is nothing in 
 Homer that alludes to a regular sea engagement; or 
 that conveys any idea of that manner of carrying on 
 war. Those poles of an extraordinary length, which 
 he mentions, seem to have been used as an offensive 
 weapon against boarding; and may have been of 
 service in landing. When Achilles or Ulysses talk 
 of commanding naval expeditions, and destroying 
 cities with a fleet : or when Hercules is said to have 
 taken Troy with six ships only; the allusion is to 
 the numbers, which they carried to act on shore. 
 Their boats had a rudder, and ballast, but no an- 
 chor. The name of it does not occur in Homer; 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 35 
 
 nor was the use of that instrument known. If we 
 may form a judgment from the raft of Ulysses, there 
 was no metal employed ; the timbers being fastened 
 by pegs. In short, we know/ from good authority, 
 that ship-building had not made any great progress 
 in Greece before the expedition of Xerxes. The 
 best accounts thai; we can collect of the naval en- 
 gagements of those times is a proof of this. 
 
 It is, no doubt, difficult to describe and under- 
 stand accounts of battles. But whoever places him- 
 self on the spot where the Persian monarch is said 
 to have viewed the battle of Salamis, and at the 
 same time reads the account, which Herodotus, or 
 that which iEschylus, an eye-witness, gives in his 
 Persae, of that action ; and considers the shoalness 
 of the water, and the small space into which so many 
 ships were crowded, must think contemptibly of the 
 marine engagements in those days. 
 
 Agreeably to this account of ancient ships and 
 ship-building, we see, that though Homer's seamen 
 are expert in their manoeuvre, yet they are confined 
 to the precautions of that timid coasting navigation, 
 which is at this day practised in the Mediterranean, 
 in slight undecked vessels, unfit to resist the open 
 sea. Their first care is, to venture as little as pos-. 
 sible out of sight of land, to run along shore, and to 
 be ready to put in, and draw up their ships on the 
 beach, if there is no port, on the first appearance of 
 foul weather. 
 
 We find Nestor, Diomedes, and Menelaus, con- 
 sulting at Lesbos upon a doubt, which this imperfect 
 state of the art alone could suggest. The question 
 was, Whether, in their return to Greece, they should 
 keep the Asiatic coast till they past Chios, which 
 was the most secure, but the most tedious way 
 
 c 2 
 
3(j ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 home; or venture directly across the open sea, which 
 
 was the shortest, but the most dangerous? 
 
 I was present at a consultation on the same sort 
 of question, near the same place, and under the same 
 circumstances, as far as they concern the illustration 
 of our present inquiry. It was id the year 1742, 
 that I happened to be on board His Majesty's ship 
 the Chatham, then escorting the Turkey trade from 
 Constantinople to Scanderoon. When we were be- 
 tween Mytelene and Scio, and due north of the lat- 
 ter, in a dark night, with a brisk gale at north-west, 
 our Greek pilot proposed pushing through the chan- 
 nel of Scio ; but our officers, not caring to engage 
 so much with the land in that narrow passage, pre- 
 ferred the broad course, and, hauling close up to 
 the wind, left the island of Scio on the larboard side. 
 If we compare our situation with that of Nestor, 
 Diomede, and Menelaus, who had the ablest pilot 
 of that age on board, we see, that though our desti- 
 nations were different, our point under deliberation 
 was so far precisely the same, that we both doubted 
 between the shortest and the surest way. They 
 ventured to sea, though it was most dangerous ; we 
 chose it, because it was most safe; and this consti- 
 tutes one of the great differences between ancient 
 and modern navigation. 
 
 As the most respectable commentators on Homer 
 have, by their different constructions of part of the 
 passage here alluded to, deviated from that plain 
 sense of the Poet, in which, I think, his accuracy 
 consists, I shall enter a little more largely into the 
 consideration of the lines, which describe this navi- 
 gation, in order to ascertain their meaning. Though 
 it may carry us a little beyond the object immedi- 
 ately before us, it will only anticipate a specimen of 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 37 
 
 his historical accuracy (one of the proposed objects 
 of this Essay), and will shew how cautious we 
 should be not to disturb that delicate connexion 
 and thread of circumstances, which are seldom 
 disranged, even by the smallest alteration, without 
 endangering his truth and consistence. 
 
 Should we, in this view, strip those lines of their 
 poetical dress, and extract a plain narrative or 
 journal from the most literal and natural construc- 
 tion of the whole passage, it will, with very little 
 paraphrase, and that entirely furnished by the Poet 
 himself, produce the following piece of ancient 
 history. 
 
 " The demolition of Troy being at length accom- 
 plished, Agamemnon and Menelaus, disagreeing 
 about the farther measures to be taken upon that 
 occasion, summoned a council, in order to state 
 their different opinions. But this was done precipi- 
 tately, in the evening, an unseasonable time for de- 
 liberation, when the chiefs, rising from table, and 
 heated with wine, came improperly prepared for 
 considerations of that moment. The event corre- 
 sponded with the irregularity of such a proceeding; 
 for, the council being assembled, Menelaus pro- 
 posed, that they should embark for Greece : but 
 Agamemnon advised them first to appease the wrath 
 of Minerva by a hecatomb. This produced a de- 
 bate, which ended in much altercation between the 
 brothers ; so that the assembly broke up tumultu- 
 ously, without coming to any resolution. 
 
 " The Grecian army was, by these means, divided 
 into two parties, one espousing the sentiments of 
 Agamemnon, and the other those of Menelaus. Of 
 the last were Nestor, Diomede, and Ulysses; who, 
 having embarked their women and baggage, sailed 
 next morning, with a fair wind, forTenedos; where 
 
38 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 they sacrificed to the gods, to grant them a pro- 
 pitious voyage. 
 
 -Here a second dispute arose; for Ulysses s 
 party, paying court to the commander in chief, re- 
 turned to Troy. But Nestor, foreseeing the mis- 
 chiefs likely to happen, prudently continued his 
 voyage the second day, with Diomede, leaving 
 Menelaus behind at Tenedos. However, Menelaus 
 followed and overtook them the same day at Lesbos, 
 where he found them deliberating whether, in that 
 advanced season, it were most advisable to consult 
 their safety in the slower method of coasting round 
 by Mimas and the Cyclades, or to risk the shorter 
 passage, and make directly for Eubcea. 
 
 " They preferred the most expeditious course, 
 and sailed the third day from Lesbos; and the 
 wind proving very favourable, they made Geraestum 
 that night. 
 
 " Having so prosperously accomplished the most 
 dangerous part of their navigation, they offered a 
 sacrifice of thanks to Neptune ; and the wind being 
 still fair, they pursued their voyage the fourth day 
 along the coast of Greece. As they passed the Simian 
 promontory, Menelaus had the misfortune to lose his 
 pilot Phrontis, who died suddenly. Though im- 
 patient to see his native country, he stopped here 
 to perform the funeral rites, and pay the last duties 
 to his skilful friend; but Diomede continued his 
 voyage, and arrived the same day at Argos, being 
 the fourth from his departure from Troy. Nestor 
 took the advantage of the same fair wind, which 
 carried him to Pylos." 
 
 This journal of four days navigation is so entirely 
 Homer, and Homer only, the circumstances of time 
 and distance correspond so exactly with one ano- 
 ther, and bore so scrupulous an examination, when 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 39 
 
 we made the same voyage, that I shall not trouble 
 the reader with any other confutation, either of 
 Eustathius or Madame Dacier's sense of this passage. 
 The first was led into an error by mistaking the 
 meaning of one word, and the last, by the mistaking 
 the distance from Lesbos to Eubcea; but both by 
 attending more to grammatical criticism than to the 
 genius and character of the Poet, and of the age 
 when he wrote. 
 
 Though, from the general character, by which 
 Homer constantly distinguishes the Phoenicians as 
 a commercial seafaring people, it has been naturally 
 supposed, that he was indebted to that nation for 
 much of his information with regard to distant 
 voyages : yet I think we cannot be at a loss to ac- 
 count for the Poet's acquiring at home all the know- 
 ledge of this kind, which we meet with in his works. 
 We know the Ionians were among the earliest navi- 
 gators, particularly the Phocaeans and Milesians. 
 The former are expressly called the discoverers of 
 Adria, Iberia, Tuscany, and Tartessus. They are 
 said to be the first among the Greeks, who under- 
 took long voyages; and we find they had established 
 an intercourse, and even formed close and friendly 
 connexions, on the ocean, as early as the time of 
 Cyrus the Great. The Milesians were so remark- 
 able for colonization, that they had founded above 
 seventy cities in different parts of the world, and 
 were respectable at sea long before the Persian in- 
 vasion. Nor can we, except from the resources of 
 their navigation and commerce, account for their 
 being a match for the Lydian monarchy, as early as 
 the reign of Gyges; up to which period, from that 
 of Croesus, we can trace these two nations almost 
 constantly at war. 
 
 When we consider how far back this leads us, 
 
40 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 upon explicit historical authority, and without the 
 equivocal and suspicious aid of etymology, upon 
 which Phoenician colonization is so much extended ; 
 it does not seem probable that Homer's couutrymen 
 should have arrived at so flourishing a state of navi- 
 gation, so soon after his age, without having made 
 some progress towards it before his time. 
 
 To what extent navigation was known to him, 
 either from his own experience or the information of 
 others, is rendered difficult to ascertain, by the con- 
 stant method he follows of preserving some reality 
 in his wildest fictions. The history of the Cimme- 
 rians seems to have furnished some of his ideas with 
 regard to the gloomy infernal shades, and the dis- 
 tinguishing features in the Phseacian character are 
 Phoenician. Even where he is most fabulous, he 
 takes the hint from tales propagated before his time, 
 and embroiders his own variations on that extrava- 
 gance, which had already the sanction- of popular 
 credulity. Thus the Poet's genius, though impa- 
 tient of the limited knowledge of his age, is unwil- 
 ling to abandon Nature ; and when he seems to de- 
 sert her, it is in favour of some pleasing irregularity, 
 which vulgar opinion had substituted in her place. 
 This mixture of something, that was either true, or 
 commonly believed to be so, with regard to the scene 
 of his fabulous narration, is observable in his de- 
 scription of the islands of Circe, iEolus, and, above 
 all, in that of Calypso. 
 
 His knowledge of the sun setting in the ocean 
 might fall within the observation even of that con- 
 fined state of navigation, which we may reasonably 
 allow to his age; for it is probable, that not only the 
 Phoenicians, but the Poet's countrymen, had passed 
 the Pillars of Hercules, and of course could, as eye- 
 witnesses, report such an appearance. But bow he 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 41 
 
 could learn that the sun rises out of the ocean, or 
 that the globe is entirely surrounded by water, was 
 so much beyond my idea of his experience, that I 
 continued to attribute this knowledge to guess and 
 conjecture; till upon farther consideration I was in- 
 duced to think, that this account of the ocean, upon 
 which so much of his geographical science is found- 
 ed, will, if rightly understood, rather convince us of 
 his ignorance upon that head ; and that the ocean 
 in his time had a very different meaning, from that 
 which it now conveys. Nor am I surprised that, so 
 much later, Herodotus should treat this idea of an 
 ocean, where the sun rises, as a poetical fiction. 
 
 The country and manners of Phoenicia and Egypt 
 were so well known to Homer, and so frequently 
 alluded to in his works, that it is needless to point 
 out the particular passages. He also mentions 
 Arabia and Lybia, but probably did not know the 
 extensive southern limits : neither were they de- 
 scribed particularly by the best of the Grecian geo- 
 graphers. I should imagine, that he was not a 
 stranger to Judea and its inhabitants : but as the 
 authorities for such an opinion may not interest every 
 reader, I shall refer them, who have any curiosity, 
 to the annexed note. h 
 
 h There is nothing in Greek or Roman fable more known than 
 the story of Typhon, who was vanquished by Jove's thunder, and 
 buried in fire and sulphur. The poets differ about the place, 
 where this giant was defeated. I am of opinion that the plain of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah was the original scene of this fable. My 
 notions are not merely drawn from the striking similitude between 
 the Greek and Jewish accounts of the impiety which drew down 
 the divine vengeance, but I found my opinion on the testimony of 
 Homer and Hesiod, who place the scene of this fable eiv Apifioig. 
 Now, the Apijiot are confessedly the same as the Syrians, as we 
 learn from the Septuagint, Strabo, Josephus, Eustathius, Bochart, 
 and others. There is moreover a line belonging to the passage, I 
 
42 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 He has left us traces of his knowledge of parti- 
 cular places beyond Thebes to the south, as far as 
 ^Ethiopia. Beyond this was ^Ethiopia, the country 
 of the Blacks, divided into two parts, containing 
 most probably, as Strabo thinks, the S. E. and S.W. 
 part of the southern globe, as divided by the Red 
 Sea. But the extremities of the earth here, as else- 
 where, are terminated by the river ocean. 
 
 That the Euxine or Black Sea was known to 
 Homer, I have not the least doubt: of this his de- 
 scription of the Hippomolgians, and other nations 
 in its neighbourhood, affords sufficient proofs : nor 
 can we draw any conclusions to the contrary, from 
 his neither mentioning this sea, nor Sinope and other 
 cities on its coast. It is strange how far the argu- 
 
 have quoted, which, I believe, is not to be found in any MSS. of 
 Homer. We meet with it imperfectly preserved by Strabo ; but it 
 has been happily corrected by Dr. Taylor : 
 
 Xwpw evi dpvoevTi Xdrjg ev ttiovi ^rj/no)' 
 Which he renders, 
 
 Xwpw evt SpvoevT lovdriQ ev ttlovl fyfup. — Strabo, 1. 13, p. 929. 
 
 See Taylor's Civil Law, p. 554, 
 
 The passage thus restored fixes the bed of Typhon to the spot 
 in the world most adapted to such a fable, and adds such propriety 
 to the simile, that I think it is impossible for any man who has read 
 Homer with pleasure, to visit the Dead Sea and plains of Sodom 
 aud Gomorrah, without feeling a lively reflection of this passage. 
 When Virgil carries the scene of this fable to the neighbourhood of 
 Naples, it is evident that he had this passage of Homer in view, 
 and that out of the two words eiv apifxoiQ of the Greek Poet he 
 forms Inarime, a name which was afterward affixed to the little 
 island before called Pithensa, Pithecusa, and ^naria. It is at this 
 day called Ischia. Whether this was by mistake or design, is 
 doubtful. However, I think it probable, that Virgil introduced 
 this novelty into the Roman mythology, and entailed it upon his 
 poetical successors, Ovid, Lucan, Claudian, Statius, &c. In this 
 they seem to have acquiesced implicitly without examination : for 
 Pliny roundly asserts (1. iii. c . 6.) the Inarime of Naples to have 
 been so called by the Greek Poet. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 43 
 
 ment of the Poet's ignorance of places, because he 
 does not expressly mention them, has been carried ; 
 but never more unreasonably than in the present 
 case. Is it a fair way of judging to suppose, that 
 Homer did not know Sinope, a colony founded by 
 his own countrymen, the Ionians, rather than con- 
 clude, either that he did not think proper to take 
 notice of this, more than of several other places not 
 less considerable : or that it was founded after his 
 time, or that he could not, without gross anachron- 
 ism, introduce, in the times of the Trojan war, the 
 name of a city built so long after? 
 
 I shall not therefore conclude, because the flux 
 and reflux of the Adriatic must have been matter 
 of particular curiosity to the Asiatic Greeks, that 
 Homer must necessarily have mentioned it : for we 
 see that he takes no notice of the tides of the Eu- 
 ripus, so much the object of admiration in all 
 times, though this strait, where the Grecian fleet 
 first assembled, is in the midst of those countries, 
 which he has described with accuracy. 
 
 I must nevertheless observe, that though some 
 marks of most other parts of the Mediterranean 
 seas are to be found in the Iliad or Odyssey, yet I 
 could not discover the least trace of the Adriatic in 
 either of those Poems ; i for we find no country 
 
 1 1 may be told, that the evidences by Hesiod, and also by 
 Homer (if the Batrachomyomachiabe his), are explicit, who makes 
 Physignathus boast his birth to have been bred upon the banks of 
 the Eridanus. It is true : but this was another river : for the Padus 
 had not acquired its Greek name so early : nor was the story of 
 Phaethon yet invented. Pliny fixes this fable no farther back than 
 /Eschylus. Herodotus mentions the name ; but in a way, that 
 shews he could not think of any such river in the Adriatic (see 
 Bayer and Polybius) : nor can I find that this old historian, who 
 had collected so much of other places, was at all acquainted with 
 this Gulf; which, considering its vicinity to Greece and Italy, 
 
44 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 mentioned nearer its coast than Thesprotia. If the 
 assertion of Herodotus be true, that this sea was 
 discovered by an Ionian, there may be great pro- 
 priety in the Poet's silence, as it is a mark of his 
 care to distinguish the state of things in his own 
 age, from that of the time he describes. I must 
 own, that, besides the positive testimony of the 
 oldest profane historian, there are other reasons 
 which incline me to believe, that the coasts of this 
 Gulf on either side, above the Ceraunian mountains, 
 was not frequented by the first navigators: though 
 not so distant as many places better known. I 
 shall give the reader the observations upon which 
 this conjecture is founded, as they occurred to me 
 in travelling on the Dalmatian and Italian sides of 
 this Gulf, but more particularly in a voyage I made 
 in May, 1742, from Venice to Corfu, in a Venetian 
 ship, the Ercole e Rosa, commanded by Captain 
 Rota, a skilful seaman and a good pilot, who had 
 forty years constant experience of that navigation. 
 
 The difference between the Dalmatian and Italian 
 coasts of the Adriatic is remarkable : that of Dal- 
 matia is bold and steep, with some good ports for 
 the largest ships; few rivers are discharged on this 
 side of the Gulf, the disposition of the ground being 
 such, that almost all the moisture of the adjacent 
 countries is carried into the Danube. 
 
 The Italian shore, on the contrary, is low, flat, 
 and shoaly. Here great rivers from the Alps, and 
 rapid torrents from the Apennines, carry much rub- 
 
 affords less classical information than any other part of our 
 travels. Supposing Phaeacia to have been the same as Corfu, 
 Homer's account of it implies, that he knew nothing farther that 
 way : for they are called foremen, which can only be understood 
 with relation to the east. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 45 
 
 bish into the sea, and by these means cause the 
 land to encroach upon it ; so that all the harbours, 
 from Venice to Brundusium, are, in some degree, 
 affected by it, according to their vicinity to those 
 rivers and torrents. Ravenna, once the principal 
 harbour, and naval station of the Romans on that 
 side of Italy, being in the neighbourhood of the 
 Po, has been long since choked up, and the place 
 where it was situated is now a league from the sea. 
 
 The general navigation of this sea (particularly 
 that part occupied by the Venetians) is regulated 
 agreeably to this description of it. Ships avoid the 
 Italian shore, and indeed seldom get sight of it, 
 though in a very clear day I could discover the 
 mountains of Ancona from those of the opposite 
 side. They keep the Dalmatian coast, in sailing 
 for Venice till they get as high as Rovigno, a con- 
 siderable town in Istria, where in summer, they 
 take in a pilot to conduct them across the Gulf 
 to Venice; but in the dangerous winter months, they 
 keep the coast as far up as Parenzo, ten miles 
 higher, before they steer directly for Venice; and 
 signals are erected alternately at Rovigno and Pa- 
 renzo, according to the season of the year, to sig- 
 nify at which of those places pilots attend. This is 
 the common method observed by ships bound for 
 Venice; though English vessels, accustomed to a 
 bolder navigation, often despise those precautions. 
 
 Causes, so permanent and invariable in their na- 
 ture, must have always produced like effects ; and 
 we may reasonably suppose the Italian shore to 
 have been ever dangerous, and that the method of 
 keeping close upon the Dalmatian coast was still 
 more strictly observed in the early and imperfect 
 state of navigation. This is the course which Vir- 
 gil makes Antenor take ; but with this difference, 
 
40 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 that, not having the advantage of a pilot, by which 
 the navigation is at present abridged, he proceed- 
 ed along shore to the farthest extremity of the 
 Gulf. This was, no doubt, the Roman course in 
 Virgil's time ; but, as the necessity of this circuitous 
 navigation could never occur to those, who are un- 
 acquainted with the nature of the Italian and 
 Dalmatian coasts, and have formed their ideas of 
 Antenor's voyage from maps alone, it is not extra- 
 ordinary, that the Commentators should not have 
 been able hitherto to comprehend the geography of 
 one of the most original descriptions of the JEneid. 
 Let us see the passage ; the Poet's vindication seems 
 to lie within a narrow compass, and is not foreign 
 to our subject. 
 
 Antenor potuit, inediis elapsus Achivis, 
 Illyricos penetrare sinus atqueintima tutus 
 Regna Liburnorum, et fontera superare Timavi ; 
 Unde per ora novera, vasto cum murniure montis, 
 It mare praeruptum, et pelago premit arva sonanti. 
 Hie tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit 
 Teucrorum. k ].v. i. -24*2. 
 
 k As these lines are before me, I cannot help observing that 
 they are not understood by any commentator I have seen, and the 
 words mare prcer upturn seem to signify literally the sea, and not 
 figuratively the river Timavus, as they are commonly explained. 
 And that this is not a description of the river runnini: with 
 violence into the sea, but of the sea bursting into the channel, and 
 even the sources of the river, and overflowing the laud. I won- 
 der how this escaped so constant a reader, and so perfect a judge 
 of Virgil, as my late friend Mr. Holdsworth, who had been upon 
 the spot, and must have seen that the Timavus is a collection of 
 several springs, joining in one stream, which discharges itself into 
 the sea quietly, after a very short course, when the tide is out ; but, 
 when the tide comes in, it not only beats back the fresh water 
 with noise and violence, but overflows the laud, rendering the pas- 
 sage impracticable till it ebbs again, as travellers between Vienna 
 and Venice frequently experience. I think, that by restoriug this 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 47 
 
 A direct course must have brought Antenor to 
 Padua, before he could reach theTimavus, contrary 
 to the description in those lines. Various conjec- 
 tures have been formed to solve this difficulty : some 
 charge Virgil with a mistake in geography, others 
 change the situation of Padua, rather than give up 
 the Poet; while a third conjecture, in defiance of the 
 universal testimony of antiquity, and in spite of 
 Virgil's circumstantial description, changes the 
 river, and will have the Brent to be the Timavus of 
 the ancients. But they all agree in the obscurity of 
 the passage. Now, if, as we have stated it, agree- 
 ably both to the principle and practice of this navi- 
 gation, we bring Antenor along the lllyrian shore, 
 he must pass the Timavus, before he arrives at the 
 place of his destination : and his progress will be 
 marked exactly in that order, in which it is laid 
 down by the poet; viz. Ulyrium, Liburnia, Timavus, 
 Padua. 
 
 But whatever Virgil and the Roman historians 
 may say either of Antenor's or Diomedes voyage, it 
 is without any authority from Homer, who is so far 
 from taking any notice of the Adriatic, or Ionian 
 Gulf (for that was the name under which we might 
 expect to find it in the old writers) that he appears 
 
 sense of the passage, we recover the peculiar propriety of expres- 
 sion; which is more justly descriptive of the breaking waves of a 
 returning tide, than of the canal of a river, however violent. 
 
 The singularity of this communication of the Adriatic with the 
 sources of the Timavus, and the situation of the river at the head 
 of the Gulf, gave rise to a very ancient vulgar opinion, which tra- 
 dition has preserved among the common people to this day. They 
 say that the Timavus supplies the Adriatic with water, and they 
 therefore call it the Mother of that sea: Polybius took notice of 
 this (see Strabo, lib. V.) f7rt^wpiovg Trtjyrjy iceu /urjrepn 6a\ciTTr)c ovofia- 
 frtv tov tottov, and the peasants at this time call it, La madre del 
 mare. 
 
48 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 to make Ithaca the boundary of his geographical 
 knowledge that way, and seems to treat Corcyra 
 with that ambiguity, which we have observed him 
 to affect, when he gets into his fabulous regions. 
 And the more I consider the coast of this sea, its 
 dangerous navigation, and the inhospitality and fe- 
 rocity of the inhabitants of the north-east coast, at 
 all times, from the Sinus Flanaticus (Gulf of Quar- 
 ner) to the Acroceraunian mountains inclusively, 
 the more I am inclined to think, it was but imper- 
 fectly known to Greece for some time after the 
 Trojan war. 
 
 HOMERS WINDS. 
 
 Under the article of Homer's Country, we haw 
 anticipated some observations on the Winds of that 
 climate : but his Navigation naturally engages u> in 
 a farther consideration of this subject. We find 
 only those which blow from the four cardinal points 
 expressly mentioned in the Iliad and Odyssey. In 
 the storm which Neptune prepares against Vljm 
 sailing from Calypso's island, they are all introduced 
 in the following order, Eurus, Notus, Zephyras, 
 and Boreas. 
 
 So imperfect a list of winds corresponds with the 
 coasting navigation of those times, and forbids D8 
 to expect more than a general idea of their nature 
 and qualities. Some of the ancients imagined, that 
 the Poet meant to express a subdivision of those 
 principal winds by certain epithets ; which they un- 
 derstood to convey the idea (for which it should 
 seem the Greek language had not yet found a name\ 
 it is rather to be discovered where he employs two 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 49 
 
 of them together, as in the instances already taken 
 notice of, where Boreas and Zephyrus blow from 
 the Thracian mountains on the iEgean Sea ; for if 
 we translate them literally, the north-west, we 
 shall bring that description still nearer to Nature 
 and truth. 1 
 
 Taking those winds in the order in which the 
 Poet has placed them, we find their most remarkable 
 difference of character is, that Eurus and Notus are 
 more mild and gentle, Zephyrus and Boreas more 
 stormy and boisterous. The two first are intro- 
 duced less frequently than the last ; for, as allusions 
 of this kind generally serve to illustrate animated 
 pictures, the characters of Zephyrus and Boreas 
 best suit the Poet's purpose upon such occasions. 
 Accordingly we find them employed oftener in the 
 Iliad than in the Odyssey. Eurus is never distin- 
 guished by an epithet : and Notus only by that of 
 swift. They are never represented as persons, ex- 
 cept in one instance; they are described -by quali- 
 ties, the reverse of those of their antagonist winds ; 
 for Eurus is employed in melting the snow, which 
 Zephyrus brings down, and Notus covers the 
 mountain-tops with clouds, which it is the business 
 of Boreas to dispel. 
 
 Zephyrus is called hard-blowing, rapid, the swift- 
 est of all the winds, noisy, whistling or rattling, 
 moist, and is represented as bringing rain or snow. 
 
 I find two passages in the Odyssey, which seem 
 to give an idea of Zephyrus, different from this 
 
 1 See Martyu's Virgil, 8vo. p. 336. Pliny, H. N. 1. ii. c. 47. 
 See Strabo, p. 608, 609, notes. See Hesiod. Theog. v. 388. 
 
 It is extraordinary that Hesiod should omit Eurus, Theog. v. 
 379. 869. See Strabo, 1. i. p. 28, where the ancient writers upon 
 winds are mentioned, Thrasyalcis, Aristotle, Timosthenes, Bion. 
 
 D 
 
50 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 general character, and more like the Zephyr of mo- 
 dern poetry. One is in the Poet's description of the 
 Elysian plain, " where neither winter's snow nor 
 rain are seen, but a continual refreshing Zephyr 
 blows from the ocean ;" the other is in the descrip- 
 tion of Alcinous's gardens, where the rich vegeta- 
 tion is ascribed to a constant Zephyr. 
 
 When we recollect (what I have attempted to 
 prove) that the Zephyr of Homer's country, upon 
 which he must have formed his familiar ideas of that 
 wind, blew from the mountains of Thrace; and that 
 the two instances which I have given, are the onlj 
 ones in which he describes the qualities of that wind 
 in a distant western climate, instead of contradic- 
 tion and inconsistence, we discover an extensive 
 knowledge of Nature. For, while he is accurate in 
 his accounts of the known appearances of his own 
 country, he accommodates his descriptions to what 
 he had either heard or seen of distant parts. To 
 have used the gentle Zephyr, in a simile addressed 
 to Ionian readers, or to have given the character of 
 severity to that of western climates, would have 
 been equally incorrect. 
 
 Both Zephyrus and Boreas make their appear- 
 ance as persons ; they are equally concerned in 
 kindling the funeral pile of Patroclus, at the prayer 
 of Achilles. Xanthus and Balius, the immortal 
 horses of that hero, are the offspring of Podarge 
 and Zephyrus; a pedigree worthy of Homers ima- 
 gination, but, perhaps, like many of his fictions, en- 
 grafted upon some tradition, which had popular 
 prejudice on its side. For a strange notion pre- 
 vailed, that upon the coast of the Atlantic ocean 
 mares were impregnated by the west wind ; and 
 however ridiculous this opinion may appear, it has 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 51 
 
 been seriously supported by grave and respectable 
 writers of a more enlightened age. As to the 
 amours'" of Zephyrus and Flora, they are the natu- 
 ral mythology of later poets and of a more western 
 climate, and unknown to Ionia and Homer. 
 
 Boreas is rapid and violent, but serene aud dry- 
 ing; dispels clouds, brings hoar frost and snow, is 
 clear, pure, wholesome, and reviving. 
 
 This account of Boreas coincides much more 
 with that of modern poetry, and is in general more 
 agreeable to the experience and observation of 
 western climates, than that of Eurus and Zephyrus. 
 
 It has probably been owing to Homer's example, 
 that succeeding poets and artists, though in other 
 respects departing from his description of those 
 subjects, often represent Boreas and Zephyrus as 
 persons. Their air and figure are familiar to us in 
 the machinery of modern poetry, as well as in the 
 works of painters and sculptors, who give the cha- 
 racter of harsh and aged severity to one, and that 
 of youthful beauty and gentleness to the other; 
 while Eurus and Notus, especially the latter, ap- 
 pear so seldom in a human shape, and are so im 
 perfectly described, that we have no determinate 
 idea of their dress or persons. 
 
 We find the figures of the four principal with the 
 four intermediate winds, in alto relievo, bigger than 
 life, on the octagon tower of Andronicus Cyrrhesfes 
 at Athens. As this is the only monument of anti- 
 quity, that I have seen, where they are so well exe- 
 cuted and so well preserved, I examined them with 
 a view to those conformities between the poet and 
 the sculptor, by which we sometimes trace the bor- 
 
 m Ver erat ; errabam: Zeplijrus conspexit ; abibam. 
 Insequitur; fugio ; fortior illc fuit. 
 
 D 2 
 
52 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 rowed idea to its original source, but with little 
 success. Whether it was that the artist was con- 
 fined to certain ideas by the intended use of this 
 tower, which was particularly adapted to the me- 
 ridian of Attica ; or that his invention was inferior to 
 his execution, I shall not venture to judge; but 
 there is a sameness of attitude, drapery, and cha- 
 racter, in those winds, that would make it very dif- 
 ficult to distinguish their names, were they not in- 
 scribed over each figure. 
 
 I cannot finish this article without comparing 
 Homer and Virgil as navigators, in order to shew 
 the superior accuracy of the former with regard to 
 those minute circumstances of Nature and truth. 
 The winds which Homer employs in his poem are 
 adapted to the ship's sailing ; to which Virgil does 
 not pay the same attention. I shall confine myself 
 to one instance. The description of the departure 
 of iEneas from Carthage is not only inconsistent 
 with truth and possibility, in this respect, but con- 
 tradictory to itself. He sails in the morning with a 
 west wind, which is very improperly called favour- 
 able ; n but before he is out of sight of Carthage, we 
 find him pursuing his course with a north wind, 
 which is still more contrary to his intended course; 
 when, in the evening, he has gotten clear of the 
 land, the wind changes to the west, with every 
 prognostic of a stormy night; Palinurus, in this 
 situation, orders his men to reef their sails and ply 
 their oars ; but, finding it vain to struggle with this 
 west wind, which was before called favourable, he 
 
 n Nate Dea, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos ? 
 Nee, quae circumstant te deinde pericula cernis ? 
 Demens! necZEPHYROs audis spirare secundos ? 
 
 -En. iv. 560. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 53 
 
 consults the stars in a very dark night, and<;onclud- 
 ing that he is not far from the coast of Sicily, steers 
 for that island. 
 
 HOMERS GEOGRAPHY; 
 
 AND POPE'S TRANSLATION. 
 
 We can produce no evidence of Homer's travels so 
 satisfactory, as his geographical accuracy, a thorough 
 examination of which we must reserve for a more 
 enlarged plan of this work, if I should be ever able 
 to complete it. For it would be impossible to give 
 
 Interea medium /Eneas jam classe tenebat 
 Certus iter, fluctusque atros Aquilone secabat; 
 Moenia respiciens, qua? jam infelicis Elisae 
 Collucent flammis : qua? tantum incenderat iguem, 
 Causa latet: duri magno sed amore dolores 
 Polluto, notumque, furens quid foemina possit, 
 Triste per augurium Teucrorum pectora ducunt. 
 Ut pelagus tenuere rates, nee jam amplius ulla 
 Occurrit tellus; maria undique et undique coeluni ; 
 Olli ceeruleus supra caput adstitit imber, 
 Noclem, hyememque ferens, et inhorruit unda tenebris. 
 Ipse gubernator puppi Palinurus ab alta: 
 Heu quianam tanti cinxerunt octhera nimbi? 
 Quidve, Pater Neptune, paras? sic deinde locutus 
 Colligere arma jubet, validisque incumbere remis ; 
 Obliquatque sinus in ventum, ac talia fatur. 
 Magnanime jEnea, non si mihi Jupiter auctor 
 Spondeat, hoc sperem Italiam contingere coelo. 
 Nee nos obniti contra, nee tendere tantum 
 Sufficimus : superat quoniam fortuna, sequamur. 
 Quoque vocat vertamus iter : nee litora longe 
 Fida reor fraterna Erycis portusque Sicanos, 
 Si modo rite memor servata remetior astra. 
 Turn pius iEneas, Equidem sic poscere ventos 
 Jamdudum, et frustra cerno te tendere contra : 
 Flecte viam velis. jEn. v. 1. 
 
54 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 this article the consideration it deserves, without 
 exceeding the bounds which we proposed to this 
 Essay. His map of Greece alone would take a 
 volume to do it justice, especially as we followed 
 Homer through that country, under the direction of 
 Strabo, whose judicious commentary upon the geo- 
 graphical part of the Iliad and Odyssey leaves us 
 less reason to regret the loss of twelve books of 
 Apollodorus the Athenian, with twenty-three of Me- 
 nogenes, and the works of several other writers 00 
 this subject; among whom Demetrius of Seep 
 composed sixty books on thirty lines of the cata- 
 logue. So diffusive and extensive an illustration 
 does not, I confess, give a favourable idea of the 
 work : but as an apology for Demetrius (perhaps a 
 compliment to Homer) I must observe, that la* lived 
 within sight of Troy, upon an elevated spot, which 
 commanded a view of the great scene of action ; and 
 of course he might be more particularly interested 
 in that minute accuracy of his author, which fell so 
 much under his daily observation. 
 
 The reader will be less surprised at those volu- 
 minous commentaries on the catalogue, if he con- 
 siders how highly the authority of this venerable 
 record was respected, even by the jurisprudence of 
 those times. In some cities it was by law enacted, 
 that the youth should learn the catalogue by heart. 
 Solon the lawgiver appealed to this code, in justifi- 
 cation of the Athenian claim against the pretensions 
 of the Megareans, when the right to Salamis wz 
 warmly contested by Athens and Megara. And 
 the decision of that matter was at last referred to 
 five Spartan judges, who, on their part, admitted 
 the nature of the evidence. And the affair was ac- 
 cordingly determined in favour of the Athenians, 
 though by a different reading more favourable 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 55 
 
 their claim. We find three other litigated cases 
 with regard to territorial property and dominion, 
 which are said to have been determined by reference 
 to this original chart. 
 
 That Homer should escape so entire, out of the 
 hands of lawyers and grammarians, is a piece of 
 good fortune to letters, upon which his friends have 
 great reason to congratulate themselves. For, con- 
 sidering how cruelly both his compositions and the 
 countries they describe have been tortured by bar- 
 barous treatment of various kinds, and the changes 
 they have undergone in so great a length of time, 
 his descriptions correspond more with present ap- 
 pearances, than could be reasonably expected. 
 
 Not only the permanent and durable objects of 
 his description, such as his rock, hill, dale, promon- 
 tory, &c. continue in many instances to bear up- 
 questionable testimony of his correctness, and shew, 
 by a strict propriety of his epithets, how faithfully 
 they were copied ; but even his more fading and 
 changeable landscape, his shady grove, verdant 
 lawn, and flowery mead, his pasture and tillage, 
 with all his varieties of corn, wine, and oil, agree 
 surprisingly with the present face of those countries. 
 
 So remarkable a resemblance between periods so 
 distant from each other would induce us to believe, 
 what is not otherwise improbable, that agriculture 
 is pretty much in the same neglected state, in that 
 part of the world, at present, as it was in the time 
 of the Poet. 1 doubt much, whether his descrip- 
 tions of this kind could have so well stood the test 
 of our examination, two thousand years ago, in those 
 days of elegance and refinement, when Nature was 
 probably decked out in a studied dress, unlike the 
 elegant dishabille in which Homer and we found her. 
 
 But, I must own that great part of the amuse- 
 
56 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 ment, which we enjoyed in Homer and Strabo's 
 company, on the spot, arose as much from the in- 
 vestigation, as the discovery of the correspondence 
 and resemblance. Nor can I, for that reason, pro- 
 mise the same entertainment to the reader, should I 
 live to lay before him our farther observations on this 
 head ; yet I hope my labour will not be entirely 
 lost, if I can raise the attention of future commenta- 
 tors and translators to a matter, which has, I think, 
 been too negligently treated. I cannot perhaps, more 
 effectually point out the use of a more extensive 
 consideration of this subject, than by shewing how 
 much a neglect of it has been injurious to the Po 
 truth, to which I shall at present confine myself. 
 
 I choose to take the instances, which I shall pro- 
 duce for this purpose, from Mr. Pope's elegant 
 translation, rather than from others of less merit I 
 because I think they must have more weight, when 
 collected from that quarter, to which the Iliad and 
 Odyssey have the greatest obligations: for though 
 Madame Dacier comes nearest to the Poet's mean- 
 ing, I believe it will be acknowledged, that of all 
 the languages we know, in which Homer has hi- 
 therto appeared, it is in English alone that he con- 
 tinues to be a poet. 
 
 While, upon this occasion, I shall take that li- 
 berty with Mr. Pope, which a free inquiry demands. 
 I shall not forget how much is due to so great an 
 ornament of our country; nor am I insensible of 
 the great merit of his very poetical translation. I 
 could with pleasure enlarge upon his improvements 
 of the original, were the beauties of that work H 
 much connected with my subject, as the ungrateful 
 task of finding fault, in which I happen to be en- 
 gaged : but, as the scope of this Essay is to vindicate 
 the truth and consistence of Homer's description. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 57 
 
 the translation comes properly before us only so 
 far, as it contradicts that character. 
 
 Now, though it must be acknowledged, that Mr. 
 Pope is the only translator, who has in a certain de- 
 gree, kept alive that divine spirit of the Poet, which 
 has almost expired in other hands; yet I cannot 
 help thinking, that those who wish to be thoroughly 
 acquainted, either with the manners and characters 
 of Homer's age, or the landscape and geography of 
 his country, will be disappointed, if they expect to 
 find them in this translation. Had Mr. Pope pre- 
 served the first; viz. the manners and characters, 
 Homer would have continued to speak Greek to 
 most of his English readers. For though the dis- 
 guise of several passages in a modern dress may 
 proceed from his not being very conversant with 
 ancient life and manners; yet he often purposely 
 accommodates his author to the ideas of those, for 
 whom he translates; substituting beauties of his 
 own (as similar as he can bring them to the origi- 
 nal) in the room of those which he despaired of 
 making intelligible. 
 
 But as a truly poetical translation could not be 
 effected, even by Mr. Pope, without his u venturing 
 to open the prospect a little, by the addition of a 
 few epithets, or short hints of description ;" so " the 
 most valuable piece of geography left us, concern- 
 ing the state of Greece in that early period," has of 
 course suffered by such liberties; v and, when every 
 descriptive epithet in Homer should have been re- 
 ligiously preserved, Mr. Pope's alterations have 
 produced a new map of his own, and deprived us 
 of that merit of the original which he called upon 
 
 p See Pope's observations on the Catalogue. 
 
58 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 us to admire. Thus the GraBa and spacious My- 
 
 calessus of Homer become by translation, 
 
 " Greea near the main, 
 And Mycalessia's ample piny plain." 
 Had it been proper to describe the narrow 
 strait of the Euripus, by the name of the mam, 
 yet it is not at all distinguished, by such a situa- 
 tion, from several other places mentioned on this 
 shore ; and as to the ample piny plain, we searched 
 for it to no purpose. It is, therefore, matter of 
 doubt, whether it existed in the time of Homer, 
 though mentioned by Statius about a thousand years 
 after. Indeed it would be difficult to assign any 
 reason for the addition in the English, except that 
 the rhyme requires that Grsea should be near the 
 main in the first line, and that Mycalessia (for so the 
 translator was obliged to write it in order to make 
 out the line) owes both to rhyme and measure her 
 piny plain in the second. 
 
 When the additional epithets of the translator are 
 descriptive of some permanent circumstances, as in 
 those lines ; 
 
 u From high Trcezene and Maseta's plain 
 And fair YEgina, circled by the main ;" 
 
 the description (though not Homer's, and inertly 
 introduced to help out the rhyme and measure) 
 has probably been always true; but when unautho- 
 rized, and without consulting his author, he enriches 
 the picture with the fluctuating and transitory cir- 
 cumstances of husbandry, it is less excusable. Thus 
 when he informs us, that the following two places 
 were famous 
 
 " For flocks Erythrae, Glissa for the vine ;" 
 
 and mentions those 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 59 
 
 " Who plough the spacious Orchomenian plain ;" 
 
 he substitutes the state of those countries in the 
 time of Plutarch and Statius, from whom he takes 
 his account of them, for what it might have been 
 in that of Homer, who connects no such ideas of 
 pasture, vintage, and corn, with those names. 
 
 In short, these concise, but descriptive, and 
 therefore interesting, sketches of ancient arts, cus- 
 toms, and manners, with which Homer has enli- 
 vened his map of Greece, cannot be translated 
 faithfully, and at the same time poetically. Mr. 
 Pope has succeeded surprisingly in the latter; but 
 then his study of a flowing and musical versifica- 
 tion frequently betrays him into a florid profusion 
 of unmeaning ornament, in which the object is 
 greatly disguised, if not totally lost ; as when, for 
 the grassy Pteleon of Homer, we have, 
 
 " And grassy Pteleon deck'cl with cheerful greens, 
 The bow'rs of Ceres, and the sylvan scenes." 
 
 In the same manner the single epithet, noble, 
 which Homer gives the Cephissus, is extended to a 
 complete landscape. 
 
 u From those rich regions, where Cephissus leads 
 His silver current through the flow'ry meads." 
 
 He is still more lavish of ornament, when he 
 dresses up the Peneus and leafy Pelion of Homer in 
 as much additional finery, as can be well crowded 
 into four lines: 
 
 11 Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs, 
 Obscures the glade, and nods his shaggy brows ; 
 Or where thro' flow'ry Tempe Peneus stray'd, 
 The region stretch'd beneath his mighty shade." 
 
 Here the translator gives us a picture, not with- 
 out its beauties; but beauties so much his own, that 
 
(JO ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 they retain little of Homer, either as to the subject, 
 or the manner. 
 
 We shall say no more at present of the catalogue, 
 where Rhaetor is green, Lilaea fair, and Cynos rich, 
 without any authority from the original ; Anemonia 
 has her stately shining turrets, and Corinth her im- 
 perial towers, Parrhasia her snowy cliffs, Tarphe 
 her sylvan seats, and jEtylus her low walls, from 
 Pope, not from Homer. 
 
 It is owing to these liberties, that we find the old 
 Poet often loaded with English ambiguity, and even 
 contradiction, for which there is no foundation in the 
 Greek ; as where Ithaca is sometimes fair, and some- 
 times barren, and where, in spite of the sandy coast 
 of Pylos in one place, we have, in another, 
 
 " Alpheus' plenteous stream, that yields 
 Increase of harvest to the Pvlian fields." 
 
 Besides those insuperable difficulties which ev. 
 poetical translator of Homer has to encounter, when 
 we consider (what it is our great object at present to 
 point out) that he copied from Nature, and trusted 
 to his own observation, we see how this original 
 method of collecting his materials produces a con- 
 sistent whole out of corresponding parts, every ob- 
 ject of description recurring, though in a new light, 
 yet always agreeable to the first idea, which he con- 
 veys of it. And when we also consider, that none 
 of his commentators, since the time of .Strabo, have 
 been at the pains of forming to themselves any dis- 
 tinct idea of his geography ; it is not surprising, that 
 when they lose sight of the original, they should be 
 inconsistent, not only with truth, but 'with them- 
 selves. 
 
 However, the translator's representation of the 
 same scene of action under different appearances, 
 m different parts of the poem, falls less under ob^ 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 61 
 
 vation, than when the same description contradicts 
 itself within the compass of a few lines ; as where 
 we see 
 
 " The great Achilles stretch'd along the shore, 
 Where, dash'd on rocks, the broken billows roar;" 
 
 though, in three lines after, 
 
 " Along the grass his languid members fall :" 
 
 and yet, after all, the same description, which puts 
 him to sleep, both on the rocks, and on the grass, 
 awakes him ; 
 
 " Starting from the sands." 
 
 Should we give this sleepy Achilles to a painter, 
 he must be strangely puzzled with the hero's rocky, 
 grassy, sandy couch ; a sort of prevarication (if I 
 may use that expression) impracticable upon can- 
 vas. 
 
 Thus, while the Poet, by judiciously selecting the 
 mere characterizing circumstances of the object 
 which he describes, leaves us fully impressed with 
 truth and reality ; his Translator, over-studious of 
 embellishment, wanders into inconsistence in search 
 of it : nay, sometimes into sudden contradiction ; as 
 when the same picture of the sea is, in one line, 
 
 " The foaming flood;" 
 
 and in that immediately following 
 
 " The level surface of the deep." 
 
 Much of this is, no doubt, owing to that unhappy 
 restraint of English rhyme, which so unworthily en- 
 grosses his thoughts, that he not only frequently 
 loses sight of his author, but is sometimes even; di- 
 verted from a just sense of his beauties, and betrayed 
 into an unfaithful translation, of what he perfectly 
 well understood. Of this distracted attention we 
 
02 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 find a ridiculous effect in that passage of the Hind, 
 which expresses Hector's eagerness to retrieve the 
 honour of his brother Paris, who had proposed to 
 decide the war by single combat with Menelaus 
 The spirit of the original is as justly conceived in 
 Mr. Pope's note, as it is unhappily misrepresented 
 in his translation; and both together produce the 
 following contradictory medley : " Hector stays not 
 to reply to his brother, but runs away with the chal- 
 lenge immediately, with steps majestically slow." 
 
 When these discordant pictures of the same ob 
 ject are thus closely confronted, the falling off is so 
 striking, that we must, in candour, suppose it the 
 work of different hands hastily revised. 
 
 It is impossible to account, in any other way, I 
 some ofthe inaccuracies of the map of Troy prefixed 
 to the English translation. So capital an error as that 
 of discharging the Scamander into the iEgean Sea, 
 instead of the Hellespont, is a striking specimen of 
 the careless and superficial manner in which thi*> 
 matter has been treated. Yet this mistake, material 
 as it is, does not seem to mislead the Translator in 
 other respects : for he is as inconsistent with his on u 
 incorrect map, as both he and his map are with tin 
 real situation ofthe ground ; and, by not having i»- 
 certained any invariable and fixed idea of tin BC4 KM 
 of action, either true or false, he has led his author 
 into a labyrinth of contradiction, out of which no 
 imaginable disposition of the scene can extri. 
 him. 
 
 Thus, when he supposes that the Greeks had not 
 passed the river before the beginning f the sixth 
 book, it is a necessary consequence of such a sup 
 position, that they were, till then, at some miles dis- 
 tance from Troy. But this is inconsistent with that 
 beautiful digression ofthe third book, where Priam 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 63 
 
 and Helen see the Grecian leaders so distinctly 
 from the walls of that city, as to distinguish the per- 
 sons and figures of the leaders from the walls of 
 Troy. 
 
 In short, this map would not deserve the few 
 lines, which we bestow upon it, were it not for the 
 respectable name of Pope, who, no doubt, trusted 
 this inferior part of his work to unskilful or negligent 
 hands. I was at a loss to account for so much ob- 
 vious inaccuracy, collected into so small a compass, 
 till I discovered, besides the mistakes of the draughts- 
 man, a certain method and regularity of error, which 
 could belong to the engraver alone, who, by a piece 
 of negligence, not less unpardonable in the artist 
 than fatal to geography and Homer, has given a 
 map, which reverses the drawing from which it was 
 engraved, and of course changes the respective si- 
 tuation of all the parts, from right to left, and from 
 left to right ; so that the Sigeiim stands where the 
 Rhceteum should be, and the Scamander runs on 
 that side of Troy which belongs to the Simois. 
 
 How so material an oversight should have re- 
 mained hitherto unnoticed, or how Mr. Pope could 
 contrive to explain his own reversed map; 1 is not to 
 our present purpose. To say more on this head, is 
 needless; to have said thus much, on the only chart 
 which has hitherto attempted to illustrate the prin- 
 cipal scene of the action of the Iliad, was unavoid- 
 able. 
 
 It has been already observed, that while places 
 distant from Ionia are marked more distinctly, as 
 objects of curiosity, the same attention has not been 
 paid to those in the Poet's neighbourhood. Though 
 we find him thoroughly acquainted with the scenery 
 round Troy, these objects are introduced less upon 
 <* See Pope's Letters with regard to this map. 
 
(34 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 their own account, than as circumstances connected 
 with the action. This I take to be a principal rea- 
 son, why the correctness of his map of the Troade, 
 opening thus gradually with the story, has hitherto 
 escaped particular observation ; and has been taken 
 for granted, upon slight examination. It is scarce 
 to be expected, that a translator of Mr. Pope's 
 taste could, in the midst of the poetical beauties of 
 the Iliad, submit to a dull patient attention to its 
 mere topographical accuracy/ 
 
 r Mr. Pope was assisted in this part of his work by Mr. Broom, 
 who supplied most of the notes collected from former Expositors 
 of Homer, to which he added some observations of his own. Mr. 
 Pope adopted the whole, and under his daily revisal every sheet 
 was corrected. If Mr. Broom really went through the voluminous 
 Commentaries of Eustathius, as is hinted in the introduction to the 
 notes, he must have done it very superficially ; and has added very 
 little to what had been so judiciously done by Madame Dacier, 
 at the same time not acknowledging how much he was indebted to 
 that very learned lady. As to Eustathius, not to repeat what has 
 been so often said in favour of that treasure of Greek learning, from 
 which almost every later illustration of Homer has been gleaned, I 
 shall only observe my disappointment in finding so little in him for 
 my particular purpose. Though a Bishop, and one who is said to 
 have written in defence of the church, he makes no use of the 
 Scriptures in his Commentaries. I take it for granted, that he did 
 not understand Latin, or at least that he had not read Virsil ; as 
 he makes no use of him. Though an inhabitant of Greece, he 
 trusts for Homer's geography to Strabo, without any additional ob- 
 servations of his own in respect to places in his very neighbour- 
 hood. Nor do I find that he visited Troy, though he lived so m ar 
 it: nor does he remark the changes, or agreement between either 
 the lauguage or manners of Homer, and those of his own age, which 
 we should naturally expect from one so well qualified and situ- 
 ated for forming a judgment of both. Wheu I add to all this, that 
 his Commentaries, in my opinion, contain the dullest and most iu- 
 sipid, as well as the most ingenious and judicious remarks on 
 Homer, I cannot help suspecting, that he was rather the compiler 
 than the author of those criticisms; and that his principal merit 
 is that of having preserved from oblivion some curious ozona- 
 tions of writers, whose works have perished since his time. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 65 
 
 But I shall not trouble the reader farther on this 
 head, it being ray object, not to condemn the trans- 
 lation, but to justify the original; where we do not 
 discover, even in the boldest flights of fancy, that 
 careless contradiction of circumstances, which his- 
 tory, poetry, and romance equally disclaim. 
 
 But in vain do we attempt to support Homer's 
 character as a geographer, unless we can rescue 
 him from some severe imputations of inaccuracy 
 on this head, which have gained too much credit 
 by remaining so long unanswered. The accusation 
 of this sort, which seems to have made the greatest 
 impression, relates to the distance he places the isle 
 of Pharos from Egypt. It is incumbent on me to 
 attempt the Poet's vindication against a charge, 
 which has so materially affected his geographical 
 reputation, that he has, in this instance, been aban- 
 doned even by some of his best friends. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF PHAROS AND 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 The lines which have given occasion to so much 
 censure, are those in the fourth book of the Odyssey, 
 where Menelaus, relating to Telemachus his adven- 
 tures, describes Pharos as situated a day's sail from 
 Egypt. 5 Those who saw that this island was not 
 
 S N»J<70£ £7T£irtt TIQ EffTt TToXvKXvffTU EVL TTOVTto 
 
 AiyvnTOv 7rpo7rapoi0e, 4>apoy Be t KiKXtjaKovai, 
 
 'Yoaaov avevd\ baaov re iravtjfiepit] yXcupvprj vtjvc 
 
 Hvvaer, y Xiyvg ovpoQ ETnirvti^aiv o-mrrdev. — On. iv. 354. 
 
 " High o'er a gulfy sea, the Pharian isle 
 Fronts the deep roar of disemboguing Nile: 
 K 
 
G6 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 eight stadia, or an English mile from Alexandria, 
 made strong objections to the accuracy of this de- 
 scription. His friends could not help acknowledg- 
 ing that the distance at which be seemed to place 
 that island from the continent did not correspond 
 with the apparent state of things in their time; but 
 some of his admirers discovered, in this want of 
 correspondence, a new proof of his extensive ob- 
 servation and exactness. Homer, say they, was well 
 acquainted with the constant accession of land to 
 the Delta, by means of the Nile, which must have 
 gradually shortened the distance of Pharos from 
 Egypt ;* and he made allowance for the effects of 
 this operation, from the time of Menelaus, with a 
 view to accommodate his description to the period 
 of the Trojan war. u 
 
 Such was the state of this dispute in the times of 
 the Ptolemies and Csesars. With how little advan- 
 tage, either to the Poet or his readers, it has been 
 since carried on, may be seen in the annexed note. 1 
 
 Her distance from the shore, the course begun 
 At dawn, and ending with the setting sun, 
 A galley measures ; when the stiffer gales 
 Rise on the poop, and fully stretch the sails.'' 
 
 * The word Aiyv7rroc in Homer always relates to the Nile. 
 
 u JZvtevBev de (airo KavwfiiKov orojuarog) em fyapor ri]v yjjaov aXAoi 
 eraSioi <KEVTt)KovTa irpoQTOLQ eKarov. — Strabo. 1. 17. p. 1140. 
 
 x " iEgyptum plerique volunt Nili fluminis invectu paulatim esse 
 aggestam. Proinde illam Ephorus appellat Trora^o^worov ; Hero- 
 dotus ETriiCTT)TOv yrjy, et Swpov tov iro-afxov; Philosophus row Trorapov 
 epyov: atque ex eo ipso iEthiopes sese iEgyptiis antiquiores esse 
 probabant, quod cum iEgyptus olim fuisset mare, tandem rov 
 NeiXov Kara rag avufiaatig tk\v ek ti)q AiBiOTriag t\vv KarafEpovroe, 
 Nilo per excessus suos limum ex ^Ethiopia afferente, facta esset 
 terra continens. Cui rei probanda; multa afferunt. Primo quoties 
 Nilus exundat limi alluvionibus, cedere pelagus, et removeri non- 
 mhil. 2. In iEgypti montibus conchylia reperiri. 3. Puteos et 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 67 
 
 It is not from books, but from the face of the coun- 
 tries which Homer describes, that I can hope to do 
 
 fontes, quotquot sunt, salsam habere et amaram aquam, ac si re- 
 liquiae maris in iis subsederint. 4. Denique ad Pharum insulam, 
 hodie solum septem stadiis, aut ad summum mille passibus, ab 
 Alexandria disparatam, Homeri aevo noctis et diei cursu ab <<Egyp- 
 to distasse ; ut idem testatur, Odyss. lib. iv. ver. 356. 
 
 " Constat tamen iEgyptum semper in eodem fuisse situ. Nam, 
 ut caetera taceam, Tanis iEgypti olim regia non procul a Tanitico 
 Nili ostio jam extabat tempore Mosis, qui mirabilia fecit in terra 
 JEgypti in campo Taneos, Psal. Ixxviii. 12. Quin autiquissima 
 urbs Hebron, in qua decimus a Diluvio Abraam diu vixit, Gen. 
 xiii. 18. et xxiii. 2. nonnisi septennio ante Tanim fuit condita, 
 Num. xiii. 23. Itaque fabularis historia Isidis, et Ori, et Osiridis, 
 qua nihil antiquius habeut iEgyptii, multorum meminit locorum in 
 infima iEgypto; ut quae illo aevo jam extiterint. Sic in Plutarcho 
 de Iside, Osiridem legas area inclusum in mare fuisse dejectum, 
 Bia tov TaviriKou oro/xaroe, per Nili ostium Taniticum, et postmo- 
 dum Busiride sepultum, aut, ut alii volunt, Taphosiride ; et Orum 
 Buti educatum ; et Pelusium oppidum ab Iside conditura. Sed et 
 Trojanis temporibus creditur Menelaus Canobum appulisse; unde 
 Pharus aberat solum centum et viginti stadiis. Itaque falsissimum 
 est quod ab Homero traditur, a Pharo in iEgyptum noctis et diei 
 cursum fuisse, adeoque cursum navis: 
 
 p \tyvg ovpog nrnriEiriOLV oinadey, 
 
 stridens quam ventus pone sequatur. 
 
 Navis enim integrum diem vento secundo procedens, eoque stri- 
 dente et acri, iter emetitur decuplo longius, id est, pro centum et 
 viginti stadiis stadia mille et ducenta. Id lectorem malo doceri 
 Aristidis verbis in Oratione iEgyptiaca : Kavwfiog $apov aradiovg 
 €tKO(TL Kai ekcitov aireyEi, KdiTOi vavg Trayrjfitpta deovaa, vir ayejxov 
 Kara Trpvfivav ttveovtoq, 7rpoadr]cru) £e tcai Xtyeuyg, ovk eiKofft teat eKaruv 
 OTaSiovQ avvfrei fiaXiarttf a\\' taiog jxaWov StaKoarwvg Kai ^iXiovg. 
 Sed nee iEgypto quicquam ex Nili alluvionibus accedere concesse- 
 rini. Id enim, quicquid est, facile dissipat continua maris agitatio. 
 Proinde cum Alexandria stet ab annis fere bis mille, tamen semper 
 est littorea, et quantum a Pharo distabat olim, tantum, hodi£que 
 distat, nempe stadia septem, aut, ut alii, mille passus, Aristides 
 ubi supra ; Kcuroi rrjg fiev rjireipov aireyii fyapog knra jiaXiffra ffradi- 
 wg. Ammianus lib. xxii. Insula Pharos, ubi Protea cum Phoca- 
 
 E 2 
 
m ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 him justice. Having, with that view, twice made 
 this vovage of Menelaus, with the Odyssey in my 
 
 rum 
 
 gregibus diversatum Horaerus fabulatur inflatius, a civitatis 
 littore mille passibus disparata."— Bochart. 
 
 " Horaere ^toit trop savant en Geographie pour ne pas savoir 
 que de son terns lisle du Phare n'etoit eloignee de I'embouchure de 
 Conope que de six vingts stades, mais comme il avoit oui dire que 
 le Nil, a force de trainer du sable et du liraon, avoit par succes- 
 sion de terns beaucoup augmente le continent par ses alluvions, il 
 a voulu faire croire qu'anciennement et du terns de Menelaus 
 cette Isle etoit plus eloignee de la terre et plus avant dans la mer; 
 il a meme tenement exagere cette distance qu'il a dit qu'elle etoit 
 tout ce que pouvoit faire de chemin en un jour un vaisseau et par 
 un bon vent, c'est a dire, qu'il la fait dix ou douze fois plus 
 grande qu'elle n'est; car un vaisseau peut faire en un jour et une 
 nuit quatorze ou quinze cens stades quand il a le vent bon. Ho- 
 mere, pour rendre sa narration plus merveilleuse, a done deguis£ 
 la verite, en s'accoramodant a ce qu'il avoit oui dire des embou- 
 chures du Nil et de ses alluvions. Jamais cette Isle n'a ete plus 
 eloignee du continent qu'elle Test aujourd'hui, et en voici une 
 preuve bien certaine, c'est que sielle eut ete eloignee du continent 
 de quatorze cens stades du terns de Menelaus, et qu'en deux cens 
 cinquante ou soixante ans qu'il y a du terns de Menelaus au terns 
 d'Homere, elle s'en fut rapprochee jusqu'a six-vingts, les alluvions 
 auroient augmente le continent de douze cens quatre vingts stades 
 dans cet espace de terns; et par cette raison, depuis Homere 
 jusqu'a nous, le continent auroit ete si fort pousse, que cette Isle 
 du Phare se trouveroit aujourd'hui bien eloignee de la mer. II 
 n'est pas meme possible, comme l'a fort bien remarque Bochart, 
 que le Nil ait jamais augmente le continent par ses alluvions, car 
 l'agitation de la mer auroit toujours dissipe plus de sable et plus 
 de limon que le fleuve tfauroit pft en apporter. Et le meme Bo- 
 chart le prouve par un fait qui est sans replique. C'est que cette 
 Isle du Phare n'est eloignee que de sept stades, ou huit cens soix- 
 ante et quinze pas d'Alexandrie, qui est vis-a-vis sur le rivage de 
 la mer a une embouchure duNil, et cette distance est aujourd'hui 
 la meme qu'elle etoit il y a deux mille ans ; le Nil n'a pas aug- 
 mente le continent d'un pouce. Ce n'est done point par ignorance 
 qu'Homere a peche, mais il s'est accommode a un bruit commun, 
 et il a beaucoup augmente cette distance, rov pvducevc ^o , pour 
 la fable, comme dit Strabon dans son 1 Liv." Dacier. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 69 
 
 hands, I was satisfied, that the Poet's account of 
 its length and danger was agreeable to appearances, 
 when he wrote ; and that this passage has been 
 misunderstood, for want of due attention to the 
 
 " This description of Pharos has given great trouble to the critics 
 and geographers ; it is generally concluded, that the distance of 
 Pharos is about seven stadia from Alexandria. Amraianus Marcel- 
 linus mentions this very passage thus ; 1. 22. ' Insula Pharos, ubi 
 Protea cum Phocarum gregibus diversatum Homerus fabulatur in- 
 flatius, a civitatis littore mille passibus disparata,' or, about a mile 
 distant from the shores. How then comes Homer to affirm it to 
 be distant a full day's sail? Dacier answers, that Homer might 
 have heard that the Nile, continually bringing down much earthy 
 substance, had enlarged the continent: and knowing it not to be so 
 distant in his time, took the liberty of a poet, and described it as 
 still more distant in the days of Menelaus. But Dacier never sees 
 a mistake in Homer. Had his poetry been worse if he had de- 
 scribed the real distance of Pharos ? It is allowable in a poet to 
 disguise the truth, to adorn his story; but what ornament has he 
 given his poetry by this enlargement? Bochart has fully proved 
 that there is no accession to the continent from any substance that 
 the Nile brings down with it : the violent agitation of the seas pro- 
 hibit it from lodging, and forming itself into solidity. Eratos- 
 thenes is of opinion, that Homer was ignorant of the mouths of 
 Nile : but Strabo answers, that his silence about them is not an 
 argument of his ignorance, for neither has he ever mentioned where 
 he was born. But Strabo does not enter fully into the meaning of 
 Eratosthenes ; Eratosthenes does not mean that Homer was igno- 
 rant of the mouths of Nile from his silence, but because he places 
 Pharos at the distance of a whole day's sail from the continent. 
 The only way to unite this inconsistence is to suppose, that the 
 Poet intended to specify the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile, from 
 which Pharos stands about a day's sail ; but this is submitted to 
 the critics." — Pope. 
 
 " The Greek historians have been all condemned by Bochart, a 
 man of very great learning, for asserting, that the Lower Egypt was 
 a plain made out by the continual congestion of the slime, which 
 their wonderful river swept along in its course through ^Ethiopia 
 and the high country. He has likewise chastised Homer, who 
 favours that opinion, in his account of the distance of the Pharos 
 from the land." — Inquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer. 
 
7() ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 changes which have happened, both in the situa- 
 tions and names of places, in that part of the world, 
 since the building of Alexandria. A proper con- 
 sideration of this matter will perhaps shew, that a 
 voyage from Pharos to Egypt, in the reign of Pro- 
 teus, when Menelaus landed in Egypt, and in that 
 of the Ptolemies, conveyed ideas of different courses 
 and different distances. 
 
 If proper attention had been paid to the Poet's 
 words, I think that his meaning could not have 
 been so much misrepresented ; for he expressly says, 
 that the voyage, which Menelaus took so unwil- 
 lingly, was from Pharos to the Nile; or, as he calls 
 it, the river iEgyptus, Aiyvrrroq ; and not from 
 Pharos to the land of Egypt. But as some com- 
 mentators contend, that the word Aiyvirroq is em- 
 ployed by the Poet to express the country, as well 
 as the river of Egypt, it may be proper to shew, 
 that the island of Pharos must have been at least 
 thirty miles distant from any part of the land of 
 Egypt in Homer's time : though when the Ptole- 
 mies reigned, it certainly was not a mile from the 
 capital of that country. 
 
 Nor does the truth of this depend upon any 
 change produced upon this coast by an accession 
 made to the Delta. 
 
 It does not give the most favourable opinion 
 either of the taste or policy of the ancient Egyptian 
 kings, that they should execute those stupendous, 
 may I, without offence to other travellers, add, 
 barbarous monuments of vanity, the pyramids; and 
 yet leave it to the Greeks to bring the water of the 
 Nile to Alexandria, and give Egypt the use of a 
 commodious harbour. The natural consequences 
 of supplying this spot with water, and, by these 
 means, making it habitable, were of undoubted ad- 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 71 
 
 vantage to the trade and riches, which centred 
 here: and Alexandria, being the great channel and 
 principal mart for Indian commodities, became 
 soon the most populous and magnificent city then 
 known. It seems not to have occurred to the Greek 
 or Roman writers, who are full of encomiums on the 
 splendour of this new capital, that the ground upon 
 which it stood was, not long before, too insignificant 
 to deserve a boundary, or to be claimed by any 
 country. Yet such was the state of this coast in 
 Homer's days. It made no part of Egypt at that 
 time, when the extent of the inundation of the Nile 
 marked the natural limits of that country. That 
 its connexion with this spot was the work of a 
 more commercial age, is obvious to every traveller, 
 who views that canal at this day ; and observes, 
 that the present inhabitants of Alexandria subsist 
 entirely upon the supply of water which it continues 
 to convey once a year from the Nile to the ancient 
 reservoirs, which still subsist to that city ; and they 
 are totally separated from the cultivated soil of 
 Egypt by a barren desert, through which the road 
 to Rosetta is marked out by a range of posts, 
 fixed in the sand for that purpose. 
 
 Having thus added near thirty miles to the voy- 
 age of Menelaus by considering the barren coasts, 
 where Alexandria was afterward built, in the light, 
 that it must no doubt have appeared to him; let us 
 see, how much nearer we can bring it to the Poet's 
 description, by inquiring into the increase of that 
 lower part of Egypt in so long a time. 
 
 The accession made to the Delta by the mud, 
 which the Nile deposits in the sea, is so evident a 
 matter of fact, that it could not escape the observa- 
 tion of those who have seen and considered that 
 country with the least degree of attention ; nor 
 
72 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 should I take up a moment of the reader's time, to 
 prove what has had the uniform testimony of tra- 
 vellers for so many ages, had not the learned Bo- 
 chart taken it into his head to deny, that any such 
 accession is made to this coast, and had not Mr. 
 Pope, Madame Dacier, and many others, implicitly 
 subscribed to that opinion. 
 
 We shall find that this error (with others into 
 which it has led the commentators on this passage) 
 arose from an indiscriminate application of some 
 observations to the whole coast of Egypt, which 
 are true only with regard to one part of it; and from 
 confounding appearances on the coast of Delta with 
 those on that of Alexandria, which are totally dis- 
 similar. For the coast of Alexandria is so far from 
 being sensible of any accession by means of the 
 Nile, that the sea encroaches upon some parts of it, 
 in spite of all the care which has been, and is still 
 taken to keep it out. I have seen the inhabitants 
 much alarmed at the danger of its breaking into 
 their reservoirs of fresh water; which they have 
 been at considerable expense to prevent. For 
 should either the ancient cisterns of that city, which 
 remain yet sufficiently entire, or the canal, which still 
 continues, as regularly as the Nile overflows, to 
 convey to them their annual and only supply of 
 fresh water, by any accident fail, this spot must be 
 abandoned, and would again become no more a part 
 of Egypt, than it was in the time of Homer or Mene- 
 laus. 
 
 But the very reverse of this is so certain with 
 regard to the sea-coast of Delta, that I will venture 
 to say, it is obvious to the slightest observation on 
 the spot: nor has it been denied by any traveller, 
 that I know, from Herodotus to the present tin 
 It is impossible to look down upon this singular 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 73 
 
 country from the top of the great pyramid, and view 
 this narrow stripe of the most luxuriant vegetation 
 imaginable, hemmed in on each side by the exten- 
 sive parched deserts of Lybia and Arabia ; but so 
 accurately divided from them, that the extremes of 
 sterility and fertility unite without intermixing, and, 
 though contiguous, are so distinct, that a line pa- 
 rallel to the course of the river separates the richest 
 verdure from the most barren sand : I say, it is im- 
 possible to view this striking contrast, without in- 
 clining to the old opinion, that Egypt is the gift of 
 the Nile. 
 
 A more particular examination of this matter puts 
 it out of dispute : the soil is evidently the same with 
 the mud brought down by the Nile, and entirely 
 different from the native sand of this country ; it 
 extends on each side as far as the Nile overflows, 
 and no farther; its perpendicular depth from the 
 surface diminishes in proportion to its distance from 
 the river; nor is its lateral encroachment upon the 
 Arabian and Lybian deserts more evident, than its 
 gaining upon the sea, as the following facts shew. 
 Those, who sail for the coast of Delta, get into the 
 discoloured water of the Nile, before they see land : 
 and by heaving the lead they find the bottom co- 
 vered with its mud, which subsides, and acquires 
 consistence, notwithstanding the agitation of the 
 sea. We find, that since the Holy War, and even 
 since the Venetians established themselves here, and 
 by these means acquired a monopoly of the Indian 
 trade, before the discovery of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, places, which were on the sea-side, are now 
 at some distance from it within land. 
 
 But this increase of the Delta must have been pro- 
 portionably more sensible, as we go back to the 
 time when the island was formed. For Lower 
 
74 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 Egypt was a deep bay, sheltered by two promon- 
 tories, the mud brought down by the Nile must have 
 been less dissipated by the agitation of the sea, and 
 must of course have occasioned a quicker accession 
 of land to the Delta, than could be produced since 
 it has been more exposed. We may therefore con- 
 clude, that in the course of time, this operation of 
 the Nile will be more and more retarded, till, after 
 a certain projection of the Delta beyond the pro- 
 montories, it must entirely cease. Those who sail 
 upon the coast discover separate sand hills, formerly 
 islands, but now included in the Delta. Such a 
 barrier at the mouth of the bay must have contri- 
 buted greatly to the accumulation of that mud, of 
 which the Delta is formed. And if, independently 
 of every other consideration, we attend to the trian- 
 gular form of the country, and the manner of its 
 increase, it is plain, that the progress of that incre- 
 ment must become slower, as its base, or north side, 
 grows wider ; and that the same quantity of mud, or 
 slime, which has produced a considerable accession 
 in the last live or six hundred years, must have had 
 a greater effect in the same time, in proportion as 
 the base was narrower. 
 
 Upon the whole of this reasoning, it must ap- 
 pear doubtful, whether any part of Lower Egypt 
 existed in the Poet's time; which seems to have 
 been the opinion of y Aristotle : but, supposing the 
 south angle of Delta to have been then formed, 
 its distance from Pharos would make above fifty 
 leagues, which may be called a day's sail, 2 agree- 
 ably to the general proportion, which Homer 
 
 y Aristot. Metaph. I. i. c . 4. 
 ^SeeStrabo,! ip. 61 . andinAbulfeda A , 
 tard, p. 8. a hundred Arabian miles. 
 See Herodotus, I. 4. c. 86. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 75 
 
 observes between time and distance in his naviga- 
 tion. 
 
 Having so far endeavoured to vindicate the Poet, 
 as to the length of this voyage, it may not be im- 
 proper, while this subject is before us, to say some- 
 thing of its difficulty and danger, which Menelaus 
 mentions with much dread and anxiety. As some 
 account of the navigation of this coast will furnish 
 the best comment on this part of the Poet's descrip- 
 tion, I shall lay before the reader a narrative of what 
 fell within my own observation, relatively to this 
 matter. 
 
 I sailed, in the morning of the fifth of February, 
 1743, iu a French ship, from Latichea in Syria, for 
 Damiata in Egypt. We lost sight of Mount Liba- 
 nus, the highest land on the Syrian coast, that even- 
 ing, and had a fair view of Cyprus next morning. 
 We got into soundings on the coast of Egypt towards 
 the evening on the third day, and found a slimy 
 bottom, at some distance from the Bogas. This is 
 the name by which the Arabs call the mouth of the 
 river, where there is a bar or ridge of sand, which 
 changes its form and size, and. shifts its position, 
 according to the wind. 
 
 Here the sea began to be discoloured with the 
 water of the Nile, and, in another league, as I looked 
 from the round-top of the mainmast, the fresh water 
 appeared like an immense muddy pond, as distinct 
 in colour from the sea as the Soane is from the 
 Rhone immediately after the junction of those rivers 
 below Lyons. And it extended circularly near three 
 
 The cursus iravr^iEpioq, 1200 stadia. Aristidis Oratio ^igyptiaca. 
 Theophilus in Ptolemy. Geog. 1. i. c. 9. makes it 1000 stadia. 
 
 Herodotus alludes to the w^r]fj.£pov ; and supposes a ship to 
 sail eighty miles by day, and seventy by night. See Wesseling's 
 notes upon Herodotus, 1. iv. c. 86. 
 
76 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 leagues outwards from the mouth of the >'ile. The 
 river was, at this season, within its banks ; but I 
 was told, that the semicircle of fresh water is much 
 more extended, when the Nile overflows Egypt, and 
 that its mixture with the sea is discoverable fifteen 
 or even twenty leagues from shore. I should think 
 that this account was exaggerated by seamen. The 
 first objects, that we saw towards the shore, were 
 the ships at anchor in the road of Damiata. We 
 next got sight of the tops of some palm trees; and 
 soon after of some buildings. Last of all we dis- 
 covered the low flat land of Egypt. 
 
 Such are the present appearances; and such in 
 general, are those which may be collected from 
 Herodotus. His remarks on the face of this coun- 
 try seem to entitle him to more credit than he has 
 met with, when he speaks from his own knowledge, 
 and as an eye-witness. 
 
 There being no port on the coast of the Deli 
 ships bound for Rosetta or Damiata anchor in an 
 open road, till their business is done; exposed to 
 much danger, when the wind blows hard upon that 
 harbourless shore. They are therefore ready to 
 shp their cables, and run to sea for security, upon 
 the first appearance of foul weather. 
 
 We had scarce let go our anchor, in company 
 with a Ragusean bound to the same port, when it 
 began to thunder and lighten; and the wind sud- 
 denly shifting to the north-west, blew hard. Nigh! 
 approaching, our pressing object was to -et off the 
 coast, upon which there is no harbour from Alex- 
 andria to Mount Carmel. After three davs blow- 
 ing weather, we made Cyprus., and got 'into Li- 
 misso, where we were detained three weeks by con- 
 trary winds We sailed again for Egypt the thirtieth, 
 and in two days arrived upon the coast of the Delta 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 77 
 
 After the same succession of appearances similar 
 to those already described, we got to our anchoring 
 ground, before the Bogas, in doubtful weather. Here 
 a germe (which is a very strong-built boat of this 
 country, entirely calculated to resist the Bogas), 
 tempted by a reward which custom has established 
 for the first boat, that ventures over upon such occa- 
 sions, soon boarded us. By this time, things wore 
 so gloomy an aspect, that our captain was prepar- 
 ing, in all haste to run to sea. To share his fate, or 
 risk the Bogas, was a point that called for imme- 
 diate decision : for neither the germe, or our vessel, 
 could stay a moment. I chose the latter. It is 
 not easy to imagine any thing more awful than the 
 approach to this Bogas in stormy weather. The 
 breakers, which were heard and seen at some dis- 
 tance, had now the appearance of a succession of 
 cascades, which we were to pass through for half a 
 mile. If the most striking and expressive resem- 
 blance of a picture to that appearance in Nature, 
 which it attempts to represent, is a sufficient proof 
 of the painter's having seen the original, we might 
 conclude, from three a lines in the Iliad, that Homer 
 had been in Egypt, and passed this Bogas. One 
 of our boatmen got up to the mast-head ; and as 
 his voice could not be heard, he directed our course 
 by repeating signals, which he received from a boat 
 
 a ' ilg J* ot £7ri 7rpo\otjai Sutteteoq norafjioto 
 
 BfjSpi/^ev fJiEya KVfia iron poov. AjjlQi ie r aKpai 
 
 Hioveg BOOH2IN, epevyofjiEvrjc d\og e'£,o). 
 
 Toaatj apa Tpwiov ta^rj ytver.' II. P. v. 265. 
 
 These lines are said to have determined Solon and Plato to 
 abandon poetry, despairing of ever being able to produce any thing 
 like them. To those who admire the art of making the sound an 
 echo to the sense, they certainly offer beauties, which are beyond 
 all translation. 
 
78 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 within the Bogas, stationed there to pilot germes, in 
 blowing weather, through the breakers on the bar. 
 We struck thrice before we got into smooth water; 
 and had the mortification to pass the wreck of our 
 unfortunate Ragusean fellow-traveller, who had not 
 been able to get off the coast, and perished with his 
 crew upon this bar. 
 
 There is a proverbial expression used by the 
 Arab sailors, and adopted by the Franks, who fre- 
 quent those seas, that " he, who fears not the Bo- 
 gas, fears not the devil." Indeed the present state 
 of this coast seems to justify the extreme reluctance, 
 which Menelaus expresses at undertaking this voy- 
 age a second time; especially if we consider the 
 greater distance he had to run, in his own ships, 
 without boats calculated for the Bogas, or seamen 
 experienced in that navigation. We may add, that 
 the coast of Egypt, which now projects so far, 
 formed a deep bay in his time, which must have 
 added to the danger, as it was more difficult then 
 for a ship to disengage itself from the land. 
 
 I flatter myself, that this account of the ancient 
 and present state of the coast of Egypt may justify 
 Homer's account of the length and danger of Mene- 
 laus's voyage ; and vindicate him from the charge 
 of ignorance on this head, under which he has so 
 long laboured. 
 
 HOMERS 
 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY 
 
 We cannot well take into consideration Homer's 
 Religion and Mythology, without some notice of his 
 Allegory, which has opened so large a field for 
 ancient and modern speculation. It would be 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 79 
 
 needless to enter into the extravagant fancies and 
 laboured conjectures, by which the sense of the 
 plainest passages in the Iliad and Odyssey has been 
 sacrificed to this allegorizing humour. Nothing- 
 can be more contrary to our idea of the character 
 of his writings, and to that unbiassed attention to 
 the simple forms of Nature, which we admire as 
 his distinguishing excellence. I do not indeed 
 think that those, who read him with true relish, and 
 not from affectation, run any risk of falling into 
 such refinement. However, as great pains have 
 been taken to trace the mysterious knowledge, 
 which the Poet is supposed to conceal under this 
 dark allegorical veil, up to his Egyptian education ; 
 and as a late ingenious writer b has attempted to 
 shew the extensive effects of the Poet's travelling 
 from a country, where Nature governed, to one of 
 settled rules and a digested polity, it may be worth 
 while to take the best view, we can, of the state of 
 learning in Greece and Egypt in Homer's time, in 
 order to see, what foundation there is for this opinion. 
 
 Referring the reader, for the state of Homer's 
 learning, to a particular section on that head, I shall 
 now lay before him my reasons for thinking, that 
 the high compliments, which have been so long 
 paid to the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient 
 Egyptians, have not been so well founded as is ge- 
 nerally imagined ; and I shall draw those reasons 
 from the only sources, which can furnish evidence of 
 this matter; viz. first, the monuments which they 
 have left of their taste and genius ; secondly, the 
 accounts, which other nations have given of them 
 in these respects. 
 
 It would be difficult to form a judgment of their 
 
 b See Inquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer. 
 
80 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 literary merit, without a specimen of their perform- 
 ance in that way : and I do not find that antiquity 
 has transmitted to us even their pretensions to ex- 
 cellence in composition. I must observe, that, 
 though Egypt produced the papyrus, its use to 
 letters was a Greek discovery. Their hieroglyphics, 
 indeed, have been long admired as the repository of 
 much wisdom and knowledge ; though there seems 
 great reason to think, that they were the production 
 of an infant state of society, not yet acquainted with 
 alphabetical writing. And they have been pre- 
 served by means of circumstances, which were pe- 
 culiar to Egypt. For this country had the driest 
 atmosphere, and the most durable materials. Hence 
 these memorials have been preserved, while monu- 
 ments of the same early stage of knowledge have 
 perished in other countries. 
 
 Architecture, sculpture, and painting, seem to 
 owe little to Egypt. If the temple of Theseus stands 
 to this day at Athens an undoubted proof of the 
 great perfection of Greek arts, as early as the battle 
 of Marathon : in a climate so favourable to build i 
 as that of Egypt, where there are still considerable 
 remains to be seen of pyramids of such perishable 
 materials as unburnt bricks, some fragments surely 
 would have been preserved to justify their preten- 
 sions. But though we are apt to trace every thing 
 back to Egypt, I believe, in those arts the Greeks 
 are entirely original, and took their ideas from Nature 
 alone: and it appears in sculpture, that the Egyp- 
 tians stuck to their own stiff dry manner, even after 
 they were acquainted with the perfect models of the 
 Greek artists. 
 
 Egypt has, no doubt, produced the most stu- 
 
 1 See divine legation of Moses. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 81 
 
 pendous and amazing, but I must add, the most 
 absurd and unmeaning public works, to be seen in 
 any country : I mean pyramids, obelisks, labyrinths, 
 artificial lakes, which are without art, elegance, or 
 public utility. Though jealous of strangers, they 
 took little pains to fortify their frontier : and seem 
 to have placed their security more in hiding, than 
 defending, themselves. And though well situated 
 for commerce, they neglected a good harbour, of 
 which the Greeks shewed the value and importance, 
 as soon as they got possession of this country. 
 
 When the Greeks first applied to the study of Na- 
 ture, and travelled to Egypt (supposed to have been 
 then the school of science) for instruction, we might 
 reasonably expect some favourable accounts of them. 
 But, besides, that what we are told of these early 
 travellers is obscure, and suspicious, all we can 
 collect from them does not raise our ideas of Egyp- 
 tian knowledge. If Pythagoras sacrificed a heca- 
 tomb upon finding out the 47th proposition of the 
 first book of Euclid, and Thales an ox on having 
 discovered how to inscribe a rectangled triangle in 
 a circle, after they had studied mathematics in 
 Egypt, the parent of geometry, what opinion does it 
 give us of the knowledge of their masters in that 
 science ? d The obscure account we have of their 
 scheme of joining the Nile and the Red Sea, e looks, 
 
 d Eustathius formed his system of Greek chronology without ap- 
 plying to Egypt, the seat of learning, whence it came. 
 
 e To whatever degree of perfection and use this work might have 
 been carried by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, or Mahometans, 
 for something is attributed to them all, we have the best authority 
 to believe that neither Sesostris nor Necos could carry it into exe- 
 cution, though the first was so powerful, and the latter was a great 
 promoter of the Egyptian marine ; and had built ports and havens 
 in the Mediterranean and Red Sea ; the remains of which existed 
 in the time of Herodotus. 
 
 F 
 
82 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 . if thev did Dot understood how to take a level. 
 
 cardinal points ot the compd-=>, 
 decree of mathematics does that require f and >u. > 
 Thales having shewn them how to measure *• 
 heights of those pyramids by their shadow, , 
 proof of their little progress in JW^fJ-. . . 
 Bat let as proceed to a third period o then bit 
 tory, from which we might expect .o d,:,v 
 thingto form *iudgm«utofthe.r arte and 8C.«^ 
 When the Greeks conquered Phoenicia, ( balds 
 and Egvpt, their taste, and of coarse tin ir « 
 was at the highest. Whatever accounts that eh-gant 
 and learned people may have given ot the school 
 from whence they are supposed to have ., o i« d 
 the rudiments of all their knowledge: I can hod 
 very little said of the learning or art- ot Eg] I" . «*■ 
 cept what they brought there themselves. Homer 
 was studied with more critical attention in Egypt 
 than in any other country, but it was by Gre. k$; 
 nor do we find that Zenodotus or Aristarchus, < 
 took so much pains in settling the true reading! 
 his works, under the Ptolemies, drew any illustra- 
 tions of their author from the productions of the 
 country in which they wrote. Those learned 
 tors superintended the greatest and choicest library, 
 that had ever been seen, of which Aristotle's valua- 
 ble collection made a part ; yet they have told us 
 nothing of the writers of that country in which it 
 was collected, nor do we find that they left any 
 translations into the Greek, except that of the Bible. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 83 
 
 If our inquiries into this period are unsuccessful, 
 we cannot expect much after this country became a 
 Roman province. Strabo, who, with good taste 
 and a sound judgment, was a traveller of curiosity, 
 and a great admirer of antiquity, had a favourable 
 opportunity from his friendship with iElius Gall us, 
 whom he accompanied as far as Syene and the 
 ^Ethiopian borders, of knowing what could be learn- 
 ed of this country at that time ; but his accounts 
 furnish nothing to induce us to change our senti- 
 ments on this head. 
 
 For these reasons I am of opinion, that Egypt, 
 though civilized, when Greece was in a state of bar- 
 barity, never got beyond mediocrity., either in the 
 arts of peace or war. Nor shall we find this out of 
 the order of things, if we consider the different na- 
 ture of those countries. The singular advantage of 
 Egypt, was, a climate so temperate, that little cloth- 
 ing was necessary; and a soil so fertile, that it yield- 
 ed food with very little labour. And its situation 
 in the tract of the East India trade will account for 
 its riches. But these circumstances, to which it 
 owes antiquity, population, and wealth, are not fa- 
 vourable to genius. Great efforts and happy exer- 
 tions, either of mind or body, are not to be expected 
 in a country where Nature has so well provided >''■ 
 against hunger and cold ; and where a universal 
 sameness of soil, and a constant serenity of sky, af- 
 ford nothing to awake the fancy or rouse the pas- 
 sions. Compare this with the landscape of Greece, 
 the varieties of her soil, and the vicissitude of her 
 seasons; and we shall not think it extraordinary, 
 that the arts of life should begin in one of those coun- 
 tries, and be carried to perfection in the other. 
 
 Having said thus much of the supposed nurse of 
 that mysterious learning, which the Poet is said to 
 
 f 2 
 
84 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 have brought from Egypt, and wrapped up in alle- 
 gory ; let us bring the reader back to his true cha- 
 racter as a Painter, and see if we cannot find marks 
 of imitation even in his Religion and Mythology. I 
 believe that a comparative view of the divine truths 
 of his Theology, and the ingenious fictions of his 
 Mythology, will shew, that, as far as he was at li- 
 berty, he drew both systems from an accurate and 
 comprehensive observation of Nature, under the 
 direction of a fine imagination, and a sound under- 
 standing. 
 
 As to his Religion, it would be idle, indeed unfair, 
 to introduce a few general observations, which I 
 shall offer on this head, by common-place exclama- 
 tions, against the gross extravagances of the heathen 
 creed. For though we must acknowledge, that the 
 general conduct of Homer's gods would even dis- 
 grace humanity ; yet, when we consider the pure 
 and sublime notions of the Divine Nature, which so 
 frequently occur in his writings, it is but justice to 
 such exalted sentiments of the Supreme Being, to 
 pronounce them incompatible with the belief of those 
 ridiculous absurdities, which distinguish the opi- 
 nions of the multitude from those of the Poet. 
 
 He believed the unity, supremacy, omnipotence, 
 and omniscience of the Divine Nature, Creator/and 
 Disposer of all things : his power, wisdom, justice, 
 mercy, and truth, are inculcated in various parts of 
 the Ihad and Odyssey : the immortality of the soul, 
 a future state, rewards and punishments, and most 
 of the principles of sound divinity, are to be found 
 in his writings. 
 
 This looks much less like the religion of mystery, 
 than of common sense; and those sublime but evi- 
 dent truths want not the illustrations of deep learn- 
 ing. Ihey are obvious to the plain understanding 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 85 
 
 of every thinking man, who looking abroad and con- 
 sulting his own breast, as Homer did, compares 
 what he sees with what he feels, and from the whole 
 draws fair conclusions. 
 
 Even his Mythology, considered with a view to 
 his original character, will discover, if I be not mis- 
 taken, some original strokes of the Painter and of 
 his country. It seems to constitute a very distin- 
 guishing difference between true and false religion ; 
 that while the evidence of the first is universal, of 
 every country, and coextensive with creation, the 
 origin of the latter may be often traced to the local 
 prejudices of a particular soil and climate. Star 
 worship was the native idolatry of a serene sky and 
 desert plains, where the beauties of the heavens are 
 as striking as the rest of the external face of Nature 
 is dreary and lifeless. In vain should we look for 
 Naiades, Dryades, Oriades, &c. among the divinities 
 of a country, without springs, rivers, trees, or moun- 
 tains, and almost without vegetation. These were 
 the natural acquisitions of superstition in her more 
 northern progress. 
 
 What share Homer had in dressing up and mo- 
 delling the fables of the heathen gods, can, at this 
 time, be little more than matter of mere conjecture; 
 it would however be unreasonable to think, that they 
 were of his own creation. 1 should rather suppose, 
 that the liberties of poetical embellishment, which 
 he may have taken with the popular creed of his 
 time, were strongly engrafted upon vulgar tradi- 
 tional superstitions, which had already laid strong 
 hold of the passions and prejudices of his country- 
 men ; an advantage, which so perfect a judge of 
 human nature would be very cautious of forfeiting. 
 For when the religion of poetry and that of the peo- 
 ple were the same, any attempt of sudden innovation 
 
36 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 in such an establishment would have been a hazard- 
 ous experiment, which neither a good citizen nor a 
 good poet would care to undertake. I shall there- 
 fore venture to conclude, that the part of the Poet's 
 fiction, which dishonours his deities with the weak- 
 ness and passions of human nature, was founded in 
 popular legends and vulgar opinion, for which every 
 good poet, from Homer to Shakspeare, has thought 
 proper to have great complaisance. Take from that 
 original genius of our own country the popular be- 
 lief in his ghosts and hobgoblins, his light fairies and 
 his dapper elves, with other fanciful personages of 
 the Gothic mythology; and you sap the true foun- 
 dation of some of the most beautiful fictions, that 
 ever poet's imagination produced. That Homer 
 carried this too far, and studying to please neglected 
 to instruct, may be very true ; for though Plato's se- 
 verity on this head has been criticised, we must find 
 it extremely becoming his zeal for the inseparable 
 interests of religion and virtue, if we consider that 
 he had weighty reasons, which do not reach Shakr 
 speare's mythology, to be alarmed at examples of 
 vice and immorality in the very persons, who wuv 
 at that time the acknowledged objects of public re- 
 ligious worship. 
 
 Though the persons, and perhaps some part of the 
 action, of his fable, might have been originally taken 
 from Egypt and the East: yet we know that his 
 figures, I may say portraits, were his own ; and the 
 scenery of his Mythology is Grecian. And (what 
 strengthens our conjectures' with regard to his 
 country) of the various perspectives, into which 
 we may attempt to reduce this Greek uytholog 
 scenery, the Ionian point of view will appear pre- 
 dominant. 
 
 I fear, I may appear prejudiced to m> subj< ct, it 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 87 
 
 I look for Nature in this imaginary province, and 
 expect a regard for truth even in the Poet's fable. 
 Yet I cannot help thinking, that, where his persons 
 are most ideal, his scene is not less real ; and that 
 when his subject carries him beyond life, and his 
 divine agents, or (in the language of criticism) his 
 machinery is introduced, the action is carried on 
 with greater powers, no doubt, and upon a larger 
 scale ; but with the same attention to a just propor- 
 tion, and generally in the same subordination to the 
 invariable laws of time and place. This is a ma- 
 nagement, which, though it cannot entirely command 
 assent, softens extravagance, and leads the reader 
 so insensibly to fancy reality in fiction, by rendering 
 both conformable to the same general rules of pos- 
 sibility and consistence, that it is not easy to say, 
 where the historian ends, or the poet begins. 
 
 And yet I despair of giving satisfaction on this 
 head, within the compass, which I have prescribed 
 to myself: for though the important and frequent 
 use of the machinery, in contributing so largely to a 
 spirited succession of interesting variety, and espe- 
 cially in relieving the eye from too much of the Sca- 
 mandrian plain, must be obvious to every attentive 
 reader; yet the easy transition, by which this is ef- 
 fected, can only be discovered by a nicer examina- 
 tion of those classical regions, which gave birth, or 
 at least gave system and maturity, to his fable. If 
 we form to ourselves a just idea of the respective 
 situation, distance, and perspective, of Olympus, 
 Ida, the Grecian camp, &c. we shall find Homer's 
 celestial geography (if I may so call it) so happily 
 connected with his map of Troy, that the scene is 
 shifted from one to the other naturally, and with a 
 certain mixture of circumstantial truths, which ope- 
 rates unobserved, and throws at least an air of pos- 
 
88 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 sibility into the wildest excursions of fancy. I shall 
 explain myself by example. 
 
 Jupiter, seated on Mount Gargara, the summit of 
 Ida, not suspecting, that any of the gods would vio- 
 late the neutrality he had so strictly enjoined, turns 
 his eyes from the slaughter upon the Scamandrian 
 plain to the peaceful scenes of Thrace and Mysia. 
 But Neptune, anxious for the distressed Greeks, had 
 placed himself on the top of Samothrace, which 
 commands a prospect of Ida, Troy, and the fleet. 
 Having from hence observed Jupiter turn his back 
 upon the scene of action, he resolves to seize that 
 opportunity of annoying the Trojans. With this 
 view he goes home to Aegos for his armour, and 
 proceeds thence to the field of battle, putting up bis 
 chariot and horses between Imbros and Tenedos; 
 At the same time Juno, not less interested in the 
 Grecian cause, discovers from Olympus, what is 
 passing at the ships. And watching the motions of 
 Jupiter and Neptune, she forms her plan according- 
 ly for rendering the operations of the latter effectual, 
 by keeping Jupiter's attention diverted another way. 
 Having with this view procured the cestus or girdle 
 of Venus, she proceeds, first to Lemnos, to solicit 
 the aid of the god of Sleep, and thence to Jupiter on 
 Gargara. 
 
 I doubt much, whether any reader has ever sus- 
 pected, that this fanciful piece of machinery is so 
 strictly geographical, that we cannot enter into the 
 boldness and true spirit of the Poets conceptions 
 upon this occasion, without a map. But if he exa- 
 mines it in that light, he will be pleased to find, that 
 a view of the land and water here described, under a 
 certain perspective, clears up the action, and con- 
 verts what may otherwise appear crowded and con- 
 tused, into distinct and pleasing variety. He will 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 89 
 
 then see, that the mere change of Jupiter's position, 
 while it introduces a most beautiful contrast between 
 scenes of innocence and tranquillity, and those of 
 devastation and bloodsd,is essenhetial to the episode 
 of Neptune and Juno. He will attend those Divini- 
 ties with new pleasure, through every step of their 
 progress. The mighty strides of the first, and the 
 enchanting description of his voyage, long admired 
 as one of the happiest efforts of a truly poetical ima- 
 gination, will improve upon a survey of the original 
 scenery, when its correspondence with the fable is 
 discovered. Juno's stages are still more distinctly 
 marked : she goes from Olympus by Pieria and 
 iEmathia, to Athos ; from Athos, by sea, to Lem- 
 nos, where, having engaged the god of Sleep in her 
 interests, she continues her course to Imbros; and 
 from Imbros to Lee turn, the most considerable pro- 
 montory of Ida; here leaving the sea, she proceeds 
 to Gargara, the summit of that mountain. 
 
 When I attempted to follow the steps of these 
 poetical journies, in my eye, from Mount Ida, and 
 other elevated situations on the -^olian and Ionian 
 side of the iEgean Sea ; I could take in so many of 
 them as to form a tolerable picture of the whole. 
 But I could not make this experiment with the same 
 success from any station in European Greece. This 
 induces me to suppose the composition to be Asia- 
 tic, and that the original idea of Neptune and Juno's 
 journey was most probably conceived in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Troy. 
 
 1 must own, that in this sort of inquiry we are apt 
 to indulge our fancy ; and it is not without some 
 apprehensions of falling into this error, that, by way 
 of farther explanation, I risk the following conjec- 
 ture. When I was in these classical countries, I 
 could not help tracing one of the most ancient pieces 
 
90 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 of heathen mythology up to its source, I mean the 
 war of the Titans with the gods. For though the 
 scene of this story lies in old Greece, yet some of its 
 embellishments look very like the production of an 
 Ionian imagination. I have already taken notice of 
 the beauties of a western evening prospect from this 
 coast. When the sun goes down behind the cloud- 
 capped mountains of Macedonia and Thessaly, there 
 is a picturesque wildness in the appearance, under 
 certain points of view, which naturally calls to mind 
 the old fable of the rebel giants bidding defiance to 
 Jupiter, and scaling the heavens, as the fanciful b 
 gestion of this rugged perspective. And we find 
 this striking face of Nature adapted to so bold a fic- 
 tion with a fitness and propriety, which its extrava- 
 gance would forbid us to expect; for it was by no 
 means a matter of indifference, which mountain^ 
 were to be employed, or in what order they wire to 
 be piled, to effect this daring escalade. If we coin- 
 pare Homer and Virgil's account of this matter with 
 the present state of the country, we shall find a 
 nation in their descriptions, which, while it Miili- 
 ciently distinguishes the Roman copy from the* Jreek 
 original, will best explain my meaning. 
 There was an old tradition 1 in Greece, which 1- 
 
 Oo-ffav £7r' Ov\vfXTTG)fie[.ia.<jav defiey, avrap £-' Oaarj 
 UrjXiov eivooriQvWov, Iv ovpavoe apparoe £n/._ Od. xi. 314. 
 " Ter sunt conati itnponere Pelio Ossam 
 Scilicet, atque Ossaj frondosum involvere Olympus." 
 
 Virg. CiEon. i. 281. 
 Homer's order is, -Olympus, Ossa, Pelion f Virgil is « IVlion. 
 Ossa, Olympus." See Strabo and Mad. Dacier: The first is ob- 
 scure, and the latter seems to have mistaken his meaning 
 rhessahans said, that Neptune made the Valley of Tempe, through 
 
 1^' r fl ° WS ' alludi »§to this earthquake; and Hero- 
 
 dotus approves that opinion ; see his Polyhymnia, and the p.cture 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 91 
 
 preserved there to this day, that Ossa and Olympus 
 were originally different parts of the same mountain, 
 of which the first formed the summit, and the latter 
 the base, till they were separated by an earthquake. 
 It is not improbable that their size and shape, as 
 they appear under an eastern point of view, should 
 have given rise to this tradition, and perhaps sug- 
 gested to the inventor of the fable, or, if you please, 
 to the Poet, who first adapted it to this Grecian 
 scenery, the order of piling them one upon another. 
 But Virgil, who never saw, or never attended to, 
 this prospect, has deviated both from Homer, and 
 Nature, in placing those mountains so as to form an 
 inverted pyramid. 
 
 It must however be acknowledged, that Virgil 
 seldom errs by departing from Homer : if his ma- 
 chinery will not bear so scrupulous a review as that 
 of the Greek Poet, it is in general less his fault than 
 his misfortune; nor is the manifest inferiority of the 
 iEneid, in this respect, to be laid to his charge. A 
 great part of his scene of action, though it has since 
 acquired no small share of classical fame, was not 
 at that time sufficiently consecrated to the purposes 
 of poetry, by the birth, habitation, intrigues, and 
 achievements of gods and- heroes. Nor is the geo- 
 graphical disposition of Latium so favourable to 
 fabulous adventure as that of Greece, where a most 
 pleasing mixture of land and water is wonderfully 
 calculated for a quick succession of scenery, afford- 
 ing more distinct variety than could well be ima- 
 gined within the same compass. It was here alone 
 that the dull creed of Egypt could be extended, 
 and modelled iuto that fanciful system of Mythology, 
 which Homer has so effectually entailed upon his 
 poetical posterity, that few of his legitimate sons 
 have ventured to shake off that incumbrance; and 
 
92 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 perhaps not one, who has not failed in the attempt 
 In accommodating this most poetical religion and 
 picturesque country to the plan of the Iliad and 
 Odyssey, he had only to choose and shift the rich 
 materials of this engaging fable and romantic sce- 
 nery ; susceptible, under his management, even to 
 a dramatic propriety, of the most natural, and yet 
 most diversified combinations and transitions, that 
 fancy could suggest. While Virgil, not daring to 
 lose sight of his great model, not only brings his 
 gods from Greece, but his shepherds from Arcadia, 
 and his swans from Cayster : if Diana dances, it 
 must be on the banks of the Eurotas. 
 
 That the Roman Poet has many obligations to 
 Homer, is evident to the slightest perusal of tlu-ir 
 different compositions. But the difficulties under 
 which he laboured, in adapting the beauties of the 
 Iliad and Odyssey to a later age and different me- 
 ridian, have not, to my knowledge, been observed. 
 Whenever Homer attempted to surprise and asto- 
 nish his audience with something strauge, conform- 
 ing himself to the known state of the globe in his 
 days, he carried them far west of his own country, 
 to the unfrequented coast of Italy. But science, 
 unluckily for both poets, making her progress in the 
 same western direction, had, before Virgil's time, 
 dissipated that darkness (so favourable to the mar- 
 vellous) in which Italy was involved, in the heroic 
 ages. The author of the iEneid found Circes island 
 in his neighbourhood, and the country of the Lastri- 
 gones among the gardens of the Roman nobility. 
 The distance of the scene, which was so convenient 
 to Homer, ceased to have its operation with regard 
 to the Roman Poet, whose countrymen, however 
 credulous of eastern wonders, had not so much 
 faith in romantic stories of strange adventures iu 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 93 
 
 home. I dare say the Ithaca of Homer never raised 
 .a smile in his contemporary audience ; though the 
 Romans, to whom this little island was a familiar 
 object in their passage between Italy and Greece, 
 treat it in a style of jocularity natural enough from 
 the masters of the world to so diminutive a kingdom. 
 
 HOMER'S MANNERS. 
 
 Of the several proofs which might be alleged in 
 favour of Homer's knowledge of different countries, 
 his lively delineations of national character must 
 have furnished the strongest and most pleasing to 
 those, who lived near his time; whilst the original 
 features of those peculiarities were enough discern- 
 ible to bear a comparison, with what we find of them 
 in his writings : where, what he has left of this kind, 
 is marked with too much precision, and supported 
 throughout with too much consistence, to allow us 
 to think that he had acquired his knowledge of 
 mankind at home. 
 
 But while the Eastern traveller finds the vestiges 
 of those characterizing circumstances, which once 
 distinguished the inhabitants of particular tracts, 
 either totally obliterated, or at least too faint to be 
 traced with any tolerable degree of certainty ; he 
 will discover a general resemblance between the 
 ancient and present manners of those countries, so 
 striking, that we cannot without injustice to our 
 subject pass it over unnoticed. For perhaps no- 
 thing has tended so much to injure the reputation of 
 that extraordinary genius in the judgment of the 
 present age, as his representation of customs and 
 
1)4 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 manners so very different from our own. Our 
 polite neighbours the French seem to be most, 
 offended at certain pictures of primitive simplicity, 
 so unlike those refined modes of modern life, in 
 which they have taken the lead ; and to this we 
 may partly impute the rough treatment which our 
 Poet received from them about the end of the last, 
 and the beginning of this, century. Though I must 
 observe, that if upon that occasion he met with un- 
 fair and ungenerous enemies, he also found some 
 warm and respectable friends. 5 
 
 To reconcile ourselves to usages and customs so 
 very opposite to our own, is a task too difficult for 
 the generality of mankind ; and therefore Homer's 
 manners must ever be liable to exceptions in propor- 
 tion to their difference from those of his readers. 
 We may add, that many beautiful allusions to the 
 times, for which he wrote, are irretrievably lost, evi n 
 to the most conversant in antiquities. However 
 we found the manners of the Iliad still preserved in 
 some parts of the East, nay retaining, in a remark- 
 able degree, that genuine cast of natural simplicity, 
 which we admire in his works and the sacred 
 books, it may not be improper to inquire how such 
 an invariability in the modes of life should be pecu- 
 liar to that part of the world, before we examine 
 
 *The principal managers of this controversy were Boileau, 
 Madame Dacier, Boivin, &c. on the side of Homer, and La Motte, 
 Perrault, Fenelon, and Fontenelle, &c. who took part against him. 
 Without entering into the merits of a dispute which was carried on 
 with unbecoming acrimony on both sides, we may venture to 
 upon the whole, that the Poet was more abused and more compli- 
 mented upon that occasion than he deserved; and as his enemies 
 charged him with faults he is not guilty of, so his frfeuds diaooi 
 beauties in him, of which he never dreamed. But I must ob 
 that the loudest in their abuse of Homer were those. v>ho did not 
 understand the language in which he wrote. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 95 
 
 how far this resemblance between such distant 
 periods extends. 
 
 That so many of the customs of Homer's age, and 
 still more of the ancient Jews, should be continued 
 down to the present times, in countries, which have 
 undergone such a variety of political revolutions, is 
 extraordinary. President Montesquieu's manner 
 of accounting for this singular stability of Eastern 
 manners is not at all satisfactory in my opinion. I 
 shall propose a conjecture on this head, which 
 occurred in that part of our travels through Arabia, 
 where we found this resemblance most striking. 
 But that the reader may form a better judgment on 
 this matter, it will be necessary to lay before him a 
 general view of the interior and uncultivated part 
 of that peninsula, and its inhabitants. 
 
 There is perhaps no country in the world less 
 capable of variation, either for better or worse, than 
 the extensive deserts of Arabia. The former mag- 
 nificence of Palmyra, which flourished in so remark- 
 able a degree in the midst of those uncultivated 
 plains, though now desolate and in ruins, may ap- 
 pear to contradict this opinion. But if we consider 
 the motives and means which produced a most mag- 
 nificent and opulent city in so extraordinary a situ- 
 ation, it will remove this difficulty. The first inha- 
 bitants of Tedmor could have no temptation to 
 settle there, except on account of the fountain, 
 which we have elsewhere described.* 1 This made 
 it, at all times, the most convenient resting-place 
 between the Euphrates and the cultivated parts of 
 Syria on the sea-coast ; the possession of which ef- 
 fectually commanded the passage of the desert. 
 For neither troops nor caravans could proceed 
 without the permission of the proprietors of this 
 h See Ruins of Palmyra. 
 
9<j ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 fountain, of which we had sufficient proof in our 
 journey to this place. For though our camels bore 
 the passage of the desert very well, our horses and 
 mules were so languid and exhausted by a march of 
 twenty-six hours on those sandy plains, in a hot 
 sun, without a drop of water, that I am convinced 
 they could not have gone much farther. Palmyra, 
 being thus possessed, by situation alone, of the 
 balance both of power and commerce between the 
 eastern and western world, then contending for the 
 empire of the whole, made astonishing efforts to 
 change the face of that country, the only possible 
 way of changing its manners. Water was brought, 
 at incredible labour and expense, from distant 
 mountains, to produce that vegetation, which Nature 
 had denied ; but with so little success, that even 
 the attempt, great as it was, has but narrowly 
 escaped ! oblivion : so that this singular spot has 
 not only relapsed into its primitive condition and 
 appearance (the vast ruins excepted), but has re- 
 covered its pristine inhabitants, with their customs, 
 manners, language, and, what is most extraordinary, 
 their traditions. In vain did we attempt to explain 
 to the Arabs any fact recorded on the marbles, 
 which we found there. They treated the account of 
 some of those buildings, which we read to them 
 from the inscriptions, with great contempt, as the 
 
 ; Had those ruins been swallowed up by an earthquake before we 
 
 Z t 7' °l thC materials beeu a PP lied t0 °<^r P"r r 
 
 which t he,r d.tance from any town or city has prevented, a would 
 
 ever e^H T*' ^ ^^ " hether such magnificence bad 
 head in 7* Hard ° Uia e ^ reSSeS his i"«ec *««" - this 
 
 avs ?<«* Se r h ° h3d §,VeU S ° me acco -t <* those remains, ho 
 says, Quorum tamen nollem fidem nr» s t a r a »• c i 
 Pliny, lib. v. cap. 25. prsstare. Sec Ins notes ou 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 97 
 
 invidious contrivance of later times to rob Solomon 
 the son of David (Salman Ebn Doud) of the honour 
 of having erected them. In short, Palmyra and 
 Zenobia are names absolutely unknown at this day 
 to the Bedouins of the desert; where Tedmor and k 
 Solomon are the constant subjects of encomium 
 and admiration. 
 
 It seems universally true with regard to a people 
 habituated to the sweets of unbounded liberty, that 
 they are not easily tempted to resign the roving 
 pleasures of that unhoused free condition for the 
 quiet, ease, security, or even luxuries, of regular 
 society. This observation may be justly applied 
 to the true Bedouin. The Hottentot or Cherokee 
 is not fonder of his native woods, than the wan- 
 dering Arab is of his sandy domain. As his wants 
 are few, for he knows only those of Nature ; so his 
 desires are confined; for he either subdues, or 
 affects to disclaim, those he cannot gratify. Thus 
 architecture and agriculture are not merely matters 
 of indifference to him, as things out of his reach ; 
 he holds them in contempt, priding himself in his 
 poor tent, under the walls of cities ; and despising 
 tillage as a mean occupation, compared with his 
 rambling pastoral life. This aversion to the hus- 
 bandman is reciprocal, and a shepherd has ever 
 been an abomination to an Egyptian. The Arab 
 respects birth and family, about which the Turks 
 are indifferent: is rather more rigid, than they are 
 in his expectations of female reserve; is not ad- 
 dicted to their unnatural passion, but agrees with 
 them in their exclusion of women from society. He 
 is temperate, brave, friendly, hospitable, true to 
 his engagements, nice in his point of honour, and, 
 
 k See Palmyra. 
 G 
 
98 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 in general, scrupulously observant of the duties of 
 his religion : yet his ideas of plunder and rapine are 
 perfectly conformable to those of the heroic and 
 patriarchal times. Thus is his life strangely di- 
 vided between deeds of cruelty, violence, and in- 
 justice, on the one hand ; and the most generous acts 
 of humanity on the other. 
 
 Breeding cattle is his profession ; hunting and 
 hawking are his principal amusements ; while rob- 
 bery and devastation are not less the objects of hi- 
 ambition, than of his avarice. He lives constantly 
 in tents, is much on horseback, always armed ; and 
 almost constantly meditating enterprise, or consult- 
 ing retreat. To this state of continual action or 
 alarm his circumstances are peculiarly adapted : for 
 his property, his family, his business, his pleasures, 
 and I may add, his laws and his religion (or more 
 properly his courts of justice and his places of 
 worship) are as moveable as his person. 
 
 The Arabs boast a purer and more unmixed an- 
 tiquity, than any other nation: history, and the na- 
 ture of their country, seem to concur in the support 
 of this claim. 
 
 According to the Mosaic account, Arabia mo* 
 have been among those countries, which were first 
 peopled. And there is good reason to believe, that 
 the inland parts of that peninsula have never been 
 conquered, notwithstanding the claims of so manv 
 different nations, who have, all in their turn, reck- 
 oned the Arabs among their subjects 
 
 As to the present pretensions of the Ottoman 
 Poite to dominion over Arabia, they seem to re* 
 mu h U po„ the >sam e footing with those of former 
 ages. I never travelled in any part of tho.e deserts 
 where it would not have been d!^ *£%£ 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 99 
 
 my Turkish firman or passport; and where a janis- 
 sary, instead of procuring that security and respect, 
 which I experienced from his protection in provinces 
 acknowledging obedience to the Grand Seignor, 
 would not have exposed me to abuse and insult. The 
 presents (a term of extensive signification in the 
 East) which are distributed annually by the Ba- 
 shaw of Damascus to the several Arab princes, 
 through whose territory he conducts the cara- 
 van of pilgrims to Mecca, are at Constantinople 
 called a free gift ; and considered as an act of 
 the Sultan's generosity towards his indigent sub- 
 jects; while, on the other hand, the Arab shecks 
 deny even a right of passage through the districts 
 of their command, and exact those sums as a tax 
 due for the permission of going through their coun- 
 try. In the frequent bloody contests, which the 
 adjustment of those fees produces, the Turks com- 
 plain of robbery, and the Arabs of invasion. This 
 is the substance of all, that I could procure on this 
 head by diligent inquiry, not only at Constantino- 
 ple, and in the desert, but at Damascus. At the last 
 place I had an opportunity of collecting the most 
 authentic information on both sides of the question. 
 The Arabs of Palestine have the same ideas with 
 regard to that country. They consider it as their 
 hereditary property from the earliest times, notwith- 
 standing many temporary invasions of their right. 
 And though there is now an Aga at Jerusalem, acting 
 under the Bashaw of Damascus, he looks more like a 
 military officer levying contributions in an enemy's 
 country, than the governor of a province, in acknow- 
 ledged allegiance to the Sultan. He has no influ- 
 ence, no respect paid him, even no security but in 
 his walls, and in his military force. The pilgrims, 
 who do not purchase Arab protection, are frequently 
 
 02 
 
100 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 plundered within sight of the holy sepulchre, and 
 at the very gates of the capital. 1 
 
 In this sketch of the interior of Arabia, which 
 has, to the best of my observation, all the accuracy, 
 that so general a description will admit ; the reader 
 will perhaps acknowledge with me (as one cause, 
 which may have contributed towards the uniformity 
 and stability of Oriental manners), a perpetual and 
 inexhaustible store of the aboriginal modes and cus- 
 toms of primeval life. These are inaccessible to the 
 varieties aud fluctuations, which conquest, com- 
 merce, arts, or agriculture, introduce in other places; 
 and expand, or contract, their circle of influence 
 on the neighbouring countries, according to their 
 vicinity, their intercourse, and the various revolutions 
 of their respective fortunes. 
 
 But it is impossible to do this subject justice, 
 without taking likewise into consideration the man- 
 ners 111 of the sacred writers, which come so much 
 nearer those of Arabia than Homer's, as they lived 
 nearer that country, and as most of the scenes, 
 which they describe, lie either in it, or contiguous to 
 it. As to the conformity of style and sentiment 
 between those writers, and the Poet, it is no more 
 than what we are to expect in just copies of the 
 same original: nor does it seem at all necessary to 
 account for the agreement from Homer's soppo 
 knowledge of the Jewish learning through the Egyp- 
 
 1 See Palmyra, for Arabia not conquered. 
 
 m American manners might also have a place here, and bear testi- 
 mony to the truth of Homer's picture of human nature; but though, 
 in some respects, savage manners have full as much dignity, as those 
 of the Heroic, or any age (for even the Spartan education never 
 carried a sense of honour, contempt of danger, patience of pain. 
 farther than some of the Indian tribes); yet in general their 
 of civilization is too far short of that, which the Poet descnb 
 come under our present consideration. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 101 
 
 tian priests, as some ingenious men have too loosely 
 conjectured. 
 
 To enter into this comparison of the Heroic, Patri- 
 archal, and Bedouin manners, with that minuteness, 
 to which it may hereafter be extended in the journal 
 of my Eastern travels, would exceed the purpose of 
 this abstract. I shall at present content myself 
 with laying before the reader some of the most 
 striking features in this resemblance, which I shall 
 consider separately. 
 
 The traveller, who has time and opportunities of 
 making observations on the manners and customs of 
 those countries, which I have visited in the East, 
 will (1) be surprised to see how far dissimulation 
 and diffidence are carried in that part of the world. 
 He will (2) be shocked at the scenes of cruelty, 
 violence, and injustice, which must necessarily fall 
 within his notice ; as he will (3) be charmed with 
 the general spirit of hospitality, which prevails so 
 much more there than in Europe; he will (4) regret 
 the loss of female society, and be disgusted at the 
 licentious style of pleasantry, which takes place in 
 its room. When he sees persons of the highest rank 
 employed in the lowest domestic duties, he will (5) 
 be offended at the meanness of such occupations : 
 and as to the general turn of wit and humour, it 
 will (0) appear either flat and insipid, or coarse and 
 indelicate. 
 
 But when he finds similar representations of life 
 in Homer, he will conclude, that they are not the 
 capricious singularities of a particular age or coun- 
 try ; but that they may be traced up to some com- 
 mon causes : perhaps to the nature of soil and cli- 
 mate, and to the spirit of that unequal legislation, 
 to which Oriental timidity has hitherto indolently 
 submitted •, not daring to assert the natural rights of 
 
102 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 mankind. Let us now see how far the six general 
 classes, into which I have divided the similarities of 
 the ancient Greek and Jewish, and the present Ara- 
 bian manners (merely in conformity to the order in 
 which observations of this kind occurred in our 
 travels) are connected with the same imperfect state 
 of society. 
 
 I. There is nothing more remarkable in the man- 
 ners of the East, especially to an English traveller, 
 than the degree of refinement, to which profound 
 dissimulation is carried in all ranks, but especially 
 among those in power. In the visits and common 
 intercourse of the great, more attention is paid to 
 the looks than to the words of the company : and 
 the speaker generally weighs, what he is to say, by 
 the countenance of the person he converse* with, 
 rather than by his own sentiments or opinion of the 
 question. He accommodates his language much 
 less to truth and matter of fact, than to the private 
 purposes of his hopes or fears. In short, all confi- 
 dence is destroyed by the despotism of the East. 
 Suspicion begins with the prince, and from him a 
 general diffidence spreads through every rank and 
 order, ending only in the man, who has nothing to 
 fear, because he has nothing to lose. The arts of 
 disguise are in those countries the great arts of life ; 
 and the character of Ulysses would form a perfect 
 model for those, who wish to make their wav iu it 
 with security and respect. A spv, who is secretlv 
 employed in other countries, is here an avowed 
 officer of state. But then, in proportion to the mu- 
 tual distrust, which so universally prevails in the 
 several departments of government, confidence be- 
 tween individuals, where it exists at all, is carried 
 great lengths; and the Arab history, winch is so 
 lull of political treachery, abounds also in account- 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 103 
 
 of private friendships, which do not fall short of 
 those of Pylades and Orestes, Achilles and Patro- 
 clus, or David and Jonathan. 
 
 II. Cruelty, violence, and injustice, are so evi- 
 dently the result of defective government, that it is 
 unnecessary to look for any other general cause of 
 the scenes of this sort, with which Homer abounds 
 in common with other ancient writers, and agree- 
 ably to the present manners of those countries. For 
 when every man is, in a great measure, judge in his 
 own cause, vices of this class are not only more fre- 
 quent, but, inforo conscientice, less criminal than in 
 a civilized state, where the individual transfers his 
 resentments to the community, and private injury 
 expects redress from public justice ; where the legis- 
 lature does not engage for our personal security, we 
 have a right to use such means, as are in our power, 
 in order to destroy the aggressor, who would destroy 
 us. In such cases bodily strength and courage must 
 decide most contests, while on the other hand, craft, 
 cunning, and surprise, are the legitimate weapons 
 of the weak against the strong. We accordingly 
 find, that both the ancient and modern history of 
 the East is a continued narrative of bloodshed and 
 treachery ; and in the heroic times homicide was 
 so common, that we see the Poet alluding to a fugi- 
 tive murderer taking shelter under the roof of a 
 stranger (to escape, not public justice, but the re- 
 venge of the relations of the deceased) as a familiar 
 occurrence in life. Some of the favourite person- 
 ages of the Iliad and Odyssey had fled their country 
 for this crime ; and most of Homer's heroes would, 
 in the present age, be capitally convicted, in any 
 country in Europe, on the Poet's evidence. 
 
 III. But that hospitality should be derived, in 
 any degree, from the same source, may seem a para- 
 
104 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 dox to those who have not observed, that this 
 virtue prevails in most countries, and in the different 
 provinces of each country, very much in proportion 
 to the idleness, poverty, and insecurity, which attend 
 a defective police. As dissimulation may he pro- 
 perly called an Oriental vice, so hospitality will 
 retain the name of an Oriental virtue ; and both will 
 prevail in the East, as long as the Arab mode of 
 government continues in that part of the globe. It 
 is some consolation, in so wretched a state of society, 
 that hospitality should be most cultivated, where it 
 is most wanted. In Arabia, the rights of hospitality 
 (so properly called the point of honour of the E 
 are the happy substitute of positive law ; which, in 
 some degree, supplies the place of justice, connect- 
 ing, by a voluntary intercourse of disinterested 
 offices, those vagabond tribes, who despise legisla- 
 tion, deny the perfect rights of mankind, and set the 
 civil magistrate at defiance. A strong instance of 
 the powers of that generous sympathizing principle 
 in the social constitution of our nature, which the 
 wisest government will encourage; and which the 
 most depraved cannot suppress. 
 
 IV. We must acknowledge, that this most pleasing 
 feature, in a portrait of Heroic, Patriarchal, and 
 Modern Oriental life, is sadly contrasted by a 
 gloomy part of the picture, which products the most 
 striking difference between our manners and theirs ; 
 I mean, that unnatural separation of the Bexes, a hich 
 precludes the female half from that share in the 
 duties and amusements of life, which the common 
 interests of society demand. 
 
 The bad effects of this tyrannical proscription of 
 the most amiable part of the creation (true charac- 
 teristic of savage life), are only known to those, who 
 experience the happiness of a more liberal distnbu- 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 105 
 
 tion of the business, and pleasures of the male and 
 female province, which only soothes the cares, and 
 enlivens the joys, of the retired, domestic scene : 
 but, in the more active and enlarged sphere of am- 
 bition and enterprise, softens ferocity, while it ani- 
 mates indifference, and rouses into action the noblest 
 powers of the mind. What a blank must we then 
 find in the manners of a country, where that sex, to 
 which Nature seems to have intrusted so extensive 
 an influence over the most active period of our lives, 
 is debased by a most humiliating servitude and ba- 
 nishment, which deprives us of the most powerful 
 motives to great and generous undertakings ! Yet 
 such was the Heroic and Patriarchal state of society ; 
 and such it is, at this day, in the East; with a dif- 
 ference, however, that is much in favour of Homer's 
 manners: for though the female subordination is 
 strongly marked in the Iliad and Odyssey, yet wo- 
 men seem to make a more considerable part of so- 
 ciety there than among the ancient Jews ; and cer- 
 tainly much more than the present Oriental restric- 
 tions on this head permit. 
 
 As the influence of a custom so fatal to public and 
 private happiness must have extended, in some de- 
 gree, to the whole system of heroic manners ; it is 
 impossible to do justice to the original productions 
 of genius in that age, without making allowance for 
 its effects in a true picture of life. Is it not very 
 remarkable, that Homer, so great a master of the 
 tender and pathetic, who has exhibited human na- 
 ture in almost every shape, and under every view, 
 has not given a single iustance of the powers and 
 effects of love, distinct from sensual enjoyment, in 
 the Iliad?" though the occasion of the war, which is 
 
 ■ Mr. Pope has observed, "That pity and the softer passions 
 are not of the nature of the Iliad ;" he might have said, that they 
 
106 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 the subject of that poem, might so naturally intro- 
 duce something of this kind: nor can I allow the 
 story of Ulysses and Calypso, in the Odyssey, to 
 
 are not of the character of Homer's manners. Yet, when they are 
 introduced amidst the terrors of death and slaughter, the contrast 
 is irresistible: and a tender scene in the Iliad, like a cultivated 
 spot in the Alps, derives new beauties from the horrors, which 
 surround it. Indeed, had he left us but one specimen of this kind, 
 the interview of Hector and Andromache, in the sixth book, this 
 would have been sufficient to shew his entire command over our 
 softest feelings. Should I presume to see a fault in this admired 
 picture, it is one that falls, not upon the Poet, but his manner*; 
 and may help to explain my ideas on this matter. Andromache 
 having raised our pity and compassion to the utmost stretch, that 
 tragedy can carry those passions; Hector answers, 
 
 H kcu Efioi race Tzavra /j.e\ei, yvvat. 
 and concludes, 
 
 AW' eiQ oikov tovaa, &c. 
 
 His meaning here was to divert Andromache's attention to oth.i 
 objects, and the expression was meant to convey the utmost 
 tenderness; but has it that effect upon us? is not the English 
 reader offended at a certain indelicacy in those word-, which 
 Homer puts in the mouth of an affectionate husband t.» hi- 
 wife, and, in another place, of a most dutiful son to his mother? 
 See Odyss. <t>. 350. In short, the whole behaviour of Telemachus 
 to Penelope, however respectful, puts us in mind of the Ath- 
 law, which constituted the son, when he was of age, the kvpto?, or 
 guardian of his mother. Indeed that republic seems to ha* 
 nished women not only from a share of their amusement?, but 
 virtues. When an oration was delivered iu honour of those, \s ho 
 died for their country in battle, they were permitted, it is true, to 
 be present : but with what an impolitic mortiticatiou to their m 
 we find that indulgence disgraced, when Pericles pronounced the 
 funeral oration upon those, who fell in the first year of the Pelo- 
 ponnesian war. For having enforced every argument, that elo- 
 quence could suggest upon that solemn and interesting occasion. 
 when he turns to the widows and female relations of the deceased. 
 he addresses them with an unpardonable coldness. He tells them, 
 that he shall say little: that he hopes, that thev will not be worst 
 than Nature made them : and that their greatest honour was to 
 have as little, as possible, said of them among the men, cither 
 good or bad. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 107 
 
 come up to our ideas of that passion, any more than 
 that of Jupiter and Juno, Mars and Venus, and 
 some other love scenes of primitive manners. Virgil's 
 age happily supplied him with those pictures, to 
 which Homer was a stranger ; and he availed him- 
 self most successfully of this opening. For, taking 
 the mere outline of his story from the Greek Poet, 
 he has left us a master-piece in that kind, as much 
 above the original, for elegant expression of all the 
 varieties of that passion, as Dido is superior to 
 Calypso in tenderness and delicacy of sentiment. 
 
 Let us not account for this by supposing, with 
 some of his best commentators, that he considered 
 the passion of love as a weakness unworthy of a 
 hero. Homer respected Nature too much to despise 
 or suppress any of her genuine feelings. But, in 
 short, this passion, according to our ideas of it, 
 was unknown to the manners of that age. Not 
 only the male characters, particularly that of the 
 hero of the Iliad, retain the harshness and ferocity 
 of this defect ; but the female sphere of action, 
 which is now properly extended, was then confined 
 to the uniformity of servile domestic duties. The 
 prude and coquette, with all the intermediate shades 
 
 ° H pa, Kai ayicag efxapwre Kpovov iraig i]V TrapaKOtrrjV 
 Tokxl 5' v7ro x^ wv ^ ta <P vet/ vtodrjXea ttolt}v, 
 Aiotop 0' lp(n)EVTa.) the Kpoicov, rjo vaKivdov, 
 Wvkvov Kai (xakaKOv, bg awo jftorog v\poa eepye. 
 Ty evl XeZaaSrjv* ettl Se v£(f>e\tjv eacrapro 
 KaXjjy, yj>vour\v y GTiktrvai 5' aTreiwrTOV itpaai. 
 'Slg 6 fiep arpe/nag ivEe Trartjp ava Tapyapu) a/cpw, 
 Xttv(j) Kai (f>i\orr}Ti dafxeig, e\e B* ayicag a-yocnv. 
 
 II. H. v. 346. 
 
 Speluncam Dido, Dux et Trojanus eandem 
 Deveniunt. Prima et tellus et pronuba Juno 
 Dant signum : fulsere igncs et conscius sether 
 Connubiis. <£n. 1. iv. v. 165. 
 
108 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 of female character, are as much beyond Homer's 
 knowledge of life, as his employing royal beauty in 
 the meanest offices of domestic drudgery falls short 
 of the refined attentions of modern gallantry. 
 
 Without pursuing this thought to the remote con- 
 sequences, to which it may lead a more curious 
 inquirer; I shall only attempt to deduce from it an 
 apology, or rather an account of some coarse 
 pictures, which are but too often and too faithfully 
 copied from the manners now under our conside- 
 ration. 
 
 When ideas of love extended little farther than 
 animal enjoyment, the poet, who engaged in this 
 subject, was confined to mere licentious descriptions 
 of female beauty, or to such representations of its 
 effects, as modern delicacy will not suffer. 
 
 As the subject, so of course the language, of this 
 passion, was barren and contracted; the simplicity 
 of those times had not yet wandered into circumlo- 
 cution : the whole vocabulary of love consisting of 
 one explicit term; and, in proportion to the rigour 
 and severity of the female proscription, the eX[ 
 sion was careless and indelicate. 
 
 But the footing upon which a more rational inter- 
 course of the sexes is now conducted, gives a new 
 turn to society, and has a great share in producing 
 the varieties of modern character; for a certain pro- 
 portion of voluntary attention in one sex, and of no- 
 prescribed reserve in the other, equally unknown to 
 Homer and the East, not only regulate in 
 measure the style and tone of what is so variously 
 called good-breeding in private life, but materially 
 influence public virtues, and the happiness of a peo- 
 ple. Hence arises a new set of words, as well as 
 ideas; the coarse, the delicate, the decent, the ob- 
 scene, the forward, the reserved, are relative terms, 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 109 
 
 not only varying as to their former and present sig- 
 nification, but bearing different meanings now in 
 different parts of Europe, as the male and female 
 intercourse is more or less promiscuous and familiar. 
 While I should be sorry, by these observations, to 
 reconcile any reader to certain indecent pictures of 
 the Iliad and Odyssey ; yet still I could wish to dis- 
 tinguish them from some infamous productions of 
 later dates, and more polished countries, for which 
 there is no apology, by throwing the blame, where 
 it chiefly lies, upon the manners of the times, rather 
 than on the painter. It would be great injustice to 
 Homer, not to pay him the compliment which these 
 considerations suggest : I will venture to say, that, 
 upon an impartial view of this part of his character, 
 he will appear to excel his own state of society, in 
 point of decency and delicacy, as much as he has 
 surpassed more polished ages in point of genius. 
 
 V. In an age when rank and condition are multi- 
 plied and subdivided with so much nice and punc- 
 tilious precision, it is difficult to reconcile ourselves 
 to the simplicity of one uniform set of manners, 
 where the great distinction is that of lord and slave, 
 master and servant : nor can we bear to see those, 
 who preside in public council, and lead an army to 
 the field, employed in tending their flocks, and dress- 
 ing their dinners. We are likewise disgusted, when 
 we see queens and princesses employed in the lowest 
 departments of domestic drudgery. 
 
 In short, it is impossible to be so much interested 
 in the justest representations of Nature, which we 
 never saw, as in those, which come home to our 
 own experience of life. I cannot help, therefore, 
 observing, that the pastoral poetry of an age or 
 country, where pastoral manners do not prevail, 
 however natural in scenery, must be artificial as 
 
110 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 to characters ; and that the only original pictures 
 of this kind are to be found in the state of society 
 now under consideration. 
 
 Let us take a short view of the matter. When 
 the cares, as well as the pleasures, of the country, 
 were compatible with the highest rank, and the 
 prince and peasant were literally united in the same 
 person ; elevation of sentiment and expression be- 
 longed to the royal shepherd, and were found in 
 rural life. Hence it is that Oriental pastoral, though 
 obscure, and defective in the art of composition, 
 affords the boldest flight of genius of this kind ; 
 and that Homer stands next in rank for original 
 pastoral beauties, with less sublimity of sentiment, 
 it is true, and less energy of expression, but more 
 picturesque in his scenery, and more delicate in his 
 manners; advantages over other poets, which he 
 derived from a finer country, and a less rude period 
 of society. The modern Arab, in whom I have 
 seen the characters of prince, shepherd, and poet, 
 united, retains, in his compositions of this kind, the 
 wildness, irregularity, and indelicacy of his fore- 
 fathers, with a considerable share of the same ori- 
 ginal glowing imagination, which we could discover, 
 even in their extempore productions, and under the 
 disadvantage of crude and hasty translation. 
 
 But when Theocritus, and his imitator, Virgil, 
 wrote each in a more refined age, and for polished 
 courts, the prince and shepherd were so totally se- 
 parated, that they formed the opposite extremes of 
 society; their pastoral dramatis personce were of 
 course, taken from the lowest condition in life, to 
 deliver the sentiments and feelings of the highest ; 
 an absurdity which the acknowledged beauties of 
 the Greek and Roman Poet cannot make us over- 
 look. Nor were they insensible of this inconsis- 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. Ill 
 
 tency ; but in attempting to correct it they fell into a 
 worse fault ; for it must be allowed, that their cha- 
 racters please least when they are most pastoral, and 
 approach nearest to real life. As to later produc- 
 tions of this kind, being confined to no standard in 
 Nature, they fluctuate between those extremes, ac- 
 cording to the fancy of the poet, the degree of his 
 veneration for the great models of antiquity, or of 
 his prejudices in favour of the manners of his own 
 country. The consequence of this is, that either 
 the language and sentiment are lowered to the con- 
 dition of the speaker, and become mean and dis- 
 gusting ; or they are borrowed from a higher sphere 
 in life, and offend one of the most established rules 
 in poetics. 
 
 VI. We now come to the sixth and last object of 
 our comparison. There is perhaps no display of 
 the human faculties, with regard to which the taste 
 of different ages and countries coincide so little, as 
 productions of wit and humour ; whose genuine 
 spirit is so subtle and volatile in its nature, that it 
 evaporates upon the least change in the circum- 
 stances which produced it, leaving nothing behind 
 but the insipid dregs of low buffoonry. 
 
 If such has been the transitory fate of Greek and 
 Roman wit of the best times, we can have little ex- 
 pectations from those rude productions, which are 
 the objects of our present comparison. But as the 
 resemblance of manners, now under consideration, 
 extends to certain comic similarities, which seem to 
 point towards the same despotic origin, whence we 
 have attempted to deduce the most striking features 
 in Oriental life: a farther inquiry into this matter 
 (including what has been said on that gross and 
 abandoned humour, which prevails in a defective 
 state of female society) might furnish some hints 
 
112 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 towards the true history and real character of 
 ridicule. 
 
 At this time we shall only observe, that imperfect 
 society neither affords the matter or manner neces- 
 sary to a fair experiment of talents of this kind. 
 
 The uniform sameness of primitive life is inca- 
 pable of the first ; for, while it gives an air of gravity 
 and dignity to manners, it cramps the comic genius, 
 which can only ripen and flourish amidst variety of 
 character. The attentions of rude society are barely 
 sufficient for the necessaries of life ; those of a more 
 advanced period are taken up with its superfluities. 
 Then it is, that false appetites and imaginary wants 
 are created, unknown to Nature, to Homer, and the 
 Bedouin; arts, trades, professions, multiply; new 
 distinctions, ranks, and conditions are produced; 
 and, in short, the various vices, follies, and affecta- 
 tions, of a wealthy, commercial, free people, open 
 an ample field of pleasantry to a Swift, an Addison, 
 or an Hogarth. If we have excelled other countries 
 in this walk of humour, it may be ascribed to our 
 rich diversity of original character, open to every 
 artist, without those restrictions, which seldom 
 check licentiousness without suppressing geniu>. 
 
 As the matter of primitive wit is circumscribed 
 by this barrenness of subject, so its manner is 
 checked by the danger of offending. Thus the first 
 sallies of this kind are either controlled by timidity, 
 or disgraced by roughness, which is so closely con- 
 nected with actual violence, that they are often ex- 
 ercised together, and called in aid of one another. 
 Hence that illiberal mockery of personal deformity, 
 that ungenerous sneer at poverty, and, above all, 
 that cruel, unmanly irony, and insolent triumph of 
 the conqueror over the vanquished; which form 90 
 many disgusting pictures in Homer, in the pre- 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 113 
 
 sent manners of the East, and all barbarous coun- 
 tries, as well as among the vulgar of the most civi- 
 lized, with whom the transition from raillery to 
 blows is so natural, that the latter seems only a 
 bolder and coarser expression of the first. 
 
 So close and so early an alliance between wit and 
 violence is, I must own, very little to the credit of 
 the former: I fear it is butabad apology for her to 
 say, that she commenced acquaintance with that 
 rough companion when she was very young. But 
 we must not, from partial observations, upon a sub- 
 ject requiring a more enlarged consideration, draw 
 general conclusions, unfavourable to Homer and 
 ourselves; for there aresome strokes of humour 1 ' in 
 the Poet, that it will be difficult to resolve into that 
 tyrannical principle, in which, 1 must confess, the 
 brutal raillery of the Iliad and Odyssey is too much 
 founded. 
 
 As there is no part of this Essay to which the 
 observations which occurred to me in my Eastern 
 travels, particularly in Palestine, Egypt, and above 
 all, the interior of Arabia, contribute so largely, as 
 to this article of Homer's manners ; so there is none, 
 which has cost me so much pains in selecting and 
 arranging, out of copious materials, what might be 
 proper for this contracted specimen, which, after 
 all, is imperfect in its present state. I shall be dis- 
 appointed if some of the Poet's abler admirers, taking 
 up his defence on this ground, do not anticipate 
 part of what I have farther to say on this subject, 
 when I shall attempt to try the truth and consist- 
 
 p Of this sort is the comic story, which the disguised Ulysses 
 tells Eumajus, in the 14th book, of his having forgotten his cloak, 
 when he was on an advanced post before Troy, in a cold night; 
 aud of the arch trick played upon one of the party,* who was sent 
 on a fool's errand upon that occasion. 
 
 H 
 
114 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 ence of the leading characters of the Iliad and 
 Odyssey, by that true test, viz. the manners of the 
 Heroic age; to the reader who judges of them by 
 the present times, the courage of Achilles must 
 appear brutal ferocity, and the wisdom of Ulysses 
 low cunning. 
 
 If this short sketch of Homer's life be just, it 
 allows me to conclude with the highest compliment 
 to the powers and extent of Homer's original genius: 
 for I may venture to say, that from the greatest uni- 
 formity of simple manners that ever fell to the share 
 of any poet, he drew the greatest variety of distinct 
 character that has ever been produced by the same 
 hand. 
 
 HOMER AN HISTORIAN. 
 
 From what has been already said, Homer must 
 stand unrivalled, as the father of history : to him wl 
 owe the earliest account of arts, science, manners, 
 and government; and without him, no just ideas 
 can be formed of the state and true character of 
 primitive society. This is not only the most in- 
 teresting of all historical information, but it is trans- 
 mitted to us upon the most incontestable authority ; 
 for he, who has established the name of poet in his 
 own age, by just pictures of life ; becomes the his- 
 torian of posterity, upon the most respectable pre- 
 tensions. This is a sort of appeal to conlemporarv 
 evidence, which the dry annalist cannot claim. I 
 am therefore entirely within my subject, when I 
 attempt to shew, that Homer was a faithful histo- 
 rian, because he was a correct painter. 
 
 But some of the most discerning judges of anti- 
 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 115 
 
 quity did not confine him to these limits ; they pre- 
 fer his authority, even in matters of fact, to that of 
 professed writers of history. The original charac- 
 ter of his composition is favourable to this opinion ; 
 and so natural and plausible a correspondence be- 
 tween the scene and the action of the Iliad would 
 induce us to think, that he took the first from ocular 
 examination, and the last from the prevailing tra- 
 ditions of the times. His living in the neighbour- 
 hood of Troy strengthens this conjecture. It gave 
 him an opportunity, not only of being thoroughly 
 acquainted with that spot, but of collecting circum- 
 stantial accounts of the most renowned achieve- 
 ments of the war, perhaps from those who were 
 eye-witnesses of the siege, and had signalized them- 
 selves upon the Scamandrian plain ; or at least 
 from their children. 
 
 Though our object is to establish the credit due 
 to Homer, as an historian, chiefly upon the consist- 
 ence of his facts, and his general character of truth, 
 yet we may appeal to other authority for this opi- 
 nion. The most satisfactory information of the early 
 state of Greece, with regard to its policy, laws, 
 manners, navigation, and strength, is that concise 
 but sensible account which Thucydides prefixes to 
 his history of the Peloponnesian war; and that 
 writer, though a declared enemy to poetical his- 
 tory, forms his opinion of the ancient state of that 
 country from Homer. 
 
 That the ancients differed as to the circumstances 
 of the Trojan war, is well known ; and that some 
 variations, even in the accounts of those who were 
 actors in that scene, left the Poet at liberty to 
 adopt or reject facts, as it best suited his purpose, 
 is highly probable. Succeeding poets would take 
 the same liberty. Indeed the tragedians, whose 
 
 h2 
 
116 ON TOE ORIGINAL 
 
 subjects are mostly taken from the Trojan story, 
 have departed from Homer in several instances. 
 Euripides chose a subject for one of his plays, 
 which supposes that Helen never was at Troy ; and 
 though he was so fond of that plot as to repeat it 
 (for his Helen and Iphigenia in Aulis differ very 
 little in this respect), yet we cannot suppose that he 
 would have deserted Homer without any authority. 
 The account, which Herodotus received of Helen 
 and Menelaus from the Egyptian priests, was suffi- 
 cient ground for him to go upon ; and shews the 
 different ideas which prevailed so early with regard 
 to the Trojan war: yet, when this matter comes to 
 be fairly stated between the Poet and the Historian, 
 I think it will be decided in favour of the first; not 
 that I would encourage that diffidence in Hero- 
 dotus, which has been already carried too far. 
 Were I to give my opinion of him, in this respect, 
 having followed him through most of the countries 
 which he visited, I would say, that he is a writer 
 of veracity in his description of what he saw, but of 
 credulity in his relations of what he heard. 
 
 But there are still other causes which have con- 
 tributed to perplex Homers history. As the first 
 poets took liberties with regard to the Trojan war, 
 so their brother artists adopted variations which 
 helped to puzzle that story. Polvgnotus, who 
 studied the poets, and took his subjects from the 
 Trojan war, did not always follow Homer: nor do 
 we find, that his account of things has been scrupu- 
 lously adhered to in some of the ancient pieces of 
 sculpture, where the subjects of the Iliad and 
 Odyssey are represented. As to the poetry, paint- 
 ing, and sculpture of the Romans, I cannot think 
 that they are sufficient authority for Trojan sub- 
 jects. There is no reason to believe, that Virgil 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 117 
 
 had ever been at Troy ; and though he is so great 
 an admirer, and so constant an imitator of Homer's 
 poetical beauties, it does not appear that he con- 
 sidered him as an historian, or geographer, or paid 
 much attention to that accuracy, which is the sub- 
 ject of our present inquiry. Tryphiodorus, Colu- 
 thus, and some others, are still of less weight; and 
 when we meet with facts related by them, and not 
 mentioned by Homer, they deserve attention only 
 so far, as those writers might have seen ancient 
 authors, who are no longer to be found. Nor are 
 Dares Phrygius, or Dictys-Cretensis worthy con- 
 sideration in any other light, than as forgeries of an 
 age when they might have had an opportunity of 
 collecting some minute circumstances from books, 
 which are now lost. The Roman poets took great 
 liberties with the Greek mythology and the heroic 
 history. This is remarkable in Ovid, who worked 
 up those subjects into a system, which, from its 
 connexion, and the fanciful additions which he has 
 made, is considered as the most complete; and being 
 first put into our hands, is that which we are most 
 acquainted with: for the general custom of learn- 
 ing Latin before Greek, forms our ideas more upon 
 the Roman mythology. Were Homer the first poet 
 taught in our schools, it would be easier to separate 
 his mythology from the fable of latter times. Since 
 the religion of Greece and Rome has been consi- 
 dered speculatively by ingenious writers among the 
 moderns, who look for deep meaning in every thing 
 that the ancients have left us, they have generally 
 adopted, what best suited the purpose of their sys- 
 tem, according to the more or less favourable ideas 
 they had formed of the wisdom of antiquity. It is 
 curious to observe what notions were propagated on 
 this head upon the revival of letters, when a tincture 
 
118 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 of ancient fable and heroic history was received 
 through Italian and French translation. We find 
 in q Shakspeare, who drew from those sources, an 
 account of the Trojan story, collected from various 
 quarters, and a mixture of heroic and Gothic my- 
 thology, made up of the traditions of different au- 
 thorities and different ages. 
 
 Such are the adulterations, which both Homer's 
 Fable and History have undergone. It is difficult 
 to relieve him from the load of contradictions, with 
 which his successors have embarrassed this matter; 
 but we may separate his own consistent story ; and, 
 in matters of this obscurity, we may venture to call 
 that the most authentic. 
 
 What I have collected with this view, from the 
 Iliad and Odyssey, may be ranged under a chrono- 
 logical order, consisting of three periods. 
 
 The first, anterior to the departure of the Greeks 
 from Aulis, will draw the line between Homer's 
 Mythology and History. This will take in the tra- 
 ditions of the gigantic race which ended in Eury- 
 medon ; the accounts of the Centaurs and Lapithfte : 
 of Ixion and Perithous; of Belierophon, Perseus, 
 Theseus and Hercules; an account of the Calydo- 
 nian boar; the Theban wars; and the causes and 
 preparations for the siege of Troy. 
 
 The next period commences with the sailing of 
 the Greeks for Troy; relates the operations of al- 
 most ten years' siege, or rather blockade of that city, 
 including the principal action of the Iliad, and end- 
 ing with the demolition of the town. 
 
 The third period begins with that specimen of the 
 whole, which I have already given. It contains the 
 
 « See Farmer upon Shakspeare's learning. 
 See Bernier and Fourmont. Argouautic Expedition. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 119 
 
 dispersions, various misfortunes, and different esta- 
 blishments of the Greeks, Trojans, and auxiliaries, 
 and brings us down to Homer's history of his own 
 times. It may throw light on theiEolic, Ionic, and 
 other migrations ; and afford some conjectures with 
 regard to the origin of Greek Arts, Manners, and 
 Language. 
 
 As the principal action of the Iliad takes in no 
 part of the first period, and very little of the second ; 
 and as that of the Odyssey employs a still less por- 
 tion of the third; the Poet has interspersed the 
 several facts, which are prior or posterior to the du- 
 ration of either poem, which he marks with the 
 greatest precision, and yet so happily as to produce 
 variety, without injury to that chronological order, 
 of which I find them susceptible, when collected 
 and arranged, so far as I have hitherto made the 
 experiment. To avoid anachronism, it was neces- 
 sary, that the later events of the last period should 
 be predicted. Among these we find the destruction 
 of Mycenae/ the demolition of the Greek fortifica- 
 tions, the succession of iEneas and his family to the 
 kingdom of Troy, &c. As this last event has been 
 strongly controverted by succeeding writers, it may 
 be necessary to do the Poet justice in a point, which 
 
 r Mycenae. I do not mean, that Homer necessarily alluded to 
 the destruction of Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae in A. v. 53. and 
 still less do I suppose with Eustathius, and some other Commen- 
 tators, that he means there to prophesy about the destruction of 
 those towns, which happened after the Poet's time. If Homer is 
 to be considered as an historian, as Virgil is ; the destruction, 
 which he has left upon record of these towns, must be that, which 
 happened soon after the time of Agamemnon. 
 
 Mera ra Tpajuca Aya/if/xvovog ap^T/c Xv^eiarjg. — Strabo. 
 
 This being upon the return of the Heraclidae, coincides with what 
 we suppose to have been the age of Homer. 
 
120 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 affects him as much in his historical capacity, as 
 those supposed mistakes, with regard to the coast 
 of Egypt, and the situation of Pharos (which we 
 have attempted to set right), injured him in his geo- 
 graphical character. We shall, at present, confine 
 our further consideration of Homer, as an Historian, 
 to his justification in this particular. 
 
 It may appear strange at this time to dispute the 
 voyage of iEneas to Italy; a fact upon which the 
 origin of the Roman empire is so generally founded, 
 which Livy takes for granted, which Dionysius of 
 Halicarnassus pretends to have so fully proved, and 
 which has gained such universal credit for so many 
 ages. I might defend myself from the imputation 
 of either paradox or singularity, by a pretty long 
 list of dissenting voices from those authorities, in 
 which our veneration for Roman antiquity has so 
 implicitly acquiesced. But if a confutation of that 
 fact can be supported by reason and common sense, 
 it will not want the parade of much learned quo- 
 tation. 
 
 I shall state the nature of the evidence on both 
 sides of this question as succinctly as I can ; taking 
 into consideration the arguments both for and against 
 Homer's testimony; and I shall conclude with some 
 observations upon Virgil's conduct, under the diffi- 
 culties, which embarrassed the historical credit of 
 his subject. 
 
 But in order to form a tolerable idea either of the 
 History or Geography of Troy, it is necessary to 
 correct a mistake, which has long contributed to 
 the misrepresentation of both, by confounding the 
 Phrygians with the Trojans. We found ancient 
 geography no where more perplexed, than in our 
 travels through Phrygia. This intricacv rise< chiefly 
 from a very early inattention to the different exteol 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 121 
 
 of that country at different times, so that its doubtful 
 limics became proverbial. It may be difficult to 
 remove tbe impressions which we receive on this 
 head from ancient authors, particularly from one 
 so familiar to us, so much and so justly admired, 
 and so thoroughly acquainted with Homer, as 
 Virgil. He not only represents the Trojans and 
 Phrygians as the same people, but confounds the 
 ancient and modern character of the latter; how 
 improperly, the reader will judge from the follow- 
 ing observations, by which I hope to ascertain 
 Homer's sense of this matter. 
 
 1. When Helen, upbraiding Venus as the cause 
 of her misfortunes, asks tbe goddess, what other 
 favourite she has to indulge at her expense, and if 
 she means to lead her farther to some city of Phry- 
 gia or Mrconia, she of course distinguishes those 
 countries from the Troade. 2. When Hector com- 
 plains that the wealth of Troy is carried to Phrygia 
 and Maeonia, it impMes the same distinction. 3. In 
 a description of the extent and boundaries of Priam's 
 country, it is expressly distinguished from Phrygia. 
 4. The Phrygians are numbered among the Trojan 
 auxiliaries in the Catalogue; and are described as 
 living at a distance. 5. Priam mentions his having 
 formerly visited their country. (3, and lastly, The 
 plot of the story of Venus and Anchises, in the hymn 
 to Venus (which both Lucretius and Virgil seem to 
 have admired), turns chiefly upon this difference of 
 the two countries : the scene is on Mount Ida; where 
 the goddess is represented as personating a Phry- 
 gian girl, and passes with Anchises for the daughter 
 of Atreus, king of that country. She invents a story 
 of the manner of her coming from Phrygia to Troy, 
 and describes the variety of country she passed over 
 in her way. But that her language may not betray 
 
122 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 her (which, according to her assumed character 
 should be Phrygian), she acquaints him, that she 
 was brought up by a Trojan nurse, who taught her 
 the language of Troy, which was as familiar to her 
 as that of her own country. 
 
 From the passages, to which I have referred, I 
 think we may conclude, that, at the time of the Tro- 
 jan war, Phrygia and Troy were distinct countries, 
 governed by princes independent of each other, and 
 using different languages. How soon and by what 
 means the distinction was lost, is not certain ; pro- 
 bably soon after the Trojan war, at least, before the 
 time of the tragic writers, who, as 'Strabo observes, 
 confound those names. There is a wretched piece 
 of wit of Mnesilochus preserved, which plays upon 
 the Synonymous term of Phrygian and Trojan. 
 
 Here I should observe, that the proofs which es- 
 tablish this distinction, deprive me of one of the mod 
 favourite arguments of a very powerful advocate for 
 Homer's account of iEneas. Bochart having, with 
 much learned pains, demonstrated a total want of 
 affinity between the Roman and Phrygian lan-uam, 
 concludes, that it is incredible that one of those na- 
 tions should be desceuded from the other ; because, 
 says he, there never was an instance of a colony, 
 
 6 Strabo, 1. xii. p. 849. 
 
 1 It was supposed that Euripides was obliged to Socrates for as- 
 sisting him in his Tragedies. When his TROES appeared, Mne- 
 silochus, in one of his comic pieces, observed, that Socrates had 
 supplied fuel to kindle the fire of that play: and instead of Tpw*c, 
 he calls it <t>ovye£, for the sake of jingle in the word, and a N 
 blance to <bpvyiov and 4>pt/ycuw, which >ignified dry wood, such as 
 a fire is lighted with. 
 
 OPlTee' £<m tcaivov ctpctjua tolt" 1 
 
 'ill kcii HioKparfjg ra WYFANA brort?T]<ri. 
 
 The true reading is, 
 'Sit ^.bjKpaTTjs fiey viroTi^ijat ppvyuiu. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 123 
 
 that did not retain, if not the whole, at least some 
 traces of the language of the mother-country. 
 
 This remark is certainly just; but how little ap- 
 plicable to the present case, is unnecessary to ob- 
 serve, if the passages I have produced from Homer 
 have convinced the reader, that iEneas was not a 
 Phrygian. The argument, which he draws from 
 that well-established fact, viz. That the favourite 
 gods of Troy were not worshipped at Rome, is more 
 to the purpose, and, I think, unanswerable. 
 
 That iEneas and liis descendants reigned over the 
 Trojans, after the Greeks had destroyed the capital 
 of their country, is a fact for which we have Homer's 
 authority ; and the manner in which this is expressed 
 in the Iliad, would incline us to suppose, that the 
 Poet lived to see the great grandchildren of iEneas. 
 This is a circumstance of such perfect indifference 
 either to the general plan, or any particular embel- 
 lishment, of his poem, that he had not the least 
 temptation to depart from the common received 
 opinion on this head. Besides, to deceive in such a 
 case would have been as difficult, as it was useless; 
 for when Homer produced the Iliad, this event was 
 neither a matter of antiquity or obscurity, but noto- 
 rious, either as true or false, to his contemporaries. 
 He lived in the neighbourhood of Troy, and ad- 
 dressed himself to competent judges of the fact. 
 We cannot suppose, that he would, so wantonly 
 prostitute his veracity, as to expose unmeaning false 
 hood to the obvious conviction of every reader of 
 his own age and country. 
 
 Nor do we find, that this account of the Trojan 
 succession was controverted, till the Romans thought 
 fit to derive their origin from Troy; a matter in 
 which we know the vanity of that nation was much 
 concerned. Yet the support of this pretension rests 
 
124 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 entirely on Roman authority, which is not only lia- 
 ble to just suspicion, as having an interest in the 
 fact it would establish; but, if we lay aside that con- 
 sideration, it amounts to no degree of evidence; for 
 the people who deduce a remote origiu, upon the au- 
 thority of their own annals alone, are entitled to no 
 more credit, than the person, who should pretend to 
 relate the circumstances of his birth, and give a 
 jou-nal of his infancy, merely from his own recollec- 
 tion. 
 
 But however freely we ma) treat this imaginary 
 voyage now, it would have been imprudent to have 
 expressed doubts upon so tender a point at Rome, 
 in the reign of Augustus: and *his general prejudice 
 in favour of the subject sufficiently recommended it 
 to the Poet's choice. The more we enter into the 
 state of things, when he wrote, the posture of the 
 Roman affairs, the reigning opinions, civil and reli- 
 gious, both of the prince and people, and the pre- 
 cise relation in which the Poet stood, as well with 
 regard io the whole, as to some individuals, the more 
 we shall think him peculiarly happy in that choice. 
 Indeed, to those who do not enter into those parti- 
 culars, many of the beauties of the iEneid are I 
 for the Roman Poet abounds in pertinent and eleg 
 allusion to his own times, always introduced with 
 strict propriety, and conducted with great judgment. 
 Whatever Homer might have had of this sort, for 
 readers of his own age, is buried in oblivion with the 
 circumstances of his life. And, considering the dif- 
 ferent genius of the Poets, and of the ages when they 
 lived, we ought not to expect from Homer, and the 
 heroic times (could we know them better), any share 
 of that artful and refined compliment, which i< the 
 particular excellence of the most polished writer oi 
 the Augustan age. The Greek Poet, less courtly. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 125 
 
 therefore more natural, whose philosophy acknow- 
 ledged no sect, and whose politics knew no party, 
 ever aims at original resemblance in his pictures, 
 with an impartiality, which h : s patriotism did not 
 bias, and to which, perhaps, his moral gave way. 
 For in the great variety of the Iliad and Odyssey, I 
 see no complimentary preference to his countrymen, 
 aud not one perfect character set Dp as a model for 
 imitation. Now, should it be alleged, tnat he has 
 followed truth and Nature, both as to facts and 
 characters, too closely, for what has been since laid 
 down as the ultimate ooject of the Epic plan, viz. 
 the instruction and reformation of mankind, surely 
 this is much in his favour as an historian. 
 
 But, though Virgil found the voyage of his Hero 
 sufficiently established in the minds of a people 
 credulously predisposed towards this favourite ob- 
 ject of national prejudice; he appears to have been 
 very cautious of endangering its credit, by departing 
 from any of the prevailing popular traditions, which 
 related to that event. And though the obscurity and 
 contradiction, in which the incidents of this sup- 
 posed migration were involved, gave him scope in 
 the choice of his materials, he made a very sparing 
 use of it; for he seldom ventures to introduce an 
 extraordinary circumstance, that we cannot trace to 
 some previous authority ; and he gives some things 
 a place in his poem, for which we can see no temp- 
 tation, but their contributing to support the truth of 
 his subject. 
 
 The divine mission of his Hero offers a ready so- 
 lution of many of the objections to his establish- 
 ment in Italy ; and is made responsible for all the 
 absurdity and injustice, with which his enemies so 
 naturally charge that undertaking. Auguriis agi- 
 mur Divmn is the short account he gives of the de- 
 
126 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 sertion of his own country ; and much the same apo- 
 logy is made to Latinus for the invasion of his. 
 This language is adapted with great propriety to the 
 grand purpose of the Poet; who insinuating to a vain 
 and superstitious people a favourable idea of a late 
 change of government, artfully conciliates reverence 
 and respect to the common origin and connected 
 interests of their civil and religious constitution; and 
 with this view the pious duties of faith, resignation, 
 and obedience, are highly finished in the character 
 of his predestined hero. 
 
 But though the established religion and public 
 annals of Rome seemed to have tolerably well se- 
 cured the credit of a fact, which the emperor's ■ 
 vanity was eager to encourage, and popular pre- 
 judice not less zealous to support; yet Virgil did 
 not care to trust impartial posterity with Homer's 
 short accouut of this matter, and discovers ihe most 
 genuine compliment to the Greek Poet's historical 
 character, in a sly evasion of its authority ; for he 
 adopts the passage from the Iliad, and by changing 
 a syllable in one word, he converts the strongest 
 voucher against the voyage of iEneas, into a pro- 
 phetic testimony in its favour/ 
 
 It was still necessary to soften another striking 
 objection, to which the Hero's settlement in Italy 
 
 u This vanity was strongly marked in Julius Ca?sar, who is made 
 to say of himself, by Suetonius, " A Venere Julii, cujus gentis fa- 
 milia est nostra." § 6. 
 
 * (UANte(T(tiv for TPIWffir), Whether Virgil was the author of 
 this pious fraud, or adopted it from others, is immaterial ; I am 
 rather inclined to the first of those conjectures, for reasons which 
 I shall lay before the classical reader, if he thinks this note worth 
 his perusal. The text, in all the manuscripts hitherto disco- 
 vered, stands thus ; 
 
 Nvv Be hj Aiveiao (3uj TPHEISIN ara; f() 
 
 Kcu waideg 7rai£w>', rot Key ^eroTriade ycriayrac II. xx. 307. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 127 
 
 was liable. The colony he was said to have con- 
 ducted and established there, retained no marks of 
 their Trojan origin ; nor did the descendants of those 
 conquerors preserve the least remains of the man- 
 ners, customs, language, or even name, of their sup- 
 posed ancestors, at the same time that they differed 
 greatly from them, both in the modes and objects of 
 their worship. 
 
 The Romans would perhaps, of all nations, be 
 least sensible of the force of this objection: as no 
 people was ever less bigoted to their own manners, 
 or more apt to adopt those of their conquered ene- 
 mies. Yet Virgil saw, that so very unnatural a 
 neglect of the mother-country, and so unaccountable 
 a compliment to the inhabitants of a new conquest, 
 could not pass unnoticed ; he therefore closes the 
 poem with the following piece of machinery, per- 
 fectly well calculated for a solution of those diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 As Turnus and iEneas are preparing for the final 
 decision by single combat, Jupiter makes a conci- 
 liating overture to Juno, and expostulates with her 
 
 Strabo says, that those who apply this passage to the Romans ; 
 write it thus : 
 
 Ni/v <)e 2tj Aiveiao yevog FIANTEI2IN avafyt; 
 
 Which Virgil translates, 
 
 Hie domus iEneae cunctis dominabitur oris. 
 
 This correction was therefore suggested, in order to reconcile 
 Homer to the Roman History. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who 
 has been at most pains to support the Trojan origin of Rome, taking 
 these Hues of Homer into consideration, mentions no such reading. 
 We may therefore with probability suppose it to have been thought 
 of after Dionysius and before Strabo. This period coincides with 
 Virgil's time of writing the iEneid, and at that time precisely the 
 Roman conquests authorized a correction of the text, which pro- 
 phesied their becoming masters of the world. 
 
128 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 upon the inutility of endless opposition to the de- 
 crees of Fate, 
 
 " Quae jam finis erit, conjux? quid denique restat ? 
 Indigitem iEneam^scis ipsa, et scire fateris, 
 Deberi coelo, fatisque ad sic'era tolli. 
 Quid struis?&c." 
 
 He then entreats her to desist; and first putting 
 her in mind of the unhappy lengths, to which her 
 passion had been already indulged, he concludes 
 with a concise and positive injunction to proceed 
 no farther; 
 
 " Ulterius tentare veto." 
 
 The goddess, who could retard, but not control, 
 the wid of Jove, answers submissively, apologizes 
 for her past conduct, and promises to renounce the 
 cause. But in return she requests 
 
 " Ne vetus indigeuas nonien niutare Latinos, 
 NeuTroas fieri jubeas, Teucrosque vocari, 
 Aut voces mutare viros, aut vertere vestes," &c. 
 
 Jupiter grants her petitions, and declares, 
 
 " Sermonem Ausonii patrium, moresque tenebunt ; 
 Utque est, nomen erit : commixti corpore tantum 
 Subsident Teucri : niorera ritusque sacrorum 
 Adjiciam ; faciamque omnes uno ore Latinos," &C 
 
 Here we see, that the Poet is obliged to have re- 
 course to a decree of Jupiter to account Tor ihe waut 
 of affinity between the language, manners, names, 
 and religions, rites, and ceremonies of Troy and 
 Rome. But he had still other difficulties to en- 
 counter. The iEneid is like the Iliad, full of ma- 
 chinery : and Virgil's imitation of Homer in this 
 particular lay under two very great disadvantages. 
 The first of these, of which we have before takeu 
 notice, was, that the scenery of Homer's mythology 
 was fixed in Greece, and adapted to the action of 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 129 
 
 the Iliad. The second was, that the parts, which 
 the dramatis personae of this mythology acted in the 
 Trojan story, were arranged not exactly in the man- 
 ner most suitable to the purpose of Virgil. For he 
 is by these means deprived of the character in which 
 Minerva appears with so much propriety in the 
 Odyssey ; and is obliged to puthis pious legislative 
 Hero under the protection of Venus. This goddess, 
 though very fit to have the conduct of his affairs at 
 Carthage, when he is carrying on an amour with 
 Dido, was not so well qualified to promote his views 
 in Italy, Dum conderet urbem, inferretque Deos 
 Latio. Again, Juno having been employed in the 
 Iliad as the inveterate enemy of Troy, takes an 
 active part in the iEneid against the establishment 
 of the Roman empire. It is true; the Poet derives 
 from this the happiest allusions to some of the most 
 interesting scenes in the Roman history. But surely 
 her first appearance in this hostile character, at the 
 opening of the poem, must have been an awkward 
 circumstance; when Juno Romana was the favourite 
 deity of Rome. 
 
 Turn vos, O Tyrii, stirpem et genus omne futurum 
 Exercete odiis ; cinerique haec mittite nostro 
 Munera : nullus amor populis, nee foedera sunto. 
 Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor, 
 Qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos ; 
 Nunc, olim, quocunque dabunt se tempore vires. 
 
 jEn. 1. iv. v. 622. 
 
 It was not proper that the reader should wait for 
 the unravelling of the plot to have this matter ex- 
 plained ; he is therefore apprized in the first book, 
 thatthis enmity of the goddess is to be converted 
 into protection and regard ; and Jupiter promises, 
 
 " Consiliain melius referet; mecumque fovebit 
 Romanos rerum dominos, <&c." 
 
 I 
 
130 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 Accordingly, towards the conclusion of the last 
 book this reconciliation is effected : 
 
 " Annuit his Juno, et mentem laetata retorsit." 
 
 The great point being thus settled, Turnus is killed, 
 and the poem ends. 
 
 From this digression on the conduct of the Ro- 
 man Poet, with regard to the event which he chose 
 for his subject, I would infer, that, notwithstand- 
 ing the powerful prejudices of Rome in its favour, 
 he was apprehensive of objections, which might be 
 drawn as well from Homer's authority, as from the 
 incredible singularity of a colony's retaining no 
 traces of the names, language, dress, or religious 
 rites, of their ancestors. 
 
 HOMER'S CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 There seems to have been nothing more extraor- 
 dinary in the history of Grecian knowledge, than 
 the various modes of computing time ; as they pre- 
 vailed within a narrow compass, and among a peo- 
 ple of the same religion and language. But this 
 was long after the age of Homer, in which we dis- 
 cover nothing like a formal calendar. His time is 
 measured by the returns of the sun, moon, and sea- 
 sons, of light and darkness, labour and rest; but we 
 find no political distribution of it, no weeks, hours, 
 or minutes, no allusion to dials, clepsydrae, or any 
 other mode of computation known before the inven- 
 tion of pendulums, the most exact of all chronome- 
 ters. His day is subdivided by the occupations 
 which convenience had allotted to the different 
 parts of it in rude society; a mode of computation 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 131 
 
 taken more from Nature than art, therefore more 
 poetical than accurate. 
 
 There was no stated era in Greece before that of 
 the Olympiads; therefore no settled chronology. 
 Nor was this science made use of to arrange and 
 connect events in their due order of time, till after 
 the writings, not only of their oldest, but of their 
 most admired prose historians y had appeared : 
 when I imagine the alphabet, though known before, 
 was first applied to common use. The Chronicle 
 
 y Pherecydes of Syros, and Cadmus of Miletus, supposed to 
 have been the first prose writers, lived about 544 years before 
 Christ. Acusilaiis of Argos, who, according to Suidas, wrote his 
 genealogies from brazen tables, which had been found by his fa- 
 ther, is placed near this time. We have none of their works, nor 
 •of Epimenides, or Pherecydes of Athens, genealogists, who suc- 
 ceeded them : nor of Hellanicus, who is placed about a hundred 
 years after them. He regulated his chronology by the succession 
 of the priestesses of Juno at Argos ; and must have been puzzled 
 in reducing facts to order; as we may guess by his making Helen 
 nine years old, when Theseus, who was fifty, carried her away. 
 These are facts, of which, I believe, all that we shall ever know, is 
 from Homer. I own, I was a little disappointed, when I found 
 that beauty so far advanced in years, when at Troy, where so much 
 blood was spilled for her sake : and was sorry to learn, that she 
 had been acquainted with Hector for the space of twenty years. 
 But if it was at all proper that this should be told, the Poet takes 
 the best time for it. Hector is killed ; Helen grown old ; and what 
 is worst of all, the poem near an end. 
 
 Timseus of Sicily lived about this time; and attempted to com- 
 pare and correct the dates of the Olympiads of the Spartan kings, 
 the Athenian Archons, and of the priestesses of Juno, by one ano- 
 ther ; and to reconcile the whole to the history, transmitted by the 
 poets. When we consider, that this was the first attempt, that 
 we know of, to establish an era ; and that it was in the hundred 
 and twenty-ninth Olympiad, what are we to think of the preceding 
 Greek chronology ? 
 
 Eratosthenes lived about forty years after Timaeus. His calcula- 
 tions are lost; but his epoques are preserved. See Sir Isaac 
 Newton's Chronology. 
 
 12 
 
132 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 of Paros, that curious manuscript, which the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford possesses, seems to be the ear- 
 liest, as it is the most authentic, series of Greek dates 
 upon record. But the author of that collection, 
 who appears not to have lived above two hundred 
 and sixty-five years before the commencement of the 
 Christian era, takes no notice of the Olympiads. 
 And, though they were adopted by history about 
 this time, we can scarce allow, that chronology was 
 treated scientifically till the time of Eratosthenes. 
 He first compared and corrected former calcula- 
 tions and conjectures, and established epoques in 
 Greece. 
 
 I cannot help thinking, that it was unfortunate 
 for letters, that the first among the ancients, who 
 undertook to range the facts of Greek history in. 
 that order which was adopted by succeeding his- 
 torians, did not take Homer into his consideration. 
 Whether this ingenious philosopher, who lived at a 
 time, when the Poet was the object of much blind 
 admiration, might not have been disgusted at the 
 idle compliments paid to his science, we cannot 
 pretend to say : but he certainly took more pains 
 to expose Homer's ignorance, than it is easy to 
 account for otherwise. The respectable authori- 
 ties to which we have appealed in the preceding 
 section, as vouchers for his facts, may, with equal 
 propriety, be called in evidence, for the order of 
 time in which he has placed them : and the early 
 chronology of the Greeks must be drawn from the 
 same source which has furnished the first events in 
 their history. 
 
 May I venture to add, that it is also to be re- 
 gretted, that Newton, the ornament of our country 
 and of this age, when he took Eratosthenes and the 
 Greek Chronology into consideration, should not 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. ' 133 
 
 have consulted our Poet? Had the relaxations of 
 ■ that great man from more severe and important 
 studies permitted him to consider Homer in the 
 light we have attempted to place him, I am per- 
 suaded it would have given him so different an opi- 
 nion of the heroic state of arts, that he would not 
 have taken Chiron, or his daughter Hippo, for prac- 
 tical astronomers, upon such slight authority, or 
 have supposed, that, before the siege of Troy, the 
 Greeks had either instruments fit to take an ob- 
 servation, or science to make a proper use of them. 
 On the other hand, he would have found Homer's 
 authority favourable to his limited idea of Greek 
 antiquity : for, notwithstanding the pains which have 
 been taken to shew the Poet's partiality to his coun- 
 trymen, he left nothing on record that could flatter 
 the Grecian vanity upon this head. He might have 
 drawn great assistance from him in support of that 
 part of his system, which contracts the distance of 
 time between the Argonautic expedition and the 
 siege of Troy. He would indeed have seen the 
 whole Homeric history, antecedent to this last epoch, 
 contained in a very narrow compass, not going much 
 farther back than the birth of Nestor: but he would 
 also have seen that short period so full of consistent 
 facts, that, with whatever degree of poetical exagge- 
 ration they have been magnified, the circumstantial 
 connexion of the whole is too well ascertained, not 
 to shew that they were founded in events, which 
 had already the sanction of general tradition : and 
 had acquired some share of credit, before the Poet's 
 embellishment gave them a portion of fame; which 
 they owe more to his genius, than their own impor- 
 tance. 
 
 With regard to Homer's age (a matter of as much 
 obscurity, as his country), if we be allowed to form 
 
134 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 conjectures upon this head from his writings, we 
 may suppose, that he was born not long after the 
 siege of Troy : and had finished both his poems 
 about half a century after the town was taken. That, 
 as the first interesting stories he heard, were, when 
 a boy, of the exploits performed there ; so in his 
 riper years he had still an opportunity of conversing 
 with the old men, who had been engaged in it: that 
 their immediate descendants were his contempo- 
 raries : that he knew their grandchildren ; and saw 
 the birth of their great-grandchildren, which made 
 the fourth generation from iEneas. It is true this 
 makes the birth of Homer prior to the Ionic migra- 
 tion, which Thucydides places eighty years after 
 the siege of Troy : in which there is no solid objec- 
 tion. We know, that there were Ionians in Asia, 
 before a colony of that name was brought thither. 
 To this there is no allusion in the Iliad or Odyeu 
 and we may as well derive the name of Ionian, as 
 we find it written in z Homer, from Javeon, the son 
 of Japhet, as from Ion, the son of Xuthus. 
 
 I have already observed, that it would have been 
 both difficult and useless for him to have forged that 
 account of the family of iEneas, from which I draw 
 this conjecture with regard to his own age; nor do 
 I believe any testimony can be produced, of equal 
 authority with this passage of the Iliad, for placing 
 him nearer the Trojan war. The reasons why I am 
 induced to fix him precisely to that, rather than to 
 any later period, are these : first, the succession of 
 the great-grandchildren of JEneas to the kingdom of 
 Troy is the latest fact that he has left upon record. 
 The JEolian migration would probably disturb that 
 very generation in their possessions : which I there- 
 fore suppose the Poet did not live to see. In the 
 I The appellation of Iaor* c in Homer's Iliad, X. v. 680. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 135 
 
 next place, it is the character, indeed I may venture 
 to say it is among the faults of Homer, to be mi- 
 nutely descriptive. He frequently introduces super- 
 fluous circumstances of mere precision, rather than 
 leave his object vague and uncircumscribed ; even 
 where a general view of it would have done as well, 
 or perhaps better. In short, his genius for imita- . 
 tion, and his love of truth, seem to carry him too far 
 into the province of painting ; of which one parti- 
 cular privilege is, to be minute and circumstantial, 
 without becoming dull or tedious. I am therefore 
 inclined to think, that, though the time we allude to 
 will, at any period after the birth of his grandchil- 
 dren, be applicable to the posterity of iEneas, the 
 Poet might have in view that particular generation 
 for the descendants of those, who fought at Troy, 
 with whom he lived and conversed, and who are so 
 distinctly pointed out by this passage, taken in the 
 literal sense. Thirdly, His picture of society agrees 
 best with that early stage of it. Those, who bring 
 down Homer as low as a Lycurgus (I fancy, be- 
 cause the idea of an interview between two such 
 personages has something pleasing in it), do not 
 consider, that such a Poet and such a Legislator do 
 
 a It is dangerous to truth, when great men, for want of better 
 materials, catch at any plausible conjecture ; to which their ad- 
 mirers give more credit than they intended ; as for instance : In 
 the temple of Jupiter at Elis, there was a disque with the name of 
 Lycurgus inscribed upon it; therefore, says Aristotle, this lawgiver 
 was contemporary with Iphitus, and the first Olympiad. But, says 
 Newton, Aristotle did not consider that the Quinqu6rtium, of which 
 the disque was one game, was not established till the eighteenth 
 Olympiad. But may we not ask both Aristotle and Sir Isaac New- 
 ton, upon what authority they suppose this to have been the Law- 
 giver's disque? for the name of Lycurgus was common long before 
 the Spartan was born, and we find it in Homer, II. Z. v. 130. H. 
 v. 142. 
 
136 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 not properly belong to the same state of manners. 
 And lastly, his account of persons, and facts, could 
 not have passed through many hands; for his man- 
 ner, not only of describing actions and characters, 
 but of drawing portraits, looks very much, as if he 
 had been either present, or at least had taken his 
 information from eye-witnesses. 
 
 I should not presume to oppose this reasoning to 
 historical authority, did I not proceed upon these 
 grounds, that, where the whole is so much conjec- 
 ture, we may offer what appears most plausible. 
 But as this is the best account that I can get from 
 Homer of himself, so it is the only one that I find 
 in history. We learn from Herodotus, that the Poet 
 became the guest of Mentor, who was personally 
 acquainted with Ulysses. 
 
 It may be here requisite that 1 take some notice 
 of the ancient life of Homer, handed down to us, 
 and ascribed to Herodotus, as I differ from many 
 upon this subject. The life of Homer is supposed 
 by several not to be the genuine production of that 
 historian. Mr. Pope and Dr. Parnel (for they 
 were both concerned in the Essay) wonder that it 
 should be ascribed to him, as it evidently contradicts 
 his own history. They say, that it is an unsupported 
 minute treatise, and of small estimation. 
 
 I cannot help differing greatly from this respect- 
 able authority in my opinion of the work. That the 
 events are unsupported is true: and we may add, 
 that they are often trivial and minute. But this 
 does not induce me to think, that they were not col- 
 lected by Herodotus, who was born in the Poet's 
 neighbourhood; and would naturally wish to put 
 together all the traditions of his life, which he could 
 learn upon this coast. And as it is impossible to 
 imagine a collection of circumstances, which have 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 137 
 
 less the appearance of fiction, 1 do not see why we 
 should not suppose, that this was the last and most 
 probable account, the historian could get. As for 
 the observation, that they belong to the lowest sphere 
 in life, I fear, it is suggested by modern distinctions 
 of rank, unknown in those times. When we are 
 told, by way of depreciating this written life, That 
 it is conducted by the spirit of a grammarian ; that 
 there is nothing in it above the life which a gram- 
 marian might lead himself: nay, that it is such a 
 one as they commonly do lead, the highest stage of 
 which is to be master of a school ; we are treated 
 with objections which arise much more out of a 
 knowledge of modern than ancient times. The 
 character of a grammarian was unknown not only 
 to Homer, but to Herodotus : and when it did ap- 
 pear, was much more respectable, than of late ; 
 when, by an easy transition, it is connected with 
 the name of schoolmaster, as in the present case, 
 and conveys very false ideas of the state of know- 
 ledge and learning. Of the same sort is the stric- 
 ture upon the extempore verses of this treatise: 
 which, far from being an argument against it, I take 
 to be the most genuine mark of the age, to which it 
 pretends. When in a written composition, the dis- 
 tinction of verse and prose was of a short standing ; 
 what we here called extempore verses, which are so 
 often interspersed in the works of Herodotus, and 
 the oldest of the Greek writers, I suppose to have 
 been quotations from that period of knowledge 
 previous to the common use of writing, when prose 
 was confined to conversation, and all compositions 
 were in metre, that they might be more easily 
 remembered. 
 
 However, our subject leads us rather to consider 
 
138 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 the agreement between the action of the Iliad, and 
 the time it employs, than the Poet's age, or the 
 chronological order of those pieces of ancient his- 
 tory, which he has inserted in different parts of his 
 Poem : and I have already ventured to say, that, if 
 we examine that Iliad, as a journal of the siege of 
 Troy, stripped of its poetical embellishments, we 
 shall find it, in general* a consistent narrative of 
 events, related according to the circumstances of 
 time and place, when and where they happened : 
 our map of Troy is proposed as the truest test of 
 this matter. 
 
 The action of the Iliad is limited to a number of 
 days, twenty of which pass before the armies en- 
 gage, four in battles, one in burying the dead, and 
 one in building the fortifications: the remaining 
 days are chiefly employed in the mourning and 
 funeral rites of Patroclus and Hector. As the ac- 
 tion is more animated and interesting, his time is 
 more minutely marked and divided ; though he is 
 extremely exact in marking time as a circumstance 
 of truth, which gives probability to his description. 
 He is indifferent about any other duration for his 
 action, than that which tradition had assigned it : 
 indeed, the strongest mark of his original character 
 is seen in the manner, in which he treats the cir- 
 cumstances of time and place. For, while he is ac- 
 curate and consistent with regard to both, it is only 
 by particular examination, that we make this disco- 
 very. And it seems never to have entered into his 
 head to give a map of Troy, or a journal of the 
 siege; they are taken for granted, and as things 
 already known. Had this been his view, he has exe- 
 cuted it to very little purpose; for I will venture 
 to say, that Bossu, Pope, Dacier, &c. are mistaken 
 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 139 
 
 as to his time; nor has his scene of action been 
 minutely examined or tolerably understood by any 
 writer, I know of, Strabo excepted. 
 
 This exactness extends to his machinery, and in 
 order to do it justice, we must take his gods into the 
 dramatis personae : it is also as remarkable by 
 night as by day ; and the same rule is observed of 
 marking the circumstance of time and place with 
 more precision, as the action is more interesting. 
 The journey of Priam and the aged herald to the 
 tent of Achilles, and the excursion of Ulysses and 
 Diomede to the Trojan camp, are beautiful in- 
 stances of this. And here let ine observe, that the 
 severest struggle for victory happening on the day 
 after those nocturnal exploits of Ulysses and Dio- 
 mede, they could not be well absent on so interesting 
 an occasion, when the whole was at stake; yet they 
 do not make their appearance, till they had found 
 time for that repose, which the extraordinary 
 fatigues of the preceding night made necessary; 
 and till the fortune of the day took that critical 
 turn, which called for their appearance. 
 
 I must own, it requires great patience to acquire 
 a distinct idea of the days of battle : the reader is 
 hurried with a rapidity, which does not admit of 
 cool observation, through scenes of bloodshed and 
 slaughter; and though his eye is now and then 
 caught by a detached groupe, or single figure, he 
 admires it separately, without seeing its connexion 
 with the whole composition. I have already ob- 
 served the advantage which painting has over poeti- 
 cal imitation, in conveying clear and distinct ideas, 
 by the help of minute circumstances : yet even in the 
 best painted battle-piece this distinct expression is 
 confined to a few principal figures in the fore- 
 ground. But, without entering into any apology 
 
140 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 for Homer (which I think even the rough manners 
 of his age cannot furnish), I will venture to say, that 
 his descriptions of this sort become less tedious 
 and more interesting, as we become more acquainted 
 with the time and place of the action. 
 
 As to that propriety, with which his times and 
 seasons are, in general, adapted to his facts, it will 
 appear through this history, when it comes to be 
 extended in the manner above proposed. The de- 
 tention of the Greeks at Aulis, and of Menelaus at 
 Pharos, will fall in with the season of the Etesians; 
 which produce the same effects in the same places, 
 and at the same time of the year, to this day. \\\ 
 contrary to some opinions, I open the Iliad in sum- 
 mer, it is, because it corresponds with the operations 
 of the tenth year of the siege, which are the subject 
 of the Poem; and because, in a marshy situation, 
 like that of Troy, unwholesome at this day in the hot 
 season, nothing could be more probable and natu- 
 ral than the fever of a crowded camp, when the >mi 
 was most powerful : and this 1 take to have been the 
 plague which Apollo sent among the Greeks. If I 
 reject the opinion of those who suppose, that the 
 town was taken in spring; it is, because they are 
 contradicted by various passages in the Iliad. And 
 although we should allow Virgil, or Petronius (who 
 are called in aid upon this occasion), to be sufficient 
 authority in such a case, still it will not operate in 
 their favour; for though they suppose the town 
 taken about the full moon, this does not decide the 
 season of the year; b and as ^Sneas sails, according 
 
 b Homer tells us at the opening of the Poem, that nine vears 
 were completed, and that the tenth was begun. If we suppose 
 this to ha?e been only Gamelion, the first month of the Attic Year, 
 it will agree with Homer; and the deteution at Aulis, and the 
 plague, will fall in this month. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 141 
 
 to Virgil, the very beginning of the summer, we 
 cannot suppose, that he could cut down his timber, 
 and build a fleet of twenty ships, in a few days. 
 But if we allow him the winter for that purpose, 
 his operations will agree with probability and 
 Homer. 
 
 But if, laying aside the history of iEneas, and the 
 anachronism of Dido, we examine the subordinate 
 events of the Greek and Roman Poets, stripping 
 them of their poetical dress, we shall find more nar- 
 rative, precision, and consistence in the first; and 
 that the action of the ^Eneid, though less varied by 
 incidents, than that of the Iliad or Odyssey, is not 
 so naturally connected by probable circumstances. 
 
 As to its duration, notwithstanding all the com- 
 mentators have said to clear it up, it remains vague 
 and unsettled, I fear, contradictory. For iEneas 
 arrives at Carthage in the seventh summer of his 
 voyages ; and the next year he solemnizes the fu- 
 neral games in Sicily, in the seventh year after the 
 destruction of Troy. If he is right in the first cal- 
 culation, he must be at least a year mistaken in the 
 last. 
 
 Nor is a want of distinct chronology the only 
 defect in the account of iEneas's voyages. If we 
 examine them with a view to that chain of consistent 
 circumstances, which are as essential to poetical as 
 historical truth, we shall be disappointed. Cas- 
 
 The commencement of the Attic year is very material to our pur- 
 pose ; as it will authenticate our position, as it began at the end of 
 autumn. But will it not be best to see, what was the most mate- 
 rial division of the Grecian year, and suppose this to have been 
 the year alluded to by Homer, though not yet reduced to the pre- 
 cision of the civil year? This was variously constituted among the 
 different states of Greece. If this variety existed in Homer's time, 
 why should we suppose him to adopt one year more than another 1 
 
 See Casini for the commencement of the Attic vear. 
 
142 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 sandra had laid open to Anchises the destination 
 of his family for Italy. It is pointed out to iEneas 
 in various manners, but most explicitly foretold by 
 Creiisa's ghost ; who not only informs him, that he 
 is to go to Italy, but describes the part of it, where 
 he is to reign. Yet, in a few lines after, we see the 
 Trojans embark, without knowing where to go. 
 iEneas turns his back upon this promised land, and 
 sails for Thrace; which, though, in his neighbour- 
 hood, he describes as a distant country. The con- 
 trivance for his leaving it is forced, unnatural, and 
 against history : and when he sails from thence to 
 Delos, to get information with regard to what had 
 been already explained, it is with a wind, which 
 could not carry him thither. 
 
 Should we proceed in examining the whole action 
 of the iEneid in this manner, we might observe little 
 inaccuracies of the same kind, which are not to be 
 found so frequently in Homer. But the instances, 
 I have produced in the course of this Essay, are 
 sufficient to shew that difference of character in the 
 compositions of those great Poets, which is the only 
 object of this comparison; for I do not propose it 
 as a test of their merit. Nor are they brought to- 
 gether in the spirit of those commentators, who 
 think they cannot advance the reputation of the 
 one, but at the expense of the other. I consider 
 Homer and Virgil, as the most perfect models, that 
 any age or country has yet produced ; perhaps less 
 different in their genius than their fortunes : for had 
 Virgil written first, I doubt not but Homer would 
 have copied him. Indeed, the importance of mere 
 priority, if properly considered, will appear much 
 greater, than we are apt to imagine. Those, who 
 have observed, how small a part of mankind think 
 for themselves, how much our tastes are formed 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 143 
 
 upon authority, and governed by habit, must see 
 the great advantage of getting into possession of 
 universal, unbounded admiration. 
 
 Though Homer was born with a genius, that must 
 have figured, if not taken the lead, in any age; and 
 wrote under greater advantages, than ever fell to 
 the lot of any other poet; there is still a peculiar 
 circumstance of mere good fortune, that attended 
 his productions, to which they perhaps owe more 
 reputation, than to their intrinsic value : viz. that 
 they were presented to the golden age of letters, by 
 the most acute and distinguishing genius of that or 
 any other period ; who was in a great measure al- 
 lowed to judge for the rest of the world, both in 
 matters of taste and philosophy, for above two 
 thousand years. 
 
 Could I presume to oppose opinions which have 
 been long respected, I should attempt to account 
 for that chain of connected truth, which is more ob- 
 servable in Homer than in Virgil, from the different 
 objects, which those Poets had in view. That it 
 was their intention, both to please and instruct, is 
 not to be doubted : but in what degree these dif- 
 ferent motives prevailed in each of them, when they 
 did not coincide, has been much disputed. We 
 have been told, that Homer's great object was, to 
 make mankind, and particularly his countrymen, 
 wiser and better ; that the Iliad, in which he teaches 
 the blessings of order and union, and the mischiefs 
 of ambition and discord, is in this view addressed 
 to the whole Greek confederacy ; and that, in the 
 Odyssey he lays down the principles of political 
 prudence for the use of each particular state. We 
 have also heard much of those secrets of Nature, 
 and that physical philosophy, which he is supposed 
 to have wrapt up in allegory ; of that fertility of 
 
144 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 imagination, which could clothe the properties of 
 elements, the qualifications of the mind, the virtues 
 and vices, in forms and persons, and introduce them 
 into actions, agreeable to the nature of the things 
 they shadowed/ 
 
 I could wish, that those, who think so highly of 
 the mysterious wisdom of the ancients, and take so 
 much pains to explain their dark mode of convey- 
 ing profound knowledge, would tell us, by what 
 method they acquired it. I can easily conceive a 
 connexion between mystery and falsehood or ig- 
 norance ; but I do not see, what it has to do with 
 truth or knowledge. 
 
 When, therefore, I admit, that one of these Poets 
 had a deeper purpose than the other, I differ totally 
 from those, who give it to Homer, and consider the 
 meaning of the iEneid, as more obvious, plain, and 
 simple, than that of the Iliad or Odyssey. Nor 
 can I help thinking (without offence to the father 
 of criticism) that the Greek Poet found great part of 
 his moral in his fable; and did not, like Virgil, in- 
 vent a fable for his moral. If therefore, he only 
 adorned the facts he took from history, they would 
 naturally retain the same consistence in his com- 
 positions, which they had already acquired in the 
 opinion of the world : for it is the nature of oral 
 tradition, the only mode of recording events then 
 known, to magnify and embellish, rather than sup- 
 press or pervert truth. But Virgil, who iutended a 
 panegyric upon his prince, and a compliment to his 
 country, looked for a fable most suitable to that 
 plan. And we cannot do justice to his invention, 
 without entering into the extent of his views, and 
 the difficulties he had to encounter in carrying them 
 into execution : for while he copied Nature through 
 
 c See Pope's Essay on Homer. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 145 
 
 Homer, he was to accommodate what he borrowed 
 from both to the fortunes of Rome, and the charac- 
 ter of Augustus. That this was his great object, 
 he expressly declares, when he promises his JEneid 
 to the world, and unfolds the plan of his poem. 
 
 Such are the considerations I would offer to those, 
 who are fond of comparing Homer and Virgil; not 
 as a discouragement to our making such a compa- 
 rison (which is curious and instructive, and affords, 
 I think, the highest of all classical entertainment), 
 but to shew the caution, with which we should 
 proceed, in order to do justice to both Poets, and 
 to explode that illiberal spirit of criticism, which 
 has so much prevailed among commentators, that 
 they are constantly complimenting the one, by find- 
 ing fault with the other. 
 
 HOMER'S 
 LANGUAGE AND LEARNING. 
 
 It is much to be regretted, that those, who are in 
 other respects so well qualified to throw light on 
 this part of our subject, by not taking into their con- 
 sideration the Poet's age and manners, have not 
 conceived a just idea of the genius and character of 
 his language. Professed scholars, and critics in 
 the Greek tongue, confine their observations prin- 
 cipally to its state of perfection/ without consider- 
 
 d This was not till after the Persian invasion, when the Greeks 
 were roused to a sense of liberty, to which we may, in a great mea- 
 sure, attribute more great actions and more elegant compositions 
 than any other nation ever produced. The distinction of Greek 
 and Barbarian was unknown to Homeland his supposed partiality 
 
 K 
 
146 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 ing how long Homer lived before that period. They 
 complimented him for having enriched his language 
 with the different dialects of Greece ; though the 
 distinction of dialects can be only known to a cul- 
 tivated, and, in some degree, settled state of lan- 
 guage, as deviations from an acknowledged stan- 
 dard. 6 — They point out his poetical licences ; for- 
 getting that, in his time, there were no composi- 
 tions in prose. — They settle his pronunciation by 
 an alphabet f which he did not know, and by cha- 
 racters he never saw. — For whatever credit his 
 story of sixteen letters brought into Greece by 
 
 to the former poems to have as little foundation as the political 
 plan of his poem. But iEschylus, who fought at Marathon, Sala- 
 mis, and Plataea ; Sophocles, who was also a soldier; and Euri- 
 pides, who was born amidst the triumphs of his country for vic- 
 tories obtained in defence of the rights of a free people, looked 
 down upon the Asiatic character with a conscious dignity and su- 
 periority, which, though it breathes through their writings, Homer 
 never felt, and therefore could not express. Virgil did not attend 
 to this distinction, and even the hero of the .Eneid lets slip 
 some allusion to the term Barbarian, which is the effect of this 
 negligence : 
 
 " Quinquaginta illi thalami, spes tanta nepotum, 
 Barbarico postesauro spoliisque superbi, 
 Procubuere." .Ex. ii. 504. 
 
 e Nor would it be judicious to employ them indifferently. The 
 Bergamasc, Neapolitan, and Venetian dialects, do well on the Ita- 
 lian stage in the mouths of Harlequino, Pulcinello, and Pantalone, 
 but a Tuscan would never think of enriching his language by using 
 them promiscuously in an epic poem. 
 
 f Without entering into a debate, whether writing was in common 
 use in the days of Homer; let us suppose it to have been familiar 
 to him : yet the letters with which he was acquainted were few 
 If they were the Cadmian ; they were all capitals: and there were 
 no stops; and accents were of later introduction. And if we may 
 judge from the Sigean inscription, the arrangement bv the manner 
 of writing stated /Wrpo^or was different and embarrassed. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 147 
 
 Cadmus may deserve, it is allowed, that the twenty- 
 four letters of the Ionian alphabet were not in use 
 till after Homer's time. — His prosody, 5 or musical 
 expression, must have been soon corrupted ; for it 
 is remarkable that the old chaste Greek melody 
 was lost in refinement, before the other arts had 
 acquired perfection. Could Homer have heard his 
 poems sung or recited, even at the Panathenaean fes- 
 tival, I dare say he would have been offended at the 
 elegance, perhaps the affectation, of the Attic ac- 
 cent and articulation; not to mention the various 
 changes to which Greek pronunciation has been 
 and is daily exposed. — I remember, when I was at 
 Athens, that I sent for a Greek schoolmaster, and 
 when we read the Iliad together, we could not bear 
 each other's manner of pronunciation. I make no 
 doubt but Homer would have been as much at a 
 loss to understand his own works, read by us, as 
 we were to understand one another. 
 
 History cannot point out a period, when the lan- 
 guage of Greece, like that of Rome, and of most 
 other countries, was confined to a single state, or 
 community. In what proportion it was original ; 
 or of foreign extraction ; in what degree a Northern 
 or Oriental mixture entered into its composition, or 
 which part of the Greek continent, or islands, gave 
 it birth, and first distinguished it by a name, will 
 ever remain the obscure questions of antiquaries. 
 
 * Much has been written on this subject; but to so little pur- 
 pose, that even the meaning of that word is not ascertained. It is 
 not clear in what degree the Upocrahat of the ancients belonged to 
 music or to grammar. If they were at first entirely musical (which 
 I think is highly probable), at what time were they adopted to fix 
 pronunciation ? Could we understand the real use of those marks 
 which we call accents, it is probable, that all we should learn by 
 it would be to know imperfectly, how Greek was pronounced 
 by those who studied and taught it as a dead or foreign language, 
 
 k2 
 
148 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 But so far we know, that in its early and unpolished 
 state, it was the language of various independent 
 tribes ; who, being all interested in the common 
 stock, contributed towards its increase and im- 
 provement, according to their different circum- 
 stances and fortunes. How it got so early into verse 
 and measure, and was in that shape admitted into 
 the service of legislation, morality, and religion, is 
 uncertain. How prose composition came to be of a 
 later date, introduced perhaps with the use of writ- 
 ing, which brought with it arts and philosophy, and 
 a more chaste and faithful mode of recording facts, 
 is also matter of obscurity. That their alphabet 
 was borrowed is very clear. Yet their terms of 
 science seem to shew, that in the study of Nature 
 they were original. Indeed we have no better 
 guide to the rise and progress of Greek knowledge, 
 than Greek etymology; which is in this respect 
 Greek history. It is curious to trace the lan- 
 guage of Homer to its passing into the service of 
 philosophy : and it is no less so, to find the diction 
 of Plato and Aristotle in common use at this day in 
 the Archipelago. It is indeed disguised : and ap- 
 pears like rich marble friezes of temples, and frag- 
 ments with inscribed decrees of ancient councils 
 and senates; which are frequently found reversed 
 in the mud walls of a Turkish cottage, retaining in 
 their present humiliation the genuine marks of 
 better times. 
 
 It appears from Homer, that, before the siege of 
 Troy, it had spread considerably, not only over the 
 continent, and islands of Greece, but on the Asiatic 
 side of the Mediterranean. We may also conclude 
 from him, that it was the language of Troy. h In- 
 deed, if we inquire critically into the history of 
 
 * See Strabo, on the affinity of the Thraeiau and Trojan language. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 149 
 
 Greek composition, we must look for their first pro- 
 ductions of this kind in the neighbourhood of the 
 Troade, long before Athens had given any indications 
 of the figure she afterward made in letters. — Or- 
 pheus, Musaeus, Eumolpus, and Thomyris, were of 
 Thrace; and Marsyas, Olympus, Midas, &c. were 
 of the Ionian side of the Maeander. Totally diffe- 
 rent from this was the rise and progress of letters at 
 Rome. Her illiterate citizens loved liberty and their 
 country, before they relished science, and discover- 
 ed a taste for the arts of imitation. And when they 
 turned their thoughts late that way, it was less im- 
 pulse of genius, than the striking productions of 
 Greece, which roused them from a lethargy of a 
 most extraordinary duration. Accordingly their 
 first poets and philosophers frequently copy and 
 sometimes translate: and their best performances 
 are those, which retain most of the borrowed spirit, 
 by which they were first enlivened. 
 
 A language, like that of Greece, formed, at least 
 improved, under the rival patronage of so many 
 separate states, is a singularity, which it is less dif- 
 ficult to account for in a cluster of small islands, 
 almost surrounded by a broken and divided conti- 
 nent. The same distribution of land and water, 
 which, as we have already observed, furnished 
 Homer with so much picturesque scenery, was also 
 well calculated for a variety of little settlements, 
 distinct and independent of each other, within a 
 narrow compass ; and therefore capable of an inter- 
 course without jealousy, which the contiguous pos- 
 sessions, and disputable boundaries of an extended 
 plain country would not permit. Besides, the effects 
 of war and conquest could not be felt here: the 
 business of war, as well as of peace, being carried 
 on in Greek, between Grecian and Grecian : so that 
 
150 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 the language might be enriched, while the country 
 was impoverished. 
 
 I cannot help considering those separate nurseries 
 of the Greek language, as a circumstance which 
 most materially promoted its progress, by raising a 
 competition, and secured its duration, by affording 
 refuge and protection from the persecution and dis- 
 couragements of any particular state; and I think 
 we may venture to reckon the emulation and pro- 
 tection, which this produced, among the causes, 
 that contributed towards carrying literature in 
 Greece to a degree of perfection which it never 
 reached in any other country. 
 
 We shall perhaps find, that the particular period 
 in this progress, which fell to Homers lot, though 
 not the most advanced, was not, for that reason, the 
 less adapted to the purposes of that original cha- 
 racter, now under our consideration : nor will it, 
 upon examination, appear so extraordinary, while 
 manners were rude, when arts were little cultivated, 
 and before science was reduced to general princi- 
 ples, that then poetry had acquired a greater degree 
 of perfection than it has ever since attained. 
 
 We have already seen, in our review of Homers 
 state of society, a uniformity of manners, previous 
 to the distinction of rank, and condition, which pro- 
 duced that noble simplicity of language unknown to 
 polished ages. Though the venerable beauties of 
 that antiquated style must, in some degree, strike 
 every reader; yet we cannot do it justice without 
 looking back to the times it describes ; it is only 
 from a knowledge of those early times, that we im- 
 prove a relish of its beauties, and find an apology 
 for its faults. 
 
 . As to the Poet's Learning, I must own, that very 
 different accounts are given of it, even bv some of 
 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 151 
 
 his best commentators ; and great pains have been 
 taken to shew, not only that he was extensively ac- 
 quainted with the arts both of use and elegance, but 
 that he was knowing in the secrets of deep and ab- 
 struse science. This opinion has been both credited 
 and supported, from the earliest times. And we 
 find Plato, who admired Homer, as a poet, taking- 
 great pains to confute those who had conceived so 
 highly of his knowledge. 
 
 I know of no authority to which we can appeal, 
 in this case, of equal weight with Homer himself. 
 It is principally from him that we have formed our 
 ideas of that sameness in the pursuits and occupa- 
 tions of mankind in the heroic ages, which is the 
 genuine character of an early stage of society. 
 Trades and professions were as yet scarcely divided 
 into separate classes ; nor was that useful distribu- 
 tion of industry yet imagined, which makes labour 
 light, gives perfection to art, and variety to manners. 
 But then, as the business and pleasures of life were 
 rude, simple, and confined, they lay more open to 
 the Poet's observation : and as he painted what he 
 saw with so much truth, I fancy, we are too apt to 
 think he knew much more than he painted. 
 
 But I wonder, that those who have conceived so 
 highly of the Poet's science, should not have at- 
 tempted to settle a question, which seems so neces- 
 sary towards forming a just judgment on that head, 
 viz. How far the use of Writing was known to 
 Homer? 
 
 We are not far removed from the age, when great 
 statesmen, and profound politicians, did not know 
 their alphabet I mention this undoubted fact to 
 lessen the readers astonishment at any insinuation, 
 that Homer could neither read nor write. Nor will 
 it appear altogether so paradoxical, if we consider, 
 
152 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 how much the one is the work of genius, and the 
 other of art. Poetry is found in savage life ;* and, 
 even there, is not without those magic powers over 
 our passions, which is the boasted character of its 
 perfect state. But the art of establishing that won- 
 derful intercourse between the senses of hearing and 
 seeing, by means of arbitrary marks, that iia\e no 
 resemblance to the idea, which is by agreement 
 affixed to them, must have been the result of much 
 deep thought and reflection. I am not surprised 
 that antiquity, however fond of tracing every art up 
 to its inventor, should attribute that of writing to 
 the gods. If the invention of printing is ingenious, 
 what shall we say to that of letters? But indeed 
 we treat this invaluable gift of Art, of which we are 
 in constant use, as we do some of the greatest gifts 
 of Nature, which we daily enjoy, without due atten- 
 tion, or proper respect either for the ingenuity or 
 utility of the discovery. 
 
 If we consult the Poet on this question, it must 
 appear very remarkable 1 , that, in so comprehensive a 
 picture of civil society, as that which he has left us, 
 there is nothing, that conveys an idea of letters, or 
 reading; none of the various terms, which belong to 
 those arts, are to be found in Homer. The Iliad 
 and Odyssey are apparently addressed to an au- 
 dience; nor is therein either poem any allusion to 
 writing. As to symbolical, hierogh phical, or pic- 
 ture description, something of that kind was no 
 doubt known to Homer, of which the letter k (as it 
 
 1 Strabo, p. 34. tells us, that as poetical composition first ap- 
 peared with success, prose only left out the measure; following 
 the poet in every thing else. By degrees the poetical manner was 
 discontinued, and Poetry, as Plutarch expresses it, at length de- 
 scended from her car. 
 
 k arinara Xirypct. — II. vi. 168* 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 153 
 
 is called) which Bellerophon carried to the king of 
 Lycia, is a proof. The Mexicans, though a civilized 
 people, had no alphabet; and the account which 
 they sent to Montezuma of the landing of the Spa- 
 niards was in this picture-writing. As alphabetical 
 writing is one of the most difficult, so this method 
 of communicating thoughts by imitation, is one of 
 the most obvious, of all inventions. The first efforts 
 of our infant expression are of the mimetic kind ; and 
 the names which different nations have given to the 
 constellations are a proof of our natural disposition 
 to communicate and explain our thoughts by help 
 of animal resemblances. Though I will not con- 
 clude, that Homer did not know that which is not 
 taken notice of in his writings (a manner of reason- 
 ing which has been carried too far upon other occa- 
 sions) ; yet I cannot help thinking his silence on 
 this head of some weight. 
 
 There are many evidences to be obtained, which 
 will prove, that writing came late to Greece. Ac- 
 cording to Homer, and other early writers, all trea- 
 ties, stipulations, and contracts, were verbal ; and 
 on this account they were enforced with signs 
 only, and solemn allusions, and appeals to Heaven. 
 The rites of hospitality were held sacred, and were 
 duly commemorated. This was effected, not by any 
 formal deed, and with the ratification of a signet; 
 but by a mutual present of a tripod, or a sword, or 
 perhaps some arrows : and oftentimes of a robe, or 
 garment. The ancients were very zealous to keep 
 up the memory of those, who had deserved well 
 of their country : but all the memorial, which they 
 were able to afford, was a mound of earth over the 
 deceased. This is the whole, that Hector requests, 
 should it be his fate to be slain in single fight; and 
 he desires, that the same may be bestowed upon his 
 
154 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 adversary, should it be his fortune to kill Ajax. For 
 farther record he trusts solely to tradition ; by which 
 he supposes, that his tomb will be distinguished. It 
 was not uncommon to erect a aTv\oq or rough pillar, 
 over those of note, who were buried : and there was 
 sometimes a device: but no mention is made of an 
 inscription. Elpenor had an oar put over him to de- 
 note his occupation, but no writing. When, in pro- 
 cess of time, this art became known in Greece, it v 
 by no means in general use : for it was attended with 
 much difficulty, as well as uncertainty : being desti- 
 tute of aspirates, and intervals ; and without the be- 
 nefit of punctuation. The materials too for writing 
 were very rude, and inadequate to the purpose. For 
 want of the necessary helps in arrangement, it was 
 difficult to distinguish words, and sentences, and 
 readily to arrive at the purport of any composition. 
 These inconveniences are mentioned by Aristotle : 
 and every inscription of early date evinces, that 
 these difficulties subsisted, when learning first 
 , dawned. And from hence we may fairly inter, that 
 writing could not have been long introduced, where 
 such rude specimens were exhibited. Joseph us 
 rightly observes, that there are no allusions to any 
 written laws in Homer: and that the word m 
 does not occur as a law in any part of that Poet. 
 The first written laws, of which we can be assured, 
 were those of Draco. Before these times all m 
 effected by memory; and the histories of ancient 
 times were commemorated in verses, which people 
 took care faithfully to transmit to those, who came 
 after them. They were also preserved in temples, 
 where, upon festivals, the priests and priestess 
 used to chant them to the people. There were also 
 bards, whose sole province it was to commemorate 
 the great actions of their gods and heroes. Their 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 155 
 
 law was intrusted to verse, and adapted to measure 
 and music. From all which we learn, that all was 
 consigned to memory ; and that there was no written 
 record. 
 
 If it is asked, At what time then did the Greeks 
 find out the alphabet ? for, according to this account 
 of it, the interval between Homer and the Persian 
 invasion was not equal to such a discovery, and after 
 that period the use of writing was familiarly known 
 in Greece. The answer is, that it was not of Greek 
 invention; and without returning to the obscure 
 history of Cadmus, I shall only observe, that the 
 authority of Herodotus in favour of Phoenicia de- 
 serves the more credit, as it contradicts the known 
 vanity of his countrymen. Had it been discovered 
 by them, we should certainly have known more of 
 its history. Besides, the resemblance between the 
 old Eastern and first Greek character seems to put 
 this out of dispute. Now, as the use of an alphabet, 
 though difficult to find out, when once found is easily 
 communicated, it is not extraordinary, that we 
 should know little about the time, when it was in- 
 troduced : which introduction was probably effected 
 not at once ; but must have depended not only upon 
 the degree of civilization in the country, and the pro- 
 gress of its own knowledge, but also upon the com- 
 mencement, the nature, and the extent, of its inter- 
 courseand connexion with Phoenicia, and the south- 
 east part of the Mediterranean. 
 
 But there is a singular circumstance in the history 
 of Greek literature, which, if properly considered, 
 will, I think, throw some light on this subject. It 
 is allowed on all hands, that prose writing was un- 
 known in Greece, till long after the Poet's time; 
 and that, down to Cadmus the Milesian, and Phe- 
 recydes of Syros, all composition was in verse. After 
 
156 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 much refined and unsatisfactory modern reasoning 
 on this head, I beg leave to go back to the plain 
 account of it, which Aristotle 1 long since suggested; 
 when, inquiring why the same word in Greek sig- 
 nified a song and a law, he asked, whether it was 
 not because, before the invention of writing, laws 
 were sung, that they might not be forgotten, accord- 
 ing to the practice of the Agathyrsians in bis time? 
 It would be difficult to account for so long a prio- 
 rity of verse to prose, if we suppose them to have 
 been some time in possession of an alphabet. 111 
 It is contrary to the natural order and progress of 
 things, to imagine, that the first essays of alpha- 
 betical writing should be made in ver>e : and even 
 granting its first application was in this way, it is 
 unreasonable to think that it could, for any time, be 
 confined to that species of composition, and that 
 other obvious advantages of a discovers fill to 
 
 society should be so long neglected. Before that 
 invention, verse and music were very necessary 
 aids to memory, then solely intrusted with the 
 whole deposit of law, history, and religion, till 
 the art of writing introduced a more faithful, 
 
 and comprehensive method of recording thi 
 Perhaps we cannot give a better account of the 
 policy of obliging the youths to get by heart Hon 
 Catalogue, and ordering his works to be publicly 
 
 1 Problem Sect. \ix. Art. '28. 
 
 ra See the Life of Homer by Herodotus, where Phenias the school- 
 master is said to have taught the children yoaufjara. *»• ibo the 
 epigram upon the sepulchre of Midas. It is scarce worth trou- 
 bling the reader with an answer to any } !>ring 
 these as evidences of Homer's knowing letters. -f/<« »s a monu- 
 ment, or mark of a burial-place, and often to be found in Homer. 
 It was a large heap of earth or stoues over the dead. Then 
 oftentimes something added to denote the person's } 
 which is a custom still practised in Scotland. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 157 
 
 recited at the Panathensean ceremonies, than by 
 considering them as regulations relative to a state 
 of society ignorant of writing, or at least unpro- 
 vided with the materials necessary to reap the 
 benefit of the invention, which were extremely scarce 
 even for ages after that time. If this reasoning be 
 admitted to have any weight, it will allow us to fix 
 the common familiar use of an alphabet in Greece, 
 and prose writing, to pretty much the same period, 
 viz. about five hundred and fifty-four years before 
 Christ. 
 
 The best account we can collect of the rise and 
 progress of knowledge in Greece corresponds with 
 this state of things. The seven Sages, so much ce- 
 lebrated for their wisdom, have transmitted very 
 little of it to posterity ; and all their works consist 
 of a few smart sayings, moral sentences, and scraps 
 of poetry, which oral tradition had preserved. Thales 
 and Pythagoras, whose schools peopled Greece with 
 philosophers, left no writings behind them; the same 
 may be said of Socrates, who lived still later. Thespis 
 wrote no tragedies, Susarion no comedies, and 
 most probably iEsop no fables. What is more ex- 
 traordinary, legislation was considerably advanced 
 before written laws were in use, if we may credit the 
 accounts concerning Charondas and Zeleucus, who 
 lived before Draco, by whom written laws were first 
 produced. 
 
 As to the difficulty of conceiving how Homer 
 could acquire, retain, and communicate, all he knew, 
 without the aid of letters, it is, I own, very striking. 
 And yet, I think, it will not appear insurmountable, 
 if, upon comparing the fidelity of oral tradition, and 
 the powers of memory, with the Poet's knowledge, 
 we find the two first much greater, and the latter 
 much less, than we are apt to imagine. 
 
158 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 The Mexicans, who had no alphabet, and whose 
 picture-writing on the leaves of trees was very in- 
 sufficient for the purpose of history, trusted to the 
 memory of their poets and orators, from whose 
 recitals the Spaniards wrote down the accounts 
 which they have transmitted. In like manner the 
 historians of Ireland have collected their materials 
 from the lays of their bards and fileas ; whose ac- 
 counts have been merely traditional. 
 
 But the oral traditions of a learned and enlight- 
 ened age will greatly mislead us, if from them we 
 form our judgment on those of a period, when 
 history had no other resource. What we obsei v< d 
 at Palmyra puts this matter to a much fairer trial ; 
 nor can we, in this age of dictionaries, and other 
 technical aids to memory, judge, what her use and 
 powers were, at a time, when all a man could know, 
 was all he could remember. To which we may 
 add, that, in a rude and unlettered state of society 
 the memory is loaded with nothing that is cither 
 useless or unintelligible: whereas modern educa- 
 tion employs us chiefly in getting by heart, while 
 we are young, what we forget before we are old. 
 
 When all exertions, not only of the judgment, 
 but of the imagination, depended so much upon me- 
 mory, the Muses were with peculiar propriety sup- 
 posed to be the daughters of n Mnemosune. This 
 pedigree will perhaps account for Homer's addi 
 ing them with such solemnity, when he is going to 
 
 n 'Movercu Q\vf.i7riahe, KOVpflU Aioc aiyio\oio, 
 Tag er Tlupirj Kpovictj reice Tarpi fiiyeiaa 
 Mn// Li0 < Tl ' , ' 7 ?» yovvoiffiv HAeiStjpog pEceovera, 
 Aiicrf-ioavniv re kcikiov, af.nravj.ia re uepftrjpa^y. 
 Erica yap 61 rvxrag efiiffyero fji]rura Zf re, 
 Noc^tv air adararioi-, tepov \e\oc EiaavaSau u>> • 
 AW ore h) p iriavroQ £>/r, tteoi ? tr tu, 
 
 M»;i u)r otfirn run -, ~eot c quara ircW t-tXeadt], 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 159 
 
 recite the Grecian and Trojan forces, the names of 
 their commanders, and the number of their ships. 
 This mere arithmetical part of the Iliad is that, 
 which he undertakes with most diffidence ; and 
 where he is most solicitous of their aid : though a 
 modern poet would scarcely think of invoking his 
 muse on such an occasion. It is true, we find the 
 same invocation in Virgil, when he enumerates the 
 forces of iEneas and Turnus. But besides that his 
 close and constant imitation of Homer will go a 
 great way in accounting for this, he copies him in 
 this instance with an exception, which I think fa- 
 vours my conjecture: for he omits Homer's exagge- 
 ration of the difficulty in recollecting the numbers ; 
 though he liked the expression so well, as to adopt 
 it upon two other occasions. 
 
 'H & erst: evvecl Kovpag 6jj.o(f)povag, rjaiv aoidri 
 Mfju/3\erai, ev (TTrjdeaffty aKrfha Qvfiov £-)(ovaaig, 
 TvtQov an cu'porart/c Kopvtyi)g vityoEvrog 0\vfJL7rov, 
 Er0a otyiv Xnrapot te \opot y ko.i diofiara kclXcl. 
 
 Hesiod, Theog. v. 52. 
 • The reader may form his judgment, by comparing the original, 
 and the copy: 
 
 E,<jttete vvv fJLOL, Movcrcu, o\v fiTTta ^ojfxar EypvaaC 
 (XfJLEig yap Becu core, irapEffTE te, iote te nravra' 
 
 'HfilElQ %E K\£OQ OLOV AKOYOMEN, OvU TL ityEf) 
 
 OlrivEQ TjyEfjLovEg Aavawv kcll Koipavoi r\aav. 
 I1AHOYN c ovk av Eyio fjLv6rj(Top.ai t outf ovofxrjvojy 
 Ov& £t fxot hfca fiEV yXuxraai, Sekcl Se ffTOjiar eiev, 
 Qiovri <T app-qKTog, ^oXkeov $e jioi r)Top evevt], 
 Ei jir) OXvfXTriahg Movaat, Atog Aiyio%oio 
 ©yyarepec, MNH2 AIA0', oaoi vtto IXiov rjXSov. 
 
 II. B. 484, &c. 
 " Pandite nunc Helicona, Deae, cantusque movete : 
 Qui bello exciti reges ; quae quemque secutae 
 Complerit campos acies ; quibus Itala jam turn 
 Floruerit terra alma viris ; quibus arserit armis. 
 Et meministis enim, Divae, et memorare potestis : 
 Ad nos vix tenuis famae perlabitur aura." 
 
 Mx. vii. 641, &c. 
 
160 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 If therefore we take the Poet's account of things, 
 we discover nothing in it that implies the use of 
 writing. This will appear more clearly from a short 
 state of the kind of knowledge which from his works 
 we may reasonably presume that he possessed. 
 
 Without letters, it may be said, there could be no 
 effectual method, either of ascertaining or promul- 
 gating the sense of law; but this corresponds exactly 
 with the wretched state of government, which we 
 have described under the article of Mannei 
 
 We are indeed told, that Lycurgus would not 
 write his laws, because minds properly educated, 
 and taught what is right, should not be restrained. 
 But can we suppose, that the author of the Spartan 
 constitution could have reasoned in thi> manner? 
 The laws of Zaleucus were not committed to writing. 
 It is true, that the Jaws of Solon were engraved 
 either in stone or upon wood, like the Decalogue, 
 and those of the twelve tables. But there seems to 
 have been but one copy of them : and that was for 
 some time deposited in the Acropolis, but was after- 
 ward removed to the Prytaneum for the more easy 
 inspection of the people. While writing was con- 
 fined to engraving upon wood, brass, or marble, the 
 art could not well be in very general use. Agree- 
 ments and contracts, both public and private, were 
 made before witnesses. The conditions of the 
 treaty between the Grecians and Trojans were au- 
 thenticated only by a solemn verbal convention, to 
 which both armies were witnes:*e>. The tenure and 
 
 Here Virgil omits his 
 
 " Non, mi hi si lingure centum siut oraque centum, 
 Ferrea vox — " 
 
 which he introduces, Georg. ii. 42. and JEneid vi. G'2b 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 161 
 
 purchase of the cave at Macpelah, which Abraham 
 bought for himself and his heirs for ever, at the 
 price of four hundred shekels of silver, were ascer- 
 tained in the presence of Ephron, and the sons of 
 Heth. 
 
 Commerce consisted in little more than an ex- 
 change of superfluities in kind ; p coins were un- 
 known ; gold, silver, brass, and iron, were all used 
 as marks of riches, but with little knowledge either 
 of the relative value, or of the separate uses to which 
 they were afterward applied in a more advanced 
 state of the mechanical arts. 
 
 When Proteus takes an account of the numbers 
 of his sea-calves, the manner in which he performs 
 that operation is expressed by a Greek verb, q to 
 which there is nothing in our language literally 
 equivalent. When therefore I say that he fived 
 them, I take the liberty of coining a word, which, 
 corresponding precisely with the old Greek term, 
 will convey to the English reader an allusion to the 
 origin of arithmetic ; for the Greek word, not used, 
 that I can find, by any writer after Homer, seems to 
 point out the first simple method of enumeration, 
 while the operation was confined to the h\e fingers 
 of one hand, and before the decimal computation, 
 or the arithmetic of two hands, was practised. I do 
 not mean to undervalue Homer's arithmetical know- 
 ledge, so much as to measure it exactly by this 
 primitive term ; for though it continued to express 
 enumeration in his time, it certainly belonged to a 
 more imperfect state of that art, as we find him use 
 the decimal progression; which has been adopted 
 by all nations, ancient and modern, with very few 
 
 p See Iliad vii. v. 471. where brass, iron, skins, oxen, and slaves, 
 are exchanged for wine. 
 
 * TrefJiira<Tff€Tai. Od. A. V. 412. 
 
 L 
 
162 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 exceptions. Yet I doubt much, whether the method 
 of counting upon the fingers, here alluded to, was 
 not the only one known to Homer, at least I cannot 
 find in his works any of the terms which denote a 
 farther progress in the science of numbers/ 
 
 Mathematics were introduced into Greece by 
 Thales, and the Ionic school ; all knowledge, which 
 depends upon that science, must have been very 
 imperfect before that time. When therefore we 
 consider Homer as the father of geography, we may 
 allow his accurate observation as a traveller, before 
 maps 5 and charts were invented. But we must ac- 
 knowledge, that geography, as a science, was as 
 much unknown to him, as astronomy, 1 on which so 
 much depends. 
 
 r To have enumerated the whole army, Homer terms impossible, 
 even with the assistance of the Muses. He leaves it therefore to 
 them, and makes it their department. 
 
 Perhaps the barren list of names in Hesiod's genealogy (I can- 
 not help calling them so) will stand less in need of apology, if we 
 consider, that they were addressed to an audience ignorant of the 
 use of writing, which was certainly very little practised, if at all 
 known, at that time. 
 
 s The invention of Anaximander no doubt related to maps ; w Inch 
 were drawn upon principles of geometry. But to say, that maps 
 merely tracing distances, and separations of lauds, were unknown 
 to Homer, is not my intention. The first idea of landed property 
 pointed out lines and boundaries: and the first travelling must have 
 found the use of marks. Maps of this sort are devised by the very 
 savages of North America. They are delineated upon skins, and 
 the bark of trees : and maps of this sort might probably be known 
 to Homer. But these are no proof of science. 
 
 Anaximander invented maps. See Strabo. 
 
 1 Iii respect to astronomy, it is certain that Homer was not ac- 
 quainted with the planets. What Pope translates a comet, in the 
 beginning of the fourth Iliad, is plainly a star; which Virgil copies. 
 See Rureus Georg. i. v. 365. 
 
 Veuus was known to Homer and Hesiod, and could not escape 
 their observation in the most ignorant times; but not as a planet 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 163 
 
 When Ulysses launches his ship, we find him em- 
 ploy the lever and the inclined plane for that pur- 
 pose ; but are we therefore to suppose, that he knew 
 the mechanical powers? or shall we not rather con- 
 clude, from his building that ship with a brazen 
 hatchet, that the useful arts were still very imperfect 
 in his time? 
 
 As to the arts of elegance, the rank, in which 
 they stand in Homer (perhaps the same in which 
 they occur in the natural order of discovery), seems 
 to be this : 
 
 That poetry had the precedence, the Iliad and 
 Odyssey sufficiently demonstrate; but, besides that 
 testimony, we know from the best accounts of bar- 
 barous and savage nations, that the most successful 
 efforts of genius in rude society are of this kind. 
 
 If Homer's music could be separated from his 
 poetry, which was always sung, and I believe gene- 
 rally accompanied, with an instrument, it would 
 claim the second place : but the extraordinary ef- 
 fects, which are recorded of this art in the earliest 
 accounts of it, belonged to the united powers of 
 music and poetry. Indeed all instruction, civil and 
 religious, was wrapt up in melody and verse ; u and 
 the priest, who was a lawgiver, was also a poet and 
 musician. This is agreeable to that rude state of 
 society, which we have described, when civilization 
 was addressed more to the passions than the under- 
 standing, and men were to be first tamed, in order 
 to their being taught. 
 
 Next come the arts of design ; and first sculp- 
 ture. Statues are mentioned in Homer, but with- 
 out any of that admiration of the art, or compli- 
 ment to the skill of the artist, which we expect 
 from a person impressed with the beauties of this 
 * See Aristotle's politics for singing and writing. 
 L2 
 
164 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 kind. The shield of Achilles has indeed given 
 occasion for people talking very highly of the Poet's 
 knowledge, not only in sculpture, but in painting: 
 and it has been attempted to be proved, that it ex- 
 hibits a full idea of the art. Those who have cu- 
 riosity to see how far the ancients were carried as 
 well as the moderns) by indulging a taste for al- 
 legory, may consult Eustathius for the wild con- 
 jectures of Damo the learned daughter of Pytha- 
 goras, and of Heraclides Ponticus on this shield. 
 But it was reserved for this age to discover in it a 
 full and exact idea of painting in all its parts ; that 
 is to say, in the invention, the composition, and the 
 expression ; that it is executed according to the 
 rules of perspective, and observes the three unities, 
 viz. one principal action, one instant of time, and 
 one point of view. 
 
 Monsieur Boivin's idea, which suggested this 
 piece of criticism, is ingenious; and if we do not 
 carry it farther than he intended, affords a com- 
 plete answer to those who objected that it was im- 
 possible to engrave subjects, which are described 
 in this beautiful episode within so narrow a com- 
 pass, as that of a shield. But, without entering 
 into any observations on this dissertation, I must 
 deny that painting, as an art, was known to Homer, 
 if we may judge from his works. It may ap, 
 extraordinary, considering the present close con- 
 nexion between the sister arts of poetry and paint- 
 ing, that the first should have acquired the highest 
 perfection which it has yet attained, before the 1 a>t 
 had a beginning. Yet I see nothing in the Iliad or 
 Odyssey like the use of the pencil and colours in 
 producing resemblance ; no hint of the clair obscur, 
 or the art of raising an object on a flat surface, 
 and approaching it to the eye by the management 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 165 
 
 of light and shade. Nor can I find a word in the 
 Iliad or Odyssey to express any thing like such an 
 art. I know it is generally understood, that the 
 same word u signified originally both to write and 
 to paint. That it had both these meanings in later 
 times is true : but the Poet always applies this word 
 to express incision made by a sharp weapon or 
 instrument; and it would be easy to shew from 
 a variety of Jewish as well as Grecian authorities, 
 that the first writing practised by either of those 
 nations was engraved, and not painted. 
 
 The same may be said of architecture, which, 
 though it owes more to Homer's country, if he was 
 an Ionian, than to any other, seems not to have 
 been known in his time as an art. x I do not mean 
 to say that ornamented convenience or even magni- 
 ficence of a certain kind was not yet introduced 
 into buildings ; the contrary is evident from many 
 passages in the Poet : but we see no marks of that 
 symmetry and proportion which afterwards distin- 
 guished the architecture of Greece from that of 
 Egypt, in the Iliad and Odyssey; the Greek orders 
 were not yet invented ; and Priam's palace, 
 
 " Rais'd on arch'd columns of stupendous fame." 
 
 is of the translator's building, whose ideas upon 
 this occasion are borrowed from the magnificence of 
 later ages. In short, we do not even find the tech- 
 nical terms of this art in Hemer. Sculpture, so 
 far as it had the human figure for its object, arrived 
 soonest at perfection in Greece; and from the ten- 
 dency of Grecian education towards athletic and 
 manly exercises, had the advantage of elegant and 
 graceful form. Architecture not being the imitation 
 
 u ypa(f)(o. 
 * Sardis, the capital of Crcesus, consisted of a parcel of thatched 
 houses. Herod, i. v. c. 101. 
 
166 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 of any model of Nature, could not be so soon esta- 
 blished, for want of some universal settled princi- 
 ples : its most perfect style was therefore late. 
 
 Homer has been highly extolled for his know- 
 ledge of medicine and anatomy, particularly the 
 latter ; and his insight into the structure of the 
 human body has been considered as so nice, that he 
 has been imagined by some to have wounded his 
 heroes with too much science.' This has been con- 
 firmed by those of the profession, who finding the 
 Poet correct and learned in his anatomical term-, 
 have not hesitated to pronounce him knowing in 
 their art. 
 
 But had they considered, that those were not 
 terms of art in the Poet's days ; that he had no 
 words to express the parts of the human body, than 
 those, which have been since consecrated to a par- 
 ticular profession : and if, at the same time thtv had 
 observed, that ail his anatomical knowledge di 
 not exceed the reach of that cariosity, with which 
 he seems to have surveyed and examined ever] 
 object in Nature, that fell within his observation, 
 they would have suppressed that inconsiderate ad- 
 miration, which has been lavished on his scien 
 and have paid it, where it is due, to his just con- 
 ception and happy expression as a painter. 
 
 In the same manner, the words rpemu m\ioio 1. 
 I think, misled those, who, collecting from that 
 expression the Poet's astronomical science, draw 
 from its conclusions with regard to the time when 
 he lived. The Tropics, say they, were rir>t known 
 to Thales; but they are mentioned by Horn 
 therefore the Poet was posterior to the philosopher. 
 
 I have already attempted to restore lion 
 sense of this expression; and if. agreeable to the 
 T See Pope's Essay on Homer. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 107 
 
 explanation which I have given of the passage, we 
 translate these words the conversions or turnings, 
 instead of the tropics of the sun ; that is, if we take 
 a synonymous word from common life, instead of 
 that which, though it belonged to common life in 
 the Poet's time, has been since adopted by science, 
 we shall come nearer to the simplicity of his mean- 
 ing; and we shall find that the expression implies 
 no more astronomical science, than falls to the share 
 of every peasant, who observes that the sun turns 
 from us in winter, and towards us in summer. 
 
 When I learn from Plutarch, that Alexander ad- 
 mired Achilles, and envied him such a poet as 
 Homer to sing his praises, I can easily give credit 
 to a circumstance so much in character. But when 
 I consider the great improvements in the art of war 
 between the time of Homer and the son of Philip, 
 and yet am told, that the latter consulted the Iliad 
 for military knowledge, I cannot help imputing it to 
 his own affectation, or his preceptor's pedantry. 
 For Homer's battles, like those of Bourguignon and 
 other painters of that class, exhibit a few distinct 
 figures in the fore-ground ; all the rest is unintelli- 
 gible confusion. 
 
 From this short view of what I conceive to have 
 been the compass of Homer's knowledge, I shall 
 venture to offer my opinion, as matter of conjecture 
 (to more I do not pretend, without a farther investi- 
 gation of this subject); that the art of writing, though 
 probably known to Greece when the Poet lived, 
 was very little practised there ; that all knowledge 
 at that time was preserved by memory, and with 
 that view committed to verse, till an alphabet intro- 
 duced the use of prose in composition. 
 
 Nor do 1 propose this entirely without authority. 2 
 
 2 See Iliad vi. 168. and vii. 175. 
 
168 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 Eustathius is of this opinion, as well as Didymus, 
 or whoever was the author of the less Scholia. Add 
 to these the testimony of a Josephus, who, though 
 not without his national prejudices, was a most re- 
 spectable judge of this question. He cannot fail of 
 having great weight with those, who will be at the 
 trouble to takea candid and dispassionate view of his 
 answer to Apion. In this treatise he takes notice of 
 the variety of calamities, which had destroyed the re- 
 cords of the Grecians, and introduced great changes 
 in life and society, upon which rival pretension- to 
 antiquity were founded, each tribe and >tah -claiming 
 seniority. He proceeds to observe, 10 respect to 
 their late and imperfect knowledge of letters, that 
 they, who carried that claim highest! went DO farther 
 back than the Phenicians,aud Cadmus, from whom 
 they are supposed to have received the use of the 
 alphabet. At the same time he expressly declares, 
 that they could not produce a single m< moriitl in 
 writing of so old a date, neither in their religious Off 
 civil records; and he adds, that the works of Homer, 
 the oldest known production of Greece, were not 
 preserved in writing, but were sung, and retained by 
 memory. If then, with Josephu>. we suppose that 
 Homer left no written copy of his works, the ac- 
 count we find of them in ancient writers becomes 
 more probable. It is generally supposed that Lv- 
 curgus brought them from Ionia into Greece, where 
 they were known before only by scraps and de- 
 tached pieces. 
 
 Diogenes Laertius attributes the merit of this 
 performance to Solon: Cicero gives it to Pisistratus: 
 and Plato to Hipparchus : and they may possibly 
 
 a Contra Apion. lib. i. 
 
 b Jackson, v. 3. p. 133. in contradiction to Must alh in «. Plu- 
 tarch, /Elian, and others. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 160 
 
 have been all concerned in it. But there would 
 have been no occasion for each of these persons to 
 have sought so diligently for the parts of these 
 poems, and to have arranged them so carefully, if 
 there had been a complete copy. If, therefore, the 
 Spartan Lawgiver, and the other personages com- 
 mitted to writing, and introduced into Greece, what 
 had been before only sung by the rhapsodists of 
 Ionia, just as some curious fragments of ancient 
 poetry have been lately collected in the northern 
 parts of this island, their reduction to order in 
 Greece was a work of taste and judgment: and 
 those great names which we have mentioned might 
 claim the same merit in regard to Homer, that the 
 ingenious editor of Fingal is entitled to from Ossian. 
 
 What we have offered on this head may seem in- 
 jurious to the Poet, as it certainly robs him of a re- 
 spectable part of his character, which has been long 
 acknowledged, and contradicts that favourite opi- 
 nion of his learning, which his admirers, ancient and 
 modern, have taken so much pains to propagate. 
 But let us, on the other hand, inquire whether he 
 might not derive some advantages from this illite- 
 rate state of things, to compensate that loss. 
 
 Perhaps one of the greatest was that of his having 
 but one language to express all he knew. Nor was 
 the particular period of that language, which fell to 
 his lot, less advantageous to him. For if we exa- 
 mine the rise and progress of language, with a view 
 to its application and use, we shall find that the 
 several stages of its advancement are not equally 
 favourable to every display of genius; and that the 
 useful artist and the philosopher will find their ac- 
 count in certain improvements, which rather impede 
 than forward the Poet's views. His business is en- 
 tirely with Nature ; and the language, which belongs 
 
170 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 to imperfect arts, simple manners, and unlettered 
 society, best suits his purpose. 
 
 If then Homer found the Greek language consi- 
 derably advanced, without the assistance of writing, 
 its improvements (to which, no doubt, he contri- 
 buted largely) being entirely addressed to the i 
 in a climate, where conception is quick, and the 
 organs of speech capable of nice articulation, it * 
 of course formed to music nod poetry, then closely 
 united. 
 
 When the sen C&tcbed from the sound, and 
 
 not deliberately collected from paper, simplicity and 
 clearness were mora necessary. loTOlfed period* 
 and an embarrassed style were not introduced, till 
 writing became more an art, and labour supplied 
 the place of genius. The frequent repetition of 
 entire passages (for which Homer is censored) x 
 not only more natural, but le<s observable, then tore 
 less offensive; action, tone, and pronunciation, u I 
 more essentially concerned in e\< ry composition of 
 genius, and all poetry was dramatic : and so far 
 might be ranked among the mimetic arts. Bol I 
 
 1 We are by some informed, that tecordiiig to Aristotle rod the 
 Greek critic, all poetry ii imitation. But if we consider thi> 
 ter more attentively, we shall find, that 
 
 criticism is founded in the distinction between what was mimetic, 
 and what was not so in poc try. Not to trouble the reader with 
 much quotation (which I wish to avoid, at least for the | 
 will refer him to Plato. This writer, in the third book of bifl K« - 
 public, is very explicit in distinguishing what is pure narration; 
 and what is mimetic, or dramatic. The first is, where the Poet 
 speaks in his own person. The second, when an actor is intro- 
 duced. He according^ gives instances out of the Iliad and O 
 sey, which poems consist of both. Eustathius, whenhe begins his 
 Commentary upon the Catalogue, recites this distinction very fullv, 
 in order to introduce his observation upon the manner, in which 
 Homer keeps up his spirit in that enumeration oi the form 
 it WIS difficult to be here maintained, as the the 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 171 
 
 do not see, why written poetry is to be ascribed to 
 that class : or why Homer's account of the Curetes 
 and iEtolians should be imitation, while the war 
 between the Grecians and Persians, by Herodotus, 
 is to be called narration. 
 
 The language which we bring into the world with 
 us is not confined to the organs of speech; but it is 
 made up of voice, countenance, and gesture. And 
 had not our powers of articulation, that distinguish- 
 ing mark of our social constitution, suggested a more 
 convenient mode of conveying our ideas, the simple 
 tones of Nature, with the varieties of modulation, 
 which are now assigned to the province of music, 
 might have been applied to the purposes of common 
 life, as we are told they are in some degree among 
 the Chinese. Speaking and singing would differ 
 little, as the original Greek words, which signify 
 both, seem to imply ; the human countenance would 
 have not only retained but improved its natural 
 powers of expression, which it is now the great bu- 
 siness of education to suppress, and the dumb lan- 
 guage of gesticulation would have made a very sig- 
 nificant part of conversation. 
 
 Such is the language of Nature, without which 
 there could be no language of compact, the first sup- 
 plying that communication of ideas which was ab- 
 solutely necessary to establish the latter; though, 
 afterward falling into disuse, in proportion to the 
 progress and improvement of what was gradually 
 
 mimetic or dramatic kind. Aristotle, in his Poetics (C. 24.) com- 
 pliments Homer particularly, as the only Poet, who knew, how 
 little he should appear himself, and how much he should leave for 
 imitation. Dionysius Halicarnasseusis, or whoever was the author 
 of the Treatise upon Homer's Poetry, takes notice of the Poet's 
 transition from the narrative to the mimetic, from the fariyrjuaTimv 
 to the j-tifiiiTiKov. 
 
172 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 substituted in its stead. But, though banished in 
 great measure from common use, it still retains its 
 powers in the province of poetry, where the most 
 finished efforts of artificial language are but cold 
 and languid circumlocution, compared with that 
 passionate expression of Nature, which, incapable 
 of misrepresentation, appeals directly to our feelings, 
 and finds the shortest road to the heart. It was to 
 , be found in every production of genius, and in all 
 poetry ; that is to say, all composition was dramatic. 
 
 It was therefore an advantage to the Father of 
 poetry, that he lived before the language of Compact 
 and Art had so much prevailed over that of Nature 
 and Truth. 
 
 The same early stage of artificial language may 
 perhaps help us to another 11 reason for a circum- 
 stance not less extraordinary in itself, than fortu- 
 nate to letters; viz. that Homer, though the oldest, 
 is the clearest and most intelligible of all ancient 
 writers. The Greek vocabulary, though copious 
 in his time, was not yet equivocal; ambiguity of 
 , expression was little known before the birth of 
 Science; when Philosophy, adopting the language 
 of common life, applied known terms to new mean- 
 ings, and introduced that confusion and obscurity, 
 which still continues to supply matter for polemical 
 writings, and to be the chief support of metaphysical 
 subtlety and refinement. 
 
 Could Homer take a view of the various fortunes 
 and changes which his language has undergone in 
 the service of literature, he would be surprised to 
 see so many volumes of controversy about the sig- 
 nification of words, which conveyed to him the in 
 
 11 Sec above, where his simplicity ind clearness of style is sup 
 posed in some degree owing to writing not having been in use. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 173 
 
 distinct images of things ; and to find, that terms, 
 which, in his time, were universally acknowledged 
 as the signs of certain external objects of sense, 
 should have acquired an additional meaning, which 
 the philosophy and learning of so many ages have 
 not yet been able to settle. 
 
 If his language had not yet acquired the refine- 
 ments of a learned age, it was for that reason not 
 only more intelligible and clear, but also less open 
 to pedantry and affectation. For as technical and 
 scientific terms were unknown, before the separa- 
 tion of arts: and till science became the retired pur- 
 suit of a few, as there was no school but that of Life, 
 and no philosophy but that of Common Sense; so 
 we find in Homer nothing out of the reach of an 
 ordinary capacity, and plain understanding: and 
 those who look farther, seem to neglect his obvious 
 beauties. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought that this early state 
 of artificial language, to which we attribute so much 
 of the Poet's clearness and unaffected simplicity, 
 must have cramped him in the variety of his num- 
 bers: but the Greek tongue never had more distinct 
 sounds e in proportion to its clear ideas, than at this 
 period; which was therefore precisely the time in 
 this respect fittest for poetical expression. It is 
 true, that in its more enriched and polished state, it 
 was the repository of much knowledge, to which 
 Homer was a stranger ; but its acquisition of new 
 words was by no means in proportion to that of new 
 meanings, as we have already observed ; and the 
 business of literature in all its branches was carried 
 on chiefly upon the original stock. 
 
 e After his poems were introduced at Athens, we find that they 
 were sung and recited, and that rhapsodists were employed for this 
 purpose. 
 
174 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 But, besides that his language was sufficiently co- 
 pious for his purposes, it had other advantages more 
 favourable to harmonious versification, than ever fell 
 to the lot of any other Poet. I shall first mention 
 the Greek particles ; and I cannot help assigning 
 the priority of verse f to prose in this language, as 
 the reason why it abounds so much more with par- 
 ticles than any other; which are to hexameter 
 verse, what small stones are to a piece of masonry, 
 ready at hand to fill up the breaks and interstices, 
 and connect those of a larger size, so exactly as to 
 give a smooth compactness to the whole. And we 
 accordingly find them occur more frequently in the 
 old poets, and in the early prose writers, who had 
 no poetical models, and artificial helps, upon which 
 they could form their style. 
 
 I do not mean to say that Homer's particles were 
 altogether condemned to this mere expletive duty. 
 They contribute very much to the clearness of his 
 meaning as well as to the length of his vera B. And 
 though the great use made of them by the best 
 prose writers may be in some degree owing to an 
 imitation of Homer, we must acknowledge that 
 they have a great share in the connexion, and per- 
 spicuity, which is remarkable in those early compo- 
 sitions. We find them much used by the first prose 
 writers of the best Greek times, who found them 
 necessary to connexion and perspicuity : qualities 
 in an author, which are strangely neglected since 
 those inferior parts of speech have been so much 
 discarded from the fashionable style of most mo- 
 dern languages. 
 
 Another great poetical advantage of Homer's 
 language is, that facility with which two or more 
 
 See Aristotle of Sostrales aud Mnesistheus. See Plato's Iou. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 175 
 
 words connect and join together, g to the great im- 
 provement both of the sound and the sense ; for it is 
 hard to say, whether the ear is more filled with the 
 harmony, or the mind with the imagery, of those 
 sonorous and descriptive compound epithets, which 
 have an effect in this language, unknown to any 
 other. What was of so much use to poetry and 
 Homer, has not been without its convenience to 
 philosophers and artists after him. Even at this 
 day the expression in modern languages is enriched 
 by a Greek compound, coined for the purpose of 
 expressing much in a single word. 
 
 While to all this we add, that very extensive 
 poetical licence, which shortens, lengthens, adds, 
 suppresses, changes, and transposes letters and syl- 
 lables, at the beginning, the middle, and the end of 
 words, we must also consider, that those are not 
 only advantages, which the Greek language pos- 
 sesses above all others ; but which, in all probabi- 
 lity, Homer enjoyed above all Greek poets. For 
 when criticism took its rise as an art, and Aristotle 
 found in the Iliad and Odyssey those rules of com- 
 position, which the Poet drew from Nature, those 
 
 e When the Rhapsodists recited Homer from written copies, the 
 whole was in capitals, without punctuation, aspiration, or any 
 marks or intervals to distinguish words. This has been the chief 
 cause of false readings in Homer. 
 
 Our account of Greek composition beginning with verse, affords 
 a reason for the ignorance of the first critics in the etymology of 
 their own language. Plato is so ridiculous upon that head, that it 
 is scarce possible to believe him serious. 
 
 I will venture to say, that the etymology of his language is 
 better understood at this day than it was in his time. It also ac- 
 counts for the great abundance of particles in this language be- 
 yond all other languages. The poets introduced them for helps to 
 measure ; and their successors retained them, copying implicitly 
 those who had gone before them, as the best models for com- 
 position. 
 
176 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 bounds of poetical licence were prescribed for 
 others, which his unlimited fancy had freely sug- 
 gested to himself; and the liberties he chose to 
 take, 11 became the laws which they were obliged to 
 follow. 
 
 Thus the simplicity, without meanness or indeli- 
 cacy, of the Poet's language rises out of the state of 
 his manners. There could be no mean or indeli- 
 cate expression, where no mean or indelicate idea 
 was to be conveved. There could be no technical 
 terms, before the separation of arts from life, and 
 of course no pedantry, and few abstract ideas be- 
 fore the birth of philosophy ; consequently, though 
 there was less knowledge, there was less obscurity. 
 As he could change the form without changing the 
 meaning of his words, and vary their sound without 
 altering their sense, he was not tempted to sacrifice 
 truth and nature to harmony and numbers. 
 
 Such was the advantages of language which contri- 
 buted to makeHomeras original in his expression, as 
 in his conception; and (keeping to our idea of him as 
 a painter) as happy in his colouring as his outline ; 
 simple with dignity; natural without indelicacy; 
 informed without pedantry ; the most clear and in- 
 telligible, as well as the most musical and harmo- 
 nious, of all poets. 
 
 h I do not mean that Homer extended bis liberty so far, as to 
 pay no regard to the quantity of words, which use had established. 
 The absurdity of such a supposition is so obvious, that I wonder it 
 should have been admitted for a moment. But he certainly in- 
 dulged in liberties of this kind to a degree, which could not es- 
 cape early animadversion. * Euclid the elder used to say. it is 
 easy to be a poet, if you may lengthen words as you please. 
 
 * Aristot. Poet. C. "22. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 177 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 If our conjectures with regard to the two leading 
 circumstances of Homer's poetical life, viz. his coun- 
 try and his travels, founded upon the different ideas 
 he seems to have conceived of men and things, under 
 the various influences of those distinct relations, are 
 at all plausible, considered separately, they will de- 
 serve additional credit under a comparative view ; 
 for as, on the one hand, the traveller discovers him- 
 self to be an Ionian, so, on the other, the Ionian 
 proves himself to be a traveller. 
 
 But whether M'e view this Ionian traveller at home 
 or abroad, whether we attend him in his contempla- 
 tions on the external beauties of the creation, or 
 follow him into the secret recesses of our own hearts, 
 in either light we trace him by the most natural re- 
 presentations of every characterizing circumstance 
 of truth and reality. 
 
 This original mode of composition, so essential 
 to unity of time, place, action, and character, parti- 
 cularly in the epic, where both the narrative and 
 descriptive parts of an extensive plan, purposely 
 avoiding the formality of historical and geographi- 
 cal order, are more exposed to inconsistence, has, I 
 hope, in some degree been pointed out by the fore- 
 going loose and indigested observations. 
 
 I shall therefore venture to conclude, that the 
 more we consider the Poet's age, country, and travels, 
 the more we discover that he took his scenery and 
 landscape from Nature, his manners and characters 
 from life, his persons and facts (whether fabulous or 
 historical) from tradition, jand his passions and senti- 
 ments from experience of the operations of the hu- 
 man mind in others, compared with, and corrected 
 by, his own feelings. 
 
 M 
 
178 ON THE ORIGINAL 
 
 As therefore every sketch of this great master is 
 an exact transcript of what he had either seen, 
 heard, or felt, it is not extraordinary that the same 
 compositions, which have ascertained, beyond com- 
 petition, his poetical rank, should not only have de- 
 cided his superiority as a geographer, and secured 
 his credit as an historian, but have procured respect 
 to his philosophical character, which Strabo would 
 not suffer to be disputed. If an unbounded venera- 
 tion for his works has carried his claim still higher, 
 his amazing powers of original imitation furnish the 
 only apology I can think of for such extravagance. 
 I mean to say, that those, who found Homer and 
 Nature the same, are, so far, excusable in deriving 
 the principles of all science from the Iliad and 
 Odyssey. Nature includes them all : her propor- 
 tions are just and invariable; whoever paints her 
 true, or any part of her, that is full of action, and 
 applies that action to times, places, persons, and 
 their signs, will include those proportions and their 
 measures without intending it, almost without know- 
 ing it, but never without some perception of their 
 propriety and truth.* 
 
 Such is that faithful mirror of life, which oue of 
 the most competent 1, judges of antiquity chose to 
 consult for the rule of his conduct, rather than the 
 abstract systems of speculative writers, unpractised 
 in the world ; a compliment, which if it does great 
 honour to Homer, does no less justice to the human 
 character. For, making proper allowance for the 
 heroic state of society, I do not think, that mankind 
 is unfavourably represented by the Poet ; nor do I 
 find that any modem Chrysippus, or Crantor, has 
 
 A See Inquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer, p. 314. 
 b u Qui quid sit pulcbrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non. 
 Pleuius ac melius Chrysippo et Crautore dicit." — Hor. 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 179 
 
 made discoveries, which ought to depreciate so just 
 a picture of mankind. It is flattering to receive, 
 from a hand so correctly formed in Nature's school, 
 those fair and pleasing delineations of a generous 
 sympathy, and social affection, which are inter- 
 spersed even amidst the horrors of the Iliad, but 
 more frequently in the peaceful and hospitable 
 scenes of the Odyssey : here and there shaded, I 
 own, with folly and vice enough to put us out of 
 humour with the Poet and ourselves, did he not 
 kindly throw in a comfortable proportion of phi- 
 lanthropy, which gives both warmth and resem- 
 blance to the picture. 
 
 Yet so far am I from subscribing to the wild pre- 
 tensions of that refined criticism, which discovers 
 not only the principles of all arts and science, but 
 the most profound system of ethics and politics, in 
 Homer, that I consider it to have been of peculiar 
 advantage to his original genius, that he was not 
 diverted by any hypothesis from a free and impartial 
 examination of things ; and that, whatever his plan 
 of instruction, either moral or political, might have 
 been (for to deny that he had any would be highly 
 unreasonable), his choice of characters for that pur- 
 pose never carried him beyond Nature, and his own 
 experience of life. 
 
 To this unbiassed investigation of the different, 
 powers of Nature, and the various springs of action, 
 not as they are fancied in the closet, transcribed 
 from speculative systems, and copied from books; 
 but as they were seen exerted in real life, we owe 
 the most correct history of human passions and af- v 
 fections, that has ever yet been exhibited under 
 one view ; so impartially checquered with the good 
 and bad qualities, which enter, in various propor- 
 tions, into the composition of every character, that 
 
 m 2 
 
180 ON THE. ORIGINAL 
 
 he has not left us one complete pattern of moral 
 beauty or deformity. 
 
 Nor should we for this reason hastily conclude, 
 that he was negligent of the interests of humanity, 
 or indifferent to the cause of virtue; there is a cer- 
 tain early stage in the progress of manners when the 
 mind is more effectually roused to the duties of so- 
 ciety by real than by fictitious examples ; and it is 
 easier, perhaps wiser, in such a state, to shew u- 
 what we may be, than what we ought to be. Such 
 were the times, that fell to Homer's lot. To blame 
 him for the manners of those times, and to find fault 
 with the only materials which he had to work upon, 
 is highly unreasonable. 
 
 I must confess, that he sometimes seems to aban- 
 don us, to our own fancy, in the labyrinth of his 
 great drama of human action, where so many dif- 
 ferent paths of life are laid open, not only to the 
 judgment, but to the passions of every age, temper, 
 and condition. And here, no doubt, those mimetic 
 powers which characterize his genius carried him 
 too far into promiscuous imitation, where the prin- 
 cipal, sometimes the only, merit is that of natural, 
 striking, resemblance. But it would be unfair to 
 say that he had nothing farther in view ; for while 
 he flatters our vanity in letting us liud our own road 
 through life, he has not left it too intricate for those, 
 who are serious and diligent in search of it. And if 
 we giddily lose our way in it, it is our own fault: 
 for his morality will bear as scrupulous a test, as his 
 religion. 
 
 If, after all, the learned reader finds this method 
 too closely confined to pictures of real life for the 
 moral epic plan, I beg he will consider, that it VII 
 Homer's object to please as well as to instruct. 
 And though he does not neglect the latter. I mu>i 
 
GENIUS OF HOMER. 181 
 
 own he seems to have the first principally in view. 
 But, as I have already said, this should be put to 
 the test of that state of society, to which it was ad- 
 dressed ; when barbarous manners, not prepared to 
 receive either plans of Government or systems of 
 Morals, wanted the immediate softenings of music 
 and poetry ; and men were to be tamed before they 
 were taught. It has been the great object of this 
 Essay to carry the reader to the Poet's age, and 
 country ; before he forms a judgment of him. I 
 will venture to say, that it has been much owing to a 
 neglect of this consideration, that he has been so 
 often complimented with beauties of which he was 
 not conscious, and charged with faults which he 
 never committed. 
 
 It may be asked, whether Homer is to be esteemed 
 a philosopher? 
 
 Had the treatise of Longinus upon this question 
 reached us, we should probably have seen many re- 
 ferences to the opinions of antiquity upon this sub- 
 ject. Strabo does not scruple to put him in the 
 class with Anaximander: and it is curious to see 
 opposite sects lay claim to him. 
 
 Whatever stress I may lay upon this compliment 
 to the Poet as a philosopher : it is certainly a very 
 great one to him as a painter; when we see the lead- 
 ing writers in ethics consider Homer and Nature as 
 the same. 
 
 We have respectable authority for supposing, 
 that he has been partial to human nature in his pic- 
 ture of life ; and that he has represented men better, 
 than they are. See Aristot. Poet. c. 2. But of the 
 accuracy of this most interesting part of the Poet's 
 imitation, which has for its object the human mind, 
 and its various operations and affections, every reader 
 is a judge. And if this matter is to be canvassed 
 
182 ON THE GENIUS OF HOMER. 
 
 by the suffrages of so many ages and countries, to 
 whose feelings the Poet has appealed, the question 
 seems to be decided; and his impartiality established. 
 But I have already wandered from the bumble 
 duty of bearing testimony, as an eye-witness, of the 
 Poet's veracity. If I endeavour to rescue him from 
 errors, nothis own, by bringing within tbeobsen 
 of a cursory perusal of his works their truth and con- 
 sistence, as to time, place, persons, and things, it is 
 as a traveller only, that I can hope to do him that 
 justice. I shall therefore resume that character, 
 observing the same method in the description of the 
 Troade, that I followed in that of Palmyra and Bal- 
 bec ; where, after a plain account of the app 
 anceof things us we found them, I left the read< 
 judge of our conjectures with regard to tin ir ancient 
 state. 
 
A 
 
 COMPARATIVE VIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ANCIENT AND PRESENT STATE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TROADE. 
 
 Juvat ire et Dorica castra, 
 Desertosque videre locos, littusque relictum. 
 Hie Dolopum manus, hie saevus tendebat Achilles, 
 Classibus hie locus, hie acies certare solebant. 
 
 JEn. U ii. 
 
i ■ . of ANCIENT TROAS together with the SCAJffAN H\K it And MOUNT IDA 
 SMStalwim. anriq MDCCl, 
 
A 
 
 COMPARATIVE VIEW 
 
 OP THE 
 
 ANCIENT AND PRESENT STATE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE TROADE. 
 
 In order to give the reader a clear and satisfac- 
 tory account of the ancient and present state of this 
 country, I shall refer him to the annexed Map. 
 This was taken upon the spot, and represents things 
 as we found them. It must, at the same time, be 
 compared with the accounts given by Homer; for 
 by these means we shall be enabled to discover the 
 variation, which has happened, since the Poet 
 wrote. The chief difference consists in this; that 
 the source of the Scanrander is now considerablv 
 
 V 
 
 more distant from the Hellespont, than we conceive 
 it to have been at the time when Homer saw it. In 
 describing these parts, I shall give the reasons upon 
 which I found my opinion about this variation. I 
 make no doubt, but that the face of the country has 
 been considerably changed. This circumstance has 
 been brought about by earthquakes, to which the 
 regions of Asia Minor are extremely subject. I 
 have seen several parts of Ida, and also of Tmolus, 
 which have been evidently separated from the two 
 mountains by the shock of an earthquake. And 
 there are in the plains of the Scamander many 
 pieces of massy rock, that are manifestly detached 
 
186 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 from the place, where they originally Mood, lint 
 as alterations of thi> nature have DOfl been pui 
 ally recorded, and arc n<»i easil] to be ascertained, 
 I have marked out any variation of ground in tin 
 following Map of the country: m\ i bjecf 
 
 being to point out the difference of distance, which 
 subsists between the of the ri?er and tin- 
 
 sea. It will therefore be my business t<» shew, that 
 such an alteration bas happened : and at the same 
 time to put it in the reader's power to judge, bj 
 recurring t<» the journal of tin siege of tin- Iliad, 
 how far the bounds and disti i bj the 
 
 Poet an- consistent \n i 1 1 i tin* opposite plan, which I 
 here exhibit. 
 
 mi 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TROADE 
 
 Juli the twenty-fifth, 1760, we anchored under 
 the Sigean Promontorj io our return to the Gn 
 islands from Constantinoph : and goii 
 
 the month of the ScamaudiT. We found that the 
 
 country, which is frequentlj infested with banditti, 
 
 was at this time BO si-cure, as to afford US an op- 
 portunity, without risk, of carryinj ocutiou 
 our scheme of travelling to tin of tin- m 
 
 Upon this information. having hired horses and 
 guides, and landed our tint, servants, and camp- 
 equipage, we performed in a fortnight the journ 
 
 which may be traced out in the Map. By tin- the 
 reader may see, under one view, the onl air 
 
 discoveries, without the tedious formalin 
 journal. 
 
OF THE TROADE. 187 
 
 Having, before we landed, visited the whole king- 
 dom of Priam ; and upon another occasion seen some 
 of its inland parts, I shall give, in a few words, the 
 best idea that I could form of it upon the whole. 
 
 A straight line drawn from the Caicus to theiEso- 
 pus would probably very nearly describe the eastern 
 and inland boundary of Priam's dominion. Its cir- 
 cumference, according to this estimate, includes 
 about five hundred English miles. Of this above 
 two hundred afford a maritime coast, which is 
 washed by the Propontis, Hellespont, and iEgean 
 >eas. Few spots of this extent enjoy more natu- 
 ral advantages. The climate is temperate and 
 healthful: the hills are covered with woods: and 
 the fertile plains, whether pastures, or corn-land, 
 are well watered* There are mines in the moun- 
 tain^ which have never been sufficiently tried. 
 There are also mineral waters, and hot-baths, of 
 which the natives, to their great benefit, make use 
 (qt several disorders. The country produces oil; 
 and some parts were of old famous for wine. The 
 Greeks assured us from experience, that, if the vine- 
 yards hen were properly cultivated, they would 
 produce a grape not inferior to the Muscadine of 
 Tenedos in its neighbourhood. Its compact penin- 
 sular form, and happy situation, together with plenty 
 of timber, and variety of commodious harbours, 
 render it very tit for trade, and navigation. 
 
 However, if we may venture to form any judg- 
 ment upon a matter of such antiquity, it would ap- 
 pear from the few remaining fragments, which afford 
 any light towards the antiquities of this people, that 
 it was a principle both of their civil and religious 
 constitution to discourage navigation ; and to favour 
 a taste for agriculture, and domestic industry. An 
 old prophetic admonition was among them in com- 
 
188 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 nion acceptation against the dangers of commerce, 
 and it is still preserved. And the peculiar severity, 
 with which their laws treated those who were con- 
 victed of stealing an ox, or ploughshare, or any im- 
 plement of husbandry, is also upon record. Though 
 such maxims are not agreeable to the prevailing 
 commercial spirit of modern politics, yet, if we con- 
 sider the genius and manners of those ancient times; 
 there will appear great propriety in them. Upon 
 looking backwards, we shall find reason to allow, 
 that the happiness of the inhabitants of a region, 
 abundantly supplied with all the real comfor 
 life within themselves, could not be more rationally 
 consulted, than by keeping their attention at home, 
 recommending inland industry, and discouraging all 
 communication with strangers. 
 
 In short, when navigation and piracy were almost 
 synonymous terms, it was wry natural for a people 
 abounding with flocks, corn, wine, and oil, those 
 substantial and almost only articles of primitive 
 opulence, to avoid an intercourse, by which they 
 could gain little, and might lose much. For ths 
 reason, in those early days, when the law of nations 
 was not advanced into that acknowledged and re- 
 spectable system, which now countenances a n 
 confidential communication among civilized na- 
 tions, Egypt, and other rich countries were jealous 
 of strangers. Indeed the fate of the Troade has 
 justified their fears upon this head: for notwith- 
 standing all their precautions, they were thrice con- 
 quered and plundered before the time of Homer. 
 And this was effected upon such frivolous pre- 
 tences, that we may very reasonably suppose, this 
 would not have happened, had they not been richer 
 than their neighbours. The same temptation was 
 probably the motive of the JEolic migration ; a pal- 
 
OF THE TROADE. 189 
 
 bating term, under which the Greek historians have 
 thought proper to transmit their unjust invasion of 
 this country. That the first migrations, which we 
 find upon record, into this part of the world, were 
 made upon this principle of removing from poverty 
 to plenty, will be easily conceived by the traveller 
 who sails up the Hellespont. For he cannot but 
 observe, how much the Asiatic side exceeds that of 
 the European both in fertility and beauty. 
 
 Though Homer, speaking of the country of Priam, 
 calls it in general Troy, and its inhabitants Tro- 
 jans ; yet when he comes to an exact enumeration 
 of the forces under their several commanders, 
 he distinguishes the people of I lion, the capital, 
 peculiarly by the name of Trojans. It is in this 
 confined sense, that we call the survey which we 
 made, the Map of Troy. In this probably is in- 
 cluded little more than the district which Hector 
 commanded : and of which we shall now attempt 
 to give a more particular description. In doing 
 this, we must refer the reader to the preceding 
 Map, in which there are two things to be particu- 
 larly distinguished : the one is the coast of the 
 Troade upon the iEgean Sea; the other the coast of 
 the Troade upon the Hellespont. 
 
 Before we come to the inland part of our dis- 
 coveries, it will be proper to give a general idea of 
 these coasts, as they appeared to us, when we were 
 sailing close along the shore. From Cape Baba, 
 the ancient Lectum, to Cape Janissari, which was 
 the ancient Sigean Promontory, the coast runs al- 
 most due north. Upon the first of these Capes there 
 is a castle to defend the country from the Maltese 
 corsairs, whose invasions are so much dreaded by 
 the Turks, that there are few villages to be seen 
 upon the shore, till you come near to the Helles- 
 
190 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 pont. The coast is covered with Valonia trc 
 sort of Ilex, whose bark and fruit are used iu tan- 
 ning; and are a matter of commerce. The country 
 is less mountainous, as you go north ; till opposite 
 to Tenedos, which we kept upon our left. Here it 
 exhibits a beautiful shelving landscape crowned 
 with woods: and at the same time affords, as people 
 sail by, a fine view of the city Troas. and of the 
 venerable ruins which surround it. From hence, as 
 we still proceed northward, the coast grow e steeper, 
 till it at last terminates in the high perpendicular 
 cliff, Cape Janissari, which divides the iEgean Sea 
 from the Hellespont. As you turn eastward into 
 this narrow sea, the same Cape terminate -s by B 
 den slope in a beautifully planted plain. Here the 
 Scamander dischargcth itself: and at it- month is 
 the castle above-meutionedj to defend the entrance 
 of the Strait. Oo the opposite ride ifl another erected 
 for the same purp Prom Cape Janissari the 
 
 flat marshy shore retires, forming ■ eurve. which 
 is terminated eastward by Cape Barbieri. This was 
 the ancient Rhceteum : and is lower and lesfl abrupt 
 than the Cape above. Dardaninm must haw l< en 
 near this spot; as we may jndge by the Strait, 
 which retains the name of Dardanelle. The castlee 
 form the extremity of our Map eastward, which 
 were built for the security of this p to Con- 
 
 stantinople. That on the Eorop an tide Mauds. 
 where formerly SestOfl waa Bitoated : and that on 
 the Asiatic is founded upon the rains of Abydos; 
 This was that Abydus, so famed for the bridg 
 Xerxes, and for the loves of Hero and Leander. 
 
 Having thus described the pn sent appearance of 
 these coasts and seas, we are naturally led to make 
 some inquiry into their history, as it is afforded in 
 the Iliad. I believe, we shall find, upon inquiry; 
 
OF THE TROADE. 191 
 
 that the iEgean and Hellespontic Seas are very truly 
 distinguished there : and that they are seldom men- 
 tioned with such epithets and circumstances, as are 
 indifferently applicable to either. In the beginning 
 of the first book the priest Chryses, after his un- 
 successful petition, is represented as returning home- 
 ward, and walking in a melancholy mood upon the 
 shore of the boisterous, or turbulent sea. The situa- 
 tion of the city Chrysa shews, that the iEgean Sea 
 is alluded to in this passage : and this is farther 
 manifest from the epithet turbulent or boisterous : 
 for this term might as well be applied to the Da- 
 nube or Nile, as to the Hellespont, and therefore 
 must be appropriated to the sea below. Neither 
 the Hellespont nor the channel have breadth enough 
 to be boisterous : and I must observe, that the epi- 
 thet insaniens, which a Horace applies to the latter, 
 is very improperly taken in that sense. At the 
 same time nothing can express more happily, than 
 this term, the contrariety of currents for which that 
 Strait is remarkable. 
 
 In the same book of the Iliad, b Achilles is described 
 as retiring to indulge his resentment upon the 
 frothy beach, and as looking upon the dusky main. 
 hi this passage we have an extensive prospect of 
 the sea, whose waves break upon the shore: and 
 herein is exhibited a picture which corresponds 
 with the iEgean Sea only ; near which we know, 
 that Achilles was stationed. While this Sea is in 
 this manner described, the Hellespont is either dis- 
 tinguished by epithets, which are adapted to that 
 Strait only, or pointed out by the circumstances of 
 the camp, and fleet, in its vicinity. 
 
 There is something remarkable in the epithet broad, 
 
 * Insaiiienlcm navita Bosporum 
 Tentabo L. iii. Od. 4. b L. i. v. 350. 
 
192 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 which is more than once by Homer given to the Hel- 
 lespont: for it seems to he improperly applied to a 
 sea, which is narrower than many rivers. And j 
 this Poet is not single in representing it in tfa 
 light, for Orpheus speaks of the broad Hellespont. 
 Eustathius and other Commentators have endea- 
 voured to explain this term, but in a manner, 1 
 think, not satisfactory. I shall therefore beg 
 to offer a conjecture upon thi> head, m hich occurred 
 to me upon the spot. 
 
 When I was sailing upwards from the iEg- 
 into the Hellespont, we were obliged to make our 
 way against a constant smalt current ; which, with- 
 out the AMMFtanee of a north wind, general I v nilM 
 about three knots in an hour. At ihr 
 were land-locked on all sides : and nothing ap- 
 peared in view, but rural scenery ind » wry nl»! 
 conveyed the idea Of a line river, running through 
 an inland country. In Ibifl Situation 1 could hardly 
 persuade myself, that 1 w »a; and it i 
 
 natural to talk of its comparative great breadth, ifl 
 to mention its embouchure, its pleasant stream, 
 
 woody banks, and all those circuin- which 
 
 belong to rivers onh. The epil tring 
 
 or rapid, which the Poel applied to it (but ne\erto 
 anv other sea) shews that he considered it tnereli 
 
 a running stream; and Herodotus, who visited I 
 
 Hellespont with the curiosity of a traveller, actually 
 calls it a river. 
 
 The description given by Homer of Mount Ida 
 corresponds with its present state: for its many 
 summits are still covered with pint -in i>. and 
 abounds with fountains. In a journey which we 
 made over part of it by night, the constant howl 
 
 • A>ap.H)o» t\V -I i . M. v. 30. IV 
 
 Ayni pou^'h 6 ioti (r<po£pa ptvpara ol. 
 
OF THE TROADE. 193 
 
 of jackals, and frequent brushing of wild beasts 
 through the thickets, with the perpetual murmuring 
 of rills, supplied by a constant succession of springs, 
 gave us a very lively idea of the rites of Cybele : for 
 her celebrities used to be carried on at the same 
 late season in these high woods, amid the noises 
 and wild scenery above mentioned. 
 
 Mount Gargarus, Cotylus, and Lectum, have 
 only changed their names ; and make the same con- 
 spicuous figure, which distinguished them in the 
 Iliad. Pliny indeed observes, that the rivers men- 
 tioned by Homer did not answer to the appearances 
 exhibited in his time. This is not to be wondered 
 at in a country which is very subject to earth- 
 quakes. We find, that in these mountains was the 
 great magazine of wood for firing, as well as of timber 
 for other uses. Of these pine-trees both Paris and 
 iEneas built their fleets. Virgil's hero could not 
 have made choice of any spot so proper for building 
 his ships, as Antandros, at the foot of Mount Ida. 
 His escape to it out of the town must have been by 
 some gate opposite to that, by which the enemy had 
 entered, and got possession of the town. The road 
 from thence to Antandros was the most secure, and 
 the place itself the most retired and safe from the 
 Grecian fleet of any upon the whole coast. Its con- 
 venience in respect to ship-building was a necessary 
 circumstance to iEneas; and would naturally strike 
 the Roman Poet; in whose time this port was 
 the mart for the timber of this province. There are 
 however two anachronisms in one line of the Poet's 
 account when he tells us, 
 
 Classemque sub ipso 
 Antandro, ac Phrygian molimur montibus Idae. 
 
 for Antandros was not in those times built; nor 
 was the region of Troas then called Phrygia. 
 
 N 
 
VJ4 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 We visited the present source of the Scamander ; 
 which springing from the rock, distends itself im- 
 mediately into a shallow circular bason, of seven or 
 eight feet diameter, under the shade of a plane-tree. 
 From hence dripping in a small quantity down a 
 romantic woody cliff, it is soon joined by another 
 stream, before it winds into its northern direction. 
 From this source to the present mouth of the 
 Scamander may be about twenty-three miles in a 
 straight line : but far more, if we take in the wind- 
 ings of the river ; which for so short a course passes 
 through a great variety of country. From its foun- 
 tain-head, till it is arrived belon Chiffik, it ratlin 
 tumbles than flows; patting all the way down woody 
 steeps in a ragged and ||QD] channel. Fruin thence 
 
 to the ruined bridge it glides through ■ rich plain, 
 
 till it comes to Ene, the most considerable filing 
 this country, where there i> a irooden bri ■ er it. 
 
 Not far from hence it receives the Simo'N amid corn- 
 fields, interspersed with tine mnlbt -rry-tr* I l< From 
 the ruined bridge to Bornabaschi the course of the-. 
 united streams lies through a rocky mountamon> 
 country, thinly covered with pines, and BOOM Other 
 trees; and having a \ try Alpine appearance. The 
 vale, through which it winds anions these hills, is 
 irregular as to breadth : for in some places it takes 
 up little more space, than that which the river oc- 
 cupies in winter. At the time, when we saw this 
 river, we found it confined to a small part of its 
 channel which was only tilled in the latter season. 
 We accordingly pitched our tent in its dry gravell\ 
 bed close to the stream, which was then so small, 
 that a less army than that of Xerxes, might have 
 drank it dry. The river, in this exhausted state, 
 had very fine falls below Chirlik. At Bwnbaschl 
 it c|iiits the chain of hills, which it had entered at the 
 
OF THE TROADE. 195 
 
 ruined bridge, and steals through a marshy flat; 
 which, where it is drained and cultivated, is ex- 
 tremely fertile quite down to the sea. During this 
 last part of its course the current was scarcely per- 
 ceptible. Bornabaschi signifies the fountain-head; 
 and there is a fine rivulet so called. This gives name 
 to the village before mentioned, which consists of half 
 a dozen huts. The water here gushes out of the rock 
 in such quantities, as to form immediately a stream 
 more considerable than any that we saw in the chan- 
 nel of the Scamander. However, hardly any of this 
 water joins that river ; but stagnates among the 
 reeds of the marshy plain, notwithstanding a drain 
 has been made by a Turkish governor to carry it 
 downward to the iEgean Sea. The plains at the 
 mouths of the Cayster, Ma?ander, and other rivers of 
 Asia Minor, which are constantly encroaching upon 
 the sea, make exactly the same appearance with this 
 spot. For all these rivers are choked up, and stag- 
 nate io summer among the soil and rubbish, which 
 are brought down by their violence in winter. At 
 the time, when we saw the Scamander, it was in its 
 lowest state ; and had not water sufficient to sup- 
 port one continued current from its source to the 
 sea. It consisted of a succession of several small 
 streams, produced from different springs ; all which 
 were absorbed in the gravelly channel, after a short 
 and languid course. 
 
 But we could easily see by the breadth of its 
 channel, and the length of the three bridges over it, 
 that it must make a very different appearance in 
 winter. And indeed, though we had not been told 
 by the inhabitants of the dreadful ravages, which its 
 violent equinoctial and winter inundations produce, 
 they were very easy to be conceived, from many 
 evidences before us. For we could observe stones 
 
 N 2 
 
186 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 of a considerable size, which had been brought down 
 from the mountain : also shrubs and trees torn up 
 by the roots, together with mud and rubbish of dif- 
 ferent sorts. Some of the soil was to be seen twelve 
 or thirteen feet from the ground, sticking to trees 
 near the banks, where the overflowing in the rainy 
 season had lodged it. This was particularly to be 
 observed between the ruined bridge, and Boma- 
 baschi ; for here the stream is confined, and cannot 
 vent its rage by spreading. 
 
 I have been thus particular in describing this i 
 both in its turbulent and in its placid and exhai 
 state,because 1 think, that the reader may find t; 
 of both in the Iliad. The circumstance of a fallen 
 tree, which is by Homer described as reaching from 
 one of its banks to the other, affords a \ i i v jusfl idea 
 of its breadth at the season, when we saw it. <>n 
 tin other hand, he could not have employed a more 
 effectual power for the total demolition of the Greek 
 intrenchmenl, than the same river m its >tate of vio- 
 lence : and perhaps the furious raTages, and sudden 
 
 devastations of the Scamander, may have furnished 
 the hint of that very bold allegory. 
 
 When we look upon the regions of Troas, as re- 
 presented in my map, it will be found, I bi lie\< 
 differ from the history of the counti •] 
 by Homer. This difii consists in ha? iug the 
 
 distance of Troy from the sea increased : for the sea, 
 by an accretion of land, is farther off than it w 
 old. The present town indeed stands upon the sea ; 
 but this is not the Troy o( Homer: for that was 
 higher up, and looked towards the Hellespont, and 
 not towards the JEgean. I am likewise very cer- 
 tain, that the situation of the Scamander is conside- 
 rably changed from what it was in the days of Homer: 
 and the reasons for my opinion are these. The hot 
 
OF THE TROADE. I97 
 
 spring, accordiug to the Poet, was one of the sources 
 of this river : but it is now much lower than the pre- 
 sent source, and has no communication with the 
 Scamander. The fountains, whence the river took 
 its rise, were, according to Homer, close by the walls 
 of the city : but the ground about the fountain, which 
 we saw, is too steep and rugged for the situation of 
 a city. Such a situation cannot be made to accord 
 with the pursuit of Hector, and with many other in- 
 cidents in the poem. The distance also of the pre- 
 sent source from the Hellespont is far too great to 
 admit of the actions of the day. Not but "that the 
 city was far removed from the sea : for the Grecian 
 camp and navy could not be seen according to the 
 situation allotted by Homer. And perhaps Virgil 
 has been wrong in supposing that the city could be 
 discovered even from a tower: for in that case it 
 would have been needless to have sent Polites to 
 the tomb of JEsyetes to reconnoitre the enemy. In- 
 deed it is probable from the plan, which the Roman 
 Poet gives of Troy, that he never took an opportu- 
 nity, when he was in Greece, of going over, and 
 visiting this region. Whatever change there may 
 have been in respect to the source of the Scamander, 
 it must have happened, before it was visited by 
 Strabo. He seems to have found things in much the 
 same state, as we have been now describing them : 
 and, comparing them with the account given by 
 Homer, he concludes, that an alteration must have 
 happened since the time of the Poet. I shall 
 therefore venture to fix the ancient source of the 
 river, and the situation of the city itself, lower down 
 than the springs of the Scamander; though higher 
 than the plain : a situation, which seems best to cor- 
 respond with the description given by Homer. 
 As to the junction of the two rivers, we leave it 
 
198 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 as we found it: though we have reason to think, 
 that these rivers were always united before their 
 streams reached to the ruined bridge. To say the 
 truth, the frequent shiftings of these torrents, and 
 the changing of their beds, of which we could per- 
 ceive marks in this place, leave us in a manner at 
 liberty to fix their junction in any part, which b< M 
 agrees with the action of the poem. 
 
 That part of the course of th< Scamander, of 
 which we have no trace in Homer, is from the mined 
 bridge to Bornabaschi. There is nothing in the 
 Iliad, which affords us any idea of it: though, from 
 the manucr in which the ground lies, it is the only 
 part of the stream, which we can with tolerable 
 certainty affirm to run precisely in its ancient 
 channel. 
 
 At Bornabaschi commences tb< plain, which 
 reaches to the Hellespont. Of this it is very l\i- 
 dent, both from history, and from present app 
 ances, thai a great part has be< n produced since the 
 time of Homer. For the land has been inert 
 by the soil brought down, and lodged at the mouth 
 of the Scamander: just as Egypt has been enlarged 
 by the Nile] and other regions by the rivers, which 
 run through them. The coast of Asia is particularly 
 liable to such increase: and particularly about the 
 Mseander. The island Lade was at no great dis- 
 tance from the coast, and is mentioned by Strabo 
 and Pausanias as lying opposite to Miletus ; but it 
 is now joined to the continent. We shall tl 
 upon these authorities, venture to cut oft' some miles 
 from our ancient Map of the Trojan plain. 
 
 Having thus reduced the distance between the 
 fountains of the Scamander and the Hellespont to a 
 smaller space; I shall suppose the Grecian camp to 
 have occupied the whole of the sea-coast before the 
 
OF THE TROADE. 199 
 
 city. To prove the necessity of this extent, it will 
 be proper to consider the numbers of the army, and 
 their manner of encamping. It appears, that the 
 whole of their forces amounted to one hundred 
 thousand men. These were indeed not encumbered 
 with the numerous attendants which are usual in 
 modern armies. They had no train of artillery: 
 and the simple military manners of those times ad- 
 mitted of neither cooks nor footmen. If, however, 
 we take in the article of women, we shall, I believe, 
 find, that they exceed the numbers which on these 
 occasions are usual in our times. It appears of 
 old to have been a uniform custom among military 
 gentlemen to leave their wives at home ; and to carry 
 only their mistresses abroad : and these ladies seem 
 to have answered the purposes both of domestic 
 convenience and gallantry, as we may conclude 
 from old Nestor's housekeeper. In those days the 
 females made a considerable part of the soldiers' 
 plunder; and what is now so often an officer's ruin, 
 was then an article of his riches. If to this account 
 we add all the children, which we may suppose a 
 hundred thousand Grecian heroes to have produced 
 in ten years, we may reasonably suppose that their 
 place of encampment could not contain less than 
 one hundred and fifty thousand persons. The horses 
 and chariots must have occupied a large space; and 
 the ships would demand no inconsiderable extent of 
 ground. They were drawn up, and secured upon 
 the land among the tents : which is a circumstance 
 not attended to by Mr. Pope. He falls into fre- 
 quent errors from not having observed this promis- 
 cuous disposition of the tents and shipping. It is 
 true, they were merely transports, and had no small 
 boats belonging to them. As to the tents, we may 
 conclude from that of Achilles, that they were a 
 
200 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 kind of barrack, or hut, constructed for all sorts of 
 weather. 
 
 To the front of the camp towards Troy allow- 
 ance must be made for the great intrenchment. This 
 consisted of a rampart with towers and battlements, 
 and was defended by a ditch with palixados, being 
 much in the style of fortification which prevailed io 
 Europe before the invention of gunpowder. On 
 the side next the Hellespont, there was left a space, 
 between the camp and the sea, sufficient for the as- 
 sembling of the principal officers upon matters of 
 moment. The extent of this camp, from right to 
 left, is determined by the two well-known promon- 
 tories upon the express authority of Homer. One 
 extremity reached to the Sigean promontory, where 
 Achilles was stationed ; the other to the Ilha-t» an, 
 where Ajax had pitched his tents. The centre had 
 been allotted to Ulysses, as being the most con- 
 venient for consultation, if they at any time stood 
 in need either of his eloquence or wisdom. Hence, 
 when Agamemnon, upon an emergency, wants to 
 assemble the Grecian chiefs, he Ti pairs to the ship 
 of Ulysses, which was opposite to that hero's tent, 
 and there raises his voice. 
 
 li -r?; & £7r' Oivacnjo^ piyciKrjTti rrji pt\(n 
 'H p tv fJLtcraaT^) utki, yeywtpev afuftorepuxre' 
 II f.uv eir AiavTog xXiaitje TeXapuJi *■ 
 II & eir' A\i\\i]oc, rot p ear^ara ytjac etaac 
 Efpvo-nr, ijropetj mavi o«, kai Kciprii ^apwv. 
 
 High on the midmost bark the king appear'd ; 
 There from Ulysses' deck his voice wa> heard 
 To Ajax and Achilles reach'd the sound. 
 Whose distant ships the guarded navy bound. 
 
 In this version Mr. Pope mentions, that the voice 
 of Agamemnon from the centre was beard to the 
 
 a Iliad. 0. v. 220. The same is said of the goddtil Brit, A. v. 5. 
 
OF THE TROADE. 201 
 
 two extremes : and so much is certainly to be in- 
 ferred from the original. Yet according to our Map, 
 and to the best evidences of antiquity, these ex- 
 tremes could not be less than twelve miles : for such 
 is the distance between the Rheetean and Sigean 
 Promontories: so that the Grecian monarch, who 
 was equally removed from both, must have been 
 heard six miles each way, which is incredible. We 
 must therefore look upon the Poet's language in 
 this place, as only a bold poetical figure. 
 
 The chief thing to be pointed out, if it were pos- 
 sible to be ascertained, would be the precise situa- 
 tion of the city itself. But this, I fear, is not very 
 easy, as there are not the least remains, by which 
 we can judge of its original position. There has 
 been likewise a great change in the face of the 
 country by earthquakes, and inundations, of which 
 many writers take notice. In how high veneration 
 the history of this city was held, may be known by 
 the many poems, histories, and dissertations, which 
 were composed in its honour. The time of its being 
 taken was looked upon as one of the principal eras 
 in Greece. Indeed it was many times taken, if we 
 may believe the best authors of antiquity. The 
 three first calamities which it underwent are men- 
 tioned by Lycophron in the person of Cassandra. 
 
 1.TEVU), Irtvw, at (iiffcra, kcu rpnrXa, dopog 
 AvBlq 7rpoQ aX/crjj/, /cat diap-rrayag dopwp, 
 Kai nvp avavya'Covaav a'iffrioTr)piov. c 
 
 c V. 61. 
 
202 THE DESCRIPTION 
 
 Much I lament, my dear country, your unhappy 
 fate: who are doomed twice, and even three times, to 
 behold a hostile invasion: and to see your edifices 
 ruined, and the wide-wasting fire prevailing. 
 
 In this account the Poet alludes to three periods; 
 in which Troy was taken by Hercules, by the 
 Amazons, and lastly by the Grecians, under the 
 conduct of the Atridae. To the invasion by the 
 Amazons Homer alludes ; but he is silent about 
 the city falling into their hands, though it is men- 
 tioned by other writers. Troy was also taken, as 
 we learn from Plutarch, and Polysenus, by Chari- 
 demus Orites : and last of all by C. Fimbria, B 
 Quaestor, under Valerias Flaccusin the Mithridatic 
 war. 
 
 It has been observed by those who have written 
 Upon the subject, that a horse had been always 
 ominous to the Trojans. They were first subdned 
 by Hercules, when the dispute was about the 
 horses of Laonn -don. The Amazons were all eques- 
 trian, and our of their device- was a horse: ami 
 when the city was surprised by the Grecians, it was 
 by means of the wooden horse Doris. Lastly, 
 When it fell into the hands of Charidemns, the cap- 
 ture was owing to a horse which fell down in the 
 entrance of the city, and prevented the shutting of 
 their gates. There is an old Latin epigram, made 
 upon some person, whose name seems to have beeu 
 Asellus, and who had not shewn a proper venera- 
 tion for the books of Homer. In this there is an al- 
 lusion to the histories above, which describe the 
 city as being always ruined by a horse. 
 
 Cariuinis Iliaci libros consumpsit Asellus: 
 
 Hoc fatuin Troja* est, aut Equus, aut Asinu>. 
 
 However, this last-mentioned catastrophe of the 
 
OF THE TROADE. 203 
 
 city, as well as that under Fimbria, could not relate 
 to the ancient Ilium, buttoTroja Nova, which was 
 situated at a distance from the former, and was 
 supposed to have been built by Alexander the Great, 
 or at least greatly enlarged by him and Lysimachus. 
 Of this city there are some noble remains : but of 
 the true and famous Troy there have been no traces 
 for ages : not a stone is left to certify, where it stood. 
 It was looked for to little purpose as long back as 
 the time of Strabo : and Lucan having mentioned, 
 that it had been in vain searched for in the time of 
 Julius Caesar, concludes his narrative with this me- 
 lancholy observation upon the fate of this celebrated 
 city, that its very ruins ivere annihilated. 
 
 Fama duce, tenditin undas, 
 Sigaeasque petit famae mirator arenas; 
 Et Simoentis aquas, et Graio nobile busto 
 Rboetion, et raultum debentes vatibus umbras. 
 Circuit exustse noraen niemorabile Trojae, 
 Magnaque Phoebsei quaerit vestigia muri. 
 Jam sylvre steriles, et putres robore trunci 
 Assarici pressere domos, et templa Deorum f 
 Implicita radice tenent: ac tota teguntur 
 Pergama dumetis : Etiam periere Ruince. e 
 
 f Lucani Pharsalia. L. 9. v. 953. 961. 
 * Implicita radice. In this manner I have taken the liberty to 
 alter the verse : the common reading being, Jam lassa radice. 
 
 THE END, 
 
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 /^A i -c H**U> { i. T^Xt 
 
PROLEGOMENA 
 
 A D 
 
 H O M E R U M 
 
 S I V E 
 
 DE CARMINUM HOMERICORUM 
 
 ORIGINE AUCTORE ET AETATE 
 ITEM QUE 
 
 DE PRISCAE LINGUAE PROGRESSU 
 
 ET PRAECOCI MATURITATE 
 
 SCRIPSIT 
 
 RICHARDUS PAYNE KNIGHT. EQ. 
 
 RURSUS EXCUDI IUSSIT 
 
 E T 
 
 PAUCULA PRAEFATUS EST 
 
 D. FR. ERN. RUHKOPF 
 
 DIRECTOR LYCEI HANKOVERANI. 
 
 L I P S I A E 
 
 IN LIBRARIA HAHNIA 
 
 cIjidcccxvi. 
 
yuum Richardi Payne Knight y Equi- 
 tis britanni inprimis splendidi et doctis- 
 simi, Prolegomena ad Homerum dignis- 
 feima visa essent, quae apud nos quoque 
 legerentur, facile Vir honestissimus Gui- 
 lielmus Hahn, possessor librariae olim 
 Fritschiae, quae Lipsiae floret, sibi a me 
 persuaderi passus est, ut ea impensis suis 
 repetita praelo harum literarum amicis fau- 
 toribusque in manus traderet. Paucissi- 
 
VI 
 
 studia, quibus Wolfius Heyniusque (caris- 
 sima mihi nomina) aliique viri doctissimi 
 de his carminibus eximie raeruerunt, ex* 
 
 hibeantur. 
 
 Scr. Hannoverae 
 Cal. Jul. cIdidcccxvi. 
 
 D. F. E. RUHKOPF 
 
 Dir. Lye. Hannov. 
 
S.i. 
 
 Octogesimo post Trojam captam anno, Mycenarum re, 
 gnum tenente Tisameno Orestis filio jam sene, magna 
 et infausta mutatio rerum toti Graeciae oborta est ex 
 irruptione Dorum , gentis semibarbarae, in Peloponne- 
 eum *) ; qui vel expulsis vel in servitutem redactis veteri- 
 bus incolis , alios ac duriores mores, et linguam rudem 
 ac vitio8am secum intulerunt. Pauca et parum certa de 
 hac status ac fortunae conversione tradidere veteres: 
 cujus tamen gravissimum fuisse momentum ad res Hel- 
 lenicas in deterius mutandas, ea ipsa mutatione , quae 
 inter Troica et Medica tempora facta est, certissime 
 constat 2 ). 
 
 <). II. 
 Achaei vel Danai 3 ) veteres, qui expulsi erant, pri*. 
 mum in Boeotiam et Atticam sese recepisse videntur; 
 atque inde in Asiam paulatim transtulisse, famam se- 
 quuti majorum, qui tenia ante aetate bellum iis regio- 
 nibus gloria maxima, minimo licet fructu, diu gesse- 
 rant. Ibi, cum omnem paene oram maritimam occu- 
 passent, urbes quamplurimas condiderunt, quas statim 
 
 1) ThucvJ. 1. T. c. 12. 
 
 £) Vide Heyne in Apollodor. 1. II. c. VIII. s. i. 
 
 5) Sit Graepi universi in Homericis appellati sunt; poetae enim 
 vetoes tabulas de *egibu9 Achaeo, Danao, lone, Hellene etc. 
 on&a sibi confmxerimt postcii, at eoruni ncmina diversis 
 Btirpibus ixnponerent , piorsus ignorasse videntur. 
 
 A 
 

 ab incunabulis praeclaras fuisse , tarn ingeniis quam opi- 
 buscivium, Homerica carmina, earum antiquissima et 
 aeterna monumenta , satis testantur. 
 
 §. III. 
 
 Quis' fuisset antea rerum Graecarum status; quae 
 populorum conditio; quae regum ac civitatum jura; qui 
 jnores hominum ; quibus porro artibus, et quo cuku vi- 
 tae, emolliti quodammodo, et expoliti essent, ex his 
 carminibus cuivis scire licet: omnia enim, facundia ea 
 simplici et exquisita, kctorum animis ita obversantur, 
 ut depicta potius quam cnarrata videantur. De ipsorum 
 autem carminum auctorc we] auctoribus nihil omnino 
 6cimusnec scire possumus: ncque enim ipsiGraeci, qui, 
 poesi resurgente sexcentis circiter annis post Dorum ir- 
 ruptionem, de cjusmodi rebus inquirere coeperunt, ul- 
 lam ccitum aut probabilem notitiam de patria, aetate, 
 vel nomine poetae obtinere potuerunt. 
 
 §• IV. 
 
 Post direptas autem et in servitutem redactas a ( 
 ducibus civitatei A^iae, ingens carminum copia in Grae- 
 ciam illata est, ac per urbes et vicos decantata sub no- 
 mine Homeri, vatis antiquissimi , de quo multa et in- 
 cohgrua narrabant isti homines, qui poemata sparr 
 decantabant; atque idcirco paywidbt, i. e. (*uiiu 9 inimtf 
 uutdoi J ) appellati sunt. Carmina ipsa in diversorum cor- 
 porum compages ab iisdem hominibus congesta vel red- 
 acta esse feruntur: atque sumtibus et cura Pisistrati , et 
 aliorum forsitan principumvel tyrannorum illius saeculi, 
 literis mandata. Ipsum Pisistratum ^rammatiii et critici 
 
 1) Piud;»r. Ncra. If. 
 
officio functum esse, et Homeri libros , confusos antea, 
 sic disposuisse, ut jam inde exstiterint, Cicero e quodam. 
 rumore incerto tradidit *). Complures apud posteros 
 eadem repetierunt, sublata omni dubitatione; ut solent 
 homines in ejusmodi rumoribus tradendis; dum inviti 
 etiam, naturali quodam impetu, feruntur in augendo et 
 ornando, et pro compertis et indubitatis venditando, 
 quaecunque e traditionibus obscuris et incertis accepe- 
 rint. At neque Herodotus, neque Thucydides, neque 
 Plato, neque Aristoteles , qui tot de Homero, de Pisi- 
 strato et filiis ejus, memoriae prodiderunt, tanta in 
 poetam beneficia nosse omnino videntur. Aristoteles 
 autem, vir rerum antiquarum peritissimus, laudes in 
 Homerum cumulat ob pulchram carminum dispositio- 
 nem , et artificiosam compagum structuram ; neque un- 
 quam suspicatus est, eas laudes ad eorum redactoremPi- 
 sistratum, non ad poetam, jure pertinuisse. Fabula ni- 
 hilominus sic crevit eundo, ut e fama tenui et obscura 
 inter Aristotelis et Ciceroni6 aetatemorta, ac variis de- 
 inde circumstantiispaullatim aucta et ornata, Iudaeorum 
 tandem somnia de sacrorum librorum interpretatione ae~ 
 mulatasit; atque Pisistratus, quemadmodum posteaPto- 
 lemaeusPhiladelphus, LXXII grammaticorum opera usus, 
 inter quos Zenodotus et Aristarchus praecipuum locum 
 obtinerent, Homerica carmina sparsa aut deperdita col- 
 legisse et in duo corpora redegisse crederetur z ). Nuga- 
 cissimorum hominum putida commenta recensere pudet 
 pigetque: tametsi a quibusdam haud indoctis, sed nova- 
 rum in re critica et historica opinionum nimium studio- 
 
 1) De oratore 1. III. 
 
 *) Vide Diomed. in VUloison. Anecdol. ap. Wolfii Prolegofla. 
 
 A2 
 
813, Thucydidis et Aristotelis gravi judicio ct auctor 
 praelata esse, dolens indignansque videam ■). 
 
 §• v. 
 
 In dialogo Socratico, cui nomen Hipparchi adjcri- 
 ptum est, et qui inter Platonis, dubia auctoritate, rr- 
 censetur z ) , Pisistrati filiu3 Hipparchus Horn erica car- 
 mina primus Athenis intulisse dicitur, et a rhapsodw in 
 ordine, alterum altero excipiente, io Panathenaeis de- 
 cantanda curasse; qui mos apud posteros etiam vi- 
 guit 3 ); atque inde forlasse fabula de carminibus a Pi- 
 sistrato autPisistratidis in corpora collectis et in ordinem 
 redactis originem traxit. llhapsodos, qui antea confuse, 
 pro suo quisque libitu, singulas singuli rhapsodias in 
 Panathenaeis 6acris cantitavcrant , aut Solon, aut Pisi- 
 stratus, aut Hipparchus ^varie enim a diversis script 
 bus res narrata est) 4) primus cocrcuit et in ordine Ilia- 
 
 i) Jeune Anachai d. Bryant ancient Mythology. Siege 
 
 of Troy etc. Woliii prolegom. in Homerum. 
 2) Aclian. Var. Hist. 1. VIII. c. 2. 
 jfl ut HXXa ts no/./.d *a] j . oo<fi'az asr«Jtf$*r« , *a) rd 
 
 ,: '°' T ,-..;./.. Homeric* Athenis antea 
 
 ta tuxsse, nemo, nisi reiimi amiquarum pi hiatus 
 
 t'uerit, facile credidevit: sed tota narrariuncula siupicionibtts 
 justis obnoxia est: inejuissiniis emm conuuentis tie Hippar- 
 cho tyranno, ejus Mercuiiis, etc. etc. I , quae quo loco 
 
 habeodatint, Thucydides antea ostenderat. Veri tanien ali- 
 quid sublatere potest; quod erueie et in lucetn proferre co- 
 nati inmos. 
 
 ! abricii Biblioth. Graec. lib. IT. c. II. §. XI. Meliua 
 
 1 a curgns, Philippiet Alexandri magni temporuin orator Athfi- 
 mensis, doctus et veridicus, populum Atheniensem sic, lef* 
 
 • tradidit. 
 onovdaZov uva* rro<>r/» (< x.^* 
 
 ixaoTT;v Trsvratrt^idu r.J; Jhxi . u6iov nJ* aiimr 
 
5 
 
 clem et Odysseam ab initio ad finem , alterum altero ex- 
 cipiente, in iis sacris decantare jussit; atque inde fama, 
 quae postea latius sparsa est, apud Athenienses percre- 
 buit, carmina ipsa a Pisistrato vel ejus filiis in ordi- 
 nem redacta esse, et earn formam accepisse, qua, Ari- 
 siotelis et aliorum criticorum sententia, tantas laudes 
 poeta meruisset; cum ille tamen , si iis horrfinibus cre- 
 dere libet., ne in somniis quidern ejusmodi formam ani- 
 mo concepisset. Aristoteles autem non tanto intervallo 
 temporis Pisistratidas subsequutus est; neque carminum 
 Homericorum fama per id intervallum adeo tenuis aut 
 obscura fuit, ut historiarum omnium et naturae et artis 
 indagatorem acerrimum, quid in ea contulissent princi- 
 pes illi Atheniensium, fugere potuerit. Plus etiam isti 
 rumori homines postea tribuisse videntur, quam primi 
 ejus auctores significare vel tradere voluerint: nam libri 
 antea confusi non sunt libri inconditi aprincipio, vel 
 sua natura diversi, sed ii, quibus, ordine justo compo- 
 sitis, postea confundi et commisceri contigerat; atque 
 eo sensu verba Ciceronis accipienda, non quo viri do- 
 ctissimi Heyne et Wolf ea acceperunt. 
 
 §• vr. 
 
 Praeter Iliadem et Odysseam , Hymnos et Epigram- 
 mata, a diversis auctoribus inter Homerica recensita 
 sunt : 
 
 l) BaTQ(xxonvonct%la , ranarum et murium pugna, qua 
 majoribus operibus praelusisse Homerus a nonnullis 
 fertur. Alii Pigreti Halicarnasseo, Artemisiae, quae 
 inter Xerxis nararchos strenue dimicavit, fratri, tri- 
 
 noirjxMV Qrtyo>§uod-cu rd enij. p. 209. ed. Reisk. De Solone 
 vide Laertii 1. 1, n. 57. 
 
buerunt r ). Verum enimvero e sermonis indole 2C 
 forma, nee non e ecribendi more h di'/.xoig, in tabu* 
 iifc 1 ), haud lv atq,\}t'()cug , in pellibus ovillis vel capri- 
 nis , quibus Asiani veteres usi sunt 3 ;, Attico cuidam 
 poetae prioris aevi potius tribuerim. Galli gallinacei 
 quoque cantus matutinus, de quo poetae antiquiores 
 vix siluissent, si avis ilia iis innotuisset, hie, ut om- 
 nibus jam notus ct familiaris, primo memoratur 4 ). 
 Indiae indigena esse videtur avis, ubique terrarum 
 jamdudum domestical sed in Samothracum et Hime- 
 ren6ium nuromis ar^enteis, sexto saltern ante Chri- 
 stum natum saeculo cu ?a occurrit. 
 2. * Horn* ti cum Hesiodo, nugatoris cu- 
 lam infic^ti commentum, haud alio loco haben- 
 dum, quam versus isti extemporanei poetae tributi in 
 • ejus sub Hcrodoti prrsona ac nomine venditata. 
 < apn hirsuta >] : jnOf^ 
 
 at; ludicrum poemation, de 
 quo nihil restat, aut memoriae proditum est. nisi 
 quod versu iambico sit compositum; quam ob causa m, 
 pm serioris aevi opusculo ccrtissime habendum eel 
 
 4. \4Qctyioua%ia , araneorum pogna. 
 
 5. rt-ourniiw/jct , granna pogna, et 
 
 6. Vctoonayia , stuinorum pugna ; tria pocmatia ludicra, 
 a Suida in voce laudata, ct ad imitationem 
 fortasse Batrachomyomachiae composita. 
 
 ~. Ktfmwnts (cicadarum genus apud Aelian. Hist. Anim. 
 
 O Fabricii biblioth. Grifc, ed. Hade?, lib. II. -. I. 
 
 2) Vide vs. 3. 
 
 5) HerocUt. lib. V. c. 53. 
 
 4) Vs. 191. 
 
 5) Vide Fabric, ib. s. XXIV. no. 10. 
 
7 
 X. 44.)* carmen argumenti perinde ludicri de homini- 
 buscallidis, fraudulentis ac versutis; qua vcro forma 
 aut quo modo conditum, minime constat s ). 
 8. MctpyiTiig, poema satiricum, ludicrorum omnium ce~ 
 leberrimum de Margite quodam, nomine fatuo et in- 
 epto, qui 
 
 noXX ijtiIgtccto loya , xaxoig d* i)ni6Taro nccvra : 
 rel antiquiore forma, 
 
 no?.?, t7TiFiGTa.ro Ftoya. , y.ay.uyg 6 ? tmFtGTa.ro nccvra.'. 
 quod facetissimum et jucundissimum fuissc, ex hoc 
 quidem fragmento , uti et Aristotelis de eodem judi- 
 cio, sentire licet. Homero illud tribuunt ha*ud dubi- 
 tanter et Plato et Aristoteles; Callimachus vero ita in 
 deliciis habuit, ut imitando expresserit. Merito igitur 
 antiquissimum fuisse quivis secure dixerit: nequehae- 
 rendum est propter aliud poema ejusdem argumenti 
 trimetro9 iambos dactylicis hexametris catalectis per- 
 mixtos habens; quod quidem Pigreti Halicarnasseo 
 nonnulli serioris aetatis scriptores tribuerunt, cum ta- 
 rn en recentiori cuidam tribuere fortasse debuissent. 
 Pigres iste totam Iliadem versibus alternis interpolasse 
 traditur , et in elegiaci carminis formam, singulis pen* 
 tametris post singulos hexametros insertis, redegisse; 
 cujus specimen conservavit Suidas sub voce IJiy^g: 
 
 JMfjvw uudf fad n?ibiiddeo) ^f^AiJoe 
 
 JIovgoi, gv yaQ naGtjg ntiQctT t%tig Gocpln?' 
 Pari ratione Timolaus quidam Larissaeus dacrylicos 
 hexametros singulos singulis versibus Homericis sub- 
 didit 2 ). 
 
 i) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 14. 
 
 2) Vide Eustath. in Odyss. prooera, et Said, in TtfioXi*' 
 
9. * Eni&altt{it,a , et poema perinde amatorium *), 
 
 10. *BnvM%XWes nuncupatum, quia poeta , cum id pue- 
 rib decantitaret, praemii loco xi%?.«g y turdos, ab iis re- 
 tail en t 2 ). 
 
 11. *^fiui;6viu a Suida laudata, aed nomine tenus tantum 
 
 nota 3 ) % 
 
 12. Tvoifxtu, «ententiae extemporaneae a Pseudo-Hero- 
 doto memoratae, et a nugacissimo isto homine for, 
 tasse coiifictae. 
 
 i5. E/otowJn; , ab eodem laudata; eed de ea nihil certi 
 comperimu 
 
 i4. Oi^uUug uXcootg, Oechaliae evpu^natio, ab Hercale 
 nempc; q^i, loles, Eurvti i ae , amore c,: 
 
 urbon < am expngnaVerat et diruerat. Poema alii Ho- 
 21 ' . 'iM n phvlo cuidam, eju3hospiti velmagistro, 
 trilmerunt 4 ) : melius autem , qui Creophylum islam 
 serioris aevi poetam fuisse, quamvis vetu&tum, credi- 
 derHfii *). 
 
 *5. ' dc priore Argivorum in T1k bas cxpeditione, 
 
 septem frtem sive libris constans 6 ), cujus hoc initium 
 rctulit scriptor certaminis Homeri atque Hesiodi : 
 
 MMiSt &(U TtoivdltfHOV, XTlj 
 
 i) Suid. in "Out;?. 
 
 2) Athenae. 1. II. p. 65. ct XIV- 659. 
 
 5) I" "Oft 
 
 4) Vide Fabric. *b. no. 19. 
 
 5) tovtov Ttitg x«i cV j. na l 
 
 v a,' tor Toiijta ■' 
 
 Plu>t. Lex. Ms. a Bentlejo citato in epi»t. ad Millium Mi- 
 lalae Hist, dhron. subjuncta. Oxon. 1691. 
 
 6) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 
 
9 
 Alii quoque memoraverunt, et Pausanias proximum 
 Iliadi et Odysseae locum ei assignat x ). 
 
 16. 'Enlyovoi, de Argivorum altera inThebas expeditione, 
 qua urbs expugnata erat, JVn? sive carmina septem % 
 quorum initium idem certaminis scriptor retulit: 
 Nvv avd onXortQvw uvd(/o)v Gcyyojpt&ct, fAoZaav, 
 Herodotus dubitanter Homero tribuit 3 ); atque ipsa 
 ejus dubitatio poema satis antiquum fuisse demohstrat. 
 
 \J. KvnQia en?], Cypria carmina (ita nuncupata fortasse 
 ab insula, in qua primum decantata fuerint), res a 
 Thetidis et Pelei nuptiis usque ad Iliadis initia duode- 
 cim libris comprehenderunt; ut ex eorum argumentis 
 a Proclo collectis et adhuc exstantibus patet. A vete- 
 rum nonnullis inter Homerica recensita erant, Hero- 
 doto tamen plane adversante 4 ): neque aliquidcerte de 
 eorum auctore vel aetate eciri potest, alio aliis tri- 
 buente. Iliade autem et Odyssea haud paullo aetate 
 posteriora fuisse, ex ipsa fabularum ratione certissime 
 constat. 
 
 18. '/hag fitxQu sive ikaaawv, Ilias minor, a nonnullis 
 Homero tributa; ab aliis tamen, ratione potiore, Le- 
 echeo, poetae Lcsbio serioris aevi, res Iliacas a morte 
 Acliillis et armorum judicio usque ad urbis excidium, 
 equo intra moenia recepto, amplexa esse videtur 5 )j 
 neque dubitandum est, quin ex hoc poemate Q. Smyr- 
 naeus ea, quae melioris aevi et felicioris ingenii, 
 
 1) tyu) St trjv rcoiriaiv tavTTjv fisra ys 'iLdda, xal ta l'itt] rcc it 
 'OSvaata trcaivu) paliora. Boeot. p. 729. <* 
 
 2) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 7. 
 
 3) tan Si xal 'O/if/pw iv 'Emyovota^ el Srj t<Z ovti }'£ "OfifjQOt 
 tavra ra ETtea enol^ae, 1. IV* c. 32. 
 
 4) Lib. III. c. 117. Qf. 
 
 5) Vide Heyiu excurs. in Aeneid. II. 
 
10 
 
 quam ut sua esse possint, notas prae se ferunt, mu- 
 tuants sit *). 
 
 19. ISonxov, de reditu principum Graecorum a Troja, au- 
 ctoris ac temporis incerti 2 ). 
 
 20. Kvv.loq, a nonnullis recentiorum apud Suidam et 
 Philoponum 3 ) inter Homerica laudatur. Cycli autem 
 mythici et epici plures memorati sunt; qui non nisi 
 compendia quaedam carminum veterum mythicorum 
 et heroicorum a Coeli et Terrae congressu usque ad 
 Trojae excidium et Graecorum reditum, eo modo 
 connexa, quo Ovidii Metamorphoseon fabulae, fuisse 
 videntur 4 ). Nomen tamen "Qftqpog, ex opot/py dedu- 
 ctum, cyclicum qucndam significasse videtur, et ad 
 corporis poematum auctorem dignoscendura primo 
 arihibitum esse; quanquam ex ipsa contracta ejus for- 
 ma pateat, din post Homerica tempora, immutata jam 
 lingua, efnctum esse. 
 
 A Pseudo-Herodoto 0coxa1\; inter Homerica memo- 
 ratur ; si non errore pro (fotMott?, quo nomine ea pars 
 Odysseae, qua Phaeacum res narrantur, internosceba- 
 
 1) Qualia sunt 
 
 tv& apa tiZ ulv axoiri; \Tarpoutovoa xiSotpov 
 
 eiTS tTTOixofiirto rrapav^tfs baxpi%ioioa ' 
 
 Tw apa v^tcioi vittf tneiyuutvoi mp] rrarpl, 
 
 rsiyta tarra qipsaxov' 6 3t oqtoir alior 
 
 axvvr od'vpouMOig • or? d' tu-rali fietdtaa 
 
 iraiolv aya/.kouevos" xpaSirj Hi oi iv Sa7 udi. 
 
 v'tountvsv rrorito&at i'-rtp nxivjv ts xal airov' 
 
 ally <T airs yspaioi srrioraui'vr,; -iaXm.ui t aiv 
 
 ctuq-iTt&ii us/Jsoat xax/J; a/.xr/pta z<*. 
 
 TtoXla 7TaQ7;)optujr qi't.ov ilia, ur^in nxttr 
 -oki/u? • xa) aripvu rsriuuira Stixrvt xatSi 
 
 rapqia gjjuct' i'yuvra Trakair'* St 4 iot' 
 2) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 13. et Harles. ad eund. 
 5) In Aristot. Analyt. * 
 
 4) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 1$. 
 
II 
 
 tur, Graeculus. nugacissimus id usurpaverit; vix enim 
 urbs Phocaea heroicis saeculis nota esse potuerat, aut 
 fabulis ejusmodi poeticis unquam materias praebuisse; 
 quas Herculis res gestae et Graecorum foederatorum in 
 Thebas et Trojam expeditiones veterum doidaiv carmL. 
 nibus praecipue suppeditabant, 
 
 §. vir. 
 
 Inter carmina autem ea llias et Odyssea gradum 
 eminentiorem apudveteres obtinuerant; atque communi 
 hominum opinione pro vero foetu vatis antiquissimi 
 semper habitae sunt; etsi non defuere, tunc quoque^ 
 accuratioris doctrinae et castigatioris judicii viri, qui ea 
 perinde poemata haud unius auctoris fuisse crediderint. 
 Extitere etiam inter Germanos hujus saeculi viri doctri- 
 na et ingenio insignes, qui suspicati sunt, non tantum 
 utrumque poema e diverso fonte fluxisse, sed utrumque 
 congeriem poematum esse, e variis laciniis diversorurn 
 poetarum consutam, et a rhapsodis, qui Pisistratidarum 
 aetate floruerint, in duo pulcherrima et absolutissima 
 corpora redactam '). 
 
 §. VIII. 
 
 Hanc stispicionem Francogalli quidam, Hedelin ct 
 Pevrault, centum abhinc annos primimoverant: sed cum 
 neque doctrina neque ingenium audaciae par esset , in- 
 eulsa liominum temeritas ab ipsis Francogallis, novarum 
 rerum et opinionum alioquin semper avidissimis, irride- 
 balur. Hac tamen nostra aetate F. A. Wolfius eandem 
 6ententiam amplexus est, ac tanta subtilitate et ingenii 
 ct doctrinae illustravit, ut multorum animis dubitationis 
 aliquid injecerit. Subsequutus est, vel fortasse praeivit, 
 
 1) Vide W'olfii Proleg. et Heyne in Iliadem. 
 
13 
 
 vir omnigenae doctrinae er scientiae copiis instrnctissi- 
 mus, C. G.Heyne; qui suspiciones contulit, non ta: 
 in eirigulas rhapsodias am d^arttag, uti a singulis aucto- 
 ribus profectas, sed in singulas rhapsodiarum partes quo- 
 que, ita ut Patrodi tntraqpia putaret „varios auctorea 
 habuisse, qui .plura certaminum genera cumularunt ad 
 fastidium usque , )." 
 
 $. IX. 
 
 Feracia maximorum ingeniorum praeter omnem na- 
 turae rationem modnmque fuisse ea saeculaoportet, quae 
 tot £ r€ T tttrirent, quorum quilibet carmina 
 
 ejusmodi eJl'udeiit, quae nemo omnium gentium postea 
 per triamillia annorum aemulari posset, neque nisi unus 
 aut alter probability imitari! Neque minus mirandum 
 Cbt, tot poetas, coiiMliis inter se baud communicatis, 
 ita, fortuito et casu quodarn f« lici „ ingen: dem 
 
 materia exercuiite, m tparsa coram carmina, sua quasi 
 cponte, in corpora singula tarn apte coirent, ut ea cor- 
 pora pro excmplaribus absolutisMmis per omnia subse- 
 quuta saecula haberentnr; el ppetae apud posteros tanto 
 plus laudis tulerint, quanto plus in iis imitandia 
 vim lint Dona eftram itaque, quae justam miration* 
 fortasse faciant, viri docti rationem reddere conati sunt, 
 alia videntur imprndenter introduxisse prorsus inert 
 bilia , ac rerum naturae et historiarum fidei plane con- 
 traria. 
 
 Audaces satis ac temerarii merito visi sunt, qui re- 
 rum naturam _x atomorum concursu fortuito ortam esse 
 contenderunt. Eos tamen veniam temeritati impetrare, 
 
 j) In Hi" \ y. 506. vide etiam IB 
 
i5 
 
 acquura forsitan fuerit, eo quod rerum, quae omnibus 
 pariter essent ignotae, nemo certiorem rationem reddere 
 posset ; atque, in meris ariolationibus et conjecturis, jus 
 omnibus idem. Carminum autem, quibus quis „omnes 
 el in omni genere eloquentiae procul a se reliquiase, 
 atque ipsa dispositione totius operis humani ingenii 
 modum excessisse x ) " visussit, doctissimis etiam judi- 
 cibus, ita fortuitam fuisse compositionem, non ratio 
 duntaxat, sed ipse hominum sensus communis, et expe- 
 rientia quotidiana reclamant. Diversis jam inde saecu- 
 lis maxima et fclicissima ingenia in eodem campo sese 
 exercuerunt; sed nemo adhuc parem laudemhonoremve 
 aut meritus aut consequutus est: in sublime enim Virgi- 
 lius, aliena vestigia premens , arte magis quam natura 
 asaurgit; lascivientes ingenio Ovidius et Tassus aliquo- 
 ties; impetu Lucanus; labore ac sudore Miltonus, oxi]- 
 ^ntzofjfpog xtqah r* nooivxt — laborat quoque lector, licet 
 saepe dclectatus , saepius mirabundus : solus autem Ilia- 
 cus poeta, indole propria et vi animi ingenita elatus, ad 
 summa quaeque sponte ac natura, non nisu vel inten- 
 tionc , pervenit; omnesque omrrigenae eloquentiae gra- 
 tias et virtutes ea facundiae felicitate condivit, ut ver- 
 sibus innatae, non intextae vidcantur, cultusque ubi- 
 que eniteat, nusquam ostendatur, sed quotidiani sermo- 
 njs facilitas heroicae grandiloquentiae majestatem tem- 
 peret, non minuat, molliat, non enervet. Successores, 
 pluviis et stillicidiis undique collectis, rivulos auxisse 
 videntur: ipse gurgite vivo exundat, cujus vorticibus 
 abripi, hauriri, aique invitum ferri lector quilibet se 
 proiinus sentit. 
 
 x) Quiutilian. Instit. lib. X. c. U 
 
i4 
 
 §. XL 
 
 Videamus nihilominus argumentorum genus, quo 
 vlri docti in hac disputatione usisunt; atque ex iis, quae 
 clarissimu8 Heyne in cloTiidonouav , Zenodoto olim dam- 
 naiam , cumulate concessit, specimen depromptum 
 paullo accuratius expendamus. In immensum creverunt 
 ingenii et doctrinae copiis, quas vir egrcgius in omnia 
 profudit: at summa tamen disputationis ad haec pauca 
 redit, atque ex hisce tota pendet. 
 
 Clypei nempe tiioruxiov Achillis omnino nullam 
 esse rationem ad carmen ejusque argumentum; nihil in- 
 esse, quod conjuncture sit cum ipsalliadis actione; nul- 
 lam habere vim ad declarandam Achillis virtutem, facta, 
 eventa: animum contra avocat a carminis summa ; de- 
 lectat utique, sed aliarum rerum suavitate et varietate; 
 porro argumenta rerum expressarum ab opere ejusque 
 usu prorsus abhorrent; quorsum haec signa in maim 
 pugnantis, quando singula contemplandi otiumkaud < 
 Satis erat unam vel alteram speciem . quae ornaret vel 
 tcrrcret, Gorgonis vel rlraconis, aut monstri alicujus 
 visum oiVerre. Altera r&rte non minus aliena est clypei 
 sculptura ab Ilomerici aevi, ne de Tiojanis temporibus 
 dicam, rudiore simplicitate ; ipsa tandem episodii narratio 
 et oratio multo majore copia et ornatu elucescit, quam 
 in caeteris carminis paitibus animadvertimus. In Iliad. 
 
 2\ 4! 
 
 Ipsavero anaglyphaquam otiosa, quam unnoodionoa 
 in clypco! quam aliena a persona Achillis non minus 
 quam ab Iliadis argumento ! quomodo hoc poetae in ani- 
 mum venire potuit, ut in clypeo herois, etsi ornatir 
 mum cum clypeum esse vellet, urbes , agros, pascua, 
 choreas, cumulatissimis iiguris excusas esse narrai- 
 
i5 
 
 Excurs. in clyp. p. 588. Si tamen artifex ad ipsum opus 
 acceiserat, nullo modo probabile fit, eum ad illud eo 
 modo, quo poeta exposuit, elaborandum aggressum esse. 
 Sunt enim singulae areae tarn numerosis figuris , ut eas 
 seu fundere seu malleo extundere diuturni et immensi 
 operis res fuisset; si autem effectum esset, oculorum 
 delectationem nullam habiturum fuisset; tam parvae 
 enim ac variae et obscurae figurae tarn multis in areis 
 operis, quamvis magni et lati, visu vix discerni potuis- 
 sent. Ibid. 
 
 Verbo clypeus AchilHs a poeta fingi nequiit, nisi 
 jam turn similis artificii opera exstarent, quaecunque 
 tandem ilia essent. lb. p. 58s. 
 
 Opera similis artificii haudexstitisse multo antequin- 
 quagesfmam olympiadem, vir doctissimus subinde plane 
 ostendit; atque ideo, si ejus hypothesi assentimur, to- 
 tum episodium aut illius aut serioris aevi esse, negare 
 non licet. 
 
 §. XII. 
 
 Haec ita visa esse aut grammatico AlexandrinO aut 
 critico Gottingensi mirationem haud facit: omnes enim 
 homines de rebus, rationibus et consiliis alienis, e suis 
 ipsorum judicare solent, et normam aliquam, cum sen- 
 tiendi turn cogitandi, e quotidiana vitae consuetudine 
 eibi fingere. PhiJosophorum collegiis innutriti, atque in 
 scholarum umbraculis vitam degentes , intellectum exer- 
 cere magis quam aftectibus indulgere, aut sensibus animi 
 nativis vacare , assueverunt ; atque ejusmodi hominibus 
 ftolenne est pascere et instruere ingenium ex opinionibus 
 jamdudumreceptis, et usu et auctoritate quadam publica 
 sacratis, potius quam e rerum experientia, eventuum 
 observation^ aut aliorum hominum commercio. Omnia 
 
igitur ad hasce opiniones redigere et quadrare sclent; et 
 quotiescunque aliquid in re critica oftendant, qaod bis 
 adversari visum sit, id ab auctoris consilio ac tunima 
 lienam judicare, et praccidendi vel muiandi 1U 
 biuine auirnos imbutos habere. 
 
 §. XIII. 
 Fortae autem, qui ejofmodi fapiemiam prorsus 
 ignoi at 
 
 /.oi»» uvO< ,w 7yirm % 
 
 alia crat omnino gumma consilii al . quam 
 
 4 nti( i < i tri 
 
 moa 
 
 moi 
 
 iorum tumuliibtis agitare ac tci nunc 
 
 conjugum ct amantium colloquiia, aut qi. 
 
 tie amoenitatibua raulcere acplacare. Conti- 
 inui pugnarum a< nun 
 
 ; b«« ipsam et a 
 atijur i >m- 
 
 ima . di< 
 run 
 obd;. 
 
 xiu^- occasionem 
 
 ut eju ornamenta ad Acuilli* poiius quam ad Yul 
 ThcUdis imi induUm adapt! 
 
 tndum er.it; cum ejus modi smbtiles et an 
 uioiuias audita. .ie postulaluri, neque I 
 
 suri cssent. 
 
 §• » 
 
 Si autem Achilles in oratione ca - callidi. 
 
 tatem, aut I rvidam Achiliis vehementiam usur- 
 
If 
 
 passet, nemo erat, qui non statim offenderetur ; in diju- 
 dicandis enim diversorum hominum diversis moribus, 
 et in sermonis specie, quae unicuique apta fuerit, dis- 
 criminanda, haud paullo acutiores redduntur animorum 
 sensus quotidiano rerum usu, quam philosophorum aut 
 criticorum sapientia: sed quaenam armorum ornamenta 
 du« i unicuique convenient, hominis est theorema in 
 ludo literario aut artincis officina magis quam inacie aut 
 foro, aut aliis cjusmodi negotiis, versati, 
 
 §. XV. 
 
 Neque poctam, at clvpeum fingeret, similis opificii 
 
 opera nosse oportcb..t, magia quam statuas sese sponte 
 
 moventcs, quales paullo ante finxerat 1 ), vidisse: neque 
 
 satis inirari jKK-sumus, Heynium, tantum virum , di- 
 
 e, „quidquid fmgimus ad 6imilitudinem alicujus rei f 
 
 quae natura vel arte naturam adumbrante , jam sensui 
 
 ecta fuerit, ammo conceptum esse;*' cum tironibus 
 
 in no turn sit, id rerum esse de simplicibus tantum- 
 
 !o, et primariia animi notionibus et conceptis; equi- 
 
 composita pro libitu confingere unicuique liceat. 
 
 Hinc profecta sunt monstra ilia rerum naturae ignota, 
 
 quae Ae^yptii et Indi dcorum loco venerari solebant. 
 
 Artium projiressui ac consuetudini magis consentaneum 
 
 est, clypei ejusmodi archetypum a poetae phantasia po- 
 
 tius quam artificis inanu profectum esse: lovis enim 
 
 imaginein illam sublimem , quam adhuc simulacris anti- 
 
 qui6 miramur, non poeta ex artincis alicujus opere, sed 
 
 Phidias e poetae versions efnnxit: atque ita necesse est, 
 
 omnia omnium artium inventa mente prius concepta 
 
 esse, quam manu periicerentur. 
 
 1) Iliad. 2. 376. 
 
 B 
 
i8 
 
 §. XVI. 
 
 Poetae autem munus solenne et peculiare est, non 
 tantum naturae operibus artis epeciem obducere, sed 
 naturam ipsam tanquam dei artem exhibere : unde m - 
 monc poetico omnia, etiam quotidiana horainum ne- 
 gotia ac rerum vicissitudines, deorum ope et minist 
 fiunt: neque vir dociissimus magis oftendi debut; 
 quod clypeue tarn orratus, et tanta artis subtilitate elabo- 
 ratus, intra paucarum horarum spatium malleo et incude 
 a Vulcano perficeretur , quam quod Iupiter fulgura et 
 tonitrua rnanibus ex Ida in planitiem Trojanam jaculare- 
 tur. Si deorum opera iisdem rationibus atque hominum 
 fieri credidissent veteres, et poeta curiosum critici ho- 
 dierni ingenium sortitus csset, Vulcano fortasse scalprum 
 et ]ovi fundam tribuit>set. Moribus autem illorum tem- 
 porum simplicior miraculorum expediendorum ratio t 
 veniebat; et cum poeta clypeos et tuoraces , rudibus 
 forte figuiis , mallco extusis, aut acu *to im- 
 
 pressia, ornatoa vidisset, perfacile erat \ 
 nio majorem in imitando solertiam ac peritiam ueo tri- 
 buere, atque plcniora argumenta, ex omni rerum natura 
 collecta, ei subjicere. Ncque, quomodo, aut quibus i 
 etiumcntis divina ilia opera perfjcien 
 talia essent, qualia ab nomine ullo, aut ullo instrumento, 
 perrici potuissent, cura erat ei inquirerc: instituto enim 
 eufficiebat, laeta esse ac jucunda, atque ad animos audi- 
 entium deliniendos ac delectandos apta. Si Cuusarum et 
 eventuum rationi et congruentiae potius quam audien- 
 tium delectationi studuisset, quam longissime ab iai 
 tuto aberrasset, cum ducem exercitus, ardescente pugna, 
 abstraxerit et in urbem miserit, nullo urgente r 
 nisi ut auguris mandata, praeconi cuilibet tradenda, ct 
 
*9 
 alioquisine effectu evasura , matri perferret. At scena 
 jam mutanda erat; et post tot virorum strages , tarn 
 multiplici varietate enumeratas, fastidio et satietati oe- 
 currendum, diversa aliqua rerum specie obtenta, qua 
 alii animorum affectus commoverentur: neque opportu- 
 nity quidquam nee efficacius induci poterat, quam He- 
 ctoris cum conjuge colloquium; quod ideo omnino pro- 
 ferendum erat, etseriei narrationis quocunque modo in- 
 texendum; neque, qua verisimilitudine id fieret, magno- 
 pcre fait ei curandum, cum auditores homines rudes et 
 simplices, imaginum illecebris delinitos et delectatos 
 juditrs parum severos in causis expendendis et rationi- 
 bus exigendis experturus esset. 
 
 §. XVII. 
 Disputationis suae conclusionem ipse vir doctissi- 
 mus timere videtur: tanta enim experientia et usu lin- 
 guae Graecae edoctus , vix hoc episodium pro opusculo 
 eeptimi ante Christum natum saeculi habere potuit, cum 
 serio et ex sensu animi sui, non e praesumptis opinioni- 
 bus, judicium proferret: saeculi enim istius poemata 
 extant; neque alii tribuerim Batrachomyomachiam, lu- 
 dicram illam Homericorum imitationem, quae inter Ho- 
 mprica ab antiquis semper recensita est. In eo autem, 
 alioquin haud inficeto, poematio quam diversa et ab 
 hoc epibo<iio aliena sunt omnia! alii mores, alia gram- 
 matica, alia prosodia, alia sententiarum structura, alia 
 denique lingua! Ipsa etiam Odys6ea haud paullo vetu- 
 stiorem hanc onlonouctv esse eo constare puto, quod Jyrae 
 chordae, quae in ilia ex ovium intestinis, ut postea, 
 factae traduntur 1 ), in hac e lino, rudiorum et anti-. 
 
 1) Odyss. #. 403. 
 
 B 2 
 
 
SO 
 
 quiorum hominum materia, fiunt *). Neque dubitandum 
 est, quin poeta hocVulcani opificium animo proposkum 
 habuisset, cum antea Patroclo omnia AchilHs arma in- 
 duerit, praeterhastam 2 ); quae, utpoteligno instauranda, 
 dei ofRcinae haud conveniret. 
 
 $. xviir. 
 
 Speciem probabiliorem potius quam vim validiorem 
 habent argumenta, quae viri docti attulcrunt in! 
 versus Odysseae 3 ); quos omnes, splendidissimos li 
 acpulcherrimos, Aristarchus et alii veterum grammatico- 
 rum pro insititiis et diversi poetae foetu habuere 4 ); ne- 
 que infitias ire licet, narrationem de simplici mortuo- 
 rum evocatione hisce versibus turbari; ac novam scenam 
 et diversam rerum speciem, inopinato et nulla ratione 
 reddita, obtrudi, cum, omnibus ejectis, caeterorum j 
 ctura apta et congrua fieret, atque narratio integra et 
 continua. Omnia tamen , tarn de loco quam de ratio- 
 nibus , quibus ea evocatio fiebat, obscura et perp! 
 sunt; atque Ulysses , etiamsi magicis quibusdam ?acris 
 a Circe edoctus manes evocasse super ripamOceani ulte- 
 riorem dictus sit 5 ), se ad Inferos descensurum paullo 
 ante praedicaverat 6 ), et descendisse postea professus 
 est 7 ) , ita ut sontium poenas ei vidisse licuisset. 
 
 §. XIX. 
 In poeta antiquissimo , qui nihil aliud sibi propo- 
 
 O Hiad. J. 5-0. 
 
 2) lb. 7T. 130. et schol. Ven. 
 
 3) Odyss. A. 564 — 026. 
 
 4) Vide scJiol. Ven. in 11. B. 5~Q. schol. in Pindar. Olyxnp. I. 
 91. et not. in Euripid. Orest. 5. Lond. i~ 
 
 5) A. 54 etc. 
 
 6) A'. 564. 
 
 7) .V. 21. 
 
 r 
 
21 
 
 suerat, quam rudiam hominum aures carminum dulce- 
 dine mulcere, et animos speciosis fabularum miraculis 
 ac splendida imaginum et sententiarum varietate com- 
 movere et delectare, philosophicam earn subtilitatem, 
 quae e rerum naturalium scientia jam adulta profecta 
 est, vix aliquis antiquitatis paullo peritior desideraret; 
 praesertim in religionum tenebris, ubi, quo quaeque ob- 
 scuriora, eo magic* veneranda etmagnifica. Critici autem 
 Alexandrini, qui versus mutando, amputando et eji- 
 ciendo ciudas et informes rudium animorum notiones 
 de ejusmodi rebus ad rationem quandam philosophicam 
 redigere annitebantur, fiustra laborarunt: nam res ipsae 
 inter xtQura religionis et poesis sunt, quae a philosophia 
 maxime abhorrent. Virgilianae etiam fabulae de lnferis 
 fix magis inter se congruae, aut rerum naturae consen- 
 taneae sunt; cum in imis terrarum visceribus animae , 
 inclusae — ,,solemque suum, sua sidera norunt;" ne- 
 que, si historiae et origines carminum Virgilianorum 
 perinde ignotae essent atque Homericorum, dubitaverit 
 forsitan Aristarchus aliquis serioris aevi omnem locum 
 de piorum sedibus, tanquam diversi cujusdam poetae 
 foetum, perinde repudiare. 
 
 §. XX. 
 Gravius est profecto, quod vir doctrinae copia et in- 
 genii jubtilitate summus e Pindari Olymp. I. 91. etc. 
 cvincere conatur, totum scilicet de sontium poems lo- 
 cum exemplaribus, quibus usus sit lyricus, defuisse, at- 
 que ei prorsus ignotum esse l ): sed fallitur vir doctis- 
 simus; Pindarum enim in animo habuisse versus de 
 Tantali supplicio vix dubitandum est, cum eum dixit 
 
 1) Not. in vs. 5. Eurip. Oiest. Lond. 1798- 
 
22 
 
 tyctv fjLitd tqiujv Tizaorov tt6vop 9 quartam habere poenam 
 (eaxum nempe super caput tfuspensum; pott tres; quae 
 sunt Homericae illae dixpa, xul liuog, x«i czuotj it 
 Haud taraen nescius sum, Pauwium xnu^Kv in i 
 inutasae, et recentiores quosdam editores foedam banc 
 inbulsi hominis corruptelam in textum re 
 simum autem professorera Cantabrigiensem ea deceptum 
 esse, non suspicari decet. Neque eum in I 
 pretatione, uXlov in alXcu, consensisse teraerc credendum 
 est. 
 
 §. XXI. 
 
 Quod in hujusmodi quaestionibus maximi est mo- 
 menii ad judicium recte constituendnm, sermo antiquus 
 est et Horaericos, qualem nemo rhansodorum , vel 1 
 dari vel Pisistrati aetate, purum et nitidum per tot ver- 
 sus conser\ asset; quo praecipue commotus, lo< 
 eplciulidum pulcherrimunuj' cujuscunque po 
 
 ingenio dignum , a totius carminis auctore abjiidit 
 ob causas e critica vel philosophica subtiliiatc du« 
 non ausim; tametsi suspicionibus obnoxiuin es 
 
 ivtiim. Auctorem nmiquissimum esi 
 carminibusPisaudri et aliorum prior 
 constat, quod Herculi arcum, clavam 
 
 cum illi atque omius posterioris aevi poetae Herculem 
 clavigerum exliibuerint *). 
 
 WII. 
 In carminibus Homericia omnia, quae communi 
 homfnum sensui nut quotidianae observatioui o 
 rentur, accuratfssime ubique descripta vel potius de- 
 picta sunt, ita ut sibi invicem ac naturae rerumaptissime 
 
 XV. p. 655. Suid. in 1L, 
 
2i> 
 
 semper constent: siquid eriim ejusmodiinscite tractatum 
 esset, auditores, quamvis rudes alioquin, at earum ta- 
 rnen. rerum ohservantissimi, protinus sensissent atque 
 irrisu ac sibilo cxcepissent. Quae autem inente sola 
 concipipossent, parum curabant, an congrua, an incon- 
 grua essent: neque rationem inventorum a poetis requi- 
 rebant: quo fit, ut omnia de Superis aut Inferis, de 
 Olympo aut Hade, de deorum aut mortuorum sedibus, 
 confusa, incerta et incongrua sint. Olympus nunc 
 cc/uipiqog et nolvnrv'S, est, ut mons terribilis, nunc coe- 
 lestis quaedam beatorum regit* 
 *■ — oi/V atvifxotm xcvaaanai , ovre not ofipyo) 
 Aevtxai, orii %uav liu&ilvatou, • alia pal a'i&Qtj 
 Tlinxaxai ui<vtqt\o$, lewi] d ijudedooptv a'tylrj. 
 Neque de mortuorum statu aut sedibus in regione tene- 
 bricosa quadam ultra Oceanum, quern fluvium esse, et 
 totum terrarum orbem continuo et aequabili cursu amb- 
 ire, et iterum in se ipsum redire putabant, plenior ali- 
 qua aut certior notitia est. Poeta, quae accepisset, tra- 
 didit, aucta fortasse etornata, et audientes, quae prorsus 
 nescirent, ingenita animi aftectione credere quam ar- 
 guere maluerunt. 
 
 <$. XXIII. 
 Argumenta nequaquam leviora in episodium elegan- 
 tissimum Iliadis F. 121 — 244. urgenda sunt: nam omni 
 rerum rationi atque hominum fidei contrarium est, Pria- 
 mum non antca vidisse aut cognosse Graecorum duces, 
 qui decimo jam anno bellum sub moenibus Trojae gere- 
 rent : neque Helenam antea scisse , utrum sui fratres ei 
 bello interfuerint necne. At carminum primi auditores 
 non adeo curiosi erant, ut ejusmodi rerum rationem 
 aut exquirerent aut expenderent : neque earum fides e 
 
subtilioribus congruentiis omnino pendebat: monendi 
 enim sunt etiam atque etiam Homericorum studiosi, ve« 
 teres illos doidovg non lingua professoria inter viros cri- 
 ticos et grammaticos , aut alios quoscunque argutiarum 
 captatores , carmina cantitasse; sed inter eos , qui sen- 
 sibus aiiimorum libere, incaute et elYuse indulgerent; 
 neque affectus naturales aut philosophiae aut alius cu- 
 juscunque sapientiae echolasticae fuco oblevissent; ne- 
 que eo rum impe turn cultioris vitaeclegantiisobturiisM nt. 
 Perperam itaque doctissimusHeyne observat, ,,hoc C] 
 odium nullum vinculum com ipsa carminis rerum sum- 
 ma habere tarn necessarium, ut a primo auctore p;o- 
 fectum virlori debeat" (in Iliad, r. 122.): omne enim 
 eummae rerum ac poetae instituto necessarium erar, quod 
 animos audientium varietate rerum et imaginum cap: 
 ac per vices irritare et mulcere poterat. Si nihil pr. ; 
 ducum rixas , pugnas et consilia carminibus celebra 
 rudium hominum aurcs, quae satietate ac fastidio facile 
 afficiuntur. haud diu tenuisset. 
 
 §. XXIV. 
 
 Si mi! em ob causam vir doctus suspicatus est, Dio- 
 medis uoiarfiav singulare aliquod carmen constituisse; 
 quod postea in lliadis textum receptum fuerit. A 
 contextum illud, ejecia hac parte, ipse legisset eo acu- 
 mine et judicio, quo solet, omnia manca et mutila facta 
 esse, facile sensisset; adeo multa sunt ac necessaria, 
 quae ex ea pendent; ut Hectoris et Andromaches con- 
 gressus et colloquium ; Paridis in pugnain reditus et Dio- 
 medi ab eo vulnus illatum; Nestoris e periculo liberatio 
 ope equorum, quos ab Aenea Diomedes abstulerat; eo- 
 rundem equorum in certamine funebri apurrtia; Diome- 
 
2D 
 
 dis rebus a se gestis Mentis oratio in prinoipum consilio 
 adversus Agamemnonem fugam suadentem; atque inde 
 legatio Ulyssis, Ajacis et Phoenicis ad Achillem , qua 
 eo usque pacata est ejus ira, ut reditum in patriam dis- 
 tulerit; unde omnia, quae subsequuta sunt, ratione 
 probabili atque ordine justo ac naturali procedunt, et 
 corpus integrum e rnembris de se invicem mutuo de- 
 pendentibus constitutum est, e quo quemvis dempseris 
 lapidem, tota compages luxata hiabit. Latericia tantum 
 et albaria posterorum additamenta, quibus marmoream 
 poemalis structuram male seduli imitatores, dum repa- 
 rare et ornare cupiebant , foede commaculaverunt, amo- 
 venda sunt, ut tota ejus pulchritudo, per omnes partes 
 uno tenore diffusa, plane clareque eniteat. Poeta et 
 Diomedis res gestas (E. i-5io.) et ejus exinde oratio- 
 nem (A 5i-49.) jam turn in animo adumbratas plane 
 habuit, cum eum , injuria ab Agamemnone objurgatum, 
 tarn modeste ac verecunde silentem exhibuit {A* 4oi - 2.). 
 
 §. XXV. 
 De episodio provocations ac pugnae Hectoris et 
 Ajacis — 11. //. 17. — diversa, et sibi invicem repu- 
 gnantia judicia tulit idem vir praestantissimus : primo 
 enim, suspicari se innuit, singulare id fuisse carmen , et 
 serius in Iliadis compagem receptum *): at postea, cau- 
 aam ac rationem , qua pugna sine exitu intercepta et 
 tlirempta esset, in totius carminis oeconomia, 1. e. in 
 ipsa ilia Iliadis compage, quaerendam esse censuit; quo- 
 niam ea utrumque heroem superstitem esse postulave- 
 rat 2 ). Si autem vir egregius singulare et integrum 
 
 1) In Iliad. II $8- 
 
 2) In vs. £75. 
 
26 
 
 aliquod carmen , aut ex hoc, aut ex alio quo via hujua- 
 modi episodio, conficere conatus esset, membrum so- 
 lum, atque id raancura et saucium, e corpore pulchro 
 et absoiuto , se rapuisse tantum et avulsisse, haud dubie 
 sensisset. 
 
 §. XXVI. 
 Haud minus inter se discrepantia sunt, quae vir 
 eximius, nimio studio in suam de caiminibus Homeri- 
 cis hypothesin eeductus, in rhapsodias A' et A protulit: 
 ut cnim, priorem ceteris insertam et adaptatani esse ab 
 alio fortassc pocta, ostenderct, apertum esse dixit, al- 
 terum ultimo 8 ejus versus excepisse ') : at nihilorainus, 
 cum earn quoque eidem suspicioni subd \or- 
 
 dium ita comparatum esse censet, ut 
 carmen exordiri voluisse videatur poeta 2 ). Exordium 
 autem hoc . /. i - 2. insititium ac serioris aevi es^o, pla- 
 num tacit, cum iabula de Tithono e posterorum opinio- 
 nibus de diis profecta, turn rerum antecedentium series 
 etjunctura: inclinata enim nocte et luce jamjam oritu- 
 ra, tyyi'Vi >JcJg \ , Diomedea et Ulysses e custris proi 
 sunt; ita ut primo diluculo, cum jam videre pos*- 
 quomodo res gerendae essfent, Khesum adorti sint. ( 
 autem redibant, diem plane exortum er toris de 
 
 Rhe6i equis judicium — v*, .»»-. — manifestum t 
 
 §. XXVII. 
 
 Cum lib i dine quadam aut credendi aut non credendi 
 
 mens semel imbuta sic, nihil est, quod credere, vcl 
 
 non credere possit, speciosis adscitis rationibus: atque 
 
 quanto quis ingcnii viribus et doctrinae copiis praepol- 
 
 i) Observ. praelim. in II. K. 
 
 2) In A. i. Vide similin quoque in YVolfu proleg. XCIV. \ 
 
V 
 leat ,' tanto avidius praesumptas opiniones amplectitur, 
 et tanto majore apparatu ac validiore custodia contra 
 communem hominum sensum eas tuetur; unde saepe 
 fit, ut ludibria vulgi philosophorum deliciae sint, et 
 Plato, Zeno, Berkeley, Hume etc. serio tractaverint, 
 quae quivis e liivio homunculus jure risisset. Hujus- 
 modi homunculum me esse fateor: neque exquisitiore 
 
 lo ingenii acumine, sed communi hominis cujusvis 
 
 eensu in re critica uti; at quoad communi hoc sensu 
 
 jiulicare liceat, venia viri docttssimi dixerim, nulla pars 
 
 neque Iliadis , neque alius cujuscunque poematis, magi3 
 
 raecedentibu8 et ante narratis pendet, quam rhapso- 
 
 illa decima. Animorum aftectus, locorum situs, ca- 
 stiorum custodiae , ducum orationes, omnium denique 
 rerum gestarum in utroque exercitu nexus et consilia, 
 non nisi ex ante actis intelligi possunt; neque poeta, si 
 ejusmodi carmen singulare apud homines simplices et 
 agrestes, quales erant omnes propemodum illius aevi, 
 cecinisset, ad vigesimum versum audientium coronam 
 tenuisset. Quod vir eximius ex Eustathii commentariis 
 protulit, hanc scilicet rhapsodiam sigillatim ab Homero 
 eciiptam esse, et a Pisistrato Uiadi insertam, ad naida- 
 ;< ;ytiu rciegandum est cum aliis ejusmodi fabulis anili- 
 bus, qui bus abunde scatent quae de poeta tradita sunt 
 eub Herodoti, Plutarchi et aliorum personis ab ineptis- 
 eimis ludimagistris; qui virum viribus ingenii et ani- 
 mi celsitudine omnibus praefulgentem, ludimagistrum 
 quoque fuisse perinde fatuum et stolidum, pueris per- 
 suasum adnitebantur. 
 
 §. XXVIII. 
 Viri critici, qui animos multiplici scientia imbutos 
 ad carmina legrnda adhibent, omnia zd naQalunofitvct e 
 
2% 
 
 memoria facile supplere solent: sed cum Jibrinulli trant, 
 neque rcrum anteactarum memoria nisi a poetis con 
 vata, omnis aut historia aut fabula, ut placere 
 integra esse debuerat, ita ut ex se ipsa plane intelligere- 
 tur, neque interpretis aut commtntatoris opere egeret. 
 
 £. .XXIX. 
 Quae in undecima I'iadis rhapsodia narrata sunt, 
 haud minus ex . it; neq* 
 
 pugnae cnminisr. reram in ea get arum nexnm 
 
 atque ordinem quisqujiu int< iram et 
 
 sects&um Achillis et *ictoriam, quam Trojani inde con- 
 eequuti erant, autea co^ Initimn qnoquc, ej<.cto • 
 
 exordio insititio, vs. j, 2, finem | !ibri aptis- 
 
 siroe excipu: Rhesi enim caede Trojai 
 Graecorum exploratoribus r< , uterque exerci 
 
 ad pugnam so accingit ; atque e pugna, quae eequuta 
 est, et rebus in - -, mors Pair itua 
 
 et ufjuuficc Achillis, et omn [ne , quae poeta in 
 
 annuo narrare lnluisset, serie coulinua et ordine pro- 
 babili oriuntur. 
 
 § XXX. 
 Ita parum in sequentibus vir egrcgius 6ibi con 
 utpostea, in O. 5<jo. f ,atlmirabilem esse canninil 
 iiomiam ," observarit, ..quod poeta tam diu Patrotlum 
 intra tentorium F.urypyli retinuit morantem, ut Die ipso 
 rerum alYectu pcrcussus id Achillean rcdiret." Atquihaec 
 omnia e rebus in undecima rhapsodia narratis p' 
 neque, eacxempta, Patroclum in Euryp' in- 
 
 tiasse, aut ad Achillem rcdire debuisse sciremu 
 narratio, quae nunc ordine justo et nexu continuo usque 
 ad finem procedit , luxata et interrupta forct. 
 
2 9 
 
 §. xxxr. 
 
 Ratione probabiliore, quaeHectoris et Ajacis a pro- 
 vocatione pugnam sub8equuta sunt „deTrojanorum con- 
 cilio et legatione Idaei — //. 54. 55. etc. — alium et re- 
 centiorem auctorem habere," viro docto visa sunt: ne- 
 que in hac re ab ejus judicio dissentirem, si ita detrahi 
 possent, ut neque hiatum neque cicatricem in corpora 
 poernatis relinquerent ; quod quomodo fiat, neque ipse 
 indicavit, neque mihi scire ccniigit. 
 
 §. XXXII. 
 Poemata nihilominus Uomerica interpolationibus 
 haudpaucis scatere, ac maculis et corruptees posterorum 
 temporam foedata esse, nemini, qui artem criticam vel 
 summis labiis tetigerit, dubium esse potest; neque alia 
 ratione recentiora ab antiquis secernenda esse videntur, 
 nisi vera indole ac specie veterrimae linguae e tenebris 
 eruta, quam quidem cerLissimam normam in carminibus 
 in pristinum nitorem ac formam integram restituendis 
 adhibere licet. Hac praecipue nos usuri sumus: nam 
 congerere argumenta, vel e veterum discrepantibus sen- 
 tentiis, vel e criticorum diversis opinionibus, petita, in 
 unam aut alteram partem, nihil aliud est, quam otio 
 proprio et patientia aliena abuti. De carminibus vel eo- 
 rum auctoribus neque quidquam scimus, neque scire 
 possumus praeter ea, quae in carminibus tradita sunt: 
 unica enim monumenta antiquissimorum temporum no- 
 bis restant; neque de iis judicaturo aliunde quam ex 
 ipsis judicium instruendum est. Historiola de compage 
 rhapsodiarum a Pisistrato vel Pisistratidis facta , si non 
 prorsus spernenda, de Atheniensium exemplari vel edi- 
 tione tantum accipi debet; cujus apud veteres haud 
 
00 
 
 magnam fuisse auctoritatem, e grarnmaticorum silentio 
 colligere licet. 
 
 §. XXXIII. 
 Ut tamen concederemus, poemata in rhapsodias df- 
 visa, sparsim et membratim in Graeciam illata esse, ni- 
 hil obsiaret, quo minus antea in Asiae civiiatibus iutegra 
 extiiissrnt. Inter exemplaria antiqua in biblioi! 
 Alexandria asservata pcrcelebre fuit Massiliense illud, 
 quod reges Alexandrini i ivirafe coei 
 
 conscribendum curaverant ex antiquiore quodam, quod 
 conditores, exsulantes ex Ionia , secum atportasse cre- 
 dibileest; nisi quia Hibernfci cujusdam antiquan'i sen- 
 tentiam praetulerit, et Homcrui n fuiase, 
 
 iteque lingua Graeca, scd Ctltica vel Hibernica u^um 
 CS6C, credere malit x ). Herodotus, scriptor Asiaticus, 
 qui saeculo Pisistratidarum expalsionem into vi_ 
 
 xit, nihil nosse videtur de rhapsodiir he- 
 
 oienaiam principibus m duo corpora red.. 
 Iliadem et Odvs>eam, tanquam poen 
 lata ea forma, qua per quad mpridem annos 
 
 exdtissent 2 ). Poemata quoque ip« 'iris 
 
 alienis, aut partibus hetcrogeniis, conllata » 
 gu^a et Integra fuisse ab initio , et • ctorura - 
 
 audi end um commodo in rhapsodia? 
 me jam comprobasse confido argumentis hau 
 dis , quibus alia fortasse adjeccro , cum in notuli? 
 derim, interpolationes baud paucas eo insertas esse, ut 
 singulae rhapsodiae commode a se invicem sejungeren- 
 tur, et partes integrae viderentur. 
 
 1) Collectanea Hibernica, YoL III. Praef. 
 ft) Lib. II. C. 116. 
 
5 * 
 §. XXXIV. 
 
 Praeter Massiliense aliarum etiam civitatum satque 
 gentium nominibus insignita singula exemplaria a ntiqua 
 a grammaticis Alexandrinis laudata sunt; scilicet Chii, 
 Cypri, Sinopes, Cretae et Argeos ; quae d'Ansse de 
 Villoison, vir de omnibus bonis literis, praesertimiGrae- 
 cis, optime meritus, non singula exemplaria a rnajori- 
 bus tradita, aut a rhapsodis collecta credit, sed „edi- 
 tiones, quas curaverant nonnullae civitates ')." Me ta- 
 men fateor (venia viri doctissimi et nobis, dura vixif, 
 amici?simi dixerim) haud intelligere, quomodo civitates 
 aut respublicae editorum ofiiciis fungi possent; aut qua- 
 lia senatusconsulta vel plebiscita fierent de singulorum 
 vcrsuum variis lectionibus, cum ex unoquoque c;odice 
 aliae seligendae, aliae repudiandae essent. Minus etiam 
 compertum habeo, qua ratione omnes civitates insula e 
 Cretae vel Cypri unius editoris vel grammatici munus 
 exequerentur vel cxplerent: Graecorum autem vetremm 
 moribus et institutis optime congruit, singulas vel ijocias 
 civitates singula exemplaria e sparsis et divulsis diverse- 
 rum rhapsodorum cantilenis communi auctoritate inte- 
 gra comparasse, ac publico sumptu literis mandasse. 
 
 §. XXXV. 
 Haud tamen Fred. Aug. Wolfii de hac re sententiam 
 omnino repudiare ausim: neque enim a ratione vel con- 
 6iietudine veterum alienum est, custodes bibliothecae 
 Alexandrinae singulis Homericorum carminum exempla- 
 ribus nomina posuisse earum civitatum vel insularum, e 
 quibus ea, privatorum fortasse scriniis, emissent vel col- 
 legissent ; atque inde orta esse duo recensionum vel edi- 
 
 i) Piolegora. in Iliad, p. XXIIT. 
 
tionum genera, quae ab Alexandrinis laudata sint; al xar 
 avdoa, quales essent Antiraachi et fthiani; et al xaru no- 
 lug ve\lx noXiutv, ut Massiliensis , Chia, Argiva , Sino- 
 pica, Cypria et Cretica 1 ). Praeterea fuit exemplar per- 
 celebre illud ix vuodr t /.og; quod cura Aristotelis 2 ), vel, 
 ut aliimaluerunt, Callistheiiis etAnaxarchi, correctun 
 Alexander in cista pretiosissima , inter spolia Persarum 
 capta, depositum tent-bat, et secum semper habebat. 
 Wolfii autem sententiae vocabula txdooag et dw 
 quibus vetera exemplaria dignoscuntur , obbtare vi. 
 tur; :i<r.oi'dooig enim, non i'xdooig \c\dtouOwai;, ea ralione 
 facta fuissct. 
 
 $. XXXVI. 
 Mirari alioquin in primii debuit, qnuauis ^. i i i docti 
 sententiam, de carminibus vel Pisistrato vel Pisistratidis 
 in ordinem rcdactis , amplexus sit, Atticam recension 
 vel editionem in Bibliotheca nullam fuisse memoratu 
 dignam; neque regcm munificentissimum, qui qninde- 
 cim talentis, adjectis quoque novis et pulcherrimia apo- 
 graphs, tragicorum Aeschyli, Sophoclis et Euripidis 
 Diplaria antiqua ab Atli . tnvitis etiam. 
 
 coemisset 4), de Homericorum carmiuum exemp 
 
 i) Proleg. s. XXXIX. 
 
 2) Plutarch, in Alexandre). 
 
 rabon. lib. XIII. p. 594. 
 
 4) Oti ^ i/.aitji 1 Jii3k*vr. 
 
 air 6 UroAeualoi 1 > (f-aotr, • 
 
 •jiQvi -7; 
 
 xakatra dyyigiov , xnt kaddiv rd —u, 
 
 K«x Aia% 
 
 Hort o'to(V , xara«;iaoa; 7 
 
 xaXUorort, a 1 -rapd *A 
 
 xaTiOXSiaotv. fatft 
 
 umi&m* rd/.rtrra , xar tlimp na- 
 
 Aauuv, tdxaivd. Galen, in Hippocr. Epideni. 1. III. Coram. II. 
 
55 
 
 aliquo conquirendo ex ea civitate, quae ih formam 
 ipsam indui8set , et Uteris prima consignasset , unquam 
 cogitasse. Quod si tanta beneficia in poesim contulis- 
 8ent Attici , ut lliadem et Odysseam e sparsis ac disjectis 
 diversorum poetarum carminibus condidissent, antiquis- 
 eima earum exemplaria haud minus quam tragoediarum 
 ex Athenis comparanda fuissent. Bibliothecae tamen 
 conditoribus ac curatoribus potius visum est, neglectis 
 prorsus Athenis talia exemplaria e Sinope et Massilia, 
 extremis Asiae etEuropae oris, inter gentes feras ac bar- 
 baraS conditis, conquirere; ubi diccvxtvciGTwv et emen- 
 daturientium fuco et commentis minus obnoxia fuissent, 
 atque ideo pristinum nitorem carminum integrum et il- 
 Jaeeum conservassent. Fabulam itaque istam aut ne- 
 ecisse aut sprevisse eos oportet: studia enim regum et 
 grammaticorum haud paullo acriora erant in Homerum, 
 quam in tragicos, vel alios quoscunque poetas; neque 
 sumptui aut labori ulli perpercissent, quo codices me- 
 liores vel antiquiores se obtinere posse sperassent. 
 
 §. XXXVIL 
 
 Ipse Wolfius , cum e sensibus animi potius quam e 
 praesumptis opinionibus judicium profert, parum huic 
 fabulae ndere videtur; tametsi, ut sententiam suam, 
 quae tota ex ea pendet, quoquo modo tueatur, aliam et 
 absurdiorem , ei quasi fulcrum ac supplementum , sibi 
 confinxit; atque religiosam earn et perpetuam morum 
 veterum observantiam, et loquendi sentiendique formu- 
 larun con6tantiam, quam in carminibus miramur, et 
 quae uni aetati, et unius hominis ingenio tantum con- 
 gruere videtur, ex unius Aristarchi el eganti ingenio et 
 
 G 
 
34 
 
 doctrina profectam esse contendit *); cum nihilominus 
 ex innumeris locis constaret, ut doctissimus Heyne jam. 
 pridem monuit, Aristarchum neque indolem neque pros- 
 odiam veteris linguae cognitam habuisse. 
 
 §. XXXVIII. 
 
 Haud tamen ulliim Homericorum carminum exem- 
 plar Pisistrati saeculo antiquius extitisse, aut sexcente- 
 simo prius anno ante Christum natum scriptum fuisse, 
 facile credam: rara enim et perdiflicilis erat iis tempo ri- 
 bus scriptura ob penuriam materiae scribendo idoneae; 
 cum literas aut lapidibus exarare aut tabulis Jigneis aut 
 laminis metalli alicujus insculpere oporteret; quo modo 
 in laminis plumbeis antiquissimum liesiodi exemplar 
 apud Delphos asservabatur. Laminae autem, quae to- 
 tius Iliadis vel Odysseae capaces fuissent, omncm ratio- 
 iiem modumque ponderis et impensi excessissent; atque 
 ideo memoriter retenta sunt, et hacc, et alia veterum 
 poetarum carmina, et per urbes ac vicos, et in princi- 
 pum virorum aedibus decantata a rhapsodis istis, qui 
 histrionicam quandam artem exercebant, et alienorum 
 fructibus ingeniorum sese alebant. Neque mirandum 
 est, ea per tot saecula sic integra conservaia esse: quo- 
 niam , 11011 ut Scotorum quidam de Pseudo-Ossiani sui 
 potmatibus persuadere laborabant, casu quodam novo 
 et inaudito per homines rusticos et indigentes , aliis ne- 
 gotiis et curis distractos et iropeditos, tradita erant, sed 
 per eos, qui, ab omnibus Graeciae et coloniarum regi- 
 bus et civitatibus mercede satis ampla conduct! , omnia 
 sua studia in iis ediscendis, retinendis, et rite recitandis 
 
 i) Prolegora. $. 2. 
 
55 
 conferebant. Ne tamen Scoti.de poesi sua Celtica soli 
 sine aeraulis gloriarentur, Hibernicus antiquarius face- 
 tissimus poerna haud paullo antiquius, si credere libet, 
 de bello Trojaiio, patria lingua prisca scriptum invenit: 
 quam linguam, sive Celticam, sive Scythicam, sive 
 Magogicarn, sive Pelasgiam dixeris, non aliam esse ea, 
 e qua omnium Graecorum carmina antiquiora translata 
 pint, praesertim Homerica; quae Terpandrum , septimi 
 ante Christum natum saeculi lyricum et citharistam aut 
 ahum quemvis ejusmodi hominem transtulisse conten- 
 ds ; neque unquam suspicatus est vir egregius, Iliadem 
 euam Hibernicam ex iisdem materia , quibus Shakes- 
 pearii „Troilus et Cressida", confictam esse, eodem vel 
 eeriore etiam saeculo: quamvis id tuto admittere potue- 
 rit, et plane nihilominus eviocere, Hiberniae Iliaca ve- 
 tustiora quam Scotiae Ossianica carmina esse *). 
 
 Haud minus egregie hallucinati sunt veterum non- 
 nulli , qui, sacerdotum Aegyptiorum jactatione et prae- 
 stigiis ludificau , Homerum Memphi e libris in Vulcani 
 templo asservatis Iliadem et Odysseam transtulisse vel 
 confinxisse, tradiderunt 2 ): Aegyptii enim, etsi mate-, 
 riam ad conscnbendos libros idoneam Graecis medio se- 
 ptimo a. Ch. n. saeculo primi suppeditaverint 3 ), ipsi 
 nullos nisi rituales et annales scripsisse videntur; neque 
 minus coelum et solum, quam hominum ingenia et in- 
 doles lir | ,ac, poesi, quae varia et inaequalia poscir, 
 inimica fntrunt. 
 
 1) Collectanea Hibernica, Pracf. in vol. III. 
 
 2) Ibid. 
 
 3) Rege Psammiticho } qui Aegyptum alienigenajciun Corniner« 
 ciis primus aperaerir. Ykle Herodotun.. 
 
 C2 
 
§. XXXIX. 
 
 Plutarchus autem Lycurgura, Lacedacmoniornra 
 legislatorem , carmina Homerica in Ionia apud Cleo- 
 phyH cujusdara posteros invenisse, tradidit, atqne ea 
 nono a. Ch. n. saeculo exscripsisse, et in patriam retu- 
 lisse , cum jam antea obscura quaedam eorum fama inter 
 Graeciae incolas percrebuisset, ac partes aut laciniae 
 nonnullae sparsim et singulatim circumferrentur. Sed 
 haec fabula, ut cui vis sentire licet, in Lacedaemonio- 
 rum vel eorum legislatoris laudem tota conncta est ab 
 homine rerum antiquarum et priscae morum indolis 
 prorsus ignaro , qui iibros exscribere ejusdem impensi 
 atque operis in Lycurgi , ac sua ipsius aetate, ere- 
 diderat. 
 
 $. XL. 
 
 Si vero carmina tarn sero literis mandabantur, haud 
 mirandum est, grammaticos Alexandrinos tam parum 
 luminis aut fructus e suis codicibus hausisse; cum scri- 
 bae, qui ea e rhapsodorum recitationibus exceperant, 
 rei antiquariae parum etudiosi , sua quisque ipsius, aut 
 ejus qui recitabat, patria dialecto usi sint; quam, gen- 
 tis cuiuscunque iuisset, Pisistrati aetate plurimum ab 
 Homerico sermone immutatam esse oportct; itaut, ne 
 in antiquissimo quidem Bibliothecae exemplari , gram- 
 matici illi digamma inventuri essent; neque si forte in 
 Argivo vel Cretensi occurrisset , pro alio quam dialecti 
 eemibarbarae signo exoleto, a poetae cultissimo sermone 
 prorsus abigendo, habituri essent. E breribus titulis, in 
 laminis et lapidibus insculptis , linguae veteris reliquiae 
 cruendae erant ; atque ex iis norma aliqua constituenda, 
 qua, exemplaribus inter se collatis, ct metri analogiac- 
 
^7 
 
 que justa ratione habita, e diversomm discrepantiis 
 unum congruens et sincerum, ab omnibus rhapsodorum 
 sordibus purgatum, confici potuisset. Sed alia pror- 
 sus criticorum veterum emendandi corrigendique ra- 
 tio fuit. 
 
 §. XLI. 
 
 Inscriptionum , quae adhuc extant, vix unam aut 
 alteram ad aetatem Pisistrato priorem referre ausim : in 
 liummis enim antiquissimis, quorum complures haud 
 paullo vetustiores sunt, signum pro nomine gentis vel 
 civitatjs est; et literae aut nullae aut initiales tan turn: 
 neque Homericorum temporum monumenta inscripta 
 speranda sunt, sed posteriora potius exquirenda ; quae 
 inter gentes minus cultas condita , sermonem ipsis anti- 
 quiorem, et Homerico propiorem exhibeant. Hujus- 
 modi est tabula ilia Heracleensis ; quae, sub finem 
 quarti a. Ch. n. saeculi exarata , dialecti speciem vetu- 
 stiorem exhibet, quam quae in alio quovis ejusmodi 
 monumento adhuc deprehensa sit. Si Peloponnesi, 
 Boeotiae, et Phocidis urbium reliquias perscrutari lice- 
 ret, alia forte et antiquiora, hominum haud magis ele- 
 gantiis recentioribus elimatorum, inventuri foremus: 
 neque hujus saeculi principes, si partem aliquam opum, 
 quas in bellorum et luxus voragines profundunt, in iis 
 eruendis , exquirendis , et in lucem proferendis expen- 
 derent, minus suae ipsorum gloriae , aut civium et sub- 
 ditorum felicitati consulerent. Quae reges Alexandrini 
 bello fortiter gesserint, vel pace splendide ostentave- 
 rint, vix est qui nunc scire curet : sed quae in bonas 
 artes acliteras, praesertim in Homerica carmina contu- 
 lerunt, ea demum omnia pro communibus in genus liu- 
 
58 
 
 manum beneficiis adhuc agnoscuntur; et ubicunque 
 terrarura humanitatis et elegantiae studia aliquid pro- 
 gre6sus fecerint, tanquam gloriae monumenta celebran- 
 tur, quae eo etiam omnibus aliis ejusmodi monu- 
 mentis praestant, quod ipsa vetustas, quae cetera sub- 
 mit, haec auget, in aeternumque auctura est. 
 
 §. XLII. 
 
 De se suaque patria Hesiodus in carmine quacdara 
 memoravit; aique ideo ansam pratbuit chrono^raphia 
 accuratius inquirendi de aetate, qua viverit: sed n**que 
 lliadis neque Odysseae auctor aliqi. e ipso di 
 
 neque ullam notiiiam vel homiuurn urn sui sae- 
 
 culi posteris tradidit, e qua vel de loco vel de tempore 
 quo tloruerit, quicquid cerli statuere po^ tx 
 
 indole tamcn linguae et syllabarum noiinullaru: 
 sun's certissimc constat, utrumque Htsiudo amiquio- 
 rem esse: nam omnium linguarum progressio rudem 
 est; atque in contrahendo et comprimendo paullatim 
 tonos ac syllabas, et in elidendo ac ruolliendo vocis ar- 
 ticulationes praecipue fit. 
 
 §. XL1U. 
 
 Hanc praescrtim ob causam Ilias mihi videtur anti- 
 quior Odyssea, et a poeta praecedentis aevi condita 
 Par in utroque poemate simplicitas moruni, idem 
 %vovg cxpzaionpiTi)^ xat yu^t; <■ atqui voces 
 
 quaedam Odysseae e vitae cultioris u>u et rerum statu 
 jam maturiore orta esse videntur; ut y^uarm, opes, 
 quae xr ;;/<«:« in lliade sunt; Xtayr, , diversorium publi- 
 cum; ffvfih j, iunis e biblo, herba Aegyptiaca, 
 lliadis auctori iguota, factus : 6 operam aiercc- 
 
59 
 nariam facio, verbum e nomine #^> servus mer- 
 cenarius, effictum, ac novum hominum ordinem, me- 
 dium inter servos et ingenuos, indicans; qui nusquam 
 in lliade memoratur, neque civili rerum statui in ea 
 adumbrato satis congruere videtur. 
 
 §. XLIV. 
 
 Voces aliae, in utroque poemate perinde obviae, 
 in Odyssea breviorem sumunt formam , atque Atticam 
 ietam elegantiam et concinnitatem, quae majestatem 
 veteris linguae pauJlatim subruebat, jamdudum obre- 
 ptantem produnt. Hujusmodi sunt Nowvpog , penulti- 
 ma breri , pro Ntovvpvog , e participio Nowvptvog con- 
 tracto; Siamg pro fytant'oiog; et'^/^o'rr;? pro ' AyQOitnvrig'y 
 atque item secundus casus nominis 'Hajg, 'Hqoq in dis- 
 eyllabum; et Aoaxo , paenultima correpta, pro Aoaoau- 
 to; Kloi quoque ei Kma in monosyllaba ; et participia 
 praeterita TeOir^jg, Hinri^g etc. quae, more antiquo 
 Ionico, paenultimaa semper productas in lliade, nisi 
 locis interpolatis , habent, in dissyllaba Te&vecogi 77*- 
 Ttximg , etc. poetarum Atheniensium more contracta. 
 Vox, quae in lliade, uno dempto loco x ), Psgrnn tri- 
 syllaba est ubique, in Odyssea non nisi dissyllaba vel 
 monosyllaba, _T<pa/>/ , rptivg, et diaeresi r^iig, occur- 
 rit; quae more antiquo r^ocFi], r$uFg> et T^ccFcg scri- 
 benda esse, e Latino Gravis , inde deducto, certissime 
 constat; atque ita TeQccFog et rs(jaFtj, pro ytQcuog et 
 yeQai)], pari ratione Iliadi restituenda sunt. 
 
 *) r. 386. Interpolatum esse totum locum 536 — 8- alias ob cau- 
 sas suspicari licet; sed qua ratione repurgandus sit, vix ope„ 
 raepretium est, conjecturis indulgere. 
 
49 
 
 §. XLV. 
 
 In sententiarum constructione, quae vulgo •yntaxia 
 vocatur, parum differentiae est: ob6ervare tamen licet, 
 *Em\v in Odyssea hand infrequenter inclicativum sibi 
 8ubfunctum habere; quod in Iliade nusquatn evenit. 
 
 Alia est autem mythorum et sacrorum ratio; cum 
 IliacuS poeta neque Mercurium deorurn nuntium, nc- 
 que Neptunum tridentigerum, neque Delon insolam 
 Apollini sacram , neque deum eum oraculit zpeiovra, ant 
 homines ftfaojuvovg '), neque Thesea aliquem heroa, 
 neque hominem ullum impia ista postcriorum tempo- 
 rum dno&ewoit inter deos relatum, nosse videtur. 
 
 $. XLVII. 
 
 Vestigia etiam OJysseae insunt artium ac scientia- 
 rum , rudium scilicet adhuc et agrestium, auctarum ta- 
 men, et gradum aliquem paullo eminentiorem adepta- 
 rum. Lyrae chordae baud diutius c lino factae sunt *), 
 aed ex ovium intestini- , at hodie fiunt; et verticillas, 
 xulkoip, quo intendeientur ct remitterentur , adjectus 
 est 3 ); quod Iliacus poeta in Achillis lyra 4 ) vix silen- 
 tio transisset, si ei innotuisseL Usus etiam colurana- 
 rum in aedinciis frequens in Odyssea . nusquam in Ilia- 
 de memoratur; atque ideo ignotum fuisse poetae anti- 
 
 i ) Odyss. Q. 79 — gi. 
 
 2) Iliad. 2. 570. Ha ml me effugnt, rlros doctor knot istud pr» 
 cantiuncula qua Jam habuisse; sed obstac eorum sententiae 
 V, nam cttiriti qui ad citharam canir, ipsa wxntti 
 
 5) Odyss. <*>. 4°i>- 
 4) Iliad. /. 136. 
 
quiori colligere licet; vix enim in Priami aedium tarn 
 magnifica descriptione x ) cum siluisset, si cognosset. 
 Columnae, quae in Ulyssis aula sive triclinio stabant, 
 arborum trunci, medio aedificio erecti ad tigna tecti 
 imbricati suatinenda, fuisse videntur, atque ita, ut ha- 
 8tas , quibus Graeci antiquiasimi nunquam non armati 
 prodibant, appositas continerent, circumquaque striati, 
 haud alitor quam columnae Doricae in posterorum tem- 
 plia 2 ). Oceanum denique uxpoQQOv , refluentem, esse, 
 longinquiore navigatione , quamvis obscure et ambigue, 
 homines jam turn percepisse videntur; cum nihil ejus- 
 modi in carmine lliaco , nisi in versu manifeste spurio 
 et commentitio 3 ) , memoratum sit. In artibus humi- 
 lioribus quoque et agrestibus usus atyviuiov, aquilarum 
 minorum , in aucupio *), et retis , dwTvov nokvwnoij, in 
 
 1) Iliad. Z. 242 « — 50. 
 
 2) Odyss. A. 210. Haud me fugit, doctrina et ingenio in- 
 signes esse viros, qui negaverint, dovQoSoxrjv istam colu- 
 mnae striam sive canaliculum fuisse, et pro appenso velprope 
 apposito quodam, vel ipsa media columna excavata potius 
 habuerint. Venia taraen eorum dixerim , male eos intelle- 
 xisse Graeca tarn poetae quam commentatoris Eustathii: nam 
 w()off xiova, columnae ipsi, non rei alicuiex ea exstanti vel 
 antepositae, hastam adnixam, unice significare potest; ut 
 hene reddidit Vhgihus : 
 
 quae mediis ingenti adnixa columnae 
 
 Aeaibus adstabat, validam vi corripit hastam. 
 (Aen. XII. 92. ) neque Eustathius per sk xiova tyysykvfiftivfjv 
 mediam columnam excavatam voluisse existimandus est; 
 cximia V tixlovaxs*odojulv7iv exprimendum foret; sed su- 
 perficiem ejus insculptam vel exaratam, xta ut hastae, ei 
 adnixae, immotae starent. 
 
 3) -*• 399- 
 
 O Odyss. X,3«2 — € - 
 
piscatu 1 ), progressus indicant, qui, utcunque sper- 
 nendi in hac satietate et fastidio renim , iis aetatibns 
 nonnisi tarde et pluribus irritis conatibus fiebant. 
 
 §. XLVIIL 
 
 Ut uberior et validior in ornando, ita modestior in 
 (ingendo est Iliadis auctor; quod non a mente solum ve- 
 gctiore et judicio scvcriore profecium esse crediderim, 
 scd quodammodo etiam e locornm, ubi res g» <*nt t 
 
 propinquitate: Troadis enim caraporum - murium 
 
 cujaus, montium praerupu et- cacuroina , audientibua 
 proximarum regionum incolis, apprirue nota esse de- 
 bucrant; atque ideo, darn hero ac foi tit udo su- 
 
 pra oinnem naturae modum eirerebatu odi 
 
 am ratio justa et accural a hubenda crat, qua inte- 
 ritatif species in rebus notit, iingendi licentiae 
 in iguotis obtcndcrctur. 
 
 §. XLIX. 
 
 De Ithaca autem, insula parva, longinqua et obseu- 
 ra, cum nihil omnino coloni illi Asiatici. pro- 
 
 nil auribus, ad quaecunque poetae fingere libuerit acci- 
 pienda , audittun venicbant. Minus etiam curiosos fuisse 
 oportuit de percgrinationibus Ulvssis , de gentibus et re- 
 gionibua, quas emu adiisse, et portentis ac prodigiis, 
 quae eum in iis vidisse, poeta commentus sit: neque se- 
 rioris aevi geographi, qui eas gentes et regiones inter 
 
 *) lb. 536. Ejusmodi rete sub alio nomine, oki'oi t.ivov, memo- 
 rattur II. E. \2T- scd total locus — , — insititius et 
 
 Serioril cujusdnm poetae esse videtui ; baud pnuca enim ei 
 insuut ab Homevico seruione alicna , gu«a in notnla 1 
 mus. 
 
45 
 
 fretaSicula, Tyrrhena, etc. perquirebant, alitcr erras- 
 se mihi videntur, quam si quis inter insulas Oceani Au- 
 stralis Gulliverianas istas, Lilliput, Blefuscue, etc. per- 
 quirere susceperit. Ita nonnullos gravioris judicii viros 
 inter veteres sensi6se constat ') ; quanquam recentiorum 
 poetarum siudia , dum res, quas tractarent , Homericis 
 fabulis ornare et augere laborarent, alteri opinioni plus 
 ponderis et auctoritatis addiderint. Gentes quoque, quae 
 cas regiones incolebant, dum in patriae honorem anti- 
 quitaiis speciem e carminibus Homericis unaquaeque 
 captaret, rumorem vel indicium quodcunque, tenuissi- 
 mum etiam, quo Graecorum principes a Troja redeun- 
 tes ea loca attigisse crederentur, avide arripuere et amb- 
 itiose auxere: unde evcnit, ut Sicilia pro Cyclopum, 
 Campania pro Laestrygonum , et Corcyra pro Phaeacum 
 patria habita sit; cum tamen revera non aliter e mente 
 poetae de Cyclopibus ct Laestrygonibus quam de Brob- 
 dignagiensibns statuendum fuerit; neque Phaeaces et 
 eorum insula Scberia alio loco habendi, quam Panchaea, 
 Laputa, Eutopia et aliae ejusmodi fabulosae , quas face- 
 tiS8imi homines, sive in sacerdotum et philosophorum 
 ludibrium, sive in summae beatitudinis exemplum , 
 euopte quisque ingenio eflinxerint. Neque multum 
 profecit vir acerrimus, qui, post Iliacam topographiam 
 tam felici industiia expeditam, Odyssiacam haud pari- 
 bus auspiciis tentavit: omnis enim similitudo Homericae 
 cum posterorum Ithaca e nova lectione Jacobi Bryant, 
 u4vzdo pro Al di x in Odyssea IX. 26., pendet: quam 
 senex, inscitia vix tironi condonanda, protulit, et juve- 
 nis, verecundia ctiam in pucro nimia, amplexus est: 
 
 1) Strabop. 1. I. p. 24. L VII. p. 299. 
 
44 
 
 quoniam JvtuQ pronomini emphatico Avvy) sic uvzidtu- 
 -Awg subjunctum de una eademque re nulla unquam vel 
 ratio vel consuetudo loquendi agnovit. Non aliam ob 
 causam forsitan poetalthacamet resUlyssiscaeteris Grae- 
 corum a Troja redeuntium materiam carminis praetulit, 
 quam quod, audientibus minus notae , majorem fingen- 
 di licentiam praeberent: insula enim parvula, pauperri- 
 ma, et remotissima nullas illecebras habebat, quibus per- 
 egrinatorem , raercatorem, vel etiam piratam Asiaticom 
 visendi studio allectaret. 
 
 S- L. 
 
 Odysseam Homcricam in libri XXIII. vs. 296. finem 
 habuissc, gramraatici celeberrirai, Aristophanes et Ari- 
 starchus, olim censuerunt x >; neque aliter cuivis Home- 
 ric is paullo altius imbuto ccnsendum est; tarn rnulta 
 subsequentibus iiisunt a moribws ac sermone illius aevi 
 prorsus aliena. E Tiresiae vaticiniis quoque constat, 
 Ulyssem ob procorum caedem in exilium actum esse 2 ), 
 et longinquis peregrinationibus postea diu jactatum er- 
 rasse. Pauca, quae veterum traditionibus poeta acce- 
 perat, ornare et augere speciosis miraculis studebat, 
 mutare non audebat; atque ea nihil amplius docuisse 
 videntur, quam Ulyssem, a Troja in patriam redeuntem, 
 via aberrasse, et inter terras longinquas et ignotas nau- 
 fragium fecisse et diu latuisse; decimo autem anno so- 
 lum sub aliena persona clam rediisse, et principes ali- 
 quot viros, qui uxorem sollicitarent, et hospitioabuteren- 
 tur, dolo interfecisse; a quorum parentibus et propin- 
 
 1) Vide Schol. min. et Eustath. y. 
 
 2") Vide ./. i2o etc. . 
 
46 
 
 quis e civitate exaclus sit. Horum numerum, ut ejus 
 gloriae consuleret, poeta immodice , supra omnem fi- 
 dem et opinionem , ampliavit et auxit ; quo praecipue 
 ct in foedfs istis et immanibus suppliciis , quae Ulysses 
 et Telemachus de caprario et miseris aliquot mulierculis 
 sumunt, judicium limatius et liberalius desiderandum 
 est 1 ). Bellatores suos atroces, saevos, et feroces ex- 
 hibuit Iliadis auctor; sed a frigida ea ac tarda crudelita- 
 te , quae odium duntaxat ac nauseam pariat, oranes ab- 
 horrent. Caede et sanguine hostium, non cruciatibus 
 inimicorum gaudent : neque Achillis tantum vel Diome- 
 dis , sed Ulyssis etiam , qualis in Iliaco carmine adum- 
 bratur, excelsior et generosior est animus, quam ut in 
 servos et ancillas saevierit, aut tam vili et miserando 
 sanguine ultionem vel iram placaverit. 
 
 Veruntamen, quo minus judicii et ingenii in fin- 
 gendo , eo plus artis et elegantiae in distribuendo et or- 
 nando prodit Odysseae auctor. Summus est ubique ni- 
 tor, et lactea quaedam ubertas tenuissimas res citra tu- 
 cum auget, et veram earum speciem, quamvis religiose 
 retentam, honestiorem reddit. Quoties res postulant, 
 vigore, nonimpetu ; assurgit; alioquin extenuat consulto 
 vires, et cursu facili et aequabili fertur; dum res com- 
 munes , domesticas et rusticas , sermone culto quidem 
 ac nitido, a quotidiano tamen proximo, plane et per- 
 spicue narrat. 
 
 $. LI. 
 
 In universum tamen utriusque poetae ratio fingen- 
 di eadem est, atque ita pro audientium captu instituta, 
 
 X. 465 ete. 
 
46 
 
 ut Veritas in notis ac reapse existentibus fulem faceret 
 fictis et ignotis : quae item omnes crederent simul et 
 stuperent. De rebus sensibus subjectis subtiliora pl«- 
 rumque et morosiora judicia sunt hominum foris et sub 
 dio aetatem degentium quam criticorum, qui scholarum 
 «t gymnasiorum literariorum umbraculis cessantes, ali«- 
 iris oculis saepe vident ct sensus animorum e pracsura- 
 ptis opinionibus arte professoria concinnant. At ea ipsa 
 judicia co exercenda, quo experientia quotidiana nihil 
 valere,t, prorsus bebescefrent , ita ut omne rniiaculuro, 
 vel loci vel temporis spatio semotum, facile creditu ea- 
 set; et quidquid liccntia fingendi de Achillis vel Ulyssis 
 rebus gestis profcrre posset, pronis auribus, tanquam 
 fidedignum, accipcretur, ab iis etidni, quo* ne Vii 
 lianas quidem hyperbolas de fluctibus ad bidera atsui ■-. 
 tibus , etc. 1 ) aequo animo auscultatun < eo 
 
 colligere licet, quod in carmiuibus tarn muhipln 
 modi rerum species tam varie adumbratas compltxis ni- 
 hil tale veteres poetae ausi sint. Pari quoque mode* 
 imparl quamvis arte et ingenio, poetae barbari scpten- 
 trionales eandem materiam tractarunt, adaeque immo- 
 dici in deorum et heroum fact is ultra omncm humanac 
 naturae rationem augendis et exagirerandis: de iis enim 
 audientes omnia credere parati erant, quia cire 
 
 potuerant. In omnibus autcm, quae c colitis navigandi, 
 venandi et armenta pascendi studiis c> _nita haberent, 
 nihil, quod non veruin esset, oblectare potuit; atque 
 lianc ob causam, si nulla alia subesset, inanium ista 
 ampullarum farrago, quae sub Ossiani cujusdam ficto 
 nomine venditata est, pro commentitia et subdititia a 
 
 1) Aeneid. I. 103. nr. 5C7. etc. 
 
V 
 quovis non veterum morum et consuetudinum prorsus 
 ignaro habenda foret. 
 
 §. LII. 
 
 Cum flumina Troadis Simoenta et Scamandrum. 
 male alterum ab altero distinxissent geographi veteres, 
 omnia, quorum riotitia aliquo modo ex iis pendebat, 
 situm nempe urbis et planitiei Trojanae, navium Grae- 
 corum stationem, etc. perperam intelligebant, et locis 
 alienis perquirebant; neque nisi hoc demum saeculo, 
 Chevalieri , Morittii , Gellii et Clarkii curis et laborious, 
 ju6ta ac vera aliqua eorum expositio facta est; quae tan- 
 dem aptissime congruere traditis a poeta visa sunt, 
 Nullo modo igitur nugarum venditatoribus auscultan- 
 dum , quorum alter bellum Trojanum * ) , alter Medi- 
 cum 2 ), nullo quasi negotio, de medio sustulit. Mihi 
 etiam puero senera haud minus doctum , neque alioqui 
 magis delirum , audisse contigit , qui paribus argumen- 
 ts , nee majore nisu, Americam et insulas Americanas 
 ex orbe terrarum sustulerat; quaecunque enim de iis 
 narrata essent suis temporibus , cum omnia fraude et 
 mendaciis impudentissimis referta et inquinata essent, 
 nemini sano credenda esse, contendebat; neque quae 
 Hitfpani, Lusitani et Itali deChristophoriColumbi, Ame- 
 rici Vespucii, Ferdinand] Magellani, et aliorum longin- 
 quis per maria incognita profectionibus antea tradidis- 
 sent, pluris aestimanda , quam quae eorum populare3 
 iisdem temporibus de Amadis, Palmerini, Orlandi, vel 
 Rinaldi rebus gestis scriptitassent; sive quae, pari im- 
 
 1) Bryant, siege of Troy- 
 
 1) Richardson, Oriental Dissertations 
 
48 
 
 pudentia, nebulo quidam sub Gulliverii nomine de 
 cjusmodi navigatione nuper proferre au9u§ esset. 
 
 §. LIII. 
 
 Diversorum hominura diversi cum ratione insanien- 
 di sunt modi. Huic aliquid verum credere, quod non 
 et antiquum, religio fuit: illis omnia omnium hominum 
 ac temporum commenta, versus Sibyllinos, Phoenicias 
 Sanchoniathonis, nescio cujus, historias, poemaU Row- 
 leiana, etc. etc. pro Sanctis et sinceris amplexari et ven- 
 ditare solenne erat; dum virorum giavissimorum, Thu- 
 cydidis, Aristotelis et Strabonis, de rebus antiquis testi- 
 monia via notatu digna viderentur. Quae de Anaxago- 
 rae, Metrodori Scepsii et aliorum opinionibus suam serw 
 tentiam comprobantibus attulit quidam , falsa sunt 
 omnia; nemo enim veterum, ne eorum quidem, qui 
 sub Homericarum fabularum involucris suae sapientiae 
 argutias se invenisse credebant, de ipso bello Trojano 
 dubitationem unquam attulerat; licet poeta res in eo 
 gestas exornasse potius quam enarra6se visus sit, et de 
 animis audientium commovendis magis quam de men- 
 tibus instruendis cogitasse , atque idcirco vera consilia 
 belli non aperuisse , sed speciem quandam probabilcm, 
 poesi magis quam rerum rationi aptam , ei praetendisse; 
 nam Helena, si praetexta, vix vera causa tanti belli esse 
 potuit; numquam enim homines usque eo fatui et stuki 
 fuerunt , ut pro una muliercula , aut illi tot labores sus- 
 cipere voluissent , aut isti tot mala sustinuerint. Si de 
 belli Peloponnesiaci ausis nihil cogniium csset , praeter 
 ea quae tradidit Aristophanes , non alia fuisse Periclis in 
 eo suscipiendo consiJia quivis crediderit, nee de Grae- 
 cia subigenda et imperi© rerum occupando, sed de mu- 
 
*9 
 
 lierculis quibusdam recuperandis eum taritum cogitas- 
 se 1 ). Quae comicus vituperandi et mordendi, antiquus 
 poefa ornandi studio fingebat , baud nescius, quantum 
 Helenae persona ei profutura esset, atque audientes non 
 adeo curiosos ejusmodi rerum aestimatores esse, ut 
 jasta earumralio in omnibus reddenda foret. 
 
 §.-LTV. 
 
 Vera belli causa fuisse vicetur' aucta ultra modum 
 imperia, cum Agamcmnonis, turn Priami; atque inde 
 mutua aemulaLio, sibi invicem praecavendi studia, ti, 
 mores , odia , et irae ; quae inter praepotentes semper 
 suboriri solent. Imperium Trojanum quoque Pelopida- 
 rum regnum avitum fuisse traditur; quodDardanidarum 
 familia, expulso Tantalo, Agamemnonia et Menelai 
 proavo, vi occupasse credebatur. Recuperandi itaque 
 imperii studium momenti aliquid in consiliis habere po- 
 tuit, nee non et juris aequi probabilem obtendere spe- 
 ciem expeditioni, qua majorum res sibi vindicandas, et 
 injurias prius illatas ukiscendas, susceperat. Belli au- 
 tem eventus vix minus funestus victoribus quam 
 •victis fuit ; quantumvis enim gloriae Graecorum prin- 
 cipes inde retulissent, res domi , quae interim labe- 
 factabantur, nihilo validiores ex ea post reditum fa~ 
 ctae sunt; at conquassata Pelopidarum potentia, et 
 eumptibus ac caedibus fractae et imminutae Achaeorum 
 opes, Heraclidis et Doribus occasionem redeundi et Pe- 
 loponnesum invadendi praebuisse videntur : ita ut me- 
 morabili, haud tamen unico exemplo, victoris populi 
 clades et ultima ruina e bello prospere gesto successent. 
 
 i) AcLarn. 524 etc, ed. Brunk. 
 
5o 
 
 S- LV. 
 
 Etiamsi alia sit in nonnullis mythorum et sacrorum 
 ratio, Odysseae taraen nihilominus quam Iliadis aucto- 
 ri mystica ilia et symbolica posterorum religio prorsud 
 ignota fuisse videtur y neque dei ex ea orti, vel ad cam 
 pertinentes, ut Pan, Silenus, Bacchus, Cupido, etc. , in 
 locis non interpolatis usquam obversantur. Neque H<t- 
 cules neque Helenae fratrcs, qui, ex ea religione per^o- 
 nas alienas induti, in deorum numerum relati sunt, gra- 
 dum aliquem vel honorem supra naturam humanam ad- 
 epti erant: versus enim , quibus inter deos reccnsentur, 
 manifeste spurii et insititii sunt 1 ). In nummis tamen 
 Graecarura civitatum antiquissimis , octavo vel nono 
 etiam saeculo a. Ch. n. cusis, ejus religionis symbol* 
 haud infrequ enter impressa occurrunt, 
 
 §. lvl 
 
 Nusquam autein vel in Iliade vel in Odyssea aut 
 jiummi aut literac memorantur ; nam <j>;/mrcc ista 
 quae in tabella plicatili Bellerophontes a Proeto acc^pe- 
 rat, symbola erant quaedam IV it, inter 
 
 socerum et geneium prius constituta, quorum volunta- 
 tem neque Bellerophontes neque alius quipiam, non ab 
 iis edoctus, intelligere posset 2 ); neque ulentwn auri 
 numisma, sed pondus est, nulla alia re usurpatum; un- 
 de numisma fortasse initium cepit: quatenus enim e pre- 
 tii ratione magnitudinem ejus definire licet, haud alia 
 existimanda sunt numismata ea antiquissima, quae ad- 
 
 1) Odyss. A. 500 — 4. Xki.oy%a.Q too, interpolatorem nunif* 
 prodit. 
 
 2) Iliad. Z, 163 etc 
 
Si 
 
 hue extant, pondo granorum CCLX plu9 minusve, sin- 
 gula, quam talenta ilia Homerica cusa ac signata. Omnia 
 ex auro non decocto, quale efodinis ac metallis provenit, 
 opere vetustissimi moris, rudi et informi, facta sunt; 
 neque e quatuordecim , quae mihi videre eontigit, nisi 
 unum literis signatum est, 2/nempe, initialibus «£/-» 
 &N/S2N 1 ) ; quorum insula, alioqui sterilis et saxosa, au- 
 ri metalla satis ampla habebat. Hi nummi fortasse Kqol- 
 utloi GTctTfjpfQ Pollucis sunt, quorum ad exemplum post- 
 ea Darici ex auro decocto, quo primus Darius Hystaspis 
 fili us in moneta usus est 2 ), facti esse videntur; majores 
 enim ejusdem quasi ponderis sunt, minores dimidii ; atque 
 ex his urbium Asiaticarum et regum Macedonum Gvarijoig 
 velPhilippi, Romanorumaureivel solidi, etaliarumdein- 
 ceps gentium numismata aurea usque ad nostratium Gui- 
 neas et Francogallorum Louis, originem forte traxerunt; 
 pondo enim quasi omnia, auri plus minusve puri in non- 
 nullis ratione habita, Persarum Darica minora aequiparant; 
 licet pretium , e copia continuo aucta, sensim imminu- 
 turn sit. Omnes etiam omnium civitatum Graecarum 
 nummi aurei e partibus aliquot talenti Homerici conficti 
 esse videntur; atque usque eo talentum id in mercan- 
 tium et vendentium commoda divisum est, ut eCXXX ra » 
 ejus parte nummuli cusi sint; quorum unus Coiorqm, 
 conservatissimus, pondo II granorum, in museo nostro 
 
 1) Cantabrigiae apnd virum ornatissimum D. E. Clarke, LL. 
 D. qui co et cornpluribus aliis veterum civitatum , regum 
 et gentium minimis pretiosissimis Museum nostrum huma- 
 nissime ditavit; ita ut e quatuordecim, quos vidi, undecim 
 nunc habeat. Caeterorum , duo in locupletissimo nummo- 
 phylacio Baronis de Northwick, et alter in Hunteriano as- 
 acrrantur. 
 
 2) Herodot. lib. IV- 16$, 
 
 D Q 
 
asservatur* Talentum vetus quatuor drachmarum a 
 scriptoribus de re nummaria memoratur *); quod Ho- 
 mericum talentum , et regum Lydorum staterem, Kqqi- 
 oahv urutTJoa, fuisse, vix dubitandum est. 
 
 Apud Siceliotas et Italiota9 argentea pari modo mo- 
 neta ponderis ratione in talenta, minas et nummos 
 divisa erat 2 ): nee non et aerea quoque; quae apudEtru- 
 scos et Latinos, qui earn ab Italiotis receperant, fusa, 
 non cusa, antiquitus erat. Unicuique tamen genti, et 
 in unoquoque metallo, ratio ponderum et divisionum 
 diversa fuit. 
 
 Fallitur autem Ricbardus Bentlejus, cum e locis pa- 
 rum sinceris Pollucis et Festi Siceliotas et Italiotas 6cri- 
 bit minas in re nummaria non habuisse, talentum au- 
 tem e nummis XXIV constituisse 3 ) : in tabula enim He- 
 racleensi, sub finem quarti a. Ch. n. saeculi insculpta, 
 MNAI et NOMOI diserte memorantur 4 ) ; atquc edi- 
 tor ejus Mazzochius plane ostendit, ratione pretii utro- 
 rumque habita, et loco Diodori Siculi citato, minam 
 istam Italicam XXIV nummos, et talentum Siciliense 
 XXIV minas valuisse 5 ). NOM02Z (sic enim omnino 
 
 1) Schol. Ven. in II. *P. 269. 
 
 2) Tab. Heracl. Neap. 1, 95, 96, 1:15, ct Mazzoch. Disquis. in 
 eand. 75. 
 
 3) Dissertation on Phalaris etc. S. XIV- to uivrot 2txtl*MO¥ 
 taXavrov ikaxioTOv farof, to ulr d^xalov, o'z 'slgiGTv 
 Xiysi '• , rtooapa9 v.al elxoci rot's roi'uuoii' ro dt loTsgor &o- 
 xaidsxct' fi'iacftai de tuv vovuuov Tgt'a i;uiol6/.ia. Polluc. 
 IX. 37. Atticum (talentum) est 6000 deiiarium, Srracusa- 
 num 5 denarium. Fest. 
 
 4) Vs. 75, 95, 9 6 > J -3- 
 
 5) Mazzoch. in vs. 75. to ziXavrov Si, to vvp lsy,\unov *Jt- 
 riXQV, crcxpa J2utsXtQjT«ii to piy g.f>%aiQV r 4 y fii cut KJ' rvpi 
 
55 
 
 acribendum, cum vovfi^og mera barbarizes sit e Latina 
 pronuuciatione orta) " x ) quarta pars plus minusve 
 drachmae A tticae fuit; cujus moduli frequentissimi ex- 
 tant nummuli civhatum Italicarum. Aitqu et 'Oyttla 
 (sicenim, non ovyxia, scribendum ) Libra et Uncia, 
 aeris, et rerum pondera viliorum distinguebant; quam- 
 vis postea ALzqu monetam argenteam, quae libram aeris 
 vel |- partes nummi apud eosdem significant, et 6y- 
 sticxg XII valeret. Sic Menandri versus irtelligendus est, 
 quern e codice bene restituit Athenaei editor elegantissi- 
 mus — fiiytgov tccXuptov yiverav xazd koyov — ■ at male 
 iriterpretatus est — impensa, si summam rerum sub- 
 ducas, est talenti — fttngou — parum abest. Sermo 
 est enim de vilitate rerum et parsimonia, non magnifi" 
 centia sacrificantiunr, quorum impensa in deos ad ratio- 
 nem parvi talenti, Siciliani scilicet, tota computanda 
 esset. Vide Athenaei Deipnos. L. VIII. C. LXVII. ed. 
 Schweigh. 
 
 §• LVII. 
 Graecorum aliorum numismatibus ratio numeric 
 non ponderis, nomina dedit, e clavis deducta vel obo- 
 lis ferreis vel aereis, qui apud Dores forsitan pro num- 
 
 dk IB. Diodor. Sic. apud Suid. in voce xaXavtov^. Aliter 
 et emenda tius fortasse Diodori verba extant in Schol. Ven. B. 
 in U. E. 576. ralavzov Iqtv (Ivojv a. t? Se pva SgaxfMuv P. 
 7} Ss Sfjayjty opoliov F. 6 §s yolxovs Xetctwv Z. to raA«v- 
 rov $£ vvv Icyo/uerov ^Arxi^iv napd. Se ^mekLOjTaiS to fiev 
 aQy.oXov r/v fivcuv KJ, vvv §& KB. 
 1) Quod Bentleji acumen fugisse mirum est, cum quartam se- 
 dem in versu iambico senario Epicharnii, quern laudat, te- 
 neat. p. 335. et apud Suidam HOM02. — Jojqius Si e<rtl 
 vouiouatos %Q(xjvvai rfj ki£ei , xai l P(f)f*tuoi naQaTQtyavres 
 XOIMMON Uyovot. 
 
54 
 
 mis primum usurpabaritur , et ejus erant moduli, ut 
 manus hominis sex commode coniprehendere pos6et; 
 unde aes, quod uniuscujusque pondus, et argentum, 
 quod uniuscujusque pretium aequaret, 'Oftokog , et quod 
 sex, Aqaxnn appellabatur x ). Mina autem Attica, et ta- 
 lentum Atticum, Euboicum, Aegineticum etc. pondera 
 erant raajoris trutinae, et vilioribus rebus propria; quae 
 serius, et auctis jam divitiis , ad rationem nummariam 
 translata sunt. Oboli et drachmae Aegineticae argenti 
 majores erant quam Euboicae vel Atticae; atque illas 
 Peloponnesi, Boeotiae et Phocidis civitatibus, has Grae- 
 ciae caeteris in usn fuisse, e nummis adhuc extantibua 
 colligere licet: quamvis ratio ponderis , nisi antiquissi- 
 mis , lubrica admodum et incerta sit; quoniam, inopia 
 velavaritia , haudinfrequenter imminuta esset, praeser- 
 tim a regibus et tyrannis. Drachmae Aegineticae, quas 
 vidi conservatbsimas, turn ipsius Aeginae, turn Theba- 
 rum, Tanagrae, Elidis et Phocidis, granorum XCV 
 plus minusve erant singulae, et didrachmae CXC : cum 
 drachmae Athenarum et Alexandri ruagni LXV, .didrach- 
 mae, quae rarissimae, CXXX sint. Alexander I. tamen, 
 Xerxi aequalie, pondera majora adhibuisse videtur; quae 
 a successoribus paulJatim Imminuta, in minora ea Atti- 
 ca tandem cesserunt. Aristoteles, teste Polluce, litram 
 Sicelioticam pretio aequam obolo Aeginetico esse, tradi- 
 dit z ) : ita ut monetae alterius rationem ponderis ad al- 
 
 1) xivSwsvet, St xai to iraunav aQ%atov o'vtojs ty.etv , ofiiliaxoiS 
 Xgouh'ajv vouiouaot. giSiiqoZs, hio)V Se jfaAxots, aqr* &9 ~*a~ 
 Qttuivti ttatJ&o? en xal rrr tuv xsquutwv ofoXovg xa/fl 
 SQa%ui)v 8i rove t$ vfiokoig' tooovtov ydg 17 jjfip nt^n. 
 tsto. Plutarch, in Lysandro C. XVII. 
 
 2) Onom. p. 216. 456. 
 
55 
 
 terms rationem rmmeri redigere in nummis adhuc ex- 
 tan tibus facile fuisset, nisi violemia tyrannorum rem 
 saepe male tractasset, etargenti, ut aeris, signati pre- 
 tium supra ponderis et moduli rationem auxisset. 
 
 §. LVIII. 
 
 Si traditis a Strabone et Chronico Pario fides haben- 
 da est , Phido , Argivorum tyrannus , monetam Aeginae 
 cudendam anno a. Ch. n. DCCCLXIX. primus curavit 1 ): 
 at Lydis tamen Herodotus, justiore forsitan titulo, ejus 
 inventionem vindicavit z )i nam quae Plutarchus de 
 nummis a Theseo cusis et bovis effigie signatis prodi-: 
 dit 3 ) , ab omni historiarum fide et rei antiquariae ratio- 
 ne prorsus abhorrent ; cum Homericis etiam temporibus, 
 diu post Thesei aetatem, si Thesea aliquem unquam 
 fuisse credere libet ,, omne genus numismatis usque eo 
 ignotum e6set, ut neque aurum, neque argentum,. ne- 
 que aes, pretii rationem aliis rebus suppeditaret , sed 
 bourn armenta ; quorum tantus erat usus apud homines 
 eimplcies et agrestes , ub absolute pro opibus haberen- 
 tur. Neque me fugit , Phidonem hunc, t« ixtiga novy'iaciv- 
 zu IleXonowriaioiGw , inter Croesi aequales sexto demum 
 9. Ch. n. saeculo recensitum esse ab Herodoto 4 ); qui 
 
 a) tuxl ficTQ* igsvge xd fpsMvsia %aXov(isva, xal avad-ftovs, «al 
 voutofia. nsxaQayfilvov, to te alio xcd to dgyvgovv. Strab. 
 1. VIII. 
 
 £) itQwroi de dvd-gojitojv , tojv rjfisci I'dpsv , VQfiiqfia %qvgov nut 
 doyvgov xoipdftevoi txQrjoavro* 
 
 3) h'xoxps 6*s xctl v6fivoaa y $ovv iyxuQal-ag, rj Sod top MftQdd'oj' 
 vtov ravgov, 7} Std xov Mivox oxQuxriyov , rj ngos ysoigylav 
 TcoXfoas itaQanaXojv. aV exeivov Si (paoi, to 'JExaro^oiov aal 
 ro Jexdfioiov ovofiaa&ijpcu, in Theseo. 
 
 4) Lib. VI. i77. etc. 
 
eeriori cuidam Argivorum tyranuo ejusdem nominis ea 
 tribuisse videtur, quae ad antiquiorem jure pertinebant; 
 nam nemo non rei antiquariae prorsus ignarus credere 
 potest , Croesi demum eaeculo vel mensuras vel poiw 
 dera vel monetam Graecis guibuscumque primum in- 
 notuisse, 
 
 $. LIX. 
 
 Aeginensium nummi argentei, vulgo Aeginensibus 
 perperam tributi, extant nonnulli , quos si non sub an- 
 tiquissimo illo Phidone, aetate ab eo proxima cusos 
 fuisse, ex opere rudi et informi colligere licet 5 at aurea 
 nihilominug Asiaticorum talenta, supra memorata, ali- 
 quanto vetustiora esse videntur: artis enim prima et in- 
 certissima incepta plane exhibent. Aurum justo ponde- 
 re finitum. et igne liquefactum in aquam efuindebatur, 
 qua in massae naturalis speciem abnormem et fortuitam 
 effingebatur ; atque sic in typum malleo et clavo qua- 
 drato adigebatur. Aurea numismata argenteis et aereis 
 aetate priora esse, credendum est; cum aurum magif 
 obvium et inventu facilius fuerit , atque etiam mollius, 
 ductilius, et operi cuicunquc, quod instrumcntis non- 
 duni perfectis pernciendum esset, aptius. In bis tamen 
 aniiquissimis mysticae religionis symbola, grypbus nem- 
 pe, leo, et aries, einguli super singulos pieces, im- 
 pressa bccurrunt: etsi, in re tam vetusta et obscura, 
 conjecturis indulgere liceret, ejusmodi symbola. una 
 cum arte nummaria , Giaecos colonos, decimo forte a. 
 Ch. n. saeculo, ab Asiae gentibus indigenis didicisse di- 
 cerem. Apud Indos ea religio ortum habuisse videtur; 
 ibi enim adhuc viget, et sub iisdem symbclis 1'atet; 
 quorum nonnulla, ut anguis cucullatus, inAegyptionun 
 
5; 
 
 monumentis frequens, earum religionum indigenae 
 sunt : aries quoque, in nummo antiquissimo Clazome- 
 niorum supra citato impres3us, eodem eitu et figura 
 membrorum et corporis, quo aries saceriin zodiaco In- 
 dico, efKgiatus est: nee non militeslndi, qui sub no- 
 stris ducibns nuper stipendia meruerunt, suos deos et 
 eorum sacra inter Aegyptiorum veterum numina et 
 eigna hieroglyphica ubique agnoverunt. Literas autem 
 et monetae cudendae artem Indos a Graecis sub Mace- 
 donum et Parthorum imperiis acccpisse, probabile est: 
 nullum enim eju6modi monumentum apud cos, tempo- 
 ribus iis antiquius, adhuc inventum est; et signa lite— 
 rarum aeque ac nummorum Indicorum veterum forma 
 et fabrica imitationis Graecorum recentiorum etiam 
 notas manifestissimas prae se ferunt. 
 
 Etsi inventionis ratio in omnium artium origine et 
 progressu suaderet, sigilla in lapidibus pretiosioribus 
 insculpta ad imagines in ceram imprimendas prius ad- 
 hibita esse, quam typi ad monetam e metallo aliquo cu- 
 dendam fierent; nulla tamen ejusmodi sigilla perantiqua 
 in dactyliothecis mihi videre contigerat, cum anno de- 
 mum MDCCCVI. vir eximius Guliclmus Gell, de Ute- 
 ris Graecis, praesertim Homericis, optime meritus, e 
 Peloponneso reportavit et mihi humanissime dedit ja- 
 spidem purpuream triquetram, magnitudine semiuncia- 
 lem ; cujus in una parte est leo , in altera leo bovem ju- 
 gulans, cum hederae corymbo supra, in tertia duo ju- 
 venci recumbentes, cum corymbo item Dionysiaco; 
 omnia pereleganti, antiquissimo licet, opificio, leonum 
 in Mycenarum portis per6imiii, insculpta; neque mone- 
 tam ullam , quae tantae speciem vetustatis prae se fer- 
 ret, hucusque vidimus. Mycenaica ea leonum anagly- 
 
58 
 
 pha, quorum membra et corpora capjtibus amissis 
 nunc restant, eub Pelopidarum imperio sculpta esse* 
 vix dubitare Hcet; neque jaspidis nostrae sigilla aevi 
 multo serioris esse crediderim ; ita ut symbola mystica 
 decimo a. Ch. n. saeculo Peloponnesi incolis haud ignota 
 fuisse pro comperto habeam. Neque tamen infkias eo, 
 potuisse tarn 6ymbola quam nuinina mystica sacerdoti- 
 bus et aliis principibus viris plane innotuisse, et inter 
 8ecretiora diulatuisse, antequam poetis et rhapsodis ea 
 in coetus hominum vulgares proferre et promuJgare li- 
 cuisset: ubicunque enim sacerdotes extiterunt, myste- 
 ria ad sanctimoniam et reverentiam tacenda religione 
 augendam excogitata sunt. Si ejusmodi sigilla in Pe- 
 loponneso ante Heraclidarum rcditum facta fuerint, 
 haud a ratione abhonret, colon06 inde oriundos, auctis 
 jam diviiiis in tcnis, quae auro abundarent, ea adhi- 
 buisse ad symbola ei imprimenda, quibus pondere vel 
 pretio, in singulis portionibus, publica cujusque civi- 
 tatis auctoritate comprobato, in mercatorum nsum non 
 examinatum accipcrctur : vcl , si magis credere libet, 
 eos Lydorum regibus, qui metalla possiderent, artifices 
 ad ea in ejusmodi usum sculpenda suppcditasse ; nam 
 isti reges , teste ipso Herodoto, qui Lydis monetae in- 
 ventionem tribuit , Graecos artifices ad omnia elegantio- 
 rum artium opera perficieuda accersere solebant ( Lib. 
 I. 25. etc. 5i.). 
 
 $. LX. 
 
 In Odyssea perinde atque lliade dttxrtxo; et iuq^art- 
 nog est tantummodo articulus, nostratium Britauno- 
 rum, quam Graecorum posteriorum, Atticorum prae- 
 sertim, consuetudini loquendi aptiorj atque ubi aliter 
 
59 
 usurpatus sit, pro rhapsodi alicujus foetu habendus, et 
 cum caeteris ejusmodi sordibus baud cunctanter eji- 
 ciendus. Cum autem carmina poetae ac rhapsodi veteris 
 gestu vehementiore recitare solerent, et scenico quodam 
 more inter recitandum voce, vultu, manu ac totius 
 corporis motu animorum affectus exprimere, et quid- 
 quid versibus perstringere vellent, tanquam praesens 
 ostendere, articulus haud infrequenter ea ratione nomi- 
 nibu8 praefigebatur ; neque alia propriam ejus vim in 
 Homericis aut percipere aut aentire possumus x ). Ad- 
 jectivis nihilominus, substantivorum loco usurpatis, ut 
 ytQwv, ytQuiog, £(7vog t etc. praefixus pronominis vicem 
 explebat; neque causa erat, cur doctissimus Heyne ab 
 ejusmodi vocibus deturbare vellet. 
 
 0. LXL 
 
 Serior tamen et vulgaris articuli usus, quanquam 
 Hesiodi carmini perinde atque Homericis ignotus, sa- 
 tis antiquus esse videtur, atque jamdudum invaluisse, 
 cum Etrusci et Latini, non modo deorum quorundam 
 nomina, sed vocabula etiam , quorumvis bominum ser- 
 moni quotidiano apprime necessaria , a Graecis recipie- 
 
 i) Sic cum Hector Paridi minitabundus exprobrat — 
 
 oi'x «V toi XQat'auT] xt'#ap/? , rd rs Svry \4(pQodltfi? , 
 
 7] TS ytOflT] , TO T6 f/<?0?, OT tV XOVlJjOt fiiyUqe. 
 
 poeta vel rhapsoduS , sub Ilectoris persona, ra SinQa y ti)v 
 xo/j.r t v , x«i to eiS jS Paridis tanquam praesentis , audientibus 
 inter recitandum gestu quodam contumelioso ostendcbat; 
 unde articuli singuli singulis praenxi sunt: dum v.L$OLQiv y 
 qmm Paris secum in proeliis non habebat, sic indicare haud 
 licuit; atque ideo articulus importune ei adhibitus esset, ne- 
 que Paris in excusatione articulum adhibet; ab ejus cnim 
 persona gcstus omnia emph.iucus in sua SuIqo, turn prorsus 
 «lienus fuisset. 
 
6o 
 
 bant; nam TERRA, haud alia ratione e rtj tQu, quam 
 TVRMES, Etruscum dei Mercurii nomen, e ro, 
 compobitum esse oportet. Vetustior igitur priscorum 
 vatum vel aotdcov poesis inter Graecos, quam ejusinodi 
 nomina aut in Etrusca aut in Latina lingua. 
 
 §. LXII. 
 
 In ChronicoParioHesiodus sub finem decimi a. Ch. 
 n. saeculi vixisse traditur; et quanquam me fateor pa- 
 ram fidei habere marmori isti celeberrimo, in hac re ni- 
 hilominus auctoritas ejus plurimum valet, quod rationi- 
 bus idoneis fultam video: atque si e sermonis cujusque 
 proprietatibus, quas sentire potius, quam definire pos- 
 tim, ariolari licet, Odysseae auctorem centum circiter 
 annis, lliadis ducentis ante Hesiodum cecinisse puta- 
 rem 1 ). Sic Iliacum carmen, maximum et pulcherrimum 
 humanae mentis opus, ci ipsi saeculo tribuerhn, quo 
 Iones Pcloponncso expulsi, in Asiam commigiabant, 
 quod aptissime convenire videtur turn scheraati uni- 
 versali poematis , turn iis episodiis , quorum dilTicile 
 xationem reddeic nisi e casibus ct rebus gestis illorum 
 tempo rum. 
 
 §. LXIII. 
 
 Poetae enimvero et sociis, si propriis pulsi sedibos 
 alienas appetere coacti etsentj neque gratior neque 
 
 i ) In Chronico Hesiodus Horaero prior est: at Catoni majori, 
 npud Ciceron. de senectute , Homerus multis ante sacculis 
 fuisse visus est: item doctioribus omnibus , credo. Poema- 
 tion tamen, quod unicum Hesiodi nunc extat, iu inquuia- 
 tum et interpolatum est, at ejus testimonio de poetae aetata 
 lion temereutilice.it. Vox nihilominus, dxooxvfyaJo;, quam 
 Ilomeiica prosodia prouus recusaret, in venu nou suspecio, 
 
6i 
 
 aptior carminum materia inveniri poterat, quam bella in 
 iisdem terris olim a majoribus gesta tanta gloria et 
 tam prospero successu; neque ulla efRcacior ratio sua- 
 dendi concordiam inter suos , quam clades et calamita- 
 tes commemorare, quae, e rixis et jurgiis priorum du- 
 cum orLae, successus illos aut retardassent, aut dubios 
 tantisper reddidissent. 
 
 JJ. LXIV. 
 
 Uibium Peloponnesi eversio obscure ambigueque 
 lndicatur, ul casus adhuc anceps, at deorum consiliis 
 antea agitatus, atque ideo exspectandus *); sic ut si- 
 mul cuperet ac timeret poeta aliquid certi pioferre in- 
 ter homines, qui e longinquo patrias illas sedes ab ho- 
 stibus occupatas contemplarentur, nee certe scirent, si 
 eas conservassent, an diiuissent, 
 
 (). LXV. 
 
 Catalogus geographicus totius Graeciae, e nomini- 
 bus propriis regionum, urbium, vicorum, montium 
 et amnium conrlatus, vix aliorum hominum sensibus 
 ea aetate aptari poterat, quam exulum, qui iis ipsis in 
 locis uueritiam degerant: nam mcra ista ac nuda scien- 
 tia rerum, quae in didactica recentiorum poesi tantas 
 laudes meruit, nullas illecebras habere potuerat apud 
 homines rudes etagrestes; quales erant. etiam principes 
 civitatum et duces exercituum Homericis temporibus. 
 Tales homines nulla ratione se doceri patiuntur, nisi af- 
 
 seriorem pronunciandi consuetudinem plane declarat. Vide 
 infra §. CLIII. etc. 
 
 1) Iliad. J. 51 — Q. 
 
62 
 
 fectibus animi vehementer commotio qua evenit, ut 
 apud omnes gentes primi sapientiae magistri fuerint 
 poetae, omnisque doctrina, vel de prudentja vitae, vel 
 natura reruro, vel potestate deorum, sub fabularum pro- 
 digiosarum involucris propagata sit. Ne summus qui- 
 dem ornatus pulcherrimorum versuum ita commendare 
 potuisset mera nomina et apposita Graecarum urbium, 
 vicorum, montium et amnium Graecis Graeciae inco- 
 lis, ut libenter audirent vel optimum poetam et &to7g 
 ivuViyiuov doidov, qui talia cantitasset. Neque colonis lon- 
 ginquis et inveteratis, qui in nova patria nati , nullam 
 antiquae vel memoriam vel notitiam habuissent, ejus- 
 modi catalogus motum vel affectum ullum animorum 
 excitasset. Exsulantibus autem et vi pulsis , qui 'amore 
 quodam indigena locorum consuetorum adhuc teneren- 
 tur, nullam materiam aptiorem ad captandos animos 
 atque intimos eorum sensus et affectus commovendos 
 poeta naturae observantissimus seligere poterat. Omne 
 nomen et appositum, unaquaeque vel tenuissima nota, 
 quasi in tabula votiva, mentibus ostenderet anteactae 
 cujusque vitae cursum — gaudia, aerumnas, ludos — ■ 
 puerorum errores , juvenum voluptatee, virorum cu- 
 ras; quae omnia, memoriae infixa, honiinuq| affe- 
 ctus semper retrahunt ad locos, in quibus ea primi 
 experti sint. 
 
 §. LXVI. 
 
 Objici forsitan potuerit Hesiodi carmen didacticum: 
 quod Homericis quamvis multo poaterius, ejus tamen 
 aetatis est, qua antiqua morum simplicitas adhuc inva- 
 luit. Sed alia prorsus est ratio rerum , quibus instru- 
 ctumest; neque sententiae, in usam vitae civitis et 
 
65 
 
 agrestis collectae, et versibus intextae, speciem autna- 
 turam habent scientiarum earum exquisitiorum • quae, 
 cum neque opibus, neque commodis publicis vel priva- 
 tis aliquid contulerint, tam contemtui apud rudes ho- 
 mines semper fuere, quam otiosis et luxu diiHuentibas 
 in deliciis. Prudentiae autem domesticae, ac juris com- 
 munis et officii praecepta , quae vates Ascraeus e senten- 
 tiis sparsis et jampridem vulgaris concinnasse et or- 
 nasse potius quam de suopte ingenio deprompsisse vi- 
 detur, omnium hominum interfuit cognoscere et me- 
 moria tenere; dum situs ac nomina locorum alienorum, 
 nisi ex usu et consuetudine anteactae vitae affectibus 
 animi infixa et inhaerentia essent, nemo ea aetate vel 
 scire vel audire curasset. 
 
 §. LXVII. 
 
 Mihi igitur vix dubitandum esse videtur , quin poe- 
 ta ipse et primi auditores Iliadis ex iis fuerint, qui inter 
 annum millesimum centesimum et millesimum quin- 
 quagesimum a. Ch. n, e Peloponneso et aliis forsitan 
 Graeciae regionibus in Asiam migraverunt, et floren- 
 tissimas urbes, bonis artibus et ingeniis fecundissimas, 
 condiderunt. Hoc temporis intervallo poetam vixisse, 
 nonnulli veterum prodidere, praesertim Pseudo- Hero- 
 dotus $ qui e traditione quadam melioris certe notae, 
 quam caetera istius libelli de vita Homeri farrago, eum 
 natum esse anno sexcentesimo vigesimo secundo ante 
 Xerxis expeditionem, qui est millesimus centesimus se- 
 cundus a. Ch. n., scripsit: cum ipse Herodotus, ducen- 
 tis serius annis et Homerum et Hesiodum floruisse, 
 -tradidisset, verbis tamen quae plane indicant, fuisse 
 
64 
 
 turn quoque, qui pro aevo priore conteftderent *); at- 
 que eorum sententiae Aristarclius calculum adjecisse 
 traditur z ). 
 
 Duae praecipuae migrationes a chronographis me- 
 moratae sunt, altera Aeolum anno millesimo centesimo 
 vigesimo quarto; altera Ionum anno millesimo quadra- 
 gesimo quarto a. Ch. n.; sed hanc stirpium distinctio- 
 nem poeta videtur prorsus ignorasse; neque inter gentes 
 Hellenicas, quarum nomina et situs recensuit, utBoeo- 
 torum, Epeiorum, Abantum, etc. usque meminit Aeo- 
 lum , vel Dorum, vel Ionum: locum enim Iliadis, (IV. 
 681 — 700.) quo Iones Attici laudantur, insititium esse 
 Heyne jampridem monuit; neque de eo ejiciendo nobis 
 ambigetur. 
 
 §. LXVIII. 
 
 Dores, cum nullis certis sedibus diu erraesent, 
 jam ante Troica tempora montes altos ac nivosos inter 
 Thessaliam, Pliocidem et Aetoliam habitabant : ); 
 quorum reliqui incolae in recensione copiarum atquc 
 in proeliis subsequutis numcro ac virtute insignes sunt. 
 
 i) Lib. 11. C. 55. 
 
 2) Tots Ss yoovoi? avt AqI- 
 
 oTagyov cfctat yarlaSa: 
 
 vax&Qti tiji Tvjy 'Hoa/... 
 
 X(J7;orou. excerpt. A. Aliae \ j-ateutiae in Pliilo- 
 
 strati Heroicis asservanu:r. yiyove r 
 
 jfiev', ok flip (faaiv tviot , 
 
 Tqw'ixujv ol tit utTu f.T mvor t 
 
 ore rijv diroixiav oi > A\hjvalQi h '- cv 01 oe 
 
 th'jxovra v.al ixaroi' txtj ysyovlvai /used tj]v Tooiav 1 
 
 Qov T f y.al 'Hoiodov. C. XVIII. S. 11. 
 5) Herodot. lib. I. C.5G. 
 
65 
 
 De Doribus autem silet poeta , quod eos non participes 
 belli crediderit, aut in patriae hosles iniquior, rerum 
 gestarum gloria fraudare voluerit. Parcus est quoque 
 tarn Tliadis quam Odysseae poeta in Herculis Jaudibus; 
 quanquam res ejus materiam carminibus antehomericis 
 haud paucis praebuisse videntur: sed posteri ejus Do- 
 rum, qui Peloponnesum subegerant, duces erant: at- 
 que earn ob causam fortasse nlius ejus Tlepolemus, pri- 
 ma statim pugna, et nullo memorabili edito facto, so- 
 lus e regibus Graecis occisus est 1 ); et ipsi pessimum 
 omnium facinus, hospitis nempe caedes inter sacra men- 
 sae patrata, imputatum est E ). 
 
 §. LXIX. 
 
 t)orum sermonem antiquum aC semibarbamm, a 
 Lacedaemoniis, veterum morum modorumque tenacis- 
 eimis, servatumesse, credo; et specimen ejus , corru- 
 ptum scilicet ac mendosum, adhuc extare in decreto 
 conrra Timotheum 3 ). Dorica dialectus, alyricis* tra- 
 gicis et bucolicis poetis usurpata, non est sermo genti- 
 licius populi alicujus ; sed lingua in usum poeticum con- 
 ficta, atque partim e variis archaismis, partim ex usu 
 vulgari recentiorum Dorum conflata ; quorum praeci- 
 pua pars sermonis ex Aeolico formata est. 
 
 Aeolum tamen atque lonurn lingua una eademque 
 fuisse videtur, neque in diversas abiisse dialectos, nisi 
 post emigrationes inAsiam; ubi gentes illae, qiiae ge- 
 neratim t)anai et Achaei appejlabantur, in varias ct a 
 
 f) II. E. 663. 
 a) Odyss. <£. 27. etc. 
 
 3) a Boettiio asservat. et Oxonii edit. ami. 177' 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 se invicem remotas civitates dispersae , in varias Species 
 diversorum idiomatum patrium eermonem paullatim de- 
 flectebant ; ita ut Herodoti aetate quatuor varietates lin- 
 guae inter ipsos Iones Asiaticos observarentur x ) ; neque 
 pauciores neque minus diversos fuisse modos loquendi 
 in Siciliae et Italiae coloniis , e veterum monumentis ac 
 testimoniis certissime constet. Verbum , quod in com- 
 muni et Attico sermone TIAA22SI et TIAATTSl scribe- 
 batur, apud diversos Doricae 6tirpis populos TIAAZQ, 
 IIAA2ASZetIIAAAA£2, fiebat; atque alias Dorismus an- 
 tiquus in varias abibat formas, singulas singulis civitatibus 
 proprias et peculiares: alius enim erat sermo Argivorum, 
 alius Lacedaemoniorum, alius Rhodiorum, alius Creten- 
 6ium, etc. etc. *); neque ipsius Cretae una eademque 
 erat omnium civitatum dialectus , at aliarum aliae, ut e 
 nummis adhuc extantibus plane liquet. 
 
 J$. LXX. 
 
 Ab his omnibus Attica dialectus quam plurimum di- 
 etabat; atque quo elegantius ornata, exculta et perpolita 
 esset, eo magis a fontis ac parentis lucida et simplici 
 magniloquentia delabebatur; ipsis tametsi istis elegan- 
 tiis locum et auctoritatem parentis postea acquisiverit. 
 
 §. LXXI. 
 
 Parens autem ac fons, e quo reliquae omnes "efflu- 
 xerunt, est lingua Homerica, quae non e diversis dia- 
 lectis et licentiis poeticis, ut grammatici somniarunt, 
 conflata est, sed Achaeorum vel Danaorum veterum ser- 
 
 i ) Lib. I. S. 142. 
 
 2 ) Gregor. Corinth. Episc. de dialect. Dor. S. XLI. XCI. et 
 Koen. not. in eunJ. 
 
6 7 
 
 mo quotidianus et universalis fuit; quo Homericis tem- 
 poribus omnia publica et privata negotia transigeban- 
 tur, atque omnes sensus et affectus animorum expri- 
 mebantur: eorum enim temporum homines neque lexi- 
 ca^, neque gramniaticas , neque libros ullos habebant; 
 quopropter, si poeta verba insolita, aut modos loquen- 
 di ab usu communi abhorrentes , in carminibus usurpas- 
 set, nemo auditorum intellecturus fuisset. 
 
 §. LXXTf. 
 Haec tamen lingua, cum carmina literis primum 
 mandabantur, iamdudum exoleveratj qua evenit, ut 
 rhapsodi et grammatici, qui ea sic redegerunt, cum ne- 
 que indolem neque formam ejus plane perspectam habe- 
 rent, omnia ad suas ipsorum dialectos vulgares tradu- 
 xerint, atque, quoties versuum mensurae modos loquen- 
 di longiores vel pleniores desiderarent, toties licentiam 
 istam poeticam excogitaverint, ac literis insititiis hia- 
 tus suppleverint: Graeci enim veteres cum omnium ex~ 
 terarum linguarum incuriosi, turn in suae propriae prisca 
 indole et originibus indagandis minus seduli et attend 
 fuere; ita ut Thucydides et Aristoteles, viri acumine, 
 scientia et eruditione facile principes , haud aliter in 
 hac re caecutirent, quam quivis e trivio sophista vel 
 
 rhapsodus. 
 
 §. LXXIIL 
 
 Incredibile cuipiam fortasse videbitur, poema 
 
 ornatissimum , et omnigenae eloquentiae gratiis ac 
 
 firtutibus referturn, in lingua tarn exculta compositum 
 
 esse sexcentds annosf antequam ullus prosae oratioriis 
 
 scriptor extitisset. At quamdiu usus literarum , ob pe- 
 
 nuriam materiae ad scribendum aptae, in paucis tan- 
 
 turn et brevibus titulis in lapidibus, aut tabulis ligneis, 
 
 E 2 
 
65 
 
 aut laminis plumbi vel aeris insculptis, haesit, quidquid 
 de laudibue deorum, heroum factis, aut sapientiae 
 praeceptis, uberiore eloquii cursu traderetur, versibus 
 condire solenne erat, ut facilius memoria teneretur> 
 atque ita per rbapsodos, qui et librorum et librario- 
 rum vice tunc fungebantur, in publicum prodireU 
 Mu6as ideo non Phantasiae neque Inventionis filias esse> 
 6ed Memoriae , mytbographi finxere ; et poeta eas ma- 
 xima intentione animi invocavit, non ut Achillis vel 
 Diomedis ingentia facta cantaturum adjuvarent, sed ut 
 catalogum facerent, partem operis, cui Musarum opem 
 minime necessariam qui vis nostri aevi poeta putaverit. 
 
 §. LXXIV. 
 
 IVoicis jam temporibus regem unumquemque po- 
 tentiorem in familia poetam aluisse, constat, qui ho- 
 spites et amicos in conviviis delectaret, ac civium ani- 
 mos ad pietatem et virtutem accenderet , dum deorum 
 laudes, et majorum res fortiter gestae, carminibus 
 ad lyram cantatis celebraret. Poetae item singu- 
 li, qui arte et ingenio caeteris praecellerent, et quo- 
 rum Fama jam latius percrebuisset, haiul uniua princi- 
 pis patrocinio, vel unius gentis aestimatione content!, 
 longinquis peregrinationibus gloriam captabant, atque 
 artem , quam colcbant , vario rerum usu, et hominum 
 experientia ornabant augebantque. Talem fuisse credo 
 Thamyrim ilium Thracium; qui, dum ab Oecbalia red- 
 lbat, vocem ac memoriam , morbo aliquo in itinere 
 correptus, perdidisse videtur (Iliad. B. %o. ); talem- 
 que fuisse ipsum Iiiadis auctorem, turn veterum tradi- 
 tio, turn carminis indoles ac forma vix dubitare sinit ; 
 non enim curiosus adeo in laudibus inter Graecorum 
 
procerus aequaliter dispcrtiendis fuisset, neque tarn sub- 
 tili artificio singulorum agtortiag^ ita ut reliquorum 
 gloriae non obessent, distribuisset , nisi singulis eorum 
 posteris , turn forte regna singularum gentium tenenti- 
 b,us , placere etuduisset, 
 
 §. LXXV. 
 
 Poetarum itaque arte et ingenio, aeque atque ora- 
 torum studio et contentione, lingua Graeca ab ipsis in- 
 cunabulis exculta et perpolita est; atque ea ratione un- 
 ctior quaedam splendidiorque consuetudo loquendi 
 efciam in quotidian© sermone et de tenuissimis rebus in^ 
 valuit: neque in ilia simplicitate morum, cum. maximi 
 reges aratorum , messorum , pastorum , atque etiam co- 
 quorum ofliciis fungerentur, ejusmodi officia Musae de- 
 dignatae sunt: at humillimas res nativa verborum gra- 
 vitate, modorum gratia , et numerorum suavitate, in 
 heroicae majestatis fastigium extolleba.nu 
 
 §. LXXVf. 
 
 Neque eloquentiae popularis ac forensis minore* 
 fnisse laudes aut praemia viliora, quam bellicae fortitu- 
 dinis, in heroicis temporibu^videntur; e compluribus 
 enim utriusque carminis tocis satis liquet, nullum foe-* 
 dins opprobrium in principem virum ingeri potuisse, 
 quam dxairoiw&ov , confuse loquentem, esse: cum enim 
 regna et imperia moribus plus quam legibus, et opinio- 
 nibtis plus quam viribus starent, unusquisque rex vel 
 princeps civitatis tantum inter cives potestate praevale- 
 bat , quantum armis in bello vel eloquio in pace prae- 
 minere visus esset; quapropter omnes, qui eo loco nati 
 cssent , ut sibi rempublicam capessendam quodammodo 
 
7* 
 
 sperarent, artem dicendi baud minus quam pugnandi 
 callere oportebat, principemque virum liberaliter insii- 
 tutum arte omnia decebat 
 
 S* quis autem exquisite ornatum se reddere studeret, Ho- 
 merici instar Achillis, medicinae scientiam , quatenus 
 bello utilis in vulneribus tractandis , et musicae vel poe- 
 eis faeultatem, qua propriam virtutem , alicrum fortia 
 facta canendo, accenderet, addere oportebat. Ex ipsa 
 itaque morum simplicitate, et aliarum artinm inscitia, 
 eloquentia invaluit; ac lingua, natira quadam gratia et 
 elegantia ab omni fuco rhetorico aliena, exculta et or- 
 nata est. 
 
 §. LXXVII. 
 
 Carmina haud pauca ante Iliadem per Graecornm 
 urbcs decantata fuisse, vix dubitandum est, quamvis 
 nihil antiquius nunc extet, neque in veterum bibliothe- 
 cis extitisse videatur; nam quae sub antiquiorum po- 
 rum nominibus circumforcbantur , ipsa serraonia indo- 
 les ac forma postrriora aetate esse prodit. Ante Shahs- 
 pearium item nostrum haud pauci tragoediarum et 
 comoediarum scriptores fnerunt, qui plausu sui quisque 
 theatri vicissim gaudebant ; etsi omnes ille vie fulgore 
 ingenii sui ita perftrinxit, ut vix rei antiquariae studio- 
 sis nunc isOti sint, ncque iis etiam adhuc innotuerint, 
 nisi ars imprimeudi exemplaria ultra modum multipli- 
 casset. Siclliacus, Credo, pacta omnes qui praeis- 
 sent, longe supergvessus, eorum scintillis spleudorern 
 suum ita oiiudit, ut prorsu& extinxerit, et quaecunque 
 cecinissent, oblivisccnda ieceiit, antequam literis man- 
 darentur. Tituli hexametri, quos Herodotus ex anathe- 
 
y 7 i 
 
 matis templi Apollinis Thebis exscripsit, ni justis su- 
 £picionibus obnoxii forent, specimina carminum non 
 tantum ante - Homericorum , sed ante - Troicorunr, 
 obtulissent: quandoquidem decimi quarti et decimi ter- 
 tii a. Ch. n. saeculi esse debuissent^ neque de fide He- 
 rodoti in exscribendo quae vidisset, vel narrando quae 
 audisset, dubitandum est: de ejus autem judicio et acu- 
 mine in fraudibus sacerdotum , sanctitatis famam e glo- 
 ria antiquitatis captantium, detegendis jure suspicari 
 licet; praesertim cum vox ftovva^ioiv, ut nihil dicam 
 de sono ipso ac tenore versuum , notam manifestam se- 
 rioris aevi prae se ferat J ), Alioquin ipsa anathemata il- 
 liu6 aevi esse potuerint; etsi deorum templa, Homericis 
 etiam temporibus , nondum in Graecia extitisse , e si- 
 lentio utriusque poetae, nisi loco manifesteinterpolato a ), 
 probabile est: attamen sacros fuisse thesauros ditissi- 
 mos et celeberrimo8 et Orchomeni et Delphis certissime 
 constat 3 ); et quam solide et magnifice ejusmodi aedi- 
 ficia, ad res pretiosas fidei commissas tuendas, exstru- 
 eta essent, adhuc exemplo est, quod, tantum non inte- 
 grum, extat inter Mycenarum reliquias. Apud Graecos 
 quoque veteres , urbibus vi captis ac dirutis , quodcun- 
 que in «unum sacrorum sic depositum erat, intactum 
 manebat; ita ut, Thebis paullo ante bellum Trojanum 
 expugnatis ac direptis, nihil obstaret , quo minus quae 
 Apollini antea dedicata essent , illaesa ad Herodoti ae- 
 taiem pervenire potuissent; neque custodibus religio 
 fuissct, quo minus quae de eorum veneranda antiqui- 
 
 1 ) Heiodor. V- 59. etc. 
 
 £) Iliad. B. 549. 
 
 3; Iliad. I. 53! - 404, 5. 
 
72 
 
 late tradita accepissciu, Uteris inscriptis connrmare 
 auderent. 
 
 $. LXXVIII, 
 
 Unde literae Graecae originem duxcrint, et quo 
 tempore signorUm numerum plenum acceperint, in ob- 
 scure est: omnia enim , quae tradita 6unt de Cadmo, 
 Palamede, etc. lubrica admodum et incerta sunt. De 
 Cadmo, Leucoiheae, quae nata mortalis dea maris fa- 
 cta est, patre, memoravit Odysseae auctor; ita tamen, 
 ut nullam de ejus patiia \ el stirpe reliquerit notitiam x ) t 
 Cadmei isti celeberrimi, qui Thebas inBocotia vel con- 
 diderant vel occupavcrant , a poetaantiquiore memorati 
 sunt, nulla tamen mentione facta vel stirpisvel regionis, 
 qua oriundi esscnt. A Danais autem vel Achaeis prorsus 
 alieni fuisse videntur: sed a ratione rcrum et moribua 
 illius saeculi plane abborret , Phoenices, maiitimum 
 genus, sedein occupasse aut coloniam constituiss 
 procul a mari inter gentee ignotas et infestas. Caclmuui 
 ipsum prorsus ignorasse videtur : neque, si nosset , et 
 gentem Cadmeam pro ejus posteris habuisset, eos 
 A'ctdfiiiovg , 6ed Kadftldag e sermonis indole uomir, 
 Casmilus vel Cadinilus vetus Mercurii nomen fuit *); 
 neque aliud fuisse credo Cadmum : unde Ilarmoniam, 
 Martis et Veneris filiam, UBOrem duxiste fertur, atque 
 cum ea in anguem mutatus esse, et dei sceptro vel ca- 
 duceo adhaesissc; qua mysticae rcligionis allcgoiiam 
 cuivis deprehendere licet. 
 
 i ) Od. E. 555 — 5- 
 
 2) Schol. iii Apolion. Rkod. I. 9x7, 
 
§. LXXIX. 
 
 De Palamede uterque silet poeta; unde patet, nul- 
 lum fuisse eo nomine ducem in bello Trojano, sed 
 omnia de eo tradita, et de literis ab eo inventis, poste* 
 rorum commenta esse. Neque minus incerta sunt, quae 
 de literarum vocalium duplicum, postea inventarum, 
 origine et usu memorantur, Earum usus apud Athe-* 
 nienses anno quarto Olympiadis nonagesimae sextae, a. 
 Ch. n. trecentcsimo nonagesimo tertio , arclionte Euch% 
 de, primum obtinuisse dicitur *): unde y /ast Evxltidriv 
 y^c.fi/ituTW} seriorem et perfeciiorem scribendi modum. 
 denotat 2 ). Euripides autem,, qui quatuordecim anr- 
 te annis mortuus est, in tragoedia, quam diu ante 
 mortem composuisse videtur, signa literarum et II in 
 nomine QII2R T2 accuratissime descripserat et audien-* 
 tibus, ut omnibus jampridem nota et usitata, obtule- 
 rat 3 ). Atque Calliaa, comicus Atheniensis Sophocle et 
 fcuripide antiquior, H> et SI haud minus graphice expres- 
 
 1) 'J&ijvaZot w&vro aroi'^loit KJ %Qdo&ai , ttqotsq'ov IF %QoU 
 fiti'oi. Chion. Pascli. 
 
 2 ) Plutarch, in Aristide, 
 5) Tliei. fvagm. V- 
 
 JCt'xApff Tli CUff TOQVOlGlV tXUSTQOVfilVOS ' 
 
 tiros d* ly m st tnjpilov tv fiioq? oacpts * 
 «ro dsvrspov Ss , ttqujto, fxiv ygapfial Svo\ 
 rcn'ras Steigyu & iv fitoais tilh; fiia * 
 xqltov St @6otqv%os ns ok ti'kiyptvoS' 
 to # al rlraQTov, qv pH «'S ogfrov fzt'a, 
 Aofcti <V *V airfc t^7s xaTiorr^iyuhai 
 tlalv to -xiumov d' ol* iv zvaaQtu tfQaaat' 
 yQaupal yu-Q uolv t» diforo'jTOiv $vo, 
 ixvrae ££ avvTQt%ovvtv «* /"'«*' 0«<wi'» 
 
sit in fragmento apud Athenaeum r ). In nummis iden- 
 tidem Graecarum civitatum nonnullarum Thraciae vel 
 Mactdoniae, quos e quadrato quadripartito incuso, et 
 rudi opif'cio , quinti ealtera, vel etiam sexti a. Ch. n. 
 saeculi esse liquet, signa // et Si occurrunt; atque in 
 aliis item cum forma antiquissima tov T in V latino as- 
 servata 2 ); cum nihilominus seriorem earn T Euripi- 
 dis aetate ab omnibus usurpatam* esse e versibus supra 
 citatis plane constet. 
 
 §. LXXX. 
 
 Cum quinto demum saeculo a. Ch. n. historias pe- 
 destres Graeci componere studuerunt, Iouum dialectus 
 maxime florebat ; ita ut Herodotus, Doricae in Asia ci- 
 vitatis civis , et Atticae coloniae in Italia incola , ea 
 uteretur in opere, quo totius generis humani res dicere 
 sibi proposuerat, et quod Olympico certamine omnium 
 Graecorum coetui recitare destinaverat. 
 
 §. LXXXI. 
 
 Interea autem Athenienses , opibus, viribus, im- 
 perio, et rerum gestarum gloria praepollentes, eloquen- 
 tia quoque, cum forensi turn poetica et echolastica, 
 omnes alios supereminebant; undo eorum dialectu* 
 principem locum obtinebat; atque, apud exteras gentes, 
 fautores, patronos et cultores habebat Arclielaum Ma- 
 cedonum regem, Dionysium Syracusanorum, ac Mau- 
 
 l) cq&i} fiaxQa ygafxui] 'any* ix t<zvtt;s /aiai;i 
 
 y.iXQa rraQsoTujo* ixartomdiv tnria * 
 
 L. X. C. LXXX. ed. Schweigh. 
 a) In Veliensium minimis anti«jui55inus Musci nostri. 
 
solum et Hidrenm Caruna. In Macedonum quidem re^ 
 gum nummis patriae dialecti vestigia occurrunt usque 
 ad Philippum Amyntae nlium, qui Atticum sermonem 
 in omnibus regni negotiis usurpasse videtur^ atqueAle- 
 xandro filio tradidisse; a quo per orbem terrarum pro- 
 pagatus est; ita ut postea non solum Europae atqueAsiae 
 citeriorie reges eo uterentur, sed etiam Bactriae, Par- 
 thiae, Syriae et Aegypti, quorum omnium in titulie et 
 nummis usus ejus dialecti solennis erat. Paucis igitur 
 immutata, pro lingua communi Hellenum habita est; 
 dum omnia antiqui sermonis idiomata inter gentium sin- 
 gularum diversas aberrationes, vel poetarum licentias, 
 a sopbistarum, rhetorum et grammaticorum gregibus 
 refcrebantHr. 
 
 §. lxxxii. 
 
 Horum hominum maxima colluvies, Ptolemaeorum 
 munificentia undique excitata, in urbem Alexandriam 
 confluxerat; ubi baud pauci in carminibus Homericis 
 corrigendis, rxpoliendis, et in pristinum nitorern resli- 
 tuendis , sub regum auspiciis operam impendebant. 
 Exemplaria antiqua aut eorum apographa undique con- 
 quisita sunt et inter se collata; e quibus Zenodotus 
 Ephesius, primus bibliothecae Alexandrinae sub Ptole- 
 maeo II. custos, novam editionem confecit; de qua 
 multa memorantur in scholiis Venetianiset Enstathianis; 
 sine tamcn indice vel ulla nota, qua ab iis , quae pro- 
 priis conjecturis, quibus nimium indulsisse videtur, in- 
 tulerit, ca distinguantur, quae e vetuetis exemplaribus 
 kauserit. 
 
7 S 
 
 §. Lxxxni. 
 
 Aliae editiones et recensiones , quarum celeberrima 
 Aristophanis, 6ub Ptolemaeo IV. vel V. subsequutae 6unt, 
 (de quibus multa docte disputaverunt viri clarissimi 
 Ansse de Villoison et F. A. Wolfius) ac demum sab Pto- 
 lemaeo VII., medio secundo a. Ch. n. saeculo, inclyta 
 ilia Aristarchi, quae ut norma et fundamentum omnium 
 posteriorum stetit et adhuc stat. Idem Aristarchus al- 
 teram quoque editionem atque item commentaria inHo- 
 memm fecit; nisi forte altera ilia editio, ut doctisaimo 
 de Villoison in mentem venit, e commentariis et securu 
 dis curis ab aliis post mortem ejus confecta sit. Haud 
 pauca ex utraque, itemque e commentariis extant in 
 ficholiis Venetianis; et plura fortasse a librariis atquc 
 editoribus tacite rccepta sunt: at prorsus ignoratur, ut 
 in Zenodoli lectionibus, quae 6int veterum exemplariurn 
 auctoritate fulta ^ aut quae e mente editoris orta, atque 
 ejus judicio critico tantum commendata. Modeatiorem 
 tamen Zenodoto haud paullo fuisse , turn in cjiciendis, 
 turn in corrigendis vcrsibus, certum est: et minutissirqa 
 quaeque tanti aestimasse videtur, ut vix credam, majo- 
 ris momenti aliquid eum aut adjecisse aut mutasse, 
 non praeeuntibus codicibus. In ejiciendo vcl obelisco 
 notando audacior fuit; at non qua debuerat: e proprio 
 enim ingenio magis quam veteris linguae ratione, aut 
 poetae mente et consuetudine, judicium exercebat; et 
 quae ipsi haud placerent , ejiciebat, non quae Homeri- 
 co saeculo vel sermoni non convenient. Sermonis 
 enimvero inscitiam vix credibilem produnt infelicea 
 ejus conatus in supplendis hiatibus e detrimento digam- 
 matis in 11. /. 128. et aliis haud paucis locis. qui, ut ab 
 eo constituebautur, in scholiii Venetianis citantur. 
 
§. LXXXIV. 
 Grammatici et critici Alexandrini eo perinde deli* 
 querunt omnes, quod fontes et origines linguae nequa- 
 quam intfagaverunt , sed quaecunque ab ipsorutn con-^ 
 suetudine loquendi abhorrebant, inter dialectorum ano- 
 rnalias et poetarum licentias retulerunx. Ea aetate quam- 
 plurima adminicula inquirendi , et in scriptis monti- 
 mentis * et in linguis incultis ac semibarbaris Italiae 
 et aliarum Graeciae circumjacentium regionum, obvia 
 et in promptu erant, quae jamdudum prorsus evanue- 
 runt. Si quis tamen Aristarcho dixisset, veram formam 
 et indolem Homerici sermonis e Latinorunij Etrusco- 
 rum vel Oscorum linguis eruendam esse, haud aliter 
 Btupuisset, credo, quam si Hibernicum antiquarium 
 istum audiisset docentem , carmina e lingua Celtica vel 
 Scythica in Graecam translata esse x ). In iis autem Ita- 
 liae antiquae linguis principia ac primordia vetustissi^ 
 mae linguae Graecae, inquinata scilicet et corrupta, la- 
 tuisse, nemo, qui acutissimi Lanzii de hac re doctissi- 
 mum opus inspexerit, dubitare poterit. 
 
 §. LXXXV. 
 
 Ex his igitur praecipue fontibus scaturigines illius* 
 linguae, quae haud prorsus exaruerunt, deducendae 
 sunt: atque ut architecti periti, paucis dirutorum aedi- 
 ficiorum fragmentis efFossis, e membrorum proportione 
 et artis ratione, schemata Integra restituunt; sic nos 
 porro, paucis quibusdam radicibus inventis, quae ex 
 iis pullulasse debuissent, computabrmus , et stemmata 
 pulcherrima Homericae linguae restituere ac renovare 
 
 i ) Collectanea IILbernica , Eraef. in vol. Ill, 
 
7 B 
 
 conabimur; ita ut carmina, excussa rubigine, revire- 
 scant, et venerandus ille eorum %vovg do'/uiongfTii-g rite 
 reflorcscat. Criticorum ille princeps Richardus Bent- 
 leius, atque alii viri docti, qui ejus vestigia insequuti, 
 digamma Homericis reddere laborarunt, in hoc praeci- 
 pue mihi errare visi sunt, quod de digammate tantum, 
 non de tota orthographia antiqua reducenda, cogitarunt; 
 sine qua digamma solum, vcrbonim tantum initiis 
 rcdditum , inquinabit plura quam sanabit , et raodum 
 ccribendi, ab omni omnium temporum consuetudine 
 loquendi perinde alienum, exhibebit. Lingua quasi to- 
 ta immutata est: at Humeri tamen ac modi versuum in- 
 tegri raanent, atque item analogiae graromaticae quan- 
 tum ad probabilem aliquam ejus cognitionem perducere 
 •uificiat. 
 
 §. LXXXVI. 
 
 Negat autem Priscianus digamma nisi vocali , atque 
 ei in principio vocis pracponi posse , undo apud Aeoles 
 in B transisset, quoties ab P inciperet dictio, quae a 
 rari solita esset ; ita ut PU'iLlP , UPlITflP dixerint *). 
 At serioris aevi Aeolum hunc morem fuisse, ipse postea 
 agnoscit, cum veteres Latinos AF pro AB 6cripsisse tra- 
 dit 2 ); neque aliter veteres Graecos F in line syllabae 
 et ante consonantem p06uisse, eDeliaca inscriptione cer- 
 tissime constat: cum enim sculptor inceitus haereret, 
 
 i) Lib. I. p. 547. 
 
 2) Habebat autem haec litera F hunc «onum, qnem OMM 
 
 bet V, loco consonauiis posita, mule antiqui AF pro AB 
 scribere solebant : sed quia non potest J"av t id est digamnu, 
 hi fine syllabae inveniri , ideo muuta est in B. 
 
79 
 
 an AFTO antiquiore more, an ATTO seriore scriben- 
 dum esset, utramque literam adhibuit et vocem, ubi- 
 que semper disyllabam, AFTTO scripsit. Sic Nuceri- 
 nofum nummi antiquiores habent , literis Oscis, NU£- 
 KRINUM; recentiores, literis Graecis, NOTKPIN&N. 
 
 §. LXXXVH. 
 
 Digamma a grammaticis Aeolicum dictum est, 
 quia ab ea gente sola inter Graecos recentiores, post- 
 quam apud omnes alias prorsus exoleverat, usurpabatur; 
 non autem quia ab ea inventum fuerat, aut Aeolicae dia- 
 lecto ab origine proprium ac peculiare: quoniam cer- 
 tissime constat, turn tabulis Heracleensibus , turn mar- 
 more Deliaco, et nummis Veliensium , usum ejus prio- 
 ribus saeculis haud minus solennem fuisse in Dorum 
 atquelonum, quam inAeolum sermone; Heracleia enim 
 Italiae Dorum e Tarento colonia fuit 1 ); atque urbs- 
 TEAU vel EEAIE (utroque modo nomen nummis in- 
 8criptum est) a Phocaeis ex Ionia fugientibusOlymp. LX. 
 condita est 2 ); etDelon, Caribus ante Homerica tem- 
 pore expulsis, Iones semper postea possidebant 3 ). 
 
 Compluribus ecboliorum Venetianorum locis mani- 
 festumest, Aristarchum et alios veteres carminum Ho- 
 mericorum redactores 6piritum asperum (-, quomodo 
 priores F, non initiis tantum verborum adhibuisse , sed 
 mediis etiam eyllabis compositorum scripsisse, quorum 
 in elementis usurpatum vidissent: neque aliter eum 
 extitisse in vetustioribus bibliotjiecae Alexandrinae 
 
 i) M^zochi Tab. Heracleena. 
 
 2) Herodot. lib. I. s. 168. Strabon. VI- p. 252. 
 
 5) Thucyd. lib. I. Homer. Hymn, in Apoll. 
 
8* 
 
 exemplaribas credere par est : quanquam in titulis et in- 
 scriptionibus , quae nunc extant, paucissimis, atque ii» 
 antiqiiissimis , locum omnino obtineat : apud recentio- 
 res euim, in scribendo omissus, tanquam accentus vel 
 prosodiae nota, in legendo subaudiebatur 2 ) , atque 
 postea, omnibus doctioris antiquuatis, bonarum artium 
 et literarum humaniorum etudiis jacentibus , inter ejus-* 
 modi notas recensebatur 2 ). 
 
 §. LXXXVIII. 
 
 ]\Iulta a grammaticis Alexandrinis varie disputata 
 sunt de accentibus vel tonis vocis acutis, gravibus et 
 circumflexis ; qui in scribendo, notulis vel virgulis uni- 
 cuique vocali superimpositis, signiGcabantur. Hac no- 
 tulae ab Aristophane, grammatico Byzantino, inventae 
 sunt, ducentis circiter annis a. Ch. n., ut exteri ho- 
 mines vulgarem linguae Graecae pronunciandi ratio - 
 nem in libris indicatam haberent. Ad recentiorem v< ro 
 dialectum Atticam, quae, sub Macedonum imperio, pro 
 communi Graecoruni lingua habita est, unice pertinent j 
 neque prosodiae ab antiquis poetis vol rhapsodis usurpa- 
 tae ullam notitiam conferre possunu 
 
 fi. LXXXIX. 
 
 Haec vocis modulandae ratio e citharistae potiu^ 
 quam rhetoxis aut grammatici arte pendet, et in omni- 
 
 1) Vide Galen, coram. II. in Hippcicrar. lib. VI- de morb. rul-. 
 p. 157. T. V. edL Basil. 
 
 fi) lisp) twi' rrgooojFiur rdde • o^ua, Saoua, Hit. 
 
 oTioutvT;, dno(rc(>o<fos t u ax (j a , i<fiv, f?pa££'a , t '-rrJiaoToh,. 
 8. Epiph. de pond, et mens. t. XI. p. 158- Quantam krra- 
 ginem in unani sententiolam bonus genex congetsit! 
 
8i 
 
 bus Unguis adeo sufetilis ac mutabilis est, ut vix credam, 
 in ulla, duas hominum aetatcs in eadem ad amussim 
 perseverasse. Hinc diversae sententiae de notulis accen- 
 tuum inquamplurimisvocibus inter grammaticosAlexan- 
 drinos exortae sunt; quae omiies fortasse ab usu vete- 
 rum poetarum , Atticorum etiam, perinde aberrabant: 
 de eo enim homines Byzantii vel Alexandriae aetatem 
 degentes , secundo a. Ch. n. saeculo, nihil omnino scire 
 potuerunt. Circumflexus , nihilominus, quatenus con- 
 tractionis nota, utilis tironibus esse potest, si constan- 
 ter atque eodem semper significatu ubique adhiberetur: 
 at vulgata de accentibus doctrina, quam Constantino- 
 politanam esse puto, nulli alii rei inservire videtur, nisi 
 pessumdareprosodiam metricam, substituta quadammu- 
 sica prosodia, cujus indolem ac formam nemo hodie 
 scit aut scire potest. Hujusmodi est prosodia, quaGrae- 
 culi hodierni in carminibus veterum recitandis utuntur, 
 nulla justae mensurae syllabarum ratione habita, ita ut 
 dttvo(.u'jvi]i> , oulofii)vi]v , etc. semper dicant: neque nos 
 Angli, qui duvO(*(ititfiv , ovXofAfAtvnv^ €tc - P ar * constantia 
 dicimus, aures delicatiores vel doctiores habere vide- 
 mur. In alterutrum vitium incidebant omnes, qui, me 
 audicute, accentuum vim in Graecae linguae pronun- 
 ciation exprimcre conati sunt: aut enim, voce sublata, 
 et sono intentiore, vocalem producebant; aut ictu vel 
 impetu quodam vehementiore ; articulandi consonantem 
 cequutam conduplicabant. Hermannus, qui vim tantam 
 in syllaba producenda accentui acuto tribuit, eum cum 
 ictu, sive emphasi linguarum hodiernarum plane con- 
 fudit; atque inde accentum gravem pro signo muto, 
 nihil praeter acuti absentiam signihcante, necessario h#- 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 bet. Mira tamen inconetantia, circumflexum ex utroque, 
 id est, ex acuto etnihilo, compositum, plena potentia 
 sua, vir doctus retinuit. De Metris lib. I. c. XXII etffl* 
 et de Emend, gram. rat. lib. I. c. XIII. 
 
 §. XC. 
 
 Linguae veteres , praesertim Graeca , pins melodiae 
 
 in pronunciation quam nostrae habebant ; quoniamspe- 
 
 ciem quandam ac modulationem cantus , etiam in usu 
 
 quotidiano et vulgari, ab ipsa natura acceperant; atque 
 
 quo quaeque antiquior esset, eo magis haec species et 
 
 modulatio ejus indoli propria erat; quia minus remota a 
 
 vagitu infantum vel ululatu ferarum. Si quis nostrorum 
 
 temporum orator servum tibicinem a tergo haberet, qui 
 
 do*mini vocem eburneola fistula inter concionandum 
 
 moderaretur, vix ullus, puto, ex infima etiam plebe, ri- 
 
 sum teneret. Ita tamen in foro Romano concionabatur 
 
 oratoruin sui saeculi princeps Caius Gracchus 1 ). Pro- 
 
 nunciatio nihilominus latina concitatior ac velociorquam 
 
 Graeca fuisse videtur , ea etiam aetate, qua Graecorum 
 
 eermo ab antiqua grandiloquentia, et plena ilia ac so- 
 
 nora Homericae linguae majcstate, jam diu delapsus 
 
 erat 2 ). 
 
 §. XCI. 
 
 Poetis antiquis non INIusa tantum , sed ipsa natura 
 dedit loqui ore rotundo : 6ua enim sponte fluebant ma- 
 gnifica ilia 6esquipedalia verba ; quae, cum posteri pro 
 fuco quodam poetico accepissent atque viribus et animis 
 imparibus tractarent, in linguam istam facatam ac facti- 
 
 1) Cicer. de Orat. lib. III. ad fin. 
 
 2) Plutarch, in Demostb. sub iait. 
 
85 
 
 tiam Alexandrlnorum poetarum abierunt, qua omnes 
 postea usi sunt, qui carmina heroica versu dactylico he- 
 xametro scriptitabant. Nam lingua ista, cum e variis 
 ac discordibus dementis confiata esset, quantum quo- 
 tumque quisque voluisset licentiae poeticae facile admit- 
 tebat ; atque ideo percommoda erat iis , qui versus ad 
 nauseam usque eftutire vellent, quales sunt Quinti Ca- 
 ^labri, Ncnni, Tryphiodori, etc. etc. Nebulones autem 
 isti, cum linguam Homericam haud minus scatere licen- 
 tii8 poeticis putarent, se proculdubio pro alteris Home- 
 ris animo habebant , et attoniti mirabantur suam ipso- 
 rum facundiam, quae in tot volumina, Iliade et Odyssea 
 majora , nullo quasi nisu sese diffuderit. Neque minus 
 fucatus , inquinatus, et ab omni omnium hominum ac 
 temporum usu ac ratione loquendi alienus est sermo 
 Arati et Apollonii Rhodii; cum poesis alioquin, si quis 
 ejusmodi sermonis usum ei condonaverit, haud inficeta 
 neque inelegans sit. In dictionum tamen sensu et syn- 
 taxi, vera et aniiqua loquendi ratio, perinde atque in 
 forma et flexione, neglecta est; neque minus stupuis- 
 flent, aut magis intellexissent veteres aoidol aut eorum 
 audientes a^qpaolr] pifiokfifitpog , oXe&Qov £yyvtxfo'€£, /?po- 
 fitfanov axovcci , et alia infmita ejusdem farinae, quam 
 nyaaTcc , wpaara, aaumTcc , et caetera istiusmodi monstra 
 e grammaticorum et criticorum fuco conficta, quibus ad 
 nauseam usque recentiorum carmina heroica farcta sunt. 
 Virgilius vix magis miratus esset latinitatem Merlini Coc- 
 caii. Neque vero tragici ea religione, qua poetae vete- 
 res, suam unicuujue verbo propriam significationem tri- 
 buerunt; sed multa indiscreta et ambigua adhibuerunt, 
 quae inHomericis nonnisijusto ac certo discrimine usur- 
 pantur. Ejusmodi sunt ®A2r^NON, 'ErXG2 et 
 
 F2 
 
BEA02, singula singulorum armornm nomina; quae a 
 Sophocle , poetarum Atticorum 'doctissimo , eousque 
 confusa sunt, ut ensis, quern ab Hectore Ajax dono ac- 
 ceperat, nunc &j£2FJNON, nomine proprio, raodo 
 EVXOZ, hasta, et modo BEA02, jaculum vel sagitta, 
 denominaretur J ); neque ea cultissimos Athenienses of- 
 fendebant, etsi eorum majoribus, alioquin agrestibus 
 et indoctis, sibilo vel irrisu excepta fuissent. 
 
 §. XCII. 
 
 Homericam autem linguam certa analogia consiste- 
 re, suisque legibus teneri perinde atque Atticam tragi- 
 corum, neque magis epenthesin vel metathesin vel alias 
 qualescunque grammaticorum farragines unquam admi- 
 sisse, epero fore, ut extra omnem dubitationem stabi- 
 liam. Interim ut judicium aequum atque integrum ad- 
 hibeat lector, neque de singulis singulatim, 6ed tota 
 perspecta et perpensa rerum ac verborum serie et corn- 
 page, sententiam ferat, obtestatus oro. Monumenta 
 antiqua, e quibus aliquid luminis haurire possumus, 
 perpauca sunt; et conjecturae e ratione linguae vel ana- 
 logia grammatica petitae tantum auctoritate valent, 
 quantum numeio exempla, quibus fulciantur. Potue- 
 rim , ut Clarkius , ejusmodi exempla in notulis usque 
 ad molestiam cumulare et iterare; sed malui indulgen- 
 tiam lectoris petere quam patientia abuti. 
 
 §. XCIII. 
 
 Si verbo unicuique forma sua antiquissima redden- 
 da esset , ad certum aliquem tinem certa quadam ratione 
 
 Ajac. 653. 354. 
 
85 
 
 perduceremur: sed lingua Graeca Homericis jamdudum 
 temporibus immutari et perpoliri coeperat, ac paullatinl 
 adlonicam illam elegantiam serioris aetatis flecti 5 ita ut, 
 quo gradu steterit, cum Ilias et Odyssea conderentur, in 
 tanto monumentorum veterura defectu, nullo modo sci- 
 re possimus. In multis tamen haud prorsus improba- 
 bilem ariolandi rationem praebent vocum mensurae; 
 quas, cum metri legibus definitae sint, ipsa natura atque 
 omnium linguarum indoles proclamat, non epenthesi- 
 bus vel diaeresibus arbitrariis expletas vel productas, sed 
 sermonis quotidiani usu communi fixas acstabilitasesse: 
 inter homines enim literarum prorsus ignaros quisnam 
 alium 8ermonera intellecturus fuerit? 
 
 §. XCIV. 
 
 In nonnullis etiamsi haud dubitaverim quin a rha- 
 psodis vel grammaticis immutata sint, cum nihil tamen 
 certi de Homericis formulis comperissem , vulgata reti- 
 nui : nam mihi quoque inter virtutes grammatici habe- 
 bitur aliqua nescire. Audacius nihilominus in aliis for- 
 sitan egisse videar ; atque in his vereor ne mihi judicum 
 inscitia crimihi aut fraudi sit : nam Alexandrinorum do- 
 ctrina adhuc vigere apud criticos videtur; ita ut verba 
 contracta pro primariis et antiquissimis thematibus ac- 
 cipiant, atque 20B& vel 20F& a 2R , BOASi a B& 
 etc. soluto circumflexu deducant. Oportuerit etiam, si 
 in nugando viri docti sibi constare vcllent, Plautina ilia 
 MAVOLO, NEVOLO, PRAEHIBEO, ITINER, SENI- 
 CEM, etc. a MALO, NOLO, PRAEBEO, ITER, SE- 
 NEM, etc. derivare, et rationem reddere, sicut solent 
 grammatici, epenthesi literarum VO, EV, HI, IN, 
 1C , etc. 
 
36 
 
 §. xcv. 
 
 Sed harum nugarum taedet pudetque; atque ideo, 
 lie lectorem taedio , quo toties ipse affectus sum 3 afti- 
 ciam , ad opus me accingam ; et primum gramniaticam, 
 quatenus a seriore et vulgata discrepare visa sit, expo- 
 nere conabor. 
 
 §. XCVI. 
 
 In vetustissima lingua omnia nomina augmentum 
 in secundo casu accepisse videntur, adjecta syllaba, vel 
 syllaba iinali in duas dissecta; ut 2SIMA 2SIMATOZ, 
 BEMlZ SEMIZTOZ, KEPAZ KEPATOZ, TPIHPHZ 
 \TPIHPEOSj etc. etc. Eodem modo ill ad TOZ ad- 
 junctum fuisse credo omnibus nominibus in JZ desinen- 
 tibus, quamvis dura ista et antiqua terminatio secundi 
 casus paullatim emollita et contracta sit apud posteros in 
 ITOZITOZ, hoZ/AOZ, et/OZ l ); Attica enim ter- 
 minatio ejusdem casus in LSIZ e corruptela semionis ve- 
 teris orta esse videtur; atqu 1 ideo pro dialecti idiomate 
 nulla analogia fulto habemla; e qua grammatici , cum 
 antiqua forma in quibiudani voc;bus jamdudum exole- 
 
 1) TTapa tj Sairtpo? to JIOATUPUL — 6 Zoffoxlr,: "UPTJA 
 (iji; ti]x> aiV/ar//?/)', o rt $>qvv»%09 ttjv si&tlav 'IJPIJE2. 
 Schol. Ven. in II JT. 219. dijkov dt ort rt aklo otjuat 
 
 .oov to&tlt *ABEMIT02 rragd ror ivzav&a 'Otn^txov 
 'A0EMI2TON- xal or* wnttQ XAPIZ XAP1J02 xa. 
 ptxcJc X-4P1T02, xara &L r?> iaQa 7/(><yoVt>J \4kxuavi- 
 X17V iwoiv, xai APTEMIJ02 'APTEMJT02, olc 
 Mil 02 0EPAI1ONTA , ovrlt xal 9BML2 GEM1T02 xal 
 mil uraoutu tov oiyua(jEMI2T02, oiov 9BMLZTM JE it 
 AIIMPRM, xai eg at tov 'A0EA2I2TO2. Eustttb. in Od. 
 1. p. 1613. 1. 27. et sq. BOALSTQN. C1VIUM. Tab. He- 
 xacleens. Neap. I. 32. Scholiastae, ut semper, formas anti- 
 quissimas pro licentiis et dialectorura abeiTationibus kabent. 
 
8/ 
 visset, et metrum nihilominus penultimam syllabam Ion- 
 gam atque ultimam brevem flagitaret, monstrum illud 
 poeticum in H02, ut HOAH02, effinxerunt. Tarde 
 tamen et pedetentim haec licentia Homericis admissa 
 esse videtur; Gregorius enim Corinthi episcopus, Co- 
 mnenorum saeculi grammaticus , HOAI02 tantum pe- 
 nultima producta, nusquam UOAH02 aut aliud ejus- 
 modi inter dialectorum exempla citat, 
 
 §. xcvir. 
 
 In nulla autem lingua vel dialecto, quae verborum 
 forma8 ac flexiones ex indole propria et usu hominum 
 communi, non grammaticorum fuco, eiHnxit vel rede- 
 git , ulla fuit unquam contractorum solutio , vel circum- 
 flexus diaeresis, in alia quam in ea ipsa elementa, e qui- 
 bus conflata sunt; ita ut Attica ista EI et OT 9 quae ex 
 EA vel EE, et AO velEO, toties contracta sunt , non 
 in EI vel of, sedin antiquaiL^ vel EE, et AO ve\EO, 
 quoties disyllabis opus sit, dissecanda eint; et quaecun- 
 que in recentiorum scriptis, praesertim Alexandrinorum, 
 contraria occurrunt, pro factitiis habenda, atque eorum 
 linguae fucatae adjudicanda. Sic KPATOZ in KAPA- 
 T02, ut BAHTO in B AAETO , resolvi debuerat, non 
 in KPAAT02 ', quod plane factitium est, ab omni 
 omnium hominum patrio et quotidiano sermone alie- 
 num, atque ideo ejusmodi, ut nemo e ve terum doidwv 
 auditoribus intellexisset. Neque minus ex Homericis 
 tollenda sunt alia , quae, distracto circumflexu, rhapso- 
 di et carminum redactores, ad versus, e posterorum 
 contractionibus claudicantes, supplendos, intulerunt; 
 ut 0& pro Si ex AO contracto, etc. etc. 
 
88 
 
 §. XCV1IL 
 
 Quarti casus nominum in 12 desinentiam duplex 
 est terminatio, IAA et IN; quae nihilominus ex una 
 eademque antiquiore forma fiuxisse videntur; Latino- 
 rum enim , qui M, pro Graecorum A", in compluribus 
 nominum terminationibus usurpaverant, quartus casus 
 in ejusmodi nominibus in IDEM desinebat; quod Grae- 
 cis literis ac pronunciatione IAEN, et antiquiore eermo- 
 ne IAAN fuiseet; e quo, amputatione literae nnalii, 
 IAA; et elisione intermediarum, IAN > et postea IS 
 factum est; ita ut PARIDEM, IIAPIAA, et Til FIX* 
 ejusdera formae diversae variationes feint. Secandus ca- 
 sus Latinorum in LDIS originem habuisse in notaxtouo) 
 recentiorum videtur; nam antiquiora moaumenta eo- 
 rum linguae VENERUS, CERERUS, HONOROS, etc. 
 pro VENERIS, CERERIS, HONORIS, etc. exhibent';. 
 
 §. XCIX. 
 
 Hie iQ)Taxiap6g , cujus alia vestigia notabimus infra, 
 e consuerudine pronunciandi ore constrictiore orieba- 
 tur; atque usque adeo apud recentiores invaluit, ut ce- 
 leberrimi regis norhen, quod in titujis ac nummis uni- 
 ce 3I1BPAAA TII2 est , dcrivationi a deo Mithra con- 
 gruen9, in libris omnibus tarn Graecis quam Latinis, tam 
 manuscript* quam impressis, 6emper MWPIAATH2 
 vel JMITHR1DATES sit; atque Greed hodierni vocales 
 II et Tac diphthongos Bl % OI et 27 pro signis diversis 
 ejusdemeoni, qui est simplicis /, habeant. 
 
 i) Lanzi sopra lc lingue morti d'ltalia , P. I. C. VII. S. 1, 
 06seir. IV". 
 
»9 
 
 $. C. 
 
 Etsi nullus unquam sonus in ulla lingua ad libitum 
 loquentis immutari poterat, in linguis tamen parum cul- 
 tis , ac nondum literarum usu fixis ac stabilitis , omnes 
 soni, qui inter 6e aliquo modo cognati essent, usu quo- 
 tidiano perfacile commutabantur. Hinc eae literae, 
 quae spiritu denso vel aspero , i. e. non tantum a labris, 
 eed a gutture vel pulmonibus , impetu quodam acriore, 
 educto pronunciabantur *), ut 2 et P, \ et F, in va- 
 rus dialectis, vel modis loquendi ex usu ortis, commu- 
 tabiles erant; itaut x . in secundo casu plurali nominum 
 eecundae declinationis , exempla extarent in antiquis 
 Italorum sermonibus uniuscujusque harum literarum in 
 eodem loco adhibitae ; atque MUSASUM et MUSARUM, 
 MOTZAFSlNet MOT2A\SlN<> diversis regionibus ac 
 temporibus perinde usurparentur. 
 
 §. CI. 
 
 In aliis titulis eerioris aevi, cum ejusmodi usus li — *; 
 terarum jamdudum inter Graecos obsolescere coeperar, 
 puncta nuda earum locos occupaverunt ; ut in MOTJSA, 
 SIN, NTMOA.flN t etc. 2 ) Etrusci autem, quibus litera 
 Oignotaerat, VUSAlS pro XOFAI2, vulgo ioaiq , in 
 titulis scripserunt ; at Latini veteres ERIHONT et ERI- 
 
 1) tori yaQ y filv ipil-q , 7CoioTr\i ovklaftys , uad' 7}V axgoig 
 to~s xtileai To nvsvfia TtQO'ptQsrai , oiov Aias* ij Se daoeta, 
 TiotoTTjg avV.a^tJg, xa^' ijv in fia&ovs ysiltojv ro nvsvfta ttt- 
 <j>Iqst<u. Porphyr. ttsqi JIqoo'u8. in Villoison. Diatrib. p. 
 i»4« V f** v Saoe7a in rov duqaitoe i>t7T£fi7ieTai, -?] Se xjJih) *£ 
 axQOJV twv %Bt).ioiv» Ibid. 
 
 3) Salmasius de L. Hellen. p. 431. Lanzi ib. Vol. I. p. 1Q> 26r. 
 n<>r. T. ct pa-g. 506. 
 
9° 
 
 FONT pro ERUNT, in tabulis Eugubianis, atque ERA- 
 RUNT pro eodem in aliis monumentis; et RUIUS pro 
 HU1US, INCROANDI pro INCHOANDI , etc. 1 ) Plau- 
 tus etiam habebat pro GNAROS , GNARURES 2 ); unde 
 originem ac formationem secundi casus GNARORUM in- 
 telligere possumus; qui lingua et literis Graecorum anti- 
 quissimis TNAPOFON vel TNAFoFON fortasse fuerit. 
 Hanc tarhen formam exolevisse , et contractionem in SIN 
 communi hominum usu sancitam esse, etiam in Home* 
 ricis temporibus oportet; quoniam nullum ejus exem- 
 plum in carminibus extat. In altera declinatione ratio- 
 nem antiquissimae formae in ASIN vel AFSIN facile 
 reddebant grammatici nkeovuofAw too A — tial di Aiolt- 
 xa nteovaopov avowee xoZ A ficucyov 3 ). 
 
 $. CH. 
 
 Secundus nihilominus tertiae declinationis casut,' 
 qui terminationem in oto habet, vexatissimus inter 
 grammatico8 est; aliis Thessalicae, aliis Boeoticae dia- 
 lecto eum tribuentibus 4 ); qua diversitate sententiarum 
 hoc saltern plane declarabant , se sane nihil omnino de 
 eo scire. Si vero in antiquissiroa forma pluralium F 
 vel f- locum habebat, vix dubitare licet, quin eadem li- 
 tera in singularibus eundem quoque locum usurpaverit: 
 neque difficile est rationem reddere istius /; cum enim 
 punctum literae obsoletae locum obtinuisset, usui ac 
 
 i) Lanzi ib. p. 259. 
 
 2) Mostel. Act. 1. S. 1. v. 17. 
 
 3) Eustath. p. 173. 
 
 4) at Sid rov 010 ysvixal , xard filv tovs ciV.ois GsTTaltxat st- 
 ow tv Se rot* *JhtUn*Q xai 'iloodvjfjov Boiojtvjv qrf\ 
 ;A<yrr^c. Eustatb. p. z4o. 
 
consuetudini grammaticorum consentaneum erat, id in 
 iota miitari: nam litera ista omnium hiatuum commo- 
 dum ac solenne supplementum erat, quod in compluri- 
 bus postea videbimus. 
 
 §. cm. 
 
 Antiquissimam itaque formam AOTOFO fuisse nul- 
 lus dubito: quae obsoleta, etin AOTO-O, AOroO y et 
 AOrO Tpaullatim contracta, AOFOIO demum fiebat 
 grammaticorum aut rhapsodorum commends 5 ut justam 
 versuum mensuram quocunque modo compleret. Vi 
 metrica digammatis AOTOFO penultimam syllabam an- 
 cipitem habuisse debuerit; atque ita metro claudicanti 
 in 'IXLqv nQonuQQi&ev x ), dvexpiov mccpavoto 2 ), 'Aoxlr}- 
 Tilov dvo noudt 3 ), AioXov xIutcc daj^iara 4 ), leniter ac fa- 
 cile subventum est , restituta antiqua nominum ortho- 
 graphia F/AF/OFO , 'ANETIZIOFO, ' AZKAHIIIOFO, 
 etc. Syllaba OI, in Homericis non interpolatis, 
 semper et ubique longa est: at OIO in secundo casu 
 nusquam occurrit , nisi ubi penultima primum in pede 
 locum obtinet, et ultima tarn positione quam natura 
 brevis est; unde constare puto, penultimam earn natura 
 quoque brevem, tono tantum et impetu pronunciandi, 
 certis quibusdam locis totiesproductam esse; atque ideo 
 aliam habuisse formam insermone antiquo. Rarissimere- 
 centiores, etiam Alexandrini, hanc terminationem ad- 
 mittunt, ubi ultima syllaba positione longa fit: Apollo- 
 
 1) Iliad. <p. 104. 
 
 2) lb. O. 554. 
 
 3) lb. B. 73i • 
 
 4) Odyss. K.60, 
 
9 2 
 
 niu8 tafnen Rhodius Avxovq'/oio &oaav$ vlog habet; et 
 alia fortasse exempla sedulo quaerenti eruere liceret. 
 
 Argon. B. 118. 
 
 §. CIV. 
 Patronymicorum ac nominum, quae e verbis for- 
 mata sunt, terminationes in A2, A t.\.HZ unas et eas- 
 dem ab origine fuisse puto, atque consaetudine tantum 
 ac vario hominum usu in diversas abiisse. Eorum ca- 
 sus secundos item, inA02etEOZ, AOetEO* contra- 
 ctos postea in OHetOT, omnesab una antiquissima for- 
 ma AFOZ varie mutatos esse arbitror: quamvis omnes' 
 praeter OTJZ ct C>r locum in Homericis carminibus ha- 
 buerint. 
 
 §. cv. 
 
 Nomina in evg vel iiFJT desinentia omnes casus obli- 
 quos constanter ex ordine, ut ab origine forraata erant, 
 in Homericis retinuisse videntur; neque contractio nisi 
 in tertio plurali usquam occurrit. Schema declinationis 
 antiquae et Homericae fuisse credo : 
 
 s. 
 
 D. 
 
 P. 
 
 
 EFS 
 
 EF02 
 
 :EFE 
 
 iLFES 
 : SF&N 
 
 
 EFl 
 
 a EFOIN : 
 
 EFEZ1 
 
 : EFII 
 
 EFA 
 
 
 ETA2 
 
 
 ef 
 
 
 EFEZ 
 
 
 Quod tamen e virorum doctorum conjecturis tan- 
 tum, et ratione quadam grammatica , consequuti su- 
 mus; haud enim scintillam lucis vel Italorum dialecti 
 vel Graecorum monumenta praebent. Maximi autem 
 momenii est literas E et T in hujusmodi vocabuli6 nus- 
 quam diaeresi separari ; quod vix non aliquo evenirepo- 
 tuisset , si ambae ab origine vocales fuissent. 
 
95 
 
 Quarti casus contracti unjcum est exemplum 
 ZETN in Aeschrionis Samii epigrammate usurpatum x ), 
 atque 6ic restituta forma antiquiore A2EFN e A2EFAN 
 eo mo do, quo HAP IN e TI API A AN contrahi ostendi- 
 mus, contracta, in 1L 6* 206. jfc 256. et 42. 35i. Omni- 
 no rescribendum pro ZMN; quod, elisa vocali in fine 
 versus dactylici hexametri, seu, ut grammatici malue- 
 runt, divisa syllaba finali, ita ut JV* ad versus sequen- 
 tis initium transferretur , in iis locis tantummodo extat, 
 et alioqui a carminis heroici indole prorsus alienum esse 
 videtur. 
 
 $. C% 
 
 Ex his nominibus formata sunt patronymica in 
 EFIAH2 vel EFIAA2, vulgo iidfjg ct aLdas; at solute 
 semper «ara didaraaiv apud Pindarum et alios Aeolicos 
 Doricosve poetas antiquiores a ), qui digammain carmi- 
 nibus sonuisse videntur. 
 
 §. CVII. 
 
 Nomina autem in T£ et T antiquissimis temporibus 
 casus secundos in tFOZ habuisse, e reliquiis veteris La- 
 tini certissime constat; inter quas PECUVA pro vulgato 
 PECUA in quarto casu, et QUESTUVIS ac FRUCTUVIS 
 pro QUAESTIBUS ac FRUCTIBUS in tertio vel sexto 
 plurali occurrunt 3 ); figura enim antiquissima tov vau 
 vel digammatis apud Italos et Italiotas Vet E fuit 4); at- 
 
 1) Apud Athenaeum VIII. p. 335. Brunck. Analect. T. I. pag. 
 189. Gaisford in Hephaest, p. 255. 
 
 2) Eustatli, p. 21 et 28. 
 
 3) Lanzi Vol. I. p. 316 et 322. 
 
 4) Sic in Veliensium minimis et Tabulis Heracleensibus. 
 
9* 
 
 que usus rov B pro ea litem inter Lacones 6olennis , ne- 
 que infrequens apud Latinos et alios Italiae antiquae 
 populos. 
 
 §. cviii. 
 
 Hac ratione to B in tertiis casibus pronominum 
 SIBI, TIBI, NOBIS, VOBIS, etc. locum habuit; dura 
 in MIHI spiritus asper eodem modo, extruso nempe di- 
 gammate , eundem locum obtinebat 5 quod in vocabu- 
 lis Graecis etiam, dialecto 11011 mutata, saepe accidisse 
 videbimus. Sic quoque adverbium relativum loci vel 
 temporis UBI ex antiquissima forma tertii casus prono- 
 minis relativi [&FI, postea \£ll, effictum est In usu 
 pronominum to Oq uptl n^oraATiAov too 'O Our t oog ou- 
 dtnoxe Ti&r,atv , ut recte monuit Atbenaeus : at non ae- 
 que verum est quod adjecit Deipno6ophista , Toupna- 
 ).lv da avri rou Og vtiotolxtixov nctQaXafiflmPii 10 ttqoiuxti- 
 xov c O * ) : nusquam enim istud 6 pro iff nisi in locis cor- 
 rupts vel interpolatis occurrit. 
 
 §. CIX. 
 
 Vocales itidem / et T inter se commutabiles erant 
 tarn in antiquissimis quam in recentioribus dialectis; 
 quo evenit, ut in Etruscis inscriptionibus idem nomen 
 promiscue EELUA atque EELIA scriptum sit 2 ); Attici 
 praeterea ES12 pro TOS vel TF02 substituebant in de- 
 clinatione nominum in T2" desincntium , et iyzi'ktatj pro 
 tyZ&vog scribebant 3 ); atque inde declinationem com- 
 
 1) L. XI. C. LXXXIY. ed. Sckweigh, 
 
 2) Lanzi Vol. I. p. 257. not. 4. 
 5) Eustath. p. 1240. 1. 15. 
 
munem in EOS, ut TIEAEKT2, UEAEKE02, 0£T2\ 
 
 0£E02\ ortam es6e puto ; nam earundem literarum com- 
 mutationem in Etrusca lingua modo observavimus : at 
 seriorem elegantiam sapit potius quam severam ratio- 
 nera grammaticam Homerici sermonis. Digamma ni r 
 hilominus in hujusmodi nominibus exolevisse ppetae ae- 
 tate videtur; penultima enim in secundo casu semper 
 corripitur; ac nonnunquam ultima item in quarto. 
 
 §. ex. 
 
 Sin autem adjectiva masculina in X2 secundum 
 casum in lOZ desinentem habuerunt, feminina eorum 
 in TIA desiisse debuissent; neque dubito, quin vulgata 
 terminatio EIA> EA etEH, aut ex Attica elegantia orta 
 fiit, aut ab altera forma masculina in 112 desinente 
 fiuxerit. 
 
 §. CXI. 
 
 In Homericis A OPT, rONT, etc. penultimam sem- 
 per brevem in recto, et semper longam in obliquis casi- 
 bus habent, metathesi, ut grammatici dicunt, tuv T; 
 ita ut AOPT02 factum sit A07F02; TONT02, TOT- 
 NOZi etc. x ) In Latinis autem, etiamsi metathesin 
 istam nemo unquam somniaverit, eadem syllaba eodem 
 modo obliquis casibus producta est; ita ut GENU 
 priore brevi, factum sit GENUA diaovlXv.pm priore lon- 
 ga; quod ex antiqua forma GENUVA contractum esse, 
 exemplis PECUVA et PECUA jampridem citatis con- 
 
 l) JOTP02 fitv TtQovnaQXEv to JOPT' «fe yaQ TONT FO- 
 NT02, r.al uera&iosi, TOTN02, ovw xal JOPT JOPT02 
 JOTP02. Eustath. p. 1606. 1, 62. 
 
9$ 
 
 stare puto; ideoque syllabam pfoduci vi diiorum conso- 
 nantiumNV, et vocabulum recte scribi GENVA. De- 
 clinationem ac contractionem parem fuisse in Graecis 
 rONT, AOPT, etc. nemo sanus , credo, negabit; at- 
 que ideo syllabam priorem , quae natura brevis in inte- 
 gris casuum formis A0PTF02:, A0P7FI, etc. foret, 
 positione longa in contractis AOPFQ2, AOPFf, etc. 
 fieri. Ita denique vera et antiqua forma, quam, cam 
 jampridem, ratione grammatica tantum, assequutus es- 
 sem, irridebant critici, certissima auctoritate et analo- 
 gia veteris Latini ab acutissimo Lanzio eruti et expositi, 
 confirmata stabilitaque est. Similem contractionem in no- 
 minibus Etruscis, ut GAXAVEJLpio toAXA'WElL, 
 ejusdem vfri docti thesaurus locupletissimus veterum 
 sermonum Italiae exhibet 2 ). 
 
 §. CXII. 
 
 Nominum in S12 et SI desinentium baud aliam fuis- 
 se declinationem, sed ex £12 fieri OFOZ, OF/, OFA t 
 etc., e Latinis BOS, BOVIS, BOVI, etc. probabili sal- 
 tern ratione colligere liceret, si litera S2 in omnibus lon- 
 ga facta esset usu ac consuetudine tantum loquendi: at- 
 tamen baud paucis ex aliarum literarum elisione earn 
 productam esse constat; et, cum nesciamus in quibus- 
 dam quaenam eae fuissent, antiquam eorum formam, 
 vel recti vel obliquorum casuum , nullo modo scire pos- 
 sumus. Nonnulli veterum grammaticorum MJN&N02, 
 M1X&NI, MI^SINA, etc. scribebant pro 3I/M2(j2\ 
 M1NQI, MIN&A 2 ) , qua ratione vel auctoritate, non 
 
 1) Vol. II. p. 239. etc. 
 
 2) Vide Heyne in supplend.inll. A T . 520.SCI10L Ven. A. in VL.B. 
 
 262. 
 
97 
 liquet ; atque in riominibus propriis raro aliquid certi ex 
 analogia statuendum est, cum e vario ac diverso diver- 
 earum gentium usu ac consuetudine loquendi diversis 
 modfs eiHcta et contracta sint. Cretensium forte diale- 
 cto nomen MINSIZ fuit, quod aliis MINQN fuerit: 
 utrumque enim ex antiquiore participii forma, in Lati- 
 nis asservata,, MINON2 pari ratione effingi licuisset. In 
 hujusmodi nominum flexione literam excidisse , quivis 
 facile dixerit; sed quaenam litera fuerit, vix ariolari au- 
 sim. Inter haec nomina autem in £12 desinentia haud 
 recipienda sunt ®S12 - J2 TV 2 , XP&2 -. XP& T02, 
 etc. e &OA2 - &OATOH, XPOA2 - XPOAT02, etc. 
 contracta; neque &S12, lumen, quod a &AF02 con- 
 tractual est ; neque in Homericis alia quam haec plena 
 et antiqua forma occurrit, \HP£IE in iisdem secundam 
 syllabam in casibus obliquis ubique productam habet, at 
 in Pindaricis correptam esse aliquoties versus antithe- 
 tici , si qua est eorum auctoritas , plane demonstrant *) ; 
 et digamma locum habuisse, mediis etiam vocabulis , in 
 veterura Thebanorum sermone, ex eorum nummis cer* 
 tissime constat. 
 
 §. CXIII. 
 
 Pronomina linguae veterid Latinae digamma in obli- 
 quis casibus admisisse supra ostendimus; et, cum pos- 
 sessiva ex obliquis positivorum casibus efformata sint, 
 necesse est id in iis quoque locum habuisse. SicinOsco- 
 rnra vel Campanorum sermone semibarbaro SVLE-)S, 
 i. e. 'SUVE1S, et antiquo Latino SVVIS pro SUIS, in ti- 
 
 a) Vide Pyth. I. 103. Ill, 13. IV* 102. 354. Nem. iy. 47. 
 VIII. 6a. 
 
 G 
 
93 
 
 tulis inscripta observavit Lanzius; atque praeterea in lin- 
 gua Osca EEST-JRi, i. e. VESTJRI, etEVEBjS, i. e. 
 VUEBIS, pro VESTRI et VOBIS x ). 
 
 §. CXIV. 
 
 In eadem antiquissima lingua secundus casus plu- 
 ralis TDJ8ADAKACVM, i. e. TRIPHARACAVUM , oc- 
 currit; quod dialecto ac literis vetustissimis Graecia 
 TPI<PAPAKAF(JN fuisset: unde, in dialectis recentio- 
 libus, terminationes ejusdem casus ttkEStS , fZXetAX, 
 varia contiactione , slcut usus quotidianus , diversus in 
 diversis locis, sermonem immutaverat, emctae sunt. 
 
 <). CXV. 
 
 Homericis autem tcmporibus digamma e secundia 
 ac tertiis casibus singularibus nominuni feminarum in A 
 vel H desinentium jaradudum exciderat; ita ut termi- 
 nationes monosyllabae factae essent. 
 
 g. CXVI. 
 
 Syllaba ista finalis, quam qi paragogicum appellant 
 grammatici, locum tov Fj intertio casu occupasse vide- 
 tur; ita ut ZTPA'W&T, BJHOI, etc. antiquiore 6Cii- 
 ptura forent 2TPATOFI, BIHFl t etc. etiara istud 0/ 
 secundi perinde ac tertii casus vice jamdudum fungere- 
 tur. In tabula Eugubiana Latina syllaba FI eundem lo- 
 cum obtinet; atque in hac tabula signum illud F di- 
 gammatis Graeci potestatem habet, non Romanae istius 
 
 1) Vol. I. p. 547 — g. Oaci, sicut Etrusci, a dextra sinistror- 
 tum scribcbant : sed quoniam veteium usus in hac re parum 
 constans erat, ordincm notiun tt usitatum in omnibus 
 xecepi. 
 
99 
 literae F ; quam ea aetate ita invaluis^e haud verisimile 
 est l ). In ejusmodi vocabulis tamen iota subscriptum 
 duntaxat penultima abolere ausim • nam pir^i, e duplici 
 modo scribendi ortum esse vix dubitare licet. De 
 "OXES0I , *OPES0I, etc. diversae fuerunt grammati- 
 corum veterum opiniones ; cum hi pro tertio casu plurali 
 xar iniv&toiv zou 0, illi pro secundo singulari ttatoi 
 cvyxoniqv tov O , adjecta syllaba 01, habuerint. Vereor 
 tamen, ne tertius ille casus locum in sententia tueri ubi- 
 que possit, ita ut pro altero S consuetudine loquendi 
 usurpatum esse videatur. V. Hort. Adon. in v. o^tvyi, 
 
 §. CXVII. 
 
 In Argi vorum 'ar Cretensium veterum dialectis par- 
 ticipia verborum in HMI, etc. desinentiuni, quae vul- 
 go in EIS desinunt, in ENS desinebant; atque ita in 
 Ilomericorum carminum exemplaribus nonnullis anti- 
 quis scripta esse , Heraclides , grammaticorum veterum 
 inter doctissimos, memoriae prodidit 2 ). Ab omnibus 
 tamen libris, tarn manuscript's quam impressis, con- 
 junctio ista literarum NS 9 a qua abhorrebant delicatu- 
 lae aures recentiorum, exulat; tametsi veram atque an- 
 tiquissimam formam participiorum earn constituisse, 
 turn linguae Latinae auctoritas , turn ratio grammatica 
 in declinatione certissime demonstrat: secundi enim ca- 
 sus in ENTOS, ANTOS et ONTOS desinentes ab an- 
 tiquis nominativis in ENS, ANS et ONS justa ac re- 
 cta analogia deducti sunt. 
 
 l ) Lanzi VoL I. p. 277. 
 
 a) Apud EusutU. p. xji6. 1. 24, 
 
 Gs 
 
100 
 
 §. CXVIII. 
 Apocope nihilominus xov 2 } Homericis etiam tem- 
 poribus, haud infrequens fuisse videtur; ita ut TT- 
 HTS2N, TTVP&N, etc. eo quoque saeculo, pro antiquio* 
 ribus TTTIT0X2, TTW0N2, etc. hominum usu inva- 
 lescere potuissent: atqui non dubitandum est, quin 
 TTVAN2, TT09EN2, etc. in TT*PA£, TT&9EI2 
 etc. emollita sint posterorum elegantia; quae in diale- 
 Ctis aQxaionQtnfGTaTcuQ et codicibua praestantioribus (Ar- 
 givis fortasse et Creticisj nondum, sub Lagidum impe- 
 rio, locum obtinuerat. Audacter igitur hi archaismi 
 carminibu8 restituendi sunt. Cum feminina horum par- 
 ticipiorum et adjectivorum imparisyllabica vel augmen* 
 tata sint, vix dubitandum est, quin e casibus pbliquis 
 masculinorum emcta sint ; atque ea ratione pronuncian- 
 da ac scribenda, prisco more TTI12ANT2A, 7T~ 
 09ENT2A, TIAXT2A, etc. e TTII2ANTE21 ', TT- 
 &9ENTE2A, TIANTE2A, etc. contracta pro vulgaris 
 TvipuGot, xvtp&iiaa, Tiuoctj etc. In adverbiis sibilum fina- 
 lemsaepe amputatum esse observatEustathiua: zo & £«- 
 fiddt, tort fxiv tog to 'iot.Xu.-Ai' dvvaxai di xal due xo\j 2 
 yQayta&at, XAMAAI2, cog U0AAAKI2' ovrat di xul 
 AH0AKI2, AH9AKI, xul AT9I2, AT6L p. 1879. 1. 
 53. Sic *ANT1KPT2 et 'AXTIKPT, atque eadem ra- 
 tione credo 'A2TI0TAI2, *ErPHlX)PTI2, etc. rescri- 
 benda esse pro *J2H0TAI $ ^ETPHTOPTI, etc. quories 
 6yllaba ultima, sine alia causa, producta sit. 
 
 §. CXIX. 
 
 Si Menandri et Philemonis reliquiarum emendatori 
 celeberrimo credere libet, participia masciilina ultimam 
 aliquaruio corripiunt, ut a«$ ocvoi hie (Alenandri 'Ino- 
 
101 
 
 (Sol. JFV. 9. p. 78.) pro anapaesto haberi possit , atque 
 ha fieri in dialecto Dorica tradidit Corinthi episcopus 
 S. CXLIX. Vix tamen ipsi Aristarcho sic decernenti as* 
 ©entire potuerim, etiamsi, quid comicis Atticis vel buco- 
 licis serioris aevi in re metrica licuerit , ne ariolari qui- 
 dem ausim. Dawesii autem inscitiam atque temerita- 
 tem in digammate pro N inculcando his participiis, 
 itemque tertiis personis pluralibus verborum, et tertiis 
 casibus nominum et participiorum in SIN desinentium, 
 faeilius esset irrisui exponere: at quae verasint, osten- 
 dere ac stabilire praestat, ut contraria sua sponte xuant, 
 
 J. CXX* 
 
 Horum nominum ac participiorum casus tertii plu-^ 
 rales, quamquam anomali quodammodo in dialecto 
 communi esse videantur, justa tamen et recta ratione 
 grammatica efHcti sunt : cum enim secundus casus in 
 NTSIN desinat, tertius in NTEZI vel NTA2I desinere 
 debuit; quod paullatim contractum, in NT2I, N2JI et 
 2/abiit; ita ut 7L^A'7!iE27rleretprimum TIANT2I, dein- 
 ae IIAN2I ac postremo UASIv TTIITQNTE2I, TT- 
 HTONT2I, TTTITONZI et TTIITOTSIl [TT&0EN- 
 TE2I,. TTfpBENTSI et TTQSEN2I et TT&eJ2I2f % 
 etc. etc. 
 
 ff. cxxr. 
 
 Litera 2, sicut aliae liquidae, A, M, N et P, saepe 
 producta vel duplicata est in pronunciando ; atque cum 
 Graeci rationem scribendi consuetudini loquendi 
 semper accommodarent, unaquaeque gens suae ae- 
 tatis civitatisque modum pronunciandi in scribendo 
 exhibebat; e quo diversae dialecti paullatim formas di- 
 
10£ 
 
 versas accipiebant. Hinc in tabula Heracleensi casus 
 tertius pluralis participii T1010NTAZZ1 et TLPAZZOX- 
 TAZ2I est; ac vase fictili elegantissimi opens, eadem 
 regione defosso, vocabulum 2SOOZZ inscriptum le- 
 gimus, 
 
 §. CXXIT. 
 
 Saepe in carminibus hie casus tertius pennltimam 
 longam habet; atque X turn duplici signo expriraitur, 
 contra rationem grammaticam, credo; et certe contra 
 morem in aliis observatum; inecriptionibus enim anti- 
 quis, si liquidum in ultima vel penultima ex U6u pro- 
 nunciandi geminatum sit, perinde geminatur in initiali; 
 ideoque in carminibus, si nA\7'/;i2/ , AIAHTBZ2T y 
 etc. retineamus, AE AAO&OX, AE MMETJl, etc. pro 
 vulgaris di loyov, dt fnyce, etc. recipere debemus. 
 Omnia veterum monumenta Constantinopolitano ioipe- 
 rio antcriora alrerutrum unice exhibent; et, sive hoc, 
 sive illud praetuleris , optimorum temporum exemplis 
 confirmare poteris. Constantia autero , vel in comma- 
 tandis vel in geminandis, more vererum, Uteris, omni- 
 noexpetenda edt; quae librariisConstantinopoIitanis pri- 
 mum neglecta , tunc tandem Homericis carminibus re- 
 stituitur, eo modo, quem antiquissimum ac verissi- 
 mum, re diu accurateque investigata, puto. 
 
 §. CXXIII. 
 
 Minus inconstantiae est, at nonnihil tamen, in ge- 
 ininatione consonantium A', 77, 7'; nam hae quoqueictu 
 et emphasi pronunciandi duplicabantur, prima saltern 
 pedis syllaba, ut onnojg , urn, etc.; quae rationc gram- 
 matica IOIISZZ, lOTI , etc. scribenda sunt. B, r, J 
 
lo3 
 
 autera , consonantes primariae , e quibus II, K, T, du-' 
 riore et acriore quodam articulationis impetu, orta esse 
 videntur, nunquam e tono vel emphasi duplicantur; ne- 
 que dubito, omnia ejusmodi exempla, quae viri docti 
 in carminibus Homericis se vidisse credunt, me facile 
 monstraturum , aut menda et corruptelas esse , aut mo- 
 dos loquencli antiquos et obsoletos male intellectos. 
 
 §. CXXIV. 
 
 In omnes casus vel nominum vel participiorum in 
 'ANZ vel &N desinentium mos et consuetudo contra- 
 hendi paullatim et comprimendi terminationes, in Ho- 
 mericis jamdudum temporibus, sensim ac pedetentim 
 irrepserat: qua fit, ut casus hi aliquoties sine litera Tet 
 penultima correpta sint; ut MEAAN02, MEAANA*); 
 2APIIHAON02 :ONI :ONA, etc. etc. in nonnullis 
 autem vocalis in penultima, consonante ejecta, pro- 
 ducta est; ut in KPONIQNOS iQJSl :SZNA, etc.; quod 
 maxime Homericum est, ut in sequentibus videbimus. 
 Quartus casus pluralis omnium nominum naturalem ac 
 vetustissimam terminationem in A2 habuisse videtur; 
 ita ut vulgatum illud AOTOTZ e contractione antiquio- 
 ris formae AOTOFA2 ortum esse credam ; atque ideo 
 AOrOFE in Homericis scribendum. Aeoles recentioreo, 
 pro veterum Fet posterorum T, /adhibebant, ettertium 
 et quartum casum iisdem literis scribebant^ 
 
 i) slXeixf/iv t'yjt rov t. rotovtov xa.l to TAAA-~ 
 
 NO 2 ano rov TAAA2, xal vo ME A A NO 2 Ix rov MEAA2. 
 iXldirst ydg to T, ok SrjXot ro TAAANTAT02 xal to TA~ 
 AANTEPON Eustath. p. 622. init. 
 
§. exxv. 
 
 A doctissimo Polybii editore nupcr observatum est, 
 to r e nominibus terminationem in ITa habentibus sae- 
 peexcidisse; ita«t MHN/rZ, MHNJ-; 2AAIHTZ, 
 £AAW2\ ZAAIIirKTHZ, 2AATL1KTHE scriptura 
 sit. Sed antiquo modo scribendi horum nominum ter- 
 minatio fait iNF£ et INrTH2\ et litera, quae excidit, 
 jV, non r: atque ita omnibus ejusmodi evenisse credo, 
 quae in ca&ibns obliquis penultimam Ionian: habent; 
 ut MA2TJ2 -ITOZi etc. quae, in Homericis saltern, 
 scribi debuerant MA2TIXTZ ilxrOZ, etc. 
 
 §. CXXVI. 
 
 Ubi litera finalis S e K2, non e T2 conflata sit, et 
 penultima in casibus obliquis producatur , ut in KJI- 
 PTK2 \TK02; &OINIK2 '.IK02; etc., litera T exci- 
 disse videtur ; atque eadem ratione, qua JSTK2, AT- 
 KT02, KJIPTKZ \TKTOZ', WOJNIK2 .IKTOS, etc. 
 fuisse ; quae restituenda etiam Homericis facile dicerem, 
 nisi constaiet, linguam veterem jam olim emolliri coe- 
 ptam esse elidenuo consonas durioreeet producendoante- 
 cedentesaut subsequentes vocals. Sic *OPXI2 '- ISOS, 
 et Doricum 'OPX1Z : 1X02 ex antiquiore 'OPNIX2 
 - IXG02 facta esse, dicersa loquendi consuetudine , vix 
 dubitare licet; unde ultima in casu recto, et penultima 
 in obliquis j semper longa est. 
 
 <J. CXXVIL 
 
 Verborum tertia persona pluralis, quae vulgo in 
 OTZI desinit, et quam Dawesius , contra omnem ratio- 
 nera grammaticam et auctoritatem veterura, in OF2I 
 quondam desiisse censuit, formam naturalem et anti- 
 
10J 
 
 quam conservasse videtur in Aeolica ac Dorica dialecto, 
 quae est ONTI— TTTITON TI — quod in aliis dialectis, 
 paullatim contractum et emollitum, fiebat ON2I, SIZ1 
 et OT2I, eo modo quo tertius casus participiorum. Ita 
 etiam tertia persona verborum in MI ex ANTI, ENTI 
 etTiVTI, in All, EJ2I et T^/abiit'}; itidemque 
 temporibus praeteritis perfectis aliorum verborum ter- 
 minatio antiqua ANTI in A21 mutata est; cujus penul- 
 tima ob earn causam semper producta est. Egregie hal- 
 lucinatus est clarissimus Lennep, breves fuisse olim, 
 cum simplicibus literarum signis scriptae essent, penul- 
 timas harum personarum , atque ita formas recentiores, 
 EI1I , A2JIet OTZI e thematibus productioribus EEMI, 
 A AM I et OSl deductas esse 2 ). Neque felicius vir exi- 
 mius futura &ANESI, 2TLEPE& , TEMESl, etc. ab Io- 
 nibus antiquis pro antiquioribus &ANE2Q XJIEPEUSI, 
 TEME2SI, etc. a verbis puris &ANE&, 2ILEPE&, 
 TEMESl , etc. formata esse voluit 3 ) : nam pueris etiam 
 notum esse debuit, penultimas futuri et aoristi primi a 
 thematibus in J2 puro dennentibus, in omnibus omnium 
 temporum et gentium dialectis, productas esse, eoquod 
 antiquissimae terminationes eorum essent ESSl et E2A 9 
 non ZSZ et2A-—TTIITEi:Sl et 'ETTIITEZA contracts 
 in zvipco et tzv\pa$ atque eadem porro ratione BOAEZSl 
 —'EBOAE2A, et &IAEE2& et E&IAEE2A, contracta in 
 po<ao(o } *p6aGct , ydiicQ) , iylXfiocc , etc. ; nee non a recen- 
 tioribus, Atticis praesertim, in /?wow, tfiwoa, etc. Vis 
 
 a. ) ukrrsQ «t rov TI9EA2I, TIQEI2I, ovto)? aal t* rov 'EJ2I, 
 EI2I. Scliol. Ven. in .11. ji* 566, lataxuf/*Q9 in omnia gr as- 
 
 satus est. 
 a) Analog. C. IX 
 3) Ibid. C. IV. 
 
1 06 
 
 meitrica binarum literarum haud minus imminuta mane- 
 bat, cum simplici aut ipdol , quam cum duplici aut *ni- 
 Gi'jfio) signo scriberetur : quod mirum est virum egre- 
 gium non percepisse, cum in omni fere vocali longa 
 lateat aut brevis absorpta, aut epiritus, aut consona 
 suppressa. 
 
 <j. CXXVIII. 
 
 In vetustissima tessera kospitali Musei Borgiani Ve- 
 letris tertia persona singularis v T erbi^//J/2il'//, quaevulgo 
 AIASlSIest, AIAOTJ, i. e. AUfi. 77, inscripta est ; qua an- 
 tiquissimam formamejusdem personae in aliis verbis per- 
 cepisse mihi videor: nequedubito, quin Latina termi- 
 natio it) ET atque Graeca in EI ex obsoleta in ETI \ wri- 
 ter erTictae sint; altera, amputato /, altera eliso 7': ita 
 utDOCET, AOKEET, et AOKEJ perinde e AOKEETI 
 contractasint; quemadmodum varius et quotidianususus 
 in omnibus fere linguis plus minusve effecit. , Jones'* 
 grammatici dicunt, ,,addunt syllabam 21 tertiis per- 
 sonis singularibus modi subjunctivi, ut Ti7rrj;<7* pro 
 runty." At syllaba ejusmodi adscititia ne in ullo quidem 
 unquam hominum sermone locum babuit, et Ionica ilia 
 forma, nisi quod 7' in J^mutatum sit, et / male subscri- 
 ption, justa ac naturalis est, TTIITIITI — TTTITJIJ;/; 
 atque ejecta consona, et / finali in mutum converso, 
 TTTITHL In vulgatis Homericorum exemplaribus syl- 
 laba ista paragogica tertiis personis singularibus optativi 
 verborum in MI nonnunquam adjuncta est, saltern si 
 librarii et grammatici recentiores dop\ et Stftjm pro Atticis 
 optativi formis kabuerint: sed in priori aut scribendum 
 est 01 pro 10, aut iota subscriptum ab omega ad eta trans- 
 ferendum, et in posteriori omnino abolendum, ita ut 
 
conjunctivi fiarit formae antiquioris ASISI e primitiva 
 AOFSl contractae ; nam syllaba ista ab optativi ratione 
 et indole prorsus aliena est. 
 
 §. CXXIX. 
 
 Cum, quisnam fuerit Homericus pronunciandi aut 
 scribendi mos, rw T, an tw 2*, nemo nunc scire pOtue- 
 rit, priorem praetuli, non tarn quod antiquior esset, 
 quam quod tvffotvoTfQog , et carminis majestati magis 
 congruus. Harum literarum inter se invicem commu- 
 tatio perfacilis ac solennis , in linguarum omnium pro- 
 nunciation, et olim fuit et adhuc est; ejusdem enim 
 sunt organic ut ita dicam; cum T consonans dentalis 
 sit , atque £ et S spiritus dentales modis diversis pro- 
 nunciati; unde Lacones sonum zov JS tw & tribuerunt; 
 et hac nostra aetate omnes quasi Europae gentes sylla- 
 bam TI tanquam SI pronunciant, quoties vocalis in eo- 
 dem vocabulo earn excipit. 
 
 §. cxxx. 
 
 Aliarum consonantium iUsiipetg in initiis etiam ver*- 
 borum haud infrequentes sunt; ut in E1BSI pro AEI- 
 B&, EPI pro ILEPI, I A pro MIA, etc. quorum in 
 nonnullis restituenda est litera initialis, ut versus suum 
 metrum habeat; quod, quoties ita visum est, fecimus. 
 Constans tamen haec tXKu-^iq in quibusdam , et jam ante 
 Homerica tempora usu communi recepta esse videtnr; 
 ut in \ T102, etc. Etrusca enim lingua |- TIA est 8VIA 
 et rVIA 1 ), i. a. 0TIA et nil A, quas formas antiquissi- 
 mas esse, verbum JFSl vel 0TISZ, a quo deductae sunt, 
 testis idoneus est. Ab eadem radice est Latina vox 
 
 1) Lanzi Vol. IT. p. 502. etc. 375. etc. 
 
io8 
 
 PUER; quae solita commutatione inter sese rov P et to J 
 C vel K, in Etruscis est CFED, i. e. CWER x ) ; quo an- 
 tiquissimam formam Graeci vocabuli KOIPOZ videre 
 hcet, quae sine dubio KTFEPO 2, KlFPOS et postea 
 KOFP02 erat, 
 
 §. CXXXI. 
 
 In omnibus Graecorum dialectis praeter 'Atticam K 
 pro II usurp atum est in Ilfi, TLH , IIOTE, etc.; ac 
 formae horum vocabulorum in Latina lingua, QUO, 
 QUA, QUOQUE, persuadere cuiquam forte potuerint, 
 Graecos antiquissimos ita pronunciasse ac acripsisse : sed 
 in lingua Osca et vetustissima Latina QUIDQUID est 
 P1TPIT, etQUI, POI; quo verisimile videtur , Atticam 
 in hac re scribendi consuetudinem (quod raro accidit) 
 antiquissimam esse, atque idcrrco retinendam Home- 
 ricis. 
 
 §. CXXXIL 
 
 In codice Venetiano antiquissimo subscriptum est 
 iota adverbiis my, fiUUfc etc. ita ut jnj, &Ut|» etc. 6Cribe- 
 rentur ubique; et in sermone Aeolico ac Dorico seriore 
 HSl est not, *ENJfl , lidol, etc. quae formae antiquio- 
 res 6unt e casu tertio pronominum et adjectivorum effi- 
 ctae: nam, ut vir acutissimus I. HorneTooke jamdiu pla- 
 num fecit, adverbia, praepositiones, conjunctiones et 
 aliae ejusmodi voculae, nonnisi fragmenta et anoonu- 
 cficcTu quaedam verborum ac nominum sunt. Restituen- 
 dum igitur iota istud mutum putavimus, haud mi- 
 nus adverbiis , quae e masculis et neutris nomi- 
 
 2) Ibid. p. 550. 
 
io 9 
 
 num et pronominum formis emcta sunt, quam 
 quae e femininisj cum veterum sermoni haud minus 
 Il&I, KATSII, i JNS2/ i etc. quam IIHI, 'AAAHf, 
 etc. convenire viderentur. Haud alia ratione HAP AT, 
 'THAI, etc. formata esse credo; quae ideo pro sermo- 
 nis vetustissimi reliquiis, nori poetarum commentis, ha- 
 benda esse censeo. Mutum aptius quam subscriptum 
 iota id dictum esset: dum enim lingua Graeca viguit, 
 et elegantior quaedam scribendi ars invaluit, adscribe- 
 hatur , non subscribebatur vocali , e contra ctione di» 
 phthongiproductae ; atque eo modo in hac nostra recen- 
 fiione adhibendum erit* Strabonis aetate exolescere coe- 
 perat, ita ut haud paucis Codieibus omnino defuerit, 
 gravi detrimento linguae , cujus indoles ac ratio gram- 
 matica idcirco dimcilior fiebat et obscurior, 
 
 §. CXXXIIL 
 
 Ut 77/2/ et IIHI e tertio casu pronominis, sic IIOT 
 e 6ecundo ejusdem casu factum est; atque ideo pari ra- 
 tione rescribendum tlOFo vel TlOO , prout metrum 
 postulat. 
 
 §. CXXX1V. 
 
 Haud aliter adverbia in £12 desinentia e tertio casu 
 plurali nominum ac pronominum formata esse videntur$ 
 in tabula enim Eugubiana ItSl2 est f V> I; quod sermo- 
 ne ac literi*Graecis redditum JT0/27neret. Cum tameti 
 eermo in his tabulis rudis ac barbarus est, et scriptura 
 parum constans, iota illud mutum Ta> SI adjungere sine 
 validiore auctoritate mihi religio est. Alia adverbia e 
 casibus quartis nominum ac pronominum formata sunt/ 
 subaudita praepositione quadam. 
 
110 
 
 §. cxxxv. 
 
 Cum Etrusci veteres literas A et non haberent, 
 ratio ipsa grammatica proximas potestate, quae T et V 
 sunt, in earum locis postulabat; quod in nomine Dios- 
 curorum alterius, Graece II0ATJETKII2, Etrusce 
 FU^TUCE, satis apte evenit: at qua ratione A in A aut 
 T in QU transient, ita ut OATZ1ETZ, ULYSSES; 
 AAKPTMA, LACRUMA; TE QUE sint facta , ne con- 
 jectura quidem ulla assequi valeo , tametsi haud antiquis- 
 cima putem : cum enim Latinum UTI vel UT ex Graeco 
 1 OTI plane connctumsit, et yYafliiieT« TE, mutatio- 
 nem earn post UT ex I- OTI translatum evenisse oportet. 
 
 §. CXXXVI. 
 
 Neque minus difficile est rationcm reddere, qua La- 
 tini veteres literis Bet DU in iibdem verbis atque, ut vi- 
 detur, iisdem sonis significandis usi sint; ut in BEL- 
 LUM, DUELLUM; BELLONA, DUELLONA; BILILS, 
 DUILIUS , itemque VILIUS *); quod ultimum minus 
 mirandum est, quoniam B et V consonans (quod item 
 ac F Aeolicum) ambo literae labiales essent, atque inter 
 se aflines; ita ut, in Lacooum dialecto, usus tov B pro 
 JF solennis esset. Idem mos in Pamphyliae quoque civi- 
 tatibus, atque apud alias fortasse gentes cum Doricas 
 turn Aeolicas obtinuisse videtur 2 ); itemque inter Lati- 
 nos etiam recentiores , sic ut LIVERTUS pro LIBER- 
 TUS, BOTUM S0LB1T pro VOTUM SOLVIT, in 
 
 a) Lanzi P. I. C. VII. S. 1. Osserv. IV. No. 5. et C. VTH- S. 1. 
 No. 5 et 6. 
 
 &) Heraclides apud Eustath. p. 1654, 1. £1. 
 
1 J i 
 
 titulis sepulchralibus ac votivis, sub Caesarum impe- 
 rio incisi8, satis testantur 3 )» 
 
 §. CXXXVII. 
 In omnibus linguis singula quaeque verba, quo ma- 
 gis usu quotidiano in hominum colloquio vulgata et oon- 
 trita sint, eo magis corruptelis obnoxia fiunt; ac faci- 
 lius ab indole naturali et justa analogia uniuscujusqme 
 sermonis detorquentur : quo fit, ut verbum illud, quo 
 quisque primam notionem mentis ac conscientiam sui 
 voce exprimit, apud omnes gentes maxime abnorme sitt^ 
 et a communi conjugandi ratione latissime aberret. Ita, 
 in nostra lingua Anglica, BE, AM, ART, IS, WAS, 
 etc. nullo vinculo conjugations aut ratione afnnitatis 
 invicem cohaerent : sed singula sparsa ac divulsa , 
 a diversis quasi radicibus orta , videntur: et quan- 
 quarn in linguis antiquis, praesertim Graeca et La* 
 tina , analogia grammatica plenior haud paullo et accu- 
 ratior sit, quam in nostris vulgaribus , nihilominus La- 
 tinum verbum SUM tantum a Graeco EIMI distat, ut 
 vix sibi quisquam persuadere possit, utrumque unum at- 
 que idem esse; quo tamen nihil certius; nam antiquissi- 
 ma forma erat 'E2& et terminatione in MI, *EZQMI\ e 
 quo Etrueci, qui literam O nullam habebant, et I in E 
 libenter mutabant, ESUME fecerunt; quod Latini soli- 
 to brevitatis studio in SUM redegerunt, conservatis ni- 
 hilominus vestigiis formae antiquioris in ESEM, ESE, 
 etc. (sic enim veteres scribebant) 2 ) itemque in ERAM, 
 ERO, etc., mutato tamen S in R, ut apud Latinos haud 
 
 1) Torremuzz. iiv.cript. Sic. Class. VI- No. IV. Cor. yet. musei 
 
 nostri. 
 a) Lnnzi 1, i. 
 
113 
 
 minus quam apud Laconea fieri solebar. Praeteritum 
 autem perfectum FUI , quod veteres semper FUVI scri- 
 bebant, haud ejusdem verbi est, sed ad Graecum 
 &TF& pertinet. 
 
 0. CXXXVIII. 
 
 Futura ilia Graeca 'EZ20MM, 'ElSEAI, *EZ- 
 SETMet *E22EITAfex antiquissima forma y E2Sl sunt: 
 omne enim futurum natura desinit in E£Sl% nt omne 
 praeteritum perfectum in EKA: sed duo modi contra- 
 hendi fuerunt; unus, ejecta vocali, ut in TZ*P&, -:1E~S2, 
 etc., quae fatura prima vocata sunt; alter, ejecta conso- 
 nante> ut in TTITES2, yiETESl, postea in 7 I 
 jlErSl contracta atque futura secunda appellata. Fu 
 rum itaque passivum antiquissimum verbi 'E1S2 erat 
 % ESESOMAl\ quod iUtiyn too E in tenia per=c 
 2ETAI, atque xov 2 alteriua *E1 tl ficbat; e quo 
 
 eolita contractione too EE in EI, et sibili in pronuiu i 
 do productione, factum est monstrum istud poeticum 
 'EZ2EITA/. 
 
 §. c\ 
 
 Forma in MI contracta fuisse videtur, Homericis 
 €tiam temporibus, in *E£MJ et *EMMI (unde '£££/, 
 'E2TI, 7.2 .7/ //A, etc.); et , ejecta consonante ac pro- 
 ducta vocali, in 7/3// emollita, e quo 7///.V, 'MSN, 
 7/.V, HA, 'EA, 7/V/X. etc. etc. variis contractioni- 
 bus efficta sunt: semper enim in memoria tenendum ear, 
 formas longissimas ac plenissimas in omnibus verbis an- 
 .tiquissimas esse, neque ullam justam licentiam imrnu- 
 tandi unquam fuisse in ullo hominum sermone, nisi 
 quae in.contrahendo et emolliendo consisteret, atque ea 
 
n3 
 
 non pro arbitrio cujuscunque usurpata, ee.d usu ac con, 
 suetudine loquendi paullatim introducta: neque nova 
 ilia et augmentata themata, quae aut ex augmentatis 
 quorumdam temporum formis conficta sunt, aut modurn 
 aliquem vel consuetudinem generalem actionis adjuncto 
 aliquo exprimunt, sicut verba in : IZR , :I£K£l, etc. in 
 hanc legem peccant; compositorum enim numero ha- 
 benda sunt, ut singula exempla facile probabunt. 
 
 6. CXL. 
 Sed quoniam verborum analogia , qua antiquae il- 
 lae formae, a poetis tantum usurpatae, aut singulis dia- 
 lectis propriae, ad certain aliquam rationem redigeren* 
 tur, inter cruces graramaticorum semper fuit, haud a 
 proposito alienum puto, praecipuas eorum eententias de 
 hac re, e scholiis veteribus collectas et librariomm 
 mendis aliqua ex parte saltern purgatas, in ordinem 
 aliquem disponere, atque antequam plura disputavero, 
 lectoris judicio submittere. 
 
 §. CXLI. 
 
 Itaque, ut a verbo diflicillimo, ac grammatico v£- 
 terum subtilissimo et doctissimo exordiar: 
 
 l. 'Joriov ore to 'EMMENAI o 'HQaxtetdfjQ ov 
 xcctu ti}v doxouoctv To7g nXeiOGiv dxokov&tciv TtttQCtyCl , «A- 
 lu nQomxQafojyovoav uvtov , ijyovv Tfjv EM GvXla^v CCJIO 
 nupctfor/oi>Tog II ytvtodav (iovXsvcti gvgtoXij yccl dtnka~ 
 <rta<j/t<(u, akkug nctya to ip Toig *ig ti)v 'Ifoudct ygcuptv. 
 y»]<jt ydg o'uTwg ' piyiGTOv tmuvQiov iv af.iq}vg^tjTfjaet to-, 
 vcav fituaTtyuav to Ti]vr/.uvru ntgiGnuGuv tu (jypccTcc, ots 
 to aitaQt/ityciTOv dice ngojiagahiyovTog tov II XiytTcti* tu 
 yap KTSl ntQianaTui, ore KTHMENAI to anaQifi(f«- 
 tov it di tjv KTtt pvQviiv&g, KTEMENAI a* fa *«r« 
 
 II 
 
*i4 
 
 to 'ETPEMENJL ooto) xal *IASl, <i>IACI\\ <t>IAII- 
 MENAI' xal X0JL1IEXAI xal (DPOXII.UEXAI' wA 
 to 'AHMEJNAI vh (.laQivfjil tv} ASi TTtGiGncofitvo). dr t ).ov 
 ovv, (fr,(jlv t o)g xal to IIMEXAI duo tov *fl ntoionoi- 
 fnivov Tt ( g npmnjg auGuyictg , ov xal f t peropj TreoiGTiuTai, 
 A&.iotI q.u(iiv 'EMMENAI' xcOoti Aioltig xal tv #*- 
 (.tu<n to nQor/'/oujutiov H tov M tig E fiiTUTi-dtvTtg St- 
 nXovoi t6 M. olov lLObUMl, I106LM3ir 0IAHM/, 
 WAEMMK 
 
 ovxovv 6 'IlgaxXtldf;g yulviTU* titiwg xul TO *EM- 
 MENAI ano tov IIXAI ytitO'&ui tov 7iagaXr t yofit'pov rt") 
 II' ov -Oifxu fiiv to SI j i, t { 'Q7.°h ntgionioutiwg' 
 
 na oca auKog ft 'IIX uutcc to tjj/ASi. A;1)IAII\ ' XOSl, 
 *ENOHN' xal tu bftota Aiwuxu. Eustath. p. 1-107. et & 
 2. to di *IIA, xoivortgo* fd» tintlr , irgcuTOg dogi- 
 atog tov '//()\ iniit , og '/mtnwg '/< ut~ 
 
 Toy/, 7i.\, mot f# Jtoilm //ouy.l?id* i g liuOvlo'/H' iddt 
 dt QVGTO\\l tVQfjtai xal EA, dty ov. xard xodaw, *II di'£<i 
 tov X' ev to xowov xal nictuun'ov IJX tttru ? 
 noXXd XoyoTtoap'joag Ilgaxltidrg i(md(f<x£i9 • og loiavra ttvm 
 ntgl tiov ditilr t uuiiu)V yguqti. 
 
 "lujvtg Tovg 7iagorp;iti'i'Org u:ro tojv avroj* aroijrffW 
 ngoytoovrae ia7g pmgertg, oTov JAIIllX'EITIOX.AABUX 
 HiOX. ovuog 'II xal 'EA 7«xw s -, ohv 'LI TOTE KOT- 
 P02 EA' tntl xul tj 'ESZN utTw/t) dno tov E arjpjtrai* 
 9 t ftd<iTr t Tcu dt, (ftjoi, to *EA tig A rttoaiOiuti"f- xal \fct- 
 avijg *£trae fJOTtyff* xal 01 'EXh t vi^ovrtg di Iv EiXtxiu tv> 
 fH TigoqtQOPTat,' Tag yap tig 42A XttfOXroag oiiTuvovg ,«*- 
 To;ftts t)iov i:xl twit (j^uarcuv tig OX ntgutovo&ai ft,. 
 roptvov x«ra X Q mn w -aqogojtioi , o7ov AABSIN *EAA- 
 BOX, 0AE.QX 'E'VArOX, xul ra Suota, mvwol dno- 
 PuXXovug to X xal petuTi&tmg ro /tuxooy O tig £ % 
 
n5 
 
 A TTQoqtQQVTULj and tov AABSIN xal &Ar&N, *EAA- 
 BA Xtyovztg xal 'E0ATA' xal tqUu di toiitojv nbjOvv^ 
 zixd tig AN Xtjyovra It'yovGiv. 
 
 6 ovv dno trig 'ESIN, qr}Gl, fUTOffig, \EA Xiycav av~ 
 
 rl tov 'EON, d^iagxavH ojg d xal dno tov AABSIN 
 
 EAABA q.ulr r kt'yet di, cog xal dvaXoywzSQov tov 'EA to 
 
 HA' ylwGGijg ph dv Aavavrjg, xtl(.uvov de xal napu 
 
 KaMif-iay**) ' ai yu.Q and ifuXovpivov E diovMafiOi fiiToyul 
 
 to E fig H [KTccfadkovoiP iv Qt'maoi. Xtyev ds xal iq7]giv 
 
 tlvuv tov 'EON jiuqu 'Akxaloj ' xal otl coansp &AEON-* 
 
 T02 'E0ArON, APAM0NT02 'EAPAMON dmlsv- 
 
 att zijg fiiio%i,xr}g h^yova?]g, ovtto xal ' E0NT02 'EON 
 
 QtjTtov , xal ova EA' xal cog 'laxajregov f.iev to 'EON 9 
 
 to 8t 'HON xoivdv ■ o&ev to '11E2 xal 'HE" to di *HON 
 
 ITtl 71Q0)T0V 7TQO(TOJ710V i^UlQiOit, TOV 0\*HN yiViTUlt* c3 
 
 6fi6(fOJvov 9 xazd XaXxidtlg, to 'HN 'EKE1N02* dq? ou 
 AoiQtxug 'Holodog tqv to THZ A 'HN TPEI2 KE<I>A~ 
 A A I. to dt toiovtov ' Hniodtiov 'HN noiei, (pyol, to '112 AN 
 TTQOG&icszt, tov 2 xccl tov A. o 8)} xal ol t?j 'Aeiavfj X9 i0 ^ 
 pivot pwttf tiovovgi, to 'E0TrON xal 'HA®ON> naQtv- 
 Oian Tt"jg AN Gvllapug, 'E0TW2AN llyovxtg xccl 'llA~ 
 002. AN' ovtu) 8t xal tu d/uoia* 
 
 nccQctdidojGi, 8i avrdg xal oil * A^iGxaoyuoi to HN EA 
 ftvtG&vu tlnov xaxd T^ttJGiv , dnoia Tig ylviiat x(t\ iv xu> 
 *11NTAI 'EATA1 xal To7g dtioloig' xal iv tm 'A2TTA- 
 rHN'AZTTAFEA, AlOMHAHN AIOMHAEA' xal 
 iv tm "lUAHN 111AEA, xal To7g lomolg. Eustalh. p. 
 1768 et 9. 
 
 5. otv 81 'laxov iGTi to *E&N, v Alolixdv , i Jot- 
 0*xov, ndvzfg yap uvtio xqmvtcii, 'H^axKddfjg fyQcapi nov, 
 iv&a tyu xal otv org 'EA&SZN, 'EAQtJTSl, xccl rot opow, 
 evT<»g 'EaN'EETfl* «(*l uvaloyy xgdau, 'EiTtl did 
 
 II 2 
 
dup&oyyov, ojg 4jIAEIT&, TIAEITSl ' xul Aa>Qix<Zg 'HTSl' 
 £o)Qitiq yu$ ovtbi [4£Ta7ioiov(Jc zug zoiovzug Tiarjuh/yovaagy 
 to &IAEITSI Xul XOEITSZ, OIAIITSi xul XGIITfi k- 
 '/ovteg. Eu8tath. p. l4ll. 1. 21. 
 
 4. to fdp 'IIX uvzl zov ' ' JTIHXPON tt> ttqojzo) rzoog- 
 
 OlTtOi 7TOQO(fVO)g t%H ZO A XUZU Gvyxont]v ZOV 'llOX, OTtlQ 
 iazlv vnrjo/ov. to 6i zo'itov ttrg o'uzujg i'/iC XUZU TOV '// 
 xltidov loyov I'yovTu ovzog' zo7g fig pQ*%v :uoctioiuti 
 ilrct ovvuiOf&f7oi, i zoiorroi* zi'j'jmirjroiq ovxt'zt fifzovoia zoo 
 JV t&riv* woze Iv zvt '//OX, *IIEZ, 'HE, xul acvaiototk 
 'IIX, ovx 6(j0ojg i/u ij :i(j(jCituvQig zoc A. KOtrow 6c g»;- 
 nt xul to \HXKEIh > ag 
 
 I/SKEE izuig :. «pa- 
 
 TUTixog fig X Tifouzovzui iv ioii<<j . on; 
 
 izt'oai&i dt UfH 6 uizog xul zo A VEJ2 TT- 
 
 P()\ , tj/QV* tXPtO'i tUOTXTCP, tig TO II QVVv o7o9 
 
 AMI TTJ>()\ h 'J'.uiJt, ovxt'rc ovv i /#/;* 
 
 o'vziog ovdi zo II fifzu zov A yguqt,Gfzai r ullu dr t kadti 
 
 dtya zov N, xu\ o),uuivu to 'TUMP W zov LE 
 
 dtjXovoif xul Oi y.uziOz\oiv 6 ooqog zoiavzrjw YQ*". 
 
 i'azt, di xul iuJ.wg p(zxi zov A ro^aui to 'IIX Aqjqi- 
 Xiog auu xul Antx< \ / /yuxii.fidtjv unov- 
 
 ■ru ovi uj' to 7iu(j q/ih EILl/JI xul EPPEI naga. pir 
 
 To7g "Ivjoiv 7://.//;/:.\; BPPE1 u dtqd. 
 
 Tf^tt'Ojutvtjg txuq uviolg fig ufiqt) zuvzu' nu^u 6f A(»[ ■ 
 oiv , (dv zjj diukt'xzo) xul aoxuwi -Izzixol ypwizut. zcl toi- 
 avza dvo EE fig IIX onuiof7za& • to yug EIL I J 
 'EPPEEX, y EIIAFIXxul EPPJ1X W uizoU- •» wiwm 
 tovtx) didozui> zi Pmlvit xazri zo 'EIIALJ 1IIX 
 
 Acooixdig xul EPPEEX, EPPI/X a nog dim xal 'J 
 JEV, 7upio7uo t uiiwg /<*Wo* did to tqv £>;iiaTog .uoroav^r 
 
U7 
 
 ia t %v ; xaQtisTcav ry AwQMr} q&vrj xccl zdov 'Azzixoov* oT veil 
 to AAMATEP Aooqixov ov qiiXovGb XaXtlv, cog yial uXXo&t> 
 tdifiw&r) , 6z( zi ftccvftu TcgoxtiTUi, oog xal 6 tov xaopixov 
 TTXovzog fhjfau. m iGztov, bzi, zo tigriptvov '/£ZV, tm zglzov 
 fvr/.ov tiqog coTiov y. o 'AtXy.fidv *H2 Xtytt, fiizuX^fifiitrnvzov 
 N tig £ AooQtxolg , cog 6 c J£ganXt!dr]g nccQccdldooGiv. Igtl dt 
 avzov %QV<tig teal tsccgd rw @ovttoXiuaz>j ' cog scat iv too TIE- 
 TtOIHKAMEN nccl AErOMEN nal T 7g o^oloig Toinov* 
 gi to N elg 2 ol Awyitlg Xtyovztg TIETIOIHKAME2 y.ul 
 %uXXa oooamoog, dqXovGiv ol %Qi]G(Xfiivoi: to dt tuxq *I£ai6d(p 
 THS A 3 HN TPEIZ KE&AAAI dvzl tov ' HL AN Bom * 
 xuov Xiytzai yXooGG^g tlvai, ov tPixd ()>)(iaza nXtj-dvvzwoTg 
 
 QVOllOLGL OVVtzaZZOV, EuStatll. p. 1892. 1. 5<>* 
 
 5. iGTiOP dt, oog ^IlQccKXildfjg iJpccQztlG&ab unoov to 
 
 JJSTSl yQOUplL TOMXVTCI+ 
 
 zd did tov 2 txrptooiitvot, nQOGTuxTixd xcci tig SI Xyyov- 
 rcc nQuzixov t%ti zov SI to Q, ohv AETEZOQ , TLOIEI- 
 ~<9S2, xai zd (ipota. i]pctQTr { Tcci ovv to 'I2TSI, xcc&d wxl 
 to 'E2TSI , ded tov T Xtyoptvu. votjztov dt\ q^Giv , i]{.wq~ 
 h~g&cu avid did zijv TlQOxttGlV tov 2? 9 i'jittQ ti]v Sid tov T 
 ygaqyv. zavza dt ovzoog tlnoov , trtdyti per oXiya, on I'viov 
 £p ii[i *E2TSl *cu *12TSlov qpuGi ntQizztitiv to 2, t* tov 
 
 I1ETSI dt xcd 'E2ETSI aut i'^Giv ytvio&ui to 'I2T& 
 ved 'EJZTSl. y.dv fxtv doQ.iGzoodf] ygovov Gr]f,t(xlvtt> to °E£TSl> 
 to A tlvai i'§cciQOVfi£vov * int dt ptXlovzog to E Xtintiv , ov 
 lo A. tty oTg iniAQivtiy on to A Xtintt, Tvcc y 'EJZATSi 
 \/:±TS2. TlOIHZETSlydQ, 7] NTSETQ ovdtlg Xytf tl 
 Si, (f>]Gi, nod Xtlnti to E, oog ivteiooTU vov\Ttov naTcc to 
 
 \ YZZETQ* tv Tovioig dt xctTaGtloov y.ul Tovg to 'ETS2, dep 
 ov to *E2TSl, \UTSl Xt'yovTccg tKrdaH tov E tlgH, Xtyti, oog 
 ovdtv tig TSl Xyyov ttqqbtu'avmov , i%ov nagaTtXtv tov to E, 
 
 litTcaid^Giv avzo tig II' ovdtlg yd@ to 0EPETSZ AETE- 
 
Ill 
 
 TSl, &EPHTSI AEEHTSl f*1*' ovxovp M 'ETJl, 
 'HTSl. alg oV, qnol, xal to 'ETSl tjftmgnjrms did tov E 
 Atyofievov , n'aQCf.nr,yfjiu du)a£et, rodi' nana fAfioyrj tig SIN 
 6t;i>TOvog to tqitov nooaraxTixop did tov ETSL 7i(oaio7' 'EA- 
 OSlN'EAGETSl, 2XSIN2XETSL, 2IISLS ZUE- 
 
 TSl, xal META2IIETSI, zavrtj tqi> xal dno tov El- 
 
 IISIN EllIETSl (f^Tt'oP. TlQOOTaXTlXOP fiiPTOl doQlGTOO 
 
 fifToyr t g dnap ?.r / yomrjg fig 2, OTt tig TSl nfouiovrai inl 
 tqitov ngoaomov , to") El TiaQah\yuai. o7ov 2<PArEl2 
 
 2&jrHTJl, AAPE1ZAAPHTSL mk dno tov GEI2 
 
 tfc xal 'E12, GHTJl xal HTSl, ov (ojv BETA ■«* 
 ETSl, tv&a tjfxuQTt'tOlhti. tiwmp xutu to GETJl xaVETSl 
 i\yovp vnaoyhTio , xai lo'ETJl , < i bo A4>ll- 
 
 TSl, Xiyei , xal on m.g Ovtl El 11 quai :iQOGxaxTixop , 
 ovt( dri avcov to ffTJl , dlXa EETSl toktl/.).u lor i 
 rrjg 'ESIN fitroxng * d-Otp ytvioOat ro 7.7 TSl h diqOo, \ 
 Mi IxtlOiv 'HTSl did rov 11 , tog ip rjj A ouyoidiu no 
 yOwiTUt. 
 
 v <)' avrog 'ijQCtxXridrig T*jg aJr>;; 'ESl\ ~ uzvtopov fitro- 
 yi-g i<) fvxTixop xavovl^otv , ktyti on , xu&d Ttjg 'E N 
 
 xat 'EWSIX utroy7;g fvxnxd EAGOl xal 'ElllOf, ou- 
 
 tio M xal IXSIN 'EJUZXOf, xal EIUZIIJIX no- 
 TMOS 'EBOBOl mm m ;, EJlX'EOf, ovyl 
 
 'Elf I. KfQi di tov 'Ell I . ov '/.uyog i'orai Tig xal iv to7g (il- 
 ia ravra, It'yei, o>g nmp {"];i« nxnxop iyop t>]p El diqdoy- 
 yop TTagartlfVTot', xal to TtXog did too H , *x ftfToy/;g nt- 
 rxohtiai /.ryovaf;g tig EIS, Ot' u)]v fig SIX' xal tuvto qa- 
 itoop qr,aiv in reap jJioXtxiup fifToyulr. siiolug ydo to 
 
 \oji\ : yoomx. <i>po\jis <ppoxowx, xaud 
 
 Cfioia ra nap i]u~ip <P1^1EIHN Xt'yovai xal XOEIH^ ' 
 ineidr, xal rag /tttroydg ttvrwp fig El— TtQsqt <H- 
 
 AEIZ xal NOBIS ;.>yn:tg cliil r0» <1>1 111S xal 
 
NO JIN, HUTU 6)] TO OfiOlOV HOU OtTlO T%Q SIN , TtQbiTOTVnOV 
 fllTO/JjS OV&yiCCQ TTQWTqg TCOV UfQlGnOJfieVCOV y HY\ (XV &VHTC- 
 
 xovto OIH i xal AioXixulg EIH* inn xal q fi(TO%i] EI2> 
 ovio) dt iiQWTQv elnojv , vnoxaT<xfidg ygotyfi, ovrojg ' and tov 
 
 GEIE xal BAEI2 fhmtt GEIO ivxtixov mi BAEIO, 
 ov XQqoig tv 'Iliads nuv di towvtov tvxTtxdv , fjyovv fig 
 O Xijyov, nagd 2ixt\o7g and twv nag t]{i7v tigEES. hiyova&v 
 (xnoywv , [tfTajjdklov to O fig E , nhfovvTixdv notn ngoG- 
 feto rov T' OEIO GEITE, ZQAFEIO mATEITE, 
 BARGEIO BAIIGEITE. ihadnolv, on ov™ xaV'O m - 
 gog and tov AIAKPINGE12 xal tov txn&fv JZixslixov 
 ATAKPINGEIO hn to AIAKPINGEITE TAXI- 
 2TA, xal and rfjg xacd ZtxeXovg EI2 finox^ xal to EIO 
 ttW«ioV y.al to EITE ohv nom K EIT 'OATSZHI 
 AMYNEMEN — ■ xaradiynav xal zovg Uyovrag rd toiccv- 
 r« Gvyxtxdydou • oTov to AIAKPINGEITE in tov Al- 
 AKPINGEW1E, xal rS EITE dnd tov ETHTE, d- 
 :ic)V wg ov diaqsgufiiOa o.vrolg , ov ydg aionov avTa xaxa 
 cvyxom}v i&rijic'x&c/.i. Eustath. p. 1755. 1. 54. 
 
 6. Ki/ip**A*ff« * rovEIATO v.vxl tov 'EKAGHN- 
 TO iv t<» 11 ENTHKOSIOI A 'EN 'EKA2TM - l'dg V 
 <V.«^/'- 'EIATO. o'i'to) xal h 'IUddv to 'EIATAI'EN 
 METAPOIX TIOTIAEVMENAl ', yd£g xa T d 'Hga~ 
 
 iiXildi]v ngofvexTiov* ov ydg y.ddr}vTui, qjijclv, «U' vtujcq%ov- 
 giv , ijyovv fiGiv. "Iwveg ydg TOig nugaxeipz'votg avTi tviGrw- 
 tmv '/Qtovrcu,' oTov AIANENOIIMAI dvvl tOV AIA" 
 NOOTMAI, xal tu oftoia* 
 
 nlaTvvwv 6e 'Hguxlddw tov ntgUov 'ElATAl loyov, 
 yod^TOiavra^ olg'HXElTAI 'HXHTAI, 'SLIKEI- 
 TAI, ovTcog and T?jg SI ngojv^g sv£vylag twv nfQiGnwpi- 
 vmv, na&riTMQv iv£Oio~)Tog tqUqv, EITAI' ov tin uv na- 
 
120 
 
 qum Ifttvog HTATy (inamoovGfi? y.uvTav&ct T~ t g EI oV 
 <p&6yyov eigH' nXr^vvTixov di avtov Tcooa&tGit, tov N <xva- 
 tiyag HNTAI, x«r« to 11EII0IHTAI nEIIOIHS- 
 
 r EAl , xotl ru oroide ' tixv. fovtxij tftrjoti xov H fig E y.ul 
 
 A, wg NENOHNTA1 NENOEATAI, oU™ x*l '//_\ - 
 
 TAI * EAT AT. "O^gog dt scarce 'fada ngoG-tJftg to I, £jW| 
 
 'EIATA1 'EN UETAPOIS. fhu tif* t fa xal to Sugv- 
 
 vofxivov xul did rojy avr<Zv GTOiytiwv ixtftgoutpov cirog 
 tyfi. to ydg *HNTylI r,yovv y.dO?]i>Tui , y.czTu ruijaiv rr,g 
 HN avkXccprjg fig E nmt A , * EAT MI XtyenW oTov, 'OI 
 4H NTNEATAl 2IFHL tritm « 6 mm** Z™yn xal 
 on I'viot tojp Iojvcov, oig dwolov&ei , gi\g\ , iter* o va Xuha- 
 xd yocafjag <l)dt]tdg f'iif KuMlvng, povop to If £9 ro7g toioi'- 
 zotg n ■ctyaxeifitvoig fig E xul A xf'u. it999 _V 
 
 prtftrm**, IlEllOU: tNTAl Hf-rec n*l FBrBNE- 
 ANTJI, mrtvnml to \ETBNONTO i:r i:\lO- xal 
 
 too noXldxig , qt]Gi. ixugd roj wotfjry ovrm ; 
 qpft -/mi rd ivi'/.d , dlyu ptorOi rov iV* to ]lEJIOIH'J\il 
 
 ual NENQHTAI, UIJIOIE 1TAI ffmrnmo md NB* 
 
 I\OEATAf. v (iftioi'^oiOTuozuog ixdoctg 01 x otdtv "O- 
 fi)joov r^Sf rij dmXixsm ygo'ifxfiov ' ei xal tigIv i'do'ifv 6fi 
 KoUEllOmTAlUEllOlElTlL obtm wi 'HTll 
 xov, ^yovv xav>/;ra*, ftwio&i 1 E.-lTAI. ioi '/finfOi'iui Bouo- 
 Tt/Ang cirri irhtBpOTOMOV TOO HSTAI EATAl Iv kZ 01 
 
 Jll NTS' EAT 11 Z I Till, o *j r/fti 6 ( Hga- 
 
 ttXttfyg lincov ovdmoxt tov "Our;gov h uglv 
 
 uirl Tx\i]\}vvTtxioi>, xax Bouoiuiv tdo&v. Eustath. 
 
 p. i8u5. 1. 15. 
 
 ". 01 xa& *HoamliidfJP ra ro/ra unv oOKnixtov nioir- 
 g-tcoi(H oji 7 i t g 7TO0)rr,g ov^ryt'etg xat riov ( jugvToiwv di g>, 
 ' xaid to inx6i> fig ujv 21 GvXXaprjp ntgc \ II 
 
121 
 
 tiaoablyovrog ' to yap $IAEI, xal NOEI, xal AETEI, 
 *<*l$EPEI, &IAH2I, qwl, xalNOHSI, ™l AE- 
 TH2I, wl &EPH2L Totovvov di xctl to AAM11PON 
 
 T1AM&AINH2I net(f c Ofi^QM «7T«|, y^Gi, yQf]Ga t ittva) ty 
 dialiXTcn inl tovtov, xuIutqu di xal to Gyijttct *Ifivy.?iov vno 
 yQct^ficcTixcjv dux tov ptlonoidv df]lad?] y '/pvxov ydtidijo-ciVTU 
 
 TOlCtVTT] yXbJGGIJ " fldl}, (f^Gl, XCtl TO'JI, T01IT tGTlV TO 
 
 vnctQXw , ngoWrig tarl Gv&ylag , xar« to f&IAJl,' x«l IgtI 
 tqitov avTOu Ely AojQi^6f.ievov xaTCt 'Pr t yivovg yivovt ccv 
 oftolcog Ac tovtov'ITSIN 6 iveoTwg. tGTtov di, oti ov tisqI tql- 
 
 TO)V av&V7I0T(X'ATGJV tGTlV 6 l6} f 0g , OnoloV TO A ASH , AA- 
 
 XH- i£ olv AABHEI, AAXI1II' *yv* ydo wl ogk 
 ToiavTu, ov ^Piiylvoiv tlatv, coUa '/avow* Eustath. p. 1676. 
 
 I s 7 . 
 
 8. to di AEAAKTIA tyn piv vqigtmov nuQv.xtlfAtvov 
 xccl did tov H. AEAHKE yaQ mg to AAIMONIII TI AE- 
 AJIKA2. — 'Jovixojg di 1] Xtgtg no A nQonuQvlriyiTv.i , gv~ 
 GTtiXtvTO; tov EI, AojQitlg t uiv yap to II eig A fiaxgov tqz- 
 ttovgiv oTov AIIMOZ AAMOZ, MIIN MAN. "Iwvzg 
 di iig pQctyv xavaGTQtqjOVGLv * ohv AEAIIKTIA AEAA- 
 KTIA , MEMIIKTIA MEMAKTIA. oikiog Aqjdoviog. 
 
 'Ugaxkeidfjg di , iv oTg Xtyst to AAKNJl AtoQidi, xul 
 'iccdc ninoujG&uv dtaXtmuy AtQQulg (.liv yuQ , qtjoiv , tvTt- 
 tkuniy TtoN' OTSl OTNSl, ATSl ATNSl, *to- 
 tfg di pgayvvovGi to H dice tov A' indyeb ovtco, ME2HM- 
 IJPIA ME2AMBPIA, IIUPH 1IAPH, AEAH- 
 KTIt AEAAKTIA, MEMHKTIA MEMAKTIA, 
 ■n>\?>upu)v ovtw xcxi avTog tm 'Agt&ovion Eustath. p. 1711. 
 
 1.%. 
 
 9. 7T«Q<xitfifitvou ivog noUol tvtGTWTtg wqiivtuV ivog 
 di av&ig tvsGttaTog nctocMtlfiitvoi nollol , cog olov tm tov 
 <PIASI y.ai PHOSl' *V «* *& t* iV itctQctxtifiitvOQ oloxh}- 
 
122 
 
 cog IIE&IAHKA, TETEGUKA SfvugogdirETHGA, 
 
 I1E&IAA' TQiTog, nag "luce dlyu tov K, IIE&IAHA, 
 FETEGHA' oTg, qr,Gi , xul "Ofitjoog yoto&ui iiw&fv 
 
 iff tTlQMV QJtfXUTOiV' Ojg blf tX TOV TETTXHKLA TE~ 
 
 TTXIIA )Jyu, AIAIIPT2I0N TETTXHJ22. xi- 
 
 TV.grog di , qrjffi, nugaxdufvog tov <!>IAfL IIE&IAEIA' 
 
 n(j6g Sp "O[i v oog iff*** to NEKTSLN KATATE- 
 
 GNEISlTSlNtxTOv TEGXEIA naoav.fuuiov. m'fiinzog 
 nuQaxttfitvog ix tov 1JE&IAEIA 6 llE$IAEA di/u roe /* 
 cv noog dxolov&iav to 'E2TE0l v 'EIN 'yflJAO, d^6 
 Tf'ig E21EJ22 , qr,ot , fi£TO"/y,g tov 2TJI (jfjfuxrog* noX~ 
 Xdxig di, (fy]oiu , vnctU.anoiat xal txxr t v diuqopdv naoaxitr- 
 ftt'vojv ix tov E fig co A. to yovv E2TEA \A — PA1 Xi- 
 yovaiv ' d(p ov fAfTox*j E2TAJUS' TOvrodi, qr t oi», •/ 
 pfrdziioxjig fori to? E tig A 'Jionwg , ij tov II fig A* naru 
 
 di to "EZTAA-EZTAILZ yU-erai xal AEAaSIZ h na- 
 
 (JUXflfitVOV TOV JJLJXjL OVTOi 61 XUl BEBAJlS, PE- 
 TAS1~ } MEMAJ12 , xui u'O.u. iv TOvroig di 6 anog 
 IlQuxXeidiig xal to 11EIIAGTIA SiaoaquZv , OMQ iv ro7g 
 izijg nov y.Hvca TTug'Ou> n xal on ru i-Tjxuxrt/.d 9 
 
 d)i> al iinoyal fig JiX olviovoi , giop TTX1L-TT \Ji \, 
 'EPPJl-ETPJiX, 6 t uoio>g To7g nfQianui^fvoig ogtony.olg 
 •sunt rov iTuoaxfiufiov uXbortm*' oh* Th TT\ //A /. EX" 
 
 PJIKA' itctiftfToyal TETTXHKSLZ ETfHKMX 
 
 ovxovf xal tov llAGJl-JIAOJlX xktoig dpoiu II PA I A- 
 GHKA 11E1I AOHKS1I, Or^vxov UEUAGriA.o^fo 
 <)i AEAHKHK&2 AF4HKQJS, TErMSHKHZ 
 
 FErilGJlZ 'lajvtx?; ovyxoxf, , octco xal IIEILIGHKJIZ 
 
 1IE1IAGJIZ, ov &yjXvwo\ nEIIAGTIL 
 
 otj[.i£iu>oui <$ fv to7g noofip^juftoig to it qv)it~ uoi ■»• MrJ 
 in; i» ypaqij ' o d) t ?>o7 uu^uxtlutvov q toioi ufi'Ov /uiv mml 
 
 ;:). : (>ccig xal poi.Gft fioitj, ftij ypuqonciov di y tK 
 
125 
 
 cvov dr>l(xd)j -/ml ccva£oioTov, wg IlouxXeld^g (f^oiv, Eustath. 
 p, 1700. 1. 5i — 5i. 
 
 10. ngohcc /iuv iuttov, ozt to FINSL2K0N ^ccgrrj- 
 g&m tioxu fiij yQCiffOuevov FFFNSLZKON iv dvai F, o)Q 
 *HQay.ltLdv}Q poiXerai* Xiyti ydp ixthog, oxv } cHottsq TEASl 
 TEAI2KSZ 'liavt'Aojg did tov K ncxQccX^yofiivov rot Sxal tv} 
 
 J, ofiolwg *ul eOPSl OOPIZKSL, -ml MOJfl MOAI- 
 
 2KJ2, ovtoj xul NO SI JS0I2KSL. ix tovtcdv aard j^)«- 
 
 aiv OPS12KSI, BJJ12KSL, NSL2KJI, **l AioUx^ 
 rNSlZKSl- Alolelg ydg , <piQl, to NOSL FNSl q:*- 
 clv * o&cv xul to AM&IFNOEIN , ?jyovv di%ovotlv " xul 
 
 vStffnoia, »*i *»' 'afnoeiNxui n 'afnoia. *y 
 
 oTg nagadovg^ 6 'flgaxluldtig, tog npogTidiaoc to F Tccig Xi£eot> 
 xal ol 'UniiQtoTcct, , wg xccl dMa'/ov i(S$e&ii, top AOTIIOJSf 
 FAOTIION XtyovTeg • Sfey xul 'EPIFAOTIIOZ HOZIZ 
 l HPH2. i'v&ct tiv^Tiov xul tov 'E11I A 'EFJOTIIH- 
 Z AN 'AQHNAIH TE KAI C HPH' ngoo^tg jt «- 
 ntv xul otv dno Tod NE&02, N0<P02, xul FN0&02 
 AloUxov > ulXwg AN0&02* Y.al otl w»l iv rji'lUddt 
 FENTO y t'iyovv s'ilno, i£codtv ifyu to F' ml wg 1] 
 FNSIMH TtXtovd&t, xul aim} tm F, ywopiv?] d>jXudf} ix too 
 NOSL NOHZSl, Ampwk ^ NSIMH , Aioliv.m 61 
 FNSIMH , didd<jxti,ujg'7a)V£g 9 6V v.v dvadml^v ^(acctcc, 
 to a.vzo uqxtixov noiovvTav -nQOiTr k g xul devTegug GvXkupyg, 
 
 AABE20AI AEAABEZGAI, KJMSl KEKAMSl, 
 1IIOE20A1 11E1IIOEZOAI, JA2KSI JIAAIKSl, 
 TTZKSl TITTEKSl, #N¥fe d (in fUteot dvo duoia uei- 
 au&cci, notQaXlf]).<x, 
 
 TOivvv , qqal, tov NOIZKSl, ovviiQwivov , wg tiQn- 
 t(U, fig to NSL2KSI , efy ^ in avrov 'iuvixij dvadinlw- 
 oigNLNSlZKSl did tuv 6uo N, rov k FNS12KSI 'ttnu- 
 M0MH19 FIFNSLZKSt did rm dvo F' <fc thcu t$ koyy 
 
tovto) i]Uv.Qtt]{jiivov to n±sSlXKSl did fioiov zou vmx doyr t v 
 
 JT. tl tW TOVTO TOlOVTOVj XU& C ffouxltldt]V, 7ZTU.101T0 O.V OflOlUjg 
 
 xai to n\JE£Qj4I y.ccl tu xax vcvto TictPTu* oTg , oi fiiv net- 
 luiOl , tV OVOlTtfO&VTO , TIT NO MAI UyovTig xai TI- 
 r^'OME£\02' ovtoj xul toc cilia* oi dt rartoov , ojotl xai 
 (pcidot.nvoi yQccq.iY.ov fjitlavog , to dtVTtgov r napilti^av. 
 
 tori yuo xd vxuvQu , o>; 'llouy.liidr,^ (HovltTai, xuOu 
 
 MJSNdi MEMNSL %<xtm fonlmmaepo* , xai /utTa&t'ati tuu 
 Eelg I MIMNSlxatd V»v«* ovtcm xai TENJl TEFNJkt 
 
 xul tg avrov FirNSi FirNOMAI xul tu and aw*** fa 
 
 tovcoiq dt ntnl dvudinloiOcG); v./.hc io/.o, -oi-uti og Jf'iUxltl$t]S 
 Xtyti, 6tl } o:u t vly.oc f.i;i> g, 'vadinlo)Gtg £ , inttotlTat, 
 
 to uloxh;fjuv inif< mtXlu6r tt Intzut to Tt'ltov xai xot- 
 
 vov fuag OulXccprft ttootto dinluaia^jutiov' to yc"> AABJ2, 
 fitrt orllupy ovTiog voiton tov xutu dvuduilaou 1E- 
 
 ' ItSL to 6 avid y.c.l M tCjv alibi*' ore dt yaau^an 
 ii>\)to)i)t7TUi ti 1 / < >ni; , Tort iaoai > f uiudt- 
 
 SinXutnivi't too).',. < . }£ENJ1 M/M \Ji II. - 
 
 \Jl r/IWJi- Ovtoj H xul MBAft M/;\J.L r l. xul 
 it).foi/a(7 t u(y i'/yoiv nuociOiGfi xov B, MEMB 111 nupfp- 
 TtOt'vTOg too 11 did to i(t;dt'nOTt xard uluv avlla3i]i> r<7 ./ 
 IntoOi.i ro .1/' xul tx too ILdPAMEME HI- 
 
 KE, TIAPJMEMBMIK& Evsfttl L 
 
 36. etc. 
 
 §. CXLII. 
 In his omnibus criticoruni vcterum solennis et in- 
 reteratus error, quo archaisnios pro idiotismis, ant, ut 
 Latine loquar , piisci et obsoleti sermoni* rtliquias pro 
 singularum gentium aberrationibus vel poctarum licen- 
 tiis acceperunt, plane conspicuus est. Ceteroqni, con- 
 versis eorum scntentiis, et quae singularum usui 
 consuetudini abnormi tvibuerunt, in sincerornm et a 
 
12 b 
 
 tiquissimorum loco habitis > exempla, quae ex fontibus 
 jamdudum bbturatis ac deperditis arcessivere, ad justam 
 aliquam notitiam priscae grammaticae quemvis adduceie 
 possunt, 
 
 §. CXLIII. 
 
 Verborum modis , temporibus , numeris ac vocibus 
 ea grammatica locupletissima est, atque in eorum usu 
 ac discrimine poetae antiquissimi ccv.Qifjtia ubique con- 
 stans et eadem : cum posteri vocum discrimen in multis 
 neglexerint, haudparvo detrimento linguae; quae eomul- 
 turn perdidit perspicuitatis illius subtilis et exquisitae, 
 quae singulis vocibus singulos vel cogitandi, vel agendi, 
 vel patiendi modos distincte ad amussim exprimere so- 
 lebat. Modorum tamen usus Homericus paullo licen- 
 tior quibusdam visus est : sed an ratione grammaticae 
 minus aptus et congruus sit, quam posterorum con- 
 suetudo, quaestio admodum diflicilis est, cuius solutio 
 petenda ex intimis recessibus humanae mentis. 
 
 $. CXLIV. 
 
 Verborum tempora in omnium linguarum principiis 
 tria tantummodo fuisse, praesens, futurum ac praeter- 
 itum, ipsa rerum natura indicare videtur: nam distin- 
 ctions vel modificationes illae perfectorum , imperfe- 
 ctorum, etc. nonnisi e grammatica jam culta, et ad 
 animi subtiliores sensus exprimendos ordinate, oriri po- 
 tuerunt. Si autem conjecturis indulgere liceret, ex iis 
 quae Heraclides commentatus est in 'EA, *HA> 'JEON 9 
 'HN, etc. *) dicerem, omnia praeterita terminationem 
 
 1) \ido supra in Exeejptii* 
 
126 
 
 primae personae singularis, voce activa, in A habuisse, 
 atque ideo praeteritum imperfectum et utrumque aori- 
 stum una eademque forma expressos esse: adjecto enim 
 jVnnali, quod conclusionem duntaxat vocis post lite- 
 ram vocalem significabat, transitio zou A^S in OA baud 
 minus facilis quam xov^EAS in V/lVficret; atque bac 
 ratione originem ac veram indolem aoristi secundi asse- 
 qui possumus ; in quo HemsterhusiusetLennep praeter- 
 itum imperfectum ex alio tbemate se percepiase credc- 
 bant, cum usus tamen ejus Homericus aorLtum tempua 
 subaudiendum indicet. Neque duo futura a diversis 
 thematibus , ut iidem viri docti pro comperto babue- 
 runt, orta esse videntur, ecd diversa literarum elisione 
 in diversas formas contracta esse, modo quo supra 
 ostendimus. 
 
 §. CXLV. 
 
 Aliorum quoque scbemata temporum, quae cocoiia- 
 IwTiQcc quibusdam visa sunt, eadem ratione formata esse 
 nullus dubito ; ita ut non modo TTHTE2SI i" 7T- 
 IFTEJl, TFPJl, Trunin TTllll paullatim con- 
 traberetur, sed TETTIiA TETT*A TETTMMAt % 
 'JETTWIX, 'ETMGHNt etc. eadem ratione e formis 
 regularibus ab uno themate TTllill deductis, literii 
 paullatim elisis, aut emollitis, enScta suit. Si enim 
 unumquodque verbum ihemata tam varia ac diversa ba- 
 buisset, non eadem ratione in omnibus ea theraata for- 
 mata essent: at singula quaeque verba suas varietatcs 
 ab aliis diversas habuissent, ita ut nulla analogic int'-r 
 sese conjungerentur; neque cum themata TYll'Vll* 
 TTIISI, TTUEJly TT<PJh TMHMIet TPPGHU1 
 extitisse concederemus, ratio constaret, qua KTlll.l, 
 
V2 7 
 
 KAANFSL, KAAZSl et tot alia verba pari more mo- 
 doque sua quaeque themata diversa haberent. A thema- 
 te nihilominus in MI recte fortasse deduceremus aori- 
 stos illos 'ETTIIHN et 'ETmOHN: nam themata 
 activa in MI e passivis in MAI orta esse videntur; at- 
 que ideo aoristos hos , ut eorum participia in EI2 vel 
 EN2, significationem passivam in activa forma reti- 
 nuisse, aeque ac participia Latina in ENS, quae pro 
 passivis usurpabantur in prisco sermone. x ) Haud ta« 
 men cum viris doctis temere pro praeteritis imperfectis 
 huiusmodi aoristos habuerim; cum litera 2, characte- 
 ristica futuri et aoristi primi in voce activa, et ab im- 
 perfecto alienissima, locum in eo aoristo passivo, in 
 verbis etiam puris, in quorum thematibus aut praeteri- 
 tis perfectis nullum usquam istius literae vestigium in- 
 ventumsit, obtineat; ut in 1 EMNH2GHN a MNAO- 
 MA1 seu MNHMAI, et 'EPPSL2GHN a x PSlOMAI 
 6eu C PSIMAI. Mihi igitur rem saepius retractanti pro- 
 babilius videtur, 'ETT^GHN ex 'ETT1IT2AMHN, 
 vulgo itvyjdftiiv , ut in voce media extat, paullatim con- 
 tractum esse, quam e positione derivata TT&GHMI 
 confictum; praesertim cum ejusmodi formas in Home- 
 ricisvim aoristi, non imperfecti, semper etubique habere 
 observaverim, et contractiones alias haud absimiles 
 ipsi viri docti in verborum conjugationibus agnove- 
 rint. 2 ) Litera 2 quoque locum tuetur, ubi litera penul- 
 tima primae positionis spiritus sit; ut in HAH2GHN * 
 IIAHGSl, quod tamen Atticum haud ita antiquum esse 
 puto ; et veteres Iones , qui 2 ex omnibus semper liben- 
 
 i) Aul. Gell. Lib. II. c. II. et Gronor. not. 
 2) Lennep. Analog. Grace. L. VII* 
 
120* 
 
 tissime extrudebant, IIAHOGHN, non HAHZGHN t 
 pro antiquiore et pieniore 1IAHGZGHN scrip6isse. 
 Sententiam grammaticorum, qui hunc aoristum e prae- 
 teiito perfecto deducunt, merito repudiavit Lermep. 
 Lacones 2 in omnibus pro Q usurpaverunt ; atque eorum 
 mos loquendi in sermonem communem aliquatenus, et 
 inde in carmina Homerica irrepsisse videtur; quamvis 
 Doricaista dialectus abAchaica antiquisaima maxime alie- 
 na esset. Hinc praettr ita perfecta AEAA2MAI, 11E- 
 11T2MAI etc. a AAGSl sen AHGSl, IlTGSl etc. or- 
 tum habuisse credere licet; quae ideo a nobis in justio- 
 ra et antiquiora AEJ.lGMAh UEILTGMAI etc. red- 
 igenda eiunt; nisi ubi thema in //2JI vel SJl esse po- 
 tuerit. Utrum Ionic* 'E TEIf'Sl . *PGEIPSI, KTEI- 
 NJl, KJSINOS, BOTAU, XEIP, etc. an antiquio- 
 ra Aeolica 'ETEEEJi, QSEPPSL* KTESSll, 
 KENNOS* BOA. I 1, XMP2> etc. magis Homerica 
 sint, cum pro compcrto non habeam, vulgata soliici 
 nequaquam ausus sum. 
 
 §. CXLVI. 
 
 Nodum in scirpo quaerit 6 (to&vQ lleraclides, cum 
 $e torquet de A" fmali in imperfectis contractorum *); 
 contract io cnim ista tuu EE vel EEX in El Attica est, 
 et dialectis vetustioribus prorsus ignota ; neque A finale 
 in tenia persona singulari alienius plusquamperfectis 
 quam imperfectis fuit 2 ). Contractio quoque, in se- 
 cunda persona passiva, tov EIAI, E\41\ HAI, vel 
 EAI in HI vel EI, posterorum esse, et Honiericis per- 
 
 i) Vide supra in excerpt. 
 
 2) Corinth. Ep. de Dial. Att, s. LVHI. 
 
12 9 
 
 inde ignota videtur. Aritiquis&ima forma erat proculdu- 
 bio ESAI; quae more Ionum , ejecta consona et pro- 
 ducta vocali , HAI fiebat , atque ejecta tantum consona 
 HAI, et sibilo in spiritum asperum Dorice mutato, 
 E\AI x ) , et Aeolice fortasse EFAI; cujus tamen nul- 
 lum extat exemplum , quoad nobis scire contigit. 
 
 §. CXLVII. 
 
 In aoristis primis et praeteritis perfectis verborum 
 in AFJ1 desinentium Iones emolliebant terminationes 
 naturales AF2A et AFKA in HA, atque "EJAF2A, 
 "FKAFZA, JEJAFKA, KEKAFKA, etc. *EJHA, 
 V EKHA, 4E AH A, KEKHA, etc. scribebant. Ita 
 quoque 'EQHKA pro 'EGEK2A ab obsoleto GEKSl, 
 atque alia ejusmodi haud pauca : egregie enim halluci- 
 natus est clarissimus Hermannus, cum, contra sensum 
 perinde ac rationem grammaticam, °'EGHKA, v EA£l- 
 KA etc. praeterita perfecta esse voluerit. 2 ) Suaviorem 
 hanc Ionum priscorum pronunciandi consuetudinera 
 Homericis temporibus haud ignotam fuisse, eo patet, 
 quod in nonnullis, ut in TEGNHJITA pro TEGNH- 
 KOTA, KEKMHSITA?™ KEKMHKOTA, etc. me- 
 tri integritati necessaria est: quo praecipue motus omnia 
 ejusmodi retinenda esse putavi, ut &IAAI, 'E&IAATO, 
 etc. pro $Ij12AI, 'E&IA2AT0, etc.; quibus detri- 
 
 1) e'&os ds t'xovai JojQiiojv rivte, ok yv.Q ol ^Agystoi, xal Aa- 
 xojve? , y.al Ilaucpvhot, , xa* ^EQeTQitts , v.al 'fipoJ-rrioL, tvdstav 
 tov 2 TtoiovvTss, Saosiav yaQarrovoi rote titi(psQO^vot? </h»j- 
 VTjtoiv, ok tTri rov I101H2AI, IIOIHAI, xal BOT20A, 
 BOTOA, xal MQTMKA, MPMiA, EtymoJ. raagn. in voce 
 'ETI02. 
 
 2) In grammauc. 
 
 I 
 
i5o 
 
 mentum literae alterius productione alterius compensa- 
 tur *): neque erat, cur doctissimus Heyne suspicaretur, 
 thema fuisse &IAHMI, priore producta, e quo aoristus 
 E'PfylATO formatus sit 2 ). Hujusmodi est quoque 
 praeterifum perfectum 'APHPJ12 pro 'APAPKJl2ex 
 7 _APJ1 effictum , quod 'APASL seriptum fuisse in titulo 
 vetere Minervae Poliadis olim eredebam, temere sequu- 
 tus editorem ejus Chandlerum, qui, ductu literarum 
 evanescente deceptus, 'APABAOTA, i. e* ©?pcr/?#wra, 
 non striata, in 'APAP40 TA mutaverat ; ut , inspecto 
 demum marmore, quod nunc in Museo Britannico asser- 
 vatur, plane comperi. 
 
 §. CXLVIIL 
 
 Haud alia ratione II pro jfF in participils verbo- 
 rum in AFSl obtinuit; ut TfMHEM, 110/HE\2, 
 etc. pro antiquioribus TTMAFENS, JIOI 1FL\\±\ etc.; 
 quae Homericis etiam temporibus exolevisse videntur. 
 In futuris quoque et aoristis, quae vulgo ntiyo) — ann- 
 (>« , iytigu) — ilyeiQoty etc. scribuntur } to H in 
 locum tou El recipiendum putavimus, tarn constan- 
 tiae ergo, quam quod ita pronunciasse videntur: nam 
 utrum primae positiones antiquae JlEIPJlj 'ETE1PJI, 
 
 i) Vide Auli Gellii librura II. cap. XVH. 
 
 S) In II. E. 61. to U KEKMHP.TI ty.ov vti 'lujyixor tart, 
 rnvTor ov 9m KEKMUKOTI, aTvloi.y]v to" K -Ti~Tor$o; 'iiw- 
 ■rixto*, xal ixTaaii' toc O. Enstarb. p. 641. 1.2. Ratione paullo 
 diversa EZTAKOTA, rEFAKOTJ , etc. e ZTAQ, TAQ t 
 * etc. fovm.ua, in * &2TQTA , r£! .QTA, etc. contracta sunt. 
 Eadem tamen prima syllaba in mikmrvm prodncitur ^Hymr. 
 in Cerer. 117.) : est enim futurum subjuncrivi, exrruso sibilo 
 et producta vocali, Ionuni more s oleum, pro yi/.cuarcu. 
 
i5i 
 
 etc. an HEPPJI, 'JETEPPJl, etc. fuissent, futura et 
 aoristi regulares IlEPZSl — "E17EP2A — 'EPEPSJl 
 — HFEP2A esse debebant ; e quibus, solita elisione zov 
 
 2, et productione vocalis antecedentis, ItHPSh 
 
 °'EI1HPA , 'ETEPSl — °'HFHPA , etc. fieri oporte- 
 bat. Praeteritum perfectura, participio et verbo auxi- 
 liari'XYiZsignificatum, ut ZTHZAZ^EXEIH, BE- 
 BOTAETKSIZ ^EXETS 1 ), etc., quod Attici in deli- 
 ciis habuerunt, Homericus serrno non agnoscit; et, At- 
 ticorum venia dixerim, recentiorum magis barbariem 
 quam veterum elegantiam sapit. In Homericis autem 
 praeterita perfecta et plusquamperfecta passiva tertia 
 persona plurali, quae, postea exoleta, participiis et ver- 
 bis anxiliaribus exprimebantur, haud infrequentia sunt; 
 ut TETETXATAT, 'ETETETXATO, etc.; quae 
 Atticorum et aliorum aetate posteriorum sermone TE~ 
 TTFMEN01 ElZl ^H2JN, etc. fuerint. In hac enim 
 re grammatica antiqua locupletior fuit, ut consuetudo 
 loquendi in omnibus splendidior , unctior et nume* 
 xosior. 
 
 §. CXLIX. 
 
 De modorum ratione et U6u Homerico aliquid certi 
 statuere aut defmire perquam difficile et lubricum est, 
 quoniam alia loquendi consuetudo in hac parte apud po- 
 steros obtinebat, ad cujus norraam rhapsodi et gram- 
 matici linguam veterem flectere et convertere, quoad 
 metrum sineret, semper studuerunt; ita ut haud pauca 
 mutata et corrupta esse , in re tarn diu tractata et tam 
 
 i) Sophocl. Oed, Tyr. 699 — 701. Ed. Brunei. 
 
 I 2 
 
l52 
 
 parum intellecta , credere liceat. Cum tamen optativus 
 et subjunctivus de indicativo pendere quodammodo vi- 
 deantur, ex eo profectos esse credendum est, alterum e 
 tempore futuro, alterum, adjecto verbo otfiaw vel trjfu; 
 atque inde tvtitouh,, Tvipouu, rwpcufu, rv\puu 9 etc. 
 confxcta esse. Impetum itaque vel voluntatem animi 
 in agendo exprimere debuerat optativus; atque sic usor- 
 patum esse in sermone antiquo, ex Homericis constare 
 puto. Apud tragicos optativus, sine AN vel KE, desi- 
 derativum, et, adjecta ista particula , potentialem si- 
 gnificationem semper habet; antiquiores autem poetae 
 nullum ejusmodi discrimen agnovisse videntur. 
 
 §. CL. 
 
 Subjunctivus actionem de alia actione vel conditione ali- 
 qua pendentem exprixnit, atque ei ideo quodammodo fu- 
 turam, unde in Homericis futurum indicativi locum sub- 
 junctivi saepe usurpat ; et futuro rum formae in utroque 
 modo eaedem sunt. Apud posteroa discrimina subtiliora in 
 usu subjunctivi observata sunt, poetis antiquissimispror- 
 sus ignota; itaut t'rustra laboraverit vir y/inxoiraro^nec 
 minus animi virlutibus quam ingenii elegantia aestima- 
 bilis, Burneius noster, remissiora ea et vetusta ad mo- 
 rositatem Atticam redigere J ). Attici conjunctionem 
 conditionalem EI indicativo et optativo tantum adhi- 
 Duerunt; atque adjecta particula dubitantis KE vc 1 *A \ 
 dubitationem vel itaaqnav generaliter exprimit; et utra- 
 que, vel separatim vel conjunctim, prout sententia po- 
 stulaverit, unlcuique modo adhibita sunt ; nequeffjr,- 
 pcrr«*//?t/xeMt, quibus indicativus more subjunctivi tic- 
 
 1) In Miltoni Poexu.ua GraecA. Lond. 1791, 
 
ioa 
 
 ctebatur, e Rheginorum dialecto, quam Homerici per- 
 inde acSinicam vel Iaponicam intellexissent, arcessenda 
 sunt; neque viro praestantissimo EI JE KE et EI KE 
 in EI JE TE et ET TE commutami obsequendum x ): 
 alteram enim nusquam in Homericis occurrit, alterum 
 semel tantum, ubi TE, restituto F, locum sponte ce- 
 dit: (lys titv eifoirjg, scribendum EI MEN FEI- 
 JEIH2 2 ). TE apud poetam vel inavoQ&MTixov vel 
 inuvuXrjTCTixdv velfopcctcotixov est in vocemproxime ante- 
 cedentem ; neque ulla ratione copulis KAl ', TE , JE, 
 etc. subjungi potest, nisi cum pronominibusveladverbiis 
 •mxaesiiit, xitinTOTE, "OJE, 'ENSAJE, etc. 
 Eandem ob causam nuili usquam aut pronomini relati- 
 to 3 ), aut adverbio loci vel temporis indefiniti et in- 
 certi, ut IIOTE, c 'OTE, UOGI, IIOGEN, etc., 
 flubjungitur , sed iis tantum , quae locum vel tempus ali- 
 quod certum ac defimtum indicant, ut 'ENOJJE, 
 KEIOI, KEI2E, TOTE, NTN, 'ETI, 'EHEITA, 
 UP IN, IU.P02, etc. 
 
 Usum hunc particulae justum , subtilem et discre- 
 tum neque poetae, neque historici postea unquam ob- 
 servarunt; neque critici vel grammatici Alexandrini in- 
 tellexisse videntur; magnumque est exemplum mode- 
 fctiae , fidei et religionis , qua veteres carmina Homeri- 
 ca tractaverint , eos fulcrum tarn commodum metro, e 
 detrimento digammatis claudicanti et hianti, non sae- 
 pius inculcasse. Kecte intellecta et accepta vim mirabi- 
 
 i) Iliad. ^. 526. Odyss. Z. 2%2. 
 
 2) Odyss. E. 206. 
 
 3) ovriva ys semel dictum est Odyss. T. 511. sed tOtum epis- 
 odium rhapsodi serioris foetus est. 
 
lem saepe habet in exprimenda et augenda vehementia 
 loquentis in orationibus incitatioribus; cujus insigne 
 exemplum est Iliad. E. -8? — 8. Usus ejus Inaialr^xir- 
 nog couatano ac solennis est in utroque carmine; ut in 
 avzu: oyt, II. B. 667. r. 32& £ 3o8. 3 27 . 585. Z 4- 1. 
 ©. 26K. /. 206. A'. i54. ^4. 46i. 483. A T . i64. 099. O. 4:g. 
 52.3. 65o. P. 108. 0. 367. 55o. ^. 42. 896. J2. 5o. 189. 
 Odyss r. 17.0. 7. 536. AT. 264. 71. 4i. 2*. 5^. T. i4o. A". 
 116. 482. — in npk n » J1 - r - fiOh & 219. 288. Z. 465. /. 
 488. 65i. M. 172. 45*. iV. io5. O. 55j. 77. 20j. p. 5o4. 2. 
 
 76, 1 55. 189. 190. 534. 0. 5 7 8. A. 266. V. 45. Odyss. ^. 
 2 jo. B. 128. 547. ^4. 255. 4;-. //. 196. If j8~. A. n4. 
 3»a 55ft. P. y. 2*. 288. y. 45. l5& — f] r. l^JK 35o. 
 429. 827. p. 483. etc. Odyss. / 4 12. A. 25$, O. 026. 71. 
 lSo, LQ^. etc etc.: quern usum cura Alexandrini neque 
 satis iniellectum haberent, neque hiatu omnino offende- 
 lenrur, particuiam e multis locis, utinutilem et redundan- 
 tem, extru! .ibua pmjiibiu , e\ aliis paribus, 
 a nobis restitucndu erit: ut 11. ./. 555. B. ic 548. 
 
 v. ..-.,. z. 81. iaa a -'-1. -' 
 
 77. OJic. uio ♦/>. 55. 5»o. A. -. — Odyss. //. 
 2 5o. P. 100. £ m 4oi. 71 !. 5i. T. 1.: uicunqiie enim lu- 
 bricum et periculosum sit fulcrum tarn commodum pro 
 arbiuio adhibero, tute lamen e locis paribus, vi ejus et 
 ratione satis intellecta, transferre et reponere licet. 
 
 $. CLI. 
 
 Haud minus emcivlaturientibus commoda et oppor- 
 tuna est copula poetica IAC\ atque magis etiam caven- 
 da: quo enim jure in Homericis stet, in ambiguo est; 
 
 1) Vide Schol. Ven. in II. JV. 599. 
 
quoniam nusquam occurrit, nisi ubi KAIve\ HAE e 
 quo factum esse videtur, locum ejus sine injuria occu- 
 pare potuerit: ita ut e posterorum Hcentia poetica pro- 
 fectum et a dactylorum captatoribus insertum ease, su- 
 spicari liceat. Si pro comperto haberem ex *HAE con- 
 tractum esse, sine alia mpdTjkevftarog nota, haud cun- 
 ctanter ejicerem. Caeterum particularum, copularum, 
 articulorum et pronominum usus in Homericis, a se- 
 riore totus di versus, testimonium satis amplum et ido- 
 neum affert, carmina sinceriora, quam vulgo creditur, 
 ad nos venisse. 
 
 §. CLII. 
 
 In Dorum veterum lingua usus subjunctivi perinde 
 atque optativi cum Al vel EI sine KE vel AN solennis 
 fuit; eo tamen discrimine, ut subjunctivus potentialem, 
 optativus desiderativam significationem habeat *)♦ In- 
 dicativumitem haud aliter, quam in Homericis, eos par- 
 ticulis AI KA vel mfau subdidisse , intemeratis tabula- 
 rum Heracliensium exemplis plane constat; neque solu- 
 tiorem hunc modorum usum grammaticae nondum per- 
 fectae cum Heynio tribuere ausim, quoniam in eo 
 nihil sentire queam, quod grammaticae universalis rationi 
 et indoli adversetur: modus enim Joquendi proprie sub- 
 junctivus est, qui actionem non tam dubiam vel incer- 
 tam , quam priori alicui, de qua pendet, subjunctam 
 vel subjungendam exprimit; ita ut verbum antece- 
 dens , potius quam particula aliqua, eum praefinire de- 
 buerit; quod in Latinis evenit. Futurum tamen tantum 
 
 3) Vide foed. Lacedaemon. et Argiv. apud Thucyd. "V. 77- 
 
 et 79. 
 
i56 
 
 indicativi pro subjunctivo Homericus 6ermo agnoscit; 
 tifjof/ev enim, ayeigo^ifv , etc. futura sunt Ionica , scriben- 
 aa FHJOMEN, *ATHPOMEN, etc. pro FEJZO- 
 MEN.'jrEPZOMEN, etc., eliso sibilo , et produ- 
 cts voc^li antecedente ; neque haerendum est in Iliad. 
 A. 67. ubi pro fiovXttat esse debuerat BOYAHT' 9 am- 
 putata syhaba finali , more Homerico, de quo vide infra 
 S. CLXV. Latini autem, vice versa, praesens subjun- 
 ctivi pro futuro indicativi in verbis omnibus tertiae et 
 quartae conjugations adoptarunt, paullatim exolescen- 
 tibus form is tuturi naturalibus; quarum nihilominus 
 exempla extant, inter I erentianas etiam elegantias, 
 SCJBO, SERVIBO, etc. pro recentioribus SCIAIM, SER- 
 VIAM, etc., quae e praesenti subjunctivi translata eive 
 reducta sunt. 
 
 8. CLIII. 
 
 Cum in suscepto opere restituendae Homericae lin- 
 guae complurium verborum foruiae haud paullo immu- 
 tandae erunt, plus ad rem arbitratus sum ea verba in 
 Ordine recensere, atque rationts, quaa in singulis ini- 
 mutandis sequutus sim , singulis subjungere, quam 
 crebris repetitionibus earundem observationum in anno- 
 tationibus lectorem pariter ac me ipsum defatigare. 
 In liia autem si a viris suromis , Bentleio , Hernia, etc. 
 haud raro disaentiam, ne mihi obsit eorum nomen et 
 auctoritas; at judicium suum integrum ac sincerum 
 lector unusquisque adhibeat, etiam atque etiam precor. 
 In re tarn obscura quotusquisque criticorum non sae- 
 pe et egregie hallucinatus est ? neque me communi sor- 
 ti exemptum esse speravi: at dummodo critici , non ra- 
 bulae, more in alienos errores animadvertam, parem irv 
 
3 37 
 dulgentiam in meos me poscere aequum est. Ob mul- 
 tos libro de hac re Anglice scripto piacularem esse profi- 
 teor: attamen cum pari jure gloriari liceat, plura con- 
 jecturis assequutum esse, quae, viris criticis tunc fasti- 
 dita, veterum monumentorum fide nunc comprobata 
 sunt, verecundiae simul ac modestiae consultum iri 
 putavi, si neutra sigillatim retractarem aut perscrutarer 
 curiosius, quam opus esset, ut vera elucerent, falsa pro- 
 derentur: nam hoc saltern, salva modestia, gloriari li- 
 cet, veritatem, non victoriam, in omni disputatione, tarn 
 critica quam philosophica , animo me meo fiiiem unice 
 propositum habuisse, neque ullam unquam praesum- 
 ptam|opinionemtanto amore amplexum esse, utnon, me- 
 liora edoctus, sponte ac libenter repudiarem. De re 
 etymologica multa atque ingeniosa protulit Daniel Len- 
 nep, sed omnia e suo ipsius aut magistrorum, Tiberii 
 Hemsterhusii et Ludovici Caspari Valkenaerii, ingeniis 
 deprompta, omni veterum inscriptionum et dialectorum 
 auctoritate neglecta, neque ulla ratione habita vel ser- 
 monis vel metri Homerici ; e quibus solis leges ac nor- 
 ma s in regulls suis generatibus stabiliendis accersere et 
 accipere debuerat. Ipsae itaque regulae, perinde atque 
 omnia ex iis deducta, harum rerum studiosis maxime 
 praecavendae sunt; neque ullo modo auscultandum do- 
 centi, „AMNOS, Latine AGNUS, exAMENOZ, parti- 
 cipioverbi AMJl, formatum esse ; quod 'AMEN02 et 
 AMNOE is proprie diceretur, sensu medio, qui com- 
 plecteretur et amplecteretur; vel, sensu passive, quern 
 amplecteretur alius , sive, qui amaretur, quod tenerri- 
 mo agno non incongruum nomen." *) Hisce et talibus 
 
 i) Etymolog, Vol. I. p. 132, 
 
i58 
 
 gaudeant ii, quibus argutiae e longinquo petitae in deli- 
 ciissint; nobis autem , quo minus doctrinae tam recon- 
 ditae et exquisitae insit, eo etiam minus sensu coraraa- 
 ni sic carere licet; ita ut non aliunde 'AtMNOE et 
 AGNUS quam ex ^ privativo cum MEXOZ et FONOS 
 deducenda videmtur -AM ENOZ et AEONO-! , con- 
 tracta in 'AMNOS et 'ArNOS. Ncque alitor in aliis 
 obvia et simplicia abstrusis et eruditis omnino praefe- 
 renda erunt. Quam vero sit periculosum in via tam lu- 
 brica et distorta caecutiente6 errare , nugae hujnsmodi, 
 quae viri tanri tam cumulate congesserunt, satib super- 
 que demonstranr. Ut enim concedamus, verba primitiva 
 quamplurima periisse, quits tamen diacreverit, quae fue- 
 xint deperditorum formae, nisi quorum fragmina aut 
 reliquiae in dialecris aut monumeniis antiquis super- 
 sint? Atque si e conjecturis analogicis primitiva pro li- 
 bitu supponamus, ut exinde derivata et vulgata ad nor- 
 mam qualemcunque refingamus et constituamus, qua 
 denique ratione evhabiraus errores, qui e falsis prin- 
 cipiis sponte pullulant, et quibus etymologica Len- 
 nepiana haud minus quam antiquinra ubique scatere fa- 
 tendum est. Audacter tamen progrediamur, quatenus 
 veterum dialectorum auctoritas, monumentorum fides 
 et justa metri ac scrmonis ratio viam ostendant ; at non 
 ulterius. 
 
 I\[F, exclamatio mirantis vel miserantis , vulgoa, 
 ut « iM' 9 sed Latine VAH, quod Graecum antiquissi- 
 mum esse videtur : nam in exclamatione, impetu vehe- 
 mentiore prolata, spiritus ilie in fine vocis locum habe- 
 re poterat in Graeco haud minus quam in Latino ser- 
 mon c. 
 
159 
 AF. v. a v — retro, vel eo sensu -quo syllaba RE in 
 compositi6 Latim's — unde 
 
 'AFTAP, exAF, TE, et APA compositum atque 
 
 'AFT02. v.avTog, etc. 
 
 'AFASl. 
 
 'AFAA2SI et 
 
 *AFHMT divers a themata esse verbi , quod in Lati- 
 nis AVEO scriptum est, formae ac sensus similitudo vix 
 dubitare sinit, atque inde adjectivum 
 
 "AFATOZ idem atque AVIDUS et AVARUS; ut in 
 P AFAT02 IIOAEMOFO[—v. dzog nolz'fioio, cwi- 
 dus belli. Adjecto A privativo, fit 
 
 'AAFATQ2* v.'uactTog, innoxius, vel, e quo nul- 
 la mala cupido vel avaritia oriri possit$ et 
 
 'AAFATT02 vel 'AAFA2T02, v. '« « « r o g, in- 
 
 violabilis, vel nulli malae cupidini pel ambitioni o&- 
 noxius. 
 
 Aoristi formae contractae *A2E et 'ASAIe themate 
 contracto 'AH effictae sunt; quod Homericis ignotum 
 fuisse videtur; nam versus, in quibus eae formae oc- 
 currunt, rhapsodorum, non poetae, sunt, ut posthac 
 ostensuri eumus. 
 
 Hesychius liabet * A ASTON — dvccfxccQtTjtov , «/Ua- 
 fih» et AATON, eodem fere sensu; at litera A ex 
 utroque , librariorum incuria aut desidia , excidisse vi- 
 detur, perinde atque Homeri exemplaribus, quibus 
 Seberus in indice conficiendo usus est. In prisco au- 
 tern sermone literae 2 et T inter se commutabiles erant, 
 etOATMATTA (sic enim duplici T scribi clebuerat, 
 non ® ATM AT A, ut in vulgatis) apud Pindarum pro 
 
i4o 
 
 OATMJ2TA erat, teste Eustathio x ) ; atque ita etiam 
 multa alia ejusmodi. Pro MHAEA Hesiodum MEZEA 
 habuisse idem prodidit Eustathius 2 ): ac sic antiquicres 
 pronunciasse oportuit: Ionum enim est MHAEAt sen- 
 au quo hie usurpatum est, ejecta consona et producta 
 vocali, eorum more solemn: quo etiam *AAFATOH 
 eflingi potuisset. At vetustius et ma^-is Homericum est 
 'AAFATTOS. 
 
 Attici post A privativum in contractis hujusmodi 
 rocabulorum formis N paragogicum inssrebant; ut 
 
 iit] it ccpc.tov TiQuypa tuvz dno'ttpujp.*) 
 atque eo modo Dawesius 'ANyJFATON et \iSAFA- 
 2TON scribi voluit; contra tamen Homericam consue- 
 tudinem in AOTTON etc. conservatam; qua motisus- 
 tollendum illud JVcuravimus, ubicunque vocalis subse- 
 quuta sit. 
 
 'AFATH* v. "Azri — avaritia — niala cupido et 
 noxa, pka(5i), ex ea orlunda. In Homericis non nisi 
 trisyllaba usurpabatur: omnes enim versus, qui earn for- 
 xnam recusant, ut II. T> 85 — i5g — SI. 22 — 5o, etc., 
 alias etiam ob causae pro interpolationibus rhapsodorum, 
 qui sermonem veterem parum callebant, habendi sunt. 
 
 ATAFO^. v. uyuvog, praeclarus , superbus; a 
 verbo antiquo* tTAFSl — unde 'ATHMIet AT AM A L 
 
 FATNTML v. ayvvpt, quod et 
 
 FANTSl, et antiquius forsitan FPAXril; unde 
 Latinum FRANGO; atque item Graccum FPH22SL vel 
 FPHrSl. v. ()}\GOQ} t de quo infra. In aoristo secundo 
 
 1) p. 400. 
 
 2) Ibid. 
 
 3) Aeschyl. Suppl. 354. ed. Glasg. 
 
ill 
 
 jVejectum est, et pennhima correpta, fit *EFATH. v. 
 layr], a FANFSl deductum ea ratione, quaJETTllH a 
 TYFLTSL. In uno tantum loco, 11.^/. 558, penultimam 
 longamhabet: sed aut in aoristum primum *EFAN~ 
 XOH mutandum est, aut versus, alioqui suspectus, pro 
 insititio habendus atque ejiciendus. rol uuy?}g, penul- 
 tima producta, to N perinde ac to F certissima analogia 
 restituendum est, atque scribendum 'AFANFH2; il- 
 lud enim NF a recentioribus semper FF scribebatur, 
 et librarii, cum literae geminarentur, aut incuria aut 
 festinatione alteram saepe supprimebant , praesertim in 
 vocabulis minus usitatis. Vide supra S. CXXV. Litera- 
 rum defectu tempora futura etaoristaactiva xexbiFAN- 
 TSl formas eorundem temporum verbi v AFSl t duco 7 
 accepisse videntur, ut in rj£ov 9 fife, etc.; a quibus ta- 
 men, antiquo pronunciandi ac scribendi modo, prorsus 
 aliena sunt. 
 
 FANJANJ2. 
 
 FAAESl. 
 
 FAASL — v. dvduvo), udito et oldcu •*— placeoi 
 at in Hesychio tamen FANJANEIN, FAAEIN, FA- 
 dE20AIj eodem sensu ; quae formas antiquas plane in- 
 dicant: solennis enim est Hesychio usus tov F pro F. 
 Facilis ac prona erat alioqui mutatio aherius in alterum; 
 undo FHOESL, FANTMAl, et Latinum GAUDEO. 
 Iones autem, amputato vel commutato spiritu et pro- 
 ducta , ut solebant, vocali, °'HJSl vel \BASl et 'HJ02 
 vel YHJ02 effinxerunt; quae poetae cognita esse vi- 
 dentur. 
 
 Ab hoc verbo deducenda sunt FEdNON. v. tdvov 
 et i'edvov, unde 
 
 'AFEJN02 -~ v. Kvdtdvog— indotatus, genii- 
 
1*2 
 
 nato privative* ad metrum complendum, pnstquam ple- 
 niores veterum loquendi modi jamdudum exoleverant. 
 
 \AASl et 
 
 \AAESl, v.iido) et a dim. Latini verbi forma SA- 
 TIO vix dubitare sink, ZAAESl fuisse antiquiesimo ser- 
 mone: nam Etrusci. Latinorum doctores ac masristri, 
 literam A non habuerunt; atque ex aliis certissime con- 
 stat, voces quamplurimas, Homericis etiam temporibus, 
 durum ilium spiritum dentalem 2 in molliorem (- mi- 
 tigasse. 
 
 }-AAHN — v. a S tj v — abimde — ad satietatem us- 
 que, quod spiritu aspero ab antiquis grarrmaticis scri- 
 ptum esse, testis est Eustalhius — on, dt nut iduGuitio, 
 ol naXouoi quae x ). 
 
 \AAL\()2. v. udivog, co'f>rtux, de?i*us- 7 ut 
 omnia vocabula enjuscunque generis , quae initiun. 
 A collectivo vel u&qoiotmm capiunt; nam i pro 
 
 ixftcc est, atque idcirco antiquis Uteris fad scribendum. 
 
 \AFESl — \AFSl et Ionice '//J//; unde pradixo 
 fortasse 'Ufil, &AFJ1 et 4>IIMf — monstru , .'ere 
 
 facio, ac metaphorice dico; e quo verba Latina FAOR, 
 AIO et alia innuniera in utraque lingua emcta sunt, quae 
 speciem ac formam parentis plus minusve exhibent; ut 
 
 \AF02, lonice 'HJ12 — quod fortasse Homeric 
 cum; Attice *oj£ — aurora. 
 
 <PAF02. v. (pu>e, et diaeresi ad metrum supplen- 
 dum qoa>Q — lux — lumen. Idem alia dialecto est La- 
 tinum FAVOR. 
 
 Atque hie cuivis mirari licet, doctissimum Hovne 
 usque adeo coecutiisse, ut pro AAM04>AFSIS et AA- 
 
 *) P» 1556. I. 59. Eustathio 01 rcalaioX Alexandrini sunt. 
 

 FOKAFJIN in epigrammate, quod Friscianus legerat 
 in tripode vetusfissimo in Xerolopho Byzantii, A AMO- 
 &OFON et AAFOKOFON seriptum esse voluerit 1 ). 
 Vix enim tiro aliquis paullo accuratius institutus nomi- 
 na antiqua ita e eontractionibus et diaeresibus recentio- 
 rum refingere ausus esset, contra omnem rationem ac 
 consuetudinem prisci sermonis. 
 
 \AFAPF2TON — v. vqkjtov — prandium — 
 cibus qui primum mane sumebatur; unde nomen ab 
 \AFQ2 accepisse videtur. Sensum ejus recte ceperunt 
 veteres; de etymo mira commentati sunt 2 ). 
 
 A\FHP — v. ui]q — tenebrae — et casibus obliquis 
 fitQQs* tfiQh etc.; quae antiquissima esse videntur; signi- 
 ncado autem ortum indicat ex A privativo et \-AFEfl; 
 unde pleniorem ejus formam *A\AFHP fuisse credide- 
 rim , atque ex ea Homericum *A\FHP contractum. 
 
 'AFEIKH2 — * r. defxqg — indecens — ab A 
 privativo et FEIKSI; de quo infra. 
 
 *A\Ul, 
 
 *A\-ESl et 
 
 'AFHMI — splro — unde epitheton Vulcani 
 
 A\ 1H TOE> v. a'h]Tog, anhelus, nvevaxog — e t 
 
 *A\HTH2. v. flatus — verities. 
 
 'AYE A A A. v.«^;.« — procella; atque item vox 
 Latina ANHELVS; et 
 
 A\HP. v. dyp — aer — casibus obliquis yzgoQ, 
 WQo, etc.; quae Homericis etiam temporibus sic forte 
 pronunciata erant. 
 
 i) Not. in exctirs. III. in II. T. Vol. VIII. p- 7^7- 
 
 a) Viae Polyb. IV c. LXXI. Eustath. p. 1432. h &> P- *79 x ' 
 1. 35. etc. 
 
f Ay ATP SI f 
 
 'AYEIPSI et 
 
 *A\-E/PESl — v. deign — utiotco — sumo, 
 tollo, ex^intensivo et YEPJ1 , \AIPJl et \A1PESI 
 composita esse videntur, atque idcirco iia scribenda: 
 nam antiqui in mediis vocibns perinde atque initiis aspi- 
 rationem densam exprimebant ac literarum notis signi- 
 ficabant *). 
 
 'A\EKSLS* v. axoji/ et detutp — invitus, nolens, 
 
 'AYEKH11. v. «#'«4*< — invite, ab A privativo 
 et \EKSl. 
 
 A\EATJSl» v. at). no) — despero — ab A privati- 
 vo et YE A1IJ1, quod vide infra. Vide item 
 
 'AFEPFOI v. ii Qf6o, 
 
 'AFE2T/02 v. « . 4* nog, 
 
 'AFHO E22SL v. * *, & t> a w, 
 
 'AF1JU2. v. * Aiding — et Atticc j 
 
 'AFIJP/2, etc. w.aid(ji^ etc. in I LP TJ1, FE- 
 QSl , FETJSl, etc. infra exposita. 
 
 *AIFAN2 — v. A tug — nomen e participio elK- 
 ctum, atque ita cum F scriptum in gemma antiqua 
 Etrusci operis 2 ). 
 
 'AFEGAOX. v.a&Xov — certaminis praemium 
 — ab ' AFAP , de quo supra. In Homericis est semper 
 tri6yllaba ; neque certior interpolationis nota quam for, 
 ma ejus contracta ostendi potest. 
 
 'AIFEL v. ait I 
 
 1) Vide tab. Heracleens. Non alitcr in Alexandrinis Hon 
 coram codicibus locum habuissc e sckoliis Veneiianis plane 
 liquet. 
 
 2) Collection d'Oileans. Tom. II. pi. z. 
 
145. 
 
 AIFSlN. v. ahov — Latine AEVTIM; quod ami- 
 quum Graecorum scribendi raodum plane indicat. 
 
 'JFUffyJ02 — v. ccU^Xog — . tenebricosus r — . 
 ab ^ privativo et FJEIJJ1 deductum. 
 
 A\-I22JL — v. aiGGw — - ruo — ab A intensive* et 
 \IKSl fortasse confictum. 
 
 \AASl -» \AAESl -* « A cm — « A i w , bigt/U,, coU 
 ligo, coacervo. 
 
 \AAiIMI spiritu f- omnino scribendum, quod ^ 
 collectivum est; unde alia IIsquojv apud Herodotum 1 ); 
 etsi eadem vox ab aliis, etiam in insoriptionibus antiquis, 
 sine spiritu * AAIA scripta sit 2 ). 
 
 'AAAFJl. 
 
 'AAAFESl. 
 
 ' 'AAAFHMI — v. d A a w — uktxXti-fu — coecutire 
 vel err are facio ; et 
 
 AATFJ1 — v. aAKw — mente erro vel turbatus 
 swm, composita sunt ex ^ privativo et verbis AAFSl, 
 AslFESL, AAF/IMIet ATFSl; de quibus infra. 
 
 Rhapsodi et grammatici, cum formas verborum an- 
 tiquas nescirent , et vulgatas tamen versibus Homericis 
 haud suflicere comperissent, neque diaeresibus hiatus 
 supplere potuissent , syllabas quasdam geminabant : at- 
 que eo modo, cum 'AAAFJIMIin' 'A AHMI contractum 
 invenissent, neque pleniorem formam, neque mutatio- 
 nis rationem nossent, monstrum illud dkcdiipi compin- 
 gebant et inducebant. Ita quoque aliis, quae pari de- 
 fectu laborare videbant, percommode succurrebant. 
 
 i) Vide Eustath, p. 179. 
 
 a) Ijiscript. Sic. et Tabula Heracleensis. 
 
i4b 
 
 'AAEF&. v. d I tv a> — cvrVo — : ex ^ quoque pri- 
 vativo et AAFSi , quod et AEF&, ut infra videbimus, 
 form a turn. 
 
 *AAOFA$l. v. aUtao) — pw/«o — tundo. 
 
 *AAGFH. v. cUoa — area, in qua contundendo 
 triturabatur frumentum. 
 
 F melius, quam /, antiqui sermonis indoli hie con- 
 venit: at neutrum tamen ratione aliqua certa, vel aucto- 
 ritate suffukum est. 
 
 'AMTFM&N. v.dpvfiwv — egregius — 'AM TT- 
 M&N, uul dqiaiQt'aft, tou r 'AMTM&N* Hort. 
 Adon. solenni lexicographorum errore xov jfpro F; quae 
 enim sequuntur de etymo, ridicula sunt. 
 
 'AMTFN& — v. d/uvpco — defendo — arceo, ex 
 r A privativo et exoleto M7FNSI, unde M1FNH, de 
 quo infra , compositum. 
 
 FAJSTA&X 
 
 FANA2— aval — rex. 
 
 FANA22SI — u vao a a — regno, Dores Italiae 
 BCribebant BANNAZ, F in B mutato , et consona li- 
 quida geminata; quod iis solenne fuisse jam antea osten- 
 dimus. E terminatione brevi in AZ vocativus Homeri- 
 cus FAN A — v. ava formatus est. Significationem 
 apud Atticos planam facie Isocrates in Euagora: tojv *| ac- 
 tov yevoptvav ovdepa %uxi).L-^tv iduarixolg otouaac nyoci 
 Qtvofiivov dXXd rov flip ^aaiXe'a nuXuvpevov , rovg di dva- 
 *tuq, rag di dvdaaag: neque alia ki Homericis fuisse vi- 
 de tur. 
 
 ANJFA. v. dvlaetuvfia, dolor. dviagov — 
 Xeytrat, dviygov. Suid. — i. e. *ANj FPON ex 'ANI- 
 FaP ON contr actum, mutatione, jampridem iu Hesychii 
 lexico notata, tov Fin JT. 
 
i47 
 
 \AFOAFHZ — v. uoM.riq, congregatus- -confer- 
 tus, ab A collective) et FEslFQ, de quo infra. 
 
 *AFOAK2. v. wl'g — sulcus — pro contractione vo- 
 cis ccvXctl habitum; cui tamen ne affine quidem est: at 
 ex A intensivo et verbo antiquo FEAFSl — volvo for- 
 matum. 
 
 i *A\OP -v.aop- ensis , ab *A\EI&&, atque inde 
 *A\OPTHP , loru/n quo appendebatur , etc. 
 \APAl02. v. kqccioq — rams — tenuis. Recte 
 Schol. Ven. daavveTui, to uqucul , lemal " u d£ ipikovuep, 
 
 'APTEIF02. v.'A$y£7og. Latine ARGIVUS an- 
 tiquiore adjectivi forma. 
 
 FAPAR — v. uQd(o 9 irrigoy atque inde 
 
 FAPAM02, v. <xQd[iQQ, irrigation 
 
 FAPNEFTHP. v. aQvtvT?JQ t urinator. 
 
 TAP2* v. uQq, agnus , et 
 
 FAPNEI02. v. uQveiog, aries. FAP2, quod in 
 casu recto nusquam occurrit , e participio aoristo secun- 
 do verbi in MI FAPEN2 contractum esse videtur; un- 
 de, elisa priore et producta altera vocali , formata sunt 
 apposita nOATFPHNOU, \?IlOFPHN02 y etc.; quae 
 tamen in Iliade non nisi in locis interpolatis inveniun- 
 tur; sed simplicius et antiquius TIOATFAP2 retentum 
 est in nOAJFAPNI BJFESTHL B. 106. 
 
 FAPH. v. dpi), noxa, /?*«£»?— atque inde 
 
 FAPAOMAIveX 
 
 FAPEOMAI — un de 
 
 FEFAPHMEN02. v. ayyusvoQ in Homericis, 
 (JtfUupti&vog interpretatum ; quibus radicem fuisse 
 
 1) In Iliad. 2. 411. Sic Aristarchus , Schol. B. in Iliad. E. 4*5» 
 
credo verbum antiquum FEPPSl, de quo infra; atque 
 ab eo fiuxisse nomen vetustissimum Latinum dei Martis, 
 BERBER, in Nuraae regis carmine arvali; quod aere 
 insculptum, Romae anno p. Ch. n. MDCCLXXVIII de- 
 fossum est, acpostea, summa et ingenii sagacitate, et 
 doctrinae subtilitate ab acutissimo Lanzio interpreta- 
 turn *). Id nomen lingua ac Uteris Ionicis FEPFEZ 
 fuerit; quo constare puto, nomini APEF2, (sic enim 
 ecribi debuerat) F olim praefixum fuisse; etiamsi Ho- 
 mericis ad hiatum supplendum nusquam requiratur, at 
 poetae jam aetate exolevisse videatur. 
 
 FAZTT — v. uqtv — urbs. 
 
 'AYTF& — contractum in 
 
 'ATFS2 — v. uva) — sicco, et metaphorice siccum 
 vel raucum sono; ex A privativo et \TFSl — v. i' w, pluo 
 i — compositum 2 ): unde 
 
 'A7F02. v. avog — siccus, aridus. 
 
 'AJFAAEOZ — v. aval tog — idem. 
 
 9 A\TFTH — v. dvri] , clamor siccus vel raucus* 
 
 *A\TFTMH — v. uur/ui}, vapor aridus vel siccus, 
 
 *ATFF/F J\02l — v. avlaxog — scno arido vel 
 rauco clamoius, compositum ex ATFOZ et FjFAXfl, 
 de quo infra. 
 
 \10JP. v. «>«p — statim. ix tov 'AI1TS2, 'A*PSl, 
 '110 A yivixui, teste Eustathio 3 ); atque etymi ratio 
 constat. 
 
 \AOEX02 — v. uq.ivog — opes, nay ij/*7t> 
 
 i) P. I. C. VIII. S. i. n. i. 
 
 2) *JTQ ynq y to grtfcuyw to 'TfJ to ppi/a' ATQ, /u«r« to* 
 otsqijti/.qv A, xttl x(j<ioti ATQ. Suidas in voce. 
 
 3) p. »5& 
 
i4g 
 
 2>ovt<u, ccMct nocpec ro7g nctkc(io7$ *AzzMo7g daovvw&eu, liyt- 
 tcci 1 ): atque ita recte, ut e verbo obsoleto, in Latino- 
 rum HABEO latente, emctum ; quod literis antiquioribus 
 Pelasgis vel Etroscis HA8EU vel HArEU, i. e. literis 
 Graecis \A$ESl vel \AIIESl, fuerit: ridiculum est 
 grammaticorum veterum etymon ano ivog. 
 
 'AXAIF02 — i v. *Ai a tog — Latine antiquiore 
 modo ACHIVUS. 
 
 A\-J2.P02 — v. ao)Q<yg — intempestivus. Antiqua 
 ecuptura 6piritus eidem rationi grammaticae, cui cae-t 
 terae literae , obnoxii erant. 
 
 BIF02 — v. plog, vita, e verbo exoleto FIFSZ, 
 quod in Latino VIVO adhuc extat, formatum esse puto, 
 atque ideo differre a BI02, arcus ; quod, pari literarum 
 commutatione e FIZ — VIS effictunx, F non admisit, 
 
 BIFOT02. v. pidrog — victus ~ ut BIF02 
 scribendum ; atque eadem ratione verbum 
 
 BIFSl — vivo ; quod jamdudum obsolescere Ho- 
 mericis etiam temporibus coepisse videtur: Odysseae 
 enim nusquanx et lliadis tribus tantum locis ( II. 852. 
 X 45 1. S2. i5i.) occurrit, atque iis foede inquinatum 
 rhapsodorum et grammaticorum inscitia , qua cum fitjfii, 
 verbo prorsus alieno , confusum est. Alia themata ta- 
 men ex eo ellicta, ut 
 
 BIFOSl et 
 
 BIFSLML v*pi6<a et plan* in utroque poemate 
 obvia sunt. 
 
 BPI2EFI2. v. BQbon'Lg'. atque ita alia ejusmodi 
 patronymica a nominibus masculinis in JE>F2 desinenti- 
 bus rescribenda sunt. 
 
 i) Eustath. p. 73. 
 
i5o 
 
 TAAFKI. v. ylttvl ~ noctua — 
 
 TdAFKOS. v.ylavxog — 
 
 TAAFKIASl, etc. v. ylavxiaco, etc., a verbo 
 antiquo r AAFSl, postea AAFSl, AEFSl et AABSl, 
 diversis loqu< nui modi's, formata 6unt; atque sensus ejui 
 primarii, dittorti scilicet acfucati, vestigia retinent. 
 
 FEPAF02. v. yjpatoj, ae^ex 
 
 TPAFI2 vel rPEFIE — contractum in 
 
 FPAFE vel rPEFE — anus — atque deinde in 
 ypi'uV dfaereei vulgo distensum. Vide supra S. XLIV. 
 
 FTF1J2 — v. yv> — tWtor. 
 
 FTFF02. v. yvoog — cujus formam ac eignifica- 
 tionem antiquam exprimit Latina vox CURVUS. 
 
 AA^HP — v. dai}$ — levir — ex \AIPSI vel 
 \EIPSI — uimo, nuto, formatum esse videtur. 
 
 AAFSl. v. daiot — accendo — unde 
 
 AAFI2. v. datg — taedax et metaphorice pugna, 
 
 AAFN02* v. Savog — ad urendum apt us, 
 
 AAF02— v. ^J? —fax. 
 
 AAFEAOZ contractum in 
 
 JAFA02 et 
 
 AHA02, quod Ionicum ac fortasse Homericum; 
 etsi formae antiquiores in dialectis minus cultis apud 
 posteros usurparentur. AABEA02, dulog, ./axw- 
 veg. AAEAON, diadtjko*. AEEAON , d>~Xor. He- 
 sych. trt Xiyet, (HgaxXtidtjg^) xal on AioXelg rw A ngogrt- 
 ftivxtg to T, <i)g qr t <nv ^QtOTafjjog nagaTt&tig to ATAP, 
 
 ATTAP' AAA02, AATAOS' TAXEN, 1AT- 
 XEN — &A2KJI, &AT2KSI — x«? <PPAT2KSl. 
 Eustath. p. i654. 1. 27. Aeoles retinebant literas, qui- 
 bus antiqua pronunciandi consuetudo eignincata era'. 
 
i5i 
 
 non ex arbitrio vel proprio^scribendi more inscribebant, 
 ut grammatici somniasse videntur. 
 
 AAFI02 — v. dtji'og, ardens, pugnax, ab eodem, 
 item que 
 
 AAFIOSl — v. 6 fit dm, trucido. 
 
 JAISl, divido, a quo AAI2, convivium, ita sem- 
 per sine F scrip turn est. 
 
 AEPFSl* v. d s l q co — excorio, pellem detraho. 
 AEPBI2THP, ro\%m- nag*) TodtQog, AEPI2THP, 
 TilfovuGftw too B. Suidas in voce. 
 
 AAEIASl- v. dtidm — timeo, 
 
 AAISl — v. dim — idem. 
 
 AAE02. v. diog — timor. In vulgaris litera ini- 
 tialis repetitur in verborum jugmentis ; ea tamen in- 
 constantia, ut aoristus primus sit tddeioa, et praeteritum 
 perfectum dtidoma. Alioqui vocalis semper producitur 
 ante eamliteram, nisi in locis interpolatis aut mendosis; 
 quod haud alia ratione fieri potuerit, quam duplici con- 
 eona : nam A e tono vel impetu pronunciandi geminari 
 nequit; atque si posset, constantia in eo, quod poetae 
 arbitrio, quo ties metro conveniret, non indole linguae 
 fiebat, rerum humanarum usui ac consuetudini contraria 
 esset. Nomen Zevg vel antiquiore forma ASEFS ejus- 
 dem stirpis esse videtur, ac primum significasse sen- 
 sum et affectum animi, dum dei optimi maximi, cuncta 
 supercilio moventis, speciem ac naturam contemplaretur, 
 quern timorem aut pavorem fuisse vix dubitare licet. Ti- 
 moris ideoantiqurtsimum nomen Graecum A2EOZ fuisse ^ 
 credo atque verba, quibus sensus ejus exprimebatur, A2ISL 
 et A2EIAJI ; quae paullatim emollita AAISl et A A EI A SI 
 fierent, ac postea dim etdeido); ea ratione, qua nomen 
 illud apud Latinos DEUS factum est, commutato scili- 
 
152 
 
 cet in consonam , ac postea penitus suppresso duro isto 
 epiritu 2. Ira 'EPIJJH2A2GAI pro ip&oaa&cu scri- 
 ptum est; arque Bneotice, apud Platonem , "ITTSl pro 
 igtoi, et alia ejusmodi haud pauca. Deesse exempla, 
 aliquis forsitan objiciet, geminatae comonae initio vo- 
 cis; neque nnqnam ita scripeisse veteres asserere ausim : 
 at non Homerici aevi scripturam, quae fortas6e nulla 
 erat, restituendam suscepimus , sed linguam Homeri- 
 cam exhibere iis literarura signis, quae usitatissima 
 erant, cum ars scribendi apud Graecos jam adulta esset. 
 Hac ratione 
 
 A IKTNG02 et 
 
 AEjLEIA ecribenda esse puto pro Zuxvv&og et 
 Zt'Xfia; ireraque KA1MN4P02 pro 2xdftavdgog 
 (quod in nonnullis codicibus locum obtinet); nam vo- 
 calis praecedens nusquam producta est, et in Zanclaeo- 
 rum nummis nomen civitati6, quod vulgo ZdyxXt], AA^S - 
 KAE inscriptum est. Zaudaei illi Iones fuere, atqueurbs 
 eorum a Messeniis e Peloponneso profugis anno a. Cb. 
 n. OCLXV1II. capta est , et Messana in posterum dicta. 
 Hi nunrmi ita me oranes ante eum annum cusi sunt, et 
 6cripturae aniiquissimae lonicae, si non Horaericae, ex- 
 empla exhibent. 
 
 AAKPTFON — v. Sdxovov — laeryma. 
 
 A tKPTFJl. v. duxQvw — laerymo. 
 
 AEFSl — v. dt'oj — egeo; quod ita differre vide- 
 tur a 4ESI — Hgo. 
 
 MFQ2. v. d 7og. Latine DIVUS: atque in ea lin- 
 gua amiquissimas adjectivorum formas extare puto; 
 . nisi haud ignorem, probabili quadam ratione J[- 
 0£, XI02, etc. e contractione wv J1IOZ, XIIOZ, 
 
i55 
 
 etc. deduci *) : utraque fortasse e vetustioribus JIIFOZ, 
 XIIF02, etc., diversis diversarum dialectorum rationi- 
 bus contracta sunt: nami/OI secundus casus zov AI2, 
 a quo JIFOZ vel d7og, Fm augmento accipere haud 
 potuit, quod a tota stirpe alienum; atque inde 
 
 AIFOFENH2 — v. dioysvijg, divo genitus, pri- 
 mam semper longam habet , dum in JIOTPE&H2, 
 lope nuiritus : semper brevis est 2 ). 
 
 JPAFSL v. dgdco — facio. 
 
 J2AF02. v, Jw?, ac soluto circumflexu ^woj, 
 vivus. 
 
 ASAFJl 
 
 A2EFJI et 
 
 JZHMI — • v. ^oj, gtoco et £iw, 'vivo; unde no- 
 men Io vis J2HN, Ztjv, et Dorica pronunciation /IE AN, 
 Zuv, hujus verbi participium fuisse credam, atque anti- 
 quissimam ejus formam JZEEN2 — vivens. 
 
 JTFJ1. v. dvco, subeo. 
 
 FEJP. v. h'ao. Hesychio TEAP ac Latine VER. 
 Prima syllaba in casibus obliquis, quoties e tono et im- 
 petu pronunciandi producta sit, toties in EI diphthon- 
 gum , grammaticis ac librariis fulcrum solitum inseren- 
 tibus, mutata est: perperam: ubicunque enim tres sylla- 
 bae breves in unam vocem concurrerent , primam pro- 
 ducere licuit. flap, casu recto, poetae recentiores ex 
 Homericis male intellectis sibi confinxerunt, et inter alia 
 cjusmodi dvwpctXcc ad metrum eupplenduna , quoties ex- 
 
 i) Eustath. p. 436. 
 
 2) to fxlv JIOTPE&R2 avarlXlst rrjv Ugxovaav, wff duo r?js 
 J 10 2 yevutrjs* to 3* JlOmNHJS txTeivet, avrtjv } dnd tov 
 4102, &#•§•«, Ibid. p. 76. 
 
1 54 
 
 pedire visum esset, adhibuerunt: vetere9 autem, qui- 
 8uum quisque sermonem gentilitium in carminibus tan- 
 tum usurpatrerunt , nullam istiusmodi licentiam *ibi 
 unquam permittebant; neque, si permisissent, audito- 
 res, qui verba tantum usu vulgari trita intelligebant, ac- 
 cepissent vel tolerassent. 
 
 'EFAJl. v. iaa) — sino ; at Laconibus ac Syracu- 
 siis 'EBASl *), solita literarum corumutatione : ita et 
 la, "ETA — I'uaov, 'EBA20N inter Dorismos a Gre- 
 gorio Corinthi episcopo et lohanne grammatico recen- 
 aentur z ). Inde 
 
 EFAlSlOZ — v. tavog, duct His , flexitis — dum 
 
 FEAN02 — indusium , iisdem liten's vulgo scri- 
 ptum, ab FESlj alias FE22SL, de quo infra, dedu- 
 ctum est. 
 
 FEJNON — v. tdvov et iidvov — dos. Vide 
 supra in FAJSL 
 
 FEIKOZI — v. i7xo(Tietitlxoai — viginti. In 
 tab. Heracleensi LIKATIi quam formam antiquissi- 
 mam puto , et in carmina Homerica recipiendam fortas- 
 se; sed cum F praenxum metro suinceret, vulgata et 
 jamdudam recepta mutare nolui. 
 
 FEU 02 — v. eldog — species. 
 
 FEUEll 
 
 FEIJS1 — v. tidtw — t i'du) — scio, video; unde 
 praeteritum Aeolica i. e. antiqua forma 
 
 FEEOI/JAi et sine augmento, quod usiratius, 
 
 FOIJA. Latina vox VIDEO alia forma ejusdem 
 est, qua antiquus 6cribendi modus plane indicatur, ut 
 
 j) Hesych. 
 
 -) S. CLVII- VIII. ct Roen. not. 
 
i55 
 
 in Hesychiano quoque FOUHMAL in I a rctfi at,. Sen- 
 sus itaque nominis 'AFI4H2, quodAttici m'Atdriv cor- 
 ruperunt , non alius est quam INVISIBILIS. Plusquam- 
 perfectum , quod recentiorum scriptura jjdea est , ex eo- 
 rum modo pronunciandi ore constrictiore profecta , ju- 
 staanalogia J^O/z/i£4> amputato augmento, esse debuerat; 
 atque ita nobis rescribendum in Homericis videtur. 
 
 Ejusdem stirpis esse videntur 
 
 FEI2KSI. v. itoxm, adsimulo. 
 
 FEIKSl — v. etna — similis sum: — atque item 
 
 FI2F02 — v. laog — aequalis. Hesychio IY_ 
 2TON, I gov; ex. BIO P — tuwg' yfuxuveg. In tabula 
 tamen Heracleensi est \I202$ sculp toris errore an 
 gentis idiomate , incertum ; contra analogiam certe. 
 
 \EAFLSl — \E\OAttA, etc. v. ilnta, i'oXncc, 
 etc. spero : Bentleio FEAIISl, FEFOAllA, etc. quod 
 metro haud necessarium auctoritati obstat; nam in titu- 
 lo antiquo nomen Graecum ab hoc verbo plane dedu- 
 ctum , Latinis literis HELPIS inscriptum est x ). 
 
 FHGOS. v.j&og, etc. 
 
 FEG02 — v. Z# og — mos. 
 
 FEQSl — FEFJ1GA pro antiquiore IEFOOKA, 
 extrusa consona et producta vocali Ionum more, v. J'#w, 
 {tati-a, etc, consuesco; unde 
 
 FEGN02. v.i'&vog, gens, natio: atque 
 FEGETPA. v. i&eiQcc — coma, i&ugaol cti *jj 
 i&ovg inifiekov^evat rglx^g* Suid. 
 FOGONH. v.o&ovn — stola. 
 FEAFSl. v.* a w . 
 FEAFESl. v. ilXdw* 
 
 i) MINDIA HELPIS. Winkelmanii. Hist. Art. 1. IV. c. VII 
 
i56 
 
 I'EAFYSl. v. tllvm, Latine VOLVO; quod non 
 
 aliud est ijuam Graeca forma antiqua; unde 
 
 F0AF02. v. ovXoq, crispy s 9 tortus, rotundas^ 
 et Latinorunx vox VULGUS ; atque item 
 
 FOAFAM02 — v. ovlufiog, caterva. 
 *ESEiSl — v. "Emu — Bellona, atque inde 
 'ENEFAAI02. v. 'Ewuktog — Mars. In vase 
 fictili a Mazzochio edito, ' ESETAAI02\ utrumque a 
 verbo antiquo 'ESAFSl, *ENEFJl, vel ivavuy, de 
 quo vide Eustath. p. i4o. formatum; unde etiam SE- 
 KTSet verba Latina ENECO etNECO origineni habuis- 
 se videntur. 
 
 FEPlISl thema antiquissimum esse credo verbi, 
 cujus futurum secundum vel Ionicum 
 
 FEPESl. v.zoe'oj, dicam, in Homericis frequcn- 
 tissimum est; ratione eadem emctum, qua TTilESl e 
 TTllTSli ita ut Latina vox VERBUAI idem sit ac Grae- 
 cum (j i t u a — i. e. 
 FJ J IIMyl, atque 
 
 FEZLLSl — v. f t'nu), cujus antiqua forma una tan- 
 tum 6ententiola , ianm i act* 1 )* a rhapsodis et 
 
 librariis asservata est, idem ac FEP11J1* alia dialecto, 
 qua to 2 locum zov P obiinebat. In aoristo secundo sub- 
 junctivi 6cilbcndum est 
 
 FEIISi pro v. t\ no} — ct in praeterito perfecto pas- 
 sivo alterius thematis 
 
 FEFEPTM pro v. e?p?;ra<, quod ab alio verbo 
 iiQtoucti, rogo, acceptum est. 
 
 FPHTON — v. f»/roi/ — dictum — Laconice 
 BPHTOX, 
 
 i) II. B. 46 h J- 213. ? 503. n. 31: 
 
FPHTPA — v. Q7jt q a — pactio, 
 
 FPHTHP — • v. QrjTtjQ < — . orator < — Laconice 
 JBPHTHP, producta altera vocali, e priore elisa , for- 
 mata esse videntur. Ejusdem stirpis sunt composita 
 'ENEml, 'ENllTLSl, "ENJZ1SI, 'EN1IIS2> 'ENII1ATISI, 
 3 'ENENI2 11 & etc.; quae, varie elisis spiritibus, produ- 
 ctia vocalibus, et adscitis augmentis , fonnata sunt. 
 'ENJIITfi quoque et *ENLNIIlT£l , eodem sensu, in 
 vulgatis Komericorum exemplaribus haud infrequenter 
 oceurrunt; 6ed in praestantissimo codice Harleiano 
 'EN/IlSl et*ENENlII&, penultima producta, eorum 
 locum ubique tenent; et cum NJT1TSI sit verbum pror- 
 sus alienum, pro factitiis, et ad linguam fucatam poste* 
 rorum pertinentibus habenda videntur. 
 
 FEPPON — v. k'gyov — opus. 
 
 FEPI'Si — praeteritum FEFOPFA. v. eopya, 
 facio. 
 
 \EPrSl — \E\EPTA et \E\EPXA — v. J'^w, 
 t'igyoi, itgya et ttpycx, arceo : sed antiquiore modo 
 cum spiritibus in tabula Heracleensi; atque ita quoque 
 in vulgatis nomina ejusdem stirpis ipnos, tppcc, etc. 
 ficripta sunt. 
 
 FEPPSl — v. iqq(o , apud Hesychium TEPPSl — 
 BAPPEL pereo, pessumeo; Latine VERRO, et anti- 
 quius foreitan VERVO ac BERBO: unde nomen anti- 
 quissimum dei Martis BERBER in carmine arvali x ). 
 Aliter tamen Alexandrini , qui dialectos antiquas , prae-. 
 sertim ltalicas , nesciebant — i^skofievot htivov ovico xa&\ 
 
 i) Romae effoss. aim. i778» et inira sagacitate a viro doctks'u 
 mo Ludovico Lanzio interpretat. in Saggi spfra la lingua 
 morte J 1 Italia. Vol. I. p. 142. 
 
i58 
 
 *HQMt\*ldqv ' inudt} tx tov &&EIPSI ylvnav to 'EPPSZ — 
 nagiffii tov xal 0. i'diov yag '/wvotv xat Aiolmv xa ra>v 
 
 kdfW TIQWTCC GV(A.(fO)t>« UlQtlV , llTt £ P TV'/Ot, OV, OlOV AAI" 
 
 WHP02, AI X VHP02- thi duo, TLAETPAZ, ETPA^ 
 k. t. X. — ovvto yovp xal 0SEIPSI , EIP& , «| ou ^/oA*- 
 ws'EPPSl- ugKEIPSl, KEPPSl' AE/PS2, AEPP&> 
 x.t. A. x j) Judicet lector: sed speciosa magis quam va- 
 lida haec mihi videntur. 
 
 FEPTSi — v. ipvo), et 
 
 FEPTA2& — v. igvCo>y trako — rerbum mire 
 corruptum rhapsodorum et grammaticorum licentia ; et 
 cum 'PTFQ, v. gvto, tueor, perpetuo confusum. 
 
 FE22SI — - v. i'oou) et 
 
 FENNTMI —v. twvuc — Latine VESTIO: atque 
 inde 
 
 FERGUS — • v. ta & v g et 
 
 FEZMA — v. tTfia — vestimentum. 
 
 FETOZ — v. i'rog — Heaychio TETOZ, atque in 
 tabula Heracleensi EET02 — annus : unde Latinum 
 VETUS et VETUSTUS, idem quod ANNOSUS. 
 
 FE2IIEP02. v. tontQog — Latine VESPER. 
 
 \ETEOZ.v. ireog, 
 
 \ETTM02. v. i v v u o g , et 
 
 \ETHTTM02. v. irtjTVfiog, verus > ejusdem stir- 
 pis, cujus \ETH2, \ETAlPOZ, etc. 
 
 \E2XSl, et amputata syllaba ZXSl, et eliso 2*, 
 
 YEXS2. v. *"j£W, futuro i£m, habeoi at in aliis per- 
 inde temporibus adhiberi debuerat 6piritus; quem 
 in Homericis versus saepe postulat. Hinc 
 
 \OXEFZ — v.ogti/ff, pessulus, retinaculum; atque 
 
 i) Eustath. p. i647- 1- 42. etc. 
 
i59 
 
 \OX®H — v. o%&ri, ripa. 
 
 'HjFON — * v. ycov — viaticum, more adjectivorum 
 Latinorum, qui est item Graecorum antiquissimus , e 
 vexbo 'EISI, 'EIMI, eo, effictum. 
 
 \HMAP — v. tjftap — dies; sed ?/ p £q a semper 
 cum spiritu aspero in omnibus dialectis; et rj [.iccq item 
 in Attica vetere. 
 
 \HKA. v. ^x«, Attice »Jjca, lente, quiete, unde 
 TJttioia, quod spiritum asperum nusquam non habuit.. 
 
 FHNOTI2 — ri v o ijj — splendidus : contractum 
 fortasse Ionice ex FOINOTI2. v. olvoyj, quod eodem 
 sensu usurpatur; atque ideo Homericis, ut antiquius, 
 restituendum. 
 
 \HPION—v. n q to v, tumulus, ab \A1PSI — \HPA. 
 
 FHXH. v. r] x n — sonitus. 
 
 FHXE& — tjxta — sono. 
 
 GAFA22&. v.^Kftffaw- sedeo; et inde 
 
 GAFAK02. v.^wxo? etti 6(o%og, consessus, 
 
 SAFEOMAI. v.&suopab — video — miror : Io- 
 nice SHESl; etsi 
 
 0AFMA. v. <&ctvpcc — miraculum — formam ab 
 antiquo themate obtinuit, atque in omnibus dialectis, 
 mutato tantum F in T, conservavit. 
 
 GEFSl — v. #iw et &tl(o — Aeolice &tvu f ) — ' 
 curro; atque inde 
 
 eOFOZ. v.&oog — velox. 
 
 GTF&. v. &v(o, ruo, ferveo, sacrifice-. 
 
 FlFAXSZ. v. id%(0 — idem quod FHXE&; adscito 
 augmento , ut in IU&AFZKSl a 0AF& et compluribus 
 aliis. 
 
 i) Gregor. Cor. ep. de Dial. Aeol. S. XXXVU- 
 
i6o 
 
 \IAFSl v. Imm — vaco vel ore aperto re&piro. La- 
 tine HIO, HIARE; et antiquiore fortasse 6ernaoneHIAO 
 et HIAVO. 
 
 F/FAOMAI. v. i don at — medeor ■ ) ; et 
 
 FjFHTHP. v. /;;r?Jo — medicus — verbo Latino 
 VIVO cognata esse videntur; atque ab 
 
 FI2 — v. Tg % Latine VIS, deducta; unde elium 
 
 F/1WON. v. h>iov — ntrvusy 
 
 F/2XX2* v. toxvg — rubur — vis tenentH — La- 
 tine VISCUS — Hesychio JV-iA fcZV et B12XTN — frjwrj 
 ex FIZ et \LXSl confictum : 
 
 Fj&f. v. l<p$ — firtiter, etc. to^uanatui c 
 '££. 'JN02 — '/XO0I, mg X.L1KOZ — X I — 
 
 XAAKLxIW tmlMKtum /'/>/. 2 ) 
 
 Priorem itaque longain habet semper; ut ex Fj^\U>/ t <-li- 
 sa consona et producta vocali, contractum. iqdipoq 
 autcm, ut alia composita quamplurima, Fin initio baud 
 recepis8e videtur. 
 
 FLAFEF2 — nomen patris Ajacis minoris , v. 
 livg, a Zenodoto autem J/.n ', ^criptum , quemadni jdurn 
 apud Hesioduin, Stcbichorum , et l'indarum aatea 
 stiterat. 3 ) i'saepein Oabiit; ut in nomine flnminif 
 et urbis in Creta insula , quod in nummia est FASuZ — 
 FASlSlXx 4) at Virgilio OAXUS — 
 
 et rapidum Cretae vtniemus Oaxum s ). 
 
 i xoTft r* yriora$- xal dvetX&i'a taoao&ni , i. e. FlF.i- 
 7. Aretini jo. fragni. apud Heyn. supplend. 
 
 in II. A. 515. Vol. \ I. 
 2) Schol. Ven. in U. A. 151. 
 
 *>) Vide Heyne in II. £. 527. Sic et Lycophron 'itios duuo: vs. 
 1150. 
 
 4) Dittens MeJ.ulles. 
 
 5 ) Eclog. I. 66. 
 
i6i 
 
 \I\HM2. v. Znh ex \ESl — \HMI, mitto, edo, 
 
 protrudo, adscito augmento eodem modo, quo FiFA- 
 
 XX et P^, I1I&AF2KSI e <p^JF», et alia ejus. 
 
 modi, compositum: atque inde 
 
 \I\AMENH. v. eiafisvi] ~ pratum irriguum — 
 locus herbas emittens , vel late patens , ut «<*&?} /i iv0 v 
 Ttsolov apud recentiore8. 
 
 f-/|-CL£ — v. log — jaculum missile, et, 
 \l\OF£I <•- v. /o;?/ — missio vel miss iva. 
 FfON* v. i'ov — viola i unde 
 FIOFEIAH2 —v.ioetdy g, 
 FlOANE&ILS *— v. lodpsq)?jg — et 
 FiONQAZ— v.iov&ag. 
 
 FIP1Z. x. r I 9 ig — tfea /r«.5— ayalfia Blgtdog, 
 Pausan. in Lacon. e. XIX. 5. 4., i. e. F/JP/A02 Laconi- 
 ca dialecto. 
 
 FlTEA. v. *W« — safoc. Hesychio TITEA. 
 FITT2 — v. }' r v g — ora aliqua curpa vel flexilis, 
 Aeolice K1TT2. 
 
 JY TJZSl — v. I v£(a — clamo — ejusdem stirpis cu- 
 jus % A\JFSi % etc. 
 
 \IXBTZ — iy v &vg — piscis — Attice tamen fy#v; r )j 
 et ab [-/AJ2 deductum; unde 
 
 \IKMEN02. v. ixfievog — iptiovTcct, to *IKME- 
 JVOJZ a. to ztjg ixfiddog, bit, di x<u duGVvnat, tiuqu to 'IKEi 
 26 AI 2 ). 
 
 KAFSl — v. net I (a — uro. Antigua autem forma 
 6« ostendit in 
 
 i) Aul. Gell. lib. II. c. IIL 
 2) EustAth. p. i38. 
 
l62 
 
 KAFMA. v. xuvfiu — color, 
 
 KAF2TEIP02. v. xavove iqoq — ardens, etc. 
 
 KAAFSl — v. xluio) — fleo , at prisca forma in 
 aoristo 
 
 KAAF2A — v. xKuvo ui et in futuro passivo 
 
 KAAFZOMAI — v. x/.uu ao put, adhuc obtinet; 
 atque item in nomine 
 
 KAAFSMOZ — xlavdfiJg— flelus. 
 
 KAEFfZ. — v. it A n tg. Latine CLAVIS. 
 
 KATFn, quod et KATMI — v. xAi/'oj — audio. 
 
 K1SAFQ -v.xvaoj^ gy «/•», et xvaiiu: unde 
 KNHMI, scabo. 
 
 KPAFAIXSI — v. x p a t a i v a> — perficio ; e XP^- 
 ,F/2, spiritu leni Ionum KPAFSl pronunciato, compo- 
 situm. 
 
 KPO& l/Xll. v. xpoat'vo) — pulso — et 
 
 KPOT \ OX — v. x o o v » 6 q — torrens, utrumque e 
 verbo antiquo KPOFSl efTlctum. 
 
 K7FA?\0Z. v. xvavoQ — color nigricans, 
 
 ATFJOS, etc. v. xv do 5, etc. gloria, 
 
 A TFMA — v. x u a — in. da j 
 
 ASIA TF.Q — v. ummvm — lamentor, et 
 
 K UK 7FT0Z. v. x en uvrig, lamenlatio , omnia e 
 verbo exokto A'TFSl confieta; quod alio pronunciandi 
 modo KTBSl, atque inde KTTlTSi fiebat. 
 
 -L/FS2 — v. I mm, prehendo, vel manibus, vel 
 oculis* vel alia quaeunque ratione: Aeolice i avw ; at- 
 que alia pronunciandi consuetudine AABSl , e quo in- 
 nuraera fluxerunt ; ut 
 
 AAFA2 — AAFS —v.Xaag, XZq — lapis, 
 
 AAFlNIX— v. Xaiyl — lapillus, 
 
 AJFOS — v. A « of — Attice i*»f , popidus. 
 
i6 5 
 
 AAFP02 — v. lavpog — lotus — capax, 
 AAFEPTH2 — v. slaiQT Vg ; atque ita alia no- 
 mina ex eodem cornposita; 
 
 AAFISIN— et AAFlTEPOS — v. Xco^v et l^l- 
 rtgog — potior , optabilior; cujus accusatfvum AA- 
 FWNA, in I coco contractum, notabile praestet exem~ 
 plum ejusmodi licentiae in Atticorum sermone. Vide 
 Sophocl. Philoct. 1079. 
 
 AEFKOZ. v. levxog— albus. 
 
 AEF2Z2Q — v. I i v a a w — specto, cujus verbi 
 formam antiquissimam fuisse credo rAAFSZSl^ ut tov 
 AAFSl, TAAF&i e quo TAAFK2 v. ylav'e, atque item 
 TAAFKSITLI2, epithetonMinervae; quod neque caesios 
 neque noctuae ocu Zos significat ; sed oculos plfnTtxovg, 
 ev oyuTOvg , vel tfinvgov tv (Hen ovt ag, nagd to 
 rAAT22f£, dcp 00 xul rAATZ; ut recte inter- 
 pretati sunt grammaticorum veterum nonnujli apud Eu- 
 etath. p. 06, et 1202, 1. 9. 
 
 AEFllJS 1 — v. \tu)v — leo — ab eodem, 
 
 AEFOZ — v. A f log — Latine LEVIS. 
 
 AE1M02. v. Xifiog — fames — a AEIII&. 
 
 AOF& — v. X v co — Latine LAVO : cum enim 
 Etrusci veteres literam O non habuissent, locum ejus in 
 sermonibus semibarbaris Italiae modo A, modo U obti- 
 nebat. 
 
 ATFSl — v. X v o) — a quo vocabula Latina LI- 
 BER, LIBET, LIBERO, etc.; itemquenomenEtruscum 
 WEISVI in titulo sepulchrali x ). 
 
 MAFSl — v. fA. u co — cupio vehementer , impetu 
 feror, unde nomen Latinum MAVORS, postea in MARS 
 
 1 ) Lanzi Vol. II. pag. 439, No. 396, 
 
 L 2 
 
104 
 
 contractum ; quod non aliud quam participium hujus 
 verbi, more antiquo ac semibarbaro formatum , fuisse 
 videtur. MEMAF&Z fit avarolp , xitAEAHK&Z et AE- 
 AAKS12 e AHKSl vel AHKE& , MEMAXfLZ e jtfff- 
 AT^vel MHKAS2, etc. 
 
 MHNlFSl. v. fly via), penultima longa, irascor — e 
 MIINJ2 — ira, antiqui sermonis consuetudine in ver- 
 bis et adjectivia e nominibus fingendis, efRctum. 
 
 MOFZA — v. Movaa — Musa — a verbo exoleto 
 MOFSl , in Latinorum MOVEO asservato , deductum. 
 
 MTF& — v. ft v o> — elaudo — comprinw ; unde 
 
 MTFEA02. v. pvtlog — medulla. 
 
 MTFS2N — v. fi v o) v — muscuhis. 
 
 MTFjVIf — v. fivvtj — excusatio — liaesitatio* 
 
 JIIIFT/A — v. uvlu — musccu 
 
 MT&&02. v. [tv&og — svrmo — fabula; etc 
 
 NAF2—NAFu2l—y. vuvg , viog, *»;o; t etAttice 
 t>i(og— riavis eXAFJZ, NAF/AOZioxtzsse contractual; 
 quod plenum et integrum in nomine Lacedaemoniorum 
 tyranni NABIS , ut in Latino etiam vocabulo NAVIS, 
 extitisse videtur. Formatum est e verbo 
 
 NAFQ — v. v a<ji — quod et 
 
 AAFESI — v. vn'tui, impleo, coacervo; unde 
 quo que 
 
 NAFOS. v. v u 6 g — - tern-plum ; quod Ionice ac for- 
 tasse Homerice AIIOZ; priorem enim semper produ- 
 ctam habet. Templa antiquissima Graecis cognita the- 
 sauri sive donaria fuerunt; loca in quibus dona diis sa- 
 crata reponebantur et religiose asservabantur. 
 
 Ab eadem radice quam plurima alia , praesertim no- 
 mina composita, tarn hominum quam rerum, derivata 
 sunt; quae eadem ratione cum F scribenda erunt ; nisi 
 
i65 
 
 ubi Ionica pronunciatio, quae rw H pro AF 6ignifkatur, 
 potior et magis Homerica visa sit. 
 
 NEF02. v. vtog -— Latin e NO VUS. 
 
 \OAP. v. quq — uxory ex O copulativo, quod re- 
 cte J-O. 
 
 'OFA2 — v. ovg — auris; secundus tarn en casus 
 est in vulgaris ovcctoq; cujus rationem grammatici suo 
 more reddunt — '/covix^v iniv&taiv i'^st, tov T' sv&na yap 
 ccvtov iviv.r, OA2 xad ? 'Hgoidiavov , cog 00 A2. Eustath. p. 
 1896.I.4. *OFslTOENTA> auritum, quod inHornericis in 
 wTtofvza vulgo contractumest,antiquiore integra forma, 
 et mutata tantum litera obsoleta, ouaroevTcc laycov, 
 in epigrammatis fragmento apud Suidam v. Xaycog asser- 
 vatur; ubi adaeque contractum esse, si secunda versus 
 elegiaci penthemimeris spondeum admisisset. 
 
 > OFl2. Latine OVIS. Saepe in obliquis casibus di- 
 syllabum est , priore ancipiti ; OF: 102 'OFIE2I etc. 
 pronunciatur; ut in Virgilianis PAR:IETIBUS, AR: 
 1ETE, etc. Sic et AirTIITiIOI, \I2T:IAIA, etc. Io- 
 ta spiritus lenis vice fungitur. 
 
 'OAON2. v. 66 ovg: at Ionice odcov (Herodot. VI. c. 
 107.x utrumque ab antiquiore 'OAONE'-, unde Latinum 
 DENS ; atque in obliquis casibus 'OAONT02, 'OAONTT, 
 etc. Participia, quae terminationem in i2iV~et sermone 
 antiquissimo in 0N2 habuerunt , apud Aeoles recentio- 
 res in EI2J 9 et apud antiquiores in EN2Z earn accepe- 
 runt "). 
 
 \OAT22EF2 — v.'OdvcTaevg — noted riot (*tv da- 
 Guvtrat, napd rtjv odov' vnb rivcov deipdovTcttnctou to odvti- 
 aco. Eustath. p. 68. Recte priores ; quos toium episodium 
 
 1 ) Gramrn. vet, apud Eustath. p, 1755, 
 
i66 
 
 de Ulyssis apud Autolycum peregrinatione *) repudiasse 
 oportuit; quodab'oquin repudiandum, et pro insititio ha- 
 bendum es^e, validioribus adductis argumentis, postea 
 06tendemu8. Nomina virorum e verbis infaustae signi- 
 ficationis usquam apud veteres efficta esse, hand facile 
 crediderim; quod ab enrum moribus, et insitis de omi- 
 num vi oninionibus , prorsu* abhorret ; neque obstant 
 quae tragici de nominibus Homericis commend sunt: 
 IA2 iion %%AI\ All 2 ) sed ex eodem fonte quo *AI- 
 FUN , 'AjFj-/, etc. defluxit, ut supra ostendimus. 
 
 FOSONH — v. oVo v?j — indusium — a FEOfi. 
 
 \01JEfi. v. o tdt'o) , et 
 
 \OIAANQ — v. o i u u v oj — tumeo. 
 
 \OJJLMA — v. olbti a — tumor. 
 
 FOIKUZ. v. olxog — Latine VICUS. 
 
 FOIKJA. v. alula; sed cum F in tessera Velitr. 
 
 FOJKEQ — v. olxt'o) — habitu, 
 
 FOIKEF2 — V.oixivc — domesticus. 
 
 FOIKJAZSl. v. o/y.t'i'o) — habitarc facio , etc. etc. 
 
 FU/yOS— v. olvog — Hesychio rOJyOZ — La- 
 tine V1NUM; unde composila quam plurima eadem ra- 
 tione scribenda ; ut 
 
 FOINEfX x.Olvevg, 
 
 FOJS01J2i. v. 1 v i/» ; et recentiorum more loquen- 
 di ore strictiore rjvoxp; in quorum usu variant codices. 
 Vide Heyn. in Iliad, y. 6*5. 
 
 FOINOFLEAOX — v. i v 6 n td v — vinetum , et*. 
 etc. 
 
 1) Odyss. T. 343 — 587- 
 
 2) Ajftc. flagel. 450. ed. Bruiicfc. 
 
i6 7 
 
 '07FSI — v. ota) et otco penultima longa, puto, au- 
 gur or; unde 
 
 '01FIA2SI.V. o?£w, 
 
 'AOIFI2TQ2 — v. ai/fiilVro?, 
 OIFSIN02 — v. oiuvog, etc. etc. 
 
 J-0/J2 — 7<?ro; cujus futurum tantum in lingua 
 comrauni sine spiritu oigu usurpatur; at forma anti- 
 qua in tabula Heracleensi extat; unde 
 
 \OIMA — v. oificc — impetus, 
 
 \OIMA£l — v. oi(4.d(o — impetuferoTy 
 
 \01M02 — v. olfiog — semita, etc.; item que 
 \OIAANQ , YOIAMA, etc., de quibus supra. 
 
 YOK2T2. — v. iSvg — acutus — ab \-IKSl. 
 
 \OKTO etc. v. o xrcu etc. at cumnota aspirationis in 
 tabula Heracleensi scriptum. 
 
 *OAOFOZ — v. oXoog — noxius — contractum in 
 
 s OAF02 — ovkog — unde 
 
 'OAFOMAI — v. o v X o p a t, — noxius sum ; et 
 
 'OAFTMI — v. okXvfit — per do , occido etc. 
 
 'OAFOXTTAl — v. ovloyvrat — molae salsae 
 — a verbo FEAF&, de quo supra, amputato, ut in 
 composito, F initiali. nXtovcc&voi, da to Bol £vqccxowwi, 
 tog inl to *OABAXNION, to tag ovXag t%ov, Suid. in 
 dtQpiGTi'iQ* nota dialectorum ratione, qua idem vo- 
 cabulum Homerico eermone 'OAFAXNION fuerit. 
 
 \OMIAF02. v. o fit, log — multitudo conferta, 
 
 \OMIAFESl. v. ouilt'o) — in multitudine versor, 
 
 \OMIAFAAON — v. opUudov — confertim: 
 omnia ex \OM02 et FJAFH composita. 
 
 'OIIaF&N — v. onawvy sectator — minister; par- 
 ticipium verbi antiqui 'OIIAFS2, cuius forma usitatior 
 
i68 
 
 'OTIAAZR fui86e videtur, atquc ejusdem stirpis, cu- 
 jus Latina vox OPIS. 
 
 FOTLH. v. onrj — et 
 
 FOTI2 1 v. oxp — Latine VOX — i. e. antiqtiioribus 
 literis VOKS; quod vocabulum idemdiversa dialecto vel 
 alio modo pronunciandi est. Ab FEZTISI^ de quo su- 
 pra, originem traxit, perinde atque 
 
 FOZ2A. v. utroa, et 
 
 FOZZOMAL — v. ooaoficcc — quae vocem vel lo- 
 quelam quandam interiorem et prophcJcam roenti tan- 
 tum intellectam, sensibus baud perceptam, eignificare 
 videntur. Male confunditur FOZ1 OMAI cum *O2£0- 
 MA1 y inlueor, a doctissimo Heyne in II. A* io5. 
 
 y 'OTiMA — v. o (.i fxa — Aeolicc g.t net — ocuhis . a 
 vexho^OlITQ, eadem ratione qua alia ejusmodi nomina 
 eflfictum, atque paullatim in diverts dialectic 
 emollitum; ita ut Jones et Attici to 77 in to M% atque 
 Acolr* to J/ in rj 77 pronunciando colliqnefaeercnt. 
 
 \OQPA— 1r. oqga — est autem yo Ell! PA, aru- 
 jus initio apirittu a^per abscissus est e recentiorum usu 
 ob subsequotnm. 
 
 'OPOFA — v. ,] uo i(o — ruo. Pimphjlm, teste He- 
 raclide apud Eustath. p. 1 654. 1. 22., 'OPOB12: ita enim 
 legendura, non oyorJu, . ut in editis. 
 
 TI 4FSI v. Train) — cessare vel guiescere facio — 
 ex AF, retro , compositum. 
 
 JIEJIIFOX —wziidiXov — cakeus — eTIEJOy 
 et FEAFfi compositum. 
 
 II/FS2 — v. n I co — Latine BIBO, commutatis ii« 
 tantum Uteris, quae in dialectorum variatione commutari 
 solent; eadem ratione scribenda item 
 
1% 
 
 TLIFAP — V, ntttQ — pinguedO) 
 
 IIIFSIN — v. 7r iw v — pinguis, 
 
 IIIFAAK2 — v; nldcc£ — fons , etc. etc. 
 
 HALF SI — v. n X tea — navigo — quod et IIAH- 
 Mlet IIASIMI variation e haud insolita. Hinc 
 
 HAEFIAEZ. — v.nXii'idsQ — astra, quae navigan- 
 di tempus indicabant. 
 
 UNEFSl — v. Tiviioetnvflw, spiro : unde 
 
 TLNEFmA — spiritus; cujus antiqua forma paullu- 
 lum immutata in vulg. nvevpu asservatur; 
 
 UNOFH — v . n votri — flatus, etc. etc. 
 
 UPHQN — v. tiqwv, jugum vel cacumen , et so- 
 luto circumflexu, grammaticorum more, nQwatv: at 
 nPHSIN, e nPO^EESlN vel IIPO\-HK&N forte con- 
 tracture! , in Scuto Heracl., apud Hesych. etc. ; neque du- 
 riorem istam contractionem in tzqiov poetae antiquissi- 
 mo innotuisse, facile credam. Simili ratione 
 IIPO\IK2. — v.uqqII — gratia, et 
 IIPO\-IKTH£.— v. n potter rig — mendicus, eUPO^ 
 \IK& vel HPO\l\HMI formata esse videntur. 
 
 U2AF& — v. yjavco — contingo — rado — unde 
 HZ AFP — v. yap, Ionice \ptjg — sturnus, 
 TL2EFA02 — v. ipevdog — mendacium, 
 T12EFAR — v. \pevdo) — mentior, etc. etc, 
 JJZTFXH — v. ipvx*} — anima, 
 H2TFX&. — v. ipvxa) — flo vel spiro, etc. 
 HZTFXOZ. — v. %pv%og — f'igus ex aura vel 
 
 flatu, etc., e verbo \TFSl deducenda esse videntur; at- 
 
 que item 
 
 JITTFS2 — v. tit vat — spuo , et 
 JJTTFON — v. ntvov — ventilahrum, etc. 
 
170 
 
 FPANTSl — V. Quyi<a — La tine FRANGO — 
 unde 
 
 FPHTNTMI — v. Qi)yvvui> 
 
 FPH22SI — v. ^'(jffw, 
 
 FPHrMIN vel 
 
 FPfiTMIZ — v. fafplvj 7vog — littus uhiun- 
 dae allidurUur et J-ranguntur 1 vetustiore fortasse forma 
 FPHTM1NZ : IN / 6 
 
 FPAKQ2 — v. ^axoc — Aeolice fiouxog — fe- 
 sfo's lacerci , 
 
 FPAXIZ — v. puxtg — spina dor si, 
 
 FPIirOZ — v. yrj/og — stragulum superficiein- 
 aequali variatum: Angiice RUG. 
 
 FPHTTUZ — v. qi)%tqs — qui rumpi vel fran- 
 gi potest. 
 
 FPlirZHKSlP — v. (itiltvoiQ — qui virorum or- 
 dines perrumpit. 
 
 FPAJZSl — v. paZw, 
 
 FPAIXSl — v. Qaiv 0), 
 
 FPAI& — v. () a i to — spar go , disperdo ; 
 
 FPAJlXOZ — v. (tabtvog — Aeolice p oa di vog 
 *— gracilis, 
 
 FPASAJf7.\rZ — Qtt&d/itiy!; — gutta — aspergo ; 
 
 FPOJlOX—v. (jodov — Aeolice § god ov — rosa, 
 
 FPOJA — v. qoiu — malum punicum. 
 
 FPOIBJLfl — v. (joipdiio — sono rauco vel fra- 
 
 cto alsorbeo vel diglutio. 
 
 FPOUZOZ — v. QolSog — stridor raucus vel 
 fractus, 
 
 FPOIJ2ESZ — v. yoiZi'u) — ejusmodi stridor em 
 
 cdo; 
 
 FPOIlAAOy — v. Qonalov — clava; 
 
1 7 1 
 
 FPOX&ESI — v. $o%&£(o — strepo'sono aspero 
 etfracto ; 
 
 FPSirS — v. pw£ — avuhum vel abruptum ali- 
 quid, atque ita gradus vel scala ; 
 
 Fp&rAAE02 — v. Qwyctliog — later — ru- 
 
 ptus ; 
 
 FPQXM02 — v. Q(a%fi6q — ruptura — fissura. 
 PEFA — v. (5«aet qs~iu — facile, 
 PEFUI02 — v. Qiftdtog — facilis, 
 PEFIZTOZ — v. ()i]iarog r— facillimus, etc. t 
 verbo fortasse 
 
 PEFSl — v. p e'<u — fluo : unde vocabulum Lati- 
 num RIVUS — quod Graece est 
 
 POFOZ — v.qooq, contractum in qovq. 
 
 In dialectis Sicelidibus fuere etiam POTNTOS et 
 PEI2 vel PEIN2 eodem sensu x ) ; in quibus vocis evy- 
 qovq vestigia antiquae et Homericae formae indagasse 
 mihi videor : quam fuisse credo 
 
 \ETPEFN2 — contractum e participio antiquo 
 thematis in MI, \ETPEFEN2i atque in casu secundo 
 scribendum ideo 
 
 \ETPEFNT02 pro v. iVyy^og; quod geminato P 
 et inserto I more solenni grammatici confinxerunt: sed 
 litera P, ut caeterae liquidae , pronunciando geminari 
 potest: et iota istud, metri causa insertum, grammati- 
 corum commentum et librariorum est, poetae ignotum. 
 Eadem ratione et 
 
 \ETPEFNTH2~ fv^elr^g in v. factum est. 
 
 FPIA20&, — v. 0*£ow, et 
 
 i) .Torrerouzzi Inscript. Sic. Class. VIIT. No. XI* 
 
FPIA2A. — r. Ql£a-- radix, Aeolice pol£a; 
 
 FPIN — v. qIv — nasus — antiquissima forsitan 
 lingua FPINZ \INTOZ\ 
 
 FPINOZ — v. (jivog — cutis, etc. etc. 
 
 FPION — v. qIov — promontorium > cacumen: 
 quae Omnia e verbo exoleto FPISl efficta videntur. 
 
 ZAOZ. v. oujq, et soluto circumflexu aoog — salvus, 
 
 2ASI — v.uw ; et 
 
 2AOSI — v. ffolfii — salvo. Latina rocabula SAL- 
 VUS et SALVO antiquiseimas Graecorum formas exhi- 
 bere vix dubitare licet; unde manifeste apparet, licen- 
 tiam contrahendi haud parce grassatam esse , etiam Ho- 
 mericis temporibus, quoniam in carminibus priorem 
 temper correptam habent. 
 
 2EFSI — v. a e v (a — agito , persequor ; ejusdem 
 etirpis ac Latinum SAEVIO : unde 
 
 HOF&. v. 06(0 etaopo) eodem sensu; atque 
 
 20F02. v. aoog — in compositis AAFo<±\ZOF02. 
 v. laoaaoog , concitator populi, etc. tantum usurpa- 
 tum. Vocalis ante 2AJFSI semper producta est in Ho- 
 mericis; qua constantia duplicem fuisse spiritual pro- 
 nunciation antiqua conjicere licet. 
 
 2IFAA02. v. a la log — saginatus — pinguetu- 
 dineflorens; unde vexatissima vox 
 
 SiWAAOENS. v. aiyakoiig — splendidus , w- 
 rius , deducta esse videtur; ut ZIAAQ^U, ^oixUat, 
 apud Hesychium. Vid. Heyne in Iliad. E. 226. 
 
 2TEFSI —v.9vtvm — stare facio ; quod et 2TESI, 
 2T/fJ//variatione solita. 
 
 ZTE&3TA — oTfpficc — corona , infula — e 27!ff- 
 <p&, emollito in J/; ut 71 in 6^u/i« pro antiquiore 
 "OITMA. Vide supra. 
 
i 7 5 
 
 2TAFA& — v. gvKuoj, et 
 
 2TAFEFQ — v. ovleva — praedor — spolio; 
 verbum a venatu translatum , et ex antiquiesima vocis 
 Y TAFH v. v X n forma , quam 2TAFA fuisse , vocabu- 
 lum Latinum SYLVA plane demonstrat, efrictum. 
 
 TEAEFfi — v. Tslelco pro reh'w, inserto iota, 
 jinio. 
 
 TIF&. v. vita — aestimo —~luo, 
 
 TJFEQ. v. Tieo) — poena vel dolor e officio , eo f 
 quo f acinus aliquod luit aliquis, inde 
 
 TIFMH — v. r v y, n — honor , pretium 5 
 
 TIFMASI — v.T^dw — honoro , etc. 
 
 TP&Z : OF02\ cujus feminina 
 
 TPOFI2 et 
 
 TPOFIAZ ', atque, eadem ratione, adjectiva 
 
 TPOFIKOZ: — v. t q w Yu 6 g ; atque eliso K 
 
 TPOF102— v. TQoii'o g, et 
 
 TPOFJH — x. Tpohi; et TQt,avUa(3ws to TPOIHN, 
 wg y.ccl AfjlataQyog (fijot, x ). 
 
 TTFAEF2 — v. Tvdevg — et 
 
 TTFAEFIAH2 — v. Tvdeldyg. A verbo QTFSZ 
 deducenda esse videntur: nam derivatio a zvr&og admo- 
 dum ridicula est, et a veterum usu ac consuetudine 
 prorsus aliena* In nonnullis autem dialectis, atque in 
 patrio fortasse Diomedis sermone, spiritus asper in ejus- 
 modi nominibus locum non habuit; unde in nummo 
 argenteo vetustissimo , quern apud v. cl. Vandamme 
 Amstelodami vidimus, nomen urbis, quod vulgo QU- 
 IZ AI, TEBE inscriptum est; et in lebete aeneo, agro 
 
 1) Schol. Harl, in Odyss. A< £09, 
 
i 7 4 
 
 Cumano effosso , et inter xuptjlia nostra asservato, no- 
 men 'En/STiZ, 'EI11TT1Z. 
 
 0AFSI — quod et 0H31I — v. quo) — luceo; at- 
 que inde ostendo , dico. Vide supra in [AFS2, etc. 
 
 0AFOZ — v. yaog — (pug, et distracto circum- 
 flexu q, 6 a) g , lux, lumen , unde 
 
 AT Ely 02 — v. yativog, splendid us , et 
 0aFE1XS^ — v. cfjv.il via — splendeo ; cujus ao- 
 ristum primum passivum 
 
 0AFEN9EN, ex *E$AFEN%H2AN contracture, 
 et vulgo (puav&tp sci iptum, grammatici suo more e 
 yalvoi, tyuvdrjoav, yav&tVy et inserto A, aut dis- 
 tracto circumflexu (haud multum interest) quav&tv 
 deducunt. 
 
 0PEFAP — v.qtQtaQ et inserto iota pptTttp, pu- 
 teus, ex EII1 et PEFSi compositum. 
 
 0TFI2 — v. <j v to — gignO) pario, unde 
 071 'A OX. v. qvlov. 
 
 TFAFOIT12—V. <iv\o7iiqe0 TFAOXet F0TI2, 
 de quo supra, compositum. 
 0TF//X. v. q 
 0TF2/2. v. (jiltf, 
 0TFSAS2. v. p vouch, etmulta alia. 
 XAFSl — a quo usitatius 
 XAAZSl — v. x<t£ui — locum do — - et 
 XAFXSl — v. % v. I via — hisco — hio ; unde 
 XAFX02. — v. xavvog* laxus, hians, apud Pin- 
 darum, et 
 
 XAF02. v. xuog — 7iiatus; atque item 
 XEFA — v. %( la — latibulum cavum, 
 XEFSl — v. ^'w, £*/* et jr * i) at — jund. , 
 cuum do , unde 
 
i 7 s 
 
 XEFMA — v. x t vf* « — fusio, 
 
 XOFAN02 — v.pavo? — fornax, 
 
 XOFH — v. %qi], libatio ; atque item AXEF&N. 
 
 XNOF02 — v. i v 6 o g et postea %vovg — lanugo — 
 a KNAFSl. 
 
 XPAFSl —• v.^Rfl) et y q a v w — stringo —ferio. 
 
 XPEFSi — • v. yqeio) *—- praebeo — - utendum do$ 
 unde XPHMI, a quo XPZT, oportet, etc. XPEFSl, 
 opus, necessitas , v. ^p^cJ et ^p* »: at semper in Ho- 
 mericis disyllabum; atque ubi aliter usurpatum occurrit, 
 XPII, quod perinde cum secundo et quarto casu locum 
 obtinet in II. H. 108. pro eo recipiendum est* 
 
 XPEF02 -—v. i q £ 7 o q — debitum , ojficium , utili- 
 tas, etc. 
 
 ff. CLIV: 
 
 Restant pauca quaedam de re metrica antiquissi- 
 morum poetarum dicenda; quibus discrimina litera- 
 rum, et singularum vim diversam in syllabis aut brevi- 
 bus aut longis constituendis, itemque quibusnam versus 
 locis ea plus minus valuerit, quatenus nobis cognoscere 
 licuit, exponamus. 
 
 §. CLV. 
 
 Literal vocales diversos vocis in loquendo sonos, 
 consonae eorum divisiones , liquidae ac spiritus flexion 
 nes et modulationes indicant et oculis ostendunt; ita ut 
 vocalis expiratione aeris , ore aperto, exprimatur; con- 
 eona, ejus retentione, compressis quibusdam oris parti- 
 bus; liquida, aliis compressis, aliis apertis, ex impedita, 
 haud occlusa voce; spiritus, approximatis tantum, quo 
 
i;6 
 
 densior et constrictior quodammodo insono edendo ha- 
 litus fiat. 
 
 §. CLVI. 
 
 Consonae e partibus oris, qui bus singulae cxpri- 
 muntur, in labiales B et 77 , palatiales r et K, et den- 
 tales A et Ti distinguuntur; quarum singula6 liquidae 
 propriae singulae subeequutae sunt 5 labialis scilicet M, 
 dentalis N, et palatiales A tt P ; atque eodem raodo 
 item spiritus, labialis nempe <p $ partialis A', et den- 
 tales e et 2. 
 
 §. CLVir. 
 
 Pfaeterea inter literas antiquas fuere duo spiritus 
 vocales, // et f- ; et F, C vel T: alter densiore sono et 
 impetu quodain vehementiorc e faucibus expressus; al- 
 ter leniore et COnatrictiorc elHatu , a labiis protrusis ac 
 rotundatis promissus, quomodo nostras W. Huuc Aco- 
 les, rt'centiores etiarn, rctinebant, ut ex eorum nurumis 
 TA-t/Jl>\ inscriptis patct : at illius antiquum signum 
 diviserunt Graeci caeteri : et ..dexteram partem supra li- 
 
 teram poncntes psilt-ii notara habebant sinistram 
 
 autem cortiariae illi a^pirat i\»iii- daseJHB M ') , si Pri^cia- 
 no fidem habeamus. In nulla tamen inscriptione antiqoa 
 nota ista uu.* t invrnta est: nequ. tilitatem depre- 
 
 hendere possumus: quandoquidrm vocalis omnis x quae 
 non decor i&i't act, suajite natura ipAq esse debuerat. Usum 
 alterius in Italia Graeca perantiquum fuisse. e tabula 
 celeberrima itemque nummis Heracleensium patet. 
 
 1) Priscian. lib. I. p. 560. 
 
*77 
 
 $. CLviir. 
 
 Z, S et *P, binarum literarum siiiguli sunt nexus, 
 ut ista librariorum Constantinopolitanorum commenta 
 », g, etc.; atque ideo a proposito nostro, in anti- 
 qua scriptura restituenda, prorsus aliena. Priscianus 
 quidem scribit, „multo molliorem et volubiliorem so- 
 nitum habere *P quam BS vel PS" : sed de pronunciatio- 
 ne, cum Graeca rum Latina, sui saeculi, p Ch.n. sexti, 
 tantum cogitabat grammaticus ille; atque ea in jejunam 
 quandam et exilem concinnitatem, ab austera veterum 
 grandiloquentia prorsus alienam, jamdudum emollita et 
 concisa erat *). 
 
 In ^et *P" secundum locum 2 occupasse in omnibus 
 dialectis praeter Doricam, quae signa haec composita 
 non accepit, e monumentis adhuc extantibus abunde 
 constat; atque ideo, si ratio linguae in testimonium ad- 
 mittenda est, locum eundem in Z, quod vetustius est, 
 et in antiquissimis Ionum et Atticorum inscriptionibus 
 usurpatum, tenuisse debuit. Verumtamen in eo modus 
 pronunciandi Doricus latius' apud posteros in sermone 
 communi praevaluisse videtur, ita ut grammatici Alexan- 
 dria etConstantinopolitani alium non agnoscant, et He- 
 rodianus inter errores scribendi audacter enumeret 
 ZMTPNA pro 2MTPNA, quod nullius hominis os in 
 unum et eundem sonum comprimere possitliteras^z/^f. 
 At nihilominus Iones veteres ZMTPNA omnino scribe- 
 bant; neque 2MTPNA in nummis ante Caesarum im- 
 perium cusis occurrit; unde plane patet, eos signi ele- 
 menta ea subaudisse, quae facile pronunciari possent; 
 cum Graeci veteres omnes modum scribendi ad usum 
 
 i) De Uteris duplicibus vide Vossiigram. LI. c. XXL 
 
 M 
 
pronunciandi , cujusque gentis proprium et peculiarem, 
 semper et ubique accommodarent, atque ita dialectos 
 diversas formarent. Cum igitur J£ ante labialem M 
 vel B a quovis facile pronunciari posset, ex iis sic posi- 
 tis Iones veteres Z effecisse , non aliter quam £ e K2 
 seu XZ, et «F e 5^, TIZ seu 02", mihi pro comperto 
 est; atque in eas itaque in Homericis signum illud com- 
 positum resolvendum putavi. 
 
 §. CLIX. 
 
 Vocales longae vel duplices H et Si pari ratione for- 
 tasse arceri et relegari debebant: at in hac vetustissimi 
 6ermoni6 obscuritate paucae 6unt admodum voce?, qua- 
 rum elementa sic discernere possumus , ut, quae pro iis 
 substituenda essent, certe stiremus: raro enim vocalis 
 duplex e binis eiroplicibus compobita est, sed natura 
 simplex et brevis ier concii>ioneni , e suppresso spiritu 
 vel consona vel alia quacunque litem , facta loi 
 Iones enim Homericis etiam temporibus sermonem hac 
 rationc emollire jamdudum coepisse, compluribu 
 plis supra os tendinitis : Deque .'2, in syllaba finali par- 
 ticipii praeteriti perfecli) e binis OO confictum esse, 
 ratio grammatica uila suadet, sed potius ex elisione alius 
 cujii6dam literae productum; tov J 1 foriasse; si e nomi- 
 ne Latino 1S1AVOKS, quod participium verbi .!/_.■ 
 fuisse videtur, ariolari liceat. Haud tamen nescius sum. 
 titulis pseudo-Amyclaeis \i\esseK4AAIPOEJ: M - i T£ 
 AAKEAA1MOQ& . et alia quamplurima eju^dem fari- 
 nae, quae e scriniis nebulonis impudenti^simi Four- 
 montii, pari inscitia et audacia, Barthelemi nuper pro- 
 pagavit. Si KAAAIPOFA, MATEP2 et AAKEAAI- 
 
l 79 
 
 3I0N2 scripsissent, speciem aliquam veritatis saltern 
 mendaciis obduxissentu 
 
 §. CLX, 
 
 11, K et T e vehementiore vel ipyctTixGJTiQtn mo- 
 do pronunciandi B, F et A orta esse videntur; atque 
 jnde duplicum consonantium potestatis metricae capa- 
 ces fieri , in prima saltern pedis syllaba primaeet tertiae 
 tlipodiae (et dipodiae in Homericis etiam, pro hac sal- 
 tern vice , liceat mihi rationem habere) : aliis enim locis 
 baud occurrunt ista ozzi, OTmaig, onnoie, etc.; etsi in 
 secunda dipodia obvia sint 'JEJIl KAKON, EAKEl 
 lllllTSlN, NHT TE, et alia ejusmodi: nusquam au- 
 tem vocalis sic producitur bis in eodem versu, neque in 
 alia quam prima syllaba pedis. Veteres plerique consuc- 
 tudinem pronunciandi potius quam rationem grammati- 
 cam in scribendo sequuti sunt ; et ubicunque litera du- 
 plicem potestatem in versu e tono et impetu recitandi 
 adepta esset, duplici signo earn notabant, ita ut non so- 
 lum \OTTl, \OllllOTE, etc. scriberent, sed AEM- 
 MET A, AEslA04>02, etc.; atque constantia procul- 
 dubio in hac re omnino retinenda , neque pro levitate 
 et inscitia librariorum Constantinopolitanorum , ut in 
 vulgatis, deserenda. Rationem grammaticam, ut cer- 
 tlorem, notiorem et stabiliorem, nos ubique praetulimus. 
 
 §. CLXI. 
 
 Consonantes simplices B, T, A nulla unquam li- 
 centia pronunciandi aut impetu recitandi duplicare de- 
 cuit , ita ut syllabam , natura brevem , longam redde- 
 rent, nisi ubi tres syllabae breves continuae concurre- 
 
 M 2 
 
i8o 
 
 rent: ibf enim prima, si priorem in pede locum obtinue- 
 rat , ex impetu recitantis semper produci poterat. In 
 'E1II JHPON autem, 'ETl AHN , OTAE AHS y 
 MAAA AHN, etc. vim zov "E, ex antiquiore forma 
 adjectivi AHPOE in Latino SERUS asservata deductam, 
 poetae veteres retinuisse videntur; antiquissima enim 
 forraa fuit fortasse IAEEPOS vel Sl'EEPOS e verbo 
 XIASl vel 2THMI etficta; unde, prout in XfW et 
 CUM ex antiquiore jTJETiV Graeci alteram, Latini alte- 
 ram literam e duplici retinebant. In A1FASTI AE, 
 quod bis tantum occurrit 1 ), licentiae aliquid nomini pro- 
 prio e necessitate rei condonandum forte fuit ; ea ratio- 
 ne, qua hiatus in <1>JISL)1UA2IAAHI Z ) toleran- 
 dus est. 
 
 $. CLXII. 
 
 Liquidae ac spiritus quocunque in loco pedis aut 
 versus produci poterant; baud ita tamen, ut privatorum 
 arbiuium ab omni consuetudine et usu commoni libe- 
 rum ct solutum fui6se credam ; etsi normam aliquam 
 stabilire aut legem sancire, qua dirigi debuisset, hodie 
 ncsciamus. 
 
 §. CLXIII. 
 
 Nulli unquam poetae, vel Graeco vel Latino, 
 labam an re bints consonas corripere licuit: nam io- 
 ta penultimum in JimUJOL \I2TIAIA et aliis 
 ejnsmndi pro litera muta vel spiritu leni, ut no- 
 stras Y in vocibus YES, YET, YEAR, etc. habendum 
 
 1) Iliad, g. 459. P. 123. 
 
 2) Ibid. P. 585. 
 
i8i 
 
 est, atque pronunciandum AI*TT11T\I0I> \I2Ti 
 I Ah A 9 etc. 
 
 §. CLXIV- 
 
 Neque Musae Homericae licitum erat, syllabam pro 
 brevi habere, qua vocalem aut binae liquidae, aut liqui- 
 da consonae vel spiritui consono subjuncta , aut alia 
 quaevis ejusmodi literarum conjunctio excipiebat, nisi 
 cum liquida palatialis A vel P consonae adjuncta esset: 
 neque obstant norafiolo ^xccfiuvdQOv , ocgtv Zefalag, vlyeo- 
 ou Zuxvv&og, etc. nam Iones et Aeoles veteres ea ratio- 
 ne , qua in nummis Zanclaeis et Naxiis dANKAE pro 
 Zu/xXtj et NAXION pro JSa'iicov scribebant , iMapav- 
 dpog, KAMANJPOS; ZiXd*, JEAETA; et Zu*vrtog, 
 /IAKTN002 pronunciasse videntur J ), 
 
 §. CLXV. 
 
 Attici et Alexandrini syllabam corripiebant, quavis 
 liquida cuivis consonantium II, K, 7\ vel aspiratarum 
 <£, X, G, subjuncta, vocalem brevem excipiente; quod 
 poetis antiquioribus, quorum sermo gravior, unctior et 
 tardior incedebat, neutiquam licuit : unde Batrachomyo- 
 machiam, ludicram istam Homericorum imitationem, 
 quae ejusmodi licentiis scatet, ab Attici cujusdam, ele- 
 
 i) TQonjj rov Z sis J Alohxvlsy wottsq ZTrOZ Jrr02. 
 Scliol. Ven. L. in II. B. 191. Ionicae tamen stirpis erant co- 
 loniae Sicilienses, quarum nummi hie citantur. Anno prirao 
 Olympiadis LXXVI. Hiero Syracusanorum tyrannus veteres 
 incolas Ionas e Naxo iu Leontium migrate coegit, et Dores 
 e Pelopoivneso et Syracusis induxit : quorum nummis nomen 
 more seriore NAZI&N vel NJSION inscriptum est. Vide 
 Diod. Sic. 1. XI. 4 9 . 
 
ifcj 
 
 gantioris quam doctioris poetae , ingenio profectam eesej 
 haud multo ante tragicoram tempora, nullum dubito. 
 
 §. CLXVf. 
 
 Vetustissimis autem poetis vocalem longam, atque 
 etiam diphthongum , ante vocalem brevem elidere li- 
 cuii; quod Atticis nequaquam in carmine serio licuisse 
 videtur: eorum enim sermonc vocalis longa vel di- 
 phthongua in fine vocis, vocalem brevem ab initio subse- 
 quentis , craei , quae sua natura longa est , semper ab- 
 sorbcbat: atque id fieri credo ex Attica pronunciandi 
 consuetudine, qua ictus vel emphasis in ultimam vocis 
 syllabam diiYorebatur; ita ut IAF02 fieret JLS12, 
 A//0-T- \7'J7.1\ etc.; unde stabilior, firmior et eli- 
 sioni minus obnoxia ea syllaba reddebatur. Contrarium 
 prorsus fuisse Latinorum pronunciandi morem, plane 
 ostendunt ea, quae Quintilianus de eorum vitio 6olenni 
 tradidit ; ,.plerisque nempe extremas syllabas non profe- 
 rentibus, dum priorum sono indulgeant" 1 ,). Neque alia 
 ratio durissimae isti^ elisionis literae M reddenda vide- 
 tur; quam tamen non omnino f.xemtam fuisse in lo- 
 quendo ct recitando, idem Quintilianus observavit, eed 
 ohm-uratam tantum modo nobis vix satis intelligendo 2 ). 
 Einulem ob causam fortasse vocalem in fine dictionis pro 
 brevi habere an si sunt ante sibilum S et mutam conso- 
 nantem, in sermone saltern pedestri et poesi eiproxima; 
 unicum enim ejusmodi licentiae exemplum in Virgilia- 
 nis a Frisciano laudatum 3 ) viri doctissimi Burgefs et 
 
 a) Institut. 1. XI. c. UT. 
 2) Ibid. I. IX. c. IV. 
 5) Acneid. XI. 309. 
 
i85 
 
 Heyne interpolatum esse demonstrarunt. In sermoni- 
 bus tamen Horatianis haud infrequens est; neque Lu- 
 cretius earn vitasse videtur. 
 
 §. CLXVIL 
 
 In Homericis crasis locum non obtinet nisi inter 
 articulum vel pronomen et vocalem brevem in vocis 
 subsequentis initio; narii xdyto, nQovjisptpe , nQOvvvipe, 
 7igov(p<xcvs , etc. solute scribenda sunt, KAI 'ErSL, 
 IIPOEIIEMIISE, IiPOETTIlTZEi IIPOE$AINE> 
 etc. sicuti HP0EPT22E, UPOE\EPTE, 11POE- 
 \-HKE, etc, quae, demto tantum spiritu, pristinam alio- 
 qui formam in vulgaris conservasse videntur. Si autem 
 prima in his syllaba crasi producta esset, versus aliquan- 
 do initium ab ea cepisset* quod nusquam evenit. Ne- 
 que in verbo ullo composito augmentum temporis ullius 
 praeteriti praepositioni praefixum est; sed inter earn et 
 verb um locum semper habet : composita enim erant ad- 
 buc tantum, non, ut postea , conjuncta. 
 
 fl. CLXVIII. 
 
 Apud Atticos in carmine serio spiritus asper vel den- 
 sus \ nullam omnino vim metricam habuit, quanquam 
 eo praecipue gaudebant: at in Homericis facultatem 
 flustinendae, itemque producendae vocalis, Heliodorus, 
 metricae artis inter veteres antistes, ei tribuisse vide- 
 tur 1 ); quam nos quoque concedere oportet, nisi hia- 
 tum, quem in caesura tantum Homerica poesis agnoscit, 
 locis quam maxime alienis ferendum esse statuamus. In 
 Pindaricis quoque eandem potestatem habuisse necesse 
 
 1) Vide Eustath. p. 1465. 1, 10, 
 
est; hiatus enim iis tantum locis occurrit, ubi dialectic 
 antiquis (• vel F vocalem excepisset. Comici etiam At- 
 tici et leviorum carminum scriptores ovdi tig , p^d* 
 etc. ubique admiserunt; et Menandii fragment m ovdl 
 iT^ Gtoojotf olojg exhiDet 1 ), quo tragicus neque hiatum 
 ncque elisionem ejusmodi admittere ausus esset. 
 
 §. CLXIX. 
 
 De spiritus alterius vocalis^F vi metrica aliquid cer- 
 ti dicere admodum difficile est, cum jamdiu anteAlcxan- 
 drinorum tempora prorsus exoleverat, nisi obscuris ali- 
 quot Italiae, Cretae et Peloponnesi dialectis , quas illi, 
 tanquam horridas, incultas et semibarbaras, adeo con- 
 temnebant , ut scire dedignarentur: male profecto con- 
 sulentes rci , quam tractandam susceperant, quonijin 
 quaeque dialectus , quanto incuhior eeset , tanto anti- 
 quissimae propior, ct ad poeein antiquissimam illustran- 
 dam aptior. 
 
 §. CLXX. 
 
 Priscianus, quern olim sequuti sumus , parem fa- 
 cultatem in metro tu> F concessit, atque alii ioi y, voca- 
 lem scilicet antecedentem producendi , vel corripiendi, 
 vel resorbendi etiam, prout poetae libuerit. 
 
 ,,Illi (Acoles)," inquit, ,,>olebant accipere digamma 
 F pro consonante simplici, teste Astyage, qui diversia 
 hoc ostendit versibus, ut in hoc vorsu 
 
 'OIOMENOX FE.iE\ i\ i:iik:iiiui. 
 
 Sic nos quoque pro .'simplici habemus consonante pie- 
 mmque V loco F digamma positum , ut 
 
 i) Apud Athenaeum I. XIII. c. VIU. ed. Schw«ighatM«. 
 
i85 
 
 At Venus haud aniino nequicquam exterrita 
 
 mater. 
 Est taraen quando Aeoles idem F inveniuntur pro 
 duplici consonante digamma posuisse , ut 
 
 NE2TOPA AE FOT ILA1A02. 
 Nos quoque videmur hoc sequi in praeterito perfecto 
 ct plusquamperfecto teniae et quartae conjugations , in 
 qui bus I ante V consonantem posita producitur, eadem- 
 que subtractacorripitur, utCUPIVI, CUPII; CUPIVE- 
 RAM, CUPIERAM; AUDI VI, AUDII; AUDIERAM. 
 
 Inveniuntur etiam pro vocali correpta hoe digamma 
 illi usi , ut Alcman 
 
 KAI XEIMA ntP TEJAFION: 
 est enim dimetrum iambicum, et sic proferendum F, ut 
 faciat brevem syllabam. Nostri quoque hoc ipsum fecis- 
 ee inveniuntur , et pro consonante V vocalem brevem 
 accepisse , ut Horatius SYLVAE trisyllabum protulit in 
 cpodo hoc versu , 
 
 Nivesque deditcunt Tovem, nunc mare nunc sylvae: 
 est enim dimetrum iambicum conjunctum penthemimeri 
 heroicae, quod aliter stare non potest, nisi SYLVAE tri- 
 eyllabum accipiatur. Similiter Catullus Veronensis 
 
 Quod zonam solvit diu ligatam, 
 inter hendecasyllabas Phalaecias posuit; ergo nisi SOL- 
 VIT trisyllabum accipias , versus stare non potest. Hoc 
 tamen ipsum in derivativis vel compositis frequenter 
 solet fieri, ut VOLVO, VOLUTUS; SOLVO, SOLU- 
 TUS; AVIS, AUCEPS, AUSPICIUM, AUGURIUM, AU- 
 GUSTUS; LAVO, LAUTUS; FAVEO , FAUTOR. 
 
 F digamma Aeoles est quando in metris pro nihilo 
 accipiebant, ut 
 
i86 . 
 
 "JMME2 A FEIPANAS TO AE T 'AT 
 GETO MS12A AIT At. L 
 
 est enim hcxametrum heroicum. Apud Latinos quoque 
 hoc idem V invenitur pro nihilo in raetris , et maxirac 
 apud vetustissimos comicorum , ut Terentius in Andria 
 
 Sine irwidia laudtm invenias, et amicos pares-. 
 est enim jambicum trimetrum; quod nisi SINE IE 
 pro tiibracho accipiatur, 6tare versus non potest. 
 
 Sciendum tamen, quod hoc ipsum Aeoles quidem 
 uhique loco aspirationis ponebant, eiFugientes spiritut 
 asperhatcm," Lib. I. p. 646. 
 
 9. CLXXI. 
 
 Ex his ccrtissime constat, vocalem 2? saltern in vo- 
 culis JJE, i i. II'.. eke etfsionean ante spiritun 
 
 esse Aeolicorum poetarum cxemplaribus, quae 
 l'ii>cianus, sexti p. Ch. n. saeculi grammaticus, in 
 xerat; Alcmanis enim versum citat pro cxemplo commu- 
 nis usus, non prodigii cujusdam unici ac singulari:?. In 
 Homericis autem adeo rara est ejoamodi licentia, et 
 locis omnibus non interpolatis adeo lcnicorrectionecoer- 
 cenda, ut earn e rhap6odorura et dtaatctraoToiv inscitia et 
 temeriiate potius, quam e veteris linguae consuetudine, 
 prof'ectam es^e. facile dixeris. 
 
 Ex hemistichio a Prisciano supra laudato plane li- 
 quet, Aeoles F pro \ in pronomine positiro usarpasse; 
 et in Homericis ante tertium ejus casuiu 6ingularem vo- 
 calis brevis semper .-ustinetur, et syllaba nature brevif 
 saepe producta est: unde viri doctissimi Bentlev et H 
 ne I OI pro 1-0/ scripserunt. At unum duntaxat casum 
 ita pronunciatum et scriptum fuisse vix unius hominis 
 vel unius gentis aut aetatis sermoni convenire puto . et 
 
i8 7 
 credere malim, spiritum asperum fortius, densius ac du- 
 rius pronunciatum esse in hoc casu tertio, ut facilius a 
 recto plurali distingueretur. 
 
 §. CLXXIL 
 
 Spiritus f- et F inter se commutabiles fuisse una 
 eademque dialecto , voces FET02 et nENTA\ETH- 
 PFZ in tabula Heracleensi plane demonstrant x ) ; neque 
 dubitandum, quin uterque, more vocalis potius quarn 
 consonae, ore raodice aperto et aere exspirato, pronun- 
 ciatus sit; quanquam F leniore exspiratione et ore stri- 
 ctiore paullulum quam f-5 baud ita tamen, ut ulla rei 
 metricae ratione cogi vel evinci possit, brevem sylla- 
 bam in spiritum aut liquidam desinentem , ut ON, AP, 
 02", etc., ob F subsequutum necessario produci potuis- 
 fie. Ejusmodi idcirco, etiamsi tam pauca ac rara inHo- 
 mericis, ut jure su6picionibus obnoxia haberentur, at- 
 tentare aut vexare mihi religio sit. Pindarus autem, qui 
 digamma adhibuisse videtur, non qua ratione in Home- 
 xicis, sed qua in tabulis Heracleensibus Dorice scriptis 
 usurpatum est, syllabam brevem , cujus litera finalis \i» 
 quida vel spiritus est, ante spiritum ilium vocalem nus- 
 quam productam habet; quamvis elisae seu amputatae 
 vocalis in ejusmodi locis exempla perpauca sint et su- 
 ©picionibus obnoxia. Constantia tamen in hac re a poe- 
 ta, qui diversa carmina diversis patronis diverse loquen- 
 tibus scripserit, haud exspectanda est; etsi non facile 
 credam , diversos eum scribendi modos in eodem carmi- 
 ne sibi permisisse: nam Homericae verborum formae, 
 
 2 ) Sic Bruttiorum urbis nomen, quod priiis HIPO fair, poste* 
 VIBO scripturo est in nuixunis- 
 
 N 
 
iff 
 
 quas contractioribus sui ipsius saeculi ubiqae immiscuit. 
 pro poeticis tunc habebantur, et a poetis omnibus tam 
 lyricis quam epicis , ut sui juris, usurpabantur; non ea 
 quidem licentia, qua postea Alcxandrini usi sunt: nam 
 Pindarus licet 'aFESAON et 'ACJAOX, 'AFATA et 
 *ATA promiscue, pi out magis expedire visum esset, scri- 
 pserit, monstra ista fucata recentiorum. KPAATA, TE- 
 PA AT A, 'TIHE2, etc., prorsus ignoravit. 
 
 §. CLXXIII. 
 
 Ex eadem tabula Heracleensi constat, F in compo* 
 •iti6 supprimere Kcuisae; neque veteris linguae iatio- 
 nem impedimento esse, quo minus ex F12, et F/&1 
 "jfhh/MOZ fieri possit; neque enim stabiliorem validio- 
 rcmve in loco tuendo fuisse alioquin hunc spiritum li- 
 t< ns aliis consonis ac liquidi& crrdendum est; sed quo- 
 mod o A' et A ex *APAPKSkl ftl _ l/'JBSl , quo ties cxpe- 
 dii.s<( t, tictswrillt, ita ut APAPSUL et EI fill fierent, 
 •ic F ex YTFJSIP (ab f ducto), ita ut yjj: 
 
 priorecorrcpta,quotiespoetaeli! ictum sit. Usita- 
 
 tiiistamtncr.it, si quando consonavelliquida vel -piritus 
 elideretur, vocalem antecedentem aut tubsequentem pro- 
 duci; ut in TESMJii't VA pro TEQNftKOl HA 
 
 pro '7; a . ill ! , E9MKA et / et 
 
 E JO Alt. et tot aliis. Pari ratione credo, IIUZ ex 
 \-AF02l, 'MTM ^ ! HEAIOZ ex \Ai 
 
 A/OX, \ilMi c\ B£Mf, et alia ejusmodi iniinita orta 
 esse; quae, quo facilius lector quilibet discernere pos- 
 sit, notanda apice circumflexus cuiavimus. 
 
 §. CLXXIV. 
 Sic quoque, duplicata , quae alias producu est , li- 
 
i8 9 
 
 tera, 'EEAA03IAI, *EEAASIP, 'EEPTSl, etc. ex 
 \-EAAOMAf, \EAASIP, \EPrSl, etc. facta esse po- 
 tuerint ; nisi ex augmentatis verborum positionibus pri- 
 marum loco receptis potius deducenda esse videantur; 
 alia enim ratione solitus linguarum progressns in curtan- 
 do et corripiendo inverti nequit, neque voces produ- 
 ctiores e brevioribus in prima positione fieri, 
 
 §. CLXXV. 
 
 Quaenam signa literarum dupla scribenda sint, aut 
 quae singula ac simplicia ex usu ac consuetudine tan- 
 tum loquendi producenda , melius ac certius constantia 
 vcl inconstantia pronunciandi et ratione grammatica, 
 quam veterum auctoritate scire et discernere licet: nam 
 ars scribendi, dum rara adbuc erat, etapaucis, atque 
 lis baud e trivio bomunculis, intellecta, non pro vulgi 
 captu exercebatur, sed eorum, qui ea scientia praediti 
 erant, ut quae manca et trunca relicta essent, facile 
 supplere possent. Qui scribebant itaque, brevitatis stu- 
 dio indulgebant, et literas singulas pro binis, et duplici 
 potestate praeditas tantum non in omnibus adhibue- 
 runt: unde duo spiritus vocales F et y paullatim in de- 
 suetudinem abierunt, et signa inventa sunt, quae bina3 
 literas singula exprimerent. Nonnulli etiam, Etrusci 
 praesertim et Latini veteres, vocalem unicuique conso- 
 nae adjunctam in nomine ejus sonnndo, ut A rw K et 
 to7 2, E toi A et iw T, JrwlZ, TrojMetN, O toj P, 
 etc. pro parte ejus habebant, atque in scribendo prorsus 
 omittebant; unde in eorum titulis sepulcbralibus , etc. 
 LARCNA et MARCNA pro LARCANA et MARCANA, 
 TITN1 pro T1TINI , et alia ejusmodi quamplurima sa- 
 
 N 2 
 
igo 
 
 gacissimns Lanzius obserravit *). Econtrario Hterae Ro* 
 manaeQ, a Graecis, ItalisetSiciliensibusacceptae, vocalis 
 U nusquam non subjuncta est, quia noraen ejus anti- 
 quum apud eas gentes non KAIH1A, sed KTvel CU 
 erat. 
 
 5. cum 
 
 Sic in aliis recentiores literas redundantes inculca- 
 bant; et ubicunque syllaba e tono et impetu pronun- 
 ciandi produceretur, earn, geminata consona, aut in- 
 scrto jfvel /, scribebant; uncle orta sunt oxxi, o^jio- 
 rf, ou(jfa, ovl i'/wtcos\ riovlvg, nuooj, etc.; quae 
 nusquam occurrunt, nisi ubi syllaba prior priorem ia 
 y< .!<• locum obtimt, ita ut e tono producenda sit; qua- 
 reneque nequejTap, ver , casu r 
 
 usqnam in Homericis usurpatur, cum in illo *0P02 et 
 
 //\ jtiioribus COrreptif, esse debuerint *). Sub 
 In -ji) secundi post Christum natum saeculi, bonis arli- 
 bn- ac Uteris jam dt-ficimiibus , diphfhongum EI pro / 
 lon^o ubiqur adbibere moris erat, neglccta oinni vete- 
 rum auctoritate et ratione grammatica, ita at llOJ 
 TH2, NEIKHt tc consumer scribe* 
 
 Nis, in originibus ei vocibus primariis auctoriutrm 
 veterum , quatenni innotuisset, religiose sequuti, in 
 derivatis rationi grammaticae periiule obtemperandum 
 esse censuimus; earn enim in Homericis ratio melrica 
 ubique confirmat et dex&OOSUat. 
 
 1" S iggi ^cpr.i le lirigue morte d' Italia, p. 11. c. III. 
 
 2) \)H>Uonius RhodiUS in limati- ;' xal 01 
 
 t > etc. adiuisit, quae ia Hon . !lo mo do lo- 
 
 cum liAbeic potuisicnt. Arg. J- 160. cd. .Bruiic*. 
 
191 
 
 §. CLXXVII, 
 
 Etsi versus antitheticos in strophis et antistrophis 
 Pindari supra §. CXII. in testimonium adduxi, me ta- 
 men fateor pro lubrico prorsus et incerto habere, quid- 
 quid de mensura syllabarum e ratione metrica , qua vel 
 ille vel tragici in canticis usi sunt, colligi possit: nam 
 quae sit ea ratio, mihi diligenter perquirenti nondum 
 comperisse contigit; neque viri ingenio et doctrina in- 
 eignes , qui hoc nostro saeculo earn expediendam , ex- 
 plicandam et monstrandam susceperunt, aliud quam 
 quantae sint tenebrae, quibus ejusmodi studia involuta 
 et impedita sint, ostendisse videntur. Carmina ea, quae 
 cantu quodam exquisitiore, vocis varia et diversa fle- 
 xione et modulatione producto et ntnouuXfa'vco recitari 
 solebant, dum continuato instrumentorum sono tenor 
 pronunciandi fulciretur, et ultra communem sermonis 
 usum et consuetudinem proferretur, numeris aut lege 
 solutis, aut legi saltern minus severae subjectis, compo- 
 sita esse, credere licet; ita ut syllabae syllabis et pedes 
 pedibus in strophis et antistrophis non omnes omnibus 
 invicem responderent , tametsi mensura quaedam utris- 
 que communis comparata es6et, qua singulae singulis 
 totae convenirent, quamvis partes discreparent. De- 
 mosthenes plane distinguit ifufier^ovg ab adof.tiv(ov 
 poetis * ); eos scilicet, qui versus justa symmetiia defi- 
 nitos, et justo ordine distributos, quales sunt Homen, 
 Alcaei, Sapphus, etc. ab iis , qui cantica , qualia sunt 
 Pindari et tragicorum, liberiore spiritu et cursu compo- 
 
 i) uIots xal rove t/uutrpov? xal tojp dSoutvojv '7roirjtds i *<& 
 
1Q2 
 
 nebant, atque arti minus severae tibicinis et citharoedi 
 
 plurimumindulgebant x ). Grammaticorum autera sapien- 
 
 tia, ornni ejusmodi indulgentiae et Hcentiae semper inirai- 
 
 cissima, in iis corrigendis et reformandis, et ad regulam 
 
 quandam et normam artis redigendis, tandem adhibita 
 
 est; multis semper post saeculis, omni ejusmodi poc6i 
 
 jamdudum prorsus extincta, et aliia bonis artibus et li- 
 
 teri6 sub imperatorum Romanorum dominatione jacen- 
 
 tibus et oppressis: Cicero enim omnes ejusmodi cona- 
 
 tus ignorasse videtur*), neque Quintilianus pro alio 
 
 quam importunismolestorumhominum nugis habuii 
 
 IVluki taraen postea in ea arena sudarunt, atque demura, 
 
 sexto post Christum natum eaeculo ineunte, Eugenius 
 
 rinvx, qui Anastasio imperante jam senex Con-tanti- 
 
 nopoli docebat , lv //(Mtyu tXQltnr tmv fitUxaiv u£J9jy- 
 
 io\ . EotpQxXtQVQ Xfi nfou dno doufiuituv niviixui- 
 
 titxu * nf(Ji tou zi to nan /(tow, x. t.A." 4 ), 
 
 acumine, quod ipsi proculdubio illi poetae in primis stu- 
 
 puisseut, vix crcdituri, quanta scicntiae et artificii sub- 
 
 tilitate carmina texuis6enU lluic homini foitasse maxi- 
 
 ule Athenaei 1. X. c \ XXIX c,\. S l.weigb. locum obscu- 
 rum sane ct Intellect u difficilem; e quo tamen colli^ere licet, 
 quantum ex arte citbarisue sen Mpotft 
 camicorum in snophti, amistropbas et epodos dependeret. 
 
 S) A modis quibusdam cantu rcmoto, soluta Yiderur esse or»- 
 tio, maxim eque id in optimo quoque eorum poetarum, qui 
 IvQtxo) I Graecis nomin.uitur , quo* cum cantu spoliaveris, 
 nuda paene remnnet oratio. Cic. orator. 
 
 5) In adeo molestos incidimus grammaticos , qaara fuerunt 
 qui lvricorum quaedam caiuiina in varia* mensural coege- 
 
 nuu. Quintil. iiiititutionos. 
 
 4) Suidas in r. 
 
193 
 
 ma ex parte debentur canticorum formae, quae vulgo le- 
 ctae sunt ante quam Burney, Brunck et Porson alias 
 nuper indiderunt, doctius quidem et ingeniosius exco- 
 gitatas, at nulla tamen veterum auctoritatesancitas, qua 
 antiquiore8 aut magis e mente poetarum esse ostende- 
 rentur: omnis enim de hac re doctrina, quae linguam 
 Graecam tot tantisque pedum etversuura nominibus ses« 
 quipedalibus ditavit vel oneravit, a molestis istis gram- 
 maticis, quos reprehendit Quintilianus, originem acce- 
 pisse videtur, neque ulli priorura et feliciorum tempo- 
 rum scriptori omnino innotuisse. Plato canticum, to fit' 
 Xog 9 ix zqiwv Gvyxeiiuvov, loyov ti ttcti aQfiovlag xal Qvdf-iov , 
 esse, nulla rnetri mentione injecta , diserte docet x ); 
 neque Hephaestio, secundi post Christum natum saeculi 
 grammaticus, in suis carminum veterum cxemplaribus 
 versum, qui non in integra voce finem habuerit, agno- 
 vit 2 ), paucissimis quibusdam, quos reprehendit vel ex- 
 cusat, exceptis: neque Horatius, lyricorum Graeco- 
 rum , quos desideramus, imitator et interpres eximius, 
 ejusmodi licentiam sibi unquam permisit: nam versus 
 19. et 1. carminum 1. II. 2. et 1. IV. 2. in „beatorum" et 
 ,,admirari" fmiuntur, altero ,,beato — ;" et nomine 
 „Iulc" post alterum disyllabo pronunciato ; atque xofAficc 
 XrjxTixov seu reXixov dactylici hexametri, Sapphico hen- 
 decasyllabo tertio subjunctum, quod metrici recentio- 
 res versum Adonium denominarunt, non pro versu in- 
 tegro, sed pro membro, versui praecedenti adjecto, ha- 
 bendum est (vide 1.1. 2. vs. 19, 20. etc. etSapph. fragm. in 
 
 x) De republics I. III. p. 393. D. eel Serr, 
 
 a) ttoiv fjtitQov els zekuay mgazoorat It^iv , *. r. X. c. IV* 
 
 8. 3. 
 
19^ 
 
 Brunei*. Analect I et V.). Nostri tamen hodierni oanti- 
 corum Pindari et tragicorura redactores versus tantum 
 non omnes, mediis dissectis vocibus, definiunt et di- 
 stinguunt ; qua ratione versus solutos tragici Italici 
 IWetaetasii qui vis nainore etiam negotio in strophas et 
 antistrophas invicem respondentes redigere poseit. 
 
 J I P S I A 
 
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