GEIFir ©IP I.Iiss Frances M• Molera t }j ο^2Γ?^ -^fT-^^ THE SIMILES OF HOMER'S ILIAD, TRANSLATED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY W. C. GREEN, M.A., LATE FELLOW OF KING's• COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, ASSISTANT MASTER IN RUGBY SCHOOL. LONGMANS AND CO. 1877 PRINTED HY C. J. CLAY, Μ.Λ. ΛΤ THE UNIYERSITY I'UESS. ΤΛ 4-^ INTRODUCTION. Such is the fascination which Homer exercises upon his admirers that they still continue to transl^e him ; chiefly perhaps for their own pleasure, but also because, as tastes vary in the matter of translation, they hope their new versions may win some sort of a hearing. Be this my excuse for the present attempt to put an attractive part of Homer into an English dress which may find some acceptance. The comparisons, or similes as they are called, in the Iliad, although most effective in their special places and when read with their context, may yet be very well taken by themselves. They comprize some of Homer's finest descriptive passages ; and modern readers, who would find the details of old legendary battles and much of the bulk G. I Μ5054.•ί•7 INTRODUCTION. of the poem tedious or unsuited to their taste, will appre- ciate descriptions of Nature that are true for all time, and never long enough to weary or severely task the attention. Homer may, I think, be called the Father of simile ; for, whatever date we assign to the Homeric poems, their author will remain the earliest Greek poet who has elaborated the simile ; and from him, in matter or manner, those that came after have directly or indirectly borrowed. Hence his similes are of peculiar interest ; and they seemed to be worth grouping together and illustrating from other and later poets, especially from our own. Metaphor, simile, and the like ornaments, belong to all poetry. Indeed they seem to be not only ornaments, but of its very essence. With metaphors even prose cannot long dispense, and poetry not at all. Simile is something more deliberate ; being a formally instituted comparison, an illustration of the scene or action before us by some other scene or action. It finds its place chiefly in epic and descriptive poetry ; where by the transference of the reader's imagination to a different scene it is often a pleasing relief : whereas in the drama it is not wanted ; INTRODUCTION. and accordingly similes, or at least elaborate similes, are there seldom found. In the Iliad of Homer the similes are as thickly- scattered as in any poet : there is an average of between seven and eight to each book. The form of the Homeric simile is generally the same. The commonest outlines are "As when So", "As So": occasionally it is as the following: "They stood like to clouds which So stood they." And once we find this : "Not so loud roars the wave As was the noise of the onset." But if there is small variety in form, there is great variety in matter. The elements and forces of nature in different aspects ; winds, waters, fire, storm, calm ; animals, birds, beasts, fishes ; scenes of human life, warlike, peaceful, public, private ; even the homeliest and commonest employments — all furnish Homer with images. And though he be de- scribing the actions of heroes and gods, he does not hesitate to take a homely, nay, it may be, to modern apprehension a low and vulgar image, if it strikes him as clear and forcible : as for instance where Apollo is compared to a child build- ing sand-castles on the shore, or Ajax to an obstinate ass. INTRODUCTION. In Homer's similes there is one striking• point of like- ness to the matter in hand; this determines the poet's choice of the illustration. He then works out the picture, often with most elaborate details, which bring it vividly before the reader, but have little or no bearing upon the thing illustrated. As Professor Blackie well puts it, "the Homeric similes seldom rest contented, as our modern similes do, with flashing out the one point of analogy required for the occasion, but generally indulge in painting out the picture, for the pure imaginative luxury of looking at the object in its completeness." These details must not be pressed as simile : useless pains have sometimes been spent in trying to find in the action which the poet is illustrating counter- parts for the small particulars of the simile. In this matter Heyne, to my mind, is a most clearsighted and sensible interpreter of Homer. He has a keen eye for hitting on the true point of likeness, and avoids refining on fancied resemblances in details merely ornamental. A glance at almost any simile will shew Homer's characteristic manner of enlarging the picture. Take, for instance, δ. 141. The contrast of colour between the fair INTRODUCTION. skin and red blood is imaged by the contrasted colours in ivory artificially stained with crimson. But, in order vividly to present to his hearer's mind this sort of work, Homer specializes it as a cheek-piece for a horse, an ornament which a king might covet. Or take λ. 473, where, though the comparison is double, the details must not be pressed too far ; indeed some particulars in the illustration — as is pointed out in the note on that passage — are quite opposite to the result in the thing illustrated. " Secure of the main likeness Homer makes no scruple to play with the circumstances," says Pope. And readers of Homer who bear this in mind will not complain that his similes are unlike their originals, unless they unreasonably exact that simile shall be simile, allegory allegory, and parable parable, down to the minutest details. The Homeric simile being such, it will be interesting to notice how far poets of other ages and countries resemble or differ from the Greek bard in their use of the simile. And it is here not to imitations or close parallels that I would draw attention — these have been placed in the notes ; — but rather to the general manner and style. INTRODUCTION. The most ancient poetry from which I can draw ex- amples of the simile is the Hebrew poetry of the Old Testament. Of this, some is certainly before Homer, some coeval with him, some later. Now between the comparisons of the Hebrew writers and those of Homer, there is in one respect a striking likeness, in another a striking unlikeness. The likeness is in the boldness with which the homeliest illustrations from common and domestic life are introduced. The unlikeness in the shortness and the unadorned plain- ness of the Hebrew comparisons. " They do not often (I quote Bishop Lowth) enlarge copiously by many adjuncts a single comparison, but rather heap together several com- parisons parallel or cognate, each one of which they give briefly and plainly." And hrst as to the use of homely and familiar images. This feature, common to the Biblical poetry and Homer, might be illustrated by examples to any extent. Images from ploughing, sowing, reaping ; from all the details of Eastern agricultural life, will occur to every one. Common arts and manufactures often suggest images ; nay, even the most ordinary household work. For instance in 2 Kings INTRODUCTION. χχί. 13 : "I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish: he wipeth it and turneth it upside down." Forcible this is, though homely. So Homer draws an illustration from com- mon dairy work, when he compares (e. 902) the staunching of blood to the curdling of milk. From the threshing-floor we find similes taken both in the Bible and in Homer. Those who have written on the Bible poetry compare with //. V. 495 Isaiah xli. 15, 16 : " Behold, I have made thee a threshing-wain sharpened and new, having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff; thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them." The illustration of destructive vengeance by corn-threshing is certainly like Homer's comparison, though far bolder : and the scattering of the grain by fan and wind supplies Homer with two similes (e. 499 and v. 588). Instances might be multiplied where the Hebrew poets in metaphor, comparison or symbolism, take the homeliest actions to illustrate high things. Homer often does the same. So far there is a likeness in their similes. But there is also a decided unlikeness in the manner of INTRODUCTION. the Biblical similes as compared with Homer's, or indeed with those of other classical poets. Lowth (Lect. xii. on Hebrew poetry) has well described it : "The Hebrew poets use comparisons far more frequently than any, but they compensate their frequency by their brevity. Where others are copious, full, and luxuriant, there the Hebrews are rather brief, terse and quick : and are forcible, not by long flow of language, but, as it were, by repeated blows." The truth of this criticism is at once seen by looking at any of Homer's pictures. Luxuriance in details not ne- cessary to the comparison is certainly their characteristic, whereas this is rare in Hebrew poetry. Lowth quotes as an exceptional instance of a comparison with unnecessary adjuncts Ps. cxxix. 6 — 8 : " Let them (the haters of Ζ ion) be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth afore it groweth up : wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth the sheaves his bosom ; neither do they which go by say. The blessing of God be upon you ; we bless you in the name of the Lord." And one might remark that even here the rejection of the grass by the mower and sheaf-binder, the withholding from it the cus- INTRODUCTION. tomary "God bless you" given to the reaper, are particulars not quite beside the comparison, but may without violence be applied to the haters of Zion. But of course there is no rule without an exception : and if in simile the Hebrews are sparing of ornament and un-Homeric, in metaphor and allegory they are sometimes very full and particular (e. g. in the vineyard of Ps. Ixxx. and Is. v.): and there is one simile in Job which, being exceptionally Homsric, I will quote in full : My brethren have dealt deceitfully, as a torrent : As the stream of torrents they have passed away; Which are turbid by reason of the ice. Wherein the snow melts and is hid : Yet what time they wax warm, they vanish ; When it is hot, they are extinguished out of their place. The caravans turn from their way, They go up into the desert and perish. The caravans of Tema look for them. The companies of Sheba rest their hope on them : They are ashamed of their trust, They come thither, and blush. Job vi, 15 — 20. Job's friends fail as the torrent fails; this is the gist ΙΟ INTRODUCTION. of the comparison : but then details are added quite in Homer's manner: the summer drought is contrasted with the winter flood : the picture is further adorned by the de- scription of how the thirsty wayfarers seek the accustomed stream and meet with blank disappointment. A Greek version, however imperfect, may serve to bring out clearly the Homeric character of the passage. 7/ pa νΰ μ βξέλιττόρ re και ίζαττάτησαν eralpoi, γ^βιμάρροις ττοταμοΐσιν €0ΐκ6τ€<;' ων re χαράζραί αΧ\οτ€ μίν ττΧήθουσι, μβΧαν δ' ετημίσ'^βται υΒωρ κρνστάΧΧφ θοΧβρον νιφάΒεσσί re τηκομβναισιν' αΧΧοτβ δ', ηβΧίου καΐ καύματος ορννμένοιο, eppei άφαντα peeOpa καΐ €ξα7ΓοΧωΧότ άττίσβη. των μεν θ' ίμβίροντβς άττοκΧίνουσί κεΧείθους, etVe ΤΓου έκ Ύι']μη<; βϊτ εξ ^Αράβων ττοΧυχ^ρύσων, Bf^jraXeoi, ΤΓΟταμοΐσι TreiroLUOTef;, έμποροι άνδρες. ΐητΓίοΐ, εΧττωρης δε μέ'γ ημβροτον, ωκα δ' ερημοις μα -y^ αϋτως ττΧα'γχθεντες εν ονρεσι ττίτμον εττεσττον. The imitations of Homer's similes by ancient classical poets are too well known to need dwelling on here. Com- mentators on Homer, Virgil, &c. have noticed all the INTRODUCTION. 1 1 striking parallels ; a review of them would be going over old eround familiar to classical scholars and uninterestins^ to others. Let us pass on to the great Italian poet. Dante is a most powerful writer of simile : and the parallel between him and Homer in the use of this orna- ment (a parallel which, so far as I know, has not hitherto been pointed out) is most striking. Dante's biographers have generally assumed that he knew nothing of Greek, and nothing directly of Hcmer. It is hard completely to prove or disprove this; nor is this the place to discuss the question. The comparison between Dante and Homer in their use of simile will not lose in interest even if the resemblances be entirely undesigned, the Italian never having read a page of the Greek poet. A resemblance there certainly is. For though there are perhaps no passages in Dante so closely similar as to ap- pear conscious imitations of particular Homeric originals, yet there is a likeness in style and character. Indeed I think those familiar with both poets will agree that the Florentine — so far as the language permits — is in many 12 INTRODUCTION. respects more Homeric than Virgilian, in despite of his professed following of his Mantuan guide. And nowhere is he more so than in the similes. There are in these three points of resemblance between Dante and Homer. First, digressiveness, if I may so call it ; a love of painting out the picture with details unneces- sary to the comparison. Second, vividness and clearness. Third, homeliness; a selection of the commonest objects for illustration, if only they be suitable and forcible. In all these three points Dante is like Homer ; and in the last point (if we except the Hebrew poets) Dante alone is like Homer. I will quote fully one or two examples of each kind, to shew what I mean, adding a close translation ; and will briefly notice others. In the 2ist canto of the Inferno Dante thus illustrates the lake of boiling pitch : Quale η ell' Arzanh de' Veniziani Bolle 1' inverno la tenace pece, A rimpalmar li legni lor non sani, Che navicar non ponno^ e 'n quella vcce Chi fa suo legno nuovo, e chi ristoppa INTRODUCTION. 13 Le coste a quel che piu viaggi fece; Chi ribatte da proda, e chi da poppa; Altri fa remi ed altri volge sarte ; Chi terzeruolo ed artimon rintoppa: Tal non per fuoco, ma per divin' arte, Bollia laggiuso una pegola spissa, Che inviscava la ripa da ogni parte. "As in the dockyard of the Venetians boils in winter-time the tenacious pitch, to caulk the unsound timbers of their ships; for they cannot then take the sea, and so in that while one builds his bark anew, one stops with tow the ribs of his that has made many a voyage ; one hammers at the pro^v, one at the poop; others make oars, others twist ropes; another mends mizen and mainsail : Even such, by no fire but by art divine, boiled there below us a thick lake of pitch that slimed its every bank with glutinous tide." Here is nothing of Homer, yet much Homeric. The bringing home to the mind of the reader a great thing, that he has not seen, by a smaller thing that he has seen, is in Homer's manner. For instance, in Iliad φ. 362 there is just such a comparison of the boiling waters of Xanthus to those of a boiling caldron. And details quite beside the main comparison are dwelt upon. There is a striking passage in Ιη/οΊΐο xxiv. : In quella parte del giovinetto anno Che Ί sole i crin sotto 1' Aquario tempra Ε gia le notte al mezzo di' sen vanno : Quando la brina in sulla terra assempra L' imagine di sua sorella bianca, Ma poco dura alia sua penna tempra; Lo villanello a cui la roba manca Si leva e guarda, e vede la campagna Biancheggiar tutta, ond' ei si batte Γ anca, Ritorna a casa, e qua e la si lagna Come Ί tapin die non sa che si faccia; Poi riede, e la speranza ringavagna, Veggendo Ί mondo aver cangiata faccia In poco d' ora, e prende suo vincastro, Ε fuor le pecorelle a pasccr caccia : Cosi mi fece sbigottir lo mastro, Quand' io gli vidi si turbar la fronte; Ε cosi tosto al mal giunse lo 'mpiastro. "At that time of the young year when the sun cools his tresses beneath Aquarius, and already the nights are tending to equal the days ; what time the hoarfrost on tlie ground copies the image of her Avhite sister snow, INTRODUCTION. 15 though the coldness serves not long her copying pen ; the countryman, whose store is faihng, rises and looks out and sees the plain around all glist'ning white, wherefore he smites his thigh, returns to his cottage, and wailing goes to and fro as an unhappy wight that knows not what he shall do; then returns to look, and regains hope, seeing that the world has changed its face in this short while; and so he takes his crook, and drives forth his flocks to feed : So did my master make me to despond when I saw his brow troubled; and so soon did he apply to the hurt the healing salve." Again Dante is digressive in Homer's fashion: the marking the season by the constellation is classical, so is the sister-tie between rime and snow — Homer's "sleep brother of death" and ^schylus' ''dust twin-sister of mud" will occur to all scholars. The sudden disappointment of the simple countryman, and his helplessness, remind one a little of Homer's helpless wayfarer nonplussed by a stream (e. 597): the twofold nature of the comparison, the blank disappointment and then the reviving hope, may be pa- ralleled (among other passages) by //. v. 136, describing Hector's onset and its check. Of vividness and clearness, similes taken from animals in Dante and Homer supply good examples. Homer draws i6 INTRODUCTION. many images of great force from animals : shewing minute observation of them. The same may be said of Dante, who illustrates frequently from their movements. His sinners strive to ease their pain by raising themselves from the pitchy lake 'Mike dolphins that with the upraised arch of their backs give mariners a token of approaching storm, and as swiftly do they disappear" {Inferno xxii. 19): they line the shore "as frogs at the brink of the water of a moat stand with only their jaws out," and like them they scatter and dive when approached : one form, all drenched and dripping, is dragged up "like an otter" {lb. 25, 33, 36). The fiery serpent darts on his victim ''swift as a lizard who, in the heat of the dogstar, flashes like lightning from wall to wall across the road" {Inf. xxv. 79). The tor- mented sinners ply their hands against the vapours and burning soil ''just as dogs in the summer ply their noses and feet when they are bitten by fleas, flies, or mosquitoes " {Inf. XVII. 48). These instances are all within a short compass ; numbers more might be found. Dante's animals, indeed, are his own : they are often specially Italian, e. g. fireflies, by which Dante illustrates the moving fires of the INTR OD UCTION. 1 7 eighth gulf {Inf. xxvi. 25): but he uses these images much in Homer's way. The third point is Dante's use of homely and common images. Among many such, one may instance a few that are quaint and curious. Dante speaks of a man with a bent back as " one who makes of himself the middle arch of a bridge" {Piir-g. xix. 42). Homer illustrates the posture of two wrestlers by the sloping rafters of a house (ψ. 712). The demons force their victim down beneath the pitch, " as cooks make their scullions thrust with hooks the flesh down into the caldron, that it float not" (//{/i xxii. 55). The spirits looking at Dante and Virgil, " sharpened their sight toward us as keenly as does an old tailor at his needle's eye" {Inf. xv. 20). The foregoing instances establish an interesting resem- blance between Dante and Homer in their use of simile, whatever Vv^e may conclude as to the influences of the old Greek upon the Italian master. There is no need here to point out the differences between them, no need to compare their merits. The great Florentine has the accumulated stores of many ages to draw upon: he has also a theme so wide, and leaving him such freedom, that it is no wonder if he presents greater variety than the poet of one short episode in a ten years' war. But it is hard to imagine anything in their kind surpassing Homer's best similes : and no poet since Dante has (to my mind) — whether we compare best with best, or all with all — come nearly up to these two. Of our own poets Spenser is the first who has made copious use of the simile. His Faery Quccne is thickly set with this poetic ornament. He is thoroughly classical in style, while his epic allegory is just the sort of theme which admits of numerous similes. The combats of his knights are continually illustrated by images drawn from animals. Lions, tigers, bulls, eagles, hawks, &c. are fre- quent. So are the phenomena of the elements, clouds, storm, lightning, flood. Thus far he draws from the same storehouse with Homer. And the framework of his similes (as when, like as, as so) is very like Homer's. But here the resemblance ends. Spenser is more artificial. The particulars of his simile bear more directly upon the action which he illustrates, and he is at more pains to point INTRODUCTION. 19 out that they do so, and to shew the correspondence of the image with the reahty, balancing, as it were, one with the other. Homer, as Λve have said, seldom does this, but " secure of the main likeness plays with the attendant cir- cumstances." Spenser's details are forcible and beautifully worded, but generally not digressive. It might also be said that Spenser's similes are, as a rule, obvious ; there is no element of surprise in them : warriors fight and rage as beasts fight and rage, as fire, as flood, &:c. : there are hardly any homely similes in Spenser, hardly any similes from scenes which contrast with what is in hand. Dignity is kept up throughout, but perhaps at the expense of variety. It is not necessary to discuss here how far Spenser was right in this : it may be thought a necessity of his allegory never to unbend ; and his age perhaps preferred this style. I merely note it as a point where he is unlike Homer. And it is a sensible observation of Bishop Lowth (Lect. XII. on Hebrew poetry) that "comparisons for plea- sure and ornament best effect their end when the image presented is not only choice and pleasant, but also in kind 20 INTRODUCTION. quite different and unlike the thing which is compared to it, Avhile in one or more salient points it fitly agrees tliere- with." There is a novelty and relief, when scenes of Avar are illustrated from scenes of peace : a pleasant surprise, when an unexpected, but at once recognized, point of like- ness between two diverse things is put before the mind. Any one can find numerous instances of this in Homer and Dante : but few or none in Spenser. Several Spenserian parallels to Homeric passages have been quoted in the notes : I will add one here which is more Homeric than most, and reminds one rather of //. e. 85 and p. 747. As he that strives to stop a sudden flood. And in strong banks his violence restrain, Forceth it swell above his wonted mood, And largely overflow the fruitful plain, That all the country seems to be a main, And the rich furrows float all quite foredonc ; The woful husbandman doth loud complain, To see his whole year's labour lost so soon, For Λvhich to God he made so many an idle boon ; So him he held, &c. Faoy QucaiCy in. 34. INTRODUCTION. 21 Our greatest poet, Shakespeare, has not many similes : indeed, in the drama there is not much place for them. Where there are coincidences of thought and expression in Shakespeare and Homer, they are particularly interesting as being probably quite independent: and a few such have been pointed out. Milton, in his similes, has much that recalls Homer : sometimes consciously imitating particular passages ; and, even where in matter quite original, rather following Homer's manner. With him, as with Homer, there is one main point of resemblance ; and details of little or no moment to the comparison are added ramblingly and digressively. I give two similes, which, though in no way borrowed, are Homeric in style. Milton compares Satan "prone on the flood extended long and large" to That sea beast Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim the ocean stream : Him, haply, slumbering on the Norway foam The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff 22 INTRODUCTION. Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, With fixed anchor in his scaly rind Moors by his side under the lea, while night Invests the sea, and wished morn delays : So stretched out huge in length the Arch-Fiend \-xy. Par. Lost, Bk. I. Again, of the Fiend upon the earth : As when a vulture on Imaus bred. Whose snowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds. Dislodging from a region scarce of prey. To gorge the flesh of lambs or yeanling kids On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the springs Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams; But in the way lights on the barren plains Of Sericana, where Chineses drive With sails and wind their cany waggons light : So, on this windy sea of land, the Fiend Walked up and down alone, bent on his prey. Far. Lost, Bk. iir. The above are in a certain way Homeric. But it must be remarked, that even in his similes, Milton does not quit the grand and stately style. He has few, if any, common INTR OD UCTION. 23 or homely images, such as are frequent in Homer and Dante. Indeed, it is only parts of Homer that Milton resembles; and I assent to Blackie, that in much "Homer is not a Milton at all." Scott is, in some respects, the most Homeric of our British poets (as Newman justly remarks): but perhaps more so in narrative than in simile. Some parallels from Scott have been given in the notes, and no doubt many more might be found. But to examine in detail the influence of Homer upon our successive poets would be beyond my purpose. Such illustrative examples as occurred to me have been quoted in the notes : of course they do not claim to be exhaustive. Many from their reading and memory could supply others. I shall be excused for quoting entire, in closing this part of the subject, two similes from living poets. The first is from Tennyson, who in parts of the Idylls has something very Homeric in his verse. But at the flash and motion of the man They vanished panic stricken, hke a shoal Of darting fish, that on a summer morn Adown the crystal dykes at Caraelot 24 INTRODUCTION. Come slipping o'er their shadows on the sand, But if a man λvho stands upon the brink But lift a shining hand against the sun, There is not left the twinkle of a fin Betwixt the cressy islets white in flower; So, scared but at the motion of the man, Fled all the boon companions of the Earl. Enid. The second is from Matthew Arnold, and plauily is the result of a deep study of Homer, as indeed is the whole of the exquisite poem in which it occurs. As when some hunter in the spring hath found A breeding eagle sitting on her nest. Upon the craggy isle of a hill lake, And pierc'd her with an arrow as she rose, And followed her to find her where she fell Far off; — anon her mate comes winging back From hunting, and a great way off descries His huddling young left sole; at that he checks His pinion, and with short uneasy sweeps Circles above his eyry, \vith loud screams Chidinii his mate back to her nest, but she INTR OD UCTION. 25 Lies dying, with the arrow in her side, In some far stony gorge out of his ken, A heap of fluttering feathers ; never more Shall the lake glass her flying over it ; Never the black and dripping precipices Echo her stormy scream as she sails by : — As that poor bird flies home nor knows his loss — So Rustum knew not his own loss, but stood Over his dying son and knew him not. Sohrab and Rustum. Let me now say a few words on the principles which have guided me in translating and annotating. First, of translation. My idea of translation is, To keep as close to the original as English idiom will allow — nor does the simple language of Homer often drive the trans- lator to depart widely from the words or order of the Greek — , to add nothing, to omit nothing. In number of lines, perhaps I more exceed my original than do some of Homer's blank verse translators, though I am as short or shorter than others. As briefly as I can, I will state what seem to be the allowable limits of en- largement. 26 INTRODUCTION. That, if the ten-syllabled line be used (and I shall dispense with justifying this choice), there must be more lines in the translation than in the Greek, is incontro- vertible. Line for line could not be maintained throughout invariably without omissions ; a struggle to maintain it would often result in a poverty of meaning and a poverty of sound. Long Greek words, and strong Greek words, often require more than one word in English. And there are other reasons which justify an increase in number of lines. An inflected language must be reproduced by many more words in a language which has lost most of its in- flexions and has to supply case-endings and tense and mood-forms by prepositions and auxiliaries. Hence equal number of syllables is probably a fairer test of terseness of translation than equal number of words. Now each Homeric hexameter contains, on an average, at least fifteen syllables. Equality therefore in syllables would allow three heroic lines to two hexameters. But the English language is naturally so much shorter than the Greek, especially than the loose and flowincf Homeric and Ionic Greek, that the English translator does not require nearl)- so much INTRODUCTION. 27 room as this. One extra line in six Greek lines is about enough. But the need of course varies ; and one especial reason why the enlargement varies in my translation is the following. A metre of shorter compass necessitates some shifting of the pauses. Now Homer's pauses are mostly at the end of lines. He runs very much (as Professor Blackie has shewn in his Homeric dissertations) in couplets, triplets, and quatrains ; he has longer periods sometimes, but these also ending with the end of a line. Now, if the English blank verse translator maintains uniformly an exact pro- portion of English to Greek, it is plain that the English lines will be very much broken, the sense will seldom close with the line: the march and movement of the verse will be Miltonic. And this movement Cowper adopts, as does also Wright. I do not presume to blame them, but my taste leads me rather to reproduce Homer's pauses. I mean, where he with a marked pause in the sense ends a line, I incline to do the same. Hence, four English lines for three Greek, or even three for two, have at times been deliberately put, where compression into three and a half 28 INTRODUCTION. cr two and a half would have been easy and obvious. I hope however not to be judged too diffuse upon the whole, having aimed at enlarging — where a syllable or two more was necessary — on what seemed best to admit of, or even to require, enlargement above literalness, in order to bring out the full force of the original. A wOrd with regard to independence. Of course, I have read previous translations, or, at least, parts of them. But many of my own versions w^ere made before trans- lations now published. More than two complete' books of the Iliad, and many detached passages, I had translated before Lord Derby's version appeared. Since forming the design of completing the similes I have avoided looking at other translations till my own was finished. Coincidences of expression, therefore, if found, will be, I believe, un- designed. And \vere I to read all Cowper's, Wright's, Lord Derby's and other versions, yet the original, Avhen I returned to it, would be so much more familiar to me that I should (I am confident) translate it according to my own mind with little colouring from theirs. Arid now, as to the notes. I have seldom discussed INTRODUCTION. 29 differences of interpretation or points of Greek scholarship : the translation will sufficiently shew what view I have taken in passages that are doubtful: and these are not numerous. Greek scholars can judge for themselves, and will find such matters fully treated of by Heyne and others. English readers would not care for them. The aim of the notes has been rather to touch on matters generally inter- esting : to bring out clearly the point and chief bearing of a simile : to give briefly, in some cases, the attendant cir- cumstances, the framework in which the picture is set : for without this it cannot always be appreciated, and the incidents of the Iliad are not in every one's memory : to illustrate by passages from other poets, whether inten- tional imitations or coincidences of thought and expression. Here, the field for selection is almost unlimited : I may be thought to have given too much or too little : the passages quoted are (with hardly an exception) of my own reading and gathering, and certainly no reference has been left unverified. In conclusion, one point has rather forced itself on my conviction during my study of the similes ; namely, that 30 INTRODUCTION. they were written by one poet. And they appear to me to be in their natural place where they occur, and not inter- polations by a later hand. Now, if this be so, they form a bond between the different books ; they are, as it were, a thread running through the whole fabric ; and they furnish something of an argument against Grote's Achilleid of certain selected books, as also against other theories which consider the Iliad as a patchwork of separate ballads by different hands. But on this well-worn question I shall forbear to enter : and will only conclude by saying that an attentive consideration of the similes has left me more than ever what I was before — a believer in one great poet Homer. HOMERIC SIMILES Β. 87—93. rjvre eOvea elcrt μεΚισσάων ά^ινάων πβτρ'ης εκ γλαφυρής olIel v4ov €ρχομ€ναων, βοτρυ^ορ Se πέτονται επ ανθεσιν ειαρινοίσιν, at p.iv τ ένθα οίλις πεποτηαταί αί δε τε ένθα' ώ? των εθνεα ττολλα νέων αττο και κΚισιαων rji6voοε Πάρις οηθννεν εν υφηλοΐετί Βόμοίσυν, αλλ' ογ , επεί κατέ8ν κλντά τεύ)^εα ποικίλα χαλκω, σεύατ επειτ ανα αστν ποσΐ κραητνοίσι ττεποιθως. (OS ο ore τις στατος ΐπποζ άκοστησας επί φάτνη Βεσμον άπορρηζας θείτ) ττεδιοιο κροαίνων, εΐωθώς λούεσθαι εϋρρεΐος ποταμοΐο, κνοιόων' v\jjov δε κάρη εχεί, άμφΐ δε χαΓται ωμοί<ζ άισσονται, 6 δ' αγλαίγιφυ πεποιθώς ρυμφα ε γοννα φερεί μετά τ ηθεα καΐ νομον ίππων' ως υιός ΤΙρυαμοίο Πάρις Acara ΤΙεργάμον άκρης τεύγεσι παμφαίνων ωστ ηλεκτωρ εβεβηκει καγχαλόων, τα^εες δε πόδες φερον. TRANSLATED. 63 XXVI SJiort-lived is Mans Nobility. As are the leaves, so is the race of man — Leaves that the wind now sheds upon the ground, But others sprout through all the greening grove With spring renewed. Such is the race of men, Now born to life, now fading to decay. XXVII Paris goes gaily to the Field. Nor lingered Paris in the lofty halls : But soon as he had donned his armour bright Of brass full richly wrought, he through the town Bold in his active stride sped swiftly on. As some sleek horse at stall and manger fed, His halter broken, ranges o'er the plain With stamping hoof, and seeks the flowing stream Wherein he wont to bathe — Exultant now He tosses high his head : his mane around Floats on his shoulders : bold in beauty's pride, His fleet limbs bear him swiftly to the haunt And pasturage of horses — Even so Sped Priam's son from Troy's high citadel, In arms all glorious as the blazing sun, Gay laughing, onward borne with speedy foot. 64 HOMERIC SIMILES Η. 1-7. tS? eliTCJV ττυΚέων β^εσσντο φαί^ίμος 'Έικτωρ, τω ο α/Λ ΑΚεςανορος κι αοελφεος ev ο αρα υνμω αμφότεροι /λφ,ασαζ^ πολεμίζειν γβε -μάγεσθαι. ως he θεοζ vavTTjcnv εεΚ^ομένοισιν εΖωκεν ονρον, εττεί κε κάμωσιν ενζεστΎ^ς εΚάττισιν ττόντον ελαννοντεζ καμάτω δ' νπο γυία Χελννταυ' ωζ άρα τω Ύρώεσσιν εεΧΒομενουσι φανητην. Η. 54-66. ως εφαθ\ Εκτωρ δ' αντ ^^ό-ρη μέγα μνθον άκουσας' και ρ ες μεσσον ιων Ύρωων άνεεργε φάλαγγας μεσσον οονρος εΧων' τοί δ' ΙΒρνρθησαν άπαντες, καο ο Αγαμέμνων είσεν ενκνημώας Ά^αιου?. TRANSLATED. 65 XXVIII A welcome Aid. Bright Hector spake, and from the gate rushed forth; With him his brother Paris ; both in soul On deeds of war and battle hotly bent. And as to mariners a welcome boon Heaven sends a following wind, when weary worn They long have smit the sea with polished pine. And failing limbs with toil are all unstrung : So welcome to the Trojans came the twain. XXIX Gods and Men prepare to view a single Combat. He spake ; but Hector joyed the word to hear. Grasping his lance midway he stept between The lines, and motioned back the Trojan squares. Down sat they all : and down Achaia's sons, A well-greaved host, at Agamemnon's hest : κάδ δ' αρ *ΚθΎ)νανη τε κοί άργνρότοζοζ * Απόλλων έζεσθην, ορνισιν eotKores αΧ-γυπιοίσίν, φ'τ]γφ €' νφηλΎΐ πατρός Δ to? αίγωχοίο, άν^ράσι τερπόμενοι' των δε στί^βς εϊατο πνκναί, άσπίσι καί κορνθεσσι και βγ-χβσν πεφρίκνΐαυ. OLT) δε Ζεφνροιο εχενατο πόντον επι φρίζ ορννμενοίο νέον, μελάνευ δε τε πόντος υπ αντης, τοΐαι αρα στίγες είατ Αχαιών τε Ύρωων τε εν πεοίω. ®• 33^—342. οΐ δ' Ιθνς τάφροιο βαθείης ωσάν Ά^^αιους' "Έ,κτωρ δ' εν πρωτοισι κίε σθενεϊ βλεμ,εαίνων. ωζ δ' ότε τίς τε κύων συός αγρίου ηε λέοντος απτηται κατόπισθε ποσίν τα^εεσσι ^ιώκων, ΐσχίά τε γλουτούς τε, ελισσόμενόν τε Ζοκεύει' ως Εκτωρ ωπαζε καρηκομόωντας Λ^αιου?, αΐεν άποκτείνων τον όπίστατον, οι δ' εφεβοντο. TRANSLATED. 67 Down too Apollo of the silver bow, And down Athene sat, in semblance these As winged vultures, on a lofty beech. Tree of their father segis-wielding Zeus, Right fain to see the men. Whose ranks sat dense, With shield and helm and spear a bristling field. As of the Zephyr, newly rising, runs The shiver o'er the roughening main, wherewith Black frowns the ocean, — such the seated ranks Of Troy and of Achaia on the plain. XXX The Achceans driven back. Straight toward the deep trench forced they back their foes: Hector the foremost, terrible in strength. As when a hound on lion or on boar With nimble foot close presses from behind, In act to seize the haunches of his game, And marks and foils each turn, so Hector pressed Achaia's long-haired sons, and ever slew His hindmost foe, as they before him fled. ®• 553—561. ot δε jLteya φρονίοντες επί πτοΧέμοίο γεφύραζ είατο ττανννγιοι, πυρά hi σφισι καίετο πολλά. ως ο οτ ει> ονρανω άστρα φαεινην άμφΐ σεΧηνην φαίρετ αρητρεττεα. ore τ επΧετο νηρεμο'ζ αίθηρ' εκ τ εφανεν πασαι σκοττιαΧ καί ιτρωορες άκροι καΧ vaiTaiy ούρανόθεν δ* ά/ο' νπερράγη ασπετος αίθηρ• πάντα δε τ εΙΖεται άστρα, γέγηθε δε τε φρένα ποίμην' τόσσα μεσηγύ νέων τ^δέ αάνθουο ροάων Ύρωων καιόντων πνρα φαίνετο Ίλιο^ι προ. Ι. Ι— 16. ως οι μεν Τρώες φυΧακά^ έχον' αντάρ Ά^αιους θεσπεσίη εχε φνζα φόβου κρυόεντος εταιρη' πενθεί δ' άτΧητω βεβοΧηατο πάντες άριστοι. ώς δ* άνεμοι δύο πόντον όρίνετον Ιγθυόεντα, Βορεης καΐ Ζέφυρος, τω τε Θρ^κηθεν άητον, TRANSLATED. 69 XXXI The Victors bivouack on the Field. Thus with high hopes upon the battle's bridge All night they camped : and countless blazed the fires. And as in heaven around the shining moon The stars gleam sharp and clear, in windless calm, — And all the peaks stand out, and jutting blufis, And glens : and boundless ether parted wide Uncurtains all high heaven : and in full tale Are seen the stars, to shepherd's heart a joy — So countless, 'twixt the ships and Xanthus' stream, The watchfires blazed in front of Ilion. XXXII Distress and Grief of the Vanquished. Such watch the Trojans kept. Th' Achiean host Dread panic, comrade she of shuddering flight, Fast bound ; and all the bravest and the best Were stricken sore with grief intolerable. And vexed and tossed as is the fishful main When north and west wind meet, two Thrace-born blasts, 70 HOMERIC SIMILES kXQovT \ζα.ττίνΎ]%' αμυ^υς Se re κνμα Kekaivov κορθύίται, TToWov δε τταρίζ αλα φΰκο<ζ εχεναν' ώς eSaif^ero θνμοζ evl στηθεσσυν Ατ^αιων. ΆτρείΒης δ' αχεί μεγάλω βεβολη μένος ητορ φοίτα κηρύκεσσί Χνγνφθόγγοισι κεΚενων κληΒην €19 αγορην κικΚ-ησκειν avhpa εκαστον, μτβε βοαν αυτός δε μετά πρωτουσυ πονείτο. Ιζον δ' είν ouyopy τετιηότες' αν δ' * Αγαμέμνων ϊστατο ^ακρνγεων, ώστε κρήνη μελάννορος, ητε κατ αίγίλιπος πετρης ^νοφερον γεει νΖωρ' ως 6 βαρύ στενάγων εττε Άργείοισί μετην^α. Κ. Ι — ΙΟ. άλλοι μεν τταρα νηνσίν άρίστηες ΐΐαναχ^αυων ενΒον ττανννγιοι μαΧακω οεομημενοι νπνω' αλλ' ουκ ΆτρείΒην Αγαμέμνονα ττοιμενα λαών ϋπνος εχε γλυκερός πολλά φρεσιν ορμαι,νοντα. TRANSLATED. 71 With sudden squall — The black waves tumbling crowd High heaped : the beach with tangle thick is strewn — So tossed, so vexed, their souls within them swayed. And stricken to the heart with mighty woe The son of Atreus ranged the camp, and bade The clear-voiced heralds to the council call Each man with several summons, not with shout ; And in the task himself bore foremost part. They came and sat in council sorrowing: But Agamemnon rose and stood, whose tears Fell as the dropping of a deep black spring That down the steep cliff pours its waters dark. So he, sore groaning, 'mid the Argives spake. XXXIII Uneasy lies tlie Head that wears a Crown. The chieftains of the Panachaean host Slept all, beside their ships, the livelong night, By slumber soft o'erborne : but Atreus' son. Great Agamemnon, shepherd of his folk, No s\veet sleep held, with many cares distraught. 72 HOMERIC SIMILES ώ? δ' or' α,ν άστράτττΎΐ Trocrts "Ηρας ηϋκόμοίο, τβύχων η ττοΚνν υμβρον αθξ,σφατον, ηε ;)(αλαζαϊ^, η νίφετον ore nip re ^^ιων επαΚννεν apovpas, Tjk ττοθι πτολεμοω μέγα στόμα nevKeSavoio' ω9 ττνκιν eu στηθεσσυν άνεστενάγιζ Άγαμίμνων νείόθεν €Κ κρα^ίης, τρομίοντο δε ot φρένες εντός. Κ. ι8ι— 188. ούΒε μεν ευ^οντας φυλάκων ηγήτορας εΰρον' αλλ' εγρηγορτί συν τευχεσιν είατο πάντες, ως δε κύνες ττερί μήλα Βυσωρησωσυν εν αύλτ), θηρος άκούσαντες κρατερόφρονος, ός τε καθ* ϋλην ερχτηταυ δι' όρεσφι, πολύς δ' ορυμαγδός ετν αύτω άντρων η^ε κυνων, από τε σφυσυν ύπνος ολωλεν' ως των νη^υμος νπνος από βλεφάροαν ολώλει νύκτα φυλασσομενοίσι κακήν. TRANSLA TED. 73 But frequent as the lightning flashes come Of fair-haired Here's lord, what time he sends Rain great and terrible, or hail, or snow To strew the fields with white, or bodes perchance The wide-embattled front of biting war — So frequent in his breast and deeply drawn From inmost heart were Agamemnon's groans, And all within his bosom trembling shook. XXXIV A painful VVatck. The captains found they not asleep, but all Were sitting ready armed in wakeful wise. And as the dogs around a flock in fold Keep painful watch — when they have heard the roar Of dauntless beast, who through the mountain wood Approaches, by large rout of men and dogs Full sorely pressed — and all their sleep is gone : So from the eyelids of the guard sweet sleep Was gone, as through the evil night they watched. G- 10 74 HOMERIC SIMILES Κ. 358-364. λαιχΙ^ηρα Se γοννατ €Ρωμα φενγίμβναί' τοί δ' ώκα SlcOkclv ορμηθησαν. ως δ' ore καρχαρόΒοντε δυω κύνε, €ΐδότ€ θηρηζ, η κε/χάδ' ηβ Χαγωον eireiyerov εμμβνες atet γωρον αν νληενθ', 6 Se re προθ€Ύ)σί μεμηκως' ως τον ΎνΒείΒης ηΒε πτολίπορθος 'Οδυσσεύς λαοΰ άποτμη^αντε Slcukctov εμμενεζ atet. Λ. 62—73- οϊοζ δ' εκ νεφεων αναφαίνεται ονλίος αστήρ τταμφαίνων, τότε δ' αύθί<; εον νεφεα σκιόεντα, ως "Εκτωρ οτε μεν τε μετά ττρώτοισι φάνεσκεν, άλλοτε δ' εν ττνμάτοίσι κελενων' πάς δ' αρα γαλκω λάμφ* ώστε στεροττη πατρός Διός αίγίόχοω. TRANS LA TED. 75 XXXV Pursuit of Do Ion. Full quickly did he ply his limbs in flight, While they as swiftly bent them to pursue. And as two sharptoothed hounds, skilled in the chace, Fast on the track of flying fawn or hare Come pressing ever on, o'er woody ground, As he before them flies with plaintive cry; So did the son of Tydeus, and withal Odysseus, city-spoiler, on their prey From his own people barred, press ever on. XXXVI Hector: and a stubborn Fight. And as from clouds fell Sirius all ablaze Now sudden bursts, now hides him in their shade, So Hector now shone foremost in the van. Now, hidden, urged the rear— in flashing mail Bright as the bolt of th' aegis-wielding sire. 70 HOMERIC SIMILES L ol δ', ωστ άμητηρεζ Ιναντίοι αΚΧ-ηΧοισιν ογμ,ον εΚαύνωσιν avSpos μάκαροζ κατ αρονραν ττυρων η κριθών, τα δε αράγματα ταρφεα πίπτεί, ως Ύρωες καΐ Άχ^αυοί επ άλληλοίσί θορόντες oyovUf ονο έτερου μνώοντ ολοοΓο φόβοίο, ισας ο υσμίντ) κεφάλας ^χον, οΐ δε \vkol ως Θΰνον. Λ. 113 — ^21. ώς δε Κέων ελάφοίο ταχείης νήττια τέκνα ρη'ίΖίως συνεαζε λαβών κρατεροίσιν ο^ουσιν, ελθων εις εύνην, άπαλόν τε σφ^ ητορ άπηνρα' ή δ', ε'ίττερ τε τύχΎ)σι μάλα σχεΒον, ου Βΰναταί σφιν χραισμειν, αυτήν yap μιν ΰπο τρόμος αίνος Ικάνει, καρπαλίμως δ' ηϊζε δια 8ρυμά πυκνά καΐ ϋλην σττεύοουσ , ΙΒρώουσα, κραταιού θηρος ύφ' ορμής' ώς αρα τοΙς ουτις SvvaTo χραισμησαι ολεθρον Ύρωων άλλα και αυτοί υπ Άργείοισι φεβοντο. The hosts — as reapers in two facing rows Work the long swathe in wealthy owner's field Of barley or of wheat, from whose full hands The severed stalks fall fast — so in firm line The Trojans and Achaeans dealing death Each at the other leapt, nor either thought Of baneful flight, but in the conflict still Kept even heads, and wolf-like rushed and raged. XXXVII Two Sons of Priam, slain. As when a lion to his lair returned Finds in his covert laid the weakling young Of nimble hind, whom in his powerful teeth With ease he crunches, of their tender life Bereaving them — but she, their dam, hard by Yet cannot save them, for with trembling dread Herself is touched ; and swift she speeds away Through tangled copse and wood, in haste and sweat, To 'scape the onset of the mighty beast — So these from doom the Trojans might not save, But fled themselves before their Arrive foes. 78 HOMERIC SIMILES Λ. 155—159• ω5 ο ore πυρ αι,οηΚον ev αςυλω €μπ€σΎ) vArj, πάρτη τ €ΐλυφ6ων αι/εμος φερεί, οΐ δε re θάμνου ττρόρρυζοί ττίπτουσιν έπείγόμενοί ττνρος ορμή' ώ? αρ υπ 'ArpetSr; ^ Αγαμίμνονί πίπτε κάρηνα Ύρώωρ φευγόρτων. Λ. 172 — 178. οΐ δ' ετί κάμ μεσσορ πεδίον φοβεορτο, βόες ώ?, άστε \εωρ εφόβησε μολωρ εν ρνκτος αμοΧγω πάσας, tyJ δε τ Ifj άραφαίρεται αΐπύς όλεθρος' της τ εζ ανχερ" εαζε λαβωρ κρατεροίσιρ ο^ουσιν πρωτορ, έπειτα δε θ^ (χχμα καΧ έγκατα πάρτα λαφνσσευ' ως τους Άτρεί^ης εφεπε κρείωρ ^Αγαμεμρωρ αΐερ άποκτείρωρ top οπίστατορ, οΐ δ' εφεβορτο. TRANSLATED, . 79 XXXVIII Agamemnon's destructive Progress. As when a wasting fire some forest dense Assails, and by the wind is onward rolled, Burnt to the roots the saplings prostrate fall Pressed by the furious flame ; so in their flight The Trojan heads before Atrides fell. XXXIX He routs the Trojans. Still fled they o'er the middle plain, as kine By lion coming in the dead of night Flee all affrighted, but destruction dire For one is seen, whose neck with powerful teeth The beast first seizing breaks, then drains the blood And all the flesh devours — Ev'n so on these King Agamemnon son of Atreus pressed, And slew each hindmost foe, as still they fled. Λ. 292 — 298. ως δ' ore που τι? θηρητηρ κννας άργίοΒοντας σεντ) €π αγροτερω σνϊ καπρίω ηε \eovTL, ως €7Γ Α^αιοΓσιι^ σεΰε Τρώα? μ,εγαθνμονς Εκτωρ ΤΙρίαμ,ί^ης, βροτοΧονγω ϊσος "Αρηϊ. αΰτος δ' iv πρωτοισι μέγα φρονεων εβεβηκεί' εν ο επεσ νσμίνγ) νπεραεί Ισος άελΧτ) •ητε καθαλλομενη Ιοευ^εα ττόντον ορίνει. Λ. 304—309• TOUS α,ρ 'όγ ηγεμόνας Δαι^αών ελεν' αύτάρ εττείτα πληθνν, ώς οπότε Ζέφυρος νέφεα στυφελί^Ύΐ αργεσταο Νοτοιο βαθείτι λαιλαττι τύτττων' TToWov οε τρόφι κύμα κυΚίν^εται, χ,φόσε δ' αγι^ σκίοναται εζ άνεμοίο ποΧνπλάγκτοίο Ιωης' ως αρα πυκνά καρηαθ' υή> "Εκτορι ^άμνατο λαών. TRANSLA TED. XL Hector urges on his Troops. As some keen hunter urges on the prey — A lion or a tusky forest boar — The white-toothed dogs, so Hector, Priam's son, In semblance as the War-god, mortals' bane, Urged the bold Trojans on th' Achaean foe. Himself full proudly strode amid the first ; And burst upon the fight, as bursts a storm With forceful gust, that sudden leaping down Confounds the billows of the darkling main. XLI He slays many Foes. These Danaan chiefs he slew : then meaner men Full many : as clouds that of the \vhite South bred Are by the West wind driven, what time he smites With headlong squall — On rolls the swelling wave, High flies the scattered spray beneath the force Of the wide-wandering wind — So frequent fell Vanquished by Hector's might his foemen's heads. G. II 82 HOMERIC SIMILES Α. 324— 32(5. τω ο αν ομιΚον 16ντ€ κν^οίμεον, ως οτε κάττρω iv κυσΐ θηρεντΎΐσί μέγα φρονεοντε πεσητον' ως oXeKov Ύρωας παλίρορμένω. Λ. 4^1 — 420. εωζ 6 τανθ' ωρμαινε κατά φρένα καΐ κατά θνμον, τόφρα δ' επΙ Ύρώων στί^^ες -ηΧυθον άσπιστάων, ekaav δ' εν μεσσοίσι, μετά σφίσι πημα τιθεντες. ω? ο ore κάττριον άμφΐ κννες θαΧεροί τ αίζηοί σευωνται 6 Se τ etcrt βαθείης εκ ξνΧόχοίο θηγων Χενκον dSoVra ^ετά γναμιττ-^σι γεννσσιν, άμφΐ he τ αίσσονται, νπαΐ δε τε κόμπος οΒόντων γίγνβταί, οΐ δε μενουσιν άφαρ Ζείνόν περ εόντα, ως ρα τότ άμφ" Ό^νσηα ΑύφίΧον ίσσευοντο Ύρωβζ. TRANSLATED. 83 XLII Odysseus and Diomed make a Stand. Then through the battle pressed the twain and dealt Confusion round, as when with courage high Two boars at bay charge on the yelping pack : So turned they and made havoc of their foes. XLIII Odysseus at Bay. While thus he pondered in his heart and mind, The shielded Trojan ranks came swiftly on, And hemmed him in their midst, a dangerous foe. And as the hounds and lusty hunters press Around a boar — who comes from covert deep Whetting the white tusks in his curved jaws. And all around are hurrying, while of teeth Is heard a gnashing, and his foes await Tho' terrible, his onset — So around Odysseus, loved of Zeus, the Trojans pressed. 84 HOMERIC SIMILES Λ. 473—486. evpov CTretr' Όδυσϊ^α ΑύφίΧον' άμφΐ δ' αρ' αντον Ύρωε^ €πονθ\ ω(τεί re οαφοινοί θωεζ ορεσφυν άμφ* ζΧαφον κεραον βεβ\ιημ4νον, όντ e/3aX' άνηρ Ιω άτΓΟ νενρης' τον μεν τ ηλνζε TroSeorcrt φβνγων, οφρ αί/χα Χιαρον και yovvar ορωρ-β, ανταρ €7Γ€ΐδι) τόν γε ^αμάσσεται ωκνς οϊστος, ωμοφάγοί μιν θωεζ iu ονρεσυ Βαρ^άπτονσυν Ιν νεμεί σκιερω' επί re Kiv rjyaye Βαίμων σίντην θωεζ μεν τε ^>ιετρεσαν, ανταρ 6 θάπτει' ώ? ρα τότ άμή) 'Οδυστ^α Ζαίφρονα ττοίκιΚομ'ήτ'ην Τρώες εττον πολλοί τε και αλκιμοι, ανταρ oy ηρως άίσσων ω εγχει άμννετο νηλεες ήμαρ. ΛΓας δ' εyyύθεv ήλθε φέρων σάκοζ ηυτε πvpyoVf στη δε παρεζ• Ύρώε<; δε ^ιετρεσαν αλλυδις άλλος. TRANSLATED. 85 XLIV Ajax brings Help and scatters the Foe. They found Odysseus, well-beloved of Zeus ; And round him followed close his Trojan foes. Ev'n as the tawny jackals in the hills Around an antlered stag, stricken by shaft From hunter's bowstring — whom by speed of foot He 'scapes, while warm his blood and stirred his limbs By motion, but when soon the arrow swift Has quelled his life, his flesh in shady glen The carrion jackals tear, till heaven that way A ravening lion sends, then scattered wide The jackals flee, and he alone devours — So now around Odysseus, warlike wight Of cunning Aviles, pressed on the sons of Troy Many and valiant, but the hero quick With flashing lance kept off the day of doom ; Till Ajax came anigh, with tower-like targe, And by him stood ; then scared the Trojans fled. 86 HOMERIC SIMILES Λ, 492—497. &>9 δ' οπότε πληθών ποταμός ττεδιονδε κάτεισιν ■χβίμάρρονς κατ ορβσφυν οπαζόμζνος Διο? ομβρω, ποΧΧας δε δ^Ος άζαλεα?, πολλά? δε τε πευκας εσφφεται, πολλοί/ δε' τ' άφυσγετον ει? άλα /Πάλλει* ω? ε<^επε κΚονεων πεδίον τότε φαίΒίμοζ Λιας δαιζων Γππους τε /cat άνερας. Λ. 544—5^5• Ζευς δε πατήρ ΑΪανθ' νφίζνγος iv φόβον ωρσεν στη δε τάφων, οπιθεν δε σάκος βάλεν ίπταβόεων, τρεσσε δε παπτήνας εφ' ομίλου, ΘηρΙ εουκως, εντροπαΧιζό μένος, ολίγον γόνυ γοννος αμείβων, ως δ' αι^ωι^α λέοντα βοών άπο μεσσανλοιο εσσευαντο κννες τε καΐ άνερες άγρουώται, TRANSLATED, ^7 XLV Prowess of Ajax. K-s, when a flooded river to the plain Comes swirHng down, a torrent mountain-born Forced on by rains of Zeus, that sweeps along Dry oaks and pines full many, and to the sea Much mud and refuse gives ; so o'er the field Bright Ajax rushed, and routed horse and man. XLVI Ajax retires slozvly. And now the father Zeus enthroned on high In Ajax roused a panic fear. He stood Astounded, and behind him cast his targe Of sevenfold hide, and trembled as he glared Upon the throng wild-beast-like, turning oft As knee with knee slow shifting on he stepped. As tawny lion from a cattle-yard Is forced by troop of dogs and farmer folk. otVe μιν ουκ είωσί βοών Ικ ττίαρ ίλεσθαι πάνννχοί εγρησσοντα' 6 δε κρειων Ιρατίζων Wv€L•, αλλ' ovTL ηρησσβί' θαμ.€€ζ γαρ άκοντες άντίον άίσσονσί θ ρασειάων άπο γειρων, καίόμεναί τε δεται, τάστε τρεί εσσνμενός ττερ' "ήώθεν δ' άτΓονόσφίν εβη τετίηότι θυμω• ως Αίας τότ άπο Ύρωων τετυημ,ενος ητορ ηΧε, πολλ' άεκων' περί γαρ δΐ€ νηνετίν ^Αχ^αίων. ώς δ' 6τ όνος παρ* άρονραν Ιών εβνησατο τταιδας νωβης, ω δτ) πολλά περί ρότταλ' άμφίς εάγη, κείρει τ εΙσεΚθών βαθύ ληίον' οΐ δε τε παίδες τνπτονσίν ροπαΚοισΐ' βίη δε τε νηπίη αντων σπον^Ύ) δ' εζ-ηλασσαν, επεί τ εκορεσσατο φορβής' ως ΤΟΤ επειτ Αιαι^τα μεγαν, ΎεΚαμώνιον νΐον, Ύρώες ύπερθνμοι τηλεκλητοί τ επίκουρου νύσσοντες ζυστοίσι μέσον σάκος αΐεν εποντο. TRANSLATED. 89 Who watch all night, nor suffer him to take The fatness of the kine — he keen for flesh Charges, but naught effects, for thick the darts Fly at him from bold hands, with fagots' blaze, That daunts him tho' impetuous, till at morn Sullen and sad at heart he goes his way — "^ So Ajax yielding from his Trojan foes With sorrow gat him back, against his will, Full sorely fearing for th' Achaean ships. And as an ass beside a corn-field led Forces his boyish guides (dull brute, on whom Stout cudgels have been broken not a few). And entering crops the tall corn, while with sticks The urchins smite him, but their strength is naught ; And hardly when he now has browsed his fill Drive they him out — So on great Ajax then. The son of Telamon, the Trojans bold, With their allies from many lands, did press, And with their lances pricked his middle targe. G. 12 90 HOMERIC SIMILES Μ. 41—50• ως δ' 'όταν iv re κυνζ.σσι καΐ avSpaai θηρεντΎίσι, κάπρίος ήε λέων στρέφεται σθενεί βλεμεαίνων' οΐ Sd τε πνργη^ον σφεας αντοίις αρτυναντες άντίοί Ιστανται καΧ άκοντίζονσι θαμείάς αίχμαζ εκ -χειρών' τον δ' οϋποτε κυ^άλψον κηρ ταρβεΐ ούΒε φοβείται, άγηνορίη δε μιν έκτα' ταρφεα τε στρέφεται στίχας άντρων ττειρητίζων οππη τ ιθνσΎ), τύ) τ εϊκονσι στίχες άντρων' ως "Εκτωρ άν ομιλον ιών εΊλίσσεθ\ εταίρους τάφρον εποτρννων δια^αιι^€/Α€ΐ^. Μ. 131 — 136- τώ μεν άρα προττάροιθε ττνΚάων νφηλάων εστασαν, ώς ότε τε ^ρνες ονρεσιν νφικάρηνοι, αϊτ άνεμον μίμνονσι καΐ νετον ηματα πάντα, ρίζΎ)σιν με-γαΚχισι Βιηνεκεεσσ αραρνίαι. ως άρα τώ χείρεσσι πεποιθότες η^ε βίΎ)φιν μίμνον επερχόμενον μεγαν "Ασιον ονο εφεβοντο. TRANSLATED. 91 XLVII Hector at the Trench. And as among the hounds and hunter throng A boar or Hon turns him, fierce in strength : They massed in solid wall against him stand, And frequent from their hands the javelins hurl, Yet never daunt nor fright his valiant heart Whose courage proves his bane : and oft he turns And tries the serried ranks, but wheresoe'er He charges, there the foemen's ranks give place : — So Hector moved and turned him in the throng, And urged his comrades on to cross the trench. XLVHI Ττνο Warriors keep the Gate. Before the lofty gates the champions twain Stood, as two oaks upon the mountain stand Rearing their heads on high, that through all time Bide brunt of wind and rain, by mighty roots Far spreading through the soil full firmly set. So these, on hand and strength reliant, bode Great Asius as he came, and fled him not. 92 HOMERIC SIMILES Μ. 145—172. Ικ δε τώ dt^avre ττνΚάων ττρόσθβ μαχεσθην, dypoTepoiai σνεσσιν eot/core, τώτ eV ορεσσιν άντρων r^e κννων δεχαται κολοσνρτον ιόντα, Βοχμω τ άίσσορτε πβρί σφίσιν αγνντον νΧην πρυμνην εκτάμνοντες, ύπαΐ δε τε κόμπος οοόντωΐ' γίγνεται, εΐσόκε τις τε βαλών εκ θυμον εληταί' ως των κόμπει γαΚκος επί στηθεσσυ φαεινός αντην βαλλομένων' μάλα γαρ κρατερως εμάχοντο, λαοΐσιν καθνπερθε ττεττοιθότες τβε βιτβφιν. οΐ δ' άρα γερμα^Ιοισιν εϋΒμητων άπο πνργων βάλλον αμυνόμενοι σφων τ αντων καΐ κλισιάων νηων τ ωκυπόρων. νιφάΒες δ' ως πίπτον εραζε, ας τ άνεμος ζαης, νεφεα σκιόεντα Ζονησας, ταρφειας κατεχενεν επί χθονί πουλυβοτείρτ)' ως των εκ χειρών βελεα ρεον, η μεν 'Αχαιών η^ε καΐ εκ Τρωών κόρνθες δ' άμή) ανον άϋτενν, ^αλλο/Λεναι μνλάκεσσι, καΐ άσπίοες όμφαλόεσσαι. TRANSLATED. 93 XLIX The Fight at the Gate and Rampart. Then forth they rushed and fought before the gates, Like two wild boars, who in their mountain home Await advancing rout of men and dogs ; And charging with a sidelong rush they break, Snapt to the roots, the copse-wood all around ; And of their teeth the gnashing sound is heard, Till to some hunter's stroke they yield their life : So on the heroes' breasts the brazen mail Rang 'neath the downright bloAvs ; for they did fight Full stubbornly, reliant on their strength And on the host that crowned the rampart high. These from the well-built towers hurled frequent stones. Themselves, their tents, and swiftly-sailing ships To guard. And thick as snowflakes to the earth Their missiles fell, flakes that a driving wind Whirling the shadowy clouds sheds thick and fast Upon all-nurturing earth. So from their hands, Both Trojan and Achsean, streamed the shower. And all around the helms and bossy shields Beneath the pelting boulders rattled loud. hij pa τότ ωι^ωξέν re /cat ώ πεπληγετο μηρώ Ασως ^ΎρτακίΒης, καΙ άλαστησας έπος ην8α' Ζευ πάτερ, ή ρά νν καΐ συ φίλοχΡενΒηζ έτέτνζο ττάγχν μάλ'• ου γαρ εγωγ' εφάμην ήρωας Άχαωύς σχησειν ημετερόν ye μένος καΐ χεΐρας άάπτονς. οΐ δ', ώστε σφήκες μέσον αΐόλοί, ήε μελισσαι, OLKLa ττονήσωνται οδω eVl παιπαλοεσση, οΰδ' άττολείτΓονσιν κοΐλον Βόμον, άλλα μένοντες αν8ρας θηρητηρας αμύνονται ττερί τέκνων' ως oly ουκ έθελουσυ ττυλάων, καΐ 8υ εόντε, χάσσασθαί, πρίν γ' ήε κατακτάμεν, ήε άλωναι. Μ. 278—287. των δ', ώστε νίφάΒες χωνος πίπτωσι θαμειαΧ ήματί χειμερίω, οτε τ ωρετο μητίετα Ζευς νιφεμεν, ανθρώποισι ττιφαυσκό μένος τα α κήλα' κοψήσας δ' άνεμους χεει εμττεΒον, οφρα καλύφη νχΙ^ηλων ορέων κορυφάς καΐ πρωονας άκρους καΐ πεοία λωτευντα καΐ άνΒρών πίονα έργα' Then loudly wailed the son of Hyrtacus, Struck both his thighs, and thus in wrath he spake ; " Oh Father Zeus ! thou too hast surely now Turned thee to love a lie, for well I weened That these Achaean heroes would not check Our onset bold and hands invincible. But they — as supple-waisted wasps or bees, Who by a rocky road their home have made Nor leave their hollow dwelling, but abide The hunter's coming and defend their young — So from the gates, tho' twain alone they be. They give no ground, but stand to slay or fall." A Stoi'm of Missiles. And as the frosty flakes fall thick and fast Upon a winter's day, when Zeus all-wise Bestirreth him to snow, his feathered shafts To mortals dealing forth — He lulls the wind And ever pours apace, till he enshroud The lofty mountain peaks and jutting bluffs And clovery meads and fruitful tilth of man, 96 HOMERIC SIMILES και τ ζφ' αλός πολυης κεχυται \ιμ4σιν Τ€ και ακταΐς, κνμα δε μίν ττροσττΚάζον 4ρνκ€ταί' άλλα re πάντα elXvarai καθνπ€ρθ\ οτ επφρίσΎ) Διός ομβροζ' ως των άμφοτερωσε λίθοι πωτωντο ^a/x-etat. Μ. 298—308. την αρ ογβ πρόσθε (τχάμενος, δνο Sovpe τινάσσων, βη ρ' ιμεν, ωστ€ λέων ορεσίτροφος, οστ inLhevrj<; ^ηρον erf κρειων, κελβται Se e θνμος άγήνωρ μήλων ττειρησοντα καΐ es ττνκινον Βόμον Ιλθεΐν eiirep yap ^ ενρ-ρσι παρ* αντόφι βωτορας ανΒρας συν κυσΐ καΐ Βονρεσσι φυλάσσονται περί μήλα, ου ρά τ απείρητος μεμονε σταθμοΐο Βίεσθαι, αλλ ογ αρ η ηρπαςε μεταλμενος, ηε και αυτός εβλητ εν πρωτοισι θοης απο χειρός ακοντι' ως ρα τότ άντίθεον "ϊ^αρπηΒόνα θυμός άνηκεν τείχος eVat^at δια τε ρη^ασθαι επάλξεις. TRANSLATED. 97 And of the hoary sea each bay and beach Is overspread, the lapping wave alone Checking the snowy fringe, all else o'erlaid With mantle white, as heavy falls the storm : So thick and fast the double stone-shower flew. LI Sarpedon assaults the Wall. With shield and spears Sarpedon took his way : Keen as a lion mountain-bred, whom long Fasting perforce from flesh, his spirit bold Now bids invade the flock and scale the walls That close the fold : for though he find therein Herdsmen with dogs and spears who guard the sheep. He brooks not from the yard without assault Back to be driven, but either leaping in Bears off a prey, or mid their foremost ranks Is struck by javelin from an active hand — So then Sarpedon, godlike wight, was bent To charge the wall and break the rampart through. G. 13 >«ΗΒΜΒΒβ«ΐαΒαΜΙΗ•>«ΜβΑΙΙ«ΜβηίΜ«ΗΗα 98 HOMERIC SIMILES Μ. 421—436. αλλ' ωστ' ά/χφ' ονροισι δν' dvepe Βηρυάασθον^ jLteVp' iv χερσίν έχοντες εττίζννω Ιν apovpr), ωτ ολίγω ειΛ χωρώ ερυζητον ττερι υση<ς, ως αρα τους ^ιεεργον επαΚζυες' οΐ δ' νπερ αντεων Srjovi' αλλήλων άμφΐ στήθεσσυ βοείας άστΓίδας ενκύκλονς λαίσήϊά τε πτεροεντα. πολλοί δ' οντάζοντο κατά χρόα νηλεί γαλκω, ήμεν οτεω στρεφθεντι μετάφρενα γνμνωθείη μαρναμενων, ττολλοί δε διαμπερές άσπίΒος αυτής, ττάντη δτ} πύργου καΐ επάλζίες αίματι φώτων ερρά^ατ άμφοτερωθεν άπο Ύρωων καί ^Αγαιων. αλλ' ουδ' ως ihvvavTO φόβον ποϋήσαυ Άχαίων αλλ' έχον, ώστε τάλαντα γυνή χερνήτίς αληθής, ήτε σταθμον έχουσα και ειριον αμφις ανελκει Ισάζουσ, Ινα τταυσίν άεικεα μισθον αρηταί' ως μεν των επΙ Ισα μάχη τετατο πτολεμος τε. TRANSLATED. 99 LII A close and even Fight. But as two neighbours for their bounds contend, With measuring rods in hand, on common ground, Who in a narrow plot debate their right, So these by rampart parted : over which, Each on the others' breasts, the ox-hide shields Full-orbed they hacked, and wicker targets light. And many bodies by the ruthless blade Were wounded, some who fighting bared the back As round they turned, and many through the shield By downright blow ; and everywhere the towers And ramparts with the blood of either host, Of Troy and of Achaia, reeking streamed. Nor could the stormers turn the Achaean foe : But steady still they stood, as sway the scales In woman's hand, some honest working dame. Who holding weight and wool adjusts the twain To hang in even poise, that she may earn A poor scant hire to feed her little ones : So nicely balanced hungr the strife of war. Ν. 62—65. αντοζ δ', ωστ ΐρηζ ωκύπτερος, ώρτο ττετεσθαι, δς ρά τ άπ αίγίλίπος ττετρης πβρυμηκζος άρθζΐς ορμησευ nehioLo Βίωκευν ορνεον άλλο* ως άτΓο των ηϊζε ΤΙοσει^άων ενοσίγθων. Ν. 99 — 1°6• ω ΤΓΟΤΓΟΙ, 17 jw.eya ^αΰ/χα τοο οφθαΚμοισιν ορωμαι, SeLvou, ο οϋποτ εγωγε τβλευτησεσθαί εφασκον, Ύρωας εφ" ημετέρας Ιεναι νέας' ο\ το τταρος περ φνζακίνΎ)ς εΚάφοισιν εοίκεσαν, άίτε καθ νλην θ ώων ττορΖαΧίων τε λύκων τ ηϊα πελονταυ, αντως ηλάσκονσαι, άνάλκυΒες, ουδ' eVt χάρμΎ)' ως Ύρωες το ττρίν ye μένος καΧ γείρας Χγαιων μίμνειν ουκ εθελεσκον εναντίον^ ούδ' ηβαυόν. LIII Poseidon's Departure. Then like a swift-winged hawk he took his flight; A hawk that from a beetling brow of rock Launched in mid air forth dashes to pursue Some lesser bird along the plain below. So sped from them the great earth-shaking god. LIV Fugitives turn Assailants. Heavens ! what a mighty marvel meets my eyes ! Full strange : an end I never thought to see. Upon our ships the Trojans charge ; who erst Were like to flying hinds, that in their woods To jackals, wolves and panthers fall a prey, As helpless, aimless, spiritless they roam Unmeet for fight. And so the sons of Troy Erewhile against the Achaeans' might and hands, No, not for one short moment durst abide. Ν. 136 — 146. Ύρώεζ he TrpovTvxjjav αολλεες, ήρχε. δ' άρ^ "Έκτωρ αντίκρυ μεμαως• ολοοίτρο)ζος ως απο ττετρης, άντε κατά στεφάνης ποταμός γειμάρροος ωοΎ), ρηζας άσπέτω ομβρω άναι^εος έγκατα πετρης, vxjJL• Τ άναθρώσκων πετεται κτνπέει δε θ' νπ αντου νΚιη ο ο ασφαλεως υεει εμπεοον, οψρ αν ικηται Ισόπε^ον, τότε δ' ούτι κυλίν^εται, εσσνμενός ττερ' ως "Έκτωρ, εϊως μεν άττειΚει μ^χρι θαλάσσης ρεα Βίελεύσεσθαι κΧίσίας καΐ νηας Α^αιωΐ' κτείνων' αλλ' ore δτ} πυκυνγ)ς ενεκνρσε φάλαγζι, στη ρα μάλ* εγχρίμφθείς. Ν. 178—181. 6 δ' αντ επεσεν, μελίη ώς, ητ όρεος κορυφή εκαθεν ττερυφαίνομενοω χαλκω ταμνομενη τερενα χθονί φύλλα πελάσση' ως πεσεν' αμφΐ δε οΐ βράχε τεύχεα ποικίλα χαλκω. TRANSLATED. 103 LV Hector s Onset, and its Check. On pressed the Trojan masses : Hector led, Impetuous rushing, as a mighty stone Rent from the rock ; which from some mountain brow A torrent has dislodged, with furious flood Breaking the holdings of the giant crag : Bounding on high it flies ; beneath it yields The crashing wood ; on, ever on, it speeds Unchecked, apace, until it reach the plain : Then stays perforce its haste and rolls no more. So Hector threatened for awhile to force Through tents and ships right onwards to the sea With ease his slaughtering way; but when he came Close on the solid squares, was checked, and stood. LVI Fall of Imbrins. He fell, as falls an oak, that on a peak Of mountain seen conspicuous from afar, Cut by the woodman's axe, brings low to earth Its tender leaves. So fell he, and his arms All richly wrought in brass around him rang. Ν. 198 202. ω<ττ€ δυ' αΤγα Χεοντε, κννων ύπο καρ-χαρο^όντων άρττάζαντε φερητον άνα ρωπηϊα πυκνά, vxjjov νττερ γαίης μετά γαμφηΧτΙσίν εχοντε' ως ρα τον vxpov εγρντε δνω λίαντε κορνστά τενχεα συλητην. Ν. 241—245. Βνσετο τενχεα καλά περί χροϊ, γεντο Se δουρ£, βη δ' ΐμεν άστεροπτ) ενα\ίγκιο<ζ, ην τε Κρονίων χειρί λαβών ετίναζεν απ* αίγληεντος "Ολύμπου, Βείκνυς σήμα βροτοΧσιν, άρίζηλοι δε οΐ αυγαι* ω? του -χ^αλκος έλαμπε περί σττθεσσι θεοντος. TRANSLATED. 105 LVII The bearing off of the Slain. As lions twain the carcase of a goat, Forced from the sharp-toothed hounds, through tangled scrub Bear in their jaws high lifted from the ground ; So then aloft the warrior Ajax pair Dead Imbrius bore, and spoiled him of his arms. LVIII Idomeneus to the Rescue. He donned his armour fair, two spears he took, Then went his way, like to the lightning flash, That in his hand the son of Cronos grasps And quivering hurls from bright Olympus' height, Shewing a sign to mortal men, whose beams Conspicuous shine afar. So on his breast Blazed forth the brazen armour as he ran. 14 Ν. 298—305. οίος δε βροταλοιγος "Αρης ττόλε/χοζ/δε μίτεισί τω δε Φόβος, φίλος νΙος, άμα κρατερός καΐ άταρβης €σπ€Τθ, οστ εφόβησε ταλάφρονά ττερ ΤΓολεμκττην' τω μεν αρ εκ (^ρΎ)κης ^Εφύρονς μετά θωρησσεσθορ ιηε μετά Φλεγυας μεγαλητορας' οϊ3δ' άρα τωγε εκλυον αμφοτέρων, ετεροισι δε κνΖος εΖωκαν' ToloL Μηριόνης τε καΐ ΊΒομενεύς, αγοί άντρων, ηϊσαν ες ττόλεμον, κεκορυθμενοι αίθοπι χαλκω. Ν. 334—337• ως δ' οθ ύπο λιγεων άνεμων σττεργωσιν αελλαι ηματι τω οτε τε πλείστη κόνίς άμφΐ κελενθονς, οϊ τ α/Αυδις κοννης μεγάλην Ιστάσιν όμίχλ-ην, ως αρα των ομόσ "ήλθε μάχτι. TRANSLATED. 107 LIX A terrible Pair. As slaughtering Ares shews, to battle bound, And with him Panic Fear, his well-loved son, A stout and dauntless god, before whose face The staunchest warrior quails — From Thrace the twain Arm them to aid the Ephyrean host Or their bold Phlegyan foes, nor hear the prayers Of both, but to one host the glory give — Such then were Merion and Idomeneus, Leaders of men, as to the battle-field In gleaming brass all armed they took their way. LX Renewed Battle. And as the storm-gusts of the whistling winds Together rush, what time the ways v/ith dust Are thickly laid, and gathering whirl on high The rolling cloud, so met their hosts in fight. io8 HOMERIC SIMILES N. 389—392• ηρίττε δ', ώ? ore rts Spvs ηριττεν, η αχβρωι,ς, ηε ττίτνς βλωθρη, την τ ovpecn τεκτονζζ auSpes εζζταμον ττελζκβσσί ν^ήκεσί, νηίον etvat' ώς ο πρόσθ' Ιππων καΧ δίφρου κεΓτο τανυσθείζ. Ν. 470—477• αλλ' ουκ Ίζομενηα φόβος λάβε, τηλνγετον ως, αλλ' εμβν, ως ore τις crGs ovpeatv αλκΐ πεποίθως, οστε μένει κοΧοσνρτον επερ-χόμενον πολύν άντρων χωρώ εν οίοπόλω, φρίσσει Si τε νωτον νπερθεν, οφθαλμώ δ' άρα οΐ πνρΐ λάμπετον, ανταρ οδόντα? θηγευ, άλεζασθαι μεμαώς κννας η^ε καΧ άνδρας' ως μένεν ΊΒομενενς ^ονρικλυτος, ούδ' ύπεγωρει Αΐνείαν επιόντα βογ} θοόν. TRANSLATED. 109 LXI The Slaying of Asius. He fell, as falls an oak, or poplar white, Or lofty pine, that on the mountain side The shipwrights hew with newly whetted axe Their craft to build : so he upon the plain Before his steeds and car extended lay. LXII Idomeneus awaits yEjteas. Idomeneus feared not as a tender child, But firm he stood ; as when a mountain boar, Bold in his might, abides the oncoming rout In lonely spot — bristles his ridgy back, His eyes blaze fire, his tusks he whets the while, All eager to beat back both dogs and men. So spear-renowned Idomeneus abode The onset of ^Eneas swift in fray. Nor gave him ground. no HOMERIC SIMILES N. 491—495. ανταρ CTretra Xaot ίττονθ\ ώσει re μξ,τα κτίλον ^σττετο μ,-ηλα πίόμζν εκ βοτάντηζ' γάνυταυ δ' αρα Τ€ φρένα ποιμην- ως ΑχνεΙα, θνμος ivl στηθεσσι γεγήθει, ώς IBe λαωρ έθνος επυσπόμενον έοΐ αυτω. Ν. 57°— 573- ενθα οΐ εγχος εττηζεν' 6 δ' εσττόμενος, ττερί Sovpl ησπαίρ , ως ore βονς, τόν τ ουρεσι βουκ6\οί άνΒρες iWaaLv ουκ εθελοντα βίτ) Βησαντες ατγονσιν' ως ο τυπεις ησπαιρε. ^mmmmemm9rm»mmm LXIII ^7icas leads his People. The people followed, as behind the ram The flocks go trooping to the water side, Their pasture done : a joy to shepherd's heart. Such joy ^neas in his bosom felt To see the throng that followed as he led. LXIV Death of Adainas. Pierced by the spear, he forward on it fell Struggling, as doth an ox that on the hills The herdsmen bind with thongs and lead away Unwilling and perforce : so struggled he. 112 HOMERIC SIMILES Ν. 588-592. ως δ' ΟΎ άπο πλατεος πτνόφί μβγάλην κατ άλωην θρωσκωσι κναμοί μελανόχροες, η ερββίνθοι, TTPOLrj νπο \iyvpfi καί λικμητηρο<ζ ερωγι' ως α,ττο θωρηκος Meuekaov κν^αλίμοω, πολλον αποπλαγχ^θβΐς, ίκάς επτατο τηκροζ οϊσ-τός. Ν. 70Ι — 7ο8. Αίας ο ονκετί πάμπαν, *ΟΪ\ηος ταχνζ ν16<ς, ιστατ απ ΑΪαντος Ύελαμωνίον, ονδ' ηβαυορ. αλλ ωσ-χ iu ι>6ίω βόε οίνοττε ττηκτον άροτρον, Ίσον θνμον εχοντε, τιταΐνετον. άμφΐ δ' αρα σφι ττρνμνοίσι κεράεσσι ττολυς άνακηκία ΙΒρως' τω μεν τε ζυγον οΤον εύξοον αμφίς εεργεί ίεμενω κατά ωλκα' τεμει 8ε τε τελσον άρονρης' ως τω παρβεβαωτε μάλ' εστασαν άλληλοαν. TRANSLATED. 113 LXV An Arroiv glances off. As from the spreading fan leap out the peas Or swarthy beans o'er all the spacious floor, Urged by the whistling wind and winnower's force, So then from noble Menelaus' mail Bounding aside far flew the bitin? shaft. LXVI The two Ajaces. And now no more Oileus* active son Ajax the less, no not for briefest space, His greater Telamonian namesake left : But as in clodded field two oxen red, Of equal temper, draw the jointed plough, Around whose horns upon their brows wells out The copious sweat, and they, with nought between Save the smooth yoke, holding their even way Force the sharp coulter through the furrowed soil : So side by side these twain in battle moved. G. 15 114 HOMERIC SIMILES Ν. 795— 8oi. 01 δ' Ισαν άργαλεωι^ άνβμων ατάλαντοι aekkj), η ρά θ* νπο βροντής ττατρος Διός elai neSovSe, θεσπεσίω δ' ό^αάδω <χλΙ μίσγ€ταί, iv δε re πολλά κύμ,ατα παφλάζοντα ττολνφλοίσβοω θαλάσσης, κυρτά, φαληρίόωντα, προ μεν τ αλλ , ανταρ in άλλα* ως Ύρωες, προ μεν άλλοι άρηρότες, ανταρ επ άλλοι, χαλκω μαρμαίροντες, άμ ηγεμόνεσσίν εποντο. Η. ι6 — 21. ώς δ' ore πορφυρτ] πέλαγος μέγα κνματι κωφω, υσσόμενον λιγεων άνεμων λανφηρα κελενθα αντως, ονδ' άρα τε προκυλίνοεται ονο ετερωσε, πρ'ιν TLva κεκριμενον καταβημεναι εκ Διός ούρον' ως 6 γέρων ωρμαινε ^αϊζόμενος κατά θνμον δΐ)(^άδι\ TRANSLATED. 115 LXVII The Trojan• Onset. On rushed they, furious as the stormy blast That at the thunderclap of Father Zeus Falls on the lands below, or in the main Plunges with deafening roar : the myriad waves, Frothing and seething, of the sounding sea, Foam-crested rise and curl, rank upon rank, Some front, some following. So the Trojan host, These ranged in front, these following, all ablaze With ghttering mail, around their chieftains moved. LXVII I I71 doubtful Mind. As heaves the deep dark sea with silent swell, Boding the rapid rush of whistling winds, Idly as yet, nor onward either way Its billows roll, till some determined gale From Zeus above descend ; so, as he mused, With doubtful thoughts the greybeard's mind was swayed. ii6 HOMERIC SIMILES H. 286 — 291. ξ.νθ' "Τττνοζ μεν e/xeive, πάροζ Atos ocrae ΙΖεσθαι, ets έλάτην άναβάς περίμ,ήκετον, η τότ iu "ΐδτ^ μακρότατη πεφυνΐα Sl ηερος αίθέρ ΐκανε. cf^' ηστ οζοισιν πβπνκασμβνοζ βίλατίνοίσυν, ορνιθί \iyvpfi ΐναλίγκίοζ, ην τ iv ορεσσι ^αλκιδα κικΚησκονσι θεοί, άνδρες 8e κνμιν^ιν. S• 393— 4ο Ι- οί δε ζννυσαν μεγάλω άλαλητω. οντε θαλάσσης κνμα τόσον βοάα προτΐ ^ερσον τΓοντόθεν ορννμενον πνουη Βορεω άλεγείνη' οντε πνροζ τόσσος γε ποτΐ βρόμοζ αίθομενοιο, ονρεος εν βησσης, οτε τ ωρετο καιεμεν νλην ουτ άνεμος τόσσον γε ττοτΐ ^ρυσίν υφίκόμοίσυν ήπύεί, οστε μάΧιστα μέγα βρεμεται γαΧεΊταίνων' οσση αρα Ύρωων καΐ Α^αιώμ επλετο φωνή, ^εινον άϋσάντων, ότ επ άλληλοίσυν ορουσαν. TRANSLATED. 117 LXIX Sleep perched aloft. There Sleep remained, unseen as yet of Zeus, Mounting a lofty fir, the tallest grown On Ida's slope that heavenwards reared its head. There sate he, by the fir-boughs shrouded close, Like to the screaming night-hawk of the hills, Chalcis by gods, by men Cymindis called. LXX T/i£ Din of tJie 7neeting Hosts. With mighty battle-cry the armies met. Less loud the billow thunders on the beach, Sped from the deep by furious Northern blast : Less loud the booming roar of blazing fire In narrow mountain glen, when forests burn: Less loud the wind, when noisiest in his ire He frets the lofty leafage of the oaks ; Than voice of Trojan and Achaean host, As shouting terribly they charged amain. ii8 HOMERIC SIMILES Ξ. 414 — 41 8. ως ό 0(7 υπο ρυπης πατρός Διός egepLnrj όρις πρόρρίζος, Beivrj δε Oeeiov γίγρεται ο^μη βξ αυτής' τον δ' οΰπερ εχευ θράσος, ος κεν Ι^ηται εγγύς εων' γαΧεπος δε Διός μεγάλοίο κεραυνός' ως επεσ Ε^κτοοος ώκα \αμαΙ μένος εν Kovirjai. Ο. 80—83. ως δ' όταν αίζγ] νόος άνερος, οστ επΙ πολλή ν yalav εληλουθως, φρεσΐ πευκαλί.μΎ)σί νόηση, ενθ ενην, η ένθα, μενουνησειε τε πολλά' ως κραιπνως jue/xavta διετττατο πότνία ^ίίρη• TRANSLATED. 119 LXXI Hector felled by a Stone. As when beneath the flash of Father Zeus An oak uprooted falls — wherefrom is spread Strong sulphurous stench, nor unaffrayed is he Who standing nigh beholds it, for the bolt Of mighty Zeus is great and terrible — So sudden in the dust stout Hector fell. LXXII Quick as TJioiight. And quick as fancies flash across the mind Of him who, travelled much in many a land. With crowding thoughts conceives " Ο were I here," Or " Were I there," in changeful eagerness : So quick in haste queen Here winged her way. 120 HOMERIC SIMILES 0. 168—172. ως εφατ' οΰδ' άπίθησε ποΒηι^βμος ωκεα Ίρις* βν δε κατ Ίδαίωι/ ορίων εΙς "ΐλων ίρηι/. ως εκ νεφεων πτηται νιφας, ηε μάλαζα \\)νγρη νπο ριττης αίθρηγενεος Βορεαο' <Λ ω9 κραιττνως /χβ/χαυΓα διετττατο ω /cea ^ίρις. 0. 236—238. ως εφατ' ουδ' α/9α πατρός άνηκούστησεν ^Απόλλων' βν Se κατ Ίδαιωι/ ορέων, Ιρηκί εοικώς Ι ωκϋ, φασσοφόνω, οστ ωκιστος πετεηνων. 0. 271—280. 0L , ωστ -η ελαφον κεραον rj αγρών atya ^σσ&νοντο κννες τε καΐ άνερες άγροιωται.' TRANSLATED. 121 LXXIII Descent of Iris. He spake: nor did fleet Iris disobey, His wind-outrunning messenger; but sped From Ida's heights to holy Ilion. As downwards from the clouds the feathered snow Or icy hail by frost-born Boreas driven; So, plunging swift, fleet Iris winged her way. LXXIV Apollo descends. He spake : and of the mighty Father's word Apollo not unheedful downwards sped From Ida's heights, like to a falcon fleet, The ringdove's bane, of birds the swiftest far. LXXV Hector rallies the Trojans, And as on wild goat or on antlered stag The dogs and troop of rustic hunters press, G. i6 122 HOMERIC SIMILES τον jaeV τ ηλίβατο•; πετρη καΐ ^άσκως νλη ζίρνσατ, ουδ' αρα τέ σφι κιχήμ-εναυ αίσιμον ηεν• των δε θ* νπο Ιαχης εφάνη λίς ηϋγενβως εΙς oSov, atxpa δε πάντας άπετραπε και μεμαωτας' ως Ααναοί εϊως μεν ομυλα^ον αΐεν εποντο, ννσσοντες ζίφεσίν τε καΐ εγγεσιν άμφνγνοισιν' αντάρ επεί lSov "Εκτορ εττοιχόμενον στίχας άντρων, τάρβησαν, ττασιν δε πάρα. ττοσί κάττπεσε θυμός. Ο. 323—327• οΐ δ' ωστ -ηε βοών άγελην η ττων μεγ οίων θηρε δυω κΚονεωσι μελαίνης νυκτός άμολγω, ελθόντ εξαττίνης, σημάντορος ου παρεοντος' ως εφόβηθεν ΆχαιοΙ άνάλκώες' εν γαρ Άπολλωι^ ηκε φόβον, ΎρωσΙν δε και "Εκτορί κΰ^υς οπαζει^. ■ΜΜΜΗΜΜβΒΗΙ TRANSLATED. 123 Whom precipice and darksome wood defend Not fated by pursuer's hand to fall : For at their shouts a bearded lion roused Confronts their path, and quickly turns them all, Full eager though they be: so for a while The Danaans followed thronging on their foe, With thrust of swords and lances double-shod : But soon as they espied great Hector's self Passing amid the ranks, they were afraid. And to his feet the heart of each man fell. LXXVI Scattered like Sheep. As two wild beasts amid a herd of kine Or ample flock of sheep sad havoc make In blackest midnight hour, by sudden raid, When none is there to guard : so fled the host All helpless ; by Apollo panic-struck, Who gave renown to Hector and to Troy. 124 HOMERIC SIMILES Ο. 361 — 366. epeme δε ret^os * Αχαιών peia μάλ , ω? ore rt? χράμαθον πάϊς αγγι θαλάσσης' οστ , €7Γ€(< OVU πουησΎ) αθύρματα νητηεησιν, αφ avTLi. xii. 67 is an imitation. Shakspeare, Macbeth, Act. 11. Sc. 3, has an interesting parallel : Here lay Duncan : His silver skin lac'd with his golden blood. Matthew Arnold also, in SoJirah and Rustum: Sohrab loos'd His belt, and near the shoulder bar'd his arm, And shew'd a sign in faint vermilion points Prick'd : as a cunning workman, in Pekin, Pricks with vermilion some clear porcelain vase, An emperor's gift — at early morn he paints And all day long, and, when night comes, the lamp Lights up his studious forehead and thin hands: — So delicately prick'd the sign appear'd On Sohrab's arm. XII Prof. Blackie quotes from an interesting essay by Cope "On the picturescjue in Greek Poetry" a remark on this passage. " There is not the least symptom in it of any feeling of pleasure or interest derivable from the contemplation of the gathering of the storm — all is unmixed terror." And the writer speaks further of " the utilitarian character of Greek notions of scenery." Of course there is much truth in this. And to the shepherd doubtless the storm was a terror ; and it is used by Homer to express the terrible oncoming of the hostile columns. Eut the poet him- self— had not he an interest, nay even a sort of pleasure, in the sights which he so well describes ? Few will go with Pope in the famous night- scene in the eighth book ; whose shepherd is made to " eye the blue vault and bless the useful light." Of Homer at least I think we may say that, while not sentimental about the picturesque, he was not insensible to the grandeur of nature's sights and sounds. XIII I have not been able to refrain from taking the whole of this noble passage, from the beginning of the first simile to the end of the third. This is the first battle in Homer, and he introduces it with great grandeur and force. The simile from the sea is imitated by Virgil, but is applied by him to the furious charge of a wild boar : Praeceps oblitum fertur in hostem : Fluctus uti, medio ccepit cum albescere ponto, Longius ex altoque sinum trahit; utque volutus Ad terras immane sonat per saxa, neque ipso Monte minor procumbit; at ima exsestuat unda Vorticibus nigramque alte subjectat arenam. Georg. III. 237. And in ^n. vii. 528 he applies it, but less elaborated, to an army. But Virgil does not deal with exactly the same point of comparison as Homer does, viz. the incessant following of wave upon wave and column upon column. Nor is he so distinct and truthful in the picture of the sea G. 28 gradually rising and rolling in. Catullus in EpUh. 270 — 8 is, to my mind, more strikingly true : Hie ciualis flatu placidum mare matutino Horrificans Zephyrus proclivas incitat undas, Aurora exoriente vagi sub lumina soils ; Quae tarde primum clcmcnti flamine pulsas Procedunt, Icni resonant plangore cachinni ; Post, vento crescente, magis magis incrcbrescunt, Purpureaque procul nantes a luce refulgent: Sic turn vcstibuli linqucntes regia tccta Ad sc quisque Λ -ago passim pcdc discedcbant. Catullus' picture is of course more peaceful than Homer's, as he is illustrating the dispersion of a peaceful crowd. Homer himself has several ])assages somewhat similar: e.g. ύ]. 63, ^. 16. Comp. also Scott : Then, like the billow in his course, That far to sea-ward finds his source, And flings to shore his muster'd force. Burst with loud roar their murmur hoarse. Lady of tlic Lake, in. 9. I have departed from the accepted rendering of Ιχοντ Iv στηθίσίν ανΖην "possessing the power of speech:" it seems to me rather preferable to take Ιχοντα "checking, suppressing." The army so kept within their breasts their voice that none would deem their numbers to be what they really were. The confuscdness and the difference of tone, in a bleating flock of shecp; must have struck every observer. The wealthy lord or rich sheep- master (as were Abraham, Jacob, the Moabite king Mesha) takes one back to patriarchal times, when sheep were the chief wealth. Of this the Icelandic language preserves a record in the word _/?, which means both " sheep " and " money : " our own " fee " reminds us of the same ; and both are cognate to the stem of the Greek ττάομαι from which the word τΓολυπάμων comes. The description of Discord has been partly borrowed by Virgil, but applied to Fame. The whole passage describing the meeting of the hosts has been most deservedly commended by critics, ancient and modern. The five lines συν ρ" (.βαλον γαία for concentrated force have perhaps never been equalled. To ancient parallels or imitations we may add one from Tennyson in T/ie Passing of Arthur: And in the mist Was many a noble deed, and many a base. And chance and craft and strength in single fights, And ever and anon with host to host Shocks, and the splintering spear, the hard mail hewn, Shield-breakings, and the clash of brands, the crash Of battle-axes on shatter'd helms, .... Sweat, writhings, anguish, labouring of the lungs In that close mist, and cryings for the light. Moans of the dying, and voices of the dead. Of the torrent simile Virgil has partial imitations : Aut ubi decursu rapido de montibus altis Dant sonitum spumosi amnes, et in a^quora currunt, Quisque suum populatus iter. ^n. XII. 523. 220 NOTES. Stupet inscius alto Accipicns sonitum saxi de vertice pastor. yEn. II. 307. But Homer's μιαγάγκεια is peculiarly happy: it is at once a confluence and a fall of Avaters into one seething pool that is brought vividly before us : any one who has seen much of a mountainous country will remember some such place. Scott describes the gathering of the Highlanders ; That met as torrents from the height In Highland dales their streams unite. Latfy of the Lake, III. 24. Then what force in οβρψον ! how well chosen ! So also is the word for the noise of the distant water, as it strikes the shepherd's ear (δουττος) : it is a kind of intermittent, beating sound : not the rush and roar of water close by. So in Od. v. 401 Ulysses swimming for his life hears the δουττο? of the sea against the rocks, while as yet some way off. XIV The fall of a warrior is a frequent occasion for simile : and a tree is often the illustration, as in v. 3S9 and p. 53. Here the comparison is chiefly of the fair young Simoisius, as he lay, to the prostrate poplar : the manner of his falling is not so much meant. And the circumstances about the poplar — its destination, &c. — ^are merely ornamental. It is of the branches probably that the felloe is to be made (such an operation is described in ΊΊ -ieocritus, Idyll xxv. 24S — 50), but of course Simoisius is like the smooth trunk. The prowess of Diomed, which is the subject of the fifth book, gives occasion for several comparisons of this hero: to a star, a river, a hon. This passage Virgil has imitated, and in Pope's judgment has surpassed his original : Ardet apex capiti, cristisque a vertice flamma Funditur, et vastos umbo vomit aureus ignes; Non secus ac liquida si quando nocte cometae Sanguinei lugubre rubent aut Sirius ardor: Ille sitim morbosque ferens mortalibus iegris Nascitur, et Icevo contristat lumine caelum. J£n. X. 270. Satan stood Unterrified, and like a comet burn'd, That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair Shakes pestilence and war. Milton, Par. Lost, Bk. II. It may be noticed that the latter part of these passages has another Homeric original in Iliad φ. 30. XVI A river in flood is nobly described more than once by Homer : we may compare ττ. 390, p. 746, and the whole description of the 222 NOTES. flooded Scamander in the twenty-first book. Lucretius has a forcible passage : Ncc ratione fluunt alia stragcmquc propagant Et cum mollis aqujE fertur natura repente Flumine abundanti, quam largis imbribus augct Montibus ex altis magnus decursus aquai, Fragmina coniciens silvarum arbustaque tota, Nee validi possunt pontes venicntis aquai Vim subitam tolerare, ita magno turbidus imbri Molibus incurrit validis cum viribus amnis. And Virgil I. 280. Non sic aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis Exiit oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, Fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnes Cum stabulis armenta tulit. A!^n. II, 496. Most translators render γέφυρας "bridges." It certainly means "dykes" or "dams:" mounds or banks of earth such as we see along our Eastern Counties rivers ; and, I may add, we see floods burst them with disastrous consci^uence. The river bursts its banks, then invades the orchards, &c. Dante describes, by way of simile, the Flemish dams : Quale i Fiamminghi tra Guzzantc e Bruggia, Temendo Ί fiotto che inver lor s' avventa, Fanno lo schermo, pcrche Ί mar si fuggia. It is doubtful whether bridges were much known in Homer's time. NOTES. 223 XVII Diomed is more infuriated than ever, like a slightly wounded lion. It is the lion's attack that is the point of comparison, not his leap from the fold with his prey. The frightened sheep may be the Trojans : but much of the detail is purely ornamental. XIX As the floor becomes white with chaff, so the ranks with dust. Demeter, the goddess of corn, is herself represented as present and helping the work of winnowing. It is a simile of great beauty, and the more so as a relief in a battle-piece. XX Pope observes that " this simile contains as fine a picture of nature as any in Homer : but one that can only be appreciated by those who are conversant with a mountainous country. In calm weather, in a hilly region, vapours are to be seen covering the tops and stretched along the sides of the mountains. The whole compass of nature cannot afford a nobler and more exact representation of a numerous army, drawn up in line of battle and expecting the charge. The long extended even front, the closeness of the ranks, the firmness, order and silence of the whole, are all drawn with great resemblance in this one comparison." 224 NOTES. XXI Two brothers, whose noble descent and skill in war have just been spoken of, are compared to two young lions whose destructive career is cut short. The addition of the short comparison of the tall youths to pines will perhaps be thought to weaken the effect of the passage. But Homer more than once has added such short similes to elaborate ones: com- pare λ. 73. XXII A picture of a traveller suddenly nonplussed. I have followed Heyne in taking άττάλαμνος with στηΎ), rather than as a simple epithet of character with άνηρ, " a simple, silly, foolish countryman." At all events if άπ. be taken of the man's general character (" some simple swain," Pope), the poet seems to have chosen the Avord because his simplicity, Avant of resource, shiftlessness, especially come out in this difficulty at the river. Poi)e's "swelling brook" is hardly enough for Homer's ''river flowing onwards to the sea." Nor do I think his "tir'd returns at last" is quite to the point. It is the sudden recoil from the unexpected barrier that is the gist of the comparison. We do not know, nor care to know, what the man did "at last:" whether he proved the " rusticus exspcctans," or found a way across, or went home again. NOTES. XXIII Each bound of the horses carried them as far as a man can see from a commanding height. Longinus, quoting these verses as an instance of the sublime, says: "In what a wonderful manner does Homer exalt his deities ; measuring the leaps of their very horses by the whole breadth of the horizon !'* The word -qepo^iZh, which Heyne says is simply "aeris prospectus, aer" seems rather to mean the misty dim distance, where sea and sky meet. The word is usually an epithet of the sea ; because "streaked with the shadows of passing clouds" say L. and S. ; more pro- bably because of the mists, haze, etc., overlying it. XXIV Ares goes upward in black clouds, like those which gather as the wind rises in hot summer weather when a tempest is coming. The exact con- struction of the Greek original is difficult to be certain about. I have followed Heyne. XXV Fig-juice was anciently used for rennet. Similes are borrowed by Homer from the commonest occupations, provided they are apt. ti- 29 226 NOTES. XXVI This well-known simile, put in the mouth of Glaucus, at the celebrated meeting of that hero with Diomed, has a more limited meaning than that in Avhich it is usually quoted. Diomed had asked Glaucus of his birth and family. Glaucus answers that nothing is more unstable and changing than the splendour and nobility of particular families. But the Greek easily lends itself to the more general sense of the transiency of all human life. It has been often praised and imitated. Simonides quotes the first line as " the fairest saying of the Chian bard." Aristophanes in the Birds has a fcAv beautiful lines partly suggested by it : oy€ οη φχ σιν uvSpes αμανρόβιοί, φύλλων yerca ιτροσΰμοιοι, ο'λίγοδραΐ££ς κ.τ.λ. The passage quoted by Clemens as from Musoeus, which he supposes to be imitated by Homer, is more probably itself the imitation. A scrip- tural parallel is Ps. ciii. 15, 16, "The days of man are but as grass, for he flourisheth as a flower of the field. For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more." But, as was said above, it is the transient glory of families and generations, the constant succession and change, that Homer is illustrating. XXVII Oualis ubi abruptis fugit pracsepia vinclis Tandem liber equus, campoque potitus aperto. NOTES. 227 Aut ille in pastus armentaque tendit equarum, Aut, assuetus aquie perfundi flumine noto, Emicat, arrectisque fremit cervicibus alte Luxurians; luduntque jubie per colla, per armos. Virg. ^n. XI. 492, Come destrier, che dalle regie stalle, Ove all' uso dell' armi si riserba, Fugge e libero alfin per largo calle Wa. tra gli armenti, ο al fiume usato, ο all' erba; Scherzan sul coUo i crini, e su le spalle Si scote la cervice alta e superba; Suonano i pie nel corso, e par ch' avvampi Di sonori nitriti empiendo i campi. Tasso, cant. ix. 75. I quite agree with Prof. Blackie, as against Virgil and most translators, that Ιππων in 1. 511 is not specially "mares :" and that "liberty, not love, is the key-note of the passage." And that ηλίκτωρ in this passage means " a cock," as Gladstone thinks, seems most improbable. Not only is all evidence as to its meaning elsewhere, and that of ηλ^κτρον, against this theory ; but there would be (to my mind) something absurd in this com- parison. This image is repeated and applied to Hector in o. 263. It seems to suit Paris better than his brother. XXVIII Hector, joined by Paris, is a welcome sight to the Trojans. A some- what similar comparison is in Od. ψ. 233, where Ulysses is welcome to Penelope as land to the sailor shipwrecked and swimming for his life. 228 XOTJiS. XXIX Hector has been urged by Helenus to challenge a champion to single combat. Athene and Apollo sit on a tree much as Sleep does in ξ. 289. Heyne will have it that in this and other bird-similes the gods are not actually in the form of birds, but only in manner of sitting, flying, &c. like birds. Surely this is a needless attempt to save the dignity of the Homeric gods. Rather (as Blackie remarks), " if the gods are to assume the shape of any animal, they can adopt none more pleasing to the popular imagination than that of a bird." The simile by Avhich the host is described is very apt. The word φρ\ξ is most expressive. It occurs again in a simile ψ. 692, and in φ. 126 /ίΑίλαιναν φρίκα. AVe may compare Tennyson's phrase " little breezes dusk and shiver." Catullus has " horrificans Zephyrus." It is the gentle motion that quivered over the field from the helmets, spears, &:c. of which the poet would convey an image. XXX Other similes from hounds occur: in κ. 35S and χ. 1S9. Lines 339, 340 here are very graphic : one may compare Scott's dogs of St Hubert's breed following the deer (in the Lady of the Lake), that Fast on his flying traces came, And all but won that desperate game, For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, \'indictive toil'd the bloodhounds staunch. NOTES. 229 XXXI After Tennyson's translation of this well-known night piece it will hardly be possible to satisfy English ears. The translation given is at least independent, for it was made, nearly in its present form, before that of Tennyson appeared. With regard to the phrase " bridge of war or battle," it has been said on an earlier passage that γεφνραι in Homer are pro- bably rather "dams" than "bridges:" but πτολίμοίο γ. is what parts the two opposite armies, as a bridge would part those on opposite banks : hence " bridge " may be accepted as a tolerable equivalent. The word dptTrpeiria is expressive for the clear brightness of the stars on a calm night. Aristophanes must have had Homer in his memory when he wrote the pretty line κνματα τ €σ/?£σε νψίμος αίθηρ. As perhaps had ^schylus, though he is speaking of a dead calm on a summer's day, in the two beautiful lines Ύ] θαλτΓΟζ €υτ€ πόντος εν μ€σημβρα'αΐ<: KotVais άκνμων νηνεμοΐζ evBoL ττεσών. Or summer heat, what time the unrippled sea In windless noonday calm is laid asleep. Lines which almost induce Mr Cope, in the essay quoted above on ΧΠ, to allow ^schylus some appreciation of nature's beauties for themselves. I am not convinced by Heyne and Blackie that hnes 557, 558 are wrongly inserted here from o. 299. Blackie's first objection is that the aorists ^φαν^ν, νιτερράγη necessarily imply a sudden bursting out. There 230 NOTES. must of course have been such a bursting out ; but in the amplification of a simile, which Homer so delights in, every detail need not belong to the same time, or find its exact counterpart in the thing illustrated. Almost any long and elaborate simile would shew this. The coming out of the peaks, the rolling back of the under veil of ether from the heaven, are strictly (if you like) antecedent causes to the calm, but are they un-Homeric or out of place ? And as for " the clumsy tautology which the double mention of the αίθηρ introduces," nothing is more certain than that such tautology is common in Homer. Further, the ejection of these two lines would leave in the text πάντα Se τ etScrat άστρα closely after ω? δ' υτ ίν οΰρανω άστρα, a tautology surely just as obnoxious to criticism. But let me make amends to Prof. Blackie by transcribing from his note on this passage what I cordially agree with : " The Greeks were no view-hunters or landscape-painters : but they lived much in the open air, and looked on the great pictures of nature, as the divine scenery of the sacred drama of human life, with a cheerful healthy delight." ΧΧΧΠ The uncertainty at once and trouble of the Greeks is well imaged by the sea under two different winds, hardly knowing which to obey. In ^. i6 we shall have α similar illustration of α mind hesitating between two opinions. Boreas and Zephyrus blow from Thrace : to a native of the coast of Asia Minor this would be a natural way of describing them. On the second simile Blackie observes that Homer's use of "dark- watered fountain, dark water" here is an example of the utter want of special propriety with which he uses his epithets. That Homer emi^loys NOTES. 2-, I loosely such epithets as άμνμων, δίος, &c. is certain. But it is not plain that he does so in his similes. The fountain might surely be "dark- watered : " and even the dropping water need not be white, as Blackie says. A waterfall seen at a distance against a rock will be so, but \vater streaming or trickling down a rock in a dark chasm might be dark. XXXIII The embassy to Achilles having failed, Agamemnon passes a sleepless night, deeply troubled and anxious. The opening of this book, and the visit of the king to his trustiest chiefs (which ends in the night expedition of Ulysses and Diomed) may be compared with the first scene of Act iv. in Henry V., where our great dramatist has set forth powerfully the sleep- less cares which beset a king, in the person of Henry on the eve of Agincourt; concluding with the noble speech "Upon the king ! &c." The main point of this comparison is the frequency of the lightning flashes, which illustrate the frequency of Agamemnon's groans. I take στόμα π. " the mouth of war " to be rather as Heyne says " frons aciei et ipsa acies" than "fauces." But indeed the two ideas may be combined. The adjective rendered "biting" (πευκβδανοξ) is one of a family of words belonging to the stem whence come "pic, peak, &c." "Sharpness" is (as Buttmann shews) the original idea; which may be applied to the various senses of touch, taste, smell, cS:c, Pope renders this " Or bids the brazen throat of war to roar." XXXIV Pope makes the beast "a lioness." The invasion of the fold (which occurs several times in Homer's similes) is generally by a lion ; but it is always λέων, never λέαινα, even in cases where we should perhaps expect the "lioness" rather than the "lion :" e.g. p. 133, σ. 318. XXXVI Hector flashes out and in like a bright star when clouds are scudding over the heavens. The "baneful star" is the "star of late summer," to whom Diomed was compared, t. 5, that is, Sirius, or the dogstar. The simile from mowers is a remarkable one. Two companies of mowers began at the extremes of the field, and proceeded till they met in the middle. To keep a steady line (ΰ-γμον όρ^ον) was a great point in good mowing. "You cannot keep the swathe straight" says a mower to his mate, in Theocritus, Id. x. 2. The two opposing lines of the armies advance as steadily as the two lines of mowers. These cut down the corn : the warriors cut down each other ; as they have already closed. The main point is the steady equality of the fight : neither line broken : their " heads kept in even roAv." Matthew Arnold has imitated this simile : And as afield the reapers cut a swathe Down though the middle of a rich man's corn, And on each side arc squares of standing corn, NOTES. 233 And in the midst a stubble, short and bare : So on each side were squares of men, with spears Bristling, and in the midst the open sand. Sohrab and Rustniii. XXXVII Agamemnon, as the royal beast, easily vanquishes the pair of foemen. That it is in or near his own lair that the lion finds them, not in theirs ("some lair," Pope), is plain from Odyss. 8. 355 — 340 where nearly the same comparison is used. "As when a hind, having laid down her young sucking-fawns in the jungle of a mighty lion, explores for pasture the glens and grassy glades, but the lion presently returns to his own lair, and brings on them both a cruel fate, so Ulysses will slay the suitors." This pas- sage Heyne compares, and remarks " mos leonis non est aliena lustra investigare." But one would also suppose that it is not the habit of hinds to lay their fawns in other animals' lairs. Pope having translated "All drowned in sweat the panting mother flies," adds of his own, "And the big tears roll trickling from her eyes." XXXVIII Fire in a forest is a favourite illustration with Homer. We had it for the blaze of armour in IV. In o, 605 it is used to illustrate a warrior's impetuous course, and this simile is more elaborated in v. 490. Virgil has employed it with rather a different application, in A^n. x. 405. And Scott by the same image describes the speed of the fiery cross summoning the clan to war : G. 30 234 NOTES. Not faster o'er thy heathery braes, Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, Rushing in conflagration strong Thy deep ravines and dells along. Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow, And reddening the dark lakes below: Nor faster speeds it, nor so far. As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. Ladj of the Lake, ill. 24. XXXIX Several similes from animals follow within short compass : from the lion, the boar, jackals. The frequency of hunting-scenes shews hunting to have been preeminently the warrior's recreation. Indeed warriors of old, like Nimrod, were " mighty hunters." XL The epithet ZoetSea "dark" is surely proper to the sea under these circumstances, when over-shadowed by a gloomy storm-cloud; and not common-place to the sea in any condition, as some critics maintain Homer's epithets always are. XLI Hector scatters his foes as the West wind scatters the clouds. The epithet οίργ€στή<; "white," though plainly the origin of Horace's a/dus Notits, NOTES. 235 does not mean the same. For Horace speaks of " the white South wind sweeping off the clouds from the sky:" but in Homer white clouds, or "a cloudy haze" (Blackie), are collected by the South wind, and driven away by the Zephyr or West wind. Of course each poet may be speaking correctly of the effect of the winds in his own country. The adornment of the simile πολλον δε κ. τ. λ. is fine, both in sound and sense. XUII Ac velut ille canum morsu de montibus altis Actus aper, (multos Vesulus quern pinifer annos Defendit, multosque palus Laurentia) silva Pastus arundinea, postquam inter retia ventum est, Substitit, infremuitque ferox at inhorruit armos ; Nee cuiquam irasci propiusve accedere virtus, Sed jaculis tutisque procul clamoribus instant ; Ille autem impavidus partes cunctatur in omnes, Dentibus infrendens, et tergo decutit hastas: Haud aliter etc. Virg. ^)t. X. 707. Sicut aper, silvis longe Laurentibus actus, Fulmineo celeres dissipat ore canes, Mox tamen ipse perit: sic non moriuntur inulti. Ov. Fast. II. 231. There are many Homeric pictures of wild beasts at bay. Hesiod has one Sc. Here. 386, similar to this and to that in the next book, μ. ιφ. 2^6 NOTES. XLIV An elaborate comparison. The Trojans are the jackals ; Ulysses the stag, wounded, but not yet exhausted ; Ajax the lion. But the details must not be pressed too closely : Ulysses does not die, as the stag does ; nor does Ajax scatter the Trojans in order to devour their prey, but to deliver it. In o. 271 our poet has a simile rather like this, of a lion dispersing hounds in pursuit of their quarry. Virgil has applied the simile of the wounded deer rather differently in -£;/. iv. 69. XLV One of Homer's happy river similes. There is in these a resemblance, and yet a variety. The first was of Diomed (XVI). Ajax's prowess is illustrated here, and in the next passage : it is such that it needs Zeus to help a host of foes to drive him back. XLVI A justly admired passage. The first comparison eminently suits as a picture of Ajax. There is great vividness in παπττ^'να?, and in oXiyov γονυ yovvo'i άμύβων, " slowly and with short steps passing knee by knee." And the second illustration (though the ass will perhaps sound rather mean to our ears) is most effective to shew the bulk, strength, and obstinacy of the hero, Avhom the Trojans impotcntly endeavour to drive away. Pope quotes NOTES. 2ΐη Dacier to vindicate the ass, '* an animal not then In such circumstances of contempt as now; a beast upon which kings and princes might be seen with dignity : to which Jacob in Scripture compares one of his sons, ' Issachar shall be as a strong ass '." He also quotes a sensible remark of Boileau's : " that the Avords of different languages are not always exactly correspondent : it may happen that a word which is noble in Greek cannot be rendered in another tongue but by one which is very mean." There is certainly much in the mere sound of words. Some critics are offended at the "boys." Homer elsewhere compares Apollo to a child destroying his sand-heap on the shore : so it is plain he saw no loss of dignity in homely comparison. Shakspeare makes Wolsey say that in his ambition he has ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, These many summers in a sea of glory. , Pope will not put the ass in his own translation : he puts " the slow beast with heavy strength endued ;" which rather hazily suggests a rhinoceros or hippopotamus, only the pursuit by boys does not seem to harmonize with that. At the same time he pertinently remarks that, "in judging of comparisons, we should not examine if the subject whence they are derived be great or little, but if the image produced be clear and lively, if the poet has the skill to dignify it by poetical words, and if it perfectly paints the thing intended." 23δ NOTES. XLVII Virgil has followed Homer in this Hon simile, ^n. ix. 792, and Dryden Virgil : So Libyan huntsmen on some sandy plain, From shady coverts rous'd, the lion chase ; The kingly beast roars out Avith loud disdain, And slowly moves, unknowing to give place. Annus Mirabilis. The fight at the Greek entrenchments gives opportunity for several fine similes. Hector and Sarpedon are prominent among the Trojans. The point of this comparison is the restless turning about of Hector as he tries to find an assailable place in the rampart, and to urge his troops to the charge. He is not alone and at bay like the boar. XLIX Three similes follow in close succession. The " sidelong rush" of the boar is noticed by Horace : " Verris obliquum meditantis ictum." The stones are here compared to a driving snowstorm : this comparison is varied shortly afterwards at 1. 278. The image taken from wasps is repeated in -π. 259. It is one of but few instances of a simile in a speech. Blackie takes αίόλοι of colour, " yellow-ringed." He thinks that it cannot well be interpreted of motion with μίσον. I do not see the difficulty : the easy moving and bending of the wasp at the juncture of his two halves (so to speak) is most characteristic of the insect. NOTES. 239 There could not be a more perfect picture of a windless winter's day with a silent steady fall of snow, cloaking all, even to the very verge of the sea. In Homer, with the snow, as with lightning, floods, &c., it is the Divine Power that maketh it to fall apace. "As birds flying he scattereth the snow, and the falling down thereof is as the lighting of grasshoppers : the eye marvelleth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and the heart is astonished at the raining of it." Ecclus. xhii. 17. Pope's translation here is fine : but with additions, as usual " Bent with the weight the nodding woods are seen" finds no counterpart in the original: and the KVjxa...lpv- Kerat is hardly the same as The circling seas alone, absorbing all, Drink the dissolving fleeces as they fall. Dante briefly but forcibly describes a shower of flaky fire : Sovra tutto il sabbion d' un cader lento Piovean di fuoco dilatate falde, Come di neve in alpe senza vento. I'lferfio, Xiv, 28, Petrarch speaks happily of Neve bianca Che senza vento in un bel colle fiocchi. 240 NOTES. LI Sarpedon is the greatest in the ranks of Troy, next to Hector : it requires Patroclus in Achilles' armour to overcome him. The comparison is of the same kind as many others, but there is great variety of expression in the poet's numerous lion similes. Virgil's Impastus ceu plena loo per ovilia turbans, Suadet enim vesana fames is quoted in illustration. LII Pope is, I think, wrong in supposing the disputants to belabour each other with their measuring rods. The point of the simile is that the rampart divided the combatants as the boundary line does two neigh- bours Avho are met to settle the bounds, of which neither λνϋΐ bate an inch. Wrangling seems meant, but not blows : rather argument and measurement. A comparison drawn from common country life to illustrate the battle is a relief So we have immediately afterwards the workwoman with her scales. She is weighing out the wool which she will have to spin and return when spun. Pope quotes from Eustathius, " It was an ancient tra- dition that the poet drew this comparison from his own f.imily ; being him- self the son of a woman who maintained herself by her own industry; he therefore to extol her honesty (a qualification very rare in poverty) gives her a place in his poem." This is curious, but of course not verifiable. Virgil has imitated part of this passage in ^Έη. viii. 40S : cum fcemina primum Cui tolcrare colo vitam tcnuiquc Minerva NOTES, 241 Impositum, cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignes, Noctem addens operi, famulasque ad lumina longo Exercet penso, castum ut servare cubile Conjugis et possit parvos educere natos. But Virgil's spinner is rather above Homer's in station ; for she has some lassies working under her, whom she keeps to their task. LIII This book is rather rich in similes : it contains fourteen. Poseidon, taking human form, comes to encourage the Greeks : he speaks to the two Ajaces, inspires them with strength, and departs. The description of the hawk is most life-like : the spring into the air expressed by dpOeU, the dash after the quarry by όρμησα. These are the points of the comparison ; there is no pursuit in Poseidon's case. In Book xxii Achilles' pursuit of Hector is illustrated by falcon and dove. LIV This is in Poseidon's address to the Greeks, where he rouses them by appealing to their acknowledged superiority to the Trojan barbarians. LV Ac veluti mentis saxum de vertice praeceps Cum ruit avulsum vento, seu turbidus imber G. 31 242 NOTES. Proluit aut aniiis solvit sublapsa vetustas, Fcrtur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu Exultatque solo, silvas armenta vii'osquc Involvens secum: disjecta per agmina Turnus Sic urbis ruit ad muros. Virg. ^n. XII. 684. Qual gran sasso talor, che ο la vecchiezza Solve da un monte, ο svelle ira dc' venti, Ruinoso dirupa, e porta e spezza Le selve, e con le case anco gli armenti ; Tal giu traea dclla sublime altezza L' orriliil travc e merli cd armc c genti. Tasso, XVIII. 82. Pope justly remarks how inferior these are to their original. "They have lost many of the corresponding circumstances which raise the just- ness and sublimity of Homer's simile." The last part of the comparison, the stopping of Hector as of the stone, is peculiarly happy. Nor is there in Homer the exaggeration that there is in Virgil : he is truthful, yet grand. And (as Pope remarks) "there is a beauty in the numbers: the verses themselves make us see; the sound of them makes us hear, what they represent." Heyne quotes a parallel from Hesiod's Shield of Hercules, 1. 374; which however rather describes an avalanche of stones than one hu^e rollinir mass. LAT Several similes of this kind occur on the fall of a warrior : but with variety to suit the circumstances. Imbrius has been described as a youtli, honoured by Priam, wedded to one of the king's daughters. His youthful beauty seems suggested by repeva χθονί φύλλα ireXaaarj. Commentators remark on the fitness with which sound echoes sense in the last line. The Greek language lends itself to this poetical ornament most readily. LVII The comparison is simply of the two bearing off one in each case, Imbrius is not taken from any who can represent the hounds of the simile. LVIII The prowess of Idomeneus, the great Cretan hero, is ηολν prominently brought forward. He is accompanied by his squire Meriones. LIX Thrace, as the seat of warlike tribes, is the country of the god of war, who lends his aid to one or other side. Virgil had this simile before him in the xiith ^neid\ Qualis apud gelidi cum flumina concitus Hebri Sanguineus Mavors clipeo increpat, atque furentes Bella movens immittit equos ; illi cequore aperto Ante Notos Zephyrosque volant : gemit ultima pulsu Thraca pedum ; circumque atras Formidinis ora, Irseque, Insidiieque, Dei comitatus, aguntur. A^n. XII. 33 Γ. Pope remarks here on " Homer's manner of fetching a compass, as it Avere, to draΛv in new images besides those in which the direct point of Hkeness consists." Dante and Milton use frequently these " digressive images" as Pope terms them. For examples of this see Introduction. LX The adverse hosts are as conflicting winds. A dry dusty time is chosen, because the dust-clouds then make plainly visible the opposite currents of the winds. LXI Pope borrows "fit mast for some great Admiral" from Milton's de- scription of Satan's spear : to equal which the tallest pine, Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast On some great ammiral, were but a wand. LXII Of the many boar-similes this contains one or two of the most vigorous lines. The boar has been followed into his wild mountain-home (χώρο? οιοπόλοξ), and there stands at bay. NOTES. 245 LXIII A pretty pastoral image. The comparison is of the people following -^neas as the sheep follow the ram; but the additional touch "and the shepherd rejoices" suggests a new turn, and Eneas' joy is compared to his. Pope quotes from Eustathius some remarks on Homer's faithfulness to nature : that " when sheep leave the pasture and drink freely it is a sign that they have found good pasturage, and that they are all sound : " hence the shepherd's joy. LXIV The ox is not being killed, as Pope translates it to mean : he is only being led away : and the struggle is the only point of similitude. LXV Again a picture from the farm, as is also the next passage. It is the leaping of the bean from the fan in the hand of the winnower that Homer compares to the glancing of the arrow. Pope amplifies a good deal, and says " light leaps the golden grain resulting from the ground." LXVI This image of the two Ajaces is very lively and exact. "Jointed" as epithet of the plough might be illustrated from Virgil's description in the 246 NOTES. first Georgic of the making of the plough. For the special mention of the sweat coming out " close by the horns " the scholiast accounts by saying, that there are tendons and muscles connecting the horns and the feet. But is it not possible (or even probable) that Homer means his oxen to draw from the forehead, as they do still in many places ? LXVII There are two points of comparison here : the furious vehemence of the charge, and the closeness of the ranks, are both imaged, by the storm swooping down, and by the result at sea, the racing billoAvs. The line κνματα. τταφλάζοντα ττολνφλοίσβοω θα\άσση<; is inimitable : the roaring and tumultuous noise of many waters is given by the very sound. And the Greek language appears to do this naturally and without effort, whereas the English must labour to effect the same. Schiller's line in Der Taucher, describing the whirlpool, " es Λvallet und siedet und brauset und zischt " is an instance of something like it in German. Southey's description of how the water comes down at Lodore is an English " tour de force " in this kind. LXVII I No one can fail to be struck with the alliteration in the two Greek lines that begin this passage. Certainly alliteration, if it be not carried too far, adds a beauty. " In maiden meditation, fancy-free " is a line additionally pleasing from its very sound. Of course, if overdone, alliteration becomes finicking and trifling, a sort of trick or knack of Avhich the ear soon tires. NOTES. 247 It must be combined with force of matter ; and it must come naturally. The older poets abound in it above the later ; and they seem to fall into it insensibly. Indeed it was inevitable that in an age of little or no reading the ear should be appealed to more than it is now. The Greek ear evi- dently liked complex and highly artificial metres, but also had a leaning towards melodious alliterations for which the Greek language was so well fitted. The Latins chiefly modelled their metres after the Greek. The northern nations — the Icelandic poetry is a prominent instance — chose initial alliteration as their chief rule. But in England, as also elsewhere, rhyme gradually supplanted alliterative verse : in other words, similarity of ending was finally selected to please the ear rather than similarity of begin- ning. Perhaps, our metres being less artificial and simpler than those of the ancients, the ear required something more to rest upon; something more to help memory, for there seems a natural wish to retain verse and poetry in the memory. But if this be a true account of the rationale of poetic ornament in regard of sound, then to disparage rhyme (as has now and then been done), as if it were a mean and low artifice, is after all unreasonable : and to disparage alliteration equally so. Metre, alliteration, rhyme, all three have one origin, the desire to please the ear. No doubt in an age of printed books and readers the eye and mind are more appealed to than in early times. But while men have ears, melody in verse is indispensable. Now as this cannot be secured by bare correctness in the number of syllables or the length of the line, it must be aimed at, if not by rhyme, by proper and melodious sequence of sounds : and a sequence of similar sounds, or alliteration, within reasonable limits, is a natural and legitimate aid to pleasing in poetry. On the beauty of this image of Homer's, Pope is deservedly enthusi- 248 NOTES. astic : nothing could be finer. The uncertain balancing motion of the surface will come home as truthful to every observer. Pope quotes for similar beauty Virgil's comparison of his hero's mind, when agitated with a great variety and quick succession of thoughts, to a dancing light reflected from water in motion. yEft. viii. 19. In illustration of "till some de- termined gale" comp. The reeling clouds stagger with dizzy poise, As doubting yet which master to obey. Thomson's IVinier, 121. LXIX Compare XXIX. The bird kvixlvZl^ is described by Aristotle {H. A. XIII. 3) as of a dark colour, and hunting its prey by night Perhaps there- fore it was a large kind of owl. To preserve a dignity in any close render- ing of the last line is difficult. Pope quotes Hobbes as having spoilt the dignity of the line by rendering : And there sate Sleep in likeness of a fowl, Which Gods do Chalcis call, and men an owl. Blackie, with Nitzsch, supposes that " by the language of men in such cases is understood the popular or vulgar name, by the language of the gods the sacerdotal, oracular, or poetical designation." Plato in the Cratylus (p. 392, &c.) supposes the language of the gods the original and correcter language, spoilt afterwards by man. Sleep's sitting in likeness of a bird on the fir-tree perhaps suggested to Milton his description of Satan in Paradise : NOTES. 249 Thence up he flew, and on the tree of life, The middle tree and highest there that grew, Sat like a cormorant. Par. Lost, Bk. IV. LXX Water, fire, air, each lend a simile. Virgil combines them somewhat in the same manner, to illustrate the buzzing of a bee-hive : Frigidus ut quondam sylvis immurmurat Auster, Ut mare sollicitum stridet refluentibus undis, yEstuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis. Georg. IV. 261. Pope also quotes Tasso : Rapido si, che torbida procella Da' cavernosi monti esce piu tarda : Fiume, ch' arbori insieme e case svella ; • Folgore, che le torri abbatta ed arda; ; Terremoto che Ί mondo empia d' orrore, i Son piccolo sembianze al sue furore. IX. 22. LXXI Pope quotes upon this a fine passage in Spenser : As when almighty Jove, in wrathful mood, To wreak the guilt of mortal sins is bent. Hurls forth his thund'ring dart with deadly feud, Enroird in flames and smouldring dreariment, G. 1 -> 0- 2 so NOTES. Thro' riven clouds and molten firmament ; The fierce three-forked engine making way Both lofty towers and highest trees hath rent, And all that might his angry passage stay, And shooting in the Earth casts up a mount of clay : His boist'rous club so buried in the ground He could not rear again. Fairy Qitecn, I. viii. 9. LXXII This book and the next abound in similes. The battle goes against the Greeks : they are driven to their ships, which are all but fired. Patroclus then clad in Achilles' armour partially restores the fortune of the Greeks : but is slain by Hector. It is this which is to induce Achilles to reenter the battle. This first simile is a very remarkable one : it is an inversion of Homers more usual practice. Bodily speed is illustrated by mental : more commonly the action of the mind is illustrated by sensible images from n:iotion of bodies. In Odyss. η. 36, Homer speaks of " ships swift as thought:" this comparison is here worked out. The passage is not without verbal difficulty. Heyne inclines to read the past indicative ψιν for άην, interpreting it simply of a traveller's recollection. The idea however of the man's wishing himself back in scenes once visited seems quite as good: and the sense of μ^νοιναν " to desire eagerly " is thus better suited. Pope quotes from Milton : The speed of Gods Time counts not. the' with swiftest minutes \vin<>\l. NOTES. 251 LXXIII Though this simile and the next begin ahke, the lightness of the feathery snow, and the bold swoop of the hawk, suit goddess and god respectively. LXXV The Greeks are the hunters, the Trojans the hunted, Hector the lion who frightens away the hunters. Further than this the details of the comparison need not be pressed. The phrase παραΐ ττοσι κάπ-ττεσε I have kept literally: it is a curious expression for a sudden and total fall. Blackie renders it " from top-wing plumb down their courage fell." Shakspeare expresses sudden terror quaintly : When he shall see our army. He'll drop his heart into the sink of fear. Hen. V. III. V. LXXVII " It is not easy to imagine anything more exact and emphatical to describe the tumbling and confused heap of a \vall in a moment. More- over the comparison here taken from sand is the juster, as it rises from the very place and scene before us." Pope (from Eustathius). Homer, as we have seen, often takes homely and trifling subjects for his images, so long as they are apt. 252 NOTES. LXXIX A comparison from a work of peace to illustrate the even line which the contending hosts maintained. This steady equality of the fight was illustrated in XXXVI by a line of mowers, in LII by an even balance. LXXX Something like "retrieving" seems here meant; for the expression " loosed its limbs " implies that the arrow was fatal at once or nearly so. LXXXII A fine succession of similes. Virgil has imitated the first twice : Illc, vclut pelagi rupes immota, resistit ; Ut pelagi rupes, magno venientc fragore Quae sese, multis circumlatrantibus undis, Mole tenet; scopuli nequicquam ct spumea circum Saxa fremunt laterique illisa refunditur alga. J£n. VII. 5 86. Ille vclut rupes, vastum qua; prodit in aiquor, Obvia ventorum furiis expostaque ponto Vim cunctam atque minas perfert ca^lique marisque, Ipsa immota mancns. yEit. X. 693. NOTES. 253 And Milton has something Hke it : As surging waves against a solid rock, Though all to shivers dash'd, the assault renew, (Vain battery!) and in froth or bubbles end; So Satan. Par. Reg. iv. Also Scott, of Fitz-James against Roderick Dhu : And as firm rock or castle roof Against the winter shower is proof, The foe, invulnerable still, Foil'd his \vild rage by steady skill. Lady of the Lake, v. 1 5. Nor can I refrain from quoting a few forcible lines from Shakspeare {Hen. V. III. i), where the king bids his men in battle '^lend the eye a terrible aspect " and let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the \vild and wasteful ocean. The second simile Longinus chooses as an instance where Homer, " in describing the terror of a tempest, has well expressed the accidents of most dread and horrour in such a situation." His criticism is given fully by Pope. Heyne suspects the genuineness of the concluding line of this simile, because of the Greeks it was said above ovl\ φζβοντο, while here they are affrighted. Blackie points out that Homer in expanding the comparison was led to find that it had a double application : the onset of 2 54 NOTES. Hector was tine rush of the wave, but then the fear of the mariners was the fear of the Greeks. The fact is that Ιφίβοντο m Homer ahvays, I beheve, expresses actual flight, not inward fear. They might not fly, and yet be sorely troubled within. And, after all, they do fly presently. Heyne further objects that Ζαίζ^σθαί means to be " drawn different ways : " and that this sense is not wanted ; also that the passage is quite complete without it. But imagine the line omitted, and the commencement of the next αντάρ Zy is hardly explicable. There is surely in the distress and perplexity of sailors in such a scene, when " they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end," enough to justify cSa't^ero. The third simile here is not unlike many others. The details do not correspond to the thing compared : e. g. the fact that the lion specially attacks the centre, because the inexperienced herdsman leaves that un- guarded. It is not easy to suggest how the herdsman, if he ^valked in the middle of the herd, could see what was going on at either end, though indeed he might have a better chance. LXXXIII This passage is of interest as being one of the earliest Greek notices of ndmg. Homer's warriors do not ride single horses, but fight from chariots: the only exception being in the tenth book of the liiad, where Ulysses and Diomed mount and ride back to the Grecian camp the horses of Rhesus. But that riding was known, is plain from this passage, and from Odyssey, c. 371, where Ulysses, bestriding a spar, is compared to a rider on horseback. Indeed die riders must have attained no mean skill in the art, as this passage shews : and circus-riding was as popular in those earlier times as it was afterwards \vith the Romans. LXXXIV The first comparison is repeated from XXXII. The second is dealt Λvith curiously by Pope. He is very vague in his translation of Avhat there is in Homer, and he adds to it a comparison of the mother's fondness and concern with the tenderness of Achilles on the sight of his friend's affliction. This makes " the idea of the simile much finer " he says. But it ill suits with Achilles' character : \vho means outright "Why this puling and childish grief?" Achilles has no sympathy with Patroclus' sorrow for the Greek losses; as he shews soon afterwards, for he prays that all the Greeks may be slain. LXXXV The first of several comparisons about the Myrmidons. By their entry into the battle the tide is turned against the Trojans, and many fall before Patroclus, till he at last is slain by Hector. This passage appears to have been in the mind of Tasso, Λvhen he describes the Soldan covered with blood and thirsting for fresh slaughter : Come da chiuso ovil cacciato viene Lupo talor, che fugge e si nasconde, Che, sebben del gran ventre omai ripiene 256 NOTES. Ha 1' ingorde voragini profonde, A\'ido pur di sangue anco fuor tiene La lingua e Ί sugge dalle labbra immonde ; Tale ei sen gia dopo il sanguigno strazio Delia sua cupa fame anco non sazio. Cant. X. 2. Pope quotes also a picture of much the same kind from Milton, " where Death is let loose into the neλv creation to glut his appetite : " As when a flock Of ravenous fowl, though many a league remote, Against the day of battle, to a field Where armies lie encamp'd come flying, lured With scent of living carcasses, design'd For death, the following day, in bloody fight ; So scented the grim Feature, and upturn'd His nostril wide into the murky air. Par. Lost, x. This picture of the wolves in Homer is very vivid : the action of lapping is most precisely given by the word άκρον at the end of the clause. LXXXVII In XLIX wasps supplied an image of persistency. Here it is more their heat and resentment that is emphasized. NOTES. 25; LXXXVIII Pope complains that some commentators interpret this of Jupiter cleaving the air with a flash of lightning, whereas it is plainly of a sky cleared by rolling back the cloud. He is right : and so Heyne and modern translators take it : so too one scholiast. Two lines here are repeated from the famous night-scene at the end of the eighth book. Com'pafe Avith this Milton : Rejoicing in their matchless chief; As when from mountain tops the dusky clouds Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread Heaven's cheerful face, the lowering element Scowls o'er the darken'd landscape snow or shower ; If chance the radiant sun with fdrewell sweet Extend his evening beam, the fields revive, The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds Attest their joy. Par. Lost, it. And Darite uses a similar image to illustrate the clearing away of doubts : Come rimane splendido e sereno L' emisperio dell' aere quando soffia Borea da quella guancia ond' e piu leno, Perche si purga e risolve la roffia Che pria turbava, si che il ciel ne ride Con le bellezze d' ogni sua paroffia ; Cosi fee' io, poi che mi provide La Donna mia del suo rispondcr chiaro, E, come stella in cielo, il ver si vide. Paradiso, xxviii. 79. xc We had fine weather after cloud in LXXXVIII : now we have the swift spreading of storm-clouds over the heaven after clear weather. The cloud, small at first while seen afir, is launched from Olympus the seat of Zeus; then spreads till the heavens arc black and "there is a sound as of abundance of rain." The full effect is reserved for the next simile. XCI There is in Homer no better picture of rain and flood than this. And the simple faith that there is a God that judgeth the earth and punishes the oppressor, heightens our human interest. The way in which the mountain-sides are seamed and furrowed at such times of flood is trudifull)• given : every observer of highland scenery v.-ill have noticed this. Cf Scott's Lady of the Lake, v. 3 : And .oft both path and hill were torn, Where winter's torrents down had l^ornc. And heap'd upon the cumber'd land Its wreck of gr.Tvcl, rocks, and sand. NOTES. 259 XCII There are three similes from fishing in Homer : one besides this in the liiad (ω. 8i), where he mentions the practice of attaching a lead to the line, and a horn-casing to guard it; one in the Odyssey (μ. 251), where Scylla with her long tentacles fishes up Ulysses' companions : As when a fisher on a jutting rock, With long and taper rod, to lesser fish Casts down the treacherous bait, and in the sea Plunges his tackle with its oxhorn guard, Then tosses out on land a gasping prey; So gasping to the cliff" my men were raised. This last passage however is thought by some not to be of rod-and-line fishing, but of spearing or hooking out fish with a long pole. In our present passage the line is distinctly mentioned, and the metal hook. Homer's epithet Up6v " sacred " I have supposed (with Heyne and others) to be a general term of admiration. XCIV The first simile is repeated from a former book. Sarpedon's fall is im. portant: it is the culminating point of Patroclus' success. xcv Jackdaws and starlings mobbing a hawk supply a comparison towards the end of the next book. XCVI Homer expresses measure of distance variously. Besides the common "spear-throw, stone-throw," he speaks of the interval between the wheel and the horse's tail : between the weaver's breast and the shuttle : the distance by which mules beat oxen in ploughing. XCVII The woodman's loud hacking is an apt image. This is imitated by Matthew Arnold : Their shields Dash'd with a clang together, and a din Rose, such as that the sinewy woodcutters Make often in the forest's heart at morn, Of hewing axes, crashing trees: such blows Sohrab and Rustum on each other hail'd. The simile of the flies is partly repeated from the second bpok : perhaps here it has a rather more pointed application : the combatants swarm round the body, as the flies round the milk-pails. Spenser has a passage describing how a multitude of assailants swarmed round his knights : As when a swarm of gnats at eventide Out of the fens of Allan do arise. Their murmuring small trumpets sounding wide, Whiles in the air their clustring army flics, NOTES. . 261 That as a cloud doth seem to dim the skies ; Ne man nor beast may rest or take repast, For their sharp wounds and noyous injuries. Fairy Oiice/i, li. g. 16. XCVIII Three similes following illustrate the last acts of Patroclus' prowess. The Greeks succeed in repelling the Trojans ; but soon after this Patroclus is wounded by Euphorbus and slain by Hector. The incidental " bold to his bane " in the first simile (though of course not its chief point) seems to prepare the way for Patroclus' death. The combat of two beasts, as a comparison, is rather a favourite with Spenser. One such passage may be quoted g.s illustr^-tive : As when two tigers prick'd with hunger's rage Have by good fortune found some beast's fresh spoil, On which they ween their famine to assuage, And gain a feastful guerdon of their toil ; Both falling out do stir up strifeful broil, And cruel battle 'twixt themselves do make; While neither lets the other touch the soil, But either 'sdains with other to partake : So cruelly these Knights strove for that Lady's sake. Fairy Queen, I v. 3, 16, On the third simile two passages of Virgil are referred to by commenta- tors (^//. IV. 441 ; II. 416) : but the Latin poet is rather too vague in 202 KO'IES his descriptions. Lucretius is far more striking when he describes the wind : Principio veriti vis verberat incita portus Ingentisquc ruit navis et nubila differt, Interdum rapido percurrens turbine campos Arboribus magnis sternit viontisquc supremos Silvifragis vcxat flabris: ita perfurit acri Cum fremitu sa^vitque minaci murmure ventus. Γ. 276. The epithet τα^'υφλotos Blackie concludes to be Httle more than raraos : "long-branched" must be "long-barked," as "a longdegged loon will be a long-trousered loon." True : but the epithet taken from the visible bark is more picturesque than the commoner word. I have supposed that the length of the slender branches is represented externally by a longitudinal stripiness in the bark. Sophocles in Fr. 692 uses the word of the poplar. The fight over Patroclus' body is the subject of this book: Menelaus the prominent warrior, introduced by this simile. Pope notices that " the several comparisons to illustrate the concern for Patroclus are taken from the most tender sentiments of nature : " adding that " perhaps these are designed to intimate his excellent temper and goodness, as expressed in 1. 671 : TTuati/ γαρ «ττιστατο /χειλικός etrai. NOTES. 263 CI This exquisite simile on the death of Euphorbus is said to have been a favourite passage with Pythagoras: who indeed professed that his soul had transmigrated into him from that hero. The death of Simoisius in δ. 482 is rather Hke this : but more is made here of the beauty of the oUve-tree planted by the water-side, and more pity stirred for its untimely fall. A contrast to this is the lion-simile which follows immediately ; and is succeeded by two others taken from the same beast. Spenser has a com- parison in some points illustrative : Like dastard curs, that having at a bay The salvage beast emboss'd in weary chase, Dare not adventure on the stubborn prey, Ne bite before, but roam from place to place, To get a snatch, when turned is his face. Fairy Queen, ill. i. 22. Comp. also Isaiah xxxi. 4 : " Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, Avhen a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them ; so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof" cm Perhaps the best lion in Homer. Pope makes it a lioness. Homer may have thought that the sire defending the cubs was a better illustration for Ajax. Or, as Heyne says, XeW may express either sex. 204 NOTES. CIV The place imagined is the mouth of a river, where the incoming tide meets the stream and causes a rough sea; while on the beach, beyond the points or spits of land on either side of the river, the surf is roaring. CVI Eustathius calls this one of the mean and humble comparisons. If not elegant, it is expressive ; and is curious as instructing us about the ancient manner of stretching hides. CVlI Virgil has made the \var-horse of Pallas weep for him {^En. xi. 89). Patroclus' steeds are as motionless as a stone pillar : it need not be a monument with horses graven upon it, as Dacicr thinks : this would hardly suit the tomb of a woman. CIX The bow set in the clouds was a sign of coming evil. It is left rather doubtful here Avhether the comparison is simply of Athene's cloud to tlio rainbow, or to the cloud on which the rainbow appears ; or whether NOTES. 265 Athene is meant to be imaged as coming down from heaven to earth as the rainbow does, and as boding something to the armies. Heyne thinks that the former is the true point of the comparison : Athene is veiled in a dark cloud, as the rainbow is projected on a dark cloud. CX A swarm of flies supplies an image in the second book, where the forces are gathering, and again where the battle thickens round Sarpedon's corpse. Pope exalts this fly into a hornet, but observes that there is no impropriety in the comparison as it stands, the fly being eminently per- severing and hard to beat off. CXII A good instance of Homer's manner of dwelling on the minor accidents of his simile. The only point of comparison is the keen searching gaze of the eagle : its pounce upon the prey does not belong to the comparison, for Menelaus is looking for a friend. CXIII Homer ends this eventful book of fighting with a collection of images of great force and variety. Meriones and Menelaus bear the body : the two Ajaces in the rear confront the foe, who pour upon them and harass their retreat, ^neas and Hector heading the pursuit. In the fourth simile G. 34 266 NOTES. Ajax and his namesake are compared to the jutting spur of a hill, or opposing mound (whether natural or artificial is not quite clear, probably the former from the epithet vXrju•;), which meets the waters and forces them out over the plain. For the starlings and jackdaws in the last simile, of which Homer gives here a truthful picture, cp. above XCIV. Pope sub- stitutes "cranes" whose "callow young" the falcon is threatening. A wonderful sacrifice this of truth to a false dignity ! cxv The divine radiance of Achilles, and his shout are illustrated by two images from a beleaguered city : Achilles' grief by a third. The rest of the book is mostly taken up with the description of Achilles' shield ; in which but one simile occurs. Homer's besieged city is an island city, such as it would be natural for him to imagine in one of the ^gean islands, seen from the coast of Asia Minor. CXVI Nowhere else does Homer speak of a trumpet, though he uses the verb "to trumpet" metaphorically once in . 387. The summons to the council is given by "clear-voiced heralds." Pope supposes trumpets to have been used in the poet's time, but not in the time of the events he describes. That trumpets were used very early by some nations, we have evidence in the capture of Jericho by Joshua, and other mention of the trumpet in the Old Testament. CXVII Achilles, even in grief, is as a lion : he is a contrast to Patroclus. CXVIII Pope's translation here is very vague : So whirls a wheel in giddy circle toss'd, And, rapid as it runs, the spokes are lost. The potter has vanished : whose picture is interesting. He often occurs in Bible similitudes, though in a different way from this. "As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, Ο house of Israel." Jer. xviii. 6. The prophet goes to the potter's house, " and, behold, he wrought a work upon the wheels." • cxx A comparison from snow, but different from those in earlier books. The waving plumes are as the snow-flakes. This book has only three similes, all within a short compass. The expression yiXaaae. κ.τ.λ. may have suggested Lucretius' "sere renidescit tellus," and Virgil's "late fluctuat omnis aere renidenti tellus ;" but it is bolder, attributing to the earth an exultation in the splendour of arms, such as is more often attributed to her at the beauty of peaceful harvest, when the " valleys stand so thick with corn that they laugh and sing." 268 NOTES. CXXI The shepherds' fire here may not be intended for a beacon to sailors ; but it serves for one ; and its brightness contrasts with their dull voyage, and reminds them of home. CXXII Heyne observes that this is of all the lion-similes the most elaborate ; as indeed it should be, Achilles being the champion compared. In Hesiod's Shield of Hercules, 1. 426 there is a similar passage. Virgil has borrowed much in the following : Pcenorum qualis in arvis Saucius ille gravi venantum vulnere pectus Turn demum movet arma leo; gaudetque comantes Excutiens cervice toros, fixumque latronis Impavidus frangit telum et fremit ore cruento. ^n. XII. 4. Also Lucan : Sic cum squalentibus arvis ^stifera; Libyes viso leo cominus hoste Subsedit dubius, totam dum colligit iram, Mox ubi se sa^vse stimulavit verbere cauda?, Erexitque jubam, et vasto grave murmur hiatu Infremuit; turn torta levis si lancea Mauri Ha^reat, aut latum subeant venabula pectus, Per ferrum tanti securus vulneris exit. PJiars. I. 205. NOTES. 269 The truthfulness of Homer's description Heyne shews by reference to authors on natural history. There is a Scholion on this passage containing the curious statement that '' the lion has in or under his tail a sharp prick or cla^v, wherewith he goads himself to fury," Absurd as this is, it has been repeated and beheved. Homer however is plainly not chargeable with any such nonsense : he only describes truthfully the movements of the tail, common to the lion and others of the feline tribe. Pliny says "Leo- num animi index cauda." cxxni Poseidon was called Heliconian from Helicon or Helice ; it was thought auspicious if the victim bellowed. CXXIV Two similes close together at the end of a book. So the XVIIth book ends with several in succession. Fire, both in forest and in town, has already supplied images. The comparison of Achilles, in his terrible course, to the oxen that tread out the corn, recals some passages in the Hebrew prophets : e.g. Is. Ixiii. 3 "I have trodden the winepress alone... for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." Compare also Is. xli. 15, 16, quoted in the Introduction. 270 NOTES. cxxv The rout of the Trojans by the Xanthus, and the combat of Achilles with the river, are adorned by several fine similes. In this first the terrified locusts flee from one death to another. Heyne remarks that " it is a scene even now common in Asia where the country-folk kindle large fires to drive the locusts." Homer's description seems to imply that a tract of dry grass or the like is kindled to windward of the locusts, so that by the advancing line of heat and flame they are forced into the water, as were those that scourged Egypt driven by the wind into the Red Sea. Homer must surely have seen what he here describes : a remark which indeed may apply to many of his pictures. Locusts in the Old Testament prophets represent multitudes or armies: "make thyself many as the locusts," Nah, iii. 15. And in Ps. cix. 23 : "I am gone like the shadow \vhen it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust," expresses the way in which locusts are swept by the wind. CXXVI The small fry run into the creeks and shallows. Dryden has a com- parison of ships of war waylaying lesser vessels : So close behind some promontory lie The huge leviathans t' attend their prey, And give no chace, but swallow in the fry Which thro' their gaping jaws mistake their way. Annus Mirabilis, 203. NOTES. 271 CXXVII Virgil has prettily described the irrigation of land : Deinde satis fluvium inducit rivosque sequentes ; Et, cum exustus agar morientibus aestuat herbis, Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam Elicit : ilia cadens raucum per levia murmur Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva. Georg. I. 106. The image taken thus from the less, to illustrate the greater, is a pleasant relief. The ωκα κατζΐβόμ€νον κ^λαρύζ^ι rather reminds one of Shakspeare's stream : When his fair course is not hindered, He makes sweet music with the enamelled stones. Two Gettt. Ver. 1 1. 6. CXXIX Pope remarks here that " it is impossible to render literally such pas- sages with any tolerable beauty. Some particularities cannot be preserved; but the Greek language gives them lustre, the words are noble and musical." It is indeed questionable whether in EngHsh "fat pork" can be dignified. Homer has elsewhere compared Charybdis to "a cauldron on a fierce fire ; " and Virgil illustrates the wrath of Turnus by the same comparison in y^n. vii. 462. 272 NOTES. cxxx Artemis "flees as a bird unto the hill." Very graphic and truthful is this, the dove saving herself in a rocky cleft or cave. CXXXII Agenor making a stand against Achilles, and rescued by Apollo, gives time for the Trojans to shelter themselves within the city, while Hector remains to meet his fate. CXXXIII All the similes of this book bear on the great encounter between Achilles and Hector. Comparisons from the horse have been appHed already to Paris and Hector: the autumnal star also, in the fifth book, to Diomed. Cp. Matthew Arnold : Whose fiery point now in his maird right hand Blaz'd bright and baleful, like that autumn Star, The baleful sign of fevers. Sohrab and Rusiuin. NOTES. 273 CXXXIV Qualis ubi in lucem coluber mala gramina pastus, Frigida sub terra tumidum quern bruma tegebat, Nunc positis novus exuviis nitidusque juventa Lubrica convolvit sublato pectore terga Arduus ad solem, et unguis micat ore trisulcis. Virg. ^Έη. Π. 471. Homer's image is from the boldness of the snake awaiting a foe : Virgil's of a warrior gleaming in arms and actively preparing to attack. Scott makes Roderick Dhu spring on Fitz-James " like adder darting from his coil." cxxxv The pursuit is nobly told : illustrated by falcon and dove ; horses at full speed ; hound and fawn. The speed with which the falcon comes up with his prey almost at once, then the frequent doublings of the bird to escape his dashing swoop, are most truthfully described. Achilles is fleeter than Hector ; so that though Hector of course has some start, he can never turn towards the city wall to enter by any gate or be covered by his friends who are manning the ramparts. CXXXVII The account of the pursuit is broken and relieved by the council of the gods finally ratifying Hector's doom; and is then resumed in this . G. 35 274 NOTES. simile. To the short comparison which follows, the pursuit in a dream, some critics have made objections, which appear to me verbal and trivial. It has been followed by Virgil : Ac velut in somnis, oculos ubi languida pressit Nocte quies, nequicquam avidos extendere cursus Velle videmur, et in mediis conatibus eegri Succidimus; non lingua valet, non corpora notce Sufficiunt vires, nee vox nee verba sequuntur. Jin. XII. 908. CXXXVIII "The poet takes up some time in describing the two great heroes before they close in fight. He illustrates his description with two beautiful similes : and thus not only raises our imagination to attend to so moment- ous an action, but by lengthening his narration keeps the mind in a pleasing suspense, and divides it between hopes and fears for the fate of Hector or Achilles." Pope. CXLI The kind of throw meant is plainly what is called in the north "putting" the weight or stone. In the next simile also we have a distance estimated by a comparison, and so again at 1. 759 of this book. NOTES. 27 s CXLIII As in the country, on a morn in June, When the dew gUstens on the pearled ears, A shiver runs through the deep corn for joy — So when they heard Λvhat Peran-Wisa said A thrill through all the Tartar squadrons ran. Sohrab and Rushini• CXLIV Pope loses the true force of this simile : As a large fish, Avhen \vinds and waters roar, By some huge billow dash'd against the shore, Lies panting: not less batter'd with his wound, The bleeding hero pants upon the ground. Homer simply means that Epeus' blow took Euryalus dean off his legs and flung him with violence. CXLVI A curious simile for a close pursuit. The closeness is most graphically given by the concluding line. Virgil's " calcemque terit jam calce Diores " is not nearly so striking. The sand or dust pours in to fill up a foot- print almost instantaneously; but Ulysses' foot is down upon his rival's 276 NOTES. footprint before even this can happen. Coleridge in the Ancient Mariner describes a pursuit thus : As one ρ rsued by yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe, / And forward bends his head. This gives a forcible image, but one must assume a special position in regard to sun or light. CXLIX There can be no doubt that this simile refers to line-fishing. See above on 7Γ. 4o8 (xcii) for the parallel simile in the Odyssey. The lead, which is to sink the line faster, is here described as close upon the horn-piping, perhaps within it (if we join Ιμβφανία Avith κατά κέρα?). Heyne prefers to take Ιμβ. έρχεται together : and this line is quoted in Plato's lo Avith Ιμμ^μανΙα "eager, swift, rushing doAvn," which is equally good for the sense. The method of guarding the line is almost the same as is adopted now in some coarse flies for sea-fishing. CL Achilles respects Priam, as all would respect a suppliant. At first sight this looks too much of an identity to be a fit simile. But we must remem- ber that the sacredness of the person of him who fled his country for some deed of blood was universally recognized — we have numerous instances of this in Greek legend and history : whereas respect to one who came on such a mission as that of Priam, would not be equally a matter of course. CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. '^««'^^riiiw^iP" RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF • Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW FEB 2 2 2000 12,000(11/95) UOAN YD 1 2609 / # ■ . *♦ m50543^v ii ^y^* pfyi^a^o z? 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