18. _Plutarch._ Rowe’s statement that Shakespeare “copied” his Roman
characters from Plutarch is—as it stands—inconsistent with the previous
argument as to his want of learning. His use of North’s translation was
not established till the days of Johnson and Farmer.
_André Dacier_ (1651-1722) was best known in England by his _Essay on
Satire_, which was included in his edition of Horace (1681, etc.), and by
his edition of the _Poetics_ of Aristotle (1692). The former was used by
Dryden in his _Discourse concerning Satire_, and appeared in English in
1692 and 1695; the latter was translated in 1705. In 1692 he brought out a
prose translation, “with remarks,” of the _Oedipus_ and _Electra_ of
Sophocles. Rowe’s reference is to Dacier’s preface to the latter play, pp.
253, 254. Cf. his _Poetics_, notes to ch. xv., and the _Spectator_, No.
44.