Patroclus! should the tidings reach thine ear,

Although in Ades, that I have released

The noble Hector at his father’s suit,

Resent it not; no sordid gifts have paid

His ransom-price, which thou shalt also share.745

So saying, Achilles to his tent return’d,

And on the splendid couch whence he had risen

Again reclined, opposite to the seat

Of Priam, whom the hero thus bespake.

Priam! at thy request thy son is loosed,750

And lying on his bier; at dawn of day

Thou shalt both see him and convey him hence

Thyself to Troy. But take we now repast;

For even bright-hair’d Niobe her food

Forgat not, though of children twelve bereft,755

Of daughters six, and of six blooming sons.

Apollo these struck from his silver bow,

And those shaft-arm’d Diana, both incensed

That oft Latona’s children and her own

Numbering, she scorn’d the Goddess who had borne760

Two only, while herself had twelve to boast.

Vain boast! those two sufficed to slay them all.

Nine days they welter’d in their blood, no man

Was found to bury them, for Jove had changed

To stone the people; but themselves, at last,765

The Powers of heaven entomb’d them on the tenth.

Yet even she, once satisfied with tears,

Remember’d food; and now the rocks among

And pathless solitudes of Sipylus,

The rumor’d cradle of the nymphs who dance770

On Acheloüs’ banks, although to stone

Transform’d, she broods her heaven-inflicted woes.

Come, then, my venerable guest! take we

Refreshment also; once arrived in Troy

With thy dear son, thou shalt have time to weep775

Sufficient, nor without most weighty cause.

So spake Achilles, and, upstarting, slew

A sheep white-fleeced, which his attendants flay’d,

And busily and with much skill their task

Administ’ring, first scored the viands well,780

Then pierced them with the spits, and when the roast

Was finish’d, drew them from the spits again.

And now, Automedon dispensed around

The polish’d board bread in neat baskets piled,

Which done, Achilles portion’d out to each785

His share, and all assail’d the ready feast.

But when nor hunger more nor thirst they felt,

Dardanian Priam, wond’ring at his bulk

And beauty (for he seem’d some God from heaven)

Gazed on Achilles, while Achilles held790

Not less in admiration of his looks

Benign, and of his gentle converse wise,

Gazed on Dardanian Priam, and, at length

(The eyes of each gratified to the full)

The ancient King thus to Achilles spake.795

Hero! dismiss us now each to our bed,

That there at ease reclined, we may enjoy

Sweet sleep; for never have these eyelids closed

Since Hector fell and died, but without cease

I mourn, and nourishing unnumber’d woes,800

Have roll’d me in the ashes of my courts.

But I have now both tasted food, and given

Wine to my lips, untasted till with thee.

So he, and at his word Achilles bade

His train beneath his portico prepare805

With all dispatch two couches, purple rugs,

And arras, and warm mantles over all.

Forth went the women bearing lights, and spread

A couch for each, when feigning needful fear,[15]

Achilles thus his speech to Priam turn’d.810

My aged guest beloved; sleep thou without;

Lest some Achaian chief (for such are wont

Ofttimes, here sitting, to consult with me)

Hither repair; of whom should any chance

To spy thee through the gloom, he would at once815

Convey the tale to Agamemnon’s ear,

Whence hindrance might arise, and the release

Haply of Hector’s body be delay’d.

But answer me with truth. How many days

Wouldst thou assign to the funereal rites820

Of noble Hector, for so long I mean

Myself to rest, and keep the host at home?

Then thus the ancient King godlike replied.

If thou indeed be willing that we give

Burial to noble Hector, by an act825

So generous, O Achilles! me thou shalt

Much gratify; for we are shut, thou know’st,

In Ilium close, and fuel must procure

From Ida’s side remote; fear, too, hath seized

On all our people. Therefore thus I say.830

Nine days we wish to mourn him in the house;

To his interment we would give the tenth,

And to the public banquet; the eleventh

Shall see us build his tomb; and on the twelfth

(If war we must) we will to war again.835

To whom Achilles, matchless in the race.

So be it, ancient Priam! I will curb

Twelve days the rage of war, at thy desire.[16]

He spake, and at his wrist the right hand grasp’d

Of the old sovereign, to dispel his fear.840

Then in the vestibule the herald slept

And Priam, prudent both, but Peleus’ son

In the interior tent, and at his side

Brisëis, with transcendent beauty adorn’d.

Now all, all night, by gentle sleep subdued,845

Both Gods and chariot-ruling warriors lay,

But not the benefactor of mankind,

Hermes; him sleep seized not, but deep he mused

How likeliest from amid the Grecian fleet

He might deliver by the guard unseen850

The King of Ilium; at his head he stood

In vision, and the senior thus bespake.

Ah heedless and secure! hast thou no dread

Of mischief, ancient King, that thus by foes

Thou sleep’st surrounded, lull’d by the consent855

And sufferance of Achilles? Thou hast given

Much for redemption of thy darling son,

But thrice that sum thy sons who still survive

Must give to Agamemnon and the Greeks

For _thy_ redemption, should they know thee here.860

He ended; at the sound alarm’d upsprang

The King, and roused his herald. Hermes yoked

Himself both mules and steeds, and through the camp

Drove them incontinent, by all unseen.

Soon as the windings of the stream they reach’d,865

Deep-eddied Xanthus, progeny of Jove,

Mercury the Olympian summit sought,

And saffron-vested morn o’erspread the earth.

They, loud lamenting, to the city drove

Their steeds; the mules close follow’d with the dead.870

Nor warrior yet, nor cinctured matron knew

Of all in Ilium aught of their approach,

Cassandra sole except. She, beautiful

As golden Venus, mounted on the height

Of Pergamus, her father first discern’d,875

Borne on his chariot-seat erect, and knew:

The herald heard so oft in echoing Troy;

Him also on his bier outstretch’d she mark’d,

Whom the mules drew. Then, shrieking, through the streets

She ran of Troy, and loud proclaim’d the sight.880

Ye sons of Ilium and ye daughters, haste,

Haste all to look on Hector, if ye e’er

With joy beheld him, while he yet survived,

From fight returning; for all Ilium erst

In him, and all her citizens rejoiced.885

She spake. Then neither male nor female more

In Troy remain’d, such sorrow seized on all.

Issuing from the city-gate, they met

Priam conducting, sad, the body home,

And, foremost of them all, the mother flew890

And wife of Hector to the bier, on which

Their torn-off tresses with unsparing hands

They shower’d, while all the people wept around.

All day, and to the going down of day

They thus had mourn’d the dead before the gates,895

Had not their Sovereign from his chariot-seat

Thus spoken to the multitude around.

Fall back on either side, and let the mules

Pass on; the body in my palace once

Deposited, ye then may weep your fill.900

He said; they, opening, gave the litter way.

Arrived within the royal house, they stretch’d

The breathless Hector on a sumptuous bed,

And singers placed beside him, who should chant

The strain funereal; they with many a groan905

The dirge began, and still, at every close,

The female train with many a groan replied.

Then, in the midst, Andromache white-arm’d

Between her palms the dreadful Hector’s head

Pressing, her lamentation thus began.910

[17]My hero! thou hast fallen in prime of life,

Me leaving here desolate, and the fruit

Of our ill-fated loves, a helpless child,

Whom grown to manhood I despair to see.

For ere that day arrive, down from her height915

Precipitated shall this city fall,

Since thou hast perish’d once her sure defence,

Faithful protector of her spotless wives,

And all their little ones. Those wives shall soon

In Grecian barks capacious hence be borne,920

And I among the rest. But thee, my child!

Either thy fate shall with thy mother send

Captive into a land where thou shalt serve

In sordid drudgery some cruel lord,

Or haply some Achaian here, thy hand925

Seizing, shall hurl thee from a turret-top

To a sad death, avenging brother, son,

Or father by the hands of Hector slain;

For he made many a Grecian bite the ground.

Thy father, boy, bore never into fight930

A milky mind, and for that self-same cause

Is now bewail’d in every house of Troy.

Sorrow unutterable thou hast caused

Thy parents, Hector! but to me hast left

Largest bequest of misery, to whom,935

Dying, thou neither didst thy arms extend

Forth from thy bed, nor gavest me precious word

To be remember’d day and night with tears.

So spake she weeping, whom her maidens all

With sighs accompanied, and her complaint940

Mingled with sobs Hecuba next began.

Ah Hector! dearest to thy mother’s heart

Of all her sons, much must the Gods have loved

Thee living, whom, though dead, they thus preserve.

What son soever of our house beside945

Achilles took, over the barren deep

To Samos, Imbrus, or to Lemnos girt

With rocks inhospitable, him he sold;

But thee, by his dread spear of life deprived,

He dragg’d and dragg’d around Patroclus’ tomb,950

As if to raise again his friend to life

Whom thou hadst vanquish’d; yet he raised him not.

But as for thee, thou liest here with dew

Besprinkled, fresh as a young plant,[18] and more

Resemblest some fair youth by gentle shafts955

Of Phœbus pierced, than one in battle slain.

So spake the Queen, exciting in all hearts

Sorrow immeasurable, after whom

Thus Helen, third, her lamentation pour’d.

[19]Ah dearer far than all my brothers else960

Of Priam’s house! for being Paris’ spouse,

Who brought me (would I had first died!) to Troy,

I call thy brothers mine; since forth I came

From Sparta, it is now the twentieth year,

Yet never heard I once hard speech from thee,965

Or taunt morose, but if it ever chanced,

That of thy father’s house female or male

Blamed me, and even if herself the Queen

(For in the King, whate’er befell, I found

Always a father) thou hast interposed970

Thy gentle temper and thy gentle speech

To soothe them; therefore, with the same sad drops

Thy fate, oh Hector! and my own I weep;

For other friend within the ample bounds

Of Ilium have I none, nor hope to hear975

Kind word again, with horror view’d by all.

So Helen spake weeping, to whom with groans

The countless multitude replied, and thus

Their ancient sovereign next his people charged.

Ye Trojans, now bring fuel home, nor fear980

Close ambush of the Greeks; Achilles’ self

Gave me, at my dismission from his fleet,

Assurance, that from hostile force secure

We shall remain, till the twelfth dawn arise.

All, then, their mules and oxen to the wains985

Join’d speedily, and under Ilium’s walls

Assembled numerous; nine whole days they toil’d,

Bringing much fuel home, and when the tenth

Bright morn, with light for human kind, arose,

Then bearing noble Hector forth, with tears990

Shed copious, on the summit of the pile

They placed him, and the fuel fired beneath.

But when Aurora, daughter of the Dawn,

Redden’d the east, then, thronging forth, all Troy

Encompass’d noble Hector’s pile around.995

The whole vast multitude convened, with wine

They quench’d the pile throughout, leaving no part

Unvisited, on which the fire had seized.

His brothers, next, collected, and his friends,

His white bones, mourning, and with tears profuse1000

Watering their cheeks; then in a golden urn

They placed them, which with mantles soft they veil’d

Mæonian-hued, and, delving, buried it,

And overspread with stones the spot adust.

Lastly, short time allowing to the task,1005

They heap’d his tomb, while, posted on all sides,

Suspicious of assault, spies watch’d the Greeks.

The tomb once heap’d, assembling all again

Within the palace, they a banquet shared

Magnificent, by godlike Priam given.1010

Such burial the illustrious Hector found.[20]

[I cannot take my leave of this noble poem, without expressing how much

I am struck with this plain conclusion of it. It is like the exit of a

great man out of company whom he has entertained magnificently; neither

pompous nor familiar; not contemptuous, yet without much ceremony. I

recollect nothing, among the works of mere man, that exemplifies so

strongly the true style of great antiquity.]—Tr.

FOOTNOTES

Footnotes for Book I:

“Latona’s son and Jove’s,” was Apollo, the tutelary deity of the

Dorians. The Dorians had not, however, at this early age, become the

predominant race in Greece proper. They had spread along the eastern

shores of the Archipelago into the islands, especially Crete, and had

every where signalized themselves by the Temples of Apollo, of which

there seems to have been many in and about Troy. These temples were

schools of art, and prove the Dorians to have been both intellectual

and powerful. Homer was an Ionian, and therefore not deeply acquainted

with the nature of the Dorian god. But to a mind like his, the god of a

people so cultivated, and associated with what was most grand in art,

must have been an imposing being, and we find him so represented.

Throughout the Iliad, he appears and acts with splendor and effect, but

always against the Greeks from mere partiality to Hector. It would

perhaps be too much to say, that in this partiality to Hector, we

detect the spirit of the Dorian worship, the only Paganism of antiquity

that tended to perfect the individual—Apollo being the expression of

the moral harmony of the universe, and the great spirit of the Dorian

culture being to make a perfect man, an incarnation of the

κοσμος. This Homer could only have known intuitively.

In making Apollo author of the plague, he was confounded with Helios,

which was frequent afterwards, but is not seen elsewhere in Homer. The

arrows of Apollo were “silent as light,” and their emblem the sun’s

rays. The analogies are multitudinous between the natural and

intellectual sun; but Helios and Apollo were two.—E.P.P.

There is something exceedingly venerable in this appearance of the

priest. He comes with the ensigns of the gods to whom he belongs, with

the laurel wreath, to show that he was a suppliant, and a golden

sceptre, which the ancients gave in particular to Apollo, as they did

one of silver to Diana.

The art of this speech is remarkable. Chryses considers the army of

Greeks, as made up of troops, partly from the kingdoms and partly from

democracies, and therefore begins with a distinction that includes all.

Then, as priest of Apollo, he prays that they may obtain the two

blessings they most desire—the conquest of Troy and a safe return. As

he names his petition, he offers an extraordinary ransom, and concludes

with bidding them fear the god if they refuse it; like one who from his

office seems to foretell their misery, and exhorts them to shun it.

Thus he endeavors to work by the art of a general application, by

religion, by interest, and the insinuation of danger.

Homer is frequently eloquent in his silence. Chryses says not a word in

answer to the insults of Agamemnon, but walks pensively along the

shore. The melancholy flowing of the verse admirably expresses the

condition of the mournful and deserted father.

[So called on account of his having saved the people of Troas from a

plague of mice, _sminthos_ in their language meaning a mouse.—Tr.]

Apollo had temples at Chrysa, Tenedos, and Cilla, all of which lay

round the bay of Troas. Müller remarks, that “the temple actually stood

in the situation referred to, and that the appellation of Smintheus was

still preserved in the district. Thus far actual circumstances are

embodied in the mythus. On the other hand, the action of the deity as

such, is purely ideal, and can have no other foundation than the belief

that Apollo sternly resents ill usage of his priests, and that too in

the way here represented, viz., by sending plagues. This belief is in

perfect harmony with the idea generally entertained of the power and

agency of Apollo; and it is manifest that the idea placed in

combination with certain events, gave birth to the story so far as

relates to the god. We have not yet the means of ascertaining whether

it is to be regarded as a historical tradition, or an invention, and

must therefore leave that question for the present undecided.”

The poet is careful to leave no prayer unanswered that has justice on

its side. He who prays either kills his enemy, or has signs given him

that he has been heard.

[For this singular line the Translator begs to apologize, by pleading

the strong desire he felt to produce an English line, if possible,

somewhat resembling in its effect the famous original one.

Δεινη δε κλαγγη γενετ αργυρεοιο βιοιο.—Tr.]

The plague in the Grecian camp was occasioned perhaps by immoderate

heats and gross exhalations. Homer takes occasion from it, to open the

scene with a beautiful allegory. He supposes that such afflictions are

sent from Heaven for the punishment of evil actions; and because the

sun was the principal agent, he says it was sent to punish Agamemnon

for despising that god, and injuring his priest.

Hippocrates observes two things of plagues; that their cause is in the

air, and that different animals are differently affected by them,

according to their nature and nourishment. This philosophy is referred

to the plagues here mentioned. First, the cause is in the air by means

of the darts or beams of Apollo; second, the mules and dogs are said to

die sooner than the men, partly from their natural quickness of smell,

and partly from their feeding so near the earth whence the exhalations

arise.

Juno, queen of Olympus, sides with the Grecians. Mr. Coleridge (in his

disquisition upon the Prometheus of Æschylus, published in his Remains)

shows very clearly by historical criticism, that Juno, in the Grecian

religion, expressed the spirit of conservatism. Without going over his

argument we assume it here, for Homer always attributes to Juno every

thing that may be predicated of this principle. She is persistent,

obstinate, acts from no idea, but often uses a superficial reasoning,

and refers to Fate, with which she upbraids Jupiter. Jupiter is the

intellectual power or Free Will, and by their union, or rather from

their antagonism, the course of things proceeds with perpetual

vicissitude, but with a great deal of life.—E.P.P.

Observe this Grecian priest. He has no political power, and commands

little reverence. In Agamemnon’s treatment of him, as well as Chryses,

is seen the relation of the religion to the government. It was neither

master nor slave.—E.P.P.

A district of Thessaly forming a part of the larger district of

Phthiotis. Phthiotis, according to Strabo, included all the southern

portion of that country as far as Mount Œta and the Maliac Gulf. To the

west it bordered on Dolopia, and on the east reached the confines of

Magnesia. Homer comprised within this extent of territory the districts

of Phthia and Hellas properly so called, and, generally speaking, the

dominions of Achilles, together with those of Protesilaus and

Eurypylus.

Κυνωπα.

μεγαναιδες.

Agamemnon’s anger is that of a lover, and Achilles’ that of a warrior.

Agamemnon speaks of Chrysëis as a beauty whom he values too much to

resign. Achilles treats Brisëis as a slave, whom he is anxious to

preserve in point of honor, and as a testimony of his glory. Hence he

mentions her only as “his spoil,” “the reward of war,” etc.;

accordingly he relinquishes her not in grief for a favorite whom he

loses, but in sullenness for the injury done him.—Dacier.

Jupiter, in the disguise of an ant, deceived Eurymedusa, the daughter

of Cleitos. Her son was for this reason called Myrmidon (from μυρμηξ,

an ant), and was regarded as the ancestor of the Myrmidons in

Thessaly.—Smith.

According to the belief of the ancients, the gods were supposed to have

a peculiar light in their eyes. That Homer was not ignorant of this

opinion appears from his use of it in other places.

Minerva is the goddess of the art of war rather than of war itself. And

this fable of her descent is an allegory of Achilles restraining his

wrath through his consideration of martial law and order. This law in

that age, prescribed that a subordinate should not draw his sword upon

the commander of all, but allowed a liberty of speech which appears to

us moderns rather out of order.—E.P.P.

[The shield of Jupiter, made by Vulcan, and so called from its

covering, which was the skin of the goat that suckled him.—Tr.]

Homer magnifies the ambush as the boldest enterprise of war. They went

upon those parties with a few only, and generally the most daring of

the army, and on occasions of the greatest hazard, when the exposure

was greater than in a regular battle. Idomeneus, in the 13th book,

tells Meriones that the greatest courage appears in this way of

service, each man being in a manner singled out to the proof of it.

In the earlier ages of the world, the sceptre of a king was nothing

more than his walking-staff, and thence had the name of sceptre. Ovid,

in speaking of Jupiter, describes him as resting on his

sceptre.—Spence.

From the description here given, it would appear to have been a young

tree cut from the root and stripped of its branches. It was the custom

of Kings to swear by their sceptres.

For an account of the contest between the Centaurs and Lapiths here

referred to, see Grecian and Roman Mythology.

In _antiquity_, a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, or beasts of the same

kind; hence sometimes _indefinitely_, any sacrifice of a large number

of victims.

[The original is here abrupt, and expresses the precipitancy of the

speaker by a most beautiful aposiopesis.—Tr.]

The Iliad, in its connection, is, we all know, a glorification of

Achilles by Zeus; for the Trojans only prevail because Zeus wishes to

show that the reposing hero who sits in solitude, can alone conquer

them. But to leave him this glorification entirely unmixed with sorrow,

the Grecian sense of moderation forbids. The deepest anguish must

mingle with his consciousness of fame, and punish his insolence. That

glorification is the will of Zeus; and in the spirit of the ancient

mythus, a motive for it is assigned in a divine legend. The sea-goddess

Thetis, who was, according to the Phthiotic mythus, wedded to the

mortal Peleus, saved Zeus, by calling up the giant Briareus or Ægæon to

his rescue. Why it was Ægæon, is explained by the fact that this was a

great sea-demon, who formed the subject of fables at Poseidonian

Corinth, where even the sea-god himself was called Ægæon; who,

moreover, was worshipped at several places in Eubœa, the seat of

Poseidon Ægæus; and whom the Theogony calls the son-in-law of Poseidon,

and most of the genealogists, especially Eumelus in the Titanomachy,

brought into relation with the sea. There is therefore good reason to

be found in ancient belief, why Thetis called up Ægæon of all others to

Jove’s assistance. The whole of the story, however, is not detailed—it

is not much more than indicated—and therefore it would be difficult

even now to interpret it in a perfectly satisfactory manner. It bears

the same relation to the Iliad, that the northern fables of the gods,

which serve as a back-ground to the legend of Nibelungen, bear to our

German ballad, only that here the separation is much greater

still—Muller.

Homer makes use of this fable, without reference to its meaning as an

allegory. Briareus seems to symbolize a navy, and the fable refers to

some event in remote history, when the reigning power was threatened in

his autocracy, and strengthened by means of his association with the

people against some intermediate class.—E.P.P.

επαυρωνται.

[A name by which we are frequently to understand the Nile in

Homer.—Tr.]

Around the sources of the Nile, and thence south-west into the very

heart of Africa, stretching away indefinitely over its mountain plains,

lies the country which the ancients called Ethiopia, rumors of whose

wonderful people found their way early into Greece, and are scattered

over the pages of her poets and historians.

Homer wrote at least eight hundred years before Christ, and his poems

are well ascertained to be a most faithful mirror of the manners of his

times and the knowledge of his age. * * * * * *

Homer never wastes an epithet. He often alludes to the Ethiopians

elsewhere, and always in terms of admiration and praise, as being the

most just of men, and the favorites of the gods. The same allusions

glimmer through the Greek mythology, and appear in the verses of almost

all the Greek poets, ere yet the countries of Italy and Sicily were

even discovered. The Jewish Scriptures and Jewish literature abound in

allusions to this distant and mysterious people, the annals of the

Egyptian priests are full of them, and uniformly, the Ethiopians are

there lauded as among the best, the most religious, and most civilized

of men.—Christian Examiner.

The Ethiopians, says Diodorus, are said to be the inventors of pomps,

sacrifices, solemn meetings, and other honors paid to the gods. From

hence arose their character of piety, which is here celebrated by

Homer. Among these there was an annual feast at Diospolis, which

Eustathius mentions, when they carried about the statues of Jupiter and

other gods, for twelve days, according to their number; to which, if we

add the ancient custom of setting meat before statues, it will appear

to be a rite from which this fable might easily have arisen.

[The original word (πολυβενθεος) seems to express variety of soundings,

an idea probably not to be conveyed in an English epithet.—Tr.]

The following passage gives the most exact account of the ancient

sacrifices that we have left us. There is first, the purification by

the washing of hands; second, the offering up of prayers; third, the

barley-cakes thrown upon the victim; fourth, the manner of killing it,

with the head turned upwards; fifth, selecting the thighs and fat for

their gods, as the best of the sacrifice, and disposing about them

pieces cut from every part for a representation of the whole (hence the

thighs are frequently spoken of in Homer and the Greek poets as the

whole victim); sixth, the libation of wine; seventh, consuming the

thighs in the fire of the altar; eighth, the sacrificers dressing and

feasting on the rest, with joy and hymns to the gods.

The _Pæan_ (originally sung in honor of Apollo) was a hymn to

propitiate the god, and also a song of thanksgiving, when freed from

danger. It was always of a joyous nature. Both tune and sound expressed

hope and confidence. It was sung by several persons, one of whom

probably led the others, and the singers either marched onward, or sat

together at table.

It was the custom to draw the ships entirely upon the shore, and to

secure them by long props.—Felton

Suppliants threw themselves at the feet of the person to whom the

supplication was addressed, and embraced his knees.—Felton.

Ambrosia, the food of the gods, conferred upon them eternal youth and

immortality, and was brought to Jupiter by pigeons. It was also used by

the gods for anointing the body and hair. Hence the expression,

ambrosial locks.

The original says, “the ox-eyed goddess,” which furnishes Coleridge

with one of the hints on which he proceeds in historically identifying

the Argive Juno with Io and Isis, &c. There is real wit in Homer’s

making her say to Jupiter, “I never search thy thoughts,” &c. The

principle of conservatism asks nothing of the intellectual power, but

blindly contends, reposing upon the instinct of a common sense, which

leads her always to surmise that something is intended by the

intellectual power that she shall not like.—E.P.P.

This refers to an old fable of Jupiter’s hanging up Juno and whipping

her. Homer introduces it without reference to its meaning, which was

undoubtedly some physical truth connected with the ether and the

atmosphere.—E.P.P.

[The reader, in order that he may partake with the gods in the drollery

of this scene, should observe that the crippled and distorted Vulcan

had thrust himself into an office at all other times administered

either by Hebe or Ganymede.—Tr.]

As Minerva or Wisdom was among the company, the poet’s making Vulcan

act the part of peace-maker, would appear to have been from choice,

knowing that a mirthful person may often stop a quarrel, by making

himself the subject of merriment.

Footnotes for Book II:

The poem now becomes more exciting; the language more animated; the

descriptions more lively and figurative. Homer seems to kindle with his

subject, and to press all the phenomena of nature into his service for

the purpose of illustration and adornment. Jupiter prepares to keep his

promise of avenging Achilles, by drawing Agamemnon into a deceitful

expectation of taking the city. The forces are arranged for battle,

which gives occasion for the celebrated catalogue.—Felton.

The whole action of the Dream is natural. It takes the figure of one

much beloved by Agamemnon, as the object that is most in our thoughts

when awake, is the one that oftenest appears to us in our dreams, and

just at the instant of its vanishing, leaves so strong an impression,

that the voice seems still sounding in his ear.

The Dream also repeats the words of Jupiter without variation, which is

considered as a great propriety in delivering a message from the father

of gods and men.

King of Pylus, an ancient city of Elis.

[Agamemnon seems to entertain some doubts lest the army should so

resent his treatment of their favorite Achilles, as to be indisposed to

serve him.—Tr.]

[Mercury.]

[Argus.]

Homer, in a happy and poetical manner, acquaints us with the high

descent of Agamemnon, and traces the origin of his power to the highest

source, by saying, that the sceptre had descended to him from the hand

of Jupiter.

The power of Agamemnon as a monarch refers to his being the leader of

an army. According to the form of royalty in the heroic age, a king had

only the power of a magistrate, except as he held the office of priest.

Aristotle defines a king as a Leader of war, a Judge of controversies,

and President of the ceremonies of the gods. That he had the principal

care of religious rites, appears from many passages in Homer. His power

was nowhere absolute but in war, for we find Agamemnon insulted in the

council, but in the army threatening deserters with death. Agamemnon is

sometimes styled king of kings, as the other princes had given him

supreme authority over them in the siege.

[The extremest provocation is implied in this expression, which

Thersites quotes exactly as he had heard it from the lips of

Achilles.—Tr.]

The character of Thersites is admirably sketched. There is nothing

vague and indistinct, but all the traits are so lively, that he stands

before us like the image of some absurd being whom we have ourselves

seen. It has been justly remarked by critics, that the poet displays

great skill in representing the opponents of Agamemnon in the character

of so base a personage, since nothing could more effectually reconcile

the Greeks to the continuance of the war, than the ridiculous

turbulence of Thersites.—Felton.

[Some for πονος here read ποθος; which reading I have adopted for the

sake both of perspicuity and connection.—Tr.]

The principal signs by which the gods were thought to declare their

will, were things connected with the offering of sacrifices, the flight

and voice of birds, all kinds of natural phenomena, ordinary as well as

extraordinary dreams.

An epithet supposed to have been derived from Gerenia, a Messenian

town, where Nestor was educated.

In the pictures which Homer draws of him, the most striking features

are his wisdom, bravery, and knowledge of war, his eloquence, and his

old age.

For some general remarks upon the heroes of the time, see Grecian and

Roman Mythology.

In allusion to the custom of pouring out a libation of pure wine, in

the ceremony of forming a league, and joining right hands, as a pledge

of mutual fidelity after the sacrifice.—Felton.

[Nestor is supposed here to glance at Achilles.—Tr.]

Homer here exalts wisdom over valor.

[Money stamped with the figure of an ox.]—Tr.

The encouragement of a divine power, seemed all that was requisite to

change the dispositions of the Grecians, and make them more ardent for

combat than they had previously been to return. This conquers their

inclinations in a manner at once poetical and in keeping with the moral

which is every where spread through Homer, that nothing is accomplished

without divine assistance.

Homer’s rich invention gives us five beautiful similes on the march of

the army. This profusion and variety can never be sufficiently admired.

The superior knowledge that the poet here attributes to the Muses as

divine beings, and then his occasional invocations to them, gives an

air of importance to his subject and has an imposing effect.

However fabulous the other parts of Homer’s poems may be, this account

of the princes, people, and countries, is by far the most valuable

piece of history and geography left us in regard to the state of Greece

in that early period. Greece was then divided into several dynasties,

which Homer has enumerated under their respective princes; and his

division was considered so correct, that many disputes respecting the

boundaries of Grecian cities were decided upon his authority.

Eustathius has collected together the following instances: The city of

Calydon was adjudged to the Ætolians, notwithstanding the pretensions

of Æolia, because it was ranked by Homer as belonging to the former.

Sestos was given to those of Abydos, upon the plea that he had said the

Abydonians were possessors of Sestos, Abydos, and Arisbe. When the

Milesians and people of Priene disputed their claim to Mycale, a verse

of Homer gave it to the Milesians. The Athenians were put in possession

of Salamis by another which was cited by Solon, or (according to some)

interpolated by him for that purpose; and Porphyry says, that the

catalogue was so highly esteemed, that the youths of some nations were

required to commit it to memory.

Professor Felton remarks, “The student is advised to give particular

attention to this important passage. He will find it the most

interesting fragment of geography extant; interesting for the poetical

beauty of the verse, the regular order which is followed, and the

little characteristic touches which denote the peculiarities of the

several provinces. The more he examines this catalogue with the

subsidiary lights of geography, history and travels, the more cause

will he find of wonder, that a description so ancient should combine so

much accuracy, beauty, and interest. It is recommended to the student,

to trace the provinces and cities on some good map of ancient Greece.”

[Some say Thebes the less, others, the suburbs of Thebes the greater.

It is certain that Thebes itself sent none.—Tr.]

It was the custom of these people to shave the fore parts of their

heads, that their enemies might not seize them by the hair; on the

hinder part they allowed it to grow, as a valiant race that would never

turn their backs. Their manner of fighting was hand to hand, without

quitting their javelins.

Menelaus is occasionally distinguished by his activity, which shows his

personal concern in the war.

The Arcadians, being an inland people, were unskilled in navigation,

for which reason Agamemnon furnished them with shipping.

Nireus is nowhere mentioned as a leader but in these lines. As rank and

beauty were his only qualifications, he is allowed to sink into

oblivion.

The mud of the Peneus is of a light color, for which reason Homer gives

it the epithet of silvery. The Titaresius, and other small streams

which are rolled from Olympus and Ossa, are so extremely clear, that

their waters are distinguished from those of the Peneus for a

considerable distance from the point of their confluence.—Dodwell.

Dr. Clarke, in his travels, describes this tomb as a conical mound; and

says that it is the spot of all others for viewing the plain of Troy,

as it is visible in all parts of Troas. From its top may be traced the

course of the Scamander, the whole chain of Ida, stretching towards

Lectum, the snowy heights of Gargarus, and all the shores of

Hellespont, near the mouth of the river Sigæum and the other tumuli

upon the coast.

A patronymic given to Achilles as descendant of Æacus, father of

Peleus.

A river of Troas in Asia Minor, the same as the Scamander.

This expression is construed by critics as denoting an unpolished

dialect, but not a foreign.

Footnotes for Book III:

The scenes described in this book are exceedingly lifesome. The figures

are animating and beautiful, and the mind of the reader is borne along

with breathless interest over the sonorous verse.—Felton.

This is a striking simile, from its exactness in two points—the noise

and the order. It has been supposed that the embattling of an army was

first learned by observing the close order of the flight of these

birds. The noise of the Trojans contrasts strongly with the silence of

the Greeks. Plutarch remarks upon this distinction as a credit to the

military discipline of the latter, and Homer would seem to have

attached some importance to it, as he again alludes to the same thing.

Book iv. 510.

[Paris, frequently named Alexander in the original.—Tr.]

Not from cowardice, but from a sense of guilt towards Menelaus. At the

head of an army he challenges the boldest of the enemy; and Hector, at

the end of the Sixth Book, confesses that no man could reproach him as

a coward. Homer has a fine moral;—A brave mind, however blinded with

passion, is sensible of remorse whenever he meets the person whom he

has injured; and Paris is never made to appear cowardly, but when

overcome by the consciousness of his injustice.

[Λαινον εσσο χιτωνα]

In allusion to the Oriental custom of stoning to death for the crime of

adultery.—Felton.

The sling was a very efficacious and important instrument in ancient

warfare. Stones were also thrown with the hand. The Libyans carried no

other arms than the spear and a bag of stones.

The Trojans were required to sacrifice two lambs; one male of a white

color to the Sun, as the father of light, and one female and black to

the Earth, the mother and nurse of men. That these were the powers to

which they sacrificed appears from their being attested by name in the

oath. III. 330.

Helen’s weaving the events of the Trojan war in a veil is an agreeable

fiction; and one might suppose that it was inherited by Homer, and

explained in his Iliad.—Dacier.

[Not the grasshopper, but an insect well known in hot countries, and

which in Italy is called Cicála. The grasshopper rests on the ground,

but the favorite abode of the Cicála is in the trees and hedges.—Tr.]

This episode is remarkable for its beauty. The effect of Helen’s

appearance upon the aged counsellors is striking and poetical. It must

be borne in mind, that Helen was of divine parentage and unfading

beauty, and this will explain the enthusiasm which her sight called

forth from the old men. The poet’s skill in taking this method of

describing the Grecian chieftains is obvious, and the sketches

themselves are living and characteristic to a high degree. The

reminiscences of the aged Priam, as their names are announced, and the

penitential sorrow of the erring Helen, which the sight of her

countrymen, and the recollection of her home, her child, her

companions, excite in her bosom, are among the most skilful touches of

natural feeling.—Felton.

The character of a benevolent old man is well preserved in Priam’s

behavior to Helen. Upon observing her confusion, he attributes the

misfortunes of the war to the gods alone. This sentiment is also

natural to old age. Those who have had the longest experience of life,

are the most inclined to ascribe the disposal of all things to the will

of Heaven.

This view of the Grecian leaders from the walls of Troy, is admired as

an episode of great beauty, and considered a masterly manner of

acquainting the reader with the figure and qualifications of each hero.

Helen sees no where in the plain her two brothers Castor and Pollux.

Her inquiry is a natural one, and her self-reproach naturally suggests

her own disgrace as the cause of their not appearing among the other

commanders. The two lines in which the poet mentions their death are

simple and touching.—Felton.

Homer here gives the whole ceremonial of the solemn oath, as it was

then observed by the nations of whom he writes.

It must be borne in mind that sacrificing was the most solemn act of

religion, and that kings were also chief-priests.

The armor of both Greeks and Trojans consisted of six portions, and was

always put on in the order here given. The greaves were for the defence

of the legs. They were made of some kind of metal, and probably lined

with cloth or felt. The cuirass or corselet for the body, was made of

horn cut in thin pieces and fastened upon linen cloth, one piece

overlapping another. The sword hung on the left side by means of a belt

which passed over the right shoulder. The large round shield, sometimes

made of osiers twisted together and covered with several ox-hides, and

bound round the edge with metal. In the Homeric times it was supported

by a belt; subsequently a band was placed across the inner side, in

which the left arm was inserted, and a strong leather strap fastened

near the edge at certain distances, which was grasped by the hand. The

helmet, made of metal and lined with felt. Lastly the spear, and in

many cases two. The heavy-armed soldiery were distinguished from the

light. The covering of the latter consisted of skins, and instead of

the sword and lance, they fought with darts, bows and arrows, or

slings, and were generally attached in a subordinate capacity to the

heavy-armed soldiery.

Homer puts a prayer in the mouth of Menelaüs, but none in that of

Paris. Menelaüs is injured and innocent, and may therefore ask for

justice; but Paris, who is the criminal, remains silent.

[Because the hide of a beast that dies in health is tougher and fitter

for use than of another that dies diseased.]

Footnotes for Book IV:

The goddess of youth is made an attendant at the banquets of the gods,

to show that they enjoyed a perpetual youth, and endless felicity.

[A town of that name in Bœotia, where Pallas was particularly

worshipped.—Tr.]

[Βοωπις, constant description of Juno, but not susceptible of literal

translation.]

Homer does not make the gods use all persons indiscriminately as their

agents, but each according to his powers. When Minerva would persuade

the Greeks, she seeks Ulysses; when she would break the truce, for

Pandarus; and when she would conquer, for Diomede. The goddess went not

to the Trojans, because they hated Paris, and looks among the allies,

where she finds Pandarus, who was of a nation noted for perfidiousness,

and who, from his avarice, was capable of engaging in this treachery

for the hope of a reward from Paris.

A city of Asia Minor.

This description, so full of circumstantial detail, is remarkably

beautiful. 1. The history of the bow, giving in a few words the picture

of a hunter, lying in ambush and slaying his victim. 2. Then the

process of making the bow. 3. The anxious preparation for discharging

the arrow with certainty, which was destined to break off the truce and

precipitate the battle. 4. The hurried prayer and vow to Apollo, after

which the string is drawn, the cord twangs, the arrow “leaps forth.”

The whole is described with such graphic truth, that we see, and hear,

and wait in breathless suspense to know the result.—Felton.

This is one of those humble comparisons with which Homer sometimes

diversifies his subject, but a very exact one of its kind, and

corresponding in all its parts. The care of the goddess, the

unsuspecting security of Menelaus, the ease with which she diverts the

danger, and the danger itself, are all included in these few words. To

which may be added, that if the providence of heavenly powers to their

creatures is expressed by the love of a mother to her child, if men in

regard to them are but as sleeping infants, and the dangers that seem

so great to us, as easily warded off as the simile implies, the

conception appears sublime, however insignificant the image may at

first seem in regard to a hero.

From this we learn that the Lydians and Carians were famous for their

skill in dying purple, and that their women excelled in works of ivory;

and also that there were certain ornaments that only kings and princes

were privileged to wear.

This speech of Agamemnon over his wounded brother, is full of noble

power and touching eloquence. The Trojans have violated a truce

sanctioned by a solemn sacrifice to the gods. The reflection that such

perjury cannot pass with impunity, but that Jove will, sooner or later,

punish it, occurs first to the mind of the warrior. In the excitement

of the moment, he predicts that the day will surely come when sacred

Troy shall fall. From this impetuous feeling his mind suddenly returns

to the condition of his brother, and imagines with much pathos, the

consequences that will follow from his death, and ends with the wish,

that the earth may open before him when that time shall come.—Felton.

The poet here changes the narration, and apostrophises the reader.

Critics commend this figure, as the reader then becomes a spectator,

and his mind is kept fixed on the action.

In the following review of the army, we see the skill of an

accomplished general as well as the characters of the leaders whom

Agamemnon addresses. He begins with an address to the army in general,

and then turns to individuals. To the brave he urges their secure hopes

of conquest, since the gods must punish perjury; to the timid, their

inevitable destruction if the enemy should burn their ships. After this

he flies from rank to rank, skilfully addressing each ally, and

presents a lively picture of a great mind in the highest emotion.

The ancients usually in their feasts divided to the guests in equal

portions, except they took particular occasion to show distinction. It

was then considered the highest mark of honor to be allotted the best

portion of meat and wine, and to be allowed an exemption from the laws

of the feast in drinking wine unmingled and without measure. This

custom was much more ancient than the time of the Trojan war, and we

find it practised in the banquet given by Joseph to his brethren.

[Diverse interpretations are given of this passage. I have adopted that

which to me appeared most plausible. It seems to be a caution against

the mischiefs that might ensue, should the horses be put under the

management of a driver with whom they were unacquainted.—The scholium

by Villoisson much countenances this solution.—Tr.]

[Here Nestor only mentions the name of Ereuthalion, knowing the present

to be an improper time for story-telling; in the seventh book he

relates his fight and victory at length. This passage may serve to

confute those who charge Nestor with indiscriminate loquacity.—Tr.]

The first Theban war, previously alluded to, took place twenty-seven

years before the war of Troy. Sthenelus here speaks of the second,

which happened ten years after the first. For an account of these wars

see Grecian and Roman Mythology.

This is a most animated description. The onset, the clashing of spears,

the shield pressed to shield, the tumult of the battle, the shouts and

groans of the slayer and the dying—all are described in words, the very

sound of which conveys the terrible meaning. Then come the exploits

performed by individual heroes. The student must bear in mind, that the

battles of the heroic age depended in a great measure upon the prowess

of single chieftains. Hence the appropriateness of the following

enumeration.—Felton.

So called from the river Simoïs, near which he was born. It was an

eastern custom to name children from the most remarkable accident of

their birth. The Scriptures furnish many examples. In the Old Testament

princes were also compared to trees, and Simöisius is here resembled to

a poplar.

Homer occasionally puts his readers in mind of Achilles, and finds

occasion to celebrate his valor with the highest praise. Apollo here

tells the Trojans they have nothing to fear, since Achilles fights not.

[Ακροκομοι. They wore only a lock of hair on the crown of the head.]

Footnotes for Book V:

In each battle there is one prominent person who may be called the hero

of the day. This arrangement preserves unity, and helps to fix the

attention of the reader. The gods sometimes favor one hero, and

sometimes another. In this book we have the exploits of Diomede.

Assisted by Minerva, he is eminent both for prudence and valor.

Sirius. This comparison, among many others, shows how constantly the

poet’s attention was directed to the phenomena of nature.—Felton.

Ηιοεντι.

The chariots were probably very low. We frequently find in the Iliad

that a person standing in a chariot is killed (and sometimes by a

stroke on the head) by a foot soldier with a sword. This may farther

appear from the ease with which they mount or alight, to facilitate

which, the chariots were made open behind. That the wheels were small,

may be supposed from their custom of taking them off and putting them

on. Hebe puts on the wheels of Juno’s chariot, when he called for it in

battle. It may be in allusion to the same custom, that it is said in

Ex., ch. xiv.: “The Lord took off their chariot wheels, so that they

drove them heavily.” That it was very small and light, is evident from

a passage in the tenth Il., where Diomede debates whether he shall draw

the chariot of Rhesus out of the way, or carry it on his shoulders to a

place of safety.

[Meges, son of Phyleus.]

This whole passage is considered by critics as very beautiful. It

describes the hero carried by an enthusiastic valor into the midst of

his enemies, and mingling in the ranks indiscriminately. The simile

thoroughly illustrates this fury, proceeding as it did from an

extraordinary infusion of courage from Heaven.

[Apollo.]

The deities are often invoked because of the agency ascribed to them

and not from any particular religious usage. And just as often the

heroes are protected by the gods who are worshipped by their own tribes

and families—Muller.

This fiction of Homer, says Dacier, is founded upon an important truth

of religion, not unknown to the Pagans: viz. that God only can open the

eyes of men, and enable them to see what they cannot otherwise

discover. The Old Testament furnishes examples. God opens the eyes of

Hagar, that she may see the fountain. “The Lord opened the eyes of

Baalam, and he saw the angel,” etc. This power of sight was given to

Diomede only for the present occasion. In the 6th Book, on meeting

Glaucus, he is ignorant whether he is a god, a hero, or a man.

[Or collar-bone.]

The belief of those times, in regard to the peace and happiness of the

soul after death, made the protection of the body a matter of great

importance. For a full account of these rites, see the articles Charon

and Pluto, Gr. & Rom. Mythology.

The physician of the gods. Homer says nothing of his origin. He seems

to be considered as distinct from Apollo, though perhaps originally

identical with him.

From the fact that so few mystical myths are introduced in the Iliad,

Müller infers that the mystical element of religion could not have

predominated among the Grecian people for whom Homer sang. Otherwise,

his poems in which that element is but little regarded, would not have

afforded universal pleasure and satisfaction. He therefore takes but a

passing notice of Demeter. Müller also remarks, that in this we cannot

but admire the artistic skill of Homer, and the feeling for what is

right and fitting that was innate with the Greeks.

[Vide Samson to Harapha in the Agonistes. There the word is used in the

same sense.—Tr.]

[This is a construction of λευκ ελεφαντι given by some of the best

commentators, and that seems the most probable.—Tr.]

This slow and orderly retreat of the Greeks, with their front

constantly turned to the enemy, is a fine encomium on their courage and

discipline. This manner of retreating was customary among the

Lacedæmonians, as were many other martial customs described by Homer.

The practice arose from the apprehension of being killed by a wound in

the back, which was not only punished with infamy, but a person bearing

the mark was denied the rites of burial.

[This, according to Porphyrius as quoted by Clarke, is the true meaning

of αιολομιτρης.—Tr.]

The chariots of the gods were formed of various metals, and drawn

through the air, or upon the surface of the sea, by horses of celestial

breed. These chariots were used by the deities only on occasion of a

long journey, or when they wished to appear with state and

magnificence. Ordinarily they were transported from place to place by

the aid of their golden sandals, with the exception of the

“silver-footed Thetis,” to whom they seem to have been superfluous.

When at home, the gods were barefoot, according to the custom of the

age, as we see from various representations of antique art.

[These which I have called crescents, were a kind of hook of a

semicircular form, to which the reins were occasionally fastened.—Tr.]

The Greeks borrowed the vest and shield of Minerva from the Lybians,

only with this difference: the Lybian shield was fringed with thongs of

leather, and the Grecian with serpents.—Herodotus.

This expression (the gates of Heaven) is in the eastern manner, and

common in the Scriptures.

[Αρεα τονδε.]

Every thing that enters the dark empire of Hades disappears, and is

seen no more; hence the figurative expression, to put on Pluto’s

helmet; that is to become invisible.

Footnotes for Book VI:

The Simoïs and Xanthus were two rivers of the Troad, which form a

junction before they reached the Hellespont. The Simoïs rose in Mt.

Ida, and the Xanthus had its origin near Troy.—Felton.

Ajax commences his exploits immediately on the departure of the gods

from the battle. It is observed of this hero, that he is never assisted

by the deities.

Axylus was distinguished for his hospitality. This trait was

characteristic of the Oriental nations, and is often alluded to by

ancient writers. The rite of hospitality often united families

belonging to different and hostile nations, and was even transmitted

from father to son. This description is a fine tribute to the

generosity of Axylus.—Felton

[Euryalus.]

Agamemnon’s taking the life of the Trojan whom Menelaus had pardoned,

was according to the custom of the times. The historical books of the

Old Testament abound in instances of the like cruelty to conquered

enemies.

This important maxim of war is very naturally introduced, upon Menelaus

being ready to spare an enemy for the sake of a ransom. According to

Dacier, it was for such lessons as these that Alexander so much

esteemed Homer and studied his poem.

The custom of making donations to the gods is found among the ancients,

from the earliest times of which we have any record down to the

introduction of Christianity; and even after that period it was

observed by the Christians during the middle ages. Its origin seems to

have been the same as that of sacrifices: viz. the belief that the gods

were susceptible of influence in their conduct towards men. These gifts

were sometimes very costly, but often nothing more than locks of hair

cut from the head of the votary.

Diomede had knowingly wounded and insulted the deities; he therefore

met Glaucus with a superstitious fear that he might be some deity in

human shape. This feeling brought to his mind the story of Lycurgus.

It is said that Lycurgus caused most of the vines of his country to be

rooted up, so that his subjects were obliged to mix their wine with

water, as it became less plentiful. Hence the fable that Thetis

received Bacchus into her bosom.

This style of language was according to the manners of the times. Thus

Goliath to David, “Approach, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of

the air and the beasts of the field.” The Orientals still speak in the

same manner.

Though this comparison may be justly admired for its beauty in the

obvious application to the mortality and succession of human life, it

seems designed by the poet, in this place, as a proper emblem of the

transitory state of families which, by their misfortune or folly, have

fallen and decayed, and again appear, in a happier season, to revive

and flourish in the fame and virtues of their posterity. In this sense

it is a direct answer to the question of Diomede, as well as a proper

preface to what Glaticus relates of his own family, which, having

become extinct in Corinth, recovers new life in Lycia.

The same as Corinth.

Some suppose that alphabetical writing was unknown in the Homeric age,

and consequently that these signs must have been hieroglyphical marks.

The question is a difficult one, and the most distinguished scholars

are divided in opinion. We can hardly imagine that a poem of the length

and general excellence of the Iliad, could be composed without the aid

of writing; and yet, we are told, there are well-authenticated examples

of such works being preserved and handed down by traditional memory.

However this may be, we know that the Oriental nations were in

possession of the art of alphabetical writing it a very early period,

and before the Trojan war. It cannot, then, seem very improbable, that

the authors of the Iliad should also have been acquainted with

it.—Felton.

The Solymi were an ancient nation inhabiting the mountainous parts of

Asia Minor, between Lycia and Pisidia. Pliny mentions them as having

become extinct in his time.

It was the custom in ancient times, upon the performance of any signal

service by kings or great men, for the public to grant them a tract of

land as a reward. When Sarpedon, in the 12th Book, exhorts Glaucus to

behave valiantly, he reminds him of these possessions granted by his

countrymen.

The laws of hospitality were considered so sacred, that a friendship

contracted under their observance was preferred to the ties of

consanguinity and alliance, and regarded as obligatory even to the

third and fourth generation. Diomede and Glaucus here became friends,

on the ground of their grandfathers having been mutual guests. The

presents made on these occasions were preserved by families, as it was

considered obligatory to transmit them as memorials to their children.

[Ξεινοι πατρωιοι.]

The Scæan gate opened to the field of battle, and was the one through

which the Trojans made their excursions. Close to this stood the beech

tree sacred to Jupiter, and often mentioned in connection with it.

There is a mournfulness in the interview between the hero and his

mother which is deeply interesting. Her urging him to take wine and his

refusal were natural and simple incidents, which heighten the effect of

the scene.—Felton.

The custom that prohibits persons polluted with blood from performing

any offices of divine worship before purification, is so ancient and

universal, that it may be considered a precept of natural religion,

tending to inspire a horror of bloodshed. In Euripides, Iphigenia

argues the impossibility of human sacrifices being acceptable to the

gods, since they do not permit any one defiled with blood, or even

polluted with the touch of a dead body, to come near their altars.

Paris surprised the King of Phœnecia by night, and carried off many of

his treasures and captives, among whom probably were these Sidonian

women. Tyre and Sidon were famous for works in gold, embroidery, etc.,

and for whatever pertained to magnificence and luxury.

This gesture is the only one described by Homer as being used by the

ancients in their invocations of the gods.

[δια θεαων.]

The employment in which Hector finds Paris engaged, is extremely

characteristic.—Felton.

This address of Helen is in fine keeping with her character.—Felton.

[The bulk of his heroes is a circumstance of which Homer frequently

reminds us by the use of the word μεγας—and which ought, therefore, by

no means to be suppressed.—Tr.]

Love of his country is a prominent characteristic of Hector, and is

here beautifully displayed in his discharging the duties that the

public welfare required, before seeking his wife and child. Then

finding that she had gone to the tower, he retraces his steps to “the

Scæan gate, whence he must seek the field.” Here his wife, on her

return home, accidentally meets him.

[The name signifies, the _Chief of the city_.—Tr.]

It was the custom to plant about tombs only such trees as elms, alders,

etc., that bear no fruit, as being most appropriate to the dead.

In this recapitulation, Homer acquaints us with some of the great

achievements of Achilles, which preceded the opening of the poem—a

happy manner of exalting his hero, and exciting our expectation as to

what he is yet to accomplish. His greatest enemies never upbraid him,

but confess his glory. When Apollo encourages the Trojans to fight, it

is by telling them Achilles fights no more. When Juno animates the

Greeks, she reminds them how their enemies fear Achilles; and when

Andromache trembles for Hector, it is with the remembrance of his

resistless force.

Drawing water was considered the most servile employment.

[The Scholiast in Villoisson calls it

φυσικον τινα και μετριον γελωτα a natural and moderate laughter.—Tr.]

According to the ancient belief, the fatal period of life is appointed

to all men at the time of their birth, which no precaution can avoid

and no danger hasten.

This scene, for true and unaffected pathos, delicate touches of nature,

and a profound knowledge of the human heart, has rarely been equalled,

and never surpassed, among all the efforts of genius during the three

thousand years that have gone by since it was conceived and

composed.—Felton.

Footnotes for Book VII:

Holding the spear in this manner was, in ancient warfare, understood as

a signal to discontinue the fight.

The challenge of Hector and the consternation of the Greeks, presents

much the same scene as the challenge of Goliath, 1 Samuel, ch. 17: “And

he stood and cried to the armies of Israel;—Choose you a man for you,

and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to

kill me, then will we be your servants.—When Saul and all Israel heard

the words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

It was an ancient custom for warriors to dedicate trophies of this kind

to the temples of their tutelary deities.

[The club-bearer.]

[It is a word used by Dryden.]

Homer refers every thing, even the chance of the lots, to the

disposition of the gods.

[Agamemnon.]

The lot was merely a piece of wood or shell, or any thing of the kind

that was at hand. Probably it had some private mark, and not the name,

as it was only recognized by the owner.

This reply is supposed to allude to some gesture made by Ajax in

approaching Hector.

The heralds were considered as sacred persons, the delegates of

Mercury, and inviolable by the laws of nations. Ancient history

furnishes examples of the severity exercised upon those who were guilty

of any outrage upon them. Their office was, to assist in the sacrifices

and councils, to proclaim war or peace, to command silence at

ceremonies or single combats, to part the combatants and declare the

conqueror.

This word I have taken leave to coin. The Latins have both substantive

and adjective. _Purpura—Purpureus._ We make purple serve both uses; but

it seems a poverty to which we have no need to submit, at least in

poetry.—Tr.

A particular mark of honor and respect, as this part of the victim

belonged to the king. In the simplicity of the times, the reward

offered a victorious warrior of the best portion of the sacrifice at

supper, a more capacious bowl, or an upper seat at table, was a

recompense for the greatest actions.

It is worthy of observation, that beef, mutton, or kid, was the food of

the heroes of Homer and the patriarchs and warriors of the Old

Testament. Fishing and fowling were then the arts of more luxurious

nations.

[The word is here used in the Latin sense of it. Virgil, describing the

entertainment given by Evander to the Trojans, says that he regaled

them

Perpetui _tergo bovis et lustralibus extis._

Æn. viii.

It means, the whole.—Tr.]

Footnotes for Book VIII:

An epithet of Aurora, supposed to designate an early hour.

Many have explained this as an allegorical expression for one of the

great laws of nature—gravity or the attraction of the sun. There is not

the slightest probability that any such meaning is intended.—Felton.

A part of Mt. Ida. This place was celebrated, in subsequent times, for

the worship of Jupiter. Several years ago, Dr. E.D. Clarke deposited,

in the vestibule of the public library in Cambridge, England, a marble

bust of Juno, taken from the ruins of this temple of Jupiter, at the

base of Mt. Ida.—Felton

[In the repetition of this expression, the translator follows the

original.]

Sacred, because that part of the day was appropriate to sacrifice and

religious worship.

This figure is first used in the Scriptures. Job prays to be weighed in

an even balance, that God may know his integrity. Daniel says to

Belshazzar, “thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting,” etc.

Jupiter’s declaring against the Greeks by thunder and lightning, is

drawn (says Dacier) from truth itself. 1 Sam. ch. vii.: “And as Samuel

was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew near to battle

against Israel; but the Lord thundered on that day upon the Philistines

and discomfited them.”

Nothing can be more spirited than the enthusiasm of Hector, who, in the

transport of his joy, breaks out in the following apostrophe to his

horses. He has, in imagination, already forced the Grecian

entrenchments, set the fleet in flames, and destroyed the whole army.

From this speech, it may be gathered that women were accustomed to

loosen the horses from the chariot, on their return from battle, and

feed them; and from line 214, unless it is spurious, it seems that the

provender was sometimes mixed with wine. It is most probable, however,

that the line is not genuine.—Felton.

Homer describes a princess so tender in her love to her husband, that

she meets him on his return from every battle, and, in the joy of

seeing him again, feeds his horses with bread and wine, as an

acknowledgment to them for bringing him back.—Dacier.

These were the arms that Diomede had received from Glaucus.

[None daring to keep the field, and all striving to enter the gates

together, they obstructed their own passage, and were, of course,

compelled into the narrow interval between the foss and rampart.

But there are different opinions about the space intended. See

Villoisson.—Tr.]

[To Jove, the source of all oracular information.]

Jupiter, in answer to the prayer of Agamemnon, sends an omen to

encourage the Greeks. The application of it is obvious: The eagle

signified Hector, the fawn denoted the fear and flight of the Greeks,

and being dropped at the altar of Jupiter, indicated that they would be

saved by the protection of that god.

This simile is very beautiful, and exactly represents the manner of

Gorgythion’s death. There is so much truth in the comparison, that we

pity the fall of the youth and almost feel his wound.

[Ενικλαν.—The word is here metaphorical, and expresses, in its primary

use, the breaking of a spear against a shield.—Tr.]

[The following lines, to the end of this paragraph, are a translation

of some which Barnes has here inserted from the second Alcibiades of

Plato.]

The simile is the most magnificent that can be conceived. The stars

come forth brightly, the whole heaven is cloudless and serene, the moon

is in the sky, the heights, and promontories, and forests stand forth

distinctly in the light, _and the shepherd rejoices in his heart_. This

last simple and natural circumstance is inexpressibly beautiful, and

heightens the effect of the visible scene, by associating it, in the

most direct and poetical manner, with the inward emotion that such a

scene must produce.—Felton.

Footnotes for Book IX:

[In the original the word is—μελανυδρος—dark-watered; and it is

rendered—_deep_—by the best interpreters, because deep waters have a

blackish appearance. Δνοφερον υδωρ is properly water that runs with

rapidity; water—μετα δονησεως φερομενον—See Villoisson.]—Tr.

This is the language of a brave man, boldly to affirm that courage is

above crowns and sceptres. In former times they were not hereditary,

but the recompense of valor.

[The observation seems made with a view to prevent such a reply from

Agamemnon to Diomede as might give birth to new dissensions, while it

reminds him indirectly of the mischiefs that had already attended his

quarrel with Achilles.]—Tr.

This speech of Nestor is happily conceived. It belonged to him as the

aged counsellor to begin the debate, by laying the subject before the

assembly, especially as it was necessary to impale the blame of the

present unfortunate condition of the army to Agamemnon. It would have

been presumptuous in any other, and it was a matter of difficulty and

delicacy even for Nestor.—Felton.

In the heroic age, the bridegroom, before marriage, was obliged to make

two presents, one to his betrothed wife, and one to his father-in-law.

This was also an ancient custom of the Hebrews. Abraham’s servant gave

presents to Rebekah: Gen. xxiv. 22. Shechem promised a dowry and gift

to Jacob for his daughter: Gen. xxiv. 12. And in after times, Saul said

he desired no dowry for Michal: 1 Sam. xviii. 25.

One of the religious ceremonies previous to any important enterprise.

Then followed the order for silence and reverent attention; then the

libation, &c.—Felton

Achilles having retired from action in displeasure to Agamemnon,

quieted himself by singing to his lyre the achievements of demi-gods

and heroes. Nothing was better suited to the martial disposition of

this hero, than these heroic songs. Celebrating the actions of the

valiant prepared him for his own great exploits. Such was the music of

the ancients, and to such purposes was it applied. When the lyre of

Paris was offered to Alexander, he replied that he had little value

for it, but much desired that of Achilles, on which he sung the

actions of heroes in former times.—Plutarch.

The manners of the Iliad are the manners of the patriarchal and early

ages of the East. The chief differences arise from a different religion

and a more maritime situation. Very far removed from the savage state

on the one hand, and equally distant from the artificial state of an

extended commerce and a manufacturing population on the other, the

spirit and habitudes of the two modes of society are almost identical.

The hero and the Patriarch are substantially coëval; but the first

wanders in twilight, the last stands in the eye of Heaven. When three

men appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, he ran to meet them

from the tent door, brought them in, directed Sarah to make bread,

fetched from the herd himself a calf tender and good, dressed it, and

set it before them. When Ajax, Ulysses, and Phœnix stand before

Achilles, he rushes forth to greet them, brings them into the tent,

directs Patroclus to mix the wine, cuts up the meat, dresses it, and

sets it before the ambassadors. * * * *

Instances of this sort might be multiplied to any extent, but the

student will find it a pleasing and useful task to discover them for

himself; and these will amply suffice to demonstrate the existence of

that correspondence of spirit and manners between the Homeric and the

early ages of the Bible history, to which I have adverted. It is real

and important; it affords a standard of the feelings with which we

ought to read the Iliad, if we mean to read it as it deserves; and it

explains and sets in the true point of view numberless passages, which

the ignorance or frivolity of after-times has charged with obscurity,

meanness or error. The Old Testament and the Iliad reflect light

mutually on each other; and both in respect of poetry and morals (for

the whole of Homer’s poetry is a praise of virtue, and every thing in

him tends to this point, except that which is merely superfluous and

for ornament) it may with great truth be said, that he who has the

longest studied, and the most deeply imbibed, the spirit of the Hebrew

Bible, will the best understand and the most lastingly appreciate the

tale of Troy divine.—H.N. Coleridge.

[I have given this sense to the word

Ζωροτερον—on the authority of the Venetian Scholium, though some

contend that it should be translated—_quickly_. Achilles, who had

reproached Agamemnon with intemperate drinking, was, himself, more

addicted to music than to wine.]—Tr.

[It is not without authority that I have thus rendered

κρειον μεγα. Homer’s banquets are never stewed or boiled; it cannot

therefore signify a kettle. It was probably a kitchen-table, dresser,

or tray, on which the meat was prepared for the spit. Accordingly we

find that this very meat was spitted afterward.—See

Schaufelbergerus.]—Tr.

There are no speeches in the Iliad better placed, better timed, or that

give a greater idea of Homer’s genius than these of the ambassadors to

Achilles. They are not only demanded by the occasion, but skilfully

arranged, and in a manner that gives pleasure to the reader.

[Dacier observes, that he pluralizes the one wife of Menelaus, through

the impetuosity of his spirit.]—Tr.

According to some ancient writers, Achilles was but twelve years of age

when he went to the wars of Troy. And from what is here related of his

education under Phœnix, it may be inferred, that the fable of his

having been taught by Chiron is an invention of a later age and unknown

to Homer.

The ancients gave the name of Jupiter not only to the God of heaven,

but also to the God of hell, as is seen here; and to the God of the

sea, as appears from Æschylus. They meant thereby to show that one sole

deity governed the world. To teach this truth, statues were made of

Jupiter which had three eyes. Priam had one in the court of his palace,

which, in sharing the booty of the war of Troy, fell to the lot of

Sthenelus, who carried it to Greece.—Dacier.

So called because Jove protects those who implore his aid.

[Wrinkled—because the countenance of a man driven to prayer by a

consciousness of guilt is sorrowful and dejected. Lame—because it is a

remedy to which men recur late, and with reluctance. And

slant-eyed—either because, in that state of humiliation they fear to

lift their eyes to heaven, or are employed in taking a retrospect of

their past misconduct.

The whole allegory, considering _when_ and _where_ it was composed,

forms a very striking passage.]—Tr.

[She had five brothers: Iphiclus, Polyphontes, Phanes, Eurypylus,

Plexippus.]—Tr.

It was the custom for the murderer to go into banishment for one year.

But if the relations of the murdered person were willing, the criminal,

by paying a certain fine, might buy off the exile and remain at home.

Ajax sums up this argument with great strength: We see, says he, a

brother forgive the murder of his brother, a father that of his son;

but Achilles will not forgive the injury offered him by taking away one

captive woman.

The character of Achilles is well sustained in all his speeches. To

Ulysses he returns a flat denial, and threatens to leave the Trojan

shore in the morning. To Phœnix his answer is more gentle. After Ajax

has spoken, he seems determined not to depart, but yet refuses to bear

arms, except in defence of his own squadron.

Footnotes for Book X:

With slight alteration, Homer here repeats the verses that open the 2d

Book, and ascribes to Agamemnon the same watchfulness over men that

Jupiter had over the gods.

Menelaus starts a design, which is afterwards proposed by Nestor in

council. The poet knew that the project would come with greater weight

from the age of the one than from the youth of the other, and that the

valiant would be ready to engage in the enterprise suggested by so

venerable a counsellor.

Agamemnon is uniformly represented as an example of brotherly

affection, and at all times defends Menelaus.

[Σαυρωτηρ—seems to have been a hollow iron with a point, fitted to the

obtuse end of the spear, for the purpose of planting that end of it in

the ground. It might probably be taken off at pleasure.]—Tr.

The dogs represent the watch, the flocks the Greeks, the fold their

camp, and the wild beast that invades them, Hector. The place,

position, and circumstances are represented with the utmost life and

nature.

[_Sable_, because the expedition was made by night, and _each with a

lamb_, as typical of the fruit of their labors.]—Tr.

It required some address in Diomede to make a choice without offending

the Grecian princes, each one of whom might consider it an indignity to

be refused such a place of honor. Diomede, therefore, chose Ulysses,

not for his valor, but for his wisdom. On this point, the other leaders

all yielded to him.

The heroes are well armed for their design. Ulysses has a bow and

arrows, that he may be able to wound the enemy at a distance, and

Diomede a two-edged sword. They both have leathern helmets, as the

glittering of the metal might betray them to the enemy.

[Autolycus was grandfather of Ulysses by the mother’s side.]—Tr.

Making these military presents to brave adventurers was an ancient

custom. “Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and

gave it to David; and his garments, even to his sword, and his bow, and

his girdle.” 1 Sam. xviii. v.

These lines show how careful the poet always was to be true to nature.

The little circumstance that they could not _see_ the heron, but only

heard him, stamps the description with an air of verisimilitude which

is at once recognized.—Felton.

This passage sufficiently justifies Diomede for his choice of Ulysses.

Diomede, who was most renowned for valor, might have given a wrong

interpretation to this omen, and have been discouraged from proceeding

in the attempt. For though it really signified that, as the bird was

not seen, but only heard, so they should not be discovered by the

Trojans, but perform actions of which all Troy should hear with sorrow;

yet, on the other hand, it might imply that, as they discovered the

bird by the noise of its wings, so the noise they should make would

betray them to the Trojans. Pallas does not send the bird sacred to

herself, but the heron, because that is a bird of prey, and denoted

that they should spoil the Trojans.

Dolon seems to have been eminent for wealth, and Hector summons him to

the assembly as one of the chiefs of Troy. He was known to the Greeks,

perhaps, from his having passed between the two armies as a herald.

Ancient writers observe, that it was the office of Dolon that led him

to offer himself in this service. The sacredness attached to it gave

him hopes that they would not violate his person, should he chance to

be taken; and his riches he knew were sufficient to purchase his

liberty. Besides these advantages, he probably trusted to his swiftness

to escape pursuit.

Eustathius remarks upon the different manner in which the Grecians and

Trojans conduct the same enterprise. In the council of the Greeks, a

wise old man proposes the adventure with an air of deference; in that

of the Trojans, a brave young man with an air of authority. The one

promises a small gift, but honorable and certain; the other a great

one, but uncertain and less honorable, because it is given as a reward.

Diomede and Ulysses are inspired with a love of glory; Dolon with the

thirst of gain. They proceed with caution and bravery; he with rashness

and vanity. They go in conjunction; he alone. They cross the fields out

of the road, he follows the common track. In all this there is an

admirable contrast, and a moral that strikes every reader at first

sight.

[Commentators are extremely in the dark, and even Aristarchus seems to

have attempted an explanation in vain. The translator does not pretend

to have ascertained the distance intended, but only to have given a

distance suited to the occasion.]—Tr.

Ulysses makes no promise of life, but artfully bids Dolon, who is

overpowered by fear, not to think of death. He was so cautious as not

to believe a friend just before without an oath, but he trusts an enemy

without even a promise.

['Οσσαι γαρ Τρωων πυρος εσχαραι—As many as are owners of hearths—that

is to say, all who are householders here, or natives of the city.]—Tr

It seems barbarous in Diomede thus to have killed Dolon, but Eustathius

observes that it was necessary to their success, as his cries might

have put the Trojans on their guard.

An allegorical manner of saying that they were awakened by the morning

light.

[Homer did not here forget himself, though some have altered

τρις ιο τετρακαιδεκατον.—Rhesus for distinction sake is not numbered

with his people—See Villoisson _in loco_.]—Tr.

Footnotes for Book XI:

Cynyras was king of Cyprus, and this probably alludes to some

historical fact. Cyprus was famous for its minerals.

[Τρεις εκατερθ'—three on a side, This is evidently the proper

punctuation, though it differs from that of all the editions that I

have seen. I find it no where but in the _Venetian Scholium_.]—Tr.

It is finely remarked by Trollope, that, of all the points of

resemblance which may be discovered between the sentiments,

associations and expressions of Homer, and those of the sacred

writings, this similitude is perhaps the most striking; and there can

be little doubt that it exhibits a traditional vestige of the

patriarchal record of God’s covenant.—Felton.

[Quâtre-crested. So I have rendered

τετραφαληρον which literally signifies having four cones. The cone was

a tube into which the crest was inserted. The word quâtre-crested may

need a precedent for its justification, and seems to have a sufficient

one in the cinque-spotted cowslip of Shakspeare.]—Tr.

[This seems the proper import of

εγδουπησαν. Jupiter is called

εριγδουτος.]—Tr.

[The translator follows Clarke in this interpretation of a passage to

us not very intelligible.]

The ancient manner of mowing and reaping was, for the laborers to

divide in two parties, and to begin at each end of the field, which was

equally divided, and proceed till they met in the middle of it.

Time was then measured by the progression of the sun, and the parts of

the day were distinguished by the various employments.

[ολμος.]

[The Grecians at large are indiscriminately called Danaï, Argives, and

Achaians, in the original. The Phthians in particular—Hellenes. They

were the troops of Achilles.]—Tr.

[Ανεμοτρεφες—literally—wind-nourished.]—Tr.

In making Ulysses direct Diomede, Homer intends to show that valor

should be under the guidance of wisdom. In the 8th Book, when Diomede

could hardly be restrained by the thunder of Jupiter, his valor is

checked by the wisdom of Nestor.

Diomede does not fear Hector, but Jupiter, who, he has previously said,

will give the Trojans the day.

[In the original—κερα αγλαε.—All that I pretend to know of this

expression is that it is ironical, and may relate either to the

head-dress of Paris, or to his archership. To translate it is

impossible; to paraphrase it, in a passage of so much emotion, would be

absurd. I have endeavored to supply its place by an appellation in

point of contempt equal.]—Tr.

No moral is so evident throughout the Iliad, as the dependence of man

upon divine assistance and protection. Apollo saves Hector from the

dart, and Minerva Ulysses.

Homer here pays a marked distinction. The army had seen several of

their bravest heroes wounded, yet without expressing as much concern as

at the danger of Machaon, their physician and surgeon.

[This interpretation of—μινυνθα δε χαζετο δουρος—is taken from the

Scholium by Villoisson. It differs from those of Clarke, Eustathius,

and another Scholiast quoted by Clarke, but seems to suit the context

much better than either.]—Tr.

The address of Homer in bringing off Ajax is admirable. He makes Hector

afraid to approach him, and brings down Jupiter to terrify him. Thus he

retreats, not from a mortal, but from a God.

The whole passage is inimitably just and beautiful. We see Ajax slowly

retreating between two armies, and even with a look repulse the one and

protect the other. Every line resembles Ajax. The character of a

stubborn and undaunted warrior is perfectly maintained. He compares him

first to the lion for his undaunted spirit in fighting, and then to the

ass for his stubborn slowness in retreating. In the latter comparison

there are many points of resemblance that enliven the image. The havoc

he makes in the field is represented by the tearing and trampling down

the harvests; and we see the bulk, strength, and obstinancy of the

hero, when the Trojans, in respect to him, are compared to the troops

of boys that impotently endeavor to drive him away.

It must be borne in mind that among the people of the East, an ass was

a beast upon which kings and princes might ride with dignity.

Though the resentment of Achilles would not permit him to be an actor

in the field, yet his love of war inclines him to be a spectator. As

the poet did not intend to draw the character of a perfect man in

Achilles, he makes him delighted with the destruction of the Greeks,

because it gratified his revenge. That resentment which is the subject

of the poem, still presides over every other feeling, even the love of

his country. He begins now to pity his countrymen, yet he seems

gratified by their distress, because it will contribute to his glory.

This onion was very different from the root which now passes under that

name. It had a sweet flavor, and was used to impart an agreeable flavor

to wine. It is in high repute at the present day in Egypt.—Felton.

[I have interpreted the very ambiguous words

ουω δ' υπο πυθμενες ησαν according to Athenæus as quoted by Clarke, and

his interpretation of them is confirmed by the Scholium in the Venetian

edition of the Iliad, lately published by Villoisson.]—Tr.

Homer here reminds the reader, that Nestor belonged to a former

generation of men, who were stronger than the heroes of the war.

[It would have suited the dignity of Agamemnon’s rank to have mentioned

_his_ wound first; but Nestor making this recital to the _friend of

Achilles_, names him slightly, and without any addition.]—Tr.

[It is said that the Thebans having war with the people of Orchomenos,

the Pylians assisted the latter, for which cause Hercules destroyed

their city.—See Scholium per Villoisson.]—Tr.

Footnotes for Book XII:

[The word is of scripture use; see Gen. ch. xxx. where it describes the

cattle of Jacob.]—Tr.

[Alluding to the message delivered to him from Jupiter by Iris.]—Tr.

The morality of the Iliad deserves particular attention. It is not

_perfect_, upon Christian principles. How should it be under the

circumstances of the composition of the poem? Yet, compared with that

of all the rest of the classical poetry, it is of a transcendently

noble and generous character. The answer of Hector to Polydamas, who

would have dissuaded a further prosecution of the Trojan success, has

been repeated by many of the most devoted patriots the world ever saw.

_We_, who defy augury in these matters, can yet add nothing to the

nobleness of the sentiment.—H.N. Coleridge.

[πλεονων δε τοι εργον αμεινον.—This is evidently proverbial, for which

reason I have given it that air in the translation.]—Tr.

There is something touching in this simile. Our attention is fixed, not

so much on the battle, as on the struggles of the laboring,

true-hearted woman, who toils for a hard-earned pittance for her

children. The description is not so much illustrated by the simile, as

the simile by the description.—Felton.

The description of this exploit of Hector is wonderfully imposing. It

seems to be the poet’s wish to magnify his deeds during the short

period that he has yet to live, both to do justice to the hero of Troy,

and to give the greater glory to Achilles his conquerer.—Felton.

Footnotes for Book XIII:

We are hurried through this book by the warlike ardor of the poet.

Battle succeeds battle with animating rapidity. The speeches are in

fine keeping with the scenes, and the similes are drawn from the most

imposing natural phenomena. The descriptions possess a wonderful

distinctness and vigor, presenting the images to the mind by a few bold

and grand lines, thus shunning the confusion of intricate and minute

detail.—Felton.

So called from their simple diet, consisting principally of mare’s

milk. They were a people living on the north-east coast of the Euxine

Sea. These epithets are sometimes supposed to be the _gentile_

denominations of the different tribes; but they are all susceptible of

interpretation as epithets applied to the Hippemolgi.—Felton.

[For this admirable line the translator is indebted to Mr. Fuseli.]—Tr.

The following simile is considered by critics as one of the finest in

Homer.

[A fitter occasion to remark on this singular mode of approach in

battle, will present itself hereafter.]—Tr.

[The bodies of Imbrius and Amphimachus.]

[Amphimachus.]

This is a noble passage. The difference between the conduct of the

brave man and that of the coward is drawn with great vigor and

beauty.—Felton.

[Hypsenor.]

[This seems to be he meaning ofεν μεγαρω an expression similar to that

of Demosthenes in a parallel case—ετι ενδον ουσαν.—See

Schaufelburgerus.]—Tr

[He is said to have been jealous of him on account of his great

popularity, and to have discountenanced him, fearing a conspiracy in

his favor to the prejudice of his own family.—See Villoisson.]—Tr.

[The Iäonianans were a distinct people from the Ionians, and according

to the Scholium, separated from them by a pillar bearing on opposite

sides the name of each.—See Barnes. See also Villoisson.]—Tr.

[The people of Achilles were properly called the Phthiotæ, whereas the

Phthians belonged to Protesiläus and Philoctetes.—See Eustathius, as

quoted by Clarke.]—Tr.

This simile is derived from one of the most familiar sights among a

simple people. It is extremely natural, and its propriety will be

peculiarly striking to those who have had occasion to see a yoke of

oxen plowing in a hot day.—Felton.

[Achilles.]

[This, according to Eustathius, is the import of

αμοιβοι.—See Iliad III., in which Priam relates an expedition of his

into that country.]—Tr.

Footnotes for Book XIV:

The beauty of this simile will be lost to those who have never been at

sea during a calm. The water is then not quite motionless, but swells

gently in smooth waves, which fluctuate in a balancing motion, until a

rising wind gives them a certain determination. Every circumstance of

the comparison is just, as well as beautiful.

Anointing the body with perfumed oil was a remarkable part of ancient

cosmetics. It was probably an eastern invention, agreeable to the

luxury of the Asiatics.

A footstool was considered a mark of honor.

In accordance with the doctrine of Thales the Milesian, that all things

are generated from water, and nourished by the same element.

[Hercules.]

Night was venerated, both for her antiquity and power.

[One of the heads of Ida.]

A bird about the size of a hawk, and entirely black.

By Juno is understood the air, and it is allegorically said that she

was nourished by the vapors that rise from the ocean and the earth.

Tethys being the same as Rhea.

[Europa.]

An evident allusion to the ether and the atmosphere.—E.P.P.

Footnotes for Book XV:

[The translator seizes the opportunity afforded to him by this

remarkable passage, to assure his readers who are not readers of the

original, that the discipline which Juno is here said to have suffered

from the hands of Jove, is not his own invention. He found it in the

original, and considering fidelity as his indispensable duty, has not

attempted to soften or to refine away the matter. He begs that this

observation may be adverted to as often as any passage shall occur in

which ancient practices or customs, not consonant to our own, either in

point of delicacy or humanity, may be either expressed or alluded to.

He makes this request the rather, because on these occasions Mr. Pope

has observed a different conduct, suppressing all such images as he had

reason to suppose might be offensive.]—Tr.

The earliest form of an oath seems to have been by the elements of

nature, or rather the deities who preside over them.—Trollope.

In the following speech, Jupiter discloses the future events of the

war.

The illustration in the following lines is one of the most beautiful in

Homer. The rapid passage of Juno is compared to the speed of thought,

by which a traveller revisits in imagination the scenes over which he

has passed. No simile could more exalt the power of the

Goddess.—Felton.

The picture is strikingly true to nature. The smile upon the lip, and

frown upon the brow, express admirably the state of mind in which the

Goddess must be supposed to have been at this moment.—Felton.

[_To tempest_—κυδοιμησων—Milton uses _tempest_ as a verb. Speaking of

the fishes, he says

... part, huge of bulk

Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait,

_Tempest_ the ocean.

]—Tr.

The Furies are said to wait upon men in a double sense; either for

evil; as upon Orestes after he had killed his mother, or else for their

good, as upon elders when they are injured, to protect them and avenge

their wrongs. The ancients considered birth-right as a right divine.

[Τρωες δε προυτυψαν αολλεες. The translation is literal, and affords

one of many instances in which the Greek and English idiom correspond

exactly.]—Tr.

[Arcesilaüs.]

[This abruptness of transition from the third person to the first,

follows the original.]

[The translator hopes that his learned readers will pardon him, if

sometimes, to avoid an irksome cacophony, he turns brass into steel. In

fact, arrow had not a point of steel, but a brazen one.]—Tr.

This sentiment is noble and patriotic. It is in strict keeping with the

character of Hector, who always appears as his country’s champion, and

ready to die in her defence. Our sympathies go with him; we

involuntarily wish him success, and deplore his misfortune, though we

admire the invincible courage of his more fortunate antagonist. His

actions and sentiments, springing from the simplest feelings of our

nature, will always command applause, and, under all circumstances, and

every form of political existence, will be imitated by the defenders of

their country.

The speech of Ajax is animating and powerful. It is conceived in the

true spirit of a warrior rousing his followers to make a last effort to

repel the enemy.—Felton.

[Meges.]

Hector is here represented as an instrument in the hand of Jupiter, to

bring about the design the God had long ago projected. As his fatal

hour now approaches, Jove is willing to recompense his early death with

this short-lived glory.

It may be asked what Pallas has to do with the Fates, or what power has

she over them? Homer speaks thus, because Minerva has already resolved

to deceive Hector and exalt Achilles. Pallas, as the wisdom and

knowledge of Jove, may be considered as drawing all things to the

termination decreed by his councils.

[This termination of the period, so little consonant to the beginning

of it, follows the original, where it is esteemed by commentators a

great beauty.]—Tr.

Footnotes for Book XVI:

[This translation of

δνοφερον is warranted by the Scholiast, who paraphrases it thus:

μετα δονησεως φερομενον.

_Iliad per Vill._]

The friendship of Achilles and Patroclus was celebrated by all

antiquity. It is said in the life of Alexander the Great, that when

that prince visited the monuments of the heroes of Troy, and placed a

crown upon the tomb of Achilles, his friend Hephæstion placed another

on that of Patroclus; an intimation of his being to Alexander, what

Patroclus was to Achilles. It is also said, that Alexander remarked,

“Achilles was happy indeed, in having had such a friend to love him

when living, and such a poet to celebrate him when dead.”

[περιαγνυται. A word of incomparable force, and that defies

translation.]

This charge is in keeping with the ambitious character of Achilles. He

is unwilling that even his dearest friend should have the honor of

conquering Hector.

The picture of the situation of Ajax, exhausted by his efforts, pressed

by the arms of his assailants and the will of Jupiter, is drawn with

much graphic power.—Felton.

Argus-slayer.

The mythi which we find in the Iliad respecting Mercury, represent him

as the god who blessed the land with fertility, which was his attribute

in the original worship. He is represented as loving the daughter of

Phthiotian Phylas, the possessor of many herds, and by her had Eudorus

(or riches) whom the aged Phylas fostered and brought up in his

house—quite a significant local mythus, which is here related, like

others in the usual tone of heroic mythology.—Muller.

This passage is an exact description and perfect ritual of the

ceremonies on these occasions. Achilles, urgent as the case was, would

not suffer Patroclus to enter the fight, till he had in the most solemn

manner recommended him to the protection of Jupiter.

[Meges.]

[Brother of Antilochus.]

[αμαιμακετην—is a word which I can find nowhere satisfactorily derived.

Perhaps it is expressive of great length, and I am the more inclined to

that sense of it, because it is the epithet given to the mast on which

Ulysses floated to Charybdis. We must in that case derive it from

αμα and μηκος Doricè, μακος—longitudo.

In this uncertainty I thought myself free to translate it as I have, by

the word—monster.]—Tr.

[Apollonius says that the

οστεα λευκα here means the οπονδυλους, or vertebræ of the neck.—See

Villoisson.]—Tr.

['Αμιτροχιτονας is a word, according to Clarke, descriptive of their

peculiar habit. Their corselet, and the mail worn under it, were of a

piece, and put on together. To them therefore the cincture or belt of

the Greeks was unnecessary.]—Tr.

According to the history or fable received in Homer’s time, Sarpedon

was interred in Lycia. This gave the poet the liberty of making him die

at Troy, provided that after his death he was carried into Lycia, to

preserve the fable. In those times, as at this day, princes and persons

of rank who died abroad, were carried to their own country to be laid

in the tomb of their fathers. Jacob, when dying in Egypt, desired his

children to carry him to the land of Canaan, where he wished to be

buried.

[Sarpedon certainly was not slain _in the fleet_, neither can the Greek

expression νεων εν αγωνι be with propriety interpreted—_in certamine de

navibus_—as Clarke and Mme. Dacier are inclined to render it. _Juvenum

in certamine_, seems equally an improbable sense of it. Eustathius,

indeed, and Terrasson, supposing Sarpedon to assert that he dies in the

middle of the fleet (which was false in fact) are kind enough to

vindicate Homer by pleading in his favor, that Sarpedon, being in the

article of death, was delirious, and knew not, in reality, where he

died. But Homer, however he may have been charged with now and then a

nap (a crime of which I am persuaded he is never guilty) certainly does

not slumber here, nor needs to be so defended. 'Αγων in the 23d Iliad,

means the _whole extensive area_ in which the games were exhibited, and

may therefore here, without any strain of the expression, be understood

to signify the _whole range of shore_ on which the ships were

stationed. In which case Sarpedon represents the matter as it was,

saying that he dies—νεων εν αγωνι—that is, in the neighborhood of the

ships, and in full prospect of them.

The translator assumes not to himself the honor of this judicious

remark. It belongs to Mr. Fuseli.]—Tr.

[λασιν κηρ.]

The clouds of thick dust that rise from beneath the feet of the

combatants, which hinder them from knowing one another.

[Υπασπιδια προβιβωντος. A similar expression occurs in Book xiii., 158.

There we read υπασπιδια προποδιζων. Which is explained by the Scholiast

in Villoisson to signify—advancing with quick, short steps, and at the

same time covering the feet with a shield. A practice which, unless

they bore the

αμφιβροτην ασπιδα, must necessarily leave the upper parts exposed.

It is not improbable, though the translation is not accommodated to

that conjecture, that Æneas, in his following speech to Meriones, calls

him,

ορχηστην, with a view to the agility with which he performed this

particular step in battle.]—Tr.

[Two lines occurring here in the original which contain only the same

matter as the two preceding, and which are found neither in the MSS.

use by Barnes nor in the Harleian, the translator has omitted them in

his version as interpolated and superfluous.]—Tr.

[Ιρα ταλαντα—_Voluntatem Jovis cui cedendum_—So it is interpreted is

the Scholium MSS. Lipsiensis.—Vide Schaufelbergerus.]—Tr.

It is an opinion of great antiquity, that when the soul is on the point

of leaving the body, its views become stronger and clearer, and the

mind is endowed with a spirit of true prediction.

Footnotes for Book XVII:

In the chase, the spoils of the prey, the hide and head of the animal,

belonged to the one who gave the first wound. So in war—the one who

first pierced an enemy slain in battle, was entitled to his armor.

[The expediency and utility of prayer, Homer misses no opportunity of

enforcing. Cold and comfortless as the religious creed of the heathens

was, they were piously attentive to its dictates, and to a degree that

may serve as a reproof to many professed believers of revelation. The

allegorical history of prayer, given us in the 9th Book of the Iliad

from the lips of Phœnix, the speech of Antilochus in the 23d, in which

he ascribes the ill success of Eumelus in the chariot race to his

neglect of prayer, and that of Pisistratus in the 3d book of the

Odyssey, where speaking of the newly-arrived Telemachus, he says;

For I deem

Him wont to pray; since all of every land

Need succor from the Gods;

are so many proofs of the truth of this remark; to which a curious

reader might easily add a multitude.]—Tr.

[There is no word in our language expressive of loud sound at all

comparable in effect to the Greek _Bo-o-osin_. I have therefore

endeavored by the juxta-position of two words similar in sound, to

palliate in some degree defect which it was not in my power to

cure.]—Tr.

[Or collar-bone.]

[The proper meaning of

επιοσαομενω—is not simply _looking on_, but _providing against_. And

thus their ignorance of the death of Patroclus is accounted for. They

were ordered by Nestor to a post in which they should have little to do

themselves, except to superintend others, and were consequently too

remote from Patroclus to see him fall, or even to hear that he had

fallen.—See Villoisson.]—Tr.

This is one of the similes of Homer which illustrates the manners and

customs of his age. The mode of preparing hides for use is particularly

described. They were first softened with oil, and then were stretched

every direction by the hands of men, so that the moisture might be

removed and the oil might penetrate them. Considered in the single

point of comparison intended, it gives a lively picture of the struggle

on all sides to get possession of the body.—Felton.

This is the proper imperfect of the verb _chide_, though modern usage

has substituted _chid_, a word of mean and awkward sound, in the place

of it.

This alludes to the custom of placing columns upon tombs, on which were

frequently represented chariots with two or four horses. The horses

standing still to mourn for their master, could not be more finely

represented than by the dumb sorrow of images standing over a tomb.

Perhaps the very posture in which these horses are described, their

heads bowed down, and their manes falling in the dust, has an allusion

to the attitude in which those statues on monuments were usually

represented; there are bas-reliefs that favor this conjecture.

[The Latin plural of Ajax is sometimes necessary, because the English

plural—Ajaxes—would be insupportable.]—Tr.

[Leïtus was another chief of the Bœotians.]—Tr.

[Διφρω εφεσταοτος—Yet we learn soon after that he fought on foot. But

the Scholiast explains the expression thus—νεωστι τω διφωω επιβαντος.

The fact was that Idomeneus had left the camp on foot, and was on foot

when Hector prepared to throw at him. But Cœranus, charioteer of

Meriones, observing his danger, drove instantly to his aid. Idomeneus

had just time to mount, and the spear designed for him, struck

Cœranus.—For a right understanding of this very intricate and difficult

passage, I am altogether indebted to the Scholiast as quoted by

Villoisson.]—Tr.

[The translator here follows the interpretation preferred by the

Scholiast. The original expression is ambiguous, and may signify,

either, that _we shall perish in the fleet ourselves_, or that Hector

will soon be in the midst of it. Vide Villoisson _in loco_.]—Tr.

[A noble instance of the heroism of Ajax, who asks not deliverance from

the Trojans, or that he may escape alive, but light only, without which

be could not possibly distinguish himself. The tears of such a warrior,

and shed for such a reason, are singularly affecting.]—Tr.

Footnotes for Book XVIII:

This speech of Antilochus may serve as a model for its brevity.

This form of manifesting grief is frequently alluded to in the

classical writers, and sometimes in the Bible. The lamentation of

Achilles is in the spirit of the heroic times, and the poet describes

it with much simplicity. The captives join in the lamentation, perhaps

in the recollection of his gentleness, which has before been alluded

to.—Felton.

[Here it is that the drift of the whole poem is fulfilled. The evils

consequent on the quarrel between him and Agamemnon, at last teach

Achilles himself this wisdom—that wrath and strife are criminal and

pernicious; and the confession is extorted from his own lips, that the

lesson may be the more powerfully inculcated. To point the instruction

to leaders of armies only, is to narrow its operation unnecessarily.

The moral is of universal application, and the poet’s beneficent

intentions are wronged by one so partial.]—Tr.

The promise of Thetis to present her son with a suit of armor, was the

most artful method of hindering him from putting immediately in

practice his resolution of fighting, which, with his characteristic

violence, he would otherwise have done.

[The sun is said to set with reluctance, because his setting-time was

not yet come. Jupiter had promised Hector that he should prevail till

the sun should go down, and _sacred darkness cover all_. Juno

therefore, impatient to arrest the victor’s progress, and having no

other means of doing it, shortens the time allotted him.]—Tr.

[καταδημοβορησαι.]

This custom of washing the dead is continued among the Greeks to this

day, and is performed by the dearest friend or relative. The body is

then anointed with a perfume, and covered with linen, exactly in the

manner here related.

Among the Greeks, visitors of rank are still honored in the same

manner, by being set apart from the rest of the company, on a high

seat, with a footstool.

['Ανεδραμε.]

The description of the shield of Achilles is one of the noblest

passages in the Iliad. It is elaborated to the highest finish of

poetry. The verse is beautifully harmonious, and the language as nicely

chosen and as descriptive as can be conceived. But a still stronger

interest belongs to this episode when considered as an exact

representation of life at a very early period of the world, as it

undoubtedly was designed by the poet.

It is certainly a most remarkable passage for the amount of information

it conveys relative to the state of arts, and the general condition of

life at that period. From many intimations in the ancient authors, it

may be gathered, that shields were often adorned by deities of figures

in bas-relief, similar to those here described. In particular, see

Æschylus in the Seven against Thebes. A close examination of the whole

passage will lead to many curious inductions and inferences relative to

the ancient world, and throw much light upon points which are elsewhere

left in great obscurity.—Felton.

Murder was not always punished with death or even banishment. But on

the payment of a fine, the criminal was allowed to remain in the city.

Linus was the most ancient name in poetry, the first upon record as

inventor of verse and measure among the Grecians. There was a solemn

custom among the Greeks, of bewailing annually their first poet.

Pausanias informs us, that before the yearly sacrifice to the Muses on

Mount Helicon, the obsequies of Linus were performed, who had a statue

and altar erected to him in that place. In this passage Homer is

supposed to allude to that custom.

See article Theseus, Gr. and Rom. Mythology.

There were two kinds of dance—the Pyrrhic, and the common dance; both

are here introduced. The Pyrrhic, or military, is performed by Youths

wearing swords, the other by the virgins crowned with garlands. The

Grecian dance is still performed in this manner in the oriental

nations. The youths and maidens dance in a ring, beginning slowly; by

degrees the music plays in quicker time, till at last they dance with

the utmost swiftness; and towards the conclusion, they sing in a

general chorus.

The point of comparison is this. When the potter first tries the wheel

to see “if it will run,” he moves it much faster than when at work.

Thus it illustrates the rapidity of the dance.—Felton.

Footnotes for Book XIX:

[Brave men are great weepers—was a proverbial saying in Greece.

Accordingly there are few of Homer’s heroes who do not weep plenteously

on occasion. True courage is doubtless compatible with the utmost

sensibility. See Villoisson.]—Tr.

The fear with which the divine armor filled the Myrmidons, and the

exaltation of Achilles, the terrible gleam of his eye, and his

increased desire for revenge, are highly poetical.—Felton.

The ancients had a great horror of putrefaction previous to interment.

[Achilles in the first book also summons a council himself, and not as

was customary, by a herald. It seems a stroke of character, and

intended by the poet to express the impetuosity of his spirit, too

ardent for the observance of common forms, and that could trust no one

for the dispatch he wanted.]—Tr.

['Ασπασιως γονυ καμψειν.—Shall be glad to bend their knee, i.e. to sit

and repose themselves.]—Tr.

[Τουτον μυθον.—He seems to intend the reproaches sounded in his ear

from all quarters, and which he had repeatedly heard before.]—Tr.

[By some call’d Antibia, by others, Nicippe.]—Tr.

It was unlawful to eat the flesh of victims that were sacrificed in

confirmation of oaths. Such were victims of malediction.

Nothing can be more natural than the representation of these unhappy

young women; who, weary of captivity, take occasion from every mournful

occurrence to weep afresh, though in reality little interested in the

objects that call forth these expressions of sorrow.—Dacier.

Son of Deidameia, daughter of Lycomedes, in whose house Achilles was

concealed at the time when he was led forth to the war.

[We are not warranted in accounting any practice unnatural or absurd,

merely because it does not obtain among ourselves. I know not that any

historian has recorded this custom of the Grecians, but that it was a

custom among them occasionally to harangue their horses, we may assure

ourselves on the authority of Homer, who would not have introduced such

speeches, if they could have appeared as strange to his countrymen as

they do to us.]—Tr.

Hence it seems, that too great an insight into futurity, or the

revelation of more than was expedient, was prevented by the

Furies.—Trollope.

Footnotes for Book XX:

[This rising ground was five stadia in circumference, and was between

the river Simois and a village named Ilicon, in which Paris is said to

have decided between the goddesses. It was called Callicolone, being

the most conspicuous ground in the neighborhood of the

city.—Villoisson.]—Tr.

[Iris is the messenger of the gods on ordinary occasions, Mercury on

those of importance. But Themis is now employed, because the affair in

question is a council, and to assemble and dissolve councils is her

peculiar Province. The return of Achilles is made as magnificent as

possible. A council in heaven precedes it, and a battle of the gods is

the consequence.—Villoisson.]—Tr.

[The readiness of Neptune to obey the summons is particularly noticed,

on account of the resentment he so lately expressed, when commanded by

Jupiter to quit the battle.—Villoisson.]—Tr.

The description of the battle of the gods is strikingly grand. Jupiter

thunders in the heavens, Neptune shakes the boundless earth and the

high mountain-tops; Ida rocks on its base, and the city of the Trojans

and the ships of the Greeks tremble; and Pluto leaps from his throne in

terror, lest his loathsome dominions should be laid open to mortals and

immortals.—Felton.

[The Leleges were a colony of Thessalians, and the first inhabitants of

the shores of the Hellespont.]—Tr.

Hector was the son of Priam, who descended from Ilus, and Æneas the son

of Anchises, whose descent was from Assaracus, the brother of Ilus.

This dialogue between Achilles and Æneas, when on the point of battle,

as well as several others of a similar description, have been censured

as improbable and impossible. The true explanation is to be found in

the peculiar character of war in the heroic age. A similar passage has

been the subject of remark.—Felton.

[Some commentators, supposing the golden plate the outermost as the

most ornamental, have perplexed themselves much with this passage, for

how, say they, could two folds be pierced and the spear be stopped by

the gold, if the gold lay on the surface? But to avoid the difficulty,

we need only suppose that the gold was inserted between the two plates

of brass and the two of tin; Vulcan, in this particular, having

attended less to ornament than to security.

See the Scholiast in Villoisson, who argues at large in favor of this

opinion.]—Tr.

Tmolus was a mountain of Lydia, and Hyda a city of the same country.

The Gygæan lake was also in Lydia.

[Neptune. So called, either because he was worshiped on Helicon, a

mountain of Bœotia, or from Helice, an island of Achaia, where he had a

temple.]—Tr.

If the bull bellowed as he was led to the altar, it was considered a

favorable omen. Hence the simile.—Felton.

[It is an amiable trait in the character of Hector, that his pity in

this instance supercedes his caution, and that at the sight of his

brother in circumstances so affecting, he becomes at once inattentive

to himself and the command of Apollo.]—Tr.

Footnotes for Book XXI:

The scene is now entirely changed, and the battle diversified with a

vast variety of imagery and description. It is worthy of notice, that

though the whole war of the Iliad was upon the banks of these rivers,

yet Homer has reserved the machinery of the river-gods to aggrandize

his hero in this battle. There is no book in the poem which exhibits

greater force of imagination, none in which the inexhaustible invention

of the poet is more powerfully exerted.

The swarms of locusts that sometimes invade whole countries in the

East, have often been described. It seems that the ancient mode of

exterminating them was, to kindle a fire, and thus drive them into a

lake or river. The simile illustrates in the most striking manner the

panic caused by Achilles.—Felton.

According to the Scholiast, Arisba was a city of Thrace, and near to

the Hellespont; but according to Eustathius, a city of Troas, inhabited

by a colony from Mitylene.

It was an ancient custom to cast living horses into rivers, to honor,

as it were, the rapidity of their streams.

This gives us an idea of the superior strength of Achilles. His spear

pierced so deep in the ground, that another hero of great strength

could not disengage it, but immediately after, Achilles draws it with

the utmost ease.

['Ακροκελαινιοων.—The beauty and force of this word are wonderful; I

have in vain endeavored to do it justice.]—Tr.

[The reason given in the Scholium is, that the surface being hardened

by the wind, the moisture remains unexhaled from beneath, and has time

to saturate the roots.—See Villoisson.]—Tr.

[Αμβολαδην.]

Homer represents Aphrodite as the protector of Æneas, and in the battle

of the Trojans, Ares appears in a disadvantageous light; the weakness

of the goddess, and the brutal confidence of the god are described with

evident irony. In like manner Diana and the river-god Scamander

sometimes play a very undignified part. Apollo alone uniformly

maintains his dignity.—Muller.

This is a very beautiful soliloquy of Agenor, such as would naturally

arise in the soul of a brave man going upon a desperate enterprise.

From the conclusion it is evident, that the story of Achilles being

invulnerable except in the heel, is an invention of a later age.

Footnotes for Book XXII:

This simile is very striking. It not only describes the appearance of

Achilles, but is peculiarly appropriate because the star was supposed

to be of evil omen, and to bring with it disease and destruction. So

Priam beholds Achilles, splendid with the divine armor, and the

destined slayer of his son.—Felton.

The usual cruelties practised in the sacking of towns. Isaiah foretells

to Babylon, that her children shall be dashed in pieces by the Medes.

David says to the same city, “Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth

thy little ones against the stones.”—Ps. c22vii. 9.

It was supposed that venomous serpents were accustomed to eat poisonous

roots and plants before attacking their victims.—Felton.

This speech of Hector shows the fluctuation of his mind, with much

discernment on the part of the poet. He breaks out, after having

apparently meditated a return to the city. But the imagined reproaches

of Polydamas, and the anticipated scorn of the Trojans forbid it. He

soliloquizes upon the possibility of coming to terms with Achilles, and

offering him large concessions; but the character of Achilles precludes

all hope of reconciliation. It is a fearful crisis with him, and his

mind wavers, as if presentient of his approaching doom.—Felton.

[The repetition follows the original, and the Scholiast is of opinion

that Homer uses it here that he may express more emphatically the

length to which such conferences are apt to proceed.—Δια την πολυλογιαν

τη αναληψε εχρησατο.]—Tr.

[It grew near to the tomb of Ilus.]

The Scamander ran down the eastern side of Ida, and at the distance of

three stadia from Troy, making a subterraneous dip, it passed under the

walls and rose again in the form of the two fountains here

described—from which fountains these rivulets are said to have

proceeded.

It was the custom of that age to have cisterns by the side of rivers

and fountains, to which the women, including the wives and daughters of

kings and princes, resorted to wash their garments.

Sacrifices were offered to the gods upon the hills and mountains, or,

in the language of scripture, upon the _high places_, for the people

believed that the gods inhabited such eminences.

[The numbers in the original are so constructed as to express the

painful struggle that characterizes such a dream.]—Tr.

[προπροκυλινδομενος.]

The whole circumference of ancient Troy is said to have measured sixty

stadia. A stadium measured one hundred and twenty-five paces.

[The knees of the conqueror were a kind of sanctuary to which the

vanquished fled for refuge.]—Tr.

[The lines of which these three are a translation, are supposed by some

to have been designed for the Επινικιον, or song of victory sung by the

whole army.]—Tr.

[It was a custom in Thessaly to drag the slayer around the tomb of the

slain; which custom was first begun by Simon, whose brother being

killed by Eurydamas, he thus treated the body of the murderer. Achilles

therefore, being a Thessalian, when he thus dishonors Hector, does it

merely in compliance with the common practice of his country.]—Tr.

[It is an observation of the Scholiast, that two more affecting

spectacles cannot be imagined, than Priam struggling to escape into the

field, and Andromache to cast herself from the wall; for so he

understands

ατυζομενην απολεσθαι.]—Tr.

A figurative expression. In the style of the orientals, marrow and

fatness are taken for whatever is best, most tender, and most

delicious.

Homer is in nothing more excellent than in the distinction of

characters, which he maintains throughout the poem. What Andromache

here says, cannot be said with propriety by any one but Andromache.

Footnotes for Book XXIII:

According to the oriental custom. David mourns in the same manner,

refusing to wash or take any repast, and lies upon the earth.

[Bacchus having hospitably entertained Vulcan in the island of Naxos,

one of the Cyclades, received from him a cup as a present; but being

driven afterward by Lycurgus into the sea, and kindly protected by

Thetis, he presented her with this work of Vulcan, which she gave to

Achilles for a receptacle of his bones after death.]—Tr.

[The funeral pile was a square of a hundred feet on each side.]—Tr.

The ceremony of cutting off the hair in honor of the dead, was

practised not only among the Greeks, but among other nations. Ezekiel

describing a great lamentation, says, “They shall make themselves

utterly bald for thee.” ch. xxvii. 31. If it was the general custom of

any country to wear long hair, then the cutting it off was a token of

sorrow; but if the custom was to wear it short, then letting it grow,

in neglect, was a sign of mourning.

It was the custom of the ancients not only to offer their own hair to

the river-gods of their country, but also the hair of their children.

In Egypt hair was consecrated to the Nile.

[Westering wheel.—Milton.]

[Himself and the Myrmidons.]

[That the body might be the more speedily consumed. The same end was

promoted by the flagons of oil and honey.]—Tr.

Homer here introduces the gods of the winds in person, and as Iris, or

the rainbow, is a sign of winds, they are made to come at her bidding.

[Such it appears to have been in the sequel.]—Tr.

[Φιαλη—a vessel, as Athenæus describes it, made for the purpose of

warming water. It was formed of brass, and expanded somewhat in the

shape of a broad leaf.]—Tr.

The poet omits no opportunity of paying honor to Nestor. His age has

disabled him from taking an active part in the games, yet, Antilochus

wins, not by the speed of his horses, but by the wisdom of Nestor.

[This could not happen unless the felly of the wheel were nearly

horizontal to the eye of the spectator, in which case the chariot must

be infallibly overturned.—There is an obscurity in the passage which

none of the commentators explain. The Scholiast, as quoted by Clarke,

attempts an explanation, but, I think, not successfully.]—Tr.

[Eumelus.]

[Resentful of the attack made on him by Diomede in the fifth Book.]

[The twin monster or double man called the Molions. They were sons of

Actor and Molione, and are said to have had two heads with four hands

and four feet, and being so formed were invincible both in battle and

in athletic exercises. Even Hercules could only slay them by stratagem,

which he did when he desolated Elis. See Villoisson.]—Tr.

[The repetition follows the original.]—Tr.

[παρακαββαλε.]

[With which they bound on the cestus.]—Tr.

[τετριγει—It is a circumstance on which the Scholiast observes that it

denotes in a wrestler the greatest possible bodily strength and

firmness of position.—See Villoisson.]—Tr.

[I have given what seems to me the most probable interpretation, and

such a one as to any person who has ever witnessed a wrestling-match,

will, I presume, appear intelligible.]—Tr.

[The Sidonians were celebrated not only as the most ingenious artists

but as great adepts in science, especially in astronomy and

arithmetical calculation.]—Tr.

[King of Lemnos.]

[That is to say, Ulysses; who, from the first intending it, had run

close behind him.]—Tr.

The prodigious weight and size of the quoit is described with the

simplicity of the orientals, and in the manner of the heroic ages. The

poet does not specify the quantity of this enormous piece of iron, but

the use it will be to the winner. We see from hence that the ancients

in the prizes they proposed, had in view not only the honorable but the

useful; a captive for work, a bull for tillage, a quoit for the

provision of iron, which in those days was scarce.

[The use of this staff was to separate the cattle. It had a string

attached to the lower part of it, which the herdsman wound about his

hand, and by the help of it whirled the staff to a prodigious

distance.—Villoisson.]—Tr.

[The transition from narrative to dramatic follows the original.]—Tr.

[Apollo; frequently by Homer called the King without any addition.]—Tr.

Teucer is eminent for his archery, yet he is excelled by Meriones, who

had not neglected to invoke Apollo the god of archery.

Footnotes for Book XXIV:

This is the first allusion in the Iliad to the _Judgment of Paris_,

which gave mortal offence to Minerva and Juno. On this account it has

been supposed by some that these lines are spurious, on the ground that

Homer could not have known the fable, or he would have mentioned it

earlier in the poem.—Felton.

[His blessing, if he is properly influenced by it; his curse in its

consequences if he is deaf to its dictates.]—Tr.

[This is the sense preferred by the Scholiast, for it is not true that

Thetis was always present with Achilles, as is proved by the passage

immediately ensuing.]—Tr.

[The angler’s custom was, in those days, to guard his line above the

hook from the fishes’ bite, by passing it through a pipe of horn.]—Tr.

[Jupiter justifies him against Apollo’s charge, affirming him to be

free from those mental defects which chiefly betray men into sin,

folly, improvidence, and perverseness.]—Tr.

[But, at first, he did fly. It is therefore spoken, as the Scholiast

observes,

φιλοστοργως, and must be understood as the language of strong maternal

affection.]—Tr.

[κοροιτυπιησιν αριστοι.]

[Through which the reins were passed.]—Tr.

[The yoke being flat at the bottom, and the pole round, there would of

course be a small aperture between the band and the pole on both sides,

through which, according to the Scholium in Villoisson, they thrust the

ends of the tackle lest they should dangle.]—Tr.

[The text here is extremely intricate; as it stands now, the sons are,

first, said to yoke the horses, then Priam and Idæus are said to do it,

and in the palace too. I have therefore adopted an alteration suggested

by Clarke, who with very little violence to the copy, proposes instead

of ζευγνυσθην to read—ζωννυσθην.]—Tr.

[The words both signify—sable.]—Tr.

Priam begins not with a display of the treasures he has brought for the

redemption of Hector’s body, but with a pathetic address to the

feelings of Achilles. Homer well knew that neither gold nor silver

would influence the heart of a young and generous warrior, but that

persuasion would. The old king therefore, with a judicious abruptness,

avails himself of his most powerful plea at once, and seizes the

sympathy of the hero, before he has time to recollect who it is that

addresses him.

[Mortified to see his generosity, after so much kindness shown to

Priam, still distrusted, and that the impatience of the old king

threatened to deprive him of all opportunity to do gracefully what he

could not be expected to do willingly.]—Tr.

[To control anger argues a great mind—and to avoid occasions that may

betray one into it, argues a still greater. An observation that should

suggest itself to us with no little force, when Achilles, not

remarkable either for patience or meekness, exhorts Priam to beware of

provoking him; and when having cleansed the body of Hector and covered

it, he places it himself in the litter, lest his father, seeing how

indecently he had treated it, should be exasperated at the sight, and

by some passionate reproach exasperate himself also. For that a person

so singularly irascible and of a temper harsh as his, should not only

be aware of his infirmity, but even guard against it with so much

precaution, evidences a prudence truly wonderful.—Plutarch.]—Tr.

['Επικερτομεων. Clarke renders the word in this place, _falso metû,

ludens,_ and Eustathius says that Achilles suggested such cause of fear

to Priam, to excuse his lodging him in an exterior part of the tent.

The general import of the Greek word is sarcastic, but here it

signifies rather—to intimidate. See also Dacier.]—Tr.

The poet here shows the importance of Achilles in the army. Agamemnon

is the general, yet all the chief commanders appeal to him for advice,

and on his own authority he promises Priam a cessation of arms. Giving

his hand to confirm the promise, agrees with the custom of the present

day.

This lament of Andromache may be compared to her pathetic address to

Hector in the scene at the Scæan gate. It forms indeed, a most

beautiful and eloquent pendant to that.—Felton.

[This, according to the Scholiast, is a probable sense of προσφατος.—He

derives it απο των νεωστι πεφασμενων εκ γης φυτων.—See Villoisson.]—Tr.

Helen is throughout the Iliad a genuine lady, graceful in motion and

speech, noble in her associations, full of remorse for a fault for

which higher powers seem responsible, yet grateful and affectionate

towards those with whom that fault had connected her. I have always

thought the following speech in which Helen laments Hector and hints at

her own invidious and unprotected situation in Troy, as almost the

sweetest passage in the poem.—H.N. Coleridge.

[Ως οι γ'αμφιεπον ταφον Εκτορος ιπποδαμοιο.]