A thought of added honour torn from Hector.
Ene. There is expectance here from both the fides,
What further will you do.

Helt. We'll answer it;

The iffue is embracement :-Ajax, farewel.
Ajax. If I might in entreaties find fuccefs,
(As feld I have the chance) I would defire
My famous coufin to our Grecian tents.

racterife Achilles as the father of Neoptolemus, a youth that had not yet appeared in arts, and whofe name was therefore much lefs known than his father's. My opinion is, that by Neoptolemus the author meant Achilles himself; and remembering that the fon was Pyrrhus Neoptolemus, confidered Neoptolemus as the nomen gentilitium, and thought the father was likewife Achilles Neoptolemus. JOHNSON.

Shakspeare might have ufed Neoptolemus for Achilles. Wilfride Holme, the author of a poem called The Fall and evil Succeffe of Rebellion, &c. 1537, had made the fame mistake before him, as the following ftanza will fhew:

"Alfo the triumphant Troyans victorious,

"By Anthenor and Eneas falfe confederacie,
"Sending Polidamus to Neoptolemus,

Who was vanquished and fubdued by their confpiracie.
"O dolorous fortune, and fatal miferie!

"For multitude of people was there mortificate

"With condigne Priamus, and all his progenie,

"And flagrant Polixene, that lady delicate."

In Lidgate, however, Achilles, Neoptolemus, and Pyrrhus, are diftin&t characters. Neoptolemus is enumerated among the Grecian princes who firft embarked to revenge the rape of Helen : "The valiant Grecian called Neoptolemus,

"That had his haire as blacke as any jet, &c." p. 102. and Pyrrhus, very properly, is not heard of till after the death of his father:

"Sith that Achilles in fuch traiterous wife
"Is flaine, that we a meffenger fhould fend
"To fetch his fon yong Pyrrhus, to the end
"He may revenge his father's death, &c." p. 237.

STEEVENS.

In the margin of Phaer's tranflation of Virgil, (Æn. II.) a book that Shakspeare certainly had read, Neoptolemus and Pyrrhus are called brothers.

• We'll answer it :] That is, answer the expectance.

MALONE.

JOHNSON.

Dio.

Dio. 'Tis Agamemnon's wifh; and great Achilles Doth long to fee unarm'd the valiant Hector. Het. Æneas, call my brother Troilus to me: And fignify this loving interview

To the expecters of our Trojan part;

Defire them home.-Give me thy hand, my coufin; I will go eat with thee, and fee your knights.

Ajax. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us here. Hect. The worthieft of them tell me name by

name;

But for Achilles, my own fearching eyes

Shall find him by his large and portly fize.

6

Agam. Worthy of arm! as welcome as to one That would be rid of fuch an enemy;

But that's no welcome: Understand more clear, What's paft, and what's to come, is ftrew'd, with

hufks

And. formless ruin of oblivion;

But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing,
Bids thee, with most divine integrity,
From heart of very heart, great Hector, welcome.
Het. I thank thee, most imperious Agamemnon.
Agam. My well-fam'd lord of Troy, no less to you.
[To Troilus.

Men. Let me confirm my princely brother's greet

ing;

5your knights.] The word knight, as often as it occurs, is fure to bring with it the idea of chivalry, and revives the memory of Amadis and his fantaftic followers, rather than that of the mighty confederates who fought on either fide in the Trojan war. I wish that eques and armiger could have been rendered by any other words than knight and Squire. Mr. Pope, in his tranflation of the Iliad, is very liberal of the latter.

STEEVENS.

6 Worthy of arms!- -] Folio. Worthy all arms! Quarto. The quarto has only the two firft, fecond, and the laft line of this falutation; the intermediate verfes feem added on a revision.

K 3

JOHNSON.

You

You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither.
Het. Whom muft we answer?

7 Men. The noble Menelaus.

Helt. O, you, my lord? by Mars his gauntlet, thanks!

'Mock not, that I affect the untraded oath; Your quondam wife fwears ftill by Venus' glove: She's well, but bade me not commend her to you. Men. Name her not now, fir; fhe's a deadly theme.

Helt. O; pardon; I offend.

Neft. I have, thou gallant Trojan, feen thee oft, Iabouring for destiny, make cruel way

Through ranks of Greekith youth: and I have feen thee,

As hot as Perfeus, fpur thy Phrygian fteed,
Defpifing many forfeits and fubduements,
When thou haft hung thy advanced sword i'the air,
Not letting it decline on the declin'd;
That I have faid to fome my standers-by,
Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life!

And I have seen thee paufe, and take thy breath,
When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd thee in,
Like an Olympian wrestling: This have I feen;
But this thy countenance, ftill lock'd in steel,
I never faw 'till now. I knew thy grandfire,
And once fought with him: he was a foldier good;
But, by great Mars, the captain of us all,
Never like thee: Let an old man embrace thee;
And, worthy warrior, welcome to our tents.

7 Men.] The author of THE REMARKS fuppofes this fpeech to belong to Eneas. EDITOR.

Mock not, &c.] The quarto has here a ftrange corruption : Mock not thy affect, the untraded earth. JOHNSON. Defpifing many forfeits and fubduements,] Thus the quarto. The folio reads:

And feen thee fcorning forfeits and fubduements.

JOHNSON.

Æne.

Ene. 'Tis the old Neftor.

Helt. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle, That haft fo long walk'd hand in hand with time :Most reverend Neftor, I am glad to clafp thee.

Neft. I would, my arms could match thee in contention,

'As they contend with thee in courtesy.

Het. I would, they could.

Neft. Ha! by this white beard, I'd fight with thee

to-morrow.

Well, welcome, welcome! I have feen the time-
Ulyff. I wonder now how yonder city ftands,
When we have here her bafe and pillar by us.
Hest. I know your favour, lord Ulyffes, well.
Ah, fir, there's many a Greek and Trojan dead,
Since first I saw yourself and Diomed

In Ilion, on your Greekish embassy.

Ulyff. Sir, I foretold you then what would enfue: My prophecy is but half his journey yet;

For yonder walls, that pertly front your town,
Yon towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds,
Muft kifs their own feet.

Helt. I must not believe you:

There they stand yet; and modestly I think,
The fall of every Phrygian stone will cost
A drop of Grecian blood: The end crowns all;
And that old common arbitrator, time,
Will one day end it.

Uly. So to him we leave it.

Moft gentle, and moft valiant Hector, welcome : After the general, I beseech you next

To feast with me, and fee me at my tent.

Achil. I fhall foreftall thee, lord Ulyffes, thou!—

• As they contend-] This line is not in the quarto.

Now,

JOHNSON.

I fall foreftall thee, lord Ulyffes, thou!] Should we not read though? Notwithstanding you have invited Hector to your

K 4

tenta

Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee; I have with exact view perus'd thee, Hector, And quoted joint by joint .

Het. Is this Achilles?

Achil. I am Achilles.

Het. Stand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee, Achil. Behold thy fill.

Heft. Nay, I have done already.

Achil. Thou art too brief; I will the fecond time, As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb.

Hett. O, like a book of fport thou'lt read me o'er; But there's more in me, than thou understand'st. Why doft thou fo opprefs me with thine eye?

Achil. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of his body

Shall I deftroy him? whether there, there, or there?
That I may give the local wound a name;
And make diftinct the very breach, whereout
Hector's great spirit flew : Anfwer me, heavens !
Het. It would difcredit the bleft gods, proud

man,

To answer fuch a queftion: Stand again:
Think'ft thou to catch my life fo pleasantly,

tent, I shall draw him firft into mine. So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Cupid's Revenge, A& III. fc. i :

O diflembling woman, "Whom I muft reverence though.

" TYRWHITT.

The repetition of thou! was anciently ufed by one who meant to infult another. So, in Twelfth Night: " if thou thou'st him fome thrice, it fhall not be amifs." Again, in the Tempeft; "Thou ly'ft, thou jefling monkey, thou! Again, in the firit fcene of the fifth act of this play of Troilus and Creffida: "thou taffel of a prodigal's purfe, thou!" STEEVENS.

3 Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee;] The hint for this fcene of altercation between Achilles and Hector, is taken from Lidgate. See page 178. STEEVENS.

4 And quoted joint by joint.] To quote is to obferve. See Vol. I. p. 168, and other places. STEEVENS.

A's