For Chryfes fought with coftly gifts to gain His captive daughter from the victor's chain. Suppliant the venerable father ftands, Apollo's awful enfigns grace his hands: By these he begs; and lowly bending down, LO Extends the fceptre and the laurel crown. He -Say firft what cause Mov'd our grand parents? &c. And just after, Befides that I think the proportion concludes more nobly With the fentence, Such was the will of Jove. But the latter being follow'd by most editions, and by all the tranflations I have seen in any language, the general acceptation is here comply'd with, only tranfpofing the line to keep the sentence laft: And the next verfes are fo turn'd as to include the double interrogation, and at the fame time do justice to another interpretation of the words 'Ed Ta, Ex quo tempore; which marks the date of the quarrel from whence the poem takes its rife. Chapman would have Ex quo understood of Jupi ter, from whom the debate was fuggefted; but this clashes with the line immediately following, where he asks What God in fpir'd the contention and anfwers, It was Apollo. . 11. Latona's fon.] Here the Author, who firft invok'd the Mufe as the Goddess of Memory, vanishes from the reader's view, and leaves her to relate the whole affair through the poem, whofe prefence from this time diffufes an air of majefty over the relation. And left this fhould be loft to our thoughts in the continuation of the ftory, he fometimes refreshes them with a new invocation at proper intervals. Ezftathius. . 20. The fceptre and the laurel crown] There is fomething exceedingly venerable in this appearance of the priest. He comes with the enfigns of the God he belong'd to; the lau rel crown, now carry'd in his hand, to fhew he was a fuppliant; and a golden fceptre, which the ancients gave in particular to Apollo, He fu'd to all, but chief implor'd for grace The Brother-Kings, of Atreus' royal race. Ye Kings and warriors! may your vows be crown'd, And Troy's proud walls lie level with the ground. 25 May Jove reftore you, when your toils are o’er, Safe to the pleafures of your native shore. But oh! relieve a wretched parent's pain, And give Chryfeis to these arms again; If mercy fail, yet let my prefents move, 30 And dread avenging Phœbus, fon of Jove. The Greeks in fhouts their joint affent declare,. The priest to rev'rence, and release the fair. Apollo, as they did a filver one to the moon, and other forts to other planets. Eustatius. 23. Te Kings and warriors?] The art of this fpeech is re markable. Chryfes confiders the conftitution of the Greeks be fore Troy, as made up of troops partly from Kingdoms, and partly from Democracies: Wherefore he begins with a diftin. tion which comprehends all. After this, as Apollo's prieft; he prays that they may obtain the two bieffings they had moft in view, the conqueft of Troy, and a fafe return. Then 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 feems to foresee their mifery and exhorts them to fhun it. Thus he endeavours to work by the art of a general application, by religion, by intereft, and the infinuation of danger. This is the fubftance of what Eujtathius remarks on this place; and in pursuance of his last obfervation, the epithet Avenging is added to this verfion, that it may appear the priest foretels the anger of his God. Not Not fo Atrides: He, with kingly pride, Mine is thy daughter, Prieft, and fhall remain; 40 And pray'rs, and tears, and bribes fhall plead in vain; "Till time fhall rifle ev'ry youthful grace, And age difmifs her from my cold embrace, 7.33. He with pride repulsd.] It has been remark'd in honour of Homer's judgment, and the care he took of his reader's morals, that where he speaks of evil actions committed, or hard words given, he generally characterizes them as fuch by a previous expreffion. This paffage is given as one inftance of it, where he fays the repulfe of Chryfes was a proud injurious action in Agamemnon: And it may be remark'd, that before his Heroes treat one another with hard language in this book, he ftill takes care to let us know they were under a diftraction of anger. Plutarch, of reading Poets. . 41. 'Till time shall rifle ev'ry youthful grace, The Greek is arraq, which fignifies either making the bed, In daily labours of the loom employ'd, Or doom'd to deck the bed the once enjoy'd. lity of expreffion, appears from the whole tenour of his fpeech; and that he defign'd Chryfeis for more than a fervantmaid, may be seen from fome other things he fays of her, as that he preferr'd her to his Queen Clytemnestra, &c. the impudence of which confeffion, Madam Dacier herfelf has elfewhere animadverted upon. Mr. Dryden, in his translation of this book, has been jufter to the royal paffion of Agamemnnon; tho' he has carry'd the point fo much on the other fide, as to make him promile a greater fondnefs for her in her old age than in her youth, which indeed is hardly credible. Mine she shall be, 'till creeping age and time Nothing could have made Mr. Dryden capable of this mistake, but extreme hafte in writings which never ought to be imputed as a fault to him, but to those who fuffer'd fo noble a genius to lie under the neceffity of it. . 47. The trembling Prieft.] We may take notice here, once for all, that Homer is frequently eloquent in his very filence. Chryfes fays not a word in anfwer to the infults of Agamem non, but walks penfively along the fhore: and the melancholy flowing of the verfe admirably expreffes the condition of the mournful and deferted father. Βῆ δ' ακέων παρὰ θῖνα πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης Difcon Difconfolate, nor daring to complain, O Silent he wander'd by the founding main: 5 Thou fource of light! whom Tenedos adores, Or fed the flames with fat of oxen flain; God of the filver bow! thy fhafts employ, 60 Avenge thy fervant, and the Greeks deftroy. Thus Chryfes pray'd: The fav'ring Pow'r attends, Bent was his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound; . 61. The fav'ring God attends.] Upon this firft prayer in the poem, Euftathius takes occafion to obferve, that the poet is careful throughout his whole work to let no prayer ever fall entirely which has juftice on its fide; but he who prays, either kills his enemy, or has figns given him that he has been heard, or his friends return, or his undertaking fucceeds, or fome other visible good happens. So far inftructive and ufeful to life has Homer made his fable. The |