590

Thefe head the troops that rocky Aulis yields,

And Eteon's hills, and Hyrie's watry fields,

And Schoenos, Scolos, Graa near the main,
And Mycaleffia's ample piny plain.

Those who in Peteon or Ilefion dwell,

595 Or Harma where Apollo's Prophet fell;
Heleon and Hyle, which the springs o'erflow;
And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low;
Or in the meads of Haliartus stray,

Or Thefpia facred to the God of Day.
600 Oncheftus, Neptune's celebrated groves;
Copa, and Thisbe, fam'd for filver doves,
For flocks Erythra, Gliffa for the vine;
Plataa green, and Nifa the divine.

And they whom Thebe's well-built walls inclofe,

605 Where Myde, Eutrefis, Corone rofe;

And Arnè rich, with purple harvests crown'd;
And Anthedon, Boeotia's utmoft bound.

Full fifty fhips they fend, and each conveys Twice fixty warriors thro' the foaming feas. 610 To thefe fucceed Afpledon's martial train,

Who plow the spacious Orchomenian plain.
Two valiant brothers rule th' undaunted throng,
Jälmen and Afcalaphus the ftrong:

Sons

Sons of Aftyochè, the heav'nly fair,

615 Whofe virgin charms fubdu'd the God of War:

(In Actor's court as she retir'd to reft,

The ftrength of Mars the blufhing maid compreft)

Their troops in thirty fable veffels fweep,
With equal oars, the hoarfe-refounding deep.
620 The Phocians next in forty barks repair,
Epistrophus and Schedius head the war.

From those rich regions where Cephiffus leads
His filver current thro' the flow'ry meads;
From Panopea, Chryfa the divine,
625 Where Anemoria's ftately turrets shine,
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cypariffus stood,
And fair Lilaa views the rifing flood.
Thefe rang'd in order on the floating tide,
Close, on the left, the bold Boeotians fide.
630 Fierce Ajax led the Locrian fquadrons on,
Ajax the lefs, Oileus' valiant fon;

Skill'd to direct the flying dart aright;

Swift in purfuit, and active in the fight.

Him, as their Chief, the chofen troops attend, 635 Which Beffa, Thronus, and rich Cynos fend:

Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe's bands;

And thofe who dwell where pleafing Augia stands,

And where Boägrius floats the lowly lands,

Or in fair Tarphe's fylvan seats refide:

640 In forty veffels cut the yielding tide.

Euboea next her martial fons prepares,

And fends the brave Abantes to the wars:

Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and strong Eretria;

645 Th' Isteian fields for gen'rous vines renown'd,
The fair Caryftos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her tow'rs o'erlooks the plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighb'ring main.
Down their broad fhoulders falls a length of hair;
650 Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air;

. 649. Down their broad shoulders, &c.] The Greek has it ὅπεθεν κομόωντες, a tergo comantes. It was the cuftom of these people to have the fore-part of their heads, which they did that their enemies might not take the advantage of feizing them by the hair: the hinder-part they let grow, as a valiant race that would never turn their backs. Their manner of fighting was hand to hand, without quitting their javelins (in the way of our pike-men.) Plutarch tells us this in the life of Thefeus, and cites, to ftrengthen the authority of Homer, fome verfes of Archilochus to the fame effect. Eobanus Heffus, who tranflated Homer into Latin verfe, was therefore mistaken in his verfion of this passage.

Præcipuè jaculatores, haftamque periti
Vibrare, & longis contingere pectora telis.

But

But with portended spears in fighting fields, Pierce the tough cors'lets and the brazen fhields. Twice twenty fhips tranfport the warlike bands, Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms commands. 655 Full fifty more from Athens ftem the main, Led by Meneftheus thro' the liquid plain,

(Athens the fair, where great Ereftheus fway'd, That ow'd his nurture to the blue-ey'd maid, But from the teeming furrow took his birth, 660 The mighty offspring of the foodful earth. Him Pallas plac'd amidst her wealthy fane, Ador'd with facrifice and oxen flain;

Where as the years revolve her altars blaze, And all the tribes refound the Goddess' praise.) 665 No Chief like thee, Meneftheus! Greece could yield, To marshal armies in the dufty field,

Th' extended wings of battel to display,
Or close th' embody'd hoft in firm array.
Neftor alone, improv'd by length of days,
670 For martial conduct bore an equal praise.
With these appear the Salaminian bands,
Whom the gigantic Telamon commands;

In twelve black fhips to Troy they steer their course,
And with the great Athenians join their force..

K 3

Next

675 Next move to war the gen'rous Argive train,
From high Trazenè, and Mafeta's plain,

And fair Ægina circled by the main :
Whom ftrong Tirynthe's lofty walls furround,
And Epidaure with viny harvests crown'd:
680 And where fair Afinen and Hermion show
Their cliffs above, and ample bay below.
Thefe by the brave Euryalus were led,
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed,

But chief Tydides bore the fov'reign sway; 685 In fourscore barks they plow the watry, way. The proud Mycenè arms her martial pow'rs,

Cleone, Corinth, with imperial tow'rs,

Fair Arathyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain,

And Ægion, and Adraftus' ancient reign;

690 And those who dwell along the fandy fhore, And where Pellenè yields her fleecy ftore, Where Helicè and Hyperefia lie,

And Gonoëffa's fpires falute the fky.

Great Agamemnon rules the num'rous band,

695 A hundred veffels in long order stand,

And crowded nations wait his dread command.
High on the deck the King of Men appears,
And his refulgent arms in triumph wears;

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