Footnotes

Footnotes1.The following are the most important of the passages referred to:—“Since I entered upon these philosophical inquiries, Varro has given me notice of a valuable and honourable dedication of a work of his to me.... In the mean time I have been preparing myself as he desired to make him a return.αὐτῷ τῷ μέτρῳ καὶ λῶιον αἴκε δύνωμαι.“I may as well, therefore, remove from my Academical Disputations the present speakers, who are distinguished characters indeed, but by no means philosophical, and who discourse with too much subtlety, and substitute Varro in their place. For these are the opinions of Antiochus, to which he is much attached. I can find a place for Catulus and Lucullus elsewhere.”—Ep. 12.“The Catulus and Lucullus I imagine you have had before; but I have made new introductions to these books which I wish you to have, containing an eulogium upon each of these persons, and there are some other additions.”—Ep. 32.“In consequence of the letter which you wrote to me about Varro, I have taken the Academy entirely out of the hands of those distinguished persons, and transferred it to our friend. And from two books I have made it into four. These are longer than the others were, though there are several parts left out.... In truth, if my self-love does not deceive me, these books have come out in such a manner that there is nothing of the same kind like them even in Greek.”—Ep. 13.“I have transferred the whole of that Academical Treatise to Varro. It had at first been divided among Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius. Afterwards, as this appeared unsuitable, owing to those persons being, not indeed unlearned, but notoriously unversed in such subjects, as soon as I got home I transferred those dialogues to Cato and Brutus. Your letter about Varro has just reached me, and there is no one by whom the opinions of Antiochus could be more fitly supported.”—Ep. 16.“I had determined to include no living persons in my dialogues; but since you inform me that Varro is desirous of it, and sets a great value upon it, I have composed this work, and completed the whole Academical Discussion in four books; I know not how well, but with such care that nothing can exceed it. In these, what had been excellently collected by Antiochus against the doctrine of incomprehensibility, I have attributed to Varro; to this I reply in my own person, and you are the third in our conversation. If I had made Cotta and Varro disputing with one another, as you suggest in your last letter, my own would have been a mute character....“The Academics, as you know, I had discussed in the persons of Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius; but in truth the subject did not suit their characters, being more logical than what they could be supposed ever to have dreamt of. Therefore, when I read your letter to Varro, I seized on it as a sort of inspiration. Nothing could be more adapted to that species of philosophy in which he seems to take particular delight; or to the support of such a part that I could manage to avoid making my own sentiments predominant. For the opinions of Antiochus are extremely persuasive, and are so carefully expressed as to retain the acuteness of Antiochus with my own brilliancy of language, if indeed I possess any.”—Ep. 19.The Antiochus mentioned above was a native of Ascalon, and the founder of the fifth Academy; he had been the teacher of Cicero while he studied at Athens; and he had also a school in Syria and another in Alexandria. Cicero constantly speaks of him with great regard and esteem. The leaders of the Academy since the time of Plato, (and Cicero ranks even him among those philosophers who denied the certainty of any kind of knowledge,) had gradually fallen into a degree of scepticism that seemed to strike at the root of all truth, theoretical and practical. But Antiochus professed to revive the doctrines of the old Academy, maintaining, in opposition to Carneades and Philo, that the intellect had in itself a test by which it could distinguish between what was real and what existed only in the imagination. He himself appears to have held doctrines very nearly coinciding with those of Aristotle; agreeing however so far with the Stoics as to insist that all emotions ought to be suppressed. So that Cicero almost inclines to class him among the Stoics; though it appears that he considered himself as an Eclectic philosopher, uniting the doctrines of the Stoics and Academics so as to revive the old Academy.2.Titus Pomponius Atticus was three years older than Cicero, with whom he had been educated, and with whom he always continued on terms of the greatest intimacy; his daughter was married to Agrippa. He was of the Epicurean school in philosophy. He diedb.c.32.3.Marcus Terentius Varro was ten years older than Cicero, and a man of the most extensive and profound learning. He had held a naval command against the pirates, and against Mithridates, and served as lieutenant to Pompey in Spain, at the beginning of the civil war, adhering to his party till after the battle of Pharsalia, when he was pardoned, and taken into favour by Cæsar. He was proscribed by the second triumvirate, but escaped, and diedb.c.28. He was a very voluminous author, and according to his own account composed four hundred and ninety books; but only one, the three books De Re Rusticâ, have come down to us, and a portion of a large treatise De Linguâ Latinâ.In philosophy he had been a pupil of Antiochus, and attached himself to the Academy with something of a leaning to the Stoics.4.Amafanius was one of the earliest Roman writers of the Epicurean school. He is mentioned by no one but Cicero.5.We do not know who this Rabirius was.6.Lucius Ælius Præconinus Stilo was a Roman knight, and one of the earliest grammarians of Rome. Cicero in the Brutus describes him as a very learned man in both Greek and Roman literature; and especially in old Latin works. He had been a teacher of Varro in grammar, and of Cicero himself in rhetoric. He received the name of Stilo from his compositions; and of Præconinus because his father had been a herald.7.Menippus was originally a slave, a native of Gadara in Cœle Syria, and a pupil of Diogenes the Cynic. He became very rich by usury, afterwards he lost his money and committed suicide. He wrote nothing serious, but his books were entirely full of jests. We have some fragments of Varro's Satyræ Menippeæ, which were written, as we are here told, in imitation of Menippus.8.Cicero ranges these poets here in chronological order.Ennius was born at Rudiæ in Calabria,b.c.239, of a very noble family. He was brought to Rome by M. Porcius Cato at the end of the second Punic war. His plays were all translations or adaptations from the Greek; but he also wrote a poetical history of Rome called Annales, in eighteen books, and a poem on his friend Scipio Africanus; some Satires, Epigrams, and one or two philosophical poems. Only a few lines of his works remain to us. He died at the age of seventy.Pacuvius was a native of Brundusium, and a relation, probably a nephew, of Ennius. He was born aboutb.c.220, and lived to about the yearb.c.130. His works were nearly entirely tragedies translated from the Greek. Horace, distinguishing between him and Accius, says—“AufertPacuvius docti famam senis; Accius alti.”—Epist. II. i. 55.9.From περιπατέω, to walk.10.This Lucius Lucullus was the son of Lucius Licinius Lucullus, who was prætorb.c.103, and was appointed by the senate to take the command in Sicily, where there was a formidable insurrection of the slaves under Athenion and Tryphon. He was not however successful, and was recalled; and subsequently prosecuted by Servilius for bribery and malversation, convicted and banished. The exact time of the birth of this Lucullus his son is not known, but was probably aboutb.c.109. His first appearance in public life was prosecuting Servilius, who had now become an augur, on a criminal charge, (which is what Cicero alludes to here.) And though the trial terminated in the acquittal of Servilius, yet the part Lucullus took in it appears to have added greatly to his credit among his contemporaries. The special law in his favour mentioned a few lines lower down, was passed by Sylla with whom Lucullus was in high favour; so much so that Sylla at his death confided to him the charge of revising and correcting his Commentaries. Cicero's statement of his perfect inexperience in military affairs before the war against Mithridates is not quite correct, as he had served with distinction in the Marsic war. The time of his death is not certainly known, but Cicero speaks of him as dead in the Oration concerning the consular provinces, deliveredb.c.56, while he was certainly aliveb.c.59, in which year he was charged by L. Vettius with an imaginary plot against the life of Pompey. His second wife was Servilia, half-sister to Cato Uticensis.11.From σωρὸς, a heap.12.From μύρμηξ an ant.13.It is not even known to what work Cicero is referring here.14.In the Heautontimorumenos. Act i. Sc. 1.15.Cæcilius Statius was the predecessor of Terence; by birth an Insubrian Gaul and a native of Milan. He diedb.c.165, two years before the representation of the Andria of Terence. He was considered by the Romans as a great master of the art of exciting the feelings. And Cicero (de Opt. Gen. Dic. 1.) speaks of him as the chief of the Roman Comic writers. Horace says—Vincere Cæcilius gravitate, Terentius arte.16.Marcus Atilius, (though Cicero speaks of him here as a tragedian,) was chiefly celebrated as a comic poet. He was one of the earliest writers of that class; but nothing of his has come down to us. In another place Cicero calls him“duris simusscriptor.”(Epist. ad Att. xiv. 20.)17.Diogenes was a pupil of Chrysippus, and succeeded Zeno of Tarsus as the head of the Stoic school at Athens. He was one of the embassy sent to Rome by the Athenians,b.c.155, and is supposed to have died almost immediately afterwards.18.Antipater was a native of Tarsus, and the pupil and successor of Diogenes. Cicero speaks in very high terms of his genius. (De Off. iii. 12.)19.Mnesarchus was a pupil of Panætius and the teacher of Antiochus of Ascalon.20.Panætius was a Rhodian, a pupil of Diogenes and Antipater, which last he succeeded as head of the Stoic school. He was a friend of P. Scipio Æmilianus, and accompanied him on his embassy to the kings of Egypt and Asia in alliance with Rome. He died beforeb.c.111.21.Posidonius was a native of Apamea, in Egypt, a pupil of Panætius, and a contemporary of Cicero. He came to Romeb.c.51, having been sent there as ambassador from Rhodes in the time of Marius.22.Lucius Afranius lived about 100b.c.His comedies were chieflytogatæ, depicting Roman life; he borrowed largely from Menander, to whom the Romans compared him. Horace says—Dicitur Afranî toga convenisse Menandro.Cicero praises his language highly (Brut. 45).23.Caius Lucilius was the earliest of the Roman satirists, born at Suessa Aurunca,b.c.148; he died at Naples,b.c.103. He served under Scipio in the Numantine war. He was a very vehement and bold satirist. Cicero alludes here to a saying of his, which he mentions more expressly (De Orat. ii.), that he did not wish the ignorant to read his works because they could not understand them: nor the learned because they would be able to criticise them.Persium non curo legere: Lælium Decimum volo.This Persius being a very learned man; in comparison with whom Lælius was an ignoramus.24.Polyænus, the son of Athenodorus was a native of Lampsacus: he was a friend of Epicurus, and though he had previously obtained a high reputation as a mathematician, he was persuaded by him at last to agree with him as to the worthlessness of geometry.25.Hieronymus was a disciple of Aristotle and a contemporary of Arcesilaus. He lived down to the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus.26.Trabea was a Roman comic poet, who flourished about 130b.c.27.Dark, obscure.28.We know nothing more of Callipho than what we derive from this and one or two other notices of him by Cicero.29.The Hymnis was a comedy of Menander, translated by Cæcilius.30.It is hardly possible to translate this so as to give the force of the original. Cicero says, Ifcupiditasis in a man he must becupidus, and we have no English word which will at all answer to this adjective in this sense.31.The Latin is“quicum in tenebris,”—the proverb at full length being,“Dignus quicum in tenebris mices.”Micare was a game played, (much the same as that now calledLa Morain Italy,) by extending the fingers and making the antagonist guess how many fingers were extended by the two together.32.This was Quintus Pompeius, the first man who raised his family to importance at Rome. He was consulb.c.141. Being commander in Spain, he laid siege to Numantia; and having lost great numbers of his troops through cold and disease, he proposed to the Numantines to come to terms. Publicly he required of them an unconditional surrender, but in private he only demanded the restoration of the prisoners and deserters, that they should give hostages and pay thirty talents. The Numantines agreed to this, and paid part of the money, but when Popilius Lænas arrived in Spain as his successor, he denied the treaty, though it had been witnessed by his own officers. The matter was referred to the senate, who on the evidence of Pompeius declared the treaty invalid, and the war was renewed.33.The Voconia lex was passed on the proposal of Quintus Voconius Saxa, one of the tribunes,b.c.169. One of its provisions was, that a woman could not be left the heiress of any person who was rated in the census at 100,000 sesterces; though she could take the inheritanceper fidei commissum. But as the law applied only to wills, a daughter could inherit from a father dying intestate, whatever the amount of his property might be. A person who was notcensuscould make a woman his heir. There is, however, a good deal of obscurity and uncertainty as to some of the provisions of this law.34.There appears to be some corruption in the text here.35.Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus, the father of Lucretia, was made consul as the colleague of Valerius Publicola, in the place of Brutus, who had been slain in battle by Aruns, one of the sons of Tarquin.36.Themista was a female philosopher, wife of a man named Leonteus, or Leon, and a friend and correspondent of Epicurus.37.He means when he was banished, and when Torquatus joined in promoting the measures for his recal.38.Cicero alludes here to the story of Damon, who, when his friend Pythias was condemned to death by Dionysius of Syracuse, pledged his life for his return in time to be put to death, if the tyrant would give him leave to go home for the purpose of arranging his affairs, and Pythias did return in time.—See Cic. de Off. iii. 10; Just. Div. v. 22.39.b.c.363.40.b.c.480.41.The Greek line occurs in the Orestes, 207.Ὡ πότνια λήθη τῶν κακῶν ὡς εἶ γλυκύ.Virgil has the same idea—Vos et Scyllæam rabiem, penitusque sonantesAccêtis scopulos, vos et Cyclopia saxaExperti; revocate animos, moestumque timoremPellite: forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit.—Æn. i. 200.Which Dryden translates—With me the rocks of Scylla have you tried,Th' inhuman Cyclops and his den defied:What greater ills hereafter can you bear?Resume your courage and dismiss your care;An hour will come with pleasure to relateYour sorrows past as benefits of fate.42.That is, of the past, the present, and the future.43.This seems to refer to the Greek epigram—Τὸν γαίης καὶ πόντου ἀμειφθείσαισι κελεύθοις,Ναύτην ἠπείρου, πεζόπορον πελάγους.Ἐν τρίσσαις δοράτων ἑκατοντάσιν ἔστεγεν ἌρηςΣπάρτης αἰσχυνεσθ᾽ οὔρεα καὶ πελάγη.Which may be translated—Him who the paths of land and sea disturb'd,Sail'd o'er the earth, walk'd o'er the humbled waves,Three hundred spears of dauntless Sparta curb'd.Shame on you, land and sea, ye willing slaves!44.The Latin isærumnæ: perhaps it is in allusion to this passage that Juvenal says—Et potioresHerculisærumnascredat, sævosque laboresEt Venere et cœnis, et pluma Sardanapali.Sat. x. 361.45.The great Lucullus, father of this young Lucullus, was married to Servilia, half-sister to Cato, and daughter of Quintus Servilius Cæpio, who was killed in the Social war, having been decoyed into an ambush by Pompædius,b.c.90. The young Lucullus was afterwards killed in the battle of Philippi.46.“Malitia, badness of quality ... especially malice, ill-will, spite, malevolence, artfulness, cunning, craft.”—Riddle and Arnold, Lat. Dict.47.The Greek proverb was, ἐμοῦ θανόντος γαῖα μιχθήτω πυρί.48.The Curia Hostilia was built by Tullus Hostilius, and was originally the only place where a Senatus Consultum could be passed, though the senate met at times in other places. But, under Cæsar, the Curia Julia, an immense edifice, had been built as the senate-house.49.Pope's Homer, Odys. xii. 231.50.Archilochus was a native of Paros, and flourished about 714-676,b.c.His poems were chiefly Iambics of bitter satire. Horace speaks of him as the inventor of Iambics, and calls himself his pupil.Parios ego primus IambosOstendi Latio, numeros animosque secutusArchilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.Epist. I. xix. 25.And in another place he says—Archilochum proprio rabies armavit Iambo.—A. P. 74.51.This was Livius Andronicus: he is supposed to have been a native of Tarentum, and he was made prisoner by the Romans, during their wars in Southern Italy; owing to which he became the slave of M. Livius Salinator. He wrote both comedies and tragedies, of which Cicero (Brutus 18) speaks very contemptuously, as“Livianæ fabulæ non satis dignæ quæ iterum legantur,”—not worth reading a second time. He also wrote a Latin Odyssey, and some hymns, and died probably aboutb.c.221.52.C. Fabius, surnamed Pictor, painted the temple of Salus, which the dictator C. Junius Brutus Bubulus dedicatedb.c.302. The temple was destroyed by fire in the reign of Claudius. The painting is highly praised by Dionysius, xvi. 6.53.For an account of the ancient Greek philosophers, see the sketch at the end of the volume.54.Isocrates was born at Athens,b.c.436. He was a pupil of Gorgias, Prodicus and Socrates. He opened a school of rhetoric, at Athens, with great success. He died by his own hand at the age of 98.55.So Horace joins these two classes as inventors of all kinds of improbable fictions—Pictoribus atque poetisQuidlibet audendi semper fuit æqua potestas.—A. P. 9.Which Roscommon translates—Painters and poets have been still allow'dTheir pencil and their fancies unconfined.56.Epicharmus was a native of Cos, but lived at Megara, in Sicily, and when Megara was destroyed, removed to Syracuse, and lived at the court of Hiero, where he became the first writer of comedies, so that Horace ascribes the invention of comedy to him, and so does Theocritus. He lived to a great age.57.Pherecydes was a native of Scyros, one of the Cyclades; and is said to have obtained his knowledge from the secret books of the Phœnicians. He is said also to have been a pupil of Pittacus, the rival of Thales, and the master of Pythagoras. His doctrine was that there were three principles, Ζεὺς, or Æther, Χθὼν, or Chaos, and Χρόνος, or Time; and four elements, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water, from which everything that exists was formed.—Vide Smith's Dict. Gr., and Rom. Biog.58.Archytas was a native of Tarentum, and is said to have saved the life of Plato by his influence with the tyrant Dionysius. He was especially great as a mathematician and geometrician, so that Horace calls himMaris et terræ numeroque carentis arenæMensorem—Od. i. 28. 1.Plato is supposed to have learnt some of his views from him, and Aristotle to nave borrowed from him every idea of the Categories.59.This was not Timæus the historian, but a native of Locri, who is said also in the De Finibus (c. 29) to have been a teacher of Plato. There is a treatise extant bearing his name, which is, however, probably spurious, and only an abridgment of Plato's dialogue Timæus.60.Dicæarchus was a native of Messana, in Sicily, though he lived chiefly in Greece; he was one of the later disciples of Aristotle. He was a great geographer, politician, historian, and philosopher, and died aboutb.c.285.61.Aristoxenus was a native of Tarentum, and also a pupil of Aristotle. We know nothing of his opinions except that he held the soul to be aharmonyof the body; a doctrine which had been already discussed by Plato in the Phædo, and combated by Aristotle. He was a great musician, and the chief portions of his works which have come down to us are fragments of some musical treatises.—Smith's Dict. Gr. and Rom. Biog., to which source I must acknowledge my obligation for nearly the whole of these biographical notes.62.The Simonides here meant, is the celebrated poet of Ceos, the perfecter of Elegiac poetry among the Greeks. He flourished about the time of the Persian war. Besides his poetry, he is said to have been the inventor of some method of aiding the memory. He died at the court of Hiero,b.c.467.63.Theodectes was a native of Phaselis, in Pamphylia, a distinguished rhetorician and tragic poet, and flourished in the time of Philip of Macedon. He was a pupil of Isocrates, and lived at Athens, and died there at the age of 41.64.Cineas was a Thessalian, and (as is said in the text) came to Rome as ambassador from Pyrrhus after the battle of Heraclea,b.c.280, and his memory is said to have been so great that on the day after his arrival he was able to address all the senators and knights by name. He probably died before Pyrrhus returned to Italy,b.c.276.65.Charmadas, called also Charmides, was a fellow pupil with Philo, the Larissæan of Clitomachus, the Carthaginian. He is said by some authors to have founded a fourth academy.66.Metrodorus was a minister of Mithridates the Great; and employed by him as supreme judge in Pontus, and afterwards as an ambassador. Cicero speaks of him in other places (De Orat. ii. 88) as a man of wonderful memory.67.Quintus Hortensius was eight years older than Cicero; and, till Cicero's fame surpassed his, he was accounted the most eloquent of all the Romans. He was Verres's counsel in the prosecution conducted against him by Cicero. Seneca relates that his memory was so great that he could come out of an auction and repeat the catalogue backwards. He diedb.c.50.68.This treatise is one which has not come down to us, but which had been lately composed by Cicero in order to comfort himself for the loss of his daughter.69.The epigram is—Εἴπας Ἥλιε χαῖρε, Κλεόμβροτος Ὅμβρακιώτηςἥλατ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ύψηλοῦ τείχεος εἰς Ἀίδην,ἄξιον οὐδὲν ἰδὼν θανάτου κακὸν, ἀλλὰ Πλάτωνοςἔν τὸ περὶ ψύχης γράμμ᾽ ἀναλεξάμενος.Which may be translated, perhaps—Farewell, O sun, Cleombrotus exclaim'd,Then plung'd from off a height beneath the sea;Stung by pain, of no disgrace ashamed,But mov'd by Plato's high philosophy.70.This is alluded to by Juvenal—Provida Pompeio dederat Campania febresOptandas: sed multæ urbes et publica votaVicerunt. Igitur Fortuna ipsius et Urbis,Servatum victo caput abstulit.—Sat. x. 283.71.Pompey's second wife was Julia, the daughter of Julius Cæsar; she died the year before the death of Crassus, in Parthia. Virgil speaks of Cæsar and Pompey as relations, using the same expression (socer) as Cicero—Aggeribus socer Alpinis atque arce MonœciDescendens, gener adversis instructus Eois.—Æn. vi. 830.72.This idea is beautifully expanded by Byron:—Yet if, as holiest men have deem'd, there beA land of souls beyond that sable shoreTo shame the doctrine of the SadduceeAnd sophist, madly vain of dubious lore,How sweet it were in concert to adoreWith those who made our mortal labours light,To hear each voice we fear'd to hear no more,Behold each mighty shade reveal'd to sight,The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the right.Childe Harold, ii. 8.73.The epitaph in the original is,—Ὥ ξεῖν᾽ ἀγγεῖλον Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδεκείμεθα, τοῖς κείνων πειθόμενοι νομίμοις.74.This was expressed in the Greek verses—Ἀρχὴν μὲν μὴ φῦναι ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἄριστον,φύντα δ᾽ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας Ἀίδαο περῆσαι;which by some authors are attributed to Homer.75.This is the first fragment of the Cresphontes.—Ed. Var. vii. p. 594Ἔδει γὰρ ἡμᾶς σύλλογον ποιουμένουςΤὸν φύντα θρηνεῖν, εὶς ὅσ᾽ ἔρχεται κακά.Τὸν δ᾽ αὖ θανόντα καὶ πόνων πεπαυμένονχαίροντας εὐφημοῖντας ἐκπέμπειν δόμων.76.The Greek verses are quoted by Plutarch—... Ἤπου νήπιε, ἠλίθιοι φρένες ἀνδρᾶνΕὐθύνοος κεῖται μοιριδίῳ θανάτῳΟὐκ ἦν γὰρ ζώειν καλὸν αὐτῷ οὄτε γονεῦσι.77.This refers to the story that when Eumolpus, the son of Neptune, whose assistance the Eleusinians had called in against the Athenians, had been slain by the Athenians, an oracle demanded the sacrifice of one of the daughters of Erechtheus, the King of Athens. And when one was drawn by lot, the others voluntarily accompanied her to death.78.Menœceus was son of Creon, and in the war of the Argives against Thebes, Teresias declared that the Thebans should conquer if Menœceus would sacrifice himself for his country; and accordingly he killed himself outside the gates of Thebes.79.The Greek is,μήδε μοι ἄκλαυστος θάνατος μόλοι, ἀλλὰ φίλοισιποιήσαιμι θανὼν ἄλγεα καὶ στοναχάς.80.Soph. Trach. 1047.81.The lines quoted by Cicero here, appear to have come from the Latin play of Prometheus by Accius; the ideas are borrowed rather than translated from the Prometheus of Æschylus.82.From Exerceo.83.Each soldier carried a stake, to help form a palisade in front of the camp.84.Insania—fromin, a particle of negative force in composition, andsanus, healthy, sound.85.The man who first received this surname was L. Calpurnius Piso, who was consul,b.c.133, in the Servile War.86.The Greek is—Ἀλλά μοι οἰδάνεται κραδίν χόλω ὅπποτ ἐκείνουΜνήσομαι ὅς μ᾽ ἀσύφηλον ἐν Ἀργείοισιν ἔρεξεν.—Il. ix. 642.I have given Pope's translation in the text.87.This is from the Theseus—Ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτο παρὰ σοφοῦ τινος μαθὼνεἰς φροντίδας νοῦν συμφοράς τ᾽ ἐβαλλόμηνφυγάς τ᾽ ἐμαυτῷ προστιθεὶς πάτρας ἐμῆς.θανάτους τ᾽ ἀώρους, καὶ κακῶν ἄλλας ὁδοὺςὥς, εἴ τι πάσχοιυμ᾽ ὦν ἐδοξαζόν ποτεΜή μοι νέορτον προσπεσὸν μᾶλλον δάκοι.88.Ter. Phorm. II. i. 11.89.This refers to the speech of Agamemnon in Euripides, in the Iphigenia in Aulis—... Ζηλῶ σε, γέρον,ζηλῶ δ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ὅς ἀκίνδυνονβίον ἐξεπέρασ, ἀγνὼς, ἀκλεής.—v. 15.90.This is a fragment from the Hypsipyle—Ἔφυ μὲν οὐδεις ὅστις οὐ πονεῖ βροτῶν;θάπτει τε τέκνα χάτερ᾽ αὖ κτᾶται νεὰ,αὐτός τε θνήσκει. καὶ τάδ᾽ ἄχθονται βροτοὶεἰς γῆν φέροντες γῆν; ἀναγκαιως δ᾽ ἔχειβίον θερίζειν ὦστε κάρπιμον στάχυν.91.Πολλὰς ἐκ κεφαλῆς προθελύμνους ἕλκετο χαίτας.—Il. x. 15.92.Ητοι ο καππεδιον το Αληιον οιος αλατοον θυμον κατεδων, πατον ανθρωπων αλεεινων.—Il. vi. 201.93.This is a translation from Euripides—Ὥσθ᾽ ἵμερος μ᾽ ὑπῆλθε γῇ τε κ᾽ οὐρανῷλέξαι μολούσῃ δεῦρο Μηδείας τύχας.—Med. 57.94.Λίην γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ ἐπήτριμοι ἤυατα πάνταπίπτουσιν, πότε κέν τις ἀναπνεύσειε πόνοιο?ἀλλὰ χρὴ τὸν μὲν καταθαπτέμεν, ὅς κε θάνησι,νηλέα θυμὸν ἔχοντας, ἔπ᾽ ἤματι δακρυσάντας.—Hom. Il. xix. 226.95.This is one of the fragments of Euripides which we are unable to assign to any play in particular; it occurs Var. Ed. Tr. Inc. 167.Εἰ μέν τόδ᾽ ἦμαρ πρῶτον ἦν κακουμένωκαὶ μὴ μακρὰν δὴ διὰ πόνων ἐναυστόλουνεἰκὸς σφαδάζειν ἦν ἄν, ὡς νεόζυγαπῶλον, χάλινον ἀρτίως δεδεγμένον;νῦν δ᾽ ἀμβλύς εἰμι, καὶ κατηρτυκὼς κακῶν.96.This is only a fragment preserved by Stobæus—Τοὺς δ᾽ ἄν μεγίστους καὶ σοφωτάτους φρενὶτοιούσδ᾽ ἴδοις ἄν, οἷός ἐστι νῦν ὅδε,καλῶς κακῶς πράσσοντι συμπαραινέσαι;ὅταν δὲ δαίμων ἀνδρὸς εὐτυχοῦς τὸ πρὶνμάστιγ᾽ ἐρείση τοῦ βίου παλίντροπον,τὰ πολλὰ φροῦδα καὶ κακῶς εἰρημένα.97.Ωκ. Οὐκοῦν Προμηθεῦ τοῦτο γιγνώσκεις ὅτιὀργῆς νοσούσης εἰσὶν ἰατροὶ λόγοι.Πρ. ἐάν τις ἐν καιρῷ γε μαλθάσση κέαρκαὶ μὴ σφριγῶντα θυμὸν ἰσχναίνη βίᾳ.Æsch. Prom. v. 378.98.Cicero alludes here to Il. vii. 211, which is thus translated by Pope—His massy javelin quivering in his hand,He stood the bulwark of the Grecian band;Through every Argive heart new transport ran,All Troy stood trembling at the mighty man:E'en Hector paused, and with new doubt oppress'd,Felt his great heart suspended in his breast;'Twas vain to seek retreat, and vain to fear,Himself had challenged, and the foe drew near.But Melmoth (Note on the Familiar Letters of Cicero, book ii. Let. 23) rightly accuses Cicero of having misunderstood Homer, who“by no means represents Hector as being thus totally dismayed at the approach of his adversary; and indeed it would have been inconsistent with the general character of that hero to have described him under such circumstances of terror.”Τὸν δὲ καὶ Ἀργεῖοι μέγ᾽ ἐγήθεον εἰσορόωντες,Τρωὰς δὲ τρόμος αἶνος ὑπήλυθε γυῖα ἕκαστον,Ἕκτορι δ᾽ αὐτῷ θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι πάτασσεν.But there is a great difference, as Dr. Clarke remarks, between θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι πάτασσεν and καρδίη ἔξω στηθέων ἔθρωσκεν, or τρόμος αἶνος ὑπήλυθε γυῖα.—The Trojans, says Homer,trembledat the sight of Ajax, and even Hector himself felt some emotion in his breast.99.Cicero means Scipio Nasica, who in the riots consequent on the re-election of Tiberius Gracchus to the tribunate,b.c.133, having called in vain on the consul, Mucius Scævola, to save the republic, attacked Gracchus himself, who was slain in the tumult.100.Morosus is evidently derived from mores—“Morosus, mos, stubbornness, selfwill, etc.”—Riddle and Arnold, Lat. Diet.101.In the original they run thus:—Οὔκ ἐστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἔπος,Οὐδὲ πάθος, οὐδὲ ξυμφορὰ θεήλατοςἮς οὐκ ἄν ἄροιτ᾽ ἄχθος ἀνθρώπου φύσις.102.This passage is from the Eunuch of Terence, Act i. sc. 1, 14.103.These verses are from the Atreus of Accius.104.This was Marcus Atilius Regulus, the story of whose treatment by the Carthaginians in the first Punic War is well known to everybody.105.This was Quintus Servilius Cæpio, who,b.c.105, was destroyed, with his army, by the Cimbri,—it was believed as a judgment for the covetousness which he had displayed in the plunder of Tolosa.106.This was Marcus Aquilius, who, in the yearb.c.88, was sent against Mithridates as one of the consular legates: and being defeated, was delivered up to the king by the inhabitants of Mitylene. Mithridates put him to death by pouring molten gold down his throat.107.This was the elder brother of the triumvir Marcus Crassus,b.c.87. He was put to death by Fimbria, who was in command of some of the troops of Marius.108.Lucius Cæsar and Caius Cæsar were relations (it is uncertain in what degree) of the great Cæsar, and were killed by Fimbria on the same occasion as Octavius.109.M. Antonius was the grandfather of the triumvir; he was murdered the same year,b.c.87, by Annius, when Marius and Cinna took Rome.110.This story is alluded to by Horace—Districtus ensis cui super impiâCervice pendet non Siculæ dapesDulcem elaborabunt saporem,Non avium citharæve cantusSomnum reducent.—iii. 1. 17.111.Hieronymus was a Rhodian, and a pupil of Aristotle, flourishing about 300b.c.He is frequently mentioned by Cicero.112.We know very little of Dinomachus. Some MSS. have Clitomachus.113.Callipho was in all probability a pupil of Epicurus, but we have no certain information about him.114.Diodorus was a Syrian, and succeeded Critolaus as the head of the Peripatetic School at Athens.115.Aristo was a native of Ceos, and a pupil of Lycon, who succeeded Stratton as the head of the Peripatetic School,b.c.270. He afterwards himself succeeded Lycon.116.Pyrrho was a native of Elis, and the originator of the sceptical theories of some of the ancient philosophers. He was a contemporary of Alexander.117.Herillus was a disciple of Zeno of Cittium, and therefore a Stoic. He did not, however, follow all the opinions of his master: he held that knowledge was the chief good. Some of the treatises of Cleanthes were written expressly to confute him.118.Anacharsis was (Herod, iv. 76) son of Gnurus and brother of Saulius, king of Thrace. He came to Athens while Solon was occupied in framing laws for his people; and by the simplicity of his way of living, and his acute observations on the manners of the Greeks, he excited such general admiration, that he was reckoned by some writers among the seven wise men of Greece.119.This was Appius Claudius Cæcus, who was censorb.c.310, and who, according to Livy, was afflicted with blindness by the gods for persuading the Potitii to instruct the public servants in the way of sacrificing to Hercules. He it was who made the Via Appia.120.The fact of Homer's blindness rests on a passage in the Hymn to Apollo, quoted by Thucydides as a genuine work of Homer, and which is thus spoken of by one of the most accomplished scholars that this country or this age has ever produced:—“They are indeed beautiful verses, and if none worse had ever been attributed to Homer, the Prince of Poets would have had little reason to complain.“He has been describing the Delian festival in honour of Apollo and Diana, and concludes this part of the poem with an address to the women of that island, to whom it is to be supposed that he had become familiarly known by his frequent recitations:Χαίρετε δ᾽ υμεῖς πᾶσαι, ἐμεῖο δὲ καὶ μετόπισθεμνήσασθ᾽, ὅπποτέ κέν τις ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπωνἐνθάδ᾽ ἀνείρηται ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἐλθὼνὦ κοῦραι, τίς δ᾽ ὕμμιν ἀνὴρ ἥδιστος ἀοιδῶνἐνθάδε πωλεῖται καὶ τέῳ τέρπεσθε μάλιστα?ὑμεῖς δ᾽ εὖ μάλα πᾶσαι ὑποκρίνασθε ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν,Τυφλὸς ἀνὴρ, οἰκεῖ δὲ Χίῳ ἐνὶ παιπαλοέσσῃ,τοῦ πᾶσαι μετόπισθεν ἀριστεύουσιν ἀοιδαί.Virgins, farewell,—and oh! remember meHereafter, when some stranger from the sea,A hapless wanderer, may your isle explore,And ask you,“Maids, of all the bards you boast,Who sings the sweetest, and delights you most?”Oh! answer all,—“A blind old man, and poor,Sweetest he sings, and dwells on Chios' rocky shore.”—Coleridge's Introduction to the Study of the Greek Classic Poets.

The following are the most important of the passages referred to:—“Since I entered upon these philosophical inquiries, Varro has given me notice of a valuable and honourable dedication of a work of his to me.... In the mean time I have been preparing myself as he desired to make him a return.

αὐτῷ τῷ μέτρῳ καὶ λῶιον αἴκε δύνωμαι.

“I may as well, therefore, remove from my Academical Disputations the present speakers, who are distinguished characters indeed, but by no means philosophical, and who discourse with too much subtlety, and substitute Varro in their place. For these are the opinions of Antiochus, to which he is much attached. I can find a place for Catulus and Lucullus elsewhere.”—Ep. 12.

“The Catulus and Lucullus I imagine you have had before; but I have made new introductions to these books which I wish you to have, containing an eulogium upon each of these persons, and there are some other additions.”—Ep. 32.

“In consequence of the letter which you wrote to me about Varro, I have taken the Academy entirely out of the hands of those distinguished persons, and transferred it to our friend. And from two books I have made it into four. These are longer than the others were, though there are several parts left out.... In truth, if my self-love does not deceive me, these books have come out in such a manner that there is nothing of the same kind like them even in Greek.”—Ep. 13.

“I have transferred the whole of that Academical Treatise to Varro. It had at first been divided among Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius. Afterwards, as this appeared unsuitable, owing to those persons being, not indeed unlearned, but notoriously unversed in such subjects, as soon as I got home I transferred those dialogues to Cato and Brutus. Your letter about Varro has just reached me, and there is no one by whom the opinions of Antiochus could be more fitly supported.”—Ep. 16.

“I had determined to include no living persons in my dialogues; but since you inform me that Varro is desirous of it, and sets a great value upon it, I have composed this work, and completed the whole Academical Discussion in four books; I know not how well, but with such care that nothing can exceed it. In these, what had been excellently collected by Antiochus against the doctrine of incomprehensibility, I have attributed to Varro; to this I reply in my own person, and you are the third in our conversation. If I had made Cotta and Varro disputing with one another, as you suggest in your last letter, my own would have been a mute character....

“The Academics, as you know, I had discussed in the persons of Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius; but in truth the subject did not suit their characters, being more logical than what they could be supposed ever to have dreamt of. Therefore, when I read your letter to Varro, I seized on it as a sort of inspiration. Nothing could be more adapted to that species of philosophy in which he seems to take particular delight; or to the support of such a part that I could manage to avoid making my own sentiments predominant. For the opinions of Antiochus are extremely persuasive, and are so carefully expressed as to retain the acuteness of Antiochus with my own brilliancy of language, if indeed I possess any.”—Ep. 19.

The Antiochus mentioned above was a native of Ascalon, and the founder of the fifth Academy; he had been the teacher of Cicero while he studied at Athens; and he had also a school in Syria and another in Alexandria. Cicero constantly speaks of him with great regard and esteem. The leaders of the Academy since the time of Plato, (and Cicero ranks even him among those philosophers who denied the certainty of any kind of knowledge,) had gradually fallen into a degree of scepticism that seemed to strike at the root of all truth, theoretical and practical. But Antiochus professed to revive the doctrines of the old Academy, maintaining, in opposition to Carneades and Philo, that the intellect had in itself a test by which it could distinguish between what was real and what existed only in the imagination. He himself appears to have held doctrines very nearly coinciding with those of Aristotle; agreeing however so far with the Stoics as to insist that all emotions ought to be suppressed. So that Cicero almost inclines to class him among the Stoics; though it appears that he considered himself as an Eclectic philosopher, uniting the doctrines of the Stoics and Academics so as to revive the old Academy.

Marcus Terentius Varro was ten years older than Cicero, and a man of the most extensive and profound learning. He had held a naval command against the pirates, and against Mithridates, and served as lieutenant to Pompey in Spain, at the beginning of the civil war, adhering to his party till after the battle of Pharsalia, when he was pardoned, and taken into favour by Cæsar. He was proscribed by the second triumvirate, but escaped, and diedb.c.28. He was a very voluminous author, and according to his own account composed four hundred and ninety books; but only one, the three books De Re Rusticâ, have come down to us, and a portion of a large treatise De Linguâ Latinâ.

In philosophy he had been a pupil of Antiochus, and attached himself to the Academy with something of a leaning to the Stoics.

Cicero ranges these poets here in chronological order.

Ennius was born at Rudiæ in Calabria,b.c.239, of a very noble family. He was brought to Rome by M. Porcius Cato at the end of the second Punic war. His plays were all translations or adaptations from the Greek; but he also wrote a poetical history of Rome called Annales, in eighteen books, and a poem on his friend Scipio Africanus; some Satires, Epigrams, and one or two philosophical poems. Only a few lines of his works remain to us. He died at the age of seventy.

Pacuvius was a native of Brundusium, and a relation, probably a nephew, of Ennius. He was born aboutb.c.220, and lived to about the yearb.c.130. His works were nearly entirely tragedies translated from the Greek. Horace, distinguishing between him and Accius, says—

“AufertPacuvius docti famam senis; Accius alti.”—Epist. II. i. 55.

Cæcilius Statius was the predecessor of Terence; by birth an Insubrian Gaul and a native of Milan. He diedb.c.165, two years before the representation of the Andria of Terence. He was considered by the Romans as a great master of the art of exciting the feelings. And Cicero (de Opt. Gen. Dic. 1.) speaks of him as the chief of the Roman Comic writers. Horace says—

Vincere Cæcilius gravitate, Terentius arte.

Lucius Afranius lived about 100b.c.His comedies were chieflytogatæ, depicting Roman life; he borrowed largely from Menander, to whom the Romans compared him. Horace says—

Dicitur Afranî toga convenisse Menandro.

Cicero praises his language highly (Brut. 45).

Caius Lucilius was the earliest of the Roman satirists, born at Suessa Aurunca,b.c.148; he died at Naples,b.c.103. He served under Scipio in the Numantine war. He was a very vehement and bold satirist. Cicero alludes here to a saying of his, which he mentions more expressly (De Orat. ii.), that he did not wish the ignorant to read his works because they could not understand them: nor the learned because they would be able to criticise them.

Persium non curo legere: Lælium Decimum volo.

This Persius being a very learned man; in comparison with whom Lælius was an ignoramus.

The Greek line occurs in the Orestes, 207.

Ὡ πότνια λήθη τῶν κακῶν ὡς εἶ γλυκύ.

Virgil has the same idea—

Vos et Scyllæam rabiem, penitusque sonantesAccêtis scopulos, vos et Cyclopia saxaExperti; revocate animos, moestumque timoremPellite: forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit.—Æn. i. 200.

Which Dryden translates—

With me the rocks of Scylla have you tried,Th' inhuman Cyclops and his den defied:What greater ills hereafter can you bear?Resume your courage and dismiss your care;An hour will come with pleasure to relateYour sorrows past as benefits of fate.

This seems to refer to the Greek epigram—

Τὸν γαίης καὶ πόντου ἀμειφθείσαισι κελεύθοις,Ναύτην ἠπείρου, πεζόπορον πελάγους.Ἐν τρίσσαις δοράτων ἑκατοντάσιν ἔστεγεν ἌρηςΣπάρτης αἰσχυνεσθ᾽ οὔρεα καὶ πελάγη.

Which may be translated—

Him who the paths of land and sea disturb'd,Sail'd o'er the earth, walk'd o'er the humbled waves,Three hundred spears of dauntless Sparta curb'd.Shame on you, land and sea, ye willing slaves!

The Latin isærumnæ: perhaps it is in allusion to this passage that Juvenal says—

Et potioresHerculisærumnascredat, sævosque laboresEt Venere et cœnis, et pluma Sardanapali.Sat. x. 361.

Archilochus was a native of Paros, and flourished about 714-676,b.c.His poems were chiefly Iambics of bitter satire. Horace speaks of him as the inventor of Iambics, and calls himself his pupil.

Parios ego primus IambosOstendi Latio, numeros animosque secutusArchilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.

Epist. I. xix. 25.

And in another place he says—

Archilochum proprio rabies armavit Iambo.—A. P. 74.

So Horace joins these two classes as inventors of all kinds of improbable fictions—

Pictoribus atque poetisQuidlibet audendi semper fuit æqua potestas.—A. P. 9.

Which Roscommon translates—

Painters and poets have been still allow'dTheir pencil and their fancies unconfined.

Archytas was a native of Tarentum, and is said to have saved the life of Plato by his influence with the tyrant Dionysius. He was especially great as a mathematician and geometrician, so that Horace calls him

Maris et terræ numeroque carentis arenæMensorem—Od. i. 28. 1.

Plato is supposed to have learnt some of his views from him, and Aristotle to nave borrowed from him every idea of the Categories.

The epigram is—

Εἴπας Ἥλιε χαῖρε, Κλεόμβροτος Ὅμβρακιώτηςἥλατ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ύψηλοῦ τείχεος εἰς Ἀίδην,ἄξιον οὐδὲν ἰδὼν θανάτου κακὸν, ἀλλὰ Πλάτωνοςἔν τὸ περὶ ψύχης γράμμ᾽ ἀναλεξάμενος.

Which may be translated, perhaps—

Farewell, O sun, Cleombrotus exclaim'd,Then plung'd from off a height beneath the sea;Stung by pain, of no disgrace ashamed,But mov'd by Plato's high philosophy.

This is alluded to by Juvenal—

Provida Pompeio dederat Campania febresOptandas: sed multæ urbes et publica votaVicerunt. Igitur Fortuna ipsius et Urbis,Servatum victo caput abstulit.—Sat. x. 283.

Pompey's second wife was Julia, the daughter of Julius Cæsar; she died the year before the death of Crassus, in Parthia. Virgil speaks of Cæsar and Pompey as relations, using the same expression (socer) as Cicero—

Aggeribus socer Alpinis atque arce MonœciDescendens, gener adversis instructus Eois.—Æn. vi. 830.

This idea is beautifully expanded by Byron:—

Yet if, as holiest men have deem'd, there beA land of souls beyond that sable shoreTo shame the doctrine of the SadduceeAnd sophist, madly vain of dubious lore,How sweet it were in concert to adoreWith those who made our mortal labours light,To hear each voice we fear'd to hear no more,Behold each mighty shade reveal'd to sight,The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the right.

Childe Harold, ii. 8.

The epitaph in the original is,—

Ὥ ξεῖν᾽ ἀγγεῖλον Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδεκείμεθα, τοῖς κείνων πειθόμενοι νομίμοις.

This was expressed in the Greek verses—

Ἀρχὴν μὲν μὴ φῦναι ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἄριστον,φύντα δ᾽ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας Ἀίδαο περῆσαι;

which by some authors are attributed to Homer.

This is the first fragment of the Cresphontes.—Ed. Var. vii. p. 594

Ἔδει γὰρ ἡμᾶς σύλλογον ποιουμένουςΤὸν φύντα θρηνεῖν, εὶς ὅσ᾽ ἔρχεται κακά.Τὸν δ᾽ αὖ θανόντα καὶ πόνων πεπαυμένονχαίροντας εὐφημοῖντας ἐκπέμπειν δόμων.

The Greek verses are quoted by Plutarch—

... Ἤπου νήπιε, ἠλίθιοι φρένες ἀνδρᾶνΕὐθύνοος κεῖται μοιριδίῳ θανάτῳΟὐκ ἦν γὰρ ζώειν καλὸν αὐτῷ οὄτε γονεῦσι.

The Greek is,

μήδε μοι ἄκλαυστος θάνατος μόλοι, ἀλλὰ φίλοισιποιήσαιμι θανὼν ἄλγεα καὶ στοναχάς.

The Greek is—

Ἀλλά μοι οἰδάνεται κραδίν χόλω ὅπποτ ἐκείνουΜνήσομαι ὅς μ᾽ ἀσύφηλον ἐν Ἀργείοισιν ἔρεξεν.—Il. ix. 642.

I have given Pope's translation in the text.

This is from the Theseus—

Ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτο παρὰ σοφοῦ τινος μαθὼνεἰς φροντίδας νοῦν συμφοράς τ᾽ ἐβαλλόμηνφυγάς τ᾽ ἐμαυτῷ προστιθεὶς πάτρας ἐμῆς.θανάτους τ᾽ ἀώρους, καὶ κακῶν ἄλλας ὁδοὺςὥς, εἴ τι πάσχοιυμ᾽ ὦν ἐδοξαζόν ποτεΜή μοι νέορτον προσπεσὸν μᾶλλον δάκοι.

This refers to the speech of Agamemnon in Euripides, in the Iphigenia in Aulis—

... Ζηλῶ σε, γέρον,ζηλῶ δ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ὅς ἀκίνδυνονβίον ἐξεπέρασ, ἀγνὼς, ἀκλεής.—v. 15.

This is a fragment from the Hypsipyle—

Ἔφυ μὲν οὐδεις ὅστις οὐ πονεῖ βροτῶν;θάπτει τε τέκνα χάτερ᾽ αὖ κτᾶται νεὰ,αὐτός τε θνήσκει. καὶ τάδ᾽ ἄχθονται βροτοὶεἰς γῆν φέροντες γῆν; ἀναγκαιως δ᾽ ἔχειβίον θερίζειν ὦστε κάρπιμον στάχυν.

Ητοι ο καππεδιον το Αληιον οιος αλατοον θυμον κατεδων, πατον ανθρωπων αλεεινων.—Il. vi. 201.

This is a translation from Euripides—

Ὥσθ᾽ ἵμερος μ᾽ ὑπῆλθε γῇ τε κ᾽ οὐρανῷλέξαι μολούσῃ δεῦρο Μηδείας τύχας.—Med. 57.

Λίην γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ ἐπήτριμοι ἤυατα πάνταπίπτουσιν, πότε κέν τις ἀναπνεύσειε πόνοιο?ἀλλὰ χρὴ τὸν μὲν καταθαπτέμεν, ὅς κε θάνησι,νηλέα θυμὸν ἔχοντας, ἔπ᾽ ἤματι δακρυσάντας.—Hom. Il. xix. 226.

This is one of the fragments of Euripides which we are unable to assign to any play in particular; it occurs Var. Ed. Tr. Inc. 167.

Εἰ μέν τόδ᾽ ἦμαρ πρῶτον ἦν κακουμένωκαὶ μὴ μακρὰν δὴ διὰ πόνων ἐναυστόλουνεἰκὸς σφαδάζειν ἦν ἄν, ὡς νεόζυγαπῶλον, χάλινον ἀρτίως δεδεγμένον;νῦν δ᾽ ἀμβλύς εἰμι, καὶ κατηρτυκὼς κακῶν.

This is only a fragment preserved by Stobæus—

Τοὺς δ᾽ ἄν μεγίστους καὶ σοφωτάτους φρενὶτοιούσδ᾽ ἴδοις ἄν, οἷός ἐστι νῦν ὅδε,καλῶς κακῶς πράσσοντι συμπαραινέσαι;ὅταν δὲ δαίμων ἀνδρὸς εὐτυχοῦς τὸ πρὶνμάστιγ᾽ ἐρείση τοῦ βίου παλίντροπον,τὰ πολλὰ φροῦδα καὶ κακῶς εἰρημένα.

Ωκ. Οὐκοῦν Προμηθεῦ τοῦτο γιγνώσκεις ὅτιὀργῆς νοσούσης εἰσὶν ἰατροὶ λόγοι.Πρ. ἐάν τις ἐν καιρῷ γε μαλθάσση κέαρκαὶ μὴ σφριγῶντα θυμὸν ἰσχναίνη βίᾳ.

Æsch. Prom. v. 378.

Cicero alludes here to Il. vii. 211, which is thus translated by Pope—

His massy javelin quivering in his hand,He stood the bulwark of the Grecian band;Through every Argive heart new transport ran,All Troy stood trembling at the mighty man:E'en Hector paused, and with new doubt oppress'd,Felt his great heart suspended in his breast;'Twas vain to seek retreat, and vain to fear,Himself had challenged, and the foe drew near.

But Melmoth (Note on the Familiar Letters of Cicero, book ii. Let. 23) rightly accuses Cicero of having misunderstood Homer, who“by no means represents Hector as being thus totally dismayed at the approach of his adversary; and indeed it would have been inconsistent with the general character of that hero to have described him under such circumstances of terror.”

Τὸν δὲ καὶ Ἀργεῖοι μέγ᾽ ἐγήθεον εἰσορόωντες,Τρωὰς δὲ τρόμος αἶνος ὑπήλυθε γυῖα ἕκαστον,Ἕκτορι δ᾽ αὐτῷ θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι πάτασσεν.

But there is a great difference, as Dr. Clarke remarks, between θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι πάτασσεν and καρδίη ἔξω στηθέων ἔθρωσκεν, or τρόμος αἶνος ὑπήλυθε γυῖα.—The Trojans, says Homer,trembledat the sight of Ajax, and even Hector himself felt some emotion in his breast.

In the original they run thus:—

Οὔκ ἐστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἔπος,Οὐδὲ πάθος, οὐδὲ ξυμφορὰ θεήλατοςἮς οὐκ ἄν ἄροιτ᾽ ἄχθος ἀνθρώπου φύσις.

This story is alluded to by Horace—

Districtus ensis cui super impiâCervice pendet non Siculæ dapesDulcem elaborabunt saporem,Non avium citharæve cantusSomnum reducent.—iii. 1. 17.

The fact of Homer's blindness rests on a passage in the Hymn to Apollo, quoted by Thucydides as a genuine work of Homer, and which is thus spoken of by one of the most accomplished scholars that this country or this age has ever produced:—“They are indeed beautiful verses, and if none worse had ever been attributed to Homer, the Prince of Poets would have had little reason to complain.

“He has been describing the Delian festival in honour of Apollo and Diana, and concludes this part of the poem with an address to the women of that island, to whom it is to be supposed that he had become familiarly known by his frequent recitations:

Χαίρετε δ᾽ υμεῖς πᾶσαι, ἐμεῖο δὲ καὶ μετόπισθεμνήσασθ᾽, ὅπποτέ κέν τις ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπωνἐνθάδ᾽ ἀνείρηται ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἐλθὼνὦ κοῦραι, τίς δ᾽ ὕμμιν ἀνὴρ ἥδιστος ἀοιδῶνἐνθάδε πωλεῖται καὶ τέῳ τέρπεσθε μάλιστα?ὑμεῖς δ᾽ εὖ μάλα πᾶσαι ὑποκρίνασθε ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν,Τυφλὸς ἀνὴρ, οἰκεῖ δὲ Χίῳ ἐνὶ παιπαλοέσσῃ,τοῦ πᾶσαι μετόπισθεν ἀριστεύουσιν ἀοιδαί.

Virgins, farewell,—and oh! remember meHereafter, when some stranger from the sea,A hapless wanderer, may your isle explore,And ask you,“Maids, of all the bards you boast,Who sings the sweetest, and delights you most?”Oh! answer all,—“A blind old man, and poor,Sweetest he sings, and dwells on Chios' rocky shore.”

—Coleridge's Introduction to the Study of the Greek Classic Poets.

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