NOTES TO THE PERSIANS

Note 10 (p. 266)“And their steeds with ringing bridles.”Bells were often used on the harness of horses, and on different parts of the armour, to increase the war-alarm—the κλαγγή τε ἐνοπή τε (Il. III. 2), which is so essential a part of the instinct of assault. See the description of Tydeus below, and Dict. Antiq.tintinnabulum, where is represented a fragment of ancient sculpture, showing the manner in which bells were attached to the collars of war-horses. Dio Cassius (Lib. LXXVI. 12) mentions that “the arms of the Britons are a shield and short spear, in the upper part whereof is an apple of brass, which, being shaken, terrifies the enemy with the sound.” Compare κωδωνο, φαλαραπωλους.Aristoph. Ran.963.Note 11 (p. 266).“God of pawing steeds, Poseidon.”Neptune is called equestrian or ἱππίος, no doubt, from the analogy of the swift waves, over which his car rides, to the fleet ambling of horses. In the mythical contest with Pallas, accordingly, while the Athenian maid produces the olive tree, the god of waves sends forth a war-horse.Note 12 (p. 266).“Save us, Cypris, mother of Thebans.”“Harmonia, whom Cadmus married, was the daughter of Mars and Aphrodite.”—Scholiast.Note 13 (p. 266).“Save us, save us, Wolf-Apollo.”Here is one of those pious puns upon the epithets of the gods, which were alluded to inNote 1above. With regard to this epithet of Apollo, who, in the Electra ofSophocles, v. 6, is called distinctlywolf-slayer(λυκοκτόνος), there seems to me little doubt that the Scholiast on that passage is right in referring this function to Apollo, as the god of a pastoral people (νὸμιος).Passow(Dict. in voce), comparePausan. (Cor. II. 19).Note 14 (p. 267).“O Onca, blest Onca.”Onca, says the Scholiast, was a name of Athena, a Phœnician epithet, brought by Cadmus from his native country. The Oncan gate was the same as the Ogygian gate of Thebes mentioned by other writers, and the most ancient of all the seven.—Unger. p. 267; Pausan. IX. 8.Note 15 (p. 267).“The seven-gated city deliver, deliver.”The current traditional epithet of Thebes, whose seven gates were as famous as the seven mouths of the Nile—“Rari quippe boni: numerus vix est totidem quotThebarum portæ vel divitis ostia Nili.”—Juv. Sat. XIII. 26.AndHomer, in the Odyssey XI. 263, talks of—“Amphion and Zethus,First who founded and uptowered the seat of seven-gated Thebes.”These may suffice from a whole host of citations inUnger. Vol. I. p. 254-6, and Pausan. IX. 8. 3.Note 16 (p. 267).“. . . a foreign-speaking foe!”This appears strange, as both besieged and besiegers were Greeks, differing no more in dialect than the Prussians and the Austrians, or we Scotch from our English neighbours. I agree with E. P. that it is better not to be over-curious in such matters, and that Butler is right when he says that ἐτερόφωνος is onlypaullo gravius dictum ad miserationem—that is, only a little tragic exaggeration forhostileorforeign.Note 17 (p. 268).“. . . the painted gods upon the prow.”The general practice was, that the tutelary gods were on the poop, and only the figure-head on the prow (Dict. Antiq.,ShipsandInsigne), but, as there was nothing to prevent the figure-head being itself a god, the case alluded to by Æschylus might often occur.—See the long note inStan.Note 18 (p 268).“Who knows notThat, when a city falls, they pass to the Victor”The Roman custom of evoking the gods of a conquered city to come out of the subject shrines, and take up their dwelling with the conqueror, is well known. InLivy, V. 21, there is a remarkable instance of this in the case of Veii—“Tuo ductu,” saysCamillus, “Pythice Apollo, tuoque numine instinctus pergo ad delendam urbem Veios: tibique hinc decumam partem prædæ voveo. Te simul,Juno regina, quæ nunc Veios colis, precor ut nos victores in nostram tuamque mox futuram urbem sequare; ubi te dignum amplitudine tua templum accipiat.”Note 19 (p. 269).“For blood of mortals is the common food.”I read φόνῳ, not φόβῳ, principally for the sake of the sentiment, as the other idea which φοβῳ gives, has been already expressed. CertainlyWell. is too positive in saying that φόβῳ is “prorsus necessarium.” Both readings give an equally appropriate sense: that in the text, whichPot. also gives; or this other—“Your fear but heaps the fuel of hot warI’ the hearts o’ the foe.”Note 20 (p. 270).“Dirce and Ismenus’ sacred stream.”These were waters in Theban legend no less famous thanInachusandErasinusin that of Argos. The waters of Dirce, in particular, were famous for their clearness and pleasantness to drink. “Dirce, flowing with a pure and sweet stream,” saysAelian,Var. Hist.XII. 57, quoted byUnger. p. 187, and Æschylus in the Chorus immediately following, equals its praise to that of the Nile, sung so magnificently in the Suppliants.”Note 21 (p. 271).“From Poseidon earth-embracing,And from Tethys’ winding sons.”Γαιήοχος—the “Earth-holder” or “Earth-embracer,” is a designation of Poseidon, stamped to the Greek ear with the familiar authority of Homer. According to Hesiod, and the Greek mythology generally, the fountains were the sons of Ocean either directly or indirectly, through the rivers, who owned the same fatherhood. Tethys is the primeval Amphitrite.—SeeNote 13to Prometheus,p. 390above.Note 22 (p. 273).“. . . at the Prœtian portal Tydeus stands.”“A gate of doubtful parentage, from which the road went out from Thebes direct to Chalcis in Eubœa.”—Unger. p. 297. “Here, by the wayside, was the tomb of Melanippus, the champion of this gate, who slew his adversary Tydeus.”—Pausan. IX. 8. This Tydeus is the father of Diomedes, whose exploits against men and gods are so nobly sung in Iliad V. From the frequency of the words βοᾶν, βοὴν, βρέμειν, etc. in this fine description, one might almost think that Æschylus had wished to paint the father after the Homeric likeness of the son, who, like Menelaus, was βοὴν ἀγαθός. In the heroic ages, a pair of brazen lungs was not the least useful accomplishment of a warrior. The great fame of the father of Diomedes as a warrior appears strikingly from that passage of the Iliad (IV. 370), where Agamemnon uses it as a strong goad to prick the valorous purpose of the son.Note 23 (p. 273).“. . . the wise Oiclidan seer.”“Amphiaraus, the son of Oicles, being a prophet, and foreseeing that all who should join in the expedition against Thebes would perish, refused to go himself, and dissuaded others. Polynices, however, coming to Iphis, the son of Alector, inquired how Amphiaraus might be forced to join the expedition, and was told that this would take place if his wife Eriphyle should obtain the necklace of Harmonia. This, accordingly, Polynices gave her, she receiving the gift in the face of an interdict in that matter laid on her by her husband. Induced by this bribe, she persuaded her husband to march against his will, he having beforehand promised to refer any matter in dispute between him and Adrastus to the decision of his wife.—Apollodor. III. 6; Confr. Hor. III. 16, 11.Note 24 (p. 273).“The brazen bells ring fear.”A Scottish knight, in an old ballad, has these warlike bells on his horse’s mane—“At ilk tail o’ his horse’s mane,There hung a siller bell:The wind was loud, the steed was proud,And they gied a sindry knell.”—Young Waters.And one ofSouthey’s Mexican heroes has them on his helmet—“Bells of goldEmbossed his glittering helmet, and where’erTheir sound was heard, there lay the press of war,And Death was busiest there.”—Madoc. II. 18.Note 25 (p. 274).“His race from those whom Ares spared he draws.”That is to say, he belonged to one of the oldest originally Theban families—was one of the children of the soil, sprung from the teeth of theold Theban dragon, which Cadmus, by the advice of Athena, sowed in the Earth; and from that act, the old race of Thebans were called σπαρτόι, or theSown. SeeStan.’s note.Note 26 (p. 274).“Proud Capaneus before the Electran gate.”This gate was so called from Electra, the sister of Cadmus.Pausan. IX. 8-3. And was the gate which led to Platæa and Athens.Unger. p. 274.Note 27 (p. 275).“. . . The third lot to EteoclesLeapt from the upturned brazen helm.”The custom of using the helmet, for thesitulaor urn, when lots were taken in war, must have been noted by the most superficial student of Homer.Stan. has collected many instances, of which one may suffice—“Quickly, in the brazen helm, we shake the lot; and first of all,Of Eurylochus, mighty-hearted, leapt the lot.”—OdysseyX. 206.Note 28 (p. 275).“At the Netaean gate.”So called from Neis, a son of Zethus, the brother of Amphion.Pausan. IX. 8;Unger. p. 313.Note 29 (p. 276).“Black smoke, the volumed sister of the flame.”Just as Homer, in a familiar passage, calls “sleep the mother of death” (Il. XIV. 231), adopted byShelleyin the exquisite exordium of Queen Mab—“How beautiful is Death,Death and his brother Sleep!”Mitchell, in a note on the metaphors of Æschylus (Aristoph. Ran. 871), mentions this as being one of those tropes, where the high-vaulting tragedian has jerked himself over from the sublime into the closely-bordering territory of the ridiculous; but neither here nor in διαδρομᾶν (ο)μαίμονες, which he quarrels with, is there anything offensive to the laws of good taste. It sounds, indeed, a little queer to translate literally,Rapine near akin to running hither and thither; but, as a matter of plain fact, it is true that, when in the confusion of the taking of a city, men run hither and thither, rapine is the result. In my version,Plunder, daughter of Confusion(p. 272above), expresses the idea intelligibly enough, I hope, to an English ear.Note 30 (p. 276).“Round its hollow belly was embossedA ring of knotted snakes.”The old Argolic shield, round as the sun—“Argolici clypei aut Phœbæœ lampadis instar.”See Dict. Antiq.Clypeus. The kind described in the text finds its modern counterpart in those hollow Burmese shields often found in our museums, only larger.Note 31 (p. 276).“. . . by the god of warIndwelt.”ἔνθεος δ᾽ Αρει, literally, “ingodded by Mars,” or having the god of war dwelling in him. This phrase shows the meaning of that reproach cast by the Pharisees in the teeth of Christ—ἔχει δαιμόνιον—he hath a devil, or, as the Greeks would have said,a god—i.e.he is possessed by a moral powerso far removed from the common, that we must attribute it to the indwelling might of a god or devil.Note 32 (p. 276).“. . . a hostile pairWell matched by Hermes.”The Greeks ascribed to Hermes every thing that they met with on the road, and every thing accidentally found, and whatever happens by chance—and so two adversaries well matched in battle were said to have been brought together by the happy contrivance of that god.”—Schol.; and seeNote 59to the Eumenides,p. 386.Note 33 (p. 278).“The sixth a sober man, a seer of might,Before the Homoloidian gate stands forth.”i.e.Amphiaraus—see above,Note 23,p. 420. Homer (Odys. XV. 244) speaks of him as beloved by Jove and Apollo. The Homoloidian gates were so called either from mount Homole in Thessaly (Pausan. IX. 8), or from Homolois, a daughter of Niobe and Amphion.—Unger. p. 324.Note 34 (p. 278).“With bitter taunts his evil-omened name,Making it spell his ugly sin that owns it.”The name Polynices means literallymuch strife; and there can be no question that the prophet in this place is described as taunting the Son of Oedipus with the evil omen of his name after the fashion so familiar with the Greek writers. SeePrometheus,Note 8,p. 388. The text, however, is in more places than one extremely corrupt; and, in present circumstances, I quite agree withWell. andLin. that we are not warranted in introducing the conjectural reading of ὄμμα for ὄνομα, though there can be no question that the reading ὄμμα admits of a sufficiently appropriate sense.—SeeDunbar,Class. Museum, No. XII. p. 206.Note 35 (p. 278).“The wise man is what fools but seem to be.”“When this tragedy was first acted,Aristides, surnamed theJust, was present. At the declamation of these words—ὀυ γὰρ δοκ(ε)ιν ἄριστος ἀλλ᾽ (ἐ)ίναι θέλει,the whole audience, by an instantaneous instinct, directed their eyes to him.”—Plutarch,Apoth. Reg. et duc.Sallustdescribes Cato in the same language—“Esse quam videri bonus malebat.”—Stan.Note 36 (p. 280).“O god-detested! god-bemadded race!”In modern theological language we are not accustomed to impute mental infatuation, insanity, or desperate impulses of any kind to the Supreme Being; but in the olden time such language as that of the text was familiarly in the mouth of Jew and Gentile. “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” is a sentence which we all remember, perhaps with a strange sensation of mysterious terror, from our juvenile lessons; and “quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat,” is a common maxim in our mouths, though we scarcely half believe it. In Homer and the tragedians instances of this kind occur everywhere; and in the Persians of our author the gods are addressed in a style of the most unmitigated accusation. In such cases, modern translators are often inclinedto soften down the apparent impiety of the expression into some polite modern generality; but I have scrupulously retained the original phraseology. I leave it to the intelligent reader to work out the philosophy of this matter for himself.Note 37 (p. 281).“. . . the god will have it so.”This is one of the cases so frequent in the ancient poets (Note 76to Choephoræ,p. 372) where θεός is used in the singular without the article. In the present case the translators seem agreed in supplying the definite particle, as Phœbus, mentioned in the next line, may naturally be understood. In modern language, where a man is urged on to his destruction by a violent unreasoning passion, reference is generally made to an overruling decree or destiny, rather than directly to the author of all destiny. “But my ill-fate pushed me on with an obstinacy that nothing could resist; and, though I had several times loud calls from my reason and my more composed judgment to go home, yet I had no power to do it.I know not what to call this, nor will I urge that it is a secret overruling decree that hurries us on to be the instruments of our own destruction, even though it be before us, and that we rush upon as with our eyes open. Certainly nothing but some such decreed unavoidable misery attending, and which it was impossible for me to escape, could have pushed me forward against the calm reasonings and persuasions of my most retired thoughts.”—Robinson Crusoe. On this subject see myHomeric Theology.Class. Mus.No. XXVI. Propositions 5, 12, and 18 compared.Note 38 (p. 281).“Death is thy only gain, and death to-dayIs better than to-morrow!”λέγουσα κέρδος πρότερον ὑστερου μόρου—mentioning to me an advantage(viz., in my dying now)preferable to a death at a later period;as his good genius might have whispered to Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo. In translating thus a confessedly difficult passage I haveWelcker(Trilog. 363),Butler,Blom., andSchütz., and E. P. Oxon., on my side, also the simple comment of Scholiast II.—κερδ(ο)ς,i.e.τὸ νῦν τεθνᾶναι πρότερον,i.e.τιμιώτερον.Lin. agreeing withWell. translates “urging the glory of the victory which precedes the death which follows after it.”Conz. is singular, and certainly not to be imitated in translating with Schol. I.—“Wer der erste tödlet gewinnt den Sieg.”“He who inflicts the first lethal blow gains the victory.”Pot. has not grappled with the passage. IfLin.’s interpretation be preferred, I should render—“Beside me sitsThe Fury with dry tearless eye, and points toOne glimpse of glory heralding black death.”or—“The glorious gain that shall precede the death.”It will be observed that if πρότερον be taken in the sense of τιμιώτερον, with the Scholiast, and το νῦν τεθναναι understood to κέρδος, Wellauer’s objection falls that μαλλον or μειζον must be understood to render the rendering in my text admissible.Note 39 (p. 282).“. . . goddess most ungodlike.”I have remarked, in a Note above, that the Greeks, so far from having any objection to the idea that the gods were the authors of evil, ratherencouraged it; and accordingly, in their theology, they had no need for a devil or devils in any shape. This truth, however, must be received with the qualification, arising from the general preponderating character of the Greek deities, which was unquestionably benign, and coloured more from the sunshine than the cloud; in reference to which general character, it might well be said that certain deities, whose function was purely to induce misery, were ὀυ θεοῖς ὅμοιοι—nothing like the gods.Note 40 (p. 282).“O son of Scythia, must we ask thine aid?Chalybian stranger thine.”We see here how loosely the ancients used Certain geographical terms, and especially this wordScythia; for theChalybesorChaldaei, as they were afterwards called, were a people ofPontus. Their country produced, in the most ancient times, silver also; but, in the days of Strabo, iron only.—Strabo, Lib. XII. p. 549.Note. 41 (p. 284).“. . . for sorry tendance wrathful.”I read ἐπίκοτος τροφᾶς withHeath.,Blom., andPal. For the common reading, ἐπικότους τροφάς,Well., with his usual conservative ingenuity, finds a sort of meaning; but the change which the new reading requires is very slight, and gives a much more obvious sense; besides that it enables us to understand the allusion to Æschylus in Schol. Oedip. Col. 1375.—See Introductory Remarks,Welcker’sTrilogie, p. 358, andPal.’s Note.Note 42 (p. 284).“. . . (for still in four and threeThe god delights).”These words are a sort of comment on the epithet ἑβδομαγέτας given to Apollo in the text, of whichPape, in his Dictionary, gives the following account: “Surname of Apollo, because sacrifice was offered to him on the seventh day of every month, or asLobecksays (Aglaoph. p. 434), because seven boys and seven girls led the procession at his feasts.—Herod. VI. 57. The ancients were not agreed in the interpretation of this epithet.” It is notnecessary, however, I must admit withSchneider, to suppose any reference to this religious arithmetic here. Phœbus receives the seventh gate, because, as the prophet of the doom, it was his special business to see it fulfilled; and this he could do only there, where the devoted heads of Eteocles and Polynices stood.Note 43 (P. 285).“And I for plaints no less than pæans bring thee.”I see no sufficient case made out for giving these words from τοιᾶυτα down to φορουμενοι to the Chorus. The Messenger, surely, may be allowed his moral reflections without stint in the first place, as the Chorus is to enlarge on the same theme in the chaunt which immediately follows. It strikes me also, that the tone of the passage is not sufficiently passionate for the Chorus.Note 44 (p. 289).“Ay, drenched in gore, in brothered gore.”In the old editions, and inPot. andGlasg. these words are given to Ismene; but never was a scenic change made with greater propriety than that ofBrunck, when he continued these speeches down to the end of Antistrophe IV. to the Chorus. Nothing could be more unnatural than that theafflicted sisters, under such a load of woe, should open their mouths with long speeches—long, assuredly, in comparison of what they afterwards say. They are properly silent, till the Chorus has finished the wail; and then they speak only in short exclamations—articulated sobs—nothing more. For the same reason, desertingWell., I have given the repeated burden Ἰὼ Μοιρα, etc. to the Chorus. The principal mourners in this dirge should sing only in short and broken cries.Note 45 (p. 290).“Moera, baneful gifts dispensing.”The word μοῖρα originally meanslot, portion, part, that which is dealt or divided out to one. In this sense it occurs frequently in Homer, and is there regarded as proceeding from the gods, and specially from Jove. But with an inconsistency natural enough in popular poetry, we sometimes find μοῖρα in Homer, like ἀτη, elevated to the rank of a separate divine personage. “Not I,” says Agamemnon, in the Iliad (XIX. 86), “was to blame for the quarrel with Achilles,ButJoveandMoeraand theFury,walking through the darkness dread.”The three Fates,Clotho,Lachesis, andAtropos, like the threeFuries, were a post-Homeric birth. We thus see how, under the influence of the Polytheistic system, new gods were continually created from what were originally mere functions of the divine mind, or results of the divine activity.Note 46 (p. 292).“Due burial in its friendly bosom.”θάπτειν ἔδοξε γῆς φιλαις κατασκφαῖς. The words here used seem to imply interment in the modern fashion, without burning, but they may also refer to the depositing of the urns in subterranean chambers. Ancient remains, as well as the testimony of classical authors, prove that both practices existed among the ancients, though cremation was latterly the more common. The reader will be instructed by the following extract on this subject from Dr. Smith’s admirable Dictionary of Antiquities, articleFunus: “The body was either buried or burnt. Lucian,de luctu, says that the Greeks burn, and the Persians bury, their dead; but modern writers are greatly divided in opinion as to which was the usual practice. Wachsmuth (Hell. Alt.II. 2, p. 79) says that, in historical times, the dead were always buried; but this statement is not strictly correct. Thus we find that Socrates (Plut. Phædon) speaks of his body being either burnt or buried; the body of Timoleon was burnt; and so was that of Philopæmon (Plutarch). The word θάπτειν is used in connection with either mode; it is applied to the collection of the ashes after burning; and accordingly we find the words κάιειν and θάπτειν used together (Dionys. Archæolog. Rom. V. 48). The proper expression for interment in the earth is κατορύττειν; whereas we find Socrates speaking of το σῶμα η καόμενον, ἠ κατορυττόμενον. In Homer, the bodies of the dead are burnt; but interment was also used in very ancient times. Cicero (de leg.II. 25) says that the dead were buried at Athens in the time of Cecrops; and we also read of the bones of Orestes being found in a coffin at Tegea (Herod. I. 68). The dead were commonly buried among the Spartans (Plut. Lycurg. 27) and the Sicyonians (Paus. II. 7); and the prevalence of this practice is proved by the great number of skeletons found in coffins in modern times, which have evidently not been exposed to the action of fire. Both burning and burying appear to have been always used, to a greater or less extent, at different periods; till the spread of Christianity at length put an end to the former practice.”Note 47 (p. 293).“Mighty Furies that triumphantRide on ruin’s baleful wings.”I have here, by a paraphrase, endeavoured to express the remarkably pregnant expression of the original κῆρες Εριννύες—combining, as it does, in grammatical apposition, two terrible divine powers, that the ancient poets generally keep separate. The κῆρες, or goddesses of destruction and violent death, occur frequently in Homer. Strictly speaking, they represent only one of the methods by which the retributive Furies may operate; but, in a loose way of talking, they are sometimes identified with them. Schoemann, in a note to the Eumenides, p. 62, has quoted to this effect, Hesiod v. 217, and Eurip. Elect, v. 1252:—“The terrible Kerés, blushless persecutors,Will chase thee wandering frenzied o’er the earth.”NOTES TO THE PERSIANSNote 1 (p. 301).“Forth they went with arrow and bow.”The bow was as characteristic of Persian as the spear of Hellenic warfare; and, accordingly, they are contrasted below,p. 305. The Persian Darics bore the figure of an archer.Dict. Antiq.vociDaric. “The army of Xerxes, generally,” saysGrote, “was armed with missile weapons, and light shields, or no shield at all; not properly equipped either for fighting in regular order, or for resisting the line of spears and shields which the Grecian heavy-armed infantry brought to bear upon them.”—Vol. V. p. 43. This was seen with striking evidence when an engagement took place on confined ground as at Thermopylæ, Do. p. 117.Note 2 (p. 302).“. . . golden Sardes.”So Creon, in the Antigone of Sophocles, in wrathful suspicion that Tiresias is in conspiracy to prophesy against him for filthy lucre, is made to exclaim (v. 1037)—“Traffic as ye willIn the amber-ore that opulent Sardes sends,And Indian gold.”So also, “golden Babylon,” below; which will recall to the Christian reader the famous words, “Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased!”—Isaiah xiv. 4. In the same wayXerxesis called “the god-like son of a golden race,” in the choral hymn which immediately follows the present introductory chaunt.Southey, the most learned of our poets, has not forgotten this orientalism when he says—“Hark! at the golden palacesThe Brahmin strikes the hour.”—Curse of KehamaV.where see the note.Note 3 (p. 302).“The well-poised dart.”The Mysians had on their heads a peculiar sort of helmet belonging to the country, small shields, and javelins burnt at the point.—Herodot. VII. 74.—Stan.Note 4 (p. 302).“The Asian tribes that wear the sword.”The μάχαιρα here is theacinaces, or short scimitar, of which the fashion may be seen in theDict. Antiq.under that word.Note 5 (p. 303).“Shepherd of many sheep.”A phraseology inherited from the times when “Mesha, king of Moab, was asheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel 100,000 lambs, and 100,000 rams, with the wool.”—2 Kings iii. 4. So Agamemnon, in Homer (Od. III. 156), is called ποιμήν λάων—the shepherd of the people. See above,p. 413,Note 48.Note 6 (p. 304).“But, when the gods deceive.”The sudden change of tone here from unlimited confidence in the strength of their own armament, to a pious doubt arising from the consideration that the gods often disappoint “the best laid schemes of men and mice,” and that “the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong”; this is at once extremely characteristic of ancient Hellenic piety (see the Note on ὕβρις,p. 348), and serves here the dramatic purpose of making the over-weening pride of Xerxes, by contrast, appear more sinful. With regard to the style of religious conception here, and the general doctrine that the gods deceive mortal men, especially at moments of extraordinary prosperity and on the point of some sudden reversal, the student will readGrote’s Greece, Vol. V. p. 13.Note 7 (p. 306).“Let us fall down before her with humble prostration.”This very humble way of expressing respect was quite oriental, and altogether abhorrent to the feelings of the erect Greek, boasting of his liberty. The reader of history may call to mind how this was one of the points of oriental court state, the mooting of which in his later years caused a breach between Alexander the Great and his captains. For references, seeStan.Note 8 (p. 307).“And dipped my hands in the fair-flowing fount.”This purification, asStan. has noted, was customary among the ancients, after an ill-omened dream. He quotesAristophanes, Ran. 1338.“But come, attendants, light a lampAnd take a pail, and from the streamWater bring, and warm it well,To wash away the god-sent dream”—and other passages.Note 9 (p. 307).“I saw an eagle flying to the altar.”The sight in reality, or in vision, of one bird plucking another under various modifications, was familiar to the ancient divination, as the natural expression of conquest and subjugation. So in the Odyssey shortly before the opening of the catastrophe—“Thus as he spake, on his right hand a bird of omen flew,A hawk, Apollo’s messenger swift, and held within its clawsA pigeon, which it rudely plucked, and scattered on the groundIts feathery plumes, between the skies and where Telemachus stood.”—XV. 525.In such matters, the ancients did not strain after originality, as a modern would do, but held closely by the most natural, obvious, and most significant types.

Note 10 (p. 266)“And their steeds with ringing bridles.”

“And their steeds with ringing bridles.”

Bells were often used on the harness of horses, and on different parts of the armour, to increase the war-alarm—the κλαγγή τε ἐνοπή τε (Il. III. 2), which is so essential a part of the instinct of assault. See the description of Tydeus below, and Dict. Antiq.tintinnabulum, where is represented a fragment of ancient sculpture, showing the manner in which bells were attached to the collars of war-horses. Dio Cassius (Lib. LXXVI. 12) mentions that “the arms of the Britons are a shield and short spear, in the upper part whereof is an apple of brass, which, being shaken, terrifies the enemy with the sound.” Compare κωδωνο, φαλαραπωλους.Aristoph. Ran.963.

Note 11 (p. 266).“God of pawing steeds, Poseidon.”

“God of pawing steeds, Poseidon.”

Neptune is called equestrian or ἱππίος, no doubt, from the analogy of the swift waves, over which his car rides, to the fleet ambling of horses. In the mythical contest with Pallas, accordingly, while the Athenian maid produces the olive tree, the god of waves sends forth a war-horse.

Note 12 (p. 266).“Save us, Cypris, mother of Thebans.”

“Save us, Cypris, mother of Thebans.”

“Harmonia, whom Cadmus married, was the daughter of Mars and Aphrodite.”—Scholiast.

Note 13 (p. 266).“Save us, save us, Wolf-Apollo.”

“Save us, save us, Wolf-Apollo.”

Here is one of those pious puns upon the epithets of the gods, which were alluded to inNote 1above. With regard to this epithet of Apollo, who, in the Electra ofSophocles, v. 6, is called distinctlywolf-slayer(λυκοκτόνος), there seems to me little doubt that the Scholiast on that passage is right in referring this function to Apollo, as the god of a pastoral people (νὸμιος).Passow(Dict. in voce), comparePausan. (Cor. II. 19).

Note 14 (p. 267).“O Onca, blest Onca.”

“O Onca, blest Onca.”

Onca, says the Scholiast, was a name of Athena, a Phœnician epithet, brought by Cadmus from his native country. The Oncan gate was the same as the Ogygian gate of Thebes mentioned by other writers, and the most ancient of all the seven.—Unger. p. 267; Pausan. IX. 8.

Note 15 (p. 267).“The seven-gated city deliver, deliver.”

“The seven-gated city deliver, deliver.”

The current traditional epithet of Thebes, whose seven gates were as famous as the seven mouths of the Nile—

“Rari quippe boni: numerus vix est totidem quotThebarum portæ vel divitis ostia Nili.”—Juv. Sat. XIII. 26.

“Rari quippe boni: numerus vix est totidem quot

Thebarum portæ vel divitis ostia Nili.”—Juv. Sat. XIII. 26.

AndHomer, in the Odyssey XI. 263, talks of—

“Amphion and Zethus,First who founded and uptowered the seat of seven-gated Thebes.”

“Amphion and Zethus,

First who founded and uptowered the seat of seven-gated Thebes.”

These may suffice from a whole host of citations inUnger. Vol. I. p. 254-6, and Pausan. IX. 8. 3.

Note 16 (p. 267).“. . . a foreign-speaking foe!”

“. . . a foreign-speaking foe!”

This appears strange, as both besieged and besiegers were Greeks, differing no more in dialect than the Prussians and the Austrians, or we Scotch from our English neighbours. I agree with E. P. that it is better not to be over-curious in such matters, and that Butler is right when he says that ἐτερόφωνος is onlypaullo gravius dictum ad miserationem—that is, only a little tragic exaggeration forhostileorforeign.

Note 17 (p. 268).“. . . the painted gods upon the prow.”

“. . . the painted gods upon the prow.”

The general practice was, that the tutelary gods were on the poop, and only the figure-head on the prow (Dict. Antiq.,ShipsandInsigne), but, as there was nothing to prevent the figure-head being itself a god, the case alluded to by Æschylus might often occur.—See the long note inStan.

Note 18 (p 268).“Who knows notThat, when a city falls, they pass to the Victor”

“Who knows notThat, when a city falls, they pass to the Victor”

“Who knows not

That, when a city falls, they pass to the Victor”

The Roman custom of evoking the gods of a conquered city to come out of the subject shrines, and take up their dwelling with the conqueror, is well known. InLivy, V. 21, there is a remarkable instance of this in the case of Veii—“Tuo ductu,” saysCamillus, “Pythice Apollo, tuoque numine instinctus pergo ad delendam urbem Veios: tibique hinc decumam partem prædæ voveo. Te simul,Juno regina, quæ nunc Veios colis, precor ut nos victores in nostram tuamque mox futuram urbem sequare; ubi te dignum amplitudine tua templum accipiat.”

Note 19 (p. 269).“For blood of mortals is the common food.”

“For blood of mortals is the common food.”

I read φόνῳ, not φόβῳ, principally for the sake of the sentiment, as the other idea which φοβῳ gives, has been already expressed. CertainlyWell. is too positive in saying that φόβῳ is “prorsus necessarium.” Both readings give an equally appropriate sense: that in the text, whichPot. also gives; or this other—

“Your fear but heaps the fuel of hot warI’ the hearts o’ the foe.”

“Your fear but heaps the fuel of hot war

I’ the hearts o’ the foe.”

Note 20 (p. 270).“Dirce and Ismenus’ sacred stream.”

“Dirce and Ismenus’ sacred stream.”

These were waters in Theban legend no less famous thanInachusandErasinusin that of Argos. The waters of Dirce, in particular, were famous for their clearness and pleasantness to drink. “Dirce, flowing with a pure and sweet stream,” saysAelian,Var. Hist.XII. 57, quoted byUnger. p. 187, and Æschylus in the Chorus immediately following, equals its praise to that of the Nile, sung so magnificently in the Suppliants.”

Note 21 (p. 271).“From Poseidon earth-embracing,And from Tethys’ winding sons.”

“From Poseidon earth-embracing,And from Tethys’ winding sons.”

“From Poseidon earth-embracing,

And from Tethys’ winding sons.”

Γαιήοχος—the “Earth-holder” or “Earth-embracer,” is a designation of Poseidon, stamped to the Greek ear with the familiar authority of Homer. According to Hesiod, and the Greek mythology generally, the fountains were the sons of Ocean either directly or indirectly, through the rivers, who owned the same fatherhood. Tethys is the primeval Amphitrite.—SeeNote 13to Prometheus,p. 390above.

Note 22 (p. 273).“. . . at the Prœtian portal Tydeus stands.”

“. . . at the Prœtian portal Tydeus stands.”

“A gate of doubtful parentage, from which the road went out from Thebes direct to Chalcis in Eubœa.”—Unger. p. 297. “Here, by the wayside, was the tomb of Melanippus, the champion of this gate, who slew his adversary Tydeus.”—Pausan. IX. 8. This Tydeus is the father of Diomedes, whose exploits against men and gods are so nobly sung in Iliad V. From the frequency of the words βοᾶν, βοὴν, βρέμειν, etc. in this fine description, one might almost think that Æschylus had wished to paint the father after the Homeric likeness of the son, who, like Menelaus, was βοὴν ἀγαθός. In the heroic ages, a pair of brazen lungs was not the least useful accomplishment of a warrior. The great fame of the father of Diomedes as a warrior appears strikingly from that passage of the Iliad (IV. 370), where Agamemnon uses it as a strong goad to prick the valorous purpose of the son.

Note 23 (p. 273).“. . . the wise Oiclidan seer.”

“. . . the wise Oiclidan seer.”

“Amphiaraus, the son of Oicles, being a prophet, and foreseeing that all who should join in the expedition against Thebes would perish, refused to go himself, and dissuaded others. Polynices, however, coming to Iphis, the son of Alector, inquired how Amphiaraus might be forced to join the expedition, and was told that this would take place if his wife Eriphyle should obtain the necklace of Harmonia. This, accordingly, Polynices gave her, she receiving the gift in the face of an interdict in that matter laid on her by her husband. Induced by this bribe, she persuaded her husband to march against his will, he having beforehand promised to refer any matter in dispute between him and Adrastus to the decision of his wife.—Apollodor. III. 6; Confr. Hor. III. 16, 11.

Note 24 (p. 273).“The brazen bells ring fear.”

“The brazen bells ring fear.”

A Scottish knight, in an old ballad, has these warlike bells on his horse’s mane—

“At ilk tail o’ his horse’s mane,There hung a siller bell:The wind was loud, the steed was proud,And they gied a sindry knell.”—Young Waters.

“At ilk tail o’ his horse’s mane,

There hung a siller bell:

The wind was loud, the steed was proud,

And they gied a sindry knell.”—Young Waters.

And one ofSouthey’s Mexican heroes has them on his helmet—

“Bells of goldEmbossed his glittering helmet, and where’erTheir sound was heard, there lay the press of war,And Death was busiest there.”—Madoc. II. 18.

“Bells of gold

Embossed his glittering helmet, and where’er

Their sound was heard, there lay the press of war,

And Death was busiest there.”—Madoc. II. 18.

Note 25 (p. 274).“His race from those whom Ares spared he draws.”

“His race from those whom Ares spared he draws.”

That is to say, he belonged to one of the oldest originally Theban families—was one of the children of the soil, sprung from the teeth of theold Theban dragon, which Cadmus, by the advice of Athena, sowed in the Earth; and from that act, the old race of Thebans were called σπαρτόι, or theSown. SeeStan.’s note.

Note 26 (p. 274).“Proud Capaneus before the Electran gate.”

“Proud Capaneus before the Electran gate.”

This gate was so called from Electra, the sister of Cadmus.Pausan. IX. 8-3. And was the gate which led to Platæa and Athens.Unger. p. 274.

Note 27 (p. 275).“. . . The third lot to EteoclesLeapt from the upturned brazen helm.”

“. . . The third lot to EteoclesLeapt from the upturned brazen helm.”

“. . . The third lot to Eteocles

Leapt from the upturned brazen helm.”

The custom of using the helmet, for thesitulaor urn, when lots were taken in war, must have been noted by the most superficial student of Homer.Stan. has collected many instances, of which one may suffice—

“Quickly, in the brazen helm, we shake the lot; and first of all,Of Eurylochus, mighty-hearted, leapt the lot.”—OdysseyX. 206.

“Quickly, in the brazen helm, we shake the lot; and first of all,

Of Eurylochus, mighty-hearted, leapt the lot.”—OdysseyX. 206.

Note 28 (p. 275).“At the Netaean gate.”

“At the Netaean gate.”

So called from Neis, a son of Zethus, the brother of Amphion.Pausan. IX. 8;Unger. p. 313.

Note 29 (p. 276).“Black smoke, the volumed sister of the flame.”

“Black smoke, the volumed sister of the flame.”

Just as Homer, in a familiar passage, calls “sleep the mother of death” (Il. XIV. 231), adopted byShelleyin the exquisite exordium of Queen Mab—

“How beautiful is Death,Death and his brother Sleep!”

“How beautiful is Death,

Death and his brother Sleep!”

Mitchell, in a note on the metaphors of Æschylus (Aristoph. Ran. 871), mentions this as being one of those tropes, where the high-vaulting tragedian has jerked himself over from the sublime into the closely-bordering territory of the ridiculous; but neither here nor in διαδρομᾶν (ο)μαίμονες, which he quarrels with, is there anything offensive to the laws of good taste. It sounds, indeed, a little queer to translate literally,Rapine near akin to running hither and thither; but, as a matter of plain fact, it is true that, when in the confusion of the taking of a city, men run hither and thither, rapine is the result. In my version,Plunder, daughter of Confusion(p. 272above), expresses the idea intelligibly enough, I hope, to an English ear.

Note 30 (p. 276).“Round its hollow belly was embossedA ring of knotted snakes.”

“Round its hollow belly was embossedA ring of knotted snakes.”

“Round its hollow belly was embossed

A ring of knotted snakes.”

The old Argolic shield, round as the sun—

“Argolici clypei aut Phœbæœ lampadis instar.”

See Dict. Antiq.Clypeus. The kind described in the text finds its modern counterpart in those hollow Burmese shields often found in our museums, only larger.

Note 31 (p. 276).“. . . by the god of warIndwelt.”

“. . . by the god of warIndwelt.”

“. . . by the god of war

Indwelt.”

ἔνθεος δ᾽ Αρει, literally, “ingodded by Mars,” or having the god of war dwelling in him. This phrase shows the meaning of that reproach cast by the Pharisees in the teeth of Christ—ἔχει δαιμόνιον—he hath a devil, or, as the Greeks would have said,a god—i.e.he is possessed by a moral powerso far removed from the common, that we must attribute it to the indwelling might of a god or devil.

Note 32 (p. 276).“. . . a hostile pairWell matched by Hermes.”

“. . . a hostile pairWell matched by Hermes.”

“. . . a hostile pair

Well matched by Hermes.”

The Greeks ascribed to Hermes every thing that they met with on the road, and every thing accidentally found, and whatever happens by chance—and so two adversaries well matched in battle were said to have been brought together by the happy contrivance of that god.”—Schol.; and seeNote 59to the Eumenides,p. 386.

Note 33 (p. 278).“The sixth a sober man, a seer of might,Before the Homoloidian gate stands forth.”

“The sixth a sober man, a seer of might,Before the Homoloidian gate stands forth.”

“The sixth a sober man, a seer of might,

Before the Homoloidian gate stands forth.”

i.e.Amphiaraus—see above,Note 23,p. 420. Homer (Odys. XV. 244) speaks of him as beloved by Jove and Apollo. The Homoloidian gates were so called either from mount Homole in Thessaly (Pausan. IX. 8), or from Homolois, a daughter of Niobe and Amphion.—Unger. p. 324.

Note 34 (p. 278).“With bitter taunts his evil-omened name,Making it spell his ugly sin that owns it.”

“With bitter taunts his evil-omened name,Making it spell his ugly sin that owns it.”

“With bitter taunts his evil-omened name,

Making it spell his ugly sin that owns it.”

The name Polynices means literallymuch strife; and there can be no question that the prophet in this place is described as taunting the Son of Oedipus with the evil omen of his name after the fashion so familiar with the Greek writers. SeePrometheus,Note 8,p. 388. The text, however, is in more places than one extremely corrupt; and, in present circumstances, I quite agree withWell. andLin. that we are not warranted in introducing the conjectural reading of ὄμμα for ὄνομα, though there can be no question that the reading ὄμμα admits of a sufficiently appropriate sense.—SeeDunbar,Class. Museum, No. XII. p. 206.

Note 35 (p. 278).“The wise man is what fools but seem to be.”

“The wise man is what fools but seem to be.”

“When this tragedy was first acted,Aristides, surnamed theJust, was present. At the declamation of these words—

ὀυ γὰρ δοκ(ε)ιν ἄριστος ἀλλ᾽ (ἐ)ίναι θέλει,

the whole audience, by an instantaneous instinct, directed their eyes to him.”—Plutarch,Apoth. Reg. et duc.Sallustdescribes Cato in the same language—“Esse quam videri bonus malebat.”—Stan.

Note 36 (p. 280).“O god-detested! god-bemadded race!”

“O god-detested! god-bemadded race!”

In modern theological language we are not accustomed to impute mental infatuation, insanity, or desperate impulses of any kind to the Supreme Being; but in the olden time such language as that of the text was familiarly in the mouth of Jew and Gentile. “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” is a sentence which we all remember, perhaps with a strange sensation of mysterious terror, from our juvenile lessons; and “quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat,” is a common maxim in our mouths, though we scarcely half believe it. In Homer and the tragedians instances of this kind occur everywhere; and in the Persians of our author the gods are addressed in a style of the most unmitigated accusation. In such cases, modern translators are often inclinedto soften down the apparent impiety of the expression into some polite modern generality; but I have scrupulously retained the original phraseology. I leave it to the intelligent reader to work out the philosophy of this matter for himself.

Note 37 (p. 281).“. . . the god will have it so.”

“. . . the god will have it so.”

This is one of the cases so frequent in the ancient poets (Note 76to Choephoræ,p. 372) where θεός is used in the singular without the article. In the present case the translators seem agreed in supplying the definite particle, as Phœbus, mentioned in the next line, may naturally be understood. In modern language, where a man is urged on to his destruction by a violent unreasoning passion, reference is generally made to an overruling decree or destiny, rather than directly to the author of all destiny. “But my ill-fate pushed me on with an obstinacy that nothing could resist; and, though I had several times loud calls from my reason and my more composed judgment to go home, yet I had no power to do it.I know not what to call this, nor will I urge that it is a secret overruling decree that hurries us on to be the instruments of our own destruction, even though it be before us, and that we rush upon as with our eyes open. Certainly nothing but some such decreed unavoidable misery attending, and which it was impossible for me to escape, could have pushed me forward against the calm reasonings and persuasions of my most retired thoughts.”—Robinson Crusoe. On this subject see myHomeric Theology.Class. Mus.No. XXVI. Propositions 5, 12, and 18 compared.

Note 38 (p. 281).“Death is thy only gain, and death to-dayIs better than to-morrow!”

“Death is thy only gain, and death to-dayIs better than to-morrow!”

“Death is thy only gain, and death to-day

Is better than to-morrow!”

λέγουσα κέρδος πρότερον ὑστερου μόρου—mentioning to me an advantage(viz., in my dying now)preferable to a death at a later period;as his good genius might have whispered to Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo. In translating thus a confessedly difficult passage I haveWelcker(Trilog. 363),Butler,Blom., andSchütz., and E. P. Oxon., on my side, also the simple comment of Scholiast II.—κερδ(ο)ς,i.e.τὸ νῦν τεθνᾶναι πρότερον,i.e.τιμιώτερον.Lin. agreeing withWell. translates “urging the glory of the victory which precedes the death which follows after it.”Conz. is singular, and certainly not to be imitated in translating with Schol. I.—

“Wer der erste tödlet gewinnt den Sieg.”“He who inflicts the first lethal blow gains the victory.”

“Wer der erste tödlet gewinnt den Sieg.”

“He who inflicts the first lethal blow gains the victory.”

Pot. has not grappled with the passage. IfLin.’s interpretation be preferred, I should render—

“Beside me sitsThe Fury with dry tearless eye, and points toOne glimpse of glory heralding black death.”

“Beside me sits

The Fury with dry tearless eye, and points to

One glimpse of glory heralding black death.”

or—

“The glorious gain that shall precede the death.”

It will be observed that if πρότερον be taken in the sense of τιμιώτερον, with the Scholiast, and το νῦν τεθναναι understood to κέρδος, Wellauer’s objection falls that μαλλον or μειζον must be understood to render the rendering in my text admissible.

Note 39 (p. 282).“. . . goddess most ungodlike.”

“. . . goddess most ungodlike.”

I have remarked, in a Note above, that the Greeks, so far from having any objection to the idea that the gods were the authors of evil, ratherencouraged it; and accordingly, in their theology, they had no need for a devil or devils in any shape. This truth, however, must be received with the qualification, arising from the general preponderating character of the Greek deities, which was unquestionably benign, and coloured more from the sunshine than the cloud; in reference to which general character, it might well be said that certain deities, whose function was purely to induce misery, were ὀυ θεοῖς ὅμοιοι—nothing like the gods.

Note 40 (p. 282).“O son of Scythia, must we ask thine aid?Chalybian stranger thine.”

“O son of Scythia, must we ask thine aid?Chalybian stranger thine.”

“O son of Scythia, must we ask thine aid?

Chalybian stranger thine.”

We see here how loosely the ancients used Certain geographical terms, and especially this wordScythia; for theChalybesorChaldaei, as they were afterwards called, were a people ofPontus. Their country produced, in the most ancient times, silver also; but, in the days of Strabo, iron only.—Strabo, Lib. XII. p. 549.

Note. 41 (p. 284).“. . . for sorry tendance wrathful.”

“. . . for sorry tendance wrathful.”

I read ἐπίκοτος τροφᾶς withHeath.,Blom., andPal. For the common reading, ἐπικότους τροφάς,Well., with his usual conservative ingenuity, finds a sort of meaning; but the change which the new reading requires is very slight, and gives a much more obvious sense; besides that it enables us to understand the allusion to Æschylus in Schol. Oedip. Col. 1375.—See Introductory Remarks,Welcker’sTrilogie, p. 358, andPal.’s Note.

Note 42 (p. 284).“. . . (for still in four and threeThe god delights).”

“. . . (for still in four and threeThe god delights).”

“. . . (for still in four and three

The god delights).”

These words are a sort of comment on the epithet ἑβδομαγέτας given to Apollo in the text, of whichPape, in his Dictionary, gives the following account: “Surname of Apollo, because sacrifice was offered to him on the seventh day of every month, or asLobecksays (Aglaoph. p. 434), because seven boys and seven girls led the procession at his feasts.—Herod. VI. 57. The ancients were not agreed in the interpretation of this epithet.” It is notnecessary, however, I must admit withSchneider, to suppose any reference to this religious arithmetic here. Phœbus receives the seventh gate, because, as the prophet of the doom, it was his special business to see it fulfilled; and this he could do only there, where the devoted heads of Eteocles and Polynices stood.

Note 43 (P. 285).“And I for plaints no less than pæans bring thee.”

“And I for plaints no less than pæans bring thee.”

I see no sufficient case made out for giving these words from τοιᾶυτα down to φορουμενοι to the Chorus. The Messenger, surely, may be allowed his moral reflections without stint in the first place, as the Chorus is to enlarge on the same theme in the chaunt which immediately follows. It strikes me also, that the tone of the passage is not sufficiently passionate for the Chorus.

Note 44 (p. 289).“Ay, drenched in gore, in brothered gore.”

“Ay, drenched in gore, in brothered gore.”

In the old editions, and inPot. andGlasg. these words are given to Ismene; but never was a scenic change made with greater propriety than that ofBrunck, when he continued these speeches down to the end of Antistrophe IV. to the Chorus. Nothing could be more unnatural than that theafflicted sisters, under such a load of woe, should open their mouths with long speeches—long, assuredly, in comparison of what they afterwards say. They are properly silent, till the Chorus has finished the wail; and then they speak only in short exclamations—articulated sobs—nothing more. For the same reason, desertingWell., I have given the repeated burden Ἰὼ Μοιρα, etc. to the Chorus. The principal mourners in this dirge should sing only in short and broken cries.

Note 45 (p. 290).“Moera, baneful gifts dispensing.”

“Moera, baneful gifts dispensing.”

The word μοῖρα originally meanslot, portion, part, that which is dealt or divided out to one. In this sense it occurs frequently in Homer, and is there regarded as proceeding from the gods, and specially from Jove. But with an inconsistency natural enough in popular poetry, we sometimes find μοῖρα in Homer, like ἀτη, elevated to the rank of a separate divine personage. “Not I,” says Agamemnon, in the Iliad (XIX. 86), “was to blame for the quarrel with Achilles,

ButJoveandMoeraand theFury,walking through the darkness dread.”

The three Fates,Clotho,Lachesis, andAtropos, like the threeFuries, were a post-Homeric birth. We thus see how, under the influence of the Polytheistic system, new gods were continually created from what were originally mere functions of the divine mind, or results of the divine activity.

Note 46 (p. 292).“Due burial in its friendly bosom.”

“Due burial in its friendly bosom.”

θάπτειν ἔδοξε γῆς φιλαις κατασκφαῖς. The words here used seem to imply interment in the modern fashion, without burning, but they may also refer to the depositing of the urns in subterranean chambers. Ancient remains, as well as the testimony of classical authors, prove that both practices existed among the ancients, though cremation was latterly the more common. The reader will be instructed by the following extract on this subject from Dr. Smith’s admirable Dictionary of Antiquities, articleFunus: “The body was either buried or burnt. Lucian,de luctu, says that the Greeks burn, and the Persians bury, their dead; but modern writers are greatly divided in opinion as to which was the usual practice. Wachsmuth (Hell. Alt.II. 2, p. 79) says that, in historical times, the dead were always buried; but this statement is not strictly correct. Thus we find that Socrates (Plut. Phædon) speaks of his body being either burnt or buried; the body of Timoleon was burnt; and so was that of Philopæmon (Plutarch). The word θάπτειν is used in connection with either mode; it is applied to the collection of the ashes after burning; and accordingly we find the words κάιειν and θάπτειν used together (Dionys. Archæolog. Rom. V. 48). The proper expression for interment in the earth is κατορύττειν; whereas we find Socrates speaking of το σῶμα η καόμενον, ἠ κατορυττόμενον. In Homer, the bodies of the dead are burnt; but interment was also used in very ancient times. Cicero (de leg.II. 25) says that the dead were buried at Athens in the time of Cecrops; and we also read of the bones of Orestes being found in a coffin at Tegea (Herod. I. 68). The dead were commonly buried among the Spartans (Plut. Lycurg. 27) and the Sicyonians (Paus. II. 7); and the prevalence of this practice is proved by the great number of skeletons found in coffins in modern times, which have evidently not been exposed to the action of fire. Both burning and burying appear to have been always used, to a greater or less extent, at different periods; till the spread of Christianity at length put an end to the former practice.”

Note 47 (p. 293).“Mighty Furies that triumphantRide on ruin’s baleful wings.”

“Mighty Furies that triumphantRide on ruin’s baleful wings.”

“Mighty Furies that triumphant

Ride on ruin’s baleful wings.”

I have here, by a paraphrase, endeavoured to express the remarkably pregnant expression of the original κῆρες Εριννύες—combining, as it does, in grammatical apposition, two terrible divine powers, that the ancient poets generally keep separate. The κῆρες, or goddesses of destruction and violent death, occur frequently in Homer. Strictly speaking, they represent only one of the methods by which the retributive Furies may operate; but, in a loose way of talking, they are sometimes identified with them. Schoemann, in a note to the Eumenides, p. 62, has quoted to this effect, Hesiod v. 217, and Eurip. Elect, v. 1252:—

“The terrible Kerés, blushless persecutors,Will chase thee wandering frenzied o’er the earth.”

“The terrible Kerés, blushless persecutors,

Will chase thee wandering frenzied o’er the earth.”

Note 1 (p. 301).“Forth they went with arrow and bow.”

“Forth they went with arrow and bow.”

The bow was as characteristic of Persian as the spear of Hellenic warfare; and, accordingly, they are contrasted below,p. 305. The Persian Darics bore the figure of an archer.Dict. Antiq.vociDaric. “The army of Xerxes, generally,” saysGrote, “was armed with missile weapons, and light shields, or no shield at all; not properly equipped either for fighting in regular order, or for resisting the line of spears and shields which the Grecian heavy-armed infantry brought to bear upon them.”—Vol. V. p. 43. This was seen with striking evidence when an engagement took place on confined ground as at Thermopylæ, Do. p. 117.

Note 2 (p. 302).“. . . golden Sardes.”

“. . . golden Sardes.”

So Creon, in the Antigone of Sophocles, in wrathful suspicion that Tiresias is in conspiracy to prophesy against him for filthy lucre, is made to exclaim (v. 1037)—

“Traffic as ye willIn the amber-ore that opulent Sardes sends,And Indian gold.”

“Traffic as ye will

In the amber-ore that opulent Sardes sends,

And Indian gold.”

So also, “golden Babylon,” below; which will recall to the Christian reader the famous words, “Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased!”—Isaiah xiv. 4. In the same wayXerxesis called “the god-like son of a golden race,” in the choral hymn which immediately follows the present introductory chaunt.Southey, the most learned of our poets, has not forgotten this orientalism when he says—

“Hark! at the golden palacesThe Brahmin strikes the hour.”—Curse of KehamaV.

“Hark! at the golden palaces

The Brahmin strikes the hour.”

—Curse of KehamaV.

where see the note.

Note 3 (p. 302).“The well-poised dart.”

“The well-poised dart.”

The Mysians had on their heads a peculiar sort of helmet belonging to the country, small shields, and javelins burnt at the point.—Herodot. VII. 74.—Stan.

Note 4 (p. 302).“The Asian tribes that wear the sword.”

“The Asian tribes that wear the sword.”

The μάχαιρα here is theacinaces, or short scimitar, of which the fashion may be seen in theDict. Antiq.under that word.

Note 5 (p. 303).“Shepherd of many sheep.”

“Shepherd of many sheep.”

A phraseology inherited from the times when “Mesha, king of Moab, was asheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel 100,000 lambs, and 100,000 rams, with the wool.”—2 Kings iii. 4. So Agamemnon, in Homer (Od. III. 156), is called ποιμήν λάων—the shepherd of the people. See above,p. 413,Note 48.

Note 6 (p. 304).“But, when the gods deceive.”

“But, when the gods deceive.”

The sudden change of tone here from unlimited confidence in the strength of their own armament, to a pious doubt arising from the consideration that the gods often disappoint “the best laid schemes of men and mice,” and that “the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong”; this is at once extremely characteristic of ancient Hellenic piety (see the Note on ὕβρις,p. 348), and serves here the dramatic purpose of making the over-weening pride of Xerxes, by contrast, appear more sinful. With regard to the style of religious conception here, and the general doctrine that the gods deceive mortal men, especially at moments of extraordinary prosperity and on the point of some sudden reversal, the student will readGrote’s Greece, Vol. V. p. 13.

Note 7 (p. 306).“Let us fall down before her with humble prostration.”

“Let us fall down before her with humble prostration.”

This very humble way of expressing respect was quite oriental, and altogether abhorrent to the feelings of the erect Greek, boasting of his liberty. The reader of history may call to mind how this was one of the points of oriental court state, the mooting of which in his later years caused a breach between Alexander the Great and his captains. For references, seeStan.

Note 8 (p. 307).“And dipped my hands in the fair-flowing fount.”

“And dipped my hands in the fair-flowing fount.”

This purification, asStan. has noted, was customary among the ancients, after an ill-omened dream. He quotesAristophanes, Ran. 1338.

“But come, attendants, light a lampAnd take a pail, and from the streamWater bring, and warm it well,To wash away the god-sent dream”—

“But come, attendants, light a lamp

And take a pail, and from the stream

Water bring, and warm it well,

To wash away the god-sent dream”—

and other passages.

Note 9 (p. 307).“I saw an eagle flying to the altar.”

“I saw an eagle flying to the altar.”

The sight in reality, or in vision, of one bird plucking another under various modifications, was familiar to the ancient divination, as the natural expression of conquest and subjugation. So in the Odyssey shortly before the opening of the catastrophe—

“Thus as he spake, on his right hand a bird of omen flew,A hawk, Apollo’s messenger swift, and held within its clawsA pigeon, which it rudely plucked, and scattered on the groundIts feathery plumes, between the skies and where Telemachus stood.”—XV. 525.

“Thus as he spake, on his right hand a bird of omen flew,

A hawk, Apollo’s messenger swift, and held within its claws

A pigeon, which it rudely plucked, and scattered on the ground

Its feathery plumes, between the skies and where Telemachus stood.”

—XV. 525.

In such matters, the ancients did not strain after originality, as a modern would do, but held closely by the most natural, obvious, and most significant types.

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