fable with history, He chose not, however the whole Trojan war for his subject; but with great judgement, selected the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, which includes the most interesting period of the war. He has thus given greater unity to his poem. He has gained one hero, or principal character, that is, Achilles; and shown the pernicious effects of discord among confederated princes. The praise of high invention has in every age been justly given to Homer. His incidents, speeches, characters, divine and human; his battles, his little history pieces of the persons slain, discover a boundless invention. Nor is his judgement less worthy of praise. Ilis story is conducted with great art. He rises upon us gradually. His heroes are introduced with exquisite skill to our acquaintance. The distress thickens as the poem advances; every thing serves to aggrandize Achilles, and to make him the capital figure. In characters, Homer is without a rival. He abounds in dialogue and conversation, and this produces a spirited exhibition of his personages. This dramatic method, however, though more natural, expressive and animated, is less grave and majesti: than narrative. Some of Homer's speeches are unseasonable, and others trifling. With the Greek vivacity, he has also some of the Greek loquacity. In no character, perhaps, does he display greater art, than in that of Helen. Notwithstanding her frailty, and crimes, he contrives to make her an interesting, object. The admiration with which the old generals behold her, when she is coming toward them; herveiling herself, and shedding tears in the presence of Priam; her grief at the sight of Menelaus; her upbraiding of Paris for his cowardice, and her returningfondness for him, are exquisite strokes, and worthy of a great master. Homer has been accused of making Achilles too brutal a character; and critics seem to have adopted this censure from two lines of Horace; Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer, Jura negat sibi nata; nihil non arrogat armis. It appears that Horace went beyond the truth Achilles is passionate; but he is not a contemner of law. He has reason on his side; for, though he discovers too much heat, it must be allowed that he had been notoriously wronged. Besides bravery and contempt of death, he has the qualities of openness and sincerity. He loves his subjects, and respects the gods. He is warm in his friendships; and throughout, he is high spirited, gallant, and honourable. Homer's gods make a great figure; but his machinery was not his own invention. He followed the traditions of his country. But, though his machinery is often lofty and magnificent, yet his gods are often deficient in dignity. They have all the human passions; they drink, and feast, and are vulnerable, like men. While, however, he at times degrades his divinities, he knows how to make them appear with most awful majesty. Jupiter, for the most part, is introduced with great dignity and several of the most sublime conceptions in the Iliad are founded on the appearances of Neptune, Minerva, and Apollo. The style of Homer is easy, natural, and highly animated. Of all the great poets, he is the most simple in his style, and resembles most the style of the poetical parts of the Old Testament. Pope's transla tion of him affords no idea of his manner. His versification, however, is allowed to be uncommonly melodious; and to carry beyond that of any poet, resemblance of sound to sense. In narration, Homer is always concise and descriptive. He paints his objects in a manner to our sight. His battles are singularly admirable. We see them in all their hurry, terror, and confusion. In similes no poet abounds so much. His comparisons, however, taken in general, are not his greatest beauties; they come upon us in too quick succession; and often disturb his narration or description. His lions, bulls, eagles, and herds of sheep, recur too frequently. The criticism of Longinus upon the Odyssey, is not without foundation; that in this poem Homer may be likened to the setting sun, whose grandeur remains without the heat of his meridian beams. It wants the yigour and sublimity of the Iliad; yet possesses, 30 many beauties, as to be justly entitled to high praise. It is a very amusing poem, and has much greater variety than the Iliad. It contains many interesting stories and pleasing pictures of ancient manners. Instead of the ferocity which pervades the Iliad, it presents us most amiable images of humanity and hospitality. It entertains us with many a wonderful adventure, and many a landscape of nature; and instructs us bv a rich vein of morality and virtue, running througn every part of the poem. There are some defects, however, in the Odyssey. Many of its scenes fall below the majesty of an epic. poem. The last twelve books are, in many places, languid and tedious; and, perhaps, the poet is not happy in the discovery of Ulysses to Penelope. She is too cautious and distrustful; and we meet not that joyous surprise expected on such an occasion. What must we do in order to relish Homer? What is said of Homer's invention? What of his judgment? How does he paint characters? What character has he given to Helen? What fault has been found with Achilles? What is the true character of Achilles? What is said of Homer's machinery? What is said of his style? What is said of his narration? What are the beauties of the Odyssey? THE ANEID OF VIRGIL. THE distinguishing excellencies of the Eneid are elegance and tenderness. Virgil is less animated and fess sublime than Homer; but he has fewer negligencies, greater variety, and more dignity. The neid has all the correctness and improvements of the Augustan age. We meet no contention of heroes about a female slave; no violent scolding, nor abusive language; but the poem opens with the ut most magnificence. The subject of the Eneid, which is the establishment of Eneas in Italy, is extremely happy. Nothing could be more interesting to the Romans, than Virgil's deriving their origin from so famous a hero as neas. The subject was splendid itself; it gave the poet a theme, taken from the traditionary history of his country; it allowed him to adopt Homer's mythology; and afforded him frequent opportunities of glancing at all the future great exploits of the Romans, and of describing Italy in its ancient and fabulous state. Unity of action is perfectly preserved in the Æneid. The settlement ot Æneas in Italy by order of the gods, is constantly kept in view. The episodes are properly linked to the main subject; and the nodus or intrigue of the poem is happily formed. The wrath of Juno, who opposes Æneas, gives rise to all his difficulties, and connects the human with the celestial operations, through the whole poem. Great art and judgment are displayed in the Eneid; but even Virgil is not without his faults. One is, that he has so few marked characters. Achates, Cloanthes, Gyas, and other Trojan heroes, who accompanied Eneas into Italy, are undistinguished figures. Even Aneas himself is not a very interesting hero. He is described, indeed, as pious and brave; but his character is not marked by those strokes that touch the heart. The character of Dido is the best supported in the whole Æneid. Her warmth of passion, keenness of resentment, and violence of character, exhibita, more animated figure than any other Virgil has drawn. The management of the subject, also, is in some respects exceptionable. The six last books received not the finishing hand of the author; and, for this reason, he ordered his poem to be committed to the flames. The wars with the Latins are in dignity inferior to the more interesting objects previously presented to us; and the reader is tempted to take part with Turnus against Æneas. The principal excellency of Virgil, and what he possesses beyond all poets, is tenderness. His soul was full of sensibility. He felt himself all the affecting circumstances in the scenes he describes; and knew how, by a single stroke, to reach the heart. In an epic poem, this merit is next to sublimity. The se-` cond book of the Eneid is one of the greatest mas-. ter-pieces ever executed. The death of old Priam, and the family pieces of Æneas, Anchises, and Creusa, are as tender as can be conceived. In the fourth book the unhappy passion and death of Dido are admirable. The interview of Eneas with Andromache and Helenus, in the third book; the episodes of Pallas and Evander, of Nisus and Euryalus, of Lausus and Mezentius, are all striking instances of the power of raising the tender emotions. The best and most finished books are the first, second, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and twelfth, Virgil's battles are, in fire and sublimity, far inferior to Homer's. But in one important episode, the. descent into hell, he has outdone Homer in the Odys-. sey, by many degrees. There is nothing in all antiquity equal in its kind to the sixth book of the Æneid. The scenery, the objects, and the description are great, solemn, and sublime. With regard to the comparative merit of these two. great princes of epic poetry, it must be allowed that Homer was the greater genius, and Virgil the more. correct writer. Homer is more orignial, more bold, more sublime, and more forcible. In judgment they. are both eminent. Homer has all the Greek vivacity; Virgil all the Roman stateliness. The imagination, of Homer is the most copious; that of Virgil the most correct. The strength of the former lies in warming the fancy; that of the latter in touching the heart. Homer's style is more simple and animated; Virgil's more elegant and uniform. What are the great excellencies of the Eneid?. What excellence in the choice of the subjects? Is unity of action preserved? What are the faults of the Eneid? How is the subject managed? |