Who, rifing high, th' imperial fceptre rais'd:
The blue-ey'd Pallas, his celestial friend,
(In form a herald) bade the crowds attend.
Th' expecting crowds in ftill attention hung,
To hear the wifdom of his heavenly tongue. 345
Then deeply thoughtful, paufing ere he spoke,
His filence thus the prudent hero broke:

Unhappy monarch! whom the Grecian race,
With than e deferting, heap with vile difgrace.
Not fuch at Argos was their generous vow, 350
Once all their voice, but, ah! forgotten now:
Ne'er to return, was then the common cry,
Till Troy's proud ftructures fhould in afhes lie.
Behold them weeping for their native fhore!
What could their wives or helpless children more?
355

What heart but melts to leave the tender train,
And, one fhort month, endure the wintery main?
Few leagues remov'd, we with our peaceful feat,
When the fhip toffes, and the tempefts beat:
Then well may this long stay provoke their tears,
360

The tedious length of nine revolving years.
Not for their grief the Grecian heft I blame;
But vanquish'd! baffled! oh, eternal fhame!
Expect the time to Troy's deftruction given,
And try the faith of Chalcas and of Heaven. 365
What pafs'd at Aulis, Greece can witness bear,
And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
Befide a fountain's facred brink we rais'd
Our verdant altars, and the victims blaz'd;
('Twas where the plane-tree fpreads its fhades
around)

370
The altars heav'd; and from the crumbling ground
A mighty dragon fhot, of dire portent;
From Jove himself the dreadful fign was fent.
Strait to the tree his fanguine fpire he roll'd,
And curl'd around in many a winding fold. 375
The topmost branch a mother-bird poffeft;
Eight callow infants fill'd the moffy neft;
Herself the ninth: the ferpent, as he hung,
Stretch'd his black jaws, and ciafh'd the crying
young;

While hovering near, with miferable moan, 380
The drooping mother wait'd her children gone.
The mother laft, as round the nost she few,
Seiz'd by the beating wing, the monster slew:
Nor long furviy'd; to marble turn'd he ftands
A lafting prodigy on Aulis' fands.
Such was the will of Jove; and hence we dare
Truft in his omen, and support the war.
For while around we gaze with wondering eves,
And trembling fought the powers with facrifice,

385

Vow'd with libations and with victims then,
Now vanish'd like their smoke: the faith of men!
While useless words confume th' unactive hours,
No wonder Troy fo long refifts our powers.
Rife, great Atrides! and with courage fway; 410
We march to war, if thou direct the way.
But leave the few that dare refift thy laws,
The mean deferters of the Grecian cause,
To grudge the conquefts mighty Jove prepares.
And view with envy our fuccefsful wars.
On that great day when first the martial train,
Big with the fate of Ilion, plow'd the main,
Jove on the right, a profperous fignal fent,
And thunder rolling shook the firmament.
Encourag'd hence, maintain the glorious ftrife,
420

415

Till every foldier grafp a Phrygian wife,
Till Helen's woes at full reveng'd appear,
And Troy's proud matrons render tear for tear.
Before that day, if any Greek invite
His country's troops to bafe, inglorious flight : 425
Stand forth that Greek! and hoift his fail to fly,
And die the daftard first, who dreads to die.
But now, O monarch! all thy chiefs advife:
Nor what they offer, thou thyself defpife.
Among thofe councils, let not mine be vain; 430
In tribes and nations to divide thy train;
His feparate troops let every leader call,
Each ftrengthen each, and all encourage all.
What chief, or foldier, of the numerous band,
Or bravely figh's, or ill cheys command,
When thus diftin&t they war, shall foon be known,
And what the caufe of Ilion not o'er-thrown;
If fate refifts, or if our arms are flow,
If Gods above prevent, or men below.

435

To him the king: How much thy years excel

440

In arts of council, and in speaking well?
O would the Gods, in love to Greece, decree
But ten fuch fages as they grant in thee;
Such wifdom foon fhould Priam's force deftroy,
And foon fhould fall the haughty towers of Troy!
445

But Jove forbids, who plunges thofe he hates
In fierce contention and in vain debates.
Now great Achilles from our aid withdraws,
By me provok'd: a captive maid the cause:

450

455

If e'er as friends we join, the Trojan wall
Maft thake, and heavy will the vengeance fall!
But now, ye wakriours, take a fhort repast:
And, well-refresh'd, to bloody conflict hatte.
His tharpen'd spear let every Grecian wield,
And every Grecian fix his brazen shield:
Let all excite the fiery fteeds of war,
And all for combat fit the rattling car.
This day, this dreadful day, let each contend;
No rest, no respite, till the fhades descend;
Till dark nefs, or till death, fhail cover all :
Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall!
Til bath'd in fweat be every manly breast,
With the huge fhield each brawny arm depreft,
Each aching nerve reuse the lance to throw,
And each spent courfer at the chariot blow,
Who dares, inglorious, in his thips to stay,
Who dares to tremble on this fignal day;
That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,
The birds thall mangle, and the dogs devour.

465

The monarch ípoke; and strait a murmur rofe, 470

Loud as the furges when the tempeft blows,
That dafh'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the ftony fhore.
Straight to the tents the troops difperfing bend,
The fires are kindled, and the fmokes afcend; 475
With hafty feaft they facrifice, and pray,
T'avert the dangers of the doubtful day.

A fteer of five years' age, large limb'd, and fed,
To Jove's high altars Agamemnon led :

There bade the nobleft of the Grecian peers; 480
And Neftor first, as most advanc'd in years.
Next came Idomeneus, and Tydeus' fon,

Ajax the lefs. and Ajax Telamon;

485

Then wife Ulyffes in his rank was plac'd ; And Menelaus came unbid, the last.

The chiefs furround the destin'd beast, and take

The facred offering of the falted cake.
When thus the king prefers his folemn praver:
Ch thou whofe thunder rends the clouded air,
Who in the heaven of heavens has fix'd thy throne,

490

495

500

Supreme of Gods! unbounded and alone!
Hear! and before the burning fun defcends,
Before the night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the dift be laid yon hoftile fpires,
Be Priam's palace funk in Grecian fires,
In Hector's breast be plung'd this thining fword,
And flaughter'd heroes groan around their lord!
Thus pray'd the chief; his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refus'd, and toft in empty air:
The God averfe, while ye the fumes arofe,
Prepar'd new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers perform'd, the chiefs the rite pursue,
The barley fprinkled, and the victim flew,
The limbs they fever from th' inclofing hide,
The thighs, felected to the Gods, divide.
On thefe, in double cauls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames afpire,
While the fat victim feed the facred fire.
The thighs thus facrific'd, and entrails dreft, 510
Th' affiftants part, transfix, and roast the rest;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his feat, and each receives his fhare.

505

With this each Grecian's manly breaft the warms, 530

Swells their bold hearts, and ftrings their nervous

arms;

No more they figh, inglorious, to return,
But breathe revenge, and forth combat burn.

As on fome mountain, through the lofty grove,
The crackling flames afcend, and blaze above; 535
The fires expanding as the winds arise,
Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the fkies:
So from the polish'd arms, and brazen fhields,
A gleamy fplendour flash'd along the fields.
Not lefs their number than th' embody'd cranes, 540
Or milk-white fwans in Afius' watery plains,
That o'er the windings of Cayfter's fprings,
Stretch their long necks, and clap their ruftling
wings,

Now tower aloft, and courfe in airy rounds;
Now light with noife; with noife the field refounds.

545

Thus numerous and confus'd, extending wide,
The legions crowd Scamander's flowery fide;
With rushing troops the plains are covered o'er,
And thundering footsteps thake the founding thore.
Along the river's level meads they ftand,
550
Thick as in fpring the flowers adorn the land,
Or leaves the trees; or thick as infects play,
The wandering nation of a fummer's day,
That, drawn by milky fteams, at evening hours,
In gather'd fwarms furround the rural bowers; 555
From pail to pail with bufy murmur run
The gilded legions, glittering in the fun.
So throng'd, fo clofe, the Grecian fquadrons stood
In radiant arms, and thirft for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his fcattered force conjoins 560
In clofe array, and forms the deepening lines.
Not with more eafe, the fkilful fhepherd fwain
ollects his flocks from thousands on the plain.
The King of Kings, majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outthines them all;

565 Like fome proud bull that round the paftures leads His fubject-herds, the monarch of the meads. Great as the Gods, th' exalted chief was feen, His ftrength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien, Jove o'er his eyes celeftial glories fpread, And dawning conqueft play'd around his head. Say, Virgins, feated round the throne divine, All-knowing Goddeffes! immortal nine!

570

595

THE CATALOGUE OF THE SHIPS. The hardy warriours whom Boeotia bred, Penelius, Leitus, Prothoënor led: With thefe Arcefilaus and Clonius ftand, Equal in arms, and equal in command. These head the troops that rocky Aulis yields, 590 And Eteon's hills, and Hyrie's watery fields, And Schoenos, Scholos, Græa near the main, And Mycaleffia's ample piny plain. Those who on Peteon or Ilefion dwell, Or Harma where Apollo's prophet fell; Heleon and Hyle, which the fprings o'erflow; And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low Or in the meads of Haliartus ftray, Or Thefpia facred to the God of Day. Oncheftus, Neptune's celebrated groves; Cope, and Thisbe, fam'd for filver doves, For flocks Erythræ, Glifla for the vine; Platea green, and Nyfa the divine. And they whom Thehe's well-built walls enclofe, Where Mydè, Eutrefus, Coroné rofe; And Arne rich, with purple harvests crown'd; And Anthedon, Boeotia's utmost bound. Full fifty fhips they fend, and each conveys Twice fixty warriours through the foaming feas.

;

600

To thefe fucceed Afpledon's martial train, 610 Who plow the fpacious Orchomenian plain. Two valiant brothers rule th' undaunted throng, Jälmen and Afcalaphus the ftrong: Sons of Aftyoche, the heavenly fair, Whofe Virgin charms fubdued the God of War

615

620

(In Actor's court as the retir'd to reft,
The strength of Mars the blushing maid compreft).
Their troops in thirty fable veffels sweep
With equal oars the hoarfe-refounding deep.
The Phocians next in forty barks repair,
Epiftrophus and Schedius head the war.
rom thofe rich regions where Cephius leads
His fiiver current through the flowery meads;
From Panopea, Chryfa the divine,
Where Anemoria's ftately turrets fhine,
Where Pytho, Dauli, Cypariffus stood,
And fair Lilea views the rifing flood,
The'e rang'd in order on the floating tide,
Clofe on the left, the bold Boeotians fide.

Fierce Ajax led the Locrian fquadrons on, 630

Alax the lefs, Oileus' valiant fon; Sall'd to direct the flying dart aright; 5.,it in parfult and active in the fight;

640

And where Boägrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Taphe's fylvan feats refide:
In forty veffels cut the liquid tide.
Euboea next her martial fons prepares,
And fends the brave Abantes to the wars:
Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and strong Eretria;
Th' Ifteian field for generous vines renown'd, 645
The fair Cariftos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her towers o'erlooks the plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighbouring main.
Down their broad fhoulders falls a length of hair;
Their hands difmifs not the long lance in air; 650
But with protended spears in fighting fields,
Pierce the tough corfelets and the brazen fhields,
Twice twenty fhips tranfport the warlike bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.

660

Full fifty more from Athens ftem the main, 655
Led by Meneftheus through the liquid plain,
(Athens the fair, where great Erectheus fway'd,
That ow'd his nurture to the blue-eyed Maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth.
Him Pallas plac'd amidst her wealthy fane,
Ador'd with facrifice and oxen flain;
Where, as the years revolve, her altars blaze,
And all the tribes refound the Goddess' praise)
No chief like thee, Menestheus! Greece could
yield,

To marihal armies in the dufty field,
Th' extended wings of battle to display,
Or close th' embody'd hoft in firm array.
Neftor alone, improv'd by length of days,
For martial conduct bore an equal praise.

670

With these appear the Salaminian bands, Whom the gigantic Telamon commands; In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,

And with the great Athenians join their force.

685

Next move to war the generous Argive train, From high Træzenè, and Mafeta's plain, And fair Ægina circled by the main : Whom trong Tyrinthe's lofty walls furround, And Epidaur with viny harvests crown'd; And where fair Afinen and Hermion fhow 680 Their cliffs above, and ample bay below. These by the brave Euryalus were led, Great Sthenclus, and greater Diomed, But chief Tydides bore the fovereign fway; In four-fcore barks they plow the watery way. The proud Mycenè arms her martial powers, Cleone, Corinth, with imperial towers, Fair Aræthyrea. Ornia's fruitful plain, And geon, and Adraftus' ancient reign; And those who dwell along the fandy thore, 690 And where Pellene vields her fleecy store, Where Helicè and Hyperefia lie, And Gonoëffa's fpires falute the sky. Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band, A hundred veffels in long order stand, And crowded nations walt his dread command.

695

710

Or Meffe's towers for filver doves renown'd, 705
Amycle, Laäs, Augia's happy ground,
And thofe whom Oetylos' low walls contain,
And Helos, on the margin of the main:
Thefe, o'er the bending ocean, Helen's cause,
In fixty fhips, with Menelaus draws:
Eager and loud from man to man he flies,
Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes;
While, vainly fond, in fancy oft he hears
The fair-one's grief, and fees her falling tears.
In ninety fail, from Pylos' tandy coaft,
Neftor the fage conducts his chosen hoft:
From Amphigenia's ever fruitful land;
Where Epy high, and little Pteleon stand ;
Where beauteous Arenè her structures fhows,
And Thryon's walls Alpheus' ftreams inclofe :
720

715

And Dorion, fam'd for Thamyris' difgrace,
Superior once of all the tuneful race,
Till, vain of mortals empty praise, he strove
To match the feed of cloud-compelling Jove!
Too daring bard! whofe unfuccefsful pride 725
Th' immortal Mufes in their art defy'd.
Th' avenging Mufes of the light of day
Depriv'd his eyes, and fnatch'd his voice away;
No more his heavenly voice was heard to fing,
His hand no more awak'd the filver ftring. 730
Where under high Cyllenè, crown'd with wood,
The fhaded tomb of old Ægyptus stood;
From Ripè, Stratie, Tegea's bordering towns,
The Phenean fields, and Orchomenian downs,
Where the fat herds in plenteous pasture rove;
735

And Stymphelus with her furrounding grove,
Parrhafia, on her fnowy cliffs reclin'd,
And high Enifpè fhook by wintery wind,
And fair Mantinea's ever pleafing fite;
In fixty fail th' Arcadian bands unite.
Bold Agapenor, glorious at their head,
(Ancæus fon) the mighty fquadron led.
Their fhips, fupply'd by Agamemnon's care,
Through roaring feas the wondering warriours

bear;

The first to battle on th' appointed plain, But new to all the dangers of the main.

740

745

Thofe, where fair Elis and Buprasium join; Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrfinus confine, And bounded there where o'er the valleys rofe Th' Olenian rock; and where Alifium flows; 750 Beneath four chiefs (a numerous army) came : The ftrength and glory of th' Epean name. In feparate fquadrons thefe their train divide, Each leads ten veffels through the yielding tide. One was Amphimachus, and Thalphius one 755 (Eurytus' this, and that Teätus fon); Diores fprung from Amarynceus' line; And great Polyxenus, of force divine.

But thofe who view fair Elis o'er the feas From the bleft islands of ' Echinades, In forty veffels under Meges move, Begot by Phyles the belov'd of love.

760

To ftrong Dulichium from his fire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriors led.
Ulvifus follow'd through the watery road, 765
A chicf, in wifdom equal to a God.
With thofe who Cephalenia's ifle inclos'd,
Or till their acl is along the coast oppos'd;
Or where fair Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving woods, 770
Where Agilip..'s rugged fides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
Thefe in twelve galleys with vermillion prores,
Beneath his condict fought the Phrygian fhores.

Thoas came next, Andræmon's valiant fon, 775
From Pleaton's walls, and chalky Calydon,
And rough Pylenè, and th' Olenian steep,
And Chalcis beate.. by the rolling deep.
He led the wariiours from th' Ætolian fhore,
For now the fons of Oencus were no more! 780
The glories of the mighty race were filed!
Oereus himself, and Mel agen dead!
To Thoas care now traft the martial train,
His forty veffels follow through the main.

Next eighty barks the Cretan king commands,
785

Of Gnoffus, Lycus, and Gortyna's bands,
And those who dwell whore Rh tion's domes arise,
Or white Lycanus glitters to the skies,
Or where by Phoeftus filver Jardan runs;
Crete's hu dred cities pour forth al' her fons. 790
These march'd, Idomeneus, beneath thy care,
And Merion, dreadful as the God of war.
Tlepolemus, the fon of Hercus,

Led nine fwift veffels through the foamy feas;
From Rhodes with everlasting fushine bright, 795
Jalyffis, Lindus. and Cami, us white.

His captive mother fierce Alcides bore,
From Ephyr's walls, and Selle's winding fhore,
Where mighty towns in ruins fpread the plain,
And faw their blooming warriours early flain. 800
The hero, when to manly years he grew,
Alcides' uncle, old Licymnius, flew ;

For this, conftrain'd to quit I is native place,
And fhun the vengeance of the Herculean race,
A fleet he built, and with a numerous train 805
Of willing exiles, wander'd o'er the main ;
Where, many feas and many fufferings paft,
On happy Rhodes the chief arriv'd at laft:
There in three tribes divides his native band,
And rules them peaceful in a foreign land;
Encreas'd and profper'd in their new abodes,
By mighty Jove, the fire of men and Gods;
With joy they faw the growing empire rife,
And showers of wealth defcending from the skies.
Three fhips with Nireus fought the Trojan

thore,

Nireus, whom Agläe to Charopus bore, Nireus, in faultlefs fhape and blooming grace, The lovelieft yout of all the Grecian race; Pelides only match'd his early charms;

810

But few his troops, and small his ftrength in arms. Szo