Tigris, et auratos in nodum colligit ungues. Claudian. de Rapt. Proserp. i. 4. The two principal Eleusinian deities, Ceres or Demeter, and Proserpine, were, according to Pausanias, styled pre-eminently by the people of Messenia the Great Goddesses (ai Meyaλαι Θεαι). Ceres, according to Cicero, (supra cit.) was the most ancient and most sacred of the deities. She was the same as the Terra Mater, the all-productive Earth (Γη). She was the Egyptian Isis,3 who was also in one sense symbolical of the earth.4 1 Το δε έτερον περας της στοας παρέχεται το προς ἡλιου δυσμων περιβολον Θεων ἱερον των Μεγαλων· αἱ δε εἰσιν αἱ Μεγάλαι Θεαι Δημητηρ και Κορη, καθοτι εδήλωσα ηδη και εν τη Μεσσηνία συγγραφῃ. Pausan. Arcadica, lib. viii. c. 31. sub init. 2 Την δε γην ώσπερ αγγείον τι των φυομενων ὑπολαμβανοντας, μητερα προσαγορευσαι. και τους Έλληνας δε ταυτην παραπλησίως Δημητρα καλειν, βραχυ μετατε θεισης δια τον χρονον της λέξεως. το γαρ παλαιον ονομαζεσθαι γην μητερα καθαπερ και τον Ορφέα προσμαρτυρείν, λεγοντα, Γη μητηρ παντων Δημητηρ πλουτοδότειρα. Diod. Sic. lib. i. p. 16.-Μητηρ δ ̓ ὡς ἔοικε και ἡ γη, παρ' δ και τοις πρώτοις εδοξεν αυτην Δημητραν καλεσαι, το μητρος και γης ονομα συνθεισιν. Philo Judæus, de Mund. Opif. p. 30 c.—δια δε το μητρος τρόπον φύειν τε και τρεφειν παντα, Δημητραν, οίονει γης μητραν ουσαν. Phurnutus de Nat. Deor. p. 74.—Δημητηρ. ἡ γη. οἷονει γημητηρ τις ουσα. Suidas in Δημητηρ.-Ωσπερ και το Δημητηρ, ὁ εστι γη μητηρ αλληγορικως. Eustath. in Il. I. p. 762. vol. ii.-Δημητηρ μεν, ἡ γη καλείται, ὅτι παντων ἡ γη μητηρ. Villoison, Anecdota Græc. vol. i. p. 109.—And again: Περι της Δημητρος ετι και Εστιας αμφοτερον λεκτεον· ἑκατέρα δ' εοικεν ουχ έτερα της γης ειναι. p. 110.Την γαρ γην, αφ' ἧς οἱ καρποι παντες, Δημητραν ωνόμαζον οἱ παλαιοι. Proclus in Hesiod. Erg. A.-Δημητηρ γαρ ἡ γη, Δωρικως. Tzetzes in Hesiod. ibid.Δημητηρ γαρ εστιν ἡ γη. Schol. in Hesiod. Theogon.Thus also Lucretius, lib. v. 818. Quare etiam atque etiam maternum nomen adepta Thus Orpheus, Γαια θεα, μητερ μακαρων, θνητων τ' ανθρώπων, une And thus there was at Mount Prone a Δημητηρ Χθόνια. Pausan. Corinthiaca, c. xxxv.-Montfaucon has a remarkable figure of Ceres in this character, which he supposes to be modern. He gives it, on the authority of Ottavio Rossi and Lambei, from a Ms. of the Biblioth. Cæsar. No. xxxv. "C'est," says Montfaucon, 66 femme nue qui tient le globe de la terre sur son giron; elle a de longs cheveux épars et flottans sur ses épaules; elle fait couler le lait de ses mammelles sur ce globe, ce qui marque la mère nature qui nourrit toute la terre en produisant des fruits pour l'entretien des hommes et de tous les animaux.” Pl. xxix. fig. 5. tom. i. Suppl. 3 Δημητηρ δε Ισις. Herod. lib, ii. p. 171.—Τον δε, Ισιν έγγιστα πως Δημητραν. Diod. Sic. lib. i. p. 17.—Ισις δ' εστι κατα την των Ἑλλήνων γλώσσαν ἡ Δημήτηρ. Stephanus Byzant. in Βουσιρις.-Λεων δε, ὁ τα περι των κατ' Αιγυπτον θεων πραγ ματευσάμενος, την Ισιν ὑπο Ελληνων Δημητρα καλεισθαι φησιν. Clemens Alexand. Strom. lib. i. p. 322.-Ισιδος-και Δημητρος καλουμένης. Tzetzes in Hes. Erg. Α. P. 18. 4 Ισιςή αυτη γαρ εστι τη γη. Etymolog. Mag. in verbum. Isis autem lingua Ægyptiorum est terra, quam Isim volunt esse.' Servius in En. viii. « Huic paralusle est collis sensim supinus, declinans ad mare, nominatus Baccha Isidis ma In this sense Ceres is represented as being a great benefactress to mankind, as producing fruit and corn.1 Hence her Roman name Ceres is said to be derived.2 [To be continued.] THE PUPIL'S METRICAL COMPANION TO HOMER; CONTAINING AN EXPLANATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF AND A SOLUTION OF ALL THE METRICAL DIFFICULTIES OCCURRING IN THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. BY HENRY W. WILLIAMS, AUTHOR OF "A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE VERSIFICATION THE versification of the Iliad and Odyssey is a subject with which every one who studies those poems should be in some degree conversant, since it is impossible to form proper ideas of their merits, unless a proper reference be had to their metrical structure. At the same time, it is a subject encumbered with difficulties the most formidable, and apparently involved in inconsistencies the most glaring and unjustifiable; so that if the attention of the juvenile student be directed to it without some especial guide, his exertions will probably be unsuccessful in their issue, and disheartening in their effects. These considerations have led to the composition of the present work; the object of which is, to display fully and clearly to the pupil the principles and regulations of Homer's versification and prosody, tris deorum." Dionysius Byzant. de Thracio Bosphoro, p. 11. ap. Geog. Gr. Min. tom. iii. 1 Virgil. Georg. lib. i. where Servius observes—“ Prima Ceres omne genus agriculturæ hominibus indicavit." Prima Ceres unco glebas dimovit aratro ; See Diodorus Sic. lib. i. p. 17. Ovid. Metam. lib. v. fab. 6. 2 Ceres a creando dicta. Servius in Virg. Georg. i. v. 7. and to assist him in removing those metrical difficulties which he will meet with in a careful perusal of the Homeric writings. Of the necessity of such a work, as resulting from the nature and character of treatises already existing, the author will not here speak; neither is it his design to notice particularly any of the peculiar opinions advanced in this volume. Most, if not all, of these have been previously stated, illustrated, and defended in a treatise entitled, “A Critical Investigation of the Versification and Prosodial Usages of the Iliad and Odyssey; with a view to the general Restoration of the Homeric Readings; embracing some original Theories relative to the primitive Orthography of the Poems :" to which the advanced philologist is respectfully referred. As it regards the execution of the present performance, its merit or demerit must be left to the decision of others: it may not, however, be improper in the writer to say, that brevity, clearness, and force, have been studied in the diction; perspicuity and simplicity in the general arrangement; fidelity and accuracy in the statement of particulars; together with moderation and candor in the expression of individual judgment; and that he trusts, however far the work may be removed from perfection, that no gross departure from these principles is discernible in it. Bristol, 8th January, 1829. PART 1.-Containing, An Explanation of the Principles of Homer's Versification and Prosody. CHAPTER 1.-Of Quantity, Accent, Emphasis, Tones, and Pauses, viewed generally; and of the Nature and Construction of the Ancient Greek Hex ameters. Recitation, like every thing else in nature, has its characteristic properties; some being derived from the essential properties of a simple note of speech, and others naturally resulting from the combination of several words in a sentence, and of several sentences in a paragraph. To the former class belong quantity and accent; to the latter, emphasis, tones, and pauses: which properties we shall endeavor to explain in order. 1. Quantity relates to the time occupied in the pronunciation of syllables, as being long or short. In other words, the quantity of a syllable is its length, as measured by the time employed in uttering it. Hence it is easy to perceive that there must be an extensive diversity in the quantity of the various syllables, since there evidently exists an extensive diversity in the time required for their pronunciation. There are, however, only two general distinctions of syllables in respect of quantity; long marked thus --, and short thus ; and although many syllables of the former class are longer than others, and many syllables of the latter are shorter than others, yet every long and every short syllable is, for most purposes of prosody and metre, precisely equivalent to another. 1 London, 8vo. pp. 88. Pr. 4s. 6d. Simpkin and Marshall, 1828. 2. Accent, or, as it has been termed by some, syllabic emphasis, is a stress of the voice, comprising both loudness and acuteness, laid on a particular syllable of every word, except a few short unimportant ones, termed by the Greeks enclitics. There are commonly said to be three accents, the acute, the grave, and the circumflex: these terms, however, are to be understood solely in reference to the marks employed to denote the accent, and are not to be considered as designating any varieties in the nature of the accent itself. Syllabic emphasis is of great importance to recitation; since it enables the ear rightly to distinguish the several words of a sentence, and also produces an agreeable variety in the utterance. It was not, however, esteemed by the Greeks and Romans of equal importance with quantity; so that in the composition of their poetry, they paid an almost exclusive attention to the length of the syllables employed, and scrupled not to alter the position of the accent, from a certain syllable of every word to a certain syllable of every foot. And hence we have the two kinds of accent, prosaic and metrical, differing from each other not in their nature, but only in their position: that of the former being determined by the proper and peculiar character of every word, and that of the latter being regulated by the nature of the metre, as being iambic, trochaic, anapæstic, dactylic, &c. In writing poetry, the marks of the prosaic accent are continued, and are often of service in exhibiting the true signification of the words: in reciting poetry, however, the metrical accent alone is to be followed. The subservience of syllabic emphasis to quantity in the Greek and Latin languages, affords a remarkable instance of the difference between the prosody of those languages and that of the English. To our tongue, accent is of the same consequence as quantity was to those; and although the length of syllables is not disregarded by us, yet as far as our versification is concerned, it gives place to its more influential neighbour. 3. Emphasis, as applied to words, is a peculiar intension or stress of the voice laid on them, in order to give them force and prominence. It serves to add life and vigor to the discourse, and is indispensable to animated pronunciation. 4. Tones are peculiar modulations of the voice, by means of which the speaker is enabled to display his full meaning, in all its niceness and in all its variety. 5. Pauses are temporary suspensions of the voice, without which utterance could not long proceed. They may be distributed into two classes, sentential and vocal: the former being employed to distinguish the several members of a sentence, and the latter to mark, generally speaking, the termination of an important word. The sentential pauses of the Greeks were the comma, the colon, the period, and the note of interrogation, besides a few extraordinary ones occasionally introduced : respecting these, as being invariably marked in Greek works, no difficulty can occur to the pupil. The vocal pauses were very slight suspensions of the voice, and scarcely perceptible to the hearer, unless particularly attentive to the recitation they were made in prose of a dignified kind, and requiring to be recited deliberately, at the termination of every important word, not intimately connected in meaning with the one following. These pauses are essential to, and necessarily produce deliberate utterance; consequently, in all lighter species of composition, they cannot be properly employed. In poetry of a dignified and weighty character, particularly the epic and the tragic, it should appear that the vocal pauses were employed to distinguish the feet or dipodes, as well as to mark, when it could be done with consistency, the termination of an important word; and accordingly we may style them, as being under the direction of the metre, metrical pauses. It may be proper to add, that on the subject of the occurrence of the metrical pauses, much must be left to individual judgment. To proceed to a consideration of the verses constituting the Iliad and the Odyssey,‚—we remark that they are of the kind denominated dactylic hexameters, each containing six feet, or "metres." Of these feet the first four are dactyls – ☺☺, or spondees indiscriminately; the fifth is usually a dactyl, and the last a spondee; as in the subjoined lines : Μηνῖν ἀείδε, θέα, Πηληϊάδεω Αχιλήος Ουλομενην, ἡ μύριο Αχαῖοῖς ἀλγε' έθηκε, Πολλᾶς δ ̓ ἐφθιμοῦς ψυχάς Αιδί προΐαψεν Ἡρῶῶν, ἀυτοῦς δὲ ἑλωρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν Οιωνοῖσι τε πᾶσι· Δίος δ ̓ ἐτέλει το βουλῆ Ἐξ δῦ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστῆτὴν ἐρίσαντε Ατρείδης τε, ἀναξ ἀνδρῶν, καὶ διός Αχιλλεύς.—11. Α. 17. Occasionally a spondee is introduced as the fifth foot; Il. A. 11.—“Oūvěkā Tōv Xpūoñv ñtiμño' āpñτñpa. 14.—Στέμμα τ' ἐχῶν ἐν χερσὶν ἑκηβόλου Απολλῶνος. It is to be observed, that in dactylic hexameters a short syllable at the end of a line is, for all purposes of versification, equivalent to a long one. In the course of the Homeric poems, instances of other feet besides the two mentioned above, are occasionally to be found: this circumstance, however, is not sufficient to warrant us in receiving the feet alluded to as admissible in Greek hexameters. Many of the verses in question have been corrupted by errors of transcription; and in others the anomaly is only apparent, since the usages they exhibit can be explained without involving the introduction of improper feet. On this subject the reader will meet with further information in other portions of this treatise, and particularly in the second part. As to the recitation of Homer's verses, it scarcely admits of a doubt, that the first syllable of every foot received the metrical accent, or "ictus metricus;" that of the dactyl, agreeably to the general rule for the accentuation of feet, which assigns the accent to the long syllable of the foot; and that of the spondee, as being associated with the dactyl. Accordingly we must accent the annexed lines in the manner specified : Μήνιν ἀείδε, θεά, Πηλήιαδεω Αχιλήος Πόλλας δ ̓ ἴφθιμούς ψυχάς Αιδί προϊάψεν.—I. Α. 1-3. It also appears that a slight metrical pause was made after every foot, but that when the foot terminated with a word important in itself, and not intimately connected in meaning with the one following, the pause was rather longer than the common vocal pause. Likewise, to give a variety to the verse, and to mark the termination of important words as much as might be, the shorter metrical pause seems to have been made after the first syllable of a foot, when it was the final syllable of a word, of consequence in itself, and not closely connected with the succeeding one. To this pause, as occurring in the cæsura, the appellation of "cæsural" is usually applied. At the same time that the syllabic emphasis and the vocal pauses were thus under the direction of the metre, the emphasis on words, the tones, and the sentential pauses, must have been employed in behalf of the sense so that not only was the true metrical character of every line fully conveyed to an attentive ear, but the meaning, in all its fulness and delicacy, was justly and forcibly expressed. |