and abominable.' I have adventured to translate the words in the other sense, after most interpreters, for Homer expresses the voice of Scylla by Δεινον λελακvia, or, 'uttering a dreadful noise:' now what he calls her voice, is nothing but the roaring of the waves in storms when they beat against that rock; and this being very loud, is better represented by the roaring of a lion, than the complaining of a young whelp. V. 118. The sea-dog and the dolphin are her food.] Polybius (as Strabo remarks) contends, that Homer in all his fictions alludes to the customs of antiquity: for instance, Scylla was a famous fishery for taking such fishes as Homer mentions: this was the manner of taking the sea-dog; several small boats went out only with two men in it, the one rowed, the other stood with his instrument ready to strike the fish; all the boats had one speculator in common, to give notice when the fish approached, which usually swam with more than half of the body above water: Ulysses is the speculator, who stands armed with his spear; and it is probable, adds Polybius, that Homer thought Ulysses really visited Scylla, since he ascribes to Scylla that manner of fishing which is really practised by the Scyllians. V. 131. Thrice in her gulfs the boiling seas subside, Strabo quotes this passage to prove, that Homer understood the flux and reflux of the ocean. 'An instance,' says he, 'of the care that poet took to inform himself in all things, is what he writes concerning the tides, for he calls the reflux αψορρον, or the revolution of the waters:' he tells us, that Scylla (it should be Charybdis) thrice swallows, and thrice refunds the waves; this must be understood of regular tides. There are indeed but two tides in a day, but this is the error of the librarians, who put τρις for δις. Eustathius solves the expression of the three tides differently; it ought to be understood of the νυχθημερο, of the space of the night and day, and then there will be a regular flux and reflux thrice in that time, or every eight hours periodically. It is not evident who this Cratæis is whom the poet makes the mother of Scylla: Eustathius informs us that it is Hecate, a goddess very properly recommended by Circe; she, like Circe, being the president over sorceries and enchantments. But why should she be said to be the mother of Scylla? Dacier imagines that Homer speaks enigmatically, and intends to teach us that these monsters are merely the creation or offspring of magic, or poetry. V. 161. Where graze thy herds.......] This fiction concerning the immortal herds of Apollo is bold, but founded upon truth and reality. Nothing is more certain than that in ancient times whole herds of cattle were consecrated to the gods, and were therefore sacred and inviolable: these being always of a fixed number, neither more nor less than at the first consecration, the poet feigns that they never bred or increased: and being constantly supplied upon any vacancy, they were fabled to be immortal, or never to decay (for the same cause one of the most famous legions of antiquity was called immortal). Eustathius informs us, that they were labouring oxen employed in tillage, and it was esteemed a particular profanation to destroy a labouring ox: it was criminal to eat of it; nay, it was forbid to be offered even in sacrifices to the gods; and a crime punishable with death by the laws of Solon. So that the moral intended by Homer in this fable of the violation of the herds of Apollo is, that in our utmost necessity we ought not to offend the gods. As to the flocks of sheep, Herodotus informs us, that in Apollonia along the Ionian gulf, flocks of sheep were consecrated to that deity, and were therefore inviolable. V. 241. ..... The smoking billows roll'd.] What is to be understood by the smoke of the billows? Does the poet mean a real fire arising from the rocks? Most of the critics have judged that the rock vomited out flames; for Homer mentions in the beginning of this book, “........ Πυρος τ' ολοοιο θυελλαι. I have taken the liberty to translate both these passages in a different sense; by the smoke I understand the mists that arise from the commotion and dashing of the waters, and by the storms of fire' (as Homer expresses it) the reflections the water casts in such agitations that resemble flames; thus in storms literally 6 ......... Ardescunt ignibus undæ.' Scylla and Charybdis are in a continual storm, and may therefore be said to emit flames. I have softened the expression in the translation by inserting the word seem. Ulysses continues upon one of these rocks several hours; that is, from morning till noon, as appears from the conclusion of this book; for leaping from the float, he laid hold upon a fig-tree that grew upon Charybdis; but both the fig-tree and Ulysses must have been consumed, if the rock had really emitted flames. V.314. To Sol's bright isle......] This isle is evidently Sicily; for he has already informed us, that these herds were on Trinacria (so anciently called from the three promontories of Lilybæum, Pelorus, and Pachynus). V. 363. ...... And now (their hunger fled) Sigh for their friends devour'd, and mourn the dead.] This conduct may seem somewhat extraordinary; the companions of Ulysses appear to have forgot their lost friends, they entertain themselves with a due refreshment, and then find leisure to mourn; whereas a true sorrow would more probably have taken away all appetite. But the practice of Ulysses's friends is consonant to the customs of antiquity: it was esteemed a profanation and a piece of ingratitude to the gods, to mix sorrow with their entertainments: the hours of repast were allotted to joy, and thanksgiving to heaven for the bounty it gave to man by sustenance. Besides, this practice bears a secret instruction, viz. that the principal care is owing to the living; and when that is over, the dead are not to be neglected. Æneas and his friends are drawn in the same attitude by Virgil: • Postquam exempta fames epulis, mensæque remotæ, Præcipuè pius Æneas, nunc acris Oronti, V. 451. And bear the lamp of heav'n to shades below.] This is a very bold fiction; for how can the sun be imagined to illuminate the regions of the dead; that is, to shine within the earth, for there the realm of Pluto is placed by Homer? I am persuaded the meaning is only that he would no more rise, but leave the earth and heavens in perpetual darkness. Erebus is placed in the west, where the sun sets, and consequently when he disappears, he may be said to be sunk into the realms of darkness, or Erebus. Perhaps the whole fiction might be founded really upon the observation of some unusual darkness of the sun, either from a total eclipse or other causes, which happened at a time when some remarkable crime was committed, and gave the poets liberty to feign that the sun withdrew his light from the view of it. V. 458. To fair Calypso from the bright abodes, Hermes convey'd these councils of the gods.] These lines are inserted (as Eustathius observes) solely to reconcile the story to credibility; for how was it possible for Ulysses to arrive at the knowledge of what was done in heaven, without a discovery made by some of the deities? The persons by whom these discourses of the gods are discovered are happily chosen; Mercury was the messenger of heaven, and it is this god who descends to Calypso in the fifth book of the Odyssey: so that there was a correspondence between Calypso and Mercury; and therefore he is a proper person to make this discovery to that goddess, and she, out of affection, to Ulysses. V. 464. Now heav'n gave signs of wrath; along the ground This is not among the passages condemned by Longinus; and indeed it was no way blameable, if we consider the times when it was spoken, and the persons to whom it is related: I mean Phæacians, who were delighted with such wonders. What was said injudiciously by a great writer, may very properly be applied to these people; 'Credo, quia impossibile est.' But we need not have recourse to their credulity for a vindication of this story: Homer has given us an account of all the abstruse arts, such as necromancy, witchcraft, and natural portents; here he relates a prodigy, the belief of which universally prevailed among the ancients: let any one read Livy, and he will find innumerable instances of prodigies, equally incredible as this, which were related by the wise, and believed at least by the vulgar. Thus we read of speaking oxen, the sweating of the statues of the gods, in the best Roman histories. If such wonders might have a place in history, they may certainly be allowed room in poetry, whose province is fable: it signifies nothing whether a story be true or false, provided it be established by common belief, or common fame; this is a sufficient foundation for poetry. Virg. Georg. i. 478. The days of wonder are now over, and therefore a poet would be blameable to make use of such impossibilities in these ages: they are now altnost universally disbelieved, and therefore would not be approved as bold fictions, but exploded as wild extravagancies. Longinus, while he condemns the Odyssey as wanting fire, through the decay of Homer's fancy, excepts the descriptions of the tempests, which he allows to be painted with the boldest and ftrongest strokes of poetry. V. 519. What time the judge forsakes the noisy bar This passage has been egregiously misunderstood by Mons. Perrault. Ulysses being carried (says that author) on his mast towards Charybdis, leaps from it, and clings like a bat round a figtree, waiting till the return of the mast from the gulfs of it; and adds, that when he saw it, he was as glad as a judge when he rises from his seat to go to dinner, after having tried several causes. But Boileau fully vindicates Homer in his reflections on Longi |