Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu? 139. Parturient, al. arising from the ill conduct of those poets themselves. For, 1. [to ver. 146.] the dignity and importance of a subject, made sacred by ancient fame, had sometimes betrayed into a boastful and ostentatious beginning, than which nothing can be more absurd. And, 2. The whole story being composed of great and striking particulars, injudicious writers, for fear of losing any part of it, which might give an occasion of ornamenting their work, had been led to follow the round of plain historic order, and so had made the disposition of their piece uninteresting and unartful. Now both these improprieties, which appear so shocking in the epic poem, must needs, with still higher reason, deform the tragic. For, taking its rise not from the flattering G 138. Hic promissor hiatu. Vide Persius, Sat. v. 3. Fabula seu mœsto ponatur hianda tragœdo. 139. Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. A Greek proverb, applied to those, as Phædrus has it, (Lib. iv. Fab. xxii. 4.) Qui magna quum minaris, extricas nihil. When Tachus, king of Egypt, expected allies from the Lacedæmonians, he was so struck with the diminutive stature of their king, Agesilaus, that he is said to have exclaimed,(vid.Athen. Lib.xiv.c.1.) Ώδινεν ὄρος, Ζεὺς δ' ἐφοβεῖτο, τὸ δ' ETEKEV μUV. Whence came the expression, Ώδινεν οὖρος, εἶτα μῦν άTÉTEKE, of which Horace has given us a faithful translation. 140. Quantò rectiùs hic. Homer is here alluded to. "Dic mihi, Musa, virum, capta post tempora Troja, 66 Qui mores hominum multorum vidit, et urbes." Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat, λ η に 141. Mania, MS. Ach. Stat. Bentl. Cun. funera, conj. Bentl. Pergama, conj. Cun. views of the poet, but the real situation of the actor, its opening must, of necessity, be very simple and unpretending. And, being, from its short term of action, unable naturally to prepare and bring about many events, it, of course, confines itself to one; as also for the sake of producing a due distress in the plot; which can never be wrought up to any trying pitch, unless the whole attention be made to fix on one single object. The way to with which it is connected. It must therefore be confessed that Horace did not regard this, when he translated the first line of the Odyssey with the verb for the first word in the sentence. The uniform practice of of Homer, Virgil, and Milton, in this particular, seems to prove that it was not accidental, but a thing really designed by them. See NEWTON on Milton's Par. Lost. 143. Non fumum ex fulgore, &c. Cicero observes,(de Orat. Lib.ii.78.) "Neque est dubium, quin exordium dicendi vehemens et pugnax non sæpè esse debeat" "lenioribus principiis natura ipsa prætexuit.” - 144. Ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat, which is according to Aristotle's rule, vid. ποιητ. μ γ.) “ Δεῖ μὲν οὖν ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις ποιεῖν τὸ θαυματόν· μᾶλλον δ' ἐνδέχεται ἐν τῇ ἐποποιΐᾳ τὸ ἄλογον, δι ̓ ὃ συμβαίνει μάλιτα τὸ θαυμαςόν, διὰ τὸ μὴ ὁρᾷν εἰς τὸν πράττοντα.” Antiphaten Scyllamque, et cum Cyclope Charybdin:145 μ Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri, 145. Circamque, conj. Bentl. avoid both these faults, will be to observe (for here the imitation cannot be too close) the well-judged practice of Homer. 145. Antiphates was a king of the Læstrygones; he devoured one of the companions of Ulysses: (vid. Hom. Od. '. 116. &c.) Αὐτίχ ̓ ἕνα μάρψας ἑτάρων, ὡπλίσσατο δόρπον -Scyllamque. Scylla was a daughter of Typhon, changed into a monster by Circe, upon which she was so frightened that she leapt into the sea between Italy and Sicily, and was changed into a rock. Vid. Hom. Od. p. 85. Ενθα δ ̓ ἐνὶ Σκύλλη, ναιεί, δεινὸν λελακυῖα. thus described by Virgil: (Æn. Lib. iii. 424.) At Scyllam cæcis cohibet spelunca latebris, Ora exsertantem, et navisin saxa trahentem. - Cyclope. The Cyclops were a horrid race of men, supposed to be the sons of Cœlus and Terra. They had but one eye, in the middle of the forehead; whence their name κύκλος, a circle; ὤψ, from ὄπτομαι, to see. They form the subject of Od.. and are mentioned by many writers. Virgil gives a very animated description of them in Æn. ii, he calls Polypheme (658) — Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens cui lumen ademptum; Sicily, near to Scylla, (vid note on and, says Homer (Oồ. μ'. 104.)— We may form some idea of the horror with which the ancients regarded this whirlpool, with the neighbouring mountain Scylla, by the knowledge that there was a proverb, applicable to those,who, while endeavouring to avoid one danger, oftentimes run into a greater: which was Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdin. 146. Nec reditum Diomedis. Diomed, son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was king of Etolia. He distinguished himself above many of the leaders at the Trojan war, in which he wounded Mars and Venus. The goddess was so offended at this, that she caused Ægiale, his wife, to prostitute herself to Cometes, her servant, and by that means deter him from returning to his native land.—Ab interitû, Meleägri. A son of Enus, brother to Tydeus, and consequently uncle to Diomed. At his birth Atropos placed a brand in the fire, declaring at the same time that he should live as long as Nec gemino bellum Trojanum orditur ab ovo. Having thus considered the affair of imitation, and shewn how old characters, and, to carry it still farther, old subjects, that brand remained unconsumed. This was therefore preserved with the greatest care, by Athæa, his mother; but, after the death of the wild boar, (killed by Meleäger,) hearing that he had killed her brothers Toxeus and Plexippus, she threw the brand into the fire, and Meleäger died as soon as it was consumed. This event was about 100 years before the return of Diomed. 147. Nec gemino ab ovo, of Leda, who had previously been deceived by Jupiter, under the form of a swan; from one egg sprung Castor and Clytemnestra, and from the other, Pollux and Helena. Now as Helen was the prime cause of the Trojan war, the eggs were in some measure connected with it also. There was an account of the Trojan war, written by one Corinnus, and from whom Homer is supposed to have borrowed his poem: it is not, therefore, altogether improbable, that Horace might allude to him: as poetry being at that time so little known, of course the proprieties of it were not very attentively considered. This writer Horace classes among the "cyclici poeta," who commence their work by writing on some trivial circumstance, to fill up a number of volumes; as Antimachus, who wrote a poem on the Theban war, and contrived to finish 24 volumes, before he brought the leaders to the gates. 148. Semper ad eventum. The eventum of Horace appears to me to be equal to Xvow of Aristotle. Vid. περὶ ποιητ. λα'. where he ob serves, λύσιν δὲ, τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς μεταβάσεως μέχρι τέλες. And farther on, (^n' ́) he observes, “ Aiò ὥσπερ εἴπομεν ἤδη, και ταύτῃ θεσπέσιος ἂν φανείη Ομηρος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλες, τῷ μηδὲ τὸν πόλεμον, καίπερ ἔχοντα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος, ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιεῖν ὅλον. 148-9. Et in medias res, Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit. The reader must remember that Horace is here speaking of Homer, "hic, qui nil molitur ineptè :” (Vid. ver. 140. and note) who enters at once into the subject of his poem, which is the 66 rage of Achilles;" (vid.I\. a'. 1.&c.) Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεὰ, Πηληϊάδεω ̓Αχιλῆος — and the things which had happened previous to that event, he relates as episodes — “ Νῦν δ' ἓν μέρος ἀπολαβὼν, ἐπεισοδίοις κέχρηται αὐτῶν πολλοῖς· οἷον, Νεῶν καταλόγῳ, καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπεισοδίοις, οἷς διαλαμβάνει τὴν ποίη σιν.” (Vid. Arist. περὶ ποιητ. λη'.) Such as, the expulsion of Vulcan from heaven, and his descent on the isle of Lemnos; IX. a. 590.: the embassy of Polynices to Thebes ; IX. . 377.: the history and adventures of Bellerophon; IX..155.: &c. So likewise in the Odyssey, instead of detaining the reader by a long description of events succeeding the fall of Troy-as the fates of the leaders, and wanderings of Ulysses-he brings him at once to the isle of Calypso, and relates all those circumstances afterwards, in a dialogue between Menelaüs and Telemachus; (Od. d. 351.) and those events which more immedi¬ Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit ; et quæ Tu, quid ego, et populus mecum desideret, audi; 154. Fautoris, conj. Bentl. plosoris, Sax. Cun. may be sucessfully treated, he resumes the head of characters, and proceeds more fully [from ver. 153. to 179.] to recommend it as a point of principal concern in the drawing of them, to be ately concerned Ulysses himself, he leaves as a narrative best adapted to be told by the sufferer; which forms the subject of the ninth book. 150. Relinquit, &c. For instance, in the Iliad he takes no notice of the rape of Helen, nor in the Odyssey does he mention the death of Palamedes by the treachery of Ulysses, lest he should detract from the glory of his heroes. 151. Sic veris falsa remiscet, &c. On the formation of the fable, Aristotle has said much, but I shall notice in this place only such as apply immediately to the passage before us :- (περὶ ποιητ. λη'.) “ ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μύθους καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις συνισάναι δραματικοὺς, καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν ὅλην και τελείαν, ἔχουσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσον και τέλος, ἵν ̓, ὥσπερ ζῶον Ev olov.-And (.) he observes, “ Χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία μίμησις ἑνός ἐτιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μύθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμη σίς ἐσι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι, και ταύτης ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεςάναι τῶν πραγμάτων ὅντως, ώςε μετατιθεμένε τινὸς μέρες, ἤ αφαιρεμένε, διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον. Ὃ γὰρ προσὸν, ἢ μὴ προσὸν, μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲ μόριον TOUTÓ IS." Cicero lays down the same rule for orators. (Lib. ii. 80.) "Connexum autem ita sit principium consequenti orationi, ut non tamquam citharœdi prooemium, afflictum aliquod, sed cohærens cum omni corpore membrum esse videatur:" and Quintilian (Lib. iv. c. 2.) observes, "Prima sit curarum, ut id quod fingimus fieri possit: deinde ut et personæ et loco et tempori congruat; et credibilem rationem et ordinem habeat: si contingat etiam, ut veræ alicui rei cohæreat, aut argumento quod in causa sit consumetur. Nam quæ tota extra rem petita sunt mentiendi licentiam produnt. Curandum præcipuè, ne qua inter se pugnent: quæ damenim partibus blandiuntur: sed in summam consentiunt." Conf. notes 23. 127. 135. 316. 154. Aulæâ manentis. The scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the present custom, was dropt, or drawn down, when the play began, and raised, when the play was over. Vid. ADAMS's Rom. Antiq. vando Ethos. |