48 TROY not taken 



expofed his kingdom to deftrudtion for a woman, if he had had 

 her to deliver up. 



THIS is a very curious paflage. It proves clearly, that HE- 

 RODOTUS, before he converfed with the Egyptian priefls, doubted 

 extremely of the account given by the Greeks of the Trojan 

 war. He feems, however, to have altered his opinion, in con- 

 fequence of what they told him MENELAUS had reported when 

 he came to Egypt. That account, if true, removed, no doubt, 

 the chief difficulty he had, which was, the incredibility of 

 PRIAM'S refufal to reflore HELEN, when demanded by the 

 Greeks j but, if he had reflected a little, he muft havet>een fa- 

 tisfied, that it could not be true that HELEN' was not in Troy 

 during the fiege. If me had not been there, it is impoflible to 

 believe that the Greeks would not have difcovered this in lefs 

 than ten years. They mufl very foon have come at the facl:. 

 When they did, they would have retired, if the recovery of 

 her and her effeds was the object of the war. Or, fuppofing 

 that the hope of plunder would have made them continue it, 

 yet MENELAUS furely would have gone for her to Egypt him- 

 fdf, or, at lead, fent fome perfon thither to enquire about her. 

 Indeed, the affertion of the Trojans was, of itfelf, fufficient to 

 have induced him to take that trouble. This has been remark- 

 ed by RICCIUS*, who juflly maintains, that HOMER'S ftory as 

 to this point is the more credible of the two : " Quis vera non 

 " videat, magis prce fe ferre fpeciem fabulae id quod narrabant 

 " facerdotes, qxiam quod habet HOMERUS; eftne, qusefo, veri- 

 " fimile in ea ambiguitate perdurare voluiffe Graecos decem 

 " annos ? 'Cum recipiendae HELENA tarn efTet cupidus MENE- 

 " LAUS, non mitteret ftatim aliquos in yEgyptum qui exquire- 

 " rent, an vere apud PROTEUM ilia detineretur ? Non id oin- 

 " nino faciendum cenferent frater AGAMEMNON fupremus co- 

 " piarum imperator, NESTOR aliique duces ? Quse major abfur- 

 -** ditas, qua: inlignior imprudentia, quae cramor ftoliditas de 



" Grsccis 



* Diflert. HOMER, vol. ii. diiT. 40. p. 216. 



