.142 On the Machinery of the 



cimmstance. Though following the steps of 

 Homer, he follows him less in the, use of his 

 machinery, than in any other path. There is 

 in the ^neid more of human character, dis- 

 played in more varied action, and with less 

 intervention and controul of supernatural 

 agency than in the Iliad. The two poems 

 have this characteristic distinction. Virgil's is 

 the portrait of men. Homer's that of the 

 gods. 



It would be a not incurious subject to com- 

 pare the poems of Homer and Milton. They 

 •are not unlike in several respects. As Homer's 

 has been observed to be the history of gods, 

 Milton's may be said to be that of devils. — 

 The gods ■ of the one, and the devils of the 

 other are nearly of equal credit ; the former al- 

 together, and the latter for the greater part, 

 being the creatures of a popular and fabulous 

 superstition. Homer had his Pantheon, Milton 

 his Pandasmonium, each their courts and coun- 

 cils, and each a supreme regent. But wherein 

 they differ, the difference is immense in the 

 estimation of the tw^o poems, with respect to 

 their supernatural machinery. Willing or un- 

 willing, man was subject to the caprice and 

 violence of Homer's gods, and these gods 

 usurped over the wdiole field of human action. 

 While only by the consent of his own will 



