;Qd 



Epigrams, Fragmenth ^c. from the Greek. [Jan. 1 , 



againft them ; and not only afForHed 

 HeTy a fair opportunity of fei/ing tlicir 

 wesUh, but an excufe ta his fiiccertbr for 

 expelling shein the kingdum when they 

 had nothing left to feize. The chief 

 plares in which they dwelt in London, as 

 appears by the different grants of rheir 

 proptrtv from Edward I., were Wood- 

 ftreet, L-^d lane, C»tte ftreet, Coitchurch- 

 ftreet, Ironmonger-lane, St. Olave, and 

 St. Laurence Jewry. 



For the Monthly Magazine. 



IPIGRAMS, FRAGMtNTS, and FUGI- 

 TIVE PIECES, /row the greek. 



[Continued from p. 405 of our lafi Numkr] 



I HAVE already, in a former Number, 

 given an epigram on anr;tlier fubjeft, 

 which was equally attradlive to tlie pam- 

 ters, fculptors, and poets, of antiquity. — 

 It was thrit of Leonidas on the armed 

 Aatue of Venus at Sparta, which has been 

 well rendered by Naialis Comes into Latin 

 verfe. There is another, either by the 

 fame author or Antipatcr, which fo much 

 refembles it, that I (hould haidly have in- 

 troduced it here, had it not been i entered 

 famous by two imitattons of Aufonius, 

 and by an excellent parody of Prior's. 



riaXXic Tav Ky9£pti«v. 



Pallas faw Venus cas'd In fliining arms— 

 •' And thus, Cythera, wilt thou take the 

 field ?" 

 •* If J can conquer with my nakeJ charms 

 (Smiling (he faid), what, if I bear a 

 fcield ?" 



The English poet adds the reply of the 

 Goddefs of Wifdom, after Anacreon :— 



KttXXoc 

 Avt' aa"TiJ(»v azas-aiv 

 Avt' £j-p^£«v cTraVTstv, 



*' Thou, to be ftrong, muft put oft' every 



diefs ; — 

 Thy only armour is thy nakednefs." 



It is curious to obferve, that the war- 

 like Spartans (hould have fo transformed the 

 gentleft of their deities, in oider to meet 

 their own military ideas. It was on a dif- 

 ferent occafion, however, that Venus ob- 

 tained the title of Ay^fotponoq — " The Ho- 

 micide," which was given her when Lai's 

 was torn to pieces in her temple by the 

 Thefl'alian women, who were jealous of 

 her charm*. A tomb was ere«ed to her 

 memory on the banks of Peneus, with an 

 infcription (Tij? h ttoS' r iJi,i.yii,Xxvy(o<;), 

 the fenfe of which I have before given. — 

 Her raonivment at Craniooi near Corinth^ 



mentioned by Paufanias, was probably 

 only a cenotaph. 



The work of Mr. Ogle's to which I 

 have before referred, prtfents us likewife 

 with a gem which in fome meafure illuf- 

 trates the '« voiive glafs" of Lai's, and ' 

 which is more ftronglv alluded to in fome 

 lines of Julisni'.s ^gyptius on ti'e fame 

 fubjrfl. It contains fo elegant a compli- 

 ment to the God<l^■fs of "eternal beauty," 

 that I mud be all wed to prefent the 

 tranflation wliich is there given us :— 



Acu; 'a/uaXj'uvSi'iira. 

 La'i's, when time had fpoiled her wonted 



grace, 

 Abhorr'd the look of age that plough'd her 



face ; 

 Her glafs (fad monitor of charms decay'd !) 

 Before the gueen of lafV" ig blojm (he laid : 

 " The fvveet companion of my youthful yean 

 Be thine ! ((he faid) no change tby beauty 



fears !" 



The amatory cr^mpofitions of the Greeks; 

 are, as I have before hinted, generally of 

 the lighter and more fenfual (*amp. Ac- 

 cordingly their love is the c ;mpanion of 

 wine, the fealf, and the dar.ce, and is then 

 mod violent when ihe divine madnefs of 

 the grape infpires it ;— 



'ii7rXis-/«iti jrpo? 'EfnTa. 



The darts of CupiJ I derive, 



And dare him, fingly, to the field ;^ 



If Bacchus figh's on Cupid's fide, 

 'Tis furely no difgrace to yield. 



Anacreon felt very ftronglv the force of 

 thefe united powers, as his moft beautiful 

 odes abundantly teftify. Ol one of them, 

 which is a good fptcimen of the reif, wc 

 have an old tianft^tion, wh'ch appears to 

 me exquiliiely beautiful :— 



Quaff with me the purple wine. 

 And in youthful pleafures join ; 

 VVitn me lovt^ the blooming fair, 

 Crown with me thy flowing hair. 

 When fweet madnel's (ires my foul. 

 Thou fhak rave without controul. 

 When I'm fober, link with rae 

 Into dull fobriety. 



What an exquifite fiibjefl for a piflure; 

 how worthy of the bell days of the Vene- 

 tian fchool, is prcfented in a fragment 

 prefcrved by Athenaeus from the tragic 

 poet Chajremon ! It is the account 

 given by CE-ieus, king of CaJydon, ot his 

 furprifing th*; wood-nymphs in iheir 

 fports : — " One lay ipart from the relf, 

 expofing her beautiful bofom to he white 

 light of the Moon, with her zone unclafp- 

 ed and open. Another, engaged in the 

 dance, had laid baie her left lide, and pre- 



