1807.] 



The Epopcea of Homer. — No. I. 



553 



oF the Atrides. In this coiififts the pro- 

 blem of the Ihad, and the death of Pa- 

 ti'oclus is the iqlution. 



But the molt coiicife, and the moll 

 natural, definition of an epic poem ap- 

 pears to be, " a recital in vevfe of Ibnie 

 important enterprife or event." In ge- 

 uersil, tiie fubject ought to bear fome 

 femblance of truth, and fliould be both 

 heroic and iiiterelling. Tliou£;h the poet 

 is not expected to conform to hiftorical 

 fidelity, yet tie Ihonld never lofe feht of 

 ivhat may be called the morality of 

 trutli, but always endeavour to follow 

 the precept of Ariftotie, by confining 

 himfelf to what h pofjlbk. 



Refpetting the clioice of a fubjeft, 

 there feems to be no pofitive rule. A 

 voyap;e, a c^nquell, a civil war, an en- 

 terprife, or any peculiar paHion, may 

 each produce u poem. The ancient cri- 

 tics were more decilive, in eltablilhing 

 that tlie action be complete and eiTtirc ; 

 that it polfefs, according to Ai'illotle, a 

 beginning, a middle, and an end. The 

 wrath of Achilles, lb fatal to the Greeks ; 

 the fettleinent of the Trojans in Aufo» 

 Ilia ; the liberty of Rome, upheld by 

 Pompey, and perilhing with him ; all 

 thcfe fubjeiits have that character of 

 unity which is peculiar to the epic; and 

 wherever the rule has been departed 

 from in the narration, it is the fault of 

 the poet, and not of the fubject. Upon 

 this principle, Ariftotie refufed to ailign 

 the title of epic poem to the Thefcid and 

 the Heraclcid, which comprehended the 

 lives of Thefens and Hercules: for the 

 object of poetry is not to verfify hif- 

 tory. 



But when we mention this nnity of 

 acl^i(jn as an elfential rc'|nilite in the 

 ppic, we mull not be qnderllood to ex- 

 clude thofe fnbordinate actions, which 

 liave been denominated cpifodes. By 

 the term epifodcs, Arillotle appears to 

 ha\e meant the extcnlion of the fable, or 

 general plan of the poem, into all its 

 circuniliances. This explanation does 

 not feem very clear, and the obfcnrity 

 hits occafioncd nmch altercation among 

 criti<-al writers. Le BdIVu, in his endea- 

 vours to fulve the dithculty, is himfelf 

 nninrelli^'iblc. It woidd anfwir no ra- 

 lioual purpofc here to enter into fo fruit- 

 lefs a controvcify. What are now nn- 

 dcrllood by epifodes arc certain actions 

 or incideiiis introduced into the nurni- 

 tjon, ctmnecled with the chief action ; 

 yet not of fulhcient imijortanre to de- 

 llroy^ if tiicy h;id been amittcd, the 



principal fubject of the poetri. They 

 may be conli<lered as iyiionymous to the 

 technical term repuj'e in painting. The 

 poet is allowed to interrupt the a£tion, 

 for the purpofe of introducing detached 

 ftorics or defcriptions, which, while they 

 relieve him from the fatigue of a too 

 extended narrative, afford a pleafing va- 

 riety to the reader, .'^uch are the inter- 

 view of Hector and Andromache in the 

 Iliad; the itory of Cacus, and that of 

 Nifus and F.uiyalus.. in the /Eneid ; of 

 Tancred and Erminia in Tali'o ; the prof- 

 pcft of his dcfcendants exhibited to 

 Adam in the Paradi'e Loft, and to Henry 

 IV. in the Hci)riade ; the ejjifodes of 

 Teriba/.us and Ariana in Leonidas ; and 

 the death of Hercules in the Epigo- 

 niad ! 



With refpect to the time or duratioa 

 of the epic artion, no better rule can be 

 followed than that prefcribed by Arillo- 

 tle, of not oliering to the mind more 

 than the mind can embrace. It is not, 

 like tragedy, rellrained by the unities of 

 time and place. The latter has that ad- 

 vantage over the Epopoja, which poctrj 

 has over painting. Tragedy reprefents 

 but one pifture; the other is a feries of 

 pictures, which may be multiplied witl:- 

 out confufion. But when it was refolved 

 that the action fliould be confined to an 

 unity of objects, it followed of couiib 

 that it Ihonld be equally bounded in its 

 limita. The actions of the Iliad and tho 

 Odyfley comprize little more than two 

 months; and that of tlie TEneid fome- 

 what more than a year. 



The next confideration feems to be, 

 whether an epic poem ought, or ought 

 not, to convey fome moral truth. It is 

 here that modern critics are moll at 

 variance, and have moll bewildered 

 themfelves, by afcribing to the ancients 

 what they never intended to enforce, and 

 attributing to them views which proba;- 

 bly never entered their imaginations. 

 The effecl of the Epopcea is not to b« 

 gathered from any iingle maxim or iu- 

 llruCtion ; it depends upon the imprefiioii 

 which the whole makes upon the mind of 

 the reader. Its princi[ial object, the 

 great end which it propofes, is to extend 

 our ideas, and excite our admiration. 

 The firll motive vvith the poet is the 

 giandeiu- or the' intereft of the fubject ; 

 his iuKigination is roufcd by the contem- 

 plation of fome heroic entqrprife, or of 

 iome iilulh'ious character : the dcvelope- 

 nicnt of an acknowledged trutli is with 

 him a fccoudury objctt. 



Judcpeiulcnt 



