226 
Granchester, near this town, this sea- 
son, being satisfied with the beneficial 
effects that will arise from it. 
Cambridge, N. JUSTITIA. 
March 9, 1822. 
——g>—— 
LYCEUM OF ANTIENT LITERA- 
TURE.—No,. XXXV. 
MUSAUS. 
N treating of the amatory poetry of 
antiquity, it would be palpable in- 
justice to omit the name of this writer, 
who, though he has not, like the cele- 
brated elegiac trio of the Augustan age, 
made his own loves the theme of lis 
lay, has devoted the principal effort of 
his muse to perpetuating the celebrity 
of one of the most striking examples 
of the tender passion that tradition has 
handed down to us. The Loves of 
Hero and Leander, which form the 
subject of the ouly poem of this author 
which has reached to our time, contain 
the story of an attachment so tender 
and fervent in its nature, so romantic 
in its commencement, so singular in its 
progress, and so melancholy in its con- 
clusion, that the “ plain unvarnished | 
tale,’’ the simple detail of the circum- 
stances could not fail to be greatly in- 
teresting and affecting. But, embel- 
lished as these are in the strains of 
Muszeus, with all the graces of diction, 
and all the warmth of poetical imagery 
and feeling, his production may, in- 
deed, be regarded as a pathetic narra- 
tive, superior to any other, eifher an- 
cient or modern, of the same kind, and 
as constituting one of the brighiest 
gems in the immortal crown of poesy. 
The story on which this poem is 
founded is so well known, that even to 
give an outline of it appears almost 
superfluous, Leander was a_ noble 
youth of Abydos, a city of Asia, 
situated at the very narrowest part of the 
Hellespont, and on which the muse of 
Byron, in onr own day, has conferred 
an additional celebrity to that which it 
had already obtained. Opposite to 
this city, in Thrace, on the European 
side of the strait, stood Sesios,* where 
was.a celebrated temple of Venus, of 
which Hero, a virgin of exquisite 
beauty, was priestess. At a solemn 
festival, in honour of the goddess, in 
' * It-was across this part of the Helles- 
pont, from Abydos to Sestos, that Xerxes 
built his famous bridge of boats, for trans- 
porting his army, in his invasion of 
Greece. 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature.—No. XXXVP. 
[April 1, 
which Hero, in the discharge of her 
sacred functions, presided, Leander, 
who was present at the ceremony, saw 
and became desperately enamoured 
of her. His passion was returned with 
equal warmth by the object of it; and, 
in order to evade the vigilance of their 
families, from whom the lovers had rea- 
son to anticipate opposition to their 
wishes, it was arranged between them 
that Leander should swim across the 
Hellespont. while his mistress in Sestos 
directed his course by means of a 
light on the top of a high tower. After 
many interviews of mutual affection 
and tenderness, Leander, in attempt- 
ing his accustomed voyage on a very 
tempestuous night, perished. His dead 
bedy floated to the foot of the watch 
tower, and Hero, in despair at the sight 
of the corpse, threw herself from the 
summit into the sea, and was drowned. 
Such is the traditional history, exag- 
gerated in its circumstances it will 
readily be supposed, but probably not 
without foundation, of this ill-fated 
pair. Virgil has alluded to it in his , 
Georgics,* and Ovid has made it the 
subject of two elegies.t The poem of 
Muszeus, however, is the only one we 
have, containing afull and circumstan- 
tial account of their unhappy attach- 
ment. Being, as we have already re- 
marked, the sole production of this 
author extant, his poetical merits and 
reputation depend wholly upon it, and 
these may, perhaps. be best estimated 
from a brief analysis of the poem it- 
self, with observations on what appear 
to us its most striking beauties. 
The writer, judiciously avoiding the 
too common error of raising undue ex- 
pectations by lofty beginnings, sets out 
with professing to celebrate only the 
torch that guided Leander on his perilous 
way, of which he beautifully observes 
that Jupiter should afterwards have 
assigned it a place among the Constel- 
lations, in consideration of its services 
in the cause of love: 
Ady yoy Epuilog crycrjnee, Tay woErey chsrSzo1og Zede 
Ewvyioy pre] ceeSRoy auysty é¢ Sertryupty as pw, 
O1h wire Evvigitos epwprayEwy Gdvyciwyy 
Ayyzriny T epira&ev exospriloy Sprevadwy. 
He then introduces the mention of 
the lover collaterally with much spirit 
and elegance. 
Nay dpeevoy Te, Afceydoov oot, nce AUX yoy axduw, 
AdX yoy amayyérnoyle siexloginy *Apeodl Inc. 
* Geo. 3. v. 258. 
+ Heroid. 17 and 18: 
Even 
