172 ARRIAN 



Chap. XXXV. hit the cord only, and cut it asunder, because he had offered 

 ^' 852^8 ^''"'' ^^ ^^^^ ^^ Apollo ;- but that Merion, who was no archer at all, 



by having invoked Apollo, struck the bird when on the wing. 

 Again, the posterity of those, who fought against Thebes 



with Polynices, captured the city,^ 



Ihad. L. IV. To omens trusting, and the aid of Jove ; 



406. seqq. 



'J'he single he, whose shaft divides the cord." 



He said : experienced Merion took the word ; 



And skilful Teucer : in the Iielm they threw 



Their lots inscribed, and forth the latter flew. 



Swift from the string the sounding arrow flies ; 



But flies unblest ! No grateful sacrifice, 



No firstling lambs, unheedful ! didst thou vow 



To Phosbus, patron of the shaft and bow. 



For this, thy well-aim'd arrow, turn'd aside, 



Err'd from the dove, yet cut the cord that tied : 



Adown the mainmast fell the parted string, 



And the free bird to heav'n displays her wing : 



Seas, shores, and skies with loud applause resound, 



And Merion eager meditates the wound : 



He takes the bow, directs tlie sliaft above. 



And following with liis eye the soaring dove, 



Implores the god to speed it through the skies, 



With vows of firstling Iambs, and grateful sacrifice. 



The dove, in airy circles as she wheels 



Amid the clouds, the piercing arrow feels : 



Quite through and through the point its passage found, 



And at his feet fell bloody to the ground. 



2. 'ETTCtSTj jur) firrjv^aTO raj 'AirdWuvi. The God of Archers and Arciiery. 



The poet and the courser would both teach us the same lesson — that without 

 addressing supplication to heaven, we cannot succeed in our undertakings. IVIerion 

 docs not conquer because lie is the better archer, but because he is the better man. 



3. Tovs fKySvovs Se ru'V iirl @r)^as avv FIoAi/i'eiK?;. The Homeric line cited by 

 Arrian from the speech of Sthenelus, in the fourth book of the Iliad, alludes to the 

 victors of the second Theban war, wherein the sons of the seven captains subdued 

 the city, before which their fathers had perished : 



Pope's Iliad. With fewer troops we storm'd the Theban wall, 



13. IV. 4G0. And happier saw the sev'n-fold city fall. 



