ON couRsiN(;. 173 



whereas tlieir fathers, not at all inferior to them in valour, had Chap. XXXV. 

 perished before it, because they were disobedient to the signs 

 vouchsafed to them by the Gods. 



And lastly, Hector, inattentive to Polvdamas when he ob- ^^^^^- ^- ''"• 



. . 210. seqq. 



jected to an attack on the Grecian fleet,* (because the Trojans 

 would not return from it with honour to themselves, as he 

 inferred from a serpent dropped by an eagle,) was soon after- 

 wards taught otherwise by experience, that no good comes of 

 being refractory towards the Deity.^ 



In impious acts the guilty fathers died ; 



The sons subdued, for heav'n was on their side. 



Capaneus, the sire of Sthenelus, was thunder-struck, while blaspheming Jupiter — 



Talia dicentem toto Jove fuimen adactum Statii Thebaid. 



^ . . L. X. 927. 



Lorripmt. 



4. UoXv^dfiavTi ovk (covrt. From Pope's translation I extract a part of the speech 

 of Polydamas, with the omen referred to : 



Seek not this day the Grecian ships to gain ; B- ^ii- 253. 



For sure to warn us Jove his omen sent. 



And tiius my mind explains its clear event : 



The victor eagle whose sinister flight 



Retards our host, and fills our hearts with fright, 



Dismiss'd his conquest in the middle skies, 



Allow'd to seize, but not retain the prize, &c. 



Pope's version of Hector's reply to this speech of Polydamas, is one of the most 

 splendid specimens of his talent to be found in the poem — as the whole incident is 

 perhaps the finest of Flaxman's beautiful illustrations of the immortal bard. 



5. OiiK wyadhv aireiBiiv TCfi Beicp. Homer himself draws many similar inferences in 

 the progress of his interesting tales both of the Iliad and the Odyssey — x''^*'"''^'' '''<" 

 fptcrdevios Kpoviuvos — iraicrlv ipi^ffievai — and again, 6e66ev 5' ovk ecrr a\eaadai : and 



Pindar abounds with like injunctions of humble submission to the divine will — XP^^^ Pyth- ii« 

 ■irphs — Qihv oiiK fpi^fiu, k.t.\. — ttotI Kivrpov Se toi — XaKTi^ffiev, reXeOei — dMcrdriphs ' |»o* 



olfios. See also vs. 89. ejusd. Carm. The reader cannot but recollect the memorable 

 counterpart to these words, (with reverence be they cited !) in the Apostolic history Act. Apost. 

 of the conversion of St. Paul — aKKr\p6v aoi irphs Kevrpa XaKri^eiv. 



How beautiful the metaplior that runs through the following lines of the poet of 

 Cilicia ! 



