THE JFOODEN HORSE OF TROY. 19 



A passage from the Greek poet Tryphiodorus has 

 often been quoted to support the argument in favour of 

 Homer's brazen-footed horses being provided with shoes ; 

 and it has been asserted from this passage that shoes of a 

 description similar to those now in use were known at the 

 siege of Troy, because this poet, when speaking of the 

 fabrication of the Trojan horse, mentions that the artist 

 did not forget to put the metal or iron on the hoofs of 

 that wooden machine, in order to make the resemblance 

 more complete. It must be remembered, however, that 

 Tryphiodorus flourished at some period between the third 

 and sixth centuries of our era, when, as will be shown 

 hereafter, this art was not unknown ; and as the poem is 

 of comparatively modern date, he may have introduced 

 imaginary shoes to make his picture more complete, just 

 as some of the modern translators of the Iliad have done, 

 but without the slightest authority, to prove that these 

 were in use at the time of the war between the Greeks 

 and Trojans. 



In his verses, however, I can find no proof of any such 

 intention, nor any mention of an iron rim for the wooden 

 horse's hoofs. 



A literal translation of the original Greek is as follows: 

 ' Then at length he finished the Vv'ork, the hoofs appearing 

 not without brass, and shone forth, being covered with 

 tortoise-shell.' Dr Merrick,' who furnishes a Latin and 

 English version, renders the passage thus : 



' To deck each hoot and grace the artist's skill. 

 The clouded tortoise yields her polished shell.' 



There has been nothing more advanced, so far as I 



' Tryphiodorus, by Merrick. Oxford, 1742. 



