1 1 8 Gleanings from the 



of a promife that the King would give him fome 

 fteeds of this divine ftock. Laomedon, however, 

 broke his word, and the hero befieged and took 

 Troy. During the fecond and more celebrated 

 ten years' fiege of the city, JEneas poflefTed horfes 

 of this celeftial ftrain, " the beft of all horfes feen 

 by the dawn and the fun" ("Iliad," v. 265). 

 Circe craftily ftole this ftock, and fo their de- 

 fendants are faid to " breathe fire from their 

 noftrils" ("^Eneid," vii. 281). Very fitly, too, 

 was the deftruction of Troy accomplished by the 

 aid of the wooden horfe, " inftar montis equum " 

 (".ZEneid," ii. 15). Laocoon's advice, fo ill-ftarred 

 for himfelf, deferves quotation in the original, as 

 fifty are familiar with the proverb, for one who 

 knows whence it comes: 



" Equo ne credite, Teucri, 

 Quicquid id eft timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." 1 



The poetic inftinct of Homer compares Paris, 

 one of the leading champions of Troy, going 

 forth to battle, to an exulting horfe: 



" As when fome flail-fed horfe his barley leaves 

 And breaks his bonds and clatters o'er the plain, 

 Wont there to bathe within the fair-glowing ftream, 

 Exulting ; high he bears his head, his mane 

 TofTes athwart his neck, and winged with pride, 

 Welcomes with lofty fteps the well-known meads." 2 



When Zeus goes forth from Olympus his 



horfes are " fwift-flying " in the " Iliad " (viii. 



41-43), "their flowing manes tied up with gold." 



Milton, on the other hand, when " the chariot of 



1 "^Eneid," ii. 49. 2 "Iliad," vi. 506-511. 



