Natural Hiftory of the Ancients. 129 



the Hefperides were almoft equally celebrated. 

 Turner has painted them, and Milton fpread the 

 appropriate mift of poetry over thefe Ma/capon* 



Vljaroi, 



" Happy ifles, 



Like thofe Hefperian gardens famed of old, 

 Fortunate fields, and groves, and flowery vales, 

 Thrice happy ifles !" * 



and amplified them in the beautiful imagery of 

 " Comus," 980-1011. 



The Gardens of Alcinous are another proverbial 

 Paradife. Alcinous was the juft and rich King of 

 the Phasacians in Corcyra, devoted to gardening. 

 "Quid bifera Alcinoi laudem pomaria?" fays 

 Statius ; 2 while " to give apples to Alcinous " was 

 much like fending coals to Newcaftle with us. 

 Virgil ufes thefe gardens as a fynonym for 

 orchards on account of the fruit which Alcinous 

 grew, " pomaque et Alcinoi filvas " (" Georg.," ii. 

 87). All the Latin poets drew their allufions to 

 thefe gardens from Homer. We extract his 

 account of them from the excellent tranflation of 

 the " Odyffey " by Butcher and Lang ("Odyffey," 

 vii. 112-131). Thus the reader obtains a literal 

 rendering free from fuch verbiage as Pope flings 

 over the paflage : " The reddening apple ripens 

 here to gold ;" or " Here the blue fig with lufcious 

 juice o'erflows ;" and the like. " Without the 

 courtyard, hard by the door, is a great garden of 

 four plough-gates, and a hedge runs round on 

 either fide. And there grow tall trees blorTbming, 

 pear-trees and pomegranates, and apple-trees with 



1 "Par. Loft," iii. 567. 2 Silv.," i. 3, 81. 



K 



