THE HADES OF VIRGIL. 655 



nerves of the dead no longer have flesh and bones, but the strong 

 force of burning fire subdues them, when first the mind leaves the 

 ■white bones. But the soul, like a dream flitting, flies away." These 

 were the mournful words of Achilles : "I would rather be a serf on 

 the land of a poor, portionless man, who is not well to do, than rule 

 over all the dead who have come to nought." Plato, in his Republic, 

 thus censured the opinion of Achilles : "And we must beg Homer 

 and the other poets not to be angry if we strike out these and similar 

 passages; not because they are unpoetical or unattractive to the 

 popular ear, but because the greater the charm of them as poetry, 

 the less are they meet for the ears of boys and men who are to be 

 sons of freedom, and are to fear slavery more than death."* Homer 

 had no divisions in Hades. According to him, the condition of the 

 dead was sorrowful in the extreme. The divisions which Yirgil 

 introduced into Hades did away with the unbroken gloominess of 

 Homer. Anchises is made to affirm "that he inhabits the delightful 

 seats of the blest, and Elysium." His opinion is thus further ex- 

 pressed : 



" Quisque suos patimur Manes ; exinde per amplum 

 Mittimur Elysium, et pauci Iseta arva tenemus." 



That sorrows and sufierings and wailings manifold abounded in 

 Hades may be easily inferred from the language of the Sibyl : 



" Non mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum, 

 Ferrea vox, omnes scelerum comprendere formas, 

 Omnia pcenarum percurrere nomina, possim." 



6. Regarding the information which Ulysses and ^neas obtained 

 in Hades, it has to be borne in mind that it was in order to consult 

 Tiresias respecting his homeward journey to Ithaca, that Ulysses 

 went to the lower regions. It must be regarded as a weakness on 

 the part of Homer, that he represents Circe, a goddess, as advising 

 Ulysses to go on such an expedition for a purpose in itself so compa- 

 ratively unimportant. 



The epithet dia Osdwv is applied to Circe. When Ulysses and his 

 companions were about to sail for Hades, unperceived by them, she 

 went to the black ship and put the sheep on board. In connection 

 with the deed to which reference has just been made, Ulysses 

 remarked : " For who could see with his eyes a god who was unwil- 



* Jowett's Plato. Vol. II. p. 210. 



