A L C 



ALC^US, in Claf^cc! Bsogmphy, a famous Greek lyiic 

 pott, v;is l)oni at Mitylcne in the ifiiiid of LtlboE, and 

 flu;n-iflicd in the 44th olympiad, about 604 years before 

 Ciirift, and was cor.tar.poraiy with Sappho, to wlioni it is 

 faid he was afieClio-.^ately attached. A verfe, inlinuating 

 his pairion to Sappho, with her anfwer, is prcfervcd by Ari- 

 i\otIe, ( Rh.et. lib. i. c. 9.), thius trar.ilatcd : 



Alcxus. — " I fain to Sappho would a wiHi impart. 



But fear locks up the lecret in my iieart." 



iiappho. — " Thy down-call looks, refpefl , and timid air, 

 Too ])lain tlie nature of thy widi declare ; 

 If lawlels, wild, inordinate deiire, 

 Did not with thoughts impure thy bofom fire. 

 Thy tongue and eyes, by innocence made bold. 

 Ere now the ieeret ot thy foul had to'd." 



The invention of lyric poetry is by fome attri1)uted to 

 Ali?eus, and it feems to be implied by Horace (Od. xxxii. 

 lib. i.), unlefs he only intimates that he invented liie barbi- 

 ton, or harp. I'Vom hijn, however, the lyric mcafure, 

 called " the Alcaic vcrle," derived its name. He was no 

 l<-fs a votaiy of Mars than of love and the mufes. He 

 fiveiiuouliy alTtrted the liberty of his countiy againll the 

 tyrants who ufurped di)niinion, and particularly againll Pit- 

 tacus ; and took up arms in its defence. But his courage 

 failed hivn in the day of battle, and he attempted to fave 

 hin.feif by flight, when liis party was defeated, but wa'S 

 taken priloner by Pittacus, who gcneroully granted him 

 both his life and liberty. He was afterwards fentenced to 

 exile ; but what was the iffiie of his conflifts, and liow and 

 where his life terminated, hitlory does not inform us. Ho- 

 race feems to intimate, that he became a eorfair. His 

 poetical talents have never been difputed. His p.oems, of 

 which only a few fragments now 'remain, collected by Ne- 

 andrus, H. Stephens, and Urfinus, were written in the 

 ^^'2a!ian dialeft, and in the meafurc of his own invention. 

 The fubjecils of them were very various, fonietimes ama- 

 tory and bacchanalian, but more generally grave and poli- 

 tical. They are defcribcd by Horace in the following verfes: 



" F.t te fonantem plenius aurco, 



Akxe, pletfro dina navis. 



Dura fug-.c iruda, dura belli ! 



Utrum.que facro digna fdentio 



Mirantur umbrie diccre : fed magi. 



Pugnas, et exactos tvrannos 



Dcnfum humeriibibit aure vulgus." 



Od. xiii. 1. li. 



" Alcaeus ftrikes the golden ftrings. 



And feas, and war, and exile fmgs : 



Tluis while they llrike the various lyre. 



The ghofts tlie facred founds admire ; 



But when .Alcieiis lifts the ftrain. 



To deeds ot war and tyrants flain. 



In thicker crowds the fljadowy throng. 



Drink deeper down tlie martial fong." 



Francis. 

 Q^iinckilian (Lift. Orat. lib. x. c. I. toni. ii. p. 896. Ed. 

 Barman.) lays, th.at his ilyle was concife, lublinie, and accu- 

 rate, and mueli refembling that of Homer; but that his 

 pieces of the ligliter kind were inferior to his other poems. 

 Fabr. Bib. Gr;rc. lib. ii. c. 15. torn. i. p. 565. Rollin's 

 Anc. Hill. vol. ii. p. 349. Barney's Hill. Muf. vol. i. 

 p. 388. Gen. Dift. 



There were ether ancient poets of this name (fee 

 Fabr. Bib. Grace, ubt fupra.) ; fuch as an Atheni;^^ 

 tragic poet, who is laid by iome to have been the 

 Vot, I. 



A I. C 



full eompofer of tragedies; and who, according to fJui- 

 das, \i diiierenl troin Ale.eas, the fon of Miccim, a comic 

 poet, the lifth author of the ancient conudy. One of his 

 pieces, intitled Pafiphx-, was produced in jiis difpnte witli 

 Arlllophaiies in the fovnth year of the 97th olympiad. 

 I'hitarch (in Flamin. Oper. torn. i. p. 373.) mentions ano- 

 ther Alciru'i, who lived in the 149th olyn-piad, A. V.Q. 

 ^•^^. B.C. 199, and>vho ridiculed Philip, king of Macedon, 

 on account of the battle which Titua Flaminiu'; gained 

 over him in 'I'lielfaly. An A!ca_-us of Meflenia alfo lived in 

 the time of Vefpafian and Titus, of whofe epigrams fome 

 are prefervod in the Anthology. One of thcfe is fvippofcd to 

 lia', e fullered a fingular kind of death for his lewdnef; ; 

 which was the punifliment faid to have beci ii.Jlifted by 

 means of a radifl', or the fifli ealled a mullet, on adulterers, 

 and referred to by Juvenal, Sat. x. "•- $i'. p. 295. Ed. 

 Cafaub. 



" qnofdam moechos et mugilis intrat :" 



and aha in the menace of Catullus, epig. 5:, ad Aurc- 

 lium : — 



" Ah turn te n;ifenim, malique fati 

 Qiieni attraAi,", pedibus, patentc porta, 

 Percuncnt raphaniquc, mugilcfque." 



" Ah wretched thou, and bom to lucklefs fate. 

 Who art difeover'd by the unfliut gate J 

 If once, alas! the jealous hufcand come. 

 The radifii or the fea-fidi is thy doom." 



Alc;kus, in Mytlology, the fon of Perfeus and Andro- 

 meda, the father of Aniphitr\-on, the fuppofed father of 

 Hercules ; hence called Alcidcs. 



ALCAI, in Geography, a high and fertile mountain of 

 Aliica, in the kingdom of Fc/., about 12 leagues from the 

 capital. It is inhabited by many rich and powerful peafants. 



ALCAICS, in Anacnt Poetry, a name common to fe- 

 veral kinds of verfes ; fo called from the poet Alcxus, the 

 inventor of them. 



The lirll fpecies of aJcaics confills of five fret, of which 

 the firll may be either fpondce, or iambic ; the fecond, is 

 an iambic ; the third, a long fyllable ; the fourth a dactyl ; 

 and the fifth, a daclyl, oraniphimacer : as thtfe of Horace. 

 " Omnes eodem cogimur, omnium 

 Verfatur urna, lerius, ocius, 

 Sors exitura." 



The fecond fpecies of alcaics confills of two daclyls, and 

 two trochees ; as, 



" Exiilium impofitura cymbas." 



Btfides thefe two kinds of verfes, which are properly called 



dady'i'ic alcaics, there is a third fort, called fimply alcaic ; 



whereof the firfl is an cphrlte, the fecond and third are chori- 



amliijis, and the fourth a bncchius ; as, 



" Cur timet fla | vum Tiberim | tangere .' cur | olivum ?'' 

 Alcaic Ode, conlills of four ftrophes, each of which 



contains four verfes: the two lirll art aKaie verfes of the 



firll kind : the third an iambic diameter hypercatal<jctic, f". r. 



of four feet and a long fyllable : as, 



" Sors exitura, et nos in a:tcrnum." 



The fourth is an -alcaic of the fecond kind — Tlie entire 

 alcaic flrophe is as follows ; 



" Omnes eodem cogimur : omnium 

 Verfatur urna, ferius, ocius 



Sors exitura, et nos in a;ternum 

 Exfilium impofitura cymbse." 



HoR. lib. ii. od. iii. 

 4 A The 



