GREEK LANGUAGE. 



The lines arc thas rendered ir. tlie clcgr.nt and poetical 

 ■ftrfion of Mr. Potttr: 



Never knew T jilcafi;re 



In the blamed coiivcrfc of another man, 

 More than the virgin mital in the mines 

 Knows an adulteratt and debafing mixture. 



On this pafTagc the author has the following note: Taw 

 fconcftly fays, " aliquid fiiheft qnod non intelligo." Mr. 

 Heath difapproves the alliition, though he thinks it a pro- 

 verbial exprellion, the grace of which is lot! on our igno- 

 rance, and fays, " quod nos non vidcnuis alius olim forfan 

 ■♦.debit."— In the old Perfian called the I'tUi'i, the fn-ll 

 j;rinciple of tilings n as called ^l^n = ^"^ "''""'S'' fuppofed 

 to he fire l)y tlie difciples of Zoroaller, the term is a nio- 

 •ilficatian of :3X, r'j, water, which tlic Arabians nain- 

 tai:ifd to be the original clement, ^\'ith the notion that 

 n-utcr is the primary matter, the early Greek iihilofophers 

 appear to have borrowed the term. Hence i^y-u; to j'luiige, 

 (which I-ennep ahfurdly deduces from Sai') : hence too 

 i:-xtr,, immcijlon; and the phrale 5^a>x'-'-' Z^'^-" '* •' metaplior 

 ioTwP.abnT ZL'ui:ri(l, it bring produced by a weapon plunged 

 iiitothe body as into water. The fentiment which the 

 words convey to the hi raid, v.hum ClylenmeRra ad- 

 drcffei', is to this cfFeft, / ino'u no ple.ifure iiHlh any mini, 

 endftct tiJ more iheJUw^ of cahinmy, than the p'/wtofjhd But 

 the language is lludioudy equivocal ; and in this pecuharity 

 «on!iiled at once the Ikdl and the obfcurity of it. While the 

 O'.ieer. (J '/«<;/■<■</ to exprefs the above meaning, (he in reality 

 exprefled quite tlie reverfe. I know no greater pleafure, 

 tlKiUgh no report more difgracetul, than a Heel plunged 

 in him, (namely Agamecinon,) by another lui(band. This 

 artful equivocation ariles from tlie manner in which tlie 

 claafe xWrj crc'^i a>^;o; is conncftcd. If taken with tec I" the 

 lines convey \.\vi Jiijl fenfe ; but with x^''-'-'^''^ /"+^-'> tl'ey 

 co^l^'ey the lujl. 



For this interpretation we have the beft authority, name- 

 ly that of the Chorus, wh-o were prcfeut : who, perceiving 

 that the herald was milled by the artlul ambiguity of the 

 words, hints at their true fignification as foon as the queen 

 withdrew from the llage. 



Whxli maybe thus renderd : Th:s iLi-jrnnn hiiih told thee 

 learning [ih.e -who haj) yil to learn,) -what J].ie is, a tale ii'hieh 

 d'lfcerning interpreters perceive to be very becoming, — well to Le- 

 toine her churader and i".cn.cs. Here tojoi^iv i^u'.t:-^7n depend 

 on vjTzn-u::. ; and the Chorus intimate, that her words, un- 

 derllood, as they feem to have been by the herald, were 

 falfe and unbecoming, but llriftly true and appropriate in 

 the fenf.- iu which they, who knew tlie woman better, had 

 Tcafon to regard them. Taken in the firfl fenfe, the metaphor 

 yj:>./.-,-j p»?x-- is too violent for the f;mpl:city of the fenti- 

 ment ; and ih? falfehood, moreover, is fo glaring as to clafs 

 t'le queen with tlie bafelt of deceivers, without a trait of 

 that mafculine intrepidity and elevated ardour with which 

 flic prcfVtd to tlie objed of her defire. In the latter it 

 txnctlv fuits the dark ambiguity of prophetic language : and 

 the boldiiefs of it is in unifan with that veh.emer.ce and glow 

 of pleafure, with which (he anticipated the plunging of the 

 >veapon in the bofora of htr hufband. For thefc reafons the 

 Chorus ju!Uy pronounce her language air^.Ti;-, as at once 

 f sprefTive of her true feelings, her artifice, and her intre- 

 pidity. 



Lycophror, wlio flour;(licd under Ptolemy Ph'ladelphus, 

 i» known to fcave ilwdiouf.y aSTcded the ufe of hard and ob- 



fcure terms, which, from their antiquity, mull demand the 

 attention of Afiatic fcholars. In his Ciifftindra, tlie only 

 remains of his voluminous produftions, occur thefe lines : 



II ili^>5;' ooovra;, iKT&^a; ^XrjLtju'jgica;, 



Thcv contain a prophetic addrefs to Paris, now com- 

 mencing his expedition for the rape of Helen, and may tlun 

 be literally rendered : - Thejhip and feet of Pherecleus ivill bear 

 thee to the tivo ports and coqjis of Gythnitn, h,ii'ing in thefe fixe il 

 to therr.cLs the crooled teeth nf the pine, HeHors {f.e.fvfiaincrs,) 

 of the flood. Pherecleus as an artiil conllrucled the (hip, 

 and as a foothfaycr, cnfultcd the gods, and endeavoured 

 to conciliate them to the projefted expedition. As fuch, 

 he was naturally led to give the veflel the name of T^y.^m';, 

 which with the Greek termination is the Chaldean and Phoe- 

 nician term for the tutelary gods, C'D"'"' t'lrpim, or Iraphn. 

 The fcholiaft fays, it is the titlWQ oi a foreign flip ; and in 

 this he is followed bv Plefychius. It was certainly ufual 

 to carve the itnages of the gods on the (liip, ■which they 

 were fuppofed to protect ; and to th.em the failors fled in 

 feafons of danger. (SeeHor. i. 1.4.) The figures, which at 

 this day are often framed in the forepart of the (hij), are but 

 the remains of the fame ciidom. The prafticc, no doubt, 

 originated with the Phcenicians : and it wr.s natural for them 

 to call their fl;ip by the name of thofe gods which were fup- 

 pofed to preferve them. The rudders, the oars, the fail.^, 

 by which the velTel was moved, are here aflcftedly called 

 theylcV of Pherecleus, he being the author of them. Of 

 the derivation of the term the fcholiall and Hefychius ap- 

 pear equally ignorant, and the whole of this pafTage is a 

 itriking inltance how incompetent the ancient commentators 

 were to expl;-.in in many places the terms of the Greek 

 tongue. 



The ancients had ftatues of their gods ereCled before their 

 doors, and in the cntrai-ce of their harbours. Thefe re- 

 ceived the falutations of ilraugcrs and paffengers. Lucretius 

 mentions this cu'lcm in his lirlt book. Hence the doors and 

 ports received the name of ^'/X'/y,3ci, as being places where 

 the gods were fainted, from the Araliic D^f';1^J', falaam, falu- 

 tation. The. account which the fcholiall gives of this term 

 is ridiculous: crx/.^.^y^iti hit l-j.-xi ^/.'^,'■.■,~'.■.■., 7ry»a to iv c-kXv 

 ^y-i-iw. The explanation of Hefychius is more rational, 

 though not the true one ; c-x>cijj^n -,' o-y, ,'; ,',- to c-'.Xy..: Pzrr-i. 

 This is a fair Ipccimen of the manner in whicl- th-, Greek 

 words, derived from the Eatl, are explained in tl>" old glof- 

 faries But farther, ^/.xv.a , corfis, isihc Hehrew ^^r}, falrgt 

 or plag, (the vowels being arbitrary, and not exifiing but 

 as included in the confcnants of the origin;.!,) ar.d fignifies 

 to divide, and thence as a notin any thing divided, fuch as 

 portions of the land and Tea. From the fame original is de- 

 rived T!7»x70:-, as ferving to divide the earth into diilinft ter- 

 ritories : hence too, the Latin pirga, a clime or region. 

 Finally, the unufual terra m ct.;^ origiucitcd in the Perfian 

 iiiiaar, an extremity or limit which, as the lim.its cf a river 

 came hence to lignify its banks ; as the limits of the fea its 

 Jl.'ores, or the rochs lining them. The limits of a diior are 

 its polls ; and hence the Celtic word hynnor, the door ports; 

 and probably from the fame fource, on account of their 

 remotenefs, has been derived the appellation affigned to the 

 Canary Iflands. 



The attempts of Paris, under the aufpices of Pherecleus, 

 to appeafe or conciliate the gods, are alluded to by Horace, 

 lib. i. 15. who appears to have had the pa.Tage of Lv- 

 cophron in his view. Pherecleus, the firll advifcr, perhaps, 



of 



