754 
POE 
every thing of this kind is confefTedly fabulous. That 
he compofed this work at feparate times, and fung it in 
detached portions, is abfurd to think ; for it is one. 
That he fung it only, and that a knowledge of it was 
kept up by tradition, is as abfurd ; for what memory 
could have retained fuch a work without error and with¬ 
out alteration ? and is it not evident, that no alteration 
exifts ? that it is one Ityle, and one dialed, throughout ? 
From the confideration alfo of his works, fome have pre¬ 
tended to difcover an eaftern origin, becaufe the wildnefs 
and boldnefs of his defcriptions are of an oriental call. 
But this is no good ground for any fuch opinion. The 
fcenery of Greece, the poetical enthufiafm of the people, 
and the fublimity of their early odes, which, as we have 
obferved, were occupied with the greateft fubjedts, are 
fufficient fources for any of his ideas. 
With refped to the plan of the Iliad, Homer had pro¬ 
bably no plan at all. Imp re (Ted with'the importance of 
the fubjed, with the intereft it excited among the Greeks, 
and with the copious materials he poffeffed in his mind, 
he propofed to himfeif nothing but to ling 
“ The lajling anger of Peleus’ fon 
Which caufed the Achaians naileries infinite.” 
He confidered nothing about moral inftrudion ; for why 
(hould Hedlor have been vanquilhed if he had ? How 
could the boafter conquer the modelt champion in the 
wreftling match, if moral inftrudtion was propofed ? No; 
the fubjedt was “ Achilles’ wrath, and a ten-years’ war.” 
The grandeur and intereft of the fubjed rendered it epic ; 
that is to fay, the author forbore digrefiions, becaufe the 
original adtion too much engrafted his mind to allow him 
to think of them, except indeed when his attention was 
exhaufted, and then he did introduce them, as we know. 
The powers of Homer, critics have tried to explain by 
rules of art; but thofe were mere effedts, not caufes, of 
his power. 
The commencement of the Iliad opens with a difpute 
between the two chieftains, refpedling a female Have. A 
prieft of Apollo implores Agamemnon to reftore his 
daughter, who in the plunder of a city had fallen to that 
king’s lhare of booty. He is refufed. Apollo, at the re- 
quelt of his prieft, fends a plague into the camp of the 
Greeks. The augur, when confulted, anfwers that there 
is no way of appeafing the god, but by reftoring the cap¬ 
tive virgin to the arms of her parent. Agamemnon is 
enraged at this anfwer; declares that he prefers this Have 
to his wife Clytemneftra ; but, fince he mull reftore her in 
order to fave his army, inlifts upon having another to fup- 
ply her place, and demands Brile'is, a Have of Achilles. The 
young warrior, as might be expedled, is incenfed at this 
demand ; reproaches the king of kings with rapacity and 
infolence; and, after bellowing on him many injurious 
appellations, he folemnly fwears that, if thus treated, he 
will withdraw his troops, and no longer allift the Grecians 
againft the Trojans. He accordingly leaves the camp. 
His mother, the goddefs Thetis, interefts jupiter in his 
caufe, who, to revenge the wrongs which Achilles has 
fullered, adopts his refentment, and inflids on the Greeks 
many and tedious calamities, until Achilles is pacified, 
and a reconciliation effeded between him and Agamem¬ 
non. 
The great merit of inexhauftible invention has been 
univerfally allowed to Homer ; and, though Virgil may 
difpute with him the palm of judgment and talle, he is 
here without a rival. It runs through all the poem j and, 
whether in the choice of incidents, of defcriptions, or of 
images, is equally remarkable. The prodigious number 
of events defcribed, of delineations of characters divine 
and human; the infinite variety by which they are all dif- 
tinguiftied ; the different colours in which they are cha- 
raderiflically drawn; difplay an almoftboundlefs invention. 
In order to give an air of dignity and importance to the 
falffe, he has fo conftruded it as to intereft the gods them- 
is 1 v e § j not only in the general cataftrophe, but in every 
TRY. 
particular incident that might either haften or retard it. 
It is admirably invented to make the calamities which 
Agamemnon and the Greeks fuffered, the effed of Thetis’s 
importunate addrefs to Jupiter, in which Ihe implores 
vengeance on the Grecian army, that their leader might 
be fenfible of his injuftice to her fon Achilles, in depriving 
him of his fair captive, by feeling the want of his affift- 
ance againft the Trojans. The deluding phantom fent 
by Jupiter to the tent of Atrides, in order to perfuade 
that monarch to give battle to the enemy, deceiving him 
with the vain hope of ending all his labours and dangers 
by one effort, which fhould accomplifh the entire deftruc- 
tion of Troy, is a beautiful machine,and introduced with 
fingular propriety. The interpofition of Venus to refcue 
her fon from the danger of impending death, is alfo highly 
invented. The epifode of Glaucus and Diomed, in the 
fixth book, makes an agreeable paufe in the narration ; 
but that of Hedlor and Andromache is, of all others, the 
moft ueeply interefting. The embaffy to Achilles, the 
inflexibility of that hero, and the final extinction of his 
refentment againft Agamemnon, fo naturally effeded by 
the death of Patroclus, by which alone a reconciliation 
could have been produced confidently with his charader; 
thefe are a few of thofe beautiful and well-invented inci¬ 
dents which compofe fo much of the fable of the Iliad. 
But councils, battles, epifodes, and fidions, fucceed each 
other with a rapidity which allows no paufe for the ima¬ 
gination or judgment of the reader. He is hurried from 
one event to another, by the irrefiftible current of the verfe 
flowing like the courfe of the river which he defcribes, ©r 
icay, ucrti re irvgi ttvo-cx. vepoilo. 
In his exhibition of c/iaraSlers, there is the fame variety 
and difcrimination. They are lively, fpirited, and almoft 
dramatic. He has admirably fupplied the defedls of hiftory 
by the power of his own fancy. Achilles is paflionate, often 
furious and untradable; but he as often fubmits to the 
didtates of reafon and juftice. In all his difputes with 
Agamemnon, he has jultice on his fide. When wronged 
in his love, he peaceably furrenders Brife'is, though he dis¬ 
dains to continue under the command of the tyrant who 
has forced her from him. He is open and fincere; he 
profeffes love for his country, and reverence for the gods. 
His friendlhip for Patroclus is' drawn in amiable colours. 
Indeed, every thing in the poem tends to aggrandize 
Achilles. When the Greeks fly before Hedlor, our atten¬ 
tion is immediately turned to the fon of Peleus, who, 
tranquil in his tent, pities the fate of fo many, brave men 
facrificed to the pride of Agamemnon; and rejoices to 
fee that pride humbled. Greece is reprefented as a fup- 
pliant at his feet, yet he remains awhile inexorable. But 
he gives way to the tears of his friend, and permits Patro¬ 
clus to fight under his own armour. With what tender- 
nefs he recommends to him to Hop when he Ihall have 
repulfed the Trojans, and to beware of Hedlor! How 
profound is his grief at the lofs of a friend fo dear, the 
companion of lus infancy ! Revenge made him throw 
afide his arms : it is revenge alone that can induce him 
to refume them. It is not Greece whom he ferves, it is 
Patroclus to whole manes he lacrifices the fons of Troy. 
For Patroclus he mourns, even while he drags round the 
walls of the city the body of Hedlor who has flain him. 
He mingles tears of fympathifing forrow at the misfor¬ 
tunes of the aged Priam, with imprecations and threats 
againft the furviving warriors of Ilium. It is from this 
mixture of fenfibility and rage, of ferocity and tendernefc, 
that we are prefented with the moft poetical character 
that ever was invented. That of Helen is drawn with 
exquifite art. Though (he is the caufe of all thefe cala¬ 
mities, (he never excites either difgull or abhorrence; (he 
is. even fometimes introduced with a fort of dignity. Her 
confufion and compundtion when in the prefence of Priam, 
or within fight of Menelaus; the evident itruggle in her 
mind between grief, felf-condemnation, and a dill lin¬ 
gering fondnefs for the man who has feduced her, render 
her more an objedt of pity than of hatred. But the poet 
knows 
