104 
Yo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N the 48th number of the Month- 
ly Magazine, Mr. Irving has at- 
tempted to controvert the generally re- 
ceived opinion, that Homer confidered 
Fate or Deftiny as the fupreme power of 
the univerfe. ‘ Homer, (fays this able 
writer, ) allows that there are certain fixed 
Jaws of nature ordained by the governor 
of the world, and acting in fubordination 
to him; but he no where affirms, as has” 
been done by Seneca and others, that the 
will of man, and even of the gods them- 
felves, is placed under the aofolute con- 
-troul of a fatal neceffity.”’ 
With due deference, however, to the 
fentiments of Mr. Irving, I apprehend 
that Homer fometimes confidered Fate or 
Dettiny as the fupreme power of the uni- 
verfe, and the fovereign arbiter of all 
things; whilft at other times Fate is re- 
prefented by him as fubje& to the will not 
only of the gods, but even of men. In 
proof of the former opinion, I feleét the 
following paflage, in which Juno, be- 
holding éneas infpired by Apollo, and 
advancing to contend in combat with 
Achilles, thus addreffes Neptune and Mi- 
nerva, whom fhe endeavours to excite to 
the affiftance of the fon of Peleus : 
Tlavres F OAUperroin xathAGomev Avriowvres 
THgde prdns, ive meh ts meta Teweros wabact 
Rnpatgov Uregov avTE TA WeiceTar boos ob aloe 
Pevomivo tmevnct Avo, ove ely Tene pantne. 
Homer’s Iliad, lib. XX. v. 125, et feq- 
€€ We all defcended from Olympus to 
aid him in fight, lef at this time he fhould 
fuffer from the Trojans : afterwards he 
will undergo thofe evils, which at his 
birth the Fates decreed him.” 
Hefiod, in his Theogony, exprefsly de- 
clares, that it is the office of the Fates and. 
Furies ** to punifh the trangreffions both 
of gods and men.” The following paf- 
fage on the fubjeét occurs in the Prometheus 
of AR{chylus : 
Cho. Tis div dvayune érlv csanocpados ; 
Prom, Moigas teirogdoi, pavnproves + "Eptywlste 
Cho. Tottay ag’ 6 Zeds tgw aoSevicegoc 5 
Prom. "Ouxovy ay Expuyar ye Thy weorgayntyny. 
Cho. ‘* What then is this ruling necef- 
fity?"? Prom. The three fifter-fates, and 
the obferving furies.”” Cho. ‘*Is Jupiter 
then lefs powerful than thofe?” Prom. 
_ & Certainly, or he might avoid that which 
had been decrced.”” 
Grecian Nations of Fate—Deus Venus ? 
[Sept. J, . 
It feems to have been the intention of 
Homer to reprefent Jupiter as fuperinten- 
dant of the decrees of the Fates, and there- 
fore a ftriét obferver of the actions both 
of gods and men. The interrogation of 
Junoto Jupiter, ‘If he intends to redeem 
trom death a man due to the Fates,”” which 
Mr. Irving has noticed, plainly: fhows 
that this was an office of the Father of the 
Gods. But as the Greeks had only vaguey 
uncertain, and ob{cure ideas concerning 
Fate, and as Jupiter was a very imperfect 
deity, we may the lefs wonder that the 
Grecian bard fometimes confiders Fate as 
fubject to the will not only of gods but of 
men. Joun Ropinson. 
Ravenfionedale, Auguff, 1803. - 
elas 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N their endeavours to demonttrate that 
Venus was worfhipped by the ancien's 
under a mafculine,,as well as feminine, 
form; fome writers on mythology quote 
the words ** Pollentem Deum Venerem.”* 
Thefe are attributed by Monfieur D’Han- 
carville to Virgil (fee the *“* Recherches 
fur P Origine des Arts dela Gréce,” vel. i. 
P- 235); but I have fearched in vain the | 
copious Index Voeabulorum of my copy, 
(in ufum Delphinz) for thofe words. The 
Jearned Hoffman,in his Lextcon Uxiver- 
fale, (article Venus), fays, ‘* Deum az 
Deam dicerent, ambigui bzfere antiqui ; 
unde Poeta: * Follentem Deum Vene- 
rem.” 
I fhould be much obliged to any of 
your Correfpondents who fhall inform me 
from what part this paflage is quoted, and 
where it may be found. 
Aug. 10, 1803. : RusrTicus. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. | 
SIR, 
bey anfwer to your Meteorological Query, 
i there was in the afternoon of the 20th 
of July, from about half-paft three, for 
near two hours, almoft continued thunder, - 
which in the latter part of the time was 
accompanied withram. Thermometer in 
the fhade, 4 p.m. 76; wind N. baro- - 
meter, 29.8.3. The preceding day, 2h. 
6m. the thermometer had been fo high as 
86. 
Trofton, Ag. 1803. eh 
Te. 
