558 
and Flaccus appear to have adapted 
their heroes to the barbarous age in which 
the event is supposed to have happened. 
Medea is not always the Medea feror 
envictague* of Euripides. Her struggles 
between love, duty and remorse render 
her rather an interesting character, and 
she rarely excites that. indignation which 
she inspires in the drama. The descrip- 
tions are numerous and pleasing, and the 
similes in general are natural and appro- 
priate. The solemn imprecation of Alci- 
medis against Pelias, the description of 
the two gates, one leading to Tartarus, 
the other to Elysium, of Fame in the se- 
cond book, the-love of Hipsipilo for Ja- 
son, and the feast of the Argonauts, are 
among the best passages of the poem. 
We are not disposed unnecessarily to fill 
these columns with quotations; but as 
Flaccus is a poet seldom read, we may 
be allowed to~ transcribe the following 
description of the Harpies, who are sent 
to torment Phineus, for having discovered 
the secrets of Jupiter. 
——Harpyz semper mea pabula servant, 
_Fallere quas nunquam misero locus; illicet 
omnes 
Deveniunt, niger intorto ceu turbine nim- 
bus, 
Jamque alis procui et sonitu mihi nota Ce- 
leno: 
Diripiunt, vesantque dapes, feedataque tur- 
bant 
Pocula: szvit odor, surgitque miserrima 
pugna 
Parque mihi monstrisque fames. Sprevere quod 
ompes 
Polluerintque manu, quod unguibus excidit 
atris, 
Has mihi fert in luce moras. 
Lib. ix. v. 460, 
The origin of mast of these passages 
may be traced in the /Eneid, which Flac- 
cus also cccasionally imitated, though 
with less servility than Statius and Si 
lius. He 
-It is in the conduct. of the poem that 
Flaccus is most defective. The subjects 
of Lucan and Siiius did not admit of 
those fietitious ornaments so necessary 
in the formation of an epic. But the 
story adopted by Flaccus of an antiquity 
so remote that it bordered on fabulous 
times, allowed ample room for the exer- 
tion of his genius; and by comparing the 
work of Apollonius with those of Homer 
and Virgil, he might have seen where it 
was deficient, and supplied the defects. 
But the beauty of a well regulated design 
Fel 2 ER Be AME ie 
* Hor Ars Poet. 123. 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature—Claudian. 
"capital. 
[Jan. 1, 
appears to have been seldom studied by 
either ancients or moderns. The orna= 
ments of language and the harmony of | 
numbers have alone engaged their atten- 
tion. ~The admirers of Flaccus think 
that he wanted neither genius nor dili- 
gence to render the Argonautica an ex- 
cellent poem, had he not been prevented 
by a premature death. It abruptly 
breaks off in the middle of the eighth 
book, and it still remains uncertain whe- 
ther he lived to complete his design, Fa- 
briciust thinks it probable that the latter 
books were destroyed by time. The re- 
mainder of the eighth, and the ninth and- 
tenth books were added by J. B. Pie, of 
Bologna, from the fourth book of Apollo. 
nius Rhodius. 
CLAUDIAN, 
From the time of Valerius Elaccus to- 
that of Claudian, there was an interval 
of three hundred years. During this long 
period, no poet had arisen to recal the 
glorious days of Augustus. It is-not easy 
to account for this dearth of genius, for 
such a series of years, during the former 
part of which, the Roman empire had - 
not as yet evinced any marked decline 
from its former grandeur and prosperity. 
Some of the emperors, particularly the 
Antonines, had displayed a generous en- 
couragement of letters and the arts, 
Whilst history maintained its rank by the 
dignified energy of Tacitus, the animated 
style of Justin, and in later times, by the 
honest veracity of Ammianus; while cri- 
ticism had its Quintilian, and philosophy 
could own Boéthius without a blush, poe- 
“try was disgraced by the indecency, -ra- 
ther than honoured by the genius, of Au- 
sonius.. Claudian is the enly heroic poet 
whose name and writings have been 
transmitted to posterity. +. hy 
National vanity has made him a Fle- 
rentine and a Spaniard, but his first 
’ epistle proves him to have been a native 
of Alexandria, in Egypt. 
He was born 
under the reign of Valentinian I. about 
the year 565 of the christian era. In 
that celebrated city he completed his 
studies, and at the age of thirty went tc 
Rome, where his elegant composition: 
and polite learning procured him admis 
sion into the first societies of that erea 
He soon acauired the favev 
and esteem of Stilicho, a noble Gotl 
who had the whole administration « 
affairs under the feeble son of Theod 
sius. The titular offices of tnbune ar 
; nota 
* Fabricii, Bibliot, Lat. tomi. 520. 
