450. 
gem upon no other testimony than this 
of Horace, 
Archilochum proprio rabies armavit Iainbo. 
For it appears from Aristotle,* that. 
this verse was considerably more ancient 
than Archilochus, and that the Margites 
of Homer was of that description. Ho- 
race alludes} to a story told of Archilo- 
chus, that having been refused the daugh- 
ter of Lycambes, who, at first, had pro- 
mised her in marriage to him, he pur- 
sued them with such severity of invec- 
tive, as to compel both father and daugh- 
ter to destroy themselves. Like Horace, 
he appears to have been deficient in 
personal courage}, though one of his 
pieces contains the following boast :— 
“Eqpt Meyd Secdoreav ey Evverloo avarl@-, 
Kab macewy éealoy ddeov emiodnevos. 
The King of War does my first service claim: 
And the fair Muse inspires the second flame. 
He is charged too with the more se- 
rious defects of lasciviousness, and’ a 
violence of disposition which disgraced 
his talents. Upon his merit as a poet, 
Quintilian§ has this observation; ‘* he 
excels in energy of style, his periods are 
strong, compressed and brilliant, replete 
with life and vigour; so that if he be se- 
cond to any, it is from defect of subject, 
not from natural inferiority of genius.” 
He appears to have written elegies, sa- 
tires, odes, and epigrams, but of all these 
we have only the above quotation, and 
one epigram, left. In the Anthologia, 
there is a short epitaph On this ancient 
poet. 
Of Stesichorus or Stersichorus, we 
have only some trifling fragments. His 
name was originally Tisias; but he derives 
that by which he is better known from 
having been the first who taught the cho- 
rus to dance to the Lyre. He was born 
at Himera, a city in Sicily, in the 37th 
Olymp. and a contemporary with Solon. 
He appears to have been conspicuous for 
wisdom and authority among his fellow. 
citizens, and to have been concerned in 
the public transactions between that 
state and the tyrant Phalaris: When 
they chose that prince for their com-. 
mander, and were proceeding to vote 
him a guard for his person, the poet 
strenuously opposed the desizn; and, by 
an approp-iate fable||, made them sensi- 
* Poet cap. 4 
+ Lib. 1. Epist. 19. ‘ 
It Strab. Lib. 12. p. 549. 4 
§ Instit. lib. 10. ¢. 1. 
}| Aris. Rhet. lib, 2. c. 21. 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature.—No. EAE. [Joweags 
ble of their folly. Phalaris, in revenge, 
intercepted him in his passage to Corinth, _ 
and intended to put him to death; but 
becoming better acquaimted ‘with his ta- 
lents, and the excellence of his character, 
he honourably returned him to bis native 
city, and from that time became his 
friend and benefactor. There is an epis- 
tle from Phalaris* to the poet himself, in 
which he exhorts him to carry on the de-, 
sign of his muse, and, if writing against 
tyranny, not to suppress any expression, 
from the dread of his resentment. As 
the epistles of Phalaris are, however, by: 
many suspected not to be genuine, the 
authenticity of this anecdote must rest 
upon the degree of credit we allow them. 
Stesichorus died in Olymp. 56, at Catae 
na, in Sicily, and a magnificent tomb 
was erected to his memory, near one of 
its gates. It was composed of eight co- 
lumns, had eight stepsand eight angles af- 
ter the cabalistical numbers of Pythagoras, 
whose mysterious philosophy was then in 
fashion. ‘The cubic number of eight 
was emblematical of strength, solidity, 
and magnificence; hence the proverb 
Tlavia Oxlé, by which was meant any 
thing perfect or compleat. Ba 
Alczus flourished in the 44th Olymp. 
_at Mitylene in the island of Lesbos, aid 
was accounted one of the greatest lyricks 
of antiquity. He was a contemporary of 
Sappho, and born in the same place. He 
was aman of the first rank in that little 
state, and headed the people when they 
asserted their liberty against the tyrant 
Pittacus. He was at first unsuccessful, 
being compelled to leave the city; but. 
returning with a more powerful force, he 
expelled the tyrant, and restored the an-- 
cient privileges of the city. He appears 
to have been remarkable for his desire of 
military fame. In some lines preserved 
in Atheneust, he enumerates the shields 
and helmets, belts and ensigns, which 
decorated. his house. 
Meepeaees SE prtyas Someog KHANH, 
Wace 3°" Ages xexiopnheut céyn 
LOfATRO UIC’ KUVELITIV. , 
With burnished brass my spacious rooms are 
decked ; 
And polished helmets consecrate my house 
To the fierce god of War. 
His personal courage, however, if we 
may credit Herodotus{, did not corre- 
spond with these external marks. Ina 
battle between the Mitylenians and the 
* Epist. 147. ! ; 
+ Lib, 14. p, 697. 
t Lib: 5. a 
Athenians 
