1809.] 
- Athenians, in which the latter were vic- 
torious, Alczus fled, and left his shield 
to the enemy, who bung it vp in triumph 
in the temple of Pallas. It should seem 
that notwithstanding the merit of having 
resisted the tyranny of Pittacus, he was 
afterwards suspected of entertaining 
himself designs inimical to the freedom 
of his country. He was a warm but un- 
successful admirer of Sappho. Aristotle* 
has recorded in a short and well known 
dialogue, the rebuke she gave him. 
With this attachment to Sappho and 
other women, and the character of a 
great drinker, he united the vice so com- 
mon among the Greeks. To this Horace, 
with whom he has been frequently com- 
pared, and between whom, indeed, there 
were some points of resemblance,— 
alludes im one of his odes: 
Liberum et Musas, Venercmg. & illi 
Semper herentem puerum canebat 3 
Et Lycam nigris oculis, nigroque. _ 
Crine decorum. 
But his merit as a poet was undisputed ; 
and thouch his writings were chiefly in 
the Lyric! k strain, his genius was capable 
of dignifying the sublimest objects, His 
style was lofty and vehement, which 
made Quintilianf observe, that he de- 
served the golden plectrum, as is bestowed 
on him by Horace, for his poems against 
the oppression of tyrants. There remain 
only a few fraements collected by Ful- 
vius Ursinus. They were never printed 
separately, but may be found in the 
various editions of the early Lyrick. 
oets. 
We close this list with the celebrated 
name of Sappho, which has the mis- 
fortune, like all those which we have 
enumerated, of presenting a very con- 
fused, though popular story. She, like 
Alcaus, was born at Mitylene, in Lesbos, 
at the same period; that is, under the 
government of Pittacus. Her mother’s 
name was Cleis, but that of her father is 
by no means so certain, as Suidas men- 
tions no less than eight, who contended 
for the honour. Her love for the hand. 
soine, but coy Phaon, his cold rejection 
of her advances, her despair, her leap 
from the rock of Leucate, are too well 
known, and the recital of too fabulous a 
Nature, to bear a repetition here. To 
this disappointment, however, whether 
real or imaginary, we are indebted for 
some of her finest pieces; particularly 
* Rhetor.-1. 1. c. 9. 
+ Lib. 1. Od. 32. 
Eaustit, 1, 10. ¢. te 
Lyceum of Ancient Liter'ature.—No, i. <A 
her hymn to Vins) and the beautiful 
epistle addressed to Phaon, which Ovid 
is supposed to have entirely borrowed: 
from that of Sappho, now lost, tler 
person, indeed, does not seem to have 
been calculated: to inspire any very extra-. 
ordinary passion, for the ladywas short, and - 
ofa brown co: nplexion, Ovid has made 
her notice these defects with great deli« 
cacy and ingenuity.* They were Iqst in 
the fame she acquired by her poetical 
talents. The Mitylenians, to express their 
sense of her worth,’ paid her sovereign 
honours, after she was dead, and even 
coined money with ber head for the 
stamp. The reader will find an epigramn 
upon this, in the Anthologia.t Of nine 
books of Odes, besides elegies, epigrams, 
iambicks, epithala smiums,. and other 
pieces, there is nothing remaining entire, 
but the hymn to Venus, which we find in 
Dionysius of Ha Nenrinsene: and an Cde 
addressed to a young ona preserved 
in Longinus, and translated | vy Addison, 
The style of this Ode, seems to favour 
the tradition so common among the an- 
cients, that the warmth of Sappho’s dis- 
position burried her into an inproper 
passion for her own sex. Madame 
Dacier takes vreat pains to vindicate her 
memory froin such a charge; but ap- 
parently with more erudition than inge= 
nuity, with more zeal than success. The 
remains of Sappho are certainly sufficient 
to justify her great celebrity as a poet, 
There is an uncommon softness tn her 
style; with all that laxurious warmth of 
tenderness, which characterized her dis- 
position. She excels all the Greek poets 
in sweetness of verse, and though Ca- 
tullus and Ovid professedly strive to imi 
tate her, it is rarely, if ever, that they 
succeed. 
The various editions of these authors ares 
of Orpheus. 
Argonautica, edit. prin. 4to. Florent. 1500. 
—- Gr. 8vo.) Venet. ap. Ald. 1547. we 
\ 
Muszus. . 
—— Gr. and Lat. 12° Ultraj. 1689. 
—— Gr. aad Lat. Svo. Gesner. Lips. 1764. 
Orpheus, de Lapidibus, Gr. and Lat. with 
notes by Tyrwhitt. Lond. Svo. 1781. 
Of Muszeus, Gr. 4to. sine loci et ann. indiciis. 
—— Venet. apud Ald. no year. but sup~ 
posed to be the first Greek book 
printed by eae 
b 
a 
* Si mihi difficilis formam Natura negavit, 
Ingenio forme damna rependo mez 
Sum brevis. 
a "Aula oon mracere, purig wagdlwxe rurwrms 
Tau MuluAnuatay Cupedos wiegid2. 2. b. 
Museeus 
