195 An ell in length the pliant whifp I weav'd, And the huge body on my fhoulders heav'd: Then wash their hands, and haften to the feaft. There, 'till the setting fun rowl'd down the light, 210 When evening rose, and darkness cover'd o'er Followers and friends; attend what I propose: 215 Ye fad companions of Ulyffes' woes! We We know not here what land before us lies, v. 218. Or where the fun shall fet, or where fhall rife] The interpretations of this paflage are various; fome, fays Euftathius, judge these words not to proceed from the ignorance of Ulyffes, but that they are the language of defpair fuggefted by his continual calamities: For how could Ulyffes be ignorant of the eaft or weft, when he faw the fun rife and fet every day? others understand it to fignifie, that he was ignorant of the lime of the world ( nooμmg xníμaros) in which this Ifland lay. Strabe was of opinion, that the appearances of the heavenly bodies, as the ftars, &c. were different in this land from the pofition which he had ever before obferv'd in any country, and therefore he might well confefs his ignorance, and exprefs his concern for his almoft defperate condition. He understands by has all that region thro' which the Sun paffes oppofite to the North. It is true, that the four quarters of the world may be fuppofed to be here mention'd by Ulyffes, s may exprefs the fouthern parts thro' which the fun paffes, and Copos the oppofite quarter, which may be faid comparatively to be Copos, or dark: And then the rifing and fetting of the fun, will undeniably denote the eastern and western regions. Spondanus is of opinion, that Homer intended to exprefs the four quarters of the world, otherwife the fecond verfe is a tautology: Dacier calls it an explication of the firft defcription. And indeed the mind of man is apt to dwell long upon any object, by which it is deeply affected, as Ulyffes muft here be fuppofed to be, and therefore he might enlarge upon the fentiment advanced in the former line. The meaning then will be this. I know not, fays that Heroe, where this and lies, whether eaft or weft, where the Sun rifes, or where he fets. I fhould therefore underftand Ulyffes to mean, that he knows not how this Ifland lies with refpect to the rest of the world, and especially to Ithaca his own country. This is evident from his conduct when he fail'd from Formia the land of the Laftrigons; for inftead of making toward the east where Ithaca lay, he bore to this land of Circe, which lies on the weft of Formia. Here Here let us think (if thinking be not vain). 20 If any counfel, any hope remain. Alas! from yonder Promontory's brow, But tears in mortal miferies are vain. v.220. If any counsel, any hope remain.] This expreffion may be thought unworthy of the mouth of an Heroe, and ferve only to caufe his companions to defpair; but in reality it has a double effect, it gives us a lively picture of Human Nature, which in the greatest men will fhew fome degrees of fenfibility, and at the fame time it arms his friends against furprize, and fets the danger they are in full before their eyes, that they may proceed with due circumfpection. We do not find that Ulyffes abandons himself to defpair, he ftill acts like a brave man, but joyns wisdom with bravery, and proceeds at once with the caution of a Philofopher, and the spirit of an Heroe, Vo L. III. C Then Then in the brazen helm the lotts we throw, He march'd, with twice eleven in his train: Penfive they march, and penfive we remain. 240 The Palace in a woody vale they found, High rais'd of stone; a fhaded space around: Where mountain wolves and brindled lions roam, (By magic tam'd) familiar to the dome. With v. 236. Then in the brazen helm the lotts we throw.] Dacier is of opinion that Ulyffes caft lotts out of an apprehenfion of being difobey'd if he had given pofitive commands; his companions being fo greatly difcourag'd by the adventures of Polypheme and the Leftrigons. It will be a nobler reafon, and more worthy of an Heroe to fay, that Ulyffes was fo far from declining a common danger, that he submits himself to an equal chance with his companions to undertake it: This expedition appear'd very hazardous, and if he had directly commanded a felect number of his men to attempt it, they might have thought he had expofed them to almost certain deftruction; but the contrary conduct takes away this apprehenfion, and at the fame time fhews the bravery of Ulyffes, who puts himself upon a level with the meaneft of his foldiers, and is ready to expofe his perfon to an equality of danger. Ulyffes divides his men into two bodies; each contains two and twenty men: This is agreeable, obferves Euftathius, to the former account of Homer; each veffel carried fifty men, fix out of every one were destroy'd by the Ciconians, and therefore forty four is the exact number, inclufive of himself and the furviving company. v. 242. Where mountain wolves and brindled lions, &c.] Virgil has borrow'd almost this whole description of Circe, and as Scaliger judges, perhaps with good reason, greatly improv'd it. Hinc exaudiri gemitus iraque leonum Vincla recufantum, & ferâ fub nocte rudentum, From With gentle blandishment our men they meet, 45 And wag their tails, and fawning lick their feet. As From hence we heard rebellowing from the main, The grunts of briftled boars, and groans of bears, And herds of howling wolves that fun the failors ears= Darkling they mourn their fate, whom Circe's pow'r, Dryden. It must be confefs'd, that Ire leonum vincla recufantum, and the epithets and fhort defcriptions adapted to the nature of each favage, are beautiful additions. Virgil likewife differs from Homer in the manner of the description: Homer draws the beafts with a gentleness of nature; Virgil paints them with the fiercenefs of favages. The reafon of Homer's conduct is, because they still retain'd the fentiments of men, in the forms of beafts, and confequently their native tenderness. There is a beautiful moral couch'd under this fable or allegory: Homer intended to teach, as Euftathius remarks, that pleasure and fenfuality debase men into beafts. Thus Socrates understood it, as Xenophon informs us. Perhaps, adds Dacier, by the fawning wolves and lions that guard the portals of Circe's Palace, the Poet means to reprefent the attendants of fuch houfes of debauchery, which appear gentle and courteous, but are in reality of a brutal difpofition, and more dangerous than lions. But upon what foundation is this fable built? Many writers inform us, that Circe was a famous Courtezan, and that her beauty drew her admirers as it were by enchantment. Thus Horace writes, -Circes pocula nofti, Quafi cum fociis ftultus, cupidufque bibiffet, |