Agamemnon, ftrongly urge him to the firft; but a defire to avenge the death of his friend determines him to accept the laft, with all its confequences. This at once difplays the greatnefs of his fortitude, the warmth of his friendship, and the violence of his fanguinary paffions: And it is this that fo often and fo powerfully recommends him to the pity, as well as admiration, of the attentive reader. But the magnanimity of this hero is fuperior, not only to the fear of death, but also to prodigies, and those too of the most tremendous import. I allude to the fpeech of his horse Xanthus, in the end of the nineteenth book, and to his behaviour on that occafion; and I fhall take the liberty to expatiate a little upon that incident, with a view to vindicate Homer, as well as to illuftrate the character of Achilles. The incident is marvellous, no doubt, and has been generally condemned even by the admirers of Homer; yet to me, who am no believer in the infallibility of the great poet, feems not only allow- . able, but useful and important. That this miracle has probability enough to warrant its admiffion into Homer's poetry, is fully proved by Madame Dacier. It is the effect of Juno's power; which if we admit in other parts of the poem, we ought not to reject in this: and in the poetical hiftory of Greece, and even in the civil hiftory of Rome, there are fimilar fables, which were once in no fmall degree of credit. But neither M. Dacier, nor any other of the commentators (fo far as I know), has taken notice of the propriety of intro ducing it in this place, nor of its utility in raifing, our idea of the hero.-Patroclus was now flain; and Achilles, forgetting the injury he had received from Agamemnon, and frantic with revenge and forrow, was rushing to the battle, to Tatiate his fury upon Hector and the Trojans. This was the critical moment on which his future deftiny depended. It was ftill in his power to retire, and go home in peace to his beloved father and native land, with the certain profpect of a long and happy, though inglorious, life: If he went forward to the battle, he might avenge his friend's death upon the enemy, but his own muft inevitably happen foon after. This was the decree of Fate concerning him, as he himself very well knew. But it would not be wonderful, if fuch an impetuous fpirit fhould forget all this, during the prefent paroxyfm of his grief and rage. His horse, therefore, miraculously gifted by Juno for that purpofe, after expreffing, in dumb fhow, the deepeft concern for his lord, opens his mouth, and in human fpeech announces his approaching fate. The fear of death, and the fear of prodigies, are different things; and a brave man, though proof against the one, may yet be overcome by the other. "have known a foldier (fays Addifon) that has "entered a breach, affrighted at his own fhadow "and look pale upon a little feratching at his "door, who the day before had marched up "against a battery of cannon *." But Achilles, Spectator, Number 12. of of whom we already knew that he feared nothing human, now shows, what we had not as yet been informed of, and what must therefore heighten our idea of his fortitude, that he is not to be terrified or moved, by the view of certain deftruction, or even by the most alarming prodigies. I fhall quote Pope's tranflation, which in this place is equal, if not fuperior, to the original. Then ceas'd for ever, by the Furies tied, I know my fate;-to die, to fee no more It is equally a proof of rich invention and exact judgment in Homer, that he mixes fome good qualities in all his bad characters, and fome degree of imperfection in almost all his good ones.-Agamemnon, notwithstanding his pride, is an able general, and a valiant man, and highly esteemed as fuch by the greater part of the army. -Paris, though effeminate, and vain of his dress and perfon, is, however, good-natured, patient of reproof, not deftitute of courage, and eminently skilled in mufic, and other fine arts.Ajax is a huge giant; fearless rather from infenfibility to danger, and confidence in his maffy arms, than from any nobler principle; boastful and rough; regardless of the gods, though not downright impious: yet there is in his manner fomething of frankness and blunt fincerity, which entitle him to a fhare in our esteem; and he is ever ready to affift his countrymen, to whom he renders good service on many a perilous emergency. The character of Helen, in spite of her faults, and of the many calamities whereof she is the guilty cause, Homer has found means to recommend to our pity, and almost to our love; and this he does, without feeking to extenuate the crime of Paris, of which the most respectable perfonages in the poem are made to speak with becoming abhorrence. She is fo full of remorse, so ready on every occafion to condemn her past conduct, fo affectionate to her friends, fo willing to do justice to every body's merit, and withal fo finely accomplished, that fhe extorts our admiration, as well as that of the old fenators of Troyt. -Menelaus, though fufficiently fenfible of the injury he had received, is yet a man of modera * His natural bluntnefs appears in that fhort, but famous addrefs, to Jupiter, in the nineteenth book, when a preternatural darkness hindered him from feeing either the enemy or his own people. The prayer feems to be the effect rather of vexation, than of piety or patriotifm. Pope gives a more fo lemn turn to it, than either Homer's words, or the character of the speaker, will justify. -Lord of earth and air! O King, O Father, hear my humble prayer, &c. + See Iliad iii. 156. tion, clemency, and good-nature, a valiant foldier, and a moft affectionate brother; but there is a dash of vanity in his compofition, and he entertains rather too high an opinion of his own abilities; yet never overlooks or undervalues the merit of others.-Priam would claim unreserved esteem, as well as pity, if it were not for his inexcufeable weaknefs, in gratifying the humour, and by indulgence abetting the crimes, of the moft worthless of all his children, to the utter ruin of his people, family, and kingdom. Madam Dacier fuppofes, that he had loft his authority, and was obliged to fall in with the politics of the times but of this I find no evidence; on the contrary, he and his unworthy favourite Paris feem to have been the only perfons of diftinction in Troy, who were averfe to the restoring of Helen. Priam's foible (if it can be called by fo foft a name), however faulty, is not uncommon, and has often produced calamity both in private and public life. The fcripture gives a memorable inftance, in the hiftory of the good old Eli. -Sarpedon comes nearer a perfect character, than any other of Homer's heroes; but the part he has to act is short. It is a character, which one could hardly have expected in those rude times: A fovereign prince, who confiders himself as a magiftrate fet up by the people for the public good, and therefore bound in honour and gratitude to be himself their example, and ftudy to excel as much in virtue, as in rank and authority. Hector is the favourite of every reader; and |