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this Life has been paraphrased in English by my learned young friend
Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, and appended to my prose translation of the
Odyssey. The present abridgement however, will contain all that is
of use to the reader, for the biographical value of the treatise is
most insignificant.
3
--I.e. both of composing and reciting verses for as Blair observes,
"
The first poets sang their own verses." Sextus Empir. adv. Mus. p.
60 ed. Fabric. Ou hamelei ge toi kai oi poiaetai melopoioi
legontai, kai ta Omaerou epae to palai pros lyran aedeto.
3
"The voice," observes Heeren, "was always accompanied by some
instrument. The bard was provided with a harp on which he played a
prelude, to elevate and inspire his mind, and with which he
accompanied the song when begun. His voice probably preserved a
medium between singing and recitation; the words, and not the melody
were regarded by the listeners, hence it was necessary for him to
remain intelligible to all. In countries where nothing similar is
found, it is difficult to represent such scenes to the mind; but
whoever has had an opportunity of listening to the improvisation of
Italy, can easily form an idea of Demodocus and Phemius."--Ancient
Greece, p. 94.
4
"Should it not be, since my arrival? asks Mackenzie, observing
that "poplars can hardly live so long". But setting aside the fact
that we must not expect consistency in a mere romance, the ancients
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