| 937 | 938 | 939 | 940 | 941 |
| 1 | 245 | 490 | 735 | 980 |
|
--Gier. Lib. vi. 51.
1
85 It was an ancient style of compliment to give a larger portion of
food to the conqueror, or person to whom respect was to be shown.
See Virg. Æn. viii. 181. Thus Benjamin was honoured with a "double
portion." Gen. xliii. 34.
1
86 --Embattled walls. "Another essential basis of mechanical unity in
the poem is the construction of the rampart. This takes place in the
seventh book. The reason ascribed for the glaring improbability that
the Greeks should have left their camp and fleet unfortified during
nine years, in the midst of a hostile country, is a purely poetical
one: 'So long as Achilles fought, the terror of his name sufficed to
keep every foe at a distance.' The disasters consequent on his
secession first led to the necessity of other means of protection.
Accordingly, in the battles previous to the eighth book, no allusion
occurs to a rampart; in all those which follow it forms a prominent
feature. Here, then, in the anomaly as in the propriety of the
Iliad, the destiny of Achilles, or rather this peculiar crisis of
it, forms the pervading bond of connexion to the whole poem."--Mure,
vol. i., p. 257.
1
87 --What cause of fear, &c.
"Seest thou not this? Or do we fear in vain
939
Page
Quick Jump
|