In making Apollo author of the plague, he was confounded with Helios, which was

frequent afterwards, but is not seen elsewhere in Homer. The arrows of Apollo were "silent as
light," and their emblem the sun's rays. The analogies are multitudinous between the natural
and intellectual sun; but Helios and Apollo were two.E.P.P.
^ There is something exceedingly venerable in this appearance of the priest. He comes
with the ensigns of the gods to whom he belongs, with the laurel wreath, to show that he was
a suppliant, and a golden sceptre, which the ancients gave in particular to Apollo, as they did
one of silver to Diana.
^ The art of this speech is remarkable. Chryses considers the army of Greeks, as made up
of troops, partly from the kingdoms and partly from democracies, and therefore begins with a
distinction that includes all. Then, as priest of Apollo, he prays that they may obtain the two
blessings they most desirethe conquest of Troy and a safe return. As he names his petition,
he offers an extraordinary ransom, and concludes with bidding them fear the god if they
refuse it; like one who from his office seems to foretell their misery, and exhorts them to shun
it. Thus he endeavors to work by the art of a general application, by religion, by interest, and
the insinuation of danger.
^ Homer is frequently eloquent in his silence. Chryses says not a word in answer to the
insults of Agamemnon, but walks pensively along the shore. The melancholy flowing of the
verse admirably expresses the condition of the mournful and deserted father.
^ [So called on account of his having saved the people of Troas from a plague of mice,
sminthos in their language meaning a mouse.Tr.]
^ Apollo had temples at Chrysa, Tenedos, and Cilla, all of which lay round the bay of
Troas. Mller remarks, that "the temple actually stood in the situation referred to, and that the
appellation of Smintheus was still preserved in the district. Thus far actual circumstances are
embodied in the mythus. On the other hand, the action of the deity as such, is purely ideal,
and can have no other foundation than the belief that Apollo sternly resents ill usage of his
priests, and that too in the way here represented, viz., by sending plagues. This belief is in
perfect harmony with the idea generally entertained of the power and agency of Apollo; and it
is manifest that the idea placed in combination with certain events, gave birth to the story so
far as relates to the god. We have not yet the means of ascertaining whether it is to be
regarded as a historical tradition, or an invention, and must therefore leave that question for
the present undecided."
^ The poet is careful to leave no prayer unanswered that has justice on its side. He who
prays either kills his enemy, or has signs given him that he has been heard.
^ [For this singular line the Translator begs to apologize, by pleading the strong desire he
felt to produce an English line, if possible, somewhat resembling in its effect the famous
original one.
.TR.]
^ The plague in the Grecian camp was occasioned perhaps by immoderate heats and
gross exhalations. Homer takes occasion from it, to open the scene with a beautiful allegory.
He supposes that such afflictions are sent from Heaven for the punishment of evil actions; and
because the sun was the principal agent, he says it was sent to punish Agamemnon for
despising that god, and injuring his priest.
^ Hippocrates observes two things of plagues; that their cause is in the air, and that
different animals are differently affected by them, according to their nature and nourishment.
This philosophy is referred to the plagues here mentioned. First, the cause is in the air by
means of the darts or beams of Apollo; second, the mules and dogs are said to die sooner than
the men, partly from their natural quickness of smell, and partly from their feeding so near the
earth whence the exhalations arise.

 ^ Juno, queen of Olympus, sides with the Grecians. Mr. Coleridge (in his disquisition
upon the Prometheus of schylus, published in his Remains) shows very clearly by historical
criticism, that Juno, in the Grecian religion, expressed the spirit of conservatism. Without
going over his argument we assume it here, for Homer always attributes to Juno every thing
that may be predicated of this principle. She is persistent, obstinate, acts from no idea, but
often uses a superficial reasoning, and refers to Fate, with which she upbraids Jupiter. Jupiter
is the intellectual power or Free Will, and by their union, or rather from their antagonism, the
course of things proceeds with perpetual vicissitude, but with a great deal of life.E.P.P.
^ Observe this Grecian priest. He has no political power, and commands little reverence.
In Agamemnon's treatment of him, as well as Chryses, is seen the relation of the religion to
the government. It was neither master nor slave.E.P.P.
^ A district of Thessaly forming a part of the larger district of Phthiotis. Phthiotis,
according to Strabo, included all the southern portion of that country as far as Mount ta and
the Maliac Gulf. To the west it bordered on Dolopia, and on the east reached the confines of
Magnesia. Homer comprised within this extent of territory the districts of Phthia and Hellas
properly so called, and, generally speaking, the dominions of Achilles, together with those of
Protesilaus and Eurypylus.
^ .
^ .
^ Agamemnon's anger is that of a lover, and Achilles' that of a warrior. Agamemnon
speaks of Chrysis as a beauty whom he values too much to resign. Achilles treats Brisis as a
slave, whom he is anxious to preserve in point of honor, and as a testimony of his glory.
Hence he mentions her only as "his spoil," "the reward of war," etc.; accordingly he
relinquishes her not in grief for a favorite whom he loses, but in sullenness for the injury done
him.DACIER.
^ Jupiter, in the disguise of an ant, deceived Eurymedusa, the daughter of Cleitos. Her
son was for this reason called Myrmidon (from , an ant), and was regarded as the
ancestor of the Myrmidons in Thessaly.SMITH.
^ According to the belief of the ancients, the gods were supposed to have a peculiar light
in their eyes. That Homer was not ignorant of this opinion appears from his use of it in other
places.
^ Minerva is the goddess of the art of war rather than of war itself. And this fable of her
descent is an allegory of Achilles restraining his wrath through his consideration of martial
law and order. This law in that age, prescribed that a subordinate should not draw his sword
upon the commander of all, but allowed a liberty of speech which appears to us moderns
rather out of order.E.P.P.
^ [The shield of Jupiter, made by Vulcan, and so called from its covering, which was the
skin of the goat that suckled him.TR.]
^ Homer magnifies the ambush as the boldest enterprise of war. They went upon those
parties with a few only, and generally the most daring of the army, and on occasions of the
greatest hazard, when the exposure was greater than in a regular battle. Idomeneus, in the 13th
book, tells Meriones that the greatest courage appears in this way of service, each man being
in a manner singled out to the proof of it.
^ In the earlier ages of the world, the sceptre of a king was nothing more than his
walking-staff, and thence had the name of sceptre. Ovid, in speaking of Jupiter, describes him
as resting on his sceptre.SPENCE.
From the description here given, it would appear to have been a young tree cut from the root
and stripped of its branches. It was the custom of Kings to swear by their sceptres.

 ^ For an account of the contest between the Centaurs and Lapiths here referred to, see
Grecian and Roman Mythology.
^ In antiquity, a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, or beasts of the same kind; hence sometimes
indefinitely, any sacrifice of a large number of victims.
^ [The original is here abrupt, and expresses the precipitancy of the speaker by a most
beautiful aposiopesis.TR.]
^ The Iliad, in its connection, is, we all know, a glorification of Achilles by Zeus; for the
Trojans only prevail because Zeus wishes to show that the reposing hero who sits in solitude,
can alone conquer them. But to leave him this glorification entirely unmixed with sorrow, the
Grecian sense of moderation forbids. The deepest anguish must mingle with his consciousness
of fame, and punish his insolence. That glorification is the will of Zeus; and in the spirit of the
ancient mythus, a motive for it is assigned in a divine legend. The sea-goddess Thetis, who
was, according to the Phthiotic mythus, wedded to the mortal Peleus, saved Zeus, by calling
up the giant Briareus or gon to his rescue. Why it was gon, is explained by the fact
that this was a great sea-demon, who formed the subject of fables at Poseidonian Corinth,
where even the sea-god himself was called gon; who, moreover, was worshipped at
several places in Euba, the seat of Poseidon gus; and whom the Theogony calls the sonin-law of Poseidon, and most of the genealogists, especially Eumelus in the Titanomachy,
brought into relation with the sea. There is therefore good reason to be found in ancient belief,
why Thetis called up gon of all others to Jove's assistance. The whole of the story,
however, is not detailedit is not much more than indicatedand therefore it would be
difficult even now to interpret it in a perfectly satisfactory manner. It bears the same relation
to the Iliad, that the northern fables of the gods, which serve as a back-ground to the legend of
Nibelungen, bear to our German ballad, only that here the separation is much greater still
MULLER.
Homer makes use of this fable, without reference to its meaning as an allegory. Briareus
seems to symbolize a navy, and the fable refers to some event in remote history, when the
reigning power was threatened in his autocracy, and strengthened by means of his association
with the people against some intermediate class.E.P.P.
^ .
^ [A name by which we are frequently to understand the Nile in Homer.TR.]
^ Around the sources of the Nile, and thence south-west into the very heart of Africa,
stretching away indefinitely over its mountain plains, lies the country which the ancients
called Ethiopia, rumors of whose wonderful people found their way early into Greece, and are
scattered over the pages of her poets and historians.
Homer wrote at least eight hundred years before Christ, and his poems are well ascertained to
be a most faithful mirror of the manners of his times and the knowledge of his age.
******
Homer never wastes an epithet. He often alludes to the Ethiopians elsewhere, and always in
terms of admiration and praise, as being the most just of men, and the favorites of the gods.
The same allusions glimmer through the Greek mythology, and appear in the verses of almost
all the Greek poets, ere yet the countries of Italy and Sicily were even discovered. The Jewish
Scriptures and Jewish literature abound in allusions to this distant and mysterious people, the
annals of the Egyptian priests are full of them, and uniformly, the Ethiopians are there lauded
as among the best, the most religious, and most civilized of men.CHRISTIAN EXAMINER.
The Ethiopians, says Diodorus, are said to be the inventors of pomps, sacrifices, solemn

meetings, and other honors paid to the gods. From hence arose their character of piety, which
is here celebrated by Homer. Among these there was an annual feast at Diospolis, which
Eustathius mentions, when they carried about the statues of Jupiter and other gods, for twelve
days, according to their number; to which, if we add the ancient custom of setting meat before
statues, it will appear to be a rite from which this fable might easily have arisen.
^ [The original word () seems to express variety of soundings, an idea
probably not to be conveyed in an English epithet.TR.]
^ The following passage gives the most exact account of the ancient sacrifices that we
have left us. There is first, the purification by the washing of hands; second, the offering up of
prayers; third, the barley-cakes thrown upon the victim; fourth, the manner of killing it, with
the head turned upwards; fifth, selecting the thighs and fat for their gods, as the best of the
sacrifice, and disposing about them pieces cut from every part for a representation of the
whole (hence the thighs are frequently spoken of in Homer and the Greek poets as the whole
victim); sixth, the libation of wine; seventh, consuming the thighs in the fire of the altar;
eighth, the sacrificers dressing and feasting on the rest, with joy and hymns to the gods.
^ The Pan (originally sung in honor of Apollo) was a hymn to propitiate the god, and
also a song of thanksgiving, when freed from danger. It was always of a joyous nature. Both
tune and sound expressed hope and confidence. It was sung by several persons, one of whom
probably led the others, and the singers either marched onward, or sat together at table.
^ It was the custom to draw the ships entirely upon the shore, and to secure them by long
props.FELTON
^ Suppliants threw themselves at the feet of the person to whom the supplication was
addressed, and embraced his knees.FELTON.
^ Ambrosia, the food of the gods, conferred upon them eternal youth and immortality,
and was brought to Jupiter by pigeons. It was also used by the gods for anointing the body and
hair. Hence the expression, ambrosial locks.
^ The original says, "the ox-eyed goddess," which furnishes Coleridge with one of the
hints on which he proceeds in historically identifying the Argive Juno with Io and Isis, &c.
There is real wit in Homer's making her say to Jupiter, "I never search thy thoughts," &c. The
principle of conservatism asks nothing of the intellectual power, but blindly contends,
reposing upon the instinct of a common sense, which leads her always to surmise that
something is intended by the intellectual power that she shall not like.E.P.P.
^ This refers to an old fable of Jupiter's hanging up Juno and whipping her. Homer
introduces it without reference to its meaning, which was undoubtedly some physical truth
connected with the ether and the atmosphere.E.P.P.
^ [The reader, in order that he may partake with the gods in the drollery of this scene,
should observe that the crippled and distorted Vulcan had thrust himself into an office at all
other times administered either by Hebe or Ganymede.TR.]
^ As Minerva or Wisdom was among the company, the poet's making Vulcan act the part
of peace-maker, would appear to have been from choice, knowing that a mirthful person may
often stop a quarrel, by making himself the subject of merriment.