which precededit. Compare, in this view, cap. 23, quoted above, τῶν δὲ πρότερον (of those before the Peloponnesian war, answering to τὰ πρὸ αὐτῶν) μέγιστον ἐπράχθη τὸ Μηδικόν, and cap. 73, (speech of the Athenian envoys in the Lacedæmonian assembly,) καὶ τὰ μὲν πάνυ παλαιὰ τί δεῖ λέγειν, ὧν ἀκοαὶ μᾶλλον λόγων μάρτυρες ἢ ὄψεις τῶν ἀκουσομένων ; τὰ δὲ Μηδικὰ, καὶ ὅσα αὐτοὶ ξύνιστε,—ἀνάγκη λέγειν where it is evident that τὰ πάνυ παλαιὰ corresponds with τὰ ἔτι παλαιότερα, and τὰ Μηδικὰ, &c. το τὰ πρὸ αὐτῆς. Or is it possible that Thucydides intended the σαφῶς μὲν εὑρεῖν ἀδύνατα ἦν to apply exclusively to the πα λαιότερα, while the οὐ μεγάλα νομίζω γενέσθαι applied both to the one and the other; considering them as one series of events, and by a license of phraseology predicating of the whole of this series that obscurity which properly belonged only to one portion of it, because that portion happened to be the last-mentioned? If this is too bold, it is not much too bold, for Thucydides. Το the passages above-cited, add cap. 20, init. τὰ μὲν οὖν παλαιὰ τοιαῦτα εὗρον, χαλεπὰ ὄντα παντὶ ἑξῆς τεκμηρίῳ πιστεῦσαι. οἱ γὰρ ἄνθρωποι τὰς ἀκοὰς τῶν προγεγενημένων — ἀβασανίστως παρ' ἀλλήλων δέχονται which observation he proceeds to illustrate by adducing so recent an event as the death of Hipparchus. IV. Cap. 2. Φαίνεται γὰρ ἡ νῦν Ἑλλὰς καλουμένη οὐ πάλαι βεβαίως οἰκουμένη, ἀλλὰ μεταναστάσεις τε οὖσαι, &c. Not, “ Greece appears to have been formerly, &c." but, " It is shown by history, it is inferred from an investigation of facts, that Greece was, &c.” . Such is properly the meaning of φαίνεσθαι in this and innumerable passages of the same kind. Thus cap. 10, of the Grecian expedition against Troy, τῇ Ομήρου αὖ ποιήσει εἴ τι χρὴ κανταῦθα πιστεύειν, ἣν εἰκὸς ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον μὲν ποιητὴν ὄντα κόστ μῆσαι, ὅμως δὲ φαίνεται καὶ οὕτως ἐνδεεστέρα· proceeding to prove his assertion by the citation of facts from Homer, and concluding, as before, πρὸς τὰς μεγίστας οὖν καὶ ἐλαχίστας ναῦς τὸ μέσον σκοποῦντι οὐ πολλοὶ φαίνονται ἐλθόντες, ὡς ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς ̔Ελλάδος κοινῇ πεμπόμενοι. . ἀλλὰ μεταναστάσεις τε οὖσαι, &c. The construction is continued on, as it would have been if he had written, φαίνεται γὰρ τὴν νῦν ̔Ελλάδα καλουμένην οὐ πάλαι βεβαίως οἰκεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ ταναστάσεις τε εἶναι, &c. μετ οἰκουμένη. The present tense is used, in order to express that such was the continued habitual state of Greece in ancient times. For a similar reason it is used throughout the greater part of these preliminary chapters, excepting only where indivi dual occurrences are intended to be recorded. For instance, in the chapter before us, τὴν γοῦν ̓Αττικὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον— ἄνθρωποι ᾤκουν οἱ αὐτοὶ ἀεί.—ἐκ γὰρ τῆς ἄλλης ̔Ελλάδος οἱ πολέμῳ ἢ στάσει ἐκπίπτοντες παρ' ̓Αθηναίους οἱ δυνατώτατοι—ἀνεχώρουν after which immediately follows, in speaking of the effect of this state of things,μείζω ἔτι ἐποίησαν — τὴν πόλιν, and of a particular event resulting therefrom, ὥστε καὶ ἐς ̓Ιωνίαν ὕστερον ἀποικίας ἐξέπεμψαν. It is highly desirable that young readers of Greek should pay particular attention to the proper meaning of the respective tenses; to which we may add, of the article, and of the various prepositions, whether used independently or in composition. This will prevent numberless errors and inaccuracies. 66 V. ibid. βιαζόμενοι ὑπό τινων ἀεὶ πλειόνων, “ forcibly expelled by whatever tribe happened at the time to be more numerous;" ἀεὶ, for the time being, as in the well-known passage of the Prometheus, σέβου, προσεύχου, θῶπτε τὸν κρατοῦντ ̓ ἀεί· 2 where, if we remember aright, Blomfield has cited other instances of the same usage. cap. 11. οἱ Τρῶες—τὰ δέκα ἔτη ἀντεῖχον βίᾳ τοῖς ἀεὶ ὑπολειπομένοις ἀντίπαλοι ὄντες, and a few lines below, μέρει τῷ ἀεὶ παρόντι ἀντεῖχον, “ that portion of the army which was left behind for the time being to continue the siege.” 22. ὡς δ ̓ ἂν ἐδόκουν ἐμοὶ ἕκαστοι περὶ τῶν ἀεὶ παρόντων τὰ δέοντα μάλιστ ̓ εἰπεῖν οὕτως εἴρηται. VI. τὴν γοῦν ̓Αττικήν, &c. γοῦν, " as a proof, or illustration, of what I have been saying;” and most commonly, as an instance or example in proof.” Such is, we think, the uniform signification of γοῦν in Thucydides. Thus cap. 38. ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐδ ̓ αὐτοὶ φαμὲν ἐπὶ τῷ ὑπὸ τούτων ὑβρίζεσθαι κατοικίσαι, ἀλλ ̓ ἐπὶ τῷ ἡγεμόνες τε εἶναι καὶ τὰ εἰκότα θαυμάζεσθαι. αἱ γοῦν ἄλλαι ἀποικίαι τιμῶσιν ἡμᾶς, καὶ μάλιστα ὑπὸ ἀποίκων στεργόμεθα· &c. as if he had said : τεκμήριον δὲ τούτου ἔχομεν· αἱ γὰρ ἄλλαι ἀποίκιαι, &c. 77. ἀδικούμενοί τε, ὡς ἔοικεν, οἱ ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον ὀργίζονται ἢ βιαζόμενοι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου δοκεῖ πλεονεκτεῖσθαι, τὸ δ ̓ ἀπὸ τοῦ κρείσ σονος καταναγκάζεσθαι· ὑπὸ γοῦν τοῦ Μήδου δεινότερα τούτων πάσχοντες ἠνείχοντο, ἡ δὲ ἡμετέρα ἀρχὴ χαλεπὴ δοκεῖ εἶναι, εἰκότως· τὸ πάρον γὰρ ἀεὶ βαρὺ τοῖς ὑπηκόοις. ὑμεῖς γ ̓ ἂν οὖν εἰ καθελόντες ἡμᾶς 1 We ought not to omit, a watchful regard to the various uses of the middle verb. 2 Prom. 936. Here às, contrary to the usual arrangement, is placed after the noun to which it relates. ἄρξαιτε, ταχὰ ἂν τὴν εὔνοιαν, ἣν διὰ τὸ ὑμέτερον δέος εἰλήφατε, με ταβάλοιτε. VII. Cap. 7. ὅσαι νεώτατα ᾠκίσθησαν καὶ ἤδη πλοϊμωτέρων ὄντων. Τῶν πραγμάτων, or something similar, may be understood. "Such as were not built till things were more in a state to admit of navigation.” So cap. 8. καταστάντος τοῦ Μίνω ναυτικοῦ πλοϊμώτερα ἐγένετο παρ ̓ ἀλλήλους. VIII. Cap. 8. οἱ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν νήσων κακοῦργοι ἀνέστησαν . The same as if he had said, οἱ ἐν ταῖς νήσοις ὄντες κακοῦργοι ἀνέστησαν ἐξ αὐτῶν. ΙΧ. ib. ὡς πλουσιώτεροι ἑαυτῶν γιγνόμενοι. It is difficult to explain the origin of this construction: “ richer than their former selves" would scarcely be an adequate rendering, inasmuch as the superlative is also used, and more frequently in the same combination. Χ. Cap. 9. προύχων. Why should προέχειν, προύβη, ταυτὸ, and similar words, be written with a spiritus lenis over the contracted syllable? Surely there is no danger of ambiguity resulting from its omission. We have got rid of the unsightly and perplexing contractions which of old deformed the fair face of Greek typography like so many wens; we have dismissed the impertinent ὅ, τι, (in Homer ὅ, ττι) and various other typographical superstitions; why should we retain this? ΧΙ. ib. οἱ τὰ σαφέστατα Πελοποννησίων μνήμῃ παρὰ τῶν προτέ ρων δεδεγμένοι. This reference to tradition is characteristic of a period at which written historical records had but lately come into general use. XH. ib. τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν τῆς χώρας ἐπηλύτην ὄντα ὅμως σχεῖν· "obtained the naming of the country," literally the name or designation of it. Επηλύτην corresponds with the old English word comeling. XIII. Cap. 11. ᾗ καὶ μᾶλλον οἱ Τρῶες αὐτῶν διεσπαρμένων τὰ δέκα ἔτη ἀντεῖχον—. It is a maxim well worthy to be held in remembrance by the young reader of Greek, that the article is never without its proper force and meaning. Thucydides does not say "ten years," but "the ten years;" the ten years through which the siege is known to have continued. He alludes to it as an historical fact familiar to his readers. Thus, a few lines above : μάχῃ ἐκράτησαν· (δῆλον δέ· τὸ γὰρ ἔρυμα τῷ στρατοπέδῳ οὐκ ἂν ἐτειχίσαντο.) &c. (ed. Bekker. the fortification celebrated in Homer. 18. αὖθις ὁ βάρβαρος τῷ μεγάλῳ στόλῳ ἐπὶ τὴν ̔Ελλάδα δουλωσόμενος ἦλθεν. 74. τρία τὰ ὠφελιμώτατα - παρεσχόμεθα, ναῦς μέν γε ἐς τὰς τετρακοσίας ὀλίγῳ ἐλάσσους δύο μοιρῶν· the four hundred ships of which the Grecian fleet at Salamis consisted. 100, init. ἐγένετο δὲ μετὰ καὶ ἡ ἐπ ̓ Εὐρυμέδοντι ποταμῷ πεζομαχία καὶ ναυμαχία, &c. καὶ εἶχον τριήρεις Φοινίκων καὶ διέφθειραν τὰς Táσas és Taç diaxorías "they took Phoenician triremes to the wellknown number of two hundred, and destroyed them all :" not is diaxorías, as on ordinary occasions, where he is relating a transaction unknown, or only imperfectly known, to his readers. A reader unaware of, or inattentive to, the importance of the article, would inevitably render ἐς τὰς διακοσίας as if it were ἐς διακοσίας· and in another of the passages above-quoted, ναῦς μέν γε ἐς τὰς TETρaxoσlas, he would not improbably translate, "we contributed as many as four hundred ships, being nearly two-thirds of the entire number." Let not the more advanced scholar smile at this condescension to the weakness of the "tirones." Men of ability, and of learning too, have sometimes fallen into strange solecisms, through their ignorance of the proper use of the Greek article. Coleridge, in the Friend, heads two of his metaphysical chapters with the motto odds xáτw, "the way downward." The author of "Valerius," a work evincing considerable acquaintance with the spirit of antiquity, and which contains some imitations of ancient poetry superior to any thing with which we are acquainted,' speaks of a treatise weg) TOU oloτgov Baxxixou. And Mr. Landor, (Quæstiuncula, p. 195-6) οἴστρου βακχικοῦ. in pointing out the manifold faults of a stanza quoted from Cooke's Greek version of Gray's Elegy, by that personification of pompous emptiness, the author of the Pursuits of Literature, "criticus quidam homo, ut se prædicat, qui nostri sæculi optimum quemque culpavit," appears not to perceive the barbarism οἱ χρυσᾶς ̓Αφροδίτας καλὰ τὰ δῶρα—τέθνακε. Cowper, in one of his letters, speaks of the article as a mere modern invention, unknown to the Greeks and Romans. Probably Cowper's Greek did not extend far beyond Homer. Cic. Tusc. Disp. i. 19. Profecto beati erimus, cum, corporibus relictis, quod nunc facimus, cum laxati curis sumus, ut spectare aliquid velimus et visere; id multo tum faciemus li berius, totosque nos in contemplandis rebus perspiciendisque Etenim si nunc aliquid assequi se putant, qui ponemus. ' We allude particularly to the expiatory hymn chanted in the cemetery of the Sempronii; the illusion of which, were it not for the penultimate stanza, would be perfect. ostium Ponti viderint, &c.-quod tandem spectaculum fore putamus, cum totam terram contueri licebit ? Perhaps these fine speculations of Cicero were in Milton's mind when he represented his Satan as surveying, from the lowermost stair of heaven-gate, the newly-created universe. Certain it is, at least, that his imagination by a natural instinct unconsciously attracted towards itself and incorporated with it whatever it found of sublime conception in the works of other writers. Satan from hence, now on the lower stair Such wonder seized, though after heaven seen, At sight of all this world beheld so fair. The following yun, from the eighth book of Polybius, might serve as a motto to many political treatises :— Πᾶσα γὰρ ἐλευθερία μετ ̓ ἐξουσίας πολυχρονίου φύσιν ἔχει κόρον λαμβάνειν τῶν ὑποκειμένων· κάπειτα ζητεῖ δεσπότην· τυχοῦσά γε μὴν TOÚTOV, TÚλIV μios. Polyb. lib. viii. Frag. incert. In No. XV. of the Nuga, (Class. Journ. No. LXVIII. p. 215) by an error of the press, the name of Milton, in the original editions of his three Defensiones, is said to be printed “Joannis Miltoni, i. e. Miltonî, for Miltonii." It should be Miltonl. ΒΟΙΩΤΟΣ. AN INQUIRY Into the Credit due to DIONYSIUS of HALICARNASSUS as a Critic and Historian ;--By the Author of 'Remarks on the supposed Dionysius Longinus.' No. II. [Continued from No. LXVIII.] ἀληθείας, ἧς ἱερὰν εἶναι τὴν ἱστορίαν βουλόμεθα. Dion. Hal. περὶ τ. Θουκυδ. ἰδιωμάτων, p. 139. 1. 43. Syl. Or the necessity' which obliged our reluctant author to pre 1 Ηκιστα βουλόμενος ἀναγκάζομαι περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ προειπεῖν. |