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SARPEDON.

Sarpedon was a king of Lycia, in Asia Minor, reputed to be a son of Jupiter. He, with his friend Glaucus, repaired to Troy, to assist Priam against the Greeks. He is represented by Homer to have been a man of high honour: being about to attack the Greeks, he exhorts Glaucus in a manner worthy of his station :

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"Nor Troy could conquer, nor the Greeks would yield,
'Till great Sarpedon tower'd amid the field
For mighty Jove inspir'd with martial flame
His matchless son, and urg'd him on to fame.
In arms he shines, conspicuous from afar,
And bears aloft his ample shield in air :
Within whose orb the thick bull-hides were roll'd,
Pond'rous with brass, and bound with ductile gold :
And while two pointed jav'lins arm his hands,
Majestic moves along, and heads his Lycian bands.
Why boast we, Glaucus! our extended reign,
Where Xanthus' streams enrich the Lycian plain,
Our num'rous herds that range the fruitful field,
And hills where vines their purple harvest yield,
Our foaming bowls with purer nectar crown'd,
Our feasts enhanc'd with music's sprightly sound?
Why on those shores are we with joy survey'd,
Admir'd as heroes, and as gods obey'd?
Unless great acts superior merit prove,
And vindicate the bounteous pow'rs above.
'Tis ours, the dignity they give, to grace;
The first in valour, as the first in place.

That when, with wond'ring eyes our martial bands
Behold our deeds transcending our commands,
Such, they may cry, deserve the sov'reign state,
Whom those that envy, dare not imitate!
Could all our care elude the gloomy grave,
Which claims no less the fearful than the brave,
For lust of fame I should not vainly dare
In fighting fields, nor urge my soul to war.

But since, alas! ignoble age must come,
Disease, and death's inexorable doom;
The life which others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe;
Brave though we fall, and honour'd if we live,
Or let us glory gain, or glory give!"

Why on these shores? &c. These lines are rendered thus in Cowper's Iliad :

"Why gaze they all on us as we were gods
In Lycia, and why share we pleasant fields
And spacious vineyards where the Xanthus winds?
Distinguished thus in Lycia we are called
To firmness here, and to encounter bold
The burning battle, that our fair report
Among the Lycians may be blazoned thus-
No dastards are the potentates who rule
The bright-armed Lycians; on the fatted flock
They banquet, and they drink the richest wines,
But they are also valiant, and the fight
Wage dauntless"

These very different modes of expression hardly sug gest the idea of the same passage. In English prose the sense of Pope's version is this-Why boast we the favours of the gods our prosperity and our high station ?Why do our subjects regard us as gods, unless our conduct is worthy of our privileges?-It becomes us to prove that we deserve the divine favour, and the homage of our subjects, by actions suitable to the dignity we enjoy, and the respect we command.

In the sixteenth book of the Iliad, Sarpedon is killed by Patroclus, a Greek :

"The tow'ring chiefs to fiercer fight advance, And first Sarpedon whirl'd his weighty lance, Which o'er the warrior's shoulder took its course, And spent in empty air its dying force.

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Not so Patroclus' never-erring dart;
Aim'd at his breast, it pierc'd the mortal part
Where the strong fibres bind the solid heart.
Then, as the mountain oak, or poplar tall,
Or pine, (fit mast for some great admiral,)
Nods to the axe, till with a groaning sound
It sinks, and spreads its honours on the ground:
Thus fell the king; and, laid on earth supine,
Before his chariot stretch'd his form divine :
He grasp'd the dust distain'd with streaming gore,
And, pale in death, lay groaning on the shore.
Then to the leader of the Lycian band

The dying chief addrest his last command.
Glaucus be bold; thy task be first to dare
The glorious dangers of destructive war.
To lead my troops, to combat at their head,
Incite the living, and supply the dead.

Tell them, I charg'd them with my latest breath
Not unreveng'd to bear Sarpedon's death.
What grief, what shame must Glaucus undergo,
If these spoil'd arms adorn a Grecian foe!
Then as a friend, and as a warrior fight;
Defend my body, conquer in my right;
That, taught by great examples, all may try
Like thee to vanquish, or like me to die.

He ceas'd; the fates suppress'd his lab'ring breath,
And his eyes darken'd with the shades of death.
Th' insulting victor in disdain bestrode
The prostrate prince, and on his bosom trode.
All impotent of aid, transfix'd with grief,
Unhappy Glaucus heard the dying chief.

First to the fight his native troops he warms,
Then loudly calls on Troy's vindictive arms.

He spoke each leader in his grief partook,
Troy, at the loss, through all her legions shook.
Transfix'd with deep regret, they view o'erthrown,
At once his country's pillar and their own;
A chief who led to Troy's beleaguer❜d wall
A host of heroes, and outshin'd them all.

Fir'd they rush on; first Hector seeks the foes,
And with superior vengeance greatly glows.

Now great Sarpedon, on the sandy shore,
His heav'nly face deform'd with dust and gore,
And struck with darts by warring heroes shed,
Lies undistinguish'd from the common dead.
His long-disputed corse the chiefs inclose,
On ev'ry side the busy combat grows :

Then, nor before, the hardy Lycians fled,
And left their monarch with the common dead;
Around, in heaps on heaps, a dreadful wall
Of carnage rises as the heroes fall.

(So Jove decreed!) at length the Greeks obtain
The prize contested, and despoil the slain.
The radiant arms are by Patroclus borne,
Patroclus' ships the glorious spoils adorn.

Then thus to Phoebus, in the realms above,
Spoke from his throne the cloud-compelling Jove :
Descend, my Phoebus! on the Phrygian plain,
And from the fight convey Sarpedon slain;
Then bathe his body in the crystal flood,
With dust dishonour'd, and deform'd with blood:
O'er all his limbs ambrosial odours shed,
And with celestial robes adorn the dead.

Those rites discharg'd, his sacred corse bequeath
To the soft arms of silent Sleep and Death:
They to his friends the mournful charge shall bear,
His friends a tomb and pyramid shall rear;
What honours mortals after death receive,
Those unavailing honours we may give!

Apollo bows, and from mount Ida's height,
Swift to the field precipitates his flight;
Thence from the war the breathless hero bore,
Veil'd in a cloud to silver Simois' shore;
There bath'd his honourable wounds, and drest
His manly members in th' immortal vest;
And with perfumes of sweet ambrosial dews,
Restores his freshness, and his form renews.

Then Sleep and Death, two twins of winged race,
Of matchless swiftness, but of silent pace,
Receiv'd Sarpedon, at the god's command,
And in a moment reach'd the Lycian land;
The corse amidst his weeping friends they laid,
Where endless honours wait the sacred shade."

The insulting victor trod on his prostrate foe. This horribly revengeful spirit, gives a shocking idea of savage warfare. Christianity has taught men a more merciful mode of treating fallen enemies.

ULYSSES.

Ulysses, King of Ithaca, was the most accomplished of the Greeks who went to the siege of Troy. He is described by Homer to have been diffident though eloquent, not to have commanded admiration the moment he rose to speak, but by degrees to have charmed those who listened to him.

But when Ulysses rose, in thought profound,
His modest eyes he fix'd upon the ground,
As one unskill'd or dumb, he seem'd to stand,
Nor raised his head nor stretch'd his sceptr'd hand;
But, when he speaks, what elocution flows!
Soft as the fleeces of descending snows,
The copious accents fall with easy art ;
Melting they fall, and sink into the heart!
Wond'ring we hear, and fix'd in deep surprise ;
Our ears refute the censure of our eyes.

On his return from Troy Ulysses fell under the displeasure of Apollo. The men under his command had -dared to prey

On herds devoted to the God of Day.

That, is they had seized upon flocks reserved for the sacrifices to Apollo. The God vindictive, doomed them never to return to their country,-they were destined to perish by a series of accidents, and their com

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