of that treacherous fear, which they really displayed, and with which they were really watching opportunity. Under the influence of this fear, and of political necessity, (expressed in 'Avayna) they, in union with the other Greek states, but with infinitely greater forwardness than the rest, Прóμ even in adulation, dispatched ambassadors with congratulations, crowns, and every offer and mark of their allegiance to vai to have courted with cringing servility. Observe the propriety of the 1st aorist in this word, because the ambassadors were to express what had been already done by their respective states to .... χαλάδες τὸν στρατηλάτην Λύκων, the Macedonian wolf commanding expeditions. Expanλárny is, in this instance, obviously, and peculiarly, a suitable epithet for the Aúxov. This is a second hieroglyphical symbol for exhibiting Alexander, as a commander of expeditions. Thus Castor and Pollux in their expedition against the Athenians are called §. 504. Aún, but lions in another passage before quoted. So the Greeks in their expedition against Troy are hieroglyphical Aúxos, wherever they are mentioned in this poem on the subject of that expedition. Σκήπτρα τῆς πάλαι μοναρχίας The greatest part of Greece was, in the most ancient period of their history, under monarchical government; but the poet alludes principally to the Athenians, who were póμ against Alexander, and, notwithstanding, showed the most unprincipled forwardness in offering to Alexander the Expov, that is, the powers of their ancient regal authority. But Exτ also includes in its plural number the Thebans, the Corinthians, &c. 'Opéžas represents, not unaptly, the abovementioned ambassadors in a distant country of Asia, where the Greeks through them, that is, "with extended hands offered " &c. The ambassadors met him in Babylonia, and were well received by him, although Alexander regarded their flattering offers as the forced fruits of his unexpected and unexampled success. 3rd PASSAGE. Ὦ δὴ μεθ ̓ ἕκτην γένναν αὐθαίμων ἐμὸς θ. 1450. Σκύλων ἀπαρχὰς τὰς δορυκτητοὺς λαβών The Translation. "Among the friends of whom my kinsman after the sixth century, a certain single wrestler when he shall have engaged his mighty spear both for sea and land, and entered into a pacific treaty (with other wrestlers) shall be called in hymns of praise the most estimable, having accepted the first fruits of the spoils, which he had already secured to his possession by the spear." Notes upon the Original. * must be construed in regimen with "v pío" 0. 1449. which ought to have been 9. 1450. but has been most strangely transposed by some inaccuracy of a copyist or editor., as a dative instead of a genitive, is perfectly conformable to Greek idiom. Of this there is a stronger example 6, 591, in Βουραίοισιν ἡγεμὼν στρατοῦ. Upon pov I shall enlarge in its proper place. Δὴ “assuredly,” must be construed afterwards with ὑμνηθήσεται· Μεθ ̓ ἕκτην γένναν. "After the sixth century, or after six centuries," necessarily imports that the number of years must be completed by some addition. Therefore more, and, indeed a little more, than six centuries, which elapsed between the time of Alexandra, (i. e. of the Trojan war) and the time of her Avlaíμwv, whom I shall show to be, most probably, Ptolemy Lagus, or Soter, who was born more than 360 years A. C. will give the number of 1000 years A. C. Although modern chronologers, on very uncertain data from the history of the fabulous age of Greece, carry the Trojan war considerably beyond 1000 years A. C. yet in poetical language the round number of 1000 years will justifiably represent a larger number. Besides, Merà, after, is so indefinite as to give us much latitude in our additions, and on the other side, the Greeks may mean, as is usual with them, by the definite xv, any other considerable number-αὐθαίμων ἐμὸς is Ptolemy Soter. Pausanias in his Attics, says, Πτολεμαῖον Μακεδόνες Φιλίππου παῖδα εἶναι τοῦ ̓Αμύντου, λόγῳ δε Λάγου νομίζουσιν τὴν γάρ οἱ μητέρα (Arsinoe) ἔχουσαν ἐν γαστρὶ δοθῆναι γυναῖκα ὑπὸ Φιλίππου Λάγω.” Suidas has the same account. We have already seen, that Alexander was a descendant from Helenus, brother of Alexander, and was, therefore her avaiμwr• and if Alexander were her avaiμwv, Ptolemy Lagus, or Soter, the brother of Alexander, as the son of Philip, their common father, must also have been her autaiuw We are told by Rook, the editor of Arrian, that this Ptolemy is styled "Philip, who is called Ptolemy" in the barbarous Latin chronological extract. It should be observed, too, that the birth of Ptolemy as natural son of Philip, and brother of Alexander, was currently reported among the Macedonians, who were politically unconnected with Ptolemy, and had not originated with the Ægyptians, to whom, as subjects of Ptolemy, a motive of adulation might have been not improperly imputed. 66 Εἷς single, alone. Τελευτήσαντος δὲ Αλεξάνδρου, Pausanias says) τοῖς ἐς Αριδαῖον τὸν Φιλίππου τὴν πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν ἄγουσιν ἀντιστὰς αὐτὸς μάλιστα ἐγένετο εἰς τὰς βασιλείας altios Tà lovη veμnova "Single" again, because by his own personal address, courage, wisdom, and the high estimation, which his character had obtained not only from his own subjects and soldiers, but even from those of his rivals and enemies, Ptolemy defeated the designs of Perdiccas, A. C. 320. and 66 again," those of Antigonus, A. C. 305. Single" again, he recovered Cyrene and Libya, Palestine, Cælesyria, &c. Tis Tahaιoths, a proper hieroglyphic, which admirably suits the character of Ptolemy, and, also, his situation. "Wrestling" in the first place, is said by Plutarch to be of all the Greek athletic exercises "TEX VIXTATOV, nal Tavouрyóτatov, nai пpeσßúτatovi.”" which last word, it is to be noted, agrees with poßioros" in another. In the second place, Ptolemy was engaged as παλαιστής against the most accomplished and able παλαισταί, the generals, friends and successors of Alexander like himself, Perdiccas, Antipater, Cassander, Eumenes, Antigonus, Demetrius, Seleucus, Ophellas, &c. "sed Ptolcmæus in Egypto, solerti industriâ magnas opes parabat, quippe et Ægyptios insigni moderatione in favorem sui solicitaverat, et reges finitimos beneficiis, obsequiisque devinxerat, terminos quoque imperii, acquisitâ Cyrene urbe, ampliaverat, factusque jam tantus erat, ut non tam timeret, quam timendus ipse hostibus esset.” Συμβαλὼν ἀλκὴν with other παλαισταῖς understood. Aopos. Properly hieroglyphical. Πόντου τε καὶ γῆς, κεἰς διαλλαγὰς μολῶν. It is needless to repeat the well-known operations and conduct of Ptolemy, both by sea and land, against Rhodes, Cyprus, the coasts of Greece, Syria, Cilicia, Syria, &c. and then his anayas, that is, pacific partition of the empire with Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus, A. C. 301. Пpoßiσtos v píñotov. This line has evidently been transposed, and ought to have been 9. 1450. and the next line 9. 1459. See note upon. 1446. Ptolemy was Ipioßioros iv pihalov. 1st, as the brother of Alexander. 2dly, because he was so steady in his attachment to him, that Philip banished him from Macedonia. 3dly, because when Alexander was in the utmost personal danger from the Malli, or Oxydracæ, or Malli Oxydracæ, Ptolemy is said μάλιστῶ οἱ τῶν ἑταίρων ἀμύναι 4thly, because he possessed in his own kingdom, Egypt, the remains of Alexander, those remains, which Ptolemy had contested with all his rivals and enemies. The interment of those remains was contested, because, according to a prediction, the country, where they should be deposited, should be of all other countries the most happy and 1 Alexander gave him for this act the name "wrnp." This name was again bestowed on him by the Rhodians. most prosperous. Those remains were, through the successful address of Ptolemy, brought to Ægypt, and buried at Memphis. Suonosta Ptolemy both had merited, as we have seen, and had also secured for himself the song of praise. Ptolemy, himself a scholar and an author, for the improvement of philosophy, and all other knowledge, founded at Alexandria a Museum, contiguous to the royal palace. It was like our Royal Society, says Prideaux, and the Academy of Sciences at Paris. The prophetess might say of Ptolemy, σε ὑμνηθήσεται» . 1450. has been misplaced, and ought to have been 9. 1449. After σxúλwy an apostrophised ought to have been inserted. Exúkov, the conquests of Alexander. 'Anayas, first-fruits in the correctest sense. Perdiccas, A. C. 322. "inter Principes provincias dividit. Primò Ptolemæo Ægyptus, et Africæ, Arabiæque pars sorte venit." AopuTnTous. What I have already quoted, together with all the histories of those times, prove, that he, most literally "secured the first-fruits to his possession," by his military valor, and military as well as general conduct. Außuv. This acceptance means the solemn form of acceptance under the beforementioned treaty of partition. Thus, if my interpretation of this extract, and more especially of the third passage in it be admissible, the object of the poet, and of the artist, whose performance he is poetically describing, is very probably discovered. That object is naturally, and judiciously, a most flattering compliment, paid to the sovereign of the country, where the artist and poet resided under his munificent patronage. Besides, that object, thus discovered, will prepare you and your readers for taking, as I trust, not an unsatisfactory view of the form and language of the "Alexandra" in my next communication. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, Logie Almond, Nov. 18th, 1811. On the Composition of the Greek Sapphic Ode. TO THE EDITOR OF THE CLASSICAL JOURNAL. SIR, position of the Greek Sapphic Ode, CLASS. JOURN. NO. VII. p. 123. will be found as imperfect, I fear, as it is tardy. But in points where examination and inquiry do not yet justify decisive language, hints and surmises may at this stage of the business have their use, and therefore shall not be kept back. In such matters as depend on ascertained authority, or on opinion, of which the grounds are open to every eye, a little more boldness may be forgiven. THE fulfilment of my promise regarding the com The subject naturally divides itself into five heads; which cannot well be confounded, without injury to that clearness, so necessary in treating even the question before us. 1. The scansion of the Sapphic verse, as to the feet composing it. 2. The structure of it, in the arrangement and division of words. 3. The prosody, to determine the long and short of single syllables. 4. The style, and sort of words, of which the language should consist. 5. The dialect, or forms, flexions, &c. in the words admitted. Of all these in their turn. But on one general point so much of the detail afterwards must hinge, that it is better first of all to avow what my conviction is, and to state briefly my reasons for it. If it was Sir William Browne's wish, that any scholar, young or old, should write a Greek Ode of five and twenty or thirty stanzas exactly and purely after the manner of Sappho, in scansion, structure, prosody, style, and dialect; his were indeed ægri somnia. I defy any man living to do it, and to demonstrate it rightly done. The thing is impossible. Porson himself could not have done the feat-for want of materials to work upon. After what practicable model then, the least unlike to that of Sappho, could Sir W. B. have reasonably desired his candidates to attempt the composition of the Sapphic Ode? The question answers itself. If you chuse to write duwoyenws without any rule of limitation, the Greek of Homer, of Thomas Morell, and of John Tzetzes, is all before you. But such a farrago could not in this day be successful; it would not now be endured, whatever may have betided it before. I assert then, without fear of rational contradiction, that the nearest practicable model for a writer in Greek Sapphics to contemplate and keep in his eye, is to be found in the Lyric Ödes of Pindar. His text is on the whole very trust-worthy, the dialectic forms few and simple, and the metre, from the correspondency of stanzas, seldom liable to any dispute. Reject Pindar: and where have you any one model else to propose? Homer, as a pattern, is out of the question. The short Anacreontic Odes are of uncertain authority, at best; and after all the ingenuity of your correspondent M. K. the prosody of them is not yet disengaged from the Chaos of Baxter and of Barnes. What of the Choral Songs of the Greek Tragedians? More recent in time, in language and dialect less homogeneous, they still contain much of sweets, which with good caution the matine bee may turn to her own use and purpose. But the lyrics of Pindar, in every important and useful respect, present the proper basis, on which the Sapphic rhyme may most happily be built. Gather, if you like, from fragments of poetry the nearest to the age and style of Sappho, whatever benefit you safely can. Draw, as the bard of Thebes and all other bards were proud to draw, from the treasures of Homer. Still, however, let the lyrics of Pindar be the basis of your building. i. Scansion. The table for the three first verses of the stanza, with the ictual marks, is this, Horace, who with exquisite skill makes the Greek metres, which he adopts, bend to the genius of the Latin language, gives the fourth syllable uniformly long. The fifth syllable in the third line of the Alcaic stanza is with him always long, for the same reason. The last verse of the Sapphic stands simply thus, 130= ii. Structure. Horace, with exceptions hardly worth naming, divides the line by the following arrangements of words, A. Integer vitæ scelerisque purus...... B. Delia tutela Deæ fugaces C. Lenis Ilithyia tuere He loves to vary the first form by the introduction of the second, and with the third also, but less frequently. Modern writers of Latin Sapphics, while they exhibit the first form tiresomely enough, unvaried by the second and third, introduce others which Horace never approved. Immemor sed Castaliis in hortis,―et similia. For the Greek Sapphic, from the very different character of its rhythm, in the odes and fragments left to us, it is difficult to discover any clue for the limitation of its structure. In the Musæ Cantabrigienses, to which I must now perpetually refer, the division of the verse into three long words too often repeated becomes stiff and offensive. The following line is prodigious, P. 117. ἐγκαθημένα τὸ θαλασσόπλαγκτον. At the beginning of no verse but the Adonic, may an enclitic word, or a word from its use unfit to open a sentence, be admitted. The following is very wrong, P. 113. τεὰν τί μοῖραν ἂν σκοποῖς ; At the end of the first and second verses, the position of a monosyllable being emphatic is better avoided; much more so, if it begins a Still worse, if it belongs in close syntax to what follows, new sense. P. 115. P. 143. κἂν βροτὸς δέδορκε βροτησίοις· γᾶς θαῦμ' ἐμᾶς, κ. τ. λ. ἔμπορος τεὰν δύναμιν φέρει πρὸς only monosyllables ending in ɛ, [Præf. p. 5.] and those not emphatic, may be elided, at the end of any verse, the Adonic excepted. The following is wrong: P. 114. — -ὡς γελᾷ πάνθ', x. T. X. The close union of the Adonic with the third verse, might render it questionable, how far even the hiatus is allowable between them. Little doubt can arise of its being harsh and awkward to open a new |