inquiry. In this enlightened view it blends itself with the history of philosophy, of politics, and of religion, with the structure of the human frame, and even with the theory of the human mind. Connected with any, or with all these purposes, none but the uninformed will neglect or decry this branch of philology as vain or useless; and without such connexion none but pedants will pursue or extol it. as worthy of attention. As the Greek tongue originated in the Asiatic languages, a knowledge of these languages, to a certain extent, is absolutely necessary to form a rational and competent etymologist in the dialects of Greece; and many passages must exist in the Greek writers, especially the more ancient poets, which can be understood only by light reflected from the East. Our attempt to illustrate certain passages in Homer serves in its turn to illustrate the justness of this remark : Θερσίτης δ ̓ ἔτι μοῦνος, ἀμετροεπὴς ἐκολῴα, Ος δ ̓ ἔπεα φρεσὶν ᾖσιν ἄκοσμά τε πολλά τε ήδη, Il. ii. 212. The The phrase o xarà xóopov is understood to mean inelegantly, or according to Heyne, Sine animi judicio firmo, temerè, adeòque etiam indecorè." This also is the explanation of the ancient Scholia. I think, however, the expression has a very different sense. origin of nooos is the Hebrew and Arabic word DDP kusm, which signifies to divide, or distribute; and as division, or distribution, is the first principle of beauty and order, it signifies in Greek to order and to beautify. By noorwg Homer means a commander, and the corresponding verb xow he employs in its primitive sense of distributing. And I think he holds up Thersites by the expression not as inelegantly inveighing with Agamemnon, but as inconsistent with order and military subordination—οὐ κατὰ κόσμον ἐριζέμεναι βασιλεῦσι, seditiously or inconsistently with discipline to inveigh with kings. In Persian, DT dum, nieans breath. Hence it came to mean in the form of buuòs, the principle which breathes, namely, the soul; and as the soul is the basis of identity in man, uuds was thence extended to denote self; and this is the sense which the term often bears in Homer :- Τῷ δ ̓ ἄς' ̓Αχαιοί Εκπάγλως κοτέοντο, νεμέσσηθέν τ' ἐνὶ θυμῷ. Il. ii. 223. Here the Greeks are said to have been indignant with Agamemnon in their mind, meaning in themselves. The poet contrasts the conduct of the Greeks with that of Thersites. All were displeased with Agamemnon for his treatment of Achilles: Thersites openly railed at him; the rest of his countrymen too were indignant, but they confined their indignation to their own bosoms. This contrast gives the full force of vì bouw. When Adrastus (Il. vi. 45.) supplicated mercy at the hand of Menelaus, the Poet adds, Τῷ δ ̓ ἄρα θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἔπειθε, meaning, that the suppliant prevailed upon Menelaus's own feeling mind, but that Agamemnon, whose heart was of sterner materials, persuaded him to the contrary-άλλ' Αγαμέμνων "Αντιος ἦλθε θέων, καὶ ὁμοκλήσας ἔπος ηύδα. In Il. ii. 815. we meet with this remarkable passage: *Εστι δέ τις προπάροιθε πόλεως αἰπεῖα κολώνη, ̓Αθάνατοι δέ τε σήμα πολυσκάρ μοιο Μυρίννης" Of this passage the following is a literal version: "There exists apart in the plain in front of the city, (namely, Troy,) a lofty mount, accessible by a circular ascent. This men call BATIEIA, but the immortals the TOMB of far-bounding Myrinne." The language of the Trojans, though a dialect of the Greek, was, we may well suppose from their situation, mixed by an influx of Asiatic terms. Of this class is Bariεia, which in Hebrew is beit, and means an abode. In Isaiah xiv. 18. and Job iii. 15. it means the last house of man. The term here occurs in the Syriac form, bateea, and has the sense which it bears in the Jewish scriptures. Hence we discover the meaning of the above passage, which has escaped the knowledge of all the critics both ancient and modern. Bariia then means the same thing with σήμα, and the clause of πολυσκάρθμοιο Μυρίννης is to be connected with the former, as well as with the latter, and its import is, Men call it (Batiea) the grave, the immortals, the tomb, of Myrinne. By men, Homer meant the vulgar people of Troy; by the immortals he intended the polished Greeks. Here we see the partiality, or rather the pride, of the poet respecting his language and countrymen. The phrase is purely oriental. The elegant Shanscrit is styled Dael Nagoree, writings of the immortals. Conformably to the same lofty figure, Homer calls Greek from its superior polish, the language of the immortal Gods, while he characterises the dialect of Troy from its barbarity and rudeness the language of men. The explanation which the Critics have given of Bartela is very various; each rendering it more uncertain and improbable than his predecessors. Hesychius explains it to be rius Tewinn; others derive the term from βάω, or βαίνω, to go; and others again from βάτος, bramble; because, as Heyne says, collis sentibus obductus esse potuit. As the commentators did not know the origin or meaning of the word, it is not to be expected that they should understand the singular phraseology grounded on the use of it. Eustathius's account of it is, τὸ μὲν ὅλως κρεῖττον τῶν ὀνομάτων θεοῖς δίδωσιν ἡ ποίησις, the poet ascribes the best name to the Gods. The Scholiast says, rov ev goyενέστερον ὄνομα εἰς θεοὺς ἀναφέρει ὁ ποιητὴς, τὸ δὲ μεταγενέστερον εἰς avogunovs, the poet refers the more ancient name to the Gods; the more recent name to men; which cannot be true, for Barea is at least equally ancient with oua. Clarke comes nearest the truth, who supposes the language of the immortals to mean the language of the learned; and this great Critic would have seen that Homer intended to contrast, not the language of the learned with the vulgar Greek, but the polished language of the Greeks with the barbarous dialect of the Trojans, if he had been aware that Barista in this dialect meant a tomb, or the same thing with us. It is remarkable that the word exists in Celtic, and means a grave-bedd. On this passage I shall make three general remarks, which the progress of philosophical criticism will hereafter justify-First, the derivation of the Greek primitives from the Oriental tongues will set aside in general as nugatory and erroneous the derivations of the ancient Scholiasts, and those modern Lexicographers who have adopted their explanations. These Scholiasts and Grammarians are valuable expounders of the Greek text; but as they were ignorant of the Oriental tongues, the account which they give of the simple words, thence derived, is often frivolous in the extreme. The Greek Scholia annexed to the Poets abound with puerilities; nor is the Etymologicum Magnum to be excepted, though the Greek Lexicographers have sought for no better or more rational guide in their inquiries after the origin of the words which they explain. Secondly, Hemsterhuis, Valckenaer, Ruhnken, Villoison, Lennep, Scheide, (of whom Professor Porson was a disciple and an admirer,) are indeed justly celebrated among modern Critics, for their researches into the origin and meaning of the Greek tongue. Their theories contain many valuable observations on the analogy, by which that language grew from comparatively few radicals to its present complicated form; but their system of etymologies I will prove to be erroneous, fanciful, and even absurd; because in no instance, or at least in very few instances, have they sought the primitive Greek terms in the languages of the East, whence they came. Thirdly, as the ancient and modern Lexicographers have in many instances mistaken the origin of Greek words, they have also unavoidably mistaken their primary significations. For this reason the Greek authors (especially the more early of them) contain, as I have already observed, passages which have eluded the sagacity of all the Critics. Great Coram-street, London. JOHN JONES. ON THE SYNTAX OF "ICOi, SCITO. TO THE EDITOR OF THE CLASSICAL JOURNAL. SIR, THAT , scito, according to the remark in CLASSICAL JOURNAL, No. VI. p. 268. and No. vIII. p. 433. may be followed by an adjective without any particle, in this sense,autóßouλos lobi, know thou art thine own counsellor; is the declared opinion of Valckenaer, ad Phoen. 257. et ad Hippolyt. vv. 304, 5. and of Brunck, ad Ed. Col. 1210. (1206.) After carefully examining all the passages, to which Valckenaer appeals in both his notes, for the syntax of o, otw, and ore, even the apparent proofs of his doctrine are found to lie in a small compass, and amount but to two, where a participle seems wanting.-1. From the Heraclidæ, v, 598. he quotes imperfectly, and mistakes the passage, as honest Barnes had done before him : πασῶν γυναικῶν ἴσθι τιμιωτάτη, which is thus translated : Omnium mulierum scias te honoratissimam esse. Pray take the whole passage; you will instantly perceive, that stands did μérov to the rest of the sentence, according to one of its most common usages. ̓Αλλ' ὦ μέγιστον ἐκπρέπουσ ̓ εὐψυχίας, Πασῶν γυναικῶν, ἴσθι, τιμιωτάτη Καὶ ζῶσ ̓ ὑφ ̓ ἡμῶν καὶ θανοῦσ ̓ ἔσῃ πολύ. Above all women, be assured, thou shalt, whether alive or dead, have the very greatest honor from us. 2. The next apparent instance is in the Edipus Coloneus, 1210. (1206.) where, from the conjecture of Scaliger, Brunck has edited, σὺ δὲ ΣΩΣ ἴσθ ̓, ἐάν περ καμέ τις σώζῃ θεῶν, with this translation-tu tamen salvum te tamdiu scito, dum me deus quis servabit. And to say the truth, this passage so translated looks plausibly enough; but can scarcely be pleaded as a decisive proof by itself. Till other examples, clear and unequivocal, be produced, is it so very hard to take the words before us, plainly, thus, But be thou safe, i. e. safe thou shalt be, if to me also any kind god extend his protection. 3. Your correspondent, Mr. Barker, appeals to the Sept. Theb. v. 1061. ̓Αλλ ̓ αὐτόβουλος ἔσθ', ἀπεννέπω δ ̓ ἐγώ. which I translate, Nay, take thine own counsel: but I forbid the deed. Stanley seems to have considered the passage as elliptic, taking ἴσθι, as scito, διὰ μέσου. Αλλ' αυτόβουλος, ἴσθι, [θάψεις τόνδε] &c. The words of the Scholiast, A. which Mr. Barker quotes, exactly justify my translation. The Scholiast, B. reads a instead of o, in the sense of Unάgxas and that is the lection of several MSS. One cause of mistaking o, sis, for io, scias, may have been the rare use of the former, compared with the frequent use of the latter, verb. Allowing the verses quoted above from Sophocles and Eschylus to pass for two instances of o, sis, I cannot readily refer at present to more than two besides in Euripides, and to two others, one in Aristophanes, and one in a line from some comic poet. Orest. 1320. and Hippolyt. 721. Enμos .. Equit. 860. μὴ τοῦ λέγοντος ἴσθι. ἴσος μὲν ἴσθι πᾶσι, κἂν προὔχῃς βίῳ. Vid. Monk ad Hippolyt. v. 721. But all this at the very best serves but little to defend Mr. Barker's interpretation of a passage, so obviously presenting the ideas which every one else has attached to it. Prom. Vinct. 61. iva μάθῃ σοφιστὴς ὢν Διὸς νωθέστερος. In plain English, let Mr. B. be told, there is no just arguing from any yet produced to the uály before us; and let him attentively consider, if he pleases, the note of Porson that follows, Orest. 792. Ποῦ γὰρ ἂν δείξω φίλος; Пou yàp av Ald. et pars codicum, quod bis solocum est. Rectè plures MSS. Simillima constructio Iph. A. 407. δείξεις δὲ ποῦ μοι πατρὸς ἐκ ταυτοῦ γεγώς; Finally, if Mr. Barker be wrong about, on that point, he errs in high company; and the names of Valckenaer and Brunck, while they console his error, must excuse the pains here taken to expose and correct it. I am, Sir, your's, &c. North Sheen. SIDNEYENSIS. BIBLICAL CRITICISM. TO THE EDITOR OF THE CLASSICAL JOURNAL. SIR, has adverted to that long-contested passage of Scripture, I. Cor. xi. 10. Διὰ τοῦτο ὀφείλει ἡ γυνὴ ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, διὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους. YOUR learned correspondent B. in No. 1. p. 100. After having given the passage under consideration, he properly subjoins the translation as it is commonly found in our version: and then proceeds to inform us, that "the best explanation of it will be found in the pious and profoundly learned Mede." Whatever there is of controversy must depend upon the interpretation of the word ayyéλous, for, as your correspondent justly observes, conjectural emendation cannot be admitted, where all the MSS. agree. Having, therefore, nothing to offer on the rendering of the word oulay, but considering it properly interpreted by the word "veil," I shall here confine myself to yyees, and may, perhaps, assist the apparent difficulty. With all due submission to the learned opinions of Gilbert Wakefield, Macknight, and your ingenious correspondent, I imagine the word ayyɛxos here simply means a good and pious man; for in the very ancient Alexandrine MSS. we find it used in this sense in Gen. vi. 2. the descendants of Seth being termed aуyɛλ TO Bɛo, and this reading is confirmed by Philo, Eusebius, Procopius, and others. Theodorus, |