bounty of Providence, in bestowing on man the gifts of speech and knowledge, the fruits of the earth, the benefits of commerce, the means of ascertaining things unknown by the inspection of entrails and the flight of birds, upbraids Adrastus as belonging to that class of mortals, who deem themselves wiser than the gods, because in misinterpretation of the oracle of Apollo, which had pronounced that he should give them to a lion and a boar, he had married his daughters to Tydeus and Polynices, and thus ruined the fortunes of his house by espousing them to strangers (here Musgrave prefers ὡς χρώντων θεῶν to ὡς ζώντων be). It became not a wise man to unite pure with impure blood, but rather to secure friends enjoying the favor of Heaven, of whose assistance he might avail himself in time of fear or danger; for that God, or Jupiter, who governs the common fortunes of mankind, was apt to confound in the same destruction him not laboring under any divine malediction, and who had committed no injustice, with him whose guilt had rendered him obnoxious to punishment. Horace, in the true spirit of a lyric bard, quits the commendation of valor and patriotism, which open a path to Heaven for those deserving immortality, and says that faithful silence also has its reward-silence in affairs of state, it is presumed he means; and goes on to say: "I will forbid him who violates the sacred mysteries of Ceres, or the religion of silence, to remain under the same roof, or to loosen the fragile bark with me. Often Jupiter neglected has added the innocent to the guilty." It is evident that Horace had in view the sentiment of the dramatist. He would not unite pure with impure blood, nor for a moment trust himself in company with one who had rendered himself obnoxious to punishment by violating the mysteries of Ceres. There would be peril in being under the same roof with such a person; and to embark with him on the same vessel would be to augment the perils of a voyage, as from him only contamination was to be expected, not assistance in time of difficulty or danger.-Then comes the more immediate and palpable imitation. "Often Jupiter has added the innocent to the guilty." The Latin expressions integrum and incesto are not susceptible of a literal translation, and bear a closer affinity to τοῦ νοσοῦντος and to οὐ νοσοῦντα than those which I have used; and voσouvros týμaσiv must be translated with a reference to those calamities to which the off spring of Edipus were rendered obnoxious by their father's guilt. The 12th Ode of Horace Book the 1st begins : Quem virum aut heroa lyra vel acri Quem Deum? Cujus recinet jocosa The Carmen II. of Pindar commences thus: Τίνα δ ̓ ἄνδρα κελαδήσομεν ; Here the imitation is too close to require tracing; but it is otherwise in the following example, where the resemblance exists rather in the sentiment and turn of thought than in the expressions; and is perhaps attributable to the prevalence of Grecian literature in the mind of the poet, and his intimate acquaintance with the dramatic writers in particular. And it is probable that he was unconscious from what source he had drawn the lines referred to at the time of their composition. I allude to the sentiments put into the mouth of Hecuba in the Troades of Euripides, who had previously expressed her apprehension of being carried as a slave of the detested Helen, the cause of the overthrow of Troy, to the banks of the Eurotas, rather than to the more fortunate regions now described. Τὰν Πηνειοῦ σεμνὰν χώραν, Τάδε δεύτερά μοι μετὰ τὴν ἱερὰν Καὶ τὴν Αἰτναίαν Ηφαίστου, Φοινίκας ἀντήρη χώραν, Σικελῶν ὀρέων ματές ̓ ἀκούω, Κηρύσσεσθαι, στεφάνοις τ' ἀρετὰς, Τάν τ ̓ ἀγχιστεύουσαν γᾶν *Ιονίῳ ναίεσθαι πόντῳ, &c. Horace, in the 6th Ode of his second Book, addresses Septimius in a strain of regret, when they were preparing to accompany Augustus on an expedition, that they were to incur the perils and privations of a voyage to Spain and the chance of being engulphed in the Syrtes, then indulging the desire of his heart in these beautiful stanzas: Tibur Argao positum colono Unde si Parcæ prohibent iniquæ ; Ille terrarum mihi præter omnes Although the imitation here is not servile, the line of thought and turn of expression is similar; and I cannot doubt that the lyric bard was indebted in this instance to the choral strains of the dramatist. Other instances may doubtless be adduced. Then ought we eagerly to convict Lord Byron, who has a right to claim originality of genius as much as most English poets, because he may occasionally have borrowed from writers ancient or modern; or can we pretend too severely to criticise even that more servile imitator Gray for having done what the acknowledged master in the art of poetry did not scruple to do before him? Gray may perhaps be accused of being too close a copyist, trusting little to his own powers, and building the structure of his celebrity on the authority of others. A line of conduct which may be said to argue want of confidence rather than sterility of genius. Take the following example: To each his sufferings, all are men Condemn'd alike to groan, The tender for another's pain, * Η πολύμοχθον ἆρ ̓ ἦν γένος, Δύσποτμον ἀνδράσιν ἀνευρεῖν ; G. C. F. 56 SYMBOLE CRITICE AD CICERONIS DISPUTATIONUM TUSCULANARUM LIB. I CAP. II. §. 4. Summam eruditionem Græci sitam censebant in nervorum vocumque cantibus: igitur et Epaminondas-fidibus præclare cecinisse dicitur; Themistoclesque aliquot ante annis, quum in epulis recusasset lyram, habitus est indoctior.] Non ejusdem significationis sunt hæc duo: ante multos annos, et multis ante annis. Illud ita dictum esse constat, ut statim a præsenti tempore retro numeremus ætatem, (ut in hoc: Ante multos eum vidi annos) hoc autem hunc in modum, ut res non ad præsens sed ad præteritum tempus referatur (velut in his : Decem ante annis aliud egi, aliud tribus annis post). Quapropter lectionem vulg., quam Ernestius retinuit, aliquot ante annos correxit Wolfius sic: aliquot ante annis. Ceterum tirones sciant, aliquot annos sæpe esse satis longam annorum seriem, ut aliquantum et aliquanto didicerunt significare bonam partem. Cap. III. §. 6. In quo eo magis nobis est elaborandum, dum, quod multi jam esse Latini libri dicuntur scripti inconsiderate, ab optimis Illi quidem viris, sed non satis eruditis.] In editione priori Wolfius retinuit Illis, pro quo Ernestius jam maluit illi, ut ad libros pertineret. Defendebat autem Wolfius lectionem vulgatam sic: primum, quidem post pronomen illis positum esse trajectione quadam pro hac formula loquendi: Ab optimis quidem illis viris, sed non satis eruditis; deinde, multa esse Ciceronis loca, ubi ille sine honoris testificatione positum reperiatur, ut iste non semper cum contemptionis significatione, quanquam utrumque proprie ita ponatur. Tamen in altera editione recepit conjecturam illi, oblitus notare lectionis Ernestianæ diversitatem: nam in textu quidem Ernestius reliquerat illis. Nobis quoque h. 1. magis placet Illi. Sic Tuscul. III. 4. §. 11. Graci volunt illi quidem, sed parum valent verbo. Eadem S. Quare si aliquid Oratoriæ Laudi nostra attulimus industria.] In Ernestii editione scriptum legitur: si aliquid Oratoria Laudis. At nullus exstat in Cicerone locus, ubi artem oratoriam simpliciter dixerit Oratoriam, licet artemn poëticam simpliciter dicat Poëticam. E Quintiliani Institutt. Or. II. 14 patet, non potuisse Ciceronem scribere simpliciter Oratoria. Laus oratoria aliis etiam locis dicit, ut laus imperatoria. Hinc Wolfius scripsit Oratoriæ remota majuscula littera initiali. Ernestium quidem sibi non constare deprehendi, qui in textu reliquerit Oratoria, quasi de arte sermo sit, in annotatione autem de laude oratoria loquatur. Idem Genitivum laudis defendit non bene, ut jam defendisse animadverto Thomam Wopkens. Lectt. Tull. p. 49. Nam verbum afferre reperitur illud quidem sine Dativo, ut si dicas: moram affert (conf. Cic. pro Sext. 61) et similia. Hoc tamen loco durius omissum esset Romanis. Dativus oratoriæ laudi quum non sit Davisii conjectura, sed in edd. vet. occurrat, recte eum Wol fius prætulit, ut in Epistola ad Davisium Rich. Bentleius. Cap. IV. §. 7. Aristoteles, vir summo ingenio, Scientia, Copia] Jure probat hanc Wolfii lectionem (quam reperio etiam in ed. Oxon. a. 1783, T. II. p. 335) Censor peritissimus in Ephemeridibus litterariis Jenensibus (A. L. Z. a. 1792 no. 113), quem Schützium esse, quod illo jam anno quo prodiit censura videre mihi videbar, locis non paucis confirmavit mihi comparatio editionis Schützianæ. Quæ lectionem Wolfianam secuta, duplicem quibus illa nititur rationem non attulit. Scil. scientia copia Ciceroniano quidem loquendi usu non reperitur: doctrinæ vel eruditionis copiam rectissime dixeris. Est etiam male druvderos lectio vulg. Sunt quidem exempla copulæ in duobus tantum verbis omissæ: sed nonnisi ubi est emphasis quædam, qualis h. 1. nulla. Ceterum admirabilem quandam scientiam et copiam Aristoteli Cicero tribuit Orat. I. §. 5. Cap. V. §. 9. verba a Wolfio non sollicitata, quæ et mihi a Ciceronis ratione videntur non esse aliena Moriendum est enim omnibus ad glossemata releganda esse suspicatur Censor ille. In editione tamen Schützius h. 1. nihil monuit. Cap. VI. §. 11. contra ista ipsa Disserentium Philosophorum.] Sic e codd. quibusdam dedit Wolfius pro lectione vulg. Philosophorum Disserentium. In qua trajectio nimia esse videtur. Utuntur quidem interdum veteres scriptores trajectionibus quibus durities aliqua inest. Sed quum libri non consentiant, commodiorem structuram Wolfius recepit. Neque est clausula hexametri philosophorum: nam prima syllaba brevis. Ibid. ita ne miseri quidem.] Sunt delendum quidem putabat Ernestius, non delevit. Qui quam affert causam cur delendum sit, nulla est. Est autem propter sententiam expungendum, ut jam monuit Bentleius, quem secuti sunt Wolfius et Schützius. |