where Valckenaer has collected from our author and others several specimens of this kind of witticism; to which, as Blomfield observes, ad Prom. Vinct. 87., may be added Prometh. 742.-Agam. 682.705.Suppl. 46. and I beg to add Prometh. 874, 7. Sophocles, in singularly bad taste, places a similar raporoparía in the mouth of Ajax, whilst lamenting his own misfortunes, Αἱ, αἳ, τίς ἄν ποτ' ᾤεθ ̓ ὧδ' ἐπώνυμον τοὐμὸν ξυνοίσειν ὄνομα τοῖς ἐμοῖς κακοῖς; καὶ τρίς τοιούτοις γὰρ κακοῖς ἐντυγχάνω, which can only be rivalled by a passage in the second part of Shakspeare's Henry 4th, where the old Earl of Northumberland, understanding that some fugitive from Shrewsbury had said that young Percy's spur was cold, bursts out in the midst of his agony with the following pun: "Ah! said he that Harry Percy's spur was cold? Of Hotspur cold-spur."Sed de his nimis. VI. We shall make no excuse for producing the following long extract from Dr. Maltby's Thesaurus, especially as it relates to an idea which Euripides held in common with Homer regarding the word reavós. It has been already quoted with due praise; and we have no doubt that our readers will join with us in admiring the extensive erudition which it displays: Hujus vocis notio apud Homerum expendenda est diligenter. Primum significatur Oceanus, Titan, numen antiquissimum, rerum parens; quique fluvii cognominis Deus habebatur. Deinde vero, quod præcipue notandum, wкeavoũ nomine apud Poetam designatur fluvius immensus, qui pro istius temporis notitia, maria et terras quasi amplexu continebat, qui affluxu et refluxu ter die agitabatur, in quem cœlestia corpora occidere, et e quo exoriri credebantur. Unde pro ipso horizonte a quibusdam accipitur. Vid. Strab. p. 4. et Damm. c. 1579. In Homero igitur ¿reavòs et láλaoou duas res plane diversas plerumque, si non semper, notant: quod discrimen, si semel percipiatur, facilis est explicatio exordii Odys. μ, quamvis veteribus philosophis ac Geographis visum fuerit adeo plenum molestiarum. Strab. p. 5. Equidem addubito, utrum in uno aliquo loco summus ille ac vetustissimus Poeta per úжeavòv voluit simpliciter Oáλaoσav, sive mare. Ubique, ni fallor, cum numen non indicetur, est nomen proprium fluvii, fabulosi nimirum, sed fluvii. Erat scilicet Homeri æqualibus orbis terrarum planities circularis, cujus extremitates undique clauserit iste fluvius: ab illo omnis omnino aquarum copia, marium, amnium, fontium, et originem ducebat, et in illum rursus ferebatur. Conf. II. E. 201. 245, 6. cum H. P. 195-7. "Hinc videmus, qua de causa depingatur Oceanus clypei Achillei extreniam oram undique cingens: ἐν δὲ τίθει ποταμοιο μέγα σθένος Ὠκεανοῖο ἄντυγα πὰρ πυμάτην σάκεος πύκα ποιητοῖο. . Σ. 606. "Hinc etiam videmus quamobrem Virgilius, cujus ætate peculiaris illa significatio vocis Kearòs, jamdiu esset exoleta, mare suum aliter in Æneæ clypeo ordinaverit. Hæc inter tumidi late maris ibat imago. Æn. viii. 671. i. e. in medio clypei, non maris: etsi hoc mediam clypei partem ' occupare putandum est' Heyn. in loc. "Si quærendum videatur, an hæc vocis, rearòs, notio apud alios Scriptores reperiatur, notandus in primis est Hesiodus, eadem fere cum Homero loquens. Vid. Oeoy. 242. 'Aox. 314. Citandus est præterea in eandem sententiam Euripides. Αἶ, αἷ, πᾶ φύγω, ξέναι πολιὸν αἰθέρ' ἀμπτάμενος ἑλίσσων κυκλεῖ χθόνα; Orest. 1369, *Similia videtur Orpheus, vel qui sub nomine ejus scripsit, de Oceano sentire, quamvis fluvium non diserte nominaverit: εἴκει δ' ἀκαμάτου πόντου τὸ βαθύῤῥοον ὕδωρ, ὠκεανός τε πέριξ ἐνὶ ὕδασι γαῖαν ἐλίσσων. Hymn. 10, 14. vid. etiam Hymn. Ixxii. 3. cit. supra et fragm. xliv. "Postea generaliori sensu accipi cœpit vox rearòs, quamvis haud adeo frequenter occurrat. In uno tantum alio loco apud Euripidem invenitur, sc. Hippol. vs. 120, et ibi simpliciter mare videtur denotare. Vid. Valcken. et Monk. In Pindari Pyth. iv. 45. mare Libycum denotat, et vs. 447. ὠκεανοῦ πελάγεσσιν ἐνιμίγησαν, de mari mediterraneo et Argonautis sermo est, judice Dammio. "Sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus æquor:" nec hujus est loci disquirere quantum veritatis cum errore in Homerici fluvii notione misceatur: nec quibus potissimum nixus rationibus ab eo dissentiat Herodotus lib. ii. §§. 21. 23. Id vero tenendum, ¿keavòy apud Poetas fuisse Toraμòr-posteriores autem (vid. Steph. Byz. in v.) qui de Oceano terras circum-ambiente post Homerum scripserint, quique se forsan eadem cum Homero sensisse crediderint, wкeavou nomine láλaσoav seu móvrov intellexisse, a qua non Homerus solum, verum Hesiodus, Orpheus, Euripides, verbis disertis eam vocem discernunt." p. 1094. VII. Cicero writes thus in his tractate de Amicitia xiii. 45. Quibusdam, quos audio sapientes habitos in Græcia, placuisse opinor mirabilia quædam: sed nihil est quod illi non persequantur argutius: partim fugiendas esse nimias amicitias, ne necesse sit unum solicitum esse pro pluribus: satis superque esse suarum cuique rerum, alienis nimis implicari molestum esse: commodissimum esse, quam laxissimas habenas habere amicitiæ, quas, vel adducas, cum velis, vel remittas: caput enim esse ad beate vivendum, securitatem: qua frui non possit animus, si tanquam parturiat unus pro pluribus." Valckenaer conjectures that Cicero was here alluding to some opinion of Chrysippus, which that writer had deduced from the following lines of the Hippolytus, v. 253-9. χρῆν γὰρ μετρίας εἰς ἀλλήλους ἀπό τ' ὤσασθαι, καὶ ξυντεῖναι. τὸ δ' ὑπὲρ δισσῶν μίαν ὠδίνειν Sophocles thus expresses his ideas on friendship, v. Ο τ' ἐχθρὸς ἡμῖν ἐς τόσονδ ̓ ἐχθάρτες, 678, And with this may be compared Cicero's Lælius, § 16. ad med. • Negabat [Scipio] ullam vocem inimiciorem amicitiæ potuisse reperiri, quam ejus qui dixisset, ita amare oportere, ut si aliquando esset osurus : nec vero se adduci posse, ut hoc, quemadmodum putaretur, a Biante esse dictum crederet, qui sapiens habitus esset unus e septem, sed impuri cujusdam, aut ambitiosi, aut omnia ad suam potentiam revocantis esse sententiam.” VIII. To say any thing regarding Euripides' hatred to the female sex, to heralds, &c. we hold to be quite superfluous. One of his peculiarities is, however, of such a nature, that we shall conclude this article by pointing it out to our readers. Every body is aware that Euripides, following the example of his friend Socrates, endeavoured by his writings to amend the corrupt manners of the age in which he lived. Aristophanes, though often the malignant reprehender of the most excellent and virtuous citizens, never failed to attack the profligate, severally, personally, and by name. Euripides, of a milder temper, and less bold disposition, professed to be censuring the customs of the heroic age, whilst in reality he was inveighing against the vices of Athens. The study of eloquence, which there so often proved detrimental both to the state and private individuals, was one of the objects of his unceasing enmity. Cicero pro Flacco c. vii. asserts, “ illa vetus Græcia, quæ quondam opibus, imperio, gloria foruit, hoc uno malo concidit, libertate immoderata ac licentia concionum.” Foreseeing, therefore, an evil day ready to dawn upon the view of his misled countrymen, Euripides did not hesitate to show them the misery likely to arise, if they followed the advice of those orators who did not consider what was advantageous to the republic, but what was likely to please the Athenian ochlocracy. Aristophanes tells us in Equit. v. 215. what were the requisite qualifications to form a popular orator, in short a δημαγωγός: τὸν δῆμον αἰεὶ προσποιοῦ, ὑπογλυκαίνων ῥηματίοις μαγειρικοῖς, τὰ δ' ἄλλα σοι πρόσεστι δημαγωγικά, φωνὴ μιαρά, γέγονας κακὺς, ἀγοραῖος εἶ. Hence we are not surprised at finding these lines in Hec. 258. Orest. 892. Hipp. 487. κἀπὶ τῷδ' ἀνίσταται ἀνήρ τις ἀθερόγλωσσος, ἰσχύων θράσει, θορύβῳ τε πίσυνος, κἀμαθεῖ παῤῥησία πιθανὸς ἐτ' ἄστους περιβαλεῖν κακῷ τινι. ὅταν γὰρ ἡδὺς τοῖς λόγοις φρονῶν κακῶς, πείθῃ τὸ πλῆθος, τῇ πόλει κακὸν μέγα. τοῦτ ̓ ἔσθ', ὃ θνητῶν εὖ πόλεις οἰκουμένας δόμους τ' ἀπόλλυσ', οἱ καλοὶ λίαν λόγοι. οὐ γάρ τι τοῖσιν ὠσὶ τερπνὰ δεῖ λέγειν, ἀλλ ̓ ἐξ ὅτου τις εὐκλεὴς γενήσεται. These are sufficient for our purpose; or we might produce Hec. 1177, 1184. Orest. 762, 763. Phoen. 419, 483. 536, 137. Med. 579, 583. Troad. 967, 968. Bacchæ 208, 272. fon. 832, 4. Suppl. 412, 418. quoted above in Art. ii. Frag. apud Clem. Αlex. Strom. i. p. 340, 341. and which Valckenaer has emended in his diatribe p. 261. Fragment. ex Archelao, quod sic legendum est. *Απλοῦς ὁ μῦθος· μὴ λέγ' εὖ· [non λέγε] τὸ γὰρ λέγειν · εὖ, δεινόν ἐστιν, εἰ φέροι τινὰ βλάβην. G. Τ. Χ. ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΦΟΙΝΙΚΟΣ. SUIDAS UIDAS tells us that the word poivit signifies a tree and a bird. Every one is aware that the tree is the palm-tree, and that the bird is still called the Phœnix. I propose in this letter to make a few observations on the tree, and on the bird, and likewise on the name which was thus common to both." The palm-tree was called tamar in the ancient dialects of Syria and Arabia. Its more general appellation at present in those regions is doum, or mokl. In Coptic it was called beni, and ouonini. ness.. Mr. Parkhurst thinks that the tamar was so called from its straightHe cites a passage from Xenophon, in which that author mentions that the stem of the palm-tree was sometimes above a hundred feet in height. The oriental writers say, that the palm-tree is the emblem of man; but among men the race of giants is extinct, and there are now no palm-trees of the height mentioned by Xenophon. It appears that the palm-tree was considered from the most remote * Φοίνιξ was also the name of a musical instrument [Herodot. L. IV. and Athen. Deipnosoph. L. XIV.] Salmasius says it was a harp. It is remarkable that in Coptic OYIUHIHI signifies both a palm-tree and a harp. antiquity as a type of the sun. For this reason it probably was, that pillars in the shape of palm-trees were sculptured in the temple of Horus. Mr. Parkhurst observes that similar ornaments were introduced into Solomon's temple, as typical of the divine light. The palm-tree was also considered as the emblem of victory; and this has been the case in countries, where it has been known only by name. The pure Latinity of Terence does not reject an idiom, that must have been derived from the East-id vero est quod mihi puto palmarium. Cicero says, with his usual grace, palmaris statua, for a statue erected in honour of a victorious general; and palmaris senten· tia for an opinion that had been generally adopted. John Bull, whose country produces no palm-trees, boasts with honest pride, that among European nations he has gained the palm both in arts and in arms. An idol, apparently placed under the shadow of a palm-tree, was known by the name of Baal-Tamar in Phoenicia 3000 years ago. This was of course a solar symbol. The Phoenicians, and their Punic descendants generally had the palm-tree represented on their coins. The Mussulmans vaunt, that the palm-tree flourishes only where Islamism prevails; and indeed this blessed tree, as they call it, is not held in much less reverence by the modern than by the ancient Orientalists. Mahomet himself ordered his followers to honour the palm-tree. His words are singular enough. "Honour the palmtree, for she is your paternal aunt." The celebrated Kazwini explains the expression of his Prophet, by gravely telling us, that the palmtree was formed from the residue of the slime, out of which God created Adam. Kazwini adds, that the resemblance between this tree and the human species is remarkable. The same author, who flourished six hundred years ago, observes that there are male and female palm-trees, and that without impregnation the female bears no fruit. Herodotus tells us, that in his time the palm tree flourished in the plain of Babylon. The fruit, it seems, was brought to maturity by the aid of a fly. As this really happens with respect to the fig, there is no reason to doubt its being true of the kind of dates, which grew in the neighbourhood of Babylon. Theophrastus, however, has given another account. Wine seems to have been frequently made from dates. When the ancients speak of the brain, marrow, and heart of the palm-tree, their figurative language becomes a little embarrassing to those who have never seen a palm-tree but in a picture. I must, however, leave this part of the subject to be discussed by others; and turn my attention to the history of the bird called Phoenix |