ither to
the head-dress of Paris, or to his archership. To translate it is
impossible; to paraphrase it, in a passage of so much emotion,
would be absurd. I have endeavored to supply its place by an
appellation in point of contempt equal.]--TR.

15. No moral is so evident throughout the Iliad, as the dependence of
man upon divine assistance and protection. Apollo saves Hector from
the dart, and Minerva Ulysses.

16. Homer here pays a marked distinction. The army had seen several of
their bravest heroes wounded, yet without expressing as much
concern as at the danger of Machaon, their physician and surgeon.

17. [This interpretation of--{minyntha de chazeto douros}--is taken
from the Scholium by Villoisson. It differs from those of Clarke,
Eustathius, and another Scholiast quoted by Clarke, but seems to
suit the context much better than either.]--TR.

18. The address of Homer in bringing off Ajax is admirable. He makes
Hector afraid to approach him, and brings down Jupiter to terrify
him. Thus he retreats, not from a mortal, but from a God.

The whole passage is inimitably just and beautiful. We see Ajax
slowly retreating between two armies, and even with a look repulse
the one and protect the other. Every line resembles Ajax. The
character of a stubborn and undaunted warrior is perfectly
maintained. He compares him first to the lion for his undaunted
spirit in fighting, and then to the ass for his stubborn slowness
in retreating. In the latter comparison there are many points of
resemblance that enliven the image. The havoc he makes in the field
is represented by the tearing and trampling down the harvests; and
we see the bulk, strength, and obstinancy of the hero, when the
Trojans, in respect to him, are compared to the troops of boys that
impotently endeavor to drive him away.

It must be borne in mind that among the people of the East, an ass
was a beast upon which kings and princes might ride with dignity.

19. Though the resentment of Achilles would not permit him to be an
actor in the field, yet his love of war inclines him to be a
spectator. As the poet did not intend to draw the character of a
perfect man in Achilles, he makes him delighted with the
destruction of the Greeks, because it gratified his revenge. That
resentment which is the subject of the poem, still presides over
every other feeling, even the