Sharp was his voice, which, in the frillest tone,
Thus with injurious taunts attack'd the throne:
Amidft the glories of fo bright a reign,
What moves the great Atrides to complain?
'Tis thine whate'er the warrior's breaft inflames,
The golden fpoil, and thine the lovely dames.
With all the wealth our wars and blood bestow,
Thy tents are crowded, and thy chefts o'erflow:
Thus at full eafe in heaps of riches roll'd,
What grieves the monarch? Is it thirst of gold?
Say, thall we march with our unconquer'd powers,
(The Greeks and I) to Ilien's hettile towers,
And bring the race of royal bastards here,
For Troy to ransom at a price too dear?
But fafer plunder thy own hoft fupplies;
Say, would't thou feize fome valiant leader's prize?
Or, if thy heart to generous love be led,
Some captive fair, to blefs thy kingly bed?
Whate'er our matter craves, fubmit we muft,
Plagued with his pride, or punish'd for his luft.
Oh women of Achaia! men no more!
Hence let us fly, and let him waste his store
In loves and pleasures on the Phrygian shore;
We may be wanted on fome bufy day,

When Hector comes: fo great Achilles may :
From him he forc'd the prize we jointly gave,
From him, the fierce, the fearless, and the brave;
And durft he, as he ought, resent that wrong,
This mighty tyrant were no tyrant long.
Fierce from his feat at this Ulyffes fprings,
In generous vengeance of the king of kings;
With indignation sparkling in his eyes,
He views the wretch, and fternly thus replies:

Peace, factious moufter, born to vex the ftate,
With wrangling talents form'd for foul debate:
Curb that impetuous tongue, nor, rafhly vain
And fingly mad, afperfe the fovereign reign.
Have we not known thee, flave! of all our hoft,
The man who acts the least, upbraids the most?
Think not the Greeks to fhameful flight to bring,
Nor let thofe lips profane the name of king.
For our return we trust the heavenly Powers;
Be that their care; to fight like men be ours.
But grant the hoft with wealth the general load,
Except detraction, what haft thou bestow'd?
Suppofe fome hero fhould his fpoils refign,
Art thou that hero, could thofe fpoils be thine?
Gods! let me perifh on this hateful fhore,
And let these eyes behold my fou no more;
If, on thy next offence, this hand forbear
To ftrip thofe arms thou ill deferv't to wear,
Expel the council where our princes meet,
And fend thee fcourg'd and howling thro' the fleet.

He faid, and cowering as the daftard bends, The weighty fceptre on his back defcends: On the round bunch the bloody tumors rife ; The tears spring ftarting from his haggard eyes: Trembling he lat, and, fhrunk in abject fears, From his vile vifage wip'd the fcalding tears. While to his neighbour each exprefs'd his thought: Ye Gods! what wonders has Ulyffes wrought! What fruits his conduct and his courage yield; Great in the council, glorious in the field! Generous he rifes in the crown's defence, To curb the factious tongue of infolence. Such juft examples on offenders shown, Sedition filence, and affert the throne.

'Twas thus the general voice the hero prais'd, Who, rifing, high th' imperial fceptre rais'd: The blue-ey'd Pallas, his celeftial friend, (In form a herald) bade the crowds attend. Th' expecting crowds in still attention hung, To hear the wifdom of his heavenly tongue. Then deeply thoughtful, pausing ere he spoke, His filence thus the prudent hero broke:

Unhappy monarch whom the Grecian race,
With thame deferting, heap with vile disgrace.
Not fuch at Argos was their generous vow,
Once all their voice, but, ah! forgotten now:
Ne'er to return, was then the common cry,
Till Troy's proud ftructures fhould in afhes lie.
Behold them weeping for their pative shore!
What could their wives or helpless children more?
What heart but melts to leave the tender train,
And, one fhort month, endure the wintery main?
Few leagues remov'd, we wish our peaceful feat,
When the fhip toffes, and the tempefts beat:
Then well may this long ftay provoke their tears,
The tedious length of nine revolving years.
Not for their grief the Grecian host I blame;
But vanquish'd baffled! oh, eternal shame!
Expect the time to Troy's deftruction given,
And try the faith of Chalcas and of Heaven.
What pafs'd at Aulis, Greece can witness bear,
And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
Befide a fountain's facred brink we rais'd
Our verdant altars, and the victims blaz'd;
('Twas where the plane-tree fpreads its fhades
around)

The altars heav'd; and from the crumbling ground
A mighty dragon fhot, of dire portent;
From Jove himself the dreadful fign was fent.
Strait to the tree his fanguine fpire he roll'd,
And curl'd around in many a winding fold.
The topmaft branch a mother-bird poffeft;
Eight callow infants fill'd the mofly neft;
Herself the ninth; the ferpent, as he hung,
Stretch'd his black jaws, and crufi'd the crying
While hovering near, with miferable moan, [youngs
The drooping mother wail'd her children gone.
The mother last, as round the nest the flew,
Seiz'd by the beating wing, the monster flew :
Nor long furviv'd; to marble turn'd, he fitands
A lafting prodigy on Aulis' fands.

Such was the will of Jove; and hence we dare
Truft in his omen, and fupport the war.
For while around we gaze with wondering eyes,
And trembling fought the powers with facrifice,
Full of his God, the reverend Chalcas cried,
Ye Grecian warriors! lay your fears afide.
This wond'rous fignal Jove himself displays,
Of long, long labours, but eternal praise.
As many birds as by the fnake were flain,
So many years the toils of Greece remain;
But wait the tenth, for Ilion's fall decreed:
Thus fpoke the prophet, thus the fates fucceed.
Obey, ye Grecians! with fubmiflion wait,
Nor let your flight avert the Trojan fate.

He faid the fhores with loud applaufes found, The hollow fhips each deafening fhout rebound. Then Neftor thus---Thefe vain debates forbear, Ye talk like children, not like heroes dare. Where now are all your high refolves at last? Your leagues concluded, your engagements past?

Vow'd with libations and with victims then, Now vanish'd like their smoke: the faith of men! While useless words confume th' unactive hours, No wonder Troy fo long refifts our powers. Rife, great Atrides! and with courage sway; We march to war, if thou direct the way. But leave the few that dare refift thy laws, The mean deferters of the Grecian cause, To gredge the conquefts mighty Jove prepares, And view with envy our fuccessful wars. On that great day when firft the martial train, Big with the fate of Ilion, plow'd the main, Jove on the right, a profperous fignal fent, And thunder rolling fhook the firmament. Encourag'd bence, maintain the glorious ftrife, Till every foldier graip a Phrygian wife, Till Helen's woes at full reveng'd appear, And Troy's proud matrons render tear for teat. Before that day, if any Greek invite

His country's troop to bafe, inglorious flight; Stand forth that Greek! and hoift his fail to fly, And die the daftard first, who dreads to die. But now, O monarch! all thy chiefs advise: Nor what they offer, thou thyself defpife. Among thofe councils, let not mine be vain; In tribes and nations to divide the train; His feparate troops let every leader call, Each strengthen each, and all encourage all. What chief, or foldier, of the numerous band, Or bravely fights, or ill obeys command, When thus ditint they war, fhall foon be known, And what the cause of Ilion not o'erthrown; If fate refifts, or if our arms are flow, If Gods above prevent, or men below.

To him the king: How much thy years excel In arts of council, and in fpeaking well? O would the Gods, in love to Greece, decree But ten fuch fages as they grant in thee; Such witem foon fhould Priam's force deftroy, And foon fhould fall te haughty towers of Troy But Jove forbids, who plunges those he hates In ferce custention and in vain debates. Now great Achilles from our aid withdraws, By me provok'd; a captive maid the caufe: If e'er as friends we join, the Trojan wall Muft flake, and heavy will the vengeance fall! But now, ye warriors, take a short repaft: And, well-refresh'd, to bloody conflict hafte. His sharpen'd fpear let every Grecian wield, And every Grecian fix his brazen fhield; Let all excite the fiery fteeds of war, And all for combat fit the rattling car. This day, this dreadful day, let each contend; No teft, no refpite, till the fhades defcend; Till darkness, or till death, fhall cover all: Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall! Tall bath'd in fweat be every manly breast, With the huge fhield each brawny arm depreft, Each aching nerve refufe the lance to throw, And each spent courfer at the chariot blow. Who dares, inglorious, in his fhips to stay, Who dares to tremble on this fignal day; That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power, The birds fhall mangle, and the dogs devour. The monarch spoke; and ftraight a murmur

rofe,

Load as the furges when the tempeft blows,

That dash'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the ftony fhore.
Straight to the tents the troops difperfing bend,
The fires are kindled, and the smokes afcend;
With hafty feaft they facrifice, and pray
T'avert the dangers of the doubtful day.
A fteer of five years' age, large b'd, and fed,
To Jove's high altar Agameuinon led:
There bade the nobleft of the Grecian peers;
And Nefter firft, as most advanc'd in years.
Next came Idomeneus, and Tydeus' fon,
Ajax the lefs, and Ajax Telamon;
Then wife Ulyffes in his rank was plac'd;
And Menelaus came unbid, the lait.

The chiefs furround the deftin'd beast, and take
The facred offering of the falted cake.
When thus the king prefers his folemn prayer:
Oh thou whole thunder rends the clouded air,
Who in the heaven of heavens has fix'd thy throne
Supreme of Gods! unbounded and alone:
Hear and before the burning fun defcends,
Before the night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the dust be laid yon holtile fpires,
Be Priam's palace funk in Grecian fires,
In Hector's breaft be plung'd this fhining fword,
And flaughter'd heroes groan around their lord!

Thus pray'd the chief; his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refus'd, and tost in empty air:
The God averfe, while yet the fumes arofe,
Prepar'd new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers perform'd, the chiefs the rite pnrfue
The barley fprinkled, and the victim flew,
The limbs they fever from th' enclosing hide,
The thighs, felected to the Gods, divide.
On thefe, in double cauls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames aspire
While the fat victim feeds the facred fire.
The thighs thus facrific'd, and entrails dreft,
Th' afliftants part, transfix, and roaft the reft;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his feat, and each receives his hare
Soon as the rage of hunger was fuppreft,
The generous Neftor thus the prince addreft:

Now bid thy heralds found the loud alarms, And call the fquadrons theath'd in brazen arms Now feize th' occafion, now the troops survey, And lead to war when Heaven directs the way. He said; the monarch iffued his commands; Straight the loud heralds call the gathering bands, The chiefs enclofe their king: the hoft divide, In tribes and nations rank'd on either fide. High in the midft the blue-ey'd Virgin flies; From rank to rank the darts her ardent eyes: The dreadful agis, Jove's immortal shield, Blaz'd on her arm, and lighten'd all the held: Round the vaft orb an hundred ferpents roll'd, Form'd the bright fringe, and feem'd to burn in gold.

With this each Grecian's manly breaft fhe warms, Swells their bold hearts, and strings their nervous No more they figh, inglorious, to return, [arms; But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.

As on fome mountain, through the lofty grove, The crackling flames afcend, and blaze above; The fires expanding as the winds arife, Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the fkies:*

With these appear the Salaminian bands, Whom the gigantic Telamon commands; [courfe, In twelve black ships to Troy they fteer their And with the great Athenians join their force. Next move to war the generous Argive train From high Trozenè, and Maleta's plain, And tair gina circled by the main: Whom trong Tyrinthè's lofty walls furround, And Epidaur with viny harvests crown'd; And where fair Afinen and Hermion fhow Their cliffs above, and ample bay below. Thefe by the brave Euryalus were led, Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed, But chief Tydides bore the fovereign fway; In four-fcore barks they plough the watery way. The proud Mycenè arms her martial powers, Cleone, Corinth, with imperial towers, Fair Aræthyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain, And Egeon, and Adraftus' ancient reign; And thole who dwell along the fandy thore, And where Pellenè yields her fleecy itore, Where Helice and Hyperefia lie, And Gonocffa's fpires falute the fky. Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band, A hundred vellels in long order stand, And crowded nations wait his dread command. High on the deck the king of men appears, And his refulgent arms in triumph wears; Proud of his hoft, unrivall'd of his reign, In filent pomp he moves along the main.

His brother follows, and to vengeance warms The hardy Spartans exercis'd in arms; Phares and Erya's valiant troops, and those Whom Lacedæmon's lofty hills enclose : Or Meffe's towers for filver doves renown'd, Amycia, Laas, Augia's happy ground, And those whom Oetylos' low walls contain, And Helos, on the margin of the main : Thefe, o'er the bending ocean, Helen's caufe, In fixty hips with Menelaus draws: Eager and loud from man to man he flies, Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes; While, vairly fond, in fancy oft he hears The fair-one's grief, and fees her falling tears. la ninety fail, from Pylo's fandy coaft, Nettor the fage conducts his chosen host : From Amphigenia's ever fruitful land; Where Apy high, and little Pteleon stand; Where beauteous Arenè her ftructures shows, And Thryons walls Alpheus' ftreams enclose : And Borion, fam'd for Thamyris' difgrace, Superior once of all the tuneful race, Till, vain of mortals empty praife, he ftrove To match the feed of cloud-compelling Jove! Too daring bard! whofe unfuccessful pride Th' immortal Mufes in their art defy'd. Th' avenging Mufes of the light of day Depriv'd his eyes, and fnatch'd his voice away; No more his heavenly voice was heard to fing, His hand no more awak'd the filver string. Where under high Cyilenè, crown'd with wood, The faded tomb of old Ægyptus ftood; From Ripe, Stratie, Tegea's bordering towns, The Phenean fields, and Orchomenian downs, Where the fat herds in plenteous pasture rove; And Stymphelus with her furrounding grove, Parrbaña, on her fnowy cliffs reclin'd, And bigh Enispè shook by wintery wind,

And fair Mantinea's ever-pleafing fite;
In fixty fail th' Arcadian bands unite.
Bold Agapenor, glorious at their head,
(Ancæus' fon) the mighty fquadron led.
Their fhips, fupply'd by Agamemnon's care,
Through roaring feas the wondering warriors bear;
The first to battle on th' appointed plain,
But new to all the dangers of the main.

Thofe, where fair Elis and Buprafium join;
Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrfinus confine,
And bounded there where o'er the valleys rofe
The Olenian rock; and where Alifium flows;
Beneath four chiefs (a numerous army) came :
The strength and glory of th' Epean name.
In feparate iquadrons these their train divide,
Each leads ten veffels through the yielding tide.
One was Amphimacus, and Thalphius one
(Eurytus' this, and that Teätus fon);
Diores fprung from Amarynceus' line;
And great Polyxenes, of force divine.

But thofe who view fair Elis o'er the feas
From the bleit iflands of th' Echinades,
In forty veffels under Meges move,
Begot by Phileus the belov'd of Jove.
To ftrong Dulichium from his fire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriors led.

Ulyffes followed through the watery road,
A chief, in wifdom equal to a God.
With those who Cephalenia's ifle enclos'd,
Or till their fields along the coast oppos'd;
Or where fair Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos fhakes his waving woods,
Where gilipa's rugged fides are feen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
Thefe in twelve galleys with vermilion prores,
Beneath his conduct fought the Phrygian fhores

Thoas came next, Andræmon's valiant fon,
From Pleuron's walls, and chalky Calydon,
And rough Pylene, and th' Olenian fteep,
And Chalcis beaten by the rolling deep.
He led the warriors from th' Ætolian fhore,
For now the fons of Oeneus were no more!
The glories of the mighty race were fled!
Oeneus himself, and Meleager dead!
To Thoas care now truft the martial train,
His forty veffels follow through the main.

Next eighty barks the Cretan king commands,
Of Gnoffus, Lictus, and Gortyna's bands,
And those who dwell where Rhytion's domes arise,
Or white Lycaftus glitters to the skies,
Or where by Phottus filver Jardan runs ;
Crete's hundred cities pour forth all her fons.
Thefe march'd, Idomeneus, beneath thy care,
And Merion, dreadful as the God of war.

Tlepolemus, the fon of Hercules,

Led nine fwift veifels through the ftormy feas;
From Rhodes with everlafting funfhine bright,
Jalyffus, Lindus, and Camirus white.
His captive mother fierce Alcides bore,
From Ephyr's walls, and Selle's winding fhore,
Where mighty towns in ruins fpread the plain,
And faw their blooming warriors early flain.
The hero, when to manly years he grew,
Alcides' uncle, old Licymnius, flew;
For this, constrain'd to quit his native place
And thun the vengeance of the Herculean race,
A fleet he built, and with a numerous train
Of willing exiles, wander'd o'er the main;

Where, many feas and muny fufferings paft,
On happy Rhodes the chief arriv'd at laft:
There in three tribes divides his native band,
And rules them peaceful in a foreign land;
Increas'd and profper'd in their new abodes,
By mighty Jove, the fire of men and Gods;
With joy they faw the growing empire rife,
And fhowers of wealth defcending from the fkies.
Three fhips with Nireus fought the Trojan thore,
Nireus, whom Aglae to Charopus bore,
Nireus, in faultlefs fhape and blooming grace,
The lovelieft youth of all the Grecian race;
Pelides only match'd his early charms;

1

But few his troops, and fmall his ftrength in arms. Next thirty galleys cleave the liquid plain,

Of thofe Calydna's fea-girt ifles contain;
With them the youth of Nyfyrus repair,
Cafus the strong, and Crapathus the fair;
Cos, where Eurypylus poffeft the sway,
Till great Alcides made the realms obey:
Thefe Antiphus and bold Phidippus bring,
Sprung from the God by Theffalus the king.
Now, Mufe, recount Pelafgic Argos' powers,
From Alos, Alope, and Trechin's towers:
From Phthia's fpacious vales; and Hella, ble
With female beauty far beyond the reft.
Full fifty fhips beneath Achilles' care,

Th' Achaians, Myrmidons, Hellenians bear;
Theffalians all, though various in their name;
The fame their nation, and the chief the fame.
But now, inglorious, ftretch'd along the fhore,
They hear the brazen voice of war no more;
No more the foe they face in dire array;
Close in his fleet the angry leader lay;
Since fair Brifeïs from his arms was torn,
The nobleft spoil from fack'd Lyrneffus borne.
Then, when the chief the Theban walls o'erthrew,
And the bold fons of great Evenus flew.
There mourn'd Achilles, plung'd in depth of care,
But foon to rife in flaughter, blood, and war.
To these the youth of Phylace fucceed,
Itona, famous for her fleecy breed,
And graffy Pteleon deck'd with cheerful greens,
The bowers of Ceres, and the fylvan fcenes,
Sweet Pyrrhafus, with blooming flowrets crown'd,
And Antron's watery dens, and cavern'd ground.
Thefe own'd as chief Protefilas the brave,
Who now lay filent in the gloomy grave:
The first who boldly touch'd the Trojan shore,
And dy'd a Phrygian lance with Grecian gore;
There lies, far diftant from his native plain;
Unfinish'd his proud palaces remain,

And his fad confort beats her breaft in vain.. S
His troops in forty fhips Podarces led,
Iphicles' fon, and brother to the dead;
Nor he unworthy to command the hoft;
Yet ftill they mourn'd their ancient leader loft.
The men who Glaphyra's fair foil partake,
Where hills encircle Babe's lowly lake.
Where Phare hears the neighbouring waters fall,
Or proud föclus lifts her airy wall,

In ten black fhips embark'd for Ilion's fhore,
With bold Eumylus, whom Alceste bore:
All Pelias' race Alceflè far outshin'd,
The grace and glory of the beauteous kind.
The troops Methone or Thaumachia yields,
Olizon's racks, or Meliboca's fields,

With Philoctetes fail'd, whofe matchlefs art
From the tough bow directs the feather'd dart.
Seven were his fhips; each veffel fifty row,
Skill'd in his fcience of the dart and bow.
But he lay raging on the Lemnian ground,
A poisonous Hydra gave the burning wound;
There groan'd the chief in agonizing pain,
Whom Greece at length fhall with, nor with in
His forces Medon led from Lemnos' fhore, [vain.
Oïleus' fon, whom beauteous Rhena bore. [tain'd,

Th' Oechalian race, in those high towers con-
Where once Eurytus in proud triumph reign'd,
Or where her humbler turrets Tricca rears,
Or where Ithomè, rough with rocks, appears;
In thirty fail the fparkling waves divide,
Which Podalirius and Machaon guide.
To these his skill their Parent-God imparts,
Divine profeffors of the healing arts.

The bold Ormenian and Afterian bands
In forty barks Eurypylus commands,
Where Titan hides his hoary head in fnow.
And where Hyperia's filver fountains flow.

Thy troops, Argiffa, Polypoetes leads,
And Eleon, fhelter'd by Olympus' fhades,
Gyrtone's warriors; and where Orthè lies,
And Oleoffon's chalky cliffs arife.
Sprung from Pirithous of immortal race,
The fruit of fair Hippodame's embrace,
(That day when, hurl'd from Pelion's cloudy head,
To diftant dens the fhaggy Centaurs fied)
With Polypates join'd in equal (way
Leontes leads, and forty fhips obey.

In twenty fail the bold Perrhæbians came From Cyphus; Guneus was their leader's name. With thefe the Enians join'd, and those who freeze Where cold Dodona lifts her holy trees; Or where the pleafing Titarefius glides, And into Peneus rolls his eafy tides; Yet o'er the filver furface pure they flow, The facred stream unmix'd with streams below, Sacred and awful! From the dark abodes Styx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of Gods! Laft under Prothous the Magnesians stood, Prothous the fwift, of old Tenthedron's blood; Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs, Obfcures the glade, and nods his fhaggy brows; Or where through flowery Tempè Peneus tray'd (The region ftretch'd beneath his mighty fhade); In forty fable barks they ftemmn'd the main. Such were the chiefs, and fuch the Grecian train. Say next, O Mufe! of all Achaia breeds, Who braveit fought, or reign'd the nobleft steeds? Eumeleus' mares were foremost in the chace, As eagles fleet, and of Pheretian race: Bred where Pieria's fruitful fountains flow, And train'd by him who bears the filver bow. Fierce in their fight, their noftrils breath'd a flame, Their height, their colour, and their age the fame; O'er fields of death they whirl the rapid car, And break the ranks, and thunder through the was Ajax in arms the first renown acquir'd, While ftern Achilles in his wrath retir'd (His was the ftrength that mortal might exceeds, And his, th' unrivall'd race of heavenly steeds). But Thetis' fon now fhines in arms no more; His troops, neglected on the fandy shore,

* Acículapius,