be, But, since the third verse is very clumsy, perhaps it should Ἐκ τοῦ Πλαταιϊκοῦ, παρακολουθοῦντί τε Cum liceat (mihi) videre pone fœminam ingenuam Et hanc (ancillam) comitari, eique oculis nictare.' See Bentley on Menander and Philemon, p. 133. Ib. p. 312. Clemens concludes his book with a Hymn to Christ : • Videtur mihi,” says Bull, hic hymnus desumptus ex Canticis sacris in primæva ecclesia usurpatis, vel certe ad eorundem imitationem compositus.' Def. Fid. Nic. p. 189. But it is undoubtedly the composition of Clemens: the style shows it, and the expressions which he had used in the Pædagogus. Clemens was perhaps the first Christian who was capable of making such poems as this, and that which follows it. This is an imitation of the verses of Euripides, which are cited above. ib. Ὣς ἐργάτις μέλιττα χωρίων ἀπὸ Βλάστην τρυγώσα, χρηστὸν ἐκ σίμβλων πόνον Κηρὸν δίδωσι τὸν γλυκὺν τῷ προστάτη. Εἰ καὶ βραχὺς δ ̓ ἐγώ τις, οἰκέτης γε σός. • Ut artifex apicula, quando gramina So Horace, Carm. iv. ii. 27. 'ego apis Matinæ More modoque,' &c. There is the same thought in Plato's Ion; and thence perhaps Clemens took it. Strom. i. p. 238. Στρεπτὴ γὰρ γλῶσσα βροτῶν. πολέες δ ̓ ἔνι μῦθοι. Here is a nai dropped. Στρεπτὴ γὰρ καὶ γλῶσσα βροτῶν. But in Homer, Il. Υ. 248. it is, Στρεπτὴ δὲ γλῶσσ ̓ ἐστὶ βροτών. Ib. Ὁ τὴν Τιτανομαχίαν γράψας. The anonymous writer of the Giants Wars, cited here by Εἴς τε δικαιοσύνην θνητῶν γένος ἤγαγε, δείξας Is primum universum genus ad justitiam duxit, indicatis jurisjurandi formulis, Deorum lætis sacrificiis, et caeli f. guris. Ὀλύμπου σχήματα, according to some, are the celestial gods; as Sir Is. Newton thinks, they are the asterisms which Chiron delineated. Mr. Wasse conjectured that it should be σήματ' Ὀλύμπου, the signs of heaven. Chiron brought the world to a sense of religion by teaching the obligation of an oath, the manner of sacrificing, and the signs of the divine will, or the threats and admonitions, the portents and prognostics of heaven. See the Misc. Obser vat. ii. p. 233. To the passages collected by Mr. Wasse may be added these lines of Parmenides, as they stand in Clemens, Strom. v. p. 732. , Εἴση δ ̓ αἰθερίαν τε φύσιν, τά τ' ἐν αἰθέρι πάντα • Atheriamque scies naturam, et in æthere cuncta Quæ res obscura est valde; unde et nata fuere, Naturamque scies.' Ib. p. 399. Πολυϊδός τε ἐν "Αργει καὶ ἐν Μεγάροις, οὗ μέμνηται ἡ τραγωδία. Polyidus Argis et Megaris, cujus meminit tragœdia.' Homer also mentions him, II. N. 663. Strom. ii. p. 463. Some writer says in a comedy, Παιδισκάριόν με, φησὶν, εὐτελὲς καταδεδούλωκεν. *Puellula, inquit, vilis me sibi servum fecit.' which may be thus restored to its measure: Παιδισκάριόν με καταδεδούλωκ ̓ εὐτελές. Strom. iii. p. 508. It appears here that the Basilidians used the Gospel of St. Matthew, and St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, but wrested and misrepresented them. Ib. p. 517. πᾶς ἄνθρωπός ἐστι συμφορή s quivis homo nihil est aliud quam calamitas.' This translation gives us not the sense of the Greek. They are the words of Solon in Herodotus, i. 42. where the manuscripts, and the edition of Gronovius, have πάν ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος συμφορη. And the meaning is, • Man is altogether what chance makes him, happy or unhappy.' See Kuster in Le Clerc Bibl. A. et M. v. p. 390. Gronovius un derstood it not. Strom. iv. p. 574. Κακὸν οὖν ἦν τὸ παίδευμ ̓ εἰς εὐανδρίαν Ὁ πλοῦτος ἀνθρώποισιν, αἵ τ ̓ ἄγαν τρυφαί. Nil pejus opibus fortitudinem docet Homines misellos, nimiaque luxuries comes.' From Euripides: but the first line is not a verse. Perhaps, Κακὸν μὲν οὖν τὸ παίδευμ ̓ εἰς εὐανδρίαν Basilides says, ο μοιχεῦσαι θέλων, μοιχός ἐστι, καν τοῦ μοιχεῦσαι μὴ ἐπιτεύχῃ· He alludes most manifestly to Matt. v. 28. Read,μὴ ἐπιτύχη. Ib. p. 635. αεὶ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ θεοῦ σκοπῶν, τῷ ὄντι, Οἷος πεπνυμένος, τοὶ δ ̓ ὡς σκιαὶ αἴσσουσιν. Every one hath seen that this is taken from Homer, and accommodated to the sentence with a small alteration: but it should not stand thus, like a verse, with a false quantity in it. It should beἀεὶ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ σκοπῶν, τῷ ἔντι, οἷος πεπνυμένος, τοὶ δ ̓ ὡς σκιαὶ αΐσσουσιν. Homer, Odyss. K. 494. says of Tiresias; Τῷ καὶ τεθνείωτι νόον πόρε Περσεφόνεια, Strom. v. p. 732. Κατὰ τὸν Εὐριπίδην, ὃς τάδε λεύσσων, θεὸν οὐχὶ νοέεις, μετεωρολόγων δ ̓ ἑκὼς ἔββαψεν σκολιὰς ἀπάτας, ὧν ἀπειρά γλῶσσα εἰκοβολεῖ περὶ τῶν ἀφανῶν, οὐδὲν γνώμης μετέχουσα. • Ut ait Euripides, Qui hæc videns Deum mente non cogitat, de sublimibus autem rebus disputationis procul tortuosas jacit fallacias, quas indomita temere jaculatur lingua de iis quæ non videntur, nullius certe particeps sententiæ.' The Latin version is somewhat incomprehensible, and jargonic. Let us pass it by, and consider the Greek, which may be put thus in better order, with very small alterations: Κατὰ τὸν Εὐριπίδην, Ὃς τάδε λεύσσων, θεὸν οὐχὶ νοεῖ, The meaning of the fragment is perhaps this: • Qui hæc videns, Deum (auctorem) non sentit, Perversos errores, quorum garrula Lingua male judicat de rebus non visibilibus, In the third line you may read ὧν ἀτηρά, which is the Editor's conjecture. Ib. p. 817. ὡς γὰρ που τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φῶς πλήρους ὕδατος μεθοδεύει ἡ τέχνη εἰς πῦρ excogitat, qua lux quæ a sole procedit, aqua plenum ignescat.' δι ̓ ὑελοῦ σκεύους nam ut ars viam per vas vitreum This was the burning-glass of the antients. See Pliny xxxvii. 2, and Aristophanes Nub. 764. Strom. vii. p. 841. σκυλα μὲν βροτοφθόρα Χαίρεις ὁρῶσ ̓ ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἐρείπια. spolia gaudes cum vides Erepta cæsis, lacera, semidiruta.^ |