II. The value, which the early Greeks set upon the LETTER privilege of sepulture, made this refusal be regarded with general horror, and considered as a cruel misfortune by the Argives. In the depth of their sorrow for the condition of their deceased countrymen, they applied to Theseus king of Athens, whose humanity and generosity were well known; and that prince, actuated by a sense of religion and natural justice, conducted an army into Baotia, and compelled the Thebans to grant funeral honours to their slaughtered enemies139. 1215. About ten years after this mournful tribute had been Ant. Chr. paid, war was again declared against Thebes. It was besieged by the Epigoni, or sons of the seven chiefs who had formerly invested that capital, and fallen beneath its walls. More fortunate than their fathers, whose insulted manes they undertook to avenge, they made themselves masters of the place; killed many of the inhabitants, dragged more into slavery, and obliged the remainder to acknowledge for their king Thersander, son of the unhappy Polynices, whose injuries had been the occasion of the first Theban war140. The sacking of Thebes was soon followed by the siege of Troy; the first great enterprize in which the Greeks acted as one people, having a common interest. But this famous siege, which introduces a new and memorable era in the annals of ancient Greece, will require a new letter. And before we enter upon the history of the Trojan war, I must turn your eye, my lord, upon the countries against which it was directed, and investigate the causes by which it was produced. 139. Apollod. lib. iii. 140. Diod. Sicul. lib. iv. Apollod. lib. i. Pausan. lib. ix. VOL. I. да LETTER LETTER III. PART I. CONTINUATION OF THE TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF GREECE, THE large promontory anciently called Asia Minor, and now known by the name of Natolia; which is formed by the Mediterranean and Euxine seas, and extends toward Greece about seven hundred miles, from the mountains of Lesser Armenia to the Hellespont, hath in all ages been considered as one of the finest regions of the earth. The oldest inhabitants of this delightful country (of which history or tradition make mention) were the Paphlagonians, Phrygians, Dardanians or Trojans, Meonians or Lydians, the Carians and Lycians'. Compared with the early Greeks, several of those nations were rich and polished before the Trojan war2; and only inferior in arts and civility to the Assyrians, Egyptians, and Phoenicians. The Trojans were most distinguished for wealth and power, at the period of which I am here treating; when venerable Priam, the sixth in descent from Jupiter, to use the language of Homer, filled the throne of Dardanus3. The 1. Homer, Iliad. et Herodotus, Historiar. passim. See also Strabo, Geog. lib. xiii. xiv. 2. Id. ibid. 3. Hom. Iliad. lib. xx. When Homer can trace the lineage of a king or hero no higher traditionally, he generally makes the first of the race the son of Jupiter; as much as to say, that nothing more was known concerning the genealogy of the family of which he speaks. He III. The kingdom of Troy, in the reign of Priam, ex- LETTER tended from mount Ida over all the eastern coast of the Hellespont, and from the Propontis to the Ægean sea1 ; comprehending also within its jurisdiction the isles of Tenedos and Lesboss. Nor did the Trojans fail to take advantage of so happy a situation for commerce. They had diligently applied themselves to trade and navigation, as well as to arts and manufactures". Hence we find them, at the time of the Grecian invasion, in possession of most of the conveniencies, and even many of the luxuries of life7. The city of Ilion or Troy, the capital of the kingdom of Priam, was a large and populous place, with broad streets. It was secured with high walls, and farther He accordingly calls Dardanus, the founder of the Trojan state, the son of Jupiter (Iliad. ubi sup.). All attempts, therefore, to prove that Dardanus was of Grecian descent must be disregarded, as they are built on inferior authority. And the notion, that the Greeks and Trojans spoke the same language, seems equally void of foundation; it being rested chiefly on Homer's omission of interpreters between the armies of the two nations. If the learned gentlemen, who make use of this argument, had been poets, they would have praised the illustrious bard for his magnanimous neglect of such formality, and eschewed the absurdity into which they have fallen. But in apology for Homer, considered as an historian, it may be urged (if such apology should be deemed necessary), that the Greeks might have acquired the language of the Trojans before he opens his scene of action, they having been then almost nine years in the country. 4. Hom. Iliad. lib. xxiv. Strabo, Geog. lib. xiii. 5. Id. ibid. 6. Hom. Iliad. lib. v. xviii. Virgil, Eneid. lib. iii. init. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vii. cap. Ivi. The words of Homer, in regard to the Trojan wealth and commerce are too remarkable to be omitted. "The lofty city of Priam," says Hector, "was "rich in gold, and abounding in brass; but now they are perished "from our halls. Our wealth, laid up with care, is fled: our precious "stores are borne from hence to Phrygia, to the pleasing Meonia. "Our bartered wealth is fled afar” (Iliad. lib. xviii.). From this, and other passages in the Iliad, it appears, that the Trojans paid subsi lies to their allies. 7. Hom. Iliad. passim. 8. Hom. Iliad. lib ix. defended PART I. defended with towers. The houses of people of rank consisted of many spacious apartments, well finished, and elegantly furnished1o. The dress of the women was gay and voluptuous", and that of the young men rich and splendid12. Paris, 9. Hom. Iliad. lib. iii. et lib. xviii. 10. Hom. Iliad. lib. vi. xxiv. For the sake of illustration, I shall give the description of Priam's palace, "the beautiful house of the so“vereign of Troy. Lofty porticoes rose in order around; and fifty "halls of polished stone were built near each other within. There the "sons of Priam lay in the arms of their lovely wives. The apartments "of the daughters opposite, arose within the spacious court; twelve in “ number, with lofty roofs, the walls of polished marble formed. "There lay the sons-in-law of Priam in the arms of their blushing "wives" (Iliad. lib. vi.). "To his fragrant chamber, with speed, de"scended the eager king; with cedar were lined the walls” (Iliad. lib. xxiv.). The chambers of the young princes were still more elegant. In that of Paris was "a polished ivory bed" (Iliad. lib. iii.). Even in the chambers of Hecuba, his aged mother, was "a fragrant room, "where her high-wrought, varied robes were laid; the work of Sido"nian dames, and brought from the wealthy Sidon." Iliad. lib. vi. 11. The dress of the Trojan ladies was long and flowing, with sweeping trains (Hom. Iliad. passim.). And they wore veils of varied dies, with a figure in the middle "bright as a star" (Iliad. lib. vi.). For the privacy of their dressing-rooms, and their manner of attiring themselves, we must have recourse to the chamber and toilet of Juno. "Her chamber, which opened with a secret key, she entered, and "closed behind her the glittering door. First she bathes in ambrosial "streams her fair limbs, of proportion divine! then over her beautiful body she poured rich oil, sweet to the smell. When with this fra66 grant essence she had anointed her lovely form, she combed her long "hair with her hands, she placed in order her shining locks. Her "robe, high laboured with art; wove with many figures to ravish the eye, she bound beneath her white breast with golden clasps, that “shone afar. She girt her waist with a precious zone, enriched with "tassels of purest gold. The beauteous pendants hung from her "ears: in each three gems beamed bright to view, and shed around "her a heavenly lustre. Her radiant charms she concealed with a "veil." Iliad. lib. xiv. 12. Hom. Iliad. passim. We have only a description of military dress; which, though sufficiently foppish, Homer lets us understand, was not equal to that of a "youth who moves to the feast, or fits for the sprightly dance" (Iliad. lib. iii.). Yet were the braided locks of Euphorbus, "renowned at the spear," such as "the graces might wear; bound "with III. Paris, second son of Priam, was reputed the hand- LETTER somest man in Asia Minor'3; as Helen, daughter of Tyndareus, and wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, was thought the most beautiful woman in Greece'4. And, like Helen, he added to perfect symmetry of form, a graceful air, a winning manner, and every exterior accomplishment'5. Presuming on these captivating allurements, and his success in employing them, Paris found a pretence to visit the court of Menelaus; and, during his stay at Sparta, he engaged the affection of the lovely Helen, who eloped with him, and took with her a quantity of treasure1. Although the most respectable Grecian writers do not say, that Helen was carried off by force, they are unanimous in representing her elopement, or shape, “with silver, and adorned with gold” (Iliad. lib. xvii.). The greaves of Paris were "bound with silver clasps ;" and "his sword from his "shoulders hung, ornamented with silver studs." Iliad. lib. iii. 13. Hom. Iliad. lib. iii. et seq. The person of Paris, distinguished by the epithet of form divine, was confessedly superior in beauty to that of every other warrior, among the Trojans or their allies (Id. ibid.). Hence he is called, first in form. Hom. Iliad. ubi sup. 14. For so saying, we have the uniform testimony of tradition. And Homer lets us understand, that the long-haired Helen (the epithet he constantly gives her), " in stately steps, in face excelled," all the beauties of Troy as well as of Greece. Iliad. lib. iii. et seq. 15. Hom. Iliad. lib. iii. et seq. Paris was so noted for his gallantries, and so consummately skilled in all the arts of seduction, that he is repeatedly called "specious deceiver of women" (Id. ibid.). He seems to have prosecuted his amorous adventures in different countries. For we find he had been in Paphlagonia (Iliad. lib. xiii.); which, as well as Phrygia, is termed a "peopled land" (Id. ibid.). Paris, among his other seductive accomplishments, excelled in playing soft tunes on the harp. Hom. Iliad. lib. iii. 16. Hom. Iliad. lib. iii. xxii. Of what this treasure consisted, or what was its value, we are not informed; but it appears to have been considerable. For it is always mentioned by the Greeks in demanding, and by the Trojans in treating for, or in deliberating on the restitution of the Spartan queen. Iliad. passim. (as 1 |