I see but two difficulties attending this supposition, and those of no great magnitude. The first is, that I cannot find the former book at all referred to in the latter; and the other that the editor of the latter book does not speak quite so civilly of Bentley as the other. "Nimirum vir ille doctissimus, [Bentley] et in Lexicographis versatissimus, cùm in illis vocabulum atta non invenerit, eo amandato suum illud σvčata sub Hieroclis nomine hic introductum voluit." p. 303. Be this as it may, nothing certainly can be more clear than that Bentley was not the editor. If Warren was not, we have still an editor to seek; but we must not look for him among Critics of 80 years old. R. Warren took his Doctor's Degree in 1718.' He therefore was not very young in 1741; but still he was much junior to Bentley, who took his in 1696. I trust then that Bibliographers will desist from calling it Bentley's edition. March 30. N. CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF THE PHEACES. SIR, TO THE EDITOR OF THE CLASSICAL JOURNAL. I PROPOSE to offer some remarks to you in this letter, on the origin of the Phæaces. As, however, my notions on the subject are, I believe, entirely new, it is not without considerable diffidence that I submit them to your consideration. We are told in the beginning of the 6th book of the Odyssey, that Minerva went to the people and city of the Phæaces, who had previously dwelt in spacious Hyperia, near to the Cyclopes. αὐτὰς ̓Αθήνη Βῆ ῥ ̓ ἐς Φαιήκων ἀνδρῶν δῆμόν τε πόλιν τε Our first task then is to discover what region Homer intended to indicate by Hyperia. The commentators inform us, that there were several opinions on this subject. According to some, Hyperia was the city in Sicily, which was afterwards called Camarinas while others held it to have been an island, near to the territory of the Cyclopes. Thus Eustathius—Τὴν δὲ Υπέρειαν, πόλιν Σικελίας τινές φασί, τὴν ὕστερον Καμαρίναν· οἱ δὲ νῆσον πλησίον τῆς τῶν Κυκλώ I Cambr. Grad. Twv xugas. Didymus has made a similar report, but intimates that some were of a third opinion—οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑπὲς τὴν ἡμῖν γινωσκομένην. Those, who have supposed Hyperia to be an island, have also supposed that it was Melita, now called Malta. In favor of this hypothesis, the verses of Apollonius Rhodius have been cited. Οὐ μὲν ἔτι ζώοντα καταυτόθι τέτμον ἄνακτα Δήμο Φαιήκων, &c. ἔνθ ̓ ὁ γε κούρην Arg. L. iv. Αἰγαίου ἐδάμασσεν ἐρασσάμενος ποταμοῖο, We learn, then, from the Rhodian poet, that the Naiad Melita, the daughter of the River Ægæus, brought forth Hyllus to Hercules among the Phaaces. But it may be asked, to what Melita did Apollonius allude? Besides the well-known island of that name, there is an island on the coast of Dalmatia, which was anciently called Melita: it is mentioned by Scylax and Agathemerus as being near to Corcyra nigra; but for a fuller account of it I refer you to Cluverius and Bochart. Again, Melita, according to Strabo, (L. x.) was the ancient name of Samothrace. The same Strabo also says, that the marsh, or lake, of the Eniada was called Melita. εἶτα λίμνη τῶν Οἰνιάδων Μελίτη καλουμένη. This marsh seems to have been formed by the stagnated waters of the Achelous. Thucydides thus authorises this observation. yap ̓Αχελῶος ποταμὸς ῥέων ἐκ Πίνδου ὄροις διὰ Δολοπίας καὶ ̓Αγράων, καὶ ̓Αμφιλόχων, καὶ διὰ τοῦ ̓Ακαρνανικοῦ πεδίου, ἄνωθεν μὲν παρὰ Στράτον πόλιν ἐς θαλάσσην διεξιεὶς παρ' Οἰνιάδας, καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτοῖς περιλιμνάζων ἄπορον ποιεῖ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν χειμῶνι στρατεύειν. (L. 11.) We find that Apollonius calls Melita the daughter of the river aus; and we must be struck with the similarity of sounds, when we hear from the scholiast of Euripides, that Melita was the first wife of geus King of Athens: Πρώτην (ὁ Αἰγεὺς ἔχε Μελίτη", &c. Under all these circumstances I think it difficult to pronounce on the Melita alluded to by Apollonius; and I do not see how we can argue from his verses, that the island of Melita, which lies between Sicily and Africa, was the Hyperia of Homer. I have moreover to express my doubts, whether Hyperia could have been an island, according to the account which the poet gives of it. He says, that the Phaaces had formerly dwelt in spacious Hyperia, near to the Cyclopes, a ferocious race of men, who harassed them, being more powerful, and that on this account the god-like Nausithous, conducting them out of the country, established them in Scheria, far from civilised society. This is, I think, the sum of Homer's statement. But if Hyperia had been an island, it does not appear how its inhabitants could have been harassed by the Cyclopes, who, according to Homer, had neither red-prowed" ships, nor yet ship-builders. Οὐ γὰρ Κυκλώπετσι νέες πάρα μιλτοπάροι, Οὐδ ̓ ἄνδρες νηῶν ἔνι τέκτονες, &c. Odyss. L. ix. l. 125. Eustathius has remarked the incongruity of the supposition in question, with the account which is given by the poet himself. Σημείωσι δὲ ὅτι οὐ συντρέχειν δοκοῦσι τῷ ποιητῇ οἱ τὴν Ὑπέρειαν νῆσον λέγοντες. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν νησιῶται ὄντες οἱ ἐν αὐτῇ ὑπὸ Κυκλώπων ἐβλάπ τοντο, οἷς νῆες οὐκ ἦσαν κατὰ τὴν ̔Ομηρικὴν ἱστορίαν. αν I shall now consider, whether Camarina could have been the same with Hyperia. Besides the writers already mentioned, we have Vibius Sequester, who says that Camarina was formerly called Hyperia, and the epitomiser of Stephanus, who calls Hyperia a Sicilian city. In fact, as Hyperia was near to the territory of the Cyclopes, this has appeared to many to be the truth; and the probability of this conjecture seems to be confirmed by the name of the river, which flowed by Camarina, and which was called the Hipparis. I confess, however, that there appear to me to be insuperable objections against the admission of this conjecture. Thucydides. distinctly tells us, that Camarina was first built by the Syracusans, nearly 135 years after the foundation of Syracuse. Kal Καμαρίνα τὸ πρῶτον ὑπὸ Συρακουσίων ᾠκίσθη, ἔτεσιν ἐγγύτατα πέντε καὶ τριάκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μετὰ Συρακουσῶν κτίσιν. (L. vi. Accord ing to the calculation of Cluverius, Camarina was founded about the 45th Olympiad. What then becomes of the assertion of Vibius Sequester: Camarina nunc, ante Hyperic dicta? (For this reading, see Cluver. Sic. Antiq. p. 17,) I cannot help suspecting, that Camarina was supposed to be the Hyperia of Homer, from its bearing some resemblance in sound to Hipparis, which Ptolemy writes Hiporus. But this resemblance, when taken alone, can prove nothing; and besides, it does not appear to be very likely, that the more ancient Greek writers should have entirely omitted to mention that Camarina had formerly been named Hyperia, if that had been really the case. Had Pindar been able to trace any connection between Camarina and Hyperia, we might have expected to have found it noticed in his fifth Olympic; but both the poet and his scholiasts are entirely silent on the subject. According to the latter, Camarina was fabled to have been the daughter of Oceanus. It by no means follows, that because Hyperia was infested by the Cyclopes, it must have been either in Sicily, or in the neighbourhood of that island. The Cyclopes were not confined to Sicily alone. Many traces of them may be found in Argolis, Corinth, and Thrace. Pausanias (L. ii.) after having mentioned, that part of the circuit of the wall of Mycena, as well as the gate over which the lions stood, remained in his time, observes, that these were said to have been the works of the Cyclopes, who made the wall at Tiryns for Protus. For other Cyclopian remnànts in Argolis, you may consult Strabo, (L. viii. pp. 567 and 572.) and the interesting account of that country, lately published by my learned friend Mr. Gell. Various authorities are likewise adduced by Mr. Bryant, from which it appears, that the Cyclopes had been once established, not only in Argolis, but in Corinth and Thrace. Pausanias, indeed, testifies, as Mr. Bryant observes, that there was an ancient temple near Corinth, called the altar of the Cyclopes, where sacrifices were made to them. The learned author of the Analysis would have found another authority, if he had happened to turn to the first volume of the Thesaurus of Gronovius, in which there is a representation of a Corinthian coin struck in honor of Cyclops. It also appears, that the Cyclopes were once established in Thrace. Mr. Bryant quotes a passage from Aristotle, which begins with these words, 'Ev dè Kuxλs Tois Opal xenvidió éσtiv, &c. It must however be admitted, that the readings vary; and this should have been observed by Mr Bryant. The same learned man likewise cites the words of the Scholiast (in Euripid. Orest. v. 966.) Kuxλπes @gaxixòv ἔθνος. I have, however, chiefly to insist upon the authorities,' which prove that the Cyclopes once inhabited the Peloponnesus, because I pretend that Hyperia, whence the Phaaces came, was in that country. The epitomiser of Stephanus has called Hyperia a fountain of Messeis, and a Sicilian city— Υπέρεια, πηγή Μεσσηΐδος, καὶ πόλις Σικελική. Homer has told us a very different story in the Iliad. Hector thus addresses Andromache Καί κεν ἐν "Αργει ἐοῦσα, πρὸς ἄλλης ἱστὸν ὑφαίνοις· Il. vi. 456. Thus, then, we find that Messeis and Hyperia were both in Argos, according to Homer. I am aware that Argos is a wide word with the poet; and it is, I believe, generally supposed, that he meant, in the lines just cited, to speak of the Pelasgic Argos, or Thessaly. This seems the more probable, that Strabo (L. ix.) mentions, that in Thessaly there were two fountains, which were called Hyperia, and Messeis. But the same Strabo (L. viii.) observes, that by Argos, Homer indicated sometimes the Peloponnesus, and sometimes all Greece. My humble opinion then is, For these, consult Pausanias and Strabo in loc. cit.-Sen. Herc. fur.Nonn. Dion.-Sen. Thyest.-Euripid. Herc. Fur. &c. &c. that by Argos he here intended to denote the Peloponnesus, or the Achæan Argos. I shall show presently, that Hyperia and Messeis may be found in the Peloponnesus, as well as in Thessaly. In the mean time let us examine some reasons which there may be for thinking, that the Phæaces, or Corcyreans, did really come from the Peloponnesus. If we find these reasons to be valid, we shall search with new interest for the Hyperia of Homer in that peninsula. We are told by Diodorus Siculus, (L. iv. C. 72.) that Peneus and Asopus were sons of Oceanus and Tethys; that, with many of their brothers, they gave names to rivers; that Peneus settled in Thessaly, and gave his name to a river there; that Asopus dwelt in Phlius; and that he married Metope, the daughter of Ladon. It will be remembered, that the Peloponnesian river called Asopus, (for there were others which bore the same name,) rises near Phlius, flows through the plain of Sicyon, and joins the sea not far from Corinth. The Ladon is a well-known river, which falls into the Alpheus; and the Metope rises near Cyllene, and probably issues from the lake Stymphalis, or Stymphalus. Thus Pindar; Olymp. vi. The poet, indeed, seems here to make Metope the wife of the Boeotian Asopus, since he goes on to say, that she brought forth Thebes. But the Asopus, indicated by Diodorus, was undoubtedly the Peloponnesian river of that name. Ladon, Metope, Cyllene, Stymphalus, were all in Arcadia. θυγάτης μὲν γὰρ ἦν Μετώπη Λάδωνος τοῦ τῆς ̓Αρκαδίας ποτάμου. Στύμφηλος ὑπόκειται τῇ Κυλλήνη. ἔστι δὲ τῆς ̓Αρκαδίας. (Schol. in Pindar. Olymp. vi.) Diodorus proceeds to enumerate the children of Asopus and Metope. He states, that one of their daughters was named Cercyra; that she was carried away by Neptune to the island Cercyra, (or Corcyra,) which took its name from her; that she had there a son by Neptune; and that this son was Phaax, from whom the Phaaces were named, and who was the father of Alcinous, the host of Ulysses. It is plain then, that, according to Diodorus Siculus, the Phæaces emigrated from the Peloponnesus, since the fable which he relates can mean nothing else. Apollonius Rhodius gives an account, which corresponds sufficiently with that of Diodorus, though he seems to have mistaken Corcyra for Corcyra nigra. *Ενθα Ποσειδάων Ασωπίδα νάσσατο κούρην L. iv. |