From thofe rich regions where Cephiffus leads
His filver current through the flowery meads;
From Panopëa, Chryfa the divine,
Where Anemoria's stately turrets shine,
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cypariffus ftood,
And fair Lilæa views the rifing flood.
These rang'd in order on the floating tide,
Close, on the left, the bold Boeotians fide.
Fierce Ajax led the Locrian squadrons on,
Ajax the less, Oïleus' valiant son;
Skill'd to direct the flying dart aright;
Swift in purfuit, and active in the fight.
Him, as their chief, the chosen troops attend,
Which Bessa, Thronus, and rich Cynos send :
Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe's bands;
And those who dwell where pleafing Augia ftands,
And where Boägrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Tarphe's fylvan feats refide:
In forty veffels cut the liquid tide.
Euboea next her martial fons prepare,
And fends the brave Abantes to the wars :
Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and strong Eretria;
The Ifteian fields for generous vines renown'd,
The fair Cariftos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her towers o'erlooks the plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighbouring main.
Down their broad fhoulders falls a length of hair;
Their hands difmifs not the long lance in air;
But with portended fpears in fighting fields,
Pierce the tough corfelets and the brazen shields.
Twice twenty fhips transport the warlike bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.
Full fifty more from Athens stem the main, Led by Mneftheus through the liquid plain, (Athens the fair, where great Erectheus fway'd, That ow'd his nurture to the blue-eyed Maid, But from the teeming furrow took his birth, The mighty offspring of the foodful earth. Him Pallas plac'd amidst her wealthy fane, Ador'd with facrifice and oxen flain; Where, as the years revolve, her altars blaze, And all the tribes refound the Goddess' praise) No chief like thee, Mnestheus! Greece could yield, 665 To marshal armies in the dufty field,
Th' extended wings of battle to display,
Or close th' embody'd hoft in firm array.
Neftor alone, improv'd by length of days,
For martial conduct bore an equal praise.
With these appear the Salaminian bands,
Whom the gigantic Telamon commands;
In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,
And with the great Athenians join their force.
Next move to war the generous Argive train,
From high Trozenè, and Mafeta's plain,
And fair Ægina circled by the main :
Whom strong 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.
These by the brave Euryalus were led,
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed,
But chief Tydides bore the fovereign fway;
In fourfcore barks they plow the watery way.
The proud Mycenè arms her martial powers,
Cleonè, Corinth, with imperial towers,
Fair Aræthyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain,
And Ægeon, and Adrastus' ancient reign;
And those who dwell along the fandy fhore,
And where Pellenè yields her fleecy store,
Where Helicè and Hyperesia lie,
And Gonoëffa's fpires falute the sky.
Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band,
A hundred vessels in long order stands,
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, unrival'd in his reign,
In filent pomp he moves along the main.
His brother follows, and to vengeance warme
The hardy Spartans exercis'd'in arms;
Phares and Brysia's valiant troops, and those
Whom Lacedæmon's lofty hills inclofe :
Or Meffe's towers for filver doves renown'd,
Amycle, Laäs, 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 fhips with Menelaus draws:
Eager and loud from man to man he flies,
Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes;
While, vainly fond, in fancy oft he hears
The fair-one's grief, and fees her falling tears.
In ninety fail, from Pylo's fandy coaft,
Neftor the fage conducts his chosen hoft:
From Amphigenia's ever fruitful land;
Where Apy high, and little Pteleon stand;
Where beauteous Arenè her ftructures fhows,
And Thryon's walls Alpheus' streams inclose:
And Dorion, 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 unsuccessful 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 Cyllenè, crown'd with wood,
The shaded tomb of old Ægyptus stood;
From Ripè, 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,
Parrhafia, on her fnowy cliffs reclin'd,
And high Enifpè fhook by wintery wind,
And fair Mantinea's ever-pleasing site;
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 warriours 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
Th' Olenian rock; and where Alifium flows;
Beneath four chiefs (a numerous army) came:
The strength and glory of th' Epean name.
In feparate fquadrons these their train divide,
Each leads ten vessels through the yielding tide.
One was Amphimachus, and Thalphius one
(Eurytus' this, and that Teätus' fon);
Diores fprung from Amarynceus' line;
And great Polyxenus, of force divine.
But those who view fair Elis o'er the feas
From the bleft iflands of th' Echinades,
In forty veffels under Meges move,
Begot by Phyleus the belov'd of Jove.
To ftrong Dulichium from his fire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriours led.
Ulyffes follow'd through the watery road,
A chief, in wisdom equal to a God.
With those whom Cephalenia's ifle inclos'd,
Or till their fields along the coaft oppos'd;
Or where fair Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving woods,
Where gilipa's rugged fides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
These in twelve galleys with vermilion prores,
Beneath his conduct, fought the Phrygian hores.
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