The Iliad (tr. Pope) | Page 3

the Homeric theory in its present conditions, some notice
must be taken of the treatise on the Life of Homer which has been attributed to
Herodotus.
According to this document, the city of Cumae in AEolia, was, at an early period, the seat
of frequent immigrations from various parts of Greece. Among the immigrants was
Menapolus, the son of Ithagenes. Although poor, he married, and the result of the union
was a girl named Critheis. The girl was left an orphan at an early age, under the
guardianship of Cleanax, of Argos. It is to the indiscretion of this maiden that we "are
indebted for so much happiness." Homer was the first fruit of her juvenile frailty, and
received the name of Melesigenes, from having been born near the river Meles, in

Boeotia, whither Critheis had been transported in order to save her reputation.
"At this time," continues our narrative, "there lived at Smyrna a man named Phemius, a
teacher of literature and music, who, not being married, engaged Critheis to manage his
household, and spin the flax he received as the price of his scholastic labours. So
satisfactory was her performance of this task, and so modest her conduct, that he made
proposals of marriage, declaring himself, as a further inducement, willing to adopt her
son, who, he asserted, would become a clever man, if he were carefully brought up."
They were married; careful cultivation ripened the talents which nature had bestowed,
and Melesigenes soon surpassed his schoolfellows in every attainment, and, when older,
rivalled his preceptor in wisdom. Phemius died, leaving him sole heir to his property, and
his mother soon followed. Melesigenes carried on his adopted father's school with great
success, exciting the admiration not only of the inhabitants of Smyrna, but also of the
strangers whom the trade carried on there, especially in the exportation of corn, attracted
to that city. Among these visitors, one Mentes, from Leucadia, the modern Santa Maura,
who evinced a knowledge and intelligence rarely found in those times, persuaded
Melesigenes to close his school, and accompany him on his travels. He promised not only
to pay his expenses, but to furnish him with a further stipend, urging, that, "While he was
yet young, it was fitting that he should see with his own eyes the countries and cities
which might hereafter be the subjects of his discourses." Melesigenes consented, and set
out with his patron, "examining all the curiosities of the countries they visited, and
informing himself of everything by interrogating those whom he met." We may also
suppose, that he wrote memoirs of all that he deemed worthy of preservation [Footnote:
Eikos de min aen kai mnaemoruna panton grapherthai. Vit. Hom. in Schweigh Herodot t.
iv. p. 299, sq. Section 6. I may observe that this Life has been paraphrased in English by
my learned young friend Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, and appended to my prose translation
of the Odyssey. The present abridgement however, will contain all that is of use to the
reader, for the biographical value of the treatise is most insignificant.] Having set sail
from Tyrrhenia and Iberia, they reached Ithaca. Here Melesigenes, who had already
suffered in his eyes, became much worse, and Mentes, who was about to leave for
Leucadia, left him to the medical superintendence of a friend of his, named Mentor, the
son of Alcinor. Under his hospitable and intelligent host, Melesigenes rapidly became
acquainted with the legends respecting Ulysses, which afterwards formed the subject of
the Odyssey. The inhabitants of Ithaca assert, that it was here that Melesigenes became
blind, but the Colophomans make their city the seat of that misfortune. He then returned
to Smyrna, where he applied himself to the study of poetry. [Footnote: _I.e._ both of
composing and reciting verses for as Blair observes, "The first poets sang their own
verses." Sextus Empir. adv. Mus. p. 360 ed. Fabric. Ou hamelei ge toi kai oi poiaetai
melopoioi legontai, kai ta Omaerou epae to palai pros lyran aedeto.
"The voice," observes Heeren, "was always accompanied by some instrument. The bard
was provided with a harp on which he played a prelude, to elevate and inspire his mind,
and with which he accompanied the song when begun. His voice probably preserved a
medium between singing and recitation; the words, and not the melody were regarded by
the listeners, hence it was necessary for him to remain intelligible to all. In countries
where nothing similar is found, it is difficult to represent such scenes to the mind; but

whoever has had an opportunity of listening to the improvisation of Italy, can easily form
an idea of Demodocus and Phemius."--_Ancient Greece,_ p. 94.]
But poverty soon drove him to Cumae. Having passed over the Hermaean plain, he
arrived at Neon Teichos, the New Wall, a