observance than in the breach, and which Valckenaer strenuously recommends. For example: 1. When the following line begins with a vowel: HECUBA 624, 5. μ' ἀπώλεσεν, Οθ ̓ ἡ 6.. πλουσίοις ἐν δώμασιν, Οδ' τὰ δ' εν ποσὶν Ουκ—455, 6. -618, 9.-ἐν καλᾶισι σάγμασιν Ομοι δρομήμασιν Οντω βουλεύμασιν. Ου γάρ. TROADES. 694, 5. HERC. FUR. 272. 333. σώμασιν, Ήξω -542. Διώλεσεν Όπλοις. - 705. — ἀγάλμασιν. 1102. βραχίον Ἔσωζε πλευρές αμφι Ο θ. Αλλ' -1147. διώλεσεν ; Οι · 12.12. μείζοσιν; "Απΐη κ. — κι — 1245. δαίμοσιν. "Αυθάδες · II. When a consonant is the first letter of the following verse: TROADES, 46. — διώλεσεν Παλλάς-401. —ἐλάνθανεν Παρις- 608. -- πεπονθεσιν, where Musg. πεπραγόσιν Θρήνων. 926. - ἀπώλεσεν Τρόιαν τε. Similar instances occur in the HERCULES FORENS. 44. 105. 153. 176. 178. 197. 613. 1137. Yet so irregular is Aldus, that in the Andromache we find in V. 1156.7. ωλεσε Πολλών—and in the Troades, and in Herc. Fur.474.5.τυραννίσι Πατήρ 572.3.-τοξεύμασι, Νεκρών- - 1 335. — εξογκωμασι Τίμιον. — Also in Troad. 998.9.—ἐσθήμασι Χρυσῷ τε. We again assert that these omissions of the final N must be reckoned as instances of carelessness in Aldus. If he had in truth judged the letter to be of no material utility, and had supposed that a vowel naturally short became long before any single consonant, when it stood at the end of an iambic foot, would he have published πόλις instead of Πόλις *, in the following verses? Hecub. 767. Suppl. 723. να Ποῦ δ ̓ ὧν ἔύγχαν ̓ ἡνίκ ̓ ὤλλιο πόλις. Τρια, περὶξ δὲ πύργος ειχ ̓ ἔτι πόλιν. Βοὴ δὲ καὶ κωκυλὸς ἦν ἀνὰ πόλιν. Κλύω δὲ νεοχμὰ τὴνδ ̓ ἀνὰ πόλιν κακα. Andr. 700. Σεμνοὶ δ ̓ ἐν ἀρχᾶις εμενοι καλὰ πόλιν. Ion. 1639. 'Αξία γ' ἡμῶν ὁδουρὸς, καὶ φιλουσάγε πόλιν. In no one of these lines could Пoλss stand, without destruction to the metre: but in such situations as did not demand the two mutes, Aldus gives Πόλις. We have observed only one exception, which is θες πόλιν, Ion. 30. and it must be remarked that, in places which admitted the addition of the N final, that letter is subjoined even in preference to the reading of πόλις. Thus in Herc. Fur. 241 ἐισκομισθῶσιν πολεί, and 596-πᾶσ ̓ εἶδεν πόλις. It must be allowed that several verses may be found in the Euripides of Aldus, which resemble the reading of line 101 in Πτόλις is the poetic form: 'Εκ του πόλις καλὰ ποιητικὸν ἔθος γίνεται πτόλις, Εtym. Μagn. 694. 38. the the Supplices which Mr. Wakefield prefers in his Silva Crit. I. 82. Ημων δ' ακουειν· προσδίκω γαρ ΤΙ νεον. where Aldus gives Ημῶν δ' ακόυειν· προσδοκῶ τί γὰρ νέον. For example: Herc. Furens, 944• Τις μοι δίδωσι τόξα; τίς ὅπλον χερός ; In Mr. Wakefield's edition of this play, we were surprised at his not having followed Aldus. He has, however, admitted Tis d'orλov X. the correction of Barnes, into his text: but he mentions neither the lection nor the editor of the Ed. princeps. So also in this tragedy, of which the Aldine text is very corrupt, V. 192. Θάνατον, ἀμύναι γ ̓ ἂν ἔχων αλκὴν μόνον. and 1257. Οὐκ ἂν ἀνάσχοιθ ̓ Ἑλλὰς ἀμαθία θανεῖν. There is also in this play another verse, which appears to defend Mr. Wakefield and his Canon; 945. Πρὸς τὰς Μυκήνας ἔιμι· λίζυσθε χρεών, or at least, it seems to have a final Eo lengthened before XP. This, however, is one of the instances which were probably in the recollection of Mr. Porson, when he said, in the note already cited: "Ubi verbum in brevem vocalem desinit, eamque due consonantes excipiunt, que brevem manere patiantur, vix credo exempla indubiæ fidei inveniri posse, in quibus syllaba ista producatur." All these passages demand correction, and have been emended by editors or critics. In general, indeed, those verses, which contain an iambus ending in a short syllable, may be easily restored. The greater part merely require the addition of a final N, others demand alterations equally slight; and evident corruptions are often observable in lines of this description, independent of the metrical defect. It must be mentioned that Mr. Wakefield, in his edition of the Hercules Furens, adopts, as he tells the reader, Pierson's correction of 'αμῦναι τὴνδ ̓ ἔχων for aμ. γἂν ἔχων, in V. 192. In V. 1257. he publishes: 'Oux av o' ¿véox019 ”Eras—in the place of: 'Cun dv avarx9' 'E-but he mentions neither the lection of Aldus, which favours his own Canon; nor this addition of ', which restores sense and metre to the passage. Musgrave, indeed, only says: "In Ed. Ald. deest o'."-' is omitted by Aldus, in the editions of Hervagius at Basil, 1537, 1544, and 1551; in Stiblinus's, 1562; in Canter's, 1571; in Commelin's, 1597; and in P. Stephens's, 1602 *. Joshua Barnes (on * We have not Brubachius's edition before us. REV. JULY, 1799. Z what what authority we know not, as he is silent in his notes) reads a's σ avaτyal" 'E-which is repeated by Carmeli, Musgrave, and Wakefield. In the remaining passage which we quoted from this play, 945. Mr. W. gives – λάζυσθαι χρεων, for λάζυσθε χρεών, but proposes in the note :—λάζυσθ' εν χερσιν Μοχλους. Το this correction our consent must be refused. It is surprising that his Canon did not suggest to him: Λάζυσθε χερσιν Μas the change is slighter, and his favourite rule might appear to receive additional confirmation. : It is hoped that no example either of the added or of the omitted final N has escaped our research: but some instances may have passed unnoticed; and if they occur to the learned reader, he will readily register them in their proper situation. Our examination of the first Euripides may probably seem long and tedious but we thought it proper to correct beyond controversy the erroneous notion, that the omission of the N before words beginning with consonants was the usual practice of Aldus. Had it, however, appeared that Aldus left out this letter always, or at least much more frequently than he inserted it, surely an appeal to the authority of his text, in order to prove that a short vowel is rendered long by its position in the latter part of an iambic foot, would be extremely hazardous. Such a reference, indeed, would tend to render nugatory the best exertions of modern critics; and would overturn the greater portion of the Attic Canons, which the scholars of the last and present century have been endeavouring to establish. The text of the Aldine Euripides was the ground which, in the year 1755, JoDOCUS JOHANNES STRUCHTMEYERUS-Peace to his manes!-assumed, in order to defend the admission of Anapests into the second and fourth places of Iambics. He devoted the eighth chapter of the second book of his ANIMADVER SIONES CRITICE to this laudable purpose; and notably has he performed the supposed duty! The success of that critic will be equal who shall contend for the omission of augments; and who shall wish to demonstrate that the penultimate of comparative adjectives in IS2N* may be used short; or that any lonic peculiarity may be tolerated in the poets of the Attic Dialect! Mr. Wakefield + censures Musgrave, qui non semper, ut sapè, ΙΩΝ *We had here intended to insert a note on these comparatives: but our remarks on this point have so greatly accumulated, that they are much too extensive to be so arranged. We shall therefore offer them to the public in a future Number, as a Supplement to this long Article. Silva Critica I. 81. hanc banc scripturam servaverit. It is generally understood that this editor did not perform the arduous and wearisome task of correcting his own text of Euripides. Some friends attempted to supply his place: but, when the numerous typographical errors of this edition are considered, who can be surprised that a N, or that any other letter, is left out, or is added? Those who examine Musgrave's notes, and his Exercitationes in Euripidem, will find that he ought not to be deemed a favourer of Mr. Wakefield's Canon. The examples of an added N are too numerous, when compared with those of an omitted N, which can be gleaned from his annotations, for them to be attributed to any other cause than his own carelessness as a transcriber, or the inattention of his printer. Little can be advanced in favour of this Canon from the editions between those of Aldus and Musgrave; for, till the time of Valckenaer and Markland, no publisher of Euripides is consistent and uniform. They all sometimes add, and sometimes omit, this final N. To the two great names which have been just recorded, must now be added that of Mr. Porson; who has shewn his accuracy by his insertions of this letter in his HECUBA and ORESTES. It has been observed, also, that no confidence can be placed in the MSS. of the tragedies, on account of their irregularity; and that we can have no dependence on the verses which are quoted by the Grammarians and other authors; for they are most frequently exhibited as if they were prosaic citations; and the final N is inserted or neglected without even the appearance of systematic regularity. The antient inscriptions, however, lay claim to some authority. The stone-cutters were, we take it for granted, an ignorant set of men: but, if the addition of this N final had been in truth merely a trick and quackery of modern times; if the authors had left out this consonant on principle; what sound reason can be alleged, to induce the belief that this uninformed race could ever have thought of making such an insertion? About the metre, who can imagine them to have been solicitous?--Yet this letter is always inserted as far as our examination has extended, in poetic inscriptions, before a word beginning with a consonant, where the verse requires a long syllable *. It The instances which have occurred to us are in Hexameters and Pentameters. The reader may examine: Chandler's Inscriptions, P. I. p. 4. IX. p. 13. XXXVII. п. p. 58. XLVIII. p. 67. LX. Pococke, p. 30. XVIII. In Gruter III. p. 1068.—πoga busias, [Dorv. in Charit. p. 461.] Brunck III. p. 183. Ep. 169. Z 2 gives: It is strange, also, that the Greeks should be imagined to have placed only the short iota and the Eov or short E, and none of the other short vowels, in the final syllable of words at the end of the Iambus, or at the beginning of the Trocheus. To the latter, they had not the liberty of adding the N; and where is the short A, or the short T, or where is the short O, or o pinpov, to be found in such a position? These they never admitted into it; nor can the corruption of MSS. produce even plausible instances. Who can suppose, then, that they would arbitrarily make a short vowel long, merely on account of its situation at the close of a foot in the middle of a verse, when they possessed the power of length ening it, in compliance with metrical custom, by adding another consonant, a final N? The Greeks, it must be noted also, never allowed the Ictus in Iambic poetry to fall on the final short syllable of an hyperdissyllabic word. Dawes thus marks the Ictus or accentus on the first three lines of the Hecuba: Misc. CRIT. 191. Ἡκώ νεκρών κευθμώνα και σκολόν πυλας Πολυδώρος, Εκάβης πάις γεγώς της Κίσσεως. From this scheme of marking the Ictus, the following corol lary may be deduced: As the Ictus in the lambic metre falls on the second or long syllable of the lambus, it must be placed in the Tribrachys on the middle syllable, in the spondeus on the second, gives as he does-, Not. p. 288, where the Oxford Marbles have dee, and i9, p. 299. where Muratori, p. 1626. edits, 9, which Dorville also pursues, 1. c. p. 504. Brunck, however, is as usual inconsistent; for, as in his Apollonius Rhodius, the N is not always rejected; so in his Analects, in opposition to the preceding omissions, may be added: III. 189. CXC. on, as in Gruter. 304. DCCVIII. aaon, ubi Leichius ex conjectura Maffei, p. 64. ir māc. 711. Figy-from Muratori, 1502. and 311. Kol dehow Moura, from Gruter, II. 1036. 9. These passages do not relate, it must be owned, to the law laid down by Mr. W. for Iambics: but they may, perhaps, merit the notice of those who bani.h this leater before a consonant in the Cesura of Hexameters. Is not Mr. W. one of that number? * Bentley's mode of placing the Ictus in Iambics may be found in his admirable Schediasm on the Metre of Terence. Dawes abuses it, as he does its author on all proper and improper occasions; yet from Bentley's mode his rule is evidently formed. We refer to Dawes's plan, as the Canon is his which has been just cited about the last syllable of hyperdisyllabic words. The accents are omitted, in order to prevent any mistake about the mark for the Ictus. 1 |