ANTIQUITIES. ESSAY on the TOPOGRAPHY of the ILIAD*, by Professor HEYNE, of Gottingen, Aulic Counsellor to His BRITANNIC MAJESTY, &c. [From the fourth Volume of the TRANSACTIONS of the ROYAL SOCIETY of EDINBURGH. " FOR OR nine years had the war between the Greeks and Trojans been carried on. The former now lay encamped in the neighbourhood of Troy, when the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon occasioned a division in the army. "Agamemnon, to convince Achilles that, even without his assistance, victory might be obtained, causes the army to march out of the camp, and advance towards the city. Hitherto the Trojans had kept close within their walls, fol lowing the advice of their old ment, who saw plainly, that, if a siege should actually take place, the Greeks could make little impression on the town: for the first rudiments of the arts of attack were then hardly known. Encouraged, however, it should seem, by intelligence of the division in the Grecian army, the Trojans quitted the city, and met the Greeks in the field;-a new gratification to the proud spirit "The present essay follows out the train of ideas, suggested in a paper read before the Royal Society of Sciences at Gottingen, De acie Homericâ, et oppugnatione a Trojanis facta, in the year 1783, published in the sixth volume of their Transactions. All the disquisitions, there introduced, respecting the origin of military tactics, the manner of drawing up an army, and giving battle, and the art of fortifying and attacking a post, as described in the Iliad, are here omitted; many topics, on the other hand, are now corrected and enlarged. That essay was my first on the topography of the Iliad; a subject involved in so much difficulty. I allowed myself then to be misled by respect for Pope and Wood, so far as to renounce my own ideas, and to mould, according to the representations of these gentlemen, the views I had drawn from Homer himself. I soon found, however, that I had trusted to bad guides, and at once resolved, laying aside all secondary aids, to attempt, from the descriptions given in the poem itself, a sketch of the topography of the Iliad, such as Homer exhibits it. This essay I now present to the public. I had for a long time thrown it aside, when its coincidence with the informa. tion collected by M. Chevalier on the subject, induced me to revise it, and now inclines me to submit it, for further investigation, to the friends of the poet. Amendment after this will be an easy task." "Iliad, XV. 721, &c. The sage Polydamas, afterwards, likewise, when the de sign of an attack upon the camp seemed likely to misgive, gave his advice rather to retire again within the city, and take refuge, as formerly, behind the walls. But the rash Hector would not consent (XVIII. 266. &c.) Unquestionably the long siege must have proved extremely harassing. The provisions, as well as the treasure, of Priam, were exhausted, as Hector himself urges. (Ibid. 238.) H. of of Achilles, that now, for the first time, when it was known he was not with the army, the Trojans should venture out into the plain.* "The two armies met. Four principal battles are described in the Iliad. The first (the subject of our present investigation), on the plain between the camp and the city (Iliad, IV. 422. VI. 306.) ;— the second, when the Greeks were driven back to their camp (Iliad, VIII. 55—213) ;-the third, which extends not only to the flight of the Grecians into their camp, but likewise to the storming of the camp itself by the Trojans, who break in and set fire to a ship, till at length they are repulsed, and pursued almost to the city by Patroclus. Here Patroclus falls; and the Greeks put to flight are once more driven back to their camp. (Iliad, XI-XVIII.) In the fourth battle, Achilles beats back the Trojans again to the city, and crowns his victory by the fall of Hector. "No lively idea can be formed, either of these battles, or of the storming of the camp, without some general conception of the environs of Trov. "From Mount Ida, run two hilly ridges from the east down to the sea, where two promontories bound a jutting beach. The promontory on the north is Rhoteum; that on the south Sigeum. With in these two ridges lies a plain, sloping down to the shore, and inclosed within their semicircular compass. (Strabo, XVIII, p. 892. B.) In this plain run two rivers: on the north side the Simois; on the south the Scamander, called also the Xanthus. The latter now discharges itself into the sea to the south, below Sigeum; but formerly, before approaching the shore, it must have united with the Simois, so that both rivers had a common outlet into the sea, above or to the north of Sigeum. This embouchure was surrounded with many marshes, and bence was called Stomalimné; a name which oc curs but once in Homer, in an interpolated passage. (Iliad, VI. 4.) The exact situation is laid down by Strabo (XIII. p. 890. A. Pliny, V. 20. 33.t). "The Grecian fleet was drawn on shore at a place between the two promontories. The distance be twixt the two, according to Strabo (p. 890. B. 891. A.), was 60 stadia (about two German or nine English miles), in a direct course by sea. The curvature of the land, however, would increase the distance in keeping along the shoreţ. "It is generally supposed, that the Grecia camp extended from cape to cape. This notion involves very considerable difficulty. Had it done so, the camp must have reached beyond the Simois, and the marshes on both sides of it; a circumstance by no means probable, particularly as the stream is so apt to overflow; and not the smallest trace occurs in Homer, either of the river running through the camp, "Once only Hector had ventured beyond the Scran gate, as far as the beech tree; but on that occasion he with difficulty escaped from Achilles." "Of all these places, the chaits of Pope and Wood give very different views; that of M. Chevalier, however, accords exactly with what is said by Stabo and Play," D'Anville, in his description of the Hellespont, (Memoires de Académie des Inscriptions, tom. XXIV. p. 329.) allows only half the distance; M. Chevalier does the same (ch. VIII.), on the authority of the passage in Pliny (v. 33), where the distance is reckoned from anteum. Still, however, it is a contested point, what part of the coast must properly be regarded as Rhoteum. (Iliad, IX. 359. &c.) H. or of the left wing being stationed beyond the river. When Homer, therefore, says, that the ships occupied the whole shore between the two promontories, he probably speaks in a poetical style, to convey a magnificent idea; and it is more likely that the camp only stretched on both sides towards the promontories Rheteum and Sigeum, and that on the north-east it extended to the Simoïs. "Within this space were the ships of the Greeks hawled up on the land, at a considerable distance from the shore, with their sterns towards the land, and arranged in several rowst. The rows, however, must have been drawn backward according to the oblique direction of the whole camp from the north towards Sigeum. Behind the foremost row of the ships the troops were encamped, so that the ships themselves must have served for a kind of rampart, as is plain from a comparison of different pas sagest. In the rear of the left wing must have been the marshes called Stomalimné. Strabo assigns particlar names to several parts of ILIAD, XIV. 35. the coast, though he has not put them down in geographical order As only one part of the coast bears the name of Station of the fleet, it may perhaps be inferred from this, that the Grecian camp occupied only a part of the beach. "The ships stood in the order in which they had been drawn ashore. The vessels of Protesiläus, accordingly, occupied the foremost place; and next to them were the ships of Ajax, the son of Telamon. (Iliad, XIII. 681. XV. 706, &c.) Ajax was stationed towards Rheteum, consequently on the left wing of the camp; Achilles, with his Myr. midons, on the right towards Sigeum §. In regard to the two extremities there is no doubt; but the arrangement in the intermediate space cannot be so exactly ascertained; unless, perhaps, thus far: Near to Ajax, and farther to the right, lay Idomeneus, with the Cretans (Iliad, X. 112.); beside him Nestor, with his Pylians; then followed Menestheus, with the Athenians; next to him was Ulysses; near o whom were stationed the Argives, Myceneans, and Laceds καὶ πλῆσαν ἁπάσης Ηϊόνος στόμα μακρὸν, όσον συνεέβγαθον ἄκραι. "He does not expressly name either Sigeum or Rhoteum; on the contrary, he always places the camp on the Hellespont, in the more extensive signification of that term, as meaning the northern part of the Ægean Sea." "The ships are therefore said to have stood póxgossai, (XIV. 35.) parallel and behind one another, like the steps of a ladder. This is the meaning we learn from Herodotus, (VII. 188.)" "Iliad, XV. 653, &c. 408. 426. XIV. 34." Strabo (XIII. 80. A.). After Rhæteum follows Sigeum, a town in ruins, then the station of the fleet, (ro Navaralov), and the harbour of the Greeks, ( AxaINT A) and the Grecian camp (ro Axaïxiv ergaróredov,) and Stomalimné, and the mouth ⚫ of the Scamander (viz. of the Scamander united with the Simoïs), then the promon⚫tory of Sigeum.' Compare Mela, I. 19. Pliny, V. 30. 33." § Iliad, XI. ad init. It is true that in XVII. 452. it is said, that the horses of Achilles would not return without Patroclus to the Hellespont, aş iwi vñas iel wλari 'Exovrov. Bur this whole northern arm of the Ægean Sea, before the entrance of the strait, is more than once called the Hellespont. (Iliad, XVIII. 150. XXIV. 346. Odyss. XXIV. 82. also Iliad, VII, 86. XII. 50. XV. 233. XXIII. 2.) And hence must be derived the explanation of the epithets wλards and aweig, which do not seem well applied to the proper Hellespont; though, indeed, broad and narrow are relative terms." monians; monians; after these came several other corps; and lastly, on the right wing were the Myrmidons, with whom, it should seem, the other Thessalian tribes (the troops of Protesiläus excepted) were united. "By this arrangement, the following passages appear both to be cleared up themselves, and to throw light on others in their turn. The post of Ajax is all along the most important. Towards this wing the main assault upon the camp takes place. To that side also the battles tend. When Nes tor conducts the wounded Machaon into his own tent, Achilles is at such a distance that he sees only his back, and cannot distinctly recognise his person (XI. 596. 610. et seq.). Patroclus, dispatched by Achilles to make inquiry, in returning from Nestor passes the place where the ships of Ulysses are lying (XI. 805.). Just at this spot he finds Eurypylus, who was coming back from the engagement at the left wing wounded, and was going, it would appear, to the right wing, where probably his Thessalians were stationed. Machaon, though a Thessalian, was conducted by Nestor into his tent, probably because he was too much exhausted to be able to reach the right wing. The ships of Ulysses lay in the centre, so that, from thence, the shout, which called the troops to arms, could be heard on both wings. To this the form of the camp, which from its position, extended more in depth than in length, probably contributed. Hard by these ships of Ulysses, and consequently behind the foremost row, was the place for holding the public assemblies, and for the altars for the sacrifices. (Iliad, XI. 806-7.) One of these, it should seem, was the altar of Jupiter Panomphæust. "The order of the ships in the catalogue (Iliad, II.) appears to have some connection with this arrangement in the camp, so that the Boeotians, and those after them, as far on as the Salaminians, under Ajax, belonged to the left wing. The Argives, and those next in order, as far as the Cretans, Rhodians, and other islanders, composed the centre. The Thessalians, with the Myrmidons, formed the right wing. "The succession and order of the troops, when afterwards drawn up in the field of battle, is somewhat different. Agamemnon runs through the midst of the battle; and after passing some, who are not named, he comes to Idomeneus with the Cretans, to Ajax and the Salaminians, to Nestor with his Pylians, to the Athenians under Menestheus, to Ulysses, and lastly to Diomedet. "Agamemnon it appears went from the left to the right wing. Ulysses was at such a distance from the spot where the Trojans were pressing on to theassault, "Iliad, XI. 5. These verses are likewise inserted, though rather awkwardly; lib. VIII. 222. et seq. “Iliad, VIII. 249. 250. Ovid. Met. XI. 197. Apollo stands on the Trojan shore, Dextera Sigei, Rhartei leva profundi Ara Punompheo vetus est sacrata Tonanti. "What notion the editors have had of this passage it is not easy to divine. At all events, a point must be put after profund, and that line must be understood as a complete sentence." "Iliad, IV. 231, &c. The leaders and the corps are by no means all particularised by name. Thus, it appears from lib. XI. 808. II. 736. that the Thessalians, commanded by Eurypylus, were there." that that he as yet knew nothing of their Homer expressly testifies ; but he approach. (IV. 331.) In the bat- furnishes us with no further or tle itself all order is lost; and the more accurate information |]. The combatants, individuals as well as field of battle lies in the neighboursquadrons, are confusedly mixed hood of the Scamander §, and is with one another. (IV. 457, &c) called likewise the Scamandrian "The ground in this neighbour- plain ¶, though it also receives, at hood must have experienced altera- least in the more immediate vicinity tions by the overflowing of the ri- of the city, the epithet of Trojan**. vers, as well as by the operation of More precisely still it is said, (Iliad, the Simois at its mouth. Homer VI. 1, &c.) the battle raged behimself intimates this, when between Simoïs and Xanthus.' The takes notice, that not a trace of the latter must have been nearest the wall of the Grecian camp was re- Grecian camp; for when the Tromaining. (Iliad. XII. ad init.) He- jans had advanced very nigh the rodotus also quotes the shore of rampart, and lay a night in the Troy as an instance of such field before it, they are said to be changes (lib. II. 10.). And should between the camp and the Scamanwe even incline to reject the testi- der. (Iliad, VIII. 556.) At the mony of Strabo (lib XIII p. 890. Scamander †† Hector holds a counA.), the fact may be regarded as cil of war; aud when the Trojans certain. Whether the alterations are compelled to retire from beof the ground, however, have been fore the camp, the wounded Hecso great as Wood supposes, is a dif- tor is laid down at the side of the ferent question. Scamander. (Iliad, XIV. 433.) When, again, Patroclus drives the Trojans finally from the camp, he cuts off the retreat of a part of the fugitives to the city, forces them back towards the camp, and falls on them betwixt the station of the ships, the river, and the city II. Achilles, in advancing from the "Before the camp, as already mentioned, a plain, gradually rising, stretched towards Troy, diversified, it would seem, with several little eminences †. That the two rivers, Simoïs and Scamander, inclosed this plain, and that farther down they united with each other, *M. Chevalier answers this question." "Of this kind was one immediately in front of the camp, the Igwaμis widio1o. (Iliad, X. 160. XI. 56). It lay just before the place for crossing the Scamander, in going from the camp, on the road towards Troy; for in the last battle the Trojans had taken post i Jews widiolo (XX. 3), and from thence they came, in the course of their flight, to the passage of the Xanthus, wógov Závlov. (XXI. 2.) In so far the delineation, on M. Chevalier's map, is erroneous." H. "Iliad, V. 713, et seq. Vid. Strabo, XIII. p. 890. A. 892." C. "Strabo says: 'A little way before New Ilium the streams unite.' It is doubtful, however, whether by this expression he means between Ilium and the sea, or on the inland side of the town. "Iliad, V. 36. VII. 329. XI. 498-9." "** Iliad, X 11. XXIII. 464. Strabo, p. 892. C. Iliad, II. 465. 467.” "++ For this must be the woraus inì divnerti, of Iliad, VIII. 490. 64 -Μεσηγύ « Νηῶν καὶ ποταμᾶ καὶ τείχεος ὑψηλοῖο. Iliad, XVI. 397. "Here it is difficult to form a distinct idea of the topographical situation, unless we understand it thus: first, between the ships and the river; and farther on, between the nver and the town." 1798. K cami |