Page:The Odyssey of Homer, with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice (Buckley 1853).djvu/25

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THE LIFE OF HOMER.

xxi

and leaving Homer in the house, assuring him that he would not fail to return quickly, he departed. Arrived at Bolissus,^[1] a small town, at a little distance from the farm, he related to his master all that he knew of Homer, speaking of his arrival as an astonishing thing, and demanding to know his wishes on the subject. His master did not like the occurrence, and blamed Glaucus for his foolishness, in admitting a blind man to his table. Nevertheless, he ordered Homer to be brought to him.

XXIV. Glaucus, on his return, related to Homer all the particulars of his visit, and begged him to follow him thither, telling him that all his future happiness and good fortune depended on his going to Bolissus. Homer acquiesced in what he said. Glaucus presented him to his master, who found him to be a man of information and talent, and offered to retain him in his house if he would instruct his children, who were yet very young.^[2] Homer accepted these proposals. It was at Bolissus, in the house of this Chian citizen, that he composed the Cercopia,^[3] the Batrachomyomachia,^[4] the Epici-

↑ Bolissus, now called Voliso, is a small town on the north-eastern coast of Chios, and near Cardamyle. Thucyd. viii. 24.
↑ See Larcher's note.
↑ Included by Suidas and Proclus among his works. The word signifies "deceivers." The Greek verb, κερκοπίζειν, means "to act fraudulently." See Lobeck, Aglauph, p. 1296; Müller, Dor. vol. i. p. 457; Welck. Ep. Cycl. p. 409, note; Mure, vol. ii, p. 367—369.
↑ This poem, "The Battle of the Frogs and Mice," is a mock-heroic, in three books; and of the best of its kind. It is evidently not by Homer, as many of the passages are direct parodies on parts of the Iliad. Curiously enough the Batrachomyomachia was the first of the Homeric poems printed at the revival of letters. It was edited by Laonicus of Crete, (Venice, 1486,) and printed in alternate black and red lines. The author is now considered to be Pigres, and he likewise is responsible for the Margites, which last, however, Bode (Geschichte der Hellenischen Dichtkunst, i. p. 279) denies, though Suidas is confirmed by Plutarch (de Herod. malign. 43, p. 873, f.). He was a Halicarnassean, and brother or son of Artemisia, queen of Caria, according to some ac-

[1] Bolissus, now called Voliso, is a small town on the north-eastern coast of Chios, and near Cardamyle. Thucyd. viii. 24.

[2] See Larcher's note.

[3] Included by Suidas and Proclus among his works. The word signifies "deceivers." The Greek verb, κερκοπίζειν, means "to act fraudulently." See Lobeck, Aglauph, p. 1296; Müller, Dor. vol. i. p. 457; Welck. Ep. Cycl. p. 409, note; Mure, vol. ii, p. 367—369.

[xxi-4] This poem, "The Battle of the Frogs and Mice," is a mock-heroic, in three books; and of the best of its kind. It is evidently not by Homer, as many of the passages are direct parodies on parts of the Iliad. Curiously enough the Batrachomyomachia was the first of the Homeric poems printed at the revival of letters. It was edited by Laonicus of Crete, (Venice, 1486,) and printed in alternate black and red lines. The author is now considered to be Pigres, and he likewise is responsible for the Margites, which last, however, Bode (Geschichte der Hellenischen Dichtkunst, i. p. 279) denies, though Suidas is confirmed by Plutarch (de Herod. malign. 43, p. 873, f.). He was a Halicarnassean, and brother or son of Artemisia, queen of Caria, according to some ac-

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