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[5] That eloquence is regarded as the wisdom of speech, Ulysses manifests throughout the whole poem, both in the Trial,
1
the Petitions,
2
and the Embassy.
3
Of him it is said by Antenor,
Iliad iii. 221.
Who can suppose that a poet capable of effectively introducing into his scenes rhetoricians, generals, and various other characters, each displaying some peculiar excellence, was nothing more than a droll or juggler, capable only of cheating or flattering his hearer, and not of instructing him.
But when he spake, forth from his breast did flow
A torrent swift as winter’s feather’d snow.
4
Are we not all agreed that the chief merit of a poet consists in his accurate representation of the affairs of life? Can this be done by a mere driveller, unacquainted with the world?
The excellence of a poet is not to be measured by the same standard as that of a mechanic or a blacksmith, where honour and virtue have nothing to do with our estimate. But the poet and the individual are connected, and he only can become a good poet, who is in the first instance a worthy man.
Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.
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