Hero and Leander. A tale of love / Translated from ... Musaeus. With other poems [by the translator] By Francis Adam [i.e. Adams].

  • Musaeus, Grammaticus
Date:
1821
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hero and Leander. A tale of love / Translated from ... Musaeus. With other poems [by the translator] By Francis Adam [i.e. Adams]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    INTRODUCTION. JL ME Po€m on the Loves of Hero and Leandeh, which is published among the remains of the Lesser Greek Poets, was condemned as spurious by Vossius, who thought it a work of later date than the fourth century; but was received as a genuine production of the venerable Musaeus, by the Elder Scaliger, This learned critic eulogizes it in the strongest terms; and endeavours to shew, that its stile and versification are far more polished than the vaunted numbers of the Iliad and Odyssey. To me it appears, notwithstanding my partiality to the author of this beautiful little Poem, that he has loaded his work with too many cumbrous epithets; and that his taste, in this respect, savours more of the age of Oppian than of Homer. I could also point out some words which are used in a sense not usual with the earlier Poets of Greece ; but I decline entering into the dispute regarding the au¬ thenticity of the work, which I find involved in impe¬ netrable obscurity; and as to its great poetical merits, I rejoice to coincide in opinion with the excellent critic mentioned above. That the tale is told in a manner calculated to excite high interest, that it is adorned with pleasing images, and contains sentiments at once B