Macrobius has
answered what the ancients could urge against him, and some things I
have lately read in Tannegui le Febvre, Valois, and another whom I
name not, which are scarce worth answering. They begin with the
moral of his poem, which I have elsewhere confessed, and still must
own, not to be so noble as that of Homer. But let both be fairly
stated, and without contradicting my first opinion I can show that
Virgil's was as useful to the Romans of his age as Homer's was to
the Grecians of his, in what time soever he may be supposed to have
lived and flourished. Homer's moral was to urge the necessity of
union, and of a good understanding betwixt confederate states and
princes engaged in a war with a mighty monarch; as also of
discipline in an army, and obedience in the several chiefs to the
supreme commander of the joint forces. To inculcate this, he sets
forth the ruinous effects of discord in the camp of those allies,
occasioned by the quarrel betwixt the general and one of the next in
office under him.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201