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added to his own knowledge the affeveration of Frederick Pendafius, George Braun, Albertus, and Antonius Mufa Brafavelus, who declared it on the evidence of their fenfes : Olaus Wormius, befides the affertion of feveral of his Scholars, who were Icelanders, mentions the atteftation of John Roftorph upon oath: Bartholinus to his own obfervation on the vernal fong of the Swan has annexed the perfonal experience of George Wilhelmi, and Paulus Meliffus Schedius Francus: And Erneftus has cited the teftimony of an Afiatick, and of Paulus Vidalinus. Thefe are the Authors and Witneffes of more modern times, who acknowledge and fupport the ancient idea of the harmony of the Swan: And it is remarkable, that the expreffion of the Swan-fong is used to this day, as proverbial in Sweden, to exprefs any great eclat of a perfon, when taking his laft farewell. On the other hand, in oppofition to thefe authorities, Erafmus, Julius Scaliger, Bodin, Dr. Brown, Willughby, Morin, Pennant, Bryant, confider this fuppofed fong as a vifionary notion without any natural foundation to fupport it. Since the fole object of this difcuffion was to collect and arrange both the ancient and modern evidence on this curious fubject of Natural Philosophy, the Author having no prejudice to flatter, or favourite system to establish, leaves the Reader entirely to himself, without attempting to influence his opinion, to draw that conclufion, which his own judgment will impartially fuggeft.

NO VIII.

N° VIII.

Verfe 186. Αγυιάτιδες.

Nor the altars

185. That grace her streets.

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THESE altars of Athens derive their appellation from the title of Aguieus, applied to Apollo, under which character he is addreffed by Æschylus', Ariftophanes, and our Poet in his Phoeniffe: The Scholiaft there explains it, the God placed before the vestibule; and adds, that he was thus reprefented, as a pillar terminating in a fharp point. The Scholiaft of Ariftophanes, concurring in the above interpretation, remarks that among the Athenians the altars before the houses were called 'Ayus: Thus Sophocles, continues he, transferring this Athenian custom to Troy, fays,

Λάμπει δ' Αγνεὺς βωμὸς.

And he cites a line from Pherecrates to fhew, that the God was worshipped under this name. Euftathius in his comment on the second Iliad, in a paffage quoted by Barnes, correfponds in the fame account of this confecrated column in honour of the vestibulary Apollo. Thus Horace invokes him

in his Carmen Seculare, as Lævis Aguieu. Paufanias mentions no less than five ftatues of this God in the territories of Arcadia, and one at Argos'; and he obferves that what

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the Athenians termed sews, narrow paffages, the Eleans called ayuas. Macrobius afferts, that all the streets intrà pomærium were called άγυιαὶ,

N° IX.

Verfe 188. Διδύμων προσώπων.
187. Of both her Children.

AS this paffage is among the most difficult in Euripides, and according to my opinion has never yet been explained, I flatter myself, that the Reader will indulge me with a little time in the investigation of it. Before I deliver my own interpretation, I am obliged to difcufs thofe opinions, which former Commentators have already entertained of it. Barnes understands these two words, as alluding to the two eyes of the Chorus, contemplating the objects before them; but this construction is extremely forced and profaick; and he imagines, that the altars of Apollo and Bacchus now presented themselves to these Athenian Women; this fuppofition is founded on conjecture alone, without any authority to confirm it. Brodæus refers this expreffion to two figures of Apollo and Diana; and thefe, according to Heath, were painted on the walls: This idea is far more probable than that of Barnes; but it also refts on vague furmife without any historical teftimony to fupport it; for they have not fhewn, that there were fuch particular ftatues or pictures in the portico of the Delphick Temple. Among a prodigious

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number of ftatues within the Téμevos or facred enclosure of Delphi, Paufanias enumerates fome of Apollo and Diana; but these could not be the objects, to which the Chorus now alludes in their prefent state of vicinity to the Grand Edifice: This Antiquary alfo fpeaks of feveral Images of Divinities, fuch as Diana, Latona, Apollo, the Mufes, the setting Sun, Dionufus, and his Thyades, represented &

ἐν αὐτοῖς

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on the eagles

10 L. 1o. c. 19. In order to ascertain the precife meaning of atros the eagles, I am obliged to have recourse to the definition of Grammarians, and the ettablished ufage of the word in thofe Authors, who have adopted it. Hefychius defines alòs, a little wave projecting on the top of a building, (vox délòç & yetσσov): Suidas afferts, that the roofs of temples were denominated wings or eagles; thus, he adds, it occurs in Ariftophanes, " we will raife the house quite to the eagle," (Suidas vox άápala & Arift. Aves, V. 1110.) The Scholiaft on this line of the Comick Poet gives a fimilar definition of it, and cites the Agamemnon of Ion. There is alfo another explication of the word by Galen on Hippocrates," the triangular extenfion of the roof in its elevation:" This is cited by Stephens in his Lexicon on the word déroua; and on the authority of Euftathius he affigns the reason of the expreffion, because it represented the form of a flying eagle; "therefore the fame eminences or pinnacles were called wings" And he alfo defines the eagles of buildings, a part on the roof," (Appendix ad Thef. Græ. Lin. vox. alos & airwμa.) Now for authorities in fupport of this term: I find in Pindar,

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Θεῶν ναοῖσιν βασιλήα. (Olym. Od. 13. v. 3ο.)

The Scholiaft here exprefsly refers the allufion to the eagle placed on the temples, ii Tv ieguv Tibéμevos; and we may collect from the ode, that this ornament was of Corinthian invention: Paufanias will alfo in other paffages, where the fame word occurs, ferve to illuftrate his own meaning: In one place he tells us, that on the pillars of monuments there was an addition, correfponding to the eagles on temples (1. 7. c. 7. p. 120.) In another, speaking of a temple of Minerva, he obferves, that the Statues of Hercules and Victory stood on the eagles at the extremities, (1. 2. c. 11. p. 137.) And in another, defcribing the Olympick temple at Elis, he afferts, that its altitude to the eagle is 68 feet, (1. v. c. 10. p. 398.) The Romans adopted this term of architecture from the Græcians, and annexed a correfponding idea to their aquila: Thus Tacitus applies it to the Capitol, Mox fuftinentes faftigium aquile, (Hift. l. 3. c. 71.) And Martial exprefsly contrafts the eagle of Jupiter on the fummit of the Theatre with the smaller bird of the fame fpecies on the house of a private Citizen,

eagles of the Temple: I prove in my reference below, that this expreffion in architecture alludes to fome ornament on or near the fummit of a building; and confequently, as the eyes of the admiring Chorus were undoubtedly directed to two grand diftinguishing objects, arrefting their attention in or before the Portico of the magnificent ftructure facred to Apollo, two detached figures from feveral others on the elevated eagle could not in my apprehenfion be now felected by them; but on this authority the English Tranflator has grounded the propriety of his verfion. The Oxford Editor of Euripides, lately published, understands thefe two words, as referring to two fronts of the fame Delphick Temple; and for an authority of the word gównov, applied in this sense to architecture, he cites the gównov Tnλavyes of Pindar: If we turn to the paffage ", we fhall difcover that the Lyrick Poet there compares, under an allegory, his Ode to a magnificent palace, and having mentioned the golden pillars, fupporting the vestibule, he adds, that a fplendid front is neceffary: This refpectable teftimony of the use of the word góσov is fufficient to establish the fenfe; and the return of the fen

Illic Orphea protinus videbis
Udi vertice lubricum theatri,
Mirantefque feras, avemque regis,
Raptum quæ Phryga pertulit Tonanti:
Illic parva tui domus Pedonis
Coelata eft aquila minore pennâ.

(L. 10. ep. 19. v. 11.) The term is not unknown even to the Moderns; for an article in the Encyclopedie thus explains it; "Aigle (en Architecture) c'est la reprefentation de cet oifeau, qui fervoit anciennement d'attribut aux chapiteaux, comme a l'ionique de l'eglife des P. P. Barnabites de Paris." The reader will pardon the number of citations, in order to fix the true idea of this ancient expreffion, fince the Commentator in this paffage has the misfortune to differ from the English Tranflator.

1 Olym. Od. 6. v. 5.

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tence,

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