N° XXXVII. Verfe 1304. Ατεκνος αρσένων παίδων. 1381. Who deftitute of Sons. HERE Euripides, representing the aged Cadmus without male iffue, violates the received tradition of Ancient History; and even contradicts his own exprefs authority in the Phoeniffe, where he declares, that Cadmus by his wife Harmonia had a Son, whofe name was Polydorus: Ὃς παῖδα, γήμας Κύπριδος Αρμονίαν ποτέ, And we learn from Diodorus Siculus, "tha Polydorus, Son of Cadmus, returned to the kingdom of Thebes after the expulfion of his Father, and that his Defcendents there reigned in fucceffion :" Paufanias likewife mentions this Polydorus, as Son of Cadmus ', and informs us, that he enjoyed the fovereignty of Thebes after the migration of Cadmus to the Illyrians and the Encheleans: We have also the concurring teftimony of Apollodorus in fupport of this Son of Cadmus, Polydorus, as King of Thebes: And he * Καλελθόνιος Πολυδώρα το Κάδμο.— ἑξῆς δὲ τῶν ἀπογόνων τάτε βασιλευόνωνο (L. 19. c. 53. vol. 2. p. 359. Ed. Weffelin.) 2 Tÿ Пoxudugu Te Kádue. (L. 2. c. 6. p. 124. Ed. Kuhn.) 3 Κάδμε δὲ ἐς Ιλλυριώς, καὶ Ἰλλυριῶν ἐς τὰς καλεμένες Εγχέλεας μετοικήσαντος, Πολύδωρος ὁ Κάδμε τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσχε. (L. 9. c. 5. p. 719 ) 4 Παῖς δὲ Πολύδωρος-Πολύδωρος δὲ Θηβῶν βασιλεὺς γινόμενος. (Bibliot. 1. 3. p. 92. 1. & 96. 1. Ed. Æg. Spolet. 1555-) afferts afferts, "that Cadmus, when he reigned over the Illyrians, had another Son born to him, whofe name was Illyrius:" Hence, according to Stephanus Byzantinus and Euftathius', Illyria was denominated: If therefore we may venture to fuppofe, that Polydorus, as well as Illyrius, was alfo born after the dramatick point of time in this Play, we fhall rescue our Poet from this feeming violation of Historical Fact: But I have already proved in a preceding Note, that Euripides in this Tragedy does not literally conform himself to Hiftorical Truth in regard to the fuppofed fovereignty of Pentheus: Yet Nonnus correfponds with him in reprefenting Pentheus, as King of Thebes, though he calls him an illegal Monarch, as having removed Polydorus, Son of Harmonia, from the fceptre: Ὃν παρὰ Θήβαις Σκήπτρα λαβὼν ἀθέμιςος ἄναξ ἀπενόσφισε Πενθεύς 9. This laft circumftance directly militates with the declaration of Cadmus in this line, that he was deftitute of male iffue on the death of Pentheus; and alfo against the former affertion of our Poet in this Play, that Cadmus refigned to Pentheus the imperial dignity in confequence of his adyears 10: Such are the inconfiftences in the FabuJous History of Ancient Græce. vanced * Καὶ βασιλεύει Κάδμος Ιλλυριῶν, καὶ παῖς Ιλλύριος αυτῷ γίνεται. (d. 1. p. 96. 1.) 5 Vox. Ιλλυρία. 7 Ad Dionyt. Perieg. v. 96. N° 4. on V. 44. p. 324. Dionyfiaca, 1.5. p. 96. Ed. Falken. 1569. 3. 1. V. 44. Verse No XXXVIII. Ο πάτερ, ὁρᾶς γαρ τἄμ' ὅσῳ μετετράφης Hy 1330. Ἣν "Αρεος ἔσχες Αρμονίαν. O Father, for my ftate now chang'd thou feeft, Thou and thy loved Harmonia, who from Mars Defcended graced thy bed, though mortal thou, 1410. Shall wear a dragon's favage form. HERE Bacchus enters in his own divine character of the God, and foretells the future deftiny of Cadmus and Harmonia: His firft addrefs in this poetical prophecy predicts only the ferpentine transformation of the Wife, according to the literal Greek Text; but Cadmus himself was hereafter to be metamorphofed into a form of this nature, as appears from his express affertion in a following line of this fcene'; and this declaration correfponds to the fabulous History of Ancient Mythology: But there is nothing to juf tify the supposed knowledge of this event in Cadmus, as perfonally affecting himself, from the original evidence, now contained in this Play: There appears therefore obviously either a manifeft chafm in the fcene, or a verbal corruption in the particular text of the lines under our prefent confide1ation The first of thefe fuppofitions is maintained by Mr. : * V. 1355° Tyrwhitt Tyrwhitt, who proves, that the Scholiaft on the Plutus of Aristophanes has cited from the Baccha of Euripides an Iambick Verfe, which is not now extant in the Editions of this Play; and he refers it to this very fcene, as probably belonging to it: Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἴδιον ἔλαβον εἰς χεῖρας μύσος. 3 This verfe implying, "If I had not received into my hands my own abomination," was certainly in the mouth of Agave, who had carried the head of her Son Pentheus: But Pierfon in his Verifimilia was the first, who observed, before Mr. Tyrwhitt, the citation of this line by the Scholiaft on - the Plutus, though now wanting in Euripides: Befides in confirmation of the mutilated ftate of this Drama in its present form we have already feen a manifeft derangement in the Dialogue for feveral fucceffive verfes, according to the error of the printed text; where I have mentioned *, that the Manufcripts of the Bacchæ are now wanting from (V. 750.) I am therefore induced to conclude with Mr. Tyrwhitt, "that the former part of this prefent fpeech of Bac 2 Poit hunc verfum, qui Agave omnino tribuendus eft, reliqua ejus fermonis interciderunt: Unum tantùm fenarium, ut videtur, confervavit Scholiaftes Comici ad Plutum. (V. 908.) Hæc enim, quæ ex Bacchis Euripidis citantur, in Superftitibus nufquam apparent, & ad hunc locum verifimiliter referenda funt. (See the Note of Mulgrave on V. 1330.) 3 Verum illud obfervari meretur, nonnulla ex hâc citari Tragoediâ, quæ fruftrà hodie in illâ requiruntur: Ita Scholiaites Aristophanis ad Plutum (V. 908.) hunc e Bacchis citat verficulum, qui in Bacchis noftris defideratur. (L. 1. c. 10. p. 120.) See my Note N° 27. on V. 786. p. 430. Alfo Pierfon's Verifimilia. (L. I. c. 10. p. 122.) This Author fhews a derangement in the lines of the Prologus of the Play. chus is here deficient, for the context is obviously corrupt and requires fomething to precede it': Indeed the entry of the God, and the delivery of his prophecy, appears to me too inftantaneous and unnatural to flow from the eafy and elegant pen of Euripides in the form, now tranfmitted to Posterity; and if we compare it with the artful preparation of the introduction of the Goddefs Minerva in the catastrophe of the Ion, we shall be more convinced of the truth of this remark: At the fame time I acknowledge, that the gentle alteration, which both Reiske' and Heath have propofed, of reading nonpofsis without the apoftrophe, and inferting the copulative conjunction before "Apeos in the fubfequent line, is very ingenious; fince it extends to Cadmus the perfonal knowledge of his own future transfiguration into the ferpentine form, as well as that of his Wife Harmonia; and remedies the objection to the printed text in this inftance by preventing an obvious chafm in the evidence of the Play: The English Tranflator therefore has ingrafted this elegant amendment of the fenfe with propriety into his English Verfion. If Time fhould difcover any more Manufcripts of this Tragedy of the Bacchæ, the intermediate lines in the Original, which are here fuppofed with great probability to be deficient, may poffibly be recovered; and that we may not 5 Deeft autem etiam prior pars eorum, que Bacchus hic arò unxams interveniens avo & matertere venientibus vaticinatur: Illa certè xong planè abrupta funt, & præcedentia requirunt. (See the Note of Mufgrave on (V. 1330.) Note on this line, N° 69. p. 191. 1550. See my 7 At Eurip. Animad. p. 113. Ed. Leipfic, 1754. Not in Eurip. p. 114. Ed. Oxon. 1762. • V. entirely |