Hero and Leander (Greene)/Preface

by Musaeus Grammaticus

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PREFACE.

 

Henry stephens, whom it is no undue compliment to entitle the most sufficient Critic on the Grecian Language, closes the text of Hero and Leander with the following observation,^[1] 'I have given a place to Musæus immediately after Tryphiodorus, both having been Grammarians, Michael Sophianus formerly declar'd to me in the presence of many others, that he had seen at Genoa an old book containing a Poem, which was call'd "The History of Hero and Leander, by Musæus the Grammarian;" he acquainted me with the name of the person, who had the work in his possession. My own opinion was confirm'd by this assertion. The Poem never appear'd to me to have the marks of antiquity. I never observ'd in it any resemblance of the Down (if I may so speak!) of ancient Poesy; so widely I differ from those, who derive it from earliest time! This testimony has remov'd every doubt from myself, and others.'

It may be lamented, that this eminent Scholar was satisfy'd to dismiss the piece, without pointing particular instances of its Modernism.

I would not be understood with Scaliger, whose enthusiasm was singular in articles of Taste, to prefer to, or even to compare with the Works of Homer, a composition so abridg'd. Scaliger, it may be mention'd with concern, study'd the depreciation of Mæonian excellence; he on this idea presumes the Author of the present Poem to have existed long before the days of that Writer, consequently to have been the genuine Musæus; though several expressions are evidently cast in the Mold of Antiquity, the tenor of the phraseology may seem to evince it to have been of a more modern date.

Virgil pays^[2] a superior tribute to Musæus, whose name he celebrates in his Sixth Book of the Æneid without any intimation of Homer. In a writer of Virgil's candor this omission must be concluded to have arisen from the Antiquity of Musæus's Compositions; many whereof may be suppos'd to have existed in Virgil's days.^[3] Their Excellence may be collected from the frequent mention of the Author's name with that of the ancient Orpheus, whose Muse has been recorded to have perform'd even magical operations. The design'd omission of Homer could not have proceeded from Virgil's consciousness of his large debt to his original. The idea of Plagiarism would have at once given place in the mind of his reader to the more pleasing one of Gratitude. This great Roman may not be accus'd of so worthless a passion as Envy.

Amongst the various Authors, who have florish'd from the days of the former to those of the latter Musæus, it is remark able, that not one produces the Poem of Hero and Leander, as the offspring of the more ancient Bard. Neither Servius, or any eminent Commentator of the Mantuan afford the slightest encouragement to such a declaration.

The uncommon Excellence of the performance merited peculiar notice. It cannot be suppos'd, but that these Critics had seen, and in course admir'd it. The happiness of the Imagery, and propriety of the ^[4]Characters bespeak it to have been drawn from the source of Nature; but though they must necessarily have wish'd, they were not (it may seem) convinc'd, that the notes were those,

'Which old Musæus so divinely sung.'^[5]

Such authorities may preclude the Editor's opinion, who would beg leave to suggest, that the Poem, as originally written, boasted an earlier date, than the days of Musæus the Grammarian; this Musæus, in whose hands it might have been lodg'd by the revolutions of time, probably supply'd casual omissions, and reduc'd the mangled carcase into a more regular form; either himself, or others, little fitted to the task, tinging it with those blemishes, which display too many instances of officious inequality.^[6]

 

E. B. G.

1. These are the original expressions of Stephens: 'Musæo post Tryphiodorum locum dedi, quòd ut Tryphiodorus, ita et ipse Grammaticus suerit. Assirmavit enim mihi olim Michaël Sophianus coràm aliis plurimis, se vidisse Genuae librum veterem, qui inter alia poemata haberet istud ità inscriptum, Μουσαίου γραμματίκου τα καθ Ήρω, καὶ Αεανδραν, eumq; in cujus manibus liber erat, nominavit. Id autem mihi affirmans judicium meum confirmabat. Quùm enim antiquum Poema mihi non videri, nihilq; me τοῦ ἀρχαιoυ χνου ποιητίκου (ut ità loquar) in eo reperire dicerem (tantum abest, ut vetustissimo illi poetæ ascribendum putarem!) hoc ille testimonio dubitationem omnem mihi, aliisq; pariter sustulit.'
   Stephens's Edit, Greek Poets.
2. 'It would have been improper,' says a judicious critic, 'for Virgil to have plac'd Homer in the shades during the existence of Æneas, and so many years before Homer himself was born.' See Mr. Jos. Warton's Remarks on the words 'Musæum antè omnes,' Vol. III. p. 240, of his Virgil. Octavo Edition.
3. Musæus florish'd towards the close of the fifteenth century before Christ; Orpheus in the dawn of the thirteenth; and Homer near the conclufion of the tenth; about the days of Hesiod: so that Musæus claim'd the title of Father of Poesy in general, as Homer of the Epic in particular.
4. A peculiar flow of sensibility distinguishes the composition. The first advances of Leander, and the ambiguous reception given by Hero, with other circumstances introduc'd in the progress of the Love-scene, are painted from life, and amply describe the genuine situation of those hearts, which

   'feel the mutual flame.'

5. The ancient Musæus having existed so long before the genuine Orpheus, whose works are by the most able Critics concluded to be lost, though his name remains prefix'd to many compositions, it must be presum'd, that a remnant of Musæus, if this be so conjectur'd, must be handed down at best in a state of imperfection.
6. Several Gems are produc'd in the Museum Florentinum, one of which, (a) discuss'd in that work of elaborate accuracy, is concluded to be a Gem of Leander; the other four (4) are so conjectur'd, though a different opinion is submitted. It may be reasonably suppos'd, that this romantic History was of very ancient origin; and that the earlier Age of Poesy must have recommended it to some author of peculiar eminence. It cannot be presum'd to have slept unnotic'd till the more recent æra of Musæus the Grammarian.

   (a) Vol. p. 72.(b) Vol. I. p. 177.

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