Monsieur Bossu's Treatise of the Epick Poem/Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII.
Of the Fable of the Iliad.
The Fable of the Iliad, at the bottom, is nothing else but that which I just now propos'd. I will treat of it here at large, because I cannot give you a greater light into this Doctrine, than by the Practice of Homer. 'Tis the most exact Model of the Epopéa, and the most useful Abridgment of all the Precepts of this Art; since in truth, Aristotle himself has extracted them out of the Works of this great Poet.
In every thing which a Man undertakes with Design, the End he proposes to himself is always the first thing which occurs in his Mind, and upon which he grounds the whole Work, and all its parts. Thus, since the Epick Poem was invented to form the Manners of Men, 'tis by this first View the Poet ought to begin.
The School-men treat of Vertues and Vices in general. The Instructions they give are proper for all sorts of People, and for all Ages. But the Poet has a nearer Regard to his own Country, and the Necessities he sees his own Nation lie under. 'Tis upon this account that he makes choice of some piece of Morality, the most proper and fittest he can imagine: and in order to press this home, he makes less use of Reasoning, than of the force of Insinuation; accommodating himself to the particular Customs and Inclinations of his Audience, and to those which in the general ought to be commended in them. Let us now see how Homer has acquitted himself in all these Respects.
He saw the Grecians, for whom he design'd his Poem, were divided into as many States as they had Capital Cities. Each was a Body Politick, and had its Form of Government independent from all the rest. And yet these distinct States were very often oblig'd to unite together in one Body against their common Enemies. And here we have two very different sorts of Government, such as cannot be very well comprehended in one Body of Morality, and in one single Poem.
The Poet then has made two distinct Fables of them. The One is for all Greece united into one Body, but compos'd of Parts independent on one another, as they in truth were: and the Other is for each particular State, consider'd as they were in time of Peace, without the former Circumstances, and the necessity of being united.
As for the first sort of Government observable in the Union or rather in the Assembling of many Independent States: Experience has always made it appear, "That there is nothing like a due Subordination, and a right Understanding between Persons to make the Designs that are form'd and carried on by several Generals to prosper. And on the other hand, an universal Misunderstanding, the Ambition of a General, and the Under-Officers refusing to submit, have always been the infallible and inevitable Bane of these Confederacies." All sorts of States, and in particular the Grecians, have dearly experienc'd this Truth. So that the most useful and the most necessary Instructions that could be given them, was, to lay before their Eyes the Loss which both the People and the Princes themselves suffer'd by the Ambition and Discord of these last.
Homer then has taken for the Foundation of his Fable this great Truth; viz. That a Misunderstanding between Princes is the Ruin of their own States. "I sing (says he) the Anger of Achilles, so pernicious to the Grecians, and the Cause of so many Heroes Deaths, occasion'd by the Discord and Parting of Agamemnon and this Prince."
But that this Truth may be compleatly and fully known, there is need of a second to back it. For it may be question'd, whether the ill Consequences which succeed a Quarrel were caused by that Quarrel; and whether a right Understanding does re-adjust those Affairs which Discord has put out of Order: that is to say, these Assembled States must be represented first as labouring under a Misunderstanding, and the ill Consequences thereof; and then as United and Victorious.
Let us now see how he has dispos'd of these Things in one General Action.
"Several Princes, independant on one another, were united against a Common Enemy. He, whom they had Elected their General, offers an Affront to the most Valiant of all the Confederates. This offended Prince was so far provok'd, that he withdrew himself, and obstinately refused to fight for the Common Cause. This Misunderstanding gives the Enemy so much Advantage, that the Confederates are very near quitting their Design very dishonourably. He himself who is withdrawn is not exempt from sharing in the Misfortunes he brought upon his Allies. For having permitted his intimate Friend to succour them in a great Necessity, this Friend is kill'd by the Enemies General. Thus being both made wiser at their own Cost, are reconcil'd. And then this Valiant Prince gets the Victory, and revenges his own Wrongs by killing with his own hands him who had been the Death of his Friend."
This is the first Platform of the Poem, and the Fiction, which reduces into one important and universal Action, all the Particulars upon which it turns.
In the next place it must be render'd Probable by the Circumstances of Times, Places, and Persons; that is to say, If we would come up to the Precepts of our Masters, we must seek for some Persons already known by History, or other ways, by whom we may with Probability represent the Personages of this Fable. Homer has made choice of the Siege of Troy, and feign'd that this Action happen'd there. He has given the Name of Achilles to a valiant and angry Phantom; that of Agamemnon to his General, that of Hector to the Enemies Commander, and others to the rest, as is to be seen in his Poem.
Besides, he was oblig'd to accommodate himself to the Manners, Customs, and Genius of the Greeks his Auditors, the better to make them attend to the Instruction of his Poem, and to gain their Approbation by praising them, as far as the Faults he must of necessity make his Personages fall into, would admit. He admirably discharges all the Duties, by making these Brave Princes, and those Victorious People, to be Grecians, and the Fathers of those he had a Mind to Commend.
But in that Length and Extent which is given to these Fables, if we would not stuff up the rest with useless Ornaments and foreign Incidents, we must do something else besides proposing the principal point of Morality that is made use of. We must extend this Moral by its necessary Consequences: as for instance, in the Subject before us, 'tis not enough to know, that a good Understanding ought always to be maintain'd among Confederates: 'tis likewise very material to know, that if there happens any Division, great Care is to be taken, that it be kept from the Enemies Knowledge, that so they being ignorant of this Advantage, may not venture to make use of it.
In the second place, when this Concord is but counterfeit, and only in appearance, one should never press the Enemy too closely, nor oblige them to make use of all their Forces: for this would discover the Weakness that ought to be concealed from them.
The Episode of Patroclus does even to Admiration furnish us with these two Instructions. For when he appear'd in the Arms of Achilles, the Trojans, who took him for Achilles himself, now reconciled and re-united to the Confederates, gave ground, and quitted the Advantages they had over the Greeks. But Patroclus, who should have been contented with this Success, presses upon Hector too boldly, and by obliging him to fight, discovers that it was not the true Achilles that was clad in his Armour, but a much more feeble Hero. So that Hector kills him, and re-gains the Advantages which the Trojans had lost upon the Conceit that Achilles was reconcil'd.
'Tis by such sort of Fictions that this great Poet has fill'd his Poem with Instructions so excellent for their Design, and whereby he has merited those Praises which Aristotle, Horace, and all the Ancients have bestow'd upon him.