Monsieur Bossu's Treatise of the Epick Poem/Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
A Comparison of the Fable of the Iliad, with that of Æsop.
The better to make it appear that an Epopéa is a true Fable; and that this Term we give it is not Metaphorical or Figurative, but Proper and Natural; and that the Sense is the same, as when we give the Name of Fables to the Fictions of Æsop: I shall here draw a Parallel between the Fable of the Iliad, and that of Æsop, which I have already mention'd.
First then I say, that the Moral Truth and Instruction is apparently the same in both. Æsop and Homer would have us learn, that a misunderstanding between those of the same Party, exposes them to the Insults of their Enemies, and their own Ruin: and that Concord preserves and renders them Victorious.
The Fiction is likewise the same. Both have feign'd a Confederacy of several Persons together, for the Maintenance and Defence of their Interest against the Common Enemy. Again, both have feign'd some disturbance that happen'd at first in this Union; and that those who quarrell'd met with an equal share of misfortune. Lastly, both have restor'd to the Party of these United Persons, the Concord and Victory which was the consequence of their Re-union.
There's nothing remains now but to give Names to those feign'd Persons. As for the Nature of the Fable, it matters little whether the Names of Beasts or of Men be made use of. Homer has made choice of these last; and has given the Quality of Kings to his Personages. He has call'd them Achilles, Agamemnon, Hector, Patroclus, and has expressed by the name of Grecians, that Interest which the Confederates were obliged to maintain. Æsop in his way, has given the Names of Beasts to all his Personages: The Dogs are the Confederates, the Wolf is their Enemy, and he has called the Sheep, what the Poet has term'd the Grecians.
One says, "That whilst the [1]Confederate Kings quarrell'd, Hector their Enemy makes havock of the poor Grecians, who pay dearly for the Folly of their Princes; and when the Allies, mov'd with their Loss, were Reunited, they put Hector to flight and kill him."
The other says the very same, That whilst the Dogs did bite and tear one another, the Wolf broke in upon the Sheep: and when the Dogs, seeing the ravage of this Enemy, were good Friends again, they made him fly for it, and killed him.
The Fable of Homer is a Rational one, and that of Æsop is not. But this is no reason why one is more or less a Fable than the other. [2]Horace calls the Iliad a Fable, tho' the Names are Human; just as the Stories of Æsop are call'd Fables under the Names of Dogs, Lyons, Jupiter, The Frogs, and the like.
Homer has stretch'd out his Fable by long Harangues, by Descriptions, by Similitudes, and by particular Actions: In like manner, might one amplify that of Æsop without spoiling it. One need only relate what provok'd these Dogs to quarrel, and to describe the rise of their Anger with all its Circumstances: To make fine Descriptions of the Plain where the Sheep were feeding, and of some neighbouring Forest, which serv'd the Wolf for a shelter and Retreat: To give this Enemy some little Cubs to breed up, to make them follow their Sire in the Quest of their Prey, and to describe the Booty they take at several times
One should not likewise omit the Genealogy of these Heroes. The Wolf should boast of his Descent from Lycaon; and one of the Dogs should have issu'd in a direct line from the great Celestial Dog, and the Canicula. This should be the Hero of the Poem, for he would be very hot and Cholerick. He would do well to represent the Personage of Achilles; and the Folly of a certain Ajax his Kinsman, would be a handsom Proof of this Nobility, and of an Origin so Divine as that is. There is no need of any thing farther to engage Heaven in this Quarrel, and to divide the Gods into Parties. For the Gods have as much to do in the Republick of Æsop, as in the States of Homer; witness Jupiter, who was so far concern'd as to appoint Kings over the Common-wealth of the Frogs.
And here we have matter enough to give this Subject a very large extent, provided we have Expressions to answer it, and take care to insert as often [3] as Homer has:
GREEK HERE
For this fine Epithet for a Dog, GREEK HERE, a Fleet-runner, ought by no means to be omitted.
In short, Homer does likewise resemble Æsop, in that he as well as the other had a great mind to make the Beasts speak in the person of Xanthus the Horse of Achilles.
We conclude then, that the Name of Fable which is given to the Fable of the Iliad, and that of Æsop, is neither Equivocal nor Analogous, but Synonymous and equally Proper; that all the Qualities which make any difference between them, do by no means affect either the Foundation, the Nature, or the Essence of the Fable, but only constitute the different sorts of it; and lastly, that if a Fable be Rational, Probable, Serious, Important, mix'd with Divinities, Amplified and Rehears'd in Verse, it will be an Epick Poem: If it has not these Conditions, it will be another kind of Fable.