"The similitude it self is very expressive; as the mastiff barks to guard her young, so labours the soul of Ulysses in defence of his Son and Wife, Penelope and Telemachus. "
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744), Broome, W. and Fenton, E.
Place of Publication
London
Date
1725-6
Metaphor
"The similitude it self is very expressive; as the mastiff barks to guard her young, so labours the soul of Ulysses in defence of his Son and Wife, Penelope and Telemachus. "
Metaphor in Context
This in the original is a very bold expression, but Homer, to soften it, instances a comparison which reconciles us to it. Ennius has literally translated it, as Spondanus observes:
------ animusque in pectore latrat.
That is word for word,
Kradin de oi endon ulaktei
The similitude it self is very expressive; as the mastiff barks to guard her young, so labours the soul of Ulysses in defence of his Son and Wife, Penelope and Telemachus. Dacier was afraid that the comparison could not be render'd with any beauty in theFrench tongue, and therefore has substituted another in the room of it, Son coeur rugissoit an dedans de luy, comme un Lion rugit autour d'une bergerie, où il ne sçauroit entrer. But however more noble the Lion may be than the Mastiff, it is evident that she utterly deviates from the allusion: The Mastiff rages in defence of her young, Ulysses of his Son Telemachus; but how is this represented by a Lion roaring round a fold, which he is not to defend, but destroy? We have therefore chosen to follow Homer in the more humble but more expressive similitude; and what will entirely reconcile us to it, is the great honour which was paid to Dogs by the Antients: they were kept as a piece of state by Princes and Heroes, and therefore a comparison drawn from them was held to be as noble as if it had been drawn from a Lion.
------ animusque in pectore latrat.
That is word for word,
Kradin de oi endon ulaktei
The similitude it self is very expressive; as the mastiff barks to guard her young, so labours the soul of Ulysses in defence of his Son and Wife, Penelope and Telemachus. Dacier was afraid that the comparison could not be render'd with any beauty in theFrench tongue, and therefore has substituted another in the room of it, Son coeur rugissoit an dedans de luy, comme un Lion rugit autour d'une bergerie, où il ne sçauroit entrer. But however more noble the Lion may be than the Mastiff, it is evident that she utterly deviates from the allusion: The Mastiff rages in defence of her young, Ulysses of his Son Telemachus; but how is this represented by a Lion roaring round a fold, which he is not to defend, but destroy? We have therefore chosen to follow Homer in the more humble but more expressive similitude; and what will entirely reconcile us to it, is the great honour which was paid to Dogs by the Antients: they were kept as a piece of state by Princes and Heroes, and therefore a comparison drawn from them was held to be as noble as if it had been drawn from a Lion.
Categories
Provenance
Reading Adorno and Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (259n)
Citation
Over 30 entries in ESTC (1725, 1726, 1745, 1752, 1753, 1758, 1760, 1761, 1763, 1766, 1767, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1773, 1778, 1790, 1792, 1795, 1796).
The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek, 5 vols. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, 1725-26).
The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek, 5 vols. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, 1725-26).
Date of Entry
02/06/2005
