The prevailing opinion of the learned, at this time, seems to be
that the framework and much of the structure of the poems belong
to Homer, but that there are numerous interpolations and additions
by other hands.
The date assigned to Homer, on the authority of Herodotus, is 850
B.C.
VIRGIL
Virgil, called also by his surname, Maro, from whose poem of the
"Aeneid" we have taken the story of Aeneas, was one of the great
poets who made the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus so
celebrated, under the name of the Augustan age. Virgil was born in
Mantua in the year 70 B.C. His great poem is ranked next to those
of Homer, in the highest class of poetical composition, the Epic.
Virgil is far inferior to Homer in originality and invention, but
superior to him in correctness and elegance. To critics of English
lineage Milton alone of modern poets seems worthy to be classed
with these illustrious ancients. His poem of "Paradise Lost," from
which we have borrowed so many illustrations, is in many respects
equal, in some superior, to either of the great works of
antiquity. The following epigram of Dryden characterizes the three
poets with as much truth as it is usual to find in such pointed
criticism:
"ON MILTON
"Three poets in three different ages born,
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn
The first in loftiness of soul surpassed,
The next in majesty, in both the last.
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