Page:History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Müller) 2ed.djvu/191

169 LITERATURE OF ANCIENT GREECE. 169 hearth, as in a beautiful poem imitated by Horace * ; now the heat of the dog star, which parches all nature, and invites to moisten the tongue with wine f. Another time it is the cares and sorrows of life for which wine is the best medicine ; and then again, it is joy for the death of the tyrant which must be celebrated by a drinking bout. Al- cams however does not consider wine-drinking as a mere sensual excite- ment. Thus he calls wine the drowner of cares § ; and, as opening the heart, it is a mirror for mankind (|. Still it may be doubted whether Alca?us composed a separate class of drinking songs, (^pron/cd.) From the fragments which remain, and the imitations by Horace, it is more probable that Alcreus connected every exhortation to drink with some reflection, either upon the particular circumstances of the time or upon man's destiny in general. It is much to be regretted that so little of the erotic poetry of Alcaeus has reached our time. What could be more interesting than the re- lations between Alcseus and Sappho? of the poet with the poetess? whilst on the part of Alcseus love and respect for the noble and renowned maiden were in conflict. He salutes her in a poem, " Violet crowned, pure, sweetly smiling Sappho ;" and confesses to her in another that he wishes to express more, but shame prevents him. Sappho understands his meaning, and answers with maiden indignation, " If thy wishes were fair and noble, and thy tongue designed not to utter what is base, shame would not cloud thy eyes, but thou wouldst freely speak thy just desires ^[," That his poems to beautiful youths breathed feelings of the tenderest love may be conjectured from the well-known anecdote that he attributed a peculiar beauty to a small blemish in his beloved * *. The amatory poems, like the passages in praise of wine, are free from a tone of Sybaritic effeminacy, or merely sensual passion. Throughout his poems, we see the active restless man; and the tumult of war, the strife of politics, the sufferings of exile, and of distant wanderings, serve by contrast to heighten the effect of scenes of tranquil enjoyment. " The Lesbian citizen sang of war amidst the din of arms ; or, when he had bound the storm-tossed ship to the shore, he sang of Bacchus and the Muses, of Venus and her son, and Lycus, beautiful from his black hair and black eyes ft-" It is evident that poetry was not a mere pastime, or exercise of skill to Alcanis, but a means of pouring out the inmost feel- ings of his soul. How superior are these poems to the odes of Horace ! which, admirable as they are for the refinement of the ideas and the f Fragm. 18. Blomf. 23. Matth. J Fragm. 3. Blomf. 29. Matth. §^a«A*mS« s, Fragm. 20. Blomf. 31. Matth. «j[ Fragm. 38. Blomf. and Sappho, Fragm. 30. In Matthia-. Fragm. 4 1 , 12. ft Horat. Carm. I. 32, 5. s'77. Cf. Schol.Pmd. 01ynii>. x. I
 * Fragm. 1. Blomf. 27. Matth. Horat. Carm. I. 9. Vides ut alta.
 * Fr. 16. Blomf. 36, 37. Matth.
 * Cicero de Nat. D. 1.28, The cod. Gl/uirau. has in Paivtc piiero'.