Page:Proofs of the Enquiry into Homer's Life and Writings.pdf/53

Rh e c T. ' Olives ; of grafting the Trees, and enriching VIII. ' them with Boughs not their own.'

t has been already observed that there was a Family in Chios, one of the finest Islands of the Archipelago, who called themselves Homeridœ, or Children of Homer. They were Rhapsodists by Profession, and wandered all over Greece, singing their Parent's Verses. It was their pious Custom to usher in their Performance with a Prayer to Jupiter; to which Pindar alludes in the Beginning of his second Nemean Ode.

. 106 (c) 10S. (c)

HE Age and Country of Homer have been the Subjects of great Disputes among learned Men; and particularly it has been a Matter of high Debate, whether Hesiod and He were Cotemporaries?—if they were acquainted?—if they met at any of the Grecian Festivals, and strove for the Prize of Poetry ? A Commentator Rh