Page:The Tragedies of Aeschylus - tr. Potter - 1812.pdf/365



O representation can be conceived more agreeable to a brave and free people, than that which sets before their eyes the ruin of an invading tyrant defeated by their own valour; and no poet could ever claim the right of making such representation with so good a grace as Æschylus, who had borne a distinguished part in the real scene. Animated by his noble subject, and the enthusiasm with which he loved his country, he has here displayed all the warmth and dignity of his genius, but tempered at the same time with so chastised a judgment, that we are surprised to see the infant drama come forth at once with all those graces which constitute its perfection; it is like his own Minerva, that sprung from the head of Jupiter, Then shining heáv'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd. Besides this wonderful management of the parts, the poet has the delicacy to set the glory of his