Chapter Idle Worms to Iliad of I by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

reign of Queen Elizabeth, under date of 1590, who wrote out the whole Bible so small that he inclosed it in a walnut shell of English growth. (See Nutshell.)

"Whilst they (as Homer's Iliad in a nut)
A world of wonders in one closet shut."
On the Monumental stone of the Tradescants
in Lambeth Churchyard.

   The French Iliad. The Romance of the Rose, begun by Guillaume di Lorris in the latter half of the thirteenth century, and continued by Jean de Meung in the early part of the fourteenth. The poem is supposed to be a dream. The poet in his dream is accosted by Dame Idleness, who conducts him to the Palace of Pleasure, where he meets Love, accompanied by Sweet- looks, Riches, Jollity, Courtesy, Liberality, and Youth, who spend their time in dancing, singing, and other amusements. By this retinue the poet is conducted to a bed of roses, where he singles out one and attempts to pluck it, when an arrow from Cupid's bow stretches him fainting on the ground, and he is carried far away from the flower of his choice. As soon as he recovers, he finds himself alone, and resolves to return to his rose. Welcome goes with him; but Danger, Shame-face, Fear, and Slander obstruct him at every turn. Reason advises him to abandon the pursuit, but this he will not do; whereupon Pity and Liberality aid him in reaching the rose of his choice, and Venus permits him to touch it with his lips. Meanwhile, Slander rouses up Jealousy, who seizes Welcome, whom he casts into a strong castle, and gives the key of the castle door to an old hag. Here the poet is left to mourn over his fate, and the original poem ends. Meung added 18,000 lines as a sequel.
   The German Iliad. The Nibelungenlied, put into its present form in 1210 by a wandering minstrel of Austria. It consists of twenty parts. (See Nibelung.)
   The Portuguese Iliad. The Lusiad (q.v.), by Camoens.
   The Scotch Iliad. The Epigoniad, by William Wilkie, called The Scottish Homer (1721-1772). The Epigoniad is the tale of the Epigoni, or seven Grecian heroes who laid siege to Thebes. When OEdipos abdicated, his two sons agreed to reign alternate years; but at the expiration of the first year, the elder son, named Eteocles, refused to give up the throne, whereupon Polynikes, the younger brother, induced six chiefs to espouse his cause. The allied army laid siege to Thebes, but without success. Subsequently, seven sons of the chiefs resolved to avenge their fathers' deaths, marched against the city, took it, and placed Terpander, one of their number, on the throne. The Greek tragic poets Æschylus and Euripides have dramatised this subject.