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for searching only. that it was the Iliad which was usually read in grammar school. Of the Iliad, Shakspere reflects some knowledge. As Professor Root points out,
In Troil. 3.3. igo we have, as Steevens has pointed out, an obvious allusion to Iliad S. 864-898, where Mars, wounded by Diomed, is rebuked for his interference in the battle. A further allusion to the incident is found in Cymb. S. 4. 32; Sicilius says to Jupiter:
With Mars fall out, with Juno chide
That thy adulteries
Rates and revenges.
With this compare Il. S. 889-893 where Jupiter says to Mars (Chapman's translation, p. 81):
Thou many minds, inconstant, changeling thou,
Sit not complaining thus by me, whom most of all the Gods Inhabiting the starry hill I hate; no periods
Being set to thy contentions, brawls, fights and pitching fields; Just of thy mother Juno's moods, stiff-necked, and never yields, Though I correct her still and chide
The coupling of Mars and Juno, and the word chide, seem significant.
Possibly a further indebtedness to Il. 5 is to be found in the phrase `speak as loud as Mars,' Ant. 2. 2. 6. In 11. 5. 8S9-861, when wounded, `Brazen Ares bellowed loud as nine thousand warriors or ten thousand cry in battle as they join in strife and fray.' It must be remembered, however, that Chapman's translation of Il. S was not published till 16io, which makes it hard to explain the allusion in Troil. May we assume that Shakespeare might have read this book of Chapman in manuscript?'"
First, we should notice that the passage in Cymbeline is unusually significant. Both play and this fifth book of Chapman's translation
belong to the same year 16io. It is obvious that Shakspere (or who-ever wrote this masque) dipped into the translation of Chapman on appearance. Other instances are not yet clear. That in Intony and Cleopatra is of the most general nature, with no certain indication of direct acquaintance, whether in Greek, Latin, or English. Troilus and Cressida is a special instance, requiring a detailed study of sources which cannot here be made. It will be noticed that there is at least an allusion to the fifth book, which did not appear in Chapman's translation till 16io. But there is nothing about the passage to show that the author or authors of Troilus and Cressida did use Chap-man's translation. Under the circumstances, the obvious probability is that they did not, the burden of proof being heavy on those who
1" Root, Classical NtythologY, PP- 83-4
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