Here Spenser
imitates
Homer's _Odyssey_, xvi, 163.
Spenser - Faerie Queene - 1
, and good results which follow their foes.
221. OR BREAKE THE CHAYNE, refers to Jove's proposition to fasten a golden
chain to the earth by which to test his strength. Homer's _Iliad_, viii,
19. Cf. Milton's _Paradise Lost_, ii, 1051.
225. BAD EXCHEAT, bad gain by exchange. _Escheat_ is an old legal term,
meaning any lands or goods which fall to the lord of a fief by forfeiture.
Cf. "rob Peter to pay Paul. "
229. SHALL WITH HIS OWNE BLOUD, etc. , shall pay the price of the blood that
he has spilt with his own.
263.
Here Spenser imitates Homer's _Odyssey_, xvi, 163.
267. THE GHASTLY OWLE. The poet follows the Latin rather than the Greek
poets, who regard the owl as the bird of wisdom.
273. OF DEEP AVERNUS HOLE. Avernus in the poets is a cavern (in an ancient
crater), supposed to be the entrance to the infernal regions. Cf. Vergil's
_AEneid_, vi, 237. In Strabo's Geography it is a lake in Campania.
298. CERBERUS, the dog which guarded the lower regions. This stanza is an
imitation of Vergil's _AEneid_, vi, 417 _seq_. In Dante's _Inferno_ Vergil
appeases him by casting handfuls of earth into his maw.
xxxv. In this stanza we see the influence of Homer and Vergil.
221. OR BREAKE THE CHAYNE, refers to Jove's proposition to fasten a golden
chain to the earth by which to test his strength. Homer's _Iliad_, viii,
19. Cf. Milton's _Paradise Lost_, ii, 1051.
225. BAD EXCHEAT, bad gain by exchange. _Escheat_ is an old legal term,
meaning any lands or goods which fall to the lord of a fief by forfeiture.
Cf. "rob Peter to pay Paul. "
229. SHALL WITH HIS OWNE BLOUD, etc. , shall pay the price of the blood that
he has spilt with his own.
263.
Here Spenser imitates Homer's _Odyssey_, xvi, 163.
267. THE GHASTLY OWLE. The poet follows the Latin rather than the Greek
poets, who regard the owl as the bird of wisdom.
273. OF DEEP AVERNUS HOLE. Avernus in the poets is a cavern (in an ancient
crater), supposed to be the entrance to the infernal regions. Cf. Vergil's
_AEneid_, vi, 237. In Strabo's Geography it is a lake in Campania.
298. CERBERUS, the dog which guarded the lower regions. This stanza is an
imitation of Vergil's _AEneid_, vi, 417 _seq_. In Dante's _Inferno_ Vergil
appeases him by casting handfuls of earth into his maw.
xxxv. In this stanza we see the influence of Homer and Vergil.
