MILTON. by Homer: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
The text you've shared doesn't seem to be a poem by Homer.
The poem
[113] The fruit is here used for the tree that bore it, as it is in the Greek; the Latins used the same mode of expression, neither is it uncommon in our own language. [114] Τίς νύ μοι ἡμέρη ἥδε;--So Cicero, who seems to translate it--Proh dii immortales! Quis hic illuxit dies! See Clarke in loco.
The text you've shared doesn't seem to be a poem by Homer. Instead, it looks like two scholarly footnotes, probably taken from an 18th- or 19th-century translation or commentary on a work related to Homer. Homer didn't write a poem called "Milton," and the text you provided doesn't contain any verses. Without the actual poem, a complete analysis isn't possible.
Line-by-line
[113] The fruit is here used for the tree...
[114] Τίς νύ μοι ἡμέρη ἥδε;...
Tone & mood
No poetic tone can be found here because the text provided is scholarly annotation rather than verse. The footnotes are straightforward, explanatory, and refer to other sources.
Symbols & metaphors
- Fruit standing for tree — Footnote [113] points out a metonymy in the source Greek text — while the fruit is mentioned, it actually refers to the whole tree. This rhetorical device is frequently found in Greek, Latin, and English literature.
- Greek exclamation (Τίς νύ μοι ἡμέρη ἥδε) — The phrase translates to 'What day is this for me?' — capturing a moment of unexpected wonder or dread. Footnote [114] mentions that Cicero used a similar expression in Latin, indicating it was a well-known way to express astonishment in classical literature.
- Clarke reference — The citation 'See Clarke in loco' refers to Samuel Clarke's scholarly edition of Homer, placing the footnotes squarely in the realm of 18th-century classical scholarship instead of original poetry.
Historical context
Homer is the name given to the ancient Greek poet believed to have written the *Iliad* and the *Odyssey*, epic poems from around the 8th or 9th century BCE. However, the text provided here isn't Homer's poetry — it's a couple of numbered footnotes from what looks like an English translation or scholarly edition of a Homeric work, probably created in the 18th or early 19th century. The title "Milton" doesn't match any known Homeric poem; it might be a cataloging mistake, a heading from a larger collection, or simply a misattribution. The Greek phrase in footnote [114] and the mention of Samuel Clarke's commentary on Homer both highlight the British classical scholarship tradition that thrived between about 1700 and 1850. Without the actual poem text, we can't provide any meaningful literary analysis of a work titled "Milton" attributed to Homer.
FAQ
No, Homer predates John Milton by about 2,400 years. There isn't a Homeric poem called 'Milton.' The title and the text provided seem to be a mistake in cataloguing or data — the text is actually footnotes from a scholarly edition of Homer, not an original poem.
They resemble annotations from an 18th- or 19th-century English translation or commentary on the *Iliad* or *Odyssey*. The mention of Samuel Clarke's edition of Homer and the citation style reflect the characteristics of British classical scholarship from that time.
Τίς νύ μοι ἡμέρη ἥδε translates to 'What day is this for me?' It expresses a feeling of sudden shock or wonder, and Cicero seems to have translated a version of it into Latin in one of his works.
It’s metonymy (or synecdoche) — using one term to represent something closely related. In this case, the fruit is mentioned, but it refers to the entire tree. The footnote notes that this was a common practice in Greek, Latin, and English literature.
This is Samuel Clarke (1675–1729), a British philosopher and theologian known for his significant scholarly edition of Homer's *Iliad*, which includes a Latin translation and notes. 'In loco' translates to 'at that place,' referring to Clarke's commentary on that particular passage.
No. The text provided lacks any verse, meter, imagery, or narrative — it only includes two footnotes from the translator. To conduct a proper analysis, we need the actual poem text.
Try providing a passage from the *Iliad* or *Odyssey* — like the opening invocation of either epic. These lines are authentic Homeric verse and can be thoroughly analyzed.