Note 103 — XVI.

Iliad ii. 101–108.

He held

The sceptre; Vulcan’s skill had fashioned it,

And Vulcan gave it to Saturnian Jove,

And Jove bestowed it on his messenger,

The Argus-queller Hermes. He in turn

Gave it to Pelops, great in horsemanship;

And Pelops passed the gift to Atreus next,

The people’s shepherd. Atreus, when he died,

Bequeathed it to Thyestes, rich in flocks;

And last, Thyestes left it to be borne

By Agamemnon, symbol of his rule

O’er many isles and all the Argive realm.—Bryant.