But after all, the question put by Maternus, is, can any of their orations be compared to the _Medea_ of Ovid, or the _Thyestes_ of Varius? Those two tragedies are so often praised by the critics of antiquity, that the republic of letters has reason to lament the loss. Quintilian says that the _Medea_ of Ovid was a specimen of genius, that shewed to what heights the poet could have risen, had he thought fit rather to curb, than give the rein to his imagination. _Ovidii Medea videtur mihi ostendere quantum vir ille præstare potuisset, si ingenio suo temperare, quam indulgere maluisset._ Lib. x. cap. 1. The works of Varius, if we except a few fragments, are wholly lost. Horace, in his journey to Brundusium, met him and Virgil, and he mentions the incident with the rapture of a friend who loved them both: Plotius, et Varius Sinuessæ, Virgiliusque Occurrunt; animæ quales neque candidiores Terra tulit, neque queis me sit devinctior alter. Lib. i. sat. 5. Horace also celebrates Varius as a poet of sublime genius. He begins his Ode to Agrippa with the following lines: Scriberis Vario fortis, et hostium Victor, Mæonii carminis alite, Quam rem cumque ferox navibus, aut equis Miles te duce gesserit. Lib. i. ode 6. Varius, who soars on epic wing, Agrippa, shall thy conquests sing, Whate'er, inspir'd by thy command, The soldier dar'd on sea or land. FRANCIS'S HORACE. A few fragments only of his works have reached posterity. His tragedy of THYESTES is highly praised by Quintilian. That judicious critic does not hesitate to say, that it may be opposed to the best productions of the Greek stage. _Jam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Græcorum comparari potest._ Varius lived in high favour at the court of Augustus. After the death of Virgil, he was joined with _Plotinus_ and _Tucca_ to revise the works of that admirable poet. The _Varus_ of Virgil, so often celebrated in the Pastorals, was, notwithstanding what some of the commentators have said, a different person from Varius, the author of Thyestes. Section XIII. [a] The rural delight of Virgil is described by himself: Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes; Flumina amem, sylvasque inglorius. O ubi campi, Sperchiusque, et virginibus bacchata Lacænis Taygeta! O quis me gelidis sub montibus Hæmi Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbrâ? GEORGICA, lib. ii. ver. 485. Me may the lowly vales and woodland please, And winding rivers, and inglorious ease; O that I wander'd by Sperchius' flood, Or on Taygetus' sacred top I stood! Who in cool Hæmus' vales my limbs will lay, And in the darkest thicket hide from day? WHARTON'S VIRG.