the Heroe's City in the _Æneis_: But _Hector_ is killed in the one; as _Turnus_ is in the other; and the Consequences of Both are very visible. I acknowledge indeed, that those of the former are not so near in view as those of the latter. But tho' _Virgil_ in his _Æneis_, and _Homer_ himself in his _Odyssée_, inform us that the Death of _Hector_ was not the immediate Cause of the Destruction of _Troy_; the War continuing with great Obstinacy for a considerable time after that Heroe's Death; as the Stratagem of the Wooden Horse was the immediate Cause of that City's Destruction; And tho' _Homer_ confines the direct Action of his _Iliad_ only to a Part of the _Trojan_ War: Yet he takes in the Whole from the Amour of _Paris_ and _Helen_ to the Burning of the Town, by way of Narration, and by way of Prophecy; which Artifice, next to Fiction, is the most proper Character of Epick Poetry, as distinguished from History. For the Invention of This, we are (at least so far as we know) solely obliged to _Homer_: And for This alone, if he had done nothing else, he would have merited that immortal Glory, which for This, and for a thousand other Excellencies, he now most justly possesses. The Shortness of the Time, and the Simplicity of the Action, are Circumstances which, in the Opinion of some, give the _Iliad_ a great Advantage over the _Æneis_. The first mentioned would be no such Advantage; if what _Ruæus_ says were true; that the _Iliad_ takes up a Year: For Monsieur _Segrais_ has made it plain to a Demonstration, that the _Æneis_ takes up no more. But I wonder _Ruæus_ should affirm That of the _Iliad_; when it is manifest that the whole Action includes no more than forty seven Days. As to the Simplicity, or Singleness of which; if That be the Action which I apprehend, (for, out of Deference to the commonly received Opinion, I do not insist upon it) the Action is more complex, than it is generally supposed. But admitting that in the _Iliad_ the Action is more simple, as well as the Time shorter, than in the _Æneis_: Doubtless a single Action is better than a complicated one, _as such_; or in other Words, it is better, if it can be made equally entertaining. But there is the Difficulty: And for that Reason, it is a Question not yet decided, whether, even in Pieces for the Theatre, complicated Actions, all things considered, be not, generally speaking, preferable to single ones. And there is yet more Reason to prefer the former in an Epic Poem; which is of a far wider Extent, and partakes the Nature of History in some Respects, as well as of the Drama in others. "_Virgil_ (says Mr. _Pope_[11]) for want of so warm a Genius [as _Homer_'s] aided himself by taking in a more extensive Subject, as well as a greater Length of Time; and contracted the Design of both _Homer_'s Poems into one, which is yet but a fourth Part as large as his." The supposed Coolness of _Virgil_'s Genius shall be considered hereafter. At