11.  Though this comparison may be justly admired for its beauty in the
   obvious application to the mortality and succession of human life,
   it seems designed by the poet, in this place, as a proper emblem of
   the transitory state of families which, by their misfortune or
   folly, have fallen and decayed, and again appear, in a happier
   season, to revive and flourish in the fame and virtues of their
   posterity.  In this sense it is a direct answer to the question of
   Diomede, as well as a proper preface to what Glaticus relates of
   his own family, which, having become extinct in Corinth, recovers
   new life in Lycia.

12.  The same as Corinth.

13.  Some suppose that alphabetical writing was unknown in the Homeric
   age, and consequently that these signs must have been
   hieroglyphical marks.  The question is a difficult one, and the most
   distinguished scholars are divided in opinion.  We can hardly
   imagine that a poem of the length and general excellence of the
   Iliad, could be composed without the aid of writing; and yet, we
   are told, there are well-authenticated examples of such works being
   preserved and handed down by traditional memory.  However this may
   be, we know that the Oriental nations were in possession of the art
   of alphabetical writing it a very early period, and before the
   Trojan war.  It cannot, then, seem very improbable, that the authors
   of the Iliad should also have been acquainted with it.—­FELTON.

14.  The Solymi were an ancient nation inhabiting the mountainous parts
   of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Pisidia.  Pliny mentions them as
   having become extinct in his time.

15.  It was the custom in ancient times, upon the performance of any
   signal service by kings or great men, for the public to grant them
   a tract of land as a reward.  When Sarpedon, in the 12th Book,
   exhorts Glaucus to behave valiantly, he reminds him of these
   possessions granted by his countrymen.

16.  The laws of hospitality were considered so sacred, that a
   friendship contracted under their observance was preferred to the
   ties of consanguinity and alliance, and regarded as obligatory even
   to the third and fourth generation.  Diomede and Glaucus here became
   friends, on the ground of their grandfathers having been mutual
   guests.  The presents made on these occasions were preserved by
   families, as it was considered obligatory to transmit them as
   memorials to their children.

17. [{Xeinoi patroioi}.]

18.  The Scaean gate opened to the field of battle, and was the one
   through which the Trojans made their excursions.  Close to this
   stood the beech tree sacred to Jupiter, and often mentioned in
   connection with it.

19.  There is a mournfulness in the interview between the hero and his
   mother which is deeply interesting.  Her urging him to take wine and
   his refusal were natural and simple incidents, which heighten the
   effect of the scene.—­FELTON.