[41] Such is the account of the Ilienses. But Homer speaks expressly of the demolition of the city:
“ The day will come when at length sacred Ilium shall perish,
”Il. vi. 448.
“After we have destroyed the lofty city of Priam,
”Od. iii. 130.
Of this they produce evidence of the following kind; the statue of Minerva, which Homer represents as in a sitting posture, is seen at present to be a standing figure, for he orders them“By counsel, by wisdom, and by artifice,
”
The city of Priam was destroyed in the tenth year.Il. xii. 15.
in the same sense as this verse,“ to place the robe on the knees of Athene,1
”Il. vi. 92 and 273.
and it is better to understand it thus, than as some explain it, ‘by placing the robe at the knees,’ and adduce this line,“ no son of mine should sit upon her knees,2
”Il. ix. 455.
for ‘near the hearth.’ For what would the laying the robe at the knees mean? And they who alter the accent, and for γούνασιν like θυιάσιν, or in whatever way they understand it,4 come to no conclusion. Many of the ancient statues of Minerva are found in a sitting posture, as those at Phocæa, Massalia, Rome, Chios, and many other cities. But modern writers, among whom is Lycurgus the rhetorician, agree that the city was destroyed, for in mentioning the city of the Ilienses he says, ‘who has not heard, when it was once razed by the Greeks, that it was uninhabited?’5“ she sat upon the hearth in the light of the fire,3
”Il. vi. 305.
