I believe when the reader is led into this tract of reflection, if he will pursue it through the epic and tragic writers, he will be convinced how infinitely superior, in this point, the invention of Homer was to that of all others.
The speeches are to be considered as they flow from the characters; being perfect or defective as they agree or disagree with the manners, of those who utter them.

As there is more variety of characters in the Iliad, so there is of speeches, than in any other poem.

"Everything in it has manner" (as Aristotle expresses it), that is, everything is acted or spoken.

It is hardly credible, in a work of such length, how small a number of lines are employed in narration.

In Virgil the dramatic part is less in proportion to the narrative, and the speeches often consist of general reflections or thoughts, which might be equally just in any person's mouth upon the same occasion.