[371] ἀμφ᾽ ἑνὶ δούρατι, ‘he bestrode a single plank, as one mounted on a riding-horse.’ There is only one other place in Homer in which the art of riding is alluded to, Il.15. 679“ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἀνὴρ ἵπποισι κελητίζειν εὖ εἰδώς”, and even there it is not the action of an ordinary rider that is described, but the feats of an acrobat or voltigeur, like those mentioned in Ital. 10. 470‘nudo staret tergo dum rapta volucris
transigeret cursu sonipes certamina campi.’ The feat of Diomed, Il.10. 513, was a case of necessity: he rode the horses “ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης” (Schol. ad loc.). And the simile in Od.13. 81 refers to a team of horses drawing a chariot. In Hesiod we have the description of a mounted procession at a wedding, “τοὶ δ᾽ αὖ προπάροιθε πόληος”“νῶθ᾽ ἵππων ἐπιβάντες ἐθύνεον” Eur. Herc.285.
