[124] ὅσσον … ἡμιόνοιιν. Parallel with this passage is Il.10. 351“ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δή ῤ̔ ἀπέην ὅσσον τ᾽ ἐπὶ οὖρα πέλονται”
“ἡμιόνων: αἱ γάρ τε βοῶν προφερέστεραί εἰσιν”“ἑλκέμεναι νειοῖο βαθείης πηκτὸν ἄροτρον”, etc. From this it has been inferred that “οὖρα ἡμιόνων” signify the distance by which mules are in advance of oxen at the end of a furrow, having begun abreast of them. But in Il.23. 431 we have, as another measure of distance by which one competitor outstrips another, “ὅσσα δὲ δίσκου οὖρα κατωμαδίοιο πέλονται”,
“ὅν τ᾽ αἰζηὸς ἀφῆκεν ἀνήρ”, i. e. ‘a quoit's range.’ It is better, then, not to complicate the question with the relative difference in speed between mules and oxen, but to follow the Schol. on Il.10. 351“οὖρα τὰ ὅρια καὶ πέρατα τῆς αὔλακος ἣν τὸ ὀρικὸν ζεῦγος τέμνει. ἄλλως ὅσον ἀροτριῶσα ἡμίονος ὑπὸ μίαν ὁρμὴν ὑπογράφειν δύναται, ὅ ἐστι πλέθρον”. This expression, ‘mules’ range in ploughing, finds an exact parallel in our measure of length ‘furlong,’ i. e. ‘furrow-long.’ Such popular measures of distance are ‘bowshot,’ ‘stone's-throw,’ etc., and somewhat similar are the conventional uses of ell, cubit, hand, barleycorn, fathom, stone.
