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[496] Compare 22.188 “Ἕκτορα δ᾽ ἀσπερ-” “χὲς κλονέων ἔφεπ᾽ ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς”. The peculiarity of the present line is that πεδίον takes the place of the flying foe, which is elsewhere the object of “ἐφέπειν” and “κλονέειν” alike. It seems that we must understand ‘drove the plain, making havoc,’ “πεδίον” standing for the men and horses of which it is full. So we have in Od. 9.121 “κυνηγέται .. κορυφὰς ὀρέων ἐφέποντες”, just as we speak of ‘driving a wood’ when we mean driving the game found there. It must, however, be admitted that Barnes's conj. “κάτα” for τότε makes the phrase much simpler. It is not possible to take “πεδίον” by itself, of extension over, = along the plain. Cf. on 714 below.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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