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[284] ἀκταῖς: this form of the dat. pl. is unique in the Iliad; “θεαῖς” in Od. 5.119, “πάσαις” Od. 22.471, are the only other cases in H. P. Knight would reject 283-6, and Friedländer 281-6 on the ground that the simile is disproportionately long, and that the description in these six lines tends to weaken rather than to improve the comparison. But the way in which 287 returns to the point of 278 seems to invalidate this criticism; and one could not without reluctance condemn one of the finest descriptions of nature in ancient poetry. It is proved to be late by one certain Attic form (“ἀκταῖς”), and another possible one (“λωτοῦντα”); but it has doubtless been part of the Iliad as long as the Iliad has been a continuous poem.

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

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