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[332] The repetition of πύργον in this line and the next causes some difficulty, as the sense must be slightly changed. Hence Bekker, followed by several edd., reads “τεῖχος” in 333, without authority. Others take πύργον Ἀχαιῶν to mean the army of the A.; but “πύργος” when used of a body of men would seem to indicate a formation of a limited number for service in the field (4.334, 347) rather than a host generally, even when defending a wall as here. It is therefore best to take “πύργον” in both lines in the sense of wall (not tower, see on 4.334); and to understand “τοῦ πρὸς πύργον” as meaning ‘to his part of the wall.’ But the line has all the appearance of a quite needless explanation, added subsequently.

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

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