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[214] The ‘pierced (embroidered) strap’ seems to be a mere charm carried in the “κόλπος” (App. G, 5), not the girdle which Aphrodite is wearing. It is not called “ζώνη” and is taken “ἀπὸ στήθεσφι”, whereas the girdle lay lower, round the waist, at least in archaic times (Helbig H. E. p. 211). The strap may typify the bond which unites two lovers. κεστός is a mere adjective (cf. “πολύκεστος ἱμάς” of the helmet, 3.371) and is not turned into a subst., the cestus, till much later — hardly in fact before the Roman mythologists.

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

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