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[388] μακροῖσι, 22 cubits long, see 677. These are the only two passages in H. where sea-fighting is alluded to; but this is probably a mere accident, as a sea-faring race, when at war, would be hardly likely to abstain from attacking the enemy's ships, though their gear would no doubt be of an elementary sort. A naval conflict is indeed implied when the suitors send a ship to waylay Telemachos on his return from Pylos, Od. 4.669, Od. 4.842, Od. 15.28, Od. 16.351. It is probable that boarding would be the only tactics pursued, as the ships of Homer do not seem to have been provided with beaks for ramming. See Helbig, p. 77. (The evidence is, however, purely negative; beaks are found on very ancient figured vases — those of the ‘Dipylon’ style. See Kroker in Jahrb. des Arch. Inst. i. p. 107 ff.) These long poles would then no doubt be used to ‘fend off’ an enemy of superior strength, or perhaps even to strike the rowers over the oars. The allusion does not tend to prove the lateness of the passage, as Fick holds.

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

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