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[268] φραχθέντες, cf. 13.130 “φράξαντες δόρυ δουρί,” 15.566 “φράξαντο δὲ νῆας ἕρκεϊ χαλκείωι”. Zen. “ἀρθέντες”, which is equally Homeric; cf. 12.105 and 17.211 “στίχες ἄρθεν”. But this passage (to 273) can hardly be genuine. The interference of Zeus, however kindly meant, seems to have been singularly ill-judged; for the Achaians, for whose benefit the darkness is intended, are the first to beg for its removal; see 645-47. The fact is that the darkness from which Aias prays to be delivered is a purely natural phenomenon, due to the dust-clouds arising from the struggle on the sandy plain. We have elsewhere found traces of a desire to produce a striking effect by such supernatural darkness, in places where the effort sadly damages the picture; see notes on 15.668, 16.567. The gain to the story from the excision of the six lines is very obvious.

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

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