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[610] The position seems to be this — Idomeneus, who has of course been fighting on foot, near Meriones, has made his cast, and is therefore for the moment disarmed before Hector. Meriones' charioteer, who has been doing his duty by hanging on the skirts of the fight and watching his lords, drives up on seeing Idomeneus thus pressed, and is killed just as he has taken his king into the chariot. The story is told in a very involved way; αὐτῶι (611) for instance must mean Idomeneus, not Koiranos' immediate master Meriones as it should — or else we must assume a very violent change of subject in the next line, for πεζὸξ ἤλυθε etc. clearly refers to Idomeneus, who so nearly ‘presented a victory to the Trojans.’ We should have expected also to hear that Idomeneus mounted the chariot before being told that he was on it. Most edd. find a further difficulty because they assume that Idomeneus has not merely mounted the chariot to escape — for which purpose he might naturally take advantage of the presence of his friend's charioteer — but that he has been fighting from it all the time, which is far less intelligible. Hence many emendations — Bentley “γ᾽ Ἰδομενῆος”, Nauck “Δευκαλίδαο” for “Μηριόναο” (610), Grashof “Μηριόναο” (gen. after “δίφρωι”) for “Δευκαλίδαο” in 608. But it must always be borne in mind that the Homeric hero is fighting on foot, unless we are explicitly told the contrary — his chariot is at hand for retreat or for rapid movement to another point of the battle; it is not suited for wielding spear or shield.

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

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