previous next

[657] 657-73 are rejected by Fick (reading “βᾶ δ᾽ ἄρα” for “πάντοσε” in 674) and others, and are certainly open to many objections. The simile 659-64 is borrowed bodily from 11.550-55 (q.v.). Here it is pointless, as Menelaos is not being driven back by his enemies, but is going of his own will at Aias' request. The following simile of the eagle is much more appropriate (674 ff.). 669-72 are very weak; it is a point of honour to rescue Patroklos; his amiability (“ἐνηείη”) is not in question; the idea apparently comes from 23.252, where the epithet “ἐνηέος” is admirable. δειλοῖο is taken perhaps from 23.65, 105, 221, in each case of ‘the ghost of poor Patroklos’; “δειλός” does not recur as an epithet except in these passages and 23.223, and in the phrase “δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν. τιξ” (670) seems hardly in place where only three persons are addressed. There is no doubt that the narrative is at once late and poor. It is just possible that it may have stood here from the first, as the context is not markedly superior; but it would be more comfortable to think that it is a later addition.

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

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (4 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (4):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: