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[441] See 3.125-26, with notes there. “θρόνα ἄνθη καὶ τὰ ἐκ χρωμάτων ποικίλματα Κύπριοι”, Hesych. “Θεσσαλοὶ μὲν τὰ πεποικιλμένα ζῶια. Κύπριοι δὲ τὰ ἀνθινὰ ἱμάτια: Αἰτωλοὶ δὲ τὰ φάρμακα, ὥς φησι Κλείταρχος: Ὅμηρος δὲ τὰ ῥόδα παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θορεῖν ἐκ τῆς γῆς”, Schol. on Theokr. ii. 59 — one of the few other passages where the word occurs (also Lykophron and Nonnos, and possibly Sappho's “ποικιλόθρον̓”); so that beyond these traditions there is nothing to fix the sense of the word. Helbig H. E. 192-93 suggests that the word must here be taken in a wide sense, ornaments, as vegetable patterns are not found in the oldest representations of figured dresses, the ornamentation being almost entirely ‘geometrical.’ Studniczka, however, has shewn (p. 54) that this is too general a statement; there are a few cases of floral decoration on garments, e.g. on the François vase. ἔπασσε is a word of general import, and may mean that the patterns were actually inwoven. No reliance can be placed on the statement of the scholia that in Cyprus “πάσσειν” = “ποικίλλειν”.

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

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