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[20] 20-21 “ἀθετοῦνται”, on the following grounds: (1) they are not necessary; (2) contact with a corpse is incongruous with the sanctity of the aegis; (3) the aegis is not a skin, but a shield which could not be wrapped round the body when dragged; (4) the aegis belongs to Zeus, not to Apollo; (5) a different means of preserving the body is given in 23.185-91. These reasons are amply sufficient to justify rejection, but (3) is not valid; the aegis is a “λαισήϊον” of skin in H., see note on 2.447. The passage seems to be ancient enough to have served as a model to 23.186 ff., where see note. For αἰγίδι χρυσείηι Ar. read “αἰγίδα χρυσείην”, for which Did. compares “τοῖόν τοι ἐγὼ νέφος ἀμφικαλύψω Ξ” 343. This would require “παντί” for πάντα. ἀποδρύφοι, see 23.187.

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

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