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[527] This famous passage is a typical instance of the picturesque metaphysics of an early age. When the primitive man asks “Whence come sorrow and joy?” the answer he finds is that Zeus keeps a store of them in jars in his house; through the accidental opening of such a jar by a woman all ill was let loose upon men, Hes. Opp. 94.This is in Homer not so much an allegory as a survival in popular fancy of what may once have been regarded as a real explanation. There have been from ancient times two different interpretations of the passage. According to one the “δοιοὶ πίθοι” are both jars of ills, and the jar of boons is a third — “ἕτερος” being used instead of “α^λλος” because the first two are regarded as a unit opposed to the last. According to the other there are two jars only, one of ills and one of boons, so that before “κακῶν” we must mentally supply “ἕτερος μέν”. This is perfectly legitimate, and is in fact an instance of the idiom found in 22.157 “φεύγων, ὁ δ᾽ ὄπισθε διώκων” (for “ὁ μὲν φεύγων”), where see note. Both interpretations being linguistically possible, we have to choose on other grounds. The first has the advantage of agreeing well with what follows; if there are two jars of evil to one of good, we see how it is that a man can at best expect only a mixture of good and ill, and may have no good at all (531). This is in fact the sentiment of Pindar P. iii. 81 “ἓν παρ᾽ ἐσλὸν πήματα σύνδυο δαίονται βροτοῖς ἀθάνατοι”. On the other hand Plato took the passage in the second way. Of this there can be no doubt, though the form in which he cites 528 is a rare instance in his works of large deviation from the vulgate. On the whole the authority of Plato and the general construction of the sentence point to this second interpretation as the right one. We must understand from 526 that it is the gods alone who enjoy the jar of boons without mixture of ill. — ἐν οὔδει recalls the huge pointed jars of the Mykenaean age, which are literally stuck in the floor of the store-rooms.

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

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  • Commentary references from this page (2):
    • Hesiod, Works and Days, 94
    • Homer, Iliad, 22.157
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