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[776] The use of ἀπείρων is peculiar; with the exception of the late Od. 8.340 (“δεσμοὶ ἀπείρονες”) it is applied in H. only to the expanse of sea or land. But in the Hymns we have “ὅμιλος ἀπείριτος” (H. Ven. 120) and “πολυπείρονα”?) “λαόν” (H. Cer. 296), as well as “λαὸς ἀπείρων”, Scut. Herc. 472. δ̂ημος too is nowhere else used in the sense of multitude; it properly means a country or local community (see on 2.547). It evidently cannot mean common folk as opposed to the nobles (2.198).

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

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hide References (5 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (5):
    • Hesiod, Shield of Heracles, 472
    • Homer, Iliad, 2.198
    • Homer, Odyssey, 8.340
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 2 to Demeter, 296
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 5 to Aphrodite, 120
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