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[80] With this remarkable simile compare Od. 12.251 ff. “ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐπὶ προβόλωι ἁλιεὺς . . ἐς πόντον προΐησι βοὸς κέρας ἀγραύλοιο, κτλ”. and also 16.406 ff. The usual explanation is that a little tube of horn was passed over the line just above the hook, to prevent the fish biting it through (so Ar., and, acc. to Plutarch Mor. 976, Aristotle), and that some molten lead was run into the tube to sink it. This would answer the purpose both of the ‘gimp’ and ‘shot’ of modern bottomfishing. But Haskins in J. P. xix. 238 ff. has made it probable that κέρας is an artificial bait made of horn, weighted with lead, and drawn through the water to attract the fish by its glitter. He shews that such baits are common among the South Sea Islanders, no others having been known till the Europeans introduced metal fish-hooks; and they are still in use even in England. This explanation undoubtedly suits the words best. The passage is quoted by Plato Ion 538 D with the variants “ἐμμεμαυῖα” and “πῆμα” (for “κῆρα”), which are also mentioned by Didymos, the latter on the ground “ἄτοπον ἐπ᾽ ἰχθύων κῆρα λέγειν”, which is absurd. The former is quite as possible, however, as the personification of the eagerness of deadly missiles in 4.126, 11.574, 21.70.

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

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