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[396] Aristarchos rejected 396-418 on the grounds (1) that the goddess could not in the person of an old woman have the outward beauty described in 396-7, (2) that 406-7 are “βλάσφημα”, (3) that 414 is “εὐτελὴς κατὰ τὴν διάνοιαν”, beneath the dignity of the goddess. These arguments are not weighty enough to prevail against lines which are spirited and thoroughly Homeric. With regard to (1) it may be remarked that the goddess takes a disguise primarily in order to remain unknown to the bystanders, not to Helen; the gods in such cases often give some sign which reveals them to those to whom they speak, see 13.72 “ἀρίγνωτοι δὲ θεοί περ”, where Poseidon has appeared in the character of Kalchas. 396 was apparently before the author of Hymn. Ven. 182 “ὡς δὲ ἴδεν δειρήν τε καὶ ὄμματα κάλ᾽ Ἀφροδίτης”. It is, however, true that this intimate converse of a goddess with a mortal, even after recognition, is such as we find only in the later strata of the Il. (Cauer Grundfr. 233).

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

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