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[140] As the line stands τά must be the subject, ‘they (the sheep) are put to flight, being left alone.’ The change from the fem. οΐεσσι to the neuter, and then immediately back to the fem. αι, is however very harsh, far more so than in the passages which are quoted as parallel: 16.353 “μήλων .. αἵ τε”, 11.244 “χίλια .. αἶγας ὁμοῦ καὶ ὄϊς, τά οἱ ἄσπετα ποιμαίνοντο”, 21.167 “τῶι δ᾽ ἑτέρωι .. ἡ δέ”. H. moreover elsewhere uses ἐρῆμος (this is the traditional Epic accentuation) only of places. If we reject 141-2 (see below) we can take the neuter in a vague sense, ‘everything is deserted and put to flight.’ But it is then tempting to read “τὰ δὲ μῆλα.” δύεται: the nom. may be either the shepherd, hides; or the lion, enters in. The associations of the frequent “δῦναι ὅμιλον, πόλεμον”, etc., are in favour of the latter.

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

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