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[838] 838-9. “ἀθετοῦνται στίχοι δύο, ὅτι οὐκ ἀναγκαῖοι καὶ γελοῖοι, καί τι ἐναντίον ἔχοντες. τί γάρ, εἰ χείριστοι ἦσαν ταῖς ψυχαῖς, εὐειδεῖς δὲ καὶ εὔσαρκοι”; i.e. the fact that Diomedes and the goddess were “ἄριστοι” does not involve their being heavier. But the couplet is quite in the spirit of the whole passage, which seems expressly to exaggerate the physical qualities of the gods, e.g. 785, 860. We may compare Aen. vi. 413gemuit sub pondere cymba Sutilis (of Charon 's boat). Virgil imitates 835-40 in Aen. xii. 469 ff.; cf. also Geo. iii. 172 valido nitens sub pondere faginus axis Instrepat. The variant “πήδινος” for φήγινος is explained to mean made of a wood called “πηδός” (see Lex.).

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

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