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[242] For the Homeric house in general see App. C. It would seem that the chambers of the sons ἐν αὐτῶι, in the house itself, are contrasted with those of the sons-in-law which are ἔνδοθεν αὐλῆς, but outside the body of the house, on the opposite side (“ἐναντίοι”). It is remarkable that the accommodation of the great palace at Tiryns appears to have been extended by the addition of chambers “ἔνδοθεν αὐλῆς”, along the eastern “αἴθουσα” (Dörpfeld in Schliemann's Tiryns p. 239).

It has been suggested that the Trojans were in the stage of domestic economy which is known in modern India as the ‘common house’ system, where a ‘joint undivided family’ is kept together as a single unit, at least so long as a common ancestor is alive. Such a family, however, regularly includes only the sons and unmarried daughters; so that we can see a reason why here the sons only are in the house, while the married daughters, perhaps by a special favour, are accommodated with lodgings outside the actual “δόμος”.

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

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