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[281] ὥς κέ οἱ: so vulg., the variant “καί” being only graphical. But “κε” is absolutely inconsistent with the direct expression of a wish. The words can only mean ‘In that (or some) case the earth would swallow him up,’ i.e. in the ordinary derived sense, ‘that the earth might swallow him up,’ expressing a purpose. This gives no satisfactory sense. The use of “πῶς ἄν” in later Greek (Od. 15.195 “πῶς κε”) to express a wish is entirely different; for there the speaker represents himself as asking ‘in what case would a thing happen?’ His desire that it should happen is shewn only in the anxiety with which he seeks for its conditions, and hence depends entirely on the interrogative form of the sentence. In short “κε” necessarily implies some conditioning circumstances, whereas a wish necessarily excludes them. It seems therefore inevitable that we should read “δέ” with Bekker. A similar question arises on Od. 15.545, where “εἴ κε” apparently expresses a wish, but Lange shews that it is really a conditional protasis, EI pp. 192-4 (particularly note 16), and H. G. § 300. For γαῖα χάνοι cf. 4.182. αὖθι, on the spot, 5.296, etc.

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

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