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[235] The usual course in a single combat was to draw lots for the first cast; see 3.324-5. Aias, in telling Hector to begin, assumes a certain superiority, as though condescending to give his enemy every advantage, as in the old story, ‘Messieurs les Anglais, tirez les premiers.’ Similarly in 21.440 Poseidon, as the older and wiser, tells Apollo to take the first shot. This is why Hector feels himself treated like a child. Van L. objects to this explanation, however, that Hector does not refuse the offer of the first shot, and takes the phrase to mean simply, ‘do not try to frighten me by big words.’ πειρήτιζε, i.e. try if you can frighten me; cf. 20.200.

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

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