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[405] ἕλκεα is no doubt here the accusative, shall they be healed of the wounds. If we take “ἕλκεα” as the subject, the use of the dual to mean ‘the wounds of the two’ is very harsh. Ar., however, seems to have understood it in this way, as he read in one of his editions “ἀπαλθήσονται”, which Did. prefers. So also Hippokrates, who uses so many Epic expressions, says “ἐπὴν τὸ ἕλκος ἀλθαίνηται”. But the use of the accusative is quite Greek and simple, and is the same as that in the next phrase, ἅ κεν μάρπτηισι, with which compare 5.795 “ἕλκος τό μιν βάλε Πάνδαρος ἰῶι”. The sense is ‘the wounds which the thunderbolt shall make by fastening upon them.’ There is no other similar use of “μάρπτω” in Homer. For “ἄλθεσθαι” = be healed see 5.417.

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

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