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[508] μέσφ᾽: only here in H. except as a variant in Od. 19.223 = Od. 24.310 “μέσφ᾽ ὅτε” for “ἐξ οὗ”. The word was often used by the Alexandrine poets, Ap. Rhod., Kallimachos, etc.; they write the full form “μέσφα”, but it may have been “μέσφι”, with the ordinary termination “-φι”. The word is called Aeolic by the grammarians; the nearest well-attested analogies are Thess. “μέσποδι” (Collitz 345. 13), Ark. “μέστ᾽ ἄν” (1222. 30); Pamphylian “μέσφα” (1267. 28) is a mere guess.

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

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