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[55] After leaving the Sirens, Odysseus has a choice between two courses. One will take him by the Planctae (59-72); the other, between Scylla and Charybdis (73-110). Circe will not decide the choice for him, for she says, ‘at this point I will no longer tell you fully which of the twain your course shall be; but do thou consider it for thyself in thine own heart, and I will inform thee [of the perils] both ways.’ Here ἀμφοτέρωθεν is equivalent to “ἀμφοτέρας τὰς ὁδούς”, and is divided into “ἔνθεν μὲν γάρ” (59), and “οἱ δὲ δύω σκόπελοι” (73). There is no antithesis between “τῇ μέν” (62) and “τῇ δέ” (66): the latter is only a continuation of the former. The termination of “ἀμφοτέρωθεν” need not be too closely pressed, as we may see from the use of “ἔνθεν” in the next line; and cp. “ἐγγύθεν εἶναι” Od.6. 279.Though Circe professes not to decide for Odysseus, yet she evidently (vv. 66-80 foll., 108-110) intends to dissuade him from attempting to pass the Planctae.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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