[299] 299-300. νήσοισιν ἐπιπροέηκε θοῇσιν. These enigmatical words describe the course of Telemachus after passing Elis. According to Strabo's view he obeyed the injunction of Athene “ἑκὰς νήσων ἀπέχειν εὐεργέα νῆα” (15. 33) by first steering eastwards towards the Echinades: the “νῆσοι Θοαί” being part of that group, and so called from their ‘sharp’ or ‘pointed’ form. Again shifting his course, Telemachus passed between Acarnania and Ithaca, and landed on the further side of the island: thus escaping the Suitors, who lay in wait for him in the channel between Ithaca and Cephallonia.
Plausible as this theory is, it fails to explain the Homeric narrative. It obliges us to suppose that the poet left out the last part of the journey—a distinct stage in Strabo's account—viz. from the Echinades home. We feel this especially with the words ὁρμαίνων ἤ κεν θάνατον φύγοι ἦ κεν ἁλοίη, which evidently apply best to the critical moment when Telemachus was approaching the shores of Ithaca. Again, there is no independent ground for “Νῆσοι Θοαί” as a proper name denoting some of the Echinades. This is a view which has satisfied many scholars (see Buttmann's Lex.s. v. “θοός”); but there is nothing to show that it is more than the ancient geographer's hypothesis. It is true that on the other hand we are almost driven to some such hypothesis by the difficulty of explaining “θοῇσιν” otherwise. The meaning ‘swift’ cannot be seriously thought of. The meaning ‘pointed’ is supposed to be established by the verb “θοόω” ‘to sharpen.’ This, however, is not certain. It may be that “θοόω” meant ‘to make quick’ or ‘active,’ and only acquired the sense of sharpening when applied to weapons and implements. It seems best, then, to leave “θοῇσιν” unexplained. Had it not been for the arguments based on θοῇσιν the commentators would doubtless have taken the expression ‘the islands’ to denote the three that are so often associated with Ithaca: cp. 1. 245 “ὅσσοι γὰρ νήσοισιν ἐπικρατέουσιν ἄριστοι”, “Δουλιχίῳ τε Σάμῃ τε καὶ ὑλήεντι Ζακύνθῳ”,“ἠδ᾽ ὅσσοι κραναὴν Ἰθάκην κτλ.” (=16. 122., 19. 130); and 21. 346 “οὔθ᾽ ὅσσοι κραναὴν Ἰθάκην κάτα κοιρανέουσιν”,
“οὔθ᾽ ὅσσοι νήσοισι πρὸς Ἤλιδος ἱπποβότοιο”. The description ‘towards Elis’ applies very well to Zante, and partly to Cephallonia; in any case it shows that in the poet's conception Telemachus in coming from Elis would pass ‘the islands’ more or less closely. So in the Hymn to Apollo, after Elis is passed, Ithaca and the other islands come in sight. The injunction ‘to keep his ship away from the islands’ (“ἑκὰς νήσων”, 15. 33) would be satisfied by giving them a moderately wide berth: for he trusts rather to darkness (“νυκτὶ ὁμῶς πλείειν”), and to landing on Ithaca at a distance from the town.
On the whole it seems likely that ‘the islands’ here are the group associated with Ithaca, viz. Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus. It is impossible to say what idea the poet had of their relative position: but the description of Ithaca in Od.9. 25 as “πανυπερτάτη πρὸς ζόφον” falls in with the view now taken.
