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[97] ἀνελκόμενον ‘as he was drawing out.’

“ἢ ἐλάσειε κτλ.” The alternatives are not quite clear. In either case, however, the danger was from the sword of one of the Suitors, as they had no other weapons. Hence “φασγάνῳ” belongs to both the clauses. The meaning probably is that a Suitor might make a dash (“ἀΐξας”) at Telemachus as he advanced, or reserve his blow for the moment when he had to stoop forward (“προπρηνέα τύψας”). The reading τύψαι does not make much difference, since there is no contrast of meaning between “τύπτω” and “ἐλαύνω”. The reading προπρηνέϊ can hardly be defended; the epithet must describe the attitude of a combatant, not of a weapon.

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

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