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[108] Ἀθηναίην ἀλίτοντο. Compare for the circumstances Od. 3. 135; and for the construction Od. 4.378. Hermes is giving a general sketch of the disasters that happened to the Greeks on their return, without special reference to Odysseus, of whom Athena was always the champion and protector. The storm sent by her, ‘unius ob noxam et furias Aiacis Oilei,’ had no connection with the shipwreck of Odysseus which happened later. Whether we reject the whole passage, vv. 105-111, or not, it is at any rate impossible to retain vv. 110, 111 in this connection; for they imply that Odysseus was wrecked by Athena's storm, and driven on the shore of Calypso's isle; whereas, by his own statement ( Od.12. 403 foll.), Zeus was the cause of the shipwreck, as is plainly stated in these very same lines, when they occur later, and are put in Calypso's mouth (inf. 133, 134).

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

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