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[349] σοὶ … λοιβήν. Eustath. describes the expression as “κολακευτικόν, εἴ γε οὐχ ὡς ξείνῳ δῶρον ἀλλ᾽ ὡς θεῷ λοιβήν φησι τὸν οἶνον προσφέρειν”. Others explain it to refer to the hope of receiving hospitality, as though Odysseus would say, ‘I brought the wine that I might use it to pour a libation with, when I should be entertained at thy hospitable board.’ But the commencement of the sentence with the emphatic σοί is decisive in favour of the former interpretation. The grosser the flattery the deeper the irony: but, doubtless, it was not too strong for a savage who had described himself as superior to the “μάκαρες θεοί”.

εἴ μ᾽ ἐλεήσας … πέμψειας, ‘in the hope that thou mightest pity me and send me home.’ For such a use of “εἰ” see on sup. 229.

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

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