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[326] νῶϊν, a very strange expression. It appears that Meriones and Idomeneus are suddenly regarded as being in a chariot, of which we have heard nothing before; “νῶϊν” must be an ethical dative, and “ἔχε” mean drive: ‘As for us, drive to the left.’ But this use of the dat. can hardly be paralleled. For ἔχειν without an object = to drive, cf. 16.378, 23.422, etc. There is no clear instance of its use in the sense go (on foot), unless such can be inferred from the intrans. use of “ἔσχεν” (520) ‘held its way.’ This also leaves “νῶϊν” unexplained. ὧδε may be local, this way (see on 10.537), but the usual sense, as we are doing, is equally appropriate.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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