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[244] Evidently a spurious line originating in the addition of the word Ἕκτωρ as a gloss; for the last half of the line see 11.174. Without the line the sense is clear and simple; with it the construction is very doubtful. We might transl. Hector wraps a cloud of war about everything, but such an expression is not Homeric at all. The alternative is to take “Ἕκτωρ” in apposition with “νέφος” (cf. 11.347). This too is a bold expression; but it seems to have been before Pindar when he wrote (N. x. 9) “γαῖα δ᾽ ὑπέδεκτο . . μάντιν Οἰκλείδαν, πολέμοιο νέφος” (N. ix. 38 “φόνου παρποδίου νεφέλαν τρέψαι ποτὶ δυσμενέων ἀνδρῶν στίχας” is of course different), and led up to Lucretius' “Scipiades, belli fulmen.” The harshness lies not so much in calling Hector a “νέφος” as in saying that he wraps everything about. The awkwardness is diminished if (with one MS.) we read “Ἕκτωρ δ᾽ ἡμῖν”. An interesting note on cloud-metaphors in Greek will be found in W.-M. Her. ii. p. 236: cf. “δορὸς χειμών” Soph. Ant. 670.

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

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hide References (4 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (4):
    • Euripides, Heracles, 2
    • Homer, Iliad, 11.174
    • Homer, Iliad, 11.347
    • Sophocles, Antigone, 670
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