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[141] The reason why this line was rejected by ‘some’ (see above) is that “ἀναιρεῖ τὴν ἀμφιβολίαν”. Agamemnon's speech hitherto has been studiously ambiguous, as becomes a “πεῖρα”. While suggesting flight, he has ingeniously suggested also both the shame and the needlessness of flight. This line undoes all by its open declaration of opinion. The objection is well founded, but applies equally to 140. It may be said that 139-41 are wrongly added from 9.26-8; but the difficulty is really inherent in the idea of the temptation. If 139-41 are omitted, the effect of the speech becomes inexplicable.

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

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