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[323] τυμβοχόης, so Krates read, while Ar. made the word “τυμβοχοῆσ᾽” (for -“ῆσαι”, aor. infin.). The question is of course one of interpretation only, not of MS. tradition. It seems clear that Ar. is wrong, and the only difficulty is to understand how he came to adopt an explanation which seems so perverse. “τυμβοχόη” it is true does not recur in Greek, while “τυμβοχοέειν” is used by Herodotos; but the formation is quite regular (cf. “οἰνοχόη”), and the verb implies the subst. Against “τυμβοχοῆσ᾽” it must be objected (1) that the -“αι” of the aor. infin. is nowhere else elided; (2) that the constr. “τυμβοχοῆσαί μιν” is very harsh, and cannot be supported by “νέκταρ οἰνοχοεύειν”, where the acc. is cognate. (Herod. uses the word without an object.) On the other hand the constr. “χρεώ μιν ἔσται” with gen. is sufficiently attested by Od. 4.634 “ἐμὲ δὲ χρεὼ γίνεται αὐτῆς,” 9.607 “οὔ τί με ταύτης χρεὼ τιμῆς. θάπτωσιν” may mean ‘perform funeral rites,’ setting up a “σῆμα”, even in the absence of the body. Such a cenotaph is not mentioned in H., but naturally follows from the importance attached to the formalities of burial, and is hinted at in 22.512-14, Od. 1.291. But it is equally possible to regard “ὅτε μιν θάπτωσιν” as covered by the negative; ‘he will need no mound at his burial, because he will have no burial’ (Monro).

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

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