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[420] δαίμων: only here of a feminine goddess; nor does it appear to be used anywhere else of a definite god present in his own person. The plur. is used as = “θεοί” in general, 1.222, 6.115, 23.595; in 19.188 we have the phrase “πρὸς δαίμονος ἐπιορκήσω”, and similarly Od. 15.261, Od. 5.396 (where no god has been specified); and in all other cases it is used either in the yet more general sense of ‘the will of heaven’ or ‘fate’ (cf. “δαίμονα δώσω” 8.166), or in the metaphor “ἐπέσσυτο δαίμονι ἶσος”. See M. and R. on Od. 2.134, where, however, the singularity of the present passage is not brought out. If it were not for the presence of Aphrodite in the following lines, it would indeed, by Homeric usage, be necessary to translate ‘her destiny, the divine power, led her on,’ as in “ἀγάγοι δέ ἑ δαίμων” Od. 21.201.

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

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