[312] εἰ καὶ … ἐσσί, ‘even though thou art from a distant land.’ This seems the only correct rendering of τηλόθεν, which is not used as equivalent to “τηλοῦ” in Homer. Compare “τηλόθεν” followed by the epexegesis “ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης” Il.1. 270, “μάλα τηλόθεν ἥκω”,
“τηλοῦ γὰρ Λυκίη” Il.5. 478.Nor is the passage “σήμηνε δὲ τέρματ᾽ Ἀχιλλεὺς”“τηλόθεν ἐν λείῳ πεδίῳ” ( Il.23. 359) conclusive for “τηλόθεν” in such a sense. τηλόθεν ἐσσί is then parallel with “τηλόθεν ἥκεις” or “εἰλήλουθας” Od.9. 273, and this agrees with “ἀνδρῶν τηλεδαπῶν” sup. 279, and the whole phrase emphasises the adverb καρπαλίμως. ‘No matter what distance you are from your home, we could take you back speedily.’ Cp. Od.9. 18“καὶ ἀπόπροθι, δώματα ναίων”.
