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[679] “κέλητα αὐτὸς” (sc. “Ὅμηρος”) “μὲν ὀ̂δε, χρωμένους δὲ τοὺς ἥρωας οὐ συνίστησιν”, Ar., who pointed out with equal acumen that the trumpet (18.219) occurs only in similes, not in the actual description of heroic times (see also note on 21.362). The poet was conscious that these inventions were still recent, and not to be ascribed to the antiquity of which he sang. The “κέλης” appears again in the simile of Odysseus astride on the keel, “κέληθ᾽ ὡς ἵππον ἐλαύνων” Od. 5.371, and there seems to be one case where heroes are actually represented as riding on horseback, see note on 10.513.

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

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