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[495] 495-503. This passage is rejected by many edd. (Heyne, Bekker, Düntzer, Franke, etc.), partly on the ground that 499-502 are a repetition of 11.534-37 (q.v.), and 503 of 11.169, but more because Achilles, who has hitherto been fighting on foot, suddenly appears in his chariot. The first objection is weakened by the fact that the passage in “Λ” is in the immediate vicinity of others of doubtful authenticity (see on 11.522, 540), so that it is probable that the borrowing is there and not here. As to the second, it is entirely in accordance with heroic practice to have the chariot close at hand and to mount and dismount as the needs of the moment dictate; this is constantly taken as a matter of course needing no explicit mention; as for instance in 15.352, 16.411. Achilles having slain his most prominent opponents on foot simply drives over the rank and file, who are not worth the trouble of a combat on equal terms. There is thus no cogent reason for rejection; and the simile in 495-97 is certainly in the best Epic style.

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

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