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[453] Not for love were they trying to hide him, should any see him. ‘The line represents in narrative form the thought “οὐ κευθάνουσιν, ἤν τις ἴδηται”, they are not for hiding (will not hide) him, if any shall see him ’ (M.A.B.). γάρ explains the use of δύνατο, ‘for it was a matter of power, not of will. ’ This is satisfactory grammatically; but the violation of the “ϝ” of “ἴδοιτο” and the form “κευθάνω” (instead of *“κυνθάνω”) for “κεύθω” have raised grave suspicions against the couplet. Various remedies have been proposed; one fault is cured by Heyne's “ἔκευθον ἄν”, the other by Brandreth's “εἴ τις ὁρᾶτο” or van Herwerden's “εἴ ϝε ϝίδοντο”. But all these conjectures are far from satisfactory.

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

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