[86] The syntax of the line is fixed by Demosth. xix. 165 “τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν . . . καθήμενοι, ... ὅτε δὲ ... ἐπειγόμενοι”, Anth. Pal. ix. 83. 1 “νηὸς ἐπειγομένης ὠκὺν δρόμον”. The first four words of the line therefore go together. δολιχ́ην is not to be altered into “δολίην”; Hermes made haste, for he had a long journey before him; cf. 143 “δολιχῆς ὁδοῦ”. The remarkable words “αὐτοτροπήσας” and “αὐτοπρεπὴς ὥς” should not be abandoned with the facility of most editors. “αὐτοτροπήσας” by its form should be an aorist of “αὐτοτροπεῖν”, for which the lexica give the parallel forms “ἀλλοτροπεῖν, ἀλλοιοτροπεῖν, ἑτεροτροπεῖν”. If these words mean to “vary” or “be like another,” “αὐτοτροπεῖν” may mean to “keep the same” or to “resemble one's self,” i.e. be original. “αὐτογνωμονεῖν” from “αὐτογνώμων” is a similar formation. “αὐτοπρεπής”, cf. “ἀρχαιοπρεπής, δουλοπρεπής”, may have much the same sense: “like one's self, not like any one else.” Either word refers to the “original” or unique appearance of Hermes. As he invented fire and one musical instrument, so he introduced this monstrous, awful (“πέλωρα, αἰνά” 225, 226) mode of progression. This interpretation is perhaps strengthened by the fact that the variants are synonyms. It is therefore unnecessary to suppose that one is a corruption of the other, although such corruption would be easy, cf. Plat. Soph. 219C “ἂν διαπρέψειεν, ἀντρέψειεν”.
Of the conjectures Tyrrell's “αὐτοπορήσας” is alone possible; but the sense is weak. How should Hermes lift cows if not on foot?This text is part of:
The Homeric Hymns, edited, with preface, apparatus criticus, notes, and appendices. Thomas W. Allen. E. E. Sikes. London. Macmillan. 1904.
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