The libation is due (1) as a greeting to the “θεοὶ ἐγχώριοι” of Attica, (2) as an atonement for trespass on the grove. The words “καὶ κατέστειψας πέδον” form an independent sentence, and not a second relative clause (as if “ὧν” were supplied from “ἐφ᾽ ἅς”): see on 424. κατέστειψας:
, "trample on": here the word suggests the rash violation of the “χῶρον οὐχ ἁγνὸν πατεῖν” (37). The v.l. κατέστεψας was explained figuratively: "came to the ground as a suppliant," who lays his branch (“ἱκετηρία”), twined with festoons of wool (“στέφη”), on an altar: see n. on O. T. 3. Schol.: “καθικέτευσας, μετὰ ἱκετηρίων ἀφίκου”: justly adding that the other reading is “πιθανώτερον.” κατάστεψον (marg. of L) was a grammarian's attempt to improve on “κατέστεψας”: it would refer to the twigs (483); but a secondary detail of the rite should not be thus forestalled and emphasised.“οἵαν τὰν ὑάκινθον ἐν οὔρεσι ποιμένες ἄνδρες
ποσσὶ καταστείβοισι
”Sappho fr. 95
