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τοξευτὸςδαμείς=“τόξοις δαμείς”. The adj. here defines the instrument, as oft. elsewhere the place ( O. T. 1411θαλάσσιον” | “ἐκρίψατ̓”), or the manner ( O. C. 1637κατῄνεσεν τάδ᾽ ὅρκιος”).

ὡς λέγουσιν implies that there was something mysterious in the death; Paris might seem to have inflicted it, but, in men's belief, the true slayer was Apollo. ἐκ, however, does not here denote ulterior, as dist. from immediate, agency (‘by doom of Phoebus’; O. T. 1453); it is here no more than ὑπό.—According to one account, Paris shot Achilles, but with the aid of Apollo (as Athena had helped Achilles against Hector): so Il. 19. 416(the immortal steed Xanthus to Achilles) “ἀλλὰ σοὶ αὐτῷ” | “μόρσιμόν ἐστι θεῷ τε καὶ ἀνέρι ἶφι δαμῆναι”: and Hector's prophecy ( Il. 22. 359) “ὅτε κέν σε Πάρις καὶ Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων” | “ἐσθλὸν ἐόντ᾽ ὀλέσωσιν ἐπὶ Σκαιῇσι πύλῃσιν”. Verg. Aen. 6. 57Phoebe, ...Dardana qui Paridis direxti tela manusque | Corpus in Aeacidae. Another account speaks of Apollo without naming Paris: so Il. 21. 278Achilles says that Thetis had predicted to him that he should die “Ἀπόλλωνος βελέεσσιν”. Cp. Aesch. fr. 350. 8 (Thetis speaks of Apollo) “αὐτός ἐστιν κτανὼν” | “τὸν παῖδα τὸν ἐμόν”. So, too, Hor. Carm. 4. 6. 1 ff. Quintus Smyrn. 3. 61 (Apollo, hidden in a mist) “στυγερὸν προέηκε βέλεμνον” | “καί θοῶς οὔτησε κατὰ σφυρόν”. As to the vulnerable heel of Achilles, cp. Statius Ach. 1. 269, where Thetis says: progenitum Stygis amne severo | Armavi (totumque utinam!). Hyginus ( Fab. 107) fused the two versions by making Apollo take the guise of Paris.—The ‘cyclic’ epic which related the death of Achilles was the Aethiopis, ascribed to Arctînus of Miletus, c. 776 B.C. (Introd. to Homer, p. 153).


hide References (8 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (8):
    • Homer, Iliad, 19.416
    • Homer, Iliad, 21.278
    • Homer, Iliad, 22.359
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 1637
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1411
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1453
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 6.57
    • Statius, Achilleis, 1
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