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[175] κέλετο μεγάλη ἴς. Eustath. rightly says, “ἡ τῶν ἐμῶν δηλαδὴ στιβαρῶν χειρῶν ἡ κατὰ τὸ πιέζειν”, but κέλετο is uniformly used with persons in Homer and nowhere else expresses the effect of an external force. Nitzsch would omit the next line as superfluous, because, he says, either the ‘pressing’ or the ‘warmth’ is all we want—not both. As a matter of fact, the shavings or scrapings of wax would soften far more readily when squeezed and kneaded in the full sunlight; and the mention of the hot sun suits well with “γαλήνη νηνεμίη”. Nitzsch has a further objection to the form “Ὑπεριονίδης” as un-Homeric. See on Od. 1.8. There seems to be a conscious touch of humour in the use of such majestic language to describe the kneading of a cake of wax.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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