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[423] ἐπίτονος. The technical name for a hexameter beginning with a short syllable was “στίχος ἀκέφαλος”. As instances we have verses beginning with “ζεφυρίη” Od.7. 119, with “ἐπεὶ δή” Od.4. 13; 8.452; 21.25; 24. 482; Il.23. 2; 22. 379, with “ὃς ἔτλης” Il.22. 236, “ὃς ἄξει” Il.24. 154, “ἀείδῃ” Od.17. 519, “Ἄρες” Il.5. 31, “φίλε” Il.4. 155, “διά” Il.11. 435, etc. etc. Compare also the quantities assigned to “ἀθάνατος, ἀκάματος, ἀνέφελος” ( Od.6. 45). A verse ending in an iambus instead of a spondee was called “στίχος μείουρος”, e.g. “αἰόλον ὄφιν” Il.12. 208.A verse, with a short vowel used long in the middle of the line, was called “λαγαρός”, e.g. “ἀποπέσῃσι” Od.24. 7, “ἀγοράασθε” Il.2. 337.See Athenaeus Il., 14. 632E, who in quoting the present line reads “τετάνυστο” instead of “βέβλητο”.

τετευχώς, the solitary instance of the perf. active of “τεύχω” in a passive sense. Elswhere we have “τετυγμένος”.

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

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