[234] μνηστήρων ἰότητι ‘at the will of the Suitors,’ as they wished (so the Schol.). This hardly agrees with the story as told. The Suitors are quite impartial: indeed, Antinous affects a sympathy for Ulysses (79-81) which does not belong to his usual character. Moreover, ἰότητι in Homer means not ‘in accordance with the wish,’ but ‘by the will,’ i. e. the command or instigation. So “θεῶν ἰότητι” (often in the Odyssey)=‘by divine providence,’ and Il.15. 41“μὴ δἰ ἐμὴν ἰότητα”=‘it is not my doing that.’ Hence the sense here should be that the combat with Irus was not brought about by the Suitors. This however does not fit the next words “βίῃ δ̀ ὅ γε φέρτερος ἦεν”. Thus we are driven to regard the use of ἰότητι as one of the indications of the post-Homeric character of the scene (158-303).
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Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.
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