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[282] παρέλκετο ‘drew off to herself’: “παρά” implies something irregular or wrong, as in “παραπλάζω” (20. 346), “παρεξελθεῖν” (5. 104), and frequently in See Attic. also on 21. 111.

The customs governing the giving and receiving of presents evidently had a serious importance in Homeric times, as they still have in the East, and in uncivilized countries generally. We have several indications in the Odyssey of the richness of the parting gifts (“ξεινήϊα”） which a hero such as Ulysses or Menelaus might collect: see 14. 323-326., 15. 82-86., 19. 272.

It has been asked how Ulysses can be supposed to know that Penelope is only deceiving her suitors, and is still faithful to himself (Seeck, Quellen der Odyssee, p. 35). The accounts which he has had from Athene (13. 336, 379), confirmed, as we may assume, by Eumaeus and Telemachus, surely go a long way to account for his trust. We may note that the actual words “νόος δέ οἱ ἄλλα μενοίνα” (l. 283) recall 13. 381, where they are said to him by Athene. His knowledge of Penelope's character would do the rest. The incident, therefore, gives no support to the theory of an Odyssey in which the recognition by Penelope came earlier in the story. Indeed we may hold that the confidence shown by Ulysses is true to nature, and adds to the poetical value of the passage.

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

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