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[227] πείθεσθαί τε γέροντι. Eustath. “τὸ δὲ πείθεσθαι γέροντι ὅ ἐστι τῷ Λαέρτῃ, φιλοπατορίαν διδάσκει: ὡς γὰρ οἱ κατ᾽ οἶκον τῷ Μέντορι, οὕτως αὐτὸς τῷ τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως πατρὶ πείσεται”. Compare for the expression “Λαέρτης ὁ γέρων” Od.4. 111, 754; 16. 153. The meaning according to this interpretation is, ‘Odysseus entrusted all his house to Mentor, to obey his aged father, and keep all secure.’ Nitzsch and others find fault with the reference to Laertes, and understand by “γέροντι” Mentor himself; but this hardly tallies with the description given above of Mentor's age. If we take the sentence so, “οἶκον” must be supplied as subject of “πείθεσθαι” and “Μέντορα” as subject of “φυλάσσειν”, sc. ‘he entrusted all his house to him, that it should obey the old man, and that he,’ etc. Monro, H. G. § 231, justifies this sudden change, pointing out that the infinitive may be so far an abstract noun, as that the action which it denotes is not predicated of an agent. So here, if we regard “πείθεσθαι, φυλάσσειν”, as equivalent to ‘for obeying,’ ‘for guarding,’ the harshness of the apparent change disappears. For the change from the relatival sentence “ὅς ῤ̔ Ὀδυσσῆος, κ.τ.λ.” to the demonstratival “καί οἱ” see on 54 supra.

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

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