[284] ὃς … ὀλέσθαι. Nitzsch joins “σχεδόν ἐστιν ἐπ᾽ ἤματι”, ‘is near them every day;’ so “ἐπ᾽ ἤματι” Od.14. 105.It is better to join “ἐπ᾽ ἤμ. ὀλέσθαι”, ‘to perish in one day,’ as Il.10. 48“οὐ γάρ πω ἰδόμην . . . ἄνδρ᾽ ἕνα τοσσάδε μέρμερ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἤματι μητίσασθαι”, Il.19. 228“ἀλλὰ χρὴ τὸν μὲν καταθάπτειν ὅς κε θάνῃσι”,
“νηλέα θυμὸν ἔχοντας, ἐπ᾽ ἤματι δακρύσαντας” Il., i. e. to limit one's weeping to a single day, “luctum lacrimis finire diurnis,” Cic. Tusc. 3. 27, 65 . In the sentence above, the gender of “ὅς” shows that it follows only the main word “θάνατον”, upon which “κῆρα μέλαιναν” is a poetic refinement. Cp. Il.13. 622“ἄλλης μὲν λώβης τε καὶ αἴσχεος οὐκ ἐπιδευεῖς”,“ἣν ἐμὲ λωβήσασθε”. With the general expression compare Il.17. 201“οὐδέ τί τοι θάνατος καταθύμιός ἐστιν”
“ὃς δή τοι σχεδόν ἐστι”.