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[332] εἰ νόστησ᾽ Ὀδυσεύς suggests a slightly different principal clause, but one implied in τόδε κέρδιον ἦεν: ‘this was the wiser course (and would have been proved wiser), if Ulysses had returned.’ Cp. the implied conditional protasis in 4. 171 “καί μιν ἔφην ἐλθόντα φιλησέμεν . . . εἰ νῶϊν νόστον ἔδωκε Ζεύς”, =‘I thought I should entertain him (and would have done so), if Zeus &c.’: 4. 292 “οὐ γάρ οἵ τι τάδ᾽ ἤρκεσε λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον, οὐδ᾽ εἴ οἱ κραδίη γε σιδηρέη ἔνδοθεν ἦεν” ‘this did not save him—not even (would it have saved him) though his heart had been of iron.’ Compare also the Latin use of the indic. in such sentences as Cic. Verr. 5. 49si licitum esset, matres veniebant” , i.e. ‘were coming (and would have come) if it had been allowed’ (Roby, ii. p. 246).

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