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[13] ἐπεὶ δή. The same commencement is found in Od.8. 452; 21.25; 24.482; Il.22. 379; 23.2. See on Od. 12.423.

15-19. Athenaeus (5. 180), referring to this mention of dancing and tumbling, considers the addition out of place in the house of Menelaus, and suggests that the lines were introduced by “οἱ περὶ Ἀρίσταρχον”, who failed to see that the marriage-feast was really over;— “μὴ συνέντες ἀλλ᾽ ἐξαπατηθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἔπους” (sc. v. 3) “προσσυνῆψαν τοιούτους τινὰς στίχους” (vv. 15-19), “μετενεγκόντες ἐκ τῆς Ὁπλοποιίας” ( Il.18. 604-606) “σὺν αὐτῷ γε τῷ περὶ τὴν λέξιν ἁμαρτήματι: οὐ γὰρ ἐξάρχοντες οἱ κυβιστητῆρες, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξάρχοντος τοῦ ἀοιδοῦ πάντως ὠρχοῦντο”. But it is simply incredible that Aristarchus, the critic famed beyond everything for his “περιττὴ εὐλάβεια”, should have out of sheer ignorance (“μὴ συνέντες”) had recourse to such an interpolation. It is far more likely that Aristarchus himself marked the verses with the obelos, or asteriscos, or both, and that the error lies with Athenaeus or his informant. The Schol., who gives the same story, mentions it merely as a current saying, “φασὶ τοὺς έ στίχους τούτους μὴ εἶναι Ὁμήρου ἀλλὰ τοῦ Ἀριστάρχου”. With the entrance of Telemachus and his friend, we may suppose the music and dancing would cease.

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

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