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[341] “αἲ γὰρ, Ζεῦ”. ‘Pallas and Apollo have the exclusive distinction of being invoked in conjunction with Jupiter in this formula. This verse meets us, not upon occasions having reference to any peculiar rite or function, but simply when the speaker desires to give utterance with a peculiar solemnity or emphasis to some story and paramount desire.’ Gladstone, Hom. Stud. vol. 2. p. 71, foll. Nitzsch would limit the use of the formula to wishes that are clearly beyond the speaker's hope. Cp. Od.7. 311; 18.235; 24.376; Il.2. 371; 4.288; 7.132; 16. 97. “αἴ” (cp. Oscan svai = si) is an older form than “εἰ” and may be reckoned among Homeric Aeolisms. Its use is rarer in the Odyssey than in the Iliad.

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

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