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[388] τόν γ᾽ εἴ πως … ὅς κεν εἴπῃσιν. There are two ways of taking these lines; (1) ‘O that thou couldest catch him by ambuscade, in order that he may tell thee,’ etc. With the halfexclamation, half-wish, which is really, a protasis with unexpressed apodosis, cp. Il.10. 111; 16.559. “ὅς κεν” will, according to this view, introduce a quasi-final sentence; cp. Od.10. 539.Or (2), and simpler, ‘if thou couldst manage to catch him by ambuscade, he will tell thee,’ etc. “ὅς” here introducing the apodosis with a true demonstratival force, as in “ὃς γὰρ δεύτατος ἦλθε” Od.1. 286.

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

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