previous next

[606] The common text gives a very harsh asyndeton, by beginning a new clause with αἰγίβοτος. In the same line, instead of καί we should expect some adversative conjunction, as “αὐτάρ”. These facts give a great probability to the conjecture of Bergk (Philologus, 16. 597), that v. 606 should follow v. 608, so that the text should run, “Ἰθάκη δέ τε καὶ περὶ πασέων”

“αἰγίβοτος, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπήρατος”. Translate, ‘Now in Ithaca there are neither broad runs nor meadow land, for not one of the islands which lie in the sea is meadowed nor fit for driving; and Ithaca, more than all, is a goat-pasturing place yet more lovely than one that pastures horses.’ It may be doubted whether ἐπήρατος signifies ‘lovely’ as a general description, or ‘loveable,’ i. e. ‘lovely in my eyes,’ because it is my home. If it be true that the ancients had no conception of the purely picturesque, Telemachus would scarcely have admired the craggy Ithaca on the merit of scenery. Nitzsch's interpretation of “ἐπήρατος” as ‘steep’ or ‘lofty,’ as if from “αἴρω”, is quite untenable. The passages he quotes to support it, “πτολίεθρον ἐπήρατον” Il.18. 512, “ἄντρον ἐπήρατον ἠεροειδές” Od.13. 103, do not prove it, and “εἵματα . . ἐπήρατα, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι” Od.8. 366, gives weight on the other side. In Hesiod, Opp. et Di. 63, “ἐπήρατον” is joined with “καλὸν εἶδος”. We have too “κλέος ἐπήρατον” in Pind. Pyth 5. 73; and “δόξαν ἐπήρατον” Isthm. 5. [6.] 12. Dr. Hayman compares “πολυήρατος”, as used four times in the Odyssey and three in the Hymns, always in the sense of ‘lovely.’

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

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (6 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (6):
    • Hesiod, Works and Days, 63
    • Homer, Iliad, 18.512
    • Homer, Odyssey, 13.103
    • Homer, Odyssey, 8.366
    • Pindar, Isthmean, 5
    • Pindar, Pythian, 5
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: