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[670] ἰόντα cannot be construed ‘as he returns,’ it means simply ‘on his way;’ the context alone supplying the direction of the route. Compare for this general use of “ἰέναι” Od.2. 367; 9.279; 10.558; 11. 63, 72; 14. 322; when it specifies return it requires the addition of an adverb, as “ἄψ” Il.3. 306; Od.10. 405, “πάλιν” Il.11. 652; Od.11. 149, “αὖτις” Il.1. 27; 8.271; 10.468; 18. 286; Od.16. 46.So La Roche (Hom. Stud. 146) proposes “αὖτις” here, and insists on it the more because where “αὐτόν” is joined with “μιν” there ought to be a strong contrast implied, which is wanting here, unless we try to strike a contrast between ‘him by himself,’ as an easy prey to ‘our twenty comrades.’

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

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