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[249] ὅσσον τίς τε, ‘as wide as a man might trace him out the hull of a broadbuilt freight-ship, well-skilled in carpentry, of such a size did Odysseus make his broad boat.’

τορνώσεται is the short form of the subjunctive, so frequent a mood in similes: compare “τινάξῃ” inf. 368, “ἐξερέῃσι” Od.4. 337, etc. The “τόρνος” alluded to here is neither the lathe nor the graver, but a pencil at the end of a string that works round a centre, used for striking circles. Cp. Il.23. 255“τορνώσαντο δὲ σῆμα”, describing the circle drawn for the outline of the tomb. A similar use in Latin is given by Propertius (3. 26. 43) ‘incipe iam angusto versus includere torno.’ The use of this word, which can mean nothing but the striking of a curve, disposes at once of the square-box plan, which Brieger and others (see Appendix) make for the “σχεδίη”.

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

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