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[361] ὄφρ᾽ ἂν … κεν. This is similar to the frequent use in Attic Greek of “ἂν . . ἄν”, a combination which is never found in Homer. The passages in which “ἂν . . κεν” occur are Il.11. 187“ὄφρ᾽ ἂν μέν κεν ὁρᾷς”, Il.13. 127“φάλαγγες ἅς οὔτ᾽ ἄν κεν Ἄρης ὀνόσαιτο μετελθών”, Il.24. 437“σοὶ δ᾽ ἂν ἐγὼ πομπὸς καί κε κλυτὸν Ἄργος ἱκοίμην”, Od.6. 259“ὄφρ᾽ ἂν μέν κ᾽ ἀγροὺς [κεν ἀγροὺς] ἴομεν”, Od.9. 334“τοὺς ἄν κε καὶ ἤθελον αὐτὸς ἑλέσθαι”. A double “κε” is found in Od.4. 733.See Monro, H. G. § 363. Nauck suggests that “ὄφρ᾽ ἂν μέν” was a correction for the apparently unmetrical “ἕως” (“ἦος”) “μέν”.

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

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