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[488] ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε. The picture here is of a man dwelling in a place so remote and lonely, that he has no neighbours near him from whom to get a light in case his fire should go out. Therefore, ‘in order that he may not have to get a light from elsewhere’ (ἵνα μή ποθεν ἄλλοθεν αὔοι), he keeps a brand smouldering under a heap of ashes, so as to be able to fan it up into a flame at his pleasure. The point of comparison is that Odysseus kept up his spark of life under a warm covering of leaves.

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

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