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[97] Δαναοῖσιν ἀεικέα λοιγὸν ἀπώσει: so the editions of Ar. and Rhianos, and the “Μασσαλιωτική”. MSS. give “λοιμοῖο βαρείας χεῖρας ἀφέξει”, he will not withhold his hands from the pestilence, which is meaningless. To translate ‘he will not keep off (from us) the heavy hands of the pestilence’ involves a very un-Homeric personification of “λοιμός”, which is not much improved by Markland's conj., “κῆρας” for “χεῖρας” (cf. Od. 20.263, Od. 21.548); moreover this leaves no subject for the verbs in the next line. Still, in face of the almost unanimous tradition, the text, like Zen.'s “φίλον ἦτορ” in 6.285, looks very like a bold ancient conj. to avoid an obvious difficulty.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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