previous next

[130] γουναζέσθην naturally means no more than ‘besought,’ and does not indicate an attitude which could not have been possible in the diminutive car of the Homeric heroes. Cf. 9.583 “γουνούμενος”. With the ordinary reading “Ἀτρείδης” we have a purely spondaic rhythm, cf. 2.544, 23.221, Od. 15.334, Od. 21.15, Od. 22.175. The grammarians called such a line “δωδεκασύλλαβος” (see App. Crit. on 5.500). But it is probable that all these cases arise only from the contraction of originally open syllables, and are to be corrected. Here we may read not only Ἀτρεΐδης but “δίφροο”. (See van L. Ench. p. 4, and for the other side Ludwich Ar. ii. 314.)

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

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (7 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: