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[187] There are (besides 202 below) five other instances in H. of “ἂν .. κεν” together — 13.127, 24.437, Od. 5.361, Od. 6.259, Od. 9.334, Od. 11.187 (and Od. 18.318 “ἢν .. κε”). Three of these are in the phrase “ὄφρ᾽ ἂν μέν κε”. The doubts raised by Brandreth, Fick, and van Leeuwen as to the right of “ἄν” to stand in the text of Homer are naturally intensified when the word is thus purely tautological, and stands out of its proper order (“ὄφρ᾽ ἂν μέν” for “ὄφρα μὲν ἄν”, H. G. §§ 362 ad fin., 365). Nauck writes “ἧος” (Brandreth “εἱος”) for “ὄφρ᾽ ἄν”: in the other cases easier corrections are possible. See also App. D (C 2). If the text is to stand, the line must be of very late date.

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

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