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[69] τοῦτο here refers to what the speaker himself says, and is therefore one of the very rare exceptions to the rule by which in H. “οὗτος” is distinguished from “ὅδε”. The distinction is less rigid in Attic writers, and the use of “τοῦτο” may therefore be a sign of lateness. It is only with some violence that we can read into it the proper sense, ‘this object of yours.’

69-70 are to be taken parenthetically, the apodosis to “εἰ μέν” in 67 being understood, or rather superseded; ‘if Zeus means to destroy them — that is what I wish to happen at once.’ Obviously “εἰ μέν” does not express a condition of his wishing the enemy destroyed. Cf. 1.135-7.

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

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