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[492] This is a ‘two-sided’ simile, like that in M 151; the joy of the shepherd, which is merely accessory to the resemblance first brought forward, is made in its turn the basis of another likeness. Friedländer has remarked that this is the only case of “ὡς εἴ τε” in a simile followed by the indic. In eleven cases it has no verb, in nine it is followed by the opt., and in one (I 481) by the subj. Friedländer, on account of this and some minor objections, none of which has any serious weight, wishes to reject the whole simile as interpolated; but a single unusual construction is certainly not sufficient reason for condemning so appropriate and pleasing a passage. The aor. indic. after “ὥς τε” is of course familiar (3.23), and, as Lange has shewn, the addition of “εἰ” does not really affect the question; it merely brings the action into closer connexion with the narrator, calling attention to it as a case put for consideration. Hence it is that “ὥς τε” and “ὡς εἴ τε” are used indifferently in similes not containing a finite verb (see L. Lange, EI, p. 539).

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

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