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[37] ὀψείοντες, (“ἡ διπλῆ περιεστιγμένη”) “ὅτι Ζηνόδοτος γράφει ὀψαϊοντες. εἴτε δὲ μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον πορευόμενοι” (sc. “ὀψὰ ἰόντες”) “ἤθελεν ἀκούειν εἴτε μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον ἀκούοντες” (sc. “ὄψ᾽ ἀΐοντες”), “ψεῦδος: εὐθέως γὰρ ἀκούσαντες ὥρμησαν. καὶ τὸ ὀψὰ ἀνελλήνιστον: οὕτω γὰρ εἴωθε λέγειν, “ὀψὲ δὲ δὴ μετέειπε”” “ αν.Ἀρίσταρχός φησι Ζηνόδοτον γράφειν ὀψαϊοντες, ὁ δὲ Ἐπιθέτης Πτολεμαῖος “τῶι ῥ᾽ οἵ γ᾽ οὐ ψαύοντες” καὶ λόγον φησὶν ἔχειν τὴν” “γραφήν”, Did. This is interesting as shewing that the edition of Zen. was without breathings or accents, so that even Ar. himself could not be sure how the letters were to be read; if we are to believe his ‘assailant’ Ptolemy, he was not even correctly informed as to the letters themselves. The strictures on the form “ὀψά” are well deserved; but the alternative explanation, “ὄψ᾽ ἀΐοντες”, gives a perfectly good sense, and was no doubt what Zen. meant if Ar. was rightly informed. The alternative reading attributed to Zen. is not acceptable, as H. uses “ψαύειν” only in the physical sense touch; nor does the word ever seem to mean take part in in Greek. It is a long time since Agamemnon left the field (11.283), and the fact that he should only now have come to see after the fortune of the fight might well seem to require explanation. This is given by the distance at which his hut is from the wall, so that he only hears the din when the wall has long been crossed. This gives a good sense to τῶ (for which Pallis suggests “τῆι”, there), and it is a question if the reading of Zen. should not be preferred to that of Ar. It may be added that “ὀψείω” is the only desiderative in -“σείω” in H. (see van L. Ench. p. 356), and that the constr. with the gen. does not seem natural.

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

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