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[71] 71-72. The reading and constr. of this couplet are both doubtful. Ar. read “ὅτε” in both lines, and this gives the best sense: As I knew when Zeus was helping the Danaans with all his heart, so I know now when he is exalting the Trojans. The object to “ἤιδεα” and “οἶδα” is left vague, ‘I knew what it meant,’ just as in 8.406 “ὄφρ᾽ εἰδῆι γλαυκῶπις ὅτ᾽ ἂν ὧι πατρὶ μάχηται,” Od. 16.424 “ἦ οὐκ οἶσθ᾽ ὅτε δεῦρο πατὴρ τεὸς ἵκετο φεύγων;” (In all these cases it will be seen that the “ὅτε”clause is not the object of the verb; e.g. the last instance does not mean ‘do you not know the date of your father's coming?’ but ‘do you not know what had happened when he came?’) If we read “ὅτι” in 72 with most MSS., we still have the same sense. It would then be tempting however to take the “ὅτι”clause as the object both of “ἤιδεα” and “οἶδα”: I knew, (even) when Zeus was fighting for the Greeks, and I know now, that he exalts the Trojans; i.e. I knew all the time, even when we were victorious, that Zeus was really in favour of the Trojans. This gives a vigorous sense, and suits the character of Agamemnon; but “πρόφρων”, implying real and not merely apparent aid, is fatal to it.

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

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