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[410] “στάθμη ἐργαλεῖον τεκτονικόν, ἡ καὶ κατευθυντηρία λεγομένη . . τούτωι δὲ κανονίζεται τὰ ξύλα. ἔστι δὲ σχοινίον λεπτὸν ἐρυθρῶι ἢ μέλανι χρώματι βεβαμμένον”, Schol. The A. metaphor hangs on the word τέτατο in 413 — for which see 12.436 and note on 7.102. A stubborn and equal struggle is symbolized by the equal straining of the ‘ropes’ by which the two armies are moved; and this is compared to the tight straining of the cord by which a carpenter guides himself in cutting a plank, as Odysseus does in building his raft, “ξέσσε δ᾽ ἐπισταμένως καὶ ἐπὶ στάθμην ἴθυνεν,” Od. 5.245. The simile is not very exact, as the point to be illustrated is the equality of two strains (“ἐπὶ ἶσα”, 413) while the simile only gives the intensity of one; but it is not unnatural that the poet should think of the equality and severity of a fight as almost synonymous. He probably had before him the very similar but more correct comparison of 12.433-36, where the equality is well compared to the level balance, “σταθμός”. A reminiscence of “στάθμη” in Od. 5.245 may have suggested the new simile.

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

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