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[729] ἑπταπόδην, the Et. Mag. in one place gives the form “ἑπτάποδα”, which is more in accordance with analogy, and may have been altered from a supposed metrical necessity. The same correction should perhaps be made in Hes. Opp. 423 “τριπόδην”. What this θρ̂ηνυς was can be only a matter of conjecture, as it is not elsewhere mentioned. The scholia give various explanations: “ἡ ἐν τῶι πλοίωι ἀπὸ τοῦ τοίχου ἐπὶ τοῖχον διάβασις”, Lex.: “τινὲς δὲ τόπον τῆς νεὼς βάσιν ἔχοντα ἐφ᾽ οὗ τὸν κυβερνήτην τοὺς πόδας τιθέναι, ὃ καὶ ἑδώλιόν φασιν. ἄλλοι δὲ τὴν ὑποδεχομένην τὸν ἱστὸν τράπεζαν εἶπον. οἱ δὲ διαβάθραν ἀπὸ νεὼς εἰς νῆα”, Sch. Of A. these the explanation which best suits the ordinary use of the word ‘footstool’ is that which makes it ‘a low stool or bench fixed athwart the deck,’ so as to raise the helmsman and give him more power over his oar (M. and R. App. p. 544). But this must needs be on the “ἴκρια” at the extreme stern, and it is precisely from this point that Aias is driven. Now if we consider that there must have been some sort of bridge over the hold by which the sailors could pass between the after and fore decks without interfering with the rowers, we find that we have here a point of retreat which would just suit Aias; one where he would be defended from close approach by the hold on either side, while still able to wield his 22-cubit pole. ἑπταπόδην would then naturally mean ‘7 feet high’ above the floor of the hold — precisely what would be needed in order to enable the rowers to move freely about beneath it.

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

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    • Hesiod, Works and Days, 423
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