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[475] ἰθυνθ́ητην, ranged themselves again beside the pole, ἐν δὲ ῥυτ̂ηρξι τάνυσθεν, and pulled at (in the line of) the reins. Compare note on 23.323 “οὐδέ ἑ λήθει ὅππως τὸ πρῶτον τανύσηι βοέοισιν ἱμᾶσιν”, and see Helbig H. E. p. 128, note 7. The reins are called “ῥυτά” in Scut. Herc. 308; cf. “σπεύδειν ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος”, immissis habenis, Soph. O. C. 900.It would seem more natural to translate ‘traces,’ but there is no reason to suppose that the horses were harnessed to the car by anything but the yoke. Grashof preferred the variant “ῥυτῆρι”, which he took to mean the pole (“ῥυμός”); he understood “κρίκε” to mean broke, and supposed that Automedon was obliged to harness the horses to the pole, the yoke being gone. But the epic style would require that such a process should be mentioned and not left to be inferred from its results.

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

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  • Commentary references from this page (2):
    • Homer, Iliad, 23.323
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 900
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