previous next

[523] Two scouts have been thrown out to warn the ambush of the expected approach of the besiegers' cattle to be watered. τοῖσι, the ambushed warriors from the city. λαῶν, from their own hosts, or perhaps with ἀπάνευθε, away from the main body. (Van L. suggests another explanation; the besieged citizens lay an ambush, and send forward herds of their own as a bait to lure the besiegers. Then τοῖσι, προνόησαν (526), οἱ μέν (527) all refer to the besiegers. This theory, however, breaks down when we come to 530-32, which evidently do not describe a sudden attack from a prepared ambush — for whatever “εἰράων” may mean, no chariots would be employed — but a reinforcement from a distance.)

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

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: