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[375] The comparison depends on the distance at which a light on a high hill can be seen at sea. Perhaps it is also meant to suggest the additional thought that the sight of Achilles in his shining armour cheers his men as the sight of a shepherd's fire cheers mariners who have been driven out of their course and do not know where they are. ἐκ πόντοιο, an instance of the frequent idiom by which the source of a perception is regarded as being in the percipient, not in the thing perceived; thus ‘the gleam appears to sailors (seeing it) from the sea’ means only ‘appears to sailors on the sea.’ See on 16.634. ὅτ᾽ ἄν, “ὅτε κ̓” Brandreth. But there is some ground for doubting “ἄν” or “κε” in similes: see H. G. § 289. 2 a.

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

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