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[804] Cf. 4.437-8, and Od. 11.364-5 “οἷά τε πολλοὺς βόσκει γαῖα μέλαινα πολυσπερέας ἀνθρώπους”, where the epithet is more in harmony with the metaphor of men as fed by the soil; here it means no more than widely scattered, and even so is not appropriately used of certain definite tribes, instead of mankind at large. But if the passage is to be saved from ludicrous weakness, we must omit both 803 and 804; the injunction then becomes, not an absurdly obvious piece of tactical advice, but a call to immediate action, such as the context requires: ‘let each commander give his men the word (to advance) and lead them against the enemy.’ As Greeks and Trojans always talk freely together, it is absurd to suppose that the Trojans and their allies had difficulty in understanding one another's language. Cf. note on 867.

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

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