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[851] λάσιον κῆρ: cf. 1.189. Plato quotes the phrase, Theaet. 194E. The ‘wild mules’ are supposed to be Jaggetais of Tartary (equus hemionus, Linn.), a species intermediate between the horse and the ass, of which some rumours must have come westward along the coast of the Euxine. A breed of wild ‘mules’ in the literal sense is of course a physical impossibility. Hehn thinks that the Enetoi made a trade of breeding mules and sold them ‘unbroken’ to their neighbours, but “ἀγροτέρα” cannot = “ἀδμής”. However, the discovery of the breeding of mules is attributed to the Mysians, who were neighbours of the Paphlagonians and gave Priam his mules; see note on 24.278. In historical times the only known “Ἐνετοί” (or “Ἑνετοί” as Strabo writes) were Illyrians (subsequently the founders of Venice). It was concluded that they must have emigrated W. from Paphlagonia very soon after the Trojan war. Mules are of course commonly mentioned in the Il., though the ass is only once named (11.558, where see note).

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