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[223] It is not easy to say what Achilles promises in ἔσται ταῦτα. Skamandros has asked him to drive the victims away out of his bed. It has been suggested that this is a ruse on the river's part in order to get Achilles into his power. Achilles falls into the trap, promises to do what he is asked, and in 227, 233 leaps into the river, not in order to slay the Trojans who are there, but to drive them out into the plain. This undoubtedly gives a dramatic and consistent scene; but it involves reading a great deal into the text, as we should certainly have expected to have been warned expressly of the god's deceit. The phrase of 227 also would lead us to suppose that Achilles was again slaying the Trojans, not merely clearing the river. As an alternative we may suppose that the River's whole speech is ironical — he bids Achilles in 217 do what is obviously impossible (Monro). Achilles meets irony with irony, and while answering ‘I will do as you bid,’ proceeds to do precisely the reverse, adding mockingly ‘I will do it — when I have them all cooped up in the city.’ But this also makes severe demands upon a hearer's imagination, and the real explanation must be sought elsewhere (see Introduction).

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

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