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[105] ἐσύλα, ‘stripped’ the bow of its covering; in 116 ‘stripped the lid off the quiver,’ the object in one case being the thing uncovered, in the other the covering itself. The two uses of “καλύπτειν” are exactly similar. For the bow-case (“γωρυτός”) see Od. 21.54. It is not clear if ἰξάλου is an adj. (of the wild goat, cf. Od. 14.50 “ἰονθάδος ἀγρίου αἰγός”) or a specific name, as in “βοῦς ταῦρος”, etc. It is pretty certain that the animal meant is the ibex or steinbock, an animal still found in the Alps, though it appears to be extinct in Greece. It was, however, in historical times an inhabitant of Crete; and Milchhöfer has published (Annali 1880, p. 213, Anf. d. Kunst p. 169) a bronze plate from that island representing two huntsmen, one of whom bears on his neck an ibex, while the other carries a bow evidently made of ibex-horns; it clearly shews the rings, see note on 109. For τόξον αιγός cf. “ἱμάντας βοός” 23.684. ὑπὸ στέρνοιο τυχήσας is added parenthetically, and ὅν is governed by “βεβλήκει”, for “τυχεῖν” is not found in H. with an acc. of the object hit, as in later writers. Cf. 5.579, 12.189, 394, etc.

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

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