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[321] εἰ here expresses as a supposition what is known to be true, rhetorically pretending that it is a matter of doubt, and thereby throwing it into the dim distance as a forgotten thing like “εἴ ποτ᾽ ἔην γε” 3.180, ‘I suppose I was young then, but now I am old.’ The sentence is not in any sense conditional, any more than 1.281, where “ὅδε φέρτερός ἐστιν” is independent of the “εἰ”-clause in 280. “εἰ” here retains something of its interjectional force and merely calls up for consideration a concomitant fact. This line is therefore wrongly classed in M. and T. § 402 with a conditional sentence such as “εἰ ἐβρόντησε, καὶ ἤστραψεν. ἔα”: a form recurring in 5.887, Od. 14.222, 352 only, and, like other forms of the impf. of “εἰμί”, not entirely explained. The “α” seems to be treated as long by nature, though the ictus may account for this.

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

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