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[739] 739-42. The whole of this passage, with 744, is open to the gravest doubt. It bears a most suspicious resemblance to the unquestionably late account of Agamemnon's panoply in 11.1-46; note particularly the recurrence of the vague phrase “Διὸς τέρας” in 11.4. It is impossible to suppose that the author had any clear idea of what he was describing. ἐστεφάνωται, if we are guided by 11.36, ought to be used of the central figure, which is ‘set on as a crown’ (cf. 18.485); but that from all analogy can only have been the Gorgoneion, as it is in fact in “Λ”. It is impossible to imagine that, as the words imply, “φόβος” is an allegorical figure depicted as a circular ring round the edge of the shield. At best it might be supposed that “φόβος” and the other personified spirits of battle in 740 (for which see 4.440) are disposed in a circular row round the “ὀμφαλός”: if this is meant, the change from “περί” to “ἐν” in 740 is a most unhappy method of expression. It is equally impossible to understand the description of the helmet — see note on 744 below. And finally, the lateness of the lines is proved by Furtwängler's demonstration (Roscher Lex. i. col. 1703) that the Gorgon head is unknown to Greek art before the 7th century B.C. Porphyrios discusses the Gorgon head on 2.447, and shows that the difficulty of the passage was felt in early days: “φησὶ δ᾽ Ἀριστοτέλης, ὅτι μήποτε ἐν τῆι ἀσπίδι οὐκ αὐτὴν εἶχε τὴν κεφαλὴν τῆς Γοργόνος, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὴν Ἔριν οὐδὲ τὴν κρυόεσσαν Ἰωκήν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐκ τῆς Γοργόνος γιγνόμενον τοῖς ἐνορῶσι πάθος καταπληκτικόν”, i.e. the shield did not bear any figures, but carried dismay as though it were the Gorgon 's head itself (see Schrader Porph. i. p. 44 note). So also Eust. on Od. 11.633. The Gorgoneion was probably in its origin a device meant to terrify the enemy, like the hideous faces which Chinese warriors carry on their shields. From this it came in more civilized times to be regarded merely as an “ἀποτρόπαιον” or charm to avert the evil eye and other dangers.

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

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