[372]
[375] ἐκ (‘utterly’) ... ἀπάτησε, tmesis.
μ᾽（ε) is to be taken with “ἤλιτεν” as well as with “ἀπάτησε”. Agamemnon deceived Achilles by proving false in friendship.—The ancient commentators call attention to the short sentences and broken lines, 375-378, which mark Achilles's intense nature.[376] ἅλις δέ οἱ, supply “ἐστί”: ‘)tis enough for him [to have tricked me thus far].’
ἕκηλος ἐρρέτω, ‘let him go to his ruin undisturbed.’ Cf. l. 364. καὶ εἴ ποθεν ἄλλα γένοιτο, ‘and if from some source he should get wealth besides.’[381] οὐδ᾽ ὅσα, ‘not even if he should offer me as much wealth as’: between “οὐδ᾽” and “ὅσα” there must be understood “εἰ τόσα δοίη” from l. 379. The wealth is thought of as tribute from subject lands. Orchomenus was the rich city of the Minyans in Boeotia—seat of the Graces, as Pindar sings.
[382] Αἰγυπτίας, in scansion either the antepenult must be treated as short, or “-ιας” must be pronounced as one syllable (yas) by synizesis.
[383] ἑκατόμπυλοι, a “round” number, not necessarily exact.
ἑκάστας, with “πύλας” understood from the preceding adjective. A city “gate” is regularly plural in Homer, consisting, as it did, of two folding leaves. Cf. “Σκαιὰς πύλας”, l. 354.[387] πρίν γ᾽ ἀπὸ ... δόμεναι, ‘before he atones for.’ Achilles plainly did not want gifts from Agamemnon; the only real satisfaction that he could have was the utter humiliation of the king. This is why he asked his mother Thetis to persuade Zeus (in A) to send victory to the Trojans and defeat to the Achaeans; this is what he accomplished when (in O) the very ships of the Achaeans were threatened with fire.
[394] Aristarchus's reading “γυναῖκά γε μάσσεται”, ‘shall seek out a wife,’ instead of the vulgate γυναῖκα γαμέσσεται, ‘shall marry a wife to me,’ has the advantage of avoiding the infrequent feminine caesura of the fourth foot § 21).
398-400. ‘And there my manly heart was right well inclined to marry a wedded wife, a fitting mate, and to enjoy the possessions that aged Peleus had amassed.’[399] γήμαντι agrees with μοι (l. 398). The time referred to in “ἐπέσσντο” is prior to the Trojan war.
[401] ἀντάξιον, predicate adjective with “ἐστί” understood; the plural adjective might be expected, agreeing with “τόσα” understood (antecedent of “ὅσα”. ll. 401 and 404).
[402] ἐκτῆσθαι, ‘used to possess,’ represents “ἔκτητο” of direct discourse. The great wealth of Troy ‘in time of peace’ (“ἐπ᾽ εἰρήνης”) is elsewhere (18.288, 289, 24.543) referred to; but the treasures became greatly depleted in purchase of provisions from abroad during the long siege (18.292).
[404] ἐέργει, ‘encloses.’
[405] Πυθοῖ, later Delphi, famous for rich offerings. In later days Herodotus tells how Croesus, for example (Herod. I, 50, 51), made magnificent presents to Delphi, as to the only true oracle.
[408] 409. A literal translation: ‘but a man's spirit may be neither won as spoil nor caught, so as to return again, when [once] it has passed the barrier of the teeth.’
ἐλθέμεν, syntax, § 212. λεϊστή is only another spelling of “ληϊστή”, on which see § 28, § 29.[409] The spirit of life is thought to pass out through the mouth at death. Pope renders freely ll. 401-409:
Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold; Not all Apollo's Pythian treasures hold, Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway, Can bribe the poor possession of a day! Lost herds and treasures we by arms regain, And steeds unrivall'd on the dusty plain: But from our lips the vital spirit fled, Returns no more to wake the silent dead.[410] με is object of “φερέμεν” (l. 411).
[413] ὤλετο, ‘is lost,’ emphatic conclusion of future condition.
[415] For long syllable before “δηρόν” see § § 37; 62, 2.
[416] This line, which is but a weak repetition, was omitted by Zenodotus and rejected by Aristarchus. The interpolator evidently did not feel the force of “ἔσται” (l. 413), which is understood also at the end of l. 415.
