previous next

[263] μυχῷ Ἄργεος ἱπποβότοιο. If “Ἄργος” be taken as co-extensive with the Peloponnese, the phrase here can only be used in the most general sense, just as in Pind. Nem.6. 29“μυχῷ Ἑλλάδος” simply means ‘within Hellas.’ E. Curtius, Pelop. 2. 400 (quoted by Seiler), explains the expression thus, ‘Northwest of Heraeon lies Mycenae, at the innermost corner of the plain of Inachos, where the lofty rocks begin to close in upon it.’ Argos would thus represent not the whole Peloponnese, but the Agamemnonian kingdom. In Il.6. 152 we find “Ἐφύρη μυχῷ Ἄργεος”, where we must either follow the Schol. in denying the identity of Ephyra with Corinth, or consider “μυχῷ Ἄργεος” as meaning little more than ‘in Argos;’ for Corinth is reckoned in the kingdom of Agamemnon in Il.2. 570.The epithet ἱπποβότοιο, used here, seems to strengthen the view of Curtius, quoted above; for while the Inachian plain is fertile, the general character of Argos is given by the epithet “πολυδίψιον” Il.4. 171.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (4 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (4):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: