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[300] μέσσον is apparently to be construed as an adverb with “ἔθεεν”, ‘ran before the north wind (taking) the midsea course’ (cp. 3. 174 “πέλαγος μέσον εἰς Εὔβοιαν τέμνειν”). What then is this ‘mid-sea course’ for a ship which, starting from Phoenicia, has made its way to the south-west corner of Asia Minor? It is further described as being “ὑπὲρ Κρήτης”, which words are generally taken as=‘beyond,’ ‘far past Crete,’ viz. to the south. This, however, is not a Homeric use of “ὑπέρ”. It cannot be defended by such a phrase as “ὑπὲρ πόντου” ‘across the sea’ (said of Crete itself in 13. 257): land is seen ‘over’ sea, not conversely. Moreover, there is evidently a contrast intended between “ἔθεεν μέσσον ὑπὲρ Κρήτης” and the following line “ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ Κρήτην μὲν ἐλείπομεν”, so that the former clause must belong to the time before the ship was far on its way to Libya. More probably, therefore, ὑπέρ is used like “καθύπερθε Χίοιο” in 3. 170, to denote the side on which they passed the island, viz. by the N.W. or windward side; and μέσσον implies keeping off the lee shore of Crete. The alternative was to follow the chain of islands—Cos, Rhodes, and Carpathus— and then run under the lee of Crete, i.e. along the southern coast. The latter was the course taken on Paul St.'s voyage to Rome, which as far as Cnidos was the same as that described here: cp. Acts xxvii. 7 “καὶ μόλις γενόμενοι κατὰ τῆν Κνίδον, μὴ προσεῶντος ἡμᾶς τοῦ ἀνέμου, ὑπεπλεύσαμεν τὴν Κρήτην κατὰ Σαλμώνην” (i.e. by the east). Here the fair N. E. wind made it possible to take the ‘upper’ or windward course.

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

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