previous next

[186] The fresh paragraph should begin here, not with l. 188: for the meaning is that while Antinous and Eurymachus were still busy with the bow, Ulysses took the opportunity to steal out and make himself known to the two faithful servants. Hence the impf. ἐπεῖχε followed by the aor. βῆσαν.

ἐπεῖχε ‘held on,’ ‘persisted’: as we say, ‘kept at it.’ This interpretation, given in Ebeling's Lexicon, suits the context best. Most commentators take it to mean ‘waited,’ ‘refrained’ from trying. But when “ἐπέχω” has this sense it is generally more clear what is the process or action that is stopped.

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 Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: