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[408] ἴθυσεν ‘set herself to,’ ‘prepared.’

ὀλολύξαι ‘to cry aloud.’ The “ὀλολυγή” was a joyful cry, uttered by women, especially at the moment of the consummation of a sacrifice: see the note on 3. 450. According to Herodotus (4. 189) the ritual use originated with the women of Libya, and they excelled in the performance of it.

εἴσιδεν is a little awkward after the same word in l. 407: perhaps we should read εἴσατο (“ϝείσατο”), and thus get rid of the hiatus at the same time.

A curious piece of ritual has been observed in Galicia, which may be a trace of the ancient heathen “ὀλολυγή”. It is described in a book of travel entitled Across the Carpathians (Macmillan, 1862), which was the work of two ladies, Miss Muir Mackenzie and Miss Irby. Writing of the church in the town of Zakopane, in Austrian Poland, they say (p. 199): ‘A practice said to be peculiar to this part of the world is the shouting of the women when the wafer is lifted up. Like other Roman Catholics, they fall down at the sound of the bell, but, besides this, they hail the host with loud cries and wild gestures of affection and worship.’

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

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