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[435] We must not look upon the μισθός as anything but payment in kind, food and perhaps cloth for garments. For ἀεικέα (miserable, meagre: cf. 24.594 “οὔ μοι ἐεικέα δῶκεν ἄποινα”) Ar. read “ἀνεικέα”, explaining “ἔξω νείκους, τὸ ἴσον αὐτοῖς ἀπονέμουσα, ἄμεινον δέ, φησιν, ἀεικέα τὸν εὐτελῆ. ἐν δὲ τῶι πρὸς τὸ Ξένωνος παράδοξον προφέρεται ἀμεμφέα μισθόν” (Did.): a rare instance of vacillation. The simile is particularly interesting as giving us one of our few glimpses into the life of the Homeric poor. Elsewhere the working of wool is always carried out by the women of the house for themselves — even by Queen Arete in Phaiakia. Only here do we find the beginning of a special industry of wool-working, the spinning, as it would seem, being given out for payment.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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