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[677] συξτὸν ναύμαχον, see on 388. We cannot be certain what βλ́ητροισι means, whether ‘in lengths’ or ‘by clamps,’ or hoops or rivets used to keep the separate pieces together. The word appears not to recur in Greek, so we have only the probabilities of the present passage to guide us. The enormous length of the “ξυστόν” is explicable if we suppose that it was really used as suggested on 388; that a hero should be able to employ it as an ordinary spear is merely a proof of his heroic strength. See also on 6.319.

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

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