previous next

[371] ‘The Dual is used of a group of pairs . . the Dual ἄξαντε (like the sing. ῥυμῶι) refers to one chariot. Probably too we should read “ἅρμα ἀνάκτων” (i.e. “ϝανάκτων”),’ H. G. § 170, comparing 23.362 “πάντες ἐφ᾽ ἵπποιιν μάστιγας ἄειραν,” Od. 20.348 “ὄσσε δ᾽ ἄρασφεων δακρυόφιν πίμπλαντο,” 9.503, Od. 19.444. But it must be noticed that the sing. “ῥυμῶι”, as describing generally a single spot belonging to each chariot, is not really a support for this; the poet would hardly have said “ἐν” “πρώτοις ῥυμοῖς” in any case when he meant that all were broken at the same place. It looks as though the interpolator (see Introd.) had adapted a line, perhaps from an old Epic, which applied to the breaking of a single chariot, by simply reading “ἅρματ᾽ ἀνάκτων” for “ἄρμα ἄνακτος”, under the belief supported by Zen. (probably not without ancient tradition) that the dual could be used as a plural; or the line may merely be made up of 6.40 (q.v.) and 16.507. The harshness of the constr. will be somewhat softened if we read “πολλῶν” for πολλοί. ἐν πρώτωι ῥυμῶι, at the front end of the pole, where the yoke was attached, see App. M. This would of course be the likeliest place for the pole to break; and as the horses were attached by the yoke only, without traces, a fracture there would at once set them free.

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

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

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 References (6 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: