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[212] ἀνὰ πρόθυρον τετραμμένος, with his feet turned to the door as a symbol of departure. This indicates an ancient funeral custom; Persius iii. 105 in portam rigidos calces extendit, Pliny N. H. vii. 46 ritu naturae mos est pedibus efferri. But the origin of the custom was not so much a ritus naturae as a belief that the position made it more difficult for the ghost to come back (so the Pehuenches of Chili explain it, Rohde Psyche “Ρ”. 22 note); see Schol. B. “διὰ τὸ ἐξερχομένους τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου μηκέτι ἀναστρέφειν εἰς τοὺς οἴκους”.

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

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