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[599] πηρός, a doubtful word, traditionally explained blind, as in Aesop 17 “ἀνὴρ πηρός”: cf. “ἐτυφλώσαμεν” in Rhes. ut sup. Others say maimed, deprived either of voice (so Ar.) or of the right hand, or more vaguely helpless; and in this general sense the word is common in later Greek. This certainly gives a better sense, for as Ar. says, comparing Od. 8.64, blindness does not disable a bard. Indeed, music is always the natural profession for the blind. The “τυφλὸς ἀνήρ, οἰκεῖ δὲ Χίωι ἔνι παιπαλοέσσηι” (Kynaithos?) of Hymn. Apoll. 172 naturally suggests itself. Teiresias, Daphnis and Stesichoros are other blind bards, acc. to the legends. αὐτάρ is continuative, as 465, etc., and moreover. ἐκλέλαθον: for this trans. use of the redupl. aor. cf. 15.60, and “λελαχεῖν” always (7.80, 22.343, etc.).

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

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