previous next

[87] This is an instance of exile for unpremeditated homicide in place of the commutation by fine, which seems to have been the usual practice in Homeric times (see I 632-36). That exile was also familiar, however, we know from 24.480-81 (see also J. H. S. viii. pp. 12425). We do not know enough to say how the two penalties were chosen in particular cases (here, for instance, we do not know whether Amphidamas was akin to Patroklos or no); but it is evident that of the two exile was the earlier. The idea seems to be introduced here in order to reconcile 11.765 ff., where Patroklos is living in Peleus' house, with 18.324 ff., where Achilles promises Menoitios to bring his son ‘back to Opus,’ from which we naturally suppose that he started.

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 (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: