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[303] μέγα ἔργον, a great feat, added parenthetically, ‘in apposition to the sentence,’ as it is usually called, though it really forms part of the complement of the verb “λάβε”. We may compare 1.294πᾶν ἔργον ὑπείξομαι”, and similar usages which will be found in H. G. § 136. 2-4. There is nothing in Homeric usage to justify us in taking “ἔργον” in apposition with “χερμάδιον”, as though = a great thing; or in comparing such Herodotean phrases as “μέγα χρῆμα ὑός. φέροιεν”: for this ‘concessive’ or potential opt. without “ἄν” see H. G. § 299 f, where reference is made to the similar use in a principal clause, “ῥεῖα θεός γ᾽ ἐθέλων καὶ τηλόθεν ἄνδρα σαώσαι”. The hiatus after suggests “ κ᾽ οὐ” (P. Knight', or “ γ᾽ οὐ δύο κ̓” (van L.), but the “κε” is not grammatically necessary.

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