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[479] Iapetos is named only here in Homer, while Kronos appears only as father of Zeus and Hera except in three passages, 14.203, 274, 15.225. According to the later legend both were members of the Titan dynasty. This is not distinctly brought out anywhere in Homer, though it is implied in a comparison of this passage and 14.279 with 14.204. See also note on 5.898. The whole question of these dynasties before Zeus, as they are presented in Homer, is too vague to admit of a certain solution; when we come to Hesiod we find that Greek belief has passed into quite another stage, that of harmonizing the incoherent and inconsistent legends, handed down probably from sources differing by wide distances both of race and place. For Tartaros see line 13. The meaning of Zeus may be either ‘You may banish yourself for ever, and I should not be sorry to lose you,’ or ‘You may try and raise a revolt in Tartaros, and I should not be afraid of your efforts.’ The word ἀλωμένη points rather to the former.

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

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