[199]
[200] μοι, ‘I pray you.’
[202] ὑπό, ‘during.’
[203] χόλῳ, ‘on gall’ (Attic “χολῇ”), instead of milk, is the traditional interpretation; but “χόλος” has its usual meaning in l. 206, and possibly here too. T. L. Agar (Classical Review, vol. xiii, p. 43) says: “‘In wrath’ is all that “χόλῳ” need imply. The child is supposed to inherit the mood of the mother at the time she suckles it.”
[207] μ̓ stands for “μοι” (or perhaps “με”) which is to be translated with “ἐβάζετε”. See note on I 59.
πέφανται, cf. note on B 122.[208] ἕης, solitary instance of this form, § 123.2.
[209] ἔνθα, ‘therefore.’
τις, ‘every man,’ as often.[211] ἄρθεν (“ἀραρίσκω”), ‘were fitted together,’ ‘pressed close.’ The second aorist active of the same verb occurs as transitive in l. 212 (“ἀράρῃ”), but intransitive in l. 214 (“ἄραρον”).
[213] βίας ἀνέμων ἀλεείνων, ‘trying to escape the violent assaults of the winds.’
[215] The idea is imitated by Vergil （Aen. X, 361): “haeret pede pes densusque viro vir.”
‘Foot presses on foot, and closely man on man.’[216] λαμπροῖσι φάλοισι, ‘with splendid horns.’ Cf. Introduction, 33.
[217] νευόντων, ‘as the warriors nodded.’
[224] οὔλων ταπήτων, ‘fleecy coverlets,’ for beds and chairs.
[225] τετυγμένον, ‘well wrought.’
[227] Hurried on by his quick imagination the poet does not trouble himself about strictly logical expression at this point.
ὅτι μή, ‘except.’[231] The poet imagines the lodge of Achilles, like Homeric houses in general, opening on an enclosure which contained an altar of “Ζεὺς ἑρκεῖος”.
[233] Achilles prays to the great god of his own far distant land. The oracle of Zeus at Dodona is referred to in the Odyssey (Od. 14.327, Od. 19.296) as a place where his counsel is learned from a high-leafed oak; that is, from the sounds given by the rustling leaves. Its antiquity is mentioned by Herodotus (II, 52), who says that the oracle of Dodona was regarded as the oldest among the Greeks.
ἄνα, vocative of “ἄναξ”.[234] Σελλοί (another reading is “σ᾽ Ἑλλοί”) probably has an etymological connection with “Ἕλληνες”.
[235] ἀνιπτόποδες, χαμαιεῦναι. “The Selli at Dodona were “χαμαιεῦναι”, i. e. abstained from sleeping in a bed, probably for the reason that the bed would become too holy for anyone else to occupy afterwards. They were also “ἀνιπτόποδες”, and the priest and priestess of Artemis Hymnia did not wash like other people [Pausanias, viii, 13, 1], doubtless because of the excessive sanctity of their persons, just as the Arabians of old might not wash or anoint the head.”—F. B. Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion (London and New York, 1896), p. 63; from the chapter on Taboo: its Transmissibility.
236-238. Cf. A 453-455. εὐξαμένοιο agrees with the genitive (“ἐμοῦ”) implied in “ἐμόν”.[239] νηῶν ἐν ἀγῶνι, ‘in the gathering place of the ships.’
[242] ὄφρα, ‘in order that,’ followed by future indicative, “εἴσεται” (from “οῖδα”), with essentially the same force as the subjunctive. GMT. 324.
[243] ἤ ῥα καὶ οἶος κτλ., ‘whether our squire will be able [‘understand how’] to fight alone, or then only his hands rage invincible, when I myself go into the moil of war.’
