[413]
[419] ἔπι, adverb, ‘thereon.’
ἔχεεν (“χέω”), ‘heaped up.’[421] οἵ, relative; the antecedent is the demonstrative “οἵ” of the following line.
Ἄιδος εἴσω, cf. l. 284.[423] κατέπεφνε, tense, § 128.
[424] ἔπ᾽（ι), ‘with,’ i. e. ‘in charge of,’ ‘while tending.’
[426] τήν repeats the object “μητέρα” (l. 425).
[428] Apollo is said to slay men, and Artemis women, that die by sudden —but not violent—death.
[430] θαλερός, ‘blooming.’ ‘stalwart.’
[432] μὴ ... θήῃς § 149 (2)], ‘lest you make.’
[433] Lines 433-439 are a weak ending of the splendid âppeal. Military directions sound strange indeed on the lips of Andromache.
[434] The statements that one portion of the wall is scalable and that perhaps the Greeks have been directed to this part by an oracle (l. 438) allude to a story not found in Homer, but repeated in Pindar's eighth Olympian ode, ll. 40-57. Its substance is this: Apollo and Poseidon, when about to build a rampart around Troy, called a mortal, Aeacus, to their aid. After the wall was built, three dragons tried to scale it; two died in the attempt, but one succeeded, in the part where the hands of Aeacus had wrought. Then Apollo interpreted the portent to mean that Troy was destined to be taken at the place where the mortal had labored.
[435] τρὶς ... ἐπειρήσανθ᾽ (i. e. “ἐπειρήσαντο”): there is no other allusion in Homer to these three attacks; and in fact the battle at present is not near the city wall.
[438] ἔνισπε, i. e. “ἔνι-σπε”, second aorist from “ἐννέπω” (“ἐν-σέπω”). ἐὺ εἰδώς, with genitive, § 174 (4).
[443] κακὸς ὥς, § § 37; 123, 5.
[444] οὐδέ με θυμὸς ἄνωγεν, supply “μίμνειν ἐπὶ πύργῳ” (cf. l. 431).
[446] ἀρνύμενος, ‘seeking to guard.’
αὐτοῦ agrees with an “ἐμοῦ” implied in “ἐμὸν” (“κλέος”). 447-449. This terrible foreboding of Hector is an indication of his present state of mind and possibly has no further significance. At any rate he seems to forget it later when he prays for his boy (ll. 476-481).[450] ‘But no sorrow for Trojans hereafter wounds my heart so deeply nor for Hecabe herself nor for lord Priam nor for my brothers, who though many and brave will fall in the dust beneath their foes, as grief for you’ (supply “ἐμοὶ μέλει”).—The genitives Τρώων, etc., including σεῦ (l. 454), are objective after “ἄλγος”.
[453] κεν (l. 452) ... “πέσοιεν”, § 206.
[454] σεῦ, the MSS. have “σεἶ” (or “σεῖο”) here, which might be retained; but “σεῦ” is preferred by some editors to avoid elision before the following pause.
[456] Ἄργει seems to mean here ‘Greece,’ in a general sense.
πρὸς ἄλλης = “ὑπὸ ἄλλης κελευομένη”.[457] Μεσσηίδος, if understood of the spring in Laconia, suggests the realm of Menelaus; while ῾γπερείης suggests the home of Achilles, in southern Thessaly. These two genitives are ablatival.
[459] εἴπῃσιν, § 136, § 6; 191.
κατὰ ... χέουσαν, tmesis.[460] ἀριστεύεσκε, followed by infinitive, is equivalent to “ἄριστος ἦν”.
[463] χήτεϊ, dative of cause.
ἀμύνειν depends on “τοιοῦδ᾽”（“ε”), or rather on a “οἵου” which it implies; translate ‘such as,’ ‘able.’[464] κατὰ ... καλύπτοι, a wish.
[465] ἔτι, ‘besides,’ i. e. in addition to your other distresses. Many editors prefer “γέ τι” for “γ᾽ ἔτι”. Both readings are found in MSS.
With βοῆς, πυθέσθαι means ‘hear’; with ἑλκηθμοῖο, ‘hear of.’ For the latter genitive cf. § 174 (1).