[47]
[53] πέρι, adverb, ‘exceedingly.’
[54] μετά, a rather remarkable use with the accusative. In Attic the genitive would follow.
[55] ὅσσοι, supply “εἰσί”: ‘of all the Achaeans.’
[56] πάλιν ἐρέει, ‘will gainsay.’
ἀτὰρ οὐ τέλος ἵκεο μύθων, ‘but you did not come to the completion of your speech’; you did not touch the really vital point, namely the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, which has led to the present disasters. “And yet thou hast not gone so far, but we must further go” (Chapman).[57] κε ... εἴης, ‘you might be.’
[59] The verse is bracketed, as not a part of the original poem, because the construction of two accusatives after “βάζεις” is unusual (“μ᾽ , Π” 207, may stand for “μοι”), and because the latter part of the line contains a weak repetition of l. 58.
[61] ἐξείπω, § 191. Nestor promises that he will complete the unfinished speech of Diomedes.
[62] ἀτιμήσει, with “κε” (l. 61), § 190.
οὐδὲ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων, ‘not even lord Agamemnon.’ By these words Nestor makes it clear that what he has to add will be likely to irritate the king of Mycenae. He is hinting at the real cause of the recent calamities, the quarrel with Achilles. What he has to propose is a reconciliation between the two chiefs. Yet he will not humiliate Agamemnon by speaking out before the whole assembly, both chiefs and common soldiers. He proposes that Agamemnon give a dinner to the elders (l. 70), the preliminary of a council. Then, before this select body, he apportions the blame firmly (beginning with l. 96) and proposes the remedy. His tact and his years win Agamemnon's respect; and the king finally yields every point.[63] 63, 64. These lines are bracketed, because probably not a part of the original poem. They seem like the interpolation of a later gnomic poet. In the present context, πολέμου ἐπιδημίοο (‘civil war’) must refer to the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, and ἐκεῖνος, if applied to this concrete case, indicates Agamemnon.
[67] λεξάσθων, from root “λεχ”, ‘lie’; ‘let them take their post.’
[70] δαίνυ δαῖτα, ‘give a feast’ (cognate accusative).
[75] χρεώ, subject of a verb of motion like “ἵκει” understood.
Ἀχαιούς is a limit of motion.[88] τίθεντο, ‘made ready for themselves.’
