[171]
[173] φεῦγε: odious expression for the return to his home which Achilles had announced, v. 169.
μάλα: by all means, cf. v. 85. ἐπέσσυται: perf. from “σεύομαι”. cf. 6.361, on v. 133.[174] ἐμοί γε: with self-assertion.
αλλοι: sc. “εἰσίν”.[175] με τιμήσουσι: will gain me honor, referring to v. 159.
μητίετα: a standing epith. of Zeus, see § 1 q; cf. “Διὶ μῆτιν ἀτάλαντον Β” 169. For the ending, see § 16 b. — In this confidence is seen the poet's irony, when the later course of Zeus is remembered, which brought defeat and humiliation to Agamemnon.[176] cf. 5.890.
ἔχθιστος: most hateful; for its formation, see § 22 b. διοτρεφέων: the royal power had its source in Zeus, the patron god of princes; cf. “διογενές” v. 337, “Β 173, λαῶν ἐσσὶ ἄναξ καί τοι Ζεὺς ἐγγυάλιξεν ι σκῆπτρόν τ̓ ἠδὲ θέμιστας Ι” 98 f., “ἐκ δὲ Διὸς βασιλῆες” Hes. Theog. 96. Kings are called “θεράποντες Διός” (Od. 11.255) as warriors are “θεράποντες Ἄρηος” (2.110). Reverence for royal blood is expressed in “δεινὸν” (a dreadful thing) “δὲ γένος βασιλήιόν ἐστιν ι κτείνειν π” 401. 177 = 5.891. φίλη: the pred. adj. regularly agrees with the preceding noun, and the rest of the verse is in a sort of appos. with “ἔρις”. — “πόλεμοί τε κτλ”.: in his anger, the king counts these the result of mere “ἔρις”.[178] The asyndeton here and below shows the speaker's excitement. — “εἰ μάλα κτλ”.: cf. vs. 280, 290.
καρτερός: refers to v. 165. — “θεός που κτλ”.: “it is not thy merit.”[179] “σὺν νηυσὶ κτλ”.: Agamemnon returns to the thought of v. 173. The circumstantial fulness of the expression, as of v. 183, marks the complete separation of the two forces.
[180] Μυρμιδόνεσσιν: cf. 2.684; dat. of advantage, see § 3 g. This word is made prominent since the thought is before the speaker's mind that Achilles, in the consciousness of his strength, desires to rule all the Achaeans, cf. vs. 287 ff.
σέθεν κοτέοντος: “thy anger,” cf. v. 160. σέθεν: for this form of the gen., see § 15 e.[182] ὡς: just as; the corresponding thought of the apod. is found in “ἐγὼ κτλ”. v. 184. The interposed clause, “τὴν μὲν κτλ”., has properly only the value of a subord. clause, though with the form of a principal sent., see § 3 q; cf. 8.269.
ἀφαιρεῖται: here followed by two accs., as v. 275; cf. v. 161.[183] σὺν νηί τ̓ ἐμῇ: with a ship of mine, cf. “τεὸν βωμόν Θ” 238 an altar of thine.
[184] Βρισηίδα: only her patronymic is used by Homer, see on v. 13. In the sack of Lyrnessus by Achilles, her husband and her three brothers had been slain. cf. 2.690 ff., 19.291 ff.
[185] τὸ σὸν γέρας: emphatic contrast, that prize of thine.
ὄφῤ ἐὺ εἰδῇς: as “Ζ 150, γ 213, Φ” 487.[186] ὅσσον: how much; acc. of extent where the Att. might have used “ὅσῳ”, dat. of degree of difference, cf. on v. 78.
φέρτερος: as commander of the entire army and powerful king, cf. v. 281, 2.108. ἄλλος: i.e. every other.[187] ἶσον: masc., with “ἐμοὶ φάσθαι” assert himself my equal, as 15.167.
φάσθαι: for the const., cf. the inf. after “μίσησεν Ρ” 272. ὁμοιωθήμεναι ἄντην: liken himself to me, to my face, as Od. 3.120.[188] Vs. 188-222. Intervention of Athena.
ἄχος γένετο: cf. “καί σφιν ἄχος κατὰ θυμὸν ἐγίγνετο Ν” 86, “Ἀτρεΐδην δ̓ ἄχος εἷλε Ν” 581. ἐν δέ: within, adv., defined more exactly by the local “στήθεσσιν”. οἷ: dat. of interest.[189] λασίοισι: a shaggy breast was thought to indicate manliness and courage, cf. 2.743, 851 (and note), “αὐχένα τε στιβαρὸν καὶ στήθεα λαχνήεντα” (of Hephaestus) 18.415.
[190] ἤ: for “ἤ . . . ἦε” (v. 192) in double indir. question, see § 3 m.
[191] τοὺς μέν: the other princes, who were seated (see on v. 58) between him and Agamemnon (cf. v. 247).
ἀναστήσειε: should rouse from their seats, and drive away, as he sprung at the king. ὁ δέ: anaphoric, repeating the last subject; almost equiv. to “αὐτὸς δέ”. cf. “ἐγὼ δέ” v. 184. This either makes prominent the identity of subject in a contrast of actions, or marks the progress of the action by calling renewed attention to the doer of the deed. ἐναρίζοι: the opt. represents the deliberative subjv. of direct discourse, cf. 3.317. 193 = “Λ 411, Ρ 106, Σ 15, δ 120, ε” 365, 424, cf. 10.507. — “κατὰ φρένα κτλ”.: in mind and heart.[194] ἕλκετο: he was drawing; the act was interrupted (cf. v. 220).
ἦλθε δέ: for “δέ” in apod., see on v. 58.[195] οὐρανόθεν: but she returns “Οὐλυμπόνδε” v. 221; the peaks of Olympus tower above the clouds into heaven, see on v. 44.
πρὸ ἧκε: sent forth, i.e. sent hither, as 18.168, cf. v. 442. Athena often acts as subordinate to Hera; cf. “Β 156, Ε 713, Θ” 351. — Hera is patron goddess of the Atridae.[196] ἄμφω: obj. of “φιλέουσα”, to which “κηδομένη” is added in a freer relation; cf. “Β 27, τὴν αὐτοῦ” (sc. “γυναῖκα”) “φιλέει καὶ κήδεται Ι 342, εἰ δὲ καὶ Ἕκτορά περ φιλέεις καὶ κήδεαι αὐτοῦ Η” 204.
θυμῷ: see on v. 24.[197] στῆ δ̓ ὄπιθεν: she stepped up behind.
ξανθῆς: epith. of Menelaus, as 3.284; of Meleager, 2.642; of Rhadamanthys, Od. 4.564; of Demeter, 5.500. The “ξανθαὶ τρίχες” of Odysseus are mentioned Od. 13.399. κόμης: gen. of the part touched. G. 171, H. 738.[198] οἴῳ: Homeric divinities appeared only to single persons; not to companies of men, except when disguised in human form; cf. “δ 367, π” 161, where Athena is seen by Odysseus but not by Telemachus. Only to the people of the fairy-land Phaeacia were the gods wont to appear visibly, cf. Od. 7.201 ff. — “τῶν δ̓ ἄλλων κτλ”.: the thought of the first word of the verse is repeated in neg. form.
[199] θάμβησεν: at being thus seized.
μετὰ δ̓ ἐτράπετο: since Athena stood behind him; literally, not as v. 160.[200] δεινώ: pred.; they were the eyes of “γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη” (v. 206).
δέ: for the use of the adversative instead of a causal conj., cf. vs. 228, 259; see § 3 q. οἷ: for the dat. of interest, see § 3 g. φάανθεν: for “ἐφαένθησαν” from “φαείνω”. For the ending, see § 26 v. — “ὄσσε” as a neut. dual may have a verb in the pl. as here; or in the sing., as “δέρκεται ὔσσε Ψ” 477; or in the dual, as “ὄσσε ι λαμπέσθην Ο” 607 f.[201] An often (not less than fifty times) repeated verse, see § 1 w.
μίν: obj. of “προσηύδα”. φωνήσας: lifted up his voice, cf. § 1 s; not equiv. to “εἰπών”, which in Homer is used only of what has just been related. πτερόεντα: for the final vowel here short though before two consonants, see § 41 i “β”.[202] τίπτ̓ αὖτε: “What now! why art thou come?” “αὖτε” is here not equiv. to “αὖτις”, and does not imply that she had been there before, but is uttered in a tone of vexation; cf. “ὤ μοι ἐγώ, τέων αὖτε βροτῶν ἐς γαῖαν ἱκάνω”; Od. 6.119 O woe is me, to the land of what mortals do I come now?
τίπτε εἰλήλουθας [“ἐλήλυθας”]: for this greeting, cf. “τέκνον, τίπτε λιπὼν πόλεμον θρασὺν εἰλήλουθας”; “Ζ 254, ε” 87. αἰγιόχοιο . . . τέκος: ten times repeated in Homer, cf. § 1 q.[203] This verse contains several metrical peculiarities. For the hiatus after the first foot, see § 9 b; for that after “ῒδῃ”, see § 9 c. — “ἦ ἵνα κτλ”.: he answers the question himself by a conjecture, cf. “Ζ 255, Η 26, Ρ” 445.
ἦ: generally expresses emotion in Homer; it is not yet the mere sign of a question (§ 3 m “β”). ἴδῃ: for the voice, see on v. 56.[204] καί: also, const. with “τελέεσθαι” (fut.); “this will not be a mere prediction.”
[205] ὑπεροπλίῃσι: for the long penult, see § 41 b; for the pl. (esp. in the dat., most freq. in the Odyssey), cf. “προθυμίῃσι Β 588, ποδωκείῃσι Β 792, ἀναλκείῃσι Ζ 74, ἀτασθαλίῃσιν α” 7. — “τάχα κτλ”.: a covert hint at his murderous thoughts.
ἄν: const. with “ὀλέσσῃ” (§ 3 b).