[151] τεττίγεσσιν: cicadae. The males sit on sunny bushes and during the longest days make, by rubbing their wings, a clear chirping noise which the Greeks of all times admired greatly. They are not mentioned elsewhere in Homer. — The comparison refers only to the tone of voice; cf. “ἠχέτα” (loud-singing) “τέττιξ ι δενδρέῳ ἐφεζόμενος λιγυρὴν καταχεύετ̓ ἀοιδὴν ι πυκνὸν ὑπὸ πτερύγων, θέρεος” (summer) “καματώδεος ὥρῃ” Hesiod Works 582 ff., “μακαρίζομέν δε, τέττιξ, ι ὅτε δενδρέων ἐπ̓ ἄκρων ι ὀλίγην δρόσον” (dew) “πεπωκώς ι βασιλεὺς ὅπως ἀείδεις: ι . . φιλέουσι μέν σε Μοῦσαι, ι φιλέει δὲ Φοῖβος αὐτός, ι λιγυρὴν δ̓ ἔδωκεν οἴμην” Anacreontea 32.
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Homer's Iliad, Books I-III. Thomas D. Seymour. Boston. Ginn and Company. 1891.
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