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[301] The transition from the simile to this descriptive passage, which has nothing to do with the comparison, produces a somewhat harsh effect, especially as the pres. θωρ́ησσεσθον again gives way to the aor. of simile in 303. (In any case “θωρήσσεσθον” cannot be an imperf., as some have thought, for that tense has no place in a simile, though the form alone is not decisive, H. G. § 5, note 1.) There seems therefore not to be any reference to a particular mythological event, as we should suppose; the idea must be that in the perpetual wars of two neighbouring tribes on the Thracian borders, Ares often goes to battle, taking now one side, now the other. μετά does not appear to imply hostility, but means only to join; but it may of course be taken in the sense go in pursuit of. In that case Ares will be conceived as accompanying his own Thracians in raids on their southern neighbours. According to Strabo ix. 442 the Ephyroi inhabited the later Krannon in Thessaly; while the Phlegyes (or Phlegyai) came from Gyrtone. The latter were a race of brigands who captured Thebes, and were ultimately destroyed by Apollo for sacrilegiously assaulting Delphi (Pherekydes in Schol. See A. also Hymn. Ap. 278, Pausanias ix. 36, and Schol. Pind. P. x. 55.) The Thracian connexions of Ares ( “Gradivum patrem, Geticis qui praesidet arvis” Virg. Aen. iii. 35 ) reappear in H. only in the late passage Od. 8.361, and are possibly taken from post-Homeric mythology.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Homer, Odyssey, 8.361
    • Pindar, Pythian, 10
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 3.35
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