[244]
γαίῃ = Attic “γῇ”.[246] χρυσείοις (= Attic “χρυσοῖς”), cf. shorter form, “χρυσέῳ”, l. 15.— πεπαρμένον, from “πείρω”. The wooden staff seems to have been enclosed in a sheath, which was fastened on with nails; both sheath and nails may have been of gold. See Tsountas and Manatt, The Mycenaean Age, pp. 167-169, and Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations, p. 250.
[247] ἑτέρωθεν, suffix, § 155.2.
τοῖσι, ‘before them,’ cf. note on l. 58.[249] τοῦ § 118.4) ... “ἀπὸ γλώσσης”, ‘from whose tongue.’
καί = ‘moreover,’ if translated at all. Cicero quotes the line （Cato Maior, 10, 31): “ex eius lingua melle dulcior fluebat oratio.” μέλιτος, why genitive? § 175. ῥέεν = Attic “ἔρρει”.[250] τῷ, dative of interest, ‘for him,’ ‘in his day.’ The sense is: ‘he had already seen two generations of mortal men perish.’ Estimating a generation as a period of thirty years, some ancient commentators reckoned Nestor's age as seventy.
μερόπων, perhaps ‘mortal,’ was anciently but improperly derived from “μείρομαι”, ‘divide,’ and ὄψ, ‘voice,’ and taken to mean ‘articulately speaking.’ Compare Swinburne's “men upon earth that hearSweet articulate words
Sweetly divided apart.
” —Atalanta in Calydon.
[251] ἐφθίαθ᾽, where found? § 142.4, a.—The former οἵ is relative; the latter (“οἱ”), the personal pronoun, to be taken with “ἅμα”: ‘together with him.’
τράφεν, form, § 136.8. Note the poet's simple order, which may properly be kept in translation: ‘were bred and born.’[252] ἠγαθέῃ, prefix, § 160; lengthened initial vowel, § 35.
[254] ὢ πόποι indicates amazement; translate freely, ‘'tis past belief!’
ἦ, as before (l. 78), ‘truly.’[255] γηθήσαι, form, § 136.4; it agrees with the nearer subject only. Lines 255-257 contain a less vivid future—or “possible”—condition in its normal form; cf. GG. 651 (1).
[256] κεχαροιατο, tense, § 128; ending, § 142.4, d.
[257] σφῶιν, with “μαρναμένοιιν” in agreement, syntax, § 174. On the form σφῶιν, see § 110; πυθοίατο, § 142.4, d; μαρναμένοιιν, § 73.
[258] ‘(You) who are superior to the (other) Danaans in counsel, and superior in fighting.’
πέρι, accent, § 164. βουλήν, accusative of specification; so, too, “μάχεσθαι.” Δαναῶν, why genitive? Cf. “Κλυταιμνήστρης”, l. 113; “σέθεν”, l. 186; “ἐμεῖο”, l. 259.[260] ἤδη γάρ ποτε, ‘for once on a time (gone by).’
ἠέ = Attic “ἤ”, ‘than.’ περ = ‘even.’ ὑμῖν, dative by attraction to case of “ἀρείοσιν” (“ἀνδράσιν”). What case would be expected?[262] ἀνέρας, form, § 85.—Why does not οὐδέ suffer elision? § 61.23.
ἴδωμαι, syntax, § 191.[263] For “οἷον Πειρίθοον” etc. we should expect “οἷος” [“ἦν”] “Πειρίθοος” etc.; but again we find attraction—to the case of “τοίους” (l. 262).
[265] The line is wanting in the best MSS.
Θησέα, form, § 90.— ἀθανάτοισιν, on quantity of initial vowel, § 34.[266] κάρτιστοι, predicate adjective: ‘they were the very [“δή”] bravest men that were ever reared on earth.’
κεῖνοι, spelling, § 120. τράφεν, form, § 136.8. ἔσαν (Attic “ἦσαν”), § 125.[268] φηρσίν, Aeolic for Attic “θηρσίν” or “θηρίοις”, ‘wild beasts.’ The name refers to the rude Thessalian “Κένταυροι”, ‘Centaurs.’ “Such a name is not likely to have been assumed by the tribe itself, but is rather an opprobrious term applied to them by their enemies” (Ridgeway, The Early Age of Greece, vol. i, p. 178).
[271] κατ᾽ ἔμ̓ αὐτόν § 112), ‘by myself alone,’ i. e. ‘independently,’ so that my valor could be clearly seen.
[272] τῶν, demonstrative, § 118.1.
ἄν ... μαχέοιτο (Attic “μάχοιτο”), ‘would fight.’[273] μευ occurred l. 37.
βουλέων, case and scansion, § 70. ξύνιεν, ‘heeded’; where found? § 136.7.[274] ὔμμες = Attic “ὑμεῖς”, § 110.
[275] Addressed particularly to Agamemnon.
τόνδ᾽（ε), Achilles, one of the two objects of the verb of depriving. ἀγαθός περ ἐών, cf. note on l. 131. ἀποαίρεο, form, § 48; Attic “ἀφαιροῦ”.[276] ἔα (i. e. “ἔαε”), ‘suffer’ her to remain with him.
πρῶτα, cf. note on l. 235.[277] Now Nestor turns to Achilles.
ἐριζέμεναι, where found? § 137.1, a.[278] οὔ ποθ᾽ ὁμοίης ἔμμορε τιμῆς, ‘never shares in a common honor’ with other men, i. e. he has superior dignity; Agamemnon was a “scepterbearing king”; Achilles was not, for his father still ruled; therefore Achilles should yield precedence to Agamemnon.
ἔμμορε (“μείρομαι”), form, § 39; translated by present, § 187.[280] Note that καρτερός is an adjective of the positive degree; cf. l. 178.—Achilles's mother was Thetis, a goddess of the sea.
πλεόνεσσιν, Attic “πλέοσι” or “πλείοσι”. For syntax, cf. the dative in the phrase “τοῖσι δ᾽ ἀνιστάμενος”, l. 58.[282] δέ, cf. l. 58.
αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε λίσσομ᾽（αι), i. e. “ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι ὁ λισσόμενος” (Nägelsbach^{1}), ‘for it is I, Nestor, that beseech you.’[283] Ἀχιλλῆι, dative of advantage, ‘for Achilles's sake.’
μεθέμεν, form, § 137.2.