[385]
[386] πρῶτος, ‘I was first’ to urge.
[388] ἠπείλησεν μῦθον, ‘made a threat’; “μῦθος” is a word of varied connotations, which the Greeks felt the meaning of; our English translation must take its cue from the context.
ὅ, relative use of the article, § 118.4.[389] τὴν μέν, ‘the one’ damsel; “τὴν δέ” (l. 391), ‘the other.’
[390] Χρύσην, here the town, not the priest.
πέμπουσιν, ‘are escorting.’[391] νέον κλισίηθεν κτλ., ‘only now, heralds led away [literally ‘went leading’] from my lodge.’
With ἔβαν § 136.7) the participle contains the leading idea, as with Attic “οἴχομαι”. Cf. “ᾤχετο πλέων” (Xen. Anab. II, 6, 3), ‘went sailing off,’ ‘sailed away.’ κλισίηθεν, for suffix cf. “οὐρανόθεν”, l. 195.[392] Βρισῆος, from nominative “Βρισεύς”, declined like “βασιλεύς”, § 86.
ἐῆος, form, § 99. 394, 395. ‘Go to Olympus and beseech Zeus, if ever you gladdened his heart at all, whether by word or by deed.’ Δία has the ictus on “-α”, § 38.[396] πολλάκι, Attic “πολλάκις.”
σεο, enclitic pronoun, § 110; limits “ἄκουσα.” πατρὸς ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν, ‘in the halls of my father,’ Peleus. ἐνί receives the ictus on “-ι”, § 38.[397] εὐχομένης, ‘boasting,’ agrees with “σεο” (l. 396).
ἔφησθα, form, § 136.3. Κρονίωνι, for syntax compare l. 67, “ἡμῖν”.[398] οἴη ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν, you ‘alone among the immortals.’
[401] ὑπελύσαο, form, § 142.1. ὑπ- means ‘from under’ the weight of his bonds.
μακρόν, ‘high.’[404] αὖτε, ‘again,’ ‘in turn.’
“οὗ” § 113 πατρός, Poseidon.[405] ὅς, with force of demonstrative, § 123.4.
[406] ὑπέδδεισαν, for spelling cf. l. 33.
οὐδέ ἑ, account for hiatus; § 61.6. ἑ refers to Zeus.[407] τῶν μιν μνήσασα, ‘remind him of this.’
λαβὲ γούνων ( § 97, § 172); not a peculiar act here, but the regular custom of suppliants in Homer.[408] ‘In the hope that he may perhaps be willing to give aid to the Trojans, and to hem in the others at their ships' sterns and about the sea— the Achaeans.’ Achilles disdainfully sets the Achaeans' name at the very end, simply mentioning them as “τοὺς δέ” at first (Cauer, Die Kunst des Übersetzens^{2}, p. 90).
αἴ κεν ἐθέλῃσιν § 136.6), in syntax like “αἴ κε πίθηαι”, l. 207. ἐπὶ ... ἀρῆξαι, tmesis, § 163.
[410]
κτεινομένους, agreeing with “Ἀχαιούς”: letting them be ‘slain.’— ἴνα πάντες κτλ., Pope gives the sense:
“and bring
The Greeks to know the curse of such a king.
”
[412] ὅ τ᾽ ἄριστον κτλ., cf. l. 244.
[414] αἰνά, adverbial accusative with “τεκοῦσα”, ‘after bearing you unto trouble’ (cf. Job v, 7).
[415] ὄφελες παρὰ νηυσὶν ... ἧσθαι once meant ‘you ought to be sitting beside the ships’; cf. l. 353; and if “αἴθε” be translated ‘ah!’ we may keep the rest of the sentence in its literal meaning. A wish in present time, impossible of fulfilment, is implied; cf. Xen. Anab. II, 1, 4, “ἀλλ᾽ ὤφελε μὲν Κῦρος ζῆν”.—The force of “ἧσθαι” (l. 416) is ‘to be staying’ or ‘to be passing the time’ rather than ‘to be sitting,’ which is literal.
[416] ἐπεί νύ τοι αἶσα κτλ., supply “ἔστι”, ‘since your measure of life is [i. e. ‘endures’] for but a brief space, not at all for very long.’ For the adverbs in the predicate, adjectives might be expected; but this Homeric construction has several parallels. Cf. 4.466, “μίνυνθα δέ οἱ γένεθ᾽ ὁρμή”: ‘his onset was [endured] for a brief space.’—For quantity of ultima of μάλα, cf. § § 37; 62, 2.—That Achilles had a choice between two destinies is told in I 410-415. He might have a long, inglorious life or a short, glorious one; as is well known, he chose the latter. There is no hint of the choice in the present context, however.
[417] νῦν δ᾽（έ), ‘but as it is.’
περὶ πάντων, ‘above all.’[418] ἔπλεο, ‘you were’ and still are; or simply ‘you are’, form, § 142.1.
τῷ, ‘therefore,’ § 117. κακῇ αἴσῃ, ‘unto an evil doom.’ Cf. § 178.[419] ἐρέουσα, ‘in order to tell’; cf. “λυσόμενος”, l. 13.
τερπικεραύνῳ, form and meaning, § 59.[420] ἀγάννιφον, spelling, § 39; prefix, § 160. When Olympus is called snowy, the poet has in mind those parts only that do not extend above the level of the clouds. On the other hand, the region where the gods dwell is the ever bright summit, high above the clouds and remote from the sight of men; here there is neither rain nor snow, but only perpetual fair weather, as the poet of the Odyssey sings (Od. 6.42-45). This summit reaches up into heaven (“οὐρανός”).
αἴ κε πίθηται, syntax, § 198.[423] Αἰθιοπῆας, as if from nominative “Αἰθιοπεύς”. But elsewhere “Αἰθίοπας”, as if from “Αἰθίοψ”, is found.
[424] χθιζός agrees with subject of “ἔβη”. Homer commonly uses temporal adjectives where the English idiom employs adverbs.
[426] ποτί, cf. l. 245.
