[224]
[230] θεὸς ὤς, on the scansion, § 37.
[235] κεν ... γνοίην, potential optative; in this instance the present indicative would better conform to the English idiom.
τ᾽ is for “τοι”, § 40.4; or possibly “τε” (cf. A 521).[238] τώ μοι κτλ., ‘whom the same mother bore that bore me.’
μοι μία, ‘one with me,’ is short for ‘the same as my mother.’ “μία” here = “ἡ αὐτή”, and the dative is either a true dative or possibly “sociative.”[239] The idea is, either they did not come at all, or although they came, they do not wish to take part in the battle.
243, 244. The poet of these lines does not recognize the story, if he knew it, of the alternate immortality of the Dioscuri. It is mentioned, however, in the Odyssey (Od. 11.302-304). The lyric poet Pindar relates (Nemean X, 49-90) the story of the slaying of Castor, who was mortal; and he tells how immortal Polydeuces, with the consent of Zeus, shared his immortality with his brother: “μεταμειβόμενοι δ᾽ ἐναλλὰξ ἁμέραν τὰν μὲν παρὰ πατρὶ φίλῳΔὶ νέμονται, τὰν δ᾽ ὑπὸ κεύθεσι γαίας ἐν γυάλοις Θεράπνας,
πότμον ἀμπιπλάντες ὁμοῖον
”. ‘And shifting their abode by turns, they spend one day in company with their father Zeus, and the next they pass under the hidden places of the earth, in the recesses of Therapne, fulfilling a like destiny.’—Nemean X, 55-57.
[245] θεῶν: with “ὅρκις πιστά” as in l. 269.
ὅρκια, offerings for cementing oaths, namely “ἄρνε δύω καὶ οἶνον” (l. 246).[252] τάμητε, note the change to plural subject, ‘you all.’
[254] ἀμφὶ γυναικί, Attic “περὶ γυναικός”. Cf. “περὶ σεῖο”, l. 137.
[255] τῷ δέ κε νικήσαντι, cf. l. 138.
ἕποιτο, syntax, § 204.[256] 256-258. Cf. ll. 73-75.
[257] ναίοιμεν, syntax, § 204.
νέονται, with future meaning.[261] ἂν ... ἔβη, ‘mounted’ the chariot.
[262] δίφρον, accusative of limit of motion.
[263] Σκαιῶν, for “Σκαιάων”. Supply “πυλάων” (“πυλῶν”).
ἔχον, ‘guided.’