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Book Nine
77 TTUpa TTOAAOC ... yr|6f)creiE seems to recall the well known simile at
8.555-9, culminating in the words yeyr|0s 8e T6 9peva ixo\\vt\v. The Trojan
watchfires symbolize the peril of the Achaeans' present situation; they are
mentioned again at 234 and 10.12.
81-84 Verse 82 = 2.512, an elaborate formula common to the Catalogue
of Ships and this book, on the implications of which see 2.5 i2n. Beside
the well-known Thrasumedes and Meriones we have five newcomers to the
battlefield. Note that having introduced these heroes (except in the case
of Iamenos, who is not mentioned again) the poet keeps them in mind.
Askalaphos joined the front ranks before his accidental death at 13.518;
Aphareus is killed by Aineias at 13.541, and Deipuros by Helenos at 13.576:
on these names see 13.478-0^. Lukomedes appears at 12.366 and twice in
other lists, 17.346 and 19.240. Some names at least have more to them than
here appears: Askalaphos and Ialmenos were mentioned in the Catalogue
(2.512) as leaders of the Orkhomenians, Aphareus is KaAr|Topi8r|S at 13.541
and is claimed by T as a nephew of Nestor, and Lukomedes was injured
in the Little Iliad (fr. 13 Davies = Pausanias 10.25. 5)- The mention of
Thrasumedes draws attention to an absentee, Nestor's other son Antilokhos.
He scored the first Achaean success, 4.4576°., and played a considerable
role up to 6.326°. and again from the beginning of book 13.
In the interval he simply drops out of sight. See comment on Deiphobos,
J2-94-
82 ulas "Apr|os is not an honorific epithet, as if it were plural of 6£os
"Aprjos, but a true description, cf. 15.112.
88 Aristarchus' 86pTroc eKaoros is the lectio difficilior, but may be a hypercorrection.
There is no good reason to disturb the vulgate Sopirov; the
singular is usual. Neglect of the p- in peKOCoros is frequent in the Iliad
(29x ). Zenodotus' reading (Arn/A) in the final colon, 8arra OdAeiav, comes
from 7.475.
8g-i8i Agamemnon entertains the leaders. After the meal Nestor reminds
Agamemnon that his high-handed seizure ofBriseis has brought about the present crisis
and proposes that overtures be made to Akhilleus. In reply Agamemnon admits his
mistake and names the price he is prepared to pay, but insists that Akhilleus must
acknowledge his superior rank. Nestor welcomes Agamemnon's offers and proposes a
deputation of chosen leaders to go to Akhilleus. Prayers and offerings for success are
made
89 yepovTas: almost, in this context, 'counsellors'; so also at 2.53. The
(3ouAr|, naturally enough, is in name a Council of Elders, but it includes
Diomedes and active fighting men.
90-2 A very perfunctory description of Agamemnon's entertainment (in
70