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Book Eleven
can always be resolved into a dactylic scansion, and obviously reflects
prototypes fjocc 6Tav, f]6a uiuveiv, etc.
724 IOVECC ire^cov looks like a useful phrase that is not repeated. iOvos in
the epic is a generic collective noun, a 'body' of men, a 'swarm' of bees, a
'herd' of swine, etc.
726 ev6ioi, i.e. at noon, cf. Od. 4.450 (Proteus emerged from the sea
for his siesta iv8ios) and Hsch. ivSior usor||j|3pia.
727-61 The narrative slips into an elaborate ring-form centred on
Nestor's encounter with the Molione (750-2), see vol. v 47.
727-30 Note the Pylian piety, cf. 753 and 761. The Pylians are about
to cross their frontier, so that 8ioc(3onT)pia are in order (cf. Thuc. 5.54
and 116). The Sopirov, of course, is part of the sacrificial ritual. In the fifth
century 6ia(3aTf)pia were at least partly divinatory, an aspect of sacrifice not
known to Homer. - Ail... UTTepueveT with correption of the final syllable, a
light modification of the traditional Ail ... UTrEpuevEi (3X ), marks another
intrusion of the Ionic vernacular into the traditional diction. Verse 730 =
7.380 (a doubtfully genuine verse) = 18.298. iv TeAeeacn must be 'in their
companies/ranks', cf. 10.56, 470.
735 Arn/A try to draw a distinction between the language of the poet
and the language he gives to Nestor; the poet's language is to say that the
heavenly bodies rise from Ocean. That is not the whole truth; dawn spreads
'over the sea' at 23.227, and 'over the whole earth' at 8.1 = 24.695. The
scholia are right to look for characterization by language in direct speech
(cf. 9.3O7n.) but are unlikely to find it where the direct speech is also
narrative, cf. 747n. — The intransitive use of CnrepeaxeOe, 'held himself
over', has a parallel only at Od. 13.93 (CrrrepEcrx 8 ? °f a star).
738 MoOAios has namesakes at 16.696, 20.472 (both Trojans), and at
Od. 18.423 (a herald). The first syllable is apparently lengthened for
metrical reasons, cf. uoAos, 'battle', but the etymology is disputed, see
io.269n.
739-40 These verses resemble 13.428-9. The hand of the eldest daughter
is presumably more prestigious than that of her sisters.
740 Agamede, 'Very Intelligent', bears a significant name. As Perimede
she was linked with Circe and Medea by Theocritus (Id. 2.14-15, cf. Prop.
2.4.7). Magic is a female speciality, incompatible with the masculine ideal
of heroism. Agamede's reputation as a witch may be taken with Odyssean
allusions to Ephyre, if that is the Elean Ephyre, see 15.53 m. and West's
note to Od. i.257ff. Ephyre was a source of arrow-poison (Od. 2.328-9).
Odysseus' host there was Ilos son of Mermeros ('Pernicious', another significant
name), son of another famous witch, Medea.
742 = Od. 13.267 (with KcrnovTa). yaikKf)psi 8oupi (also ace. plur.): see
26on.
303