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Book Twelve
156-8 This neat simile of the snowstorm anticipates the longer and more
famous comparison at 278-89 (see nn. adloc). The parallelism between the
assault of Asios and Hektor's first attack is emphasized by the relative rarity
and brevity of other snow similes (only 3.222 (a short comparison) and
19.357-8) except where snow is an adjunct to hail or the like (10.7, 15.170,
and 22.152). The image is usually that of falling snow (vupdSes), not snow
on the ground (x ic ^ v ) •
160 ccuov, literally 'dry', must mean a harsh, grating noise, cf. 13.441 and
nn. to 13.404-10. But the juxtaposition with dcuTeuv or auasv is suspicious,
as if some etymological connexion was felt to exist, as was suggested by M.
Leumann, Mus. Helv. 14 (1957) 50.
161 The army had to bake its bread, so uuA&K6aai, 'millstones', may be
taken literally, in spite of their minimal effect on the Trojan helmets. Aias
felled Hektor uuAoei5ei TreTpcp at 7.270, a rock 'as big as a millstone', but
that was on the battlefield, not a few yards from the huts and ships. At 380
we learn that the Achaeans had their ammunition ready beforehand on the
battlements.
162 = 15.397, Od. 13.198. TT6TrAr|y6To ur|pcb is a formular gesture (4X ,
and recast with the verb in the sigmatic aorist in place of the archaic
reduplicated form at 16.125, HyDem 245; for other references see 15.113i4n.);
the concomitant dual is therefore probably an archaism too. What
the gesture means (impotent rage) is unhelpfully glossed by &AoccnT)(jas at
163. Chantraine, Diet. s.v. aAacrrcop, is unusually hesitant about this word
and pronounces a derivation from ccAaoros (as if = 'to find a situation
"insufferable"') artificial. But the man who calls Zeus a liar at 164 can
easily be imagined to exclaim (to use a mild rendering) 'Confound it!'
164—5 Asios' excessive language — and to call Zeus qnAoy£u8f|s is excessive
— exemplifies his exasperation: it is not hubristic in the sense that it calls
for punishment, and Zeus reacts at 173 with indifference. Zeus does not
fulfil all men's hopes, cf. 18.328, and it is natural for Homeric heroes
to blame him, or the gods in general, when things go wrong. At 9.21
Agamemnon complained of the dm-ocTr) of Zeus.
166 X&poLS d&TTTOus is a common formula (1 ox //.,3X Od.). The general
sense 'irresistible hands' makes it inappropriate in combination with