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Book Twelve
when uncovered by the shield, cf. 11.447. OTECO: Zenodotus was undoubtedly
right against the vulgate (and Aristarchus') OTCO, cf. Od. 2.114.
430-2 When the battle closes to hand-to-hand fighting, there is no nimble
leaping onto chariots for a quick retreat. Men fall in their ranks and a
bloodbath naturally follows, cf. 4.451 = 8.65, cf. 15.715, 16.639, 17-360.—
6pp&Scn"(o): for this peculiar perfect in -S-, a testimony to the linguistic
vitality of the Kunstsprache, see Chantraine, GH 1 435. It recurs at Od.
20.354, cf. dKT|xs6aTai (< OCXEEIV) in some MSS at 17.637 and IAr|Ad8aTo
(< EACCUVEIV) in the vulgate at Od. 7.86. The -6- must be derived from dental
stems such as epsiSeiv (which has a perfect EprjpeSocToa, 23.284, 23.329,
Od. 7.95). Similar forms from verbs in -&£siv, -i£eiv occur in the Ionic of
Herodotus. T imagine a pd£co, a ghost word in this sense. The repetition of
'Axoucov at the end of 431 and 432 does not trouble the poet, cf. 373-4
and n.
433-5 Simile of the spinning woman, presumably a free widow. For
comparisons drawn from women's work cf. 4.141 (ivory-staining), and
23.760 (weaving). Spinning, however, is usually represented as the work of
the women of the heroic household, no matter what their status, e.g. Od.
6.305—7 (Arete and her slave-women). As an image, scales express balance,
as here, or the moment of decision, when the balance inclines in one
direction, as at 8.69, 22.209. The scales of Zeus, however (8.69, 22.209),
symbolize another idea, that of being 'weighed in the balances, and ...
found wanting'. &Ar|0r|s is 'honest', 'conscientious' ('ehrlich' Ameis-
Hentze), a sense not repeated in the epic, but that is not objectionable in a
simile, cf. 6cAr|0r|S voos at Pind. 01. 2.167. Leaf conjectures, unnecessarily, a
primitive sense 'not forgetful', EXOV is intransitive, 'hold on', but a transitive
EXEi must be understood from it as the verb of the simile. deiKeoc expresses
humiliation inflicted on another ('mit der Nebenbedeutung "hasslich",
"schmahlich", "verabscheuungswurdig"'), LfgrE s.v., cf. the CCEIKEO-CJI
ITAriyrjcji with which Thersites was threatened (2.264 and 22.395^), not,
pace Plutarch, Mor. 19c (on 23.24), the shame that falls, or ought to fall, on
the doer of wicked deeds, hence an deiKrjs uicrOos is a 'pittance', presumably
a portion of the thread spun or similar payment in kind. Aristarchus was
momentarily puzzled, suggesting &VEIKECC or duEUcpEa, before settling for
dsiKsa = EUTEAT) (Did/A). The pathetic touch caught the imagination of
later poets, cf. Ap. Rhod. 4.1062-7, Virg. Aen. 8.408-13.
436 = 15.413, where the simile concerns the use of the line (oTdOuri), not
scales (oraOuos), as if the idea ETTI TCJCC TETOCTO were somehow associated in
the singer's mind with the sound CTTCC6|JK For the metaphor of tension see
1 i.336n. — After the pause during the simile the narrative surges forward
to the climax. With Zeus's blessing (as the poet knows) Hektor urges on his
men for a final effort. They charge the wall in a body and clamber over the
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