The Basel Commentary by Homer’s Iliad

Author:Homer’s Iliad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Published: 2018-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

χροός: can denote the (vulnerable) ‘body’ in its entirety: 19.27n.; GAVRYLENKO 2012. — δόρυ: used synonymously with ἔγχος (505), see 139–140n. — φρένες: here probably used as an anatomical term, as at 481 (see ad loc.). — ἕποντο: At 12.395 f., the stricken warrior himself ‘follows’ the spear and falls to the ground dead (implicitly so also at 13.177–181).

505 This stylistically striking verse marks the end of Sarpedon’s death throes: (a) while the imperfects at 504 – εἷλκε ‘pulled’, ἕποντο ‘followed’ – illuminated the entire process of extracting the spear (MUTZBAUER 1893, 44), the aorist ἐξέρυσ(ε) ‘pulled out’ describes the completion and is underlined by (b) the chiasmus at 504/505 (εἷλκε δόρυ + φρένες ἕποντο || ψυχήν + ἔγχεος ἔξερυσ’ αἰχμήν) and (c) the vivid zeugma ‘pull out spear-head and life’. On (c), cf. 5.296, etc. λύθη ψυχή τε μένος τε (cf. 332n.), 16.625, etc. εὖχος ἐμοὶ δοίης, ψυχὴν δ’ Ἄϊδι (see ad loc.; LfgrE s.v. ψυχή 1313 f.; FAESI; FEHLING 1969, 278 f.; WARDEN 1971, 97 f.; additional examples of zeugma in the Iliad: 1.533n., 3.73n., 24.8n.; VAN LEEUWEN on 4.282). — ψυχὴν … ἐξέρυσ(ε): In the present zeugma, psychḗ is probably to be understood simply ‘life’: ‘tore out the lance and thus took his life’ (WARDEN loc. cit.). Other descriptions specify the body opening from which the ψυχή escapes: 469n. – Unique formulations are frequently attested for ψυχή (cf. 453n., 625n., 24.168n.; JAHN 1987, 32 ff.); closest parallels: ψυχὴν ἐξ-/ἀφελέσθαι (22.257, 24.754, Od. 22.444).

506–507 Abandoned horses fall to the enemy (in the Iliad always to the Achaians) and are generally led away by the victor’s companions like any other war booty: 13.640 f., 16.664 f., 17.130 f. (FENIK 1968, 12; VAN WEES 1986, 288; STOEVESANDT 2004, 228 f.). – The capture of Sarpedon’s team of horses by the Myrmidons forms a kind of counterpart to Sarpedon’s killing of Pedasos (466 ff.).

506 φυσιόωντας: ‘snorting’, at 4.227 ‘with impatience’ (AH ad loc. [transl.]), here probably in panic (507), perhaps at the same time an expression of resistance (KRAPP 1964, 144 f.; JANKO on 506–507).

507 2nd VH = 371 (see ad loc.). — φοβέεσθαι: ‘flee after being frightened’ (cf. 290n.), with horses ‘balk, shy away’ (Kurz 1966, 31). — λίπον ἅρματ’ ἀνάκτων: ‘This is an example of a formulaic phrase (found in 371 above) used casually, without care for its exact meaning’ (WILLCOCK): at 371, this caused the horses to come loose from the chariot after the shafts broke, but here the chariot is simply empty, since both Sarpedon and his charioteer (here jointly termed ἄνακτες ‘lords, masters’ [371n.]) have been killed – at most, the horses would have to have pulled free from the chariot (gapP: AH). These ‘moments of carelessness’ are probably signs of oral narration, likewise e.g. 13.423, where the Achaians carry the dead Hypsenor, βαρέα στενάχοντα (VE formula), into the encampment of ships (JANKO on 13.419–423; VAN DER VALK 1964, 74 f.; also COMBELLACK 1965). Neither the ancient v.l. λίπεν (according to Aristarchus 3rd pers. pl. aor. pass.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.