Homer, Iliad VI 191-231

The king of Lycia finally appreciated Bellerophon’s divine stock, gave him half his kingdom, and offered his daughter in marriage. After having three children, Bellerophon ended his life as a friendless wanderer. One of Bellerophon's children became Glaucus’ father. Diomedes gladly recalls that his grandfather once hosted Bellerophon, which makes Glaucus and Diomedes guest friends. The two vow to avoid each other on the battlefield.

The scenes leading up to Hector’s visit to Troy are a good example of certain characteristics of Homeric storytelling, crucial to the poem’s impact and yet challenging to describe. This stretch of the story is packed with disparate incidents that flow swiftly by, and yet each element receives the poet’s full attention, its particular details giving it a tone of naturalism—why would the poet tell us all this unless it actually happened? [read full essay]

191: ὅτε δὴ: “just when,” δὴ suggests exactness. ἐόντα: acc. sg. ptc. > εἰμί, modifying an understood Βελλεροφόντην, and governing the predicate θεοῦ γόνον ἠΰν.

192: αὐτοῦ: “on the spot,” “in this very place,” adv. > αὐτός (Goodell 228.b). κατέρυκε: impf. δίδου: “offered in marriage,” = (ἐ)δίδε(σ)ο, 2nd sg.  impf. > δίδωμι. ὅ γε: “he…,” same subject for both verbs. ἥν: = ἑήν, 3rd pers. possessive pronoun ἑός (Goodell 204).

193: δῶκε: aor. > δίδωμι. οἱ: = αῦτῷ, 3rd sg pronoun, dat. ind. obj. τιμῆς: “privilege,” partitive gen.

194: καὶ μέν: “moreover,” introducing a new idea or developing an old one. τάμον: “cut,” i.e. partitioned and distributed, 3rd pl. aor. > τέμνω.

195: ὄφρα: “so that he might have a portion,” purpose clause with pres. mid. opt. in secondary sequence (Monro 307). νέμοιτο: “allot to himself,” pres. mid. > νέμω. The meaning of Homeric νέμομαι ranges from “have as one’s portion,” to “enjoy” or “consume,” to “inhabit” (Graziosi-Haubold).

196: ἣ δ᾽: “and this one,” i.e. the daughter. ἔτεκε: aor. act. > τίκτω (see 6.154).

198: παρελέξατο: “go to bed alongside of,” aor. dep. mid. > παρα-λέχομαι. Λαοδαμείῃ: dat. governed by παρ- of  παρα-λέχομαι (Monro 145.6). μητίετα: nom. sg. of an a-declension adj. (Monro 96).

200: καὶ κεῖνος: “even that one,” “that one too,” i.e. Bellerophon. ἀπήχθετο: “became hateful to” + dat. (see 6.140).  

201: κὰπ: “over,” κατά, assimilated before π-. πεδίον τὸ Ἀλήϊον: “plain, this Aleian one,” the name clearly plays on the verb ἀλάομαι (“wander”) that follows, though Herodotus mentions an Aleian Plain in eastern Cilicia, a region in southern Asia Minor. ἀλᾶτο: impf. > ἀλάομαι.

202: ὃν: “his,” = ἑὸν, 3rd pers. possessive pronoun (Goodell 204). κατέδων: “eating away at,” nom. sg. pres. ptc. > κατ-έδω.

203: οἱ: “his,” = αὐτῷ, 3rd sg. personal pronoun, dative of person or thing affected, which describes the death of Isandros as Bellerophon’s loss (Goodell 523).

204: Σολύμοισι: “with…,” dat. of association with verb of fighting, pres. dep. mid. ptc. μαρνάμενον (see 6.141).

205: τὴν δὲ: “and this one,” Bellerophon’s daughter Laodameia. χολωσαμένη: “having become angry,” inceptive aor. mid. ptc. ἔκτα: root aorist > κτείνω.

206: ἔτικτε: “raised,” i.e. reared, impf. (see 6.154). As elsewhere, Glaucus emphasizes fatherhood (Graziosi-Haubold). ἐκ τοῦ: “from him,” i.e. from Hippolochus. φημι: “I claim,” the verb often makes an assertion rather than a simple statement.

207: πέμπε: unaugmented impf. > πέμπω, which advances the reference time after the aorists which preceded it (Monro 71.1).

208-9: ἀριστεύειν … ἔμμεναι … αἰσχυνέμεν: present infinitives in apposition to πόλλ’ (πολλά) (Monro 85). ἄλλων: “above the rest…,” partitive gen. with ἀριστεύειν, or gen. of separation with ὑπείροχον (Monro 147.2 and 152 respectively).

209: μηδὲ: “and not…”; οἳ: “who…,” relative pronoun (Monro 266); μέγ’: = μέγα, “by far,” neuter sg. adverbial acc. with the predicate ἄριστοι. 

210: ἐγένοντο: aor. dep. mid. > γίγνομαι.

211: γενεῆς … αἵματος: gen. of source, predicative after infin. of εἰμί (Goodell 509.a). τοι: “to be sure,” “be assured,” particle perhaps drawn from an ethical dative of the 2nd person personal pronoun (“I tell you”) (Goodell 671.e).

212: βοὴν: “in/at the battle cry,” acc. of respect is common after an adj., here ἀγαθὸς.

214: ὃ: “he,” demonstrative. προσηύδα: = προσηύδαε, 3rd sg. inchoative impf. (Monro 70).

215: ἦ ῥά: “truly,” “so it seems,” particles expressing surprise and realization. νύ: = νῦν. ἐσσι: 2nd sg. pres. > εἰμί, Attic εἶ (Monro 12).

217: ξείνισε: unaugmented 3rd sg. aor. > ξεινίζω. ἐνὶ: ἐν. ἐείκοσιν ἤματα: accusative duration of time. ἐρύξας: “keeping (him),” nom sg. aor. ptc.

218: οἳ δὲ καὶ: “these also,” καὶ is an adverb. πόρον: unaugmented 3rd pl. aor. > *πόρω.

219: δίδου: = (ἐ)δίδο-ε, 3rd sg. impf. > δίδωμι. φοίνικι: “with crimson,” specifying dat. with φαεινόν (Goodell 527.b).

221: μιν: “it,” = αὐτό, i.e. the cup. ἰὼν: “when I went away” (to the war), nom. sg. ptc. > εἶμι (Goodell 385).

222: Τυδέα: acc. sg. > Τυδεύς (Goodell 136). μέμνημαι: “I remember,” pf. mid. > μιμνήσκω, with present sense. ἐόντα: = ὄντα, acc. sg. ptc. > εἰμί.

223: κάλλιφ᾽: = κατέλιπε, aor. act. > καταλείπω, elision with aspiration before ὅτ’. Θήβῃσιν: Thebes, written alternatively in Greek with the sg. and pl., was a major city in Boeotia. Diomedes here refers to the Seven against Thebes, a war between the sons of Oedipus over the rule of Thebes, in which Diomedes’ father Tydeus is one of the titular seven who marches from Argos in support of Polynices. ἀπώλετο: aor. mid. > ἀπόλλυμι.

224: τὼ: “therefore.”  Ἄργεϊ μέσσῳ: locative dat., without preposition (Monro 145).

225: σὺ δ᾽: “you (are a guest friend to me),” ellipsis. ὅτε κεν … ἵκωμαι: “whenever I come,” aor. subj. > ἱκνέομαι, subjunctive + κεν/ἄν in a general temporal clause of indefinite frequency (kindred with a present general condition) (Goodell 627). τῶν: “their,” “of those,” i.e. the Lycians’.

226: ἀλεώμεθα: “let us…,” 1st pl. pres. hortatory subj. δι᾽:  διὰ.

227-9: πολλοὶ μὲν ἐμοὶ … πολλοὶ δ᾽ σοὶ: “(there are) many Trojans and famous allies for me to kill … and (there are) many for you,” understand εἰσίν.

228-9: κτείνειν … ἐναιρέμεν: infinitives of purpose dependent on datives ἐμοὶ and σοὶ (Goodell 565.a).

228: ὅν κε … πόρῃ … κιχείω: “whomever…,” κε + subjunctive in a general relative clause (Goodell 616.a). πόρῃ … κιχείω: 3rd sg. aor. subj. > *πόρω and 1st sg. aor. subj. > κιχάνω.

229: ὅν κε: “whomever…,” (see 6.228 above). δύνηαι: = δύνη(σ)αι, 2nd sg. pres. mid. subj.; repeat ἐναιρέμεν as complementary inf.

230 ἐπαμείψομεν: “let us exchange,” + dat. of person, 1st pl. aor. hortatory subjunctive, Attic ἐπαμείψωμεν, here with the short thematic vowel (Monro 80). ὄφρα καὶ οἵδε: “so that these men also…,” “to the end that…,” ὄφρα + subj. without κεν/ἄν in pure purpose clause (Monro 287.1.b).

231: γνῶσιν: 3rd pl. aor. subj. > γιγνῶσκω.