Kitap 11
84
And as for the lines— A massy weight, yet heav'd with ease by him, Though all too great for men of smaller limb; we are not to understand this as referring only to Machaon and Nestor, as some people think, who refer ὃς to Machaon, taking it as if it were ὁ, and say, Ἀλλ’ ὃς μὲν μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τρατέζης,— thinking that heaved with ease by him is said of Machaon, as he was the person for whom the cup has been mixed as he had been wounded; but we shall show hereafter that Machaon is never represented in Homer as wounded. But these men do not perceive, that when Homer says ἄλλος, he is not speaking of Machaon and Nestor alone (for these two are drinking of the cup), for in that case he would have said ἕτερος. For ἕτερος is the proper word for the other of two, as in this line— οἴσετε δ’ ἄρν’ ἕτερον λευκὸν, ἑτέρην δὲ μέλαιναν,— And bring two lambs, one male, with snow-white fleece, The other black, who shall the breed increase. Besides, Homer never uses ὃς for the demonstrative pronoun ὁ; but, on the contrary, he sometimes uses the demonatrative ὃ for the relative ὃς, as in the line— ἒνθα δὲ σὶσυφος ἒσκεν ὃ κέρδιστος γὲνετʼ ἀνδρῶν,— There Sisyphus, who of all men that lived Was the most crafty, held his safe abode. "But still, in this line, τις is wanting, for the sentence, when complete, should run— ᾶλλος μέν τις μογέων ἀποκινήσασκε τραπέζης πλεῖον ἐὸν, νέστωρ δ’ ὁ γέρων ἀμογητὶ ἄειρεν· so that the meaning would be, that there is no man who could lift the cup up from the table without an effort, but that Nestor raised it easily, without any labour or distress. For the cup is described as having been large in size, and very heavy in weight; which however Nestor, being very fond of drinking, was easily able to lift, from his constant practice.
