1316.
mvp-comment-843-1
καιρόν] For this adverbial accusative, cp.
supr. 34 and note: Pind. Pyth. 1. 156,
καιρὸν εἰ φθέγξαιο.
1316-1317.
mvp-comment-844-1
(1) 'If you are come not to entangle, but to assist in adjusting this matter.' Or, (2) 'If not in time to begin the fray, at all events you are here to help in ending it.' The expression seems in either case to be proverbial. In support of (2) it may be said that the Chorus can have no doubt that the coming of Odysseus will help to compose strife. In this case (2) the verbs
ἴσθι, πάρει, without connecting particle, may be either viewed as an asyndeton, or
πάρει may be regarded as a resumption of
ἐληλυθώς, returning to the indicative mood. The interpretation turns upon the question, which is the more natural image, that of a knot (or complication), for which, cp. Ant. 40,
λύουσ᾽ ἂν ἢ 'φάπτουσα, or that of joining battle (
ξυνάπτειν τινὰς ἐς μάχην, νείκεα λύειν). 'Odysseus comes at the end of a fray.'
1319.
mvp-comment-845-1
τῷδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἀλκίμῳ νεκρῷ] The difference of Odysseus' spirit is at once seen in this tribute to the valour of his enemy. The part taken by him here is in accordance with his feeling in Od. 11. 548-51,
ὡς δὴ μὴ ὄφελον νικᾶν τοιῷδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἀέθλῳ· | τοίην γὰρ κεφαλὴν ἕνεκ᾿ αὐτῶν γαῖα κατέσχεν, | Αἴανθ', ὃς πέρι μὲν εἶδος, πέρι δ᾽ ἔργα τέτυκτο | τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν, μετ᾿ ἀμύμονα Πηλείωνα.
