351-352. mvp-comment-142-1 10.351–352 ἀλλ’ ὅτε δή ῥ’ ἀπέην ὅσσόν τ’ ἐπί οὖρα πέλονται / ἡμιόνων The distance of the mule’s plow range seems to take us out of the realm of war and into a farming setting, but when we look at other instances in Homeric epic of this description of distance, it takes us rather into the world of athletics. During the funeral games for Patroklos, this same word οὖρα is used for the distance of a discus throw of a young man, and it serves as a point of comparison for the distance during which Antilokhos’ horses were even with those of Menelaos ( Iliad 23.431–433). And in the games on Phaeacia in the Odyssey, it is used to describe by how much Klytoneos won the footrace ( Odyssey 8.123–125). Since we find many similarities of language between this section of Iliad 10 and Iliad 22 (see below on 10.363–368), we might also compare from that episode how Achilles’ chase of Hektor is compared to both a footrace and a chariot race at a hero’s funeral games, but with Hektor’s life as a prize ( Iliad 22.157–166). Here, too, begins a “footrace” that will end in Dolon’s death.

352-353. mvp-comment-143-1 10.352–353 According to the Townley scholia, Aristarchus understood this elaboration on the length of the furrow as redefining the length meant here. It is not the length of a standard furrow, but rather the difference in distance between that which a team of mules would plough and that which a team of oxen would—according to Aristarchus, mules are faster (presumably that is how we should understand προφερέστεραι). The fact that no reference to oxen appears in the comparison to the mules’ furrow at Odyssey 8.123–125 may suggest that here it is indeed a difference in length. As we try to understand the comparison and envision what this distance represents, we should also consider the poetics of night missions: Odysseus’ strategy is to let Dolon pass them by so that they can run up behind him and prevent his escape, but they also cannot lose sight of him. That factor may speak in favor of the shorter distance that Aristarchus proposes. See also Scott 1974:20–24 on Homeric similes describing measurement in general.

354-356. mvp-comment-144-1 10.354–356 Odysseus’ plan also works to their advantage in another way—because they are now behind Dolon, that is, because they are coming at him from the same direction he has just come, he assumes they must be Trojans. The fact that he stops momentarily allows them to catch the swift-footed Dolon. Another of the sensory aspects of the night that is part of these poetics is the primacy of the sense of hearing. Yet, what one hears requires correct interpretation. In the next two lines, Dolon will realize that he has fatally misinterpreted what he heard as his sight contradicts his supposition.

357. mvp-comment-145-1 10.357 ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δή ῥ᾽ ἄπεσαν δουρηνεκὲς ἢ καὶ ἔλασσον As at 10.351, here distance is expressed through comparison. Scott observes that in the Homeric epics, “Similes of distance are the most numerous type of approximate measure” (Scott 1974:21). Since Diomedes will indeed throw his spear at Dolon (10.372–374), this comparison also seems to anticipate how far they remain apart during the chase. The distance of a spear cast is used to picture other distances, such as the length of the pathway by which Apollo bridges the Achaean ditch ( Iliad 15.358–360), the length of Achilles’ leap away from the river Xanthos as it pursues him ( Iliad 21.251), and how far the Trojans give way to the Achaean charge ( Iliad 16.589–592: there, the spear cast may be either in battle or in athletic games, compare 10.351–352 above).

360-363. mvp-comment-146-1 10.360–363 As Diomedes and Odysseus start to pursue Dolon, they are compared to hunting dogs chasing after prey. Scott (1974:72–73) has identified hunting as a traditional subject matter for Homeric similes. In several similes, dogs accompanying hunters may confront powerful animals such as lions or boars (e.g. Iliad 8.337–342, 11.292–295, 12.41–49). But other similes are closer to what we have here: dogs chasing after weaker, non-predatory animals such as fawns or hares. In two similes in the Iliad that have this structure, at Iliad 15.579–581 (Antilokhos pouncing on Melanippos) and Iliad 22.188–193 (Achilles pursuing Hektor), a fawn has been chased from its lair ( ἐξ εὐνῆφι, Iliad 15.580; ἐξ εὐνῆς, Iliad 22.190). We have seen above (10.5–9) how the adjective pukinos connects the ideas of an animal’s lair and ambush, and εὐνή means a ‘lair’ for a fawn, but a ‘bed’ for humans, further connecting the idea to night and sleeping. The animal in this simile has not explicitly been chased from its lair, but the association may be a traditional one for this kind of hunting simile, and it reverses the position of the ambusher and the ambushed, just as Dolon’s position of spy has now been reversed to the one being spied.

360-363. mvp-comment-146-2 We can also compare this simile to the one likening the watchmen to guard dogs at 10.180–189. Although both similes compare the men to dogs, we can see in the differences of detail how similes are attached to and elaborate themes in this oral tradition (see also 10.5–9 for our detailed discussion of Homeric similes). At 10.180–189 the theme is one of being on the defensive against a night attack. Here, the Achaeans are the ones on the attack, and so the simile shows dogs acting in a different manner. That dogs are featured as the vehicle in both instances shows the flexibility and multiformity of Homeric similes.

360. mvp-comment-147-1 10.360 καρχαρόδοντε δύω κύνε εἰδότε The dual forms that the text of the Venetus A manuscript records for the hunting dogs in this simile seem to emphasize the coordinated attack by the dogs and, by association, by Diomedes and Odysseus. We often see dual forms used for these two in this book (see also on 10.243), and we find dual forms used in another simile elsewhere when the Aiante are compared to two lions in the dual as they fight together ( Iliad 13.198–202). Some manuscripts, however, record the plural κύνες instead.

361. mvp-comment-148-1 10.361 ἢ κεμάδ᾽ ἠὲ λαγωὸν Providing alternative possibilities is a traditional feature of Homeric similes (Muellner 1990:62–64). κέμας is a hapax legomenon, but λαγωός appears in two other contexts, both related to this one in different ways. It appears in another simile, as Hektor swoops at Achilles like an eagle at a lamb or a hare ( Iliad 22.308–310, note here also the alternatives for the prey). We can compare also the hunting dog simile at Iliad 22.188–193 as Achilles pursues Hektor. As we will see further at 10.363–368, this scene shares language in common with Iliad 22; so also in these two similes, the object of the chase or attack in both places can be a hare. The other place we see a similar alternation of the object of a hunting dog’s pursuit is in a description of an actual hunt rather than a simile: Odysseus’ dog Argos is described as having hunted wild goats and deer and hares ( Odyssey 17.295) when he was younger.

363. mvp-comment-149-1 10.363 ὃ πτολίπορθος Ὀδυσσεὺς This epithet, “sacker of cities,” is one that Odysseus often receives in the Odyssey, but he also shares it with other heroes, like Achilles, and war gods, such as Ares and Enyo, within the tradition. Parry has shown that such epithets belong to the whole tradition and not any one line (MHV 137–138, 146, 171): that is, Odysseus is a sacker of cities within the whole tradition, not simply, or in this line, not yet at this particular point in the story. Similarly, Haft (1990) argues that this epithet, used frequently in the Odyssey, but only here and at Iliad 2.278 in the Iliad, implies that the audience would be familiar with Odysseus’ later exploits, especially his role in sacking Troy through the ambush strategy of the Wooden Horse, and thus would understand the epithet to mean the sacker of Troy in particular. In this last detail, she disagrees with Parry, who labels this epithet generic (MHV 146). Haft argues that the use of the definite article with the epithet makes its meaning more specific (see also above on 10.231). Haft also draws parallels and connections between the ambushes in Iliad 10 and the sack of Troy (Haft 1990:51–55).

363-368. mvp-comment-150-1 10.363–368 This “chase scene” has language in common with the scene in which Achilles chases the fleeing Hektor in Iliad 22. The same formula is used for the departure of the one who will be chased ( λαιψηρὰ δὲ γούνατ’ ἐνώμα, Iliad 10.358 and 22.144). The move Odysseus and Diomedes employ here to isolate Dolon and cut him off from the warriors ( λαοῦ ἀποτμήξαντε, 10.364) is like the move Andromache, who knows her military strategy, imagines that Achilles might use to cut Hektor off from the city and force him to the open plain ( δείδω μὴ δή μοι θρασὺν Ἕκτορα δῖος Ἀχιλλεὺς / μοῦνον ἀποτμήξας πόλιος πεδίον δὲ δίηται, Iliad 22.455–456). When Dolon is approaching the guards’ post, Athena puts menos into Diomedes so that he can capture Dolon before anyone else (10.365–368). Similarly, while Achilles is pursuing Hektor, he signals to the other Achaeans not to shoot at Hektor and win his radiant glory ( Iliad 22.205–207). In both cases the formula ὃ δὲ δεύτερος ἔλθῃ / ἔλθοι is used ( Iliad 10.368, 22.207). These similarities indicate two things about the language in this section of Iliad 10: one, that this scene is expressed with traditional language, and, two, that there is kudos ‘radiant glory’ for capturing or killing a spy, just as there is for being one (see above, 10.307). Using such language gives the competitiveness to be “first” in this case traditional associations with a hot, yet focused, pursuit of a significant individual enemy.

369. mvp-comment-151-1 10.369 δουρί This spear is the one Diomedes brings with him when he leaves his shelter at 10.178; it is not mentioned again in the arming scene at 10.255–295.

376. mvp-comment-152-1 10.376 χλωρὸς ὑπαὶ δείους As a color for objects, χλωρός is somewhere on the yellow–green spectrum: in Homeric epic it is used to describe honey ( Iliad 11.631; Odyssey 10.234) and also various kinds of plants or wood ( Odyssey 9.320, 9.379, 16.47). But in these epics it is most often associated with fear, as it is here. This color describes fear ( δέος) itself in several related formulas with the verb αἱρέω, all of which have as their basic meaning “green fear seized me/them/everyone” (see Iliad 7.479, 8.77, 17.67; Odyssey 11.43, 11.633, 12.243, 22.42, 24.450, 24.533). John Miles Foley (1999:216–217) identifies “green fear” as a traditional phrase, one which reveals “psychological states and tangible objects woven into the fabric of the narrative tradition that are singularly meaningful and recognizable to bard and audience alike.” He argues that a fear so described “is by traditional definition a superhuman, unconquerable force” (1999:217). According to Foley, then, this phrase is a single unit of utterance, with its own, irreducible meaning. At Iliad 15.4 we find a phrasing very similar to the one here, and it does show the supernatural element that Foley identifies: there Poseidon has turned the tide of the battle and the Trojans are pushed back across the Achaeans’ ditch. They are described as χλωροὶ ὑπαὶ δείους πεφοβημένοι (“green with fear after they were put to flight”). The ὑπαί in these phrases ( ὑπό also shows up at Iliad 8.77 and Odyssey 22.42 = 24.450) perhaps conveys the idea of this green color rising up to the skin’s surface. In ambush situations in particular, the paleness or changing color of a man’s skin is considered revealing. Idomeneus mentions that ambush especially exposes who is a coward and who is a brave man. The coward is exposed by his skin changing colors from his fear, as well as by an inability to sit still and a pounding heart. By contrast, the brave man’s skin does not change color, and he does not feel too much fear ( Iliad 13.276–286). Here, Dolon’s fear is explicit (10.374), and the chattering of his teeth and paleness are manifestations of it. The suitors are similarly described at the moment they realize that the stranger is Odysseus: τοὺς δ’ ἅρα πάντας ὑπὸ χλωρὸν δέος εἷλε ( Odyssey 22.42). Thus, in two cases, at least, green fear is also associated with men who realize at that moment that they have been ambushed.

378-381. mvp-comment-153-1 10.378–381 This offer of ransom for being taken alive rather than killed is another example of both the traditional language of Iliad 10 and the Doloneia’s place within the Iliadic tradition. Donna Wilson has demonstrated that, although there are references to ransoming practices that occur before the direct action of the Iliad, within that direct action the taking of prisoners does not happen, and all appeals to ransom are rejected (2002:29–34). As she notes, “The Iliad develops the compensation theme temporally in such a way that all offers of apoina mentioned as taking place before Chryses’ offer in Book 1 or after Priam’s in Book 24 are successful or potentially successful. But all offers of apoina in the time between Chryses’ and Priam’s offers fail” (Wilson 2002:31, original emphasis). Thus the refusal to ransom Dolon (and killing him instead) fits into the overall treatment of this theme in the Iliad. See Iliad 21.34–44 for the example of Lykaon as a prisoner taken alive during a nighttime ambush (which temporally happens before Chryses’ offer).

378-381. mvp-comment-153-2 The offer that Dolon makes uses the traditional, formulaic language of such offers of apoina in the Iliad. We see the same language of 10.379–381 used at Iliad 6.48–50, when Adrestos supplicates Menelaos to ransom him, and also at Iliad 11.133–135, when two brothers, Peisandros and Hippolokhos, supplicate Agamemnon (with the necessary changes of singular and dual/plural pronouns in each of the three situations). In all three cases, just as Wilson has observed, the plea is rejected and the supplicant is killed instead (Dolon will attempt a supplicatory gesture just before he is killed, see 10.454–456).

382. mvp-comment-154-1 10.382 πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς See above on 10.148 for this epithet of Odysseus.

384. mvp-comment-155-1 10.384 ἀλλ’ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον This same formula appears below at 10.405 and also at Iliad 24.380, when the disguised Hermes says it to Priam as he goes to the Achaean camp. See above on 10.1ff. for the ways in which Priam’s journey is thematically similar to a spying mission. Higbie (1995:86–87) identifies both of these passages as places where we might expect the first question to be a request for the addressee to identify himself by name, but this happens in neither case. (In fact, after Hermes asks Priam questions about what he is doing using this formula, Priam asks Hermes to identify himself, and Hermes tells a false story in reply.) In the Odyssey, the formula generally introduces a series of further questions ( Odyssey 1.169, 1.224, 8.572, 15.383; the exception is Odyssey 11.140, which has only one question that follows). See Finkelberg 1987 for her argument that the verb καταλέγω “connotes both an ordered succession and truth” (Finkelberg 1987:138) and that Homeric epic uses it to represent its own genre.

386. mvp-comment-156-1 10.386 νύκτα δι᾽ ὀρφναίην This is the reading of the Venetus A, as well as p46, but p425 has instead the phrase νύκτα δι᾽ ἀμβροσίην. See on 10.41 for the meanings of these two formulas. See the textual commentaries on p46 and p425 on this line for more information about the textual record.