Athens, he introduced some verses into the larger Iliad[1] in its praise, where he speaks of that city in the most flattering manner. It occurs in the Catalogue of the Ships:[2]
"The city of generous Erechtheus, which the fruitful Earth produced, and Athenê, daughter of Zeus, fostered."[3]
He then highly extols Menestheus. He excels, says he, in arranging the chariots and infantry in order of battle. Here are the lines:
"The son of Peteus, Menestheus, led these troops. Of all the mortals fed by Earth, none equalled this chief in the art of ordering the chariots and forces for battle."[4]
He placed Aias, son of Telamon, near the Athenians; he commanded the Salaminians. That is in the following verses:
"Aias, son of Telamon, conducted twelve long ships[5] from Salamis, and placed them beside the Athenian squadron."[6]
Lastly, in the Odyssey, he feigns that Athenê, after an interview with Odysseus, goes to Athens, the town she honoured above all others:
- ↑ Viz. the Iliad, which is thus distinguished from the Lesser Iliad.
- ↑ The ancients distinguished the different parts of the Iliad by various titles, a practice which gave rise to the theory of Lachman. Aristotle (Poetic. xvi. § 3) speaks of the "washing of Odysseus," and "the Tale of Alcinous" (in § 5). Peisistratus put a period to these distinctions at his revision of the text.
- ↑ Il. ii. 547. The compliment is intended to the autochthoneïty of the Athenians. Pindar, the old poem called the Danais (Harpokr. s. Αὐτοχθων), Euripides (Ion. 21), and Apollodorus (iii. 14, 6; 15, 1), name Ericthonius, son of Hephæstos and Gaia, as being the person brought up by Athenê. Conf. Plato (Timæus, § 6). But the Scholiast (Ιλ. ii. 546) treats them as the same person under two names, a view now generally accepted. Conf. also Etymologicon Magn. Ἐρεχθεύς, Plato (Critias, § 4), Ovid (Metam. ii. 759), and Grote, vol. i. pp. 271, 278, 279.
- ↑ Il. ii. 552.
- ↑ The long ships were vessels of war; the round ships, merchantmen and transports. See Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities.
- ↑ Il. ii. 577. The reputed interpolation of Solon.
