Page 417 - the-odyssey

interest in anything that may concern a woman, which is
so noticeable throughout the poem. There is no further
sign of any special festivities nor of any other guests than
Telemachus and Pisistratus, until lines 621-624 (ordinari-
ly enclosed in brackets) are abruptly introduced, probably
with a view of trying to carry off the introduction of the
lines now in question.
The addition was, I imagine, suggested by a desire to ex-
cuse and explain the non-appearance of Hermione in bk.
xv., as also of both Hermione and Megapenthes in the rest
of bk. iv. Megapenthes in bk. xv. seems to be still a bachelor:
the presumption therefore is that bk. xv. was written be-
fore the story of his marriage here given. I take it he is only
married here because his sister is being married. She hav-
ing been properly attended to, Megapenthes might as well
be married at the same time. Hermione could not now be
less than thirty.
I have dealt with this passage somewhat more fully in
my ‘Authoress of the Odyssey’, p.136-138. See also p. 256 of
the same book.
{37} Sparta and Lacedaemon are here treated as two dif-
ferent places, though in other parts of the poem it is clear
that the writer understands them as one. The catalogue in
the ‘Iliad,’ which the writer is here presumably following,
makes the same mistake (“Il.’ ii. 581,582)
{38} These last three lines are identical with ‘Il.’ vxiii.
604-606.
{39} From the Greek [Greek] it is plain that Menelaus
took up the piece of meat with his fingers.

1 The Odyssey