γὰρ, prefatory.
ὧν, for “οὒς”, by attract. to the subsequent θεσμῶν: cp. Dem. or. 20 § 87 “ὧν ἔργῳ πεποίηκεν ἕκαστος..., τούτων ἐκ λόγου κρίσις γίγνεται.”
ὁ θὴρ Κένταυρος, as in 1162: “θήρ” may here be rendered by an adj., but is strictly a subst., the general term in apposition with the special.
πονῶν πλευρὰν: Hense quotes Ennius Ann.601tum laterali' dolor, certissimu' nuntiu' mortis.
πικρᾷ, cp. Ai.1024“πικροῦ” | ...“κνώδοντος”: Il.5. 278“πικρὸς ὀϊστός.—γλωχῖνι”. This sense of “γλωχίν” (which means ‘the end of a strap’ in Il.24. 274) does not occur elsewhere in poetry of the classical age, but is attested by Il.5. 393“ὀϊστῷ τριγλώχινι” (cp. 11. 507), a three-barbed arrow: which shows that the schol. here is right in identifying “γλωχίν” with the Homeric “ὄγκος” (uncus), ‘barb’ of an arrow ( Il.4. 151).
προὐδιδάξατο, ‘had taught me beforehand’: distinguish the other sense of this compound, ‘to teach gradually’ ( Ai.163, Ph.1015). The midd. voice here suits the fact of the Centaur's hidden design. In Plut. 687, “ὁ γὰρ ἱερεὺς αὐτοῦ με προὐδιδάξατο”, the verb might be causal (‘had me instructed beforehand’). Sometimes, however, the midd. “διδάσκομαι” hardly differs from “διδάσκω”, unless by emphasising the te cher's effort (cp. Pind. O.8. 59: Nub. 783).
