[52] As Nikanor points out, this line may be punctuated in two ways: (a) as in the text; (b) with the comma after “τεθνᾶσι” instead of “δόμοισιν”. The latter has the advantage of giving a better antithesis to “μινυνθαδιώτερον”, ‘we shall indeed carry our grief to the grave (cf. the same idea in 389), but the people will the sooner be consoled.’ On the other hand the line occurs four times in the Od. (Od. 4.834, Od. 15.350, Od. 20.208, Od. 24.264), and there we must always take the two halves together, supplying “εἰσίν” (“ἐστίν”). This consideration is decisive, unless we are prepared to suppose that the poets of the Odyssey borrowed the line without noticing or understanding how it was to be taken. This is not absolutely impossible, as there are a good many cases where lines are taken from earlier portions with a slight change of connexion; but it is certainly not necessary.
