[594] 594-95 “ἀθετοῦνται, ὅτι οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἕνεκα δώρων λέγει ἀπολελυκέναι τὸν νεκρόν. ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ Διὸς ἠναγκάσθη, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἂν τὴν ὑπὲρ Πατρόκλου τιμωρίαν δώρων ἠλλάξατο”, These arguments are quite insufficient. Though Achilles obeys the command of Zeus, yet that command itself is conditional upon the bringing of the ransom (119, 137-39); and it is only the receiving of the ransom which enables Achilles to plead that the surrender of the body is not dishonourable. In our ignorance of the Greek rites it is not easy to say how Patroklos was to be given his share of the ransom; but the words of Andromache (22.512) suggest that a portion of the clothing would be burnt in his honour. Similarly in Od. 11.3031 Odysseus promises the shades “ἐλθὼν εἰς Ἰθάκην στεῖραν βοῦν, ἥ τις ἀρίστη, ῥέξειν ἐν μεγάροισι, πυρήν τ᾽ ἐμπλησέμεν ἐσθλῶν”. Some of the costly things would probably be reserved to be buried with his ashes, when taken back to Greece. The custom of bringing gifts to the graves of the dead was as widely spread in Greece as elsewhere, and the Mykenaean tombs shew abundant evidence of the practice. See App. L, § 8. καὶ τῶνδε, in addition to those already burnt on the pyre.
