[479] εἴποι, not “εἴπηισι”, is doubtless the right reading, as Dawes pointed out, for several reasons. (1) Schol. A (Nikanor) on the line runs “τὸ ἑξῆς, ‘καί ποτέ τις εἴποι ἐκ πολέμου ἀνιόντα”’: therefore “εἴποι” must have been the reading of Ar. The same words are quoted in Schol. A on 13.352. (2) Out of 120 passages where “πατρός” occurs in H. the “α” is nowhere else short. (3) The confident prediction expressed by the subj. (cf. 459) is quite out of place among the optatives of the prayer. The mistake no doubt arose from a reminiscence of 459. γ᾽ ὅδε, the reading of Ar., is also clearly superior to “δ᾽ ὅγε”.
