οἳ δ’ ἄρα Περκώτην, κ. τ. λ.
And then begins the enumeration of the Allies, each under their
respective national names.
It seems evident, that these five first-named contingents comprise the
whole of the subjects of the race of Dardanus. First come the Trojans
of the capital and its district, under Hector. Then, taking precedence
on account of dignity, the Dardanian division of Æneas. In the third
contingent the Poet returns to the name Troes, which, I think, plainly
enough overrides the fourth and fifth, just as in the Greek Catalogue
the name Pelasgic Argos[486] introduces and comprehends a number of
contingents that follow, besides that of Achilles.
[486] ii. 681.
There are several reasons, which tend plainly to this conclusion.
The sense of διέκριθεν (815) and the reference to the diversity of
tongues spoken (804) almost require the division of the force between
Troes and allies; it is also the most natural division. The fourth
and fifth contingents are not indeed expressly called Troes, but this
name, already given to the third, may include them. We must, I think,
conclude that it does so, when we find clear proof that they were
not independent national divisions: for the troops of Percote were
in the fifth, but the sons of Percosian Merops command the fourth, a
fact inexplicable if these were the forces of independent States, but
natural enough if they were all under the supremacy of Priam and his
house.
In the great battle of the Twelfth Iliad, the Trojans are πένταχα
κοσμηθέντες (xii. 87). Sarpedon commands the allies with Glaucus
and Asteropæus (v. 101), thus accounting for eleven of the sixteen
divisions in the Catalogue. Æneas, with two sons of Antenor, commands
the Dardanians, thus disposing of a twelfth. Again, Hector, with
Polydamas and Cebriones, commands the πλεῖστοι καὶ ἄριστοι, evidently
the division standing first in the Catalogue. This makes the number
thirteen. The three remaining contingents of the Catalogue are