P. 147.—“By this sacred scepter.” As the oath was a renunciation of service to Agamemnon, the general-in-chief, Achilles very naturally swears by his scepter, which was the emblem of regal power.
P. 148.—“Centaurs.” A race said to have lived on Mt. Pelion, in Thessaly. They were represented as half horses and half men, perhaps from the fact that hunting on horseback was a national custom. From this very easily the fable might have arisen, just as the Americans, when they first saw a Spaniard on horseback, thought horse and man to be one being.
P. 150.—“Ambrosial.” Divine, immortal.
“Here,” heˈre or heˈra. Juno.
P. 160.—“Achaians.” One of the chief Greek races. As they were the ruling nation in the heroic times, Homer frequently calls the collective Greeks by their name.
“Danaäns.” Another name applied to the Greeks. It was derived from Danaus, one of the earliest settlers in Greece.
P. 161.—“Neologism,” ne-ŏlˈo-gism. The introduction of new words.
P. 164.—“Tydides,” ty-dīˈdes. Son of Tydeus, Diomed.
P. 165.—“Son of Capaneus.” Sthenelus, commander of the Greeks under Diomed, and one of those who afterward were concealed in the wooden horse.
“Well-greaved.” Greaves were armor for the legs, a sort of heavy boots.