Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 3 of 3 / I. Agorè: Polities of the Homeric Age. II. Ilios: Trojans and Greeks Compared. III. Thalassa: The Outer Geography. IV. Aoidos: Some Points of the Poetry of Homer.

by W. E. Gladstone

f. Garments, as Il. viii. 221; Od. iv. 115.

g. Carpets, as Od. xxi. 151; Il. xxiv. 645.

h. The rainbow, Il. xvii. 547.

i. Metaphorically it is applied to Death, Il. v. 83: and, as it would appear, to bloody death only.

Further, the verb πορφύρω is applied

a. to the sea darkening, Il. xiv. 16.
b. to the mind brooding, Il. xx. 551.

Again, the compound ἁλιπόρφυρος is applied

a. to wool, Od. vi. 53.
b. to garments woven of it, Od. xiii. 108.

In this epithet we have the additional idea of the sea introduced; and it literally means ‘sea-purple.’ But I postpone any remark with respect to Homer’s particular intention in the use of the word, until we come to the epithets derived from ἴον, a violet.

Three forms of colour at least seem to be comprehended under this group of words;