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[466] εἰλίποδας must mean volventes pedes, i.e. expressing the fact that ‘each foot as it is set forward describes a segment of a circle, a movement made necessary by its being so slightly lifted. “εἰλίποδες” as an epithet of oxen thus forms a graphic contrast to the word “ἀερσίποδες” applied to horses’ (M. and R. on Od. 1.92). ἕλικας was generally taken by the ancients to mean ‘black’ (see 1.98). Ameis would refer it to root “σελ-”, ‘shining, sleek’ (see note ibid.), which is not improbable. The most usual explanation is that which must have been accepted by the author of the Hymn. Merc. (192) — not a bad authority in such a matter — “βοῦς .. κεράεσσιν ἑλικτάς”, i.e. with ‘crumpled,’ twisted horns. This best suits the sense of the root “ϝελικ-”, but the omission of any explicit mention of horns is as strange as if we should speak of a ‘crumpled cow.’

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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