§ 4 — W. Leaf's introduction to Homer's Iliad 1 1

We will first take (a), the episode of the restoration of Chryseis. The vague reference of ἐκ τοῖο, though not indefensible (as the preceding lines naturally lead the thought back to the point to which ἐκ τοῖο belongs, cf. 488 with 422), is certainly not what we should expect. Further, the whole episode can be cut out without being missed — we have only to make 490 follow 429 immediately — and is of no importance to the story. A large portion consists of lines which are found in other parts of the Homeric poems; and of these one at least, 463, seems to be more at home in the third book of the Odyssey than here, while 469-70 are not in harmony with well-marked Homeric custom. According to the usual Greek ritual, the purifications of 312-17 should not precede but follow the removal of the plague by Apollo. There is therefore very strong ground for holding that Lachmann is right in saying that ‘continuation (a)’ is not an integral part of the original lay; but if the two are once separated, we can no longer admit the possibility that they are by the same author; the continuation must, from the evidence of borrowing, be of a very much later date. But it is most skilfully introduced into a pause in a main action, and offers a pleasing contrast, with its peace and feasting, to the stormy scenes with which the book opens and continues.