μάστιξεν δ᾽ ἵππους
In the intermarginal scholia in Venetus A, it is noted that “in others, ‘Odysseus whipped’” (ἐν ἄλλῳ “μάστιξεν δ’ Ὀδυσσεύς”), making it clear that Odysseus is the one driving or controlling the horses. Indeed, forty-three manuscripts, according to Allen, have the variation that the A scholia record, showing the flexibility of leaving either the subject or the object of this verb understood. Of the forty-three manuscripts Allen lists as having this variation, only eight also omit line 531 (see below), perhaps indicating different channels of transmission for these two variations.