ἄρ(α)
Egbert Bakker’s work on this particle, as on many other aspects of Homeric diction, illuminates both what it means and how it is used in performance. Bakker explains that ἄρα is a marker “of visual evidence in the here and now of the speaker” and, more precisely, “the interpretation of such evidence” (Bakker 2005:97). Visual evidence had not yet been present during Nestor’s speech; he instead only heard the hoofbeats and tried to interpret them—as we have seen, in the poetics of night action, hearing precedes seeing. Although this ἄρα is not in a direct speech of a character, the action happens during Nestor’s speech: “He had not yet spoken every word when, look! they came.” ἄρ(α) marks the point at which Diomedes and Odysseus become visible, and thus their success in returning to the camp is confirmed. The particle happens to be omitted in three manuscripts, according to Allen’s edition, including the Townley.