lemmatizing: ἔλπομαι εὐχόμενος vs. εὔχομαι ἐλπόμενος
Aristarchus debated with Zenodotus of Ephesus (the debate is indicated by way of the sign ⸖ in front of the verse), who attested the variant ἔλπομαι εὐχόμενος. (On the readings of Zenodotus as opposed by Aristarchus, see under Zenodotus and under Aristarchus in the inventory of Words and Ideas.) Aristarchus preferred the variant εὔχομαι ἐλπόμενος, which has been transmitted in the medieval manuscript tradition. As Muellner 1976:58-62 shows, both variants can be justified on the basis of analyzing the formulaic system of Homeric diction.