χώρους , like loca , vaguely, "region" (so 798): but sing. χῶρος below ( 16 , 37 , 54 ), of a definite spot. Oed. already knows that they are near Athens ( 25 ), but it is time that the day's journey was ended ( 20 ); will this rural region—or town—supply their needs if they halt? The exordium has something of a Homeric tone,—due not merely to the form of the question (like that of Odysseus on awakening in Phaeacia, 6.119, and in Ithaca, 13.200 τέων αὖτε βροτῶν εἰς γαῖαν ἱκάνω; ), but also to the epic phrase ἀνδρῶν πόλιν ( 17.737etc.).