1051–1200
προσμαχθέν] Supr. 767-9. ἐκ.. βέβρωκε] Tmesis. ἐσχάτας] i.e. 'Even to the bone.'
πνεύμονος.. ξυνοίκουν] 'Lodging in the lung it drains the passages;' i.e. It has penetrated the lung and is shrivelling up the vessels there. ξυνοίκουν, sc. τῷ πνεύμονι.
Hath already sucked away my fresh life-blood.' For χλωρόν, see above, note on l. 849.
ἄφραστος is, ‘Baffling the mind,' and is here applied to that which cannot be overcome because it cannot be discerned, - Inscrutable.'
λόγχη πεδιάς] 'The array of spearmen on the plain. λόγχη is used collectively, like ἡ ἵππος, etc. Whether Heracles is thinking of the battle with the Minyans, or of some other exploit, we cannot determine.
θήρειος βία is probably, The violence of the Centaurs,' cp. infr. 1095, 6, and not generally, of wild beasts.'
Ἑλλάς] Sc. γαῖα. The word is strictly adjectival here. Some have supplied ἀνήρ οι βία, supposing that ἄγλωσσος could not be an epithet of a country. But why not ἄγλωσσος γαῖα as well as βάρβαρον αἷαν, Εl. 95? ἄγλωσσος] Without speech,' = 'A Without intelligible speech, just as ἀγέννητος = δυσγενής, supr. 61 : ἄδημος = ἀπόδημος, Fr. 577. Pindar (Isthm. 6 (5). 24) uses παλίγγλωσσος in this sense.
θήλυς οὖσα κοὐκ ἀνδρὸς φύσιν] 'A woman, and not of manly mould.' θήλυς for θήλεια occurs several times in Greek poetry, e.g. Eur. Нес. 659, θῆλυν σποράν. The construction of the remaining words is difficult: but ἀνδρός may be (1) a genitive of derivation, in accordance with the ancient notion that the female element came from the mother and the male from the father, - ‘Being female and not derived from the male in her birth; or (2) a genitive of quality = ἀνδρώδης. For φύσιν, Αj. 760, ἀνθρώπου φύσιν βλαστών, which has suggested several emendations of this line, e. g. θῆλυν σχοῦσα κοὐκ ἀνδρὸς φύσιν (Reiske), etc.
γενοῦ .. γεγώς] Cp. infr. 1157, ἐξήκεις δ' ἵνα | φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ. The tautology γενοῦ . γεγώς adds a pathetic emphasis.
Cp. El. 366, 7, καλοῦ | τῆς μητρός, and note. We are to imagine the effect of this on Hyllus, who has just been bewailing his mother's death.
ἤ is probably not 'than,' but 'or.' 'If my form tormented or hers afflicted with righteous evil be a sight that causes you more pain.'
οἴκτειρόν τε με] The two imperatives are connected by τε, because Heracles regards obedience to his request as inseparable from pity for his state.
πολλοῖσιν οἰκτρόν] i. e. 'Whom many (and not my son only) may be expected to pity.' Cp. Eur. Med. 509, πολλαῖς μακαρίαν.
ἑσπόμην κακοῖς] I turned not aside from trouble.' The imperfect εἱπόμην might rather have been looked for here, but the aorist, summing up the past, is not wrong. Blaydes and Meineke propose εἰχόμην, the former on the ground that evils do not require to be followed after. But (α) ἔπεσθαι is not necessarily to follow after, but also to 'accompany' (see L. and S. s. v. ἕπω, B. 1. 4.): (β) I went where trouble led me' is a fair description of the life of Heracles, whose course was one of unremitting toil. Cp. Eur. Alc. 499, 500, ΗΡ. καὶ τόνδε τοὐμοῦ δαίμονος πόνον λέγεις, | σκληρὸς γὰρ ἀεὶ καὶ πρὸς αἶπος ἔρχεται. Cp. also the Epic phrase πότμον ἐπισπεῖν.
ἐκτοιούτου] (1) In consequence of such a thing;' i.e. From an unseen, subtle, woman-inflicted evil (ll. 1050-2, 1057, 1062, 3, 1104). Or (2), 'After being such, i.e. After having bravely endured so much.
foll. Heracles first draws Hyllus nearer to show him what ravage the venom had made: then, by a sudden impulse, displays the torn and writhing frame to all. Afterwards, the pain again overcomes him, and this is marked by the broken rhythm (1081 dochmiac, 1085, 6, anapaestic dimeter brachycatalectic). Then looking again at his shrivelled members, he recalls once more their prowess in past days, contrasting it with the feebleness of the present. Last comes one more outburst of futile rage against Deianira.
ἐκ καλυμμάτων] Forth of coverings,' i.e. unveiled. For the emphatic use of the preposition, cp. ἀπὸ in ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος, Ο. C. 900, and similar expressions.
ἔθαλψεν] Hermann conjectures ἔθαλψέ μ'; but με is easily supplied. ἄτης σπασμός.. ὅδε] 'This cruel fatal spasm.' ἄτης is an attributive genitive like Ἐρινύων in supr. 1051. For the order, cp. Phil. 1050, 1.
οὐδ᾽ ἀγύμναστόν μ' ἐἂν] For the present tense, cp. Ant. 625, πράσσει δ᾽ ὀλιγοστὸν χρόνον ἐκτὸς ἄτας.
ἐκεῖνοι .. καθέσταθ΄] ‘Are the same.' However changed they appear, these achievements remain theirs. This is implied in the use of καθεστάναι for the substantive verb.
κἀπροσήγορον] 'And not affable.' For the irony implied in this epithet, cp. Job 41. 3, 5, Will he make many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft words unto thee?.. Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?'
κατειργάσασθε] Cp. Hdt. 1. 24, ἑαυτὸν κατεργάσασθαι.
ἄμικτον] 'Unsociable,' not mingling in friendship with mankind. ἱπποβάμονα] · Tramping with horses' feet.'
θηρῶν] 'Of the Centaurs,' as elsewhere in this play. But in the next line θῆρα is used in the more general sense of Wild beast.' *ὑπέροχον] The MSS. give the Epic form ὑπείροχον, which is unmetrical here.
σκύλακα] The word conveys a touch of contempt for Heracles' old enemy, Cerberus.
δεινῆς Ἐχίδνης θρέμμα] Nurse-ling of dire Echidna.' Cp. Hes. Theog. 310, where Cerberus is so designated.
ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτοις τόποις] 'In the farthest region. The vagueness of the expression, without γῆς or χθονός, is intentional.
τῶν ἐμῶν χερῶν] Genitive of the object: i. e. of that over which the triumph is celebrated.
κατερρακωμένος] 'Reduced to shreds,' the poison having devoured the substance of his frame. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1023, σώματος μέγα ῥάκος,-said of Prometheus torn by the vulture.
τυφλῆς] ‘Blind,' i. e. 'Eluding sight.' Cp. supr. 1057, ἀφράστῳ. ἐκπεπόρθημαι] I am utterly destroyed.' Cp. Aj. 896, διαπεπόρθημαι,
ὠνομασμένος] Alcmena's name was often introduced in speaking of Heracles. Cp. supr. 19, 644: Aj. 130 ᾿Αλκμήνης γόνος: Aesch. Ag. 1040, παῖδα . . ᾿Αλκμήνης.
ὁ.. αὐδηθείς] ‘Who was named aloud.' Cp. Phil. 240, 1, αὐδῶμαι δὲ παῖς ᾿Αχιλλέως, Νεοπτόλεμος. There seems to have been a v. r. αὐθαδής, a curious instance of the mixture of mechanical and mental error which has given rise to some corruptions.
κἂν τὸ μηδὲν ὦ | κἂν μηδὲν έρπω] 'Though I be nothingness and have no power to move.' The second μηδέν is adverbial = Not at all.'
προσμόλοι μόνον] · Might she but come near,'-expressing a wish, not now a command. Cp. Ant. 310-2, and note: O. T. 624.
καὶ θανών] ‘And when already dead,' as he was in effect even now.
εἰ σφαλήσεται] Observe the change from the vocative to the 3rd person. The word implies not merely losing him, but being disappointed of her hopes in him.
παρέσχες] 'You give me the opportunity:' παρέχω in this sense is more commonly impersonal. The same verb is repeated, with a slightly different meaning, in the next line.
Ср. О. С. 1106, αἰτεῖς ἃ τεύξει.
μὴ τοσοῦτον .. δύσοργος] i. e. ὡς μὴ τοσοῦτον δάκνῃ θυμῷ δύσοργος, That you be not so exceedingly vexed with rage, being grievously distempered.' θυμῷ is to be joined both with δάκνῃ and with δύσοργος. For the postponement of ὡς, cp. Αj. 589, 90, ἐγὼ θεοῖς | ὡς οὐδὲν ἀρκεῖν εἴμ᾽ ὀφειλέτης ἔτι. μή adheres closely to τοσοῦτον. Others, reading δάκνει, suppose an alternation of clauses = μὴ τοσοῦτον δύσοργος, ὡς δάκνει θυμῷ, “In a less wrathful mood, than now you are devoured with in your soul.'
Else you will not know in what you would fain rejoice, and wherein you are indignant without cause.
ὡς ἐγὼ νοσῶν] 'Since I in my distraction.'
Heracles' impatience is roused by Hyllus' vague antithetical expression (1117-9), which he treats as a riddle. Then Hyllus speaks more plainly.
τῆς μητρός] About my mother. For this genitive, ср. О. Т. 701, Κρέοντος, and note.
οἷς θ᾽ ἥμαρτεν] ‘And wherein she erred unwittingly.' Cp. Phil. 1011, 2, ἀλγεινῶς φέρων | οἷς τ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐξή- μαρτεν, οἷς τ᾽ ἐγὼ ᾿παθον.
καὶ παρεμνήσω γάρ] · What? Hast thou even made passing mention?' γάρ gives the reason of ὦ παγκάκιστε. παραμιμνήσκομαι, like several other rare words, is common to Sophocles and Herodotus. See Essay on L. p. 88, note 1.
τῆς πατροφόντου μητρός] Of the mother that is thy father's murderer.' For the masculine form, cp. O. Τ. 80, 1, τύχῃ . . σωτῆρι.
ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως] (1) 'For her state is such,' or (2), sc. περὶ αὐτῆς, 'For the case stands so with her.' ὥστε μὴ σιγᾶν πρέπειν] That silence is not well,'-because it leaves her beneath an unjust imputation after she is dead.
οὐδῆτα τοῖς γε πρόσθεν ἡμαρτημένοις] (1) 'Certainly there is no cause for silence on account of her former errors;' i.e. No blame requiring silence attached to her until to-day. Or (2) 'No, her fault should be blazoned.' Or (3) Not so, for her crimes demand silence. But (2) and (3) assign no meaning to πρόσθεν. For the sending of the robe was not a former error, but the latest act of Deianira so far as Heracles knew, unless πρόσθεν may be taken to mean, 'Before this revelation which you are about to make.' The reminiscence of Deianira's blameless life, occurring when Heracles in his wrath against her is about to listen to Hyllus, is not the only modern touch' in the Trachiniae. Cp. supr. 1050, δολώπις, and note.
ἐρεῖς] Sc. ὅταν μάθῃς. (1) Neither does her fault to-day require silence, as you will presently confess. 'Sed et hodie dices ne ob haec quidem tacendum esse.' Musgr. Or (2), Her fault of to-day, too, (her suicide) must be spoken of.' Or (3) (γε μ. δ.?), But you will not say so when you have heard what has happened to-day.'
εὐλαβοῦ γεγώς] ‘Take heed you do not prove yourself base;' viz. By preferring your mother to your father. Supr. 1064, 5.
The comparison of Aj. 898, 9. Αἴας ὅδ᾽ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς | κεῖται, shows that ἀρτίως is to be taken closely with νεοσφαγής. She is dead, slain even but now with recent stroke.'
διὰ κακῶν is explained by the Scholiast διὰ δυσφήμων, In ill-omened words,' and by Schndw. as equal to διὰ ψευδῶν, 'Falsely.' But there is no point in Heracles' saying either δυσφημείς, when the news is what he wishes to hear, or ψεύδει, when he is asking for further information. May not διά be taken as in διὰ πάντων = Amidst and rising above,' the evils' being the pain of Heracles? Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 494 D, ἆρ᾽ εὐπετὲς οἴει εἶναι εἰσακοῦσαι διὰ τοσούτων κακῶν; «Your miraculous words are a portent amidst my woes.' The mind of Heracles is struck by the sudden news: 'You have told me, in mysterious words, piercing through my woes, a strange thing.'
ἐκτόπου] 'From without;' i.e. Other than herself. Cp. supr. 730, οἴκοι: 1021, οὔτ᾽ ἔνδοθεν οὔτε θύραθεν, and notes.
δεινοῦ] Not merely Strange,' but Hardly endurable; i.e. likely to provoke a quarrel. Cp. O. С. 861, δεινὸν λέγεις.
ἅπαν τὸ χρῆμ', ἥμαρτε χρηστὰ μωμένη] 'The whole matter is, she erred with good intent.' Nauck edits ἁπλοῦν τὸ ῥῆμ᾽. χρήμα is the subject of the sentence. For the syntax, cp. Ο.Τ. 1234, 5, ὁ μὲν τάχιστος τῶν λόγων εἰπεῖν τε καὶ | μαθεῖν, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ιοκάστης κάρα. The comma after χρῆμα was introduced by Hermann, the Schol. and former editors having understood the words to mean merely, 'She utterly mistook, though she meant well.'
δρᾷ = λέγεις δεδρακέναι. Phil. 58.
σέθεν, objective genitive, is connected with the noun, instead of σοί with προσβαλεῖν, so marking the stress upon στέργημα. Cp. supr. 575, 6, ἔσται φρενός σοι τοῦτο κηλητήριον | τῆς Ἡρακλείας.
ἀπήμπλακε] 'She missed her aim. The chief stress is on the former part of the sentence, with which the clause with ὡς is therefore connected. ἀπήμπλακε implies, 'She did what she least of all desired to do.' τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους] 'The marriage within there,' prepared in the house, i.e. by the introduction of Iole. The sting of the offence was not merely the marriage with Iole, but the fact that she was brought home. Cp. supr. 536-546. Hyllus hints as gently as he can at the cause of trouble.
καί, as in καὶ πῶς; expresses wonder. Cp. Ant. 1102, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐπαινεῖς καὶ δοκεῖς παρεικαθεῖν;
Νέσσος] The mention of Nessus reminds Heracles of the prophecy of his father Zeus, that a dead hand' should be the cause of his death. His mind is thus called away from all that surrounds him, and
τοιῷδε] 'Such' as we now see in its effects. Cp. Aj. 453.
The three single lines, each followed by an asyndeton, have a striking effect in expressing the mood of Heracles, who by the mention of Nessus is brought to a sudden pause.
The situation here may be compared with that in the ninth book of the Odyssey (507), where Odysseus has revealed his name to the Cyclops, who is thus reminded of the ancient prophecy concerning himself.
φρονῶ.. ἕσταμεν] ‘I know now whither Fate has brought me.'
μάτην] Because Zeus appears to have forsaken her son.
ὡς ... ἐγώ] · That you may hear from me in my last moments the utterance of what prophecies I know.' The Scholiast explains τελευταίαν ἐμοῦ φήμην differently: 'The final voice concerning me,' i. e. The oracle concerning my end.' For φήμην, cp. О. Т. 43, 86, etc. ὅσ᾽ οἶδ᾽ ἐγώ is added to limit the expression, according to a usual idiom, but may remind us that Heracles did not know all.
For οὔτε followed by δέ (l. 1153), see Essay on L. § 36. p. 65f.
ἀλλ' ἐπακτίᾳ.. ἕδραν] (1) 'But she has obtained leave to dwell at Tiryns by the shore.' συμβέβηκεν = σύμβασιν ἐποιήσατο, SC. τῷ Εὐρυσθεῖ. Or (2), She happens to be dwelling.'
παίδων] 'Of thy sons.' Alcmena had taken some of her grandchildren with her to live at Tiryns. Cp. σῶν ὁμαιμόνων, supr. 1147. If we are further to suppose consistency with supr. l. 54, other sons besides Hyllus must be imagined as present, and included in the phrase ὅσοι πάρεσμεν in l. 1155. The general meaning is, 'All your sons are not here, but those who are will execute your will.'
ἂν.. μάθοις] Sc. εἰ πυνθάνοιο.
ἐξυπηρετήσομεν] 'Will obediently carry out.' ἐκ as in ἐκπονεῖν.
σὺ δ᾽ οὐν] Well, then '- however that may be; i.e. If the others are absent, Hyllus must act for them. τοὔργον] 'The thing which has to be done,' the business.' For ἔργον, of an act in contemplation, cp. Aj. 466, οὐκ ἔστι τοὔργον τλητών. Heracles is already thinking, as the words ἐξήκεις ... καλεῖ show, of the command with which he means to conclude. Cp. Od. 16. 300, εἰ δ᾽ ἐτεόν γ᾽ ἐμός ἐσσι καὶ αἵματος ἡμετέροιο.
πρόφαντον] Cp. supr. l. 851, προφαίνει, and note.
πρὸς .. ὕπο] The two prepositions can hardly be genuine, though we might compare such expressions as τίνος δὴ χάριν ἕνεκα; Either τῶν μὲν πνεόντων οἱ τῶν ἐμπνεόντων may possibly be right. If the text is retained, a confusion must be supposed of πρὸς τῶν πνεόντων μὴ θανεῖν and ὑπὸ μηδενὸς θανεῖν. θανεῖν] For the use of the aorist, cp. Aesch. Prom. 667, 8, μολεῖν | κεραυνόν.
φθίμενος] 'Being already dead.'
συμβαίνοντ᾽ ἴσα] ‘Agreeing in purport.' Cp. supr. 173, 4, τῶνδε ναμέρτεια συμβαίνει χρόνου | τοῦ νῦν παρόντος: Ο. Τ. 902, ἁρμόσει. For ἴσος denoting harmony or agreement, cp. Ο. C. 171, ἀστοῖς ἴσα χρὴ μελετᾶν: Ant. 375, μήτ᾿ ἐμοὶ παρέστιος γένοιτο μήτ᾽ ἴσον φρονῶν, κ.τ.λ.
This line has been objected to, as inconsistent with supr. 157, where Deianira speaks of the tablet containing this oracle as παλαιάν. But 'new' and 'old' are relative terms, and what seemed old to Deianira, may seem new to Heracles, who is revolving a much older prophecy. Nor is it certain that Sophocles must necessarily have observed consistency in a point which is after all external to the fable (ἔξω τοῦ μυθεύματος). Cp. supr. 647, δυοκαιδεκάμηνον, and note.
χαμαικοιτών] The Homeric χαμαιεῦναι, Il. 16. 235.
εἰσεγραψάμην] ‘I noted down for my use.' So the force of the middle voice may be expressed.
πατρώας] Dodona and not Delphi is the fountain of revelation in the Trachiniae, because Heracles is not to receive oracles from any one less than his father Zeus. πολυγλώσσου] Either, (1) 'Uttering diverse oracles,' or, (2) With many tongues,' alluding to the means by which the oracular sounds were produced.
τῷ ζῶντι καὶ παρόντι νῦν] • Which now has life and being.' Time, both universal and particular, is continually personified in Sophocles. See Essay on L. § 48. p. 91, and cp. O. C. 7.
ἐφεστώτων] 'That were then impending over me.' τελεῖσθαι is future. See Veitch, Gr. Verbs, 5. v. τελέω. ἐμοί is to be joined both with τελεῖσθαι and ἐφεστώτων.
τὸ δ᾽ ἦν ἄρ᾽] 'Whereas the truth of it was.' Cp. Plat. Rep. 2. 357 Α, τὸ δ᾽ ἦν ἄρα, ὡς ἔοικε, προοίμιον. ἄρα, ‘As the event proves.'
τοῖς γάρ, κ.τ.λ.] This is Heracles' comment on the word λύσιν, and shows that he looks forward only to the rest of death. Cp. El. 1170, τοὺς γὰρ θανόντας οὐχ ὁρῶ λυπουμένους.
Since therefore all this is manifestly being fulfilled.' The state of Heracles, with its cause, and the two oracles, throw so much light on one another that the event is clear.
αὐ] Once more.
ὀξῦναι] Either (1) So as to provoke me to fierce utterance; or (2) Until my tongue utter fierce things; or (3) For my tongue to sharpen thee,' i. e. 'Incite thee.' The last (3) is most probable: but in support of (2) it may be observed that verbs in -ύνω are sometimes intransitive, e.g. El. 916, θάρσυνε.
αὐτόν] 'Of thine own accord.' νόμον] Course or principle of action.' Cp. Ant. 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;
ἐξευρόντα] 'Adhering to,' or, 'Bringing to mind.' This word has been suspected on the ground that Hyllus could not be said to discover' so time-honoured a principle as obedience to parents. But this is to require too much exactness: for ἐξευρεῖν is used elsewhere of bringing old thoughts to mind. Cp. Ο. Τ. 304, ἧς σὲ προστάτην | σωτῆρά τ', ὧναξ, μοῦνον ἐξευρίσκομεν. (The saving power of Oedipus was no new idea to the Thebans.) Ellendt would supply ὄντα ('Finding this to be,' etc.)
ἐς λόγου στάσιν | τοιάνδε] The edd. compare O. Τ. 634, 5, στάσιν | γλώσσης, and would translate, Into such a debate.' But Hyllus, who is prepared to obey his father to the uttermost in all things possible, does not at this moment anticipate the contention which follows, though his promise of obedience is accompanied by a natural fear. It seems therefore better, with Dobree (who renders, 'In hujusmodi colloquium delatus') to take στάσιν in the simpler meaning of 'position,' and λόγου ας gen. of definition, and to translate, 'I tremble at having reached the point where I must speak of such things.' So the Schol. Hyllus is awestruck by his father's anticipation of death and by the tone which he has assumed.
πίστιν τήνδε] Cp. Ο. C. 1632, δός μοι χερὸς σῆς πίστιν ἀρχαίαν τέκνοις. ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις] 'Do you urge on me so vehemently?' Musgrave proposed ἐπιστρέφει, 'Dost thou regard?' Perhaps rightly.
οἴσεις] Sc. τὴν πίστιν.
ὄμνυ Διός νυν] The postponement of the particle νυν is due to the strong emphasis on the two first words.
ἐπώμοτον] Although the passive voice of ὄμνυμι is not used, the verbal adjective has here the passive sense of Sworn by.'
τὸν Οἴτης Ζηνὸς . . πάγον] 'The height of Oeta, sacred to Zeus.' For the two genitives, cp. Ant. 1204, λιθόστρωτον κόρης | νυμφεῖον ῞Αιδου. ὕψιστον] Some edd., following Wakefield, read ὑψίστου, a change which, though harmless (cp. Phil. 1289), is unnecessary. The topmost height of Oeta was most suitable for the purpose which Heracles had in view.
ὡς .. σταθείς] ‘As having stood.' θυτήρ] 'In the act of sacrifice.'
αὐτόχειρα . . φίλων] • With your own hands, assisted by whom you will of your friends.'
ὕλην. . κείραντα] These words are applicable, not to the hewing of timber, but to the lopping of such smaller boughs and brushwood as would be suitable for the pyre. The wild-olive, on the other hand, is to be cut down to the root. For δρυός, cp. supr. 766.
πολλόν] Cp. Ant. 86, πολλὸν ἐχθίων ἔσει. ἄρσεν'] Herm. quotes Ovid, Fast. 4, 741, 'ure mares oleas,' where others read 'maris rorem,' but gives no other authority for the distinction between male and female olive-trees. The wild olive, associated with Heracles in connection with Olympia, may be called ἄρσην, because rougher and harder than the cultivated and fruitful tree.
εἰσίτω] Sc. τῷ ἔργῳ. 'Come in,' to interfere with the just rite.
Trachiniae. Lewis Campbell. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.