Sophocles Trachiniae 1221

ed. Lewis Campbell

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ἔγνως. τοσοῦτον δή σ᾽ ἐπισκήπτω, τέκνον·
ταύτην, ἐμοῦ θανόντος, εἴπερ εὐσεβεῖν
βούλει, πατρῴων ὁρκίων μεμνημένος,
προσθοῦ πρόσθου δάμαρτα, μηδ᾽ ἀπιστήσῃς πατρί·
μηδ᾽ ἄλλος ἀνδρῶν τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἐμοῖ ἐμοῖσ πλευροῖς ὁμοῦ
1225
κλιθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ἀντὶ σοῦ λάβοι ποτέ·
ἀλλ᾽ αὐτός, ὦ παῖ, τοῦτο κήδευσον λέχος.
πείθου· τὸ γάρ τοι μεγάλα πιστεύσαντ᾿ ἐμοὶ
σμικροῖς ἀπιστεῖν τὴν πάρος συγχεῖ χάριν.

Trachiniae. Sophocles. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

Current edition Experimental

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1221 focus
The maid of Eurytus thou knowest, I ween.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1221 focus
Sie meint' ich. Eines leg' ich nun dir auf, o Kind!
Nach meinem Tode, wenn du fromm zu sein gedenkst,
1200
Und treu dem Eide, welchen du dem Vater schwurst,
Nimm sie zum Weibe, sei gehorsam meinem Wort!
Kein andrer Mann auf Erden nehm' an deiner Statt
Jemals die Jungfrau, die an meiner Seite lag;
Nein, nimm sie selbst als deine Gattin auf, o Sohn!
1205
Gehorche! Wahrlich, wenn du Großes mir gewährst
Und Kleines weigerst, dann zerrinnt der erste Dank.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1221 focus
Her, my son ;
Eemember, 'tis a father's last command,
And thou hast sworn obedience. That lole
I do bequeath thee ; take her to thy arms
When I am dead, and let her be thy wife :
It is not fitting she who lay by th' side
1225
Of Hercules to any but the son
1225
Of Hercules should e'er descend ; to thee
Alone I yield her. Speak not, but obey me ;
After thy kind compliance, to refuse
So slight a favour were to cancel all.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1221 focus
Thou wilt not then with my request complyed sai

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-636-1 ἐπισκήπτω 1

mvp-comment-637-1 πατρῴων ὁρκίων 2

mvp-comment-638-1 προσθοῦ 3

mvp-comment-638-2 δάμαρτα 4

mvp-comment-638-3 Iolè figured in legend as the wife of Hyllus. Their son,

Κλεοδαῖος
(called
Κλεοδάτης
by Theopompus, fr. 30), was mentioned by Hesiod (schol. Ap. Rh. 1. 824 ), and was recorded in the pedigree of the Spartan kings, being the grandfather of Aristodemus ( Her.6. 52 Her., 8. 131 ). Hyllus and Iolè had also a daughter,
Εὐαίχμη
, known in Messenian story ( Paus.4. 2. 1 ).

mvp-comment-638-4 But, in this play, Iolè is the paramour of Heracles, and indirectly the cause of his death. How, then, could Hyllus wed her? His own words (1233—1237) express what a Greek would feel. It was necessary, then, that the marriage should be imposed upon him by his dying father's inexorable command.

mvp-comment-638-5 Cp. Apollodorus 2. 7. 7 § 13

ἐντειλάμενος Ὕλλῳ...τὴν Ἰόλην ἀνδρωθέντα γῆμαι
: as if Hyllus were younger than Sophocles here imagines him. Ovid, Met.9. 278 , of Iolè:
Herculis illam | Imperiis thalamoque animoque receperat Hyllus.
Acc. to Pherecydes, it was for Hyllus, not for himself, that Heracles had first asked the hand of Iolè (schol. on v. 354).

mvp-comment-639-1 ἀλλος … ἀντὶ σοῦ 5

mvp-comment-639-2 λάβῃ 6

mvp-comment-640-1 ἀλλ’ αὐτός 7

mvp-comment-640-2 τοῦτο … λέχος 8 κήδευσον 9

mvp-comment-641-1 πιθοῦ 10

mvp-comment-641-2 πιστεύσαντ’ 11

mvp-comment-641-3 ἐμοὶ 12 μοι 13 σμικροῖς 14

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus

1221. mvp-comment-863-1 σ᾽ ἐπισκήπτω] For this 'Attic' use of the accusative where the dative is more common, cp. supr. 1201, and note. τοσοῦτον ‘This much.' Cp. supr. 1217, χάριν βραχεῖαν : Αj. 831.

1223. mvp-comment-864-1 πατρῴων ὁρκίων] ‘The promise exacted on oath by your father.' Cp. supr. 1185 foll. The oath there imposed is to include this promise also.

1224. mvp-comment-865-1 προσθοῦ δάμαρτα] So Hdt. 1. 53, εἴ τινα στρατὸν ἀνδρῶν προσθέοιτο φίλον : ib. 69, τὸν Ἕλληνα φίλον προσθέσθαι.

1225. mvp-comment-866-1 ἄλλος . . ἀντὶ σοῦ] 'Another and not thou.' Cp. Αj. 444, οὐκ ἄν τις αὔτ᾽ ἔμαρψεν ἄλλος ἀντ᾿ ἐμοῦ: supr. 577.

1226. mvp-comment-867-1 λάβοι] The conjectural reading λάβῃ is preferred by some edd.; but Heracles may be supposed to pass from the tone of command to the expression of a desire. Cp. supr. 331, and note.

1227. mvp-comment-868-1 κήδευσον λέχος] ‘Be thyself the maker of this marriage bond.' An instance of the cognate verb: i. e. κήδευσον is used instead of ποίησον, in order to emphasize the main idea. Hyllus was to bring about his own marriage. Cp. Eur. Med. 367, where τοῖσι κηδεύσασι refers to Creon, who had contrived the marriage between his daughter and Jason.

1228. mvp-comment-869-1 μεγάλα πιστεύσαντ᾿ ἐμοί] 'Having obeyed me in an important thing.' This rare use of πιστεύω (repeated below, 1251) is made clearer by the opposition of ἀπιστεῖν.

1229. mvp-comment-870-1 σμικροῖς ἀπιστεῖν] ‘To disobey a trivial command.' The construction is varied. συγχεῖ] ‘Obliterates.' The metaphor is taken from a waxen tablet, the writing on which could be cancelled by holding it to the fire.