279.
mvp-comment-216-1
Zeus manifestly would have consented' either (1) to his being justly punished,' or (2) 'to his justly punishing him.' In the former case, (1) χειρουμένῳ used passively involves a change of subject. In the latter, (2) the same word used actively is without an object. τοι gives a note of preparation for what follows, in which the connection, though not fully expressed, is obvious; viz. 'Zeus punished Heracles for his guile, certainly not out of any love for Eurytus' proud race, who for their over-weening insolence have now been destroyed.' So Lichas returns from the digression, with which he laboured to assign a motive for the siege of Oechalia. His prolixity in doing this (which has brought the passage under suspicion), is really a stroke of art, by which the poet reminds the spectators of the simplicity of the real motive.
280.
mvp-comment-217-1
'It is not to be supposed that the gods any more than men favour the proud.' Of this the ruin of Oechalia is a proof.
281.
mvp-comment-218-1
κεῖνοι] 'And they too'-Eurytus and his sons, who must be supposed to have joined with him in his transgression. ἐκ γλώσσης κακῆς] 'With reviling words.' ἐκ here denotes rather the manner than the origin of the offence. ὑπερχλίοντες is in the imperfect tense. See
Essay on L. § 32. p. 54
, and cp. Thuc. 3. 9. § 3, ἐν τῇ εἰμήνῃ τιμώμενοι.
282.
mvp-comment-219-1
῞Αιδου οἰκήτορες] Cp. infr. 1161, ὅστις "Αιδου φθίμενος οἰκήτωρ πέλοι.
283.
mvp-comment-220-1
τάσδε] For this attraction of the antecedent, see
Essay on L. § 35. p. 59,
and cp. supr. 152.
284.
mvp-comment-221-1
ἐξ ὀλβίων] Sc. οὐσῶν. As if the sentence were ἐξ ὀλβίων ἄζηλοι γενόμενοι.
286.
mvp-comment-222-1
πιστὸς ὢν κείνῳ] Deianira remembers this afterwards, ll. 617-20.
287.
mvp-comment-223-1
αὐτὸν . . ἐκεῖνον] Resumed in νιν, l. 289, where Hense unnecessarily conjectures φρόνησον. ἁγνὰ θύματα] ‘'Pure sacrifices,' consecrating the victory by acknowledging the help of the gods.
288.
mvp-comment-224-1
τῆς ἁλώσεως] For the capture,' as a thank-offering. To be joined with θύματα.
Essay on L. § 10. p. 15 d.
πατρῴῳ Ζηνί] Schndw. says that although Zeus was the father of Heracles he was here worshipped by him as the god of the whole race (of Amphitryon?). But Zeus was πατρῷος to Heracles in a peculiar sense-'The Zeus of fatherhood,' i e. 'The author of being.' Cp. infr. 753. Qy. φρονεῖν (see v. rr.)?
290.
mvp-comment-225-1
καλῶς λεχθέντος] ‘Of many words fair to hear this is the fairest.' πολλοῦ has been questioned and ὅλου conjectured by Otto Hense. But ὅλου is inexact. For the account of Heracles' bondage to Omphale (ll. 248-53) was not fair to hear.'
292.
mvp-comment-226-1
i. e. You have not only the words of Lichas, but the presence of the captives, to vouch for the coming of Heracles. That which assures the joy of Deianira is to be the cause of her misery. So little does the 'coming event cast its shadow before.' Cp. 862.
294.
mvp-comment-227-1
πανδίκῳ φρενί] 'With a heart that has every reason to rejoice':-πανδίκως τῇ φρενί.
295.
mvp-comment-228-1
'This cannot fail' either (1) 'to coincide with that' (the joy with the news), or (2) 'to coincide in this way.' In (1) τῇδε = τῇ πράξει. In (2) τῇδε is adverbial and τοῦτο is the news and the rejoicing in one. The former (1) is best. Such news must needs be met by such rejoicing.' This line, with many others that could be dropped without ruining the connection, has been needlessly suspected as an interpolation.
296.
mvp-comment-229-1
ἔνεστι τοῖσιν εὖ σκοπουμένοις] Either (1) There is occasion in the eyes of those who consider well' (the middle voice occurs in O. Τ. 964, τί δῆτ᾽ ἄν, ὦ γύναι, σκοποῖτό τις, κ.τ.λ.): -the dative, as in O. T. 616, καλῶς ἔλεξεν εὐλαβουμένῳ πεσεῖν : -or (2), 'There is room, when things are well considered.' In this case the dative is governed by ἐν in ἔνεστι.
298.
mvp-comment-230-1
For οἶκτος of pity mixed with apprehension, cp. Eur. Med. 931, εἰσῆλθέ μ' οἶκτος εἰ γενήσεται τάδε. δεινός] Overpowering,' of strong feeling. Cp. infr. 476, ταύτης ὁ δεινὸς ἵμερος: Plat. Theaet. 169 Β, οὕτω τις ἔρως δεινὸς ἐνδέδυκε τῆς περὶ ταῦτα γυμνασίας.
300.
mvp-comment-231-1
Homeless, because Oechalia was destroyed; Fatherless,' because its chief men had been slain in battle.
301.
mvp-comment-232-1
πρίν] In their former life, when they had a home.
302.
mvp-comment-233-1
δοῦλον) The adjectival use of δοῦλος, which occurs here and supr. l. 53, is not found in earlier Greek.
303.
mvp-comment-234-1
τροπαῖε] 'Giver of victory." Deianira has been commonly understood to address Zeus thus as the averter of evil (ἀποτρόπαιος). But elsewhere τροπαίος means the god who turns armies in battle. On this occasion Zeus has driven the army of Oechalia before Heracles and his allies. Deianira apprehends the possibility of some descendant of the Heracleidae being similarly defeated and made captive through the same god favouring another race.
304.
mvp-comment-235-1
ποι after the verb of motion = που.
305.
mvp-comment-236-1
τῆσδέ γε ζώσης ἔτι, Sc. δράσειας
306.
mvp-comment-237-1
ὁρωμένη) The middle adds a touch of feeling, like the ethical dative, Le Looking at them with reflection. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1487, νοούμενος τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ πικροῦ βίου.
307.
mvp-comment-238-1
Iole is naturally silent and downcast in the presence of Deianira, who in her quick sympathy interprets this as an expression of sorrow. The foremost captive, she observes, shows more feeling than the rest (312).
308.
mvp-comment-239-1
τεκνοῦσσα (see v. rr.) is obtained from the lemma of the Scholiast. φύσιν] 'Appearance.' Cp. O. Т. 740, 1, φύσιν τιν εἶχε, φράζε.
309.
mvp-comment-240-1
πάντων. . τῶνδε] Sc. τοῦ ἄνδρα τε καὶ τέκνα σχεῖν.
313.
mvp-comment-241-1
φρονεῖν οἶδεν] 'Has the sense to feel her position." See note on 307. For this pleonastic use of οἶδεν = ἐπίσταται. cp. Hom. Il. 7. 238, οἶδ᾽ ἐπὶ δεξιά, εἶδ' ἐπ᾿ ἀριστερὰ νωμῆσαι βῶν: Phil. 1010, ὃς οὐδὲν ἤδη πλὴν τὸ προσ ταχθὲν ποιεῖν: Arist. Vesp. 376, ν᾽ εἰδῇ μὴ πατεῖν τὰ τῶν θεῶν ψηφίσματα.
314.
mvp-comment-242-1
τί δ' ἄν με καὶ κρίνοις; καὶ opposes the question to the reply. I cannot answer, and why should you ask??
315.
mvp-comment-243-1
τῶν ἐκεῖθεν] Sc. γεννημάτων. Ср. О. Т. 1167, τῶν Λαΐου τοίνυν τις ἦν γεννημάτων. οὐκ ἐν ὑστάτοις] 'Not far down.' The phrase is equivalent to an attributive adjective agreeing with γέννημα.
316.
mvp-comment-244-1
μὴ τῶν τυράννων] Sc. γέννημα. 'Can she have been of the royal stock?' Εὐρύτου σπορά τις ἦν] Either (1) 'Is it possible she is Eurytus' offspring?' τις = πως. See
Essay on L. § 22. p. 36, sub fin.,
and cp. Ó. T. 1167, quoted above. Or (2) Had Eurytus any offspring?" So Hermann.
317.
mvp-comment-245-1
οὐδ᾽ ἀνιστόρουν μακράν] 'I did not carry my inquiries far.'
318.
mvp-comment-246-1
τῶν ξυνεμπόρων] Of those travelling with her and you,' viz. the other captives. ἔχεις = πέπυσαι. Cp. Phil. 789, ἔχετε τὸ πρᾶγμα.
319.
mvp-comment-247-1
τοὐμὸν ἔργον] The herald's task of bringing the captives home.
320.
mvp-comment-248-1
Deianira, baffled in her compassionate eagerness, now turns to Iole herself in a tone of entreaty. ἀλλά belongs to ἐκ σαυτῆς or to the whole sentence, not to ἡμίν. (Cр. О. С. 238, ὦ ξένοι, . . ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεί, κ.τ.λ.)
321.
mvp-comment-249-1
καὶ ξυμφορά τοι] These words express Deianira's strong sympathy. 'Verily, I am distressed not to know who thou art.' A narrator might say of her in the language of Herodotus, καὶ συμφορὴν ἐποιέετο, τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι τὴν ξείνην ἥ τις εἴη. It has been observed that the particles ἐπεὶ καί τοι are not found together elsewhere. But each of the three words has a distinct and apposite meaning. 'For' (ἐπεί) ‘I tell you' (τοι) 'I am even' (καί) ' distressed.' γε simply emphasizes σé, i. e. 'You, who have awakened such an interest in me.'
322ff.
mvp-comment-250-1
Lichas hurriedly interposes to prevent disclosure with a significant warning to Iole to hold her peace. The first Scholiast's explanation of these words gives a rational meaning: ἐὰν αἰδουμένη σε φθέγξηται, κατ᾿ οὐδὲν ἄρα ἐξίσου τῷ πρόσθεν χρόνῳ προκομίσειεν (ἂν ?) αὐτῆς τὴν γλῶσσαν· τὸν γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ χρόνου ἐσιώπα: i.e. he understands the stress of the sentence to be on the words οὐδὲν ἐξ ἴσου τῷ γε πρόσθεν χρόνῳ (
Essay on L. § 24. p. 40
). It will not be in accordance with (her demeanour in) the previous time that she will bring out her tongue (if she does so).' The doubt is whether διαφέρειν can mean, 'To bring between the lips,' and so answer the προκομίζειν of the Scholiast. Wakefield's conjecture διήσει, ' Will let pass through her lips,' is supported by Ο. C. 963 (ὅστις φόνους . .) τοῦ σοῦ διῆκας στόματος. Hermann explained the words to mean, Just as hitherto (τῷ γε πρόσθεν ἐξ ἴσου χρόνῳ) she will maintain an even tenour (οὐδὲν διοίσει) as to her tongue.' Dindorf (agreeing with the second Scholiast), 'She will not employ her tongue' (οὐ.. διοίσει οι διήσει γλῶσσαν) 'inconsistently with what she has done hitherto.'
323-324.
mvp-comment-251-1
οὐδαμὰ | προὔφηνεν] ‘Made no sign.
325.
mvp-comment-252-1
But travailing with the weight of her calamity she has wept over it ever since.' The accusative is to be joined both with ὠδίνουσα and δακρυρροεῖ. Cp. Shak. Pericles, 5. 1, 'I am great with woe and shall deliver weeping.'
327.
mvp-comment-253-1
διήνεμον] It is difficult to determine whether this is (1) a mere epithet, 'Wind-swept,' like the Homeric ἠνεμόεσσα, descriptive of a city on a hill, or (2) a supplem. pred. = διήνεμον οὖσαν, ‘Desolate,' 'Open to the winds.' The first (1) may be supported by comparing several picturesque touches in this play, but the other (2) is more dramatic. Both are given in the scholia, ἔρημον (2), ὕψηλον (1). ἡ δέ τοι] This is better than ἥδε τοι, which leaves an unmeaning asyndeton. Her case is unfortunate, I mean for herself, but suggests a reason for indulgence' (on our part); i. e. 'Her misfortune may excuse her silence.'
328.
mvp-comment-254-1
For ἔχει, cp. Thuc. 2. 41. § 3, ἀγανάκτησιν ἔχει ('Gives cause for complaint'): Eur. Phoen. 995, τοὐμὸν δ᾽ οὐχὶ συγγνώμην ἔχει.
329.
mvp-comment-255-1
ἥδ᾽ οὖν] ἡ δ' οὖν is sometimes read here, as in O. T. 669. But while δέ is unnecessary, the opposition of πάντες in what follows is enough to justify the use of the demonstrative ἥδε. στέγας] For the accus. cp. 58, δύμους.
330.
mvp-comment-256-1
ἥδιστα] For this sense of ἡδύς, ср. О. C. 639, 40, εἰ δ᾽ ἐμοῦ στείχειν μέτα | τόδ᾽ ἡδύ.
331.
mvp-comment-257-1
This line in LA (see v. rr.) has manifestly suffered from corruption, some other word being replaced either by the first or the second λύπην. The Triclinian reading which is adopted in the text, although possibly due to conjecture, is more probable than any other of the various changes which have been proposed. It is not necessary to change λάβοι το λάβῃ. The optative slightly varies the expression, I would not have her,' etc.
333.
mvp-comment-258-1
For τε.. δέ, see
Essay on L. §36. p. 65 f
, and cp. supr. 143. The antithesis is introduced after the sentence is begun. οἱ θέλεις] Viz. to rejoin Heracles.
334.
mvp-comment-259-1
ἐξαρκή] ‘As they should be.' Cp. infr. 625.
335.
mvp-comment-260-1
ἀμμείνασα] Sc. χωροῖς ἄν. Ср. Phil. 645, χωρῶμεν, ἔνδοθεν λαβών. For the use of the participle with ye = 'Not until,' cp. Plat. Phaedr. 228 D, δείξας γε πρῶτον, ὦ φιλότης, κ.τ.λ. The "Αγγελος is rude, and something of a busy-body, but honest and well-meaning.
336.
mvp-comment-261-1
ἄνευ τῶνδε] When Lichas and the captives are not present.'
337.
mvp-comment-262-1
ἐκμάθῃς θ' ἃ δεῖ] The change from τε to γε in AVR is an attempt to simplify the sentence, but still leaves an awkward resumption. The Αγγελος, full of the importance of his message, and yet afraid to speak it too soon, hurries over the latter part of the sentence, 'That you may learn, first who they are whom you are taking within, and then what else is hidden from you, and (in short) that you may learn fully what you ought to know.'
338.
mvp-comment-263-1
l. 338 is characteristic of the man's self-importance. There is a certain ὄγκος in the postponement of γάρ (Aj. 522, El. 492); and the expression πάντ᾽ ἐπιστήμη, 'Knowledge as to all things, Absolute knowledge,' has also a mockheroic (almost 'Pistol'-like) air.
339.
mvp-comment-264-1
τί δ᾽ ἐστί] 'What is the matter? Why do you stay my footsteps here with your interruption?" τοῦ for τίνος = τίνος ἕνεκα. See
Essay on L. § 10. p. 15 d.
The punctuation (that of L) is rendered probable by comparing Ο. Τ. 938, τί δ᾽ ἔστι; ποίαν δύναμιν ὧδ᾽ ἔχει διπλῆν ; ἐφίστασαι] The present middle of ἵστημι is used transitively in Hdt. 7. 9, πολέμους ἵστανται, 'They set up wars amongst themselves.' παρίστασθαι is so used by Sophocles, O. C. 916, ἄγεις θ' ἃ χρήζεις καὶ παρίστασαι βίᾳ, and by other writers: καθίσταμαι by Eur. Suppl. 522, πόλεμον οὐ καθίσταμαι: προίστασθαι by Plato and Demosthenes : διίστασθαι by Plato, Tim. 63 C. It is therefore possible that ἐφίστασθαι here and in Aj. 869 (ἐπίσταται MSS.) may mean, 'To arrest.' τήνδε . . βάσιν] The second accusative expresses the respect in which Deianira was stopped: 'In this going,' i.e. in going, as I have just begun to do. The above interpretation, which is that of the Scholiast, agrees better with the context than if ἐφίστασαι were taken intransitively: Why do you stand before me in this your coming?' See esp. l. 335, αὐτοῦ. . ἀμμείνασα, and 340, σταθεῖσα.
341.
mvp-comment-265-1
μάτην] 'Without result,' i.e. without the event proving the truth of my words. δοκῶ] Sc. τὸν μῦθον μάτην ἀκούσεσθαί σε,
342.
mvp-comment-266-1
ἐκείνους] Those other people, who were here a little while ago. It may be remarked, as exemplifying the dramatic manner of Sophocles, that the words ἄνευ τῶνδε in l. 336 are unobserved by Deianira. Cp. O.Т. 360, and note.
344.
mvp-comment-267-1
οὐδὲν εἴργεται] Sc. τάδε λεχθῆναι. For the passive, cp. Thuc. 8. 54, ὥστε μηκέτι διαμέλλεσθαι. τούτους] Though further off than the Chorus, Lichas and the captives are still imagined as within sight through the open door, and within call.
345.
mvp-comment-268-1
χώ λόγος σημαινέτω] ‘Now then let your speech declare your meaning.' Deianira is impatient of the air of mystery which the man has hitherto assumed. For λόγος personified, ср. О. С. 574, χώ λόγος διέρχεται: Fr. inc. 782, διχοστατῶν λόγος. σημαίνειν, without an expressed object, occurs several times in Sophocles and Thucydides; and in Xenophon, Mem. 1. 1. § 4, τὸ δαιμόνιον γὰρ ἔφη σημαίνειν.
346.
mvp-comment-269-1
ἀνὴρ ὅδ'] 'Lichas here' (pointing indoors). Cp. τούτους, supr. 344.
347.
mvp-comment-270-1
δίκης ἐς ὀρθόν] Truly and uprightly. For δίκη in this sense, cp. Ant. 538, οὐκ ἐάσει τοῦτό σ᾽ ἡ δίκη. κακός] Sc. ἐστί. 'He is behaving badly.'
348.
mvp-comment-271-1
δίκαιος] Honest.'
349.
mvp-comment-272-1
πᾶν ὅσον νοεῖς] ‘All that thou knowest.'
353.
mvp-comment-273-1
ἕλοι] 'Subdued,' viz. killed Eurytus and destroyed Oechalia. For a similar double use of εἶλον, cp Pind. Οl. 1. 142, ἕλεν δ' Οἰνομάου βίαν | παρθένον τε σύνευνον.
354-355.
mvp-comment-274-1
Ἔρως.. μόνος θεῶν, κ.τ.λ.] The god of love, and no other, had moved him to this feat of arms.' αἰχμάσαι τάδε] 'Το enter on this warlike enterprise.’ τάδε, cognate accusative.
356-357.
mvp-comment-275-1
τἀπὶ . . λατρεύματα] (1) 'Not the toilsome service at the bidding of the Lydians or of Omphale.' Or (2) the preposition may have the merely locative sense in the first instance, and the different meaning, 'In the power of,' with the second word. The labours which he performed among the Lydians and in the service of Omphale.' ἐπί = ' In the power of.' Cp. О. С. 66, ἄρχει τις αὐτῶν, ἢ ἐπὶ τῷ πλήθει λόγος;
357.
mvp-comment-276-1
ὁ ῥιπτὸς.. μόρος] ‘The death by hurling from the rock. For a use of the passive of ῥίπτω (with cognate subject) corresponding to this use of the verbal adj.. cp. the oracle in Hdt. 1. 62, ἔρριπται δ᾽ ὁ βόλος (‘Now the cast is made'), τὸ δὲ δίκτυον ἐκπεπέτασται. Cp. also Eur. Or. 990, 1, Μυρτίλου φόνον | δικών, and see
Essay on L. § 53. p. 98.
358.
mvp-comment-277-1
ov] Referring to "Έρως, the most important subject in the preceding lines. Cp. Ο. C. 86, 7, Φοίβῳ τε καμοί, κ.τ.λ., ὅς, κ.τ.λ. The conjectures ἅ and ὅ are quite unnecessary. παρώσας] « Having thrust aside,' cp. Eur. El. 1037, τἄνδον παρώσας λέκτρα: Plat. Rep. 5. p. 471 C, δ.. παρωσάμενος .. πάντα ταῦτα εἴρηκας. ἔμπαλιν λέγει] 'Tells a different (lit. opposite) tale.'
359.
mvp-comment-278-1
οὐκ ἔπειθε] 'He could not persuade.' The imperfect implies that his suit was continued for some time. φυτοσπόρος is originally ὁ σπείρας τὸ φυτόν,
360.
mvp-comment-279-1
κρύφιον . . λέχος] ‘In secret marriage,' - accusative in apposition with the action.
362-363.
mvp-comment-280-1
These lines have been censured for their tautology, and justly enough; but they are in character with the speaker, who, like the Φύλαξ in the Antigone, has already shown a fondness for false emphasis and superfluous words. The words ἄνακτα πατέρα τῆσδε in l. 364 are in the same manner. ἐν ἡ τὸν Εὔρυτον τόνδ' εἶπε δεσπόζειν θρόνων] 'The same wherein he told us that Eurytus of whom he spake was master of the throne.' The Messenger wants to impress on Deianira that this part of what she has heard need not be unsaid. The reading τῶνδε (see v. rr.) involves a still more superfluous use of the demonstrative.
365.
mvp-comment-281-1
ὡς] Hermann's note in defence of ὡς shows a wise caution. He thinks that the rule of grammarians that ὡς for πρός can only be used with persons may be extended so as to cover a case of this kind where the house includes the inmates of the house. It is certainly better to retain a reading which, for anything we know, may be specially suited to express an authorized mission, such as that of Iole under charge of Lichas. ἥκει] 'Heracles is come.' After the words of Lichas in supr. 289, the arrival of Heracles is regarded as an accomplished fact.
366.
mvp-comment-282-1
ἀφροντίστως] 'Without special care,' as he would have done, if she had merely fallen to his lot as part of the spoil. Cp. supr. 283-6.
367.
mvp-comment-283-1
μηδὲ προσδόκα τόδε] ‘Nay, do not look for that.' μηδέ is rather adversative to Deianira's previous impression than to the preceding words. Others have taken it to mean, 'As it is not the fact, so neither must you think it.' Cp. Aesch. Ag. 879, μηδὲ θαυμάσῃς τόδε, where there is a similar doubt.
368.
mvp-comment-284-1
ἐντεθέρμανται] ἐνθερμαίνειν may surely mean ἐντὸς θερμαίνειν, ας ἐμπιμπλάναι means ἐντὸς πιμπλάναι, and unless we are to get rid of all ἅπαξ λεγόμενα, there is no good reason for exchanging this, at some one's suggestion, for ἐκτεθέρμανται, because the Scholiast explains the word by ἐκκέκανται and ἐκθερμαίνειν means somewhere, 'To chafe the limbs.' The addition of this line is suited to the character of the Messenger, whose garrulity unconsciously rubs the sore.
371.
mvp-comment-285-1
πρὸς μέσῃ.. ἀγορᾷ] ‘Near the midst of the Trachinians' public place.' Lichas was standing in the midst of the ἀγορά, his audience were standing near. The expression is varied infr. 423. The word μέσῃ marks the publicity of Lichas' statement. See note on O. T. 808.
373.
mvp-comment-286-1
ἐξελέγχειν] Sc. αὐτόν. · Clearly to convict him.' εἰ δὲ μὴ λέγω φίλα] From the signs of emotion which she shows, and perhaps instructed by the gestures of the Chorus, the man perceives at last how Deianira is wounded. Ср. О. Т. 746, and note. For φίλα, cp. Phil. 1178, φίλα μοι, φίλα ταῦτα παρήγγειλας.
374.
mvp-comment-287-1
οὐχ ἥδομαι] ‘I am sorry.' Cp. Eur. Med. 136, οὐδὲ συνήδομαι, ὦ γύναι, ἄλγεσι δώματος, ἐπεί μοι φίλον κέκρανται.
