961.
mvp-comment-694-1
ἄσπετόν τι θαῦμα] Accusative in apposition with the action of χωρεῖν; i. e. the 'Stupendous marvel' is not the person of Heracles, but the manner of his coming.
963.
mvp-comment-695-1
προὔκλαιον] I mourned beforehand.' The word suits more exactly with μακράν than with ἀγχοῦ. ὀξύφωνος, κ.τ.λ.] The figure is suggested by the distance to which the notes of the nightingale are carried.
964.
mvp-comment-696-1
ξένων γὰρ ἐξόμιλος ἥδε τις βάσις] 'For here comes the step of strangers from another people.' βάσις is abstract for concrete, like ἀνδρῶν Φεραίων εὐμενὴς παρουσία (Eur. Alc. 606), and implies that those approaching are heard but not yet seen. Ας έκτοπος = ἔξω τῶνδε τῶν τόπων, and so 'Foreign,' So ἐξόμιλος = ἔξω τῆσδε τῆς ὁμιλίας. In what follows, the abstract word is treated as a collective; hence the singular number in φορεῖ, προκηδομένα.
965.
mvp-comment-697-1
πᾶ δ᾽ αὖ φορεῖ νιν] Hearing the cautious, uncertain tread of those who are carrying Heracles the Chorus cannot distinguish the direction of their movement till they come in sight. αὖ, if genuine, implies that the question occurs to them on taking second thoughts. Meineke conjectures πᾶ καί.
965.
mvp-comment-697-2
ὡς φίλου | προκηδομένα] ‘As caring for one who is dear to them, i. e. they move slowly and quietly because they are afraid of hurting him.
966.
mvp-comment-698-1
βαρεῖαν | ἄψοφον.. βάσιν] ‘With grief-oppressed and noiseless footsteps.' For βαρείαν, cp. Phil. 207, 8, βαρεία τηλόθεν αὐδά : infr. l. 982, βάρος ἄπλετον ἐμμέμονε φρήν.
968.
mvp-comment-699-1
Heracles, borne by attendants, now comes in sight. Hyllus either meets (supr. 902, note), or enters with them. For the verbal ἀναύδατος, cp. Ο. Τ. 191, περιβόατος. The polyschematism, or displacement of the trisyllabic foot (--) has troubled the critics, some of whom read φθίμενον for θανόντα, and some θάνατον, sc. κατά. But it is by no means certain that this metrical variation is impossible.
972.
mvp-comment-700-1
τί πάθω] What is to happen to me?' Cp. Ο. C. 216, ὤμοι ἐγώ, τί πάθω, τέκνον ἐμόν;
974.
mvp-comment-701-1
μὴ κινήσῃς] ‘Lest thou shouldst rouse.'
975.
mvp-comment-702-1
ὠμόφρονος] 'Wild of mood.' The old man retains a vivid impression of what he has seen at Cenaeum, and on the voyage.
976.
mvp-comment-703-1
ζῇ γὰρ προπετής] 'For he lives, though at the point of death.᾽ εἰς τὸν θάνατον προνενευκώς. Schol. Cp. supr. l. 701, τοιόνδε κεῖται προπετές, and note. The meaning is, (a) He is not quite dead, (b) He is all but dead. δακών] 'With clenched teeth.' Cp. Aristoph. Nub. 1368, 9, κάνταῦθα πῶς οἴεσθέ μου τὴν καρδίαν ὀρεχθεῖν; ὅμως δὲ τὸν θυμὸν δακὼν ἔφην, κ.τ.λ. Join στόμα both with ἴσχε and δακών.
977.
mvp-comment-704-1
ἡ ζῇ] ἡ expresses doubtful eagerness. 'Does he really live?'
979.
mvp-comment-705-1
κἀναστήσεις] The pain is imagined as a wild beast, which for the present is couched in slumber. For ἐκκινήσεις, cp. Εl. 567. 8, ἐξεκίνησεν ποδοῖν | στικτὸν κεράστην ἔλαφον.
980.
mvp-comment-706-1
φοιτάδα] 'Wild.' If the malady is once awakened, there is no saying whither it may run.
982-983.
mvp-comment-707-1
ἐπί μοι, φρήν] ‘My feelings rush upon me with resistless force.' Sophocles probably connects ἄπλετος with ἄπλατος. βάρος ἄπλετον is accusative in apposition with the action of ἐμμέμονε. Cp. Eur. I. T. 655. Heracles now awakes in delirium.
984.
mvp-comment-708-1
παρὰ τοῖσι] This form of the dative of rís is rare. Cp. Hdt. 1.37, τέοισι ὄμμασι, 2. 81.
985.
mvp-comment-709-1
ἀλλήκτοις] Epic for ἀλήκτοις.
986-987.
mvp-comment-710-1
For the two paroemiacs, cp. infr. 1006-8, El. 88, 9, 105, 6.
987.
mvp-comment-711-1
ἡ δ᾽ αὐ] The disease is again spoken of as a living thing. Cp. Phil. 758, ἥκει γὰρ αὕτη, κ.τ.λ.
988.
mvp-comment-712-1
ἐξήδης] Hast thou now learnt?'
989.
mvp-comment-713-1
σιγῇ κεύθειν] (1) To remain shrouded in silence, κεύθω being used intransitively as in Ο. Τ. 968, κεύθει κάτω δὴ γῆς. This is better than (2) To hide (what you might wish to say).
991-992.
mvp-comment-714-1
πῶς ἂν | στέρξαιμι] ‘How to endure,' i. e. so as to keep silence. Valcknaer's conjecture, στέξαιμι, is based on a mistaken reading of O. T. 11, q. v. The division of l. 991 (cp. supr 981) is allowable in the freer sort of anapaestic verse that is used in laments.
993.
mvp-comment-715-1
ὦ Κηναία κρηπίς βωμῶν] Cenean support of altars; i.e. Rock of Cenaeum, on which the altars are set.
995.
mvp-comment-716-1
ἱερῶν . . ἠνύσω] ‘What glorious victims did I offer upon thee, and what a return of misery hast thou (for thy part) accomplished for me! In the MS. reading (see v. rr.) ἀντί and θυμάτων are due to glosses. Mr. Paley objects το ἐπί μοι. But cp. Phil. 1139, О. С. 414, and see
Essay on L. § 44. p. 83, g.
996.
mvp-comment-717-1
ἠνύσω· ὦ Ζεῦ,] According to this punctuation, the words & Ζεῦ are not a passing exclamation, but an address to his Father, to whom he suddenly turns, accusing him as the first cause of all (cp. infr. 1278). So Hermann. For the two accusatives after ἔθου, cp. Eur. Οr. 1038, ὕβρισμα θέμενος τὸν ᾿Αγαμέμνονος γόνον.
998.
mvp-comment-718-1
foll. ἣν μήποτ᾽ ἐγὼ.. καταδερχθῆναι] Heracles, in his delirium, confuses the effect with the cause, ἣν .. ὅσσοις referring to the sacrificial robe (cp. infr. 1048-52). There would be something feeble in his merely wishing that he had not experienced this trouble. And ὄσσοις would then be inappropriate. Wunder supposes Κηναία κρηπίς to be the antecedent to ἥν; but this is of course inconsistent with our punctuation, and is forced in any case.
999-1000.
mvp-comment-719-1
τόδε . · καταδερχθῆναι is epexegetic of προσιδεῖν. In what follows ἀκήλητον is taken up and expanded. μανίας ἄνθος] 'Bloom of madness,' i.e. madness in the highest degree. Cp. Ant. 959, 60, οὕτω τᾶς μανίας δεινὸν ἀποστάζει | ἀνθηρόν τε μένος.
1001.
mvp-comment-720-1
τίς γὰρ ἀοιδός] 'For what charmer, what master of the healing craft so famous?' etc. Incantations were regarded as a branch of medicine. Cp. Aj. 582, and note. Hermann rightly defends d, which Erfurdt had condemned: 'Incipit poeta, ut si dicturus sit, τίς ἀοιδὸς κατακηλήσει ; tum mutata structura pergit, τίς ὁ χειροτέχνης ἰατορίας, ὃς κατακηλήσει;' Besides giving an antecedent to ὅs, the article asks for one great physician to be named. What charmer, - or who is he, the famed physician?' etc.
1003.
mvp-comment-721-1
χωρίς Ζηνός] 'Save only Ζεύς,' who has power to heal as to destroy.
1004.
mvp-comment-722-1
θαῦμ᾿ ἂν πόρρωθεν ἰδοίμην] Hermann placed a mark of interrogation after this line, understanding it to mean, 'Am I likely to see a miracle coming from afar?" This is hardly satisfactory. It seems better to take θαῦμα as an adverbial accusative. Cp. supr. 982, βάρος ἄπλετον. • Mine eyes would hail him wonderingly from afar.'
1004.
mvp-comment-722-2
foll. ἐ ἔ, κ.τ.λ.] Heracles thus addresses those who approach to lift him from the litter to the bed. Hyllus takes him in his arms and places him there. while he speaks ll. 1007, 8. The outburst that follows, ll. 1009 foll., is made from the bed.
1008.
mvp-comment-723-1
ἀντέτροφας ὅ τι καὶ μύσῃ] ‘ If aught of the evil slumber for a moment, you disturb it again.' Wunder complains of the want of correspondence between protasis and apodosis in respect of mood. But the combination of categorical with hypothetical expression is not uncommon even in prose. Cp. e.g. Plat. Phaedr. 244 Α. οὐκ ἔστ᾿ ἔτυμος λόγος ὃς ἂν φῇ. The subjunctive here suggests the doubt whether there has really been a moment of ease; i.e. 'You wake what sleeps if there be aught that sleeps.' Cp. Aj. 1160, and note. Linwood by substituting μύσαι, the optative for the subjunctive, evades the difficulty. ἀν(α)τέτροφας is perfect of ἀνατρέπω with present meaning.
1009.
mvp-comment-724-1
πόθεν ἔστ'] The Scholiast says, τὴν δὲ ἐκ τόπου σχέσιν εἶπεν ἀντὶ τῆς ἐν τόπῳ, ὡς σχεδόθεν δὲ οἱ ἦλθεν ᾿Αθήνη (Od. 2, 267), ἀντὶ τοῦ σχεδύν. So ἐγγύθεν ἐλθών, Il. 11. 396. As Hermann truly says, there is a reason to be rendered for every such expression, and here the meaning is, From whence do you show yourselves?' because none appeared from any quarter.
1010.
mvp-comment-725-1
πάντων .. ἀνέρες] Either (1) 'Ye most unrighteous of all Greeks:' or, (2) supposing the genitive not to be governed by the superlative, but to be a partitive gen. with ἀδικώτατοι ἄνδρες. 'Ye most unrighteous' (i. e. ungrateful) 'men in every part of Hellas.' See
Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.
He does not expect aid from barbarians, though he has cleansed barbarous countries too. οὓς δή] Hermann suggested ols, but it is better to retain oὕs, the inhabitants being put for the countries, with the additional notion of benefits conferred on them, and to take πολλά adverbially; i. e. ὧν γαῖαν καθαίρων, κ.τ.λ. Cp. infr. 1061.
1011.
mvp-comment-726-1
i.e. πολλὰ μὲν ἐν πόντῳ, πολλὰ δὲ κατὰ δρία πάντα, κτ.λ.
1012.
mvp-comment-727-1
Heracles calls not for healing (cp. supr. 1001 foll.), but for instant death. Cp. Phil. 747-50, 799-801.
1013.
mvp-comment-728-1
For the negatives, see
E. on L. § 29. p. 48, 1.
1015-1016.
mvp-comment-729-1
The interpretation of the Scholiast (οὐδεὶς ἐκείνων, φησί, βούλεται ἐλθὼν τὴν κεφαλήν μου ἀποτεμεῖν, καὶ ἐλευθερῶσαι τοῦ μοχθηροῦ βίου) suggests a slightly different text. Hermann would read λύων for μολών. Another expedient is to read ἀπαράξας κρᾶτα βίου θέλει | λῦσαι τοῦ στυγεροῦ. The Scholiast may have read λῦσαι μολών. Then λῦσαι having been dropped, through similarity to the last syllable of θέλει, ἀπαράξας would be changed to ἀπαράξαι for the sense.
1017.
mvp-comment-730-1
ὦ παῖ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός] 'Son of Heracles here!' It is strange that this expression should have given any trouble, when the much more vague ὦ παῖ κείνου τἀνδρός is so familiar in prose.
1019.
mvp-comment-731-1
σοί τε γάρ. σώζειν] 'For indeed thou hast a fulness of resource beyond what I can do to save him.' The language is obscure, but has not the appearance of being corrupt. The Epic use of re may be compared with the digammated of in l. 650, or ἀποτίβατος, infr. 1030. Ας βλέπειν sometimes = ζῆν, so ὄμμα may be put by synecdoche for keenness of the faculties generally. And the ellipse of μᾶλλον (
E. on L. § 39. p. 73
) may be accounted for by ἔμπλεον suggesting ἔνι πλέον. δι' ἐμοῦ σώζειν = τὸ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ σώζεσθαι αὐτόν, 'The hope of saving him through me.'
1021.
mvp-comment-732-1
λαθίπονον δ᾽ ὀδυνᾶν]
Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, § 55. p. 101.
οὔτ᾽ ἔνδοθεν οὔτε θύραθεν] (1) 'Neither by my own resources nor with help from others.' Or, (2) 'Neither from within nor from without,' distinguishing between the inward pain of Heracles and the cares which press upon him. Cp. Ο.Τ. 1318, κέντρων τε τῶνδ' οἴστρημα καὶ μνήμη κακῶν : Milton, Samson Agonistes, l. 18, Ease to the body some, none to the mind.' For a similar expression, cp. supr. 730, 4 μηδέν ἐστ᾽ *οἶκοι βαρύ.
1022.
mvp-comment-733-1
τοιαῦτα νέμει Ζεύς] 'The Father holds such things in his power.' Cp. Phil. 843, τάδε μὲν θεὸς ὄψεται. Others understand, So fearful is the trouble dispensed by Zeus.'
1023.
mvp-comment-734-1
ποῦ ποτ' εἰ Heracles recognizes the voice of Hyllus, but is too much distracted to perceive him otherwise at first. Cp. Phil. 805, ποῦ ποτ᾿ ὤν, τέκνον, κυρεῖς; Then presently he directs him how to hold and turn him for greater ease.
1030.
mvp-comment-735-1
ἀποτίβατος] 'Unapproachable, i. e. Irresistible or intractable. Cp. Αj. 255, τὸν αἰσ᾽ ἄπλατος ἴσχει,
1031.
mvp-comment-736-1
ἰὼ ἰώ] ἰὼ ἰὼ. *φύσαντ'] The MSS. have τὸν φύσαντ', for which some (Dindorf) would substitute τὸν φύτορ', others τὸν πατέρ'. The spondaic rhythm prevails throughout these five hexameter lines, and the omission of the article may be excused by saying that the participle is not = ὃς ἔφυσα, but = εἰ (or ἐπεὶ) ἔφυσα.
1032.
mvp-comment-737-1
ἀνεπίφθονον] 'Blameless:' i.e. no one could upbraid Hyllus for slaying his father under the circumstances.
1035.
mvp-comment-738-1
παῖσον] For the asyndeton, which is expressive, cp. Phil. 747-9, πρὸς θεῶν, πρόχειρον εἴ τί σοι, τέκνον, πάρα | ξίφος χεροῖν, πάταξον εἰς ἄκρον πόδα· | ἀπάμησον ὡς τάχιστα, μὴ φείσῃ βίου. ἄχος, ᾧ μ᾿ ἐχόλωσεν] The grief wherewith thy mother has enraged me.' Physical pain. however vividly portrayed, is never the chief point of tragic interest in Sophocles. The wrath of the foiled hero, which he is unable to wreak, is the bitterest pang of all.
1036.
mvp-comment-739-1
ἄθεος] 'God abandoned.' Either ος is long in arsi, before the pause, or (as in text) τάν should be read for ἄν.
1040.
mvp-comment-740-1
αὕτως, ὧδ᾽ αὕτως, ὡς μ᾿ ὤλεσεν] 'Even as she destroyed me, in the very way ye see me now.' For γλυκύς in addressing a deity, cp. Ο. C. 106, ἴτ', ὦ γλυκεῖαι παίδες ἀρχαίου Σκότου. The MSS. have ὦ Διὸς αὐθαίμων, ὦ γλυκὺς ῾Αίδας. The transposition, made for metrical reasons, also improves the sense by restoring the climax.
1042.
mvp-comment-741-1
εὔνασον εὔνασόν *μ'] Here also the MSS. are at fault, giving εὔνασόν μ᾿ εὔνασον. The metre is dochmiac. ὠκυπέτᾳ] (1) • Flying,' or (2), 'Descending swiftly,' in the shape of a thunderbolt. Cp. infr. 1086, 7: O. С. 1460, Διὸς πτερωτός .. βροντή.
1045.
mvp-comment-742-1
οἵας οἷος ὤν] Cp. Αj. 923, οἷος ὢν οἵας ἔχεις. The MS. reading olas may be defended as following the case of its antecedent συμφοράς, and also as cognate accusative. Others read oἵais.
1046.
mvp-comment-743-1
ὦ . . ἐγώ, κ.τ.λ.] For this mode of expression, cp. O. C. 337 foll, ὦ πάντ᾽ ἐκείνω . . τροφάς, κ.τ.λ. *κοὐ λόγῳ κακά] Evils that were so not in name only. This is Bothe's emendation of the MS. reading καὶ λόγῳ, which is certainly as old as Cicero's translation (Tusc. Disp. 2. 20), Multa dictu gravia, perpessu aspera.' This may be explained to mean, 'Even in report' (how much more, then, in reality!). Cp. Hdt. 7. 10, § 10, καίτοι καὶ λόγῳ ἀκοῦσαι δεινόν, ἐπ᾿ ἀνδρί γε ἑνὶ πάντα .. γεγενήσθαι. Wunder conjectures καὶ λόγων πέρα, which yields a fair sense, but κοὐ λόγῳ is simpler and more forcible. Cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 847, ἦλθε δ᾽ αἰακτὰ πήματ᾽ οὐ λόγῳ.
1047.
mvp-comment-744-1
καὶ νώτοισι] Some have supposed an allusion here to Heracles having relieved Atlas of his burden. But cp. infr. 1090 foll.
1048.
mvp-comment-745-1
κοὔπω] καὶ = καίτοι. Cp. infr. 1072: Phil. 385, κοὐκ αἰτιῶμαι τοῦτον:
Essay on L. § 25. p. 42.
1050.
mvp-comment-746-1
δολῶπις] ‘Of the deceitful eye.' The remembrance of Deianira's beauty returns involuntarily.
1050-1052.
mvp-comment-747-1
τόδ' Ἐρινύων ἀμφίβληστρον] Aesch. Ag. 1115, δίκτυον .. "Αιδου: Cho. 492, μέμνησο δ᾽ ἀμφίβληστρον ὡς ἐκαίνισαν : ib. 999.
1053.
mvp-comment-748-1
προσμαχθέν] Supr. 767-9. ἐκ.. βέβρωκε] Tmesis. ἐσχάτας] i.e. 'Even to the bone.'
1054.
mvp-comment-749-1
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.
1055.
mvp-comment-750-1
Hath already sucked away my fresh life-blood.' For χλωρόν, see above, note on l. 849.
1057.
mvp-comment-751-1
ἄφραστος is, ‘Baffling the mind,' and is here applied to that which cannot be overcome because it cannot be discerned, - Inscrutable.'
1058.
mvp-comment-752-1
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.
1059.
mvp-comment-753-1
θήρειος βία is probably, The violence of the Centaurs,' cp. infr. 1095, 6, and not generally, of wild beasts.'
1060.
mvp-comment-754-1
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.
1062.
mvp-comment-755-1
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.
1064.
mvp-comment-756-1
γενοῦ .. γεγώς] Cp. infr. 1157, ἐξήκεις δ' ἵνα | φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ. The tautology γενοῦ . γεγώς adds a pathetic emphasis.
1065.
mvp-comment-757-1
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.
1068.
mvp-comment-758-1
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.'
1070.
mvp-comment-759-1
οἴκτειρόν τε με] The two imperatives are connected by τε, because Heracles regards obedience to his request as inseparable from pity for his state.
1071.
mvp-comment-760-1
πολλοῖσιν οἰκτρόν] i. e. 'Whom many (and not my son only) may be expected to pity.' Cp. Eur. Med. 509, πολλαῖς μακαρίαν.
1074.
mvp-comment-761-1
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.
1075.
mvp-comment-762-1
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.
1076.
mvp-comment-763-1
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.
1078.
mvp-comment-764-1
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.
1082.
mvp-comment-765-1
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.
1083.
mvp-comment-766-1
οὐδ᾽ ἀγύμναστόν μ' ἐἂν] For the present tense, cp. Ant. 625, πράσσει δ᾽ ὀλιγοστὸν χρόνον ἐκτὸς ἄτας.
1091.
mvp-comment-767-1
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.
1093.
mvp-comment-768-1
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?'
1094.
mvp-comment-769-1
κατειργάσασθε] Cp. Hdt. 1. 24, ἑαυτὸν κατεργάσασθαι.
1095.
mvp-comment-770-1
ἄμικτον] 'Unsociable,' not mingling in friendship with mankind. ἱπποβάμονα] · Tramping with horses' feet.'
1096.
mvp-comment-771-1
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.
1098.
mvp-comment-772-1
σκύλακα] The word conveys a touch of contempt for Heracles' old enemy, Cerberus.
1099.
mvp-comment-773-1
δεινῆς Ἐχίδνης θρέμμα] Nurse-ling of dire Echidna.' Cp. Hes. Theog. 310, where Cerberus is so designated.
1100.
mvp-comment-774-1
ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτοις τόποις] 'In the farthest region. The vagueness of the expression, without γῆς or χθονός, is intentional.
1102.
mvp-comment-775-1
τῶν ἐμῶν χερῶν] Genitive of the object: i. e. of that over which the triumph is celebrated.
1103.
mvp-comment-776-1
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.
1104.
mvp-comment-777-1
τυφλῆς] ‘Blind,' i. e. 'Eluding sight.' Cp. supr. 1057, ἀφράστῳ. ἐκπεπόρθημαι] I am utterly destroyed.' Cp. Aj. 896, διαπεπόρθημαι,
1105.
mvp-comment-778-1
ὠνομασμένος] Alcmena's name was often introduced in speaking of Heracles. Cp. supr. 19, 644: Aj. 130 ᾿Αλκμήνης γόνος: Aesch. Ag. 1040, παῖδα . . ᾿Αλκμήνης.
1106.
mvp-comment-779-1
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.
1107-1108.
mvp-comment-780-1
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.'
1109.
mvp-comment-781-1
προσμόλοι μόνον] · Might she but come near,'-expressing a wish, not now a command. Cp. Ant. 310-2, and note: O. T. 624.
1111.
mvp-comment-782-1
καὶ θανών] ‘And when already dead,' as he was in effect even now.
1113.
mvp-comment-783-1
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.
1114.
mvp-comment-784-1
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.
1116.
mvp-comment-785-1
Ср. О. С. 1106, αἰτεῖς ἃ τεύξει.
1117-1118.
mvp-comment-786-1
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.'
1118-1119.
mvp-comment-787-1
Else you will not know in what you would fain rejoice, and wherein you are indignant without cause.
1120.
mvp-comment-788-1
ὡς ἐγὼ νοσῶν] 'Since I in my distraction.'
1121.
mvp-comment-789-1
Heracles' impatience is roused by Hyllus' vague antithetical expression (1117-9), which he treats as a riddle. Then Hyllus speaks more plainly.
1122.
mvp-comment-790-1
τῆς μητρός] About my mother. For this genitive, ср. О. Т. 701, Κρέοντος, and note.
1123.
mvp-comment-791-1
οἷς θ᾽ ἥμαρτεν] ‘And wherein she erred unwittingly.' Cp. Phil. 1011, 2, ἀλγεινῶς φέρων | οἷς τ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐξή- μαρτεν, οἷς τ᾽ ἐγὼ ᾿παθον.
