Sophocles, Trachiniae, Thomas Francklin (Translator), 114

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Chorus

What dost thou tell us ?

Trachiniae. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.

Current edition Experimental

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 114 focus

οὕτω δὲ τὸν Καδμογενῆ τρέφει, τὸ δ᾽ αὔξει ἄξει αὔξει, βιότου

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 94-140 focus

Χορός

ὃν αἰόλα νὺξ ἐναριζομένα

τίκτει κατευνάζει τε, φλογιζόμενον
95

Ἅλιον Ἅλιον αἰτῶ

τοῦτο καρῦξαι, τὸν Ἀλκμήνας πόθι μοι πόθι παῖς

ναίει ποτʼ, ὦ λαμπρᾷ στεροπᾷ φλεγέθων,

ἢ ποντίας αὐλῶνος ἢ δισσαῖσιν ἀπείροις κλιθείς,
100

εἴπʼ, ὦ κρατιστεύων κατʼ ὄμμα.

103

Χορός

ποθουμένᾳ γὰρ φρενὶ πυνθάνομαι

τὰν ἀμφινεικῆ Δηιάνειραν ἀεί,

οἷά τινʼ ἄθλιον ὄρνιν,
105

οὔποτʼ εὐνάζειν ἀδακρύτων βλεφάρων πόθον, ἀλλʼ

εὔμναστον ἀνδρὸς δεῖμα τρέφουσαν ὁδοῦ

ἐνθυμίοις εὐναῖς ἀνανδρώτοισι τρύχεσθαι, κακὰν
110

δύστανον ἐλπίζουσαν αἶσαν.

112

Χορός

πολλὰ γὰρ ὥστʼ ἀκάμαντος ἢ νότου ἢ βορέα τις

κύματʼ ἂν εὐρέϊ πόντῳ βάντʼ ἐπιόντα τʼ ἴδοι,

οὕτῶ δὲ τὸν Καδμογενῆ στρέφει, τὸ δʼ αὔξει,

βιότου πολύπονον ὥσπερ πέλαγος
115

Κρήσιον. ἀλλά τις θεῶν αἰὲν ἀναμπλάκητον Ἅιδα
120

σφε δόμων ἐρύκει.

122

Χορός

ὧν ἐπιμεμφομένα σʼ αἰδοῖα μέν, ἀντία δʼ οἴσω.

φαμὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἀποτρύειν ἐλπίδα τὰν ἀγαθὰν
125

χρῆναί σʼ· ἀνάλγητα γὰρ οὐδʼ ὁ πάντα κραίνων βασιλεὺς ἐπέβαλε θνατοῖς Κρονίδας·

ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ πῆμα καὶ χαρὰ πᾶσι κυκλοῦσιν, οἷον

ἄρκτου στροφάδες κέλευθοι.
130

μένει γὰρ οὔτʼ αἰόλα

132

Χορός

νὺξ βροτοῖσιν οὔτε κῆρες

οὔτε πλοῦτος, ἀλλʼ ἄφαρ

βέβακε, τῷ δʼ ἐπέρχεται

χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι.
135

ἃ καὶ σὲ τὰν ἄνασσαν ἐλπίσιν λέγω

τάδʼ αἰὲν ἴσχειν· ἐπεὶ τίς ὧδε

τέκνοισι Ζῆνʼ ἄβουλον εἶδεν;
140

Translations (4)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 114 focus

DÊ

What more is there to tell?—Too rash, I fear,
630

Were thy report of longing on my part,

Till we can learn if we be longed for there.

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 112 focus

Wie man in Weiten der See, wann

Boreas oder der Süd stürmt,

Wogen sich drängend an Wogen,

Kommend und gehend erblickt:
110

So treibt den Sohn Thebe's umher

Des Lebens vielfältige Noth,

Und wächst empor, kretischen Meers

Wallungen gleich; doch läßt ihn nie

Straucheln ein Gott und hält ihn stets
115

Ferne vom Haus des Todes.

Zweite Gegenstrophe.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 114 focus

Chorus
STRO. 1. 633

You, on the cliffs, whose jutting brow

O'erhangs the dashing wave,

At whose soft foot the warm springs flow

The weary limbs to lave;

On Œta's summits rudely piled

Who fix your habitations wild;

You, who the Melian bay command,

The golden-quiver'd Virgin's strand,

Or near the rocky straits reside

Where Greece her Chiefs in council views with pride;

Soon shall you hear the pipe's sweet sound;

To you it comes again;

No mournful notes it breathes around

But sprightly is the strain;

And, with such airs as joy inspire,

Rivals the Muses' heav'nly lyre.

The winged hours the hero bring,

Son of Alcmena and heav'n's king;

He comes, he chases all our fears,

And the rich spoils of every virtue bears.

The hero absent from our state

Twelve tedious moons we mourn,

Whilst anxious Expectation sate,

And watch'd his wish'd return,

Unknown what seas he ploughs with pain,

What shores his lingering steps detain.

Meanwhile his fond wife melts in tears, '

And yields her heart a prey to fears :

But Mars now bids his fury cease,

And closes his long day of toils in peace.

ANTIS. 2. May he arrive, e'en now arrive

Nor let the lab'ring oar

Forbear his welcome bark to drive

On Trachin's shouting shore,

But bring him from the island shrine,

Where now he offers rites divine.

Yes, let him come with all the fire

Of eager love and fond desire;

Come, as the Centaur's words profest,

Wrapt in persuasion's medicated vest !

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 94-140 focus

Enter the Chorus on the other side.

Chorus

You, to whom Night gives birth when she is vanquished and despoiled of her starry crown,

and whom, as you blaze, she lays to rest, I pray you, O Sun, Sun, tell me, where is Alcmena’s son, where dwells her child? O Shining god with your bright flash,
95

is he on the straits of the sea, or does he lean upon the twin continents? Speak, you who surpass all in sight!
100

103

Chorus

For with longing heart, as I hear, Deianeira, the battle-prize, now,

like some mournful bird, never rests her eyes’ longing that they might be without tears, but nourishing a well-remembered fear for her husband’s travels she is constantly afflicted
105

by her anxious, widowed marriage-bed and in her misery anticipates misfortune.
110

112

Chorus

For just as one may see billow after billow

advancing and passing over the wide deep before the tireless south-wind, or the north, so the great toil of his life, stormy as the Cretan sea, now whirls back the heir of Cadmus, now exalts him. But some god always
115

keeps him unerring from the house of Hades.
120

122

To Deianeira.

Chorus

With respect I reproach you for your weeping, but still I will speak in dissent.

You must not, I say, wear away fair hope. Remember that the all-accomplishing king, the son of Cronus, does not appoint a painless lot for mortals. Sorrow and joy revolve to all, as the stars of the Bear
125

move in their circling paths.
130

132

Chorus

Starry night does not remain constant with men, nor does tribulation, nor wealth; in a moment it is gone from us, and to another in his turn come both

gladness and bereavement. So I urge even you, our Queen, to keep these matters firmly in your outlook. You must, for who has
135

known Zeus to be so without care for his children?
140

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-452-1 οὐ δή ποθ’ ¹

mvp-comment-452-2 πάντ’ ἀκήκοας ²

mvp-comment-452-3 τέθνηκεν ³

mvp-comment-452-4 878 For the metres of this

κομμός

(878—895), see Analysis.

mvp-comment-452-5 ὀλεθρία ⁴

mvp-comment-452-6 879 The MS. reading, σχετλιώτατα πρός γε πρᾶξιν ⁵ σχετλίῳ τὰ πρός γε πρᾶξιν ⁶

mvp-comment-452-7 Heinrich Schmidt, whose view of the metre will be seen in the Metrical Analysis, merely transposes

πρός

and

γε

, writing σχετλιώτατά γε πρὸς πρᾶξιν ⁷ γε ⁸

mvp-comment-452-8 By

πρᾶξιν

must be meant here the mode of ‘doing’ the deed, rather than the victim's ‘fortune’; though the latter is the usual sense of the singular ( Ant.1305 n.). After the question, τίνι τρόπῳ ⁹ πρᾶξιν ¹⁰

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

876. mvp-comment-648-1 οὐ δή ποθ᾿ ὡς θανοῦσα (sc. βέβηκε)] 'You cannot mean the way of death! Cp. supr. 668, and note. πάντ᾿ ἀκήκοας] She insists that her first words have told them all; but the Chorus, with the eagerness of sorrow, demand a more explicit statement. Cp. Εl. 676, θανόντ᾽ Ορέστην νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι λέγω.

Sophocles Trachiniae 114

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Chorus

What dost thou tell us ?

Current edition Experimental

DÊ

What more is there to tell?—Too rash, I fear,
630

Were thy report of longing on my part,

Till we can learn if we be longed for there.

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Chorus What dost thou tell us ?

Current edition Experimental

DÊ What more is there to tell?—Too rash, I fear, 630 Were thy report of longing on my part, Till we can learn if we be longed for there.

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Chorus

What dost thou tell us ?

DÊ

What more is there to tell?—Too rash, I fear,
630

Were thy report of longing on my part,

Till we can learn if we be longed for there.