Sophocles Trachiniae 132

Richard Jebb (Translator)

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Scene
← Previous Next →

Trachiniae. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1892.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Trachiniae (English) (Sophocles the plays and fragments, Part 5: The Trachiniae. Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, Sir, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1892. (Modernized by Perseus.))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 132 focus
μένει γὰρ οὔτ᾽ αἰόλα νὺξ βροτοῖσιν οὔτε κῆρες
οὔτε πλοῦτος, ἀλλ᾽ ἄφαρ
βέβακε βέβηκε βέβακε, τῷ δ᾽ ἐπέρχεται
χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι.
ἃ καὶ σὲ τὰν ἄνασσαν ἐλπίσιν λέγω
130
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 132 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 141 focus
I see you have been told of my distress,
And that hath brought you. But my inward woe,
Be it evermore unknown to you, as now!
Such the fair garden of untrammeled ease
Where the young life grows safely. No fierce heat,
No rain, no wind disturbs it, but unharmed
It rises amid airs of peace and joy,
Till maiden turn to matron, and the night
140
Inherit her dark share of anxious thought,
140
Haunted with fears for husband or for child.
140
Then, imaged through her own calamity,
140
Some one may guess the burden of my life.
140
Full many have been the sorrows I have wept,
140
But one above the rest I tell to-day.
When my great husband parted last from home,
He left within the house an ancient scroll
Inscribed with characters of mystic note,
Which Heracles had never heretofore,
In former labours, cared to let me see,—
As bound for bright achievement, not for death.
But now, as though his life had end, he told
What marriage-portion I must keep, what shares
He left his sons out of their father’s ground:
And set a time, when fifteen moons were spent,
Counted from his departure, that even then
Or he must die, or if that date were out
And he had run beyond it, he should live
Thenceforth a painless and untroubled life.
Such by Heaven’s fiat was the promised end
Of Heracles’ long labours, as he said;
So once the ancient oak-tree had proclaimed
In high Dodona through the sacred Doves.
Of which prediction on this present hour
In destined order of accomplishment
The veritable issue doth depend.
And I, dear friends, while taking rest, will oft
Start from sweet slumbers with a sudden fear,
Scared by the thought, my life may be bereft
Of the best husband in the world of men.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 132 focus
Denn dauernd bleibt nicht der Nacht
Glanz auf Erden, nicht das Unglück,
Nicht der Reichthum; schnell entschwindet
Jenem Haus und zieht in dies
130
Genießen und Entbehren.
So mußt auch du dies allezeit, o Königin,
In Hoffnung festhalten: sahst du je, daß
Zeus also rathlos ließ die Seinen?
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 141 focus
The fame, it seems, of Deianira's woes
Hatli reached thine ears, but oh ! thou little knowst
What 1 have suffered ! Thou hast never felt
Sorrows like mine. And long may be the time
Ere sad experience shall aftiict thy soul
With equal woes ! Alas ! the youthful maid
In flowery pastures still exulting feeds,
Nor feels the scorching sun, the wintry storm,
140
Or blast of angry
140
Secure she leads
140
A life of pleasure, void of every care,
140
Till to the virgin's happy state succeeds
140
The name of wife. Tlien shall her portion come
140
Of pain and anguish, then her terrors rise
For husband and for children. Then perchance
You too may know what 'tis to be unhappy,
And judge of my misfortunes by your own.
Long since oppressed by many a bitter woe
Oft have 1 wept, but this transcends them all ;
For I will tell thee, when Abides last
Forth on his journey went, he left behind
An ancient scroll. Alas ! before that time
In all his labours he did never use
To speak as one who thought of death — secure
Always he seemed of victory ; but now
This writing marks, as if he were to die,
The portion out reserved for me, and wills
Ilis children to divide th' inheritance ;
Fixes the time, in fifteen moons, it saj^s.
He should return. That past or he must perish,
Or, if he 'scape the fatal houi", thenceforth
Should lead a life of happiness and joy :
Thus had the gods, it said, decreed his life
And toils should end : so from their ancient beach
Dodona's doves foretold. Th' appointed hour
Approaehes that must bring th' event, e'en now,
My friends, and therefore nightly do I start
From my sweet slumbers, struck with deadly fear.
Lest I should lose the dearest, best of men.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 141 focus
Inform'd, I ween, of my afflictions thou
Art present here: what anguish rends my heart
May'st thou ne'er know by suffering; thou as yet
Art inexperienc'd. Youth at random roves
O'er its own flow'ry fields; nor scorching heat
Nor show'r annoys it, nor the noxious force
Of boisterous winds; in pleasures it supports
A life that knows not trouble, till the name
140
Of virgin now is lost in that of wife:
140
Then first she shares anxiety; the night
140
Then for her husband bids her wake to fears,
140
Or for her children; then she may be taught
140
By her own feelings what th' oppressive woe
140
That weighs me down. My tears have often flow'd
140
For many sufferings; but my present griefe
Springs from such cause as never rose before;
This I will tell thee. When my royal lord
On his last emprize issued from his house,
He left with me a writing of old date,
His mandates, which before when marching forth
To many contests he forbore to show,.!
But went as to o'ercome, and not to die.
But now, as to return no more, he gave
In charge what portion for my nuptial dow'r
I should receive, and to his sons assign'd do
To each his share of his paternal land and N
Nay, he the time determined; from these realms
Beyond the complete year three waining moons/
Should he be absent, then the fates required
That he must die; the dangers of that timeo
Should he surmount, then all his future life!
Will pass unshaded with affliction's cloud,
To all the toils of Hercules, he said,
Such is the period by the gods assign'd;
Thus at Dodona the prophetic Doves
Gave from their ancient beech the voice of fate.
These truths are certain, and the present time
Gives dreadful expectation of th' event;
So that, loved virgins, from sweet sleep I start,
Distracted with my fears lest I remain
Now of the noblest of mankind bereaved.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-71-1 οὔτ’ αἰόλα 1 νὺξ 2

mvp-comment-71-2 κῆρες 3

mvp-comment-71-3 ἀλλ’ ἄφαρ βέβακε 4

mvp-comment-71-4 τῷδ’ 5 χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι 6 ἐπέρχεται 7

mvp-comment-71-5 Other views are as follows. (1) The constr. is,

ἀλλὰ χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι ἄφαρ βέβακε
(
τῷ μέν
),
τῷ δ’ ἐπέρχεται
. This is less simple. (2)
τῷ δ’
=simply ‘ and to him,’— i.e., to the person from whom woe or joy ‘has gone.’ But: ( a)
τῷ δ’
surely implies an antithesis. ( b) The clause
τῷ δ’ ἐπέρχεται κ.τ.λ.
would thus mean merely,—‘and then his experiences begin over again.’

mvp-comment-72-1 ἃ 8

mvp-comment-72-2 Others suppose that

ἃ
is governed by ἴσχειν 9 τάδ’ 10

mvp-comment-72-3 For λέγω 11

mvp-comment-72-4 ἐλπίσιν ἴσχειν 12 ἄβουλον 13

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

94-140. mvp-comment-81-1 Parodos. Where in the wide world is Heracles, reposing in what continent, or by what narrow sea? Tell us, bright, all-beholding Sun! For our Deianira, for whose hand he fought, wears out her soul in thinking of him on her lonely couch; so ceaseless are the toils that crowd upon him like stormy billows. But God hath hitherto protected him; wherefore let not hope weary, O my queen. No life is without pain, but, by Divine ordinance, grief succeeds to joy and joy to grief. Remember this and hope the best. Zeus cannot leave his offspring to destruction.' The metre beginning with an iambic rhythm passes quickly into dactylo-trochaic, changing again in the epode to iambo-trochaic (with occasional syncope), then to pure iambics, ending with a bacchius followed by three trochees.

126. mvp-comment-102-1 ἀνάλγητα] Lit. 'Things without pain,' i. e. 'A tranquil existence.' For this use of the neuter adj. cp. Aj. 885, σχέτλια γάρ, κ.τ.λ., Ο. C. 537.

127. mvp-comment-103-1 ἐπέβαλε] Gnomic aorist = 'Doth not send. ἐπιβάλλειν is used as in ἐπιβάλλειν ζημίαν. “The lot which Zeus imposes on mortals is never exempt from grief.' ἐπὶ . . κυκλοῦσιν] Grief and joy come circling round to all, i.e. Grief succeeds to joy and joy to grief. For the tmesis, see Essay on L. § 18. p. 27. ἐπί marks succession in time, as in ἐπήλυθον ὧραι. οἷον . . κέλευθοι] 'Like the circling course of the Bear, i. e. As the constellation now is high in heaven, and now all but touches the horizon, so man's life is elevated and depressed. Others, without the comma, read χαράν, 'A circling course like that of the Bear brings round joy and grief to all.'

133. mvp-comment-104-1 αἰόλα] Glimmering,' or 'Palpitating,' rather than Spangled.' Cp. Εl. 106, ἄστρων ῥιπάς. For the repetition of the same word with some difference of meaning, see Essay on L. § 44. pp. 83. 4.

135. mvp-comment-105-1 βέβακε] Sc. ὁ πλοῦτος ἢ αἱ κῆρες. τῷ δ'] (1) ‘And to him,' viz. from whom the sorrow or the wealth has departed, 'comes in turn either rejoicing or loss.' Or (2) To another man.' In this case χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι means, 'To be glad and again (afterwards) 'to lose.' The point, however, is not that sorrow passes from one to another, but rather that sorrows and joys alternate in the same life.

136. mvp-comment-106-1 ἃ (1) is resumed by apposition in τάδε, cp. Eur. Andr. 1115, ὧν Κλυταιμνήστρας τόκος εἷς ἦν ἁπάντων τῶνδε μηχανορράφος. 'Which truths I bid thee also, who art a Queen, to hold fast in looking forward.' Or (2), with Hermann, 'In respect of which truths (ἃ) I bid thee ever be hopeful regarding this' (τάδε), viz. the fortune and return of Heracles. Cp. Ant. 897, κάρτ᾽ ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφω, κ.τ.λ.