Sophocles Trachiniae 1004

ed. Francis Storr

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Trachiniae. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Τραχίνιαι (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 2. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1913.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1004 focus
ἐ ἔ,
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1017 focus
Ah me!
Ah! ah! Again!
Even now the hot convulsion of disease
Shoots through my side, and will not let me rest
From this fierce exercise of wearing woe.
Take me, O King of Night!
O sudden thunderstroke.
Smite me! O sire, transfix me with the dart
Of thy swift lightning! Yet again that fang
Is tearing; it hath blossomed forth anew,
It soars up to the height!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1004 focus
Ah! Ah!
Lasset mich, lasset mich ruhen, den Leidenden!
Sa, ruh'n laßt mich zum leztenmal!
990
Wie rührst du mich an? Wo legst du mich hin?
Tod bringst du mir, Tod!
Das entschlafene Leiden erweckst du.
Wieder erfaßt es mich, ach! Schon kommt's! Von wannen in Hellas
Seid ihr Undankbarsten im Volk hellenischer Männer,
995
Die ich gerettet im Meer, und reinigend alle Gehölze,
Mich mühselig verzehrt? Und jezt will Keiner erbarmend
Nah'n mit Feuer und Lanze, die gräßliche Qual zu ver-
(Ah! Ah!)
kürzen,
Nah'n, um das Haupt mir vom Rumpfe zu trennen, und
1000
Mich befrein von des Lebens Leid?
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1017 focus
What power of medicine can assuage my pain^
Unless great Jove assisted? Health to me
Without him were a miracle indeed.
Let me, oh ! let me rest ; refuse me not
A little slumber ; why will ye torment me ?
Why bend me forward ? Oh ! 'tis worse than death ;
Had you not waked me, I had been at peace.
Again it rages with redoubled force ;
Where are you now, ye thankless Grecians, where.
Whom I have toiled to serve on the rough main,
And through the pathless wood? Where are you now
To help a dying wretch ? Will no kind hand
Stretch forth the friendly sword, or in the flame
Consume me? None, alas ! will cut me off
From hated life.
It is beyond my strength ; thy quicker sight
May be more useful.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1017 focus
Have you repaid? O Jove, with what fierce pains
Hast thou afflicted me? This dire disease,
Whose unextinguish'd rage to madness fires
My bursting veins, oh that I had not known!
What potent charm, what skill medicinal
Can mitigate, without the pow'r of Jove,
These agonizing pangs? Oh might I see
This miracle, though distant! Let me lie,
Ah, let me lie reposed. Why dost thou touch,
Why dost thou raise me up? Each touch is death.
Thou hast awaken'd pangs that were at rest.
Again my tortures are inflamed, again
They rush upon me. Ah, where are you now,
Ye most unjust of all the Grecian race?
With many toils th' infested seas I clear'd,
And all the ruffian-haunted woods; yet now
I miserably perish; not a man
Will bring or fire or sword to put an end
To my afflictions; not a man will come
Willing to rend from me this hated life.
O thou his son, this task requires a strength
Greater than mine; assist him thou, thine eye
Quicker than mine sees what may give him aid.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1004 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-516-1 This passage consists of lyrics delivered by actors (

ἀπὸ σκηνῆς
). As the Chorus takes no part in it, it is not technically a
κομμός
, which is a
θρῆνος κοινὸς χοροῦ καὶ ἀπὸ σκηνῆς
.

mvp-comment-516-2 The lyric structure is complex, but not obscure. The passage falls into two main parts, separated by the five hexameters in 1018—1022 (

ὦ παῖ τοῦδ’ ἀνδρὸς...νέμει Ζεύς
). I. The first part consists of 1004—1017, in which the first three verses correspond metrically with the last three. II. The second part consists of 1023—1043. (It is equal in length with the first part, though the traditional numbering makes it appear longer.) Here, the first four verses correspond with the last four. Then the central portion of part I. corresponds with the central portion of part II. Thus: (1) 1st strophe, 1004—1006,=1st antistr., 1015—1017. (2) 2nd str., 1007—1009,=2nd antistr., 1027—1030. (3) 3rd str., 1023—1026, =3rd antistr., 1040—1043. The dactyls in 1010—1014, and 1031—1040, could also be regarded as forming a fourth strophe and antistrophe.—For the metres see Metrical Analysis.

mvp-comment-517-1 ἐᾶτέ μ’, ἐᾶτε … εὐνᾶσθαι 1 εὐνᾶσαι 2 ὕστατον 3 εὐνάσαι 4 δύστανον 5 δύσμορον 6 ὕστατον 7 ἐᾶθ’ ὕστατον εὐνᾶσθαι 8 μολὼν τοῦ στυγεροῦ; φεῦ φεῦ 9

mvp-comment-518-1 πᾷ … ψαύεις 10 πᾷ 11

mvp-comment-519-1 ἀνατέτροφας 12

mvp-comment-519-2 ὅ τι καὶ μύσῃ 13

mvp-comment-520-1 ἥδ’ 14

mvp-comment-520-2 πόθεν ἔστ’ 15 πόθεν ἐστέ 16

mvp-comment-521-1 οὓς 17 καθαίρων 18 οἷς 19

mvp-comment-522-1 ἐν πόντῳ 20

mvp-comment-522-2

κατά τε
after
πολλὰ μὲν
: cp. Ant.1162
σώσας μὲν
... |
λαβών τε
(n.).

mvp-comment-522-3 δρία 21

mvp-comment-522-4 καὶ νῦν … οὐκ ἐπιτρέψει 22 οὐκ 23 ἀποτρέψει 24

mvp-comment-522-5 τῷδε 25

mvp-comment-522-6 πῦρ 26

mvp-comment-522-7 ἔγχος 27

mvp-comment-522-8 1016 f. The MS. reading,

ἀπαράξαι κρᾶτα βίου
, is explained as, ‘to sever the head from life,’— i.e., to destroy life by striking the head from the body. This extraordinary phrase is surely not Greek. It has been supported by a corrupt verse of Eur. , Helen. 302,
σμικρὸν
(
σμικρὸς
Badham)
δ’ ὁ καιρὸς ἄρτ’ ἀπαλλάξαι βίου
: where Keil reads
ἄρθῤ
, Nauck
κρᾶτ’
, and Hermann
σάρκ’
. But, whatever be read there,
ἀπαλλάξαι βίου
is widely different from
ἀπαράξαι βίου
. I hold, with Paley, that Wakefield's βίᾳ 28 τοῦ στυγεροῦ 29

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

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.