Sophocles Trachiniae 507

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)) — 507 focus
ὁ μὲν ἦν ποταμοῦ σθένος, ὑψίκερω τετραόρου
φάσμα ταύρου,
᾿Αχελῷος ἀχελώιοσ ἀχελῷος ἀπ᾿ Οἰνιαδᾶν, ὁ δὲ Βακχίας βακχείας ἄπο ἄπο
ἦλθε ἦλθε παλίντονα Θήβας
510
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 497 focus
Victorious in her might,
The Queen of soft delight
Still ranges onward with triumphant sway.
What she from Kronos’ son
And strong Poseidon won,
And Pluto, King of Night, I durst not say.
But who, to earn this bride,
Came forth in sinewy pride
To strive, or e’er the nuptial might be known
With fearless heart I tell
What heroes wrestled well,
With showering blows, and dust in clouds upthrown.
One was a river bold,
Horn-crowned, with tramp fourfold,
Bull Achelôüs, Acarnania’s Fear;
And one from Bacchus’ town,
Own son of Zeus, came down,
With brandished mace, bent bow, and barbèd spear.
Who then in battle brunt,
Together, front to front,
Hurled, eager both to win the beauteous prize;
And Cypris ’mid the fray
Alone, that dreadful day,
Sate umpire, holding promise in her eyes.
Then clashed the fist, then clanged the bow;
Then horns gave crashing blow for blow,
Whilst, as they clung,
The twining hip throw both essay
And hurtling foreheads’ fearful play,
And groans from each were wrung.
But the tender fair one far away
Sate watching with an eye of piteous cheer
(A mother’s heart will heed the thing I say,)
Till won by him who freed her from her fear.
Sudden she leaves her mother’s gentle side,
Borne through the waste, our hero’s tender bride.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 507 focus
Acheloos, der Strom, in des Stieres Gestalt, vierfüßig und
Hochgehörnt, war's,
Von der Denier Stadt; und der Andere kam vom bacchischen 1
Thebe daher, den gekrümmten
Bogen, Wurfspeer' auch und die Keule bewegend,
505
Zeus' Sohn. Beid', um die Jungfrau
Glühend, betraten den Plan, und des bräutlichen
Genusses Göttin saß im Kreis, 2
Waltend allein des Kampfes.
Schlußgesang.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 497 focus
She speaks most kindly to thee. Be persuaded.
Hereafter thou shalt find her not ungrateful ;
We too will thank thee.
Lie. O my dearest mistress !
Not vinexperienced thou in human life,
Nor ignorant. And therefore naught from thee
Will I conceal, but tell thee all the truth :
'Tis as he said, and Hercules indeed
Doth love lole. For her sake alone
QCchalia, her unhappy country, fell ;
This — for 'tis fit I tell thee — he confessed,
Nor willed me to conceal it. But I feared
'Twould pierce thy heart to hear th' unwelcome tale,
And therefore own I would have kept it from thee 3
That crime, if such it was, 1 have committed.
But since thou knowst it all, let me entreat thee,
For her sake and thy own, oh ! do not hate
This wretched captive, but remember well,
What thou hast promised faithfully perform.
He, whose victorious arm hath conquered all,
Now yields to her, and is a slave to love.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 497 focus
Sovereign, resistless in her sway
O'er the charm'd heart victorious Venus reigns.
Not her sweet force, which Gods obey,
Which Jove's firm soul subdued, attunes these strains;
Which taught the gloomy Pow'r to bow,
The monarch of the realms below;
And him, who gives his thundering waves to roar,
And furious shake the solid shore.
To other themes these humbler strains belong:...
In arms contending for this bride,
The contest dust, and toil, and wounds decide.
Rising in all his strength the Flood,
In form a Bull terrific to the sight,
Ætolian Achelous stood,
With horns his threat'ning forehead arm'd for fight.
From Thebes the Chief of mighty fame
Fierce to the rough encounter came,
The son of Jove; his massy club he rears,
His bow unbent, his arrows bears.
Inflamed with jealous love and rival rage
In horrid combat they engage;
While Venus with severe delight
Awards the prize, and arbitrates the fight.
Dauntless each the fight provokes,
Loud the thunder of their strokes;
The clanging bow now aims the wound;
With dreadful clash the Bull's strong horns resound.
Now front meets front, the furious blow
With horrid conflict threatens death;
Now in strong grasp each struggling foe
Strains every nerve, and lab'ring pants for breath.
Meanwhile the beauteous Nymph, whose charms
Inflamed the combatants to arms,
Anxious and doubtful of her fate
Conspicuous on the river's margin sate;
(My song records the voice of fame)
All was suspence and awful dread,
Till victor now the hero came,
And from her mother's arms the trembling virgin led.
DBIA. Whilst with these female captives in the house
My guest, on his departure bent with speed,
Holds converse, unobserved to you, my friends,
Hither I come, to tell you what device
These hands have form'd, and for my sufferings raise
Your sympathetic pity; for no more
A virgin deem I that I here received,
But one who shares his bed; as in his bark
The mariner admits a baneful freight.
And now the same embrace in the same couch
We both await: such is the recompense
The good and faithful Hercules, so call'd,
Repays me for my long and anxious care.
Yet my heart knows not anger that he yields
Oft to this weakness; but to live with her
In the same house, with her my nuptial bed
To share, what woman can bear this? I see
Her age, it daily opens to fresh bloom,
While mine is in the sere: the eye of man
Delighted views the vernal glow, and loves
To crop the flow'r; but from the fading leaf
Turns with disgust away: hence rise my fears
Lest Hercules, in vain my husband call'd,
Give to her younger beauties all his love.
Yet not for this doth anger, as I said,
Become a prudent woman. But, my friends,
What I possess of pow'r to heal my griefs
I will inform you. In a brazen vase
A present from the ancient Centuar long
Have I preserv'd; while yet in. youth's fresh bloom
This from the shaggy Nessus I received
When dying from his wound. It was is wont
O'er the deep flood Evenus rolls to bear
For hire, who wish'd to reach the further bank,
In his strong arms; nor dashing oar was his,
Nor barge with-swelling sails. Me thus he bore,
When, unattended with my father's train
I followed Hercules; but when he reach'd
The middle of the stream, his wanton hands
'Gainst modesty transgress'd; I cried aloud:
The son of Jove sprung forward, in his hand
His ready bow, from which a feather'd shaft
Wing'd with impetuous fury pierced his side.
Me then the dying monster thus address'd,
Daughter of aged Œneus, I no more
Shall pass this flood; but since my arms have borne
Thee their last charge, derive thou thence this good,
Observant of my words: Preserve with care
The clodded blood which issues from my wound;
The gore of the Lernæan Hydra tinged:
The blacken'd shaft; this will have pow'r to charm
The heart of Hercules to thee assured;
That never woman shall his eyes behold
Fair and attractive of his love, like thee.
To memory this recalling (for with care
The dying Centaur's gift I have preserved)
With it, my friends, this vestment I have tinged,
Nothing omitted which he gave in charge
While yet he lived. These things are now prepared.
The boldness of ill arts I would not know,
I would not learn; those women I abhor
Who dare attempt them: yet her youthful bloom
Could I by charms o'ercome, and sooth the heart
Of Hercules to love, I would assay
Their potency: but if you deem th' attempt
Unmeet, or void of force, I will forbear.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 507 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-264-1 ποταμοῦ σθένος 1

mvp-comment-264-2 φάσμα ταύρου 2

mvp-comment-264-3 Acheloüs fights, then, as the

ἐναργὴς ταῦρος
,—not merely as the
ἀνδρείῳ κύτει βούπρῳρος
(12). Sophocles is here following the traditional version. The Homeric Scamander, in conflict with Achilles, roars ‘like a bull’ (
μεμυκὼς ἠΰτε ταῦρος
, Il.21. 237 ).
ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμηθέντες
(says the schol. there)
τὸν Ἀχελῷον ἐταύρωσαν Ἡρακλεῖ ἀγωνιζόμενον
. The taurine form was given to Acheloüs, in that combat, by Archilochus (schol. ib.), by Pindar (schol. Il.21. 194 ), and by the logographer Pherecydes ( Apollod.2. 6. 5 ): perhaps, too, by Panyasis, the author of an epic
Ἡράκλεια
. An engraved gem in the British Museum (King, Antique Gems II. pl. 34, fig. 3) shows Acheloüs as a bull, preparing to butt at Heracles. The gem is older than the time of Sophocles, and may, as Mr. Murray S. thinks, have followed the rendering of this subject on the still more archaic throne of Apollo at Amyclae ( Paus.3. 18. 5 ). Cp. n. on 520. This fight was a favourite theme in art: for the literature, see Roscher, Lex.p. 9.

mvp-comment-264-4 Ovid ( Met. 9. 1—100 ) departs from the old Greek version: his Acheloüs begins the fight in quasi-human form,—then turns into a serpent (63) ,—and then, as a last resource into a bull (80) .

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀπ’ Οἰνιαδᾶν 3

mvp-comment-265-2 Oeniadae was some twelve miles W.S.W. of Pleuron. As Heracles arrives from his famous home to the east, so it is fitting that the river-god should come from the western town which was a chief seat of his worship. The head of the Acheloüs appears on coins of Oeniadae.

mvp-comment-266-1 Βακχίας 4

mvp-comment-266-2 ἀπὸ 5 ἄπο 6

mvp-comment-267-1 παλίντονα 7

mvp-comment-267-2 λόγχας 8

mvp-comment-267-3 ῥόπαλον 9 λόγχας 10 ῥόπαλον 11 τόξα 12

mvp-comment-268-1 ἀολλεῖς 13 ἐς μέσον 14

mvp-comment-269-1 μόνα δ’ 15

mvp-comment-269-2 ἐν μέσῳ 16

mvp-comment-269-3 ῥαβδονόμει 17

mvp-comment-269-4 Aphroditè is here the only person near the two combatants ( ξυνοῦσα 18

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

498-530. mvp-comment-373-1 The power of Aphrodite here, as in Ant. 781 foll., is regarded more with awe than with delight. It has been now exemplified in Iole's conquest of Heracles, so cruel to Deianira, and destined to be so calamitous to all concerned (infr. l.872). The maidens in their sympathy with Deianira recall the time when the same power had driven heroes to do battle for her, and when she was carried triumphantly from her mother's side. There is a close correspondence, as elsewhere, between this lyric strain and passages in the preceding senarii. Cp. esp. ll. 4-40, 142-150, 441-3,465-7. The ode consists of a strophe, antistrophe, and epode, in which logaoedic rhythms are varied with anapaestic and iambic metres. The anapaests (cp. O. T. 469, 470, 479, 480) indicate the coming on of the combatants; the interrupted rhythms of the epode help to express the struggle between them, while the happy issue is marked by the trochaics and glyconics at the close.

507. mvp-comment-382-1 ποταμοῦ σθένος] An Epic expression. Cp. Il. 18. 607, ποταμοῖο μέγα σθένος Ὠκεανοῖο : ib. 486, τό τε σθένος Ωρίωνος : ib. 13. 248, σθένος Ἰδομενῆος. It is also used by Pindar and Aeschylus.

507-508. mvp-comment-383-1 ὑψίκερω τετραόρου | φάσμα ταύρου] Eustathius, p. 573, 27, reads τετράορον, but he quotes elsewhere as in the text, and the epithets redoubled about the same word are more impressive in this connection. τετράοροι ἵπποι in Od. 13. 81 are τέσσαρες ὁμοῦ ἀείροντες ἅρμα. Sophocles here employs the word in a new sense, = ἐπὶ τέσσαρσιν ἀειρόμενος, 'Upborne by fourfold means,' = 'four-footed.' This gives the Achelõus an advantage against his biped antagonist, and so lends additional terror to the description. φάσμα is in apposition with ποταμοῦ σθένος, ί.ε. σθεναρὸς ποταμός, ταῦρος παραφαινόμενος. The word φάσμα, like our 'apparition,' implies something which produces a strange impression through the eye. Cp. infr. 836, 7, δεινοτάτῳ ὕδρας . . φάσματι. Achelous enters the contest ἐναργὴς ταῦρος, supr. l. 11. Ср. Il. 21. 237, 8, τοὺς ἔκβαλλε θύραζε, μεμυκὼς ἠὔτε ταῦρος, | χέρσονδε.

510. mvp-comment-384-1 ἀπ᾿ Οἰνιαδᾶν] According to Hellenic notions each of the competitors for a prize must have a city. Achelous hails from Oeniadae, the city at his mouth, where he was probably worshipped, and had a τέμενος βωμός τε θυήεις.

510. mvp-comment-384-2 Βακχίας . . Θήβας] For Thebes as the city of Heracles, see above, l. 116, Καδμογενή. The word Bακχίας commends him to the favour of the Dionysiac worshippers. Cp. Ant. 1135 foll., Θηβαίας ἐπισκοποῦντ᾽ ἀγυιάς· | τὰν ἐκ πασᾶν τιμᾶς | ὑπερτάταν πόλεων. The emphasis on Θήβας is strengthened by the order of words, παλίντονα being interposed. This epithet has been explained as specially descriptive of a bow like the Scythian, whose ends turned outwards. But it is rather = 'elastic,' as a general epithet of the bow: i. e. Drawing against that which draws it. Cp. Heracl. Fr. 56, ed. Byw. παλίντονος ἁρμονίη κόσμου, ὅκωσπερ λύρης καὶ τόξου : ΙΙ. 8. 266, παλίντονα τόξα τιταίνων,

513. mvp-comment-385-1 παῖς Διός] The name is not required after this full description of the hero who is always in our thoughts. ἀολλεῖς] 'With collected might.' The Scholiast drily says, καταχρηστικῶς εἶπεν ἐπὶ δύο τὸ ἀολλεῖς. But the word is graphically descriptive of the confused contest as it appeared to an awe-stricken spectator. The meeting of the hero and the monster was as if two armies clashed. There is the same straining of language as in τετραόρου, supra. Cp. Milton, Par. Lost, Bk. 2. ll. 636 foll., where Satan is compared to a fleet at sea: ib. 714, 18, 'As when two black Clouds, | With Heaven's Artillery fraught, come rattling on | Over the Caspian, then stand front to front| Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow | To join their dark encounter in mid air.'

514. mvp-comment-386-1 ἱέμενοι λεχέων] 'Eager for the bridal.' See Essay on L. § 56. p. 102 , and cp. Il. 23. 371, πάτασσε δὲ θυμὸς ἑκάστου | νίκης ἱεμένων. μόνα] The combat was manifold, but one power, that of the Goddess of Love (supr.497-506), presided over the whole.