Sophocles Trachiniae 647

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)) — 647 focus
ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν, πάντα
δυοκαιδεκάμηνον ἀμμένουσαι
χρόνον, πελάγιον, ἴδριες οὐδέν·
ὁ ἁ δὲ οἱ φίλα δάμαρ δάμαρ
650
τάλαιναν τάλαινα δυστάλαινα καρδίαν
πάγκλαυτος v πάγκλαυτος αἰὲν ὤλλυτο·
νῦν δ᾽ Ἄρης οἰστρηθεὶs
ἐξέλυσ᾽ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 633 focus
O ye that haunt the strand
Where ships in quiet land
Near Oeta’s height and the warm rock-drawn well,
And ye round Melis’ inland gulf who dwell,
Worshipping her who wields the golden wand,—
(There Hellas’ wisest meet in council strong):
Soon shall the flute arise
With sound of glad surprise,
Thrilling your sense with no unwelcome song,
But tones that to the harp of Heavenly Muse belong.
Zeus’ and Alcmena’s son,—
All deeds of glory done,—
Speeds now triumphant to his home, whom we
Twelve weary months of blind expectancy
Lost in vast distance, from our country gone.
While, sadly languishing, his loving wife,
Still flowing down with tears,
Pined with unnumbered fears.
But Ares, lately stung to furious strife,
Frees him for ever from the toilsome life.
O let him come to-day!
Ne’er may his vessel stay,
But glide with feathery sweep of many an oar,
Till from his altar by yon island shore
Even to our town he wind his prosperous way,
In mien returning mild,
And inly reconciled,
With that anointing in his heart ingrained,
Which the dark Centaur’s wizard lips ordained.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 647 focus
Er, dessen wir volle zwölf Monden, 1
Da er ferne vom Haus im Meer umhertrieb,
Sehnsüchtig harrten, ohne Kunde.
Aber sein geliebtes Weib, die Arme,
(Armes Herz, von Gram verzehrt!)
640
Sie schwand in ewigem Jammer hin.
Doch jezt nahm, kaum noch in Wuth,
Ares nahm den traurigen Tag von ihr. 2
Zweite Gegenstrophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 633 focus
What canst thou tell him more ? Alas ! I fear
He'll know too well the love I bear to him.
Would I could be as certain he'd return it ! [Exeunt.
You who on (Eta's craggy summit dwell,
Or from the rock, whence gushing riv'lets flow,
Bathe in the warmer springs below.
You who near the Melian bay
To golden-shafted Diana hymn the lay.
Now haste to string the Ip^e, and tune the vocal shell,
No mournful theme demands your pensive strain,
But such as, kindled by the sacred fire.
The Muses might themselves admire —
A loud and cheerful song. For see.
The son of Jove returns with victory,
And richest spoils reward a life of toil and pain.
Far from his native land he took his way :
For twelve long moons, uncertain of his fate.
Did we lament his exiled state.
What time his anxious wife deplored,
With never-ceasing tears her absent lord ;
But Mars at last hath closed his long laborious day.
Let him from fair Euboea's isle appear.
Let winds and raging seas oppose no more.
But waft him to the wished-for shore.
Th' anointed vest's persuasive charms
Shall bring him soon to Deianira's arms.
Soon shall we see the great the loved Alcides here.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 633 focus
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)) — 647 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-331-1 ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν 1

mvp-comment-331-2 παντᾷ 2 ἀπόπτολιν 3

mvp-comment-331-3 δυοκαιδεκάμηνον … χρόνον 4

mvp-comment-331-4 πελάγιον 5

mvp-comment-332-1 ἁ δέ οἱ … δάμαρ 6 οἱ 7

mvp-comment-333-1 τάλαιναν 8 τάλαινα 9

mvp-comment-333-2 ὤλλυτο 10

mvp-comment-334-1 Ἄρης 11

mvp-comment-334-2 οἰστρηθεὶς 12 αὖ 13 οἱ 14 στρωθεὶς 15

mvp-comment-334-3 ἐξέλυσ’ ἐπίπονονἁμέραν 16 ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν 17

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

647. mvp-comment-483-1 ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν] ie. ὃς ἦν ἀπόπτολις ἡμῖν. 'Whose absence we endured.'

648. mvp-comment-484-1 πάντα.. χρόνον] 'All a twelve-month's time.' πάντα has been changed to παντᾶ for the sake of the metre; but, as Linwood observes, this adverb is nowhere used of time. It is better therefore to retain πάντα and to divide the lines as above, unless we suspect some deeper corruption. Or, if παντᾶ is read, it may be possibly explained of direction, 'Looking all ways for him.' Cp. supr. 96 foll. δυοκαιδεκάμηνον] Heracles had been absent fifteen months. The Chorus are less precise than Deianira in counting the days. They know that a full twelve-month has elapsed. And the time of chief anxiety had been the last year, on which the issue of Heracles' fortune hung. See especially infr. ll. 824-6, ὁπότε τελεόμηνος ἐκφέροι δωδέκατος ἄροτος, ἀναδοχὰν τελεῖν πόνων τῷ Διὸς αὐτόπαιδι.

649. mvp-comment-485-1 πελάγιον] 'Far at sea.' The expression is metaphorical, as in O. C. 662, 3, φανήσεται | μακρὸν τὸ δεῦρο πέλαγος. The meaning is that the place of his abode was as unknown as that of a vessel which, after leaving the shore, has passed beyond the horizon.

650. mvp-comment-486-1 ὁ δὲ οἱ] In Lyric poetry the habit of allowing a hiatus before of is retained from the Epic style.

651. mvp-comment-487-1 * τάλαιναν, Dindorf's correction of τάλαινα, removes an unpleasing tautology, and improves at once the metre and the sense.

652. mvp-comment-488-1 πάγκλαυτος] Cp. supr. ll. 105 foll.

654-655. mvp-comment-489-1 Hoc innuit chorus: quum Hercules diu ubi esset ignoratus, longe dissitas regiones peragrasset, nunc bellum quod exarserit, sustulit labores.' Herm. The War-god stung to fury' is a lyrical condensation of ll. 359-365. in which Lichas described the sudden levying of the war against Eurytus. For the personification, cp. Aj. 706, ἔλυσεν αἰνὸν ἄχος ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων ᾿Αρης, and note. The conjectures αὖ στρωθείς, οἱ στρωθείς, though receiving some plausibility from a late variant οἰστρωθείς, are really worthless. ἐξέλυσ᾽ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν] ‘Has freed him from the day of toil. The phrase ἐπίπονος ἁμέρα is formed on the analogy of δούλιον ἦμαρ, ἐλεύθερον ἦμαρ, and the like, in Epic Greek. For the accusative, cp. Ο. Τ. 35, ἐξέλυσας .. δασμόν. The day of toil' is the succession of labours, which had weighed on the life of Heracles, and through him on Deianira. Cp. infr. l.825, ἀναδοχὰν τελεῖν πόνων, κ.τ.λ.