Sophocles Trachiniae 749

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)) — 749 focus
εἰ χρὴ μαθεῖν σε, πάντα δὴ φωνεῖν χρεών.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 749 focus
Art thou to hear it? On, then, with my tale!
When after sacking Eurytus’ great city
He marched in triumph with first-fruits of war,—
There is a headland, last of long Euboea,
Surf-beat Cenaeum,—where to his father Zeus
He dedicates high altars and a grove.
There first I saw him, gladdened from desire.
And when he now addressed him to the work
Of various sacrifice, the herald Lichas
Arrived from home, bearing thy fatal gift,
The deadly robe: wherewith invested straight,
As thou hadst given charge, he sacrificed
The firstlings of the spoil, twelve bulls entire,
Each after each. But the full count he brought
Was a clear hundred of all kinds of head.
Then the all-hapless one commenced his prayer
In solemn gladness for the bright array.
But presently, when from the holy things,
And from the richness of the oak-tree core,
There issued flame mingled with blood, a sweat
Rose on his flesh, and close to every limb
Clung, like stone-drapery from the craftsman’s hand,
The garment, glued unto his side. Then came
The tearing pangs within his bones, and then
The poison feasted like the venomed tooth
Of murderous basilisk.—When this began,
He shouted on poor Lichas, none to blame
For thy sole crime, ‘What guile is here, thou knave?
What was thy fraud in fetching me this robe?’
He, all-unknowing, in an evil hour
Declared his message, that the gift was thine.
Whereat the hero, while the shooting spasm
Had fastened on the lungs, seized him by the foot
Where the ankle turns i’ the socket, and, with a thought,
Hurl’d on a surf-vex’d reef that showed i’ the sea:
And rained the grey pulp from the hair, the brain
Being scattered with the blood. Then the great throng
Saddened their festival with piteous wail
For one in death and one in agony.
And none had courage to approach my sire,—
Convulsed upon the ground, then tossed i’ the air
With horrid yells and crying, till the cliffs
Echoed round, the mountain-promontories
Of Locris, and Euboea’s rugged shore.
Wearied at length with flinging on the earth,
And shrieking oft with lamentable cry,
Cursing the fatal marriage with thyself
The all-wretched, and the bond to Oeneus’ house,
That prize that was the poisoner of his peace,
He lifted a wild glance above the smoke
That hung around, and ’midst the crowd of men
Saw me in tears, and looked on me and said,
‘O son, come near; fly not from my distress,
Though thou shouldst be consumèd in my death,
But lift and bear me forth; and, if thou mayest,
Set me where no one of mankind shall see me.
But if thy heart withhold thee, yet convey me
Out of this land as quickly as ye may.
Let me not die where I am now.’ We then,
Thus urgently commanded, laid him down
Within our bark, and hardly to this shore
Rowed him convulsed and roaring.—Presently,
He will appear, alive or lately dead.
Such, mother, is the crime thou hast devised
And done against our sire, wherefore let Right
And Vengeance punish thee!—May I pray so?
I may: for thou absolv’st me by thy deed,
Thou that hast slain the noblest of the Earth,
Thy spouse, whose like thou ne’er wilt see again.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 749 focus
Ziemt dir's zu wissen, Alles denn sei dir gesagt. 1
Als er, zerstörend Eurytos' ruhmvolle Stadt,
Mit Siegstrophä'n und stolzer Beute weiter 30g;
740
Jezt auf Euböa's meerumspültem Vorgebirg
(Kenäon heißt es) heiligt er dem Vater Zeus
Altäre samt des Haines dichtbelaubtem Raum,
Wo ich zuerst ihn wiedersah, sehnsüchtig froh.
Und als er eben rüsten will der Opfer viel,
745
Trifft unser Herold Lichas ein von unserm Haus,
Und bringt dem Vater dein Geschenk, das Todeskleid.
Mit diesem, so wie du's befahlst, umhüllt er sich,
Und schlachtet zwölf erles'ne Farren ohne Fehl,
Den schönsten Schmuck der Beute; doch im Ganzen führt
750
Er hundert Opferthiere dar aus allem Vieh.
Anfänglich heitern Sinnes, war der Arme wohl
Des Schmucks, des Festgewandes froh und betete:
Doch als die Flamme blutigroth vom hehren Mahl
Und aus der Fichte fettem Stamm aufloderte,
755
Trof heller Schweiß ihm durch die Haut, und fest umschlang
Das Kleid ihm alle Glieder, wie von Künstlerhand
Den Seiten angelöthet; sein Gebein durchdrang
Die wilde Zuckung folternd; dann, wie mörderisch
Feindsel'ger Schlangen grimmes Gift, verzehrt' es ihn.
760
Da rief er tobend nach dem Unglückseligen,
Dem Lichas, der nicht schuldig war an deiner That,
Mit welchen argen Künsten er dies Kleid gebracht.
Der weiß um Nichts, der Arme, sagt, von dir allein
Sei diese Gabe, wie er sie von dir empfing.
765
Und jener, als er solches hört und wilder Schmerz
Ihm durch das Eingeweide wühlt in reger Qual,
Faßt ihn am Beine, wo das Fußgelenke schließt,
Und schleudert ihn zum meerumspülten Felsen hin.
Und aus dem Haupthaar sprüzte weißes Hirn, ihm barst
770
Der Schädel mitten, und zugleich raun dichtes Blut.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 749 focus
' If I must,
Observe me well : when Hercules, returned
From conquest, had laid waste the noble city
i Ee to Euboea came, where o'er the sea,
Which beats on every side, Oenseum's top
Hangs dreadful, thither to paternal Jove
His new raised altars in the leafy wood
He came to visit : there did my glad eyes
Behold Alcides first. As he prepared
The frequent victim, from the palace came
Lichas thy messenger, and wath him brought
The fatal gift : wrapped in the deadly garment
Without a blemish, firstlings of the spoil,
He slew ; together next a hundred fell.
The mingled fiock. Pleased with his gaudy vest,
And happy in it, he awhile remained,
Offering with joy his grateful sacrifice ;
But, lo ! when from the holy victim rose
The bloody flame, and from the pitchy wood
Exhaled its moisture, sudden a cold sweat
Bedewed his limbs, and to his body stuck
As by the hand of some artificer
Close joined to every part, the fatal vest ;
Convulsion racked his bones, and through his veins,
Like the fell serpent's deadly venom, raged ;
Then questioned he the wretched guiltless Lichas
By what detested arts he had procured
The poisoned garb ; he, ignorant of all,
Could only say it was the gift he brought
From Deianira. When Alcides heard it.
Tortured with pain, he took him by the foot,
And hurled him headlong on a pointed rock
That o'er the ocean hung; his brains dashed forth
With mingled blood flowed through his clotted hair
In horrid streams ; the multitude with shrieks
Lamented loud the fury of Alcides,
And Lichas' hapless fate ; none durst oppose
His raging frenzy ; prostrate on the earth
Kow would he lay and groan ; and now uprising
"Would bellow forth his griefs ; the mountain-tops
Of Locris, and Euboea's rocks returned
His dreadful cries ; then on the ground outstretched,
In bitterest wrath he cursed the nuptial bed
Of QEneus, and his execrations poured
On thee his worst of foes : at length his eyes,
Distorted forth from the surrounding smoke,
He cast on me, who midst attending crowds
Wept his sad fate ; " Approach," he cried, " my son,
Do not forsake thy father ; rather come
And share his fate than leave me here, oh ! haste.
And take me hence ; bear me where never eye
Of mortal shall behold me. O my child,
Let me not perish here." Thus spake my father,
And I obeyed : distracted with his pains
A vessel brings him to this place, and soon
Living or dead you will behold him here.
This have thy horrid machinations done
For thy Alcides : Oh ! may justice doom thee
To righteous punishment, if it be lawful
For me to call down vengeance on a mother.
As sure it is on one who hath disclaimed
All piety like thee ; the earth sustains not
A better man than him whom thou has murdered,
Nor shalt thou e'er behold his like again.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 749 focus
If thou wou'dst know it, I must tell thee all.
The far-famed town of Eurytus destroy'd,
The trophies of his conquest, and the spoils
He to Cenæum brought, a rocky point
High-rising on the Eubean shore, and wash'd
On each side by the sea; his altars there,
And the green foliage of a grove, he raised
To Jove his father; there my longing eyes
With joy first saw him: but as he prepared
The various victims, hence his servant came,
The herald Lichas, and thy present brought,
The fatal vest: with this, for such thy charge,
He robed himself, and slew twelve beauteous bulls
Selected from the play; but to the god
An hundred various victims he had brought.
At first th' unhappy hero, with a mind
Cheerful and joying in his gorgeous robe,
Offer'd his vows; but when the bloody flame
Blazed from the hallow'd sacrifice, and heat
Glow'd from the unctuous firs, close to his sides
And to each limb, as by some artist fix'd,
The robe abhered; and through his bones shot fierce
Convulsive pains; then as the poisonous gore
Of the detested Hydra rankled deep,
He ask'd th' unhappy Lichas, for thy crime
In nothing blamable, by whose base arts
He brought this robe: unconscious what he brought
Th' ill-fated herald said, from thee alone
It was a present to his charge assign'd,
And brought as he received it. At these words,
Rack'd as he was with agonizing pains,
He seized him by the foot above the part
Where the joint bends, and dash'd him 'gainst the rock
Projecting o'er the waves that wash its sides;
A mingled mass of hair, and brains, and blood
Flow'd from his shatter'd head; th' assembled crouds
Lament the hero's sufferings, and the fate
Of Lichas; but of all the train not one
Had courage to approach him: to the ground
One while he bent convulsed; anon erect
He cried aloud; the promontories round,
The rocks of Locris, and Eubœa's heights
Resounded with his cries: but now grown faint,
And oft with anguish writhing on the earth,
With many a groan he cursed thy nuptial bed,
Inhuman as thou art, to his repose
So fatal; cursed thy father's bridal rites,
Whence to his life this pest. Then through the mist,
That darken'd o'er him, his distorted eyes
He rais'd, and saw me 'midst the numerous croud,
Weeping his fate; he look'd on me, and cried
My son, come to me; do not fly my ills,
Though with thy dying father thou shou'dst die;
But bear me hence, and see thou lay me where
No mortal may behold me: if thy soul
Is sensible of pity, from this land
Remove me; haste, that here I may not die.
Thus as he urged, we placed him in a bark,
And brought him to this shore, no easy task,
Roaring aloud through anguish; him thou soon
Or living wilt behold, or lately dead.
This 'gainst my father have thy arts devised,
This hast thou done, my mother; and this deed
May rigorous justice on thy head repay,
And the avenging Fury, if my pray'rs
Be righteous: they are righteous: thou hast cast
All that is righteous from thee, and hast slain
The best, the noblest man the earth could boast:
His equal never more shalt thou behold.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 749 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-390-1 εἰ χρὴ μαθεῖν σε 1

mvp-comment-391-1 ὅθ’ εἷρπε 2

mvp-comment-392-1 τροπαῖα 3 ἀκροθίνια 4

mvp-comment-393-1 ἀκτή … ἔστιν 5

mvp-comment-393-2 Κήναιον 6

mvp-comment-393-3 πατρῴῳ 7 βωμοὺς ὁρίζει 8

mvp-comment-393-4 τεμενίαν … φυλλάδα 9 ἄσμενος πόθῳ 10

mvp-comment-394-1 πολυθύτους … σφαγὰς 11

mvp-comment-395-1 κῆρυξ ἀπ’ οἴκων … οἰκεῖος 12 οἰκεῖος 13

mvp-comment-396-1 προὐξεφίεσο 14

mvp-comment-397-1 ταυροκτονεῖ 15 συμμιγῆ βοσκήματα 16

mvp-comment-397-2 ἐντελεῖς 17

mvp-comment-397-3 βοῦς 18 ταυροκτονεῖ 19

mvp-comment-397-4 προσῆγε 20

mvp-comment-398-1 ἵλεῳ 21

mvp-comment-399-1 κόσμῳ τε … καὶ στολῇ 22

mvp-comment-399-2 Several critics alter κατηύχετο 23 κατήρχετο 24

mvp-comment-399-3 But κατηύχετο 25

mvp-comment-400-1 σεμνῶν ὀργίων … φλὸξ 26

mvp-comment-400-2 πιείρας δρυός 27

mvp-comment-401-1 ἱδρὼς 28 ἀρτίκολλος, ὥστε τέκτονος 29

mvp-comment-401-2 Some have supposed that the

χιτών
is compared to (stone or bronze) drapery on a statue.
τέκτων
could certainly mean a sculptor: Eur. Alc.348
σοφῇ δὲ χειρὶ τεκτόνων τὸ σὸν δέμας
|
εἰκασθέν
. But: (1) There would be little point in comparing a real robe to an imitation in art. (2) Cp. fr. 430. 4, where Pelops is responding, with his eyes, to the glance of Hippodameia, and the discreet limit which the lover's instinct observes is compared to the line traced by a craftsman's rule;—
ἴσον μετρῶν ὀφθαλμόν, ὥστε τέκτονος
|
παρὰ στάθμην ἰόντος ὀρθοῦται κανών
. There, then, as here, the simile is from a mechanical process: the
τέκτων
is suggested there by
ἴσον μετρῶν
, as here by
ἀρτίκολλος
.

mvp-comment-401-3 ἅπαν κατ’ ἄρθρον 30

mvp-comment-401-4 ὀστέων 31 ἀντίσπαστος 32 ἀδαγμός 33

mvp-comment-402-1 ἐχίδνης … ὣς 34

mvp-comment-402-2 ἐδαίνυτο 35

mvp-comment-403-1 )βόησε 36

mvp-comment-403-2 μηχαναῖς 37

mvp-comment-404-1 ἔλεξεν 38

mvp-comment-405-1 πλευμόνων 39

mvp-comment-406-1 ἄρθρον ᾗ λυγίζεται 40

mvp-comment-407-1 ἐκ πόντου 41

mvp-comment-407-2 The name ‘Lichades’ was given to some rocky islets just S. of C. Cenaeum, in the narrow strait dividing it from the promontory of Cnemīdes on the Locrian coast. Strabo 9. p. 426

ἐνταῦθα καὶ αἱ Λιχάδες καλούμεναι τρεῖς νῆσοι πρόκεινται, ἀπὸ Λίχα τοὔνομα ἔχουσαι
. Cp. Aesch. fr. 29, quoted on 237 f. Ovid Met. 9. 226
Nunc quoque in Euboico scopulus brevis emicat alte | Gurgite, et humanae servat vestigia formae; | Quem quasi sensurum nautae calcare verentur, | Appellantque Lichan.
 —
Λίχας
perh.=
λίθος
: cp.
ὄρνιχος, ὄρνιθος
(Preller 2. 255 n. 2).

mvp-comment-408-1 κόμης … μυελὸν ἐκραίνει 42

mvp-comment-408-2 μυελὸν 43

mvp-comment-408-3 διασπαρέντος 44 μέσου 45

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

749. mvp-comment-556-1 If you must know, then I must tell all.' εἰ χρὴ μαθεῖν σε] Wunder explained this: Dignane sit cui rem exponat, iratus Hyllus dubitat.' The words may also convey his feeling of horror in telling her the consequence of her crime. πάντα] 'All,' and not merely the answer to Deianira's last question. Hyllus is in too impatient a mood to tell his story piecemeal.

750-753. mvp-comment-557-1 ὅθ᾽ εἶρπε.. ἀκτή τις . . ἐστίν] Cp. supr. 237, and especially Eur. Hippol. 1198, ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἔρημον χῶρον εἰσεβάλλομεν, ἀκτή τίς ἐστι, .. . . ἔνθεν τις ἠχὼ .. .. βρόμον μεθῆκεν. See also Aesch. Fr. 29, Εὐβοΐδα καμπὴν ἀμφὶ Κηναίου Διὸς | ἀκτήν, κατ᾿ αὐτὸν τύμβον ἀθλίου Λίχα.

752. mvp-comment-558-1 Εὐβοίας ἄκρον] 'At the extreme end of Euboea.' ἄκρον is an adjective, rather than a substantive='A point of Euboea.'

754. mvp-comment-559-1 By a slight variation of expression ὁρίζει is here active, whereas ὁρίζεται in l. 237 is in the middle voice. See Essay on L. § 30. p. 516. τεμενίαν τε φυλλάδα] τέμενος πολύφυλλον, Schol.

755. mvp-comment-560-1 ἄσμενος πόθῳ] 'Rejoicing, for I longed to see him. The joy of Hyllus at finding his father was in proportion to his longing for him; hence the latter is represented as occasioning the former.

756. mvp-comment-561-1 πολυθύτους τεύχειν σφαγάς] To commence the slaying of many victims.' πολυθύτους = πολλῶν θυμάτων.

757. mvp-comment-562-1 οἰκεῖος] «His own,' i. e. attached to his person. This word denotes the relation of Lichas to Heracles. Deianira, to the Trachinian maidens, supr. l. 531, speaks of him as ὁ ξένος, i. e, as not belonging to Trachis.

759. mvp-comment-563-1 ὡς σὺ προὐξεφίεσο] Supr. ll. 608, 9, 623, and note. Hyllus heard Deianira's charge repeated by Lichas.

760. mvp-comment-564-1 ταυροκτονεῖ.. βοῦς] «Was engaged in sacrificing twelve entire (or perfect) cattle, the firstlings of the spoil. For the redundant expression, see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75; § 55. p. 101 , and cp. El. 190, οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους. ἔχων marks the continuity of the act = ἐπέχων, ἐντελεῖς is either (1) Unblemished,' or (2) ‘Entire' =ἐνόρχους, so that ἐντελεῖς βοῦς = ταύρους.

762. mvp-comment-565-1 προσῆγε] Sc. τοῖς βώμοις.

764. mvp-comment-566-1 κόσμῳ τε καὶ στολῇ is either (1) a hendiadys for κόσμῳ στολῆς. “The ornate raiment,' or (2) implies that the dress was accompanied with ornaments, such as a brooch, etc.

765. mvp-comment-567-1 σεμνῶν ὀργίων] 'From the solemn sacrifices.' Abl. gen. assisted by ἀπό in what follows.

766. mvp-comment-568-1 πιείρας δρυός] Hermann, following a suggestion of the Scholiast, imagines δρῦς here to be the pine, or rather a general word for tree. This is disproved by comparing infr. 1195. The oak is naturally preferred in sacrificing to Zeus. πιείρας then refers not to the special peculiarity of the wood, but generally to the sap, or essential oil, or whatever the flame is supposed to feed on, as R. Browning says, 'Tasting some richness caked in the core of the tree.' (Balaustion).

767. mvp-comment-569-1 ἱδρὼς ἀνῄει] We may either read thus, or ἱδρῶτ᾽ ἀνίει. See v. rr. The breaking forth of the sweat is the first symptom of the activity of the poison. προσπτύσσετο] 'Was clinging.' This is the reading of the MSS., and was retained by Hermann. See on O. C. 1624, θώϋξεν. Musgrave conj. προσπτύσσεται.

768. mvp-comment-570-1 ἀρτίκολλος] Fast-glued,' not, 'Lately glued,' as the Scholiast supposed. ὥστε τέκτονος] Sc. κολλήσαντος, Like the work of a carpenter.' τέκτονος is a genitive absolute passing into the genitive of cause. Essay on L. § 9. pp. 13, 14.

769. mvp-comment-571-1 ἅπαν κατ' ἄρθρον] ‘At every joint,' i. e, showing every curve of the body. ἦλθε] 'Came on.' Cp. O. T. 681, δόκησις ἄγνως λόγων ἦλθε. ὀστέων ἀδαγμὸς ἀντίσπαστος] ‘Racking pains in the bones.' ὀστέων ἀδαγμός is, A shooting pain in the bones,' just as ὀμμάτων φόβον is, 'A fear in the eyes,' O. C. 729, 30.

770. mvp-comment-572-1 ἀντίσπαστος] ‘In contrarium vellens.' Wakefield.

771. mvp-comment-573-1 ἐδαίνυτο] 'It began devouring.' Sc. ὁ ἰός, to be supplied from ἰὸς ὥς. The thing compared is again absorbed in the comparison (cp. supr. 32, 3, 537,8) Hyllus infers the presence of poison from the effect.

772. mvp-comment-574-1 βόησε] The absence of the augment in a narrative passage may be justified by many examples, but it is a point of little importance whether we read βόησε or ᾿βόησε.

773. mvp-comment-575-1 τοῦ σοῦ κακοῦ] Cp. Ο. Τ. 572, 3, τὰς ἐμὰς | οὐκ ἄν ποτ' εἶπε Λαΐου διαφθοράς.

774. mvp-comment-576-1 For ποίαις, κ.τ.λ., depending on βόησε, cp. Ο. Τ. 780, καλεῖ.. ὡς εἴην, κ.τ.λ., supr. 267.

775. mvp-comment-577-1 μόνης] · And of no other,' a form of asseveration. Cp. O. C. μύνης τάδ' ἐστὶ δῆλον Ἰσμήνης κάρα,

776. mvp-comment-578-1 ἔλεξεν] Sc. εἶναι. Cp. infr. 1128, ἐρεῖς (SC. πρέπειν). ὥσπερ ἦν ἐσταλμένον] Either (1) ‘As had been given him in charge.' Or (2) taking δώρημα as the subject, - Even as it had been sent forth. The robe had been sent expressly as Deianira's gift, supr. l. 603.

779. mvp-comment-579-1 μάρψας ποδός] Cp. Eur. Cycl. 400, τὸν δ᾽ αὖ τένοντος ἁρπάσας ἄκρου ποδός. ἄρθρον ᾗ λυγίζεται] 'Where the joint moves about.'-At the ankle-socket.

780. mvp-comment-580-1 ῥιπτεῖ] Editors have changed this to ῥίπτει. Cp. Αj. 239. The derivative is more emphatic. Cp. φορῶ and φέρω. πρὸς ἀμφίκλυστον ἐκ πόντου πέτραν] (1) 'On a spray-washed island-rock that jutted from the sea.' ἐκ πόντου, SC. προφαινόμενov, -a descriptive phrase to be taken with the whole clause. Or (2) On a rock washed all around with waves from the sea.' The 'rock' is one of those known in historical times ας Λιχάδες νῆσοι.

781-782. mvp-comment-581-1 κόμης.. ὁμοῦ.] ‘And out through the hair he sprinkles a grey pulp, the brain being scattered about and blood therewith.' μέσον κάρα is a periphrasis for ἐγκέφαλος. κόμης is ablative genitive assisted by ἐκ in ἐκραίνει. Cp. supr. 765. There remains the question whether the subject of ἐκραίνει is (1) Lichas, or (2) Heracles. The latter (2) is stronger and more probable, the consequence of the action being identified in the rapid narrative with the action itself. For the former (1), cp. Aj. 918, 9, φυσῶντ᾽ ἄνω .. αἷμ᾿ ἀπ᾿ οἰκείας σφαγῆς.