841.
mvp-comment-619-1
foll. In places like this, where there is reason to suspect error both in the strophe and antistrophe, emendation must be more than ever uncertain. A reading of ll. 853, 4 consistent with the metre is obtained in the text by omitting πω and altering the position of οὐκ and of ἀγακλειτόν. The reconciliation of ll. 845, 855, is more difficult. Either (1) the line is a lyrical senarius (without caesura), in which case the corruption is in the antistrophe (qy. ἰὼ κελαινὸν αἰμ᾿ ἀπροσμάχου δορός?), or (2) the metre of l.855 is to be followed, and ὀλεθρίαις is corrupt (qy. ἀτηραῖσι συναλλαγαῖς?).
841-850.
mvp-comment-620-1
"Which this poor lady, seeing great calamity fast coming upon her house, a strange new marriage being imminent, in one way did not understand at all (844. note), but for the unwitting act which arose from an alien will in consequence of a fatal meeting, over that methinks she groans in her misery, over that methinks she drops the fresh dew of abundant tears." ἄοκνον] Not shrinking,' i.e. Pressing on.
842.
mvp-comment-621-1
προσορῶσα δόμοις = ὁρῶσα πρὸς δόμοις. Cp. supr. ll. 376, 7, τίν' εἰσδέδεγμαι πημονὴν ὑπόστεγον | λαθραῖον ; νέων] Not merely new, but also 'strange,' or 'unprecedented.' Cp. Phil. 784, καί τι προσδοκῶ νέον. ἀἴσσόντων] Cp. for the personification, Εl. 492, ἄλεκτρ᾽ ἄνυμφα γὰρ ἐπέβα μιαιφόνων | γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ' οἶσιν οὐ θέμις, Ant. 10, πρὸς τοὺς φίλους στείχοντα τῶν ἐχθρῶν κακά.
844.
mvp-comment-622-1
οὗ τι προσέβαλε] (1) 'Had no perception.' Schol. συνῆκεν, and so Herm. This assumes that προσβάλλειν τι (γνώμῃ) = προσβάλλειν γνώμην τινί. (2) Αnother meaning is, however, not to be rejected, viz. οὗ τι πρ. 'Had no part in bringing to pass.' In one aspect the deed was not hers at all, in another aspect it was hers, but done unwittingly. And she repents bitterly of her unwitting crime. Cp. infr. l. 1051, καθῆψεν, κ.τ.λ., and especially Aesch. Pers. 781, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ κακὸν τοσόνδε προσέβαλον πόλει: Eur. Med. 637 foll. μηδέποτ᾽ ἀμφιλόγους ὀργὰς ἀκόρεστά τε νείκη | προσβάλοι δεινὰ Κυπρίς. In either case, the words τὰ μὲν .. τὰ δ' are added by an afterthought. The Chorus intend to speak of Deianira's repentance, but cannot do so without first declaring her innocence. τὰ μὲν . . τὰ δέ are not really different parts of the action, but the action regarded in different points of view. ἀλλόθρου] - Alien,' not merely as of another race of men, but of a race different from man, viz. of the Centaur.
845.
mvp-comment-623-1
γνώμας] «Intention,' or 'Determination.' Cp. esp. Aj. 744, Phil. 962, 1192. ὀλεθρίαις ξυναλλαγαῖς Hermann follows Triclinius in reading ὀλεθρίαισι συναλλαγαῖς. But the text remains uncertain. See above, note on 841 foll. The dative is that of the cause. For the meaning of ξυναλλαγαῖς, cp. Ο. Т. 1130, ἢ ξυνήλλαξάς τί πω;
846-847.
mvp-comment-624-1
ἢ που.. ἢ που] This is more forcible than ή που.. ή που, the MS. reading. The accents are not clear in L. ὀλοά] This word may be either (1) fem. sing., ' undone,' as in El. 843, or (2) neut. plur. adv. 'despairingly,' (so Schndw.). For the latter, cp. Il. 23. 10, ἐπεί κ᾿ ὀλοοῖο τεταρπώμεσθα γόοιο. But the former is more poetical, because fixing attention on the person of Deianira. Cp. supr. 111, δύστανον, and note; and, for the meaning of the adjective in this case, infr. 878, τάλαιν ὀλεθρία.
849.
mvp-comment-625-1
χλωρὰν.. ἄχναν] Tender dew.' χλωρός is a difficult word in Sophocles, because, as Bacon observes, words like 'hard,' 'soft,' moist,' 'dry,' being imperfectly abstracted from experience, have many secondary meanings. Tears are 'soft, 'tender,' 'moist, because 'the melting mood' does not suit the 'hard' temper, and dry eyes' give evidence of a dry,' unsympathizing soul. Again, χλωρὸν αἷμα, infr. l. 1055, is 'the blood which keeps the body flexible and fresh; while χλωρὰ ψάμαθος, in Aj. 1064, is literally the 'moist,' 'dank,' 'clammy' sand.
850.
mvp-comment-626-1
τέγγει.. ἄχναν] The cognate accusative is substituted for the accusative in regimen after τέγγω. So Pind. Nem. 10. 75, has τέγγων δάκρυα.
851.
mvp-comment-627-1
προφαίνει] 'Portends.' Cp. Hdt. 1. 210, τῷ δὲ ὁ δαίμων προέφαινε, ὡς αὐτὸς μὲν τελευτήσειν αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ μέλλοι, ἡ δὲ βασιληΐη αὐτοῦ περιχωρέοι ἐς Δαρεῖον : ib. 3.65; 7. 37, εἴρετο τοὺς μάγους τὸ θέλει προφαίνειν τὸ φάσμα. δολίαν] (1) The calamity is the more cruel because of the bright hopes out of which it springs. Cp. El. 489-91, ἃ δεινοῖς | κρυπτομένα λόχοις | χαλκόπους ᾿Ερινύς. This is better than (2) to suppose a reference to the fraud of Nessus, repeating the notion of δολόμυθα above.
852.
mvp-comment-628-1
ἔρρωγεν παγὰ δακρύων] The Scholiast, Hermann. and Schndw. suppose the Chorus to be speaking of their own tears, and to say in effect, 'I begin to weep.' But this would come tamely in the midst of a lofty and condensed lyric strain. It seems better to take these words as parallel to those which follow, and to understand them to mean, A flood-gate of tears is burst open,' i.e. 'A calamity has arisen, for which tears will flow in large measure.'
