Sophocles Trachiniae 972

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)) — 972 focus
Ωμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ,
*ὦ om. πάτερ, ὤμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ ἐγώ σου μέλεος.
τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι; οἴμοι.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 972 focus
Many hot toils and hard beyond report,
980
With sturdy thews and sinews I have borne,
980
But no such labour hath the Thunderer’s wife
980
Or sour Eurystheus ever given, as this,
980
Which Oeneus’ daughter of the treacherous eye
Hath fastened on my back, this amply-woven
Net of the Furies, that is breaking me.
For, glued unto my side, it hath devoured
My flesh to the bone, and lodging in the lungs
It drains the vital channels, and hath drunk
The fresh life-blood, and ruins all my frame,
Foiled in the tangle of a viewless bond.
Yet me nor War-host, nor Earth’s giant brood,
Nor Centaur’s monstrous violence could subdue,
Nor Hellas, nor the Stranger, nor all lands
Where I have gone, cleansing the world from harms.
But a soft woman without manhood’s strain
Alone and weaponless hath conquered me.
Son, let me know thee mine true-born, nor rate
985
Thy mother’s claim beyond thy sire’s, but bring
985
Thyself from out the chambers to my hand
985
Her body that hath borne thee, that my heart
985
May be assured, if lesser than my pain
It will distress thee to behold her limbs
With righteous torment agonized and torn.
Nay, shrink not, son, but pity me, whom all
May pity—me, who, like a tender girl,
Am heard to weep aloud! This none could say
He knew in me of old; for, murmuring not,
I went with evil fortune, silent still.
Now, such a foe hath found the woman in me!
Ay, but come near; stand by me, and behold
What cause I have for crying. Look but here!
Here is the mystery unveiled. O see!
Ye people, gaze on this poor quivering flesh,
Look with compassion on my misery!
My father, since thy silence gives me leave,
Still hear me patiently, though in thy pain!
For my request is just. Lend me thy mind
Less wrathfully distempered than ’tis now;
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 972 focus
Weh, Vater, um dich!
955
Unseliger ich! Weh, weh
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 972 focus
Alas ! my father; whither shall I go ?
Wretch that 1 am. Oh ! where shall I betake me ?
What will become of thy afflicted son ?
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 972 focus
What anguish, O my father, rends my heart
To see thee thus! What can I do? Ah me,
Unhappy me, what grief is mine!
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 971 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-498-1 τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι 1

mvp-comment-499-1 ὠμόφρονος 2

mvp-comment-500-1 προπετής 3

mvp-comment-500-2 δακὼν 4

mvp-comment-501-1 οὐ μὴ )ξεγερεῖς 5

mvp-comment-501-2 κάτοχον 6

mvp-comment-502-1 φοιτάδα 7

mvp-comment-503-1 ἀλλ’ ἐπί μοι 8

mvp-comment-503-2 ἄπλετον 9 ἄπλετον 10 ἐμμέμονε 11 ἐπί 12 μοι 13

mvp-comment-504-1 ὦ Ζεῦ 14

mvp-comment-504-2 τοῖσι 15

mvp-comment-504-3 πεπονημένος 16

mvp-comment-504-4 ἀλλήκτοις 17

mvp-comment-505-1 οἴμοι <μοι> 18 μοι 19 ὀδύναις 20 ὧδ’ 21

mvp-comment-506-1 ἡ δ’ 22 ἅδ’ 23

mvp-comment-506-2 βρύκει 24

mvp-comment-507-1 ἆρ’ ἐξῄδη 25

mvp-comment-507-2 ἐξῄδη ς’ 26 ἐξῄδης 27 ἐξῄδησθ’ 28

mvp-comment-507-3 κεύθειν — σκεδάσαι 29

mvp-comment-508-1 κρατὸς βλεφάρων θ’ 30 βλεφάρων ὕπνον 31

mvp-comment-509-1 στέρξαιμι 32

mvp-comment-510-1 Κηναία 33

mvp-comment-510-2 κρηπὶς 34

mvp-comment-511-1 ἱερῶν οἵων 35 ἐπί μοι 36 ἠνύσω 37 ἤνυσας 38 ἤνυσας 39

mvp-comment-511-2 ὦ Ζεῦ 40

mvp-comment-512-1 ἔθου με λώβαν 41

mvp-comment-513-1 ἣν 42 ἣν … ὄσσοις 43

mvp-comment-513-2 μή ποτ’ 44 προσιδεῖν 45 ὤφελον 46

mvp-comment-513-3 ἀκήλητον 47

mvp-comment-513-4 καταδερχθῆναι 48

mvp-comment-514-1 ἀοιδός 49

mvp-comment-514-2 τίς ὁ χειροτέχνης 50 ὃς 51

mvp-comment-514-3 χωρὶς Ζηνὸς 52

mvp-comment-515-1 θαῦμ’ ἂν πόρρωθεν ἰδοίμην 53 πόρρωθεν 54 θ<*>μα 55

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

968. mvp-comment-699-1 Heracles, borne by attendants, now comes in sight. Hyllus either meets (supr. 902, note), or enters with them. For the verbal ἀναύδατος, cp. Ο. Τ. 191, περιβόατος. The polyschematism, or displacement of the trisyllabic foot (--) has troubled the critics, some of whom read φθίμενον for θανόντα, and some θάνατον, sc. κατά. But it is by no means certain that this metrical variation is impossible.

972. mvp-comment-700-1 τί πάθω] What is to happen to me?' Cp. Ο. C. 216, ὤμοι ἐγώ, τί πάθω, τέκνον ἐμόν;

974. mvp-comment-701-1 μὴ κινήσῃς] ‘Lest thou shouldst rouse.'

975. mvp-comment-702-1 ὠμόφρονος] 'Wild of mood.' The old man retains a vivid impression of what he has seen at Cenaeum, and on the voyage.

976. mvp-comment-703-1 ζῇ γὰρ προπετής] 'For he lives, though at the point of death.᾽ εἰς τὸν θάνατον προνενευκώς. Schol. Cp. supr. l. 701, τοιόνδε κεῖται προπετές, and note. The meaning is, (a) He is not quite dead, (b) He is all but dead. δακών] 'With clenched teeth.' Cp. Aristoph. Nub. 1368, 9, κάνταῦθα πῶς οἴεσθέ μου τὴν καρδίαν ὀρεχθεῖν; ὅμως δὲ τὸν θυμὸν δακὼν ἔφην, κ.τ.λ. Join στόμα both with ἴσχε and δακών.

977. mvp-comment-704-1 ἡ ζῇ] ἡ expresses doubtful eagerness. 'Does he really live?'

979. mvp-comment-705-1 κἀναστήσεις] The pain is imagined as a wild beast, which for the present is couched in slumber. For ἐκκινήσεις, cp. Εl. 567. 8, ἐξεκίνησεν ποδοῖν | στικτὸν κεράστην ἔλαφον.

980. mvp-comment-706-1 φοιτάδα] 'Wild.' If the malady is once awakened, there is no saying whither it may run.

982-983. mvp-comment-707-1 ἐπί μοι, φρήν] ‘My feelings rush upon me with resistless force.' Sophocles probably connects ἄπλετος with ἄπλατος. βάρος ἄπλετον is accusative in apposition with the action of ἐμμέμονε. Cp. Eur. I. T. 655. Heracles now awakes in delirium.

984. mvp-comment-708-1 παρὰ τοῖσι] This form of the dative of rís is rare. Cp. Hdt. 1.37, τέοισι ὄμμασι, 2. 81.

985. mvp-comment-709-1 ἀλλήκτοις] Epic for ἀλήκτοις.

986-987. mvp-comment-710-1 For the two paroemiacs, cp. infr. 1006-8, El. 88, 9, 105, 6.

987. mvp-comment-711-1 ἡ δ᾽ αὐ] The disease is again spoken of as a living thing. Cp. Phil. 758, ἥκει γὰρ αὕτη, κ.τ.λ.

988. mvp-comment-712-1 ἐξήδης] Hast thou now learnt?'

989. mvp-comment-713-1 σιγῇ κεύθειν] (1) To remain shrouded in silence, κεύθω being used intransitively as in Ο. Τ. 968, κεύθει κάτω δὴ γῆς. This is better than (2) To hide (what you might wish to say).

991-992. mvp-comment-714-1 πῶς ἂν | στέρξαιμι] ‘How to endure,' i. e. so as to keep silence. Valcknaer's conjecture, στέξαιμι, is based on a mistaken reading of O. T. 11, q. v. The division of l. 991 (cp. supr 981) is allowable in the freer sort of anapaestic verse that is used in laments.

993. mvp-comment-715-1 ὦ Κηναία κρηπίς βωμῶν] Cenean support of altars; i.e. Rock of Cenaeum, on which the altars are set.

995. mvp-comment-716-1 ἱερῶν . . ἠνύσω] ‘What glorious victims did I offer upon thee, and what a return of misery hast thou (for thy part) accomplished for me! In the MS. reading (see v. rr.) ἀντί and θυμάτων are due to glosses. Mr. Paley objects το ἐπί μοι. But cp. Phil. 1139, О. С. 414, and see Essay on L. § 44. p. 83, g.

996. mvp-comment-717-1 ἠνύσω· ὦ Ζεῦ,] According to this punctuation, the words & Ζεῦ are not a passing exclamation, but an address to his Father, to whom he suddenly turns, accusing him as the first cause of all (cp. infr. 1278). So Hermann. For the two accusatives after ἔθου, cp. Eur. Οr. 1038, ὕβρισμα θέμενος τὸν ᾿Αγαμέμνονος γόνον.

998. mvp-comment-718-1 foll. ἣν μήποτ᾽ ἐγὼ.. καταδερχθῆναι] Heracles, in his delirium, confuses the effect with the cause, ἣν .. ὅσσοις referring to the sacrificial robe (cp. infr. 1048-52). There would be something feeble in his merely wishing that he had not experienced this trouble. And ὄσσοις would then be inappropriate. Wunder supposes Κηναία κρηπίς to be the antecedent to ἥν; but this is of course inconsistent with our punctuation, and is forced in any case.

999-1000. mvp-comment-719-1 τόδε . · καταδερχθῆναι is epexegetic of προσιδεῖν. In what follows ἀκήλητον is taken up and expanded. μανίας ἄνθος] 'Bloom of madness,' i.e. madness in the highest degree. Cp. Ant. 959, 60, οὕτω τᾶς μανίας δεινὸν ἀποστάζει | ἀνθηρόν τε μένος.

1001. mvp-comment-720-1 τίς γὰρ ἀοιδός] 'For what charmer, what master of the healing craft so famous?' etc. Incantations were regarded as a branch of medicine. Cp. Aj. 582, and note. Hermann rightly defends d, which Erfurdt had condemned: 'Incipit poeta, ut si dicturus sit, τίς ἀοιδὸς κατακηλήσει ; tum mutata structura pergit, τίς ὁ χειροτέχνης ἰατορίας, ὃς κατακηλήσει;' Besides giving an antecedent to ὅs, the article asks for one great physician to be named. What charmer, - or who is he, the famed physician?' etc.