1.
mvp-comment-1-1
Λόγος μέν ἐστ᾽ ἀρχαῖος ἀνθρώπων φανείς] «Men have indeed declared of old.' ἐστί is the copula connecting λόγος, κ.τ.λ., as subject, with ὡς, κ.τ.λ., as predicate. Cp. Εl. 417, λόγος τις αὐτὴν ἐστιν εἰσιδεῖν, κ.τ.λ. φανείς, Made known,' is added epexegetically (cp. Phil. 3, κρατίστου πατρὸς Ἑλλήνων τραφείς), to strengthen ἀρχαῖος, which thus acquires the force of a supplementary predicate. ἀνθρώπων is possessive genitive with λόγος, not = ἐξ ἀνθρώπων. The chief stress is on λόγος. For this very prevalent γνώμη, cp. amongst other places Fragm. 583. The contradiction of old maxims sometimes gives point to tragic situations, though the confirmation of them is the more usual form. Deianira's trouble is beyond the experience of the wise.
2.
mvp-comment-2-1
αἰῶνα . . βροτῶν] ‘A mortal life, i.e. αἰῶνά τινος βροτῶν. The missing indefinite pronoun is supplied afterwards in tis and τῳ.
3.
mvp-comment-3-1
θάνῃ] θάνοι (indirect speech in past time, cp. 687) is another reading.
4.
mvp-comment-4-1
τὸν ἐμόν is the object primarily of ἔξοιδα, and secondarily of ἔχουσα, which is introduced by a change of construction. δυστυχῆ and βαρύν agree with it in the latter connection. ἔχουσα has a pathetic force, 'The life which I live,' cp. the dative in εἴ τῳ supr.
5.
mvp-comment-5-1
ἔξοιδα] ἐξ, as in ἐκμάθοις = 'fully,' with still stronger emphasis. 'One cannot clearly tell, -but I clearly know.'
6.
mvp-comment-6-1
ἥτις] In dwelling on her misery, Deianira's mind goes back to her first great trouble (cp. 144 foll.), the wooing of Achelous, from which Heracles had delivered her. But this deliverance had been the beginning of her sorrows. μέν opposes the ancient trouble to her subsequent life, 11. 27 foll., where, however, the verbal opposition is lost.
7.
mvp-comment-7-1
ναίουσα] ‘Having my home.' ἐνί] This reading, which has some MS. authority, and involves the least alteration from ev, has the merit of not clogging the sense. And the slight change in the form of the word makes its repetition after ἐν δόμοισι less objectionable. Even Erfurdt's ἔτ' ἐv is unnecessary and weak. ἐví does not occur again in Sophocles as a preposition; but cp. ὑπαί, Ant. 1035: Wund. reads ἔτι Πλευρῶνι, Mr. Paley, ναίουσα δ᾽ ἐν with Par. B.
7-8.
mvp-comment-8-1
νυμφείων.. γυνή] ‘Was afflicted with terror as to my nuptials beyond all my countrywomen.' ὄκνον] ὅτλον is a possible reading, but is probably only an early emendation.
8.
mvp-comment-9-1
Cp. l. 181. 'Shrinking fear in marriage' is more poetical, and more in character with the tender and delicate Deianira, than 'a burdensome wooing.' ὅτλον may have been taken from Aesch. S. c. Τ. 18, ἅπαντα πανδοκοῦσα παιδείας ὅτλον, where it suits the context.
8.
mvp-comment-9-2
ἄλγιστον εἴ τις] Α sort of double superlative.
Essay on L. § 40. 5. p. 75.
Cp. infr. 896, 7, μᾶλλον κάρτ᾽ ἂν ᾤκτισας: Eur. Andr. 6, νῦν δ᾽, εἴ τις ἄλλη, δυστυχεστάτη γυνή.
9.
mvp-comment-10-1
'For a river was my suitor, Achelous I mean.'
10.
mvp-comment-11-1
ἐξήτει] 'Who in three shapes importuned my father for me.' ἐζήτει is a weak reading, probably a mere clerical error.
11.
mvp-comment-12-1
φοιτῶν, ‘Visiting us' is more closely connected with what follows than with the preceding line, to which it is added epexegetically. Cp. l. 1. φανείς. ἐναργὴς ταῦροs) ‘In the unmistakable form of a bull.' ἐναργής either (1) distinguishes the complete from the partial bull-shape (ἀνδρείᾳ κύτει βούπρῳρος), or (2) implies that the bull was the proper and acknowledged symbol of the river-god. Cp. Eur. Iph. Α. 274, 5, κατειδύμαν | πρύμνας σῆμα ταυρόπουν ὁρᾶν | τὸν πάροικον ᾿Αλφεόν. ἄλλοτε is anticipated with ταῦρος. Cp. El. 752, 3, φορούμενος πρὸς οὖδας, ἄλλοτ᾽ οὐρανῷ | σκέλη προφαίνων.
11-12.
mvp-comment-13-1
αἰόλος | δράκων] Cp. infr. 834. The epithet is taken from Homer's αἰόλος ὄφις, Ιl. 12. 208, but with the meaning 'Spotted,' 'Variegated,' rather than 'Glancing' or 'Writhing.' The comparison of a winding river to a snake is obvious, and appears often in Greek as in other literature.
12.
mvp-comment-14-1
ἀνδρείῳ κύτει] • In manly shape.' κύτει, 'Case,' or 'Trunk,' agrees better with the picturesque quaintness of the whole description than τύπῳ, 'General outline.'
13.
mvp-comment-15-1
βούπρωρος] 'With the front of a bull.' βούκρανοs is another reading. Cp. Eur. Or. 1378, ὠκεανὸς .. ταυρόκρανος. The reading τύπῳ βούκρανος, although upheld by the MSS., appears to be a prosaic substitute, perhaps originating in an early gloss, for κύτει βούπρῳρος, which, although supported only by the quotation of Strabo, is decidedly, as Prof. Paley says, the more poetical reading. δασκίου] « Bushy.' Aesch. Pers. 316, πυρσὴν ζαπληθῆ δάσκιον γενειάδα. The ancients seem to have given this word a false association with δασύς.
14.
mvp-comment-16-1
κρουνοὶ . . ποτοῦ] • Gushing rills of fresh spring water were showered abroad.' The well-springs in the neighbourhood of a river were regarded in Greek mythology as the offspring of the river. Thus Callirhoë is the daughter of Scamander, and Achelous too has a daughter Callirhoë.
15.
mvp-comment-17-1
προσδεδεγμένη] This word may mean either, Having received, or, 'In constant expectation of.' Cp. ποτιδέγμενος, and δεδεγμένη, in Homer (where προσδεδεγμένος is excluded by the metre). To the latter meaning it has been objected that Achelöus was already the wooer of Deianira, who therefore could not be said to expect him in that capacity.
15.
mvp-comment-17-2
But having received' is really out of the question. Deianira cannot be said to have received one whom she abhorred. By a slight figure of speech the words τοιόνδε μνηστῆρα may be put either (1) for 'the coming of such a suitor,' or (2) for 'such a future husband.' This meaning, besides expressing more poetically the feeling of the maiden (cp. note on õkvov, supr. 7), harmonizes better with what follows, αἰεὶ ποτε.
17.
mvp-comment-18-1
τῆσδε]
Essay on L. § 22. p. 34:
infr. 1. 20.
18.
mvp-comment-19-1
χρόνῳ] The sentence begins as if with the usual χρόνῳ, 'In course of time;' but as the distinction arises with μέν and δέ, the first member of the antithesis is expanded with a slight difference of meaning. In time, however, -at a later time, and to my joy.'
20.
mvp-comment-20-1
ἀγῶνα] ‘Trial,' being a very general word, is further defined by μάχης, 'Combat.' Cp. Αj. 1163, ἔριδός τις ἀγών.
21.
mvp-comment-21-1
ἐκλύεται] Delivers.' For the historical present in tragic narrative, cp. Ο. Τ. 807, παίω δι᾽ ὀργῆς. The word ἐκλύεται is much more expressive of release from an odious bond than ἐκρύεται, which Blaydes suggests. The middle voice signifies, With his own hand.' Cp. Aesch. Prom. 253, ἐξελυσάμην βροτούς: Ant. 1112, καὶ παρὼν ἐκλύσομαι.
Essay on L. § 31. p. 53 d.
πόνων] ‘The fray.' A general word including the particulars described by the Chorus, infr. 507-522. Cp. Aj. 61, ἐπειδὴ τοῦδ᾽ ἐλώφησεν πόνου (the slaughter of the cattle).
22.
mvp-comment-22-1
οὐκ ἂν διείποιμ] 'I could not distinctly tell.' Cp. O. T. 894, διεῖπε χρῆναι, κ.τ.λ., and note, ib. 354.
23.
mvp-comment-23-1
ἀταρβὴς τῆς θέας] 'Without terror in beholding that sight.' The genitive after the privative adjective is here a genitive of relation. Ср. О. Т. 884, δίκας ἀφόβητος. ὅδε] In support of this reading, in preference to ὁ δέ, Mr. Blaydes and others have rightly compared Ant. 464, ὅστις γὰρ . . ζῇ, πῶς ὅδ᾽ οὐχί, κ.τ.λ
25.
mvp-comment-24-1
This line is condemned as spurious, entirely without reason, by Dobree and others. It is pathetic and well-placed. Deianira soliloquises about the fear she had lest the beauty of her girlhood might become a source of pain to her, as it would, if, after it had called forth two such suitors, the monster had prevailed over the god-like man. Her sympathy with Iole, whose beauty was her ruin (1. 465), is the more touching when this reminiscence precedes.
27.
mvp-comment-25-1
εἰ δὴ καλῶς] Cp. Eur. Or. 17, ὁ κλεινός, εἰ δὴ κλεινός, ᾿Αγαμέμνων.
28.
mvp-comment-26-1
λέχος ξυστᾶσα] • Since being matched with Heracles in the marriage which was adjudged to him.' λέχος] ' In a marriage,' accusative in apposition with the action of the sentence, or cognate acc. Cp. Αj. 491, τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον. Ἡρακλεῖ is primarily (a) dative after κριτόν, and secondarily (b) dative after ξυστᾶσα, 'Having met Heracles in a marriage which was adjudged to Heracles.' For this' ambiguous construction,' see
Essay on L. pp. 66, 7.
γὰρ at once introduces the announcement of the result, indicated in the words τέλος ἔθηκε Ζεύς, and the explanation of the doubt expressed in εἰ δὴ καλῶς. 'For I was married to Heracles, but have lived ever since in fear.' κριτόν] 'Adjudged,' viz. by the issue of the contest, determined by Zeὺς ἀγώνιος, Cp. Αj. 443, κρίνειν ἔμελλε κράτος ἀριστείας τινί: Hdt. 6. 129, τὸν κρίνοι ἐκ πάντων Others render 'Chosen,' because Heracles had fixed his choice on this marriage. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 4. 89, κριτὸν .. γυναικῶν . . γένος. ξυστᾶσα) This word suggests permanence more than ξυνελθοῦσα, and may also imply that a marriage with Heracles was one involving grave issues. Cp. the uses of ξυνίστασθαι in Herodotus, and Aesch. Prom. 806, μηδὲ πλαθείην γαμέτᾳ τινὶ τῶν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. Hermann, who takes the word as simply • συνελθοῦσα, quotes the Homeric phrase ἐμὸν λέχος ἀντιύωσαν. For τρέφω, cp. Aesch. Ag. 669, ἐβουκολοῦμεν φροντίσιν νέον πάθος. Α preceding scholion properly belongs to this line, viz. διὰ τὸ ἀεὶ περὶ Ἡρακλέους ἀγωνιᾶν,
29.
mvp-comment-27-1
προκηραίνουσα] 'Harassed with cares on his behalf.' The compound occurs nowhere else, but is perfectly natural here. Cp. Ant. 83, μή μου προτάρβει.
30.
mvp-comment-28-1
νὺξ γὰρ . . πόνον] 'For if night bring him home, the same night sends him away, renewing the succession of his toil' εἰσάγει, sc. αὐτόν, not πόνον, cp. infr. 34, 5. For the repetition of νύξ meaning one and the same night (which alone suits the context), cp. Aesch. Pers. 560, νᾶες μὲν ἄγαγον . . νᾶες δ' ἀπώλεσαν: Philoct. 1370, 1, διπλῆν μὲν διπλῆν δέ: and see
Essay on L. § 40. p. 76.
The same night that brings him home takes up the thread of his labours which had been dropped. διαδεδεγμένη πόνον = διαδοχὴν ἔχουσα πόνου. Εp. 825, ἀναδοχὰν . . πόνων. Two other explanations of these words are deserving of mention; (1) 'For one night brings sorrow and another pushes out the sorrow, receiving a new sorrow in its room.' ὥστε διαδοχήν μοι πόνου γενέσθαι, Schol. Rom. But εἰσάγει naturally refers to κείνου, and there is frigidity in such an expansion of ex φόβου φόβον τρέφω. (2) 'For one night brings him home, and another night dismisses him, receiving sorrow in his room. But Deianira is dwelling on the life of Heracles, not on her own feelings. And this is implied in the words κείνου προκηραίνουσα, with which γάρ connects what follows. Besides, the personification of night is in this case very confused. For ἀπωθεῖ, in which the feeling of separation is vividly expressed, cp. Tennyson's Love and Duty :- 'Crying, "Who is this? behold thy bride," She pushed me from thee.'
31.
mvp-comment-29-1
κἀφύσαμεν δὴ παῖδας] ‘And so we became the parents of children.' ποτε, 'At some uncertain time.' The vagueness of this has a pathetic force, like Helen's εἴποτ᾽ ἔην γε.
32.
mvp-comment-30-1
The family of Heracles is like a distant field, which the farmer never sees from sowing-time to harvest.
33.
mvp-comment-31-1
προσεῖδε] The thing compared is expressed in terms of the comparison (
Essay on L. § 35. p 60; ср. §42. p. 79
). Cp Shak. As You Like It : -'Adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, | Still wears a precious jewel in his head.' Hence the meaning of ἐξαμῶν is not to be pressed. Heracles after begetting his children only saw them for a moment when they were grown.
35.
mvp-comment-32-1
ἔπεμπε] She has hitherto been speaking generally; she is now going to particularize. The one long service is past (hence the imperfect tense), but her troubles are not yet over.
36.
mvp-comment-33-1
ὑπερτελὴς ἔφυ] He had surmounted these labours,' i. e. His life had passed beyond them. For ἔφυ, cp. Ant. 575, ῞Αιδης . . ἔφυ.
37.
mvp-comment-34-1
'It is just now that he has got beyond these tasks that my chief fear is come.'
38.
mvp-comment-35-1
ἐξ οὗ, κ.τ.λ.] The name of Iphitus is more closely connected with the fable than those of Ceyx (1. 40) and Eurystheus, which are omitted. The removal of Deianira and Hyllus to Trachis took place immediately after the death of Iphitus, more than fifteen months before the opening of the play. Ιφίτου βίαν] An adaptation of such Homeric phrases as βίην Ἡρακληείην.
39.
mvp-comment-36-1
ἡμεῖς] Deianira and her sons.
40.
mvp-comment-37-1
ξένῳ . . ἀνδρί] According to the legend this was Ceyx, the nephew of Amphitryon, whose name, like that of Eurystheus (supr. 35), is of no moment in relation to the plot.
40-41.
mvp-comment-38-1
ὅπου | βέβηκεν] 'Where he is gone.' The perfect of βαίνω has often in Sophocles the meaning of the substantive verb or of rest, but here is rather equivalent to οἴχεται than to ναίει, infr. 99. Cp. infr. 134. ὅποι is not required, because the meaning is equivalent to ποῦ κυρεῖ οἰχόμενος. Cp. Ο. C. 118, ποῦ κυρεῖ ἐκτόπιος συθείς; – In confirmation of this interpretation, which suits best with the emphatic position of βέβηκεν, see esp. infr. 246, 7, ἢ κἀπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει τὸν ἄσκοπον | χρόνον βεβὼς ἦν ἡμερῶν ἀνήριθμον, where βεβώς is clearly equivalent to οἰχόμενος. See also ἀποίχεται, infr. 42, in which the notion of βέβηκεν is resumed.
42.
mvp-comment-39-1
αὐτοῦ has been changed to αὑτοῦ, which, though certainly more grammatical because referring to the main subject, does not improve the sense. For the pronoun is to be connected with the immediately preceding words, implying ἐγὼ πικρὰς ὠδῖνας αὐτοῦ ἔχω. For the genitive of the object, see
Essay on L. § 9. p. 12, 2.
προσβαλὼν ἀποίχεται] ‘He has given me by going away.' The participle has the chief emphasis. Cp. О. С. 894, 5, οἴχεται .. ἀποσπάσας:
Essay on L. § 36. p. 63.
43.
mvp-comment-40-1
σχεδὸν . . ἐπίσταμαι] 'I am all but certain.'
44.
mvp-comment-41-1
βαιόν] Cр. О. С. 397, βαιοῦ, κοὐχὶ μυρίου χρόνου, She had been prepared for fifteen months' absence: infr. 164. But she knew that this must be followed by a crisis in the life of Heracles, And she has heard nothing.
45.
mvp-comment-42-1
ἀκήρυκτος δε οὐδεὶς ἐλθὼν κηρύττει καὶ ἀπαγγελλει, ποῦ ποτ' ἐστί, Schol.
46.
mvp-comment-43-1
κάστιν,, δεινόν] (1) Is really to be feared Cp Hdt. 7. 157, τοῦτο... ήδη δεινὸν γίγνεται, μὴ πέσῃ πᾶσα ἡ Ἑλλάς, Or (2), There is (ie, must have been) some terrible misfortune.' τοιαύτην. . ἔστειχε Because of the nature of the tablet which he left with me at parting. For this causal use of τοιοῦτος, see
Essay on L. § 22. pp. 35, 3 a
, and cp. Αj. 218, τοιαῦτ᾽ ἂν ἴδας, κ.τ.λ.
47.
mvp-comment-44-1
δέλτον See below, 157 foll. λιπών ἔστειχε He had given it to her in the house before setting forth. The participle has the chiet stress. The imperfect ἔστειχε recalls the time of leave-taking, Op. Phil. 1432, φέρε νυν στείχων χώραν καλέσω. Some editors have changed ἔστειχε τὴν to έστειχεν ἦν. But see
Essay on L. § 45. p. 85,
and cp. supr. 1. 7, ἦν, and note.
48.
mvp-comment-45-1
ἀρῶμαι, λαβεῖν] ie. I pray that no ill may follow my having received it. For a similar use of language, expressing a wish in connection with something in the past, cp. infr. 486, 7, καὶ βούλου λόγους, | οὓς εἶπας ἐς τήνδ', ἐμπέδως εἰρηκέναι.
49ff.
mvp-comment-46-1
Whether the Θεράπαινα here is the same with the Τροφός in 871 ff., or different, is a question which is best left unanswered.
49-50.
mvp-comment-47-1
πολλὰ . . πανδάκρυτ᾽ ὀδύρματα] * Often with tearful wailings.' The adverbial πολλά is expanded by the addition of πανδάκρυτ᾽ ὀδύρματα.
53.
mvp-comment-48-1
γνώμαισι δούλαις may be in one of two constructions: either (1) dative of reference after δίκαιον, or (2) dative of the instrument with φρενοῦν. In the former case (1) the abstract is put for the concrete, If the thoughts of a slave may be allowed to instruct one who is free. Cp Phil. 431, καὶ σοφαὶ γνῶμαι: intr. 844, 5. ἀπ᾿ ἀλλόθρου γνώμας. In the latter case (2) the subject of φρενοῦν is implied in δούλαις, 'If it be permissible that one should instruct the free with thoughts coming from a slave.' And this is probably right, as the words nearest together are genearlly to be taken together. καμὲ χρὴ φράσαι τὸ σόν] "Then is it right for me to suggest what you should do. τὸ σόν is preferable to τόσον...
53.
mvp-comment-48-2
(1) because the expression and the correspondence of the clauses is more complete and harmonious; (2) because, except in the phrase δὶς τόσα (Αj. 277), the form τόσος does not occur elsewhere in the senarii of Sophocles. See on Ο. Τ. 570, τοσόνδε γ' οἶσθα, κ.τ.λ. Some who read τόσον would connect the words through καί with the protasis, 'If a slave may be permitted, etc., and I may hint so much, -how is it?'
54.
mvp-comment-49-1
πῶς] For the asyndeton, see
Essay on L. § 34. p. 58.
μὲν.. ἀτάρ] We have here an instance of the form of sentence which often meets us in a more complex form in Thucydides and Plato, e.g. Rep. B. 2. p. 367 E, where two coordinate or opposed clauses are included under the vinculum of a single interrogative or negative. Cp. infr. 229 foll.: Philoct. 519 foll., ὅρα σὺ μὴ νῦν μὲν τις, κ.τ.λ. See
Essay on L. § 36. p. 68.
55.
mvp-comment-50-1
ἀνδρὸς κατὰ ζήτησιν] Cp. Hdt. 1. 94, ἀποπλώειν κατὰ βίου ζήτησιν.
56.
mvp-comment-51-1
εἰκός] ἰέναι rather than πέμπειν is the 'word understood,' as required by the subsequent context. Ср. О. Т. 190, ᾿Αρεά τε τὸν μαλερόν, κ.τ.λ.
57.
mvp-comment-52-1
νέμοι] The Scholiast seems to have read νέμει. But νέμοι agrees better with the indirect turn given by ὅνπερ εἰκός : “The very one who might be expected to go, if he was at all careful to ascertain his father's welfare.' For the double genitive (on which see
Essay on L. § 23. p. 37 a
), Dindorf well quotes Alexis apud Athenaeum, 10. Ρ. 431 Ε, τῶν δ᾽ ὠνουμένων προνοούμενοι τοῦ τὰς κεφαλὰς ὑγιεῖς ἔχειν. For the periphrasis with δοκεῖν, pointing to the desire of good tidings, cp. Ο. Τ. 402, εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐδόκεις γέρων εἶναι, and note: Thuc. 3. 10, ἀρετῆς δοκούσης. Here, as in similar expressions in Greek, seeming is not necessarily opposed to reality.
58.
mvp-comment-53-1
ἀρτίπους] (1) ὅ ἐστιν, ἀρτίως καὶ ἡρμοσμένως τῷ καιρῷ πορεύεται. Schol. And such an 'etymological' use = ' With timely approach,' is quite possible. (
Essay on L. § 54 6, p. 99
). The latter part of the compound is in this case less significant.
Essay on L. § 55. p. 101.
But (2) the simple Homeric meaning, Sound of foot,' is really more suited to the context, Hyllus, having out of doors heard news of his father, comes bounding home. The handmaid, seeing his agile movement, infers there can be no doubt of his ability to run this errand.' δόμους = εἰς δόμους, accusative of motion towards.
Essay on L. § 16. p. 22.
59.
mvp-comment-54-1
τί] Cp. Ο. C. 1034, νοεῖς τι τούτων.
61.
mvp-comment-55-1
ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ] The affectionate repetition betrays excitement. Cp. Philoct. 260, ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ πατρὸς ἐξ ᾿Αχιλλέως. ἀγεννήτων] · Of no birth, i.e. low-born. à priv., as in ἀγεννής, has the meaning of δυσ-. Cp. ἄγλωσσος for βάρβαρος, infr. 1060.
62.
mvp-comment-56-1
πίπτουσιν] 'Drop,' or 'Fall from the lips.' The notion is that of coming forth unexpectedly. Cp. χρησμὸς ἐκπίπτει, and the other expressions mentioned by L. and S. s. v. ἐκπίπτω, 5.
63.
mvp-comment-57-1
δούλη μέν] Sc. ἐστίν. For this form of the senarius, see on O. T. 1513. ἐλεύθερον· ἐλευθέρῳ πρέποντα, Schol.
64.
mvp-comment-58-1
εἰ διδακτά μοι] Sc. ἐστίν. ‘If I may be told.' The plural neuter of the verbal adjective has the force of an impersonal verb.
65.
mvp-comment-59-1
ἐξενωμένου] 'Estranged,' i.e. Remaining away from home. Compare the use of févos in Εl. 865-7, εἰ ξένος .. κέκευθεν.
66.
mvp-comment-60-1
αἰσχύνην φέρειν] The infinitive (depending on εἴρηκεν, 1. 63) is necessary, although most MSS. have φέρει.
67-78.
mvp-comment-61-1
Hyllus has only just heard the rumour which he repeats; and Deianira is prompted by his mention of the new enterprise to communicate to him the special anxiety, over which she has hitherto brooded in solitude. The objection of Dobree, that she ought to have done so before, is like that made against the ignorance of Jocasta in the Oedipus Tyrannus. If such improbabilities in things external to the immediate action are not to be allowed, the composition of any drama becomes impossible.
67.
mvp-comment-62-1
μύθοις] Three MSS. read μύθοις γ', a plausible reading, but made less likely by the recurrence of the same variant after θανών in line 73.
69.
mvp-comment-63-1
ἐν μήκει χρόνου] ‘All this while,' is to be taken with πονεῖν. 'He has been labouring all this while for the past year.' Cp. infr. 824, 5, ὁπότε τελεόμηνος ἐκφέροι . . ἄροτος.
70.
mvp-comment-64-1
λάτριν πονεῖν] 'That he has been serving as a menial.' The tense is the imperfect.
73.
mvp-comment-65-1
ἢ θανών] ‘If he be indeed alive.' Deianira is stung by the report of Heracles' servitude to a barbarian woman, and. as she herself says, is prepared for anything. She even imagines that the prophecy of liberation may have been fulfilled by his death. Hence ἢ θανών is added with despairing bitterness. On the passive ἀγγέλλεται, see
Essay on L. § 31. p. 54 b.
The reading ἢ θανών γ᾽ (Par. B) is plausible, but see on 1. 67.
74.
mvp-comment-66-1
Εὐρύτου πόλιν] Apposition of a part to the whole.
Essay on L. § 33. p. 56.
75.
mvp-comment-67-1
ἢ μέλλειν ἔτι] 'Or is on the eve of doing so. The second clause is a qualification of the first, and is added to avoid an absolute statement. Cp. infr. 460, ἀνὴρ εἶς, and note.
76.
mvp-comment-68-1
ἔλειπε] The imperfect (being more descriptive) refers more pointedly to the time of Heracles' departure (sc. ὅτε ἔστειχε, cp. supr. 47), than the aorist would have done.
77.
mvp-comment-69-1
τῆσδε τῆς χώρας πέρι] As Wunder observes, Oechalia was not mentioned in the oracle, but Deianira infers, from the coincidence of time, that the prophecy referred to what Heracles was doing now. Dobr. conj. πείρας, Dronke, ὥρας, Hense, χρείας.
78.
mvp-comment-70-1
τὰ ποῖα] More precise than ποῖα. What were they exactly?' τὸν λόγον] The matter' to which you refer. Cp. Aj. 734, τοῖς κυρίοις γὰρ πάντα χρὴ δηλοῦν λόγον.
79.
mvp-comment-71-1
ὡς ἢ τελευτὴν . . τελεῖν] • That he is either to accomplish the ending of his life.' Cp. 1255, 6, παῦλά τοι κακῶν αὕτη, τελευτὴ τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς ὑστάτη. Το which Hyllus replies, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴργει σοὶ τελειοῦσθαι τάδε. The expression, though unusual, is not more so than O. C. 1551, 2, τὸν τελευταῖον βίον | κρύψων: ib. 1720, ὀλβίως γ᾽ ἔλυσεν | τὸ τέλος βίου. For the pleonasm, cp. esp. infr. 1171, λύσιν τελεῖσθαι.
80-81.
mvp-comment-72-1
These lines have been much suspected, but if τὸν ἀεὶ= τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον, in El. 1076, O. C. 1701, which there is no good reason for doubting, εἰς τὸν ὕστερον = εἰς τὸν ὕστερον χρόνον, may be allowed. ἄρας] 'When he has carried away,' i.e. Performed successfully. The notion is partly that of lifting a weight, partly of removing an obstacle (between emolitus and amolitus).
82.
mvp-comment-73-1
ἐν . . κειμένῳ] 'When he is at such a critical point;' lit. such a turning of the scale. ῥοπή is commonly the preponderance or determination of the balance one way; here it is the moment or crisis of a determination which is still uncertain. For κειμένῳ, cp. Aj. 323, ἐν τοιᾷδε κείμενος . . τύχῃ, where, however, there is the additional notion of being 'laid prostrate.'
83.
mvp-comment-74-1
ἡνίκα] ‘At a moment when.'
84-85.
mvp-comment-75-1
Canter ingeniously defended l. 84 by placing it after 85 and reading καί for ἤ. But the line is still unnecessary and falls flat. Some editors, with strange judgment, have rejected 85. 84 is most probably spurious. It looks like an attempt to fill up the lacuna, when 85 had been lost. The only other considerable interpolation to which we can point with any confidence is in lines 898, 899, which look like a players' addition. These three lines make but a slight foundation for the theory of two editions of the Trachiniae, even if we add ll. 88, 9, and the v. rr. in lines 12, 13, supr. See Introduction.
85.
mvp-comment-76-1
βίον is the safety of Heracles with all that depends on it, including the happiness of Deianira and her children. Cp. El. 768, εἰ τοῖς ἐμαυτῆς τὸν βίον σώζω κακοῖς, where, as Ellendt remarks, Clytemnestra is not thinking only of her life, but of the prosperity attending it.
87.
mvp-comment-77-1
βάξις in Greek tragedy is generally a striking utterance, either of an oracle or of common rumour, and often conveys some unpleasant association.
88.
mvp-comment-78-1
The corrections of Vauvillers (ela for ą) and Wakefield (πρὶν for νῦν) remove all suspicion from this line. The sons of Heracles could not be apprehensive or greatly fearful for him who was perpetually contending with dangers and hitherto always with success. The sense of fear in them was partly lost through familiarity, partly disarmed by habitual good fortune. For πότμος in this indifferent sense (fortune ane whether good or bad), cp. Fr. 786. 1, 2, ἀλλ᾿ οὑμὸς ἀεὶ πότμος ἐν πυκνῷ θεοῦ τροχῷ κυκλεῖται καὶ μεταλλάσσει φύσιν.
90.
mvp-comment-79-1
τὸ μή] For the absence of oὐ here in reference to prospective action, cp. Ο. Τ. 77, μὴ δρῶν, and see
Essay on L. § 29. p. 50.
The whole question of the Greek negatives is still too indeterminate to justify the admission of such conjectural emendations as the insertion of οὐ after μή in this place, proposed by Brunck and others.
92-93.
mvp-comment-80-1
τό γ᾽ εὐ | πράσσειν] γε emphasizes ev: Wise action, even though late.' The emphatic position of πράσσειν at the beginning of another line, and the addition of ἐπεὶ πύθοιτο, may justify the singular use of τὸ εὐ πράσσειν in an active sense (= 'Doing right,' not, 'Faring well'), which is required by the context. For the omission of τίς, τινί (the subject of πύθοιτο and the dative after ἐμπολᾷ), see
Essay on L. § 39. P. 72, 3,
and cp. O. Τ. 314, 5, ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἔχοι τε καὶ δύναιτο.
