Sophocles Trachiniae 1004-1042

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)) — 1004 focus
ἐ ἔ,
Ὦ παῖ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός, τοὔργον τόδε μεῖζον ἀνήκει ἀνείκει ἀνείκει ἀνήκει
ἢ κατ᾿ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν· σὺ δὲ σύλλαβε. σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα
ἔμπλεον ἢ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ σώζειν.
Ὦ παῖ ὦ παὶ παῖ παῖ παι, ποῦ ποτ' εἶ;
τᾷδέ με τᾷδέ με πρόσλαβε κουφίσας.
ἐ ἔ, ἰὼ δαῖμον ἐ ἐ ἰὼ ἰὼ δαῖμον.
1025
θρώσκει δ᾽ αὖ, θρώσκει δειλαία
διολοῦσ᾽ ἡμᾶς
ἀποτίβατος ἀγρία νόσος.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1017 focus
Ah me!
Ah! ah! Again!
Even now the hot convulsion of disease
Shoots through my side, and will not let me rest
From this fierce exercise of wearing woe.
Take me, O King of Night!
O sudden thunderstroke.
Smite me! O sire, transfix me with the dart
Of thy swift lightning! Yet again that fang
Is tearing; it hath blossomed forth anew,
It soars up to the height!
O breast and back,
O shrivelling arms and hands, ye are the same
That crushed the dweller of the Némean wild,
The lion unapproachable and rude,
The oxherd’s plague, and Hydra of the lake
Of Lerna, and the twi-form prancing throng
Of Centaurs,—insolent, unsociable,
Lawless, ungovernable:—the tuskèd pest
1025
Of Erymanthine glades; then underground
1025
Pluto’s three-headed cur—a perilous fear,
1025
Born from the monster-worm; and, on the verge
Of Earth, the dragon, guarding fruits of gold.
These toils and others countless I have tried,
And none hath triumphed o’er me. But to-day,
Jointless and riven to tatters, I am wrecked
Thus utterly by imperceptible woe;
I, proudly named Alcmena’s child, and His
Who reigns in highest heaven, the King supreme!
Ay, but even yet, I tell ye, even from here,
Where I am nothingness and cannot move,
She who hath done this deed shall feel my power.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1004 focus
Ah! Ah!
Lasset mich, lasset mich ruhen, den Leidenden!
Sa, ruh'n laßt mich zum leztenmal!
990
Wie rührst du mich an? Wo legst du mich hin?
Tod bringst du mir, Tod!
Das entschlafene Leiden erweckst du.
Wieder erfaßt es mich, ach! Schon kommt's! Von wannen in Hellas
Seid ihr Undankbarsten im Volk hellenischer Männer,
995
Die ich gerettet im Meer, und reinigend alle Gehölze,
Mich mühselig verzehrt? Und jezt will Keiner erbarmend
Nah'n mit Feuer und Lanze, die gräßliche Qual zu ver-
(Ah! Ah!)
kürzen,
Nah'n, um das Haupt mir vom Rumpfe zu trennen, und
1000
Mich befrein von des Lebens Leid?
Sohn des gewaltigen Manns, dies Werk zu bestehen, gebricht es
Mir an rüstiger Kraft: du fass' ihn! Schärfer erspäht auch
Hülfe dein Aug' als ich es vermag.
Fasse mich, fasse mich hier, und erleichtre mich!
weh, Götter, weh!
(Sie sezen ihn auf.)
Schon wieder auf mich stürmt her, stürmt her
1010
In vertilgender Wuth
Der unnahbare grauenvolle Schmerz.
Wieder, o göttliche Pallas, verzehrt mich's! Fühle mit deinem
Vater Erbarmen, o Sohn, zeuch aus den untadlichen Mordstahl,
Stoße mir ihn in die Brust, und heile den Schmerz, den die Mutter
1015
Frevelnd im Zorn mir entflammt! Ha, säh' ich sie niedergeschmettert
Also hier, wie mich sie vernichtete! Lieblicher Hades,
Wiege mich, Bruder des Zeus,
Wiege mich ein in den Schlaf, und vertilge mich
Armen in raschem Tod!
1020
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1017 focus
What power of medicine can assuage my pain^
Unless great Jove assisted? Health to me
Without him were a miracle indeed.
Let me, oh ! let me rest ; refuse me not
A little slumber ; why will ye torment me ?
Why bend me forward ? Oh ! 'tis worse than death ;
Had you not waked me, I had been at peace.
Again it rages with redoubled force ;
Where are you now, ye thankless Grecians, where.
Whom I have toiled to serve on the rough main,
And through the pathless wood? Where are you now
To help a dying wretch ? Will no kind hand
Stretch forth the friendly sword, or in the flame
Consume me? None, alas ! will cut me off
From hated life.
It is beyond my strength ; thy quicker sight
May be more useful.
My son, my son !
Where art thou? Bear me up, assist me. Oh !
Again it comes, th' unconqnerable ill,
Draw forth thy sword, my son ; strike, strike thy father,
1025
And heal the wound thy impious mother made.
1025
Oh ! could I see her like myself destroyed,
I should be happy ! Brother of great Jove,
Sweet Pluto, hear me 1 Oh ! with speedy death
Lay me to rest, and bury all my woes.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1017 focus
Have you repaid? O Jove, with what fierce pains
Hast thou afflicted me? This dire disease,
Whose unextinguish'd rage to madness fires
My bursting veins, oh that I had not known!
What potent charm, what skill medicinal
Can mitigate, without the pow'r of Jove,
These agonizing pangs? Oh might I see
This miracle, though distant! Let me lie,
Ah, let me lie reposed. Why dost thou touch,
Why dost thou raise me up? Each touch is death.
Thou hast awaken'd pangs that were at rest.
Again my tortures are inflamed, again
They rush upon me. Ah, where are you now,
Ye most unjust of all the Grecian race?
With many toils th' infested seas I clear'd,
And all the ruffian-haunted woods; yet now
I miserably perish; not a man
Will bring or fire or sword to put an end
To my afflictions; not a man will come
Willing to rend from me this hated life.
O thou his son, this task requires a strength
Greater than mine; assist him thou, thine eye
Quicker than mine sees what may give him aid.
My son, my son, where art thou? In thy arms
Raise me, support me. O my cruel fate!
This fierce, immedicable, wasting pest
Attacks, again attacks me; wretched me!
O Pallas, it consumes me. O my son,
In pity to thy father draw thy sword,
1025
And plunge it deep into my throat; the deed
1025
Will not be impious; heal these torturing pangs
Inflicted by thy mother's wicked hands:
Oh might I see her fall'n, thus fall'n, as me
Her arts have sunk! Thou monarch of the dead,
Brother of Jove, give me a speedy death,
And lay, oh lay a tortured wretch at rest!
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1004-1040 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-516-1 This passage consists of lyrics delivered by actors (

ἀπὸ σκηνῆς
). As the Chorus takes no part in it, it is not technically a
κομμός
, which is a
θρῆνος κοινὸς χοροῦ καὶ ἀπὸ σκηνῆς
.

mvp-comment-516-2 The lyric structure is complex, but not obscure. The passage falls into two main parts, separated by the five hexameters in 1018—1022 (

ὦ παῖ τοῦδ’ ἀνδρὸς...νέμει Ζεύς
). I. The first part consists of 1004—1017, in which the first three verses correspond metrically with the last three. II. The second part consists of 1023—1043. (It is equal in length with the first part, though the traditional numbering makes it appear longer.) Here, the first four verses correspond with the last four. Then the central portion of part I. corresponds with the central portion of part II. Thus: (1) 1st strophe, 1004—1006,=1st antistr., 1015—1017. (2) 2nd str., 1007—1009,=2nd antistr., 1027—1030. (3) 3rd str., 1023—1026, =3rd antistr., 1040—1043. The dactyls in 1010—1014, and 1031—1040, could also be regarded as forming a fourth strophe and antistrophe.—For the metres see Metrical Analysis.

mvp-comment-517-1 ἐᾶτέ μ’, ἐᾶτε … εὐνᾶσθαι 1 εὐνᾶσαι 2 ὕστατον 3 εὐνάσαι 4 δύστανον 5 δύσμορον 6 ὕστατον 7 ἐᾶθ’ ὕστατον εὐνᾶσθαι 8 μολὼν τοῦ στυγεροῦ; φεῦ φεῦ 9

mvp-comment-518-1 πᾷ … ψαύεις 10 πᾷ 11

mvp-comment-519-1 ἀνατέτροφας 12

mvp-comment-519-2 ὅ τι καὶ μύσῃ 13

mvp-comment-520-1 ἥδ’ 14

mvp-comment-520-2 πόθεν ἔστ’ 15 πόθεν ἐστέ 16

mvp-comment-521-1 οὓς 17 καθαίρων 18 οἷς 19

mvp-comment-522-1 ἐν πόντῳ 20

mvp-comment-522-2

κατά τε
after
πολλὰ μὲν
: cp. Ant.1162
σώσας μὲν
... |
λαβών τε
(n.).

mvp-comment-522-3 δρία 21

mvp-comment-522-4 καὶ νῦν … οὐκ ἐπιτρέψει 22 οὐκ 23 ἀποτρέψει 24

mvp-comment-522-5 τῷδε 25

mvp-comment-522-6 πῦρ 26

mvp-comment-522-7 ἔγχος 27

mvp-comment-522-8 1016 f. The MS. reading,

ἀπαράξαι κρᾶτα βίου
, is explained as, ‘to sever the head from life,’— i.e., to destroy life by striking the head from the body. This extraordinary phrase is surely not Greek. It has been supported by a corrupt verse of Eur. , Helen. 302,
σμικρὸν
(
σμικρὸς
Badham)
δ’ ὁ καιρὸς ἄρτ’ ἀπαλλάξαι βίου
: where Keil reads
ἄρθῤ
, Nauck
κρᾶτ’
, and Hermann
σάρκ’
. But, whatever be read there,
ἀπαλλάξαι βίου
is widely different from
ἀπαράξαι βίου
. I hold, with Paley, that Wakefield's βίᾳ 28 τοῦ στυγεροῦ 29

mvp-comment-523-1 τοὔργον τόδε 30

mvp-comment-523-2 μεῖζον 31 ἀνήκει 32

mvp-comment-524-1 ἢ κατ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν 33

mvp-comment-524-2 σοὶ γὰρ ἑτοίμα 34 ἐς πλέον ἢ δἰ ἐμοῦ σῴζειν 35

mvp-comment-524-3 The MSS. give σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα 36 ἔμπλεον ἢ δἰ ἐμοῦ σῴζειν 37 ἢ 38

mvp-comment-524-4 The MS. words, σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα 39 ὄμμα 40 τε 41 σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα 42 σοὶ γὰρ ἑτοίμα 43 οίμα 44 ὄμμα 45

mvp-comment-524-5 In the Appendix are given the proposed explanations of the vulgate, and various conjectures.

mvp-comment-525-1 λαθίπονον δ’ ὀδυνᾶν 46 ἐξανύσαι 47 βίοτον 48 ἔστι οἱ 49 μοι 50 ἔνδοθεν 51

mvp-comment-525-2 θύραθεν 52 ὀδύναν … βιότου 53

mvp-comment-525-3 τοιαῦτα νέμει Ζεύς 54

mvp-comment-526-1 τᾷδε 55 τᾷδέ με … πρόσλαβε κουφίσας 56 πρόσλαβέ με 57 κουφίσας 58

mvp-comment-527-1 ἰὼ δαῖμον 59

mvp-comment-528-1 θρῴσκει 60

mvp-comment-528-2 ἀποτίβατος 61

mvp-comment-529-1 Παλλάς 62

mvp-comment-530-1 φύτοῤ 63 τὸν φύσαντ’ οἴκτιῤ 64 οἴκτιῤ 65 φύτοῤ 66 φύσαντ’ 67

mvp-comment-530-2 ἀνεπίφθονον 68

mvp-comment-531-1 ἐμᾶς ὑπὸ κλῇδος 69

mvp-comment-531-2 ἐχόλωσεν 70 ἐχόλησεν 71

mvp-comment-532-1 αὔτως 72

mvp-comment-532-2 γλυκὺς 73

mvp-comment-533-1 αὐθαίμων 74

mvp-comment-534-1 ὠκυπέτᾳ 75

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

1003. mvp-comment-721-1 χωρίς Ζηνός] 'Save only Ζεύς,' who has power to heal as to destroy.

1004. mvp-comment-722-1 θαῦμ᾿ ἂν πόρρωθεν ἰδοίμην] Hermann placed a mark of interrogation after this line, understanding it to mean, 'Am I likely to see a miracle coming from afar?" This is hardly satisfactory. It seems better to take θαῦμα as an adverbial accusative. Cp. supr. 982, βάρος ἄπλετον. • Mine eyes would hail him wonderingly from afar.'

1004. mvp-comment-722-2 foll. ἐ ἔ, κ.τ.λ.] Heracles thus addresses those who approach to lift him from the litter to the bed. Hyllus takes him in his arms and places him there. while he speaks ll. 1007, 8. The outburst that follows, ll. 1009 foll., is made from the bed.

1008. mvp-comment-723-1 ἀντέτροφας ὅ τι καὶ μύσῃ] ‘ If aught of the evil slumber for a moment, you disturb it again.' Wunder complains of the want of correspondence between protasis and apodosis in respect of mood. But the combination of categorical with hypothetical expression is not uncommon even in prose. Cp. e.g. Plat. Phaedr. 244 Α. οὐκ ἔστ᾿ ἔτυμος λόγος ὃς ἂν φῇ. The subjunctive here suggests the doubt whether there has really been a moment of ease; i.e. 'You wake what sleeps if there be aught that sleeps.' Cp. Aj. 1160, and note. Linwood by substituting μύσαι, the optative for the subjunctive, evades the difficulty. ἀν(α)τέτροφας is perfect of ἀνατρέπω with present meaning.

1009. mvp-comment-724-1 πόθεν ἔστ'] The Scholiast says, τὴν δὲ ἐκ τόπου σχέσιν εἶπεν ἀντὶ τῆς ἐν τόπῳ, ὡς σχεδόθεν δὲ οἱ ἦλθεν ᾿Αθήνη (Od. 2, 267), ἀντὶ τοῦ σχεδύν. So ἐγγύθεν ἐλθών, Il. 11. 396. As Hermann truly says, there is a reason to be rendered for every such expression, and here the meaning is, From whence do you show yourselves?' because none appeared from any quarter.

1010. mvp-comment-725-1 πάντων .. ἀνέρες] Either (1) 'Ye most unrighteous of all Greeks:' or, (2) supposing the genitive not to be governed by the superlative, but to be a partitive gen. with ἀδικώτατοι ἄνδρες. 'Ye most unrighteous' (i. e. ungrateful) 'men in every part of Hellas.' See Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6. He does not expect aid from barbarians, though he has cleansed barbarous countries too. οὓς δή] Hermann suggested ols, but it is better to retain oὕs, the inhabitants being put for the countries, with the additional notion of benefits conferred on them, and to take πολλά adverbially; i. e. ὧν γαῖαν καθαίρων, κ.τ.λ. Cp. infr. 1061.

1011. mvp-comment-726-1 i.e. πολλὰ μὲν ἐν πόντῳ, πολλὰ δὲ κατὰ δρία πάντα, κτ.λ.

1012. mvp-comment-727-1 Heracles calls not for healing (cp. supr. 1001 foll.), but for instant death. Cp. Phil. 747-50, 799-801.

1013. mvp-comment-728-1 For the negatives, see E. on L. § 29. p. 48, 1.

1015-1016. mvp-comment-729-1 The interpretation of the Scholiast (οὐδεὶς ἐκείνων, φησί, βούλεται ἐλθὼν τὴν κεφαλήν μου ἀποτεμεῖν, καὶ ἐλευθερῶσαι τοῦ μοχθηροῦ βίου) suggests a slightly different text. Hermann would read λύων for μολών. Another expedient is to read ἀπαράξας κρᾶτα βίου θέλει | λῦσαι τοῦ στυγεροῦ. The Scholiast may have read λῦσαι μολών. Then λῦσαι having been dropped, through similarity to the last syllable of θέλει, ἀπαράξας would be changed to ἀπαράξαι for the sense.

1017. mvp-comment-730-1 ὦ παῖ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός] 'Son of Heracles here!' It is strange that this expression should have given any trouble, when the much more vague ὦ παῖ κείνου τἀνδρός is so familiar in prose.

1019. mvp-comment-731-1 σοί τε γάρ. σώζειν] 'For indeed thou hast a fulness of resource beyond what I can do to save him.' The language is obscure, but has not the appearance of being corrupt. The Epic use of re may be compared with the digammated of in l. 650, or ἀποτίβατος, infr. 1030. Ας βλέπειν sometimes = ζῆν, so ὄμμα may be put by synecdoche for keenness of the faculties generally. And the ellipse of μᾶλλον ( E. on L. § 39. p. 73 ) may be accounted for by ἔμπλεον suggesting ἔνι πλέον. δι' ἐμοῦ σώζειν = τὸ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ σώζεσθαι αὐτόν, 'The hope of saving him through me.'

1021. mvp-comment-732-1 λαθίπονον δ᾽ ὀδυνᾶν] Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, § 55. p. 101. οὔτ᾽ ἔνδοθεν οὔτε θύραθεν] (1) 'Neither by my own resources nor with help from others.' Or, (2) 'Neither from within nor from without,' distinguishing between the inward pain of Heracles and the cares which press upon him. Cp. Ο.Τ. 1318, κέντρων τε τῶνδ' οἴστρημα καὶ μνήμη κακῶν : Milton, Samson Agonistes, l. 18, Ease to the body some, none to the mind.' For a similar expression, cp. supr. 730, 4 μηδέν ἐστ᾽ *οἶκοι βαρύ.

1022. mvp-comment-733-1 τοιαῦτα νέμει Ζεύς] 'The Father holds such things in his power.' Cp. Phil. 843, τάδε μὲν θεὸς ὄψεται. Others understand, So fearful is the trouble dispensed by Zeus.'

1023. mvp-comment-734-1 ποῦ ποτ' εἰ Heracles recognizes the voice of Hyllus, but is too much distracted to perceive him otherwise at first. Cp. Phil. 805, ποῦ ποτ᾿ ὤν, τέκνον, κυρεῖς; Then presently he directs him how to hold and turn him for greater ease.

1030. mvp-comment-735-1 ἀποτίβατος] 'Unapproachable, i. e. Irresistible or intractable. Cp. Αj. 255, τὸν αἰσ᾽ ἄπλατος ἴσχει,

1031. mvp-comment-736-1 ἰὼ ἰώ] ἰὼ ἰὼ. *φύσαντ'] The MSS. have τὸν φύσαντ', for which some (Dindorf) would substitute τὸν φύτορ', others τὸν πατέρ'. The spondaic rhythm prevails throughout these five hexameter lines, and the omission of the article may be excused by saying that the participle is not = ὃς ἔφυσα, but = εἰ (or ἐπεὶ) ἔφυσα.

1032. mvp-comment-737-1 ἀνεπίφθονον] 'Blameless:' i.e. no one could upbraid Hyllus for slaying his father under the circumstances.

1035. mvp-comment-738-1 παῖσον] For the asyndeton, which is expressive, cp. Phil. 747-9, πρὸς θεῶν, πρόχειρον εἴ τί σοι, τέκνον, πάρα | ξίφος χεροῖν, πάταξον εἰς ἄκρον πόδα· | ἀπάμησον ὡς τάχιστα, μὴ φείσῃ βίου. ἄχος, ᾧ μ᾿ ἐχόλωσεν] The grief wherewith thy mother has enraged me.' Physical pain. however vividly portrayed, is never the chief point of tragic interest in Sophocles. The wrath of the foiled hero, which he is unable to wreak, is the bitterest pang of all.

1036. mvp-comment-739-1 ἄθεος] 'God abandoned.' Either ος is long in arsi, before the pause, or (as in text) τάν should be read for ἄν.