498-530.
mvp-comment-373-1
The power of Aphrodite here, as in Ant. 781 foll., is regarded more with awe than with delight. It has been now exemplified in Iole's conquest of Heracles, so cruel to Deianira, and destined to be so calamitous to all concerned (infr. l.872). The maidens in their sympathy with Deianira recall the time when the same power had driven heroes to do battle for her, and when she was carried triumphantly from her mother's side. There is a close correspondence, as elsewhere, between this lyric strain and passages in the preceding senarii. Cp. esp. ll. 4-40, 142-150, 441-3,465-7. The ode consists of a strophe, antistrophe, and epode, in which logaoedic rhythms are varied with anapaestic and iambic metres. The anapaests (cp. O. T. 469, 470, 479, 480) indicate the coming on of the combatants; the interrupted rhythms of the epode help to express the struggle between them, while the happy issue is marked by the trochaics and glyconics at the close.
498.
mvp-comment-374-1
(1) 'Aphrodite ever advances unchecked in mighty conquering force' (ἐκφέρεται, passive; cp. the intransitive use of the active in Il. 23. 759, ἔκφερ᾿ Οϊλιάδης : σθένος, adverbial accusative); (2) Aphrodite ever exhibits mighty conquering force' (ἐκφέρεται, subjective middle, σθένος, accusative in regimen); or (3) Aphrodite ever wins great might of victory' (σθένος, accusative in regimen ; ἐκφέρεται, 'dative-like' middle). (2) may be rejected as bad Greek, though it pleased Hermann; (1) is preferable to (3), as more poetical, and in better keeping with the style of the ode, and also because (3) seems to require κράτος (which Mr. Blaydes proposes) instead of σθένος, which denotes rather the act than the result of victory. For a similar doubt, cp. Hdt. 4. 129, ταῦτα μέν νυν ἐπὶ σμικρόν τι ἐφέροντο τοῦ πολέμου.
499.
mvp-comment-375-1
τὰ μὲν θεῶν] Supr. 443: Ant. 786, οὔτ᾽ ἀθανάτων φύξιμος οὐδείς.
500.
mvp-comment-376-1
παρέβαν] In Greek, a thought or feeling which is made the subject of reflection is often spoken of in the aorist, and not, as in English, in the present tense. Cp. Αj. 693. ἔφριξ᾽ ἔρωτι, κ.τ.λ. This idiom is analogous to the aorist of the immediate past (τί εἶπας, etc.).
Essay on L. § 32. p. 55.
So in Pindar we have κατέβαν, Οl. 7. 23: ἔμολον, Ο1. 14. 26 : ἐπέβαν, ἔσταν, Nem. 1. 26-9: and μετέσταν in Aesch. Suppl. 538. οὐ λέγω] The words imply a dislike for myths that are lowering to the gods. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 1, and, for the expression, El. 1467, εἰ δ᾽ ἔπεστι Νέμεσις, οὐ λέγω.
502-503.
mvp-comment-377-1
The love of Hades for Persephone, of Poseidon for Amymone, Tyro, etc.
504.
mvp-comment-378-1
ἐπὶ τάνδ᾽.. ἄκοιτιν] It makes little difference whether ἄκοιτιν is taken as predicate or, better, as a proleptic expression: - To win this bride,' rather than, 'To win this lady as a wife.' Cp. infr. 525.
505.
mvp-comment-379-1
* τίνες] This word was added by Hermann, who observes that it may have been lost from the repetition of the letters τιν (άκοιτιν, τίνες). λέγω οι ἐρῶ is understood from οὐ λέγω supr., the positive elicited from the negative.
505.
mvp-comment-379-2
κατέβαν] Sc. ἐς μέσον (l. 514). Cp. Hdt. 5. 22, ᾿Αλεξάνδρου . ἀεθλεύειν ἑλομένου, καὶ καταβάντος ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸ τοῦτο.
503.
mvp-comment-380-1
Essay on L. § 36. p. 64.
This is better than with Schndw. to suppose a transition to direct interrogation, which is too abrupt. *τίνες ἀμφίγυοι] (1) 'What all-accomplished champions.' ἀμφίγυοι has been differently explained. (2) 'Diversely armed,' Herm. (3) 'Both strong of limb,' Schndw., who compares such compounds as δικρατεῖς, δισσάρχας, etc. The more obvious meaning given by Liddell and Scott suits better with the description which follows. Each combatant was able every way, like a spear sharpened at both ends, ready to make and to parry various forms of attack: infr. 516-9. There is an etymological reference to γυῖον, 'Active in every limb.' This interpretation agrees also with πάμπληκτα, which signifies, 'Carried on with blows of every kind.'
506.
mvp-comment-381-1
παγκόνιτα] Either (1) Amidst clouds of dust,' the force of παν- in composition being slightly different in this and the preceding word. See
E. on L. § 55. p. 101, 6, and § 53. p. 98
, or (2) With various stirrings of the dust,' i.e. With various kinds of contest.' Cp. παγκράτιον. Blaydes reads παγκόνιτ᾽ ἐπεξῆλθον, needlessly substituting a prosaic for a poetical word. For the accusative, cp. supr. 159, πολλοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐξιών, infr. 562, τὸν πατρῷον.. στόλον . . ἑσπόμην. ἄεθλα] This word in the plural is sometimes equivalent to ἆθλος, e.g. Phil. 507, δυσοίστων πόνων ἆθλα, which also illustrates the periphrasis here. See L. and S. s. v. ἆθλον. The addition of a nearly synonymous word in the genitive is a not uncommon way of expanding and so emphasizing an idea.
Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.
507.
mvp-comment-382-1
ποταμοῦ σθένος] An Epic expression. Cp. Il. 18. 607, ποταμοῖο μέγα σθένος Ὠκεανοῖο : ib. 486, τό τε σθένος Ωρίωνος : ib. 13. 248, σθένος Ἰδομενῆος. It is also used by Pindar and Aeschylus.
507-508.
mvp-comment-383-1
ὑψίκερω τετραόρου | φάσμα ταύρου] Eustathius, p. 573, 27, reads τετράορον, but he quotes elsewhere as in the text, and the epithets redoubled about the same word are more impressive in this connection. τετράοροι ἵπποι in Od. 13. 81 are τέσσαρες ὁμοῦ ἀείροντες ἅρμα. Sophocles here employs the word in a new sense, = ἐπὶ τέσσαρσιν ἀειρόμενος, 'Upborne by fourfold means,' = 'four-footed.' This gives the Achelõus an advantage against his biped antagonist, and so lends additional terror to the description. φάσμα is in apposition with ποταμοῦ σθένος, ί.ε. σθεναρὸς ποταμός, ταῦρος παραφαινόμενος. The word φάσμα, like our 'apparition,' implies something which produces a strange impression through the eye. Cp. infr. 836, 7, δεινοτάτῳ ὕδρας . . φάσματι. Achelous enters the contest ἐναργὴς ταῦρος, supr. l. 11. Ср. Il. 21. 237, 8, τοὺς ἔκβαλλε θύραζε, μεμυκὼς ἠὔτε ταῦρος, | χέρσονδε.
510.
mvp-comment-384-1
ἀπ᾿ Οἰνιαδᾶν] According to Hellenic notions each of the competitors for a prize must have a city. Achelous hails from Oeniadae, the city at his mouth, where he was probably worshipped, and had a τέμενος βωμός τε θυήεις.
510.
mvp-comment-384-2
Βακχίας . . Θήβας] For Thebes as the city of Heracles, see above, l. 116, Καδμογενή. The word Bακχίας commends him to the favour of the Dionysiac worshippers. Cp. Ant. 1135 foll., Θηβαίας ἐπισκοποῦντ᾽ ἀγυιάς· | τὰν ἐκ πασᾶν τιμᾶς | ὑπερτάταν πόλεων. The emphasis on Θήβας is strengthened by the order of words, παλίντονα being interposed. This epithet has been explained as specially descriptive of a bow like the Scythian, whose ends turned outwards. But it is rather = 'elastic,' as a general epithet of the bow: i. e. Drawing against that which draws it. Cp. Heracl. Fr. 56, ed. Byw. παλίντονος ἁρμονίη κόσμου, ὅκωσπερ λύρης καὶ τόξου : ΙΙ. 8. 266, παλίντονα τόξα τιταίνων,
513.
mvp-comment-385-1
παῖς Διός] The name is not required after this full description of the hero who is always in our thoughts. ἀολλεῖς] 'With collected might.' The Scholiast drily says, καταχρηστικῶς εἶπεν ἐπὶ δύο τὸ ἀολλεῖς. But the word is graphically descriptive of the confused contest as it appeared to an awe-stricken spectator. The meeting of the hero and the monster was as if two armies clashed. There is the same straining of language as in τετραόρου, supra. Cp. Milton, Par. Lost, Bk. 2. ll. 636 foll., where Satan is compared to a fleet at sea: ib. 714, 18, 'As when two black Clouds, | With Heaven's Artillery fraught, come rattling on | Over the Caspian, then stand front to front| Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow | To join their dark encounter in mid air.'
514.
mvp-comment-386-1
ἱέμενοι λεχέων] 'Eager for the bridal.' See
Essay on L. § 56. p. 102
, and cp. Il. 23. 371, πάτασσε δὲ θυμὸς ἑκάστου | νίκης ἱεμένων. μόνα] The combat was manifold, but one power, that of the Goddess of Love (supr.497-506), presided over the whole.
515.
mvp-comment-387-1
εὔλεκτρος.. Κύπρις] ‘Aphrodite, the giver of desired marriage.' So εύχλοος Δημήτηρ is Demeter who gives abundant herbage. ῥαβδονόμει ξυνοῦσα] 'Was there directing all. The ῥαβδονόμος, οι ῥαβδοῦχος, was not the βραβευτής οι βραβεύς (in this case Ζεὺς ἀγώνιος) who awarded the prize, but the regulator of the contest, who was not necessarily the same person. Cp. Plat. Prot. 338 A (Hippias loq.), πείθεσθέ μοι ῥαβδοῦχον καὶ ἐπιστάτην καὶ πρύτανιν ἑλέσθαι, ὃς ὑμῖν φυλάξει τὸ μέτριον μῆκος τῶν λέγων ἑκατέρου.
517.
mvp-comment-388-1
Schndw. regards this line as a hendiadys describing the noise made by hand and bow together, 'There was the sound of the hand, the sound of the bow, i. e. the sound of the hand upon the bow. But χερός rather means, Of blows with the fist,' and in τόξων πάταγος is included, besides the twang of the bow, the whizz and loud impact of the arrow. Musgrave objects to τόξων as unsuited for close fighting (cp. Hdt. 3.78. § 3), and absurdly suggests ταρσῶν. The arrows might be delivered before closing, or Heracles might retire a few paces. But it is needless to press the details of the description, which is meant to suggest in a few words the incidents of a varied encounter. Cp. the meeting of Satan and Death in Milton, or of Christian and Apollyon in the Pilgrim's Progress.
519.
mvp-comment-389-1
ἀνάμιγδα] Therewithal.' The crashing blows of the bull's horns were mingled with the twanging of the bow, etc., in a confused noise. The more usual form is ἄμμιγα.
520.
mvp-comment-390-1
ἦν] This, the so-called 'schema Pindaricum,' does not occur elsewhere in Sophocles. Cp. Eur. Ion 1146, ἐνῆν δ'.. ὑφαί: Hes. Theog. 321, τῆς δ᾽ ἦν τρεῖς κεφαλαί. It only happens where the verb precedes the noun, and it is here used for the sake of the emphatic repetition of ἦν ἦν-ἦν. Recent philology inclines to consider ἦν in such cases not as the 3rd person singular, but as a dialectical form of ἦσαν.
520.
mvp-comment-390-2
ἀμφίπλεκτοι κλίμακες] Twistings and mountings on the back. The κλίμαξ was a trick in wrestling. Hermann conjectures the nature of it to have been that mentioned by Ovid, Met. 9. 51, in describing this very contest, viz. the act of giving the adversary a sudden push so as to turn him round, and then trying to throw him by mounting on his back. For the use of the verbal ἀμφίπλεκτοι, cp. supr. 357, ῥιπτός and note, and see Hdt. 3. 78, συμπλακέντος Γωβρύεω τῷ Μάγῳ.
521.
mvp-comment-391-1
μετώπων.. πλήγματα] 'Blows given with the forehead-of Achelous. Cp. Ovid, Met. 9. 44, 5, Totoque ego pectore pronus | Et digitos digitis, et frontem fronte premebam.'
522.
mvp-comment-392-1
στόνος] 'Groanings'-not from pain, but from the extremity of effort.
523.
mvp-comment-393-1
foll. Cp. supr. 24, ἐγὼ γὰρ ἥμην ἐκπεπληγμένη φόβῳ. ὁ δ᾽ εὐῶπις ἁβρά] The Chorus, who have only seen Deianira as a careworn matron, delight in imagining her tender beauty as a girl.
524.
mvp-comment-394-1
τηλαυγεῖ] 'Far-glancing.' Explained by τηλεσκόπῳ; ἱ.ε. τῆλε πέμπουσα τὰς αὐγὰς τῶν ὀμμάτων. Where a rising-ground gave a distinct view of the fight.' Paley.
526.
mvp-comment-395-1
ἐγὼ δὲ μάτηρ μὲν οἷα φράζω] The interpretation of one Scholiast, ἐγὼ παρεῖσα τὰ πολλά, τὰ τέλη λέγω τῶν πραγμάτων, seems to point to a lost various reading, in which τὰ τερμόνια, or something of the kind, was written for μάτηρ μὲν οἷa. It is another question whether the conjecture founded upon this, τὰ τέρματ᾽ οἷα, gives better sense than the reading in the text, which is explained in the first scholion: ἐγώ, φησὶν ἐνδιαθέτως, ὡσεὶ μήτηρ λέγω. The Chorus had not been present at that distant scene, but in imagining it they feel a mother's tenderness for her, who 'with much, much more dismay Beheld the fight than those who made the fray.' (Shak. Merchant of Venice, 3. 2. 61, 2.)
527.
mvp-comment-396-1
τὸ δ᾽.. ἀμμένει] 'And she for whom they fought, with anxious looks awaits her lord.' δé, as in prose δ' οὖν, here resumes the clause τὸν ὂν. ἀκοίταν after the parenthesis. This makes easier the omission of the object after ἀμμένει, which has been felt as a difficulty:-i.e. ἡ νύμφη, περιμάχητος οὖσα ἀμφοῖν, ἐλεινῶς θεωμένη ἀναμένει τὸν νικῶντα. Her eye' or 'gaze' (
Essay on L. § 54. p. 99
) is made the subject because she is intently looking on, and not merely, as the Scholiast says, because the most beautiful part is put for the whole. Cp. Aj. 140, πτηνῆς ὡς ὄμμα πελείας.
528.
mvp-comment-397-1
ἐλεινόν] 'Deserving pity,' because distracted with doubt and fear. Cp. O. C. 317, 8, καὶ φημὶ κἀπύφημι, κοὐκ ἔχω τί φῶ, | τάλαινα.
529.
mvp-comment-398-1
κἀπὸ ματρός, κ.τ.λ.] 'And all at once she leaves her mother's side.' In the manner of this brief and rapid lyric strain, the Chorus pass from the midst of the contest to its final issue.
