Sophocles, Trachiniae, Robert Potter (Translator), 128

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Deianira

What have I done that merits this rebuke?

Trachiniae. Sophocles. Robert Potter (Translator). London. 1820.

Current edition Experimental

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Robert Potter, 1788))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 128 focus

βέβακε βέβηκε βέβακε, τῷ δ᾽ ἐπέρχεται

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 141-204 focus

Δηιάνειρα

πεπυσμένη μέν, ὡς ἀπεικάσαι, πάρει

πάθημα τοὐμόν· ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ θυμοφθορῶ,

μήτʼ ἐκμάθοις παθοῦσα νῦν τʼ ἄπειρος εἶ.

τὸ γὰρ νεάζον ἐν τοιοῖσδε βόσκεται

χώροισιν αὑτοῦ, καί νιν οὐ θάλπος θεοῦ
145

οὐδʼ ὄμβρος οὐδὲ πνευμάτων οὐδὲν κλονεῖ,

ἀλλʼ ἡδοναῖς ἄμοχθον ἐξαίρει βίον

ἐς τοῦθʼ ἕως τις ἀντὶ παρθένου γυνὴ

κληθῇ λάβῃ τʼ ἐν νυκτὶ φροντίδων μέρος,

ἤτοι πρὸς ἀνδρὸς ἢ τέκνων φοβουμένη.
150

τότʼ ἄν τις εἰσίδοιτο, τὴν αὑτοῦ σκοπῶν

πρᾶξιν, κακοῖσιν οἷς ἐγὼ βαρύνομαι.

πάθη μὲν οὖν δὴ πόλλʼ ἔγωγʼ ἐκλαυσάμην·

ἓν δʼ, οἷον οὔπω πρόσθεν, αὐτίκʼ ἐξερῶ.

ὁδὸν γὰρ ἦμος τὴν τελευταίαν ἄναξ
155

ὡρμᾶτʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων Ἡρακλῆς, τότʼ ἐν δόμοις

λείπει παλαιὰν δέλτον ἐγγεγραμμένην

ξυνθήμαθʼ, ἁμοὶ πρόσθεν οὐκ ἔτλη ποτέ,

πολλοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐξιών, οὔπω φράσαι,

ἀλλʼ ὥς τι δράσων εἷρπε κοὐ θανούμενος.
160

νῦν δʼ ὡς ἔτʼ οὐκ ὢν εἶπε μὲν λέχους ὅ τι

χρείη μʼ ἑλέσθαι κτῆσιν εἶπε δʼ ἣν τέκνοις

μοῖραν πατρῴας γῆς διαιρετὸν νέμοι,

χρόνον προτάξας ὡς τρίμηνον ἡνίκα

χώρας ἀπείη κἀνιαύσιον βεβώς,
165

τότʼ ἢ θανεῖν χρείη σφε τῷδε τῷ χρόνῳ

ἢ τοῦθʼ ὑπεκδραμόντα τοῦ χρόνου τέλος

τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη ζῆν ἀλυπήτῳ βίῳ.

τοιαῦτʼ ἔφραζε πρὸς θεῶν εἱμαρμένα

τῶν Ἡρακλείων ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι πόνων,
170

ὡς τὴν παλαιὰν φηγὸν αὐδῆσαί ποτε

Δωδῶνι δισσῶν ἐκ Πελειάδων ἔφη.

καὶ τῶνδε ναμέρτεια συμβαίνει χρόνου

τοῦ νῦν παρόντος, ὡς τελεσθῆναι χρεών·

ὥσθʼ ἡδέως εὕδουσαν ἐκπηδᾶν ἐμὲ
175

φόβῳ, φίλαι, ταρβοῦσαν, εἴ με χρὴ μένειν

πάντων ἀρίστου φωτὸς ἐστερημένην.

Χορός

εὐφημίαν νῦν ἴσχʼ· ἐπεὶ καταστεφῆ

στείχονθʼ ὁρῶ τινʼ ἄνδρα πρὸς χαρὰν λόγων.

180

Ἄγγελος

δέσποινα Δῃάνειρα, πρῶτος ἀγγέλων
180

ὄκνου σε λύσω· τὸν γὰρ Ἀλκμήνης τόκον

καὶ ζῶντʼ ἐπίστω καὶ κρατοῦντα κἀκ μάχης

ἄγοντʼ ἀπαρχὰς θεοῖσι τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις.

Δηιάνειρα

τίνʼ εἶπας, ὦ γεραιέ, τόνδε μοι λόγον;

Ἄγγελος

τάχʼ ἐς δόμους σοὺς τὸν πολύζηλον πόσιν
185

ἥξειν φανέντα σὺν κράτει νικηφόρῳ.

Δηιάνειρα

καὶ τοῦ τόδʼ ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων μαθὼν λέγεις;

Ἄγγελος

ἐν βουθερεῖ λειμῶνι πρὸς πολλοὺς θροεῖ

Λίχας ὁ κῆρυξ ταῦτα· τοῦδʼ ἐγὼ κλύων

ἀπῇξʼ, ὅπως τοι πρῶτος ἀγγείλας τάδε
190

πρὸς σοῦ τι κερδάναιμι καὶ κτῴμην χάριν.

Δηιάνειρα

αὐτὸς δὲ πῶς ἄπεστιν, εἴπερ εὐτυχεῖ;

Ἄγγελος

οὐκ εὐμαρείᾳ χρώμενος πολλῇ, γύναι.

κύκλῳ γὰρ αὐτὸν Μηλιεὺς ἅπας λεὼς

κρίνει παραστάς, οὐδʼ ἔχει βῆναι πρόσω·
195

τὸ γὰρ ποθοῦν ἕκαστος ἐκμαθεῖν θέλων

οὐκ ἂν μεθεῖτο, πρὶν καθʼ ἡδονὴν κλύειν.

οὕτως ἐκεῖνος οὐχ ἑκών, ἑκοῦσι δὲ

ξύνεστιν· ὄψει δʼ αὐτὸν αὐτίκʼ ἐμφανῆ.

Δηιάνειρα

ὦ Ζεῦ, τὸν Οἴτης ἄτομον ὃς λειμῶνʼ ἔχεις,
200

ἔδωκας ἡμῖν ἀλλὰ σὺν χρόνῳ χαράν.

φωνήσατʼ, ὦ γυναῖκες, αἵ τʼ εἴσω στέγης

αἵ τʼ ἐκτὸς αὐλῆς, ὡς ἄελπτον ὄμμʼ ἐμοὶ

φήμης ἀνασχὸν τῆσδε νῦν καρπούμεθα.

Translations (4)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 128 focus

HYLLUS
HYLLUS (re-entering).

O mother, mother! I would to heaven one of three things were true:

Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert

No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind
735

Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now!
735

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 132 focus

Denn dauernd bleibt nicht der Nacht

Glanz auf Erden, nicht das Unglück,

Nicht der Reichthum; schnell entschwindet

Jenem Haus und zieht in dies
130

Genießen und Entbehren.

So mußt auch du dies allezeit, o Königin,

In Hoffnung festhalten: sahst du je, daß

Zeus also rathlos ließ die Seinen?

Deianeira.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 128 focus

Nurse

And so she did ;

Hadst thou Hke me been witness to the deed,

Thou wouldst much more have pitied her.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 141-495 focus

Deianeira

You have heard of my trouble, I would guess, and that has brought you here. But the anguish which consumes my heart—may you never come to know it through your own experience!—to that now you are total strangers. Yes, a young life grows in those sheltered regions

of its own, and the Sun-god’s heat disturbs it not, nor rain, nor any wind. Rather it takes up a toilless existence amidst pleasure, until such time as she is called “wife” instead of “maiden”, and takes her portion of anxious thoughts in the night,
145

fearing for husband or for children. At that point a woman could understand the burden of my misfortunes by recalling her own experience.
As a matter of fact, I have had many a trouble to weep for, but I am going to speak of one that none of the previous could equal.
150

When lord Heracles was setting out from home on his last journey, he left in the house an ancient tablet, inscribed with signs which he had never before brought himself to explain to me when going out on one of his many labors.
155

He had always departed as if to conquer, not to die. But now, as if he were a doomed man, he told me what I should take for my marriage portion, and what share of their father’s land he wished divided for his children. And he fixed the time for the division, saying that, when he had been gone
160

from our land for a year and three months, he was fated either to die at that time, or by escaping the end of the period to live thereafter an untroubled life. That, he explained, was the fate ordained by the gods
165

to be the end of the labors of Heracles just as, he said, the ancient oak at Dodona had once told him through the mouths of the two Peleiades. And it is in the present time that the truth of these prophecies is coming to pass, so that they must be fulfilled.
170

As a result I leap up from sweet sleep in fear, dear maidens, terrified at the possibility that I must remain widowed of the noblest man of all.
175

Chorus

Hush—no more ill-omened words! I see a man approaching who is crowned with garlands as if for joyous news.

180 Enter the Messenger.

Messenger

Queen Deianeira, I shall be the first messenger to free you from fear. Know that Alcmena’s son lives and triumphs, and from battle brings the first-fruits to the gods of this land.
180

Deianeira

What news is this, old man, that you give me?

Messenger

That your much-admired husband will soon come to your house, revealed in his victorious might.
185

Deianeira

From what citizen or what stranger did you learn these tidings?

Messenger

In the meadow, the summer haunt of oxen, Lichas the herald is proclaiming it to many. From him I heard it,

and dashed away so that, in all honesty, having been the first to report this news, I might profit in some way by you and win your favor.
190

Deianeira

And why is he not here, if he is so successful?

Messenger

He does not, my lady, enjoy ease of movement. The entire Malian populace

stands about him in a circle and questions him, and he cannot move forward. Each person is bent on learning according to his desire, and will not release the man until he has heard his pleasure. Thus against his wishes, but in keeping with theirs, he is with them. Yet you will soon see him face to face.
195

Deianeira

O Zeus, ruler of the sacred uncut meadow of Oeta, at last, though after much delay, you have given us joy! Uplift your voices, you women within the house and you beyond our gates, since now we enjoy the brightness of this message, which has risen on us beyond my hope!
200

205

Chorus

Let the brides of tomorrow raise a joyous cry for the house with shouts of triumph at the hearth. Among them let the yell of the men go up in unison for Apollo of the bright quiver, our defender! And at the same time,
205

maidens, lift up a paean, cry aloud to his sister, Ortygian Artemis, huntress of deer, goddess with torch in each hand,
210

and to the nymphs her neighbors!
I am uplifted, I will not spurn the flute—O you master of my heart! Behold, his ivy stirs me! Euoe!
215

Quickly it wheels me round in Bacchus’s race! Oh, oh, Paean! Look, dear lady! All is taking shape, plain to see, before your gaze.
220

225

Deianeira

I see it, dear maidens; the sight has not escaped my watchful eyes. I see that procession. I bid the herald joyous welcome after his long absence!—if indeed you bring anything that gives joy.
225

Enter Lichas, followed by captive maidens.

Lichas

We are happy in our return, and happy in your greeting,

lady, in accordance with the deed achieved. For when a man has fair fortune, it is his right to win good welcome.
230

Deianeira

Most welcome man, tell me first what first I would know—shall I receive Heracles alive?

Lichas

I certainly left him alive and well,

in vigorous health, unburdened by disease.
235

Deianeira

Where, tell me—in his ancestral land, or on barbarian soil?

Lichas

There is a headland of Euboea , where to Cenaean Zeus he marks out altars and fruitful ground in tribute.

Deianeira

In payment of a vow, or at the command of an oracle?

Lichas

For a vow, made when he was seeking to conquer and plunder the country of these women whom you see before you.
240

Deianeira

And these—who are they, by the gods, and whose daughters? They deserve pity, unless their misfortune deceives me.

Lichas

These are captives whom he

selected as choice spoils for himself and for the gods when he sacked the city of Eurytus.
245

Deianeira

Was it in fact the war against that city which kept him away so long, beyond all forecast, past all count of days?

248

Lichas

No. The greater part of the time he was detained in Lydia , no free man, as he declares,

but sold into servitude. No offense should be taken at my tale, lady, when the deed is found to be Zeus’ work. He passed a whole year, as he himself says, a bought slave to the barbarian Omphale. And so stung was he by the shame of it,
250

that he bound himself by a solemn oath, swearing one day to enslave with wife and child the man who had brought that suffering upon him. And not in vain did he speak the oath; but, when he had been purified, he gathered a mercenary army and went against the city
255

of Eurytus. For, Heracles asserted, that man alone of mortals had a share in causing his suffering. For when Heracles, a guest-friend of long standing, came to his house and hearth, Eurytus roared against him with insults of ruinous intent,
260

saying that, although Heracles had inevitable shafts in his hands, he fell short of his own sons in the contest of the bow. Next he shouted that Heracles was a freeman’s slave, a broken hulk, and then at a banquet, when his guest was full of wine, he tossed him from his home. 270 Furious at this treatment,
265

when afterward Iphitus came to the hill of Tiryns on the track of horses that had strayed, Heracles seized a moment when the man’s eyes were one place and his thoughts another, and hurled him from a towering summit. But in anger at that deed, the king,
270

the father of all, Olympian Zeus, sent him away to be sold, and did not tolerate that this once, he killed a man by guile. Had he achieved his vengeance openly, Zeus would surely have pardoned him the righteous triumph.
275

For the gods do not love criminal behavior either.
So those men, who gloried in bitter speech, are themselves residents of Hades, all of them, and their city is enslaved. And the women whom you see, fallen from happiness to misery,
280

are sent here to you. For that was your husband’s command, which I, his faithful servant, perform. As for the man himself, know that he will come, once he has made pure sacrifice to Zeus of his fathers for the sacking of the city. After all the good news
285

that has been told, this, indeed, is the sweetest word to hear.
290

291

Chorus

Now, O Queen, your joy is plainly revealed; part is with you, and of the rest you have foreknowledge.

Deianeira

Yes, how would I not rejoice with dutiful spirit, when I hear of my husband’s successful venture?

My rejoicing is bound to keep pace with his success. And yet a prudent mind can see room for fear, lest he who prospers should one day stumble. For a strange pity came over me, friends, at the sight of these ill-fated exiles,
295

homeless and fatherless in a foreign land. Though they were once the daughters perhaps of freeborn men, they now live the life of slaves. O Zeus, god who turns the tide of battle, may I never see you stalking against a child of my line on any occasion;
300

no, if you do some such thing, let it not be while I am still alive! So great is my fear, as I look upon these girls.
305

To Iole.

Unfortunate girl, who are you? Are you without a man, or are you a mother? To judge by your appearance, you are untried in those roles, but someone of noble birth.

Lichas, whose daughter is this stranger? Who is her mother, who the father who begot her? Speak; I pity her more than all the rest, when I look at her, inasmuch as she alone knows self-control.
310

314

Lichas

Why would I know? Why would you ask me? Perhaps

she is the offspring of not the lowest family in that land.
315

Deianeira

Can she be of the ruling family? Was she a child of Eurytus?

Lichas

I do not know; I did not in fact make a long investigation.

Deianeira

And you do not know her name from one of her fellow captives?

Lichas

No, indeed. In silence I completed my task.

Deianeira

Unhappy girl, tell it to me, anyway, from your own mouth. It is indeed distressing to me not to know who you are.
320

Lichas

It will not, I assure you, be at all on a par with time past if she moves her lips. She has not said a word, large or small,

but has been constantly laboring with the heavy pains of her misfortune and weeping, poor girl, since she left her windswept fatherland. Her condition is indeed bad—for her, anyway—but claims our forbearance.
325

Deianeira

Then let her be left in peace, and go beneath our roof

as it pleases her. Let her not in addition to her existing troubles take fresh grief from me; she has enough already. Now let us all go in, so that you may go speedily on your journey, while I make all things ready in the house. Exit Lichas, followed by the Captives, into the house.
330

335

Messenger
Coming nearer to Deianeira.

Do go in, but first remain here a short while, so that you may learn, apart from these others, who they are whom you take into your home, and gain necessary knowledge of the facts which you have not heard. For of these I am in full possession.
335

Deianeira

What do you mean? Why do you stay my departure?

Messenger

Stop and listen. My former report was not a waste of your time, and neither, I believe, will this one be.
340

Deianeira

Shall I call those others back again? Or do you wish to speak before me and these women?

Messenger

To you and the women I can speak freely. Never mind the others.

Deianeira

Well, they are gone. Now let your speech signal your meaning.
345

Messenger

That man Lichas spoke nothing of what he just told you in strict accordance with the truth. He was just now lying, or else he was dishonest in his earlier report.

Deianeira

What do you say? Explain to me clearly all that you mean,

for I cannot understand what you said.
350

351

Messenger

I heard this man declare, before many witnesses, that it was for the sake of this girl that Heracles overthrew Eurytus and the high towers of Oechalia : Eros,

alone of the gods, enchanted him into doing those deeds of arms, not the toilsome servitude to Omphale in Lydia , nor the death to which Iphitus was hurled. But now the herald has thrust Eros aside and tells a different tale. Well, when Heracles could not persuade him whose seed produced the child
355

to give him the girl for his secret concubine, he devised some petty complaint as a pretext, and made war upon her fatherland, in which, as the herald said, that Eurytus ruled. He killed the king, her father, and
360

sacked her city. And now, as you see, he makes his return, sending her to this house not without consideration, lady, and not as if she were to be a slave. No, do not expect that; it is not likely, if his heart has been kindled with desire. On this account, my Queen, I resolved to reveal to you all
365

that I had heard from that man. Many others were listening to it, as I was, in the public place where the Trachinians were assembled, so they can convict him. If my words are unwelcome, I am grieved; but nevertheless I have spoken the truth.
370

375

Deianeira

Ah, misery! What is happening to me? What secret plague have I welcomed beneath my roof? Ah, me! So, she was born without a name, as her escort swore?
375

Messenger

No, illustrious by name, as by birth;

she is the daughter of Eurytus, and was once called Iole. But he could say nothing of her birth, because, of course, he made no investigation.
380

Chorus

May destruction seize not all wrongdoers—no, only the man who practices stealthy wrongdoing that is shameful to his rank!

Deianeira

Ah, friends, what should I do? I am dumbstruck by this latest news!
385

Chorus

Go and question Lichas, since he might tell the truth, if you were willing to compel him by threat of force to answer.

Deianeira

I will go. Your advice does not lack good judgment.

Messenger

And I, shall I wait here? Or what do you require?
390

Deianeira

Stay here—since he is coming out from the house without my summons, but of his own accord.

393 Enter Lichas.

Lichas

My lady, what message shall I bear to Heracles? Instruct me, for, as you see, I am going.

Deianeira

How quickly you rush away, when your arrival had been so tardy—before we have even resumed our talk.
395

Lichas

Well, if there is anything you must ask, I am at your service.

Deianeira

Will you indeed give me the honest truth?

Lichas

Yes, be great Zeus my witness—in anything that I know.

Deianeira

Who is the woman, then, whom you escorted here?
400

Lichas

She is Euboean. But whose offspring, I cannot say.

Messenger

You there, look at me. To whom do you think you speak?

Lichas

And you, to what end have you asked me such a question?

Messenger

Dare to answer my question, if you are sensible.

Lichas

I speak to the royal Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus, wife of Heracles and, unless my eyes deceive me, my mistress.
405

Messenger

The very word that I wished to hear from you—you admit that she is your mistress?

Lichas

Yes, it is only right to do so.

Messenger

Well, then, what penalty would you think it right to pay, if you should be found to be behaving wrongly towards her?
410

Lichas

Wrongly? What fiction have you created?

Messenger

None. Rather it is you, to be sure, who do this.

Lichas

I am leaving—I was foolish to listen to you so long.

Messenger

No, not until you have answered a small question.
415

Lichas

Speak, if you require something. You are not the silent type.

Messenger

That captive, whom you escorted into the house, you know whom I mean?

Lichas

Yes. But why do you ask?

Messenger

Did you not avow that she, on whom you look as if in ignorance,

was Iole, the seed of Eurytus, your captive?
420

Lichas

To whom on earth did I say it? Who and where is the man who heard me say it and will be your witness?

Messenger

To many of our own citizens you said it. In the public gathering of Trachinians a great crowd heard this much, at least, from you.

Lichas

Sure,

they said they heard. But it does not amount to the same thing to tell one’s fancy and to give an accurate report.
425

Messenger

What do you mean, fancy! Did you not speak on your oath when you said that you were bringing her as a bride for Heracles?

Lichas

I? Bringing a bride? In the name of the gods, dear

mistress, tell me who on earth this stranger is?
430

Messenger

I am a man who heard from your own lips that the conquest of the whole city was due to desire for this girl and that the Lydian woman did not destroy it, but the passion which arose for the girl.

Lichas

Lady, send this creature away.

To babble with the insane is not the mark of a sensible man.
435

436

Deianeira

No, I implore you by Zeus whose strikes lightning down along the high glens of Oeta, do not rob me of a true report! Your words will not fall on the ears of a cruel woman, nor has she yet to learn the fate of humanity,

how by our nature we are often inconstant in our pleasures. He does not use good sense, then, who like a boxer opposes the blows of Eros. For Eros rules the gods as he pleases, and he rules me as well—that is certain. Why not another woman, just like me?
440

And so I am crazed indeed, if I blame my husband because that disease has seized him or because he was seized by this woman, his partner in a thing which is no shame to them, and no wrong to me. Impossible! If it was from him that you learned
445

to lie, it was not a noble lesson. But if you are your own teacher in this, you will be seen as cruel when it is your wish to prove kind. No, tell me the whole truth, since to a free-born man the name of liar attaches like an ugly stain.
450

If your hope is to escape detection, that cannot come to pass: many are those whom you told and who will inform me. And if you are afraid, your fear is mistaken, since it is not learning the truth that would pain me. But to know it, what is terrible in that? Has
455

Heracles not all by himself already mated with a multitude of other women? And never yet has one of them come away with a harsh word or reproach from me, nor shall this girl, even if she should melt in her passion. Indeed, I felt a profound pity when I saw her because
460

her beauty has destroyed her life, and she, unfortunate one, has against her will devastated her fatherland and enslaved it.
Well, those things must go with the wind. But as for you, I tell you, be dishonest to others, but always speak the truth to me.
465

470

Chorus

Obey her good and kind advice, and hereafter you will neither have cause to complain of this lady, nor lack my thanks.
470

Lichas

Indeed, then, dear mistress. Since I see that you think as mortals should think and not without good judgment, I will tell you the whole truth, and not hide it.

Yes, it is just as this one says. That terrible longing for the girl long ago shot through Heracles, and for her sake the desolate Oechalia , her father’s land, was leveled by his spear. But he—I must say what is in his favor—
475

he never ordered me to conceal the fact and never denied it. Instead I, lady, fearing to wound your heart by such news, erred—if you regard this in any way an error.
Since, however, you now know the whole story,
480

for his sake and for yours equally bear with the woman, and be willing that the gentle words which you spoke about her have been spoken unalterably. For though by the strength of his hands he is victorious in all else, Heracles has been utterly subdued by his passion for this girl.
485

Deianeira

My own thoughts move me to act as you advise. Rest assured that I will not earn another affliction for myself by waging a fruitless fight against the gods. But let us go into the house, so that you may carry him my messages and since gifts should be given in due recompense for gifts received,
490

so that you may take these also. It would not be right that you should go back with empty hands, after coming with such a rich cargo. Exit Lichas, the Messenger and Deianeira into the house.
495

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-113-1 ἰδού μ’ ¹ εὐοῖ ² ἀναταράσσει ³

mvp-comment-113-2 ὁ κισσός ⁴

mvp-comment-113-3 βακχίαν … ἅμιλλαν ⁵

mvp-comment-114-1 ἰὼ ἰὼ Παιάν ⁶

mvp-comment-115-1 ἵδ’ ⁷ ἴδε ἴδ’ ⁸

mvp-comment-116-1 τάδ’ ⁹

mvp-comment-116-2 ἐναργῆ ¹⁰ ἀντίπρῳρα ¹¹

mvp-comment-117-1 οὐδέ μ’ ὄμματος φρουρὰν παρῇλθε ¹² παρῆλθε ¹³ φρουρὰ ¹⁴

mvp-comment-118-1 προὐννέπω ¹⁵

mvp-comment-118-2 φέρεις ¹⁶ καὶ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-119-1 ἀλλ’ ¹⁸

mvp-comment-120-1 κατ’ ἔργου κτῆσιν ¹⁹

mvp-comment-120-2 ἄνδρα γὰρ ²⁰

mvp-comment-120-3 καλῶς πράσσοντ’ ²¹ καλῶς ²² καλά ²³

mvp-comment-121-1 ἃ πρῶτα βούλομαι ²⁴ ‐εα ²⁵

mvp-comment-122-1 ἔγωγέ τοι ²⁶

mvp-comment-122-2 ἔλειπον ²⁷ ζῶντα ²⁸ τε καί ²⁹ ἰσχύοντα ³⁰ καί ³¹ θάλλοντα ³²

mvp-comment-123-1 ποῦ γῆς ³³ πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου ³⁴ εἴτε ³⁵ εἴτε ³⁶

mvp-comment-123-2 ποῦ γῆς; πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου; λέγε ³⁷

mvp-comment-123-3 ποῦ γῆς; πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου, λέγε ³⁸

mvp-comment-123-4 πατρῴας ³⁹

mvp-comment-124-1 Εὐβοίς ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-124-2 ὁρίζεται βωμοὺς ⁴¹ βωμοὺς ⁴²

mvp-comment-124-3 τέλη τ’ ἔγκαρπα ⁴³

mvp-comment-125-1 εὐκταῖα … ἢ )πὸ μαντείας ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-125-2 φαίνων ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-126-1 εὐχαῖς ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-126-2 ἀνάστατον ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-127-1 ὧν ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-127-2 ἐν ὄμμασιν ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-128-1 τοῦ ποτ’ εἰσὶ ⁵⁰ ἐκεῖνος ⁵¹

mvp-comment-129-1 οἰκτραὶ γάρ ⁵²

mvp-comment-129-2 ξυμφοραὶ ⁵³ ξυμφορᾷ ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-130-1 ἐξείλεθ’ ⁵⁵ αὑτῷ ⁵⁶ θεοῖς ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-131-1 ἦ κἀπὶ ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-131-2 ἄσκοπον ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-131-3 ἡμερῶν ⁶⁰ ἀνήριθμον ⁶¹ χρόνον ⁶²

mvp-comment-131-4 The form

ἀνήριθμος

is of a frequent type. When the second part of a compound adj. has a disyllabic stem (usu. a verbal stem), beginning with a short vowel, this vowel may be lengthened. Such forms were oft. convenient in poetry (as

ἀνήροτος, εὐήνεμος, φιλήρετμος

), but many of them were equally current in good prose (as

ἀνήκεστος, ἀνήνυτος, ἀνηλεῶς, εὐώνυμος

). The restriction of

ἀνήριθμος

to classical poetry and late prose (as Athen. p. 253 F) is not due to 1ts form, but to the fact that classical prose preferred

ἀναρίθμητος

. Tragedy uses

ἀνάριθμος

(

α^

) where it suits the metre (as in El.225 ). In Theocr. 15. 45

ἀνάριθμοι

(

α—

) is Doric for

ἀνήριθμοι

mvp-comment-132-1 τὸν μὲν πλεῖστον … χρόνον ⁶³ ὡς φήσ’ αὐτός ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-133-1 ἐμποληθείς ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-133-2 τοῦ λόγου … φθόνον ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-133-3 προσεῖναι ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-133-4 ὅτου ⁶⁸ ὅτου ⁶⁹ τοῦ λόγου ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-133-5 πράκτωρ φανῇ ⁷¹

mvp-comment-133-6 The meaning is:—‘You may think that the humiliation of Heracles ought not to be related by his servant to his wife. But this humiliation was imposed by Zeus himself, and can therefore be related without reflecting upon Heracles.’

mvp-comment-134-1 κεῖνος δὲ ⁷² ἐν Λυδοῖς ⁷³ χρόνον ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-134-2 πραθεὶς … Ὀμφάλῃ ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-134-3 Two tragic poets of the fifth century B.C., Ionof Chios and Achaeus, had written an

Ὀμφάλη σατυρική

. Two poets of the Middle Comedy, Antiphanes (Athen. 112 C) and Cratinus jun. (id. 669 B) wrote an

Ὀμφάλη

, picturing Heracles abandoned to sensuous pleasures. Itis the more noteworthy how Sophocles, in lightly touching on this episode, has guarded his hero's dignity. For he speaks only of servile labours for the Lydian taskmistress (70 It, 356 ); and marks how the bondsman felt his disgrace (254).

mvp-comment-135-1 ἐνιαυτὸν ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-136-1 λαβὼν ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-137-1 ὅρκον αὑτῷ προσβαλὼν ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-137-2 ἦ μὴν ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-137-3 τὸν ἀγχιστῆρα τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-137-4 No emendation is probable. Nauck's αὐτόχειρα ⁸¹

mvp-comment-138-1 ξὺν παιδὶ καὶ γυναικὶ ⁸² παισὶ ⁸³

mvp-comment-138-2 ἔτι ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-139-1 κοὐχ ἡλίωσε τοὔπος ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-139-2 ὅθ’ ἁγνὸς ἦν ⁸⁶ ἁγνός ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-140-1 στρατὸν … ἐπακτὸν ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-140-2 ἔρχεται ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-140-3 πόλιν τὴν Εὐρυτείάν ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-141-1 ἐφέστιον ⁹¹ ἐς δόμους ⁹² ἐλθόντ’ … ἐφέστιον ⁹³

mvp-comment-142-1 ξένον παλαιὸν ὄντα ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-143-1 ἐπερρόθησε ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-143-2 From

ἐπερρόθησε

a verb of more general sense, such as

ὕβρισε

, is to be supplied with ἀτηρᾷ φρενί ⁹⁶ γόγοις ⁹⁷ φρενί ⁹⁸ δείπνοις δ’ ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-143-3 Others understand :—‘railed against him both with (rude) words and with evil intent.’ To this there are two objections. (1) Since all the supposed affronts are then verbal, the antithesis would require an epithet for λόγοις ¹⁰⁰ ἀτηρᾷ ¹⁰¹ πολλὰ μὲν … πολλὰ δέ ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-143-4 The text is clearly (I think) sound. It is unwarrantable, as it is undesirable, to strike out πολλὰ δ’ … χεροῖν μὲν ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-144-1 λέγων χεροῖν μὲν ¹⁰⁴ δὲ ¹⁰⁵ λέγων ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-144-2 τῶν ὧν τέκνων ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-144-3 λείποιτο ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-145-1 φωνεῖ δὲ ¹⁰⁹ ῥαίοιτο ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-145-2 ἀνδρὸς … ἐλευθέρου ¹¹¹ δοῦλος ¹¹²

mvp-comment-145-3 ῥαίοιτο ¹¹³

mvp-comment-145-4 The conject.

φανεὶς δὲ δοῦλος ἀνδρος ἀντ’ ἐλευθέρου

(cr. n.) has been received by several edd., who cite Ai.1020

δοῦλος λόγοισιν ἀντ’ ἐλευθέρου φανείς

. There, however, the force of

φανείς

depends on

λόγοισιν

: ‘represented,’ ‘made out,’ in his taunting words, to be a slave. Here

φανείς

would mean simply, ‘found to be.’

mvp-comment-145-5 δείπνοις ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-145-6 ᾠνωμένος ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-145-7 ἔρριψεν ἐκτὸς αὐτόν ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-145-8 ὧν ἔχων χόλον ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-146-1 αὖθις ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-146-2 Τιρυνθίαν … κλιτύν ¹¹⁹ υ^ ¹²⁰ κλιτύν ¹²¹

mvp-comment-146-3 ἵππους νομάδας ¹²² νομάδας ¹²³

mvp-comment-147-1 ἄλλοσ’ … ὄμμα, θατέρᾳ δὲ νοῦν ἔχοντ’ ¹²⁴ θατέρᾳ ¹²⁵ ἄλλοσε ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-147-2 πυργώδους πλακός ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-148-1 ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-149-1 πρατόν νιν ἐξέπεμψεν ¹²⁹ οὐδ’ ἠνέσχετο ¹³⁰ ὁθούνεκ’ ¹³¹ μοῦνον ¹³²

mvp-comment-150-1 ἠμύνατο ¹³³

mvp-comment-151-1 χειρουμένῳ ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-151-2 οὐδὲ δαίμονες ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-152-1 κεῖνοι δ’ ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-152-2 ὑπερχλίοντες ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-152-3 ἐκ γλώσσης κακῆς ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-152-4 282 For αὐτοὶ μὲν ¹³⁹ κεῖνοι ¹⁴⁰ πόλις δὲ ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-152-5 οἰκήτορες ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-153-1 τάσδε ¹⁴³ ἅσπερ ¹⁴⁴ ἐξ ὀλβίων ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-154-1 χωροῦσι πρὸς σέ ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-154-2 πόσις τε … ἐγὼ δὲ ¹⁴⁷ ἐφεῖτο ¹⁴⁸ τελῶ ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-155-1 ἁγνὰ θύματα ¹⁵⁰ τῆς ἁλώσεως ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-156-1 φρόνει νιν ὡς ἥξοντα ¹⁵² νιν ¹⁵³ ὡς ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-157-1 καλῶς ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-158-1 νῦν σοι τέρψις ἐμφανὴς κυρεῖ ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-158-2 τῶν μὲν ¹⁵⁷ τὰ δὲ ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-159-1 πανδίκῳ φρενί ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-160-1 τῇδε ¹⁶⁰ τοῦτο ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-160-2 The rejection of this verse (see cr. n.) would be deplorable. Deianeira rejoices, but <*>ls a certain sadness, and knows that she cannot help showing it; all the more she wishes to assure them how real her joy is.

mvp-comment-161-1 τοῖσιν εὖ σκοπουμένοις ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-161-2 ταρβεῖν τὸν εὖ πράσσοντα ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-161-3 This shadow which flits across Deianeira's joy is the more dramatically impressive for the spectators, because it arises so naturally out of her tender sympathy for the captives. It is a touch worthy of the greatest master.

mvp-comment-162-1 ἐμοὶ … εἰσέβη ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-162-2 δεινὸς ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-163-1 ἀπάτορας ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-163-2 301 f. For ἴσως ¹⁶⁷ ἐξ ἐλευθέρων ἀνδρῶν ¹⁶⁸ ἀνδρῶν ¹⁶⁹ ἀπάτορας ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-164-1 ὦ Ζεῦ τροπαῖε ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-164-2 τοὐμὸν σπέρμα ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-164-3 χωρήσαντα ¹⁷³ εἰς ¹⁷⁴ πρὸς ¹⁷⁵ σε ¹⁷⁶ που ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-165-1 μηδ’, εἴ τι δράσεις ¹⁷⁸ εἰ ¹⁷⁹ ζώσης ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-165-2 This verse is a development of μή ποτ’ εἰσίδοιμι ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-165-3 The objection to the verse as illogical assumes that the

δέ

in μηδέ ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-166-1 τεκνοῦσσα ¹⁸³ τεκοῦσα ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-166-2 πρὸς … φύσιν ¹⁸⁵ πάντων … τῶνδε ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-166-3 γενναία ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-167-1 ὁ φιτύσας πατήρ ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-167-2 ᾤκτισα ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-167-3 ὅσῳπερ ¹⁹⁰ μόνη ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-167-4 φρονεῖν οἶδεν ¹⁹² φρονεῖν ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-167-5 314 f. For καὶ ¹⁹⁴ κρίνοις ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-167-6 γέννημα τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ¹⁹⁶ οὐκ ἐν ὑστάτοις ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-168-1 μὴ τῶν τυράννων ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-168-2 Εὐρύτου σπορά τις ἦν ¹⁹⁹ τις ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-169-1 ἀνιστόρουν ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-169-2 μακράν ²⁰²

mvp-comment-170-1 ξυνεμπόρων ²⁰³

mvp-comment-170-2 ἔχεις ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-170-3 ἤνυτον ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-171-1 ἀλλ’ ἡμὶν ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-172-1 καὶ ²⁰⁷ ξυμφορά ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-173-1 οὔ τἄρα ²⁰⁹ οὐδὲν ἐξ ἴσου ²¹⁰ τῷ γε πρόσθεν χρόνῳ ²¹¹ ἐξ ἴσου ²¹² διοίσει ²¹³ γλῶσσαν ²¹⁴ διοίσει ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-173-2 ἤτις ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-173-3 οὐδαμὰ ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-174-1 οὔτε μείζον’ οὔτ’ ἐλάσσονα ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-175-1 ὠδίνουσα … βάρος ²¹⁹

mvp-comment-176-1 διήνεμον ²²⁰ πάτραν ²²¹

mvp-comment-176-2 ἡ … τὐχη ²²²

mvp-comment-176-3 αὐτῇ γ’ ²²³ γ’ ²²⁴

mvp-comment-176-4 συγγνώμην ἔχει ²²⁵

mvp-comment-177-1 ἡ δ’ οὖν ²²⁶ ἡ δ’ ²²⁷ ἥδ’ ²²⁸

mvp-comment-177-2 οὕτως ὅπως ἥδιστα ²²⁹

mvp-comment-177-3 331 Among the attempts to amend

λύπην...λύπην

(cr. n.), the two best, I think, are, (1) ἄλλην … λύπην ²³⁰ λύπην … διπλῆν ²³¹ διπλῆν ²³²

mvp-comment-177-4 Almost all edd. retain the optat. λάβοι ²³³ λάβῃ ²³⁴

mvp-comment-178-1 οἷ θέλεις σπεύδῃς ²³⁵

mvp-comment-178-2 ἐγὼ δὲ ²³⁶ σύ θ’ ²³⁷

mvp-comment-178-3 ἐξαρκῆ τιθῶ ²³⁸

mvp-comment-179-1 The

ἄγγελος

(180), who has listened in silence, now places himself between Deianeira and the door through which she is about to follow Lichas and the captives.

mvp-comment-179-2 αὐτοῦ γε πρῶτον βαιὸν ἀμμείνας’ ²³⁹ γε ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-179-3 ἀμμείνας’ ²⁴¹

mvp-comment-180-1 ἄνευ ²⁴² τ’ ²⁴³ μάθῃς ²⁴⁴ μάθῃς ²⁴⁵ ἐκμάθῃς ²⁴⁶ οὕστινας ²⁴⁷

mvp-comment-180-2 ὧν τ’ οὐδὲν εἰσήκουσας ²⁴⁸

mvp-comment-181-1 πάντ’ ²⁴⁹

mvp-comment-182-1 τί δ’ ἔστι ²⁵⁰

mvp-comment-182-2 τοῦ ²⁵¹

mvp-comment-182-3 ἐφίστασαί με ²⁵² τήνδε βάσιν ²⁵³

mvp-comment-182-4 The midd.

ἐφίσταμαι

does not elsewhere occur in a causal sense (except in the aor., as Xen. Cyr.8. 2. 19

φρουροὺς ἐπεστησά μην

). But the causal use of

καθίσταμαι

( Aesch. Eum.706

φρούρημα γῆς καθίσταμαι

, Thuc.2. 6

τά τ’ ἐν τῇ πόλει καθίσταντο

) appears to warrant a like use of

ἐφίσταμαι

, where, as here, the context helps to explain it. Cp. also Plat. Tim. 63 C

γεώδη γένη διϊστάμενοι

, ‘separating.’ [But we cannot properly compare O. C.916

παρίστασαι

, ‘you bring to your own side,’ ‘subjugate’: nor Plat. Rep. 565C

ἕνα τινὰ...δῆμος εἴωθε...προΐστασθαι ἑαυτοῦ

: where there is a special reason for using the midd.] The midd.

προσορωμένα

in Soph. O. C.244 is similarly unique, and has a like justification.

mvp-comment-182-5 A fact which confirms this view is that

ἐφιστάναι, ἐφίστασθαι

were regularly used with ref. to a halt. Xen. An.2. 4. 26

ἐπορεύετο δὲ ἄλλοτε καὶ ἄλλοτε ἐφιστάμενος. ὅσον δὲ χρόνον τὸ ἡγούμενον τοῦ στρατεύματος ἐπιστήσειε, τοσοῦτον ἦν ἀνάγκη χρόνον δἰ ὅλου τοῦ στρατεύματος γίγνεσθαι τὴν ἐπίστασιν

. (For

ἐπίστασις

, ‘a halt,’ cp. Soph. Ant.225 n.) Polyb. 16. 34. 2

ἐπιστήσαντες...τὴν ὁρμήν

. Diod.17. 112

τὴν ὁδὸν...ἐπιστήσας

. Plut. Cim. 1

ἐπιστήσας...τὴν πορείαν

. Arrian 5. 16. 1

ἐπέστησε τοὺς ἱππέας τοῦ πρόσω

mvp-comment-182-6 Another explanation is: τοῦ με ἐφίστασαι ²⁵⁴ τήνδε βάσιν ²⁵⁵ με ²⁵⁶ μοι ²⁵⁷ τοῦ ²⁵⁸ ἐφ’ οὗ ²⁵⁹ με ²⁶⁰

mvp-comment-183-1 οὐδὲ τὸν πάρος … οὐδὲ νῦν ²⁶¹ οὐδὲ ²⁶² οὔτε ²⁶³

mvp-comment-183-2 μάτην ²⁶⁴

mvp-comment-183-3 δοκῶ ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-184-1 ἐκείνους ²⁶⁶ τούτους δ’ ἔα ²⁶⁷ ἄνευ τῶνδ’ ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-184-2 ἢ )μοὶ ταῖσδέ τ’ ²⁶⁹

mvp-comment-185-1 σοὶ ταῖσδέ τ’ οὐδὲν εἴργεται ²⁷⁰ οὐδὲν ²⁷¹ σοὶ ταῖσδέ τ’ ²⁷²

mvp-comment-186-1 καὶ δὴ ²⁷³

mvp-comment-186-2 χὡ λόγος σημαινέτω ²⁷⁴

mvp-comment-187-1 δίκης ἐς ὀρθόν ²⁷⁵

mvp-comment-187-2 ἢ νῦν … ἢ πρόσθεν … παρῆν ²⁷⁶ κακός ²⁷⁷

mvp-comment-188-1 ἃ μὲν γὰρ ἐξείρηκας ²⁷⁸

mvp-comment-188-2 ἀγνοία ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-189-1 μαρτύρων ²⁸⁰

mvp-comment-189-2 Εὔρυτόν θ’ ἕλοι τήν θ’ ὑψίπ. Οἰχαλίαν ²⁸¹

mvp-comment-189-3 τὴν ὑψίπυργον ²⁸²

mvp-comment-189-4 Οἰχαλίαν ²⁸³

mvp-comment-190-1 μόνος θεῶν ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-190-2 θέλξειεν ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-191-1 οὐ τἀπὶ Λυδοῖς ²⁸⁶ ὑπ’ ²⁸⁷ ἐπ’ ²⁸⁸ τἀπὶ ²⁸⁹ ἐπ’ ²⁹⁰

mvp-comment-191-2 πόνων λατρεύματ’ ²⁹¹

mvp-comment-191-3 ὁ ῥιπτὸς … μόρος ²⁹²

mvp-comment-191-4 Heracles had really killed Iphitus. The denial here refers only to the place which the murder held in the story told by Lichas. Heracles was instigated, not by the Lydian servitude which punished his crime, or by those affronts (262 ff.) which Lichas represented as having moved him to the crime, but, in reality, by the refusal of Eurytus to give him Iolè.

mvp-comment-192-1 ὃν ²⁹³ ὃ ²⁹⁴ ὃν … παρώσας ²⁹⁵

mvp-comment-193-1 ἀλλ’ ἡνίκ’ ²⁹⁶ οὐκ ἔπειθε ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-193-2 τὸν φυτοσπόρον ²⁹⁸

mvp-comment-194-1 κρύφιον ὡς ἔχοι λέχος ²⁹⁹ αἰτίαν ³⁰⁰

mvp-comment-194-2 ἑτοιμάσας ³⁰¹

mvp-comment-194-3 362—

mvp-comment-195-1 ἐπιστρατεύει … ἄνακτα πατέρα ³⁰² τόνδ’ ³⁰³ τῶνδ’ ³⁰⁴

mvp-comment-195-2 (1) It was needless to say that the girl's

πατρίς

was also the realm of Eurytus: cp. 244 f.: 283 ff.: 315. The excuse must be that the Messenger himself had not yet said so; he is wordy, and anxious, in his own fashion, to be lucid. The reading τόνδ’ ³⁰⁵ τῶνδ’ ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-195-3 (2) Heracles is subject to ἐπιστρατεύει ³⁰⁷ κτείνει ³⁰⁸ εἶπε ³⁰⁹ δεσπόζειν ³¹⁰ εἶπε ³¹¹

mvp-comment-195-4 (3) At v. 377 Deianeira asks,

ἆρ’ ἀνώνυμος

πέφυκεν

; i.e., ‘is she of obscure birth?’—and then, for the first time, learns that the girl's father is Eurytus. So she must have understood ἄνακτα ³¹²

mvp-comment-195-5 The only course which removes all these three difficulties is Hartung's,—who brackets the words τὴν ταύτης … πατέρα ³¹³

mvp-comment-195-6 Others read τῶν Εὐρύτου τόνδ’, rendering: ‘in which (Lichas) said that Heracles (

τόνδ’

) holds’ [or ‘wishes to hold’] the throne of Eurytus.’ But Heracles simply laid Oechalia waste; there was no question of his reigning there.—Wecklein ingeniously reads τὸν ἐργάτην ³¹⁴ τῶνδ’ ³¹⁵

mvp-comment-195-7 For the change of tenses, cp. Ant.406 n.

mvp-comment-196-1 ἥκει ³¹⁶ ἔπερσε ³¹⁷ ἐντεθέρμανται ³¹⁸ ἥκει ³¹⁹

mvp-comment-196-2 δόμους ὡς τούσδε ³²⁰

mvp-comment-197-1 οὐδ’ εἰκός ³²¹

mvp-comment-197-2 ἐντεθέρμανται ³²² ἐν‐ ³²³ ἐκ‐ ³²⁴

mvp-comment-198-1 πρὸς μέσῃ Τραχινίων ἀγορᾷ ³²⁵ ἐν ³²⁶

mvp-comment-198-2 ἀγορᾷ ³²⁷

mvp-comment-198-3 Join ὡσαύτως ἐμοί ³²⁸

mvp-comment-199-1 τὸ δ’ ὀρθὸν ³²⁹

mvp-comment-200-1 ποῦ … πράγματος ³³⁰

mvp-comment-200-2 ὑπόστεγον ³³¹

mvp-comment-201-1 ὦ δὐστηνος ³³² πέφυκεν ³³³

mvp-comment-201-2 This question seems strange after the words κτείνει τ’ ἄνακτα πατέρα τῆσδε ³³⁴

mvp-comment-201-3 διώμνυτο ³³⁵

mvp-comment-202-1 ἦ κάρτα ³³⁶

mvp-comment-202-2 The conject. ὄνομα ³³⁷ ὄμμα ³³⁸ ἆρ’ ἀνώνυμος πέφυκεν ³³⁹ ὄνομα ³⁴⁰ φύσιν ³⁴¹ κατ’ ὄμμα ³⁴²

mvp-comment-202-3 φύσιν ³⁴³

mvp-comment-202-4 In some ancient texts this verse was given to Deianeira. Among recent editors, Paley shares that view. But: (1) If Deianeira has already answered her own question, the Messenger's speech opens weakly with v. 380. (2) It agrees best with the practice of Sophocles to suppose that ἦ κάρτα ³⁴⁴ ἢ ³⁴⁵ ἦ ³⁴⁶ φύσιν ³⁴⁷ διώμνυτο ³⁴⁸

mvp-comment-203-1 πατρὸς μὲν οὖσα ³⁴⁹ Ἰόλη )καλεῖτο ³⁵⁰ ποτέ ³⁵¹ )καλεῖτο ³⁵² οὖσα ³⁵³

mvp-comment-203-2 Ἰόλη ³⁵⁴

mvp-comment-203-3 τῆς ³⁵⁵

mvp-comment-204-1 βλάστας ³⁵⁶

mvp-comment-204-2 οὐδὲν ἱστορῶν ³⁵⁷

mvp-comment-204-3 Many editors place a comma after ἐφώνει ³⁵⁸ δῆθεν ³⁵⁹ δῆθεν ³⁶⁰ οὐδὲν ἱστορῶν ³⁶¹

mvp-comment-205-1 ὄλοιντο ³⁶²

mvp-comment-205-2 The comment is aimed at Lichas in the first instance; but its vague form seems purposed, so that the hearers may extend it, if they please, to Heracles. Deianeira herself is in doubt whether the dissimulation practised by Lichas was prompted by her lord (449): Lichas explains that it was not so (479 f.). The schol.'s paraphrase shows that he wished to punctuate thus:

ὄλοιντο, μή τι πάντες, οἱ κακοί

, etc.: ‘perish, not all men, but the evil; and (especially) he,’ etc.

mvp-comment-205-3 τὰ δὲ ³⁶³ δὲ ³⁶⁴

mvp-comment-205-4 μὴ ³⁶⁵ πρέπονθ’ αὑτῷ ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-206-1 ποεῖν ³⁶⁷

mvp-comment-207-1 πεύθου ³⁶⁸ πυθοῦ ³⁶⁹

mvp-comment-207-2 σαφῆ ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-208-1 οὐκ ἀπὸ γνώμης ³⁷¹

mvp-comment-208-2 The accent in L here,

ἄπο γνώμης

, represents the theory that this prep. should be paroxytone when it means ‘at a distance from,’ as in the phrases cited above, and in

ἀπὸ τείχεος

( Il.9. 353 ),

ἀπὸ σεῖο

( ib. 437), etc. But this was merely a refinement due to comparatively late grammarians: see Ellendt, Lex. Soph. p. 79 a: Matthiae Gr. § 572 n. b.

mvp-comment-209-1 οὐκ ἐμῶν ὑπ’ ἀγγέλων ³⁷² αὐτόκλητος ³⁷³

mvp-comment-210-1 ὡς ὁρᾷς ³⁷⁴ εἰσορᾷς ³⁷⁵ εἰσορᾷς ³⁷⁶ ὡς ³⁷⁷ ἕρποντος ἐμοῦ, εἰσορᾷς ³⁷⁸ ὡς ἕρποντος ἐμοῦ ³⁷⁹ εἰσορᾷς ³⁸⁰ εἰσορᾷς ὡς ἕρποντος ἐμοῦ ³⁸¹ εἰσορᾷς ³⁸²

mvp-comment-210-2 As regards ὡς ὁρᾷς ³⁸³ ὡς ³⁸⁴

mvp-comment-211-1 ἐκ ταχείας ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-211-2 σὺν χρόνῳ … βραδεῖ ³⁸⁶

mvp-comment-211-3 πρὶν ἡμᾶς κἀννεώσασθαι λόγους ³⁸⁷

mvp-comment-212-1 ἦ καὶ ³⁸⁸

mvp-comment-212-2 τὸ πιστὸν τῆς ἀλη‐ ³⁸⁹ θείας ³⁹⁰

mvp-comment-212-3 νεμεῖς ³⁹¹

mvp-comment-212-4 Even without the hint in the schol. (cr. n.), it would have been clear that νεμεῖς ³⁹² νέμεις ³⁹³

mvp-comment-213-1 As to Nauck's change in the order of these verses (cr. n.), it is enough to observe that (1) Lichas could not reply to the question of his

δέσποινα

with such a rebuff as σὺ δ’ εἰς τί δή με ³⁹⁴ τόλμησον εἰπεῖν, εἰ φρονεῖς ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-214-1 οὗτος, βλέφ’ ὧδε ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-215-1 σὺ δ’ ³⁹⁷

mvp-comment-216-1 τόλμησον ³⁹⁸

mvp-comment-216-2 εἰ φρονεῖς ³⁹⁹

mvp-comment-216-3 ἱστορῶ ⁴⁰⁰

mvp-comment-216-4 406 f. If δάμαρτα ⁴⁰¹ δεσπότιν ⁴⁰² θ’ ⁴⁰³ δ’ ⁴⁰⁴ δέ … δέ ⁴⁰⁵ τε … τε. — λεύσσων μάταια ⁴⁰⁶

mvp-comment-217-1 δίκαια ⁴⁰⁷

mvp-comment-218-1 δίκαιος ⁴⁰⁸

mvp-comment-219-1 ποικίλας ⁴⁰⁹

mvp-comment-220-1 ἱστορούμενος ⁴¹⁰

mvp-comment-221-1 κάτοισθα ⁴¹¹

mvp-comment-222-1 ἣν ὑπ’ ἀγνοίας ὁρᾷς ⁴¹² ὑπ’ ἀγνοίας ⁴¹³ ὑπ’ ἀγνοίας ⁴¹⁴

mvp-comment-222-2 On the whole, I do not feel sure that there is a corruption. If there is, it probably lies deep. Some conjectures are noticed in the Appendix.

mvp-comment-223-1 τίς πόθεν μολὼν ⁴¹⁵

mvp-comment-224-1 πολλοῖσιν ἀστῶν ⁴¹⁶ ποίοις ἐν ἀνθρώποισι ⁴¹⁷

mvp-comment-224-2 ἀγορᾷ ⁴¹⁸

mvp-comment-224-3 ταῦτά ⁴¹⁹ γ’ ⁴²⁰ γε ⁴²¹

mvp-comment-224-4 425 If the MS. ναί ⁴²² γε ⁴²³ κλύειν ⁴²⁴ ναί ⁴²⁵

mvp-comment-224-5 ταὐτὸ ⁴²⁶

mvp-comment-224-6 426 The antithesis is between the whole phrases, δόκησιν ⁴²⁷ ἐξακριβῶσαι ⁴²⁸

mvp-comment-225-1 ποίαν δόκησιν ⁴²⁹

mvp-comment-226-1 ἐγὼ δάμαρτα ⁴³⁰

mvp-comment-226-2 431 The emphatic σοῦ ⁴³¹ σου ⁴³² ἤκουσεν ⁴³³ ἤκουσα ⁴³⁴

mvp-comment-227-1 ἡ Λυδία ⁴³⁵ ἡ Λυδία ⁴³⁶ ὁ τῆσδ’ ἔρως φανείς ⁴³⁷ ὡς ταύτης πόθῳ ⁴³⁸

mvp-comment-228-1 ἀποστήτω ⁴³⁹

mvp-comment-229-1 πρός σε τοῦ … Διός ⁴⁴⁰

mvp-comment-229-2 νάπος ⁴⁴¹

mvp-comment-229-3 ἐκκλέψῃς λόγον ⁴⁴²

mvp-comment-230-1 Deianeira argues:—(1) 438 —448: he need not fear that she will feel rancour against Heracles or Iolè: (2) 449—454: falsehood would be disgraceful for him,—and, if his motive were kind, useless: (3) 455 f.: detection would be certain: (4) 457 ff.: he need not be afraid of paining her. (5) In vv. 461— 467 she returns to the first topic.

mvp-comment-230-2 κακῇ ⁴⁴³

mvp-comment-230-3 τἀνθρώπων ⁴⁴⁴

mvp-comment-230-4 πέφυκεν ⁴⁴⁵ πεφύκας’ ⁴⁴⁶

mvp-comment-231-1 Ἔρωτι μέν νυν ⁴⁴⁷

mvp-comment-231-2 πύκτης ὅπως ⁴⁴⁸

mvp-comment-231-3 οὐ καλῶς φρονεῖ ⁴⁴⁹

mvp-comment-232-1 ἄρχει καὶ θεῶν ⁴⁵⁰

mvp-comment-233-1 κἀμοῦ γε ⁴⁵¹ γε ⁴⁵²

mvp-comment-233-2 πῶς δ’ οὐ ⁴⁵³

mvp-comment-233-3 οἵας γ’ ἐμοῦ ⁴⁵⁴ γε ⁴⁵⁵

mvp-comment-233-4 Wunder and Nauck reject this beautiful verse, because: (1) by

κἀμοῦ γε

Deianeira implies that she is stronger than the gods; and also that she has been untrue to her husband: (2) she cannot assume that Iolè returns the passion of Heracles; nor does Iolè's feeling come into account here.

mvp-comment-234-1 τὠμῷ τ’ ἀνδρὶ ⁴⁵⁶ τε ⁴⁵⁷ ἢ ⁴⁵⁸

mvp-comment-234-2 τῇδε τῇ νόσῳ ⁴⁵⁹

mvp-comment-234-3 μεμπτός ⁴⁶⁰

mvp-comment-235-1 τοῦ μηδὲν αἰσχροῦ ⁴⁶¹ μηδ’ ἐμοὶ κακοῦ τινος ⁴⁶² τοῦ ⁴⁶³

mvp-comment-235-2 This is a remarkable passage, and it is of some moment to understand it rightly. The meaning is not merely that Iolè's relation to Heracles was excused by the omnipotence of Erôs. Concubinage (

παλλακία

) was not merely tolerated by Athenian opinion, but, in some measure, protected by law (see e.g. , Lys. or. 1 § 31 : Isae. or. 8 § 39 ). Its relation to the life of the family is illustrated by the Andromachè of Euripides; for though Andromachè is Trojan, and Hermionè Spartan, the sentiments are Athenian. A wife (

γαμετὴ γυνή

) who tolerates a

παλλακή

is there represented as proving her goodness of heart (

ἀρετή

, 226), and her wise moderation (938—942); she ought to be consoled by her higher place, and by the advantage which her children will have over the

νόθοι

mvp-comment-235-3 But is Deianeira in earnest here; or is she feigning acquiescence, to reassure Lichas? Presently she tells the Chorus that she cannot endure to share her home with Iolè (539—546). Probably Sophocles meant her to be sincere in both places. The faith in her own power to bear the trial is natural at this moment of excitement and suspense. Not less so is the reaction, when she knows the worst, and has had time to think.

mvp-comment-236-1 οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτ)· ἀλλ’ ⁴⁶⁴ οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα ⁴⁶⁵

mvp-comment-236-2 μαθὼν … ἐκμανθάνεις ⁴⁶⁶

mvp-comment-237-1 αὑτὸν ⁴⁶⁷ ὀφθήσει ⁴⁶⁸

mvp-comment-238-1 κὴρ ⁴⁶⁹ πρόσεστιν ⁴⁷⁰

mvp-comment-239-1 ὅπως δὲ λήσεις ⁴⁷¹ ὅπως δὲ λήσεις ⁴⁷²

mvp-comment-240-1 δέδοικας … ταρβεῖς ⁴⁷³

mvp-comment-240-2 τοῦτο ⁴⁷⁴

mvp-comment-241-1 πλείστας ἀνὴρ εἷς ⁴⁷⁵

mvp-comment-241-2 ἔγημε ⁴⁷⁶

mvp-comment-241-3 The legendary loves of Heracles were as numerous as the local myths which claimed Heracleid <*>escent for clans or houses. Thus his bride Megara connected him with Thebes; Astydameia, with Thessaly; Astyochè, with Epeirus; Epicastè, with Elis; Parthenopè, with Arcadia; Chalciopè, with Cos; the Thespiades, with Sardinia; and so forth. The number of his sons finally grew to about seventy, whose mothers are enumerated by Apollodorus (2. 7. 8).

mvp-comment-242-1 ἠνέγκατ’ ⁴⁷⁷

mvp-comment-242-2 ἥδε τε, οὐδ’ εἰ … ἐντακείῃ ⁴⁷⁸ ἂν ⁴⁷⁹ οὐδ’ ⁴⁸⁰ εἰ ⁴⁸¹ ἂν ⁴⁸²

mvp-comment-242-3 ἐντακείη τῷ φιλεῖν ⁴⁸³

mvp-comment-242-4 ἐντακείη ⁴⁸⁴ τῷ φιλεῖν ⁴⁸⁵

mvp-comment-242-5 The conject. ἐκτακείη ⁴⁸⁶

mvp-comment-243-1 ᾤκτιρα ⁴⁸⁷ δὴ ⁴⁸⁸

mvp-comment-244-1 ῥείτω κατ’ οὖρον ⁴⁸⁹ ἴτω ⁴⁹⁰ οὖρον ⁴⁹¹

mvp-comment-244-2 κακὸν ⁴⁹²

mvp-comment-244-3 πρὸς ἄλλον ⁴⁹³ κακὸν ⁴⁹⁴ πρὸς ἄλλον εἶναι ⁴⁹⁵

mvp-comment-245-1 πιθοῦ λεγούσῃ ⁴⁹⁶ πείθου ⁴⁹⁷ πιθοῦ ⁴⁹⁸ γυναικὶ τῇδε ⁴⁹⁹

mvp-comment-246-1 ἀλλ’ ⁵⁰⁰ θνητὴν φρονοῦσαν θνητὰ ⁵⁰¹ ἀγνώμονα ⁵⁰²

mvp-comment-247-1 κρύψομαι ⁵⁰³

mvp-comment-248-1 ἔστιν γὰρ οὕτως ⁵⁰⁴

mvp-comment-249-1 ταύτης ὁ δεινὸς ἵμερος ⁵⁰⁵ ὁ δεινὸς ⁵⁰⁶

mvp-comment-249-2 ποθ’ ⁵⁰⁷

mvp-comment-249-3 διῆλθε ⁵⁰⁸ τῆσδ’ ⁵⁰⁹ ταύτης ⁵¹⁰

mvp-comment-249-4 ἡ πολύφθορος ⁵¹¹

mvp-comment-249-5 πατρῷος ⁵¹²

mvp-comment-250-1 καὶ τὸ πρὸς κείνου ⁵¹³

mvp-comment-251-1 εἴ τι τήνδ’ ἁμαρτ. ⁵¹⁴

mvp-comment-251-2 νέμεις ⁵¹⁵

mvp-comment-252-1 γε μὲν δὴ ⁵¹⁶ ἐπεὶ ⁵¹⁷

mvp-comment-253-1 στέργε ⁵¹⁸ ἐς ⁵¹⁹

mvp-comment-253-2 ἐμπέδως ⁵²⁰ ἐμπέδους ⁵²¹

mvp-comment-253-3 488 f. Either τἄλλ’ ⁵²² χεροῖν ⁵²³

mvp-comment-254-1 καὶ ⁵²⁴ φρονοῦμεν ⁵²⁵

mvp-comment-255-1 νόσον γ’ ἐπακτὸν ἐξαρούμεθα ⁵²⁶ ἐπακτὸν ⁵²⁷ γε ⁵²⁸ ἐξαρούμεθα ⁵²⁹

mvp-comment-255-2 Others understand:—(1) ‘I shall not heighten the trouble already brought upon me by others’ (viz., the introduction of Iolè into the house, 376). But this sense for ἐξαρούμεθα ⁵³⁰ γε ⁵³¹ νόσημ’ ⁵³²

mvp-comment-255-3 θεοῖσι δυσμαχοῦντες ⁵³³

mvp-comment-256-1 λόγων τ’ ⁵³⁴

mvp-comment-256-2 λόγων … ἐπιστολὰς ⁵³⁵

mvp-comment-257-1 προσαρμόσαι ⁵³⁶

mvp-comment-257-2 This is the first mention of the fateful gift. An unobtrusive significance is given to it by two traits of expression. (1)

δῶρα

is drawn into the relative clause ( O. C.907 n.), and resumed, with a light emphasis, in

καὶ ταῦτ’

: cp. Ph.1247

ἅ γ’ ἔλαβες βουλαῖς ἐμαῖς

, |

πάλιν μεθεῖναι ταῦτα

. (2) A pause follows the second foot of the verse (

ἄγῃς

). Cp. 27 n.

mvp-comment-257-3 ἄγῃς ⁵³⁷ φέρῃς ⁵³⁸ δίκαια ⁵³⁹

mvp-comment-257-4 ὧδε ⁵⁴⁰ σὺν π. στόλῳ ⁵⁴¹

mvp-comment-258-1 μέγα τι σθένος … νίκας ⁵⁴²

mvp-comment-258-2 ἐκφέρεται ⁵⁴³

mvp-comment-259-1 θεῶν ⁵⁴⁴ παρέβαν ⁵⁴⁵

mvp-comment-259-2 Κρονίδαν ⁵⁴⁶

mvp-comment-260-1 τὸν ἔννυχον Ἅιδαν ⁵⁴⁷

mvp-comment-261-1 Ποσειδάωνα ⁵⁴⁸

mvp-comment-261-2 τινάκτορα γαίας ⁵⁴⁹

mvp-comment-262-1 ἐπὶ τάνδ’ … ἄκοιτιν ⁵⁵⁰

mvp-comment-262-2 Other explanations of

ἀμφίγυοι

here are these:—(1) ‘With massive limbs,’—

ἀμφί

being intensive. (2) ‘Dexterous combatants’: cp.

ἀμφιδέξιος

. (3) ‘Of dissimilar forms,’— i.e., man and bull.

mvp-comment-262-3 κατέβαν ⁵⁵¹

mvp-comment-263-1 πάμπληκτα ⁵⁵²

mvp-comment-263-2 παγκόνιτά τ’ ⁵⁵³

mvp-comment-263-3 ἐξῆλθον ἄεθλ’ ⁵⁵⁴

mvp-comment-263-4 ἄεθλα ⁵⁵⁵ ἀγώνων ⁵⁵⁶

mvp-comment-264-1 ποταμοῦ σθένος ⁵⁵⁷

mvp-comment-264-2 φάσμα ταύρου ⁵⁵⁸

mvp-comment-264-3 Acheloüs fights, then, as the

ἐναργὴς ταῦρος

,—not merely as the

ἀνδρείῳ κύτει βούπρῳρος

(12). Sophocles is here following the traditional version. The Homeric Scamander, in conflict with Achilles, roars ‘like a bull’ (

μεμυκὼς ἠΰτε ταῦρος

, Il.21. 237 ).

ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμηθέντες

(says the schol. there)

τὸν Ἀχελῷον ἐταύρωσαν Ἡρακλεῖ ἀγωνιζόμενον

. The taurine form was given to Acheloüs, in that combat, by Archilochus (schol. ib.), by Pindar (schol. Il.21. 194 ), and by the logographer Pherecydes ( Apollod.2. 6. 5 ): perhaps, too, by Panyasis, the author of an epic

Ἡράκλεια

. An engraved gem in the British Museum (King, Antique Gems II. pl. 34, fig. 3) shows Acheloüs as a bull, preparing to butt at Heracles. The gem is older than the time of Sophocles, and may, as Mr. Murray S. thinks, have followed the rendering of this subject on the still more archaic throne of Apollo at Amyclae ( Paus.3. 18. 5 ). Cp. n. on 520. This fight was a favourite theme in art: for the literature, see Roscher, Lex.p. 9.

mvp-comment-264-4 Ovid ( Met. 9. 1—100 ) departs from the old Greek version: his Acheloüs begins the fight in quasi-human form,—then turns into a serpent (63) ,—and then, as a last resource into a bull (80) .

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀπ’ Οἰνιαδᾶν ⁵⁵⁹

mvp-comment-265-2 Oeniadae was some twelve miles W.S.W. of Pleuron. As Heracles arrives from his famous home to the east, so it is fitting that the river-god should come from the western town which was a chief seat of his worship. The head of the Acheloüs appears on coins of Oeniadae.

mvp-comment-266-1 Βακχίας ⁵⁶⁰

mvp-comment-266-2 ἀπὸ ⁵⁶¹ ἄπο ⁵⁶²

mvp-comment-267-1 παλίντονα ⁵⁶³

mvp-comment-267-2 λόγχας ⁵⁶⁴

mvp-comment-267-3 ῥόπαλον ⁵⁶⁵ λόγχας ⁵⁶⁶ ῥόπαλον ⁵⁶⁷ τόξα ⁵⁶⁸

mvp-comment-268-1 ἀολλεῖς ⁵⁶⁹ ἐς μέσον ⁵⁷⁰

mvp-comment-269-1 μόνα δ’ ⁵⁷¹

mvp-comment-269-2 ἐν μέσῳ ⁵⁷²

mvp-comment-269-3 ῥαβδονόμει ⁵⁷³

mvp-comment-269-4 Aphroditè is here the only person near the two combatants ( ξυνοῦσα ⁵⁷⁴

mvp-comment-270-1 τότ’ ἦν χερός ⁵⁷⁵ χερὸς πάταγος ⁵⁷⁶ ἀμφίπλεκτοι κλίμακες ⁵⁷⁷ μετώπων πλήγματα ⁵⁷⁸

mvp-comment-270-2 For ἦν ⁵⁷⁹ ἦν δὲ ⁵⁸⁰

mvp-comment-271-1 ἀνάμιγδα ⁵⁸¹

mvp-comment-271-2 κεράτων ⁵⁸²

mvp-comment-272-1 ἦν ⁵⁸³

mvp-comment-272-2 ἀμφίπλεκτοι κλίμακες ⁵⁸⁴

mvp-comment-272-3 At any rate

κλιμακίζω

was a familiar term in Greek wrestling: cp. Plato comicus

Πρέσβεις

fr. 2

χαίρεις, οἶμαι, μεταπεττεύσας αὐτὸν διακλιμακίσας τε

(explained by Hesych. as

διαπαλαίσας

). For a like use of wrestling terms, cp. Ar. Eq.262 f. —One of the subjects on the archaic throne of Apollo at Amyclae was

ἡ πρὸς Ἀχελῷον Ἡρακλέους πάλη

( Paus.3. 18. 5 ).

mvp-comment-273-1 μετώπων … πλήγματα ⁵⁸⁵

mvp-comment-274-1 τηλαυγεῖ ⁵⁸⁶

mvp-comment-274-2 ὄχθῳ ⁵⁸⁷

mvp-comment-274-3 τὸν ὃν ⁵⁸⁸

mvp-comment-275-1 †ἐγὼ δὲ μάτηρ† μὲν οἷα φράζω ⁵⁸⁹

mvp-comment-275-2 The true key to this passage depends on observing the sequence of topics. (1) In 517—522,

τότ’ ἦν χερός...στόνος ἀμφοῖν

, we have a brief picture of the fight. (2) Then vv. 523—525,

ἁ δ’ εὐῶπις...ἀκοίταν

, mark Deianeira's suspense. (3) Next comes the obscure parenthesis,

ἐγὼ δὲ...φράζω

. (4) And then we return, at v. 527, to Deianeira's suspense,—not, however, in a form which adds anything new to vv. 523 —525, but in one which merely repeats their substance:—

τὸ δ’ ἀμφινείκητον...ἀμμένει

mvp-comment-275-3 Now, to justify such a repetition, it is manifest that (2) and (4) should be separated, not by a mere parenthesis, such as (3) now is, but by some further allusion to the fight. This inference is strengthened by the phrase,

τὸ δ’ ἀμφινείκητον ὄμμα νύμφας

, which gains point if a reference to the

νεῖκος

has immediately preceded.

mvp-comment-275-4 I believe that ἐγὼ ⁵⁹⁰ ἀγὼν ⁵⁹¹ φράζω ⁵⁹² ἀγὼν δὲ μαργᾷ μέν, οἷα φράζω ⁵⁹³ τὸ δ’ ἀμφινείκητον ⁵⁹⁴

mvp-comment-276-1 ὄμμα ⁵⁹⁵ ὄμμα νύμφας ⁵⁹⁶

mvp-comment-276-2 ἐλεινὸν ἀμμένει ⁵⁹⁷

mvp-comment-277-1 κἀπὸ ματρὸς ἄφαρ βέβακεν ⁵⁹⁸

mvp-comment-277-2 ἄφαρ ⁵⁹⁹

mvp-comment-278-1 ὥστε ⁶⁰⁰ ὥσπερ ⁶⁰¹

mvp-comment-278-2 πόρτις ἐρήμα ⁶⁰²

mvp-comment-279-1 ἦμος ⁶⁰³ τῆμος ⁶⁰⁴

mvp-comment-279-2 ὁ ξένος ⁶⁰⁵

mvp-comment-279-3 θροεῖ ⁶⁰⁶

mvp-comment-279-4 ταῖς αἰχμ. παισὶν ⁶⁰⁷

mvp-comment-279-5 ὡς ἐπ’ ἐξόδῳ ⁶⁰⁸ ἐπ’ ἐξόδῳ ⁶⁰⁹

mvp-comment-279-6 θυραῖος ⁶¹⁰

mvp-comment-280-1 τὰ μὲν ⁶¹¹ τὰ δ’ ⁶¹²

mvp-comment-280-2 χερσὶν ⁶¹³

mvp-comment-280-3 συγκατοικτιουμένη ⁶¹⁴

mvp-comment-281-1 κόρην ⁶¹⁵ ἐζευγμένην ⁶¹⁶

mvp-comment-282-1 παρεισδέδεγμαι ⁶¹⁷ φόρ‐ ⁶¹⁸ τον ⁶¹⁹ παρεισδέδεγμαι ⁶²⁰

mvp-comment-282-2 λωβητὸν ⁶²¹

mvp-comment-282-3 ἐμπόλημα ⁶²²

mvp-comment-282-4 τῆς ἐμῆς φρενός ⁶²³ λωβητὸν ⁶²⁴

mvp-comment-283-1 δὔ οὖσαι ⁶²⁵

mvp-comment-283-2 μιᾶς ὑπὸ χλαίνης ⁶²⁶

mvp-comment-283-3 ὑπαγκάλισμα ⁶²⁷

mvp-comment-283-4 Mr Murray S. has shown me a curious illustration of this passage. A vase of the 6th cent. B.C., now in the British Museum, depicts two women under the same

χλαῖνα

,—a symbolical representation, perhaps, of a common grief.

mvp-comment-284-1 ὁ … ἡμῖν καλούμενος ⁶²⁸

mvp-comment-284-2 πιστός ⁶²⁹

mvp-comment-285-1 οἰκούρια ⁶³⁰ τοῦ μακροῦ χρόνου ⁶³¹

mvp-comment-286-1 οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι ⁶³²

mvp-comment-286-2 τῇδε τῇ νόσῳ ⁶³³

mvp-comment-287-1 τὸ δ’ αὖ ξυνοικεῖν ⁶³⁴

mvp-comment-288-1 The text of this passage is, I believe, sound, though the diction is bold, and somewhat careless. The one

ἥβη

(Iolè's) is growing to the perfect flower, while the other (Deianeira's) is declining. (Cp. Ar. Lys.596

τῆς δὲ γυναικὸς σμικρὸς ὁ καιρός

.) In what follows, these points may be noted.

mvp-comment-288-2 (1) ὧν ⁶³⁵ ὧν ⁶³⁶

mvp-comment-288-3 (2) τῶν δ’ ὑπεκτρέπει πόδα ⁶³⁷

mvp-comment-288-4 (3) ἀφαρπάζειν ⁶³⁸

mvp-comment-288-5 (4) ὀφθαλμὸς ⁶³⁹

mvp-comment-289-1 ταῦτ’ οὖν ⁶⁴⁰

mvp-comment-289-2 καλῆται ⁶⁴¹ καλεῖται ⁶⁴² καλῆται ⁶⁴³

mvp-comment-289-3 ἀνήρ ⁶⁴⁴

mvp-comment-290-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ γάρ ⁶⁴⁵

mvp-comment-290-2 553 f. The MSS. have ᾗ δ’ ἔχω ⁶⁴⁶ λυτήριον λύπημα ⁶⁴⁷ λύπημα ⁶⁴⁸ λώφημα ⁶⁴⁹

mvp-comment-290-3 Deianeira is here speaking of an expedient which gives her some hope, indeed, but no assured confidence (590 f.). This exactly suits the usage of

λωφᾶν

and its derivatives, which denote the alleviation of evil,—not its complete removal. Cp. Ai.61

ἐπειδὴ τοῦδ’ ἐλώφησεν πόνου

. Thuc.6. 12

ἀπὸ νόσου μεγάλης καὶ πολέμου βραχύ τι λελωφήκα<*>εν

. Plat. Legg. 854 C

ἐὰν μέν σοι δρῶντι ταῦτα λωφᾷ τι τὸ νόσημα

. Thuc. uses

λώφησις

, ‘abatement’ ( 4. 81

τοῦ πολέμου

). Deianeira, in bethinking her of the philtre, has found that which holds out a promise of deliverance, and assuages, though it does not cure, her pain,—a

λυτήριον λώφημα

mvp-comment-290-4 The attempted versions of

λυτήριον λύπημα

have been these:—(1) With a comma after

τῇδ’

: ‘a thing to grieve this girl, for my deliverance’:—a grammatically sound phrase, but wholly unsuited to Deianeira, whose aim is to be more loved than Iolè (584 ff.),—but not to pain her. (2) Taking

λυτήριον

as=

λυτόν

: ‘how I find that my pain is remediable.’ This is impossible. (3) Governing

λύπημα

λυτήριον

: ‘how I have a thing to remedy my pain.’ Also impossible.

mvp-comment-290-5 Paley, changing ἔχω ⁶⁵⁰ ἔχει ⁶⁵¹

mvp-comment-291-1 ἦν μοι ⁶⁵²

mvp-comment-291-2 ποτὲ ⁶⁵³ δῶρον ⁶⁵⁴ θηρός ⁶⁵⁵

mvp-comment-291-3 παλαιὸν ⁶⁵⁶ ἀρχαίου ⁶⁵⁷

mvp-comment-291-4 θηρός ⁶⁵⁸

mvp-comment-291-5 λέβητι ⁶⁵⁹

mvp-comment-292-1 δασυστέρνου ⁶⁶⁰

mvp-comment-292-2 παρὰ Νέσσου ⁶⁶¹ ἐκ φονῶν ⁶⁶² φόνων ⁶⁶³

mvp-comment-292-3 The name Νέσσος ⁶⁶⁴

mvp-comment-293-1 τὸν βαθύρρουν … Εὔηνον ⁶⁶⁵

mvp-comment-293-2 The association of Nessus with the Evenus well illustrates the significance of the Centaur as a personification of a ravaging torrent. (Cp. Mr Sidney Colvin in Journ. of Hellen. Stud. vol. I. p. 160: also Mure, Tour in Greece, I. 170.) In Ov. Met.2. 638 a daughter of the Centaur Cheiron is called Ocyroe (

Ὠκυρόη

), because born

‘Fluminis in rapidi ripis.’

mvp-comment-293-3 ποταμὸν … βροτοὺς … )πόρευε ⁶⁶⁶ )πόρευε ⁶⁶⁷ θοῦ ⁶⁶⁸

mvp-comment-294-1 τὸν πατρῷον … στόλον ⁶⁶⁹ ἑσπόμην ⁶⁷⁰

mvp-comment-294-2 The soundness of the words is confirmed by their dramatic fitness. There is a tacit contrast in her thoughts between herself and the new paramour; she thinks of the long-past day when her father gave her to her husband, and sent her forth with him. The words also accord with that tone of passivity in which she has already spoken of her marriage (6—27). She welcomed Heracles as a deliverer, and has learned to love him; but she had no voice in the bestowal of her hand.— Cp. fr. 521 (the young girl is happy at home, but the bride is sent forth by her parents to a doubtful fate):

αἳ νέαι μὲν ἐν πατρὸς

ἥδιστον, οἶμαι, ζῶμεν ἀνθρώπων βίον·

| ... |

ὅταν δ’ ἐς ἥβην ἐξικώμεθ’ ἔμφρονες

, |

ὠθούμεθ’ ἔξω

.—See Appendix.

mvp-comment-294-3 εὖνις ⁶⁷¹

mvp-comment-295-1 φέρων ἐπ’ ὤμοις ⁶⁷²

mvp-comment-295-2 ἦ ⁶⁷³ ἦν ⁶⁷⁴

mvp-comment-295-3 μέσῳ πόρῳ ⁶⁷⁵

mvp-comment-295-4 ἐκ δ’ ἤϋσ’ ἐγώ ⁶⁷⁶

mvp-comment-296-1 ἐπιστρέψας ⁶⁷⁷

mvp-comment-296-2 κομήτην ⁶⁷⁸

mvp-comment-296-3 πλεύμονας ⁶⁷⁹ ν ⁶⁸⁰ λ ⁶⁸¹ λ ⁶⁸² λ ⁶⁸³ ν ⁶⁸⁴

mvp-comment-296-4 ἐκθνῄσκων ⁶⁸⁵

mvp-comment-296-5 569 ff. For τοσοῦτον ⁶⁸⁶

mvp-comment-296-6 τῶν ἐμῶν … πορθμῶν ⁶⁸⁷

mvp-comment-297-1 ἐὰν γὰρ … ὕδρας ⁶⁸⁸ τῶν ἐμῶν σφαγῶν ⁶⁸⁹ ἀμφίθρεπτον ⁶⁹⁰ ἐνέγκῃ χερσίν ⁶⁹¹ ᾗ μελαγχόλους ⁶⁹² μελαγχόλους ⁶⁹³ ἰούς ⁶⁹⁴

mvp-comment-297-2 θρέμμα … ὕδρας ⁶⁹⁵

mvp-comment-297-3 Others explain thus:—‘If thou gather the blood from my wound, clotted around ( the arrow), at the place where the hydra has tinged it,’ etc., i.e., at the arrow's head. This is quite possible, but is open to objections. (1) The language in 557 f. (

παρὰ Νέσσου...ἐκ φονῶν

) implies that she obtained the blood directly from the body, not from the arrow-head. (2) The phrase ἐνέγκῃ χερσίν ⁶⁹⁶

mvp-comment-297-4 If we adopted the conjecture μελάγχολος … ἰός ⁶⁹⁷ θρέμμα ⁶⁹⁸ ἔβαψεν ⁶⁹⁹

mvp-comment-297-5 Ovid describes the incident thus:—The arrow is withdrawn, and the blood flows from the wound,

mixtus Lernaei tabe veneni:

Nessus then presents Deianeira with a garment steeped in the blood (

velamina tincta cruore

): Met.9. 129 ff.

mvp-comment-298-1 ὥστε μήτιν’ εἰσιδὼν στέρξει ⁷⁰⁰

mvp-comment-298-2 ἀντὶ σοῦ ⁷⁰¹

mvp-comment-299-1 ἐννοήσας’ ⁷⁰²

mvp-comment-299-2 δόμοις ⁷⁰³ ἐγκεκλῃμένον ⁷⁰⁴

mvp-comment-300-1 χιτῶνα τόνδ’ ⁷⁰⁵

mvp-comment-300-2 ἔβαψα ⁷⁰⁶

mvp-comment-300-3 προσβαλοῦς’ ⁷⁰⁷

mvp-comment-301-1 πεπείρανται ⁷⁰⁸

mvp-comment-302-1 κακὰς δὲ τόλμας ⁷⁰⁹

mvp-comment-302-2 μήτ’ ἐπισταίμην …, μήτ’ ἐκμάθοιμι ⁷¹⁰

mvp-comment-302-3 στυγῶ ⁷¹¹

mvp-comment-303-1 φίλτροις δ’ ἐάν πως ⁷¹² μεμηχάνηται τοὔργον ⁷¹³

mvp-comment-303-2 ὑπερβαλώμεθα ⁷¹⁴

mvp-comment-303-3 τὴν παῖδα ⁷¹⁵ θέλκτροισι ⁷¹⁶

mvp-comment-303-4 εἴ τι μὴ ⁷¹⁷

mvp-comment-303-5 μάταιον ⁷¹⁸

mvp-comment-303-6 εἰ δὲ μή ⁷¹⁹

mvp-comment-304-1 πίστις ⁷²⁰

mvp-comment-304-2 590 f. The whole phrase οὕτως ἔχει ⁷²¹ γε ⁷²² πίστις ⁷²³

mvp-comment-304-3 ὡς ⁷²⁴ οὕτως ⁷²⁵

mvp-comment-304-4 τὸ μὲν δοκεῖν ⁷²⁶

mvp-comment-304-5 πείρᾳ δ’ οὐ προσωμίλησα ⁷²⁷

mvp-comment-305-1 δρῶσαν ⁷²⁸ γνῶμα ⁷²⁹

mvp-comment-306-1 ἀλλ’ αὐτίκ’ ⁷³⁰ ἐλεύσεται ⁷³¹

mvp-comment-307-1 μόνον ⁷³²

mvp-comment-307-2 παρ’ ὑμῶν ⁷³³ παρ’ ὑμῖν ⁷³⁴ στεγώμεθ’ ⁷³⁵

mvp-comment-307-3 αἰσχύνῃ πεσεῖ ⁷³⁶

mvp-comment-308-1 τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ ⁷³⁷

mvp-comment-309-1 αὐτὰ … ταῦτα ⁷³⁸ καὶ ⁷³⁹ πράσσω ⁷⁴⁰ ἠγορῶ ⁷⁴¹

mvp-comment-309-2 ταναϋφῆ ⁷⁴² τόνδε γ’ εὐϋφῆ ⁷⁴³ ἀϋφῆ ⁷⁴⁴ ταναϋφῆ ⁷⁴⁵ γε ⁷⁴⁶

mvp-comment-309-3 πέπλον ⁷⁴⁷ τόνδε ⁷⁴⁸

mvp-comment-310-1 φράζ’ ὅπως μηδεὶς … ἀμφιδύσεται ⁷⁴⁹

mvp-comment-311-1 ἕρκος ἱερὸν ⁷⁵⁰ ἐφέστιον σέλας ⁷⁵¹

mvp-comment-312-1 φανερὸς ⁷⁵² ἐμφανῶς ⁷⁵³ σταθεὶς ⁷⁵⁴

mvp-comment-313-1 ηὔγμην ⁷⁵⁵

mvp-comment-314-1 πανδίκως ⁷⁵⁶ στελεῖν ⁷⁵⁷ σωθέντ’ ⁷⁵⁸ πανδίκως ⁷⁵⁹

mvp-comment-315-1 καινῷ καινὸν ⁷⁶⁰

mvp-comment-315-2 As to the wearing of new, or freshly washed, garments on such occasions, cp. Od.4. 750 (Penelope is to pray to Athena)

καθαρὰ χροῒ εἵμαθ’ ἑλοῦσα

mvp-comment-316-1 καὶ τῶνδ’ ἀποίσεις ⁷⁶¹

mvp-comment-316-2 ἐπὸν μαθήσεται ⁷⁶² ἐπ’ ὄμμα θήσεται ⁷⁶³ ν ⁷⁶⁴ μ ⁷⁶⁵ εὐμαθὲς … μαθήσεται ⁷⁶⁶ ὃ ⁷⁶⁷ ἐπιθήσεται ὄμμα ⁷⁶⁸

mvp-comment-317-1 νόμον ⁷⁶⁹

mvp-comment-317-2 τὸ μὴ )πιθυμεῖν πομπὸς ὢν ⁷⁷⁰

mvp-comment-318-1 ὅπως ἂν ⁷⁷¹ χάρις ⁷⁷² ἁπλῆ ⁷⁷³ διπλῆ ⁷⁷⁴ κείνου τε κἀμοῦ ⁷⁷⁵ ξυνελθοῦς’ ⁷⁷⁶

mvp-comment-319-1 εἴπερ Ἑρμοῦ ⁷⁷⁷

mvp-comment-319-2 πομπεύω ⁷⁷⁸ τέχνην ⁷⁷⁹ βέβαιον ⁷⁸⁰

mvp-comment-319-3 οὔ τι μὴ ⁷⁸¹ οὔ τοι μὴ ⁷⁸²

mvp-comment-319-4 τὸ μὴ οὐ ⁷⁸³

mvp-comment-319-5 ἄγγος ⁷⁸⁴

mvp-comment-319-6 ὡς ἔχει ⁷⁸⁵

mvp-comment-320-1 λόγων … πίστιν ⁷⁸⁶

mvp-comment-320-2 ἐφαρμόσαι ⁷⁸⁷

mvp-comment-320-3 λέγεις ⁷⁸⁸ ἔχεις ⁷⁸⁹ ἔχει ⁷⁹⁰ ἐφεῖς’ ⁷⁹¹

mvp-comment-321-1 στείχοις ἂν ἤδη ⁷⁹²

mvp-comment-322-1 σεσωσμένα ⁷⁹³

mvp-comment-322-2 627 f. For ἀλλὰ … μὲν δὴ ⁷⁹⁴ αὐτὴν ⁷⁹⁵ αὐτήν θ’ ⁷⁹⁶ τὰ τῆς ξένης προσδέγματα ⁷⁹⁷ αὐτὴν ὡς ἐδεξάμην φίλως ⁷⁹⁸ οἶσθα ⁷⁹⁹ τὰ τῆς ξένης προσδέγματα ⁸⁰⁰ φίλως ⁸⁰¹ αὐτήν θ’ ⁸⁰² θ’ ⁸⁰³

mvp-comment-323-1 ἐκπλαγῆναι ⁸⁰⁴

mvp-comment-324-1 πρὼ| ⁸⁰⁵

mvp-comment-324-2 μὴ … λέγοις ἂν ⁸⁰⁶

mvp-comment-324-3 τὸν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ⁸⁰⁷

mvp-comment-325-1 τἀκεῖθεν ⁸⁰⁸ εἰδέναι ⁸⁰⁹ εἰ ποθούμεθα ⁸¹⁰ δέδοικα ⁸¹¹ ἐμοῦ ⁸¹²

mvp-comment-326-1 <*> ναύλοχα ⁸¹³

mvp-comment-326-2 θερμὰ λουτρὰ ⁸¹⁴ να<*>λοχα ⁸¹⁵ πετραῖα ⁸¹⁶

mvp-comment-326-3 ναύλοχα ⁸¹⁷

mvp-comment-326-4 πάγους Οἴτας ⁸¹⁸

mvp-comment-326-5 παραναιετάοντες ⁸¹⁹

mvp-comment-326-6 οἵ ⁸²⁰ τε ⁸²¹

mvp-comment-326-7 χρυσαλακάτου τ’ ἀκτὰν κόρας ⁸²²

mvp-comment-326-8 χρυσαλακάτου ⁸²³

mvp-comment-327-1 ἔνθ’ Ἑλλάνων ⁸²⁴

mvp-comment-327-2 Ἑλλάνων ⁸²⁵

mvp-comment-327-3 ἀγοραὶ Πυλάτιδες ⁸²⁶

mvp-comment-327-4 κλέονται ⁸²⁷

mvp-comment-328-1 ἀναρσίαν ⁸²⁸

mvp-comment-328-2 ἐπάνεισιν ⁸²⁹

mvp-comment-328-3 θείας … μούσας ⁸³⁰ ἀντίλυρον ⁸³¹

mvp-comment-328-4 ἀχῶν ⁸³² ἰάχων ⁸³³

mvp-comment-329-1 ὁ Διὸς … Ἀλκμήνας κόρος ⁸³⁴

mvp-comment-330-1 σοῦται ⁸³⁵ σεῦται ⁸³⁶

mvp-comment-330-2 πάσας ⁸³⁷

mvp-comment-331-1 ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν ⁸³⁸

mvp-comment-331-2 παντᾷ ⁸³⁹ ἀπόπτολιν ⁸⁴⁰

mvp-comment-331-3 δυοκαιδεκάμηνον … χρόνον ⁸⁴¹

mvp-comment-331-4 πελάγιον ⁸⁴²

mvp-comment-332-1 ἁ δέ οἱ … δάμαρ ⁸⁴³ οἱ ⁸⁴⁴

mvp-comment-333-1 τάλαιναν ⁸⁴⁵ τάλαινα ⁸⁴⁶

mvp-comment-333-2 ὤλλυτο ⁸⁴⁷

mvp-comment-334-1 Ἄρης ⁸⁴⁸

mvp-comment-334-2 οἰστρηθεὶς ⁸⁴⁹ αὖ ⁸⁵⁰ οἱ ⁸⁵¹ στρωθεὶς ⁸⁵²

mvp-comment-334-3 ἐξέλυσ’ ἐπίπονονἁμέραν ⁸⁵³ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν ⁸⁵⁴

mvp-comment-335-1 ὄχημα ναὸς ⁸⁵⁵

mvp-comment-336-1 πρὶν … ἀνύσειε ⁸⁵⁶

mvp-comment-337-1 ἑστίαν ⁸⁵⁷

mvp-comment-337-2 ἀμείψας ⁸⁵⁸

mvp-comment-337-3 κλῄζεται θυτήρ ⁸⁵⁹

mvp-comment-338-1 πανίμερος ⁸⁶⁰ πανάμερος ⁸⁶¹

mvp-comment-339-1 τᾶς πειθοῦς παγχρίστῳ ⁸⁶²

mvp-comment-339-2 Let us now examine the text in detail.

mvp-comment-339-3 (1) παγχρίστῳ ⁸⁶³

mvp-comment-339-4 (2) The words ἐπὶ προφάσει θηρός ⁸⁶⁴ φάρους ⁸⁶⁵

mvp-comment-339-5 (3) For συγκραθεὶς ⁸⁶⁶

mvp-comment-339-6 There remains, however, the metrical discrepancy between συγκραθεὶς ⁸⁶⁷ ἐξέλυς’ ⁸⁶⁸ ἐξείλυς’ ⁸⁶⁹ συντακεὶς ⁸⁷⁰

mvp-comment-339-7 Either

συγκραθείς

συντακείς

would here admit a secondary sense, unconsciously prophetic of the dire event (833

προστακέντος ἰοῦ

: 836

προστετακώς

),— like

προσαρμόσαι

in 494.—For other views, see Appendix.

mvp-comment-340-1 περαιτέρω ⁸⁷¹

mvp-comment-341-1 Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως ⁸⁷²

mvp-comment-342-1 ἀθυμῶ δ’, εἰ φανήσομαι ⁸⁷³

mvp-comment-343-1 οὐ δή ⁸⁷⁴ τι ⁸⁷⁵ ἐλπίδος ⁸⁷⁶ τι ⁸⁷⁷ δωρημάτων ⁸⁷⁸

mvp-comment-344-1 ὥστε μήποτ’ ἂν παραινέσαι ⁸⁷⁹ προθυμίαν … ἔργου ⁸⁸⁰ ἄδηλον ⁸⁸¹ λαβεῖν ⁸⁸²

mvp-comment-345-1 εἰ διδακτόν ⁸⁸³

mvp-comment-346-1 οἷον, ἢν φράσω ⁸⁸⁴

mvp-comment-346-2 (1) To retain ὑμῖν ⁸⁸⁵ μαθεῖν ⁸⁸⁶

mvp-comment-346-3 (2) To read ὑμᾶς ⁸⁸⁷ ὑμῖν ⁸⁸⁸ φράσω ⁸⁸⁹

mvp-comment-346-4 Others, taking μαθεῖν ⁸⁹⁰ θαῦμ’ ἀνέλπιστον ⁸⁹¹ ἂν φράσαι ⁸⁹²

mvp-comment-347-1 τὸν ἐνδυτῆρα πέπλον ⁸⁹³

mvp-comment-348-1 ἀργὴς … πόκος ⁸⁹⁴ ἀργῆτ’ … πόκῳ ⁸⁹⁵ ἀργῆτ’ ⁸⁹⁶ ἀργῆτα ⁸⁹⁷ τὸν ἐνδυτῆρα πέπλον ⁸⁹⁸

mvp-comment-348-2 Blaydes suggests

ἀργῆς οἰὸς εὐέρου πόκῳ

: but the usage of

ἀργός

precludes this. A change of ἀργὴς … πόκος ⁸⁹⁹ ἀργῆτ’ ⁹⁰⁰ πόκῳ ⁹⁰¹ ᾧ ⁹⁰² εὐέρου ⁹⁰³

mvp-comment-349-1 πρὸς οὐδενὸς ⁹⁰⁴ τῶν ἔνδον ⁹⁰⁵ τῶν ἐκτός ⁹⁰⁶ φθίνει ⁹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-350-1 ψῇ ⁹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-350-2 Such is the only sense which the words will bear. They are perhaps corrupt. Sophocles has the dat. plur.

σπιλάδεσσι

, in the ordinary sense, ‘sea-rocks,’ in fr. 341; but the sense of the sing. here is peculiar. And vv. 695—698 would naturally suggest that she had thrown the tuft at once on the ground, rather than on a stone from which it afterwards crumbled down.

mvp-comment-350-3 Possibly the true reading is κατ’ ἄκρας σπόδιον ⁹⁰⁹ σπιλάδος ⁹¹⁰ σπ ⁹¹¹

mvp-comment-351-1 ἐκτενῶ ⁹¹²

mvp-comment-352-1 γὰρ ⁹¹³

mvp-comment-352-2 ὧν ⁹¹⁴ θεσμῶν ⁹¹⁵

mvp-comment-352-3 ὁ θὴρ Κένταυρος ⁹¹⁶

mvp-comment-352-4 πονῶν πλευρὰν ⁹¹⁷

mvp-comment-352-5 πικρᾷ ⁹¹⁸

mvp-comment-352-6 προὐδιδάξατο ⁹¹⁹

mvp-comment-353-1 θεσμῶν οὐδέν ⁹²⁰ ἐσῳζόμην ⁹²¹

mvp-comment-354-1 χαλκῆς … δέλτου ⁹²² θεσμῶν ⁹²³

mvp-comment-355-1 καίμοι ⁹²⁴ σῴζειν ⁹²⁵ προὐδιδάξατο ⁹²⁶ κἄδρων τοιαῦτα ⁹²⁷ τοιαῦτ’ ἔδρων ⁹²⁸

mvp-comment-356-1 ἄπυρον ⁹²⁹ ἄθικτον ⁹³⁰

mvp-comment-357-1 ἕως νιν ⁹³¹

mvp-comment-357-2 που ⁹³²

mvp-comment-358-1 ἔχρισα μὲν ⁹³³ κἄθηκα ⁹³⁴ εἴσω δ’ ⁹³⁵ κατ’ οἶκον ⁹³⁶ ἐν δόμοις ⁹³⁷

mvp-comment-359-1 κτησίου ⁹³⁸

mvp-comment-360-1 ἀλαμπὲς ἡλίου ⁹³⁹

mvp-comment-361-1 ζυγάστρῳ ⁹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-361-2 κοίλῳ ⁹⁴¹

mvp-comment-362-1 εἴσω δ’ ἀποστείχουσα ⁹⁴²

mvp-comment-362-2 φάτιν ⁹⁴³ ἄφραστον ⁹⁴⁴ ἀξύμβλητον ⁹⁴⁵ ἀνθρώπῳ μαθεῖν ⁹⁴⁶ ἀξύμβλητον ⁹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-363-1 κάταγμα ⁹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-363-2 προὔχριον ⁹⁴⁹ ἀκτῖν’ ἐς ἡλιῶτιν ⁹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-363-3 Wunder rashly rejects the verse. Dobree's objection to it seems to have been the repeated ἐς ⁹⁵¹

mvp-comment-364-1 ῥεῖ ⁹⁵²

mvp-comment-364-2 κατέψηκται ⁹⁵³

mvp-comment-365-1 μορφῇ ⁹⁵⁴ μάλιστ’ εἰκαστὸν ⁹⁵⁵ ὥστε ⁹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-365-2 πρίονος ἐκβρώματ’ ⁹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-366-1 προπετές ⁹⁵⁸ προὔκειτ’, ἀναζέουσι ⁹⁵⁹ θρομβώδεις ἀφροί ⁹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-367-1 πίονος ποτοῦ γλ. ὀπώρας ἀπὸ Β. ἀμπέλου ⁹⁶¹

mvp-comment-367-2 χυθέντος ⁹⁶² Β. ἀπ’ ἀμπέλου ⁹⁶³

mvp-comment-367-3 For ὀπώρας ⁹⁶⁴ Βακχίας ⁹⁶⁵ πίονος ⁹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-368-1 ποῖ γνώμης πέσω ⁹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-369-1 ὁρῶ δέ μ’ … ἐξειργασμένην ⁹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-370-1 πόθεν ⁹⁶⁹ ἀντὶ τοῦ ⁹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-370-2 ἂν … παρέσχ’ ⁹⁷¹

mvp-comment-370-3 ἧς … ὕπερ ⁹⁷²

mvp-comment-371-1 ἀποφθίσαι ⁹⁷³

mvp-comment-372-1 ἀρκεῖ ⁹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-372-2 ἄρνυμαι ⁹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-373-1 εἴ τι μὴ ⁹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-373-2 ψευσθήσομαι γνώμης ⁹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-374-1 ἄτρακτον ⁹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-374-2 θεὸν Χείρωνα ⁹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-374-3 πημήναντα ⁹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-374-4 Ovid varies the story. Heracles visited Cheiron on Mount Pelion; a poisoned arrow chanced to fall from the hero's quiver on the left foot of the Centaur.

Virus edax superabat opem...Nona dies aderat, cum tu, iustissime Chiron, | Bis septem stellis corpore cinctus eras.

( Fast. 5. 387—414.)

mvp-comment-374-5 χὧνπερ ⁹⁸¹ χὥσπερ ⁹⁸²

mvp-comment-375-1 ἐκ … σφαγῶν τοῦδε διελθὼν ⁹⁸³

mvp-comment-375-2 ἰὸς αἵματος ⁹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-375-3 τόνδε ⁹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-375-4 Others take ἐκ … τοῦδε ⁹⁸⁶ ὅδε ⁹⁸⁷ τοῦδ’ ⁹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-375-5 δόξῃ γοῦν ἐμῇ ⁹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-376-1 σφαλήσεται ⁹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-376-2 For σὺν ⁹⁹¹

mvp-comment-377-1 προτιμᾷ ⁹⁹² κακὴ ⁹⁹³

mvp-comment-378-1 ἔργα δείν’ ⁹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-378-2 ἐλπίδ’ ⁹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-379-1 τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς β. ⁹⁹⁶ προξενεῖ ⁹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-380-1 ἀμφὶ ⁹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-380-2 μὴ )ξ ἑκουσίας ⁹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-380-3 πέπειρα ¹⁰⁰⁰

mvp-comment-381-1 τοιαῦτα δ’ ¹⁰⁰¹

mvp-comment-381-2 οἴκοι ¹⁰⁰²

mvp-comment-382-1 ἂν ἁρμόζοι ¹⁰⁰³

mvp-comment-382-2 τὸν πλείω λόγον ¹⁰⁰⁴ λέξεις ¹⁰⁰⁵

mvp-comment-382-3 μαστὴρ πατρὸς ¹⁰⁰⁶

mvp-comment-383-1 ἂν … εἱλόμην ¹⁰⁰⁷

mvp-comment-383-2 σε ¹⁰⁰⁸ ἓν ¹⁰⁰⁹ σε ἢ μηκέτ’ εἶναι ¹⁰¹⁰ σε ¹⁰¹¹

mvp-comment-383-3 ἐκ τριῶν ἓν ¹⁰¹²

mvp-comment-383-4 κεκλῆσθαι ¹⁰¹³

mvp-comment-384-1 τί δ’ ἔστιν … πρός γ’ ἐμοῦ στυγού‐ ¹⁰¹⁴ μενον ¹⁰¹⁵ πρός γ’ ἐμοῦ ¹⁰¹⁶

mvp-comment-385-1 τὸν δ’ ἐμὸν ¹⁰¹⁷ δέ ¹⁰¹⁸ λέγω ¹⁰¹⁹ λέγω ¹⁰²⁰

mvp-comment-386-1 ἐξήνεγκας ¹⁰²¹

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

205-224. mvp-comment-159-1 The Chorus in response to Deianira raise this strain, accompanied, at least in the latter part of it (216 foll.), with dancing, or some rapid motion to and fro. Cp. Aj. 693-717, О. Т. 1086–1109, Ant. 1115-1152, for similar expressions of hope before some catastrophe. See also O. C. 1044 foll., El. 1384-1397. The maidens who are come to visit Deianira (1) challenge the maidens within the house to shout for joy, and (2) invite the young men to accompany them; (3) they encourage each other to raise the hymn to Artemis, (4) they dance under the excitement of the flute and the thyrsus, (5) they call attention to the coming of Lichas with the captives. These quick changes mark the feeling of trepidation which the situation is calculated to produce.

219-220. mvp-comment-169-1 ἰδοὺἅμιλλαν] • Behold even now (glory to Iacchos), the ivy stirs up my soul, and makes me quick to turn in' (or 'into') 'the Bacchic course!' The ivy upon their brows, or wound about the thyrsus, with which they incite each other to the dance. βακχίαν .. ἅμιλλαν is probably acc. in app. with the action of ὑποστρέφων. Turning me' either in,' or 'into the Bacchic course.' Others, with the Scholiast, would render, Converting my soul (from sorrow) to the Bacchic dance.'

222. mvp-comment-170-1 ἰὼ, ἰὼ Παιάν] The Chorus are just leading up the Paean, which from its monotony could not have been continued with dramatic effect, when Lichas arrives, and they break off. The correction of the text is due to Dindorf, who also reads γυναικῶν. But there is no reason to assume that the three lines must be alike. The iambic tripody with a pause makes a good transition to the other form, CICIC!!. (Qy. ἰδέ· | ἴδ᾽ ὦ φ. γ.?)

223-224. mvp-comment-171-1 τάδ' .. ἐναργῆ] ‘Here is the thing face to face, present and palpable to sight.' ἐναργῆ] 'Beyond the possibility of mistake.'

225-226. mvp-comment-172-1 ὄμματος .. στόλον] The subject of παρῆλθε is the vague τάδε (l.223) resumed with more distinctness in τόνδε .. στόλον : i. e. οὐ παρῆλθέ μ' ὅδε ὁ στόλος, μὴ λεύσσειν αὐτόν. παρῆλθε, 'Escaped,' as in Dem. 550. 26, τουτὶ .. μικροῦ παρῆλθέ με εἰπεῖν, 'I see it, dear friends, nor hath this escaped the vigilance of my eye.' τόνδε, sc. ὄντα τοιόνδε. For the second acc. (με governed by ὀμμ. Φ. π. = ἔλαθε) see Essay on L. § 16. p. 23 , and cp. Ο. C. 113, καὶ σύ μ᾿ ἐξ ὁδοῦ πόδα | κρύψον. While Musgrave's correction is adopted in the text, as having a high degree of probability, the MS. reading may be defended as meaning, 'Vigilance has not (so) passed from my eye.' But such a meaning of παρῆλθε is questionable.

226. mvp-comment-173-1 μὴ λεύσσειν] Although μὴ οὐ would be in place here, we are not in a position to say that μή by itself is wrong.

227-228. mvp-comment-174-1 χρόνῳ | πολλῷ] Cp. Phil. 715, δεκέτει χρόνῳ: Aesch. Ag. 521, δέξασθε κύσμῳ βασιλέα πολλῷ χρόνῳ. χαρτὸν φέρεις] For the direct address following the third person, cp. Ο. Τ. 162, καὶ Φοῖβον ἑκαβόλον .. προφάνητε. There is an obvious play of words, to which καί gives emphasis, Joy to thee, herald, if thou bringest joyful news. For the order of words, ср. О. С. 665, Φοῖβος εἰ προϋπεμψέ σε.

229. mvp-comment-175-1 ἀλλ᾽ εὐ μὲν ἵγμεθ᾽] ἀλλά sets aside the doubt expressed in εἰ . . φέρεις. Cp. Phil. 232, ἀλλ᾽, ὦ ξέν᾽, ἴσθι τοῦτο πρῶτον, κ.τ.λ., ‘Our coming is happy, be assured, and happily are we addressed, lady, as the deed which has been achieved is happy.'

230. mvp-comment-176-1 κατ᾿ ἔργου κτῆσιν = ὥσπερ ἔργῳ ἐκτησάμεθα, sc. ἀγαθά implied in ev. ἄνδρα.. ἔπη] 'He who is fortunate cannot fail to win good words.' For ἀνάγκη, which may seem rather abrupt, cp. 295, πολλή ᾿στ᾿ ἀνάγκη τῇδε τοῦτο συντρέχειν, where, as here, the expression is stronger than the thought, 'It cannot be otherwise,' meaning only, 'It is but natural.'

232. mvp-comment-177-1 φίλτατ᾿ ἀνδρῶν] For the affectionate address arising simply from the effusion of joy, cp. Εl. 1227, ὦ φίλταται γυναῖκες, ὦ πολίτιδες, κ.τ.λ. Lichas has also, of course, a claim on Deianira's gratitude for having brought the news. βούλομαι] Sc. διδαχθῆναι.

233. mvp-comment-178-1 προσδέξομαι] Deianira, in her eager questioning, goes beyond what Lichas could possibly tell.

234. mvp-comment-179-1 ἔλειπον] For the tense, see on l. 47. When I took leave of him he was, etc. ἰσχύοντά τε | καὶ ζῶντα] i. e. 'Not only alive but strong.' See Essay on L. § 41. p. 78 b.

235. mvp-comment-180-1 θάλλοντα] Flourishing,' as one who has lately done great things.

236. mvp-comment-181-1 Where in the world either of his own land or of lands beyond?' Cp. supr. 73 for a similar condensed question. Like the Chorus, Deianira is all uncertainty as to Heracles' whereabouts, and her imagination wanders far. In supr. 163 the words πατρώας γῆς denoted the Peloponnese, as the inheritance of the sons of Heracles. Here (γῆς) πατρώας refers to Hellas generally, either (1) simply as the native land of Heracles, or (2) as the land which was under the especial protection of his father Zeus. Cp. Aesch. Fr. 157-

237. mvp-comment-182-1 ἀκτή τις ἔστ᾽ Εὐβοιΐς, ἔνθ'] The usual formula in describing the place where anything occurred (l. 752, Ant. 966, Homer passim). ὁρίζεται] «He consecrates.' The word is literally applicable to the τέμενος, whose bounds were marked out, but is extended to the altar and what is placed on it.

238. mvp-comment-183-1 τέλη τ' ἔγκαρπα] The 'tribute of fruitful things' is (1) that proportion of the produce of the τέμενος which was to be devoted to the immediate service of the god. Or (2) more generally, 'Offerings of the fruits of the earth.'

239. mvp-comment-184-1 εὐκταῖα φαίνων] Το fulfil a vow.' For φαίνειν of the practical manifestation of an intention, cp. O. C. 721, νῦν σοὶ τὰ λαμπρὰ ταῦτα δὴ φαίνειν ἔπη: Hdt. 3. 36, εὔνοιαν φαίνων.

240. mvp-comment-185-1 εὐχαῖς] ‘By reason of the vow he vowed.' For the dative of the reason, cp. infr. 1127, τοῖς γε πρόσθεν ἡμαρτημένοις. This is the reading of L supported by the lemma of the Scholiast, and is also the harder reading. On these accounts it is preferred to εὐκταῖ', the reading of Par. A, although the latter is equally good in point of sense. ἀνάστατον] Proleptic. 'He conquered and made homeless.

243. mvp-comment-186-1 ξυμφορᾷ] 'Unless they deceive me by their misfortune,' i.e. Unless I am led by their unhappy looks to pity them more than they deserve. This, the reading of the diorthotes of L, which Schndw. adopted, is better than ξυμφορα, which is found in other MSS., because Deianira's feeling is better expressed by making the maidens the subject of the sentence, than if ξυμφοραὶ = αἱ ξυμφοραὶ αὐτῶν were the nominative.

245. mvp-comment-187-1 καὶ θεοῖς] Cp. Eur. Ion 309, 10, τοῦ θεοῦ καλοῦμαι δοῦλος, εἰμί τ', ὦ γύναι. ΚΡ. ἀνάθημα πόλεως, ἤ, κ.τ.λ.: Phoen. 220, 1, ἴσα δ᾽ ἀγάλμασι χρυσοτεύκτοις Φοίβῳ λάτρις γενόμαν. κριτόν] Choice.' Cp. Pind. Pyth. 4. 89, κριτὸν εὑρήσει . . γένος, but the word here retains more of the verbal meaning = ἔκκριτον.

246. mvp-comment-188-1 And was it by that city that he was absent during the vast time of which the days could not be numbered?' ἄσκοπον] That cannot be taken into the eye (or the mind). Essay on L. § 51. p. 96.

247. mvp-comment-189-1 For βεβώς here, see on l. 41. ἡμερῶν ἀνήριθμον] For the gen., cp. Ο. Τ. 178, ὧν πόλις ἀνάριθμος ὄλλυται, and note.

248ff. mvp-comment-190-1 The falsehood of Lichas consists, not in the story of the servitude of Heracles to Omphale, which, whether true or false, was matter of common rumour (ll. 67 foll.), but in his assigning this as the reason for the conquest of Oechalia.

248. mvp-comment-191-1 τὸν.. πλεῖστον] Viz. twelve months out of the fifteen (l. 253).

249. mvp-comment-192-1 ὥς φησ᾿ αὐτός 253 ὡς αὐτὸς λέγει] The word of Heracles himself is required to confirm a statement so degrading to him.

250-251. mvp-comment-193-1 τοῦ λόγου δ᾽ οὐ χρὴ φθόνον .. προσεῖναι] 'And, lady, this must be heard without offence, as all things must in which the hand of Zeus is seen.' The expression is generalized in the relative clause. Hence the subjunctive.

251. mvp-comment-194-1 τοῦ λόγου is an objective genitive, - 'Envy at the word' or 'tale.' Ζεύς, κ.τ.λ.] Infr. 275.

252. mvp-comment-195-1 πραθείς repeats ἐμποληθείς with less attempt at softening the harsh fact. Cp. 276. Lichas purposely enlarges on the trouble that is past in order to lighten by contrast the effect of the discovery which must soon be made.

254. mvp-comment-196-1 He was so stung by incurring this dishonour.' For ὄνειδος = Disgrace,' cp. O. C. 967, 984, О. Т. 1035, 1494.

255. mvp-comment-197-1 Cp. with ὅρκον.. προσβαλών the expressions ὅρκον ἐπελαύνειν and προσάγειν τινί in Hdt. 1. 146, 6. 62.

256. mvp-comment-198-1 τὸν ἀγχιστῆρα] 'The causer.' This being a verbal form cannot be the equivalent of ἀγχιστεύς, which is from ἄγχιστος, ας ἀριστεύς from ἄριστος. Whether a verb ἀγχίζω existed or not, it is presupposed in the formation of ἀγχιστήρ, which can only mean, 'Him who brought on' (Seidler). 'He expressly swore that he would reduce to slavery the man who brought this trouble.' αὐτόχειρα has been conjectured, but this word could hardly be applied to Eurytus with reference to the bondage of Heracles. There Eurytus was only μεταίτιος, an accomplice before the fact, which was the work of Zeus.

257. mvp-comment-199-1 ξὺν παιδί] In Odyss. 9. 199, οὖνεκά μιν σὺν παιδὶ περισχόμεθ' ἠδὲ γυναικί, there is a various reading παισί, but there is nothing improbable in the collective use of the singular here. Essay on L. § 20. p. 31, 2.

258. mvp-comment-200-1 οὐχ ἡλίωσε] 'He made not void;' i. e, amply fulfilled. ἁγνός] 'Clean,' i. e. free. The bondage was a pollution incurred by the murder of Iphitus and at the same time an expiation of it. There may also have been some formal expiation not expressly mentioned. When this was over, he was pure, and might therefore look for success.

259. mvp-comment-201-1 ‘στρατὸν .. ἐπακτόν, quem dicit Sophocles, Arcades fuisse et Malienses et Locros Epicnemidios perhibet Apollodorus, 2. 7, 7; solos Arcades nominat Diodorus, 4. 37.' Herm. The point is one of no importance to the action. πόλιν] Accusative of motion to. Essay on L. § 16. p. 22.

260. mvp-comment-202-1 τόνδε] Sc. τὸν Εύρυτον. Α simple instance of the construction κατὰ σύνεσιν. Essay on L. § 36. p. 64. μεταίτιον] Alone partner with Zeus in the blame of this calamity.' Cp. Aesch. Eum. 199, 200, αὐτὸς σὺ τούτων οὐ μεταίτιος πέλει, | ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὸ πᾶν ἔπραξας ὢν παναίτιος.

261. mvp-comment-203-1 μόνον βροτῶν] Cp. 355, μόνος θεῶν.

262. mvp-comment-204-1 ἐφέστιον, | ξένον παλαιὸν ὄντα] Coming to be received at his hearth, having been a friend of old.'

263-264. mvp-comment-205-1 πολλὰ μὲν πολλὰ δέ] 'Brake forth against him with rude words and with evil intent.' The antithetical repetition adds emphasis. Eurytus not only spoke badly, but meant badly. See Essay on L. § 40. p. 76. ἀτηρᾷ φρενί] 'With mischief-meaning mind.' Cp. Phil. 1272, πιστός, ἀτηρὸς λάθρᾳ.

265. mvp-comment-206-1 ἄφυκτα.. βέλη] The bow and arrows afterwards bequeathed to Philoctetes. Cp. Phil. 105.

266. mvp-comment-207-1 τῶν ὧν.. κρίσιν] ‘He came behind his (Eurytus') sons in fitness to compete with the bow;' (i.e. πρὸς τὸ τόξῳ κρίνεσθαι.)

267. mvp-comment-208-1 φωνεῖ δέ] 'And he utters the word.' This emphatic resumption of λέγων may be justified by the extraordinary nature of the reproach. Such a use of φωνεῖν is rare, but cp. O. Τ. 780, καλεῖ παρ᾿ οἶνῳ, κ.τ.λ.: Αj. 1047, οὗτος, σὲ φωνῶ, κ.τ.λ., and see above, λόγοις ἐπερρόθησε. The word suggests the loud tones in which the reproach was uttered. For the 'return to the indicative,' see Essay on L. § 36. p. 64 b. Most MSS. have φώνει, the imperfect without augment. Brunck substituted for this the vivid present. Hermann suspected the word, and conjectured φανείς. I formerly suggested φύσει (ΙΙ. 19. 95 foll., O. С. 1295).

268. mvp-comment-209-1 ῥαίοιτο] 'Was being crushed,' viz. by Eurystheus. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 189, ὅταν ταύτῃ ῥαισθῇ. δείπνοις] ‘At a feast. O. Τ. 779 and note. ἦν οἰνώμενος] Sc. ὁ Ἡρακλῆς. Ας Epic and Ionic forms are sometimes employed in narration, it is not worth while to alter the MS. reading to ᾠνώμενος here. Cp. μοῦνον, l. 277.

270. mvp-comment-210-1 αὖθις] ‘Again,' on another occasion. Τιρυνθίαν πρὸς κλιτύν] Το the Tirynthian height.'

271. mvp-comment-211-1 ἵππους νομάδας] ‘His horses, which had been loose at pasture.' His mind was following the horses, wondering where they were. This gave Heracles the opportunity for his single act of guile.

273. mvp-comment-212-1 Hurled him from the towering cliff.' ἀπ᾿ ἄκρας . . πυργώδους πλακός, From the tower-like crown of the cliff,' is an expression which recalls the appearance of Tiryns as seen from below.

275. mvp-comment-213-1 τῶν ἁπάντων] Of all, and not only of Heracles, to whom therefore he could not forgive this wrong.

276-277. mvp-comment-214-1 οὐδ᾽ ἠνέσχετο, | ὁθούνεκ'] 'And would not endure it, that-.' μοῦνον ἀνθρώπων] Unlike the rest of those whom he had slain. See the story of Iphitus told in Od. 21. 14-41.

278. mvp-comment-215-1 εἰ . . ἠμύνατο] ‘If he had made requital openly.'

279. mvp-comment-216-1 Zeus manifestly would have consented' either (1) to his being justly punished,' or (2) 'to his justly punishing him.' In the former case, (1) χειρουμένῳ used passively involves a change of subject. In the latter, (2) the same word used actively is without an object. τοι gives a note of preparation for what follows, in which the connection, though not fully expressed, is obvious; viz. 'Zeus punished Heracles for his guile, certainly not out of any love for Eurytus' proud race, who for their over-weening insolence have now been destroyed.' So Lichas returns from the digression, with which he laboured to assign a motive for the siege of Oechalia. His prolixity in doing this (which has brought the passage under suspicion), is really a stroke of art, by which the poet reminds the spectators of the simplicity of the real motive.

280. mvp-comment-217-1 'It is not to be supposed that the gods any more than men favour the proud.' Of this the ruin of Oechalia is a proof.

281. mvp-comment-218-1 κεῖνοι] 'And they too'-Eurytus and his sons, who must be supposed to have joined with him in his transgression. ἐκ γλώσσης κακῆς] 'With reviling words.' ἐκ here denotes rather the manner than the origin of the offence. ὑπερχλίοντες is in the imperfect tense. See Essay on L. § 32. p. 54 , and cp. Thuc. 3. 9. § 3, ἐν τῇ εἰμήνῃ τιμώμενοι.

282. mvp-comment-219-1 ῞Αιδου οἰκήτορες] Cp. infr. 1161, ὅστις "Αιδου φθίμενος οἰκήτωρ πέλοι.

283. mvp-comment-220-1 τάσδε] For this attraction of the antecedent, see Essay on L. § 35. p. 59, and cp. supr. 152.

284. mvp-comment-221-1 ἐξ ὀλβίων] Sc. οὐσῶν. As if the sentence were ἐξ ὀλβίων ἄζηλοι γενόμενοι.

286. mvp-comment-222-1 πιστὸς ὢν κείνῳ] Deianira remembers this afterwards, ll. 617-20.

287. mvp-comment-223-1 αὐτὸν . . ἐκεῖνον] Resumed in νιν, l. 289, where Hense unnecessarily conjectures φρόνησον. ἁγνὰ θύματα] ‘'Pure sacrifices,' consecrating the victory by acknowledging the help of the gods.

288. mvp-comment-224-1 τῆς ἁλώσεως] For the capture,' as a thank-offering. To be joined with θύματα. Essay on L. § 10. p. 15 d. πατρῴῳ Ζηνί] Schndw. says that although Zeus was the father of Heracles he was here worshipped by him as the god of the whole race (of Amphitryon?). But Zeus was πατρῷος to Heracles in a peculiar sense-'The Zeus of fatherhood,' i e. 'The author of being.' Cp. infr. 753. Qy. φρονεῖν (see v. rr.)?

290. mvp-comment-225-1 καλῶς λεχθέντος] ‘Of many words fair to hear this is the fairest.' πολλοῦ has been questioned and ὅλου conjectured by Otto Hense. But ὅλου is inexact. For the account of Heracles' bondage to Omphale (ll. 248-53) was not fair to hear.'

292. mvp-comment-226-1 i. e. You have not only the words of Lichas, but the presence of the captives, to vouch for the coming of Heracles. That which assures the joy of Deianira is to be the cause of her misery. So little does the 'coming event cast its shadow before.' Cp. 862.

294. mvp-comment-227-1 πανδίκῳ φρενί] 'With a heart that has every reason to rejoice':-πανδίκως τῇ φρενί.

295. mvp-comment-228-1 'This cannot fail' either (1) 'to coincide with that' (the joy with the news), or (2) 'to coincide in this way.' In (1) τῇδε = τῇ πράξει. In (2) τῇδε is adverbial and τοῦτο is the news and the rejoicing in one. The former (1) is best. Such news must needs be met by such rejoicing.' This line, with many others that could be dropped without ruining the connection, has been needlessly suspected as an interpolation.

296. mvp-comment-229-1 ἔνεστι τοῖσιν εὖ σκοπουμένοις] Either (1) There is occasion in the eyes of those who consider well' (the middle voice occurs in O. Τ. 964, τί δῆτ᾽ ἄν, ὦ γύναι, σκοποῖτό τις, κ.τ.λ.): -the dative, as in O. T. 616, καλῶς ἔλεξεν εὐλαβουμένῳ πεσεῖν : -or (2), 'There is room, when things are well considered.' In this case the dative is governed by ἐν in ἔνεστι.

298. mvp-comment-230-1 For οἶκτος of pity mixed with apprehension, cp. Eur. Med. 931, εἰσῆλθέ μ' οἶκτος εἰ γενήσεται τάδε. δεινός] Overpowering,' of strong feeling. Cp. infr. 476, ταύτης ὁ δεινὸς ἵμερος: Plat. Theaet. 169 Β, οὕτω τις ἔρως δεινὸς ἐνδέδυκε τῆς περὶ ταῦτα γυμνασίας.

300. mvp-comment-231-1 Homeless, because Oechalia was destroyed; Fatherless,' because its chief men had been slain in battle.

301. mvp-comment-232-1 πρίν] In their former life, when they had a home.

302. mvp-comment-233-1 δοῦλον) The adjectival use of δοῦλος, which occurs here and supr. l. 53, is not found in earlier Greek.

303. mvp-comment-234-1 τροπαῖε] 'Giver of victory." Deianira has been commonly understood to address Zeus thus as the averter of evil (ἀποτρόπαιος). But elsewhere τροπαίος means the god who turns armies in battle. On this occasion Zeus has driven the army of Oechalia before Heracles and his allies. Deianira apprehends the possibility of some descendant of the Heracleidae being similarly defeated and made captive through the same god favouring another race.

304. mvp-comment-235-1 ποι after the verb of motion = που.

305. mvp-comment-236-1 τῆσδέ γε ζώσης ἔτι, Sc. δράσειας

306. mvp-comment-237-1 ὁρωμένη) The middle adds a touch of feeling, like the ethical dative, Le Looking at them with reflection. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1487, νοούμενος τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ πικροῦ βίου.

307. mvp-comment-238-1 Iole is naturally silent and downcast in the presence of Deianira, who in her quick sympathy interprets this as an expression of sorrow. The foremost captive, she observes, shows more feeling than the rest (312).

308. mvp-comment-239-1 τεκνοῦσσα (see v. rr.) is obtained from the lemma of the Scholiast. φύσιν] 'Appearance.' Cp. O. Т. 740, 1, φύσιν τιν εἶχε, φράζε.

309. mvp-comment-240-1 πάντων. . τῶνδε] Sc. τοῦ ἄνδρα τε καὶ τέκνα σχεῖν.

313. mvp-comment-241-1 φρονεῖν οἶδεν] 'Has the sense to feel her position." See note on 307. For this pleonastic use of οἶδεν = ἐπίσταται. cp. Hom. Il. 7. 238, οἶδ᾽ ἐπὶ δεξιά, εἶδ' ἐπ᾿ ἀριστερὰ νωμῆσαι βῶν: Phil. 1010, ὃς οὐδὲν ἤδη πλὴν τὸ προσ ταχθὲν ποιεῖν: Arist. Vesp. 376, ν᾽ εἰδῇ μὴ πατεῖν τὰ τῶν θεῶν ψηφίσματα.

314. mvp-comment-242-1 τί δ' ἄν με καὶ κρίνοις; καὶ opposes the question to the reply. I cannot answer, and why should you ask??

315. mvp-comment-243-1 τῶν ἐκεῖθεν] Sc. γεννημάτων. Ср. О. Т. 1167, τῶν Λαΐου τοίνυν τις ἦν γεννημάτων. οὐκ ἐν ὑστάτοις] 'Not far down.' The phrase is equivalent to an attributive adjective agreeing with γέννημα.

316. mvp-comment-244-1 μὴ τῶν τυράννων] Sc. γέννημα. 'Can she have been of the royal stock?' Εὐρύτου σπορά τις ἦν] Either (1) 'Is it possible she is Eurytus' offspring?' τις = πως. See Essay on L. § 22. p. 36, sub fin., and cp. Ó. T. 1167, quoted above. Or (2) Had Eurytus any offspring?" So Hermann.

317. mvp-comment-245-1 οὐδ᾽ ἀνιστόρουν μακράν] 'I did not carry my inquiries far.'

318. mvp-comment-246-1 τῶν ξυνεμπόρων] Of those travelling with her and you,' viz. the other captives. ἔχεις = πέπυσαι. Cp. Phil. 789, ἔχετε τὸ πρᾶγμα.

319. mvp-comment-247-1 τοὐμὸν ἔργον] The herald's task of bringing the captives home.

320. mvp-comment-248-1 Deianira, baffled in her compassionate eagerness, now turns to Iole herself in a tone of entreaty. ἀλλά belongs to ἐκ σαυτῆς or to the whole sentence, not to ἡμίν. (Cр. О. С. 238, ὦ ξένοι, . . ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεί, κ.τ.λ.)

321. mvp-comment-249-1 καὶ ξυμφορά τοι] These words express Deianira's strong sympathy. 'Verily, I am distressed not to know who thou art.' A narrator might say of her in the language of Herodotus, καὶ συμφορὴν ἐποιέετο, τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι τὴν ξείνην ἥ τις εἴη. It has been observed that the particles ἐπεὶ καί τοι are not found together elsewhere. But each of the three words has a distinct and apposite meaning. 'For' (ἐπεί) ‘I tell you' (τοι) 'I am even' (καί) ' distressed.' γε simply emphasizes σé, i. e. 'You, who have awakened such an interest in me.'

322ff. mvp-comment-250-1 Lichas hurriedly interposes to prevent disclosure with a significant warning to Iole to hold her peace. The first Scholiast's explanation of these words gives a rational meaning: ἐὰν αἰδουμένη σε φθέγξηται, κατ᾿ οὐδὲν ἄρα ἐξίσου τῷ πρόσθεν χρόνῳ προκομίσειεν (ἂν ?) αὐτῆς τὴν γλῶσσαν· τὸν γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ χρόνου ἐσιώπα: i.e. he understands the stress of the sentence to be on the words οὐδὲν ἐξ ἴσου τῷ γε πρόσθεν χρόνῳ ( Essay on L. § 24. p. 40 ). It will not be in accordance with (her demeanour in) the previous time that she will bring out her tongue (if she does so).' The doubt is whether διαφέρειν can mean, 'To bring between the lips,' and so answer the προκομίζειν of the Scholiast. Wakefield's conjecture διήσει, ' Will let pass through her lips,' is supported by Ο. C. 963 (ὅστις φόνους . .) τοῦ σοῦ διῆκας στόματος. Hermann explained the words to mean, Just as hitherto (τῷ γε πρόσθεν ἐξ ἴσου χρόνῳ) she will maintain an even tenour (οὐδὲν διοίσει) as to her tongue.' Dindorf (agreeing with the second Scholiast), 'She will not employ her tongue' (οὐ.. διοίσει οι διήσει γλῶσσαν) 'inconsistently with what she has done hitherto.'

323-324. mvp-comment-251-1 οὐδαμὰ | προὔφηνεν] ‘Made no sign.

325. mvp-comment-252-1 But travailing with the weight of her calamity she has wept over it ever since.' The accusative is to be joined both with ὠδίνουσα and δακρυρροεῖ. Cp. Shak. Pericles, 5. 1, 'I am great with woe and shall deliver weeping.'

327. mvp-comment-253-1 διήνεμον] It is difficult to determine whether this is (1) a mere epithet, 'Wind-swept,' like the Homeric ἠνεμόεσσα, descriptive of a city on a hill, or (2) a supplem. pred. = διήνεμον οὖσαν, ‘Desolate,' 'Open to the winds.' The first (1) may be supported by comparing several picturesque touches in this play, but the other (2) is more dramatic. Both are given in the scholia, ἔρημον (2), ὕψηλον (1). ἡ δέ τοι] This is better than ἥδε τοι, which leaves an unmeaning asyndeton. Her case is unfortunate, I mean for herself, but suggests a reason for indulgence' (on our part); i. e. 'Her misfortune may excuse her silence.'

328. mvp-comment-254-1 For ἔχει, cp. Thuc. 2. 41. § 3, ἀγανάκτησιν ἔχει ('Gives cause for complaint'): Eur. Phoen. 995, τοὐμὸν δ᾽ οὐχὶ συγγνώμην ἔχει.

329. mvp-comment-255-1 ἥδ᾽ οὖν] ἡ δ' οὖν is sometimes read here, as in O. T. 669. But while δέ is unnecessary, the opposition of πάντες in what follows is enough to justify the use of the demonstrative ἥδε. στέγας] For the accus. cp. 58, δύμους.

330. mvp-comment-256-1 ἥδιστα] For this sense of ἡδύς, ср. О. C. 639, 40, εἰ δ᾽ ἐμοῦ στείχειν μέτα | τόδ᾽ ἡδύ.

331. mvp-comment-257-1 This line in LA (see v. rr.) has manifestly suffered from corruption, some other word being replaced either by the first or the second λύπην. The Triclinian reading which is adopted in the text, although possibly due to conjecture, is more probable than any other of the various changes which have been proposed. It is not necessary to change λάβοι το λάβῃ. The optative slightly varies the expression, I would not have her,' etc.

333. mvp-comment-258-1 For τε.. δέ, see Essay on L. §36. p. 65 f , and cp. supr. 143. The antithesis is introduced after the sentence is begun. οἱ θέλεις] Viz. to rejoin Heracles.

334. mvp-comment-259-1 ἐξαρκή] ‘As they should be.' Cp. infr. 625.

335. mvp-comment-260-1 ἀμμείνασα] Sc. χωροῖς ἄν. Ср. Phil. 645, χωρῶμεν, ἔνδοθεν λαβών. For the use of the participle with ye = 'Not until,' cp. Plat. Phaedr. 228 D, δείξας γε πρῶτον, ὦ φιλότης, κ.τ.λ. The "Αγγελος is rude, and something of a busy-body, but honest and well-meaning.

336. mvp-comment-261-1 ἄνευ τῶνδε] When Lichas and the captives are not present.'

337. mvp-comment-262-1 ἐκμάθῃς θ' ἃ δεῖ] The change from τε to γε in AVR is an attempt to simplify the sentence, but still leaves an awkward resumption. The Αγγελος, full of the importance of his message, and yet afraid to speak it too soon, hurries over the latter part of the sentence, 'That you may learn, first who they are whom you are taking within, and then what else is hidden from you, and (in short) that you may learn fully what you ought to know.'

338. mvp-comment-263-1 l. 338 is characteristic of the man's self-importance. There is a certain ὄγκος in the postponement of γάρ (Aj. 522, El. 492); and the expression πάντ᾽ ἐπιστήμη, 'Knowledge as to all things, Absolute knowledge,' has also a mockheroic (almost 'Pistol'-like) air.

339. mvp-comment-264-1 τί δ᾽ ἐστί] 'What is the matter? Why do you stay my footsteps here with your interruption?" τοῦ for τίνος = τίνος ἕνεκα. See Essay on L. § 10. p. 15 d. The punctuation (that of L) is rendered probable by comparing Ο. Τ. 938, τί δ᾽ ἔστι; ποίαν δύναμιν ὧδ᾽ ἔχει διπλῆν ; ἐφίστασαι] The present middle of ἵστημι is used transitively in Hdt. 7. 9, πολέμους ἵστανται, 'They set up wars amongst themselves.' παρίστασθαι is so used by Sophocles, O. C. 916, ἄγεις θ' ἃ χρήζεις καὶ παρίστασαι βίᾳ, and by other writers: καθίσταμαι by Eur. Suppl. 522, πόλεμον οὐ καθίσταμαι: προίστασθαι by Plato and Demosthenes : διίστασθαι by Plato, Tim. 63 C. It is therefore possible that ἐφίστασθαι here and in Aj. 869 (ἐπίσταται MSS.) may mean, 'To arrest.' τήνδε . . βάσιν] The second accusative expresses the respect in which Deianira was stopped: 'In this going,' i.e. in going, as I have just begun to do. The above interpretation, which is that of the Scholiast, agrees better with the context than if ἐφίστασαι were taken intransitively: Why do you stand before me in this your coming?' See esp. l. 335, αὐτοῦ. . ἀμμείνασα, and 340, σταθεῖσα.

341. mvp-comment-265-1 μάτην] 'Without result,' i.e. without the event proving the truth of my words. δοκῶ] Sc. τὸν μῦθον μάτην ἀκούσεσθαί σε,

342. mvp-comment-266-1 ἐκείνους] Those other people, who were here a little while ago. It may be remarked, as exemplifying the dramatic manner of Sophocles, that the words ἄνευ τῶνδε in l. 336 are unobserved by Deianira. Cp. O.Т. 360, and note.

344. mvp-comment-267-1 οὐδὲν εἴργεται] Sc. τάδε λεχθῆναι. For the passive, cp. Thuc. 8. 54, ὥστε μηκέτι διαμέλλεσθαι. τούτους] Though further off than the Chorus, Lichas and the captives are still imagined as within sight through the open door, and within call.

345. mvp-comment-268-1 χώ λόγος σημαινέτω] ‘Now then let your speech declare your meaning.' Deianira is impatient of the air of mystery which the man has hitherto assumed. For λόγος personified, ср. О. С. 574, χώ λόγος διέρχεται: Fr. inc. 782, διχοστατῶν λόγος. σημαίνειν, without an expressed object, occurs several times in Sophocles and Thucydides; and in Xenophon, Mem. 1. 1. § 4, τὸ δαιμόνιον γὰρ ἔφη σημαίνειν.

346. mvp-comment-269-1 ἀνὴρ ὅδ'] 'Lichas here' (pointing indoors). Cp. τούτους, supr. 344.

347. mvp-comment-270-1 δίκης ἐς ὀρθόν] Truly and uprightly. For δίκη in this sense, cp. Ant. 538, οὐκ ἐάσει τοῦτό σ᾽ ἡ δίκη. κακός] Sc. ἐστί. 'He is behaving badly.'

348. mvp-comment-271-1 δίκαιος] Honest.'

349. mvp-comment-272-1 πᾶν ὅσον νοεῖς] ‘All that thou knowest.'

353. mvp-comment-273-1 ἕλοι] 'Subdued,' viz. killed Eurytus and destroyed Oechalia. For a similar double use of εἶλον, cp Pind. Οl. 1. 142, ἕλεν δ' Οἰνομάου βίαν | παρθένον τε σύνευνον.

354-355. mvp-comment-274-1 Ἔρως.. μόνος θεῶν, κ.τ.λ.] The god of love, and no other, had moved him to this feat of arms.' αἰχμάσαι τάδε] 'Το enter on this warlike enterprise.’ τάδε, cognate accusative.

356-357. mvp-comment-275-1 τἀπὶ . . λατρεύματα] (1) 'Not the toilsome service at the bidding of the Lydians or of Omphale.' Or (2) the preposition may have the merely locative sense in the first instance, and the different meaning, 'In the power of,' with the second word. The labours which he performed among the Lydians and in the service of Omphale.' ἐπί = ' In the power of.' Cp. О. С. 66, ἄρχει τις αὐτῶν, ἢ ἐπὶ τῷ πλήθει λόγος;

357. mvp-comment-276-1 ὁ ῥιπτὸς.. μόρος] ‘The death by hurling from the rock. For a use of the passive of ῥίπτω (with cognate subject) corresponding to this use of the verbal adj.. cp. the oracle in Hdt. 1. 62, ἔρριπται δ᾽ ὁ βόλος (‘Now the cast is made'), τὸ δὲ δίκτυον ἐκπεπέτασται. Cp. also Eur. Or. 990, 1, Μυρτίλου φόνον | δικών, and see Essay on L. § 53. p. 98.

358. mvp-comment-277-1 ov] Referring to "Έρως, the most important subject in the preceding lines. Cp. Ο. C. 86, 7, Φοίβῳ τε καμοί, κ.τ.λ., ὅς, κ.τ.λ. The conjectures ἅ and ὅ are quite unnecessary. παρώσας] « Having thrust aside,' cp. Eur. El. 1037, τἄνδον παρώσας λέκτρα: Plat. Rep. 5. p. 471 C, δ.. παρωσάμενος .. πάντα ταῦτα εἴρηκας. ἔμπαλιν λέγει] 'Tells a different (lit. opposite) tale.'

359. mvp-comment-278-1 οὐκ ἔπειθε] 'He could not persuade.' The imperfect implies that his suit was continued for some time. φυτοσπόρος is originally ὁ σπείρας τὸ φυτόν,

360. mvp-comment-279-1 κρύφιον . . λέχος] ‘In secret marriage,' - accusative in apposition with the action.

362-363. mvp-comment-280-1 These lines have been censured for their tautology, and justly enough; but they are in character with the speaker, who, like the Φύλαξ in the Antigone, has already shown a fondness for false emphasis and superfluous words. The words ἄνακτα πατέρα τῆσδε in l. 364 are in the same manner. ἐν ἡ τὸν Εὔρυτον τόνδ' εἶπε δεσπόζειν θρόνων] 'The same wherein he told us that Eurytus of whom he spake was master of the throne.' The Messenger wants to impress on Deianira that this part of what she has heard need not be unsaid. The reading τῶνδε (see v. rr.) involves a still more superfluous use of the demonstrative.

365. mvp-comment-281-1 ὡς] Hermann's note in defence of ὡς shows a wise caution. He thinks that the rule of grammarians that ὡς for πρός can only be used with persons may be extended so as to cover a case of this kind where the house includes the inmates of the house. It is certainly better to retain a reading which, for anything we know, may be specially suited to express an authorized mission, such as that of Iole under charge of Lichas. ἥκει] 'Heracles is come.' After the words of Lichas in supr. 289, the arrival of Heracles is regarded as an accomplished fact.

366. mvp-comment-282-1 ἀφροντίστως] 'Without special care,' as he would have done, if she had merely fallen to his lot as part of the spoil. Cp. supr. 283-6.

367. mvp-comment-283-1 μηδὲ προσδόκα τόδε] ‘Nay, do not look for that.' μηδέ is rather adversative to Deianira's previous impression than to the preceding words. Others have taken it to mean, 'As it is not the fact, so neither must you think it.' Cp. Aesch. Ag. 879, μηδὲ θαυμάσῃς τόδε, where there is a similar doubt.

368. mvp-comment-284-1 ἐντεθέρμανται] ἐνθερμαίνειν may surely mean ἐντὸς θερμαίνειν, ας ἐμπιμπλάναι means ἐντὸς πιμπλάναι, and unless we are to get rid of all ἅπαξ λεγόμενα, there is no good reason for exchanging this, at some one's suggestion, for ἐκτεθέρμανται, because the Scholiast explains the word by ἐκκέκανται and ἐκθερμαίνειν means somewhere, 'To chafe the limbs.' The addition of this line is suited to the character of the Messenger, whose garrulity unconsciously rubs the sore.

371. mvp-comment-285-1 πρὸς μέσῃ.. ἀγορᾷ] ‘Near the midst of the Trachinians' public place.' Lichas was standing in the midst of the ἀγορά, his audience were standing near. The expression is varied infr. 423. The word μέσῃ marks the publicity of Lichas' statement. See note on O. T. 808.

373. mvp-comment-286-1 ἐξελέγχειν] Sc. αὐτόν. · Clearly to convict him.' εἰ δὲ μὴ λέγω φίλα] From the signs of emotion which she shows, and perhaps instructed by the gestures of the Chorus, the man perceives at last how Deianira is wounded. Ср. О. Т. 746, and note. For φίλα, cp. Phil. 1178, φίλα μοι, φίλα ταῦτα παρήγγειλας.

374. mvp-comment-287-1 οὐχ ἥδομαι] ‘I am sorry.' Cp. Eur. Med. 136, οὐδὲ συνήδομαι, ὦ γύναι, ἄλγεσι δώματος, ἐπεί μοι φίλον κέκρανται.

375. mvp-comment-288-1 ποῦ . . πράγματος] ‘Where am 1?' Cp. Αj. 314, κἀνήρετ᾽, ἐν τῷ πράγματος κυροί ποτέ.

376-377. mvp-comment-289-1 What undermining trouble have I welcomed in beneath my roof?' Cp. Ant. 531, σὺ δ᾽, ἢ κατ᾿ οἴκους ὡς ἔχιδν᾽ ὑφειμένη | λήθουσά μ᾽ ἐξέπινες. ὦ δύστηνος] Sc. ἐγώ. Cp. 375, 1143, 1243, О. Т. 1155, О. С. 318. ἆρ᾿ ἀνώνυμος] Deianira thus dwells bitterly on the deceit of Lichas, whereupon the literal Messenger proclaims Iole's name.

379. mvp-comment-290-1 καὶ κατ᾿ ὄμμα καὶ φύσιν] ‘In birth, as in appearance.'

380. mvp-comment-291-1 πατρός.. Εὐρύτου] 'Taking lineage from Eurytus for her sire.' Ср. Phil. 260, ὦ παῖ πατρὸς ἐξ ᾿Αχιλλέως : Εl. 365, νῦν δ᾽ ἐξὸν πατρὸς .. παῖδα κεκλῆσθαι, καλοῦ τῆς μητρός: Ο. C. 215, τίνος εἶ σπέρματος, ὦ ξένε, φώνει, πατρόθεν. ποτέ] Once.' Cp. supr. 301, and the Homeric εἴ ποτ᾽ ἔην γε (Il. 3. 180).

381. mvp-comment-292-1 'Of whose origin he had not a word to say, pretending forsooth to have made no inquiry.' Cp. supr. 317.

382. mvp-comment-293-1 οὐδὲν ἱστορῶν] 'Because he did not inquire' at that former time. ὅτι (τότε) οὐδὲν ἱστόρει. Cp. supr. 281, ὑπερχλίοντες, and note.

383. mvp-comment-294-1 ὅλοιντο μή τι πάντες οἱ κακοί] The Chorus in a sort of aside, which Deianira is too absorbed to perceive (see infr. 386, ἐκπεπληγμένη), thus covertly direct their indignation at some one. Is this Lichas or Heracles? The prevarication of Lichas is hardly a sufficient cause for such an outburst, and the phrase 'unbecoming to himself' has no significance in relation to him. It is more probable that the Trachinian women, unheard by Deianira, thus breathe a curse on the unfaithfulness of Heracles. It should be remembered that he is not their master, so that the analogy of Medea, 83, 4, ὅλοιτο μὲν μή, δεσπότης γάρ ἐστ᾽ ἐμός, | ἀτὰρ κακός γ᾽ ὧν ἐς φίλους ἁλίσκεται, is rather in favour of this interpretation than against it. Cp. Phil. 451, 2, ποῦ χρὴ τίθεσθαι ταῦτα, ποῦ δ' αἰνεῖν, ὅταν | τὰ θεῖ᾽ ἐπαινῶν τοὺς θεοὺς εὕρω κακούς ;

386. mvp-comment-295-1 (I ask you because) ' I am struck dumb by what is now reported.'

387. mvp-comment-296-1 σαφῆ] ‘Clear truth.'

388. mvp-comment-297-1 εἰ . . θέλοις] 'If you chose to press him hard with questioning.'

389. mvp-comment-298-1 καὶ γὰρ. λέγεις] ‘For your words are not unwise.' οὐκ ἄπο γνώμης = πρὸς γνώμης. 'Thought' in such expressions = ' Wise thought,' or 'Wisdom.'

390. mvp-comment-299-1 This line, which in the Laurentian MS. is expressly given to the Chorus, has been transferred by Hermann and recent editors to the Messenger (cp. El. 772, μάτην ἄρ᾽ ἡμεῖς, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἥκομεν), on the ground that the Chorus were bound in any case to stay where they were, and moreover were helpless in this matter. But (a) τί χρὴ ποιεῖν ; does not mean, 'How shall we help you?' but, What shall we do about staying where we are?' (b) The Ajax and Eumenides show that the Chorus sometimes left the scene, and the objection is irrelevant, for the illusion of the theatre may be carried so far as to ignore stage necessities in imagination. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1058 foll., where Hermes advises the ocean-nymphs to fly, and El. 1399, ἀλλὰ σῖγα πρόσμενε. (c) The answer of Deianira is perfectly consistent with the coryphaeus having asked, Shall we some of us accompany you, or all wait till you come back?' but is unmeaning as a reply to the question, 'Shall I wait here while you go in, or shall I go away?' which is the only sense the line will bear if given to the Messenger.

391. mvp-comment-300-1 οὐκ . . ἀγγέλων] Sc. κλητός, which is suggested by αὐτόκλητος following.

394. mvp-comment-301-1 εἰσορᾷς] Wunder conjectures ὡς ὁρᾷς. Dindorf, on the other hand, suggests that Sophocles may have used εἰσορᾷς here for the parenthetical opas to avoid the repetition of ὡs. But the parenthetical opas is interrogative, and that is unsuitable here. The best explanation of the words as they stand is to suppose that they are a confusion of two constructions, (1) ὡς εἰσορᾶς ἐμὲ ἕρποντα, (2) ὡς ἕρποντος ἐμοῦ.

395. mvp-comment-302-1 ἐκ ταχείας] For this adverbial expression, cp. infr. 727, ἐξ ἑκουσίας : Plat. Soph. p. 231 C, τὰς ἁπάσας μὴ ῥάδιον εἶναι διαφεύγειν. ὁρμῆς, or some such word, can easily be supplied. But the ellipse has become idiomatic.

395. mvp-comment-302-2 σὺν χρόνῳ βραδεῖ] 'So tardily.' Cp. Ο. С. 1602, ταχεῖ ξὺν χρόνῳ. For the meaning, cp. supr. 44, 5, χρόνον γὰρ οὐχὶ βαιόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη δέκα | μῆνας πρὸς ἄλλοις πέντ᾽ ἀκήρυκτος μένει

396. mvp-comment-303-1 καὶ νεώσασθαι] ‘Before I have conversed again with you.' Hermann conjectures κάννεώσασθαι, - i. e. καὶ ἀνανεώσασθαι, cp. Od. 10. 192, ἀννεῖται. But he was hardly justified in condemning νεώσασθαι. See Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 4. The meaning is, 'Before we can have fresh interchange of talk,' rather than, 'Before we have renewed the talk we had with you just now.'

398. mvp-comment-304-1 ἢ καὶ . . νέμεις] ‘And dost thou maintain the faithful spirit of truth?" For νέμεις, 'Dost possess, wield, use,' cp. Aesch. Ag. 685, γλῶσσαν ἐν τύχᾳ νέμων. For τὸ πιστὸν τῆς ἀληθείας, cp. Thuc. 2. 40, ἐλευθερίας τῷ πιστῷ: ib. 6. 72, τὸ πιστὸν τῆς ἐπιστήμης.

399. mvp-comment-305-1 ὧν γε = (νέμω ἀλήθειαν) τούτων ἅ.

402. mvp-comment-306-1 Ср. О. Τ. 1121, δεῦρό μοι φώνει βλέπων, The Messenger rudely calls Lichas' attention to himself. Here and elsewhere in this scene (see v. rr.) the traditional reading confuses the persons of Lichas and the Messenger.

403. mvp-comment-307-1 The reading ἐρωτήσασ' (cp. 412) has suggested to some editors a transposition of the lines, which is quite unnecessary. Thus Dindorf (Oxford, 1869) reads ΔΗ. 400, ΛΙ. 403, ΔΗ. 404, ΛΙ. 401, ΑΓ. 402. But Lichas is too courteous to Deianira and too self-possessed to have addressed so rude a question to her, instead of answering at once, and if he had done so would not have emphasized the pronoun σύ: whereas it is quite natural that he should turn abruptly on the Messenger without giving him a direct answer. And 404 suits better with the peremptoriness of the "Αγγελος than with the character of Deianira.

404. mvp-comment-308-1 τόλμησον εἰπεῖν] ‘Say frankly.' τολμᾶν is one of those words which, like ἐπιχειρεῖν, are not to be pressed too closely when used as auxiliaries. Cp. Ο. C. 184, τόλμα . . ἀποστυγεῖν: Εl. 1051, οὔτε γὰρ σὺ τἄμ᾽ ἔπη τολμᾶς ἐπαινεῖν, κ.τ.λ : Aesch. Prom. 999, 1000, τόλμησον . . ὀρθῶς φρονεῖν. εἰ φρονεῖς] «If you have the sense to know it; i.e. If your lie has not 'made such a sinner of your memory' as to make you forget to whom you spoke. Hermann strangely understands the "Αγγελος to speak ironically, as if the Messenger thought that Lichas would not dare to answer the question if he were in his right mind.

406. mvp-comment-309-1 δάμαρτά θ' Ηρακλέους] Several editors propose to read δ' for θ'.

407. mvp-comment-310-1 λεύσσων μάταια] ‘If I have not lost the sight of my eyes.' Cp. infr. 863, πότερον ἐγὼ μάταιος. Lichas professes to be shaken by the rudeness of the question, so as for the moment almost to doubt his eyesight. For the adverbial use of the accusative plural, cp. Eur. Alc. 413, ἀνόνατ᾽ ἐνύμφευσας.

408. mvp-comment-311-1 For the repetition of τοῦτο, see on supr. 362, and cp. O. T. 1013, τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸ . . τοῦτό μ᾽ εἰσαεὶ φοβεῖ. σου μαθεῖν] ‘To understand from you.' Cp. O. Τ. 575, ἐγὼ δὲ σου | μαθεῖν δικαιῶ ταὔθ᾽ ἅπερ κἀμοῦ σὺ νῦν.

409. mvp-comment-312-1 δίκαια γάρ] 'Yes, for it is right,' that I should acknowledge this. δίκαιος only means 'true' in this indirect way, viz. because it is right to speak the truth. Cp. supr. 347.

410. mvp-comment-313-1 What punishment would you accept? i.e. do you allow that you deserve?' Cp. Ο.Τ. 944, εἰ μὴ λέγω τἀληθές, ἀξιῶ θανεῖν.

412. mvp-comment-314-1 τί ποτε ποικίλας ἔχεις ;] · What riddle have you devised?' Cp. infr. 1121, οὐδὲν ξυνίημ᾽ ὧν σὺ ποικίλλεις πάλαι,

413. mvp-comment-315-1 τοῦτο δρῶν] Sc. ποικίλλων, 'Keeping up a mystery.'

414. mvp-comment-316-1 μῶρος .. σέθεν] ‘I have been a fool in listening to you for so long.'

415. mvp-comment-317-1 ού] Sc. οὐκ ἄπει. Not until being asked you have answered one little word.' See note on O. Т. 360.

416. mvp-comment-318-1 Speak what you will-indeed you have enough to say.'

418. mvp-comment-319-1 κάτοισθα δήπου ;] 'You know, I presume?' Cp. infr. 1219, τὴν Εὐρυτείαν οἶσθα δῆτα παρθένον ;

419. mvp-comment-320-1 ἣν ὑπ᾿ ἀγνοίας ὁρᾷς] 'Whom you regard with strangeness. For ὑπό with the genitive, where (as in some uses of the dative, Essay on L. § 14. p. 20, 1 ) the notion of cause passes into that of manner, or accompaniment, cp. Εl. 630, ὑπ᾿ εὐφήμου βοῆς : Εur. Hipp. 1299, ὑπ᾿ εὐκλείας θανεῖν. Iole is not present; therefore ὁρᾷς must refer to the behaviour of Lichas in the former scene. Schndw. conjectured ἧς σύ γ᾽ ἀγνοεῖς γονάς.

423. mvp-comment-321-1 πολλοῖσιν ἀστῶν] The dative answers ποίοις ἐν ἀνθρώποισι in l. 421, so that ev is easily supplied. Essay on L. §35. p. 60.

424. mvp-comment-322-1 ταῦτά γ'] 'This, ay, this!' γε adds emphasis to ταῦτα, but also qualifies the whole sentence as affirming what Lichas denies.

425. mvp-comment-323-1 ναί has sometimes been omitted, as a gloss on ye in this line. But the pause, with the interjection extra metrum, expresses very naturally the momentary confusion of Lichas. ταὐτὸ δ᾽ οὐχί] The negative is emphasized by being postponed. Essay on L. § 41. p. 78, γ.

426. mvp-comment-324-1 δόκησιν εἰπεῖν] ‘Το state an impression and to speak with exactness.'

427. mvp-comment-325-1 ποίαν δόκησιν] 'Impression quotha!' The only example of this idiom in tragedy. Cp. O. T. 1145, ὦ τάν in the mouth of the Corinthian messenger in where see note.

430. mvp-comment-326-1 τόνδε.. ξένοs] Cp. supr. 98, and note.

432. mvp-comment-327-1 πόλις .. πᾶσα] (1) i. e. πᾶσα ἡ πόλις, i.e. Oechalia. πᾶσα marks that the whole city was ruined for one maid. Cp. infr. 466. Or (2) the expression is at first general, 'A whole city,' and passes on to the particular (433, αὐτήν), as often happens in Thucydides. κοὐχ ἡ Λυδία] The sense is here improved by adopting the reading of Paris A. and other MSS., involving a very slight and probable change from κουχί, the reading of L.

433. mvp-comment-328-1 φανείς] «Having arisen; i. e 'Having proved to be a fact in the life of Heracles. (Not, 'Having been disclosed.')

435. mvp-comment-329-1 νοσοῦντι.. σώφρονος] • Το talk idly to a madman is unworthy of a man in his senses.'

436ff. mvp-comment-330-1 In this speech of Deianira, although she dissembles her jealousy in order to draw the truth from Lichas, yet the real gentleness of her character is also expressed. Cр. l. 445 with infr. 543-4.

436. mvp-comment-331-1 πρός σε τοῦ, κ.τ.λ.] This peculiar inversion seems to belong to the later manner of Sophocles. Cр. О. С. 250, 1333, Phil. 468.

437. mvp-comment-332-1 ἐκκλέψῃς λόγον] Cheat me of the truth.' ἐκκλέπτειν here is to deprive by falsehood. λόγον, ‘The true account.' Cp. Aesch. Prom. 783, μηδ' ἀτιμάσῃς λόγους.

439. mvp-comment-333-1 Either (1) To be always glad is not granted by Nature to the same person,' or (2) 'He' (man, ἄνθρωπος, implied in τὰ ἀνθρώπων) ‘is not of a nature to delight always in the same things.' For (1) cp. Thuc. 2. 64, πάντα γὰρ πέφυκε καὶ ἐλασσοῦσθαι: El. 859, πᾶσι θνατοῖς ἔφυ μόρος. And, for (2), Phil. 88, ἔφυν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐκ τέχνης πράσσειν κακῆς. The first meaning is more pathetic, and on the whole preferable, although the second may be thought to suit better with Deianira's present purpose (see especially l. 448). For the indefinite or collective singular alternating with the plural in (2), see Essay on L. § 20. p. 31, 3.

441. mvp-comment-334-1 μέν has no distinct antithesis, but prepares for ἀλλὰ . . ἀλλά in ll. 449, 453. Cp. with εἰς χεῖρας ἰέναι the old English expression, To go to buffets.'

443-444. mvp-comment-335-1 καὶ θεῶν. . κἀμοῦ γε] 'Even over the gods, and certainly over me.'

444ff. mvp-comment-336-1 The following quotation from La Fameuse Comédienne is believed to record the personal experience of Molière: My passion has risen to such a height that it goes the length of entering with sympathy into her concerns; and when I consider how impossible it is for me to overcome my love for her, I say to myself that she may have the same difficulty in subduing her inclinations, and I feel accordingly more disposed to pity her than to blame her.' -See Molière, in Blackwood's Foreign Classics, p. 106. οἷας γ᾽ ἐμοῦ] 'I mean one who is a woman as I am.' Cp. infr. 447. For the attraction (= οῖα ἐγώ εἰμι), see Essay on L. § 35. p. 59 , and cp. Plato, Soph. 237 C, χαλεπὸν ἥρου καὶ οἴῳ γε ἐμοὶ παντάπασιν ἄπορον.

445. mvp-comment-337-1 τε.. 447. ἤ ἤ is substituted for the second τε as the disjunctive nature of the sentence becomes more prominent. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 65 f , and cp. Plat. Theaet. 143 C, περὶ αὐτοῦ τε .. ἢ αὖ περὶ τοῦ ἀποκρινομένου . .

446. mvp-comment-338-1 μεμπτός εἰμι] 'Feel reproachfully. For this use of the verbal adjective, cp. supr. 357, ὁ ῥιπτὸς Ἰφίτου μόρος, and note. The force of the verbal here is, 'Touched with a feeling of blame,' 'Affected with displeasure' = μομφὴν ἔχων (Αj. 180). μαίνομαι] Cp. Aj. 1330, ἡ γὰρ εἴην οὐκ ἂν εὐ φρονῶν: Aesch. Ag. 1064, ἦ μαίνεταί γε καὶ κακῶν κλύει φρενῶν, κ.τ.λ.

447. mvp-comment-339-1 μεταιτίᾳ] ‘Of that which is in no way disgraceful '-because shared by so many. ἐρᾷς· τί τοῦτο θαῦμα; σὺν πολλοῖς βροτῶν, Eur. Hipp. 439.

448. mvp-comment-340-1 μηδ᾽ ἐμοὶ κακοῦ τινος] ‘Nor at all involving mischief to me.' The indefinite pronoun has an adverbial force. Essay on L. § 22. p. 36, sub fin. From the point of view which she is trying to put before Lichas, Deianira still holds her position as the wife of Heracles. See below, l. 550.

449. mvp-comment-341-1 οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα] 'There is no such thing,' as this jealous feeling you are afraid to wound.

450. mvp-comment-342-1 ἐκμανθάνεις] ἐκ is repeated from ἐκ κείνου, without adding to the meaning. Essay on L. § 55. p. 101.

451. mvp-comment-343-1 If you are your own instructor in this,' i. e. if you are not acting on instructions from another.

452. mvp-comment-344-1 γενέσθαι χρηστός] ‘Το prove yourself good.' Cp. Thuc. 3. 14. § 2, γίγνεσθε.. ἄνδρες οἴουσπερ ὑμᾶς οἵ τε Ἕλληνες ἀξιοῦσι, κ.τ.λ. ὀφθήσει] Cp. Ant. 709, ὤφθησαν κενοί.

453. mvp-comment-345-1 ἐλευθέρῳ . . καλή] i. e. εἰ ἐλεύθερός τις ὢν ψευδὴs καλεῖται, πρόσεστιν αὐτῷ οὐ καλὴ αὕτη ἡ κήρ. For προσεῖναι of a moral attribute, cp. Isocr. Panathen. p. 250, ἣν περὶ ἀνδρὸς τοιούτου διαλεγόμενος παραλίπω τι τῶν ἐκείνῳ τε προσόντων ἀγαθῶν κἀμοὶ προσηκόντων εἰπεῖν : ib. 256 C.

455. mvp-comment-346-1 The same inverted style, occasioned by Deianira's earnestness, is continued in ll. 458, 9. As to any way of concluding detection, neither is that feasible for you.'

457. mvp-comment-347-1 κεἰ μὲν δέδοικας] A suppressed antithesis is slightly hinted in μέν : viz. 'And if you are not afraid, why not have told me?' Ср. О. Т. 227, κεί μὲν φοβεῖται, κ.τ.λ. οὐ καλῶς] «Unworthily, because groundlessly. For the variation in δέδοικας .. ταρβεῖς. cp. Ο. Τ. 54.

458. mvp-comment-348-1 τὸ μὴ πυθέσθαι] i. e. Τo remain in suspense, when the doubt has once been suggested.

460. mvp-comment-349-1 For ἀνὴρ εἷς, cp. Ο. Τ. 1380, and note.

462. mvp-comment-350-1 ἠνέγκατο] 'Has obtained.' φέρεσθαι is to carry away with oneself either good or evil. Cp Plat. Legg. 6. 762 Α, ἀνείδη φερέσθωσαν: Rep. 3. 406 Β, καλὸν (ironical) .. τὸ γέρας .. ἠνέγκατο. ἥδε τ'] We should rather have expected δέ, but te may have been preferred for the sake of euphony. There are already four d's in the line.

463. mvp-comment-351-1 ἐντακείη τῷ φιλεῖν] The subject may be (1) Iole. Hermann defends this by referring to l. 444. But, taking into account the whole connection, and also the meaning of φιλεῖν, which implies active rather than passive affection (cp. O. C. 1617 foll., τὸ γὰρ φιλεῖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐξ ὅτου πλέον, κ.τ.λ.), it is better to suppose (2) a change of subject, or rather a reversion to the main subject, with the Scholiast and Mr. Blaydes. 'And she shall not, though he were irrevocably steeped in his affection' (for her). ἐντακῆναι is used of that which adheres indissolubly. Cp. El. 1311, μισός τε γὰρ παλαιὸν ἐντέτηκέ μοι, and especially Plat. Symp. 183 E, ὁ δὲ τοῦ ἤθους χρηστοῦ ὄντος ἐραστὴς διὰ βίου μένει, ἅτε μονίμῳ συντακείς.

468. mvp-comment-352-1 ῥείτω κατ᾿ οὗρον] 'Drift down the wind.' Nauck and Blaydes conjecture ἴτω, which is the more ordinary expression (Aesch. S. c. T. 690, ἴτω κατ' οὗρον κῦμα Κωκυτοῦ λάχον . . πᾶν τὸ Λαΐου γένος. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1458, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μὲν ἡμῶν μοῖρ᾽, ὅποιπερ εἶσ', ἴτω). But it may be urged that ταῦτα suggests not the image of a vessel, but rather of things drifting along a surface-current made by the wind. The expression is thus more suggestive of a passive and insensible motion.

469. mvp-comment-353-1 'Though you may be false to others yet be ever true to me.' The structure is paratactic. Essay on L. § 36. p. 68. Blaydes conjectures εἶναι πρὸς ἄλλους, which removes the emphatic word from the first place in the line. Essay on L. § 41. p. 77

470-471. mvp-comment-354-1 Yield to her good persuasion, so hereafter you will find no fault with her, while you will have gained our gratitude.' For οὐ μέμψει, cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 560, ἢ ἐξωθεν εἴσω τῷ φέροντι μέμψεται. γυναικὶ τῇδε is governed by μέμψει and is opposed to ἐμοῦ.

473. mvp-comment-355-1 θνητὴν φρονοῦσαν θνητά] 'Having mortal thoughts, as becomes a mortal.' Cp. esp. Fr. 320, καλὸν φρονεῖν τὸν θνητὸν ἀνθρώποις ἴσα. κοὐκ ἀγνώμονα] (1) 'And not perverse' (thoughts). Neuter plural. Cp. Αj. 1236, ποίου κέκραγας ἀνδρὸς ὧδ᾽ ὑπέρφρονα. Or (2) sc. οὖσαν, ‘And not perversely disposed.'

474. mvp-comment-356-1 οὐδὲ κρύψομαι] ‘And will not hide what I know.' οὐ κρύψω τὸ ἐμόν. Cp. the use of the middle voice in ἀγγέλλομαι, Αj. 1376. Essay on L. § 31. p. 53 d.

476. mvp-comment-357-1 ταύτης] What follows is epexegetic of οὕτως, κ.τ.λ. Hence the asyndeton. ὁ δεινὸς ἵμερος] The article is not to be explained by mere emphasis (Schndw.), but by reference to that which is already before the mind, viz. the strange fit of passion which led Heracles to destroy Oechalia. Hence ταύτης is the real predicate. The strong feeling which moved him was the desire for her.'

477. mvp-comment-358-1 διῆλθε, καί] Cp. supr. 469, and note. ἡ πολύφθορος] 'That ill-starred city,' whose fate is known to us. πολύφθορος, 'Abounding in ruin,' hints comprehensively at the condition of a conquered town.

478. mvp-comment-359-1 πατρῷος] 'Of her sires.'

479. mvp-comment-360-1 δεῖ γάρ, κ.τ.λ.] Cp. supr. 449. i.e. While telling the truth, I must also (καί) clear him as far as I can.

480. mvp-comment-361-1 εἶπε] i. e. ἐκέλευσε.

481-482. mvp-comment-362-1 τὸ σὸν.. στέρνον is to be taken after δειμαίνων, as well as after ἀλγύνοιμι.

483. mvp-comment-363-1 εἴ τι τήνδ᾽ ἁμαρτίαν νέμεις] ‘If at all you reckon this a sin.' τήνδε = τόδε, attracted to the predicate ἁμαρτίαν.

484. mvp-comment-364-1 ἐπεί γε μὲν δή] 'However, since you are now made acquainted with all.' For the collocation of particles, cp. Eur. Hel. 1259, διδούς γε μὲν δὴ δυσγενές μηδὲν δίδου.

485. mvp-comment-365-1 'Alike for his sake and your own. For κοινήν, cp. Pind. O1. 2. 89, Πυθῶνι .. Ἰσθμοῖ τε κοιναὶ χάριτες: Pyth. 5. 137, σφὸν ὄλβον νἱῷ τε κοινὰν χάριν.

486. mvp-comment-366-1 στέργε τὴν γυναῖκα] "Take kindly to the woman.'

487. mvp-comment-367-1 ἐμπέδως] Nauck's correction, ἐμπέδους, is not necessary.

488-489. mvp-comment-368-1 It is strange that these lines should have been suspected by some modern critics. A ῥῆσις often ends with a couplet not much in point. Cp. Aj. 1038, 9, 1089, 90, 1262, 3, Ant. 506, 7, 679, 80, Ó. C. 798, 9, 935, 6, 1153. But these lines are not pointless, for it is the complete and irresistible strength of the passion for Iole, which, as Lichas views the matter, clinches the necessity for Deianira's prudent acquiescence.

489. mvp-comment-369-1 εἰς ἅπαντα] 'Utterly.' ἔφυ] Cp. Phil. 1052, νικᾶν γε μέντοι πανταχοῦ χρήζων ἔφυν. The word here implies the argument, 'It was in his nature,' and therefore not to be avoided.

490. mvp-comment-370-1 καί marks the correspondence between Lichas' advice and Deianira's state of mind. 'So am I minded.' Cp. Plat. Theaet. 166 D, ἀλλ᾿ αὐτὸν τοῦτον καὶ λέγω σοφόν.

491. mvp-comment-371-1 κοὔτοι.. γε] 'Yea, and I certainly will not.' νόσον . . ἐπακτὸν ἐξαρούμεθα] This may be taken in one of three ways: (1) 'I will not cause to arise for myself a self-sought mischief,' (2) 'I will not aggravate the trouble, which then would be (in so far) of my own seeking' (ἐπακτόν, proleptic = ὥστε ἐπακτὸν ἔχειν αὐτήν), (3) ‘I will not aggravate the mischief thus brought in from without.' For (3), cp. infr. 536 foll., Eur. Phoen. 343, γάμων ἐπακτὸν ἄταν. But (2) agrees better with the intention of Deianira's present speech.

493-494. mvp-comment-372-1 And that thou mayest also carry gifts, wherewith it is meet to make return for what is given.' For ταῦτα supplying the antecedent, see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 2. προσαρμόσαι contains no allusion to the dress fitting the frame of Heracles (Blaydes, cp. infr. 768, ἀρτίκολλοs), but to the imagined adaptation of the love-charm to its purpose. To Lichas the phrase only means, 'To make a suitable return.' And possibly no more is intended by the poet. Cp. infr. 687, and note. The irony of ll. 495, 6 is brought out by comparing infr. ll. 540-2, τοιάδ᾽ Ἡρακλῆς . . οἰκούρι᾽ ἀντέπεμψε τοῦ μακροῦ χρόνου.

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.

530. mvp-comment-399-1 ὥστε πόρτις ἐρήμα] ‘Like a heifer taken from the mother' whom she often misses; with an allusion to the solitary and wandering life which Deianira has led since her marriage day.

531-632. mvp-comment-400-1 Deianira, who has already prepared the charmed robe, confides her intention to the Trachinian maidens, and, on Lichas' coming forth, entrusts the gift to him, with the appropriate commands.

532. mvp-comment-401-1 ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἐξόδῳ] 'With his departure in view.' Cp. El. 1322.

533. mvp-comment-402-1 θυραῖος] The masc. for the fem. form occurs more readily where a woman is speaking to women. Cp. supr. 151; El. 313; Essay on L. § 20. p. 30.

534. mvp-comment-403-1 χερσὶν ἄ] For the postponement of the initial word, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. τὰ μὲν . . τὰ δέ are adverbial accusatives = 'Partly,' not antecedents to the relatives. Cp. infr. 843, 4.

535. mvp-comment-404-1 οἷα πάσχω] 'For the treatment I receive.' In what follows she takes up the latter topic first. συγκατοικτιουμένη] 'To implore commiseration.' For the effect of the middle voice, cp. Hdt. 1. 114, ἀποικτίζετο τῶν ὑπὸ Κύρου ἤντησε.

536. mvp-comment-405-1 οἶμαι δ᾽ οὐκέτι] Sc. κόρην εἶναι.

537. mvp-comment-406-1 παρεισδέδεγμαι] παρα- implies, * At unawares,' (as we say, 'By a side wind.')

538. mvp-comment-407-1 'A piece of merchandize which inflicts an outrage on me.' As in supr. 33, the expression is adapted to the simile. The figure is not that of overloading, which could have no meaning here, but simply that of a cargo which in some way proves disastrous. There is a play on the word ἐμπόλημα, which is an accusative in apposition, not to φόρτον, but to the action of παρεισδέδεγμαι. The line may be thus paraphrased: ὥστε τούτῳ τῷ ἐμπολήματι ἐμπολᾶσθαι καὶ λελωβῆσθαι καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν Φρένα. λωβητόν is the verbal of the cognate passive, = ἐπὶ λωβῇ πραττόμενον. Essay on L. § 53. p. 98. Hermann and others explain the words to mean, A cruel return for my faithfulness of soul. But τῆς ἐμῆς φρενός is merely a periphrasis like ἡ ἐμὴ ψυχή in Ant. 559. Cp. Phil. 1281, and especially Ant. 1063, ὡς μὴ ᾿μπολήσων ἴσθι τὴν ἐμὴν φρένα.

540. mvp-comment-408-1 ὑπαγκάλισμα] 'Clasped in one embrace.' Cp. Ant. 650, ψυχρὸν παραγκάλισμα τοῦτο γίγνεται. The sense of μιᾶς is continued : i. e. μ. ΰ. χ. ἐν ὑπαγκάλισμα. τοιάδ᾽ Ἡρακλῆς, κ.τ.λ.] This, the single expression of bitterness on Deianira's part, tends to confirm the interpretation given supr. of ll. 383, 4. Ср. Shak. Othello, 4. 2. 107, Des. 'Tis meet I should be used so, very meet.'

541. mvp-comment-409-1 ἡμῖν is to be taken with πιστὸς κἀγαθός, rather than with καλούμενος (which is added to complete the sense). ἡμῖν is also resumed with ἀντέπεμψε, 'Heracles, so faithful and kind to me (as he was reputed), has sent me such wages in return for my long service in keeping the house.'

542. mvp-comment-410-1 τοῦ μακροῦ χρόνου] A genitive like that in μηνὸς μίσθον. τοῦ μ. χρ. sc. τῆς οἰκουρίας. For the sense, cp. Eur. H. F. 1371-3, σε τ᾽ οὐχ ὁμοίως, ὦ τάλαιν', ἀπώλεσα, | ὥσπερ σὺ τἀμὰ λέκτρ᾽ ἔσωζες ἀσφαλῶς | μακρὰς διαντλοῦσ᾽ ἐν δόμοις οἰκουρίας.

543. mvp-comment-411-1 οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι] 'I cannot.' Cp. Ant. 686, μήτ' ἐπισταίμην λέγειν.

544. mvp-comment-412-1 νοσοῦντι, κ.τ.λ.] ‘Though often taken with this malady:' viz. with love. Cp. supr. 445 and note. The clause is concessive.

545. mvp-comment-413-1 τὸ δ᾽ αὖ ξυνοικεῖν] The article, for which cp. Ant. 78, τὸ δὲ | βίᾳ πολιτῶν δρᾶν ἔφυν ἀμήχανος, gives indignant emphasis to the antithesis. That Heracles' affections should go forth to others is something to bear that the rival should have a position in the household is intolerable. For τίς ἂν δύναιτο, cp. Eur. Med. 1044, οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην· χαιρέτω βουλεύματα | τὰ πρόσθεν.

546. mvp-comment-414-1 γάμων] γάμος is not strictly reserved for the κουριδίη ἄλοχος. Cp. Eur. Hel. 190.

547. mvp-comment-415-1 ἥβην, κ.τ.λ.] The contrast is developed as the sentence proceeds. Cp. O. C. 1649, ἄνδρα, τὸν μέν, κ.τ.λ. τὴν μέν] i.e. τῆσδε μέν. Cp. Aj. 114, τέρψις ἥδε, and note.

548. mvp-comment-416-1 ὧν, κ.τ.λ.] 'From which' (viz. from those whose youth advances) 'the eye is wont to cull the bloom; but from the other,' etc. The expression is not clear, but the meaning is obvious, and the text is not corrupt. For the relative referring to the former of two expressions, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 78 , and cp. O. C. 86, 7, Φοίβῳ τε κἀμοὶ .. ὅς μοι. And, for the generic relative plural with a singular antecedent, cp. Thuc. 6. 12, 13, νεωτέρῳ.. | οὓς ἐγὼ ὁρῶν νῦν ἐνθάδε.

549. mvp-comment-417-1 ὑπεκτρέπει πόδα] Sc. ὁ ἵμερος understood in the personified ὀφθαλμός. The crowding of images is certainly rather bold. For the general sense, cp. Plato, Symp. 195, 6, especially the words ἀνανθεῖ γὰρ καὶ ἀπηνθηκότι καὶ σώματι καὶ ψυχῇ καὶ ἄλλῳ ὅτῳοῦν οὐκ ἐνίζει ἔρως.

550. mvp-comment-418-1 ταῦτ᾽ οὖν φοβοῦμαι] 'This then is my fear;' i, e. τοῦτον τὸν φόβον φοβοῦμαι, ταῦτα refers to what precedes, and is further explained by what follows. The distinction between πόσις and ἀνήρ, 'husband' or 'lord,' and 'mate,' is readily intelligible.

554. mvp-comment-419-1 λυτήριον] Cp. Ο. Τ. 392, ἠύδας ἐκλυτήριον. †λύπημα] The MS. reading, λυτήριον λύπημα, has not been successfully explained. λυτήριον cannot be taken as a verbal noun governing an accusative. Nor is it satisfactory to postpone the comma and render, 'A vexation for Iole that will deliver me.' Herm. conjectures λ. κήλημα, which may be right, but anticipates too much. A more general word seems to be required. νόημα is suggested by the resumption in l. 578, and the first syllable may have been lost from or preceding or νοῦν coming in the line above. Other conjectures are λυτήριόν τι πημονῆς (Ziel), and Mr. Paley's ἢ δ᾽ ἔχει . . λυτήριον λύπημα. To this last it may be objected that the use of the first person (ἔχω) is more expressive of Deianira's sanguine mood. A third way of interpreting the words as they stand may be suggested, viz. taking λυτήριον passively, agreeing with λύπημα: 'I will tell you a way in which I find the grief remediable.' For the passive use, see Essay on L. § 53. p. 99 , and for the redundant antecedent, ib. § 40. p. 75, 2.

555. mvp-comment-420-1 ἦν κεκρυμμένον] I had, hidden in an urn of bronze, the gift I once long ago received from the old Centaur.' ποτέ is to be taken closely with δῶρον. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1043, ἢ τοῦ τυράννου τῆσδε γῆς πάλαι ποτέ; For ἀρχαῖος in the sense of old,' cp. Ο. C. 112, χρόνῳ παλαιοί. παλαιός and ἀρχαῖος convey more of a sense of awe or wonder as attaching to old age, than γέρων οι γεραιός. The Centaur is thought of as an old-world creature belonging to a state of things that is passed away.

557. mvp-comment-421-1 παρά = from a person = (i.e. by his will), ἐκ = out of a place.

558. mvp-comment-422-1 φόνων] Bergk conjectures φονῶν. Cp infr. l. 573, σφαγῶν.

559. mvp-comment-423-1 τὸν . . ποταμόν.. πόρευε] Cp. Plat. Theaet. 199 E, ὁ τὸν ποταμὸν καθηγούμενος. The epithet βαθύρρουν accounts for mortals needing the Centaur's help.

561. mvp-comment-424-1 ἐρέσσων, which is added to explain the instrumental dative κώπαις, is of course not resumed with λαίφεσιν.

562. mvp-comment-425-1 τὸν πατρῷον.. στόλον] 'On that journey on which my father sent me forth.' viz. When he gave me in marriage. The expression is more natural if we imagine Oeneus as having accompanied them part of the way. This accusative is in a loose construction with the sentence (in apposition to the action). Cp. Ο. C. 1400, 1401, οἷον ἆρ᾽ ὁδοῦ τέλος |῎Αργους ἀφωρμήθημεν.

563. mvp-comment-426-1 ξὺν Ἡρακλεῖ] · With Heracles at my side.' The preposition is not required with ἑσπόμην following, but the fulness of expression marks the closeness of her relation to Heracles.

564. mvp-comment-427-1 ἡνίκ᾽ ἦν μέσῳ πόρῳ] 'When he was at the middle of the crossing.' Cobet would read ἢ 'v ('I was in'). Dindorf and Nauck also prefer the first person. But there is no sufficient reason for this, and the locative dative presents no difficulty.

565. mvp-comment-428-1 ματαίαις] · Wanton' Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 229, and the use of ματάζων in Ο. Τ. 891.

566. mvp-comment-429-1 ἐπιστρέψας] The middle voice is more usual. Here τόξον οι βέλος may be supplied in thought. The word always implies a sudden movement. χεροῖν] Either (1) From' (gen.), or (2) With' (dat.) his hands.'

567. mvp-comment-430-1 κομήτην] The feather of the arrow which is elsewhere imagined as a swift wing, is here figured as its hair.

568. mvp-comment-431-1 στέρνων] Governed of δια- in διερροίζησεν. ἐκθνήσκων] Αs he breathed his last.' This compound is elsewhere used figuratively, as in γέλῳ ἔκθανον, Od. 18. 100, (' died outright [as it were] with laughter'); and from Plato onwards, To faint or fall into a trance,' is the accepted meaning of the word.

570-571. mvp-comment-432-1 τῶν ἐμῶν.. πορθμῶν] For this use of the possessive adjective, cp. Ο. Τ. 572, 3, τὰς ἐμὰς . . Λαΐου διαφθοράς.

572. mvp-comment-433-1 γάρ introduces the explanatory statement, answering τοσόνδε. τῶν ἐμῶν σφαγῶν is (a) possessive genitive with αΐμα, and also (b) ablative genitive with ἐνέγκῃ, 'Bear from my wound the clotted gore of my wound.'

573-574. mvp-comment-434-1 ᾗ.. ὕδρας] 'At the place where the arrows had been tinged with black venom from the Lernaean hydra,' i.e. From that part of the wound where a dark tinge shows a trace of the hydra's venom in which the arrows were dipped.' The blood would be more clotted about the wound because of the venom, and the part of the blood most affected by the venom would be preternaturally dark. Observe the unconscious tautology in θρέμμα after ἀμφίθρεπτον, and for the periphrasis, cp. the uses of φάσμα in ll. 509,837. θρέμμα is merely expletive. See Essay on L. § 10. p. 17. Madvig's reading, adopted by Paley, is μελάγχολος. ἰός. θρέμμα is then the issue.'

577. mvp-comment-435-1 στέρξει] The future indicative after ὥστε μή is curious. Ср. О. Т. 411, ὥστ᾽ οὐ Κρέοντος προστάτου γεγράψομαι. Several MSS. and Hermann read στέρξαι; but the nominative is then unaccountable. If the text is right, we must suppose a return to the indicative from the infinitive which should have followed ὥστε μή. ἀντὶ σοῦ πλέον] 'Before thee:' a twofold expression including 'Instead of thee' and 'More than thee.' Cp. Ant. 182, 3, μείζον᾽ . . ἀντὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ πάτρας.

578. mvp-comment-436-1 τοῦτ᾽ ἐννοήσασ'] 'Bethinking me of this.' See the conjectural reading νόημα supr. l. 554, note, which this would seem to resume. δόμοις] Probably a cabinet or closet, which would exclude the light. Cp. Eur. Alc. 160, 1, ἐκ δ᾽ ἑλοῦσα κεδρίνων δόμων | ἐσθῆτα κόσμον τ᾽ εὐπρεπῶς ἠσκήσατο, where the 'cedarn habitation' of the dress is a sort of wardrobe.

580. mvp-comment-437-1 ἔβαψα] Sc. τούτῳ from τοῦτο supr. προσβαλοῦσ᾽ ὅσα | ζῶν κεῖνος εἶπε] 'With such addition as the Centaur, while yet alive, enjoined.' This refers to the manner of application, or of preparation for immediate use - cp. infr. ll. 680-7-and not (as Schndw. supposes) to something added to or mingled with the blood. The words need not include more than the precautions on which she afterwards lays such stress:-infr. 684-92. Others take προσβαλοῦσα (sc. τὸν νοῦν) to mean, 'Giving careful heed to. Cp. infr. 844, and note.

581. mvp-comment-438-1 πεπείρανται] An Epic word. Cp. Od. 12. 37, 8, ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω πάντα πεπείρανται.

582-584. mvp-comment-439-1 κακὰς δὲ .. φίλτροις δὲ..] The repetition of dé indicates the contention of opposing thoughts. Cp. O. С. 1014, 5, ὁ ξεῖνος, ὦναξ, χρηστός, αἱ δὲ συμφοραὶ | αὐτοῦ πανώλεις, ἄξιαι δ᾽ ἀμυναθεῖν. τάς τε τολμώσας] Sc. τὰς τοιαύτας τόλμας.

585. mvp-comment-440-1 ἐφ' Ἡρακλεῖ] 'Upon Heracles;' i.e. used with the view of influencing him. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 32, Ἱππολύτῳ δ᾽ ἔπι, κ.τ.λ.

586. mvp-comment-441-1 μεμηχάνηται τούργον] The means have been contrived.'

587. mvp-comment-442-1 εἰ δὲ μή] But if otherwise, I will proceed no further,' i.e. εἰ δοκῶ πράσσειν ματαιόν τι. τι in the preceding clause is to be taken, not with δοκώ, but with πράσσειν. Cp. Εl. 31, εἰ μή τι καιροῦ τυγχάνω. Deianira promises to desist, if the Chorus think her unwise. But when Lichas appears, she forgets everything in the eagerness of her purpose, and their faltering dissuasion is lost upon her.

588. mvp-comment-443-1 πίστις . . 590. ἡ πίστις] The πίστις of which the Chorus speaks is more objective = Ground of confidence; that which Deianira means is more subjective, = 'The confidence I have.'

589. mvp-comment-444-1 οὐ . . κακῶς expresses a cautious approval. Cp. Fr. 154, ἔχοιμ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸ μὴ κακῶς ἀπεικάσαι.

590. mvp-comment-445-1 γ' marks the limitation under which she assents to εἴ τις ἐστὶ πίστις supra.

591. mvp-comment-446-1 ἔνεστι] Sc. τῇ πίστει or τῷ βουλεύματι. πείρᾳ δ᾽ οὐ προσωμίλησά πω.] - But I have not yet made acquaintance with the proof of it; i.e. My plan has not been tested by experience.

593. mvp-comment-447-1 γνῶμα] The meaning of words signifying mental processes or results is not yet fixed in tragic diction, and is still relative to the several meanings of the corresponding verb. Thus γνῶμα = ἐγνωσμένον τι, which in the present context would signify, Anything clearly discerned or determined.' μὴ πειρωμένη = εἰ μὴ πεῖραν λάβοις.

594. mvp-comment-448-1 αὐτίκ᾽ εἰσόμεσθα] Deianira, in her eagerness, under-estimates the time that must still pass before Heracles' arrival. It is thus that tragic feeling helps the conventional abridgment of time that is necessary to the composition of tragedy : πόνου γὰρ ἄκρον οὐκ ἔχει χρόνον. τόνδε] Lichas, whom she does not care to name, and who is treated slightingly throughout. His fate 'is but a trifle here' (Shak. K. Lear, 5. 3. 295).

595. mvp-comment-449-1 ἐλεύσεται] 'He will make his way' to Cenaeum, where his master is.

596. mvp-comment-450-1 στεγοίμεθ'] She expresses a wish and not a command, and this in the passive voice, not only as a gentler, but also as a more earnest way of speaking. Might I only have my secret well kept by you.' σκότῳ] i. e. ἐν σκότῳ, 'Under covert of darkness:' the dative of place passing into a dative of circumstance. Essay on L. § 11. p. 18, § 14. p. 20.

597. mvp-comment-451-1 The dative αἰσχύνῃ is either (1) causal By reason of shame,' or (2) = ès αἰσχύνην: cp. Ο. C. 483, αὐτῇ . . τιθείς : infr. 789, χθονὶ ῥίπτων ἑαυτόν: probably the former (1). E. on L. § 11. p. 18, 3 a.

599. mvp-comment-452-1 ὡς .. βραδείς] 'Since we are belated by reason of the length of time,' viz. which we are spending in the fulfilment of our mission.

600. mvp-comment-453-1 αὐτὰ δὴ.. πράσσω] ‘I have been arranging this very thing,' viz. what Lichas is to do.

601. mvp-comment-454-1 ἠγορῶ] You have been talking.' Lichas has done talking to the women, but Deianira's act, for which this gave time, is still in progress. Hence the pres. and imperf. tenses.

602. mvp-comment-455-1 τόνδε γ᾽ εὐϋφῆ] 'Just this carefully woven garment.' Wunder's conjecture, ταναϋφῆ, has been very generally received by recent editors. But (α) γε, although postponed in the sentence ( Essay on L. § 26. p. 44; § 41. p. 77 ), bears a good meaning, complying with Lichas' σήμαινε, and particularizing: (β) εὐφῆ, “Carefully woven,' is exactly in point; the value of the gift was enhanced by the care which Deianira had spent on it: (c) ταναϋφῆ (for which, cp. 674, ἐνδυτῆρα) occurs nowhere in any extant writing, and though Hesychius mentions the word, there is nothing in his manner of doing so to show that he is quoting from Sophocles.

607. mvp-comment-456-1 μήθ᾽ ἔρκος ἱερὸν μήτ' ἐφέστιον σέλας] 'Nor sacred enclosure' (because there would be fire upon the hearth or altar there), 'nor hearth-lit flame.' ἐφέστιον has generally been referred to the private hearth as distinguished from the public altar. But a doubt is thrown on this distinction by the use of ἑστίαν in l. 658.

608. mvp-comment-457-1 φανερὸν ἐμφανής] The reading of Triclinius (also according to Blaydes of Par. A), is here better than that of L, φανερὸς ἐμφανής.

609. mvp-comment-458-1 ἡμέρᾳ ταυροσφάγῳ] For the gladness implied in this phrase, cp. the Biblical expression, 'As in a day of slaughter,' and Pind. Nem. 6. 69, ἐν ἀμφικτιύνων | ταυροφόνῳ τριετηρίδι. The meaning of the phrase, 'A day when the greatest victims are sacrificed,' is illustrated by infr. 760 foll.

611. mvp-comment-459-1 πανδίκως] This word is rightly taken by Mr. Paley and Otto Hense with the following line:-'I would array him rightly in this robe.' On πανδίκως see above, l. 294.

612. mvp-comment-460-1 στελεῖν] That I would array him.' Cp. Eur. Bacch. 827, 8, ΔΙ. ἐγὼ στελῶ σε δωμάτων εἴσω μολών. | ΠΕ. τίνα στολήν; ἢ θῆλυν; ἀλλ᾽ αἰδώς μ' ἔχει.

613. mvp-comment-461-1 The words καινῷ καινόν, as Dindorf observes, are thrown together according to a very frequent idiom, for which, cp. especially Αj. 467, μόνος μόνοις. The meaning of καινόν is therefore not to be pressed. But it may hint the appropriateness of the new robe to Heracles' first appearance after his long absence.

614. mvp-comment-462-1 εὐμαθὲς ἐπ᾿ ὄμμα θήσεται] 'Which his eye, that lights on this firm seal, will easily discern.' Against the conjecture of Billerbeck, ἐπὸν μαθήσεται, it may be urged that the tautology εὐμαθές μαθήσεται is singularly ungraceful (Dindorf has accordingly introduced the further conjecture εὐθέως, and Mr. Paley that of ὄμμα θείς, for εὐμαθές) and that ἐπών adds nothing to the sense. On the other hand the reading in the text requires εὐμαθές to have an active meaning, and ő to be governed κατὰ σύνεσιν by the whole clause. The expression ἐπιθήσεται ὄμμα also appears strange. But for the two former objections, see Essay on L. § 53. p. 99, supr. 136, and note; and for the last-mentioned expression, cp. Il 10. 46, ῾Εκτορέοις ἄρα μᾶλλον ἐπὶ φρένα θῆχ᾽ ἱεροῖσιν. σφραγίδος ἕρκος is simply A safeguard consisting of a seal,' without any reference to the rim of the seal. Cp. Pind. Nem. 10. 66, ἐν ἀγγέων ἕρκεσιν παμποικίλοις.

616. mvp-comment-463-1 νόμον] Rule of conduct,' as in Ant. 191, τοιοῖσδ᾽ ἐγὼ νόμοισι τήνδ' αὔξω πόλιν. See Essay on L. p. 88 , and cp. infr. 1177, 8, νόμον . . πειθαρχεῖν πατρί.

617. mvp-comment-464-1 περισσὰ δρᾶν] Το act beyond thine office.' The meaning of περισσός is relative to the circumstances in question. Here it conveys a rebuke for Lichas' previous conduct, rather than a warning not to break the seal, etc. Cp. περισσὰ πράσσειν in Ant. 68.

619. mvp-comment-465-1 ἐξ ἁπλῆς διπλῆ] The favour which Lichas has hitherto sought is 'single,' being that of Heracles alone. Cp. supr. 286, πιστὸς ὢν κείνῳ, and note.

620. mvp-comment-466-1 πομπεύω τέχνην = χρῶμαι πομπίμῳ τέχνῃ, just as τυμβεῦσαι χοάς in Εl. 406 = χέαι ἐπιτυμβίους χοάς. The chief stress is on βέβαιον. If this art of Hermes which I practise be securely mine; i. e. 'May I lose it, if I play false.'

621. mvp-comment-467-1 οὗ τι μὴ σφαλῶ γ᾽ ἐν σοί] i. e. οὐ μὴ τι σφαλῶ ἐν σοί γε. “I will not offend in anything concerning thee.

622. mvp-comment-468-1 τόδ᾽ ἄγγος] 'This casket.' ἄγγος here is the κοῖλον ζύγαστρον (infr. 692) in which Deianira had enclosed the robe. ὡς ἔχει] • As it is,' ie. With the seal unbroken.

623. mvp-comment-469-1 λόγων τε πίστιν ὧν ἔχεις ἐφαρμόσαι] ‘And add thereto the fitting assurance of thy very words.' The Scholiasts misinterpret this passage, taking ἐφαρμόσαι (which they must have read ἐφάρμοσαι) for an imperative. The use of the word ἁρμόζω, cp. supr. l. 494, προσαρμόσαι, has no reference (as Schndw. supposes) to the closely-fitting robe (πλευραῖσιν ἀρτίκολλος, infr. l. 768). ἔχεις has been suspected: but cp. El. 934, 5, λόγους τοιούσδ᾽ ἔχουσ': Ant. 635,6, σύ μοι γνώμας ἔχων | χρηστὰς ἀπορθοῖς. ἔχω has a wide range of meaning in Sophocles. Thus explained, the line may be translated, And adding therewith faithfully the words you use,' referring to ll. 604-613. The words λόγων πίστιν may be explained as = λόγους πιστῶς λεχθέντας (abstract for concrete), cp. supr. l. 173, τῶνδε ναμέρτεια= τάδε νημερτῶς γενησόμενα. But λόγων πίστιν may also mean, 'A verbal confirmation,' and the words of Deianira, including ll. 614.5, may be regarded as the proof that Lichas is to give of the reality of his mission from her. The seal would be enough, but the repetition of her vow, and the injunction not to display the robe too soon (of which Lichas did not know the real reason) may have been felt by him to add likelihood to his assertion that this was Deianira's gift. Cp. infr. ll. 775, 6, τὸ σὸν μόνης δώρημ᾽ ἔλεξεν. ἔχεις then = παρέχεις, and, possibly, ἥν should be read for ὧν.

628. mvp-comment-470-1 αὐτήν θ] The opposition between Iole and her reception is merely verbal, but it justifies the position of αὐτήν. See v. rr.

631. mvp-comment-471-1 πρώ] «Τoo soon.' λέγοις ἄν] Sc. εἰ λέγοις. The construction remains unaffected by μή. • I fear it is too soon for you to speak of my affection, before I know if on his side there is affection for me.' εἰδέναι τἀκεῖθεν, εἰ ποθούμεθα, sc. ἐκεῖ, is said by the same idiom as εἰδέναι τινά, εἰ κάμνει, and the like. γάρ gives the reason for not adding more, the assurance of her love being that which in other circumstances she would have added.

633. mvp-comment-472-1 foll. The Chorus invite all the countries around Trachis to rejoice with them at the approach of Heracles, whose triumph the welcome flute will soon proclaim. He comes, long-waited for, to her who pined in thought for him. His own right arm hath freed him from toil. Let not the oars of his vessel tarry! Let him leave the sacrifice; and let the charm of Nessus draw him gently home.' The ode consists of two strophes and antistrophes of logaoedic verse, in which the alternation of quick and slow movements reflects the alternate eagerness and patience of expectancy.

633-635. mvp-comment-473-1 'Ye dwellers by the hot springs near the haven and the rock, and by the Oetean heights.' Hot springs were sacred to Heracles (Aristoph. Nub. 1047, etc.). Hence Thermopylae (where there was an altar to him, Hdt. 7. 176) had a special interest in his return. ναύλοχα καὶ πετραῖα] ‘By the roadstead and the rocks.' For the use of adjectives in general indications of place, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 39. Others take ναύλοχα substantively, but this makes an awkward division of the sentence. λουτρά no less than πάγους is governed of παραναιετάοντες: The word πάγος is used of the summit of Mount Oeta, infr. l. 1191, but πάγοι here include the rocky region to the north and east of the mountain. See Hdt. 7.198.

635. mvp-comment-474-1 μέσσαν] i. e. Surrounded by the lands of Euboea, Trachis, and Phthiotis.

636. mvp-comment-475-1 λίμναν is here descriptive of a land-locked sea, like the Gulf of Volo, although in the Homeric use, of which this is a reminiscence, it is sometimes applied to more open waters, as also in Soph. Fr. 432, ἐπ᾿ οἶδμα λίμνας, a phrase which is ridiculed as an affectation by Aristophanes, Av. 1337, 8.

637. mvp-comment-476-1 χρυσηλάκατος is the Homeric epithet of Artemis, χρυσηλακάτου κελαδεινῆς. In whatever sense the word was originally used, Sophocles is thinking here of the bright arrows of the goddess, for which, cp. O. T. 207, ᾿Αρτέμιδος αἴγλας, κ.τ.λ., and note. ἀκτάν] The word signifies a jutting foreland, or cliff, such as elsewhere, as in Salamis and at Artemisium in Euboea, was dedicated to the divine huntress. Cp. supr. l. 212, Ορτυγίαν, and note.

638-639. mvp-comment-477-1 Where are the famous gatherings of Hellenes in the Council of Pylae.' Ἑλλάνων ἀγοραὶ Πυλάτιδες are the meetings of the Amphictyonic Council at Pylae.' Cp. Hdt. 7. 200, 201. *κλέονται (cp. infr. l. 659, ἔνθα κλήζεται θυτήρ : Eur. Οr. 331, ἵνα μεσόμφαλοι λέγονται μυχοί), although a conjectural reading, is more probable, because more poetical, than καλεῦνται, which in this connection could hardly mean anything but are summoned.'

640. mvp-comment-478-1 καλλιβόαs] With delightful sound.' Cp. Simon. Fr. 46, ἐπείπερ ἄρξατο τερπνοτάτων μελέων ὁ καλλιβίας πολύχορδος αὐλός: Aristoph. Av. 682, καλλιβύαν . . αὐλόν. βοή is used of musical sounds in Il. 18. 495, αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον. ὑμῖν . . ἐπάνεισιν] • Will arise over you.' The sound will travel far and high.

641. mvp-comment-479-1 ἀναρσίαν] 'Unwelcome.' Cp. Herod. 3. 10, ἀνάρσιον πρῆγμα, and the use of δάϊος in Aesch. Pers. 257, νεόκοτα καὶ δάϊα.

642-643. mvp-comment-480-1 θείας | ἀντίλυρον μούσας] Sweet as the lyre of Heavenly Muse.' The flute was commonly associated, not with Apollo and the Muses, but with ruder powers. But the joy which it now proclaimed would make it as musical as the lyre.

644. mvp-comment-481-1 ὁ γὰρ Διὸς ᾿Αλκμήνας κόρος] 'Alcmena's man-child begotten of Zeus.' The Triclinian reading omitting τε is adopted on the ground of metre.

645-646. mvp-comment-482-1 πάσας ἀρετᾶς | λάφυρα] 'Spoils, such as are the meed of supreme valour.' wâs is here intensive- not 'All' but 'Uttermost.'

647. mvp-comment-483-1 ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν] ie. ὃς ἦν ἀπόπτολις ἡμῖν. 'Whose absence we endured.'

648. mvp-comment-484-1 πάντα.. χρόνον] 'All a twelve-month's time.' πάντα has been changed to παντᾶ for the sake of the metre; but, as Linwood observes, this adverb is nowhere used of time. It is better therefore to retain πάντα and to divide the lines as above, unless we suspect some deeper corruption. Or, if παντᾶ is read, it may be possibly explained of direction, 'Looking all ways for him.' Cp. supr. 96 foll. δυοκαιδεκάμηνον] Heracles had been absent fifteen months. The Chorus are less precise than Deianira in counting the days. They know that a full twelve-month has elapsed. And the time of chief anxiety had been the last year, on which the issue of Heracles' fortune hung. See especially infr. ll. 824-6, ὁπότε τελεόμηνος ἐκφέροι δωδέκατος ἄροτος, ἀναδοχὰν τελεῖν πόνων τῷ Διὸς αὐτόπαιδι.

649. mvp-comment-485-1 πελάγιον] 'Far at sea.' The expression is metaphorical, as in O. C. 662, 3, φανήσεται | μακρὸν τὸ δεῦρο πέλαγος. The meaning is that the place of his abode was as unknown as that of a vessel which, after leaving the shore, has passed beyond the horizon.

650. mvp-comment-486-1 ὁ δὲ οἱ] In Lyric poetry the habit of allowing a hiatus before of is retained from the Epic style.

651. mvp-comment-487-1 * τάλαιναν, Dindorf's correction of τάλαινα, removes an unpleasing tautology, and improves at once the metre and the sense.

652. mvp-comment-488-1 πάγκλαυτος] Cp. supr. ll. 105 foll.

654-655. mvp-comment-489-1 Hoc innuit chorus: quum Hercules diu ubi esset ignoratus, longe dissitas regiones peragrasset, nunc bellum quod exarserit, sustulit labores.' Herm. The War-god stung to fury' is a lyrical condensation of ll. 359-365. in which Lichas described the sudden levying of the war against Eurytus. For the personification, cp. Aj. 706, ἔλυσεν αἰνὸν ἄχος ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων ᾿Αρης, and note. The conjectures αὖ στρωθείς, οἱ στρωθείς, though receiving some plausibility from a late variant οἰστρωθείς, are really worthless. ἐξέλυσ᾽ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν] ‘Has freed him from the day of toil. The phrase ἐπίπονος ἁμέρα is formed on the analogy of δούλιον ἦμαρ, ἐλεύθερον ἦμαρ, and the like, in Epic Greek. For the accusative, cp. Ο. Τ. 35, ἐξέλυσας .. δασμόν. The day of toil' is the succession of labours, which had weighed on the life of Heracles, and through him on Deianira. Cp. infr. l.825, ἀναδοχὰν τελεῖν πόνων, κ.τ.λ.

655. mvp-comment-490-1 πολύκωπον όχημα] Literally, The many-oared car. The expression is figurative, for there is no reason to suppose that here or in Aesch. Prom. 468, ὄχημα is generalised as it is in Plato, Polit. 288 A, 289 B, to signify literally, Any means of locomotion.'

656. mvp-comment-491-1 ἀνύσειε] The optative follows the previous optative, and continues the expression of desire.

657. mvp-comment-492-1 νασιῶτιν ἑστίαν] ‘The island altar,' viz. of Zeus Cenaeus in Euboea.

659. mvp-comment-493-1 ἀμείψας] 'Passing from.' Cp. Phil. 1262. The other construction, τήνδε τὴν πόλιν ἀμείψας ἐκ νησιωτίδος ἑστίας, would have been equally possible. κλήζεται] Viz. since the report of Lichas, ll. 237, 8.

660. mvp-comment-494-1 πανάμερος] Either (1) All day long, i. e. not breaking the journey (cp. infr. 740); or (2) All docile,' from ἥμερος, i. e. cured of his passion.

661-662. mvp-comment-495-1 τᾶς πειθοῦς παγχρίστῳ συγκεραθείς] «Steeped in the full anointing of persuasion: i. e. penetrated with the virtue of the charm through which persuasion works. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 5. 24, τεᾷ τοῦτο μιγνύμενον φρενί: Hdt. 4. 152, φιλίαι . . συνεκρήθησαν. Prof. Paley, metri gratia, conjectures συντακείς. παγχρίστῳ has been suspected. But such a substantival use of the adjective does not seem impossible here. Cp. Εl. 851 foll. πανσύρτῳ παμμήνῳ, κ.τ.λ., where, however, the text is probably corrupt.

662. mvp-comment-496-1 ἐπὶ προφάσει θηρός] · By the Centaur's precept.' πρόφασις here may mean 'Fore-telling, just as πρόφατος in Pind. Olymp. 8. 16 means 'Proclaimed.' Or if πρόφατον be, as some allege, = πρόφαντον, then προφάσει may have the meaning of προφάνσει. Cp. ἔμφασις, and Hdt. 6. 129, ἐκφάσιος. In either case it is quite unnecessary to adopt an inferior reading (ἐπιπόνων ἁμερᾶν) in the strophe (l. 655). The proscenium having been vacant during the preceding ode, Deianira- with changed countenance (?) - comes forth from the house.

663. mvp-comment-497-1 περαιτέρω] · Too far,' = περαιτέρω (l. e. πέρα) τοῦ δέοντος. The comparative form strengthens the notion already contained in πέρα.

665. mvp-comment-498-1 τέκνον Οἰνέως] The formality of address reflects the solemnity of Deianira's tone.

666. mvp-comment-499-1 εἰ, κ.τ.λ.] Cp. supr. 176, and note.

668. mvp-comment-500-1 οὐ δή introduces a question about something which is suspected to be true, but is either too strange, or too good, or, as here, too bad, to be at once believed. τι] Sc. λέγεις. τῶν δωρημάτων is a vague genitive, as if with the ellipse of περί. Essay on L. § 9. р. 13. 3. Ср. О. Т. 701, Κρέοντος, οἷά μοι βεβουλευκὼς ἔχει. For the dative Ἡρακλεῖ governed by the verbal noun, cp. supr. 603, δώρημ᾽ ἐκείνῳ τἀνδρί.

669-670. mvp-comment-501-1 προθυμίαν | ἄδηλον, κ.τ.λ.] To have zeal where they have not certainty in anything which they do.' The adjective belongs in sense rather to ἔργου. Cp. infr. 817, 8, ὄγκον . . ὀνόματος μητρῷον. For προθυμίαν ἔργου λαβεῖν = προθύμως ἔργου ἅπτεσθαι, cp. Ant. 301, παντὸς ἔργου δυσσέβειαν εἰδέναι.

672. mvp-comment-502-1 οἷον.. μαθεῖν] For the construction, cp. Aristoph. Plut. 349, ποῖός τις; -Οἷος -ἣν μὲν κατορθώσωμεν, εὖ πράττειν ἀεί.

673. mvp-comment-503-1 ὑμῖν] We must suppose an ellipse of ἂν γενέσθαι οἱ ἂν γένοιτο, to which μαθεῖν is epexegetic.

674. mvp-comment-504-1 ἐνδυτῆρα] Cp. Aesch. Eum. 1028, φοινικοβάπτοις ἐνδυτοῖς ἐσθήμασιν. Ενδυτός non simpliciter quod induitur significat, sed quod ornatus causa'-Hermann, who compares Eur. Iph. Aul. 1073, 4. ἐνδύτ᾽ ἐκ θεᾶς ματρὸς δωρήματα (the arms of Achilles), Troad. 258, ἐνδυτῶν στεφέων ἱεροὺς στολμούς. The word has acquired from early use a solemn association, in addition to the original simple meaning of 'put on.' Cp. the word 'vestment' in English.

675. mvp-comment-505-1 ἀργῆτ] i. e. ἀργῆτι. The elision of ι of the dative, although rare, certainly occurs in Epic Greek, and it is therefore not irrational to admit the licence here and in O. C. 1435, and also in Aesch. Pers. 855, ὑπαντιάζειν παίδ' ἐμῷ, which there is no ground for altering. ἀργῆτα, agreeing with πέπλον, could only mean, I made the garment bright with anointing,'-a poor and ridiculous sense. The synizesis supposed by Hermann (ἀργῆτι οἷos) is practically equivalent to the elision. εὐείρῳ] For the twofold epithet, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37. The brightness and freshness of the piece of wool increased the marvel of its rapid disappearance.

676. mvp-comment-506-1 πρὸς οὐδενὸς τῶν ἔνδον] 'Not by anything in the house' (οὐδενός, neut.). The conjecture τῶν ἐκτός (Of things foreign to it') is quite unnecessary.

677. mvp-comment-507-1 φθίνει] For the return to the indicative, see Essay on L. § 36. p. 64.

678. mvp-comment-508-1 Several editors have objected to Ψῇ having an intransitive meaning = καταψήχεται, and have accordingly suspected the reading. But the intransitive use of the active verb (see Essay on L. § 53. p. 98 ), however singular, is more probable than any conjecture that has been made. The word, so understood, naturally prepares the way for the description in ll. 698-700. κατ᾿ ἄκρας σπιλάδος] «Upon the stones.' We are to imagine the courtyard, where Deianira had flung down the flock of wool, to have been paved with small round stones.

680-681. mvp-comment-509-1 πονῶν πλευρὰν πικρᾷ γλωχίνι] 'When suffering in his side from the cruel barb.' The alliteration is suggestive of struggle and difficulty. Although πικρὸς ὀϊστός (according to Buttmann) is The sharp arrow, the meaning is different in Sophocles, - viz. 'Bitter,' i. e. 'Painful.'

682. mvp-comment-510-1 θεσμών] The awe which attended his dying moments gave to the Centaur's precepts the force of a Divine ordinance. Hence they had remained fixed in Deianira's memory.

683. mvp-comment-511-1 i.e. ὅπως ἐν χαλκῇ δέλτῳ δύσνιπτον γραφήν.

684. mvp-comment-512-1 This verse has been condemned by critics since Wunder, -unnecessarily. Although it repeats and expands what is already said, this is expressive of the perturbation of Deianira's mind, and of her effort in collecting her thoughts. She returns upon her steps several times in telling her story. See ll. 678, 698; 675, 690, 695; 685, 691.

687. mvp-comment-513-1 ἕως .. που] Until, having laid it freshly on, I should apply it to some use.' The retention of av in oblique narrative, although singular, is not indefensible, and was defended by Hermann on l. 3. See also l. 164 and v. rr. Elmsley conjectured ἕως νιν.

689. mvp-comment-514-1 ἔχρισα] 'I applied the unguent.' The object (πέπλον) is easily supplied. Cp. inf. 696, ᾧ προὔχριον. μέν prepares for the contrast between the care taken with the robe and the neglect of the bit of wool. But Deianira's speech is not logically coherent, and d' in l. 693 does not answer to μέν here. κατ᾿ οἶκον ἐν δόμοις] ‘In a chamber of the house." Another instance of redundancy arising from the same cause- the intentness of Deianira's thought. She is showing how closely she had observed the precept ἐν μυχοῖς σώζειν ἕως . . ἀρμόσαιμί που.

690. mvp-comment-515-1 κτησίου βοτοῦ] Either (1) one of the home flock, as distinguished from those in distant pastures, or (2) simply a sheep from the flock.' λάχνῃ, Wool,' is a more general word than μαλλῷ, 'Sheep's-wool.'

692. mvp-comment-516-1 ζυγάστρῳ] The ἄγγος mentioned above. l.622. It was a box with strong fastenings. See L. and S. s. v.

693. mvp-comment-517-1 ἀποστείχουσα] ‘Returning,' from before the gate.

693-694. mvp-comment-518-1 φάτιν μαθεῖν] Α thing beyond the hearer's thought, beyond the guess of man to understand.' φάτιν .. ἄφραστον = οἷον θαῦμ᾽ ἀνέλπιστον μαθεῖν, supr. ll. 672, 3. ἄφραστος is that 'which from its strangeness escapes or baffles the mind,' as ἄσκοπος is, 'What from its vastness escapes or baffles the eye.' For the infin. cp. Aesch. Suppl. 94, κατιδεῖν ἄφραστοι.

695. mvp-comment-519-1 κάταγμα] 'The bit of wool that I had pulled.' κατάγειν is properly, To pull out before spinning, so as to be ready for the distaff. See Plat. Polit. 282 E. πως] Nescio quo modo; indicating the carelessness of the act.

696. mvp-comment-520-1 προὔχριον] Prepared (the robe) by anointing.' Supr. 675, 689.

697. mvp-comment-521-1 ἀκτῖν᾽ ἐς ἡλιῶτιν] 'Into the bright sunshine.' Added to explain φλόγα.

698. mvp-comment-522-1 ῥεῖ.. ἄδηλον] It melts all out of sight,' i. e. dissolves and disappears. καὶ κατέψηκται χθονί] And is crumbled on the ground; i.e. The shrunken morsels that remain appear like a crumbling substance.

699. mvp-comment-523-1 εἰκαστὸν ὥστε] The comparison begins afresh with ὥστε, as if εἰκαστόν had not preceded. See Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 5. ὥστε.. ξύλου] 'As, where wood is severed, you may see the morsels bitten out by the saw; i.e. it had the appearance of sawdust,

701. mvp-comment-524-1 προπετές] This has been commonly explained, 'On the ground,' or 'Thrown away:' as if κεῖται προπετές were simply = προκεῖται. But the radical meaning of προπετής is rather, 'Ready to fall' than Having fallen.' See L. and S. s. v. And on comparing infr. l.976, Menand. Παρακ. 2, Eur. Alc. 909, Hec. 152, a more probable explanation seems to be, On the point of dissolution,' 'About to perish,' or 'disappear.' The wool has all but crumbled away when the froth exudes from the ground. ὅθεν] The adverb of place being added to particularize ἐκ γῆς, ὅθεν takes the case of its antecedent (= κεῖθεν οὗ), just as ὧν is often = τούτων ἅ.

702. mvp-comment-525-1 προὔκειτο] 'It lay exposed.' θρομβώδεις ἀφροί] Clots of foam.'

703. mvp-comment-526-1 γλαυκῆς .. ἀμπέλου] · As when in bloomy vintage-time the rich liquor pressed from Bacchus' vine is spilt upon the ground.' γλαυκῆς ὀπώρας is to be taken (1) with the whole sentence, as a genitive of time or circumstance, rather than (2) in regimen with ποτοῦ. On the other hand, Βακχίας ἀπ᾿ ἀμπέλου is to be joined with ποτοῦ rather than with χυθέντος. The venom frothed like the spilth of new-made wine.

705. mvp-comment-527-1 ποῖ γνώμης πέσω] «Whither finally to rush in thought.' πέσω (more than μόλω) expresses the violence of the disturbance in Deianira's mind. Cp. the Homeric use of ὁρμαίνειν.

706. mvp-comment-528-1 ὁρῶ δέ μ'.. ἐξειργασμένην] She sees her error as clearly as if it were the act of another. Hence the accusative.

707. mvp-comment-529-1 πόθεν.. ἀντὶ τοῦ] 'Whence? From what motive?' The abruptly repeated question is quite in keeping with the rest of the speech, and there is no reason for any change in the reading.

708. mvp-comment-530-1 ἧς.. ὕπερ.] On whose account.' He was slain in vindication of Deianira's honour.

714. mvp-comment-531-1 τὸν . . ἄτρακτον] The arrows of Heracles, all alike dipped in the poison of the Hydra, are poetically spoken of as one. βαλόντ'] Sc. τὸν Νέσσον. θεόν] Chiron was a son of Cronus.

715. mvp-comment-532-1 χώσπερ ἄν is more forcible than Wakefield's conjecture χὧνπερ ἄν. • Even as it touches, even so it destroys;' i.e. As sure as it touches, so surely it kills.' Cp. Ar. Pax, 24.

716. mvp-comment-533-1 ἐκ δὲ τοῦδ᾽ ὅδε, κ.τ.λ.] 'And must not the dark gory venom from his (Nessus') wound be fatal to him (Heracles) too?' τοῦδε, sc. τοῦ Νέσσου, from the implied object of βαλόντα, supra. For the repetition of the same pronoun, ср. О. С. 1405-1413.

717. mvp-comment-534-1 ἰὸς αἵματος is the 'poison consisting of the (envenomed) blood.'

719. mvp-comment-535-1 δέδοκται] Sc. ἐμοί from ἐμé in l. 720. Observe the unconscious tautology in δόξῃ (718).. δέδοκται. σφαλήσεται] i. e. πείσεταί τι. 'If he shall come to harm.' A euphemism for θανεῖται.

720. mvp-comment-536-1 ταύτῃ σὺν ὁρμῇ] 'Together with that fall, I too shall die with him.' ὁρμή is 'sudden departure,' the impetus which carries Heracles away. Ср. Aesch. Ag. 1388, θυμὸν ὁρμαίνει: Eur. Alc. 901, 2, ὁμοῦ χθονίαν λίμνην διαβάντε. She will not follow, she will rush from life together with him. The conjecture ταὐτῇ makes no difference to the sense. Cp. Aj. 497. Others understand the words to mean, 'The same impulse which made me do the deed, shall make me die with him.'

721-722. mvp-comment-537-1 'She who cares to live nobly cannot endure ill fame.'

723. mvp-comment-538-1 ἔργα δεινά] (1) ‘A terrible fact,' such as the portent of the crumbling piece of wool. Or (2) 'Actions which are fearful,' as the sending of the robe now proves to have been.

724. mvp-comment-539-1 τὴν δ᾽ ἐλπίδ᾽ οὐ χρὴ .. κρίνειν] This has been explained in two different ways: (1) 'One ought not to judge of a hope,' and (2) One ought not to decide one's judgment of the future.' The first suits the context best. The 'hope' is that with which Deianira had sent the robe (cp. supr. l. 667), and the Chorus urge that it is too soon to condemn that hope as having been ill-founded.

726. mvp-comment-540-1 ἥ τις .. προξενεῖ] Mr. Blaydes unnecessarily questions the indicative here. It makes the reference to the actual circumstances more pointed.

727. mvp-comment-541-1 ἐξ ἑκουσίας] For this adverbial expression, cp. supr. l. 395.

728. mvp-comment-542-1 Cp. Thuc. 3. 40, ξύγγνωμον δ' ἐστὶ τὸ ἀκούσιον, πέπειρα is (a) predicative, (b) attributive, as part of the antecedent of τῆς.

729-730. mvp-comment-543-1 i. e. That is for you to say, who have no share in the crime, but not for me, who have committed it.' *οἴκοι] At home,' i. e. within the sphere of his own life. The MS. reading οἴκοις is indefensible. For the figure, cp. O. T. 1390, τὴν φροντίδ᾽ ἔξω τῶν κακῶν οἰκεῖν γλυκύ.

731-733. mvp-comment-544-1 These quiet words precede the climax of horror. Cp. O. T. 1110, and note. ἁρμόζοι, sc. τῷ καιρῷ, i.e. καιρὸς εἴη. τὸν πλείω λόγον] 'Anything more which you have to say.' Cp. Eur. Med. 609, ὡς οὐ κρινοῦμαι τώνδέ σοι τὰ πλείονα.

732. mvp-comment-545-1 εἰ μή τι λέξεις] · Unless you mean to speak.'

733. mvp-comment-546-1 μαστὴρ . . ᾤχετο] Cp. O. C. 35, σκοπὸς προσήκεις: ib. 70, πομπὸς μόλοι.

734. mvp-comment-547-1 The pronominal phrase, ἐκ τριῶν ἓν, takes the place of an infinitive, of which σε is the subject. Cp. similar constructions with δυοῖν θάτερον, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἤ, τί ἄλλο ἤ, and the like expressions.

738. mvp-comment-548-1 τί.. στυγούμενον] These words have been needlessly suspected. The abstract use of the neuter participle is more easily explained in the passive than in the active voice (e.g. τὸ .. ποθοῦν, supra 196). 'What cause of dislike is there that proceeds from me?' i.e. 'What cause have I given for your abhorrence?' See E. on L. § 31. p. 54.

739-740. mvp-comment-549-1 τὸν δ᾽ ἐμὸν λέγω | πατέρα] Hyllus corrects himself, as if he had admitted too much in speaking of his father as Deianira's husband. Thy husband? no, I mean my father.' Cp. infr. 807. τῇδ᾽ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ] This shows that the action is imagined as lasting only for a day. Cp. supr. 660, πανάμερος, and note.

741. mvp-comment-550-1 τίν᾿ ἐξήνεγκας.. λόγον] ‘What hast thou uttered?" Deianira, stunned by her anguish, falters this out half-consciously. τίνα is nearly = οἷον. Cp. Εl. 388, τίν', ὦ τάλαινα, τόνδ᾽ ἐπηράσω λόγον ; ἐξήνεγκας] ἐκφέρειν is literally to produce that which one has in possession.

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Deianira What have I done that merits this rebuke?

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Χορός εὐφημίαν νῦν ἴσχʼ· ἐπεὶ καταστεφῆ στείχονθʼ ὁρῶ τινʼ ἄνδρα πρὸς χαρὰν λόγων.

Δηιάνειρα τίνʼ εἶπας, ὦ γεραιέ, τόνδε μοι λόγον;

Ἄγγελος τάχʼ ἐς δόμους σοὺς τὸν πολύζηλον πόσιν 185 ἥξειν φανέντα σὺν κράτει νικηφόρῳ.

Δηιάνειρα καὶ τοῦ τόδʼ ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων μαθὼν λέγεις;

Δηιάνειρα αὐτὸς δὲ πῶς ἄπεστιν, εἴπερ εὐτυχεῖ;

HYLLUS HYLLUS (re-entering). O mother, mother! I would to heaven one of three things were true: Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind 735 Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now! 735

Denn dauernd bleibt nicht der Nacht Glanz auf Erden, nicht das Unglück, Nicht der Reichthum; schnell entschwindet Jenem Haus und zieht in dies 130 Genießen und Entbehren. So mußt auch du dies allezeit, o Königin, In Hoffnung festhalten: sahst du je, daß Zeus also rathlos ließ die Seinen?

Deianeira.

Nurse And so she did ; Hadst thou Hke me been witness to the deed, Thou wouldst much more have pitied her.

Chorus Hush—no more ill-omened words! I see a man approaching who is crowned with garlands as if for joyous news.

Messenger Queen Deianeira, I shall be the first messenger to free you from fear. Know that Alcmena’s son lives and triumphs, and from battle brings the first-fruits to the gods of this land. 180

Deianeira What news is this, old man, that you give me?

Messenger That your much-admired husband will soon come to your house, revealed in his victorious might. 185

Deianeira From what citizen or what stranger did you learn these tidings?

Messenger In the meadow, the summer haunt of oxen, Lichas the herald is proclaiming it to many. From him I heard it, and dashed away so that, in all honesty, having been the first to report this news, I might profit in some way by you and win your favor. 190

Deianeira And why is he not here, if he is so successful?

Deianeira O Zeus, ruler of the sacred uncut meadow of Oeta, at last, though after much delay, you have given us joy! Uplift your voices, you women within the house and you beyond our gates, since now we enjoy the brightness of this message, which has risen on us beyond my hope! 200

Deianeira I see it, dear maidens; the sight has not escaped my watchful eyes. I see that procession. I bid the herald joyous welcome after his long absence!—if indeed you bring anything that gives joy. 225

Lichas We are happy in our return, and happy in your greeting, lady, in accordance with the deed achieved. For when a man has fair fortune, it is his right to win good welcome. 230

Deianeira Most welcome man, tell me first what first I would know—shall I receive Heracles alive?

Lichas I certainly left him alive and well, in vigorous health, unburdened by disease. 235

Deianeira Where, tell me—in his ancestral land, or on barbarian soil?

Lichas There is a headland of Euboea , where to Cenaean Zeus he marks out altars and fruitful ground in tribute.

Deianeira In payment of a vow, or at the command of an oracle?

Lichas For a vow, made when he was seeking to conquer and plunder the country of these women whom you see before you. 240

Deianeira And these—who are they, by the gods, and whose daughters? They deserve pity, unless their misfortune deceives me.

Lichas These are captives whom he selected as choice spoils for himself and for the gods when he sacked the city of Eurytus. 245

Deianeira Was it in fact the war against that city which kept him away so long, beyond all forecast, past all count of days?

Chorus Now, O Queen, your joy is plainly revealed; part is with you, and of the rest you have foreknowledge.

Lichas Why would I know? Why would you ask me? Perhaps she is the offspring of not the lowest family in that land. 315

Deianeira Can she be of the ruling family? Was she a child of Eurytus?

Lichas I do not know; I did not in fact make a long investigation.

Deianeira And you do not know her name from one of her fellow captives?

Lichas No, indeed. In silence I completed my task.

Deianeira Unhappy girl, tell it to me, anyway, from your own mouth. It is indeed distressing to me not to know who you are. 320

Messenger Coming nearer to Deianeira. Do go in, but first remain here a short while, so that you may learn, apart from these others, who they are whom you take into your home, and gain necessary knowledge of the facts which you have not heard. For of these I am in full possession. 335

Deianeira What do you mean? Why do you stay my departure?

Messenger Stop and listen. My former report was not a waste of your time, and neither, I believe, will this one be. 340

Deianeira Shall I call those others back again? Or do you wish to speak before me and these women?

Messenger To you and the women I can speak freely. Never mind the others.

Deianeira Well, they are gone. Now let your speech signal your meaning. 345

Messenger That man Lichas spoke nothing of what he just told you in strict accordance with the truth. He was just now lying, or else he was dishonest in his earlier report.

Deianeira What do you say? Explain to me clearly all that you mean, for I cannot understand what you said. 350

Deianeira Ah, misery! What is happening to me? What secret plague have I welcomed beneath my roof? Ah, me! So, she was born without a name, as her escort swore? 375

Messenger No, illustrious by name, as by birth; she is the daughter of Eurytus, and was once called Iole. But he could say nothing of her birth, because, of course, he made no investigation. 380

Chorus May destruction seize not all wrongdoers—no, only the man who practices stealthy wrongdoing that is shameful to his rank!

Deianeira Ah, friends, what should I do? I am dumbstruck by this latest news! 385

Chorus Go and question Lichas, since he might tell the truth, if you were willing to compel him by threat of force to answer.

Deianeira I will go. Your advice does not lack good judgment.

Messenger And I, shall I wait here? Or what do you require? 390

Deianeira Stay here—since he is coming out from the house without my summons, but of his own accord.

Lichas My lady, what message shall I bear to Heracles? Instruct me, for, as you see, I am going.

Deianeira How quickly you rush away, when your arrival had been so tardy—before we have even resumed our talk. 395

Lichas Well, if there is anything you must ask, I am at your service.

Deianeira Will you indeed give me the honest truth?

Lichas Yes, be great Zeus my witness—in anything that I know.

Deianeira Who is the woman, then, whom you escorted here? 400

Lichas She is Euboean. But whose offspring, I cannot say.

Messenger You there, look at me. To whom do you think you speak?

Lichas And you, to what end have you asked me such a question?

Messenger Dare to answer my question, if you are sensible.

Lichas I speak to the royal Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus, wife of Heracles and, unless my eyes deceive me, my mistress. 405

Messenger The very word that I wished to hear from you—you admit that she is your mistress?

Lichas Yes, it is only right to do so.

Messenger Well, then, what penalty would you think it right to pay, if you should be found to be behaving wrongly towards her? 410

Lichas Wrongly? What fiction have you created?

Messenger None. Rather it is you, to be sure, who do this.

Lichas I am leaving—I was foolish to listen to you so long.

Messenger No, not until you have answered a small question. 415

Lichas Speak, if you require something. You are not the silent type.

Messenger That captive, whom you escorted into the house, you know whom I mean?

Lichas Yes. But why do you ask?

Messenger Did you not avow that she, on whom you look as if in ignorance, was Iole, the seed of Eurytus, your captive? 420

Lichas To whom on earth did I say it? Who and where is the man who heard me say it and will be your witness?

Messenger To many of our own citizens you said it. In the public gathering of Trachinians a great crowd heard this much, at least, from you.

Lichas Sure, they said they heard. But it does not amount to the same thing to tell one’s fancy and to give an accurate report. 425

Deianira

What have I done that merits this rebuke?

Χορός

εὐφημίαν νῦν ἴσχʼ· ἐπεὶ καταστεφῆ

στείχονθʼ ὁρῶ τινʼ ἄνδρα πρὸς χαρὰν λόγων.

Δηιάνειρα

τίνʼ εἶπας, ὦ γεραιέ, τόνδε μοι λόγον;

Ἄγγελος

τάχʼ ἐς δόμους σοὺς τὸν πολύζηλον πόσιν
185

ἥξειν φανέντα σὺν κράτει νικηφόρῳ.

Δηιάνειρα

καὶ τοῦ τόδʼ ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων μαθὼν λέγεις;

Δηιάνειρα

αὐτὸς δὲ πῶς ἄπεστιν, εἴπερ εὐτυχεῖ;

HYLLUS
HYLLUS (re-entering).

O mother, mother! I would to heaven one of three things were true:

Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert

No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind
735

Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now!
735

Nurse

And so she did ;

Hadst thou Hke me been witness to the deed,

Thou wouldst much more have pitied her.

Chorus

Hush—no more ill-omened words! I see a man approaching who is crowned with garlands as if for joyous news.

Messenger

Queen Deianeira, I shall be the first messenger to free you from fear. Know that Alcmena’s son lives and triumphs, and from battle brings the first-fruits to the gods of this land.
180

Deianeira

What news is this, old man, that you give me?

Messenger

That your much-admired husband will soon come to your house, revealed in his victorious might.
185

Deianeira

From what citizen or what stranger did you learn these tidings?

Messenger

In the meadow, the summer haunt of oxen, Lichas the herald is proclaiming it to many. From him I heard it,

and dashed away so that, in all honesty, having been the first to report this news, I might profit in some way by you and win your favor.
190

Deianeira

And why is he not here, if he is so successful?

Deianeira

O Zeus, ruler of the sacred uncut meadow of Oeta, at last, though after much delay, you have given us joy! Uplift your voices, you women within the house and you beyond our gates, since now we enjoy the brightness of this message, which has risen on us beyond my hope!
200

Deianeira

I see it, dear maidens; the sight has not escaped my watchful eyes. I see that procession. I bid the herald joyous welcome after his long absence!—if indeed you bring anything that gives joy.
225

Lichas

We are happy in our return, and happy in your greeting,

lady, in accordance with the deed achieved. For when a man has fair fortune, it is his right to win good welcome.
230

Deianeira

Most welcome man, tell me first what first I would know—shall I receive Heracles alive?

Lichas

I certainly left him alive and well,

in vigorous health, unburdened by disease.
235

Deianeira

Where, tell me—in his ancestral land, or on barbarian soil?

Lichas

There is a headland of Euboea , where to Cenaean Zeus he marks out altars and fruitful ground in tribute.

Deianeira

In payment of a vow, or at the command of an oracle?

Lichas

For a vow, made when he was seeking to conquer and plunder the country of these women whom you see before you.
240

Deianeira

And these—who are they, by the gods, and whose daughters? They deserve pity, unless their misfortune deceives me.

Lichas

These are captives whom he

selected as choice spoils for himself and for the gods when he sacked the city of Eurytus.
245

Deianeira

Was it in fact the war against that city which kept him away so long, beyond all forecast, past all count of days?

Chorus

Now, O Queen, your joy is plainly revealed; part is with you, and of the rest you have foreknowledge.

Lichas

Why would I know? Why would you ask me? Perhaps

she is the offspring of not the lowest family in that land.
315

Deianeira

Can she be of the ruling family? Was she a child of Eurytus?

Lichas

I do not know; I did not in fact make a long investigation.

Deianeira

And you do not know her name from one of her fellow captives?

Lichas

No, indeed. In silence I completed my task.

Deianeira

Unhappy girl, tell it to me, anyway, from your own mouth. It is indeed distressing to me not to know who you are.
320

Messenger
Coming nearer to Deianeira.

Do go in, but first remain here a short while, so that you may learn, apart from these others, who they are whom you take into your home, and gain necessary knowledge of the facts which you have not heard. For of these I am in full possession.
335

Deianeira

What do you mean? Why do you stay my departure?

Messenger

Stop and listen. My former report was not a waste of your time, and neither, I believe, will this one be.
340

Deianeira

Shall I call those others back again? Or do you wish to speak before me and these women?

Messenger

To you and the women I can speak freely. Never mind the others.

Deianeira

Well, they are gone. Now let your speech signal your meaning.
345

Messenger

That man Lichas spoke nothing of what he just told you in strict accordance with the truth. He was just now lying, or else he was dishonest in his earlier report.

Deianeira

What do you say? Explain to me clearly all that you mean,

for I cannot understand what you said.
350

Deianeira

Ah, misery! What is happening to me? What secret plague have I welcomed beneath my roof? Ah, me! So, she was born without a name, as her escort swore?
375

Messenger

No, illustrious by name, as by birth;

she is the daughter of Eurytus, and was once called Iole. But he could say nothing of her birth, because, of course, he made no investigation.
380

Chorus

May destruction seize not all wrongdoers—no, only the man who practices stealthy wrongdoing that is shameful to his rank!

Deianeira

Ah, friends, what should I do? I am dumbstruck by this latest news!
385

Chorus

Go and question Lichas, since he might tell the truth, if you were willing to compel him by threat of force to answer.

Deianeira

I will go. Your advice does not lack good judgment.

Messenger

And I, shall I wait here? Or what do you require?
390

Deianeira

Stay here—since he is coming out from the house without my summons, but of his own accord.

Lichas

My lady, what message shall I bear to Heracles? Instruct me, for, as you see, I am going.

Deianeira

How quickly you rush away, when your arrival had been so tardy—before we have even resumed our talk.
395

Lichas

Well, if there is anything you must ask, I am at your service.

Deianeira

Will you indeed give me the honest truth?

Lichas

Yes, be great Zeus my witness—in anything that I know.

Deianeira

Who is the woman, then, whom you escorted here?
400

Lichas

She is Euboean. But whose offspring, I cannot say.

Messenger

You there, look at me. To whom do you think you speak?

Lichas

And you, to what end have you asked me such a question?

Messenger

Dare to answer my question, if you are sensible.

Lichas

I speak to the royal Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus, wife of Heracles and, unless my eyes deceive me, my mistress.
405

Messenger

The very word that I wished to hear from you—you admit that she is your mistress?

Lichas

Yes, it is only right to do so.

Messenger

Well, then, what penalty would you think it right to pay, if you should be found to be behaving wrongly towards her?
410

Lichas

Wrongly? What fiction have you created?

Messenger

None. Rather it is you, to be sure, who do this.

Lichas

I am leaving—I was foolish to listen to you so long.

Messenger

No, not until you have answered a small question.
415

Lichas

Speak, if you require something. You are not the silent type.

Messenger

That captive, whom you escorted into the house, you know whom I mean?

Lichas

Yes. But why do you ask?

Messenger

Did you not avow that she, on whom you look as if in ignorance,

was Iole, the seed of Eurytus, your captive?
420

Lichas

To whom on earth did I say it? Who and where is the man who heard me say it and will be your witness?

Messenger

To many of our own citizens you said it. In the public gathering of Trachinians a great crowd heard this much, at least, from you.

Lichas

Sure,

they said they heard. But it does not amount to the same thing to tell one’s fancy and to give an accurate report.
425

Messenger

What do you mean, fancy! Did you not speak on your oath when you said that you were bringing her as a bride for Heracles?

Lichas

I? Bringing a bride? In the name of the gods, dear

mistress, tell me who on earth this stranger is?
430

Messenger

I am a man who heard from your own lips that the conquest of the whole city was due to desire for this girl and that the Lydian woman did not destroy it, but the passion which arose for the girl.

Lichas

Lady, send this creature away.

To babble with the insane is not the mark of a sensible man.
435

Chorus

Obey her good and kind advice, and hereafter you will neither have cause to complain of this lady, nor lack my thanks.
470