Trachiniae. Sophocles. Robert Potter (Translator). London. 1820.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Robert Potter, 1788))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
mvp-comment-28-1 φρενοῦν 1 φράσαι 2
mvp-comment-28-2 κἀμὲ 3 καί 4 εἰ 5 καί 6
mvp-comment-28-3 φράσαι τὸ σόν 7 τόσον 8
mvp-comment-29-1 τοσοῖσδε 9
mvp-comment-29-2 κατὰ ζήτησιν 10
mvp-comment-30-1 εἰ πατρὸς νέμοι τιν’ ὤραν τοῦ … δοκεῖν 11 πατρὸς 12 τοῦ … δοκεῖν 13 τοῦ … δοκεῖν 14
mvp-comment-30-2 δοκεῖν 15
mvp-comment-30-3 νέμοι 16 νέμει 17
mvp-comment-31-1 ἀρτίπους 18 ἀρτίπους 19
mvp-comment-32-1 πρὸς καιρὸν 20
mvp-comment-32-2 τοῖς τ’ 21 τοῖς 22 τοῖς γ’ 23
mvp-comment-33-1 ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ 24
mvp-comment-33-2 ἀγεννή<*>ων 25
mvp-comment-34-1 διδακτά 26
mvp-comment-35-1 σὲ … τὸ μὴ πυθέσθαι 27 ἐξενωμένου 28
mvp-comment-35-2 ποῦ )στιν 29
mvp-comment-35-3 φέρειν 30 φέρει 31
mvp-comment-36-1 μύθοις 32 μύθοις γ’ 33
mvp-comment-37-1 ἱδρῦσθαι 34
mvp-comment-38-1 μὲν 35 ἀλλ’ 36
mvp-comment-38-2 ἄροτον 37
mvp-comment-38-3 Λυδῇ 38
mvp-comment-39-1 εἰ καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔτλη 39
mvp-comment-40-1 ἀλλά 40
mvp-comment-41-1 ἢ θανὼν 41
mvp-comment-42-1 Εὐβοῖδα 42
mvp-comment-42-2 πόλιν 43 Εὐβοῖδα χώραν 44 ἢ μέλλειν ἔτι 45
mvp-comment-43-1 ἔλειπε 46
mvp-comment-43-2 τῆσδε τῆς χώρας πέρι 47
mvp-comment-44-1 ἀγνοῶ 48
mvp-comment-45-1 τελευτὴν … τελεῖν 49
mvp-comment-46-1 ἄρας 50
mvp-comment-46-2 εἰς τό γ’ ὕστερον 51 εἰς τὸν ὕστερον 52 βίοτον εὐαίων’ 53
mvp-comment-47-1 ἐν οὖν ῥοπῇ … κειμένῳ 54
mvp-comment-47-2 83—
mvp-comment-48-1 ἡνίκ’ ἢ σεσώσμεθα … οἰχόμεσθ’ ἅμα 55
mvp-comment-48-2
This view of the original text may be supported by a consideration which does not seem to have been noticed. The very circumstance which prompted the interpolation—viz., the absence of the
condition for
οἰχόμεσθ’ ἅμα—is an admirable dramatic touch. For, while Deianeira and her hearers would understand
ἅμα as meaning,
ἅμα οἰχομένῳ, her death is really to be linked with his victory.
mvp-comment-48-3
For a similar piece of textual history, cp.
Eur.
Andr.6
, where the true text is
νῦν δ’, εἴτις ἄλλη, δυστυχεστάτη γυνή: but there was another reading, which made two verses of it:—
νῦν δ’ οὔτις (or
νῦν δὴ τίς)
ἄλλη δυστυχεστέρα γυνὴ |
ἐμοῦ πέφυκεν ἢ γενήσεταί ποτε. Of the second v., the schol. there says,
οἱ ὑποκριταὶ τὸν ἴαμβον προσέθηκαν. See Appendix.
mvp-comment-48-4 The synizesis in ἢ οἰχόμεσθ’ 56 ἢ κείμεσθ’ 57
mvp-comment-49-1 νῦν δ’ ὁ ξυνήθης 58 εἴα 59
mvp-comment-49-2
For other instances of
νῦν with a past tense, cp.
O. C.273
,
Ai.445
Ai., 1060.
mvp-comment-50-1 τὸ μὴ 60
mvp-comment-51-1 καὶ γὰρ ὑστέρῳ 61
mvp-comment-51-2 τό γ’ εὖ 62 πράσσειν 63
mvp-comment-51-3 ἐμπολᾷ 64
mvp-comment-52-1 αἰόλα 65 φλογιζόμενον 66 ἐναριζομένα 67 κατευνάζει 68 τίκτει 69
mvp-comment-52-2 The text has been much suspected (see cr. n.), but without reason. The imagery, indeed, does not form a consistent whole: Night is slain, and then overcomes. But this is merely one of many instances in which the poet's language wavers between the figurative and the literal.
mvp-comment-52-3 κατευνάζει τε φλογιζόμενον 70
mvp-comment-53-1 τοῦτο 71 τον Ἀλκμήνας πόθι … ναίει 72 καρῦξαι 73 τοῦτο 74
mvp-comment-54-1 πόθι μοι πόθι παῖς 75 πα<*>ς 76 μοι 77 τὸν Ἀλκμ. 78 παῖς 79
mvp-comment-54-2
Porson is cited by Wunder and other editors as the authority for omitting
παῖς. But Porson (on
Hec.1030
) said only that it is
possible to omit
παῖς,—adding that it is better to retain it (omitting the second
μοι):—‘potes ejicere
παῖς et legere
πόθι μοι πόθι μοι. Sed alterum melius.’
mvp-comment-55-1 ὦ … φλεγέθων 80
mvp-comment-55-2 στεροπᾷ 81
mvp-comment-56-1 ἢ ποντίας … κλιθείς 82 ποντίας 83 ποντίους 84
mvp-comment-56-2 The constr. is, πόθι 85 που 86 ναίει ἢ ποντίας αὐλῶνας ἢ δισς. ἀπείροις κλιθείς 87 ναίει 88 ἢ 89
mvp-comment-56-3 ἤ 90
mvp-comment-56-4 δισς. ἀπείροις κλιθείς 91
mvp-comment-56-5 This use of δισσαῖσιν 92 πόθι 93
mvp-comment-56-6
‘The two continents’ (Europe and Asia, Africa being included in the latter) mean, ‘the habitable world.’
Isocr. or. 4 § 179
τῆς γὰρ γῆς ἁπάσης τῆς ὑπὸ τῷ κόσμῳ κειμένης δίχα τετμημένης, καὶ τῆς μὲν Ἀσίας τῆς δ’ Εὐρώπης καλουμένης .
Varro
De Ling. Lat. 4
Ut omnis natura in caelum et terram divisa est, sic caelum in regiones, terra in Asiam et Europam. (Sallust, however, remarks that the division into three continents had been more usual:
Jug. 17.
)
mvp-comment-56-7 ποντίας αὐλῶνας 94
mvp-comment-57-1 κρατιστεύων κατ’ ὄμμα 95 κατά 96
mvp-comment-58-1 ποθουμένᾳ 97 πυνθάνομαι 98
mvp-comment-59-1 τὰν ἀμφινεικῆ 99 ἀεί 100 τρύχεσθαι 101
mvp-comment-60-1 ὄρνιν 102
mvp-comment-61-1 ἀδακρύτων 103
mvp-comment-61-2 βλεφάρων πόθον 104
mvp-comment-61-3 108 It is simplest to construe εὔμναστον δεῖμα ὁδοῦ ἀνδρὸς 105 τρέφουσαν 106 φέρουσαν 107 τρέφουσαν 108
mvp-comment-62-1 ἐνθυμίοις εὐναῖς ἀνανδρώτοισι τρύχεσθαι 109
mvp-comment-62-2 δύστανον 110
mvp-comment-63-1 πολλὰ γὰρ … ἴδοι 111 κύματ’ ἂν … ἴδοι 112 εὐρέϊ πόντῳ 113
mvp-comment-63-2 Three other views claim notice. (1) <*>ν 114 ἂν 115 ἴδοι 116 ἐν 117 ἴδοι 118 ἴδῃ 119
mvp-comment-63-3 βάντ’ ἐπιόντα τ’ 120 βάντ’ 121
mvp-comment-64-1 οὕτω δὲ 122
mvp-comment-64-2 Construe:
mvp-comment-64-3 βιότου πολύπονον 123 ὥσπερ πέλαγος Κρήσιον 124 στρέφει τὸ δ’ αὔξει τὸν Καδμογενῆ 125 Κρήσιον 126 στρέφει 127 αὔξει 128 τὸ δ’ 129 βιότου πολύπονον 130
mvp-comment-64-4 Among those who receive στρέφει 131
mvp-comment-64-5 As to the MS. τρέφει 132
mvp-comment-65-1 ἀλλά 133 τὸ δ’ αὔξει 134
mvp-comment-65-2 ἀναμπλάκητον 135 ἐρύκει 136
mvp-comment-66-1 ὧν 137
mvp-comment-66-2
Hense (whom Nauck follows) thinks that this second antistrophe (122—131) requires to be transposed, so as to become the second strophe, immediately following v. 111. But this change is worse than unnecessary. It is liable to the fatal objection that vv. 132 ff. (
μένει γὰρ etc.) are then severed from the thought which they develope (vv. 129—131
ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ πῆμα καὶ χαρὰ etc.). They are brought into a context which does not suit them (vv. 119— 121
ἀλλά τις θεῶν etc.).
mvp-comment-67-1 αἰδοῖα 138 ἁδεῖα 139 ἁδεῖα 140 ἀντία 141 ἁδεῖα 142 αἰδοῖα 143
mvp-comment-67-2 οἴσω 144
mvp-comment-68-1 γὰρ 145
mvp-comment-68-2 ἀποτρύειν 146
mvp-comment-68-3 ἐλπίδα τὰν ἀγαθὰν 147
mvp-comment-69-1 ἀνάλγητα 148
mvp-comment-69-2 οὐδ’ ὁ πάντα κρ. 149 οὐδ’ 150
mvp-comment-69-3 ἐπέβαλε 151
mvp-comment-70-1 ἐπὶ … κυκλοῦσιν 152 ἐπὶ πᾶσι 153 κυκλοῦσιν 154 χαρὰν 155 χαρὰ 156 οἷον 157 αἰὲν 158
mvp-comment-70-2 ἄρκτου στροφάδες κέλευθοι 159
mvp-comment-71-1 οὔτ’ αἰόλα 160 νὺξ 161
mvp-comment-71-2 κῆρες 162
mvp-comment-71-3 ἀλλ’ ἄφαρ βέβακε 163
mvp-comment-71-4 τῷδ’ 164 χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι 165 ἐπέρχεται 166
mvp-comment-71-5
Other views are as follows. (1) The constr. is,
ἀλλὰ χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι ἄφαρ βέβακε (
τῷ μέν),
τῷ δ’ ἐπέρχεται. This is less simple. (2)
τῷ δ’=simply ‘
and to him,’—
i.e., to the person from whom woe or joy ‘has gone.’ But: (
a)
τῷ δ’ surely implies an antithesis. (
b) The clause
τῷ δ’ ἐπέρχεται κ.τ.λ. would thus mean merely,—‘and then his experiences begin over again.’
mvp-comment-72-1 ἃ 167
mvp-comment-72-2
Others suppose that
ἃ is governed by
ἴσχειν
168
τάδ’
169
mvp-comment-72-3 For λέγω 170
mvp-comment-72-4 ἐλπίσιν ἴσχειν 171 ἄβουλον 172
mvp-comment-73-1 ἀπεικάσαι 173
mvp-comment-74-1 θυμοφ<*> 174
mvp-comment-75-1 μήτ’ <*>θοις … νῦν δ’ ἄπειρος εἶ 175 νῦν δ’ 176 νῦν τ’ 177 νῦν δ’ 178 τε … δέ 179
mvp-comment-76-1 τ<*> νεάζον 180 τοιοῖσδε 181 βόσκεται 182 αὐτοῦ 183
mvp-comment-76-2 θάλπος … ὄμβρος … πνευμάτων 184
mvp-comment-76-3 The text is as clearly sound as the passage itself is beautiful. But numerous changes have been proposed: for these, see Appendix. Here I will only remark that the genuineness of the words καί 185 νιν 186
mvp-comment-77-1 ἡδοναῖς 187
mvp-comment-77-2 ἐξαίρει βίον 188
mvp-comment-78-1 ἐν νυκτὶ 189 λάβῃ 190
mvp-comment-78-2 ἤτοι … ἢ 191
mvp-comment-78-3 πρὸς ἀνδρὸς … φοβουμένη 192
mvp-comment-79-1 αὑτοῦ 193
mvp-comment-79-2 κακοῖσιν οἷς 194 κακοῖσιν οἷς 195
mvp-comment-80-1 μὲν οὖν δὴ 196
mvp-comment-81-1 ἦμος 197
mvp-comment-81-2 τὴν τελευταίαν 198
mvp-comment-82-1 δέλτον 199
mvp-comment-82-2 ἐγγεγραμμένην 200 ξυνθήμαθ’ 201 ξυνθήματα 202
mvp-comment-83-1 ἀγῶνας ἐξιών 203 οὐ 204
mvp-comment-83-2 ἔτλη 205
mvp-comment-84-1 ὥς τι δράσων 206
mvp-comment-85-1 ἔτ’ οὐκ ὤν 207
mvp-comment-85-2 εἶπε μὲν … εἶπε δ’ 208 προτάξας 209
mvp-comment-85-3 εἶπε … ὅ τι χρείη μ’ ἑλέσθαι λέχους κτῆσιν 210
mvp-comment-85-4 ἣν τέκνοις … νέμοι 211
mvp-comment-85-5 διαιρετὸν 212
mvp-comment-86-1 The constr. is:
mvp-comment-86-2 χρόνον προτάξας 213
mvp-comment-86-3 ὡς 214
mvp-comment-86-4 ἡνίκα χώρας ἀπείη βεβώς τρίμ. χρόνον κἀνιαύς 215
mvp-comment-86-5 τότε χρείη σφε ἢ θανεῖν τῷδε τῷ χρ., ἢ … ζῆν 216 ὡς 217
mvp-comment-86-6 I leave the MS. τρίμηνον … κἀνιαύσιος 218 κἀνιαύσιον 219 χρόνον … χρόνῳ … χρόνου 220
mvp-comment-86-7 ὑπεκδραμόντα 221 χρόνου τέλος 222 ὑπεκδρ 223 ὑπερδραμόντα 224
mvp-comment-86-8 The arguments which have been brought against vv. 166—168 are examined in the Appendix.
mvp-comment-87-1 τοιαῦτ’ ἔφραζε … πόνων 225 τῶν Ἡρακλείων πόνων 226
mvp-comment-87-2
(1) It is a gen. of connection, equiv. to the gen. with
περί, and going with the whole phrase
εἱμαρμένα ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι
227
mvp-comment-87-3 (2) It is also possible, though less probable, that the gen. should be taken as partitive with ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι 228
mvp-comment-87-4 (3) πόνων 229 πρὸς θεῶν εἱμαρμένα 230
mvp-comment-87-5 (4) πόνων 231 ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι 232
mvp-comment-88-1 ὡς τὴν παλαιὰν φηγὸν 233
mvp-comment-88-2 Others understand:—(1) ‘by the agency of two doves’: i.e., the signs from the oak were somehow combined with, or explained by, signs derived from birds. (2) ‘The oak spake from between two doves’; i.e. a symbolical dove, of stone or metal, stood on either side of the tree. The Appendix will show what can be said for or against each of these theories. Here it may be noted that neither seems to accord so well with the phrase αὐδῆσαι ἐκ 234
mvp-comment-88-3 Δωδῶνι 235
mvp-comment-89-1 ναμέρτεια 236
mvp-comment-89-2 τῶνδε 237 ναμέρτεια 238 συμβαίνει 239 ὡς 240 τελεσθῆναι χρεών 241 ὡς 242 ᾧ 243
mvp-comment-89-3
Others understand:—(1) ‘The true fulfilment of these words
as (
ὡς) they are to be accomplished’; or (2) ‘the truth of the prediction
that (
ὡς) these things are to be accomplished.’
mvp-comment-89-4 This is one of those passages in which the manner of Sophocles recalls that of Vergil. The general meaning is simple and clear<*> but a verbal analysis demands the nicest care.
mvp-comment-90-1 ἡδέως 244
mvp-comment-90-2 φόβῳ 245 ταρβοῦσαν 246
mvp-comment-91-1 εὐφημίαν 247
mvp-comment-91-2 πρὸς χαρὰν λόγων 248
mvp-comment-92-1 πρῶτος ἀγγέλων 249
mvp-comment-93-1 γὰρ 250
mvp-comment-93-2 κρατοῦντα 251
mvp-comment-93-3 ἀπαρχὰς 252 τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις 253
mvp-comment-94-1 τίνα … τόνδε 254
mvp-comment-95-1 πολύζηλον 255
mvp-comment-95-2 φανέντα 256
mvp-comment-95-3 κράτει νικηφόρῳ 257
mvp-comment-96-1 ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων 258
mvp-comment-97-1 βουθερεῖ 259
mvp-comment-98-1 τοι 260
mvp-comment-99-1 εἴπερ εὐτυχεῖ 261
mvp-comment-99-2
193 (
ἄπεστιν),
οὐκ εὐμ. χρώμενος
262
mvp-comment-100-1 Μηλιεὺς 263
mvp-comment-100-2 ἅπας 264
mvp-comment-101-1 κρίνει 265
mvp-comment-101-2 παραστάς 266 κύκλῳ 267 περιστάς 268
mvp-comment-101-3 βῆναι 269
mvp-comment-102-1 τὸ γὰρ ποθοῦν 270 τὸ … ποθοῦν 271 τὰ γὰρ ποθείν’ 272
mvp-comment-102-2 (1) If τὸ … ποθοῦν 273
mvp-comment-102-3 (2) τὸ ποθοῦν ἐκμαθεῖν 274 ἐκμαθεῖν 275 τὸ ποθοῦν 276
mvp-comment-102-4 (3) It remains, then, to take τὸ ποθοῦν 277
mvp-comment-103-1 οὐχ ἑκών, ἑκοῦσι δὲ 278
mvp-comment-104-1 τὸν Οἴτης ἄτομον … λειμῶν’ 279 ἄτομον 280
mvp-comment-105-1 ἀλλὰ 281 σὺν χρόνῳ 282
mvp-comment-106-1 εἴσω 283 ἔσω 284
mvp-comment-106-2 στέγης … αὐλῆς 285
mvp-comment-106-3 ὄμμα φήμης τῆσδε, ἄελπτον ἐμοὶ ἀνασχόν 286
mvp-comment-106-4 The wording here, ὡς … ἀνασχόν 287 τῆσδε 288 τῆσδ’ ὃ 289 ἄελπτον 290
mvp-comment-107-1
This lively ‘dance-song’ (
ὑπόρχημα) is the direct response of the Chorus to Deianeira's appeal (202
φωνήσατ’),—expressing their delight at the good news. As Dr. W. Christ, who calls it ‘a paean to Artemis and Apollo,’ justly remarks (
Metrik § 443), its contents clearly point to a distribution of the verses between different singers. (1) The first part, down to v. 215 (
Νύμφας), is an invitation to song and dance; this would be given either by the coryphaeus, or by the leader of one semichorus. (2) The second part, vv. 216—220 (
ἀείρομ’...ἅμιλλαν), is the response, delivered by the leader of the other semichorus. (3) Then, at v. 221, the whole Chorus joins in with the refrain of the paean,
ἰὼ ἰὼ Παιάν. (4) The coryphaeus then gives the last three verses, which introduce the next scene.—For the metres, see Metrical Analysis.
mvp-comment-107-2 ἀνολολυξάτω 291 δόμοις 292 ἁ 293 ὁ 294 δόμοις 295 ἐφεστίοις 296 ἐν δὲ κοινὸς ἀρσένων 297
mvp-comment-107-3 Hence we have to choose between these views, of which I prefer the first. (1) ἁ μελλόνυμφος 298 ἁ μελλόνυμφος 299 δόμος … ὁ μελλόνυμφος 300
mvp-comment-107-4 ἀνολολυξάτω 301
mvp-comment-107-5 δόμοις 302 ἀλαλαῖς 303
mvp-comment-108-1 κοινὸς 304 τὸν εὐφ. Ἀπ 305 ἴτω κλαγγὰ 306
mvp-comment-109-1 ἀνάγετ’ 307
mvp-comment-110-1 Ἄρτεμιν Ὀρτυγίαν 308
mvp-comment-110-2
Artemis was worshipped on the coasts near Malis (637 n.), but we have no proof that the name
Ὀρτυγία was specially given to her there. Perhaps the poet uses it here merely as one of her standing epithets.
mvp-comment-110-3 ἐλαφαβόλον 309
mvp-comment-110-4 ἀμφίπυρον 310
mvp-comment-110-5 Νύμφας 311
mvp-comment-111-1 ἀείρομ’ 312
mvp-comment-112-1 τὸν αὐλόν 313 ὦ τύραννε 314 τᾶς ἐμᾶς φρενός 315
mvp-comment-113-1 ἰδού μ’ 316 εὐοῖ 317 ἀναταράσσει 318
mvp-comment-113-2 ὁ κισσός 319
mvp-comment-113-3 βακχίαν … ἅμιλλαν 320
mvp-comment-114-1 ἰὼ ἰὼ Παιάν 321
mvp-comment-115-1 ἵδ’ 322 ἴδε ἴδ’ 323
mvp-comment-116-1 τάδ’ 324
mvp-comment-116-2 ἐναργῆ 325 ἀντίπρῳρα 326
mvp-comment-117-1 οὐδέ μ’ ὄμματος φρουρὰν παρῇλθε 327 παρῆλθε 328 φρουρὰ 329
mvp-comment-118-1 προὐννέπω 330
mvp-comment-118-2 φέρεις 331 καὶ 332
mvp-comment-119-1 ἀλλ’ 333
mvp-comment-120-1 κατ’ ἔργου κτῆσιν 334
mvp-comment-120-2 ἄνδρα γὰρ 335
mvp-comment-120-3 καλῶς πράσσοντ’ 336 καλῶς 337 καλά 338
mvp-comment-121-1 ἃ πρῶτα βούλομαι 339 ‐εα 340
mvp-comment-122-1 ἔγωγέ τοι 341
mvp-comment-122-2 ἔλειπον 342 ζῶντα 343 τε καί 344 ἰσχύοντα 345 καί 346 θάλλοντα 347
mvp-comment-123-1 ποῦ γῆς 348 πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου 349 εἴτε 350 εἴτε 351
mvp-comment-123-2 ποῦ γῆς; πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου; λέγε 352
mvp-comment-123-3 ποῦ γῆς; πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου, λέγε 353
mvp-comment-123-4 πατρῴας 354
mvp-comment-124-1 Εὐβοίς 355
mvp-comment-124-2 ὁρίζεται βωμοὺς 356 βωμοὺς 357
mvp-comment-124-3 τέλη τ’ ἔγκαρπα 358
mvp-comment-125-1 εὐκταῖα … ἢ )πὸ μαντείας 359
mvp-comment-125-2 φαίνων 360
mvp-comment-126-1 εὐχαῖς 361
mvp-comment-126-2 ἀνάστατον 362
mvp-comment-127-1 ὧν 363
mvp-comment-127-2 ἐν ὄμμασιν 364
mvp-comment-128-1 τοῦ ποτ’ εἰσὶ 365 ἐκεῖνος 366
mvp-comment-129-1 οἰκτραὶ γάρ 367
mvp-comment-129-2 ξυμφοραὶ 368 ξυμφορᾷ 369
mvp-comment-130-1 ἐξείλεθ’ 370 αὑτῷ 371 θεοῖς 372
mvp-comment-131-1 ἦ κἀπὶ 373
mvp-comment-131-2 ἄσκοπον 374
mvp-comment-131-3 ἡμερῶν 375 ἀνήριθμον 376 χρόνον 377
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 378 ὡς φήσ’ αὐτός 379
mvp-comment-133-1 ἐμποληθείς 380
mvp-comment-133-2 τοῦ λόγου … φθόνον 381
mvp-comment-133-3 προσεῖναι 382
mvp-comment-133-4 ὅτου 383 ὅτου 384 τοῦ λόγου 385
mvp-comment-133-5 πράκτωρ φανῇ 386
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 387 ἐν Λυδοῖς 388 χρόνον 389
mvp-comment-134-2 πραθεὶς … Ὀμφάλῃ 390
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 391
mvp-comment-136-1 λαβὼν 392
mvp-comment-137-1 ὅρκον αὑτῷ προσβαλὼν 393
mvp-comment-137-2 ἦ μὴν 394
mvp-comment-137-3 τὸν ἀγχιστῆρα τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους 395
mvp-comment-137-4 No emendation is probable. Nauck's αὐτόχειρα 396
mvp-comment-138-1 ξὺν παιδὶ καὶ γυναικὶ 397 παισὶ 398
mvp-comment-138-2 ἔτι 399
mvp-comment-139-1 κοὐχ ἡλίωσε τοὔπος 400
mvp-comment-139-2 ὅθ’ ἁγνὸς ἦν 401 ἁγνός 402
mvp-comment-140-1 στρατὸν … ἐπακτὸν 403
mvp-comment-140-2 ἔρχεται 404
mvp-comment-140-3 πόλιν τὴν Εὐρυτείάν 405
mvp-comment-141-1 ἐφέστιον 406 ἐς δόμους 407 ἐλθόντ’ … ἐφέστιον 408
mvp-comment-142-1 ξένον παλαιὸν ὄντα 409
mvp-comment-143-1 ἐπερρόθησε 410
mvp-comment-143-2
From
ἐπερρόθησε a verb of more general sense, such as
ὕβρισε, is to be supplied with
ἀτηρᾷ φρενί
411
γόγοις
412
φρενί
413
δείπνοις δ’
414
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 415 ἀτηρᾷ 416 πολλὰ μὲν … πολλὰ δέ 417
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 418
mvp-comment-144-1 λέγων χεροῖν μὲν 419 δὲ 420 λέγων 421
mvp-comment-144-2 τῶν ὧν τέκνων 422
mvp-comment-144-3 λείποιτο 423
mvp-comment-145-1 φωνεῖ δὲ 424 ῥαίοιτο 425
mvp-comment-145-2 ἀνδρὸς … ἐλευθέρου 426 δοῦλος 427
mvp-comment-145-3 ῥαίοιτο 428
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 429
mvp-comment-145-6 ᾠνωμένος 430
mvp-comment-145-7 ἔρριψεν ἐκτὸς αὐτόν 431
mvp-comment-145-8 ὧν ἔχων χόλον 432
mvp-comment-146-1 αὖθις 433
mvp-comment-146-2 Τιρυνθίαν … κλιτύν 434 υ^ 435 κλιτύν 436
mvp-comment-146-3 ἵππους νομάδας 437 νομάδας 438
mvp-comment-147-1 ἄλλοσ’ … ὄμμα, θατέρᾳ δὲ νοῦν ἔχοντ’ 439 θατέρᾳ 440 ἄλλοσε 441
mvp-comment-147-2 πυργώδους πλακός 442
mvp-comment-148-1 ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων 443
mvp-comment-149-1 πρατόν νιν ἐξέπεμψεν 444 οὐδ’ ἠνέσχετο 445 ὁθούνεκ’ 446 μοῦνον 447
mvp-comment-150-1 ἠμύνατο 448
mvp-comment-151-1 χειρουμένῳ 449
mvp-comment-151-2 οὐδὲ δαίμονες 450
mvp-comment-152-1 κεῖνοι δ’ 451
mvp-comment-152-2 ὑπερχλίοντες 452
mvp-comment-152-3 ἐκ γλώσσης κακῆς 453
mvp-comment-152-4 282 For αὐτοὶ μὲν 454 κεῖνοι 455 πόλις δὲ 456
mvp-comment-152-5 οἰκήτορες 457
mvp-comment-153-1 τάσδε 458 ἅσπερ 459 ἐξ ὀλβίων 460
mvp-comment-154-1 χωροῦσι πρὸς σέ 461
mvp-comment-154-2 πόσις τε … ἐγὼ δὲ 462 ἐφεῖτο 463 τελῶ 464
mvp-comment-155-1 ἁγνὰ θύματα 465 τῆς ἁλώσεως 466
mvp-comment-156-1 φρόνει νιν ὡς ἥξοντα 467 νιν 468 ὡς 469
mvp-comment-157-1 καλῶς 470
mvp-comment-158-1 νῦν σοι τέρψις ἐμφανὴς κυρεῖ 471
mvp-comment-158-2 τῶν μὲν 472 τὰ δὲ 473
mvp-comment-159-1 πανδίκῳ φρενί 474
mvp-comment-160-1 τῇδε 475 τοῦτο 476
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 477
mvp-comment-161-2 ταρβεῖν τὸν εὖ πράσσοντα 478
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 479
mvp-comment-162-2 δεινὸς 480
mvp-comment-163-1 ἀπάτορας 481
mvp-comment-163-2 301 f. For ἴσως 482 ἐξ ἐλευθέρων ἀνδρῶν 483 ἀνδρῶν 484 ἀπάτορας 485
mvp-comment-164-1 ὦ Ζεῦ τροπαῖε 486
mvp-comment-164-2 τοὐμὸν σπέρμα 487
mvp-comment-164-3 χωρήσαντα 488 εἰς 489 πρὸς 490 σε 491 που 492
mvp-comment-165-1 μηδ’, εἴ τι δράσεις 493 εἰ 494 ζώσης 495
mvp-comment-165-2 This verse is a development of μή ποτ’ εἰσίδοιμι 496
mvp-comment-165-3
The objection to the verse as illogical assumes that the
δέ in
μηδέ
497
mvp-comment-166-1 τεκνοῦσσα 498 τεκοῦσα 499
mvp-comment-166-2 πρὸς … φύσιν 500 πάντων … τῶνδε 501
mvp-comment-166-3 γενναία 502
mvp-comment-167-1 ὁ φιτύσας πατήρ 503
mvp-comment-167-2 ᾤκτισα 504
mvp-comment-167-3 ὅσῳπερ 505 μόνη 506
mvp-comment-167-4 φρονεῖν οἶδεν 507 φρονεῖν 508
mvp-comment-167-5 314 f. For καὶ 509 κρίνοις 510
mvp-comment-167-6 γέννημα τῶν ἐκεῖθεν 511 οὐκ ἐν ὑστάτοις 512
mvp-comment-168-1 μὴ τῶν τυράννων 513
mvp-comment-168-2 Εὐρύτου σπορά τις ἦν 514 τις 515
mvp-comment-169-1 ἀνιστόρουν 516
mvp-comment-169-2 μακράν 517
mvp-comment-170-1 ξυνεμπόρων 518
mvp-comment-170-2 ἔχεις 519
mvp-comment-170-3 ἤνυτον 520
mvp-comment-171-1 ἀλλ’ ἡμὶν 521
mvp-comment-172-1 καὶ 522 ξυμφορά 523
mvp-comment-173-1 οὔ τἄρα 524 οὐδὲν ἐξ ἴσου 525 τῷ γε πρόσθεν χρόνῳ 526 ἐξ ἴσου 527 διοίσει 528 γλῶσσαν 529 διοίσει 530
mvp-comment-173-2 ἤτις 531
mvp-comment-173-3 οὐδαμὰ 532
mvp-comment-174-1 οὔτε μείζον’ οὔτ’ ἐλάσσονα 533
mvp-comment-175-1 ὠδίνουσα … βάρος 534
mvp-comment-176-1 διήνεμον 535 πάτραν 536
mvp-comment-176-2 ἡ … τὐχη 537
mvp-comment-176-3 αὐτῇ γ’ 538 γ’ 539
mvp-comment-176-4 συγγνώμην ἔχει 540
mvp-comment-177-1 ἡ δ’ οὖν 541 ἡ δ’ 542 ἥδ’ 543
mvp-comment-177-2 οὕτως ὅπως ἥδιστα 544
mvp-comment-177-3
331 Among the attempts to amend
λύπην...λύπην (cr. n.), the two best, I think, are, (1)
ἄλλην … λύπην
545
λύπην … διπλῆν
546
διπλῆν
547
mvp-comment-177-4 Almost all edd. retain the optat. λάβοι 548 λάβῃ 549
mvp-comment-178-1 οἷ θέλεις σπεύδῃς 550
mvp-comment-178-2 ἐγὼ δὲ 551 σύ θ’ 552
mvp-comment-178-3 ἐξαρκῆ τιθῶ 553
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’ 554 γε 555
mvp-comment-179-3 ἀμμείνας’ 556
mvp-comment-180-1 ἄνευ 557 τ’ 558 μάθῃς 559 μάθῃς 560 ἐκμάθῃς 561 οὕστινας 562
mvp-comment-180-2 ὧν τ’ οὐδὲν εἰσήκουσας 563
53. mvp-comment-48-1 γνώμαισι δούλαις may be in one of two constructions: either (1) dative of reference after δίκαιον, or (2) dative of the instrument with φρενοῦν. In the former case (1) the abstract is put for the concrete, If the thoughts of a slave may be allowed to instruct one who is free. Cp Phil. 431, καὶ σοφαὶ γνῶμαι: intr. 844, 5. ἀπ᾿ ἀλλόθρου γνώμας. In the latter case (2) the subject of φρενοῦν is implied in δούλαις, 'If it be permissible that one should instruct the free with thoughts coming from a slave.' And this is probably right, as the words nearest together are genearlly to be taken together. καμὲ χρὴ φράσαι τὸ σόν] "Then is it right for me to suggest what you should do. τὸ σόν is preferable to τόσον...
53. mvp-comment-48-2 (1) because the expression and the correspondence of the clauses is more complete and harmonious; (2) because, except in the phrase δὶς τόσα (Αj. 277), the form τόσος does not occur elsewhere in the senarii of Sophocles. See on Ο. Τ. 570, τοσόνδε γ' οἶσθα, κ.τ.λ. Some who read τόσον would connect the words through καί with the protasis, 'If a slave may be permitted, etc., and I may hint so much, -how is it?'
54. mvp-comment-49-1 πῶς] For the asyndeton, see Essay on L. § 34. p. 58. μὲν.. ἀτάρ] We have here an instance of the form of sentence which often meets us in a more complex form in Thucydides and Plato, e.g. Rep. B. 2. p. 367 E, where two coordinate or opposed clauses are included under the vinculum of a single interrogative or negative. Cp. infr. 229 foll.: Philoct. 519 foll., ὅρα σὺ μὴ νῦν μὲν τις, κ.τ.λ. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 68.
55. mvp-comment-50-1 ἀνδρὸς κατὰ ζήτησιν] Cp. Hdt. 1. 94, ἀποπλώειν κατὰ βίου ζήτησιν.
56. mvp-comment-51-1 εἰκός] ἰέναι rather than πέμπειν is the 'word understood,' as required by the subsequent context. Ср. О. Т. 190, ᾿Αρεά τε τὸν μαλερόν, κ.τ.λ.
57. mvp-comment-52-1 νέμοι] The Scholiast seems to have read νέμει. But νέμοι agrees better with the indirect turn given by ὅνπερ εἰκός : “The very one who might be expected to go, if he was at all careful to ascertain his father's welfare.' For the double genitive (on which see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37 a ), Dindorf well quotes Alexis apud Athenaeum, 10. Ρ. 431 Ε, τῶν δ᾽ ὠνουμένων προνοούμενοι τοῦ τὰς κεφαλὰς ὑγιεῖς ἔχειν. For the periphrasis with δοκεῖν, pointing to the desire of good tidings, cp. Ο. Τ. 402, εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐδόκεις γέρων εἶναι, and note: Thuc. 3. 10, ἀρετῆς δοκούσης. Here, as in similar expressions in Greek, seeming is not necessarily opposed to reality.
58. mvp-comment-53-1 ἀρτίπους] (1) ὅ ἐστιν, ἀρτίως καὶ ἡρμοσμένως τῷ καιρῷ πορεύεται. Schol. And such an 'etymological' use = ' With timely approach,' is quite possible. ( Essay on L. § 54 6, p. 99 ). The latter part of the compound is in this case less significant. Essay on L. § 55. p. 101. But (2) the simple Homeric meaning, Sound of foot,' is really more suited to the context, Hyllus, having out of doors heard news of his father, comes bounding home. The handmaid, seeing his agile movement, infers there can be no doubt of his ability to run this errand.' δόμους = εἰς δόμους, accusative of motion towards. Essay on L. § 16. p. 22.
59. mvp-comment-54-1 τί] Cp. Ο. C. 1034, νοεῖς τι τούτων.
61. mvp-comment-55-1 ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ] The affectionate repetition betrays excitement. Cp. Philoct. 260, ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ πατρὸς ἐξ ᾿Αχιλλέως. ἀγεννήτων] · Of no birth, i.e. low-born. à priv., as in ἀγεννής, has the meaning of δυσ-. Cp. ἄγλωσσος for βάρβαρος, infr. 1060.
62. mvp-comment-56-1 πίπτουσιν] 'Drop,' or 'Fall from the lips.' The notion is that of coming forth unexpectedly. Cp. χρησμὸς ἐκπίπτει, and the other expressions mentioned by L. and S. s. v. ἐκπίπτω, 5.
63. mvp-comment-57-1 δούλη μέν] Sc. ἐστίν. For this form of the senarius, see on O. T. 1513. ἐλεύθερον· ἐλευθέρῳ πρέποντα, Schol.
64. mvp-comment-58-1 εἰ διδακτά μοι] Sc. ἐστίν. ‘If I may be told.' The plural neuter of the verbal adjective has the force of an impersonal verb.
65. mvp-comment-59-1 ἐξενωμένου] 'Estranged,' i.e. Remaining away from home. Compare the use of févos in Εl. 865-7, εἰ ξένος .. κέκευθεν.
66. mvp-comment-60-1 αἰσχύνην φέρειν] The infinitive (depending on εἴρηκεν, 1. 63) is necessary, although most MSS. have φέρει.
67-78. mvp-comment-61-1 Hyllus has only just heard the rumour which he repeats; and Deianira is prompted by his mention of the new enterprise to communicate to him the special anxiety, over which she has hitherto brooded in solitude. The objection of Dobree, that she ought to have done so before, is like that made against the ignorance of Jocasta in the Oedipus Tyrannus. If such improbabilities in things external to the immediate action are not to be allowed, the composition of any drama becomes impossible.
67. mvp-comment-62-1 μύθοις] Three MSS. read μύθοις γ', a plausible reading, but made less likely by the recurrence of the same variant after θανών in line 73.
69. mvp-comment-63-1 ἐν μήκει χρόνου] ‘All this while,' is to be taken with πονεῖν. 'He has been labouring all this while for the past year.' Cp. infr. 824, 5, ὁπότε τελεόμηνος ἐκφέροι . . ἄροτος.
70. mvp-comment-64-1 λάτριν πονεῖν] 'That he has been serving as a menial.' The tense is the imperfect.
73. mvp-comment-65-1 ἢ θανών] ‘If he be indeed alive.' Deianira is stung by the report of Heracles' servitude to a barbarian woman, and. as she herself says, is prepared for anything. She even imagines that the prophecy of liberation may have been fulfilled by his death. Hence ἢ θανών is added with despairing bitterness. On the passive ἀγγέλλεται, see Essay on L. § 31. p. 54 b. The reading ἢ θανών γ᾽ (Par. B) is plausible, but see on 1. 67.
74. mvp-comment-66-1 Εὐρύτου πόλιν] Apposition of a part to the whole. Essay on L. § 33. p. 56.
75. mvp-comment-67-1 ἢ μέλλειν ἔτι] 'Or is on the eve of doing so. The second clause is a qualification of the first, and is added to avoid an absolute statement. Cp. infr. 460, ἀνὴρ εἶς, and note.
76. mvp-comment-68-1 ἔλειπε] The imperfect (being more descriptive) refers more pointedly to the time of Heracles' departure (sc. ὅτε ἔστειχε, cp. supr. 47), than the aorist would have done.
77. mvp-comment-69-1 τῆσδε τῆς χώρας πέρι] As Wunder observes, Oechalia was not mentioned in the oracle, but Deianira infers, from the coincidence of time, that the prophecy referred to what Heracles was doing now. Dobr. conj. πείρας, Dronke, ὥρας, Hense, χρείας.
78. mvp-comment-70-1 τὰ ποῖα] More precise than ποῖα. What were they exactly?' τὸν λόγον] The matter' to which you refer. Cp. Aj. 734, τοῖς κυρίοις γὰρ πάντα χρὴ δηλοῦν λόγον.
79. mvp-comment-71-1 ὡς ἢ τελευτὴν . . τελεῖν] • That he is either to accomplish the ending of his life.' Cp. 1255, 6, παῦλά τοι κακῶν αὕτη, τελευτὴ τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς ὑστάτη. Το which Hyllus replies, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴργει σοὶ τελειοῦσθαι τάδε. The expression, though unusual, is not more so than O. C. 1551, 2, τὸν τελευταῖον βίον | κρύψων: ib. 1720, ὀλβίως γ᾽ ἔλυσεν | τὸ τέλος βίου. For the pleonasm, cp. esp. infr. 1171, λύσιν τελεῖσθαι.
80-81. mvp-comment-72-1 These lines have been much suspected, but if τὸν ἀεὶ= τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον, in El. 1076, O. C. 1701, which there is no good reason for doubting, εἰς τὸν ὕστερον = εἰς τὸν ὕστερον χρόνον, may be allowed. ἄρας] 'When he has carried away,' i.e. Performed successfully. The notion is partly that of lifting a weight, partly of removing an obstacle (between emolitus and amolitus).
82. mvp-comment-73-1 ἐν . . κειμένῳ] 'When he is at such a critical point;' lit. such a turning of the scale. ῥοπή is commonly the preponderance or determination of the balance one way; here it is the moment or crisis of a determination which is still uncertain. For κειμένῳ, cp. Aj. 323, ἐν τοιᾷδε κείμενος . . τύχῃ, where, however, there is the additional notion of being 'laid prostrate.'
83. mvp-comment-74-1 ἡνίκα] ‘At a moment when.'
84-85. mvp-comment-75-1 Canter ingeniously defended l. 84 by placing it after 85 and reading καί for ἤ. But the line is still unnecessary and falls flat. Some editors, with strange judgment, have rejected 85. 84 is most probably spurious. It looks like an attempt to fill up the lacuna, when 85 had been lost. The only other considerable interpolation to which we can point with any confidence is in lines 898, 899, which look like a players' addition. These three lines make but a slight foundation for the theory of two editions of the Trachiniae, even if we add ll. 88, 9, and the v. rr. in lines 12, 13, supr. See Introduction.
85. mvp-comment-76-1 βίον is the safety of Heracles with all that depends on it, including the happiness of Deianira and her children. Cp. El. 768, εἰ τοῖς ἐμαυτῆς τὸν βίον σώζω κακοῖς, where, as Ellendt remarks, Clytemnestra is not thinking only of her life, but of the prosperity attending it.
87. mvp-comment-77-1 βάξις in Greek tragedy is generally a striking utterance, either of an oracle or of common rumour, and often conveys some unpleasant association.
88. mvp-comment-78-1 The corrections of Vauvillers (ela for ą) and Wakefield (πρὶν for νῦν) remove all suspicion from this line. The sons of Heracles could not be apprehensive or greatly fearful for him who was perpetually contending with dangers and hitherto always with success. The sense of fear in them was partly lost through familiarity, partly disarmed by habitual good fortune. For πότμος in this indifferent sense (fortune ane whether good or bad), cp. Fr. 786. 1, 2, ἀλλ᾿ οὑμὸς ἀεὶ πότμος ἐν πυκνῷ θεοῦ τροχῷ κυκλεῖται καὶ μεταλλάσσει φύσιν.
90. mvp-comment-79-1 τὸ μή] For the absence of oὐ here in reference to prospective action, cp. Ο. Τ. 77, μὴ δρῶν, and see Essay on L. § 29. p. 50. The whole question of the Greek negatives is still too indeterminate to justify the admission of such conjectural emendations as the insertion of οὐ after μή in this place, proposed by Brunck and others.
92-93. mvp-comment-80-1 τό γ᾽ εὐ | πράσσειν] γε emphasizes ev: Wise action, even though late.' The emphatic position of πράσσειν at the beginning of another line, and the addition of ἐπεὶ πύθοιτο, may justify the singular use of τὸ εὐ πράσσειν in an active sense (= 'Doing right,' not, 'Faring well'), which is required by the context. For the omission of τίς, τινί (the subject of πύθοιτο and the dative after ἐμπολᾷ), see Essay on L. § 39. P. 72, 3, and cp. O. Τ. 314, 5, ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἔχοι τε καὶ δύναιτο.
94-140. mvp-comment-81-1 Parodos. Where in the wide world is Heracles, reposing in what continent, or by what narrow sea? Tell us, bright, all-beholding Sun! For our Deianira, for whose hand he fought, wears out her soul in thinking of him on her lonely couch; so ceaseless are the toils that crowd upon him like stormy billows. But God hath hitherto protected him; wherefore let not hope weary, O my queen. No life is without pain, but, by Divine ordinance, grief succeeds to joy and joy to grief. Remember this and hope the best. Zeus cannot leave his offspring to destruction.' The metre beginning with an iambic rhythm passes quickly into dactylo-trochaic, changing again in the epode to iambo-trochaic (with occasional syncope), then to pure iambics, ending with a bacchius followed by three trochees.
94-95. mvp-comment-82-1 ἐναριζομένα τίκτει] Gives birth to, being despoiled.' The word αἰόλα (like ποικιλείμων in Aesch. Prom. 24) suggests the glories of the starry night. (See Buttmann, Lexil. § 12.) These perish with her as she vanishes, 'Shot through with orient beams.' Cp. ΕΙ. 19, μέλαινά τ᾽ ἄστρων ἐκλέλοιπεν εὐφρόνη: Aesch. Ag. 279, τῆς νῦν τεκούσης φῶς τόδ᾽ εὐφρόνης λέγω. The mention of day succeeding night prepares for the suggestion of hope, infr. 131. κατευνάζει τε φλογιζόμενον] And lays glowing to his rest.' φλογιζόμενον calls up the image of a red sunset.
96. mvp-comment-83-1 ῞Αλιον αἰτῶ] The accusative or third person instead of the vocative, as in Aesch. Prom. 91, καὶ τὸν πανόπτην κύκλον ἡλίου καλῶ· | ἴδεσθέ μ'.
97. mvp-comment-84-1 πόθι μοι πόθι] The repetition belongs to the later manner of Greek tragedy. The change of construction after πόθι (παῖς not παῖδα) is right. To avoid the hiatus after l. 4 of the antistrophe the second μοι rather than παῖς (see v. rr.) should be omitted. μοι is dative of indirect reference after πόθι ναίει (cp. Ο. C. 137, ποῦ μοί ποτε ναίει), and also supplies the remoter object of καρύξαι.
99. mvp-comment-85-1 ὦ . . φλεγέθων] Cp. Ο. Τ. 163, 4, καὶ Φοῖβον ἑκαβόλον, ἰὼ |.. προφάνητε. στεροπᾷ is used etymologically, like στέροψ in Ant. 1126 = 'Dazzling light.'
100. mvp-comment-86-1 ἢ . . αὐλῶνας] Sc. ναίων. ‘Either dwelling amongst winding seas:' i. e. in some island of the Aegean. αὐλών is said to be feminine in poetry, and the reading of Ist hand of L, ποντίας, may therefore be right. Cp. Fr. 503 (Ath. 5. p. 189 D). The change to the dative is occasioned by the addition of κλιθείς on which ἀπείροις is made to depend. The sea most familiar to the Trachinian maidens would be the strait between Euboea and the mainland, but their description might apply equally to any of the narrow seas intersecting the islands of the Aegean: interfusa nitentes .. Cycladas (Hor. Od. 1. 14, sub fin.). κλιθείς with the dative is an expression borrowed from the Homeric κεκλιμένος (e. g. Il. 5. 709, λίμνῃ κεκλιμένος Κηφισίδι). δισσαῖσιν ἀπείροις] 'On one of the two continents,' i. e. somewhere on the seaboard of Europe or of Asia, which are divided by the πόντιοι αὐλῶνες. Others have suggested Thessaly and Epirus, or even Euboea and Thessaly. But cp. Hdt. 4. 118, ἐπειδή οἱ τὰ ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ τῇ ἑτέρῃ πάντα κατέστραπται, · διαβέβηκε ἐς τήνδε τὴν ἤπειρον, and Schol. in Aesch. Pers. 181, τὼ δύ᾽ ἠπείρω. Mr. Paley strangely interprets. 'Resting between two mainlands,' as if Heracles were imagined to be on the Hellespont. But for the condensation, cp. El. 1320, οὐκ ἂν δυοῖν ἥμαρτον, ἱ.ε. δυοῖν θατέρου.
101. mvp-comment-87-1 εἰπέ resumes the imperative implied in αἰτῶ . . καρύξαι. ὦ κρατιστεύων κατ᾿ ὄμμα] Ο thou that bearest the palm for strength of sight!' For κατά, cp. Ο. Τ. 1087, καὶ κατὰ γνώμαν ἴδρις. And for ὄμμα, see Essay on L. § 54. P. 99 , and cp. infr. 1018, σοί τε γὰρ ὅμμα | ἔμπλεον ἡ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ σώζειν.
103. mvp-comment-88-1 ποθουμένᾳ . . φρενί] ποθουμένᾳ is either (1) middle, 'With longing soul: '-of such a use of ποθεῖσθαι in the middle voice we have no example, but see Essay on L. § 31. p. 52 , and cp. Ο. Τ. 1487, νοούμενος, -or (2) passive, With heart oppressed by longings.' This gives a better meaning, but implies a causative sense of ποθεῖν not found elsewhere. Similarly in the Electra, 1065, ἀπόνητοι may be said to imply a causative sense of πονεῖν, 'Το afflict with toil.' (Musgr. conjectures πόνουμένᾳ here.) See Essay on L. § 53. p. 98 , and cp. Pind. Ol. 10 (11). 93, ἀείδετο δὲ πᾶν τέμενος τερπναῖσι θαλίαις | τὸν ἐγκώμιον ἀμφὶ τρόπον, where ἀείδετο means, Was occupied with song.' In either sense the phrase is applied to Deianira.
104. mvp-comment-89-1 ἀμφινεική] 'The bride of strife.' She whose hand was once the object of fierce contention is now forlorn. Cp. Aesch. Agam. 669, τὰν δορίγαμβρον ἀμφινεικὴ θ' Ἑλέναν: infr. 527, ἀμφινείκητον ὄμμα νύμφας. The word may also allude to the etymological meaning of Δηιάνειρα ('Object of contention among men'). ἀεί looks forward to τρύχεσθαι.
105. mvp-comment-90-1 ὄρνιν] The nightingale, poetically imagined as being wakeful for sorrow. Cp. Od. 19. 518 foll., ὡς δ' ὅτε Πανδαρέου κούρη, χλωρηὶς ᾿Αηδών, κ.τ.λ. ἀδακρύτων] Α familiar instance of prolepsis. Never allows to rest the longing in her eyes, nor dries her tears.'
106-107. mvp-comment-91-1 ἀλλ᾽.. ὁδοῦ] 'Bearing a trembling recollection of her husband and of his far journey.' ἀνδρός is to be taken as genitive of the object with εὔμναστον, 'Keenly mindful of,' as well as with δεῖμα. ὁδοῦ is added epexegetically, as a genitive of respect. ὁδός = ' A journey or expedition,' often includes the enterprise which is the object of the expedition, with its attendant circumstances. φέρουσαν] Cp. Ο. Τ. 93, τῶνδε γὰρ πλέον φέρω | τὸ πένθος, κτ.λ.: 863, εἴ μοι ξυνείη φέροντι, κ.τ.λ.; Casaubon (Anim. in Athen. 549) ingeniously but unnecessarily conjectured τρέφουσαν.
110. mvp-comment-92-1 ἐνθυμίοις . . ἀνανδρώτοισι] 'On a bed of care, to which no husband comes.' ἐνθυμίοις, Haunted by care or thought' (see Scholia), rather than 'Weighing on the mind' (although some good critics are satisfied with this). The dative is one of place or circumstance (= ἐν), not of cause or reason. Deianira is not worn out with thinking that she wants her husband, but pines with anxiety on her widowed bed. The Scholiast explains ἐνθυμίοις, ταῖς μεριμνητικαῖς, ταῖς πολυφροντίστοις. This meaning of ἐνθύμιος = ἐνθυμίας πλήρης, although singular, is not impossible. Cp. O. C. 240, and see Essay on L. § 50. p. 94, § 42. p. 80. ἀνανδρώτοισι, 'Not visited by a husband.' The verbal notion is hard to render, but adds vividness to the idea of bereavement.
111. mvp-comment-93-1 κακὰν . . αἶσαν] 'Unhappy one (δύστανον), forecasting an evil fortune.' For ἐλπίζουσαν, cp. Αj. 606, κακὰν ἐλπίδ᾽ ἔχων, and note.
112. mvp-comment-94-1 πολλά, expressing the primary notion of the sentences, belongs in the first instance to the apodosis, in which βιότου πολύπονον is substituted for πάθη or whatever word was at first intended, whereupon πολλά falls into a secondary agreement with κύματα. 'As many as are the waves,' not, 'Like the many waves.'
114. mvp-comment-95-1 ἀκάμαντος νότου, βορέα, are not simply genitives in regimen, like κύματα παντοίων ἀνέμων, Il. 2. 396, but either (1) genitives of the cause, or (2) genitives absolute = νότου συνεχῶς πνέοντος. For the former (1), cp. Eur. Or. 497, πληγεὶς θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπὲρ κάρα. And, for the latter (2), O. С. 1588, ὑφηγητῆρος οὐδενὸς φίλων. ἐν is required by the metre. 'For many as are the waves one sees passing and coming on anew over the wide sea, from the south or else the north wind blowing unweariedly, even so manifold in troubles is the life which, like a Cretan sea, sustains,-ay, and glorifies, our hero of Cadmus' race.'
115. mvp-comment-96-1 βάντ᾽ ἐπιόντα τε] Not, 'Coming and going,' or, 'Falling and rising, but, '(One) having gone and (another) coming on.' Cp. II. 4. 422, 3, ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐν αἰγιαλῷ πολυηχέϊ κῦμα θαλάσσης | ὄρνυτ' ἐπασσύτερον Ζεφύρου ὕπο κινήσαντος : 13. 798, (κύματα) πρὸ μέν τ᾽ ἄλλ᾽ αὐτὰρ ἔπ᾿ ἄλλα. For the meaning given to βάντα, cp. Ant. 120, ἔβα, and note. ἴδοι] The change to the subjunctive, in accordance with Homeric idiom, is unnecessary. Ср. О. С. 1172, ὅν γ' ἐγὼ ψέξαιμί τι: Hdt. 2. 93, ἵνα δὴ μὴ ἁμάρτοιεν τῆς ὁδοῦ. And see Essay on L. § 36. p. 61. Several editions read ἴδοις, with του in 114. But for the ellipse of tis, see Essay on L. § 39. p. 72, 3. οὕτω δέ] δέ ' in apodosi,' as in El. 27, ὡσαύτως δὲ σύ, κ.τ.λ.
116. mvp-comment-97-1 Καδμογενῆ] Heracles, having been born at Thebes, was claimed as a Theban hero, and therefore of the stock of Cadmus by adoption. τρέφει τὸ δ᾽ αὔξει] (1) ‘Surrounds and also magnifies.' For a similar idiomatic use of τὸ δέ, cp. Thuc. 1. 107, τὸ δέ τι καὶ ἄνδρες τῶν ᾿Αθηναίων ἐπῆγον αὐτούς, ib. 7. 48, τὸ δέ τι καὶ τὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἐλπίδος τι ἔτι παρείχε. The words τὸ δ᾽ αὔξει are διὰ μέσου. It has been thought that τρέφειν and αὔξεις are too near one another in meaning to point an antithesis, and στρέφει for τρέφει has been proposed. For this, more recently, Hense has substituted στερεῖ. But the words are not an application of the simile, as though Heracles was now engulphed and now uplifted by the billow, but express a new thought: and both words have a different meaning in tragic poetry from that which belongs to them in prose. For τρέφειν of the circumstances or surroundings of a life, ср. О. Т. 374, μιᾶς τρέφει πρὸς νυκτός. And, for αὔξειν, Το magnify,' ib. 1090, 1, μὴ οὐ σέ γε καὶ πατριώταν Οἰδίπου καὶ τροφὸν καὶ ματέρ᾽ αὔξειν. The words τὸ δ' αὔξει are added by the Chorus (though logically inconsistent with ἀλλά in what follows), because of their strong wish to suggest cheerful thoughts to Deianira. In this case, the remaining words may be taken in one of two ways, either (α) supposing a slight inversion and alternation of clauses, the order may be πολύπονον πέλαγος βιότου, ὥσπερ Κοήσιον (πέλαγος), 'A troubled sea of life, as it were a Cretan sea.' Or (b) As it were a Cretan sea of troubles that constitutes his life.' (2) Hermann joins τὸ δ' αὔξει βιότου πολύπονον, 'As it were a Cretan sea surrounds Heracles and increases this toilsomeness of his life.' The Cretan sea was wider than the Aegean and no less subject to storms. Cp. Hor. Od. 1. 26. 1, ‘tristitiam et metus | tradam protervis in mare Creticum portare ventis.' For the concrete imagery, cp. Ο. Τ. 194, εἴτ᾿ ἐς μέγαν θάλαμον ᾿Αμφιτρίτας | εἴτ᾿ ἐς τὸν ἀπόξενον ὅρμον | Θρήκιον κλύδωνα.
120. mvp-comment-98-1 ἀναμπλάκητον "Αιδα δόμων] 'Some deity, never suffering him to fall, keeps him away from the halls of Hades.' For gen. see E. on L. § 8. p. 11.
121. mvp-comment-99-1 ὧν] In respect whereof,' to be joined with ἐπιμεμφομένα and repeated with οἴσω. The genitive of respect is here assisted by ἐπί in composition. See Essay on L. § 54. pp. 99, 100. ἁδεῖα μέν, ἀντία δ΄ οἴσω] 'I will offer counsel in a pleasant vein, albeit contrary counsel.' The transition from the subject to the object is hardly more violent than in l. 63. δούλη μέν, εἴρηκεν δ᾽ ἐλείθερον λόγον. The only difference is that δούλη is full predicate (= δούλη ἐστί) and ἁδεῖα supplementary predicate (=ἁδεῖα οὖσα). And for ἡδὺς = φέρων ἡδέα, cp. Ο. Τ. 82, ἀλλ᾽ εἰκάσαι μέν, ἡδύς. Musgrave's correction, αἰδοῖα, has since been modified by Blaydes and Hense to δέδοικα, ἔδεισα.
124. mvp-comment-100-1 ἀποτρύειν] Suffer to wear out,' = ἐἂν ἀποτρύεσθαι. Cp. such expressions as αἴρειν θυμόν = To allow passion to rise.' E. on L. § 30. p. 52 d.
125. mvp-comment-101-1 ἐλπίδα τὰν ἀγαθάν] Good hope opposed to the expectation of evil, which might be called κακὴ ἐλπίς, as in Aj. 606.
126. mvp-comment-102-1 ἀνάλγητα] Lit. 'Things without pain,' i. e. 'A tranquil existence.' For this use of the neuter adj. cp. Aj. 885, σχέτλια γάρ, κ.τ.λ., Ο. C. 537.
127. mvp-comment-103-1 ἐπέβαλε] Gnomic aorist = 'Doth not send. ἐπιβάλλειν is used as in ἐπιβάλλειν ζημίαν. “The lot which Zeus imposes on mortals is never exempt from grief.' ἐπὶ . . κυκλοῦσιν] Grief and joy come circling round to all, i.e. Grief succeeds to joy and joy to grief. For the tmesis, see Essay on L. § 18. p. 27. ἐπί marks succession in time, as in ἐπήλυθον ὧραι. οἷον . . κέλευθοι] 'Like the circling course of the Bear, i. e. As the constellation now is high in heaven, and now all but touches the horizon, so man's life is elevated and depressed. Others, without the comma, read χαράν, 'A circling course like that of the Bear brings round joy and grief to all.'
133. mvp-comment-104-1 αἰόλα] Glimmering,' or 'Palpitating,' rather than Spangled.' Cp. Εl. 106, ἄστρων ῥιπάς. For the repetition of the same word with some difference of meaning, see Essay on L. § 44. pp. 83. 4.
135. mvp-comment-105-1 βέβακε] Sc. ὁ πλοῦτος ἢ αἱ κῆρες. τῷ δ'] (1) ‘And to him,' viz. from whom the sorrow or the wealth has departed, 'comes in turn either rejoicing or loss.' Or (2) To another man.' In this case χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι means, 'To be glad and again (afterwards) 'to lose.' The point, however, is not that sorrow passes from one to another, but rather that sorrows and joys alternate in the same life.
136. mvp-comment-106-1 ἃ (1) is resumed by apposition in τάδε, cp. Eur. Andr. 1115, ὧν Κλυταιμνήστρας τόκος εἷς ἦν ἁπάντων τῶνδε μηχανορράφος. 'Which truths I bid thee also, who art a Queen, to hold fast in looking forward.' Or (2), with Hermann, 'In respect of which truths (ἃ) I bid thee ever be hopeful regarding this' (τάδε), viz. the fortune and return of Heracles. Cp. Ant. 897, κάρτ᾽ ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφω, κ.τ.λ.
140. mvp-comment-107-1 τέκνοισι .. ἄβουλον] ‘Without providence for his children.' 'Filiis male consulentem.' For the vague plural, cp. 1268, οἱ φύσαντες καὶ κλῃζόμενοι πατέρες, κ.τ.λ. Hermann has remarked that the images chosen in the beginning of this ode all harmonize with the mood of Deianira (the vanishing of beauteous night, the fiery death of day, etc.), just as all cheering topics are suggested towards the end.
141. mvp-comment-108-1 ὡς ἀπεικάσαι] ‘Το hazard a conjecture.' Hermann lays down the rule that ἀπεικάζω always implies comparison, and he therefore reads ἐπεικάσαι here. But ἀπο- in ἀπεικάζω may have the same force as in ἀπομαντεύομαι, ἀποκινδυνεύω, ἀποδείκνυμαι, of something done (as we say 'right off') on the spur of the moment.
142. mvp-comment-109-1 πάθημα.. θυμοφθορῶ] There is an opposition between the outward accident and the inward feeling. The one the maidens know, but not the other.
143. mvp-comment-110-1 μήτ᾽ . . νῦν δ'] The antithesis is strengthened as the sentence grows. 'I would not have you learn by experience, but, as yet, you know nothing of it.' Hence δέ answering τε. Essay on L. § 36. p. 65 f.
144-145. mvp-comment-111-1 τὸ γὰρ . . αὑτοῦ, κ.τ.λ.] ‘For youth is nurtured in places of its own where no experience of sorrow reaches.' τοιοίσδε] Hermann missed the correlative of τοιοίσδε, and thought he had found it in the conjectural emendation χώροις, ἵν᾽ αὑτοῦ. Of this and many other attempted changes of this passage, it may be said that they are either too abrupt or destroy simplicity. τοιύσδε, like ὅδε, often in Sophocles refers to what has preceded, and may here be easily referred to ἄπειρος εἶ, 'Such,' i. e. as I see in you. You are ignorant of my sorrow, for youth is so placed' (as to be ignorant of sorrow). Essay on L. § 22. pp. 35, 6 , and for the emphasis on αὑτοῦ, see Essay on L. § 9. p. 12 b , and ср. О. С. 659, 60, ὁ νοῦς ὅταν αὑτοῦ γένηται. For the possessive following a descriptive adjective, cp. O. T. 1462, ταῖν δ᾽ ἀθλίαιν οἰκτραῖν τε παρθένοιν ἐμαῖν. βόσκεται] The image is that of a young plant, as in Aj. 558, τέως δὲ κούφοις πνεύμασιν βόσκου.
145. mvp-comment-112-1 θεοῦ] Of the sun. Cp. Eur. Alc. 722, φίλον τὸ φέγγος τοῦτο τοῦ θεοῦ, φίλον : Med. 352, εἴ σ' ἡ ᾿πιοῦσα λαμπὰς ὄψεται θεοῦ. The whole passage recalls Od. 4. 566, 5. 478 foll., 6. 43.
146. mvp-comment-113-1 πνευμάτων οὐδέν] The emphatic repetition of the negative immediately before the verb is idiomatic. Cp. infr. 1013, οὐ πῦρ, οὐκ ἔγχος τις ὀνήσιμον οὐκ ἀποτρέψει. κλονεῖ] The verb is adapted to the nearest subject. No heat offends, no rain disturbs, no wind ruffles it.' οὐδέν is substantive, i. e. πνεῦμα is not to be supplied. No breath of winds, not, No wind of all the winds.' Cp. Ant. 499, 500, τῶν σῶν λόγων . . οὐδέν.
147-148. mvp-comment-114-1 ἡδοναῖς ἄμοχθον ἐξαίρει βίον ἐς τοῦθ'] 'But it grows up' (lit. rears its life) 'amid delights, knowing not pain, even (f) to that point.' For ἐξαίρει = ἔχει ἐξαιρόμενον, αρ. ἀποτρύειν supr. 125 and note. The word suits with the simile from a young plant, for which, cp. Il. 18. 56, ὁ δ᾽ ἀνέδραμεν ἔρνεϊ ἴσος.
148. mvp-comment-115-1 γυνή] ‘A woman.' The word refers less here to the marriage-relationship than to the position of a matron.
149. mvp-comment-116-1 ἐν νυκτί] 'In a night,' i. e. the night of marriage. Cp. Fr. 521. 11, ἐπειδὰν εὐφρόνη ζεύξῃ μία : Eur. Fr. 660, λέγουσιν ὡς μί' εὐφρόνη χαλᾷ | τὸ δυσμενὲς γυναικὸς εἰς ἀνδρὸς λέχος. Musgrave and Hermann join ἐν νυκτὶ φροντίδων, 'Anxiety by night.'
150. mvp-comment-117-1 ἤτοι . . φοβουμένη] 'Being in fear either on her husband's account or for her children.' This verse has been unnecessarily suspected. The language is not quite accurate, but the meaning is clear, the sentence being continued as if λάβῃ were ἄρξηται ἔχειν.
151. mvp-comment-118-1 τις] The indefinite pronoun here in the apodosis refers more pointedly to the persons addressed than supr. 148. See Essay on L. § 22. p. 36. 4. εἰσίδοιτο] The middle has some such force as 'might see of himself.' αὑτοῦ] The masculine is often used where women are spoken of in a general way Essay on L § 20. p. 30.
152. mvp-comment-119-1 κακοῖσιν οἷς] i. e, τὰ κακὰ οἷς. For the attraction, see Essay on L. § 35. p. 59 , and cp. O. C. 1150, 1, λόγος δ᾽ ὃς ἐμπέπτωκεν ἀρτίως ἐμοὶ .. συμβαλοῦ γνώμην.
153. mvp-comment-120-1 δή] 'As you well know.'
154. mvp-comment-121-1 οἷον οὔπω πρόσθεν] Sc. εἶπον, implied in ἐκλαυσάμην.
157. mvp-comment-122-1 The δέλτος mentioned above (l. 47) contained Heracles' memorandum of the oracle received at Dodona, infr. 1165. In giving this to Deianira before leaving home, he also told her by word of mouth what disposition of his property he desired in case of his death. ἐγγεγραμμένην ξυνθήμαθ'] Having notes inscribed on it. The word ξύνθημα occurs in two places of the O. C., (1) in the singular, of a sign, l. 46, (2) of the record of an agreement, l. 1594. Neither of these meanings exactly suits the context here. A closer parallel is the expression ξυνθήματα κρυπτὰ χαράξας, which appears on an altar in the Museum at Athens, on which certain hierophantic symbols are inscribed. Here it clearly refers to the oracular indication of the doom of Heracles as inscribed on the tablet. The testamentary instructions which are further mentioned were given orally. For the construction of the accusative with the passive verb, see Essay on L. § 16. p. 236. Heracles might be said ἐγγράψαι τὴν δέλτον (οι τῇ δέλτῳ) ξυνθήματα.
159. mvp-comment-123-1 πολλοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐξιών] ‘Though he had gone forth on many labours,' ἀγῶνας is in a similar construction with ὁδύν in l. 155: the labour and the journey to meet the labour being included in one conception. The resumption of πρόσθεν οὐ . . ποτέ in οὔπω, after the intermediate clause, helps to point the antithesis in the following line. Cp. the emphatic repetition in Shaks. Jul. Caesar, 1. 3, 'But never till to-night, never till now, Did I go through a tempest dropping fire." φράσαι in what follows is (1) To show,' (2) 'To explain.'
160. mvp-comment-124-1 ὡς . . . εἶρπε] 'He went with the mien of one.' ἕρπω is a picturesque word, calling up the act of motion to the eye.
161. mvp-comment-125-1 ἔτ᾿ οὐκ ὤν] Already doomed.' Cp. Phil. 1217, ἔτ᾿ οὐδέν εἰμι (where there is the same inversion of οὐκέτι).
161-162. mvp-comment-126-1 ὅ τι κτῆσιν] 'What I must appropriate as my marriage portion; lit. Possession having to do with my marriage.' The MSS. read ὅτι, which may be right, implying that Deianira (knowing the amount of her marriage portion) was to select from the property of Heracles to that amount before dividing the remainder. But ὅ τι agrees better with ἣν in the next clause, and with the situation.
162. mvp-comment-127-1 ἣν τέκνοις] This may refer, as Schndw. supposes, to the partition of the Peloponnese among the Heracleidae. Cp. the anonymous mention of Eurystheus and Ceyx above, ll. 35, 40, and see Eur. H. F. 462 foll., σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ῎Αργος ἔνεμ᾽ ὁ κατθανὼν πατήρ, κ.τ.λ.
163. mvp-comment-128-1 ἣν .. νέμοι] What share of their father's land he assigned for distribution to his children (severally). τέκνοις is short for ἑκάστῳ τέκνων. The scribe who wrote μένειν seems to have understood, The part that remained after the marriage portion was taken out.'
164. mvp-comment-129-1 χρόνον] Víz. a time when it would be known whether the will was to be at once executed or not. τρίμηνον] Sc. χρόνον, to be repeated as accus. of duration with ἀπείη.
165. mvp-comment-130-1 The nom. ἐνιαύσιος, if right, is occasioned by the addition of βεβώς, and is to be explained, after the analogy of χρόνιος, τριταῖος, etc., like Aj. 217, νύκτερος ἀπελωβήθη: ib. 602, μηνῶν ἀνήριθμος .. τρυχόμενος. E. on L. § 23. p. 39 €. Deianira quotes Heracles as telling her what conclusion to draw, if he were absent more than fifteen months. These lines have been suspected, chiefly on account of their tautology, which may be excused by the all-importance of the time to Deianira, and the difficulty which the Greeks felt in defining notions of time. Essay on L. § 48. p. 91. τότε belongs to the whole sentence, τῷδε τῷ χρόνῳ to θανεῖν only. Then the decree of fate should take effect either for him to die within that time,' etc.
167. mvp-comment-131-1 τοῦτο · τοῦ χρόνου τέλος] 'This appointed period of time;' lit. 'This completion in respect of the time.' The conjecture τοῦδε for τοῦτο rather weakens the expression. ὑπεκδραμόντα] 'Having escaped from,' i.e. 'Having passed the danger of.' Burges conj. ὑπερδραμόντα. But the text is more expressive, dimly suggesting the image of a danger to be escaped.
169. mvp-comment-132-1 τοιαῦτα.. πόνων] 'Such he said was the Heaven-appointed issue of the labours of Heracles.' τοιαῦτα, to which εἱμαρμένα adheres, is the 'cognate subject' of ἐкτελευτᾶσθαι ( Essay on L. § 17. p. 25 c ); i. e. if the expression were turned actively, it would stand thus, τὸν Ἡρακλῆ τελευτᾷν τοιαῦτα (= τοιαύτην τελευτὴν) τῶν πόνων, ' That Heracles should find such an end of his labours.' Cp. Thuc. 2. 13, τὰ δὲ πολλὰ τοῦ πολέμου γνώμῃ καὶ χρημάτων περιουσίᾳ κρατεῖσθαι. The genitive may be taken as one of respect, but is assisted by ἐκ in ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι ('Such issue from his labours'). The present tense is often used in prophecies. Aesch. Prom. 848, ἐνταῦθα δή σε Ζεὺς τίθησιν ἔμφρονα. The wording of the oracle may have been τοιαύτην τελευτὴν ἐκτελευτᾷ Ἡρακλῆς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ πόνων. This is another example of Sophocles' fondness for the passive voice. See Essay on L. § 31. p. 54. There is no reason for doubting the genuineness of these two lines, which is confirmed by the Sophoclean character of the construction. ἔφραζε . . ἔφασκε] Sc. ὁ Ἡρακλῆς.
172. mvp-comment-133-1 δισσῶν ἐκ πελειάδων] Sophocles does not explain the manner in which the oracle at Dodona had been given: but vaguely combines the talking oak (Aesch. Prom. 832) with the prophetic pigeons (Hdt. 2. 55, where, however, of the two birds only one comes to Dodona).
173. mvp-comment-134-1 ναμέρτεια] 'The true fulfilment of these words as predestined (ὡς χρεών) comes to pass about this time.' τῶνδε ναμέρτεια almost = τάδε ναμερτῆ ὄντα, with some thought of the etymological meaning (νη, ἁμαρτάνω). For τάδε of the prophecy and event in one, cp. Ο. Τ. 901, εἰ μὴ τάδε χειρόδεικτα πᾶσιν ἁρμόσει βροτοῖς. συμβαίνει] For συμβαίνειν of the issue or fulfilment of an oracle, cp. Thuc. 2. 17, καί μοι δοκεῖ τὸ μαντεῖον τοὐναντίον ξυμβῆναι ἡ προσεδέχοντο.
173-174. mvp-comment-135-1 χρόνου | τοῦ νῦν παρόντος] The dative of time would be too precise and matter-of-fact to express Deianira's meaning, with reference to an emergency, which had not actually arisen. But in using the genitive she does not mean to be indefinite. The fulfilment belongs to the hour that now is here.'
175. mvp-comment-136-1 So that in the midst of a sweet slumber, I start up in fear and dread.' Cp. Plat. Rep. 1. 330 Ε. καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὕπνων, ὥσπερ οἱ παῖδες, θαμὰ ἐγειρόμενος, δειμαίνει. φόβῳ is a causal dative (with ἐκπηδᾶν). ταρβοῦσαν is added in explanation of φόβῳ. εἰ] To think that it is possible,' cp. infr. 666, ἀθυμῶ δ᾽ εἰ φανήσομαι. For this ethical use of ci, which is frequent in Greek (Od. 21. 253) see Essay on L. § 28. p. 46 5.
176. mvp-comment-137-1 εἴ με χρὴ μένειν] 'That I may have to live on.' μένειν has a pathetic force, i.e. to endure, when he is gone. Cp. Phil. 1368, καὐτὸς ἐν Σκύρῳ μένων | ἔα κακῶς αὐτοὺς ἀπόλλυσθαι κακούς.
177. mvp-comment-138-1 φωτός] φώς appears for the most part to have two senses in Sophocles, (1) rather depreciatory, An inconsiderable person,' eg. O. C. 1018, ἀμαυρῷ φωτί : (2) here and in Aj. 807, ἔγνωκα γὰρ δὴ φωτὸς ἠπατημένη, ‘Α husband.
178. mvp-comment-139-1 εὐφημίαν νῦν ἴσχε] 'Say now no more.' Deianira's last words were not auspicious, and the Chorus warn her not to continue them for fear of crossing with an evil omen one who seemed to be a messenger of good tidings. εὐφήμει is an injunction to silence, but generally with reference to some unlucky word that has been or is likely to be said. For the form of expression, cp. Phil. 807, ἀλλ᾽, ὦ τέκνον, καὶ θάρσος ἴσχ᾽, κ.τ.λ. Others would explain, 'Speak no more sadly,' for you will now have cause for joy.
179. mvp-comment-140-1 καταστεφή] O. T. 83, Aesch. Ag. 493. πρὸς χαρὰν λόγων] To be joined with καταστεφή στείχοντα in one phrase. Coming garlanded, like a messenger of joy.' πρὸς χάριν λόγων would merely mean, 'To do the office of a messenger.'
180. mvp-comment-141-1 πρῶτος ἀγγέλων] This busy-body, who is somewhat like the Φύλαξ in the Antigone, though not quite so mean, has rushed in before Lichas in the hope of getting some reward (infr. 191).
183. mvp-comment-142-1 ἀπαρχάς] Including the captives, see below, l. 245.
184. mvp-comment-143-1 Deianira is too much overcome by the announcement to realise it at once. Cp. Phil. 917-19, ib. 1380, where an unwelcome statement is received in the same vacant way: O. Τ. 359, λέγ᾽ αὖθις, ὡς μᾶλλον μάθω : Aesch. Ag. 268, πῶς φής; πέφευγε τοὔπος ἐξ ἀπιστίας.
186. mvp-comment-144-1 σὺν κράτει νικηφόρῳ] · Bringing with him triumphant conquest.'
188. mvp-comment-145-1 βουθερεῖ] 'Where the oxen in summer feed.' The summer grass is the harvest (θέρος) of the cattle. This is more picturesque (esp. with ἄτομον λειμώνα following, infr. 200) than Bovθόρῳ, 'Where the oxen leap.'
189. mvp-comment-146-1 τοῦ] (a) With κλύων, (b) with ἀπῇξα.
190. mvp-comment-147-1 τοι] 'Το say sooth.' The particle introduces the avowal of his motive. Cp. esp. El. 1468, 9. ὅπως | τὸ συγγενές τοι κἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ θρήνων τύχῃ. The candour of the messenger here resembles that of the Corinthian in O. T. 1005, καὶ μὴν μάλιστα τοῦτ᾽ ἀφικόμην, ὅπως | σοῦ πρὸς δόμους ἐλθόντος εὖ πράξαιμί τι. Cp. also the Old Man in the Electra, when assuming a similar character, 772, μάτην ἄρ᾽ ἡμεῖς, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἥκομεν.
192. mvp-comment-148-1 αὐτός] 'Lichas himself.' εἴπερ εὐτυχεῖ] Sc. ὁ Λίχας. If all is well with him.'
193. mvp-comment-149-1 οὐκ εὐμαρείᾳ χρώμενος πολλῇ] 'Being not altogether his own master; i. e. he is detained, not quite of his own free will.
194. mvp-comment-150-1 Μηλιεύς .. λεώς] The Melian people and the Trachinians are the same in the mind of Sophocles. Cp. his indifference about Calydon and Pleuron in l. 7. The gentile substantive is used for the adjective, as often elsewhere. 'All the Melian folk press round and question him (cp. infr. 314), nor can he advance a step.'
195. mvp-comment-151-1 κρίνει . . ἔχει] There is no difficulty in the change of subject. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 65.
196. mvp-comment-152-1 τὸ . . ποθοῦν.. ἐκμαθεῖν] Το satisfy his longing with full information.' For this use of the active neuter participle, see Essay on L. § 30. p. 51. The abstract notion is here put for the object, the desire of knowledge, for the knowledge desired. Cp. Shak. Temp. 1. 2. 176, For still 'tis beating in my mind.'
197. mvp-comment-153-1 οὐκ ἂν μεθεῖτο] (1) 'Refuse to let him go. The third person is used as the first might have been, οὐκ ἂν μεθείμην σε, 'I will not let thee go.' See Aristophanes, Ran. 830, οὐκ ἂν μεθείμην τοῦ θρόνου: Αj. 313, εἰ μὴ φανοίην, and note. Or (2), 'He is not likely to be let go.' καθ' ἡδονήν] ‘To their heart's content.' κατά, as in κατὰ νοῦν.
198. mvp-comment-154-1 οὐχ ἑκών, ἑκοῦσι δέ] 'Not of his will, but by theirs.' Cp. Odyss. 5. 155, παρ᾿ οὐκ ἐθέλων ἐθελούσῃ.
200. mvp-comment-155-1 foll. The mention of the precinct on Mount Oeta, which was sacred to Zeus (infr. 436, 1191), is preparatory to the death of Heracles on that spot. ἄτομον, * Inviolate.' Cp. Hymn Merc. 72, where the oxen of the gods are λειμῶνες ἀκηράσιοι, a Cretan inscription (Corp. Inscr. 2. 1103), ἵνα μηθεὶς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Δικταίου μήτε ἐννέμῃ μήτε ἐναυλοστατῇ μήτε σπείρῃ μήτε ξυλεύῃ : Eur. Hipp. 73, σοὶ τόνδε πλεκτὸν στέφανον ἐξ ἀκηράτου, κ.τ.λ.: Hom H. Ven. 269, 70, ἑστᾶσ᾽ ἠλίβατοι· τεμένη δέ ἑ κικλήσκουσιν | ἀθανάτων· τὰς δ᾽ οὔτι βροτοὶ κείρουσι σιδήρῳ.
201. mvp-comment-156-1 ἀλλὰ σὺν χρόνῳ] 'At length, though late.' Cp. Ant. 552, τί δῆτ᾽ ἂν ἀλλὰ νῦν σ᾽ ἔτ᾿ ὠφελοῖμ᾽ ἐγώ ;
202-203. mvp-comment-157-1 αἵ τ᾿ εἴσω στέγης.. αἵ τ᾿ ἐκτὸς αὐλῆς] The variety of expression has little or no significance. Deianira addresses herself to the women who belong to the house, as well as to the Chorus who have come to visit her, and are standing before the gates.
203-204. mvp-comment-158-1 We now reap the gladness of a vision of hope that has arisen unexpectedly on me in the utterance of this auspicious word.' On the mixed metaphor, see Essay on L. § 58. p. 105. ὄμμα] The notions of an act and of an object of vision, as well as of the instrument, are contained in this word. See Essay on L. § 54. p. 99. Hence it comes to mean anything which suddenly affects (1) the eye, or (2) (metaphorically) the mind. Cp. esp. El. 902, 3, ἐμπαίει τί μοι | ψυχῇ ξύνηθες ὄμμα. ἐμοί is in construction with ἀνασχόν, and also with ἄελπτον. φήμης is genitive of origin. The news is regarded as a star or sun from which the new light proceeds. For ἀνασχεῖν of a sudden event, cp. Hdt. 7. 14, τάδε τοι ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀνασχήσειν.
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.
205. mvp-comment-160-1 ἀνολολύξατε δόμοις] There is no cause for changing the MS. reading of this line, which, as Hermann pointed out, has the same metre as El. 1384, ἴδεθ᾽ ὅπου προνέμεται. The plur. imperative is addressed to all within the house (young men and maidens), who are mentioned separately afterwards.
206. mvp-comment-161-1 ὁ μελλόνυμφος is either (1) used collectively-the indefinite singular for the indefinite plural ( Essay on L. § 20. p. 31 )-or (2) there is an ellipse of χόρος (κατὰ σύνεσιν). The former (1) is more probable, and the gender is to be accounted for, as in l. 151 supr., τὴν αὑτοῦ σκοπῶν πρᾶξιν. The word μελλόνυμφος may be suggested by Deianira's description in ll. 144-150. Those to whom marriage is in futurity. Such echoes of the dialogue are frequent in the choric songs. ἐν δέ] · And therewith.' Essay on L. § 18. p. 26. κοινός] Mingling' with the voices of the maidens. Cp. O. C. 1500, τίς αὖ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν κοινὸς ἠχεῖται κτύπος; κοινὸς feminine occurs only here.
207. mvp-comment-162-1 ἴτω] Nauck well quotes Fr. 435, ἴτω δὲ Πυθιὰς βοὰ θεῷ : Eur. Fr. Phaeth. 775, l. 52, ἴτω τελεία γάμων ἀοιδά. τὸν .. προστάταν] The accusative is governed by the general notion of celebrating' implied in the preceding words. See E. on L. § 16. p. 23. εὐφαρέτραν] ‘Lord of the quiver,' an epithet which either (1) simply brings the figure of the god vividly before the eye, cp. ἀργυρότοξος, or (2) implies his propitious power.
209. mvp-comment-163-1 προστάταν] “The protector,' Apollo προστάτης οι προστατήριος, is rightly invoked by those within the house, as having his altar at the gate. El. 637-
210. mvp-comment-164-1 παιᾶνα παιᾶν] The repetition imitates the hymn itself, in which the same sounds would be often renewed. ἀνάγετε] Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1350, ἀνάγετε κωκυτόν. ὦ παρθένοι] The Chorus now address themselves, as below l. 821, ἴδ᾽ οἷον, ὦ παῖδες, προσέμιξεν ἄφαρ, κ τ.λ.
211. mvp-comment-165-1 βοᾶτε τὰν .. "Αρτεμιν] ‘Call aloud the name of Artemis.' Cp. supr. 207. ὁμόσπορον] ‘His sister. See the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, ll. 14 foll., and the Hymn to Artemis, l. 2.
212. mvp-comment-166-1 Ὀρτυγίαν] Two accounts are given of the use of this epithet: (1) that as, according to the Scholiast of Apollonius Rhodius, the name Ortygia primarily belonged to Artemis as worshipped in Aetolia, she is so named here in compliment to Deianira: (2) that Artemis Ortygia was believed to haunt some place in the neighbourhood of Trachis. The latter is confirmed by l. 637, and by the most natural meaning of γείτονας in this passage, viz. 'in our neighbourhood.' The comparison of the Syracusan Ortygia (Pind. Pyth. 2. 10, 11, 'Ορτυγίαν ποταμίας ἕδος᾿ Αρτέμιδος) may suggest that the goddess was imagined to haunt wooded promontories or peninsulas, which had been left wild from being difficult of access. The quail (ὄρτυξ) may have been peculiarly abundant in such places. For γείτονας, i.e. Μηλιάδας, cp. Phil. 725, Μηλιάδων νυμφᾶν, κ.τ.λ.
214. mvp-comment-167-1 ἀμφίπυρον] Artemis is commonly represented with a torch in either hand. Cр. О. Т. 207, 8, τάς τε πυρφόρους | ᾿Αρτέμιδος αἴγλας ξὺν αἷς | Λύκι᾿ ὄρεα διάσσει.
216. mvp-comment-168-1 This line seems to mark the point where the dance, or the rapid movement of the Chorus, begins. The elision of the termination in ἀείρομαι is very unusual.
216. mvp-comment-168-2 ἀείρομ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἀπώσομαι τὸν αὐλόν] 'I am uplifted, and will not repel the flute;' i.e. I will yield to its power. The following words are not addressed to Deianira, but are an apostrophe to the power of the flute, 'The sovran of the willing soul' (as Gray calls the lyre, in summing up the first Pythian), which is compelling them to the dance. Cp. Αj. 693, περιχαρής δ᾽ ἀνεπτάμαν.
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.'