1351–1420
'But he can favourably regard the good advice of his friend.'
Sc. δυνατὸν ἐστιν αὐτῷ. implied in ῥᾴδιον,
supr.
τὸν ἐσθλὸν ἄνδρα] He echoes Odysseus' words,
supr. 1344, 5: 'If, as you say, he had been a good man, he would have obeyed authority.'
Enough. In yielding to a
friend you get your own way.'
Cp. the στιχομυθία in Aesch. Agam. 940-3. The implied reasoning is, 'Your friend desires your good, therefore in yielding your will to his you have your will.'
Ajax' envious conduct since the award of the arms should not obliterate the remembrance of his former nobleness.
τῆς ἔχθρας] 'Kindness prevails with me before enmity.'
Sc. μᾶλλον, implied in νικᾷ. For the meaning of ἀρετή,
cp. Thuc. 2. 34. §§ 6, 7. It is here partly the spirit of beneficence, partly 'the wish to be thought kind.' See
Essay on L. § 39. p. 73 b.
Men who speak thus are prone to rashness.' τοιοίδε,
sc. ὥστε τὴν ἀρετὴν τῆς ἔχθρας προτιμᾶσθαι. For the addition of βροτῶν, see
Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 3
; and
cp. especially O. C. 281, φωτὸς ἀνοσίου βροτῶν.
'Surely it is no new thing for those now friendly to be hereafter hostile.' Odysseus hints at the truth which Ajax professed to have learned,
supr. 678-683. Ajax' love and service to the Argives has turned to bitterness. So has that of many before him; and so will that of many after him. Therefore revenge against him should have an end.
'Is that the sort of friend you would recommend?' i.e. If Ajax was so fickle, do you advise me to treat him as a friend? Agamemnon speaks of an act of common humanity as if it implied special friendship.
'I care not to approve of hardness.' ἐπαινεῖν is echoed without being directly in point.
Ἕλλησι πᾶσιν] ‘In the sight of Hellas.'
Agamemnon shows signs of yielding, but in doing so prepares to throw the responsibility upon Odysseus,
This line must be interpreted with reference to the train of thought (or of dialectic) which follows it, and which ends the dispute. Odysseus gains his object (1) by quiet firmness, (2) by representing the burial of Ajax as a favour to himself (ll. 1371, 2). He therefore does not repel, but wilily admits, the insinuation of interested motives made by Agamemnon in l. 1366. But how is Agamemnon brought to make this insinuation? According to a current explanation of l. 1365, it is by Odysseus' saying, 'I urge upon you the burial of Ajax, because I too shall come
to this,' viz. to death. The sentiment is a noble one, and is in accordance with Odysseus' words to Athena in
supr. 124 (οὐδὲν τὸ τούτου μᾶλλον ἢ τοὐμὸν σκοπῶν). But how can it provoke even from the most short-sighted of mortals an accusation of selfishness? For the 'I' in this case is 'I and you, and all men.' It is better therefore to understand Odysseus to say, 'I urge this course upon you because I mean to follow it,' i.e. My vote in the council will be given in favour of permitting the funeral. Odysseus thus tacitly sets his moral influence against the authoritative voice of Agamemnon; whose rejoinder in 1366 is then the natural expression of a weak man in office who is losing the support of a powerful subordinate. 'It is the way of the world! Every man seeks his own ends, I see!' And Odysseus in 1367, without caring to resent the sneer, simply reaffirms his right to take a line of his own, and pleads the reasonableness of his trying to win those in authority over to his side. On which Agamemnon (1. 1368) throws the entire responsibility on Odysseus, and Odysseus says (1. 1369), 'That makes no difference. Your consent, in whatever terms it is granted, will be equally kind.' If this is rejected, l. 1366 must refer not to Odysseus' words, but merely to his attitude of dissent. l. 1367 is thus less pointed. For the meaning given to ἐνθάδ᾽ ἴξομαι, l. 1365,
cp. Eur. Androm. 342, ἀλλ᾿ εἶσιν οἱ χρή, -and for ὡς ἄν, l. 1369,
ср. O. C. 1361, and note.
σοὶ μέν, κ.τλ.] For this ungracious expression,
cp. О. Т. 671, 2, τό γὰρ σόν, οὐ τὸ τοῦδ᾽, ἐποικτείρω στόμα | ἐλεινόν, οὗτος δ᾽, ἔνθ᾽ ἂν ᾖ, στυγήσεται.
κἀκεῖ κἀνθάδ']
E. on L. §41.p.78.
σοὶ δὲ . . ἃ†χρή.] 'You may do what you must:' an ill-humoured way of saying, 'Do as you please.' χρή, although rejected by Dindorf and others in favour of χρῇς, i. e χρήζεις, is not inexpressive, and is possibly right.
Cp. El. 606.—
Exit Agamemnon.
τοιοῦτον ὄντα] ‘While you act in this way.'
Cp. Phil. 1049, οὗ γὰρ τοιούτων δεῖ, τοιοῦτός εἰμ᾿ ἐγώ.
ἀγγέλλομαι]. 'I declare myself.'
Cp. Thuc. 8. 86. § 8, ἐπαγγελλόμενοι .. ὥστε βοηθεῖν.
λόγοισι] ‘By reason of thy speech.'
Essay on L. § 41. p. 21 b (2)
. ἔψευσας ἐλπίδος]
Cp. Ο. Τ. 1432, ἐπείπερ ἐλπίδος μ᾿ ἀπέσπασας.
ἔχθιστος] 'Most hated,' as
supr. 818, μάλιστα μισηθέντος, ἐχθίστου θ᾽ ὁρᾶν.
χερσίν] 'With effective aid.' Odysseus had not only spoken in Ajax' behalf, but had offered actual help. παρών is little more than expletive here, but suggests that Odysseus was too noble to stand by and see wrong done to his dead enemy.
θανόντι.. ζῶν]
Essay on L. § 14. p. 76.
οὐπιβρόντητος] ἐπιβρόντητος is either (1) 'senseless;' or (2) 'deserving the lightning-stroke.'
Cp.
supr. 103, τοὐπίτριπτον κίναδος, and note.
Ὀλύμπου τοῦδ] Olympus in Sophocles almost loses the notion of place, and is associated with the sky overhead. Ant. 758, οὔ, τόνδ' Ὅλυμπον.
μνήμων]
Cp. especially Aesch. Eum. 381-3, κακῶν τε μνήμονες σεμναὶ καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς.
λώβαις] Injuriously. For this dative of manner, see
Essay on L. § 14. p. 20 a
, and
cp. especially Ant. 1003, σπῶντας . . ἀλλήλους φοναῖς. The expression is justified by Menelaus' words,
supr. 1064, 5.
Cp. Od. 11. 543, 563. Teucer fears that the spirit of Ajax will be offended if Odysseus stands beside his grave. In Herodotus, 5. 67, the dead hero Adrastus is supposed by Cleisthenes of Sicyon to be disgusted by his adoption of the dead hero Melanippus, son of Astacus.
κεἴ τινα στρατοῦ | θέλεις
κομίζειν] (1) ' And if you wish to bring any member of the host.' Or (2) 'If you wish any of the host to carry him;'—(not to bury him.' κομίζειν has not the meaning of συγκομίζειν,
supr. 1048. In Eur. Androm. 1263, 4, ἀλλ᾽ ἕρπε Δελφῶν ἐς θεόδμητον πόλιν | νεκρὸν κομίζων τόνδε, the meaning is, 'Go and take this dead body to Delphi's god-built town.')
Observe the repetition of τἄλλα after τὰ ἄλλα, with a different reference.
ἐπαινέσας τὸ σόν] ‘Approving your decision,' i. e. not complaining of it.
Exodos. The anapaests give the signal for departure, and probably indicate that Ajax is not to be buried in the fatal spot, but is carried off the stage in solemn procession.
The unseemly interruption of the Atreidae has delayed the burial.
Perhaps the tripod and the armour were carried in the procession, which would go forth while the Chorus or the Coryphaeus chanted ll. 1418-20. During the words of Teucer, various attendants are moving to and fro, until at l. 1413 all is ready, and the procession forms.
ταχύνετε .. θέσθ'] The digging of the grave takes time. The tripod is set up in a moment. Hence the change of tense.
τοὶ. ἐπικαίρον] ‘Others set over the fire the tripod on its lofty stand, ready to serve for pure lustration." The words of Ajax,
supr. 654, compared with 862, suggest that he bathed himself before his end. But Teucer could not know this, and in any case the lustration was necessary, especially after the self-violence. For ἀμφίπυρον, which is predicative,
cp. Il. 18. 344, ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα μέγαν. τοί continues the epic note struck in κοίλην κάπετον. λουτρῶν is a genitive of respect after ἐπίκαιρον, 'With a view to,' 'For the purpose of.'
Cp. Thuc. 3. 92. § 5, τοῦ πολέμου καλῶς . . καθίστασθαι.
According to the wish of Ajax expressed to the mariners,
supr. 572 foll., his body-armour is to be buried with him, while the shield is leſt to Eurysaces. The Chorus must be supposed to have communicated this message to Teucer. See Introduction. Join ἐκ κλισίας φερέτω. The crowd who have gathered are now ready as one man to obey Teucer.
'Yes, and do thou, dear boy, as far as thy strength allows, help me thus to lift thy father's frame, applying thy hands with loving care. For the darkened life-current still issues from
the warm arteries.' The clause with γάρ gives the reason for the addition of φιλότητι θιγών. The σύριγγες are the circular mouths of the several arteries, which were imagined to be full of air, and to blow forth the blood. ἄνω is 'into the air.'
Cp. Phil. 783, τόδ᾽ ἐκ βυθοῦ | κηκῖον αἷμα. Others, comparing
supr. 918 (when the wound was recent), explain σύριγγες of the nostrils, and suppose Teucer merely to raise the shoulders in order to stay the flow of blood.
τῷδ᾽ ἀνδρί]
Essay on L. § 12. p. 18.
κοὐδενί πω λῴονι] The whole clause is affected by attraction.
Essay on L. § 35. p. 60
; and
cp. 'nonsuch,' 'nonpareil,' 'on ne peut mieux,' and similar idioms of modern speech.
[Αίαντος.. φωνῶ] 'Than Ajax, I speak of the time when he was in life.' This line is open to question, chiefly on the metrical ground of the awkwardness of closing a system of marching anapaests with two paroemiacs. For ὅτ᾽ ἦν,
cp. Eur. Fr. 313 (the shade of Bellerophon is apostrophizing his former self), ἦσθ᾽ εἰς θεοὺς μὲν εὐσεβής, ὅτ᾽ ἦσθ', ἀεί, κ.τ.λ.
ὅ τι πράξει] 'What his fortune will be.'
Cp. Ο. Τ. 73, 4, καί μ᾽ ἦμαρ ἤδη . . λυπεῖ, τί πράσσει.
Ajax. Lewis Campbell. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.