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451–600

ἐπευθύνοντ'] 'In act of stretching forth.' Ajax ( supr. 49) was at the tent-door of the Atreidae, and had little more to do than to stretch out his hand. The v. r. ἐπεντύνοντα would mean 'arming,' but he was already armed. ἐπεντείνοντα is better, but is probably a correction of ἐπεντύνοντ',

τοιοίσδε is said with a rueful glance at the slaughtered animals, which in his delirium he had taken for his enemies.

ἐμοῦ μὲν οὐχ ἑκόντος] ‘Not with my will, indeed.' The will of Ajax is not crushed. He still protests against the Providence that has spared his foes, whom he regards as his inferiors, though they have triumphed.

ὅστις.. ἐχθαίρομαι] We are afterwards informed, infr. 756, that the Divine anger against Ajax is not permanent. For ὅστις, without distinct antecedent, see Essay on L. § 39. p. 72, 2.

πεδία τάδε] Above all, for last night's violence.

μόνους τ' ᾿Ατρείδας] 'And (leaving) the Atreidae to fight alone,' i. e. unsupported by Ajax, whose valour outweighs all others.

καί] 'Then,' 'in that case.' καί here introduces an objection, as in καὶ πῶς; Cp. esp. Ant. 449, καὶ δῆτ᾽ ἐτόλμας τούσδ᾽ ὑπερβαίνειν νόμους; ποῖον ὄμμα.. Τελαμώνι] • How shall I come before my father Telamon, and meet his eye?' As in O. Τ. 1371, ὄμμασιν ποίοις, the adjective has an adverbial force.

γυμνὸν .. ἄτερ] For the pleonasm, see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 5.

'Which he won for a glorious garland of renown.' ὧν is an appositional genitive. Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.

ἀλλὰ δῆτ'] Cp. Phil. 1352, ἀλλ᾽ εἰκάθω δῆτα;

μόνος μόνοις] 'In single opposition' = οἰόθεν οἷος. The word is repeated for emphasis, without weighing the exact meaning. E. on L. § 44. p. 83 foll. Cp. Shak. Cor. 1. 4. 'He is himself alone, | To answer all the city.'

Ajax, who has withdrawn from battle out of resentment against the Atreidae, cannot stultify himself in his last act of all.

τοιάδ᾽, ἀφ᾿ ἧς] Cp. Phil. 17, τοιάδ᾽, ἵν᾽ ἐν ψύχει, κ.τ.λ.

The use of μή is occasioned by the notion of purpose which pervades the sentence. φύσιν γ'] 'In my real nature,' though I am a craven in their estimation who have placed me beneath Odysseus. For similar emphatic use of φύσιν, cp. O. C. 270, πῶς ἐγὼ κακὸς φύσιν;

He has sufficiently indicated his intention of suicide, and now gives his reason for it. τοῦ μακροῦ.. βίου] The article is added as with words of number or quantity. Cp. Ο. Τ. 518, βίου τοῦ μακραίωνος, and for the sentiment, Fr. 867, ὅστις γὰρ ἐν κακοῖσιν ἱμείρει βίου, ἢ δειλός ἐστιν ἡ δυσάλγητος φρένας : Plato, Phaedo 117 Α, γέλωτα ὀφλήσειν παρ᾿ ἐμαυτῷ, γλιχόμενος τοῦ ζῆν καὶ φειδόμενος, οὐδενὸς ἔτι ἐνόντος.

'Who in a life of evils finds no release from them.' κακοῖσιν is dative of circumstance. (E. on L. § 14. p. 20 a.) Cp. Eur. Suppl. 1042, τοῖς παρεστῶσιν κακοῖς. ἐξαλλάσσεται, sc. τῶν κακῶν.

'For what pleasure is there in day following day? Can it add to or take away anything from death?' For the variation in παρ᾽ ἦμαρ ἡμέρα, cp. Ant. 596, γενεὰν γένος : Eur. Hec. 410, παρείαν .. παρηΐδι. The meaning is not here alternate days, but 'day after day,' i. e. the extension of time, 'To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow.' Cp. Shak. J. C. 3. 1, 'That we shall die, we know: 'tis but the time And drawing days out, that men stand upon.' τὸ κατθανεῖν is the fact, i.e. the certainty of death. The opposites προσθεῖσα κάν-αθεῖσα are both mentioned, although the latter only is in point. For this, cp. Ant. 39, λύουσ᾽ ἂν ἡ 'φάπτουσα; and for the disjunctive καί, Thuc. 5. 23, ἣν δέ τι δοκῇ.. προσθεῖναι καὶ ἀφελεῖν. For the meaning, cp. 'Come he slow or come he fast, It is but Death that comes at last.' Sir W. Sсотт, Lord of the Isles. Also El. 1485, 6, τί γὰρ βροτῶν ἂν σὺν κακοῖς μεμιγμένων | θνήσκων ὁ μέλλων τοῦ χρόνου κέρδος φέροι; As in Pind. Οl. 7. 110, ἂμ πάλον μέλλεν θέμεν, ἀνατιθέναι is here used in the sense of 'to retract,' in which ἀνατίθεσθαι often occurs. The absence of personal reference accounts for the active voice being preferred to the middle, as in supr. 449, ἐψήφισαν: infr. 1037, μηχανᾶν. Essay on L. § 31. p. 51 6. τί (or τι) is to be resumed with the second clause, 'What pleasure can time give, by retracting what (or anything)?' Other explanations of these difficult lines are the following :-(1) 'What joy can one day bring more than another, since it can only (ye) bring a man near to death and then reprieve him from it?' (2) 'What joy is brought by day succeeding day, since all that it can do is to add something of death or to defer it?' (3) 'What joy is there in days which alternately bring near and defer the doom of death?'

οὐδενὸς λόγου] ‘At any valuation.'

κεναῖσιν] 'Vain, because rendered fruitless by the certainty of death.'

Cp. Il. 15. 511, where Ajax says, βέλτερον ἢ ἀπολέσθαι ἕνα χρόνον ἠὲ βιῶναι.

ὑπόβλητον] 'False,' i.e. unreal and not your own. Supr. 189, εἰ δ᾽ ὑποβαλλόμενοι | κλέπτουσι μύθους, κ.τ.λ.

ἀλλὰ τῆς σαυτοῦ φρενός] 'But one proceeding from your inmost thought.'

γνώμης κρατήσαι] 'To overrule thy purpose.' Cp. supr. 448, γνώμης ἀπῇξαν τῆς ἐμῆς. In Phil. 972, δούς is used absolutely with dat. of the person for 'yielding to advice.' Cp. Trach. 1117, δός μοι σεαυτόν.

This speech of Tecmessa's has a certain general resemblance to that of Andromache in Il. 6. 407 foll. τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης] 'Helpless misfortune.' ἀναγκαία τύχη is the crushing calamity that leaves its victim no chance of extricating himself. The phrase is touchingly expressive of Tecmessa's orphaned and captive state.

εἴπερ τινός] The hypothetical clause εἴπερ τις is attracted, as a sort of pronoun, into the construction of the clause on which it depends. See E. on L. § 35. p. 60, and cp. ἔνιοι. So in O. C. 734, σθένουσαν.. εἴ τιν' Ἑλλάδος. For σθένοντος ἐν πλούτῳ, cp. Pind. Isthm. 3. 2, σθένει πλούτου; Eur. Εl. 939.

που] 'I suppose.'

μάλιστα] 'Above all.' The power of Ajax is more manifest to Tecmessa than that of the gods themselves, and she has learnt to adopt something of his bold way of speaking about them. Cp. infr. 950-3. She knows, too, that it is dangerous in his presence to acknowledge the gods as supreme over him. Cp. infr. 589, 90.

τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον] Sc. σοί implied in τὸ σόν. 'Since I came to wedlock with thee.' εὐ φρονῶ τὰ σά] 'My thoughts are wholly for thy good.' As she is one with him, she feels that she has a right to speak of what concerns them both.

πρός τ᾽ ἐφεστίου Διὸς | εὐνῆς τε τῆς σῆς] « By Zeus who has watched over our hearth, and by my union with thee.' Tecmessa's claim rests (1) on her having been admitted by Ajax himself to share his home; (2) on the yet closer tie which binds them together.

'And by thy marriage bed wherein thou wast joined with me.' For τῆς σῆς, cp. Il. 18. 433; Od. 4. 333. ξυναλλάξασθαι is here 'to enter upon a new relation with.' Cp. especially Eur. Ι. Α. 1157, οὗ σοι καταλλαχθεῖσα, κ.τ.λ.

μή μ᾿ ἀξιώσῃς] 'Have more regard for me than to let me.' βάξιν] For βάζειν, of ill-natured talk, cp. Hes. Op. 184, τοὺς δ᾽ ἄρα μέμψονται χαλεποῖς βάζοντες ἔπεσσι: (Eur.) Rhes. 718, ἑστίαν ᾿Ατρειδᾶν κακῶς | ἔβαζε.

χειρίαν ἐφεὶς τινί] 'Letting me fall under the hand of some one.' Cp. infr. 1297, ἐφῆκεν ἐλλοῖς ἰχθύσιν διαφθοράν.

εἰ γὰρ θάνῃς σύ] Cp. Ο. C. 1443, εἴ σου στερηθῶ. Some editors have unnecessarily changed ei to ᾖ. For ταύτῃ, in l. 497, without pronominal correlative, cp. Trach. 719, 20, κεῖνος εἰ σφαλήσεται, | ταύτῃ σὺν ὁρμῇ κἀμὲ συνθανεῖν ἅμα. The slight inexactness is here supplemented by the addition of τῇ τότε. ἀφῆς] Sc. ἡμᾶς.

δουλίαν .. τροφήν] 'The life of slaves.' For the condition of the captive widow, cp. Od. 8. 526 foll. ἡ μὲν τὸν θνήσκοντα καὶ ἀσπαίροντ᾽ ἐσιδοῦσα, | ἀμφ᾿ αὐτῷ χυμένη λίγα κωκύει· οἱ δὲ τ' ὄπισθεν | κόπτοντες δούρεσσι μετάφρενον ἠδὲ καὶ ὤμους, | εἴρερον εἰσανάγουσι πόνον τ' ἐχέμεν καὶ ὀϊζύν· | τῆς δ᾽ ἐλεεινοτάτῳ ἄχεῖ φθινύθουσι παρειαί, and for that of the orphan, Il. 22. 490, ἦμαρ δ᾽ ὀρφανικὸν παναφήλικα, κ.τ.λ.

πρόσφθεγμα here is what is spoken not to, but at or about a person.

λόγοις ἰάπτων] 'Hitting with sharp words.' The construction follows the analogy of βάλλειν τινὰ λίθῳ.

μέγιστον ἴσχυσε] 'Surpassed all men in might.' So the force of the aorist may be expressed.

οἷας λατρείας] 'What a life of servitude.' The plural indicates the various menial actions included in λατρείας. ἀνθ᾽ ὅσου ζήλου] 'Instead of being so envied as she was.' ζῆλος in the sense of an envied condition occurs several times in Demosthenes. See L. and S. s. v.

κἀμὲ μὲν δαίμων ἐλᾷ] ‘And I indeed shall go whither destiny shall drive me.' Tecmessa means to say that her lot, however terrible, matters little, but that the honour of Ajax and his race is in question.

κληρούχον] 'Inheritress,' i. e. possessor. The specific word is used with a generic meaning. Essay on L. §52. p. 97.

εἰ] 'To think how.' Essay on L. § 28. p. 46.

νέας.. μόνος] ‘With his young life uncared for, bereaved of you, either (1) 'he will live his life' (see L. and S. s. v. διαφέρω), or (2) ‘he will be torn in pieces' (= διαφορηθήσεται). Against (1), which is the Scholiast's and Musgrave's interpretation, it may be urged that ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν = ' at the mercy of guardians,' is rather abrupt after διοίσεται in this sense, and that the only authority for this use of the middle voice of διαφέρω is Hippocrates, Art. 823: against (2), which is substantially Hermann's, it can only be said that strictly passive uses of οἴσομαι are rare. Hesychius and the ancient scholiast support (1). For (2) cp. Dem. contr. Steph. p. 1120, 64, ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἀπώλετ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, οὐχ ἥκιστα ὑπὸ τούτου καὶ τῶν τοιούτων διαφορηθείς. For νέα τροφή, cp. Ο. C. 345, 6, ἐξ ὅτου νέας | τροφῆς ἔληξε καὶ κατίσχυσεν δέμας.

ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν μὴ φίλων] Tecmessa bitterly remarks that the only guardians of Eurysaces' orphanhood will not be true guardians, but enemies. ὅσον κακόν, κ.τ.λ.] These words resume the suppressed antecedent of the hypothetical clause, εἰ νέας, κ.τ.λ.

'And another doom,' etc.; i.e. they were not slain in the destruction of the city. Cp. II. 6. 428. The correction from καὶ μητέρ᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἡ το καὶ μητέρ᾽ ἄλλη, is not without MS. authority, and is every way necessary; above all as Sophocles thus avoids making Ajax the slayer of Tecmessa's parents. But Hermann's suggestion that a line may have dropped out between 515 and 516, deserves consideration. As he points out, dé rather than καί would seem to be the natural conjunction as the sentence stands.

θανασίμους is proleptic: 'Laid them low in death and made them inhabitants of the unseen world.'

τίς . . πλοῦτος] « What home or what wealth could be mine instead of you?'

can e'er be mine to compensate for thee? What fortune?'

ἐν σοὶ πᾶσ᾽ ἔγωγε σώζομαι] 'My hopes all rest on thee.' For this use of wâs, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 38; and cp. supr. 275.

Tecmessa, from l. 505 onwards, has tried to put herself out of sight, and to move Ajax by appealing to other interests. But in concluding she returns to the direct personal appeal with which she began. And when this fails to rouse him, she even ventures a word of affectionate reproach.

For av repeated, see Essay on L. § 27. p. 46 e.

The alliteration with T helps to express harshness here. Ajax will not own to feeling pity for Tecmessa, but catches at the word αἰνοίης.

ἐὰν.. τολμᾷ] Ajax is not thinking of the fears which Tecmessa presently expresses. He simply means, 'I am ready enough to praise her if instead of weak complaints she will bring herself to do what I command.'

'Oh, it was in my terror-I conveyed him out of the way.' Tecmessa is divided between obedience and fear, and interposes an excuse. The particles, καὶ μὴν.. γε, call attention to something which tends to limit or delay compliance. 'Why, so I can, Sir, but-' (Othello, 3. 4). Cp. Ο. Τ. 749, καὶ μὴν ὀκνῶ μέν: infr. 539.

By using the general word κακοῖσιν, Ajax avoids specifying the evil, which is too manifest. τί μοι λέγεις;] 'What mean you, pray?' Cp. O. T. 954, τί μοι λέγει; μοι here expresses impatience.

Tecmessa cannot withhold the truth from Ajax. Cp. supr. 315.

'That truly would have been in character with my destiny.' The descriptive genitive (= πρὸς δαίμονος τουμοῦ) takes the place of the more usual dative after the participle. Cp. Plat. Polit. 271 Ε, τῆς τοιαύτης .. κατακοσμήσεως ἑπόμενα.

'Well, my watchfulness did that service at any rate.' Join τοῦτο with ἀρκέσαι, ἱ.ε. τὸ μὴ θανεῖν σφε.

ἐπῄνεσ'] For this use of the aorist, see Essay on L. § 32, 6. p. 55. Ajax still speaks as a master to a slave, but he feels to the full extent the service rendered in saving the life of his son.

Tecmessa remains irresolute, till, in 540, Ajax' anger begins to rise.

παρουσίαν ἔχειν = παρεῖναι. So in Ant. 237, ἔχεις ἀθυμίαν = ἀθυμεῖς, and supr. 139, ὅκνον ἔχω = ὀκνῶ.

προσπόλων] For this partitive genitive, see Essay on L. § 10. p. 15.

ὅσπερ κυρεῖς] These words indicate that the child cannot yet go alone.

ἕρποντι] Sc. τῷ προσπόλῳ, i.e. 'Does he come when you speak?' Essay on L. § 42. p. 80 β. ἢ λελειμμένῳ λόγων] 'Or do your words not reach to him?'

αἶρε δεῦρο] «Lift him hither.' Said to the attendant who brings in the child, and is to hand him to Ajax over the carcases of the sheep, etc. ταρβήσει γὰρ οὔ] Essay on L. § 41. p. 78 γ.

For the late position of που, see Essay on L. § 26. p. 44. It is occasioned by the energy with which the emphatic words ταρβήσει.. οὗ are brought into prominence. Dindorf would read τοῦτόν γε, supposing the whole line to be an interpolation. But this is gratuitous, and the excision of the line leaves a sensible gap in the sense.

δικαίως] 'Truly;' i. e. 'in a manner rightly answering to the description.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 853, φανεί δικαίως ὀρθών: Trach. 1158, φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ. In this speech, as well as supr. 487 foll., there is a resemblance to the sixth Iliad (see esp. ll. 476-481).

ἀλλά opposes what follows (though not in strict logic) to the preceding negative. ὠμοῖς .. ἐν νόμοις πατρὸς .. πωλοδαμνεῖν] Το train him, like a young colt, in his father's rugged ways.' For ὠμοῖς, cp. supr. 205, ὠμοκρατής, and note. And for νόμοις, Ant. 191, τοιοῖσδ᾽ ἐγὼ νόμοισι τήνδ' αὔξω πόλιν. Essay on L. § 47. p. 88.

κἀξομοιοῦσθαι φύσιν] ‘And that he should have his nature framed by mine.' For the change of subject, see Essay on L. § 36. p. 65 d.

καὶ νῦν] · Even now, before your lot in life has been determined for good or evil.'

'That you have no perception of this misery.'

This line, although quite possibly Sophoclean, has the appearance of a marginal quotation rather than of an integral portion of the text of this passage. It is probably from some lost play, and should be placed amongst the fragments of Greek tragic poetry.

δεῖ σ᾽ ὅπως .. δείξεις] «You must find some way of showing.' The same construction recurs in Phil. 55, τὴν Φιλοκτήτου σε δεῖ | ψυχὴν ὅπως λόγοισιν ἐκκλέψεις λέγων.

ἐν ἐχθροῖς] For the use of ἐν, cp supr. 366, and note.

κούφοις πνεύμασιν βόσκου] 'Be nourished by gentle breezes,' like a sapling in a sheltered spot. Plants were supposed to feed upon the air. Dio Chrys. Orat. 12, 30 (quoted by Lobeck), τρεφόμενοι τῇ διηνεκεῖ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπιρροῇ, ἀέρα ὑγρὸν ἕλκοντες, ὥστε νήπιοι παῖδες. Cp. Trach. 144 foll. τὸ γὰρ νέαζον ἐν τοιοῖσδε βόσκεται | χώροισιν, κ.τ.λ.

χαρμονήν is accus. in apposition. Essay on L. § 17. p. 25 d.

τοῖον, κ.τ.λ.] Essay on L. § 22. p. 36. 3. The absence of the demonstrative ending ( τοιόνδε or τοιοῦτον) may arise from the fact that Teucer is absent, and that Ajax is speaking of the future.

ἀμφί σοι] Τo protect thee.' ἀμφί as in ἀμφιβαίνειν, etc.

τροφῆς ἄοκνον] 'Unfaltering in care for thee.' τροφῆς is gen. of respect. Essay on L. § 9. p. 13, 3. ἔμπα κεἰ] ἔμπα does not occur elsewhere in Attic Greek. Cp. Pind. N. 4. 58, ἔμπα, καί περ ἔχει, κ.τ.λ.

τηλωπός] 'Far away.' The latter part of the compound is subordinated. οἰχνεῖ] 'He is wandering.' οἰχνέω, as a derivative of οἴχομαι, seems to have a frequentative force. θήραν ἔχων] · Engaged in pursuit.' A periphrasis like ἔχομεν στοναχάς, supr. 203.

Confident in the return of Teucer, Ajax bids his comrades give this charge to him. They recall the fact afterwards, l. 990. He also urges them to do their part, l. 566.

κοινήν] i.e. 'As well as to him.'

Ἐριβοíą λέγω] Sc ὅπως δείξει. This has been unnecessarily altered to Ἐριβοίαν λέγω. Ajax dwells affectionately on his mother's name. Eurysaces is to honour her, and not Hesione. Cp. Pind. Isthm. 5 (6). 65, παῖδα θρασὺν ἐξ Εριβοίας.

μέχρις οὐ, or μέχρι οὗ, occurs in Hdt. 1. 180; 2. 19, where the phrase has the force of a single word. This may suggest a possible excuse for the appearance of a divided anapaest, which has caused the rejection of the line in some edd. It may possibly have been interpolated or quoted ( cp. supr. 554) to supplement the vague use of εἰσαεί. But the words are impressive, and the alleged flaw may be remedied by reading ἕως or ἔστ᾽ ἄν for μέχρις οὗ.

ἀγωνάρχαι] 'Presidents of contest,' such as the Atreidae had been.

θήσουσ'] Sc. ὡς ἆθλα. The future follows ὅπως, supr. 567. ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός] On this position of the possessive pronoun, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37.

αὐτό] The pronoun anticipates σάκος, which, as the most important piece of armour, is contained in τεύχη. For similar uses of αὐτός, cp. Plat. Soph. 256 D, ὁμολογήσαντες αὐτὰ εἶναι πέντε: 263 Ε, καὶ μὴν ἐν λόγοις αὐτὸ ἴσμεν ὅν. ἐπώνυμον] · Whence thou art named.'

The epithet shows that the πόρπαξ was not of metal, but of embroidered leather. Cp. Eur. Tro. 1196, ὡς ἡδὺς ἐν πόρπακι σὸς κεῖται τύπος.

κοινά may be either (1) adverbial. as in Ant. 546, μή μοι θάνῃς σὺ κοινά, or (2) predicative, agreeing with τεύχη, probably the latter (2).

ἐπισκήνους] 'Before the tent,' = ἐπὶ σκηναῖς, supr. 3, and so 'in public.'

φιλοίκτιστον] i.e. φιλοῦν τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι, in the sense of inviting commiseration. 'A woman is a very tearful creature.'

'To whine faint charms over a wound that cries out for the knife.' The desiderative, = τομὴν αἰτοῦντι, here implies the passive meaning of the verbal noun. For the use of charms in assisting surgery, cp. Od. 19. 456-8, ὠτειλὴν δ' Ὀδυσῆος ἀμύμονος, ἀντιθέσιο, | δῆσαν ἐπισταμένως· ἐπαοιδῇ δ᾽ αἷμα κελαινὸν | ἔσχεθον· αἶψα δ' ἵκοντο φίλου πρὸς δώματα πατρός.

τήνδε τὴν προθυμίαν] ‘This earnest haste,' viz. the impatience of Ajax to be alone. Cp. supr. πύκαζε θάσσον.

μὴ κρίνε] 'Interrogate not.' Sc. με. Cp. Ant. 399 and note. σωφρονεῖν καλόν) 'Discretion is the better part.' One of the gruff maxims ( βαῖ, ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα, supr. 292) with which Ajax checks the importunity of Tecmessa's affection. Cp. Il. 6. 490, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε.

καί σε] The conjunction here has a strong pleading force. 'Nay, I entreat thee,' etc. For a somewhat similar transition with καί, cp. supr. 11, καί σ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴσω τῆσδε, κ.τ.λ.

προδοὺς .. γένῃ] 'Be guilty of forsaking us.' Phil. 773, μὴ σαυτόν θ' ἅμα | κἄμ', ὄντα σαυτοῦ πρόστροπον, κτείνας γένῃ.

ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς] 'You vex me exceedingly.' These words in Ajax, as in Creon, Ant. 573, show that his feelings are touched more deeply than he chooses to avow. ἐγὼ θεοῖς .. ἔτι] 'I am no longer bound to serve the gods in aught.' If the gods have cast Ajax off, then he 'owes them no subscription.' The position of the words ἐγὼ θεοῖς οὐδέν is very emphatic. Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. ἀρκεῖν, in the sense of praestare, governs an accusative here, as supr. 439,535.

ξυνέρξετε] 'Shut us in.' This is said to the attendants ( supr. 544). They close the doors on Ajax, who is drawn in by the reversed ἐκκύκλημα. Tecmessa and Eurysaces, perhaps, remain upon the stage.

ἄρτι] 'At this moment, of all others. Now all of a sudden.'

While Ajax within the tent is silently whetting his sword ( infr. 820), the chorus express their longing for Salamis, his home and theirs, and their sorrow for the condition of their lord. 'What grief the news will cause to Telamon and Eriboea!' In this ode, the first stasimon, iambic, glyconic, and trochaic rhythms are combined...

ὦ κλεινά] By an anachronism like that noticed in O. C. 58, ἔρεισμ' ᾿Αθηνῶν, the glory of Salamis is anticipated. Cp. also infr. 861, and note. In Hdt. 7. 143, Themistocles argues from the words ὦ θείη Σάλαμις, in the Pythian response, that the Athenians were to be victorious there.

σὺ . . ναίεις] «Thou, I know, remainest.' που] The indefinite word is pathetically used of what they imagine but may not see. ἁλίπλακτος] There is little doubt of the propriety of this reading. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 307, θαλασσόπληκτον νῆσον Αίαντος. Yet ἁλίπλαγκτος might possibly mean 'wandered round by the billow.'

The inhabitants of Salamis, which lay off Piraeus and in the 'cheer and comfort' of Athenian eyes, might well feel as if they were observed of all observers, and would have a still deeper feeling of pride and patriotism when, from 480 B.C. onwards, their native place became the eye of the world. περίφαντος may then be taken to imply the renown as well as the conspicuous position of the island.

παλαιὸς ἀφ᾽ οὐ χρόνος] « Since many a long day.' This phrase takes the place of an adverb with εὐνῶμαι, or whatever is the principal verb.

Ajax. Lewis Campbell. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

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

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (4)

Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 592-633 focus

str. 1

ΧΟΡΟΣ

ὦ κλεινὰ Σαλαμὶς, σὺ μέν που

ναίεις ἁλίπλαγκτος, εὐδαίμων,

πᾶσιν περίφαντος ἀεί·

ἐγὼ δ’ ὁ τλάμων παλαιὸς ἀφ’ οὗ χρόνος 600
595

Ἰδαίᾳ μίμνω

λειμωνίᾳ πόᾳ μήλων,

ἀνήριθμος, αἰὲν εὐνώμᾳ

χρόνῳ τρυχόμενος,

605 κακὰν ὲλπιδ’ ἔχων,
600

ἔτι μέ ποτ’ ἀνύσειν

τὸν ἀπότροπον ἀίδηλον Ἅιδαν.

4

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Καί μοι δυςθεράπευτος Αἴας

610 ξύνεστιν ἔφεδρος, ὤ μοί μοι,

θείᾳ μανίᾳ ξύναυλος·
605

ὅν ἐξεπέμψω πρὶν δὴ ποτὲ θουρίῳ

κρατοῦντ’ ὲν Ἄρει ·

615 νῦν δ’ αὖ φρενὸς οἰοβώτας

φίλοις μέγα πένθος εὕρηται.

τὰ πρὶν δ’ ἔργα χεροῖν
610

μεγίστας ἀρετάς,

ἄφιλα παρ’ ἀφίλοις

620 ἔπεσ’ ἔπεσε μελέοις Ἀτρείδαις.

str. 2

ΧΟΡΟΣ

ἦ που παλαιὰ, μὲν ἔντροφος ἁμέρᾳ

625 λευκῷ δὲ γήρᾳ μάτηρ νιν ὅταν νοσοῦντα
615

φρενομόρως ἀκούσῃ

αἴλινον, αἴλινον,

οὐδ’ οἰκτράς γόον ὄρνιθος ἀηδοῦς

ἥσει δύςμορος,

630 ἀλλ’ ὀξυτόνους μὲν ᾠδὰς
620

θρηνήσει, χερόπληκτοι δ’

ἐν στέρνοισι πεσοῦνται

δοῦποι, καὶ πολιᾶς ἄμυγμα χαίτας.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

2

635 Κρείσσων γὰρ Ἅιδᾳ κεύθων ὁ νοσῶν μάταν,

ὃς ἐκ πατρῴας ἥκων γενεᾶς ἄριστος
625

πολυπόνων Ἀχαιῶν,

οὐκ ἔτι συντρόφοις

640 ὀργαῖς ἔμπεδος, ἀλλ’ ἐκτὸς ὁμιλεῖ.

ὦ τλᾶμον πάτερ!

οἵαν σε μένει πυθέσθαι
630

παιδὸς δύςφορον ἄταν,

ἂν οὔπω τις ἔθρεψεν

645 αἰὼν Αἰακιδᾶν ἄτερθε τοῦδε.

Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 596-645 focus

str. 1

Χορός

ὦ κλεινὰ Σαλαμίς, σὺ μέν

που ναίεις ἁλίπλακτος εὐδαίμων,

πᾶσιν περίφαντος αἰεί·

ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ τλάμων παλαιὸς ἀφʼ οὗ χρόνος
600

μίμνων ἀνʼ Ἴδαν λειμῶνι ποᾶντι μη-

νῶν ἀνήριθμος αἰὲν εὐ-

νῶμαι χρόνῳ τρυχόμενος,
605

κακὰν ἐλπίδʼ ἔχων ἔτι μέ

ποτʼ ἀνύσειν τὸν ἀπότροπον ἀΐδηλον Ἅιδαν.

ant. 1

Χορός

1

καί μοι δυσθεράπευτος Αἴ-

ας ξύνεστιν ἔφεδρος, ὤμοι μοι,
610

θείᾳ μανίᾳ ξύναυλος·

ὃν ἐξεπέμψω πρὶν δή ποτε θουρίῳ

κρατοῦντʼ ἐν Ἄρει· νῦν δʼ αὖ φρενὸς οἰοβώ-

τας φίλοις μέγα πένθος ηὕ-
615

ρηται. τὰ πρὶν δʼ ἔργα χεροῖν

μεγίστας ἀρετᾶς ἄφιλα

παρʼ ἀφίλοις ἔπεσʼ ἔπεσε μελέοις Ἀτρείδαις.
620
¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²

str. 2

Χορός

2

ἦ που παλαιᾷ μὲν σύντροφος ἁμέρᾳ,

λευκῷ τε γήρᾳ μάτηρ νιν ὅταν νοσοῦν-
625

τα φρενοβόρως ἀκούσῃ,

αἴλινον αἴλινον

οὐδʼ οἰκτρᾶς γόον ὄρνιθος ἀηδοῦς

ἥσει δύσμορος, ἀλλʼ
630

ὀξυτόνους μὲν ᾠδὰς

θρηνήσει, χερόπλακτοι δʼ

ἐν στέρνοισι πεσοῦνται

δοῦποι καὶ πολιᾶς ἄμυγμα χαίτας.

ant. 2

Χορός

2

κρείσσων γὰρ Ἅιδᾳ κεύθων ὁ νοσῶν μάταν,
635

ὃς ἐκ πατρῴας ἥκων γενεᾶς ἄρι-

στα πολυπόνων Ἀχαιῶν,

οὐκέτι συντρόφοις

ὀργαῖς ἔμπεδος, ἀλλʼ ἐκτὸς ὁμιλεῖ.
640

ὦ τλᾶμον πάτερ, οἵ-

αν σε μένει πυθέσθαι

παιδὸς δύσφορον ἄταν,

ἃν οὔπω τις ἔθρεψεν

αἰὼν Αἰακιδᾶν ἄτερθε τοῦδε.
645

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 481 focus

οὐδεὶς ἐρεῖ ποθ᾽ ὡς ὑπόβλητον λόγον λον λόγον,

Αίας, ἔλεξας, ἀλλὰ τῆς σαυτοῦ τῆσαὐτοῦ τοῦ φρενός.

παῦσαί γε μέντοι καὶ δὸς ἀνδράσιν φίλοις

γνώμης κρατῆσαι, τάσδε φροντίδας μεθείς.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ὦ δέσποτ᾽ Αἴας, τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης
485

οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν μεῖζον ἀνθρώποις κακόν ..ον κακὸν.

ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐλευθέρου μὲν ἐξέφυν πατρός,

εἴπερ τινὸς τινὸς σθένοντος ἐν πλούτῳ Φρυγῶν·

νῦν δ᾽ εἰμὶ δούλη. θεοῖς γὰρ ὧδ᾽ ἔδοξέ που

καὶ σῇ μάλιστα χειρί. τοιγαροῦν, ἐπεὶ
490

τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον, εὖ φρονῶ τὰ σά,

καί σ'᾽ ἀντιάζω πρός τ' ἐφεστίου Διὸς

εὐνῆς τε τῆς σῆς, ᾗ ἧς ἧς συνηλλάχθης συναλλάχθης συνηλλάχθης ἐμοί,

μή μ' ἀξιώσῃς βάξιν ἀλγεινὴν λαβεῖν

τῶν σῶν ὑπ᾽ ἐχθρῶν, χειρίαν ἐφεὶς ἀφείς ἐφεὶς τινί.
495

εἰ ἦν εἰ ἣν γὰρ θάνῃς θάνεις θάνηισ θάνης σὺ καὶ τελευτήσας τελευτήσεισ τελευτήσας ἀφῇς ἀφ' ἀφείς,

ταύτῃ νόμιζε κἀμὲ τῇ τόθ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ

βίᾳ ξυναρπασθεῖσαν ᾿Αργείων ὕπο

ξὺν παιδὶ τῷ σῷ δουλίαν δούλιον δουλίαν ἕξειν τροφήν.

καί τις πικρὸν πρόσφθεγμα δεσποτῶν ἐρεῖ
500

λόγοις ἰάπτων ἀτίζων ἰάπτων πέμπων, ἴδετε τὴν ὁμευνέτιν

Αἴαντος, ὃς μέγιστον ἴσχυσε στρατοῦ,

οἵας λατρείας ἀνθ᾽ ὅσου ζήλου τρέφει.

τοιαῦτ᾽ ἐρεῖ τις· κἀμὲ μὲν δαίμων ἐλᾷ,

σοὶ δ᾽ σοὶτ᾽ σοὶ δ' αἰσχρὰ τἄπη ταῦτα καὶ τῷ σῷ γένει.
505

ἀλλ᾽ αἴδεσαι μὲν πατέρα τὸν σὸν ἐν λυγρῷ

γήρᾳ προλείπων, αἴδεσαι δὲ μητέρα

πολλῶν ἐτῶν κληροῦχον, ἥ σε με σε πολλάκις

θεοῖς ἀρᾶται ἀρᾶ(ι)ται ζῶντα πρὸς δόμους μολεῖν·

οἰκτειρε δ', ὧναξ, παῖδα τὸν σόν, εἰ νέας
510

τροφῆς στερηθεὶς σοῦ διοίσεται μόνος

ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν μὴ φίλων, ὅσον κακὸν

κείνῳ τε κἀμοὶ τοῦθ᾽, ὅταν θάνῃς, νεμεῖς νεμεῖ.

ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐκέτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἐστὶ ἐστὶν εἰς ὅ τι βλέπω

πλὴν σοῦ. σὺ σοὶ γάρ μοι μου πατρίδ᾽ ᾔστωσας δορί,
515

καὶ μητέρ᾽ ἄλλη μητέρ᾽ ἄλλη μητέρ᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μοῖρα τὸν φύσαντά τε τε τε με με τε

καθεῖλεν Ἅιδου θανασίμους οἰκήτορας.

τίς δῆτ᾽ ἐμοὶ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀντὶ γένοιτ᾽ ἀντὶ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀντὶ σοῦ πατρίς ;

τίς πλοῦτος; ἐν σοὶ πᾶσ᾽ πα.. πᾶσ᾽ πᾶσιν ἔγωγε σώζομαι.

ἀλλ᾽ ἴσχε κἀμοῦ μνῆστιν. ἀνδρί τοι χρεὼν
520

μνήμην προσεῖναι, τερπνὸν εἴ τί που πάθοι πάθηι πάθοι πάθη.

χάρις χάριν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τίκτουσ᾽ ἀεί·

ὅτου δ᾽ ἀπορρεῖ μνῆστις εὖ πεπονθότος,

οὐκ ἂν γένοιτ᾽ ἔθ᾽ γένοιτό ποθ᾿ γένοιθ᾽ οὗτος οὗτος εὐγενὴς ἀνήρ.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

Αἴας, ἔχειν σ᾽ ἂν οἶκτον ὡς κἀγὼ φρενὶ
525

θέλοιμ᾽ ἄν· αἰνοίης γὰρ ἂν τὰ τῆσδ᾽ ἔπη.

ΑΙΑΣ.

καὶ κάρτ' ἐπαίνου τεύξεται πρὸς γοῦν ἐμοῦ,

ἐὰν μόνον τὸ ταχθὲν εὐ τολμᾷ τελεῖν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ φίλ' Αἴας, πάντ' ἔγωγε πείσομαι.

ΑΙΑΣ.

κόμιζε νύν νῦν μοι παῖδα τὸν ἐμόν, ὡς ἴδω.
530

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

καὶ μὴν φόβοισί γ' αὐτὸν ἐξελυσάμην.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἐν τοῖσδε τοῖς κακοῖσιν, ἢ τί μοι λέγεις;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

μὴ σοί γέ που δύστηνος ἀντήσας θάνοι.

ΑΙΑΣ.

πρέπον γέ τἂν ἦν τὴν ἂν γέ τ᾽ ἂν ἦν δαίμονος τοὐμοῦ τόδε.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐγὼ 'φύλαξα φυλάξω φύλαξα τοῦτό γ᾽ ἀρκέσαι.
535

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἐπῄνεσ᾽ ἔργον καὶ πρόνοιαν ἣν ἔθου.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

τί δῆτ᾽ ἂν ὡς ἐκ τῶνδ᾽ ἂν ὠφελοῖμί σε;

ΑΙΑΣ.

δός μοι προσειπεῖν αὐτὸν ἐμφανῆ τ᾿ ἰδεῖν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

καὶ μὴν πέλας γε om. add. προσπόλοις φυλάσσεται φυλάσεται φυλάσσεται.

ΑΙΑΣ.

τί δῆτα μέλλει μὴ οὐ παρουσίαν ἔχειν ;
540

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ὦ παῖ, πατὴρ καλεῖ σε. δεῦρο προσπόλων

ἄγ᾿ αὐτὸν ὅσπερ χερσὶν εὐθύνων κυρεῖς.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἕρποντι φωνεῖς, ἢ λελειμμένῳ οὐκ ἀκούοντι λόγων λόγων?

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

καὶ δὴ κομίζει προσπόλων ὅδ' ὧδ᾽ ὃδ' ἐγγύθεν.

ΑΙΑΣ.

αἰρ᾿ αὐτόν, αἶρε δεῦρο. ταρβήσει γὰρ οὐ
545

νεοσφαγῆ που τόνδε τοῦ τόνδε τοῦτόν γε που τόνδε προσλεύσσων φόνον,

εἴπερ δικαίως δικαίωσ ἔστ᾽ ἐμὸς τὰ πατρόθεν.

ἀλλ᾽ αὐτίκ ὠμοῖς αὐτὸν ἐν νόμοις πατρὸς

δεῖ πωλοδαμνεῖν κἀξομοιοῦσθαι φύσιν.

ὦ παῖ, γένοιο πατρὸς εὐτυχέστερος,
550

τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλ᾽ ὅμοιος· καὶ γένοι' γένοιο ἂν οὐ κακός.

καίτοι σε καὶ νῦν τοῦτό γε ζηλοῦν ἔχω,

ὁθούνεκ᾽ ὅθ' ούνεκ' οὐδὲν τῶνδ᾽ ἐπαισθάνει ἐπαισθάνηι κακῶν.

ἐν τῷ φρονεῖν γὰρ μηδὲν ἥδιστος βίος,

[τὸ μὴ φρονεῖν γὰρ κάρτ᾽ ἀνώδυνον κακόν·]
555

ἕως τὸ χαίρειν καὶ τὸ λυπεῖσθαι μάθῃς.

ὅταν δ᾽ ἵκῃ πρὸς τοῦτο, δεῖ σ᾽ ὅπως πατρὸς

δείξεις δείξηισ δείξεισ δείξης ἐν ἐχθροῖς οἷος ἐξ οἵου 'τράφης.

τέως δὲ κούφοις πνεύμασιν βόσκου, νέαν

ψυχὴν ἀτάλλων, μητρὶ τῇδε χαρμονήν.
560

οὔτοι σ' ᾿Αχαιῶν, οἶδα, μή τις ὑβρίσῃ

στυγναῖσι στυγναῖς λώβαις, οὐδὲ χωρὶς ὄντ᾽ ἐμοῦ.

τοῖον πυλωρὸν φύλακα Τεῦκρον ἀμφί σοι

λείψω τροφῆς ἄοκνον ἔμπα κεἰ τανῦν

τηλωπὸς τηλουργός ὡς τηλουρος οἰχνεῖ, δυσμενῶν θήραν θήραν φρουρὰν ἔχων.

ἀλλ᾽, ἄνδρες ἀσπιστῆρες, ἐνάλιος εἰνάλιος λεώς,
565

ὑμῖν τε κοινὴν τήνδ' ἐπισκήπτω χάριν,

κείνῳ τ᾿ ἐμὴν ἀγγειλατ᾽ ἐντολήν, ὅπως

τὸν παῖδα τόνδε πρὸς δόμους ἐμοὺς ἄγων

Τελαμώνι δείξει δοίξη δείξη μητρί τ᾽, Ἐριβοίᾳ λέγω,

ὥς ὃ ὡς σφιν γένηται γηροβοσκὸς εἰσαεί,
570

† μέχρις οὗ μυχοὺς κίχωσι τοῦ κάτω θεοῦ μέχρις οὗ μυχοὺς κίχωσι τοῦ κάτω θεοῦ·

καὶ τἀμὰ τεύχη μήτ᾽ ἀγωνάρχαι τινὲς

θήσουσ᾽ ᾿Αχαιοῖς ἀχαιοῖς, ἀχαιοὺς μήθ᾽ ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός.

ἀλλ᾽ αὐτό μοι σύ, παῖ, λαβὼν ἐπώνυμον,

Εὐρύσακες εὐρύσακες, ἴσχε διὰ πολυρράφου στρέφων
575

πόρπακος ἑπτάβοιον ἄρρηκτον σάκος·

τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα τεύχη κοίν' ἐμοὶ τεθάψεται.

ἀλλ᾽ ὡς τάχος τὸν παῖδα τόνδ᾽ ἤδη δέχου,

καὶ δῶμα πάκτου δῶμ᾽ ἀπάκτου δῶμ' ἀπάκτου δῶμ' ἀπ᾿ ἄκτου ἄπαγε δῶμἄπάγου, μηδ' ἐπισκήνους γόους

δάκρυε· κάρτα τοι φιλοίκτιστον γυνή.
580

πύκαζε θᾶσσον, οὐ πρὸς ἰατροῦ σοφοῦ

θρηνεῖν θροεῖν ἐπῳδὰς πρὸς τομῶντι πήματι τραύματι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

δέδοικ᾿ ἀκούων τήνδε τὴν προθυμίαν.

οὐ γάρ μ' ἀρέσκει γλῶσσά σου τεθηγμένη.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ὦ δέσποτ᾿ Αἴας, τί ποτε δρασείεις φρενί;
585

ΑΙΑΣ.

μὴ κρῖνε, μὴ ᾿ξέταζε· σωφρονεῖν καλόν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

οἴμ᾿ ὡς ἀθυμῶ· καί σε πρὸς τοῦ σοῦ τέκνου

καὶ θεῶν ἱκνοῦμαι μὴ προδοὺς ἡμᾶς γένῃ.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς, οὐ κάτοισθ᾽ ἐγὼ θεοῖς

ὡς οὐδὲν ἀρκεῖν εἴμ᾿ ὀφειλέτης ἔτι;
590

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

εὔφημα φώνει.

ΑΙΑΣ.

τοῖς τοῦς τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ἀκούουσι λέγε.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

σὺ δ᾽ οὐχὶ πείσει;

ΑΙΑΣ.

πόλλ᾽ ἄγαν ἤδη θροεῖς.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ταρβῶ γάρ, ὧναξ.

ΑΙΑΣ.

οὐ ξυνέρξεθ᾽ ξυνέρχεσθ' συνέρξεθ᾽ συνέρξεσθ' ξυνέξερθ' ὡς τάχος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

πρὸς θεῶν, μαλάσσου.

ΑΙΑΣ.

μῶρά μοι δοκεῖς δωξεισ δοκεῖς φρονεῖν λέγειν,

εἰ τοὐμὸν ἦθος ἄρτι παιδεύειν νοεῖς.
595

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

στρ.ά. ὦ κλεινὰ Σαλαμίς, σὺ μέν που

ναίεις ἁλίπλακτος ἁλίπλαγκτος ἁλίπλακτος εὐδαίμων,

πᾶσιν πᾶσι περίφαντος ἀεί·

ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὁ τλάμων παλαιὸς παλαιούς παλαιὸσ ἀφ᾽ οὗ χρόνος,
600

† Ἰδαίᾳ μίμνων λειμώνια ποίᾳ μήλων ἰδαίᾳ μίμνων λειμώνια ποίᾳ μήλων ἰδαίᾳ μίμνω λειμωνίᾳ ποίᾳ μήλων ἰδαί μίμν(gl. καρτερῶ) λειμωνία πόα μήλων

ἀνήριθμος αἰὲν † εὐνόμᾳ εὐνόμαι εὐκινήτω ἐυνόμο εὐνόμα εὐνομία εὐνόμω

†χρόνῳ τρυχόμενος,

κακὰν ἐλπίδ᾽ ἔχων

ἔτι με ποτ᾿ ἀνύσειν
605

τὸν ἀπότροπον ἀΐδηλον ῞Αιδαν.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 596-645 focus

Χορός

ὦ κλεινὰ Σαλαμίς, σὺ μέν που

ναίεις ἁλίπλακτος, εὐδαίμων,

πᾶσιν περίφαντος ἀεί·

ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ τλάμων παλαιὸς ἀφʼ οὗ χρόνος
600

Ἰδαῖα μίμνων λειμώνιʼ ἔπαυλα μηνῶν

ἀνήριθμος αἰὲν εὐνῶμαι

χρόνῳ τρυχόμενος,
605

κακὰν ἐλπίδʼ ἔχων

ἔτι μέ ποτʼ ἀνύσειν

τὸν ἀπότροπον ἀΐδηλον Ἅιδαν.

609

Χορός

καί μοι δυσθεράπευτος Αἴας

ξύνεστιν ἔφεδρος, ὤμοι μοι,
610

θείᾳ μανίᾳ ξύναυλος·

ὃν ἐξεπέμψω πρὶν δή ποτε θουρίῳ

κρατοῦντʼ ἐν Ἄρει· νῦν δʼ αὖ φρενὸς οἰοβώτας

φίλοις μέγα πένθος ηὕρηται.
615

τὰ πρὶν δʼ ἔργα χεροῖν

μεγίστας ἀρετᾶς

ἄφιλα παρʼ ἀφίλοις
620

ἔπεσʼ ἔπεσε μελέοις Ἀτρείδαις.

622

Χορός

ἦ που παλαιᾷ μὲν σύντροφος ἁμέρᾳ,

λευκῷ δὲ γήρᾳ μάτηρ νιν ὅταν νοσοῦντα
625

φρενομόρως ἀκούσῃ,

αἴλινον αἴλινον

οὐδʼ οἰκτρᾶς γόον ὄρνιθος ἀηδοῦς

ἥσει δύσμορος, ἀλλʼ ὀξυτόνους μὲν ᾠδὰς
630

θρηνήσει, χερόπλακτοι δʼ

ἐν στέρνοισι πεσοῦνται

δοῦποι καὶ πολιᾶς ἄμυγμα χαίτας.

635

Χορός

κρείσσων παρʼ Ἅιδᾳ κεύθων ὁ νοσῶν μάταν,
635

ὃς ἐκ πατρῴας ἥκων γενεᾶς ἄριστος

πολυπόνων Ἀχαιῶν,

οὐκέτι συντρόφοις

ὀργαῖς ἔμπεδος, ἀλλʼ ἐκτὸς ὁμιλεῖ.
640

ὦ τλᾶμον πάτερ, οἵαν σε μένει πυθέσθαι

παιδὸς δύσφορον ἄταν,

ἃν οὔπω τις ἔθρεψεν

αἰὼν Αἰακιδᾶν ἄτερθε τοῦδε.
645

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 481 focus

From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell,

That utterance came, and none have prompted thee.

Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends

Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind.

TEC

O my great master! heaviest of all woe
485

Is theirs whose life is crushed beyond recall.
485

I, born of one the mightiest of the free
485

And wealthiest in the Phrygian land, am now
485

A captive. So Heaven willed, and thy strong arm
485

Determined. Therefore, since the hour that made

My being one with thine, I breathe for thee;

And I beseech thee by the sacred fire

Of home, and by the sweetness of the night

When from thy captive I became thy bride,

Leave me not guardless to the unworthy touch

And cruel taunting of thine enemies’

For, shouldst thou die and leave us, then shall I

Borne off by Argive violence with thy boy

Eat from that day the bread of slavery.

And some one of our lords shall smite me there

With galling speech: Behold the concubine

Of Aias, first of all the Greeks for might,

How envied once, worn with what service now!

So will they speak; and while my quailing heart

Shall sink beneath its burden, clouds of shame

Will dim thy glory and degrade thy race.

Oh! think but of thy father, left to pine

In doleful age, and let thy mother’s grief—

Who, long bowed down with many a careful year,

Prays oftentimes thou may’st return alive—
490

O’er awe thee. Yea, and pity thine own son,
490

Unsheltered in his boyhood, lorn of thee,
490

With bitter foes to tend his orphanhood,
490

Think, O my lord, what sorrow in thy death
490

Thou send’st on him and me. For I have nought

To lean to but thy life. My fatherland

Thy spear hath ruined. Fate—not thou—hath sent

My sire and mother to the home of death

What wealth have I to comfort me for thee?

What land of refuge? Thou art all my stay

Oh, of me too take thought! Shall men have joy,

And not remember? Or shall kindness fade?

Say, can the mind be noble, where the stream

Of gratitude is withered from the spring?

CH

Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine
525

With pity; then her words would win thy praise.

AI

My praise she shall not miss, if she perform

My bidding with firm heart, and fail not here.

TEC

Dear Aias, I will fail in nought thou bidst me.

AI

Bring me my boy, that I may see his face.
530

TEC

Oh, in my terror I conveyed him hence!

AI

Clear of this mischief, mean’st thou? or for what?

TEC

Lest he might run to thee, poor child, and die.

AI

That issue had been worthy of my fate!

TEC

But I kept watch to fence his life from harm.
535

AI

’Twas wisely done. I praise thy foresight there.

TEC

Well, since ’tis so, how can I help thee now?

AI

Give me to speak to him and see him near.

TEC

He stands close by with servants tending him.

AI

Then why doth he not come, but still delay?
540

TEC

Thy father calls thee, child. Come, lead him hither,

Whichever of you holds him by the hand.

AI

Moves he? or do thine accents idly fall?

TEC

See, where thy people bring him to thine eye.

AI

Lift him to me: lift him! He will not fear
545

At sight of this fresh havoc of the sword,
545

If rightly he be fathered of my blood.
545

Like some young colt he must be trained and taught
545

To run fierce courses with his warrior sire.
545

Be luckier than thy father, boy! but else
545

Be like him, and thy life will not be low.
545

One thing even now I envy thee, that none
545

Of all this misery pierces to thy mind.
545

For life is sweetest in the void of sense,
545

Ere thou know joy or sorrow. But when this

Hath found thee, make thy father’s enemies

Feel the great parent in the valiant child.

Meantime grow on in tender youthfulness,

Nursed by light breezes, gladdening this thy mother.

No Greek shall trample thee with brutal harm,

That I know well, though I shall not be near—

So stout a warder to protect thy life

I leave in Teucer. He’ll not fail, though now

He follow far the chase upon his foes.

My trusty warriors, people of the sea,

Be this your charge, no less,—and bear to him

My clear commandment, that he take this boy

Home to my fatherland, and make him known

To Telamon, and Eriboea too,

My mother. Let him tend them in their age.

And, for mine armour, let not that be made

The award of Grecian umpires or of him

Who ruined me. But thou, named of the shield,

Eurysakes, hold mine, the unpierceable

Seven-hided buckler, and by the well stitched thong

Grasp firm and wield it mightily.—The rest

Shall lie where I am buried.—Take him now,

Quickly, and close the door. No tears! What! weep

Before the tent? How women crave for pity!

Make fast, I say. No wise physician dreams

With droning charms to salve a desperate sore.

CH

There sounds a vehement ardour in thy words

That likes me not. I fear thy sharpened tongue.

TEC

Aias, my lord, what act is in thy mind?
585

AI

Inquire not, question not; be wise, thou’rt best.

TEC

How my heart sinks! Oh, by thy child, by Heaven,

I pray thee on my knees, forsake us not!

AI

Thou troublest me. What! know’st thou not that Heaven

Hath ceased to be my debtor from to-day?
590

TEC

Hush! Speak not so.

AI

Speak thou to those that hear.

TEC

Will you not hear me?

AI

Canst thou not be still?

TEC

My fears, my fears!

AI

(). Come, shut me in, I say.

TEC

Oh, yet be softened!

AI

’Tis a foolish hope,

If thou deem’st now to mould me to thy will.
595

CHORUS
CHORUS.

Island of glory! whom the glowing eyes

Of all the wondering world immortalize,

Thou, Salamis, art planted evermore,

Happy amid the wandering billows’ roar;

While I—ah, woe the while!—this weary time,

By the green wold where flocks from Ida stray,

Lie worn with fruitless hours of wasted prime,

Hoping—ah, cheerless hope!—to win my way

Where Hades’ horrid gloom shall hide me from the day.

Aias is with me, yea, but crouching low,

Where Heaven-sent madness haunts his overthrow,

Beyond my cure or tendance: woful plight!

Whom thou, erewhile, to head the impetuous fight,

Sent’st forth, thy conquering champion. Now he feeds

His spirit on lone paths, and on us brings

Deep sorrow; and all his former peerless deeds

Of prowess fall like unremembered things

From Atreus’ loveless brood, this caitiff brace of kings.

Ah! when his mother, full of days and bowed

With hoary eld, shall hear his ruined mind,

How will she mourn aloud!

Not like the warbler of the dale,

The bird of piteous wail,

But in shrill strains far borne upon the wind,

While on the withered breast and thin white hair

Falls the resounding blow, the rending of despair.

Best hid in death were he whom madness drives

Remediless; if, through his father’s race

Born to the noblest place

Among the war-worn Greeks, he lives

By his own light no more,

Self-aliened from the self he knew before.

Oh, hapless sire, what woe thine ear shall wound!

One that of all thy line no life save this hath found.

AI
Enter Aias with a bright sword, and Tecmessa , severally.

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 481 focus

Wohl Keiner sagt, Herr, daß ein Wort, fremdher entlehnt,
460

Du mir geredet; nein, es kam aus deiner Brust.

Doch laß es gut sein, laß von deiner Freunde Rath

Dein Herz bezwingen, und verbanne diesen Gram.

Tekmessa.

Herrscher Ajas, härter drückt kein andres Leid

Die Menschen, als des Knechtes unfreiwillig Loos.
465

Frei war der Vater, welchem ich entsprossen bin,

Wie Keiner, reich und mächtig einst im Phrygerland;

Nun bin ich Sklavin: so gefiel's den Göttern wohl,

Und deiner Hand vor Allem. Drum, seitdem ich, Herr,

Dein Lager theile, bin ich dein mit Liebe stets.
470

Und nun beschwör' ich bei dem Zeus des Herdes dich,¹

Bei deinem Lager, welches dich mit mir vereint :

Von deinen Widersachern laß kein höhnend Wort

Jemals mich hören, gib mich nicht in ihre Hand!

Denn solltest du mir sterben und im Tode mich
475

Verlassen, ja dann glaube, daß an diesem Tag

Auch ich, gewaltsam weggeraubt von Argos' Heer,

Das Joch der Knechtschaft dulden muß mit deinem Sohn.

Da spricht der Herren mancher wohl ein bittres Wort,

Und rust, mich höhnend: Sehet hier das Eheweib
480

Des Ajas, der so mächtig Argos' Heer gebot,

Seht, welche Knechtschaft sie getauscht um welches Glück!

So redet Mancher. Mich verfolgt ein böser Gott,

Dir bringen diese Worte Schmach und deinem Stamm.

Nein, scheue deinen Vater, und verlaß ihn nicht
485

Im trüben Alter, scheue fromm die Mutter auch,

Die schon so viele Jahre sah und oft um dich

Die Götter anfleht, daß du lebend wiederkehrst;

Mitleidig denke deines Sohns, der ohne dich,

Allein, beraubt der jungen Pflege, schmachten wird
490

In eines Vormunds harter Zucht, welch bittre Noth

Du mir und diesem, wenn du stirbst, zum Erbe gibst!

Mir blieb ja Nichts, worauf ich hoffend schauen kann,

Als du. Die Stadt der Väter hast du mir zerstört,

Und Mutter, Vater raffte mir ein andres Loos
495

Hinab in Hades' Todeshaus, zu wohnen dort.

Wo fänd' ich anders, als in dir, mein Vaterland?

Wo fänd' ich Reichthum? Nur in dir ruht all mein Glück.

So denke denn auch meiner! Ziemt's dem Manne doch,

Erinnerung zu pflegen, wenn ihm Liebes ward,
500

Und Liebe zeuget allezeit auch Liebe ja.

Doch wer Erinn'rung alter Huld zerrinnen läßt,

Der ist in keinem Falle mehr ein edler Mann.

Der Chor.

Ich wollte, Mitleid wohnte dir im Busen, Herr,

Wie mir; gewiß, du lobtest, was dir diese rieth.
505

Ajas.

Und sicher wird ihr hohes Lob von mir zu Theil,

Wofern sie nur willfährig mein Gebot erfüllt.

Tekmessa.

In Allem, Ajas, theurer Mann, gehorch' ich dir.

Ajas.

So bringe meinen Knaben mir, ich will ihn sehn.

Tekmessa.

In banger Sorge hab' ich ihn hinweggebracht.
510

Ajas.

In meinem Leid hier? Oder was besorgtest du?

Tekmessa.

Er finde, dir begegnend, jammervollen Tod.

Ajas.

Dazu mich treiben konnte wohl mein böser Geist.

Tekmessa.

Dies abzuwehren, gab ich ihn in treue Hut.

Ajas.

Die That, die Vorsicht lob' ich, die du hier geübt.
515

Tekmessa.

Und welchen Dienst denn kann ich dir noch weiter thun?

Ajas.

Laß mich den Sohn anreden, ihm in's Auge seh'n.

Tekmessa.

Unfern von hier bewahren unsre Diener ihn.

Ajas.

Was säumt er also, daß er nicht sogleich erscheint?

Tekmessa.

Mein Sohn, der Vater ruft dich. Bring' ihn uns heran
520

Der Diener, der ihn eben an den Händen führt!

Ajas.

Erscheint er oder hört er nicht auf deinen Ruf?

Tekmessa.

Schon bringt ihn hier ein Diener aus der Nähe her.

(Eurysakes kommt, von einem Diener geführt, der ihn der Tekmessa übergibt.)

Ajas.

Erheb' ihn, hierher heb' ihn! Denn erschrecken wird

Gewiß der Anblick, dieses frische Blut ihn nicht,
525

Wenn wirklich mein, wenn seines Vaters Sohn er ist.

Ja, nach des Vaters rauher Art soll frühe sich

Der Knabe tummeln, soll sich ihm verähnlichen.

Mein Sohn, beglückter werde, denn dein Vater war,

Und sonst ihm ähnlich, und fürwahr, schlecht wirst du nicht!
530

Wiewohl ich jezt schon preisen mag dein glücklich Loos,

Daß du von diesen Leiden hier noch Nichts erkennst.

Denn unbewußt hinleben ist das Süßeste,

Bis daß du lernest, was der Schmerz, was Freude sei.

Doch wenn du dahin kamest, dann bewähre dich
535

Des Vaters Feinden, wer du seist und wessen Sohn.

Indessen weid' in leichter Luft, und pflege dir

Die junge Seele, deiner Mutter hier zur Lust.

Traun, kein Achäer, weiß ich, darf mit finsterm Hohn

Dich schnöd verlezen, bist du gleich von mir getrennt.
540

Als solchen Wächter laß' ich Teukros dir zurück,

Als treuen Pfleger ohne Furcht, obgleich er jezt

Entfernt umherschweift, jagend auf der Feinde Spur.

Ihr schildbewehrten Männer, meerumwohnend Volk,

Euch leg' ich diesen Liebesdienst gemeinsam auf,
545

Und jenem meldet mein Gebot: er führe heim

Zu meinem Land den Knaben, und dem Telamon

Und meiner Mutter Eriböa zeig' er ihn,²

Damit er ihnen Pfleger einst im Alter sei,

Bis drunten sie des Schattengottes Haus empfängt.
550

Und meine Rüstung möge kein Kampfordner je

Dem Heer zum Preis aussezen, noch mein Peiniger!

Nein, nimm du selbst ihn, Knabe, nimm den breiten Schild,³

Nach dem du heißest, schwing' am bunten Riemen ihn,

Den sieben Häute decken, den kein Speer durchbrach:
555

Der andere Wehrschmuck werde mir in's Grab gelegt!

(zu Tekmessa:)

Nun aber eile, nimm mit dir den Knaben fort,

Und schleuß die Wohnung, und erheb' am Zelte kein

Wehklagen; Frauen sind zu Thränen gar geneigt.

Gleich schleuß die Pforte! Traun, mit Klageruf beschreit
560

Kein weiser Arzt ein Uebel, das den Schnitt verlangt.

Der Chor.

Voll Bangen hör' ich, was du sinnst in raschem Muth;

Denn mir behagt die Schärfe deiner Zunge nicht.

Tekmessa.

Herrscher Ajas, was gedenkst du denn zu thun?

Ajas.

Nicht frage mich, nicht forsche: Maß ziemt überall.
565

Tekmessa.

Wie bangt mir, ach! Bei deinem Kinde fleh' ich dir

Und allen Göttern, o verlaß uns Arme nicht!

Ajas.

Du quälst mich grausam. Weißt du nicht, daß ich, o Frau,

Den Göttern keinen Liebesdienst mehr schuldig bin?

Tekmessa.

Sprich nicht vermessen!
570

Ajas.

Mahne den, der hören will!

Tekmessa.

Nicht folgen willst du?

Ajas.

Ich zitt're, König

Laß dich erbitten!

Viel zu viel schon schwazest du.

(zu den Dienern)

Eilig schließt die Thüre zu!

Aberwizig scheinst du mir,

Wofern du jezt noch meinen Sinn zu meistern deukst.

(Ajas und Tekmessa mit dem Knaben ab; der Chor bleibt allein zurück.) Erste Strophe.

Der Chor.

Ruhmvoll thronest du, Salamis,
575

Du von Wogen umspültes Glückseiland,

Stets Allen im Glanze sichtbar!

Doch ich verweile undenkliche Zeiten, ach!

Hier auf des Ida grasüppiger Lämmerau,

Von hineilender Jahre Flucht ewig
580

Verzehrt, ledig des Ruhms,

Und bang harrend in Furcht,

Endlich zu geh'n die Bahn

Zum Graunthale des düstern Hades.

Erste Gegenstrophe.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 481 focus

Had not my mind been wrought on by some power

Superior, and my eyes averted from them.

They had not lived to give another sentence ;

But Jove's great daughter, the invincible,

The dreadful Pallas, turned my arm aside,

Just raised against them, and inspired me thus

With liorrid rage to dip my murd'rous hand

In blood of guiltless cattle : they meantime

Smile at tlie danger 'scaped, and triumph o'er me.

But, when the gods oppose us, valour bends

To cowai-dico, and strength to weakness yields ;

By Troy detested, and by Greece forsaken ?

Shall I go leave the Atridae here alone

To fight their cause, and seek my native land ?

But how shall I appear before my father.

Spoiled of his honours 1 he who ever crowned

^Vith glory sits ; it must not, cannot be.

What if I rush amid the Trojan host,

And with my single arm oppose them all,

Do something noble, and as nobly perish !

But that would please th' Atridje, therefore never

Shall it be done : no, 1 will do a deed

To show my father that I still deserve

The name of son, and emulate my sire :

When life but teems with unremitted woes,

'Tis poor in man to wish a longer date :

For what can day on day, and year on year,

But put off wished-for death, and lengthen pain ?

Of little worth is he who still depends

On fruitless hope ; for it becomes the brave

To live with honour, or to die with glory.

Ye have my thoughts.

Chor Thoughts not unworthy of thee,

Ajax ; but quit, oh ! quit, thy horrid purpose.

And yield thee to thy friends.

Tecmessa

My lord, my master,
485

W^hich cruel fortune brings on human kind :
485

Of noblest race (a better, Phrygia boasts not)
485

Tecmessa was, and from a father sprung
485

Happy and free, though now a wretched slave ;
485

For so the gods and thy all-conqu'ring arm
485

Decreed : but since partaker of thy bed.

Thou knovv'st I ever have with tend'rest care

Watched o'er thee : therefore, by domestic Jove,

Here I entreat thee, by the sacred tie

That binds us, let me not with foul reproach

And bitter scorn be taunted by thy foes,

When they surround me, as I know they will :

For oh ! when thou shalt die, that very day

The Greeks with violence will seize on me ;

Tecmessa then and thy loved son shall eat

The bread of slavery. Then some haughty lord,

Insulting loud, shall cry, behold the wife

How is she fall'n ! from envied happiness

To servitude and woe ! Such vile upbraidings

Oft shall I hear, on thee and on thy race

Casting foul shame. Oh, then relent, my Ajax 1

Think on thy father in the vale of years,

Think on thy aged mother, who with vows

Incessant prays the gods to send thee back

Safe to thy native land ! Pity thy son,

Without a father in his tender youth
490

To form his mind, left to the unfriendly hands
490

Of those who love him not. Alas ! what woes
490

Wilt thou bequeath to me and to tliy child !
490

I have no hope, no stay but thee alone.
490

Thy hand destroyed my country and my mother ;

Death snatched my father to the realms below.

Deprived of thee what country will receive me,

Or where shall I subsist ? Thou art my all,

My only safeguard : do not, do not leave me !

Nought so becomes a man as gratitude

For good received, and noble deeds are still

The offspring of benevolence, whilst he

With whom remembrance dies of blessings past

Is vile and worthless.

Chorus

Oh ! that thou couldst feel
525

Pity like mine for tliis unhappy woman !
525

Then wouldst thou say her words deserve thy

praise.

Ajax

And praised she shall be, if she but perforin

What I require.

In all will I obey thee,

I would see my child :

I hid him from thy sight

Let him be brought.
530

Because of
530

Tecmessa

It was : I feared indeed thou mightst destroy

him.

Ajax

And well thou mightst : a deed like that

became

My sad condition.

Tecmessa

Therefore, to prevent it

I kept him from thee.

Tecmessa

What wouldst thou have me do ?
535

And speak to him.
535

Tecmessa

He is not far from hence ;

The servants have him in theii' care.

May I not see him ?

Tecmessa

Boy ! thy father calls thee :

Let some one bring him hither.

Doth he not hoar thee?

Tecmessa

They have brought him to thee.

l^Enter Servants with Eurysaces.

Ajax
Scene III.

Bring him this way : for if he be the son

Will not aflright him ; he must learn like me

In earliest years the savage laws of war,

And be inured to scenes of death and slaughter.

Mayst thou, my boy, be happier than thy fatlier !

In all things elt^e it will be no disgrace

To copy me : I envy thee, my child,

For that thou seest not thy own wretchedness ;

The happiness of Kfe is not to know.

Thy ignorance will keep thee free from pain,

Till time shall teach thee what it is to grieye

And to rejoice ; then must thou show thy foes

From whom thou art descended. May the breath

Of life meantime nourish thy tender frame,

That thou mayst prove a comfort to thy mother !

I know there's not a Grecian that will dare

Insult thee when thy father is no more ;

For I shall leave thee to the best of guardians.

The faithful Teucer, who far from thee now,

Sent forth by Greece, repels the invading foe.

Of you, my friends, companions of the war,

The only boon I ask is, that ye urge

This last request to Teucer : say, I begged

That straight to Telamon and Eribcea,

My aged parents, he would bear my child,

To be the joy of their declining years,

Till death shall call them to the shades below.

Let not my arms by Greece, or by that plague

Ulysses

e'er be made the prize of glory
545

For rival chiefs ; but do thou take, my boy,
545

The sevenfold, vast impenetrable shield
545

Whose name thou bear'st ; the rest be buried with me.

Take hence the child with speed ; nor in the tents

Let there be wailings. Women ever love

To brood o'er sorrows, and indulge their woe.

Shut to the door. The wound that must be cut

No wise physician will attempt to heal

With incantation, elegy, or song.

Chorus
\tiLrning to EuRYSACES

I tremble when I hear thee threat'ning thus

With sharp and piercing voice.

Tecmessa

Alas ! my lord.
585

What wilt thou do ?
585

Be silent, and be wise ; it will become thee.
585

Tecmessa

How am I tortured ! By the gods I beg thee.

By our dear child, do not destroy us both.

Ajax

Thou dost perplex nie ; why revere the gods ?

I am not bound to 't, for I owe them nothing.

Tecmessa

Be not so impious.

Tecmessa

Art thou resolved then ?

Grows troublesome.

Tecmessa

Alas ! njy lord, I fear

Ajax [to the Chorus]. Will ye not take her hence?

Tecmessa

Oh ! by the gods

1 beg tliee, he persuaded.

To think thy words will ever change my purpose.

ODE.

Oh, happiest, best abode, my native isle,

Fair Salamis, encompassed by the sea,

On thee whilst gods and men indulgent smile,

My country, oh behold and pity me !

A long, long time on Ida's plain

Thus doomed inglorious to remain,

While circling years roll o'er my wretched head ;

New terrors still aifright me here,

Still is my heart appalled with fear.

Lest I should visit soon the mansions of the dead.

The bravest leader of the Grecian host,

Untimely visited by wrath divine.

And in the desp'rate cruel frenzy lost.

There was a time when sent by thee

He gained the wreath of victory.

Though now his weeping friends lament his fall :

The ungrateful chiefs revere no more

The virtues they admired before ;

His gallant deeds are now forgotten all.

Weighed down with years, when thou in hoary age,

Unhappy mother, shalt these tidings hear

How wilt thou weep and wail with grief sincere !

Not like the plaintive nightingale

That warbles sweet her tender tale,

But with loud shrieks of horrible despair :

With sharpest anguish sore opprest,

Then shalt thou beat thy aged breast,

And in deep sorrow rend thy wild dishevelled hair.

'Tis better far to die than, hopeless still

Of cure, to languish under sore disease ;

When mortals suffer such distinguished ill

The silent tomb is liberty and ease.

His ancient fame and glory lost,

Sinks down at last o'erwhelmed with foul disgiace*

How will hapless father bear

His son's distressful fate to hear,

E'en such as never fell on ^acus his race !

Ajax
[Exfijf.nt. Strophe. A^itistroplie. Stro2?he 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT III. Scene I.

Still are the secret things of man revealed.

And what is known again in darkness hid

By endless and immeasurable time ;

And nothing is there but in length of days

May come to pass ; e'en sacred oaths are broken,

And the fixed mind, perverse and obstinate.

Subdued by time : I, who like hardened steel

Wjis late inflexible, am softened now

To pity and remorse by this dear woman ;

I cannot bear to leave her here a widow

Amidst her foes, or to forsake my child,

A helpless orphan. No ; I will retire

Along the shore, and seek the running stream,

Avert the wimth of angry heaven, and wash

My crimes away : there haply shall I find

Some unfrequented spot where I may hide

This fatal weapon, this destructive sword :

Oh ! I will bury it deep in earth, that none

May see it more, but night and Erebus

Preserve it still from ev'ry mortal eye.

E'er since that hapless day, when from the hand

Of Hector 1 received this dreadful boon.

Nought have I had from Greece but pain and woe

True is the adage, " From the hands of foes

Gifts are not gifts, but injurres most fatal."

Hereafter will I yield me to the Gods

And the Atridiu ; since they are my masters,

'Tis meet that 1 obey them : all that's strong

And mighty must submit to poweis superior :

Doth not the snowy winter to the bloom

Of fruitful summer yield ? and night obscure,

When by white steeds Aurora drawn lights up

The rising day, submissively retire ?

The roaring sea, long vexed by angry winds,

Is lulled by milder zephyrs to repose,

And oft the fetters of all-conq'ring sleep

Are kindly loosed to free the captive mind.

From Nature then, who thus instructs mankind.

Long since I knew to treat my foe like one

Whom I hereafter as a friend might love

If he deserved it, and to love my friend

As if he still might one day be my foe :

For little is the trust we can repose

In human friendships. But to my intent :

Go thou, Tecmessa, and beseech the gods

To grant what I request : do you perform
595

The same kind ofiice ; and when Teucer comes,
595

Tell him, the care of me and all my friends
595

I leave to him : whither I must, I must.
595

Obey my orders : wretched as I am
595

Soon shall ye see me freed from all my woes. [£J'xei'ML
595

Now let sounds of mirth and joy
595

Every blissful hour employ :
595

Borne on pleasure's airy wing,
595

lo Pan ! to thee we sing :
595

Thee, whom on the rocky shore
595

Wreck- 'scaped mariners adore,
595

Skilled the mazy dance to lead.
595

Teach, oh teach, our feet to tread
595

The round which Cretan Cnossus knows,
595

At Nyssa which spontaneous rose ;
595

Pan, oh ! guide this tuneful throng,
595

Whjle to thee we raise the song,
595

From Cyllene's snowy brow ;
595

King of pleasures, hear us now !
595

"From thy mountains, oh, appear !
595

Joy and happiness are here :
595

And do thou, O Delian king !
595

Now thy aid propitious bring !
595

Oh ! from the Icarian sea
595

Come, Apollo, smile on me.
595

All our sorrows now are o'er.
595

Grief and madness are no more :
595

See, the happy day appears,
595

Mighty Jove ! that ends our fears ;
595

Let us, free from every care,
595

Gladly to our ships repair :
595

Sinks, forgetful of his woes ;
595

Humbly to the gods resigned,
595

He devotes his better mind :
595

Time that witliers can restore
595

Human plejisures. Now no more
595

Must we say our vows are vain ;
595

Nought unlioped for should remain,
595

Since, beyond our wishes, see
595

'Gainst th' Atridae all his rage
595

See how milder thoughts assuage.
595

Bitter strife and quarrels cease ;
595

All is harmony and peace.
595

Messenger
Scene II. St7'ophe. Antist7'ophe. Scene III.

Chorus.

Messenger

My friends, I bear you news of highest import

From Mysia's rocky mountains hither comes

The noble Teucer ; know, e'en now I saw him

Amid the Grecian host, who, as he came,

Surrounded, and on ev'ry side poured forth

Reproaches on him. Not a man but cried

'' Behold the brother of that frantic foe

To Greece and to her council." Such their rage

That they had well-nigh stoned liim ; swords were

drawn,

And dire had been the conflict, but that some

Among the aged chiefs by calm advice

Appeased the strife. But where is Ajax gone 1

That I may tell him : from oui- mastei-s nought

Should be concealed.

Chorus

He is not now within.

But just steps forth, as if on some new act

Intent, well suited to his better mind.

Messenger

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 481 focus

No man will ever say these words are false;

They are the genuine dictates of thy heart.

Yet he thou soften'd; let thy friends prevail;

Appease thy mind, nor harbour thoughts like these.

Tecmessa

My lord, loved Ajax, no severer ill,
485

Than the necessity of fate, can fall
485

On man's unhappy race. I was born free;
485

My father 'mongst the Phrygians of high pow'r,
485

And ample wealth; but now I am a slave;
485

Such was the pleasure of the gods, and such
485

Thy puissant hand. Led from that hour to share

Thy bed, to thee benevolent I deem

Thy welfare mine; and by Ephestian Jove, i

By the dear tie that binds my fate to thine,

I now implore thee, leave me not exposed

To the offensive insults of thy foes,

Ah, leave me not to other lords a slave!

For, shou'dst thou die, abandon'd and bereaved

Of thee that very day, be thou assured,

I, with thy son, by some proud Argive seized

By force abhorr'd, shall eat the wretched food

Of slavery; and some lord with bitter taunt

Shall cut me to the soul, and say, Behold

The wife of Ajax, of the Grecian host

Once the most potent, from that envied height

Sunk to this abject state of servitude :

Thus shall he taunt me, by ill fate depress'd,

With words to thee disgraceful, and thy race.

But, ah! respect thy father, left to waste

In grief the cheerless hours of age; respect

Thy mother, to the weight of many years

Consign'd; with pray'rs she oft invokes the gods

To see thee in her house with life return'd..

Pity thy son, O king; of thee bereaved,
490

Who shall instruct and form his infant mind,
490

Left to unfriendly guardians? Shou'dst thou die,
490

What ill to him and me dost thou bequeath?
490

Nothing remains for me, to which mine eye
490

Looks up, save thee. Beneath thy conquering spear
490

My ruin'd country, and my mother sunk;

Fate snatch'd my father to the realms below,

And both my parents have their mansion there.

What country will console me for thy loss,

What wealth? On thee my all of safety rests,

Then hold me in thy memory: it becomes

A man, if aught delightful to his soul

He hath received, to bear a grateful mind: A

Kindness gives birth to kindness; in the heart

When grateful memory holds its seat no more,

The man to every generous sense is lost,

Chorus

Oh that thy bosom, Ajax, felt, like mine,
525

The touch of pity! Thou wou'dst praise her words.

Ajax

Great praise indeed from me she will obtain,

My mandates firmly if she dare perform, Berde

Tecmessa

All, my loved Ajax, all I will perform,

Obedient to thy will.

Ajax

Bring then my son,
530

That I may see him.
530

Tecmessa

By my fears alarm'd

Hence I removed him.

Ajax

In these recent ills?

Or what thy fears?,

Tecmessa

Lest the unhappy child

By meeting thee should die.

Ajax

With my ill fate.

That had accorded

Tecmessa

Anxious was my care
535

Secure to keep him.
535

Ajax

Prudent was the act;

TI thank thee for the caution.

Tecmessa

What besides

Grateful to thee can I perform ?

Ajax

My son,

Tecmessa

Let me speak to him; let me see him.

Ajax

Not far thy menial train attend their charge,
540

Tecmessa

My son, thy father calls thee: in his hands

Whoe'er now holds him, hither let him haste., I

Ajax

Comes he thus call'd, or hears he not thy voice?

Tecmessa

Advancing near th' attendant with him comes.

EURYSACES brought in.

Ajax

Bring him, nay bring him forward; for the sight
545

Of the fresh blood, which from this carnage streams,
545

Will not affright him, if he be my son..
545

Thus early in his father’s rugged lore
545

He shou'd be train'd, and taught to catch the flame
545

That glows within this bosom, my son, to
545

Be happier than thy father: in all else
545

Be like him so thou never canst be base.all
545

In this I deem thee blest, that to these ills
545

Thou art insensible; the sweetest life.
545

Consists in feeling nothing; but by time for
545

Thou will be taught to grieve and to rejoice/

When thou hast reach'd that age, behoves thee show

Among thy father's foes that thou art sprung

Brave from the brave meanwhile may gentle gales

Around thee breathe, and cherish thy young mind

To joy thy mother's soul. This well know

That not a Grecian with disgraceful wrongs f

Will dare oppose thee, though of me bereaved

So firm a guardian o'er thee shall I leave

In Teucer, watchful to protect thy youth,

Though chasing now in distant fields the foe.

But now, my brave associates, train'd to lift

The shield in war, and sweep the surging main,

I charge you all (refuse me not this grace)

Announce my mandate to him, let him lead

This child to Salamis, and show him there

To Telamon, and her that shares his bed,

My mother Eribœa, that their age

He always may support, till they descend

To the dark mansions of the king below.

Nor 'midst contending Chiefs shall umpires sit

My arms the prize of glory to adjudge,

Nor he, my baleful pest: but thou, my son,

Retain my ample shield, its seven strong plates

Unpierced by hostile spear; my other arms

Be buried with me. Take thou now the boy,

And instant lead him hence; nor in the tent

Weep or lament; to wailings nature prompts

A woman's melting soul; compose thy mind:

When ulcer'd wounds the cutting steel require,

No mystic charm the skilful leach applies.

Chorus
MOT

1 tremble as I hear thy earnest charge :

Unpleasing to me are thy pointed words.

Tecmessa

My lord, loved Ajax, what intends thy thought?
585

Ajax

Ask not, make no inquiries; teach thy mind

A calm composure; it becomes thee well.

Tecmessa

Despair hangs heavy on me: by the gods,

And by thy son, thy pity I implore,

Ah, leave us not abandon'd and undone!

Ajax

Thou dost offend me highly: know'st thou not

That henceforth nothing to the gods I owe.
590

Tecmessa

Speak words of happier import.

Ajax

Vain thy cries.

Tecmessa

Hear me, O hear me!

Ajax

I have heard too much.

Tecmessa

O king, I tremble.

Ajax

Instant bear her hence.

What folly this,

Tecmessa

Oh, by the gods, relent!

Ajax

If thou canst think my nature now to form!

Chorus

STRO. 1. Illustrious Salamis, around whose shores

The sea with all its wild waves roars,

Conspicuous rise thy cliffs sublime,

And guard, loved isle, thy happy plains.

Whilst me an irksome length of time

In Ida's marshy vales detains:

Unheeded here a wretched life I lead,

Amidst the flocks that graze the meed;

Year after year rolls slow away,

On me hope beams no cheerful ray;

From misery doom'd no pause to know

But in the dark and dreary realms below.

ANTIS. 1. The noble Ajax now with frenzy fired

(Some god the glowing rage inspired)

Immedicable ills sustains;

And with fresh pangs my heart is rent

By thee amidst embattled plains

To conquest and to glory sent.

With grief th' illustrious hero we survey

To gloomy thadness now a prey;

And all his mighty deeds in war,

Deeds which the highest worth declare,

Are lost, unwelcome to the unkind,

While folly swells the proud Atridæ's mind.

Hoary in her locks of age

And worn with many a rolling year,

With what affliction will his mother hear

Her frentic son's distemper'd rage!

Not in soft notes will she complain,

Like Philomela's pity-moving strain;

But she will give loud griefs to fise,

Lamenting with heart-piercing cries;

And in the anguish of despair

Beat her sad breast, and rend her silver hair.

In the silent shades below

Får better were thy doom to rest,

Than thus to breathe the vital air, opprest

With dire disease and hopeless woe;

Thy train of kind affections lost,

And all thy soul in frenzy's whirlwind tost,

Thou high-born Chief, in martial fame

Surpassing all of Grecian name.

These ills how will thy sire deplore,

Ills to his noble race ne'er known before!

Ajax
STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2. AJAX, TECMESSA, CHORUS.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 596-645 focus

Chorus

O famous Salamis , you, I know, have your happy seat among the waves that beat your shore, eternally conspicuous in the eyes of all men.

But I, miserable, have long been delayed here, still making my bed through countless months in the camp on the fields of Ida.
600

I am worn by time and with anxious expectation still of a journey to Hades the abhorred, the unseen.
605

609

Chorus

And now a new struggle awaits me, ah, me!—a match with

Ajax, hard to cure, sharing his tent with a madness of divine origin. It is he whom mighty in bold war you dispatched from you once far in the past. But now he is changed; he grazes his thoughts in isolated places
610

and has been found a heavy sorrow for his friends. His hands’ former achievements, deeds of prowess supreme,
615

have fallen without friends, without friends, before the unfriendly, miserable Atreidae.
620

622

Chorus

Surely his mother, companion of antiquity and

grey with age, when she hears that he has been afflicted with the ruin of his mind will raise a loud cry of wailing. It is not the nightingale’s piteous lament
625

that she, unhappy, will sing. Rather in shrill-toned odes the dirge will rise, while the hollow sound of beating hands and the shredding of grey hair will fall upon her breast.
630

635

Chorus

Yes, better hid in Hades is the man plagued by foolishness, who by the lineage from where he springs is noblest of the enduring Achaeans, yet now is
635

constant no more in his inbred temperament, but wanders outside himself. O Telamon, unhappy father, how heavy a curse upon your son awaits your hearing, a curse which never yet has
640

any life-portion of the heirs of Aeacus nourished but his!
645

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-272-1 ἐπεντύνον<*> ¹ ἐπευθύνοντ’ ²

mvp-comment-273-1 λυσσώδη νόσον ³

mvp-comment-274-1 ἐπεγγελῶσιν ⁴

mvp-comment-275-1 ἐμοῦ μὲν ⁵

mvp-comment-275-2 βλάπτοι ⁶

mvp-comment-276-1 ὅστις ⁷

mvp-comment-276-2 μισεῖ δέ μ’ ⁸ πεδία ⁹

mvp-comment-277-1 πότερα ¹⁰

mvp-comment-277-2 ναυλόχους … ἕδρας ¹¹

mvp-comment-277-3 μόνους τ’ Ἀτρείδας ¹²

mvp-comment-278-1 καὶ ποῖον ¹³

mvp-comment-278-2 ὄμμα ¹⁴

mvp-comment-279-1 γυμνὸν ¹⁵

mvp-comment-279-2 ὧν … εὐκλείας στέφανον ¹⁶

mvp-comment-280-1 ἀλλὰ δῆτ’ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-280-2 ἔρυμα ¹⁸

mvp-comment-280-3 μόνος μόνοις ¹⁹ μόνοις ²⁰

mvp-comment-280-4 δρῶν τι χρηστόν ²¹

mvp-comment-281-1 Ἀτρείδας … εὐφράναιμί που ²²

mvp-comment-282-1 οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα ²³

mvp-comment-283-1 δηλώσω … γεγώς ²⁴

mvp-comment-283-2 μή τοι φύσιν γ’ ²⁵ τοι ²⁶ γε ²⁷ οὔ τοι ²⁸ μή τοι ²⁹

mvp-comment-283-3 ἄσπλαγχνος ³⁰

mvp-comment-284-1 τοῦ μακροῦ … βίου ³¹

mvp-comment-284-2 κακοῖσιν … μηδὲν ἐξαλλάσσεται ³² μηδὲν ³³

mvp-comment-285-1 παρ’ ἦμαρ ἡμέρα ³⁴ προσθεῖσα ³⁵

mvp-comment-285-2 προσθεῖσα ³⁶

mvp-comment-285-3 κἀναθεῖσα ³⁷

mvp-comment-286-1 πριαίμην ³⁸

mvp-comment-286-2 λόγου ³⁹

mvp-comment-287-1 τεθνηκέναι ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-287-2 πάντ’ ἀκήκοας λόγον ⁴¹

mvp-comment-288-1 ὑπόβλητον ⁴²

mvp-comment-289-1 γε μέντοι ⁴³ κρατῆσαι ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-290-1 τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-291-1 εἴπερ τινὸς σθένοντος ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-291-2 ἐν πλούτῳ ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-292-1 θεοῖς ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-292-2 μάλιστα ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-293-1 τοιγαροῦν ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-293-2 τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον ⁵¹

mvp-comment-293-3 τὰ σά ⁵²

mvp-comment-294-1 ἐφεστίου Διὸς ⁵³

mvp-comment-295-1 συνηλλάχθης ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-296-1 βάξιν λαβεῖν … ὑπ’ ἐχθρῶν ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-296-2 χειρίαν ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-296-3 ἐφεὶς ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-297-1 ᾗ γὰρ θάνῃς σὺ ⁵⁸ ᾗ ⁵⁹ εἰ ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-297-2 ἀφῇς ⁶¹

mvp-comment-298-1 ξυναρπασθεῖσαν ⁶² δουλίαν ⁶³ δούλιν ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-298-2 τροφή ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-299-1 καί τις ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-299-2 πικρὸν πρόσφθεγμα … ἐρεῖ ⁶⁷ πικρὸν ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-299-3 λόγοις ἰάπτων ⁶⁹ λόγοις ⁷⁰ ἰάπτων ⁷¹

mvp-comment-300-1 ἵσχυσε ⁷²

mvp-comment-300-2 οἵας … ὅσου ⁷³

mvp-comment-300-3 ζήλου ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-300-4 τρέφει ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-301-1 κἀμὲ μὲν ⁷⁶ σοὶ δ’ αἰσχρὰ ⁷⁷ ἐλᾷ ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-301-2 αἰσχρὰ ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-302-1 αἴδεσαι … προλείπων ⁸⁰ προλείπων ⁸¹

mvp-comment-302-2 κληροῦχον ⁸²

mvp-comment-302-3 ἀρᾶται ⁸³

mvp-comment-303-1 οἴκτιρε ⁸⁴ εἰ ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-303-2 διοίσεται ⁸⁶ σοῦ … μόνος ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-304-1 ὑπ’ ὀρφανιστῶν ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-304-2 The word

ὀρφανιστής

(found only here) =

ἐπίτροπος

, ‘guardian.’ Eustathius (p. 533. 30), on Il. 5. 158

χηρωσταὶ δὲ διὰ κτῆσιν δατέοντο

, explains

χηρωσταί

as those who administered the property of persons who left no direct heirs (

τοὺς χηρεύοντας διαδόχων

); adding,

οἵτινες κατὰ λόγον ἄλλον καὶ ὀρφανισταὶ ἐκαλοῦντο, ὡς ὀρφανῶν ὑπεριστάμενοι, καθὰ καὶ Σοφοκλῆς δηλοῖ

. Apparently, then, he knew the word only from this verse. (The verb

ὀρφανίζω

usu.=to make

ὀρφανός

mvp-comment-304-3 μὴ φίλων ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-304-4 Compare Andromachè's description, in her lament over Hector, of the lot in store for her child,

ἦμαρ δ’ ὀρφανικὸν παναφήλικα παῖδα τίθησιν

, ‘the day of orphanhood makes a child companionless,’ etc.: Il. 22. 490 —498.

mvp-comment-305-1 βλέπω ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-305-2 ᾔστωσας ⁹¹

mvp-comment-305-3 δορί ⁹² δόρει ⁹³

mvp-comment-306-1 ἄλλη μοῖρα ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-307-1 καθεῖλεν … οἰκήτορας ⁹⁵ Ἅιδου, θανασίμους ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-308-1 πατρίς ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-308-2 ἐν σοὶ … σῴζομαι ⁹⁸ πᾶς’ ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-309-1 κἀμοῦ ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-309-2 προσεῖναι ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-309-3 τερπνὸν εἴ τί που πάθοι ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-310-1 χάρις χάριν γάρ ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-310-2 τίκτους’ ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-311-1 ἀπορρεῖ ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-311-2 γένοιτ’ ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-312-1 ἔχειν σ’ ἂν … θέλοιμ’ ἄν ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-312-2 ὡς κἀγὼ ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-313-1 καὶ κάρτ’ ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-313-2 τὸ ταχθὲν ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-313-3 τολμᾷ ¹¹¹

mvp-comment-313-4 For the alliteration (

παρήχησις

) cp. 1112 : O.T. 371

τυφλὸς τά τ’ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τ’ ὄμματ’ εἶ

(n.).

mvp-comment-314-1 ἀλλ’ ¹¹²

mvp-comment-315-1 ὡς ἴδω ¹¹³

mvp-comment-316-1 καὶ μὴν φόβοισί γ’ ¹¹⁴ γε ¹¹⁵ φόβοισι ¹¹⁶ καὶ μήν … γε ¹¹⁷ γε ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-316-2 φόβοισι ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-316-3 ἐξελυσάμην ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-316-4 The conjecture ἐξερρυσάμην ¹²¹

mvp-comment-317-1 κακοῖσιν ¹²²

mvp-comment-318-1 μὴ σοί γε ¹²³ σοί ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-319-1 πρέπον γέ τἂν ἦν ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-319-2 δαίμονος ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν ¹²⁷ γε ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-320-2 )φύλαξα ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-320-3 ἀρκέσαι ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-321-1 ἐπῄνες’ ¹³¹

mvp-comment-321-2 ἔθου ¹³²

mvp-comment-322-1 ὡς ἐκ τῶνδ’ ¹³³ ἐκτῶνδε ¹³⁴ ὡς ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-323-1 καὶ μὴν ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-323-2 γε ¹³⁷ πέλας. ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-323-3 προσπόλοις ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-324-1 μὴ οὐ ¹⁴⁰ τί μέλλει ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-324-2 παρουσίαν ἔχειν ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-325-1 εὐθύνων ¹⁴³

mvp-comment-326-1 ἕρποντι φωνεῖς ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-326-2 λελειμμένῳλόγων ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-327-1 καὶ δὴ ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-328-1 αἶρε δεῦρο ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-328-2 ταρβήσει γὰρ οὒ ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-329-1 νεοσφαγῆ … φόνον ¹⁴⁹ που ¹⁵⁰ τοῦ ¹⁵¹ τοῦτόν γε ¹⁵² του ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-330-1 δικαίως ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-330-2 τὰ πατρόθεν ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-331-1 ὠμοῖς … ἐν νόμοις ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-331-2 πωλοδαμνεῖν ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-331-3 κἀξομοιοῦσθαι ¹⁵⁸ φύσιν ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-332-1 ὦ παῖ ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-332-2 τὰ δ’ ἄλλ’ ὅμοιος ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-333-1 καίτοι … καὶ νῦν ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-333-2 σε ¹⁶³ σὲ ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-333-3 τοῦτό γε ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-333-4 οὐδὲν ¹⁶⁶ ἐπαισθάνει ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-334-1 ἐν τῷ φρονεῖν μηδὲν ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-334-2 554 b [ τὸ μὴ φρονεῖν γὰρ ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-335-1 ἕως ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-336-1 ἵκῃ πρὸς τοῦτο ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-336-2 δεῖ σ’ ὅπως … δείξεις ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-337-1 τέως ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-337-2 κούφοις πνεύμασιν ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-337-3 νέαν ψυχὴν ἀτάλλων ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-337-4 The word

ἀτάλλω

may have been suggested to Sophocles by a trait in the scene between Hector and Andromachè: Il. 6. 400

παῖδ’ ἐπὶ κόλπῳ ἔχουσ’ ἀταλάφρονα, νήπιον αὔτως

mvp-comment-337-5 χαρμονήν ¹⁷⁶ χαρμονή ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-337-6 560 It is strange that exception should have been taken to the parenthetic οἶδα ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-337-7 οὔτοι … μή ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-338-1 τοῖον ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-338-2 πυλωρὸν ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-339-1 τροφῆς ἄοκνον ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-339-2 ἔμπα ¹⁸³ κεἰ ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-340-1 τηλωπὸς ¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-340-2 οἰχνεῖ ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-340-3 θήραν ἔχων ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-341-1 ἀσπιστῆρες ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-341-2 χάριν ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-342-1 ὅπως … δείξει ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-342-2 Ἐριβοίᾳ λέγω ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-343-1 μέχρις οὗ ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-344-1 μήτ’ … θήσους’ ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-344-2 ἀγωνάρχαι ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-344-3 μήθ’ ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-344-4 No correction is very probable. We cannot read

μήθ’ ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμοῦ

, since, though

μου

can represent the possessive pron., such a use of

ἐμοῦ

would be unexampled. (See Krüger, Gr. Sprachlehre, § 47. 9. 13.) The dat.

ἐμοί

is also untenable. It is possible that the poet wrote μήτε λυμεὼν ἐμός ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-345-1 αὐτό ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-345-2 ἐπώνυμον ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-346-1 πολυρράφου … πόρπακος ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-346-2 But a loop at the edge of the shield, such as the

πόρπαξ

offered to the warrior's hand ( Helen. 1376

ἐμβαλὼν πόρπακι γενναίαν χέρα

), would not suffice to give him control. Hence, in the vasepainting noticed above, we see the

πόρπαξ

combined with another contrivance, viz., a band (of metal, or wood), placed vertically across the inside of the shield, and furnished at the middle with an arrangement of small bars, forming a support for the arm just below the elbow. This band was the

ὄχανον

ὀχάνη

.—See Appendix.

mvp-comment-346-3 πολυρράφου ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-346-4 ἑπτάβοιον ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-347-1 τεθάψεται ²⁰²

mvp-comment-347-2

κοίν’ ἐμοὶ· κοινὰ

is here adv.: cp. Ant. 546

μή μοι θάνῃς σὺ κοινά

mvp-comment-348-1 πάκτου ²⁰³

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐπισκήνους ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-348-3 φιλοίκτιστον ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-349-1 πύκαζε ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-349-2 οὐ πρὸς ἰατροῦ ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-349-3 θρηνεῖν ἐπῳδὰς ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-349-4 τομῶντι ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-350-1 προθυμίαν ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-350-2 ἀρέσκει ²¹¹

mvp-comment-350-3 τεθηγμένη ²¹²

mvp-comment-351-1 δρασείεις ²¹³

mvp-comment-351-2 φρενί ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-352-1 κρῖνε ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-353-1 οἴμ’ ὡς ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-353-2 μὴ προδοὺς γένῃ ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-354-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-354-2 ἀρκεῖν ²¹⁹

mvp-comment-354-3 ὀφειλέτης ²²⁰

mvp-comment-355-1 εὔφημα φώνει ²²¹

mvp-comment-355-2 τοῖς ἀκούουσιν λέγε ²²²

mvp-comment-355-3 The division of the verse between two speakers (

ἀντιλαβή

) is here used for the first time in the play, to mark the tension of feeling.

mvp-comment-356-1 ξυνέρξεθ’ ²²³

mvp-comment-357-1 ἄρτι ²²⁴

mvp-comment-357-2 Ajax is now withdrawn into the tent on the eccyclema (

εἰσκυκλεῖται

), and the entrance is closed. Tecmessa and her child retire by another door into the part of the dwelling which is supposed to represent the

γυναικών

. They re-enter after the Choral ode, and are present while Ajax speaks (see 684 ff.). Some, indeed, suppose that they remain on the scene during the ode; but the command of Ajax to Tecmessa in 579 f.,

μηδ’ ἐπισκήνους γόους | δάκρυε

, is against this.

mvp-comment-357-3 Welcker thinks that not only Tecmessa (with the child), but Ajax also, remain present during the ode. ( Rhein. Mus. for 1829, part 3, p. 87.) It is clear, however, from v. 593 that Ajax withdraws into the tent.

mvp-comment-358-1 ναίεις ²²⁵

mvp-comment-358-2 ἁλίπλακτος ²²⁶

mvp-comment-358-3 πᾶσιν περίφαντος ἀεί ²²⁷

mvp-comment-359-1 παλαιὸς ἀφ’ οὗ χρόνος ²²⁸

mvp-comment-359-2 601—

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

451. mvp-comment-309-1 ἐπευθύνοντ'] 'In act of stretching forth.' Ajax ( supr. 49) was at the tent-door of the Atreidae, and had little more to do than to stretch out his hand. The v. r. ἐπεντύνοντα would mean 'arming,' but he was already armed. ἐπεντείνοντα is better, but is probably a correction of ἐπεντύνοντ',

453. mvp-comment-310-1 τοιοίσδε is said with a rueful glance at the slaughtered animals, which in his delirium he had taken for his enemies.

455. mvp-comment-311-1 ἐμοῦ μὲν οὐχ ἑκόντος] ‘Not with my will, indeed.' The will of Ajax is not crushed. He still protests against the Providence that has spared his foes, whom he regards as his inferiors, though they have triumphed.

457-458. mvp-comment-312-1 ὅστις.. ἐχθαίρομαι] We are afterwards informed, infr. 756, that the Divine anger against Ajax is not permanent. For ὅστις, without distinct antecedent, see Essay on L. § 39. p. 72, 2.

459. mvp-comment-313-1 πεδία τάδε] Above all, for last night's violence.

461. mvp-comment-314-1 μόνους τ' ᾿Ατρείδας] 'And (leaving) the Atreidae to fight alone,' i. e. unsupported by Ajax, whose valour outweighs all others.

462. mvp-comment-315-1 καί] 'Then,' 'in that case.' καί here introduces an objection, as in καὶ πῶς; Cp. esp. Ant. 449, καὶ δῆτ᾽ ἐτόλμας τούσδ᾽ ὑπερβαίνειν νόμους; ποῖον ὄμμα.. Τελαμώνι] • How shall I come before my father Telamon, and meet his eye?' As in O. Τ. 1371, ὄμμασιν ποίοις, the adjective has an adverbial force.

464. mvp-comment-316-1 γυμνὸν .. ἄτερ] For the pleonasm, see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 5.

465. mvp-comment-317-1 'Which he won for a glorious garland of renown.' ὧν is an appositional genitive. Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.

466. mvp-comment-318-1 ἀλλὰ δῆτ'] Cp. Phil. 1352, ἀλλ᾽ εἰκάθω δῆτα;

467. mvp-comment-319-1 μόνος μόνοις] 'In single opposition' = οἰόθεν οἷος. The word is repeated for emphasis, without weighing the exact meaning. E. on L. § 44. p. 83 foll. Cp. Shak. Cor. 1. 4. 'He is himself alone, | To answer all the city.'

469. mvp-comment-320-1 Ajax, who has withdrawn from battle out of resentment against the Atreidae, cannot stultify himself in his last act of all.

471. mvp-comment-321-1 τοιάδ᾽, ἀφ᾿ ἧς] Cp. Phil. 17, τοιάδ᾽, ἵν᾽ ἐν ψύχει, κ.τ.λ.

472. mvp-comment-322-1 The use of μή is occasioned by the notion of purpose which pervades the sentence. φύσιν γ'] 'In my real nature,' though I am a craven in their estimation who have placed me beneath Odysseus. For similar emphatic use of φύσιν, cp. O. C. 270, πῶς ἐγὼ κακὸς φύσιν;

473. mvp-comment-323-1 He has sufficiently indicated his intention of suicide, and now gives his reason for it. τοῦ μακροῦ.. βίου] The article is added as with words of number or quantity. Cp. Ο. Τ. 518, βίου τοῦ μακραίωνος, and for the sentiment, Fr. 867, ὅστις γὰρ ἐν κακοῖσιν ἱμείρει βίου, ἢ δειλός ἐστιν ἡ δυσάλγητος φρένας : Plato, Phaedo 117 Α, γέλωτα ὀφλήσειν παρ᾿ ἐμαυτῷ, γλιχόμενος τοῦ ζῆν καὶ φειδόμενος, οὐδενὸς ἔτι ἐνόντος.

474. mvp-comment-324-1 'Who in a life of evils finds no release from them.' κακοῖσιν is dative of circumstance. (E. on L. § 14. p. 20 a.) Cp. Eur. Suppl. 1042, τοῖς παρεστῶσιν κακοῖς. ἐξαλλάσσεται, sc. τῶν κακῶν.

475-476. mvp-comment-325-1 'For what pleasure is there in day following day? Can it add to or take away anything from death?' For the variation in παρ᾽ ἦμαρ ἡμέρα, cp. Ant. 596, γενεὰν γένος : Eur. Hec. 410, παρείαν .. παρηΐδι. The meaning is not here alternate days, but 'day after day,' i. e. the extension of time, 'To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow.' Cp. Shak. J. C. 3. 1, 'That we shall die, we know: 'tis but the time And drawing days out, that men stand upon.' τὸ κατθανεῖν is the fact, i.e. the certainty of death. The opposites προσθεῖσα κάν-αθεῖσα are both mentioned, although the latter only is in point. For this, cp. Ant. 39, λύουσ᾽ ἂν ἡ 'φάπτουσα; and for the disjunctive καί, Thuc. 5. 23, ἣν δέ τι δοκῇ.. προσθεῖναι καὶ ἀφελεῖν. For the meaning, cp. 'Come he slow or come he fast, It is but Death that comes at last.' Sir W. Sсотт, Lord of the Isles. Also El. 1485, 6, τί γὰρ βροτῶν ἂν σὺν κακοῖς μεμιγμένων | θνήσκων ὁ μέλλων τοῦ χρόνου κέρδος φέροι; As in Pind. Οl. 7. 110, ἂμ πάλον μέλλεν θέμεν, ἀνατιθέναι is here used in the sense of 'to retract,' in which ἀνατίθεσθαι often occurs. The absence of personal reference accounts for the active voice being preferred to the middle, as in supr. 449, ἐψήφισαν: infr. 1037, μηχανᾶν. Essay on L. § 31. p. 51 6. τί (or τι) is to be resumed with the second clause, 'What pleasure can time give, by retracting what (or anything)?' Other explanations of these difficult lines are the following :-(1) 'What joy can one day bring more than another, since it can only (ye) bring a man near to death and then reprieve him from it?' (2) 'What joy is brought by day succeeding day, since all that it can do is to add something of death or to defer it?' (3) 'What joy is there in days which alternately bring near and defer the doom of death?'

477. mvp-comment-326-1 οὐδενὸς λόγου] ‘At any valuation.'

478. mvp-comment-327-1 κεναῖσιν] 'Vain, because rendered fruitless by the certainty of death.'

479. mvp-comment-328-1 Cp. Il. 15. 511, where Ajax says, βέλτερον ἢ ἀπολέσθαι ἕνα χρόνον ἠὲ βιῶναι.

481. mvp-comment-329-1 ὑπόβλητον] 'False,' i.e. unreal and not your own. Supr. 189, εἰ δ᾽ ὑποβαλλόμενοι | κλέπτουσι μύθους, κ.τ.λ.

482. mvp-comment-330-1 ἀλλὰ τῆς σαυτοῦ φρενός] 'But one proceeding from your inmost thought.'

484. mvp-comment-331-1 γνώμης κρατήσαι] 'To overrule thy purpose.' Cp. supr. 448, γνώμης ἀπῇξαν τῆς ἐμῆς. In Phil. 972, δούς is used absolutely with dat. of the person for 'yielding to advice.' Cp. Trach. 1117, δός μοι σεαυτόν.

485. mvp-comment-332-1 This speech of Tecmessa's has a certain general resemblance to that of Andromache in Il. 6. 407 foll. τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης] 'Helpless misfortune.' ἀναγκαία τύχη is the crushing calamity that leaves its victim no chance of extricating himself. The phrase is touchingly expressive of Tecmessa's orphaned and captive state.

488. mvp-comment-333-1 εἴπερ τινός] The hypothetical clause εἴπερ τις is attracted, as a sort of pronoun, into the construction of the clause on which it depends. See E. on L. § 35. p. 60, and cp. ἔνιοι. So in O. C. 734, σθένουσαν.. εἴ τιν' Ἑλλάδος. For σθένοντος ἐν πλούτῳ, cp. Pind. Isthm. 3. 2, σθένει πλούτου; Eur. Εl. 939.

489. mvp-comment-334-1 που] 'I suppose.'

490. mvp-comment-335-1 μάλιστα] 'Above all.' The power of Ajax is more manifest to Tecmessa than that of the gods themselves, and she has learnt to adopt something of his bold way of speaking about them. Cp. infr. 950-3. She knows, too, that it is dangerous in his presence to acknowledge the gods as supreme over him. Cp. infr. 589, 90.

491. mvp-comment-336-1 τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον] Sc. σοί implied in τὸ σόν. 'Since I came to wedlock with thee.' εὐ φρονῶ τὰ σά] 'My thoughts are wholly for thy good.' As she is one with him, she feels that she has a right to speak of what concerns them both.

492-493. mvp-comment-337-1 πρός τ᾽ ἐφεστίου Διὸς | εὐνῆς τε τῆς σῆς] « By Zeus who has watched over our hearth, and by my union with thee.' Tecmessa's claim rests (1) on her having been admitted by Ajax himself to share his home; (2) on the yet closer tie which binds them together.

493. mvp-comment-338-1 'And by thy marriage bed wherein thou wast joined with me.' For τῆς σῆς, cp. Il. 18. 433; Od. 4. 333. ξυναλλάξασθαι is here 'to enter upon a new relation with.' Cp. especially Eur. Ι. Α. 1157, οὗ σοι καταλλαχθεῖσα, κ.τ.λ.

494. mvp-comment-339-1 μή μ᾿ ἀξιώσῃς] 'Have more regard for me than to let me.' βάξιν] For βάζειν, of ill-natured talk, cp. Hes. Op. 184, τοὺς δ᾽ ἄρα μέμψονται χαλεποῖς βάζοντες ἔπεσσι: (Eur.) Rhes. 718, ἑστίαν ᾿Ατρειδᾶν κακῶς | ἔβαζε.

495. mvp-comment-340-1 χειρίαν ἐφεὶς τινί] 'Letting me fall under the hand of some one.' Cp. infr. 1297, ἐφῆκεν ἐλλοῖς ἰχθύσιν διαφθοράν.

496. mvp-comment-341-1 εἰ γὰρ θάνῃς σύ] Cp. Ο. C. 1443, εἴ σου στερηθῶ. Some editors have unnecessarily changed ei to ᾖ. For ταύτῃ, in l. 497, without pronominal correlative, cp. Trach. 719, 20, κεῖνος εἰ σφαλήσεται, | ταύτῃ σὺν ὁρμῇ κἀμὲ συνθανεῖν ἅμα. The slight inexactness is here supplemented by the addition of τῇ τότε. ἀφῆς] Sc. ἡμᾶς.

499. mvp-comment-342-1 δουλίαν .. τροφήν] 'The life of slaves.' For the condition of the captive widow, cp. Od. 8. 526 foll. ἡ μὲν τὸν θνήσκοντα καὶ ἀσπαίροντ᾽ ἐσιδοῦσα, | ἀμφ᾿ αὐτῷ χυμένη λίγα κωκύει· οἱ δὲ τ' ὄπισθεν | κόπτοντες δούρεσσι μετάφρενον ἠδὲ καὶ ὤμους, | εἴρερον εἰσανάγουσι πόνον τ' ἐχέμεν καὶ ὀϊζύν· | τῆς δ᾽ ἐλεεινοτάτῳ ἄχεῖ φθινύθουσι παρειαί, and for that of the orphan, Il. 22. 490, ἦμαρ δ᾽ ὀρφανικὸν παναφήλικα, κ.τ.λ.

500. mvp-comment-343-1 πρόσφθεγμα here is what is spoken not to, but at or about a person.

501. mvp-comment-344-1 λόγοις ἰάπτων] 'Hitting with sharp words.' The construction follows the analogy of βάλλειν τινὰ λίθῳ.

502. mvp-comment-345-1 μέγιστον ἴσχυσε] 'Surpassed all men in might.' So the force of the aorist may be expressed.

503. mvp-comment-346-1 οἷας λατρείας] 'What a life of servitude.' The plural indicates the various menial actions included in λατρείας. ἀνθ᾽ ὅσου ζήλου] 'Instead of being so envied as she was.' ζῆλος in the sense of an envied condition occurs several times in Demosthenes. See L. and S. s. v.

504. mvp-comment-347-1 κἀμὲ μὲν δαίμων ἐλᾷ] ‘And I indeed shall go whither destiny shall drive me.' Tecmessa means to say that her lot, however terrible, matters little, but that the honour of Ajax and his race is in question.

508. mvp-comment-348-1 κληρούχον] 'Inheritress,' i. e. possessor. The specific word is used with a generic meaning. Essay on L. §52. p. 97.

510. mvp-comment-349-1 εἰ] 'To think how.' Essay on L. § 28. p. 46.

510-511. mvp-comment-350-1 νέας.. μόνος] ‘With his young life uncared for, bereaved of you, either (1) 'he will live his life' (see L. and S. s. v. διαφέρω), or (2) ‘he will be torn in pieces' (= διαφορηθήσεται). Against (1), which is the Scholiast's and Musgrave's interpretation, it may be urged that ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν = ' at the mercy of guardians,' is rather abrupt after διοίσεται in this sense, and that the only authority for this use of the middle voice of διαφέρω is Hippocrates, Art. 823: against (2), which is substantially Hermann's, it can only be said that strictly passive uses of οἴσομαι are rare. Hesychius and the ancient scholiast support (1). For (2) cp. Dem. contr. Steph. p. 1120, 64, ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἀπώλετ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, οὐχ ἥκιστα ὑπὸ τούτου καὶ τῶν τοιούτων διαφορηθείς. For νέα τροφή, cp. Ο. C. 345, 6, ἐξ ὅτου νέας | τροφῆς ἔληξε καὶ κατίσχυσεν δέμας.

512. mvp-comment-351-1 ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν μὴ φίλων] Tecmessa bitterly remarks that the only guardians of Eurysaces' orphanhood will not be true guardians, but enemies. ὅσον κακόν, κ.τ.λ.] These words resume the suppressed antecedent of the hypothetical clause, εἰ νέας, κ.τ.λ.

516. mvp-comment-352-1 'And another doom,' etc.; i.e. they were not slain in the destruction of the city. Cp. II. 6. 428. The correction from καὶ μητέρ᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἡ το καὶ μητέρ᾽ ἄλλη, is not without MS. authority, and is every way necessary; above all as Sophocles thus avoids making Ajax the slayer of Tecmessa's parents. But Hermann's suggestion that a line may have dropped out between 515 and 516, deserves consideration. As he points out, dé rather than καί would seem to be the natural conjunction as the sentence stands.

517. mvp-comment-353-1 θανασίμους is proleptic: 'Laid them low in death and made them inhabitants of the unseen world.'

518-519. mvp-comment-354-1 τίς . . πλοῦτος] « What home or what wealth could be mine instead of you?'

518. mvp-comment-355-1 can e'er be mine to compensate for thee? What fortune?'

519. mvp-comment-356-1 ἐν σοὶ πᾶσ᾽ ἔγωγε σώζομαι] 'My hopes all rest on thee.' For this use of wâs, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 38; and cp. supr. 275.

520. mvp-comment-357-1 Tecmessa, from l. 505 onwards, has tried to put herself out of sight, and to move Ajax by appealing to other interests. But in concluding she returns to the direct personal appeal with which she began. And when this fails to rouse him, she even ventures a word of affectionate reproach.

525-526. mvp-comment-358-1 For av repeated, see Essay on L. § 27. p. 46 e.

527-528. mvp-comment-359-1 The alliteration with T helps to express harshness here. Ajax will not own to feeling pity for Tecmessa, but catches at the word αἰνοίης.

528. mvp-comment-360-1 ἐὰν.. τολμᾷ] Ajax is not thinking of the fears which Tecmessa presently expresses. He simply means, 'I am ready enough to praise her if instead of weak complaints she will bring herself to do what I command.'

531. mvp-comment-361-1 'Oh, it was in my terror-I conveyed him out of the way.' Tecmessa is divided between obedience and fear, and interposes an excuse. The particles, καὶ μὴν.. γε, call attention to something which tends to limit or delay compliance. 'Why, so I can, Sir, but-' (Othello, 3. 4). Cp. Ο. Τ. 749, καὶ μὴν ὀκνῶ μέν: infr. 539.

532. mvp-comment-362-1 By using the general word κακοῖσιν, Ajax avoids specifying the evil, which is too manifest. τί μοι λέγεις;] 'What mean you, pray?' Cp. O. T. 954, τί μοι λέγει; μοι here expresses impatience.

533. mvp-comment-363-1 Tecmessa cannot withhold the truth from Ajax. Cp. supr. 315.

534. mvp-comment-364-1 'That truly would have been in character with my destiny.' The descriptive genitive (= πρὸς δαίμονος τουμοῦ) takes the place of the more usual dative after the participle. Cp. Plat. Polit. 271 Ε, τῆς τοιαύτης .. κατακοσμήσεως ἑπόμενα.

535. mvp-comment-365-1 'Well, my watchfulness did that service at any rate.' Join τοῦτο with ἀρκέσαι, ἱ.ε. τὸ μὴ θανεῖν σφε.

536. mvp-comment-366-1 ἐπῄνεσ'] For this use of the aorist, see Essay on L. § 32, 6. p. 55. Ajax still speaks as a master to a slave, but he feels to the full extent the service rendered in saving the life of his son.

537. mvp-comment-367-1 Tecmessa remains irresolute, till, in 540, Ajax' anger begins to rise.

540. mvp-comment-368-1 παρουσίαν ἔχειν = παρεῖναι. So in Ant. 237, ἔχεις ἀθυμίαν = ἀθυμεῖς, and supr. 139, ὅκνον ἔχω = ὀκνῶ.

541. mvp-comment-369-1 προσπόλων] For this partitive genitive, see Essay on L. § 10. p. 15.

542. mvp-comment-370-1 ὅσπερ κυρεῖς] These words indicate that the child cannot yet go alone.

543. mvp-comment-371-1 ἕρποντι] Sc. τῷ προσπόλῳ, i.e. 'Does he come when you speak?' Essay on L. § 42. p. 80 β. ἢ λελειμμένῳ λόγων] 'Or do your words not reach to him?'

545. mvp-comment-372-1 αἶρε δεῦρο] «Lift him hither.' Said to the attendant who brings in the child, and is to hand him to Ajax over the carcases of the sheep, etc. ταρβήσει γὰρ οὔ] Essay on L. § 41. p. 78 γ.

546. mvp-comment-373-1 For the late position of που, see Essay on L. § 26. p. 44. It is occasioned by the energy with which the emphatic words ταρβήσει.. οὗ are brought into prominence. Dindorf would read τοῦτόν γε, supposing the whole line to be an interpolation. But this is gratuitous, and the excision of the line leaves a sensible gap in the sense.

547. mvp-comment-374-1 δικαίως] 'Truly;' i. e. 'in a manner rightly answering to the description.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 853, φανεί δικαίως ὀρθών: Trach. 1158, φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ. In this speech, as well as supr. 487 foll., there is a resemblance to the sixth Iliad (see esp. ll. 476-481).

548. mvp-comment-375-1 ἀλλά opposes what follows (though not in strict logic) to the preceding negative. ὠμοῖς .. ἐν νόμοις πατρὸς .. πωλοδαμνεῖν] Το train him, like a young colt, in his father's rugged ways.' For ὠμοῖς, cp. supr. 205, ὠμοκρατής, and note. And for νόμοις, Ant. 191, τοιοῖσδ᾽ ἐγὼ νόμοισι τήνδ' αὔξω πόλιν. Essay on L. § 47. p. 88.

549. mvp-comment-376-1 κἀξομοιοῦσθαι φύσιν] ‘And that he should have his nature framed by mine.' For the change of subject, see Essay on L. § 36. p. 65 d.

552. mvp-comment-377-1 καὶ νῦν] · Even now, before your lot in life has been determined for good or evil.'

553. mvp-comment-378-1 'That you have no perception of this misery.'

554. mvp-comment-379-1 This line, although quite possibly Sophoclean, has the appearance of a marginal quotation rather than of an integral portion of the text of this passage. It is probably from some lost play, and should be placed amongst the fragments of Greek tragic poetry.

556-557. mvp-comment-380-1 δεῖ σ᾽ ὅπως .. δείξεις] «You must find some way of showing.' The same construction recurs in Phil. 55, τὴν Φιλοκτήτου σε δεῖ | ψυχὴν ὅπως λόγοισιν ἐκκλέψεις λέγων.

557. mvp-comment-381-1 ἐν ἐχθροῖς] For the use of ἐν, cp supr. 366, and note.

558. mvp-comment-382-1 κούφοις πνεύμασιν βόσκου] 'Be nourished by gentle breezes,' like a sapling in a sheltered spot. Plants were supposed to feed upon the air. Dio Chrys. Orat. 12, 30 (quoted by Lobeck), τρεφόμενοι τῇ διηνεκεῖ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπιρροῇ, ἀέρα ὑγρὸν ἕλκοντες, ὥστε νήπιοι παῖδες. Cp. Trach. 144 foll. τὸ γὰρ νέαζον ἐν τοιοῖσδε βόσκεται | χώροισιν, κ.τ.λ.

559. mvp-comment-383-1 χαρμονήν is accus. in apposition. Essay on L. § 17. p. 25 d.

562. mvp-comment-384-1 τοῖον, κ.τ.λ.] Essay on L. § 22. p. 36. 3. The absence of the demonstrative ending ( τοιόνδε or τοιοῦτον) may arise from the fact that Teucer is absent, and that Ajax is speaking of the future.

562. mvp-comment-384-2 ἀμφί σοι] Τo protect thee.' ἀμφί as in ἀμφιβαίνειν, etc.

563. mvp-comment-385-1 τροφῆς ἄοκνον] 'Unfaltering in care for thee.' τροφῆς is gen. of respect. Essay on L. § 9. p. 13, 3. ἔμπα κεἰ] ἔμπα does not occur elsewhere in Attic Greek. Cp. Pind. N. 4. 58, ἔμπα, καί περ ἔχει, κ.τ.λ.

564. mvp-comment-386-1 τηλωπός] 'Far away.' The latter part of the compound is subordinated. οἰχνεῖ] 'He is wandering.' οἰχνέω, as a derivative of οἴχομαι, seems to have a frequentative force. θήραν ἔχων] · Engaged in pursuit.' A periphrasis like ἔχομεν στοναχάς, supr. 203.

565. mvp-comment-387-1 Confident in the return of Teucer, Ajax bids his comrades give this charge to him. They recall the fact afterwards, l. 990. He also urges them to do their part, l. 566.

566. mvp-comment-388-1 κοινήν] i.e. 'As well as to him.'

569. mvp-comment-389-1 Ἐριβοíą λέγω] Sc ὅπως δείξει. This has been unnecessarily altered to Ἐριβοίαν λέγω. Ajax dwells affectionately on his mother's name. Eurysaces is to honour her, and not Hesione. Cp. Pind. Isthm. 5 (6). 65, παῖδα θρασὺν ἐξ Εριβοίας.

571. mvp-comment-390-1 μέχρις οὐ, or μέχρι οὗ, occurs in Hdt. 1. 180; 2. 19, where the phrase has the force of a single word. This may suggest a possible excuse for the appearance of a divided anapaest, which has caused the rejection of the line in some edd. It may possibly have been interpolated or quoted ( cp. supr. 554) to supplement the vague use of εἰσαεί. But the words are impressive, and the alleged flaw may be remedied by reading ἕως or ἔστ᾽ ἄν for μέχρις οὗ.

572. mvp-comment-391-1 ἀγωνάρχαι] 'Presidents of contest,' such as the Atreidae had been.

573. mvp-comment-392-1 θήσουσ'] Sc. ὡς ἆθλα. The future follows ὅπως, supr. 567. ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός] On this position of the possessive pronoun, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37.

574. mvp-comment-393-1 αὐτό] The pronoun anticipates σάκος, which, as the most important piece of armour, is contained in τεύχη. For similar uses of αὐτός, cp. Plat. Soph. 256 D, ὁμολογήσαντες αὐτὰ εἶναι πέντε: 263 Ε, καὶ μὴν ἐν λόγοις αὐτὸ ἴσμεν ὅν. ἐπώνυμον] · Whence thou art named.'

575-576. mvp-comment-394-1 The epithet shows that the πόρπαξ was not of metal, but of embroidered leather. Cp. Eur. Tro. 1196, ὡς ἡδὺς ἐν πόρπακι σὸς κεῖται τύπος.

577. mvp-comment-395-1 κοινά may be either (1) adverbial. as in Ant. 546, μή μοι θάνῃς σὺ κοινά, or (2) predicative, agreeing with τεύχη, probably the latter (2).

579. mvp-comment-396-1 ἐπισκήνους] 'Before the tent,' = ἐπὶ σκηναῖς, supr. 3, and so 'in public.'

580. mvp-comment-397-1 φιλοίκτιστον] i.e. φιλοῦν τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι, in the sense of inviting commiseration. 'A woman is a very tearful creature.'

581. mvp-comment-398-1 'To whine faint charms over a wound that cries out for the knife.' The desiderative, = τομὴν αἰτοῦντι, here implies the passive meaning of the verbal noun. For the use of charms in assisting surgery, cp. Od. 19. 456-8, ὠτειλὴν δ' Ὀδυσῆος ἀμύμονος, ἀντιθέσιο, | δῆσαν ἐπισταμένως· ἐπαοιδῇ δ᾽ αἷμα κελαινὸν | ἔσχεθον· αἶψα δ' ἵκοντο φίλου πρὸς δώματα πατρός.

583. mvp-comment-399-1 τήνδε τὴν προθυμίαν] ‘This earnest haste,' viz. the impatience of Ajax to be alone. Cp. supr. πύκαζε θάσσον.

586. mvp-comment-400-1 μὴ κρίνε] 'Interrogate not.' Sc. με. Cp. Ant. 399 and note. σωφρονεῖν καλόν) 'Discretion is the better part.' One of the gruff maxims ( βαῖ, ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα, supr. 292) with which Ajax checks the importunity of Tecmessa's affection. Cp. Il. 6. 490, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε.

587. mvp-comment-401-1 καί σε] The conjunction here has a strong pleading force. 'Nay, I entreat thee,' etc. For a somewhat similar transition with καί, cp. supr. 11, καί σ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴσω τῆσδε, κ.τ.λ.

588. mvp-comment-402-1 προδοὺς .. γένῃ] 'Be guilty of forsaking us.' Phil. 773, μὴ σαυτόν θ' ἅμα | κἄμ', ὄντα σαυτοῦ πρόστροπον, κτείνας γένῃ.

589. mvp-comment-403-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς] 'You vex me exceedingly.' These words in Ajax, as in Creon, Ant. 573, show that his feelings are touched more deeply than he chooses to avow. ἐγὼ θεοῖς .. ἔτι] 'I am no longer bound to serve the gods in aught.' If the gods have cast Ajax off, then he 'owes them no subscription.' The position of the words ἐγὼ θεοῖς οὐδέν is very emphatic. Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. ἀρκεῖν, in the sense of praestare, governs an accusative here, as supr. 439,535.

593. mvp-comment-404-1 ξυνέρξετε] 'Shut us in.' This is said to the attendants ( supr. 544). They close the doors on Ajax, who is drawn in by the reversed ἐκκύκλημα. Tecmessa and Eurysaces, perhaps, remain upon the stage.

595. mvp-comment-405-1 ἄρτι] 'At this moment, of all others. Now all of a sudden.'

596. mvp-comment-406-1 While Ajax within the tent is silently whetting his sword ( infr. 820), the chorus express their longing for Salamis, his home and theirs, and their sorrow for the condition of their lord. 'What grief the news will cause to Telamon and Eriboea!' In this ode, the first stasimon, iambic, glyconic, and trochaic rhythms are combined...

596. mvp-comment-406-2 ὦ κλεινά] By an anachronism like that noticed in O. C. 58, ἔρεισμ' ᾿Αθηνῶν, the glory of Salamis is anticipated. Cp. also infr. 861, and note. In Hdt. 7. 143, Themistocles argues from the words ὦ θείη Σάλαμις, in the Pythian response, that the Athenians were to be victorious there.

596-597. mvp-comment-407-1 σὺ . . ναίεις] «Thou, I know, remainest.' που] The indefinite word is pathetically used of what they imagine but may not see. ἁλίπλακτος] There is little doubt of the propriety of this reading. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 307, θαλασσόπληκτον νῆσον Αίαντος. Yet ἁλίπλαγκτος might possibly mean 'wandered round by the billow.'

599. mvp-comment-408-1 The inhabitants of Salamis, which lay off Piraeus and in the 'cheer and comfort' of Athenian eyes, might well feel as if they were observed of all observers, and would have a still deeper feeling of pride and patriotism when, from 480 B.C. onwards, their native place became the eye of the world. περίφαντος may then be taken to imply the renown as well as the conspicuous position of the island.

600. mvp-comment-409-1 παλαιὸς ἀφ᾽ οὐ χρόνος] « Since many a long day.' This phrase takes the place of an adverb with εὐνῶμαι, or whatever is the principal verb.

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451–600

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ΧΟΡΟΣ.

Αἴας, ἔχειν σ᾽ ἂν οἶκτον ὡς κἀγὼ φρενὶ 525 θέλοιμ᾽ ἄν· αἰνοίης γὰρ ἂν τὰ τῆσδ᾽ ἔπη.

ΑΙΑΣ. καὶ κάρτ' ἐπαίνου τεύξεται πρὸς γοῦν ἐμοῦ, ἐὰν μόνον τὸ ταχθὲν εὐ τολμᾷ τελεῖν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ἀλλ᾽, ὦ φίλ' Αἴας, πάντ' ἔγωγε πείσομαι.

ΑΙΑΣ. κόμιζε νύν νῦν μοι παῖδα τὸν ἐμόν, ὡς ἴδω. 530

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. καὶ μὴν φόβοισί γ' αὐτὸν ἐξελυσάμην.

ΑΙΑΣ. ἐν τοῖσδε τοῖς κακοῖσιν, ἢ τί μοι λέγεις;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. μὴ σοί γέ που δύστηνος ἀντήσας θάνοι.

ΑΙΑΣ. πρέπον γέ τἂν ἦν τὴν ἂν γέ τ᾽ ἂν ἦν δαίμονος τοὐμοῦ τόδε.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐγὼ 'φύλαξα φυλάξω φύλαξα τοῦτό γ᾽ ἀρκέσαι. 535

ΑΙΑΣ. ἐπῄνεσ᾽ ἔργον καὶ πρόνοιαν ἣν ἔθου.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. τί δῆτ᾽ ἂν ὡς ἐκ τῶνδ᾽ ἂν ὠφελοῖμί σε;

ΑΙΑΣ. δός μοι προσειπεῖν αὐτὸν ἐμφανῆ τ᾿ ἰδεῖν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. καὶ μὴν πέλας γε om. add. προσπόλοις φυλάσσεται φυλάσεται φυλάσσεται.

ΑΙΑΣ. τί δῆτα μέλλει μὴ οὐ παρουσίαν ἔχειν ; 540

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ὦ παῖ, πατὴρ καλεῖ σε. δεῦρο προσπόλων ἄγ᾿ αὐτὸν ὅσπερ χερσὶν εὐθύνων κυρεῖς.

ΑΙΑΣ. ἕρποντι φωνεῖς, ἢ λελειμμένῳ οὐκ ἀκούοντι λόγων λόγων?

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. καὶ δὴ κομίζει προσπόλων ὅδ' ὧδ᾽ ὃδ' ἐγγύθεν.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

δέδοικ᾿ ἀκούων τήνδε τὴν προθυμίαν. οὐ γάρ μ' ἀρέσκει γλῶσσά σου τεθηγμένη.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ὦ δέσποτ᾿ Αἴας, τί ποτε δρασείεις φρενί; 585

ΑΙΑΣ. μὴ κρῖνε, μὴ ᾿ξέταζε· σωφρονεῖν καλόν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. οἴμ᾿ ὡς ἀθυμῶ· καί σε πρὸς τοῦ σοῦ τέκνου καὶ θεῶν ἱκνοῦμαι μὴ προδοὺς ἡμᾶς γένῃ.

ΑΙΑΣ. ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς, οὐ κάτοισθ᾽ ἐγὼ θεοῖς ὡς οὐδὲν ἀρκεῖν εἴμ᾿ ὀφειλέτης ἔτι; 590

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. εὔφημα φώνει.

ΑΙΑΣ. τοῖς τοῦς τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ἀκούουσι λέγε.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. σὺ δ᾽ οὐχὶ πείσει;

ΑΙΑΣ. πόλλ᾽ ἄγαν ἤδη θροεῖς.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ταρβῶ γάρ, ὧναξ.

ΑΙΑΣ. οὐ ξυνέρξεθ᾽ ξυνέρχεσθ' συνέρξεθ᾽ συνέρξεσθ' ξυνέξερθ' ὡς τάχος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. πρὸς θεῶν, μαλάσσου.

ΑΙΑΣ. μῶρά μοι δοκεῖς δωξεισ δοκεῖς φρονεῖν λέγειν, εἰ τοὐμὸν ἦθος ἄρτι παιδεύειν νοεῖς. 595

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

στρ.ά. ὦ κλεινὰ Σαλαμίς, σὺ μέν που ναίεις ἁλίπλακτος ἁλίπλαγκτος ἁλίπλακτος εὐδαίμων, πᾶσιν πᾶσι περίφαντος ἀεί·

From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell, That utterance came, and none have prompted thee. Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind.

CH

Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine 525 With pity; then her words would win thy praise.

AI My praise she shall not miss, if she perform My bidding with firm heart, and fail not here.

TEC Dear Aias, I will fail in nought thou bidst me.

AI Bring me my boy, that I may see his face. 530

TEC Oh, in my terror I conveyed him hence!

AI Clear of this mischief, mean’st thou? or for what?

TEC Lest he might run to thee, poor child, and die.

AI That issue had been worthy of my fate!

TEC But I kept watch to fence his life from harm. 535

AI ’Twas wisely done. I praise thy foresight there.

TEC Well, since ’tis so, how can I help thee now?

AI Give me to speak to him and see him near.

TEC He stands close by with servants tending him.

AI Then why doth he not come, but still delay? 540

TEC Thy father calls thee, child. Come, lead him hither, Whichever of you holds him by the hand.

AI Moves he? or do thine accents idly fall?

TEC See, where thy people bring him to thine eye.

AI

CH

There sounds a vehement ardour in thy words That likes me not. I fear thy sharpened tongue.

TEC Aias, my lord, what act is in thy mind? 585

AI Inquire not, question not; be wise, thou’rt best.

TEC How my heart sinks! Oh, by thy child, by Heaven, I pray thee on my knees, forsake us not!

AI Thou troublest me. What! know’st thou not that Heaven Hath ceased to be my debtor from to-day? 590

TEC Hush! Speak not so.

AI Speak thou to those that hear.

TEC Will you not hear me?

AI Canst thou not be still?

TEC My fears, my fears!

AI (). Come, shut me in, I say.

TEC Oh, yet be softened!

AI ’Tis a foolish hope, If thou deem’st now to mould me to thy will. 595

CHORUS CHORUS.

AI Enter Aias with a bright sword, and Tecmessa , severally.

Wohl Keiner sagt, Herr, daß ein Wort, fremdher entlehnt, 460 Du mir geredet; nein, es kam aus deiner Brust. Doch laß es gut sein, laß von deiner Freunde Rath Dein Herz bezwingen, und verbanne diesen Gram.

Der Chor.

Ich wollte, Mitleid wohnte dir im Busen, Herr, Wie mir; gewiß, du lobtest, was dir diese rieth. 505

Ajas. Und sicher wird ihr hohes Lob von mir zu Theil, Wofern sie nur willfährig mein Gebot erfüllt.

Tekmessa. In Allem, Ajas, theurer Mann, gehorch' ich dir.

Αἴας, ἔχειν σ᾽ ἂν οἶκτον ὡς κἀγὼ φρενὶ
525

θέλοιμ᾽ ἄν· αἰνοίης γὰρ ἂν τὰ τῆσδ᾽ ἔπη.

ΑΙΑΣ.

καὶ κάρτ' ἐπαίνου τεύξεται πρὸς γοῦν ἐμοῦ,

ἐὰν μόνον τὸ ταχθὲν εὐ τολμᾷ τελεῖν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ φίλ' Αἴας, πάντ' ἔγωγε πείσομαι.

ΑΙΑΣ.

κόμιζε νύν νῦν μοι παῖδα τὸν ἐμόν, ὡς ἴδω.
530

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

καὶ μὴν φόβοισί γ' αὐτὸν ἐξελυσάμην.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἐν τοῖσδε τοῖς κακοῖσιν, ἢ τί μοι λέγεις;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

μὴ σοί γέ που δύστηνος ἀντήσας θάνοι.

ΑΙΑΣ.

πρέπον γέ τἂν ἦν τὴν ἂν γέ τ᾽ ἂν ἦν δαίμονος τοὐμοῦ τόδε.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐγὼ 'φύλαξα φυλάξω φύλαξα τοῦτό γ᾽ ἀρκέσαι.
535

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἐπῄνεσ᾽ ἔργον καὶ πρόνοιαν ἣν ἔθου.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

τί δῆτ᾽ ἂν ὡς ἐκ τῶνδ᾽ ἂν ὠφελοῖμί σε;

ΑΙΑΣ.

δός μοι προσειπεῖν αὐτὸν ἐμφανῆ τ᾿ ἰδεῖν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

καὶ μὴν πέλας γε om. add. προσπόλοις φυλάσσεται φυλάσεται φυλάσσεται.

ΑΙΑΣ.

τί δῆτα μέλλει μὴ οὐ παρουσίαν ἔχειν ;
540

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ὦ παῖ, πατὴρ καλεῖ σε. δεῦρο προσπόλων

ἄγ᾿ αὐτὸν ὅσπερ χερσὶν εὐθύνων κυρεῖς.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἕρποντι φωνεῖς, ἢ λελειμμένῳ οὐκ ἀκούοντι λόγων λόγων?

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

καὶ δὴ κομίζει προσπόλων ὅδ' ὧδ᾽ ὃδ' ἐγγύθεν.

δέδοικ᾿ ἀκούων τήνδε τὴν προθυμίαν.

οὐ γάρ μ' ἀρέσκει γλῶσσά σου τεθηγμένη.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ὦ δέσποτ᾿ Αἴας, τί ποτε δρασείεις φρενί;
585

ΑΙΑΣ.

μὴ κρῖνε, μὴ ᾿ξέταζε· σωφρονεῖν καλόν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

οἴμ᾿ ὡς ἀθυμῶ· καί σε πρὸς τοῦ σοῦ τέκνου

καὶ θεῶν ἱκνοῦμαι μὴ προδοὺς ἡμᾶς γένῃ.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς, οὐ κάτοισθ᾽ ἐγὼ θεοῖς

ὡς οὐδὲν ἀρκεῖν εἴμ᾿ ὀφειλέτης ἔτι;
590

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

εὔφημα φώνει.

ΑΙΑΣ.

τοῖς τοῦς τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ἀκούουσι λέγε.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

σὺ δ᾽ οὐχὶ πείσει;

ΑΙΑΣ.

πόλλ᾽ ἄγαν ἤδη θροεῖς.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ταρβῶ γάρ, ὧναξ.

ΑΙΑΣ.

οὐ ξυνέρξεθ᾽ ξυνέρχεσθ' συνέρξεθ᾽ συνέρξεσθ' ξυνέξερθ' ὡς τάχος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

πρὸς θεῶν, μαλάσσου.

ΑΙΑΣ.

μῶρά μοι δοκεῖς δωξεισ δοκεῖς φρονεῖν λέγειν,

εἰ τοὐμὸν ἦθος ἄρτι παιδεύειν νοεῖς.
595

στρ.ά. ὦ κλεινὰ Σαλαμίς, σὺ μέν που

ναίεις ἁλίπλακτος ἁλίπλαγκτος ἁλίπλακτος εὐδαίμων,

πᾶσιν πᾶσι περίφαντος ἀεί·

From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell,

That utterance came, and none have prompted thee.

Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends

Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind.

Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine
525

With pity; then her words would win thy praise.

AI

My praise she shall not miss, if she perform

My bidding with firm heart, and fail not here.

TEC

Dear Aias, I will fail in nought thou bidst me.

AI

Bring me my boy, that I may see his face.
530

TEC

Oh, in my terror I conveyed him hence!

AI

Clear of this mischief, mean’st thou? or for what?

TEC

Lest he might run to thee, poor child, and die.

AI

That issue had been worthy of my fate!

TEC

But I kept watch to fence his life from harm.
535

AI

’Twas wisely done. I praise thy foresight there.

TEC

Well, since ’tis so, how can I help thee now?

AI

Give me to speak to him and see him near.

TEC

He stands close by with servants tending him.

AI

Then why doth he not come, but still delay?
540

TEC

Thy father calls thee, child. Come, lead him hither,

Whichever of you holds him by the hand.

AI

Moves he? or do thine accents idly fall?

TEC

See, where thy people bring him to thine eye.

There sounds a vehement ardour in thy words

That likes me not. I fear thy sharpened tongue.

TEC

Aias, my lord, what act is in thy mind?
585

AI

Inquire not, question not; be wise, thou’rt best.

TEC

How my heart sinks! Oh, by thy child, by Heaven,

I pray thee on my knees, forsake us not!

AI

Thou troublest me. What! know’st thou not that Heaven

Hath ceased to be my debtor from to-day?
590

TEC

Hush! Speak not so.

AI

Speak thou to those that hear.

TEC

Will you not hear me?

AI

Canst thou not be still?

TEC

My fears, my fears!

AI

(). Come, shut me in, I say.

TEC

Oh, yet be softened!

AI

’Tis a foolish hope,

If thou deem’st now to mould me to thy will.
595

CHORUS
CHORUS.

AI
Enter Aias with a bright sword, and Tecmessa , severally.

Wohl Keiner sagt, Herr, daß ein Wort, fremdher entlehnt,
460

Du mir geredet; nein, es kam aus deiner Brust.

Doch laß es gut sein, laß von deiner Freunde Rath

Dein Herz bezwingen, und verbanne diesen Gram.

Ich wollte, Mitleid wohnte dir im Busen, Herr,

Wie mir; gewiß, du lobtest, was dir diese rieth.
505

Ajas.

Und sicher wird ihr hohes Lob von mir zu Theil,

Wofern sie nur willfährig mein Gebot erfüllt.

Tekmessa.

In Allem, Ajas, theurer Mann, gehorch' ich dir.

Ajas.

So bringe meinen Knaben mir, ich will ihn sehn.

Tekmessa.

In banger Sorge hab' ich ihn hinweggebracht.
510

Ajas.

In meinem Leid hier? Oder was besorgtest du?

Tekmessa.

Er finde, dir begegnend, jammervollen Tod.

Ajas.

Dazu mich treiben konnte wohl mein böser Geist.

Tekmessa.

Dies abzuwehren, gab ich ihn in treue Hut.

Ajas.

Die That, die Vorsicht lob' ich, die du hier geübt.
515

Tekmessa.

Und welchen Dienst denn kann ich dir noch weiter thun?

Ajas.

Laß mich den Sohn anreden, ihm in's Auge seh'n.

Tekmessa.

Unfern von hier bewahren unsre Diener ihn.

Ajas.

Was säumt er also, daß er nicht sogleich erscheint?

Tekmessa.

Mein Sohn, der Vater ruft dich. Bring' ihn uns heran
520

Der Diener, der ihn eben an den Händen führt!