Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

751–900

Join δεξιὰν θείς.

παντοίᾳ τέχνῃ] 'By all manner of means:' to be joined with εἶρξαι.

κατ᾿ ἡμαρ.. τόδε] 'For the day whose light is with us now and here,' i. e. to-day.

ἀφέντα agrees with Τεύκρον, the subject of ἐᾶν.

τῇδε θήμέρᾳ is more probable, because simpler, than τῇδ' ἔθ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ.

ὡς ἔφη λέγων] · As his words declared.' The messenger is careful to make it clear that the assertion is the prophet's, and not his own. Cp. Creon in Ο. Τ. 110, ἐν τῇδ᾽ ἔφασκε γῇ. For this periphrasis, cp. Hdt. 1. 118, τῷ τε γὰρ πεποιημένῳ, ἔφη λέγων, ἐς τὸν παῖδα τοῦτον ἔκαμνον μεγάλως, κ.τ.λ. Abicht observes that it is commonly used, as here, in passing to direct speech from indirect.

τὰ.. περισσὰ κἀνόνητα σώματα] 'Men grown too great to be of profit.' Cp. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1. 2. 149, 50, 'Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, | That he is grown so great?' Ib. I. 1. 77, 8, 'These growing feathers plucked from Caesar's wing, | Will make him fly an ordinary pitch.'

ὅστις] · 'When any one.' Essay on L. § 22. p. 35, 2.

ἀνθρώπου φύσιν | βλαστών] 'Being but of human mould.' An unusual cognate accusative, to be partly accounted for by the frequent use of φύσιν as an accusative of respect. See Essay on L. § 17. p. 25; and cp. especially Trach. 1062, γυνὴ δέ, θήλυς οὖσα κοὐκ ἀνδρὸς φύσιν.

εὐθύς belongs in meaning to εὑρέθη in the following line.

πατρός may be either (1) genitive of derivation, 'A foolish son of a wisely speaking father,' for which, cp. Ant. 38, ἐσθλῶν κακή: or (2) genitive absolute, 'Foolish, although his father advised him well.' The former (1) is nearer to the truth.

αὐτὸν ἐννέπει] 'Charged him.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 350, ἐννέπω σέ, κ.τ.λ.

μὲν .. δ΄] The 'paratactic' structure (Essay on L. § 36. p. 68) gives additional emphasis.

ἐπισπάσειν] 'That I shall cull perforce,' as if plucking a branch from a tree. (Aesch. Pers. 475.) Cp. Shak. 1 Hen. IV. 1.3: 'Hot. By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap | To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon; | Or dive into the bottom of the deep, | Where fathom-line doth never touch the ground, | And pluck up drowned honour by the locks; | So he that doth redeem her thence might wear | Without corrival all her dignities.'

τοσόνδ' .. μύθον] 'So high the vaunt he uttered.' Cp. supr. 386, μηδὲν μέγ' εἴπῃς: 422, 3, ἔπος | ἐξερέω μέγα.

δίας ᾿Αθάνας] 'Regarding glorious Athena.' An extreme instance of the genitive of respect. Essay on L. § 9. p. 13, infr. 790, 792. The sentence is changed from δίας Αθάνας ότρυνούσης, or αὐδωμένης.

ηὐδᾶτ'] For αὐδᾶν, ‘to command,' cp. O. C. 864, αὐδῶ σιωπᾶν, and for the middle v. (of unasked, spontaneous utterance), Phil. 130, οὗ δῆτα, τέκνον, ποικίλως αὐδωμένου. δεινὸν ἄρρητόν τ' ἔπος] ' A fearfully impious word.'

καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς) 'In my part of the line; κατά, as in Hdt. 2. 121. § 4, ὡς δὲ κατὰ τοὺς φυλάσσοντας ἦν: Xen. Hell. 4. 2. 18, οἱ μὲν ᾿Αθηναῖοι κατὰ Λακεδαιμονίους ἐγένοντο. Hermann renders, 'Per me, quantum in me est,' which is rather = τὸ καθ' ἡμᾶς ( cp. Hdt. 7. 158). οὔποτ' ἐκρήξει] 'Shall never burst forth,' like a river breaking its banks. 'Postquam..duo acies manum aliquandiu conseruerunt, si alterutra subito in fugam se converterit, eleganter pugna ipsa, tanquam obicibus antea coërcita, in eam partem ἐκρήσσειν [ ἐκρῆξαι] dicatur.' Musgr. Cp. the Homeric πολέμοιο γέφυραι, in which the opposing armies are thought of as the sides of a torrent.

The correction suggested by Hermann, τοι for τοῖς, although not quite necessary (for τοιοίσδε might = τοιοίσδε πεφυκόσιν), is extremely probable.

ἀστεργῆ .. ὀργήν] • He hath won him the unenviable guerdon of the goddess' wrath.' ἀστεργῆ is more forcible when taken thus passively than if supposed to mean 'unloving,' which would add nothing to the notion of ὀργὴν. For ἐκτήσατο, of something bad, cp. especially Aesch. S. c. T. 1017 (of Polynices), ἄγος δὲ καὶ θανὼν κεκτήσεται.

The genitive αὐτοῦ shows that σωτήριοι has nearly the force of a substantive.

On this form of the senarius, generally marking some empressement, see above on l. 294. ἐξ ἔδρας] 'From where I sate,' viz. amongst the Achaeans who were looking on at the council.

τάσδ' ἐπιστολάς] 'This charge,' viz. that implied in supr. 753-5. Teucer remains to watch over his brother's interests in the assembly.

Τεύκρος]) The proper name is added after the article in further explanation. φυλάσσειν] The epexegetic infinitive is occasioned by the addition of Τεύκρος. εἰ δ᾽ ἀπεστερήμεθα] 'But if we are frustrated;' i. e. if the δαίμων of Ajax has prevented us from carrying out our intention. For ἀποστερεῖν of prevention, cp. Aesch. Suppl. 1063, Ζεὺς ἀποστεροίη γάμον. This meaning is more forcible, although less obvious, than that of Badham's ingenious conjecture, εἰ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑστερήκαμεν.

The idiomatic ἁνὴρ κεῖνος avoids the association of the name Alas with the ill-omened οὐκ ἔστιν.

'O cruelly vexed Tecmessa, born to woe!' The exact association conveyed in Sata is difficult to seize. Perhaps from meaning 'hostile,' it comes to mean 'treated as an enemy,' and so 'cruelly afflicted' by the gods.

'Come and see what news this man is telling.' Cp. Phil. 504, χρὴ δ᾽ ἐμὲ | σκοπεῖν ὅπως σου μηδὲν ἐξαμαρτήσω.

καὶ ποδῶν is added to define ἔργου further. Exeunt Chorus severally by the two side doors. Cp. supr. 805.

The scene is changed to a wooded place ( infr. 892) not far from the camp ( infr. 874-8), where Ajax is disclosed, somewhat retired, but so that both he and the projecting point of the sword which he has planted in the ground, are visible to the spectators.

ὁ.. σφαγεύς] Either (1) 'the slayer,' or (2) 'the sacrificer;' probably the former (1). ἕστηκεν .. ἄν] 'Stands so as he may prove most keen:' whetted not only with the grind-stone, but with the hate of Hector who gave it, the enmity of the Trojan soil in which it is fixed, the determined will of Ajax and his care in executing that will. The sword thus ordered cannot fail of its effect.

εἴ τῳ.. σχολή] These words mark Ajax' feeling of the extreme deliberateness of his act. After long repression he is at leisure not only to make elaborate preparations, but also to reason over what he is about to do. For the language, cp. Thuc. 2. 45, εἰ δέ με δεῖ καὶ γυναικείας τι ἀρετῆς . μνησθῆναι, βραχεία παραινέσει ἅπαν σημανῶ. The clause is rather to be connected with what follows than with what precedes. (Others would supply ἦν, and render 'If one had but time to make reflections'). The indefinite Te has an ironical effect, and also somewhat of solemnity, like the impersonal expression in Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 5. 1: 'O, that a man might know | The end of this day's business ere it come!'

ἀνδρὸς ὁρᾶν] 'Of Hector, who of men not Greek was by me most hated and abhorred.' ἀνδρός adds a touch of distinction to the name which follows. Cp El. 45, παρ᾿ ἀνδρὸς Φανοτέως ἥκων. By the addition of ξένων he reserves his chief hatred for the Argives.

The reading σιδηροβρώτηῃ is not impossible. Cp. Ο. Τ. 80, 1, τύχῃ ·· σωτῆρι, and note. The iteration of ἔπηξα after πέπηγε, supr. 819, strengthens our impression of the firmness with which the sword was fastened in the earth.

εὖ περιστείλας) 'Carefully securing it.' He had trodden the earth about it, as if planting a young tree.

εὐνούστατον..θανεῖν] 'So as most kindly to provide for me a speedy death,' εὐνούστατον is supplementary predicate with ἔπηξα. Essay on L. § 23, P. 38, § 38, p. 71. θανεῖν is epexegetic = ὥστε θανείν. Ajax has but two desires, that his death may be (1) certain, (2) swift. His preparation of the sword secures both ends in one.

οὕτω μὲν εὐσκευοῦμεν] 'So well provided with an instrument am I.' μέν is resumed from supr. 815.

καὶ γὰρ εἰκός] These words are characteristic of the indomitable hero, who, in his supreme hour, addresses the sovereign of the gods as his kinsman. ( Cp. supr. 387, προγόνων προπάτωρ.)

λαχεῖν, if the true reading, is epexegetic, the accusative γέρας being governed, primarily, by αἰτήσομαι. But λαβεῖν may be right. See v. rr.

κακὴν φάτιν] A rumour of evil sound. In the 'clairvoyance' of this moment Ajax imagines the effect which the news of his death would have on Teucer, as also, infr. 850, on his mother. It has been supposed that infr. 998, ὀξεῖα γὰρ .. θανών indicates the answer of Zeus to this prayer. But, although this is possible, such a rumour is sufficiently accounted for by what passes at supr. 749 foll., especially the words in l. 783, οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνηρ κεῖνος.

περί] Cp. infr. 899, φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής. νεορράντῳ] 'Then freshly streaming.' For this vivid touch, cp. infr. 898, ἀρτίως νεοσφαγής. He does not mention Tecmessa.

ῥιφθῶ .. ἕλωρ] 'I be cast forth, exposed to dogs and birds for a prey.'

'And that the leap wherewith I plunge this sword into my side may be swift and without a struggle.' πηδήματι has been interpreted of the involuntary spring upwards at the moment of the sword piercing the heart; but it is rather, more simply, the act of falling on the sword. Ajax prays that this may be unattended with convulsions, and may lead directly to the consummation.

ἀεὶ . . παρθένους] Cp. especially, Aesch. Eum. 69, 70, παλαιαὶ παῖδες, αἷς οὐ μίγνυται | θεῶν τις, οὐδ᾽ ἄνθρωπος, οὐδὲ θήρ ποτε.

Ср. О. С. 42, τὰς πάνθ᾽ ὁρώσας Εὐμενίδας, κ.τ.λ.

μαθεῖν] The inf. depends on the general notion in καλῶ, the full expression, καλῶ ἀρωγούς, being partly lost sight of.

See v. rr. The reasons for rejecting these four lines may be briefly given. The allusion to the death of Agamemnon, which is the chief point in them, interferes with the poetical simplicity of the passage, and is moreover not applicable to Menelaus. The emphatic use of αὐτοσφαγής in two different senses in the same line is awkward, and like an imitation. φίλιστος occurs nowhere else, and τώς not elsewhere in Sophocles; and ἐκγόνων seems to have arisen from a confusion of the death of Agamemnon with that of Clytemnestra, together with an attempt to include the fate of Odysseus. ¹

839 ff. καί σφας κακοὺς κάκιστα καὶ πανωλέθρους | ξυναρπάσειαν, ὥσπερ εἰσορῶσ' ἐμὲ | αὐτοσφαγῆι πίπτοντα, τὼς αὐτοσφαγεὶς | πρὸς τῶν φιλίστων ἐκγόνων ὀλοίατο LAL Pal. Vat. ac. (Variants: αὐτοσφαγῆ Α. αὐτοσφαγεῖσ CA. ἐκγονων L. καὐτοσφαγεῖς Pal. τως αὐτοσφαγεῖς Vat. ac. ὣς αὐτοσφαγεῖς V. ἐκγόνων Vat. a.)

'Flesh yourselves unsparingly on all the populous host.' μὴ φείδεσθε is introduced dià mésou. The πάνδημος στρατός of the Achaeans is contrasted with the Argive chiefs.

ἐπισχὼν .. ἡνίαν] ‘Checking thy rein.' Instead of saying ἐπέχειν ἅρμα, or ἵππους, the means, or more immediate object, is put into the accusative.

χρυσόνωτον] ‘Gilded,' viz, having the upper surface studded with gold.

ἄτας.. ἐμόν] 'My troubles and my fate.' This is not a mere pleonasm. The ἅται may include his first provocation of Athena as well as his wild actions since; the word μόρον is specially applicable to his death.

τῇ τε δυστήνῳ τροφῷ] Either (1) 'and the unhappy one who nursed my infancy;' or (2) 'and the unhappy one who tends on him.' According to (1) Ajax in thinking of his mother with special tenderness, speaks of her as the one who nursed him at her breast ( ἥ μ' ἔτεχ᾽, ἤ μ᾿ ἔθρεψε, Od. 2. 131.) According to (2) he is thinking of the dreary household at Salamis, where she who had been the wife of Telamon's youth was now the nurse of his declining years. Cp. Od. 24. 211, ἐν δὲ γυνὴ Σικελὴ γρηὺς πέλεν, ἤ ῥα γέροντα | ἐνδυκέως κομέεσκεν ἐπ᾿ ἀγροῦ, νόσφι πόληος.

Cp. Eur. Med. 1176, εἶτ' ἀντίμολπον ἡκεν ὀλολυγῆς μέγαν | κωκυτόν.

'But I have nought to do with vain laments for this.' οὐδὲν ἔργον, lit. 'It is no part of the business in hand.'

σὺν τάχει τινί] 'And that with speed.' The addition of the indefinite pronoun, as in ἀνύσας τι ('with something of haste'), has an effect of peremptoriness.

τὸ νῦν] By hypallage for τῆς νῦν, giving a lighter rhythm.

προσεννέπω is introduced by an expansion similar to that in Aesch. Prom. 91, καὶ τὸν πανόπτην κύκλον ἡλίου καλῶ, and then becomes the governing word.

κοὔποτ᾽ αὖθις] Sc. προσαυδήσω. Cp. Ant. 808, 9, νέατον δὲ φέγγος λεύσσουσαν ἀελίου | κοὔποτ᾽ αὖθις.

ὦ φέγγος] He passionately resumes his invocation (856-8), and as his heart goes forth with the universal sunlight, he again (as in 846) fixes his thoughts on home.

πατρῷον ἑστίας βάθρον] 'Hearth-stone of my sire.' See Essay on L. § 42. p. 80 γ.

κλειναί] Cp. supr. 596, and note. The glory of Athens, like that of Salamis, is anticipated.

τὸ σύντροφον γένος] 'And ye, her race, among whom I was brought up.' These words, in which Ajax adopts the Athenians as brethren of the Aeacidae, are well calculated to move the Athenian audience.

After bidding farewell to Salamis and Athens, he is returning to his purpose, when his eye falls on the fresh waters in which he has lately bathed ( supr. 654); and they remind him of his Trojan environment of the last ten years. To this also he bids an affectionate farewell.

The repetition of his own name by Ajax here is significant. Still conscious of his greatness, he imagines all Nature as moved at his departure.

Ajax having fallen upon his sword at the back of the proscenium, and the orchestra as well as the stage being otherwise vacant, the Chorus re-enter by the two side doors, the first ἡμιχορίον coming in on the spectator's left, as if from the east. Before the opening of the strophe, infr. 879, they have taken up their position in the orchestra.

'Toil upon toil brings only toil.' The dative here is partly governed by the verb. Cp. Eur. Hel. 195, δάκρυα δάκρυσί μοι φέρων. But in Eur. Phoen. 1496, φόνῳ φόνos, by an extension of the idiom, φόνῳ is simply = ἐπὶ φόνῳ.

'And no spot arrests me that I may share its secret.' Although the causative sense of the middle voice of ἐφίστημι is usually confined to the first aorist, this is not the case with other compounds of ἵστημι, e. g. καθίσταμαι; and in Trach. 339, τοῦ με τήνδ᾽ ἐφίστασαι βάσιν, the active or causative meaning is the most natural. See L. and S. s. v. ἐφίστημι, C. διίσταμαι occurs with active meaning only in Plat. Tim. 63 C, γεώδη γένη διϊστάμενοι. The force of the middle voice comes out if we complete the expression, ἐφίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν ἑαυτῷ. ἐπίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν can only mean 'is aware that I know what it knows.'

ἴδου] Cp. El. 1410, ἰδοὺ μάλ᾽ αὖ θροεῖ τις.

Either (1) with a comma after γε, as in the text, 'You hear our sound, your mates of the same ship's crew:' ἡμῶν governed by δοῦπον, and ὁμιλίαν (abstract for concrete) being placed in lax apposition with the preceding words. Or (2) with no stop, supplying κλύεις, 'What you hear is our company, your mates of the same ship's crew.'

'The coast to westward of the ships hath all been trodden.' πλευρόν, lit. 'the rib,' and hence figuratively the curve, or half-arc, on one side of the bay. νεῶν, not with πλευρόν, but with ἕσπερον, as a genitive of local relation.

ἀφ᾿ ἡλίου βολῶν] ‘Towards the sunrise;' according to the Greek idiom by which the point of sight is taken as a point of departure. Cp. Hdt. 1. 84, πρὸς τοῦ Τμώλου τετραμμένον, and see L. and S. s. ν. πρός, A. I. 2.

κέλευθον is accusative of the sphere of motion, Essay on L. § 16. p. 23 c, some such word as ἰοῦσιν being suggested by the context. δηλοῖ] Sc. τὸ ἐρευνώμενον. ‘Reveals the hidden truth by being found.' Ll. 866-878, which are recited before the Chorus have taken their places, are not antistrophic. Ll. 878-914, 925-960, are antistrophic according to the following scheme...

The correction of δή to δῆτα is necessary for the (dochmiac) metre. τις ἂν = πῶς ἄν τις; Cp. O. C. 1100, τίς ἂν θεῶν . . δοίη;

ἔχων] 'Employed in.' Cp. supr. 564, δυσμενῶν θήραν ἔχων.

Ὀλυμπιάδων θεᾶν], 'Nymphs of' (the Mysian) 'Olympus.'

Βοσπορίων ποταμών] ‘What flowing current of the Hellespont?' Cp. supr. 412, and note. The Hellespont with its various currents might be imagined as tenanted by many river-gods. ἴδρις, which follows these words in most MSS., but not in Mosq. ab., has nothing to correspond to it in the antistrophe, and is unnecessary to the sense.

τὸν ὠμόθυμον] Cp. supr. 205, and note.

εἴ ποθι.. λεύσσων] i. e. λεύσσων, εἴ ποθι λεύσσοι. See Essay on L. § 28. p. 47,3; and cp. Thuc. 1. 14. § 4.

σχέτλια] For the plural use, cp. Ε1. 230, τάδε γὰρ ἄλυτα κεκλήσεται.

τὸν .. πόνων] 'In this my long-continued wandering toil.'

'Should not arrive with favourable speed.' πελάσαι, sc. τῷ ζητουμένῳ.

"But mine eye should fail to find where he is, the vanished one." Although the ordinary sense of ἀμενηνός, ‘without force' ( ἀ-μένος), is sufficient here (cp. especially, Hom. H. Ven. 189-91, μή με ζῶντ᾽ ἀμενηνὸν ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ἐάσῃς ναίειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐλέαιρ᾽· ἐπεὶ οὐ βιοθάλμιος ἀνὴρ | γίγνεται, ὅστε, κ.τ.λ.), the context suggests the further association of 'a vanished life,' as if from α, μένω. See Essay on L. § 54. p. 100 c.

During the strophe, Tecmessa has entered unperceived at the back of the stage, and, still in shadow, raises a sudden cry. The Chorus do not at once see her.

The word νύμφη is chosen, as less definite than δάμαρ or ἄκοιτις, to denote the position of Tecmessa.

οἴκτῳ .. συγκεκραμένην] 'Steeped in the sorrow of that cry.' The look of Tecmessa convinces the Chorus that her whole being is fused in the sorrow which the cry conveyed. For the physical image, see Essay on L. § 56. p. 102: and cp. especially Ant. 1311, δειλαίᾳ . . συγκέκραμαι δύᾳ. τῷδε refers to ἰώ μοί μοι.

οἴχωκ᾽, ὄλωλα] The perfect gives a more absolute sense of completeness than οἴχομαι would give. διαπεπόρθημαι] For this image, which sums up Tecmessa's experience of calamity, cp. Aesch. Cho. 691, κατ' ἄκρας εἶπας ὡς πορθούμεθα.

'Lies heaped about his hidden sword.' The sword-point ( infr. 1025) lifts the garment of Ajax to an apex from which the folds descend. At 906 she has raised the edge of the garment, and is gazing at the mangled form beneath it. At 915, by a revulsion of feeling, she draws it (or perhaps her own veil) over him so as to cover him more completely than before. The point of the sword is hidden by the garment, the blade in the body, the hilt in the ground. For the language, cp. Pind. Nem. 8. 40, κεῖνος καὶ Τελαμῶνος δάψεν υἱὸν φασγάνῳ ἀμφικυλίσαις.

The first thought of the Chorus is for themselves.

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

Current edition Experimental

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.) — 865-936 focus

str. 1

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Τίς ἂν δῆτά μοι, τίς ἂν φιλοπόνων
865

880 ἁλιαδᾶν ἔχων ἀΰπνους ἄγρας

ἢ τίς Ὀλυμπιάδων θεῶν ἢ ῥυτῶν

Βοςπορίων ποταμῶν

885 ἴδρις, τὸν ὠμόθυμον εἰ ποθι

πλαζόμενον λεύσσων ἀπύοι; σχέτλια γὰρ
870

ἐμέ γε τὸν μακρῶν ἀλάταν πόνων

οὐρίῳ μὴ πελάσαι δρόμῳ,

890 ἀλλ’ ἀμενηνὸν ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν ὅπου.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

ἰώ μοί μοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Τινος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;
875

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Ἰὼ τλήμων.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Τὴν δουρίληπτον δύςμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

895 Τέκμησσαν οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Οἴχωκ’, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Τί δ’ ἔστιν;
880

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Αἴας ὅδ’ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

2

900 ὤ μοι ἐμῶν νόστων,

ὤ μοι, κατέπεφνες, ἄναξ,

τόνδε συνναύταν, ὦ τάλας,
885

ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Ὡς ὧδε τοῦδ’ ἔχοντος, αἰάζειν πάρα.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

905 Τίνος ποτ’ ἆρ’ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύςμορος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ, δῆλον· ὲν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδ’ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ
890

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Ὤ μοι ἐμᾶς ἄτας, οἶος ἄρ’ αἱμάχθης,

910 ἄφρακτος φίλων!

ἐγὼ δ’ ὁ πάντα κωφὸς, ὁ πάντ’ ἄϊδρις,

κατημέλησα· πᾷ, πᾴ

κεῖται ὁ ὅυςτράπελος, δυςώνυμος Αἴας;
895

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

915 Οὔ τοι θεατός· ἀλλά νιν περιπτυχεῖ

φάρει καλύψω τῷδε παμπήδην, ἐπεὶ

οὐδεὶς ἂν ὅστις καὶ φίλος τλαίη βλέπειν

φυσῶντ’ ἄνω πρὸς ῥῖνας ἔκ τε φοινίας

πληγῆς μελανθὲν αἷμ’ ἀπ’ οἰκείας σφαγῆς.
900

920 οἴ μοι, τί δράσω; τίς σε βαστάσει φίλων;

ποῦ Τεῦκρος; ὡς ἀκμαῖος, εἰ βαίη, μόλοι,

πεπτῶτ’ ἀδελφὸν τόνδε συγκαθαρμόσαι.

ὦ ὅύςμορ’ Αἴας, οἶος ὢν οἴως ἔχεις,

ὡς καὶ παρ’ ἐχθροῖς ἄξιος θρήνων τυχεῖν.
905

ant. 1

ΧΟΡΟΣ

925 ἔμελλες, τάλας, ἔμελλες χρόνῳ

στερεόφρων ἄρ’ ἐξανύσειν κακὰν

μοῖραν ἀπειρεσίων πόνων· τοῖά μοι

930 πάννυχα καὶ φαέθοντ’

ἀνεστέναζες, ὠμόφρων,
910

ἐχθοδόπ’ Ἀτρείδαις οὐλίῳ σὺν πάθει,

μέγας ἄρ’ ἦν ἐκεῖνος ἄρχων χρόνος

935 πημάτων, ἦμος ἀριστόχειρ

(Ἀχιλλέως) ὅπλων ἔκειτ’ ἀγὼν πέρι.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Ἰώ μοί μοι.
915

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Χωρεῖ πρὸς ἦπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

ἰώ μοι μοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

940 οὐδέν σ’ ἀπιστῶ καὶ δὶς οἰμῶξαι, γύναι,

τοιοῦδ’ ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν ἀρτίως φίλου.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτ’ ἔστ’, ἐμοὶ δ’ ἄγαν φρονεῖν.
920

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Ξυναυδῶ.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

οἴ μοι, τέκνον, πρὸς οἷα δουλείας ζυγὰ

945 χωροῦμεν, οἷοι νῷν ἐφεστᾶσι σκοποί.

2

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Ὤ μοι ἀναλγήτων

δισσῶν ἐθρόησας ἄναυδον
925

ἔργον Ἀτρειδᾶν τῷὸ ’ ἄχει,

ἀλλ’ ἀπείργοι θεός.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

950 Οὐκ ἂν τάδ’ ἔστη τῇδε μὴ θεῶν μέτα,

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Ἄγαν γ’ ὑπερβριθὲς ἄχθος ἤνυσαν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Τοιόνδε μέντοι Ζῆνός ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς
930

Πάλλας φυτεύει πῆμ’ Ὀδυσσέως χάριν.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

955 ἦ ῥα κελαινώπαν θυμὸν ἐφυβρίζει

πολύτλας ἀνὴρ,

γελᾷ δὲ τοῖςδε μαινομένοις ἄχεσιν

πολὺν γέλωτα, φεῦ, φεῦ,
935

960 ξύν τε διπλοί βασιλῆς κλύοντες Ἀτρεϊδαί.

Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 879-960 focus

str. 1

Χορός

τίς ἂν δῆτά μοι, τίς ἂν φιλοπόνων

ἁλιαδᾶν ἔχων ἀύπνους ἄγρας
880

ἢ τίς Ὀλυμπιάδων

θεᾶν, ἢ ῥυτῶν

¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵

Βοσπορίων ποταμῶν,

ἴδρις τὸν ὠμόθυμον εἴ
885

ποθι πλαζόμενον λεύσσων

ἀπύοι; σχέτλια γὰρ

ἐμέ γε τὸν μακρῶν ἀλάταν πόνων

οὐρίῳ μὴ πελάσαι δρόμῳ,

ἀλλʼ ἀμενηνὸν ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν ὅπου.
890

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

Τέκμησσα

ἰὼ τλάμων.

Χορός

τὴν δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

Τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην
895

Τέκμησσα

ᾤχωκʼ, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

Χορός

τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Τέκμησσα

Αἴας ὅδʼ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

Χορός

ὤμοι ἐμῶν νόστων·
900

ὤμοι, κατέπεφνες ἄμʼ, ὦναξ,

τόνδε συνναύταν, ὦ τάλας·

ὦ ταλαῖφρον γύναι.

Τέκμησσα

ὡς ὧδε τοῦδʼ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα.

Χορός

τίνος ποτʼ ἆρʼ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος;
905

Τέκμησσα

αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτοῦ· δῆλον. ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδʼ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

Χορός

ὤμοι ἐμᾶς ἄτας, οἶος ἄρʼ αἱμάχθης.

¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹²⁰²¹²²²³²⁴²⁵²⁶²⁷²⁸²⁹³⁰³¹³²³³³⁴³⁵

ἄφαρκτος φίλων·
910

ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ πάντα κωφός, ὁ πάντʼ ἄιδρις,

κατημέλησα. πᾷ πᾷ

κεῖται ὁ δυστράπελος δυσώνυμος Αἴας;

Τέκμησσα

οὔτοι θεατός· ἀλλά νιν περιπτυχεῖ
915

φάρει καλύψω τῷδε παμπήδην, ἐπεὶ

οὐδεὶς ἄν, ὅστις καὶ φίλος, τλαίη βλέπειν

φυσῶντʼ ἄνω πρὸς ῥῖνας ἔκ τε φοινίας

πληγῆς μελανθὲν αἷμʼ ἀπʼ οἰκείας σφαγῆς.

οἴμοι, τί δράσω; τίς σε βαστάσει φίλων;
920

ποῦ Τεῦκρος; ὡς ἀκμαῖʼ ἄν, εἰ βαίη, μόλοι

πεπτῶτʼ ἀδελφὸν τόνδε συγκαθαρμόσαι.

δύσμορʼ Αἴας, οἷος ὢν οἵως ἔχεις,

ὡς καὶ παρʼ ἐχθροῖς ἄξιος θρήνων τυχεῖν.

ant. 1

Χορός

ἔμελλες, τάλας, ἔμελλες χρόνῳ
925

στερεόφρων ἄρʼ ἐξανύσσειν κακὰν

μοῖραν ἀπειρεσίων

πόνων. τοῖά μοι

πάννυχα καὶ φαέθοντʼ

ἀνεστέναζες ὠμόφρων
930

ἐχθοδόπʼ Ἀτρείδαις

οὐλίῳ σὺν πάθει.

μέγας ἄρʼ ἦν ἐκεῖνος ἄρχων χρόνος

πημάτων, ἦμος ἀριστόχειρ

ὅπλων ἔκειτʼ ἀγὼν πέρι.
935

³⁶³⁷³⁸³⁹⁴⁰⁴¹⁴²⁴³⁴⁴⁴⁵⁴⁶

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

χωρεῖ πρὸς ἧπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

οὐδέν σʼ ἀπιστῶ καὶ δὶς οἰμῶξαι, γύναι,
940

τοιοῦδʼ ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν ἀρτίως φίλου.

Τέκμησσα

σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτʼ ἔστʼ, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἄγαν φρονεῖν.

Χορός

ξυναυδῶ.

Τέκμησσα

οἴμοι, τέκνον, πρὸς οἷα δουλείας ζυγὰ

χωροῦμεν, οἷοι νῷν ἐφεστᾶσι σκοποί.
945

Χορός

ὤμοι, ἀναλγήτων

δισσῶν ἐθρόησας ἄναυδον

ἔργον Ἀτρειδᾶν τῷδʼ ἄχει.

ἀλλʼ ἀπείργοι θεός.

Τέκμησσα

οὐκ ἂν τάδʼ ἔστη τῇδε, μὴ θεῶν μέτα.
950

Χορός

ἄγαν δʼ ὑπερβριθές γε τἄχθος ἤνυσαν.

Τέκμησσα

τοιόνδε μέντοι Ζηνὸς ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς

Παλλὰς φυτεύει πῆμʼ Ὀδυσσέως χάριν.

Χορός

ἦ ῥα κελαινώπαν θυμὸν ἐφυβρίζει
955

πολύτλας ἀνήρ,

γελᾷ δὲ τοῖσδε μαινομένοις ἄχεσιν

πολὺν γέλωτα, φεῦ φεῦ,

ξύν τε διπλοῖ βασιλῆς κλύοντες Ἀτρεῖδαι.
960

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 784 focus

ὦ δαΐα Τέκμησσα, δύσμορον γένος,

ὅρα ὅραι ὅρα μολοῦσα τόνδ᾽ τον. τόνδ' ὁποῖ᾽ ἔπη θροεῖ.
785

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

χωρεῖν ἑτοῖμος, κοὐ λόγῳ δείξω μόνον.

τάχος γὰρ ἔργου καὶ ποδῶν ἅμ᾽ ἔψεται.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ὁ μὲν σφαγεὺς ἕστηκεν ᾗ τομώτατος
815

γένοιτ᾿ ἄν, εἴ τῳ καὶ λογίζεσθαι σχολή,

δῶρον μὲν ἀνδρὸς Ἕκτορος ξένων ξέναν ξένων ἐμοὶ

μάλιστα μισηθέντος ἐχθίστου θ᾽ ὁρᾶν·

πέπηγε δ᾽ ἐν γῇ πολεμίᾳ τῇ Τρωάδι,

σιδηροβρῶτι σιδηροβρώτηι σιδηροβρῶτι θηγάνῃ νεηκονής·
820

ἔπηξα δ᾽ αὐτὸν εὐ περιστείλας ἐγώ,

εὐνούστατον τῷδ᾽ ἀνδρὶ διὰ τάχους θανεῖν.

οὕτω μὲν εὐσκευοῦμεν· ἐκ δὲ τῶνδέ μοι

σὺ πρῶτος, ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ γὰρ εἰκός, ἄρκεσον.

αἰτήσομαι δέ σ᾽ οὐ μακρὸν γέρας λαχεῖν γέρας λαβεῖν γέρας λαχεῖν λαχεῖν (γρ. λαβεῖν) γέρας.
825

πέμψον τιν ἡμῖν ἄγγελον, κακὴν φάτιν

Τεύκρῳ φέροντα, πρῶτος ὥς ὃσ ὡσ με βαστάσῃ

πεπτῶτα πεπταύτα πεπτῶτα τῷδε περὶ νεορράντῳ ξίφει,

καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἐχθρῶν του κατοπτευθεὶς πάρος

ῥιφθῶ κυσὶν κυσὶ πρόβλητος οἰωνοῖς θ᾽ τ' θ' ἕλωρ.
830

τοσαῦτά σ᾽, ὦ τοσαῦτά σ' ὦ τοσαῦτ᾽ ὦ πρὸσ ταῦτ᾽ ὦ τοσαῦτά σοι Ζεῦ, προστρέπω προ(σ)τρέπω προτρέπω, καλῶ δ᾽ ἅμα

πομπαῖον ῾Ἑρμῆν χθόνιον εὖ με κοιμίσαι,

ξὺν ἀσφαδάστῳ καὶ ταχεῖ πηδήματι

πλευρὰν διαρρήξαντα τῷδε φασγάνῳ.

καλῶ δ᾽ ἀρωγοὺς τὰς ἀεί τε παρθένους
835

ἀεί θ᾽ δ' ὁρώσας πάντα τἀν τἀμ' τὰ βροτοῖς πάθη,

σεμνὰς Ερινῦς τανύποδας, μαθεῖν ἐμὲ

ΑΙΑΣ.

πρὸς τῶν ᾿Ατρειδῶν ὡς διόλλυμαι τάλας.

ἴτ’ ἴτετ᾿ IT', ὦ ταχεῖαι ποίνιμοί τ' Ερινύες,

γεύεσθε, μὴ φείδεσθε, πανδήμου στρατοῦ.

σὺ δ᾽, ὦ τὸν αἰπὺν οὐρανὸν διφρηλατῶν
845

῞Ἥλιε, πατρῴαν τὴν ἐμὴν ὅταν χθόνα

ἴδῃς, ἐπισχὼν χρυσόνωτον ἡνίαν

ἄγγειλον ἄτας τὰς ἐμὰς μόρον τ᾿ ἐμὸν

γέροντι πατρὶ τῇ τε δυστήνῳ τροφῷ.

ἢ που τάλαινα, τήνδ᾽ ὅταν κλύῃ φάτιν,
850

ἥσει μέγαν κωκυτὸν ἐν πάσῃ πᾶσι πάσηι πάση πόλει.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ἔργον ταῦτα θρηνεῖσθαι μάτην,

ἀλλ᾽ ἀρκτέον τὸ πρᾶγμα σὺν τάχει τινί.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ὦ θάνατε Θάνατε, νῦν μ᾽ ἐπίσκεψαι μολών·

καίτοι σὲ μὲν κἀκεῖ προσαυδήσω ξυνών.
855

σὲ δ᾽, ὦ φαεννῆς ἡμέρας τὸ νῦν σέλας,

καὶ τὸν διφρευτὴν ῞Ηλιον προσεννέπω

πανύστατον δὴ κοὔποτ’ καὶ οὔποτ᾽ κοὔποτ᾿ αὖθις ὕστερον.

ὦ φέγγος, ὦ γῆς ἱερὸν οἰκείας πέδον

Σαλαμῖνος σαλαμίνος σαλαμῖνοσ, ὦ πατρῷον πατρῷας πατρῷον ἑστίας βάθρον,
860

κλειναί τ' ᾿Αθῆναι, καὶ τὸ σύντροφον γένος,

κρῆναί τε ποταμοί θ᾽ οἵδε, καὶ τὰ Τρωϊκὰ

πεδία προσαυδῶ, χαίρετ' χαίρεθ' χαίρε, ὦ τροφῆς τροφεῖς ἐμοί·

τοῦθ᾽ ὑμὶν Αἴας τοὔπος ὕστατον θροεῖ,

τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλ' ἄλλα ἄλλ᾿ ἐν ῞Αιδου τοῖς κάτω μυθήσομαι.
865

ΗΜΙΧΟΡΙΟΝ.

πόνος πόνῳ πόνον φέρει.

ΗΜΙΧΟΡΙΟΝ.

πᾶ πᾶ παῖ παῖ

πᾶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔβαν ἐγώ;

κοὐδεὶς ἐφίσταταί ἐπίσταται με συμμαθεῖν τόπος.

ἰδού,
870

δοῦπον αὖ κλύω τινά.

ΗΜ.

ἡμῶν γε, ναὸς κοινόπλουν ὁμιλίαν.

ΗΜ.

τί οὖν δή;

ΗΜ.

πᾶν ἐστίβηται πλευρὸν πλευρὰν πλευρὸν ἕσπερον νεῶν.

ΗΜ.

ἔχεις οὖν;
875

ΗΜ.

πόνου γε πλῆθος, κοὐδὲν εἰς ὄψιν πλέον.

ΗΜ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δή οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τὴν ἀφ᾽ ἡλίου βολῶν βολῆσ βολῶν μολῶν

κέλευθον ἁνὴρ οὐδαμοῦ ἀνὴρ οὐδαμοῦ οὐδαμοῦ ἁνὴρ δηλοῖ φανείς.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.
στρ. α.

τίς ἂν δῆτά μοι δή μοι, τίς ἂν φιλοπόνων

ἁλιαδᾶν ἔχων ἀΰπνους ἄγρας ἕδρας,
880

ἢ τίς Ὀλυμπιάδων θεᾶν, ἢ ῥυτῶν

βοσπορίων ποταμῶν ποταμῶν ἴδρις, τὸν ὠμόθυμον

εἴ ποθι πλαζόμενον λεύσσων λεύσων λεύσσων
885

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

ἀπύοι ἀπύ..: ἀπύοι; σχέτλια γὰρ

ἐμέ γε τὸν μακρῶν μακρὸν μακρῶν ἀλάταν ἀλάταν ἀλήταν πόνων

οὐρίῳ οὐρίων οὐρίῳ μὴ πελάσαι δρόμῳ δρόμων δρόμῳ,

ἀλλ᾽ ἀμενηνὸν ἀμεμηνὸν ἀμενηνὸν μεμηνότα ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν λεύσειν λεύσσειν ὅπου.
890

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἰώ μοί μοι ἰὰ ἰώ.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἰὼ τλήμων.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τὴν δουρίληπτον δορίληπτον δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

Τέκμησσαν τέκμησαν τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην.
895

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

οἴχωκ᾽, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

Αἴας ὅδ᾽ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

ὤμοι ἰώ μοι ἐμῶν νόστων·
900

ὤμοι ἰώ μοι, κατέπεφνες, ὧναξ,

ὦ ἰὼ τόνδε συνναύταν,

ὦ τάλας·

ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ὡς ὧδε τοῦδ᾽ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα.
905

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τίνος ποτ᾿ ἄρ᾽ ἔρξε ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτοῦ· δῆλον. ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδ᾽ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

ὤμοι ἰώ μοι ἐμᾶς ἄτας, οἷος ἄρ᾽ αἱμάχθης, ἄφρακτος φίλων·

ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὁ πάντα κωφός, ὁ πάντ᾽ ἄϊδρις,

κατημέλησα, πᾶ πᾶ παὶ παὶ

κεῖται ὁ δυστράπελος,

δυσώνυμος ὁ δυσώνυμος Αἴας; ¹

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 879-960 focus

Χορός

τίς ἂν δῆτά μοι, τίς ἂν φιλοπόνων

ἁλιαδᾶν ἔχων ἀΰπνους ἄγρας,
880

ἢ τίς Ὀλυμπιάδων θεᾶν ἢ ῥυτῶν

Βοσπορίων ποταμῶν, τὸν ὠμόθυμον

εἴ ποθι πλαζόμενον λεύσσων
885

ἀπύοι; σχέτλια γὰρ

ἐμέ γε τὸν μακρῶν ἀλάταν πόνων

οὐρίῳ μὴ πελάσαι δρόμῳ,

ἀλλʼ ἀμενηνὸν ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν ὅπου.
890

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

Τέκμησσα

ἰὼ τλήμων.

Χορός

τὴν δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

Τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ, τῷδε συγκεκραμένην.
895

Τέκμησσα

ᾤχωκʼ, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

Χορός

τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Τέκμησσα

Αἴας ὅδʼ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

Χορός

ὤμοι ἐμῶν νόστων·
900

ὤμοι, κατέπεφνες, ἄναξ,

τόνδε συνναύταν, τάλας

ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι·

Τέκμησσα

ὡς ὧδε τοῦδʼ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα.

Χορός

τίνος ποτʼ ἆρʼ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος;
905

Τέκμησσα

αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ, δῆλον· ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδʼ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

Χορός

ὤμοι ἐμᾶς ἄτας, οἶος ἄρʼ αἱμάχθης, ἄφαρκτος φίλων·

ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ πάντα κωφός, ὁ πάντʼ ἄϊδρις,

κατημέλησα. πᾷ πᾷ

κεῖται ὁ δυστράπελος, δυσώνυμος Αἴας;

915

Τέκμησσα

οὔτοι θεατός· ἀλλά νιν περιπτυχεῖ
915

φάρει καλύψω τῷδε παμπήδην, ἐπεὶ

οὐδεὶς ἄν, ὅστις καὶ φίλος, τλαίη βλέπειν

φυσῶντʼ ἄνω πρὸς ῥῖνας ἔκ τε φοινίας

πληγῆς μελανθὲν αἷμʼ ἀπʼ οἰκείας σφαγῆς.
920

οἴμοι, τί δράσω; τίς σε βαστάσει φίλων;

ποῦ Τεῦκρος; ὡς ἀκμαῖʼ ἄν, εἰ βαίη, μόλοι,

πεπτῶτʼ ἀδελφὸν τόνδε συγκαθαρμόσαι.

ὦ δύσμορʼ Αἴας, οἷος ὢν οἵως ἔχεις,

ὡς καὶ παρʼ ἐχθροῖς ἄξιος θρήνων τυχεῖν.
925

926

Χορός

ἔμελλες, τάλας, ἔμελλες χρόνῳ

στερεόφρων ἄρʼ ἐξανύσσειν κακὰν

μοῖραν ἀπειρεσίων πόνων. τοῖά μοι
930

πάννυχα καὶ φαέθοντʼ ἀνεστέναζες

ὠμόφρων ἐχθοδόπʼ Ἀτρείδαις

οὐλίῳ σὺν πάθει.

μέγας ἄρʼ ἦν ἐκεῖνος ἄρχων χρόνος

πημάτων, ἦμος ἀριστόχειρ
935

ὅπλων ἔκειτʼ ἀγὼν πέρι.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

χωρεῖ πρὸς ἧπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

οὐδέν σʼ ἀπιστῶ καὶ δὶς οἰμῶξαι, γύναι,
940

τοιοῦδʼ ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν ἀρτίως φίλου.

Τέκμησσα

σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτʼ ἔστʼ, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἄγαν φρονεῖν.

Χορός

ξυναυδῶ.

Τέκμησσα

οἴμοι, τέκνον, πρὸς οἷα δουλείας ζυγὰ

χωροῦμεν, οἷοι νῷν ἐφεστᾶσιν σκοποί.
945

Χορός

ὤμοι, ἀναλγήτων

δισσῶν ἐθρόησας ἄναυδʼ

ἔργʼ Ἀτρειδᾶν τῷδʼ ἄχει.

ἀλλʼ ἀπείργοι θεός.

Τέκμησσα

οὐκ ἂν τάδʼ ἔστη τῇδε μὴ θεῶν μέτα.
950

Χορός

ἄγαν ὑπερβριθὲς γὰρ ἄχθος ἤνυσαν.

Τέκμησσα

τοιόνδε μέντοι Ζηνὸς ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς

Παλλὰς φυτεύει πῆμʼ Ὀδυσσέως χάριν.

Χορός

ἦ ῥα κελαινώπαν θυμὸν ἐφυβρίζει πολύτλας ἀνήρ,

γελᾷ δὲ τοῖσδε μαινομένοις ἄχεσιν
955

πολὺν γέλωτα, φεῦ φεῦ,

ξύν τε διπλοῖ βασιλῆς κλύοντες Ἀτρεῖδαι.
960

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 815 focus

Fall frustrate, and the steely-tempered will.
815

Ay, and even mine, that stood so diamond-keen

Like iron lately dipped, droops now dis-edged

And weakened by this woman, whom to leave

A widow with her orphan to my foes,

Dulls me with pity. I will go to the baths

And meadows near the cliff, and purging there

My dark pollution, I will screen my soul
820

From reach of Pallas’ grievous wrath. I will find

Same place untrodden, and digging of the soil

Where none shall see, will bury this my sword,

Weapon of hate! for Death and Night to hold

Evermore underground. For, since my hand

Had this from Hector mine arch-enemy,

No kindness have I known from Argive men.

So true that saying of the bygone world,

‘A foe’s gift is no gift, and brings no good.’
845

Well, we will learn of Time. Henceforth I’ll bow

To heavenly ordinance and give homage due

To Atreus’ sons. Who rules, must be obeyed.

Since nought so fierce and terrible but yields

Place to Authority. Wild Winter’s snows

Make way for bounteous Summer’s flowery tread,
850

And Night’s sad orb retires for lightsome Day
850

With his white steeds to illumine the glad sky.

The furious storm-blast leaves the groaning sea

Gently to rest. Yea, the all-subduer Sleep

Frees whom he binds, nor holds enchained for aye.

And shall not men be taught the temperate will?

Yea, for I now know surely that my foe
855

Must be so hated, as being like enough

To prove a friend hereafter, and my friend

So far shall have mine aid, as one whose love

Will not continue ever. Men have found

But treacherous harbour in companionship.

Our ending, then, is peaceful. Thou, my girl,

Go in and pray the Gods my heart’s desire
860

Be all fulfilled. My comrades, join her here,

Honouring my wishes; and if Teucer come,

Bid him toward us be mindful, kind toward you.

I must go—whither I must go. Do ye

But keep my word, and ye may learn, though now

Be my dark hour, that all with me is well.
865

CHORUS
CHORUS.

O trouble-tost Tecmessa, born to woe,

Come forth and see what messenger is here!

This news bites near the bone, a death to joy.

TEC
Enter TECMESSA .

Wherefore again, when sorrow’s cruel storm

Was just abating, break ye my repose?

CH

().

Hear what he saith, and how he comes to bring

News of our Aias that hath torn my heart.

TEC

Oh me! what is it, man? Am I undone?

MESS

Thy case I know not; but of Aias this,
875

That if he roam abroad, ’tis dangerous.
875

TEC

He is, indeed, abroad. Oh! tell me quickly!

MESS

’Tis Teucer’s strong command to keep him close

Beneath this roof, nor let him range alone.

TEC

But where is Teucer? and what means his word?

MESS

Even now at hand, and eager to make known

That Aias, if he thus go forth, must fall.

TEC

Alas! my misery! Whence learned he this?

MESS

From Thestor’s prophet-offspring, who to-day

Holds forth to Aias choice of life or death.

TEC

Woe’s me! O friends, this desolating blow

Is falling! Oh, stand forward to prevent!

And some bring Teucer with more haste, while some

Explore the western bays and others search

Eastward to find your hero’s fatal path!

For well I see I am cheated and cast forth

From the old favour. Child, what shall I do?

We must not stay. I too will fare along,

go far as I have power. Come, let us go.

Bestir ye! ’Tis no moment to sit still,

If we would save him who now speeds to die.

CH

I am ready. Come! Fidelity of foot,

And swift performance, shall approve me true.
895

AIAS
The scene changes to a lonely wooded spot. AIAS (discovered alone).

The sacrificer stands prepared,—and when

More keen? Let me take time for thinking, too!

This gift of Hector, whom of stranger men

I hated most with heart and eyes, is set

In hostile Trojan soil, with grinding hone

Fresh-pointed, and here planted by my care

Thus firm, to give me swift and friendly death.

Fine instrument, so much for thee! Then, first,

Thou, for ’tis meet, great Father, lend thine aid.

For no great gift I sue thee. Let some voice

Bear Teucer the ill news, that none but he

May lift my body, newly fallen in death

About my bleeding sword, ere I be spied

By some of those who hate me, and be flung

To dogs and vultures for an outcast prey.

So far I entreat thee, Lord of Heaven. And thou,

Hermes, conductor of the shadowy dead,

Speed me to rest, and when with this sharp steel

I have cleft a sudden passage to my heart,

At one swift bound waft me to painless slumber!

But most be ye my helpers, awful Powers,

Who know no blandishments, but still perceive

All wicked deeds i’ the world—strong, swift, and sure,

Avenging Furies, understand my wrong,

See how my life is ruined, and by whom.

Come, ravin on Achaean flesh—spare none;

Rage through the camp!—Last, thou that driv’st thy course

Up yon steep Heaven, thou Sun, when thou behold’st

My fatherland, checking thy golden rein,

Report my fall, and this my fatal end,

To my old sire, and the poor soul who tends him.

Ah, hapless one! when she shall hear this word,

How she will make the city ring with woe!

’Twere from the business idly to condole.

To work, then, and dispatch. O Death! O Death!

Now come, and welcome! Yet with thee, hereafter,

I shall find close communion where I go.

But unto thee, fresh beam of shining Day,

And thee, thou travelling Sun-god, I may speak

Now, and no more for ever. O fair light!

O sacred fields of Salamis my home!

Thou, firm set natal hearth: Athens renowned,

And ye her people whom I love; O rivers,

Brooks, fountains here—yea, even the Trojan plain

I now invoke!—kind fosterers, farewell!

This one last word from Aias peals to you:

Henceforth my speech will be with souls unseen

CHORUS
CHORUS (re-entering severally).

Toil upon toil brings toil,

And what save trouble have I?

Which path have I not tried?

And never a place arrests me with its tale.

Hark! lo, again a sound!

’Tis we, the comrades of your good ship’s crew.

Well, sirs?

We have trodden all the westward arm o’ the bay.

Well, have ye found?

Troubles enow, but nought to inform our sight.

Nor yet along the road that fronts the dawn

Is any sign of Aias to be seen.

Who then will tell me, who? What hard sea-liver,

What toiling fisher in his sleepless quest,

What Mysian nymph, what oozy Thracian river,

Hath seen our wanderer of the tameless breast?

Where? tell me where!

’Tis hard that I, far-toiling voyager,

Crossed by some evil wind,

Cannot the haven find,

Nor catch his form that flies me, where? ah! where?

TEC

(). Oh, woe is me! woe, woe!

CH. A

Who cries there from the covert of the grove?

TEC

O boundless misery!
905

CH. B

Steeped in this audible sorrow I behold

Tecmessa, poor fate-burdened bride of war.

TEC

Friends, I am spoiled, lost, ruined, overthrown!

CH. A

What ails thee now?

TEC

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 784 focus

Tekmessa, Kind des Schmerzens, Unglückselige,

O komm und sich den Boten, was uns dieser sagt!
750

Das schneidet tief in's Leben, daß die Freude flieht.

Tekmessa. Die Vorigen.

Tekmessa.

Was störet ihr mich Arme, die sich kaum erholt

Vom schweren Leide, wieder auf von meinem Siz?

Der Chor.

Vernimm von diesem Manne, welch ein neues Leid

Er uns von Ajas meldet, das mich tief betrübt.
755

Tekmessa.

Weh mir, o Mann, was bringst du? Wär's um uns gescheh'n?

Der Bote.

Ich weiß von deinem Leide Nichts; um Ajas nur,

Wofern er außen weilet, muß mir bange sein.

Tekmessa.

Wohl ist er außen; Schmerz erweckt mir, was du sagst.

Der Bote.

Befehlen läßt euch Teukros, daß ihr ihn im Raum
760

Des Zeltes halten, nicht allein fortlassen sollt.

Tekmessa.

Wo weilet Teukros? Und wozu gebot er dies?

Der Bote.

Bald wird er hier erscheinen; doch befürchtet er,

Daß dieser Gang dem Ajas unheilbringend sei.

Tekmessa.

Ich Arme, weh mir! Und von wem erfuhr er das?
765

Der Bote.

Vom Seher, Thestors Sohne, der ihm offenbart,¹

Daß dieser Tag ihm Leben oder Tod verhängt.

Tekmessa.

Weh, Freunde! Wendet solchen Drang der Noth mir ab,

Und eilet, ihr, daß Teukros ungesäumt erscheint;

Ihr nach des Ostes Thälern, ihr zum Niedergang
770

Gewandt, erspäht mir Ajas' unheilvollen Pfad!

Denn nun erkenn' ich, daß er mich getäuscht, der Mann,

Aus seiner alten Liebe mich verstoßen hat.

Weh, was beginn' ich, Knabe? Rasten darf ich nicht;

Nein, selber will ich gehen auch, wohin ich kann!
775

Fort, eilet, seid nicht müssig; Zeit ist nicht, zu ruh'n,

Wer einen Mann will retten, der zu sterben eilt!

Der Chor.

Ich bin bereit, und nicht im Worte zeig' ich's nur:

Die rasche That folgt, und der Fuß stürmt fort im Flug.

(Alle ab. Die Scene verändert sich. Einsame, waldige Gegend am Meer- gestade. Ajas tritt auf, und steckt sein Schwert mit dem Griffe in die Erde.)

Ajas.

Da steht der Mordstahl, meine Brust am sichersten
780

Zu treffen, wenn mir Muße noch zum Prüfen blieb,

Die Gabe Hektors, der im Fremdlingsvolke mir

Verhaßt vor Allen und zu seh'n ein Gräuel war.

In Feindeserde steht er hier, im Troerland,

Am Steine frischgeschliffen, der das Eisen schärft:
785

Wohl zugerichtet hab' ich ihn und eingebohrt,

Den treusten Helfer meiner Brust zu jähem Tod.

So wär' ich wohlbereitet! Und nun leihe du,

Zeus, vor Allen Hülfe mir, wie's billig ist!

Doch nicht um große Gaben fleh' ich, Herr, dich an:
790

Nur einen Boten sende, der das Trauerwort

Zu Teukros bringe, daß er mich zuerst erhebt,

Nachdem ich sank in dieses blutgetränkte Schwert,

Auf daß der Feinde keiner mich zuvor erspäht,

Und Vögeln oder Hunden hin zum Raybe wirft.
795

Nur dieses Eine fleh' ich, Zeus! Auch ruf' ich dir,

Dem Todtenführer Hermes, bette du mich sanft,

Nachdem ich, raschen Sprunges, ohne Zuckungen,

Den Mörderstahl in meine Seiten eingebohrt.

Als Helferinnen ruf' ich an die ewigen
800

Jungfrau'n, die ewig alle Noth der Erde schaun,

Die hehren Nachgöttinnen, die weitschreitend nah'n,

Zu seh'n, wie Atreus' Söhne schnöd mich mordeten!

mögt ihr schlimm die Schlimmen, Allverderblichen,

Mit euch entraffen! Wie sie mich vom eignen Schwert
805

Hinsinken sehen, mögen sie gemordet selbst

Von ihres eignen Stammes Hand zu Grunde gehn!

Ja, kommt, Erinnen, racheschwer, mit schnellem Schritt,

Uebt keine Schonung, sättigt euch am ganzen Heer!

Du, der am hohen Himmel hin den Wagen führt,
810

Erblickst du meiner Ahnen Land, o Helios,

So ziehe schnell die goldgesäumten Zügel an,

Und meine Qualen melde dort und meinen Tod

Dem greisen Vater und der armen Pflegerin!

Die Jammervolle, wenn sie diese Kunde hört,
815

Füllt wohl mit lautem Klageruf die ganze Stadt.

Doch gilt es nicht ein thatenloses Trauern hier;

Nein, angegriffen sei das Werk in raschem Muth!

O Tod, o Tod, erscheine, wend' auf mich den Blick!

Doch dich begrüß' ich drunten noch, mit dir vereint.
820

Dich aber, lichten Tages Glanz, der heute strahlt,

Und Helios, den Wagenlenker, ruf' ich an

Zum leztenmale, künftighin nie wieder mehr!

Licht, o Heimaterde, dich, geweihtes Land

Von Salamis, o meines Vaterherdes Siz,
825

Dich, Burg Athene's, dich Geschlecht, mit mir genährt,

Euch Flüsse hier und Quellen, euch, ihr troischen

Gefilde, ruf' ich, meine Pfleger, lebet wohl!

Dies Wort, sein allerleztes, rust euch Ajas zu;

Das Andre sag' ich jenen dort in Hades' Haus.
830
(er tritt hinter das Gebüsch und stürzt sich in sein Schwert.) (er tritt nach einander in zwei Halbchören von zwei entgegengesezten Seiten ein.)

Der erste Halbchor.

Der Mühe schafft die Mühe Müh!

Wo, wo,

Wo betrat ich nicht den Pfad?

Und nirgendwo beut sichre Kunde mir ein Ort.

Vernimm!
835

Wieder hör' ich einen Schall.

Wir sind es, wir Genossen eurer Meeresfahrt.

Wie steht es!

(eintretend)

Der zweite Halbchor.

Des Lagers Abendseite hab' ich ganz durchspäht.

Der erste Halbchor.

Und fandst du -?
840

Der zweite Halbchor.

Mühsal die Menge, für das Auge weiter Nichts.

Der erste Halbchor.

Auch mir, gewendet

Hat sich von Ajas nirgend eine Spur gezeigt. nach der Morgensonne Bahu,

wer thut es kund?

Strophe.

Der ganze Chor.

Ist es ein Fischer, der

Sich, mühselig härmt bei schlaflosem Fang,
845

Ist es der Göttinnen Eine von Olympos' Höhn,²

Oder ein flutender Bosporosstrom,

Die wo den unmuthschweren Mann

Irren geseh'n? Ach, wer sagt es uns? Traurig wohl,

Daß ich, in langen Müh'n umherschweifend, ihn
850

Nirgend fand, glücklichen Lauses froh,

Und nirgend sah des sinnberaubten Mannes Spur!

(hinter der Scene)

Tekmessa.

weh, weh mir!

Der Chor.

Ha, wessen Nuf, so nahe, schallt vom Haine her?

Tekmessa.

Ich Unselige!
855

Der Chor.

Es ist die arme, mit dem Speer errungne Braut,

Tekmessa, die versunken klagt in solchem Leid.

(hervortretend)

Tekmessa.

Ich bin dahin, verloren, bin des Todes Naub!

Was ist es?

Hier liegt er, eben erst entfeelt, in seinem Blut,
860

Ajas, in's tiefverborgne Schwert hineingestürzt.

Der Chor.

Weh mir der Heimfahrt, weh!

Weh, weh mir, du mordetest, Herrscher,

Deinen Schiffsfreund, Unseliger!

Weh dir, unglücklich Weib!
865

Tekmessa.

Wohl ziemt es, Ach zu rufen bei so bitt'rem Leid.

Mit wessen Hand that's der Unglückselige?

Mit eignen Händen: offenbar! Ihn zeiht der That

Das Schwert, in das er stürzte, das im Boden starrt.

Der Chor.

Wehe mein Irrwahn, weh! Allein saukst du hin,³
870

Vom Freund unbewacht!⁴

Und ich, so ganz verblendet, so ganz wie betäubt,

Versäumte dich! Wo liegst du, wo,

Du mit dem eisernen Sinne, der Mann unseliges Namens?

Tekmessa.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 784 focus

He will soon be here :

He fears this fatal day.
785

Tecmessa

Undone Tecmessa !

Whence are his fears ? who told him 'twould be fatal ?

Messenger

Thestorian Chalcas did foretell this day

Tecmessa

[to the Chorus]. Assist me, friends, in this

distressful hour.

To Teucer haste, and bring him to my aid ;

Some to yon western mountain bend your way,

And some to th' east ; find out which path he went,
845

Unhappy wanderer ! Oh ' he has deceived me,

His former love forgotten all and gone !

What must we do, my child ? I must not sit

Inactive here ; no, wheresoe'er I can

I'll go to search him. Let us haste, my friends.
850

Quick ! fly this instant, if we mean to save

CiiOR. Behold us ready, not in v/ord alone, i

But bent with speed to follow thee. Away ! / [Exeunt.

Ajax
ACT IV. Scene I.

There stands my sword, and fixed as it may

best

Perform its office ; 'twas the gift of Hector,

My worst of foes, whom I detested ever :

The steel-devouring stone hath sharpened well

Its keenest edge. Buried in Trojan earth
855

It lies, and now in kindness seems prepared
855

To end my wretched life. Thus far is well.
855

And now, O Jove ! — for first to thee 'tis fit
855

We pay due honours — I address my prayer.

I ask not much : I ask thee but to send

Some passing stranger here to bear the news

Of my unhappy fate to Teuoer's ear,

That he may first behold, and take me hence,

Lest, by my foes discovered, I be cast

A prey to dogs and birds. Forbid it, Jove !

Thee too, great leader of departed souls,

Terrestrial Hermes, thee I call! oh, hear me!

With easy steps, and swift, conduct me safe

To my abode, soon as this fatal sword

Shall reach my breast. And you, ye virgin powers

From whom whate'er befalls of human ill

Cannot be hid, ye goddesses revered,

Swift to pursue the guilty, oh, behold,

"D seize the murd'rers ! By my own sad hand

As I shall perish, let my foes be slain
860

By those wliom most they love ! Quick, fly, begone,
860

Ye vengeful furies ! Gorge yourselves in blood,
860

Nor spiire a man of all the Grecian host.
860

And thou, O Sun ! who diiv'st the flaming car

Along the vaulted sky, when thou shalt see

My native soil, oh ! stop thy golden reins ;

Tell the sad story to my hapless sire

And my afllicted mother. AVhen she hears

The mournful tale, her grief will fill the land

With dreadful lamentations. But 'tis vain

To weep my fate : the business must be done.

O Death ! look on me. Death ; I come to thee —

Soon shall we meet ; but thee, O glorious day !

And yon bright charioteer the sun, no more

Shall I behold : e'en now thou hearst my last,

My dying words. O light ! O sacred soil

Of Salamis, my country, and her gods !

O noble Atliens ! O my loved companions !

Ye rivers, fountains, and fair fields of Troy !

^ And yon, my honoured parents, oh, farewell !
865

/ 'Tis the last word Ajax shall speak on earth :
865

Semiciior. I . Labour on labour, toil go toil ! Oh, whither
865

Have we not wandered 1 Yet no place informs us
865

Chorus
\ The rest be uttered to the shades below. Scene II.

2. 'Twas ours, your friends.

Chorus

I. What news ?

Chorus

2. We've searched along
875

The western shore.
875

Chorus

i. And is he found ?

Chorus

Alas!

We met with nought but toil ; no siglit of him.

Chorus

i. We from the east return with like suc-

cess ;

For none have seen or heard of him that way.

Chorus

2. Wlio will inform us ? who will say-

Will not the watchful hind, who, void of sleep,

Hangs laborious o'er the deep 1

From high Olympus will no pitying god,

Will no kind Naiad of the flood.

Tell us where he bent his way 1

For oh ! 'tis dreadful, wearied thus, to rove,

Whilst all our pains successless prove
890

To reach the destined goal, or And the man we love.
890

Tecmessa

[from ivithin]. Alas ! alas !

Chorus

i . Hark ! from the neighbouring grove

1 heard a voice.

Chorus

2. It is the wretched captive,

Tecmessa
Scene III.

Chorus.

Tecmessa

Oh ! I am lost, my friends, undone, destroyed !

Chorus

Ha ! what hath happened 1

Slain by the sword which he had buried here.

Chorus

Fatal sure was our return.

Thy untimely death to mourn.

Me, and all thy faithful train.

Sad event, alas ! to me !

Sadder, woman, still to thee.

Tecmessa

Oh ! I have reason now to weep indeed.

Chorus

What hand performed the horrid deed ?

Tecmessa

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 784 focus

O thou poor sufferer, wretched in thy fate,

Come forth, Tecmessa, hear these words of woe;

For this cuts deep, and ruins all thy joy.
785

Tecmessa
TECMESSA, CHORUS.

Why have you roused me from my seat, where late

I found short respite from oppressing ills?
785

Chorus

Hear thou this man: the charge he bears respects

The fate of Ajax, and excites my grief.

Tecmessa

Speak, man; what say'st thou? Are we then undone ?

Messenger

Of thy fate I know nothing; but my hopes,

If Ajax from the tent be gone, are lost.

Tecmessa

He is; I therefore dread to hear thy charge.

Messenger

This mandate Teucer gave, within the tent

To guard him, not allow'd to rove alone.

Tecmessa

And where is Teucer? Why this mandate giv'n?

Messenger

He lately is return'd; but fears th' event

Tecmessa

Ah wretched me, who taught him thus to fear?

Messenger

The fate-fortelling Calchas on this day,

Tecmessa

Save him, my friends, oh save him; haste, prevent

This harsh necessity of fate: fly some

To Teucer, let him come with swiftest speed:

Along the winding shores some to the west,

Some to the orient sun direct your search,

And find th' ill-omen'd wand'rings of your lord.

I know he hath deceived me; I am sunk,

Ah me! an outcast from his former grace.

What shall I do, my son? Not linger here,
870

But go as far as I have strength to go.
870

Let us then go, my friends; yes, let us fly;
870

This no time to sit, if we could save

A man that rushes with such speed to die.

Chorus

I for the search am ready; nor shall words

Alone, but zealous speed my promptness show.

Ajax

There stands the slaughtering sword, and bears its point

In readiness to wound, as one would judge

At leisure viewing it. This was the gift

Of Hector; never stranger to my soul

Like him was hateful, never to my eyes

Was one so odious. In the hostile ground

Of Troy fix'd firm it rears its sharpen'd point.

I fix'd it deep, that friendly it might give

A speedy death: this well I have prepared.

And now thy grace, O Jove, I first implore,

(So right requires) I shall not ask the grant

Of ample honours; send some messenger,

Fraught with the mour 'u tidings of my death,

To Teucer, that he first may bear me hence

Fallen on this sword fresh-dropping with my blood;

Nor let me by my foes first seen be cast

To birds obscene and hungry dogs a prey:

This I implore of thee, O Jove.

Thee next,

Hermes, thou guide to the infernal realms,

Thee I invoke; he no fierce writhings mine

Of lingering and convulsive agonies;

But lead me gently to the shades below,

Soon as this sword shall pierce my side. And you,

For ever virgins, and for ever prompt

To aid, for ever viewing all the ills

Of suffering mortals, in pursuit untired,

On you, ye awful goddesses, I call;

Mark how I perish, wretched in my fate,

Crush'd by the sons of Atreus; their base hearts

May basest miseries rend; as they destroy,

Be they destroy'd; my blood as they behold

By mine own hand thus shed, be their blood shed

With rage remorseless by the hands of those

Whom with parental love they hold most dear:

Go then, ye swift-avenging Furies, go, .....

Lap their vile blood, of all the Grecian host

Spare not a man. And thou, O Sun, who rollest

Through yon ethereal height thy radiant car,

My country when thou seest, thy golden rein

Draw back, and to my aged father tell,

Tell the unhappy queen that gave me birth,

My miseries and my death the cries of grief,

When she shall hear these tidings, she will raise

Through all the city. But lamenting strains

Have hear no place: the deed must now be dared.

O Death, O Death, advance; behold me now;

Soon in thy mansions shall I dwell, and there

Hold converse with thee. To the golden beams

Of this bright day; to thee, resplendent Sun,

Rolling on high, I make my last address,

Henceforth I never shall address you more.

O light of heav'n; and O thou sacred soil

Of Salamis, my country; O ye gods,

That guard my hearth; thou, Athens, high in fame,

And you, her sons, with whom my youth was train'd;

Ye fountains here, ye rivers, and ye fields

Of Troy, by you I long have been sustain'd;

You I address, to you I bid farewell;

Ajax to you speaks his last words; henceforth

My converse will be in the realms beneath....

Chorus

Toil brings increase of toil; for where, ali where

Have I not ranged to seek him? Yet no place

Knows to inform me. Hist: I hear a sound.

Chorus

Our mates, who with us mount the gallant bark.
875

Chorus

What tidings?o/.

To the west along the ships

My weary steps have traced!! al quim co zif

1 And Hast thou found

Chorus

Enough of toil, but nothing more in sight."

Chorus

Nor to the east as I pursued my way

To me did any trace of him appear.

Chorus

What pow'r, ah me! what pow'r of those that rule,

Delighted with the task, the ocean-waves,

Holding his sleepless seat; what god enthroned

On high Olympus; or what conscious stream

That rolls his flood into the Bosphorus,

If he hath seen the stern unyielding Chief,

Will tell me where he wanders? Hard for me

After long toils to sink in blank despair,
890

Nor find where from my sight conceal'd he lies.
890

Tecmessa

Ah me! Ah me!

Chorus
[in the grove.

What voice of mourning from the grove resounds?

Tecmessa

O thou unhappy!

Chorus

I see th' ill-fated captive of his spear

Tecmessa

bending as oppress'd with woe.

Tecmessa

Woe, ruin, desolation close me round.

Chorus

What hath befallen

Tecmessa

Behold, behold, my friends, yet warm in death
905

Where Ajax lies, roll'd on his deep-plunged sword.
905

Chorus

Alas for my return! Ah, thou hast slain

With thee, O king, thy comrade in the bark.

O wretched me! O thou afflicted dame!

Tecmessa

I at this sight have cause indeed for grief.

Chorus

Whose hand employ'd he in this deed of death?

Tecmessa

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 879-960 focus

Chorus

Who, then, can guide me? What toiling

fisherman, busy about his sleepless hunt, what nymph of the Olympian heights or of the streams that flow toward
880

Bosporus , can say whether she has anywhere seen the wanderings of fierce-hearted Ajax? It is cruel that I, who have roamed with such great toil, cannot come near him with a fair course,
885

but fail to see where the enfeebled man is.
890
Enter Tecmessa near the corpse of Ajax.

Tecmessa

Ah, me, ah, me!

Chorus

Whose cry broke from that nearby grove?

Tecmessa

Ah, misery!

Chorus

There, I see his unfortunate young bride, who was the prize of his spear,

Tecmessa, dissolved in that pitiful wailing.
895

Tecmessa

I am lost, destroyed, razed to the ground, my friends!

Chorus

What is it?

Tecmessa

Here is our Ajax—his blood newly shed, he lies folded around the sword, burying it.

Chorus

Ah, no! Our homecoming is lost! Ah, my king, you have killed me, the comrade of your voyage! Unhappy man—broken-hearted woman!
900

Tecmessa

His condition demands that we cry aiai.

Chorus

But by whose hand can the ill-fated man have contrived this end?
905

Tecmessa

He did it with his own hand; it is obvious. This sword which he planted in the ground and on which he fell convicts him.

Chorus

Ah, what blind folly I have displayed! All alone, then, you bled, unguarded by your friends! And I took no care, so entirely dull was I, so totally stupid. Where, where lies inflexible Ajax, whose name means anguish?

915

Tecmessa

No, he is not to be looked at! I will cover him over entirely with this enfolding shroud, since no one—no one, that is, who loves him—could bear to see him spurt the darkened gore of his self-inflicted slaughter up his nostrils and out of the bloody gash.

915

Ah, what shall I do? What loved one is there to lift you in his arms? Where is Teucer? How timely would be his arrival, if he would but come to compose the corpse of his brother here! Ah, unlucky Ajax, from so great a height you are fallen so low!
920

Even among your enemies you are worthy of mourning!

925

Chorus

You were bound, poor man, with that unbending heart you were bound, it seems, to fulfill a harsh destiny of limitless toils! So wild to my ears
925

were the words of hatred which in your fierce mood you moaned against the Atreidae with such deadly passion. True it is that that moment was a potent source of sorrows,
930

when the arms were made the prize for a contest in the skills of warfare!
935

Tecmessa

Ah! Ah!

Chorus

True anguish, I know, pierces your heart.

Tecmessa

Ah! Ah, me!

Chorus

I do not wonder, lady, that you wail and wail again, when you have just lost one so loved.
940

Tecmessa

It is for you to analyze my troubles, but for me to feel them too fully.

Chorus

I must agree.

Tecmessa

Oh, my son, to what a heavy yoke of slavery

we advance! What cruel task-masters stand over us!
945

Chorus

Ah, the deeds of the two ruthless Atreidae which you name in our present grief would be unthinkable! May the gods hold them back!

Tecmessa

These events that you see would not have happened as they have without the will of the gods.
950

Chorus

Yes, they have brought upon us a burden too heavy to bear.

Tecmessa

Yet what suffering the divine daughter of Zeus, fierce Pallas, engenders for Odysseus’ sake!

Chorus

No doubt the much-enduring hero exults in his dark soul and mocks in loud laughter at these frenzied sorrows—what shame!—
955

and with him, when they hear the news, will laugh the royal brothers, the Atreidae.
960

Notes on the current edition

Ajax

1. 839 ff. καί σφας κακοὺς κάκιστα καὶ πανωλέθρους | ξυναρπάσειαν, ὥσπερ εἰσορῶσ' ἐμὲ | αὐτοσφαγῆι πίπτοντα, τὼς αὐτοσφαγεὶς | πρὸς τῶν φιλίστων ἐκγόνων ὀλοίατο LAL Pal. Vat. ac. (Variants: αὐτοσφαγῆ Α. αὐτοσφαγεῖσ CA. ἐκγονων L. καὐτοσφαγεῖς Pal. τως αὐτοσφαγεῖς Vat. ac. ὣς αὐτοσφαγεῖς V. ἐκγόνων Vat. a.)

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-438-1 φιλοφρόνως ¹

mvp-comment-439-1 παντοίᾳ τέχνῃ ²

mvp-comment-440-1 εἶρξαι ³

mvp-comment-440-2 ἦμαρ τοὐμφανὲς τὸ νῦν τόδε ⁴

mvp-comment-441-1 ὑπὸ σκηναῖσι ⁵

mvp-comment-441-2 μηδ’ ἀφέντ’ ἐᾶν ⁶

mvp-comment-442-1 ἐκεῖνον ⁷ Αἴαντα ⁸

mvp-comment-442-2 ποτέ ⁹

mvp-comment-443-1 ἐλᾷ ¹⁰

mvp-comment-443-2 τῇδε θἡμέρᾳ ¹¹

mvp-comment-444-1 ὡς ἔφη λέγων ¹²

mvp-comment-445-1 τὰ γὰρ περισσὰ ¹³ περισσὰ κανόνητα ς<*>ματα ¹⁴

mvp-comment-445-2 It is not without reason, then, that the reading κἀνόνητα ¹⁵ κἀνόητα ¹⁶ σώματα ¹⁷

mvp-comment-446-1 ὅστις ¹⁸

mvp-comment-446-2 φύσιν βλαστὼν ¹⁹

mvp-comment-446-3 φρονῇ ²⁰

mvp-comment-447-1 κεῖνος δ’ ²¹

mvp-comment-447-2 καλῶς λέγοντος ²²

mvp-comment-448-1 αὐτὸν ἐννέπει ²³

mvp-comment-449-1 σὺν θεῷ ²⁴

mvp-comment-450-1 ὁ μηδὲν ὢν ²⁵

mvp-comment-451-1 καὶ δίχα κείνων ²⁶

mvp-comment-452-1 ἐπισπάσειν κλέος ²⁷

mvp-comment-453-1 δίας Ἀθάνας ²⁸

mvp-comment-453-2 Other explanations are the following. (1) The poet meant to add something to the effect of

ἠτίμασε τὴν παραίνεσιν

, but changed the form of the sentence. (2)

Ἀθάνας, ἡνίκα..ηὐδᾶτο

stands for a gen. absol.,

Ἀθάνας αὐδωμένης

. (3) The gen. depends on

ἔπος

in 773, ‘a saying about her,’ like

μῦθος..φίλων

( Ant. 11 ).

mvp-comment-453-3 The most attractive remedy is Mehlhorn's, δίαν Ἀθάναν ²⁹

mvp-comment-453-4 If, on the other hand, δίας Ἀθάνας ³⁰ δεύτερον ³¹

mvp-comment-454-1 τοῖς ἄλλοισιν Ἀργείων ³² πέλας ³³

mvp-comment-454-2 καθ’ ἡμᾶς ³⁴

mvp-comment-454-3 οὔποτ’ ἐκρήξει μάχη ³⁵

mvp-comment-455-1 τοιοῖσδέ τοι ³⁶ τοῖς ³⁷ τοι ³⁸

mvp-comment-455-2 ἀστεργῆ ³⁹

mvp-comment-455-3 ἐκτήσατ’ ὀργήν ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-455-4 οὐ κατ’ ἄνθρωπον φρονῶν ⁴¹

mvp-comment-456-1 ἔστι ⁴² αὐτοῦ … σωτήριοι ⁴³

mvp-comment-456-2 σὺν θεῷ ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-457-1 ὁ δ’ … Τεῦκρος ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-457-2 εὐθὺς ἐξ ἕδρας ⁴⁶ εὐθὺς ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-457-3 Teucer sends a messenger, instead of going himself, probably because he hopes that his mediation with the chiefs may do some good. What he dreads is simply that Ajax should leave the tent; and a message could prevent that. He has no cause to suspect that Ajax meditates suicide.

mvp-comment-458-1 ἐπιστολὰς ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-458-2 φυλάσσειν ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-458-3 ἀπεστερήμεθα ⁵⁰ ἀφυστερήμεθα ⁵¹ εἰ δ’ ἄρ’ ὑστερήσαμεν ⁵²

mvp-comment-459-1 δαΐα ⁵³

mvp-comment-459-2 γένος ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-459-3 θροεῖ ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-460-1 ξυρεῖ … ἐν χρῷ ⁵⁶ ἐν χρῷ ⁵⁷ χρῷ ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-460-2 μὴ χαίρειν τινά ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-460-3 787 f. Tecmessa, who, at the desire of Ajax (684), had withdrawn into the tent (692), now re-enters, with Eurysaces ( cp. 809 ).

mvp-comment-460-4 ἀτρύτων ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-461-1 πρᾶξιν ⁶¹ βάξιν ⁶² φέρων … πρᾶξιν ⁶³

mvp-comment-462-1 ἄνθρωπε ⁶⁴ ὀλώλαμεν ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-463-1 Αἴαντος ⁶⁶ πέρι ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-464-1 καὶ μὴν ⁶⁸ γ’ ⁶⁹ θυραῖος ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-464-2 ὠδίνειν τί φής ⁷¹

mvp-comment-465-1 εἴργειν ⁷²

mvp-comment-465-2 ἐξεφίεται ⁷³

mvp-comment-465-3 σκηνῆς ὕπαυλον ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-466-1 κἀπὶ τῷ ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-467-1 τήνδε δ’ ἔξοδον … φέρειν ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-467-2 Nor can we render: ‘He (Teucer) forebodes that this going-forth, which he announces, will be fatal to Ajax.’

φέρειν

could be said only of the messenger— not of the man who sends him. Paley's conjecture,

ἐλπίζω φέρειν

, meets the point as to

φέρειν

, but the change to the first person is too harsh. Bothe's ἐλπίζειν φέρει ⁷⁷ ἐλπίζει κυρεῖν ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-467-3 Could ὀλεθρίαν Αἴαντος ⁷⁹ Αἴαντος εἰς ὄλεθρον ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-468-1 τοῦ Θεστορείου μάντεως ⁸¹

mvp-comment-468-2 ὅτ’ αὐτῷ … φέρει ⁸² ὅτ’ ⁸³ ὅτ’ ⁸⁴ ὃς ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-468-3 If φέρει ⁸⁶ φέρει … θάνατον ἢ βίον ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-468-4 It is possible that

ΦΕΡΕΙ

came, under the influence of

ΦΕΡΕΙΝ

in 799, from

ΘΡΟΕΙ

(the subject being Calchas): but we should not be warranted in altering the text. Wecklein and Blaydes, reading θροεῖ ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-469-1 οἲ )γώ ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-469-2 πρόστητ’ ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-469-3 ἀναγκαίας τύχης ⁹¹

mvp-comment-470-1 οἱ μὲν ⁹² οἱ δὲ … οἱ δέ ⁹³

mvp-comment-470-2 Τεῦκρον μολεῖν ⁹⁴ σπεύσατε ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-470-3 ἑσπέρους … ἀντηλίους ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-470-4 ἀγκῶνας ⁹⁷ ζητεῖτ’ ⁹⁸ μολεῖν ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-471-1 φωτὸς ἠπατημένη ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-471-2 χάριτος ¹⁰¹ ἐκβεβλημένη ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-472-1 τί δράσω, τέκνον ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-472-2 ὅποιπερ ἂν σθένω ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-473-1 ἐγκονῶμεν ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-473-2 οὐχ ἕδρας ἀκμὴ ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-473-3 As to the diction of the verse, three points claim notice. (1) The γε ¹⁰⁷ ἄνδρα ¹⁰⁸ σπεύδῃ ¹⁰⁹ θέλοντας ¹¹⁰ θέλοντες ¹¹¹

mvp-comment-474-1 ἕτοιμος ¹¹² ἔργου ¹¹³ ποδῶν ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-474-2 Tecmessa now leaves the scene by the entrance on the spectator's left, leading to the open country. The Messenger, with the servants of Ajax, goes out on the spectator's right, as being bound for the Greek camp.

mvp-comment-474-3 The Chorus leave the orchestra in two

ἡμιχόρια

, one by the

πάροδος

on the right, the other by that on the left. The withdrawal of the Chorus from the orchestra during the course of a play was called

μετάστασις

: their return,

ἐπιπάροδος

. The other extant examples are:—(1) Aesch. Eum.:

μετάστασις

at v. 231:

ἐπιπάροδος

at v. 299. (2) Eur. Alc.:

μ.

, Eur. Alc. 746 :

ἐ.

, Eur. Alc. 872. (3) Helen. :

μ.

, 385:

ἐ.

, 515. (4) Ar. Eccl.:

μ.

, Ar. Eccl. 310 :

ἐ.

, Ar. Eccl. 478.

mvp-comment-474-4 A change of scene is now supposed to take place, from the ground in front of the tent of Ajax to a lonely spot on the sea-shore, with trees or bushes (

νάπος

, 892). We do not know how this change was managed. (1) It may have been indicated merely by removing the hangings on the back-wall which represented the

σκηνή

of Ajax. This is MA. üller's view ( Gr. Bühnenalterthümer, p. 162). (2) Wecklein supposes that a back-wall, representing the

σκηνή

, was drawn back on right and left, disclosing the new scene.—We cannot assume the use of

περίακτοι

in the poet's time (cp. note at the beginning of the play). Had they been in use, the

περίακτος

on the spectator's left could have turned, so as to represent a new locality (

τόπος

). The right-hand

περίακτος

, indicating the region in which the whole action takes place (

χώρα

), would not have been changed.

mvp-comment-474-5 The only other Greek play in which a change of scene is certain is the Eumenides, where the action begins at the temple of the Delphian Apollo, and passes at v. 235 to that of Athena Polias at Athens. This may have been marked merely by substituting a statue of Athena for one of Apollo.

mvp-comment-474-6 815 Ajax is standing at the side of the scene on the spectator's right, near the underwood which screens him when he falls—so that his body is not at first visible to the Chorus when they return to the orchestra, but could be seen by Tecmessa, when she comes on the scene from the left. The point of the sword could probably be seen by the audience. Hesychius quotes Polemon, the sophist in Hadrian's age, as saying that the

συσπαστὸν

was used

ἐν Αἴαντος ὑποκρίσει

. It was a short stage-sword, of which the blade ran back; otherwise called

ἀνδρόμητον

(Hesych., which some refer to

ἀναδραμεῖν

), or

ἀνδρομηρόν

. Cp. Achilles Tatius 3. 20

ὁ σίδηρος εἴσω καταδύεται, τούτῳ δ’...ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις ἐχρῆτο πρὸς τὰς κιβδήλους σφαγάς

mvp-comment-474-7 The antithesis to ὁ μὲν σφαγεὺς ¹¹⁵ ἐκ δὲ τῶνδε ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-474-8 σφαγεὺς ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-474-9 τομώτατος ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-475-1 εἴ τῳ καὶ λογίζεσθαι σχολή ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-476-1 δῶρον μὲν ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-476-2 ἀνδρὸς ¹²¹

mvp-comment-476-3 ξένων ¹²²

mvp-comment-477-1 πολεμίᾳ ¹²³

mvp-comment-477-2 σιδηροβρῶτι ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-477-3 θηγάνῃ ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-477-4 νεηκονής ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-478-1 περιστείλας ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-478-2 θανεῖν ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-479-1 εύσχευοῦμεν ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-479-2 ἐκ δὲ τῶνδε ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-479-3 Ζεῦ ¹³¹

mvp-comment-479-4 καὶ γὰρ εἰκός ¹³²

mvp-comment-479-5 αἰτήσομαι ¹³³ λαχεῖν ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-479-6 μακρὸν ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-480-1 ἡμῖν ¹³⁶ ἄγγελον ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-481-1 βαστάσῃ ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-481-2 πεπτῶτα περὶ ξίφει ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-482-1 πρόβλητος ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-482-2 ἕλωρ ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-482-3 Ajax forebodes that, as a public enemy, he will suffer the doom which Achilles assigns to Hector ( Il. 22. 354 ), Creon to Polyneices ( Ant. 205 ), and Electra to Aegisthus ( El. 1487 ). The Atreidae, in fact, so intended (1064 f.).

mvp-comment-483-1 τοσαῦτά σε … προστρέπω ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-483-2 καλῶ δ’ ¹⁴³ καλῶ θ’ ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-483-3 832 The sense of πομπαῖον ¹⁴⁵ χθόνιον ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-484-1 ἀσφαδάστῳ ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-484-2 The precept to write

σφαδᾴζω

(and therefore, as Nauck does,

ἀσφάδᾳστος

) dates from Herodian ( c. 160 A.D. ), but is not confirmed by any such independent evidence as exists in the case of

ματᾴζω

( Soph. O. T. 891 ). Ellendt writes

σφαδᾴζω

, yet

ἀσφάδαστος

mvp-comment-484-3 πηδήματι ¹⁴⁸ ξὺν ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-485-1 πλευρὰν διαρρήξαντα ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-486-1 τὰς ἀεί τε παρθένους ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-486-2 ἀεί θ’ ὁρώσας ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-486-3 ὁρώσας ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-487-1 σεμνὰς ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-487-2 τανύποδας ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-487-3 839—

mvp-comment-488-1 κάκιστα καὶ πανωλέθρους ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-488-2 The last two of these four verses are certainly spurious, as three things show.

mvp-comment-488-3 (1) The poet would not have made the dying Ajax pray that the Atreidae may die ‘at the hands of their offspring,’ unless there had been some legend that they so died. But, according to the current mythology, Agamemnon was slain by his wife and her paramour, while Menelaüs and Helen passed, without dying, to Elysium ( Od. 4. 561 ). It is only in later times that we meet with the story of Menelaüs and Helen having been sacrificed by Iphigeneia in the land of the Tauri ( Ptolemy Heph. 4 , cp. Roscher, Lex. p. 1951 ): a myth which the author of these verses may have had in view. Odysseus, indeed, was slain by Telegonus; but he does not come into account here, unless we make the improbable change of

Ἀτρειδῶν

Ἀχαιῶν

in 838. [As to the double sense of

αὐτοσφαγής

, with ref. to one who is slain (1) by himself, (2) by a kinsman, see on Ant. 56

αὐτοκτονοῦντε

mvp-comment-488-4 (2) These two verses confuse the construction, since

ὥσπερ εἰσορῶσ’ ἐμέ

( sc.

ξυναρπασθέντα

) refers to what precedes: while

τὼς

in 841 refers to

ὥσπερ

mvp-comment-488-5 (3) The form

φίλιστος

occurs nowhere else, except as a proper name.

mvp-comment-488-6

τώς

is not elsewhere found in Soph. or Eur. : it is, however, used by Aesch. , not only in lyrics ( Aesch. Th. 484 , Suppl. 69, 670, 691), but once, at least, in a trimeter, Th. 637

ἢ ζῶντ’ ἀτιμαστῆρα τὼς ἀνδρηλάτην

. We should not, then, insist on

τώς

as a mark of spuriousness: and

ὀλοίατο

is, of course, free from objection ( O. T. 1274

γνωσοίατο

n.). But the case against 841 f. seems conclusive without them.

mvp-comment-488-7 A more difficult question is whether vv. 839, 840 are also spurious. The schol. in L on v. 841 is as follows:—

τὼς αὐτοσφαγεῖς

ταῦτα νοθεύεσθαί φασιν ὑποβληθέντα πρὸς σαφήνειαν τῶν λεγομένων

. As the lemma,

τὼς αὐτοσφαγεῖς

, clearly indicates,

ταῦτα

refers only to the two verses 841 f., and not (as Dindorf and others have assumed) to all the four verses 839—842. The surmise was, says the scholiast, that vv. 841 f. were added ‘to make the meaning clearer’; i.e., to explain the elliptical phrase,

ὥσπερ εἰσορῶσ’ ἐμέ

. Such a surmise itself shows that vv. 839, 840 were believed to be older than 841 f. It is indeed plain that all four verses are not by the same author. The incoherent construction noticed above, under (2), was possible for an interpolator whose attention was fixed on

ὥσπερ εἰσορῶσ’ ἐμέ

, but hardly for one who was forging vv. 839—842 as a whole. If, then, all four verses are condemned, we must assume two independent interpolations.

mvp-comment-488-8 I incline to think that the two verses 839 and 840 are genuine; because, otherwise, the imprecation on the

πάνδημος στρατός

(844) would follow too abruptly on v. 838. The prayer for the destruction of his chief foes, uttered in 839 f., leads up to the more sweeping denunciation of the Greek army.

mvp-comment-489-1 ἴτ’ ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-489-2 γεύεσθε ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-489-3 πανδήμου στρατοῦ ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-490-1 αἰπὺν ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-490-2 οὐρανὸν διφρηλατῶν ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-491-1 ἴδῃς ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-491-2 χρυσόνωτον ἡνίαν ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-492-1 τροφῷ ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-493-1 ἦ που ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-493-2 ἥσει … κωκυτὸν ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-493-3 ἐν πάσῃ πόλει ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-494-1 ἔργον ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-494-2 ἀλλ’ … ἀλλ’ ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-495-1 Θάνατε ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-496-1 κἀκεῖ ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-496-2 The absence of caesura gives a more deliberate weight to

σὲ μὲν κἀκεῖ

: cp. 994 : Ph. 1369

ἔα κακῶς αὐτοὺς ἀπόλλυσθαι κακούς

, and ib. 101: Ant. 44.

mvp-comment-497-1 τὸ νῦν σέλας ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-497-2 διφρευτὴν ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-498-1 πανύστατον δὴ ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-498-2 κοὔποτ’ … ὕστερον ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-499-1 ἱερὸν ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-499-2 πατρῷον ¹⁷⁷ βάθρον ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-500-1 κλειναί ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-500-2 καὶ τὸ σύντροφον γένος ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-501-1 κρῆναί τε ποταμοί θ’ οἵδε ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-501-2 καὶ τὰ Τρ. πεδία προσαυδῶ ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-501-3 τροφῆς ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-502-1 Αἴας … θροεῖ ¹⁸⁴ μυθήσομαι ¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-502-2 Ajax falls upon his sword. (See n. on 815.)—The actor Timotheus of Zacynthus (says the scholiast) was celebrated in this scene:

ἦγε τοὺς θεατὰς καὶ ἐψυχαγώγει, ὡς Σφαγέα αὐτὸν κληθῆναι

mvp-comment-503-1 πόνος πόνῳ πόνον ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-504-1 κοὐδεὶς … τόπος ¹⁸⁷ συμμαθεῖν ¹⁸⁸ σφε ¹⁸⁹ κοὐδεὶς ἐπίσταταί σφε συνναίειν τόπος ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-505-1 ἰδού ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-506-1 ἡμῶν ¹⁹² ναὸς … ὁμιλίαν ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-506-2 κοινόπλουν ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-507-1 τί οὖν δή ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-508-1 ἐστίβηται ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-509-1 ἔχεις οὖν ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-510-1 κοὐδὲν εἰς ὄψιν πλέον ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-511-1 ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-511-2 τὴν ἀφ’ ἡλίου βολῶν ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-511-3 δηλοῖ ²⁰¹ κέλευθον ²⁰²

mvp-comment-512-1 τίς ἂν ²⁰³ ἁλιαδᾶν ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-512-2 ἔχων … ἄγρας ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-512-3 ἀΰπνους ²⁰⁶ ἀμφ’ ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-513-1 ἢ τίς Ὀλυμπιάδων θεᾶν ²⁰⁸ θεᾶν ²⁰⁹ ποταμῶν ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-513-2 ῥυτῶν ²¹¹

mvp-comment-513-3 Βοσπορίων ²¹² ἴδρις ²¹³ ποταμῶν ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-514-1 εἴ ποθι … λεύσσων ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-514-2 σχέτλια ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-514-3 τὸν μακρῶν ἀλάταν πόνων ²¹⁷ οὐρίῳ μὴ πελάσαι δρόμῳ ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-515-1 ἀμενηνὸν ²¹⁹ ὅπου ²²⁰

mvp-comment-516-1 ἰώ μοί μοι ²²¹

mvp-comment-517-1 τίνος βοὴ ²²² πάραυλος ²²³

mvp-comment-518-1 ἰὼ τλήμων ²²⁴

mvp-comment-519-1 δουρίληπτον ²²⁵

mvp-comment-519-2 οἴκτῳ … συγκεκραμένην ²²⁶

mvp-comment-520-1 ᾤχωκα ²²⁷

mvp-comment-520-2 διαπεπόρθημαι ²²⁸

mvp-comment-521-1 τί δ’ ἔστιν ²²⁹

mvp-comment-522-1 ἡμῖν ²³⁰

mvp-comment-522-2 ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς ²³¹

mvp-comment-523-1 κρυφαίῳ ²³²

mvp-comment-523-2 φας‐ ²³³ γάνῳ περιπτυχής ²³⁴

mvp-comment-524-1 ὤμοι ²³⁵

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

751-752. mvp-comment-502-1 Join δεξιὰν θείς.

752. mvp-comment-503-1 παντοίᾳ τέχνῃ] 'By all manner of means:' to be joined with εἶρξαι.

753. mvp-comment-504-1 κατ᾿ ἡμαρ.. τόδε] 'For the day whose light is with us now and here,' i. e. to-day.

754. mvp-comment-505-1 ἀφέντα agrees with Τεύκρον, the subject of ἐᾶν.

756. mvp-comment-506-1 τῇδε θήμέρᾳ is more probable, because simpler, than τῇδ' ἔθ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ.

757. mvp-comment-507-1 ὡς ἔφη λέγων] · As his words declared.' The messenger is careful to make it clear that the assertion is the prophet's, and not his own. Cp. Creon in Ο. Τ. 110, ἐν τῇδ᾽ ἔφασκε γῇ. For this periphrasis, cp. Hdt. 1. 118, τῷ τε γὰρ πεποιημένῳ, ἔφη λέγων, ἐς τὸν παῖδα τοῦτον ἔκαμνον μεγάλως, κ.τ.λ. Abicht observes that it is commonly used, as here, in passing to direct speech from indirect.

758. mvp-comment-508-1 τὰ.. περισσὰ κἀνόνητα σώματα] 'Men grown too great to be of profit.' Cp. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1. 2. 149, 50, 'Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, | That he is grown so great?' Ib. I. 1. 77, 8, 'These growing feathers plucked from Caesar's wing, | Will make him fly an ordinary pitch.'

760. mvp-comment-509-1 ὅστις] · 'When any one.' Essay on L. § 22. p. 35, 2.

760-761. mvp-comment-510-1 ἀνθρώπου φύσιν | βλαστών] 'Being but of human mould.' An unusual cognate accusative, to be partly accounted for by the frequent use of φύσιν as an accusative of respect. See Essay on L. § 17. p. 25; and cp. especially Trach. 1062, γυνὴ δέ, θήλυς οὖσα κοὐκ ἀνδρὸς φύσιν.

762. mvp-comment-511-1 εὐθύς belongs in meaning to εὑρέθη in the following line.

763. mvp-comment-512-1 πατρός may be either (1) genitive of derivation, 'A foolish son of a wisely speaking father,' for which, cp. Ant. 38, ἐσθλῶν κακή: or (2) genitive absolute, 'Foolish, although his father advised him well.' The former (1) is nearer to the truth.

764. mvp-comment-513-1 αὐτὸν ἐννέπει] 'Charged him.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 350, ἐννέπω σέ, κ.τ.λ.

765. mvp-comment-514-1 μὲν .. δ΄] The 'paratactic' structure (Essay on L. § 36. p. 68) gives additional emphasis.

769. mvp-comment-515-1 ἐπισπάσειν] 'That I shall cull perforce,' as if plucking a branch from a tree. (Aesch. Pers. 475.) Cp. Shak. 1 Hen. IV. 1.3: 'Hot. By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap | To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon; | Or dive into the bottom of the deep, | Where fathom-line doth never touch the ground, | And pluck up drowned honour by the locks; | So he that doth redeem her thence might wear | Without corrival all her dignities.'

770. mvp-comment-516-1 τοσόνδ' .. μύθον] 'So high the vaunt he uttered.' Cp. supr. 386, μηδὲν μέγ' εἴπῃς: 422, 3, ἔπος | ἐξερέω μέγα.

771. mvp-comment-517-1 δίας ᾿Αθάνας] 'Regarding glorious Athena.' An extreme instance of the genitive of respect. Essay on L. § 9. p. 13, infr. 790, 792. The sentence is changed from δίας Αθάνας ότρυνούσης, or αὐδωμένης.

773. mvp-comment-518-1 ηὐδᾶτ'] For αὐδᾶν, ‘to command,' cp. O. C. 864, αὐδῶ σιωπᾶν, and for the middle v. (of unasked, spontaneous utterance), Phil. 130, οὗ δῆτα, τέκνον, ποικίλως αὐδωμένου. δεινὸν ἄρρητόν τ' ἔπος] ' A fearfully impious word.'

775. mvp-comment-519-1 καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς) 'In my part of the line; κατά, as in Hdt. 2. 121. § 4, ὡς δὲ κατὰ τοὺς φυλάσσοντας ἦν: Xen. Hell. 4. 2. 18, οἱ μὲν ᾿Αθηναῖοι κατὰ Λακεδαιμονίους ἐγένοντο. Hermann renders, 'Per me, quantum in me est,' which is rather = τὸ καθ' ἡμᾶς ( cp. Hdt. 7. 158). οὔποτ' ἐκρήξει] 'Shall never burst forth,' like a river breaking its banks. 'Postquam..duo acies manum aliquandiu conseruerunt, si alterutra subito in fugam se converterit, eleganter pugna ipsa, tanquam obicibus antea coërcita, in eam partem ἐκρήσσειν [ ἐκρῆξαι] dicatur.' Musgr. Cp. the Homeric πολέμοιο γέφυραι, in which the opposing armies are thought of as the sides of a torrent.

776. mvp-comment-520-1 The correction suggested by Hermann, τοι for τοῖς, although not quite necessary (for τοιοίσδε might = τοιοίσδε πεφυκόσιν), is extremely probable.

776-777. mvp-comment-521-1 ἀστεργῆ .. ὀργήν] • He hath won him the unenviable guerdon of the goddess' wrath.' ἀστεργῆ is more forcible when taken thus passively than if supposed to mean 'unloving,' which would add nothing to the notion of ὀργὴν. For ἐκτήσατο, of something bad, cp. especially Aesch. S. c. T. 1017 (of Polynices), ἄγος δὲ καὶ θανὼν κεκτήσεται.

779. mvp-comment-522-1 The genitive αὐτοῦ shows that σωτήριοι has nearly the force of a substantive.

780. mvp-comment-523-1 On this form of the senarius, generally marking some empressement, see above on l. 294. ἐξ ἔδρας] 'From where I sate,' viz. amongst the Achaeans who were looking on at the council.

781. mvp-comment-524-1 τάσδ' ἐπιστολάς] 'This charge,' viz. that implied in supr. 753-5. Teucer remains to watch over his brother's interests in the assembly.

782. mvp-comment-525-1 Τεύκρος]) The proper name is added after the article in further explanation. φυλάσσειν] The epexegetic infinitive is occasioned by the addition of Τεύκρος. εἰ δ᾽ ἀπεστερήμεθα] 'But if we are frustrated;' i. e. if the δαίμων of Ajax has prevented us from carrying out our intention. For ἀποστερεῖν of prevention, cp. Aesch. Suppl. 1063, Ζεὺς ἀποστεροίη γάμον. This meaning is more forcible, although less obvious, than that of Badham's ingenious conjecture, εἰ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑστερήκαμεν.

783. mvp-comment-526-1 The idiomatic ἁνὴρ κεῖνος avoids the association of the name Alas with the ill-omened οὐκ ἔστιν.

784. mvp-comment-527-1 'O cruelly vexed Tecmessa, born to woe!' The exact association conveyed in Sata is difficult to seize. Perhaps from meaning 'hostile,' it comes to mean 'treated as an enemy,' and so 'cruelly afflicted' by the gods.

785. mvp-comment-528-1 'Come and see what news this man is telling.' Cp. Phil. 504, χρὴ δ᾽ ἐμὲ | σκοπεῖν ὅπως σου μηδὲν ἐξαμαρτήσω.

814. mvp-comment-529-1 καὶ ποδῶν is added to define ἔργου further. Exeunt Chorus severally by the two side doors. Cp. supr. 805.

815-865. mvp-comment-530-1 The scene is changed to a wooded place ( infr. 892) not far from the camp ( infr. 874-8), where Ajax is disclosed, somewhat retired, but so that both he and the projecting point of the sword which he has planted in the ground, are visible to the spectators.

815. mvp-comment-531-1 ὁ.. σφαγεύς] Either (1) 'the slayer,' or (2) 'the sacrificer;' probably the former (1). ἕστηκεν .. ἄν] 'Stands so as he may prove most keen:' whetted not only with the grind-stone, but with the hate of Hector who gave it, the enmity of the Trojan soil in which it is fixed, the determined will of Ajax and his care in executing that will. The sword thus ordered cannot fail of its effect.

816. mvp-comment-532-1 εἴ τῳ.. σχολή] These words mark Ajax' feeling of the extreme deliberateness of his act. After long repression he is at leisure not only to make elaborate preparations, but also to reason over what he is about to do. For the language, cp. Thuc. 2. 45, εἰ δέ με δεῖ καὶ γυναικείας τι ἀρετῆς . μνησθῆναι, βραχεία παραινέσει ἅπαν σημανῶ. The clause is rather to be connected with what follows than with what precedes. (Others would supply ἦν, and render 'If one had but time to make reflections'). The indefinite Te has an ironical effect, and also somewhat of solemnity, like the impersonal expression in Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 5. 1: 'O, that a man might know | The end of this day's business ere it come!'

817-818. mvp-comment-533-1 ἀνδρὸς ὁρᾶν] 'Of Hector, who of men not Greek was by me most hated and abhorred.' ἀνδρός adds a touch of distinction to the name which follows. Cp El. 45, παρ᾿ ἀνδρὸς Φανοτέως ἥκων. By the addition of ξένων he reserves his chief hatred for the Argives.

820. mvp-comment-534-1 The reading σιδηροβρώτηῃ is not impossible. Cp. Ο. Τ. 80, 1, τύχῃ ·· σωτῆρι, and note. The iteration of ἔπηξα after πέπηγε, supr. 819, strengthens our impression of the firmness with which the sword was fastened in the earth.

821. mvp-comment-535-1 εὖ περιστείλας) 'Carefully securing it.' He had trodden the earth about it, as if planting a young tree.

822. mvp-comment-536-1 εὐνούστατον..θανεῖν] 'So as most kindly to provide for me a speedy death,' εὐνούστατον is supplementary predicate with ἔπηξα. Essay on L. § 23, P. 38, § 38, p. 71. θανεῖν is epexegetic = ὥστε θανείν. Ajax has but two desires, that his death may be (1) certain, (2) swift. His preparation of the sword secures both ends in one.

823. mvp-comment-537-1 οὕτω μὲν εὐσκευοῦμεν] 'So well provided with an instrument am I.' μέν is resumed from supr. 815.

824. mvp-comment-538-1 καὶ γὰρ εἰκός] These words are characteristic of the indomitable hero, who, in his supreme hour, addresses the sovereign of the gods as his kinsman. ( Cp. supr. 387, προγόνων προπάτωρ.)

825. mvp-comment-539-1 λαχεῖν, if the true reading, is epexegetic, the accusative γέρας being governed, primarily, by αἰτήσομαι. But λαβεῖν may be right. See v. rr.

826. mvp-comment-540-1 κακὴν φάτιν] A rumour of evil sound. In the 'clairvoyance' of this moment Ajax imagines the effect which the news of his death would have on Teucer, as also, infr. 850, on his mother. It has been supposed that infr. 998, ὀξεῖα γὰρ .. θανών indicates the answer of Zeus to this prayer. But, although this is possible, such a rumour is sufficiently accounted for by what passes at supr. 749 foll., especially the words in l. 783, οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνηρ κεῖνος.

828. mvp-comment-541-1 περί] Cp. infr. 899, φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής. νεορράντῳ] 'Then freshly streaming.' For this vivid touch, cp. infr. 898, ἀρτίως νεοσφαγής. He does not mention Tecmessa.

830. mvp-comment-542-1 ῥιφθῶ .. ἕλωρ] 'I be cast forth, exposed to dogs and birds for a prey.'

833-834. mvp-comment-543-1 'And that the leap wherewith I plunge this sword into my side may be swift and without a struggle.' πηδήματι has been interpreted of the involuntary spring upwards at the moment of the sword piercing the heart; but it is rather, more simply, the act of falling on the sword. Ajax prays that this may be unattended with convulsions, and may lead directly to the consummation.

835. mvp-comment-544-1 ἀεὶ . . παρθένους] Cp. especially, Aesch. Eum. 69, 70, παλαιαὶ παῖδες, αἷς οὐ μίγνυται | θεῶν τις, οὐδ᾽ ἄνθρωπος, οὐδὲ θήρ ποτε.

836. mvp-comment-545-1 Ср. О. С. 42, τὰς πάνθ᾽ ὁρώσας Εὐμενίδας, κ.τ.λ.

837. mvp-comment-546-1 μαθεῖν] The inf. depends on the general notion in καλῶ, the full expression, καλῶ ἀρωγούς, being partly lost sight of.

839-842. mvp-comment-547-1 See v. rr. The reasons for rejecting these four lines may be briefly given. The allusion to the death of Agamemnon, which is the chief point in them, interferes with the poetical simplicity of the passage, and is moreover not applicable to Menelaus. The emphatic use of αὐτοσφαγής in two different senses in the same line is awkward, and like an imitation. φίλιστος occurs nowhere else, and τώς not elsewhere in Sophocles; and ἐκγόνων seems to have arisen from a confusion of the death of Agamemnon with that of Clytemnestra, together with an attempt to include the fate of Odysseus. ¹

839-842. mvp-comment-547-2 839 ff. καί σφας κακοὺς κάκιστα καὶ πανωλέθρους | ξυναρπάσειαν, ὥσπερ εἰσορῶσ' ἐμὲ | αὐτοσφαγῆι πίπτοντα, τὼς αὐτοσφαγεὶς | πρὸς τῶν φιλίστων ἐκγόνων ὀλοίατο LAL Pal. Vat. ac. (Variants: αὐτοσφαγῆ Α. αὐτοσφαγεῖσ CA. ἐκγονων L. καὐτοσφαγεῖς Pal. τως αὐτοσφαγεῖς Vat. ac. ὣς αὐτοσφαγεῖς V. ἐκγόνων Vat. a.)

844. mvp-comment-548-1 'Flesh yourselves unsparingly on all the populous host.' μὴ φείδεσθε is introduced dià mésou. The πάνδημος στρατός of the Achaeans is contrasted with the Argive chiefs.

847. mvp-comment-549-1 ἐπισχὼν .. ἡνίαν] ‘Checking thy rein.' Instead of saying ἐπέχειν ἅρμα, or ἵππους, the means, or more immediate object, is put into the accusative.

847. mvp-comment-549-2 χρυσόνωτον] ‘Gilded,' viz, having the upper surface studded with gold.

848. mvp-comment-550-1 ἄτας.. ἐμόν] 'My troubles and my fate.' This is not a mere pleonasm. The ἅται may include his first provocation of Athena as well as his wild actions since; the word μόρον is specially applicable to his death.

849. mvp-comment-551-1 τῇ τε δυστήνῳ τροφῷ] Either (1) 'and the unhappy one who nursed my infancy;' or (2) 'and the unhappy one who tends on him.' According to (1) Ajax in thinking of his mother with special tenderness, speaks of her as the one who nursed him at her breast ( ἥ μ' ἔτεχ᾽, ἤ μ᾿ ἔθρεψε, Od. 2. 131.) According to (2) he is thinking of the dreary household at Salamis, where she who had been the wife of Telamon's youth was now the nurse of his declining years. Cp. Od. 24. 211, ἐν δὲ γυνὴ Σικελὴ γρηὺς πέλεν, ἤ ῥα γέροντα | ἐνδυκέως κομέεσκεν ἐπ᾿ ἀγροῦ, νόσφι πόληος.

851. mvp-comment-552-1 Cp. Eur. Med. 1176, εἶτ' ἀντίμολπον ἡκεν ὀλολυγῆς μέγαν | κωκυτόν.

852. mvp-comment-553-1 'But I have nought to do with vain laments for this.' οὐδὲν ἔργον, lit. 'It is no part of the business in hand.'

853. mvp-comment-554-1 σὺν τάχει τινί] 'And that with speed.' The addition of the indefinite pronoun, as in ἀνύσας τι ('with something of haste'), has an effect of peremptoriness.

856. mvp-comment-555-1 τὸ νῦν] By hypallage for τῆς νῦν, giving a lighter rhythm.

857. mvp-comment-556-1 προσεννέπω is introduced by an expansion similar to that in Aesch. Prom. 91, καὶ τὸν πανόπτην κύκλον ἡλίου καλῶ, and then becomes the governing word.

858. mvp-comment-557-1 κοὔποτ᾽ αὖθις] Sc. προσαυδήσω. Cp. Ant. 808, 9, νέατον δὲ φέγγος λεύσσουσαν ἀελίου | κοὔποτ᾽ αὖθις.

859. mvp-comment-558-1 ὦ φέγγος] He passionately resumes his invocation (856-8), and as his heart goes forth with the universal sunlight, he again (as in 846) fixes his thoughts on home.

860. mvp-comment-559-1 πατρῷον ἑστίας βάθρον] 'Hearth-stone of my sire.' See Essay on L. § 42. p. 80 γ.

861. mvp-comment-560-1 κλειναί] Cp. supr. 596, and note. The glory of Athens, like that of Salamis, is anticipated.

861. mvp-comment-560-2 τὸ σύντροφον γένος] 'And ye, her race, among whom I was brought up.' These words, in which Ajax adopts the Athenians as brethren of the Aeacidae, are well calculated to move the Athenian audience.

862-864. mvp-comment-561-1 After bidding farewell to Salamis and Athens, he is returning to his purpose, when his eye falls on the fresh waters in which he has lately bathed ( supr. 654); and they remind him of his Trojan environment of the last ten years. To this also he bids an affectionate farewell.

864. mvp-comment-562-1 The repetition of his own name by Ajax here is significant. Still conscious of his greatness, he imagines all Nature as moved at his departure.

865-866. mvp-comment-563-1 Ajax having fallen upon his sword at the back of the proscenium, and the orchestra as well as the stage being otherwise vacant, the Chorus re-enter by the two side doors, the first ἡμιχορίον coming in on the spectator's left, as if from the east. Before the opening of the strophe, infr. 879, they have taken up their position in the orchestra.

866. mvp-comment-564-1 'Toil upon toil brings only toil.' The dative here is partly governed by the verb. Cp. Eur. Hel. 195, δάκρυα δάκρυσί μοι φέρων. But in Eur. Phoen. 1496, φόνῳ φόνos, by an extension of the idiom, φόνῳ is simply = ἐπὶ φόνῳ.

869. mvp-comment-565-1 'And no spot arrests me that I may share its secret.' Although the causative sense of the middle voice of ἐφίστημι is usually confined to the first aorist, this is not the case with other compounds of ἵστημι, e. g. καθίσταμαι; and in Trach. 339, τοῦ με τήνδ᾽ ἐφίστασαι βάσιν, the active or causative meaning is the most natural. See L. and S. s. v. ἐφίστημι, C. διίσταμαι occurs with active meaning only in Plat. Tim. 63 C, γεώδη γένη διϊστάμενοι. The force of the middle voice comes out if we complete the expression, ἐφίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν ἑαυτῷ. ἐπίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν can only mean 'is aware that I know what it knows.'

870. mvp-comment-566-1 ἴδου] Cp. El. 1410, ἰδοὺ μάλ᾽ αὖ θροεῖ τις.

872. mvp-comment-567-1 Either (1) with a comma after γε, as in the text, 'You hear our sound, your mates of the same ship's crew:' ἡμῶν governed by δοῦπον, and ὁμιλίαν (abstract for concrete) being placed in lax apposition with the preceding words. Or (2) with no stop, supplying κλύεις, 'What you hear is our company, your mates of the same ship's crew.'

874. mvp-comment-568-1 'The coast to westward of the ships hath all been trodden.' πλευρόν, lit. 'the rib,' and hence figuratively the curve, or half-arc, on one side of the bay. νεῶν, not with πλευρόν, but with ἕσπερον, as a genitive of local relation.

877. mvp-comment-569-1 ἀφ᾿ ἡλίου βολῶν] ‘Towards the sunrise;' according to the Greek idiom by which the point of sight is taken as a point of departure. Cp. Hdt. 1. 84, πρὸς τοῦ Τμώλου τετραμμένον, and see L. and S. s. ν. πρός, A. I. 2.

878. mvp-comment-570-1 κέλευθον is accusative of the sphere of motion, Essay on L. § 16. p. 23 c, some such word as ἰοῦσιν being suggested by the context. δηλοῖ] Sc. τὸ ἐρευνώμενον. ‘Reveals the hidden truth by being found.' Ll. 866-878, which are recited before the Chorus have taken their places, are not antistrophic. Ll. 878-914, 925-960, are antistrophic according to the following scheme...

879. mvp-comment-571-1 The correction of δή to δῆτα is necessary for the (dochmiac) metre. τις ἂν = πῶς ἄν τις; Cp. O. C. 1100, τίς ἂν θεῶν . . δοίη;

880. mvp-comment-572-1 ἔχων] 'Employed in.' Cp. supr. 564, δυσμενῶν θήραν ἔχων.

881. mvp-comment-573-1 Ὀλυμπιάδων θεᾶν], 'Nymphs of' (the Mysian) 'Olympus.'

885. mvp-comment-574-1 Βοσπορίων ποταμών] ‘What flowing current of the Hellespont?' Cp. supr. 412, and note. The Hellespont with its various currents might be imagined as tenanted by many river-gods. ἴδρις, which follows these words in most MSS., but not in Mosq. ab., has nothing to correspond to it in the antistrophe, and is unnecessary to the sense.

885. mvp-comment-574-2 τὸν ὠμόθυμον] Cp. supr. 205, and note.

886. mvp-comment-575-1 εἴ ποθι.. λεύσσων] i. e. λεύσσων, εἴ ποθι λεύσσοι. See Essay on L. § 28. p. 47,3; and cp. Thuc. 1. 14. § 4.

887. mvp-comment-576-1 σχέτλια] For the plural use, cp. Ε1. 230, τάδε γὰρ ἄλυτα κεκλήσεται.

888. mvp-comment-577-1 τὸν .. πόνων] 'In this my long-continued wandering toil.'

889. mvp-comment-578-1 'Should not arrive with favourable speed.' πελάσαι, sc. τῷ ζητουμένῳ.

890. mvp-comment-579-1 "But mine eye should fail to find where he is, the vanished one." Although the ordinary sense of ἀμενηνός, ‘without force' ( ἀ-μένος), is sufficient here (cp. especially, Hom. H. Ven. 189-91, μή με ζῶντ᾽ ἀμενηνὸν ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ἐάσῃς ναίειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐλέαιρ᾽· ἐπεὶ οὐ βιοθάλμιος ἀνὴρ | γίγνεται, ὅστε, κ.τ.λ.), the context suggests the further association of 'a vanished life,' as if from α, μένω. See Essay on L. § 54. p. 100 c.

891. mvp-comment-580-1 During the strophe, Tecmessa has entered unperceived at the back of the stage, and, still in shadow, raises a sudden cry. The Chorus do not at once see her.

894. mvp-comment-581-1 The word νύμφη is chosen, as less definite than δάμαρ or ἄκοιτις, to denote the position of Tecmessa.

895. mvp-comment-582-1 οἴκτῳ .. συγκεκραμένην] 'Steeped in the sorrow of that cry.' The look of Tecmessa convinces the Chorus that her whole being is fused in the sorrow which the cry conveyed. For the physical image, see Essay on L. § 56. p. 102: and cp. especially Ant. 1311, δειλαίᾳ . . συγκέκραμαι δύᾳ. τῷδε refers to ἰώ μοί μοι.

896. mvp-comment-583-1 οἴχωκ᾽, ὄλωλα] The perfect gives a more absolute sense of completeness than οἴχομαι would give. διαπεπόρθημαι] For this image, which sums up Tecmessa's experience of calamity, cp. Aesch. Cho. 691, κατ' ἄκρας εἶπας ὡς πορθούμεθα.

899. mvp-comment-584-1 'Lies heaped about his hidden sword.' The sword-point ( infr. 1025) lifts the garment of Ajax to an apex from which the folds descend. At 906 she has raised the edge of the garment, and is gazing at the mangled form beneath it. At 915, by a revulsion of feeling, she draws it (or perhaps her own veil) over him so as to cover him more completely than before. The point of the sword is hidden by the garment, the blade in the body, the hilt in the ground. For the language, cp. Pind. Nem. 8. 40, κεῖνος καὶ Τελαμῶνος δάψεν υἱὸν φασγάνῳ ἀμφικυλίσαις.

900. mvp-comment-585-1 The first thought of the Chorus is for themselves.

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

751–900

Current edition Experimental

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ ἰώ μοί μοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ Τινος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους; 875

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Ἰὼ τλήμων.

ΧΟΡΟΣ Τὴν δουρίληπτον δύςμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ 895 Τέκμησσαν οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Οἴχωκ’, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ Τί δ’ ἔστιν; 880

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Αἴας ὅδ’ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

ΧΟΡΟΣ 2 900 ὤ μοι ἐμῶν νόστων, ὤ μοι, κατέπεφνες, ἄναξ, τόνδε συνναύταν, ὦ τάλας, 885 ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Ὡς ὧδε τοῦδ’ ἔχοντος, αἰάζειν πάρα.

ΧΟΡΟΣ 905 Τίνος ποτ’ ἆρ’ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύςμορος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ, δῆλον· ὲν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ πηκτὸν τόδ’ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ 890

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Ἰώ μοί μοι. 915

ΧΟΡΟΣ Χωρεῖ πρὸς ἦπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ ἰώ μοι μοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ 940 οὐδέν σ’ ἀπιστῶ καὶ δὶς οἰμῶξαι, γύναι, τοιοῦδ’ ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν ἀρτίως φίλου.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτ’ ἔστ’, ἐμοὶ δ’ ἄγαν φρονεῖν. 920

ΧΟΡΟΣ Ξυναυδῶ.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ οἴ μοι, τέκνον, πρὸς οἷα δουλείας ζυγὰ 945 χωροῦμεν, οἷοι νῷν ἐφεστᾶσι σκοποί. 2

ΧΟΡΟΣ Ὤ μοι ἀναλγήτων δισσῶν ἐθρόησας ἄναυδον 925 ἔργον Ἀτρειδᾶν τῷὸ ’ ἄχει, ἀλλ’ ἀπείργοι θεός.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ 950 Οὐκ ἂν τάδ’ ἔστη τῇδε μὴ θεῶν μέτα,

ΧΟΡΟΣ Ἄγαν γ’ ὑπερβριθὲς ἄχθος ἤνυσαν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ Τοιόνδε μέντοι Ζῆνός ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς 930 Πάλλας φυτεύει πῆμ’ Ὀδυσσέως χάριν.

Τέκμησσα ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

Τέκμησσα ἰὼ τλάμων.

Χορός τὴν δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ Τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην 895

Τέκμησσα ᾤχωκʼ, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

Χορός τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Τέκμησσα Αἴας ὅδʼ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

Χορός ὤμοι ἐμῶν νόστων· 900 ὤμοι, κατέπεφνες ἄμʼ, ὦναξ, τόνδε συνναύταν, ὦ τάλας· ὦ ταλαῖφρον γύναι.

Τέκμησσα ὡς ὧδε τοῦδʼ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα.

Χορός τίνος ποτʼ ἆρʼ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος; 905

Τέκμησσα αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτοῦ· δῆλον. ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ πηκτὸν τόδʼ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

Τέκμησσα ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός χωρεῖ πρὸς ἧπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

Τέκμησσα ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός οὐδέν σʼ ἀπιστῶ καὶ δὶς οἰμῶξαι, γύναι, 940 τοιοῦδʼ ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν ἀρτίως φίλου.

Τέκμησσα σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτʼ ἔστʼ, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἄγαν φρονεῖν.

Χορός ξυναυδῶ.

Τέκμησσα οἴμοι, τέκνον, πρὸς οἷα δουλείας ζυγὰ χωροῦμεν, οἷοι νῷν ἐφεστᾶσι σκοποί. 945

Χορός ὤμοι, ἀναλγήτων δισσῶν ἐθρόησας ἄναυδον ἔργον Ἀτρειδᾶν τῷδʼ ἄχει. ἀλλʼ ἀπείργοι θεός.

Τέκμησσα οὐκ ἂν τάδʼ ἔστη τῇδε, μὴ θεῶν μέτα. 950

Χορός ἄγαν δʼ ὑπερβριθές γε τἄχθος ἤνυσαν.

Τέκμησσα τοιόνδε μέντοι Ζηνὸς ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς Παλλὰς φυτεύει πῆμʼ Ὀδυσσέως χάριν.

Χορός ἦ ῥα κελαινώπαν θυμὸν ἐφυβρίζει 955 πολύτλας ἀνήρ, γελᾷ δὲ τοῖσδε μαινομένοις ἄχεσιν πολὺν γέλωτα, φεῦ φεῦ, ξύν τε διπλοῖ βασιλῆς κλύοντες Ἀτρεῖδαι. 960

ὦ δαΐα Τέκμησσα, δύσμορον γένος, ὅρα ὅραι ὅρα μολοῦσα τόνδ᾽ τον. τόνδ' ὁποῖ᾽ ἔπη θροεῖ. 785

ΧΟΡΟΣ. χωρεῖν ἑτοῖμος, κοὐ λόγῳ δείξω μόνον. τάχος γὰρ ἔργου καὶ ποδῶν ἅμ᾽ ἔψεται.

ΑΙΑΣ.

ΗΜΙΧΟΡΙΟΝ.

πόνος πόνῳ πόνον φέρει.

ΗΜΙΧΟΡΙΟΝ. πᾶ πᾶ παῖ παῖ πᾶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔβαν ἐγώ; κοὐδεὶς ἐφίσταταί ἐπίσταται με συμμαθεῖν τόπος. ἰδού, 870 δοῦπον αὖ κλύω τινά.

ΗΜ. ἡμῶν γε, ναὸς κοινόπλουν ὁμιλίαν.

ΗΜ. τί οὖν δή;

ΗΜ. πᾶν ἐστίβηται πλευρὸν πλευρὰν πλευρὸν ἕσπερον νεῶν.

ΗΜ. ἔχεις οὖν; 875

ΗΜ. πόνου γε πλῆθος, κοὐδὲν εἰς ὄψιν πλέον.

ΗΜ. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δή οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τὴν ἀφ᾽ ἡλίου βολῶν βολῆσ βολῶν μολῶν κέλευθον ἁνὴρ οὐδαμοῦ ἀνὴρ οὐδαμοῦ οὐδαμοῦ ἁνὴρ δηλοῖ φανείς.

ΧΟΡΟΣ. στρ. α.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ἰώ μοί μοι ἰὰ ἰώ.

ΧΟΡΟΣ. τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ἰὼ τλήμων.

ΧΟΡΟΣ. τὴν δουρίληπτον δορίληπτον δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ Τέκμησσαν τέκμησαν τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην. 895

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. οἴχωκ᾽, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ. τί δ᾽ ἔστιν;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. Αἴας ὅδ᾽ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

ΧΟΡΟΣ. ὤμοι ἰώ μοι ἐμῶν νόστων· 900 ὤμοι ἰώ μοι, κατέπεφνες, ὧναξ, ὦ ἰὼ τόνδε συνναύταν, ὦ τάλας· ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. ὡς ὧδε τοῦδ᾽ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα. 905

ΧΟΡΟΣ. τίνος ποτ᾿ ἄρ᾽ ἔρξε ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ. αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτοῦ· δῆλον. ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ πηκτὸν τόδ᾽ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

Τέκμησσα ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

Τέκμησσα ἰὼ τλήμων.

Χορός τὴν δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ Τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ, τῷδε συγκεκραμένην. 895

Τέκμησσα ᾤχωκʼ, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

Χορός τί δʼ ἔστιν;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

ἰώ μοί μοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Τινος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;
875

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Ἰὼ τλήμων.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Τὴν δουρίληπτον δύςμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

895 Τέκμησσαν οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Οἴχωκ’, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Τί δ’ ἔστιν;
880

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Αἴας ὅδ’ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

2

900 ὤ μοι ἐμῶν νόστων,

ὤ μοι, κατέπεφνες, ἄναξ,

τόνδε συνναύταν, ὦ τάλας,
885

ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Ὡς ὧδε τοῦδ’ ἔχοντος, αἰάζειν πάρα.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

905 Τίνος ποτ’ ἆρ’ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύςμορος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ, δῆλον· ὲν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδ’ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ
890

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Ἰώ μοί μοι.
915

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Χωρεῖ πρὸς ἦπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

ἰώ μοι μοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ

940 οὐδέν σ’ ἀπιστῶ καὶ δὶς οἰμῶξαι, γύναι,

τοιοῦδ’ ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν ἀρτίως φίλου.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτ’ ἔστ’, ἐμοὶ δ’ ἄγαν φρονεῖν.
920

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Ξυναυδῶ.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

οἴ μοι, τέκνον, πρὸς οἷα δουλείας ζυγὰ

945 χωροῦμεν, οἷοι νῷν ἐφεστᾶσι σκοποί.

2

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Ὤ μοι ἀναλγήτων

δισσῶν ἐθρόησας ἄναυδον
925

ἔργον Ἀτρειδᾶν τῷὸ ’ ἄχει,

ἀλλ’ ἀπείργοι θεός.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

950 Οὐκ ἂν τάδ’ ἔστη τῇδε μὴ θεῶν μέτα,

ΧΟΡΟΣ

Ἄγαν γ’ ὑπερβριθὲς ἄχθος ἤνυσαν.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ

Τοιόνδε μέντοι Ζῆνός ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς
930

Πάλλας φυτεύει πῆμ’ Ὀδυσσέως χάριν.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

Τέκμησσα

ἰὼ τλάμων.

Χορός

τὴν δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

Τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην
895

Τέκμησσα

ᾤχωκʼ, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

Χορός

τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Τέκμησσα

Αἴας ὅδʼ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

Χορός

ὤμοι ἐμῶν νόστων·
900

ὤμοι, κατέπεφνες ἄμʼ, ὦναξ,

τόνδε συνναύταν, ὦ τάλας·

ὦ ταλαῖφρον γύναι.

Τέκμησσα

ὡς ὧδε τοῦδʼ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα.

Χορός

τίνος ποτʼ ἆρʼ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος;
905

Τέκμησσα

αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτοῦ· δῆλον. ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδʼ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

χωρεῖ πρὸς ἧπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

οὐδέν σʼ ἀπιστῶ καὶ δὶς οἰμῶξαι, γύναι,
940

τοιοῦδʼ ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν ἀρτίως φίλου.

Τέκμησσα

σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτʼ ἔστʼ, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἄγαν φρονεῖν.

Χορός

ξυναυδῶ.

Τέκμησσα

οἴμοι, τέκνον, πρὸς οἷα δουλείας ζυγὰ

χωροῦμεν, οἷοι νῷν ἐφεστᾶσι σκοποί.
945

Χορός

ὤμοι, ἀναλγήτων

δισσῶν ἐθρόησας ἄναυδον

ἔργον Ἀτρειδᾶν τῷδʼ ἄχει.

ἀλλʼ ἀπείργοι θεός.

Τέκμησσα

οὐκ ἂν τάδʼ ἔστη τῇδε, μὴ θεῶν μέτα.
950

Χορός

ἄγαν δʼ ὑπερβριθές γε τἄχθος ἤνυσαν.

Τέκμησσα

τοιόνδε μέντοι Ζηνὸς ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς

Παλλὰς φυτεύει πῆμʼ Ὀδυσσέως χάριν.

ὦ δαΐα Τέκμησσα, δύσμορον γένος,

ὅρα ὅραι ὅρα μολοῦσα τόνδ᾽ τον. τόνδ' ὁποῖ᾽ ἔπη θροεῖ.
785

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

χωρεῖν ἑτοῖμος, κοὐ λόγῳ δείξω μόνον.

τάχος γὰρ ἔργου καὶ ποδῶν ἅμ᾽ ἔψεται.

ΗΜΙΧΟΡΙΟΝ.

πᾶ πᾶ παῖ παῖ

πᾶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔβαν ἐγώ;

κοὐδεὶς ἐφίσταταί ἐπίσταται με συμμαθεῖν τόπος.

ἰδού,
870

δοῦπον αὖ κλύω τινά.

ΗΜ.

ἡμῶν γε, ναὸς κοινόπλουν ὁμιλίαν.

ΗΜ.

τί οὖν δή;

ΗΜ.

πᾶν ἐστίβηται πλευρὸν πλευρὰν πλευρὸν ἕσπερον νεῶν.

ΗΜ.

ἔχεις οὖν;
875

ΗΜ.

πόνου γε πλῆθος, κοὐδὲν εἰς ὄψιν πλέον.

ΗΜ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δή οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τὴν ἀφ᾽ ἡλίου βολῶν βολῆσ βολῶν μολῶν

κέλευθον ἁνὴρ οὐδαμοῦ ἀνὴρ οὐδαμοῦ οὐδαμοῦ ἁνὴρ δηλοῖ φανείς.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.
στρ. α.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἰώ μοί μοι ἰὰ ἰώ.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ἰὼ τλήμων.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τὴν δουρίληπτον δορίληπτον δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

Τέκμησσαν τέκμησαν τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην.
895

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

οἴχωκ᾽, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

Αἴας ὅδ᾽ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

ὤμοι ἰώ μοι ἐμῶν νόστων·
900

ὤμοι ἰώ μοι, κατέπεφνες, ὧναξ,

ὦ ἰὼ τόνδε συνναύταν,

ὦ τάλας·

ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι.

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

ὡς ὧδε τοῦδ᾽ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα.
905

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

τίνος ποτ᾿ ἄρ᾽ ἔρξε ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος;

ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ.

αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτοῦ· δῆλον. ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδ᾽ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

τίνος βοὴ πάραυλος ἐξέβη νάπους;

Τέκμησσα

ἰὼ τλήμων.

Χορός

τὴν δουρίληπτον δύσμορον νύμφην ὁρῶ

Τέκμησσαν, οἴκτῳ, τῷδε συγκεκραμένην.
895

Τέκμησσα

ᾤχωκʼ, ὄλωλα, διαπεπόρθημαι, φίλοι.

Χορός

τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Τέκμησσα

Αἴας ὅδʼ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγὴς

κεῖται, κρυφαίῳ φασγάνῳ περιπτυχής.

Χορός

ὤμοι ἐμῶν νόστων·
900

ὤμοι, κατέπεφνες, ἄναξ,

τόνδε συνναύταν, τάλας

ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι·

Τέκμησσα

ὡς ὧδε τοῦδʼ ἔχοντος αἰάζειν πάρα.

Χορός

τίνος ποτʼ ἆρʼ ἔπραξε χειρὶ δύσμορος;
905

Τέκμησσα

αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ, δῆλον· ἐν γάρ οἱ χθονὶ

πηκτὸν τόδʼ ἔγχος περιπετὲς κατηγορεῖ.

Χορός

ὤμοι ἐμᾶς ἄτας, οἶος ἄρʼ αἱμάχθης, ἄφαρκτος φίλων·

ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ πάντα κωφός, ὁ πάντʼ ἄϊδρις,

κατημέλησα. πᾷ πᾷ

κεῖται ὁ δυστράπελος, δυσώνυμος Αἴας;

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.

Χορός

χωρεῖ πρὸς ἧπαρ, οἶδα, γενναία δύη.

Τέκμησσα

ἰώ μοί μοι.