Sophocles Ajax 1276

ed. Lewis Campbell

ἐρρύσατ᾽ ἐλθὼν μοῦνος om. add., ἀμφὶ μὲν νεῶν

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

Current edition Experimental

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Translations (1)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1264 focus
lerntet ihr doch beide weisen Sinnes sein!
Nichts Andres kann ich rathen, das euch besser sei.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-756-1 ἀμφὶ μὲν νεῶν … ἑδωλίοις 1

mvp-comment-756-2 (1) There is strong evidence that the term

ἑδώλια
was used in the 5th cent. B.C. to denote a raised deck, a quarter-deck, at the stern of the ship. This is clear in Her. 1. 24 : Arion asks leave,
στάντα ἐν τοῖσι ἑδωλίοισι ἀεῖσαι
: the officers of the ship consent, and are then said
ἀναχωρῆσαι ἐκ τῆς πρύμνης ἐς μέσην νέα
,— leaving Arion alone on the
ἑδώλια
. In Helen. 1571,
Ἑλένη καθέζετ’ ἐν μέσοις ἑδωλίοις
: which is clearly a place distinct from that where the rowers sat; of them it is said,
τοίχους δεξιοὺς λαιούς τ’ ἴσοι | ἀνὴρ παρ’ ἄνδρ’ ἕζοντο
. (For further evidence on this point, see Appendix.)

mvp-comment-756-3 (2) ἄκροισιν 2

mvp-comment-756-4 (3) ναυτικοῖς 3

mvp-comment-756-5 Other views of the passage, and some emendations which have been proposed, will be found in the Appendix.

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

1276-1278. mvp-comment-815-1 ἀμφὶ.. φλέγοντος] ‘When around the ships the fire already blazed so as to scorch the quarter-decks.' The ships being fired from the stern, whatever was most combustible abaft each vessel would first catch fire. ἑδωλίοις] This is commonly explained to mean 'the rowers' benches,' in which case ἄκροισιν is difficult to explain. But several passages indicate that ἑδώλια was the name given to those places in the vessel, chiefly at the stern, where persons not engaged in working her might sit. See the gloss on this line in Pal. R. 34, σανιδώμασιν, —also the Scholiast on Lycophr. 296, quoted by Dindorf in Steph. Thes. s. v. ἐξ ἑδωλίων πηδῶντες] τῶν σανιδωμάτων καὶ καταστρωμάτων τῆς νεώς: Etym. Magn. p. 455, 4 (ibid.), τόπον τῆς νεὼς βάσιν ἔχοντα .. ὁ καὶ ἑδώλιόν φασιν: and cp. Eur. Hel. 1571, Ἑλένη καθέζετ᾽ ἐν μέσοις ἐδωλίοις, ib. 1602, 3, παρακέλευσμα δ᾽ ἦν | πρύμνηθεν Ἑλένης (had she left the midmost benches, no doubt finding them uncomfortable, for the stern?): also Hdt. 1. 211, στάντα ἐν τοῖσι ἑδωλίοισι (evidently a platform in a particular part of the ship). This agrees with other meanings of the word. ἄκροισι means the part of the ἑδώλια towards the extreme stern. Cp. Od. 9. 540, οἰήϊον ἄκρον ἱκέσθαι. The whole description is probably taken from an Αἴαντος ἀριστεία, differing in some particulars from the Iliad, as, for instance, in ignoring the part taken by Patroclus in the defence of the ships. Hence no attempt need be made to reconcile the picture of Hector rushing with high bounds to cross the trench and board the fleet, with the narrative in Il. 14. 15.