Sophocles Ajax 1357

ed. Lewis Campbell

νικᾷ γὰρ ἁρετή .. ρετή ἡ ῥετή ἡ ἀρετὴ ἠρετή με τῆς ἔχθρας πολύ.

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)) — 1346 focus
Und du, Odysseus, streitest so für den mit mir?

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-806-1 νικᾷ γὰρ 1 τῆς ἔχθρας 2 νικᾷ 3

mvp-comment-806-2 It is very improbable that the text is corrupt. The context in verses 1355 f. at once proves that the words

ἁρετή
and
ἔχθρας
are genuine; and the article before
ἀρετή
confirms
τῆς
. As
νικᾷ
also is presumably sound, the fault, if any, would have to be sought in
πολύ
, for which neither
πλέον
nor
πάρος
is a tolerable substitute; or else in
με
. Now in a reply to the question,
ἐχθρὸν ὧδ’ αἰδεῖ νέκυν;
we should expect some reference by Odysseus to his own feeling; and v. 1358 (
τοιοίδε μέντοι φῶτες κ.τ.λ.
) further indicates that in the preceding verse he actually did refer to himself. Hence the only correction of
με
which would solve the difficulty of the genitive, viz.
τὰ
, is unsatisfactory.

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

1357. mvp-comment-870-1 τῆς ἔχθρας] 'Kindness prevails with me before enmity.' Sc. μᾶλλον, implied in νικᾷ. For the meaning of ἀρετή, cp. Thuc. 2. 34. §§ 6, 7. It is here partly the spirit of beneficence, partly 'the wish to be thought kind.' See Essay on L. § 39. p. 73 b.