Sophocles Ajax 1406

1403-1408. mvp-comment-898-1 Perhaps the tripod and the armour were carried in the procession, which would go forth while the Chorus or the Coryphaeus chanted ll. 1418-20. During the words of Teucer, various attendants are moving to and fro, until at l. 1413 all is ready, and the procession forms.

1404-1406. mvp-comment-900-1 τοὶ. ἐπικαίρον] ‘Others set over the fire the tripod on its lofty stand, ready to serve for pure lustration." The words of Ajax, supr. 654, compared with 862, suggest that he bathed himself before his end. But Teucer could not know this, and in any case the lustration was necessary, especially after the self-violence. For ἀμφίπυρον, which is predicative, cp. Il. 18. 344, ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα μέγαν. τοί continues the epic note struck in κοίλην κάπετον. λουτρῶν is a genitive of respect after ἐπίκαιρον, 'With a view to,' 'For the purpose of.' Cp. Thuc. 3. 92. § 5, τοῦ πολέμου καλῶς . . καθίστασθαι.