Sophocles Ajax 601

ed. Lewis Campbell

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

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.

Editions (3)
Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 592-633 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 596-645 focus
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 596-645 focus
Translations (2)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 596 focus
Ruhmvoll thronest du, Salamis,
575
Du von Wogen umspültes Glückseiland,
Stets Allen im Glanze sichtbar!
Doch ich verweile undenkliche Zeiten, ach!
Hier auf des Ida grasüppiger Lämmerau,
Von hineilender Jahre Flucht ewig
580
Verzehrt, ledig des Ruhms,
Und bang harrend in Furcht,
Endlich zu geh'n die Bahn
Zum Graunthale des düstern Hades.
Erste Gegenstrophe.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 596-645 focus

Commentary

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

601. mvp-comment-410-1 †Ἰδαίᾳ μίμνων λειμώνια †ποίᾳ] The manifest corruption in these words seems to be incurable. Neither Hermann's Ἰδαῖα μίμνω λειμώνι᾽ ἄποινα ('Ι wait for my reward in Trojan meadows'), nor Bergk's Ἰδῷδι μίμνω χειμῶνι πόᾳ τε ('I abide winter and summer in the Trojan land'), can be admitted as probable. Mr. Paley, adopting λειμώνι᾽ ἔπαυλα from Seyffert, changes εὐνύμαι to ἐνναίων. Without dogmatizing on a point of great uncertainty, I would propose Ἰδαῖα μίμνων λειμώνι᾿ *ὕπαιθρα, *μηνῶν (Herm.) ἀνάριθμος αἰὲν *εὐνῶμαι (Bergk), 'Abiding out-door hardships in moist Trojan fields, I make my bed there, months without number.' ποίᾳ may be due to the association of λειμώνια, and a further association may have converted μηνῶν into μήλων. The metre a' 4. 5 is then the same as in ß' 1, 2. A similar feeling is more fully expressed infr. 1185-1210. Cp. especially ll. 1206-10, κεῖμαι δ' ἀμέριμνος οὕτως, | ἀεὶ πυκιναῖς δρόσοις | τεγγόμενος κόμας, | λυγρᾶς μνήματα Τροίας. In both places the chorus complain at once of irksome exposure and of a life of inaction. Cp. also Aesch. Agamemnon, ll. 558 foll., τὰ δ' αὐτε χέρσῳ καὶ προσῆν πλέον στύγος εὐναὶ γὰρ ἦσαν δαΐων πρὸς τείχεσιν. | ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δὲ κἀπὸ γῆς λειμώνιαι | δρόσοι κατεψέκαζον, ἔμπεδον σίνος | ἐσθημάτων, τιθέντες ἔνθηρον τρίχα. The Trojan meadows are contrasted with the rocky ground of Salamis. Cp. also Fr. 477, where Menelaus says contemptuously to Agamemnon, who proposes to remain at Troy, σὺ δ᾽ αὖθι μίμνων που κατ᾿ Ἰδαίαν χθόνα | ποίμνας Ὀλύμπου συναγαγὼν θυηπόλει.