Sophocles Ajax 81

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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TEC
There, then; I open to your view the form
Of Aias, and his fortunes as they are.
Dear comrades of the deep, whose truth and love
Stand forth alone unbroken in my woe,
Behold what gory sea
Of storm-lashed agony
Doth round and round me flow!

Ajax. Sophocles. Lewis Campbell (Translator). London, New York and Toronto. 1906.

Current edition Experimental

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (4)
Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 1-171 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 1-171 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 81 focus
μεμηνότ᾽ ἄνδρα περιφανῶς ὀκνεῖς ὅκνωι ὀκνεῖς ἰδεῖν ;
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1-171 focus
Translations (4)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 74 focus
Was thust du, Pallas? Nimmermehr ruf' ihn heraus -
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 81 focus
Chorus
This is no time for boasting : seest thou not
How very weak thou art ?
My great progenitor ! oh, grant me this !
Grant me to slay that hateful, talking slave.
With the proud princes ; then well pleased myself
Should perish last.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 81 focus
Ajax
356
Who grasp the strong oar, and impel the bark
355
Light bounding o'er the billows, you alone
With kind regard are present to my aid;
Draw all your swords, and end this hated life.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1-170 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-220-1 διοίγω 1

mvp-comment-220-2 πράγη 2

mvp-comment-220-3 The

ἐκκύκλημα
is now pushed on through the central door. It was a small stage, but large enough to allow of Ajax being shown surrounded by some of the slaughtered animals. The word
πράγη
in 347, and the language of vv. 351 ff., show that the carnage was represented. The other plays in which Soph <*>es has used the eccyclema are the Antigone (1294, where see n.), and the Electra (1464 f., n.).

mvp-comment-220-4 Ajax, sitting among his victims, and meditating his own destruction, was the subject of a famous picture by Timomachus of Byzantium. Philostratus ( Vit. Apoll. 2. 22 § 5) thus describes it:

τὸν Αἴαντα τὸν Τιμομάχου..ἀπεκτονότα τἀν τῇ Τροίᾳ βουκόλια καθῆσθαι ἀπειρηκότα
[cp. v. 325
ἥσυχος θακεῖ
],
βουλὴν ποιούμενον καὶ
ἑαυτὸν διαφθεῖραι
. The picture was at Cyzicus in 70 B.C. ( Cic. In Verr. 2. 4. 60 ), but was afterwards bought by Julius Caesar for the Temple of Venus Genetrix in Rome ( N. H. 7. 38 § 126). See Introduction § 20.

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

346. mvp-comment-249-1 ἐκκύκλημα. Ajax is disclosed with signs of slaughter about him. He is sitting upright. The slaughtered sheep are the evidence of his situation ( τὰ τοῦδε πράγη): his wild, dishevelled appearance betrays the condition of his mind ( αὐτὸς ὡς ἔχων κυρεῖ).