Sophocles Ajax 134

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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Telamonian child, whose hand
Guards our wave-encircled land,
Salamis that breasts the sea,
Good of thine is joy to me;
But if One who reigns above
Smite thee, or if murmurs move
From fierce Danaäns in their hate
Full of threatening to thy state,
All my heart for fear doth sigh,
Shrinking like a dove’s soft eye.
Hardly had the darkness waned,
When our ears were filled and pained
With huge scandal on thy fame.
Telling, thine the arm that came
To the cattle-browsèd mead,
Wild with prancing of the steed,
And that ravaged there and slew
With a sword of fiery hue
All the spoils that yet remain,
By the sweat of spearmen ta’en.
Such report against thy life,
Whispered words with falsehood rife,
Wise Odysseus bringing near
Shrewdly gaineth many an ear:
Since invention against thee
Findeth hearing speedily,
Tallying with the moment’s birth;
And with loudly waxing mirth
Heaping insult on thy grief,
Each who hears it glories more
Than the tongue that told before.
Every slander wins belief
Aimed at souls whose worth is chief:
Shot at me, or one so small,
Such a bolt might harmless fall.
Ever toward the great and high
Creepeth climbing jealousy
Yet the low without the tall
Make at need a tottering wall
Let the strong the feeble save
And the mean support the brave.
135
Ah! ’twere vain to tune such song
135
’Mid the nought discerning throng
135
Who are clamouring now ’gainst thee
135
Long and loud, and strengthless we,
135
Mighty chieftain, thou away,
135
To withstand the gathering fray
135
Flocking fowl with carping cry
135
Seem they, lurking from thine eye,
135
Till the royal eagle’s poise
135
Overawe the paltry noise
135
Till before thy presence hushed
135
Sudden sink they, mute and crushed.
135
Did bull slaying Artemis, Zeus’ cruel daughter
135
(Ah, fearful rumour, fountain of my shame!)
135
Prompt thy fond heart to this disastrous slaughter
135
Of the full herd stored in our army’s name!
135
Say, had her blood stained temple missed the kindness
135
Of some vow promised fruit of victory,
135
Foiled of some glorious armour through thy blindness,
135
Or fell some stag ungraced by gift from thee?
135
Or did stern Ares venge his thankless spear
135
Through this night foray that hath cost thee dear!
135
For never, if thy heart were not distracted
135
By stings from Heaven, O child of Telamon,
135
Wouldst thou have bounded leftward, to have acted
135
Thus wildly, spoiling all our host hath won!
135
Madness might fall some heavenly power forfend it
135
But if Odysseus and the tyrant lords
135
Suggest a forged tale, O rise to end it,
135
Nor fan the fierce flame of their withering words!
135
Forth from thy tent, and let thine eye confound
135
The brood of Sisyphus that would thee wound!
135
Too long hast thou been fixed in grim repose,
135
Heightening the haughty malice of thy foes,
135
That, while thou porest by the sullen sea,
135
Through breezy glades advanceth fearlessly,
135
A mounting blaze with crackling laughter fed
135
From myriad throats; whence pain and sorrow bred
135
Within my bosom are establishèd.
135

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.) — 172-201 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 172-200 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 134 focus
Τελαμώνιε παῖ, τῆς ἀμφιρύτου
Σαλαμῖνος ἔχων βάθρον ἀγχιάλου,
135
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 172-200 focus
Translations (4)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 134 focus
Telamonischer Sohn, der Salamis' Höh'n 1
Am ringsumwogten Gestade beherrscht,
135
Ich freue mich, lächelt das Glück dir.
Doch wann Zeus' Groll und ein zorniges Wort
Aus Danaermunde dich feindlich betraf,
Da faßt mich die Angst, ich erbebe vor Furcht,
Wie das Auge des flatternden Täubchens. 2
140
So hat von der jüngst entschwundenen Nacht
Uns mächtiger Schreck und Entsezen erfüllt
Bei dem schmähenden Ruf, du hab'st in der Au,
In der Rosse Gefild' einstürmend, dem Heer
Das erbeutete Vieh,
145
Das übrig allein von dem Raube noch war,
Mit flammendem Eisen gemordet.
Solch höhnende Reden ersinnt uns keck,
Und zischelt Odysseus Allen in's Ohr,
Und sie glauben ihm leicht; denn er meldet von dir,
150
Was gerne man glaubt, und wer es vernimmt,
Der freut sich noch mehr, denn der es erzählt,
Treibt Spott mit deiner Bedrängniß.
Denn send' auf mächtige Geister den Pfeil,
Nie fehlst du das Ziel; wer aber von uns
155
Solch Arges erzählt, dem glauben sie nicht.
Stets kriecht ja der Neid an die Großen heran.
Und dennoch sind, von den Großen getrennt,
Die Geringen der Burg ein betrüglicher Schuz;
Mit dem Großen ja hebt der Geringe sich leicht,
160
Und der Große, gestüzt von dem Kleinen, empor.
Doch ist es unmöglich, der Thoren Geschlecht
Von diesem Gesez zu belehren.
Solch alberner Männer Geschrei stürmt, Herr,
Auf dich, und uns ward nimmer die Kraft,
165
Dawider zu steh'n, so gesondert von dir.
Denn, flohen sie dir aus den Blicken hinweg,
Dann tosen sie laut, wie Vögel im Schwarm;
Doch bebten sie scheu vor dem mächtigen Aar,
Und verkröchen, sobald du plözlich erschienst,
170
Sich alsbald schweigend und lautlos.
Strophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 134 focus
Sad news indeed thou bringst of that brave
man :
135
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 134 focus
O son of Telamon, whose ample sway
Deep-rooted in the sea, that rolls around,
The strong based shores of Salamis obey,
When with success and glory thou art crown'd
My heart beats high with joy: but when the hand
Of angry Jove afflicts thee, or thy fame
Greece taints with envious and malignant blame,
I fear, I tremble like the fluttering dove...
Such terrors now around us blackening stand:
For slander says that o'er the pastured plain
By thee this night the flocks, the herds were slain,
Spoils of the ravaged vales, (O deed abhorr'd!)
Slain by thy flaming sword.
Such tales Ulysses with insidious art
Against thee forms, and whispers in each ear;
His specious fictions all believe who hear,
Feeling more joy than cheers th' inventor's heart,
And with malicious insults mocks thy woes.
Who wings his shafts against the great and high,
Unerring to the mark beholds them fly:
'Gainst me their aim they lose.
Envy crawls on, the potent keen to wound;
Yet, when the hour brings danger forth, the low
Without them are a tottering bulwark found;
These in the great their strong protectors know,
The great by these protected firmly stand.
But to th' insensate wisdom speaks in vain :
Such this tumultuous train,
And to repel their insults weak our hand,
Weak without thee: for now, escaped thy sight,
Like flocks of birds they scream, and vex the ear:
Wou'dst thou, O king, appear,
With awe they view the lordly vulture's flight,
And all their clamorous cries are hush'd through fear.
135
Thee hath the Virgin Huntress sprung from Jove,
135
Whose altars o'er the Scythian Taurus flame,
135
(O wild report, thou parent of our shame !)
135
Urged 'mongst the herds with slaughtering rage to rove,
135
To her no honours for some conquest paid?
135
Didst thou the glorious spoils of war detain?
135
Were her loved hinds beneath thy arrows slain,
135
As fearless o'er some hallow'd vale they stray'd?
135
Did the stern god, that in th' ensanguin'd field
135
Lifts high his blazing shield,
135
In vengeance send, defrauded of his right,
135
The frenzy of the night?
135
For never, did thy sense its seat maintain,
135
O son of Telamon, with rage possest
135
Wou'dst thou spread carnage o'er the pastured plain.
135
Heav'n-sent this wild disease hath fired thy breast.
135
O Phœbus, and thou ruler of the sky,
135
Avert this ill report! To blast thy fame
135
If the great kings, and chiefs of mighty name,
135
In secret basely forge this calumny,
135
Or he of the accurst Sisyphian race,
135
Yield not to the disgrace;
135
Nor, thine eye fix'd within thy naval tent,
135
The vile report augment.
135
Rise, king of Salamis, assert thy fame:
135
Why to thy seat thus fixed? Thy long delay
135
Adds to this heav'n-sent mischief fiercer flame.
135
For uncontroll'd the insults of thy foes,
135
Like fires exposed to winds, now force their way.
135
No bounds the spreading slander knows;
135
From tongue to tongue the taunts, the mockings roll;
135
And anguish rends my soul.
135
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 172-200 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-51-1 φοιτῶντ’ 1

mvp-comment-52-1 ὤτρυνον, εἰσέβαλλον 2

mvp-comment-52-2 εἰς ἕρκη κακά 3

mvp-comment-53-1 κἄπειτ’ ἐπειδὴ 4

mvp-comment-53-2 ἐλώφησεν 5

mvp-comment-53-3 πόνου 6

mvp-comment-54-1 αὖ 7

mvp-comment-55-1 ἄνδρας 8

mvp-comment-55-2 εὔκερων 9

mvp-comment-56-1 καὶ σοὶ 10

mvp-comment-56-2 δείξω … περιφανῆ 11

mvp-comment-56-3 θροῇς 12

mvp-comment-57-1 μηδὲ συμφορὰν δέχου τὸν ἄνδρα 13 δέχου 14

mvp-comment-57-2 ἀποστρόφους 15 ἀπείρξω … εἰ<*>ιδεῖν 16

mvp-comment-57-3 These three verses have been rejected (cr. n.), on the ground that, after this promise from Athena, Odysseus had no cause to feel the alarm which he shows in vv. 74 ff., or to ask the question (v. 84) which elicits a renewal of that promise (85). But the poet wished to render the preparation for the hero's entrance as impressive as possible; and chose, therefore, to represent Odysseus—a brave man—as still uneasy, until the assurance given to him had been repeated in a yet more explicit and emphatic form.

mvp-comment-58-1 οὗτος 17

mvp-comment-58-2 σὲ τὸν 18

mvp-comment-58-3 αἰχμαλωτίδας 19

mvp-comment-58-4 ἀπευθύνοντα 20

mvp-comment-58-5 Cp. Eur. Andr. 719

ὧδ’, ὦ κάκιστε, τῆσδ’ ἐλυμήνω χέρας; | βοῦν ἢ λέοντ’ ἤλπιζες ἐντείνειν βρόχοις;
(‘strain with cords’). Ajax fancies himself to be tying the hands of human prisoners behind them, when he fastens the fore feet of an ox or sheep to its hind feet. Cp. 299 .

mvp-comment-59-1 τί δρᾷς 21

mvp-comment-59-2 μηδαμῶς σφ’ ἔξω κάλει 22

mvp-comment-60-1 οὐ σῖγ’ ἀνέξει μηδὲ δειλίαν ἀρεῖ 23

mvp-comment-60-2 σῖγ’ ἀνέξει 24

mvp-comment-60-3 δειλίαν ἀρεῖ 25 ἀρεῖς 26 α^ 27

mvp-comment-61-1 ἔνδον ἀρκείτω μένων 28

mvp-comment-62-1 τί μὴ γένηται 29

mvp-comment-62-2 ἀνὴρ 30

mvp-comment-63-1 ἐχθρός γε 31

mvp-comment-64-1 οὔκουν γέλως ἥδιστος 32

mvp-comment-65-1 ἐμοὶ μὲν 33

mvp-comment-66-1 φρονοῦντα γὰρ 34

mvp-comment-66-2 ἐξέστην 35

mvp-comment-67-1 οὐδὲ νῦν 36

mvp-comment-68-1 ὀφθαλμοῖς … τοῖς αὐτοῖς 37

mvp-comment-69-1 δεδορκότα 38

mvp-comment-70-1 γένοιτο 39

mvp-comment-70-2 μέντἂν 40

mvp-comment-70-3 θεοῦ 41

mvp-comment-71-1 μένοιμ’ ἄν 42

mvp-comment-71-2 ἤθελον δ’ ἂν 43

mvp-comment-71-3 ἐκτὸς ὢν τυχεῖν 44

mvp-comment-72-1 οὗτος 45

mvp-comment-72-2 Αἴας 46

mvp-comment-72-3 τῆς συμμάχου 47

mvp-comment-73-1 Ajax enters from the tent, carrying the heavy, blood-stained thong, with which he has been scourging the cattle (241 f.). Hence the title

μαστιγοφόρος
(see Argument to the Play).

mvp-comment-73-2 Διογενὲς τέκνον 48

mvp-comment-74-1 παρέστης 49

mvp-comment-74-2 στέψω 50

mvp-comment-74-3 λαφύροις 51 παγχρύσοις 52

mvp-comment-75-1 ἐκεῖνο 53

mvp-comment-75-2 ἔγχος 54

mvp-comment-75-3 εὖ 55 πρὸς Ἀργείων στρατῷ 56

mvp-comment-76-1 τὸ μή 57

mvp-comment-77-1 ᾔχμασας χέρα 58 πρὸς 59 ᾕμαξας 60

mvp-comment-78-1 ὥστ’ 61

mvp-comment-78-2 Αἴαντ’ 62

mvp-comment-79-1 τὸ σὸν 63

mvp-comment-80-1 θανόντες … ἀφαιρείσθων 64

mvp-comment-80-2 τἄμ’ 65

mvp-comment-81-1 εἶεν 66

mvp-comment-81-2 τί γὰρ δὴ 67

mvp-comment-81-3 ποῦ σοι τύχης ἕστηκεν 68

mvp-comment-81-4 σοι 69

mvp-comment-82-1 τοὐπίτριπτον 70 κίναδος 71

mvp-comment-82-2 ἐξήρου μ’ ὅπου 72

mvp-comment-83-1 ἔγωγ’ 73

mvp-comment-83-2 Ὀδυσσέα 74

mvp-comment-83-3 ἐνστάτην 75

mvp-comment-84-1 ἥδιστος 76

mvp-comment-85-1 κίον’ ἑρκείου στέγης 77 κίον’ 78

mvp-comment-85-2 δεθεὶς πρὸς κίον’ 79

mvp-comment-85-3

δεῖν πρὸς κίονα
(properly, ‘to take and bind to a pillar’), not πρὸς κίονι 80

mvp-comment-86-1 ἐργάσει 81 ἐργάσῃ 82

mvp-comment-87-1 πρὶν ἂν … φοινιχθεὶς θάνῃ 83

mvp-comment-87-2 φοινιχθεὶς 84

mvp-comment-88-1 αἰκίσῃ 85

mvp-comment-89-1 χαίρειν … σ’ ἐφίεμαι 86

mvp-comment-89-2 χαίρειν … τἄλλα 87

mvp-comment-90-1 σὺ σ’ οὖν 88

mvp-comment-90-2 τέρψις ἥδε σοι τὸ δρᾶν 89

mvp-comment-90-3 χρῶ χειρί, φείδου 90

mvp-comment-90-4 μηδὲν 91 ὧν 92

mvp-comment-91-1 τοῦτο σοὶ δ’ ἐφίεμαι 93

mvp-comment-92-1 ὁρᾷς 94 τὴν … ἰσχὺν ὅση 95

mvp-comment-92-2 τὴν θεῶν ἰσχὺν 96

mvp-comment-93-1 τίς ἂν ηὑρέθη 97

mvp-comment-93-2 προνούστερος 98

mvp-comment-93-3 δρᾶν … τὰ καίρια 99

mvp-comment-94-1 ἐγὼ μὲν 100 καίπερ 101

mvp-comment-95-1 ἄτῃ συγκατέζευκται 102

mvp-comment-96-1 οὐδὲν τὸ τούτου 103

mvp-comment-97-1 εἴδωλ’ … σκιάν 104

mvp-comment-98-1 αὐτὸς 105

mvp-comment-99-1 ὄγκον 106

mvp-comment-99-2 ἄρῃ 107 α^ 108 ἄρῃς 109

mvp-comment-100-1 βρίθεις 110

mvp-comment-100-2 μακροῦ 111

mvp-comment-100-3 πλούτου βάθει 112 βάρει 113

mvp-comment-101-1 ἡμέρα 114

mvp-comment-101-2 κλίνει 115

mvp-comment-101-3 κἀνάγει 116

mvp-comment-102-1 κακούς 117

mvp-comment-103-1 Τελαμώνιε παῖ 118

mvp-comment-103-2 Σαλαμῖνος 119 βάθρον 120

mvp-comment-103-3 τῆς ἀμφιρύτου Σαλαμῖνος … ἀγχιάλου 121 τῆς ἀμφιρύτου 122 ἀγχιάλου 123

mvp-comment-103-4

ἀγχίαλος
was properly said of a place on the sea-coast ( Il. 2. 640
Χαλκίδα τ’ ἀγχίαλον
). In Aesch. Pers. 888 it is a mere general epithet for islands (Lemnos, Icaros, etc.). Here, in the Athenian poet's mind, it has its proper sense, for he is thinking of Salamis as a fringe of the Attic coast; and it is again the Athenian's point of view which interprets the true relation of
ἀγχιάλου
to
ἀμφιρύτου
.

mvp-comment-103-5 ἔχων 124

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

57. mvp-comment-46-1 ἔχων] ‘Having them in his power.' μέν (l. 56) with δέ in l. 59, contrasts the belief of Ajax with the reality described in 59, 60. Or, possibly (2) μέν points forward to a dé which is lost in l. 58, 1.ε. ἐστὶ μὲν .. ἐστὶ δὲ .. Cp. Ant. 165-7, τοῦτο μὲν .. τοῦτ᾽ αὖθις.

58. mvp-comment-47-1 i.e. ἔσθ' ὅτε ἐδόκει κτείνειν ἄλλους τῶν στρατηλατῶν, ἄλλοτε ἄλλον, ('somebody else, now one and now another,') ἐμπίτνων, sc. τῇ ἀγέλῃ.

59-60. mvp-comment-48-1 (1) And as the man ranged to and fro, I urged him with maddening frenzy, and drave him into the evil net;' or (2), construing μανιάσιν νόσοις with φοιτώντα, ‘As he bounded to and fro in frenzy, I urged and drave him,' etc. In the latter case the expression is proleptic. The Scholion οι ἕρκη, εἰς ἐρινῦν κακήν, perhaps conceals a v. r. eἰς ἄρκυν κακήν. But cp. Od. 21. 238, 384, ἀνδρῶν ἡμετέροισιν ἐν ἕρκεσι.

61. mvp-comment-49-1 'And then, when he had remission of this toil.' πόνου, the more general word, is better than φόνου, which is tautological. πόνου in connection with the preceding words, implies that the vain task was imposed on Ajax by the will of Athena.

63. mvp-comment-50-1 ποίμνας τε πάσας] When the chief of the flock were bound and dragged away, the rest would follow. Cp. infr. 296.

64. mvp-comment-51-1 εὔκερων] This epithet applies to the sheep as well as to the kine.

65. mvp-comment-52-1 συνδέτους is rather 'tied together' than bound hand and foot.'

66. mvp-comment-53-1 (1) 'Come, I will show thee this affliction in full sight.' περιφανή predicative. Or (2), taking the word attributively, 'this signal frenzy.' Cp. infr. 81 and note, infr. 229.

67. mvp-comment-54-1 ὡς .. θροῇς]· That you may noise it abroad.' Cp. infr. 149, εἰς ὦτα φέρει πᾶσιν Ὀδυσσεύς.

68. mvp-comment-55-1 συμφορὰν δέχου τὸν ἄνδρα] 'Look for his coming as a misfortune:' sc. ὡς συμφοράν. Cp. Ο. C. 142, μή μ', ἱκετεύω, προσίδητ᾽ ἄνομον. And see E. on L. § 39. p. 73.

69-70. mvp-comment-56-1 ὀμμάτων .. εἰσιδεῖν] I will divert the effluence of his eyes, and debar them from the sight of you.' ἀποστρόφους is predicative: i.e. ἀποστρέφουσα αὐτάς. On the ancient theory of vision and its effect on language, see E. on L. $ 54. p. 99. μή is omitted after εἴργω, as after κωλύω: i.e. τὸ μὴ εἰσιδεῖν νιν σὴν πρόσοψιν, ‘I will turn away the light of his eyes, so that your form shall be invisible to him.' Cp. Phil. 1407, εἴρξω πελάζειν.

71. mvp-comment-57-1 Athena faces the tent and raises her voice.

72. mvp-comment-58-1 ἀπευθύνοντα has been taken literally, 'to bind straight or fast.' But although the image of a constrained position is suggested by the word, it retains its more general meaning of 'reducing to order or subjection,' as in Eur. Bacch. 884-6, ἀπευθύνει δὲ βροτῶν | τοὺς τ᾿ ἀγνωμοσύναν τιμῶντας καὶ μὴ τὰ θεῶν | αὔξοντας ξὺν μαινομένᾳ δόξα.

74. mvp-comment-59-1 σφ', although omitted by L, is probably genuine.

75. mvp-comment-60-1 μηδὲ δειλίαν ἀρεῖς] ‘And not give way to cowardice.' See E. on L. § 30. p. 52 d. ἀρεῖ, which Schndw. and Dindorf prefer, would mean, 'Do not bring upon yourself the imputation of cowardice,' a less appropriate expression.

76. mvp-comment-61-1 ἔνδον ἀρκείτω μένων] 'Enough that he is there, but let him not come forth.' E. on L. § 36. p. 63 а.

77. mvp-comment-62-1 'For fear of what? Is he now for the first time a man?' Athena ironically rallies Odysseus on his fear of seeing the madman. As Odysseus presently finds, Ajax in his madness is to be pitied, not to be feared. For the emphatic ἀνήρ, cp. Ο. C. 393, ὅτ' οὐκέτ᾽ εἰμί, τηνικαῦτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἴμ᾿ ἀνήρ ; Others take the words to mean, 'Up to this time was he not a (mortal) man?' in which is implied the thought, 'Is he more than a man now?' In either case the general meaning is, 'You used not to be afraid of him; why should you be so now?'

79. mvp-comment-63-1 γελᾶν] The epexegetic infinitive follows the adjective ἥδιστος, and εἰς ἐχθρούς is to be taken both with γέλως and γελάν. 'Is not laughter pleasantest at foes?'

81. mvp-comment-64-1 περιφανώς may be taken either with (1) μεμηνότα, or (2) with ἰδεῖν. Other uses of περιφανῶς are in favour of (1).

81. mvp-comment-64-2 the former (1), but it makes better sense to join the adverb here with the whole expression; i.e. not. 'You shrink from seeing a man who is clearly insane,' but, 'You shrink from seeing plainly a man's madness.' Cp. infr. 229, περίφαντος. The same meaning may be obtained, however, by supposing the adverb in (1) to be used proleptically, (3) 'You shrink from seeing a man's madness clearly shown.'

84. mvp-comment-65-1 ὀφθαλμοῖς γε] γε adds emphasis; i.e. though his mind is alienated, he surely has not changed eyes.

85. mvp-comment-66-1 καὶ δεδορκότα) καὶ = καίπερ. Cp. Pind. Ol. 7. 55, αἱ δὲ φρενῶν ταραχαὶ παρέπλαγξαν καὶ σοφόν.

86. mvp-comment-67-1 μένταν] • Well, after all.' μέντοι admits and enforces the correcting statement, which it sets over against that which is corrected, viz. l. 84. For γένοιτ' ἂν.. πᾶν, cp. Hdt. 4. 195, εἴη δ᾽ ἂν πᾶν.

88. mvp-comment-68-1 μένοιμ' ἄν] I shall have to stay. ἐκτός] 'Out of the way,' as in ἐκτὸς κλαυμάτων, πημάτων ('out of harm's way'). See L. and S. s. v.

90. mvp-comment-69-1 Athena affects to rally Ajax for disregarding her help on this occasion, as he had before scornfully rejected it. Cp. infr. 774, 5. This helps to bring out his unconsciousness of her displeasure. τῆς συμμάχου] Cp. l. 60.

91. mvp-comment-70-1 Ajax enters with the scourge in his hand. It is from this scene that the play takes its name of Alaς μαστιγοφόρος. ll. 91-3 may be contrasted with 176 foll. Ajax is not by nature impious, although in the pride of his youth he may have been guilty of impiety; but he speaks to the goddess with the blunt familiarity of a comrade in arms. καί in l. 92 has an encouraging, almost patronizing, sound.

93. mvp-comment-71-1 στέψω] 'I will grace' or 'honour' thee.

94. mvp-comment-72-1 ἐκεῖνο] 'That other thing.' For a similar emphatic use of the pronoun (with comic exaggeration), cp. Aristoph. Nub. 655-7, οὐ γάρ, ᾠζυρέ, τούτων ἐπιθυμῶ μανθάνειν οὐδέν. ΣΩ. τί δαί; | ΣΤ. ἐκεῖν ἐκεῖνο, τὸν ἀδικώτερον λόγον.

96. mvp-comment-73-1 κόμπος πάρεστι] 'I am free to boast' (of that).

97. mvp-comment-74-1 πρὸς ᾿Ατρείδαισιν ἤχμασας χέρα] 'Did you make an armed attack upon the Atreidae?' The construction with πρός is continued from l. 95. χέρα, ας supr. 40, is cogn. accus. in the sense of 'a violent act.' Cp. Trach. 355. Musgr. conj. ήμαξας. Cp. infr. 453. The use of χέρα here as cogn. accus. without an epithet is somewhat singular.

98. mvp-comment-75-1 οἵδ'] He believes them to be lying dead within the tent. Cp. infr. 237 ff.

101. mvp-comment-76-1 εἰεν, τί γὰρ δή] «Enough. For I would know.' She professes to turn her thoughts from the Atreidae to Odysseus, who is more interesting as the especial enemy of Ajax.

102. mvp-comment-77-1 ποῦ σοι τύχης ἕστηκεν ;] · What have you done with him? Where stands he now?' σοι implies that Odysseus is in Ajax' power.

103. mvp-comment-78-1 τοὐπίτριπτον κίναδος] «The accursed fox.' The verbal, by a sort of prolepsis, expresses what ought to be. Cp. the Homeric οὐλόμενος. -The fox is at once noxious and cunning.

104. mvp-comment-79-1 The stop after ἔγωγ' makes the expression more pointed, and agrees better with the use of λέγω than if ἔγωγ᾽ Οδυσσέα, κ.τ.λ. were read. ἐνστάτην] 'Opponent.' Cp. Thuc. 8. 69, ἤν τις ἐνιστῆται τοῖς ποιουμένοις.

105. mvp-comment-80-1 ἥδιστος] 'Most welcome.' Cp. Εl. 929, ἡδύς, οὐδὲ μητρὶ δυσχερής.

106. mvp-comment-81-1 θακεῖ] The ram taken for Odysseus had already been made to sit upwards against the pillar ( infr. 240, cp. 108).

107. mvp-comment-82-1 κερδάνῃς] This is said in bitter irony. Ajax is not gaining but losing all.

108. mvp-comment-83-1 κίον᾿ ἑρκείου στέγης] ‘The roof-supporting pillar of my house.'

110. mvp-comment-84-1 It has been thought necessary to alter this line because of the pleonasm of θάνῃ, which, however, is natural enough after the interruption. Cp. Trach. 1130-3, τέθνηκεν . . πρὶν ὡς χρῆν σφ᾽ ἐξ ἐμῆς θανεῖν χερός: Phil. 1329-1334, παῦλαν .. μήποτ᾿ ἂν τυχεῖν | νόσου βαρείας.. | πρὶν ἂν | τῶν παρ᾿ ἡμῖν ἐντυχὼν ᾿Ασκληπιδῶν | νόσου μαλαχθῇς τῆσδε. The principal notion is expressed by the participle. 'He shall not die till he is whipped to death.' πρῶτον resumes πρὶν ἄν, l. 108. φοινιχθείς] «Crimsoned.' The word conveys the murderous energy of Ajax' mood.

111. mvp-comment-85-1 Athena affects pity for Odysseus in order to rouse Ajax more, and so to make the situation more striking to Odysseus.

112. mvp-comment-86-1 'In all else, Athena, I would have thee to enjoy thy will.' For the construction, cp. Aesch. Cho. 1038-9.

114. mvp-comment-87-1 σὺ δ᾽ οὖν] 'Well, and you for your part.' τέρψις ἥδε.. τὸ δρᾶν] i. e. τέρψις τὸ δρᾶν ὧδε. Essay on L. § 35. p. 60.

116. mvp-comment-88-1 τοῦτό σοι δ' ἐφίεμαι] These words have been unnecessarily altered by some editors because of the postponement of δέ. For the omission of the vocative, giving a tone of peremptoriness and familiarity, cp. O. Τ. 637, οὐκ εἰ σύ τ' οἴκους, κ.τ.λ. The proximity of ἐφίεμαι in 112 suggests the repetition of the word in a slightly different sense.

117. mvp-comment-89-1 Ajax retires into the hut.

119-120. mvp-comment-90-1 τίς ἄν σοι.. εὑρέθη] 'Whom could you have found, if you had sought for such a one formerly?' The aorist with av here denotes possibility in past time, as in Trach. 707, 8, πόθεν γὰρ ἂν .. | ἐμοὶ παρέσχ᾽ εὔνοιαν? προνούστερος] The Ajax of Sophocles is clear-sighted as well as prompt in action. This touch prepares us for his profound feeling of the situation, when he awakes from his madness. Cp. Il. 7. 197, where Ajax says, Οὐ γάρ τις με βίῃ γε ἑκὼν ἀέκοντα δίηται, | οὐδὲ μὲν ἰδρείῃ, κ.τ.λ.

121. mvp-comment-91-1 For this division of the senarius, cp. El. 1302.

122. mvp-comment-92-1 ἔμπης (or ἔμπας) is to be joined in sense with ἐποικτείρω. It is strange that Hermann should have joined it to δύστηνον. Like ὅμως, εὐθύς, and other words, which strictly belong to the apodosis, ἔμπας verbally adheres to the protasis. Cp. infr. 563.

123. mvp-comment-93-1 'Because he is fast yoked with an evil doom.' The calamity from which he cannot disengage himself is imagined as a yokefellow of Ajax that is too strong for him.

128. mvp-comment-94-1 αὐτός] Odysseus is warned not to do as Ajax had done. Cp. infr. 773. Hence the emphatic pronoun.

129. mvp-comment-95-1 μηδ' ὄγκον ἄρῃ μηδέν'] 'Nor take on thee a lofty mien.' The middle voice (see above, l. 75) is here more appropriate. Cp. the expression ὄγκον περιθείναί τινι, Plut. Pericl. 4.

130. mvp-comment-96-1 χειρί] 'In might.' μακροῦ πλούτου βάθει] The v. r. βάρει may be supported from Eur. El. 1287, δότω πλούτου βάρος, but is less likely with βρίθεις preceding than βάθει, for which, cp. βαθύπλουτος. μακρός in poetry is often equivalent to μέγας. L. and S. s. v. 1. 4. Some new verb, such as πληθύεις, is to be supplied with βάθει.

131. mvp-comment-97-1 ἡμέρα] 'Time in its course,' i. e. ἡ ἀεὶ οὖσα ἡμέρα. For this generalized use, cp. especially infr. 624, παλαίᾳ ἕντροφος ἁμέρα: Ο. C. 1138, ἐς τόδ' ἡμέρας. For the sentiment, cp. Ant. 1158-60, τύχη γὰρ ὀρθοῖ καὶ τύχη καταρρέπει | τὸν εὐτυχοῦντα τὸν τε δυστυχοῦντ᾽ ἀεί· | καὶ μάντις οὐδεὶς τῶν καθεστώτων βροτοῖς. But the point here lies in the combination of the two γνῶμαι. The two considerations are urged side by side, that Fortune is unstable, and that God cares for the righteous. Therefore, do not trust to fortune, but be righteous.

131-132. mvp-comment-98-1 'Time makes all human things to set and rise again, but the gods love the righteous, while they abhor the wicked."

132-133. mvp-comment-99-1 σώφρονας .. κακούς] For the inexact antithesis of the general to the specific word, see Essay on L. § 51. p.97.

134-200. mvp-comment-100-1 The first part of the parodos consists of six anapaestic systems (ll. 134-171), during the recitation of which the Chorus pace to and fro in the orchestra, before the tent of Ajax. This long-continued movement, which betokens the restless anxiety of the mariners for their prince, also strikes a note in harmony with the feelings of the spectator, to whom the horror that is going on within has already been revealed. He knows that their dreadful apprehensions are only too true. It is followed by a strophe, antistrophe, and epode (ll. 172-200), which mark the climax of their agitation before the entrance of Tecmessa.

134. mvp-comment-101-1 Τελαμώνιε] Cp. Pind. Pyth. 2. 35, ὦ Δεινομένειε παῖ.

135. mvp-comment-102-1 ἔχων] ‘Lord of-.' Cp. Pind. Nem. 4. 78, Αἴας Σαλαμῖν ἔχει πατρώαν. ἀγχιάλου] 'Seaward.' The ancient town of Salamis was on the side of the island towards the open sea, Strabo, 9, p. 393. Cp. Pind. Ol. 10. 99, εἰναλία τ' Έλευσις : Aesch. Pers. 887.