Ajax. Sophocles. Lewis Campbell (Translator). London, New York and Toronto. 1906.
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
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 1
mvp-comment-74-1 παρέστης 2
mvp-comment-74-2 στέψω 3
mvp-comment-74-3 λαφύροις 4 παγχρύσοις 5
mvp-comment-75-1 ἐκεῖνο 6
mvp-comment-75-2 ἔγχος 7
mvp-comment-75-3 εὖ 8 πρὸς Ἀργείων στρατῷ 9
mvp-comment-76-1 τὸ μή 10
mvp-comment-77-1 ᾔχμασας χέρα 11 πρὸς 12 ᾕμαξας 13
mvp-comment-78-1 ὥστ’ 14
mvp-comment-78-2 Αἴαντ’ 15
mvp-comment-79-1 τὸ σὸν 16
mvp-comment-80-1 θανόντες … ἀφαιρείσθων 17
mvp-comment-80-2 τἄμ’ 18
mvp-comment-81-1 εἶεν 19
mvp-comment-81-2 τί γὰρ δὴ 20
mvp-comment-81-3 ποῦ σοι τύχης ἕστηκεν 21
mvp-comment-81-4 σοι 22
mvp-comment-82-1 τοὐπίτριπτον 23 κίναδος 24
mvp-comment-82-2 ἐξήρου μ’ ὅπου 25
mvp-comment-83-1 ἔγωγ’ 26
mvp-comment-83-2 Ὀδυσσέα 27
mvp-comment-83-3 ἐνστάτην 28
mvp-comment-84-1 ἥδιστος 29
mvp-comment-85-1 κίον’ ἑρκείου στέγης 30 κίον’ 31
mvp-comment-85-2 δεθεὶς πρὸς κίον’ 32
mvp-comment-85-3
δεῖν
πρὸς κίονα (properly, ‘to
take and bind to a pillar’), not
πρὸς κίονι
33
mvp-comment-86-1 ἐργάσει 34 ἐργάσῃ 35
mvp-comment-87-1 πρὶν ἂν … φοινιχθεὶς θάνῃ 36
mvp-comment-87-2 φοινιχθεὶς 37
mvp-comment-88-1 αἰκίσῃ 38
mvp-comment-89-1 χαίρειν … σ’ ἐφίεμαι 39
mvp-comment-89-2 χαίρειν … τἄλλα 40
mvp-comment-90-1 σὺ σ’ οὖν 41
mvp-comment-90-2 τέρψις ἥδε σοι τὸ δρᾶν 42
mvp-comment-90-3 χρῶ χειρί, φείδου 43
mvp-comment-90-4 μηδὲν 44 ὧν 45
mvp-comment-91-1 τοῦτο σοὶ δ’ ἐφίεμαι 46
mvp-comment-92-1 ὁρᾷς 47 τὴν … ἰσχὺν ὅση 48
mvp-comment-92-2 τὴν θεῶν ἰσχὺν 49
mvp-comment-93-1 τίς ἂν ηὑρέθη 50
mvp-comment-93-2 προνούστερος 51
mvp-comment-93-3 δρᾶν … τὰ καίρια 52
mvp-comment-94-1 ἐγὼ μὲν 53 καίπερ 54
mvp-comment-95-1 ἄτῃ συγκατέζευκται 55
mvp-comment-96-1 οὐδὲν τὸ τούτου 56
mvp-comment-97-1 εἴδωλ’ … σκιάν 57
mvp-comment-98-1 αὐτὸς 58
mvp-comment-99-1 ὄγκον 59
mvp-comment-99-2 ἄρῃ 60 α^ 61 ἄρῃς 62
mvp-comment-100-1 βρίθεις 63
mvp-comment-100-2 μακροῦ 64
mvp-comment-100-3 πλούτου βάθει 65 βάρει 66
mvp-comment-101-1 ἡμέρα 67
mvp-comment-101-2 κλίνει 68
mvp-comment-101-3 κἀνάγει 69
mvp-comment-102-1 κακούς 70
mvp-comment-103-1 Τελαμώνιε παῖ 71
mvp-comment-103-2 Σαλαμῖνος 72 βάθρον 73
mvp-comment-103-3 τῆς ἀμφιρύτου Σαλαμῖνος … ἀγχιάλου 74 τῆς ἀμφιρύτου 75 ἀγχιάλου 76
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 77
mvp-comment-104-1 σὲ μὲν εὖ πράσσοντ’ ἐπιχαίρω 78
mvp-comment-105-1 πληγὴ Διὸς 79
mvp-comment-105-2 ζαμενὴς 80
mvp-comment-105-3 λόγος … κακόθρους 81
mvp-comment-105-4 ἐπιβῇ 82
mvp-comment-106-1 πεφόβημαι 83
mvp-comment-106-2 πτηνῆς 84
mvp-comment-106-3 ὄμμα πελείας 85
mvp-comment-107-1 τῆς νῦν φθιμένης νυκτὸς 86
mvp-comment-107-2 ἐπὶ δυσκλείᾳ 87
mvp-comment-108-1 τὸν ἱππομανῆ λειμῶν’ 88
mvp-comment-109-1 βοτὰ καὶ λείαν 89 λοιπὴ 90
mvp-comment-109-2 αἴθωνι σιδήρῳ 91
mvp-comment-110-1 ψιθύρους 92
mvp-comment-110-2 πᾶσιν Ὀδυσσείς 93
mvp-comment-111-1 εὔπειστα 94 εὔπειστα 95 εὔπιστα 96
mvp-comment-112-1 τοῦ λέξαντος 97
mvp-comment-113-1 ἄχεσιν καθυβρίζων 98
mvp-comment-114-1 τῶν … μεγάλων ψυχῶν 99
mvp-comment-114-2 ἱεὶς 100
mvp-comment-114-3 ἁμάρτοις 101 ἁμάρτοι 102
mvp-comment-114-4 κατὰ δ’ ἄν τις ἐμοῦ 103
mvp-comment-115-1 τὸν ἔχονθ’ 104
mvp-comment-115-2 ὁ φθόνος 105
mvp-comment-116-1 πύργου ῥῦμα 106
mvp-comment-117-1 μετὰ 107 ὑπό 108
mvp-comment-117-2 ὀρθοῖθ’ 109
mvp-comment-118-1 τούτων γνώμας 110 προδιδάσκειν 111
mvp-comment-119-1 τοιούτων 112
mvp-comment-119-2 ἀπαλέξασθαι 113
mvp-comment-120-1 ἀλλ’ ὅτε γὰρ δὴ … πτήξειαν ἄφωνοι 114 δ’ 115
mvp-comment-120-2 (1) ἀλλὰ 116
mvp-comment-120-3 (2) ἀλλὰ … γὰρ 117
mvp-comment-120-4 (3) The reading μέγαν αἰγυπιὸν δ’ ὑποδείσαντες 118 ἀπέδραν 119
mvp-comment-120-5 (4) This reading is confirmed by the fact that since ὑποδείσαντες 120
mvp-comment-120-6 ὅτε … δὴ 121
mvp-comment-120-7 ἀπέδραν 122
mvp-comment-120-8 αἰγυπιὸν 123
mvp-comment-120-9 τάχ’ ἂν 124 ἐξαίφνης 125 πτήξειαν 126
mvp-comment-120-10 σιγῇ πτήξειαν ἄφωνοι 127
mvp-comment-121-1 The Chorus being now drawn up in the orchestra (134 n.), the lyric part of the Parodos begins. Strophe 172—182=antistr. 183—193: epode 194 —200. For metres, see Metrical Analysis.
mvp-comment-121-2 ἦ ῥά σε 128 ἦ 129 ἠέ 130
mvp-comment-121-3 The sailors ask whether Artemis or Ares can have driven Ajax to such a deed. In connection with their chief, the deities of hunting and war naturally occur to them. They do not think of Athena.
mvp-comment-121-4 Ταυροπόλα 131
mvp-comment-121-5
It is possible that Sophocles here was thinking
only of the
Ταυροπόλος proper, and names her simply because bulls had been among the victims of Ajax. On the other hand, the savage nature of the bloody onslaught might suggest that she was associated in his thought with the
Ταυρική. Such an association occurs as early as
I. T. 1457 where the Brauronian Artemis (
ἐπώνυμον γῆς Ταυρικῆς, 1454) is called
Ταυροπόλος. The dithyrambic poet Timotheus of Miletus (
c. 400 B.C.) addressed the Ephesian Artemis as
μαινάδα, θυιάδα, φοιβάδα, λυσσάδα (Bergk fr. 1). See Appendix.
mvp-comment-121-6 Διὸς 132
mvp-comment-122-1 μεγάλα 133
mvp-comment-122-2 μᾶτερ αἰσχύνας ἐμᾶς 134
mvp-comment-123-1 πανδάμους … βοῦς 135
mvp-comment-124-1 ἦ που 136
mvp-comment-124-2 νίκας τινὸς ἀκάρπωτον χάριν 137 ἤ ῥα … ψευσθεῖσα ἐνάρων 138 εἴτ’ ἀδώροις ἐλαφαβολίαις 139
mvp-comment-124-3 νίκας ἀκάρπωτον χάριν 140
mvp-comment-124-4 ἤ ῥα 141 ἢ … εἴτε 142
mvp-comment-124-5 κλυτῶν 143
mvp-comment-124-6 ψευσθεῖσα 144
mvp-comment-124-7 ἀδώροις … ἐλαφαβολίαις 145 δώροις 146 ἀδώροις 147
mvp-comment-124-8 ἐλαφαβολίαις 148
mvp-comment-124-9
The causes here conjectured for her wrath remind us of her anger with Oeneus, who had failed to render firstfruits at harvest-tide (
Il. 9. 534
χωσαμένη, ὅ οἱ οὔ τι θαλύσια γουνῷ ἀλωῆς | Οἰνεὺς ῥέξ’). Cp.
Eur.
Hipp. 147
where the Chorus suggest that the Cretan Dictynna may be wroth with Phaedra, as
ἀνίερος ἀθύτων πελάνων (for having failed to make holy offerings of honey-cakes).
mvp-comment-125-1 ἢ 149 μὴ 150 ἤ 151 μή 152 δή 153 σοί 154 εἴ 155 ἦ 156
mvp-comment-125-2 Ἐνυάλιος 157
mvp-comment-126-1 μομφὰν ἔχων 158
mvp-comment-126-2 ξυνοῦ δορὸς 159 ξυνοῦ 160
mvp-comment-126-3 ἐννυχίοις μαχαναῖς 161
mvp-comment-126-4 ἐτείσατο 162
mvp-comment-127-1 φρενόθεν γ’ 163 γε 164
mvp-comment-127-2 ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ … ἔβας 165
mvp-comment-127-3 τόσσον 166
mvp-comment-127-4 πίτνων 167
mvp-comment-128-1 ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν 168 γὰρ 169
mvp-comment-128-2 From verse 172 down to this point, the Chorus have been asking whether the rumour can be true. Now they pass to the alternative:—‘But if it is untrue, then up and refute it.’
mvp-comment-128-3 Ζεὺς … Φοῖβος 170
mvp-comment-129-1 ὑποβαλλόμενοι 171
mvp-comment-130-1 κλέπτουσι μύθους 172 ὑποβαλλόμενοι 173 κλέπτουσι 174 μύθους 175
mvp-comment-130-2 οἱ μεγάλοι βασιλῆς 176
mvp-comment-131-1 ἢ τᾶς 177
mvp-comment-131-2 ἀσώτου 178
mvp-comment-131-3 Σισυφιδᾶν 179
mvp-comment-132-1 μή, μή μ’, ἄναξ 180 μ’ 181 κακὰν φάτιν ἄρῃ 182
mvp-comment-132-2
The simplest remedy is that which is proposed by Prof. v. Wilamowitz-Möllendorff (cr. n.), who, referring to the hiatus after
ἄνα in 193, would here omit
μ’
183
μή, μή, ἄναξ
184
μὴ μηκέτ’, ὦναξ
185
mvp-comment-132-3 κλισίαις ὄμμ’ ἔχων 186 ὧδ’ 187 ἄρῃ 188 α 189
mvp-comment-133-1 ἄνα 190
mvp-comment-133-2 ὅπου … ποτέ 191 ποτὲ 192 ποτὶ 193
mvp-comment-133-3 ἀγωνίῳ σχολᾷ 194
mvp-comment-134-1 ἄταν οὐρανίαν φλέγων 195
mvp-comment-135-1 ἀτάρβητα 196 ὧδ’ 197 ἀτάρβητος 198 ἀτάρβητα 199 ἀτάρβητα ὁρμᾶται 200
mvp-comment-135-2 εὐανέμοις 201 α^ 202 α— 203
mvp-comment-135-3 βάσσαις 204
mvp-comment-136-1 καγχαζόντων 205 καχαζόντων 206
mvp-comment-136-2 βαρυάλγητα 207 βαρυάλγητ’ 208
mvp-comment-136-3 ἕστακεν 209
mvp-comment-137-1 vαὸς ἀρωγοὶ 210
mvp-comment-138-1 γενεᾶς 211
mvp-comment-138-2 χθονίων ἀπ’ Ἐρεχθειδᾶν 212
mvp-comment-138-3
Erechtheus,
ὁ γηγενής (
Her. 8. 55
), ‘whom Earth, the grain-giver, brought forth, and Athena, daughter of Zeus, fostered’ (
Il. 2. 547
), is representative of the Athenian claim to be
αὐτόχθονες. It was in his reign, acc. to
Her. 8. 44
, that the folk once called
Κραναοί, and then
Κεκροπίδαι, were first named
Ἀθηναῖοι. For
Ἐρεχθεῖδαι as=
Ἀθηναῖοι, cp.
Pind.
I. 2. 19
κλειναῖς Ἐρεχθειδᾶν χαρίτεσσιν ἀραρὼς | ταῖς λιπαραῖς ἐν Ἀθάναις, ‘having attained to the glorious honours given by the Erechtheidae in shining Athens.’ (In
Soph.
Ant. 981
f., however, the patronymic has a narrower sense, denoting merely the family of Erechtheus.) So, again, the Athenians are
Θησεῖδαι (
Soph.
O. C. 1066
), the Thebans
Καδμεῖοι, the Trojans or Romans
Aeneadae; and an unknown poet (frag. adesp. 274) calls the Argives
χθονίους Ἰναχίδας, where Hesychius explains the adj. by
αὐτόχθονας καὶ οὐκ ἐπήλυδας,— the sense of
χθονίων
213
mvp-comment-138-4 Salamis is in this play a kingdom independent of Athens, but the Salaminians are of Athenian stock, and revere ‘sacred Athens’ (1222) as the metropolis of their race. See Introduction, § 4.
mvp-comment-139-1 τηλόθεν 214
mvp-comment-140-1 ὠμοκρατὴς 215
mvp-comment-141-1 θολερῷ 216 χειμῶνι 217
mvp-comment-141-2 νοσήσας 218
mvp-comment-142-1 τί δὲ βάρος ἐνήλλακται νὺξ ἥδε τῆς ἡμερίας 219 ἐνήλλακται 220
mvp-comment-142-2 No tolerable emendation has been made. ἠρεμίας 221 εὐμαρίας 222 ἀμμορίας 223 νὺξ ἥδε 224
mvp-comment-142-3
The schol. in L has:
γρ. δὲ ἀημερίας ἀντὶ τῆς ἀηδοῦς φορᾶς (‘unpleasant course’),
καὶ ἔσται ὁ νοῦς, ποῖον βάρος ἔλαβεν αὕτη ἡ νὺξ ἀπὸ τῆς προτέρας ἀηδίας; This explanation of
ἀημερίας by
ἀηδοῦς φορᾶς and
ἀηδίας indicates (I think) a reference, not to
ἡμέρα—as if
ἀημερία could mean
δυσημερία—but to
ἥμερος: the original scholium may have had
ἀνημερίας (meant as ‘unkindly fortune’).
mvp-comment-143-1 Φρυγίου Τελεύταντος 225
mvp-comment-143-2 Lobeck remarks that the father of Tecmessa is called Teuthras by Malela and others, Tethras by Cedrenus, and Teuthas by Tzetzes.
mvp-comment-144-1 λέχος 226
mvp-comment-144-2 σε … στέρξας ἀνέχει 227
mvp-comment-145-1 ὑπείποις 228
mvp-comment-146-1 λέγω 229
mvp-comment-146-2 θανάτῳ … ἴσον 230
mvp-comment-147-1 μανίᾳ γὰρ 231 ἡμὶν 232
mvp-comment-147-2 νύκτερος 233
mvp-comment-147-3 ἀπελωβήθη 234
mvp-comment-148-1 τοιαῦτ’ 235 αἱμοβαφῆ 236
mvp-comment-148-2 χρηστήρια 237
mvp-comment-149-1 A strophe, to which vv. 245—256 form the antistrophe. For the metres, see Metrical Analysis.
mvp-comment-149-2 ἀνέρος … ἀγγελίαν 238
mvp-comment-149-3 αἴθονος 239
mvp-comment-149-4 The v.l. αἴθοπος 240 ο 241
mvp-comment-149-5 ἄτλατον οὐδὲ φευκτάν 242
mvp-comment-150-1 τῶν μεγάλων Δαναῶν 243
mvp-comment-150-2 κλῃζομέναν 244
mvp-comment-151-1 ὁ μέγας μῦθος 245
mvp-comment-151-2 ἀέξει 246
mvp-comment-152-1 περίφαντος 247
mvp-comment-153-1 παραπλάκτῳ 248
mvp-comment-153-2 συγκατακτὰς 249 κελαινοῖς 250
mvp-comment-154-1 ξίφεσιν 251
mvp-comment-154-2 ἱππονώμας 252 βοτῆρας 253 βοτά 254 ἱππονόμους 255
mvp-comment-155-1 ἄρα 256
mvp-comment-155-2 ἤλυθε 257
mvp-comment-156-1 ὧν 258 ποίμνην 259 τὴν μὲν 260 τὰ δὲ 261
mvp-comment-156-2 ἔσω 262 ἔσω σφάζε 263
mvp-comment-156-3 ἐπὶ γαίας 264
mvp-comment-156-4 πλευροκοπῶν 265
mvp-comment-157-1 ἀργίποδας 266
mvp-comment-157-2
If the two rams are the two Atreidae, then Odysseus is ignored here. This would be consistent both with vv. 97— 110 and with 298—306. The flogging of the second ram here would correspond with the words
τοὺς δὲ δεσμίους | ᾐκίζεθ’ in 299 f. Then came the colloquy of Ajax with Athena (301); after which, he slowly regained his sanity,—before he had inflicted the lash upon Odysseus. That the ‘two rams’ are here the royal
brethren might be suggested by the analogy of the two eagles in
Ag. 115.
On the other hand, the special ferocity with which Ajax treats the second ram rather indicates that it represents Odysseus. There would be no point in so distinguishing Menelaüs from Agamemnon. On the whole, it seems most probable that the poet meant Agamemnon and Odysseus, but was careless of strict consistency with vv. 97—110.
mvp-comment-158-1 κεφαλὴν καὶ γλῶσσαν ἄκραν 267
mvp-comment-159-1 ῥιπτεῖ 268
mvp-comment-159-2 ὀρθὸν ἄνω … δήσας 269
mvp-comment-159-3 κίονι 270
mvp-comment-160-1 ἱπποδέτην ῥυτῆρα 271
mvp-comment-161-1 λιγυρᾷ 272
mvp-comment-162-1 κακὰ δεννάζων ῥήμαθ’ 273
mvp-comment-162-2 δαίμων 274
mvp-comment-163-1 ἤδη τοι κρᾶτα 275 ἀνδρὸς 276 ἀνέρος 277 τοι 278 κρᾶτα 279 κάρα 280 ἐδήλωσας 281 ἔδειξας 282 ἔφηνας 283 ἐδήλους 284 τοι 285 ἤτοι 286
mvp-comment-163-2 κρᾶτα … κρυψάμενον 287
mvp-comment-163-3 ποδοῖν κλοπὰν ἀρέσθαι 288 κλοπὰν 289
mvp-comment-164-1 θοὸν 290 εἰρεσίας 291 ζυγὸν 292
mvp-comment-164-2 ναῒ μεθεῖναι 293
mvp-comment-165-1 τοίας 294
mvp-comment-165-2 ἐρέσσουσιν 295
mvp-comment-165-3 δικρατεῖς Ἀτρεῖδαι 296
mvp-comment-166-1 πεφόβημαι 297
mvp-comment-166-2 λιθόλευστον Ἄρη 298
mvp-comment-166-3 The accus. is, in the first place, object to πεφόβημαι 299 ξυναλγεῖν 300 τυπείς 301
mvp-comment-166-4 αἶσ’ ἄπλατος 302
mvp-comment-167-1 The words λαμπρᾶς ἄτερ στεροπῆς 303 λήγει 304 ᾄξας 305
mvp-comment-168-1 οἰκεῖα πάθη 306
mvp-comment-168-2 παραπράξαντος 307
mvp-comment-168-3 ὑποτείνει 308
mvp-comment-169-1 πέπαυται 309 εὐτυχεῖν 310
mvp-comment-169-2 φρούδου γὰρ 311 λόγος 312
mvp-comment-170-1 πότερα 313
mvp-comment-171-1 The words κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι 314
mvp-comment-172-1 τὸ … διπλάζον 315
mvp-comment-173-1 Though οὐ νοσοῦντος 316 οὐ νοσοῦντες 317
mvp-comment-173-2 ἀτώμεσθα 318
mvp-comment-174-1 πῶς … ὅπως 319
mvp-comment-175-1 οἷσιν εἴχετ’ ἐν κακοῖς 320
mvp-comment-175-2 φρονοῦντας 321 βλέποντας 322 κακοῖς 323
mvp-comment-176-1 κἀνέπνευσε 324 ἔληξε 325
mvp-comment-177-1 Instead of κεῖνος 326
mvp-comment-177-2 πᾶς 327
mvp-comment-177-3 ἐλήλαται 328
mvp-comment-178-1 ἆῤ 329
mvp-comment-178-2 δὶς τός’ 330 ἐξ ἁπλῶν 331
mvp-comment-179-1 δέδοικα μὴ … ἥκῃ 332 ἥκει 333 ἥκῃ 334 ἥκοι 335
mvp-comment-179-2 πῶς γάρ 336
mvp-comment-179-3 εἰ πεπαυμένος 337
mvp-comment-179-4 μηδέν τι 338
mvp-comment-180-1 ὡς ὧδ’ ἐχόντων 339
mvp-comment-181-1 τίς γάρ 340
mvp-comment-181-2 προσέπτατο 341
mvp-comment-181-3
From the Homeric
ἔπτατο (
Il. 13. 592
, etc.) Tragedy borrows this non-thematic aor. (of which the active form would be
ἔπτην):
cp. 693
. The aor. of
πέτομαι in Attic Comedy and prose is usu.
ἐπτόμην (see Veitch,
Irreg. Verbs, 2nd ed., p. 530): and of this we have the inf.
πτέσθαι in
O. T. 17
,—again in accord with Homeric precedent (
Il. 4. 126
ἐπιπτέσθαι ).
mvp-comment-181-4 τύχας 342 δήλωσον 343 τύχαις 344 ξυναλγοῦσιν 345
mvp-comment-182-1 κεῖνος γὰρ 346
mvp-comment-182-2 ἄκρας νυκτός 347
mvp-comment-183-1 λαμπτῆρες 348
mvp-comment-183-2
For this mode of indicating the time, cp.
Her. 7. 215
περὶ λύχνων ἁφάς:
Propert. 3. 8. 1
ad extremas..lucernas :
Aul. Gellius 3. 2
post primam facem.
mvp-comment-184-1 ἔγχος 349
mvp-comment-184-2 ἐξόδους ἕρπειν 350
mvp-comment-184-3 κενάς 351
mvp-comment-185-1 The general word, ἄκλητος 352 οὔτε 353
mvp-comment-185-2 ἀφορμᾷς 354 πεῖραν 355
mvp-comment-185-3 σάλπιγγος 356
mvp-comment-185-4 πᾶς εὕδει στρατός 357
mvp-comment-186-1 ὑμνούμενα 358
mvp-comment-186-2 γυναιξὶ 359
mvp-comment-186-3 κόσμον 360
mvp-comment-187-1 μαθοῦς’ 361
mvp-comment-187-2 ἐσσύθη 362
mvp-comment-188-1 τὰς ἐκεῖ … πάθας 363 τύχας 364
mvp-comment-189-1 κύνας βοτῆρας 365
mvp-comment-189-2 εὔερον 366 εύκερων 367
mvp-comment-190-1 ηὐχένιζε 368
mvp-comment-190-2 ἄνω τρέπων 369
mvp-comment-190-3 ἔσφαζε 370
mvp-comment-190-4 κἀρράχιζε 371
mvp-comment-190-5 δεσμίους 372
mvp-comment-190-6 ὥστε 373
mvp-comment-190-7 φῶτας 374
mvp-comment-191-1 ὑπᾴξας 375 ἀπᾴξας 376 ἐπᾴξας 377
mvp-comment-191-2 σκιᾷ τινὶ 378
mvp-comment-191-3 λόγους ἀνέσπα 379
mvp-comment-191-4 Ἀτρειδῶν κάτα 380
mvp-comment-192-1 ἀμφ’ Ὀδυσσεῖ 381
mvp-comment-192-2 συντιθεὶς γέλων πολύν 382
mvp-comment-192-3 γέλων 383 τ 384
mvp-comment-193-1 ὕβριν 385
mvp-comment-193-2 ἐκτείσαιτο 386 ἐκτείσοιτο 387 αὐτῶν 388
mvp-comment-193-3 ἰών 389
mvp-comment-194-1 ἐπᾴξας 390 ἀπᾴξας 391
mvp-comment-194-2 αὖθις … πάλιν 392
mvp-comment-195-1 μόλις πως 393
mvp-comment-196-1 ἄτης 394
mvp-comment-197-1 )θώϋξεν 395
mvp-comment-197-2 ἐρειπίοις 396 νεκρῶν 397 ἀρνείου φόνου 398
mvp-comment-197-3 ἐρειφθεὶς 399 ἐρεισθεὶς 400 ἐρειφθεὶς 401 ἐρειπίοις 402
mvp-comment-198-1 ἀπρὶξ … συλλαβὼν 403
mvp-comment-198-2 ὄνυξι … χερί 404
mvp-comment-199-1 καὶ τὸν μὲν ἧστο πλεῖστον 405
mvp-comment-200-1 τὰ δείν’ … ἔπη 406
mvp-comment-201-1 φανοίην 407 ιη 408
mvp-comment-202-1 ἐν τῷ πράγματος 409
mvp-comment-203-1 The words κἀγώ, φίλοι, δείσασα 410
mvp-comment-204-1 πρὸς γὰρ κακοῦ τε 411
mvp-comment-204-2 βαρυψύχου 412
mvp-comment-204-3 ἐξηγεῖτ’ 413
mvp-comment-205-1 ἀψόφητος … κωκυμάτων 414 ὑπεστέναζε 415
mvp-comment-205-2 ὀξέων 416
mvp-comment-205-3 ταῦρος ὣς βρυχώμενος 417 βριμώμενος 418
mvp-comment-206-1 νῦν δ’ 419
mvp-comment-207-1 ἄσιτος 420
mvp-comment-207-2 σιδηροκμῆσιν 421
mvp-comment-208-1 ὥς τι δρασείων 422
mvp-comment-208-2 δρασείων 423
mvp-comment-209-1 τοιαῦτα 424 πως 425
mvp-comment-209-2 καὶ λέγει κὠδύρεται 426 ἥσυχος 427
mvp-comment-209-3
The verse is rejected by Nauck and others as though it were inconsistent with v. 325, and had been patched up from v. 383. There is no ground for this view. On the other hand, after
ἥσυχος in 325, the fear expressed in 326 would be unintelligible, if no reason were subjoined. Bergk, who joins in condemning the verse, allows that Sophocles is usually careful of logical coherence in drama (‘pflegt .. sorgfältig zu motiviren’); but suggests that
here the neglect of it might be ‘a mark of the archaic style’ (
Jahr. f. Class. Phil. 97. 378).
mvp-comment-210-1 ἐστάλην 428
mvp-comment-210-2 εἰσελθόντες 429
mvp-comment-211-1 λόγοις 430 φίλοι 431
mvp-comment-212-1 Τελεύταντος 432
mvp-comment-212-2 ἡμῖν 433 λέγεις 434
mvp-comment-212-3 διαπεφοιβάσθαι 435 κακοῖς 436
mvp-comment-213-1 ἰώ μοί μοι 437
mvp-comment-214-1 μᾶλλον 438
mvp-comment-214-2 ἢ οὐκ 439
mvp-comment-214-3 Αἴαντος, οἵαν 440 θωΰσσει 441
mvp-comment-215-1 τοῖς πάλαι νοσήμασι ξυνοῦσι 442 ξυνοῦσι 443
mvp-comment-215-2 παρών 444
mvp-comment-216-1 ἰὼ παῖ παῖ 445 Τεῦκρον καλῶ 446
mvp-comment-216-2
Prof. Campbell understands
ἰὼ παῖ παῖ as meaning Teucer, whom an elder brother might so address. Tecmessa, at least, did not so take the words.
mvp-comment-217-1 ὤμοι τάλαιν’ 447
mvp-comment-217-2 Εὐρύσακες 448
mvp-comment-217-3 ἀμφὶ σοὶ 449
mvp-comment-217-4 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ 450
mvp-comment-218-1 Τεῦκρον 451
mvp-comment-218-2 τὸν εἰσαεὶ … χρόνον 452 λεηλατήσει 453
mvp-comment-219-1 ἀνοίγετε 454
mvp-comment-219-2 αἰδῶ … λάβοι 455
mvp-comment-219-3 κἀπ’ ἐμοὶ 456 βλέψας 457
mvp-comment-220-1 διοίγω 458
mvp-comment-220-2 πράγη 459
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.
mvp-comment-221-1 This kommos serves, like the last (201—262), as a lyric expression of tragic pathos; after which the situation is further developed, as in the former case, by iambic dialogue. But in one respect this kommos differs from its predecessor. In order to bring the mind of Ajax into fuller relief, the lyrics are given to him alone, while the Chorus and Tecmessa speak only trimeters.
mvp-comment-221-2 The structure is as follows:—1st strophe 348—355=1st antistr. 356—363: 2nd str. 364—378=2nd ant. 379—393: 3rd str. 394—411=3rd ant. 412—429. For the metres see Metrical Analysis.
mvp-comment-221-3 ἰὼ φίλοι ναυβάται 460
mvp-comment-221-4 ἐμμένοντες 461
mvp-comment-221-5 ὀρθῷ νόμῳ 462
mvp-comment-222-1 ἴδεσθέ μ’ 463
mvp-comment-222-2 κῦμα 464 ζάλης 465 φοινίας 466
mvp-comment-222-3 ἀμφίδρομον 467 κυκλεῖται 468 κυκλοῦται 469
mvp-comment-223-1 οἴμ’ 470
mvp-comment-223-2 ἀφροντίστως ἔχει 471
mvp-comment-224-1 ναΐας ἀρωγὸν τέχνας 472
mvp-comment-225-1 ἅλιον ὃς ἐπέβας 473 ἁλίαν ὃς ἐπέβας 474 ὃς ἁλίαν ἔβας 475
mvp-comment-225-2 ὃς 476 γένος 477
mvp-comment-225-3 ἐπέβας 478
mvp-comment-225-4 ἐλίσσων 479
mvp-comment-226-1 πημονὰν ἐπαρκέσοντ’ 480 ἀπαρκέσοντ’ 481
mvp-comment-226-2 The traditional reading ποιμένων 482 πημονὰν 483
mvp-comment-227-1 ἀλλά 484 με 485
mvp-comment-227-2 συνδάϊξον 486
mvp-comment-228-1 εὔφημα φώνει 487 κακὸν κακῷ διδοὺς ἄκος 488 τὸ πῆμα τῆς ἄτης 489
mvp-comment-229-1 θρασύν 490 εὐκάρδιον 491 ἄτρεστον 492
mvp-comment-230-1 ἀφόβοις 493
mvp-comment-230-2 δεινὸν χέρας 494
mvp-comment-231-1 οἴμοι γέλωτος 495
mvp-comment-232-1 δέσποτ’ 496
mvp-comment-233-1 οὐκ ἐκτός; οὐκ ἄψορρον 497 οὐκ ἐκτὸς ἄψορρον ἐκνεμεῖ πόδα 498
mvp-comment-233-2 For ἐκτὸς 499
mvp-comment-233-3 ἄψορρον 500
mvp-comment-233-4 ἐκνεμεῖ 501 ἐκνεμεῖς 502
mvp-comment-234-1 ὦ πρὸς θεῶν 503
mvp-comment-235-1 ὢ δύσμορος 504
mvp-comment-235-2 ὃς 505
mvp-comment-235-3 χερὶ μὲν μεθῆκα 506 χερὶ 507
mvp-comment-235-4 τοὺς ἀλάστορας 508
mvp-comment-235-5 κλυτοῖς 509
mvp-comment-235-6 αἰπολίοις 510
mvp-comment-235-7 ἐρεμνὸν 511
mvp-comment-235-8 αἷμ’ ἔδευσα 512
mvp-comment-236-1 ἐπ’ ἐξειργασμένοις 513
mvp-comment-236-2 οὐ γὰρ γένοιτ’ ἂν 514 ὅπως 515
mvp-comment-236-3
For the sentiment, cp.
Tr. 742
τὸ γὰρ | φανθὲν τίς ἂν δύναιτ’ ἂν ἀγένητον ποεῖν; (n.).
mvp-comment-237-1 πάνθ’ ὁρῶν 516
mvp-comment-237-2 ἁπάντων τ’ 517 τ’ 518 δ’ 519 δ’ 520
mvp-comment-237-3 κακῶν ὄργανον 521
mvp-comment-238-1 ἄλημα 522
mvp-comment-239-1 ἦ που 523
mvp-comment-239-2 ἄγεις 524
mvp-comment-240-1 ξὺν τῷ θεῷ 525
mvp-comment-240-2 ἵδοιμι 526
mvp-comment-241-1 μηδὲν· μέγ’ εἴπῃς 527
mvp-comment-242-1 προπάτωρ 528 πάτερ 529 χεροῖν 530
mvp-comment-242-2 πῶς ἂν … θάνοιμι 531
mvp-comment-243-1 δισσάρχας 532
mvp-comment-243-2 ὀλέσσας 533
mvp-comment-243-3 βασιλῆς 534
mvp-comment-243-4 θάνοιμι καὐτός 535
mvp-comment-244-1 σκότος 536 ἔρεβος 537
mvp-comment-244-2 ὡς ἐμοί 538
mvp-comment-245-1 ἕλεσθ’ ἕλεσθέ μ’ 539
mvp-comment-246-1 γένος 540 ὄνασιν 541 εἰς 542
mvp-comment-246-2 ἄξιος 543
mvp-comment-246-3 βλέπειν 544
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.
136. mvp-comment-103-1 σὲ μέν] The Attic' accusative after the intransitive verb (Essay on L. §§ 16. p. 23) here assists the antithesis το σὲ δ᾽ ὅταν... ἐπιβῇ, κ.τ.λ.
137-138. mvp-comment-104-1 'But when a stroke from Zeus, or angry clamour from the Danaï assails thee with evil-boding words.'
139-140. mvp-comment-105-1 'I shrink and quiver with fear like the eye of any fluttering dove.' ὄkvos is the fear that paralyses action. The eye, as the part which expresses fear, is put for the whole. Cp. the expression of Keble, 'Tenderer than a dove's soft eye.' Cp. also the uses of χείρ, πούς, κάρα, βία, σθένος, στόμα, in denoting persons. πτηνῆς suggests something that is easily fluttered. Pierson's conj. φήνης ὡς ὄμμα πελειάς, ' As the dove fears the sight (?) of the falcon,' is unnecessary and tasteless. The image of the falcon would be a bad preparation for that of the small birds, 141 φθιμένης] Cp. Od. 11. 330, πρὶν γάρ κεν καὶ νὺξ φθῖτ᾽ ἄμβροτος. The genitive is in a somewhat loose connection with what follows; either (1) with ὀλέσαι, 'that in the night that is just gone thou didst destroy;' or (2) with θόρυβοι, ' in respect of the now-past night.'
142. mvp-comment-106-1 'A terrible rumour afflicts us.'
143. mvp-comment-107-1 ἐπὶ δυσκλείᾳ] ‘Threatening dishonour.' ἐπί from meaning purpose, as in ἐπὶ διαφθορῇ (Hdt. 4. 164), ἐπὶ θανάτῳ (Hdt. 9. 37), comes to express tendency. ἱππομανή] 'Where the steeds run wild,' or 'gallop at will.' Lit. 'raving with horses.' Essay on L. § 55. p. 102. The cattle were temporarily kept in the meadow where the horses of the chieftains used to be turned out to graze. The word suggests their movements, 'Fetching mad bounds, bellowing, and neighing loud,' when freed from harness and the stall.
144. mvp-comment-108-1 λειμῶν᾽ ἐπιβάντ'] The accusative implies not merely that the meadow was entered, but that it was swiftly reached.
145-146. mvp-comment-109-1 λείαν, ἥπερ δορίληπτος ἔτ᾿ ἦν λοιπή] «The cattle that still remained of those taken in war;' i. e. ἐκ τῆς δοριλήπτου λείας. Cp. supr. 53, 4, σύμμικτά τε | λείας ἄδαστα βουκόλων φρουρήματα.
147. mvp-comment-110-1 κτείνοντ'] We pass from the momentary conception of the act ( ὀλέσαι) to the continuous description of it: hence the present participle. Cp. supr. ll. 55 foll. Here, as elsewhere, the choric part contains a reminiscence of the dialogue.
148. mvp-comment-111-1 These words obviously refer to the report brought by Odysseus after receiving full information from Athena. Cp. supr. 67. But, if so, some time must be supposed to have elapsed after his exit before the entrance of the chorus.
150. mvp-comment-112-1 καὶ σφόδρα πείθει] ‘And wins much credence.' vûv is to be joined with εὔπειστα. 'Things of which it is now easy to persuade men:' now, since Ajax' defeat in the contest for the arms, which is known to have enraged him. Cp. infr. 929-36 and note.
152-153. mvp-comment-113-1 'And each who hears rejoices, more than him who spake, to insult over thy woes.' The participle is added to complete the sense of χαίρων. ἄχεσιν is dative of the cause or occasion. Cp. infr. 955.
155. mvp-comment-114-1 ἁμάρτοι] For the omission of τις, which is supplied in the next sentence, see Essay on L. § 39. P. 72, 3. This is the harder and more dignified reading.
157. mvp-comment-115-1 ἔρπει implies a stealthy advance, differing from στείχει, which would signify open menace. Cp. Pind. Nem. 8. 36, ἅπτεται δ᾽ ἐσλῶν ἀεί, χειρόνεσσι δ᾽ οὐκ ἐρίζει: Pyth. 11. 45, 6. ἴσχει γὰρ ὄλβος οὐ μείονα φθύνον· | ὁ δὲ χαμηλὰ πνέων ἄφαντον βρέμει.
158-159. mvp-comment-116-1 Some have here supposed a metaphor from building, large and small stones together making the strongest wall. This is fanciful, and not contained in the words; but in any case πύργου ῥῦμα is a 'tower of defence' (Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6), and not 'means of defending a tower,' because ῥύεσθαι can hardly mean 'to man,' although in Aesch. S. c. T. 823, it is used of the Divine protection of Thebes. For the whole phrase, cp. Od. 11. 556 (said with reference to Ajax): τοῖος γάρ σφιν πύργος ἀπώλεο: Alc. fr. 23, ἄνδρες πόληος πύργος ἀρεύϊοι : Aesch. Pers. 347.
160-161. mvp-comment-117-1 ἄριστ᾽ ἂν. ὀρθοῖθ᾽'Will best be made secure.' Cp. Thuc. 6. 18, § 4, ὁμοῦ δὲ τό τε φαῦλον καὶ τὸ μέσον καὶ τὸ πάνυ ἀκριβὲς ἂν ξυγκραθὲν μάλιστ᾽ ἂν ἰσχύειν. βαιός] Lit. 'few,' hence 'feeble.'
161. mvp-comment-118-1 ὑπό marks that the lesser are to serve the greater: μετά, that the great require the cooperation of the less.
162-163. mvp-comment-119-1 'But foolish men cannot be instructed in these truths.' τούτων γνώμας = ' right judgments about these things.'
164. mvp-comment-120-1 τοιούτων, sc. οὕτως ἀνοήτων. 'So foolish are they that clamour against thee,' that there is no hope of bringing them to a better mind.
165. mvp-comment-121-1 πρὸς ταῦτ᾽ ἀπαλέξασθαι] Sc. ταῦτα. 'This being so, we have no strength to avert this.'
167. mvp-comment-122-1 'But then the truth is that when they have escaped from thine eye.' γάρ covers the whole sentence, and the emphasis is on the latter part, viz. μέγαν, κ.τ.λ. The Chorus mean to say: 'Though we are weak, yet Ajax is strong, and the clamour will subside when he appears.'
169. mvp-comment-123-1 The correction of Dawes, which restores the metre by the insertion of δέ, is probably right. For the meaning, cp. Alc. fr. 27. ἔπταζον ὥστ᾽ ὄρνιθες ὦκυν | αἴετον ἐξαπίνας φάνεντα, which also helps to support the punctuation in l. 170.
170. mvp-comment-124-1 τάχ᾿ ἄν] 'Soon would they.'
171. mvp-comment-125-1 σιγῇ .. ἄφωνοι] Essay on L. §40. p. 75. 'Their noise would be hushed, and they would cower without a word.'
172-200. mvp-comment-126-1 Beginning from a dactylic movement, the ode (expressing the combination of deep sadness with eager hope) continues with trochaic, iambic, and dactylic rhythms, as follows:- ... The slow movement with frequent long syllables increases towards the close.
172. mvp-comment-127-1 ἡ ῥα .. Ἄρτεμις] Can it be, as I suspect ( pa), that Artemis?' Ταυροπόλα Διὸς Ἄρτεμις] 'Bull-riding Artemis, daughter of Zeus,' conveys the image of the goddess riding on a bull, as she sometimes appears on coins. In this character (probably derived from the East) Artemis was worshipped in different places with orgiastic rites. Euripides, I. T. 1449 foll., associates this name of Artemis with the supposed derivation of her worship under this attribute from the Tauric Chersonese. She is here alluded to (1) as the subduer of cattle, (2) as the inspirer of frenzy.
173. mvp-comment-128-1 ὦ μεγάλα φάτις] ‘Terrible thought!' The simple word μεγάλα has here the special connotation of 'tremendous' or 'overwhelming;' just as the general word κακούς, supr. 133, is opposed to the special word σώφρονας. The Chorus cannot speak of Ajax' supposed error without interposing this expression of horror.
175. mvp-comment-129-1 πανδάμους] Cp. supr. ll. 53, 4, and note. ἀγελαίας] (1) Grazing oxen are so called in contradistinction to the labouring ox that is fed at a stall. Or, possibly, (2) the word simply denotes the whole herd of oxen belonging to the host, - the πάνδημος ἀγέλη.
176. mvp-comment-130-1 ἡ που] 'Surely, it must have been.' Cp. Trach. 846, 7, where ἢ που is reiterated. τινος νίκας ἀκάρπωτον χάριν] 'Because of a gift of victory that brought her no return.' χάριν = διὰ χάριν. This unusual construction is softened by a reminiscence of the more ordinary (adverbial) use of χάριν = 'because of.' For this confusion, see Essay on L. § 36. p. 67; and cp. Eur. I. T. 566, κακῆς γυναικός χάριν ἄχαριν ἀπώλετο.
177. mvp-comment-131-1 ἤ ῥα .. εἴτε] 'Either, as I suspect,.. or whether it were.' Cp. Eur. Alc. 114, 5, ἢ Λυκίας | εἴτ᾽ ἐπὶ τὰς ᾿Αμμωνίδας ἕδρας.
177-178. mvp-comment-132-1 'Disappointed of glorious spoils, or (provoked) because the fall of the stag was followed by no gift.' The MS. reading ψευσθεῖσα δώροις, ‘deceived in the matter of gifts,' is hardly Greek. For the dative, ἀδώροις.. ἐλαφηβολίαις, see Essay on L. § 14. p. 21, and for the order of the words, ibid. § 41. p. 77.
179. mvp-comment-133-1 - By reading τιν' for ἤ τιν' a possible construction is obtained, although the text remains doubtful. 'Or can it be that Enyalius of the brazen corslet,' etc. The conjj. ἥντιν', δή τιν', εἴ τιν', are not satisfactory: σοί τιν' (Reiske) is better (sc. μομφὰν ἔχων). The repetition of the η sound in this passage (ll. 176 9, ἢ που, ἤ ῥα, ἤ, ἦ) may have had some poetical or musical effect of which we cannot judge.
180. mvp-comment-134-1 μομφὰν . . δορός] ‘Having fault to find with thee on account of his spear associated with thine,' i.e. by reason of some help which he had given thee in battle. Perhaps there is a reminiscence, although the sense is different, of the Epic ξυνὸς Ἐνυάλιος. which Eur. has otherwise applied in Phoen. 1572, κοινὸν ἐνυάλιον . . μαρναμένους. ἐννυχίοις μαχαναῖς] ‘By contriving against thee in the night.'
181. mvp-comment-135-1 ἐτίσατο λώβαν] Either (1) 'Punished the wrong done to him,'- τίσασθαι λώβην in ΙΙ. 19. 208, Od. 20. 169, Hes. Theog. 165, is 'to revenge oneself for an outrage:'-or (2) 'Did thee vengeful despite,' λώβαν cogn. acc. Cp. infr. 217, νύκτερος ἀπελωβήθη: 304, ὕβριν ἐκτίσαιτ᾽: Il. 13. 622, 3.
183. mvp-comment-136-1 φρενόθεν] Of thine own heart;' i.e. the cause must have been from without, not from within. Ajax could not be himself ( φρενήρης) and do this thing. The gods must have destroyed his senses ( φρένας ὤλεσαν).
183-185. mvp-comment-137-1 ἐπ᾿ ἀριστερά .. ἔβας τόσσον] 'Canst thou have gone so far wrong?" Cp. the metaph. uses of σκαιός, and Plat. Soph. 264 E, where πορεύεσθαι κατὰ τοὐπὶ δεξιὰ ἀεὶ μέρος is 'to make the right selection in each case.'
185. mvp-comment-138-1 ἐν ποίμναις πίτνων] ‘As to assault the flocks.' The participle is slightly proleptic (as with πειράσθαι). Cp. Ant. 752, ἢ κἀπαπειλῶν ὧδ᾽ ἐπεξέρχει θρασύς.
186. mvp-comment-139-1 ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος] 'An affliction from the gods, indeed, may have come.' For this use of av with the optative, cp. Aesch. Pers. 706, ἀνθρώπεια δ' ἄν τοι πήματ᾿ ἂν τύχοι βροτοῖς: Ag. 1507, πατρόθεν δὲ συλλήπτωρ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀλάστωρ. These words develop the suggestion conveyed in φρενόθεν γε, το which they are attached with γάρ. Ajax cannot have done this; at least not of his own impulse. It may be, indeed, that a divine visitation is upon him. This possibility is a further reason for rejecting the notion that Ajax is really guilty. ὀλλά] (1) 'It may have come, but Zeus grant that the report may be untrue!' Zeus and Phoebus, as the deities of divination, are implored to grant that the truth may be less terrible than it is according to the report set in motion by the Argives. Or (2) 'It may have come, but even then let not the evil be increased with false rumours spread by Argives.'
188-189. mvp-comment-140-1 'And if, suborning tales of their own making, the mighty kings win currency for them by false means.'
190. mvp-comment-141-1 ἢ τᾶς ἀσώτου Σισ. γενεᾶς] The force of the article is continued. Essay on L. § 21. p. 336. The standing reproach against Odysseus, that he was the son of Sisyphus, although not acknowledged as true by Sophocles (see l. 1), is represented as being used against him by his enemies. Cp. especially, Phil. 417, οὑμπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ: Fr. 143, ὡς ὁ Σίσυφος πολὺς | ἔνδηλος ἐν σοί. For Σισυφιδᾶν γενεᾶς, where only one generation is in question, cp. Ant. 981, 2, σπέρμα Ερεχθειδᾶν, of Cleopatra the granddaughter of Erechtheus.
191. mvp-comment-142-1 μὴ μή μ', ἄναξ] For the 'Attic' accusative in general construction with what follows, as after verbs of doing good or evil, see E. on L. § 16. р. 23. 'Do not to my hurt incur reproach.' ἐφάλοις κλισίαις ὄμμ' ἔχων] (1) 'Keeping thine eye hidden within the hut by the sea.' The Epic word κλισίαις is used in the Lyric measures. We had σκηναῖς in the dialogue, supr. l. 3. The dative is one of place, as if with ev. For ὄμμα, cp. supr. 167. ἔχων · = κατέχων, 'withholding from sight.' Or (2) 'Keeping thine eye fixed upon the tents.'
194. mvp-comment-143-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἄνα ἐξ εδράνων] ‘But up from where thou sittest still.' The hiatus is excused by Hermann on the ground that ava is an interjectional abbreviation. ὅπου.. σχολᾷ] (1) 'Wheresoever thou art thus fixed in a dangerous lethargy of quarrelsome repose.' The Chorus are uncertain of Ajax' whereabouts, as Odysseus was, supr. 33. μακραίωνι implies that some time had passed since the judgment of the arms and Ajax' sullen withdrawal from the fight: cp. infr. 929 foll. ἀγωνίῳ is a difficult word. The inactivity of Ajax was his manner of contending with the chiefs: if the rumour was true, it was an inactivity in which he had been fatally active; and however his leisure was employed, it was becoming full of danger to him. The force of ἀγών, in the sense of a dangerous contest, is therefore suited to the place, and the expression is an oxymoron, 'a perilous quarrelsome rest' (for which, cp. Shak. Ant and Cleo. 1. 3, 'Tis sweating labour To bear such idleness so near the heart.") (2) Others suppose the words merely to mean 'rest from combat,' i.e. from the general combat with the Trojans.
196. mvp-comment-144-1 ἄταν οὐρανίαν φλέγων] 'Letting mischief blaze up to the sky.' Cp. Eur. Phoen. 240, 1, αΐμα δάϊον φλέγει. The image of a fire is continued in the following lines.
197-200. mvp-comment-145-1 The arrangement of these lines is difficult. The elision of the last syllable of ὁρμᾶται and the hiatus after ἀτάρβητα and βαρυάλγητα are doubtful points. It can hardly be questioned that the a of εὐανέμοις (for εὐηνέμοις) is long. καχαζόντων is rightly restored for καγχαζόντων. Brambach, (Sophokl. Gesänge) suggesting εὐανέμοις, gives the following scheme... But the difficulties are not thus removed. Perhaps we may venture...
197. mvp-comment-146-1 ὧδ'] 'Thus,' as in supr. 141-53.
198. mvp-comment-147-1 εὐανέμοις] 'With favouring breezes.' As applied to a harbour, εὐήνεμος is 'sheltered from rough winds;' but the image here is rather that of a forest glade, where, when a little fire is kindled, the wind that is not strong enough to extinguish it only fans it to strength. Cp. I1. 20. 490, 1, ὡς δ᾽ ἀναμαιμάει βαθέ᾽ ἄγκεα θεσπιδαὲς πῦρ | οὔρεος ἀζαλέοιο, βαθεῖα δὲ καίεται ὕλη.
200. mvp-comment-148-1 ἐμοὶ .. ἕστακεν] 'I have a grief that will not be removed.'
201. mvp-comment-149-1 The exposition of the situation in the Ajax, like the ἀναγνώρισις in the Oed. Tyr., is effected through the meeting of those who on either side know only half the truth. Tecmessa, whose affection for Ajax exceeds that of his own people, comes forth to meet the chorus of mariners before the hut. They learn from her the truth of the calamity. She learns from them the extent of it. Schol. διδάσκει τὸν χόρον ὅτι Αἴας ἐστὶν ὁ σφάξας τὰ ποίμνια. πυνθάνεται δὲ παρὰ τοῦ χοροῦ ὅτι Ἑλληνικὰ ἦν τὰ σφαγέντα, ἑκάτερος οὖν παρ' ἑκατέρου τὸ ἀγνοούμενον μανθάνει.
202. mvp-comment-150-1 γενεάς, κ.τ.λ.] 'Of race derived from the Earth-born Erechtheidae.' The Salaminians are, by an anachronism which is repeated infr. 861, counted as originally one with the Athenian people.
203. mvp-comment-151-1 ἔχομεν στοναχάς] ‘It is ours to groan.' She claims the sympathy of the chorus, of which they assure her, infr. 210.
204. mvp-comment-152-1 τηλόθεν] Sc. ὄντος or σκοπουμένου. Cp. O. T. 1259, οἱ παρῆμεν ἐγγύθεν. The word is not to be immediately joined with κηδόμενοι. Salamis, which she has never seen, seems far away to Tecmessa, whose hopes are notwithstanding centred there.
205. mvp-comment-153-1 ὁ δεινὸς μέγας ὠμοκρατής] · Our dread hero, rugged in might.' Various compounds of ὠμός are used to indicate the fierce impetuosity of Ajax, that cannot be reduced to rule: infr. 885, τὸν ὠμόθυμον : 931, ὠμόφρων : 548, ἀλλ᾿ αὐτίκ᾿ ὠμοῖς αὐτὸν ἐν νόμοις πατρὸς | δεῖ πωλοδάμνειν κάξομοιοῦσθαι φύσιν. See also infr. 613, θουρίῳ | κρατοῦντ᾽ ἐν᾿ Αρει. Others would render ὠμοκρατής, 'mighty-shouldered,' comparing the description of Ajax in Il. 3. 227 as ἔξοχος ᾿Αργείων κεφαλὴν ἠδ᾽ εὐρέας ὤμους !
206. mvp-comment-154-1 θολερῷ.. χειμῶνι] 'Through a turbid storm.' The darkened mind of Ajax is compared either to the troubling of waters by a flood, or to atmospheric disturbance, as we speak of 'dirty weather.' Cp. Ant. 420, 1, ἐν δ᾽ ἐμεστώθη μέγας | αἰθήρ, μύσαντες δ᾽ εἴχομεν θείαν νόσον, and, for the metaphorical use of θολερός, Aesch. Prom. 885, 6, θολεροὶ δὲ λόγοι παίουσ' εἰκη | στυγνῆς πρὸς κύμασιν ἄτης.
207. mvp-comment-155-1 κεῖται] • Is overthrown.' Cp. Plat. Rep. 5. p. 451 Α, κείσομαι, περὶ ἃ ἥκιστα δεῖ σφάλλεσθαι. νοσήσας] ‘Having fallen into madness.' The aorist expresses the suddenness of the stroke.
208. mvp-comment-156-1 'What heavy change from the condition of the day hath last night experienced?' This is Triclinius' explanation of τῆς ἁμερίας, sc. καταστάσεως. As in the case of other feminine words used substantively, we need not be precise in supplying the ellipse. Lobeck prefers ὥρας. Ajax' condition on the previous day was lamentable enough: what new trouble has arisen during the night?
210. mvp-comment-157-1 Τελεύταντος] The first syllable is to be scanned as long : cp. Ἱππομέδων, Παρθένοπαῖος in Iambic verse. Others read Φρυγίοιο for Φρυγίου, which is questionable both as to the form of the genitive and the division of the line.
211. mvp-comment-158-1 λέχος δουριάλωτον] ' In a spear-won marriage.' λέχος cogn. acc.
212. mvp-comment-159-1 στέρξας ἀνέχει] 'Having fixed his affection on thee, remains constant to thee.' The mariners accept Tecmessa as their master's choice, although they could have wished a nobler bride for him. For ἀνέχει, see E. on L. § 52. p. 97, and cp. Eur. Hec. 123, Βάκχης ἀνέχων λέκτρ᾽ ᾿Αγαμέμνων: Alc. 304, τούτους ἀνάσχου δεσπότας ἐμῶν δόμων, where the middle voice has a similar force. For cognate uses of ἀνέχω, cp. Fr. 146, Pind. P. 2. 163.
213. mvp-comment-160-1 'So that you know, and can tell us what we want to know.' ὑπό in comp. seems here to have the force of 'supplying an answer, or supplying the word that is wanting.' Cp. ὑποκρίνομαι.
215. mvp-comment-161-1 πάθος, as the appropriate word, is preferable to βάρος, which may have slipped in in from supr. 209.
217. mvp-comment-162-1 νύκτερος] 'In the night.' Essay on L. § 23. p. 36.
218. mvp-comment-163-1 τοιαῦτ᾽ ἂν ἴδοις] For τοιοῦτος adducing proof, see Essay on L. § 22. p. 35 a.
220. mvp-comment-164-1 χρηστήρια] Either (1) simply 'victims,' or (2) with superstitious reference to the δαίμων of madness. 'Offerings demanded by his rage.'
221-232. mvp-comment-165-1 The metrical scheme (Logaoedic, with frequent syncope) is the following...
221. mvp-comment-166-1 ἀνδρὸς αἴθονος] ‘Concerning the fiery man.' Essay on L. § 9. p. 12, 2. If τοι is retained in infr. 245, we may read here οἵαν ἐδήλωσας *κατ᾿ ἀνδρὸς αἴθονος. The short syllable in αἴθονος is sufficiently supported by αΐθονα occurring in Hesychius in the right alphabetical order (immediately after αἶθον). Although αἴθοπος (see v. rr.) may be defended, on the ground that the second part of a compound has sometimes little significance (see esp. infr. 954, κελαινώπαν θυμών), yet αἴθων, which directly expresses character, is more appropriate here, and has the preponderance of MS. authority in its favour.
222. mvp-comment-167-1 ἄτλατον οὐδὲ φευκτάν] ‘That can neither be avoided nor endured.'
225. mvp-comment-168-1 μεγάλων] 'Terrible.' The mariners, in their feebleness ( supr. 165 foll.), are afraid of the opinion of the host. These words are added as a comment on οὐδὲ φευκτάν. The consequences of the fact cannot be eluded, since it is known to the host, and magnified by rumour.
226. mvp-comment-169-1 ὁ μέγας μῦθος] ‘The formidable power of rumour.' Supr. 172, ὦ μεγάλα φάτις. μῦθος is the rumour about this particular thing, with a suggestion of rumour in general. ἀέξει] Not 'exaggerates,' for the evil could not be exaggerated, but, 'which the mighty power of rumour spreads abroad.'
229. mvp-comment-170-1 περίφαντος.. θανεῖται] 'He will be discovered and will die.' περίφαντος is explained by the words that follow, παραπλήκτῳ χερί, κ.τ.λ. The nature of the crime defies concealment.
231. mvp-comment-171-1 κελαινοῖς ξίφεσιν] · With darkened brand.' The plural, as in Ant. 820, ξιφέων ἐπίχειρα, denotes the action of the sword rather than the sword itself. The epithet κελαινοῖς, as in Trach. 856, κελαινὰ λόγχα, suggests the colour of a sword or spear that has been much used in battle. βοτήρας] Supr. 27, αὐτοῖς ποιμνίων ἐπιστάταις. This fact is known to the mariners from the report of the army, not from Tecmessa. ἱππονώμας] Either (1) because captive horses, like those of Rhesus, were included in the spoil (this might add force to ἱππομανῆ, supr. 143), or rather (2) because the herdsmen were mounted, as might well happen where the herd was so extensive.
235. mvp-comment-172-1 ὧν τὴν μέν] Sc. ποίμναν. 'Whereof one part.' The plural ὧν is equivalent to a collective ἧς, referring to ποίμναν supr. The force of ἔσω ('in the tent') is continued to the subsequent clauses. For τὴν μέν followed by τὰ δέ, see Essay on L. § 20. p. 31.
236. mvp-comment-173-1 πλευροκοπών δίχ᾽ ἀνερρήγνυ] 'He smote beneath the ribs and ripped asunder.' The two white-footed rams are probably Agamemnon and Odysseus. Menelaus may have been imagined to be slain in combat, while the king of men was brought away in triumph to be the object of more condign vengeance. Ll. 105 foll. leave no room to doubt that the second ram is intended by Ajax for Odysseus.
237. mvp-comment-174-1 ἀνελών] · Having lifted,' i.e. by the forefeet.
238-239. mvp-comment-175-1 'He sheared off and threw away (first) the tongue-tip and (then) the head.' E. on L. § 41. p. 78 β, b. The tongue, which had pronounced the judgment, the head, which was the seat of sovereignty, are the first to suffer. For ῥιπτεῖ, cp. Hdt. 4. 61, ὁ θύσας, τῶν κρεῶν καὶ τῶν σπλάγχνων ἀπαρξάμενος, ῥίπτει ἐς τὸ ἔμπροσθεν.
240. mvp-comment-176-1 ‘Bound up to a pillar erect.' ἄνω marks that the bonds were fastened from above, so as almost to suspend the creature from the ground.
241. mvp-comment-177-1 'With a great harness-thong.' ῥυτήρ is (1) a trace, (2) a rein, (3) any strap used in harnessing.
242. mvp-comment-178-1 'He smites him with resounding double lash ;' i.e. He holds the thong by the middle, and plies it, thus doubled, with a whizzing noise.
243. mvp-comment-179-1 ἃ δαίμων, κ.τ.λ.] i.e. The words gave evidence of superhuman passion. Ср. О. Т. 1258, 9, δαιμόνων δείκνυσί τις, οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀνδρῶν.
244. mvp-comment-180-1 'Reviling him with evil language.' Cp. Ant. 759, ἐπὶ ψόγοισι δεννάσεις ἐμέ.
245. mvp-comment-181-1 κάρα is the emendation of Triclinius for κρᾶτα, which is in most MSS., generally with τοι preceding: according to Hermann this was due to a mistaken metrical emendation. Reading κάρα and retaining τοι, we might read in supr. 221, οἴαν ἐδήλωσας *κατ᾿ ἀνδρὸς αἴθονος. τιν'] ἱ.ε. ἡμᾶς. Essay on L. § 22. p. 36. κάρα καλύμμασι κρυψάμενον] 'Veiling one's head,' either (1) in token of confusion and shame as well as sorrow. Cp. Od. 8.92; Plat. Phaedr. 243 В. Or (2) by way of disguise. ποδοῖν κλοπὰν ἀρέσθαι] i. e. φυγὴν ἀρέσθαι, 'to steal away on foot.' Cp. Eur. Or. 1499, ἐκκλέπτειν πόδα: Rhes. 54, αἴρεσθαι φυγήν.
247. mvp-comment-182-1 θοὸν εἰρεσίας ζυγὸν ἑζόμενον] 'Pressing the swift rowing-bench.' Cp. Aesch. Ag. 982, θάρσος . . ἵζει φρενὸς φίλον θρόνον. And for the hypallage ( =θοᾶς εἰρεσίας ζυγόν), see Essay on L. § 42. p. 80.
250. mvp-comment-183-1 ποντοπόρῳ ναὶ μεθεῖναι] 'Let the sea-faring ship go on her way.' No definite ellipse (as of πλοῦν or πείσματα) is to be supplied with μεθεῖναι.
250. mvp-comment-183-2 ματα) need be supposed. The verb 'to let go' is first used absolutely, and then again acquires a remote object, which is put in the dative. The ship is 'a thing of life.'
251. mvp-comment-184-1 ἐρέσσουσιν] 'Launch.' Ant. 158, μῆτιν ἐρέσσω. For the unconscious tautology, εἰρεσίας .. ἐρέσσουσιν, see Essay on L. § 44. pp. 83, 4. The mariners think of the Atreidae as chasing them astern. The words καθ' ἡμῶν mark that their lot is bound up with that of Ajax, a thought which is developed in the succeeding lines. The accusative Ἄρη is in two constructions, first after πεφόβημαι, and then with ξυναλγεῖν, which is added in epexegesis. For Apns of destructive violence, cp. esp. Aesch. Prom. 861, 2, θηλυκτόνῳ | Ἄρει δαμέντων.
255. mvp-comment-185-1 τὸν αἰσ᾿ ἄπλατος ίσχει] 'Possessed by an all-endangering doom.' The chorus long to stand by Ajax, but are deterred by his madness. Cp. Trach. 785, κοὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα τἀνδρὸς ἀντίον μολεῖν : ib. 797, ὦ παῖ, πρόσελθε, μὴ φύγῃς τοὐμὸν κακόν, | μηδ' εἴ σε χρὴ θανόντι συνθανεῖν ἐμοί: ib. 1030, ἀποτίβατος ἀγρία νόσος.
257. mvp-comment-186-1 οὐκέτι] Sc. ἴσχει νιν ἡ μανία. 'He may be approached with safety now.' λαμπρᾶς, κ.τ.λ.] 'For he, like a Southern storm, after a sharp outburst, ceases to rage, and the lightning plays no more.' ἄτερ, κ.τ.λ. is to be taken proleptically = ὥστε ἄτερ στεροπῆς εἶναι. E. on L. § 38. p. 70. Otherwise the words might mean, 'He desists without lightning:' i.e. his violence comes to an end without doing irreparable harm. Cp. Eur. Med. 93, 4, οὐδὲ παύσεται | χόλου, σάφ' οἶδα, πρὶν κατασκῆψαί τινα: Shak. King John, 4. 2, 'So foul a sky clears not without a storm.' But although Tecmessa is for the moment relieved, her apprehensions are not sufficiently calmed to make this natural.
259. mvp-comment-187-1 Φρόνιμος] Sc. ὤν. Essay on L. § 39. Ρ. 72. φρόνιμον (sc. ὄντα) is a v. r. or MS. conjecture.
260. mvp-comment-188-1 οἰκεῖα πάθη] Troubles all one's own.' i.e. both as home-felt and self-wrought. Cp. El. 215, οἰκείας εἰς ἄτας.
261. mvp-comment-189-1 παραπράξαντος] «Having assisted.' Cp. παραδράω ( οἷά τε τοῖς ἀγαθοῖσι παραδρώωσι χέρηες, Od. 15, 324).
262. mvp-comment-190-1 μεγάλας ὀδύνας ὑποτείνει] 'Causes intense grief within.' ὑποτείνει, 1.2. ὑπέχει ἐντεταμένως. Cp. Pind. O1. 2. 100, βαθεῖαν ὑπέχων μέριμναν ἀγροτέραν.
263. mvp-comment-191-1 'But if he hath ceased' (from his madness), 'he must be surely happy.' Others take εὐτυχεῖν impersonally, as in Oed. Tyr 88, πάντ᾽ ἂν εὐτυχεῖν, –‘All must be well.'
264. mvp-comment-192-1 'For trouble counts for less when it is gone.' The gen. is first absolute, and then in regimen with λόγος. Cp. infr. 1161, 2, κἀμοὶ γὰρ αἴσχιστον κλύειν | ἀνδρὸς ματαίου φλαῦρ᾽ ἔπη μυθουμένου.
265. mvp-comment-193-1 αἵρεσιν] Sc. τούτων, viz. ll. 266, 7, which πότερα anticipates.
266. mvp-comment-194-1 ἔχειν] Supr. 203.
267. mvp-comment-195-1 κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι] Essay on L. § 44. p. 83. Or to be with others and mingle your sorrow with theirs.' ξυνών marks that while Ajax was delirious, he stood apart from the grief which others felt for him.
269. mvp-comment-196-1 'Our case, then, since the madness left us, is grown more desperate.' Tecmessa identifies her lot with that of Ajax. Compare infr. 791, μῶν ὀλώλαμεν; A few lines below (273-6) she speaks of herself in the plural as contrasted with him.
272. mvp-comment-197-1 οἶσιν. . κακοῖς] i. e. κακοῖς ἐν οἶσιν εἴχετο. Cp. infr. 1144, 5, ἡνίκ᾽ ἐν κακῷ | χειμῶνος εἴχετ'.
275. mvp-comment-198-1 πᾶς ἐλήλαται] 'Is vexed to the uttermost.' πᾶς is adverbial. See Essay on L. § 23. p. 38, and cp. infr. 519, ἐν σοὶ πᾶσ᾽ ἔγωγε σώζομαι. The perfect, as in πεφόβημαι, supr. 139, expresses a completed state.
277. mvp-comment-199-1 ἆρ'..;] Essay on L. § 29. p. 50. 'What is this but to have the sorrow doubled that before was single?' Cp. Constance in King John, 3. 4. 'I am not mad; - I would to heaven I were! For then 'tis like I should forget myself: O, if I could, what grief should I forget!'
278-279. mvp-comment-200-1 μὴ ἐκ θεοῦ | πληγή τις ἥκει] 'That a calamity is really come from Heaven.' The chorus before admitted as a possibility ( supr. 186, ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος) what now appears to be too certain. Hence the indicative is more forcible here, although the subjunctive ( ἥκῃ) is more regular and may be the true reading.
282-283. mvp-comment-201-1 'In what wise lighted on you the commencement of the trouble? Tell us, who grieve with you at the misfortune, what it is.' τύχας, continuing the notion of κακοῦ, is governed either (1) both of δήλωσον and of ξυναλγοῦσιν, or (2) of ξυναλγοῦσιν only.
284. mvp-comment-202-1 ὡς κοινωνὸς ὤν] 'As you are no less interested.'
285. mvp-comment-203-1 ἄκρας νυκτός] 'At dead of night.' That this, and not 'on the verge of night,' is the meaning here, appears from the context. The flames lighted at evening were burnt out, so that all was dark. ἄκρᾳ σὺν ἑσπέρᾳ in Pind. Pyth. 11. 16, is explained by Dissen 'ad seram vesperam.'
286. mvp-comment-204-1 Cp. Od. 18. 307, αὐτίκα λαμπτῆρας τρεῖς ἵστασαν ἐν μεγάροισιν, | ὄφρα φαείνοιεν, περὶ δὲ ξύλα κάγκανα θῆκαν καὶ δᾷδας μετέμισγον: ib. 19. 64, φύως ἔμεν ἠδὲ θέρεσθαι.
287. mvp-comment-205-1 κενάς] «Objectless;' i.e. without apparent cause. Tecmessa knows little of what Ajax does abroad. But she knows that there is something strange in his going forth at night without a summons.
289. mvp-comment-206-1 ἄκλητος is expanded with οὔτε-οὔτε, 'neither-nor.'
291. mvp-comment-207-1 ἀλλά] i. e. 'Instead of there being an alarm of any kind.'
292. mvp-comment-208-1 βαί, ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα] 'Few words, but to a well-known tune.' Eur. Phoen. 438, πάλαι μὲν οὖν ὑμνηθέν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐρῶ: Plat. Rep. 8. 549 D, ὅσα φιλοῦσιν αἱ γυναῖκες περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὑμνεῖν.
293. mvp-comment-209-1 Cp. Fr. 61, ἄλλως τε καὶ κόρῃ τε κἀργείᾳ γένος, | αἷς κόσμος ἡ σιγή τε καὶ τὰ παῦρ᾽ ἔπη.
294. mvp-comment-210-1 μαθοῦσ᾽] 'When I perceived,' viz. that he was not to be reasoned with. The unusual division of the line marks the reluctant desistence of Tecmessa. Cp. O. T. 1513, ib. 110, and notes.
295. mvp-comment-211-1 πάθας] 'Misfortunes.' The word is used with a vague sense of the horror of a scene, in which Ajax was no less unfortunate than his victims.
297. mvp-comment-212-1 εὔκερών τ᾿ ἄγραν] The horns of the sheep are the most conspicuous object as they are seen in front and from above. The objection 'that the bulls were also horned' is absurdly logical. There is no sufficient reason for preferring the conj. εὔερον. The word describes all the cattle, small and great, excepting the bulls, which have been mentioned separately.
298. mvp-comment-213-1 τοὺς μέν] The bulls.
299. mvp-comment-214-1 ἐρράχιζε] 'Clove in twain.'
299-300. mvp-comment-215-1 τοὺς δὲ δεσμίους | ᾐκίζεθ᾽] 'Others, as his prisoners, he tormented at his pleasure.' ὥστε φῶτας] 'As if human creatures.' ἐν ποίμναις πίτνων] 'Making onsets on the cattle.' Cp. supr. 185.
301. mvp-comment-216-1 ὑπάξας διὰ θυρῶν] 'Issuing suddenly through the doorway.' ὑπό = 'from beneath the tent.' σκιᾷ τινί «In converse with some shadow.' The dative as with διαλέγεσθαι. Tecmessa, not seeing or hearing Athena, supposes Ajax to be addressing some 'bodiless creation' of his brain. Cp. Shak. Hamlet, 3, 4, 'How is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy, And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?'
302. mvp-comment-217-1 ἀνέσπα] «Heaved forth.' Cp. Plat. Theaet. 180 Α, ὥσπερ ἐκ φαρέτρας ῥηματίσκια αἰνιγματώδη ἀνασπῶντες ἀποτοξεύουσιν : Αr. Ran. 903, ῥήματα γομφοπαγή. πινακηδὸν ἀποσπῶν.
303. mvp-comment-218-1 συντιθείς] Sc. τοῖς λόγοις. Εp. προστίθημι.
304. mvp-comment-219-1 ὅσην. . ἰών] 'What insults he had gone and wreaked upon them.' This clause depends at once on λόγους and on γέλων. The participle adds liveliness,-'how he had gone and paid them.'
305. mvp-comment-220-1 ἐπάξας] L. has ἀπάξας both here and supr. 301. Supposing this were right, the same word would be used in two different senses, 'rushing off' and 'rushing back;' but the two words, ὑπάξας, ἐπάξας, seem more appropriate.
306. mvp-comment-221-1 μόλις πως] ‘By slow stages.' The phrase recalls the anxiety with which Tecmessa had watched the gradual awakening. Cp. Thuc. 8. 86, § 2, ἔπειτα μέντοι μόλις ἡσυχάσαντες ἤκουσαν.
307. mvp-comment-222-1 'As he cast his eye along the room, and saw that it was full of ruin.' ἄτη is calamity caused by infatuation. Cp. infr. 351 foll.
308-309. mvp-comment-223-1 ἐν δ᾽ ἐρειπίοις . . ἀρνείου φόνου] 'Amidst the carnage of the flock he sate, a ruin amongst ruins.' The tautology, ἐν ἐρειπίοις ἐρειφθείς, is here expressive. The 2nd genitive, ἀρνείου φόνου (see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37 a), is added to give greater distinctness to ἐρειπίοις νεκρῶν as a single notion.
310. mvp-comment-224-1 'With clenched nails grasping his hair with his hand.' ὄνυξι adds force to ἀπρίξ.
311. mvp-comment-225-1 The order (Essay on L. § 41. p. 76) shows that πλεῖστον is an afterthought. 'For some while, indeed for most of the time.'
312. mvp-comment-226-1 τὰ δείν᾽ . . ἔπη] 'Those dreadful words,' which I remember so vividly. Cp. Ant. 408, τὰ δείν᾽ ἐκεῖν᾽ ἐπηπειλημένοι. Not merely, 'Words that are dreadful.'
313. mvp-comment-227-1 φανοίην] Fut. opt. Ajax' words were εἰ μὴ φανεῖς.
314. mvp-comment-228-1 ἐν τῷ πράγματος] Cp. Trach. 375, ποῦ ποτ᾽ εἰμὶ πράγματος;
315. mvp-comment-229-1 δείσασα,] 'Being overcome with fear.' As the deprecating φίλοι shows, Tecmessa is excusing herself to the chorus for having told Ajax, under the influence of his threats, that which only plunged him into fresh sorrow. For the participle thus used without an express object, cp. Ant. 1005, δείσας δ' εὐθὺς ἐμπύρων ἐγευόμην. Hermann punctuates as in the text. Others join δείσασα τοὐξειργασμένον, which is less simple.
316. mvp-comment-230-1 ὅσονπερ ἐξηπιστάμην] For this limitation, cp. supr. 295, καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω λέξαι πάθας.
319-320. mvp-comment-231-1 (1) 'He used to teach us that such complainings indicated a degraded and leaden soul.' The infinitive is added epexegetically to complete the abrupt expression ἐξηγεῖτο τοὺς τοιούσδε γόους πρὸς βαρυψύχου ἀνδρός. For ἔχειν, sc. τοὺς τοιούσδε γόους, cp. Il. 18. 495, αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον. (2) But an inf. after ἐξηγεῖτο is rather required: cp. Aesch. Eum. 595, ὁ μάντις ἐξηγεῖτό σοι μητροκτονεῖν. Can ἔχειν with the adverbial phrase πρὸς... ἀνδρός be used intransitively (= 'proceed from') ( εἶναι appears as a gloss), or should ἄγειν be read, 'He taught us to esteem'? Cp. Ant. 34, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμ᾽ ἄγειν | οὐχ ὡς παρ᾿ οὐδέν. For βαρυψύχου it is possible that βραχυψύχου ought to be read.
321. mvp-comment-232-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἀψόφητος, κ.τ.λ.] ἀλλά opposes what follows to the general sense of what precedes. ἀψόφητος ὀξέων κωκυμάτων] ‘Uttering no sound of shrill lamentation.'
322. mvp-comment-233-1 'He breathed deep groans like a lowing bull.' ὑπὸ in comp. implies 'not loud, but deep.'
323. mvp-comment-234-1 νῦν δ'] At first he uttered shrill lamentings, unlike the deep mutterings which before expressed his discontent. 'But now' he is silent. κείμενος] 'Prostrate.' Cp. supr. 207, infr. 427.
325. mvp-comment-235-1 ἥσυχος] « Without sound or motion.' The quietness of Ajax' present mood is ominous. This description prepares the spectator for what he is to see infr. 346.
327. mvp-comment-236-1 τοιαῦτα] Sc. ὥς τι δρασείων κακόν. Tecmessa already apprehends the danger of suicide.
329. mvp-comment-237-1 εἰσελθόντες] When Ajax is discovered by the ἐκκύκλημα, infr. 346, this is equivalent to the scene being changed to within the hut.
330. mvp-comment-238-1 οἱ τοιοίδε] · Men in such mood;' i. e. gloomily bent on self-destruction. λόγοις] This word, to be joined with φίλων, is restored from the quotation of Stobaeus. The reading of the MSS. is hardly possible. λόγοις may have been lost from its similarity to λέγεις in the termination of the next line, and φίλοι may have been added to supply the gap.
331. mvp-comment-239-1 On the order, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 77.
332. mvp-comment-240-1 'That our hero is frenzied with his trouble.' The mariners apprehend that the madness of Ajax is in some way connected with his disappointment. Cp. infr. 925-32. ἡμῖν is dative of the person interested. See Essay on L. § 13. p. 19 f, and cp. supr. 216, ἡμὶν ὁ κλεινὸς | Αἴας ἀπελωβήθη: infr. 733, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμὶν Αἴας ποῦ ᾿στιν, ὡς φράσω τάδε ; κακοῖς] Supr. 275, infr. 532.
333. mvp-comment-241-1 The voice of Ajax is heard from within.
334. mvp-comment-242-1 μᾶλλον] Sc. δεινά σοι λέξω, or γνώσεσθε ταῦτα.
335. mvp-comment-243-1 οἵαν] She judges from the intonation of the cry, which the chorus, infr. 337, do not know whether to interpret as importing madness or grief.
337. mvp-comment-244-1 ἢ τοῖς . . παρών] 'Or to grieve at witnessing the effects of past madness which remain with him.' Cp. supr. 307. The addition of παρών suggests that Ajax, seeing the carnage in the tent, is the eye-witness of his own madness.
339. mvp-comment-245-1 Ajax calls upon Teucer. παῖ is frequently addressed by an elder person to a younger, even by the Corinthian messenger to Oedipus, O. Τ. 1008, and by Electra (under excitement) to the supposed Phocian stranger, El. 1220. The picture in the Iliad, 8. 271, of Teucer retiring behind the shield of Ajax, παῖς ὡς ὑπὸ μητέρα, suggests that Teucer was the younger brother. And it is natural to suppose Ajax to have been born before Telamon's expedition in which he won Hesione, the mother of Teucer.-According to Pindar in the fifth (or sixth) Isthmian ode, Ajax was given to Telamon in answer to the prayer of Heracles before the expedition. But in such details the legends are not constant. See O. C. 375, and note. Lycophr. 445 and schol. -The need of Teucer's presence is Ajax' first thought on coming to himself. Tecmessa at first thinks of the child, until, in l. 342, Ajax calls Teucer by name. He does not ask to see the child till l.530, after his attention has been vividly drawn that way by Tecmessa.
341. mvp-comment-246-1 τάλαιν᾽ ἐγώ] Tecmessa is distracted between the fear of crossing Ajax and the fear of harm to the child. The division of the line helps to mark this distraction of the wife and mother.
343. mvp-comment-247-1 λεηλατήσει] Teucer is gone foraging into the Mysian highlands, infr. 720. Compare Thuc. 1. 11, φαίνεται .. πρὸς γεωργίαν τῆς · Χερσονήσου τραπόμενοι καὶ λῃστείαν τῆς τροφῆς ἀπορίᾳ. ἐγὼ δ'] · While that I.'
345. mvp-comment-248-1 κἀπ᾿ ἐμοὶ βλέψας] ‘Even at me, on seeing me.' The abrupt expression, αἰδῶ λαβεῖν ἐπί τινι, is supplemented by the addition of the participle, i.e. εἰς ἐμὲ βλέψας. αἰδώς is the feeling which prompts σωφροσύνη.
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).
348. mvp-comment-250-1 The lyrical numbers of this commos are chiefly dochmiac, mixed with iambic and trochaic rhythms, which increase in the third strophe and antistrophe. The scheme is the following...
348. mvp-comment-250-2 The arrangement of the latter part of γ' is rendered doubtful by the manifest corruption of ll. 406, 7. Perhaps- εἰ τἀμὰ μὲν φθίνει, φίλοι, πάλαι· μώραις δ᾽ ἄγραισι ταῖσδ᾽ ὁμοῦ προσκείμεθα. And in the antistrophe, 424, 5, τύδ᾽ ἐξερῶ μέγ᾽ οἷον οὔτινα Τροία στρατοῦ δέρχθη χθονὸς μολόντ' ἀπό. Or, reading τάδε for τά, and omitting τοῖσδ᾽ ὁμοῦ, στρατοῦ, and ἀπό, - εἰ τάδε μὲν φθίνει, φίλοι, πάλαι· μώραις δ᾽ ἄγραις προσκείμεθα, | πᾶς.
348. mvp-comment-250-3 and- ἐξερέω μέγ', οἷον οὔτινα Τροία χθονὸς δέρχθη μολόνθ' | Ἑλ.. See note on 405 foll.
348. mvp-comment-250-4 Ajax at once perceives the mariners. 'The great rage, you see, is killed in him,' but the ground-swell of his passion is still heard.
349. mvp-comment-251-1 μόνοι ἐμῶν φίλων] Sc. παρόντες, or some such word, which is expanded in what follows.
350. mvp-comment-252-1 ὀρθῷ νόμῳ] Sc. τῷ τῆς φιλίας.
351. mvp-comment-253-1 ἴδεσθέ μ᾽ οἷον, κ.τ.λ.] με is to be taken (1) after ἴδεσθε, and (2) after ἀμφίδρομον κυκλεῖται, the latter being a picturesque expansion of ἀμφικυκλεῖται. φοινίας ὑπὸ ζάλης] 'Lashed by a cruel storm.' ζάλη is a squall accompanied with rain or hail. The surge surrounding Ajax is the heap of mangled victims, together with the horror which they symbolize. For the boldness of this image, cp. El. 733, κλύδων᾿ ἔφιππον ἐν μέσῳ κυκώμενον.
354-355. mvp-comment-254-1 'Alas! It is clear thou art too true a witness.' The chorus do not immediately respond to Ajax: but, being horror-struck at what they see, express their reflections on the situation to Tecmessa. The description she has given is only too true. The meaning of μαρτυρεῖν and the coldness of l. 355, as addressed to Ajax, prove this to be the right way of understanding the words.
355. mvp-comment-255-1 ὡς ἀφροντίστως ἔχει] (1) ‘How far he is from sane,' sc. ὁ Alas, replying to supr. 347. Or possibly (2), sc. τοὔργον, 'How little of sane thought is present in it.' 'Indeed, the fact declares that thought has had no part in what is done.' For the transference of a personal attribute from the agent to the act, cp. O. C. 240, 977, τό γ' ἆκον πρᾶγμα: Aesch. Ag. 1377, ἀγὼν . . οὐκ ἀφροντίστως. · Notandus euphemismus pro μανικῶς, Herm. Cp. Shak. King Lear, 4. 6. 81, 'The safer sense will ne'er accommodate | His master thus.'
356. mvp-comment-256-1 γένος .. τέχνας] Ο brother-band of helpers, who help by shipcraft.' ναΐας . τέχνας is a descriptive genitive explaining ἀρωγόν.
357. mvp-comment-257-1 'Who didst go on board the ship and ply' ( ἑλίσσων proleptic) 'the oar of the sea,' viz. in coming to Troy. A change in the MS. reading is necessary. Some prefer to read ὃς ἁλίαν .. ἔβας, 'Who camest plying,' etc. ναῦν, suggested by πλάταν, is to be supplied with ἐπέβας.
360. mvp-comment-258-1 (1) Ajax, although recovering his sanity, is still haunted by the impressions of the night, and the sight of the mariners reminds him of the shepherds, who had failed to defend the flock ( supr. 27,232). Begging for death from them, he bids them do what the shepherds could not. (Shak. Ant. and Cleo. 4. 14, 'Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts | Though enemy, lost aim, and could not?') 'In thee I behold the only shepherd to support the flock; come, lay me dead beside them!' This explanation has the advantage of supposing only one ellipse with both verbs, viz. τῇ ποίμνῃ. In this case μόνον ποιμένων is to be explained as an idiomatic expression, in which, as in μόνος τῶν ἄλλων, the privative word has a negative force: i.e. 'You, and not the shepherds, shall avenge the sheep.' Cp. Ant. 773, ἔρημος.. στίβος. (The sense might be made clearer by reading ποιμνίοις for ποιμένων.) Others (2) suppose 'shepherds' to be put figuratively for 'comforters,' or (3) take ποιμένων as gen. obj. = 'to defend thy lord.' Others conjecture πημονὰν ἐπαρκέσοντ᾽, πημονῶν ἔτ᾿ ἄρκος ὄντ᾽.
363. mvp-comment-259-1 'Do not (1) aggravate the blow of disaster;' or (2) 'Make the sorrow worse than the calamity.' For the whole sentence, cp. Thuc. 5. 65, κακὸν κακῷ ἱᾶσθαι: O. C. 438.
366. mvp-comment-260-1 'Redoubtable in valour amongst harmless beasts.' For ev, cp. infr. 1315, μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν ἐμοὶ θρασύς. The phrase ἀφόβοις θηρσί is clearly an oxymoron, but has been diversely explained either as (1) 'harmless' ( τοῖς μὴ φόβον ἐμο ποιοῦσι, Schol.), or (2) 'game that flies not' (' quibus sanus quisque parcit, non solum quia nihil periculi nobis creant sed etiam quia fidei nostrae confidunt,' Lobeck.) The former is more in point. Ajax had been valiant 'where no fear was.' His prey was even less glorious than the boar or lion, which, though not human, are still formidable.
367. mvp-comment-261-1 οἷον] Sc. γέλωτα. 'What insulting mockery has been heaped on me!'
369. mvp-comment-262-1 The sight of Tecmessa, whom he must abandon, provokes Ajax to new rage. He first breaks forth on her impatiently, and then laments aloud. In what follows he is regardless both of her and the chorus.
373. mvp-comment-263-1 ὃς χερὶ μέν] For the position of μέν, which belongs properly to the verb, see Essay on L. § 41. pp. 78,9. The instrumental dative is used, with a fore-feeling of the latter part of the sentence, for ἐκ χερός. Mr. Jebb understands Ajax to mean that 'he had let off the Greeks in respect of personal chastisement, and merely damaged them in property.' But this softens the antithesis too much. The difficulty may be avoided by reading (with Schndw.) ὃς χεροῖν, and προγύνων πάτερ in the antistrophe, l. 387.
375. mvp-comment-264-1 The epithets here are echoes of the epic style, but possibly with some variation of meaning. 'Goodly,' which is the meaning of κλυτός in such expressions as κλυτὰ μῆλα (Od. 9. 308), is not sufficiently pointed here, and the Scholiast may be right in saying κλυτὰ λέγει τὰ αἰπόλια διὰ τὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ταραχὰς καὶ φωνάς. 'The horned kine and bleating herds of goats.'
376. mvp-comment-265-1 'I rained forth dark-flowing blood.' ἐρεμνόν is another Homeric epithet, not merely signifying 'dark' (and so recalling μέλαν αἷμα), but ' darkling,' with reference to the gloom of night and other circumstances of horror which surrounded the act.
377. mvp-comment-266-1 ὅπως οὐχ ὧδ᾽ ἔχειν] ὅπως is here simply an indefinite ὡs, and is construed with the infinitive as ὡς might have been.
379. mvp-comment-267-1 The former outburst was towards the Atreidae. He now breaks forth against Odysseus.
379. mvp-comment-267-2 πάνθ᾽ ὁρῶν] Cp. supr. 29, Phil. 1013, 4, ἀλλ᾿ ἡ κακὴ σὴδιὰ μυχῶν βλέπουσ᾽' ἀεὶ | ψυχή, κ.τ.λ.
381. mvp-comment-268-1 κακοπινέστατον.. ἄλημα στρατοῦ] 'Abominable misleader of the host.' So the Scholiast seems to understand the words, κακοπινέστατον, 'defiled,' i. e. by continual base practices. Musgrave suggested an allusion to the act of disguising himself as a wandering beggar mentioned in Od. 4. 242 foll., but preferred to derive ἄλημα (= παιπάλη) from ἀλέω. The earlier explanation is here preferable to both these, and in infr. 390, ἄλημα may quite well mean, 'cause of error' ( τῶν Ἑλλήνων, gl. Pal.). Cp. the causative use of ἄλη in Aesch. Ag. 195, δύσορμοι | βροτῶν ἄλαι. The error of which Ajax most complains is the misjudgment about the arms of Achilles.
382. mvp-comment-269-1 ἄγεις] 'Dost prolong.'
383. mvp-comment-270-1 ξὺν τῷ θεῷ] The article is not added to θεός elsewhere in Sophocles without special reason, and the conjecture of Schndw. ξύν τοι θεῷ supplies a article of connexion. But the asyndeton is rather impressive, and τῷ θεῷ may be explained 'the god who gives the laughter or the tears.' 'Laughter and sorrow are in the hands of God;' i. e. 'we must be patient and the position may be reversed.' The chorus reflect that the Divine power which now favours Odysseus and oppresses Ajax may hereafter work the opposite effect. Cp. Trach. 131 foll. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ πῆμα καὶ χαρὰ | πᾶσι κυκλοῦσιν, οἷον | ἄρκτου στροφάδες κέλευθοι.
384. mvp-comment-271-1 The syllable which has been probably lost from this line has been variously restored, μέν, νῦν, μήν, etc., the Triclinian reading is harmless, and is followed in the text, in the absence of better MS. authority. Ajax prays to see his enemy, that, even ruined as he is, he may avenge himself. Cp. infr. 388-91, Trach. 1107 foll. ἀλλ᾽ εὖ γέ τοι τύδ᾽ ἴστε, κἂν τὸ μηδὲν ὦ, | κἂν μηδὲν ἔρπω, τὴν γε δράσασαν τάδε | χειρώσομαι κἀκ τῶνδε προσμόλοι μόνον, κ.τ.λ. This is more probable than an aposiopesis of ὀδυρόμενον.
384. mvp-comment-271-2 or the like, though this may be suggested by comparing Phil. 1113 foll. ἰδοίμαν δε νιν, | τὸν τάδε μησάμενον, τὸν ἴσον χρόνον | ἐμὰς λαχόντ᾽ ἀνίας.
387. mvp-comment-272-1 προγόνων προπάτωρ] Zeus was only the great-grandsire of Ajax, but the feeling of Sophocles and his age required that the Divine source should seem more remote. For similar vagueness in speaking of the past, cp. Ant. 981, 2, where σπέρμα. ἀρχαιογόνων | ἄντασ᾿ Ερεχθειδᾶν is said of the grand-daughter of Erechtheus. Also supr. 190.
390. mvp-comment-273-1 ὀλέσσας] The σ is doubled Epicè. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 864, ὅσσας δ' είλε πόλεις.
391. mvp-comment-274-1 τέλος θάνοιμι καὐτός] Ajax desires death, but death would be sweeter if he could first be avenged on his enemies. The feeling here is slightly different from Aesch. Choeph. 438, ἔπειτ' ἐγὼ νοσφίσας ὀλοίμαν, where the participle has an exclusive emphasis ('if I could only take their lives'), and there is no real desire of death.
394. mvp-comment-275-1 Ajax, who had once prayed for light, now prays for darkness as his only light.
396. mvp-comment-276-1 φαεννότατον, ὡς ἐμοί] Most brilliant, in my sight.' Cp. Ant. 1161, Κρέων γὰρ ἦν ζηλωτός, ὡς ἐμοί, ποτέ.
397. mvp-comment-277-1 ἕλεσθ᾽ ἔλεσθέ μ'] In the spirit of polytheism the two names σκότος and έρεβος are imagined to denote two beings. Hence the plural. For the middle voice, cp. Ο. Τ. 887, κακά νιν ἔλοιτο μοίρα.