Sophocles Ajax 961

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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Yet such the mischief Zeus’ resistless maid,
Pallas, hath planned to make Odysseus glad.
O’er that dark-featured soul
What waves of pride shall roll,
What floods of laughter flow,
Rudely to greet this madness-prompted woe,
Alas! from him who all things dares endure,
And from that lordly pair, who hear, and seat them sure!

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.) — 937-1160 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 961-1184 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 961 focus
οἱ δ᾽ οἶδ᾽ οἱ δ' οὖν γελώντων κἀπιχαιρόντων κακοῖς
τοῖς τοῦδ᾽ τοῦ σδ᾽. ἴσως τοι, κεἰ κ ειἰ βλέποντα μὴ ᾿πόθουν,
θανόντ᾽ ἂν οἰμώξειαν ἐν χρείᾳ δορός.
οἱ γὰρ κακοὶ γνώμαισι τἀγαθὸν χεροῖν
ἔχοντες οὐκ ἴσασι, πρίν τις ἐκβάλῃ.
965
ἐμοὶ .˙. ἐμοὶ πικρὸς τέθνηκεν ἢ κείνοις γλυκύς,
αὐτῷ δὲ τερπνός. ὧν γὰρ ἠράσθη τυχεῖν
ἐκτήσαθ᾽ αὑτῷ αὐτῶι αὑτῶι, θάνατον ὅνπερ ἤθελεν.
τί πῶς τί δῆτα τοῦδ᾽ τοῦ· δ᾽ ἐπεγγελῷεν ἂν κάτα;
θεοῖς τέθνηκεν οὗτος, οὐ κείνοισιν, οὔ.
970
πρὸς ταῦτ᾽ πρὸ ταῦτ᾽ πρὸσ ταῦτ᾽ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἐν κενοῖς ὑβριζέτω.
Αἴας γὰρ αὐτοῖς οὐκέτ᾽ ἐστίν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐμοὶ
λιπὼν ἀνίας καὶ γόους διοίχεται.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 961-1184 focus
Translations (4)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 961 focus
Sie mögen lachen, mögen sich an seinem Leid
Erfreuen! Weckt' er lebend auch ihr Sehnen nicht,
Den Todten ruft wohl ihre Klag' in Kampfesnoth.
Nie mag ein Gut ja, welches er in Händen hält,
Der Thor erkennen, bis es ihm entwunden ist.
920
Mir ist sein Scheiden bitter, ihnen süße Lust,
Ihm selbst erfreulich; denn wonach er sich gesehnt,
Er hat's errungen, seiner Wünsche Ziel, den Tod.
Was also mag sich über ihn ihr Spott ergeh'n?
Den Göttern starb er, ihnen nimmer, nimmermehr! 1
925
Drum höhn' Odysseus immerhin mit eitlem Hohn!
Denn keinen Ajas gibt es mehr für sie; doch mir,
Mir ließ er scheidend Jammer nur und Gram zurück.
(hinter der Scene)
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 961 focus
Let them rejoice, let them insult him now
With savage joy ; but when the dreadful day
Of battle comes, whom living they despised
When dead they shall lament. Fools never ^now^
The treasure's value till tjie k-easure 's lost^ '"^
965
Buf^far moi'e bitter was lug''(Ieath to me
Than sweet to them : to Ajax it was most welcome ;
Death was his only wish, and he obtained it.
Then wherefore should they triumph ? By the hand
Then let Ulysses smile : he is not theirs.
970
He lives not for the Grecians : he is gone,
And has bequeathed his sorrows all to me.
To thee, O Teucer ! he bequeathed the care
Of his loved child, and thou obeyst him well.
A sight so dreadful. Came I then for this
With luckless speed ? O melancholy journey !
To seek thee long in vain, and thus at last
To find thee dead before me, O my brother !
Quick through the Grecian host, as if some god
Had brought the tidings, spi-ead the dire report
Of thy untimely fate. Far from thee then
1 heard and wept, but now, alas ! I see
Unveil the body ; let me view it well.
And count my miseries. Horrid spectacle !
Oh ! rash advent' rous deed ! What weight of woe
Thy death has laid on me ! Alas ! to whom
Or whither shall I go ? Oh, wherefore, Teucer,
Wert thou not here to stop a brother's hand ?
What will our poor unhappy father say,
The wretched Telamon ? Will he receive me
With looks of love and pleasure, when 1 come
Even in the best of times he was not wont
To smile or joy in aught. What then will now
His anger vent ? Will he not speak of me
As of a faithless, base, unworthy son,
995
The spurious offspring of a captive mother,
995
Who hath betrayed and slain his best-loved Ajax
995
To gain his fair possessions after death ?
995
Thus will his wrath, sharpened by peevish a^e,
995
Upbraid me guiltless ; and to slavery doomed,
995
A wretched exile from his native land,
995
Shall Teucer wander forth. Such dreadful ills
995
Must I expect at home. At Troy my foes
995
Are numerous, and my friends, alas ! how few !
995
What shall I do 1 How can I save thee now
995
From this sad fate 1 Oh ! who could have foreseen
995
That Hector, long since dead, at last should prove
995
I do beseech you, mark the fate of both :
995
Dragged the brave Trojan o'er the blood}^ field
995
Till he expired ; and now, behold ! the sword,
995
The fatal steel, and Pluto made the belt.
995
Dreadful artificer ! JBiLt thiSj_an 995
.Thatjiappens to us, is the woi^ of^ Heaven. ^mmmm^
995
If there be those who doubt it, let them hold -ilS^^i^S"
995
Their diff'ring judgments — I shall keep my own.
995
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 961 focus
And let them mock, in his calamities
Let them exult: the time perchance may come,
Though whilst he lived they lightly prized his worth,
They may lament him dead with many a groan,
And want him in the dreadful shock of war.
The impotent of mind, whilst in their hands
965
They hold a treasure, know not how to prize
965
Its worth, till from them it be snatch'd away.
To me his death brings sorrow, joy to them;
To him it was most pleasing so to die,
It was the consummation of his wish.
Have they then cause to triumph in his death?
No: by the gods he died, and not by them.
970
Then let Ulysses swell with pride, none now
Opposing. Ajax lives for them no more,
But in his death to me leaves woes and groans.
Teucer, to thee, while yet he lived, this charge,
To which affection prompts thee now, he gave.
995
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 961-1180 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-560-1 οἱ δ’ οὖν 1

mvp-comment-560-2 κεἰ … μὴ 2

mvp-comment-560-3 )πόθουν 3

mvp-comment-560-4 ἐν χρείᾳ δορός 4

mvp-comment-561-1 κακοὶ γνώμαισι 5

mvp-comment-561-2 τἀγαθὸν χεροῖν 6 τἀγάθ’ ἐν χεροῖν 7

mvp-comment-561-3 πρίν τις ἐκβάλῃ 8

mvp-comment-561-4 For the sentiment, cp. Mimnermus fr. 1 (in Nauck's Frag. Trag. 2nd ed., p. 829)

δεινοὶ γὰρ ἀνδρὶ πάντες ἐσμὲν εὐκλεεῖ | ζῶντι φθονῆσαι, κατθανόντα δ’ αἰνέσαι
. Plaut. Capt. 1. 2. 39
Tum denique homines nostra intelligimus bona, | Quom quae in potestate habuimus ea amisimus.
 C. 3. 24. 31
Virtutem incolumem odimus, | Sublatam ex oculis quaerimus invidi.

mvp-comment-562-1 Various theories of interpolation have been held with regard to this passage: see Appendix. Most of them are founded on the assumption that Tecmessa's former speech of ten lines (915—924) must be balanced by a speech of the same length here, and that therefore three of the thirteen verses (961— 973) must be struck out. (Nauck, who rejects 918 f., strikes out five verses here, 966—970.)

mvp-comment-562-2 As several objections arise from the alleged incoherence of the speech, it is well to observe the train of thought in 961—973.

mvp-comment-562-3 ‘Let them mock, if they will, at the fate of Ajax; they will perhaps find out, in time of need, what they have lost; foolish men never know their own good fortune till they have thrown it away (961—965). No, his death is no gain for them—though it is anguish for me: for him, it is the release which he desired (966—968). Why should they mock at him, then? They cannot even claim that his death was their work; it is the affair of the gods (969 f.). So Odysseus may exult, if he pleases, but it is an empty triumph. He and his friends have merely suffered a loss; Ajax is gone, —and has left nothing behind him but the sorrow which is mine’ (971—973).

mvp-comment-562-4 ἐμοὶ πικρὸς 9 ἢ 10 ᾗ, εἰ, ὡς, καὶ 11 γλυκύς 12

mvp-comment-562-5 θάνατον 13 ὧν 14

mvp-comment-563-1 ἐπεγγελῷεν 15 κάτα 16 ἐγγελῷεν 17 τοῦδ’ 18

mvp-comment-564-1 θεοῖς 19

mvp-comment-565-1 πρὸς ταῦτ’ 20

mvp-comment-565-2 ἐν κενοῖς 21

mvp-comment-565-3 972 f. There is no stress on αὐτοῖς 22

mvp-comment-566-1 ἄτης … ἐπίσκοπον 23

mvp-comment-566-2 μέλος 24

mvp-comment-567-1 ξύναιμον ὄμμ’ 25

mvp-comment-568-1 ἠμπόληκας 26 ἠμπόληκά ς’ 27

mvp-comment-569-1 ὤμοι 28

mvp-comment-570-1 ὡς ὧδ’ ἐχόντων 29

mvp-comment-571-1 περισπερχὲς 30

mvp-comment-572-1 τί γὰρ 31 ποῦ … κυρεῖ 32

mvp-comment-572-2 μοι 33

mvp-comment-573-1 μόνος 34

mvp-comment-573-2 δῆτ’ αὐτὸν ἄξεις 35

mvp-comment-573-3 κενῆς 36 κενῆς 37

mvp-comment-574-1 ἐγκόνει 38 σύγκαμνε 39

mvp-comment-574-2 κειμένοις 40 θανοῦσι 41 θανοῦσι 42

mvp-comment-575-1 καὶ μὴν 43

mvp-comment-575-2 τοῦδε 44 μέλειν 45

mvp-comment-575-3 ὥσπερ οὖν 46

mvp-comment-576-1 ἁπάντων δὴ 47

mvp-comment-576-2 θεαμάτων … προσεῖδον ὀφθαλμοῖς 48

mvp-comment-577-1 ὁδός θ’ ὁδῶν πασῶν 49 ὁδῶν θ’ ἁπασῶν ὁδὸς ἀνιάσασα δή 50 πασῶν 51

mvp-comment-577-2 ἀνιάσασα δή 52

mvp-comment-577-3

ἣν δὴ· δὴ
emphasises the pron., as in 1029, 1043, 1045, and often.

mvp-comment-578-1 ὡς ἐπῃσθόμην 53

mvp-comment-578-2 διώκων 54

mvp-comment-578-3 κἀξιχνοσκοπούμενος 55

mvp-comment-579-1 βάξις 56

mvp-comment-579-2 σου 57 θεοῦ 58

mvp-comment-579-3 διῆλθ’ Ἀχαιοὺς 59

mvp-comment-579-4 In sending this

φήμη
to Teucer, Zeus illustrates his attribute of
Πανομφαῖος
( Il. 8. 250 ).

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

962. mvp-comment-621-1 κεἰ .. μὴ ᾿πόθουν] ‘Though they missed him not.'-after he had withdrawn from fighting. Cp. Il. 1. 240, ἢ ποτ' ᾿Αχιλλῆος ποθὴ ἴξεται νίας ᾿Ἀχαιῶν: ib. 9. 9. 197, ή τι μάλα χρεώ.

963. mvp-comment-622-1 ἐν χρείᾳ δορός] (1) 'In exigency of war,' rather than (2) 'In sore need of his spear.' For the latter, however, cp. supr. 180, ξυνοῦ δορός.

965. mvp-comment-623-1 πρίν τις ἐκβάλῃ] 'Till one have lost it,' or 'thrown it away.' For the transition from the indefinite plural to τις, cp. Trach. 11. 2, 3, οὐκ ἂν αἰῶν᾽ ἐκμάθοις βροτῶν πρὶν ἂν | θάνῃ τις. ἐκβαλεῖν is to lose by one's own fault. Cp. Ant. 648, 9, μή νυν .. τὰς φρένας .. ἐκβάλῃς. 'Agamemnon has thrown a pearl away | Richer than all his tribe.' (Shak. Oth. 5. 2).

966-967. mvp-comment-624-1 Either (1) supposing an implied comparative, 'My sorrow in his death is greater than their joy: howbeit, he has pleased himself;' or (2) supposing δέ to be in apodosi, and τέθνηκεν to be virtually hypothetical, 'Be his death joy to them or grief to me, to him it brings content.' For (1), see Essay on L. § 39. p. 73 b; and for (2), cp. Ant. 1168, where see note. As there is nothing but the emphasis to suggest comparison, (2) is preferable.

968. mvp-comment-625-1 περ adds emphasis with reference to the words of Ajax, supr. ll. 473-480, which Tecmessa now recalls. Cp. O. C. 1704. ἐξέπραξεν οἷον ἤθελεν.

970. mvp-comment-626-1 'His death is no concern of theirs, but of the gods alone.' The gods have required this sacrifice, and the will of the Atreidae has had no part in it. For this vague 'dative of the person interested,' cp. El. 1152, τέθνηκ᾽ ἐγώ σοι: Phil. 1030, καὶ τέθνηχ᾽ ὑμῖν πάλαι. So, too, infr. 972, Αἴας γὰρ αὐτοῖς οὐκέτ᾽ ἐστίν, κ.τ.λ.

971. mvp-comment-627-1 ἐν κενοῖς] 'In a vain thing': i.e. where his insolence has no occasion, and no object, but is beating the air.

973. mvp-comment-628-1 Cp. Od. 14. 137, 8, φίλοισι δὲ κήδε᾽ ὀπίσσω | πᾶσιν, ἐμοὶ δὲ μάλιστα, τετεύχαται: Trach. 41, 2, πλὴν ἐμοὶ πικρὰς | ὠδῖνας αὐτοῦ προσβαλὼν ἀποίχεται.

973. mvp-comment-628-2 ἀνίας καὶ γόους] 'Distress and sorrow.' For the strength of meaning given to ἀνία here, cp. supr. 496 foll., infr. 1005.

976. mvp-comment-629-1 'Uttering a loud strain that hath regard to this calamity:' i. e. The sudden cry of Teucer shows that his eye has been arrested by the dead body and the group surrounding it. (Schol. οὐχ ἡμαρτηκὸς τῆς συμφορᾶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐστοχασμένον). He, like Tecmessa, supr. 891, 2, is at first dimly seen in the shade. ἐπίσκοπον is used nearly as in Aesch. Eum. 903, ὁποῖα νίκης μὴ κακῆς ἐπίσκοπα.

977. mvp-comment-630-1 ὦ ξύναιμον ὄμμ᾿ ἐμοί] ‘Brother of my love.' ὄμμα, from meaning 'an object of sight,' comes to mean 'an object of regard'—'one with whom we see eye to eye,' and its addition here gives a tone of affectionateness to the expression. See Essay on L. § 54. P. 99 a; and cp. especially, Phil. 171, μηδὲ σύντροφον ὄμμ᾽ ἔχων.

978. mvp-comment-631-1 'Hast thou then done as prevalent Rumour tells?' ἠμπόληκας, 'Hast managed thine affairs, hast done thy business?' See L. and S. s. v. ἐμπολάω, ΙΙ. 2. The phrase at first sight seems hardly tragic; and ἠμπόληκά σ' (Herm.), i. e. 'Have I sold thy life,' by my delay? is at least plausible. But again, ἐμπολᾶν in the former sense, as an expression of common life, may have lost all figurative associations. Cp. Aesch. Eum. 631, 2, ἠμποληκότα | τὰ πλεῖστ᾽ ἀμείνον'. And even retaining ἠμπόληκας in an absolute sense, as in the beginning of this note, the word implies blame in so far as Teucer refers not only to the death of Ajax, but to his loss of honour.

981-986. mvp-comment-632-1 The partition of the senarius between two speakers, which does not occur at all in the Antigone, is in the Ajax confined to this passage and supr. 591-4, where see note.

982. mvp-comment-633-1 ὦ περισπερχὲς πάθος] «Ο all-too-swift catastrophe!' referring not to the rash deed of Ajax, but to the sudden consummation of destiny.

983-984. mvp-comment-634-1 τί γάρ. ποῦ] Cp. supr. 101. The precatory μοι indicates Teucer's interest in the child.

985. mvp-comment-635-1 οὐχ ὅσον τάχος, κ.τ.λ.] These words are spoken to Tecmessa, who, in obedience to them, makes her exit here, returning with Eurysaces, infr. 1168. They cannot be addressed to one of the Chorus, as the exit of a single choreutes is quite inadmissible; nor to one of Teucer's own attendants, to whom such an exhortation as σύγκαμνε would be superfluous. As addressed to Tecmessa, the words seem harsh and peremptory; but Teucer, who has been absent, does not know the depth of her feelings, and in his eyes she is merely Ajax' captive. Hence the words, ἴθ', ἐγκόνει, σύγκαμνε, are an example of what is called irony, i. e. they indicate the speaker's unconsciousness.

985. mvp-comment-635-2 δήτα] Although not an enclitic, the particle coming at the beginning of the line is a strong instance of synaphea, and marks the haste with which Teucer utters his command. Cp. infr. 1089, 90, ὅπως | μή.

985. mvp-comment-635-3 κενῆς] 'Widowed, unprotected,' - λέοντος εὐγενοῦς ἀπουσίᾳ. Not 'bereft of young,' as the prolepsis would have a frigid effect. Nor by enallage for κενόν, sc. μητρός, ‘Separated from the mother.' The point lies in the comparison not of Tecmessa to a lioness, but of Ajax to a lion.

988-989. mvp-comment-636-1 τοῖς θανοῦσί τοι, κ.τ.λ.] Whence Eurysaces is in the greater danger.

990-991. mvp-comment-637-1 Supr. 567. 'While still alive, Ajax enjoined that he (Eurysaces) should be thy care, and he is so.' The emphatic οὖν avoids the appearance of supposing that Teucer needed the injunction.

992. mvp-comment-638-1 Having done what is immediately necessary, Teucer becomes absorbed in the contemplation of his dead brother.

994. mvp-comment-639-1 This last heavy-hearted journey dates not from the warning of Calchas, supr. 750 foll., but from the rumour that quickly followed it. The exceptional rhythm of this line, without caesura, expresses the painfulness of the way.

997. mvp-comment-640-1 The participles are to be taken closely with ἔβην; 'Following up and searching out thy doom, when I perceived that it was come':-viz. on hearing the rumour.

998. mvp-comment-641-1 ὀξεῖα] 'Swift': i.e. not only suddenly arriving, but spreading instantaneously.

998. mvp-comment-641-2 σου] Objective genitive = περί σου. Essay on L. § 9. p. 12. βάξις]· 'Talk, bruit, 'noise.' βάξις is generally something disagreeable. ὡς θεοῦ τινος] 'Seeming to come from some god.' Genitive of the agent (Essay on L. § 10. p. 14): sc. πέμψαντος, or the like. On the source of this rumour, see above, note on l. 826. The messenger returning to the camp after l. 814 would bring word that Ajax was dead.

1000. mvp-comment-642-1 The antecedent to ἁ and object of ὁρῶν, viz. 'thy death,' is to be gathered from the meaning of the two preceding lines. Cp. O. T. 6.

1003. mvp-comment-643-1 ἴθ᾽, ἐκκάλυψον] Cp. supr. 915, 16. If Tecmessa is gone, according to the note on supr. 985, these words are spoken either (1) to the coryphaeus, who on her departure might naturally take his station by the corpse; or (2) to an attendant of Teucer. Cp. El. 1468, χαλάτε πᾶν κάλυμμ᾽ ἀπ᾿ ὀφθαλμῶν, ὅπως | τὸ συγγενές τοι κἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ θρήνων τύχῃ.