1-3.
mvp-comment-1-1
Athena's eye is ever on Odysseus, and she is now come from Olympus to succour him.
Infra l. 36.
ἀεὶ μὲν ... καὶ νῦν] The structure is paratactic; i.e. 'As I have ever seen thee... so now I see thee...'
Essay on Language, § 36. p. 68.
2.
mvp-comment-2-1
(1) 'In quest to snatch some exploit on a foe,' i.e. seeking to effect some surprise against a foe. Or, (2) 'Seeking to foil (or detect) some enemy's attempt.' The latter (2) is simpler, and πεῖρα is used of the attempt of Ajax,
infr. 290, 1057; but the former (1) is on the whole more probable. For Athena does not profess to know the circumstances until l. 36. She asks for information, and only assumes, what is evident, that Odysseus is engaged in some hostile adventure. This aspect of his character appears in the tenth Iliad.
Cp. infr. 18, ἐπέγνως εὖ μ᾿ ἐπ᾿ ἀνδρὶ δυσμενεῖ | βάσιν κυκλοῦντ᾽. ἁρπάσαι is to seize, i. e. 'to effect suddenly.' θηρώμενον introduces the image of the huntsman continued in l. 5, and combined with that of the hound in ll. 7, 8. ἁρπάσαι θηρώμενον is substituted for πειρώμενον, so as to convey the notion of surprise. ἁρπάσαι is an epexegetic infinitive, after which the accusative πεῖραν is to be resumed. The meaning of ἁρπάσαι in (2)
supr. viz. 'to arrest' is less natural than that given in (1).
3.
mvp-comment-3-1
σκηναῖς] The κλισίαι of the Homeric hero.
Cp. infr. 192-3.
4.
mvp-comment-4-1
ἔνθα. ἔχει] Il. 11. 7, 8; Eur. I. A. 292. This position of Ajax' tent enables him the more easily to steal forth unobserved at last,
infr. 690 ff.
5.
mvp-comment-5-1
κυνηγετοῦντα, which has no object, resumes θηρώμενον. μετρούμενον] 'Scanning attentively.' The middle voice marks the mental nature of the act; not measuring with a line, but scanning with the eye.
6.
mvp-comment-6-1
νεοχάραχθ'] Ajax has but recently returned, dragging the cattle with him,
infr. 296. Odysseus has tracked him so far, but the confused struggle at the tent-door has made it uncertain whether he is not gone forth again.
7-8.
mvp-comment-7-1
εὖ δέ σ᾽ ἐκφέρει, κ.τ.λ.] Odysseus is like a huntsman who is led to the right point by the scent of a keen Spartan hound. The dog is introduced to complete the image.
Cp. infr. 19, 32. Is εὔρινος (1) nom. or (2) gen.? εὔρις occurs in Aesch. Ag. 1093, and the authorities for εὔρινος are late. But the sentence is more balanced if the epithet is taken by hypallage with βάσις, and the abstract noun is somewhat abrupt by itself.
Cp. the forms εὔτριχος, εὔθριξ· εὔζυγος, εὔζυξ.
10.
mvp-comment-8-1
With χέρας supply not merely ἱδρῶτι, but some word such as φόνῳ or αἵματι, to be gathered from ξιφοκτόνους.
11.
mvp-comment-9-1
εἴσω.. παπταίνειν] 'To strain thine eyes to look within.' παπταίνειν is to gaze anxiously or wistfully. οὐδὲν ἔργον with the inf. recurs
infr. 852.
13.
mvp-comment-10-1
σπουδὴν ἔθου τήνδ'] 'You are thus busily engaged.'
Cp. O. T. 134, τήνδ᾽ ἔθεσθ᾽ ἐπιστροφήν.
14-15.
mvp-comment-11-1
Odysseus has but a dim and distant vision of the goddess, though her voice is clearly heard by him. She is his special patron. Phil. 134, Νίκη τ' ᾿Αθάνα πολιάς, ἢ σώζει μ' ἀεί. He reflects how intimately familiar to him is the voice, which from such a distance thrills him as with a trumpet call.
15.
mvp-comment-12-1
ὡς εὐμαθές σου, κ.τ.λ.] 'How clearly discernible is thy sound unto my ear.' Shak. Mids. N. D. 3. 2, 'Mine ear, I thank it, brought me to thy sound.' For the transition from the voice to the person,
cp. O. C. 324, 5, ὦ δισσὰ πατρὸς καὶ κασιγνήτης ἐμοὶ | ἥδιστα προσφωνήμαθ', ὡς ὑμᾶς, κ.τ.λ.
16.
mvp-comment-13-1
The present tense in ἀκούω.. ξυναρπάζω is general, not 'now,' but 'always,' hence the contingent supposition κἂν ..ᾖς, and the words καὶ νῦν in l. 18.
18.
mvp-comment-14-1
ἐπέγνως εὖ μ'] 'You rightly apprehend that I-.' For ἐπέγνων in the sense of detecting or discovering,
cp. Aesch. Ag. 1598 ἔργον οὐ καταίσιον: Thuc. 1. 132, § 5, ἵνα, ἦν ἐπιγνοὺς .. μεταγράψαι αἰτήσῃ, μὴ ἐπιγνῷ. ἐπί] 'With a design upon.'
Cp. Eur. Hipp. 32, Ἱππολύτῳ δ᾽ ἔπι | .. ὠνόμαζεν ἱδρῦσθαι θεάν.
19.
mvp-comment-15-1
βάσιν κυκλοῦντ'] 'Ranging to and fro,' like a questing hound.
Cp. infr. 20, ἰχνεύω. In Ant. 226, κυκλῶν ἐμαυτόν is 'often turning round.'
21.
mvp-comment-16-1
πρᾶγος ἄσκοπον] 'An amazing deed:' i.e. not only mysterious, but of inconceivable enormity. See E. on L. § 51. p. 96, and
cp. El. 864, ἄσκοπος ὁ λώβα.
23.
mvp-comment-17-1
ἀλώμεθα] 'We are bewildered.'
Cp. the use of πλανᾶσθαι in Plato, Soph. 230 Β, ἅτε πλανωμένων τὰς δόξας ῥᾳδίως ἐξετάζουσιν: Hdt. 6. 37, πλανωμένων.. ἐν τοῖσι λόγοισι, τὸ θέλει τὸ ἔπος εἶναι.
25.
mvp-comment-18-1
εὑρίσκομεν] A vivid present, like φράζει,
infr. 31.
27.
mvp-comment-19-1
ἐκ χειρός] 'By hand of man,'— not by wild beasts, or lightning, or other visitation of heaven. αὐτοῖς ποιμνίων ἐπιστάταις] 'Together with the guardians of the flock.' The death of the shepherds is again referred to,
infr. 232. 360, and was a necessary incident of the slaughter.
Cp. Il. 18. 529, of the ambush attacking the herd, κτεῖνον δ᾽ ἐπὶ μηλοβοτῆρας. And for the expression,
cp. Plat. Legg. 10. 906 A, ἢ γεωργοῖς περὶ φυτῶν γένεσιν .. ἢ καὶ ποιμνίων ἐπιστάταις. Some have wrongly explained the words of the shepherd dogs, which are mentioned by Tecmessa,
infr. 297, but are not likely to occur to Odysseus. The well-known idiom, αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσι, etc., seems to arise out of the dative of concomitant circumstances. See E. on L. § 11. p. 18c, and
cp. O. T. 25, φθίνουσα .. κάλυξιν.
28.
mvp-comment-20-1
τήνδ᾽.. αἰτίαν] 'This blame,' i.e. the blame of this deed. νέμει has weaker MS. authority than τρέπει, which is, however, too physical a word in this connection, even though the dative ἐκείνῳ for εἰς ἐκεῖνον οἱ ἐπ᾿ ἐκείνῳ (
cp. infr. 772), might be defended. νέμειν is a favourite word with Sophocles. τρέπει is due to a gloss. See Scholia.
29.
mvp-comment-21-1
τις ὀπτήρ] 'A scout,' viz. one of the look-out men of the host, who naturally brings his information to Odysseus as the centre of intelligence.
Cp. infr. 379, Phil. 1013.
30.
mvp-comment-22-1
πηδῶντα πεδία] 'Bounding along the plain.' Accus. of the sphere of motion. E. on L. § 16. p. 23 c.
31.
mvp-comment-23-1
φράζει τε κἀδήλωσεν] 'Gives intimation' (of the fact) 'and pointed out' (the direction).
32.
mvp-comment-24-1
κατ᾽ ἴχνος ἄσσω] 'Dart upon the track' (thus shown). καὶ τὰ μὲν σημαίνομαι] 'And some indication I find.' The word is used of dogs in hunting; Opp. Cyn. 1. 454, μυξωτῆρσι.. σημήναντο.
33.
mvp-comment-25-1
κοὐκ ἔχω μαθεῖν ὅπου] 'And cannot tell where he is,' i.e. (1) εἴτ᾿ ἔνδον εἴτ᾿ οὐκ ἔνδον (l. 7,
supr.), 'whether he is in the tent or no.' Or (2) more generally (sc. ὁ αἴτιος), 'where is the object of my search?' i.e. whether in following Ajax I am really on the right track. Odysseus is describing his per-
33.
mvp-comment-25-2
plexity before the coming of Athena, and in these words simply confesses that he is at fault. He is speaking of his own past impressions, and here and
supr. 1. 23 does not at once realize what he has been told by Athena in ll. 7-10. As in O. T. 359, Trach. 184, the imperfect or gradual recognition of what has been said adds to the dramatic effect. Another reading is
κοὐκ ἔχω μαθεῖν ὅτου, in which
ὅτου, sc.
τὸ πρᾶγμά ἐστι, also gives a fair sense, but is not, like
οὐκ ἔχω μαθεῖν ὅπου, an idiom of Greek tragedy. Others supply
τὰ ἴχνη at once with
ὅτου and with
τὰ μὲν .. τὰ δέ. But the reference of the articles in this context can hardly be so precise as to be equivalent to
τὰ μὲν τῶν ἰχνῶν, κ.τ.λ., nor would
ἐκπέπληγμαι be used in such a connection. The Scholia show that
ὅπου was read, and that its interpretation was thought doubtful.
34.
mvp-comment-26-1
καιρὸν = ἐς καιρόν]
Cp. infr. 1316, 1168; or possibly an adverbial accusative,
cp. Pind. Pyth. 1. 156,
καιρὸν εἰ φθέγξαιο. Sο
καιρῷ = ἐν καιρῷ, O. T. 1516.
34-35.
mvp-comment-27-1
τὰ τ᾿ οὖν πάρος, κ.τ.λ.] 'My whole course whether past or to come is guided by thy will.'
οὖν, as in in
εἴτ᾽ οὖν, emphasizes the comprehensiveness of the expression.
κυβερνῶμαι is passive, and
πάντα adv. accus. Or (2)
κυβερνῶμαι may be middle, 'I guide (i.e. suffer to be guided) all my actions by thy hand.' In this way of taking the words the force of the middle voice of
κυβερνῶμαι is unusual, but that of the instrumental dative is more regular.
36.
mvp-comment-28-1
ἔγνων refers not to 34, 5, but to the preceding lines.
36-37.
mvp-comment-29-1
φύλαξ ἔβην, κ.τ.λ.] The order ἰς
ἔβην εἰς ὁδὸν πρόθυμος φύλαξ τῇ σῇ κυναγίᾳ, ' I came upon my path as a zealous guardian for thy chase.' E. on L. § 12. p. 19.
38.
mvp-comment-30-1
ἡ καί] ‘And is my endeavour really well-directed?'
ἡ asks the question with eager interest.
39.
mvp-comment-31-1
ὡς ἔστιν ἀνδρός, κ.τ.λ.] Sc.
οὕτω νόει. σοι]
Cp. Ant. 37,
οὕτως ἔχει σοι ταῦτα. Ε. on L. § 13. p. 19 e.
40.
mvp-comment-32-1
'With what intent did he break forth in this ill-judged violence?' For the epithet,
cp. infr. 230,
παραπλήκτῳ χερί. It is unnecessary to suppose that
άΐσσω is transitive here.
Cp. the construction of 1. 42.
41.
mvp-comment-33-1
'Incensed with wrath because of the arms of Achilles.' A word on this subject is enough for Odysseus, to whom the arms had been adjudged. He understands at once that harm had been intended to himself and the generals.
42.
mvp-comment-34-1
'But why, then, this raid upon the flock? The construction of
ὅπλων, as genitive of the reason after
βαρυνθείς, is assisted by the substantive
χόλῳ preceding.
44.
mvp-comment-35-1
'And was this blow, then, really aimed against the Argives?'
45.
mvp-comment-36-1
κἂν ἐξεπράξατ'] 'He would actually have accomplished his design.' The middle voice is preferable as the harder reading, and signifies that the plan and execution would have been alike Ajax' own.
46.
mvp-comment-37-1
'What bold attempt inspired by recklessness do your words imply (
ταῖσδε)?'
47.
mvp-comment-38-1
δόλιος] i.e.
ἐπὶ δόλῳ, 'With crafty intent.' E. on L. §23. p. 39.
48.
mvp-comment-39-1
παρέστη] Sc.
ἡμῖν.
49.
mvp-comment-40-1
καὶ δή] ‘ Actually.’
50.
mvp-comment-41-1
Join
ἐπέσχε φόνου.
μαιμῶσαν is more expressive than the v. τ.
διψῶσαν, which is probably meant to be construed with
φόνου. For
πῶς, 'How came it that-?' cp. O. T. 1177,
πῶς δῆτ᾿ ἀφῆκας;
51.
mvp-comment-42-1
ἀπείργω] The vivid present (see v. rr.) is preferable to the aorist, as the less obvious reading. Join
ἀπείργω with
χαρᾶς, which is added in further explanation.
δυσφόρους γνώμας] ‘Overpowering fancies.'
δύσφορος has been supposed to be here equivalent το
παράφορος, 'false,' or 'misleading;' but this, (though a possible association of the word) is unnecessary. The natural meaning of 'grievous,' 'intolerable,' is slightly modified by the association of 'hard to resist,' or 'bear up against.' Ajax could not withstand the fatal illusion.
52.
mvp-comment-43-1
τῆς ἀνηκέστου χαρᾶς] ‘From his fatal pleasure.' The harm once done would have been irrevocable. For
χαpâς,
cp. infr. 114,
ἐπειδὴ τέρψις ἥδε σοι τὸ δρᾶν.
53-54.
mvp-comment-44-1
πρός τε ποίμνας.. φρουρήματα] 'I turned him off upon the flocks, and the mixed charge of the herdsmen that was not yet divided from the spoil,' i. e. simply the sheep and oxen. Schndw. distinguishes between the sheep, which he assumes to have been kept in common to be slaughtered as food, and the oxen, which were gradually distributed as booty. That no such exact definition is intended here is proved by
supr. 25-7,
λείας ἁπάσας .. αὐτοῖς ποιμνίων ἐπιστάταις. The words
λείας ἄδαστα are added, to show that the act of Ajax would provoke the whole army to be enraged against him with one consent.
Cp. infr. 145-6, 408-9.
55.
mvp-comment-45-1
ἔκειρε is imperfect. The syllable
κειρ is echoed in
πολύκερων. The cognate accusative and hypallage together cannot be literally rendered in English. 'He made bloody havoc with the horned multitude, felling them on all sides of him.'
57.
mvp-comment-46-1
ἔχων] ‘Having them in his power.'
μέν (l. 56) with
δέ in l. 59, contrasts the belief of Ajax with the reality described in 59, 60. Or, possibly (2)
μέν points forward to a
dé which is lost in l. 58, 1.ε.
ἐστὶ μὲν .. ἐστὶ δὲ ..
Cp. Ant. 165-7,
τοῦτο μὲν .. τοῦτ᾽ αὖθις.
58.
mvp-comment-47-1
i.e.
ἔσθ' ὅτε ἐδόκει κτείνειν ἄλλους τῶν στρατηλατῶν, ἄλλοτε ἄλλον, ('somebody else, now one and now another,')
ἐμπίτνων, sc.
τῇ ἀγέλῃ.
59-60.
mvp-comment-48-1
(1) And as the man ranged to and fro, I urged him with maddening frenzy, and drave him into the evil net;' or (2), construing
μανιάσιν νόσοις with
φοιτώντα, ‘As he bounded to and fro in frenzy, I urged and drave him,' etc. In the latter case the expression is proleptic. The Scholion
οι ἕρκη, εἰς ἐρινῦν κακήν, perhaps conceals a v. r.
eἰς ἄρκυν κακήν. But
cp. Od. 21. 238, 384,
ἀνδρῶν ἡμετέροισιν ἐν ἕρκεσι.
61.
mvp-comment-49-1
'And then, when he had remission of this toil.'
πόνου, the more general word, is better than
φόνου, which is tautological.
πόνου in connection with the preceding words, implies that the vain task was imposed on Ajax by the will of Athena.
63.
mvp-comment-50-1
ποίμνας τε πάσας] When the chief of the flock were bound and dragged away, the rest would follow.
Cp. infr. 296.
64.
mvp-comment-51-1
εὔκερων] This epithet applies to the sheep as well as to the kine.
65.
mvp-comment-52-1
συνδέτους is rather 'tied together' than bound hand and foot.'
66.
mvp-comment-53-1
(1) 'Come, I will show thee this affliction in full sight.'
περιφανή predicative. Or (2), taking the word attributively, 'this signal frenzy.'
Cp. infr. 81 and note,
infr. 229.
67.
mvp-comment-54-1
ὡς .. θροῇς]· That you may noise it abroad.'
Cp. infr. 149,
εἰς ὦτα φέρει πᾶσιν Ὀδυσσεύς.
68.
mvp-comment-55-1
συμφορὰν δέχου τὸν ἄνδρα] 'Look for his coming as a misfortune:' sc.
ὡς συμφοράν.
Cp. Ο. C. 142,
μή μ', ἱκετεύω, προσίδητ᾽ ἄνομον. And see E. on L. § 39. p. 73.
69-70.
mvp-comment-56-1
ὀμμάτων .. εἰσιδεῖν] I will divert the effluence of his eyes, and debar them from the sight of you.'
ἀποστρόφους is predicative: i.e.
ἀποστρέφουσα αὐτάς. On the ancient theory of vision and its effect on language, see E. on L. $ 54. p. 99.
μή is omitted after
εἴργω, as after
κωλύω: i.e.
τὸ μὴ εἰσιδεῖν νιν σὴν πρόσοψιν, ‘I will turn away the light of his eyes, so that your form shall be invisible to him.'
Cp. Phil. 1407,
εἴρξω πελάζειν.
71.
mvp-comment-57-1
Athena faces the tent and raises her voice.
72.
mvp-comment-58-1
ἀπευθύνοντα has been taken literally, 'to bind straight or fast.' But although the image of a constrained position is suggested by the word, it retains its more general meaning of 'reducing to order or subjection,' as in Eur. Bacch. 884-6,
ἀπευθύνει δὲ βροτῶν | τοὺς τ᾿ ἀγνωμοσύναν τιμῶντας καὶ μὴ τὰ θεῶν | αὔξοντας ξὺν μαινομένᾳ δόξα.
74.
mvp-comment-59-1
σφ', although omitted by L, is probably genuine.
75.
mvp-comment-60-1
μηδὲ δειλίαν ἀρεῖς] ‘And not give way to cowardice.' See E. on L. § 30. p. 52 d.
ἀρεῖ, which Schndw. and Dindorf prefer, would mean, 'Do not bring upon yourself the imputation of cowardice,' a less appropriate expression.
76.
mvp-comment-61-1
ἔνδον ἀρκείτω μένων] 'Enough that he is there, but let him not come forth.' E. on L. § 36. p. 63 а.
77.
mvp-comment-62-1
'For fear of what? Is he now for the first time a man?' Athena ironically rallies Odysseus on his fear of seeing the madman. As Odysseus presently finds, Ajax in his madness is to be pitied, not to be feared. For the emphatic
ἀνήρ,
cp. Ο. C. 393,
ὅτ' οὐκέτ᾽ εἰμί, τηνικαῦτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἴμ᾿ ἀνήρ ; Others take the words to mean, 'Up to this time was he not a (mortal) man?' in which is implied the thought, 'Is he more than a man now?' In either case the general meaning is, 'You used not to be afraid of him; why should you be so now?'
79.
mvp-comment-63-1
γελᾶν] The epexegetic infinitive follows the adjective
ἥδιστος, and
εἰς ἐχθρούς is to be taken both with
γέλως and
γελάν. 'Is not laughter pleasantest at foes?'
81.
mvp-comment-64-1
περιφανώς may be taken either with (1)
μεμηνότα, or (2) with
ἰδεῖν. Other uses of
περιφανῶς are in favour of (1).
81.
mvp-comment-64-2
the former (1), but it makes better sense to join the adverb here with the whole expression; i.e. not. 'You shrink from seeing a man who is clearly insane,' but, 'You shrink from seeing plainly a man's madness.'
Cp. infr. 229,
περίφαντος. The same meaning may be obtained, however, by supposing the adverb in (1) to be used proleptically, (3) 'You shrink from seeing a man's madness clearly shown.'
84.
mvp-comment-65-1
ὀφθαλμοῖς γε]
γε adds emphasis; i.e. though his mind is alienated, he surely has not changed eyes.
85.
mvp-comment-66-1
καὶ δεδορκότα)
καὶ = καίπερ.
Cp. Pind. Ol. 7. 55,
αἱ δὲ φρενῶν ταραχαὶ παρέπλαγξαν καὶ σοφόν.
86.
mvp-comment-67-1
μένταν] • Well, after all.'
μέντοι admits and enforces the correcting statement, which it sets over against that which is corrected, viz. l. 84. For
γένοιτ' ἂν.. πᾶν,
cp. Hdt. 4. 195,
εἴη δ᾽ ἂν πᾶν.
88.
mvp-comment-68-1
μένοιμ' ἄν] I shall have to stay.
ἐκτός] 'Out of the way,' as in
ἐκτὸς κλαυμάτων, πημάτων ('out of harm's way'). See L. and S. s. v.
90.
mvp-comment-69-1
Athena affects to rally Ajax for disregarding her help on this occasion, as he had before scornfully rejected it.
Cp. infr. 774, 5. This helps to bring out his unconsciousness of her displeasure.
τῆς συμμάχου]
Cp. l. 60.
91.
mvp-comment-70-1
Ajax enters with the scourge in his hand. It is from this scene that the play takes its name of
Alaς μαστιγοφόρος. ll. 91-3 may be contrasted with 176 foll. Ajax is not by nature impious, although in the pride of his youth he may have been guilty of impiety; but he speaks to the goddess with the blunt familiarity of a comrade in arms.
καί in l. 92 has an encouraging, almost patronizing, sound.
