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.
