Sophocles Ajax 101

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Ajax
Thou dost perplex nie ; why revere the gods ?
I am not bound to 't, for I owe them nothing.

Ajax. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.

Current edition Experimental

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (4)
Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 172-201 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 172-200 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 101 focus
εἶεν, τί γὰρ δὴ παῖς ὁ τοῦ Λαερτίου,
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 172-200 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 101 focus
AI
Bring me my boy, that I may see his face.
530
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 101 focus
Gut; welches Schicksal aber traf Laertes' Sohn?
Was thatst du diesem? Oder ist er dir entfloh'n?
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 101 focus
Tecmessa
My lord, loved Ajax, no severer ill,
485
Than the necessity of fate, can fall
485
On man's unhappy race. I was born free;
485
My father 'mongst the Phrygians of high pow'r,
485
And ample wealth; but now I am a slave;
485
Such was the pleasure of the gods, and such
485
Thy puissant hand. Led from that hour to share
Thy bed, to thee benevolent I deem
Thy welfare mine; and by Ephestian Jove, i
By the dear tie that binds my fate to thine,
I now implore thee, leave me not exposed
To the offensive insults of thy foes,
Ah, leave me not to other lords a slave!
For, shou'dst thou die, abandon'd and bereaved
Of thee that very day, be thou assured,
I, with thy son, by some proud Argive seized
By force abhorr'd, shall eat the wretched food
Of slavery; and some lord with bitter taunt
Shall cut me to the soul, and say, Behold
The wife of Ajax, of the Grecian host
Once the most potent, from that envied height
Sunk to this abject state of servitude :
Thus shall he taunt me, by ill fate depress'd,
With words to thee disgraceful, and thy race.
But, ah! respect thy father, left to waste
In grief the cheerless hours of age; respect
Thy mother, to the weight of many years
Consign'd; with pray'rs she oft invokes the gods
To see thee in her house with life return'd..
Pity thy son, O king; of thee bereaved,
490
Who shall instruct and form his infant mind,
490
Left to unfriendly guardians? Shou'dst thou die,
490
What ill to him and me dost thou bequeath?
490
Nothing remains for me, to which mine eye
490
Looks up, save thee. Beneath thy conquering spear
490
My ruin'd country, and my mother sunk;
Fate snatch'd my father to the realms below,
And both my parents have their mansion there.
What country will console me for thy loss,
What wealth? On thee my all of safety rests,
Then hold me in thy memory: it becomes
A man, if aught delightful to his soul
He hath received, to bear a grateful mind: A
Kindness gives birth to kindness; in the heart
When grateful memory holds its seat no more,
The man to every generous sense is lost,
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 172-200 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-352-1 κρῖνε 1

mvp-comment-353-1 οἴμ’ ὡς 2

mvp-comment-353-2 μὴ προδοὺς γένῃ 3

mvp-comment-354-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς 4

mvp-comment-354-2 ἀρκεῖν 5

mvp-comment-354-3 ὀφειλέτης 6

mvp-comment-355-1 εὔφημα φώνει 7

mvp-comment-355-2 τοῖς ἀκούουσιν λέγε 8

mvp-comment-355-3 The division of the verse between two speakers (

ἀντιλαβή
) is here used for the first time in the play, to mark the tension of feeling.

mvp-comment-356-1 ξυνέρξεθ’ 9

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

586. mvp-comment-400-1 μὴ κρίνε] 'Interrogate not.' Sc. με. Cp. Ant. 399 and note. σωφρονεῖν καλόν) 'Discretion is the better part.' One of the gruff maxims ( βαῖ, ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα, supr. 292) with which Ajax checks the importunity of Tecmessa's affection. Cp. Il. 6. 490, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε.

587. mvp-comment-401-1 καί σε] The conjunction here has a strong pleading force. 'Nay, I entreat thee,' etc. For a somewhat similar transition with καί, cp. supr. 11, καί σ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴσω τῆσδε, κ.τ.λ.

588. mvp-comment-402-1 προδοὺς .. γένῃ] 'Be guilty of forsaking us.' Phil. 773, μὴ σαυτόν θ' ἅμα | κἄμ', ὄντα σαυτοῦ πρόστροπον, κτείνας γένῃ.

589. mvp-comment-403-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς] 'You vex me exceedingly.' These words in Ajax, as in Creon, Ant. 573, show that his feelings are touched more deeply than he chooses to avow. ἐγὼ θεοῖς .. ἔτι] 'I am no longer bound to serve the gods in aught.' If the gods have cast Ajax off, then he 'owes them no subscription.' The position of the words ἐγὼ θεοῖς οὐδέν is very emphatic. Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. ἀρκεῖν, in the sense of praestare, governs an accusative here, as supr. 439,535.

593. mvp-comment-404-1 ξυνέρξετε] 'Shut us in.' This is said to the attendants ( supr. 544). They close the doors on Ajax, who is drawn in by the reversed ἐκκύκλημα. Tecmessa and Eurysaces, perhaps, remain upon the stage.