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.
