Sophocles Ajax 215

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Agamemnon
Hast dared to utter foulest calumny
Against thy prince, and passed unpunished for it ;
Mean as thy birth is, what liad been thy pride
And high demeanour had thy mother sprung
From noble l)lood ? Barbarian as thou art,
How couldst thou praise a wretch, who, lilte thyself,
Was nothing ? We, it seems, for thou hast sworn it,
Are not the masters or of Greece or thee ;
Shall we be thus insulted by our slaves?
Who is this boaster ? and what mighty deed
1240
Hath he performed which I could not have done ?
Is there no hero in the Grecian host

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.) — 215-257 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 214-262 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 215 focus
θανάτῳ γὰρ ἴσον πάθος πάθος βάρος ἐκπεύσει.
215
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 214-262 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 215 focus
MEN
Honour forbids to yield my foe a tomb.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 221 focus
Ha, welchen Ruf offenbarst du, Frau, von dem grimmigen Mann,
Ha, schrecklich, unentrinnbar!
Ruchtbar gemacht von den Fürsten des Danaerheers,
220
Mehrt ihn die stets wachsende Sage.
Bang ahn' ich, bang, was mir herannaht! Vor den Augen Aller
Erschlägt ihn auch die wahnsinnige Hand, die eben
Mit bluttriefendem Stahle die Heerden mordet' und die Hirten.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 215 focus
Teucer
But say, what cause canst thou for this assign?
Is there not cause? From Salamis we hoped
That we should bring him an ally to Greece,
And faithful friend; but found him, put to proof,
More hostile than the Phrygians; for he plann'd
His bloody purpose to assault by night,
And spread destruction with his raging sword
Through all the army: and if this attempt
Some god had not defeated, we had found
The fate now fall'n on him; we had been slain,
In blood with horror roll'd, and he had lived.
He gave the Greek. The gen'rous Greek bestow'd
A radiant belt that rich with purple glow'd...
But now some god from us his hostile rage
Averted, or the flocks and herds to fall.,
For this just cause there is no man that breathes
So potent as to entomb this corse with rites
Of sepulture; but on the weed-clad sand
To all the birds that scream along the shorel
It shall be cast a prey. Nay, do not swell
With rude and boisterous arrogance: alive,
If he disdain'd our pow'r, we will at least
Command him dead, nor ask thy leave, but force
Shall ratify our will; for whilst he lived
My mandates never would his pride obey."
It is the mark of a malignant mind,
When one, not raised above the common rank,
Scorns to obey his rulers. In a state.
Never can laws be well enforced, where fear
Supports not their appointment; and an host
In arms o'erleaps the modest bounds of rule,
By fear and reverence to their Chiefs_unawed.
And it behoves a man, though large his limbs
And vast his strength, to think that he may fall
E'en by a petty ill. But know thou this,...!
Where modesty and fear unite, they bring
Protection; but licentious arrogance,
That gives full sail to its intemperate. will,"
Shall sink the state, though proudly for awhile
She rides before a fair and favouring gale.
Fear then should know its place: nor let us think
That as our wild wills urge us if we act,
We shall not suffer just returns of ill :
These have their course alternate. In times past
Hi insolence flamed high; I triumph now,
And charge thee not to inter him, lest perchance
Entombing him thou sink into the tomb.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 214-260 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-721-1 σέ τοι 1

mvp-comment-721-2 τὸν ἐκ τῆς 2

mvp-comment-722-1 τραφεὶς 3

mvp-comment-722-2 ὑψήλ’ ἐφώνεις 4

mvp-comment-722-3 κἀπ’ ἄκρων ὡδοιπόρεις 5

mvp-comment-723-1 ὅτε 6

mvp-comment-723-2 οὐδὲν ὢν 7 τοῦ μηδὲν … ὕπερ 8

mvp-comment-724-1 κοὔτε στρατηγοὺς 9

mvp-comment-724-2 οὔτε ναυάρχους 10

mvp-comment-724-3 Ἀχαιῶν οὔτε σοῦ 11

mvp-comment-724-4 διωμόσω 12

mvp-comment-725-1 αὐτὸς ἄρχων … ἔπλει 13

mvp-comment-726-1 δούλων 14

mvp-comment-727-1 ποίου κέκραγας ἀνδρὸς 15

mvp-comment-728-1 ποῖ βάντος 16

mvp-comment-729-1 ἄνδρες 17

mvp-comment-730-1 πικροὺς 18

mvp-comment-730-2 ἔοιγμεν 19

mvp-comment-730-3 ὅπλων ἀγῶνας 20

mvp-comment-730-4 τότε 21

mvp-comment-731-1 πανταχοῦ 22

mvp-comment-731-2 ἐκ Τεύκρου 23

mvp-comment-732-1 κοὐκ ἀρκέσει 24 εἰ 25

mvp-comment-733-1 εἴκειν ἃ … ἤρεσκεν 26

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

1230. mvp-comment-785-1 κἀπ᾿ ἄκρων ὡδοιπόρεις] « 'And have strutted proudly,' lit. on tiptoe, ἐπ᾿ ἄκρων, sc. ποδῶν or δακτύλων. Hesych. ἀκρίζων. ἄκροις ποσὶν ἐπιπορευόμενος. Εὐρ. Οἰνεί. Cp. Eur. Ion 1166, 7, ἐν δ᾽ ἄκροισι βὰς ποσὶν | κῆρυξ ἀνεῖπεν.

1231. mvp-comment-786-1 ἀντέστης] Sc. ἡμῖν.

1232-1233. mvp-comment-787-1 Cp. supr. 1097-1102. The word ναυάρχους recalls δεῦρ' ἔπλευσας in 1105. Agamemnon of course greatly exaggerates what Teucer had said. Cp. Il. 1. 288, πάντων μὲν κρατέειν ἐθέλει, πάντεσσι δ᾽ ἀνάσσειν, κ.τ.λ.

1235. mvp-comment-788-1 οὐ μεγάλα ἐστὶ ταῦτα κακὰ ἀκούειν (epexegetic infin.) πρὸς δούλων; Cp. O. C. 883, ἆρ᾽ οὐχ ὕβρις τάδε;

1236. mvp-comment-789-1 ποίου.. ἀνδρός] Sc. ὑπέρ. The ellipse is possibly softened by the preposition occurring in comp. in ὑπέρφρονα, although in a different sense. Cp. O. C. 539-41 and note.

1237. mvp-comment-790-1 ποῦ βάντος] i. e. ποῖ. But in such proverbial phrases there is a constant tendency to repeat the same word. Ср. O. T. 420, 1, and note; Phil. 451. Agamemnon in the Iliad acknowledged the superior prowess of Achilles. He is less generous here. This line prepares the way for Teucer's reproaches, infr. 1272-8.

1238. mvp-comment-791-1 ἄνδρες] 'Men,' i.e. 'men deserving the name.' Cp. supr. 77, πρόσθεν οὐκ ἀνὴρ ὅδ᾽ ἦν; and note.

1239. mvp-comment-792-1 πικρούς] 'To our cost.' This is said ironically. 'Teucer's denunciation of us will indeed be a calamitous result of the trial we proclaimed.' Agamemnon carefully limits his responsibility, as Menelaus did above, supr. 1136, ἐν τοῖς δικασταῖς, κοὐκ ἐμοί, τόδ᾽ ἐσφάλη, —to the ordainment of the contest, disclaiming all share in the verdict.

1241. mvp-comment-793-1 πανταχοῦ] ‘In all that we do.'

1243. mvp-comment-794-1 εἴκειν] Sc. τούτοις, or τοῖς δεδογμένοις, or whatever is the antecedent to ἃ.