Sophocles Ajax 231

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Ulysses
Then hear me. By the gods I must entreat
thee.
Do not, remorseless and inhuman, east
The body forth unburied, nor permit
Authority to trample thus on justice.
E'er since our contest for Achilles' arms
To use him basely. E'en Ulysses owns,
Of all the Grecian chiefs who came from Troy
Do not deny him, then, the honours due
To worth so great ; for know, it were a crime
Not against him alone, but 'gainst the gods —
A violation of the laws divine.
To hurt the brave and virtuous after death.
Even though he lived thy foe, is infamous.

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)) — 231 focus
τὰ τὰσδέ τὰς δὲ τὰσδὲ δὲ πλευροκοπῶν δίχ᾽ ἀνερρήγνυ ἂν ἐρρήγνυ ἀνερρήγνυ.
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)) — 231 focus
AG
Enter AGAMEMNON .
And so I hear thou’lt stretch thy mouth agape
With big bold words against us undismayed—
Thou, the she-captive’s offspring! High would scale
Thy voice, and pert would be thy strutting gait,
Were but thy mother noble; since, being naught,
So stiff thou stand’st for him who is nothing now,
1230
And swear’st we came not as commanders here
Of all the Achaean navy, nor of thee;
But Aias sailed, thou say’st, with absolute right.
Must we endure detraction from a slave?
What was the man thou noisest here so proudly?
1235
Have I not set my foot as firm and far?
Or stood his valour unaccompanied
In all this host? High cause have we to rue
That prize-encounter for Pelides’ arms,
Seeing Teucer’s sentence stamps our knavery
1240
For all to know it; and nought will serve but ye,
Being vanquished, kick at the award that passed
By voice of the majority in the court,
And either pelt us with rude calumnies,
Or stab at us, ye laggards! with base guile.
1245
Howbeit, these ways will never help to build
The wholesome order of established law,
If men shall hustle victors from their right,
And mix the hindmost rabble with the van.
That craves repression. Not by bulky size,
1250
Or shoulders’ breadth, the perfect man is known;
But wisdom gives chief power in all the world.
The ox hath a huge broadside, yet is held
Right in the furrow by a slender goad;
Which remedy, I perceive, will pass ere long
1255
To visit thee, unless thy wisdom grow;
Who hast uttered forth such daring insolence
For the pale shadow of a vanished man.
Learn modestly to know thy place and birth,
And bring with thee some freeborn advocate
1260
To plead thy cause before us in thy room.
I understand not in the barbarous tongue,
And all thy talk sounds nonsense to mine ear.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 233 focus
Weh! Dorther, dorther kam er zu uns,
225
Und führte die Heerd' in gefesseltem Zug;
Und die einen erwürgt' er am Boden im Zelt,
Und die anderen hieb er mitten entzwei,
Griff zween weißfüßige Widder sodann,
Mäht' einem das Haupt und die Zunge herab,
230
Und warf sie hinweg;
Und den anderen band er am Pfeiler empor,
Und faßte den Roßzaum doppelt und schwang
Und geißelte, daß hell schwirrte der Schlag,
Schmachworte zugleich ausschüttend, die nur
235
Ein Gott, kein Mensch, ihm gelehrt hat.
Gegenstrophe.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 231 focus
Teucer
Not mine.
By stealth, and basely canst thou do
Many base deeds.
Those words shall cost hee dear.
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-797-1 ἔγωγ)· 1

mvp-comment-797-2 ἡνίκ’ ἦν μισεῖν καλόν 2

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

1347. mvp-comment-863-1 ἡνίκ'] 'At the moment when-.' i. e. When he was known to have destroyed the herds, supr. 18, 31, 78, 122. In all these places, however, the hatred on the part of Ajax is more dwelt upon than that of Odysseus.