1402ff.
mvp-comment-896-1
Exodos. The anapaests give the signal for departure, and probably indicate that Ajax is not to be buried in the fatal spot, but is carried off the stage in solemn procession.
1402.
mvp-comment-897-1
The unseemly interruption of the Atreidae has delayed the burial.
1403-1408.
mvp-comment-898-1
Perhaps the tripod and the armour were carried in the procession, which would go forth while the Chorus or the Coryphaeus chanted ll. 1418-20. During the words of Teucer, various attendants are moving to and fro, until at l. 1413 all is ready, and the procession forms.
1404-1405.
mvp-comment-899-1
ταχύνετε .. θέσθ'] The digging of the grave takes time. The tripod is set up in a moment. Hence the change of tense.
1404-1406.
mvp-comment-900-1
τοὶ. ἐπικαίρον] ‘Others set over the fire the tripod on its lofty stand, ready to serve for pure lustration." The words of Ajax,
supr. 654, compared with 862, suggest that he bathed himself before his end. But Teucer could not know this, and in any case the lustration was necessary, especially after the self-violence. For ἀμφίπυρον, which is predicative,
cp. Il. 18. 344, ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα μέγαν. τοί continues the epic note struck in κοίλην κάπετον. λουτρῶν is a genitive of respect after ἐπίκαιρον, 'With a view to,' 'For the purpose of.'
Cp. Thuc. 3. 92. § 5, τοῦ πολέμου καλῶς . . καθίστασθαι.
1407-1408.
mvp-comment-901-1
According to the wish of Ajax expressed to the mariners,
supr. 572 foll., his body-armour is to be buried with him, while the shield is leſt to Eurysaces. The Chorus must be supposed to have communicated this message to Teucer. See Introduction. Join ἐκ κλισίας φερέτω. The crowd who have gathered are now ready as one man to obey Teucer.
1409-1413.
mvp-comment-902-1
'Yes, and do thou, dear boy, as far as thy strength allows, help me thus to lift thy father's frame, applying thy hands with loving care. For the darkened life-current still issues from
1409-1413.
mvp-comment-902-2
the warm arteries.' The clause with γάρ gives the reason for the addition of φιλότητι θιγών. The σύριγγες are the circular mouths of the several arteries, which were imagined to be full of air, and to blow forth the blood. ἄνω is 'into the air.'
Cp. Phil. 783, τόδ᾽ ἐκ βυθοῦ | κηκῖον αἷμα. Others, comparing
supr. 918 (when the wound was recent), explain σύριγγες of the nostrils, and suppose Teucer merely to raise the shoulders in order to stay the flow of blood.
