Sophocles Ajax 97

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Ulysses
545
e'er be made the prize of glory
545
For rival chiefs ; but do thou take, my boy,
545
The sevenfold, vast impenetrable shield
545
Whose name thou bear'st ; the rest be buried with me.
Take hence the child with speed ; nor in the tents
Let there be wailings. Women ever love
To brood o'er sorrows, and indulge their woe.
Shut to the door. The wound that must be cut
No wise physician will attempt to heal
With incantation, elegy, or song.

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)) — 97 focus
ἢ καὶ πρὸς ᾿Ατρείδαισιν ἤχμασας χέρα χέραι χέρα χέρας?
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)) — 97 focus
TEC
O my great master! heaviest of all woe
485
Is theirs whose life is crushed beyond recall.
485
I, born of one the mightiest of the free
485
And wealthiest in the Phrygian land, am now
485
A captive. So Heaven willed, and thy strong arm
485
Determined. Therefore, since the hour that made
My being one with thine, I breathe for thee;
And I beseech thee by the sacred fire
Of home, and by the sweetness of the night
When from thy captive I became thy bride,
Leave me not guardless to the unworthy touch
And cruel taunting of thine enemies’
For, shouldst thou die and leave us, then shall I
Borne off by Argive violence with thy boy
Eat from that day the bread of slavery.
And some one of our lords shall smite me there
With galling speech: Behold the concubine
Of Aias, first of all the Greeks for might,
How envied once, worn with what service now!
So will they speak; and while my quailing heart
Shall sink beneath its burden, clouds of shame
Will dim thy glory and degrade thy race.
Oh! think but of thy father, left to pine
In doleful age, and let thy mother’s grief—
Who, long bowed down with many a careful year,
Prays oftentimes thou may’st return alive—
490
O’er awe thee. Yea, and pity thine own son,
490
Unsheltered in his boyhood, lorn of thee,
490
With bitter foes to tend his orphanhood,
490
Think, O my lord, what sorrow in thy death
490
Thou send’st on him and me. For I have nought
To lean to but thy life. My fatherland
Thy spear hath ruined. Fate—not thou—hath sent
My sire and mother to the home of death
What wealth have I to comfort me for thee?
What land of refuge? Thou art all my stay
Oh, of me too take thought! Shall men have joy,
And not remember? Or shall kindness fade?
Say, can the mind be noble, where the stream
Of gratitude is withered from the spring?
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)) — 97 focus
Ajax
412
Ye streams that roll into the sea, ye caves
Deep in the rocks that wind along the shore,
Thou grove on Ida's brow, long time, long time
Have you round Troy detain'd me; but no more
Shall you detain me breathing vital air :
This let each man, that hath his reason, know.
And thou, Scamander, flowing near these tents,
420
Benignant to the Grecians, shalt no more
Behold this man (thus proudly I will speak)
Such as 'mongst all the host, that o'er her plains
March'd from the realms of Greece, Troy hath not seen:
425
Now, all his glory sunk, thus low he lies.
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-328-1 αἶρε δεῦρο 1

mvp-comment-328-2 ταρβήσει γὰρ οὒ 2

mvp-comment-329-1 νεοσφαγῆ … φόνον 3 που 4 τοῦ 5 τοῦτόν γε 6 του 7

mvp-comment-330-1 δικαίως 8

mvp-comment-330-2 τὰ πατρόθεν 9

mvp-comment-331-1 ὠμοῖς … ἐν νόμοις 10

mvp-comment-331-2 πωλοδαμνεῖν 11

mvp-comment-331-3 κἀξομοιοῦσθαι 12 φύσιν 13

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

545. mvp-comment-372-1 αἶρε δεῦρο] «Lift him hither.' Said to the attendant who brings in the child, and is to hand him to Ajax over the carcases of the sheep, etc. ταρβήσει γὰρ οὔ] Essay on L. § 41. p. 78 γ.

546. mvp-comment-373-1 For the late position of που, see Essay on L. § 26. p. 44. It is occasioned by the energy with which the emphatic words ταρβήσει.. οὗ are brought into prominence. Dindorf would read τοῦτόν γε, supposing the whole line to be an interpolation. But this is gratuitous, and the excision of the line leaves a sensible gap in the sense.

547. mvp-comment-374-1 δικαίως] 'Truly;' i. e. 'in a manner rightly answering to the description.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 853, φανεί δικαίως ὀρθών: Trach. 1158, φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ. In this speech, as well as supr. 487 foll., there is a resemblance to the sixth Iliad (see esp. ll. 476-481).

548. mvp-comment-375-1 ἀλλά opposes what follows (though not in strict logic) to the preceding negative. ὠμοῖς .. ἐν νόμοις πατρὸς .. πωλοδαμνεῖν] Το train him, like a young colt, in his father's rugged ways.' For ὠμοῖς, cp. supr. 205, ὠμοκρατής, and note. And for νόμοις, Ant. 191, τοιοῖσδ᾽ ἐγὼ νόμοισι τήνδ' αὔξω πόλιν. Essay on L. § 47. p. 88.