Prepare some hollow fosse for the remains
Ajax. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.
Ajax. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
mvp-comment-702-1 κεῖνος ἁνὴρ 1
mvp-comment-702-2 ἔδειξεν 2
mvp-comment-702-3 κοινὸν Ἄρη 3
mvp-comment-703-1 ἰὼ πόνοι πρόγονοι πόνων 4
mvp-comment-704-1 οὔτε στεφάνων 5
mvp-comment-704-2 στεφάνων 6
mvp-comment-705-1 βαθειᾶν 7
mvp-comment-705-2 κυλίκων 8
mvp-comment-706-1 νεῖμεν 9 τέρψιν 10 ὁμιλεῖν 11
mvp-comment-707-1 αὐλῶν 12
mvp-comment-707-2 ὄτοβον 13
mvp-comment-708-1 δύσμορος 14
mvp-comment-708-2 ἐννυχίαν τέρψιν ἰαύειν 15
mvp-comment-708-3 Remark the repetition of τέρψιν 16
mvp-comment-709-1 ἐρώτων δ’, ἐρώτων 17
mvp-comment-710-1 ἀμέριμνος 18
mvp-comment-710-2 οὕτως 19
mvp-comment-711-1 δρόσοις 20
1195. mvp-comment-765-1 ὅπλων.. κοινὸν Ἄρη] Either (1), laying the chief stress on ὅπλων, 'The combined warfare that depends upon the use of armour,' i. e. 'the use of armour that made combined warfare possible.' For this descriptive genitive, cp. especially El. 19, ἄστρων . . εὐφρόνη ('Night adorned with stars;' or, 'The stars that adorn the night'). Or (2), with the stress on κοινόν, 'The art of forming hostile confederacies in hateful arms.'
1196. mvp-comment-766-1 A short syllable here answers to the long first syllable of ἄταν in the strophe, unless we read Ἕλλασιν, which is unnecessary.
1197. mvp-comment-767-1 'O toil that was the parent of toil!' i. e. The toil of invention was the first parent of other toils.
1199-1201. mvp-comment-768-1 ἐκεῖνος οὐ... ὁμιλεῖν] 'He has cut me off from the joyous fellowship of chaplets and deep draughts from the cup.' The negatives have a privative force, as in οὐ φάναι, οὐκ ἐᾶν, etc. ὁμιλεῖν, sc. ὥστε ἐμὲ ὁμιλεῖν τοῖς στεφάνοις καὶ ταῖς κύλιξιν. The κύλιξ was a shallow vessel, and the epithet properly applies not to the goblet, but to the draughts of wine from it.
1201. mvp-comment-769-1 τέρψιν is first governed by νεῖμεν, and the same word is then repeated as a cognate accusative with ἰαύειν.
1202-1204. mvp-comment-770-1 οὔτε γλυκὺν .. ἰαύειν] ‘And from the sweet sound of flutes, unhappy me, and from passing nights of pleasant rest.'
1205. mvp-comment-771-1 The repetition of ἐρώτων marks the acme of privation.
1206. mvp-comment-772-1 ἀμέριμνος] Either (1) 'Uncared for;' or (2) 'Careless of myself' ('As one past hope, abandoned, | And by himself given o'er'); or (3) 'With vacant mind,' 'Having no interest in life.' For μέριμνα in a good sense, cp. especially Pind. Pyth. 8. 126-132, ὁ δὲ καλόν τι νέον λαχὼν | ἁβρότατος ἔπι, μεγάλας | ἐξ ἐλπίδος πέταται | ὑποπτέροις ἀνορέαις, ἔχων | κρέσσονα πλούτου | μέριμναν: also O.T. 1124, ἔργον μεριμνῶν ποῖον;
1208-1209. mvp-comment-773-1 Cp. Aesch. Ag. 560-2, κἀπὸ γῆς λειμώνιαι | δρόσοι κατεψέκαζον ... τιθέντες ἔνθηρον τρίχα.