Sophocles Ajax 1cont2

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Minerva, dearest of th' immortal powers,
not, that well-known
Doth like the Tyrrhene trump awake my soul,
Right hast thou s£iid, I come to search my foe,
15
A deed of horror hath he done this night,
15
If it be he, for yet we are to know
The certain proof, and therefoi'e came I here
A willing messenger : the cattle all,
Our flocks and herds, are with their shepherds slain.
One of our spies, who saw him on the plain,
His sword still reeking with fresh blood, confirmed it
Instant 1 fled to search him, and sometimes
I trace his footsteps, which again I lose
I know not how ; in happy hour thou com'st
To aid me, Goddess ; thy pi'otecting hand
20
Hath ruled me ever, and to thee I trust
20
My future fate.
'Min. I know it well, Ulysses,
And therefore come to guard and to assist thee
Propitious to thy purpose.

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.) — 1-171 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 1-171 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1 focus
ἀεὶ μέν, ὦ παῖ Λαρτίου Λαρτίου λᾶρτίου, δέδορκά σε
1
πεῖράν τιν' ἐχθρῶν ἁρπάσαι θηρώμενον·
καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ σκηναῖς σε ναυτικαῖς ὁρῶ
Αἴαντος, ἔνθα τάξιν ἐσχάτην ἔχει,
πάλαι κυνηγετοῦντα καὶ μετρούμενον
5
ἴχνη τὰ κείνου τὰ ᾿κείνου τἀκείνου νεοχάραχθ᾽ νεοχάρακτ᾽ νεοχάρακθ', ὅπως ἴδῃς
εἴτ᾿ ἔνδον εἴτ᾿ οὐκ ἔνδον. εὖ δέ σ᾽ ἐκφέρει
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1-171 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1 focus
Oft have I seen thee, Laërtiades,
1
Intent on some surprisal of thy foes;
1
As now I find thee by the seaward camp,
Where Aias holds the last place in your line,
Lingering in quest, and scanning the fresh print
Of his late footsteps, to be certified
If he keep house or no. Right well thy sense
Hath led thee forth, like some keen hound of Sparta!
The man is even but now come home, his head
5
And slaughterous hands reeking with ardent toil.
5
Thou, then, no longer strain thy gaze within
Yon gateway, but declare what eager chase
Thou followest, that a god may give thee light.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1 focus
Zu jeder Stunde treff' ich dich, Laertes' Sohn, 1
1
Wie du, den Feind zu greifen, seine Fährt' erspürst;
Auch nun gewahr' ich, wie du hier am Schiffsgezelt 2
Des Ajas, der des Lagers lezte Reihe hält,
Schon lange schleichst und lauerst und von seinem Tritt
5
Die frischgeprägten Spuren prüfst, um auszuspäh'n,
Ob innen er, ob außen: glücklich führt dich auch
Dein Schritt an's Ziel, scharfwitternd, gleich dem Sparterhund. 3
Denn eben ist er innen, und von Schweiße triest
Das Haupt des Mannes und die mordbewehrte Hand.
10
Und nöthig hast du weiter nicht, am Thore hier
Hineinzulauschen; aber sprich, warum du so
Voll Eifer spähtest, gerne geb' ich dir Bescheid.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1 focus
Son of Laertes, oft have I observed
1
Thy watchful promptness 'gainst the foe to seize
1
Each fit occasion; and I see thee now
Ranging long time around the naval tent
Marking the fresh impression of his steps,
That thou may'st know if in the tent he rests.
Well hast thou traced him, like the Spartan hound
Of scent sagacious: in the tent he rests,
Sweat from his temples streaming, and his hands
5
With slaughter stain'd; to cast thy searching eye
5
Within these gates is needless; but declare
The cause productive of this anxious toil,
That by my knowledge thou may'st be inform'd.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1-170 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-3-1 σκηναῖς … ναυτικαῖς 1

mvp-comment-3-2 The Homeric

κλισία
was a wooden hut ( Il. 24. 448 ff.). By
σκηνή
, an Athenian in the poet's day would usually understand a tent of skins, such as was commonly used by soldiers (Xen. An. 1. 5. 10).

mvp-comment-4-1 τάξιν ἐσχάτην 2

mvp-comment-5-1 κυνηγετοῦντα 3

mvp-comment-5-2 μετρούμενον 4

mvp-comment-6-1 νεοχάρακτα 5

mvp-comment-7-1 εἴτ’ ἔνδον εἴτ’ οὐκ ἔνδον 6

mvp-comment-7-2 ἐκφέρει 7

mvp-comment-8-1 κυνὸς Λακαίνης 8

mvp-comment-8-2 The use of the feminine gender by Sophocles here may be illustrated by Aristotle's remark,—

αἱ Λάκαιναι κύνες αἱ θήλειαι εὐφυέστεραι τῶν ἀρρένων εἰσίν
,— i.e., ‘of a finer intelligence’ ( ib. p. 608 a 27).—Cp. Shakesp. Midsummer-Night's Dream 4. 1. 124 , where Theseus says,
My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind | ... A cry more tuneable | Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn, | In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly.

mvp-comment-8-3 εὔρινος 9

mvp-comment-9-1 τυγχάνει 10

mvp-comment-10-1 στάζων ἱδρῶτι 11

mvp-comment-11-1 παπταίνειν 12 εἴσω 13

mvp-comment-12-1 ἔργον 14

mvp-comment-12-2 ἐννέπειν δ’ 15

mvp-comment-12-3 ὅτου χάριν 16

mvp-comment-13-1 σπουδὴν ἔθου τήνδ’ 17

mvp-comment-14-1 ὦ φθέγμ’ Ἀθάνας 18

mvp-comment-14-2 φιλτάτης ἐμοὶ θεῶν 19

mvp-comment-15-1 κἂν ἄποπτος ᾖς ὅμως 20

mvp-comment-15-2 When Ajax comes forth, he, indeed, appears to see her (v. 91,

ὦ χαῖρ’ Ἀθάνα, κ.τ.λ.
); while to Tecmessa she is invisible (301). But this, again, would not be inconsistent with Greek belief. In Il. 22. 277 Athena restores the spear to Achilles, yet is unseen by Hector. In Il. 1. 198 she appears to Achilles, but the others see her not.

mvp-comment-15-3 For

ἄποπτος
as=‘ out of sight,’ cp. El. 1488 (of Aegisthus)
πρόθες | ἄποπτον ἡμῶν
: Dionys. Hal. 2. 54
ἐν ἀπόπτῳ τίθενται τὸν χάρακα
(‘in a place out of sight’). It may be added that we might suppose Athena to be invisible to Odysseus now, without necessarily excluding the idea that she becomes visible to him at a later moment in the dialogue. Thus in Eur. Hipp. 1391 the presence of Artemis is known to Hippolytus only by a divine fragrance, though to the spectators she is doubtless visible; but a little later he beholds her (1440).—See Appendix.

mvp-comment-16-1 ξυναρπάζω φρενί 21

mvp-comment-17-1 κώδωνος … Τυρσηνικῆς 22

mvp-comment-17-2 As to the gender of

κώδων
, De Sens. 6 p. 446 b 22 has
τῆς κώδωνος
(bell). In Ar. Pax 1078 the words
χἡ κώδων ἀκαλανθίς
are said to mean a kind of hound. But
κώδων
(bell) is masc. with Thuc. , Strabo, Plutarch, Diodorus and Lucian.

mvp-comment-18-1 ἐπέγνως 23 εὖ 24

mvp-comment-19-1 βάσιν κυκλοῦντ’ 25

mvp-comment-19-2 τῷ σακεσφόρῳ 26

mvp-comment-20-1 ἄσκοπον 27

mvp-comment-20-2 ἔχει περάνας 28

mvp-comment-20-3 εἴργασται 29

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

1-3. mvp-comment-1-1

Athena's eye is ever on Odysseus, and she is now come from Olympus to succour him. Infra l. 36.
ἀεὶ μὲν ... καὶ νῦν] The structure is paratactic; i.e. 'As I have ever seen thee... so now I see thee...' Essay on Language, § 36. p. 68.

3. mvp-comment-3-1 σκηναῖς] The κλισίαι of the Homeric hero. Cp. infr. 192-3.

4. mvp-comment-4-1 ἔνθα. ἔχει] Il. 11. 7, 8; Eur. I. A. 292. This position of Ajax' tent enables him the more easily to steal forth unobserved at last, infr. 690 ff.

5. mvp-comment-5-1 κυνηγετοῦντα, which has no object, resumes θηρώμενον. μετρούμενον] 'Scanning attentively.' The middle voice marks the mental nature of the act; not measuring with a line, but scanning with the eye.

6. mvp-comment-6-1 νεοχάραχθ'] Ajax has but recently returned, dragging the cattle with him, infr. 296. Odysseus has tracked him so far, but the confused struggle at the tent-door has made it uncertain whether he is not gone forth again.

7-8. mvp-comment-7-1 εὖ δέ σ᾽ ἐκφέρει, κ.τ.λ.] Odysseus is like a huntsman who is led to the right point by the scent of a keen Spartan hound. The dog is introduced to complete the image. Cp. infr. 19, 32. Is εὔρινος (1) nom. or (2) gen.? εὔρις occurs in Aesch. Ag. 1093, and the authorities for εὔρινος are late. But the sentence is more balanced if the epithet is taken by hypallage with βάσις, and the abstract noun is somewhat abrupt by itself. Cp. the forms εὔτριχος, εὔθριξ· εὔζυγος, εὔζυξ.

10. mvp-comment-8-1 With χέρας supply not merely ἱδρῶτι, but some word such as φόνῳ or αἵματι, to be gathered from ξιφοκτόνους.

11. mvp-comment-9-1 εἴσω.. παπταίνειν] 'To strain thine eyes to look within.' παπταίνειν is to gaze anxiously or wistfully. οὐδὲν ἔργον with the inf. recurs infr. 852.

13. mvp-comment-10-1 σπουδὴν ἔθου τήνδ'] 'You are thus busily engaged.' Cp. O. T. 134, τήνδ᾽ ἔθεσθ᾽ ἐπιστροφήν.

14-15. mvp-comment-11-1 Odysseus has but a dim and distant vision of the goddess, though her voice is clearly heard by him. She is his special patron. Phil. 134, Νίκη τ' ᾿Αθάνα πολιάς, ἢ σώζει μ' ἀεί. He reflects how intimately familiar to him is the voice, which from such a distance thrills him as with a trumpet call.

15. mvp-comment-12-1 ὡς εὐμαθές σου, κ.τ.λ.] 'How clearly discernible is thy sound unto my ear.' Shak. Mids. N. D. 3. 2, 'Mine ear, I thank it, brought me to thy sound.' For the transition from the voice to the person, cp. O. C. 324, 5, ὦ δισσὰ πατρὸς καὶ κασιγνήτης ἐμοὶ | ἥδιστα προσφωνήμαθ', ὡς ὑμᾶς, κ.τ.λ.

16. mvp-comment-13-1 The present tense in ἀκούω.. ξυναρπάζω is general, not 'now,' but 'always,' hence the contingent supposition κἂν ..ᾖς, and the words καὶ νῦν in l. 18.

18. mvp-comment-14-1 ἐπέγνως εὖ μ'] 'You rightly apprehend that I-.' For ἐπέγνων in the sense of detecting or discovering, cp. Aesch. Ag. 1598 ἔργον οὐ καταίσιον: Thuc. 1. 132, § 5, ἵνα, ἦν ἐπιγνοὺς .. μεταγράψαι αἰτήσῃ, μὴ ἐπιγνῷ. ἐπί] 'With a design upon.' Cp. Eur. Hipp. 32, Ἱππολύτῳ δ᾽ ἔπι | .. ὠνόμαζεν ἱδρῦσθαι θεάν.

19. mvp-comment-15-1 βάσιν κυκλοῦντ'] 'Ranging to and fro,' like a questing hound. Cp. infr. 20, ἰχνεύω. In Ant. 226, κυκλῶν ἐμαυτόν is 'often turning round.'

21. mvp-comment-16-1 πρᾶγος ἄσκοπον] 'An amazing deed:' i.e. not only mysterious, but of inconceivable enormity. See E. on L. § 51. p. 96, and cp. El. 864, ἄσκοπος ὁ λώβα.