Sophocles Ajax 1346

mvp-comment-796-1 ταῦτ’ ¹ ὑπερμαχεῖς ²

mvp-comment-797-1 ἔγωγ)· ³

mvp-comment-797-2 ἡνίκ’ ἦν μισεῖν καλόν ⁴

mvp-comment-798-1 οὐ γὰρ ⁵

mvp-comment-798-2 προσεμβῆναι ⁶

mvp-comment-799-1 Ἀτρείδη ⁷

mvp-comment-799-2 κέρδεσιν τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς ⁸

mvp-comment-800-1 τόν τοι τύραννον εὐσεβεῖν οὐ ῥᾴδιον ⁹

mvp-comment-801-1 ἀλλ’ εὖ λέγουσι ¹⁰

mvp-comment-801-2 τιμὰς νέμειν ¹¹

mvp-comment-802-1 κλύειν τὸν ἐσθλὸν ἄνδρα ¹² τῶν ἐν τέλει ¹³

mvp-comment-803-1 παῦσαι ¹⁴

mvp-comment-804-1 ποτέ ¹⁵ ἐχθρὸς ¹⁶ γενναῖος ¹⁷

mvp-comment-805-1 ἐχθρὸν ὧδ’ αἰδεῖ νέκυν ¹⁸

mvp-comment-806-1 νικᾷ γὰρ ¹⁹ τῆς ἔχθρας ²⁰ νικᾷ ²¹

mvp-comment-806-2 It is very improbable that the text is corrupt. The context in verses 1355 f. at once proves that the words

and are genuine; and the article before confirms . As also is presumably sound, the fault, if any, would have to be sought in , for which neither nor is a tolerable substitute; or else in . Now in a reply to the question, we should expect some reference by Odysseus to his own feeling; and v. 1358 ( ) further indicates that in the preceding verse he actually did refer to himself. Hence the only correction of which would solve the difficulty of the genitive, viz. , is unsatisfactory.

mvp-comment-807-1 τοιοίδε ²² φῶτες … βροτῶν ²³ βροτῶν ²⁴ βροτοῖς ²⁵

mvp-comment-807-2 ἔμπληκτοι ²⁶

mvp-comment-808-1 καὖθις ²⁷

mvp-comment-808-2 πικροί ²⁸

mvp-comment-808-3 Odysseus is here replying to the taunt that he is

, inconstant. ‘It is common enough for friendship to turn into bitterness. When, therefore, I forget the later enmity of Ajax, and remember only his good service, I am merely condoning a very ordinary change.’ There is also a gentle hint that Agamemnon, who had professed so much (1331), is becoming a little .

mvp-comment-809-1 τοιούσδ’ ²⁹

mvp-comment-810-1 ἐπαινεῖν ³⁰

mvp-comment-810-2 σκληρὰν … ψυχὴν ³¹

mvp-comment-811-1 δειλοὺς … φανεῖς ³²

mvp-comment-811-2 τῇδε θἡμέρᾳ ³³

mvp-comment-812-1 μὲν οὖν ³⁴

mvp-comment-812-2 Ἑλλησι ³⁵

mvp-comment-813-1 ἔγωγε ³⁶

mvp-comment-813-2 ἐνθάδ’ ³⁷ ἵξομαι ³⁸ ἐνθάδε ³⁹

mvp-comment-814-1 ἦ πάνθ’ ὅμοια ⁴⁰ αὑτῷ ⁴¹ πονεῖ ⁴²

mvp-comment-815-1 τῷ γάρ με μᾶλλον ⁴³

mvp-comment-816-1 σὸν ⁴⁴ σόν γ’ ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-817-1 ὡς ἂν ποήσῃς ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-817-2 πανταχῇ ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-817-3 χρηστός γ’ ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-818-1 ἀλλ’ εὖ γε μέντοι ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-819-1 κἀκεῖ κἀνθάδ’ ὢν ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-820-1 χρῇς ⁵¹

1346. mvp-comment-862-1 'Do you mean, Odysseus, thus to fight on his side against me?'

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.

1349. mvp-comment-864-1 κέρδεσιν.] Cp. Athene's ironical words to Ajax, supr. 107, πρὶν ἂν τί . . κερδάνῃς πλέον. For the strength of ethical association in μὴ καλοῖς, cp. Thuc. 3. 55, where the Plataeans, pleading for their lives, state as a reason for having clung to Athens, καὶ προδοῦναι αὐτοὺς οὐκέτι ἣν καλόν : also Phil. 1304, ἀλλ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἐμοὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν οὔτε σοὶ καλόν.

1350. mvp-comment-865-1 'A monarch cannot always observe the rule of piety.' Agamemnon, like the Athenian envoys at Melos, has recourse to 'necessity, the tyrant's plea.'

1351. mvp-comment-866-1 'But he can favourably regard the good advice of his friend.' Sc. δυνατὸν ἐστιν αὐτῷ. implied in ῥᾴδιον, supr.

1352. mvp-comment-867-1 τὸν ἐσθλὸν ἄνδρα] He echoes Odysseus' words, supr. 1344, 5: 'If, as you say, he had been a good man, he would have obeyed authority.'

1353. mvp-comment-868-1 Enough. In yielding to a

1353. mvp-comment-868-2 friend you get your own way.' Cp. the στιχομυθία in Aesch. Agam. 940-3. The implied reasoning is, 'Your friend desires your good, therefore in yielding your will to his you have your will.'

1355. mvp-comment-869-1 Ajax' envious conduct since the award of the arms should not obliterate the remembrance of his former nobleness.

1357. mvp-comment-870-1 τῆς ἔχθρας] 'Kindness prevails with me before enmity.' Sc. μᾶλλον, implied in νικᾷ. For the meaning of ἀρετή, cp. Thuc. 2. 34. §§ 6, 7. It is here partly the spirit of beneficence, partly 'the wish to be thought kind.' See Essay on L. § 39. p. 73 b.

1358. mvp-comment-871-1 Men who speak thus are prone to rashness.' τοιοίδε, sc. ὥστε τὴν ἀρετὴν τῆς ἔχθρας προτιμᾶσθαι. For the addition of βροτῶν, see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 3 ; and cp. especially O. C. 281, φωτὸς ἀνοσίου βροτῶν.

1359. mvp-comment-872-1 'Surely it is no new thing for those now friendly to be hereafter hostile.' Odysseus hints at the truth which Ajax professed to have learned, supr. 678-683. Ajax' love and service to the Argives has turned to bitterness. So has that of many before him; and so will that of many after him. Therefore revenge against him should have an end.

1360. mvp-comment-873-1 'Is that the sort of friend you would recommend?' i.e. If Ajax was so fickle, do you advise me to treat him as a friend? Agamemnon speaks of an act of common humanity as if it implied special friendship.

1361. mvp-comment-874-1 'I care not to approve of hardness.' ἐπαινεῖν is echoed without being directly in point.

1363. mvp-comment-875-1 Ἕλλησι πᾶσιν] ‘In the sight of Hellas.'

1364. mvp-comment-876-1 Agamemnon shows signs of yielding, but in doing so prepares to throw the responsibility upon Odysseus,

1365. mvp-comment-877-1 This line must be interpreted with reference to the train of thought (or of dialectic) which follows it, and which ends the dispute. Odysseus gains his object (1) by quiet firmness, (2) by representing the burial of Ajax as a favour to himself (ll. 1371, 2). He therefore does not repel, but wilily admits, the insinuation of interested motives made by Agamemnon in l. 1366. But how is Agamemnon brought to make this insinuation? According to a current explanation of l. 1365, it is by Odysseus' saying, 'I urge upon you the burial of Ajax, because I too shall come

1365. mvp-comment-877-2 to this,' viz. to death. The sentiment is a noble one, and is in accordance with Odysseus' words to Athena in supr. 124 (οὐδὲν τὸ τούτου μᾶλλον ἢ τοὐμὸν σκοπῶν). But how can it provoke even from the most short-sighted of mortals an accusation of selfishness? For the 'I' in this case is 'I and you, and all men.' It is better therefore to understand Odysseus to say, 'I urge this course upon you because I mean to follow it,' i.e. My vote in the council will be given in favour of permitting the funeral. Odysseus thus tacitly sets his moral influence against the authoritative voice of Agamemnon; whose rejoinder in 1366 is then the natural expression of a weak man in office who is losing the support of a powerful subordinate. 'It is the way of the world! Every man seeks his own ends, I see!' And Odysseus in 1367, without caring to resent the sneer, simply reaffirms his right to take a line of his own, and pleads the reasonableness of his trying to win those in authority over to his side. On which Agamemnon (1. 1368) throws the entire responsibility on Odysseus, and Odysseus says (1. 1369), 'That makes no difference. Your consent, in whatever terms it is granted, will be equally kind.' If this is rejected, l. 1366 must refer not to Odysseus' words, but merely to his attitude of dissent. l. 1367 is thus less pointed. For the meaning given to ἐνθάδ᾽ ἴξομαι, l. 1365, cp. Eur. Androm. 342, ἀλλ᾿ εἶσιν οἱ χρή, -and for ὡς ἄν, l. 1369, ср. O. C. 1361, and note.

1371. mvp-comment-878-1 σοὶ μέν, κ.τλ.] For this ungracious expression, cp. О. Т. 671, 2, τό γὰρ σόν, οὐ τὸ τοῦδ᾽, ἐποικτείρω στόμα | ἐλεινόν, οὗτος δ᾽, ἔνθ᾽ ἂν ᾖ, στυγήσεται.

1372. mvp-comment-879-1 κἀκεῖ κἀνθάδ'] E. on L. §41.p.78.

1373. mvp-comment-880-1 σοὶ δὲ . . ἃ†χρή.] 'You may do what you must:' an ill-humoured way of saying, 'Do as you please.' χρή, although rejected by Dindorf and others in favour of χρῇς, i. e χρήζεις, is not inexpressive, and is possibly right. Cp. El. 606.— Exit Agamemnon.

1375. mvp-comment-881-1 τοιοῦτον ὄντα] ‘While you act in this way.' Cp. Phil. 1049, οὗ γὰρ τοιούτων δεῖ, τοιοῦτός εἰμ᾿ ἐγώ.