Sophocles Ajax 925

Richard Jebb (Translator)

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Ajax. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1893.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Ajax (English) (Sophocles the plays and fragments, Part 7: The Ajax. Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, Sir, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1891. (Modernized by Perseus.))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (4)
Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 937-1160 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 961-1184 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 926 focus
ἔμελλες, τάλας τάλας, ἰακῶς ἐάκεις ἄρ᾽ εὔδηλος ἧς, ἔμελλες χρόνῳ
925
στερεόφρων ἄρ᾽ ὧδ᾽ om. ἐξανύσειν κακὰν
μοῖραν ἀπειρεσίων πόνων. τοῖά μοι
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 926 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 926 focus
Whose hand employed he for the deed of blood?
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 926 focus
Mann mit dem starren Sinn, endlich das grause Loos
Ewiger Müh'n zu vollenden, ach! Solches Leid
Hast du mit Seufzen mir stets geklagt,
Bei Tag und Nacht, in wildem Muth,
Grollend des Atreus Stamm, schweren Ingrimmes voll.
890
Ja, maßloses Unheil regt' auf mit Macht
Jener Tag, als die Gewaltigen
Den Streit erhoben um Achilleus' goldne Wehr.
weh, weh mir!
Zum Herzen tief, ich weiß es, dringt ein großer Schmerz.
895
weh, weh mir!
Mich wundert nicht dein wiederholter Weheruf,
Nachdem dir eben solcher Freund entrissen wird.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 926 focus
\approachm(j toivards the body].
925
Alone, without one pitying friend,
Cam'st thou to this dreadful end ;
as 1 not myself to blame,
Who neglectful never came ?
13 ring him, Tecmessa, to my eyes,
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 926 focus
Thy loss to me is ruin. Thou in blood
925
Hast fall'n alone, and nigh thee not a friend
To guard thee. I was witless, void of sense,
Thus to neglect thee. Where lies Ajax, where
Lies the indignant, stern, ill-fated Chief?

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-541-1 ἔμελλες 1

mvp-comment-542-1 στερεόφρων 2

mvp-comment-542-2 ἄῤ 3

mvp-comment-542-3 Erfurdt's insertion of ὧδ’ 4 ἐξανύσειν 5 οὐλίῳ 6

mvp-comment-543-1 τοῖα 7

mvp-comment-543-2 πάννυχα καὶ φαέθοντ’ 8

mvp-comment-544-1 ὠμόφρων 9

mvp-comment-544-2 ἐχθοδόπ’ 10

mvp-comment-544-3 οὐλίῳ σὺν πάθει 11

mvp-comment-544-4 It is indeed possible to render οὐλίῳ σὺν πάθει 12

mvp-comment-545-1 μέγας 13 ἦν … ἄρχων 14

mvp-comment-546-1 ἦμος 15

mvp-comment-546-2 ἀριστόχειρ ἀγὼν 16

mvp-comment-546-3 ὅπλων 17 χρυσοδέτων 18

mvp-comment-546-4

ἔκειτ’. κεῖμαι
is the classical pf. pass. of
τίθημι
(
τέθειμαι
being used in a middle sense). Cp. 572 f.
τεύχη
.. |
θήσουσ’ Ἀχαιοῖς
(n.).

mvp-comment-547-1 ἧπαρ 19

mvp-comment-547-2 γενναία 20

mvp-comment-548-1 καὶ δὶς 21 οἰμῶξαι 22

mvp-comment-549-1 ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν … φίλου 23

mvp-comment-549-2 ἀρτίως 24 ἀρτίου 25

mvp-comment-550-1 δοκεῖν 26 φρονεῖν 27

mvp-comment-551-1 δουλείας ζυγά 28

mvp-comment-551-2 οἷοι 29

mvp-comment-551-3 σκοποί 30

mvp-comment-552-1 ὤμοι, ἀναλγήτων 31 τῷδ’ ἄχει 32 ἀναλγήτων 33 ἄναυδ’ | ἔργ’ 34

mvp-comment-552-2 ἄχει 35

mvp-comment-553-1 οὐκ ἂν τάδ’ ἔστη 36 ἀλλ’ ἀπείργοι θεός 37

mvp-comment-553-2 τάδ’ … τῇδε 38

mvp-comment-553-3 ἔστη 39

mvp-comment-553-4 μὴ θεῶν μέτα 40

mvp-comment-554-1 ἄγαν ὑπερβριθὲς 41 γὰρ 42 γ’ 43 ἄγαν 44 ἄχθος 45

mvp-comment-555-1 μέντοι 46

mvp-comment-555-2 Ζηνὸς ἡ δεινὴ θεὸς 47

mvp-comment-556-1 ἦ ῥα 48

mvp-comment-556-2 ἐφυβρίζει 49 κελαινώπαν θυμὸν 50

mvp-comment-556-3 The form

κελαινώπης
occurs only here, though Pind. P. 1. 7 has the fem.,
κελαινῶπιν..νεφέλαν
. In Pind. P. 4. 212 he uses
κελαινώψ
(
κελαινώπεσσι Κόλχοις
): and Blaydes here gives κελαινῶπ’ ἀν θυμὸν 51

mvp-comment-556-4 Schneidewin strangely understands, ‘Odysseus mocks at the frenzy-darkened soul of Ajax.’ Hartung writes κελαινῶπ’ ἔνθυμον 52

mvp-comment-557-1 πολύτλας 53

mvp-comment-558-1 γελᾷ δὲ 54 γελᾷ τε 55 γελᾷ 56

mvp-comment-558-2 τοῖσδε … ἄχεσιν 57

mvp-comment-558-3 μαινομένοις 58

mvp-comment-559-1 ξύν τε 59

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

925-927. mvp-comment-600-1 Ajax is imagined to have brooded over his injuries for days before his final outbreak. Cp. supr. 194, 5, μακραίωνι .. σχολᾷ. The Chorus now think that the symptoms he then showed ought to have warned them of the possibility of what has followed.

926-927. mvp-comment-601-1 'Thus with iron will to work out an evil doom of boundless woe.' ὧδ' is required for the metre, and adds point to στερεόφρων as a supplementary predicate with ἐξανύσειν. ἄρα, 'As the event has proved.' τοῖα introduces the ground of the preceding inference. Essay on L. § 22. p. 35, 3. μοι is dative of the person interested, 'In my hearing,' or 'To my concern.'

930. mvp-comment-602-1 πάννυχα καὶ φαέθοντ᾽] ‘All night and in bright day.' φαέθοντα is picturesquely substituted for πανημέρια, and the adjectives are cognate or adverbial accusatives with ἀνεστέναζες, of which ἐχθοδοπά, although still cognate, is a more direct object.

931. mvp-comment-603-1 ὠμόφρων] 'With savage thoughts,' a supplementary predicate. The metre is doubtful here, and some MSS. have ὠμόφρον', or ὠμόφρον (vocative sing.).

932. mvp-comment-604-1 οὐλίῳ σὺν πάθει] ‘Under thy calamitous wrong,' i.e. his disappointment in the judgment of the arms, which has had such fatal consequences. For πάθος in this sense, cp. O. C. 1078, δεινὰ δ' εὑροῦσαν πρὸς αὐθαίμων πάθη: and see Phil. 337, 8, πότερον, ὦ τέκνον, τὸ σὸν | πάθημ᾽ ἐλέγχω: O.T. 553, 4, τὸ δὲ | πάθημ᾽ ὁποῖον φὴς παθεῖν, δίδασκέ με.

934-936. mvp-comment-605-1 'Mighty to begin sorrows was the hour when the contest for the [gold-forged] arms was appointed for the hands of the brave.' μέγας ἦν ἄρχων is nearly equivalent to μεγάλως ἦρχεν.

935. mvp-comment-606-1 A choriambus = χρυσοτύπων has been lost before ὅπλων.

937-943. mvp-comment-607-1 After an interval of inarticulate sorrow, in which she only utters brief ejaculations, Tecmessa's feelings take a bitter turn. and her indignation finds vent first against the gods, 950-3, and then against the Atreidae, 961-73. Her pride in Ajax rises above all else.

938. mvp-comment-608-1 'I know, a grief of ample size is piercing to thy soul,' γενναία is not 'genuine' or 'noble,' but 'of great size.' Cp. Shak. Ant. and Cleo. 4. 15. 4, 'Our size of sorrow.'

940. mvp-comment-609-1 'I doubt thee not for wailing more than once,' i.e. I am sure that the feeling equals its expression.

941. mvp-comment-610-1 ἀποβλαφθεῖσαν] ‘Violently bereft.' See L. and S. s. v. βλάπτω, I. 2.

942. mvp-comment-611-1 φρονεῖν] 'To feel and know.' See O. C. 1741; E. on L. § 51. p. 95.

944. mvp-comment-612-1 Tecmessa turns from the Chorus to her child.

945. mvp-comment-613-1 Cp. supr. 497. But for the coming of Teucer and the interposition of Odysseus, Tecmessa's apprehensions would have been verified.

945. mvp-comment-613-2 οἷοι.. σκοποί] 'What eyes are set over our life!' For σκοπός, of one who has a right to call others to account, cp. especially Od. 22. 395, 6, ἤ τε γυναικῶν | δμωάων σκοπός ἐσσι κατὰ μέγαρ᾽ ἡμετεράων. The Atreidae and their underlings are meant. Cp. supr. 512, ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν μὴ φίλων.

947. mvp-comment-614-1 ἐθρόησας ἄναυδον ἔργον ᾿Ατρειδᾶν] 'Thou givest utterance to the wordless deed of the Atreidae.' The phrase ἄναυδον ἔργον marks the tacit exercise of absolute power, 'the blow without the word.' For, as Menelaus says afterwards, l. 1160, he has no reason λόγοις κολάζειν, ᾧ βιάζεσθαι παρῇ. ἄναυδον is introduced partly for the sake of the verbal opposition to ἐθρόησας. Cp. Aesch. Eum. 935, σιγῶν.. ὅλεθρος.

949. mvp-comment-615-1 τῷδ' ἄχει] 'In this cry of sorrow.' Cp. O. C. 1722, λήγετε τοῦδ' ἄχους: supr. 895, οἴκτῳ τῷδε.

951. mvp-comment-616-1 'Beyond measure heavy is the burden of the grief they cause.' ἤνυσαν, sc. οἱ θεοί. Aor. of immediate past.

952. mvp-comment-617-1 In identifying herself with Ajax, Tecmessa has learnt to speak scornfully of the gods. 'But the gods are to blame for it all.' His protection has indeed been more apparent in her life than theirs has been. Cp. supr. 490, and note.

954. mvp-comment-618-1 κελαινώπαν θυμόν] ‘In his swart soul.' Accusative of the sphere of movement, lit. 'throughout.' The latter part of the compound is not dwelt upon, but suggests the θυμός as a localized entity, a sort of beast within the man, like Plato's lion (Rep. 9. 588). For κελαινός, of evil passions, cp. Aesch. Eum. 459, ἀλλά.. νιν κελαινόφρων ἐμὴ | μήτηρ κατέκτα. And for the personification of θυμός, Archil. Fr. 68, θυμέ, θύμ᾽ ἀμηχάνοισι κήδεσιν κυκώμενε. ἐφυβρίζειν is not used absolutely elsewhere. It seems here to mean 'to acquire fresh insolence.' Cp. ἐπερρῶσθαι.

954. mvp-comment-618-2 πολύτλας ἀνήρ] 'The unflinching man.' The Homeric epithet is used with a different meaning: viz. 'He who sticks at nothing.' Cp. Phil. 633, 4, ἀλλ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἐκείνῳ πάντα λεκτά, πάντα δὲ | τολμητά.

955. mvp-comment-619-1 τοῖσδε μαινομένοις ἄχεσιν] 'Over this madness-caused woe.' Dative of the cause or occasion, as is shown by sc. τάδε τὰ ἄχεα, in the following clause. Cp. Εl. 1343, χαίρουσιν οὖν τούτοισιν ; ἢ τίνες λόγοι; For the condensed epithet (sc. τοῦ μαινομένου), see Essay on L. § 43. p. 81, § 35. р. 60.

960. mvp-comment-620-1 κλύοντες] Viz. from Odysseus.