Sophocles Ajax 263-346

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.) — 343-424 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 263-347 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 263 focus
ἀλλ᾽ εἰ πέπαυται, κάρτ᾽ ἂν εὐτυχεῖν δοκῶ·
260
φρούδου γὰρ ἤδη τοῦ κακοῦ μείων λόγος.
ἅπαν μαθήσει τοὔργον, ὡς κοινωνὸς ὤν.
κεῖνος γὰρ ἄκρας νυκτός, ἡνίχ᾽ ἕσπεροι
285
λαμπτῆρες οὐκέτ᾽ ἦθον, ἄμφηκες λαβὼν
ἐμαίετ᾽ ἔγχος ἐξόδους ἕρπειν κενάς.
κἀγὼ ἐπιπλήσσω καὶ λέγω, τί χρῆμα δρᾷς,
Αἴας; τί τήνδ᾽ ἄκλητος οὔθ᾽ ὑπ᾿ ἀγγέλων ὑπαγγέλων
κληθεὶς ἀφορμᾷς πεῖραν οὔτε του κλύων
290
σάλπιγγος ; ἀλλὰ νῦν γε πᾶς εὕδει στρατός.
ὁ δ᾽ εἶπε πρός με βαί᾽ αἰβὰ βαιὰ βάι', ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα·
γύναι, γυναιξὶ κόσμον ἡ σιγὴ φέρει.
κἀγὼ μαθοῦσ᾽ ἔληξ᾽ ἐληξ(α) ἔληξ᾽ ἔληξα, ὁ δ᾽ ἐσσύθη μόνος.
καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν πάθας·
295
ἔσω δ᾽ ἐσῆλθε συνδέτους ἄγων ὁμοῦ
ταύρους, κύνας βοτῆρας κύνας· βοτῆρας, εὔκερών εὔκερων εὔκερων τ᾽ ἄγραν.
Τέκμησσα δεινὰ παῖ Τελεύταντος λέγεις
ἡμῖν τὸν ἄνδρα διαπεφοιβάσθαι διαπεφοιβᾶσθαι διαπεφοιβάσθαι κακοῖς.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 263-347 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 263 focus
If he hath ceased to rave, he should do well
260
The account of evil lessens when ’tis past.
It toucheth you indeed, and ye shall hear
All from the first. ’Twas midnight, and the lamp
Of eve had died, when, seizing his sharp blade,
He sought on some vain errand to creep forth.
I broke in with my word: ‘Aias, what now?
285
Why thus uncalled for salliest thou? No voice
285
Of herald summoned thee. No trumpet blew.
285
What wouldst thou when the camp is hushed in sleep?’
He with few words well known to women’s ears
Checked me: ‘The silent partner is the best.’
I saw how ’twas and ceased. Forth then he fared
Alone—What horror passed upon the plain
This night, I know not. But he drags within,
Tied in a throng, bulls, shepherd dogs, and spoil
Of cattle and sheep. Anon he butchers them,
Felling or piercing, hacking or tearing wide,
Ribs from breast, limb from limb. Others in rage
He seized and bound and tortured, brutes for men.
Last, out he rushed before the doors, and there
Whirled forth wild language to some shadowy form,
Flouting the generals and Laërtes’ son
With torrent laughter and loud triumphing
290
What in his raid he had wreaked to their despite.
290
Then diving back within—the fitful storm
290
Slowly assuaging left his spirit clear.
290
And when his eye had lightened through the room
Cumbered with ruin, smiting on his brow
He roared; and, tumbling down amid the wreck
Of woolly carnage he himself had made,
Sate with clenched hand tight twisted in his hair.
Long stayed he so in silence. Then flashed forth
Those frightful words of threatening vehemence,
That bade me show him all the night’s mishap,
And whither he was fallen I, dear my friends,
Prevailed on through my fear, told all I knew.
And all at once he raised a bitter cry,
Which heretofore I ne’er had heard, for still
He made us think such doleful utterance
Betokened the dull craven spirit, and still
Dumb to shrill wailings, he would only moan
295
With half heard muttering, like an angry bull.
295
But now, by such dark fortune overpowered,
295
Foodless and dry, amid the quivering heap
His steel hath quelled, all quietly he broods;
And out of doubt his mind intends some harm:
Such words, such groans, burst from him. O my friends.—
Therefore I hastened,—enter and give aid
If aught ye can! Men thus forgone will oft
Grow milder through the counsel of a friend.
Teleutas’ child! we shudder at thy tale
That fatal frenzy wastes our hero’s soul.
Not madness now. Disclose him. Let us look.
Haply the sight of us may calm his soul.
345
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 263 focus
Nun, wich die Krankheit, acht' ich's wohl für großes Glück;
250
Des schon entschwundnen Leides denkt man weniger.
Vernehmen sollt ihr Alles, weil ihr Freunde seid.
In tiefer Nachtzeit, als die Abendleuchten schon
Erloschen waren, nahm er sein zweischneidig Schwert,
Und sann in unnüz eitlen Kampf hinauszuziehn.
Ich schelte laut und rufe: was beginnst du, Herr?
275
Was stürmst du nichtgerufen jezt ins Feld hinaus,
Wo keine Boten riefen, kein Drommetenschall
Dich weckte? Ruht im Schlummer doch das ganze Heer.
Da stimmt' er kurz das stetsgesungne Lied mir an:
Weib, des Weibervolkes Schmuck ist Schweigen mur.
280
Dies hörend, schwieg ich, und er stürmt' allein hinaus;
Doch nicht zu sagen weiß ich, was sich dort begab.
Zurückgekommen, trieb er angefesselt heim
Der Hirten Hunde, Ninder und gehörnten Raub.
Und diese köpft er, jene würgt und schlachtet er
285
Am aufgebognen Halse, die mißhandelt er
Gebunden: so wie Männer, fiel er Heerden an.
Am Ende rannt' er durch die Thür, und schwazte viel
Mit einem Schatten, schalt des Atreus Söhne, schalt
Den Sohn Laertens; oft in Lachen brach er aus,
290
Mit welcher Schmach er diese strafend heimgesucht.
Nach diesem rannt' er wiederum in's Haus zurück,
Und kehrte mühsam endlich zur Besonnenheit.
Und als er voll von Gräuel sein Gemach erblickt,
Da schlug er brüllend sich das Haupt, und stürzte sich
295
Auf todter Widder blutumströmte Trümmer hin,
Und krallt' in seine Locken wild die Nägel ein.
Und also saß er ohne Laut geraume Zeit:
Dann droht' er mir mit grauenvollem Wort den Tod,
Enthüll' ich ihm nicht Alles, was mit ihm geschehn,
300
Und fragte, was jezt über ihn das Loos verhängt.
Und ich in Angst, o Freunde, sagt' ihm Alles an,
Was mir von seinen Thaten kund geworden war.
Da brach er schnell in jammervolles Winseln aus,
Das ich zuvor aus seinem Munde nie gehört.
305
Denn sonst erklärt' er immer, nur des Feigen Art
Sei solche Klage, zieme nur dem schwachen Geist,
Und leise stöhnt' er, ohne lautes Wehgeschrei,
In rauhem, dumpfem Tone nur, dem Stiere gleich.
Nun sizt der Mann, in solches herbe Leid versenkt,
310
Die Speise missend, ohne Trank, in stiller Ruh
Inmitten jener Heerden, die sein Eisen traf.
Und offenbar ist's, daß er sinnt auf arge That;
Denn völlig also redet er, so jammert er.
Nun kommt, o Freunde, denn ich kam deßhalb heraus
315
In's Zelt, gewährt mir Hülfe, wenn ihr helfen könnt;
Denn Freundeswort nur überwindet solchen Sinn.
Teleutas' Kind, Tekmessa, Grauses sagst du mir
Vom schweren Unheil, das ihn warf in Naserei.
weh, weh mir!
320
(hinter der Scene im Zelt)
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 263 focus
Now then, ray friends (for so the time
260
demands),
260
Each o'er his head should cast the mournful veil,
260
And instant fly, or to our ships repair,
260
And sail with speed ; for dreadful are the threats
Of the Atridse ; death may be our lot,
And we shall meet an equal punishment
With him whom we lament, our frantic lord.
Since you partake the sorrows of a friend,
I'll tell vou all. Know then, at dead of ni'^'ht,
What time the evening taper were expired,
Snatching his sword, he seemed as if he meant
To roam abroad. I saw and chid him for it ;
285
What wouldst thou do, I cried, my dearest Ajax i
285
Unasked, uncalled for, whither wouldst thou go 1
285
No trunipt't sounds to battle, the whole host
Is wrapped in sleep. Then did he answer me
With brief but sharp rebuke, as he was wont :
'* Woman, thy sex's noblest ornament
jl; Is silence." Thus reproved, I said no more.
• Tlien forth he rushed alone, where, and for what,
I knew not ; but returning, he brought home
In chains tlie captive herd, in pieces some
He tore, whilst others bound like slaves he lashed
Indignant ; then out at the portal ran,
And with some shadow seemed to hold discourse
Against tli' Atrida?, and Ulysses oft
Would he inveigh ; or, laughing loud, rejoice
That he had ta'en revenge for all his wrongs ;
290
Then back he came. At length, by slow degrees,
290
His frenzy ceased ; when, soon as he beheld
290
The tents o'erwhelmed with slaughter, he cried out,
And beat his brain ; rolled o'er the bloody heaps
Of cattle slain, and tore his clotted hair.
Long fixed in silence : then, with horrid threats
He bade me tell him all that had befallen
And what he had been doing. I obeyed.
Trembling with fear, and told him all I knew.
Instant he poured forth bitt'rest lamentations,
Such as I ne'er had heard from him before.
For grief like that, he oft would say, betrayed
A weak and little mind, and therefore ever
When sorrow came refrained from loud complaint.
And, like the lowing heifer, inly mourned.
But sinking now beneath this sore distress.
295
He will not taste of food or nourishment ;
295
Silent he sits, amid the slaughtered cattle,
295
Or, if he speaks, utters such dreadful words
As shows a mind intent on something ill.
Now. then, my friends, for therefore came I hither.
Oh I if ye have the power, assist me now ;
Perhaps ye may ; for oft th' afflicted man
Will listen to the counsels of a friend.
O daughter of Teleutas ! horrible
Thus raving, and thus miserable.
My fellow-sailors ! whose assisting hand
Plied the tough oar, and led me through the main,
From you alone can I expect to meet
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 263 focus
But we are happy if his sense returns;
260
The ill now ceased, less anxious are our fears.
Thou shalt know all, as one that shares the grief.
The night was far advanced, the evening lamps
No longer blazed, when grasping in his hand
His dreadful sword, he bent his eager steps
Towards the passes from all haunt now clear;
285
I gently chide him, What thy purpose now?..
285
Of herald calls thee, nor the trumpet's sound,
285
Why thus rush forth? Now all the army sleeps.
Few were his words, the tune of every tongue,..
"To women silence gives their proper grace."
I stood rebuked, he issued forth alone.
What then befel I know not: he return'd
Driving in bonds the bulls, the herdsmen's dogs,
And lowing herds; some by his sword was slain,
And hewn in pieces; some like captives bound,
Raging against the flocks, he scourged as men.
At length he issued from the tent, and held
Long converse with some shadow; of the sons
Of Atreus much, and of Ulysses much
He spoke, and laugh'd aloud, how their base deeds
He in this sally amply had revenged.
290
Slow he regain'd; but when he saw the ground
290
With carnage cover'd thus, he smote his head,
290
And raised a mournful cry; then prostrate lay
Stretch'd 'midst the havoc of the slaughter'd flocks,
Rending with violence his hair. Long time
He lay, nor utter'd word; with rigorous threats
Then bade me tell him every circumstance
Of what had pass'd, and whence the carnage ask'd
That lay around him: struck with fear, my friends,
Distinct I told him all that had been done,
Far as I knew it; strait with mournful cries
Loud he lamented; such from him before
I never heard; for wailings he disdain'd
As marks of base and abject minds, nor gave
His griefs a voice, but like a murmuring bull
Groan'd inwardly: and now in this ill plight,
295
Refusing to be cheer'd with food or wine,
295
Grovelling amidst the slaughter'd herds he sits
295
In gloomy silence, forming in his mind
Some ill intent; this his imperfect words
And griefs denote. But, O my friends, (this cause
Impell'd me forth to seek you) go to him,
Give him your aid, if aught avails your pow'r;
Oft on such minds the words of friends prevail.
Daughter of Teuthras, dreadful to our ears
Thy words, that Ajax groans beneath such ills.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-169-1 πέπαυται 1 εὐτυχεῖν 2

mvp-comment-169-2 φρούδου γὰρ 3 λόγος 4

mvp-comment-170-1 πότερα 5

mvp-comment-171-1 The words κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι 6

mvp-comment-172-1 τὸ … διπλάζον 7

mvp-comment-173-1 Though οὐ νοσοῦντος 8 οὐ νοσοῦντες 9

mvp-comment-173-2 ἀτώμεσθα 10

mvp-comment-174-1 πῶς … ὅπως 11

mvp-comment-175-1 οἷσιν εἴχετ’ ἐν κακοῖς 12

mvp-comment-175-2 φρονοῦντας 13 βλέποντας 14 κακοῖς 15

mvp-comment-176-1 κἀνέπνευσε 16 ἔληξε 17

mvp-comment-177-1 Instead of κεῖνος 18

mvp-comment-177-2 πᾶς 19

mvp-comment-177-3 ἐλήλαται 20

mvp-comment-178-1 ἆῤ 21

mvp-comment-178-2 δὶς τός’ 22 ἐξ ἁπλῶν 23

mvp-comment-179-1 δέδοικα μὴ … ἥκῃ 24 ἥκει 25 ἥκῃ 26 ἥκοι 27

mvp-comment-179-2 πῶς γάρ 28

mvp-comment-179-3 εἰ πεπαυμένος 29

mvp-comment-179-4 μηδέν τι 30

mvp-comment-180-1 ὡς ὧδ’ ἐχόντων 31

mvp-comment-181-1 τίς γάρ 32

mvp-comment-181-2 προσέπτατο 33

mvp-comment-181-3 From the Homeric

ἔπτατο
( Il. 13. 592 , etc.) Tragedy borrows this non-thematic aor. (of which the active form would be
ἔπτην
): cp. 693 . The aor. of
πέτομαι
in Attic Comedy and prose is usu.
ἐπτόμην
(see Veitch, Irreg. Verbs, 2nd ed., p. 530): and of this we have the inf.
πτέσθαι
in O. T. 17 ,—again in accord with Homeric precedent ( Il. 4. 126
ἐπιπτέσθαι
).

mvp-comment-181-4 τύχας 34 δήλωσον 35 τύχαις 36 ξυναλγοῦσιν 37

mvp-comment-182-1 κεῖνος γὰρ 38

mvp-comment-182-2 ἄκρας νυκτός 39

mvp-comment-183-1 λαμπτῆρες 40

mvp-comment-183-2 For this mode of indicating the time, cp. Her. 7. 215

περὶ λύχνων ἁφάς
: Propert. 3. 8. 1
ad extremas..lucernas
 : Aul. Gellius 3. 2
post primam facem.

mvp-comment-184-1 ἔγχος 41

mvp-comment-184-2 ἐξόδους ἕρπειν 42

mvp-comment-184-3 κενάς 43

mvp-comment-185-1 The general word, ἄκλητος 44 οὔτε 45

mvp-comment-185-2 ἀφορμᾷς 46 πεῖραν 47

mvp-comment-185-3 σάλπιγγος 48

mvp-comment-185-4 πᾶς εὕδει στρατός 49

mvp-comment-186-1 ὑμνούμενα 50

mvp-comment-186-2 γυναιξὶ 51

mvp-comment-186-3 κόσμον 52

mvp-comment-187-1 μαθοῦς’ 53

mvp-comment-187-2 ἐσσύθη 54

mvp-comment-188-1 τὰς ἐκεῖ … πάθας 55 τύχας 56

mvp-comment-189-1 κύνας βοτῆρας 57

mvp-comment-189-2 εὔερον 58 εύκερων 59

mvp-comment-190-1 ηὐχένιζε 60

mvp-comment-190-2 ἄνω τρέπων 61

mvp-comment-190-3 ἔσφαζε 62

mvp-comment-190-4 κἀρράχιζε 63

mvp-comment-190-5 δεσμίους 64

mvp-comment-190-6 ὥστε 65

mvp-comment-190-7 φῶτας 66

mvp-comment-191-1 ὑπᾴξας 67 ἀπᾴξας 68 ἐπᾴξας 69

mvp-comment-191-2 σκιᾷ τινὶ 70

mvp-comment-191-3 λόγους ἀνέσπα 71

mvp-comment-191-4 Ἀτρειδῶν κάτα 72

mvp-comment-192-1 ἀμφ’ Ὀδυσσεῖ 73

mvp-comment-192-2 συντιθεὶς γέλων πολύν 74

mvp-comment-192-3 γέλων 75 τ 76

mvp-comment-193-1 ὕβριν 77

mvp-comment-193-2 ἐκτείσαιτο 78 ἐκτείσοιτο 79 αὐτῶν 80

mvp-comment-193-3 ἰών 81

mvp-comment-194-1 ἐπᾴξας 82 ἀπᾴξας 83

mvp-comment-194-2 αὖθις … πάλιν 84

mvp-comment-195-1 μόλις πως 85

mvp-comment-196-1 ἄτης 86

mvp-comment-197-1 )θώϋξεν 87

mvp-comment-197-2 ἐρειπίοις 88 νεκρῶν 89 ἀρνείου φόνου 90

mvp-comment-197-3 ἐρειφθεὶς 91 ἐρεισθεὶς 92 ἐρειφθεὶς 93 ἐρειπίοις 94

mvp-comment-198-1 ἀπρὶξ … συλλαβὼν 95

mvp-comment-198-2 ὄνυξι … χερί 96

mvp-comment-199-1 καὶ τὸν μὲν ἧστο πλεῖστον 97

mvp-comment-200-1 τὰ δείν’ … ἔπη 98

mvp-comment-201-1 φανοίην 99 ιη 100

mvp-comment-202-1 ἐν τῷ πράγματος 101

mvp-comment-203-1 The words κἀγώ, φίλοι, δείσασα 102

mvp-comment-204-1 πρὸς γὰρ κακοῦ τε 103

mvp-comment-204-2 βαρυψύχου 104

mvp-comment-204-3 ἐξηγεῖτ’ 105

mvp-comment-205-1 ἀψόφητος … κωκυμάτων 106 ὑπεστέναζε 107

mvp-comment-205-2 ὀξέων 108

mvp-comment-205-3 ταῦρος ὣς βρυχώμενος 109 βριμώμενος 110

mvp-comment-206-1 νῦν δ’ 111

mvp-comment-207-1 ἄσιτος 112

mvp-comment-207-2 σιδηροκμῆσιν 113

mvp-comment-208-1 ὥς τι δρασείων 114

mvp-comment-208-2 δρασείων 115

mvp-comment-209-1 τοιαῦτα 116 πως 117

mvp-comment-209-2 καὶ λέγει κὠδύρεται 118 ἥσυχος 119

mvp-comment-209-3 The verse is rejected by Nauck and others as though it were inconsistent with v. 325, and had been patched up from v. 383. There is no ground for this view. On the other hand, after

ἥσυχος
in 325, the fear expressed in 326 would be unintelligible, if no reason were subjoined. Bergk, who joins in condemning the verse, allows that Sophocles is usually careful of logical coherence in drama (‘pflegt .. sorgfältig zu motiviren’); but suggests that here the neglect of it might be ‘a mark of the archaic style’ ( Jahr. f. Class. Phil. 97. 378).

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐστάλην 120

mvp-comment-210-2 εἰσελθόντες 121

mvp-comment-211-1 λόγοις 122 φίλοι 123

mvp-comment-212-1 Τελεύταντος 124

mvp-comment-212-2 ἡμῖν 125 λέγεις 126

mvp-comment-212-3 διαπεφοιβάσθαι 127 κακοῖς 128

mvp-comment-213-1 ἰώ μοί μοι 129

mvp-comment-214-1 μᾶλλον 130

mvp-comment-214-2 ἢ οὐκ 131

mvp-comment-214-3 Αἴαντος, οἵαν 132 θωΰσσει 133

mvp-comment-215-1 τοῖς πάλαι νοσήμασι ξυνοῦσι 134 ξυνοῦσι 135

mvp-comment-215-2 παρών 136

mvp-comment-216-1 ἰὼ παῖ παῖ 137 Τεῦκρον καλῶ 138

mvp-comment-216-2 Prof. Campbell understands

ἰὼ παῖ παῖ
as meaning Teucer, whom an elder brother might so address. Tecmessa, at least, did not so take the words.

mvp-comment-217-1 ὤμοι τάλαιν’ 139

mvp-comment-217-2 Εὐρύσακες 140

mvp-comment-217-3 ἀμφὶ σοὶ 141

mvp-comment-217-4 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ 142

mvp-comment-218-1 Τεῦκρον 143

mvp-comment-218-2 τὸν εἰσαεὶ … χρόνον 144 λεηλατήσει 145

mvp-comment-219-1 ἀνοίγετε 146

mvp-comment-219-2 αἰδῶ … λάβοι 147

mvp-comment-219-3 κἀπ’ ἐμοὶ 148 βλέψας 149

mvp-comment-220-1 διοίγω 150

mvp-comment-220-2 πράγη 151

mvp-comment-220-3 The

ἐκκύκλημα
is now pushed on through the central door. It was a small stage, but large enough to allow of Ajax being shown surrounded by some of the slaughtered animals. The word
πράγη
in 347, and the language of vv. 351 ff., show that the carnage was represented. The other plays in which Soph <*>es has used the eccyclema are the Antigone (1294, where see n.), and the Electra (1464 f., n.).

mvp-comment-220-4 Ajax, sitting among his victims, and meditating his own destruction, was the subject of a famous picture by Timomachus of Byzantium. Philostratus ( Vit. Apoll. 2. 22 § 5) thus describes it:

τὸν Αἴαντα τὸν Τιμομάχου..ἀπεκτονότα τἀν τῇ Τροίᾳ βουκόλια καθῆσθαι ἀπειρηκότα
[cp. v. 325
ἥσυχος θακεῖ
],
βουλὴν ποιούμενον καὶ
ἑαυτὸν διαφθεῖραι
. The picture was at Cyzicus in 70 B.C. ( Cic. In Verr. 2. 4. 60 ), but was afterwards bought by Julius Caesar for the Temple of Venus Genetrix in Rome ( N. H. 7. 38 § 126). See Introduction § 20.

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

260. mvp-comment-188-1 οἰκεῖα πάθη] Troubles all one's own.' i.e. both as home-felt and self-wrought. Cp. El. 215, οἰκείας εἰς ἄτας.

261. mvp-comment-189-1 παραπράξαντος] «Having assisted.' Cp. παραδράω ( οἷά τε τοῖς ἀγαθοῖσι παραδρώωσι χέρηες, Od. 15, 324).

262. mvp-comment-190-1 μεγάλας ὀδύνας ὑποτείνει] 'Causes intense grief within.' ὑποτείνει, 1.2. ὑπέχει ἐντεταμένως. Cp. Pind. O1. 2. 100, βαθεῖαν ὑπέχων μέριμναν ἀγροτέραν.

263. mvp-comment-191-1 'But if he hath ceased' (from his madness), 'he must be surely happy.' Others take εὐτυχεῖν impersonally, as in Oed. Tyr 88, πάντ᾽ ἂν εὐτυχεῖν, –‘All must be well.'

264. mvp-comment-192-1 'For trouble counts for less when it is gone.' The gen. is first absolute, and then in regimen with λόγος. Cp. infr. 1161, 2, κἀμοὶ γὰρ αἴσχιστον κλύειν | ἀνδρὸς ματαίου φλαῦρ᾽ ἔπη μυθουμένου.

265. mvp-comment-193-1 αἵρεσιν] Sc. τούτων, viz. ll. 266, 7, which πότερα anticipates.

266. mvp-comment-194-1 ἔχειν] Supr. 203.

267. mvp-comment-195-1 κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι] Essay on L. § 44. p. 83. Or to be with others and mingle your sorrow with theirs.' ξυνών marks that while Ajax was delirious, he stood apart from the grief which others felt for him.

269. mvp-comment-196-1 'Our case, then, since the madness left us, is grown more desperate.' Tecmessa identifies her lot with that of Ajax. Compare infr. 791, μῶν ὀλώλαμεν; A few lines below (273-6) she speaks of herself in the plural as contrasted with him.

272. mvp-comment-197-1 οἶσιν. . κακοῖς] i. e. κακοῖς ἐν οἶσιν εἴχετο. Cp. infr. 1144, 5, ἡνίκ᾽ ἐν κακῷ | χειμῶνος εἴχετ'.

275. mvp-comment-198-1 πᾶς ἐλήλαται] 'Is vexed to the uttermost.' πᾶς is adverbial. See Essay on L. § 23. p. 38, and cp. infr. 519, ἐν σοὶ πᾶσ᾽ ἔγωγε σώζομαι. The perfect, as in πεφόβημαι, supr. 139, expresses a completed state.

277. mvp-comment-199-1 ἆρ'..;] Essay on L. § 29. p. 50. 'What is this but to have the sorrow doubled that before was single?' Cp. Constance in King John, 3. 4. 'I am not mad; - I would to heaven I were! For then 'tis like I should forget myself: O, if I could, what grief should I forget!'

278-279. mvp-comment-200-1 μὴ ἐκ θεοῦ | πληγή τις ἥκει] 'That a calamity is really come from Heaven.' The chorus before admitted as a possibility ( supr. 186, ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος) what now appears to be too certain. Hence the indicative is more forcible here, although the subjunctive ( ἥκῃ) is more regular and may be the true reading.

282-283. mvp-comment-201-1 'In what wise lighted on you the commencement of the trouble? Tell us, who grieve with you at the misfortune, what it is.' τύχας, continuing the notion of κακοῦ, is governed either (1) both of δήλωσον and of ξυναλγοῦσιν, or (2) of ξυναλγοῦσιν only.

284. mvp-comment-202-1 ὡς κοινωνὸς ὤν] 'As you are no less interested.'

285. mvp-comment-203-1 ἄκρας νυκτός] 'At dead of night.' That this, and not 'on the verge of night,' is the meaning here, appears from the context. The flames lighted at evening were burnt out, so that all was dark. ἄκρᾳ σὺν ἑσπέρᾳ in Pind. Pyth. 11. 16, is explained by Dissen 'ad seram vesperam.'

286. mvp-comment-204-1 Cp. Od. 18. 307, αὐτίκα λαμπτῆρας τρεῖς ἵστασαν ἐν μεγάροισιν, | ὄφρα φαείνοιεν, περὶ δὲ ξύλα κάγκανα θῆκαν καὶ δᾷδας μετέμισγον: ib. 19. 64, φύως ἔμεν ἠδὲ θέρεσθαι.

287. mvp-comment-205-1 κενάς] «Objectless;' i.e. without apparent cause. Tecmessa knows little of what Ajax does abroad. But she knows that there is something strange in his going forth at night without a summons.

289. mvp-comment-206-1 ἄκλητος is expanded with οὔτε-οὔτε, 'neither-nor.'

291. mvp-comment-207-1 ἀλλά] i. e. 'Instead of there being an alarm of any kind.'

292. mvp-comment-208-1 βαί, ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα] 'Few words, but to a well-known tune.' Eur. Phoen. 438, πάλαι μὲν οὖν ὑμνηθέν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐρῶ: Plat. Rep. 8. 549 D, ὅσα φιλοῦσιν αἱ γυναῖκες περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὑμνεῖν.

293. mvp-comment-209-1 Cp. Fr. 61, ἄλλως τε καὶ κόρῃ τε κἀργείᾳ γένος, | αἷς κόσμος ἡ σιγή τε καὶ τὰ παῦρ᾽ ἔπη.

294. mvp-comment-210-1 μαθοῦσ᾽] 'When I perceived,' viz. that he was not to be reasoned with. The unusual division of the line marks the reluctant desistence of Tecmessa. Cp. O. T. 1513, ib. 110, and notes.

295. mvp-comment-211-1 πάθας] 'Misfortunes.' The word is used with a vague sense of the horror of a scene, in which Ajax was no less unfortunate than his victims.

297. mvp-comment-212-1 εὔκερών τ᾿ ἄγραν] The horns of the sheep are the most conspicuous object as they are seen in front and from above. The objection 'that the bulls were also horned' is absurdly logical. There is no sufficient reason for preferring the conj. εὔερον. The word describes all the cattle, small and great, excepting the bulls, which have been mentioned separately.

298. mvp-comment-213-1 τοὺς μέν] The bulls.

299. mvp-comment-214-1 ἐρράχιζε] 'Clove in twain.'

299-300. mvp-comment-215-1 τοὺς δὲ δεσμίους | ᾐκίζεθ᾽] 'Others, as his prisoners, he tormented at his pleasure.' ὥστε φῶτας] 'As if human creatures.' ἐν ποίμναις πίτνων] 'Making onsets on the cattle.' Cp. supr. 185.

301. mvp-comment-216-1 ὑπάξας διὰ θυρῶν] 'Issuing suddenly through the doorway.' ὑπό = 'from beneath the tent.' σκιᾷ τινί «In converse with some shadow.' The dative as with διαλέγεσθαι. Tecmessa, not seeing or hearing Athena, supposes Ajax to be addressing some 'bodiless creation' of his brain. Cp. Shak. Hamlet, 3, 4, 'How is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy, And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?'

302. mvp-comment-217-1 ἀνέσπα] «Heaved forth.' Cp. Plat. Theaet. 180 Α, ὥσπερ ἐκ φαρέτρας ῥηματίσκια αἰνιγματώδη ἀνασπῶντες ἀποτοξεύουσιν : Αr. Ran. 903, ῥήματα γομφοπαγή. πινακηδὸν ἀποσπῶν.

303. mvp-comment-218-1 συντιθείς] Sc. τοῖς λόγοις. Εp. προστίθημι.

304. mvp-comment-219-1 ὅσην. . ἰών] 'What insults he had gone and wreaked upon them.' This clause depends at once on λόγους and on γέλων. The participle adds liveliness,-'how he had gone and paid them.'

305. mvp-comment-220-1 ἐπάξας] L. has ἀπάξας both here and supr. 301. Supposing this were right, the same word would be used in two different senses, 'rushing off' and 'rushing back;' but the two words, ὑπάξας, ἐπάξας, seem more appropriate.

306. mvp-comment-221-1 μόλις πως] ‘By slow stages.' The phrase recalls the anxiety with which Tecmessa had watched the gradual awakening. Cp. Thuc. 8. 86, § 2, ἔπειτα μέντοι μόλις ἡσυχάσαντες ἤκουσαν.

307. mvp-comment-222-1 'As he cast his eye along the room, and saw that it was full of ruin.' ἄτη is calamity caused by infatuation. Cp. infr. 351 foll.

308-309. mvp-comment-223-1 ἐν δ᾽ ἐρειπίοις . . ἀρνείου φόνου] 'Amidst the carnage of the flock he sate, a ruin amongst ruins.' The tautology, ἐν ἐρειπίοις ἐρειφθείς, is here expressive. The 2nd genitive, ἀρνείου φόνου (see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37 a), is added to give greater distinctness to ἐρειπίοις νεκρῶν as a single notion.

310. mvp-comment-224-1 'With clenched nails grasping his hair with his hand.' ὄνυξι adds force to ἀπρίξ.

311. mvp-comment-225-1 The order (Essay on L. § 41. p. 76) shows that πλεῖστον is an afterthought. 'For some while, indeed for most of the time.'

312. mvp-comment-226-1 τὰ δείν᾽ . . ἔπη] 'Those dreadful words,' which I remember so vividly. Cp. Ant. 408, τὰ δείν᾽ ἐκεῖν᾽ ἐπηπειλημένοι. Not merely, 'Words that are dreadful.'

313. mvp-comment-227-1 φανοίην] Fut. opt. Ajax' words were εἰ μὴ φανεῖς.

314. mvp-comment-228-1 ἐν τῷ πράγματος] Cp. Trach. 375, ποῦ ποτ᾽ εἰμὶ πράγματος;

315. mvp-comment-229-1 δείσασα,] 'Being overcome with fear.' As the deprecating φίλοι shows, Tecmessa is excusing herself to the chorus for having told Ajax, under the influence of his threats, that which only plunged him into fresh sorrow. For the participle thus used without an express object, cp. Ant. 1005, δείσας δ' εὐθὺς ἐμπύρων ἐγευόμην. Hermann punctuates as in the text. Others join δείσασα τοὐξειργασμένον, which is less simple.

316. mvp-comment-230-1 ὅσονπερ ἐξηπιστάμην] For this limitation, cp. supr. 295, καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω λέξαι πάθας.

319-320. mvp-comment-231-1 (1) 'He used to teach us that such complainings indicated a degraded and leaden soul.' The infinitive is added epexegetically to complete the abrupt expression ἐξηγεῖτο τοὺς τοιούσδε γόους πρὸς βαρυψύχου ἀνδρός. For ἔχειν, sc. τοὺς τοιούσδε γόους, cp. Il. 18. 495, αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον. (2) But an inf. after ἐξηγεῖτο is rather required: cp. Aesch. Eum. 595, ὁ μάντις ἐξηγεῖτό σοι μητροκτονεῖν. Can ἔχειν with the adverbial phrase πρὸς... ἀνδρός be used intransitively (= 'proceed from') ( εἶναι appears as a gloss), or should ἄγειν be read, 'He taught us to esteem'? Cp. Ant. 34, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμ᾽ ἄγειν | οὐχ ὡς παρ᾿ οὐδέν. For βαρυψύχου it is possible that βραχυψύχου ought to be read.

321. mvp-comment-232-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἀψόφητος, κ.τ.λ.] ἀλλά opposes what follows to the general sense of what precedes. ἀψόφητος ὀξέων κωκυμάτων] ‘Uttering no sound of shrill lamentation.'

322. mvp-comment-233-1 'He breathed deep groans like a lowing bull.' ὑπὸ in comp. implies 'not loud, but deep.'

323. mvp-comment-234-1 νῦν δ'] At first he uttered shrill lamentings, unlike the deep mutterings which before expressed his discontent. 'But now' he is silent. κείμενος] 'Prostrate.' Cp. supr. 207, infr. 427.

325. mvp-comment-235-1 ἥσυχος] « Without sound or motion.' The quietness of Ajax' present mood is ominous. This description prepares the spectator for what he is to see infr. 346.

327. mvp-comment-236-1 τοιαῦτα] Sc. ὥς τι δρασείων κακόν. Tecmessa already apprehends the danger of suicide.

329. mvp-comment-237-1 εἰσελθόντες] When Ajax is discovered by the ἐκκύκλημα, infr. 346, this is equivalent to the scene being changed to within the hut.

330. mvp-comment-238-1 οἱ τοιοίδε] · Men in such mood;' i. e. gloomily bent on self-destruction. λόγοις] This word, to be joined with φίλων, is restored from the quotation of Stobaeus. The reading of the MSS. is hardly possible. λόγοις may have been lost from its similarity to λέγεις in the termination of the next line, and φίλοι may have been added to supply the gap.

331. mvp-comment-239-1 On the order, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 77.

332. mvp-comment-240-1 'That our hero is frenzied with his trouble.' The mariners apprehend that the madness of Ajax is in some way connected with his disappointment. Cp. infr. 925-32. ἡμῖν is dative of the person interested. See Essay on L. § 13. p. 19 f, and cp. supr. 216, ἡμὶν ὁ κλεινὸς | Αἴας ἀπελωβήθη: infr. 733, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμὶν Αἴας ποῦ ᾿στιν, ὡς φράσω τάδε ; κακοῖς] Supr. 275, infr. 532.

333. mvp-comment-241-1 The voice of Ajax is heard from within.

334. mvp-comment-242-1 μᾶλλον] Sc. δεινά σοι λέξω, or γνώσεσθε ταῦτα.

335. mvp-comment-243-1 οἵαν] She judges from the intonation of the cry, which the chorus, infr. 337, do not know whether to interpret as importing madness or grief.

337. mvp-comment-244-1 ἢ τοῖς . . παρών] 'Or to grieve at witnessing the effects of past madness which remain with him.' Cp. supr. 307. The addition of παρών suggests that Ajax, seeing the carnage in the tent, is the eye-witness of his own madness.

339. mvp-comment-245-1 Ajax calls upon Teucer. παῖ is frequently addressed by an elder person to a younger, even by the Corinthian messenger to Oedipus, O. Τ. 1008, and by Electra (under excitement) to the supposed Phocian stranger, El. 1220. The picture in the Iliad, 8. 271, of Teucer retiring behind the shield of Ajax, παῖς ὡς ὑπὸ μητέρα, suggests that Teucer was the younger brother. And it is natural to suppose Ajax to have been born before Telamon's expedition in which he won Hesione, the mother of Teucer.-According to Pindar in the fifth (or sixth) Isthmian ode, Ajax was given to Telamon in answer to the prayer of Heracles before the expedition. But in such details the legends are not constant. See O. C. 375, and note. Lycophr. 445 and schol. -The need of Teucer's presence is Ajax' first thought on coming to himself. Tecmessa at first thinks of the child, until, in l. 342, Ajax calls Teucer by name. He does not ask to see the child till l.530, after his attention has been vividly drawn that way by Tecmessa.

341. mvp-comment-246-1 τάλαιν᾽ ἐγώ] Tecmessa is distracted between the fear of crossing Ajax and the fear of harm to the child. The division of the line helps to mark this distraction of the wife and mother.

343. mvp-comment-247-1 λεηλατήσει] Teucer is gone foraging into the Mysian highlands, infr. 720. Compare Thuc. 1. 11, φαίνεται .. πρὸς γεωργίαν τῆς · Χερσονήσου τραπόμενοι καὶ λῃστείαν τῆς τροφῆς ἀπορίᾳ. ἐγὼ δ'] · While that I.'

345. mvp-comment-248-1 κἀπ᾿ ἐμοὶ βλέψας] ‘Even at me, on seeing me.' The abrupt expression, αἰδῶ λαβεῖν ἐπί τινι, is supplemented by the addition of the participle, i.e. εἰς ἐμὲ βλέψας. αἰδώς is the feeling which prompts σωφροσύνη.

346. mvp-comment-249-1 ἐκκύκλημα. Ajax is disclosed with signs of slaughter about him. He is sitting upright. The slaughtered sheep are the evidence of his situation ( τὰ τοῦδε πράγη): his wild, dishevelled appearance betrays the condition of his mind ( αὐτὸς ὡς ἔχων κυρεῖ).