Sophocles Ajax 693-715

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.) — 705-864 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 693-718 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 693 focus
στρ. ἔφριξ᾽ ἔρωτι, περιχαρὴς δ᾽ ἀνεπτάμαν.
ἰὼ ἰὼ Πὰν Πάν,
ὦ Πὰν Πὰν ἁλίπλαγκτε ἁλίπλακτε Κυλλανίας χιονοκτύπου χιονοτύπτου χιονοτύπου χιονοκτύπου
695
πετραίας ἀπὸ δειράδος φάνηθ᾽, ὦ
θεῶν χοροποί᾽ χοροποιὲ ἄναξ, ὅπως μοι
Νύσια Κνώσσι' κνώσια κνώσσι' ὀρχήματ᾿ αὐτοδαῆ
ἀντ. ἔλυσεν ἔλυσε γὰρ ἔλυσεν αἰνὸν ἄχος ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων ῎Αρης.
ἰὼ ἰώ. νῦν αὐ,
705
νῦν, ὦ Ζεῦ, πάρα λευκὸν εὐάμερον πελάσαι πελᾶσαν πελάσαι φάος
θοᾶν ὠκυάλων νεῶν, ὅτ᾽ Αἴας
λαθίπονος πάλιν, θεῶν δ᾽ αὖ
πάνθυτα θέσμι᾽ ἐξήνυσ᾽ ἐξήνυσεν εὐνομίᾳ
σέβων μεγίστᾳ.
710
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 693-717 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 693 focus
A shudder of love thrills through me. Joy! I soar
O Pan, wild Pan!
Come from Cyllenè hoar—
Come from the snow drift, the rock-ridge, the glen!
Leaving the mountain bare
Fleet through the salt sea-air,
Mover of dances to Gods and to men.
Whirl me in Cnossian ways—thrid me the Nysian maze!
Come, while the joy of the dance is my care!
Thou too, Apollo, come
Bright from thy Delian home,
695
Bringer of day,
695
Fly o’er the southward main
695
Here in our hearts to reign,
695
Loved to repose there and kindly to stay.
695
Horror is past. Our eyes have rest from pain.
O Lord of Heaven!
Now blithesome day again
Purely may smile on our swift-sailing fleet,
Since, all his woe forgot,
Aias now faileth not
Aught that of prayer and Heaven-worship is meet.
Time bringeth mighty aid—nought but in time doth fade:
Nothing shall move me as strange to my thought.
Aias our lord hath now
Cleared his wrath-burdened brow
Long our despair,
Ceased from his angry feud
And with mild heart renewed
Peace and goodwill to the high-sceptred pair.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 693 focus
Vor Freude schaudr' ich, hoch in Wonne flieg ich auf.
660
Lust, o Lust! Pan, Pan,
Pan, Pan, schreitend das Meer hindurch, 1
Vom Felshaupte Kyllene's, dem
Schneeumstürmten, herab erschein' uns,
Fürst, Anführer der Götterreigen,
665
Tänze, nysische, knosische, 2
Selbsterfonnene, mir gesellt, zu schlingen! 3
Heute gelüstet uns nach Reigen.
Schwinge dich über des Ikaros Flut heran, o Fürst Apollon, 4
Delier, komm sichtbar!
670
daß du stets gnädig um uns verweiltest!
Gegenstrophe.
Denn Ares nahm vom Auge mir den finstern Gram. 5
Lust, o Lust! Nun darf,
Nun darf wieder, o Zeus, das Licht
Glanzvoll strahlender Tage den
675
Meerdurcheilenden Schiffen nahen,
Weil, der Qualen vergessend, Ajas
Wieder würdige Opfer bringt,
Nach altheiligem Brauch die Götter ehrend.
Alles verzehrt die Macht der Zeiten;
680
Und Nichts nenn' ich hinfort unerhört, da wider Hoffen Ajas
Sich wandte vom Groll, vom Streit,
Der ihn entflammt wider den Stamm des Atreus.
Ein Bote. Der Chor.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 693 focus
Why regret
His absence thus ?
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 693 focus
This, Joy, is thy enraptured hour ;
I feel thy fierce tumultuous pow'r.
Pan, Iö Pan, wild wanderer o'er each strand,
From Cyllene's craggy brow
Cover'd with perpetual snow,
Amidst the gods thou leader of the band.
Pan, Iö Pan, O king advance,
And share thine own invented dance;
Such Gnossus sees, and Nysa's height;
Such measures now my bounding foot delight.
Hast'ning o'er th' Icarian main,
695
Royal Phœbus, Delian king,
695
'Midst my joy thy presence deign,
695
And with thee all thy grace benignant bring!
695
Now all our dark'ning sorrow flies,
And the war brightens to our eyes :
Now all is transport; now the welcome day
Drives the sickly gloom of night;
Now, O Jove, the glorious light
Our ships revisits with its cheering ray:
For Ajax now no more retains
A sense of his distracting pains;
Again his pious thoughts assign
Just honours to the gods, and rites divine.
Strong, O Time, thy withering pow'r:
Bright thou bring'st Hope's gladsome hour!
Our lord no more with anger burns,
And to the royal Chiefs his soul returns.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-407-1 ἔφριξ’ 1 ἔρωτι 2

mvp-comment-407-2 ἀνεπτάμαν 3

mvp-comment-407-3 694 ff. Pan was a domestic deity to Salaminians, since one of his reputed haunts was the islet of Psyttaleia, lying between

Κυνόσουρα
, a tongue of land on the E. side of Salamis, and the Peiraeus. Aesch. mentions it ( Aesch. Pers. 448 f.):
βαιά, δύσορμος ναυσίν, ἣν ὁ φιλόχορος | Πὰν ἐμβατεύει, ποντίας ἀκτῆς ἔπι.

mvp-comment-407-4 ἁλίπλαγκτε 4

mvp-comment-407-5 Κυλλανίας … δειράδος 5

mvp-comment-407-6 χιονοκτύπου 6

mvp-comment-408-1 θεῶν χοροποἴ ἄναξ 7

mvp-comment-408-2 Νύσια 8

mvp-comment-408-3 Κνώσια 9

mvp-comment-408-4 αὐτοδαῆ 10

mvp-comment-408-5 ἰάψῃς 11

mvp-comment-409-1 χορεῦσαι 12

mvp-comment-410-1 Ἰκαρίων … πελαγέων 13

mvp-comment-410-2 πελαγέων 14 ὑπὲρ 15

mvp-comment-410-3 Ἀπόλλων 16

mvp-comment-410-4 Δάλιος 17

mvp-comment-410-5 εὔγνωστος 18 εὔγνωτος 19

mvp-comment-410-6 διὰ παντὸς 20

mvp-comment-411-1 ἔλυσεν … Ἄρης 21

mvp-comment-411-2 αἰνὸν ἄχος 22

mvp-comment-411-3 ἀπ’ ὀμμάτων 23

mvp-comment-412-1 πάρα 24

mvp-comment-412-2 λευκὸν … φάος 25 εὐάμερον φάος 26

mvp-comment-412-3 πελάσαι 27

mvp-comment-412-4 θοᾶν 28

mvp-comment-413-1 λαθίπονος 29

mvp-comment-414-1 πάνθυτα θέσμἰ ἐξήνυς’ 30 πάνθυτα 31

mvp-comment-414-2 εὐνομίᾳ 32

mvp-comment-415-1 μαραίνει 33

mvp-comment-416-1 ἀναύδατον 34

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

693-718. mvp-comment-468-1 The following ode is the clearest instance in Sophocles of the hyporchema, or song accompanied with dancing. In substance it may be compared with Trach. 205-224, Ο. Τ. 1086-1109, Ant. 1115-1154. The metrical scheme of στρ. and ἀντ. is as follows:...

693. mvp-comment-469-1 'My heart is thrilled with a new hope, and mounts on wings of joy.' For the aorist (of the immediate past), see Essay on L. § 32. p. 55. ἔρως is here used of a sudden and intense hope. Cp. Ant. 617, πολλοῖς δ᾽ ἀπάτα κουφονόων ἐρώτων (sc. & .. ἐλπίς).

695. mvp-comment-470-1 Pan is associated both with Marathon and Salamis, where Psyttaleia was his haunt according to Aeschylus: Pers. 448, ἣν ὁ φιλόχορος | Πὰν ἐμβατεύει. ἁλίπλαγκτε] As in the invocation to Sleep in Phil. 828, εὐαὲς . . ἔλθοις, the attribute which is part of the prayer is put in the vocative. 'Come, roving over the sea, leaving the snow-smitten ridges of Cyllene.' Cyllene is clearly visible from the Acropolis, and in spring and early summer (1874) is covered with snow. The side it presents to Athens is long and precipitous.

697. mvp-comment-471-1 θεῶν χοροποί᾽ ἄναξ] ( θεων). 'Thou lord, who of the gods art he that frames the dance.' For this partitive genitive, cp. O. C. 868, 9, θεῶν | ὁ πάντα λεύσσων ἥλιος. ὅπως μοι .. ξυνὼν ἰάψεις] «Το fling into... I pray thee, along with me.' μοι is dativus ethicus, but to be resumed with ξυνών.

698. mvp-comment-472-1 Νύσια Κνώσσια] Nysa, whether imagined as in Euboea or elsewhere, and Cnossus in Crete, were associated with the legend of Dionysus. Cp. the Cnossian dancing ground of Ariadne in Il. 18. 591, οἷον ποτ᾿ ἐνὶ Κνωσῷ εὐρείῃ | Δαίδαλος ἤσκησεν καλλιπλοκάμῳ ᾿Αριάδνῃ. 'Wilde Tänze fänden zu Ehren Dionys zu Nysa Statt, und an der Theodaisien Anfangs April zu Knossos auf Kreta' (G. Wolff). αὐτοδαῆ] 'Spontaneous,' said with reference to Pan, 'which no man hath taught thee,' cp. Aesch. Prom. 301, αὐτόκτιτ᾽ ἄντρα, 'caves formed by thyself' (said to Oceanus).

700. mvp-comment-473-1 ἰάπτειν = 'to set in sudden and swift motion.'

703. mvp-comment-474-1 πελαγέων] πελαγεῶν. For the Icarian sea, cp. Hdt. 6. 95, 6.

704. mvp-comment-475-1 εὔγνωστος] 'Easy to be known;' i. e. ἐναργής, in his proper, unmistakable form: 'Nunquam humeris positurus arcum, | Qui rore puro Castaliae lavit | Crines solutos, qui Lyciae tenet | Dumeta natalemque silvam, | Delius et Patareus Apollo' (Hor. Carm. 3. 4. 60). Cp. Trach. 207, τὸν εὐφαρέτραν.

706. mvp-comment-476-1 (1) The dangerous condition of Ajax was like a dark veil upon the eyes of the Salaminians, saddening for them even the light of day. ('A web is woven across the sky,' Tennyson, In Memoriam.) Cp. especially supr. 139, 140, 200. 'Now the cruel power has withdrawn the dreadful sorrow that oppressed our eyes.' Ares, as in O. T. 189, is the god of destruction, with an association from the violent rage in which Ajax' troubles began. Or (2) the Salaminians, like Tecmessa, supr. 269, identify themselves with Ajax, from whose eyes ( supr. 51, 447) the distraction caused by his vehement rage is now removed. For the expression in either case, cp. supr. 674 and note: Il. 13. 444, ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔπειτ᾿ ἀφίει μένος όβριμος Άρης.

708. mvp-comment-477-1 (1) 'Now, Zeus, thou shalt bring near bright genial day to our swift sea-going ships.' The meaning is half figurative, half literal. It is still morning ( καὶ ἀέξεται ἱερὸν ἦμαρ), and the Salaminians feel that the return of day-light is in keeping with the return of cheerfulness within them. For the figurative meaning, cp. especially Aesch. Cho. 961, 972, πάρα τὸ φῶς ἰδεῖν: Pers. 301. Otherwise, (2) πελάσαι may be intransitive, 'Light shall come near the ships,' in which case ὦ Zeῦ is an ejaculation. For this, cp. Phil. 400, ἰὼ μάκαιρα, κ.τ.λ.

711-712. mvp-comment-478-1 The Chorus in their delight at the pious intentions expressed by Ajax, supr. 655, 6, 666, 7, describe them in exaggerated language, and speak of them as already performed.

714. mvp-comment-479-1 These words are an echo of Ajax' reflection, supr. ll. 646, 7. The words τε καὶ φλέγει, which are added in the MSS., are not improbable in themselves. Cp. supr. 476 and note. But there is nothing to correspond to them in the strophe, and the metre as it stands in the text is more probable than it would be with the addition of 10-2. The interpolation may be accounted for by supposing a marginal quotation, as in 554 supr.

715. mvp-comment-480-1 ἐξ ἀέλπτων] 'When we had despaired.' Cp. supr. 648.