Sophocles Ajax 364

ed. Francis Storr

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Scene
← Previous Next →

Ajax. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Αἴας (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 2. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1913.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (3)
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.) — 348-429 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 364 focus
στρ. β. ὁρᾶς τὸν θρασύν, τὸν εὐκάρδιον,
τὸν ἐν δαΐοις ἄτρεστον μάχαις,
365
ἐν ἀφόβοις με θηρσὶ δεινὸν χέρας;
ὤμοι ωἴμοι οἴμοι γέλωτος, οἷον ὑβρίσθην ἄρα.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 364 focus
Aias, my lord! I entreat thee, speak not so!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 364 focus
Den Muthvollen sich, den Großherzigen,
Den Mann ohne Furcht in graunvoller Schlacht,
350
So kühn kämpft' er wider harmloses Vieh!
Weh mir des Hohnes! Welche Schmach bestrickte mich!
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 364 focus
Dost thou behold th\s once intrepid Ajax,
The brave, the mighty, long for strength renowned
365
And dauntless courage in the bloody iield ; j
Dost thou l)ehold him ? Oh ! what laughter now,
What vile reproach must he sustain !
My lord, my master, do not talk thus sadly.
370
Ajax \to Tecmessa]. Wilt thou not home ? Wilt not
be gone ?
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 364 focus
Thou seest the bold, the brave, the mighty Chief,
Intrepid in the shock of hostile arms,
365
Now dreadful 'midst the herds secure of harm,
How to derision and reproach exposed!
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 364 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-229-1 θρασύν 1 εὐκάρδιον 2 ἄτρεστον 3

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀφόβοις 4

mvp-comment-230-2 δεινὸν χέρας 5

mvp-comment-231-1 οἴμοι γέλωτος 6

mvp-comment-232-1 δέσποτ’ 7

mvp-comment-233-1 οὐκ ἐκτός; οὐκ ἄψορρον 8 οὐκ ἐκτὸς ἄψορρον ἐκνεμεῖ πόδα 9

mvp-comment-233-2 For ἐκτὸς 10

mvp-comment-233-3 ἄψορρον 11

mvp-comment-233-4 ἐκνεμεῖ 12 ἐκνεμεῖς 13

mvp-comment-234-1 ὦ πρὸς θεῶν 14

mvp-comment-235-1 ὢ δύσμορος 15

mvp-comment-235-2 ὃς 16

mvp-comment-235-3 χερὶ μὲν μεθῆκα 17 χερὶ 18

mvp-comment-235-4 τοὺς ἀλάστορας 19

mvp-comment-235-5 κλυτοῖς 20

mvp-comment-235-6 αἰπολίοις 21

mvp-comment-235-7 ἐρεμνὸν 22

mvp-comment-235-8 αἷμ’ ἔδευσα 23

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

366. mvp-comment-260-1 'Redoubtable in valour amongst harmless beasts.' For ev, cp. infr. 1315, μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν ἐμοὶ θρασύς. The phrase ἀφόβοις θηρσί is clearly an oxymoron, but has been diversely explained either as (1) 'harmless' ( τοῖς μὴ φόβον ἐμο ποιοῦσι, Schol.), or (2) 'game that flies not' (' quibus sanus quisque parcit, non solum quia nihil periculi nobis creant sed etiam quia fidei nostrae confidunt,' Lobeck.) The former is more in point. Ajax had been valiant 'where no fear was.' His prey was even less glorious than the boar or lion, which, though not human, are still formidable.

367. mvp-comment-261-1 οἷον] Sc. γέλωτα. 'What insulting mockery has been heaped on me!'

369. mvp-comment-262-1 The sight of Tecmessa, whom he must abandon, provokes Ajax to new rage. He first breaks forth on her impatiently, and then laments aloud. In what follows he is regardless both of her and the chorus.

373. mvp-comment-263-1 ὃς χερὶ μέν] For the position of μέν, which belongs properly to the verb, see Essay on L. § 41. pp. 78,9. The instrumental dative is used, with a fore-feeling of the latter part of the sentence, for ἐκ χερός. Mr. Jebb understands Ajax to mean that 'he had let off the Greeks in respect of personal chastisement, and merely damaged them in property.' But this softens the antithesis too much. The difficulty may be avoided by reading (with Schndw.) ὃς χεροῖν, and προγύνων πάτερ in the antistrophe, l. 387.

375. mvp-comment-264-1 The epithets here are echoes of the epic style, but possibly with some variation of meaning. 'Goodly,' which is the meaning of κλυτός in such expressions as κλυτὰ μῆλα (Od. 9. 308), is not sufficiently pointed here, and the Scholiast may be right in saying κλυτὰ λέγει τὰ αἰπόλια διὰ τὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ταραχὰς καὶ φωνάς. 'The horned kine and bleating herds of goats.'