Sophocles Ajax 430-595

ed. Francis Storr

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Card
← 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.) — 592-633 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 430-595 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 430 focus
αἰαῖ αἰ αἰ· τίς ἄν ποτ ᾤεθ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἐπώνυμον
430
οὐδεὶς ἐρεῖ ποθ᾽ ὡς ὑπόβλητον λόγον λον λόγον,
Αίας, ἔλεξας, ἀλλὰ τῆς σαυτοῦ τῆσαὐτοῦ τοῦ φρενός.
παῦσαί γε μέντοι καὶ δὸς ἀνδράσιν φίλοις
γνώμης κρατῆσαι, τάσδε φροντίδας μεθείς.
Αἴας, ἔχειν σ᾽ ἂν οἶκτον ὡς κἀγὼ φρενὶ
525
θέλοιμ᾽ ἄν· αἰνοίης γὰρ ἂν τὰ τῆσδ᾽ ἔπη.
αἰρ᾿ αὐτόν, αἶρε δεῦρο. ταρβήσει γὰρ οὐ
545
νεοσφαγῆ που τόνδε τοῦ τόνδε τοῦτόν γε που τόνδε προσλεύσσων φόνον,
εἴπερ δικαίως δικαίωσ ἔστ᾽ ἐμὸς τὰ πατρόθεν.
ἀλλ᾽ αὐτίκ ὠμοῖς αὐτὸν ἐν νόμοις πατρὸς
δέδοικ᾿ ἀκούων τήνδε τὴν προθυμίαν.
οὐ γάρ μ' ἀρέσκει γλῶσσά σου τεθηγμένη.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 430 focus
Ay me!
430
Could human thought have prophesied
430
My name would thus give echo to mine ill?
430
‘Ai’ now for Aias, doubly, trebly said,
430
Sorts all too well to mark my misery;
430
Whose father from this land of Troy, as noblest
430
Of all the host, carrying the fairest prize,
430
Came girt about with glory to his home.
430
But I his son, not less of might than he,
430
Nor poorer in the achievements of my hand,
430
To this same region following in my prime,
430
Am scouted by the Achaeans and destroyed.
430
Yet know I one thing well. Had Peleus’ child,
430
Living, adjudged his armour as a meed
430
Of well-tried bravery, no grasp save mine
430
Had clutched it. But the Atridae with mean craft
430
Conveyed his heirloom to a wit-proud knave,
430
Whilst Aias’ peerless prowess was despised.
430
And had not this mine eye and mind distraught
430
Glanced from my purpose, ne’er again had they
430
Perverted judgement. But the invincible
430
Stern daughter of the Highest, with baneful eye,
430
Even as mine arm descended, baffled me,
430
And hurled upon my soul a frenzied plague,
430
To stain my hand with these dumb victims’ blood.
430
And those mine enemies exult in safety,—
430
Not with my will; but where a God misguides,
430
Strong arms are thwarted and the weakling lives.
430
Now, what remains? Heaven hates me, ’tis too clear:
430
The Grecian host abhor me: Troy, with all
430
This country round our camp, is my sworn foe.
430
Shall I, across the Aegean sailing home,
430
Leave these Atridae and their fleet forlorn?
430
How shall I dare to front my father’s eye?
430
How will he once endure to look on me,
430
Denuded of the prize of high renown,
430
Whose coronal stood sparkling on his brow?
430
No! ’twere too dreadful. Then shall I advance
430
Before the Trojan battlements, and there
430
In single conflict doing valiantly
430
Last die upon their spears? Nay, for by this
430
I might perchance make Atreus’ offspring glad.
430
That may not be imagined. I must find
430
Some act to let my grey-haired father feel
430
No heartless recreant once called him sire.
430
Shame on the wight who when beset with ill
430
Cares to live on in misery unrelieved.
430
Can hour outlasting hour make less or more
430
Of death? Whereby then can it furnish joy?
430
That mortal weighs for nothing-worth with me,
430
Whom Hope can comfort with her fruitless fire.
430
Honour in life or honour in the grave
430
Befits the noble heart. You hear my will.
430
From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell,
That utterance came, and none have prompted thee.
Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends
Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind.
Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine
525
With pity; then her words would win thy praise.
Lift him to me: lift him! He will not fear
545
At sight of this fresh havoc of the sword,
545
If rightly he be fathered of my blood.
545
Like some young colt he must be trained and taught
545
To run fierce courses with his warrior sire.
545
Be luckier than thy father, boy! but else
545
Be like him, and thy life will not be low.
545
One thing even now I envy thee, that none
545
Of all this misery pierces to thy mind.
545
For life is sweetest in the void of sense,
545
Ere thou know joy or sorrow. But when this
Hath found thee, make thy father’s enemies
Feel the great parent in the valiant child.
Meantime grow on in tender youthfulness,
Nursed by light breezes, gladdening this thy mother.
No Greek shall trample thee with brutal harm,
That I know well, though I shall not be near—
So stout a warder to protect thy life
I leave in Teucer. He’ll not fail, though now
He follow far the chase upon his foes.
My trusty warriors, people of the sea,
Be this your charge, no less,—and bear to him
My clear commandment, that he take this boy
Home to my fatherland, and make him known
To Telamon, and Eriboea too,
My mother. Let him tend them in their age.
And, for mine armour, let not that be made
The award of Grecian umpires or of him
Who ruined me. But thou, named of the shield,
Eurysakes, hold mine, the unpierceable
Seven-hided buckler, and by the well stitched thong
Grasp firm and wield it mightily.—The rest
Shall lie where I am buried.—Take him now,
Quickly, and close the door. No tears! What! weep
Before the tent? How women crave for pity!
Make fast, I say. No wise physician dreams
With droning charms to salve a desperate sore.
There sounds a vehement ardour in thy words
That likes me not. I fear thy sharpened tongue.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 430 focus
Wer konnte jemals ahnen, daß mein Name so
Bedeutsam stimmen würde noch zu meinem Leid?
410
Denn nun geziemt mir's doppelt Ah! zu rufen und
Dreifach: ein solcher Jammer hat mich heimgesucht,
Mich, dessen Vater aus des Ida Fluren hier,
Im Heer von Argos mit des Muthes erstem Preis 1
Geschmückt, nach Hause kehrte, groß durch jeden Ruhm.
415
Und ich, des Helden Sprosse, der zum gleichen Ort
Nach Troja ziehend, nicht an Kraft dem Bater weicht,
Noch schwäch're Thaten ausgeführt mit diesem Arm,
Muß also ruhmlos untergeh'n durch Argos' Volk.
Und dieses Einen glaub' ich doch gewiß zu sein:
420
Wenn lebend über seine Wehr Achilles selbst
Bestimmte, wer sie nehmen soll als Heldenpreis:
Wohl hätte keines Andern Arm sie mir entrückt.
Nun wandten Atreus' Söhne sie dem Argen zu,
Dem Ränkeschmid, und boten Ajas' Rechten Hohn.
425
Und hätte Geist und Auge nicht in schrecklichem
Irrwahn verlassen meinen Sinn: nie hielten sie
Ein solch Gericht mehr über einen andern Mann.
Nun hat mich Zeus' graunblickend unbezwinglich Kind,
Als ich den Arm schon wider sie zur Rach' erhob,
430
Berückt, in tollem Rasen mir den Geist erregt,
Daß ich die Hände taucht' in nichtiger Heerden Blut.
Und jene lachen meiner, sind davongeflohn,
Zwar nicht mit meinem Willen. Doch wenn uns ein Gott
Berückt, entrinnt ein Feigling auch dem Tapfern wohl.
435
Nun, was beginn' ich? Zürnen mir doch offenbar
Die Götter alle, feindlich grollt mir Argos' Heer,
Mich haßt die ganze Troja, mich die Fluren hier.
Wie? Soll ich heimwärts segeln durch's Aegäermeer,
Verlassen Atreus' Söhne hier am Lagerstrand?
440
Und welches Auge zeig' ich dann dem Vater dort,
Dem Telamon? Wie kann er's tragen, mich zu seh'n,
Mich, der entblößt von jedem Siegespreis erscheint,
Wodurch er selbst des Ruhmes hohen Kranz gewann?
Das kann ich nicht ertragen. Oder geh' ich hin
445
Zum Wall der Troer, fall' allein auf sie allein,
Und führe Heldenthaten aus und sterbe dann?
Doch wohl des Atreus Söhnen macht' ich Freude so.
Nicht also sei es! Eine Probe muß ich mir
Aussinnen, die dem greisen Vater zeigen soll,
450
Daß nicht entartet, ohne Herz sein Sprosse sei.
Denn Schande bringt's, wenn Einer langes Leben wünscht,
Der wandellosem Ungemach verfallen ist.
Wie kann der Tag erfreuen, der dem Tage folgt?
Er nähert doch nur und entfernt des Todes Ziel.
455
Nicht kaufen möcht' ich, auch um keinen Preis, den Mann,
Der sein Gemüth an eitler Hoffnungsflamm' erwärmt.
Nein, schön zu leben oder schön zu sterben nur
Geziemt dem Edlen. Alles hast du nun gehört.
Wohl Keiner sagt, Herr, daß ein Wort, fremdher entlehnt,
460
Du mir geredet; nein, es kam aus deiner Brust.
Doch laß es gut sein, laß von deiner Freunde Rath
Dein Herz bezwingen, und verbanne diesen Gram.
Ich wollte, Mitleid wohnte dir im Busen, Herr,
Wie mir; gewiß, du lobtest, was dir diese rieth.
505
Erheb' ihn, hierher heb' ihn! Denn erschrecken wird
Gewiß der Anblick, dieses frische Blut ihn nicht,
525
Wenn wirklich mein, wenn seines Vaters Sohn er ist.
Ja, nach des Vaters rauher Art soll frühe sich
Der Knabe tummeln, soll sich ihm verähnlichen.
Mein Sohn, beglückter werde, denn dein Vater war,
Und sonst ihm ähnlich, und fürwahr, schlecht wirst du nicht!
530
Wiewohl ich jezt schon preisen mag dein glücklich Loos,
Daß du von diesen Leiden hier noch Nichts erkennst.
Denn unbewußt hinleben ist das Süßeste,
Bis daß du lernest, was der Schmerz, was Freude sei.
Doch wenn du dahin kamest, dann bewähre dich
535
Des Vaters Feinden, wer du seist und wessen Sohn.
Indessen weid' in leichter Luft, und pflege dir
Die junge Seele, deiner Mutter hier zur Lust.
Traun, kein Achäer, weiß ich, darf mit finsterm Hohn
Dich schnöd verlezen, bist du gleich von mir getrennt.
540
Als solchen Wächter laß' ich Teukros dir zurück,
Als treuen Pfleger ohne Furcht, obgleich er jezt
Entfernt umherschweift, jagend auf der Feinde Spur.
Ihr schildbewehrten Männer, meerumwohnend Volk,
Euch leg' ich diesen Liebesdienst gemeinsam auf,
545
Und jenem meldet mein Gebot: er führe heim
Zu meinem Land den Knaben, und dem Telamon
Und meiner Mutter Eriböa zeig' er ihn, 3
Damit er ihnen Pfleger einst im Alter sei,
Bis drunten sie des Schattengottes Haus empfängt.
550
Und meine Rüstung möge kein Kampfordner je
Dem Heer zum Preis aussezen, noch mein Peiniger!
Nein, nimm du selbst ihn, Knabe, nimm den breiten Schild, 4
Nach dem du heißest, schwing' am bunten Riemen ihn,
Den sieben Häute decken, den kein Speer durchbrach:
555
Der andere Wehrschmuck werde mir in's Grab gelegt!
(zu Tekmessa:)
Nun aber eile, nimm mit dir den Knaben fort,
Und schleuß die Wohnung, und erheb' am Zelte kein
Wehklagen; Frauen sind zu Thränen gar geneigt.
Gleich schleuß die Pforte! Traun, mit Klageruf beschreit
560
Kein weiser Arzt ein Uebel, das den Schnitt verlangt.
Voll Bangen hör' ich, was du sinnst in raschem Muth;
Denn mir behagt die Schärfe deiner Zunge nicht.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 430 focus
Ye well-known floods that roll into the main.
430
Ye caves and forests by the rocky shore !
430
Years heaped on years fast by the walls of Troy
430
Have ye detained me, but no longer now
430
Amongst the living shall ye ever see
430
Nor shall thy neighbouring waves, Scamander, still
430
To Greece beneficent, behold me more :
430
Troy never saw, forgive the boastful word,
430
Though now dishonoured thus, and thus oppressed.
430
Had not my mind been wrought on by some power
Superior, and my eyes averted from them.
They had not lived to give another sentence ;
But Jove's great daughter, the invincible,
The dreadful Pallas, turned my arm aside,
Just raised against them, and inspired me thus
With liorrid rage to dip my murd'rous hand
In blood of guiltless cattle : they meantime
Smile at tlie danger 'scaped, and triumph o'er me.
But, when the gods oppose us, valour bends
To cowai-dico, and strength to weakness yields ;
By Troy detested, and by Greece forsaken ?
Shall I go leave the Atridae here alone
To fight their cause, and seek my native land ?
But how shall I appear before my father.
Spoiled of his honours 1 he who ever crowned
^Vith glory sits ; it must not, cannot be.
What if I rush amid the Trojan host,
And with my single arm oppose them all,
Do something noble, and as nobly perish !
But that would please th' Atridje, therefore never
Shall it be done : no, 1 will do a deed
To show my father that I still deserve
The name of son, and emulate my sire :
When life but teems with unremitted woes,
'Tis poor in man to wish a longer date :
For what can day on day, and year on year,
But put off wished-for death, and lengthen pain ?
Of little worth is he who still depends
On fruitless hope ; for it becomes the brave
To live with honour, or to die with glory.
Ye have my thoughts.
Chor Thoughts not unworthy of thee,
Ajax ; but quit, oh ! quit, thy horrid purpose.
And yield thee to thy friends.
Oh ! that thou couldst feel
525
Pity like mine for tliis unhappy woman !
525
Then wouldst thou say her words deserve thy
praise.
e'er be made the prize of glory
545
For rival chiefs ; but do thou take, my boy,
545
The sevenfold, vast impenetrable shield
545
Whose name thou bear'st ; the rest be buried with me.
Take hence the child with speed ; nor in the tents
Let there be wailings. Women ever love
To brood o'er sorrows, and indulge their woe.
Shut to the door. The wound that must be cut
No wise physician will attempt to heal
With incantation, elegy, or song.
I tremble when I hear thee threat'ning thus
With sharp and piercing voice.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 430 focus
Ah me! what heart could e'er conceive the thought
430
That Misery and Ajax should be found
430
So near allied! My very name conveys
430
The sound of woe, connected with such ills.
430
My father, 'midst the martial host of Greece
430
First in renown, and for his noble deeds
430
Graced with the prize of honour, to his house
430
Bore from this land of Ida all that arms
430
Could give of glorious boast. But I his son,
430
To the same fields of Troy with no less strength
430
Advancing, deeds as noble by my hands
430
Achieved, dishonour'd by the Argives lie,
430
And perish thus. Yet well am I assured
430
If now Achilles lived t' adjudge his arms.s
430
The prize of valour and exalted worth,
430
No man would take them from me: but the sons
430
Of Atreus, slighting my illustrious deeds,
430
Assign them to a wretch expert in wiles.
430
Had not my cheated eye, had not my sense
430
Perverted led me from my purpose wide,
430
Such judgment never had they giv'n again.
430
But now the dauntless goddess sprung from Jove,
430
Bearing the terrors of her gorgon shield,
430
E'en when my hand was raised against them, spread
430
Illusion round me, and my sensé disturb'd
430
With frenzy, that amidst the herds I stain'd
430
My hands with blood, whilst they, against my will
430
Escaped, deride me. If th' immortal gods
430
Oppose him, e'en the dastard shall escape...
430
The brave man's vengeance. Me what now behoves?
430
'Gainst me the hatred of the gods is shown,
430
The Grecian camp abhors me, and all Troy
430
Is hostile to me, and these fields around.
430
Shall I then quit this naval station, leave
430
The sons of Atreus, and my homeward course
430
Steer o'er th' Ægean sea? But with what eye
430
Shall I behold my father? how present
430
Myself before him? Will he bear my sight
430
Thus naked, with no martial honours graced,
430
Whose ample crown of glory he obtain'd?
430
It is not to be borne. What if I rush
430
Against the Trojan rampires, and alone
430
Their pow'rs assaulting, after noble deeds
430
Perform'd, find there an honourable death?
430
Thus I should cause the sons of Atreus joy.
430
This must not be: some means must be emprised
430
To show my aged father that his son
430
Glows with the spirit of his high-born race.
430
For base his mind, who wishes length of life,
430
When ills, that hope no change, enclose him round.
430
What pleasure brings the day, which only adds
430
A day to life, for such a little space
430
Removing death? Him lightly I esteem,
430
Who with vain hopes deludes his glowing heart.
430
To live with glory, or with glory die,
430
This is the brave man's part. You have my thoughts.
430
No man will ever say these words are false;
They are the genuine dictates of thy heart.
Yet he thou soften'd; let thy friends prevail;
Appease thy mind, nor harbour thoughts like these.
Oh that thy bosom, Ajax, felt, like mine,
525
The touch of pity! Thou wou'dst praise her words.
Bring him, nay bring him forward; for the sight
545
Of the fresh blood, which from this carnage streams,
545
Will not affright him, if he be my son..
545
Thus early in his father’s rugged lore
545
He shou'd be train'd, and taught to catch the flame
545
That glows within this bosom, my son, to
545
Be happier than thy father: in all else
545
Be like him so thou never canst be base.all
545
In this I deem thee blest, that to these ills
545
Thou art insensible; the sweetest life.
545
Consists in feeling nothing; but by time for
545
Thou will be taught to grieve and to rejoice/
When thou hast reach'd that age, behoves thee show
Among thy father's foes that thou art sprung
Brave from the brave meanwhile may gentle gales
Around thee breathe, and cherish thy young mind
To joy thy mother's soul. This well know
That not a Grecian with disgraceful wrongs f
Will dare oppose thee, though of me bereaved
So firm a guardian o'er thee shall I leave
In Teucer, watchful to protect thy youth,
Though chasing now in distant fields the foe.
But now, my brave associates, train'd to lift
The shield in war, and sweep the surging main,
I charge you all (refuse me not this grace)
Announce my mandate to him, let him lead
This child to Salamis, and show him there
To Telamon, and her that shares his bed,
My mother Eribœa, that their age
He always may support, till they descend
To the dark mansions of the king below.
Nor 'midst contending Chiefs shall umpires sit
My arms the prize of glory to adjudge,
Nor he, my baleful pest: but thou, my son,
Retain my ample shield, its seven strong plates
Unpierced by hostile spear; my other arms
Be buried with me. Take thou now the boy,
And instant lead him hence; nor in the tent
Weep or lament; to wailings nature prompts
A woman's melting soul; compose thy mind:
When ulcer'd wounds the cutting steel require,
No mystic charm the skilful leach applies.
1 tremble as I hear thy earnest charge :
Unpleasing to me are thy pointed words.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 430-595 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-263-1 ἂν … ᾤεθ’ 1

mvp-comment-263-2 ἐπώνυμον 2 ξυνοίσειν 3

mvp-comment-263-3 Pindar adopts the derivation of

Αἴας
from
αἰετός
: I. 5. 53
καί νιν ὄρνιχος φανέντος κέκλετ’ ἐπώνυμον εὐρυβίαν Αἴαντα
. This was the popular etymology (schol. Apoll. Rh. 1. 1289 ; schol. Theocr. 13. 37 : Apollod. 3. 12 § 7 ). But the association of
Αἴας
with
αἶ αἶ
appears in the legend that a hyacinth (on whose petals the letters AI were supposed to be legible, Moschus 3. 6) sprang from the blood of Ajax, as it had sprung from that of Hyacinthus: Ov. Met. 13. 397:
Littera communis mediis pueroque viroque | Inscripta est foliis; haec nominis (Ajax), illa querelae
 (the wail of Hyacinthus).

mvp-comment-263-4 So Odysseus was associated with

ὀδύσσομαι
( Od. 1. 62
τί νύ οἱ τόσον ὠδύσαο, Ζεῦ
; imitated by Soph. , fr. 880): Pentheus, with
πένθος
( Eur. Bacch. 507 ): Polyneices, with
νεῖκος
( Aesch. Th. 577 , etc., Soph. Ant. 110 f.): Meleager, with
μελέα ἄγρα
( Eur. fr. 517): Sidêro with
σίδηρος
( Soph. fr. 597): and Helen is
ἐλέναυς
, etc. ( Aesch. Ag. 689 ).

mvp-comment-263-5 Such play on names did not seem to the Greeks unworthy of grave poetry, because to them the omens conveyed by words (

ὀμφαί, κληδόνες
) were so serious. In modern poetry, too, it has sometimes been used with tragic pathos. Thus Dante Purg. XIII. 109
Savia non fui, avvegna che Sapía Fossi chiamata:
and Shakesp. Rich. II. act 2 sc. 1. 73 (Gaunt)
O how that name befits my composition! | Old Gaunt indeed; and gaunt in being old
etc. The king asks,
Can sick men play so nicely with their names? No
, is the reply,
misery makes sport to mock itself.

mvp-comment-263-6 The real etymology of

Αἴας
is uncertain. Vase-inscriptions show that the original form was
Αἴvας
, and Sonne (in Kuhn's Zeitschr. 10 p. 126) compares Indog. aiva, Skr. eva (‘course’)—a derivation which Brugmann approves ( Stud. z. griech. u. lat. Gramm. 4. 180). The sense, ‘swift runner,’ would suit
Οἰλῆος ταχὺς Αἴας
better than the son of Telamon: and it is not improbable (as Fleischer suggests in Roscher's Lex.p. 139) that the names of the two heroes, though identical in form, were of distinct origin.

mvp-comment-264-1 καὶ δὶς … καὶ τρίς 4

mvp-comment-264-2 τοιούτοις γὰρ 5

mvp-comment-265-1 πατὴρ 6

mvp-comment-265-2 τὰ πρῶτα καλλιστεἶ ἀριστεύσας 7

mvp-comment-266-1 τόπον Τροίας 8

mvp-comment-266-2 ἐπελθὼν 9

mvp-comment-267-1 ἀρκέσας 10

mvp-comment-267-2 441—

mvp-comment-268-1 τοσοῦτόν γ’ ἐξεπίστασθαι 11 εἰ ζῶν 12

mvp-comment-268-2 εἰ … κρίνειν ἔμελλε 13 οὐκ ἄν τις ἔμαρψεν 14

mvp-comment-268-3 ὅπλων τῶν ὧν πέρι 15

mvp-comment-268-4 κρίνειν … κράτος ἀριστείας 16

mvp-comment-268-5 ἔμαρψεν 17

mvp-comment-268-6 ἀντ’ ἐμοῦ 18

mvp-comment-269-1 νῦν δ’ 19

mvp-comment-269-2 παντουργῷ 20

mvp-comment-269-3 ἔπραξαν 21

mvp-comment-269-4 ἀπώσαντες 22

mvp-comment-269-5 κράτη 23

mvp-comment-270-1 τόδ’ ὄμμα 24

mvp-comment-270-2 τῆς ἐμῆς 25

mvp-comment-270-3 οὐκ ἄν ποτε … ἐψήφισαν 26 κατ’ ἄλλου φωτὸς 27 δίκην ἐψήφισαν 28

mvp-comment-271-1 ἡ Διὸς … θεὰ 29

mvp-comment-271-2 γοργῶπις 30

mvp-comment-271-3 ἀδάματος 31

mvp-comment-272-1 ἐπεντύνον<*> 32 ἐπευθύνοντ’ 33

mvp-comment-273-1 λυσσώδη νόσον 34

mvp-comment-274-1 ἐπεγγελῶσιν 35

mvp-comment-275-1 ἐμοῦ μὲν 36

mvp-comment-275-2 βλάπτοι 37

mvp-comment-276-1 ὅστις 38

mvp-comment-276-2 μισεῖ δέ μ’ 39 πεδία 40

mvp-comment-277-1 πότερα 41

mvp-comment-277-2 ναυλόχους … ἕδρας 42

mvp-comment-277-3 μόνους τ’ Ἀτρείδας 43

mvp-comment-278-1 καὶ ποῖον 44

mvp-comment-278-2 ὄμμα 45

mvp-comment-279-1 γυμνὸν 46

mvp-comment-279-2 ὧν … εὐκλείας στέφανον 47

mvp-comment-280-1 ἀλλὰ δῆτ’ 48

mvp-comment-280-2 ἔρυμα 49

mvp-comment-280-3 μόνος μόνοις 50 μόνοις 51

mvp-comment-280-4 δρῶν τι χρηστόν 52

mvp-comment-281-1 Ἀτρείδας … εὐφράναιμί που 53

mvp-comment-282-1 οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα 54

mvp-comment-283-1 δηλώσω … γεγώς 55

mvp-comment-283-2 μή τοι φύσιν γ’ 56 τοι 57 γε 58 οὔ τοι 59 μή τοι 60

mvp-comment-283-3 ἄσπλαγχνος 61

mvp-comment-284-1 τοῦ μακροῦ … βίου 62

mvp-comment-284-2 κακοῖσιν … μηδὲν ἐξαλλάσσεται 63 μηδὲν 64

mvp-comment-285-1 παρ’ ἦμαρ ἡμέρα 65 προσθεῖσα 66

mvp-comment-285-2 προσθεῖσα 67

mvp-comment-285-3 κἀναθεῖσα 68

mvp-comment-286-1 πριαίμην 69

mvp-comment-286-2 λόγου 70

mvp-comment-287-1 τεθνηκέναι 71

mvp-comment-287-2 πάντ’ ἀκήκοας λόγον 72

mvp-comment-288-1 ὑπόβλητον 73

mvp-comment-289-1 γε μέντοι 74 κρατῆσαι 75

mvp-comment-290-1 τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης 76

mvp-comment-291-1 εἴπερ τινὸς σθένοντος 77

mvp-comment-291-2 ἐν πλούτῳ 78

mvp-comment-292-1 θεοῖς 79

mvp-comment-292-2 μάλιστα 80

mvp-comment-293-1 τοιγαροῦν 81

mvp-comment-293-2 τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον 82

mvp-comment-293-3 τὰ σά 83

mvp-comment-294-1 ἐφεστίου Διὸς 84

mvp-comment-295-1 συνηλλάχθης 85

mvp-comment-296-1 βάξιν λαβεῖν … ὑπ’ ἐχθρῶν 86

mvp-comment-296-2 χειρίαν 87

mvp-comment-296-3 ἐφεὶς 88

mvp-comment-297-1 ᾗ γὰρ θάνῃς σὺ 89 ᾗ 90 εἰ 91

mvp-comment-297-2 ἀφῇς 92

mvp-comment-298-1 ξυναρπασθεῖσαν 93 δουλίαν 94 δούλιν 95

mvp-comment-298-2 τροφή 96

mvp-comment-299-1 καί τις 97

mvp-comment-299-2 πικρὸν πρόσφθεγμα … ἐρεῖ 98 πικρὸν 99

mvp-comment-299-3 λόγοις ἰάπτων 100 λόγοις 101 ἰάπτων 102

mvp-comment-300-1 ἵσχυσε 103

mvp-comment-300-2 οἵας … ὅσου 104

mvp-comment-300-3 ζήλου 105

mvp-comment-300-4 τρέφει 106

mvp-comment-301-1 κἀμὲ μὲν 107 σοὶ δ’ αἰσχρὰ 108 ἐλᾷ 109

mvp-comment-301-2 αἰσχρὰ 110

mvp-comment-302-1 αἴδεσαι … προλείπων 111 προλείπων 112

mvp-comment-302-2 κληροῦχον 113

mvp-comment-302-3 ἀρᾶται 114

mvp-comment-303-1 οἴκτιρε 115 εἰ 116

mvp-comment-303-2 διοίσεται 117 σοῦ … μόνος 118

mvp-comment-304-1 ὑπ’ ὀρφανιστῶν 119

mvp-comment-304-2 The word

ὀρφανιστής
(found only here) =
ἐπίτροπος
, ‘guardian.’ Eustathius (p. 533. 30), on Il. 5. 158
χηρωσταὶ δὲ διὰ κτῆσιν δατέοντο
, explains
χηρωσταί
as those who administered the property of persons who left no direct heirs (
τοὺς χηρεύοντας διαδόχων
); adding,
οἵτινες κατὰ λόγον ἄλλον καὶ ὀρφανισταὶ ἐκαλοῦντο, ὡς ὀρφανῶν ὑπεριστάμενοι, καθὰ καὶ Σοφοκλῆς δηλοῖ
. Apparently, then, he knew the word only from this verse. (The verb
ὀρφανίζω
usu.=to make
ὀρφανός
.)

mvp-comment-304-3 μὴ φίλων 120

mvp-comment-304-4 Compare Andromachè's description, in her lament over Hector, of the lot in store for her child,

ἦμαρ δ’ ὀρφανικὸν παναφήλικα παῖδα τίθησιν
, ‘the day of orphanhood makes a child companionless,’ etc.: Il. 22. 490 —498.

mvp-comment-305-1 βλέπω 121

mvp-comment-305-2 ᾔστωσας 122

mvp-comment-305-3 δορί 123 δόρει 124

mvp-comment-306-1 ἄλλη μοῖρα 125

mvp-comment-307-1 καθεῖλεν … οἰκήτορας 126 Ἅιδου, θανασίμους 127

mvp-comment-308-1 πατρίς 128

mvp-comment-308-2 ἐν σοὶ … σῴζομαι 129 πᾶς’ 130

mvp-comment-309-1 κἀμοῦ 131

mvp-comment-309-2 προσεῖναι 132

mvp-comment-309-3 τερπνὸν εἴ τί που πάθοι 133

mvp-comment-310-1 χάρις χάριν γάρ 134

mvp-comment-310-2 τίκτους’ 135

mvp-comment-311-1 ἀπορρεῖ 136

mvp-comment-311-2 γένοιτ’ 137

mvp-comment-312-1 ἔχειν σ’ ἂν … θέλοιμ’ ἄν 138

mvp-comment-312-2 ὡς κἀγὼ 139

mvp-comment-313-1 καὶ κάρτ’ 140

mvp-comment-313-2 τὸ ταχθὲν 141

mvp-comment-313-3 τολμᾷ 142

mvp-comment-313-4 For the alliteration (

παρήχησις
) cp. 1112 : O.T. 371
τυφλὸς τά τ’ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τ’ ὄμματ’ εἶ
(n.).

mvp-comment-314-1 ἀλλ’ 143

mvp-comment-315-1 ὡς ἴδω 144

mvp-comment-316-1 καὶ μὴν φόβοισί γ’ 145 γε 146 φόβοισι 147 καὶ μήν … γε 148 γε 149

mvp-comment-316-2 φόβοισι 150

mvp-comment-316-3 ἐξελυσάμην 151

mvp-comment-316-4 The conjecture ἐξερρυσάμην 152

mvp-comment-317-1 κακοῖσιν 153

mvp-comment-318-1 μὴ σοί γε 154 σοί 155

mvp-comment-319-1 πρέπον γέ τἂν ἦν 156

mvp-comment-319-2 δαίμονος 157

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν 158 γε 159

mvp-comment-320-2 )φύλαξα 160

mvp-comment-320-3 ἀρκέσαι 161

mvp-comment-321-1 ἐπῄνες’ 162

mvp-comment-321-2 ἔθου 163

mvp-comment-322-1 ὡς ἐκ τῶνδ’ 164 ἐκτῶνδε 165 ὡς 166

mvp-comment-323-1 καὶ μὴν 167

mvp-comment-323-2 γε 168 πέλας. 169

mvp-comment-323-3 προσπόλοις 170

mvp-comment-324-1 μὴ οὐ 171 τί μέλλει 172

mvp-comment-324-2 παρουσίαν ἔχειν 173

mvp-comment-325-1 εὐθύνων 174

mvp-comment-326-1 ἕρποντι φωνεῖς 175

mvp-comment-326-2 λελειμμένῳλόγων 176

mvp-comment-327-1 καὶ δὴ 177

mvp-comment-328-1 αἶρε δεῦρο 178

mvp-comment-328-2 ταρβήσει γὰρ οὒ 179

mvp-comment-329-1 νεοσφαγῆ … φόνον 180 που 181 τοῦ 182 τοῦτόν γε 183 του 184

mvp-comment-330-1 δικαίως 185

mvp-comment-330-2 τὰ πατρόθεν 186

mvp-comment-331-1 ὠμοῖς … ἐν νόμοις 187

mvp-comment-331-2 πωλοδαμνεῖν 188

mvp-comment-331-3 κἀξομοιοῦσθαι 189 φύσιν 190

mvp-comment-332-1 ὦ παῖ 191

mvp-comment-332-2 τὰ δ’ ἄλλ’ ὅμοιος 192

mvp-comment-333-1 καίτοι … καὶ νῦν 193

mvp-comment-333-2 σε 194 σὲ 195

mvp-comment-333-3 τοῦτό γε 196

mvp-comment-333-4 οὐδὲν 197 ἐπαισθάνει 198

mvp-comment-334-1 ἐν τῷ φρονεῖν μηδὲν 199

mvp-comment-334-2 554 b [ τὸ μὴ φρονεῖν γὰρ 200

mvp-comment-335-1 ἕως 201

mvp-comment-336-1 ἵκῃ πρὸς τοῦτο 202

mvp-comment-336-2 δεῖ σ’ ὅπως … δείξεις 203

mvp-comment-337-1 τέως 204

mvp-comment-337-2 κούφοις πνεύμασιν 205

mvp-comment-337-3 νέαν ψυχὴν ἀτάλλων 206

mvp-comment-337-4 The word

ἀτάλλω
may have been suggested to Sophocles by a trait in the scene between Hector and Andromachè: Il. 6. 400
παῖδ’ ἐπὶ κόλπῳ ἔχουσ’ ἀταλάφρονα, νήπιον αὔτως
.

mvp-comment-337-5 χαρμονήν 207 χαρμονή 208

mvp-comment-337-6 560 It is strange that exception should have been taken to the parenthetic οἶδα 209

mvp-comment-337-7 οὔτοι … μή 210

mvp-comment-338-1 τοῖον 211

mvp-comment-338-2 πυλωρὸν 212

mvp-comment-339-1 τροφῆς ἄοκνον 213

mvp-comment-339-2 ἔμπα 214 κεἰ 215

mvp-comment-340-1 τηλωπὸς 216

mvp-comment-340-2 οἰχνεῖ 217

mvp-comment-340-3 θήραν ἔχων 218

mvp-comment-341-1 ἀσπιστῆρες 219

mvp-comment-341-2 χάριν 220

mvp-comment-342-1 ὅπως … δείξει 221

mvp-comment-342-2 Ἐριβοίᾳ λέγω 222

mvp-comment-343-1 μέχρις οὗ 223

mvp-comment-344-1 μήτ’ … θήσους’ 224

mvp-comment-344-2 ἀγωνάρχαι 225

mvp-comment-344-3 μήθ’ ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός 226

mvp-comment-344-4 No correction is very probable. We cannot read

μήθ’ ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμοῦ
, since, though
μου
can represent the possessive pron., such a use of
ἐμοῦ
would be unexampled. (See Krüger, Gr. Sprachlehre, § 47. 9. 13.) The dat.
ἐμοί
is also untenable. It is possible that the poet wrote μήτε λυμεὼν ἐμός 227

mvp-comment-345-1 αὐτό 228

mvp-comment-345-2 ἐπώνυμον 229

mvp-comment-346-1 πολυρράφου … πόρπακος 230

mvp-comment-346-2 But a loop at the edge of the shield, such as the

πόρπαξ
offered to the warrior's hand ( Helen. 1376
ἐμβαλὼν πόρπακι γενναίαν χέρα
), would not suffice to give him control. Hence, in the vasepainting noticed above, we see the
πόρπαξ
combined with another contrivance, viz., a band (of metal, or wood), placed vertically across the inside of the shield, and furnished at the middle with an arrangement of small bars, forming a support for the arm just below the elbow. This band was the
ὄχανον
or
ὀχάνη
.—See Appendix.

mvp-comment-346-3 πολυρράφου 231

mvp-comment-346-4 ἑπτάβοιον 232

mvp-comment-347-1 τεθάψεται 233

mvp-comment-347-2

κοίν’ ἐμοὶ· κοινὰ
is here adv.: cp. Ant. 546
μή μοι θάνῃς σὺ κοινά
.

mvp-comment-348-1 πάκτου 234

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐπισκήνους 235

mvp-comment-348-3 φιλοίκτιστον 236

mvp-comment-349-1 πύκαζε 237

mvp-comment-349-2 οὐ πρὸς ἰατροῦ 238

mvp-comment-349-3 θρηνεῖν ἐπῳδὰς 239

mvp-comment-349-4 τομῶντι 240

mvp-comment-350-1 προθυμίαν 241

mvp-comment-350-2 ἀρέσκει 242

mvp-comment-350-3 τεθηγμένη 243

mvp-comment-351-1 δρασείεις 244

mvp-comment-351-2 φρενί 245

mvp-comment-352-1 κρῖνε 246

mvp-comment-353-1 οἴμ’ ὡς 247

mvp-comment-353-2 μὴ προδοὺς γένῃ 248

mvp-comment-354-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς 249

mvp-comment-354-2 ἀρκεῖν 250

mvp-comment-354-3 ὀφειλέτης 251

mvp-comment-355-1 εὔφημα φώνει 252

mvp-comment-355-2 τοῖς ἀκούουσιν λέγε 253

mvp-comment-355-3 The division of the verse between two speakers (

ἀντιλαβή
) is here used for the first time in the play, to mark the tension of feeling.

mvp-comment-356-1 ξυνέρξεθ’ 254

mvp-comment-357-1 ἄρτι 255

mvp-comment-357-2 Ajax is now withdrawn into the tent on the eccyclema (

εἰσκυκλεῖται
), and the entrance is closed. Tecmessa and her child retire by another door into the part of the dwelling which is supposed to represent the
γυναικών
. They re-enter after the Choral ode, and are present while Ajax speaks (see 684 ff.). Some, indeed, suppose that they remain on the scene during the ode; but the command of Ajax to Tecmessa in 579 f.,
μηδ’ ἐπισκήνους γόους | δάκρυε
, is against this.

mvp-comment-357-3 Welcker thinks that not only Tecmessa (with the child), but Ajax also, remain present during the ode. ( Rhein. Mus. for 1829, part 3, p. 87.) It is clear, however, from v. 593 that Ajax withdraws into the tent.

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

430. mvp-comment-293-1 For a ῥῆσις similarly following μέλη ἀπὸ σκηνῆς, cp. El. 254 foll.; Trach. 1046 foll.; O. T. 1369 foll.; O. C. 258 foll. Ajax, in his solitude (for he hardly feels the presence of Tecmessa) in passing to a more collected mood, first utters the note of sadness, and then is struck by the correspondence of the repeated syllable with his own name. Many poets have observed how the mind in moments of intense feeling becomes engaged with trifles:- 'Strange, that the mind, when fraught With a passion so intense One would think that it well Might drown all life in the eye That it should, by being so overwrought, Suddenly strike on a sharper sense For a shell, or a flower, little things, Which else would have been past by.' TENNYSON's Maud. The cry of woe, alaî, sounds to Ajax like the reverberation of his name, and with the superstitious feeling which attached to words casually spoken, he dwells on the resemblance. 'Ay me! -Who ever could have thought that my name would thus be the appropriate expression for my woes?' Cp. esp. Fr. 877, ὀρθῶς δ' Ὀδυσσεύς εἰμ', ἐπώνυμος κακοῖς· | πολλοὶ γὰρ ὠδύσαντο δυσμενεῖς ἐμοί. And see Essay on L. § 44. p. 83, Lersch, Sprach-philosophie, vol. 3. pp. 3 foll. ἐπώνυμον supplements the predication of ξυνοίσειν, 'Agree in the way of naming.' (The conj. ξυνάσειν, although ingenious, is quite unnecessary.)

432. mvp-comment-294-1 δίς refers to the repetition of the syllable in alaῖ.

433. mvp-comment-295-1 τοιούτοις] Sc. ὥστε πρέπον εἶναι πολλάκις αἰάζειν ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς.

434. mvp-comment-296-1 ὅτου] For this pathetic use of ὅστις, cp. esp. Ο.Τ. 1184, ὅστις πέφασμαι, κ.τ.λ. The clauses with μέν and dé do not quite correspond. In l. 437 the sentence passes out of the relative construction.

435. mvp-comment-297-1 'Having won from all the host by his supreme valour the fairest prize.' καλλιστεία can hardly be taken as equivalent to ἀριστεῖα. It is probably used with an inaccurate sense of its derivation from κάλλιστος: - i. e. 'the prize of beauty' is understood to mean, not the prize given to the most beautiful, but the most beautiful given as a prize. The accusative is cognate after ἀριστεύσας, i.e. ἀριστεύσας κάλλιστα ἀριστεία. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 214, 5, πόλεος ἐκπροκριθεῖσ᾽ ἐμᾶς | καλλιστεύματα Λοξία.

437. mvp-comment-298-1 The bisected line following the smooth preceding verses has a grating effect, which is here expressive.

438. mvp-comment-299-1 For the genitive Τροίας, see E. on L. § 10. p. 17, 6. ἐπελθών] 'Coming in my turn.'

438. mvp-comment-299-2 οὐκ ἐλάσσονι σθένει] In saying that he was not less in might or in achievements than Telamon, Ajax has the same feeling that is expressed by Sthenelus in the Iliad, 4. 405, ἡμεῖς τοι πατέρων μέγ᾿ ἀμείνονες εὐχόμεθ᾽ εἶναι.

439. mvp-comment-300-1 ἀρκέσας] «Having achieved.' In Thuc. 2. 47, οὔτε γὰρ ἰατροὶ ἤρκουν θεραπεύοντες ἀγνοίᾳ, ἀρκεῖν is used absolutely 'to avail.' Here in the same sense it takes a 'cognate' accusative of that in which effort is successful. Cp. infr. 535, τοῦτό γ᾽ ἀρκέσαι : Aesch. Pers. 278, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἤρκει τόξα.

440. mvp-comment-301-1 The dative is to be joined with ἄτιμος, = πρὸς ᾿Αργείων and ἐν ᾿Αργείοις. The Argives are at once the agents and the witnesses of Ajax' dishonour. His mind reverts to the critical moment- the judgment of the arms.

442-443. mvp-comment-302-1 'Were Achilles alive, and had he to decide the question of his arms and to adjudge the meed of valour to some one.'

444. mvp-comment-303-1 αὔτ᾽] αὐτά. ἔμαρψεν] "Grasped.' The vivid word expresses Ajax' sense of his right to the arms, and of the violent usurpation of Odysseus. ἄλλος ἀντ᾿ ἐμοῦ] · Another and not I.' Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 5.

445. mvp-comment-304-1 φωτί παντουργῷ φρένας] « Το an all-accomplished rogue.' Although παντουργῷ is said contemptuously, it is not necessary to suppose that it has all the associations of πανουργός. φρένας has probably an emphasis in opposition to κράτη in l. 446. Ajax speaks with scorn of those varied mental resources of which he does not feel the need.

446. mvp-comment-305-1 ἔπραξαν] «Made them over,' or, as we say in common parlance. 'jobbed them.' πράσσειν often means to 'intrigue' in a bad sense. Cp. esp. O. T. 124, 5, εἴ τι μὴ ξὺν ἀργυρῷ ἐπράσσετ' ἐνθένδ', and note. ἀπώσαντες] 'Setting aside my deeds of valour,' i. e. rejecting from consideration my valiant services.

447-448. mvp-comment-306-1 διάστροφοι | γνώμης ἀπῇξαν] 'Started aside from my purpose.' διάστροφοι is (1) supplem. predicate, or perhaps (2) = διάστροφοι οὖσαι. Ср. supr. 258.

449. mvp-comment-307-1 ἐψήφισαν] 'Determined by vote.' The judges would be said ψηφίζεσθαι, 'to give their votes.' The generals, who conducted the voting, are said ψηφίζειν, 'to manage by votes,' as Menelaus is accused of having done dishonestly, infr. 1135. On rare uses of the active voice in Soph., see Essay on L. § 30. p. 516; § 53. p. 98.

450. mvp-comment-308-1 Instead of γλαυκώπις, the usual epithet for Athena, Ajax resentfully uses γοργῶπις, with some recollection of the grim appearance of the goddess as she hounded him to the mad onset, supr. 59, 60. ἀδάματος is 'invincible,' not merely 'unwedded,' though the latter notion may be contained in the word.

451. mvp-comment-309-1 ἐπευθύνοντ'] 'In act of stretching forth.' Ajax ( supr. 49) was at the tent-door of the Atreidae, and had little more to do than to stretch out his hand. The v. r. ἐπεντύνοντα would mean 'arming,' but he was already armed. ἐπεντείνοντα is better, but is probably a correction of ἐπεντύνοντ',

453. mvp-comment-310-1 τοιοίσδε is said with a rueful glance at the slaughtered animals, which in his delirium he had taken for his enemies.

455. mvp-comment-311-1 ἐμοῦ μὲν οὐχ ἑκόντος] ‘Not with my will, indeed.' The will of Ajax is not crushed. He still protests against the Providence that has spared his foes, whom he regards as his inferiors, though they have triumphed.

457-458. mvp-comment-312-1 ὅστις.. ἐχθαίρομαι] We are afterwards informed, infr. 756, that the Divine anger against Ajax is not permanent. For ὅστις, without distinct antecedent, see Essay on L. § 39. p. 72, 2.

459. mvp-comment-313-1 πεδία τάδε] Above all, for last night's violence.

461. mvp-comment-314-1 μόνους τ' ᾿Ατρείδας] 'And (leaving) the Atreidae to fight alone,' i. e. unsupported by Ajax, whose valour outweighs all others.

462. mvp-comment-315-1 καί] 'Then,' 'in that case.' καί here introduces an objection, as in καὶ πῶς; Cp. esp. Ant. 449, καὶ δῆτ᾽ ἐτόλμας τούσδ᾽ ὑπερβαίνειν νόμους; ποῖον ὄμμα.. Τελαμώνι] • How shall I come before my father Telamon, and meet his eye?' As in O. Τ. 1371, ὄμμασιν ποίοις, the adjective has an adverbial force.

464. mvp-comment-316-1 γυμνὸν .. ἄτερ] For the pleonasm, see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 5.

465. mvp-comment-317-1 'Which he won for a glorious garland of renown.' ὧν is an appositional genitive. Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.

466. mvp-comment-318-1 ἀλλὰ δῆτ'] Cp. Phil. 1352, ἀλλ᾽ εἰκάθω δῆτα;

467. mvp-comment-319-1 μόνος μόνοις] 'In single opposition' = οἰόθεν οἷος. The word is repeated for emphasis, without weighing the exact meaning. E. on L. § 44. p. 83 foll. Cp. Shak. Cor. 1. 4. 'He is himself alone, | To answer all the city.'

469. mvp-comment-320-1 Ajax, who has withdrawn from battle out of resentment against the Atreidae, cannot stultify himself in his last act of all.

471. mvp-comment-321-1 τοιάδ᾽, ἀφ᾿ ἧς] Cp. Phil. 17, τοιάδ᾽, ἵν᾽ ἐν ψύχει, κ.τ.λ.

472. mvp-comment-322-1 The use of μή is occasioned by the notion of purpose which pervades the sentence. φύσιν γ'] 'In my real nature,' though I am a craven in their estimation who have placed me beneath Odysseus. For similar emphatic use of φύσιν, cp. O. C. 270, πῶς ἐγὼ κακὸς φύσιν;

473. mvp-comment-323-1 He has sufficiently indicated his intention of suicide, and now gives his reason for it. τοῦ μακροῦ.. βίου] The article is added as with words of number or quantity. Cp. Ο. Τ. 518, βίου τοῦ μακραίωνος, and for the sentiment, Fr. 867, ὅστις γὰρ ἐν κακοῖσιν ἱμείρει βίου, ἢ δειλός ἐστιν ἡ δυσάλγητος φρένας : Plato, Phaedo 117 Α, γέλωτα ὀφλήσειν παρ᾿ ἐμαυτῷ, γλιχόμενος τοῦ ζῆν καὶ φειδόμενος, οὐδενὸς ἔτι ἐνόντος.

474. mvp-comment-324-1 'Who in a life of evils finds no release from them.' κακοῖσιν is dative of circumstance. (E. on L. § 14. p. 20 a.) Cp. Eur. Suppl. 1042, τοῖς παρεστῶσιν κακοῖς. ἐξαλλάσσεται, sc. τῶν κακῶν.

475-476. mvp-comment-325-1 'For what pleasure is there in day following day? Can it add to or take away anything from death?' For the variation in παρ᾽ ἦμαρ ἡμέρα, cp. Ant. 596, γενεὰν γένος : Eur. Hec. 410, παρείαν .. παρηΐδι. The meaning is not here alternate days, but 'day after day,' i. e. the extension of time, 'To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow.' Cp. Shak. J. C. 3. 1, 'That we shall die, we know: 'tis but the time And drawing days out, that men stand upon.' τὸ κατθανεῖν is the fact, i.e. the certainty of death. The opposites προσθεῖσα κάν-αθεῖσα are both mentioned, although the latter only is in point. For this, cp. Ant. 39, λύουσ᾽ ἂν ἡ 'φάπτουσα; and for the disjunctive καί, Thuc. 5. 23, ἣν δέ τι δοκῇ.. προσθεῖναι καὶ ἀφελεῖν. For the meaning, cp. 'Come he slow or come he fast, It is but Death that comes at last.' Sir W. Sсотт, Lord of the Isles. Also El. 1485, 6, τί γὰρ βροτῶν ἂν σὺν κακοῖς μεμιγμένων | θνήσκων ὁ μέλλων τοῦ χρόνου κέρδος φέροι; As in Pind. Οl. 7. 110, ἂμ πάλον μέλλεν θέμεν, ἀνατιθέναι is here used in the sense of 'to retract,' in which ἀνατίθεσθαι often occurs. The absence of personal reference accounts for the active voice being preferred to the middle, as in supr. 449, ἐψήφισαν: infr. 1037, μηχανᾶν. Essay on L. § 31. p. 51 6. τί (or τι) is to be resumed with the second clause, 'What pleasure can time give, by retracting what (or anything)?' Other explanations of these difficult lines are the following :-(1) 'What joy can one day bring more than another, since it can only (ye) bring a man near to death and then reprieve him from it?' (2) 'What joy is brought by day succeeding day, since all that it can do is to add something of death or to defer it?' (3) 'What joy is there in days which alternately bring near and defer the doom of death?'

477. mvp-comment-326-1 οὐδενὸς λόγου] ‘At any valuation.'

478. mvp-comment-327-1 κεναῖσιν] 'Vain, because rendered fruitless by the certainty of death.'

479. mvp-comment-328-1 Cp. Il. 15. 511, where Ajax says, βέλτερον ἢ ἀπολέσθαι ἕνα χρόνον ἠὲ βιῶναι.

481. mvp-comment-329-1 ὑπόβλητον] 'False,' i.e. unreal and not your own. Supr. 189, εἰ δ᾽ ὑποβαλλόμενοι | κλέπτουσι μύθους, κ.τ.λ.

482. mvp-comment-330-1 ἀλλὰ τῆς σαυτοῦ φρενός] 'But one proceeding from your inmost thought.'

484. mvp-comment-331-1 γνώμης κρατήσαι] 'To overrule thy purpose.' Cp. supr. 448, γνώμης ἀπῇξαν τῆς ἐμῆς. In Phil. 972, δούς is used absolutely with dat. of the person for 'yielding to advice.' Cp. Trach. 1117, δός μοι σεαυτόν.

485. mvp-comment-332-1 This speech of Tecmessa's has a certain general resemblance to that of Andromache in Il. 6. 407 foll. τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης] 'Helpless misfortune.' ἀναγκαία τύχη is the crushing calamity that leaves its victim no chance of extricating himself. The phrase is touchingly expressive of Tecmessa's orphaned and captive state.

488. mvp-comment-333-1 εἴπερ τινός] The hypothetical clause εἴπερ τις is attracted, as a sort of pronoun, into the construction of the clause on which it depends. See E. on L. § 35. p. 60, and cp. ἔνιοι. So in O. C. 734, σθένουσαν.. εἴ τιν' Ἑλλάδος. For σθένοντος ἐν πλούτῳ, cp. Pind. Isthm. 3. 2, σθένει πλούτου; Eur. Εl. 939.

489. mvp-comment-334-1 που] 'I suppose.'

490. mvp-comment-335-1 μάλιστα] 'Above all.' The power of Ajax is more manifest to Tecmessa than that of the gods themselves, and she has learnt to adopt something of his bold way of speaking about them. Cp. infr. 950-3. She knows, too, that it is dangerous in his presence to acknowledge the gods as supreme over him. Cp. infr. 589, 90.

491. mvp-comment-336-1 τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον] Sc. σοί implied in τὸ σόν. 'Since I came to wedlock with thee.' εὐ φρονῶ τὰ σά] 'My thoughts are wholly for thy good.' As she is one with him, she feels that she has a right to speak of what concerns them both.

492-493. mvp-comment-337-1 πρός τ᾽ ἐφεστίου Διὸς | εὐνῆς τε τῆς σῆς] « By Zeus who has watched over our hearth, and by my union with thee.' Tecmessa's claim rests (1) on her having been admitted by Ajax himself to share his home; (2) on the yet closer tie which binds them together.

493. mvp-comment-338-1 'And by thy marriage bed wherein thou wast joined with me.' For τῆς σῆς, cp. Il. 18. 433; Od. 4. 333. ξυναλλάξασθαι is here 'to enter upon a new relation with.' Cp. especially Eur. Ι. Α. 1157, οὗ σοι καταλλαχθεῖσα, κ.τ.λ.

494. mvp-comment-339-1 μή μ᾿ ἀξιώσῃς] 'Have more regard for me than to let me.' βάξιν] For βάζειν, of ill-natured talk, cp. Hes. Op. 184, τοὺς δ᾽ ἄρα μέμψονται χαλεποῖς βάζοντες ἔπεσσι: (Eur.) Rhes. 718, ἑστίαν ᾿Ατρειδᾶν κακῶς | ἔβαζε.

495. mvp-comment-340-1 χειρίαν ἐφεὶς τινί] 'Letting me fall under the hand of some one.' Cp. infr. 1297, ἐφῆκεν ἐλλοῖς ἰχθύσιν διαφθοράν.

496. mvp-comment-341-1 εἰ γὰρ θάνῃς σύ] Cp. Ο. C. 1443, εἴ σου στερηθῶ. Some editors have unnecessarily changed ei to ᾖ. For ταύτῃ, in l. 497, without pronominal correlative, cp. Trach. 719, 20, κεῖνος εἰ σφαλήσεται, | ταύτῃ σὺν ὁρμῇ κἀμὲ συνθανεῖν ἅμα. The slight inexactness is here supplemented by the addition of τῇ τότε. ἀφῆς] Sc. ἡμᾶς.

499. mvp-comment-342-1 δουλίαν .. τροφήν] 'The life of slaves.' For the condition of the captive widow, cp. Od. 8. 526 foll. ἡ μὲν τὸν θνήσκοντα καὶ ἀσπαίροντ᾽ ἐσιδοῦσα, | ἀμφ᾿ αὐτῷ χυμένη λίγα κωκύει· οἱ δὲ τ' ὄπισθεν | κόπτοντες δούρεσσι μετάφρενον ἠδὲ καὶ ὤμους, | εἴρερον εἰσανάγουσι πόνον τ' ἐχέμεν καὶ ὀϊζύν· | τῆς δ᾽ ἐλεεινοτάτῳ ἄχεῖ φθινύθουσι παρειαί, and for that of the orphan, Il. 22. 490, ἦμαρ δ᾽ ὀρφανικὸν παναφήλικα, κ.τ.λ.

500. mvp-comment-343-1 πρόσφθεγμα here is what is spoken not to, but at or about a person.

501. mvp-comment-344-1 λόγοις ἰάπτων] 'Hitting with sharp words.' The construction follows the analogy of βάλλειν τινὰ λίθῳ.

502. mvp-comment-345-1 μέγιστον ἴσχυσε] 'Surpassed all men in might.' So the force of the aorist may be expressed.

503. mvp-comment-346-1 οἷας λατρείας] 'What a life of servitude.' The plural indicates the various menial actions included in λατρείας. ἀνθ᾽ ὅσου ζήλου] 'Instead of being so envied as she was.' ζῆλος in the sense of an envied condition occurs several times in Demosthenes. See L. and S. s. v.

504. mvp-comment-347-1 κἀμὲ μὲν δαίμων ἐλᾷ] ‘And I indeed shall go whither destiny shall drive me.' Tecmessa means to say that her lot, however terrible, matters little, but that the honour of Ajax and his race is in question.

508. mvp-comment-348-1 κληρούχον] 'Inheritress,' i. e. possessor. The specific word is used with a generic meaning. Essay on L. §52. p. 97.

510. mvp-comment-349-1 εἰ] 'To think how.' Essay on L. § 28. p. 46.

510-511. mvp-comment-350-1 νέας.. μόνος] ‘With his young life uncared for, bereaved of you, either (1) 'he will live his life' (see L. and S. s. v. διαφέρω), or (2) ‘he will be torn in pieces' (= διαφορηθήσεται). Against (1), which is the Scholiast's and Musgrave's interpretation, it may be urged that ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν = ' at the mercy of guardians,' is rather abrupt after διοίσεται in this sense, and that the only authority for this use of the middle voice of διαφέρω is Hippocrates, Art. 823: against (2), which is substantially Hermann's, it can only be said that strictly passive uses of οἴσομαι are rare. Hesychius and the ancient scholiast support (1). For (2) cp. Dem. contr. Steph. p. 1120, 64, ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἀπώλετ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, οὐχ ἥκιστα ὑπὸ τούτου καὶ τῶν τοιούτων διαφορηθείς. For νέα τροφή, cp. Ο. C. 345, 6, ἐξ ὅτου νέας | τροφῆς ἔληξε καὶ κατίσχυσεν δέμας.

512. mvp-comment-351-1 ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν μὴ φίλων] Tecmessa bitterly remarks that the only guardians of Eurysaces' orphanhood will not be true guardians, but enemies. ὅσον κακόν, κ.τ.λ.] These words resume the suppressed antecedent of the hypothetical clause, εἰ νέας, κ.τ.λ.

516. mvp-comment-352-1 'And another doom,' etc.; i.e. they were not slain in the destruction of the city. Cp. II. 6. 428. The correction from καὶ μητέρ᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἡ το καὶ μητέρ᾽ ἄλλη, is not without MS. authority, and is every way necessary; above all as Sophocles thus avoids making Ajax the slayer of Tecmessa's parents. But Hermann's suggestion that a line may have dropped out between 515 and 516, deserves consideration. As he points out, dé rather than καί would seem to be the natural conjunction as the sentence stands.

517. mvp-comment-353-1 θανασίμους is proleptic: 'Laid them low in death and made them inhabitants of the unseen world.'

518-519. mvp-comment-354-1 τίς . . πλοῦτος] « What home or what wealth could be mine instead of you?'

518. mvp-comment-355-1 can e'er be mine to compensate for thee? What fortune?'

519. mvp-comment-356-1 ἐν σοὶ πᾶσ᾽ ἔγωγε σώζομαι] 'My hopes all rest on thee.' For this use of wâs, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 38; and cp. supr. 275.

520. mvp-comment-357-1 Tecmessa, from l. 505 onwards, has tried to put herself out of sight, and to move Ajax by appealing to other interests. But in concluding she returns to the direct personal appeal with which she began. And when this fails to rouse him, she even ventures a word of affectionate reproach.

525-526. mvp-comment-358-1 For av repeated, see Essay on L. § 27. p. 46 e.

527-528. mvp-comment-359-1 The alliteration with T helps to express harshness here. Ajax will not own to feeling pity for Tecmessa, but catches at the word αἰνοίης.

528. mvp-comment-360-1 ἐὰν.. τολμᾷ] Ajax is not thinking of the fears which Tecmessa presently expresses. He simply means, 'I am ready enough to praise her if instead of weak complaints she will bring herself to do what I command.'

531. mvp-comment-361-1 'Oh, it was in my terror-I conveyed him out of the way.' Tecmessa is divided between obedience and fear, and interposes an excuse. The particles, καὶ μὴν.. γε, call attention to something which tends to limit or delay compliance. 'Why, so I can, Sir, but-' (Othello, 3. 4). Cp. Ο. Τ. 749, καὶ μὴν ὀκνῶ μέν: infr. 539.

532. mvp-comment-362-1 By using the general word κακοῖσιν, Ajax avoids specifying the evil, which is too manifest. τί μοι λέγεις;] 'What mean you, pray?' Cp. O. T. 954, τί μοι λέγει; μοι here expresses impatience.

533. mvp-comment-363-1 Tecmessa cannot withhold the truth from Ajax. Cp. supr. 315.

534. mvp-comment-364-1 'That truly would have been in character with my destiny.' The descriptive genitive (= πρὸς δαίμονος τουμοῦ) takes the place of the more usual dative after the participle. Cp. Plat. Polit. 271 Ε, τῆς τοιαύτης .. κατακοσμήσεως ἑπόμενα.

535. mvp-comment-365-1 'Well, my watchfulness did that service at any rate.' Join τοῦτο with ἀρκέσαι, ἱ.ε. τὸ μὴ θανεῖν σφε.

536. mvp-comment-366-1 ἐπῄνεσ'] For this use of the aorist, see Essay on L. § 32, 6. p. 55. Ajax still speaks as a master to a slave, but he feels to the full extent the service rendered in saving the life of his son.

537. mvp-comment-367-1 Tecmessa remains irresolute, till, in 540, Ajax' anger begins to rise.

540. mvp-comment-368-1 παρουσίαν ἔχειν = παρεῖναι. So in Ant. 237, ἔχεις ἀθυμίαν = ἀθυμεῖς, and supr. 139, ὅκνον ἔχω = ὀκνῶ.

541. mvp-comment-369-1 προσπόλων] For this partitive genitive, see Essay on L. § 10. p. 15.

542. mvp-comment-370-1 ὅσπερ κυρεῖς] These words indicate that the child cannot yet go alone.

543. mvp-comment-371-1 ἕρποντι] Sc. τῷ προσπόλῳ, i.e. 'Does he come when you speak?' Essay on L. § 42. p. 80 β. ἢ λελειμμένῳ λόγων] 'Or do your words not reach to him?'

545. mvp-comment-372-1 αἶρε δεῦρο] «Lift him hither.' Said to the attendant who brings in the child, and is to hand him to Ajax over the carcases of the sheep, etc. ταρβήσει γὰρ οὔ] Essay on L. § 41. p. 78 γ.

546. mvp-comment-373-1 For the late position of που, see Essay on L. § 26. p. 44. It is occasioned by the energy with which the emphatic words ταρβήσει.. οὗ are brought into prominence. Dindorf would read τοῦτόν γε, supposing the whole line to be an interpolation. But this is gratuitous, and the excision of the line leaves a sensible gap in the sense.

547. mvp-comment-374-1 δικαίως] 'Truly;' i. e. 'in a manner rightly answering to the description.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 853, φανεί δικαίως ὀρθών: Trach. 1158, φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ. In this speech, as well as supr. 487 foll., there is a resemblance to the sixth Iliad (see esp. ll. 476-481).

548. mvp-comment-375-1 ἀλλά opposes what follows (though not in strict logic) to the preceding negative. ὠμοῖς .. ἐν νόμοις πατρὸς .. πωλοδαμνεῖν] Το train him, like a young colt, in his father's rugged ways.' For ὠμοῖς, cp. supr. 205, ὠμοκρατής, and note. And for νόμοις, Ant. 191, τοιοῖσδ᾽ ἐγὼ νόμοισι τήνδ' αὔξω πόλιν. Essay on L. § 47. p. 88.

549. mvp-comment-376-1 κἀξομοιοῦσθαι φύσιν] ‘And that he should have his nature framed by mine.' For the change of subject, see Essay on L. § 36. p. 65 d.

552. mvp-comment-377-1 καὶ νῦν] · Even now, before your lot in life has been determined for good or evil.'

553. mvp-comment-378-1 'That you have no perception of this misery.'

554. mvp-comment-379-1 This line, although quite possibly Sophoclean, has the appearance of a marginal quotation rather than of an integral portion of the text of this passage. It is probably from some lost play, and should be placed amongst the fragments of Greek tragic poetry.

556-557. mvp-comment-380-1 δεῖ σ᾽ ὅπως .. δείξεις] «You must find some way of showing.' The same construction recurs in Phil. 55, τὴν Φιλοκτήτου σε δεῖ | ψυχὴν ὅπως λόγοισιν ἐκκλέψεις λέγων.

557. mvp-comment-381-1 ἐν ἐχθροῖς] For the use of ἐν, cp supr. 366, and note.

558. mvp-comment-382-1 κούφοις πνεύμασιν βόσκου] 'Be nourished by gentle breezes,' like a sapling in a sheltered spot. Plants were supposed to feed upon the air. Dio Chrys. Orat. 12, 30 (quoted by Lobeck), τρεφόμενοι τῇ διηνεκεῖ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπιρροῇ, ἀέρα ὑγρὸν ἕλκοντες, ὥστε νήπιοι παῖδες. Cp. Trach. 144 foll. τὸ γὰρ νέαζον ἐν τοιοῖσδε βόσκεται | χώροισιν, κ.τ.λ.

559. mvp-comment-383-1 χαρμονήν is accus. in apposition. Essay on L. § 17. p. 25 d.

562. mvp-comment-384-1 τοῖον, κ.τ.λ.] Essay on L. § 22. p. 36. 3. The absence of the demonstrative ending ( τοιόνδε or τοιοῦτον) may arise from the fact that Teucer is absent, and that Ajax is speaking of the future.

562. mvp-comment-384-2 ἀμφί σοι] Τo protect thee.' ἀμφί as in ἀμφιβαίνειν, etc.

563. mvp-comment-385-1 τροφῆς ἄοκνον] 'Unfaltering in care for thee.' τροφῆς is gen. of respect. Essay on L. § 9. p. 13, 3. ἔμπα κεἰ] ἔμπα does not occur elsewhere in Attic Greek. Cp. Pind. N. 4. 58, ἔμπα, καί περ ἔχει, κ.τ.λ.

564. mvp-comment-386-1 τηλωπός] 'Far away.' The latter part of the compound is subordinated. οἰχνεῖ] 'He is wandering.' οἰχνέω, as a derivative of οἴχομαι, seems to have a frequentative force. θήραν ἔχων] · Engaged in pursuit.' A periphrasis like ἔχομεν στοναχάς, supr. 203.

565. mvp-comment-387-1 Confident in the return of Teucer, Ajax bids his comrades give this charge to him. They recall the fact afterwards, l. 990. He also urges them to do their part, l. 566.

566. mvp-comment-388-1 κοινήν] i.e. 'As well as to him.'

569. mvp-comment-389-1 Ἐριβοíą λέγω] Sc ὅπως δείξει. This has been unnecessarily altered to Ἐριβοίαν λέγω. Ajax dwells affectionately on his mother's name. Eurysaces is to honour her, and not Hesione. Cp. Pind. Isthm. 5 (6). 65, παῖδα θρασὺν ἐξ Εριβοίας.

571. mvp-comment-390-1 μέχρις οὐ, or μέχρι οὗ, occurs in Hdt. 1. 180; 2. 19, where the phrase has the force of a single word. This may suggest a possible excuse for the appearance of a divided anapaest, which has caused the rejection of the line in some edd. It may possibly have been interpolated or quoted ( cp. supr. 554) to supplement the vague use of εἰσαεί. But the words are impressive, and the alleged flaw may be remedied by reading ἕως or ἔστ᾽ ἄν for μέχρις οὗ.

572. mvp-comment-391-1 ἀγωνάρχαι] 'Presidents of contest,' such as the Atreidae had been.

573. mvp-comment-392-1 θήσουσ'] Sc. ὡς ἆθλα. The future follows ὅπως, supr. 567. ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός] On this position of the possessive pronoun, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37.

574. mvp-comment-393-1 αὐτό] The pronoun anticipates σάκος, which, as the most important piece of armour, is contained in τεύχη. For similar uses of αὐτός, cp. Plat. Soph. 256 D, ὁμολογήσαντες αὐτὰ εἶναι πέντε: 263 Ε, καὶ μὴν ἐν λόγοις αὐτὸ ἴσμεν ὅν. ἐπώνυμον] · Whence thou art named.'

575-576. mvp-comment-394-1 The epithet shows that the πόρπαξ was not of metal, but of embroidered leather. Cp. Eur. Tro. 1196, ὡς ἡδὺς ἐν πόρπακι σὸς κεῖται τύπος.

577. mvp-comment-395-1 κοινά may be either (1) adverbial. as in Ant. 546, μή μοι θάνῃς σὺ κοινά, or (2) predicative, agreeing with τεύχη, probably the latter (2).

579. mvp-comment-396-1 ἐπισκήνους] 'Before the tent,' = ἐπὶ σκηναῖς, supr. 3, and so 'in public.'

580. mvp-comment-397-1 φιλοίκτιστον] i.e. φιλοῦν τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι, in the sense of inviting commiseration. 'A woman is a very tearful creature.'

581. mvp-comment-398-1 'To whine faint charms over a wound that cries out for the knife.' The desiderative, = τομὴν αἰτοῦντι, here implies the passive meaning of the verbal noun. For the use of charms in assisting surgery, cp. Od. 19. 456-8, ὠτειλὴν δ' Ὀδυσῆος ἀμύμονος, ἀντιθέσιο, | δῆσαν ἐπισταμένως· ἐπαοιδῇ δ᾽ αἷμα κελαινὸν | ἔσχεθον· αἶψα δ' ἵκοντο φίλου πρὸς δώματα πατρός.

583. mvp-comment-399-1 τήνδε τὴν προθυμίαν] ‘This earnest haste,' viz. the impatience of Ajax to be alone. Cp. supr. πύκαζε θάσσον.

586. mvp-comment-400-1 μὴ κρίνε] 'Interrogate not.' Sc. με. Cp. Ant. 399 and note. σωφρονεῖν καλόν) 'Discretion is the better part.' One of the gruff maxims ( βαῖ, ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα, supr. 292) with which Ajax checks the importunity of Tecmessa's affection. Cp. Il. 6. 490, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε.

587. mvp-comment-401-1 καί σε] The conjunction here has a strong pleading force. 'Nay, I entreat thee,' etc. For a somewhat similar transition with καί, cp. supr. 11, καί σ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴσω τῆσδε, κ.τ.λ.

588. mvp-comment-402-1 προδοὺς .. γένῃ] 'Be guilty of forsaking us.' Phil. 773, μὴ σαυτόν θ' ἅμα | κἄμ', ὄντα σαυτοῦ πρόστροπον, κτείνας γένῃ.

589. mvp-comment-403-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς] 'You vex me exceedingly.' These words in Ajax, as in Creon, Ant. 573, show that his feelings are touched more deeply than he chooses to avow. ἐγὼ θεοῖς .. ἔτι] 'I am no longer bound to serve the gods in aught.' If the gods have cast Ajax off, then he 'owes them no subscription.' The position of the words ἐγὼ θεοῖς οὐδέν is very emphatic. Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. ἀρκεῖν, in the sense of praestare, governs an accusative here, as supr. 439,535.

593. mvp-comment-404-1 ξυνέρξετε] 'Shut us in.' This is said to the attendants ( supr. 544). They close the doors on Ajax, who is drawn in by the reversed ἐκκύκλημα. Tecmessa and Eurysaces, perhaps, remain upon the stage.

595. mvp-comment-405-1 ἄρτι] 'At this moment, of all others. Now all of a sudden.'