Sophocles Ajax 177

Robert Potter (Translator)

View: By Card
Chorus
926
Thy loss to me is ruin. Thou in blood
925
Hast fall'n alone, and nigh thee not a friend
To guard thee. I was witless, void of sense,
Thus to neglect thee. Where lies Ajax, where
Lies the indignant, stern, ill-fated Chief?

Ajax. Sophocles. Robert Potter (Translator). London. 1820.

Current edition Experimental

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Robert Potter, 1788))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (4)
Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 172-201 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 172-200 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 177 focus
ἤ ῥα κλυτῶν ἐνάρων
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 172-200 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 177 focus
TEC
Ay, let them laugh and revel o’er his fall!
975
Perchance, albeit in life they missed him not,
975
Dead, they will cry for him in straits of war.
975
For dullards know not goodness in their hand,
975
Nor prize the jewel till ’tis cast away.
975
To me more bitter than to them ’twas sweet,
975
His death to him was gladsome, for he found
975
The lot he longed for, his self-chosen doom.
What cause have they to laugh? Heaven, not their crew,
Hath glory by his death. Then let Odysseus
Insult with empty pride. To him and his
Aias is nothing; but to me, to me,
He leaves distress and sorrow in his room!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 172 focus
Trieb dich die Tochter des Zeus, die Vertilgerin,
Artemis, schweres Gerücht, Quelle bitt'rer Schande mir!
Auf unsres Volkes Gut, in die weidenden Rinder,
Wohl wegen eines ohne Dank erkämpften Siegs, 1
175
Sei es um Gaben getäuscht
Von stolzer Rüstung oder um Beuten der Sagd?
Wie? Oder zürnt dir Ares im ehernen Kleid,
Hat, weil mit Undank ihm du die Hülfe gelohnt,
Dich gestraft mit nächtlichem Blendwerk?
180
Gegenstrophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 177 focus
Teucer
Why touch it not ?
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 172-200 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-541-1 ἔμελλες 1

mvp-comment-542-1 στερεόφρων 2

mvp-comment-542-2 ἄῤ 3

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

mvp-comment-543-1 τοῖα 7

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

mvp-comment-544-1 ὠμόφρων 9

mvp-comment-544-2 ἐχθοδόπ’ 10

mvp-comment-544-3 οὐλίῳ σὺν πάθει 11

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

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

mvp-comment-546-1 ἦμος 15

mvp-comment-546-2 ἀριστόχειρ ἀγὼν 16

mvp-comment-546-3 ὅπλων 17 χρυσοδέτων 18

mvp-comment-546-4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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