Sophocles Ajax 239

Robert Potter (Translator)

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Chorus
STRO. 1. ANTIS. 1. TECMESSA, EURYSACES, CHORUS. 1185
When will the last revolving year
1185
Of all this numerous train
1185
Slow wandering in its course appear
'Midst ills I here sustain ?..
Toils rise on toils, and woes on woes,
The wasteful war around us glows,
And misery haunts this place.
The hateful walls of Troy around,,
1190
Unhappy Greece, what hast thou found,
1190
But ruin and disgrace?...
1192
Oh had he first been swept away
Through air by wild winds tost;
Or sunk from heav'n's ethereal ray,
To Pluto's dreary coast;
Who train'd the Grecians to the field,
1195
Taught them the sword, the spear to wield,
1195
And steel'd the gentle mind !
Hence toil gives birth to toil again,
Hence carnage stains th' ensanguin'd plain,
For he destroy'd mankind.
1199
Nor the brow with chaplets bound
Breathing balmy odours round,
1200
Nor the social glow of soul
1200
Kindling o'er the generous bowl,
Nor the dulcet strain that rings
Jocond from the sounding strings,
Nor endearing love's delight
That with rapture fills the night,
Me will he permit to prove;
1205
He, alas! hath murder'd love.
1205
But neglected here I lie
Open to th' inclement sky;
And my rough and matted hair
Drinks the dews of night's moist air,
Memorials sad of Troy!
1210
1211
Yet, till now, when pale affright
Roll'd her hideous form through night,
Great in arms, his shield t' oppose,
Ajax as my rampire rose,
And my terror was no more.
Now the hero I deplore
To the gloomy god consign'd;
1215
Now what joy can touch my mind?
Oh that on the pine-clad brow
Dark'ning o'er the sea below,
Where the cliffs of Sunium rise,
Rocky bulwarks, to the skies,
I were placed; with sweet address
Sacred Athens would I bless,
And feel a social joy!

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.) — 258-342 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)) — 239 focus
ῥιπτεῖ θερίσας,
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)) — 239 focus
OD
What deed of his could harm thy sovereign head?
1325
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 233 focus
Weh! Dorther, dorther kam er zu uns,
225
Und führte die Heerd' in gefesseltem Zug;
Und die einen erwürgt' er am Boden im Zelt,
Und die anderen hieb er mitten entzwei,
Griff zween weißfüßige Widder sodann,
Mäht' einem das Haupt und die Zunge herab,
230
Und warf sie hinweg;
Und den anderen band er am Pfeiler empor,
Und faßte den Roßzaum doppelt und schwang
Und geißelte, daß hell schwirrte der Schlag,
Schmachworte zugleich ausschüttend, die nur
235
Ein Gott, kein Mensch, ihm gelehrt hat.
Gegenstrophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 239 focus
Agamemnon
Dost thou thus revere
E'en after death thine enemy ]
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 263-346 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-696-1 νέατος 1 νέατος 2

mvp-comment-696-2 πολυπλάγκτων 3

mvp-comment-697-1 τὰν ἄπαυστον 4

mvp-comment-698-1 δορυσσοήτων 5 δορυσσόων 6 δορυσσῶν 7

mvp-comment-699-1 ἀν τὰν εὐρώδεα Τρωΐαν 8 ἀν 9

mvp-comment-700-1 δύστανον ὄνειδος Ἑλλάνων 10

mvp-comment-701-1 ὄφελε 11

mvp-comment-701-2 αἰθέρα δῦναι μέγαν 12

mvp-comment-701-3 πολύκοινον Ἅιδαν 13

mvp-comment-702-1 κεῖνος ἁνὴρ 14

mvp-comment-702-2 ἔδειξεν 15

mvp-comment-702-3 κοινὸν Ἄρη 16

mvp-comment-703-1 ἰὼ πόνοι πρόγονοι πόνων 17

mvp-comment-704-1 οὔτε στεφάνων 18

mvp-comment-704-2 στεφάνων 19

mvp-comment-705-1 βαθειᾶν 20

mvp-comment-705-2 κυλίκων 21

mvp-comment-706-1 νεῖμεν 22 τέρψιν 23 ὁμιλεῖν 24

mvp-comment-707-1 αὐλῶν 25

mvp-comment-707-2 ὄτοβον 26

mvp-comment-708-1 δύσμορος 27

mvp-comment-708-2 ἐννυχίαν τέρψιν ἰαύειν 28

mvp-comment-708-3 Remark the repetition of τέρψιν 29

mvp-comment-709-1 ἐρώτων δ’, ἐρώτων 30

mvp-comment-710-1 ἀμέριμνος 31

mvp-comment-710-2 οὕτως 32

mvp-comment-711-1 δρόσοις 33

mvp-comment-712-1 μνήματα 34

mvp-comment-713-1 αἰὲν νυχίου 35 προβολὰ 36

mvp-comment-714-1 ἀνεῖται στυγερῷ δαίμονι 37

mvp-comment-715-1 ἐπέσται 38

mvp-comment-716-1 γενοίμαν 39

mvp-comment-716-2 ὑλᾶεν 40

mvp-comment-716-3 ἔπεστι πόντου | πρόβλημ’ 41 ἔπεστι 42

mvp-comment-717-1 ὑπὸ πλάκα Σουνίου 43

mvp-comment-718-1 τὰς ἱερὰς 44

mvp-comment-718-2 ὅπως … προσείποιμεν 45

mvp-comment-718-3 Pausanias says (1. 28. 2), referring to the colossal Athena Promachos on the Acropolis,

ἡ τοῦ δόρατος αἰχμὴ καὶ ὁ λόφος τοῦ κράνους ἀπὸ Σουνίου προσπλέουσίν ἐστιν ἤδη σύνοπτα
. As Leake observed ( Demi I. p. 631), Cape Zoster, some miles N.W. of Sunium, is the first point on the Attic coast from which a voyager could possibly have caught a glimpse of the spear-point and crest.

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

1185. mvp-comment-760-1 'When shall be the end, and what the number of the restless years of exile?' ἐς πότε λήξει is rather an amplification than a parenthesis. The simpler expression would be either τίς νέατος ἔσται ἀριθμός, or, ἐς πότε λήξει ὁ ἀριθμός. But νέατος is already redundant, and this gives rise to the further expansion. πολυπλάγκτων is put by hypallage or condensation for τοῦ ἐμὲ πολλὰ πλαγχθῆναι, sc. ἀπ᾿ οἴκου.

1187. mvp-comment-761-1 The corruption of the word δορυσσοήτων into δορυσσόντων in most MSS. is natural enough, although there is no such participle, and the adjective, which is more expressive as well as more rhythmical, agrees in metre with the antistrophe.

1190. mvp-comment-762-1 ἀν᾿ ἀερώδεα Τρωΐαν, G. Wolff's conjecture, founded on the scholion σκοτεινὴν καὶ ἀερώδη τοῖς Ἕλλησι, at least gives a possible sense and meaning. The contrast between the misty Hellespont and the bright air of Salamis and Athens is a natural topic of complaint. Cp. infr. 1208, 9, ἀεὶ πυκιναῖς δρόσοις | τεγγόμενος κόμας. Although Τρωΐα for Τροία does not occur elsewhere in Sophocles, it is acknowledged as the Pindaric form (Schndw. Pind. Ol. 2. 145). The interpolation ἀνὰ τάν may be partly due to ἄταν preceding. (Hermann thinks εὐρώδη sound, in the sense of εὐρεῖαν, —'wide,' and so 'desolate,'—but admits that either strophe or antistrophe is corrupt. Dind. reads, ἀν᾿ εὐρώδη Τροίαν, altering the antistrophe. Seyffert's conj., ἄνατον εὐρυεδεῖ Τροίᾳ, 'Doing no harm to broad-based Troy,' is very ingenious.)

1191. mvp-comment-763-1 ὄνειδος is either (1) in apposition with the whole sentence; or (2) with Τρωΐαν.

1192. mvp-comment-764-1 πρότερον] Sc. ἢ δεῖξαι .. Ἄρη. αἰθέρα δῦναι μέγαν] As Linwood observed, the idea of going away into the ether occurs again in Phil. 1092 foll., ἴθ' αἰθέρος ἄνω | πτωκάδες ὀξυτόνου διὰ πνεύματος | ἕλωσί μ'. Cp. also Phil. 814, 15, ἐκεῖσε νῦν μ', ἐκεῖσε. ΝΕ. ποῖ λέγεις; ΦΙ. ἄνω | ΝΕ. τί παραφρονεῖς αὖ; τί τὸν ἄνω λεύσσεις κύκλον; and the inscription over the dead who fell at Potidaea in B.C. 432, αἰθὴρ μὲμ ψυχὰς ὑπεδέξατο, κ.τ.λ.

1195. mvp-comment-765-1 ὅπλων.. κοινὸν Ἄρη] Either (1), laying the chief stress on ὅπλων, 'The combined warfare that depends upon the use of armour,' i. e. 'the use of armour that made combined warfare possible.' For this descriptive genitive, cp. especially El. 19, ἄστρων . . εὐφρόνη ('Night adorned with stars;' or, 'The stars that adorn the night'). Or (2), with the stress on κοινόν, 'The art of forming hostile confederacies in hateful arms.'

1196. mvp-comment-766-1 A short syllable here answers to the long first syllable of ἄταν in the strophe, unless we read Ἕλλασιν, which is unnecessary.

1197. mvp-comment-767-1 'O toil that was the parent of toil!' i. e. The toil of invention was the first parent of other toils.

1199-1201. mvp-comment-768-1 ἐκεῖνος οὐ... ὁμιλεῖν] 'He has cut me off from the joyous fellowship of chaplets and deep draughts from the cup.' The negatives have a privative force, as in οὐ φάναι, οὐκ ἐᾶν, etc. ὁμιλεῖν, sc. ὥστε ἐμὲ ὁμιλεῖν τοῖς στεφάνοις καὶ ταῖς κύλιξιν. The κύλιξ was a shallow vessel, and the epithet properly applies not to the goblet, but to the draughts of wine from it.

1201. mvp-comment-769-1 τέρψιν is first governed by νεῖμεν, and the same word is then repeated as a cognate accusative with ἰαύειν.

1202-1204. mvp-comment-770-1 οὔτε γλυκὺν .. ἰαύειν] ‘And from the sweet sound of flutes, unhappy me, and from passing nights of pleasant rest.'

1205. mvp-comment-771-1 The repetition of ἐρώτων marks the acme of privation.

1206. mvp-comment-772-1 ἀμέριμνος] Either (1) 'Uncared for;' or (2) 'Careless of myself' ('As one past hope, abandoned, | And by himself given o'er'); or (3) 'With vacant mind,' 'Having no interest in life.' For μέριμνα in a good sense, cp. especially Pind. Pyth. 8. 126-132, ὁ δὲ καλόν τι νέον λαχὼν | ἁβρότατος ἔπι, μεγάλας | ἐξ ἐλπίδος πέταται | ὑποπτέροις ἀνορέαις, ἔχων | κρέσσονα πλούτου | μέριμναν: also O.T. 1124, ἔργον μεριμνῶν ποῖον;

1208-1209. mvp-comment-773-1 Cp. Aesch. Ag. 560-2, κἀπὸ γῆς λειμώνιαι | δρόσοι κατεψέκαζον ... τιθέντες ἔνθηρον τρίχα.

1210. mvp-comment-774-1 λυγρᾶς μνήματα Τροίας] Lit. 'Reminders of the wretched Troad,' i. e. The raindrops on my head will not let me forget that I am in this miserable country. μνήματα is accusative in apposition to the sentence.

1211-1213. mvp-comment-775-1 ἐννυχίου | δείματος.. | καὶ βελέων] 'Against nightly alarm and weapons of war.' For this genitive of the object, cp. O. T. 1200-1, θανάτων δ᾽ ἐμᾷ | χώρᾳ πύργος ἀνέστα.

1214-1215. mvp-comment-776-1 νῦν δ᾽ οὗτος .. δαίμονι] 'But now he is no more our bulwark, struck down by a malignant fate.' As in Phil. 1153, ἀνέδην ὅδε χῶρος ἐρύκεται is said of the absence of defence, so ἀνεῖται is here said (continuing the metaphor in προβολά, supra) of the failure or removal of a defence; i.e. οὐκέτι προτείνεται. Cp. infr. 1270, Od. 11. 556, τοῖος γάρ σφιν πύργος ἀπώλεο.

1216. mvp-comment-777-1 ἐπέσται] Sc. τῷ βίῳ.

1217. mvp-comment-778-1 ὑλᾶεν] Od. 9. 191, ῥίῳ ὑλήεντι. ἔπεστι] 'Impends,' ' instat,' sc. τῷ πόντῳ, or τοῖς πλέουσιν. Cp. Od. 6. 210, ὅθ᾽ ἐπὶ σκέπας ἔστ᾽ ἀνέμοιο. πόντου πρόβλημα] ‘The rock jutting into the deep.' Cp. Phil. 1455, κτύπος ἄρσην πόντου προβολῆς.

1219-1220. mvp-comment-779-1 ἄκραν | ὑπὸ πλάκα Σουνίου] (1) 'Below the top of Sunium.' The ground behind Cape Colonnas rises considerably higher than the promontory itself. Or (2) 'At the point of the tableland of Sunium.'

1221-1222. mvp-comment-780-1 Athens could not really be seen by mariners until some time after passing Sunium, although the opposite is loosely asserted by Pausanias, 1. 28.