1382.
mvp-comment-883-1
λόγοισι] ‘By reason of thy speech.'
Essay on L. § 41. p. 21 b (2)
. ἔψευσας ἐλπίδος]
Cp. Ο. Τ. 1432, ἐπείπερ ἐλπίδος μ᾿ ἀπέσπασας.
1383.
mvp-comment-884-1
ἔχθιστος] 'Most hated,' as
supr. 818, μάλιστα μισηθέντος, ἐχθίστου θ᾽ ὁρᾶν.
1384.
mvp-comment-885-1
χερσίν] 'With effective aid.' Odysseus had not only spoken in Ajax' behalf, but had offered actual help. παρών is little more than expletive here, but suggests that Odysseus was too noble to stand by and see wrong done to his dead enemy.
1385.
mvp-comment-886-1
θανόντι.. ζῶν]
Essay on L. § 14. p. 76.
1386.
mvp-comment-887-1
οὐπιβρόντητος] ἐπιβρόντητος is either (1) 'senseless;' or (2) 'deserving the lightning-stroke.'
Cp.
supr. 103, τοὐπίτριπτον κίναδος, and note.
1389.
mvp-comment-888-1
Ὀλύμπου τοῦδ] Olympus in Sophocles almost loses the notion of place, and is associated with the sky overhead. Ant. 758, οὔ, τόνδ' Ὅλυμπον.
1390.
mvp-comment-889-1
μνήμων]
Cp. especially Aesch. Eum. 381-3, κακῶν τε μνήμονες σεμναὶ καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς.
1392.
mvp-comment-890-1
λώβαις] Injuriously. For this dative of manner, see
Essay on L. § 14. p. 20 a
, and
cp. especially Ant. 1003, σπῶντας . . ἀλλήλους φοναῖς. The expression is justified by Menelaus' words,
supr. 1064, 5.
1395.
mvp-comment-891-1
Cp. Od. 11. 543, 563. Teucer fears that the spirit of Ajax will be offended if Odysseus stands beside his grave. In Herodotus, 5. 67, the dead hero Adrastus is supposed by Cleisthenes of Sicyon to be disgusted by his adoption of the dead hero Melanippus, son of Astacus.
1396-1397.
mvp-comment-892-1
κεἴ τινα στρατοῦ | θέλεις
1397.
mvp-comment-893-1
κομίζειν] (1) ' And if you wish to bring any member of the host.' Or (2) 'If you wish any of the host to carry him;'—(not to bury him.' κομίζειν has not the meaning of συγκομίζειν,
supr. 1048. In Eur. Androm. 1263, 4, ἀλλ᾽ ἕρπε Δελφῶν ἐς θεόδμητον πόλιν | νεκρὸν κομίζων τόνδε, the meaning is, 'Go and take this dead body to Delphi's god-built town.')
1398.
mvp-comment-894-1
Observe the repetition of τἄλλα after τὰ ἄλλα, with a different reference.
1401.
mvp-comment-895-1
ἐπαινέσας τὸ σόν] ‘Approving your decision,' i. e. not complaining of it.
1402ff.
mvp-comment-896-1
Exodos. The anapaests give the signal for departure, and probably indicate that Ajax is not to be buried in the fatal spot, but is carried off the stage in solemn procession.
1402.
mvp-comment-897-1
The unseemly interruption of the Atreidae has delayed the burial.
1403-1408.
mvp-comment-898-1
Perhaps the tripod and the armour were carried in the procession, which would go forth while the Chorus or the Coryphaeus chanted ll. 1418-20. During the words of Teucer, various attendants are moving to and fro, until at l. 1413 all is ready, and the procession forms.
1404-1405.
mvp-comment-899-1
ταχύνετε .. θέσθ'] The digging of the grave takes time. The tripod is set up in a moment. Hence the change of tense.
1404-1406.
mvp-comment-900-1
τοὶ. ἐπικαίρον] ‘Others set over the fire the tripod on its lofty stand, ready to serve for pure lustration." The words of Ajax,
supr. 654, compared with 862, suggest that he bathed himself before his end. But Teucer could not know this, and in any case the lustration was necessary, especially after the self-violence. For ἀμφίπυρον, which is predicative,
cp. Il. 18. 344, ἀμφὶ πυρὶ στῆσαι τρίποδα μέγαν. τοί continues the epic note struck in κοίλην κάπετον. λουτρῶν is a genitive of respect after ἐπίκαιρον, 'With a view to,' 'For the purpose of.'
Cp. Thuc. 3. 92. § 5, τοῦ πολέμου καλῶς . . καθίστασθαι.
1407-1408.
mvp-comment-901-1
According to the wish of Ajax expressed to the mariners,
supr. 572 foll., his body-armour is to be buried with him, while the shield is leſt to Eurysaces. The Chorus must be supposed to have communicated this message to Teucer. See Introduction. Join ἐκ κλισίας φερέτω. The crowd who have gathered are now ready as one man to obey Teucer.
1409-1413.
mvp-comment-902-1
'Yes, and do thou, dear boy, as far as thy strength allows, help me thus to lift thy father's frame, applying thy hands with loving care. For the darkened life-current still issues from
1409-1413.
mvp-comment-902-2
the warm arteries.' The clause with γάρ gives the reason for the addition of φιλότητι θιγών. The σύριγγες are the circular mouths of the several arteries, which were imagined to be full of air, and to blow forth the blood. ἄνω is 'into the air.'
Cp. Phil. 783, τόδ᾽ ἐκ βυθοῦ | κηκῖον αἷμα. Others, comparing
supr. 918 (when the wound was recent), explain σύριγγες of the nostrils, and suppose Teucer merely to raise the shoulders in order to stay the flow of blood.
1415.
mvp-comment-903-1
τῷδ᾽ ἀνδρί]
Essay on L. § 12. p. 18.
1416.
mvp-comment-904-1
κοὐδενί πω λῴονι] The whole clause is affected by attraction.
Essay on L. § 35. p. 60
; and
cp. 'nonsuch,' 'nonpareil,' 'on ne peut mieux,' and similar idioms of modern speech.
1417.
mvp-comment-905-1
[Αίαντος.. φωνῶ] 'Than Ajax, I speak of the time when he was in life.' This line is open to question, chiefly on the metrical ground of the awkwardness of closing a system of marching anapaests with two paroemiacs. For ὅτ᾽ ἦν,
cp. Eur. Fr. 313 (the shade of Bellerophon is apostrophizing his former self), ἦσθ᾽ εἰς θεοὺς μὲν εὐσεβής, ὅτ᾽ ἦσθ', ἀεί, κ.τ.λ.
