255.
mvp-comment-185-1
τὸν αἰσ᾿ ἄπλατος ίσχει] 'Possessed by an all-endangering doom.' The chorus long to stand by Ajax, but are deterred by his madness.
Cp. Trach. 785,
κοὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα τἀνδρὸς ἀντίον μολεῖν : ib. 797,
ὦ παῖ, πρόσελθε, μὴ φύγῃς τοὐμὸν κακόν, | μηδ' εἴ σε χρὴ θανόντι συνθανεῖν ἐμοί: ib. 1030,
ἀποτίβατος ἀγρία νόσος.
257.
mvp-comment-186-1
οὐκέτι] Sc.
ἴσχει νιν ἡ μανία. 'He may be approached with safety now.'
λαμπρᾶς, κ.τ.λ.] 'For he, like a Southern storm, after a sharp outburst, ceases to rage, and the lightning plays no more.'
ἄτερ, κ.τ.λ. is to be taken proleptically =
ὥστε ἄτερ στεροπῆς εἶναι. E. on L. § 38. p. 70. Otherwise the words might mean, 'He desists without lightning:' i.e. his violence comes to an end without doing irreparable harm.
Cp. Eur. Med. 93, 4,
οὐδὲ παύσεται | χόλου, σάφ' οἶδα, πρὶν κατασκῆψαί τινα: Shak. King John, 4. 2, 'So foul a sky clears not without a storm.' But although Tecmessa is for the moment relieved, her apprehensions are not sufficiently calmed to make this natural.
259.
mvp-comment-187-1
Φρόνιμος] Sc.
ὤν. Essay on L. § 39. Ρ. 72.
φρόνιμον (sc.
ὄντα) is a v. r. or MS. conjecture.
260.
mvp-comment-188-1
οἰκεῖα πάθη] Troubles all one's own.' i.e. both as home-felt and self-wrought.
Cp. El. 215,
οἰκείας εἰς ἄτας.
261.
mvp-comment-189-1
παραπράξαντος] «Having assisted.'
Cp. παραδράω (
οἷά τε τοῖς ἀγαθοῖσι παραδρώωσι χέρηες, Od. 15, 324).
262.
mvp-comment-190-1
μεγάλας ὀδύνας ὑποτείνει] 'Causes intense grief within.'
ὑποτείνει, 1.2.
ὑπέχει ἐντεταμένως. Cp. Pind. O1. 2. 100,
βαθεῖαν ὑπέχων μέριμναν ἀγροτέραν.
263.
mvp-comment-191-1
'But if he hath ceased' (from his madness), 'he must be surely happy.' Others take
εὐτυχεῖν impersonally, as in Oed. Tyr 88,
πάντ᾽ ἂν εὐτυχεῖν, –‘All must be well.'
264.
mvp-comment-192-1
'For trouble counts for less when it is gone.' The gen. is first absolute, and then in regimen with
λόγος.
Cp. infr. 1161, 2,
κἀμοὶ γὰρ αἴσχιστον κλύειν | ἀνδρὸς ματαίου φλαῦρ᾽ ἔπη μυθουμένου.
265.
mvp-comment-193-1
αἵρεσιν] Sc.
τούτων, viz. ll. 266, 7, which
πότερα anticipates.
266.
mvp-comment-194-1
ἔχειν]
Supr. 203.
267.
mvp-comment-195-1
κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι] Essay on L. § 44. p. 83. Or to be with others and mingle your sorrow with theirs.'
ξυνών marks that while Ajax was delirious, he stood apart from the grief which others felt for him.
269.
mvp-comment-196-1
'Our case, then, since the madness left us, is grown more desperate.' Tecmessa identifies her lot with that of Ajax. Compare
infr. 791,
μῶν ὀλώλαμεν; A few lines below (273-6) she speaks of herself in the plural as contrasted with him.
272.
mvp-comment-197-1
οἶσιν. . κακοῖς] i. e.
κακοῖς ἐν οἶσιν εἴχετο. Cp. infr. 1144, 5,
ἡνίκ᾽ ἐν κακῷ | χειμῶνος εἴχετ'.
275.
mvp-comment-198-1
πᾶς ἐλήλαται] 'Is vexed to the uttermost.'
πᾶς is adverbial. See Essay on L. § 23. p. 38, and
cp. infr. 519,
ἐν σοὶ πᾶσ᾽ ἔγωγε σώζομαι. The perfect, as in
πεφόβημαι, supr. 139, expresses a completed state.
277.
mvp-comment-199-1
ἆρ'..;] Essay on L. § 29. p. 50. 'What is this but to have the sorrow doubled that before was single?' Cp. Constance in King John, 3. 4. 'I am not mad; - I would to heaven I were! For then 'tis like I should forget myself: O, if I could, what grief should I forget!'
278-279.
mvp-comment-200-1
μὴ ἐκ θεοῦ | πληγή τις ἥκει] 'That a calamity is really come from Heaven.' The chorus before admitted as a possibility (
supr. 186,
ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος) what now appears to be too certain. Hence the indicative is more forcible here, although the subjunctive (
ἥκῃ) is more regular and may be the true reading.
282-283.
mvp-comment-201-1
'In what wise lighted on you the commencement of the trouble? Tell us, who grieve with you at the misfortune, what it is.'
τύχας, continuing the notion of
κακοῦ, is governed either (1) both of
δήλωσον and of
ξυναλγοῦσιν, or (2) of
ξυναλγοῦσιν only.
284.
mvp-comment-202-1
ὡς κοινωνὸς ὤν] 'As you are no less interested.'
285.
mvp-comment-203-1
ἄκρας νυκτός] 'At dead of night.' That this, and not 'on the verge of night,' is the meaning here, appears from the context. The flames lighted at evening were burnt out, so that all was dark.
ἄκρᾳ σὺν ἑσπέρᾳ in Pind. Pyth. 11. 16, is explained by Dissen 'ad seram vesperam.'
286.
mvp-comment-204-1
Cp. Od. 18. 307,
αὐτίκα λαμπτῆρας τρεῖς ἵστασαν ἐν μεγάροισιν, | ὄφρα φαείνοιεν, περὶ δὲ ξύλα κάγκανα θῆκαν καὶ δᾷδας μετέμισγον: ib. 19. 64,
φύως ἔμεν ἠδὲ θέρεσθαι.
287.
mvp-comment-205-1
κενάς] «Objectless;' i.e. without apparent cause. Tecmessa knows little of what Ajax does abroad. But she knows that there is something strange in his going forth at night without a summons.
289.
mvp-comment-206-1
ἄκλητος is expanded with
οὔτε-οὔτε, 'neither-nor.'
291.
mvp-comment-207-1
ἀλλά] i. e. 'Instead of there being an alarm of any kind.'
292.
mvp-comment-208-1
βαί, ἀεὶ δ᾽ ὑμνούμενα] 'Few words, but to a well-known tune.' Eur. Phoen. 438,
πάλαι μὲν οὖν ὑμνηθέν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐρῶ: Plat. Rep. 8. 549 D,
ὅσα φιλοῦσιν αἱ γυναῖκες περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὑμνεῖν.
293.
mvp-comment-209-1
Cp. Fr. 61,
ἄλλως τε καὶ κόρῃ τε κἀργείᾳ γένος, | αἷς κόσμος ἡ σιγή τε καὶ τὰ παῦρ᾽ ἔπη.
294.
mvp-comment-210-1
μαθοῦσ᾽] 'When I perceived,' viz. that he was not to be reasoned with. The unusual division of the line marks the reluctant desistence of Tecmessa.
Cp. O. T. 1513, ib. 110, and notes.
295.
mvp-comment-211-1
πάθας] 'Misfortunes.' The word is used with a vague sense of the horror of a scene, in which Ajax was no less unfortunate than his victims.
297.
mvp-comment-212-1
εὔκερών τ᾿ ἄγραν] The horns of the sheep are the most conspicuous object as they are seen in front and from above. The objection 'that the bulls were also horned' is absurdly logical. There is no sufficient reason for preferring the conj.
εὔερον. The word describes all the cattle, small and great, excepting the bulls, which have been mentioned separately.
298.
mvp-comment-213-1
τοὺς μέν] The bulls.
299.
mvp-comment-214-1
ἐρράχιζε] 'Clove in twain.'
299-300.
mvp-comment-215-1
τοὺς δὲ δεσμίους | ᾐκίζεθ᾽] 'Others, as his prisoners, he tormented at his pleasure.'
ὥστε φῶτας] 'As if human creatures.'
ἐν ποίμναις πίτνων] 'Making onsets on the cattle.'
Cp. supr. 185.
301.
mvp-comment-216-1
ὑπάξας διὰ θυρῶν] 'Issuing suddenly through the doorway.'
ὑπό = 'from beneath the tent.'
σκιᾷ τινί «In converse with some shadow.' The dative as with
διαλέγεσθαι. Tecmessa, not seeing or hearing Athena, supposes Ajax to be addressing some 'bodiless creation' of his brain.
Cp. Shak. Hamlet, 3, 4, 'How is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy, And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?'
302.
mvp-comment-217-1
ἀνέσπα] «Heaved forth.'
Cp. Plat. Theaet. 180 Α,
ὥσπερ ἐκ φαρέτρας ῥηματίσκια αἰνιγματώδη ἀνασπῶντες ἀποτοξεύουσιν : Αr. Ran. 903,
ῥήματα γομφοπαγή. πινακηδὸν ἀποσπῶν.
303.
mvp-comment-218-1
συντιθείς] Sc.
τοῖς λόγοις. Εp.
προστίθημι.
304.
mvp-comment-219-1
ὅσην. . ἰών] 'What insults he had gone and wreaked upon them.' This clause depends at once on
λόγους and on
γέλων. The participle adds liveliness,-'how he had gone and paid them.'
305.
mvp-comment-220-1
ἐπάξας] L. has
ἀπάξας both here and
supr. 301. Supposing this were right, the same word would be used in two different senses, 'rushing off' and 'rushing back;' but the two words,
ὑπάξας, ἐπάξας, seem more appropriate.
306.
mvp-comment-221-1
μόλις πως] ‘By slow stages.' The phrase recalls the anxiety with which Tecmessa had watched the gradual awakening.
Cp. Thuc. 8. 86, § 2,
ἔπειτα μέντοι μόλις ἡσυχάσαντες ἤκουσαν.
307.
mvp-comment-222-1
'As he cast his eye along the room, and saw that it was full of ruin.'
ἄτη is calamity caused by infatuation.
Cp. infr. 351 foll.
308-309.
mvp-comment-223-1
ἐν δ᾽ ἐρειπίοις . . ἀρνείου φόνου] 'Amidst the carnage of the flock he sate, a ruin amongst ruins.' The tautology,
ἐν ἐρειπίοις ἐρειφθείς, is here expressive. The 2nd genitive,
ἀρνείου φόνου (see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37 a), is added to give greater distinctness to
ἐρειπίοις νεκρῶν as a single notion.
310.
mvp-comment-224-1
'With clenched nails grasping his hair with his hand.'
ὄνυξι adds force to
ἀπρίξ.
311.
mvp-comment-225-1
The order (Essay on L. § 41. p. 76) shows that
πλεῖστον is an afterthought. 'For some while, indeed for most of the time.'
312.
mvp-comment-226-1
τὰ δείν᾽ . . ἔπη] 'Those dreadful words,' which I remember so vividly.
Cp. Ant. 408,
τὰ δείν᾽ ἐκεῖν᾽ ἐπηπειλημένοι. Not merely, 'Words that are dreadful.'
313.
mvp-comment-227-1
φανοίην] Fut. opt. Ajax' words were
εἰ μὴ φανεῖς.
314.
mvp-comment-228-1
ἐν τῷ πράγματος]
Cp. Trach. 375,
ποῦ ποτ᾽ εἰμὶ πράγματος;
315.
mvp-comment-229-1
δείσασα,] 'Being overcome with fear.' As the deprecating
φίλοι shows, Tecmessa is excusing herself to the chorus for having told Ajax, under the influence of his threats, that which only plunged him into fresh sorrow. For the participle thus used without an express object,
cp. Ant. 1005,
δείσας δ' εὐθὺς ἐμπύρων ἐγευόμην. Hermann punctuates as in the text. Others join
δείσασα τοὐξειργασμένον, which is less simple.
316.
mvp-comment-230-1
ὅσονπερ ἐξηπιστάμην] For this limitation,
cp. supr. 295,
καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω λέξαι πάθας.
319-320.
mvp-comment-231-1
(1) 'He used to teach us that such complainings indicated a degraded and leaden soul.' The infinitive is added epexegetically to complete the abrupt expression
ἐξηγεῖτο τοὺς τοιούσδε γόους πρὸς βαρυψύχου ἀνδρός. For
ἔχειν, sc.
τοὺς τοιούσδε γόους, cp. Il. 18. 495,
αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον. (2) But an inf. after
ἐξηγεῖτο is rather required:
cp. Aesch. Eum. 595,
ὁ μάντις ἐξηγεῖτό σοι μητροκτονεῖν. Can
ἔχειν with the adverbial phrase
πρὸς... ἀνδρός be used intransitively (= 'proceed from') (
εἶναι appears as a gloss), or should
ἄγειν be read, 'He taught us to esteem'?
Cp. Ant. 34,
καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμ᾽ ἄγειν | οὐχ ὡς παρ᾿ οὐδέν. For
βαρυψύχου it is possible that
βραχυψύχου ought to be read.
321.
mvp-comment-232-1
ἀλλ᾽ ἀψόφητος, κ.τ.λ.]
ἀλλά opposes what follows to the general sense of what precedes.
ἀψόφητος ὀξέων κωκυμάτων] ‘Uttering no sound of shrill lamentation.'
322.
mvp-comment-233-1
'He breathed deep groans like a lowing bull.'
ὑπὸ in comp. implies 'not loud, but deep.'
323.
mvp-comment-234-1
νῦν δ'] At first he uttered shrill lamentings, unlike the deep mutterings which before expressed his discontent. 'But now' he is silent.
κείμενος] 'Prostrate.'
Cp. supr. 207,
infr. 427.
325.
mvp-comment-235-1
ἥσυχος] « Without sound or motion.' The quietness of Ajax' present mood is ominous. This description prepares the spectator for what he is to see
infr. 346.
327.
mvp-comment-236-1
τοιαῦτα] Sc.
ὥς τι δρασείων κακόν. Tecmessa already apprehends the danger of suicide.
329.
mvp-comment-237-1
εἰσελθόντες] When Ajax is discovered by the
ἐκκύκλημα, infr. 346, this is equivalent to the scene being changed to within the hut.
330.
mvp-comment-238-1
οἱ τοιοίδε] · Men in such mood;' i. e. gloomily bent on self-destruction.
λόγοις] This word, to be joined with
φίλων, is restored from the quotation of Stobaeus. The reading of the MSS. is hardly possible.
λόγοις may have been lost from its similarity to
λέγεις in the termination of the next line, and
φίλοι may have been added to supply the gap.
331.
mvp-comment-239-1
On the order, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 77.
332.
mvp-comment-240-1
'That our hero is frenzied with his trouble.' The mariners apprehend that the madness of Ajax is in some way connected with his disappointment.
Cp. infr. 925-32.
ἡμῖν is dative of the person interested. See Essay on L. § 13. p. 19 f, and
cp. supr. 216,
ἡμὶν ὁ κλεινὸς | Αἴας ἀπελωβήθη:
infr. 733,
ἀλλ᾽ ἡμὶν Αἴας ποῦ ᾿στιν, ὡς φράσω τάδε ; κακοῖς]
Supr. 275,
infr. 532.
333.
mvp-comment-241-1
The voice of Ajax is heard from within.
334.
mvp-comment-242-1
μᾶλλον] Sc.
δεινά σοι λέξω, or
γνώσεσθε ταῦτα.
335.
mvp-comment-243-1
οἵαν] She judges from the intonation of the cry, which the chorus,
infr. 337, do not know whether to interpret as importing madness or grief.
337.
mvp-comment-244-1
ἢ τοῖς . . παρών] 'Or to grieve at witnessing the effects of past madness which remain with him.'
Cp. supr. 307. The addition of
παρών suggests that Ajax, seeing the carnage in the tent, is the eye-witness of his own madness.
339.
mvp-comment-245-1
Ajax calls upon Teucer.
παῖ is frequently addressed by an elder person to a younger, even by the Corinthian messenger to Oedipus, O. Τ. 1008, and by Electra (under excitement) to the supposed Phocian stranger, El. 1220. The picture in the Iliad, 8. 271, of Teucer retiring behind the shield of Ajax,
παῖς ὡς ὑπὸ μητέρα, suggests that Teucer was the younger brother. And it is natural to suppose Ajax to have been born before Telamon's expedition in which he won Hesione, the mother of Teucer.-According to Pindar in the fifth (or sixth) Isthmian ode, Ajax was given to Telamon in answer to the prayer of Heracles before the expedition. But in such details the legends are not constant. See O. C. 375, and note. Lycophr. 445 and schol. -The need of Teucer's presence is Ajax' first thought on coming to himself. Tecmessa at first thinks of the child, until, in l. 342, Ajax calls Teucer by name. He does not ask to see the child till l.530, after his attention has been vividly drawn that way by Tecmessa.
341.
mvp-comment-246-1
τάλαιν᾽ ἐγώ] Tecmessa is distracted between the fear of crossing Ajax and the fear of harm to the child. The division of the line helps to mark this distraction of the wife and mother.
343.
mvp-comment-247-1
λεηλατήσει] Teucer is gone foraging into the Mysian highlands,
infr. 720. Compare Thuc. 1. 11,
φαίνεται .. πρὸς γεωργίαν τῆς · Χερσονήσου τραπόμενοι καὶ λῃστείαν τῆς τροφῆς ἀπορίᾳ. ἐγὼ δ'] · While that I.'
345.
mvp-comment-248-1
κἀπ᾿ ἐμοὶ βλέψας] ‘Even at me, on seeing me.' The abrupt expression,
αἰδῶ λαβεῖν ἐπί τινι, is supplemented by the addition of the participle, i.e.
εἰς ἐμὲ βλέψας. αἰδώς is the feeling which prompts
σωφροσύνη.
346.
mvp-comment-249-1
ἐκκύκλημα. Ajax is disclosed with signs of slaughter about him. He is sitting upright. The slaughtered sheep are the evidence of his situation (
τὰ τοῦδε πράγη): his wild, dishevelled appearance betrays the condition of his mind (
αὐτὸς ὡς ἔχων κυρεῖ).
348.
mvp-comment-250-1
The lyrical numbers of this commos are chiefly dochmiac, mixed with iambic and trochaic rhythms, which increase in the third strophe and antistrophe. The scheme is the following...
348.
mvp-comment-250-2
The arrangement of the latter part of γ' is rendered doubtful by the manifest corruption of ll. 406, 7. Perhaps-
εἰ τἀμὰ μὲν φθίνει, φίλοι, πάλαι· μώραις δ᾽ ἄγραισι ταῖσδ᾽ ὁμοῦ προσκείμεθα. And in the antistrophe, 424, 5,
τύδ᾽ ἐξερῶ μέγ᾽ οἷον οὔτινα Τροία στρατοῦ δέρχθη χθονὸς μολόντ' ἀπό. Or, reading
τάδε for
τά, and omitting
τοῖσδ᾽ ὁμοῦ, στρατοῦ, and
ἀπό, -
εἰ τάδε μὲν φθίνει, φίλοι, πάλαι· μώραις δ᾽ ἄγραις προσκείμεθα, | πᾶς.
348.
mvp-comment-250-3
and-
ἐξερέω μέγ', οἷον οὔτινα Τροία χθονὸς δέρχθη μολόνθ' | Ἑλ.. See note on 405 foll.
348.
mvp-comment-250-4
Ajax at once perceives the mariners. 'The great rage, you see, is killed in him,' but the ground-swell of his passion is still heard.
349.
mvp-comment-251-1
μόνοι ἐμῶν φίλων] Sc.
παρόντες, or some such word, which is expanded in what follows.
350.
mvp-comment-252-1
ὀρθῷ νόμῳ] Sc.
τῷ τῆς φιλίας.
351.
mvp-comment-253-1
ἴδεσθέ μ᾽ οἷον, κ.τ.λ.]
με is to be taken (1) after
ἴδεσθε, and (2) after
ἀμφίδρομον κυκλεῖται, the latter being a picturesque expansion of
ἀμφικυκλεῖται. φοινίας ὑπὸ ζάλης] 'Lashed by a cruel storm.'
ζάλη is a squall accompanied with rain or hail. The surge surrounding Ajax is the heap of mangled victims, together with the horror which they symbolize. For the boldness of this image,
cp. El. 733,
κλύδων᾿ ἔφιππον ἐν μέσῳ κυκώμενον.
