Sophocles Ajax 98

mvp-comment-167-1 The words λαμπρᾶς ἄτερ στεροπῆς ¹ λήγει ² ᾄξας ³

mvp-comment-168-1 οἰκεῖα πάθη ⁴

mvp-comment-168-2 παραπράξαντος ⁵

mvp-comment-168-3 ὑποτείνει ⁶

mvp-comment-169-1 πέπαυται ⁷ εὐτυχεῖν ⁸

mvp-comment-169-2 φρούδου γὰρ ⁹ λόγος ¹⁰

mvp-comment-170-1 πότερα ¹¹

mvp-comment-171-1 The words κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι ¹²

mvp-comment-172-1 τὸ … διπλάζον ¹³

mvp-comment-173-1 Though οὐ νοσοῦντος ¹⁴ οὐ νοσοῦντες ¹⁵

mvp-comment-173-2 ἀτώμεσθα ¹⁶

mvp-comment-174-1 πῶς … ὅπως ¹⁷

mvp-comment-175-1 οἷσιν εἴχετ’ ἐν κακοῖς ¹⁸

mvp-comment-175-2 φρονοῦντας ¹⁹ βλέποντας ²⁰ κακοῖς ²¹

mvp-comment-176-1 κἀνέπνευσε ²² ἔληξε ²³

mvp-comment-177-1 Instead of κεῖνος ²⁴

mvp-comment-177-2 πᾶς ²⁵

mvp-comment-177-3 ἐλήλαται ²⁶

mvp-comment-178-1 ἆῤ ²⁷

mvp-comment-178-2 δὶς τός’ ²⁸ ἐξ ἁπλῶν ²⁹

mvp-comment-179-1 δέδοικα μὴ … ἥκῃ ³⁰ ἥκει ³¹ ἥκῃ ³² ἥκοι ³³

mvp-comment-179-2 πῶς γάρ ³⁴

mvp-comment-179-3 εἰ πεπαυμένος ³⁵

mvp-comment-179-4 μηδέν τι ³⁶

mvp-comment-180-1 ὡς ὧδ’ ἐχόντων ³⁷

mvp-comment-181-1 τίς γάρ ³⁸

mvp-comment-181-2 προσέπτατο ³⁹

mvp-comment-181-3 From the Homeric

( Il. 13. 592 , etc.) Tragedy borrows this non-thematic aor. (of which the active form would be ): cp. 693 . The aor. of in Attic Comedy and prose is usu. (see Veitch, Irreg. Verbs, 2nd ed., p. 530): and of this we have the inf. in O. T. 17 ,—again in accord with Homeric precedent ( Il. 4. 126 ).

mvp-comment-181-4 τύχας ⁴⁰ δήλωσον ⁴¹ τύχαις ⁴² ξυναλγοῦσιν ⁴³

mvp-comment-182-1 κεῖνος γὰρ ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-182-2 ἄκρας νυκτός ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-183-1 λαμπτῆρες ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-183-2 For this mode of indicating the time, cp. Her. 7. 215

: Propert. 3. 8. 1

ad extremas..lucernas

: Aul. Gellius 3. 2

post primam facem.

mvp-comment-184-1 ἔγχος ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-184-2 ἐξόδους ἕρπειν ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-184-3 κενάς ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-185-1 The general word, ἄκλητος ⁵⁰ οὔτε ⁵¹

mvp-comment-185-2 ἀφορμᾷς ⁵² πεῖραν ⁵³

mvp-comment-185-3 σάλπιγγος ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-185-4 πᾶς εὕδει στρατός ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-186-1 ὑμνούμενα ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-186-2 γυναιξὶ ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-186-3 κόσμον ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-187-1 μαθοῦς’ ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-187-2 ἐσσύθη ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-188-1 τὰς ἐκεῖ … πάθας ⁶¹ τύχας ⁶²

mvp-comment-189-1 κύνας βοτῆρας ⁶³

mvp-comment-189-2 εὔερον ⁶⁴ εύκερων ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-190-1 ηὐχένιζε ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-190-2 ἄνω τρέπων ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-190-3 ἔσφαζε ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-190-4 κἀρράχιζε ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-190-5 δεσμίους ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-190-6 ὥστε ⁷¹

mvp-comment-190-7 φῶτας ⁷²

mvp-comment-191-1 ὑπᾴξας ⁷³ ἀπᾴξας ⁷⁴ ἐπᾴξας ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-191-2 σκιᾷ τινὶ ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-191-3 λόγους ἀνέσπα ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-191-4 Ἀτρειδῶν κάτα ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-192-1 ἀμφ’ Ὀδυσσεῖ ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-192-2 συντιθεὶς γέλων πολύν ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-192-3 γέλων ⁸¹ τ ⁸²

mvp-comment-193-1 ὕβριν ⁸³

mvp-comment-193-2 ἐκτείσαιτο ⁸⁴ ἐκτείσοιτο ⁸⁵ αὐτῶν ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-193-3 ἰών ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-194-1 ἐπᾴξας ⁸⁸ ἀπᾴξας ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-194-2 αὖθις … πάλιν ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-195-1 μόλις πως ⁹¹

mvp-comment-196-1 ἄτης ⁹²

mvp-comment-197-1 )θώϋξεν ⁹³

mvp-comment-197-2 ἐρειπίοις ⁹⁴ νεκρῶν ⁹⁵ ἀρνείου φόνου ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-197-3 ἐρειφθεὶς ⁹⁷ ἐρεισθεὶς ⁹⁸ ἐρειφθεὶς ⁹⁹ ἐρειπίοις ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-198-1 ἀπρὶξ … συλλαβὼν ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-198-2 ὄνυξι … χερί ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-199-1 καὶ τὸν μὲν ἧστο πλεῖστον ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-200-1 τὰ δείν’ … ἔπη ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-201-1 φανοίην ¹⁰⁵ ιη ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-202-1 ἐν τῷ πράγματος ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-203-1 The words κἀγώ, φίλοι, δείσασα ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-204-1 πρὸς γὰρ κακοῦ τε ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-204-2 βαρυψύχου ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-204-3 ἐξηγεῖτ’ ¹¹¹

mvp-comment-205-1 ἀψόφητος … κωκυμάτων ¹¹² ὑπεστέναζε ¹¹³

mvp-comment-205-2 ὀξέων ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-205-3 ταῦρος ὣς βρυχώμενος ¹¹⁵ βριμώμενος ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-206-1 νῦν δ’ ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-207-1 ἄσιτος ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-207-2 σιδηροκμῆσιν ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-208-1 ὥς τι δρασείων ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-208-2 δρασείων ¹²¹

mvp-comment-209-1 τοιαῦτα ¹²² πως ¹²³

mvp-comment-209-2 καὶ λέγει κὠδύρεται ¹²⁴ ἥσυχος ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-209-3 The verse is rejected by Nauck and others as though it were inconsistent with v. 325, and had been patched up from v. 383. There is no ground for this view. On the other hand, after

in 325, the fear expressed in 326 would be unintelligible, if no reason were subjoined. Bergk, who joins in condemning the verse, allows that Sophocles is usually careful of logical coherence in drama (‘pflegt .. sorgfältig zu motiviren’); but suggests that here the neglect of it might be ‘a mark of the archaic style’ ( Jahr. f. Class. Phil. 97. 378).

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐστάλην ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-210-2 εἰσελθόντες ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-211-1 λόγοις ¹²⁸ φίλοι ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-212-1 Τελεύταντος ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-212-2 ἡμῖν ¹³¹ λέγεις ¹³²

mvp-comment-212-3 διαπεφοιβάσθαι ¹³³ κακοῖς ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-213-1 ἰώ μοί μοι ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-214-1 μᾶλλον ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-214-2 ἢ οὐκ ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-214-3 Αἴαντος, οἵαν ¹³⁸ θωΰσσει ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-215-1 τοῖς πάλαι νοσήμασι ξυνοῦσι ¹⁴⁰ ξυνοῦσι ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-215-2 παρών ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-216-1 ἰὼ παῖ παῖ ¹⁴³ Τεῦκρον καλῶ ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-216-2 Prof. Campbell understands

as meaning Teucer, whom an elder brother might so address. Tecmessa, at least, did not so take the words.

mvp-comment-217-1 ὤμοι τάλαιν’ ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-217-2 Εὐρύσακες ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-217-3 ἀμφὶ σοὶ ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-217-4 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-218-1 Τεῦκρον ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-218-2 τὸν εἰσαεὶ … χρόνον ¹⁵⁰ λεηλατήσει ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-219-1 ἀνοίγετε ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-219-2 αἰδῶ … λάβοι ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-219-3 κἀπ’ ἐμοὶ ¹⁵⁴ βλέψας ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-220-1 διοίγω ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-220-2 πράγη ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-220-3 The

is now pushed on through the central door. It was a small stage, but large enough to allow of Ajax being shown surrounded by some of the slaughtered animals. The word in 347, and the language of vv. 351 ff., show that the carnage was represented. The other plays in which Soph <*>es has used the eccyclema are the Antigone (1294, where see n.), and the Electra (1464 f., n.).

mvp-comment-220-4 Ajax, sitting among his victims, and meditating his own destruction, was the subject of a famous picture by Timomachus of Byzantium. Philostratus ( Vit. Apoll. 2. 22 § 5) thus describes it:

[cp. v. 325 ], . The picture was at Cyzicus in 70 B.C. ( Cic. In Verr. 2. 4. 60 ), but was afterwards bought by Julius Caesar for the Temple of Venus Genetrix in Rome ( N. H. 7. 38 § 126). See Introduction § 20.

mvp-comment-221-1 This kommos serves, like the last (201—262), as a lyric expression of tragic pathos; after which the situation is further developed, as in the former case, by iambic dialogue. But in one respect this kommos differs from its predecessor. In order to bring the mind of Ajax into fuller relief, the lyrics are given to him alone, while the Chorus and Tecmessa speak only trimeters.

mvp-comment-221-2 The structure is as follows:—1st strophe 348—355=1st antistr. 356—363: 2nd str. 364—378=2nd ant. 379—393: 3rd str. 394—411=3rd ant. 412—429. For the metres see Metrical Analysis.

mvp-comment-221-3 ἰὼ φίλοι ναυβάται ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-221-4 ἐμμένοντες ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-221-5 ὀρθῷ νόμῳ ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-222-1 ἴδεσθέ μ’ ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-222-2 κῦμα ¹⁶² ζάλης ¹⁶³ φοινίας ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-222-3 ἀμφίδρομον ¹⁶⁵ κυκλεῖται ¹⁶⁶ κυκλοῦται ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-223-1 οἴμ’ ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-223-2 ἀφροντίστως ἔχει ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-224-1 ναΐας ἀρωγὸν τέχνας ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-225-1 ἅλιον ὃς ἐπέβας ¹⁷¹ ἁλίαν ὃς ἐπέβας ¹⁷² ὃς ἁλίαν ἔβας ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-225-2 ὃς ¹⁷⁴ γένος ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-225-3 ἐπέβας ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-225-4 ἐλίσσων ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-226-1 πημονὰν ἐπαρκέσοντ’ ¹⁷⁸ ἀπαρκέσοντ’ ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-226-2 The traditional reading ποιμένων ¹⁸⁰ πημονὰν ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-227-1 ἀλλά ¹⁸² με ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-227-2 συνδάϊξον ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-228-1 εὔφημα φώνει ¹⁸⁵ κακὸν κακῷ διδοὺς ἄκος ¹⁸⁶ τὸ πῆμα τῆς ἄτης ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-229-1 θρασύν ¹⁸⁸ εὐκάρδιον ¹⁸⁹ ἄτρεστον ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀφόβοις ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-230-2 δεινὸν χέρας ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-231-1 οἴμοι γέλωτος ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-232-1 δέσποτ’ ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-233-1 οὐκ ἐκτός; οὐκ ἄψορρον ¹⁹⁵ οὐκ ἐκτὸς ἄψορρον ἐκνεμεῖ πόδα ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-233-2 For ἐκτὸς ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-233-3 ἄψορρον ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-233-4 ἐκνεμεῖ ¹⁹⁹ ἐκνεμεῖς ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-234-1 ὦ πρὸς θεῶν ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-235-1 ὢ δύσμορος ²⁰²

mvp-comment-235-2 ὃς ²⁰³

mvp-comment-235-3 χερὶ μὲν μεθῆκα ²⁰⁴ χερὶ ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-235-4 τοὺς ἀλάστορας ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-235-5 κλυτοῖς ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-235-6 αἰπολίοις ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-235-7 ἐρεμνὸν ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-235-8 αἷμ’ ἔδευσα ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-236-1 ἐπ’ ἐξειργασμένοις ²¹¹

mvp-comment-236-2 οὐ γὰρ γένοιτ’ ἂν ²¹² ὅπως ²¹³

mvp-comment-236-3 For the sentiment, cp. Tr. 742

(n.).

mvp-comment-237-1 πάνθ’ ὁρῶν ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-237-2 ἁπάντων τ’ ²¹⁵ τ’ ²¹⁶ δ’ ²¹⁷ δ’ ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-237-3 κακῶν ὄργανον ²¹⁹

mvp-comment-238-1 ἄλημα ²²⁰

mvp-comment-239-1 ἦ που ²²¹

mvp-comment-239-2 ἄγεις ²²²

mvp-comment-240-1 ξὺν τῷ θεῷ ²²³

mvp-comment-240-2 ἵδοιμι ²²⁴

mvp-comment-241-1 μηδὲν· μέγ’ εἴπῃς ²²⁵

mvp-comment-242-1 προπάτωρ ²²⁶ πάτερ ²²⁷ χεροῖν ²²⁸

mvp-comment-242-2 πῶς ἂν … θάνοιμι ²²⁹

mvp-comment-243-1 δισσάρχας ²³⁰

mvp-comment-243-2 ὀλέσσας ²³¹

mvp-comment-243-3 βασιλῆς ²³²

mvp-comment-243-4 θάνοιμι καὐτός ²³³

mvp-comment-244-1 σκότος ²³⁴ ἔρεβος ²³⁵

mvp-comment-244-2 ὡς ἐμοί ²³⁶

mvp-comment-245-1 ἕλεσθ’ ἕλεσθέ μ’ ²³⁷

mvp-comment-246-1 γένος ²³⁸ ὄνασιν ²³⁹ εἰς ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-246-2 ἄξιος ²⁴¹

mvp-comment-246-3 βλέπειν ²⁴²

mvp-comment-247-1 ἁ Διὸς … θεὸς ²⁴³

mvp-comment-247-2 ὀλέθριον ²⁴⁴ οὔλιον ²⁴⁵

mvp-comment-248-1 φύγῃ … μενῶ ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-249-1 εἰ τὰ μὲν φθίνει ²⁴⁷

mvp-comment-249-2 (1) The antistrophic verses, 423—427 (

), appear sound. The changes which have been proposed in them have all been designed to suit some emendation in 405 ff., and would have no probability if verses 423 ff. were considered simply on their own merits.

mvp-comment-249-3 (2) There is only one real discrepancy of metre between the traditional text here and that of the antistrophe; viz., that τοῖσδ’ ²⁴⁸ τινα ²⁴⁹ ὁμοῦ πέλας ²⁵⁰

mvp-comment-249-4 (3) If, then, we assume that the antistrophe is sound, we may conclude that the fault in the strophe lies within the words

. A very slight change will restore the metre, viz. τοιοῖσδ’ ²⁵¹ τοῖσδ’ ²⁵² τοιοῖσδ’ ὁμοῦ βοτοῖς ²⁵³

mvp-comment-249-5 (4) Whatever may have been the original form of the words

, it is at least highly probable that their general sense was, ‘If my old renown is perishing.’ This is suggested by the other passages where we find the same sequence of ideas,— i.e., the thought of his past glory closely followed by that of his present disgrace; see (1) 421—427: (2) 437—456: (3) 612—621.

mvp-comment-249-6 (5) Those who believe that the antistrophic verses 423—427 are corrupt have a freer hand for emendation here; and, as will be seen in the Appendix, some of the proposed restorations have been very bold. But such remedies pass into the region of pure guess-work.

mvp-comment-250-1 προσκείμεθα ²⁵⁴

mvp-comment-250-2 μώραις ²⁵⁵ μωραῖς ²⁵⁶

mvp-comment-251-1 δίπαλτος ²⁵⁷

mvp-comment-252-1 φωνεῖν ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-252-2 ἔτλη ²⁵⁹

mvp-comment-253-1 πόροι ἁλίρροθοι ²⁶⁰ πάραλα ἄντρα ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-254-1 νέμος ²⁶²

mvp-comment-254-2 As I have noted in writing on the Troad elsewhere, ‘nearly all the plains and hills are more or less well-wooded. Besides the valonia oak, the elm, willow, cypress and tamarisk shrub abound. Lotus, galingale, and reeds are still plentiful, as in Homeric days, about the streams in the Trojan plain.’ ( Encyc. Brit., art. ‘Troad,’ vol. XXIII. p. 578.)

mvp-comment-255-1 πολὺν πολύν με ²⁶³

mvp-comment-255-2 δὴ ²⁶⁴ δαρόν ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-256-1 ἀμπνοὰς ἔχοντα ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-257-1 Σκαμάνδριοι … ῥοαί ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-258-1 εὔφρονες Ἀργείοις ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-259-1 οὐκέτ’ ἄνδρα μὴ τόνδ’ ἴδητ’ ²⁶⁹

mvp-comment-260-1 ἐξερῶ ²⁷⁰ ἐξερέω ²⁷¹

mvp-comment-260-2 Join οὔτινα ²⁷² στρατοῦ ²⁷³

mvp-comment-260-3 χθονὸς μολόντ’ ἀπὸ | Ἑλλανίδος ²⁷⁴

mvp-comment-260-4 This vaunt of Ajax (modified only by the half-apologetic

) is epic in tone; thus Achilles says of himself ( Il. 18. 105),

τοῖος ἐὼν οἷος οὔτις Αχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων

: Odysseus, ( Od. 9. 19,)

ὃς πᾶσι δόλοισιν

ἀνθρώποισι μέλω, καί μευ κλέος οὐρανὸν ἵκει

. Such a tone is better suited, indeed, to epos (in which speech is sometimes little more than audible thought) than to drama. But here, at least, as in the case of Heracles ( Tr. 1101 f.), it has the excuse of being prompted by the anguish of a sudden overthrow. (Cp. n. on O. T. 8 , where Oedipus speaks of himself as .)

mvp-comment-261-1 πρόκειμαι ²⁷⁵ πρόκειται ²⁷⁶ ἄνδρα … τόνδε ²⁷⁷

mvp-comment-262-1 οὔτοι … οὐδ’ ²⁷⁸ οὐ … οὔτε ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-262-2 ὅπως ἐῶ ²⁸⁰

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.

354-355. mvp-comment-254-1 'Alas! It is clear thou art too true a witness.' The chorus do not immediately respond to Ajax: but, being horror-struck at what they see, express their reflections on the situation to Tecmessa. The description she has given is only too true. The meaning of μαρτυρεῖν and the coldness of l. 355, as addressed to Ajax, prove this to be the right way of understanding the words.

355. mvp-comment-255-1 ὡς ἀφροντίστως ἔχει] (1) ‘How far he is from sane,' sc. ὁ Alas, replying to supr. 347. Or possibly (2), sc. τοὔργον, 'How little of sane thought is present in it.' 'Indeed, the fact declares that thought has had no part in what is done.' For the transference of a personal attribute from the agent to the act, cp. O. C. 240, 977, τό γ' ἆκον πρᾶγμα: Aesch. Ag. 1377, ἀγὼν . . οὐκ ἀφροντίστως. · Notandus euphemismus pro μανικῶς, Herm. Cp. Shak. King Lear, 4. 6. 81, 'The safer sense will ne'er accommodate | His master thus.'

356. mvp-comment-256-1 γένος .. τέχνας] Ο brother-band of helpers, who help by shipcraft.' ναΐας . τέχνας is a descriptive genitive explaining ἀρωγόν.

357. mvp-comment-257-1 'Who didst go on board the ship and ply' ( ἑλίσσων proleptic) 'the oar of the sea,' viz. in coming to Troy. A change in the MS. reading is necessary. Some prefer to read ὃς ἁλίαν .. ἔβας, 'Who camest plying,' etc. ναῦν, suggested by πλάταν, is to be supplied with ἐπέβας.

360. mvp-comment-258-1 (1) Ajax, although recovering his sanity, is still haunted by the impressions of the night, and the sight of the mariners reminds him of the shepherds, who had failed to defend the flock ( supr. 27,232). Begging for death from them, he bids them do what the shepherds could not. (Shak. Ant. and Cleo. 4. 14, 'Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts | Though enemy, lost aim, and could not?') 'In thee I behold the only shepherd to support the flock; come, lay me dead beside them!' This explanation has the advantage of supposing only one ellipse with both verbs, viz. τῇ ποίμνῃ. In this case μόνον ποιμένων is to be explained as an idiomatic expression, in which, as in μόνος τῶν ἄλλων, the privative word has a negative force: i.e. 'You, and not the shepherds, shall avenge the sheep.' Cp. Ant. 773, ἔρημος.. στίβος. (The sense might be made clearer by reading ποιμνίοις for ποιμένων.) Others (2) suppose 'shepherds' to be put figuratively for 'comforters,' or (3) take ποιμένων as gen. obj. = 'to defend thy lord.' Others conjecture πημονὰν ἐπαρκέσοντ᾽, πημονῶν ἔτ᾿ ἄρκος ὄντ᾽.

363. mvp-comment-259-1 'Do not (1) aggravate the blow of disaster;' or (2) 'Make the sorrow worse than the calamity.' For the whole sentence, cp. Thuc. 5. 65, κακὸν κακῷ ἱᾶσθαι: O. C. 438.

366. mvp-comment-260-1 'Redoubtable in valour amongst harmless beasts.' For ev, cp. infr. 1315, μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν ἐμοὶ θρασύς. The phrase ἀφόβοις θηρσί is clearly an oxymoron, but has been diversely explained either as (1) 'harmless' ( τοῖς μὴ φόβον ἐμο ποιοῦσι, Schol.), or (2) 'game that flies not' (' quibus sanus quisque parcit, non solum quia nihil periculi nobis creant sed etiam quia fidei nostrae confidunt,' Lobeck.) The former is more in point. Ajax had been valiant 'where no fear was.' His prey was even less glorious than the boar or lion, which, though not human, are still formidable.

367. mvp-comment-261-1 οἷον] Sc. γέλωτα. 'What insulting mockery has been heaped on me!'

369. mvp-comment-262-1 The sight of Tecmessa, whom he must abandon, provokes Ajax to new rage. He first breaks forth on her impatiently, and then laments aloud. In what follows he is regardless both of her and the chorus.

373. mvp-comment-263-1 ὃς χερὶ μέν] For the position of μέν, which belongs properly to the verb, see Essay on L. § 41. pp. 78,9. The instrumental dative is used, with a fore-feeling of the latter part of the sentence, for ἐκ χερός. Mr. Jebb understands Ajax to mean that 'he had let off the Greeks in respect of personal chastisement, and merely damaged them in property.' But this softens the antithesis too much. The difficulty may be avoided by reading (with Schndw.) ὃς χεροῖν, and προγύνων πάτερ in the antistrophe, l. 387.

375. mvp-comment-264-1 The epithets here are echoes of the epic style, but possibly with some variation of meaning. 'Goodly,' which is the meaning of κλυτός in such expressions as κλυτὰ μῆλα (Od. 9. 308), is not sufficiently pointed here, and the Scholiast may be right in saying κλυτὰ λέγει τὰ αἰπόλια διὰ τὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ταραχὰς καὶ φωνάς. 'The horned kine and bleating herds of goats.'

376. mvp-comment-265-1 'I rained forth dark-flowing blood.' ἐρεμνόν is another Homeric epithet, not merely signifying 'dark' (and so recalling μέλαν αἷμα), but ' darkling,' with reference to the gloom of night and other circumstances of horror which surrounded the act.

377. mvp-comment-266-1 ὅπως οὐχ ὧδ᾽ ἔχειν] ὅπως is here simply an indefinite ὡs, and is construed with the infinitive as ὡς might have been.

379. mvp-comment-267-1 The former outburst was towards the Atreidae. He now breaks forth against Odysseus.

379. mvp-comment-267-2 πάνθ᾽ ὁρῶν] Cp. supr. 29, Phil. 1013, 4, ἀλλ᾿ ἡ κακὴ σὴδιὰ μυχῶν βλέπουσ᾽' ἀεὶ | ψυχή, κ.τ.λ.

381. mvp-comment-268-1 κακοπινέστατον.. ἄλημα στρατοῦ] 'Abominable misleader of the host.' So the Scholiast seems to understand the words, κακοπινέστατον, 'defiled,' i. e. by continual base practices. Musgrave suggested an allusion to the act of disguising himself as a wandering beggar mentioned in Od. 4. 242 foll., but preferred to derive ἄλημα (= παιπάλη) from ἀλέω. The earlier explanation is here preferable to both these, and in infr. 390, ἄλημα may quite well mean, 'cause of error' ( τῶν Ἑλλήνων, gl. Pal.). Cp. the causative use of ἄλη in Aesch. Ag. 195, δύσορμοι | βροτῶν ἄλαι. The error of which Ajax most complains is the misjudgment about the arms of Achilles.

382. mvp-comment-269-1 ἄγεις] 'Dost prolong.'

383. mvp-comment-270-1 ξὺν τῷ θεῷ] The article is not added to θεός elsewhere in Sophocles without special reason, and the conjecture of Schndw. ξύν τοι θεῷ supplies a article of connexion. But the asyndeton is rather impressive, and τῷ θεῷ may be explained 'the god who gives the laughter or the tears.' 'Laughter and sorrow are in the hands of God;' i. e. 'we must be patient and the position may be reversed.' The chorus reflect that the Divine power which now favours Odysseus and oppresses Ajax may hereafter work the opposite effect. Cp. Trach. 131 foll. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ πῆμα καὶ χαρὰ | πᾶσι κυκλοῦσιν, οἷον | ἄρκτου στροφάδες κέλευθοι.

384. mvp-comment-271-1 The syllable which has been probably lost from this line has been variously restored, μέν, νῦν, μήν, etc., the Triclinian reading is harmless, and is followed in the text, in the absence of better MS. authority. Ajax prays to see his enemy, that, even ruined as he is, he may avenge himself. Cp. infr. 388-91, Trach. 1107 foll. ἀλλ᾽ εὖ γέ τοι τύδ᾽ ἴστε, κἂν τὸ μηδὲν ὦ, | κἂν μηδὲν ἔρπω, τὴν γε δράσασαν τάδε | χειρώσομαι κἀκ τῶνδε προσμόλοι μόνον, κ.τ.λ. This is more probable than an aposiopesis of ὀδυρόμενον.

384. mvp-comment-271-2 or the like, though this may be suggested by comparing Phil. 1113 foll. ἰδοίμαν δε νιν, | τὸν τάδε μησάμενον, τὸν ἴσον χρόνον | ἐμὰς λαχόντ᾽ ἀνίας.

387. mvp-comment-272-1 προγόνων προπάτωρ] Zeus was only the great-grandsire of Ajax, but the feeling of Sophocles and his age required that the Divine source should seem more remote. For similar vagueness in speaking of the past, cp. Ant. 981, 2, where σπέρμα. ἀρχαιογόνων | ἄντασ᾿ Ερεχθειδᾶν is said of the grand-daughter of Erechtheus. Also supr. 190.

390. mvp-comment-273-1 ὀλέσσας] The σ is doubled Epicè. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 864, ὅσσας δ' είλε πόλεις.

391. mvp-comment-274-1 τέλος θάνοιμι καὐτός] Ajax desires death, but death would be sweeter if he could first be avenged on his enemies. The feeling here is slightly different from Aesch. Choeph. 438, ἔπειτ' ἐγὼ νοσφίσας ὀλοίμαν, where the participle has an exclusive emphasis ('if I could only take their lives'), and there is no real desire of death.

394. mvp-comment-275-1 Ajax, who had once prayed for light, now prays for darkness as his only light.

396. mvp-comment-276-1 φαεννότατον, ὡς ἐμοί] Most brilliant, in my sight.' Cp. Ant. 1161, Κρέων γὰρ ἦν ζηλωτός, ὡς ἐμοί, ποτέ.

397. mvp-comment-277-1 ἕλεσθ᾽ ἔλεσθέ μ'] In the spirit of polytheism the two names σκότος and έρεβος are imagined to denote two beings. Hence the plural. For the middle voice, cp. Ο. Τ. 887, κακά νιν ἔλοιτο μοίρα.

399. mvp-comment-278-1 i. e. οὐκέτι γὰρ ἄξιός εἰμι βλέπειν οὔτε εἰς θεῶν γένος οὔτε εἰς ὄνασιν τινα ἁμερίων ἀνθρώπων. For the omission of the preposition in the former clause, cp. Ant. 789, 90, καί σ' οὔτ᾽ ἀθανάτων φύξιμος οὐδείς, | οὔθ᾽ ἁμερίων ἐπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων : and for βλέπειν εἰς, cp. Ant. 922, 3, τί χρή με τὴν δύστηνον εἰς θεοὺς ἔτι | βλέπειν; Others (see v. rr.) join τινὰ ἀνθρώπων, making εἰς ὅνασιν adverbial, and understand βλέπειν with the accusative to be equivalent to βλέπειν εἰς.

403. mvp-comment-279-1 †ὀλέθριον αἰκίζει] The MS. reading is unmetrical, unless on the somewhat forced supposition that εὔφρονες in the antistrophe may be scanned ἐύφρονες. Wunder conjectured οὔλιον, which restores the metre. But ούλιος is everywhere active, and we can hardly venture to introduce it passively here. All that can be said is that ὀλέθριον has probably taken the place of some equivalent word (such as πάμμορον), unless we may be satisfied with ὀλέθρι', the adverbial plural. Hermann's attempt to scan the two lines thus, ἀλκίμα θεὸς ὁ λέθριον αἰκίζει, -υ-νου-ου- is unusually violent.

404. mvp-comment-280-1 ποῖ . μενῶ] 'Whither shall I go and find rest?' The subjunctive in φύγῃ is excused by the implication of the first person in the third.

405. mvp-comment-281-1 The Scholion, διὰ (τὴν κατὰ L) τὴν κρίσιν τῶν ὅπλων, is not inconsistent with the reading in the text, which admits of being construed thus, 'Seeing that things here are perishing together with these victims by my side.' But the language is at once obscure and feeble, and the metre does not agree with the antistrophe. There must be something wrong. The general meaning is, 'I am finally ruined, and at this moment am involved in ridicule and disgrace.' The simplest change is to read τάδε μέν for τὰ μὲν (Elmsl.), and τίσις δ᾽ for τοῖσδ' (Lobeck), i. e. (405-8) εἰ τάδε μὲν φθίνει φίλοι, τίσις δ᾽ | ὁμοῦ πέλας: and (423-6) ἐξερέω μέγ' οἷον οὔτινα Τροία στρατοῦ. But even so, there is too much of repetition for a lyric passage, and it is reasonable to suppose some deeper corruption. For example, τοῖσδ᾽ ὁμοῦ may have grown out of πέλας, and this may be a corruption of πάλαι. Then supposing (with Schndw.) that στρατοῦ and ἀπό are excrescences in the antistrophe, we might read (405-8), εἰ τάδε μὲν φθίνει, φίλοι, πάλαι, | μώραις δ' ἄγραις προσκείμεθα, and (423-6), εξερέω μέγ', οἷον οὔτινα | Τροία χθονὸς δέρχθη μολόνθ' | etc. See note on l. 348. But nothing can be asserted confidently about this passage. For προσκείμεθα, cp. El. 1040, ᾧ σὺ πρόσκεισαι κακῷ.

408. mvp-comment-282-1 Cp. supr. 251. δίπαλτος] «With spears in both hands' - δύο δοῦρε παλλόμενοι. On this use of the adjective, see Essay on L. § 5.3. p. 98, also § 42. p. 80y; and cp. esp. El. 1494, κού πρόχειρος εἶ κτανεῖν: Aesch. Ag. 1652, πρόκωπος.. θανεῖν. ἂν.. φονεύοι] The sentence, although introduced with el, is continued independently of the hypothetical construction.

410. mvp-comment-283-1 χρήσιμον] 'Serviceable,' here answers to the Epic βοὴν ἀγαθός, ‘good at need.' The essential value of Ajax' services to the army is emphasized throughout. Cp. esp. supr. 119, 20.

413. mvp-comment-284-1 πόροι ἁλίρροθοι] 'Paths of the surging sea,' i. e. either generally, or with reference to the narrow seas of the Aegean, called πόντιαι αὐλῶνες in Trach. 100, which separated Ajax from his home; or, possibly, to the Hellespont, which had witnessed his exploits, and is called by Xerxes, in Hdt. 7.35, ἁλμυρὸς ποταμός. Cp. infr. 884, Aesch. Pers. 367.

414. mvp-comment-285-1 πάραλά τ᾽ ἄντρα, κ.τ.λ.] These were especially familiar to Ajax from his position at the end of the line towards Rhoeteum.

416. mvp-comment-286-1 ἀμπνοὰς ἔχοντα] i. e. 'If you keep me here, it will not be in life.'

417. mvp-comment-287-1 φρονῶν] ‘If he have sense to perceive.'

420. mvp-comment-288-1 εὔφρονες ᾿Αργείοις] i.e. 'Kind to me no longer, but to my enemies.' In a different mood he afterwards ( infr. 863) bids farewell to the rivers of Troy as his nurses.

424. mvp-comment-289-1 οἷον, κ.τ.λ.] In Homeric fashion Ajax boasts himself to be the bravest of the Greeks. Cp. II. 18. 104, 5, τοῖος ἐὼν οἷος οὔτις᾿ Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων | ἐν πολέμῳ. That he is the bravest next to Achilles is the Homeric tradition, and he is acknowledged to be so by his enemy Odysseus, infr. 1341. The arrangement of this part of the antistrophe must be adapted to the change made in the strophe. See note on 405 foll. For μέγα, cp. Pind. Nem. 6. 45, 6, ἔλπομαι μέγα εἰπὼν σκοποῦ ἄντα τυχεῖν.

425. mvp-comment-290-1 The hiatus after ἀπό at the end of the (lyric) iambic line is doubtful.

427. mvp-comment-291-1 The reading πρόκειται is not wholly impossible.

428. mvp-comment-292-1 οὔθ᾽ ὅπως] Elmsley would read οὐδ᾽, because there is no te preceding. But this is too strict.