Sophocles Ajax 1199

Robert Potter (Translator)

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Turn
← Previous Next →
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

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 (3)
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 1185-1222 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1199 focus
ἐκεῖνος οὐ οὔτε στεφάνων
οὔτε βαθειᾶν βαθείαν κυλίκων
1200
νεῖμεν ἐμοὶ τέρψιν ὁμιλεῖν,
οὔτε γλυκὺν αὐλῶν ὄτοβον ὄτοβον ὅττοβον,
δύσμορος, οὔτ᾽ ἐννυχίαν
τέρψιν ἰαύειν.
ἐρώτων δ᾽ ἐρώτων ἀπέπαυσεν, ὤμοι.
1205
κεῖμαι δ᾽ ἀμέριμνος οὕτως,
ἀεὶ πυκιναῖς δρόσοις
τεγγόμενος κόμας,
λυγρᾶς λυγρὰσ λυγρὰσ· μνήματα Τροίας.
1210
ἀντ.β.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1185-1222 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1199 focus
No better hope for either can I frame.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1199 focus
Ja, keinen blühenden Kranz,
Nimmer die Lust voller Pokal' hat er gegönnt uns zu genießen,
1155
Noch lieblicher Festflöten Getön,
(Wehe dem Mann!) noch den Genuß
Nächtlicher Minne:
Die Liebe,
Die Lieb' hat er mir, ach, entführt,
1160
Und ich liege verlassen hier,
Und von reichlichem Thaue stets
Trieft mir das Haar, ein Mal von dir,
Traurige Troja!
Zweite Gegenstrophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1199 focus
By after-ages ne'er to be forgotten.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1185-1220 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-704-1 οὔτε στεφάνων 1

mvp-comment-704-2 στεφάνων 2

mvp-comment-705-1 βαθειᾶν 3

mvp-comment-705-2 κυλίκων 4

mvp-comment-706-1 νεῖμεν 5 τέρψιν 6 ὁμιλεῖν 7

mvp-comment-707-1 αὐλῶν 8

mvp-comment-707-2 ὄτοβον 9

mvp-comment-708-1 δύσμορος 10

mvp-comment-708-2 ἐννυχίαν τέρψιν ἰαύειν 11

mvp-comment-708-3 Remark the repetition of τέρψιν 12

mvp-comment-709-1 ἐρώτων δ’, ἐρώτων 13

mvp-comment-710-1 ἀμέριμνος 14

mvp-comment-710-2 οὕτως 15

mvp-comment-711-1 δρόσοις 16

mvp-comment-712-1 μνήματα 17

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

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.