Sophocles, Electra, ed. Lewis Campbell, 415

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λέγ᾿ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο, πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι
415

ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

ΧΡ.

λόγος τις αὐτήν ἐστιν εἰσιδεῖν πατρὸς

τοῦ σοῦ τε κἀμοῦ δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν

ἐλθόντος εἰς φῶς· εἶτα τόνδ᾽ ἐφέστιον

πῆξαι λαβόντα σκῆπτρον, οὑφόρει ποτὲ
420

αὐτός, τανῦν δ᾽ Αἴγισθος· ἔκ τε τοῦδ᾽ ἄνω

βλαστεῖν βρύοντα θαλλόν, ᾧ τῶι L (γρ. C6 mg.). τῷ I (mg. 4). τῶι L² pr. τῶ V pr. & V. V. A Vat. ac M². κατάσκιον

πᾶσαν γενέσθαι τὴν Μυκηναίων χθόνα.

τοιαῦτα τοῦ παρόντος, ἡνίχ᾽ ῾Ηλίῳ

δείκνυσι τοὔναρ, ἔκλυον ἐξηγουμένου.
425

πλείω δὲ τούτων οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ὅτι

πέμπει μ' ἐκείνη με κείνη LAL2. τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου χάριν.

πρός νυν πρὸσ νῦν LA Pal. θεῶν σε λίσσομαι τῶν ἐγγενῶν

ἐμοὶ πιθέσθαι μηδ᾽ ἀβουλίᾳ πεσεῖν·

εἰ γάρ μ' ἀπώσει, σὺν κακῷ μέτει πάλιν.
430

ΗΛ.

Electra. Sophocles. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

Current edition Experimental

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 415 focus

Ἠλέκτρα

λέγʼ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο· πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι
415

ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

Χρυσόθεμις

λόγος τις αὐτήν ἐστιν εἰσιδεῖν πατρὸς

τοῦ σοῦ τε κἀμοῦ δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν

ἐλθόντος ἐς φῶς· εἶτα τόνδʼ ἐφέστιον

πῆξαι λαβόντα σκῆπτρον οὑφόρει ποτὲ
420

αὐτός, τανῦν δʼ Αἴγισθος· ἐκ δὲ τοῦδʼ ἄνω

βλαστεῖν βρύοντα θαλλόν, ᾧ κατάσκιον

πᾶσαν γενέσθαι τὴν Μυκηναίων χθόνα.

τοιαῦτά του παρόντος, ἡνίχʼ Ἡλίῳ

δείκνυσι τοὔναρ, ἔκλυον ἐξηγουμένου.
425

πλείω δὲ τούτων οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ὅτι

πέμπει με κείνη τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου χάριν.

πρός νυν θεῶν σε λίσσομαι τῶν ἐγγενῶν

ἐμοὶ πιθέσθαι μηδʼ ἀβουλίᾳ πεσεῖν·

εἰ γάρ μʼ ἀπώσει, σὺν κακῷ μέτει πάλιν.
430

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 415 focus

Speak but that.
415

A little word hath ofttimes been the cause
415

Of ruin or salvation unto men.

CHR

’Tis said she saw our father’s spirit come

Once more to visit the abodes of light;

Then take and firmly plant upon the hearth

The sceptre which he bore of old, and now

Aegisthus bears: and out of this upsprang

A burgeoned shoot, that shadowed all the ground
420

Of loved Mycenae. So I heard the tale
420

Told by a maid who listened when the Queen

Made known her vision to the God of Day.

But more than this I know not, save that I

Am sent by her through terror of the dream.

And I beseech thee by the Gods we serve

To take my counsel and not rashly fall.

If thou repel me now, the time may come

When suffering shall have brought thee to my side.
425

EL

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 415 focus

So sage dies. Wohl haben wenig Worte ja

Schon oft erhoben und gestürzt die Sterblichen.

Chrysothemis.

Es geht die Sage, daß sie deinen Vater und

Den meinen, welcher wiederum an's Licht gekehrt,
410

Sich zugesellt sah. Der ergriff den Herrscherstab,

Den er geführt einst, aber jezt Aegisthos führt,

Und pflanzt' in unsern Herd ihn ein; alsbald entsproß

Dem Stab ein üppig blüh'nder Zweig, der über ganz

Mykene seinen Schatten weit verbreitete.
415

So hört' ich Einen melden, der zugegen war,

Als sie der Sonne diesen Traum verkündete.¹

Doch mehr wie dieses weiß ich nicht, nur daß sie mich

Hierher gesendet, aufgeschreckt von dieser Angst.

Bei unsers Hauses Göttern fleh' ich nun dich an:
420

Mir folge Schwester, falle nicht durch Unbedacht;

Mich jezt verschmähend, suchst du mich im Leid dereinst.

Elektra.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 415 focus

The dream : and I will tell thee all.

Chrysothemis

I know but little of it.
415

Elec Tell me that :
415

Oftimes to words, how few soe'er they be.

Is given the power to save or to destroy.

Chrysothemis

Once more to light returned (so fame reports)

Before her our loved father did appear.

The royal sceptre wielded in his hand

Which now -^gisthus bears, whence seemed to spring

A green and leafy branch, whose wide extent
420

O'er all Mycenae spread its verdant shade :

This did I learn, and this alone, from one

Who listened long: attentive while she told

ELFXTRA,

Her vision to tlie sun ; hence all her fears,

And hence my destined journey, i
425

Electra

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 415 focus

But nothing, my loved sister, of these gifts
415

Affix thou to the tomb; it is not meet,
415

It is not holy, that such offerings, sent
415

By this malignant woman, should be placed;
415

Or such libations to our father's shade

Be pour'd: no: give them to the winds, or dig

Deep in the covering earth, and hide them there;

Chrysothemis

That nothing of them where our father rests

May ever come, but lie a precious store

For her when dead, and in the realms below..

For were not she, of all her sex, most lost lo

To shame, this hateful globlet to the manort I

Her own hands murder'd never had she crownd.

For canst thou think the dead within his tomb,

His indignation soften'd, will, receiver

These offerings from the hand by which he died

Dishonour'd, mangled with relentless hate,(

Amidst th' ablutions all the stains of bloodT
420

Wiped on his head And canst thou think these things
420

Will make atonement for the murderous deed?
420

It may not be; then think of them no more.

But cut thou off thy fair and crisped, curls,

And from my wretched head (small gift indeed,

But all I have to give) these squalid locks;

Lo With them present my zone, not richly wrought

With bright embroidery: bow before the tomb,

And pour thy prayers that from beneath the earth

Propitious he would come, against our foes

A strong protector; that with potent hand

His son, Orestes, may return, and live,

And trample those, that hate him, in the dust :

Then will we crown his tomb with richer gifts

Than now we can present. These things I think,

Yes, I will think he makes these things his care,
425

And therefore with these dreams appals her soul.
425

Do thou, my sister, in this hope perform
425

Theseus

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 415 focus

Electra

Tell me that, anyway; a small tale has often before now tripped men up, or set them upright.
415

Chrysothemis

It is said that she saw the father of you and of me restored to the sunlight and to her company once more. Then he took the scepter—

once his own, but now carried by Aegisthus—and planted it at the hearth. From it branched upward a flourishing limb, by which the whole land of the Mycenaeans was overshadowed. Such was the tale that I heard told by one who was present
420

when she revealed her dream to the Sun-god. More than this I do not know, except that she sent me by reason of this fear of hers. Now, I beg you by our ancestral gods, obey me, and do not fall in your senselessness!
425

If you reject me now, it is in misery that you will next seek me out.
430

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-98-1 δάκρυσι μυδαλέα ¹

mvp-comment-98-2 τὸν ἀνήνυτον ²

mvp-comment-98-3 οἶτον ἔχουσα ³

mvp-comment-99-1 ὧν τ’ ἔπαθ’ ⁴ ὧν τ’ ἐδάη ⁵

mvp-comment-99-2 Wecklein, reading

ἐδάην

, explains,— ‘what I have heard from him,’—viz., his promises of coming.

mvp-comment-99-3 τί γὰρ … ἀγγελίας ⁶

mvp-comment-99-4 ἀπατώμενον ⁷ τί … οὐκ ⁸

mvp-comment-99-5 Herwerden's οὐχί μοι ⁹ οὐκ ἐμοί ¹⁰ ὁ δέ ¹¹

mvp-comment-100-1 ποθεῖ, ποθῶν δ’ ¹²

mvp-comment-101-1 ἔτι μέγας οὐρανῷ ¹³ ἐν ¹⁴

mvp-comment-102-1 τὸν ὑπεραλγῆ ¹⁵

mvp-comment-102-2 νέμουσα ¹⁶

mvp-comment-103-1 μήτε ὑπεράχθεο ¹⁷ οἷς ¹⁸

mvp-comment-104-1 εὐμαρὴς θεός ¹⁹ θεός ²⁰

mvp-comment-105-1 οὔτε γὰρ ²¹

mvp-comment-105-2 Κρῖσαν ²²

mvp-comment-105-3 Crisa stood about two miles W.S.W. of Delphi, on a spur of Parnassus, at the lower outlet of the gorge through which the river Pleistus issues into the plain. The Iliad mentions ‘sacred Crisa’ (

ζαθέην

, 2. 520). But the Homeric Hymn to the Pythian Apollo is the best witness to its ancient power. There, just as here, the name

Κρῖσα

includes the land which stretches southward from the town to its harbour on the ‘wide gulf’ (vv. 253— 261). We need not, then, read

Κρίσᾳ

Κρίσας

. Crisa was the earliest seat of trade on the western sea; Delphi, when first founded, was merely a sanctuary in its territory. Pindar recalls the old prominence of its name when he describes a Pythian victory as won

Κρισαίαις ἐνὶ πτυχαῖς

( P. 6. 18).

mvp-comment-105-4 Cirrha, a town of much later date, was the port of Crisa on the gulf. About 585 B.C., the Delphians, aided by Cleisthenes of Sicyon and his allies, succeeded, after a long struggle, in humbling Crisa and destroying Cirrha. The Crisaean plain was then devoted to Apollo, whose domain was thus extended from his temple to the coast. When Sophocles wrote, that ground was still a

βούνομος ἀκτή

, inviolable by plough or spade. It was not till the middle of the next century that the alleged encroachments of Amphissa on the

ἱερὰ χώρα

gave a pretext for war to the Amphictyons (355 B.C.).

mvp-comment-105-5 Ulrichs ( Reisen in Griechenland) was the first to place the relations of Crisa and Cirrha in a clear light. Strabo correctly describes the site of Cirrha, but erroneously places Crisa to the east of it (9. p. 418).

mvp-comment-106-1 βούνομον ²³ βουνόμον ²⁴

mvp-comment-106-2 βούνομον ἀκτὰν ²⁵ Κρῖσαν ²⁶

mvp-comment-107-1 ἀπερίτροπος ²⁷

mvp-comment-108-1 παρὰ τὸν Ἀχέροντα ²⁸ ἀνάσσων ²⁹ θεὸς ³⁰

mvp-comment-109-1 μὲν ³¹

mvp-comment-109-2 ὁ πολὺς … βίοτος ³²

mvp-comment-109-3 ἀνέλπιστος ³³

mvp-comment-109-4 187 *

τεκέων

. I am now satisfied that this is a true correction of τοκέων ³⁴ ἅτις ³⁵ τοκέων ³⁶

mvp-comment-110-1 ἁπερεί ³⁷

mvp-comment-110-2 ἔποικος ³⁸

mvp-comment-111-1 οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους ³⁹

mvp-comment-112-1 ἀεικεῖ σὺν στολᾷ ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-113-1 κεναῖς δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις ⁴¹ ἀμφίσταμαι ⁴²

mvp-comment-113-2 Hartung, reading

κενὰ δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις

, takes the sense to be that she stands ‘hungry’ by the tables at which the others feast. But

κενή

as=

νῆστις

would be neither usual nor elegant.

mvp-comment-114-1 Hitherto the Chorus have offered consolation or counsel. At v. 213 they return to that strain. But here, moved by Electra's misery, they join with her in bewailing its cause.

mvp-comment-114-2 οἰκτρὰ μὲν … πλαγά ⁴³ κοίταις ⁴⁴ οἰκτρὰ … αὐδὰ ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-114-3 Sophocles, who follows the Homeric story as to the banquet, could not but remember the

οἰκτροτάτην ὄπα

of the dying Cassandra. And this might naturally suggest to him that other

οἰκτρὰ αὐδή

which she had uttered at an earlier moment, immediately after Agamemnon's return,—her presage of his fate, and her own: Aesch. Ag. 1072 —1314.

mvp-comment-114-4 The sense then is:—‘There was a voice of lamentation at the return from Troy’; alluding especially to Cassandra's laments, but also, perhaps, to forebodings in the mouth of the people at Mycenae. ‘And there was a voice of lamentation

ἐν κοίταις πατρῴαις

, when thy father lay on the couch at the fatal banquet.’ The ‘voice’ at the banquet is, first, that of the dying Agamemnon; but Sophocles may have thought also of Cassandra's death-cry, which was sounding in the king's ears as he fell.—For other interpretations, see Appendix.

mvp-comment-114-5 νόστοις ⁴⁶ ἐν ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-114-6 κοίταις ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-114-7 ὅτε οἱ ⁴⁹ σοι ⁵⁰ ἀνταία ⁵¹

mvp-comment-114-8 γενύων ⁵²

mvp-comment-115-1 δόλος … ἔρος ⁵³

mvp-comment-116-1 δεινὰν δεινῶς ⁵⁴ δεινὰν … μορφάν ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-116-2 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ⁵⁶ βροτῶν ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-117-1 πλέον … ἐχθίστα ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-117-2 δὴ ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-118-1 νὺξ ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-118-2 δείπνων ⁶¹

mvp-comment-119-1 ἄχθη ⁶² τοῖς ⁶³ θανάτους ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-119-2 διδύμαιν χειροῖν ⁶⁵ διδύμοιν ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-120-1 εἷλον … πρόδοτον ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-121-1 οἷς ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-121-2 Ὀλύμπιος ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-122-1 ποίνιμα ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-123-1 ἀγλαΐας ⁷¹

mvp-comment-123-2 ἀποναίατο ⁷²

mvp-comment-124-1 πόρσω ⁷³

mvp-comment-125-1 γνώμαν ἴσχεις ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-125-2 ἐξ οἵων ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-125-3 τὰ παρόντ’ ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-125-4 οἰκείας ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-126-1 πολύ … τι κακῶν ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-126-2 ὑπερεκτήσω ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-127-1 τὰ δὲ ⁸⁰ οὐκ ἐριστὰ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ⁸¹ πλάθειν ⁸²

mvp-comment-127-2 ἐριστά ⁸³

mvp-comment-127-3 πλάθειν ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-128-1 δεινοῖς ἠναγκάσθην ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-129-1 ὀργά ⁸⁶ ἔξοιδ’ ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-130-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-130-2 ἐν … δεινοῖς ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-130-3 σχήσω ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-130-4 ταύτας ἄτας ⁹¹

mvp-comment-131-1 ὄφρα ⁹²

mvp-comment-131-2 βίος ἔχῃ με ⁹³ σχήσω ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-132-1 τίνι γάρ … τίνι φρονοῦντι καίρια ⁹⁵ ἀκούσαιμ’ ἂν πρόσφορον ἔπος ⁹⁶ τίνι ⁹⁷ πρόσφορον ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-132-2 Other explanations are:—(1) Taking the dative with

πρόσφορον

:—‘To what person who feels aright would that word be suitable which I should hear (=which would be said of me)?’ That is: Should I not deserve to incur a censure from which every right-minded person would shrink? Should I not deserve to be called

δυσσεβής

? This seems forced; and it does not well suit

ἔπος

. (2) Taking the dative with

ἀκούσαιμι

:—‘At whose mouth (= from whom), that thinks aright, could I hear a suitable word of comfort?’ But such a dative seems impossible. In Il. 16. 515

δύνασαι δὲ σὺ πάντοσ’ ἀκούειν

ἀνέρι κηδομένῳ

, the dat. is one of interest, denoting the person whose prayer is heard (‘ for him’); cp. Il. 5. 115

κλῦθί μοι

: 24. 335

ἔκλυες ᾧ κ’ ἐθέλῃσθα

mvp-comment-133-1 ἄνετε ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-133-2 ἄλυτα ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-133-3 κεκλήσεται ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-133-4 231 f. For ἐκ ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-133-5 ἀνάριθμος ¹⁰³ θρήνων ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-134-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν ¹⁰⁵ γε ¹⁰⁶ εὐνοίᾳ ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-135-1 μάτηρ ὡσεί τις ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-136-1 μὴ τίκτειν ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-136-2 ἄταν ἄταις ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-137-1 καὶ τί μέτρον ¹¹¹ κακότατος ¹¹²

mvp-comment-137-2 φέρε ¹¹³

mvp-comment-137-3 ἐπὶ τοῖς φθ. ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-138-1 ἔβλαστ’ ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-139-1 τούτοις ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-140-1 εἴ τῳ πρόσκειμαι χρηστῷ ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-141-1 ξυνναίοιμ’ ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-141-2 εὔκηλος ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-141-3 γονέων ¹²⁰ ἐκτίμους ¹²¹

mvp-comment-141-4 ἐκτίμους ἵσχουσα ¹²²

mvp-comment-141-5 πτέρυγας … γόων ¹²³

mvp-comment-141-6 ὀξυτόνων ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-142-1 εἰ γὰρ ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-142-2 γᾶ ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-142-3 οὐδὲν ¹²⁷ ὢν ¹²⁸ εἰ ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-142-4 Electra is contrasting her father, whose earthly life has been cut short, with his murderers, who survive. But she believes that his spirit lives in the world below, and will be active in aiding the vengeance (453 ff.).

mvp-comment-142-5 πάλιν ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-142-6 ἀντιφόνους δίκας ¹³¹

mvp-comment-143-1 ἔρροι τ’ ¹³²

mvp-comment-143-2 αἰδὼς ¹³³ εὐσέβεια ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-144-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-144-2 καὶ ¹³⁶ τὸ σὸν … καὶ τοὐμὸν ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-145-1 νίκα ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-145-2 ἅμα ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-146-1 πολλοῖσι θρήνοις ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-147-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-148-1 ἥτις εὐγενὴς γυνή ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-149-1 πατρῷα … πήματα ¹⁴³

mvp-comment-150-1 κατ’ εὐφρόνην ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-150-2 θάλλοντα ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-151-1 ᾗ ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-151-2 πρῶτα μὲν … εἶτα … ἔπειτα ¹⁴⁷ ᾗ ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-151-3 τὰ μητρὸς ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-151-4 ἔχθιστα συμβέβηκεν ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-152-1 κἀκ τῶνδ’ ἄρχομαι ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-153-1 λαβεῖν … τὸ τητᾶσθαι ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-154-1 ποίας ¹⁵³ δοκεῖς ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-155-1 ἴδω ¹⁵⁵ εἰσίδω δ’ ¹⁵⁶ ἴδω δὲ ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-155-2 μὲν ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-156-1 ἐσθήματα ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-156-2 ἐκείνῳ ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-156-3 παρεστίους … λοιβάς ¹⁶¹ ἔνθ’ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-156-4 Acc. to Homer. Hymn. 29. 4 ff., feasts began and ended with libations to Hestia:

οὐ γὰρ ἄτερ σοῦ

εἰλαπίναι θνητοῖσιν, ἵν’ οὐ πρώτῃ πυμάτῃ τε

Ἱστίῃ ἀρχόμενος σπένδει μελιηδέα οἶνον

. Soph. fr. 658

<*> πρῷρα λοιβῆς Ἑστία

. Other divinities, including Zeus

σωτήρ

, were similarly honoured; then the paean was sung, and the

πότος

began ( Plat. Symp.p. 176 A).

mvp-comment-157-1 τούτων ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-158-1 αὐτοέντην ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-158-2 Brunck first adopted αὐτοέντην ¹⁶⁵ αὐτοφόντην ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-158-3 ἡμὶν ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-159-1 ταλαίνῃ ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-160-1 ταύτην … τῷδε ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-161-1 μιάστορι ¹⁷⁰ Ἐρινὺν ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-162-1 ἐγγελῶσα τοῖς ποιουμένοις ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-163-1 εὑροῦς’ ¹⁷³ τότε ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-163-2 The conjecture φρουροῦς’ ¹⁷⁵ τηροῦς’ ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-164-1 χοροὺς ἵστησι ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-164-2 μηλοσφαγεῖ … ἱερὰ ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-164-3 ἔμμην’ ἱερά ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-164-4 τοῖς σωτηρίοις ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-164-5 Argive tradition placed Agamemnon's death on the 13th of Gamelion (about the end of January). So said ‘the Argive historians’ (

οἱ Ἀργολικοὶ συγγραφεῖς

),— according to an Argive writer named Deinias, who lived about 225 B.C. (Schol. here: Müller, Frag. Hist. vol. III. p. 25.) Possibly, then, the idea of Clytaemnestra's hideous festival may have been suggested to the poet by some actual commemoration of the event in Argolis. There was a cult of Agamemnon in various places,—notably in Laconia. (Cp. Roscher's Lexicon, p. 96.)

mvp-comment-165-1 ἡ δύσμορος ¹⁸¹ κατὰ στέγας ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-166-1 τέτηκα ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-166-2 πατρὸς ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-166-3 The

δαίς

is the feast which, in Homeric fashion ( Il. 1. 467 ), would follow the sacrifice (281). Acc. to Eustathius p. 1507. 61 (on Hom. Od. 4. 524 ff.),

Ἀγαμεμνόνειος δαὶς

(or

τράπεζα

) was a proverb

ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπ’ ὀλέθρῳ εὐωχουμένων

. The poet may mean that Clytaemnestra called the festival

Ἀγαμεμνόνειος δαίς

, in direct allusion to

δεῖπνα ἄρρητα

(203): and this would give a special point to

ἐγγελῶσα

(277). Cp. Eur. Or. 1008

τά τ’ ἐπώνυμα δεῖπνα Θυέστου

. But the words do not necessarily imply more than that she called it

Ἀγαμεμνόνεια

mvp-comment-167-1 αὐτὴ πρὸς αὑτήν ¹⁸⁵ αὑτήν ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-167-2 κλαῦσαι ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-167-3 ἡδονὴν φέρει ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-168-1 ἡ λόγοισι γενναία ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-169-1 φωνοῦσα ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-170-1 δύσθεον ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-170-2 μίσημα ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-170-3 σοὶ μόνῃ ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-170-4 τέθνηκεν ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-170-5 ἐν πένθει ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-171-1 ἐκ γόων ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-171-2 οἱ κάτω θεοί ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-172-1 τάδ’ ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-172-2 ἥξοντ’ Ὀρέστην ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-173-1 παραστᾶς’ ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-174-1 ἥτις ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-174-2 ὑπεξέθου ²⁰²

mvp-comment-175-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι τείσουσά γ’ ²⁰³

mvp-comment-176-1 ὑλακτεῖ ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-176-2 σὺν ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-176-3 πέλας ²⁰⁶ παρών ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-176-4 301 The adv. πάντα ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-176-5 ἄναλκις ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-176-6 ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-177-1 σὺν γυναιξὶ ²¹¹

mvp-comment-177-2 τὰς μάχας ²¹²

mvp-comment-178-1 ἐφήξειν ²¹³

mvp-comment-179-1 μέλλων … δρᾶν τι ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-179-2 τὰς οὔσας τε … καὶ τὰς ἀπούσας ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-179-3 μου ²¹⁶ μοι ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-179-4 διέφθορεν ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-180-1 σωφρονεῖν ²¹⁹ εὐσεβεῖν ²²⁰

mvp-comment-180-2 ἔν τοι κακοῖς ²²¹

mvp-comment-180-3 πολλή )στ’ ἀνάγκη ²²² κἀπιτηδεύειν κακά ²²³

mvp-comment-180-4 I place only a comma, not a colon, after πάρεστιν ²²⁴

mvp-comment-181-1 ὄντος … βεβῶτος ²²⁵

mvp-comment-182-1 ἦ κάρτα ²²⁶

mvp-comment-182-2 θυραῖον ²²⁷

mvp-comment-182-3 οἰχνεῖν ²²⁸

mvp-comment-182-4 ἀγροῖσι ²²⁹

mvp-comment-182-5 τυγχάνει ²³⁰

mvp-comment-183-1 ἦ κἂν … ἱκοίμην ²³¹ ἦ τ<*>ν ²³² ἦ δἂν ²³³

mvp-comment-183-2 ἐς λόγους τοὺς σοὺς ἱκοίμην ²³⁴

mvp-comment-184-1 ὡς νῦν ²³⁵ ὥς νυν ²³⁶

mvp-comment-184-2 ἱστόρει· τί σοι φίλον ²³⁷ τό ²³⁸ τά ²³⁹

mvp-comment-184-3 With the other punctuation, ἱστόρει τί σοι φίλον ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-185-1 καὶ δὴ ²⁴¹

mvp-comment-185-2 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής ²⁴²

mvp-comment-185-3 ἥξοντος ²⁴³ ἢ μέλλοντος ²⁴⁴

mvp-comment-186-1 φησίν γε ²⁴⁵

mvp-comment-186-2 ποεῖ ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-187-1 καὶ μὴν ἔγωγ’ ²⁴⁷ γε ²⁴⁸

mvp-comment-187-2 οὐκ ὄκνῳ ²⁴⁹

mvp-comment-188-1 ἀρκεῖν ²⁵⁰

mvp-comment-189-1 ἐπεί ²⁵¹

mvp-comment-189-2 μακρὰν ²⁵²

mvp-comment-189-3 324 Here, as in 316, νῦν ²⁵³ νυν ²⁵⁴

mvp-comment-189-4 δόμων ²⁵⁵ φέρουσαν ²⁵⁶

mvp-comment-190-1 ὅμαιμον ²⁵⁷

mvp-comment-190-2 φύσιν ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-191-1 Χρυσόθεμιν ²⁵⁹

mvp-comment-192-1 οἷα ²⁶⁰ νομίζεται ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-193-1 πρὸς θυρῶνος ἐξόδοις ²⁶² φωνεῖς ²⁶³ ἐλθοῦσα ²⁶⁴ αὖ ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-193-2 330 For the absence of caesura, cp. Ph. 101 n.

mvp-comment-194-1 θυμῷ … χαρίζεσθαι ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-195-1 καίτοι τοσοῦτόν γ’ οἶδα ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-195-2 κἀμαυτήν, ὅτι ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-195-3 333 f. For the repeated ἄν ²⁶⁹

mvp-comment-195-4 οἶ) αὐτοῖς φρονῶ ²⁷⁰

mvp-comment-196-1 ὑφειμένῃ ²⁷¹ πλεῖν ²⁷²

mvp-comment-196-2 For the image, cp. Eur. Med. 524

ἄκροισι λαίφους κρασπέδοις

(with close-reefed sails)

ὑπεκφυγεῖν

τὴν σὴν στόμαργον, ὦ γύναι, γλωσσαλγίαν

: Ar. Ran. 997

ἀλλ’ ὅπως, ὦ γεννάδα

, |

μὴ πρὸς ὀργὴν ἀντιλέξεις

, |

ἀλλὰ συστείλας, ἄκροισι

χρώμενος τοῖς ἱστίοις κ.τ.λ.

: and conversely Soph. Ant. 715

ναὸς ὅστις ἐγκρατῆ πόδα

τείνας ὑπείκει μηδέν

. Ovid Epist. 1. 8. 71

moderatius opta, | Et voti, quaeso, contrahe vela tui.

Shakesp. Henry VI., pt. iii, act 3 sc. 3. 5

‘Now Margaret | Must strike her sail, and learn awhile to serve | Where kings command.’

mvp-comment-197-1 καὶ μὴ δοκεῖν ²⁷³

mvp-comment-198-1 τοιαῦτα δ’ ἄλλα ²⁷⁴ ἀλλὰ ²⁷⁵ ἄλλα ²⁷⁶

mvp-comment-199-1 καίτοι τὸ μὲν δίκαιον ²⁷⁷

mvp-comment-199-2 κρίνεις ²⁷⁸

mvp-comment-199-3 εἰ … με δεῖ ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-199-4 ἐλευθέραν ²⁸⁰

mvp-comment-199-5 ζῆν ²⁸¹

mvp-comment-199-6 πάντ’ ²⁸²

mvp-comment-199-7 ἀκουστέα ²⁸³

mvp-comment-200-1 δεινόν γε ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-201-1 τῆς … τικτούσης ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-201-2 μέλειν ²⁸⁶

mvp-comment-202-1 τἀμὰ νουθετήματα ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-202-2 κείνης διδακτά ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-202-3 ἐκ σαυτῆς ²⁸⁹

mvp-comment-203-1 The text, which has been suspected (cr. n.), is sound; but the train of thought is somewhat obscured by compression.

mvp-comment-203-2 ‘You forget your father, and care only for your mother. All your counsels to me come from her. Then (

ἔπειτα

),—that being so,—give up the attempt at a compromise. Make a choice (

ἑλοῦ γε

). You can be imprudent (

φρονεῖν κακῶς

),—as you say that I am,—and loyal to your dead father. Or you can be prudent (

φρονοῦσα

), and forgetful of him,—as you actually are; you who (

ἥτις

) say, indeed, that you would show your hatred of the murderers if you could; and yet, when I do resist them, you try to turn me from my purpose. You merely add the shame of cowardice to our woes.’

mvp-comment-203-3 ἔπειθ’ ²⁹⁰

mvp-comment-203-4 ἑλοῦ γε ²⁹¹

mvp-comment-203-5 φρονεῖν κακῶς ²⁹²

mvp-comment-203-6 Other explanations are:—(1) ‘Choose to be thought either lost to right feeling, or, if you have such feeling, then at least forgetful of your duty.’ (2) ‘Choose to seem either unintelligent (if you are merely the blind instrument of our rulers); or, if you act with clear understanding (

φρονοῦσα

),—thinking to benefit me,—at least forgetful of your father.’ Both these views assume that the question is merely between two interpretations which might be placed on the present conduct of Chrysothemis. But Electra is putting the dilemma between imprudent loyalty and prudent disloyalty.

mvp-comment-204-1 τῶν φίλων ²⁹³

mvp-comment-205-1 ἥτις ²⁹⁴ φρονοῦσα ²⁹⁵ μῖσος ²⁹⁶

mvp-comment-206-1 πάντα ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-206-2 τιμωρουμένης ²⁹⁸

mvp-comment-207-1 οὔτε … τε ²⁹⁹

mvp-comment-207-2 τήν τε δρῶσαν ³⁰⁰

mvp-comment-208-1 πρὸς κακοῖσι ³⁰¹

mvp-comment-208-2 δειλίαν ἔχει ³⁰²

mvp-comment-209-1 ἐπεὶ ³⁰³

mvp-comment-209-2 ἢ μάθ’ ἐξ ἐμοῦ ³⁰⁴

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐπαρκούντως ³⁰⁵

mvp-comment-211-1 προσάπτειν ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-211-2 εἴ τις ἔστ’ ἐκεῖ χάρις ³⁰⁷

mvp-comment-212-1 ἡμὶν ³⁰⁸ ξύνει ³⁰⁹

mvp-comment-213-1 τὰ σὰ … δῶῤ ³¹⁰

mvp-comment-213-2 ἐφ’ οἶσι ³¹¹

mvp-comment-213-3 χλιδᾷς ³¹²

mvp-comment-214-1 ὑπεικάθοιμι ³¹³

mvp-comment-214-2 πλουσία ³¹⁴

mvp-comment-214-3 περιρρείτω ³¹⁵

mvp-comment-215-1 τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν ³¹⁶

mvp-comment-215-2 Remark the resemblance to the passage where Antigone—summing up her position—compares the moral pain of neglecting her duty with those penalties which she contemns:—

κείνοις ἂν ἤλγουν· τοῖσδε δ’ οὐκ ἀλγύνομαι

( Ant. 468 ). There, too, we have a Sophoclean triad of clauses, the third echoing the first,—as

τῆς σῆς δ’ οὐκ ἐρῶ τιμῆς τυχεῖν

here reiterates the sense of

σοὶ δὲ πλουσία... βίος

(n. on Ant. 465 ff.).

mvp-comment-215-3 One of the scholia recognises the traditional reading, and explains it correctly: —

τοῦτο μόνον ἐμὲ βοσκέτω, τὸ μὴ λυπεῖν ἐμὲ αὐτήν, εἰ

(‘as I should do, if’)

τοῖς φονεῦσι τοῦ πατρὸς πείθεσθαι ἀναγκασθήσομαι

.—The conjectures have been numerous: see Appendix.

mvp-comment-216-1 οὐδ’ ἂν σὺ ³¹⁷

mvp-comment-217-1 παῖδα ³¹⁸

mvp-comment-217-2 κεκλῆσθαι ³¹⁹

mvp-comment-218-1 πλείστοις ³²⁰

mvp-comment-219-1 μηδὲν ³²¹ πρὸς ὀργὴν ³²²

mvp-comment-220-1 ἀμφοῖν ³²³ τοῖς λόγοις ³²⁴

mvp-comment-221-1 τῆσδε … αὕτη ³²⁵ πάλιν ³²⁶

mvp-comment-222-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ³²⁷

mvp-comment-222-2 πως ³²⁸

mvp-comment-222-3 μύθων ³²⁹

mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ’ ³³⁰ κοὐδ’ ³³¹ ποτέ ³³²

mvp-comment-224-1 ἰὸν ³³³

mvp-comment-224-2 σχήσει ³³⁴

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν ³³⁵

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι ³³⁶ εἰ ³³⁷

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ ³³⁸

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων ³³⁹ λόγων ³⁴⁰

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα ³⁴¹

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει ³⁴²

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα ³⁴³

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ ³⁴⁴

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς ³⁴⁵

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα ³⁴⁷

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ ³⁴⁸ καί ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-228-3

ἐν καλῷ, εὔκαιρον

schol.: H. 4. 3. 5

νομίσαντες οὐκ ἐν καλῷ εἶναι πρὸς τοὺς ὁπλίτας ἱππομαχεῖν

: so, too, Eur. Heracl. 971 , etc. Cp.

καλόν

(

ἐστι

καίριον

in Soph. Ph. 1155 ; and

εἰς καλόν

καιρίως

in O.T. 78.

mvp-comment-229-1 ἦ ταῦτα δὴ ³⁵⁰ ἦ … δὴ ³⁵¹ ἦ … γὰρ ³⁵²

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται ³⁵³

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο ³⁵⁴

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ ³⁵⁵

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ ³⁵⁶

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα ³⁵⁷

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε ³⁵⁸

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν ³⁵⁹

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως ³⁶⁰ ὑμῶν ³⁶¹

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ ³⁶² προσωτάτω φύγω ³⁶³

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος ³⁶⁴

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις ³⁶⁷

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν ³⁶⁸

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα ³⁶⁹ οὐκ ἐμοὺς ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-240-1 γε ³⁷¹ μέντοι ³⁷²

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ ³⁷³

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν ³⁷⁴

mvp-comment-240-4 399 A woman, speaking of herself in the plur., uses the masc.: Ant. 926

παθόντες ἂν ξυγγνοῖμεν ἡμαρτηκότες

mvp-comment-241-1 συγγνώμην ³⁷⁵

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη ³⁷⁶

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν ³⁷⁷

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω ³⁷⁸

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ ³⁷⁹

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις ³⁸⁰

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα ³⁸¹

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς ³⁸²

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν ³⁸³

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή ³⁸⁴ ὅν γ’ ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ³⁸⁶

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος ³⁸⁷

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί ³⁸⁸

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι ³⁸⁹

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ ³⁹⁰

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν ³⁹¹

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε ³⁹²

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ³⁹³ ἐπὶ σμικρῶν ³⁹⁴

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν ³⁹⁷

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι ³⁹⁸

mvp-comment-255-3 This sceptre is described in the Iliad (2. 101 f.) as the work of Hephaestus, who gave it Zeus; Hermes transmitted it to Pelops, from whom it passed to Atreus and Agamemnon. The Homeric sceptre is often called

χρύσεον

( Il. 2. 268 , etc.), prob. as being ornamented with gold foil, or studded with gold nails ( Il. 1. 246

χρυσείοις ἥλοισι πεπαρμένον

). Among the objects found at Mycenae are some supposed remains of such sceptres (Schliem., Myc. 201, etc.).

mvp-comment-255-4 οὑφόρει ποτέ ³⁹⁹

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε ⁴⁰⁰ ἐκ δὲ ⁴⁰¹

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα ⁴⁰²

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι ⁴⁰³

mvp-comment-256-4 The vision resembles that of Astyages, who dreamed that a vine sprang from his daughter Mandanè, the wife of Cambyses,

τὴν δὲ ἄμπελον ἐπισχεῖν τὴν Ἀσίην πᾶσαν

. The

ὀνειροπόλοι

explained this to mean that her son (Cyrus) should reign in his grandfather's stead. ( Her. 1. 108. ) The spreading branches figure also in the dream of Xerxes (7. 19):

ἐδόκεε...ἐστεφανῶσθαι ἐλαίης θαλλῷ, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἐλαίης τοὺς κλάδους γῆν πᾶσαν ἐπισχεῖν

mvp-comment-256-5 In choosing the sceptre of Agamemnon as the stock from which the wondrous growth is put forth, Sophocles may have had in mind the words of Achilles ( Il. 1. 234 ff.);

ναὶ μὰ τόδε σκῆπτρον· τὸ μὲν οὔποτε φύλλα καὶ ὄζους

φύσει, ἐπεὶ δὴ πρῶτα τομὴν ἐν ὄρεσσι λέλοιπεν

, |

οὐδ’ ἀναθηλήσει

mvp-comment-257-1 του παρόντος ⁴⁰⁴ τοῦ ⁴⁰⁵ παρόντος ⁴⁰⁶ του ⁴⁰⁷

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ ⁴⁰⁸

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ⁴⁰⁹

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη ⁴¹⁰

mvp-comment-259-1 These three verses, which the MSS. give to Electra, and which several recent critics reject (cr. n.), clearly belong to Chrysothemis, and are genuine. Electra's exclamation of joy (411) caused Chrysothemis to ask if her sister had any ground for hope (412). Electra replied that, when she had heard the dream, she would say. This showed her sister that Electra relied merely on the fact that Clytaemnestra had seen some fearful vision. Now, therefore, instead of asking for Electra's interpretation, she merely repeats her counsel (383 f.) before proceeding on her errand. The words

πρός νυν θεῶν κ.τ.λ.

(428 ff.) show the train of her thought. To Chrysothemis, the alarm of Clytaemnestra (427) is more important than the apparition of Agamemnon. The dream is only a new reason why Electra should be cautious,—not why she should hope.

mvp-comment-259-2 The current ascription of the verses to Electra was doubtless prompted by verse 413. It was supposed that the recital of Chrysothemis must be immediately followed by the comments of Electra. But, as Hermann observed, the phrase

ἀβουλίᾳ πεσεῖν

would alone suffice to show that the verses belong to Chrysothemis ( cp. 398 ). Nor could the warning,

σὺν κακῷ μέτει πάλιν

, be fitly uttered by Electra.

mvp-comment-259-3 τῶν ἐγγενῶν ⁴¹¹

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ ⁴¹²

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ ⁴¹³

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει ⁴¹⁴

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

86-250. mvp-comment-59-1 In this long lament there are two principal movements, each of which admits of subdivision. First, the monody of Electra, consisting of two anapaestic systems, of which one (ll. 86-102) is retrospective, and the other (ll. 103-120) is prospective. Secondly, there is the commatic parodos :-the chorus on their entrance address Electra with lyric strains, to which she responds also in lyric measures. This movement consists of three strophes and antistrophes. In στρ. and ἀντ. α' (ll. 121-152), the chorus gently, but gloomily, expostulate with Electra, who is inconsolable. In στρ. and ἀντ. β΄ (ll. 153-192), they vainly try to cheer her. In στρ. and ἀντ. γ΄ (ll. 193- 232), they remind her of her past and present troubles, and exhort her not to add to them. All this is followed by a ῥῆσις of Electra (ll. 254-309) in reply to the coryphaeus, who, at l. 324, again speaks to call attention to Chrysothemis' approach.

86-250. mvp-comment-59-2 Metres. The anapaests in 86-120, although for the most part regular are in so far of the freer kind which belong to laments as to admit the spondaic paroemiacs near the commencement of each system in ll. 88, 9, 105, 6, which, with the opening half line, have a strange effect of heaviness and of struggle and pain. The two systems so nearly correspond, both in this respect and in the number of the lines, that one is tempted to believe that the half line that would complete the antistrophic effect has been lost somewhere between 113 and 117. But anapaestic systems are seldom exactly antistrophic, and the pause after the (dactylic) invocation in l. 115 may be intentional.

164-165. mvp-comment-98-1 The mention of her brother gives a new direction to Electra's complaint. Cp. supr. 119, 20.

165. mvp-comment-99-1 Cp. Ant. 815, 917-8.

166-167. mvp-comment-100-1 τὸν . . πόνων] Oppressed with my troublous destiny that has no good issue.' The article as in O. T. 1153, τὸν γέροντά μ' αἰκίσῃ, -equivalent to a relative clause, ὅς ἐστιν ἀνήνυτος, ἀνήνυτον, Accomplishing nothing,' i. e. Suffered in vain. Cp. O. C. 1565, 6, πολλῶν γὰρ ἂν καὶ μάταν | πημάτων ἱκνουμένων, κ.τ.λ., and note.

169. mvp-comment-101-1 ὧν τ᾽ ἔπαθ', ὧν τ᾽ ἐδάη] 'His wrongs, and the lesson he has been taught,' viz. by the Paedagogus ( supr. 3. 13. 14) and by the messages from Electra.

169-170. mvp-comment-102-1 (1) For what missive that I send doth not return (ἔρχεται) discomfited? Others take the words to mean, (2) What message' (from Orestes) 'comes to me, whose promise does not fail?'

171-172. mvp-comment-103-1 i e. in reply to my messages I always hear of his longing to come but never of his coming.

174. mvp-comment-104-1 This line (see v. rr.) seems to have been interpolated so as to supplement the locative dative and the ellipse of ἐστίν. μέγας is the predicate. 'Zeus is still great in heaven.'

176-177. mvp-comment-105-1 'Committing unto him thine exceeding indignation, be neither overburdened with enmity against thy foes, nor yet forget them;' i.e. Let the thought that Zeus will some day avenge thee serve to calm and moderate thy rage. The structure is paratactic (Essay on L. § 36. p. 68), for Without forgetting your enemies. be moderate in assailing them, and trust in the Divine vengeance.'

179. mvp-comment-106-1 For Time is a god of easiness,' i.e. a god who makes things easy or possible. The meaning is, not that Time assuages sorrow, but that what at one time seems impossible may prove easily possible in the course of years. Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 502 B, ὡς μὲν γὰρ χαλεπὸν σωθῆναι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ξυγχωροῦμεν, ὡς δὲ ἐν παντὶ τῷ χρόνῳ . . οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἶς σωθείη, ἔσθ' ὅστις ἀμφισβητήσει; Shak. Cor. 5. 3.61, Murdering impossibility, to make What cannot be slight work. For the personification, cp. Phil. 837, καιρὸς.. πάντων γνώμαν ἴσχων: supr. 76: and esp. Eur. Ion, 337, ἀργὸς ἡ θεός, sc. αἰδώς.

180-181. mvp-comment-107-1 τὰν Κρῖσαν.. ἀκτάν] · Who dwells in Crisa, that pastoral shore-ward land. So Hermann. Others would read Κρίσας, οι Κρίσᾳ. 'Who dwells amid the shoreward-pastures of Crisa.'

182. mvp-comment-108-1 He, Agamemnon's heir.. will yet turn unto his own, and so will he that reigns, a God, by Acheron.' ἀπερίτροπος is to be taken in a different sense with παῖς ᾿Αγαμεμνονίδας and with what follows. Or, what comes to the same thing, another verb must be supplied in thought with the second clause. Orestes shall return: Agamemnon shall regard his house and offspring. The derivation from περιτρέπω suggests the idea of a coming revolution, (1) in the action of Orestes, (2) in the awakening from apparent slumber and forgetfulness of the gods below, or of the spirit of Agamemnon.

184. mvp-comment-109-1 Nor he who ruleth as a god beside the ghostly river.' Cp. supr. 110. (1) The subject of this line has commonly been supposed to be Hades. Another interpretation has occurred independently to Mr. Blaydes, Prof. Paley, and the present editor, viz. (2) that θεὸς may refer to Agamemnon as a δαίμων. In support of this, cp. supr. 150 Νιόβα, σὲ δ' ἔγωγε νέμω θεόν, infr. 839-41 (of Amphiaraus), νῦν ὑπὸ γαίας . . ἀνάσσει, and note; and the following places of the Choephori:-157, σέβας, ὦ δέσποτ᾽: 356, 7, κατὰ χθονὸς ἐμπρέπων | σεμνότιμος ἀνάκτωρ : 475-8, θεῶν τῶν κατὰ γᾶς ὅδ᾽ ὕμνος. ΧΟ. ἀλλὰ κλύοντες, μάκαρες χθόνιοι, | τήσδε κατευχῆς πέμπετ᾿ ἀρωγὴν | παισὶν προφρόνως ἐπὶ νίκῃ : also Persae, 157, θεοῦ μὲν εὐνάτειρα Περσῶν, θεοῦ δὲ καὶ μήτηρ ἔφυς: 644, Περσᾶν Σουσιγενή θεόν, -although the analogy in these two instances is weakened by the words being put into the mouths of Persians; but see also Ag. 1548, ἐπ᾿ ἀνδρὶ θείῳ. Agamemnon, in Aesch. Ag. 925, says to Clytemnestra, λέγω κατ᾿ ἄνδρα, μὴ θεόν, σέβειν ἐμέ. But that is in his lifetime. And considering the honours that are paid at his tomb, and the tone in which he is spoken of by Electra throughout, the chorus may speak of him to her as θεός by an allowable hyperbole, especially if the word is taken, not with the article as subject of the sentence, but as supplementary predicate with ἀνάσσων. If this hypothesis is not admissible, the god intended is probably not Pluto, but (3) Hermes. Cp. supr. 111.

185-186. mvp-comment-110-1 But my life hath in great part already passed from me and left me hopeless and forlorn.' The life is separable from the person, cp. О. Т. 612, τὸν παρ᾽ αὑτῷ βίοτον. ἀνέλπιστος is proleptic, and in idea belongs, by hypallage, to ἐμέ, -' is passed without bringing me any hope.' The exact sense of ὁ πολύς is not to be pressed. The article is deictic, as in Aj. 1149, τὴν πολλὴν βοήν: infr. 931.

186. mvp-comment-111-1 οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾿ ἀρκῶ] 'And I am no longer of any avail. Cp. Thuc. 2. 47. § 5, οὔτε γὰρ ἰατροὶ ἤρκουν.

187. mvp-comment-112-1 ἄνευ τοκέων] Her father is dead, and her mother is worse than lost to her.

187. mvp-comment-112-2 τοκέων occurs in one MS. (Vind. 281) and is adopted by Nauck. Cp. supr. 164, ἄτεκνος. It may be thought more suited to Electra's age to feel the want of children than of parents. But her filial piety is the chief motive of the play.

189-190. mvp-comment-113-1 ἁπερεί τις .. πατρός] ‘Like some despised sojourner, I tend the chambers of my father's house." Cp. Aesch. Cho. 84, δμωαὶ γυναῖκες, δωμάτων εὐθήμονες. For the absolute use of ἀνάξιος, cp. Phil. 439, ἀναξίου.. φωτός, 'A fellow of no esteem.' Hermann joined this word with what follows it ('I am undeservedly made to do menial service'), on the ground that an ἔποικος was ἀναξία as a matter of course. But, on the other hand, the addition of ἀναξία to the bare statement οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους πατρός, certainly weakens the expression, while the pleonasm in ἔποικος ἀναξία is rather emphatic, and is supported, as Ellendt pointed out, by the Homeric expression, ὡσεί τιν᾿ ἀτίμητον μετανάστην, ΙΙ. 9. 648, 16. 59.

190-191. mvp-comment-114-1 ὧδε . . ἀεικεῖ . . στολᾷ] Electra is a woman speaking to women. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 846-8, (῎Ατοσσα.) μάλιστα δ᾽ ἥδε συμφορὰ δάκνει, | ἀτιμίαν γε παιδὸς ἀμφὶ σώματι | ἐσθημάτων κλύουσαν, ἥ νιν ἀμπέχει.

192. mvp-comment-115-1 κεναῖς δ᾽ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις] And the table at which I stand is bare.' Hermann had conjectured ἀμφίσταμαι, which restores the metre, before he observed that it was quoted by Eustathius. Cp. Pind. Ol. 1. 80, τραπέζαισι .. ἀμφί, and, for the thought, Od. 20. 259, δίφρον ἀεικέλιον καταθεὶς ὀλίγην τε τράπεζαν : infr. 361, 2, σοὶ δὲ πλουσία | τράπεζα κείσθω καὶ περιρρείτω βίος : Pind. Ο1. 2. 116, κεινὰν παρὰ δίαιταν.

194. mvp-comment-116-1 οἰκτρὰ μὲν νόστοις αὐδά] 'Piteous were thy tones at the time of thy father's return.' In the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, the Watchman and the Chorus, i. e. the household and the people, express a vague misgiving, which is not sufficiently definite to enable them to warn Agamemnon. Sophocles here, as elsewhere, concentrates in an individual what in Aeschylus was general. It is quite consistent with his conception of the character of Electra, that, young as she then was, and totally unable, both from her inexperience ( infr. 1024) and her dependent position, of averting the harm which she may have vaguely foreseen, she had a sufficiently clear perception of the situation to be sad instead of joyful on the occasion of her father's coming home, and her sadness would be aggravated by her helplessness :-ἐπεὶ ἐχθίστη ὀδύνη πολλὰ φρονέοντα μηδενὸς κρατέειν. Her friends, of the same age with her, observed this, and in recollecting it, now understand the cause. ooi is easily supplied, both because the whole of Electra's last speech refers to herself, and because σοί occurs immediately afterwards as an ethical' dative. πατρός is no less easily supplied with νόστοις for a similar reason, both because the word occurs three lines above, and because it is implied in πατρώαις in the following line. νόστοις is dative of the occasion, E. on L. § 11. p. 18. For the sense, cp. Aesch. Pers. 935, 6, πρόσφθογγόν σοι νόστου τὰν | κακοφάτιδα βοάν, κακομέλετον ἰὰν | Μαριανδυνοῦ θρηνητῆρος | πέμψω πολύδακρυν ἰακχάν.

195-197. mvp-comment-117-1 οἰκτρὰ δ'.. πλαγά] 'And piteous was thy crying where thy father lay, when thou hadst seen launched the death-stroke of the solid brazen axe.' If Sophocles (see Introduction) follows the form of the legend known to us from Homer, according to which Agamemnon was slain at a feast given in honour of his return, ἐν κοίταις probably means, (1) 'Where he lay in death.' And this is supported by 203. The poet might, no doubt, have so far modified the legend as to suppose Agamemnon after the feast to have been lured by Clytemnestra to his chamber and there slain. ἐν κοίταις might then belong to the relative clause (ὅτε ἐν κ.), and mean 'in his chamber. But this is inconsistent with 203 and 270. For (1) cp. Aesch. Ag. 1494, 1518, Eur. Med. 437, O. C. 1707. The bath, and the entangling garment, which are so prominent in the Agamemnon and Choephori, are in any case not thought of here. Some (including Wecklein) understand aὐδά in both clauses of the death-shriek of the king. σοι (Ε. on L. § 13. p. 19 f.) marks that Electra was the chief sufferer from all that happened. This explanation is rightly defended by Triclinius. Cp. Tennyson's Elaine, -Through her own side she felt the sharp lance go.' Hermann, understanding aὐδά of the people's voice, rejects σοι and reads οἱ instead. The hiatus, which he defends from Trach. 650, ὁ δὲ οἱ φίλα δάμαρ (cp. supr. 157), is still exceptional, but a stronger objection to the removal of σοί is that the connection between this speech and Electra's is thus destroyed.

197-200. mvp-comment-118-1 Sophocles seems here to have in his mind the passage of the Agamemnon where Clytemnestra impersonates the Alastor of Atreus, Aesch. Agam. 1500-1504: Craft pointed out the way, lust murdered him. Between them they produced a monstrous birth, whether he who did this thing were a god or one of mortal mould.' μορφάν the immediate agent and the act itself, as an embodied horror, seem to be confused. See E. on L. § 48. p. 92.

201-212. mvp-comment-119-1 In supr. 185-92, Electra refused consolation and drew attention to her hopeless misery. The women then call to mind how they had pitied her at the time of her father's death. This opens anew the flood-gates of her sorrow. Cp. Ant. 857 foll., ἔψαυσας ἀλγεινοτάτας ἐμοὶ μερίμνας, κ.τ.λ.

203. mvp-comment-120-1 δείπνων] The feast which preceded the murder, according to Od. 4. 535. Agamemnon (see next note) is supposed to have been murdered at table : ὡσεί τε κατέκτανε βοῦν ἐπὶ φάτνῃ (Od. 1. c.).

205. mvp-comment-121-1 For ἄχθη, the grammatical antecedent, the more definite θάνατοι is substituted and taken into the relative clause. The horror of that feast-I mean the death which followed it.'

206. mvp-comment-122-1 διδύμαιν χειροῖν] ‘Effected by joint violence' of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.

207-208. mvp-comment-123-1 αΐ.. πρόδοτον] 'That wrought treason on my life and ruined me.'

209. mvp-comment-124-1 ois refers to the antecedent implied in χειροῖν, viz. Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.

211. mvp-comment-125-1 'And never may they have any good of their magnificence.' Cp. infr. 267-281: Od. 17. 244, 5, τῷ κέ τοι ἀγλαΐας γε διασκεδάσειεν ἁπάσας, | τὰς νῦν ὑβρίζων φορέεις.

214-216. mvp-comment-126-1 'Seest thou not through what courses thou hast fallen thus cruelly into calamities that come home to thee?' or, with a slightly different shade of meaning, 'which thou hast brought upon thyself.' Cp. Aj. 260: Pind. Nem. 1. 81, τὸ γὰρ οἰκεῖον πιέζει πάνθ᾽ ὁμῶς. ἐξ οἵων is otherwise explained by one Scholiast :-ἐξ οἴων ἀγαθῶν εἰς τί ἀνιαρὸν ἐλήλυθας. Cp. infr. 392. But it is more natural that the Chorus should remind her of the cause of the persecution she is undergoing.

218-219. mvp-comment-127-1 σᾷ . . πολέμους] Ever creating new conflicts for thy burdened soul.'

219-220. mvp-comment-128-1 τὰ δὲ.. πλάθειν] ‘But strife with the powerful is hopeless.' The vague rá is to be supplemented from what precedes and follows,- sc. τὰ πολεμούμενα, οι τὰ ἐρίδος ἐχόμενα. Cp. Plat. Symp. 206 C, ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐν τῷ ἀναρμόστῳ, -sc. κυούμενα καὶ γεννώμενα, - Pind. Nem. 10. 135, χαλεπὰ δ' ἔρις ἀνθρώποις ὁμιλεῖν κρεσσόνων: ΟΙ. 11. 48, νεῖκος δὲ κρεσσόνων ἀποθέσθ᾽ ἄπορον. πλάθειν, sc. τοῖς δυνατοῖς, is epexegetic infinitive.

221. mvp-comment-129-1 The Chorus (l. 214) have reminded Electra of the violent words by which she has earned her present misery. She replies that such words were wrung from her by a fearful cause, viz. by the murder of her father and the subsequent conduct of the murderers. Cp. infr. 271 foll.

222. mvp-comment-130-1 'I know, I am conscious of my passion, viz. that it is inordinate. Cp. infr. 617, 8, μανθάνω δ᾽ ὁθούνεκα | ἔξωρα πράσσω κοὐκ ἐμοὶ προσεικότα : 1011, κατάσχες ὀργήν.

223-224. mvp-comment-131-1 But amid deeds of horror I will not curb or moderate these my calamitous ways' (as ye call them). She echoes the words of the Chorus (l. 215) in a different sense. They meant by οἰκείας ἄτας, 'self-caused calamities:' -she means by ταύτας άτας, 'this infatuate,' or 'fatal,' course,' of which by implication they have accused her.

226-228. mvp-comment-132-1 Electra relapses into despair. If even these Argive women, who know her so well, cannot give her a word of comfort, whence is it to come? 'At whose mouth, then, kind band of friends, can I hope to hear a word of comfort, prompted by seasonable thought?' For the uncommon dative, see E. on L. § 13. p. 20.

229. mvp-comment-133-1 'Press not on me with your consolations,' and cp. Eur. El. 1182, διὰ πυρὸς ἔμολον ἁ τάλαινα ματρὶ τᾷδ᾽.

230. mvp-comment-134-1 For ye shall find this sorrow irremoveable.'

234. mvp-comment-135-1 Like a true-hearted mother.' For this form of expressing sympathy from one woman to another, cp. Trach. 526, ἐγὼ δὲ μάτηρ μὲν οἷα φράζω.

235. mvp-comment-136-1 ἄταν ἄταις] Cp. Αj. 866, πόνῳ πόνον, and note.

236. mvp-comment-137-1 καὶ τί μέτρον κακότατος ἔφυ;] 'And is not my trouble infinite?' (So the Scholiast, -πρὸς γὰρ ἄμετρον κακὸν καὶ ἀμέτρων δεῖται θρήνων.) Cp. infr. 1249, 50, ἁμέτερον οἷον ἔφυ κακόν. For the meaning, cp. Shak. Ant. and Cleo. 4. 15. 4, But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow, Proportioned to our cause, must be as great As that which makes it.'

237. mvp-comment-138-1 ἐπὶ τοῖς φθιμένοις ἀμελεῖν] To treat the dead with forgetfulness.' E. on L. § 19. p. 27.

238. mvp-comment-139-1 ἐν τίνι . . ἀνθρώπων] 'Where amongst men hath such a mind sprung up?'

239. mvp-comment-140-1 τούτοις] Sc. ἐν οἷς τοῦτο ἔβλαστε, the indefinite plural taking the place of the indefinite singular. E. on L. § 20. p. 31. 3. Cp. Hdt. 9. 79. § 3. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὖν τούτου εἵνεκα μήτε Αἰγινήτῃσι ἅδοιμι, μήτε τοῖσι ταῦτα ἀρέσκεται· ἀποχρᾷ δ᾽ ἐμοί, Σπαρτιήτῃσι ἀρεσκόμενον, ὅσια μὲν ποιέειν, ὅσια δὲ καὶ λέγειν.

240. mvp-comment-141-1 εἴ τῳ πρόσκειμαι χρηστῷ] · If I have near me any good,' = εἴ τι χρηστὸν πρόσκειταί μοι : Ε. on L. § 42. p. 80 β. Cp. infr. 1040, ᾧ σὺ πρόσκεισαι κακῷ.

241-243. mvp-comment-142-1 γονέων .. γόων] • Holding back the wings of my shrill wailings from doing honour to my sire.' Each fresh utterance of the unabating sorrow is imagined as a bird that is eager to fly. ἐκτίμους is predicative and proleptic, = ὥστε ἔξω εἶναι τοῦ τιμᾶν. See E. on L. $ 54. p. 100 d, § 10. p. 16 f., § 23. p. 38 81, § 38. p. 71.

244. mvp-comment-143-1 ya] Prof. Jebb reads ya, i.e. 'buried,' adding, 'it is difficult to believe that yῆ could stand for σποδός.' But the expression is hyperbolical-' mere clay.' Cp. ψήγμα in Aesch. Ag. 442.

251-252. mvp-comment-144-1 καὶ τὸ σὸν.. καὶ τοὐμὸν αὐτῆς] 'More in care for thee than for myself. This is really the meaning, although, by the usual Greek litotes, 'as much as' is put for more than.' The most important matter is put first. E. on L. § 41. p. 78.

253. mvp-comment-145-1 ἑψόμεσθ'] Cp. infr. 1052.

254-255. mvp-comment-146-1 I am ashamed of seeming to you, as I must seem, to be too impatient in multiplying lamentations.' δοκῶ is indicative.

258. mvp-comment-147-1 πατρῷ᾽ ὁρῶσα πήματ'] 'Seeing woful things performed against her sire.' Electra's filial affection for Agamemnon is kept prominently before us as her chief motive; and every insult to his memory, including her own sufferings, is regarded by her as part of the wrong done to him. πατρῷα is at first general, but in the antecedent to a it becomes individual, -' of my father.'

260. mvp-comment-148-1 θάλλοντα .. καταφθίνονθ'] “Not lessening but increasing.'

260-261. mvp-comment-149-1 ᾖ.. συμβέβηκεν] 'Since, first of all, I have found in my own mother the deepest cause for hatred.' This (Paley, etc.) is better than my mother is my enemy.'

264. mvp-comment-150-1 κἀκ τῶνδ᾽ ἄρχομαι] ‘And I am in subjection to them. Cp. O. C. 67, ἐκ τοῦ κατ᾿ ἄστυ βασιλέως τάδ' ἄρχεται.

270. mvp-comment-151-1 ἔνθ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν] Here again Sophocles seems to follow the account that is given in the fourth book of the Odyssey, ll. 529 foll., according to which Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon at or after a banquet. Hence he is said to have destroyed him beside the hearth. Cp. infr. 1495.

271-274. mvp-comment-152-1 Further, when I see their crowning insult, when I see, forsooth, the author of his death reclining on my father's couch, beside my wretched mother, if so I must call this woman, when cohabiting with him!' The clause τὸν αὐτοφόντην κ.τ.λ. is in the same construction with ὕβριν, governed by ἴδω. ἡμίν is ethical dative, and has a sarcastic force; i.e. That is what I am compelled to look upon.' The participle (κείμενον) which should have gone with ἐν κοίτῃ is absorbed and resumed in συγκοιμωμένην.

363-364. mvp-comment-153-1 ἐμοὶ γὰρ . . βόσκημα] (1) ‘For I would have such maintenance alone as will not cause me pain:' i. e. through compliance with my father's enemies. The reading λυποῦν is implied in the first scholion here, which, although giving a wrong explanation, deserves for this reason to be transcribed:-ἐμοί, φησίν, ἔστω τροφή, ἡ τῇ ἀνάγκῃ μόνον ἁρμόζουσα, καὶ τὴν πείνην ἀπελαύνουσα· οὐ δέομαι γὰρ τοιαύτης τροφῆς ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἡδονὴν σχήσω. (2) The MS. reading, which is also acknowledged in the scholia, -τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν (Schol. τοῦτο μόνον ἐμὲ βοσκέτω, τὸ μὴ λυπεῖν ἐμὲ αὐτήν, εἰ τοῖς φονεῦσι τοῦ πατρὸς πείθεσθαι ἀναγκασθήσομαι) is possibly right, but the use of ἐμέ for ἐμαυτήν is hardly justified, and the expression seems forced. Ср., however, Eur. Cycl. 336-8, ὡς τοὐμπιεῖν γε καὶ φαγεῖν τοὐφ᾽ ἡμέραν, | Ζεὺς οὗτος ἀνθρώποισι τοῖσι σώφροσι, | λυπεῖν δὲ μηδὲν αὐτόν.

364. mvp-comment-154-1 The genitive, after ἐρῶ, is to be resumed with τυχεῖν, which is epexegetic infinitive.

365-367. mvp-comment-155-1 νῦν δ᾽ ἐξὸν .. τῆς μητρός] But now, when you might be called the daughter of the noblest of all sires, be called your mother's child.' Here, and in supr. 341, 2, there is a reminiscence of that depreciation of the maternal relationship, which is more fully expressed in the Eumenides of Aeschylus. For another trace of this, cp. Eur. Fr. 1048, στέργω δὲ τὸν φύσαντα τῶν πάντων βροτῶν | μάλισθ'· ὁρίζω τοῦτο, καὶ σὺ μὴ φθώνει· | κείνου γὰρ ἐξέβλαστον. οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἰς ἀνὴρ | γυναικὸς αὐδήσειεν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ πατρός.

369. mvp-comment-156-1 μηδὲν πρὸς ὀργήν] Sc. λέξης. Say nothing in anger,'-lit. 'tending that way. Cp. infr. 464.

373. mvp-comment-157-1 οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐμνήσθην ποτέ) 'And would never have mentioned the subject. This refers to supr. 330, 1.

376. mvp-comment-158-1 Exceptions to the rule of the Porsonic pause are not infrequent where γάρ comes in the first place of the fifth foot: e.g. O. C. 115, ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθεῖν.

376-377. mvp-comment-159-1 Electra will not admit that any trouble can be greater than what she endures already in seeing the insults that are heaped upon her father.

382. mvp-comment-160-1 χθονὸς τῆσδ᾽ ἐκτός] Beyond the Argive boundary, so as not to bring pollution upon the state. Cp. Ant. 773, ἄγων ἔρημος ἔνθ᾽ ἂν ᾖ βροτῶν στίβος κρύψω πετρώδει ζῶσαν ἐν κατώρυχι : Ο. C. 399, 400, ὥς σ' ἄγχι γῆς στήσωσι Καδμείας, ὅπως | κρατῶσι μέν σου, γῆς δὲ μὴ ᾿μβαίνῃς ὅρων. ὑμνήσεις κακά] 'You shall chant your song of woe.' Cp. infr. 802, 3, τήνδε δ᾽ ἔκτοθεν βοᾶν | ἔα τά θ᾽ αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ τῶν φίλων κακά.

383-384. mvp-comment-161-1 καί με . μέμψῃ] Being warned, Electra will have no cause to blame Chrysothemis. Cp. infr. 1056, 7, ὅταν γὰρ ἐν κακοῖς | ἤδη βεβήκῃς, τἄμ᾽ ἐπαινέσεις ἔπη.

384. mvp-comment-162-1 νῦν γὰρ .. φρονεῖν] ‘For now you have a good opportunity of adopting the wiser course.' Cp. Plat. Rep. Β. 9. p. 571 Β, τὸ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν .. οὔ μοι δοκοῦμεν ἱκανῶς διῃρῆσθαι. . οὐκοῦν, ἢ δ᾽ ὅς, ἔτ᾽ ἐν καλῷ;

385. mvp-comment-163-1 And have they really determined to do this to me?' καί adds a sarcastic emphasis.

390. mvp-comment-164-1 ποῦ ποτ᾽ εἰ φρενῶν;] 'What are you thinking of?' Cp. Ant. 42, ποῦ γνώμης ποτ' εἶ; There is the same doubt in both cases, whether el is from εἰμί or εἶμι. For the latter, which gives greater liveliness, cp. Eur. Iph. Α. 479, 80, καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν ἐξαφίσταμαι λόγων, | οὐκ εἰς σὲ δεινός· εἶμι δ᾽ οὗπερ εἶ σὺ νῦν. On the other hand it may be urged that ποῖ would be more natural with the verb of motion. Electra in supra l. 354 has said, οὐ ζῶ; κακῶς μὲν, οἶδ᾽, ἐπαρκούντως δ᾽ ἐμοί. Chrysothemis interprets this as if she had meant that she had something to lose.

395. mvp-comment-165-1 τοῖς φίλοις] Viz. τῷ πατρί.

397. mvp-comment-166-1 ταῦτα is an adverbial accusative. οὐκ ἐμοὺς τρόπους λέγεις] 'You speak not of my ways; i.e. Your words indicate a line of conduct that can never be mine.

399. mvp-comment-167-1 τιμωρούμενοι] Cp. supr. 349.

400. mvp-comment-168-1 τούτων.. συγγνώμην] For this genitive, see Essay on L. § 9. p. 12, d 2, and cp. esp. Trach. 250, τοῦ λόγου .. φθόνον.

401. mvp-comment-169-1 Such words are for the base to approve.' Although, grammatically speaking, ἔπη is the subject of the sentence, and ἐπαινέσαι is epexegetic infinitive, the real meaning is, πρὸς κακῶν ἐστὶ τὸ ἐπαινέσai ταῦτα τὰ ἔπη. As constantly happens in Greek, an attribute which belongs to the verb is attached to the noun.

403. mvp-comment-170-1 μή πω .. κενή] 'I trust I may not prove so void of understanding!' For this use of πω, in which the temporal meaning has disappeared, cp; Ο. Τ. 105, οὐ γὰρ εἰσεῖδόν γέ πω, and note. The adverbial use of τοσόνδε is an Epic touch; cp. Od. 21. 253, 4, ἀλλ᾽ ἐἰ δὴ τοσσόνδε βίης ἐπιδευέες εἰμὲν | ἀντιθέου Ὀδυσῆος, ὅτ᾽ οὐ δυνάμεσθα, κ.τ.λ.

404. mvp-comment-171-1 οἶπερ ἐστάλην ὁδοῦ] ‘To the place whither I was sent upon my way.' For the idiomatic partitive genitive, cp. supr. 390, ποῦ ποτ' εἶ φρενῶν ; Phil. 899, ἀλλ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἤδη τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους κυρῶ.

405. mvp-comment-172-1 τῷ] 'For whom?' i.e. 'To be offered to whom?'

406. mvp-comment-173-1 τυμβεῦσai χοάς] Το pour libation on his tomb;' i.e. ἐπιτυμβίους χέαι χοάς,-the attribute of the noun being attached to the verb. See Essay on L. § 17. p. 25 с.

409. mvp-comment-174-1 τῷ τοῦτ᾽ ἤρεσεν] 'Whose pleasure was this?' Cp. Aj. 1243, & τοῖς πολλοῖσιν ἤρεσκεν κριταῖς.

410. mvp-comment-175-1 ἐκ δείματος] Sc. πεισθεῖσα.

411. mvp-comment-176-1 At the mention of 'nightly fear,' Electra instantly rushes to the conclusion that Clytemnestra has had some Divine warning. Her hope at once revives, and she looks up to heaven. For ἀλλὰ νῦν, 'now, though not heretofore,' cp. Ant. 552, τί δῆτ᾽ ἂν ἀλλὰ νῦν σ᾽ ἔτ᾿ ὠφελοῖμ᾽ ἐγώ. And for the connection, cp. Aesch. Cho. 515, 6, ΟΡ. πόθεν χοὰς ἔπεμψεν, ἐκ τίνος λόγου | μεθύστερον τιμῶσ᾽ ἀνήκεστον πάθος; ib. 523-5, ΧΟ. οἶδ', ὦ τέκνον· παρῆ γάρ. ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνειράτων | καὶ νυκτιπλάγκτων δειμάτων πεπαλμένη | χοὰς ἔπεμψε τάσδε δύσθεος γυνή. In this line and supr. 345 γε belongs in sense to the word that follows it. Or rather, the particle emphasizes the whole sentence as a comment on the preceding words. 'Ay, now, at last, come to our aid!'

413. mvp-comment-177-1 Electra is eager to know the vision, and will not confess her hopes till she has heard it.

414. mvp-comment-178-1 ἐπὶ σμικρόν is to be resumed with φράσai, which is epexegetic infinitive.

415. mvp-comment-179-1 λέγ᾽ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο] 'Tell me but this;'-this little, if nothing more. Cp. Trach. 320, εἴπ', ὦ τάλαιν', ἀλλ᾽ ἡμὶν ἐκ σαυτῆς. πολλά τοι κ.τ.λ.] Cp. Aesch. Cho. 204, σμικροῦ γένοιτ' ἂν σπέρματος μέγας πυθμήν: Ο. Τ. 120, 1, ἓν γὰρ πόλλ᾽ ἂν ἐξεύροι μαθεῖν, | ἀρχὴν βραχεῖαν εἰ λάβοιμεν ἐλπίδος.

417. mvp-comment-180-1 λόγος τις.. ἐστιν] It is said,' viz. by the attendant who heard her tell her vision to the Sun, infr. 424, 5.

417-419. mvp-comment-181-1 πατρὸς ἐς φῶς] Our father again amongst us, revisiting the realm of light; i.e. τὸν πατέρα δεύτερον ὁμιλοῦντα (τοῖς ἐνθάδε), -abstract for concrete.

419. mvp-comment-182-1 εἶτα, κ.τ.λ.] These words depend immediately on λόγος τίς ἐστιν. Chrysothemis proceeds to narrate the vision as a matter of fact.

421. mvp-comment-183-1 τανῦν δ᾽ Αἴγισθος] Sc. φέρει.

424. mvp-comment-184-1 τοῦ παρόντος] 'The one who was present.' As a matter of course Clytemnestra was not wholly unattended in the day-time. Hence the article. Some editors have preferred the indefinite του; but the use of παρόντος = παραγενομένου is less natural in this case, and the double predicate παρόντος, ἐξηγουμένου, is awkward. A female attendant is meant, the masculine form being used, as in Trach. 151, etc. See Essay on L. § 20. p. 30. 2.

428. mvp-comment-185-1 πρὸς . . θεῶν τῶν ἐγγενῶν] · By the gods of our race,' i.e. the gods who are not only the protectors of our race, but also its progenitors, Inachus, etc. Chrysothemis in her solemn adjuration uses τὸν ἐπιχώριον ὅρκον τὸν μέγιστον (Thuc. 5. 18. § 9). Cp. Ant. 938, θεοὶ προγενεῖς, and note.

430. mvp-comment-186-1 σὺν κακῷ μέτει πάλιν] 'You will seek me another day, when the evil has overtaken you.'

Sophocles Electra 415

ed. Lewis Campbell

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λέγ᾿ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο, πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι
415

ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

ΗΛ.

Current edition Experimental

Ἠλέκτρα

λέγʼ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο· πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι
415

ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

Speak but that.
415

A little word hath ofttimes been the cause
415

Of ruin or salvation unto men.

EL

So sage dies. Wohl haben wenig Worte ja

Schon oft erhoben und gestürzt die Sterblichen.

Elektra.

The dream : and I will tell thee all.

Chrysothemis

I know but little of it.
415

Elec Tell me that :
415

Oftimes to words, how few soe'er they be.

Is given the power to save or to destroy.

Electra

Theseus

Electra

Tell me that, anyway; a small tale has often before now tripped men up, or set them upright.
415

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

λέγ᾿ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο, πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι 415 ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

ΗΛ.

Current edition Experimental

Ἠλέκτρα λέγʼ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο· πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι 415 ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

Speak but that. 415 A little word hath ofttimes been the cause 415 Of ruin or salvation unto men.

EL

So sage dies. Wohl haben wenig Worte ja Schon oft erhoben und gestürzt die Sterblichen.

Elektra.

The dream : and I will tell thee all.

Chrysothemis I know but little of it. 415 Elec Tell me that : 415 Oftimes to words, how few soe'er they be. Is given the power to save or to destroy.

Electra

Theseus

Electra Tell me that, anyway; a small tale has often before now tripped men up, or set them upright. 415

Commentary

Stable identifiers

λέγ᾿ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο, πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι
415

ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

Ἠλέκτρα

λέγʼ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο· πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι
415

ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

Speak but that.
415

A little word hath ofttimes been the cause
415

Of ruin or salvation unto men.

So sage dies. Wohl haben wenig Worte ja

Schon oft erhoben und gestürzt die Sterblichen.

Chrysothemis

I know but little of it.
415

Elec Tell me that :
415

Oftimes to words, how few soe'er they be.

Is given the power to save or to destroy.

Electra

Tell me that, anyway; a small tale has often before now tripped men up, or set them upright.
415