Sophocles Electra 488

ed. Lewis Campbell

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Card By Line
← Previous Next →
κρυπτομένα λόχοις
490
χαλκόπους ᾿Ερινύς ἐρινῦς L. ἐριννὺς Α. ἐρινύς Γ..

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)) — 488 focus
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 472 focus
An erring seer am I,
Of sense and wisdom lorn,
If this prophetic Power of right,
O’ertaking the offender, come not nigh
Ere many an hour be born.
Yon vision of the night,
That lately breathed into my listening ear,
Hath freed me, O my daughter, from all fear.
Sweet was that bodement. He doth not forget,
The Achaean lord that gave thee being, nor yet
The bronzen-griding axe, edged like a spear,
Hungry and keen, though dark with stains of time,
That in the hour of hideous crime
Quelled him with cruel butchery:
That, too, remembers, and shall testify.
From ambush deep and dread
With power of many a hand
And many hastening feet shall spring
The Fury of the adamantine tread,
Visiting Argive land
Swift recompense to bring
For eager dalliance of a blood-stained pair
Unhallowed, foul, forbidden. No omen fair,—
Their impious course hath fixed this in my soul,—
Nought but black portents full of blame shall roll
Before their eyes that wrought or aided there.
Small force of divination would there seem
In prophecy or solemn dream,
Should not this vision of the night
Reach harbour in reality aright.
O chariot-course of Pelops, full of toil!
How wearisome and sore
Hath been thine issue to our native soil!—
Since, from the golden oar
Hurled to the deep afar,
Myrtilus sank and slept,
Cruelly plucked from that fell chariot-floor,
This house unceasingly hath kept
Crime and misfortune mounting evermore.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 488 focus
Mit viel Füßen, mit viel Händen erscheint, 1
Chernen Fußtrittes, Erinnys, in
Grauser Höhle lauernd.
Denn mordbefleckten Ehebunds unkeusche Lust
Umstrickte sie, sonder Zucht und sonder Scham.
480
Drum hebt Vertrau'n mein Herz,
Nimmer erschein', erschein' uns dieses Zeichen, ohne Fluch
Zu künden Thätern und Genossen.
Die Graunbilder des Traums
Und alle Wort' aus Göttermunde
485
Sind Trug, eitles Nichts,
Wenn dieses Gesicht der Nächte nicht das Heil uns bringt.
Schlußgesang.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 472 focus
Must yield to her requests.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 472 focus
amidst you well the secret guard;
For should my mother know it, much I fear
I should have cause the daring deed to mourn.
If wisdom with one prescient ray
Illumes the darkness of my soul,
The vengeful Fury speeds her way;
Before her, baleful omens scowl;
I hear the flaping of their wings;
The force of justice in her hands she brings.
The dreadful visions of the night I hear:
They breathe sweet music to my ear;
My courage kindles at thinspiring sound.
Thy father rouses in the realms below;"
Ne'er will the king of Greece forget his wound,
Ne'er the old Axe of brass, that struck th' insidious blow..
She comes, with all her hundred hands,
Her hundred feet, the furious pow'r,
No more in dreadful ambush stands;
She comes, she knows her torturing hour;
With feet of brass I hear her tread;
She marks th' unholy, blood-polluted bed:
Vengeful 'gainst those th' accursed attempt who dared,
And those the horrid deed who shared,
She sends these boding signs, nor sends in vain.
If aught of truth terrific dreams disclose,
If aught the oracle's prophetic strain,
This vision of the night our happier state foreshows.
How black with miseries to this land,
O Pelops, was thy fatal course,
When jealous Pisa's dangerous strand...
Saw thy swift car's victorious force!
For since by rage, untaught to spare,
The hapless Myrtilus was slain,
Hurl'd headlong from the golden car,
And plunged into the roaring main,
Strife in this house delights to dwell,
And Murder shrieks with hideous yell.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 488 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-100-1 ποθεῖ, ποθῶν δ’ 1

mvp-comment-101-1 ἔτι μέγας οὐρανῷ 2 ἐν 3

mvp-comment-102-1 τὸν ὑπεραλγῆ 4

mvp-comment-102-2 νέμουσα 5

mvp-comment-103-1 μήτε ὑπεράχθεο 6 οἷς 7

mvp-comment-104-1 εὐμαρὴς θεός 8 θεός 9

mvp-comment-105-1 οὔτε γὰρ 10

mvp-comment-105-2 Κρῖσαν 11

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
or
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 12 βουνόμον 13

mvp-comment-106-2 βούνομον ἀκτὰν 14 Κρῖσαν 15

mvp-comment-107-1 ἀπερίτροπος 16

mvp-comment-108-1 παρὰ τὸν Ἀχέροντα 17 ἀνάσσων 18 θεὸς 19

mvp-comment-109-1 μὲν 20

mvp-comment-109-2 ὁ πολὺς … βίοτος 21

mvp-comment-109-3 ἀνέλπιστος 22

mvp-comment-109-4 187 *

τεκέων
. I am now satisfied that this is a true correction of τοκέων 23 ἅτις 24 τοκέων 25

mvp-comment-110-1 ἁπερεί 26

mvp-comment-110-2 ἔποικος 27

mvp-comment-111-1 οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους 28

mvp-comment-112-1 ἀεικεῖ σὺν στολᾷ 29

mvp-comment-113-1 κεναῖς δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις 30 ἀμφίσταμαι 31

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 32 κοίταις 33 οἰκτρὰ … αὐδὰ 34

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 35 ἐν 36

mvp-comment-114-6 κοίταις 37

mvp-comment-114-7 ὅτε οἱ 38 σοι 39 ἀνταία 40

mvp-comment-114-8 γενύων 41

mvp-comment-115-1 δόλος … ἔρος 42

mvp-comment-116-1 δεινὰν δεινῶς 43 δεινὰν … μορφάν 44

mvp-comment-116-2 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε 45 βροτῶν 46

mvp-comment-117-1 πλέον … ἐχθίστα 47

mvp-comment-117-2 δὴ 48

mvp-comment-118-1 νὺξ 49

mvp-comment-118-2 δείπνων 50

mvp-comment-119-1 ἄχθη 51 τοῖς 52 θανάτους 53

mvp-comment-119-2 διδύμαιν χειροῖν 54 διδύμοιν 55

mvp-comment-120-1 εἷλον … πρόδοτον 56

mvp-comment-121-1 οἷς 57

mvp-comment-121-2 Ὀλύμπιος 58

mvp-comment-122-1 ποίνιμα 59

mvp-comment-123-1 ἀγλαΐας 60

mvp-comment-123-2 ἀποναίατο 61

mvp-comment-124-1 πόρσω 62

mvp-comment-125-1 γνώμαν ἴσχεις 63

mvp-comment-125-2 ἐξ οἵων 64

mvp-comment-125-3 τὰ παρόντ’ 65

mvp-comment-125-4 οἰκείας 66

mvp-comment-126-1 πολύ … τι κακῶν 67

mvp-comment-126-2 ὑπερεκτήσω 68

mvp-comment-127-1 τὰ δὲ 69 οὐκ ἐριστὰ τοῖς δυνατοῖς 70 πλάθειν 71

mvp-comment-127-2 ἐριστά 72

mvp-comment-127-3 πλάθειν 73

mvp-comment-128-1 δεινοῖς ἠναγκάσθην 74

mvp-comment-129-1 ὀργά 75 ἔξοιδ’ 76

mvp-comment-130-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ 77

mvp-comment-130-2 ἐν … δεινοῖς 78

mvp-comment-130-3 σχήσω 79

mvp-comment-130-4 ταύτας ἄτας 80

mvp-comment-131-1 ὄφρα 81

mvp-comment-131-2 βίος ἔχῃ με 82 σχήσω 83

mvp-comment-132-1 τίνι γάρ … τίνι φρονοῦντι καίρια 84 ἀκούσαιμ’ ἂν πρόσφορον ἔπος 85 τίνι 86 πρόσφορον 87

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 88

mvp-comment-133-2 ἄλυτα 89

mvp-comment-133-3 κεκλήσεται 90

mvp-comment-133-4 231 f. For ἐκ 91

mvp-comment-133-5 ἀνάριθμος 92 θρήνων 93

mvp-comment-134-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν 94 γε 95 εὐνοίᾳ 96

mvp-comment-135-1 μάτηρ ὡσεί τις 97

mvp-comment-136-1 μὴ τίκτειν 98

mvp-comment-136-2 ἄταν ἄταις 99

mvp-comment-137-1 καὶ τί μέτρον 100 κακότατος 101

mvp-comment-137-2 φέρε 102

mvp-comment-137-3 ἐπὶ τοῖς φθ. 103

mvp-comment-138-1 ἔβλαστ’ 104

mvp-comment-139-1 τούτοις 105

mvp-comment-140-1 εἴ τῳ πρόσκειμαι χρηστῷ 106

mvp-comment-141-1 ξυνναίοιμ’ 107

mvp-comment-141-2 εὔκηλος 108

mvp-comment-141-3 γονέων 109 ἐκτίμους 110

mvp-comment-141-4 ἐκτίμους ἵσχουσα 111

mvp-comment-141-5 πτέρυγας … γόων 112

mvp-comment-141-6 ὀξυτόνων 113

mvp-comment-142-1 εἰ γὰρ 114

mvp-comment-142-2 γᾶ 115

mvp-comment-142-3 οὐδὲν 116 ὢν 117 εἰ 118

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 119

mvp-comment-142-6 ἀντιφόνους δίκας 120

mvp-comment-143-1 ἔρροι τ’ 121

mvp-comment-143-2 αἰδὼς 122 εὐσέβεια 123

mvp-comment-144-1 ἐγὼ μὲν 124

mvp-comment-144-2 καὶ 125 τὸ σὸν … καὶ τοὐμὸν 126

mvp-comment-145-1 νίκα 127

mvp-comment-145-2 ἅμα 128

mvp-comment-146-1 πολλοῖσι θρήνοις 129

mvp-comment-147-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ 130

mvp-comment-148-1 ἥτις εὐγενὴς γυνή 131

mvp-comment-149-1 πατρῷα … πήματα 132

mvp-comment-150-1 κατ’ εὐφρόνην 133

mvp-comment-150-2 θάλλοντα 134

mvp-comment-151-1 ᾗ 135

mvp-comment-151-2 πρῶτα μὲν … εἶτα … ἔπειτα 136 ᾗ 137

mvp-comment-151-3 τὰ μητρὸς 138

mvp-comment-151-4 ἔχθιστα συμβέβηκεν 139

mvp-comment-152-1 κἀκ τῶνδ’ ἄρχομαι 140

mvp-comment-153-1 λαβεῖν … τὸ τητᾶσθαι 141

mvp-comment-154-1 ποίας 142 δοκεῖς 143

mvp-comment-155-1 ἴδω 144 εἰσίδω δ’ 145 ἴδω δὲ 146

mvp-comment-155-2 μὲν 147

mvp-comment-156-1 ἐσθήματα 148

mvp-comment-156-2 ἐκείνῳ 149

mvp-comment-156-3 παρεστίους … λοιβάς 150 ἔνθ’ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν 151

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 152

mvp-comment-158-1 αὐτοέντην 153

mvp-comment-158-2 Brunck first adopted αὐτοέντην 154 αὐτοφόντην 155

mvp-comment-158-3 ἡμὶν 156

mvp-comment-159-1 ταλαίνῃ 157

mvp-comment-160-1 ταύτην … τῷδε 158

mvp-comment-161-1 μιάστορι 159 Ἐρινὺν 160

mvp-comment-162-1 ἐγγελῶσα τοῖς ποιουμένοις 161

mvp-comment-163-1 εὑροῦς’ 162 τότε 163

mvp-comment-163-2 The conjecture φρουροῦς’ 164 τηροῦς’ 165

mvp-comment-164-1 χοροὺς ἵστησι 166

mvp-comment-164-2 μηλοσφαγεῖ … ἱερὰ 167

mvp-comment-164-3 ἔμμην’ ἱερά 168

mvp-comment-164-4 τοῖς σωτηρίοις 169

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 170 κατὰ στέγας 171

mvp-comment-166-1 τέτηκα 172

mvp-comment-166-2 πατρὸς 173

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 174 αὑτήν 175

mvp-comment-167-2 κλαῦσαι 176

mvp-comment-167-3 ἡδονὴν φέρει 177

mvp-comment-168-1 ἡ λόγοισι γενναία 178

mvp-comment-169-1 φωνοῦσα 179

mvp-comment-170-1 δύσθεον 180

mvp-comment-170-2 μίσημα 181

mvp-comment-170-3 σοὶ μόνῃ 182

mvp-comment-170-4 τέθνηκεν 183

mvp-comment-170-5 ἐν πένθει 184

mvp-comment-171-1 ἐκ γόων 185

mvp-comment-171-2 οἱ κάτω θεοί 186

mvp-comment-172-1 τάδ’ 187

mvp-comment-172-2 ἥξοντ’ Ὀρέστην 188

mvp-comment-173-1 παραστᾶς’ 189

mvp-comment-174-1 ἥτις 190

mvp-comment-174-2 ὑπεξέθου 191

mvp-comment-175-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι τείσουσά γ’ 192

mvp-comment-176-1 ὑλακτεῖ 193

mvp-comment-176-2 σὺν 194

mvp-comment-176-3 πέλας 195 παρών 196

mvp-comment-176-4 301 The adv. πάντα 197

mvp-comment-176-5 ἄναλκις 198

mvp-comment-176-6 ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη 199

mvp-comment-177-1 σὺν γυναιξὶ 200

mvp-comment-177-2 τὰς μάχας 201

mvp-comment-178-1 ἐφήξειν 202

mvp-comment-179-1 μέλλων … δρᾶν τι 203

mvp-comment-179-2 τὰς οὔσας τε … καὶ τὰς ἀπούσας 204

mvp-comment-179-3 μου 205 μοι 206

mvp-comment-179-4 διέφθορεν 207

mvp-comment-180-1 σωφρονεῖν 208 εὐσεβεῖν 209

mvp-comment-180-2 ἔν τοι κακοῖς 210

mvp-comment-180-3 πολλή )στ’ ἀνάγκη 211 κἀπιτηδεύειν κακά 212

mvp-comment-180-4 I place only a comma, not a colon, after πάρεστιν 213

mvp-comment-181-1 ὄντος … βεβῶτος 214

mvp-comment-182-1 ἦ κάρτα 215

mvp-comment-182-2 θυραῖον 216

mvp-comment-182-3 οἰχνεῖν 217

mvp-comment-182-4 ἀγροῖσι 218

mvp-comment-182-5 τυγχάνει 219

mvp-comment-183-1 ἦ κἂν … ἱκοίμην 220 ἦ τ<*>ν 221 ἦ δἂν 222

mvp-comment-183-2 ἐς λόγους τοὺς σοὺς ἱκοίμην 223

mvp-comment-184-1 ὡς νῦν 224 ὥς νυν 225

mvp-comment-184-2 ἱστόρει· τί σοι φίλον 226 τό 227 τά 228

mvp-comment-184-3 With the other punctuation, ἱστόρει τί σοι φίλον 229

mvp-comment-185-1 καὶ δὴ 230

mvp-comment-185-2 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής 231

mvp-comment-185-3 ἥξοντος 232 ἢ μέλλοντος 233

mvp-comment-186-1 φησίν γε 234

mvp-comment-186-2 ποεῖ 235

mvp-comment-187-1 καὶ μὴν ἔγωγ’ 236 γε 237

mvp-comment-187-2 οὐκ ὄκνῳ 238

mvp-comment-188-1 ἀρκεῖν 239

mvp-comment-189-1 ἐπεί 240

mvp-comment-189-2 μακρὰν 241

mvp-comment-189-3 324 Here, as in 316, νῦν 242 νυν 243

mvp-comment-189-4 δόμων 244 φέρουσαν 245

mvp-comment-190-1 ὅμαιμον 246

mvp-comment-190-2 φύσιν 247

mvp-comment-191-1 Χρυσόθεμιν 248

mvp-comment-192-1 οἷα 249 νομίζεται 250

mvp-comment-193-1 πρὸς θυρῶνος ἐξόδοις 251 φωνεῖς 252 ἐλθοῦσα 253 αὖ 254

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

mvp-comment-194-1 θυμῷ … χαρίζεσθαι 255

mvp-comment-195-1 καίτοι τοσοῦτόν γ’ οἶδα 256

mvp-comment-195-2 κἀμαυτήν, ὅτι 257

mvp-comment-195-3 333 f. For the repeated ἄν 258

mvp-comment-195-4 οἶ) αὐτοῖς φρονῶ 259

mvp-comment-196-1 ὑφειμένῃ 260 πλεῖν 261

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 262

mvp-comment-198-1 τοιαῦτα δ’ ἄλλα 263 ἀλλὰ 264 ἄλλα 265

mvp-comment-199-1 καίτοι τὸ μὲν δίκαιον 266

mvp-comment-199-2 κρίνεις 267

mvp-comment-199-3 εἰ … με δεῖ 268

mvp-comment-199-4 ἐλευθέραν 269

mvp-comment-199-5 ζῆν 270

mvp-comment-199-6 πάντ’ 271

mvp-comment-199-7 ἀκουστέα 272

mvp-comment-200-1 δεινόν γε 273

mvp-comment-201-1 τῆς … τικτούσης 274

mvp-comment-201-2 μέλειν 275

mvp-comment-202-1 τἀμὰ νουθετήματα 276

mvp-comment-202-2 κείνης διδακτά 277

mvp-comment-202-3 ἐκ σαυτῆς 278

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’ 279

mvp-comment-203-4 ἑλοῦ γε 280

mvp-comment-203-5 φρονεῖν κακῶς 281

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 282

mvp-comment-205-1 ἥτις 283 φρονοῦσα 284 μῖσος 285

mvp-comment-206-1 πάντα 286

mvp-comment-206-2 τιμωρουμένης 287

mvp-comment-207-1 οὔτε … τε 288

mvp-comment-207-2 τήν τε δρῶσαν 289

mvp-comment-208-1 πρὸς κακοῖσι 290

mvp-comment-208-2 δειλίαν ἔχει 291

mvp-comment-209-1 ἐπεὶ 292

mvp-comment-209-2 ἢ μάθ’ ἐξ ἐμοῦ 293

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐπαρκούντως 294

mvp-comment-211-1 προσάπτειν 295

mvp-comment-211-2 εἴ τις ἔστ’ ἐκεῖ χάρις 296

mvp-comment-212-1 ἡμὶν 297 ξύνει 298

mvp-comment-213-1 τὰ σὰ … δῶῤ 299

mvp-comment-213-2 ἐφ’ οἶσι 300

mvp-comment-213-3 χλιδᾷς 301

mvp-comment-214-1 ὑπεικάθοιμι 302

mvp-comment-214-2 πλουσία 303

mvp-comment-214-3 περιρρείτω 304

mvp-comment-215-1 τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν 305

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 306

mvp-comment-217-1 παῖδα 307

mvp-comment-217-2 κεκλῆσθαι 308

mvp-comment-218-1 πλείστοις 309

mvp-comment-219-1 μηδὲν 310 πρὸς ὀργὴν 311

mvp-comment-220-1 ἀμφοῖν 312 τοῖς λόγοις 313

mvp-comment-221-1 τῆσδε … αὕτη 314 πάλιν 315

mvp-comment-222-1 ἐγὼ μὲν 316

mvp-comment-222-2 πως 317

mvp-comment-222-3 μύθων 318

mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ’ 319 κοὐδ’ 320 ποτέ 321

mvp-comment-224-1 ἰὸν 322

mvp-comment-224-2 σχήσει 323

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν 324

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι 325 εἰ 326

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ 327

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων 328 λόγων 329

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα 330

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει 331

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα 332

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ 333

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς 334

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις 335

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα 336

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ 337 καί 338

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 339 ἦ … δὴ 340 ἦ … γὰρ 341

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται 342

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο 343

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ 344

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ 345

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα 346

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε 347

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν 348

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως 349 ὑμῶν 350

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ 351 προσωτάτω φύγω 352

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος 353

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ 354

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι 355

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις 356

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν 357

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα 358 οὐκ ἐμοὺς 359

mvp-comment-240-1 γε 360 μέντοι 361

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ 362

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν 363

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 364

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη 365

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν 366

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω 367

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ 368

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις 369

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα 370

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς 371

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν 372

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή 373 ὅν γ’ 374

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν 375

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος 376

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί 377

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι 378

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ 379

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν 380

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε 381

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν 382 ἐπὶ σμικρῶν 383

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι 384

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι 385

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν 386

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι 387

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 388

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε 389 ἐκ δὲ 390

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα 391

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι 392

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 393 τοῦ 394 παρόντος 395 του 396

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ 397

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν 398

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη 399

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 400

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ 401

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ 402

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει 403

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ 404

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη 405 τούτων μὲν 406

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις 407 οὐδ’ ὅσιον 408

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς 409

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ 410

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ 411

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν 412 ῥοαῖσιν 413

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον 414

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν 415

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ 416 ἔνθεν 417

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν 418

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν 419

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν 420 ὅταν 421 σῳζέσθω 422

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ 423

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν 424 τλημονεστάτη 425

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε 426

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ 427

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε 428

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ 429

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι 430

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι 431 δέξασθαι 432

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος 433

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη 434

mvp-comment-267-8 Two different motives are assigned by the Greek commentators; viz.:—(1) the desire to render the dead incapable of wreaking vengeance (

ὥσπερ τὴν δύναμιν ἐκείνων ἀφαιρούμενοι
): (2) the desire to make an atonement (
ἐξιλάσασθαι τὴν δολοφονίαν—ἀφοσιοῦσθαι τὸν φόνον
). There can be little doubt that the first of these motives was the primitive origin of the custom. If the second was afterwards blended with it, the idea may have been that of offering the severed portions to the gods below,—as a victim was devoted to death by cutting off a lock of hair ( Eur. Alc. 75 ). Apollonius Rhodius seems to present the practice in this light (4. 477): Jason, having slain a foe,
ἐξάργματα τάμνε θανόντος
. Cp. Etym. Magn.:
ἀπάργματα λέγεται τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν τραγῳδῶν λεγόμενα μασχαλίσματα
.

mvp-comment-267-9 κἀπὶ λουτροῖσιν 435

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν 436

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ 437

mvp-comment-268-1 οὐκ ἔστιν 438

mvp-comment-268-2 ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ 439

mvp-comment-269-1 βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας 440

mvp-comment-269-2 κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης 441

mvp-comment-270-1 †ἀλιπαρῆ 442 λιπαρῆ 443

mvp-comment-270-2 We come, therefore, to a dilemma. (1) The words

τήνδ’ ἀλιπαρῆ τρίχα
may conceal some corruption:
τήνδ’
ought possibly to be τήνδε τ’ 444 ἀλίπαρον 445

mvp-comment-270-3 (2) Or else, if the text be sound,

ἀλιπαρῆ
may mean
οὐ λιπαράν
. There is no doubt that
λιπ
, ‘fat,’ is the root both of
λι^παρός
, ‘shining,’ and of
λι—παρής
, ‘sticking’; cp. Plat. Crat. 427 B
τὸ λιπαρὸν καὶ τὸ κολλῶδες
 ( Curt. Etym. § 340 ). Similarly
γλίσχρος
, ‘sticky,’ came to mean ‘importunate.’ It is barely possible that, in coining a new negative compound, the poet may have transferred the sense of
λιπαρός
to
λιπαρής
: but it seems improbable.

mvp-comment-271-1 ζῶμα 446

mvp-comment-271-2 χλιδαῖς 447

mvp-comment-272-1 προσπίτνουσα 448 αὐτὸν 449

mvp-comment-273-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός 450

mvp-comment-273-2 ζῶντ’ 451

mvp-comment-274-1 ἀφνεωτέραις 452

mvp-comment-274-2 στέφωμεν 453

mvp-comment-274-3 δωρούμεθα 454

mvp-comment-275-1 οἶμαι μὲν οὖν 455

mvp-comment-275-2 If μέλον 456 μέλειν 457 μέλον 458

mvp-comment-276-1 σοί 459

mvp-comment-277-1 βροτῶν 460

mvp-comment-278-1 πρὸς εὐσέβειαν 461

mvp-comment-279-1 δράσω 462

mvp-comment-279-2 τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον 463

mvp-comment-279-3 (1)

τὸ δίκαιον
is an acc. of general reference, and
οὐκ ἔχει λόγον
is impersonal. ‘With regard to what is (clearly) right, it is unreasonable for two persons to dispute; rather both should hasten on the doing (of it).’ With
ἀλλ’ ἐπισπεύδειν
we supply the notion
δεῖ
from the negative
οὐκ ἔχει λόγον
(as from
οὐκ ἔξεστι
in O. C. 1402 ff.; cp. O. T. 817 ff.). For the form of the sentence, cp. H. 7. 3. 7
τοὺς περὶ Ἀρχίαν...οὐ ψῆφον ἀνεμείνατε, ἀλλὰ ὁπότε πρῶτον ἐδυνάσθητε ἐτιμωρήσασθε
. So here the acc.
τὸ δίκαιον
, which represents the object of
δρᾶν
, is separated from it by the parenthesis
οὐκ
ἔχει λόγον δυοῖν ἐρίζειν
. (The first scholium gives substantially this view:
οὐκ ἔχει λόγον φιλονεικεῖν περὶ τοῦ δικαίου, ὥστε περὶ αὐτοῦ δύο ὄντας ἐρίζειν
.)

mvp-comment-279-4 (2) Or

τὸ δίκαιον
might be nom.: ‘that which is clearly right does not afford any ground (
οὐκ ἔχει λόγον
) for two persons to dispute,’ etc. So the second schol.:
ἢ τὸ οὐκ ἔχει λόγον ἀντὶ τοῦ οὐ παρέχει πρόφασιν
. So far as the verb
ἔχει
is concerned, this sense is quite admissible: cp. Thuc. 2. 41
οὔτε τῷ πολεμίῳ ἐπελθόντι ἀγανάκτησιν ἔχει
(
ἡ πόλις
). The objection is that the phrases
ἔχειν λόγον, οὐκ ἔχειν λόγον
, which are very common, regularly mean, ‘to be reasonable,’ ‘to be unreasonable.’ This is so both in the personal and in the impersonal constr.; as Plat. Phaedop. 62 D
τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἀγανακτεῖν...οὐκ ἔχει λόγον
: Dem. or. 36 § 54
πῶς ἔχει λόγον σὲ...δίκην ἀξιοῦν λαμβάνειν
; The supposed sense, ‘not to afford a reason,’ is unexampled.

mvp-comment-279-5 δυοῖν 464

mvp-comment-280-1 παρ’ ὑμῶν 465

mvp-comment-281-1 πικρὰν 466 δοκῶ με … τολμήσειν 467 ἔτι 468

mvp-comment-282-1 εἰ μὴ )γὼ 469

mvp-comment-282-2 γνώμας λειπομένα 470

mvp-comment-283-1 ἁ πρόμαντις Δίκα 471

mvp-comment-283-2 δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη 472

mvp-comment-284-1 μέτεισιν 473

mvp-comment-284-2 οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου 474

mvp-comment-285-1 ὕπεστί μοι θράσος 475 κλύουσαν 476

mvp-comment-285-2 ἁδυπνόων … ὀνειράτων 477

mvp-comment-286-1 ἀμναστεῖ γ’ ὁ φύσας ς’ 478

mvp-comment-287-1 χαλκόπλακτος 479

mvp-comment-287-2 γένυς 480

mvp-comment-287-3 The very axe (

φόνιος πέλεκυς
, 99) with which the blow was dealt is imagined as nourishing a grudge against the murderers who had set it such a task. Such a personification recalls that practice of Athenian law by which inanimate objects which had caused death were brought to a formal trial in the court called
τὸ ἐπὶ Πρυτανείῳ
, and, after sentence, cast beyond the boundaries, in the presence of the Archon Basileus and the sacrificial officers of the tribes (
φυλο‐
βασιλεῖς
). Aeschin. or. 3 § 244
τὰ μὲν ξύλα καὶ τοὺς λίθους καὶ τὸν σίδηρον, τὰ ἄφωνα καὶ ἀγνώμονα, ἐάν τῳ ἐμπεσόντα ἀποκτείνῃ, ὑπερορίζομεν
. (Cp. Dem. or. 23 § 76 .) A like conception was implied in the English law (repealed in 1846) of ‘deodands’ (Deo danda), i.e., personal chattels (whether animals or things) which, having caused the death of a human being, were forfeited to the Crown for pious uses.

mvp-comment-288-1 ἐν αἰκίαις 481

mvp-comment-289-1 καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ 482

mvp-comment-290-1 λόχοις 483

mvp-comment-290-2 χαλκόπους 484

mvp-comment-291-1 ἄλεκτρ’ ἄνυμφα 485

mvp-comment-291-2 γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ’ 486

mvp-comment-291-3 ἐπέβα 487

mvp-comment-292-1 πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι … συνδρῶσιν 488

mvp-comment-292-2 Verses 495—497 (

πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι...τέρας
) answer metrically to vv. 479—481
ὕπεστί μοι...ὀνειράτων
, where the text is certain, save for the doubt whether
θράσος
or
θάρσος
should stand in 479. Here we must first decide two points.

mvp-comment-292-3 (1) Are the words πρὸ τῶνδε 489

mvp-comment-292-4 (2) Could

ἔχει με, μήποτε τέρας πελᾶν
(etc.) mean, ‘ the belief possesses me, that’ etc.? Surely not. No real parallel for so strange a phrase has been produced. It is irrelevant to quote those impersonal verbs which directly express the occurrence of a thought to the mind; as Xen. An. 6. 1. 17
εἰσῄει αὐτοὺς ὅπως ἂν καὶ ἔχοντές τι οἴκαδε ἀφίκοιντο
(‘the thought came to them, how they might,’ etc.): Thuc. 6. 78. § 1
εἰ δέ τῳ ἄρα παρέστηκε, τὸν μὲν Συρακόσιον...πολέμιον εἶναι κ.τ.λ.
Either, then, the subject to
ἔχει
has dropped out, or the words
μ’ ἔχει
conceal a corruption.

mvp-comment-292-5 The following remedies are possible: I incline to the first, as involving least change. (1) Reading in 479

ὕπεστί μοι θράσος
, we may read here
πρὸ τῶνδέ τοί μ’ ἔχει
|
<θάρσος τι>, μήποθ’ ἡμῖν
etc. (It may be remarked that
τι
is in harmony with the tone of
ὕπεστί μοι
in 479.) Another available word is
ξύννοια
(cp. Ant. 279 ). (2) Or, reading in 479
ὕπεστί μοι θάρσος
, we could read here
πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι θάρσος ἴσχει με
. On either view, the
υ
of
ἁδυπνόων
in 480 is long (as several critics have assumed). It should be noted that (1) involves a different constitution of the verses: see p. lxxxii.

mvp-comment-292-6 In those MSS. which have μή ποτε μή ποθ’ ἡμῖν 490

mvp-comment-293-1 ἀψεγές 491 ἀψεφές 492

mvp-comment-293-2 πελᾶν 493

mvp-comment-294-1 τοῖς δρῶσι 494 τοῖς συνδρῶσιν 495

mvp-comment-295-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν 496

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.

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.'

431. mvp-comment-187-1 Electra scarcely hears the concluding words of Chrysothemis. Her attention is absorbed by the vision and the hopes which it has aroused in her mind, and she is determined to prevent the offering of the libation, which she represents to her sister as at once an offence to Agamemnon and useless to Clytemnestra. The former is her own feeling, the latter (ll. 446-8) occurs to her as a rhetorical argument. She also takes the opportunity of sending an offering to the tomb, as if to remind her father that the hour of vengeance for him was at hand. ὦ φίλη] 'She tries affectionate persuasion, and no longer reproaches.' Paley. Or rather, her resentment is forgotten in the revival of hope. Cp. supr. 367.

433-434. mvp-comment-188-1 ἱστάναι | κτερίσματα] Το (institute or) perform funereal rights.'

435-438. mvp-comment-189-1 Not κρύψον from l. 436, but some more general word, such as ἀφάνισον, is to be supplied with πνοαίσιν. For the form of sentence, cp. О. Т. 1410-2, ἔξω μέ που | καλύψατ', ἢ φονεύσατ', ἢ θαλάσσιον | ἐκρίψατ᾽, ἔνθα μήποτ᾽ εἰσόψεσθ᾽ ἔτι. βαθυσκαφεῖ κόνει] 'In deeply hollowed dust,' i.e. buried deep in the ground.

437-438. mvp-comment-190-1 ἀλλ᾿ ὅταν θάνῃ . . κάτω] 'But let this be treasured underground for her, against the day when she shall die.' σωζέσθω is passive, and there is an ellipse οἱ εἰς ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον or the like words.

441. mvp-comment-191-1 οὐκ ἄν.. ἐπέστεφε] 'She would not have sought to give by way of honour.' Cp. Ant. 431, χοαῖσι τρισπόνδοισι τὸν νέκυν στέφει.

442-443. mvp-comment-192-1 For only think whether you can suppose the dead man in his grave will receive this gift kindly at her hand.' For αὐτῇ as dative of the remote object with προσφιλῶς δέξασθαι, cp. supr. 226, 7, τίνι . . πρόσφορον ἀκούσαιμ᾽ ἔπος; It may also be taken with προσφιλῶς separately, but rather follows both words as combined in one expression.

444. mvp-comment-193-1 'Who slew him dishonourably as a personal foe.' Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1374, ἐχθροῖς ἐχθρὰ πορσύνων: ibid. 1492-4, κεῖσαι . κοίταν τάνδ᾽ ἀνελεύθερον.

445. mvp-comment-194-1 ἐμασχαλίσθη] ‘He was mutilated' (by cutting off the extremities and placing or tieing them under the armpits). Clytemnestra had adopted this barbarous means of disabling the spirit of her enemy. Aesch. Cho. 439, ἐμασχαλίσθη δ᾽ ἔθ᾽, ὡς τόδ᾽ εἰδῇς.

445-446. mvp-comment-195-1 And his head was used to wipe the stains away in washing' (the hearth). This additional circumstance of savagery is known to us only from Sophocles, but is probably not due to his invention. See Introd. to Aj. p. 1. Interpreters have supposed a change of subject, supplying ἡ ς ἡ Κλυταιμνήστρα ας nominative to ἐξέμαξεν. But this is unnecessary if it is borne in mind that verbs active in grammar are often used in Greek to express a passive condition. Essay on L. § 30. p. 52 d. Prof. Jebb understands the construction in the same way, with a slightly different nuance of interpretation: - 'And by way of funeral ablution received the print of the sword-stains on his head.' Mr. Paley translates, And at the washing of the body she wiped off the blood-stains on his head.' But did she wash the body?

446-447. mvp-comment-196-1 Electra tries to influence Chrysothemis, not only with fear of her dead father, but also by pointing out the uselessness of the action for Clytemnestra's purpose, and so quieting her sister's conscience in this respect.

448. mvp-comment-197-1 σὺ δέ] For the introduction of the personal pronoun without real emphasis, in such antitheses, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 79.

449. mvp-comment-198-1 Clipping off a little from thy luxuriant curls.' The words call attention to the abundance of Chrysothemis' hair in comparison with Electra's. Cp- Eur. Or. 128, 9, εἴδετε παρ᾿ ἄκρας ὡς ἀπέθρισεν τρίχας, | σώζουσα κάλλος.

451. mvp-comment-199-1 τήνδε †λιπαρή τρίχα] The adjective here is puzzling, whichever reading we adopt. Hermann thought the MS. reading ἀλιπαρή might bear the sense of 'unmeet for supplication.' But λιπαρεῖν is hardly near enough in meaning to λιτανεύειν to make this possible. The Scholiast and Suidas explain the alternative reading λιπαρή, by ἱκέτιν, ἐξ ἧς αὐτὸν λιπαρήσομεν.

451. mvp-comment-199-2 But this is wanting in point. And a confusion of λιπαρής with λιπαρός (i.e. ἀλιπαρῆ = αὐχμηράν) is not to be thought of. Perhaps λιπαρή, in the sense of 'patient,' 'persistent,' may have conveyed some shade of meaning suitable to the passage. Or possibly ΛΙΠΑΡΗ may be a corruption of AYC-ΠΙΝΗ. Ср. О. С. 1597, εἶτ᾿ ἔλυσε δυσπινεῖς στολάς. I cannot think, with Mr. Paley, that this and the following line are an interpolation. The words ἄχω, δὸς αὐτῷ, are too pathetic for this.

452. mvp-comment-200-1 οὐ χλιδαῖς ἠσκημένον] 'Not elegantly neat.' The dative of manner in χλιδαῖς has an adverbial force. Essay on L. § 14. p. 20. Electra's girdle had not been beautifully got up' and 'laid in lavender,' like her sister's.

453-454. mvp-comment-201-1 The belief in the real presence of the spirits of the dead on great occasions, which is so powerful in the Oresteia of Aeschylus, still survives in the Sophoclean drama, but is much less vividly and realistically felt. It has become more ideal.

455. mvp-comment-202-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός] • With overpowering might.'

456. mvp-comment-203-1 ζῶντ᾽ ἐπεμβῆναι ποδί] Either (1) In the fulness of life (ζῶντα) should trample with his foot' (ποδί expletive); or (2) Should trample with a foot of living power' (ζῶντι.. ποδί). The latter is rendered improbable by the unusual elision, for which, however, cp. Trach. 675, ἀργῆτ᾽ οἰὸς εὐείρῳ πόκῳ, where see note. See also Pind. Ol. 13. 114, καρταίποδ᾽ ἀναρύῃ Γαιαóχῳ. In either case ζῆν is used in the secondary sense of being vigorous. Cp. Ant. 456, 7, ἀεί ποτε | ζῇ ταῦτα: Ο. Τ. 44, 5, and note.

459-460. mvp-comment-204-1 'Indeed, I do believe some care on his part caused the appalling dream to come to her.' For the use of the neuter participle, see Essay on L. § 30. p. 51 α. Although μέλον here has not the article, it should be added to the six examples there given. μὲν οὖν interposes the incidental thought, that even without their prayers Agamemnon was minded to interfere. Then, in 461, the main drift is resumed with ὅμως. 'Still, let us not omit this offering!'

461. mvp-comment-205-1 σοί is here equivalent to σαυτῇ, but occurring here as one of several coordinate terms, can hardly be adduced to justify the use of ἐμέ for ἐμαυτήν in supr. 363, which becomes necessary if λυπεῖν is read.

466-467. mvp-comment-206-1 τὸ γὰρ .. δρᾶν] ‘For when a thing is right, people should not quarrel over it, but hasten to do it.' Two points are doubtful in the construction of these words. a. Either (1) τὸ δίκαιον is subject of ἔχει, and ἐρίζειν is epexegetic infinitive, or (2) ἐρίζειν is the subject of ἔχει, and τὸ δίκαιον an accusative loosely governed by the words that follow it. b. τὸ δρᾶν is either (1) the direct object of ἐπισπεύδειν, or (2) epexegetic infinitive after ἐπισπεύδειν (i.e. ἐπισπεύδειν τὸ δίκαιον, ὥστε δρᾶν αὐτό). For the article in this case, cp. O. T. 1416, 7, ἐς δέον πάρεσθ᾽ ὅδε | Κρέων τὸ πράσσειν καὶ τὸ βουλεύειν : infr. 1030, μακρὸς τὸ κρῖναι ταῦτα χὼ λοιπὸς χρόνος. The addition of δυοῖν belongs to the same tendency to make numbers explicit, which appears in καὶ τὸ γενναῖον τρίτον (Ο. C. 8) and the like phrases. For the sense, cp. Fr. 76, τοῖς γὰρ δικαίοις ἀντέχειν οὐ ῥάδιον. In the second clause, ἀλλ' ἐπισπεύδειν, κ.τ.λ., a positive notion is understood from the negative. Essay on L. § 36. p. 64, β, 1 а.

468-471. mvp-comment-207-1 These lines are intended to emphasize at once the timidity of Chrysothemis and the harshness of Clytemnestra.

471-515. mvp-comment-208-1 The following short ode, the first stasimon, consisting of a single strophe, antistrophe, and epode, dwells, first, on the renewal of hope which is brought to the upholders of the righteous cause by the announcement of the dream, secondly, on the guilt of those whom Vengeance will now assail, and thirdly, on the long chain of troubles, of which their crime is the continuation. The rhythm, beginning from three short glyconian lines, is chiefly iambic and trochaic, with an increasing number of long syllables toward the close of each movement. The metrical scheme is the following:-

472-473. mvp-comment-209-1 Ср. О. Τ. 1086, εἴπερ ἐγὼ μάντις εἰμὶ καὶ κατὰ γνώμην ἴδρις.

475. mvp-comment-210-1 ὁ πρόμαντις Δίκα] 'Presaging Justice,' i.e. the just Power that has warned Clytemnestra through the dream.

476. mvp-comment-211-1 δίκαια κράτη] Either (1) 'Bringing with her the victorious strength of righteous action,' or (2) And shall bear away the victory in a righteous deed.' In the latter case (2) the participle is proleptic. The former interpretation (1) is on the whole more probable. For this use of φερομένα, cp. Hdt. 7. 50. § 8, πολλὴν φορβὴν φερόμενοι πορευόμεθα.

479-481. mvp-comment-212-1 These lines echo the language of the dialogue, supr. 412, ἔχεις τι θάρσος τοῦδε τοῦ τάρβους πέρι;

480. mvp-comment-213-1 ἁδυπνόων] · Breathing of gladness,' i.e. auspicious. Cp. O. T. 151, ὦ Διὸς ἀδυεπὲς φάτι.

480. mvp-comment-213-2 κλύουσαν] For this accusative, with the dative preceding, as if after θαρρύνει or some such word, see Essay on L. $ 6. p. 23, and cp. Aesch. Cho. 410, 11, πέπαλται δ᾽ αὐτέ μοι φίλον κέαρ τόνδε κλύουσαν οἶκτον.

484. mvp-comment-214-1 ὁ φύσας] It must be borne in mind that Electra is present during the chanting of this ode. Cp. supr. 184 and note.

485. mvp-comment-215-1 'Nor that oid two-edged axe of sharpened bronze.' χαλκόπλακτος is literally, 'Smiting with bronze,' χαλκέας πληγὰς ἔχων. See Essay on L. $ 53: p. 98. χαλκόπακτος, • Of solid bronze,' is the conjecture of Kvidala. The axe is imagined as giving evidence, much as in early times a weapon might be accused of homicide. For a somewhat similar fancy, attributing feeling to an inanimate instrument, cp. Philoctetes, 1130 foll., ἢ που ἐλεινὸν ὁρᾷς, κ.τ.λ., Hab. 2, 11, The nail shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it, Woe unto him,' etc.

486. mvp-comment-216-1 αἰσχίσταις ἐν αἰκίαις] These words are an echo of supr. 444-6.

488-489. mvp-comment-217-1 καὶ πολύπους | καὶ πολύχειρ] With exceeding swiftness and might.' Like πᾶς and αὐτός in composition (E. on L. $ 55. p. 101), πολύς has here an intensive force, without having an exactly defined significance. Ср. πολύγλωσσος, infr. 798.

490. mvp-comment-218-1 Cp. infr. 1396, 7, δόλον σκότῳ κρύψας πρὸς αὐτὸ τέρμα.

491. mvp-comment-219-1 χαλκόπους] 'With adamantine,' i.e. (1) unwearying, 'footsteps.' Cp. χαλκὸς ἀτειρής. Or (2) Irresistible.'

492. mvp-comment-220-1 ἐπέβα] «There came on,' as a dangerous event (οἶσιν = τούτων οἷς).

495-498. mvp-comment-221-1 πρὸ τῶνδε .. συνδρῶσιν] ‘In the face of these things I feel assured that the portent which comes near to the doer or the abettor of the deed cannot be other than baneful.' In Sophocles, not as in Aeschylus, Aegisthus is the author, Clytemnestra the accessory, of the murder. In Aesch. Ag. 1609, he claims a greater share than the poet really attributes to him. For μήποτε, see E. on L. § 24. p. 41, y 2, and cp. Aj. 183.

499. mvp-comment-222-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν] 'Divination, as an art in which mortals are concerned.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 709, βρότειον οὐδὲν μαντικῆς ἔχον τέχνης, and see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75.