Sophocles Electra 393

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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OR
No, that thou may’st not have thy wish in death.
I may not stint one drop of bitterness.
And would this doom were given without reprieve,
1505
If any try to act beyond the law,
To kill them. Then the wicked would be few.

Electra. Sophocles. Lewis Campbell (Translator). London, New York and Toronto. 1906.

Current edition Experimental

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 393 focus
καλὸς γὰρ οὑμὸς βίοτος ὥστε θαυμάσαι.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 472-515 focus
Translations (2)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 385 focus
So hätten sie beschlossen, das mir anzuthun?
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 472-515 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-829-1 ἦ μὴ φύγω σε 1

mvp-comment-829-2 μὲν οὖν 2

mvp-comment-829-3 καθ’ ἡδονὴν θάνῃς 3

mvp-comment-830-1 The imperf. χρῆν 4 εἶναι 5

mvp-comment-830-2 εὐθὺς 6

mvp-comment-830-3 θέλει 7 θέλοι 8 τοῖς πᾶσιν … ὅστις 9

mvp-comment-830-4 πράσσειν γε 10

mvp-comment-830-5 κτείνειν 11

mvp-comment-830-6 τὸ πανοῦργον 12

mvp-comment-830-7 Nicephorus Vasilákes (

Βασιλάκης
), a professor of rhetoric at Constantinople in the latter part of the twelfth century, places these three verses of Sophocles at the head of a short piece in his rhetorical ‘Exercises’ (
Προγυμνάσματα
), and makes them the text of a discourse evidently prompted by the evils of his own time. The verses remind us, he says, how well Sophocles understood the function of Tragedy as a
κοινὴ παιδαγωγία
, or vehicle of moral teaching. After setting forth in action the warning example of Aegisthus, the poet here
ἀποδίδωσι λόγον ξυνᾴδοντα τοῖς εἰργασμένοις
, i.e., generalises the lesson. From a literary and aesthetic point of view the remark deserves the notice of those who, like Dindorf, think the verses spurious. If the speech of Orestes ended with v. 1504, the effect would manifestly be too abrupt.

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

1505-1507. mvp-comment-709-1 These lines appear commonplace to modern readers. But so do many other γνῶμαι in Greek tragedy. And Orestes' speech ends too abruptly if they are omitted.

1506. mvp-comment-710-1 γε may be explained as confirmatory of the preceding sentence, 'Ay, -whosoever chooses to transgress the law, to slay him. Although θέλει is quite admissible, θέλοι is preferable with the past tenses ἐχρῆν ἦν, as the more subtle construction.