Sophocles Electra 67

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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EL
Gods of my father, O be with me now!

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)) — 67 focus
δεδορκότ᾽ ἐχθροῖς ἄστρον ὣς λάμψειν ἔτι.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 121-250 focus
Translations (4)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 77 focus
weh, weh mir!
(im Hause)
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 67 focus
Chrysothemis
464cont2
And so I will.
"Where reason dictates, strife should never come ;
But quick, despatch ! fulfil her just commands.
Yet, O my friends I remember, our attempt
Is full of danger, and let nought escape
That may betray me to my cruel mother ;
For if it reach her ear, this daring act,
I fear me much, shall one day cost us dear.
Or my prophetic mind is now no more
Attentive as of old to wisdom's lore,
Or justice comes, with speedy vengeance fraught ;
Behold ! the goddess armed with power appears-
It must be so, by Clytemnestra's fears.
And the dire dream that on her fancy wrought :
Thy father, not unmindful of his fate.
Shall hither come his wrongs to vindicate ;
And, in his gore imbrued.
The fatal axe with him shall rise,
Shall ask another sacrifice,
And drink with him the cruel tyrant's blood.
Lo ! with unnumbered hands and countless feet,
The fury comes her destined prey to meet ;
Deep in the covert hid she glides unseen,
Hangs o'er the trembUng murderer's head,
Or steals to the adultrous bed,
An awful witness of the guilty scene ;
ELKCTRA.
Doubtless the dream with all its terrors meant
For crimes like these Bome dreadful punishment,
470
I f mortals aught from nightly visions know,
470
If truth from great Apollo's shrine
470
Appears in oracles divine,
470
1 *resagiug bliss to come, or threat'ning future woe.
470
J""'
470
C) Pelops ; to thy countiy and to thco
470
The fatal course brought woe and misery ;
For since the time v/hen, from his chariot thi'own,
For thee the guilty wreath to gain,
The hapless Myrtihis was slain,
Nought has thy wretched race but grief and sorrow
known.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 67 focus
Theseus
STRO: ANTIS. 472
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)) — 121-250 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι 1

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ 2

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν 3

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

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!'