Sophocles, Electra, Lewis Campbell (Translator), 431

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Turn

← Previous Next →

Now, dear Chrysothemis, of what thou bearest

Let nothing touch his tomb. ’Tis impious

And criminal to offer to thy sire

Rites and libations from a hateful wife.

Then cast them to the winds, or deep in dust

Conceal them, where no particle may reach

His resting-place: but lie in store for her

When she goes underground. Sure, were she not

Most hardened of all women that have been,

She ne’er had sent those loveless offerings

To grace the sepulchre of him she slew.

For think how likely is the buried king

To take such present kindly from her hand,

Who slew him like an alien enemy,

Dishonoured even in death, and mangled him,
435

And wiped the death-stain with his flowing locks—
435

Sinful purgation! Think you that you bear
435

In those cold gifts atonement for her guilt?

It is not possible. Wherefore let be.

But take a ringlet from thy comely head,

And this from mine, that lingers on my brow

Longing to shade his tomb. Ah, give it to him,

All I can give, and this my maiden-zone,

Not daintily adorned, as once erewhile.

Then, humbly kneeling, pray that from the ground

He would arise to help us ’gainst his foes,

And grant his son Orestes with high hand

Strongly to trample on his enemies;

That in our time to come from ampler stores

We may endow him, than are ours to-day.

I cannot but imagine that his will
440

Hath part in visiting her sleep with fears.
440

But howsoe’er, I pray thee, sister mine,
440

Do me this service, and thyself, and him,

Dearest of all the world to me and thee,

The father of us both, who rests below.

CH

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)) — 431 focus

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ φίλη, τούτων μὲν ὧν ἔχεις χεροῖν

τύμβῳ προσάψῃς μηδέν· οὐ γάρ σοι θέμις

οὐδ᾽ ὅσιον ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ om. LFL2 add C7 or 6A. γυναικὸς ἱστάναι

κτερίσματ᾽ οὐδὲ λουτρὰ προσφέρειν πατρί·

ἀλλ᾽ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ἢ βαθυσκαφεῖ κόνει
435

κρύψον κρύψο L. κρύψον C². κρύψόν. gl. τὰ ἐνταφιάσματα Pal. νιν, ἔνθα μή ποτ᾽ εἰς εὐνὴν πατρὸς

τούτων πρόσεισι μηδέν· ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν θάνῃ,

κειμήλι αὐτῇ ταῦτα σωζέσθω κάτω.

ἀρχὴν δ᾽ ἄν δ᾽ ἂν L pr. δ' ἂν A. γὰρ Pal., εἰ μὴ τλημονεστάτη γυνὴ

πασῶν ἔβλαστε, τάσδε δυσμενεῖς χοὰς
440

οὐκ ἄν ποθ᾽, ὅν γ᾽ ἔκτεινε, τῷδ᾽ ἐπέστεφε.

σκέψαι γὰρ εἴ σοι προσφιλῶς αὐτῇ δοκεῖ

γέρα γέρᾶ L. γέρατα δ᾽ Γ. τάδ᾽ οὖν τάφοισι δέξασθαι νέκυς νέκυς in erasure of two words, Co. νέκυν Γ. νέκυς Pal.,

ὑφ᾽᾿ ἧς θανὼν ἄτιμος, ὥστε δυσμενής,

ἐμασχαλίσθη κἀπὶ λουτροῖσιν κάρᾳ κάρα LA Vat. c. κάρᾳ Vat. a.
445

κηλίδας ἐξέμαξεν ἐξαίμαξεν LL2. ἐξέμαξεν C ΑΓ Pal. (gl. ἐκάθαρεν).. ἆρα μὴ δοκεῖς

λυτήρι αὐτῇ αὐτὴ L pr. αὐτῆι C. ταῦτα τοῦ φόνου φέρειν;

οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ

τεμοῦσα κρατὸς βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας φόβας L. κόμας Γ.

κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης, - σμικρὰ μὲν τάδ', ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως
450

ἄχω αχω L. ἄχω C. ἄχω Α., δὸς αὐτῷ, τήνδε †λιπαρῆ τήνδ᾽ ἀλιπαρή MSS. τήνδε λιπαρή Schol.. τρίχα

καὶ ζῶμα τοὐμὸν οὐ χλιδαῖς ἠσκημένον.

αἰτοῦ δὲ προσπίτνουσα προσπίτνοῦσα C. προσπίτνουσα L2. γῆθεν εὐμενῆ

ἡμῖν ἀρωγὸν αὐτὸν εἰς ἐχθροὺς μολεῖν,

καὶ παῖδ᾽ Ορέστην ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερὸς
455

ἐχθροῖσιν αὐτοῦ ζῶντ᾽ ἐπεμβῆναι ἐπιβῆναι L. ἐπεμβῆναι C°A Pal. (gl. ἐπελθεῖν) Vat. ac. ποδί,

ὅπως τὸ λοιπὸν αὐτὸν ἀφνεωτέραις

χερσὶ στέφωμεν ἢ τανῦν δωρούμεθα.

οἶμαι μὲν οὖν, οἶμαί τι κἀκείνῳ μέλον

πέμψαι τάδ᾽ αὐτῇ δυσπρόσοπτ᾽ ὀνείρατα.
460

ὅμως δ᾽, ἀδελφή, σοί θ' ὑπούργησον τάδε

ἐμοί τ' ἀρωγά, τῷ τε φιλτάτῳ βροτῶν

πάντων, ἐν "Αιδου κειμένῳ κοινῷ πατρί.

ΧΟ.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 472-515 focus

Χορός

εἰ μὴ ʼγὼ παράφρων μάντις ἔφυν καὶ γνώμας

λειπομένα σοφᾶς,

εἶσιν ἁ πρόμαντις

Δίκα δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη·
475

μέτεισιν, ὦ τέκνον, οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου.

ὕπεστί μοι θάρσος,

ἁδυπνόων κλύουσαν
480

ἀρτίως ὀνειράτων.

οὐ γάρ ποτʼ ἀμναστεῖ γʼ ὁ φύσας σʼ Ἑλλάνων ἄναξ,

οὐδʼ ἁ παλαιὰ χαλκόπλακτος ἀμφάκης γένυς,
485

ἅ νιν κατέπεφνεν αἰσχίσταις ἐν αἰκίαις.

488

Χορός

ἥξει καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ ἁ δεινοῖς

κρυπτομένα λόχοις
490

χαλκόπους Ἐρινύς.

ἄλεκτρʼ ἄνυμφα γὰρ ἐπέβα μιαιφόνων

γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθʼ οἷσιν οὐ θέμις.

πρὸ τῶνδέ τοί μʼ ἔχει
495

μή ποτε μή ποθʼ ἡμῖν

ἀψεγὲς πελᾶν τέρας

τοῖς δρῶσι καὶ συνδρῶσιν. ἤ τοι μαντεῖαι βροτῶν
500

οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐν δεινοῖς ὀνείροις οὐδʼ ἐν θεσφάτοις,

εἰ μὴ τόδε φάσμα νυκτὸς εὖ κατασχήσει.

504

Χορός

ὦ Πέλοπος ἁ πρόσθεν

πολύπονος ἱππεία,
505

ὡς ἔμολες αἰανὴς

τᾷδε γᾷ.

εὖτε γὰρ ὁ ποντισθεὶς

Μυρτίλος ἐκοιμάθη,

παγχρύσων δίφρων
510

δυστάνοις αἰκίαις

πρόρριζος ἐκριφθείς,

οὔ τί πω

ἔλειπεν ἐκ τοῦδʼ οἴκου

πολύπονος αἰκία.
515

Translations (4)

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 431 focus

Von dem, o Traute, was du trägst in deiner Hand,

Laß Nichts das Grab berühren! Unrecht wär' es ja,

Ja, Frevel wär' es, brächtest du vom Feindesweib
425

Trankopfer oder Grabesweih'n dem Vater dar.

Nein, gib's den Winden, oder tief in öden Staub

Vergrab' es, wo kein Theil davon zur Ruhestatt

Des Vaters je gelange; mög' es aufbewahrt

Dort unten bleiben, ihr ein Kleinod, wenn sie stirbt!
430

Ja, wäre sie nicht aller Frauen frechste, traun,

Dann kränzte sie mit diesen haßerfüllten Weih'n

Niemals die Gruft des Mannes, den sie mordete.

Erwäge selbst nur, ob der Todte dort im Grab

Von ihr mit Liebe dies Geschenk aufnehmen kann,
435

Die schmählich ihn gemordet und gleich einem Feind

Graunvoll verstümmelt, die zur Sühn' an seinem Haupt¹

Ihr Schwert vom Blut gereinigt! Wähnst du gar vielleicht,

Daß solche Spende sühnen mag die Mörderin?

Nicht also! Laß dies Opfer sein, und schneide dir
440

Die lezten Spizen von des Hauptes Locken ab

Und mir, der Armen; gib ihm dies, zwar Weniges,

Doch Alles, was ich habe, dies kunstlose Haar

Und meinen Gürtel, nicht geschmückt mit eitlem Prunk,

Und niederfallend fleh' ihn an, vom Grabe her
445

Huldreich ein Retter uns zu nah'n vor Feindesmacht,

Bis dann Orestes lebend und in Siegeskraft

Auf seiner Feinde Nacken tritt mit stolzem Fuß,

Damit wir ihm mit vollern Händen künftig einst

Das Grab bekränzen, als wir jezt ihm Gaben weih'n.
450

Ich glaube, ja ich glaub' es, ihm lag selbst daran,

Zu senden ihr dies grauenvolle Traumgesicht.

Gleichwohl, o Schwester, hilf mit solchem Dienst dir selbst

Und mir und ihm, dem liebsten aller Sterblichen,

Der, uns gemeinsam Vater, ruh in Hades' Haus.
455

Der Chor.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 431 focus

-^ By the gods

Let mo conjure thee, hear me. If thou dost not,

Too late shall thou repent, when for thy guilt

Evil o'ertako thee. O Chr}'sothemis !

Never, I heg theo, to our father's tomb

Bear thou those offerings ; 'twere a horrid deed

From such a woman. Give 'em to the winds ;

And not the smallest grain escape to reach

That hallawcfd place ; let 'em remain for her,

Safe in the earth tiH she shall meet 'fittTthere^

None but this shameless, tins abandoned woman,

Would e'er with impious oft'rings thus adorn

The tomb of him she murdered./^ By the dead

Thinkst thou such gifts can be with joy received ?

Gifts from that hand which from his mangled corse
435

Severed his lifeless limbs, and on the head
435

Of the poor victim wiped her bloody sword ?
435

I (Madness to think that offerings and ablutions

Could purge such crimes, or wash her stains away;

Never, oh never \J But of this no more.

Instant, my sister, thy devoted hair

With these dishevelled locks and this my zone,

Plain as it is and unadorned, shalt thou

Bear to our father. Wretched offerings these !

Bear them, and suppliant on thy knees implore

him

To smile propitious and assist his children ;

Pray for Orestes, too, tlmt soon with power

He may return, and trample on our foes ;

So shall a fairer tribute one day grace

His honoured tomb, than now we can bestow.

Trust me, my sister, we are still his care —
440

I know we are. S^rom him the vision came,
440

The horrid dream that shook her guilty soul :
440

Now then, I beg thee^be a friend to me,

Be to thyself a friend^ a friend to him

Of all mankind the dearest, our dead father.

Chorus
(Ijet them he hid, deep buried in the sands,

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 431 focus

for my sake, for thine own, for his,

Dearest of all that breath'd this vital air,

Our father, laid in the unsparing tomb.

Chorus

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 472-515 focus

Chorus

If I am not a deranged prophet and one who lacks wise judgments,

Justice, the sender of the omen, will come, winning the just victory of her hands’ might. She will come in pursuit before long, my child. Courage is mine,
475

since I heard just now of this sweet-blowing dream. Never does the lord of the Hellenes, your producer forget,
480

nor does the axe of long ago forget, striking with bronze on its jaws, which in most shameless disgrace annihilated him.
485

488

Chorus

She, too, will come, she of many hands and many feet who lurks in her terrible ambush,

the bronze-shod Erinys. For an unwed, unbetrothed passion for a marriage polluted by murder seized the pair, though divine law forbade it to them.
490

Therefore I am confident that the portent—a wonder which I will never blame—will draw near to the criminals and conspirators. To be sure, mortal prophecy
495

from fearful dreams or divine signs exists no more, if this vision of the night does not find due fulfillment.
500

504

Chorus

O chariot-race of Pelops long ago, source of many a sorrow,

what disaster you have brought upon this land! For ever since Myrtilus sank to rest beneath the waves,
505

hurled to utter destruction from his golden chariot in disgraceful outrage, from that time to this, outrage and its many sorrows
510

were never yet gone from this house.
515

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-41-1 εἴρηκα μέν νυν ταῦτα ¹

mvp-comment-41-2 μελέσθω ²

mvp-comment-42-1 ἐπιστάτης ³

mvp-comment-43-1 ἰώ μοί μοι δύστηνος ⁴

mvp-comment-44-1 καὶ μὴν ⁵

mvp-comment-44-2 θυρῶν ⁶

mvp-comment-44-3 I should agree with the schol. in governing

θυρῶν

by ἔνδον ⁷

mvp-comment-44-4 προσπόλων τινὸς ⁸

mvp-comment-45-1 θέλεις | μείνωμεν … ; ⁹

mvp-comment-45-2 The reading of the MSS., κἀνακούσωμεν ¹⁰

mvp-comment-45-3 On the other hand Sophocles has

ἐπακούω

, ‘to listen,’ in O. T. 708 , O. T. 794 : O. C. 694 : Ph. 1417. Nauck's correction, κἀπακούσωμεν ¹¹

mvp-comment-46-1 μηδὲν πρόσθεν ¹²

mvp-comment-46-2 τὰ Λοξίου ¹³

mvp-comment-46-3 ἀρχηγετεῖν ¹⁴

mvp-comment-47-1 πατρὸς ¹⁵

mvp-comment-47-2 λουτρά ¹⁶

mvp-comment-47-3 φέρει … ἐφ’ ἡμῖν ¹⁷

mvp-comment-47-4 νίκην ¹⁸ κράτος τῶν δρωμένων ¹⁹

mvp-comment-47-5 All three actors now leave the scene. Orestes and Pylades go to Agamemnon's grave,—departing, probably, by the entrance on the spectators' right. The Paedagogus leaves by the entrance on the left,—to await the moment for seeking admission to the house (v. 660).—It might, indeed, be inferred from

πειρώμεθ’

(83) that the old man goes with the youths to their task; but the word need not imply more than his participation in the plan. while verses 73—75 seem clearly to indicate that he separates from his companions. When they have gone, Electra enters from the house.

mvp-comment-48-1 A

θρῆνος ἀπὸ σκηνῆς

, or lyric lament delivered by an actor alone. as dist. from the joint

κομμός

of actor and Chorus (121 n.).

mvp-comment-48-2 Verses 86—102 form a

σύστημα

,=vv. 103—120 (

ἀντισύστημα

). If the text is sound, the correspondence is not exact, since the dimeter in v. 99 answers to a monometer in v. 116. These anapaests are, however, of the type usually known as ‘free’ or ‘melic,’ as having more of a lyric character than the regular anapaests of the marching-songs (like those of the Parodos in the Ajax): see W. Christ, Metrik, 2nd ed., § 288. And in such anapaests the symmetry of ‘systems’ is often not strict (cp. O. C. 117 n.).

mvp-comment-48-3 ὦ φάος ἁγνὸν ²⁰

mvp-comment-48-4 γῆς ἰσόμοιρ’ ἀήρ ²¹

mvp-comment-48-5 ἰσόμοιῤ ²² ἰσόμοιρος ²³

mvp-comment-49-1 πολλὰς μὲν … ᾔσθου ²⁴

mvp-comment-49-2 ἀντήρεις ²⁵

mvp-comment-50-1 πληγὰς ²⁶ πλαγὰς ²⁷

mvp-comment-51-1 ὑπολειφθῇ ²⁸ ᾔσθου ²⁹

mvp-comment-52-1 τὰ … παννυχίδων ³⁰ ξυνίσας’ ³¹ ὅσα … θρηνῶ ³²

mvp-comment-52-2 ἤδη ³³

mvp-comment-52-3 The MS. οἴκων ³⁴ λέκτρων ³⁵ μογερῶν ³⁶

mvp-comment-53-1 ὅσα τὸν δύστηνον ³⁷

mvp-comment-54-1 κατὰ μὲν βάρβαρον αἶαν ³⁸ ἐξένισεν ³⁹

mvp-comment-55-1 Ἄρης ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-55-2 ἐξένισεν ⁴¹

mvp-comment-56-1 κοινολεχὴς ⁴²

mvp-comment-57-1 ὅπως δρῦν ὑλοτόμοι ⁴³

mvp-comment-57-2 σχίζουσι ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-57-3 κάρα ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-57-4 πέλεκει ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-58-1 ἄλλης ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-58-2 φέρεται ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-58-3 The deletion of the words ἀπ’ ἄλλης ⁴⁹ ἢ )μοῦ ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-59-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μὲν δὴ ⁵¹

mvp-comment-60-1 ἄστρων ⁵²

mvp-comment-60-2 Others read,

ἔστ’ ἂν λεύσσω παμφεγγεῖς

ῥιπάς, λεύσσω δὲ τόδ’ ἦμαρ

, omitting

ἄστρων

. But

παμφεγγεῖς ῥιπάς

, without

ἄστρων

, would not suffice to denote starlight. If, again, the phrase is taken to denote the sun's rays (as Monk proposes, Mus. Crit. I. p. 67), then

λεύσσω δὲ τόδ’ ἦμαρ

becomes weak. Further, the preceding context, in which she has spoken of her laments at night (92) and at morning, clearly suggests that the sense here is, ‘so long as I look on the stars or on the sun.’

mvp-comment-61-1 μὴ οὐ ⁵³

mvp-comment-61-2 τεκνολέτειῤ ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-62-1 ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-62-2 ἠχὼ ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-63-1 Electra invokes, (1) the house of Hades and his bride Persephone, in which the spirit of Agamemnon now dwells; (2) Hermes, who, as

ψυχοπομπός

, conducted him thither,—and who will also guide the avengers on their way (1395 f.); (3)

Ἀρά

, the imprecation uttered by the victim upon his murderers,—the personified curse, here conceived as a supernatural power (

πότνια

), which calls the Erinyes into action; and (4) the Erinyes themselves.

mvp-comment-63-2 Ἀΐδου ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-64-1 ὦ χθόνἰ Ἑρμῆ ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-64-2 Ἀρά ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-64-3 πότνια ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-65-1 σεμναὶ ⁶¹

mvp-comment-65-2 θεῶν παῖδες ⁶²

mvp-comment-66-1 ὁρᾶθ’ ⁶³

mvp-comment-67-1 αἳ τοὺς εὐνὰς ὑποκλεπτομένους ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-67-2 These much-impugned words appear genuine. The murder has been prompted by the guilty love:

δόλος ἦν ὁ φράσας, ἔρος ὁ κτείνας

(197). In Electra's thought, they are inseparable. The allusion to the love follows the reference to the murder, because she regards it as the crowning outrage (271

τὴν τελευταίαν ὕβριν

) that Clytaemnestra still lives with Aegisthus. Bloodshed was not the only sin which the Erinyes punished. They were the embodied sanctions of natural law, and every crime against the family came within their cognisance. (See Introd. to Homer, p. 51, § 13.) Indeed, Electra herself speaks of the unhallowed union as a special provocation to those Avengers: 275 f.

ἡ δ’ ὧδε τλήμων ὥστε τῷ μιάστορι

ξύνεστ’, Ἐρινὺν οὔτιν’ ἐκφοβουμένη

mvp-comment-68-1 τείσασθε ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-69-1 ἡμετέρου ⁶⁶ μοι ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-69-2 καί μοι ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-70-1 ἄγειν ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-70-2 σωκῶ ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-71-1 δυστανοτάτας ⁷¹

mvp-comment-72-1 τάκεις … οἰμωγὰν ⁷²

mvp-comment-72-2 ἀκόρεστον ⁷³

mvp-comment-72-3 τὸν πάλαι ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-72-4 πάλαι ⁷⁵ ἐκ ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-72-5 ἀθεώτατα ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-72-6 κακᾷ … χειρὶ πρόδοτον ⁷⁸ χειρὶ ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-72-7 ὡς ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-72-8 ὁ τάδε πορὼν ⁸¹

mvp-comment-72-9 εἴ μοι θέμις ⁸²

mvp-comment-73-1 γενέθλα ⁸³

mvp-comment-73-2 γενναίων ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-73-3 παραμύθ‐ ⁸⁵ ιον ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-74-1 ξυνίημι ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-74-2 τάδ’ ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-75-1 φυγγάνει ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-75-2 οὐδ’ ἐθέλω ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-76-1 μὴ οὐ ⁹¹

mvp-comment-76-2 τὸν ἐμὸν … πατέρ’ ἄθλιον ⁹²

mvp-comment-77-1 παντοίας ⁹³

mvp-comment-77-2 Electra's lyrics contain some Doricisms (129, 146 f., etc.): but it is best to retain

φιλότητος

, with the MSS. The form in

was so familiar through Homer that it may have been preferred to

φιλότατος

even in lyrics. Cp. 236 .

mvp-comment-78-1 ἀλύειν ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-79-1 αἰαῖ, ἱκνοῦμαι ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-80-1 τόν γ’ ἐξ Ἀΐδα … λίμνας ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-80-2 παγκοίνου ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-80-3 ἀνστάσεις ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-81-1 οὔτε †γόοις οὔτε λιταῖσιν ⁹⁹ οὔτε γόοισιν οὔτ’ εὐχαῖς ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-82-1 For the repetition of ἀλλά ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-82-2 ἀπὸ τῶν μετρίων ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-82-3 ἀμήχανον ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-82-4 ο=ιόλλυσαι ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-83-1 ἐν οἷς ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-83-2 ἀνάλυσις … κακῶν ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-83-3 τί μοι ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-84-1 νήπιος ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-84-2 γονέων ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-85-1 ἐμέ γ’ … ἄραρεν ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-85-2 φρένας ¹¹¹

mvp-comment-86-1 αἰὲν Ἴτυν ¹¹²

mvp-comment-87-1 ὄρνις ¹¹³

mvp-comment-87-2 ἀτυζομένα ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-87-3 Διὸς ἄγγελος ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-88-1 Νιόβα, σὲ δ’ ¹¹⁶ θεόν ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-88-2 ἅτ’ ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-88-3 ἐν τάφῳ πετραίῳ ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-89-1 αἰεὶ ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-90-1 οὔτοι σοὶ μούνᾳ ¹²¹

mvp-comment-91-1 πρὸς ὅ τι ¹²²

mvp-comment-91-2 τῶν ἔνδον εἶ περισσά ¹²³

mvp-comment-92-1 οἷς ¹²⁴ τῶν ἔνδον ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-92-2 ὁμόθεν ¹²⁶ γονᾷ ξύναιμος ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-93-1 οἵα Χρ. ζώει ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-93-2 Acc. to the version followed by Sophocles, Agamemnon had four daughters, Iphigeneia, Electra, Chrysothemis, Iphianassa. This was the account given in the cyclic

Κύπρια ἔπη

, as the schol. here mentions; a poem of which there is another trace in this play (566 ff.). Sophocles wrote an

Ἰφιγένεια

( Nauck, frag. Soph. 284—292 ); but her name is not mentioned in the reference to her death below (530—594). In Il. 9. 145 Agamemnon has three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodicè, Iphianassa: Homer does not mention Iphigeneia. Lucretius gives the name of Iphianassa to the victim at Aulis ( 1. 85 ).

mvp-comment-93-3 ζώει ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-93-4 καὶ Ἰφιάνασσα ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-94-1 ἀχέων ¹³¹

mvp-comment-94-2 Hermann, taking ἀχέων ¹³² κρυπτᾷ ¹³³

mvp-comment-95-1 ὄλβιος, ὃν ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-95-2 For the simple

ὅς

, instead of

ὅς γε

ὅστις

, with causal force, cp. below, 188, 261, 959; O.T. 817.

mvp-comment-96-1 δέξεται εὐπατρίδαν ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-96-2 Διὸς εὔφρονι ¹³⁶ βήματι ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-96-3 γᾶν ¹³⁸ γᾶ ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-96-4 Ὀρέσταν ¹⁴⁰ ὃν ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-97-1 ἀκάματα ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-97-2 ἀνύμφευτος ¹⁴³ ἄτεκνος ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-97-3 οἰχνῶ ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-98-1 δάκρυσι μυδαλέα ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-98-2 τὸν ἀνήνυτον ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-98-3 οἶτον ἔχουσα ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-99-1 ὧν τ’ ἔπαθ’ ¹⁴⁹ ὧν τ’ ἐδάη ¹⁵⁰

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 ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-99-4 ἀπατώμενον ¹⁵² τί … οὐκ ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-99-5 Herwerden's οὐχί μοι ¹⁵⁴ οὐκ ἐμοί ¹⁵⁵ ὁ δέ ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-100-1 ποθεῖ, ποθῶν δ’ ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-101-1 ἔτι μέγας οὐρανῷ ¹⁵⁸ ἐν ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-102-1 τὸν ὑπεραλγῆ ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-102-2 νέμουσα ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-103-1 μήτε ὑπεράχθεο ¹⁶² οἷς ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-104-1 εὐμαρὴς θεός ¹⁶⁴ θεός ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-105-1 οὔτε γὰρ ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-105-2 Κρῖσαν ¹⁶⁷

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 ¹⁶⁸ βουνόμον ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-106-2 βούνομον ἀκτὰν ¹⁷⁰ Κρῖσαν ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-107-1 ἀπερίτροπος ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-108-1 παρὰ τὸν Ἀχέροντα ¹⁷³ ἀνάσσων ¹⁷⁴ θεὸς ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-109-1 μὲν ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-109-2 ὁ πολὺς … βίοτος ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-109-3 ἀνέλπιστος ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-109-4 187 *

τεκέων

. I am now satisfied that this is a true correction of τοκέων ¹⁷⁹ ἅτις ¹⁸⁰ τοκέων ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-110-1 ἁπερεί ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-110-2 ἔποικος ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-111-1 οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-112-1 ἀεικεῖ σὺν στολᾷ ¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-113-1 κεναῖς δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις ¹⁸⁶ ἀμφίσταμαι ¹⁸⁷

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 ¹⁸⁸ κοίταις ¹⁸⁹ οἰκτρὰ … αὐδὰ ¹⁹⁰

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 ¹⁹¹ ἐν ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-114-6 κοίταις ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-114-7 ὅτε οἱ ¹⁹⁴ σοι ¹⁹⁵ ἀνταία ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-114-8 γενύων ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-115-1 δόλος … ἔρος ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-116-1 δεινὰν δεινῶς ¹⁹⁹ δεινὰν … μορφάν ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-116-2 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ²⁰¹ βροτῶν ²⁰²

mvp-comment-117-1 πλέον … ἐχθίστα ²⁰³

mvp-comment-117-2 δὴ ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-118-1 νὺξ ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-118-2 δείπνων ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-119-1 ἄχθη ²⁰⁷ τοῖς ²⁰⁸ θανάτους ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-119-2 διδύμαιν χειροῖν ²¹⁰ διδύμοιν ²¹¹

mvp-comment-120-1 εἷλον … πρόδοτον ²¹²

mvp-comment-121-1 οἷς ²¹³

mvp-comment-121-2 Ὀλύμπιος ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-122-1 ποίνιμα ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-123-1 ἀγλαΐας ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-123-2 ἀποναίατο ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-124-1 πόρσω ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-125-1 γνώμαν ἴσχεις ²¹⁹

mvp-comment-125-2 ἐξ οἵων ²²⁰

mvp-comment-125-3 τὰ παρόντ’ ²²¹

mvp-comment-125-4 οἰκείας ²²²

mvp-comment-126-1 πολύ … τι κακῶν ²²³

mvp-comment-126-2 ὑπερεκτήσω ²²⁴

mvp-comment-127-1 τὰ δὲ ²²⁵ οὐκ ἐριστὰ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ²²⁶ πλάθειν ²²⁷

mvp-comment-127-2 ἐριστά ²²⁸

mvp-comment-127-3 πλάθειν ²²⁹

mvp-comment-128-1 δεινοῖς ἠναγκάσθην ²³⁰

mvp-comment-129-1 ὀργά ²³¹ ἔξοιδ’ ²³²

mvp-comment-130-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ²³³

mvp-comment-130-2 ἐν … δεινοῖς ²³⁴

mvp-comment-130-3 σχήσω ²³⁵

mvp-comment-130-4 ταύτας ἄτας ²³⁶

mvp-comment-131-1 ὄφρα ²³⁷

mvp-comment-131-2 βίος ἔχῃ με ²³⁸ σχήσω ²³⁹

mvp-comment-132-1 τίνι γάρ … τίνι φρονοῦντι καίρια ²⁴⁰ ἀκούσαιμ’ ἂν πρόσφορον ἔπος ²⁴¹ τίνι ²⁴² πρόσφορον ²⁴³

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 ²⁴⁴

mvp-comment-133-2 ἄλυτα ²⁴⁵

mvp-comment-133-3 κεκλήσεται ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-133-4 231 f. For ἐκ ²⁴⁷

mvp-comment-133-5 ἀνάριθμος ²⁴⁸ θρήνων ²⁴⁹

mvp-comment-134-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν ²⁵⁰ γε ²⁵¹ εὐνοίᾳ ²⁵²

mvp-comment-135-1 μάτηρ ὡσεί τις ²⁵³

mvp-comment-136-1 μὴ τίκτειν ²⁵⁴

mvp-comment-136-2 ἄταν ἄταις ²⁵⁵

mvp-comment-137-1 καὶ τί μέτρον ²⁵⁶ κακότατος ²⁵⁷

mvp-comment-137-2 φέρε ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-137-3 ἐπὶ τοῖς φθ. ²⁵⁹

mvp-comment-138-1 ἔβλαστ’ ²⁶⁰

mvp-comment-139-1 τούτοις ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-140-1 εἴ τῳ πρόσκειμαι χρηστῷ ²⁶²

mvp-comment-141-1 ξυνναίοιμ’ ²⁶³

mvp-comment-141-2 εὔκηλος ²⁶⁴

mvp-comment-141-3 γονέων ²⁶⁵ ἐκτίμους ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-141-4 ἐκτίμους ἵσχουσα ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-141-5 πτέρυγας … γόων ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-141-6 ὀξυτόνων ²⁶⁹

mvp-comment-142-1 εἰ γὰρ ²⁷⁰

mvp-comment-142-2 γᾶ ²⁷¹

mvp-comment-142-3 οὐδὲν ²⁷² ὢν ²⁷³ εἰ ²⁷⁴

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 ²⁷⁵

mvp-comment-142-6 ἀντιφόνους δίκας ²⁷⁶

mvp-comment-143-1 ἔρροι τ’ ²⁷⁷

mvp-comment-143-2 αἰδὼς ²⁷⁸ εὐσέβεια ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-144-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ²⁸⁰

mvp-comment-144-2 καὶ ²⁸¹ τὸ σὸν … καὶ τοὐμὸν ²⁸²

mvp-comment-145-1 νίκα ²⁸³

mvp-comment-145-2 ἅμα ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-146-1 πολλοῖσι θρήνοις ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-147-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ²⁸⁶

mvp-comment-148-1 ἥτις εὐγενὴς γυνή ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-149-1 πατρῷα … πήματα ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-150-1 κατ’ εὐφρόνην ²⁸⁹

mvp-comment-150-2 θάλλοντα ²⁹⁰

mvp-comment-151-1 ᾗ ²⁹¹

mvp-comment-151-2 πρῶτα μὲν … εἶτα … ἔπειτα ²⁹² ᾗ ²⁹³

mvp-comment-151-3 τὰ μητρὸς ²⁹⁴

mvp-comment-151-4 ἔχθιστα συμβέβηκεν ²⁹⁵

mvp-comment-152-1 κἀκ τῶνδ’ ἄρχομαι ²⁹⁶

mvp-comment-153-1 λαβεῖν … τὸ τητᾶσθαι ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-154-1 ποίας ²⁹⁸ δοκεῖς ²⁹⁹

mvp-comment-155-1 ἴδω ³⁰⁰ εἰσίδω δ’ ³⁰¹ ἴδω δὲ ³⁰²

mvp-comment-155-2 μὲν ³⁰³

mvp-comment-156-1 ἐσθήματα ³⁰⁴

mvp-comment-156-2 ἐκείνῳ ³⁰⁵

mvp-comment-156-3 παρεστίους … λοιβάς ³⁰⁶ ἔνθ’ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν ³⁰⁷

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 ³⁰⁸

mvp-comment-158-1 αὐτοέντην ³⁰⁹

mvp-comment-158-2 Brunck first adopted αὐτοέντην ³¹⁰ αὐτοφόντην ³¹¹

mvp-comment-158-3 ἡμὶν ³¹²

mvp-comment-159-1 ταλαίνῃ ³¹³

mvp-comment-160-1 ταύτην … τῷδε ³¹⁴

mvp-comment-161-1 μιάστορι ³¹⁵ Ἐρινὺν ³¹⁶

mvp-comment-162-1 ἐγγελῶσα τοῖς ποιουμένοις ³¹⁷

mvp-comment-163-1 εὑροῦς’ ³¹⁸ τότε ³¹⁹

mvp-comment-163-2 The conjecture φρουροῦς’ ³²⁰ τηροῦς’ ³²¹

mvp-comment-164-1 χοροὺς ἵστησι ³²²

mvp-comment-164-2 μηλοσφαγεῖ … ἱερὰ ³²³

mvp-comment-164-3 ἔμμην’ ἱερά ³²⁴

mvp-comment-164-4 τοῖς σωτηρίοις ³²⁵

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 ³²⁶ κατὰ στέγας ³²⁷

mvp-comment-166-1 τέτηκα ³²⁸

mvp-comment-166-2 πατρὸς ³²⁹

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 ³³⁰ αὑτήν ³³¹

mvp-comment-167-2 κλαῦσαι ³³²

mvp-comment-167-3 ἡδονὴν φέρει ³³³

mvp-comment-168-1 ἡ λόγοισι γενναία ³³⁴

mvp-comment-169-1 φωνοῦσα ³³⁵

mvp-comment-170-1 δύσθεον ³³⁶

mvp-comment-170-2 μίσημα ³³⁷

mvp-comment-170-3 σοὶ μόνῃ ³³⁸

mvp-comment-170-4 τέθνηκεν ³³⁹

mvp-comment-170-5 ἐν πένθει ³⁴⁰

mvp-comment-171-1 ἐκ γόων ³⁴¹

mvp-comment-171-2 οἱ κάτω θεοί ³⁴²

mvp-comment-172-1 τάδ’ ³⁴³

mvp-comment-172-2 ἥξοντ’ Ὀρέστην ³⁴⁴

mvp-comment-173-1 παραστᾶς’ ³⁴⁵

mvp-comment-174-1 ἥτις ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-174-2 ὑπεξέθου ³⁴⁷

mvp-comment-175-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι τείσουσά γ’ ³⁴⁸

mvp-comment-176-1 ὑλακτεῖ ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-176-2 σὺν ³⁵⁰

mvp-comment-176-3 πέλας ³⁵¹ παρών ³⁵²

mvp-comment-176-4 301 The adv. πάντα ³⁵³

mvp-comment-176-5 ἄναλκις ³⁵⁴

mvp-comment-176-6 ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη ³⁵⁵

mvp-comment-177-1 σὺν γυναιξὶ ³⁵⁶

mvp-comment-177-2 τὰς μάχας ³⁵⁷

mvp-comment-178-1 ἐφήξειν ³⁵⁸

mvp-comment-179-1 μέλλων … δρᾶν τι ³⁵⁹

mvp-comment-179-2 τὰς οὔσας τε … καὶ τὰς ἀπούσας ³⁶⁰

mvp-comment-179-3 μου ³⁶¹ μοι ³⁶²

mvp-comment-179-4 διέφθορεν ³⁶³

mvp-comment-180-1 σωφρονεῖν ³⁶⁴ εὐσεβεῖν ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-180-2 ἔν τοι κακοῖς ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-180-3 πολλή )στ’ ἀνάγκη ³⁶⁷ κἀπιτηδεύειν κακά ³⁶⁸

mvp-comment-180-4 I place only a comma, not a colon, after πάρεστιν ³⁶⁹

mvp-comment-181-1 ὄντος … βεβῶτος ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-182-1 ἦ κάρτα ³⁷¹

mvp-comment-182-2 θυραῖον ³⁷²

mvp-comment-182-3 οἰχνεῖν ³⁷³

mvp-comment-182-4 ἀγροῖσι ³⁷⁴

mvp-comment-182-5 τυγχάνει ³⁷⁵

mvp-comment-183-1 ἦ κἂν … ἱκοίμην ³⁷⁶ ἦ τ<*>ν ³⁷⁷ ἦ δἂν ³⁷⁸

mvp-comment-183-2 ἐς λόγους τοὺς σοὺς ἱκοίμην ³⁷⁹

mvp-comment-184-1 ὡς νῦν ³⁸⁰ ὥς νυν ³⁸¹

mvp-comment-184-2 ἱστόρει· τί σοι φίλον ³⁸² τό ³⁸³ τά ³⁸⁴

mvp-comment-184-3 With the other punctuation, ἱστόρει τί σοι φίλον ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-185-1 καὶ δὴ ³⁸⁶

mvp-comment-185-2 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής ³⁸⁷

mvp-comment-185-3 ἥξοντος ³⁸⁸ ἢ μέλλοντος ³⁸⁹

mvp-comment-186-1 φησίν γε ³⁹⁰

mvp-comment-186-2 ποεῖ ³⁹¹

mvp-comment-187-1 καὶ μὴν ἔγωγ’ ³⁹² γε ³⁹³

mvp-comment-187-2 οὐκ ὄκνῳ ³⁹⁴

mvp-comment-188-1 ἀρκεῖν ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-189-1 ἐπεί ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-189-2 μακρὰν ³⁹⁷

mvp-comment-189-3 324 Here, as in 316, νῦν ³⁹⁸ νυν ³⁹⁹

mvp-comment-189-4 δόμων ⁴⁰⁰ φέρουσαν ⁴⁰¹

mvp-comment-190-1 ὅμαιμον ⁴⁰²

mvp-comment-190-2 φύσιν ⁴⁰³

mvp-comment-191-1 Χρυσόθεμιν ⁴⁰⁴

mvp-comment-192-1 οἷα ⁴⁰⁵ νομίζεται ⁴⁰⁶

mvp-comment-193-1 πρὸς θυρῶνος ἐξόδοις ⁴⁰⁷ φωνεῖς ⁴⁰⁸ ἐλθοῦσα ⁴⁰⁹ αὖ ⁴¹⁰

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

mvp-comment-194-1 θυμῷ … χαρίζεσθαι ⁴¹¹

mvp-comment-195-1 καίτοι τοσοῦτόν γ’ οἶδα ⁴¹²

mvp-comment-195-2 κἀμαυτήν, ὅτι ⁴¹³

mvp-comment-195-3 333 f. For the repeated ἄν ⁴¹⁴

mvp-comment-195-4 οἶ) αὐτοῖς φρονῶ ⁴¹⁵

mvp-comment-196-1 ὑφειμένῃ ⁴¹⁶ πλεῖν ⁴¹⁷

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 ⁴¹⁸

mvp-comment-198-1 τοιαῦτα δ’ ἄλλα ⁴¹⁹ ἀλλὰ ⁴²⁰ ἄλλα ⁴²¹

mvp-comment-199-1 καίτοι τὸ μὲν δίκαιον ⁴²²

mvp-comment-199-2 κρίνεις ⁴²³

mvp-comment-199-3 εἰ … με δεῖ ⁴²⁴

mvp-comment-199-4 ἐλευθέραν ⁴²⁵

mvp-comment-199-5 ζῆν ⁴²⁶

mvp-comment-199-6 πάντ’ ⁴²⁷

mvp-comment-199-7 ἀκουστέα ⁴²⁸

mvp-comment-200-1 δεινόν γε ⁴²⁹

mvp-comment-201-1 τῆς … τικτούσης ⁴³⁰

mvp-comment-201-2 μέλειν ⁴³¹

mvp-comment-202-1 τἀμὰ νουθετήματα ⁴³²

mvp-comment-202-2 κείνης διδακτά ⁴³³

mvp-comment-202-3 ἐκ σαυτῆς ⁴³⁴

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’ ⁴³⁵

mvp-comment-203-4 ἑλοῦ γε ⁴³⁶

mvp-comment-203-5 φρονεῖν κακῶς ⁴³⁷

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 ⁴³⁸

mvp-comment-205-1 ἥτις ⁴³⁹ φρονοῦσα ⁴⁴⁰ μῖσος ⁴⁴¹

mvp-comment-206-1 πάντα ⁴⁴²

mvp-comment-206-2 τιμωρουμένης ⁴⁴³

mvp-comment-207-1 οὔτε … τε ⁴⁴⁴

mvp-comment-207-2 τήν τε δρῶσαν ⁴⁴⁵

mvp-comment-208-1 πρὸς κακοῖσι ⁴⁴⁶

mvp-comment-208-2 δειλίαν ἔχει ⁴⁴⁷

mvp-comment-209-1 ἐπεὶ ⁴⁴⁸

mvp-comment-209-2 ἢ μάθ’ ἐξ ἐμοῦ ⁴⁴⁹

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐπαρκούντως ⁴⁵⁰

mvp-comment-211-1 προσάπτειν ⁴⁵¹

mvp-comment-211-2 εἴ τις ἔστ’ ἐκεῖ χάρις ⁴⁵²

mvp-comment-212-1 ἡμὶν ⁴⁵³ ξύνει ⁴⁵⁴

mvp-comment-213-1 τὰ σὰ … δῶῤ ⁴⁵⁵

mvp-comment-213-2 ἐφ’ οἶσι ⁴⁵⁶

mvp-comment-213-3 χλιδᾷς ⁴⁵⁷

mvp-comment-214-1 ὑπεικάθοιμι ⁴⁵⁸

mvp-comment-214-2 πλουσία ⁴⁵⁹

mvp-comment-214-3 περιρρείτω ⁴⁶⁰

mvp-comment-215-1 τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν ⁴⁶¹

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 ⁴⁶²

mvp-comment-217-1 παῖδα ⁴⁶³

mvp-comment-217-2 κεκλῆσθαι ⁴⁶⁴

mvp-comment-218-1 πλείστοις ⁴⁶⁵

mvp-comment-219-1 μηδὲν ⁴⁶⁶ πρὸς ὀργὴν ⁴⁶⁷

mvp-comment-220-1 ἀμφοῖν ⁴⁶⁸ τοῖς λόγοις ⁴⁶⁹

mvp-comment-221-1 τῆσδε … αὕτη ⁴⁷⁰ πάλιν ⁴⁷¹

mvp-comment-222-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ⁴⁷²

mvp-comment-222-2 πως ⁴⁷³

mvp-comment-222-3 μύθων ⁴⁷⁴

mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ’ ⁴⁷⁵ κοὐδ’ ⁴⁷⁶ ποτέ ⁴⁷⁷

mvp-comment-224-1 ἰὸν ⁴⁷⁸

mvp-comment-224-2 σχήσει ⁴⁷⁹

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν ⁴⁸⁰

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι ⁴⁸¹ εἰ ⁴⁸²

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ ⁴⁸³

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων ⁴⁸⁴ λόγων ⁴⁸⁵

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα ⁴⁸⁶

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει ⁴⁸⁷

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα ⁴⁸⁸

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ ⁴⁸⁹

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς ⁴⁹⁰

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις ⁴⁹¹

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα ⁴⁹²

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ ⁴⁹³ καί ⁴⁹⁴

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 ⁴⁹⁵ ἦ … δὴ ⁴⁹⁶ ἦ … γὰρ ⁴⁹⁷

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται ⁴⁹⁸

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο ⁴⁹⁹

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ ⁵⁰⁰

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ ⁵⁰¹

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα ⁵⁰²

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε ⁵⁰³

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν ⁵⁰⁴

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως ⁵⁰⁵ ὑμῶν ⁵⁰⁶

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ ⁵⁰⁷ προσωτάτω φύγω ⁵⁰⁸

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος ⁵⁰⁹

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ ⁵¹⁰

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι ⁵¹¹

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις ⁵¹²

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν ⁵¹³

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα ⁵¹⁴ οὐκ ἐμοὺς ⁵¹⁵

mvp-comment-240-1 γε ⁵¹⁶ μέντοι ⁵¹⁷

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ ⁵¹⁸

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν ⁵¹⁹

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 ⁵²⁰

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη ⁵²¹

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν ⁵²²

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω ⁵²³

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ ⁵²⁴

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις ⁵²⁵

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα ⁵²⁶

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς ⁵²⁷

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν ⁵²⁸

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή ⁵²⁹ ὅν γ’ ⁵³⁰

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ⁵³¹

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος ⁵³²

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί ⁵³³

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι ⁵³⁴

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ ⁵³⁵

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν ⁵³⁶

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε ⁵³⁷

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ⁵³⁸ ἐπὶ σμικρῶν ⁵³⁹

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι ⁵⁴⁰

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι ⁵⁴¹

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν ⁵⁴²

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι ⁵⁴³

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 ⁵⁴⁴

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε ⁵⁴⁵ ἐκ δὲ ⁵⁴⁶

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα ⁵⁴⁷

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι ⁵⁴⁸

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 ⁵⁴⁹ τοῦ ⁵⁵⁰ παρόντος ⁵⁵¹ του ⁵⁵²

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ ⁵⁵³

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ⁵⁵⁴

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη ⁵⁵⁵

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 ⁵⁵⁶

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ ⁵⁵⁷

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ ⁵⁵⁸

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει ⁵⁵⁹

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ ⁵⁶⁰

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη ⁵⁶¹ τούτων μὲν ⁵⁶²

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις ⁵⁶³ οὐδ’ ὅσιον ⁵⁶⁴

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ⁵⁶⁵

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ ⁵⁶⁶

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ ⁵⁶⁷

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ⁵⁶⁸ ῥοαῖσιν ⁵⁶⁹

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον ⁵⁷⁰

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν ⁵⁷¹

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ ⁵⁷² ἔνθεν ⁵⁷³

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν ⁵⁷⁴

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν ⁵⁷⁵

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν ⁵⁷⁶ ὅταν ⁵⁷⁷ σῳζέσθω ⁵⁷⁸

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ ⁵⁷⁹

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν ⁵⁸⁰ τλημονεστάτη ⁵⁸¹

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε ⁵⁸²

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ ⁵⁸³

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε ⁵⁸⁴

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ ⁵⁸⁵

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι ⁵⁸⁶

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι ⁵⁸⁷ δέξασθαι ⁵⁸⁸

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος ⁵⁸⁹

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη ⁵⁹⁰

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 ⁵⁹¹

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν ⁵⁹²

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ ⁵⁹³

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

75. mvp-comment-50-1 καιρὸς γάρ] Sc. ἐστί. For the occasion is here. See E. on L. § 39. p. 72, 1 α.

75-76. mvp-comment-51-1 ὅσπερ, κ.τ.λ.] 'And of all powers that direct men's enterprises, Occasion is chief.'

77-86. mvp-comment-52-1 As the function of the chorus, see Introduction, is to respond to Electra, who gives the principal interest to the play, their entrance is preceded by a monody from her, which draws the sympathy of the spectators to the chief person, and prepares them to enter more fully into the spirit of the action. And-less to whet the purpose of Orestes, than to show his firmness- he is allowed to hear her wailing from within. It is easy to see how this must excite him. But it does not alter his determination to rely upon himself alone. And thus, although for the moment eager to hear more, he yields at once to the counsel of the old man, that nothing should delay the action for which the moment is come. After l. 85, exeunt Orestes, the Paedagogus, and Pylades, leaving the proscenium vacant.

77. mvp-comment-53-1 -------. A paroemiac, consisting wholly of long syllables, like infr. 88, 89, 105, and other lines in the following lament. See the scheme of metres below.

78-79. mvp-comment-54-1 'Methinks there comes from the doors a sound as of some handmaiden moaning within them.' The harshness of the unusual genitive, θυρῶν ='In the direction of the doorway,' 'e regione ostii,' is softened by the addition of ἔνδον, with which θυρῶν is to be resumed. For the genitive of the place from which an object strikes the sense, cp. infr. 900, 1, ἐσχάτης ὁρῶ | πυρᾶς νεώρη βόστρυχον τετμημένον.

81. mvp-comment-55-1 There is no valid objection to the Scholiast's explanation of this as καὶ ἀνακούσωμεν, ‘And let us hear afresh,' or 'hear further.' Hermann prefers καὶ ἐνακούσωμεν. Neither form is found elsewhere, and Nauck conj. κάπακούσωμεν. But, as Prof. Paley observes, this is unnecessary.

82-83. mvp-comment-56-1 μηδὲν πρόσθεν] Sc. ποιώμεθα, which is absorbed in πειρώμεθ᾽ ἔρδειν. κἀπὸ τῶνδ᾽ ἀρχηγετεῖν] ‘And with this rite initiate our act.

84-85. mvp-comment-57-1 ταῦτα γὰρ . . δρωμένων] 'For this brings victory within our grasp, and gives us command over our exploit.' φέρει (sc. ἡμῖν) is to be resumed with κράτος, but ἐφ' ἡμῖν is to be joined to νίκην, as a supplementary predicate. See E. on L. $ 19. p. 29. 4, and § 24. p. 40, 2.

85-86. mvp-comment-58-1 They go all together to perform the libation at the tomb, after which the old man will return to the palace, and Orestes and Pylades will go to the place where they have hidden the urn ( supr. 55). Orestes, in supr. 73, 4, spoke as if the old man was at once to begin his part. But the time is not yet come for this, and, by going to join in the solemn rite at the grave of his old master, he leaves the proscenium vacant for the scenes from l. 86 to l. 659. If we are inclined to quarrel with this long delay, our scruple is pacified by the words ὅταν σε καιρὸς εἰσάγῃ in supr. 39.

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.

86-92. mvp-comment-60-1 Electra tells her sorrows to the daylight and to the air of Heaven, as she has told them all night long to her sleepless chamber. The holy light contrasts with the pollutions of the house of Pelops; the illimitable air,- which searches even to earth's remotest corners, and is common to Orestes and herself, both contrasts with the narrowness of her lot, and can alone contain the boundlessness of her grief.

86. mvp-comment-61-1 ὦ φάος ἁγνόν] For the sacred purity of the elements as opposed to the impurity of man, cp. O. T. 1427, 8, τὸ μήτε γῆ μήτ᾿ ὄμβρος ἱρὸς μήτε φῶς προσδέξεται.

87-90. mvp-comment-62-1 ὥς μοι .. αἱμασσομένων] ‘How many tones of my lamenting. how many blows that bruised my bleeding breast, have thrilled you!' στέρνων is objective genitive with πληγάς, but is to be resumed with ἀντήρεις, lit. 'planted firmly against.'

91. mvp-comment-63-1 ὑπολειφθῇ] 'Hath ceased,' lit. 'Has been outrun,' i.e. by the day. Cp. Αj. 672, 3, ἐξίσταται δὲ νυκτὸς αἰανὴς κύκλος | τῇ λευκοπώλῳ φέγγος ἡμέρᾳ φλέγειν.

92-93. mvp-comment-64-1 τὰ δὲ.. οἴκων] ‘And when night comes on, the detested chamber in this weary house knows too well what festive hours I pass.' There is a bitter irony that can hardly be rendered, in using the word παννυχίς, generally a festal celebration, of the sleepless nights of mourning. Cp. Ant. 152, 3, θεῶν δὲ ναοὺς χοροῖς | παννυχίοις πάντας ἐπέλθωμεν, and, for the general sense, cp. Od. 19. 518 foll. ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε Πανδαρέου κούρη, χλωρηΐς ᾿Αηδών, | καλὸν ἀείδῃσιν, ἔαρος νέον ἱσταμένοιο, | δενδρέων ἐν πετάλοισι καθεζομένη πυκινοῖσιν, | ἥ τε θαμὰ τρωπῶσα χέει πολυηχέα φωνήν, | παῖδ᾽ ὀλοφυρομένη Ἴτυλον φίλον, ὅν ποτε χαλκῷ | κτεῖνε δι᾽ ἀφραδίας, κοῦρον Ζήθοιο ἄνακτος· | ὣς καὶ ἐμοὶ δίχα θυμὸς ὀρώρεται ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα. See below, ll. 107, 148, 9. ἤδη contrasts παννυχίδων with what precedes.

95-96. mvp-comment-65-1 Cp. Od. 11. 408-411, where Agamemnon says, οὔτε μ᾿ ἀνάρσιοι ἄνδρες ἐδηλήσαντ᾽ ἐπὶ χέρσου· | ἀλλά μοι Αίγισθος τεύξας θάνατόν τε μόρον τε ἕκτα σὺν οὐλομένῃ ἀλόχῳ, οἰκύνδε καλέσσας, | δειπνίσσας, ὥς τις κατέκτανε βοῦν ἐπὶ φάτνῃ. See below, ll. 203, 4. And for ῎Αρης οὐκ ἐξένισεν, ' War did not give hospitable repose,' cp. Aesch. Cho. 351-3, πολύχωστον ἂν εἶχες | τάφον διαποντίου γᾶς | δώμασιν εὐφόρητον: Ag. 455, ἐχθρὰ δ᾽ ἔχοντας ἔκρυψεν : Verg. Aen. 1. 97, 'Mene Iliacis occumbere campis | Non potuisse.'

98. mvp-comment-66-1 Cp. II. 13. 389, ἤριπε δ', ὡς ὅτε τις δρῦς ἤριπεν, ἢ ἀχερωΐς, | ἠὲ πίτυς βλωθρή, την τ' οὔρεσι τέκτονες ἄνδρες ἐξέταμον πελέκεσσι νεήκεσι, νήϊον εἶναι. But the unfeeling act of the woodman is more prominent in the present passage than the grandeur of the tree.

100-101. mvp-comment-67-1 κοὐδεὶς.. φέρεται] ‘And no pity' (or mourning) 'on account of this goes forth from any one but me.' For the genitive, cp. Ο. Τ. 185, λυγρῶν πόνων ἱκτῆρες ἐπιστενάχουσιν. And for the attraction in the gender of οὐκ ἄλλης, cp. infr. 885, 6, ἐγὼ μὲν ἐξ ἐμοῦ τε κοὐκ ἄλλης σαφή | σημεῖ᾿ ἰδοῦσα, κ.τ.λ. For φέρεται, of the utterance of feeling, cp. Pind. Pyth. 1. 170, εἴ τι καὶ φλαῦρον παραιθύσσει, μέγα τοι φέρεται | πὰρ σέθεν.

102. mvp-comment-68-1 αἰκῶς] Although the MSS. agree in ἀδίκως, the Scholiast gives ἀεικῶς as a various reading. And ἀδίκως, which is appropriate in infr. 113, is frigid here.

105. mvp-comment-69-1 Hermann's rejection of the first λεύσσω (see v. rr.) is clearly the best emendation of this passage, which in the MSS. has two long syllables too many. παμφεγγεῖς ῥιπάς] 'The bright tremblings of the stars.' On παν in comp. see Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 6. φέγγος has a special application to the light of the moon and stars as distinguished from daylight :-Plat. Rep. 6. Ρ. 508 C, ὀφθαλμοί, ὅταν μηκέτι ἐπ᾿ ἐκεῖνά τις αὐτοὺς τρέπῃ ὧν ἂν τὰς χρόας τὸ ἡμερινὸν φῶς ἐπέχῃ, ἀλλ᾽ ὧν νυκτερινὰ φέγγη. For ῥιπή, lit. 'beating' or 'pulsation,' as applied to the twinkling of the stars, cp. Tennyson's 'Beat, happy stars, timing with things below.'

107. mvp-comment-70-1 τεκνολέτειρα] 'That has lost' (or 'slain') 'her child,' viz. Itylus, according to the story followed in the Odyssey, 1. c. (19. 518 foll.) As the song of the nightingale is meant, and not the cry of the bird whose nest is robbed, Ant. 423-5 is not really parallel. The idiomatic use of τις does not prevent the identification of the nightingale with the mythical daughter of Pandion. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 55, 6, ἤ τις ᾿Απόλλων, | ἢ Πάν, ἢ Ζεύς.

107-109. mvp-comment-71-1 But like some Philomela for her son destroyed, I will peal for all to hear a note of lamentation in front of these my father's doors.' ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ is an adverbial expression like ἐπὶ ψόγοισι in Ant. 759. See Essay on L. § 19. p. 27. It implies that the noise that echoed round about the palace was sustained by the force of her impetuous crying. Cp. infr. 241-3, γονέων ἐκτίμους ἴσχουσα πτέρυγας | ὀξυτόνων γόων.

111. mvp-comment-72-1 'Hermes of the Shades' is invoked here as in the Choephori, because he had guided the soul of Agamemnon to Hades and might be expected to guide his Avenger. πότνι' ἀρά] Agamemnon was ἀραῖος to Clytemnestra on account of her crime. Cp. Ó. T. 417, 8, καί σ᾽ ἀμφιπλὴξ μητρός τε καὶ τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς | ἐλᾷ ποτ᾽ ἐκ γῆς τῆσδε δεινόπους ἀρά.

112. mvp-comment-73-1 The Erinyes are here invoked in their most general character, and are not named specifically as daughters of Earth and Night, but vaguely as 'children of gods.'

114. mvp-comment-74-1 They are the avengers not only of murder, but of every great breach of law. Cp. Αj. 836, δρώσας πάντα τὰν βροτοῖς πάθη: Aesch. Eum. 895, ΑΘ. (to the Eumenides) ὡς μή τιν' οἶκον εὐθενεῖν ἄνευ σέθεν : ib. 835. And Aegisthus, who is the great offender in Electra's sight, is guilty on both counts of this indictment. Cp. infr. 271, 2, τὴν τελευταίαν ὕβριν τὸν αὐτοφόντην ἡμὶν ἐν κοίτῃ πατρός.

119-120. mvp-comment-75-1 'My single force no longer countervails the stress of woe.' Lit. 'I no longer have strength alone to lift the weight of grief that presses in the opposite scale.'

121-127. mvp-comment-76-1 Electra's monody, like the soliloquy of Deianeira. Trach. I fol., has indicated the loneliness of her sorrow. But she is not friendless. The women of Argos feel with her and would comfort her if they could. In this long 'commatic parodos,' which at once enlists the sympathies of the spectator, and prepares his mind by contrast for the rapidity of the action which is to follow, there are seven choric strains, to which Electra responds with μέλη ἀπὸ σκηνῆς. If, as seems most probable, a single voice is heard each time, the front row of choreutae would alone take part. Thus, supposing the five dots to represent the πρωτόσταται, i. e. the coryphaeus and those on either side of him, the parts might be assigned as follows:- ἀντ. β'. ἀντ.α΄. στρ.α΄. στρ.β. στρ. γ΄. ἀντ. γ'. ἐπ. The choreutae immediately to right and left of the coryphaeus would address Electra twice, and when the epode was finished, the coryphaeus would make a new beginning with the senarii in ll. 251-3, after which, each of the five would speak once again, ending with the coryphaeus. The metres are as follows:-

121. mvp-comment-77-1 παῖ is first the natural address of an elder person to a younger, and is then repeated in a different sense with the genitive in regimen. 'O child Electra! Child of a most wretched mother!' For the moral association in δυστανοτάτας, cp. Aj. 1290, δύστηνε, ποῖ βλέπων ποτ᾿ αὐτὰ καὶ θροεῖς;

122-123. mvp-comment-78-1 τίν᾿ ἀεὶ .. οἰμωγάν] ‘Why this never-ceasing lament which piningly thou pourest out over thy father?' For this adverbial' use of the interrogative pronoun, cp. Ο. Τ. 2, τίνας ποθ᾽ ἕδρας τάσδε μοι θοάζετε; and see Essay on L. § 42. p. 81. τάκεις οἰμωγάν ἰς literally, Dost cause the cry to melt from thee; i.e. Dost waste thyself with crying. In the sentence which follows, τὸν.. ᾿Αγαμέμνονα is governed by τάκεις .. οἰμωγάν taken as one word = οἰμώζεις. Ε. on L. § 16. p. 23 b. With ἀκόρεστον, Immoderate, contrast ll. 23. 157, γόοιο μὲν ἔστι καὶ ἆσαι : Od. 4. 103, αἰψηρὸς δὲ κύρος κρυεροῖο γόοιο.

124. mvp-comment-79-1 ἀθεώτατα] In heinous defiance of the gods.' Cp. Aesch. Cho. 46, δύσθεος γυνά: Trach. 1036, σὰ μάτηρ ἄθεος.

126. mvp-comment-80-1 κακᾷ τε χειρὶ πρόδοτον] ‘And delivered over to destruction with wicked violence.' Cp. infr. 206, 7, χειροῖν | αἱ τὸν ἐμὸν εἶλον βίον | πρόδοτον, αἱ μ᾿ ἀπώλεσαν. The fear of Aegisthus, who is sovereign de facto, prevents the chorus from mentioning him by name. Cp. Trach. 383, 4, and note.

129. mvp-comment-81-1 γενέθλα] Here, and in infr. 226, Doric for γενέθλη. “Offspring of noble sires.' Two glosses on γενναίων, viz. (1) πατέρων, (2) τοκέων, have found their way into different MSS., while, curiously enough, no MS. has the line uninterpolated.

130. mvp-comment-82-1 παραμύθιον may be in apposition (1) with the subject of ἥκετε or (2) with the verb itself. The latter (2), conveying more exactly the notion of an intention to console, is probably right. But for the former (1), cp. Thuc. 5. 103, ἐλπὶς κινδύνῳ παραμύθιον οὖσα.

131. mvp-comment-83-1 τάδ'] Either (1) Your kind intention, or (2) That my sorrow is importunate.' Cp. infr. 222. The Scholiast prefers (2).

132. mvp-comment-84-1 οὐδ᾽ ἐθέλω προλιπεῖν τόδε] ‘But I will not give this up.' δé is adversative, though it is unnecessary to write οὐ δ' with Hermann.

134. mvp-comment-85-1 (1) 'But, O ye who exchange with me the tender grace of every sort of mutual affection, - ἀμειβόμεναι vocative. Or (2), supposing the participle to agree with the subject of ἐᾶτε, 'But O, in return for all manner of love' (which ye have had from me). Musgrave objects to this that Electra had no power of conferring kindnesses, and that if she had, she would not thus have reminded her friends of them. He ingeniously renders, Exchanging for this (?) service all your varied kindnesses. But his argument is hypercritical. It is the strength of her wish, and not the sense of her merit, that is really emphasized in παντοίας (of which Ellendt rightly says, Nihil nisi multum s. magnum significat.') And φιλότης is simply affection.' Schndw. explains, So conferring on me a kindness equivalent to all manner of friendship:'-Wecklein, Ye who return the grace of all manner of love (for mine).'

137-138. mvp-comment-86-1 τόν γ᾽ ἐξ ᾿Αΐδα λίμνας] i.e. τὸν ἐν . . λίμνᾳ ἐκ . . λίμνας, according to a familiar idiom of condensation. λίμνας] Viz. the 'palus Acherontis,' on the shores of which dwelt the dead.

139. mvp-comment-87-1 Cp. Il. 24.550, 1, οὐ γάρ τι πρήξεις ἀκαχήμενος υἷος ἐῆος, | οὐδέ μιν ἀνστήσεις, πρὶν καὶ κακὸν ἄλλο πάθῃσθα. For the line as it stands, a glyconic with a spondee after the close, cp. Eur. Med. 159, τάκου δυρομένα σὸν εὐνάταν: 183, πένθος γὰρ μεγάλως τόδ᾽ ὀρμᾶται. The short syllable at the end of the previous line, and the iambic base of the glyconic, are avoided by reading *θρήνοις for γόοις.

139. mvp-comment-87-2 Dindorf retains the order of the words, and reads παγκοίνου λίμνας πατέρ᾽ ἀν | στάσεις οὔτε γόοισιν οὔτ᾽ *ἄνταις (a double glyconic with spondee at close). ἄνταις is the conjecture of Hermann from Hesychius: ἄντήσει (sic), λιτανείαις, ἀντήσεσι. But is not ἀντήσεσι: λιτανείαις an equally probable emendation of the corrupt reading in Hesychius? For λιταῖσι, cp. supr. 110 foll. Prof. Paley suggests πατέρ᾽ ἀν | στάσεις οὔτε γόοισιν οὔτ᾽ εὐχαῖς.

140-141. mvp-comment-88-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ .. διόλλυσαι] ‘But, forsaking moderation, you go to an extreme in your grief, to your own ruin.' To account for the prepositions some idea of motion must be gathered from the verbs, e.g. προϊοῦσα ἐν στοναχαῖς.

142. mvp-comment-89-1 ἐν οἷς .. κακῶν] (1) ‘A course which brings no way of release from woes.' The antecedent to ois is to be inferred from the preceding words: sc. ἐν τοῖς οὐ μετρίοις τούτοις ἀλγήμασιν, The meaning of the chorus, at present rather gently hinted than expressed, is that by continued lamentation Electra only involves herself in fresh trouble and deepens the misery of her situation. Cp. infr. 213-20. Otherwise (2), 'In a case where there is no release.' Badham conj. ἀνάδυσις.

144. mvp-comment-90-1 τί . . ἐφίει] 'Beseech thee, why dost thou set thy heart on troubles?'- i.e. aim at bringing them on thyself.

146. mvp-comment-91-1 ἐμέ γ᾽ ὁ στονόεσσ᾽ ἄραρεν φρένας] That creature of lament is congenial to my soul.' Is the swallow or the nightingale the bird intended here? The nightingale was mentioned above (l. 107), and is spoken of by Sappho, quoted by the Scholiast on this passage, as the messenger of Spring-ἦρος ἄγγελος ἰμερόφωνος ἀηδών. On the other hand, the swallow is more generally represented in this way, and the lines of Horace, Od. 4. 12. 5 foll., Nidum ponit, Ityn flebiliter gemens,' etc., certainly refer to Procne, who was usually thought to have been changed into a swallow. But of the legend of Tereus there seem to have been many conflicting modifications. The word ἀτυζομένα may be fancifully suggestive of the uncertain, 'bewildered' flight of the swallow. But the mention of song, both here and in the passage of Horace, agrees better with the thought of the nightingale. In any case the Scholiast is probably right in explaining Διὸς ἄγγελος of the intimation of Spring and the beginning of the Διὸς μεγάλου ἐνιαυτός. The nightingale or swallow, thus distinguished with Divine favour, is also the most sorrowful of birds.

150. mvp-comment-92-1 σὲ δ᾽ ἔγωγε νέμω θεόν] I count thee Divine,' i.e. blessed, -μακαρίζω σέ.

151-152. mvp-comment-93-1 Cp. Ant. 823-32. The prehistoric colossal figure cut out of the rock on a northward crag of Mount Sipylus, so as to be visible from the plain below Sardes, is supposed by Prof. Sayce, who has examined it, to have originally represented some elemental deity, possibly Cybele, but uncertain whether male or female. It was from an early period identified by the Greek settlers with the Niobe of Theban and Argive legend. The limestone drippings from the over-hanging rock have produced an incrustation about face, chest, and lap (the image is in a sitting posture)-that, quite apart from poetical description, is wonderfully suggestive of a flood of tears. This πετραία βλάστα (Ant. 827) must have been apparent before the time of Sophocles. It is less distinctly suggested by the words in Homer, Il. 24. 617, θεῶν ἐκ κήδεα πέσσει. Prof. Sayce adds that the θεάων · εὐναὶ νυμφάων of Il. 1. c. (in reality prehistoric tombs) are still distinctly recognisable in the crags on either side: also that just below the Niobe was a large lake, which was drained some forty years ago, when the columns of a Greek temple were found at the bottom. This, Mr. Sayce thinks, must have been the site of the city of Sipylus, which was overthrown by an earthquake in the time of Tiberius, and the ruins covered by the waters of a lake. All that now remains of the lake is a small pool at the foot of the crag on which the figure of Niobe is carved, along with a stream. Both stream and pool are fed by a number of springs, some of which are warm and saline; and the pool is called by the modern Greeks the tears of Niobe.'

153-157. mvp-comment-94-1 Thou art not all alone unhappy that thou shouldest thus grieve more than those within, who are of the same lineage and of kindred blood with thee, and shouldst not live the same bright life which they, Chrysothemis and Iphianassa, live.' The indefinite pronoun ὅ, τι is occasioned by the negative preceding. In πρὸς ὅ τι, πρός corresponds to a long syllable, Ζεύς, in the antistrophe. Perhaps, πρός γ᾽ ὅ, τι? εἰ περισσά] Sc. ἐν τῷ λυπεῖσθαι. In distinguishing between Iphigeneia and Iphianassa, Sophocles is said to have followed the Cypria. 'Sophocles here seems to recognize the digamma in Fιφιάνασσα.' Paley.

159-160. mvp-comment-95-1 κρυπτᾷ τ᾿ ἀχέων ἐν ἤβα ὄλβιος] And he whose fortunate youth is hidden out of the way of sorrow.' For the genitive, see Essay on L. § 8. p. 11, 2. Hermann says, Audacior quidem haec structura, sed amat talia Sophocles. Ejusdem modi est, quod statim dicit, Διὸς βήματι pro πομπῇ Διός.' Orestes is 'fortunate,' because his tranquil youth gives promise of final good fortune. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 695, 6, Ορέστης, ἦν γὰρ εὐβόλως ἔχων, | ἔξω κομίζων ὀλεθρίου πηλοῦ πόδα. Others take ἀχέων as a participle. But κρυπτᾷ without the genitive is poor, and the notion of Orestes sorrowing is out of place. The Chorus could not know of it, and if they did they would have suppressed the mention of it as inauspicious.

160-163. mvp-comment-96-1 'Orestes, whom the land of this people, with her glory unimpaired, shall receive as the successor of his father's fame, sped hither by the kind will of Zeus.'

162. mvp-comment-97-1 Διὸς εὔφρονι βήματι] ί.ε. Διὸς εὐφρόνως βήσαντος αὐτόν. The verbal has a causative meaning. See Essay on L. § 53 b. p. 98; or else a causal meaning is contained in the genitive. Ibid. § 9. p. 12 a. There is a correlation between κλεινά and εὐπατρίδαν, both being proleptic and denoting the consequence of the return of Orestes.

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.'

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.

Sophocles Electra 431

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

CH

Current edition Experimental

ΧΟ.

Der Chor.

Chorus
(Ijet them he hid, deep buried in the sands,

for my sake, for thine own, for his,

Dearest of all that breath'd this vital air,

Our father, laid in the unsparing tomb.

Chorus

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

CH

Current edition Experimental

ΧΟ.

Der Chor.

Chorus (Ijet them he hid, deep buried in the sands,

for my sake, for thine own, for his, Dearest of all that breath'd this vital air, Our father, laid in the unsparing tomb.

Chorus

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Chorus
(Ijet them he hid, deep buried in the sands,

for my sake, for thine own, for his,

Dearest of all that breath'd this vital air,

Our father, laid in the unsparing tomb.