Sophocles Electra 179

mvp-comment-628-1 τὸν ἄγχιστον ¹

mvp-comment-629-1 ἴθ’, ὦ γύναι ²

mvp-comment-630-1 οὐ δή ποθ’ ³

mvp-comment-631-1 τὴν σὴν κληδόν’ ⁴

mvp-comment-631-2 Στρόφιος ⁵

mvp-comment-632-1 φέροντες ⁶ κομίζομεν ⁷

mvp-comment-633-1 τοῦτ’ ἐκεῖν’ ⁸

mvp-comment-633-2 πρόχειρον ⁹

mvp-comment-633-3 ἄχθος ¹⁰

mvp-comment-634-1 κέκευθεν ¹¹

mvp-comment-634-2 1122 Cp. Aesch. P. V. 637

.

mvp-comment-635-1 δότε ¹² ἥτις ἐστί ¹³

mvp-comment-635-2 ἐπαιτεῖται ¹⁴

mvp-comment-635-3 πρὸς αἵματος ¹⁵

mvp-comment-635-4 φύσιν ¹⁶

mvp-comment-636-1 ψυχῆς Ὀρέστου λοιπόν ¹⁷

mvp-comment-636-2 ἀπ’ ἐλπίδων ¹⁸

mvp-comment-636-3 Then οὐχ ὧνπερ ¹⁹

mvp-comment-636-4 Other possibilities are the following. (1) Keeping both

and , to take as=‘ with hopes.’ The prep. would then be used as when it denotes a resource: 1378 : Thuc. 1. 91 § 7 . (Observe that in Soph. Tr. 667 is not really similar; it means, ‘as the outcome of a fair hope.’) The prevailing usage of condemns this view.

mvp-comment-636-5 (2) Still keeping

, to change , with Schaefer, to . Cp. Eur. Hec. 351 . This is possible; though , when thus used, commonly denotes an external accompaniment ( Soph. Tr. 419 n.); as, indeed, even in Hec. l. c., the hopes are not merely Polyxena's own, but those of her friends. Further: meaning ‘contrary to’—strikes the note of despair more forcibly.

mvp-comment-636-6 (3) Keeping

as=‘contrary to,’ to alter either to οὐχ ὅνπερ ²⁰ οὐχ ὥσπερ ²¹

mvp-comment-636-7 On the whole, I retain the traditional reading, though not without a suspicion that either

or is unsound.

mvp-comment-637-1 νῦν μὲν γὰρ ²²

mvp-comment-637-2 οὐδὲν ὄντα ²³

mvp-comment-637-3 βαστάζω ²⁴

mvp-comment-637-4 λαμπρὸν ²⁵

mvp-comment-638-1 ὡς ὤφελον ²⁶

mvp-comment-638-2 The v.l. ὤφελες ²⁷ κλέψασα ²⁸

mvp-comment-638-3 τοῖνδε ²⁹

mvp-comment-638-4 κἀνασώσασθαι ³⁰

mvp-comment-638-5 φόνου ³¹

mvp-comment-639-1 ὅπως … ἔκεισο ³²

mvp-comment-639-2 τύμβου πατρῴου ³³

mvp-comment-640-1 φυγὰς ³⁴

mvp-comment-641-1 ἐν ³⁵

mvp-comment-641-2 φίλαισι ³⁶

mvp-comment-642-1 λουτροῖς σ’ ἐκόσμης’ ³⁷

mvp-comment-643-1 ἄθλιον βάρος ³⁸

mvp-comment-644-1 ἐν ξέναισι χερσὶ κηδευθεὶς ³⁹

mvp-comment-644-2 σμικρὸς … ὄγκος ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-645-1 τῆς ἐμῆς … τρ. ἀνωφελήτου ⁴¹

mvp-comment-645-2 παρέσχον ⁴²

mvp-comment-646-1 ἢ κἀμοῦ ⁴³

mvp-comment-646-2 μητρὸς … φίλος ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-646-3 The schol. on 1146 has,

. But P. N. Papageorgius corrects to ( Scholia in Soph. Trag. Vetera, Leipsic, 1888). And this is confirmed by the first part of the same scholium: : i.e., the scholiast understood, ‘for thou didst not belong to thy mother more than to me,’ and took as=a vocative.

mvp-comment-647-1 οἱ κατ’ οἶκον ⁴⁵ ἦσαν ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-647-2 ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ τροφός ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-648-1 ἀδελφὴ σοὶ ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-648-2 προσηυδώμην ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-649-1 ἐκλέλοιπε ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-649-2 θανόντι ⁵¹

mvp-comment-649-3 συναρπάσας ⁵²

mvp-comment-649-4 θύελλ’ ⁵³

mvp-comment-650-1 τέθνηκ’ ἐγὼ σοί ⁵⁴ σοί ⁵⁵ τέθνηκ’ ἐγώ σοι ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-650-2 Others explain: (1) ‘I am dead because of thee’; ‘thou hast been the death of me.’ The dat. is then like that in Ai. 1128

(‘in his purpose, I am dead’). But this is less suitable to the context. (2) ‘I am dead to thee, as thou to me,’— i.e., we are now parted from each other by the barrier between earth and Hades.—The objection to τέθνηκ’ ἐγώ· σὺ ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-651-1 μήτηρ ἀμήτωρ ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-651-2 ἧς ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-651-3 1160—

mvp-comment-652-1 οἴμοι μοί ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-653-1 κελεύθους ⁶¹

mvp-comment-653-2 ἀπώλεσας ⁶²

mvp-comment-653-3 δῆτ’ ⁶³

mvp-comment-654-1 τοιγὰρ σὺ δέξαι μ’ ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-654-2 τὴν μηδὲν ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-654-3 τὸ μηδὲν ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-655-1 μετεῖχον τῶν ἴσων ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-655-2 μὴ ἀπολείπεσθαι ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-656-1 τοὺς ⁶⁹ θανόντας ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-657-1 θνητοῦ ⁷¹ θνητὸς ⁷²

mvp-comment-657-2 φρόνει ⁷³

mvp-comment-658-1 πᾶσιν γὰρ ἡμῖν ⁷⁴ τοῦτ’ ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-659-1 φεῦ φεῦ, τί λέξω ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-659-2 λόγων ⁷⁷ ποῖ ⁷⁸ ἀμηχανῶν ⁷⁹

1105. mvp-comment-532-1 τὸν ἄγχιστον] 'Nearest,' i.e. as daughter to the Queen. But the word is calculated to move Orestes, to whom Electra is indeed nearest. The masculine gives generality. Cp. supr. 1026, and note.

1110. mvp-comment-533-1 οὐκ οἶδα .. κληδόν] ‘I know not what report you speak of.' Orestes must seem ignorant of the coming of the Paedagogus, who professed to have been sent by Phanoteus, and had therefore nothing to do with Strophius, from whom Orestes is supposed to come. The evidence appears to flow through two channels, which are independent of each other.

1115. mvp-comment-534-1 Some editors punctuate after ἐκεῖνο, some do not punctuate at all between τοῦτ᾽ .. ἄχθος. The pause at σαφές seems on the whole most probable. Ah! here is that we heard of now made clear. I see the burden ready (as it would seem) to my hand.'

1116. mvp-comment-535-1 πρόχειρον may either mean (1) 'Before my hand,' i. e. ready to be taken up; or (2) Held in the hand' of another.'

1117. mvp-comment-536-1 τι .. τῶν Ὀρεστείων κακῶν] The litotes suggests not only his death, but the ruin of his house. Cp. ll. 1121, 2.

1123-1124. mvp-comment-537-1 οὐ γὰρ οὐσ'] The form of expression may be simply occasioned by antithesis. But friends of Strophius might have reason to suspect those about Aegisthus of being unfriendly to Orestes.

1125. mvp-comment-538-1 ἢ.. φύσιν] ‘Or of his natural kin.' For πρὸς αἵματος, cp. Aj. 1305, τοὺς πρὸς αἵματος, and for φύσιν, see Essay on L. § 17. p. 25. 4, and cp. supr. 325-

1126-1128. mvp-comment-539-1 O sole memorial and relic of the living Orestes, dearest of mankind to me, how far otherwise than I had hoped do I receive thee! with thoughts how different from those with which I sent thee forth!" By a confusion to which double negatives are liable (Essay on L. § 29. p. 49), the negative implied in ἀπό is first expanded in a negative sense, and then ἀπό is resumed with ὧνπερ in a different (positive) sense. For a negative similarly ignored in the relative clause, cp. Ant. 1064-7, κάτισθι, μὴ πολλοὺς .. τελῶν | ἐν οἷσι, κ.τ.λ. Wecklein in l. 1128 reads οὐχ ὅνπερ with an inferior MS. • How contrary to my hopes I receive- not him whom I sent forth.'

1130. mvp-comment-540-1 λαμπρόν] 'Bright,' i.e. full of promise. Cp. supr. 685, εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός. ἐγώ has a pathetic, not a logical emphasis, and reminds the spectator that Electra's action at the critical moment was the saving of her father's house. Cp. supr. 12.

1131. mvp-comment-541-1 The v. r. ὡς ὤφελες (suggested by 1134) is far inferior to ὡς ὤφελον. The struggle of the intervening years now seems worse than yain.

1139-1140. mvp-comment-542-1 οὔτε .. βάρος] ‘Nor took up, as I should have done, from the all-consuming fire, the miserable remains.' See E. on L. § 8. p. 11. For βάρος, cp. Aesch. Ag. 442, βαρὺ ψήγμα, παμφλέκτου suggests that the fire has done its utmost. Cp. Od. 11. 220, 1, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέν τε πυρὸς κρατερὸν μένος αἰθομένοιο | δαμνᾷ, ἐπεί κε πρῶτα λίπῃ λεύκ᾿ ὄστεα θυμός. See Essay on L. $ 53. p. 98.

1143. mvp-comment-543-1 She now goes back in memory to the happier time before the death of Agamemnon.

1143-1144. mvp-comment-544-1 τῆς ἐμῆς ἀνωφελήτου] 'The care which of old I spent on thee-in vain!' τροφή is active here, as in Eur. Tro. 1187, αἵ τ᾿ ἐμαὶ τροφαί.

1145-1146. mvp-comment-545-1 οὔτε . . φίλος] ‘For never wast thou bound to thy mother by such close ties as thou wast to me.' φίλος implies reciprocal affection. Clytemnestra was already alienated from Agamemnon's offspring in those early days. καί marks the stress on ἐμοῦ. Cp. Ο.Τ. 94, ἢ καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς, κ.τ.λ.

1147. mvp-comment-546-1 And I was more thy nurse than the domestics were.' A natural picture of the fondness of an elder sister for a little brother.

1148. mvp-comment-547-1 (1) 'And thou didst ever call me "sister."" Or (2) And the sister of Orestes was the name by which I was ever called,' ie. I was the one sister who was specially connected with thee. At this word, as Wecklein observes, all doubt is removed from the mind of Orestes.

1152. mvp-comment-548-1 τέθνηκ᾽ ἐγώ σοι] 'I am dead because of thee,' or 'Thou hast been the death of me.' Cp. supr. 808, ὥς μ' ἀπώλεσας θανών: Eur. Androm. 334, τέθνηκα τῇ σῇ θυγατρὶ καί μ᾿ ἀπώλεσε. E. on L. § 13. p. 20.

1154-1156. mvp-comment-549-1 ἧς is governed first by φήμας, = περὶ ἧς, and is then placed in a more definite construction with τιμωρός. Essay on L. § 9. p. 13. 3.

1158. mvp-comment-550-1 προϋπεμψεν] The same word (l. 1155) is repeated in a different connection. See Essay on L. § 44. pp. 83, 84.

1159. mvp-comment-551-1 καὶ σκιὰν ἀνωφελῆ] 'And a vain shadow of thee;' i. e. the remembrance of him revived by the sight of the urn, an imagination which brought no help with it.

1160-1162. mvp-comment-552-1 For this short lyric (anapaestic) outburst, cp. especially Trach. 1085, 6, ὦναξ ᾿Αίδη, κ.τ.λ.

1161. mvp-comment-553-1 ὦ δέμας οἰκτρόν] ‘Poor form!' She sees in imagination the mangled body of Orestes: supr. 756.

1162-1163. mvp-comment-554-1 δεινοτάτας κελεύθους] Sent on a terrible journey;' i.e. dismissed from life by a calamitous death. Cp. Trach. 874, 5, βέβηκε Δῃάνειρα τὴν πανυστάτην | ὁδῶν ἁπασῶν ἐξ ἀκινήτου ποδός. Others explain this of the bringing of the ashes from Phocis to Argos.

1164. mvp-comment-555-1 Still gazing at the urn, she calls her brother by the most endearing name: Ant. 899, 915.

1169. mvp-comment-556-1 To die and share thy burial.'

1170. mvp-comment-557-1 She contrasts the tranquillity of the lifeless ashes before her with her own sorrow.

1171-1173. mvp-comment-558-1 Unable to give real consolation, the Chorus fall back on the common-place that loss is common to the race.' Ср. О. Т. 1319, 20, and note. For a speech of three lines in a similar position, cp. Aj. 784-6.

1174. mvp-comment-559-1 Orestes is overcome by compassion in witnessing Electra's grief for him, and, contrary to his first intention, now prepares to disclose himself to her.

1174-1175. mvp-comment-560-1 ποῖ .. ἔλθω] «Το what words must I have recourse, when I know not what to say?' Cp. Phil. 897-9, Ν. οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅποι χρὴ τάπορον τρέ τρέπειν ἔπος. Φ. ἀπορεῖς δὲ τοῦ σύ; μὴ λέγ', ὦ τέκνον, τάδε. Ν. ἀλλ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἤδη τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους κυρῶ.

1176. mvp-comment-561-1 Some omit the point after ἄλγος. Cp. supr. 316. In that case the pronoun í is again supposed to be equivalent to ὅ, τι.