Sophocles Electra 64

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Chrysothemis
Once more to light returned (so fame reports)
Before her our loved father did appear.
The royal sceptre wielded in his hand
Which now -^gisthus bears, whence seemed to spring
A green and leafy branch, whose wide extent
420
O'er all Mycenae spread its verdant shade :
This did I learn, and this alone, from one
Who listened long: attentive while she told
ELFXTRA,
Her vision to tlie sun ; hence all her fears,
And hence my destined journey, i
425

Electra. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.

Current edition Experimental

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 64 focus
λόγῳ μάτην θνήσκοντας· εἶθ᾽, ὅταν δόμους
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 121-250 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 64 focus
CHR
Who perished by her hand—so thou wouldst say.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 51 focus
Wir aber kränzen, wie der Gott befahl, zuerst
Mit Spenden und des Hauptes abgeschnitt'ner Zier 1
Des Vaters Hügel, kehren dann hieher zurück,
Den erzgeformten Aschenkrug in meinem Arm,
Den ich im Busch verborgen, wie dir wohlbekannt,
55
Auf daß, in Worten täuschend, wir den Argen hier
Die frohe Botschaft bringen, wie mein Körper schon
Verbrannt zur Asche, schon in Staub zerfallen sei.
Was kann mich's härmen, wenn ich, todt dem Worte nach, 2
In Thaten lebe, strahlend in des Ruhmes Glanz?
60
Kein Wort ja dünkt mir übel, wenn es Nuzen bringt.
Auch weise Männer hört' ich durch ein falsch Gerücht
Schon oft als todt verkünden; wenn sie dann zurück
Nach Hause kehrten, waren sie noch mehr geehrt.
So hoff' ich auch nach dieser Botschaft lebend noch
65
Gleich einem Stern zu leuchten vor den Feinden dort.
Vatererd' und meiner Heimat Götter ihr,
Empfanget segenbringet mich auf diesem Pfad,
Und meiner Ahnen Schwelle du: dich komm' ich ja
Zu rächen, dich zu sühnen, durch den Gott erweckt:
70
Stoßt nicht, bedeckt mit Schande, mich aus diesem Land,
Nein, laßt des Vaters Macht und Haus mich neu erbau'n!
Nun sagt' ich Alles; du bereite dich sofort
Zu geh'n und deines Amtes treu zu wahren, Greis.
(zu Pylades)
Wir zieh'n hinaus; die mächtige Stunde fordert uns,
75
Die ordnend über jede That der Menschen wacht.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 64 focus
Theseus
431
for my sake, for thine own, for his,
Dearest of all that breath'd this vital air,
Our father, laid in the unsparing tomb.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 121-250 focus

Commentary

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

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

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι 2

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 3

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε 4 ἐκ δὲ 5

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα 6

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι 7

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 8 τοῦ 9 παρόντος 10 του 11

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ 12

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

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.