Sophocles Electra 66

mvp-comment-278-1 πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ¹

mvp-comment-279-1 δράσω ²

mvp-comment-279-2 τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον ³

mvp-comment-279-3 (1)

is an acc. of general reference, and is impersonal. ‘With regard to what is (clearly) right, it is unreasonable for two persons to dispute; rather both should hasten on the doing (of it).’ With we supply the notion from the negative (as from in O. C. 1402 ff.; cp. O. T. 817 ff.). For the form of the sentence, cp. H. 7. 3. 7 . So here the acc. , which represents the object of , is separated from it by the parenthesis . (The first scholium gives substantially this view: .)

mvp-comment-279-4 (2) Or

might be nom.: ‘that which is clearly right does not afford any ground ( ) for two persons to dispute,’ etc. So the second schol.: . So far as the verb is concerned, this sense is quite admissible: cp. Thuc. 2. 41 ( ). The objection is that the phrases , which are very common, regularly mean, ‘to be reasonable,’ ‘to be unreasonable.’ This is so both in the personal and in the impersonal constr.; as Plat. Phaedop. 62 D : Dem. or. 36 § 54 ; The supposed sense, ‘not to afford a reason,’ is unexampled.

mvp-comment-279-5 δυοῖν ⁴

mvp-comment-280-1 παρ’ ὑμῶν ⁵

mvp-comment-281-1 πικρὰν ⁶ δοκῶ με … τολμήσειν ⁷ ἔτι ⁸

mvp-comment-282-1 εἰ μὴ )γὼ ⁹

mvp-comment-282-2 γνώμας λειπομένα ¹⁰

mvp-comment-283-1 ἁ πρόμαντις Δίκα ¹¹

mvp-comment-283-2 δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη ¹²

mvp-comment-284-1 μέτεισιν ¹³

mvp-comment-284-2 οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου ¹⁴

mvp-comment-285-1 ὕπεστί μοι θράσος ¹⁵ κλύουσαν ¹⁶

mvp-comment-285-2 ἁδυπνόων … ὀνειράτων ¹⁷

mvp-comment-286-1 ἀμναστεῖ γ’ ὁ φύσας ς’ ¹⁸

mvp-comment-287-1 χαλκόπλακτος ¹⁹

mvp-comment-287-2 γένυς ²⁰

mvp-comment-287-3 The very axe (

, 99) with which the blow was dealt is imagined as nourishing a grudge against the murderers who had set it such a task. Such a personification recalls that practice of Athenian law by which inanimate objects which had caused death were brought to a formal trial in the court called , and, after sentence, cast beyond the boundaries, in the presence of the Archon Basileus and the sacrificial officers of the tribes ( ). Aeschin. or. 3 § 244 . (Cp. Dem. or. 23 § 76 .) A like conception was implied in the English law (repealed in 1846) of ‘deodands’ (Deo danda), i.e., personal chattels (whether animals or things) which, having caused the death of a human being, were forfeited to the Crown for pious uses.

mvp-comment-288-1 ἐν αἰκίαις ²¹

mvp-comment-289-1 καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ ²²

mvp-comment-290-1 λόχοις ²³

mvp-comment-290-2 χαλκόπους ²⁴

mvp-comment-291-1 ἄλεκτρ’ ἄνυμφα ²⁵

mvp-comment-291-2 γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ’ ²⁶

mvp-comment-291-3 ἐπέβα ²⁷

mvp-comment-292-1 πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι … συνδρῶσιν ²⁸

mvp-comment-292-2 Verses 495—497 (

) answer metrically to vv. 479—481 , where the text is certain, save for the doubt whether or should stand in 479. Here we must first decide two points.

mvp-comment-292-3 (1) Are the words πρὸ τῶνδε ²⁹

mvp-comment-292-4 (2) Could

(etc.) mean, ‘ the belief possesses me, that’ etc.? Surely not. No real parallel for so strange a phrase has been produced. It is irrelevant to quote those impersonal verbs which directly express the occurrence of a thought to the mind; as Xen. An. 6. 1. 17 (‘the thought came to them, how they might,’ etc.): Thuc. 6. 78. § 1 Either, then, the subject to has dropped out, or the words conceal a corruption.

mvp-comment-292-5 The following remedies are possible: I incline to the first, as involving least change. (1) Reading in 479

, we may read here | etc. (It may be remarked that is in harmony with the tone of in 479.) Another available word is (cp. Ant. 279 ). (2) Or, reading in 479 , we could read here . On either view, the of in 480 is long (as several critics have assumed). It should be noted that (1) involves a different constitution of the verses: see p. lxxxii.

mvp-comment-292-6 In those MSS. which have μή ποτε μή ποθ’ ἡμῖν ³⁰

mvp-comment-293-1 ἀψεγές ³¹ ἀψεφές ³²

mvp-comment-293-2 πελᾶν ³³

mvp-comment-294-1 τοῖς δρῶσι ³⁴ τοῖς συνδρῶσιν ³⁵

mvp-comment-295-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν ³⁶

mvp-comment-296-1 εὖ κατασχήσει ³⁷

mvp-comment-297-1 ἱππεία ³⁸

mvp-comment-297-2 Oenomaüs, king of Pisa in Elis, had promised the hand of his daughter Hippodameia to the suitor who should defeat him in a chariot-race; the penalty of failure being death. The young Pelops, son of Tantalus, offered himself as a competitor. Myrtilus, the charioteer of Oenomaüs, was persuaded (either by Hippodameia or by Pelops) to betray his master. He did so by leaving out one or both of the linch-pins by which the naves of the chariot-wheels were secured to the axles. Tzetzes on Lycophron 156

(= , the naves) . According to another story, he substituted a linch-pin of wax for a real one ( schol. Apoll. Rh. 752 ). So Pelops won the race, and the bride. But Oenomaüs was soon avenged on the traitor; for Myrtilus insulted Hippodameia, and was thrown into the sea by Pelops; upon whose house he invoked a curse, as he sank.

mvp-comment-297-3 Euripides, too, ( Or. 990 ff., Helen. 386 f.) refers to this chariot-race as the event with which the troubles of the Pelopidae began. Apollonius Rhodius briefly describes the critical moment of the race as one of the subjects embroidered on the cloak of Jason (1. 752 ff.); there Oenomaüs was seen, ‘falling sideways, as the axle broke at the naves of the wheels,’—

| .

mvp-comment-297-4 The eastern pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia ( circ. 450 B.C.) was adorned with sculptures by Paeonius, representing the preparation for this contest ( Paus. 5. 10. 6 ). The fragments found on the site have sufficed for a reconstruction of the group. Zeus occupied the centre; to the right of him were Pelops and Hippodameia; to the left, Oenomaüs and his wife Steropè. On each side was a chariot drawn by four horses. Myrtilus was sitting in front of his team, with his face turned away from his master.

mvp-comment-297-5 In the older and nobler form of the myth, Pelops won, not by a fraud, but by the grace of Poseidon, who gave him winged horses (Pindar O. 1. 87

). On the chest ( ) of Cypselus, seen by Pausanias in the Heraeum at Olympia ( Paus. 5. 17. 5 ), Pelops was driving two winged horses.

mvp-comment-298-1 αἰανὴς ³⁹

mvp-comment-298-2 The form

has the best authority, and some critics hold that (Hesych.) was a Byzantine invention. But in Aesch. Eum. 416 , (so L, schol., and Tzetzes on Lycophron 406), is far less suitable.

mvp-comment-299-1 εὖτε ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-299-2 ὁ ποντισθεὶς Μυρτίλος ⁴¹

mvp-comment-299-3 A vase found at Capua shows Pelops and Hippodameia in a ship, from which Myrtilus is falling backwards into the water. A winged Erinys hovers in the air above, brandishing a sword over the head of Pelops (Baumeister, Denkmäler p. 1204, referring to Mon. Inst. x. 25).

mvp-comment-299-4 ἐκοιμάθη ⁴²

mvp-comment-300-1 παγχρυσέων δίφρων ⁴³

mvp-comment-301-1 πρόρριζος ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-301-2 ἐκριφθείς ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-302-1 ἔλειπεν ⁴⁶ ἔλιπεν ⁴⁷ οἴκου ⁴⁸ οἴκους ⁴⁹ πω ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-303-1 πολύπονος ⁵¹ αἰκία ⁵²

mvp-comment-304-1 ἀνειμένη ⁵³ μέν ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-304-2 ὡς ἔοικας ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-304-3 στρέφει ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-304-4 Clytaemnestra begins in the same strain as Chrysothemis, who likewise emphasised her reproof by the word αὖ ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-305-1 μή τοι θυραίαν γ’ ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-305-2 αἰσχύνειν φίλους ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-306-1 καίτοι ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-306-2 δὴ ⁶¹ πολλούς ⁶²

mvp-comment-306-3 ἐξεῖπάς με … ὡς ⁶³

mvp-comment-306-4 θρασεῖα ⁶⁴ τραχεῖα ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-306-5 ἄρχω ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-307-1 ὕβριν … οὐκ ἔχω ⁶⁷ κακῶς κλύουσα ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-308-1 πατὴρ γάρ ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-308-2 πρόσχημα ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-309-1 ἡ γὰρ Δίκη ⁷¹

mvp-comment-310-1 ᾗ χρῆν σ’ ἀρήγειν ⁷²

mvp-comment-311-1 The order of words in the MSS.,

, is probably right; the words would then fall from her with a certain deliberate bitterness. Cp. 542 : Ant. 44 (n.): Ph. 101 .

mvp-comment-312-1 μοῦνος ⁷³ Ἑλλήνων ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-312-2 Nauck requires

instead of , because Agamemnon's unique crime was the slaughter of his own child: as if the text did not convey this. Clytaemnestra means, ‘while mourning a father, you forget a sister.’

mvp-comment-312-3 532 f. The regular mode of expression would be,

. But, having written , the poet explains by repeating the comparison in a new form, . (For or after , cp. Lys. or. 19 § 36

ἡγοῦντο... τὰ ἐκεῖ...εἶναι ἴσα ὥσπερ τὰ ἐνθάδε

.) Those who reject v. 533 omit to notice that, without it, the words would be unintelligible. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1417 | .

mvp-comment-312-4 This assertion of the mother's superior claim is a counterpart to the doctrine of Athena in Aesch. Eum. 658 f.,

| . Cp. above, Aesch. Eum. 366 n.

mvp-comment-313-1 τοῦ χάριν, τίνων ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-313-2 The alternative, which most editors have preferred, is to take

as the participle. But there is an insuperable objection to this, which seems to have escaped notice. The words, ; could mean only, ‘paying a debt of gratitude for what?’ They could not mean, ‘paying a debt of gratitude to whom?’ The latter would be ; See ( e.g.) Aesch. P. V. 985 : Aesch. Ag. 821 | . Hence the question, ; could not possibly be answered by . For, evidently, the latter word could not mean, (‘for a benefit conferred by) the Greeks.’ A scholiast in the Baroccian MS. (cr. n. on 545), who explains by , plainly meant, ‘showing gratitude for what?’—and his paraphrase was correct; only he overlooked the context.

mvp-comment-314-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μετῆν ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-315-1 ἀλλ’ ἀντ’ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα ⁷⁷ κτανὼν ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-315-2 ἀντὶ ἀδελφοῦ ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-315-3 τἄμ’ ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-316-1 παῖδες … διπλοῖ ⁸¹

mvp-comment-316-2 540 f. Nauck would prefer a single verse in place of these two, viz.

.

mvp-comment-317-1 ἢ ⁸²

mvp-comment-317-2 ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν Ἅιδης ⁸³

mvp-comment-318-1 δαίσασθαι ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-318-2 The conj. λῄσασθαι ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-319-1 πανώλει ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-319-2 παρεῖτο ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-319-3 The sense does not absolutely require us to take Μενέλεω δ’ ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀβούλου ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-320-2 κακοῦ γνώμην ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-321-1 δοκῶ μέν ⁹¹

mvp-comment-321-2 εἰ καὶ ⁹²

mvp-comment-322-1 εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι ⁹³

mvp-comment-323-1 τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-324-1 γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-325-1 ἐρεῖς μὲν οὐχὶ ⁹⁶ ἐρεῖς ⁹⁷ ἐρεῖς … μ’ ὡς ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-325-2 ἄρξασά τι λυπηρὸν ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-325-3 τάδ’ ἐξήκους’ ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-326-1 τοῦ τεθνηκότος θ’ ὕπερ ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-327-1 καὶ μὴν ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-327-2 λόγους ἐξῆρχές με ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-328-1 Clytaemnestra has argued that she was justified in slaying Agamemnon, because he had slain Iphigeneia. The topics of Electra's reply are as follows.

mvp-comment-328-2 (1) 558—562. The wife who slew her husband would be a criminal, even if the motive had been just retribution; but the real motive was her love for Aegisthus. (2) 563—576. Agamemnon was not a free agent in slaying Iphigeneia; the act was forced upon him by Artemis. (3) 577—583. Suppose, however, that he was a free agent, and wished to please his brother; still she was not justified in taking his life. (4) 584—594. And in any case her plea does not excuse her for living with the man who helped to slay her husband.—The speech then closes in a strain of reproach and defiance (595 —609).

mvp-comment-328-3 καὶ δὴ λέγω σοι ¹⁰⁴ πατέρα ¹⁰⁵ φὴς ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-329-1 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-329-2 λέξω ¹⁰⁸ δείξω ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-330-1 ὡς οὐ δίκῃ γ’ ¹¹⁰ ἔσπασεν ¹¹¹ πειθὼ ¹¹²

mvp-comment-331-1 κυναγὸν ¹¹³

mvp-comment-331-2 ποινὰς ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-331-3 τὰ πολλὰ πνεύματ’ ἔσχ’ ¹¹⁵ τὰ πολλὰ ¹¹⁶ ἔσχε ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-331-4 Acc. to Aesch. ( Aesch. Ag. 149 f., Aesch. Ag. 192 ), the Greeks were detained by adverse winds, blowing from the N.E. : and this seems to have been the account given in the Cypria ( c. 776 B.C.), Proclus Chrest. p. 455:

. But other authorities speak of a calm. Thus I. A. 9 ff. | | . Schol. Eur. Or. 647 . Tzetzes on Lycophron 183 . Ovid ( Met. 13. 183 ) combines both versions:

mvp-comment-331-5 It has been objected that vessels provided with oars need not have been detained by a calm. But the ships of the Greek fleet were not light craft. Each carried from 50 to 120 armed men, besides

: and the warriors were also the rowers (cp. Thuc. 1. 10 ). It is intelligible, then, that they should await the aid of wind before attempting the passage of the Aegaean. We must remember, too, the strong and shifting currents in the Euripus ( , Soph. Ant. 1145 : , Aesch. Ag. 191 ).

mvp-comment-331-6 We cannot well render:—(1)‘He suffered those tedious winds,’—supplying

from v. 558. Nor: (2) ‘She directed those tedious winds at Aulis,’—a version which would at least require . Cp. Ph. 1119 | .

mvp-comment-331-7 The conjecture πλοῖα ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-331-8 Αὐλίδι ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-332-1 ἢ )γὼ φράσω ¹²⁰ κείνης ¹²¹

mvp-comment-333-1 ὡς ἐγὼ κλύω ¹²²

mvp-comment-333-2 θεᾶς … κατ’ ἄλσος ¹²³

mvp-comment-333-3 παίζων ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-333-4 ποδοῖν ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-334-1 ἔλαφον ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-334-2 στικτὸν ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-334-3 κεράστην ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-334-4 οὗ κατὰ σφαγὰς ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-335-1 ἐκκομπάσας ἔπος τι τυγχάνει ¹³⁰ βαλών ¹³¹

mvp-comment-335-2 This is the reason against taking

with , as=‘he shoots and hits’; cp. Il. 15. 581 : Her. 3. 35 . The vaunt must then precede the hit.

mvp-comment-335-3 Others take βαλὼν ¹³² ἔπος ¹³³

mvp-comment-335-4 Monk, with Musgrave, took σφαγὰς ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-336-1 ἐκ τοῦδε ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-336-2 μηνίσασα ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-336-3 Λητῴα κόρη ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-337-1 ὡς ¹³⁸ ἀντίσταθμον ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-337-2 ἐκθύσειε ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-338-1 ὧδ’ ἦν ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-338-2 τὰ … θύματ’ ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-338-3 λύσις ¹⁴³

mvp-comment-338-4 πρὸς οἶκον ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-339-1 πολλὰ ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-339-2 ἀντιβὰς ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-339-3 μόλις ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-340-1 εἰ δ’ οὖν ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-340-2 ἐρῶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ σόν ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-341-1 τούτου … οὕνεκ’ ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-341-2 νόμῳ ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-342-1 ὅρα ¹⁵² μὴ … τιθῇς ¹⁵³ τίθης ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-342-2 Here, either

or would be suitable. (1) With :—‘See that, in making this rule, you are not making woe for yourself.’ This means that to make the rule (as she is doing) is at once (logically) to make the woe. (2) With : —‘See lest, in making this rule, you make woe for yourself’: i.e., the rule may have the woe as a consequence. The woe is a future contingency (583 ), against which Electra warns her. On the whole, I now prefer . Cp. 1003 | : fr. 82 .

mvp-comment-342-3 τιθεῖσα … νόμον ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-343-1 εἰ γὰρ κτενοῦμεν ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-343-2 πρώτη ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-344-1 εἰσόρα ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-344-2 οὐκ οὖσαν ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-344-3 τίθης ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-344-4 εἰ … θέλεις ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-345-1 τῷ παλαμναίῳ ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-345-2 πρόσθεν ἐξαπώλεσας ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-346-1 παιδοποιεῖς ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-346-2 Erigonè, daughter of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra (Tzetzes on Lyc. 1374 ), was mentioned by the early cyclic poet Cinaethon ( Paus. 2. 18. 6 ), and was the theme of Sophocles in his

. Hyginus ( Hyg. Fab. 122 ) notices a son of Aegisthus named Aletes, who gives his name to a play by Sophocles, but does not record the mother: see p. xliii note 4.

mvp-comment-346-3 εὐσεβεῖς ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-346-4 κἀξ εὐσεβῶν ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-346-5 By

Electra means Orestes and herself. Both are ‘cast out’ of their just rights. Cp. O.T. 611 . Eur. El. 62 |

mvp-comment-346-6 βλαστόντας ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-346-7 ἐκβαλοῦσ’ ἔχεις ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-347-1 πῶς ταῦτ’ ἐπαινέσαιμ’ ἄν ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-347-2 ἢ ¹⁷⁰ ἦ ¹⁷¹ καὶ τοῦτ’ ¹⁷² ἄποινα ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-348-1 αἰσχρῶς δ’ ¹⁷⁴ δ’ ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐάν περ καὶ λέγῃς ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-348-3 ἐχθροῖς γαμεῖσθαι ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-348-4 These two verses, though not indispensable, seem genuine. Were they omitted, the transition from 592 to 595 would be somewhat abrupt.

mvp-comment-349-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ γὰρ ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-349-2 πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-350-1 κακοστομοῦμεν ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-350-2 καί σ’ ἔγωγε δεσπότιν ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-350-3 εἰς ἡμᾶς ¹⁸² ἣ ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-351-1 βίον μοχθηρόν ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-351-2 ἔκ τε σοῦ ¹⁸⁵ κακοῖς … ξυνοῦσα ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-351-3 συννόμου ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-352-1 ὁ δ’ ἄλλος ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-352-2 χεῖρα σὴν ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-352-3 τρίβει βίον ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-352-4 603 The reason for writing δή με σοὶ ¹⁹¹ δή μέ σοι ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-352-5 μιάστορα ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-353-1 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκα ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-354-1 εἰς ἅπαντας ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-354-2 χρῇς ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-354-3 στόμαργον ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-355-1 τῶνδε τῶν ἔ|ργων ἴδρις ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-355-2 σχεδόν τι ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-355-3 οὐ καταισχύνω ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-356-1 ὁρῶ μένος πνέουσαν ²⁰¹ μένος πνέουσαν ²⁰²

mvp-comment-356-2 σὺν δίκῃ ξύνεστι ²⁰³

mvp-comment-356-3 Other interpretations are:—(1) ‘I see that Electra is wroth; but as to whether she is in the right, I see no concern (anywhere),’—a timid way of saying that Clytaemnestra shows no such concern. So the schol. (2) ‘I see that Clytaemnestra is angry, but not that she cares whether she is right’:—an inference from some gesture. Both these versions rely on the fact that

(612) is plainly an echo of (611). But: ( a) it does not follow that is not Electra's thought. ( b) It is surely clear that must be Electra; and ( c) as in Ant. 471 f., the second clause naturally refers to the same person.

466-467. mvp-comment-206-1 τὸ γὰρ .. δρᾶν] ‘For when a thing is right, people should not quarrel over it, but hasten to do it.' Two points are doubtful in the construction of these words. a. Either (1) τὸ δίκαιον is subject of ἔχει, and ἐρίζειν is epexegetic infinitive, or (2) ἐρίζειν is the subject of ἔχει, and τὸ δίκαιον an accusative loosely governed by the words that follow it. b. τὸ δρᾶν is either (1) the direct object of ἐπισπεύδειν, or (2) epexegetic infinitive after ἐπισπεύδειν (i.e. ἐπισπεύδειν τὸ δίκαιον, ὥστε δρᾶν αὐτό). For the article in this case, cp. O. T. 1416, 7, ἐς δέον πάρεσθ᾽ ὅδε | Κρέων τὸ πράσσειν καὶ τὸ βουλεύειν : infr. 1030, μακρὸς τὸ κρῖναι ταῦτα χὼ λοιπὸς χρόνος. The addition of δυοῖν belongs to the same tendency to make numbers explicit, which appears in καὶ τὸ γενναῖον τρίτον (Ο. C. 8) and the like phrases. For the sense, cp. Fr. 76, τοῖς γὰρ δικαίοις ἀντέχειν οὐ ῥάδιον. In the second clause, ἀλλ' ἐπισπεύδειν, κ.τ.λ., a positive notion is understood from the negative. Essay on L. § 36. p. 64, β, 1 а.

468-471. mvp-comment-207-1 These lines are intended to emphasize at once the timidity of Chrysothemis and the harshness of Clytemnestra.

471-515. mvp-comment-208-1 The following short ode, the first stasimon, consisting of a single strophe, antistrophe, and epode, dwells, first, on the renewal of hope which is brought to the upholders of the righteous cause by the announcement of the dream, secondly, on the guilt of those whom Vengeance will now assail, and thirdly, on the long chain of troubles, of which their crime is the continuation. The rhythm, beginning from three short glyconian lines, is chiefly iambic and trochaic, with an increasing number of long syllables toward the close of each movement. The metrical scheme is the following:-

472-473. mvp-comment-209-1 Ср. О. Τ. 1086, εἴπερ ἐγὼ μάντις εἰμὶ καὶ κατὰ γνώμην ἴδρις.

475. mvp-comment-210-1 ὁ πρόμαντις Δίκα] 'Presaging Justice,' i.e. the just Power that has warned Clytemnestra through the dream.

476. mvp-comment-211-1 δίκαια κράτη] Either (1) 'Bringing with her the victorious strength of righteous action,' or (2) And shall bear away the victory in a righteous deed.' In the latter case (2) the participle is proleptic. The former interpretation (1) is on the whole more probable. For this use of φερομένα, cp. Hdt. 7. 50. § 8, πολλὴν φορβὴν φερόμενοι πορευόμεθα.

479-481. mvp-comment-212-1 These lines echo the language of the dialogue, supr. 412, ἔχεις τι θάρσος τοῦδε τοῦ τάρβους πέρι;

480. mvp-comment-213-1 ἁδυπνόων] · Breathing of gladness,' i.e. auspicious. Cp. O. T. 151, ὦ Διὸς ἀδυεπὲς φάτι.

480. mvp-comment-213-2 κλύουσαν] For this accusative, with the dative preceding, as if after θαρρύνει or some such word, see Essay on L. $ 6. p. 23, and cp. Aesch. Cho. 410, 11, πέπαλται δ᾽ αὐτέ μοι φίλον κέαρ τόνδε κλύουσαν οἶκτον.

484. mvp-comment-214-1 ὁ φύσας] It must be borne in mind that Electra is present during the chanting of this ode. Cp. supr. 184 and note.

485. mvp-comment-215-1 'Nor that oid two-edged axe of sharpened bronze.' χαλκόπλακτος is literally, 'Smiting with bronze,' χαλκέας πληγὰς ἔχων. See Essay on L. $ 53: p. 98. χαλκόπακτος, • Of solid bronze,' is the conjecture of Kvidala. The axe is imagined as giving evidence, much as in early times a weapon might be accused of homicide. For a somewhat similar fancy, attributing feeling to an inanimate instrument, cp. Philoctetes, 1130 foll., ἢ που ἐλεινὸν ὁρᾷς, κ.τ.λ., Hab. 2, 11, The nail shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it, Woe unto him,' etc.

486. mvp-comment-216-1 αἰσχίσταις ἐν αἰκίαις] These words are an echo of supr. 444-6.

488-489. mvp-comment-217-1 καὶ πολύπους | καὶ πολύχειρ] With exceeding swiftness and might.' Like πᾶς and αὐτός in composition (E. on L. $ 55. p. 101), πολύς has here an intensive force, without having an exactly defined significance. Ср. πολύγλωσσος, infr. 798.

490. mvp-comment-218-1 Cp. infr. 1396, 7, δόλον σκότῳ κρύψας πρὸς αὐτὸ τέρμα.

491. mvp-comment-219-1 χαλκόπους] 'With adamantine,' i.e. (1) unwearying, 'footsteps.' Cp. χαλκὸς ἀτειρής. Or (2) Irresistible.'

492. mvp-comment-220-1 ἐπέβα] «There came on,' as a dangerous event (οἶσιν = τούτων οἷς).

495-498. mvp-comment-221-1 πρὸ τῶνδε .. συνδρῶσιν] ‘In the face of these things I feel assured that the portent which comes near to the doer or the abettor of the deed cannot be other than baneful.' In Sophocles, not as in Aeschylus, Aegisthus is the author, Clytemnestra the accessory, of the murder. In Aesch. Ag. 1609, he claims a greater share than the poet really attributes to him. For μήποτε, see E. on L. § 24. p. 41, y 2, and cp. Aj. 183.

499. mvp-comment-222-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν] 'Divination, as an art in which mortals are concerned.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 709, βρότειον οὐδὲν μαντικῆς ἔχον τέχνης, and see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75.

500. mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ᾽ ἐν θεσφάτοις] The indication of the dream is as express and clear as any oracle. If the one fail of accomplishment, so must the other.

501. mvp-comment-224-1 εὐ κατασχήσει] 'Shall happily reach its destination,' i. e. shall have a fortunate issue. Cp. Trach. 826, 7, καὶ τάδ᾽ ὀρθῶς | ἔμπεδα κατουρίζει.

504-505. mvp-comment-225-1 'O chariot-race of Pelops in the former time, that hast caused many troubles, how pregnant was thine occurrence with sorrow for this land!' Sophocles passes over the quarrels of Atreus and Thyestes, and goes back at once to the homicide of which Pelops, the author of the whole race, was guilty. This made Hermes the father of Myrtilus send the golden ram, which led to the fatal dissension between the brothers. Eur. Or. 988-1012. The act of Orestes in the present drama is destined to put an end to the series of disasters which then began.

506. mvp-comment-226-1 On the question between αἰανής and αἰανή, cp. Aj. 672 and note.

510. mvp-comment-227-1 *παγχρυσέων] The chariot of the wealthy Pelops on his bridal journey was encrusted with gold. Cp. Pind. Ol. 1.87. παγχρύσεος is the Homeric form, and if a change is necessary, this seems to be the simplest. The metre is the same as in 512. Others read παγχρύσων ἐκ δίφρων. Μ. has πολυχρύσων.

511. mvp-comment-228-1 δυστάνοις αἰκίαις] Myrtilus,

511-512. mvp-comment-229-1 although a traitor to Oenomaus, was a benefactor to Pelops. Observe the repetition of the word from supr. 486, also infr. 515.

512. mvp-comment-230-1 πρόρριζος ἐκριφθείς] «Uprooted and flung forth.'

513-515. mvp-comment-231-1 'Never since that day has sad dishonour left the house.' Some editors read ἔλιπεν ἐκ τοῦδ᾽ οἴκου, ‘Has failed out of this house,' which is less probable. Wecklein reads οἴκους | πολυπάμονας, which is supported by the scholion on 508, οὐ διέλιπεν αἰκία τοὺς πολυκτήμονας δόμους. But see E. on L. § 44. pp. 83, 4.

516. mvp-comment-232-1 The dialectic of the following scene may be compared with Aj. 1047 foll., Ant. 632 foll.

517. mvp-comment-233-1 The spectator is a second time informed of Aegisthus' absence, which is so necessary to the plot. Supr. 310 foll.

518. mvp-comment-234-1 θυραίαν γ'.. φίλους] ‘To go out of doors and bring disgrace upon your relatives:'-i.e. your appearance and conduct in the house are a sufficient disgrace to them. Cp. supr. 312, 3.

521. mvp-comment-235-1 ὡς θρασεῖα] Sc. εἰμί.

522. mvp-comment-236-1 σὲ καὶ τὰ σά] • Thee and thine.' Clytemnestra thus acknowledges that Electra's complaints were never for herself alone, but for her father.

525-526. mvp-comment-237-1 πατήρ .. τέθνηκεν] Your father, that is what you are always holding forth, (how that he) died by my act. By a kind of attraction, the main sentence, as it proceeds, becomes subordinated to the parenthesis.

529. mvp-comment-238-1 ᾖ] Sc. τῇ Δίκῃ.

531. mvp-comment-239-1 μοῦνος Ἑλλήνων] i. e. either (1) he did what no other Greek could have had the heart to do, in sacrificing his child, or (2) while the army consented to the sacrifice, he had the sole responsibility, as commander-in-chief, or (3) when all shrank from the sacrificial act, he himself took the knife to slay his daughter. For (3) cp. Aesch. Ag. 225, ἔτλη δ᾽ οὖν θυτὴρ γενέσθαι θυγατρός, κ.τ.λ., ib. 210, 231 foll.

534. mvp-comment-240-1 τοῦ χάριν τίνων] 'On whose account?' lit. Absolving an obligation to whom?' Others read τοῦ χάριν, τίνων; 'Wherefore, on whose account?'

536. mvp-comment-241-1 1.ε. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μετὴν αὐτοῖσι τῆς γ' ἐμῆς, ὥστε τὴν ἐμὴν κτανεῖν.

537-538. mvp-comment-242-1 But if for his brother Menelaus' sake he slew my child, was it to be expected that I should not requite him for this?'

539. mvp-comment-243-1 παῖδες.. διπλοῖ] Megapenthes and Hermione, the children of Menelaus and Helen.

542-543. mvp-comment-244-1 Or had Death somehow a greater longing to devour my offspring than Helen's?' δαίσασθαι is epexegetic infinitive, sc. τἀμὰ τέκνα δαίσασθαι.

544-545. mvp-comment-245-1 Or had that accursed father given up all care for his children by me, while preserving his affection for Menelaus' offspring?"

548. mvp-comment-246-1 Contrast with this the feeling of Antigone, Ant. 515, οὐ μαρτυρήσει ταῦθ᾽ ὁ κατθανὼν νεκύς.

549-550. mvp-comment-247-1 ἐγὼ. .δύσθυμος] ‘For my part, then, the past causes me no misgiving. She will not confess her alarm before Electra. τοῖς πεπραγμένοις is dative of the reason: Essay on L. § 14. p. 21. Cp. Thuc. 3. 98. § 6, τοῖς πεπραγμένοις φοβούμενος τοὺς ᾿Αθηναίους.

551. mvp-comment-248-1 If you must blame others, do so on just grounds,' lit. Having got hold of a just notion of the case.' These words are a challenge to Electra to show cause why Agamemnon should not have been slain, as the mere fact of his death ( supr. 525, 6) was no sufficient reason for her continued abuse. The stress is on the participial clause, or rather on the word δικαίαν.

552-553. mvp-comment-249-1 έρε ἐρεῖς . . λυπηρόν] The death of Iphigenia was a painful subject to Electra.

556-557. mvp-comment-250-1 εἰ δὲ μ᾿ ὧδ' ἀεὶ λόγους | ἐξήρχες] 'If your speeches to me were always tuned in that key.' με is governed κατὰ σύνεσιν by the whole phrase, as equivalent to ὧδε προσηγόρευες, ἐξάρχειν is used as in ἐξάρχειν μέλος. Electra is imagined as sounding the note to which Clytemnestra responds.

561. mvp-comment-251-1 δίκῃ] 'As moved thereto by Justice:'-dative of the cause.

563-564. mvp-comment-252-1 τίνος .. Αὐλίδι] ‘In requital for what' either (1) He endured that mighty wind at Aulis?' or (2) That great tempest fell upon Aulis?' or (3) She directed (ἐπέσχεν) that mighty wind at Aulis? It may be objected to (1), that if Agamemnon is the subject of ἔσχε, the words πατὴρ οὐμός in 566 are unnecessary. For (3) requiring ἔσχεν to be equivalent to ἐπέσχεν, see Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 4, and L. and S., s. v. ἔχω, Α. ii. 7, and cp. Il. 14. 57, οἱ δ᾽ ἐπὶ νηυσὶ θοῇσι μάχην ἀλίαστον ἔχουσιν: 11.271, (εἰλειθυῖαι) πικρὰς ὠδῖνας ἔχουσai.

565. mvp-comment-253-1 κείνης.. μαθεῖν] ‘For you may not learn from her;' i. e. Artemis will not hold communication with one so polluted. Clytemnestra notwithstanding appeals to Artemis, infr. 626.

566-569. mvp-comment-254-1 Electra's point is that Agamemnon's fault which provoked Artemis was a light and all but involuntary offence.

567. mvp-comment-255-1 ἐξεκίνησεν ποδοῖν] ‘Startled by his tread.' The language is softened so as to convey the impression that Agamemnon put up the stag accidentally.

569. mvp-comment-256-1 He chanced to let fall some word of boasting.' There is a stress on the participle ἐκκομπάσας.

571-572. mvp-comment-257-1 Electra does not raise the question whether the will of Artemis was just or not. She is contented with shifting the responsibility from Agamemnon.

575. mvp-comment-258-1 The words πολλὰ καὶ ἀντιβάς form a separate clause, unless πολλά be joined to βιασθείς, which is improbable. For which cause, and not for Menelaus'sake, under compulsion, -ay, after many a struggle, he reluctantly sacrificed her.' After making this elaborate statement of the immediate cause, it occurs to Electra that everything connected with the expedition was in one sense done on Menelaus' account. Hence she resumes, with εἰ δ' οὖν, by admitting this, as if for the sake of argument.

579. mvp-comment-259-1 ποίῳ νόμῳ] 'On what principle?' Cp. Ant. 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;

584. mvp-comment-260-1 οὐκ οὖσαν] 'Unreal;' i.e. οὐκ ἀληθῆ. Cp. Τhuc. 6. 16, προσποίησίν τε ξυγγενείας .. καὶ μὴ οὖσαν.

589. mvp-comment-261-1 τοὺς δὲ πρόσθεν] Sc. παΐδας, understood πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον from παιδοποιεῖς. Essay on L. § 36. p. 64.

590. mvp-comment-262-1 εὐσεβῶν] i. e. ᾿Αγαμέμνονος. Poetical plural. ἐκβαλοῦσ᾽ ἔχεις] «You have cast out from favour. Electra is virtually an outcast, and Orestes, although not banished by his mother's act, durst not return openly to his home.

591. mvp-comment-263-1 πῶς.. ἄν] «Do you expect me to approve of this?'-referring to supr. 550.

591-592. mvp-comment-264-1 ἢ.. λαμβάνεις] « Or will you say that in this, too, you are vindicating your daughter?' τοῦτο, accusative in apposition with τῆς θ. α. λ.

593. mvp-comment-265-1 αἰσχρῶς] Sc. ἐρεῖς. οὐ γὰρ καλόν, κ. τ. λ.]. There is little virtue in,' etc. See on Aj. 1132, 1349.

595-597. mvp-comment-266-1 ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ . . κακοστομοῦμεν 'But then one may not even reason with you, since you reply with all your vehemence that I am reviling my mother.' For ἀλλ᾽ οὐ .. γάρ without apodosis, cp. O. C. 988 foll., ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἐν τοῖσδ᾽ ἀκούσομαι κακὸς | γάμοισιν, κ.τ.λ. πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν = πᾶσαν γλῶσσαν ἱεῖσα λέγεις. Cp. Plat. Legg. 10. p. 890 D, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν, τὸ λεγόμενον, φωνὴν ἱέντα τῷ παλαιῷ νόμῳ ἐπίκουρον γίγνεσθαι λόγῳ.

597. mvp-comment-267-1 νέμω] ·And truly I account thee rather my mistress than my mother.' καί has a sarcastic tone as in interrogation, and is nearly = καί τοι, - as in Aj. 92 it may be said to have the force of καὶ μήν.

601. mvp-comment-268-1 ὁ δ᾽ ἄλλος ἔξω] 'And he, moreover, in a foreign land. The article is demonstrative, and ἄλλοs is predicative or adverbial. See Essay on L. § 21. pp. 33, 5. χεῖρα . . φυγών] Electra implies that Clytemnestra would have killed Orestes

601-602. mvp-comment-269-1 if she could, either at the time of Agamemnon's murder, or afterwards.

603. mvp-comment-270-1 σοὶ .. μιάστορα] ‘An avenger of blood against thee.' μιάστωρ is properly one who stains others with his own guilt; here it is one who fixes the stain of guilt by executing vengeance for it. Compare the use of the verb 'to stain' in Elizabethan English: e.g. Shaksp. Ant. and Cleo. 3. 4, 'I'll raise the preparation of a War | Shall stain your brother.'

606. mvp-comment-271-1 εἴτε † χρή) ‘Whether you must call me,' etc. Here, as in Aj. 1373, the reading of the MSS, which is possibly idiomatic, is preferred το χρῇς = χρήζεις, which is a doubtful emendation.

608. mvp-comment-272-1 τῶνδε τῶν ἔργων] ‘Of actions which have this character.' Cp. O. T. 864, 5, τὰν εὔσεπτον ἁγνείαν λόγων ἔργων τε πάντων, ὧν, κ.τ.λ., and note.

609. mvp-comment-273-1 καταισχύνω] Cp. Aj. 1304, 5. ἆρ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἄριστος ἐξ ἀριστέοιν δυοῖν | βλαστὼν ἂν αἰσχύνοιμι τοὺς πρὺς αἵματος;

610. mvp-comment-274-1 ὁρῶ μένος πνέουσαν] Sc. τὴν Κλυταιμνήστραν. This appears from her reply, and also from the comparison οἱ εἰ δὲ σὺν δίκῃ, κ.τ.λ, with supr. 528. Here, as in O. T. 746, Aesch. Ag. 1306, τί δ' ἐστὶ χρῆμα; τίς σ᾽ ἀποστρέφει φόβος; -the dialogue contains a reference to by-play.