Sophocles, Electra, Thomas Francklin (Translator), 1058

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Pi lades {with Attendant), Electra, Chorus.

Orestes

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)) — 1058 focus

τί τοὺς ἄνωθεν φρονιμωτάτους οἰωνοὺς

ἐσορώμενοι τροφᾶς κηδομένους ἀφ᾽ ὧν τε βλάστωσιν βλαστῶσιν MSS. Schaefer corr.
1060

ἀφ᾽ ὧν τ᾽ ὄνασιν ὄνησιν L. Brunck corr. εὕρωσι, τάδ᾽ οὐκ ἐπ᾽ ἴσας

τελοῦμεν;

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ *τὰν οὐ μὰ τὰν MSS. (τὴν Γ). Turn. corr. Διὸς ἀστραπὰν

καὶ τὰν οὐρανίαν οὐρανία(σ) L. οὐρανίαν C2. Θέμιν,

δαρὸν οὐκ ἀπόνητοι.
1065

ὦ χθονία βροτοῖσι φάμα, κατά μοι βόασον οἰκτρὰν

ὄπα τοῖς ἔνερθ᾽ Ἀτρείδαις, ἀχόρευτα φέρουσ᾽ ὀνείδη ει from η L.·

ἀντ. α.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1060-1096 focus

Χορός

τί τοὺς ἄνωθεν φρονιμωτάτους οἰωνοὺς ἐσορώμενοι τροφᾶς
1060

κηδομένους ἀφʼ ὧν τε βλάστωσιν ἀφʼ ὧν τʼ ὄνασιν εὕρ-

ωσι, τάδʼ οὐκ ἐπʼ ἴσας τελοῦμεν;

ἀλλʼ οὐ τὰν Διὸς ἀστραπὰν

καὶ τὰν οὐρανίαν Θέμιν,

δαρὸν οὐκ ἀπόνητοι.
1065

ὦ χθονία βροτοῖσι φάμα, κατά μοι βόασον οἰκτρὰν

ὄπα τοῖς ἔνερθʼ Ἀτρείδαις, ἀχόρευτα φέρουσʼ

ὀνείδη·

1070

Χορός

ὅτι σφὶν ἤδη τὰ μὲν ἐκ δόμων νοσεῖ δή, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τέκνων διπλῆ
1070

φύλοπις οὐκέτʼ ἐξισοῦται φιλοτασίῳ διαί-

τᾳ· πρόδοτος δὲ μόνα σαλεύει

Ἠλέκτρα, τὸν ἀεὶ πατρὸς
1075

δειλαία στενάχουσʼ, ὅπως

ἁ πάνδυρτος ἀηδών,

οὔτε τι τοῦ θανεῖν προμηθὴς τό τε μὴ βλέπειν ἑτοίμα,

διδύμαν ἑλοῦσʼ Ἐρινύν· τίς ἂν εὔπατρις ὧδε βλάστοι;
1080

1082

Χορός

οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀγαθῶν γὰρ

ζῶν κακῶς εὔκλειαν αἰσχῦναι θέλει

νώνυμος, ὦ παῖ παῖ.

ὡς καὶ σὺ πάγκλαυτον αἰῶνα κοινὸν εἵλου,
1085

τὸ μὴ καλὸν καθοπλίσασα, δύο φέρειν ἐν ἑνὶ λόγῳ,

σοφά τʼ ἀρίστα τε παῖς κεκλῆσθαι.

1090

Χορός

ζῴης μοι καθύπερθεν
1090

χειρὶ καὶ πλούτῳ τεῶν ἐχθρῶν ὅσον

νῦν ὑπόχειρ ναίεις·

ἐπεί σʼ ἐφηύρηκα μοίρᾳ μὲν οὐκ ἐν ἐσθλᾷ

βεβῶσαν, ἃ δὲ μέγιστʼ ἔβλαστε νόμιμα, τῶνδε φερομέναν
1095

ἄριστα τᾷ Ζηνὸς εὐσεβείᾳ.

Translations (4)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1058 focus

Wise are the birds of air

That with true filial care

For those provide convenient food

Who gave them birth, who wrought their good.

Why will not men the like perfection prove?

Else, by the fires above,

And heavenly Rectitude,

Fierce recompense they shall not long elude.

O darkling rumour, world-o’er-wandering voice

That piercest to the shades beneath the ground,

To dead Atrides waft a sound

Of sad reproach, not bidding him rejoice.

Stained is the ancestral hall,

Broken the battle-call,

That heretofore his children twain

In loving concord did sustain.

Alone, deserted, vexed, Electra sails,

Storm-tossed with rugged gales,

Lamenting evermore

Like piteous Philomel, and pining sore

For her lost father;—might she but bring down

That two-fold Fury, caring not for death,

But ready to resign her breath,

What maid so worthy of a sire’s renown?

None who inherit from a noble race,

Complying with things base

Will let their ancient glory be defiled.

So ’twas thy choice, dear child,

Through homeless misery to win a two-fold prize,

Purging the sin and shame

That cloud the Argive name,

So to be called most noble and most wise.

May’st thou surpass thy foes in wealth and power

As o’er thee now they tower!

Since I have found thee, not in bright estate,

Nor blessed by wayward fate,

But through thy loyalty to Heaven’s eternal cause

Wearing the stainless crown

Of perfectest renown,

And richly dowered by the mightiest laws.

OR
Enter ORESTES and PYLADES , with the urn.

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1058 focus

Wir sehen wohl sinnige Vögel droben sich

Treulich um jener Pflege müh'n,

Denen sie Leben, denen sie

Nahrung verdanken: sollten wir

Menschen das Gleiche zu thun verschmähen?
1040

Doch, bei'm Donnergeschoß des Zeus,

Bei der himmlischen Themis, nicht

Lange säumt die Vergeltung!¹

Die du das Grab hinunter dringst,

Phama, den Jammerruf hinab²
1045

Dröhne, des Atreus Söhnen dort

Meldend die Schmach und die bittre Trauer:

Erste Gegenstrophe.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1058 focus

Mark you the birds that skim the air,

O'er their full nests they wave the busy wing,

By nature taught with pious care

Food to their callow young to bring,

To swell their plumes, and fit them for the skies.

Is man in nature's lore thus wise?

But, by the Thunderer's angry flame,

By Themis on her heavenly throne sublime,

Vengeance shall soon o'ertake the crime.

O thou, who fill'st this world, wide Fame,

Bear hence thy joyless voice of woe,

And fill with accents dread the world below!

ANTIS. 1. There 'midst the dead th' Atridæ tell

That guilt triumphant in their house remains;

That there the screaming Furies dwell;

That Discord 'twixt the sisters reigns.

Toss'd in the storms of fate, alone, betray'd,

Electra sighs in vain for aid;

Still for her father pours her tears,

Still in wild, melancholy notes complains,

Like Philomela's mournful strains:

No rage of tyrant pow'r she fears :

Content in death to close her eyes

These furies might her vengeful hand surprise.

Thus low sinks one of high-born race?

Thou art not sunk; to rise be thine :

The noble soul will ne'er disgrace

The glories of its ancient line;

Nor, when misfortune darkens round,

Obscure and dead to fame be found.

O'er thee, unhappy, generous maid,

Hath misery cast her baleful shade;

That shade thy choice, through high disdain,

Of guilt and all her gorgeous train,

Aspiring to enrich thy name

With wisdom's and with virtue's fame.

Oh may'st thou live in royal state,

Triumphant o'er thy prostrate foes,

As now beneath their hand thy fate

Hath sunk thee in disgrace and woes!

For I have seen thy generous soul

Burst from misfortune's harsh control;

Have seen thee with a fix'd disdain

Advance against her threat'ning train,

Bearing the high heroic thought

By heav'n-descended justice taught,

And all the firm mind's holy fires

Which piety to Jove inspires.

Orestes
STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2. ORESTES, PYLADES, ELECTRA, CHORUS.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1058-1095 focus

Chorus

Why, though we see the birds above, most thoughtful creatures, taking care for the sustenance

of those from whom they derived life and enjoyment, why do we not pay these debts in like measure? No, by the lightning-flash of Zeus, by Themis throned in the sky,
1060

we are not long unpunished. O Voice of the underworld that reaches to mortals, shout for me a piteous cry to the sons of Atreus below. Carry the reproaches not appropriate to my dancing!
1065

1070

Chorus

Tell them the affairs of their house, how it is now diseased; how among his children, double-sided strife has overwhelmed their loving manner.
1070

Electra, betrayed, braves the storm alone. In misery she bewails her father’s fate without pause, like the all-grieving nightingale. She cares not at all about death, but is ready for that eternal blindness,
1075

could she but subdue the double Erinys of her house. Who could grow to be so noble a daughter of so noble a father?
1080

1082

Chorus

None of the good willingly clouds his fair repute and becomes nameless by leading a corrupt life, my child.

Similarly, you, too, have chosen a lifetime of shared mourning and have armed against dishonor, so that you might win in one breath a twofold praise as wise, and as the best of daughters.
1085

1090

Chorus

May I yet see you live exalted in might and wealth above your enemies by as much as you now dwell beneath their hand! For I have found you enjoying no prosperous estate, yet
1090

for observance of nature’s highest laws you win the noblest prize by your reverence toward Zeus.
1095

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-101-1 ἔτι μέγας οὐρανῷ ¹ ἐν ²

mvp-comment-102-1 τὸν ὑπεραλγῆ ³

mvp-comment-102-2 νέμουσα ⁴

mvp-comment-103-1 μήτε ὑπεράχθεο ⁵ οἷς ⁶

mvp-comment-104-1 εὐμαρὴς θεός ⁷ θεός ⁸

mvp-comment-105-1 οὔτε γὰρ ⁹

mvp-comment-105-2 Κρῖσαν ¹⁰

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 ¹¹ βουνόμον ¹²

mvp-comment-106-2 βούνομον ἀκτὰν ¹³ Κρῖσαν ¹⁴

mvp-comment-107-1 ἀπερίτροπος ¹⁵

mvp-comment-108-1 παρὰ τὸν Ἀχέροντα ¹⁶ ἀνάσσων ¹⁷ θεὸς ¹⁸

mvp-comment-109-1 μὲν ¹⁹

mvp-comment-109-2 ὁ πολὺς … βίοτος ²⁰

mvp-comment-109-3 ἀνέλπιστος ²¹

mvp-comment-109-4 187 *

τεκέων

. I am now satisfied that this is a true correction of τοκέων ²² ἅτις ²³ τοκέων ²⁴

mvp-comment-110-1 ἁπερεί ²⁵

mvp-comment-110-2 ἔποικος ²⁶

mvp-comment-111-1 οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους ²⁷

mvp-comment-112-1 ἀεικεῖ σὺν στολᾷ ²⁸

mvp-comment-113-1 κεναῖς δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις ²⁹ ἀμφίσταμαι ³⁰

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 ³¹ κοίταις ³² οἰκτρὰ … αὐδὰ ³³

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 ³⁴ ἐν ³⁵

mvp-comment-114-6 κοίταις ³⁶

mvp-comment-114-7 ὅτε οἱ ³⁷ σοι ³⁸ ἀνταία ³⁹

mvp-comment-114-8 γενύων ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-115-1 δόλος … ἔρος ⁴¹

mvp-comment-116-1 δεινὰν δεινῶς ⁴² δεινὰν … μορφάν ⁴³

mvp-comment-116-2 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ⁴⁴ βροτῶν ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-117-1 πλέον … ἐχθίστα ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-117-2 δὴ ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-118-1 νὺξ ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-118-2 δείπνων ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-119-1 ἄχθη ⁵⁰ τοῖς ⁵¹ θανάτους ⁵²

mvp-comment-119-2 διδύμαιν χειροῖν ⁵³ διδύμοιν ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-120-1 εἷλον … πρόδοτον ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-121-1 οἷς ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-121-2 Ὀλύμπιος ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-122-1 ποίνιμα ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-123-1 ἀγλαΐας ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-123-2 ἀποναίατο ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-124-1 πόρσω ⁶¹

mvp-comment-125-1 γνώμαν ἴσχεις ⁶²

mvp-comment-125-2 ἐξ οἵων ⁶³

mvp-comment-125-3 τὰ παρόντ’ ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-125-4 οἰκείας ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-126-1 πολύ … τι κακῶν ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-126-2 ὑπερεκτήσω ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-127-1 τὰ δὲ ⁶⁸ οὐκ ἐριστὰ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ⁶⁹ πλάθειν ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-127-2 ἐριστά ⁷¹

mvp-comment-127-3 πλάθειν ⁷²

mvp-comment-128-1 δεινοῖς ἠναγκάσθην ⁷³

mvp-comment-129-1 ὀργά ⁷⁴ ἔξοιδ’ ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-130-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-130-2 ἐν … δεινοῖς ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-130-3 σχήσω ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-130-4 ταύτας ἄτας ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-131-1 ὄφρα ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-131-2 βίος ἔχῃ με ⁸¹ σχήσω ⁸²

mvp-comment-132-1 τίνι γάρ … τίνι φρονοῦντι καίρια ⁸³ ἀκούσαιμ’ ἂν πρόσφορον ἔπος ⁸⁴ τίνι ⁸⁵ πρόσφορον ⁸⁶

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 ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-133-2 ἄλυτα ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-133-3 κεκλήσεται ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-133-4 231 f. For ἐκ ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-133-5 ἀνάριθμος ⁹¹ θρήνων ⁹²

mvp-comment-134-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν ⁹³ γε ⁹⁴ εὐνοίᾳ ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-135-1 μάτηρ ὡσεί τις ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-136-1 μὴ τίκτειν ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-136-2 ἄταν ἄταις ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-137-1 καὶ τί μέτρον ⁹⁹ κακότατος ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-137-2 φέρε ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-137-3 ἐπὶ τοῖς φθ. ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-138-1 ἔβλαστ’ ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-139-1 τούτοις ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-140-1 εἴ τῳ πρόσκειμαι χρηστῷ ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-141-1 ξυνναίοιμ’ ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-141-2 εὔκηλος ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-141-3 γονέων ¹⁰⁸ ἐκτίμους ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-141-4 ἐκτίμους ἵσχουσα ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-141-5 πτέρυγας … γόων ¹¹¹

mvp-comment-141-6 ὀξυτόνων ¹¹²

mvp-comment-142-1 εἰ γὰρ ¹¹³

mvp-comment-142-2 γᾶ ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-142-3 οὐδὲν ¹¹⁵ ὢν ¹¹⁶ εἰ ¹¹⁷

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 ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-142-6 ἀντιφόνους δίκας ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-143-1 ἔρροι τ’ ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-143-2 αἰδὼς ¹²¹ εὐσέβεια ¹²²

mvp-comment-144-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ¹²³

mvp-comment-144-2 καὶ ¹²⁴ τὸ σὸν … καὶ τοὐμὸν ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-145-1 νίκα ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-145-2 ἅμα ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-146-1 πολλοῖσι θρήνοις ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-147-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-148-1 ἥτις εὐγενὴς γυνή ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-149-1 πατρῷα … πήματα ¹³¹

mvp-comment-150-1 κατ’ εὐφρόνην ¹³²

mvp-comment-150-2 θάλλοντα ¹³³

mvp-comment-151-1 ᾗ ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-151-2 πρῶτα μὲν … εἶτα … ἔπειτα ¹³⁵ ᾗ ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-151-3 τὰ μητρὸς ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-151-4 ἔχθιστα συμβέβηκεν ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-152-1 κἀκ τῶνδ’ ἄρχομαι ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-153-1 λαβεῖν … τὸ τητᾶσθαι ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-154-1 ποίας ¹⁴¹ δοκεῖς ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-155-1 ἴδω ¹⁴³ εἰσίδω δ’ ¹⁴⁴ ἴδω δὲ ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-155-2 μὲν ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-156-1 ἐσθήματα ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-156-2 ἐκείνῳ ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-156-3 παρεστίους … λοιβάς ¹⁴⁹ ἔνθ’ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν ¹⁵⁰

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 ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-158-1 αὐτοέντην ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-158-2 Brunck first adopted αὐτοέντην ¹⁵³ αὐτοφόντην ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-158-3 ἡμὶν ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-159-1 ταλαίνῃ ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-160-1 ταύτην … τῷδε ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-161-1 μιάστορι ¹⁵⁸ Ἐρινὺν ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-162-1 ἐγγελῶσα τοῖς ποιουμένοις ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-163-1 εὑροῦς’ ¹⁶¹ τότε ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-163-2 The conjecture φρουροῦς’ ¹⁶³ τηροῦς’ ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-164-1 χοροὺς ἵστησι ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-164-2 μηλοσφαγεῖ … ἱερὰ ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-164-3 ἔμμην’ ἱερά ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-164-4 τοῖς σωτηρίοις ¹⁶⁸

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 ¹⁶⁹ κατὰ στέγας ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-166-1 τέτηκα ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-166-2 πατρὸς ¹⁷²

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 ¹⁷³ αὑτήν ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-167-2 κλαῦσαι ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-167-3 ἡδονὴν φέρει ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-168-1 ἡ λόγοισι γενναία ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-169-1 φωνοῦσα ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-170-1 δύσθεον ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-170-2 μίσημα ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-170-3 σοὶ μόνῃ ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-170-4 τέθνηκεν ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-170-5 ἐν πένθει ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-171-1 ἐκ γόων ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-171-2 οἱ κάτω θεοί ¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-172-1 τάδ’ ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-172-2 ἥξοντ’ Ὀρέστην ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-173-1 παραστᾶς’ ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-174-1 ἥτις ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-174-2 ὑπεξέθου ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-175-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι τείσουσά γ’ ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-176-1 ὑλακτεῖ ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-176-2 σὺν ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-176-3 πέλας ¹⁹⁴ παρών ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-176-4 301 The adv. πάντα ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-176-5 ἄναλκις ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-176-6 ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-177-1 σὺν γυναιξὶ ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-177-2 τὰς μάχας ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-178-1 ἐφήξειν ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-179-1 μέλλων … δρᾶν τι ²⁰²

mvp-comment-179-2 τὰς οὔσας τε … καὶ τὰς ἀπούσας ²⁰³

mvp-comment-179-3 μου ²⁰⁴ μοι ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-179-4 διέφθορεν ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-180-1 σωφρονεῖν ²⁰⁷ εὐσεβεῖν ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-180-2 ἔν τοι κακοῖς ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-180-3 πολλή )στ’ ἀνάγκη ²¹⁰ κἀπιτηδεύειν κακά ²¹¹

mvp-comment-180-4 I place only a comma, not a colon, after πάρεστιν ²¹²

mvp-comment-181-1 ὄντος … βεβῶτος ²¹³

mvp-comment-182-1 ἦ κάρτα ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-182-2 θυραῖον ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-182-3 οἰχνεῖν ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-182-4 ἀγροῖσι ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-182-5 τυγχάνει ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-183-1 ἦ κἂν … ἱκοίμην ²¹⁹ ἦ τ<*>ν ²²⁰ ἦ δἂν ²²¹

mvp-comment-183-2 ἐς λόγους τοὺς σοὺς ἱκοίμην ²²²

mvp-comment-184-1 ὡς νῦν ²²³ ὥς νυν ²²⁴

mvp-comment-184-2 ἱστόρει· τί σοι φίλον ²²⁵ τό ²²⁶ τά ²²⁷

mvp-comment-184-3 With the other punctuation, ἱστόρει τί σοι φίλον ²²⁸

mvp-comment-185-1 καὶ δὴ ²²⁹

mvp-comment-185-2 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής ²³⁰

mvp-comment-185-3 ἥξοντος ²³¹ ἢ μέλλοντος ²³²

mvp-comment-186-1 φησίν γε ²³³

mvp-comment-186-2 ποεῖ ²³⁴

mvp-comment-187-1 καὶ μὴν ἔγωγ’ ²³⁵ γε ²³⁶

mvp-comment-187-2 οὐκ ὄκνῳ ²³⁷

mvp-comment-188-1 ἀρκεῖν ²³⁸

mvp-comment-189-1 ἐπεί ²³⁹

mvp-comment-189-2 μακρὰν ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-189-3 324 Here, as in 316, νῦν ²⁴¹ νυν ²⁴²

mvp-comment-189-4 δόμων ²⁴³ φέρουσαν ²⁴⁴

mvp-comment-190-1 ὅμαιμον ²⁴⁵

mvp-comment-190-2 φύσιν ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-191-1 Χρυσόθεμιν ²⁴⁷

mvp-comment-192-1 οἷα ²⁴⁸ νομίζεται ²⁴⁹

mvp-comment-193-1 πρὸς θυρῶνος ἐξόδοις ²⁵⁰ φωνεῖς ²⁵¹ ἐλθοῦσα ²⁵² αὖ ²⁵³

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

mvp-comment-194-1 θυμῷ … χαρίζεσθαι ²⁵⁴

mvp-comment-195-1 καίτοι τοσοῦτόν γ’ οἶδα ²⁵⁵

mvp-comment-195-2 κἀμαυτήν, ὅτι ²⁵⁶

mvp-comment-195-3 333 f. For the repeated ἄν ²⁵⁷

mvp-comment-195-4 οἶ) αὐτοῖς φρονῶ ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-196-1 ὑφειμένῃ ²⁵⁹ πλεῖν ²⁶⁰

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 ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-198-1 τοιαῦτα δ’ ἄλλα ²⁶² ἀλλὰ ²⁶³ ἄλλα ²⁶⁴

mvp-comment-199-1 καίτοι τὸ μὲν δίκαιον ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-199-2 κρίνεις ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-199-3 εἰ … με δεῖ ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-199-4 ἐλευθέραν ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-199-5 ζῆν ²⁶⁹

mvp-comment-199-6 πάντ’ ²⁷⁰

mvp-comment-199-7 ἀκουστέα ²⁷¹

mvp-comment-200-1 δεινόν γε ²⁷²

mvp-comment-201-1 τῆς … τικτούσης ²⁷³

mvp-comment-201-2 μέλειν ²⁷⁴

mvp-comment-202-1 τἀμὰ νουθετήματα ²⁷⁵

mvp-comment-202-2 κείνης διδακτά ²⁷⁶

mvp-comment-202-3 ἐκ σαυτῆς ²⁷⁷

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’ ²⁷⁸

mvp-comment-203-4 ἑλοῦ γε ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-203-5 φρονεῖν κακῶς ²⁸⁰

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 ²⁸¹

mvp-comment-205-1 ἥτις ²⁸² φρονοῦσα ²⁸³ μῖσος ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-206-1 πάντα ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-206-2 τιμωρουμένης ²⁸⁶

mvp-comment-207-1 οὔτε … τε ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-207-2 τήν τε δρῶσαν ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-208-1 πρὸς κακοῖσι ²⁸⁹

mvp-comment-208-2 δειλίαν ἔχει ²⁹⁰

mvp-comment-209-1 ἐπεὶ ²⁹¹

mvp-comment-209-2 ἢ μάθ’ ἐξ ἐμοῦ ²⁹²

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐπαρκούντως ²⁹³

mvp-comment-211-1 προσάπτειν ²⁹⁴

mvp-comment-211-2 εἴ τις ἔστ’ ἐκεῖ χάρις ²⁹⁵

mvp-comment-212-1 ἡμὶν ²⁹⁶ ξύνει ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-213-1 τὰ σὰ … δῶῤ ²⁹⁸

mvp-comment-213-2 ἐφ’ οἶσι ²⁹⁹

mvp-comment-213-3 χλιδᾷς ³⁰⁰

mvp-comment-214-1 ὑπεικάθοιμι ³⁰¹

mvp-comment-214-2 πλουσία ³⁰²

mvp-comment-214-3 περιρρείτω ³⁰³

mvp-comment-215-1 τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν ³⁰⁴

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 ³⁰⁵

mvp-comment-217-1 παῖδα ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-217-2 κεκλῆσθαι ³⁰⁷

mvp-comment-218-1 πλείστοις ³⁰⁸

mvp-comment-219-1 μηδὲν ³⁰⁹ πρὸς ὀργὴν ³¹⁰

mvp-comment-220-1 ἀμφοῖν ³¹¹ τοῖς λόγοις ³¹²

mvp-comment-221-1 τῆσδε … αὕτη ³¹³ πάλιν ³¹⁴

mvp-comment-222-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ³¹⁵

mvp-comment-222-2 πως ³¹⁶

mvp-comment-222-3 μύθων ³¹⁷

mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ’ ³¹⁸ κοὐδ’ ³¹⁹ ποτέ ³²⁰

mvp-comment-224-1 ἰὸν ³²¹

mvp-comment-224-2 σχήσει ³²²

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν ³²³

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι ³²⁴ εἰ ³²⁵

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ ³²⁶

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων ³²⁷ λόγων ³²⁸

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα ³²⁹

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει ³³⁰

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα ³³¹

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ ³³²

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς ³³³

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις ³³⁴

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα ³³⁵

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ ³³⁶ καί ³³⁷

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 ³³⁸ ἦ … δὴ ³³⁹ ἦ … γὰρ ³⁴⁰

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται ³⁴¹

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο ³⁴²

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ ³⁴³

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ ³⁴⁴

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα ³⁴⁵

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν ³⁴⁷

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως ³⁴⁸ ὑμῶν ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ ³⁵⁰ προσωτάτω φύγω ³⁵¹

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος ³⁵²

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ ³⁵³

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι ³⁵⁴

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις ³⁵⁵

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν ³⁵⁶

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα ³⁵⁷ οὐκ ἐμοὺς ³⁵⁸

mvp-comment-240-1 γε ³⁵⁹ μέντοι ³⁶⁰

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ ³⁶¹

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν ³⁶²

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 ³⁶³

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη ³⁶⁴

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ ³⁶⁷

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις ³⁶⁸

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα ³⁶⁹

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν ³⁷¹

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή ³⁷² ὅν γ’ ³⁷³

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ³⁷⁴

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος ³⁷⁵

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί ³⁷⁶

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι ³⁷⁷

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ ³⁷⁸

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν ³⁷⁹

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε ³⁸⁰

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ³⁸¹ ἐπὶ σμικρῶν ³⁸²

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι ³⁸³

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι ³⁸⁴

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι ³⁸⁶

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 ³⁸⁷

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε ³⁸⁸ ἐκ δὲ ³⁸⁹

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα ³⁹⁰

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι ³⁹¹

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 ³⁹² τοῦ ³⁹³ παρόντος ³⁹⁴ του ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ³⁹⁷

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη ³⁹⁸

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 ³⁹⁹

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ ⁴⁰⁰

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ ⁴⁰¹

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει ⁴⁰²

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ ⁴⁰³

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη ⁴⁰⁴ τούτων μὲν ⁴⁰⁵

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις ⁴⁰⁶ οὐδ’ ὅσιον ⁴⁰⁷

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ⁴⁰⁸

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ ⁴⁰⁹

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ ⁴¹⁰

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ⁴¹¹ ῥοαῖσιν ⁴¹²

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον ⁴¹³

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν ⁴¹⁴

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ ⁴¹⁵ ἔνθεν ⁴¹⁶

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν ⁴¹⁷

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν ⁴¹⁸

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν ⁴¹⁹ ὅταν ⁴²⁰ σῳζέσθω ⁴²¹

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ ⁴²²

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν ⁴²³ τλημονεστάτη ⁴²⁴

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε ⁴²⁵

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ ⁴²⁶

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε ⁴²⁷

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ ⁴²⁸

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι ⁴²⁹

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι ⁴³⁰ δέξασθαι ⁴³¹

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος ⁴³²

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη ⁴³³

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 ⁴³⁴

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν ⁴³⁵

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ ⁴³⁶

mvp-comment-268-1 οὐκ ἔστιν ⁴³⁷

mvp-comment-268-2 ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ ⁴³⁸

mvp-comment-269-1 βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας ⁴³⁹

mvp-comment-269-2 κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης ⁴⁴⁰

mvp-comment-270-1 †ἀλιπαρῆ ⁴⁴¹ λιπαρῆ ⁴⁴²

mvp-comment-270-2 We come, therefore, to a dilemma. (1) The words

τήνδ’ ἀλιπαρῆ τρίχα

may conceal some corruption:

τήνδ’

ought possibly to be τήνδε τ’ ⁴⁴³ ἀλίπαρον ⁴⁴⁴

mvp-comment-270-3 (2) Or else, if the text be sound,

ἀλιπαρῆ

may mean

οὐ λιπαράν

. There is no doubt that

λιπ

, ‘fat,’ is the root both of

λι^παρός

, ‘shining,’ and of

λι—παρής

, ‘sticking’; cp. Plat. Crat. 427 B

τὸ λιπαρὸν καὶ τὸ κολλῶδες

( Curt. Etym. § 340 ). Similarly

γλίσχρος

, ‘sticky,’ came to mean ‘importunate.’ It is barely possible that, in coining a new negative compound, the poet may have transferred the sense of

λιπαρός

λιπαρής

: but it seems improbable.

mvp-comment-271-1 ζῶμα ⁴⁴⁵

mvp-comment-271-2 χλιδαῖς ⁴⁴⁶

mvp-comment-272-1 προσπίτνουσα ⁴⁴⁷ αὐτὸν ⁴⁴⁸

mvp-comment-273-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός ⁴⁴⁹

mvp-comment-273-2 ζῶντ’ ⁴⁵⁰

mvp-comment-274-1 ἀφνεωτέραις ⁴⁵¹

mvp-comment-274-2 στέφωμεν ⁴⁵²

mvp-comment-274-3 δωρούμεθα ⁴⁵³

mvp-comment-275-1 οἶμαι μὲν οὖν ⁴⁵⁴

mvp-comment-275-2 If μέλον ⁴⁵⁵ μέλειν ⁴⁵⁶ μέλον ⁴⁵⁷

mvp-comment-276-1 σοί ⁴⁵⁸

mvp-comment-277-1 βροτῶν ⁴⁵⁹

mvp-comment-278-1 πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ⁴⁶⁰

mvp-comment-279-1 δράσω ⁴⁶¹

mvp-comment-279-2 τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον ⁴⁶²

mvp-comment-279-3 (1)

τὸ δίκαιον

is an acc. of general reference, and

οὐκ ἔχει λόγον

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

ἀλλ’ ἐπισπεύδειν

we supply the notion

δεῖ

from the negative

οὐκ ἔχει λόγον

(as from

οὐκ ἔξεστι

in O. C. 1402 ff.; cp. O. T. 817 ff.). For the form of the sentence, cp. H. 7. 3. 7

τοὺς περὶ Ἀρχίαν...οὐ ψῆφον ἀνεμείνατε, ἀλλὰ ὁπότε πρῶτον ἐδυνάσθητε ἐτιμωρήσασθε

. So here the acc.

τὸ δίκαιον

, which represents the object of

δρᾶν

, is separated from it by the parenthesis

οὐκ

ἔχει λόγον δυοῖν ἐρίζειν

. (The first scholium gives substantially this view:

οὐκ ἔχει λόγον φιλονεικεῖν περὶ τοῦ δικαίου, ὥστε περὶ αὐτοῦ δύο ὄντας ἐρίζειν

mvp-comment-279-4 (2) Or

τὸ δίκαιον

might be nom.: ‘that which is clearly right does not afford any ground (

οὐκ ἔχει λόγον

) for two persons to dispute,’ etc. So the second schol.:

ἢ τὸ οὐκ ἔχει λόγον ἀντὶ τοῦ οὐ παρέχει πρόφασιν

. So far as the verb

ἔχει

is concerned, this sense is quite admissible: cp. Thuc. 2. 41

οὔτε τῷ πολεμίῳ ἐπελθόντι ἀγανάκτησιν ἔχει

(

ἡ πόλις

). The objection is that the phrases

ἔχειν λόγον, οὐκ ἔχειν λόγον

, 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

τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἀγανακτεῖν...οὐκ ἔχει λόγον

: Dem. or. 36 § 54

πῶς ἔχει λόγον σὲ...δίκην ἀξιοῦν λαμβάνειν

; The supposed sense, ‘not to afford a reason,’ is unexampled.

mvp-comment-279-5 δυοῖν ⁴⁶³

mvp-comment-280-1 παρ’ ὑμῶν ⁴⁶⁴

mvp-comment-281-1 πικρὰν ⁴⁶⁵ δοκῶ με … τολμήσειν ⁴⁶⁶ ἔτι ⁴⁶⁷

mvp-comment-282-1 εἰ μὴ )γὼ ⁴⁶⁸

mvp-comment-282-2 γνώμας λειπομένα ⁴⁶⁹

mvp-comment-283-1 ἁ πρόμαντις Δίκα ⁴⁷⁰

mvp-comment-283-2 δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη ⁴⁷¹

mvp-comment-284-1 μέτεισιν ⁴⁷²

mvp-comment-284-2 οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου ⁴⁷³

mvp-comment-285-1 ὕπεστί μοι θράσος ⁴⁷⁴ κλύουσαν ⁴⁷⁵

mvp-comment-285-2 ἁδυπνόων … ὀνειράτων ⁴⁷⁶

mvp-comment-286-1 ἀμναστεῖ γ’ ὁ φύσας ς’ ⁴⁷⁷

mvp-comment-287-1 χαλκόπλακτος ⁴⁷⁸

mvp-comment-287-2 γένυς ⁴⁷⁹

mvp-comment-287-3 The very axe (

φόνιος πέλεκυς

, 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

τὸ ἐπὶ Πρυτανείῳ

, and, after sentence, cast beyond the boundaries, in the presence of the Archon Basileus and the sacrificial officers of the tribes (

φυλο‐

βασιλεῖς

). Aeschin. or. 3 § 244

τὰ μὲν ξύλα καὶ τοὺς λίθους καὶ τὸν σίδηρον, τὰ ἄφωνα καὶ ἀγνώμονα, ἐάν τῳ ἐμπεσόντα ἀποκτείνῃ, ὑπερορίζομεν

. (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 ⁴⁸⁰

mvp-comment-289-1 καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ ⁴⁸¹

mvp-comment-290-1 λόχοις ⁴⁸²

mvp-comment-290-2 χαλκόπους ⁴⁸³

mvp-comment-291-1 ἄλεκτρ’ ἄνυμφα ⁴⁸⁴

mvp-comment-291-2 γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ’ ⁴⁸⁵

mvp-comment-291-3 ἐπέβα ⁴⁸⁶

mvp-comment-292-1 πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι … συνδρῶσιν ⁴⁸⁷

mvp-comment-292-2 Verses 495—497 (

πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι...τέρας

) answer metrically to vv. 479—481

ὕπεστί μοι...ὀνειράτων

, where the text is certain, save for the doubt whether

θράσος

θάρσος

should stand in 479. Here we must first decide two points.

mvp-comment-292-3 (1) Are the words πρὸ τῶνδε ⁴⁸⁸

mvp-comment-292-4 (2) Could

ἔχει με, μήποτε τέρας πελᾶν

(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

εἰσῄει αὐτοὺς ὅπως ἂν καὶ ἔχοντές τι οἴκαδε ἀφίκοιντο

(‘the thought came to them, how they might,’ etc.): Thuc. 6. 78. § 1

εἰ δέ τῳ ἄρα παρέστηκε, τὸν μὲν Συρακόσιον...πολέμιον εἶναι κ.τ.λ.

Either, then, the subject to

ἔχει

has dropped out, or the words

μ’ ἔχει

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

ὕπεστί μοι θράσος

, we may read here

πρὸ τῶνδέ τοί μ’ ἔχει

<θάρσος τι>, μήποθ’ ἡμῖν

etc. (It may be remarked that

τι

is in harmony with the tone of

ὕπεστί μοι

in 479.) Another available word is

ξύννοια

(cp. Ant. 279 ). (2) Or, reading in 479

ὕπεστί μοι θάρσος

, we could read here

πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι θάρσος ἴσχει με

. On either view, the

ἁδυπνόων

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 ⁴⁸⁹

mvp-comment-293-1 ἀψεγές ⁴⁹⁰ ἀψεφές ⁴⁹¹

mvp-comment-293-2 πελᾶν ⁴⁹²

mvp-comment-294-1 τοῖς δρῶσι ⁴⁹³ τοῖς συνδρῶσιν ⁴⁹⁴

mvp-comment-295-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν ⁴⁹⁵

mvp-comment-296-1 εὖ κατασχήσει ⁴⁹⁶

mvp-comment-297-1 ἱππεία ⁴⁹⁷

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

ταῖς χοινίκισι

πλήμναις

, the naves)

τῶν τροχῶν οὐκ ἐμβαλὼν τοὺς ἥλους

. According to another story, he substituted a linch-pin of wax for a real one ( schol. Apoll. Rh. 752

ἐμβαλόντα κήρινον ἔμβολον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀκραξονίου

). 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,’—

ἄξονος ἐν πλήμνῃσι παρακλιδὸν ἀγνυμένοιο

πίπτεν

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

ἔδωκεν δίφρον τε χούσεον πτεροῖσίν τ’ ἀκάμαντας ἵππους

). On the chest (

λάρναξ

) 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 ⁴⁹⁸

mvp-comment-298-2 The form

αἰανὴς

has the best authority, and some critics hold that

αἰανὸς

(Hesych.) was a Byzantine invention. But in Aesch. Eum. 416 ,

ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν νυκτὸς αἰανῆς τέκνα

(so L, schol., and Tzetzes on Lycophron 406),

αἰανῆ

is far less suitable.

mvp-comment-299-1 εὖτε ⁴⁹⁹

mvp-comment-299-2 ὁ ποντισθεὶς Μυρτίλος ⁵⁰⁰

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 ⁵⁰¹

mvp-comment-300-1 παγχρυσέων δίφρων ⁵⁰²

mvp-comment-301-1 πρόρριζος ⁵⁰³

mvp-comment-301-2 ἐκριφθείς ⁵⁰⁴

mvp-comment-302-1 ἔλειπεν ⁵⁰⁵ ἔλιπεν ⁵⁰⁶ οἴκου ⁵⁰⁷ οἴκους ⁵⁰⁸ πω ⁵⁰⁹

mvp-comment-303-1 πολύπονος ⁵¹⁰ αἰκία ⁵¹¹

mvp-comment-304-1 ἀνειμένη ⁵¹² μέν ⁵¹³

mvp-comment-304-2 ὡς ἔοικας ⁵¹⁴

mvp-comment-304-3 στρέφει ⁵¹⁵

mvp-comment-304-4 Clytaemnestra begins in the same strain as Chrysothemis, who likewise emphasised her reproof by the word αὖ ⁵¹⁶

mvp-comment-305-1 μή τοι θυραίαν γ’ ⁵¹⁷

mvp-comment-305-2 αἰσχύνειν φίλους ⁵¹⁸

mvp-comment-306-1 καίτοι ⁵¹⁹

mvp-comment-306-2 δὴ ⁵²⁰ πολλούς ⁵²¹

mvp-comment-306-3 ἐξεῖπάς με … ὡς ⁵²²

mvp-comment-306-4 θρασεῖα ⁵²³ τραχεῖα ⁵²⁴

mvp-comment-306-5 ἄρχω ⁵²⁵

mvp-comment-307-1 ὕβριν … οὐκ ἔχω ⁵²⁶ κακῶς κλύουσα ⁵²⁷

mvp-comment-308-1 πατὴρ γάρ ⁵²⁸

mvp-comment-308-2 πρόσχημα ⁵²⁹

mvp-comment-309-1 ἡ γὰρ Δίκη ⁵³⁰

mvp-comment-310-1 ᾗ χρῆν σ’ ἀρήγειν ⁵³¹

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

ἐπεὶ πατὴρ οὗτος σός

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

ἦ γὰρ νοεῖς θάπτειν σθ’

(n.): Ph. 101

λέγω σ’ ἐγὼ δόλῳ Φιλοκτήτην λαβεῖν

mvp-comment-312-1 μοῦνος ⁵³² Ἑλλήνων ⁵³³

mvp-comment-312-2 Nauck requires

τὴν αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ

instead of

τὴν σὴν ὅμαιμον

, 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,

οὐκ ἴσον λύπης καμὼν ἐμοί, ὁ σπείρας τῇ τικτούσῃ

. But, having written

ὅτ’ ἔσπειρε

, the poet explains

ἐμοί

by repeating the comparison in a new form,

ὥσπερ ἡ τίκτουσ’ ἐγώ

. (For

ὡς

ὥσπερ

after

ἴσος

, 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

οὐκ ἴσον καμὼν ἐμοί

would be unintelligible. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1417

ἔθυσεν αὑτοῦ παῖδα, φιλτάτην ἐμοὶ

ὠδῖν’

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.,

οὐκ ἔστι μήτηρ ἡ κεκλημένου τέκνου

τοκεύς, τροφὸς δὲ κύματος νεοσπόρου

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

mvp-comment-313-1 τοῦ χάριν, τίνων ⁵³⁴

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

τίνων

as the participle. But there is an insuperable objection to this, which seems to have escaped notice. The words,

τοῦ χάριν τίνων

; 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

τῷ χάριν τίνων

; See ( e.g.) Aesch. P. V. 985

καὶ μὴν ὀφείλων ἂν τίνοιμ’ αὐτῷ χάριν

: Aesch. Ag. 821

τούτων θεοῖσι χρὴ πολύμνηστον χάριν

τίνειν

. Hence the question,

τοῦ χάριν τίνων

; could not possibly be answered by

Ἀργείων

. 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

τοῦ χάριν τίνων

τίνος χάριν ἀποδιδούς

, plainly meant, ‘showing gratitude for what?’—and his paraphrase was correct; only he overlooked the context.

mvp-comment-314-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μετῆν ⁵³⁵

mvp-comment-315-1 ἀλλ’ ἀντ’ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα ⁵³⁶ κτανὼν ⁵³⁷

mvp-comment-315-2 ἀντὶ ἀδελφοῦ ⁵³⁸

mvp-comment-315-3 τἄμ’ ⁵³⁹

mvp-comment-316-1 παῖδες … διπλοῖ ⁵⁴⁰

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

οὓς Ἰφιγενείας εἰκὸς ἦν θνῄσκειν πάρος

mvp-comment-317-1 ἢ ⁵⁴¹

mvp-comment-317-2 ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν Ἅιδης ⁵⁴²

mvp-comment-318-1 δαίσασθαι ⁵⁴³

mvp-comment-318-2 The conj. λῄσασθαι ⁵⁴⁴

mvp-comment-319-1 πανώλει ⁵⁴⁵

mvp-comment-319-2 παρεῖτο ⁵⁴⁶

mvp-comment-319-3 The sense does not absolutely require us to take Μενέλεω δ’ ⁵⁴⁷

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀβούλου ⁵⁴⁸

mvp-comment-320-2 κακοῦ γνώμην ⁵⁴⁹

mvp-comment-321-1 δοκῶ μέν ⁵⁵⁰

mvp-comment-321-2 εἰ καὶ ⁵⁵¹

mvp-comment-322-1 εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι ⁵⁵²

mvp-comment-323-1 τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ⁵⁵³

mvp-comment-324-1 γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα ⁵⁵⁴

mvp-comment-325-1 ἐρεῖς μὲν οὐχὶ ⁵⁵⁵ ἐρεῖς ⁵⁵⁶ ἐρεῖς … μ’ ὡς ⁵⁵⁷

mvp-comment-325-2 ἄρξασά τι λυπηρὸν ⁵⁵⁸

mvp-comment-325-3 τάδ’ ἐξήκους’ ⁵⁵⁹

mvp-comment-326-1 τοῦ τεθνηκότος θ’ ὕπερ ⁵⁶⁰

mvp-comment-327-1 καὶ μὴν ⁵⁶¹

mvp-comment-327-2 λόγους ἐξῆρχές με ⁵⁶²

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 ⁵⁶³ πατέρα ⁵⁶⁴ φὴς ⁵⁶⁵

mvp-comment-329-1 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ⁵⁶⁶

mvp-comment-329-2 λέξω ⁵⁶⁷ δείξω ⁵⁶⁸

mvp-comment-330-1 ὡς οὐ δίκῃ γ’ ⁵⁶⁹ ἔσπασεν ⁵⁷⁰ πειθὼ ⁵⁷¹

mvp-comment-331-1 κυναγὸν ⁵⁷²

mvp-comment-331-2 ποινὰς ⁵⁷³

mvp-comment-331-3 τὰ πολλὰ πνεύματ’ ἔσχ’ ⁵⁷⁴ τὰ πολλὰ ⁵⁷⁵ ἔσχε ⁵⁷⁶

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:

ἐπέσχεν αὐτοὺς τοῦ πλοῦ χειμῶνας ἐπιπέμπουσα

. But other authorities speak of a calm. Thus I. A. 9 ff.

οὔκουν φθόγγος γ’ οὔτ’ ὀρνίθων

οὔτε θαλάσσης· σιγαὶ δ’ ἀνέμων

τόνδε κατ’ Εὔριπον ἔχουσιν

. Schol. Eur. Or. 647

ἐπειράθη τῆς θεοῦ ὀργιζομένης καὶ κατεχούσης τοὺς ἀνέμους

. Tzetzes on Lycophron 183

χολωθεῖσα δ’ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἡ θεὸς τοὺς ἀνέμους κατέσχεν

. Ovid ( Met. 13. 183 ) combines both versions:

exspectata diu, nulla aut contraria classi | Flamina sunt.

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

σκεύη πολεμικά

: 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 (

στονόεντα πορθμόν

, Soph. Ant. 1145 :

παλιρρόχθοις ἐν Αὐλίδος τόποις

, Aesch. Ag. 191 ).

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

ὁ πατήρ

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

ἐπ’ Αὐλίδι

. Cp. Ph. 1119

ἔχε

δύσποτμον ἀρὰν ἐπ’ ἄλλοις

mvp-comment-331-7 The conjecture πλοῖα ⁵⁷⁷

mvp-comment-331-8 Αὐλίδι ⁵⁷⁸

mvp-comment-332-1 ἢ )γὼ φράσω ⁵⁷⁹ κείνης ⁵⁸⁰

mvp-comment-333-1 ὡς ἐγὼ κλύω ⁵⁸¹

mvp-comment-333-2 θεᾶς … κατ’ ἄλσος ⁵⁸²

mvp-comment-333-3 παίζων ⁵⁸³

mvp-comment-333-4 ποδοῖν ⁵⁸⁴

mvp-comment-334-1 ἔλαφον ⁵⁸⁵

mvp-comment-334-2 στικτὸν ⁵⁸⁶

mvp-comment-334-3 κεράστην ⁵⁸⁷

mvp-comment-334-4 οὗ κατὰ σφαγὰς ⁵⁸⁸

mvp-comment-335-1 ἐκκομπάσας ἔπος τι τυγχάνει ⁵⁸⁹ βαλών ⁵⁹⁰

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

τυγχάνει

with

βαλών

, as=‘he shoots and hits’; cp. Il. 15. 581

θηρητὴρ ἐτύχησε βαλών

: Her. 3. 35

εἰ...τοῦ παιδὸς...βαλὼν τύχοιμι

. The vaunt must then precede the hit.

mvp-comment-335-3 Others take βαλὼν ⁵⁹¹ ἔπος ⁵⁹²

mvp-comment-335-4 Monk, with Musgrave, took σφαγὰς ⁵⁹³

mvp-comment-336-1 ἐκ τοῦδε ⁵⁹⁴

mvp-comment-336-2 μηνίσασα ⁵⁹⁵

mvp-comment-336-3 Λητῴα κόρη ⁵⁹⁶

mvp-comment-337-1 ὡς ⁵⁹⁷ ἀντίσταθμον ⁵⁹⁸

mvp-comment-337-2 ἐκθύσειε ⁵⁹⁹

mvp-comment-338-1 ὧδ’ ἦν ⁶⁰⁰

mvp-comment-338-2 τὰ … θύματ’ ⁶⁰¹

mvp-comment-338-3 λύσις ⁶⁰²

mvp-comment-338-4 πρὸς οἶκον ⁶⁰³

mvp-comment-339-1 πολλὰ ⁶⁰⁴

mvp-comment-339-2 ἀντιβὰς ⁶⁰⁵

mvp-comment-339-3 μόλις ⁶⁰⁶

mvp-comment-340-1 εἰ δ’ οὖν ⁶⁰⁷

mvp-comment-340-2 ἐρῶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ σόν ⁶⁰⁸

mvp-comment-341-1 τούτου … οὕνεκ’ ⁶⁰⁹

mvp-comment-341-2 νόμῳ ⁶¹⁰

mvp-comment-342-1 ὅρα ⁶¹¹ μὴ … τιθῇς ⁶¹² τίθης ⁶¹³

mvp-comment-342-2 Here, either

τίθης

τιθῇς

would be suitable. (1) With

τίθης

:—‘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

τιθῇς

: —‘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

εἰ δίκης γε τυγχάνοις

), against which Electra warns her. On the whole, I now prefer

τιθῇς

. Cp. 1003

ὅρα κακῶς πράσσοντε μὴ μείζω κακὰ

κτησώμεθ’

: fr. 82

ἀλλ’ ὅρα μὴ κρεῖσσον ᾖ

mvp-comment-342-3 τιθεῖσα … νόμον ⁶¹⁴

mvp-comment-343-1 εἰ γὰρ κτενοῦμεν ⁶¹⁵

mvp-comment-343-2 πρώτη ⁶¹⁶

mvp-comment-344-1 εἰσόρα ⁶¹⁷

mvp-comment-344-2 οὐκ οὖσαν ⁶¹⁸

mvp-comment-344-3 τίθης ⁶¹⁹

mvp-comment-344-4 εἰ … θέλεις ⁶²⁰

mvp-comment-345-1 τῷ παλαμναίῳ ⁶²¹

mvp-comment-345-2 πρόσθεν ἐξαπώλεσας ⁶²²

mvp-comment-346-1 παιδοποιεῖς ⁶²³

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

Ἠριγόνη

. 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 ⁶²⁴

mvp-comment-346-4 κἀξ εὐσεβῶν ⁶²⁵

mvp-comment-346-5 By

τοὺς...πρόσθεν εὐσεβεῖς

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

φίλον ...ἐσθλὸν ἐκβαλεῖν

. Eur. El. 62

τεκοῦσα δ’ ἄλλους παῖδας Αἰγίσθῳ πάρα

πάρεργ’ Ὀρέστην κἀμὲ ποιεῖται δόμων.

mvp-comment-346-6 βλαστόντας ⁶²⁶

mvp-comment-346-7 ἐκβαλοῦσ’ ἔχεις ⁶²⁷

mvp-comment-347-1 πῶς ταῦτ’ ἐπαινέσαιμ’ ἄν ⁶²⁸

mvp-comment-347-2 ἢ ⁶²⁹ ἦ ⁶³⁰ καὶ τοῦτ’ ⁶³¹ ἄποινα ⁶³²

mvp-comment-348-1 αἰσχρῶς δ’ ⁶³³ δ’ ⁶³⁴

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐάν περ καὶ λέγῃς ⁶³⁵

mvp-comment-348-3 ἐχθροῖς γαμεῖσθαι ⁶³⁶

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 ⁶³⁷

mvp-comment-349-2 πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν ⁶³⁸

mvp-comment-350-1 κακοστομοῦμεν ⁶³⁹

mvp-comment-350-2 καί σ’ ἔγωγε δεσπότιν ⁶⁴⁰

mvp-comment-350-3 εἰς ἡμᾶς ⁶⁴¹ ἣ ⁶⁴²

mvp-comment-351-1 βίον μοχθηρόν ⁶⁴³

mvp-comment-351-2 ἔκ τε σοῦ ⁶⁴⁴ κακοῖς … ξυνοῦσα ⁶⁴⁵

mvp-comment-351-3 συννόμου ⁶⁴⁶

mvp-comment-352-1 ὁ δ’ ἄλλος ⁶⁴⁷

mvp-comment-352-2 χεῖρα σὴν ⁶⁴⁸

mvp-comment-352-3 τρίβει βίον ⁶⁴⁹

mvp-comment-352-4 603 The reason for writing δή με σοὶ ⁶⁵⁰ δή μέ σοι ⁶⁵¹

mvp-comment-352-5 μιάστορα ⁶⁵²

mvp-comment-353-1 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκα ⁶⁵³

mvp-comment-354-1 εἰς ἅπαντας ⁶⁵⁴

mvp-comment-354-2 χρῇς ⁶⁵⁵

mvp-comment-354-3 στόμαργον ⁶⁵⁶

mvp-comment-355-1 τῶνδε τῶν ἔ|ργων ἴδρις ⁶⁵⁷

mvp-comment-355-2 σχεδόν τι ⁶⁵⁸

mvp-comment-355-3 οὐ καταισχύνω ⁶⁵⁹

mvp-comment-356-1 ὁρῶ μένος πνέουσαν ⁶⁶⁰ μένος πνέουσαν ⁶⁶¹

mvp-comment-356-2 σὺν δίκῃ ξύνεστι ⁶⁶²

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

φροντίδος

(612) is plainly an echo of

φροντίδ’

(611). But: ( a) it does not follow that

φροντίδ’

is not Electra's thought. ( b) It is surely clear that

πνέουσαν

must be Electra; and ( c) as in Ant. 471 f., the second clause naturally refers to the same person.

mvp-comment-357-1 ποίας δ’ ἐμοὶ δεῖ ⁶⁶³ ἐμοὶ ⁶⁶⁴ μοι ⁶⁶⁵ δεῖ ⁶⁶⁶

mvp-comment-357-2 Others understand: (1) ‘If Electra has no consideration for justice, why should I have any consideration for her,— i.e., show her any tenderness?’ Or: (2) ‘If she heeds not justice, why should I heed her?’ Neither view seems well suited to the context.

mvp-comment-358-1 καὶ ταῦτα ⁶⁶⁷

mvp-comment-358-2 τηλικοῦτος ⁶⁶⁸

mvp-comment-358-3 ἆρα ⁶⁶⁹

mvp-comment-358-4 χωρεῖν ἂν ⁶⁷⁰ εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ⁶⁷¹

mvp-comment-359-1 εὖ νυν ἐπίστω ⁶⁷²

mvp-comment-359-2 ἔξωρα ⁶⁷³

mvp-comment-359-3 προσεικότα ⁶⁷⁴

mvp-comment-360-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ⁶⁷⁵

mvp-comment-360-2 ἡ … ἐκ σοῦ δυσμένεια ⁶⁷⁶

mvp-comment-360-3 ἐξαναγκάζει ⁶⁷⁷ αἰσχροῖς ⁶⁷⁸

mvp-comment-360-4 622 f. The word θρέμμα ⁶⁷⁹

mvp-comment-360-5 ἦ σ’ ἐγὼ ⁶⁸⁰

mvp-comment-361-1 νιν ⁶⁸¹

mvp-comment-361-2 εὑρίσκεται ⁶⁸²

mvp-comment-361-3 Cp. Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus (in his Prose Works, ed. Symmons, vol. I. p. 236): ‘I might also tell them [the prelates], what Electra in Sophocles, a wise virgin, answered her wicked mother, who thought herself too violently reproved by her the daughter: ‘' Tis you that say it, not I; you do the deeds, | And your ungodly deeds find me the words.’’

mvp-comment-362-1 οὐ μὰ ⁶⁸³

mvp-comment-362-2 δέσποιναν ⁶⁸⁴

mvp-comment-362-3 Ἄρτεμιν ⁶⁸⁵

mvp-comment-362-4 θράσους τοῦδ’ οὐκ ἀλύξεις ⁶⁸⁶ μόλῃ ⁶⁸⁷

mvp-comment-363-1 ὁρᾷς ⁶⁸⁸

mvp-comment-363-2 ἐκφέρει ⁶⁸⁹

mvp-comment-363-3 The v. l. παρεῖσα ⁶⁹⁰

mvp-comment-364-1 οὐδὲ ⁶⁹¹

mvp-comment-364-2 ὑπ’ εὐφήμου βοῆς ⁶⁹²

mvp-comment-364-3 ἐπειδὴ σοί γ’ ⁶⁹³

mvp-comment-364-4 πᾶν λέγειν ⁶⁹⁴

mvp-comment-365-1 κελεύω ⁶⁹⁵

mvp-comment-365-2 τοὐμὸν στόμ’ ⁶⁹⁶

mvp-comment-365-3 634 f. An altar, and probably an image, of Apollo stand before the palace. The attendant of Clytaemnestra carries offerings of various fruits, which she is now commanded to raise, as with a gesture of solemn oblation ( ἔπαιρε ⁶⁹⁷

mvp-comment-365-4 ἡ παροῦσά μοι ⁶⁹⁸

mvp-comment-365-5 θύματα … πάγκαρπα ⁶⁹⁹

mvp-comment-366-1 λυτηρίους … δειμάτων ⁷⁰⁰

mvp-comment-366-2 ἀνάσχω ⁷⁰¹

mvp-comment-367-1 κλύοις ἂν ⁷⁰²

mvp-comment-367-2 προστατήριε ⁷⁰³

mvp-comment-368-1 κεκρυμμένην ⁷⁰⁴

mvp-comment-368-2 οὐ γὰρ ἐν φίλοις ⁷⁰⁵

mvp-comment-369-1 πρὸς φῶς ⁷⁰⁶

mvp-comment-370-1 πολυγλώσσῳ ⁷⁰⁷

mvp-comment-370-2 σπείρῃ ⁷⁰⁸

mvp-comment-370-3 ματαίαν ⁷⁰⁹

mvp-comment-371-1 ὧδ’ ⁷¹⁰

mvp-comment-372-1 γὰρ ⁷¹¹

mvp-comment-372-2 δισσῶν ὀνείρων ⁷¹²

mvp-comment-372-3 Jacobs Fr.( ap. Wunder) understood, ‘ two dreams,’—as if Clyt.'s vision consisted of two parts,—the return of Agamemnon, and the growth from the sceptre (417—423). This seems forced. Still less can we assume that there was some second dream which Clyt. did not relate even to the Sun-god (425).

mvp-comment-372-4 Λύκεἰ ἄναξ ⁷¹³

mvp-comment-373-1 ἐσθλά … ἐχθρά ⁷¹⁴

mvp-comment-373-2 Cp. Aesch. Pers. 217 , where the Chorus are advising Atossa how to propitiate the gods after her dream:

εἴ τι φλαῦρον εἶδες, αἰτοῦ τῶνδ’ ἀποτροπὴν τελεῖν

, |

τὰ δ’ ἀγάθ’ ἐκτελῆ γενέσθαι σοί τε καὶ τέκνῳ σέθεν κ.τ.λ.

mvp-comment-373-3 ἔμπαλιν μέθες ⁷¹⁵

mvp-comment-374-1 εἴ τινες ⁷¹⁶

mvp-comment-375-1 ἀλλ’ ὧδε ⁷¹⁷

mvp-comment-375-2 ἀβλαβεῖ βίῳ ⁷¹⁸

mvp-comment-376-1 δόμους ⁷¹⁹

mvp-comment-376-2 ἀμφέπειν ⁷²⁰

mvp-comment-376-3 φίλοισι ⁷²¹

mvp-comment-377-1 εὐημεροῦσαν ⁷²²

mvp-comment-377-2 καὶ τέκνων ⁷²³ ὅσων ⁷²⁴

mvp-comment-377-3 We might also take

τέκνων

as standing, by attraction, for

τέκνοις

. When the antecedent is thus attracted, it usually comes after the relative ( O.C. 56); but sometimes precedes it, as in Tr. 151 f.

τότ’ ἄν τις εἰσίδοιτο

... | ...

κακοῖσιν

(for

κακά

)

ο<*>ς ἐγὼ βαρύνομαι

. In examples of the latter kind, however, the acc. (and not, as it would be here, the dat.) is elsewhere the case attracted. In favour of taking

τέκνων

as partitive, it may be added that this suits the distinction between two groups of

τέκνα

. By

ὅσων

she means Chrysothemis, Iphianassa, and the offspring o<*> her union with Aegisthus (157; 589).

mvp-comment-377-4 ἐμοὶ … πρόσεστιν ⁷²⁵

mvp-comment-378-1 πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ⁷²⁶

mvp-comment-379-1 τὰ δ’ ἄλλα πάντα ⁷²⁷

mvp-comment-379-2 660 Following the directions given in vv. 39 ff., the Paedagogus now appears as a

ξένος Φωκεύς

. Cp. O.T. 924 ff., where the messenger from Corinth presents himself to Iocasta and the Chorus.

mvp-comment-379-3 πῶς ἂν εἰδείην ⁷²⁸

mvp-comment-380-1 ἦ καὶ ⁷²⁹

mvp-comment-380-2 ἐπεικάζων κυρῶ ⁷³⁰

mvp-comment-380-3 πρέπ<*> γὰρ ⁷³¹

mvp-comment-381-1 μάλιστα πάντων ⁷³²

mvp-comment-381-2 ἥδε σοι κείνη πάρα ⁷³³

mvp-comment-381-3 666 f. The ὦ ⁷³⁴ χαῖρε ⁷³⁵

mvp-comment-382-1 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν ⁷³⁶

mvp-comment-382-2 Instant recognition of an utterance as well-omened was a way of appropriating the omen. The proper formula was

δέχομαι τὸν οἰωνόν

τὸν ὄρνιν

( Her. 9. 91 ; Ar. Pl. 63 ). But

δέχομαι

alone was enough ( Xen. An. 1. 8. 17 : cp. Aesch. Ag. 1653

δεχομένοις λέγεις θανεῖν σε

). The phrase used here recurs in Her. 8. 114

δεξάμενος τὸ ῥηθὲν ἀπαλλάσσετο

: cp. also Eur. El. 622

προσηκάμην τὸ ῥηθέν

mvp-comment-382-3 εἰδέναι … σου ⁷³⁷

mvp-comment-383-1 Φανοτεὺς ⁷³⁸

mvp-comment-383-2 πρᾶγμα πορσύνων μέγα ⁷³⁹

mvp-comment-384-1 τὸ ποῖον ⁷⁴⁰

mvp-comment-385-1 ἐν βραχεῖ ξυνθεὶς ⁷⁴¹

mvp-comment-386-1 τί φής, τί φής ⁷⁴² ξεῖνε ⁷⁴³

mvp-comment-386-2 ταύτης ⁷⁴⁴

mvp-comment-387-1 νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι ⁷⁴⁵

mvp-comment-388-1 οὐδέν εἰμ’ ἔτι ⁷⁴⁶

mvp-comment-389-1 τὰ σαυτῆς πρᾶσς’ ⁷⁴⁷

mvp-comment-389-2 διόλλυται ⁷⁴⁸

mvp-comment-390-1 κἀπεμπόμην ⁷⁴⁹ καὶ … φράσω ⁷⁵⁰

mvp-comment-391-1 γὰρ ⁷⁵¹

mvp-comment-392-1 πρόσχημ’ ἀγῶνος ⁷⁵² Ἑλλάδος ⁷⁵³

mvp-comment-392-2 πρόσχημα ⁷⁵⁴

mvp-comment-392-3 Δελφ. ἄθλων ⁷⁵⁵

mvp-comment-393-1 ὀρθίων ⁷⁵⁶

mvp-comment-393-2 δρόμον … οὗ πρώτη κρίσις ⁷⁵⁷

mvp-comment-394-1 εἰσῆλθε ⁷⁵⁸

mvp-comment-395-1 ἰσώσας * τἀφέσει ⁷⁵⁹ τῇ φύσει ⁷⁶⁰

mvp-comment-395-2 Now there is evidence that the customary order for the foot-races was, 1.

δόλιχος

, 2.

στάδιον

, 3.

δίαυλος

. See Boeckh C. I. G. no. 1590 and 1591 (referring to games at Thespiae, circ. 240 B.C.): also no. 2214 (games at Chios, circ. 100—80 B.C.). Paus. 6. 13. 3 (of the athlete Polites at Olympia),

δολίχου τε ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ καὶ παραυτίκα σταδίου λαβὼν νίκην προσέθηκε διαύλου σφίσι τὴν τρίτην

. It would agree, then, with the words

οὗ πρώτη κρίσις

(684) if the

δόλιχος

were meant here. [As to Legg. 833 D, see Appendix.]

mvp-comment-395-3 For

ἄφεσις

as=‘starting-place,’ cp. Suidas ( s.v.

ἀπὸ γραμμῆς

γραμμῆς, ἣν ἄφεσιν καὶ βαλβῖδα καλοῦσιν

: Paus. 6. 20. 9

ᾗ τοῖς σταδιοδρόμοις ἄφεσις πεποίηται

: id. 5. 15. 5

ἐν δὲ τῶν ἵππων τῇ

ἀφέσει, ἐν μὲν τῷ ὑπαίθρῳ τῆς ἀφέσεως κ.τ.λ.

—Dindorf notes that in Aristeides vol. I. p. 339 the words

τῆς ἀφέσεως

were corrupted to

τῆς φύσεως

mvp-comment-395-4 The proposed versions of the vulgate τῇ φύσει ⁷⁶¹

mvp-comment-396-1 νίκης … γέρας ⁷⁶²

mvp-comment-397-1 χὥπως μὲν ⁷⁶³

mvp-comment-397-2 Others explain:—

οὐκ οἶδα δὲ ὅπως τοιοῦδ’ ἀνδρὸς ἔργα καὶ κράτη λέγω σοι παῦρα ἐν πολλοῖς

: ‘I do not know how to describe his deeds to you briefly, when they were so many.’ The place of

οἶδα

can be justified by O.T. 1251. But: (1) thus construed, the words ought to mean, ‘I do not know how to describe his deeds as few.’ The other meaning would require

ἐν παύροις

, or the like. And (2)

ἐν πολλοῖσι

is then awkward.

mvp-comment-398-1 ὅσων ⁷⁶⁴

mvp-comment-398-2 εἰσεκήρυξαν ⁷⁶⁵

mvp-comment-398-3 βραβῆς ⁷⁶⁶

mvp-comment-399-1 δρομων διαύλων ⁷⁶⁷

mvp-comment-399-2 On the whole, I should incline to delete 691, and alter

τούτων

in 692 to

ἄθλων

mvp-comment-400-1 ἐνεγκὼν ⁷⁶⁸

mvp-comment-400-2 τἀπινίκια ⁷⁶⁹

mvp-comment-401-1 ὠλβίζετ’ ⁷⁷⁰ ἀνακαλ ⁷⁷¹

mvp-comment-401-2 Ἀγαμέμνονος ⁷⁷²

mvp-comment-401-3 ἀγείραντος ⁷⁷³

mvp-comment-402-1 καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τοιαῦθ’ ⁷⁷⁴

mvp-comment-402-2 βλάπτῃ ⁷⁷⁵

mvp-comment-402-3 ἰσχύων ⁷⁷⁶

mvp-comment-403-1 ἄλλης ἡμέρας ⁷⁷⁷

mvp-comment-403-2 ἱππικῶν ⁷⁷⁸

mvp-comment-404-1 ἡλίου τέλλοντος ⁷⁷⁹

mvp-comment-404-2 The Pythian hippodrome was in the Crisaean plain (180 n.), near its upper or northern end, where the rocky gorge of the river Pleistus opens upon a level tract. The site of Crisa, on a spur of Parnassus, overlooked it from the north, and Delphi from the north-east. Beautiful as was Olympia, the scene of the Pythian festival was unrivalled in the grandeur of its natural surroundings.

mvp-comment-405-1 Ἀχαιός ⁷⁸⁰

mvp-comment-406-1 Λίβυες ⁷⁸¹

mvp-comment-406-2 ζυγωτῶν ⁷⁸² ἐπιστάται ⁷⁸³

mvp-comment-407-1 κἀκεῖνος ⁷⁸⁴

mvp-comment-407-2 ἐν τούτοισι ⁷⁸⁵ ἐπὶ ⁷⁸⁶

mvp-comment-407-3 Θεσσαλὰς … ἵππους ⁷⁸⁷

mvp-comment-408-1 ξανθαῖσι ⁷⁸⁸

mvp-comment-408-2 πώλοις ⁷⁸⁹

mvp-comment-408-3 Μάγνης ⁷⁹⁰

mvp-comment-409-1 λεύκιππος ⁷⁹¹

mvp-comment-409-2 Αἰνιὰν ⁷⁹²

mvp-comment-410-1 τῶν θεοδμήτων ⁷⁹³

mvp-comment-411-1 ἄλλος ⁷⁹⁴ ἐκπληρῶν ⁷⁹⁵

mvp-comment-412-1 στάντες ⁷⁹⁶

mvp-comment-412-2 †ὅθ’ αὐτοὺς ⁷⁹⁷ ὅθ’ ⁷⁹⁸ ἵν’ ⁷⁹⁹ ὅτ’ ⁸⁰⁰

mvp-comment-412-3 βραβῆς ⁸⁰¹ οἱ τεταγμένοι ⁸⁰²

mvp-comment-412-4 710 *

κλήρους ἔπηλαν

. I should much prefer to read

αὐτοῖς

in 709: but

αὐτοὺς

is defensible, and I refrain from change. Two views are possible; the first is generally received, and is perhaps simplest. (1)

αὐτοὺς

depends on

κλήρους ἔπηλαν

as=

ἐκλήρωσαν

: cp. Ar. Eccl. 683

κληρώσω πάντας

, ‘I will place them all by lot,’

ἕως ἂν

εἰδὼς ὁ λαχὼν ἀπίῃ κ.τ.λ.

See above on 123, Ar. Eccl. 556. (2)

κλήρους ἔπηλαν καὶ

κλήρους πήλαντες

, a parenthetic construction (

διὰ μέσου

), so that

αὐτοὺς

is governed by

κατέστησαν

only, and

δίφρους

is a second acc., defining

αὐτούς

, as in

μέθες με...χεῖρα

( Soph. Ph. 1301 ). f.

mvp-comment-412-5 ἔπηλαν ⁸⁰³

mvp-comment-413-1 χαλκῆς ⁸⁰⁴

mvp-comment-413-2 ὑπαὶ ⁸⁰⁵

mvp-comment-413-3 οἱ δ’ ⁸⁰⁶

mvp-comment-414-1 ὁμοκλήσαντες ⁸⁰⁷

mvp-comment-415-1 ἐν δὲ ⁸⁰⁸

mvp-comment-415-2 κροτητῶν ⁸⁰⁹

mvp-comment-415-3 I formerly took

κροτητῶν

as=‘welded,’ ‘hammered,’ with ref. to the metal-work of the chariots: cp. Il. 23. 503

ἅρματα δὲ χρυσῷ πεπυκασμένα κασσιτέρῳ τε

: 10. 438

ἅρμα δέ οἱ χρυσῷ τε καὶ ἀργύρῳ εὖ ἤσκηται

: 4. 226

ἅρματα ποικίλα χαλκῷ

. (Cp. Helbig, H. E. p. 90.) For this sense of

κροτεῖν

, cp. Pind. fr. 194

κεκρότηται χρυσέα κρηπὶς...ἀοιδαῖς

mvp-comment-416-1 φορεῖθ’ ⁸¹⁰

mvp-comment-417-1 κέντρων ⁸¹¹

mvp-comment-417-2 ὡς ὑπερβάλοι ⁸¹² τις ⁸¹³

mvp-comment-417-3 χνόας ⁸¹⁴

mvp-comment-417-4 φρυάγμαθ’ ἱππικά ⁸¹⁵

mvp-comment-418-1 ὁμοῦ γὰρ ἀμφὶ νῶτα ⁸¹⁶

mvp-comment-418-2 τροχῶν βάσεις ⁸¹⁷

mvp-comment-418-3 εἰσέβαλλον ⁸¹⁸

mvp-comment-419-1 ὑπ’ αὐτὴν ⁸¹⁹

mvp-comment-419-2 ἐσχάτην στήλην ⁸²⁰

mvp-comment-420-1 ἔχριμπτ’ ἀεὶ σύριγγα ⁸²¹ ἔχριμπτ’ ⁸²²

mvp-comment-420-2 δεξιὸν δ’ ἀνεὶς κ.τ.λ. ⁸²³

mvp-comment-420-3 Sophocles has in mind the words of Nestor to Antilochus, Il. 23. 336

τὸν δεξιὸν ἵππον

κένσαι ὁμοκλήσας, εἶξαί τέ οἱ ἡνία χερσίν·

ἐν νύσσῃ δέ τοι ἵππος ἀριστερὸς ἐγχριμφθήτω

, |

ὡς ἄν τοι πλήμνη γε δοάσσεται ἄκρον ἱκέσθαι

κύκλου ποιητοῖο

(‘so that just the nave of the well-wrought wheel may seem to graze it’).

mvp-comment-421-1 πρὶν μὲν ⁸²⁴ ἔπειτα δ’ ⁸²⁵

mvp-comment-421-2 ἕστασαν ⁸²⁶

mvp-comment-422-1 ἄστομοι ⁸²⁷

mvp-comment-422-2 βίᾳ φέρουσιν ⁸²⁸

mvp-comment-422-3 ἐκ δ’ ὑποστροφῆς ⁸²⁹

mvp-comment-423-1 τελοῦντες κ.τ.λ. ⁸³⁰

mvp-comment-423-2 The Aenian, closely followed by the others, had just completed his sixth

δίαυλος

, or double course, in the hippodrome: i.e., he had just passed, for the sixth time, round the goal nearest to the starting-place, and was on the point of beginning his seventh course. Just as he was passing the goal, his horses bolted. Hence he could not work them quite round into the track. They turned out of the left-ward curve (

ἐξ ὑποστροφῆς

), and ran straight on. Meanwhile, one of the two Libyan chariots had swept round the goal in a wider circle, on the Aenian's right. The Aenian's horses dashed head-foremost into the Libyan's team, striking it on the left side.

mvp-comment-423-3 In the four - horse chariot - race at Olympia the number of double courses was twelve. Hence the goal farthest from the starting-place is

δωδεκάγναμπτον... τέρμα δρόμου

ἵππων

( Pind. O. 3. 33 : cp. Pind. O. 2. 55 , Pind. O. 6. 75 , Pind. P. 5. 33 ). If the

ἱππικὸν

(=4 stadia) be taken as the length of one double course in the hippodrome, twelve such courses give about 51/2 English miles. (Cp. art. Hippodromus in Smith's Dict. Ant., 3rd ed., p. 965 a.)

mvp-comment-423-4 Βαρκαίοις ὄχοις ⁸³¹

mvp-comment-424-1 ἐξ ἑνὸς κακοῦ ⁸³² ἔθραυε καὶ ἐνέπιπτε ⁸³³

mvp-comment-424-2 ναυαγίων ⁸³⁴

mvp-comment-424-3 Κρισαῖον … πέδον ⁸³⁵

mvp-comment-425-1 γνοὺς δ’ ⁸³⁶

mvp-comment-425-2 κἀνοκωχεύει ⁸³⁷

mvp-comment-425-3 κλύδων’ ⁸³⁸

mvp-comment-426-1 ἔσχατος μὲν ⁸³⁹

mvp-comment-426-2 ὑστέρας ἔχων ⁸⁴⁰ φέρων ⁸⁴¹ πίστιν φέρων ⁸⁴²

mvp-comment-426-3 Those who read

ὑστέρας δ’

understand, ‘last, indeed, but last by his own choice.’ This is possible, but less simple. The

μὲν

after

ἔσχατος

probably led to the insertion of

δ’

mvp-comment-426-4 Wunder cp. Acad. Pr. 2. 29. 94 Ego enim, ut agitator callidus, prius quam ad finem veniam, equos sustinebo.

mvp-comment-427-1 ὅπως δ’ ὁρᾷ ⁸⁴³

mvp-comment-428-1 ἐνσείσας. ⁸⁴⁴

mvp-comment-429-1 κἀξισώσαντε ζυγὰ ⁸⁴⁵

mvp-comment-429-2 τότ’ … ἄλλοθ’ ⁸⁴⁶

mvp-comment-429-3 ἄλλος … ἅτερος ⁸⁴⁷

mvp-comment-429-4 κάρα προβάλλων ⁸⁴⁸

mvp-comment-429-5 For προβάλλων ⁸⁴⁹

mvp-comment-430-1 τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους πάντας ⁸⁵⁰

mvp-comment-430-2 ἀσφαλεῖς ⁸⁵¹

mvp-comment-430-3 ὠρθοῦθ’ ⁸⁵² ὀρθὸς ἐξ ὀρθῶν δί‐ ⁸⁵³ φρων ⁸⁵⁴

mvp-comment-431-1 λύων ἡνίαν ἀριστερὰν ⁸⁵⁵

mvp-comment-432-1 χνόας ⁸⁵⁶ μέσας ⁸⁵⁷

mvp-comment-433-1 ἀντύγων ⁸⁵⁸

mvp-comment-433-2 σὺν δ’ ἑλίσσεται ⁸⁵⁹ τμητοῖς ⁸⁶⁰

mvp-comment-434-1 διεσπάρησαν εἰς μέσον δρόμον ⁸⁶¹

mvp-comment-434-2 Cp. Il. 23. 467

ἔνθα μιν ἐκπεσέειν ὀΐω σύν θ’ ἅρματα ἆξαι

, |

αἱ δ’

[ sc.

ἵπποι

]

ἐξηρώησαν, ἐπεὶ μένος ἔλλαβε θυμόν

(‘rushed out of the course’).

mvp-comment-435-1 στρατὸς ⁸⁶²

mvp-comment-435-2 δίφρων ⁸⁶³

mvp-comment-435-3 ἀνωλόλυξε ⁸⁶⁴

mvp-comment-435-4 οἷ’ … οἷα ⁸⁶⁵

mvp-comment-436-1 φορούμενος πρὸς οὖδας ⁸⁶⁶

mvp-comment-436-2 ἄλλοτ’ ⁸⁶⁷

mvp-comment-436-3 οὐρανῷ σκέλη προφαίνων ⁸⁶⁸

mvp-comment-437-1 διφρηλάται ⁸⁶⁹

mvp-comment-437-2 κατασχεθόντες ⁸⁷⁰

mvp-comment-438-1 κέαντες ⁸⁷¹

mvp-comment-438-2 ἐν βραχεῖ χαλκῷ ⁸⁷²

mvp-comment-438-3 μέγιστον ⁸⁷³

mvp-comment-438-4 σῶμα … σποδοῦ ⁸⁷⁴

mvp-comment-438-5 Cp. Aesch. Ag. 440 (Ares)

πυρωθὲν ἐξ Ἰλίου

φίλοισι πέμπει βραχὺ

ψῆγμα δυσδάκρυτον, ἀντήνορος σποδοῦ γεμίζων λέβητας εὐθέτου

. Suppl. 1130

σποδοῦ τε πλῆθος ὀλίγον ἀντὶ σωμάτων

εὐδοκίμων

. Propert. 2. 9. 13 (Briseïs with the ashes of Achilles), et tanti corpus Achillei | Maximaque in parva sustulit ossa manu.

mvp-comment-439-1 ἄνδρες Φωκέων ⁸⁷⁵

mvp-comment-439-2 ἐκλάχῃ ⁸⁷⁶

mvp-comment-440-1 τοιαῦτά σοι ⁸⁷⁷ ταῦτ’ ἐστίν ⁸⁷⁸

mvp-comment-440-2 ὡς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ ⁸⁷⁹

mvp-comment-440-3 τοῖς δ’ ἰδ., οἵπερ εἴδομεν ⁸⁸⁰

mvp-comment-440-4 764 f. The word δεσπόταισι ⁸⁸¹

mvp-comment-440-5 πρόρριζον ⁸⁸²

mvp-comment-441-1 ὦ Ζεῦ ⁸⁸³

mvp-comment-441-2 λέγω ⁸⁸⁴

mvp-comment-442-1 τῷ νῦν λόγῳ ⁸⁸⁵

mvp-comment-443-1 δεινὸν ⁸⁸⁶

mvp-comment-443-2 πάσχοντι ⁸⁸⁷ ὧν τέκῃ ⁸⁸⁸

mvp-comment-444-1 μάτην ἄρ’ ἡμεῖς κ.τ.λ. ⁸⁸⁹

mvp-comment-445-1 μάτην λέγοις ⁸⁹⁰

mvp-comment-446-1 ψυχῆς ⁸⁹¹

mvp-comment-447-1 μαστῶν κ.τ.λ. ⁸⁹²

mvp-comment-447-2 ἀποστὰς ⁸⁹³

mvp-comment-447-3 ἀπεξενοῦτο ⁸⁹⁴

mvp-comment-448-1 φόνους ⁸⁹⁵

mvp-comment-449-1 ὥστ’ οὔτε … στεγάζειν ⁸⁹⁶

mvp-comment-449-2 ἐξ ἡμέρας ⁸⁹⁷

mvp-comment-449-3 στεψάζειν ⁸⁹⁸

mvp-comment-449-4 ὁ προστατῶν χρόνος ⁸⁹⁹

mvp-comment-449-5 διῆγε ⁹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-449-6 783 f. The perf. ἀπήλλαγμαι ⁹⁰¹

mvp-comment-449-7 μείζων ⁹⁰²

mvp-comment-450-1 τοὐμὸν ⁹⁰³

mvp-comment-450-2 ἐκπίνους’ ⁹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-450-3 ἄκρατον ⁹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-450-4 νῦν δ’ ⁹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-450-5 ἕκηλα ⁹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-450-6 οὕνεχ’ ⁹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-450-7 ἡμερεύσομεν ⁹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-451-1 οἴμοι τάλαινα ⁹¹⁰

mvp-comment-451-2 οἰμῶξαι ⁹¹¹

mvp-comment-452-1 ἆρ’ ἔχει καλῶς ⁹¹²

mvp-comment-453-1 οὔτοι σὺ ⁹¹³

mvp-comment-454-1 Νέμεσι ⁹¹⁴

mvp-comment-454-2 τοῦ θανόντος ἀρτίως ⁹¹⁵

mvp-comment-454-3 Nemesis is the goddess who requires that each man should receive his due (

Νέμεσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἑκάστῳ διανεμήσεως

, Mund. 7. p. 401 b. 13). The ‘Nemesis of the dead man’ is the avenger of wrong done to him; as the Greeks said

Δίκη τινός

( Aesch. Ag. 1432 ),

Ἐρινύς τινος

. Cp. Aesch. fr. 266

ἡμῶν γε μέντοι Νέμεσις

(‘ our Nemesis’)

ἔσθ’ ὑπερτέρα

, |

καὶ τοῦ θανόντος ἡ Δίκη πράσσει κότον

. At Athens

Νεμέσεια

were certain rites in honour of the dead ( Dem. or. 41 § 11 ),

ἐπεὶ ἡ Νέμεσις ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποθανόντων τέτακται

(Bekker Anecd. I. 282). Nemesis appears in art, too, as a goddess of the dead (Baumeister, Denkm., p. 1008).

mvp-comment-455-1 ἤκουσεν ὧν δεῖ ⁹¹⁶

mvp-comment-455-2 κἀπεκύρωσεν ⁹¹⁷

mvp-comment-456-1 οὔκουν … τάδε ⁹¹⁸

mvp-comment-457-1 οὐχ ὅπως σε παύσομεν ⁹¹⁹

mvp-comment-458-1 πολλῶν ἂν ἥκοις ⁹²⁰ ἔπαυσας ⁹²¹ παύσαις ⁹²²

mvp-comment-458-2 πολλῶν ⁹²³ ἄξιος ⁹²⁴ τυχεῖν ⁹²⁵

mvp-comment-459-1 εὖ κυρεῖ ⁹²⁶

mvp-comment-459-2 800 f. With πράξειας ⁹²⁷

mvp-comment-459-3 The emendations which aim at introducing

ἄν

seem, then, superfluous. The change of καταξίως ⁹²⁸ πράξειας ⁹²⁹

mvp-comment-459-4 τοῦ πορεύς. ξένου ⁹³⁰

mvp-comment-460-1 τῶν φίλων ⁹³¹

mvp-comment-461-1 ἆρ’ ὑμὶν ⁹³²

mvp-comment-461-2 ὧδ’ ⁹³³

mvp-comment-462-1 ὥς μ’ ἀπώλεσας θανών ⁹³⁴

mvp-comment-463-1 ἀποσπάσας ⁹³⁵ αἵ ⁹³⁶

mvp-comment-464-1 μολεῖν ⁹³⁷

mvp-comment-465-1 δουλεύειν ⁹³⁸

mvp-comment-465-2 πάλιν ⁹³⁹

mvp-comment-466-1 ἆρά μοι καλῶς ἔχει ⁹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-467-1 τοῦ λοιποῦ χρόνου ⁹⁴¹

mvp-comment-467-2 818 *

εἴσειμ’

, Hermann's correction of

ἔσσομ’

, is made certain by

ἀλλὰ τῇδε πρὸς πύλῃ

. No dative is needed to explain ξύνοικος ⁹⁴²

mvp-comment-468-1 παρεῖσ’ ἐμαυτὴν ⁹⁴³

mvp-comment-468-2 αὐανῶ ⁹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-469-1 χάρις ⁹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-470-1 Kommos. 1st strophe, 823—835, =1st antistr., 836—848: 2nd str., 849—859, =2nd antistr., 860—870. For metres see Metrical Analysis. Changes of person occur within a verse (as in 829 ff.,

ΗΛ. φεῦ. ΧΟ. μηδὲν μέγ’ ἀΰσῃς. ΗΛ. ἀπολεῖς. ΧΟ. πῶς

; ). This indicates that the Chorus is here represented by the coryphaeus; it is, in fact, a lyric duet between the leader and Electra. Similar duets occur in O. T. 649 —697 and O. C. 510 —548, passages which further resemble this as being

κομμοί

inserted in

ἐπεισόδια

: also in the parodos of the O. C.(as at 178 ff.), and its exodos (as at 1677 ff.): and in Ph. 1081 —1217 (as at 1184 f.).

mvp-comment-470-2 These lyrics mark the climax of Electra's grief. The comforter vainly seeks to rouse her from despair.

mvp-comment-470-3 ποῦ ποτε ⁹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-470-4 φαέθων ⁹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-470-5 ἐφορῶντες ⁹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-470-6 κρύπτουσιν ⁹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-471-1 τί δακρύεις ⁹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-472-1 μηδὲν μέγ’ ἀΰσῃς ⁹⁵¹

mvp-comment-472-2 ἀΰσῃς ⁹⁵²

mvp-comment-473-1 ἀπολεῖς ⁹⁵³

mvp-comment-474-1 τῶν … οἰχομένων ⁹⁵⁴ φανερῶς ⁹⁵⁵ ἐλπίδα ⁹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-475-1 κατ’ ἐμοῦ τακομένας ⁹⁵⁷ ἐπεμβάσει ⁹⁵⁸ κατ’ ἐμοὶ τακομένᾳ ⁹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-476-1 οἶδα γὰρ ⁹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-476-2 Ἀμφιάρεων ⁹⁶¹ ἄνακτα ⁹⁶²

mvp-comment-477-1 χρυσοδέτοις ἕρκεσι ⁹⁶³ γυναικῶν ⁹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-477-2 κρυφθέντα ⁹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-477-3 Some vase-paintings, representing the departure of Amphiaraüs for Thebes, show Eriphylè carrying the bribe in her hand. In one of these, on a very ancient vase from Caere, it appears as a necklace of large white pearls (Baumeister, Denkm. p. 67): in another, on a lekythos from Cervetri (Roscher, Lex.p. 295), it is a collar, with projecting rays.

mvp-comment-478-1 ἒ ἔ· ἰώ ⁹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-479-1 πάμψυχος ⁹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-479-2 The cult of Amphiaraüs had its chief seat in Boeotia, but afterwards spread thence to Argos, and throughout Greece. He was a chthonian deity, like Melampus; associated with Dionysus, and then with the Apollinar

μαντική

. The

Ἀμφιάρειον

near Thebes, a dream-oracle, was consulted by Mardonius ( Her. 8. 134 ). In later times the shrine near Oropus was more famous ( I. Paus. 34. 2 ).

mvp-comment-480-1 φεῦ ⁹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-480-2 φεῦ δῆτ’ ⁹⁶⁹ ὀλοὰ γὰρ ⁹⁷⁰ ἐδάμη ⁹⁷¹ ὀλοὰ ⁹⁷²

mvp-comment-480-3 ἐδάμη ⁹⁷³ ναί ⁹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-481-1 μελέτωρ ⁹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-481-2 Amphiaraüs was avenged by his son Alcmaeon ,—the counterpart, in this story, of Orestes. Before setting out for Thebes, the seer had charged him with this duty. Eriphylè, bribed once more, prevailed upon her son to lead the Epigoni against Thebes. After its fall, he returned to Argos, and slew her. Pursued by the Erinyes, he fled to Psophis in Arcadia, and there was purified. He was the subject of a play by Sophocles, and of two by Euripides,—the first,

ὁ διὰ Ψωφῖδος

(produced in 438 B.C.), dealing with his absolution, and the second,

ὁ διὰ Κορίνθου

, with a later episode. Acc. to a grammarian in Anecd. Oxon. II. p. 337, 4, the form of the name used by Eur. was

Ἀλκμέων

mvp-comment-482-1 τὸν ἐν πένθει ⁹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-483-1 ἀναρπασθείς ⁹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-484-1 δειλαία δειλαίων ⁹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-485-1 ἴστωρ ⁹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-486-1 πανσύρτῳ … αἰῶνι ⁹⁸⁰ αἰῶνι ⁹⁸¹

mvp-comment-486-2 The literal sense then is:—‘(I know this) by a life which, through all the months, is a turbid torrent of many things dread and horrible.’

πανσύρτῳ

seems rightly explained in one scholium as

πάντα σύροντι τὰ κακά

: i.e., it has an active sense, like

χαλκόπλακτος

(484 n.),

ἀμφίπλακτος

( Ph. 688 ),

πανάλωτος

(

ἄτη

, Aesch. Ag. 361 ). The genitive,

πολλῶν δεινῶν στυγνῶν τ’

, may depend upon it, as in Soph. Ant. 1184 f.

θεᾶς..προσήγορος

θεὰν προσηγοροῦσα

. But we might also join the genitive with

αἰῶνι

, as=‘a life of’ (made up of) these things. For the verb

σύρω

in ref. to a torrent, cp. Ar. Eq. 527

διὰ τῶν ἀφελῶν πεδίων ἔρρει, καὶ τῆς στάσεως παρασύρων

ἐφόρει τὰς δρῦς

: Plut. Mor.p. 5 F

πόλεμος χειμάρρου δίκην πάντα σύρων

. Thus παμμήνῳ ⁹⁸²

mvp-comment-486-3 This view gives

πανσύρτῳ

a more forcible and more poetical sense than if it be taken as=‘swept together from every side.’ The meaning then would be, ‘a life, through all the months, of many dread horrors, accumulated from every quarter,’—the epithet

πανσύρτῳ

being transferred from the troubles to the life itself. It would still, indeed, be possible to make

πανσύρτῳ

active; ‘a life which draws troubles together from all sides’; but such an active sense would be somewhat harsher, on this interpretation, than on that which supposes the image of a torrent.

mvp-comment-487-1 ἁθρήνεις ⁹⁸³ ἃ θροεῖς ⁹⁸⁴ ἃ θρηνεῖς ⁹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-488-1 μή μέ νυν ⁹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-488-2 παραγάγῃς ⁹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-488-3 ἵν’ ⁹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-489-1 τί φής ⁹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-490-1 πάρεισιν ἐλπίδων ἔτι ⁹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-490-2 With the other reading,

εὐπατρίδων τ’

, both epithets belong to

ἐλπίδων

, and

ἐλπίδες κοινότοκοι εὐπάτριδές τε

mean, ‘hopes from brothers and princes,’— i.e., ‘hopes from a princely brother’: the sense is unchanged, but the phrase is more artificial.

mvp-comment-490-3 That the MSS. have

εὐπατριδᾶν

is more significant than that they also have

τ’

, which might easily creep in. Suidas, who omits

τ’

, has

εὐπατριδᾶν

, or (in codd. A and C)

εὐπατριδῶν

: but the latter variant can hardly be said to confirm

εὐπατρίδων τ’

.—At 162 Orestes is called

εὐπατρίδαν

. The fem.

εὔπατρις

occurs at 1081.

mvp-comment-491-1 ἔφυ ⁹⁹¹

mvp-comment-492-1 χαλαργοῖς ⁹⁹²

mvp-comment-493-1 τμητοῖς ⁹⁹³

mvp-comment-494-1 ἄσκοπος ⁹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-494-2 ἁ λώβα ⁹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-495-1 ξένος ⁹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-496-1 ἄτερ ἐμᾶν χερῶν ⁹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-497-1 κέκευθεν ⁹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-497-2 οὔτε του ⁹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-497-3 ἀντιάσας ¹⁰⁰⁰

mvp-comment-497-4 τάφου … γόων ¹⁰⁰¹

mvp-comment-498-1 ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς τοι ¹⁰⁰² τοι ¹⁰⁰³ σοι ¹⁰⁰⁴

mvp-comment-499-1 τὸ κόσμιον ¹⁰⁰⁵

mvp-comment-499-2 873 For the place of ὦν ¹⁰⁰⁶

mvp-comment-500-1 σὺ ¹⁰⁰⁷ ἴασιν οὐκ ἔνεστ’ ἰδεῖν ¹⁰⁰⁸

mvp-comment-501-1 ἐναργῶς ¹⁰⁰⁹

mvp-comment-502-1 ἀλλ’ ἦ ¹⁰¹⁰

mvp-comment-502-2 τοῖς ¹⁰¹¹

mvp-comment-503-1 μὰ τὴν πατρῴαν ἑστίαν ¹⁰¹²

mvp-comment-503-2 ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὕβρει ¹⁰¹³

mvp-comment-503-3 ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνον ¹⁰¹⁴ ὡς ¹⁰¹⁵

mvp-comment-503-4 The v.l.

νόει

for νῷν ¹⁰¹⁶

mvp-comment-504-1 ἐξ ἐμοῦ ¹⁰¹⁷ τε καί ¹⁰¹⁸

mvp-comment-505-1 ἰδοῦσα πίστιν ¹⁰¹⁹

mvp-comment-505-2 εἰς τί μοι ¹⁰²⁰

mvp-comment-505-3 ἀνηκέστῳ ¹⁰²¹

mvp-comment-505-4 πυρί ¹⁰²²

mvp-comment-506-1 σὺ δ’ οὖν ¹⁰²³

mvp-comment-506-2 τῷ λόγῳ ¹⁰²⁴

mvp-comment-507-1 καὶ δὴ ¹⁰²⁵

mvp-comment-507-2 κατειδόμην ¹⁰²⁶

mvp-comment-508-1 ἀρχαῖον τάφον ¹⁰²⁷

mvp-comment-509-1 κολώνης ἐξ ἄκρας ¹⁰²⁸

mvp-comment-509-2 γάλακτος ¹⁰²⁹

mvp-comment-509-3 περιστεφῆ … ἀνθέων ¹⁰³⁰

mvp-comment-509-4 ἔστιν ¹⁰³¹

mvp-comment-509-5 θήκην ¹⁰³²

mvp-comment-510-1 ἔσχον θαῦμα ¹⁰³³

mvp-comment-510-2 ἐγχρίμπτῃ ¹⁰³⁴ ἐγχρίμπτει ¹⁰³⁵

mvp-comment-511-1 ἐν γαλήνῃ ¹⁰³⁶

mvp-comment-512-1 ἐσχάτης … πυρᾶς ¹⁰³⁷

mvp-comment-512-2 νεώρη ¹⁰³⁸

mvp-comment-513-1 ἐμπαίει κ.τ.λ. ¹⁰³⁹ ὄμμα ¹⁰⁴⁰

mvp-comment-513-2 σύνηθες ¹⁰⁴¹ ὁρᾶν ¹⁰⁴²

mvp-comment-513-3 The intrans.

ἐμπαίειν

(a stronger

ἐμπίπτειν

) occurs only here; but cp. O. T. 1252

βοῶν γὰρ εἰσέπαισεν Οἰδίπους

. In Aesch. Ag. 187

ἐμπαίοις τύχαισι

are ‘the fortunes which have suddenly struck him’: cp. ib. 347

εἰ πρόσπαια μὴ τύχοι κακά.

mvp-comment-513-4 ψυχῇ ¹⁰⁴³

mvp-comment-513-5 The scholium in L runs thus:—

ψυχῇ σύνηθες ὄμμα

]

ὅραμα ὃ ἀεὶ ἐφανταζόμην κατὰ ψυχήν

: i.e., the writer took

ὅμμα

to mean ‘a sight’; a sense possible for it only when, as here, it denotes the human face or form ( Ai. 977 : ib. 1004: Aesch. Ch. 238 ). This scholium cannot be claimed, however, as indicating that the scholiast read φάσμα ¹⁰⁴⁴

mvp-comment-514-1 βαστάσασα ¹⁰⁴⁵

mvp-comment-514-2 δυσφηυῶ μὲν οὔ ¹⁰⁴⁶ οὔ ¹⁰⁴⁷

mvp-comment-515-1 νῦν θ’ ὁμοίως καὶ τότ’ ¹⁰⁴⁸

mvp-comment-515-2 μή του ¹⁰⁴⁹

mvp-comment-515-3 ἀγλάϊσμα ¹⁰⁵⁰

mvp-comment-515-4 911 f. The elliptical πῶς γὰρ ¹⁰⁵¹ ᾗ γε ¹⁰⁵² μηδὲ ¹⁰⁵³ πρὸς θεοὺς ¹⁰⁵⁴

mvp-comment-515-5 ἀκλαύστῳ ¹⁰⁵⁵

mvp-comment-516-1 ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ ¹⁰⁵⁶

mvp-comment-517-1 οὔτε δρῶσ’ ἐλάνθαν’ ἄν ¹⁰⁵⁷

mvp-comment-517-2 It is quite true that such elision was rare; the

ν ἐφελκυστικόν

more usually averted it. The mistake is to deny that it was admissible. Porson's keen observation and fine instinct led him to no such rule; he found no offence ( e.g.) in Eur. Hec. 1113

φόβον παρέσχ’ ἂν οὐ μέσως ὅδε κτύπος

(

παρέσχεν

MSS.;

παρέσχ’ ἂν

Heath).

mvp-comment-517-3 But is ἐλάνθανεν ¹⁰⁵⁸ δρῶσα ¹⁰⁵⁹

mvp-comment-517-4 If ἐλάνθαν’ ἄν ¹⁰⁶⁰ ἔληθεν ἄν ¹⁰⁶¹

mvp-comment-517-5 915 *

τἀπιτύμβια

is Dindorf's certain correction of τἀπιτίμια ¹⁰⁶²

mvp-comment-518-1 θάρσυνε ¹⁰⁶³

mvp-comment-518-2 οὐχ αὑτὸς ἀεί ¹⁰⁶⁴

mvp-comment-519-1 νῷν ἧν ¹⁰⁶⁵ δ’ ¹⁰⁶⁶

mvp-comment-519-2 κῦρος ¹⁰⁶⁷

mvp-comment-520-1 φεῦ τῆς ἀνοίας ὥς ¹⁰⁶⁸

mvp-comment-521-1 ὅποι γῆς … φέρει ¹⁰⁶⁹

mvp-comment-522-1 πῶς δ’ οὐκ ἐγὼ κάτοιδ’ ¹⁰⁷⁰

mvp-comment-523-1 τἀκείνου … σωτήρια ¹⁰⁷¹

mvp-comment-524-1 καὶ ποῦ ¹⁰⁷²

mvp-comment-524-2 ὑπέρχεται ¹⁰⁷³

mvp-comment-525-1 μητρὶ ¹⁰⁷⁴

mvp-comment-526-1 τὰ πολλὰ ¹⁰⁷⁵ πρὸς τάφον ¹⁰⁷⁶

mvp-comment-527-1 μάλιστ’ ¹⁰⁷⁷

mvp-comment-527-2 μνημεἶ ¹⁰⁷⁸

mvp-comment-528-1 ὦ δυστυχής ¹⁰⁷⁹

mvp-comment-528-2 τοιούσδ’ ¹⁰⁸⁰

mvp-comment-529-1 ἵν’ ἦμεν ἄτης ¹⁰⁸¹

mvp-comment-530-1 λύσεις ¹⁰⁸²

mvp-comment-531-1 οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅ γ’ εἶπον ¹⁰⁸³

mvp-comment-532-1 φερέγγυος ¹⁰⁸⁴

mvp-comment-533-1 τλῆναι … δρῶσαν ¹⁰⁸⁵

mvp-comment-534-1 ὠφέλειά γ’ ¹⁰⁸⁶

mvp-comment-535-1 ὅρα ¹⁰⁸⁷

mvp-comment-535-2 πόνου … εὐτυχεῖ ¹⁰⁸⁸

mvp-comment-536-1 ξυνοίσω ¹⁰⁸⁹

mvp-comment-537-1 ποεῖν ¹⁰⁹⁰

mvp-comment-538-1 παρουσίαν ¹⁰⁹¹

mvp-comment-538-2 καὶ σύ που ¹⁰⁹²

mvp-comment-539-1 λελείμμεθον ¹⁰⁹³

mvp-comment-540-1 θάλλοντ’ ἔτ’ ¹⁰⁹⁴ βίῳ ¹⁰⁹⁵

mvp-comment-541-1 πράκτοῤ ¹⁰⁹⁶

mvp-comment-542-1 εἰς σὲ δὴ βλέπω ¹⁰⁹⁷

mvp-comment-543-1 κατοκνήσεις ¹⁰⁹⁸ κατοκνήσῃς ¹⁰⁹⁹

mvp-comment-543-2 Brunck's comment, ‘ soloece vulgo

κατοκνήσῃς

,’ alludes to the rule laid down by R. Dawes (ob. 1766) in Miscellanea Critica (p. 227), and once known as the canon Davesianus, that

ὅπως

could not be used with the first aor. subjunct. act. or midd. Among many examples that refute it are

ἐκπλεύσῃ

in the passage just quoted from Xen. (the fut. being

ἐκπλεύσεται

), and

κλαύσω

in 1122 (the fut. being

κλαύσομαι

mvp-comment-544-1 κρύπτειν ¹¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-544-2 In this play the fate of Aegisthus forms the climax. Electra has already said that Clytaemnestra shared in the murderous deed (97 ff., 206), and has avowed that she would have wished Orestes to wreak vengeance on her (604). But she does not suggest that she herself or her sister should slay their mother; even the plur.

ἐχθροῖς

in 979 need not mean more than Aegisthus. Sophocles avoids everything that could qualify our sympathy with Electra; while it suits the different aim of Euripides to make her plan the matricide. See Introduction.

mvp-comment-545-1 ποῖ … μενεῖς ¹¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-545-2 βλέψας’ ¹¹⁰²

mvp-comment-546-1 κτῆσιν ¹¹⁰³ ἐστερημένῃ ¹¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-547-1 ἐς τοσόνδε τοῦ χρόνου ¹¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-548-1 ἄλεκτρα … ἀνυμέναια ¹¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-548-2 γηράσκουσαν ¹¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-549-1 τῶνδε ¹¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-549-2 ὅπως ¹¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-550-1 ἢ κἀμὸν ¹¹¹⁰ πημονὴν ¹¹¹¹

mvp-comment-551-1 ἐπίσπῃ ¹¹¹²

mvp-comment-552-1 εὐσέβειαν … οἴσει ¹¹¹³ θανόντος ¹¹¹⁴ κάτω ¹¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-552-2 970 ff. The compound ἐξέφυς ¹¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-552-3 καλεῖ ¹¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-552-4 τὰ χρηστὰ ¹¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-553-1 λόγων γε μὴν εὔκλειαν ¹¹¹⁹ λόγων ¹¹²⁰

mvp-comment-554-1 ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων ¹¹²¹

mvp-comment-554-2 δεξιώσεται ¹¹²²

mvp-comment-555-1 ἴδεσθε ¹¹²³

mvp-comment-556-1 εὖ βεβηκόσιν ¹¹²⁴

mvp-comment-556-2 ἀφειδήσαντε ¹¹²⁵

mvp-comment-556-3 προὐστήτην φόνου ¹¹²⁶ ἐχθροῖς ¹¹²⁷ φόνου ¹¹²⁸

mvp-comment-556-4 981 f. For τούτω … τώδε ¹¹²⁹ ἑορταῖς ¹¹³⁰ πανδήμῳ πόλει ¹¹³¹ τοι ¹¹³²

mvp-comment-557-1 συμπόνει ¹¹³³ σύγκαμνε ¹¹³⁴

mvp-comment-557-2 Electra has already declared her faith that Agamemnon, in the nether world, is the ally of his children (454

ἀρωγόν

: cp. 459 ). Orestes also, as she believes, is now there, working in the same cause. She asks her sister to aid their efforts.

mvp-comment-557-3 Nauck miserably defaces this passage by adopting the corrupt v. l. ἀδελφῇ ¹¹³⁵ ἐμέ ¹¹³⁶

mvp-comment-557-4 παῦσον ἐκ κακῶν ¹¹³⁷

mvp-comment-557-5 989 In τοῖς καλῶς πεφυκόσιν ¹¹³⁸

mvp-comment-558-1 ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ¹¹³⁹ καὶ κλύοντι ¹¹⁴⁰ σύμμαχος ¹¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-558-2 993 For the place of μὴ ¹¹⁴²

mvp-comment-558-3 ἐσῴζετ’ ¹¹⁴³

mvp-comment-559-1 ἐμβλέψασα ¹¹⁴⁴ θράσος … ὁπλίζει ¹¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-560-1 εἰσορᾷς ¹¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-560-2 γυνὴ μὲν ¹¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-560-3 σθένεις δ’ ἔλασσον … χερί ¹¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-561-1 ἀπορρεῖ ¹¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-561-2 κἀπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται ¹¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-562-1 τοιοῦτον ¹¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-562-2 ἄλυπος ἄτης ¹¹⁵²

mvp-comment-563-1 κτησώμεθ’ ¹¹⁵³

mvp-comment-564-1 λύει ¹¹⁵⁴ ἡμᾶς ¹¹⁵⁵ ἡμῖν ¹¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-564-2 δυσκλεῶς θανεῖν ¹¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-565-1 οὐ γἀρ θανεῖν ¹¹⁵⁸ γὰρ ¹¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-566-1 κἀξερημῶσαι γένος ¹¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-567-1 ἄρρητα … κἀτελῆ ¹¹⁶¹ σοι ¹¹⁶²

mvp-comment-568-1 ἀλλὰ τῷ χρόνῳ ποτέ ¹¹⁶³

mvp-comment-569-1 The difference between πείθου ¹¹⁶⁴ πιθοῦ ¹¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-570-1 καλῶς δ’ ¹¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-571-1 αὐτόχειρί μοι ¹¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-571-2 μόνῃ τε ¹¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-571-3 οὐ γὰρ δὴ ¹¹⁶⁹ γε ¹¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-571-4 κενόν ¹¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-572-1 εἴθ’ ὤφελες ¹¹⁷²

mvp-comment-572-2 πᾶν γὰρ ἂν κατειργάσω ¹¹⁷³

mvp-comment-573-1 φύσιν γε ¹¹⁷⁴ τότε ¹¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-574-1 ὡς οὐχὶ συνδράσουσα ¹¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-574-2 νουθετεῖς ¹¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-575-1 εἰκὸς γὰρ ¹¹⁷⁸ ἐγχειροῦντα ¹¹⁷⁹ πράσσειν ¹¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-576-1 ζηλῶ ¹¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-577-1 ἀνέξομαι ¹¹⁸²

mvp-comment-578-1 μὴ πάθῃς τόδε ¹¹⁸³

mvp-comment-579-1 τὸ κρῖναι ¹¹⁸⁴ μακρὸς ¹¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-579-2 χὡ λοιπὸς χρόνος ¹¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-580-1 μητρὶ … σῇ ¹¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-581-1 οὐδ’ αὖ ¹¹⁸⁸ οὐδ’ ¹¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-581-2 ἔχθος ¹¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-582-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν … γ’ ¹¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-582-2 οἷ … ἀτιμίας ¹¹⁹²

mvp-comment-583-1 ἀτιμίας μὲν οὔ ¹¹⁹³

mvp-comment-584-1 τῷ σῷ δικαίῳ ¹¹⁹⁴ δῆτ’ ¹¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-585-1 ἦ δεινὸν ¹¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-585-2 εὖ λέγουσαν ¹¹⁹⁷ ἐξαμαρτάνειν ¹¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-586-1 ᾧ σὺ πρόσκεισαι κακῷ ¹¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-587-1 τί δ); οὐ δοκῶ σοι ¹²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-588-1 εἰ ποήσεις ¹²⁰¹

mvp-comment-589-1 καὶ μὴν ¹²⁰²

mvp-comment-590-1 βουλεύσει πάλιν ¹²⁰³

mvp-comment-591-1 φρονεῖν ¹²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-592-1 ταῦτα ¹²⁰⁵ νεωστί ¹²⁰⁶ ι ¹²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-593-1 τολμᾷς ¹²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-594-1 οὔ σοι μὴ μεθέψομαι ¹²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-595-1 καὶ τὸ θηρᾶσθαι κενά ¹²¹⁰ καὶ ¹²¹¹

mvp-comment-595-2 κενά ¹²¹²

mvp-comment-596-1 ὅταν γὰρ ¹²¹³

mvp-comment-596-2 βεβήκῃς ¹²¹⁴

mvp-comment-597-1 ἄνωθεν ¹²¹⁵

mvp-comment-597-2 οἰωνοὺς ¹²¹⁶

mvp-comment-598-1 ἐσορώμενοι ¹²¹⁷ ἀφ’ ὧν ¹²¹⁸

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

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.

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.

442-443. mvp-comment-192-1 For only think whether you can suppose the dead man in his grave will receive this gift kindly at her hand.' For αὐτῇ as dative of the remote object with προσφιλῶς δέξασθαι, cp. supr. 226, 7, τίνι . . πρόσφορον ἀκούσαιμ᾽ ἔπος; It may also be taken with προσφιλῶς separately, but rather follows both words as combined in one expression.

444. mvp-comment-193-1 'Who slew him dishonourably as a personal foe.' Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1374, ἐχθροῖς ἐχθρὰ πορσύνων: ibid. 1492-4, κεῖσαι . κοίταν τάνδ᾽ ἀνελεύθερον.

445. mvp-comment-194-1 ἐμασχαλίσθη] ‘He was mutilated' (by cutting off the extremities and placing or tieing them under the armpits). Clytemnestra had adopted this barbarous means of disabling the spirit of her enemy. Aesch. Cho. 439, ἐμασχαλίσθη δ᾽ ἔθ᾽, ὡς τόδ᾽ εἰδῇς.

445-446. mvp-comment-195-1 And his head was used to wipe the stains away in washing' (the hearth). This additional circumstance of savagery is known to us only from Sophocles, but is probably not due to his invention. See Introd. to Aj. p. 1. Interpreters have supposed a change of subject, supplying ἡ ς ἡ Κλυταιμνήστρα ας nominative to ἐξέμαξεν. But this is unnecessary if it is borne in mind that verbs active in grammar are often used in Greek to express a passive condition. Essay on L. § 30. p. 52 d. Prof. Jebb understands the construction in the same way, with a slightly different nuance of interpretation: - 'And by way of funeral ablution received the print of the sword-stains on his head.' Mr. Paley translates, And at the washing of the body she wiped off the blood-stains on his head.' But did she wash the body?

446-447. mvp-comment-196-1 Electra tries to influence Chrysothemis, not only with fear of her dead father, but also by pointing out the uselessness of the action for Clytemnestra's purpose, and so quieting her sister's conscience in this respect.

448. mvp-comment-197-1 σὺ δέ] For the introduction of the personal pronoun without real emphasis, in such antitheses, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 79.

449. mvp-comment-198-1 Clipping off a little from thy luxuriant curls.' The words call attention to the abundance of Chrysothemis' hair in comparison with Electra's. Cp- Eur. Or. 128, 9, εἴδετε παρ᾿ ἄκρας ὡς ἀπέθρισεν τρίχας, | σώζουσα κάλλος.

451. mvp-comment-199-1 τήνδε †λιπαρή τρίχα] The adjective here is puzzling, whichever reading we adopt. Hermann thought the MS. reading ἀλιπαρή might bear the sense of 'unmeet for supplication.' But λιπαρεῖν is hardly near enough in meaning to λιτανεύειν to make this possible. The Scholiast and Suidas explain the alternative reading λιπαρή, by ἱκέτιν, ἐξ ἧς αὐτὸν λιπαρήσομεν.

451. mvp-comment-199-2 But this is wanting in point. And a confusion of λιπαρής with λιπαρός (i.e. ἀλιπαρῆ = αὐχμηράν) is not to be thought of. Perhaps λιπαρή, in the sense of 'patient,' 'persistent,' may have conveyed some shade of meaning suitable to the passage. Or possibly ΛΙΠΑΡΗ may be a corruption of AYC-ΠΙΝΗ. Ср. О. С. 1597, εἶτ᾿ ἔλυσε δυσπινεῖς στολάς. I cannot think, with Mr. Paley, that this and the following line are an interpolation. The words ἄχω, δὸς αὐτῷ, are too pathetic for this.

452. mvp-comment-200-1 οὐ χλιδαῖς ἠσκημένον] 'Not elegantly neat.' The dative of manner in χλιδαῖς has an adverbial force. Essay on L. § 14. p. 20. Electra's girdle had not been beautifully got up' and 'laid in lavender,' like her sister's.

453-454. mvp-comment-201-1 The belief in the real presence of the spirits of the dead on great occasions, which is so powerful in the Oresteia of Aeschylus, still survives in the Sophoclean drama, but is much less vividly and realistically felt. It has become more ideal.

455. mvp-comment-202-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός] • With overpowering might.'

456. mvp-comment-203-1 ζῶντ᾽ ἐπεμβῆναι ποδί] Either (1) In the fulness of life (ζῶντα) should trample with his foot' (ποδί expletive); or (2) Should trample with a foot of living power' (ζῶντι.. ποδί). The latter is rendered improbable by the unusual elision, for which, however, cp. Trach. 675, ἀργῆτ᾽ οἰὸς εὐείρῳ πόκῳ, where see note. See also Pind. Ol. 13. 114, καρταίποδ᾽ ἀναρύῃ Γαιαóχῳ. In either case ζῆν is used in the secondary sense of being vigorous. Cp. Ant. 456, 7, ἀεί ποτε | ζῇ ταῦτα: Ο. Τ. 44, 5, and note.

459-460. mvp-comment-204-1 'Indeed, I do believe some care on his part caused the appalling dream to come to her.' For the use of the neuter participle, see Essay on L. § 30. p. 51 α. Although μέλον here has not the article, it should be added to the six examples there given. μὲν οὖν interposes the incidental thought, that even without their prayers Agamemnon was minded to interfere. Then, in 461, the main drift is resumed with ὅμως. 'Still, let us not omit this offering!'

461. mvp-comment-205-1 σοί is here equivalent to σαυτῇ, but occurring here as one of several coordinate terms, can hardly be adduced to justify the use of ἐμέ for ἐμαυτήν in supr. 363, which becomes necessary if λυπεῖν is read.

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.

614. mvp-comment-275-1 τηλικοῦτος] 'At her age.' Cp. infr. 961, 2:-i.e. Her words are not those of a petulant girl, which might be safely disregarded.

616-619. mvp-comment-276-1 The harshness of Electra is not native to her character, but superinduced, and she is painfully conscious of this.

623. mvp-comment-277-1 πόλλ᾽ ἄγαν λέγειν ποιεῖ] 'Make you to say too much: '-i.e. Are too much the theme of your discourse, in which you say much that you should not.

624. mvp-comment-278-1 viv is here neuter plural = αὐτά.

624-625. mvp-comment-279-1 Translated by Milton:-''Tis you that say it, not I; you do the deeds, And your ungodly deeds find me the words.'

626. mvp-comment-280-1 μὰ τὴν .. "Αρτεμιν] Cp. supr. 565, and note. θράσους is genitive of cause.

627. mvp-comment-281-1 For the repetition of οὐκ, see Essay on L. § 29. p. 48. We are again reminded that Aegisthus is from home. Cp. supr. 517.

628-629. mvp-comment-282-1 μεθεῖσά μοι χρήζοιμ 'After giving me leave to say what I chose.' Supr. 556.

630. mvp-comment-283-1 οὐδ᾽ ὑπ᾿ εὐφήμου βοῆς], 'Not even in silence from clamour:' - i. e. Not even without being pestered by your noise.

632. mvp-comment-284-1 κελεύω] 'I urge it on you:'- i.e. as knowing what need you have to propitiate the gods.

634. mvp-comment-285-1 ἡ παροῦσά μοι] ‘Thou that art with me.' Cp. supr. 424. In Sophocles the attendants are never called by name, -as the Nurse is in Aesch. Cho. 732.

634-635. mvp-comment-286-1 θύμαθ᾽.. πάγκαρπ'] 'Rich offerings of various produce.'

635. mvp-comment-287-1 ἄνακτι . . τῷδ'] 'The king in presence here; '-Apollo Lyceius, infr. 645: ср. О. Т. 919, supr. l. 7.

635-636. mvp-comment-288-1 ὅπως.. ἔχω] 'That I may offer up a prayer for release from the terrors which are now haunting me.' The words, δειμάτων & νῦν ἔχω, are added in construction with λυτηρίους. For the sense, cp. O. Τ. 921, ὅπως λύσιν τιν' ἡμὶν εὐαγῆ πόρῃς.

639-640. mvp-comment-289-1 οὐδὲ πᾶν . . ἐμοί] 'Nor is it fitting that I unfold everything to light while she is near me.' In listening to these words the spectator recollects

640-642. mvp-comment-290-1 that Electra is already in possession of the whole truth about the dream. Cp. supr. 417 foll.

641-642. mvp-comment-291-1 'Lest with inauspicious and noisy outcry she disseminate a lewd report throughout the city.' φθόνῳ is lit. *odium.' ματ ματαίαν is not merely 'causeless,' but 'wanton,' conveying the notion of positive mischief. In πολυγλώσσῳ the first part of the compound is intensive. Cp. supr. 488, 9, infr. 798.

643. mvp-comment-292-1 But hear it, even in the (vague) form in which I will make it known.' Cp. O. C. 484, for the importance attached to the form of words used in prayer.

644. mvp-comment-293-1 γάρ introduces the promised statement.

645. mvp-comment-294-1 δισσῶν is supposed by some to mean, 'Ambiguous; but it is simpler and more natural to understand it either of two different dreams, or of the same dream repeated. Cp. Plat. Phaedo, 60 E, πολλάκις μοι φοιτῶν τὸ αὐτὸ ἐνύπνιον ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι βίῳ, ἄλλοτ᾽ ἐν ἄλλῃ ὄψει φαινόμενον, τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ λέγον, κ.τ.λ.

647. mvp-comment-295-1 ἔμπαλιν] 'On the contrary,'- because ἐμοί is understood with τελεσφόρα in l. 646. μέθες] 'Let it fall instead.'

648-649. mvp-comment-296-1 'And if there is one who plans to cast me forth by guile from my present high estate, do not permit it to him.' Though τινες is plural, Orestes is meant, just as Aegisthus is indicated by the vague φίλοισι in infr. 652. Cp. supr. 590. The spectator knows that the will of Apollo is directly opposed to this petition. For it is difficult to suppose either here or in O. Τ. 908, 919, an entire separation of the Lyceian from the Pythian Apollo. See Introduction.

653. mvp-comment-297-1 καὶ τέκνων ὅσων] ‘And with the children from whom." τέκνοις, the antecedent to ὅσων, is attracted into the case of the relative. Essay on L. § 35. p. 59. She is thinking of Chrysothemis and Iphianassa ( supr. 157) to the exclusion of Electra.

654. mvp-comment-298-1 λύπη] ‘Vexation,' in an active sense.

655. mvp-comment-299-1 This part of the prayer is merely formal, and is uttered in a loud voice, the rest having been spoken aside.

655. mvp-comment-299-2 This part of the prayer is merely formal, and is uttered in a loud voice, the rest having been spoken aside.

660. mvp-comment-300-1 The coming-in of the Old Man prepares the way for the peripeteia by obtaining entrance for the disguised Orestes. It also brings out the heroic character of Electra, by reducing her to a position of despair, and makes more effective her subsequent recognition of Orestes.

660. mvp-comment-300-2 ξέναι] He speaks as a Phocian.

660. mvp-comment-300-3 The coming-in of the Old Man prepares the way for the peripeteia by obtaining entrance for the disguised Orestes. It also brings out the heroic character of Electra, by reducing her to a position of despair, and makes more effective her subsequent recognition of Orestes.

660. mvp-comment-300-4 ξέναι] He speaks as a Phocian.

663. mvp-comment-301-1 δάμαρτα] Sc. οὖσαν.

663. mvp-comment-301-2 δάμαρτα] Sc. οὖσαν.

664. mvp-comment-302-1 πρέπει . . εἰσορᾶν] Though no longer Queen of Agamemnon, the daughter of Tyndareus still wears a royal mien.

664. mvp-comment-302-2 πρέπει . . εἰσορᾶν] Though no longer Queen of Agamemnon, the daughter of Tyndareus still wears a royal mien.

667. mvp-comment-303-1 φίλου παρ᾿ ἀνδρός] Phanoteus, as the enemy of Strophius, Agamemnon's friend, is imagined to be the close ally of Aegisthus. Cp. supr. 45, and note.

667. mvp-comment-303-2 φίλου παρ᾽ ἀνδρός] Phanoteus, as the enemy of Strophius, Agamemnon's friend, is imagined to be the close ally of Aegisthus. Cp. supr. 45, and note.

668. mvp-comment-304-1 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν] I accept the omen.' For this customary mode of appropriating auspicious words, cp. Hdt. 1. 63, Πεισίστρατος δέ, συλλαβὼν τὸ χρηστήριον, καὶ φὰς δέκεσθαι τὸ χρησθέν, ἐπῆγε τὴν στρατιήν: Aesch. Ag. 1652, 3, ΑΙ. .. πρόκωπος οὐκ ἀναίνομαι θανεῖν. | ΧΟ. δεχομένοις λέγεις θανεῖν σε.

668. mvp-comment-304-2 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν] I accept the omen.' For this customary mode of appropriating auspicious words, cp. Hdt. 1. 63, Πεισίστρατος δέ, συλλαβὼν τὸ χρηστήριον, καὶ φὰς δέκεσθαι τὸ χρησθέν, ἐπῆγε τὴν στρατιήν: Aesch. Ag. 1652, 3, ΑΙ. .. πρόκωπος οὐκ ἀναίνομαι θανεῖν. | ΧΟ. δεχομένοις λέγεις θανεῖν σε.

670. mvp-comment-305-1 πρᾶγμα.. μέγα] 'Having on his hands the care of a great matter.' The report is identified with the event.

670. mvp-comment-305-2 πρᾶγμα.. μέγα] 'Having on his hands the care of a great matter.' The report is identified with the event.

675. mvp-comment-306-1 τί φής, τί φής...] For this eager repetition, cp. O. C. 1099, ΟΙ. ποῦ ποῦ; τί φής; πῶς εἶπας; ΑΝ. ὦ πάτερ, πάτερ, κ.τ.λ.

675. mvp-comment-306-2 τί φής, τί φής...] For this eager repetition, cp. O. C. 1099, ΟΙ. ποῦ ποῦ; τί φής; πῶς εἶπας; ΑΝ. ὦ πάτερ, πάτερ, κ.τ.λ.

676. mvp-comment-307-1 I have been saying all this while, and now repeat, that Orestes is dead.' For the participial construction, ср. О. Т. 463-5, and note.

676. mvp-comment-307-2 I have been saying all this while, and now repeat, that Orestes is dead.' For the participial construction, ср. О. Т. 463-5, and note.

678. mvp-comment-308-1 σὺ μὲν . . πρᾶσσ'] 'You, mind your own affairs!' i. e. Do not interrupt us.

678. mvp-comment-308-2 σὺ μὲν . . πρᾶσσ'] 'You, mind your own affairs!' i. e. Do not interrupt us.

680. mvp-comment-309-1 The Old Man now fills up with great spirit (though without an 'oath') the outline which Orestes gave him, supr. 48-50. This narrative, while directly pertinent to the action, also helps to relieve it at a point where it was becoming monotonous. The ornate and exaggerated diction (especially in 730-3) is suited to a fabricated account. Contrast in this respect the speech of Hyllus in Trach. 749 foll.

680. mvp-comment-309-2 The Old Man now fills up with great spirit (though without an 'oath') the outline which Orestes gave him, supr. 48-50. This narrative, while directly pertinent to the action, also helps to relieve it at a point where it was becoming monotonous. The ornate and exaggerated diction (especially in 730-3) is suited to a fabricated account. Contrast in this respect the speech of Hyllus in Trach. 749 foll.

681-682. mvp-comment-310-1 εἰς τὸ κοινὸν . . ἀγῶνος] ‘Το that contest which is the universal pride of Hellas.' ἀγῶνος is to be taken closely with πρόσχημα, as a genitive of definition. Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.

681-682. mvp-comment-310-2 εἰς τὸ κοινὸν . . ἀγῶνος] ‘Το that contest which is the universal pride of Hellas.' ἀγῶνος is to be taken closely with πρόσχημα, as a genitive of definition. Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.

685. mvp-comment-311-1 He entered the arena, glorious to behold, and drew all men's eyes towards him.' For λαμπρός, cp. Plat. Rep. 8. 560 E, λαμπρὰς μετὰ πολλοῦ χοροῦ κατάγουσιν : Aeschin. 34. 40.

685. mvp-comment-311-2 He entered the arena, glorious to behold, and drew all men's eyes towards him.' For λαμπρός, cp. Plat. Rep. 8. 560 E, λαμπρὰς μετὰ πολλοῦ χοροῦ κατάγουσιν : Aeschin. 34. 40.

686. mvp-comment-312-1 And having finished his courses in a manner worthy of his looks.' Lit. 'Having made the completion of his courses adequate to his personal appearance.' This line has been needlessly and mistakenly altered. φύσις, the outward promise of the man, is an abridgment or resumption of εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός. Cp. Trach. 308, where πρὸς μὲν . . φύσιν is To judge from her appearance:' Pind. Isthm. 6. 30, φέρει γὰρ Ἰσθμοῖ νίκαν παγκρατίου· σθένει τ' ἔκπαγλος ἰδεῖν τε μορφάεις· ἄγει δ' ἀρετὰν οὐκ αἴσχιον φυᾶς: Nem. 3. 32, ἐὼν καλὸς ἔρδων τ' ἐοικότα μορφᾷ. The conjecture of Musgr. (ἰσώσας τἀφέσει τὰ τέρματα, Having finished at the starting-place') is forced and meaningless. On the verb ἰσόω, see E. on L. § 51. p. 96.

686. mvp-comment-312-2 And having finished his courses in a manner worthy of his looks.' Lit. 'Having made the completion of his courses adequate to his personal appearance.' This line has been needlessly and mistakenly altered. φύσις, the outward promise of the man, is an abridgment or resumption of εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός. Cp. Trach. 308, where πρὸς μὲν . . φύσιν is To judge from her appearance:' Pind. Isthm. 6. 30, φέρει γὰρ Ἰσθμοῖ νίκαν παγκρατίου· σθένει τ' ἔκπαγλος ἰδεῖν τε μορφάεις· ἄγει δ' ἀρετὰν οὐκ αἴσχιον φυᾶς: Nem. 3. 32, ἐὼν καλὸς ἔρδων τ' ἐοικότα μορφᾷ. The conjecture of Musgr. (ἰσώσας τἀφέσει τὰ τέρματα, Having finished at the starting-place') is forced and meaningless. On the verb ἰσόω, see E. on L. § 51. p. 96.

688-689. mvp-comment-313-1 And I know not, indeed, how to tell you a few out of the many successful exploits of such a hero.' This is naturally opposed to what follows, where, instead of selecting particular feats, the Old Man sums up all in a single statement. A slight

688-689. mvp-comment-313-2 And I know not, indeed, how to tell you a few out of the many successful exploits of such a hero.' This is naturally opposed to what follows, where, instead of selecting particular feats, the Old Man sums up all in a single statement. A slight

688-691. mvp-comment-314-1 emendation of l. 688, χὤπως μὲν ἐν παύροισι πολλά, κ.τ.λ., Το tell you much in few, I know of no such (other) hero's achievements and victories,' would make the line clearer in itself, but would destroy the connection with ἓν δ᾽ ἴσθι. But see the end of note on l. 691.

688-691. mvp-comment-314-2 emendation of 1. 688, χὤπως μὲν ἐν παύροισι πολλά, κ.τ.λ., Το tell you much in few, I know of no such (other) hero's achievements and victories,' would make the line clearer in itself, but would destroy the connection with ἓν δ᾽ ἴσθι. But see the end of note on 1. 691.

691. mvp-comment-315-1 Porson's emendation of this line is extremely probable. If the letters περ were displaced, πεν(τ)άθλα might easily be suggested. The relation of ll. 686, 7, to 688- 695, may be questioned. He is describing the first day's performances, and in ll. 686, 7, either (1) states generally what is expanded afterwards, or (2) describes the first race, and then in what follows sums up the remaining contests of the same day. The plural τέρματα, and the structure of the whole passage, decide the point in favour of (1), making each of the two sentences refer to all the foot-races together. Otherwise (3), supposing the language to be more than usually inexact, the lines may be taken to mean, To tell only a little when there is much to tell, I know no feats to be compared with his. One thing you may know,' etc.

691. mvp-comment-315-2 Porson's emendation of this line is extremely probable. If the letters περ were displaced, πεν(τ)άθλα might easily be suggested. The relation of 11. 686, 7, to 688- 695, may be questioned. He is describing the first day's performances, and in 11.686, 7, either (1) states generally what is expanded afterwards, or (2) describes the first race, and then in what follows sums up the remaining contests of the same day. The plural τέρματα, and the structure of the whole passage, decide the point in favour of (1), making each of the two sentences refer to all the foot-races together. Otherwise (3), supposing the language to be more than usually inexact, the lines may be taken to mean, To tell only a little when there is much to tell, I know no feats to be compared with his. One thing you may know,' etc.

693-695. mvp-comment-316-1 He received the congratulations of the crowd, being known by proclamation as an Argive, named Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who levied once the famous armament of Hellas.'

693-695. mvp-comment-316-2 He received the congratulations of the crowd, being known by proclamation as an Argive, named Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who levied once the famous armament of Hellas.'

696-697. mvp-comment-317-1 ὅταν . . βλάπτῃ] 'But when some god is thwarting.'

696-697. mvp-comment-317-2 ὅταν . . βλάπτῃ] 'But when some god is thwarting.'

699. mvp-comment-318-1 ἡλίου τέλλοντος] “At sunrise:' i.e. beginning then.

699. mvp-comment-318-2 ἡλίου τέλλοντος] “At sunrise:' i.e. beginning then.

702. mvp-comment-319-1 ζυγωτῶν ἁρμάτων ἐπιστάται] Masters of yoked cars.' Hdt. 4. 189, τέσσερας ἵππους συζευγνύναι παρὰ Λιβύων οἱ Ἕλληνες μεμαθήκασι. Hence, possibly, the position of this general epithet. The fame of Cyrene in chariot-racing is known to us from Pindar.

702. mvp-comment-319-2 ζυγωτῶν ἁρμάτων ἐπιστάται] Masters of yoked cars.' Hdt. 4. 189, τέσσερας ἵππους συζευγνύναι παρὰ Λιβύων οἱ Ἕλληνες μεμαθήκασι. Hence, possibly, the position of this general epithet. The fame of Cyrene in chariot-racing is known to us from Pindar.

703. mvp-comment-320-1 Θεσσαλάς] Orestes was exiled from the plain of ῎Αργος ἱππόβοτον, and Phocis was too mountainous for horse-breeding.' The Athenian spectator might here be reminded of his faithful allies, the Thessalian horsemen. The five first mentioned come from Dorian states, the rest being either Ionic or Aeolian. ἐν τούτοισι, ' Enter-

703. mvp-comment-320-2 Θεσσαλάς] Orestes was exiled from the plain of ῎Αργος ἱππόβοτον, and Phocis was too mountainous for horse-breeding.' The Athenian spectator might here be reminded of his faithful allies, the Thessalian horsemen. The five first mentioned come from Dorian states, the rest being either Ionic or Aeolian. ἐν τούτοισι, 'Enter-

703-706. mvp-comment-321-1 ing himself with the foregoing,' calls attention to this difference.

703-706. mvp-comment-321-2 ing himself with the foregoing,' calls attention to this difference.

705-706. mvp-comment-322-1 The descriptive epithets in this and the next line, while adding vividness to the picture, may have had some special appropriateness that would be felt by the Greek hearer.

705-706. mvp-comment-322-2 The descriptive epithets in this and the next line, while adding vividness to the picture, may have had some special appropriateness that would be felt by the Greek hearer.

706. mvp-comment-323-1 Αἰνιάν] Hdt. 7. 132, 198.

706. mvp-comment-323-2 Αἰνιάν] Hdt. 7. 132, 198.

707. mvp-comment-324-1 The ornate epithet is reserved for Athens.

707. mvp-comment-324-2 The ornate epithet is reserved for Athens.

708. mvp-comment-325-1 δέκατον ἐκπληρῶν ὄχον] ‘Making ten chariots in all.' Cp. Hdt. 9. 30, σὺν δὲ Θεσπιέων τοῖσι παρεοῦσι ἐξεπληροῦντο αἱ ἕνδεκα μυριάδες, -and, for the use of the ordinal numeral, ib. 1. 51, ἕλκων σταθμὸν ἔννατον ἡμιτάλαντον, and the like expressions. There is a slight confusion or condensation of δέκατον ὄχον ἐλαύνων and ἐκπληρῶν τοὺς δέκα ὄχους.

708. mvp-comment-325-2 δέκατον ἐκπληρῶν ὄχον] ‘Making ten chariots in all.' Cp. Hdt. 9. 30, σὺν δὲ Θεσπιέων τοῖσι παρεοῦσι ἐξεπληροῦντο αἱ ἕνδεκα μυριάδες, -and, for the use of the ordinal numeral, ib. 1. 51, ἕλκων σταθμὸν ἔννατον ἡμιτάλαντον, and the like expressions. There is a slight confusion or condensation of δέκατον ὄχον ἐλαύνων and ἐκπληρῶν τοὺς δέκα ὄχους.

710. mvp-comment-326-1 'Had set the chariots in order after sorting them with lots.' κλήρους ἔπηλαν would have been a simpler construction, but πάλλειν is used absolutely of casting lots, and then receives the addition of an instrumental dative. Cp. supr. l. 21, and note. The construction of the whole line is paratactic for πήλαντες κατέστησαν. Essay on L. § 36. p. 68. αὐτούς in the previous line is in a general construction with what follows.

710. mvp-comment-326-2 'Had set the chariots in order after sorting them with lots.' κλήρους ἔπηλαν would have been a simpler construction, but πάλλειν is used absolutely of casting lots, and then receives the addition of an instrumental dative. Cp. supr. l. 21, and note. The construction of the whole line is paratactic for πήλαντες κατέστησαν. Essay on L. § 36. p. 68. αὐτούς in the previous line is in a general construction with what follows.

711. mvp-comment-327-1 ήξαν] 'The start was made.' The verb has a vague subject in which horses, charioteers, and chariots, are included in one notion. Off they went!' Hence in what follows the charioteers are particularized with the demonstrative οἱ.

711. mvp-comment-327-2 ήξαν] 'The start was made.' The verb has a vague subject in which horses, charioteers, and chariots, are included in one notion. Off they went!' Hence in what follows the charioteers are particularized with the demonstrative οἱ. ἅμα] 'At the same moment;' i. e. All together at the moment of the start.

711-712. mvp-comment-328-1 ἅμα] 'At the same moment;' i. e. All together at the moment of the start.

714. mvp-comment-329-1 κροτητῶν] 'Rattling along:' i.e. the parts of each chariot being rattled against each other, and all against the ground, made a din which filled the place. On the use of the verbal adj., see E. on L. § 53. p. 98.

714. mvp-comment-329-2 κροτητῶν] 'Rattling along:' i.e. the parts of each chariot being rattled against each other, and all against the ground, made a din which filled the place. On the use of the verbal adj., see E. on L. § 53. p. 98.

716-717. mvp-comment-330-1 ὡς .. ἱππικά] Either (1) Whenever any one of them shot ahead of the axle-ends (of the others) and the snorting of the steeds;' i.e. For the most part they were mingled in a confused throng; but when one drew before the rest, then was the moment of excitement, -for the breath of the foaming steeds immediately behind him was an incentive to make him drive faster still. Or (2) Each of them that he might get away from the wheel-naves and the snorting of the steeds :'- each was eager to escape from the neighbourhood of the rest, so as to have free course. But the following lines, which speak of a rival pursuing

716-717. mvp-comment-330-2 ὡς .. ἱππικά] Either (1) Whenever any one of them shot ahead of the axle-ends (of the others) and the snorting of the steeds;' i.e. For the most part they were mingled in a confused throng; but when one drew before the rest, then was the moment of excitement, -for the breath of the foaming steeds immediately behind him was an incentive to make him drive faster still. Or (2) Each of them that he might get away from the wheel-naves and the snorting of the steeds :'- each was eager to escape from the neighbourhood of the rest, so as to have free course. But the following lines, which speak of a rival pursuing

717-719. mvp-comment-331-1 closely in the rear, cannot be equally applicable to all the ten. For the phraseology, cp. Eur. Iph. A. 228-30, οἷς παρεπάλλετο | Πηλείδας σὺν ὅπλοισι παρ᾿ ἄντυγα | καὶ σύριγγας ἁρματείους. (3) Supposing the general sense to be as in (1), χνόας and φρυάγματα may possibly be accusatives of 'limitation,' 'drew ahead with car and team.'

717-719. mvp-comment-331-2 closely in the rear, cannot be equally applicable to all the ten. For the phraseology, cp. Eur. Iph. A. 228-30, οἷς παρεπάλλετο | Πηλείδας σὺν ὅπλοισι παρ᾿ ἄντυγα | καὶ σύριγγας ἁρματείους. (3) Supposing the general sense to be as in (1), χνόας and φρυάγματα may possibly be accusatives of 'limitation,' 'drew ahead with car and team.'

718-719. mvp-comment-332-1 For close about his back and whirling wheels the breath of horses cast its foam.' Cp. Il. 23.373- 81, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ πύματον τέλεον δρόμον ὠκέες ἵπποι | .. τότε δὴ ἀρετή γε ἑκάστου | φαίνετ᾽, ἄφαρ δ' ἵπποισι τάθη δρόμος· ὦκα δ' ἔπειτα | αἱ Φηρητιάδαο ποδώκεες ἔκφερον ἵπποι. | τὰς δὲ μετ᾿ ἐξέφερον Διομήδεος ἄρσενες ἵπποι, | Τρώϊοι, οὐδέ τι πολλὸν ἄνευθ᾽ ἔσαν, ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ ἐγγύς· αἰεὶ γὰρ δίφρου ἐπιβησομένοισιν ἐἰκτην, | πνοιῇ τ᾿ Εὐμήλοιο μετάφρενον εὐρέε τ᾿ ὤμα | θέρμετ᾽· ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ γὰρ κεφαλὰς καταθέντε πετέσθην.

718-719. mvp-comment-332-2 For close about his back and whirling wheels the breath of horses cast its foam.' Cp. Il. 23.373- 81, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ πύματον τέλεον δρόμον ὠκέες ἵπποι | .. τότε δὴ ἀρετή γε ἑκάστου | φαίνετ᾽, ἄφαρ δ' ἵπποισι τάθη δρόμος· ὦκα δ' ἔπειτα | αἱ Φηρητιάδαο ποδώκεες ἔκφερον ἵπποι. | τὰς δὲ μετ᾿ ἐξέφερον Διομήδεος ἄρσενες ἵπποι, | Τρώϊοι, οὐδέ τι πολλὸν ἄνευθ᾽ ἔσαν, ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ ἐγγύς· αἰεὶ γὰρ δίφρου ἐπιβησομένοισιν ἐἰκτην, | πνοιῇ τ᾿ Εὐμήλοιο μετάφρενον εὐρέε τ᾿ ὤμα | θέρμετ᾽· ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ γὰρ κεφαλὰς καταθέντε πετέσθην.

720. mvp-comment-333-1 κεῖνος] Orestes. ὑπ᾿ αὐτὴν . . ἔχων] 'Driving close under the last pillar.' ἐσχάτην, i. e. at the extreme end of the spina. ἔχων] Sc. τοὺς ἵππους.

720. mvp-comment-333-2 κεῖνος] Orestes. ὑπ᾿ αὐτὴν . . ἔχων] 'Driving close under the last pillar.' ἐσχάτην, i. e. at the extreme end of the spina. ἔχων] Sc. τοὺς ἵππους.

721. mvp-comment-334-1 ἔχριμπτ᾿ ἀεὶ σύριγγα] ‘Grazed the nave of his wheel every time:' i.e. all but made it touch, or seemed to graze-real contact is of course not meant.

721. mvp-comment-334-2 ἔχριμπτ᾿ ἀεὶ σύριγγα] ‘Grazed the nave of his wheel every time:' i.e. all but made it touch, or seemed to graze-real contact is of course not meant.

721-722. mvp-comment-335-1 δεξιὸν .. προσκείμενον] 'And, letting go the trace-horse on the right, held in the one that was nearest to the inside of the course.' The two σειραῖοι ἵπποι, so called because not harnessed to the yoke but attached by traces right and left, were practically the leaders of the τέθριππον, or team; and their movements at the critical moment of turning the goal were of the greatest consequence. Cp. Eur. Iph. A. 221-4, τοὺς μὲν μέσους ζυγίους, | .. τοὺς δ᾽ ἔξω σειροφόρους, | ἀντήρεις καμπαῖσι δρόμων. They must be supposed to know their duty, and only to need a reminder from the charioteer, who holds each of them by a single rein (single, i.e. in his hand). The language of the present passage proves that the direction of the running was from right to left, and the δεξιός σειραῖος had consequently to describe a larger semicircle while the 'near' horse was making the turn. That the right hand horse may perform this movement successfully and thus swing the chariot round without mishap, the charioteer gives him the rein, and at the same time holds in the left-hand trace-horse, who, as nearest to the goal, is called προσκείμενος. As soon as this evolution is accomplished, however, the driver must slacken again the left-hand rein, so that both steeds may cover the θάτερον κῶλον of the race-course with equal strides. And if from over-eagerness he does this an instant too soon, he is obviously in great danger of striking the nave of the left-hand wheel against the goal, because the horse when let go will instinctively 'cut off a corner' and pull the car along a chord of the circle instead of completing the arc. This is what is supposed to happen to Orestes, infr. 743-5. (So Wecklein also explains.)

721-722. mvp-comment-335-2 δεξιὸν .. προσκείμενον] 'And, letting go the trace-horse on the right, held in the one that was nearest to the inside of the course.' The two σειραῖοι ἵπποι, so called because not harnessed to the yoke but attached by traces right and left, were practically the leaders of the τέθριππον, or team; and their movements at the critical moment of turning the goal were of the greatest consequence. Cp. Eur. Iph. A. 221-4, τοὺς μὲν μέσους ζυγίους, | .. τοὺς δ᾽ ἔξω σειροφόρους, | ἀντήρεις καμπαῖσι δρόμων. They must be supposed to know their duty, and only to need a reminder from the charioteer, who holds each of them by a single rein (single, i.e. in his hand). The language of the present passage proves that the direction of the running was from right to left, and the δεξιός σειραῖος had consequently to describe a larger semicircle while the 'near' horse was making the turn. That the right hand horse may perform this movement successfully and thus swing the chariot round without mishap, the charioteer gives him the rein, and at the same time holds in the left-hand trace-horse, who, as nearest to the goal, is called προσκείμενος. As soon as this evolution is accomplished, however, the driver must slacken again the left-hand rein, so that both steeds may cover the θάτερον κῶλον of the race-course with equal strides. And if from over-eagerness he does this an instant too soon, he is obviously in great danger of striking the nave of the left-hand wheel against the goal, because the horse when let go will instinctively 'cut off a corner' and pull the car along a chord of the circle instead of completing the arc. This is what is supposed to happen to Orestes, infr. 743-5. (So Wecklein also explains.)

725. mvp-comment-336-1 βίᾳ φέρουσιν] Sc. τὸ ἅρμα, 'Became unmanageable.' Essay on L. §53. p. 98. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1224.

725. mvp-comment-336-2 βίᾳ φέρουσιν] Sc. τὸ ἅρμα, 'Became unmanageable.' Essay on L. §53. p. 98. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1224.

725-726. mvp-comment-337-1 ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφῆς] Either (1) 'After turning the goal,' or (2) 'Having turned sharply aside.' See next note.

725-726. mvp-comment-337-2 ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφῆς] Either (1) 'After turning the goal,' or (2) 'Having turned sharply aside.' See next note.

726. mvp-comment-338-1 When finishing the sixth and now (running) the seventh course.' Not τελοῦντες, but a more general word, e.g. θέοντες, is to be supplied with ἔβδομον. Essay on L. § 36. pp. 65, 6, 2. The grammatical irregularity assists the graphic effect. The scene changes while it is being described. Ср. О. С. 1648-50, ἐξαπείδομεν | τὸν ἄνδρα, τὸν μὲν οὐδαμοῦ παρόντ᾽ ἔτι, | ἄνακτα δ᾽ αὐτόν, κ.τ.λ., and note. The masculine τελοῦντες either (1) implies that the white horses of the Aenian were, like those of Diomede in Il. 23 (1. c. supr. 718, 9), ἄρσενες ἵπποι, - which may part account for their behaviour; or (2) τελοῦντες is a nominative absolute having for subject the charioteers collectively. This line seems at first sight to support the former interpretation (1) of l. 725, ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφής. But the point in the course is sufficiently indicated without such an addition; and in the other sense (2) the phrase forms a suitable preparation for l. 727. The imagination is assisted if we suppose these chariots to be somewhat wide of the goal, so that one of them might face about without striking the στήλη. In μέτωπα, as in κάρα infr. 740, the chariot and horses are thought of together as a single object. The accident happens just when the race is half finished, -six of the twelve customary courses having being run. Cp. Pind. O1. 2. 88-90, Πυθῶνι . . Χάριτες ἄνθεα τεθρίππων δυωκαιδεκαδρόμων | ἄγαγον.

726. mvp-comment-338-2 When finishing the sixth and now (running) the seventh course.' Not τελοῦντες, but a more general word, e.g. θέοντες, is to be supplied with ἔβδομον. Essay on L. § 36. pp. 65, 6, 2. The grammatical irregularity assists the graphic effect. The scene changes while it is being described. Ср. О. С. 1648-50, ἐξαπείδομεν | τὸν ἄνδρα, τὸν μὲν οὐδαμοῦ παρόντ᾽ ἔτι, | ἄνακτα δ᾽ αὐτόν, κ.τ.λ., and note. The masculine τελοῦντες either (1) implies that the white horses of the Aenian were, like those of Diomede in Il. 23 (1. c. supr. 718, 9), ἄρσενες ἵπποι, - which may part account for their behaviour; or (2) τελοῦντες is a nominative absolute having for subject the charioteers collectively. This line seems at first sight to support the former interpretation (1) of 1. 725, ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφής. But the point in the course is sufficiently indicated without such an addition; and in the other sense (2) the phrase forms a suitable preparation for 1. 727. The imagination is assisted if we suppose these chariots to be somewhat wide of the goal, so that one of them might face about without striking the στήλη. In μέτωπα, as in κάρα infr. 740, the chariot and horses are thought of together as a single object. The accident happens just when the race is half finished, -six of the twelve customary courses having being run. Cp. Pind. O1. 2. 88-90, Πυθῶνι . . Χάριτες ἄνθεα τεθρίππων δυωκαιδεκαδρόμων | ἄγαγον.

731. mvp-comment-339-1 The Athenian charioteer is represented as the most skilful. It is obvious how this is calculated to sustain the interest of the audience. See also ll. 738-40.

731. mvp-comment-339-2 The Athenian charioteer is represented as the most skilful. It is obvious how this is calculated to sustain the interest of the audience. See also 11. 738-40.

732-733. mvp-comment-340-1 Pulls aside out of the way and heaves to, letting go by the surge of horses and their riders that was boiling there.' Not content with the hyperbole in supr. 730, the Old Man adds this yet stronger expression. See above, note on 680 foll.

732-733. mvp-comment-340-2 Pulls aside out of the way and heaves to, letting go by the surge of horses and their riders that was boiling there.' Not content with the hyperbole in supr. 730, the Old Man adds this yet stronger expression. See above, note on 680 foll.

734-735. mvp-comment-341-1 'Now Orestes was driving last, holding his horses back, relying on the finish.' There were six courses yet to be. See note on 726, supr. According to this reading the participial clause is explanatory of ἤλαυνε, and μέν points forward, opposing the position of Orestes before and after he saw that the Athenian alone was left. Some MSS. read ὑστέρας δ', opposing ἔσχατος to ὑστέρας ἔχων πώλους. He was last, indeed, but was holding back.'

734-735. mvp-comment-341-2 'Now Orestes was driving last, holding his horses back, relying on the finish.' There were six courses yet to be. See note on 726, supr. According to this reading the participial clause is explanatory of ἤλαυνε, and μέν points forward, opposing the position of Orestes before and after he saw that the Athenian alone was left. Some MSS. read ὑστέρας δ', opposing ἔσχατος to ὑστέρας ἔχων πώλους. He was last, indeed, but was holding back.'

736. mvp-comment-342-1 When Orestes saw that the Athenian remained alone.' So Mr. Paley, rightly.

737-738. mvp-comment-343-1 ὀξὺν . . διώκει] • He urged his swift steeds vehemently with shouts that pierced their ears, and makes for him.' ἐνσείειν is a vivid word (Essay on L. § 56. p. 102) which is more properly applicable to hurling hounds at game, throwing an attacking force into a town, etc. Cp. Eur. Or. 255, 6, ὦ μῆτερ, ἱκετεύω σε, μὴ πίσειε μοι | τὰς αἱματωποὺς καὶ δρακοντώδεις κόρας.

738-739. mvp-comment-344-1 κἀξισώσαντε ζυγὰ | ἠλαυνέτην] 'And now they were yoke by yoke, and on they drave.'

739-740. mvp-comment-345-1 τότ᾿ ἄλλος . . ὀχημάτων] 'Now one, and then the other drawing ahead.' κάρα is used analogically of man, car, and steeds, considered as one object; and the genitive ἱππικῶν ὀχημάτων is added to make this clear. (Not 'Putting his head forth from the car.') For the variation of the language in τότε-ἄλλοτε, ἄλλος - ἅτερος, cp. Trach. 457, δέδοικας . . ταρβεῖς.

741. mvp-comment-346-1 It is implied that Orestes' fall took place in the middle of the twelfth and last course.

742. mvp-comment-347-1 The ill-starred youth stood safely on a steady car.'

743-745. mvp-comment-348-1 Then in slackening the left-hand rein while the horse was making the turn, unawares he struck the edge of the goal and splintered the end of his axle-tree.' Cp. supr. 721, 2, and note. The horse making the turn is ὁ προσκείμενος.

746-747. mvp-comment-349-1 κἀξ ἀντύγων .. τμητοῖς ἱμᾶσι] And in a moment he had slipped over the rim of the chariot, and was rolled along together with it by means of the sharp-cut thongs.' Here it must be borne in mind that the reins were passed round the body of the charioteer, as, for instance, in the marble reliefs in the 'Sala della Biga' in the Vatican. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1221, 2. This point has not escaped Mr. Browning :-' The prince around his body flung the rein.' Artemis Prologizes. Hence, when the body of the chariot was arrested by some sudden obstacle, instead of being jerked from his grasp, they would pull him over the ἄντυξ, and would drag him when the car was again in motion. σύν, sc. ταῖς ἵπποις οι τῷ ἅρματι. ἱμᾶσι is dative of the instrument. τμητοῖς, lit. 'cut,' is suggestive of the sharp edges of the reins. Cp. infr. 862, τμητοῖς ὁλκοῖς ἐγκύρσαι.

748. mvp-comment-350-1 διεσπάρησαν ἐς μέσον δρόμον]

748. mvp-comment-350-2 'Plunged wildly about the course.' μέσον, SC. ἐν μέσῳ τῶν θεατῶν, vaguely distinguishes the field generally from the line of running. διεσπάρησαν, lit. 'were scattered,' is used inaccurately to suggest aimless movement.

749. mvp-comment-351-1 στρατός] 'The assembly.' Cp. Aesch. Eum. 762, χώρᾳ τῇδε καὶ τῷ σῷ στρατῷ.

752-753. mvp-comment-352-1 φορούμενος προφαίνων] 'As he was dragged upon the ground, and now and then his legs were pointed to the sky.' The opposition with ἄλλοτε is suggested as the description proceeds. Hence not ἄλλοτε ἄλλοτε.

753. mvp-comment-353-1 διφρηλάται] Some of the charioteers from the other chariots, who had been thrown, but not seriously hurt.

758. mvp-comment-354-1 μέγιστον σῶμα δειλαίας σποδοῦ] His mighty frame reduced to' (lit. consisting of) hapless dust.' See E. on L. § 10. p. 17, 6. On the supposed great stature of Orestes, see Hdt. 1. 68, where his bones are found at Tegea :-ἐπέτυχον σόρῳ ἑπταπήχεϊ .. καὶ εἶδον τὸν νεκρὸν μήκεϊ ἴσον ἔοντα τῷ σόρῳ.

760. mvp-comment-355-1 ἐκλάχοι] The mood depends on the idea of past time contained either in φέρουσι . . τεταγμένοι, i.e. ἐτάχθησαν φέρειν, or in the whole of the previous sentence.

761. mvp-comment-356-1 τοιαῦτα . . ἐστίν] Cp. Ant. 37, οὕτως ἔχει σοι ταῦτα, and note. ὡς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ] 'In description, indeed;' ὡς is pleonastic. Cp. О. С. 15, ὡς ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων.

764. mvp-comment-357-1 δεσπόταισι] δεσπότης is not used elsewhere of an Hellenic ruler. Can Sophocles have forgotten for a moment that the Chorus were freewomen ( infr. 1227)? Or should the speech be given to an οἰκέτης?

765. mvp-comment-358-1 Cp. Hdt. 6. 86, Γλαύκου νῦν οὔτε ἀπόγονόν ἐστι οὐδέν,.. ἐκτέτριπταί τε πρόρριζος ἐκ Σπάρτης.

766-768. mvp-comment-359-1 Clytemnestra is awed for the moment, and her profound relief is mingled with a pang of sorrow.

770. mvp-comment-360-1 δεινὸν . . ἐστίν] 'Motherhood has strange power.'

770-771. mvp-comment-361-1 κακῶς | πάσχοντι] She regards herself as ill-treated by Orestes, because she knew that he would avenge his father if he could. Cp. supr. 293 foll., 603 foll., infr. 779.

771. mvp-comment-362-1 ὧν τέκῃ] ἄv is omitted. See Essay on L. § 27. P. 45.

772. mvp-comment-363-1 μάτην .. ἥκομεν] 'I have made a mistake in coming;' i.e. I see that I have given no satisfaction, and therefore shall receive no reward.

775. mvp-comment-364-1 τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς γεγώς] 'Sprung from my very life.' For this pathetic use of ψυχή, cp. Aesch. Cho. 749, τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς τριβήν. Το mark the horror of the situation she expresses Orestes' original nearness to her in the strongest manner. Cp. Shak. Macbeth, 2. 3, 'The near in blood, The nearer bloody.'

776. mvp-comment-365-1 μαστῶν . . ἐμῆς] 'Going aloof from my breast that gave him suck.' The words μαστῶν καὶ τροφῆς are used figuratively for the debt of obligation due from a son to his mother. Orestes at the time of Agamemnon's death must have been at least ten years old.

780-781. mvp-comment-366-1 ὥστ᾽ οὔτε νυκτός. . ἡδύν] 'So that I have no rest by night, nor can I snatch from the day a sweet moment of repose to enfold me.' στεγάζειν is adapted to ἐξ ἡμέρας-some more general word, such as ἴσχειν, being understood with νυκτός. ἐξ implies that the time is taken from the day, and would not naturally be given to sleep. ἡδύν means, if I do fall asleep, I am terrified with dreams;' i.e. I can neither sleep comfortably at night, nor take a quiet nap in the day-time.

781-782. mvp-comment-367-1 ἀλλ᾽ ὁ προστατῶν.. θανουμένην] But Time ever standing over me was a jailor who conducted me to death. The inversion (for χρόνον διῆ-

782-784. mvp-comment-368-1 yov, see Essay on L. § 42. p. 80 ß) is here forcible in personifying χρόνος. For προστατῶν, instans, cp. Aesch. Agam. 976, δείγμα προστατήριον.

783-784. mvp-comment-369-1 But then, to-day's event has rid me once for all of fears from him and her.' The suppressed or deferred apodosis is resumed in 1. 786. In τῆσδ᾽ ἐκείνου θ' the more emphatic pronoun is put first.

784-785. mvp-comment-370-1 ἥδε γὰρ . . ἦν μοι] For she, dwelling under the same roof, has been a greater bane to me.' οὖσα must be supplied either with βλάβη or with ξύνοικος, and μοι belongs to both.

785-786. mvp-comment-371-1 τοὐμὸν αἷμα] 'Incessantly draining my very life-blood.' ἄκρατον πιεῖν, 'to drink wine unqualified,' seems to have become a synonym for hard drinking. Cp. Od. 9. 297, ἀνδρόμεα κρέ᾽ ἔδων καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἄκρητον γάλα πίνων: Aesch. Cho. 577, 8, φόνου δ' Ἐρινὺς οὐχ ὑπεσπανισμένη | ἄκρατον αἷμα πίεται, τρίτην πόσιν. The force of the adjective here is simply intensive. The addition of ψυχῆς marks the figurative nature of the expression.

791. mvp-comment-372-1 οὔτοι σύ] Sc. ἔχεις καλῶς. 'You are not as I would wish you,'- viz. dead.

792. mvp-comment-373-1 Either (1) Clytemnestra takes the word Νέμεσι alone, ignoring the qualification, 'Nemesis' (the spirit of just allotment) has heard those whom she ought to hear and has nobly ratified their prayer.' Or (2) she implies a different use of the genitive, as the ἀλάστωρ ᾿Ατρέως in Aesch. Ag. 1501, 2, is the Spirit of Vengeance for the crime of Atreus; so here the Νέμεσις τοῦ θανόντος might be the Spirit which has paid him what was due. But (1) is more probable.

795. mvp-comment-374-1 Mr. Paley reads οὔκουν with a full stop after τάδε. But the reply of Electra suits better with the ironical question, 'You and Orestes will stop my insolence, will you not?'

797-798. mvp-comment-375-1 Your coming, stranger, is like to prove most worthy of reward, if you have indeed put an end to her loud outcry.' ἂν ἥκοις = ἥκεις, ὡς

798-803. mvp-comment-376-1 ἔοικαs, an objective being put for a subjective probability, as in the well. known idiom with μέλλω. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1182, τὰ πάντ᾽ ἂν ἐξήκοι σαφῆ: Aj. 186, ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος, -and notes, - infr. 1372, 3. εἰ is here used with the aor. indicative (aor. of immediate past) as elsewhere with the present, to introduce a supposition that is regarded as certain. For el with aor. indicative, of that which is granted or assumed, cp. Aesch. Pers. 217, εἴ τι φλαῦρον εἶδες. (So Ellendt, 'Siquidem effecisti, etc.')

800. mvp-comment-377-1 ἐπείπερ] Ο. C. 75, 6, ἐπείπερ εἶ | γενναῖος, ὡς ἰδόντι. καταξίως] The use of the optative without av may be defended by supposing a resumption from the preceding line. Paley's ἐπεὶ τὰν .. καταξίως is preferable to Bothe's κατάξι ἄν. Another MS. reading, κατ᾿ ἀξίαν, is also possible.

803. mvp-comment-378-1 φίλων] Orestes, including perhaps the death of Agamemnon.' Paley. Rather, including the destruction of the remaining hope that Agamemnon might be avenged. At this point Clytemnestra and the Paedagogus enter the house, and Electra is left alone upon the stage.

809. mvp-comment-379-1 ἀποσπάσας . οἴχει] 'In thy departure thou hast torn away.' For the familiar phrase, cp. O. C. 866, ψιλὸν ὄμμ᾽ ἀποσπάσας . . ἐξοίχει.

811. mvp-comment-380-1 Orestes was to come to the aid both of his father and sister:-i.e. to avenge his father and reinstate his sister. But the notions are not distinguished, for vengeance is regarded as a kind of aid. Cp. infr. 1392, ἀρωγός.

812. mvp-comment-381-1 ποῖ με χρὴ μολεῖν] ‘Whither must I turn?' Cp. Aj. 1006, ποῖ γὰρ μολεῖν μοι δυνατόν, εἰς ποίους βροτούς;

814-816. mvp-comment-382-1 Cp. supr. 263 foll., infr. 1190 foll.

816. mvp-comment-383-1 ἀράμοι καλῶς ἔχει] 'Isit well with me, then?' The repetition of the words used above, 1. 790, may be accidental (Essay on L. § 44. p. 82), but may also, as Mr. Paley suggests, refer to supr. 791. This is rather confirmed by the repetition of ξύνοικος in what follows, echoing supr. 785; i.e. 'I wonder if they will be contented now I am reduced to this! But at all events I will not trouble them henceforth by dwelling with them.'

817. mvp-comment-384-1 τοῦ λοιποῦ χρόνου] ‘For any portion of the time to come.' Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 5.

818. mvp-comment-385-1 Hermann's suggestion, adopted in the text, affords a probable, though by no means certain, emendation of this line. ξύνοικος must be taken in a slightly pregnant or proleptic sense= ὥστε ξύνοικος εἶναι.

818-819. mvp-comment-386-1 τῇδε πρὸς πύλῃ βίον] ' I will let myself drop beside the gate and, without a friend, here wither my life away. She sinks into a half-recumbent attitude and remains so until the beginning of the commos. Sappho, Fr. 17, παρ δ᾽ ἱεῖσαι πτερά: Tennyson's Elaine, 'She slipped like water to the floor.' Mr. Paley calls this sensational.' But it is not more so than the death of Ajax, than Heracles (Trach. 1079, 80) unveiling his wounds than Oedipus appearing with eyes still bleeding, etc. The question is whether 11. 820-2, being spoken in this posture, may not be appropriate to this critical moment of darkness before dawn.'

820. mvp-comment-387-1 εἰ βαρύνεται] Clytemnestra had spoken impatiently of the vexation of having Electra in the house with her, supr. 784. 5. Electra now says, 'If her lying at the gate is a vexation to any one, let them put her out of the way, and welcome!'

823-869. mvp-comment-388-1 In this short commos, in which the broken lines are expressive of intense feeling, the several members of the Chorus, with the exception of the Coryphaeus, who, having spoken in 11. 764, 5, remains in silent sympathy with Electra, attempt to rouse her from her utter despair, partly with consolation and partly with expressions of pity. But she is, if possible, more inconsolable than before. The metres are as follows:-

823-826. mvp-comment-389-1 Orestes being dead and his father unavenged, the Powers of Heaven themselves must interfere. The sun must surely see this iniquity, the lightning must descend to punish it.

826. mvp-comment-390-1 κρύπτουσιν] Either (1) sc. ἑαυτούς, 'They They hide themselves.' Cp. κεύθω. Or (2) sc. τὸ ἐφορᾶν: i.e. 'If seeing this they make as if they saw not, and remain unmoved.' Cp. Hom. H. 26. 7, where there is a similar doubt.

828-830. mvp-comment-391-1 The words intended for consolation only wring a cry from Electra, and when asked the reason, she answers with a louder cry: on which the Chorus deprecate this excess of sorrow. μηδέν is adverbial, and μέγα cognate accusative. Cp. Aj. 1066, μηδὲν δεινὸν ἐξάρῃς μένος.

831. mvp-comment-392-1 ἀπολεῖς] Electra, when asked the reason of her weeping, and told not to cry aloud, can only understand this as a suggestion that Orestes is alive.

834-836. mvp-comment-393-1 If you will suggest a hope concerning one who is manifestly gone below, you will but press with heavier weight against my pining soul.' For the genitive τῶν.. οἰχομένων, see Essay on L. § 9. p. 13, 3, and ib. p. 12, 2. In ὑποίσεις, ὑπο is used as in ὑπεῖπον, - φέρω as in προφέρω.

836. mvp-comment-394-1 ἐπεμβάσει contains a metaphor from trampling on the fallen. Cp. supr. 456: Aj. 1348, οὐ γὰρ θανόντι καὶ προσεμβῆναί σε χρή : and κατά, 'against,' gives additional point to the expression. Essay on L. § 19. p. 27.

837-838. mvp-comment-395-1 The Chorus adduce another reason for taking comfort even if Orestes be no more. The gods have not forgotten Amphiaraus, and they will not forget Agamemnon. The sudden disappearance of the prophet during the flight of the Argive host from Thebes, would naturally make a strong impression upon the Argive people.

837. mvp-comment-396-1 ἄνακτ] Cp. Ο. Τ. 284, ἄνακτ᾿ ἄνακτι ταῦθ᾽ ὁρῶντ᾽ ἐπίσταμαι, κ.τ.λ.

838-839. mvp-comment-397-1 χρυσοδέτοις . . γυναικών] 'Lost to sight through female snares depending on a golden chain.' χρυσοδέτοις ἔρκεσι is a condensed expression (Essay on L. pp. 39, 81) in which ἕρκεσι suggests both the entangling influence of Eriphyle and the necklace given to her by Adrastus. (So Wecklein.) In this case ἕρκεσι denotes that the necklace was indirectly an instrument of Adrastus' cunning. But it may be questioned whether such a complex association is possible. Perhaps ἔρμασι should be read, in the general sense of a woman's ornament. Cp. Od. 18. 297, ἔρματα δ᾽ Εὐρυδάμαντι δύω θεράποντες ἔνεικαν | τρίγληνα μορόεντα· χάρις δ' ἀπελάμπετο πολλή. See L. and S. s. v. ἔρμα ΙΙΙ.

840. mvp-comment-398-1 Here Electra thinks of both her father and Orestes.

841. mvp-comment-399-1 πάμψυχος ἀνάσσει] ‘He wields authority with mighty spirit unimpaired.' The prophet Amphiaraus is imagined as, like the prophet Teiresias, retaining all his faculties in the under-world. (So Wecklein: 'Unter der Erde aber lebte er mit vollem Leben und Bewusztsein fort und offenbarte dies durch Orakel und Heilung von Kranken. Cic. de Div. 1. 40.') From this the Chorus argue that the spirit of Agamemnon too will yet make his power to be felt.

843. mvp-comment-400-1 φεῦ δῆτ᾽.. ὀλοὰ γάρ] The connection is difficult, and Wecklein reads μάν for γάρ. If γάρ is retained, the Chorus must be supposed to give a different turn to the interjection. Electra, thinking of her father, dwells on the sadness of Amphiaraus' death. The Choreutes, who interposes, reflects on the sadness of the whole story, including the death of Eriphyle by the hand of her son Alcmaeon (which Sophocles made the subject of a tragedy). 'Woe, indeed, you may cry! For the wretched (or baneful) woman-' Electra instantly perceives the drift, and quickly interrupts, in a tone of momentary triumph, -' Was overpowered!' Then, recollecting that he who should have done Alcmaeon's part for her is now no more, she relapses into despair.

846. mvp-comment-401-1 μελέτωρ ἀμφὶ τὸν ἐν πένθει] 'One to care for him who was then mourned for.' ἐν πένθει is here used passively, not as supr. 290. Cp. ἐν λόγοις.

848. mvp-comment-402-1 φροῦδος ἀναρπασθείς] Is snatched away from the earth.' See note on Aj. 1192, ὄφελεν αἰθέρα δῦναι μέγαν, and note.

849. mvp-comment-403-1 New misery finds thee in thy misery.'

850-852. mvp-comment-404-1 I know that all too well, taught by a weight of fearful horror, that month by month accumulates.' Time is conceived as drawing in his train an ever-increasing burden of pollution and grief. For δεινῶν . . ἀχέων, which is unmetrical, Hermann proposed δεινῶν στυγνῶν τ᾽ αἰῶνι,-Prof. Lushington has suggested δεινῶν* τε στυγνῶν τ' *ἄχθει, which is adopted in the text. Hermann's reading means, 'In a life which month by month accumulates horror and pollution.'

854-855. mvp-comment-405-1 μή . . παραγάγῃς] 'Draw me not aside,' as they had done for a moment by reminding her of the fate of Eriphyle.

855. mvp-comment-406-1 ἵν'] ‘In a state of things wherein- Cp. supr. 22, ἵν᾿ οὐκέτ᾽ ὀκνεῖν καιρός.

857-858. mvp-comment-407-1 (οὐ) πάρεισιν .. ἀρωγαί] 'There is no longer within call the aid of hopes that rest on common birth from a most noble sire.' The language is much condensed: i.e. ἀρωγαὶ ἐν ἐλπίδι γιγνόμεναι ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐπατρίδου καὶ κοινοτόκου, sc. Ὀρέστου. See Essay on L. § 43. p. 81.

859. mvp-comment-408-1 ἔφυ] « Is ordained by Nature.' For φῦναι, of divine appointment, cp. Ο. C. 1443, 4, ταῦτα δ' ἐν τῷ δαίμονι | καὶ τῇδε φῦναι χἀτέρᾳ.

861-863. mvp-comment-409-1 'Is it likewise decreed by Nature to fall, as my poor brother did, on a sharp dragging-instrument amid swift-racing hoofs? For the lyrical use of the abstract word ὁλκός, cp. Eur. Ion 144, 5, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκπαύσω γὰρ μόχθους | δάφνας ὁλκοῖς. On τμητοῖς see above, note on 747.

864. mvp-comment-410-1 ἄσκοπος ὁ λώβα] ‘The ruin is beyond thought; ' i.e. either (1) 'greater than can be conceived,' or (2) 'greater than could have been imagined beforehand.' For ἄσκοπος, cp. Aj. 21, and note; and see Essay on L. § 51. p. 96. The Scholiast says ἀπροόρατος ὁ θάνατος, and with this some interpreters are satisfied.

865-870. mvp-comment-411-1 'Indeed it is unimaginable :- to think that he is hidden from the light of day, without my hands-Cho. Alas!-El. to deck his corpse and bury him, without our voices to lament for him!'

866. mvp-comment-412-1 ἄτερ ἐμᾶν χερῶν] Cp. infr. 1141, ἐν ξέναισι χερσὶ κηδευθείς: Ant. 900-3 (Antigone had the consolation which is denied to Electra).

871. mvp-comment-413-1 What seems the illusion of Chrysothemis only adds poignancy to Electra's sorrow. Sophocles here modifies the well-known incident of the curl found at the tomb. The Electra of Aeschylus is moved by seeing the hair and the other signs of Orestes, but is incredulous when he himself appears. The Electra of Sophocles has heard and believed the news of his death, and disbelieves the signs of him, which her weaker sister has seen. Chrysothemis holding the lock from Orestes' head before Electra, who believes him to be no more, makes one of those contrasts by which Sophocles impresses the situation on the mind of the spectator.

871. mvp-comment-413-2 διώκομαι] 'I am driven,' or 'impelled.' See L. and S. s. ν. διώκω, III. 1.

874. mvp-comment-414-1 εἶχες] Αj. 203, ἔχομεν στοναχάς.

875-876. mvp-comment-415-1 And where should you find relief for my woes, in which no possibility of healing is to be found?' 'σύ, always emphatic,.. with something of contemptuous incredulity.' Paley. Chrysothemis is the last person from whom Electra looks for real help.

878. mvp-comment-416-1 ἐναργῶς.. ἐμέ] 'Unmistakably, even as you see me before you.' ἐναργῶς is stronger than σαφῶς.

879. mvp-comment-417-1 For ἐπί, cp. infr. 1230, 1, ὁρῶμεν, ὦ παῖ, κἀπὶ συμφοραῖσί μοι | γεγηθός ἔρπει δάκρυον ὀμμάτων ἄπο. Electra supposes that Chrysothemis must have heard of Orestes' death. This, she reminds her sister, is a sorrow common to them both.

882. mvp-comment-418-1 ὡς παρόντα νῷν] Sc. λέγω. Cp. supr. 317, 18, and note.

883. mvp-comment-419-1 καὶ τίνος . . ἄγαν] • Who then in the world has told you this, that you believe in it so firmly?'-i.e. in spite of all that we have heard. καί introduces the question with indignant surprise, as in καὶ πῶς. Cp. Αj. 462, 3, καὶ ποῖον ὄμμα, κ.τ.λ.

885. mvp-comment-420-1 The attraction of gender in

885-886. mvp-comment-421-1 ἄλλης is no sufficient reason for rejecting the Laurentian reading here. With ἐξ ἐμοῦ in the answer of Chrysothemis ἰδοῦσα takes the place of εἰσακούσασα.

887-888. mvp-comment-422-1 ἐς τί μοι.. πυρί] 'On what object have you fixed your gaze that has infected you with this fatal fever?' (Mr. Paley doubts whether is τι.. βλέψ. means, What hope have you conceived?' or 'What object have you seen?' But, surely, both meanings are included:What have you seen that has led you to conceive hope?') For fire as an image of passionate illusion, cp. Pind. Pyth. 4. 388, 9. ὄφρα Μηδείας τοκίων ἀφέλοιτ' αἰδῶ, ποθεινὰ δ᾽ Ἑλλὰς αὐτὰν | ἐν φρεσὶ καιομέναν δονέοι μάστιγι πειθούς.

891. mvp-comment-423-1 εἴ σοι ἡδονή] i. e. εἴ πως ἥδει τῷ λέγειν. This is spoken in a tone of languid and supreme indifference.

893. mvp-comment-424-1 πατρὸς ἀρχαῖον τάφον] 'The ancient sepulchre, where our father is laid.' The word ἀρχαῖος properly applies to the burial place of the kings of Argos, in which Agamemnon was laid. Sophocles seems to conceive of this as a mound with a κρηπίς of stone, of which a certain portion (θήκη) was marked off as containing the body of Agamemnon. The libation was poured high up on the mound, so as to flow down over this portion of the πυρά, or burial-site; the flowers were arranged so as to decorate the θήκη ᾿Αγαμέμνονος; the lock of hair was placed near the edge of the πυρά. But in explaining the details of the description we are left almost entirely to conjecture.

894. mvp-comment-425-1 κολώνης ἐξ ἄκρας] Either (1) flowing from the summit, or (2) just below the summit, -cp. Ant. 411, ἄκρων ἐκ πάγων.

895. mvp-comment-426-1 For πηγάς, cp. O. C. 479,- (χέω τάδε;) τρισσάς γε πηγάς.

895-896. mvp-comment-427-1 περιστεφῆ.. ἀνθέων] Cp.О.Т. 83, πολυστεφὴς.. δάφνης, and note.

898. mvp-comment-428-1 · ἐγχρίμπτει, which has some authority, is an equally good reading.' Paley. The subjunctive is more expressive of apprehension.

899. mvp-comment-429-1 ἐν γαλήνῃ] Sc. οὖσαν. Essay on L. § 23. p. 38. For the sense, cp. Hdt. 1. 45. § 4, ἐπεί τε ἡσυχίη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο περὶ τὸ σῆμα.

900-901. mvp-comment-430-1 ἐσχάτης.. πυρᾶς] ‘Towards the edge of the grave.' For this genitive = πρὸς .. πυρᾶς, cp. supr. 78, 324, and notes, and see Essay on L. § 10. p. 15.46. It is difficult to give a more particular explanation of its use in this passage. Either the curl showed itself from the edge, where it lay; or it lay somewhere near the edge, not exactly on it.

901. mvp-comment-431-1 νεώρη . . τετμημένον] Α fresh curl newly shorn.' The participle is added in further definition of νεώρη.

902-904. mvp-comment-432-1 ἐμπαίει.. τεκμήριον] 'A familiar sight' or 'image struck upon my soul, (and told me) that I saw in this a certain token of Orestes, dearest of mankind.' ὄμμα (see Essay on L. § 54. p. 99) is here the active impression of the object of vision. ὁρᾶν depends on the general notion, 'I felt,' implied in the preceding words.

905. mvp-comment-433-1 βαστάσασα] 'When I held it.' Cp. infr. 1129. δυσφημῶ μὲν οὔ] ‘I uttered no ill-omened cry.' Reverence dictated silence in the immediate neighbourhood of that ancient tomb.

906. mvp-comment-434-1 πίμπλημ᾽.. ὄμμα] ‘My eye was filled.' Essay on L. $ 30. p. 52 d.

908. mvp-comment-435-1 τόδ᾽ ἀγλάϊσμα] ίσμα] Cp. Aesch. Cho. 193, 4, εἶναι τόδ᾽ ἀγλάϊσμα μοι τοῦ φιλτάτου | βροτῶν Ὀρέστον. The genitive is one of possession, as in this passage of the Choephori, but is also resumed with μολεῖν as a genitive of derivation. μή, not oὐ, because that which is denied is not the fact merely, but the possibility of the fact.

909. mvp-comment-436-1 τόδε] This act of offering hair, which belongs only to the nearest relatives of the dead.

911. mvp-comment-437-1 μηδὲ πρὸς θεούς] Religious duties formed an occasional exception to the seclusion of women in Attica. See Bernhardy, Grundriss, Part i. p. 55.

914. mvp-comment-438-1 ἐλάνθανεν] Sc. ἡ μήτηρ. There is a slight change of construction. The omission of ar is rightly defended by Wecklein : 'ελάνθανεν statt ἐλάνθανεν ἄν bezeichnet die unausbleibliche Folge.'

915. mvp-comment-439-1 ἔστ᾽ Ὀρέστου ταῦτα τἀπιτίμια] 'It is Orestes who has paid these dues. ἐπιτίμια occurs nowhere else with this exact meaning, and Dindorf, following

915-916. mvp-comment-440-1 Wunder, reads τἀπιτύμβια. But such a substantive use of ἐπιτύμβιος is not found elsewhere, and ἐπιτίμια will bear the meaning required.

916. mvp-comment-441-1 This is the only place in which θαρσύνειν is intransitive. See E. on L. §53. p. 98, 9. The use of the active verb is more energetic. Cp. παθε.

916-917. mvp-comment-442-1 τοῖς αὐτοῖσί τοι, κ.τ.λ.] Cp. esp. Trach. 132-5, μένει γάρ, κ.τ.λ.

918. mvp-comment-443-1 στυγνός here is rather gloomy' than 'hateful.' Cр. О. Т. 673.

919. mvp-comment-444-1 ὑπάρξει κῦρος.. καλῶν] Either (1) Will be the consummation of much good,' or (2) Will lead the way to,' etc. i. e. ὑπάρξει καλῶν, ὥστε κῦρος ἔχειν τὰ καλά. For the accusative after ὑπάρχω, see L. and S. s. v. A 4. For (1) cp. Eur. Hec. 1229, θησαυρὸς ἄν σοι παῖς ὑπῆρχ᾽ οὔτος μέγας.

920. mvp-comment-445-1 Wecklein punctuates differently, φεῦ τῆς ἀνοίας, ὥς σ᾽ ἐποικτείρω πάλαι.

922. mvp-comment-446-1 'You know not where you are, nor what you say.' The metaphorical ὅποι γῆς is explained by the more literal ὅποι γνώμης.

923. mvp-comment-447-1 Cp. supr. 878.

927. mvp-comment-448-1 τοῦ . . παρόντος] The individualizing article, by adding a touch of ἐνάργεια, helps to mark the certainty of Electra's belief. Cp. supr. 424.

929. mvp-comment-449-1 μητρί is added with the second clause to mark the unnaturalness of Clytemnestra. A welcome messenger, not displeasing to the mother there.'

930. mvp-comment-450-1 γάρ = ' then,' asks for explanation. The death of Orestes is certain. The offerings came then from another. Who can this be? Cp. Phil. 327, 8, εὐ γ', ὦ τέκνον, τίνος γὰρ ὧδε τὸν μέγαν | χόλον κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλῶν ἐλήλυθas;

931. mvp-comment-451-1 πρὸς τάφον] The accusative, because of the notion of 'bringing' implied in κτερίσματα.

934. mvp-comment-452-1 ὦ δυστυχής] Sc. ἐγώ.

935. mvp-comment-453-1 τοιούσδ'] 'Such,' ie. So full of joy.

938. mvp-comment-454-1 οὕτως.. ταῦτ᾽] Electra says this with the quietness of despair.

941. mvp-comment-455-1 Electra ironically waives rejoinder to the frigid question which is ⚫ strangely distasteful to her, and makes it felt that she has something of real practical importance in her mind. γε implies, Be that as it may, it was not my meaning.' Some read ἐς τόδ' with M.

943. mvp-comment-456-1 τλῆναι.. δρῶσαν] The participle, as with πειρᾶσθαι.

945-946. mvp-comment-457-1 ὅρα.. ὁρῶ.] Consider -.' 'I see that clearly.' Cp. Phil. 589, ὅρα τί ποιεῖς, παῖ. ΝΕ. σκοπῶ κἀγὼ πάλαι : and for the γνώμη, Fr. 364, οὗτοι ποθ' ἅψει τῶν ἄκρων ἄνευ πόνου.

948. mvp-comment-458-1 The hopelessness of the present situation, which Ismene in the Antigone (Ant. 49 foll.) dwells upon as a ground of inaction, is urged by Electra as a reason for doing what ought to be done. Cp. the words of Henry V in Shakspeare, 4. 1. 1, 'Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger:-The greater therefore should our courage be.'

951-952. mvp-comment-459-1 βίῳ | θάλλοντ᾽ * ἔτ'] The correction (see v. rr.) is necessary. as βίῳ for ἐν βίῳ ὄντα would be too harsh an ellipse.

954. mvp-comment-460-1 εἰς σὲ δὴ βλέπω] Electra knows this to be a forlorn hope, - infr. 1017, 8, but to speak confidently is her only chance of success.

956. mvp-comment-461-1 ξὺν τῇδ᾽ ἀδελφῇ] She adds her own claim of sisterhood to the guilt of Aegisthus, as a reason why Chrysothemis should help her.

957. mvp-comment-462-1 The motive of this line, which has been suspected by some critics, is sufficiently explained by comparing supr. 126, ὁ τάδε πορών, and note. The name which the chorus there suppressed, out of habitual fear, Electra now fearlessly pronounces. She need use no concealment with Chrysothemis, for whether with or without her help, she means to act so as to anticipate prevention.

958. mvp-comment-463-1 ποῖ μενεῖς ῥαθυμος] Το what point will you remain inert?' i.e. How far must things go before you are roused to action? See Essay on L. § 24. p. 41, and cp. esp. O. С. 383, 4, τοὺς δὲ σοὺς ὅποι θεοὶ | πόνους κατοικτιοῦσιν, οὐκ ἔχω μαθεῖν.

959. mvp-comment-464-1 ἔτ᾿ ὀρθήν] 'That is not already thrown down.'

960. mvp-comment-465-1 The accusative is probably occasioned by στένειν, i.e. στένειν κτῆσιν, ἐστερημένῃ αὐτῆς, -οι αὐτήν, -though the simple verb is not elsewhere found with the accusative.

963. mvp-comment-466-1 τῶνδε] λέκτρων ὑμεναίων τε.

968. mvp-comment-467-1 εὐσέβειαν] Cp. supr. 345, 6, and note, Ant. 924. κάτω] Sc. ὄντος, absorbed in θανόντος.

971. mvp-comment-468-1 καλεῖ] Future middle for passive.

973. mvp-comment-469-1 λόγων γε μὴν . . οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅσην] 'Do you not see how great, at all events, will be the glory of renown?' etc. γε μήν emphasizes what is certain as distinguished from the hope last spoken of, in which there was necessarily some uncertainty.

976. mvp-comment-470-1 Will not point to us with such words of praise?' δεξιοῦσθαι is to extend the right hand towards a person in token of greeting or admiration. Cp. esp. Hom. H. 5. 15, 16, ἦγον ἐς ἀθανάτους, οἱ δ᾽ ἠσπάζοντο ἰδόντες, | χερσί τ' ἐδεξιόωντο.

977. mvp-comment-471-1 On the use of the masculine here, see Essay on L. § 20. p. 30, 2. It is dropped infr. 985, where Electra is speaking more familiarly and in her own person.

979. mvp-comment-472-1 εὐ βεβηκόσιν] 'When in high prosperity. The phrase literally means, Standing firmly." Cp. esp. Archil. Fr. 58, πολλάκις της ἀνατρέπουσι ανατο καὶ μάλ᾽ εὖ βεβηκότας | ὑπτίους κλίνουσι.

980. mvp-comment-473-1 προὐστήτην φόνου] 'Stood forth (1) to slay,' or (2) as avengers of blood.' The genitive is difficult, and is hardly explained by comparing Aj. 803, Eur. Andr. 221. Either (1) it expresses purpose, as in Thuc. 1. 36, καλῶς παράπλου κεῖται, and similar expressions, or (2) the phrase is equivalent to προστάται φόνου ἐγένοντο, 'Became ministers of the blood-feud.'

986. mvp-comment-474-1 συμπόνει πατρί] 'Labour in thy father's cause,-vindicate thy brother's name. As observed above in note on l. 811, the ideas of vengeance and of succour are inseparable. So συγκάμνειν is used of honouring the dead in Aj. 988.

987-988. mvp-comment-475-1 The wild and desperate hope on which this rests, and which has been suggested by the previous lines, is that, when Aegisthus is slain, the people will immediately rise in favor of the surviving representatives of the Atreidae.

991. mvp-comment-476-1 On the non-repetition of the article here see Essay on L. § 21. p. 33, b.

992-993. mvp-comment-477-1 εἰ φρενῶν.. μὴ κακῶν] If her thoughts had not been perverted.' μή belongs to the whole sentence, but its position emphasizes both the negation and the epithet κακῶν.

996. mvp-comment-478-1 As elsewhere, when αὐτός τε καί is introduced after the beginning of a sentence, the second clause has an independent construction. Plat. Rep. 4. Ρ. 427 C, αὐτός τε καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν παρακάλει.

999. mvp-comment-479-1 εὐτυχής is equally probable.

1000. mvp-comment-480-1 κἀπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται] Cp. Fr. 786. 1.8, πάλιν διαρρεῖ κἀπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται. The use of μή rather than oὐ is to be explained by the abstract expression, - 'nothingness' rather than 'nothing.'

1005. mvp-comment-481-1 λύει .. ἡμᾶς οὐδέν] It brings us no release.' λύειν is not here = λυσιτελεῖν, as it is sometimes in Euripides. See O. T. 316, 7, and note.

1007-1008. mvp-comment-482-1 It is conceivable, as some editors have suggested, that these two lines may have come in from elsewhere. Cp. Aj. 554 and note. If they are part of the text, the connection is somewhat as follows: We should gain nothing by doing what, although applauded for the moment, would bring us to an ignominious death. Not death merely, but the lingering misery that might precede it, is what we should have most to dread.' We may suppose that the imagination of Chrysothemis has been impressed by the threat of immurement, which she reported supr. 379-82.

1009. mvp-comment-483-1 πανωλέθρους τὸ πᾶν . . ὀλέσθαι] Perish utterly and irredeemably.' The repetition of τὸ πᾶν, already implied in πανωλέθρους, anticipates the notion which is more fully expressed by the antithesis in the succeeding verse, -'Ere we perish in an utter destruction, in which we should involve not ourselves only but our whole race'-(since Orestes is no more).

1010. mvp-comment-484-1 κἀξερημῶσαι γένος] Cp. Ant. 58, 9, νῦν αὖ μόνα δὴ νὰ λελειμμένα σκόπει | ὅσῳ κάκιστ᾽ ὀλούμεθ'. Iphianassa ( supr. 157) seems to be forgotten.

1011. mvp-comment-485-1 κατάσχες ὀργήν] Cp. Pind. Isthm. 3. 3, (εἴ τις) σθένει πλούτου κατέχει φρεσὶν αἰανῆ κόρον.

1018. mvp-comment-486-1 ἁπηγγελλόμην] The interpretation preserved by Hesychius, -ἐπηγγελλόμην· παρεκάλουν, ἐπέστελλον, – is hardly adequate. A better meaning is obtained if the word is allowed to retain its usual force, 'The offer which I made.' In proposing that they should together compass the death of Aegisthus, Electra thinks that she has given Chrysothemis a glorious opportunity.

1020. mvp-comment-487-1 κενόν] i.e. ἀργόν, 'Unperformed.'

1022. mvp-comment-488-1 πάντα γὰρ κατειργάσω] 'You had effected everything;' i.e. would have prevented the accomplishment of the murder. For the ellipse of av here, cp. esp. Thuc. 8. 86, ἐν ᾧ σαφέστατα Ἰωνίαν καὶ Ἑλλήσποντον εὐθὺς εἶχον οἱ πολέμιοι. It deserves to be considered, whether euphony may not have been sometimes consulted in the omission of av. Certainly πᾶν γὰρ ἄν has not a pleasant sound. Cp. supr. 914: Ant. 604, 5, τίς ἀνδρῶν . . κατάσχοι; Aesch. Ag. 1163, νεογνὸς ἀνθρώπων μάθοι. For πάντα = 'Anything and everything,' cp. Trach. 17, πᾶν τοίνυν . κλύοι τις ἄν: Ο. C. 1503, 4, πάντα γὰρ . . εἰκάσαι πάρα.

1026. mvp-comment-489-1 'No, for in making the attempt one is likely to have ill success.' The masculine gender of the participle and the present tense of the infinitive give generality to the expression :-i.e. εἰκός ἐστι κακῶς πράσσειν τινά, εἰ ἐγχειροίη. καί marks correlation of act and consequence.

1028. mvp-comment-490-1 'I will listen with the same equanimity when you shall praise me;' i.e. 'As I am indifferent to your censure, so I will be to your commendation, when you have learned the truth.' The slight harshness of this, to which av in infr. 1034 is opposed, shows the rising impatience of Chrysothemis. Cp. supr. 430, inf. 1044. 1057. This interpretation is confirmed by l. 1030, μακρὸς χρόνος, ‘A long time, even all the future, is in store to determine that,' where καί is used as elsewhere in adding an equivalent or explanatory phrase. For the article with the epexegetic infinitive = ὥστε, κ.τ.λ., cp. Ο. Τ. 1417, and note.

1033. mvp-comment-491-1 σῇ] i.e. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐμῇ. Cp. Ant. 549, Κρέοντ᾽ ἐρώτα· τοῦδε γὰρ σὺ κηδεμών.

1034. mvp-comment-492-1 Nay but I do not hate thee to that extent'-i. e. though I am vexed with you.

1035. mvp-comment-493-1 But at least you should understand into what dishonour you would bring me.' Electra's tone is softened for the moment by the affectionate tone of the previous line.

1036. mvp-comment-494-1 It is not dishonour I intend, but rather care for thee.' προμηθίας follows the case of ἀτιμίας, without having any definite construction with the preceding words. See Essay on L. $ 35. p. 60 с. The bisection of the line here and in 1038 helps to mark the earnestness of Chrysothemis, and has something of a lyric effect.

1039. mvp-comment-495-1 How strange and sad it is that she who speaks so fairly should thus err!' The phra phrase εὐ λέγουσαν refers not to any single speech of Chrysothemis, but to the general tone of complacent superiority with which she utters her sentences of prudential morality.

1040. mvp-comment-496-1 ᾧ σὺ πρόσκεισαι] Cp. supr. 240, and note.

1043. mvp-comment-497-1 Electra is revolted by the suggestion of tempering justice with expediency. Cp. supr. 397, οὐκ ἐμοὺς τρόπους λέγεις. For τούτοις.. νόμοις, cp. Ant. 191, τοιοῖσδ᾽ ἐγὼ νόμοισι τήνδ' αὔξω πόλιν.

1044. mvp-comment-498-1 Cp. infr. 1057.

1046. mvp-comment-499-1 καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἀληθές] ‘And is this real?' i.e. an intention which you will execute. Cp. Phil. 921, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ δρᾶν νοεῖς; οὐδὲ βουλεύσει πάλιν] 'And will you not alter your resolve?' Cp. Phil. 961, εἰ καὶ πάλιν | γνώμην μετοίσεις.

1048. mvp-comment-500-1 Nothing that I say seems to make any impression on your mind.' φρονεῖν is here to be receptive of wisdom.' The prudence of Chrysothemis is more calculating than the timidity of Ismene.

1051. mvp-comment-501-1 τολμᾷς] 'Can bring yourself.' For a similar periphrasis with τολμάω, cp. Aesch. Prom. 999, 1000, τόλμησον, ὦ μάταιε, τόλμησόν ποτε | πρὸς τὰς παρούσας πημονὰς ὀρθῶς φρονεῖν.

1053. mvp-comment-502-1 Cp. Ant. 69, 70, οὔτ᾽ ἄν, εἰ θέλοις ἔτι | πράσσειν, ἐμοῦ γ᾽ ἂν ἡδέως δρῴης μέτα.

1054. mvp-comment-503-1 θηρᾶσθαι κενά] ‘Το seek for what is vain,' as the sympathy of Chrysothemis has proved itself to be.

1058-1097. mvp-comment-504-1 The Chorus lament, for Agamemnon's sake, over the quarrel between his daughters, which is added to the other troubles of his house, including the supposed death of Orestes, and express their admiration of Electra's attitude. Addressing her in the second strophe, they encourage her with words of sympathy and commendation. While Orestes lived, they bade her hope and trust. Now that they believe him to be dead, they are carried away by the heroism of her despair. That Electra remains upon the stage appears from infr. 1105.

1058-1065. mvp-comment-505-1 Agamemnon is forgotten by his daughter Chrysothemis, and by others who owed him gratitude. In this the human race shows itself inferior to the prudent stork. But though men forget, the gods remember, and will soon exact the penalty.

1058. mvp-comment-506-1 φρονιμωτάτους] Cp. esp. Plat. Polit. 263 D, οἷον δοκεῖ τὸ τῶν γεράνων, where, in a similar spirit of bitterness, the stork is again preferred to man. The expression (οιωνούς) is generalized, as elsewhere in Sophocles.

Sophocles Electra 1058

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Pi lades {with Attendant), Electra, Chorus.

Orestes

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τί τοὺς ἄνωθεν φρονιμωτάτους οἰωνοὺς

ὦ χθονία βροτοῖσι φάμα, κατά μοι βόασον οἰκτρὰν

ὄπα τοῖς ἔνερθ᾽ Ἀτρείδαις, ἀχόρευτα φέρουσ᾽ ὀνείδη ει from η L.·

ἀντ. α.

OR
Enter ORESTES and PYLADES , with the urn.

Orestes
STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2. ORESTES, PYLADES, ELECTRA, CHORUS.

Chorus

May I yet see you live exalted in might and wealth above your enemies by as much as you now dwell beneath their hand! For I have found you enjoying no prosperous estate, yet
1090

for observance of nature’s highest laws you win the noblest prize by your reverence toward Zeus.
1095

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Pi lades {with Attendant), Electra, Chorus.

Orestes

Current edition Experimental

τί τοὺς ἄνωθεν φρονιμωτάτους οἰωνοὺς

ὦ χθονία βροτοῖσι φάμα, κατά μοι βόασον οἰκτρὰν ὄπα τοῖς ἔνερθ᾽ Ἀτρείδαις, ἀχόρευτα φέρουσ᾽ ὀνείδη ει from η L.· ἀντ. α.

OR Enter ORESTES and PYLADES , with the urn.

Orestes STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2. ORESTES, PYLADES, ELECTRA, CHORUS.

Chorus May I yet see you live exalted in might and wealth above your enemies by as much as you now dwell beneath their hand! For I have found you enjoying no prosperous estate, yet 1090 for observance of nature’s highest laws you win the noblest prize by your reverence toward Zeus. 1095

Commentary

Stable identifiers

ὦ χθονία βροτοῖσι φάμα, κατά μοι βόασον οἰκτρὰν

ὄπα τοῖς ἔνερθ᾽ Ἀτρείδαις, ἀχόρευτα φέρουσ᾽ ὀνείδη ει from η L.·

ἀντ. α.

OR
Enter ORESTES and PYLADES , with the urn.

Orestes
STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2. ORESTES, PYLADES, ELECTRA, CHORUS.

Chorus

May I yet see you live exalted in might and wealth above your enemies by as much as you now dwell beneath their hand! For I have found you enjoying no prosperous estate, yet
1090

for observance of nature’s highest laws you win the noblest prize by your reverence toward Zeus.
1095