Sophocles, Electra, Thomas Francklin (Translator), 680

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My task performed, permit me to retire.
680

Cly. No, stranger, that were an aftront to thee,

And to our friend who sent thee here. Go in,

And leave that noisy wretch to bellow forth

Her sorrows, and bewail her lost Orestes. [Exeunt.

Electra
Scene III.

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)) — 680 focus

κἀπεμπόμην πρὸς ταῦτα καὶ τὸ πᾶν φράσω.
680

κεῖνος γὰρ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸ κοινὸν ῾Ελλάδος

πρόσχημ᾽ ἀγῶνος Δελφικῶν ἄθλων χάριν,

ὅτ᾽ ᾔσθετ᾽ ἀνδρὸς ὀρθίων κηρυγμάτων

δρόμον δρόμου LA. δρόμον ΓL² Pal. προκηρύξαντος, οὗ πρώτη κρίσις,

εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός, πᾶσι τοῖς ἐκεῖ σέβας·
685

δρόμου δρομω L. δρόμου C3 or 6. δ᾽ ἰσώσας τῇ φύσει τὰ τέρματα,

νίκης ἔχων ἐξῆλθε πάντιμον γέρας.

χὤπως μὲν ἐν πολλοῖσι παῦρά σοι λέγω

οὐκ οἶδα τοιοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρὸς ἔργα καὶ κράτη·

ἓν δ᾽ ἴσθ᾽· ὅσων γὰρ εἰσεκήρυξαν βραβῆς βραβῆς Cο. βραβεῖς AΓL2.
690

δρόμων διαύλων ἆθλ᾽ ἅπερ πένταθλ' ἃ LFL2 Pal. Vat. ac VM. πενταέθλ᾽ ἃ Aº M². Porson corr. νομίζεται,

τούτων ἐνεγκὼν πάντα τἀπινίκια

ὠλβίζετ᾽, Ἀργεῖος μὲν ἀνακαλούμενος,

ὄνομα δ᾽ Ορέστης, τοῦ τὸ κλεινὸν ῾Ελλάδος

Ἀγαμέμνονος στράτευμ᾽ ἀγείραντός (?) ἐγειράντός L pr. retouched C6. ἀγείραντος Pal. ποτε.
695

καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τοιαῦθ᾽· ὅταν δέ τις θεῶν

βλάπτῃ, δύναιτ᾽ δύναι ...τ᾿ C¹. ἂν οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἰσχύων φυγεῖν.

κεῖνος γὰρ ἄλλης ἡμέρας, ὅθ᾽ ἱππικῶν

ἦν ἡλίου τέλλοντος ὠκύπους ἀγών,

εἰσῆλθε πολλῶν ἁρματηλατῶν μέτα.
700

εἰς ἦν Ἀχαιός, εἷς ἀπὸ Σπάρτης, δύο

Λίβυες ζυγωτῶν ἁρμάτων ἐπιστάται·

κἀκεῖνος ἐν τούτοισι Θεσσαλὰς α from o C². ἔχων

ἵππους, ὁ πέμπτος· ἕκτος ἐξ Αἰτωλίας

ξανθαῖσι πώλοις· ἔβδομος Μάγνης ἀνήρ·
705

ὁ δ᾽ ὄγδοος λεύκιππος, Αἰνιὰν αἰνειᾶν L. αἰνειὰν A. ἀνειᾶν ΓL2. γένος·

ἔνατος Ἀθηνῶν τῶν θεοδμήτων ἄπο·

Βοιωτὸς ἄλλος, δέκατον ἐκπληρῶν ὄχον.

στάντες δ᾽ ὅθ᾽ θ from τ L. ὅτ' Lª Pal. V. ὅ' Vat ac V³. αὐτοὺς οἱ τεταγμένοι βραβῆς βραβῆς C. βραβεῖς A Pal.

κλήροις ἔπηλαν καὶ κατέστησαν δίφρους,
710

χαλκῆς ὑπαὶ σάλπιγγος ᾖξαν· οἱ δ᾽ ἅμα

ἵπποις ὁμοκλήσαντες ἡνίας χεροῖν

ἔσεισαν· ἐν δὲ πᾶς ἐμεστώθη δρόμος

κτύπου κροτητῶν ἁρμάτων ἀρμάτων L.· κόνις δ᾽ ἄνω

φορεῖθ᾽· ὁμοῦ δὲ πάντες ἀναμεμιγμένοι
715

φείδοντο κέντρων οὐδέν, ὡς ὑπερβάλοι

χνόας τις αὐτῶν καὶ φρυάγμαθ᾽ ἱππικά.

ὁμοῦ γὰρ ἀμφὶ νῶτα καὶ τροχῶν βάσεις

ἤφριζον, εἰσέβαλλον εἰσ ἔβαλλον L. ἱππικαὶ πνοαί.

κεῖνος δ᾽ ὑπ᾿ αὐτὴν ἐσχάτην αὐτὴν ἐσχατην L. στήλην ἔχων
720

ἔχριμπτ᾽ ἔχριπτ᾿ LF. ἔχριπτ᾿ Pal. ἔχριμπτ᾿ A. ἔγχριμπτ᾿ L2. ἀεὶ σύριγγα, δεξιὸν δ᾽ δεξιὸν L. δεξιὸν δ᾽ ACTL2. δεξιόν τ' Tricl. ἀνεὶς

σειραῖον ἵππον εἶργε τὸν προσκείμενον.

καὶ πρὶν μὲν ὀρθοὶ πάντες ἕστασαν ἔστασαν L Pal. δίφροι·

ἔπειτα δ᾽ Αἰνιᾶνος αἰνειᾶνος MSS. ἀνδρὸς ἄστομοι

πῶλοι βίᾳ φέρουσιν, ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφῆς,
725

τελοῦντες ἕκτον ἔβδομόν τ᾽ ἤδη δρόμον,

μέτωπα συμπαίουσι Βαρκαίοις ὄχοις·

κἀντεῦθεν ἄλλος ἄλλον ἐξ ἑνὸς κακοῦ

ἔθραυε κἀνέπιπτε, πᾶν δ᾽ ἐπίμπλατο

ναυαγίων Κρισαῖον κρισσαῖον LA. κρϊσαῖον Pal. ἱππικῶν ἱππικὸν LF. πέδον.
730

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 823-870 focus

Χορός

ποῦ ποτε κεραυνοὶ Διὸς ἢ ποῦ φαέθων

Ἅλιος, εἰ ταῦτʼ ἐφορῶντες κρύπτουσιν ἕκηλοι;
825

Ἠλέκτρα

ἒ ἔ, αἰαῖ.

Χορός

ὦ παῖ, τί δακρύεις;

Ἠλέκτρα

φεῦ.

Χορός

μηδὲν μέγʼ ἀΰσῃς.
830

Ἠλέκτρα

ἀπολεῖς.

Χορός

πῶς;

Ἠλέκτρα

εἰ τῶν φανερῶς οἰχομένων

εἰς Ἀΐδαν ἐλπίδʼ ὑποίσεις, κατʼ ἐμοῦ τακομένας

μᾶλλον ἐπεμβάσει.
835

836

Χορός

οἶδα γὰρ ἄνακτʼ Ἀμφιάρεων χρυσοδέτοις

ἕρκεσι κρυφθέντα γυναικῶν· καὶ νῦν ὑπὸ γαίας

Ἠλέκτρα

ἒ ἔ, ἰώ.
840

Χορός

πάμψυχος ἀνάσσει.

Ἠλέκτρα

φεῦ.

Χορός

φεῦ δῆτʼ· ὀλοὰ γὰρ

Ἠλέκτρα

ἐδάμη.

Χορός

ναί.
845

Ἠλέκτρα

οἶδʼ οἶδʼ· ἐφάνη γὰρ μελέτωρ

ἀμφὶ τὸν ἐν πένθει· ἐμοὶ δʼ οὔτις ἔτʼ ἔσθʼ· ὃς γὰρ ἔτʼ ἦν,

φροῦδος ἀναρπασθείς.

849

Χορός

δειλαία δειλαίων κυρεῖς.

Ἠλέκτρα

κἀγὼ τοῦδʼ ἴστωρ, ὑπερίστωρ,
850

πανσύρτῳ παμμήνῳ πολλῶν

δεινῶν στυγνῶν τʼ αἰῶνι.

Χορός

εἴδομεν ἁθρήνεις.

Ἠλέκτρα

μή μέ νυν μηκέτι
855

παραγάγῃς, ἵνʼ οὐ

Χορός

τί φής;

Ἠλέκτρα

πάρεισιν ἐλπίδων ἔτι κοινοτόκων

εὐπατριδᾶν ἀρωγαί.

860

Χορός

πᾶσι θνατοῖς ἔφυ μόρος.
860

Ἠλέκτρα

ἦ καὶ χαλάργοις ἐν ἁμίλλαις

οὕτως, ὡς κείνῳ δυστάνῳ,

τμητοῖς ὁλκοῖς ἐγκῦρσαι;

Χορός

ἄσκοπος ἁ λώβα.

Ἠλέκτρα

πῶς γὰρ οὔκ; εἰ ξένος
865

ἄτερ ἐμᾶν χερῶν

Χορός

παπαῖ.

Ἠλέκτρα

κέκευθεν, οὔτε του τάφου ἀντιάσας

οὔτε γόων παρʼ ἡμῶν.
870

Translations (4)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 680 focus

Then it should seem our coming was in vain.

CLY

In vain? Nay, verily; thou, that hast brought
680

Clear evidences of his fate, who, sprung
680

Prom my life’s essence, severed from my breast

And nurture, was estranged in banishment,

And never saw me from the day he went

Out from this land, but for his father’s blood

Threatened me still with accusation dire;

That sleep nor soothed at night nor sweetly stole

My senses from the day, but, all my time,

Each instant led me on the way to death!—
685

But this day’s chance hath freed me from all fear
685

Of him, and of this maid: who being at home

Troubled me more, and with unmeasured thirst

Kept draining my life-blood; but now her threats

Will leave us quiet days, methinks, and peace

Unbroken.—How then shouldst thou come in vain?

EL

O misery! ’Tis time to wail thy fate,

Orestes, when, in thy calamity,

Thy mother thus insults thee. Is it well?

CLY

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 680 focus

Dazu bin ich gesendet; Alles meld' ich denn.

Er war gekommen zu der stolzen Feste Glanz¹
665

Von Hellas, kühn zu ringen um den Delpherpreis;

Und als er Heroldsrufe nun mit hellem Schall

Zum Laufe rufen hörte, der den Kampf beginnt:

Da trat er strahlend, Allen dort ein Wunder, ein.

Drauf als er stolzen Fluges stolz erreicht das Ziel,
670

Verließ er, hoch mit Siegesruhm gekrönt, die Bahu.

Und bei so Vielem sag' ich dir nur Weniges:

Nie sah ich solches Mannes Kraft und Thaten noch.

In allen fünf Wettkämpfen auf der Doppelbahn,

(Dies Eine meld' ich,) die das Kampfgericht entbot,
675

In allen trug er jeden Siegespreis davon:

Man pries ihn selig, rief ihn als Argeier aus,

Genannt Orestes, Agamemnons Heldensohn,

Der einst Achäa's stolzes Heer versammelte.

So war der Anfang: aber wenn Unglück ein Gott
680

Verhängt, entrinnen mag ihm auch der Starke nicht.

Des andern Tages, als begann der Rosse Kampf,

Der raschen Renner, mit der Sonne frühstem Strahl,

Trat jener auch mit vielen Wagenführern ein.

Es kam ein Sparter, Einer aus Achäa, Zwei,
685

Im Wagenrennen wohlgeübt, aus Libya;

Er unter ihnen folgte mit thessalischem

Gespann, der fünfte; sechstens ein Aetolier

Mit braunen Füllen; siebtens ein Magnesier;

Sodann mit weißen Rossen kam ein Aenier;
690

Der neunte war aus Pallas' gotterbauter Stadt,²

Und ein Böoter schloß den Zug im zehnten Siz.

Und als sie standen, wie des Kampfes Richter dort

Die Loose schwangen und die Wagen ordneten,

Da schmettert' Erzdrommetenschall, fort stürmten sie,
695

Befeu'rten ihrer Rosse Muth, und schüttelten

Die Zügel; weithin füllte da den ganzen Plan

Der Wagen dumpfes Nasseln; hochauf wölkte sich

Der Staub, und alle rannten durch einander hin,

Und schonten nicht der Geißeln, an des Andern Rad
700

Und schnaubend wildem Roßgespann vorbeizufliehn.

Denn wie der Männer Schultern, so der Räder Spur

Benezte dampfend Schaum und Hauch der Rosse rings.

Schon lenkt' Orestes um die lezte Säul' herum,

Ließ stets die Nabe streifen, und dem rechten Roß
705

Den Zügel laffend, zog er mehr sein linkes an.

Anfänglich fuhren regelrecht die Wagen all,

Bis jene Renner Aenia's mit hartem Maul

In Sturmeseil' ausrissen, und rechtshin gewandt,

Den sechsten Lauf vollendend und den siebenten,
710

Die Stirne ranmuten auf die Wagen Libya's.

Und nun zerschmettert' einer durch den Einen Fehl

Den andern, stürzte nieder, und zerbrochener

Rennwagen Trümmer deckten rings das Phokerfeld.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 660 focus

From you, ye female Argives, may I learn,
660

Is this the mansion of Mycenæ's king?

Chorus

Stranger, it is: thou hast conjectured well.

Attendant

And this, if not amiss I judge, his queen :

For in her port are dignity and grace.

Chorus

Well hast thou mark'd our sovereign: this is she.
665

Attendant

Hail queen. I bring thee grateful tidings, sent
665

By one to thee and to Ægisthus dear.
665

Clytemnestra

I welcome thy address. But say by whom,

Bearing this friendly message, thou art sent.

From Phanoteus of Phocis, mighty queen :

Important are the tidings which he sends.

Clytemnestra

What are they, stranger? Tell me: from a friend

Nothing but friendly tidings wilt thou bring.

To speak in brief, Orestes is no more.

Attendant

FLEC. O wretched me! This day I am undone.
670

Clytemnestra

What say'st thou, stranger, what? Regard not her.

Attendant

Again I say Orestes is no more.

Electra

Then I am nothing; I too am no more.

Clytemnestra

Attend thou to thine own concerns. To me

Attendant

Speak truly, stranger; tell me how he died.

And therefore was I sent: hear then the whole.

The glorious contest of the Grecian games

Led him to Delphi: when the herald's voice

Loudly proclaim'd the first, the rapid race,

He enter'd with a splendor that from all

Drew wonder and applause: that graceful form

Deceived not expectation; he first reach'd

The goal, and bore the honour'd prize away.

But, of his many deeds to speak in brief,

In skill and strength one equal I ne'er saw.

Know then at once 'midst the heroic games

In the five contests, as by law ordain'd,

To him the praise of conquest was assign'd,

By the presiding umpires' voice announced.

Applauding Greece the happy victor hail'd,

Call'd him an Argive, sounding loud his name,

Orestes

son of Agamemnon once

The leader of th' illustrious host of Greece.

Such was this day: but when some god decrees

His doom, not e'en the mighty can escape.

The next day's contest was the rapid course

Of rolling chariots. With the orient sun

Ardent 'midst many rivals he advanced;

One an Achæan, one from Sparta, two

From Libya, skill'd to rule the harness'd car:

With these Orestes, his Thessalian mares

Restraining: From Ætolia came a youth,

His coursers colour'd like the burnish'd gold:

Nor was Magnesia wanting to the course:

Proud of his snow white steeds an Ænian came,

One came from Athens built by hands divine;

The list of heroes a Bœotian closed.

Now standing where th' appointed umpires fix'd

By lot their stations, and arranged the cars,

Soon as the trumpet gave the signal, swift

They bounded from the barrier, cheer'd their steeds,

And tost their slacken'd reins; the rolling wheels

With thunder shook the plain, and clouds of dust

Rose to the skies. Together all were mix'd,

Nor spared the lash, impatient each to pass

The others axle and high-snorting steeds;

For o'er their backs and summits of the wheels

Their whitening foam they threw, and fiery breath.

But ever, the last pillar as he reach'd,

He drew his axle nigh, for on the right

He gave his steed the reins, the nearer curb'd.

Thus far the rapid cars roll'd on erect;

Till now the Ænian's wild unmanaged steeds

Broke from the ground, and at the seventh return

Reckless their fronts with headstrong fury dash'd

Against the Lybian chariot. From this shock

Of one, wheel clash'd with shatter'd wheel, and fell;

The wreck of cars fill'd all the Phocian plain.

This saw th' Athenian, and, with skilful hand

Wheeling aloof, his courser's speed restrain'd,

And pass'd the wide confusion of the storm

Roll'd in the middle course. His steeds behind

Orestes

the last, but high in hope

Foremost to reach the goal: but when he saw

One only left his rival for the prize,

With sharper voice he cheer'd his flying mares,

And follow'd close. Now side by side they drove,

Now one, the other now, his coursers' heads-

Push'd forward. All his other courses safe

Now pass'd, firm in his car, its wheels erect,

Orestes on the left relax'd the rein,

And, as his courser round the pillar wheel'd,

Dash'd unawares against it; in the nave

The axle broke, and roll'd him o'er the car

Entangled in the reins: his steeds uncheck'd

Break forth at large, and bound amidst the course.

But when th' assembly saw him from the car

Hurl'd headlong, they with cries deplored the youth,

His gallant actions, and his hapless fate,

As low his head was trail'd along the ground.

And now th' attendant train, his fiery steeds

Scarce check'd, unbound him so deform'd with gore

That not a friend could know the mangled corse.

The funeral pile was raised, the body burn'd,

And to some Phocians is the charge assign'd

With speed to his paternal land to bear

The poor cold ashes of the mighty man

Closed in a narrow urn, that this dear land,

Which gave him birth, may bear his honour'd tomb.

Theseus

lady, are the tidings which I bring,
675

How mournful to relate! But to behold,
675

As we beheld it-misery never show'd
675

Chorus
Scene of like horror to my aching eyes.

Alas, alas! Our lord's imperial stem,
675

Honour'd so long, is perish'd from its roots.
675

Clytemnestra

What an event is this! Almighty Jove,
675

Shall I with joy receive it, or with grief?
675

It brings advantage: yet it grieves my soul
675

To gain the safety of my life by ills.
675

Attendant

Why at these tidings, lady, sink with grief?
675

Clytemnestra

Nature will touch a mother: though with wrongs
675

Attendant

Her heart be rent, she cannot hate her child.
675

Unthank'd is he that brings unwelcome news.
675

Clytemnestra

Why should'st thou say unwelcome and unthank'd?

It is not so: thou bring'st me certain proofs

That he is dead, who, born of me, renounced

My breasts, and all a mother's nurturing care,

Became a fugitive, with strangers lived,

And never saw me since he left this land,

But charged his father's murder on my head,

And menaced fierce revenge; so that by night

Sleep never closed mine eyes, nor sweet repose

By day was mine; but each imperious hour

Appall'd me as a victim mark'd for death.

But now, this day, my terrors are no more

From her, or him; she was the greater pést, ***

A fury nourish'd in my house, that wish'd

To lap my blood: but from their threats secure

I now shall pass my fearless life in peace.

Electra

A wretched me! I now have cause to mourn

Thy wretched fate, Orestes, e'en in death

Thus taunted by a mother. Is this well?

Clytemnestra

Not well with thee; but it is well with him..

Electra

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 823-870 focus

Chorus

Where are the thunderbolts of Zeus, or where the

shining Sun, if they look upon these things and quietly cover them over?
825

Electra

Ah, me, ah, me!

Chorus

My child, why do you weep?

Electra

Oh!

Chorus

Give no cry of bad omen!
830

Electra

You will break my heart!

Chorus

How do you mean?

Electra

If you suggest that I keep hope for those who have surely passed to Hades,

you will trample even harder upon me as I waste away.
835

836

Chorus

No, for I know that the prince Amphiaraus was ensnared by a woman’s chain of gold and swallowed up. And now beneath the earth—

Electra

ah, me, ah, me!
840

Chorus

—He reigns supreme with the wits of the living.

Electra

ah, me!

Chorus

ah, me, indeed! For the murderess—

Electra

Was slain.

Chorus

Yes.
845

Electra

I know it; I know it. For a champion arose to avenge the grieving dead. But for me no champion remains: he who yet remained has been snatched clean away.

849

Chorus

Unhappy are you, unhappy your destiny!

Electra

How well I know that, all too well, with my life swept through all the months by abundant terrors and horrors!
850

Chorus

We have witnessed the events for which you mourn.

Electra

Cease, then, to divert me from it, since no longer—
855

Chorus

What do you say?

Electra

—Since I no longer have hope in my brother, the seed of our shared noble line, to aid me.

860

Chorus

Nature ordains death as the destiny of all mortals.
860

Electra

What, a death like the one which that ill-fated one died beneath a race of swift hooves, entangled in the cutting, dragging reins?

Chorus

The mutilation is beyond thought!

Electra

Yes, so it is, when in foreign soil, without being tended by my hands—
865

Chorus

Ah, no!

Electra

—he has been buried not receiving from me either burial

or lamentation.
870

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-52-1 τὰ … παννυχίδων ¹ ξυνίσας’ ² ὅσα … θρηνῶ ³

mvp-comment-52-2 ἤδη ⁴

mvp-comment-52-3 The MS. οἴκων ⁵ λέκτρων ⁶ μογερῶν ⁷

mvp-comment-53-1 ὅσα τὸν δύστηνον ⁸

mvp-comment-54-1 κατὰ μὲν βάρβαρον αἶαν ⁹ ἐξένισεν ¹⁰

mvp-comment-55-1 Ἄρης ¹¹

mvp-comment-55-2 ἐξένισεν ¹²

mvp-comment-56-1 κοινολεχὴς ¹³

mvp-comment-57-1 ὅπως δρῦν ὑλοτόμοι ¹⁴

mvp-comment-57-2 σχίζουσι ¹⁵

mvp-comment-57-3 κάρα ¹⁶

mvp-comment-57-4 πέλεκει ¹⁷

mvp-comment-58-1 ἄλλης ¹⁸

mvp-comment-58-2 φέρεται ¹⁹

mvp-comment-58-3 The deletion of the words ἀπ’ ἄλλης ²⁰ ἢ )μοῦ ²¹

mvp-comment-59-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μὲν δὴ ²²

mvp-comment-60-1 ἄστρων ²³

mvp-comment-60-2 Others read,

ἔστ’ ἂν λεύσσω παμφεγγεῖς

ῥιπάς, λεύσσω δὲ τόδ’ ἦμαρ

, omitting

ἄστρων

. But

παμφεγγεῖς ῥιπάς

, without

ἄστρων

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

λεύσσω δὲ τόδ’ ἦμαρ

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

mvp-comment-61-1 μὴ οὐ ²⁴

mvp-comment-61-2 τεκνολέτειῤ ²⁵

mvp-comment-62-1 ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ ²⁶

mvp-comment-62-2 ἠχὼ ²⁷

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

ψυχοπομπός

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

Ἀρά

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

πότνια

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

mvp-comment-63-2 Ἀΐδου ²⁸

mvp-comment-64-1 ὦ χθόνἰ Ἑρμῆ ²⁹

mvp-comment-64-2 Ἀρά ³⁰

mvp-comment-64-3 πότνια ³¹

mvp-comment-65-1 σεμναὶ ³²

mvp-comment-65-2 θεῶν παῖδες ³³

mvp-comment-66-1 ὁρᾶθ’ ³⁴

mvp-comment-67-1 αἳ τοὺς εὐνὰς ὑποκλεπτομένους ³⁵

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

δόλος ἦν ὁ φράσας, ἔρος ὁ κτείνας

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

τὴν τελευταίαν ὕβριν

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

ἡ δ’ ὧδε τλήμων ὥστε τῷ μιάστορι

ξύνεστ’, Ἐρινὺν οὔτιν’ ἐκφοβουμένη

mvp-comment-68-1 τείσασθε ³⁶

mvp-comment-69-1 ἡμετέρου ³⁷ μοι ³⁸

mvp-comment-69-2 καί μοι ³⁹

mvp-comment-70-1 ἄγειν ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-70-2 σωκῶ ⁴¹

mvp-comment-71-1 δυστανοτάτας ⁴²

mvp-comment-72-1 τάκεις … οἰμωγὰν ⁴³

mvp-comment-72-2 ἀκόρεστον ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-72-3 τὸν πάλαι ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-72-4 πάλαι ⁴⁶ ἐκ ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-72-5 ἀθεώτατα ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-72-6 κακᾷ … χειρὶ πρόδοτον ⁴⁹ χειρὶ ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-72-7 ὡς ⁵¹

mvp-comment-72-8 ὁ τάδε πορὼν ⁵²

mvp-comment-72-9 εἴ μοι θέμις ⁵³

mvp-comment-73-1 γενέθλα ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-73-2 γενναίων ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-73-3 παραμύθ‐ ⁵⁶ ιον ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-74-1 ξυνίημι ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-74-2 τάδ’ ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-75-1 φυγγάνει ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-75-2 οὐδ’ ἐθέλω ⁶¹

mvp-comment-76-1 μὴ οὐ ⁶²

mvp-comment-76-2 τὸν ἐμὸν … πατέρ’ ἄθλιον ⁶³

mvp-comment-77-1 παντοίας ⁶⁴

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

φιλότητος

, with the MSS. The form in

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

φιλότατος

even in lyrics. Cp. 236 .

mvp-comment-78-1 ἀλύειν ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-79-1 αἰαῖ, ἱκνοῦμαι ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-80-1 τόν γ’ ἐξ Ἀΐδα … λίμνας ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-80-2 παγκοίνου ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-80-3 ἀνστάσεις ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-81-1 οὔτε †γόοις οὔτε λιταῖσιν ⁷⁰ οὔτε γόοισιν οὔτ’ εὐχαῖς ⁷¹

mvp-comment-82-1 For the repetition of ἀλλά ⁷²

mvp-comment-82-2 ἀπὸ τῶν μετρίων ⁷³

mvp-comment-82-3 ἀμήχανον ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-82-4 ο=ιόλλυσαι ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-83-1 ἐν οἷς ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-83-2 ἀνάλυσις … κακῶν ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-83-3 τί μοι ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-84-1 νήπιος ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-84-2 γονέων ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-85-1 ἐμέ γ’ … ἄραρεν ⁸¹

mvp-comment-85-2 φρένας ⁸²

mvp-comment-86-1 αἰὲν Ἴτυν ⁸³

mvp-comment-87-1 ὄρνις ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-87-2 ἀτυζομένα ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-87-3 Διὸς ἄγγελος ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-88-1 Νιόβα, σὲ δ’ ⁸⁷ θεόν ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-88-2 ἅτ’ ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-88-3 ἐν τάφῳ πετραίῳ ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-89-1 αἰεὶ ⁹¹

mvp-comment-90-1 οὔτοι σοὶ μούνᾳ ⁹²

mvp-comment-91-1 πρὸς ὅ τι ⁹³

mvp-comment-91-2 τῶν ἔνδον εἶ περισσά ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-92-1 οἷς ⁹⁵ τῶν ἔνδον ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-92-2 ὁμόθεν ⁹⁷ γονᾷ ξύναιμος ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-93-1 οἵα Χρ. ζώει ⁹⁹

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

Κύπρια ἔπη

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

Ἰφιγένεια

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

mvp-comment-93-3 ζώει ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-93-4 καὶ Ἰφιάνασσα ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-94-1 ἀχέων ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-94-2 Hermann, taking ἀχέων ¹⁰³ κρυπτᾷ ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-95-1 ὄλβιος, ὃν ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-95-2 For the simple

ὅς

, instead of

ὅς γε

ὅστις

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

mvp-comment-96-1 δέξεται εὐπατρίδαν ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-96-2 Διὸς εὔφρονι ¹⁰⁷ βήματι ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-96-3 γᾶν ¹⁰⁹ γᾶ ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-96-4 Ὀρέσταν ¹¹¹ ὃν ¹¹²

mvp-comment-97-1 ἀκάματα ¹¹³

mvp-comment-97-2 ἀνύμφευτος ¹¹⁴ ἄτεκνος ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-97-3 οἰχνῶ ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-98-1 δάκρυσι μυδαλέα ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-98-2 τὸν ἀνήνυτον ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-98-3 οἶτον ἔχουσα ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-99-1 ὧν τ’ ἔπαθ’ ¹²⁰ ὧν τ’ ἐδάη ¹²¹

mvp-comment-99-2 Wecklein, reading

ἐδάην

, explains,— ‘what I have heard from him,’—viz., his promises of coming.

mvp-comment-99-3 τί γὰρ … ἀγγελίας ¹²²

mvp-comment-99-4 ἀπατώμενον ¹²³ τί … οὐκ ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-99-5 Herwerden's οὐχί μοι ¹²⁵ οὐκ ἐμοί ¹²⁶ ὁ δέ ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-100-1 ποθεῖ, ποθῶν δ’ ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-101-1 ἔτι μέγας οὐρανῷ ¹²⁹ ἐν ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-102-1 τὸν ὑπεραλγῆ ¹³¹

mvp-comment-102-2 νέμουσα ¹³²

mvp-comment-103-1 μήτε ὑπεράχθεο ¹³³ οἷς ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-104-1 εὐμαρὴς θεός ¹³⁵ θεός ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-105-1 οὔτε γὰρ ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-105-2 Κρῖσαν ¹³⁸

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 ¹³⁹ βουνόμον ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-106-2 βούνομον ἀκτὰν ¹⁴¹ Κρῖσαν ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-107-1 ἀπερίτροπος ¹⁴³

mvp-comment-108-1 παρὰ τὸν Ἀχέροντα ¹⁴⁴ ἀνάσσων ¹⁴⁵ θεὸς ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-109-1 μὲν ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-109-2 ὁ πολὺς … βίοτος ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-109-3 ἀνέλπιστος ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-109-4 187 *

τεκέων

. I am now satisfied that this is a true correction of τοκέων ¹⁵⁰ ἅτις ¹⁵¹ τοκέων ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-110-1 ἁπερεί ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-110-2 ἔποικος ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-111-1 οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-112-1 ἀεικεῖ σὺν στολᾷ ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-113-1 κεναῖς δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις ¹⁵⁷ ἀμφίσταμαι ¹⁵⁸

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 ¹⁵⁹ κοίταις ¹⁶⁰ οἰκτρὰ … αὐδὰ ¹⁶¹

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 ¹⁶² ἐν ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-114-6 κοίταις ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-114-7 ὅτε οἱ ¹⁶⁵ σοι ¹⁶⁶ ἀνταία ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-114-8 γενύων ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-115-1 δόλος … ἔρος ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-116-1 δεινὰν δεινῶς ¹⁷⁰ δεινὰν … μορφάν ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-116-2 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ¹⁷² βροτῶν ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-117-1 πλέον … ἐχθίστα ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-117-2 δὴ ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-118-1 νὺξ ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-118-2 δείπνων ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-119-1 ἄχθη ¹⁷⁸ τοῖς ¹⁷⁹ θανάτους ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-119-2 διδύμαιν χειροῖν ¹⁸¹ διδύμοιν ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-120-1 εἷλον … πρόδοτον ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-121-1 οἷς ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-121-2 Ὀλύμπιος ¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-122-1 ποίνιμα ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-123-1 ἀγλαΐας ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-123-2 ἀποναίατο ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-124-1 πόρσω ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-125-1 γνώμαν ἴσχεις ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-125-2 ἐξ οἵων ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-125-3 τὰ παρόντ’ ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-125-4 οἰκείας ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-126-1 πολύ … τι κακῶν ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-126-2 ὑπερεκτήσω ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-127-1 τὰ δὲ ¹⁹⁶ οὐκ ἐριστὰ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ¹⁹⁷ πλάθειν ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-127-2 ἐριστά ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-127-3 πλάθειν ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-128-1 δεινοῖς ἠναγκάσθην ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-129-1 ὀργά ²⁰² ἔξοιδ’ ²⁰³

mvp-comment-130-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-130-2 ἐν … δεινοῖς ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-130-3 σχήσω ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-130-4 ταύτας ἄτας ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-131-1 ὄφρα ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-131-2 βίος ἔχῃ με ²⁰⁹ σχήσω ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-132-1 τίνι γάρ … τίνι φρονοῦντι καίρια ²¹¹ ἀκούσαιμ’ ἂν πρόσφορον ἔπος ²¹² τίνι ²¹³ πρόσφορον ²¹⁴

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 ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-133-2 ἄλυτα ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-133-3 κεκλήσεται ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-133-4 231 f. For ἐκ ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-133-5 ἀνάριθμος ²¹⁹ θρήνων ²²⁰

mvp-comment-134-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν ²²¹ γε ²²² εὐνοίᾳ ²²³

mvp-comment-135-1 μάτηρ ὡσεί τις ²²⁴

mvp-comment-136-1 μὴ τίκτειν ²²⁵

mvp-comment-136-2 ἄταν ἄταις ²²⁶

mvp-comment-137-1 καὶ τί μέτρον ²²⁷ κακότατος ²²⁸

mvp-comment-137-2 φέρε ²²⁹

mvp-comment-137-3 ἐπὶ τοῖς φθ. ²³⁰

mvp-comment-138-1 ἔβλαστ’ ²³¹

mvp-comment-139-1 τούτοις ²³²

mvp-comment-140-1 εἴ τῳ πρόσκειμαι χρηστῷ ²³³

mvp-comment-141-1 ξυνναίοιμ’ ²³⁴

mvp-comment-141-2 εὔκηλος ²³⁵

mvp-comment-141-3 γονέων ²³⁶ ἐκτίμους ²³⁷

mvp-comment-141-4 ἐκτίμους ἵσχουσα ²³⁸

mvp-comment-141-5 πτέρυγας … γόων ²³⁹

mvp-comment-141-6 ὀξυτόνων ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-142-1 εἰ γὰρ ²⁴¹

mvp-comment-142-2 γᾶ ²⁴²

mvp-comment-142-3 οὐδὲν ²⁴³ ὢν ²⁴⁴ εἰ ²⁴⁵

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 ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-142-6 ἀντιφόνους δίκας ²⁴⁷

mvp-comment-143-1 ἔρροι τ’ ²⁴⁸

mvp-comment-143-2 αἰδὼς ²⁴⁹ εὐσέβεια ²⁵⁰

mvp-comment-144-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ²⁵¹

mvp-comment-144-2 καὶ ²⁵² τὸ σὸν … καὶ τοὐμὸν ²⁵³

mvp-comment-145-1 νίκα ²⁵⁴

mvp-comment-145-2 ἅμα ²⁵⁵

mvp-comment-146-1 πολλοῖσι θρήνοις ²⁵⁶

mvp-comment-147-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ²⁵⁷

mvp-comment-148-1 ἥτις εὐγενὴς γυνή ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-149-1 πατρῷα … πήματα ²⁵⁹

mvp-comment-150-1 κατ’ εὐφρόνην ²⁶⁰

mvp-comment-150-2 θάλλοντα ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-151-1 ᾗ ²⁶²

mvp-comment-151-2 πρῶτα μὲν … εἶτα … ἔπειτα ²⁶³ ᾗ ²⁶⁴

mvp-comment-151-3 τὰ μητρὸς ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-151-4 ἔχθιστα συμβέβηκεν ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-152-1 κἀκ τῶνδ’ ἄρχομαι ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-153-1 λαβεῖν … τὸ τητᾶσθαι ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-154-1 ποίας ²⁶⁹ δοκεῖς ²⁷⁰

mvp-comment-155-1 ἴδω ²⁷¹ εἰσίδω δ’ ²⁷² ἴδω δὲ ²⁷³

mvp-comment-155-2 μὲν ²⁷⁴

mvp-comment-156-1 ἐσθήματα ²⁷⁵

mvp-comment-156-2 ἐκείνῳ ²⁷⁶

mvp-comment-156-3 παρεστίους … λοιβάς ²⁷⁷ ἔνθ’ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν ²⁷⁸

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 ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-158-1 αὐτοέντην ²⁸⁰

mvp-comment-158-2 Brunck first adopted αὐτοέντην ²⁸¹ αὐτοφόντην ²⁸²

mvp-comment-158-3 ἡμὶν ²⁸³

mvp-comment-159-1 ταλαίνῃ ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-160-1 ταύτην … τῷδε ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-161-1 μιάστορι ²⁸⁶ Ἐρινὺν ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-162-1 ἐγγελῶσα τοῖς ποιουμένοις ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-163-1 εὑροῦς’ ²⁸⁹ τότε ²⁹⁰

mvp-comment-163-2 The conjecture φρουροῦς’ ²⁹¹ τηροῦς’ ²⁹²

mvp-comment-164-1 χοροὺς ἵστησι ²⁹³

mvp-comment-164-2 μηλοσφαγεῖ … ἱερὰ ²⁹⁴

mvp-comment-164-3 ἔμμην’ ἱερά ²⁹⁵

mvp-comment-164-4 τοῖς σωτηρίοις ²⁹⁶

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 ²⁹⁷ κατὰ στέγας ²⁹⁸

mvp-comment-166-1 τέτηκα ²⁹⁹

mvp-comment-166-2 πατρὸς ³⁰⁰

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 ³⁰¹ αὑτήν ³⁰²

mvp-comment-167-2 κλαῦσαι ³⁰³

mvp-comment-167-3 ἡδονὴν φέρει ³⁰⁴

mvp-comment-168-1 ἡ λόγοισι γενναία ³⁰⁵

mvp-comment-169-1 φωνοῦσα ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-170-1 δύσθεον ³⁰⁷

mvp-comment-170-2 μίσημα ³⁰⁸

mvp-comment-170-3 σοὶ μόνῃ ³⁰⁹

mvp-comment-170-4 τέθνηκεν ³¹⁰

mvp-comment-170-5 ἐν πένθει ³¹¹

mvp-comment-171-1 ἐκ γόων ³¹²

mvp-comment-171-2 οἱ κάτω θεοί ³¹³

mvp-comment-172-1 τάδ’ ³¹⁴

mvp-comment-172-2 ἥξοντ’ Ὀρέστην ³¹⁵

mvp-comment-173-1 παραστᾶς’ ³¹⁶

mvp-comment-174-1 ἥτις ³¹⁷

mvp-comment-174-2 ὑπεξέθου ³¹⁸

mvp-comment-175-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι τείσουσά γ’ ³¹⁹

mvp-comment-176-1 ὑλακτεῖ ³²⁰

mvp-comment-176-2 σὺν ³²¹

mvp-comment-176-3 πέλας ³²² παρών ³²³

mvp-comment-176-4 301 The adv. πάντα ³²⁴

mvp-comment-176-5 ἄναλκις ³²⁵

mvp-comment-176-6 ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη ³²⁶

mvp-comment-177-1 σὺν γυναιξὶ ³²⁷

mvp-comment-177-2 τὰς μάχας ³²⁸

mvp-comment-178-1 ἐφήξειν ³²⁹

mvp-comment-179-1 μέλλων … δρᾶν τι ³³⁰

mvp-comment-179-2 τὰς οὔσας τε … καὶ τὰς ἀπούσας ³³¹

mvp-comment-179-3 μου ³³² μοι ³³³

mvp-comment-179-4 διέφθορεν ³³⁴

mvp-comment-180-1 σωφρονεῖν ³³⁵ εὐσεβεῖν ³³⁶

mvp-comment-180-2 ἔν τοι κακοῖς ³³⁷

mvp-comment-180-3 πολλή )στ’ ἀνάγκη ³³⁸ κἀπιτηδεύειν κακά ³³⁹

mvp-comment-180-4 I place only a comma, not a colon, after πάρεστιν ³⁴⁰

mvp-comment-181-1 ὄντος … βεβῶτος ³⁴¹

mvp-comment-182-1 ἦ κάρτα ³⁴²

mvp-comment-182-2 θυραῖον ³⁴³

mvp-comment-182-3 οἰχνεῖν ³⁴⁴

mvp-comment-182-4 ἀγροῖσι ³⁴⁵

mvp-comment-182-5 τυγχάνει ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-183-1 ἦ κἂν … ἱκοίμην ³⁴⁷ ἦ τ<*>ν ³⁴⁸ ἦ δἂν ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-183-2 ἐς λόγους τοὺς σοὺς ἱκοίμην ³⁵⁰

mvp-comment-184-1 ὡς νῦν ³⁵¹ ὥς νυν ³⁵²

mvp-comment-184-2 ἱστόρει· τί σοι φίλον ³⁵³ τό ³⁵⁴ τά ³⁵⁵

mvp-comment-184-3 With the other punctuation, ἱστόρει τί σοι φίλον ³⁵⁶

mvp-comment-185-1 καὶ δὴ ³⁵⁷

mvp-comment-185-2 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής ³⁵⁸

mvp-comment-185-3 ἥξοντος ³⁵⁹ ἢ μέλλοντος ³⁶⁰

mvp-comment-186-1 φησίν γε ³⁶¹

mvp-comment-186-2 ποεῖ ³⁶²

mvp-comment-187-1 καὶ μὴν ἔγωγ’ ³⁶³ γε ³⁶⁴

mvp-comment-187-2 οὐκ ὄκνῳ ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-188-1 ἀρκεῖν ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-189-1 ἐπεί ³⁶⁷

mvp-comment-189-2 μακρὰν ³⁶⁸

mvp-comment-189-3 324 Here, as in 316, νῦν ³⁶⁹ νυν ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-189-4 δόμων ³⁷¹ φέρουσαν ³⁷²

mvp-comment-190-1 ὅμαιμον ³⁷³

mvp-comment-190-2 φύσιν ³⁷⁴

mvp-comment-191-1 Χρυσόθεμιν ³⁷⁵

mvp-comment-192-1 οἷα ³⁷⁶ νομίζεται ³⁷⁷

mvp-comment-193-1 πρὸς θυρῶνος ἐξόδοις ³⁷⁸ φωνεῖς ³⁷⁹ ἐλθοῦσα ³⁸⁰ αὖ ³⁸¹

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

mvp-comment-194-1 θυμῷ … χαρίζεσθαι ³⁸²

mvp-comment-195-1 καίτοι τοσοῦτόν γ’ οἶδα ³⁸³

mvp-comment-195-2 κἀμαυτήν, ὅτι ³⁸⁴

mvp-comment-195-3 333 f. For the repeated ἄν ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-195-4 οἶ) αὐτοῖς φρονῶ ³⁸⁶

mvp-comment-196-1 ὑφειμένῃ ³⁸⁷ πλεῖν ³⁸⁸

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 ³⁸⁹

mvp-comment-198-1 τοιαῦτα δ’ ἄλλα ³⁹⁰ ἀλλὰ ³⁹¹ ἄλλα ³⁹²

mvp-comment-199-1 καίτοι τὸ μὲν δίκαιον ³⁹³

mvp-comment-199-2 κρίνεις ³⁹⁴

mvp-comment-199-3 εἰ … με δεῖ ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-199-4 ἐλευθέραν ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-199-5 ζῆν ³⁹⁷

mvp-comment-199-6 πάντ’ ³⁹⁸

mvp-comment-199-7 ἀκουστέα ³⁹⁹

mvp-comment-200-1 δεινόν γε ⁴⁰⁰

mvp-comment-201-1 τῆς … τικτούσης ⁴⁰¹

mvp-comment-201-2 μέλειν ⁴⁰²

mvp-comment-202-1 τἀμὰ νουθετήματα ⁴⁰³

mvp-comment-202-2 κείνης διδακτά ⁴⁰⁴

mvp-comment-202-3 ἐκ σαυτῆς ⁴⁰⁵

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’ ⁴⁰⁶

mvp-comment-203-4 ἑλοῦ γε ⁴⁰⁷

mvp-comment-203-5 φρονεῖν κακῶς ⁴⁰⁸

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 ⁴⁰⁹

mvp-comment-205-1 ἥτις ⁴¹⁰ φρονοῦσα ⁴¹¹ μῖσος ⁴¹²

mvp-comment-206-1 πάντα ⁴¹³

mvp-comment-206-2 τιμωρουμένης ⁴¹⁴

mvp-comment-207-1 οὔτε … τε ⁴¹⁵

mvp-comment-207-2 τήν τε δρῶσαν ⁴¹⁶

mvp-comment-208-1 πρὸς κακοῖσι ⁴¹⁷

mvp-comment-208-2 δειλίαν ἔχει ⁴¹⁸

mvp-comment-209-1 ἐπεὶ ⁴¹⁹

mvp-comment-209-2 ἢ μάθ’ ἐξ ἐμοῦ ⁴²⁰

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐπαρκούντως ⁴²¹

mvp-comment-211-1 προσάπτειν ⁴²²

mvp-comment-211-2 εἴ τις ἔστ’ ἐκεῖ χάρις ⁴²³

mvp-comment-212-1 ἡμὶν ⁴²⁴ ξύνει ⁴²⁵

mvp-comment-213-1 τὰ σὰ … δῶῤ ⁴²⁶

mvp-comment-213-2 ἐφ’ οἶσι ⁴²⁷

mvp-comment-213-3 χλιδᾷς ⁴²⁸

mvp-comment-214-1 ὑπεικάθοιμι ⁴²⁹

mvp-comment-214-2 πλουσία ⁴³⁰

mvp-comment-214-3 περιρρείτω ⁴³¹

mvp-comment-215-1 τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν ⁴³²

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 ⁴³³

mvp-comment-217-1 παῖδα ⁴³⁴

mvp-comment-217-2 κεκλῆσθαι ⁴³⁵

mvp-comment-218-1 πλείστοις ⁴³⁶

mvp-comment-219-1 μηδὲν ⁴³⁷ πρὸς ὀργὴν ⁴³⁸

mvp-comment-220-1 ἀμφοῖν ⁴³⁹ τοῖς λόγοις ⁴⁴⁰

mvp-comment-221-1 τῆσδε … αὕτη ⁴⁴¹ πάλιν ⁴⁴²

mvp-comment-222-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ⁴⁴³

mvp-comment-222-2 πως ⁴⁴⁴

mvp-comment-222-3 μύθων ⁴⁴⁵

mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ’ ⁴⁴⁶ κοὐδ’ ⁴⁴⁷ ποτέ ⁴⁴⁸

mvp-comment-224-1 ἰὸν ⁴⁴⁹

mvp-comment-224-2 σχήσει ⁴⁵⁰

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν ⁴⁵¹

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι ⁴⁵² εἰ ⁴⁵³

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ ⁴⁵⁴

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων ⁴⁵⁵ λόγων ⁴⁵⁶

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα ⁴⁵⁷

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει ⁴⁵⁸

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα ⁴⁵⁹

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ ⁴⁶⁰

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς ⁴⁶¹

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις ⁴⁶²

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα ⁴⁶³

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ ⁴⁶⁴ καί ⁴⁶⁵

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 ⁴⁶⁶ ἦ … δὴ ⁴⁶⁷ ἦ … γὰρ ⁴⁶⁸

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται ⁴⁶⁹

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο ⁴⁷⁰

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ ⁴⁷¹

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ ⁴⁷²

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα ⁴⁷³

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε ⁴⁷⁴

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν ⁴⁷⁵

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως ⁴⁷⁶ ὑμῶν ⁴⁷⁷

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ ⁴⁷⁸ προσωτάτω φύγω ⁴⁷⁹

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος ⁴⁸⁰

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ ⁴⁸¹

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι ⁴⁸²

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις ⁴⁸³

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν ⁴⁸⁴

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα ⁴⁸⁵ οὐκ ἐμοὺς ⁴⁸⁶

mvp-comment-240-1 γε ⁴⁸⁷ μέντοι ⁴⁸⁸

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ ⁴⁸⁹

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν ⁴⁹⁰

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 ⁴⁹¹

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη ⁴⁹²

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν ⁴⁹³

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω ⁴⁹⁴

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ ⁴⁹⁵

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις ⁴⁹⁶

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα ⁴⁹⁷

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς ⁴⁹⁸

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν ⁴⁹⁹

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή ⁵⁰⁰ ὅν γ’ ⁵⁰¹

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ⁵⁰²

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος ⁵⁰³

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί ⁵⁰⁴

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι ⁵⁰⁵

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ ⁵⁰⁶

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν ⁵⁰⁷

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε ⁵⁰⁸

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ⁵⁰⁹ ἐπὶ σμικρῶν ⁵¹⁰

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι ⁵¹¹

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι ⁵¹²

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν ⁵¹³

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι ⁵¹⁴

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 ⁵¹⁵

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε ⁵¹⁶ ἐκ δὲ ⁵¹⁷

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα ⁵¹⁸

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι ⁵¹⁹

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 ⁵²⁰ τοῦ ⁵²¹ παρόντος ⁵²² του ⁵²³

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ ⁵²⁴

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ⁵²⁵

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη ⁵²⁶

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 ⁵²⁷

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ ⁵²⁸

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ ⁵²⁹

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει ⁵³⁰

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ ⁵³¹

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη ⁵³² τούτων μὲν ⁵³³

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις ⁵³⁴ οὐδ’ ὅσιον ⁵³⁵

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ⁵³⁶

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ ⁵³⁷

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ ⁵³⁸

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ⁵³⁹ ῥοαῖσιν ⁵⁴⁰

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον ⁵⁴¹

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν ⁵⁴²

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ ⁵⁴³ ἔνθεν ⁵⁴⁴

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν ⁵⁴⁵

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν ⁵⁴⁶

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν ⁵⁴⁷ ὅταν ⁵⁴⁸ σῳζέσθω ⁵⁴⁹

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ ⁵⁵⁰

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν ⁵⁵¹ τλημονεστάτη ⁵⁵²

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε ⁵⁵³

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ ⁵⁵⁴

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε ⁵⁵⁵

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ ⁵⁵⁶

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι ⁵⁵⁷

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι ⁵⁵⁸ δέξασθαι ⁵⁵⁹

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος ⁵⁶⁰

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη ⁵⁶¹

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 ⁵⁶²

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν ⁵⁶³

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ ⁵⁶⁴

mvp-comment-268-1 οὐκ ἔστιν ⁵⁶⁵

mvp-comment-268-2 ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ ⁵⁶⁶

mvp-comment-269-1 βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας ⁵⁶⁷

mvp-comment-269-2 κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης ⁵⁶⁸

mvp-comment-270-1 †ἀλιπαρῆ ⁵⁶⁹ λιπαρῆ ⁵⁷⁰

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’ ⁵⁷¹ ἀλίπαρον ⁵⁷²

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 ⁵⁷³

mvp-comment-271-2 χλιδαῖς ⁵⁷⁴

mvp-comment-272-1 προσπίτνουσα ⁵⁷⁵ αὐτὸν ⁵⁷⁶

mvp-comment-273-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός ⁵⁷⁷

mvp-comment-273-2 ζῶντ’ ⁵⁷⁸

mvp-comment-274-1 ἀφνεωτέραις ⁵⁷⁹

mvp-comment-274-2 στέφωμεν ⁵⁸⁰

mvp-comment-274-3 δωρούμεθα ⁵⁸¹

mvp-comment-275-1 οἶμαι μὲν οὖν ⁵⁸²

mvp-comment-275-2 If μέλον ⁵⁸³ μέλειν ⁵⁸⁴ μέλον ⁵⁸⁵

mvp-comment-276-1 σοί ⁵⁸⁶

mvp-comment-277-1 βροτῶν ⁵⁸⁷

mvp-comment-278-1 πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ⁵⁸⁸

mvp-comment-279-1 δράσω ⁵⁸⁹

mvp-comment-279-2 τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον ⁵⁹⁰

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 ⁵⁹¹

mvp-comment-280-1 παρ’ ὑμῶν ⁵⁹²

mvp-comment-281-1 πικρὰν ⁵⁹³ δοκῶ με … τολμήσειν ⁵⁹⁴ ἔτι ⁵⁹⁵

mvp-comment-282-1 εἰ μὴ )γὼ ⁵⁹⁶

mvp-comment-282-2 γνώμας λειπομένα ⁵⁹⁷

mvp-comment-283-1 ἁ πρόμαντις Δίκα ⁵⁹⁸

mvp-comment-283-2 δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη ⁵⁹⁹

mvp-comment-284-1 μέτεισιν ⁶⁰⁰

mvp-comment-284-2 οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου ⁶⁰¹

mvp-comment-285-1 ὕπεστί μοι θράσος ⁶⁰² κλύουσαν ⁶⁰³

mvp-comment-285-2 ἁδυπνόων … ὀνειράτων ⁶⁰⁴

mvp-comment-286-1 ἀμναστεῖ γ’ ὁ φύσας ς’ ⁶⁰⁵

mvp-comment-287-1 χαλκόπλακτος ⁶⁰⁶

mvp-comment-287-2 γένυς ⁶⁰⁷

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 ⁶⁰⁸

mvp-comment-289-1 καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ ⁶⁰⁹

mvp-comment-290-1 λόχοις ⁶¹⁰

mvp-comment-290-2 χαλκόπους ⁶¹¹

mvp-comment-291-1 ἄλεκτρ’ ἄνυμφα ⁶¹²

mvp-comment-291-2 γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ’ ⁶¹³

mvp-comment-291-3 ἐπέβα ⁶¹⁴

mvp-comment-292-1 πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι … συνδρῶσιν ⁶¹⁵

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 ⁶¹⁶

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 ⁶¹⁷

mvp-comment-293-1 ἀψεγές ⁶¹⁸ ἀψεφές ⁶¹⁹

mvp-comment-293-2 πελᾶν ⁶²⁰

mvp-comment-294-1 τοῖς δρῶσι ⁶²¹ τοῖς συνδρῶσιν ⁶²²

mvp-comment-295-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν ⁶²³

mvp-comment-296-1 εὖ κατασχήσει ⁶²⁴

mvp-comment-297-1 ἱππεία ⁶²⁵

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 ⁶²⁶

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 ⁶²⁷

mvp-comment-299-2 ὁ ποντισθεὶς Μυρτίλος ⁶²⁸

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 ⁶²⁹

mvp-comment-300-1 παγχρυσέων δίφρων ⁶³⁰

mvp-comment-301-1 πρόρριζος ⁶³¹

mvp-comment-301-2 ἐκριφθείς ⁶³²

mvp-comment-302-1 ἔλειπεν ⁶³³ ἔλιπεν ⁶³⁴ οἴκου ⁶³⁵ οἴκους ⁶³⁶ πω ⁶³⁷

mvp-comment-303-1 πολύπονος ⁶³⁸ αἰκία ⁶³⁹

mvp-comment-304-1 ἀνειμένη ⁶⁴⁰ μέν ⁶⁴¹

mvp-comment-304-2 ὡς ἔοικας ⁶⁴²

mvp-comment-304-3 στρέφει ⁶⁴³

mvp-comment-304-4 Clytaemnestra begins in the same strain as Chrysothemis, who likewise emphasised her reproof by the word αὖ ⁶⁴⁴

mvp-comment-305-1 μή τοι θυραίαν γ’ ⁶⁴⁵

mvp-comment-305-2 αἰσχύνειν φίλους ⁶⁴⁶

mvp-comment-306-1 καίτοι ⁶⁴⁷

mvp-comment-306-2 δὴ ⁶⁴⁸ πολλούς ⁶⁴⁹

mvp-comment-306-3 ἐξεῖπάς με … ὡς ⁶⁵⁰

mvp-comment-306-4 θρασεῖα ⁶⁵¹ τραχεῖα ⁶⁵²

mvp-comment-306-5 ἄρχω ⁶⁵³

mvp-comment-307-1 ὕβριν … οὐκ ἔχω ⁶⁵⁴ κακῶς κλύουσα ⁶⁵⁵

mvp-comment-308-1 πατὴρ γάρ ⁶⁵⁶

mvp-comment-308-2 πρόσχημα ⁶⁵⁷

mvp-comment-309-1 ἡ γὰρ Δίκη ⁶⁵⁸

mvp-comment-310-1 ᾗ χρῆν σ’ ἀρήγειν ⁶⁵⁹

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 ⁶⁶⁰ Ἑλλήνων ⁶⁶¹

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 ⁶⁶²

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 ⁶⁶³

mvp-comment-315-1 ἀλλ’ ἀντ’ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα ⁶⁶⁴ κτανὼν ⁶⁶⁵

mvp-comment-315-2 ἀντὶ ἀδελφοῦ ⁶⁶⁶

mvp-comment-315-3 τἄμ’ ⁶⁶⁷

mvp-comment-316-1 παῖδες … διπλοῖ ⁶⁶⁸

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 ⁶⁶⁹

mvp-comment-317-2 ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν Ἅιδης ⁶⁷⁰

mvp-comment-318-1 δαίσασθαι ⁶⁷¹

mvp-comment-318-2 The conj. λῄσασθαι ⁶⁷²

mvp-comment-319-1 πανώλει ⁶⁷³

mvp-comment-319-2 παρεῖτο ⁶⁷⁴

mvp-comment-319-3 The sense does not absolutely require us to take Μενέλεω δ’ ⁶⁷⁵

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀβούλου ⁶⁷⁶

mvp-comment-320-2 κακοῦ γνώμην ⁶⁷⁷

mvp-comment-321-1 δοκῶ μέν ⁶⁷⁸

mvp-comment-321-2 εἰ καὶ ⁶⁷⁹

mvp-comment-322-1 εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι ⁶⁸⁰

mvp-comment-323-1 τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ⁶⁸¹

mvp-comment-324-1 γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα ⁶⁸²

mvp-comment-325-1 ἐρεῖς μὲν οὐχὶ ⁶⁸³ ἐρεῖς ⁶⁸⁴ ἐρεῖς … μ’ ὡς ⁶⁸⁵

mvp-comment-325-2 ἄρξασά τι λυπηρὸν ⁶⁸⁶

mvp-comment-325-3 τάδ’ ἐξήκους’ ⁶⁸⁷

mvp-comment-326-1 τοῦ τεθνηκότος θ’ ὕπερ ⁶⁸⁸

mvp-comment-327-1 καὶ μὴν ⁶⁸⁹

mvp-comment-327-2 λόγους ἐξῆρχές με ⁶⁹⁰

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 ⁶⁹¹ πατέρα ⁶⁹² φὴς ⁶⁹³

mvp-comment-329-1 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ⁶⁹⁴

mvp-comment-329-2 λέξω ⁶⁹⁵ δείξω ⁶⁹⁶

mvp-comment-330-1 ὡς οὐ δίκῃ γ’ ⁶⁹⁷ ἔσπασεν ⁶⁹⁸ πειθὼ ⁶⁹⁹

mvp-comment-331-1 κυναγὸν ⁷⁰⁰

mvp-comment-331-2 ποινὰς ⁷⁰¹

mvp-comment-331-3 τὰ πολλὰ πνεύματ’ ἔσχ’ ⁷⁰² τὰ πολλὰ ⁷⁰³ ἔσχε ⁷⁰⁴

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 ⁷⁰⁵

mvp-comment-331-8 Αὐλίδι ⁷⁰⁶

mvp-comment-332-1 ἢ )γὼ φράσω ⁷⁰⁷ κείνης ⁷⁰⁸

mvp-comment-333-1 ὡς ἐγὼ κλύω ⁷⁰⁹

mvp-comment-333-2 θεᾶς … κατ’ ἄλσος ⁷¹⁰

mvp-comment-333-3 παίζων ⁷¹¹

mvp-comment-333-4 ποδοῖν ⁷¹²

mvp-comment-334-1 ἔλαφον ⁷¹³

mvp-comment-334-2 στικτὸν ⁷¹⁴

mvp-comment-334-3 κεράστην ⁷¹⁵

mvp-comment-334-4 οὗ κατὰ σφαγὰς ⁷¹⁶

mvp-comment-335-1 ἐκκομπάσας ἔπος τι τυγχάνει ⁷¹⁷ βαλών ⁷¹⁸

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 ⁷¹⁹ ἔπος ⁷²⁰

mvp-comment-335-4 Monk, with Musgrave, took σφαγὰς ⁷²¹

mvp-comment-336-1 ἐκ τοῦδε ⁷²²

mvp-comment-336-2 μηνίσασα ⁷²³

mvp-comment-336-3 Λητῴα κόρη ⁷²⁴

mvp-comment-337-1 ὡς ⁷²⁵ ἀντίσταθμον ⁷²⁶

mvp-comment-337-2 ἐκθύσειε ⁷²⁷

mvp-comment-338-1 ὧδ’ ἦν ⁷²⁸

mvp-comment-338-2 τὰ … θύματ’ ⁷²⁹

mvp-comment-338-3 λύσις ⁷³⁰

mvp-comment-338-4 πρὸς οἶκον ⁷³¹

mvp-comment-339-1 πολλὰ ⁷³²

mvp-comment-339-2 ἀντιβὰς ⁷³³

mvp-comment-339-3 μόλις ⁷³⁴

mvp-comment-340-1 εἰ δ’ οὖν ⁷³⁵

mvp-comment-340-2 ἐρῶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ σόν ⁷³⁶

mvp-comment-341-1 τούτου … οὕνεκ’ ⁷³⁷

mvp-comment-341-2 νόμῳ ⁷³⁸

mvp-comment-342-1 ὅρα ⁷³⁹ μὴ … τιθῇς ⁷⁴⁰ τίθης ⁷⁴¹

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 ⁷⁴²

mvp-comment-343-1 εἰ γὰρ κτενοῦμεν ⁷⁴³

mvp-comment-343-2 πρώτη ⁷⁴⁴

mvp-comment-344-1 εἰσόρα ⁷⁴⁵

mvp-comment-344-2 οὐκ οὖσαν ⁷⁴⁶

mvp-comment-344-3 τίθης ⁷⁴⁷

mvp-comment-344-4 εἰ … θέλεις ⁷⁴⁸

mvp-comment-345-1 τῷ παλαμναίῳ ⁷⁴⁹

mvp-comment-345-2 πρόσθεν ἐξαπώλεσας ⁷⁵⁰

mvp-comment-346-1 παιδοποιεῖς ⁷⁵¹

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 ⁷⁵²

mvp-comment-346-4 κἀξ εὐσεβῶν ⁷⁵³

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 ⁷⁵⁴

mvp-comment-346-7 ἐκβαλοῦσ’ ἔχεις ⁷⁵⁵

mvp-comment-347-1 πῶς ταῦτ’ ἐπαινέσαιμ’ ἄν ⁷⁵⁶

mvp-comment-347-2 ἢ ⁷⁵⁷ ἦ ⁷⁵⁸ καὶ τοῦτ’ ⁷⁵⁹ ἄποινα ⁷⁶⁰

mvp-comment-348-1 αἰσχρῶς δ’ ⁷⁶¹ δ’ ⁷⁶²

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐάν περ καὶ λέγῃς ⁷⁶³

mvp-comment-348-3 ἐχθροῖς γαμεῖσθαι ⁷⁶⁴

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 ⁷⁶⁵

mvp-comment-349-2 πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν ⁷⁶⁶

mvp-comment-350-1 κακοστομοῦμεν ⁷⁶⁷

mvp-comment-350-2 καί σ’ ἔγωγε δεσπότιν ⁷⁶⁸

mvp-comment-350-3 εἰς ἡμᾶς ⁷⁶⁹ ἣ ⁷⁷⁰

mvp-comment-351-1 βίον μοχθηρόν ⁷⁷¹

mvp-comment-351-2 ἔκ τε σοῦ ⁷⁷² κακοῖς … ξυνοῦσα ⁷⁷³

mvp-comment-351-3 συννόμου ⁷⁷⁴

mvp-comment-352-1 ὁ δ’ ἄλλος ⁷⁷⁵

mvp-comment-352-2 χεῖρα σὴν ⁷⁷⁶

mvp-comment-352-3 τρίβει βίον ⁷⁷⁷

mvp-comment-352-4 603 The reason for writing δή με σοὶ ⁷⁷⁸ δή μέ σοι ⁷⁷⁹

mvp-comment-352-5 μιάστορα ⁷⁸⁰

mvp-comment-353-1 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκα ⁷⁸¹

mvp-comment-354-1 εἰς ἅπαντας ⁷⁸²

mvp-comment-354-2 χρῇς ⁷⁸³

mvp-comment-354-3 στόμαργον ⁷⁸⁴

mvp-comment-355-1 τῶνδε τῶν ἔ|ργων ἴδρις ⁷⁸⁵

mvp-comment-355-2 σχεδόν τι ⁷⁸⁶

mvp-comment-355-3 οὐ καταισχύνω ⁷⁸⁷

mvp-comment-356-1 ὁρῶ μένος πνέουσαν ⁷⁸⁸ μένος πνέουσαν ⁷⁸⁹

mvp-comment-356-2 σὺν δίκῃ ξύνεστι ⁷⁹⁰

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 ⁷⁹¹ ἐμοὶ ⁷⁹² μοι ⁷⁹³ δεῖ ⁷⁹⁴

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 ⁷⁹⁵

mvp-comment-358-2 τηλικοῦτος ⁷⁹⁶

mvp-comment-358-3 ἆρα ⁷⁹⁷

mvp-comment-358-4 χωρεῖν ἂν ⁷⁹⁸ εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ⁷⁹⁹

mvp-comment-359-1 εὖ νυν ἐπίστω ⁸⁰⁰

mvp-comment-359-2 ἔξωρα ⁸⁰¹

mvp-comment-359-3 προσεικότα ⁸⁰²

mvp-comment-360-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ⁸⁰³

mvp-comment-360-2 ἡ … ἐκ σοῦ δυσμένεια ⁸⁰⁴

mvp-comment-360-3 ἐξαναγκάζει ⁸⁰⁵ αἰσχροῖς ⁸⁰⁶

mvp-comment-360-4 622 f. The word θρέμμα ⁸⁰⁷

mvp-comment-360-5 ἦ σ’ ἐγὼ ⁸⁰⁸

mvp-comment-361-1 νιν ⁸⁰⁹

mvp-comment-361-2 εὑρίσκεται ⁸¹⁰

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 ⁸¹¹

mvp-comment-362-2 δέσποιναν ⁸¹²

mvp-comment-362-3 Ἄρτεμιν ⁸¹³

mvp-comment-362-4 θράσους τοῦδ’ οὐκ ἀλύξεις ⁸¹⁴ μόλῃ ⁸¹⁵

mvp-comment-363-1 ὁρᾷς ⁸¹⁶

mvp-comment-363-2 ἐκφέρει ⁸¹⁷

mvp-comment-363-3 The v. l. παρεῖσα ⁸¹⁸

mvp-comment-364-1 οὐδὲ ⁸¹⁹

mvp-comment-364-2 ὑπ’ εὐφήμου βοῆς ⁸²⁰

mvp-comment-364-3 ἐπειδὴ σοί γ’ ⁸²¹

mvp-comment-364-4 πᾶν λέγειν ⁸²²

mvp-comment-365-1 κελεύω ⁸²³

mvp-comment-365-2 τοὐμὸν στόμ’ ⁸²⁴

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 ⁸²⁵

mvp-comment-365-4 ἡ παροῦσά μοι ⁸²⁶

mvp-comment-365-5 θύματα … πάγκαρπα ⁸²⁷

mvp-comment-366-1 λυτηρίους … δειμάτων ⁸²⁸

mvp-comment-366-2 ἀνάσχω ⁸²⁹

mvp-comment-367-1 κλύοις ἂν ⁸³⁰

mvp-comment-367-2 προστατήριε ⁸³¹

mvp-comment-368-1 κεκρυμμένην ⁸³²

mvp-comment-368-2 οὐ γὰρ ἐν φίλοις ⁸³³

mvp-comment-369-1 πρὸς φῶς ⁸³⁴

mvp-comment-370-1 πολυγλώσσῳ ⁸³⁵

mvp-comment-370-2 σπείρῃ ⁸³⁶

mvp-comment-370-3 ματαίαν ⁸³⁷

mvp-comment-371-1 ὧδ’ ⁸³⁸

mvp-comment-372-1 γὰρ ⁸³⁹

mvp-comment-372-2 δισσῶν ὀνείρων ⁸⁴⁰

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 ⁸⁴¹

mvp-comment-373-1 ἐσθλά … ἐχθρά ⁸⁴²

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 ⁸⁴³

mvp-comment-374-1 εἴ τινες ⁸⁴⁴

mvp-comment-375-1 ἀλλ’ ὧδε ⁸⁴⁵

mvp-comment-375-2 ἀβλαβεῖ βίῳ ⁸⁴⁶

mvp-comment-376-1 δόμους ⁸⁴⁷

mvp-comment-376-2 ἀμφέπειν ⁸⁴⁸

mvp-comment-376-3 φίλοισι ⁸⁴⁹

mvp-comment-377-1 εὐημεροῦσαν ⁸⁵⁰

mvp-comment-377-2 καὶ τέκνων ⁸⁵¹ ὅσων ⁸⁵²

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 ⁸⁵³

mvp-comment-378-1 πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ⁸⁵⁴

mvp-comment-379-1 τὰ δ’ ἄλλα πάντα ⁸⁵⁵

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 ⁸⁵⁶

mvp-comment-380-1 ἦ καὶ ⁸⁵⁷

mvp-comment-380-2 ἐπεικάζων κυρῶ ⁸⁵⁸

mvp-comment-380-3 πρέπ<*> γὰρ ⁸⁵⁹

mvp-comment-381-1 μάλιστα πάντων ⁸⁶⁰

mvp-comment-381-2 ἥδε σοι κείνη πάρα ⁸⁶¹

mvp-comment-381-3 666 f. The ὦ ⁸⁶² χαῖρε ⁸⁶³

mvp-comment-382-1 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν ⁸⁶⁴

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 ⁸⁶⁵

mvp-comment-383-1 Φανοτεὺς ⁸⁶⁶

mvp-comment-383-2 πρᾶγμα πορσύνων μέγα ⁸⁶⁷

mvp-comment-384-1 τὸ ποῖον ⁸⁶⁸

mvp-comment-385-1 ἐν βραχεῖ ξυνθεὶς ⁸⁶⁹

mvp-comment-386-1 τί φής, τί φής ⁸⁷⁰ ξεῖνε ⁸⁷¹

mvp-comment-386-2 ταύτης ⁸⁷²

mvp-comment-387-1 νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι ⁸⁷³

mvp-comment-388-1 οὐδέν εἰμ’ ἔτι ⁸⁷⁴

mvp-comment-389-1 τὰ σαυτῆς πρᾶσς’ ⁸⁷⁵

mvp-comment-389-2 διόλλυται ⁸⁷⁶

mvp-comment-390-1 κἀπεμπόμην ⁸⁷⁷ καὶ … φράσω ⁸⁷⁸

mvp-comment-391-1 γὰρ ⁸⁷⁹

mvp-comment-392-1 πρόσχημ’ ἀγῶνος ⁸⁸⁰ Ἑλλάδος ⁸⁸¹

mvp-comment-392-2 πρόσχημα ⁸⁸²

mvp-comment-392-3 Δελφ. ἄθλων ⁸⁸³

mvp-comment-393-1 ὀρθίων ⁸⁸⁴

mvp-comment-393-2 δρόμον … οὗ πρώτη κρίσις ⁸⁸⁵

mvp-comment-394-1 εἰσῆλθε ⁸⁸⁶

mvp-comment-395-1 ἰσώσας * τἀφέσει ⁸⁸⁷ τῇ φύσει ⁸⁸⁸

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 ⁸⁸⁹

mvp-comment-396-1 νίκης … γέρας ⁸⁹⁰

mvp-comment-397-1 χὥπως μὲν ⁸⁹¹

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

164-165. mvp-comment-98-1 The mention of her brother gives a new direction to Electra's complaint. Cp. supr. 119, 20.

165. mvp-comment-99-1 Cp. Ant. 815, 917-8.

166-167. mvp-comment-100-1 τὸν . . πόνων] Oppressed with my troublous destiny that has no good issue.' The article as in O. T. 1153, τὸν γέροντά μ' αἰκίσῃ, -equivalent to a relative clause, ὅς ἐστιν ἀνήνυτος, ἀνήνυτον, Accomplishing nothing,' i. e. Suffered in vain. Cp. O. C. 1565, 6, πολλῶν γὰρ ἂν καὶ μάταν | πημάτων ἱκνουμένων, κ.τ.λ., and note.

169. mvp-comment-101-1 ὧν τ᾽ ἔπαθ', ὧν τ᾽ ἐδάη] 'His wrongs, and the lesson he has been taught,' viz. by the Paedagogus ( supr. 3. 13. 14) and by the messages from Electra.

169-170. mvp-comment-102-1 (1) For what missive that I send doth not return (ἔρχεται) discomfited? Others take the words to mean, (2) What message' (from Orestes) 'comes to me, whose promise does not fail?'

171-172. mvp-comment-103-1 i e. in reply to my messages I always hear of his longing to come but never of his coming.

174. mvp-comment-104-1 This line (see v. rr.) seems to have been interpolated so as to supplement the locative dative and the ellipse of ἐστίν. μέγας is the predicate. 'Zeus is still great in heaven.'

176-177. mvp-comment-105-1 'Committing unto him thine exceeding indignation, be neither overburdened with enmity against thy foes, nor yet forget them;' i.e. Let the thought that Zeus will some day avenge thee serve to calm and moderate thy rage. The structure is paratactic (Essay on L. § 36. p. 68), for Without forgetting your enemies. be moderate in assailing them, and trust in the Divine vengeance.'

179. mvp-comment-106-1 For Time is a god of easiness,' i.e. a god who makes things easy or possible. The meaning is, not that Time assuages sorrow, but that what at one time seems impossible may prove easily possible in the course of years. Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 502 B, ὡς μὲν γὰρ χαλεπὸν σωθῆναι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ξυγχωροῦμεν, ὡς δὲ ἐν παντὶ τῷ χρόνῳ . . οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἶς σωθείη, ἔσθ' ὅστις ἀμφισβητήσει; Shak. Cor. 5. 3.61, Murdering impossibility, to make What cannot be slight work. For the personification, cp. Phil. 837, καιρὸς.. πάντων γνώμαν ἴσχων: supr. 76: and esp. Eur. Ion, 337, ἀργὸς ἡ θεός, sc. αἰδώς.

180-181. mvp-comment-107-1 τὰν Κρῖσαν.. ἀκτάν] · Who dwells in Crisa, that pastoral shore-ward land. So Hermann. Others would read Κρίσας, οι Κρίσᾳ. 'Who dwells amid the shoreward-pastures of Crisa.'

182. mvp-comment-108-1 He, Agamemnon's heir.. will yet turn unto his own, and so will he that reigns, a God, by Acheron.' ἀπερίτροπος is to be taken in a different sense with παῖς ᾿Αγαμεμνονίδας and with what follows. Or, what comes to the same thing, another verb must be supplied in thought with the second clause. Orestes shall return: Agamemnon shall regard his house and offspring. The derivation from περιτρέπω suggests the idea of a coming revolution, (1) in the action of Orestes, (2) in the awakening from apparent slumber and forgetfulness of the gods below, or of the spirit of Agamemnon.

184. mvp-comment-109-1 Nor he who ruleth as a god beside the ghostly river.' Cp. supr. 110. (1) The subject of this line has commonly been supposed to be Hades. Another interpretation has occurred independently to Mr. Blaydes, Prof. Paley, and the present editor, viz. (2) that θεὸς may refer to Agamemnon as a δαίμων. In support of this, cp. supr. 150 Νιόβα, σὲ δ' ἔγωγε νέμω θεόν, infr. 839-41 (of Amphiaraus), νῦν ὑπὸ γαίας . . ἀνάσσει, and note; and the following places of the Choephori:-157, σέβας, ὦ δέσποτ᾽: 356, 7, κατὰ χθονὸς ἐμπρέπων | σεμνότιμος ἀνάκτωρ : 475-8, θεῶν τῶν κατὰ γᾶς ὅδ᾽ ὕμνος. ΧΟ. ἀλλὰ κλύοντες, μάκαρες χθόνιοι, | τήσδε κατευχῆς πέμπετ᾿ ἀρωγὴν | παισὶν προφρόνως ἐπὶ νίκῃ : also Persae, 157, θεοῦ μὲν εὐνάτειρα Περσῶν, θεοῦ δὲ καὶ μήτηρ ἔφυς: 644, Περσᾶν Σουσιγενή θεόν, -although the analogy in these two instances is weakened by the words being put into the mouths of Persians; but see also Ag. 1548, ἐπ᾿ ἀνδρὶ θείῳ. Agamemnon, in Aesch. Ag. 925, says to Clytemnestra, λέγω κατ᾿ ἄνδρα, μὴ θεόν, σέβειν ἐμέ. But that is in his lifetime. And considering the honours that are paid at his tomb, and the tone in which he is spoken of by Electra throughout, the chorus may speak of him to her as θεός by an allowable hyperbole, especially if the word is taken, not with the article as subject of the sentence, but as supplementary predicate with ἀνάσσων. If this hypothesis is not admissible, the god intended is probably not Pluto, but (3) Hermes. Cp. supr. 111.

185-186. mvp-comment-110-1 But my life hath in great part already passed from me and left me hopeless and forlorn.' The life is separable from the person, cp. О. Т. 612, τὸν παρ᾽ αὑτῷ βίοτον. ἀνέλπιστος is proleptic, and in idea belongs, by hypallage, to ἐμέ, -' is passed without bringing me any hope.' The exact sense of ὁ πολύς is not to be pressed. The article is deictic, as in Aj. 1149, τὴν πολλὴν βοήν: infr. 931.

186. mvp-comment-111-1 οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾿ ἀρκῶ] 'And I am no longer of any avail. Cp. Thuc. 2. 47. § 5, οὔτε γὰρ ἰατροὶ ἤρκουν.

187. mvp-comment-112-1 ἄνευ τοκέων] Her father is dead, and her mother is worse than lost to her.

187. mvp-comment-112-2 τοκέων occurs in one MS. (Vind. 281) and is adopted by Nauck. Cp. supr. 164, ἄτεκνος. It may be thought more suited to Electra's age to feel the want of children than of parents. But her filial piety is the chief motive of the play.

189-190. mvp-comment-113-1 ἁπερεί τις .. πατρός] ‘Like some despised sojourner, I tend the chambers of my father's house." Cp. Aesch. Cho. 84, δμωαὶ γυναῖκες, δωμάτων εὐθήμονες. For the absolute use of ἀνάξιος, cp. Phil. 439, ἀναξίου.. φωτός, 'A fellow of no esteem.' Hermann joined this word with what follows it ('I am undeservedly made to do menial service'), on the ground that an ἔποικος was ἀναξία as a matter of course. But, on the other hand, the addition of ἀναξία to the bare statement οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους πατρός, certainly weakens the expression, while the pleonasm in ἔποικος ἀναξία is rather emphatic, and is supported, as Ellendt pointed out, by the Homeric expression, ὡσεί τιν᾿ ἀτίμητον μετανάστην, ΙΙ. 9. 648, 16. 59.

190-191. mvp-comment-114-1 ὧδε . . ἀεικεῖ . . στολᾷ] Electra is a woman speaking to women. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 846-8, (῎Ατοσσα.) μάλιστα δ᾽ ἥδε συμφορὰ δάκνει, | ἀτιμίαν γε παιδὸς ἀμφὶ σώματι | ἐσθημάτων κλύουσαν, ἥ νιν ἀμπέχει.

192. mvp-comment-115-1 κεναῖς δ᾽ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις] And the table at which I stand is bare.' Hermann had conjectured ἀμφίσταμαι, which restores the metre, before he observed that it was quoted by Eustathius. Cp. Pind. Ol. 1. 80, τραπέζαισι .. ἀμφί, and, for the thought, Od. 20. 259, δίφρον ἀεικέλιον καταθεὶς ὀλίγην τε τράπεζαν : infr. 361, 2, σοὶ δὲ πλουσία | τράπεζα κείσθω καὶ περιρρείτω βίος : Pind. Ο1. 2. 116, κεινὰν παρὰ δίαιταν.

194. mvp-comment-116-1 οἰκτρὰ μὲν νόστοις αὐδά] 'Piteous were thy tones at the time of thy father's return.' In the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, the Watchman and the Chorus, i. e. the household and the people, express a vague misgiving, which is not sufficiently definite to enable them to warn Agamemnon. Sophocles here, as elsewhere, concentrates in an individual what in Aeschylus was general. It is quite consistent with his conception of the character of Electra, that, young as she then was, and totally unable, both from her inexperience ( infr. 1024) and her dependent position, of averting the harm which she may have vaguely foreseen, she had a sufficiently clear perception of the situation to be sad instead of joyful on the occasion of her father's coming home, and her sadness would be aggravated by her helplessness :-ἐπεὶ ἐχθίστη ὀδύνη πολλὰ φρονέοντα μηδενὸς κρατέειν. Her friends, of the same age with her, observed this, and in recollecting it, now understand the cause. ooi is easily supplied, both because the whole of Electra's last speech refers to herself, and because σοί occurs immediately afterwards as an ethical' dative. πατρός is no less easily supplied with νόστοις for a similar reason, both because the word occurs three lines above, and because it is implied in πατρώαις in the following line. νόστοις is dative of the occasion, E. on L. § 11. p. 18. For the sense, cp. Aesch. Pers. 935, 6, πρόσφθογγόν σοι νόστου τὰν | κακοφάτιδα βοάν, κακομέλετον ἰὰν | Μαριανδυνοῦ θρηνητῆρος | πέμψω πολύδακρυν ἰακχάν.

195-197. mvp-comment-117-1 οἰκτρὰ δ'.. πλαγά] 'And piteous was thy crying where thy father lay, when thou hadst seen launched the death-stroke of the solid brazen axe.' If Sophocles (see Introduction) follows the form of the legend known to us from Homer, according to which Agamemnon was slain at a feast given in honour of his return, ἐν κοίταις probably means, (1) 'Where he lay in death.' And this is supported by 203. The poet might, no doubt, have so far modified the legend as to suppose Agamemnon after the feast to have been lured by Clytemnestra to his chamber and there slain. ἐν κοίταις might then belong to the relative clause (ὅτε ἐν κ.), and mean 'in his chamber. But this is inconsistent with 203 and 270. For (1) cp. Aesch. Ag. 1494, 1518, Eur. Med. 437, O. C. 1707. The bath, and the entangling garment, which are so prominent in the Agamemnon and Choephori, are in any case not thought of here. Some (including Wecklein) understand aὐδά in both clauses of the death-shriek of the king. σοι (Ε. on L. § 13. p. 19 f.) marks that Electra was the chief sufferer from all that happened. This explanation is rightly defended by Triclinius. Cp. Tennyson's Elaine, -Through her own side she felt the sharp lance go.' Hermann, understanding aὐδά of the people's voice, rejects σοι and reads οἱ instead. The hiatus, which he defends from Trach. 650, ὁ δὲ οἱ φίλα δάμαρ (cp. supr. 157), is still exceptional, but a stronger objection to the removal of σοί is that the connection between this speech and Electra's is thus destroyed.

197-200. mvp-comment-118-1 Sophocles seems here to have in his mind the passage of the Agamemnon where Clytemnestra impersonates the Alastor of Atreus, Aesch. Agam. 1500-1504: Craft pointed out the way, lust murdered him. Between them they produced a monstrous birth, whether he who did this thing were a god or one of mortal mould.' μορφάν the immediate agent and the act itself, as an embodied horror, seem to be confused. See E. on L. § 48. p. 92.

201-212. mvp-comment-119-1 In supr. 185-92, Electra refused consolation and drew attention to her hopeless misery. The women then call to mind how they had pitied her at the time of her father's death. This opens anew the flood-gates of her sorrow. Cp. Ant. 857 foll., ἔψαυσας ἀλγεινοτάτας ἐμοὶ μερίμνας, κ.τ.λ.

203. mvp-comment-120-1 δείπνων] The feast which preceded the murder, according to Od. 4. 535. Agamemnon (see next note) is supposed to have been murdered at table : ὡσεί τε κατέκτανε βοῦν ἐπὶ φάτνῃ (Od. 1. c.).

205. mvp-comment-121-1 For ἄχθη, the grammatical antecedent, the more definite θάνατοι is substituted and taken into the relative clause. The horror of that feast-I mean the death which followed it.'

206. mvp-comment-122-1 διδύμαιν χειροῖν] ‘Effected by joint violence' of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.

207-208. mvp-comment-123-1 αΐ.. πρόδοτον] 'That wrought treason on my life and ruined me.'

209. mvp-comment-124-1 ois refers to the antecedent implied in χειροῖν, viz. Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.

211. mvp-comment-125-1 'And never may they have any good of their magnificence.' Cp. infr. 267-281: Od. 17. 244, 5, τῷ κέ τοι ἀγλαΐας γε διασκεδάσειεν ἁπάσας, | τὰς νῦν ὑβρίζων φορέεις.

214-216. mvp-comment-126-1 'Seest thou not through what courses thou hast fallen thus cruelly into calamities that come home to thee?' or, with a slightly different shade of meaning, 'which thou hast brought upon thyself.' Cp. Aj. 260: Pind. Nem. 1. 81, τὸ γὰρ οἰκεῖον πιέζει πάνθ᾽ ὁμῶς. ἐξ οἵων is otherwise explained by one Scholiast :-ἐξ οἴων ἀγαθῶν εἰς τί ἀνιαρὸν ἐλήλυθας. Cp. infr. 392. But it is more natural that the Chorus should remind her of the cause of the persecution she is undergoing.

218-219. mvp-comment-127-1 σᾷ . . πολέμους] Ever creating new conflicts for thy burdened soul.'

219-220. mvp-comment-128-1 τὰ δὲ.. πλάθειν] ‘But strife with the powerful is hopeless.' The vague rá is to be supplemented from what precedes and follows,- sc. τὰ πολεμούμενα, οι τὰ ἐρίδος ἐχόμενα. Cp. Plat. Symp. 206 C, ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐν τῷ ἀναρμόστῳ, -sc. κυούμενα καὶ γεννώμενα, - Pind. Nem. 10. 135, χαλεπὰ δ' ἔρις ἀνθρώποις ὁμιλεῖν κρεσσόνων: ΟΙ. 11. 48, νεῖκος δὲ κρεσσόνων ἀποθέσθ᾽ ἄπορον. πλάθειν, sc. τοῖς δυνατοῖς, is epexegetic infinitive.

221. mvp-comment-129-1 The Chorus (l. 214) have reminded Electra of the violent words by which she has earned her present misery. She replies that such words were wrung from her by a fearful cause, viz. by the murder of her father and the subsequent conduct of the murderers. Cp. infr. 271 foll.

222. mvp-comment-130-1 'I know, I am conscious of my passion, viz. that it is inordinate. Cp. infr. 617, 8, μανθάνω δ᾽ ὁθούνεκα | ἔξωρα πράσσω κοὐκ ἐμοὶ προσεικότα : 1011, κατάσχες ὀργήν.

223-224. mvp-comment-131-1 But amid deeds of horror I will not curb or moderate these my calamitous ways' (as ye call them). She echoes the words of the Chorus (l. 215) in a different sense. They meant by οἰκείας ἄτας, 'self-caused calamities:' -she means by ταύτας άτας, 'this infatuate,' or 'fatal,' course,' of which by implication they have accused her.

226-228. mvp-comment-132-1 Electra relapses into despair. If even these Argive women, who know her so well, cannot give her a word of comfort, whence is it to come? 'At whose mouth, then, kind band of friends, can I hope to hear a word of comfort, prompted by seasonable thought?' For the uncommon dative, see E. on L. § 13. p. 20.

229. mvp-comment-133-1 'Press not on me with your consolations,' and cp. Eur. El. 1182, διὰ πυρὸς ἔμολον ἁ τάλαινα ματρὶ τᾷδ᾽.

230. mvp-comment-134-1 For ye shall find this sorrow irremoveable.'

234. mvp-comment-135-1 Like a true-hearted mother.' For this form of expressing sympathy from one woman to another, cp. Trach. 526, ἐγὼ δὲ μάτηρ μὲν οἷα φράζω.

235. mvp-comment-136-1 ἄταν ἄταις] Cp. Αj. 866, πόνῳ πόνον, and note.

236. mvp-comment-137-1 καὶ τί μέτρον κακότατος ἔφυ;] 'And is not my trouble infinite?' (So the Scholiast, -πρὸς γὰρ ἄμετρον κακὸν καὶ ἀμέτρων δεῖται θρήνων.) Cp. infr. 1249, 50, ἁμέτερον οἷον ἔφυ κακόν. For the meaning, cp. Shak. Ant. and Cleo. 4. 15. 4, But comforts we despise; our size of sorrow, Proportioned to our cause, must be as great As that which makes it.'

237. mvp-comment-138-1 ἐπὶ τοῖς φθιμένοις ἀμελεῖν] To treat the dead with forgetfulness.' E. on L. § 19. p. 27.

238. mvp-comment-139-1 ἐν τίνι . . ἀνθρώπων] 'Where amongst men hath such a mind sprung up?'

239. mvp-comment-140-1 τούτοις] Sc. ἐν οἷς τοῦτο ἔβλαστε, the indefinite plural taking the place of the indefinite singular. E. on L. § 20. p. 31. 3. Cp. Hdt. 9. 79. § 3. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὖν τούτου εἵνεκα μήτε Αἰγινήτῃσι ἅδοιμι, μήτε τοῖσι ταῦτα ἀρέσκεται· ἀποχρᾷ δ᾽ ἐμοί, Σπαρτιήτῃσι ἀρεσκόμενον, ὅσια μὲν ποιέειν, ὅσια δὲ καὶ λέγειν.

240. mvp-comment-141-1 εἴ τῳ πρόσκειμαι χρηστῷ] · If I have near me any good,' = εἴ τι χρηστὸν πρόσκειταί μοι : Ε. on L. § 42. p. 80 β. Cp. infr. 1040, ᾧ σὺ πρόσκεισαι κακῷ.

241-243. mvp-comment-142-1 γονέων .. γόων] • Holding back the wings of my shrill wailings from doing honour to my sire.' Each fresh utterance of the unabating sorrow is imagined as a bird that is eager to fly. ἐκτίμους is predicative and proleptic, = ὥστε ἔξω εἶναι τοῦ τιμᾶν. See E. on L. $ 54. p. 100 d, § 10. p. 16 f., § 23. p. 38 81, § 38. p. 71.

244. mvp-comment-143-1 ya] Prof. Jebb reads ya, i.e. 'buried,' adding, 'it is difficult to believe that yῆ could stand for σποδός.' But the expression is hyperbolical-' mere clay.' Cp. ψήγμα in Aesch. Ag. 442.

251-252. mvp-comment-144-1 καὶ τὸ σὸν.. καὶ τοὐμὸν αὐτῆς] 'More in care for thee than for myself. This is really the meaning, although, by the usual Greek litotes, 'as much as' is put for more than.' The most important matter is put first. E. on L. § 41. p. 78.

253. mvp-comment-145-1 ἑψόμεσθ'] Cp. infr. 1052.

254-255. mvp-comment-146-1 I am ashamed of seeming to you, as I must seem, to be too impatient in multiplying lamentations.' δοκῶ is indicative.

258. mvp-comment-147-1 πατρῷ᾽ ὁρῶσα πήματ'] 'Seeing woful things performed against her sire.' Electra's filial affection for Agamemnon is kept prominently before us as her chief motive; and every insult to his memory, including her own sufferings, is regarded by her as part of the wrong done to him. πατρῷα is at first general, but in the antecedent to a it becomes individual, -' of my father.'

260. mvp-comment-148-1 θάλλοντα .. καταφθίνονθ'] “Not lessening but increasing.'

260-261. mvp-comment-149-1 ᾖ.. συμβέβηκεν] 'Since, first of all, I have found in my own mother the deepest cause for hatred.' This (Paley, etc.) is better than my mother is my enemy.'

264. mvp-comment-150-1 κἀκ τῶνδ᾽ ἄρχομαι] ‘And I am in subjection to them. Cp. O. C. 67, ἐκ τοῦ κατ᾿ ἄστυ βασιλέως τάδ' ἄρχεται.

270. mvp-comment-151-1 ἔνθ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν] Here again Sophocles seems to follow the account that is given in the fourth book of the Odyssey, ll. 529 foll., according to which Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon at or after a banquet. Hence he is said to have destroyed him beside the hearth. Cp. infr. 1495.

271-274. mvp-comment-152-1 Further, when I see their crowning insult, when I see, forsooth, the author of his death reclining on my father's couch, beside my wretched mother, if so I must call this woman, when cohabiting with him!' The clause τὸν αὐτοφόντην κ.τ.λ. is in the same construction with ὕβριν, governed by ἴδω. ἡμίν is ethical dative, and has a sarcastic force; i.e. That is what I am compelled to look upon.' The participle (κείμενον) which should have gone with ἐν κοίτῃ is absorbed and resumed in συγκοιμωμένην.

363-364. mvp-comment-153-1 ἐμοὶ γὰρ . . βόσκημα] (1) ‘For I would have such maintenance alone as will not cause me pain:' i. e. through compliance with my father's enemies. The reading λυποῦν is implied in the first scholion here, which, although giving a wrong explanation, deserves for this reason to be transcribed:-ἐμοί, φησίν, ἔστω τροφή, ἡ τῇ ἀνάγκῃ μόνον ἁρμόζουσα, καὶ τὴν πείνην ἀπελαύνουσα· οὐ δέομαι γὰρ τοιαύτης τροφῆς ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἡδονὴν σχήσω. (2) The MS. reading, which is also acknowledged in the scholia, -τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν (Schol. τοῦτο μόνον ἐμὲ βοσκέτω, τὸ μὴ λυπεῖν ἐμὲ αὐτήν, εἰ τοῖς φονεῦσι τοῦ πατρὸς πείθεσθαι ἀναγκασθήσομαι) is possibly right, but the use of ἐμέ for ἐμαυτήν is hardly justified, and the expression seems forced. Ср., however, Eur. Cycl. 336-8, ὡς τοὐμπιεῖν γε καὶ φαγεῖν τοὐφ᾽ ἡμέραν, | Ζεὺς οὗτος ἀνθρώποισι τοῖσι σώφροσι, | λυπεῖν δὲ μηδὲν αὐτόν.

364. mvp-comment-154-1 The genitive, after ἐρῶ, is to be resumed with τυχεῖν, which is epexegetic infinitive.

365-367. mvp-comment-155-1 νῦν δ᾽ ἐξὸν .. τῆς μητρός] But now, when you might be called the daughter of the noblest of all sires, be called your mother's child.' Here, and in supr. 341, 2, there is a reminiscence of that depreciation of the maternal relationship, which is more fully expressed in the Eumenides of Aeschylus. For another trace of this, cp. Eur. Fr. 1048, στέργω δὲ τὸν φύσαντα τῶν πάντων βροτῶν | μάλισθ'· ὁρίζω τοῦτο, καὶ σὺ μὴ φθώνει· | κείνου γὰρ ἐξέβλαστον. οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἰς ἀνὴρ | γυναικὸς αὐδήσειεν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ πατρός.

369. mvp-comment-156-1 μηδὲν πρὸς ὀργήν] Sc. λέξης. Say nothing in anger,'-lit. 'tending that way. Cp. infr. 464.

373. mvp-comment-157-1 οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐμνήσθην ποτέ) 'And would never have mentioned the subject. This refers to supr. 330, 1.

376. mvp-comment-158-1 Exceptions to the rule of the Porsonic pause are not infrequent where γάρ comes in the first place of the fifth foot: e.g. O. C. 115, ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθεῖν.

376-377. mvp-comment-159-1 Electra will not admit that any trouble can be greater than what she endures already in seeing the insults that are heaped upon her father.

382. mvp-comment-160-1 χθονὸς τῆσδ᾽ ἐκτός] Beyond the Argive boundary, so as not to bring pollution upon the state. Cp. Ant. 773, ἄγων ἔρημος ἔνθ᾽ ἂν ᾖ βροτῶν στίβος κρύψω πετρώδει ζῶσαν ἐν κατώρυχι : Ο. C. 399, 400, ὥς σ' ἄγχι γῆς στήσωσι Καδμείας, ὅπως | κρατῶσι μέν σου, γῆς δὲ μὴ ᾿μβαίνῃς ὅρων. ὑμνήσεις κακά] 'You shall chant your song of woe.' Cp. infr. 802, 3, τήνδε δ᾽ ἔκτοθεν βοᾶν | ἔα τά θ᾽ αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ τῶν φίλων κακά.

383-384. mvp-comment-161-1 καί με . μέμψῃ] Being warned, Electra will have no cause to blame Chrysothemis. Cp. infr. 1056, 7, ὅταν γὰρ ἐν κακοῖς | ἤδη βεβήκῃς, τἄμ᾽ ἐπαινέσεις ἔπη.

384. mvp-comment-162-1 νῦν γὰρ .. φρονεῖν] ‘For now you have a good opportunity of adopting the wiser course.' Cp. Plat. Rep. Β. 9. p. 571 Β, τὸ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν .. οὔ μοι δοκοῦμεν ἱκανῶς διῃρῆσθαι. . οὐκοῦν, ἢ δ᾽ ὅς, ἔτ᾽ ἐν καλῷ;

385. mvp-comment-163-1 And have they really determined to do this to me?' καί adds a sarcastic emphasis.

390. mvp-comment-164-1 ποῦ ποτ᾽ εἰ φρενῶν;] 'What are you thinking of?' Cp. Ant. 42, ποῦ γνώμης ποτ' εἶ; There is the same doubt in both cases, whether el is from εἰμί or εἶμι. For the latter, which gives greater liveliness, cp. Eur. Iph. Α. 479, 80, καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν ἐξαφίσταμαι λόγων, | οὐκ εἰς σὲ δεινός· εἶμι δ᾽ οὗπερ εἶ σὺ νῦν. On the other hand it may be urged that ποῖ would be more natural with the verb of motion. Electra in supra l. 354 has said, οὐ ζῶ; κακῶς μὲν, οἶδ᾽, ἐπαρκούντως δ᾽ ἐμοί. Chrysothemis interprets this as if she had meant that she had something to lose.

395. mvp-comment-165-1 τοῖς φίλοις] Viz. τῷ πατρί.

397. mvp-comment-166-1 ταῦτα is an adverbial accusative. οὐκ ἐμοὺς τρόπους λέγεις] 'You speak not of my ways; i.e. Your words indicate a line of conduct that can never be mine.

399. mvp-comment-167-1 τιμωρούμενοι] Cp. supr. 349.

400. mvp-comment-168-1 τούτων.. συγγνώμην] For this genitive, see Essay on L. § 9. p. 12, d 2, and cp. esp. Trach. 250, τοῦ λόγου .. φθόνον.

401. mvp-comment-169-1 Such words are for the base to approve.' Although, grammatically speaking, ἔπη is the subject of the sentence, and ἐπαινέσαι is epexegetic infinitive, the real meaning is, πρὸς κακῶν ἐστὶ τὸ ἐπαινέσai ταῦτα τὰ ἔπη. As constantly happens in Greek, an attribute which belongs to the verb is attached to the noun.

403. mvp-comment-170-1 μή πω .. κενή] 'I trust I may not prove so void of understanding!' For this use of πω, in which the temporal meaning has disappeared, cp; Ο. Τ. 105, οὐ γὰρ εἰσεῖδόν γέ πω, and note. The adverbial use of τοσόνδε is an Epic touch; cp. Od. 21. 253, 4, ἀλλ᾽ ἐἰ δὴ τοσσόνδε βίης ἐπιδευέες εἰμὲν | ἀντιθέου Ὀδυσῆος, ὅτ᾽ οὐ δυνάμεσθα, κ.τ.λ.

404. mvp-comment-171-1 οἶπερ ἐστάλην ὁδοῦ] ‘To the place whither I was sent upon my way.' For the idiomatic partitive genitive, cp. supr. 390, ποῦ ποτ' εἶ φρενῶν ; Phil. 899, ἀλλ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἤδη τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους κυρῶ.

405. mvp-comment-172-1 τῷ] 'For whom?' i.e. 'To be offered to whom?'

406. mvp-comment-173-1 τυμβεῦσai χοάς] Το pour libation on his tomb;' i.e. ἐπιτυμβίους χέαι χοάς,-the attribute of the noun being attached to the verb. See Essay on L. § 17. p. 25 с.

409. mvp-comment-174-1 τῷ τοῦτ᾽ ἤρεσεν] 'Whose pleasure was this?' Cp. Aj. 1243, & τοῖς πολλοῖσιν ἤρεσκεν κριταῖς.

410. mvp-comment-175-1 ἐκ δείματος] Sc. πεισθεῖσα.

411. mvp-comment-176-1 At the mention of 'nightly fear,' Electra instantly rushes to the conclusion that Clytemnestra has had some Divine warning. Her hope at once revives, and she looks up to heaven. For ἀλλὰ νῦν, 'now, though not heretofore,' cp. Ant. 552, τί δῆτ᾽ ἂν ἀλλὰ νῦν σ᾽ ἔτ᾿ ὠφελοῖμ᾽ ἐγώ. And for the connection, cp. Aesch. Cho. 515, 6, ΟΡ. πόθεν χοὰς ἔπεμψεν, ἐκ τίνος λόγου | μεθύστερον τιμῶσ᾽ ἀνήκεστον πάθος; ib. 523-5, ΧΟ. οἶδ', ὦ τέκνον· παρῆ γάρ. ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνειράτων | καὶ νυκτιπλάγκτων δειμάτων πεπαλμένη | χοὰς ἔπεμψε τάσδε δύσθεος γυνή. In this line and supr. 345 γε belongs in sense to the word that follows it. Or rather, the particle emphasizes the whole sentence as a comment on the preceding words. 'Ay, now, at last, come to our aid!'

413. mvp-comment-177-1 Electra is eager to know the vision, and will not confess her hopes till she has heard it.

414. mvp-comment-178-1 ἐπὶ σμικρόν is to be resumed with φράσai, which is epexegetic infinitive.

415. mvp-comment-179-1 λέγ᾽ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο] 'Tell me but this;'-this little, if nothing more. Cp. Trach. 320, εἴπ', ὦ τάλαιν', ἀλλ᾽ ἡμὶν ἐκ σαυτῆς. πολλά τοι κ.τ.λ.] Cp. Aesch. Cho. 204, σμικροῦ γένοιτ' ἂν σπέρματος μέγας πυθμήν: Ο. Τ. 120, 1, ἓν γὰρ πόλλ᾽ ἂν ἐξεύροι μαθεῖν, | ἀρχὴν βραχεῖαν εἰ λάβοιμεν ἐλπίδος.

417. mvp-comment-180-1 λόγος τις.. ἐστιν] It is said,' viz. by the attendant who heard her tell her vision to the Sun, infr. 424, 5.

417-419. mvp-comment-181-1 πατρὸς ἐς φῶς] Our father again amongst us, revisiting the realm of light; i.e. τὸν πατέρα δεύτερον ὁμιλοῦντα (τοῖς ἐνθάδε), -abstract for concrete.

419. mvp-comment-182-1 εἶτα, κ.τ.λ.] These words depend immediately on λόγος τίς ἐστιν. Chrysothemis proceeds to narrate the vision as a matter of fact.

421. mvp-comment-183-1 τανῦν δ᾽ Αἴγισθος] Sc. φέρει.

424. mvp-comment-184-1 τοῦ παρόντος] 'The one who was present.' As a matter of course Clytemnestra was not wholly unattended in the day-time. Hence the article. Some editors have preferred the indefinite του; but the use of παρόντος = παραγενομένου is less natural in this case, and the double predicate παρόντος, ἐξηγουμένου, is awkward. A female attendant is meant, the masculine form being used, as in Trach. 151, etc. See Essay on L. § 20. p. 30. 2.

428. mvp-comment-185-1 πρὸς . . θεῶν τῶν ἐγγενῶν] · By the gods of our race,' i.e. the gods who are not only the protectors of our race, but also its progenitors, Inachus, etc. Chrysothemis in her solemn adjuration uses τὸν ἐπιχώριον ὅρκον τὸν μέγιστον (Thuc. 5. 18. § 9). Cp. Ant. 938, θεοὶ προγενεῖς, and note.

430. mvp-comment-186-1 σὺν κακῷ μέτει πάλιν] 'You will seek me another day, when the evil has overtaken you.'

431. mvp-comment-187-1 Electra scarcely hears the concluding words of Chrysothemis. Her attention is absorbed by the vision and the hopes which it has aroused in her mind, and she is determined to prevent the offering of the libation, which she represents to her sister as at once an offence to Agamemnon and useless to Clytemnestra. The former is her own feeling, the latter (ll. 446-8) occurs to her as a rhetorical argument. She also takes the opportunity of sending an offering to the tomb, as if to remind her father that the hour of vengeance for him was at hand. ὦ φίλη] 'She tries affectionate persuasion, and no longer reproaches.' Paley. Or rather, her resentment is forgotten in the revival of hope. Cp. supr. 367.

433-434. mvp-comment-188-1 ἱστάναι | κτερίσματα] Το (institute or) perform funereal rights.'

435-438. mvp-comment-189-1 Not κρύψον from l. 436, but some more general word, such as ἀφάνισον, is to be supplied with πνοαίσιν. For the form of sentence, cp. О. Т. 1410-2, ἔξω μέ που | καλύψατ', ἢ φονεύσατ', ἢ θαλάσσιον | ἐκρίψατ᾽, ἔνθα μήποτ᾽ εἰσόψεσθ᾽ ἔτι. βαθυσκαφεῖ κόνει] 'In deeply hollowed dust,' i.e. buried deep in the ground.

437-438. mvp-comment-190-1 ἀλλ᾿ ὅταν θάνῃ . . κάτω] 'But let this be treasured underground for her, against the day when she shall die.' σωζέσθω is passive, and there is an ellipse οἱ εἰς ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον or the like words.

441. mvp-comment-191-1 οὐκ ἄν.. ἐπέστεφε] 'She would not have sought to give by way of honour.' Cp. Ant. 431, χοαῖσι τρισπόνδοισι τὸν νέκυν στέφει.

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.

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My task performed, permit me to retire. 680 Cly. No, stranger, that were an aftront to thee, And to our friend who sent thee here. Go in, And leave that noisy wretch to bellow forth Her sorrows, and bewail her lost Orestes. [Exeunt.

Electra Scene III.

Current edition Experimental

Χορός ποῦ ποτε κεραυνοὶ Διὸς ἢ ποῦ φαέθων Ἅλιος, εἰ ταῦτʼ ἐφορῶντες κρύπτουσιν ἕκηλοι; 825

Ἠλέκτρα ἒ ἔ, αἰαῖ.

Χορός ὦ παῖ, τί δακρύεις;

Ἠλέκτρα φεῦ.

Χορός μηδὲν μέγʼ ἀΰσῃς. 830

Ἠλέκτρα ἀπολεῖς.

Χορός πῶς;

Ἠλέκτρα εἰ τῶν φανερῶς οἰχομένων εἰς Ἀΐδαν ἐλπίδʼ ὑποίσεις, κατʼ ἐμοῦ τακομένας μᾶλλον ἐπεμβάσει. 835

Χορός οἶδα γὰρ ἄνακτʼ Ἀμφιάρεων χρυσοδέτοις ἕρκεσι κρυφθέντα γυναικῶν· καὶ νῦν ὑπὸ γαίας

Ἠλέκτρα ἒ ἔ, ἰώ. 840

Χορός πάμψυχος ἀνάσσει.

Ἠλέκτρα φεῦ.

Χορός φεῦ δῆτʼ· ὀλοὰ γὰρ

Ἠλέκτρα ἐδάμη.

Χορός ναί. 845

Ἠλέκτρα οἶδʼ οἶδʼ· ἐφάνη γὰρ μελέτωρ ἀμφὶ τὸν ἐν πένθει· ἐμοὶ δʼ οὔτις ἔτʼ ἔσθʼ· ὃς γὰρ ἔτʼ ἦν, φροῦδος ἀναρπασθείς.

Χορός δειλαία δειλαίων κυρεῖς.

Ἠλέκτρα κἀγὼ τοῦδʼ ἴστωρ, ὑπερίστωρ, 850 πανσύρτῳ παμμήνῳ πολλῶν δεινῶν στυγνῶν τʼ αἰῶνι.

Χορός εἴδομεν ἁθρήνεις.

Ἠλέκτρα μή μέ νυν μηκέτι 855 παραγάγῃς, ἵνʼ οὐ

Χορός τί φής;

Ἠλέκτρα πάρεισιν ἐλπίδων ἔτι κοινοτόκων εὐπατριδᾶν ἀρωγαί.

Χορός πᾶσι θνατοῖς ἔφυ μόρος. 860

Ἠλέκτρα ἦ καὶ χαλάργοις ἐν ἁμίλλαις οὕτως, ὡς κείνῳ δυστάνῳ, τμητοῖς ὁλκοῖς ἐγκῦρσαι;

Χορός ἄσκοπος ἁ λώβα.

Ἠλέκτρα πῶς γὰρ οὔκ; εἰ ξένος 865 ἄτερ ἐμᾶν χερῶν

Χορός παπαῖ.

Ἠλέκτρα κέκευθεν, οὔτε του τάφου ἀντιάσας οὔτε γόων παρʼ ἡμῶν. 870

Then it should seem our coming was in vain.

EL O misery! ’Tis time to wail thy fate, Orestes, when, in thy calamity, Thy mother thus insults thee. Is it well?

CLY

From you, ye female Argives, may I learn, 660 Is this the mansion of Mycenæ's king?

Chorus Stranger, it is: thou hast conjectured well.

Attendant And this, if not amiss I judge, his queen : For in her port are dignity and grace.

Chorus Well hast thou mark'd our sovereign: this is she. 665

Attendant Hail queen. I bring thee grateful tidings, sent 665 By one to thee and to Ægisthus dear. 665

Clytemnestra I welcome thy address. But say by whom, Bearing this friendly message, thou art sent. From Phanoteus of Phocis, mighty queen : Important are the tidings which he sends.

Clytemnestra What are they, stranger? Tell me: from a friend Nothing but friendly tidings wilt thou bring. To speak in brief, Orestes is no more.

Attendant FLEC. O wretched me! This day I am undone. 670

Clytemnestra What say'st thou, stranger, what? Regard not her.

Attendant Again I say Orestes is no more.

Electra Then I am nothing; I too am no more.

Clytemnestra Attend thou to thine own concerns. To me

Theseus lady, are the tidings which I bring, 675 How mournful to relate! But to behold, 675 As we beheld it-misery never show'd 675

Chorus Scene of like horror to my aching eyes. Alas, alas! Our lord's imperial stem, 675 Honour'd so long, is perish'd from its roots. 675

Clytemnestra What an event is this! Almighty Jove, 675 Shall I with joy receive it, or with grief? 675 It brings advantage: yet it grieves my soul 675 To gain the safety of my life by ills. 675

Attendant Why at these tidings, lady, sink with grief? 675

Clytemnestra Nature will touch a mother: though with wrongs 675

Attendant Her heart be rent, she cannot hate her child. 675 Unthank'd is he that brings unwelcome news. 675

Electra A wretched me! I now have cause to mourn Thy wretched fate, Orestes, e'en in death Thus taunted by a mother. Is this well?

Clytemnestra Not well with thee; but it is well with him..

Electra

Chorus Where are the thunderbolts of Zeus, or where the shining Sun, if they look upon these things and quietly cover them over? 825

Electra Ah, me, ah, me!

Chorus My child, why do you weep?

Electra Oh!

Chorus Give no cry of bad omen! 830

Electra You will break my heart!

Chorus How do you mean?

Electra If you suggest that I keep hope for those who have surely passed to Hades, you will trample even harder upon me as I waste away. 835

Chorus No, for I know that the prince Amphiaraus was ensnared by a woman’s chain of gold and swallowed up. And now beneath the earth—

Electra ah, me, ah, me! 840

Chorus —He reigns supreme with the wits of the living.

Electra ah, me!

Chorus ah, me, indeed! For the murderess—

Electra Was slain.

Chorus Yes. 845

Electra I know it; I know it. For a champion arose to avenge the grieving dead. But for me no champion remains: he who yet remained has been snatched clean away.

Chorus Unhappy are you, unhappy your destiny!

Electra How well I know that, all too well, with my life swept through all the months by abundant terrors and horrors! 850

Chorus We have witnessed the events for which you mourn.

Electra Cease, then, to divert me from it, since no longer— 855

Chorus What do you say?

Electra —Since I no longer have hope in my brother, the seed of our shared noble line, to aid me.

Chorus Nature ordains death as the destiny of all mortals. 860

My task performed, permit me to retire.
680

Cly. No, stranger, that were an aftront to thee,

And to our friend who sent thee here. Go in,

And leave that noisy wretch to bellow forth

Her sorrows, and bewail her lost Orestes. [Exeunt.

Electra
Scene III.

Χορός

ποῦ ποτε κεραυνοὶ Διὸς ἢ ποῦ φαέθων

Ἅλιος, εἰ ταῦτʼ ἐφορῶντες κρύπτουσιν ἕκηλοι;
825

Ἠλέκτρα

ἒ ἔ, αἰαῖ.

Χορός

ὦ παῖ, τί δακρύεις;

Ἠλέκτρα

φεῦ.

Χορός

μηδὲν μέγʼ ἀΰσῃς.
830

Ἠλέκτρα

ἀπολεῖς.

Χορός

πῶς;

Ἠλέκτρα

εἰ τῶν φανερῶς οἰχομένων

εἰς Ἀΐδαν ἐλπίδʼ ὑποίσεις, κατʼ ἐμοῦ τακομένας

μᾶλλον ἐπεμβάσει.
835

Χορός

οἶδα γὰρ ἄνακτʼ Ἀμφιάρεων χρυσοδέτοις

ἕρκεσι κρυφθέντα γυναικῶν· καὶ νῦν ὑπὸ γαίας

Ἠλέκτρα

ἒ ἔ, ἰώ.
840

Χορός

πάμψυχος ἀνάσσει.

Ἠλέκτρα

φεῦ.

Χορός

φεῦ δῆτʼ· ὀλοὰ γὰρ

Ἠλέκτρα

ἐδάμη.

Χορός

ναί.
845

Ἠλέκτρα

οἶδʼ οἶδʼ· ἐφάνη γὰρ μελέτωρ

ἀμφὶ τὸν ἐν πένθει· ἐμοὶ δʼ οὔτις ἔτʼ ἔσθʼ· ὃς γὰρ ἔτʼ ἦν,

φροῦδος ἀναρπασθείς.

Χορός

δειλαία δειλαίων κυρεῖς.

Ἠλέκτρα

κἀγὼ τοῦδʼ ἴστωρ, ὑπερίστωρ,
850

πανσύρτῳ παμμήνῳ πολλῶν

δεινῶν στυγνῶν τʼ αἰῶνι.

Χορός

εἴδομεν ἁθρήνεις.

Ἠλέκτρα

μή μέ νυν μηκέτι
855

παραγάγῃς, ἵνʼ οὐ

Χορός

τί φής;

Ἠλέκτρα

πάρεισιν ἐλπίδων ἔτι κοινοτόκων

εὐπατριδᾶν ἀρωγαί.

Χορός

πᾶσι θνατοῖς ἔφυ μόρος.
860

Ἠλέκτρα

ἦ καὶ χαλάργοις ἐν ἁμίλλαις

οὕτως, ὡς κείνῳ δυστάνῳ,

τμητοῖς ὁλκοῖς ἐγκῦρσαι;

Χορός

ἄσκοπος ἁ λώβα.

Ἠλέκτρα

πῶς γὰρ οὔκ; εἰ ξένος
865

ἄτερ ἐμᾶν χερῶν

Χορός

παπαῖ.

Ἠλέκτρα

κέκευθεν, οὔτε του τάφου ἀντιάσας

οὔτε γόων παρʼ ἡμῶν.
870

EL

O misery! ’Tis time to wail thy fate,

Orestes, when, in thy calamity,

Thy mother thus insults thee. Is it well?

From you, ye female Argives, may I learn,
660

Is this the mansion of Mycenæ's king?

Chorus

Stranger, it is: thou hast conjectured well.

Attendant

And this, if not amiss I judge, his queen :

For in her port are dignity and grace.

Chorus

Well hast thou mark'd our sovereign: this is she.
665

Attendant

Hail queen. I bring thee grateful tidings, sent
665

By one to thee and to Ægisthus dear.
665

Clytemnestra

I welcome thy address. But say by whom,

Bearing this friendly message, thou art sent.

From Phanoteus of Phocis, mighty queen :

Important are the tidings which he sends.

Clytemnestra

What are they, stranger? Tell me: from a friend

Nothing but friendly tidings wilt thou bring.

To speak in brief, Orestes is no more.

Attendant

FLEC. O wretched me! This day I am undone.
670

Clytemnestra

What say'st thou, stranger, what? Regard not her.

Attendant

Again I say Orestes is no more.

Electra

Then I am nothing; I too am no more.

Clytemnestra

Attend thou to thine own concerns. To me

Theseus

lady, are the tidings which I bring,
675

How mournful to relate! But to behold,
675

As we beheld it-misery never show'd
675

Chorus
Scene of like horror to my aching eyes.

Alas, alas! Our lord's imperial stem,
675

Honour'd so long, is perish'd from its roots.
675

Clytemnestra

What an event is this! Almighty Jove,
675

Shall I with joy receive it, or with grief?
675

It brings advantage: yet it grieves my soul
675

To gain the safety of my life by ills.
675

Attendant

Why at these tidings, lady, sink with grief?
675

Clytemnestra

Nature will touch a mother: though with wrongs
675

Attendant

Her heart be rent, she cannot hate her child.
675

Unthank'd is he that brings unwelcome news.
675

Electra

A wretched me! I now have cause to mourn

Thy wretched fate, Orestes, e'en in death

Thus taunted by a mother. Is this well?

Clytemnestra

Not well with thee; but it is well with him..

Chorus

Where are the thunderbolts of Zeus, or where the

shining Sun, if they look upon these things and quietly cover them over?
825

Electra

Ah, me, ah, me!

Chorus

My child, why do you weep?

Electra

Oh!

Chorus

Give no cry of bad omen!
830

Electra

You will break my heart!

Chorus

How do you mean?

Electra

If you suggest that I keep hope for those who have surely passed to Hades,

you will trample even harder upon me as I waste away.
835

Chorus

No, for I know that the prince Amphiaraus was ensnared by a woman’s chain of gold and swallowed up. And now beneath the earth—

Electra

ah, me, ah, me!
840

Chorus

—He reigns supreme with the wits of the living.

Electra

ah, me!

Chorus

ah, me, indeed! For the murderess—

Electra

Was slain.

Chorus

Yes.
845

Electra

I know it; I know it. For a champion arose to avenge the grieving dead. But for me no champion remains: he who yet remained has been snatched clean away.

Chorus

Unhappy are you, unhappy your destiny!

Electra

How well I know that, all too well, with my life swept through all the months by abundant terrors and horrors!
850

Chorus

We have witnessed the events for which you mourn.

Electra

Cease, then, to divert me from it, since no longer—
855

Chorus

What do you say?

Electra

—Since I no longer have hope in my brother, the seed of our shared noble line, to aid me.

Chorus

Nature ordains death as the destiny of all mortals.
860

Electra

What, a death like the one which that ill-fated one died beneath a race of swift hooves, entangled in the cutting, dragging reins?

Chorus

The mutilation is beyond thought!

Electra

Yes, so it is, when in foreign soil, without being tended by my hands—
865

Chorus

Ah, no!

Electra

—he has been buried not receiving from me either burial

or lamentation.
870