Sophocles Electra 1273

Richard Jebb (Translator)

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Electra. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1894.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Electra (English) (Sophocles the plays and fragments, Part 6: The Electra. Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, Sir, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1894. (Modernized by Perseus.))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1273 focus
ἰὼ χρόνῳ μακρῷ φιλτάταν
ὁδὸν ἐπαξιώσας ὧδέ μοι φανῆναι,
μή τί με, πολύπονον πολύστονον ὧδ᾿ ἰδὼν
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1273 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1273 focus
Oh! after all these years,
Now thou at length hast sped
Thy dearest advent on the wished-for way,
Do not, in all this woe
Thou seest surrounding me—
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1273 focus
Du, der mich seines Anblickes würdigend,
Auf langersehntem Pfade mir erschienen,
O, weil du so mich siehst in Noth,
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1273 focus
Oh, no !
But after so long absence^ thus returned
To thy afflicted sister, sure thou wouldst not
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1273 focus
Hath silence then such merit, that my words
Must yield to it, whilst thou art in my sight,
Thus unexpected, thus beyond my hopes?

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-708-1 ὁδὸν … φανῆναι 1

mvp-comment-709-1 τί μὴ ποήσω 2

mvp-comment-710-1 μή μ’ ἀποστερήσῃς … ἁδονὰν 3

mvp-comment-710-2 μεθέσθαι 4

mvp-comment-711-1 ξυναινεῖς 5

mvp-comment-711-2 τί μὴν οὔ 6

mvp-comment-712-1 ὦ φίλαι 7 ὦ φίλ’, ὅτ’ 8 φίλαι 9

mvp-comment-712-2 αὐδάν 10 οὐδ’ ἂν ἤλπις’ 11

mvp-comment-712-3 1283 f. There can be no doubt that something has been lost before ἔσχον 12 οὐδ’ ἂν 13 ὁρμὰν 14

mvp-comment-712-4

ὀργή
in Sophocles means either (1) ‘anger,’ or (2) ‘disposition’: Ant. 875
αὐτόγνωτος..ὀργά
: ib. 355
ἀστυνομους ὀργάς
: Ai. 639
συντρόφοις ὀργαῖς
. Neither sense can be fitted into any probable interpretation. Some have supposed the meaning to be that Electra ‘restrained her anger in silence,’ when Clyt. was exulting in the death of Orestes; but, in fact, her anger found a voice (see 792). Others understand that she ‘restrained her emotion’ (of grief), on hearing the sad news; but she did not do so (see 823—870): nor could
ὀργὰν
mean ‘emotion’ in that sense.

mvp-comment-712-5 On the other hand

ὀργή
and
ὁρμή
were easily confused in MSS. Thus in Tr. 720 , where
ὁρμῇ
is right,
γ
has been written over
μ
in L, and
ὀργῇ
is actually the reading of A, and of the Aldine. Cp. also O. T. 337.

mvp-comment-712-6 The context is the best guide to the sense which should be restored. Through out these lyrics, Orestes has been endeavouring to repress Electra's cries, lest she should be overheard (1236, 1238, 1251 f., 1257, 1259, 1271 f.). The corrupt words probably referred to this. ὁρμὰν 15

mvp-comment-712-7 οὐδ’ ἂν ἔσχον 16 ἄναυδον 17

mvp-comment-712-8 Other interpretations and conjectures will be found in the Appendix.

mvp-comment-713-1 τάλαινα 18

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

1276-1277. mvp-comment-602-1 In speaking 1271, 2, Orestes has turned aside, as if debating with himself how to calm Electra. At this her over-wrought affection takes alarm, lest for a moment she should lose the brightness of his countenance. μεθέσθαι ( sc. τὸ ἐμὲ μ.) is epexegetic infinitive.

1278. mvp-comment-603-1 κἂν ἄλλοισι] ‘Even as the act of another,'— i.e. how much less am I likely myself to do it? καί points the à fortiori argument.

1280. mvp-comment-604-1 τί *μὴν οὔ] The correction is supported by Eur. Rhes. 706.

1281. mvp-comment-605-1 Reassured as to the main point, Electra turns to her companions, and relieves her overcharged feelings by speaking to them of the contrast between the present and the immediate past, when she had heard the false tidings of her brother's death. The rhythm of these lines is somewhat broken. But it is not necessary with some editors to suppose that words have been lost. 'O friends, I heard a sound which I could never have thought to hear. I restrained my emotion at hearing it, in speechless silence.' αὐδάν is rightly explained by the Scholiast of the tidings of Orestes' death. Perhaps οὐδάμ' should be read for οὐδ᾽ ἄν, - 'Which I had never thought to hear.' (Wecklein reads, ὦ φίλ᾽, ἁνίκ᾽ ἔκλυον ἂν | ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἤλπισ᾽ αὐδάν, | ἔσχον ὀργὰν ἄναυδον | οὐδὲ σὺν βοᾷ, τάλαινα, - 'Dear one, when first I heard the news I could not have hoped to hear'—that thou wast alive—'I had a voiceless emotion with no outcry.')