Sophocles Electra 251-470

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)) — 251 focus
ἐγὼ μέν, ὦ παῖ, καὶ τὸ σὸν σπεύδουσ᾽ ἅμα
καὶ τοὐμὸν αὐτῆς ἦλθον· εἰ δὲ μὴ καλῶς
λέγω, σὺ νίκα· σοὶ γὰρ ἐψόμεσθ᾽ ἅμα.
ἡ δ᾽ ἤδ' L Pal. Schaef. corr. ἡ δ' A. ὧδε τλήμων ὥστε τῷ μιάστορι
275
τράπεζα κείσθω καὶ περιρρείτω βίος.
ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἔστω τοὐμὲ μὴ τοῦ με μὴ L pr. FL2 pr. τοὐμὲ C² AV3. τοὔμε μὴ V. *λυποῦν λυπεῖν MSS. but see Scholia. μόνον
βόσκημα· τῆς σῆς δ᾽ οὐκ ἐρῶ τιμῆς τυχεῖν τυχεῖν C1 or 4. τυχεῖν ΑΓΙ2. λαχεῖν Pal..
οὐδ᾽ ἂν σύ, σώφρων γ' οὖσα. νῦν δ' om. L add C². ἐξὸν πατρὸς
365
πάντων ἀρίστου παῖδα κεκλῆσθαι, καλοῦ
τῆς μητρός. οὕτω γὰρ φανεῖ πλείστοις κακή,
θανόντα πατέρα καὶ φίλους προδοῦσα σούς.
μηδὲν πρὸς ὀργὴν πρὸς θεῶν· ὡς τοῖς λόγοις
ἔνεστιν ἀμφοῖν κέρδος, εἰ σὺ μὲν μάθοις
370
τοῖς τῆσδε χρῆσθαι, τοῖς δὲ σοῖς αὕτη αὐτὴ LAF. αὕτη Pal. πάλιν.
ἢ ταῦτα δή με καὶ βεβούλευνται ποιεῖν πο(ι)εῖν ? L. ;
385
λέγ᾿ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο, πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι
415
ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.
ἀλλ᾽, ὦ φίλη, τούτων μὲν ὧν ἔχεις χεροῖν
τύμβῳ προσάψῃς μηδέν· οὐ γάρ σοι θέμις
οὐδ᾽ ὅσιον ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ om. LFL2 add C7 or 6A. γυναικὸς ἱστάναι
κτερίσματ᾽ οὐδὲ λουτρὰ προσφέρειν πατρί·
ἀλλ᾽ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ἢ βαθυσκαφεῖ κόνει
435
κρύψον κρύψο L. κρύψον C². κρύψόν. gl. τὰ ἐνταφιάσματα Pal. νιν, ἔνθα μή ποτ᾽ εἰς εὐνὴν πατρὸς
τούτων πρόσεισι μηδέν· ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν θάνῃ,
κειμήλι αὐτῇ ταῦτα σωζέσθω κάτω.
ἀρχὴν δ᾽ ἄν δ᾽ ἂν L pr. δ' ἂν A. γὰρ Pal., εἰ μὴ τλημονεστάτη γυνὴ
πασῶν ἔβλαστε, τάσδε δυσμενεῖς χοὰς
440
οὐκ ἄν ποθ᾽, ὅν γ᾽ ἔκτεινε, τῷδ᾽ ἐπέστεφε.
πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ἡ κόρη λέγει· σὺ δέ,
εἰ σωφρονήσεις, ὦ φίλη, δράσεις τάδε.
465
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 251-471 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 251 focus
No more! I see approaching from the house
Thy sister by both parents of thy blood,
Chrysothemis; in her hand an offering,
Such as old custom yields to those below.
No anger, we entreat. Both have said well,
If each would learn of other, and so do.
And have they so determined on my life?
385
Speak but that.
415
A little word hath ofttimes been the cause
415
Of ruin or salvation unto men.
Now, dear Chrysothemis, of what thou bearest
Let nothing touch his tomb. ’Tis impious
And criminal to offer to thy sire
Rites and libations from a hateful wife.
Then cast them to the winds, or deep in dust
Conceal them, where no particle may reach
His resting-place: but lie in store for her
When she goes underground. Sure, were she not
Most hardened of all women that have been,
She ne’er had sent those loveless offerings
To grace the sepulchre of him she slew.
For think how likely is the buried king
To take such present kindly from her hand,
Who slew him like an alien enemy,
Dishonoured even in death, and mangled him,
435
And wiped the death-stain with his flowing locks—
435
Sinful purgation! Think you that you bear
435
In those cold gifts atonement for her guilt?
It is not possible. Wherefore let be.
But take a ringlet from thy comely head,
And this from mine, that lingers on my brow
Longing to shade his tomb. Ah, give it to him,
All I can give, and this my maiden-zone,
Not daintily adorned, as once erewhile.
Then, humbly kneeling, pray that from the ground
He would arise to help us ’gainst his foes,
And grant his son Orestes with high hand
Strongly to trample on his enemies;
That in our time to come from ampler stores
We may endow him, than are ours to-day.
I cannot but imagine that his will
440
Hath part in visiting her sleep with fears.
440
But howsoe’er, I pray thee, sister mine,
440
Do me this service, and thyself, and him,
Dearest of all the world to me and thee,
The father of us both, who rests below.
She counsels piously; and thou, dear maid,
If thou art wise, wilt do her bidding here.
465
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 251 focus
Ich bin gekommen, Tochter, um dein Wohl zugleich
Und meins bekümmert. Sprech' ich denn das Rechte nicht,
So möge dein Wort gelten; denn dir folgen wir.
245
Ich Kind des Unglücks, muß ich das im Hause seh'n,
Vergehe, weine, schluchze laut zu diesem Mahl
275
Des Jammers, das sie meines Vaters Mahl benennt,
Allein für mich; denn auch zu weinen ist mir nicht
So viel vergönnt, als meines Herzens Drang genügt.
Denn diese nach dem Namen hochgesinnte Frau 2
Rust höhnend dann mir diese bösen Worte zu:
280
Gottloses Scheusal, ist der Vater dir allein
Gestorben? Trauert außer dir kein Mensch um ihn?
Stirb hin in Elend, und von diesem Fammer soll
Dich auch der Todesgötter Macht niemals befrein! 3
So ruft sie trozend. Aber hört sie dann einmal,
285
Orestes komme, rennt sie flugs auf mich daher,
Und schreit und wüthet: dir allein, dir dank' ich das!
Es war ja dein Werk; hast du doch aus meinem Arm
Entwandt Oresten, und geheim ihn fortgeschafft!
Doch wisse: büßen sollst du mir verdienten Lohn!
290
So bellt sie tobend, und an ihrer Seite reizt
Ihr hochgerühmter Buhle sie noch mehr dazu,
Der überall feigherzig Allverderbliche,
Der im Verein mit Frauen seine Schlachten schlägt.
Ich, ewig harrend, daß Orestes mein Geschick
295
Zu wenden komme, schwinde hin in meinem Gram.
Denn ewig zaudernd hat er meine Hoffnungen,
Die nahen, wie die fernen, mir in Nichts verkehrt.
In solcher Noth, ihr Lieben, wer mag Mäßigung,
Wer fromme Tugend üben? Traun, im Uebel drängt
300
Es uns gewaltsam, auch zu thun, was übel ist.
Auf, sage, weilt Aegisthos hier, indeß du so
Mir redest, oder ging er aus dem Hause fort?
Schmach dir, des Mannes Tochter, der dir Leben gab,
Daß du, vergessend seiner, nur der Mutter denkst!
Denn alle Lehren, welche du mir eben gabst,
335
Hat sie dir eingegeben, nicht dein eigner Sinn.
Wähl' Eines denn von Zweien, ob du thöricht sein,
Ob, klug, der liebsten Freunde nicht gedenken willst.
Denn eben sagst du, würde dir die Macht geliehn,
Du zeigtest ihnen, welcher Haß dein Herz erfüllt;
340
Mir aber, die den Vater rächen will, versagst
Du deine Hülfe, ja verwehrst die Rache mir.
Verräthst du hier nur bösen, nicht auch seigen Sinn?
Denn lehre du mich, oder lerne du von mir,
Was ich gewönne, ſtellt' ich meine Klagen ein.
345
Ich lebe, zwar unglücklich, doch ich lebe ja;
Und ihnen thu' ich wehe, daß ich Ehre so
Dem Todten zolle, wenn es dort noch Freude gibt.
Doch du, sie hassend, hassest nur in Worten sie,
Und bist des Vaters Mördern durch die That gesellt.
350
Ich würde niemals, ob man auch in Fülle mir
Die Gaben böte, deren Frucht dich üppig labt,
Mich ihnen unterwerfen; sei der volle Tisch
Dir zubereitet, ström' um dich das Leben reich:
Mir sei es einzig Labe, daß ich keine Qual
355
Mir selbst bereite; deines Glücks begehr' ich nicht;
Auch du verschmähtest's, wärst du klug. Wohl könntest du
Das Kind des besten Vaters heißen, heiße nun
Das Kind der Mutter; so erscheinst du Allen schlecht,
Den Freunden, wie dem todten Vater, ungetreu.
360
Laß, bei den Göttern, keinem Zorne Naum; es ist
Gewinn in Beider Worten, wenn nur ihre du
Zu nüzen wüßtest und sie selbst die deinigen.
So hätten sie beschlossen, das mir anzuthun?
So sage dies. Wohl haben wenig Worte ja
Schon oft erhoben und gestürzt die Sterblichen.
Von dem, o Traute, was du trägst in deiner Hand,
Laß Nichts das Grab berühren! Unrecht wär' es ja,
Ja, Frevel wär' es, brächtest du vom Feindesweib
425
Trankopfer oder Grabesweih'n dem Vater dar.
Nein, gib's den Winden, oder tief in öden Staub
Vergrab' es, wo kein Theil davon zur Ruhestatt
Des Vaters je gelange; mög' es aufbewahrt
Dort unten bleiben, ihr ein Kleinod, wenn sie stirbt!
430
Ja, wäre sie nicht aller Frauen frechste, traun,
Dann kränzte sie mit diesen haßerfüllten Weih'n
Niemals die Gruft des Mannes, den sie mordete.
Erwäge selbst nur, ob der Todte dort im Grab
Von ihr mit Liebe dies Geschenk aufnehmen kann,
435
Die schmählich ihn gemordet und gleich einem Feind
Graunvoll verstümmelt, die zur Sühn' an seinem Haupt 6
Ihr Schwert vom Blut gereinigt! Wähnst du gar vielleicht,
Daß solche Spende sühnen mag die Mörderin?
Nicht also! Laß dies Opfer sein, und schneide dir
440
Die lezten Spizen von des Hauptes Locken ab
Und mir, der Armen; gib ihm dies, zwar Weniges,
Doch Alles, was ich habe, dies kunstlose Haar
Und meinen Gürtel, nicht geschmückt mit eitlem Prunk,
Und niederfallend fleh' ihn an, vom Grabe her
445
Huldreich ein Retter uns zu nah'n vor Feindesmacht,
Bis dann Orestes lebend und in Siegeskraft
Auf seiner Feinde Nacken tritt mit stolzem Fuß,
Damit wir ihm mit vollern Händen künftig einst
Das Grab bekränzen, als wir jezt ihm Gaben weih'n.
450
Ich glaube, ja ich glaub' es, ihm lag selbst daran,
Zu senden ihr dies grauenvolle Traumgesicht.
Gleichwohl, o Schwester, hilf mit solchem Dienst dir selbst
Und mir und ihm, dem liebsten aller Sterblichen,
Der, uns gemeinsam Vater, ruh in Hades' Haus.
455
Ein frommes Wort wohl, das die Jungfrau sprach, und du
Folgst ihrem Rath, o Liebe, wenn du weise bist.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 251 focus
He boasts a noble nature, and will ne'er
Forget his friends : be confident.
But soft^ behold the fair Chrysothemis
Advance this way, and in her hand she bears
370
Sepulchral offerings to the shades below.
Tell me this mighty danger ; if aught more
385
T yield me to thy counsels.
385
The dream : and I will tell thee all.
-^ By the gods
Let mo conjure thee, hear me. If thou dost not,
Too late shall thou repent, when for thy guilt
Evil o'ertako thee. O Chr}'sothemis !
Never, I heg theo, to our father's tomb
Bear thou those offerings ; 'twere a horrid deed
From such a woman. Give 'em to the winds ;
And not the smallest grain escape to reach
That hallawcfd place ; let 'em remain for her,
Safe in the earth tiH she shall meet 'fittTthere^
None but this shameless, tins abandoned woman,
Would e'er with impious oft'rings thus adorn
The tomb of him she murdered./^ By the dead
Thinkst thou such gifts can be with joy received ?
Gifts from that hand which from his mangled corse
435
Severed his lifeless limbs, and on the head
435
Of the poor victim wiped her bloody sword ?
435
I (Madness to think that offerings and ablutions
Could purge such crimes, or wash her stains away;
Never, oh never \J But of this no more.
Instant, my sister, thy devoted hair
With these dishevelled locks and this my zone,
Plain as it is and unadorned, shalt thou
Bear to our father. Wretched offerings these !
Bear them, and suppliant on thy knees implore
him
To smile propitious and assist his children ;
Pray for Orestes, too, tlmt soon with power
He may return, and trample on our foes ;
So shall a fairer tribute one day grace
His honoured tomb, than now we can bestow.
Trust me, my sister, we are still his care —
440
I know we are. S^rom him the vision came,
440
The horrid dream that shook her guilty soul :
440
Now then, I beg thee^be a friend to me,
Be to thyself a friend^ a friend to him
Of all mankind the dearest, our dead father.
Well doth the pious virgin speak, and thou
And so I will.
"Where reason dictates, strife should never come ;
But quick, despatch ! fulfil her just commands.
Yet, O my friends I remember, our attempt
Is full of danger, and let nought escape
That may betray me to my cruel mother ;
For if it reach her ear, this daring act,
I fear me much, shall one day cost us dear.
Or my prophetic mind is now no more
Attentive as of old to wisdom's lore,
Or justice comes, with speedy vengeance fraught ;
Behold ! the goddess armed with power appears-
It must be so, by Clytemnestra's fears.
And the dire dream that on her fancy wrought :
Thy father, not unmindful of his fate.
Shall hither come his wrongs to vindicate ;
And, in his gore imbrued.
The fatal axe with him shall rise,
Shall ask another sacrifice,
And drink with him the cruel tyrant's blood.
Lo ! with unnumbered hands and countless feet,
The fury comes her destined prey to meet ;
Deep in the covert hid she glides unseen,
Hangs o'er the trembUng murderer's head,
Or steals to the adultrous bed,
An awful witness of the guilty scene ;
ELKCTRA.
Doubtless the dream with all its terrors meant
For crimes like these Bome dreadful punishment,
470
I f mortals aught from nightly visions know,
470
If truth from great Apollo's shrine
470
Appears in oracles divine,
470
1 *resagiug bliss to come, or threat'ning future woe.
470
J""'
470
C) Pelops ; to thy countiy and to thco
470
The fatal course brought woe and misery ;
For since the time v/hen, from his chariot thi'own,
For thee the guilty wreath to gain,
The hapless Myrtihis was slain,
Nought has thy wretched race but grief and sorrow
known.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 251 focus
Our duty, by our zeal for thee enforced,
Induced us hither: if our friendly words
Offend thy sense of honour, we desist;
Thine be the conquest, and to follow, ours,
Forgive me then. How can a woman, sprung
Think then what grief-embitter'd days I pass,
385
see him in my father's robes
Array'd, and pouring to the household gods
Libations on the spot where his curs'd hand
Shed the king's blood. And (oh that blackest stain !)
I see the murderer in my father's bed
With my abandon'd mother, if the name
255
Of mother be her due, who shares this bed
255
With him, unblushing with this man of blood
255
Cohabits, and no vengeful Fury fears;
255
But, as exulting in her horrid deeds,
255
Oft as the month leads round the welcome day
In which my father by her wiles she slew,
She forms the festal dance, and to the gods,
As guardians of her house, the victims slays.
and weep, and waste away
At a vile feast, that bears my father's name,
In secret mourning, for I dare not pour
My tears to sooth the anguish of my soul;
For soon this woman, to her noble name
A foul disgrace, calls out, and with harsh words
370
Reviles me, "Wretch, detested by the gods,
370
"To thee alone then did thy father die?
370
"Dost none but thou lament him? Get thee hence,
370
"And perish: never may th' infernal gods
"Soften the sorrows which now rend thy heart!"
Thus she reviles me; but if one she hears
Speak of Orestes as returning, wild
Far distant in the country: were he near,
Think not I thus might walk before the gates.
But nothing, my loved sister, of these gifts
415
Affix thou to the tomb; it is not meet,
415
It is not holy, that such offerings, sent
415
By this malignant woman, should be placed;
415
Or such libations to our father's shade
Be pour'd: no: give them to the winds, or dig
Deep in the covering earth, and hide them there;
for my sake, for thine own, for his,
Dearest of all that breath'd this vital air,
Our father, laid in the unsparing tomb.
This from a pious heart the virgin speaks :

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-144-1 ἐγὼ μὲν 1

mvp-comment-144-2 καὶ 2 τὸ σὸν … καὶ τοὐμὸν 3

mvp-comment-145-1 νίκα 4

mvp-comment-145-2 ἅμα 5

mvp-comment-146-1 πολλοῖσι θρήνοις 6

mvp-comment-147-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ 7

mvp-comment-148-1 ἥτις εὐγενὴς γυνή 8

mvp-comment-149-1 πατρῷα … πήματα 9

mvp-comment-150-1 κατ’ εὐφρόνην 10

mvp-comment-150-2 θάλλοντα 11

mvp-comment-151-1 ᾗ 12

mvp-comment-151-2 πρῶτα μὲν … εἶτα … ἔπειτα 13 ᾗ 14

mvp-comment-151-3 τὰ μητρὸς 15

mvp-comment-151-4 ἔχθιστα συμβέβηκεν 16

mvp-comment-152-1 κἀκ τῶνδ’ ἄρχομαι 17

mvp-comment-153-1 λαβεῖν … τὸ τητᾶσθαι 18

mvp-comment-154-1 ποίας 19 δοκεῖς 20

mvp-comment-155-1 ἴδω 21 εἰσίδω δ’ 22 ἴδω δὲ 23

mvp-comment-155-2 μὲν 24

mvp-comment-156-1 ἐσθήματα 25

mvp-comment-156-2 ἐκείνῳ 26

mvp-comment-156-3 παρεστίους … λοιβάς 27 ἔνθ’ ἐκεῖνον ὤλεσεν 28

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 29

mvp-comment-158-1 αὐτοέντην 30

mvp-comment-158-2 Brunck first adopted αὐτοέντην 31 αὐτοφόντην 32

mvp-comment-158-3 ἡμὶν 33

mvp-comment-159-1 ταλαίνῃ 34

mvp-comment-160-1 ταύτην … τῷδε 35

mvp-comment-161-1 μιάστορι 36 Ἐρινὺν 37

mvp-comment-162-1 ἐγγελῶσα τοῖς ποιουμένοις 38

mvp-comment-163-1 εὑροῦς’ 39 τότε 40

mvp-comment-163-2 The conjecture φρουροῦς’ 41 τηροῦς’ 42

mvp-comment-164-1 χοροὺς ἵστησι 43

mvp-comment-164-2 μηλοσφαγεῖ … ἱερὰ 44

mvp-comment-164-3 ἔμμην’ ἱερά 45

mvp-comment-164-4 τοῖς σωτηρίοις 46

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 47 κατὰ στέγας 48

mvp-comment-166-1 τέτηκα 49

mvp-comment-166-2 πατρὸς 50

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 51 αὑτήν 52

mvp-comment-167-2 κλαῦσαι 53

mvp-comment-167-3 ἡδονὴν φέρει 54

mvp-comment-168-1 ἡ λόγοισι γενναία 55

mvp-comment-169-1 φωνοῦσα 56

mvp-comment-170-1 δύσθεον 57

mvp-comment-170-2 μίσημα 58

mvp-comment-170-3 σοὶ μόνῃ 59

mvp-comment-170-4 τέθνηκεν 60

mvp-comment-170-5 ἐν πένθει 61

mvp-comment-171-1 ἐκ γόων 62

mvp-comment-171-2 οἱ κάτω θεοί 63

mvp-comment-172-1 τάδ’ 64

mvp-comment-172-2 ἥξοντ’ Ὀρέστην 65

mvp-comment-173-1 παραστᾶς’ 66

mvp-comment-174-1 ἥτις 67

mvp-comment-174-2 ὑπεξέθου 68

mvp-comment-175-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι τείσουσά γ’ 69

mvp-comment-176-1 ὑλακτεῖ 70

mvp-comment-176-2 σὺν 71

mvp-comment-176-3 πέλας 72 παρών 73

mvp-comment-176-4 301 The adv. πάντα 74

mvp-comment-176-5 ἄναλκις 75

mvp-comment-176-6 ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη 76

mvp-comment-177-1 σὺν γυναιξὶ 77

mvp-comment-177-2 τὰς μάχας 78

mvp-comment-178-1 ἐφήξειν 79

mvp-comment-179-1 μέλλων … δρᾶν τι 80

mvp-comment-179-2 τὰς οὔσας τε … καὶ τὰς ἀπούσας 81

mvp-comment-179-3 μου 82 μοι 83

mvp-comment-179-4 διέφθορεν 84

mvp-comment-180-1 σωφρονεῖν 85 εὐσεβεῖν 86

mvp-comment-180-2 ἔν τοι κακοῖς 87

mvp-comment-180-3 πολλή )στ’ ἀνάγκη 88 κἀπιτηδεύειν κακά 89

mvp-comment-180-4 I place only a comma, not a colon, after πάρεστιν 90

mvp-comment-181-1 ὄντος … βεβῶτος 91

mvp-comment-182-1 ἦ κάρτα 92

mvp-comment-182-2 θυραῖον 93

mvp-comment-182-3 οἰχνεῖν 94

mvp-comment-182-4 ἀγροῖσι 95

mvp-comment-182-5 τυγχάνει 96

mvp-comment-183-1 ἦ κἂν … ἱκοίμην 97 ἦ τ<*>ν 98 ἦ δἂν 99

mvp-comment-183-2 ἐς λόγους τοὺς σοὺς ἱκοίμην 100

mvp-comment-184-1 ὡς νῦν 101 ὥς νυν 102

mvp-comment-184-2 ἱστόρει· τί σοι φίλον 103 τό 104 τά 105

mvp-comment-184-3 With the other punctuation, ἱστόρει τί σοι φίλον 106

mvp-comment-185-1 καὶ δὴ 107

mvp-comment-185-2 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής 108

mvp-comment-185-3 ἥξοντος 109 ἢ μέλλοντος 110

mvp-comment-186-1 φησίν γε 111

mvp-comment-186-2 ποεῖ 112

mvp-comment-187-1 καὶ μὴν ἔγωγ’ 113 γε 114

mvp-comment-187-2 οὐκ ὄκνῳ 115

mvp-comment-188-1 ἀρκεῖν 116

mvp-comment-189-1 ἐπεί 117

mvp-comment-189-2 μακρὰν 118

mvp-comment-189-3 324 Here, as in 316, νῦν 119 νυν 120

mvp-comment-189-4 δόμων 121 φέρουσαν 122

mvp-comment-190-1 ὅμαιμον 123

mvp-comment-190-2 φύσιν 124

mvp-comment-191-1 Χρυσόθεμιν 125

mvp-comment-192-1 οἷα 126 νομίζεται 127

mvp-comment-193-1 πρὸς θυρῶνος ἐξόδοις 128 φωνεῖς 129 ἐλθοῦσα 130 αὖ 131

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

mvp-comment-194-1 θυμῷ … χαρίζεσθαι 132

mvp-comment-195-1 καίτοι τοσοῦτόν γ’ οἶδα 133

mvp-comment-195-2 κἀμαυτήν, ὅτι 134

mvp-comment-195-3 333 f. For the repeated ἄν 135

mvp-comment-195-4 οἶ) αὐτοῖς φρονῶ 136

mvp-comment-196-1 ὑφειμένῃ 137 πλεῖν 138

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 139

mvp-comment-198-1 τοιαῦτα δ’ ἄλλα 140 ἀλλὰ 141 ἄλλα 142

mvp-comment-199-1 καίτοι τὸ μὲν δίκαιον 143

mvp-comment-199-2 κρίνεις 144

mvp-comment-199-3 εἰ … με δεῖ 145

mvp-comment-199-4 ἐλευθέραν 146

mvp-comment-199-5 ζῆν 147

mvp-comment-199-6 πάντ’ 148

mvp-comment-199-7 ἀκουστέα 149

mvp-comment-200-1 δεινόν γε 150

mvp-comment-201-1 τῆς … τικτούσης 151

mvp-comment-201-2 μέλειν 152

mvp-comment-202-1 τἀμὰ νουθετήματα 153

mvp-comment-202-2 κείνης διδακτά 154

mvp-comment-202-3 ἐκ σαυτῆς 155

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’ 156

mvp-comment-203-4 ἑλοῦ γε 157

mvp-comment-203-5 φρονεῖν κακῶς 158

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 159

mvp-comment-205-1 ἥτις 160 φρονοῦσα 161 μῖσος 162

mvp-comment-206-1 πάντα 163

mvp-comment-206-2 τιμωρουμένης 164

mvp-comment-207-1 οὔτε … τε 165

mvp-comment-207-2 τήν τε δρῶσαν 166

mvp-comment-208-1 πρὸς κακοῖσι 167

mvp-comment-208-2 δειλίαν ἔχει 168

mvp-comment-209-1 ἐπεὶ 169

mvp-comment-209-2 ἢ μάθ’ ἐξ ἐμοῦ 170

mvp-comment-210-1 ἐπαρκούντως 171

mvp-comment-211-1 προσάπτειν 172

mvp-comment-211-2 εἴ τις ἔστ’ ἐκεῖ χάρις 173

mvp-comment-212-1 ἡμὶν 174 ξύνει 175

mvp-comment-213-1 τὰ σὰ … δῶῤ 176

mvp-comment-213-2 ἐφ’ οἶσι 177

mvp-comment-213-3 χλιδᾷς 178

mvp-comment-214-1 ὑπεικάθοιμι 179

mvp-comment-214-2 πλουσία 180

mvp-comment-214-3 περιρρείτω 181

mvp-comment-215-1 τοὐμὲ μὴ λυπεῖν 182

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 183

mvp-comment-217-1 παῖδα 184

mvp-comment-217-2 κεκλῆσθαι 185

mvp-comment-218-1 πλείστοις 186

mvp-comment-219-1 μηδὲν 187 πρὸς ὀργὴν 188

mvp-comment-220-1 ἀμφοῖν 189 τοῖς λόγοις 190

mvp-comment-221-1 τῆσδε … αὕτη 191 πάλιν 192

mvp-comment-222-1 ἐγὼ μὲν 193

mvp-comment-222-2 πως 194

mvp-comment-222-3 μύθων 195

mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ’ 196 κοὐδ’ 197 ποτέ 198

mvp-comment-224-1 ἰὸν 199

mvp-comment-224-2 σχήσει 200

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν 201

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι 202 εἰ 203

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ 204

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων 205 λόγων 206

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα 207

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει 208

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα 209

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ 210

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς 211

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις 212

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα 213

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ 214 καί 215

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 216 ἦ … δὴ 217 ἦ … γὰρ 218

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται 219

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο 220

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ 221

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ 222

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα 223

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε 224

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν 225

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως 226 ὑμῶν 227

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ 228 προσωτάτω φύγω 229

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος 230

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ 231

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι 232

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις 233

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν 234

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα 235 οὐκ ἐμοὺς 236

mvp-comment-240-1 γε 237 μέντοι 238

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ 239

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν 240

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 241

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη 242

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν 243

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω 244

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ 245

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις 246

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα 247

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς 248

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν 249

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή 250 ὅν γ’ 251

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν 252

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος 253

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί 254

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι 255

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ 256

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν 257

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε 258

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν 259 ἐπὶ σμικρῶν 260

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι 261

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι 262

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν 263

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι 264

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 265

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε 266 ἐκ δὲ 267

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα 268

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι 269

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 270 τοῦ 271 παρόντος 272 του 273

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ 274

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν 275

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη 276

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 277

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ 278

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ 279

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει 280

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ 281

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη 282 τούτων μὲν 283

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις 284 οὐδ’ ὅσιον 285

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς 286

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ 287

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ 288

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν 289 ῥοαῖσιν 290

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον 291

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν 292

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ 293 ἔνθεν 294

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν 295

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν 296

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν 297 ὅταν 298 σῳζέσθω 299

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ 300

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν 301 τλημονεστάτη 302

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε 303

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ 304

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε 305

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ 306

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι 307

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι 308 δέξασθαι 309

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος 310

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη 311

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 312

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν 313

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ 314

mvp-comment-268-1 οὐκ ἔστιν 315

mvp-comment-268-2 ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ 316

mvp-comment-269-1 βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας 317

mvp-comment-269-2 κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης 318

mvp-comment-270-1 †ἀλιπαρῆ 319 λιπαρῆ 320

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’ 321 ἀλίπαρον 322

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
to
λιπαρής
: but it seems improbable.

mvp-comment-271-1 ζῶμα 323

mvp-comment-271-2 χλιδαῖς 324

mvp-comment-272-1 προσπίτνουσα 325 αὐτὸν 326

mvp-comment-273-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός 327

mvp-comment-273-2 ζῶντ’ 328

mvp-comment-274-1 ἀφνεωτέραις 329

mvp-comment-274-2 στέφωμεν 330

mvp-comment-274-3 δωρούμεθα 331

mvp-comment-275-1 οἶμαι μὲν οὖν 332

mvp-comment-275-2 If μέλον 333 μέλειν 334 μέλον 335

mvp-comment-276-1 σοί 336

mvp-comment-277-1 βροτῶν 337

mvp-comment-278-1 πρὸς εὐσέβειαν 338

mvp-comment-279-1 δράσω 339

mvp-comment-279-2 τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον 340

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 341

mvp-comment-280-1 παρ’ ὑμῶν 342

mvp-comment-281-1 πικρὰν 343 δοκῶ με … τολμήσειν 344 ἔτι 345

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

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.