Sophocles, Electra, ed. Francis Storr, 1126

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Scene

← Previous Next →

Ἠλέκτρα

ὦ φιλτάτου μνημεῖον ἀνθρώπων ἐμοὶ

ψυχῆς Ὀρέστου λοιπόν, ὥς σʼ ἀπʼ ἐλπίδων

οὐχ ὧνπερ ἐξέπεμπον εἰσεδεξάμην.

νῦν μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ὄντα βαστάζω χεροῖν,

δόμων δέ σʼ, ὦ παῖ, λαμπρὸν ἐξέπεμψʼ ἐγώ.
1130

ὡς ὤφελον πάροιθεν ἐκλιπεῖν βίον,

πρὶν ἐς ξένην σε γαῖαν ἐκπέμψαι χεροῖν

κλέψασα ταῖνδε κἀνασώσασθαι φόνου,

ὅπως θανὼν ἔκεισο τῇ τόθʼ ἡμέρᾳ,

τύμβου πατρῴου κοινὸν εἰληχὼς μέρος.
1135

νῦν δʼ ἐκτὸς οἴκων κἀπὶ γῆς ἄλλης φυγὰς

κακῶς ἀπώλου, σῆς κασιγνήτης δίχα,

κοὔτʼ ἐν φίλαισι χερσὶν ἡ τάλαινʼ ἐγὼ

λουτροῖς σʼ ἐκόσμησʼ οὔτε παμφλέκτου πυρὸς

ἀνειλόμην, ὡς εἰκός, ἄθλιον βάρος,
1140

ἀλλʼ ἐν ξέναισι χερσὶ κηδευθεὶς τάλας

σμικρὸς προσήκεις ὄγκος ἐν σμικρῷ κύτει.

οἴμοι τάλαινα τῆς ἐμῆς πάλαι τροφῆς

ἀνωφελήτου, τὴν ἐγὼ θάμʼ ἀμφὶ σοὶ

πόνῳ γλυκεῖ παρέσχον· οὔτε γάρ ποτε
1145

μητρὸς σύ γʼ ἦσθα μᾶλλον ἢ κἀμοῦ φίλος,

οὔθʼ οἱ κατʼ οἶκον ἦσαν, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τροφός,

ἐγὼ δʼ ἀδελφὴ σοὶ προσηυδώμην ἀεί.

νῦν δʼ ἐκλέλοιπε ταῦτʼ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ

θανόντι σὺν σοί· πάντα γὰρ συναρπάσας
1150

θύελλʼ ὅπως βέβηκας. οἴχεται πατήρ·

τέθνηκʼ ἐγὼ σοί· φροῦδος αὐτὸς εἶ θανών·

γελῶσι δʼ ἐχθροί· μαίνεται δʼ ὑφʼ ἡδονῆς

μήτηρ ἀμήτωρ, ἧς ἐμοὶ σὺ πολλάκις

φήμας λάθρᾳ προύπεμπες ὡς φανούμενος
1155

τιμωρὸς αὐτός. ἀλλὰ ταῦθʼ ὁ δυστυχὴς

δαίμων ὁ σός τε κἀμὸς ἐξαφείλετο,

ὅς σʼ ὧδέ μοι προύπεμψεν ἀντὶ φιλτάτης

μορφῆς σποδόν τε καὶ σκιὰν ἀνωφελῆ.

Electra. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Ἠλέκτρα (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 2. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1913.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1126 focus

ὦ φιλτάτου μνημεῖον ἀνθρώπων ἐμοὶ

ψυχῆς Ὀρέστου λοιπόν, ὥς σ᾽ om. MSS. add Brunck. ἀπ᾿ ἐλπίδων

οὐχ ὧνπερ ἐξέπεμπον εἰσέπεμπον LL2. ἐξέπεμπον CA. εἰσεδεξάμην.

νῦν μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ὄντα βαστάζω χεροῖν·

δόμων δέ σ᾽, ὦ παῖ, λαμπρὸν ἐξέπεμψ᾽ ἐγώ.
1130

ὡς ὤφελον ὤφελες L Vat. a MCV30. ὤφελον C A FVV MM² Vat. c pr. V³ pr. L². γρ. ὤφελες Γ. ὄφελον Pal. πάροιθεν ἐκλιπεῖν βίον,

πρὶν ἐς ξένην σε γαῖαν ἐκπέμψαι ἐκπέμψαι C6 or 7. χεροῖν

κλέψασα κλεψασα" C7. ταῖνδε κἀνασώσασθαι κἀνασώσασθαι C'. φόνου·

ὅπως θανὼν ἔκεισο τῇ τόθ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ,

τύμβου πατρῴου κοινὸν εἰληχὼς μέρος.
1135

νῦν δ᾽ ἐκτὸς οἴκων κἀπὶ κἀπὸ L. κἀπὶ C6. γῆς ἄλλης φυγὰς

κακῶς κακῶ L. κακῶς C2. ἀπώλου, σῆς κασιγνήτης δίχα·

κοὔτ᾽ ἐν φίλαισι χερσὶν ἡ τάλαιν ἐγὼ

λουτροῖς σ᾽ om. L add L². ἐκόσμησ᾽ οὔτε παμφλέκτου πυρὸς πρ. σ L. πυρὸσ C2 or 3.

ἀνειλόμην, ὡς εἰκός, ἄθλιον βάρος.
1140

ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ξέναισι ξένηισι LPL2, ξέναισι A. χερσὶ κηδευθεὶς τάλας

σμικρὸς προσήκεις ὄγκος ἐν σμικρῷ κύτει.

οἴμοι τάλαινα τῆς ἐμῆς πάλαι τροφῆς

ἀνωφελήτου, τὴν ἐγὼ θάμ᾽ ἀμφὶ σοὶ

πόνῳ γλυκεῖ παρέσχον, οὔτε γάρ ποτε
1145

μητρὸς σύ γ᾽ ἦσθα μᾶλλον ἢ κἀμοῦ φίλος,

οὔθ᾽ οἱ κατ᾿ οἶκον ἦσαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ τροφός,

ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀδελφὴ σοὶ σοι L. σοὶ AM². σὴ VL2. σὴ M. προσηυδώμην προσηυδόμην LF Pal. προσηυδώμην CAL2. ἀεί.

νῦν δ᾽ ἐκλέλοιπε ταῦτ᾽ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ

θανόντι σὺν σοί. πάντα γὰρ συναρπάσας
1150

θύελλ᾽ ὅπως βέβηκας. οἴχεται πατήρ·

τέθνηκ᾽ ἐγώ σοι· φροῦδος αὐτὸς εἶ θανών·

γελῶσι δ᾽ ἐχθροί· μαίνεται δ᾽ ὑφ᾽ ἡδονῆς

μήτηρ ἀμήτωρ, ἧς ἐμοὶ σὺ πολλάκις

φήμας λάθρᾳ προὔπεμπες ὡς φανούμενος
1155

τιμωρὸς αὐτός, ἀλλὰ ταῦθ᾽ ὁ δυστυχὴς

δαίμων ὁ σός τε κἀμὸς ἐξαφείλετο ἐξαφείλατο LF. ἐξαφείλετο C.,

ὅς σ᾽ ὧδέ μοι προὔπεμψεν, ἀντὶ φιλτάτης φιλτάτου L.

μορφῆς σποδόν σπονδόν L. τε καὶ σκιὰν ἀνωφελῆ.

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1126 focus

O monument of him whom o’er all else

I loved! sole relic of Orestes’ life,

How cold in this thy welcome is the hope

Wherein I decked thee as I sent thee forth!

Then bright was thy departure, whom I now

Bear lightly, a mere nothing, in my hands.

Would I had gone from life, ere I dispatched

Thee from my arms that saved thee to a land

Of strangers, stealing thee from death! For then

Thou hadst been quiet on that far off day,

And had thy portion in our father’s tomb

Now thou hast perished in the stranger land

Far from thy sister, lorn and comfortless
1130

And I, O wretchedness! neither have bathed
1130

And laid thee forth, nor from the blazing fire
1130

Collected the sad burden, as was meet

But thou, when foreign hands have tended thee

Com’st a small handful in a narrow shell

Woe for the constant care I spent on thee

Of old all vainly, with sweet toil! For never

Wast thou thy mother’s darling, nay, but mine,

And I of all the household most thy nurse,

While ‘sister, sister,’ was thy voice to me

But now all this is vanished in one day,

Dying in thy death. Thou hast carried all away

As with a whirlwind, and art gone. No more

My father lives, thyself art lost in death,
1135

I am dead, who lived in thee. Our enemies
1135

Laugh loudly, and she maddens in her joy,
1135

Our mother most unmotherly, of whom

Thy secret missives ofttimes told me, thou

Wouldst be the punisher. But that fair hope

The hapless Genius of thy lot and mine

Hath reft away, and gives thee thus to me,—

For thy loved form thy dust and fruitless shade

O bitterness! O piteous sight! Woe! woe!

Oh! sent on thy dire journey, dearest one,

How thou hast ruined me! Thou hast indeed,

Dear brother! Then receive me to thyself,

Hide me in this thy covering, there to dwell,

Me who am nothing, with thy nothingness,

For ever! Yea, when thou wert here above,
1140

I ever shared with thee in all, and now
1140

I would not have thee shut me from thy tomb.
1140

Oh! let me die and follow thee! the dead,

My mind assures me now, have no more pain.

CH

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1126 focus

Denkmal des liebsten Menschen, das mir übrig blieb
1100

Von seinem Leben, wie so ganz mit anderen

Hoffnungen, als ich dich entließ, empfang' ich dich!

Nun Staub geworden trag' ich dich in meiner Hand,

Und sandte dich so blühend, Kind, von Haus himveg!

hätte diesem Leben mich ein Gott entrückt,
1105

Bevor mit diesen Händen ich dich raubte, dich

Hinsandt' in fremde Fernen und dem Mord entriß!

Dann lagst du jenes Tages todt als Leiche da,

Am Grab des Vaters hättest du dein Theil mit ihm.

Nun starbst du, fern von Hause, fern in fremdes Land
1110

Gebannt, in Elend, und der Schwesterlieb' entrückt,

Und nicht in treuen Händen hab' ich Arme dich

Geschmückt, gebadet, und aus flammenvoller Glut

Dich arme Last erhoben, wie mir's wohl gebührt.

Beschickt in fremden Händen, Unglückseliger,
1115

Ein kleiner Umfang nahst du mir in kleinem Raum.

Ich Arme, weh mir! Also war die Pflege denn

Unnüz, verloren, die ich einst an dich so oft

Gewandt mit süßer Mühe! Denn nie warest du

So heiß von unsrer Mutter, als von mir, geliebt;
1120

Nicht unsre Hausgenossen, ich nur pflegte dich,

lud mich, die Schwester, sprachest du beständig an.

Nun ist an Einem Tage dies entschwunden, ist

Mit dir gestorben: Alles ja, dem Sturme gleich,

Mit dir entraffend, schiedest du. Der Vater starb,
1125

Ich bin gestorben und du selbst dahin und todt:

Die Feinde lachen, und es tobt in wilder Lust

Die schnöde Mutter, der du selbst ein Nächer einst

Erscheinen wolltest, wie du mir durch Boten oft

Geheim verkünden ließest. Nun hat alles dies
1130

Dein böser Dämon und der meine mir entrückt,

Der also dich mir sandte, statt der theuersten

Gestalt, ein nichtig Schattenbild und Asche nur.

Ach, weh, weh!

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1126 focus

[taking the Urn]. O ye dear remains

Of my Orestes, the most loved of men !

How do I see thee now ! How much unlike

What my fond hopes presaged, when List we parted l

I sent thee forth with all the bloom of youth

Fresh on thy cheek, and now, O dismal change !

I bear thee in these hands an empty shade.

Would I had died ere X had sent thee hence,

Ere I had saved tliee from the tyrant's hand !

Would thou liadst died thyself that dreadful day,

And joined thy murdered father in the tomb,

Rather than thus a wretched exile fallen,
1130

Far from thy sister, in a foreign land I
1130

I was not there with pious hands to wash

Thy breathless corpse, or from the greedy flame

To gather up thy ashes. What have all

My pleasing toils, my fruitless cares availed,

E'en from thy infant years, that as a mother

I watched thee still, and as a mother loved ?

I would not trust thee to a servant's hand.

But was myself the guardian of thy youth,

Thy dear companion. All is gone with thee !

Alas ! thy death, like the devouring storm,

Hath borne down all. Thy father is no more,

And thou art gone, and I am going too.
1135

Our foes rejoice. Our mother, mad with joy,
1135

Smiles at our miseries — that unnatural mother,

She whom thou oft hast promised to destroy.

But cruel fate hath blasted all my hopes,

And for my dear Orestes left me naught

But this poor shadow. Oh ! th' accursed place

Where I had sent thee ! Oh ! my hapless brother,

Oh ! take me to thee ! Let this urn enclose

My ashes too, and dust to dust be joined,

That we may dwell together once again :

In life united by one hapless fate,

I would not wish in death to be divided.
1140

The dead are free from sorrows.
1140

Do not indulge thy griefs ; but, oh ! remember,
1140

Sprung from a mortal like thyself, Orestes

Was mortal too — that we are mortal all.

Orestes

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1126 focus

Thou sad memorial, now the sole remains

Of what was once Orestes, to my heart

Most dear, with other hopes I sent thee hence,

Not to receive thee thus; for in my hands

I bear thee, nothing now; a splendid Youth,

To glory born, I sent thee from this house.
1130

Oh hadst thou died, ere by these hands preserved,

And, snatch'd from slaughter, to a foreign land

I sent thee! Hadst thou died in that sad day,

Some little portion of thy father's tomb

Thou wou'dst have shared: but thou hast perish'd now
1135

Far from thy house, and from thy country far,

A wandering exile, from thy sister far.

Nor in the cleansing lavers did I bathe

With these fond hands thy corse, nor, as became

A sister, bear from the consuming flames
1140

The mournful burden. By a stranger's hands

Theseus

thou comest a little dust

Closed in a little urn. Unhappy me,

How vain is all my former nurturing care,

All the sweet toil for thee employ'd, how lost!

E'en for thy mother thou didst never show

More fondness than for me; no menial hand

Around thee was engaged; thou wast my charge,

And thy fond tongue still lisp'd thy sister's name.

All these endearments in one day are lost,
1130

With thee they died; thou, like a rushing storm
1130

Hast pass'd away, and with thee swept them all.

My father is no more, I am no more,

And death hath snatch'd thee hence; our foes exult;

My mother, how unworthy of that name!

Is wild with joy: yet secret message oft

Aforetime hast thou sent, that thou wou'dst come

Dreadful in vengeance; but unhappy fate,

Thy fate and mine, hath check'd the great intent,

And, for my loved Orestes, sent thee thus,
1135

Cold ashes, and an unavailing shade.
1135

Wretched remains! And what a wretch am I!

Thus art thou come? How mournful! Woe is me!

What ruin on thy sister hast thou brought!

Yes, dear Orestes, ruin on my head

Thy death hath brought. O miserable me!

Receive me then within thy sheltering urn.

Nothing to nothing; that henceforth with thee

I in the realms beneath may ever dwell.

For whilst thou here hadst life, with thee I shared
1140

One common fortune: now it is my wish
1140

In death to share thy tomb. The dead are free

From all the various woes of mortal life.

Chorus

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1126 focus

Electra

Memorial of him whom I loved best on earth, sole remnant of Orestes’ vitality! How contrary to the hopes with which I sent you away do I receive you back! Now I raise your nothingness in my hands;

but then, my child, you were radiant, when I sent you away from home! Would that I had first abandoned life, before, stealing you away with these hands, I sent you to a strange land and rescued you from death, in order that you might have lain dead on that same day
1130

and had your share in the tomb of our father!
But now, an exile from home and fatherland, you have perished miserably, far from your sister. Ah, me, these loving hands have not washed or decked your corpse, nor taken up
1135

their sad burden from the all-consuming pyre, as was proper. No! At the hands of strangers, poor Orestes, you have been tended, and so have come to us, a small bulk in a small urn.
Ah, I grieve at the uselessness of my nursing long ago, the service that I often bestowed
1140

on you in sweet labor! For you were never your mother’s darling so much as mine, nor was any in the house your nurse but I, and by you I was ever called sister. But now all this has vanished in a day
1145

with your death. Like a whirlwind you have swept everything away with you. Our father is gone; I am dead because of you; you yourself are dead and gone; our enemies laugh at us; and our mother, who is no mother, raves with joy. Unknown to her, you often
1150

sent me messages about her, saying that you yourself would appear for vengeance. But our evil fortune, yours and mine, has torn all that away, and has sent you back to me in this state, ash and a useless shade in place of your beloved form.
1155

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-636-1 ψυχῆς Ὀρέστου λοιπόν ¹

mvp-comment-636-2 ἀπ’ ἐλπίδων ²

mvp-comment-636-3 Then οὐχ ὧνπερ ³

mvp-comment-636-4 Other possibilities are the following. (1) Keeping both

οὐχ ὧνπερ

and

ἀπ’

, to take

ἀπ’ ἐλπίδων

as=‘ with hopes.’ The prep. would then be used as when it denotes a resource: 1378

ἀφ’ ὧν ἔχοιμι

: Thuc. 1. 91 § 7

ἀπὸ ἀντιπάλου παρασκευῆς

. (Observe that in Soph. Tr. 667

ἀπ’ ἐλπίδος καλῆς

is not really similar; it means, ‘as the outcome of a fair hope.’) The prevailing usage of

ἀπό

condemns this view.

mvp-comment-636-5 (2) Still keeping

οὐχ ὧνπερ

, to change

ἀπ’

, with Schaefer, to

ὑπ’

. Cp. Eur. Hec. 351

ἐθρέφθην ἐλπίδων καλῶν ὕπο

. This is possible; though

ὑπό

, when thus used, commonly denotes an external accompaniment ( Soph. Tr. 419 n.); as, indeed, even in Hec. l. c., the hopes are not merely Polyxena's own, but those of her friends. Further:

ὥς σ’ ἀπ’ ἐλπίδων— ἀπό

meaning ‘contrary to’—strikes the note of despair more forcibly.

mvp-comment-636-6 (3) Keeping

ἀπ’

as=‘contrary to,’ to alter

οὐχ ὧνπερ

either to οὐχ ὅνπερ ⁴ οὐχ ὥσπερ ⁵

mvp-comment-636-7 On the whole, I retain the traditional reading, though not without a suspicion that either

ἀπ’

ὧνπερ

is unsound.

mvp-comment-637-1 νῦν μὲν γὰρ ⁶

mvp-comment-637-2 οὐδὲν ὄντα ⁷

mvp-comment-637-3 βαστάζω ⁸

mvp-comment-637-4 λαμπρὸν ⁹

mvp-comment-638-1 ὡς ὤφελον ¹⁰

mvp-comment-638-2 The v.l. ὤφελες ¹¹ κλέψασα ¹²

mvp-comment-638-3 τοῖνδε ¹³

mvp-comment-638-4 κἀνασώσασθαι ¹⁴

mvp-comment-638-5 φόνου ¹⁵

mvp-comment-639-1 ὅπως … ἔκεισο ¹⁶

mvp-comment-639-2 τύμβου πατρῴου ¹⁷

mvp-comment-640-1 φυγὰς ¹⁸

mvp-comment-641-1 ἐν ¹⁹

mvp-comment-641-2 φίλαισι ²⁰

mvp-comment-642-1 λουτροῖς σ’ ἐκόσμης’ ²¹

mvp-comment-643-1 ἄθλιον βάρος ²²

mvp-comment-644-1 ἐν ξέναισι χερσὶ κηδευθεὶς ²³

mvp-comment-644-2 σμικρὸς … ὄγκος ²⁴

mvp-comment-645-1 τῆς ἐμῆς … τρ. ἀνωφελήτου ²⁵

mvp-comment-645-2 παρέσχον ²⁶

mvp-comment-646-1 ἢ κἀμοῦ ²⁷

mvp-comment-646-2 μητρὸς … φίλος ²⁸

mvp-comment-646-3 The schol. on 1146 has,

τὸ δὲ φίλος ἀντὶ ὄφελος

. But P. N. Papageorgius corrects

ὄφελος

ὦ φίλος

( Scholia in Soph. Trag. Vetera, Leipsic, 1888). And this is confirmed by the first part of the same scholium:

οὐκ ἦσθα τῆς μητρὸς ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ ἐμοῦ

: i.e., the scholiast understood, ‘for thou didst not belong to thy mother more than to me,’ and took

φίλος

as=a vocative.

mvp-comment-647-1 οἱ κατ’ οἶκον ²⁹ ἦσαν ³⁰

mvp-comment-647-2 ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ τροφός ³¹

mvp-comment-648-1 ἀδελφὴ σοὶ ³²

mvp-comment-648-2 προσηυδώμην ³³

mvp-comment-649-1 ἐκλέλοιπε ³⁴

mvp-comment-649-2 θανόντι ³⁵

mvp-comment-649-3 συναρπάσας ³⁶

mvp-comment-649-4 θύελλ’ ³⁷

mvp-comment-650-1 τέθνηκ’ ἐγὼ σοί ³⁸ σοί ³⁹ τέθνηκ’ ἐγώ σοι ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-650-2 Others explain: (1) ‘I am dead because of thee’; ‘thou hast been the death of me.’ The dat. is then like that in Ai. 1128

τῷδε δ’ οἴχομαι

(‘in his purpose, I am dead’). But this is less suitable to the context. (2) ‘I am dead to thee, as thou to me,’— i.e., we are now parted from each other by the barrier between earth and Hades.—The objection to τέθνηκ’ ἐγώ· σὺ ⁴¹

mvp-comment-651-1 μήτηρ ἀμήτωρ ⁴²

mvp-comment-651-2 ἧς ⁴³

mvp-comment-651-3 1160—

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

1126-1128. mvp-comment-539-1 O sole memorial and relic of the living Orestes, dearest of mankind to me, how far otherwise than I had hoped do I receive thee! with thoughts how different from those with which I sent thee forth!" By a confusion to which double negatives are liable (Essay on L. § 29. p. 49), the negative implied in ἀπό is first expanded in a negative sense, and then ἀπό is resumed with ὧνπερ in a different (positive) sense. For a negative similarly ignored in the relative clause, cp. Ant. 1064-7, κάτισθι, μὴ πολλοὺς .. τελῶν | ἐν οἷσι, κ.τ.λ. Wecklein in l. 1128 reads οὐχ ὅνπερ with an inferior MS. • How contrary to my hopes I receive- not him whom I sent forth.'

1130. mvp-comment-540-1 λαμπρόν] 'Bright,' i.e. full of promise. Cp. supr. 685, εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός. ἐγώ has a pathetic, not a logical emphasis, and reminds the spectator that Electra's action at the critical moment was the saving of her father's house. Cp. supr. 12.

1131. mvp-comment-541-1 The v. r. ὡς ὤφελες (suggested by 1134) is far inferior to ὡς ὤφελον. The struggle of the intervening years now seems worse than yain.

1139-1140. mvp-comment-542-1 οὔτε .. βάρος] ‘Nor took up, as I should have done, from the all-consuming fire, the miserable remains.' See E. on L. § 8. p. 11. For βάρος, cp. Aesch. Ag. 442, βαρὺ ψήγμα, παμφλέκτου suggests that the fire has done its utmost. Cp. Od. 11. 220, 1, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέν τε πυρὸς κρατερὸν μένος αἰθομένοιο | δαμνᾷ, ἐπεί κε πρῶτα λίπῃ λεύκ᾿ ὄστεα θυμός. See Essay on L. $ 53. p. 98.

1143. mvp-comment-543-1 She now goes back in memory to the happier time before the death of Agamemnon.

1143-1144. mvp-comment-544-1 τῆς ἐμῆς ἀνωφελήτου] 'The care which of old I spent on thee-in vain!' τροφή is active here, as in Eur. Tro. 1187, αἵ τ᾿ ἐμαὶ τροφαί.

1145-1146. mvp-comment-545-1 οὔτε . . φίλος] ‘For never wast thou bound to thy mother by such close ties as thou wast to me.' φίλος implies reciprocal affection. Clytemnestra was already alienated from Agamemnon's offspring in those early days. καί marks the stress on ἐμοῦ. Cp. Ο.Τ. 94, ἢ καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς, κ.τ.λ.

1147. mvp-comment-546-1 And I was more thy nurse than the domestics were.' A natural picture of the fondness of an elder sister for a little brother.

1148. mvp-comment-547-1 (1) 'And thou didst ever call me "sister."" Or (2) And the sister of Orestes was the name by which I was ever called,' ie. I was the one sister who was specially connected with thee. At this word, as Wecklein observes, all doubt is removed from the mind of Orestes.

1152. mvp-comment-548-1 τέθνηκ᾽ ἐγώ σοι] 'I am dead because of thee,' or 'Thou hast been the death of me.' Cp. supr. 808, ὥς μ' ἀπώλεσας θανών: Eur. Androm. 334, τέθνηκα τῇ σῇ θυγατρὶ καί μ᾿ ἀπώλεσε. E. on L. § 13. p. 20.

1154-1156. mvp-comment-549-1 ἧς is governed first by φήμας, = περὶ ἧς, and is then placed in a more definite construction with τιμωρός. Essay on L. § 9. p. 13. 3.

1158. mvp-comment-550-1 προϋπεμψεν] The same word (l. 1155) is repeated in a different connection. See Essay on L. § 44. pp. 83, 84.

1159. mvp-comment-551-1 καὶ σκιὰν ἀνωφελῆ] 'And a vain shadow of thee;' i. e. the remembrance of him revived by the sight of the urn, an imagination which brought no help with it.

Sophocles Electra 1126

ed. Francis Storr

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

CH

Orestes

Chorus

Commentary

Stable identifiers