Sophocles Electra 431

ed. Francis Storr

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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)) — 431 focus
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.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 431 focus
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.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 431 focus
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 1
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
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 431 focus
-^ 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.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 431 focus
for my sake, for thine own, for his,
Dearest of all that breath'd this vital air,
Our father, laid in the unsparing tomb.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 431 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ 1

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη 2 τούτων μὲν 3

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις 4 οὐδ’ ὅσιον 5

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς 6

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ 7

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ 8

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν 9 ῥοαῖσιν 10

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον 11

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν 12

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ 13 ἔνθεν 14

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν 15

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν 16

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν 17 ὅταν 18 σῳζέσθω 19

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ 20

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν 21 τλημονεστάτη 22

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε 23

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ 24

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε 25

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ 26

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι 27

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι 28 δέξασθαι 29

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος 30

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη 31

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 32

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν 33

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ 34

mvp-comment-268-1 οὐκ ἔστιν 35

mvp-comment-268-2 ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ 36

mvp-comment-269-1 βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας 37

mvp-comment-269-2 κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης 38

mvp-comment-270-1 †ἀλιπαρῆ 39 λιπαρῆ 40

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’ 41 ἀλίπαρον 42

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 43

mvp-comment-271-2 χλιδαῖς 44

mvp-comment-272-1 προσπίτνουσα 45 αὐτὸν 46

mvp-comment-273-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός 47

mvp-comment-273-2 ζῶντ’ 48

mvp-comment-274-1 ἀφνεωτέραις 49

mvp-comment-274-2 στέφωμεν 50

mvp-comment-274-3 δωρούμεθα 51

mvp-comment-275-1 οἶμαι μὲν οὖν 52

mvp-comment-275-2 If μέλον 53 μέλειν 54 μέλον 55

mvp-comment-276-1 σοί 56

mvp-comment-277-1 βροτῶν 57

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

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.