Sophocles, Electra, ed. Francis Storr, 516

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Κλυταιμνήστρα

ἀνειμένη μέν, ὡς ἔοικας, αὖ στρέφει·

οὐ γὰρ πάρεστʼ Αἴγισθος, ὅς σʼ ἐπεῖχʼ ἀεὶ

μή τοι θυραίαν γʼ οὖσαν αἰσχύνειν φίλους·

νῦν δʼ ὡς ἄπεστʼ ἐκεῖνος, οὐδὲν ἐντρέπει

ἐμοῦ γε· καίτοι πολλὰ πρὸς πολλούς με δὴ
520

ἐξεῖπας ὡς θρασεῖα καὶ πέρα δίκης

ἄρχω, καθυβρίζουσα καὶ σὲ καὶ τὰ σά·

ἐγὼ δʼ ὕβριν μὲν οὐκ ἔχω, κακῶς δέ σε

λέγω κακῶς κλύουσα πρὸς σέθεν θαμά.

πατὴρ γάρ, οὐδὲν ἄλλο, σοὶ πρόσχημʼ ἀεὶ
525

ὡς ἐξ ἐμοῦ τέθνηκεν. ἐξ ἐμοῦ· καλῶς

ἔξοιδα· τῶνδʼ ἄρνησις οὐκ ἔνεστί μοι·

ἡ γὰρ Δίκη νιν εἷλεν, οὐκ ἐγὼ μόνη,

ᾗ χρῆν σʼ ἀρήγειν, εἰ φρονοῦσʼ ἐτύγχανες·

ἐπεὶ πατὴρ σὸς οὗτος, ὃν θρηνεῖς ἀεί,
530

τὴν σὴν ὅμαιμον μοῦνος Ἑλλήνων ἔτλη

θῦσαι θεοῖσιν, οὐκ ἴσον καμὼν ἐμοὶ

λύπης, ὅς ἔσπειρʼ, ὥσπερ ἡ τίκτουσʼ ἐγώ.

εἶεν, δίδαξον δή με τοῦ χάριν, τίνων

ἔθυσεν αὐτήν· πότερον Ἀργείων ἐρεῖς;
535

ἀλλʼ οὐ μετῆν αὐτοῖσι τήν γʼ ἐμὴν κτανεῖν.

ἀλλʼ ἀντʼ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα Μενέλεω κτανὼν

τἄμʼ, οὐκ ἔμελλε τῶνδέ μοι δώσειν δίκην;

πότερον ἐκείνῳ παῖδες οὐκ ἦσαν διπλοῖ,

οὓς τῆσδε μᾶλλον εἰκὸς ἦν θνῄσκειν, πατρὸς
540

καὶ μητρὸς ὄντας, ἧς ὁ πλοῦς ὅδʼ ἦν χάριν;

ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν Ἅιδης τινʼ ἵμερον τέκνων

ἢ τῶν ἐκείνης ἔσχε δαίσασθαι πλέον;

ἢ τῷ πανώλει πατρὶ τῶν μὲν ἐξ ἐμοῦ

παίδων πόθος παρεῖτο, Μενέλεω δʼ ἐνῆν;
545

οὐ ταῦτʼ ἀβούλου καὶ κακοῦ γνώμην πατρός;

δοκῶ μέν, εἰ καὶ σῆς δίχα γνώμης λέγω·

φαίη δʼ ἂν ἡ θανοῦσά γʼ, εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι.

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐκ εἰμὶ τοῖς πεπραγμένοις

δύσθυμος· εἰ δὲ σοὶ δοκῶ φρονεῖν κακῶς,
550

γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα τοὺς πέλας ψέγε.

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)) — 516 focus

ἀνειμένη μέν, ὡς ἔοικας, αὖ στρέφει στρέφηι LL3. στρέφῃ AΓ..

οὐ γὰρ πάρεστ᾽ Αἴγισθος, ὅς σ᾽ added AC', om. Pal. ἐπεῖχ᾽ ἀεὶ

μή τοι θυραίαν γ' οὖσαν αἰσχύνειν φίλους·

νῦν δ᾽ ὡς ἄπεστ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, οὐδὲν ἐντρέπει

ἐμοῦ γε· καίτοι πολλὰ πρὸς πολλούς με δὴ
520

ἐξεῖπας ὡς θρασεῖα καὶ πέρα πέραι LL2. δίκης

ἄρχω, καθυβρίζουσα καὶ σὲ καὶ τὰ σά.

ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὕβριν μὲν οὐκ ἔχω, κακῶς δέ σε

λέγω, κακῶς κλύουσα πρὸς σέθεν θαμά.

πατὴρ γάρ, οὐδὲν ἄλλο σοὶ τοὶ L pr. πρόσχημ᾽ ἀεί,
525

ὡς ἐξ ἐμοῦ τέθνηκεν. ἐξ ἐμοῦ· καλῶς

ἔξοιδα, τῶνδ᾽ ἄρνησις οὐκ ἔνεστί μοι.

ἡ γὰρ Δίκη νιν εἶλε κοὐκ μιν εἶλεν κ᾿ οὐκ L pr. Corr. C2. εἶλεν οὐκ A. εἶλε κοὐκ ΓL2 Pal. ἐγὼ μόνη,

ᾗ χρῆν σ᾽ ἀρήγειν, εἰ φρονοῦσ᾽ ἐτύγχανες·

ἐπεὶ πατὴρ οὗτος σός, ὃν θρηνεῖς ἀεί,
530

τὴν σὴν ὅμαιμον μοῦνος ῾Ελλήνων ἔτλη

θῦσαι θεοῖσιν, οὐκ ἴσον καμὼν ἐμοὶ

λύπης, ὅτ᾽ ἔσπειρ᾽, ὥσπερ ἡ τίκτουσ' ἐγώ.

εἶεν, δίδαξον δή δέ LLT Pal. δή CA. με, τοῦ χάριν τίνων τίνων L Pal. L² pr. τίνος CA Vat. ac VVM2.

ἔθυσεν αὐτήν. πότερον Ἀργείων ἐρεῖς;
535

ἀλλ' οὐ μετῆν αὐτοῖσι τήν γ' ἐμὴν ην from ὸν L. κτανεῖν.

ἀλλ᾽ ἀντ᾿ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα Μενέλεω κτανὼν

τἄμ᾽ οὐκ ἔμελλε ἔμελλεν LL2. τῶνδέ μοι δώσειν δίκην ;

πότερον ἐκείνῳ παῖδες οὐκ ἦσαν διπλοῖ,

οὓς τῆσδε μᾶλλον εἰκὸς ἦν θνήσκειν, πατρὸς
540

καὶ μητρὸς ὄντας, ἧς ὁ πλοῦς ὅδ᾽ ἦν χάριν;

ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν ῞Αιδης τιν' τίν' LLF Pal. ἵμερον τέκνων

ἢ τῶν ἐκείνης ἔσχε δαίσασθαι πλέον πλέων LL2. πλέον AC Γ. πλέω Pal.;

ἢ τῷ πανώλει πατρὶ after τῶν letters erased, L. τῶν μὲν ἐξ ἐμοῦ

παίδων πόθος παρεῖτο, Μενέλεω δ᾽ ἐνῆν;
545

οὐ ταῦτ᾽ ἀβούλου καὶ κακοῦ γνώμην πατρός;

δοκῶ μέν, εἰ καὶ σῆς δίχα γνώμης λέγω.

φαίη δ᾽ ἂν ἡ θανοῦσά γ', εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι.

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐκ εἰμὶ τοῖς πεπραγμένοις after πεπραγμένοις 6 letters erased, L.

δύσθυμος· εἰ δὲ σοὶ δοκῶ φρονεῖν κακῶς,
550

γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα τοὺς πέλας ψέγε.

ΗΛ.

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 516 focus

Again you are let loose and range at will.

Ay, for Aegisthus is not here, who barred

Your rashness from defaming your own kin

Beyond the gates. But now he’s gone from home,

You heed not me: though you have noised abroad

That I am bold in crime, and domineer

Outrageously, oppressing thee and thine.

I am no oppressor, but I speak thee ill,

For thou art ever speaking ill of me—

Still holding forth thy father’s death, that I

Have done it. So I did: I know it well:

That I deny not; for not I alone

But Justice slew him; and if you had sense,
520

To side with Justice ought to be your part.
520

For who but he of all the Greeks, your sire,
520

For whom you whine and cry, who else but he

Took heart to sacrifice unto the Gods

Thy sister?—having less of pain, I trow,

In getting her, than I, that bore her, knew!

Come, let me question thee! On whose behalf

Slew he my child? Was ’t for the Argive host?

What right had they to traffic in my flesh?—

Menelaüs was his brother. Wilt thou say

He slew my daughter for his brother’s sake?

How then should he escape me? Had not he,

Menelaüs, children twain, begotten of her

Whom to reclaim that army sailed to Troy?
525

Was Death then so enamoured of my seed,
525

That he must feast thereon and let theirs live?
525

Or was the God-abandoned father’s heart

Tender toward them and cruel to my child?

Doth this not argue an insensate sire?

I think so, though your wisdom may demur.

And could my lost one speak, she would confirm it.

For my part, I can dwell on what I have done

Without regret. You, if you think me wrong,

Bring reasons forth and blame me to my face!

EL

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 516 focus

Du treibst dich, scheint es, wieder los und ledig um.
500

Denn ferne weilt Aegisthos, der dir stets gewehrt,

Die Deinen schmähend vor das Thor herauszugehn.

Nun dieser fortgegangen, kümmerst du dich Nichts

Um mich; und viel doch hast du mich vor Vielen schon

Gescholten, daß ich ohne Recht, voll Uebermuth,
505

Hier schalte, dich verhöhnend und was du beginnst.

Ich aber übe keinen Hohn, ich schmähe nur

Auf dich, nachdem du fort und fort auf mich geschmäht.

Dein Vater einen andern Vorwand hast du nie

Er sei durch mich gestorben. Ja, durch mich: ich weiß
510

Dies wohl, und nicht abläugnen will ich diese That.

Denn Dike hat ihn weggerafft, ich nicht allein;¹

Ihr hätt'st du helfen sollen, wenn du weise warst,

Denn dieser Mann, dein Vater, den du stets beweinst,

Ließ herzlos deine Schwester, er allein im Heer,
515

Den Göttern opfern, ob er wohl nicht gleichen Schmerz

Sie zeugend fühlte, wie gebärend ich empfand.

Wohlan, so laß mich hören, wem zulieb, warum

Er sie geopfert: war's vielleicht für Argos' Heer?

Mein Kind zu tödten aber stand bei diesen nicht.
520

Doch hätt' er statt des Bruders, statt Menelaos' auch

Mein Kind getödtet: büßt' er da mir nicht gerecht?

Und hatte nicht Menelaos selbst zwei Kinder, die²

Zu tödten mehr geziemte, denn das meine, weil

Von Eltern stammend, derenthalb auszog das Heer?
525

Empfand der Hades größre Lust nach meinem Kind,

Zum Mahl es wegzuraffen, als die ihrigen?

Und regt' im Unglücksvater denn sich kein Gefühl

Für meine Kinder, liebt' er mehr Menelaos' Stamm?

Ist solch ein Vater nicht verrückt und schlechtgesinnt?
530

Ich mein' es, red' ich anders auch, als dir's gefällt.

Wohl sagt' es auch die Todte, würd' ihr Sprache noch.

Ich also kann nicht Reue wegen dieser That

Empfinden; wenn dir's aber dünkt, ich irrte mich,

Wo ich gerecht urtheilte, schilt auf Andere!
535

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 516 focus

^gisthus absent, who alone could curb

Thy haughty spirit and licentious tongue.

At large, it seems, thou rov'st, and unrestrained,

No deference paid to my authority.

But on thy mother ever pouring forth

Bitter invectives, while the listening crowd
520

Are taught to hold me proud and fierce of soul,

A lawless tyrant slandering thee and thine

I am no slanderer — I abhor the name ;

But oft reviled, of force I must reply,

And send thy foul reproaches back upon thee.
525

I Thou sayst I slew thy father ; that alone

RIs left to plead for all thy insolence.

I I do confess the deed, and glory in it. ,

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 516 focus

At large then thou art ranging, I perceive,

Aegisthus

who within these gates

Always restrain'd thee, that thou might'st not shame

Thy friends: now free from his control, to me

Thou show'st no reverence; but thy froward tongue

Oft speaks of me as haughty, and unjust

In my commands, and insolent to thee,

And thine. My nature knows not insolence:

Nor speak I harshly to thee, but provoked

By thy repeated harshness, and reproach,

That by my hand thy father died. (Thy plea

This only made) By me thy father died;

I know it well, nor shall deny the deed;

For justice struck the blow, nor I alone;

And thee, if wisdom ruled thee, it behoved
520

To aid me: for thy father, thus bewail'd,
520

Alone of all the Grecians steel'd his heart
520

To sacrifice thy sister to the gods:

He never felt, like me, a mother's throes.

I urge not that: but tell me for what cause

Or for whose sake he bade this victim bleed.

Say'st thou for Greece? No right had Greece to slay

My child. Or was it for his brother’s sake?

He slew my daughter: should not I repay/

Such deeds with just revenge? Had he no child?

Had he not two? And these with juster right

Had been devoted, as of parents born

Whose cause avenging Greece embark'd for Troy.

Or had th' infernal god more keen desire

To gorge him with my children, than with hers?
525

Or was this barbarous father's love grown cool
525

To children born of me, but warm to those
525

Born to his brother? Was not this the part

Of an unfeeling father, to all sense 1.

Of goodness lost? I think so, though I speak

What to thy thoughts is adverse; so my child

That died would speak, could she her voice regain.

Hence for this deed no sorrow, no remorse

Hath ever touch'd my heart. To thee perchance

I seem to judge amiss: but weigh things well,

Let justice hold the beam, then blame thy friends.

Electra

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 516 focus

Enter Clytaemnestra, with attendants, from the house.

Clytaemnestra

You run loose again, it seems, since Aegisthus is not here, who used always to keep you at least from coming out to the gates and shaming your family. But now, since he is absent, you pay

me no mind. And yet you have said of me often and to many listeners that I am a rash and unjust tyrant, who violently abuse you and yours. But it is not I who do violence; I only return the insults that I so often hear from you.

520

Your father—this and nothing else is your constant pretext—was slain by me. Yes, by me. I know it well. I make no denial. Justice took hold of him, not I alone—Justice, whom you ought to have supported, if you had been in your right mind.
525

For this father of yours whom you constantly bewail alone of all the Greeks had the heart to sacrifice your own blood, your sister, to the gods—he, who, when sowing his seed, felt none of the pains I did when I gave birth.
Come, tell me now, why, or to please whom,
530

did he sacrifice her? To please the Argives, you will say? No, they had no right to kill my daughter. Or, if indeed it was for the sake of his brother Menelaus that he killed my child, was he not to pay me the penalty for that? Did Menelaus not have two children,
535

who should in fairness have died instead of my daughter, since the father and mother from whom they were sprung had caused that voyage? Did Hades have some greater desire to feast on my offspring than on hers? Or had all love of the children of my womb been
540

abandoned by their accursed father, while love for the children of Menelaus filled him? Were these not the marks of a thoughtless and malicious parent? I think so, even if I differ from your judgment. So, too, would the dead girl speak, if she could find a voice. For myself, then, I view the past without
545

dismay; but if you think my attitude criminal, see that your own judgment is just before you blame your neighbor.
550

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-304-1 ἀνειμένη ¹ μέν ²

mvp-comment-304-2 ὡς ἔοικας ³

mvp-comment-304-3 στρέφει ⁴

mvp-comment-304-4 Clytaemnestra begins in the same strain as Chrysothemis, who likewise emphasised her reproof by the word αὖ ⁵

mvp-comment-305-1 μή τοι θυραίαν γ’ ⁶

mvp-comment-305-2 αἰσχύνειν φίλους ⁷

mvp-comment-306-1 καίτοι ⁸

mvp-comment-306-2 δὴ ⁹ πολλούς ¹⁰

mvp-comment-306-3 ἐξεῖπάς με … ὡς ¹¹

mvp-comment-306-4 θρασεῖα ¹² τραχεῖα ¹³

mvp-comment-306-5 ἄρχω ¹⁴

mvp-comment-307-1 ὕβριν … οὐκ ἔχω ¹⁵ κακῶς κλύουσα ¹⁶

mvp-comment-308-1 πατὴρ γάρ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-308-2 πρόσχημα ¹⁸

mvp-comment-309-1 ἡ γὰρ Δίκη ¹⁹

mvp-comment-310-1 ᾗ χρῆν σ’ ἀρήγειν ²⁰

mvp-comment-311-1 The order of words in the MSS.,

ἐπεὶ πατὴρ οὗτος σός

, is probably right; the words would then fall from her with a certain deliberate bitterness. Cp. 542 : Ant. 44

ἦ γὰρ νοεῖς θάπτειν σθ’

(n.): Ph. 101

λέγω σ’ ἐγὼ δόλῳ Φιλοκτήτην λαβεῖν

mvp-comment-312-1 μοῦνος ²¹ Ἑλλήνων ²²

mvp-comment-312-2 Nauck requires

τὴν αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ

instead of

τὴν σὴν ὅμαιμον

, because Agamemnon's unique crime was the slaughter of his own child: as if the text did not convey this. Clytaemnestra means, ‘while mourning a father, you forget a sister.’

mvp-comment-312-3 532 f. The regular mode of expression would be,

οὐκ ἴσον λύπης καμὼν ἐμοί, ὁ σπείρας τῇ τικτούσῃ

. But, having written

ὅτ’ ἔσπειρε

, the poet explains

ἐμοί

by repeating the comparison in a new form,

ὥσπερ ἡ τίκτουσ’ ἐγώ

. (For

ὡς

ὥσπερ

after

ἴσος

, cp. Lys. or. 19 § 36

ἡγοῦντο... τὰ ἐκεῖ...εἶναι ἴσα ὥσπερ τὰ ἐνθάδε

.) Those who reject v. 533 omit to notice that, without it, the words

οὐκ ἴσον καμὼν ἐμοί

would be unintelligible. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1417

ἔθυσεν αὑτοῦ παῖδα, φιλτάτην ἐμοὶ

ὠδῖν’

mvp-comment-312-4 This assertion of the mother's superior claim is a counterpart to the doctrine of Athena in Aesch. Eum. 658 f.,

οὐκ ἔστι μήτηρ ἡ κεκλημένου τέκνου

τοκεύς, τροφὸς δὲ κύματος νεοσπόρου

. Cp. above, Aesch. Eum. 366 n.

mvp-comment-313-1 τοῦ χάριν, τίνων ²³

mvp-comment-313-2 The alternative, which most editors have preferred, is to take

τίνων

as the participle. But there is an insuperable objection to this, which seems to have escaped notice. The words,

τοῦ χάριν τίνων

; could mean only, ‘paying a debt of gratitude for what?’ They could not mean, ‘paying a debt of gratitude to whom?’ The latter would be

τῷ χάριν τίνων

; See ( e.g.) Aesch. P. V. 985

καὶ μὴν ὀφείλων ἂν τίνοιμ’ αὐτῷ χάριν

: Aesch. Ag. 821

τούτων θεοῖσι χρὴ πολύμνηστον χάριν

τίνειν

. Hence the question,

τοῦ χάριν τίνων

; could not possibly be answered by

Ἀργείων

. For, evidently, the latter word could not mean, (‘for a benefit conferred by) the Greeks.’ A scholiast in the Baroccian MS. (cr. n. on 545), who explains

τοῦ χάριν τίνων

τίνος χάριν ἀποδιδούς

, plainly meant, ‘showing gratitude for what?’—and his paraphrase was correct; only he overlooked the context.

mvp-comment-314-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μετῆν ²⁴

mvp-comment-315-1 ἀλλ’ ἀντ’ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα ²⁵ κτανὼν ²⁶

mvp-comment-315-2 ἀντὶ ἀδελφοῦ ²⁷

mvp-comment-315-3 τἄμ’ ²⁸

mvp-comment-316-1 παῖδες … διπλοῖ ²⁹

mvp-comment-316-2 540 f. Nauck would prefer a single verse in place of these two, viz.

οὓς Ἰφιγενείας εἰκὸς ἦν θνῄσκειν πάρος

mvp-comment-317-1 ἢ ³⁰

mvp-comment-317-2 ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν Ἅιδης ³¹

mvp-comment-318-1 δαίσασθαι ³²

mvp-comment-318-2 The conj. λῄσασθαι ³³

mvp-comment-319-1 πανώλει ³⁴

mvp-comment-319-2 παρεῖτο ³⁵

mvp-comment-319-3 The sense does not absolutely require us to take Μενέλεω δ’ ³⁶

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀβούλου ³⁷

mvp-comment-320-2 κακοῦ γνώμην ³⁸

mvp-comment-321-1 δοκῶ μέν ³⁹

mvp-comment-321-2 εἰ καὶ ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-322-1 εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι ⁴¹

mvp-comment-323-1 τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ⁴²

mvp-comment-324-1 γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα ⁴³

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

516. mvp-comment-232-1 The dialectic of the following scene may be compared with Aj. 1047 foll., Ant. 632 foll.

517. mvp-comment-233-1 The spectator is a second time informed of Aegisthus' absence, which is so necessary to the plot. Supr. 310 foll.

518. mvp-comment-234-1 θυραίαν γ'.. φίλους] ‘To go out of doors and bring disgrace upon your relatives:'-i.e. your appearance and conduct in the house are a sufficient disgrace to them. Cp. supr. 312, 3.

521. mvp-comment-235-1 ὡς θρασεῖα] Sc. εἰμί.

522. mvp-comment-236-1 σὲ καὶ τὰ σά] • Thee and thine.' Clytemnestra thus acknowledges that Electra's complaints were never for herself alone, but for her father.

525-526. mvp-comment-237-1 πατήρ .. τέθνηκεν] Your father, that is what you are always holding forth, (how that he) died by my act. By a kind of attraction, the main sentence, as it proceeds, becomes subordinated to the parenthesis.

529. mvp-comment-238-1 ᾖ] Sc. τῇ Δίκῃ.

531. mvp-comment-239-1 μοῦνος Ἑλλήνων] i. e. either (1) he did what no other Greek could have had the heart to do, in sacrificing his child, or (2) while the army consented to the sacrifice, he had the sole responsibility, as commander-in-chief, or (3) when all shrank from the sacrificial act, he himself took the knife to slay his daughter. For (3) cp. Aesch. Ag. 225, ἔτλη δ᾽ οὖν θυτὴρ γενέσθαι θυγατρός, κ.τ.λ., ib. 210, 231 foll.

534. mvp-comment-240-1 τοῦ χάριν τίνων] 'On whose account?' lit. Absolving an obligation to whom?' Others read τοῦ χάριν, τίνων; 'Wherefore, on whose account?'

536. mvp-comment-241-1 1.ε. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μετὴν αὐτοῖσι τῆς γ' ἐμῆς, ὥστε τὴν ἐμὴν κτανεῖν.

537-538. mvp-comment-242-1 But if for his brother Menelaus' sake he slew my child, was it to be expected that I should not requite him for this?'

539. mvp-comment-243-1 παῖδες.. διπλοῖ] Megapenthes and Hermione, the children of Menelaus and Helen.

542-543. mvp-comment-244-1 Or had Death somehow a greater longing to devour my offspring than Helen's?' δαίσασθαι is epexegetic infinitive, sc. τἀμὰ τέκνα δαίσασθαι.

544-545. mvp-comment-245-1 Or had that accursed father given up all care for his children by me, while preserving his affection for Menelaus' offspring?"

548. mvp-comment-246-1 Contrast with this the feeling of Antigone, Ant. 515, οὐ μαρτυρήσει ταῦθ᾽ ὁ κατθανὼν νεκύς.

549-550. mvp-comment-247-1 ἐγὼ. .δύσθυμος] ‘For my part, then, the past causes me no misgiving. She will not confess her alarm before Electra. τοῖς πεπραγμένοις is dative of the reason: Essay on L. § 14. p. 21. Cp. Thuc. 3. 98. § 6, τοῖς πεπραγμένοις φοβούμενος τοὺς ᾿Αθηναίους.

551. mvp-comment-248-1 If you must blame others, do so on just grounds,' lit. Having got hold of a just notion of the case.' These words are a challenge to Electra to show cause why Agamemnon should not have been slain, as the mere fact of his death ( supr. 525, 6) was no sufficient reason for her continued abuse. The stress is on the participial clause, or rather on the word δικαίαν.

Sophocles Electra 516

ed. Francis Storr

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ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐκ εἰμὶ τοῖς πεπραγμένοις after πεπραγμένοις 6 letters erased, L.

δύσθυμος· εἰ δὲ σοὶ δοκῶ φρονεῖν κακῶς,
550

γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα τοὺς πέλας ψέγε.

ΗΛ.

EL

At large then thou art ranging, I perceive,

Electra

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐκ εἰμὶ τοῖς πεπραγμένοις after πεπραγμένοις 6 letters erased, L. δύσθυμος· εἰ δὲ σοὶ δοκῶ φρονεῖν κακῶς, 550 γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα τοὺς πέλας ψέγε.

ΗΛ.

EL

At large then thou art ranging, I perceive,

Electra

Commentary

Stable identifiers

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐκ εἰμὶ τοῖς πεπραγμένοις after πεπραγμένοις 6 letters erased, L.

δύσθυμος· εἰ δὲ σοὶ δοκῶ φρονεῖν κακῶς,
550

γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα τοὺς πέλας ψέγε.