Sophocles Electra 224

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν ¹

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα ² οὐκ ἐμοὺς ³

mvp-comment-240-1 γε ⁴ μέντοι ⁵

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ ⁶

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν ⁷

mvp-comment-240-4 399 A woman, speaking of herself in the plur., uses the masc.: Ant. 926

.

mvp-comment-241-1 συγγνώμην ⁸

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη ⁹

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν ¹⁰

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω ¹¹

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ ¹²

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις ¹³

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα ¹⁴

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς ¹⁵

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν ¹⁶

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή ¹⁷ ὅν γ’ ¹⁸

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ¹⁹

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος ²⁰

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί ²¹

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι ²²

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ ²³

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν ²⁴

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε ²⁵

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ²⁶ ἐπὶ σμικρῶν ²⁷

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι ²⁸

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι ²⁹

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν ³⁰

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι ³¹

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

( Il. 2. 268 , etc.), prob. as being ornamented with gold foil, or studded with gold nails ( Il. 1. 246 ). Among the objects found at Mycenae are some supposed remains of such sceptres (Schliem., Myc. 201, etc.).

mvp-comment-255-4 οὑφόρει ποτέ ³²

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε ³³ ἐκ δὲ ³⁴

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα ³⁵

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι ³⁶

mvp-comment-256-4 The vision resembles that of Astyages, who dreamed that a vine sprang from his daughter Mandanè, the wife of Cambyses,

. The 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): .

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.);

| , | .

mvp-comment-257-1 του παρόντος ³⁷ τοῦ ³⁸ παρόντος ³⁹ του ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ ⁴¹

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ⁴²

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη ⁴³

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

(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

would alone suffice to show that the verses belong to Chrysothemis ( cp. 398 ). Nor could the warning, , be fitly uttered by Electra.

mvp-comment-259-3 τῶν ἐγγενῶν ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη ⁴⁹ τούτων μὲν ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις ⁵¹ οὐδ’ ὅσιον ⁵²

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ⁵³

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ⁵⁶ ῥοαῖσιν ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ ⁶⁰ ἔνθεν ⁶¹

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν ⁶²

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν ⁶³

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν ⁶⁴ ὅταν ⁶⁵ σῳζέσθω ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν ⁶⁸ τλημονεστάτη ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ ⁷¹

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε ⁷²

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ ⁷³

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι ⁷⁵ δέξασθαι ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη ⁷⁸

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 (

): (2) the desire to make an atonement ( ). 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, . Cp. Etym. Magn.: .

mvp-comment-267-9 κἀπὶ λουτροῖσιν ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ ⁸¹

mvp-comment-268-1 οὐκ ἔστιν ⁸²

mvp-comment-268-2 ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ ⁸³

mvp-comment-269-1 βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-269-2 κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-270-1 †ἀλιπαρῆ ⁸⁶ λιπαρῆ ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-270-2 We come, therefore, to a dilemma. (1) The words

may conceal some corruption: ought possibly to be τήνδε τ’ ⁸⁸ ἀλίπαρον ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-270-3 (2) Or else, if the text be sound,

may mean . There is no doubt that , ‘fat,’ is the root both of , ‘shining,’ and of , ‘sticking’; cp. Plat. Crat. 427 B

τὸ λιπαρὸν καὶ τὸ κολλῶδες

( Curt. Etym. § 340 ). Similarly , ‘sticky,’ came to mean ‘importunate.’ It is barely possible that, in coining a new negative compound, the poet may have transferred the sense of to : but it seems improbable.

mvp-comment-271-1 ζῶμα ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-271-2 χλιδαῖς ⁹¹

mvp-comment-272-1 προσπίτνουσα ⁹² αὐτὸν ⁹³

mvp-comment-273-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-273-2 ζῶντ’ ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-274-1 ἀφνεωτέραις ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-274-2 στέφωμεν ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-274-3 δωρούμεθα ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-275-1 οἶμαι μὲν οὖν ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-275-2 If μέλον ¹⁰⁰ μέλειν ¹⁰¹ μέλον ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-276-1 σοί ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-277-1 βροτῶν ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-278-1 πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-279-1 δράσω ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-279-2 τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-279-3 (1)

is an acc. of general reference, and 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 we supply the notion from the negative (as from in O. C. 1402 ff.; cp. O. T. 817 ff.). For the form of the sentence, cp. H. 7. 3. 7 . So here the acc. , which represents the object of , is separated from it by the parenthesis . (The first scholium gives substantially this view: .)

mvp-comment-279-4 (2) Or

might be nom.: ‘that which is clearly right does not afford any ground ( ) for two persons to dispute,’ etc. So the second schol.: . So far as the verb is concerned, this sense is quite admissible: cp. Thuc. 2. 41 ( ). The objection is that the phrases , 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 : Dem. or. 36 § 54 ; The supposed sense, ‘not to afford a reason,’ is unexampled.

mvp-comment-279-5 δυοῖν ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-280-1 παρ’ ὑμῶν ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-281-1 πικρὰν ¹¹⁰ δοκῶ με … τολμήσειν ¹¹¹ ἔτι ¹¹²

mvp-comment-282-1 εἰ μὴ )γὼ ¹¹³

mvp-comment-282-2 γνώμας λειπομένα ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-283-1 ἁ πρόμαντις Δίκα ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-283-2 δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-284-1 μέτεισιν ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-284-2 οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-285-1 ὕπεστί μοι θράσος ¹¹⁹ κλύουσαν ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-285-2 ἁδυπνόων … ὀνειράτων ¹²¹

mvp-comment-286-1 ἀμναστεῖ γ’ ὁ φύσας ς’ ¹²²

mvp-comment-287-1 χαλκόπλακτος ¹²³

mvp-comment-287-2 γένυς ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-287-3 The very axe (

, 99) with which the blow was dealt is imagined as nourishing a grudge against the murderers who had set it such a task. Such a personification recalls that practice of Athenian law by which inanimate objects which had caused death were brought to a formal trial in the court called , and, after sentence, cast beyond the boundaries, in the presence of the Archon Basileus and the sacrificial officers of the tribes ( ). Aeschin. or. 3 § 244 . (Cp. Dem. or. 23 § 76 .) A like conception was implied in the English law (repealed in 1846) of ‘deodands’ (Deo danda), i.e., personal chattels (whether animals or things) which, having caused the death of a human being, were forfeited to the Crown for pious uses.

mvp-comment-288-1 ἐν αἰκίαις ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-289-1 καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-290-1 λόχοις ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-290-2 χαλκόπους ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-291-1 ἄλεκτρ’ ἄνυμφα ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-291-2 γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ’ ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-291-3 ἐπέβα ¹³¹

mvp-comment-292-1 πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι … συνδρῶσιν ¹³²

mvp-comment-292-2 Verses 495—497 (

) answer metrically to vv. 479—481 , where the text is certain, save for the doubt whether or should stand in 479. Here we must first decide two points.

mvp-comment-292-3 (1) Are the words πρὸ τῶνδε ¹³³

mvp-comment-292-4 (2) Could

(etc.) mean, ‘ the belief possesses me, that’ etc.? Surely not. No real parallel for so strange a phrase has been produced. It is irrelevant to quote those impersonal verbs which directly express the occurrence of a thought to the mind; as Xen. An. 6. 1. 17 (‘the thought came to them, how they might,’ etc.): Thuc. 6. 78. § 1 Either, then, the subject to has dropped out, or the words conceal a corruption.

mvp-comment-292-5 The following remedies are possible: I incline to the first, as involving least change. (1) Reading in 479

, we may read here | etc. (It may be remarked that is in harmony with the tone of in 479.) Another available word is (cp. Ant. 279 ). (2) Or, reading in 479 , we could read here . On either view, the of in 480 is long (as several critics have assumed). It should be noted that (1) involves a different constitution of the verses: see p. lxxxii.

mvp-comment-292-6 In those MSS. which have μή ποτε μή ποθ’ ἡμῖν ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-293-1 ἀψεγές ¹³⁵ ἀψεφές ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-293-2 πελᾶν ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-294-1 τοῖς δρῶσι ¹³⁸ τοῖς συνδρῶσιν ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-295-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-296-1 εὖ κατασχήσει ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-297-1 ἱππεία ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-297-2 Oenomaüs, king of Pisa in Elis, had promised the hand of his daughter Hippodameia to the suitor who should defeat him in a chariot-race; the penalty of failure being death. The young Pelops, son of Tantalus, offered himself as a competitor. Myrtilus, the charioteer of Oenomaüs, was persuaded (either by Hippodameia or by Pelops) to betray his master. He did so by leaving out one or both of the linch-pins by which the naves of the chariot-wheels were secured to the axles. Tzetzes on Lycophron 156

(= , the naves) . According to another story, he substituted a linch-pin of wax for a real one ( schol. Apoll. Rh. 752 ). So Pelops won the race, and the bride. But Oenomaüs was soon avenged on the traitor; for Myrtilus insulted Hippodameia, and was thrown into the sea by Pelops; upon whose house he invoked a curse, as he sank.

mvp-comment-297-3 Euripides, too, ( Or. 990 ff., Helen. 386 f.) refers to this chariot-race as the event with which the troubles of the Pelopidae began. Apollonius Rhodius briefly describes the critical moment of the race as one of the subjects embroidered on the cloak of Jason (1. 752 ff.); there Oenomaüs was seen, ‘falling sideways, as the axle broke at the naves of the wheels,’—

| .

mvp-comment-297-4 The eastern pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia ( circ. 450 B.C.) was adorned with sculptures by Paeonius, representing the preparation for this contest ( Paus. 5. 10. 6 ). The fragments found on the site have sufficed for a reconstruction of the group. Zeus occupied the centre; to the right of him were Pelops and Hippodameia; to the left, Oenomaüs and his wife Steropè. On each side was a chariot drawn by four horses. Myrtilus was sitting in front of his team, with his face turned away from his master.

mvp-comment-297-5 In the older and nobler form of the myth, Pelops won, not by a fraud, but by the grace of Poseidon, who gave him winged horses (Pindar O. 1. 87

). On the chest ( ) of Cypselus, seen by Pausanias in the Heraeum at Olympia ( Paus. 5. 17. 5 ), Pelops was driving two winged horses.

mvp-comment-298-1 αἰανὴς ¹⁴³

mvp-comment-298-2 The form

has the best authority, and some critics hold that (Hesych.) was a Byzantine invention. But in Aesch. Eum. 416 , (so L, schol., and Tzetzes on Lycophron 406), is far less suitable.

mvp-comment-299-1 εὖτε ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-299-2 ὁ ποντισθεὶς Μυρτίλος ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-299-3 A vase found at Capua shows Pelops and Hippodameia in a ship, from which Myrtilus is falling backwards into the water. A winged Erinys hovers in the air above, brandishing a sword over the head of Pelops (Baumeister, Denkmäler p. 1204, referring to Mon. Inst. x. 25).

mvp-comment-299-4 ἐκοιμάθη ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-300-1 παγχρυσέων δίφρων ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-301-1 πρόρριζος ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-301-2 ἐκριφθείς ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-302-1 ἔλειπεν ¹⁵⁰ ἔλιπεν ¹⁵¹ οἴκου ¹⁵² οἴκους ¹⁵³ πω ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-303-1 πολύπονος ¹⁵⁵ αἰκία ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-304-1 ἀνειμένη ¹⁵⁷ μέν ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-304-2 ὡς ἔοικας ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-304-3 στρέφει ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-304-4 Clytaemnestra begins in the same strain as Chrysothemis, who likewise emphasised her reproof by the word αὖ ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-305-1 μή τοι θυραίαν γ’ ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-305-2 αἰσχύνειν φίλους ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-306-1 καίτοι ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-306-2 δὴ ¹⁶⁵ πολλούς ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-306-3 ἐξεῖπάς με … ὡς ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-306-4 θρασεῖα ¹⁶⁸ τραχεῖα ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-306-5 ἄρχω ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-307-1 ὕβριν … οὐκ ἔχω ¹⁷¹ κακῶς κλύουσα ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-308-1 πατὴρ γάρ ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-308-2 πρόσχημα ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-309-1 ἡ γὰρ Δίκη ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-310-1 ᾗ χρῆν σ’ ἀρήγειν ¹⁷⁶

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

, is probably right; the words would then fall from her with a certain deliberate bitterness. Cp. 542 : Ant. 44 (n.): Ph. 101 .

mvp-comment-312-1 μοῦνος ¹⁷⁷ Ἑλλήνων ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-312-2 Nauck requires

instead of , 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,

. But, having written , the poet explains by repeating the comparison in a new form, . (For or after , 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 would be unintelligible. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1417 | .

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.,

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

mvp-comment-313-1 τοῦ χάριν, τίνων ¹⁷⁹

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

as the participle. But there is an insuperable objection to this, which seems to have escaped notice. The words, ; 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 ; See ( e.g.) Aesch. P. V. 985 : Aesch. Ag. 821 | . Hence the question, ; could not possibly be answered by . 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 by , plainly meant, ‘showing gratitude for what?’—and his paraphrase was correct; only he overlooked the context.

mvp-comment-314-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μετῆν ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-315-1 ἀλλ’ ἀντ’ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα ¹⁸¹ κτανὼν ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-315-2 ἀντὶ ἀδελφοῦ ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-315-3 τἄμ’ ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-316-1 παῖδες … διπλοῖ ¹⁸⁵

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

.

mvp-comment-317-1 ἢ ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-317-2 ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν Ἅιδης ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-318-1 δαίσασθαι ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-318-2 The conj. λῄσασθαι ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-319-1 πανώλει ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-319-2 παρεῖτο ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-319-3 The sense does not absolutely require us to take Μενέλεω δ’ ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀβούλου ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-320-2 κακοῦ γνώμην ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-321-1 δοκῶ μέν ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-321-2 εἰ καὶ ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-322-1 εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-323-1 τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-324-1 γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-325-1 ἐρεῖς μὲν οὐχὶ ²⁰⁰ ἐρεῖς ²⁰¹ ἐρεῖς … μ’ ὡς ²⁰²

mvp-comment-325-2 ἄρξασά τι λυπηρὸν ²⁰³

mvp-comment-325-3 τάδ’ ἐξήκους’ ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-326-1 τοῦ τεθνηκότος θ’ ὕπερ ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-327-1 καὶ μὴν ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-327-2 λόγους ἐξῆρχές με ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-328-1 Clytaemnestra has argued that she was justified in slaying Agamemnon, because he had slain Iphigeneia. The topics of Electra's reply are as follows.

mvp-comment-328-2 (1) 558—562. The wife who slew her husband would be a criminal, even if the motive had been just retribution; but the real motive was her love for Aegisthus. (2) 563—576. Agamemnon was not a free agent in slaying Iphigeneia; the act was forced upon him by Artemis. (3) 577—583. Suppose, however, that he was a free agent, and wished to please his brother; still she was not justified in taking his life. (4) 584—594. And in any case her plea does not excuse her for living with the man who helped to slay her husband.—The speech then closes in a strain of reproach and defiance (595 —609).

mvp-comment-328-3 καὶ δὴ λέγω σοι ²⁰⁸ πατέρα ²⁰⁹ φὴς ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-329-1 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ²¹¹

mvp-comment-329-2 λέξω ²¹² δείξω ²¹³

mvp-comment-330-1 ὡς οὐ δίκῃ γ’ ²¹⁴ ἔσπασεν ²¹⁵ πειθὼ ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-331-1 κυναγὸν ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-331-2 ποινὰς ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-331-3 τὰ πολλὰ πνεύματ’ ἔσχ’ ²¹⁹ τὰ πολλὰ ²²⁰ ἔσχε ²²¹

mvp-comment-331-4 Acc. to Aesch. ( Aesch. Ag. 149 f., Aesch. Ag. 192 ), the Greeks were detained by adverse winds, blowing from the N.E. : and this seems to have been the account given in the Cypria ( c. 776 B.C.), Proclus Chrest. p. 455:

. But other authorities speak of a calm. Thus I. A. 9 ff. | | . Schol. Eur. Or. 647 . Tzetzes on Lycophron 183 . Ovid ( Met. 13. 183 ) combines both versions:

mvp-comment-331-5 It has been objected that vessels provided with oars need not have been detained by a calm. But the ships of the Greek fleet were not light craft. Each carried from 50 to 120 armed men, besides

: and the warriors were also the rowers (cp. Thuc. 1. 10 ). It is intelligible, then, that they should await the aid of wind before attempting the passage of the Aegaean. We must remember, too, the strong and shifting currents in the Euripus ( , Soph. Ant. 1145 : , Aesch. Ag. 191 ).

mvp-comment-331-6 We cannot well render:—(1)‘He suffered those tedious winds,’—supplying

from v. 558. Nor: (2) ‘She directed those tedious winds at Aulis,’—a version which would at least require . Cp. Ph. 1119 | .

mvp-comment-331-7 The conjecture πλοῖα ²²²

mvp-comment-331-8 Αὐλίδι ²²³

mvp-comment-332-1 ἢ )γὼ φράσω ²²⁴ κείνης ²²⁵

mvp-comment-333-1 ὡς ἐγὼ κλύω ²²⁶

mvp-comment-333-2 θεᾶς … κατ’ ἄλσος ²²⁷

mvp-comment-333-3 παίζων ²²⁸

mvp-comment-333-4 ποδοῖν ²²⁹

mvp-comment-334-1 ἔλαφον ²³⁰

mvp-comment-334-2 στικτὸν ²³¹

mvp-comment-334-3 κεράστην ²³²

mvp-comment-334-4 οὗ κατὰ σφαγὰς ²³³

mvp-comment-335-1 ἐκκομπάσας ἔπος τι τυγχάνει ²³⁴ βαλών ²³⁵

mvp-comment-335-2 This is the reason against taking

with , as=‘he shoots and hits’; cp. Il. 15. 581 : Her. 3. 35 . The vaunt must then precede the hit.

mvp-comment-335-3 Others take βαλὼν ²³⁶ ἔπος ²³⁷

mvp-comment-335-4 Monk, with Musgrave, took σφαγὰς ²³⁸

mvp-comment-336-1 ἐκ τοῦδε ²³⁹

mvp-comment-336-2 μηνίσασα ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-336-3 Λητῴα κόρη ²⁴¹

mvp-comment-337-1 ὡς ²⁴² ἀντίσταθμον ²⁴³

mvp-comment-337-2 ἐκθύσειε ²⁴⁴

mvp-comment-338-1 ὧδ’ ἦν ²⁴⁵

mvp-comment-338-2 τὰ … θύματ’ ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-338-3 λύσις ²⁴⁷

mvp-comment-338-4 πρὸς οἶκον ²⁴⁸

mvp-comment-339-1 πολλὰ ²⁴⁹

mvp-comment-339-2 ἀντιβὰς ²⁵⁰

mvp-comment-339-3 μόλις ²⁵¹

mvp-comment-340-1 εἰ δ’ οὖν ²⁵²

mvp-comment-340-2 ἐρῶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ σόν ²⁵³

mvp-comment-341-1 τούτου … οὕνεκ’ ²⁵⁴

mvp-comment-341-2 νόμῳ ²⁵⁵

mvp-comment-342-1 ὅρα ²⁵⁶ μὴ … τιθῇς ²⁵⁷ τίθης ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-342-2 Here, either

or would be suitable. (1) With :—‘See that, in making this rule, you are not making woe for yourself.’ This means that to make the rule (as she is doing) is at once (logically) to make the woe. (2) With : —‘See lest, in making this rule, you make woe for yourself’: i.e., the rule may have the woe as a consequence. The woe is a future contingency (583 ), against which Electra warns her. On the whole, I now prefer . Cp. 1003 | : fr. 82 .

mvp-comment-342-3 τιθεῖσα … νόμον ²⁵⁹

mvp-comment-343-1 εἰ γὰρ κτενοῦμεν ²⁶⁰

mvp-comment-343-2 πρώτη ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-344-1 εἰσόρα ²⁶²

mvp-comment-344-2 οὐκ οὖσαν ²⁶³

mvp-comment-344-3 τίθης ²⁶⁴

mvp-comment-344-4 εἰ … θέλεις ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-345-1 τῷ παλαμναίῳ ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-345-2 πρόσθεν ἐξαπώλεσας ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-346-1 παιδοποιεῖς ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-346-2 Erigonè, daughter of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra (Tzetzes on Lyc. 1374 ), was mentioned by the early cyclic poet Cinaethon ( Paus. 2. 18. 6 ), and was the theme of Sophocles in his

. Hyginus ( Hyg. Fab. 122 ) notices a son of Aegisthus named Aletes, who gives his name to a play by Sophocles, but does not record the mother: see p. xliii note 4.

mvp-comment-346-3 εὐσεβεῖς ²⁶⁹

mvp-comment-346-4 κἀξ εὐσεβῶν ²⁷⁰

mvp-comment-346-5 By

Electra means Orestes and herself. Both are ‘cast out’ of their just rights. Cp. O.T. 611 . Eur. El. 62 |

mvp-comment-346-6 βλαστόντας ²⁷¹

mvp-comment-346-7 ἐκβαλοῦσ’ ἔχεις ²⁷²

mvp-comment-347-1 πῶς ταῦτ’ ἐπαινέσαιμ’ ἄν ²⁷³

mvp-comment-347-2 ἢ ²⁷⁴ ἦ ²⁷⁵ καὶ τοῦτ’ ²⁷⁶ ἄποινα ²⁷⁷

mvp-comment-348-1 αἰσχρῶς δ’ ²⁷⁸ δ’ ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐάν περ καὶ λέγῃς ²⁸⁰

mvp-comment-348-3 ἐχθροῖς γαμεῖσθαι ²⁸¹

mvp-comment-348-4 These two verses, though not indispensable, seem genuine. Were they omitted, the transition from 592 to 595 would be somewhat abrupt.

mvp-comment-349-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ γὰρ ²⁸²

mvp-comment-349-2 πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν ²⁸³

mvp-comment-350-1 κακοστομοῦμεν ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-350-2 καί σ’ ἔγωγε δεσπότιν ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-350-3 εἰς ἡμᾶς ²⁸⁶ ἣ ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-351-1 βίον μοχθηρόν ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-351-2 ἔκ τε σοῦ ²⁸⁹ κακοῖς … ξυνοῦσα ²⁹⁰

mvp-comment-351-3 συννόμου ²⁹¹

mvp-comment-352-1 ὁ δ’ ἄλλος ²⁹²

mvp-comment-352-2 χεῖρα σὴν ²⁹³

mvp-comment-352-3 τρίβει βίον ²⁹⁴

mvp-comment-352-4 603 The reason for writing δή με σοὶ ²⁹⁵ δή μέ σοι ²⁹⁶

mvp-comment-352-5 μιάστορα ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-353-1 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκα ²⁹⁸

mvp-comment-354-1 εἰς ἅπαντας ²⁹⁹

mvp-comment-354-2 χρῇς ³⁰⁰

mvp-comment-354-3 στόμαργον ³⁰¹

mvp-comment-355-1 τῶνδε τῶν ἔ|ργων ἴδρις ³⁰²

mvp-comment-355-2 σχεδόν τι ³⁰³

mvp-comment-355-3 οὐ καταισχύνω ³⁰⁴

mvp-comment-356-1 ὁρῶ μένος πνέουσαν ³⁰⁵ μένος πνέουσαν ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-356-2 σὺν δίκῃ ξύνεστι ³⁰⁷

mvp-comment-356-3 Other interpretations are:—(1) ‘I see that Electra is wroth; but as to whether she is in the right, I see no concern (anywhere),’—a timid way of saying that Clytaemnestra shows no such concern. So the schol. (2) ‘I see that Clytaemnestra is angry, but not that she cares whether she is right’:—an inference from some gesture. Both these versions rely on the fact that

(612) is plainly an echo of (611). But: ( a) it does not follow that is not Electra's thought. ( b) It is surely clear that must be Electra; and ( c) as in Ant. 471 f., the second clause naturally refers to the same person.

mvp-comment-357-1 ποίας δ’ ἐμοὶ δεῖ ³⁰⁸ ἐμοὶ ³⁰⁹ μοι ³¹⁰ δεῖ ³¹¹

mvp-comment-357-2 Others understand: (1) ‘If Electra has no consideration for justice, why should I have any consideration for her,— i.e., show her any tenderness?’ Or: (2) ‘If she heeds not justice, why should I heed her?’ Neither view seems well suited to the context.

mvp-comment-358-1 καὶ ταῦτα ³¹²

mvp-comment-358-2 τηλικοῦτος ³¹³

mvp-comment-358-3 ἆρα ³¹⁴

mvp-comment-358-4 χωρεῖν ἂν ³¹⁵ εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ³¹⁶

mvp-comment-359-1 εὖ νυν ἐπίστω ³¹⁷

mvp-comment-359-2 ἔξωρα ³¹⁸

mvp-comment-359-3 προσεικότα ³¹⁹

mvp-comment-360-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ³²⁰

mvp-comment-360-2 ἡ … ἐκ σοῦ δυσμένεια ³²¹

mvp-comment-360-3 ἐξαναγκάζει ³²² αἰσχροῖς ³²³

mvp-comment-360-4 622 f. The word θρέμμα ³²⁴

mvp-comment-360-5 ἦ σ’ ἐγὼ ³²⁵

mvp-comment-361-1 νιν ³²⁶

mvp-comment-361-2 εὑρίσκεται ³²⁷

mvp-comment-361-3 Cp. Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus (in his Prose Works, ed. Symmons, vol. I. p. 236): ‘I might also tell them [the prelates], what Electra in Sophocles, a wise virgin, answered her wicked mother, who thought herself too violently reproved by her the daughter: ‘' Tis you that say it, not I; you do the deeds, | And your ungodly deeds find me the words.’’

mvp-comment-362-1 οὐ μὰ ³²⁸

mvp-comment-362-2 δέσποιναν ³²⁹

mvp-comment-362-3 Ἄρτεμιν ³³⁰

mvp-comment-362-4 θράσους τοῦδ’ οὐκ ἀλύξεις ³³¹ μόλῃ ³³²

mvp-comment-363-1 ὁρᾷς ³³³

mvp-comment-363-2 ἐκφέρει ³³⁴

mvp-comment-363-3 The v. l. παρεῖσα ³³⁵

mvp-comment-364-1 οὐδὲ ³³⁶

mvp-comment-364-2 ὑπ’ εὐφήμου βοῆς ³³⁷

mvp-comment-364-3 ἐπειδὴ σοί γ’ ³³⁸

mvp-comment-364-4 πᾶν λέγειν ³³⁹

mvp-comment-365-1 κελεύω ³⁴⁰

mvp-comment-365-2 τοὐμὸν στόμ’ ³⁴¹

mvp-comment-365-3 634 f. An altar, and probably an image, of Apollo stand before the palace. The attendant of Clytaemnestra carries offerings of various fruits, which she is now commanded to raise, as with a gesture of solemn oblation ( ἔπαιρε ³⁴²

mvp-comment-365-4 ἡ παροῦσά μοι ³⁴³

mvp-comment-365-5 θύματα … πάγκαρπα ³⁴⁴

mvp-comment-366-1 λυτηρίους … δειμάτων ³⁴⁵

mvp-comment-366-2 ἀνάσχω ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-367-1 κλύοις ἂν ³⁴⁷

mvp-comment-367-2 προστατήριε ³⁴⁸

mvp-comment-368-1 κεκρυμμένην ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-368-2 οὐ γὰρ ἐν φίλοις ³⁵⁰

mvp-comment-369-1 πρὸς φῶς ³⁵¹

mvp-comment-370-1 πολυγλώσσῳ ³⁵²

mvp-comment-370-2 σπείρῃ ³⁵³

mvp-comment-370-3 ματαίαν ³⁵⁴

mvp-comment-371-1 ὧδ’ ³⁵⁵

mvp-comment-372-1 γὰρ ³⁵⁶

mvp-comment-372-2 δισσῶν ὀνείρων ³⁵⁷

mvp-comment-372-3 Jacobs Fr.( ap. Wunder) understood, ‘ two dreams,’—as if Clyt.'s vision consisted of two parts,—the return of Agamemnon, and the growth from the sceptre (417—423). This seems forced. Still less can we assume that there was some second dream which Clyt. did not relate even to the Sun-god (425).

mvp-comment-372-4 Λύκεἰ ἄναξ ³⁵⁸

mvp-comment-373-1 ἐσθλά … ἐχθρά ³⁵⁹

mvp-comment-373-2 Cp. Aesch. Pers. 217 , where the Chorus are advising Atossa how to propitiate the gods after her dream:

, |

mvp-comment-373-3 ἔμπαλιν μέθες ³⁶⁰

mvp-comment-374-1 εἴ τινες ³⁶¹

mvp-comment-375-1 ἀλλ’ ὧδε ³⁶²

mvp-comment-375-2 ἀβλαβεῖ βίῳ ³⁶³

mvp-comment-376-1 δόμους ³⁶⁴

mvp-comment-376-2 ἀμφέπειν ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-376-3 φίλοισι ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-377-1 εὐημεροῦσαν ³⁶⁷

mvp-comment-377-2 καὶ τέκνων ³⁶⁸ ὅσων ³⁶⁹

mvp-comment-377-3 We might also take

as standing, by attraction, for . When the antecedent is thus attracted, it usually comes after the relative ( O.C. 56); but sometimes precedes it, as in Tr. 151 f. ... | ... (for ) . In examples of the latter kind, however, the acc. (and not, as it would be here, the dat.) is elsewhere the case attracted. In favour of taking as partitive, it may be added that this suits the distinction between two groups of . By she means Chrysothemis, Iphianassa, and the offspring o<*> her union with Aegisthus (157; 589).

mvp-comment-377-4 ἐμοὶ … πρόσεστιν ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-378-1 πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ³⁷¹

mvp-comment-379-1 τὰ δ’ ἄλλα πάντα ³⁷²

mvp-comment-379-2 660 Following the directions given in vv. 39 ff., the Paedagogus now appears as a

. Cp. O.T. 924 ff., where the messenger from Corinth presents himself to Iocasta and the Chorus.

mvp-comment-379-3 πῶς ἂν εἰδείην ³⁷³

mvp-comment-380-1 ἦ καὶ ³⁷⁴

mvp-comment-380-2 ἐπεικάζων κυρῶ ³⁷⁵

mvp-comment-380-3 πρέπ<*> γὰρ ³⁷⁶

mvp-comment-381-1 μάλιστα πάντων ³⁷⁷

mvp-comment-381-2 ἥδε σοι κείνη πάρα ³⁷⁸

mvp-comment-381-3 666 f. The ὦ ³⁷⁹ χαῖρε ³⁸⁰

mvp-comment-382-1 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν ³⁸¹

mvp-comment-382-2 Instant recognition of an utterance as well-omened was a way of appropriating the omen. The proper formula was

or ( Her. 9. 91 ; Ar. Pl. 63 ). But alone was enough ( Xen. An. 1. 8. 17 : cp. Aesch. Ag. 1653 ). The phrase used here recurs in Her. 8. 114 : cp. also Eur. El. 622

προσηκάμην τὸ ῥηθέν

.

mvp-comment-382-3 εἰδέναι … σου ³⁸²

mvp-comment-383-1 Φανοτεὺς ³⁸³

mvp-comment-383-2 πρᾶγμα πορσύνων μέγα ³⁸⁴

mvp-comment-384-1 τὸ ποῖον ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-385-1 ἐν βραχεῖ ξυνθεὶς ³⁸⁶

mvp-comment-386-1 τί φής, τί φής ³⁸⁷ ξεῖνε ³⁸⁸

mvp-comment-386-2 ταύτης ³⁸⁹

mvp-comment-387-1 νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι ³⁹⁰

mvp-comment-388-1 οὐδέν εἰμ’ ἔτι ³⁹¹

mvp-comment-389-1 τὰ σαυτῆς πρᾶσς’ ³⁹²

mvp-comment-389-2 διόλλυται ³⁹³

mvp-comment-390-1 κἀπεμπόμην ³⁹⁴ καὶ … φράσω ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-391-1 γὰρ ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-392-1 πρόσχημ’ ἀγῶνος ³⁹⁷ Ἑλλάδος ³⁹⁸

mvp-comment-392-2 πρόσχημα ³⁹⁹

mvp-comment-392-3 Δελφ. ἄθλων ⁴⁰⁰

mvp-comment-393-1 ὀρθίων ⁴⁰¹

mvp-comment-393-2 δρόμον … οὗ πρώτη κρίσις ⁴⁰²

mvp-comment-394-1 εἰσῆλθε ⁴⁰³

mvp-comment-395-1 ἰσώσας * τἀφέσει ⁴⁰⁴ τῇ φύσει ⁴⁰⁵

mvp-comment-395-2 Now there is evidence that the customary order for the foot-races was, 1.

, 2. , 3. . See Boeckh C. I. G. no. 1590 and 1591 (referring to games at Thespiae, circ. 240 B.C.): also no. 2214 (games at Chios, circ. 100—80 B.C.). Paus. 6. 13. 3 (of the athlete Polites at Olympia), . It would agree, then, with the words (684) if the were meant here. [As to Legg. 833 D, see Appendix.]

mvp-comment-395-3 For

as=‘starting-place,’ cp. Suidas ( s.v. ): : Paus. 6. 20. 9 : id. 5. 15. 5 —Dindorf notes that in Aristeides vol. I. p. 339 the words were corrupted to .

mvp-comment-395-4 The proposed versions of the vulgate τῇ φύσει ⁴⁰⁶

mvp-comment-396-1 νίκης … γέρας ⁴⁰⁷

mvp-comment-397-1 χὥπως μὲν ⁴⁰⁸

mvp-comment-397-2 Others explain:—

: ‘I do not know how to describe his deeds to you briefly, when they were so many.’ The place of can be justified by O.T. 1251. But: (1) thus construed, the words ought to mean, ‘I do not know how to describe his deeds as few.’ The other meaning would require , or the like. And (2) is then awkward.

mvp-comment-398-1 ὅσων ⁴⁰⁹

mvp-comment-398-2 εἰσεκήρυξαν ⁴¹⁰

mvp-comment-398-3 βραβῆς ⁴¹¹

mvp-comment-399-1 δρομων διαύλων ⁴¹²

mvp-comment-399-2 On the whole, I should incline to delete 691, and alter

in 692 to .

mvp-comment-400-1 ἐνεγκὼν ⁴¹³

mvp-comment-400-2 τἀπινίκια ⁴¹⁴

mvp-comment-401-1 ὠλβίζετ’ ⁴¹⁵ ἀνακαλ ⁴¹⁶

mvp-comment-401-2 Ἀγαμέμνονος ⁴¹⁷

mvp-comment-401-3 ἀγείραντος ⁴¹⁸

mvp-comment-402-1 καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τοιαῦθ’ ⁴¹⁹

mvp-comment-402-2 βλάπτῃ ⁴²⁰

mvp-comment-402-3 ἰσχύων ⁴²¹

mvp-comment-403-1 ἄλλης ἡμέρας ⁴²²

mvp-comment-403-2 ἱππικῶν ⁴²³

mvp-comment-404-1 ἡλίου τέλλοντος ⁴²⁴

mvp-comment-404-2 The Pythian hippodrome was in the Crisaean plain (180 n.), near its upper or northern end, where the rocky gorge of the river Pleistus opens upon a level tract. The site of Crisa, on a spur of Parnassus, overlooked it from the north, and Delphi from the north-east. Beautiful as was Olympia, the scene of the Pythian festival was unrivalled in the grandeur of its natural surroundings.

mvp-comment-405-1 Ἀχαιός ⁴²⁵

mvp-comment-406-1 Λίβυες ⁴²⁶

mvp-comment-406-2 ζυγωτῶν ⁴²⁷ ἐπιστάται ⁴²⁸

mvp-comment-407-1 κἀκεῖνος ⁴²⁹

mvp-comment-407-2 ἐν τούτοισι ⁴³⁰ ἐπὶ ⁴³¹

mvp-comment-407-3 Θεσσαλὰς … ἵππους ⁴³²

mvp-comment-408-1 ξανθαῖσι ⁴³³

mvp-comment-408-2 πώλοις ⁴³⁴

mvp-comment-408-3 Μάγνης ⁴³⁵

mvp-comment-409-1 λεύκιππος ⁴³⁶

mvp-comment-409-2 Αἰνιὰν ⁴³⁷

mvp-comment-410-1 τῶν θεοδμήτων ⁴³⁸

mvp-comment-411-1 ἄλλος ⁴³⁹ ἐκπληρῶν ⁴⁴⁰

mvp-comment-412-1 στάντες ⁴⁴¹

mvp-comment-412-2 †ὅθ’ αὐτοὺς ⁴⁴² ὅθ’ ⁴⁴³ ἵν’ ⁴⁴⁴ ὅτ’ ⁴⁴⁵

mvp-comment-412-3 βραβῆς ⁴⁴⁶ οἱ τεταγμένοι ⁴⁴⁷

mvp-comment-412-4 710 *

. I should much prefer to read in 709: but is defensible, and I refrain from change. Two views are possible; the first is generally received, and is perhaps simplest. (1) depends on as= : cp. Ar. Eccl. 683 , ‘I will place them all by lot,’ | See above on 123, Ar. Eccl. 556. (2) = , a parenthetic construction ( ), so that is governed by only, and is a second acc., defining , as in ( Soph. Ph. 1301 ). See on 466

f.

mvp-comment-412-5 ἔπηλαν ⁴⁴⁸

mvp-comment-413-1 χαλκῆς ⁴⁴⁹

mvp-comment-413-2 ὑπαὶ ⁴⁵⁰

mvp-comment-413-3 οἱ δ’ ⁴⁵¹

mvp-comment-414-1 ὁμοκλήσαντες ⁴⁵²

mvp-comment-415-1 ἐν δὲ ⁴⁵³

mvp-comment-415-2 κροτητῶν ⁴⁵⁴

mvp-comment-415-3 I formerly took

as=‘welded,’ ‘hammered,’ with ref. to the metal-work of the chariots: cp. Il. 23. 503 : 10. 438 : 4. 226 . (Cp. Helbig, H. E. p. 90.) For this sense of , cp. Pind. fr. 194 .

mvp-comment-416-1 φορεῖθ’ ⁴⁵⁵

mvp-comment-417-1 κέντρων ⁴⁵⁶

mvp-comment-417-2 ὡς ὑπερβάλοι ⁴⁵⁷ τις ⁴⁵⁸

mvp-comment-417-3 χνόας ⁴⁵⁹

mvp-comment-417-4 φρυάγμαθ’ ἱππικά ⁴⁶⁰

mvp-comment-418-1 ὁμοῦ γὰρ ἀμφὶ νῶτα ⁴⁶¹

mvp-comment-418-2 τροχῶν βάσεις ⁴⁶²

mvp-comment-418-3 εἰσέβαλλον ⁴⁶³

mvp-comment-419-1 ὑπ’ αὐτὴν ⁴⁶⁴

mvp-comment-419-2 ἐσχάτην στήλην ⁴⁶⁵

mvp-comment-420-1 ἔχριμπτ’ ἀεὶ σύριγγα ⁴⁶⁶ ἔχριμπτ’ ⁴⁶⁷

mvp-comment-420-2 δεξιὸν δ’ ἀνεὶς κ.τ.λ. ⁴⁶⁸

mvp-comment-420-3 Sophocles has in mind the words of Nestor to Antilochus, Il. 23. 336

| | , | | (‘so that just the nave of the well-wrought wheel may seem to graze it’).

mvp-comment-421-1 πρὶν μὲν ⁴⁶⁹ ἔπειτα δ’ ⁴⁷⁰

mvp-comment-421-2 ἕστασαν ⁴⁷¹

mvp-comment-422-1 ἄστομοι ⁴⁷²

mvp-comment-422-2 βίᾳ φέρουσιν ⁴⁷³

mvp-comment-422-3 ἐκ δ’ ὑποστροφῆς ⁴⁷⁴

mvp-comment-423-1 τελοῦντες κ.τ.λ. ⁴⁷⁵

mvp-comment-423-2 The Aenian, closely followed by the others, had just completed his sixth

, or double course, in the hippodrome: i.e., he had just passed, for the sixth time, round the goal nearest to the starting-place, and was on the point of beginning his seventh course. Just as he was passing the goal, his horses bolted. Hence he could not work them quite round into the track. They turned out of the left-ward curve ( ), and ran straight on. Meanwhile, one of the two Libyan chariots had swept round the goal in a wider circle, on the Aenian's right. The Aenian's horses dashed head-foremost into the Libyan's team, striking it on the left side.

mvp-comment-423-3 In the four - horse chariot - race at Olympia the number of double courses was twelve. Hence the goal farthest from the starting-place is

| ( Pind. O. 3. 33 : cp. Pind. O. 2. 55 , Pind. O. 6. 75 , Pind. P. 5. 33 ). If the (=4 stadia) be taken as the length of one double course in the hippodrome, twelve such courses give about 51/2 English miles. (Cp. art. Hippodromus in Smith's Dict. Ant., 3rd ed., p. 965 a.)

mvp-comment-423-4 Βαρκαίοις ὄχοις ⁴⁷⁶

mvp-comment-424-1 ἐξ ἑνὸς κακοῦ ⁴⁷⁷ ἔθραυε καὶ ἐνέπιπτε ⁴⁷⁸

mvp-comment-424-2 ναυαγίων ⁴⁷⁹

mvp-comment-424-3 Κρισαῖον … πέδον ⁴⁸⁰

mvp-comment-425-1 γνοὺς δ’ ⁴⁸¹

mvp-comment-425-2 κἀνοκωχεύει ⁴⁸²

mvp-comment-425-3 κλύδων’ ⁴⁸³

mvp-comment-426-1 ἔσχατος μὲν ⁴⁸⁴

mvp-comment-426-2 ὑστέρας ἔχων ⁴⁸⁵ φέρων ⁴⁸⁶ πίστιν φέρων ⁴⁸⁷

mvp-comment-426-3 Those who read

understand, ‘last, indeed, but last by his own choice.’ This is possible, but less simple. The after probably led to the insertion of .

mvp-comment-426-4 Wunder cp. Acad. Pr. 2. 29. 94 Ego enim, ut agitator callidus, prius quam ad finem veniam, equos sustinebo.

mvp-comment-427-1 ὅπως δ’ ὁρᾷ ⁴⁸⁸

mvp-comment-428-1 ἐνσείσας. ⁴⁸⁹

mvp-comment-429-1 κἀξισώσαντε ζυγὰ ⁴⁹⁰

mvp-comment-429-2 τότ’ … ἄλλοθ’ ⁴⁹¹

mvp-comment-429-3 ἄλλος … ἅτερος ⁴⁹²

mvp-comment-429-4 κάρα προβάλλων ⁴⁹³

mvp-comment-429-5 For προβάλλων ⁴⁹⁴

mvp-comment-430-1 τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους πάντας ⁴⁹⁵

mvp-comment-430-2 ἀσφαλεῖς ⁴⁹⁶

mvp-comment-430-3 ὠρθοῦθ’ ⁴⁹⁷ ὀρθὸς ἐξ ὀρθῶν δί‐ ⁴⁹⁸ φρων ⁴⁹⁹

mvp-comment-431-1 λύων ἡνίαν ἀριστερὰν ⁵⁰⁰

mvp-comment-432-1 χνόας ⁵⁰¹ μέσας ⁵⁰²

mvp-comment-433-1 ἀντύγων ⁵⁰³

mvp-comment-433-2 σὺν δ’ ἑλίσσεται ⁵⁰⁴ τμητοῖς ⁵⁰⁵

mvp-comment-434-1 διεσπάρησαν εἰς μέσον δρόμον ⁵⁰⁶

mvp-comment-434-2 Cp. Il. 23. 467

, | [ sc. ] (‘rushed out of the course’).

mvp-comment-435-1 στρατὸς ⁵⁰⁷

mvp-comment-435-2 δίφρων ⁵⁰⁸

mvp-comment-435-3 ἀνωλόλυξε ⁵⁰⁹

mvp-comment-435-4 οἷ’ … οἷα ⁵¹⁰

mvp-comment-436-1 φορούμενος πρὸς οὖδας ⁵¹¹

mvp-comment-436-2 ἄλλοτ’ ⁵¹²

mvp-comment-436-3 οὐρανῷ σκέλη προφαίνων ⁵¹³

mvp-comment-437-1 διφρηλάται ⁵¹⁴

mvp-comment-437-2 κατασχεθόντες ⁵¹⁵

mvp-comment-438-1 κέαντες ⁵¹⁶

mvp-comment-438-2 ἐν βραχεῖ χαλκῷ ⁵¹⁷

mvp-comment-438-3 μέγιστον ⁵¹⁸

mvp-comment-438-4 σῶμα … σποδοῦ ⁵¹⁹

mvp-comment-438-5 Cp. Aesch. Ag. 440 (Ares)

| | . Suppl. 1130 | . Propert. 2. 9. 13 (Briseïs with the ashes of Achilles), et tanti corpus Achillei | Maximaque in parva sustulit ossa manu.

mvp-comment-439-1 ἄνδρες Φωκέων ⁵²⁰

mvp-comment-439-2 ἐκλάχῃ ⁵²¹

mvp-comment-440-1 τοιαῦτά σοι ⁵²² ταῦτ’ ἐστίν ⁵²³

mvp-comment-440-2 ὡς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ ⁵²⁴

mvp-comment-440-3 τοῖς δ’ ἰδ., οἵπερ εἴδομεν ⁵²⁵

mvp-comment-440-4 764 f. The word δεσπόταισι ⁵²⁶

mvp-comment-440-5 πρόρριζον ⁵²⁷

mvp-comment-441-1 ὦ Ζεῦ ⁵²⁸

mvp-comment-441-2 λέγω ⁵²⁹

mvp-comment-442-1 τῷ νῦν λόγῳ ⁵³⁰

mvp-comment-443-1 δεινὸν ⁵³¹

mvp-comment-443-2 πάσχοντι ⁵³² ὧν τέκῃ ⁵³³

mvp-comment-444-1 μάτην ἄρ’ ἡμεῖς κ.τ.λ. ⁵³⁴

mvp-comment-445-1 μάτην λέγοις ⁵³⁵

mvp-comment-446-1 ψυχῆς ⁵³⁶

mvp-comment-447-1 μαστῶν κ.τ.λ. ⁵³⁷

mvp-comment-447-2 ἀποστὰς ⁵³⁸

mvp-comment-447-3 ἀπεξενοῦτο ⁵³⁹

mvp-comment-448-1 φόνους ⁵⁴⁰

mvp-comment-449-1 ὥστ’ οὔτε … στεγάζειν ⁵⁴¹

mvp-comment-449-2 ἐξ ἡμέρας ⁵⁴²

mvp-comment-449-3 στεψάζειν ⁵⁴³

mvp-comment-449-4 ὁ προστατῶν χρόνος ⁵⁴⁴

mvp-comment-449-5 διῆγε ⁵⁴⁵

mvp-comment-449-6 783 f. The perf. ἀπήλλαγμαι ⁵⁴⁶

mvp-comment-449-7 μείζων ⁵⁴⁷

mvp-comment-450-1 τοὐμὸν ⁵⁴⁸

mvp-comment-450-2 ἐκπίνους’ ⁵⁴⁹

mvp-comment-450-3 ἄκρατον ⁵⁵⁰

mvp-comment-450-4 νῦν δ’ ⁵⁵¹

mvp-comment-450-5 ἕκηλα ⁵⁵²

mvp-comment-450-6 οὕνεχ’ ⁵⁵³

mvp-comment-450-7 ἡμερεύσομεν ⁵⁵⁴

mvp-comment-451-1 οἴμοι τάλαινα ⁵⁵⁵

mvp-comment-451-2 οἰμῶξαι ⁵⁵⁶

mvp-comment-452-1 ἆρ’ ἔχει καλῶς ⁵⁵⁷

mvp-comment-453-1 οὔτοι σὺ ⁵⁵⁸

mvp-comment-454-1 Νέμεσι ⁵⁵⁹

mvp-comment-454-2 τοῦ θανόντος ἀρτίως ⁵⁶⁰

mvp-comment-454-3 Nemesis is the goddess who requires that each man should receive his due (

, Mund. 7. p. 401 b. 13). The ‘Nemesis of the dead man’ is the avenger of wrong done to him; as the Greeks said ( Aesch. Ag. 1432 ), . Cp. Aesch. fr. 266 (‘ our Nemesis’) , | . At Athens were certain rites in honour of the dead ( Dem. or. 41 § 11 ), (Bekker Anecd. I. 282). Nemesis appears in art, too, as a goddess of the dead (Baumeister, Denkm., p. 1008).

mvp-comment-455-1 ἤκουσεν ὧν δεῖ ⁵⁶¹

mvp-comment-455-2 κἀπεκύρωσεν ⁵⁶²

mvp-comment-456-1 οὔκουν … τάδε ⁵⁶³

mvp-comment-457-1 οὐχ ὅπως σε παύσομεν ⁵⁶⁴

mvp-comment-458-1 πολλῶν ἂν ἥκοις ⁵⁶⁵ ἔπαυσας ⁵⁶⁶ παύσαις ⁵⁶⁷

mvp-comment-458-2 πολλῶν ⁵⁶⁸ ἄξιος ⁵⁶⁹ τυχεῖν ⁵⁷⁰

mvp-comment-459-1 εὖ κυρεῖ ⁵⁷¹

mvp-comment-459-2 800 f. With πράξειας ⁵⁷²

mvp-comment-459-3 The emendations which aim at introducing

seem, then, superfluous. The change of καταξίως ⁵⁷³ πράξειας ⁵⁷⁴

mvp-comment-459-4 τοῦ πορεύς. ξένου ⁵⁷⁵

mvp-comment-460-1 τῶν φίλων ⁵⁷⁶

mvp-comment-461-1 ἆρ’ ὑμὶν ⁵⁷⁷

mvp-comment-461-2 ὧδ’ ⁵⁷⁸

mvp-comment-462-1 ὥς μ’ ἀπώλεσας θανών ⁵⁷⁹

mvp-comment-463-1 ἀποσπάσας ⁵⁸⁰ αἵ ⁵⁸¹

mvp-comment-464-1 μολεῖν ⁵⁸²

mvp-comment-465-1 δουλεύειν ⁵⁸³

mvp-comment-465-2 πάλιν ⁵⁸⁴

mvp-comment-466-1 ἆρά μοι καλῶς ἔχει ⁵⁸⁵

mvp-comment-467-1 τοῦ λοιποῦ χρόνου ⁵⁸⁶

mvp-comment-467-2 818 *

, Hermann's correction of , is made certain by . No dative is needed to explain ξύνοικος ⁵⁸⁷

mvp-comment-468-1 παρεῖσ’ ἐμαυτὴν ⁵⁸⁸

mvp-comment-468-2 αὐανῶ ⁵⁸⁹

mvp-comment-469-1 χάρις ⁵⁹⁰

mvp-comment-470-1 Kommos. 1st strophe, 823—835, =1st antistr., 836—848: 2nd str., 849—859, =2nd antistr., 860—870. For metres see Metrical Analysis. Changes of person occur within a verse (as in 829 ff.,

; ). This indicates that the Chorus is here represented by the coryphaeus; it is, in fact, a lyric duet between the leader and Electra. Similar duets occur in O. T. 649 —697 and O. C. 510 —548, passages which further resemble this as being inserted in : also in the parodos of the O. C.(as at 178 ff.), and its exodos (as at 1677 ff.): and in Ph. 1081 —1217 (as at 1184 f.).

mvp-comment-470-2 These lyrics mark the climax of Electra's grief. The comforter vainly seeks to rouse her from despair.

mvp-comment-470-3 ποῦ ποτε ⁵⁹¹

mvp-comment-470-4 φαέθων ⁵⁹²

mvp-comment-470-5 ἐφορῶντες ⁵⁹³

mvp-comment-470-6 κρύπτουσιν ⁵⁹⁴

mvp-comment-471-1 τί δακρύεις ⁵⁹⁵

mvp-comment-472-1 μηδὲν μέγ’ ἀΰσῃς ⁵⁹⁶

mvp-comment-472-2 ἀΰσῃς ⁵⁹⁷

mvp-comment-473-1 ἀπολεῖς ⁵⁹⁸

mvp-comment-474-1 τῶν … οἰχομένων ⁵⁹⁹ φανερῶς ⁶⁰⁰ ἐλπίδα ⁶⁰¹

mvp-comment-475-1 κατ’ ἐμοῦ τακομένας ⁶⁰² ἐπεμβάσει ⁶⁰³ κατ’ ἐμοὶ τακομένᾳ ⁶⁰⁴

mvp-comment-476-1 οἶδα γὰρ ⁶⁰⁵

mvp-comment-476-2 Ἀμφιάρεων ⁶⁰⁶ ἄνακτα ⁶⁰⁷

mvp-comment-477-1 χρυσοδέτοις ἕρκεσι ⁶⁰⁸ γυναικῶν ⁶⁰⁹

mvp-comment-477-2 κρυφθέντα ⁶¹⁰

mvp-comment-477-3 Some vase-paintings, representing the departure of Amphiaraüs for Thebes, show Eriphylè carrying the bribe in her hand. In one of these, on a very ancient vase from Caere, it appears as a necklace of large white pearls (Baumeister, Denkm. p. 67): in another, on a lekythos from Cervetri (Roscher, Lex.p. 295), it is a collar, with projecting rays.

mvp-comment-478-1 ἒ ἔ· ἰώ ⁶¹¹

mvp-comment-479-1 πάμψυχος ⁶¹²

mvp-comment-479-2 The cult of Amphiaraüs had its chief seat in Boeotia, but afterwards spread thence to Argos, and throughout Greece. He was a chthonian deity, like Melampus; associated with Dionysus, and then with the Apollinar

. The near Thebes, a dream-oracle, was consulted by Mardonius ( Her. 8. 134 ). In later times the shrine near Oropus was more famous ( I. Paus. 34. 2 ).

mvp-comment-480-1 φεῦ ⁶¹³

mvp-comment-480-2 φεῦ δῆτ’ ⁶¹⁴ ὀλοὰ γὰρ ⁶¹⁵ ἐδάμη ⁶¹⁶ ὀλοὰ ⁶¹⁷

mvp-comment-480-3 ἐδάμη ⁶¹⁸ ναί ⁶¹⁹

mvp-comment-481-1 μελέτωρ ⁶²⁰

mvp-comment-481-2 Amphiaraüs was avenged by his son Alcmaeon ,—the counterpart, in this story, of Orestes. Before setting out for Thebes, the seer had charged him with this duty. Eriphylè, bribed once more, prevailed upon her son to lead the Epigoni against Thebes. After its fall, he returned to Argos, and slew her. Pursued by the Erinyes, he fled to Psophis in Arcadia, and there was purified. He was the subject of a play by Sophocles, and of two by Euripides,—the first,

(produced in 438 B.C.), dealing with his absolution, and the second, , with a later episode. Acc. to a grammarian in Anecd. Oxon. II. p. 337, 4, the form of the name used by Eur. was .

mvp-comment-482-1 τὸν ἐν πένθει ⁶²¹

mvp-comment-483-1 ἀναρπασθείς ⁶²²

mvp-comment-484-1 δειλαία δειλαίων ⁶²³

mvp-comment-485-1 ἴστωρ ⁶²⁴

mvp-comment-486-1 πανσύρτῳ … αἰῶνι ⁶²⁵ αἰῶνι ⁶²⁶

mvp-comment-486-2 The literal sense then is:—‘(I know this) by a life which, through all the months, is a turbid torrent of many things dread and horrible.’

seems rightly explained in one scholium as : i.e., it has an active sense, like (484 n.), ( Ph. 688 ), ( , Aesch. Ag. 361 ). The genitive, , may depend upon it, as in Soph. Ant. 1184 f. = . But we might also join the genitive with , as=‘a life of’ (made up of) these things. For the verb in ref. to a torrent, cp. Ar. Eq. 527 | : Plut. Mor.p. 5 F . Thus παμμήνῳ ⁶²⁷

mvp-comment-486-3 This view gives

a more forcible and more poetical sense than if it be taken as=‘swept together from every side.’ The meaning then would be, ‘a life, through all the months, of many dread horrors, accumulated from every quarter,’—the epithet being transferred from the troubles to the life itself. It would still, indeed, be possible to make active; ‘a life which draws troubles together from all sides’; but such an active sense would be somewhat harsher, on this interpretation, than on that which supposes the image of a torrent.

mvp-comment-487-1 ἁθρήνεις ⁶²⁸ ἃ θροεῖς ⁶²⁹ ἃ θρηνεῖς ⁶³⁰

mvp-comment-488-1 μή μέ νυν ⁶³¹

mvp-comment-488-2 παραγάγῃς ⁶³²

mvp-comment-488-3 ἵν’ ⁶³³

mvp-comment-489-1 τί φής ⁶³⁴

mvp-comment-490-1 πάρεισιν ἐλπίδων ἔτι ⁶³⁵

mvp-comment-490-2 With the other reading,

, both epithets belong to , and mean, ‘hopes from brothers and princes,’— i.e., ‘hopes from a princely brother’: the sense is unchanged, but the phrase is more artificial.

mvp-comment-490-3 That the MSS. have

is more significant than that they also have , which might easily creep in. Suidas, who omits , has , or (in codd. A and C) : but the latter variant can hardly be said to confirm .—At 162 Orestes is called . The fem. occurs at 1081.

mvp-comment-491-1 ἔφυ ⁶³⁶

mvp-comment-492-1 χαλαργοῖς ⁶³⁷

mvp-comment-493-1 τμητοῖς ⁶³⁸

mvp-comment-494-1 ἄσκοπος ⁶³⁹

mvp-comment-494-2 ἁ λώβα ⁶⁴⁰

mvp-comment-495-1 ξένος ⁶⁴¹

mvp-comment-496-1 ἄτερ ἐμᾶν χερῶν ⁶⁴²

mvp-comment-497-1 κέκευθεν ⁶⁴³

mvp-comment-497-2 οὔτε του ⁶⁴⁴

mvp-comment-497-3 ἀντιάσας ⁶⁴⁵

mvp-comment-497-4 τάφου … γόων ⁶⁴⁶

mvp-comment-498-1 ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς τοι ⁶⁴⁷ τοι ⁶⁴⁸ σοι ⁶⁴⁹

mvp-comment-499-1 τὸ κόσμιον ⁶⁵⁰

mvp-comment-499-2 873 For the place of ὦν ⁶⁵¹

mvp-comment-500-1 σὺ ⁶⁵² ἴασιν οὐκ ἔνεστ’ ἰδεῖν ⁶⁵³

mvp-comment-501-1 ἐναργῶς ⁶⁵⁴

mvp-comment-502-1 ἀλλ’ ἦ ⁶⁵⁵

mvp-comment-502-2 τοῖς ⁶⁵⁶

mvp-comment-503-1 μὰ τὴν πατρῴαν ἑστίαν ⁶⁵⁷

mvp-comment-503-2 ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὕβρει ⁶⁵⁸

mvp-comment-503-3 ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνον ⁶⁵⁹ ὡς ⁶⁶⁰

mvp-comment-503-4 The v.l.

for νῷν ⁶⁶¹

mvp-comment-504-1 ἐξ ἐμοῦ ⁶⁶² τε καί ⁶⁶³

mvp-comment-505-1 ἰδοῦσα πίστιν ⁶⁶⁴

mvp-comment-505-2 εἰς τί μοι ⁶⁶⁵

mvp-comment-505-3 ἀνηκέστῳ ⁶⁶⁶

mvp-comment-505-4 πυρί ⁶⁶⁷

mvp-comment-506-1 σὺ δ’ οὖν ⁶⁶⁸

mvp-comment-506-2 τῷ λόγῳ ⁶⁶⁹

mvp-comment-507-1 καὶ δὴ ⁶⁷⁰

mvp-comment-507-2 κατειδόμην ⁶⁷¹

mvp-comment-508-1 ἀρχαῖον τάφον ⁶⁷²

mvp-comment-509-1 κολώνης ἐξ ἄκρας ⁶⁷³

mvp-comment-509-2 γάλακτος ⁶⁷⁴

mvp-comment-509-3 περιστεφῆ … ἀνθέων ⁶⁷⁵

mvp-comment-509-4 ἔστιν ⁶⁷⁶

mvp-comment-509-5 θήκην ⁶⁷⁷

mvp-comment-510-1 ἔσχον θαῦμα ⁶⁷⁸

mvp-comment-510-2 ἐγχρίμπτῃ ⁶⁷⁹ ἐγχρίμπτει ⁶⁸⁰

mvp-comment-511-1 ἐν γαλήνῃ ⁶⁸¹

mvp-comment-512-1 ἐσχάτης … πυρᾶς ⁶⁸²

mvp-comment-512-2 νεώρη ⁶⁸³

mvp-comment-513-1 ἐμπαίει κ.τ.λ. ⁶⁸⁴ ὄμμα ⁶⁸⁵

mvp-comment-513-2 σύνηθες ⁶⁸⁶ ὁρᾶν ⁶⁸⁷

mvp-comment-513-3 The intrans.

(a stronger ) occurs only here; but cp. O. T. 1252 . In Aesch. Ag. 187 are ‘the fortunes which have suddenly struck him’: cp. ib. 347

mvp-comment-513-4 ψυχῇ ⁶⁸⁸

mvp-comment-513-5 The scholium in L runs thus:—

] : i.e., the writer took to mean ‘a sight’; a sense possible for it only when, as here, it denotes the human face or form ( Ai. 977 : ib. 1004: Aesch. Ch. 238 ). This scholium cannot be claimed, however, as indicating that the scholiast read φάσμα ⁶⁸⁹

mvp-comment-514-1 βαστάσασα ⁶⁹⁰

mvp-comment-514-2 δυσφηυῶ μὲν οὔ ⁶⁹¹ οὔ ⁶⁹²

mvp-comment-515-1 νῦν θ’ ὁμοίως καὶ τότ’ ⁶⁹³

mvp-comment-515-2 μή του ⁶⁹⁴

mvp-comment-515-3 ἀγλάϊσμα ⁶⁹⁵

mvp-comment-515-4 911 f. The elliptical πῶς γὰρ ⁶⁹⁶ ᾗ γε ⁶⁹⁷ μηδὲ ⁶⁹⁸ πρὸς θεοὺς ⁶⁹⁹

mvp-comment-515-5 ἀκλαύστῳ ⁷⁰⁰

mvp-comment-516-1 ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ ⁷⁰¹

mvp-comment-517-1 οὔτε δρῶσ’ ἐλάνθαν’ ἄν ⁷⁰²

mvp-comment-517-2 It is quite true that such elision was rare; the

more usually averted it. The mistake is to deny that it was admissible. Porson's keen observation and fine instinct led him to no such rule; he found no offence ( e.g.) in Eur. Hec. 1113 ( MSS.; Heath).

mvp-comment-517-3 But is ἐλάνθανεν ⁷⁰³ δρῶσα ⁷⁰⁴

mvp-comment-517-4 If ἐλάνθαν’ ἄν ⁷⁰⁵ ἔληθεν ἄν ⁷⁰⁶

mvp-comment-517-5 915 *

is Dindorf's certain correction of τἀπιτίμια ⁷⁰⁷

mvp-comment-518-1 θάρσυνε ⁷⁰⁸

mvp-comment-518-2 οὐχ αὑτὸς ἀεί ⁷⁰⁹

mvp-comment-519-1 νῷν ἧν ⁷¹⁰ δ’ ⁷¹¹

mvp-comment-519-2 κῦρος ⁷¹²

mvp-comment-520-1 φεῦ τῆς ἀνοίας ὥς ⁷¹³

mvp-comment-521-1 ὅποι γῆς … φέρει ⁷¹⁴

mvp-comment-522-1 πῶς δ’ οὐκ ἐγὼ κάτοιδ’ ⁷¹⁵

mvp-comment-523-1 τἀκείνου … σωτήρια ⁷¹⁶

mvp-comment-524-1 καὶ ποῦ ⁷¹⁷

mvp-comment-524-2 ὑπέρχεται ⁷¹⁸

mvp-comment-525-1 μητρὶ ⁷¹⁹

mvp-comment-526-1 τὰ πολλὰ ⁷²⁰ πρὸς τάφον ⁷²¹

mvp-comment-527-1 μάλιστ’ ⁷²²

mvp-comment-527-2 μνημεἶ ⁷²³

mvp-comment-528-1 ὦ δυστυχής ⁷²⁴

mvp-comment-528-2 τοιούσδ’ ⁷²⁵

mvp-comment-529-1 ἵν’ ἦμεν ἄτης ⁷²⁶

mvp-comment-530-1 λύσεις ⁷²⁷

mvp-comment-531-1 οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅ γ’ εἶπον ⁷²⁸

mvp-comment-532-1 φερέγγυος ⁷²⁹

mvp-comment-533-1 τλῆναι … δρῶσαν ⁷³⁰

mvp-comment-534-1 ὠφέλειά γ’ ⁷³¹

mvp-comment-535-1 ὅρα ⁷³²

mvp-comment-535-2 πόνου … εὐτυχεῖ ⁷³³

mvp-comment-536-1 ξυνοίσω ⁷³⁴

mvp-comment-537-1 ποεῖν ⁷³⁵

mvp-comment-538-1 παρουσίαν ⁷³⁶

mvp-comment-538-2 καὶ σύ που ⁷³⁷

mvp-comment-539-1 λελείμμεθον ⁷³⁸

mvp-comment-540-1 θάλλοντ’ ἔτ’ ⁷³⁹ βίῳ ⁷⁴⁰

mvp-comment-541-1 πράκτοῤ ⁷⁴¹

mvp-comment-542-1 εἰς σὲ δὴ βλέπω ⁷⁴²

mvp-comment-543-1 κατοκνήσεις ⁷⁴³ κατοκνήσῃς ⁷⁴⁴

mvp-comment-543-2 Brunck's comment, ‘ soloece vulgo

,’ alludes to the rule laid down by R. Dawes (ob. 1766) in Miscellanea Critica (p. 227), and once known as the canon Davesianus, that could not be used with the first aor. subjunct. act. or midd. Among many examples that refute it are in the passage just quoted from Xen. (the fut. being ), and in 1122 (the fut. being ).

mvp-comment-544-1 κρύπτειν ⁷⁴⁵

mvp-comment-544-2 In this play the fate of Aegisthus forms the climax. Electra has already said that Clytaemnestra shared in the murderous deed (97 ff., 206), and has avowed that she would have wished Orestes to wreak vengeance on her (604). But she does not suggest that she herself or her sister should slay their mother; even the plur.

in 979 need not mean more than Aegisthus. Sophocles avoids everything that could qualify our sympathy with Electra; while it suits the different aim of Euripides to make her plan the matricide. See Introduction.

mvp-comment-545-1 ποῖ … μενεῖς ⁷⁴⁶

mvp-comment-545-2 βλέψας’ ⁷⁴⁷

mvp-comment-546-1 κτῆσιν ⁷⁴⁸ ἐστερημένῃ ⁷⁴⁹

mvp-comment-547-1 ἐς τοσόνδε τοῦ χρόνου ⁷⁵⁰

mvp-comment-548-1 ἄλεκτρα … ἀνυμέναια ⁷⁵¹

mvp-comment-548-2 γηράσκουσαν ⁷⁵²

mvp-comment-549-1 τῶνδε ⁷⁵³

mvp-comment-549-2 ὅπως ⁷⁵⁴

mvp-comment-550-1 ἢ κἀμὸν ⁷⁵⁵ πημονὴν ⁷⁵⁶

mvp-comment-551-1 ἐπίσπῃ ⁷⁵⁷

mvp-comment-552-1 εὐσέβειαν … οἴσει ⁷⁵⁸ θανόντος ⁷⁵⁹ κάτω ⁷⁶⁰

mvp-comment-552-2 970 ff. The compound ἐξέφυς ⁷⁶¹

mvp-comment-552-3 καλεῖ ⁷⁶²

mvp-comment-552-4 τὰ χρηστὰ ⁷⁶³

mvp-comment-553-1 λόγων γε μὴν εὔκλειαν ⁷⁶⁴ λόγων ⁷⁶⁵

mvp-comment-554-1 ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων ⁷⁶⁶

mvp-comment-554-2 δεξιώσεται ⁷⁶⁷

mvp-comment-555-1 ἴδεσθε ⁷⁶⁸

mvp-comment-556-1 εὖ βεβηκόσιν ⁷⁶⁹

mvp-comment-556-2 ἀφειδήσαντε ⁷⁷⁰

mvp-comment-556-3 προὐστήτην φόνου ⁷⁷¹ ἐχθροῖς ⁷⁷² φόνου ⁷⁷³

mvp-comment-556-4 981 f. For τούτω … τώδε ⁷⁷⁴ ἑορταῖς ⁷⁷⁵ πανδήμῳ πόλει ⁷⁷⁶ τοι ⁷⁷⁷

mvp-comment-557-1 συμπόνει ⁷⁷⁸ σύγκαμνε ⁷⁷⁹

mvp-comment-557-2 Electra has already declared her faith that Agamemnon, in the nether world, is the ally of his children (454

: cp. 459 ). Orestes also, as she believes, is now there, working in the same cause. She asks her sister to aid their efforts.

mvp-comment-557-3 Nauck miserably defaces this passage by adopting the corrupt v. l. ἀδελφῇ ⁷⁸⁰ ἐμέ ⁷⁸¹

mvp-comment-557-4 παῦσον ἐκ κακῶν ⁷⁸²

mvp-comment-557-5 989 In τοῖς καλῶς πεφυκόσιν ⁷⁸³

mvp-comment-558-1 ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ⁷⁸⁴ καὶ κλύοντι ⁷⁸⁵ σύμμαχος ⁷⁸⁶

mvp-comment-558-2 993 For the place of μὴ ⁷⁸⁷

mvp-comment-558-3 ἐσῴζετ’ ⁷⁸⁸

mvp-comment-559-1 ἐμβλέψασα ⁷⁸⁹ θράσος … ὁπλίζει ⁷⁹⁰

mvp-comment-560-1 εἰσορᾷς ⁷⁹¹

mvp-comment-560-2 γυνὴ μὲν ⁷⁹²

mvp-comment-560-3 σθένεις δ’ ἔλασσον … χερί ⁷⁹³

mvp-comment-561-1 ἀπορρεῖ ⁷⁹⁴

mvp-comment-561-2 κἀπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται ⁷⁹⁵

mvp-comment-562-1 τοιοῦτον ⁷⁹⁶

mvp-comment-562-2 ἄλυπος ἄτης ⁷⁹⁷

mvp-comment-563-1 κτησώμεθ’ ⁷⁹⁸

mvp-comment-564-1 λύει ⁷⁹⁹ ἡμᾶς ⁸⁰⁰ ἡμῖν ⁸⁰¹

mvp-comment-564-2 δυσκλεῶς θανεῖν ⁸⁰²

mvp-comment-565-1 οὐ γἀρ θανεῖν ⁸⁰³ γὰρ ⁸⁰⁴

mvp-comment-566-1 κἀξερημῶσαι γένος ⁸⁰⁵

mvp-comment-567-1 ἄρρητα … κἀτελῆ ⁸⁰⁶ σοι ⁸⁰⁷

mvp-comment-568-1 ἀλλὰ τῷ χρόνῳ ποτέ ⁸⁰⁸

mvp-comment-569-1 The difference between πείθου ⁸⁰⁹ πιθοῦ ⁸¹⁰

mvp-comment-570-1 καλῶς δ’ ⁸¹¹

mvp-comment-571-1 αὐτόχειρί μοι ⁸¹²

mvp-comment-571-2 μόνῃ τε ⁸¹³

mvp-comment-571-3 οὐ γὰρ δὴ ⁸¹⁴ γε ⁸¹⁵

mvp-comment-571-4 κενόν ⁸¹⁶

mvp-comment-572-1 εἴθ’ ὤφελες ⁸¹⁷

mvp-comment-572-2 πᾶν γὰρ ἂν κατειργάσω ⁸¹⁸

mvp-comment-573-1 φύσιν γε ⁸¹⁹ τότε ⁸²⁰

mvp-comment-574-1 ὡς οὐχὶ συνδράσουσα ⁸²¹

mvp-comment-574-2 νουθετεῖς ⁸²²

mvp-comment-575-1 εἰκὸς γὰρ ⁸²³ ἐγχειροῦντα ⁸²⁴ πράσσειν ⁸²⁵

mvp-comment-576-1 ζηλῶ ⁸²⁶

mvp-comment-577-1 ἀνέξομαι ⁸²⁷

mvp-comment-578-1 μὴ πάθῃς τόδε ⁸²⁸

mvp-comment-579-1 τὸ κρῖναι ⁸²⁹ μακρὸς ⁸³⁰

mvp-comment-579-2 χὡ λοιπὸς χρόνος ⁸³¹

mvp-comment-580-1 μητρὶ … σῇ ⁸³²

mvp-comment-581-1 οὐδ’ αὖ ⁸³³ οὐδ’ ⁸³⁴

mvp-comment-581-2 ἔχθος ⁸³⁵

mvp-comment-582-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν … γ’ ⁸³⁶

mvp-comment-582-2 οἷ … ἀτιμίας ⁸³⁷

mvp-comment-583-1 ἀτιμίας μὲν οὔ ⁸³⁸

mvp-comment-584-1 τῷ σῷ δικαίῳ ⁸³⁹ δῆτ’ ⁸⁴⁰

mvp-comment-585-1 ἦ δεινὸν ⁸⁴¹

mvp-comment-585-2 εὖ λέγουσαν ⁸⁴² ἐξαμαρτάνειν ⁸⁴³

mvp-comment-586-1 ᾧ σὺ πρόσκεισαι κακῷ ⁸⁴⁴

mvp-comment-587-1 τί δ); οὐ δοκῶ σοι ⁸⁴⁵

mvp-comment-588-1 εἰ ποήσεις ⁸⁴⁶

mvp-comment-589-1 καὶ μὴν ⁸⁴⁷

mvp-comment-590-1 βουλεύσει πάλιν ⁸⁴⁸

mvp-comment-591-1 φρονεῖν ⁸⁴⁹

mvp-comment-592-1 ταῦτα ⁸⁵⁰ νεωστί ⁸⁵¹ ι ⁸⁵²

mvp-comment-593-1 τολμᾷς ⁸⁵³

mvp-comment-594-1 οὔ σοι μὴ μεθέψομαι ⁸⁵⁴

mvp-comment-595-1 καὶ τὸ θηρᾶσθαι κενά ⁸⁵⁵ καὶ ⁸⁵⁶

mvp-comment-595-2 κενά ⁸⁵⁷

mvp-comment-596-1 ὅταν γὰρ ⁸⁵⁸

mvp-comment-596-2 βεβήκῃς ⁸⁵⁹

mvp-comment-597-1 ἄνωθεν ⁸⁶⁰

mvp-comment-597-2 οἰωνοὺς ⁸⁶¹

mvp-comment-598-1 ἐσορώμενοι ⁸⁶² ἀφ’ ὧν ⁸⁶³

mvp-comment-599-1 εὕρωσι ⁸⁶⁴

mvp-comment-599-2 ἐπ’ ἴσας ⁸⁶⁵

mvp-comment-600-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ τὰν ⁸⁶⁶

mvp-comment-601-1 τὰν οὐρανίαν Θέμιν ⁸⁶⁷

mvp-comment-602-1 ἀπόνητοι ⁸⁶⁸

mvp-comment-603-1 χθονία ⁸⁶⁹ βροτοῖσι ⁸⁷⁰

mvp-comment-603-2 φάμα ⁸⁷¹

mvp-comment-603-3 Some write Φάμα ⁸⁷²

mvp-comment-604-1 κατά … βόασον ⁸⁷³

mvp-comment-604-2 μοι ⁸⁷⁴

mvp-comment-605-1 Ἀτρείδαις ⁸⁷⁵

mvp-comment-605-2 ἀχόρευτα ⁸⁷⁶ ὀνείδη ⁸⁷⁷

mvp-comment-606-1 νοσεῖ ⁸⁷⁸ δή ⁸⁷⁹

mvp-comment-607-1 τὰ δὲ πρὸς τέκνων ⁸⁸⁰

mvp-comment-607-2 διπλῆ φύλοπις ⁸⁸¹

mvp-comment-607-3 οὐκέτ’ ἐξισοῦται ⁸⁸² φιλοτασίῳ διαίτᾳ ⁸⁸³

mvp-comment-607-4 It is also possible, though (I think) less natural, to take the dat.

as depending on (‘is no longer compatible with friendly intercourse’).

mvp-comment-608-1 σαλεύει ⁸⁸⁴

mvp-comment-609-1 Ἠλέκτρα, †τὸν ἀεὶ πατρὸς ⁸⁸⁵

mvp-comment-609-2 Hence it is now generally held that this verse is corrupt. But no certain correction has yet been proposed. The word ἀεὶ ⁸⁸⁶ πατρὸς ⁸⁸⁷

mvp-comment-609-3 Far the best conjecture is Heath's, ἁ παῖς, οἶτον ἀεὶ πατρὸς ⁸⁸⁸

mvp-comment-610-1 πάνδυρτος ⁸⁸⁹

mvp-comment-611-1 οὔτε … τε ⁸⁹⁰

mvp-comment-611-2 τὸ … μὴ βλέπειν ⁸⁹¹

mvp-comment-612-1 διδύμαν … Ἐρινύν ⁸⁹²

mvp-comment-613-1 τίς ἂν εὔπατρις ⁸⁹³

mvp-comment-614-1 οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀγαθῶν <γὰρ> ⁸⁹⁴ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ⁸⁹⁵

mvp-comment-615-1 ζῶν κακῶς ⁸⁹⁶

mvp-comment-615-2 νώνυμος ⁸⁹⁷

mvp-comment-616-1 πάγκλαυτον αἰῶνα κοινὸν ⁸⁹⁸

mvp-comment-616-2 εἵλου ⁸⁹⁹

mvp-comment-617-1 τὸ μὴ καλὸν καθοπλίσασα ⁹⁰⁰ ἀπολακτίσασα ⁹⁰¹

mvp-comment-617-2 If καθοπλίσασα ⁹⁰²

mvp-comment-617-3 (1) ‘Having vanquished dishonour’ (schol.

), i.e., having overcome the temptation of ignoble ease and security. elsewhere means to ‘arm’ or ‘equip,’ never ‘to subdue by arms’; if it has the latter sense here, it follows the analogy of such compounds as .

mvp-comment-617-4 (2) ‘Having made ready an unlovely deed’: i.e., the vengeance on the murderers.—See Appendix.

mvp-comment-618-1 φέρειν ⁹⁰³

mvp-comment-618-2 ἐν ἑνὶ λόγῳ ⁹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-619-1 καθύπερθεν ⁹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-619-2 τεῶν ⁹⁰⁶ τῶν ⁹⁰⁷ τοσόνδ’ ⁹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-620-1 ὑπόχειρ ⁹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-621-1 μοίρᾳ … οὐκ ἐν ἐσθλᾷ βεβῶσαν ⁹¹⁰

mvp-comment-622-1 μέγιστα … νόμιμα ⁹¹¹

mvp-comment-622-2 ἔβλαστε ⁹¹²

mvp-comment-622-3 τῶνδε φερομέναν ἄριστα ⁹¹³ τῶνδε ⁹¹⁴

mvp-comment-622-4 I formerly understood:—‘in respect to these laws, prospering full well’:

being then an adv., while is used as in Thuc. 2. 60 § 3 : 5. 15 § 2 : 5. 16 § 1 . This view is recommended by the fact that then forms a clear antithesis to . But two points are against it. (1) , as a genitive of relation, is somewhat awkward; though we might compare Thuc. 3. 92 § 4 : and id. 1. 36 § 2 . (2) The poet's usage, as we have seen, favours the other sense of .

mvp-comment-623-1 τᾷ Ζηνὸς εὐσεβείᾳ ⁹¹⁵ Διὸς ⁹¹⁶ Ζηνὸς ⁹¹⁷

mvp-comment-624-1 εἰσηκούσαμεν ⁹¹⁸

mvp-comment-624-2 ὀρθῶς θ’ ⁹¹⁹ δ’ ⁹²⁰ θ’ ⁹²¹ τε ⁹²² δέ ⁹²³

mvp-comment-624-3 ἔνθα ⁹²⁴

mvp-comment-625-1 Αἴγισθον ⁹²⁵ ᾤκηκεν ⁹²⁶

mvp-comment-626-1 ἀλλ’ ⁹²⁷

mvp-comment-626-2 χὡ φράσας ⁹²⁸

mvp-comment-626-3 ἀζήμιος ⁹²⁹

mvp-comment-627-1 τίς … φράσειεν ἄν ⁹³⁰

mvp-comment-627-2 ποθεινὴν ⁹³¹

mvp-comment-627-3 κοινόπουν ⁹³²

mvp-comment-628-1 τὸν ἄγχιστον ⁹³³

mvp-comment-629-1 ἴθ’, ὦ γύναι ⁹³⁴

mvp-comment-630-1 οὐ δή ποθ’ ⁹³⁵

mvp-comment-631-1 τὴν σὴν κληδόν’ ⁹³⁶

mvp-comment-631-2 Στρόφιος ⁹³⁷

mvp-comment-632-1 φέροντες ⁹³⁸ κομίζομεν ⁹³⁹

mvp-comment-633-1 τοῦτ’ ἐκεῖν’ ⁹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-633-2 πρόχειρον ⁹⁴¹

mvp-comment-633-3 ἄχθος ⁹⁴²

mvp-comment-634-1 κέκευθεν ⁹⁴³

mvp-comment-634-2 1122 Cp. Aesch. P. V. 637

.

mvp-comment-635-1 δότε ⁹⁴⁴ ἥτις ἐστί ⁹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-635-2 ἐπαιτεῖται ⁹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-635-3 πρὸς αἵματος ⁹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-635-4 φύσιν ⁹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-636-1 ψυχῆς Ὀρέστου λοιπόν ⁹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-636-2 ἀπ’ ἐλπίδων ⁹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-636-3 Then οὐχ ὧνπερ ⁹⁵¹

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

and , to take as=‘ with hopes.’ The prep. would then be used as when it denotes a resource: 1378 : Thuc. 1. 91 § 7 . (Observe that in Soph. Tr. 667 is not really similar; it means, ‘as the outcome of a fair hope.’) The prevailing usage of condemns this view.

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

, to change , with Schaefer, to . Cp. Eur. Hec. 351 . This is possible; though , 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: meaning ‘contrary to’—strikes the note of despair more forcibly.

mvp-comment-636-6 (3) Keeping

as=‘contrary to,’ to alter either to οὐχ ὅνπερ ⁹⁵² οὐχ ὥσπερ ⁹⁵³

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

or is unsound.

mvp-comment-637-1 νῦν μὲν γὰρ ⁹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-637-2 οὐδὲν ὄντα ⁹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-637-3 βαστάζω ⁹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-637-4 λαμπρὸν ⁹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-638-1 ὡς ὤφελον ⁹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-638-2 The v.l. ὤφελες ⁹⁵⁹ κλέψασα ⁹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-638-3 τοῖνδε ⁹⁶¹

mvp-comment-638-4 κἀνασώσασθαι ⁹⁶²

mvp-comment-638-5 φόνου ⁹⁶³

mvp-comment-639-1 ὅπως … ἔκεισο ⁹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-639-2 τύμβου πατρῴου ⁹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-640-1 φυγὰς ⁹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-641-1 ἐν ⁹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-641-2 φίλαισι ⁹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-642-1 λουτροῖς σ’ ἐκόσμης’ ⁹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-643-1 ἄθλιον βάρος ⁹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-644-1 ἐν ξέναισι χερσὶ κηδευθεὶς ⁹⁷¹

mvp-comment-644-2 σμικρὸς … ὄγκος ⁹⁷²

mvp-comment-645-1 τῆς ἐμῆς … τρ. ἀνωφελήτου ⁹⁷³

mvp-comment-645-2 παρέσχον ⁹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-646-1 ἢ κἀμοῦ ⁹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-646-2 μητρὸς … φίλος ⁹⁷⁶

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

. But P. N. Papageorgius corrects to ( Scholia in Soph. Trag. Vetera, Leipsic, 1888). And this is confirmed by the first part of the same scholium: : i.e., the scholiast understood, ‘for thou didst not belong to thy mother more than to me,’ and took as=a vocative.

mvp-comment-647-1 οἱ κατ’ οἶκον ⁹⁷⁷ ἦσαν ⁹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-647-2 ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ τροφός ⁹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-648-1 ἀδελφὴ σοὶ ⁹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-648-2 προσηυδώμην ⁹⁸¹

mvp-comment-649-1 ἐκλέλοιπε ⁹⁸²

mvp-comment-649-2 θανόντι ⁹⁸³

mvp-comment-649-3 συναρπάσας ⁹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-649-4 θύελλ’ ⁹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-650-1 τέθνηκ’ ἐγὼ σοί ⁹⁸⁶ σοί ⁹⁸⁷ τέθνηκ’ ἐγώ σοι ⁹⁸⁸

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

(‘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 ⁹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-651-1 μήτηρ ἀμήτωρ ⁹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-651-2 ἧς ⁹⁹¹

mvp-comment-651-3 1160—

mvp-comment-652-1 οἴμοι μοί ⁹⁹²

mvp-comment-653-1 κελεύθους ⁹⁹³

mvp-comment-653-2 ἀπώλεσας ⁹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-653-3 δῆτ’ ⁹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-654-1 τοιγὰρ σὺ δέξαι μ’ ⁹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-654-2 τὴν μηδὲν ⁹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-654-3 τὸ μηδὲν ⁹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-655-1 μετεῖχον τῶν ἴσων ⁹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-655-2 μὴ ἀπολείπεσθαι ¹⁰⁰⁰

mvp-comment-656-1 τοὺς ¹⁰⁰¹ θανόντας ¹⁰⁰²

mvp-comment-657-1 θνητοῦ ¹⁰⁰³ θνητὸς ¹⁰⁰⁴

mvp-comment-657-2 φρόνει ¹⁰⁰⁵

mvp-comment-658-1 πᾶσιν γὰρ ἡμῖν ¹⁰⁰⁶ τοῦτ’ ¹⁰⁰⁷

mvp-comment-659-1 φεῦ φεῦ, τί λέξω ¹⁰⁰⁸

mvp-comment-659-2 λόγων ¹⁰⁰⁹ ποῖ ¹⁰¹⁰ ἀμηχανῶν ¹⁰¹¹

mvp-comment-660-1 It is well to observe the delicately gradual process which leads up to the recognition.

mvp-comment-660-2 (i) 1176—1187. She is surprised that her woes should affect the stranger, and he hints that they are his own. (ii) 1188 —1198. She is thus led to speak more in detail of her sorrows, and of her despair,—caused by her brother's death. (iii) 1199—1204. He once more expresses his pity,—and this time in words which cause her to ask whether he can be a kinsman. He does not give a direct answer, but inquires whether the Chorus are friendly, and is assured that they are so.

mvp-comment-660-3 The preparation is now complete: the actual disclosure follows. (i) 1205— 1210. He asks her to give him the urn which is in her hands: she entreats that she may be allowed to keep it, and to pay it the last honours. (ii) 1211—1217. He tells her that she ought not to mourn for her brother. ‘Why,’ she asks: ‘if these are his ashes?’ ‘They are not so,’ he replies,—taking the urn from her hands. (iii) 1218—1221. ‘Where, then,’ she asks, ‘is his grave?’ ‘The living have no grave.’ ‘He lives?’ ‘Yes,—as surely as I live.’

mvp-comment-660-4 ἔσχες ἄλγος ¹⁰¹²

mvp-comment-661-1 κλεινὸν ¹⁰¹³

mvp-comment-662-1 Bergk has an ingenious (though, I think, mistaken) theory concerning this passage. Seeing that v. 1180 resembles v. 1184, he suggests that 1180 was an inferior variant for 1184: and, on similar grounds, that 1183 was a feebler substitute for 1179. That is, there were two different texts of this passage. ( a) In one of them, the better, verses 1180 and 1183 were absent, and the rest stood in this order, 1178, 1181, 1182, 1179, 1184. ( b) In the other, verses 1179 and 1184 were absent, and the rest stood in this order, 1178, 1181, 1182, 1183, 1180. The present text arose from an attempt to harmonise the other two.

mvp-comment-662-2 We have only to read the dialogue with attention to perceive that this hypothesis of variants is arbitrary. Verse 1183 expresses sympathy in a more definite and emphatic manner than v. 1179: verse 1184 expresses surprise more directly and decidedly than v. 1180. There is a gradual accentuation of the stranger's interest and of Electra's perplexity. This development is the internal proof that our text has not arisen from a dittographia.

mvp-comment-662-3 καὶ μάλ’ ¹⁰¹⁴

mvp-comment-663-1 ταλαίνης ¹⁰¹⁵ συμφορᾶς ¹⁰¹⁶

mvp-comment-664-1 οὐ ¹⁰¹⁷

mvp-comment-665-1 ἀτίμως ¹⁰¹⁸ κἀθέως ¹⁰¹⁹

mvp-comment-666-1 ἢ )μὲ ¹⁰²⁰

mvp-comment-666-2 δυσφημεῖς ¹⁰²¹ ἄλλην ¹⁰²² ξένε ¹⁰²³

mvp-comment-667-1 ἀνύμφου ¹⁰²⁴

mvp-comment-667-2 τροφῆς ¹⁰²⁵

mvp-comment-668-1 τί δή ποτ’ ¹⁰²⁶ μοι ¹⁰²⁷ ἐπισκοπῶν ¹⁰²⁸ τί ¹⁰²⁹

mvp-comment-669-1 ἐν τῷ … τῶν εἰρημένων ¹⁰³⁰

mvp-comment-670-1 ὁρῶν σὲ ¹⁰³¹ σὲ ¹⁰³² σε ¹⁰³³ τῶν ἐμῶν ¹⁰³⁴ σέ ¹⁰³⁵

mvp-comment-670-2 ἐμπρέπουσαν ¹⁰³⁶

mvp-comment-671-1 πόθεν ¹⁰³⁷

mvp-comment-672-1 εἶτα ¹⁰³⁸

mvp-comment-672-2 δουλεύω ¹⁰³⁹

mvp-comment-673-1 ἀνάγκῃ … προτρέπει ¹⁰⁴⁰

mvp-comment-674-1 ἐξισοῖ ¹⁰⁴¹

mvp-comment-675-1 χερσὶν ¹⁰⁴² λύμη βίου ¹⁰⁴³

mvp-comment-676-1 οὑπαρήξων ¹⁰⁴⁴

mvp-comment-677-1 προὔθηκας ¹⁰⁴⁵

mvp-comment-678-1 ποτέ ¹⁰⁴⁶ ἐμέ ¹⁰⁴⁷ νύν μ’ ¹⁰⁴⁸

mvp-comment-679-1 τοῖσι σοῖς ¹⁰⁴⁹ τοῖς ἴσοις ¹⁰⁵⁰

mvp-comment-679-2 The word ξυγγενὴς ¹⁰⁵¹ τοῖσι σοῖς ¹⁰⁵² τοῖς ἴσοις ¹⁰⁵³

mvp-comment-680-1 τὸ τῶνδε ¹⁰⁵⁴

mvp-comment-681-1 νυν ¹⁰⁵⁵

mvp-comment-682-1 πιθοῦ ¹⁰⁵⁶ πείθου ¹⁰⁵⁷

mvp-comment-683-1 πρὸς γενείου ¹⁰⁵⁸

mvp-comment-683-2 The reading of the MSS., μ<*> )ξέλη ¹⁰⁵⁹ μ’ ἐξέλῃ ¹⁰⁶⁰

mvp-comment-683-3 ἐξέλῃ ¹⁰⁶¹

mvp-comment-683-4 τὰ φίλτατα ¹⁰⁶²

mvp-comment-684-1 οὐ φήμ’ ἐάσειν ¹⁰⁶³

mvp-comment-684-2 The division of the trimeter (

) marks agitation, as again in 1220—1226, 1323, etc. Cp. also O. T. 627 , O. C. 722 , Ph. 54 , etc.

mvp-comment-684-3 τάλαιν’ ἐγὼ σέθεν ¹⁰⁶⁴

mvp-comment-685-1 εἰ στερήσομαι ¹⁰⁶⁵

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.

471-515. mvp-comment-208-1 The following short ode, the first stasimon, consisting of a single strophe, antistrophe, and epode, dwells, first, on the renewal of hope which is brought to the upholders of the righteous cause by the announcement of the dream, secondly, on the guilt of those whom Vengeance will now assail, and thirdly, on the long chain of troubles, of which their crime is the continuation. The rhythm, beginning from three short glyconian lines, is chiefly iambic and trochaic, with an increasing number of long syllables toward the close of each movement. The metrical scheme is the following:-

472-473. mvp-comment-209-1 Ср. О. Τ. 1086, εἴπερ ἐγὼ μάντις εἰμὶ καὶ κατὰ γνώμην ἴδρις.

475. mvp-comment-210-1 ὁ πρόμαντις Δίκα] 'Presaging Justice,' i.e. the just Power that has warned Clytemnestra through the dream.

476. mvp-comment-211-1 δίκαια κράτη] Either (1) 'Bringing with her the victorious strength of righteous action,' or (2) And shall bear away the victory in a righteous deed.' In the latter case (2) the participle is proleptic. The former interpretation (1) is on the whole more probable. For this use of φερομένα, cp. Hdt. 7. 50. § 8, πολλὴν φορβὴν φερόμενοι πορευόμεθα.

479-481. mvp-comment-212-1 These lines echo the language of the dialogue, supr. 412, ἔχεις τι θάρσος τοῦδε τοῦ τάρβους πέρι;

480. mvp-comment-213-1 ἁδυπνόων] · Breathing of gladness,' i.e. auspicious. Cp. O. T. 151, ὦ Διὸς ἀδυεπὲς φάτι.

480. mvp-comment-213-2 κλύουσαν] For this accusative, with the dative preceding, as if after θαρρύνει or some such word, see Essay on L. $ 6. p. 23, and cp. Aesch. Cho. 410, 11, πέπαλται δ᾽ αὐτέ μοι φίλον κέαρ τόνδε κλύουσαν οἶκτον.

484. mvp-comment-214-1 ὁ φύσας] It must be borne in mind that Electra is present during the chanting of this ode. Cp. supr. 184 and note.

485. mvp-comment-215-1 'Nor that oid two-edged axe of sharpened bronze.' χαλκόπλακτος is literally, 'Smiting with bronze,' χαλκέας πληγὰς ἔχων. See Essay on L. $ 53: p. 98. χαλκόπακτος, • Of solid bronze,' is the conjecture of Kvidala. The axe is imagined as giving evidence, much as in early times a weapon might be accused of homicide. For a somewhat similar fancy, attributing feeling to an inanimate instrument, cp. Philoctetes, 1130 foll., ἢ που ἐλεινὸν ὁρᾷς, κ.τ.λ., Hab. 2, 11, The nail shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it, Woe unto him,' etc.

486. mvp-comment-216-1 αἰσχίσταις ἐν αἰκίαις] These words are an echo of supr. 444-6.

488-489. mvp-comment-217-1 καὶ πολύπους | καὶ πολύχειρ] With exceeding swiftness and might.' Like πᾶς and αὐτός in composition (E. on L. $ 55. p. 101), πολύς has here an intensive force, without having an exactly defined significance. Ср. πολύγλωσσος, infr. 798.

490. mvp-comment-218-1 Cp. infr. 1396, 7, δόλον σκότῳ κρύψας πρὸς αὐτὸ τέρμα.

491. mvp-comment-219-1 χαλκόπους] 'With adamantine,' i.e. (1) unwearying, 'footsteps.' Cp. χαλκὸς ἀτειρής. Or (2) Irresistible.'

492. mvp-comment-220-1 ἐπέβα] «There came on,' as a dangerous event (οἶσιν = τούτων οἷς).

495-498. mvp-comment-221-1 πρὸ τῶνδε .. συνδρῶσιν] ‘In the face of these things I feel assured that the portent which comes near to the doer or the abettor of the deed cannot be other than baneful.' In Sophocles, not as in Aeschylus, Aegisthus is the author, Clytemnestra the accessory, of the murder. In Aesch. Ag. 1609, he claims a greater share than the poet really attributes to him. For μήποτε, see E. on L. § 24. p. 41, y 2, and cp. Aj. 183.

499. mvp-comment-222-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν] 'Divination, as an art in which mortals are concerned.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 709, βρότειον οὐδὲν μαντικῆς ἔχον τέχνης, and see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75.

500. mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ᾽ ἐν θεσφάτοις] The indication of the dream is as express and clear as any oracle. If the one fail of accomplishment, so must the other.

501. mvp-comment-224-1 εὐ κατασχήσει] 'Shall happily reach its destination,' i. e. shall have a fortunate issue. Cp. Trach. 826, 7, καὶ τάδ᾽ ὀρθῶς | ἔμπεδα κατουρίζει.

504-505. mvp-comment-225-1 'O chariot-race of Pelops in the former time, that hast caused many troubles, how pregnant was thine occurrence with sorrow for this land!' Sophocles passes over the quarrels of Atreus and Thyestes, and goes back at once to the homicide of which Pelops, the author of the whole race, was guilty. This made Hermes the father of Myrtilus send the golden ram, which led to the fatal dissension between the brothers. Eur. Or. 988-1012. The act of Orestes in the present drama is destined to put an end to the series of disasters which then began.

506. mvp-comment-226-1 On the question between αἰανής and αἰανή, cp. Aj. 672 and note.

510. mvp-comment-227-1 *παγχρυσέων] The chariot of the wealthy Pelops on his bridal journey was encrusted with gold. Cp. Pind. Ol. 1.87. παγχρύσεος is the Homeric form, and if a change is necessary, this seems to be the simplest. The metre is the same as in 512. Others read παγχρύσων ἐκ δίφρων. Μ. has πολυχρύσων.

511. mvp-comment-228-1 δυστάνοις αἰκίαις] Myrtilus,

511-512. mvp-comment-229-1 although a traitor to Oenomaus, was a benefactor to Pelops. Observe the repetition of the word from supr. 486, also infr. 515.

512. mvp-comment-230-1 πρόρριζος ἐκριφθείς] «Uprooted and flung forth.'

513-515. mvp-comment-231-1 'Never since that day has sad dishonour left the house.' Some editors read ἔλιπεν ἐκ τοῦδ᾽ οἴκου, ‘Has failed out of this house,' which is less probable. Wecklein reads οἴκους | πολυπάμονας, which is supported by the scholion on 508, οὐ διέλιπεν αἰκία τοὺς πολυκτήμονας δόμους. But see E. on L. § 44. pp. 83, 4.

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.

552-553. mvp-comment-249-1 έρε ἐρεῖς . . λυπηρόν] The death of Iphigenia was a painful subject to Electra.

556-557. mvp-comment-250-1 εἰ δὲ μ᾿ ὧδ' ἀεὶ λόγους | ἐξήρχες] 'If your speeches to me were always tuned in that key.' με is governed κατὰ σύνεσιν by the whole phrase, as equivalent to ὧδε προσηγόρευες, ἐξάρχειν is used as in ἐξάρχειν μέλος. Electra is imagined as sounding the note to which Clytemnestra responds.

561. mvp-comment-251-1 δίκῃ] 'As moved thereto by Justice:'-dative of the cause.

563-564. mvp-comment-252-1 τίνος .. Αὐλίδι] ‘In requital for what' either (1) He endured that mighty wind at Aulis?' or (2) That great tempest fell upon Aulis?' or (3) She directed (ἐπέσχεν) that mighty wind at Aulis? It may be objected to (1), that if Agamemnon is the subject of ἔσχε, the words πατὴρ οὐμός in 566 are unnecessary. For (3) requiring ἔσχεν to be equivalent to ἐπέσχεν, see Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 4, and L. and S., s. v. ἔχω, Α. ii. 7, and cp. Il. 14. 57, οἱ δ᾽ ἐπὶ νηυσὶ θοῇσι μάχην ἀλίαστον ἔχουσιν: 11.271, (εἰλειθυῖαι) πικρὰς ὠδῖνας ἔχουσai.

565. mvp-comment-253-1 κείνης.. μαθεῖν] ‘For you may not learn from her;' i. e. Artemis will not hold communication with one so polluted. Clytemnestra notwithstanding appeals to Artemis, infr. 626.

566-569. mvp-comment-254-1 Electra's point is that Agamemnon's fault which provoked Artemis was a light and all but involuntary offence.

567. mvp-comment-255-1 ἐξεκίνησεν ποδοῖν] ‘Startled by his tread.' The language is softened so as to convey the impression that Agamemnon put up the stag accidentally.

569. mvp-comment-256-1 He chanced to let fall some word of boasting.' There is a stress on the participle ἐκκομπάσας.

571-572. mvp-comment-257-1 Electra does not raise the question whether the will of Artemis was just or not. She is contented with shifting the responsibility from Agamemnon.

575. mvp-comment-258-1 The words πολλὰ καὶ ἀντιβάς form a separate clause, unless πολλά be joined to βιασθείς, which is improbable. For which cause, and not for Menelaus'sake, under compulsion, -ay, after many a struggle, he reluctantly sacrificed her.' After making this elaborate statement of the immediate cause, it occurs to Electra that everything connected with the expedition was in one sense done on Menelaus' account. Hence she resumes, with εἰ δ' οὖν, by admitting this, as if for the sake of argument.

579. mvp-comment-259-1 ποίῳ νόμῳ] 'On what principle?' Cp. Ant. 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;

584. mvp-comment-260-1 οὐκ οὖσαν] 'Unreal;' i.e. οὐκ ἀληθῆ. Cp. Τhuc. 6. 16, προσποίησίν τε ξυγγενείας .. καὶ μὴ οὖσαν.

589. mvp-comment-261-1 τοὺς δὲ πρόσθεν] Sc. παΐδας, understood πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον from παιδοποιεῖς. Essay on L. § 36. p. 64.

590. mvp-comment-262-1 εὐσεβῶν] i. e. ᾿Αγαμέμνονος. Poetical plural. ἐκβαλοῦσ᾽ ἔχεις] «You have cast out from favour. Electra is virtually an outcast, and Orestes, although not banished by his mother's act, durst not return openly to his home.

591. mvp-comment-263-1 πῶς.. ἄν] «Do you expect me to approve of this?'-referring to supr. 550.

591-592. mvp-comment-264-1 ἢ.. λαμβάνεις] « Or will you say that in this, too, you are vindicating your daughter?' τοῦτο, accusative in apposition with τῆς θ. α. λ.

593. mvp-comment-265-1 αἰσχρῶς] Sc. ἐρεῖς. οὐ γὰρ καλόν, κ. τ. λ.]. There is little virtue in,' etc. See on Aj. 1132, 1349.

595-597. mvp-comment-266-1 ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ . . κακοστομοῦμεν 'But then one may not even reason with you, since you reply with all your vehemence that I am reviling my mother.' For ἀλλ᾽ οὐ .. γάρ without apodosis, cp. O. C. 988 foll., ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἐν τοῖσδ᾽ ἀκούσομαι κακὸς | γάμοισιν, κ.τ.λ. πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν = πᾶσαν γλῶσσαν ἱεῖσα λέγεις. Cp. Plat. Legg. 10. p. 890 D, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν, τὸ λεγόμενον, φωνὴν ἱέντα τῷ παλαιῷ νόμῳ ἐπίκουρον γίγνεσθαι λόγῳ.

597. mvp-comment-267-1 νέμω] ·And truly I account thee rather my mistress than my mother.' καί has a sarcastic tone as in interrogation, and is nearly = καί τοι, - as in Aj. 92 it may be said to have the force of καὶ μήν.

601. mvp-comment-268-1 ὁ δ᾽ ἄλλος ἔξω] 'And he, moreover, in a foreign land. The article is demonstrative, and ἄλλοs is predicative or adverbial. See Essay on L. § 21. pp. 33, 5. χεῖρα . . φυγών] Electra implies that Clytemnestra would have killed Orestes

601-602. mvp-comment-269-1 if she could, either at the time of Agamemnon's murder, or afterwards.

603. mvp-comment-270-1 σοὶ .. μιάστορα] ‘An avenger of blood against thee.' μιάστωρ is properly one who stains others with his own guilt; here it is one who fixes the stain of guilt by executing vengeance for it. Compare the use of the verb 'to stain' in Elizabethan English: e.g. Shaksp. Ant. and Cleo. 3. 4, 'I'll raise the preparation of a War | Shall stain your brother.'

606. mvp-comment-271-1 εἴτε † χρή) ‘Whether you must call me,' etc. Here, as in Aj. 1373, the reading of the MSS, which is possibly idiomatic, is preferred το χρῇς = χρήζεις, which is a doubtful emendation.

608. mvp-comment-272-1 τῶνδε τῶν ἔργων] ‘Of actions which have this character.' Cp. O. T. 864, 5, τὰν εὔσεπτον ἁγνείαν λόγων ἔργων τε πάντων, ὧν, κ.τ.λ., and note.

609. mvp-comment-273-1 καταισχύνω] Cp. Aj. 1304, 5. ἆρ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἄριστος ἐξ ἀριστέοιν δυοῖν | βλαστὼν ἂν αἰσχύνοιμι τοὺς πρὺς αἵματος;

610. mvp-comment-274-1 ὁρῶ μένος πνέουσαν] Sc. τὴν Κλυταιμνήστραν. This appears from her reply, and also from the comparison οἱ εἰ δὲ σὺν δίκῃ, κ.τ.λ, with supr. 528. Here, as in O. T. 746, Aesch. Ag. 1306, τί δ' ἐστὶ χρῆμα; τίς σ᾽ ἀποστρέφει φόβος; -the dialogue contains a reference to by-play.

614. mvp-comment-275-1 τηλικοῦτος] 'At her age.' Cp. infr. 961, 2:-i.e. Her words are not those of a petulant girl, which might be safely disregarded.

616-619. mvp-comment-276-1 The harshness of Electra is not native to her character, but superinduced, and she is painfully conscious of this.

623. mvp-comment-277-1 πόλλ᾽ ἄγαν λέγειν ποιεῖ] 'Make you to say too much: '-i.e. Are too much the theme of your discourse, in which you say much that you should not.

624. mvp-comment-278-1 viv is here neuter plural = αὐτά.

624-625. mvp-comment-279-1 Translated by Milton:-''Tis you that say it, not I; you do the deeds, And your ungodly deeds find me the words.'

626. mvp-comment-280-1 μὰ τὴν .. "Αρτεμιν] Cp. supr. 565, and note. θράσους is genitive of cause.

627. mvp-comment-281-1 For the repetition of οὐκ, see Essay on L. § 29. p. 48. We are again reminded that Aegisthus is from home. Cp. supr. 517.

628-629. mvp-comment-282-1 μεθεῖσά μοι χρήζοιμ 'After giving me leave to say what I chose.' Supr. 556.

630. mvp-comment-283-1 οὐδ᾽ ὑπ᾿ εὐφήμου βοῆς], 'Not even in silence from clamour:' - i. e. Not even without being pestered by your noise.

632. mvp-comment-284-1 κελεύω] 'I urge it on you:'- i.e. as knowing what need you have to propitiate the gods.

634. mvp-comment-285-1 ἡ παροῦσά μοι] ‘Thou that art with me.' Cp. supr. 424. In Sophocles the attendants are never called by name, -as the Nurse is in Aesch. Cho. 732.

634-635. mvp-comment-286-1 θύμαθ᾽.. πάγκαρπ'] 'Rich offerings of various produce.'

635. mvp-comment-287-1 ἄνακτι . . τῷδ'] 'The king in presence here; '-Apollo Lyceius, infr. 645: ср. О. Т. 919, supr. l. 7.

635-636. mvp-comment-288-1 ὅπως.. ἔχω] 'That I may offer up a prayer for release from the terrors which are now haunting me.' The words, δειμάτων & νῦν ἔχω, are added in construction with λυτηρίους. For the sense, cp. O. Τ. 921, ὅπως λύσιν τιν' ἡμὶν εὐαγῆ πόρῃς.

639-640. mvp-comment-289-1 οὐδὲ πᾶν . . ἐμοί] 'Nor is it fitting that I unfold everything to light while she is near me.' In listening to these words the spectator recollects

640-642. mvp-comment-290-1 that Electra is already in possession of the whole truth about the dream. Cp. supr. 417 foll.

641-642. mvp-comment-291-1 'Lest with inauspicious and noisy outcry she disseminate a lewd report throughout the city.' φθόνῳ is lit. *odium.' ματ ματαίαν is not merely 'causeless,' but 'wanton,' conveying the notion of positive mischief. In πολυγλώσσῳ the first part of the compound is intensive. Cp. supr. 488, 9, infr. 798.

643. mvp-comment-292-1 But hear it, even in the (vague) form in which I will make it known.' Cp. O. C. 484, for the importance attached to the form of words used in prayer.

644. mvp-comment-293-1 γάρ introduces the promised statement.

645. mvp-comment-294-1 δισσῶν is supposed by some to mean, 'Ambiguous; but it is simpler and more natural to understand it either of two different dreams, or of the same dream repeated. Cp. Plat. Phaedo, 60 E, πολλάκις μοι φοιτῶν τὸ αὐτὸ ἐνύπνιον ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι βίῳ, ἄλλοτ᾽ ἐν ἄλλῃ ὄψει φαινόμενον, τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ λέγον, κ.τ.λ.

647. mvp-comment-295-1 ἔμπαλιν] 'On the contrary,'- because ἐμοί is understood with τελεσφόρα in l. 646. μέθες] 'Let it fall instead.'

648-649. mvp-comment-296-1 'And if there is one who plans to cast me forth by guile from my present high estate, do not permit it to him.' Though τινες is plural, Orestes is meant, just as Aegisthus is indicated by the vague φίλοισι in infr. 652. Cp. supr. 590. The spectator knows that the will of Apollo is directly opposed to this petition. For it is difficult to suppose either here or in O. Τ. 908, 919, an entire separation of the Lyceian from the Pythian Apollo. See Introduction.

653. mvp-comment-297-1 καὶ τέκνων ὅσων] ‘And with the children from whom." τέκνοις, the antecedent to ὅσων, is attracted into the case of the relative. Essay on L. § 35. p. 59. She is thinking of Chrysothemis and Iphianassa ( supr. 157) to the exclusion of Electra.

654. mvp-comment-298-1 λύπη] ‘Vexation,' in an active sense.

655. mvp-comment-299-1 This part of the prayer is merely formal, and is uttered in a loud voice, the rest having been spoken aside.

655. mvp-comment-299-2 This part of the prayer is merely formal, and is uttered in a loud voice, the rest having been spoken aside.

660. mvp-comment-300-1 The coming-in of the Old Man prepares the way for the peripeteia by obtaining entrance for the disguised Orestes. It also brings out the heroic character of Electra, by reducing her to a position of despair, and makes more effective her subsequent recognition of Orestes.

660. mvp-comment-300-2 ξέναι] He speaks as a Phocian.

660. mvp-comment-300-3 The coming-in of the Old Man prepares the way for the peripeteia by obtaining entrance for the disguised Orestes. It also brings out the heroic character of Electra, by reducing her to a position of despair, and makes more effective her subsequent recognition of Orestes.

660. mvp-comment-300-4 ξέναι] He speaks as a Phocian.

663. mvp-comment-301-1 δάμαρτα] Sc. οὖσαν.

663. mvp-comment-301-2 δάμαρτα] Sc. οὖσαν.

664. mvp-comment-302-1 πρέπει . . εἰσορᾶν] Though no longer Queen of Agamemnon, the daughter of Tyndareus still wears a royal mien.

664. mvp-comment-302-2 πρέπει . . εἰσορᾶν] Though no longer Queen of Agamemnon, the daughter of Tyndareus still wears a royal mien.

667. mvp-comment-303-1 φίλου παρ᾿ ἀνδρός] Phanoteus, as the enemy of Strophius, Agamemnon's friend, is imagined to be the close ally of Aegisthus. Cp. supr. 45, and note.

667. mvp-comment-303-2 φίλου παρ᾽ ἀνδρός] Phanoteus, as the enemy of Strophius, Agamemnon's friend, is imagined to be the close ally of Aegisthus. Cp. supr. 45, and note.

668. mvp-comment-304-1 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν] I accept the omen.' For this customary mode of appropriating auspicious words, cp. Hdt. 1. 63, Πεισίστρατος δέ, συλλαβὼν τὸ χρηστήριον, καὶ φὰς δέκεσθαι τὸ χρησθέν, ἐπῆγε τὴν στρατιήν: Aesch. Ag. 1652, 3, ΑΙ. .. πρόκωπος οὐκ ἀναίνομαι θανεῖν. | ΧΟ. δεχομένοις λέγεις θανεῖν σε.

668. mvp-comment-304-2 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν] I accept the omen.' For this customary mode of appropriating auspicious words, cp. Hdt. 1. 63, Πεισίστρατος δέ, συλλαβὼν τὸ χρηστήριον, καὶ φὰς δέκεσθαι τὸ χρησθέν, ἐπῆγε τὴν στρατιήν: Aesch. Ag. 1652, 3, ΑΙ. .. πρόκωπος οὐκ ἀναίνομαι θανεῖν. | ΧΟ. δεχομένοις λέγεις θανεῖν σε.

670. mvp-comment-305-1 πρᾶγμα.. μέγα] 'Having on his hands the care of a great matter.' The report is identified with the event.

670. mvp-comment-305-2 πρᾶγμα.. μέγα] 'Having on his hands the care of a great matter.' The report is identified with the event.

675. mvp-comment-306-1 τί φής, τί φής...] For this eager repetition, cp. O. C. 1099, ΟΙ. ποῦ ποῦ; τί φής; πῶς εἶπας; ΑΝ. ὦ πάτερ, πάτερ, κ.τ.λ.

675. mvp-comment-306-2 τί φής, τί φής...] For this eager repetition, cp. O. C. 1099, ΟΙ. ποῦ ποῦ; τί φής; πῶς εἶπας; ΑΝ. ὦ πάτερ, πάτερ, κ.τ.λ.

676. mvp-comment-307-1 I have been saying all this while, and now repeat, that Orestes is dead.' For the participial construction, ср. О. Т. 463-5, and note.

676. mvp-comment-307-2 I have been saying all this while, and now repeat, that Orestes is dead.' For the participial construction, ср. О. Т. 463-5, and note.

678. mvp-comment-308-1 σὺ μὲν . . πρᾶσσ'] 'You, mind your own affairs!' i. e. Do not interrupt us.

678. mvp-comment-308-2 σὺ μὲν . . πρᾶσσ'] 'You, mind your own affairs!' i. e. Do not interrupt us.

680. mvp-comment-309-1 The Old Man now fills up with great spirit (though without an 'oath') the outline which Orestes gave him, supr. 48-50. This narrative, while directly pertinent to the action, also helps to relieve it at a point where it was becoming monotonous. The ornate and exaggerated diction (especially in 730-3) is suited to a fabricated account. Contrast in this respect the speech of Hyllus in Trach. 749 foll.

680. mvp-comment-309-2 The Old Man now fills up with great spirit (though without an 'oath') the outline which Orestes gave him, supr. 48-50. This narrative, while directly pertinent to the action, also helps to relieve it at a point where it was becoming monotonous. The ornate and exaggerated diction (especially in 730-3) is suited to a fabricated account. Contrast in this respect the speech of Hyllus in Trach. 749 foll.

681-682. mvp-comment-310-1 εἰς τὸ κοινὸν . . ἀγῶνος] ‘Το that contest which is the universal pride of Hellas.' ἀγῶνος is to be taken closely with πρόσχημα, as a genitive of definition. Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.

681-682. mvp-comment-310-2 εἰς τὸ κοινὸν . . ἀγῶνος] ‘Το that contest which is the universal pride of Hellas.' ἀγῶνος is to be taken closely with πρόσχημα, as a genitive of definition. Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 6.

685. mvp-comment-311-1 He entered the arena, glorious to behold, and drew all men's eyes towards him.' For λαμπρός, cp. Plat. Rep. 8. 560 E, λαμπρὰς μετὰ πολλοῦ χοροῦ κατάγουσιν : Aeschin. 34. 40.

685. mvp-comment-311-2 He entered the arena, glorious to behold, and drew all men's eyes towards him.' For λαμπρός, cp. Plat. Rep. 8. 560 E, λαμπρὰς μετὰ πολλοῦ χοροῦ κατάγουσιν : Aeschin. 34. 40.

686. mvp-comment-312-1 And having finished his courses in a manner worthy of his looks.' Lit. 'Having made the completion of his courses adequate to his personal appearance.' This line has been needlessly and mistakenly altered. φύσις, the outward promise of the man, is an abridgment or resumption of εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός. Cp. Trach. 308, where πρὸς μὲν . . φύσιν is To judge from her appearance:' Pind. Isthm. 6. 30, φέρει γὰρ Ἰσθμοῖ νίκαν παγκρατίου· σθένει τ' ἔκπαγλος ἰδεῖν τε μορφάεις· ἄγει δ' ἀρετὰν οὐκ αἴσχιον φυᾶς: Nem. 3. 32, ἐὼν καλὸς ἔρδων τ' ἐοικότα μορφᾷ. The conjecture of Musgr. (ἰσώσας τἀφέσει τὰ τέρματα, Having finished at the starting-place') is forced and meaningless. On the verb ἰσόω, see E. on L. § 51. p. 96.

686. mvp-comment-312-2 And having finished his courses in a manner worthy of his looks.' Lit. 'Having made the completion of his courses adequate to his personal appearance.' This line has been needlessly and mistakenly altered. φύσις, the outward promise of the man, is an abridgment or resumption of εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός. Cp. Trach. 308, where πρὸς μὲν . . φύσιν is To judge from her appearance:' Pind. Isthm. 6. 30, φέρει γὰρ Ἰσθμοῖ νίκαν παγκρατίου· σθένει τ' ἔκπαγλος ἰδεῖν τε μορφάεις· ἄγει δ' ἀρετὰν οὐκ αἴσχιον φυᾶς: Nem. 3. 32, ἐὼν καλὸς ἔρδων τ' ἐοικότα μορφᾷ. The conjecture of Musgr. (ἰσώσας τἀφέσει τὰ τέρματα, Having finished at the starting-place') is forced and meaningless. On the verb ἰσόω, see E. on L. § 51. p. 96.

688-689. mvp-comment-313-1 And I know not, indeed, how to tell you a few out of the many successful exploits of such a hero.' This is naturally opposed to what follows, where, instead of selecting particular feats, the Old Man sums up all in a single statement. A slight

688-689. mvp-comment-313-2 And I know not, indeed, how to tell you a few out of the many successful exploits of such a hero.' This is naturally opposed to what follows, where, instead of selecting particular feats, the Old Man sums up all in a single statement. A slight

688-691. mvp-comment-314-1 emendation of l. 688, χὤπως μὲν ἐν παύροισι πολλά, κ.τ.λ., Το tell you much in few, I know of no such (other) hero's achievements and victories,' would make the line clearer in itself, but would destroy the connection with ἓν δ᾽ ἴσθι. But see the end of note on l. 691.

688-691. mvp-comment-314-2 emendation of 1. 688, χὤπως μὲν ἐν παύροισι πολλά, κ.τ.λ., Το tell you much in few, I know of no such (other) hero's achievements and victories,' would make the line clearer in itself, but would destroy the connection with ἓν δ᾽ ἴσθι. But see the end of note on 1. 691.

691. mvp-comment-315-1 Porson's emendation of this line is extremely probable. If the letters περ were displaced, πεν(τ)άθλα might easily be suggested. The relation of ll. 686, 7, to 688- 695, may be questioned. He is describing the first day's performances, and in ll. 686, 7, either (1) states generally what is expanded afterwards, or (2) describes the first race, and then in what follows sums up the remaining contests of the same day. The plural τέρματα, and the structure of the whole passage, decide the point in favour of (1), making each of the two sentences refer to all the foot-races together. Otherwise (3), supposing the language to be more than usually inexact, the lines may be taken to mean, To tell only a little when there is much to tell, I know no feats to be compared with his. One thing you may know,' etc.

691. mvp-comment-315-2 Porson's emendation of this line is extremely probable. If the letters περ were displaced, πεν(τ)άθλα might easily be suggested. The relation of 11. 686, 7, to 688- 695, may be questioned. He is describing the first day's performances, and in 11.686, 7, either (1) states generally what is expanded afterwards, or (2) describes the first race, and then in what follows sums up the remaining contests of the same day. The plural τέρματα, and the structure of the whole passage, decide the point in favour of (1), making each of the two sentences refer to all the foot-races together. Otherwise (3), supposing the language to be more than usually inexact, the lines may be taken to mean, To tell only a little when there is much to tell, I know no feats to be compared with his. One thing you may know,' etc.

693-695. mvp-comment-316-1 He received the congratulations of the crowd, being known by proclamation as an Argive, named Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who levied once the famous armament of Hellas.'

693-695. mvp-comment-316-2 He received the congratulations of the crowd, being known by proclamation as an Argive, named Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who levied once the famous armament of Hellas.'

696-697. mvp-comment-317-1 ὅταν . . βλάπτῃ] 'But when some god is thwarting.'

696-697. mvp-comment-317-2 ὅταν . . βλάπτῃ] 'But when some god is thwarting.'

699. mvp-comment-318-1 ἡλίου τέλλοντος] “At sunrise:' i.e. beginning then.

699. mvp-comment-318-2 ἡλίου τέλλοντος] “At sunrise:' i.e. beginning then.

702. mvp-comment-319-1 ζυγωτῶν ἁρμάτων ἐπιστάται] Masters of yoked cars.' Hdt. 4. 189, τέσσερας ἵππους συζευγνύναι παρὰ Λιβύων οἱ Ἕλληνες μεμαθήκασι. Hence, possibly, the position of this general epithet. The fame of Cyrene in chariot-racing is known to us from Pindar.

702. mvp-comment-319-2 ζυγωτῶν ἁρμάτων ἐπιστάται] Masters of yoked cars.' Hdt. 4. 189, τέσσερας ἵππους συζευγνύναι παρὰ Λιβύων οἱ Ἕλληνες μεμαθήκασι. Hence, possibly, the position of this general epithet. The fame of Cyrene in chariot-racing is known to us from Pindar.

703. mvp-comment-320-1 Θεσσαλάς] Orestes was exiled from the plain of ῎Αργος ἱππόβοτον, and Phocis was too mountainous for horse-breeding.' The Athenian spectator might here be reminded of his faithful allies, the Thessalian horsemen. The five first mentioned come from Dorian states, the rest being either Ionic or Aeolian. ἐν τούτοισι, ' Enter-

703. mvp-comment-320-2 Θεσσαλάς] Orestes was exiled from the plain of ῎Αργος ἱππόβοτον, and Phocis was too mountainous for horse-breeding.' The Athenian spectator might here be reminded of his faithful allies, the Thessalian horsemen. The five first mentioned come from Dorian states, the rest being either Ionic or Aeolian. ἐν τούτοισι, 'Enter-

703-706. mvp-comment-321-1 ing himself with the foregoing,' calls attention to this difference.

703-706. mvp-comment-321-2 ing himself with the foregoing,' calls attention to this difference.

705-706. mvp-comment-322-1 The descriptive epithets in this and the next line, while adding vividness to the picture, may have had some special appropriateness that would be felt by the Greek hearer.

705-706. mvp-comment-322-2 The descriptive epithets in this and the next line, while adding vividness to the picture, may have had some special appropriateness that would be felt by the Greek hearer.

706. mvp-comment-323-1 Αἰνιάν] Hdt. 7. 132, 198.

706. mvp-comment-323-2 Αἰνιάν] Hdt. 7. 132, 198.

707. mvp-comment-324-1 The ornate epithet is reserved for Athens.

707. mvp-comment-324-2 The ornate epithet is reserved for Athens.

708. mvp-comment-325-1 δέκατον ἐκπληρῶν ὄχον] ‘Making ten chariots in all.' Cp. Hdt. 9. 30, σὺν δὲ Θεσπιέων τοῖσι παρεοῦσι ἐξεπληροῦντο αἱ ἕνδεκα μυριάδες, -and, for the use of the ordinal numeral, ib. 1. 51, ἕλκων σταθμὸν ἔννατον ἡμιτάλαντον, and the like expressions. There is a slight confusion or condensation of δέκατον ὄχον ἐλαύνων and ἐκπληρῶν τοὺς δέκα ὄχους.

708. mvp-comment-325-2 δέκατον ἐκπληρῶν ὄχον] ‘Making ten chariots in all.' Cp. Hdt. 9. 30, σὺν δὲ Θεσπιέων τοῖσι παρεοῦσι ἐξεπληροῦντο αἱ ἕνδεκα μυριάδες, -and, for the use of the ordinal numeral, ib. 1. 51, ἕλκων σταθμὸν ἔννατον ἡμιτάλαντον, and the like expressions. There is a slight confusion or condensation of δέκατον ὄχον ἐλαύνων and ἐκπληρῶν τοὺς δέκα ὄχους.

710. mvp-comment-326-1 'Had set the chariots in order after sorting them with lots.' κλήρους ἔπηλαν would have been a simpler construction, but πάλλειν is used absolutely of casting lots, and then receives the addition of an instrumental dative. Cp. supr. l. 21, and note. The construction of the whole line is paratactic for πήλαντες κατέστησαν. Essay on L. § 36. p. 68. αὐτούς in the previous line is in a general construction with what follows.

710. mvp-comment-326-2 'Had set the chariots in order after sorting them with lots.' κλήρους ἔπηλαν would have been a simpler construction, but πάλλειν is used absolutely of casting lots, and then receives the addition of an instrumental dative. Cp. supr. l. 21, and note. The construction of the whole line is paratactic for πήλαντες κατέστησαν. Essay on L. § 36. p. 68. αὐτούς in the previous line is in a general construction with what follows.

711. mvp-comment-327-1 ήξαν] 'The start was made.' The verb has a vague subject in which horses, charioteers, and chariots, are included in one notion. Off they went!' Hence in what follows the charioteers are particularized with the demonstrative οἱ.

711. mvp-comment-327-2 ήξαν] 'The start was made.' The verb has a vague subject in which horses, charioteers, and chariots, are included in one notion. Off they went!' Hence in what follows the charioteers are particularized with the demonstrative οἱ. ἅμα] 'At the same moment;' i. e. All together at the moment of the start.

711-712. mvp-comment-328-1 ἅμα] 'At the same moment;' i. e. All together at the moment of the start.

714. mvp-comment-329-1 κροτητῶν] 'Rattling along:' i.e. the parts of each chariot being rattled against each other, and all against the ground, made a din which filled the place. On the use of the verbal adj., see E. on L. § 53. p. 98.

714. mvp-comment-329-2 κροτητῶν] 'Rattling along:' i.e. the parts of each chariot being rattled against each other, and all against the ground, made a din which filled the place. On the use of the verbal adj., see E. on L. § 53. p. 98.

716-717. mvp-comment-330-1 ὡς .. ἱππικά] Either (1) Whenever any one of them shot ahead of the axle-ends (of the others) and the snorting of the steeds;' i.e. For the most part they were mingled in a confused throng; but when one drew before the rest, then was the moment of excitement, -for the breath of the foaming steeds immediately behind him was an incentive to make him drive faster still. Or (2) Each of them that he might get away from the wheel-naves and the snorting of the steeds :'- each was eager to escape from the neighbourhood of the rest, so as to have free course. But the following lines, which speak of a rival pursuing

716-717. mvp-comment-330-2 ὡς .. ἱππικά] Either (1) Whenever any one of them shot ahead of the axle-ends (of the others) and the snorting of the steeds;' i.e. For the most part they were mingled in a confused throng; but when one drew before the rest, then was the moment of excitement, -for the breath of the foaming steeds immediately behind him was an incentive to make him drive faster still. Or (2) Each of them that he might get away from the wheel-naves and the snorting of the steeds :'- each was eager to escape from the neighbourhood of the rest, so as to have free course. But the following lines, which speak of a rival pursuing

717-719. mvp-comment-331-1 closely in the rear, cannot be equally applicable to all the ten. For the phraseology, cp. Eur. Iph. A. 228-30, οἷς παρεπάλλετο | Πηλείδας σὺν ὅπλοισι παρ᾿ ἄντυγα | καὶ σύριγγας ἁρματείους. (3) Supposing the general sense to be as in (1), χνόας and φρυάγματα may possibly be accusatives of 'limitation,' 'drew ahead with car and team.'

717-719. mvp-comment-331-2 closely in the rear, cannot be equally applicable to all the ten. For the phraseology, cp. Eur. Iph. A. 228-30, οἷς παρεπάλλετο | Πηλείδας σὺν ὅπλοισι παρ᾿ ἄντυγα | καὶ σύριγγας ἁρματείους. (3) Supposing the general sense to be as in (1), χνόας and φρυάγματα may possibly be accusatives of 'limitation,' 'drew ahead with car and team.'

718-719. mvp-comment-332-1 For close about his back and whirling wheels the breath of horses cast its foam.' Cp. Il. 23.373- 81, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ πύματον τέλεον δρόμον ὠκέες ἵπποι | .. τότε δὴ ἀρετή γε ἑκάστου | φαίνετ᾽, ἄφαρ δ' ἵπποισι τάθη δρόμος· ὦκα δ' ἔπειτα | αἱ Φηρητιάδαο ποδώκεες ἔκφερον ἵπποι. | τὰς δὲ μετ᾿ ἐξέφερον Διομήδεος ἄρσενες ἵπποι, | Τρώϊοι, οὐδέ τι πολλὸν ἄνευθ᾽ ἔσαν, ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ ἐγγύς· αἰεὶ γὰρ δίφρου ἐπιβησομένοισιν ἐἰκτην, | πνοιῇ τ᾿ Εὐμήλοιο μετάφρενον εὐρέε τ᾿ ὤμα | θέρμετ᾽· ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ γὰρ κεφαλὰς καταθέντε πετέσθην.

718-719. mvp-comment-332-2 For close about his back and whirling wheels the breath of horses cast its foam.' Cp. Il. 23.373- 81, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ πύματον τέλεον δρόμον ὠκέες ἵπποι | .. τότε δὴ ἀρετή γε ἑκάστου | φαίνετ᾽, ἄφαρ δ' ἵπποισι τάθη δρόμος· ὦκα δ' ἔπειτα | αἱ Φηρητιάδαο ποδώκεες ἔκφερον ἵπποι. | τὰς δὲ μετ᾿ ἐξέφερον Διομήδεος ἄρσενες ἵπποι, | Τρώϊοι, οὐδέ τι πολλὸν ἄνευθ᾽ ἔσαν, ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ ἐγγύς· αἰεὶ γὰρ δίφρου ἐπιβησομένοισιν ἐἰκτην, | πνοιῇ τ᾿ Εὐμήλοιο μετάφρενον εὐρέε τ᾿ ὤμα | θέρμετ᾽· ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ γὰρ κεφαλὰς καταθέντε πετέσθην.

720. mvp-comment-333-1 κεῖνος] Orestes. ὑπ᾿ αὐτὴν . . ἔχων] 'Driving close under the last pillar.' ἐσχάτην, i. e. at the extreme end of the spina. ἔχων] Sc. τοὺς ἵππους.

720. mvp-comment-333-2 κεῖνος] Orestes. ὑπ᾿ αὐτὴν . . ἔχων] 'Driving close under the last pillar.' ἐσχάτην, i. e. at the extreme end of the spina. ἔχων] Sc. τοὺς ἵππους.

721. mvp-comment-334-1 ἔχριμπτ᾿ ἀεὶ σύριγγα] ‘Grazed the nave of his wheel every time:' i.e. all but made it touch, or seemed to graze-real contact is of course not meant.

721. mvp-comment-334-2 ἔχριμπτ᾿ ἀεὶ σύριγγα] ‘Grazed the nave of his wheel every time:' i.e. all but made it touch, or seemed to graze-real contact is of course not meant.

721-722. mvp-comment-335-1 δεξιὸν .. προσκείμενον] 'And, letting go the trace-horse on the right, held in the one that was nearest to the inside of the course.' The two σειραῖοι ἵπποι, so called because not harnessed to the yoke but attached by traces right and left, were practically the leaders of the τέθριππον, or team; and their movements at the critical moment of turning the goal were of the greatest consequence. Cp. Eur. Iph. A. 221-4, τοὺς μὲν μέσους ζυγίους, | .. τοὺς δ᾽ ἔξω σειροφόρους, | ἀντήρεις καμπαῖσι δρόμων. They must be supposed to know their duty, and only to need a reminder from the charioteer, who holds each of them by a single rein (single, i.e. in his hand). The language of the present passage proves that the direction of the running was from right to left, and the δεξιός σειραῖος had consequently to describe a larger semicircle while the 'near' horse was making the turn. That the right hand horse may perform this movement successfully and thus swing the chariot round without mishap, the charioteer gives him the rein, and at the same time holds in the left-hand trace-horse, who, as nearest to the goal, is called προσκείμενος. As soon as this evolution is accomplished, however, the driver must slacken again the left-hand rein, so that both steeds may cover the θάτερον κῶλον of the race-course with equal strides. And if from over-eagerness he does this an instant too soon, he is obviously in great danger of striking the nave of the left-hand wheel against the goal, because the horse when let go will instinctively 'cut off a corner' and pull the car along a chord of the circle instead of completing the arc. This is what is supposed to happen to Orestes, infr. 743-5. (So Wecklein also explains.)

721-722. mvp-comment-335-2 δεξιὸν .. προσκείμενον] 'And, letting go the trace-horse on the right, held in the one that was nearest to the inside of the course.' The two σειραῖοι ἵπποι, so called because not harnessed to the yoke but attached by traces right and left, were practically the leaders of the τέθριππον, or team; and their movements at the critical moment of turning the goal were of the greatest consequence. Cp. Eur. Iph. A. 221-4, τοὺς μὲν μέσους ζυγίους, | .. τοὺς δ᾽ ἔξω σειροφόρους, | ἀντήρεις καμπαῖσι δρόμων. They must be supposed to know their duty, and only to need a reminder from the charioteer, who holds each of them by a single rein (single, i.e. in his hand). The language of the present passage proves that the direction of the running was from right to left, and the δεξιός σειραῖος had consequently to describe a larger semicircle while the 'near' horse was making the turn. That the right hand horse may perform this movement successfully and thus swing the chariot round without mishap, the charioteer gives him the rein, and at the same time holds in the left-hand trace-horse, who, as nearest to the goal, is called προσκείμενος. As soon as this evolution is accomplished, however, the driver must slacken again the left-hand rein, so that both steeds may cover the θάτερον κῶλον of the race-course with equal strides. And if from over-eagerness he does this an instant too soon, he is obviously in great danger of striking the nave of the left-hand wheel against the goal, because the horse when let go will instinctively 'cut off a corner' and pull the car along a chord of the circle instead of completing the arc. This is what is supposed to happen to Orestes, infr. 743-5. (So Wecklein also explains.)

725. mvp-comment-336-1 βίᾳ φέρουσιν] Sc. τὸ ἅρμα, 'Became unmanageable.' Essay on L. §53. p. 98. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1224.

725. mvp-comment-336-2 βίᾳ φέρουσιν] Sc. τὸ ἅρμα, 'Became unmanageable.' Essay on L. §53. p. 98. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1224.

725-726. mvp-comment-337-1 ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφῆς] Either (1) 'After turning the goal,' or (2) 'Having turned sharply aside.' See next note.

725-726. mvp-comment-337-2 ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφῆς] Either (1) 'After turning the goal,' or (2) 'Having turned sharply aside.' See next note.

726. mvp-comment-338-1 When finishing the sixth and now (running) the seventh course.' Not τελοῦντες, but a more general word, e.g. θέοντες, is to be supplied with ἔβδομον. Essay on L. § 36. pp. 65, 6, 2. The grammatical irregularity assists the graphic effect. The scene changes while it is being described. Ср. О. С. 1648-50, ἐξαπείδομεν | τὸν ἄνδρα, τὸν μὲν οὐδαμοῦ παρόντ᾽ ἔτι, | ἄνακτα δ᾽ αὐτόν, κ.τ.λ., and note. The masculine τελοῦντες either (1) implies that the white horses of the Aenian were, like those of Diomede in Il. 23 (1. c. supr. 718, 9), ἄρσενες ἵπποι, - which may part account for their behaviour; or (2) τελοῦντες is a nominative absolute having for subject the charioteers collectively. This line seems at first sight to support the former interpretation (1) of l. 725, ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφής. But the point in the course is sufficiently indicated without such an addition; and in the other sense (2) the phrase forms a suitable preparation for l. 727. The imagination is assisted if we suppose these chariots to be somewhat wide of the goal, so that one of them might face about without striking the στήλη. In μέτωπα, as in κάρα infr. 740, the chariot and horses are thought of together as a single object. The accident happens just when the race is half finished, -six of the twelve customary courses having being run. Cp. Pind. O1. 2. 88-90, Πυθῶνι . . Χάριτες ἄνθεα τεθρίππων δυωκαιδεκαδρόμων | ἄγαγον.

726. mvp-comment-338-2 When finishing the sixth and now (running) the seventh course.' Not τελοῦντες, but a more general word, e.g. θέοντες, is to be supplied with ἔβδομον. Essay on L. § 36. pp. 65, 6, 2. The grammatical irregularity assists the graphic effect. The scene changes while it is being described. Ср. О. С. 1648-50, ἐξαπείδομεν | τὸν ἄνδρα, τὸν μὲν οὐδαμοῦ παρόντ᾽ ἔτι, | ἄνακτα δ᾽ αὐτόν, κ.τ.λ., and note. The masculine τελοῦντες either (1) implies that the white horses of the Aenian were, like those of Diomede in Il. 23 (1. c. supr. 718, 9), ἄρσενες ἵπποι, - which may part account for their behaviour; or (2) τελοῦντες is a nominative absolute having for subject the charioteers collectively. This line seems at first sight to support the former interpretation (1) of 1. 725, ἐκ δ᾽ ὑποστροφής. But the point in the course is sufficiently indicated without such an addition; and in the other sense (2) the phrase forms a suitable preparation for 1. 727. The imagination is assisted if we suppose these chariots to be somewhat wide of the goal, so that one of them might face about without striking the στήλη. In μέτωπα, as in κάρα infr. 740, the chariot and horses are thought of together as a single object. The accident happens just when the race is half finished, -six of the twelve customary courses having being run. Cp. Pind. O1. 2. 88-90, Πυθῶνι . . Χάριτες ἄνθεα τεθρίππων δυωκαιδεκαδρόμων | ἄγαγον.

731. mvp-comment-339-1 The Athenian charioteer is represented as the most skilful. It is obvious how this is calculated to sustain the interest of the audience. See also ll. 738-40.

731. mvp-comment-339-2 The Athenian charioteer is represented as the most skilful. It is obvious how this is calculated to sustain the interest of the audience. See also 11. 738-40.

732-733. mvp-comment-340-1 Pulls aside out of the way and heaves to, letting go by the surge of horses and their riders that was boiling there.' Not content with the hyperbole in supr. 730, the Old Man adds this yet stronger expression. See above, note on 680 foll.

732-733. mvp-comment-340-2 Pulls aside out of the way and heaves to, letting go by the surge of horses and their riders that was boiling there.' Not content with the hyperbole in supr. 730, the Old Man adds this yet stronger expression. See above, note on 680 foll.

734-735. mvp-comment-341-1 'Now Orestes was driving last, holding his horses back, relying on the finish.' There were six courses yet to be. See note on 726, supr. According to this reading the participial clause is explanatory of ἤλαυνε, and μέν points forward, opposing the position of Orestes before and after he saw that the Athenian alone was left. Some MSS. read ὑστέρας δ', opposing ἔσχατος to ὑστέρας ἔχων πώλους. He was last, indeed, but was holding back.'

734-735. mvp-comment-341-2 'Now Orestes was driving last, holding his horses back, relying on the finish.' There were six courses yet to be. See note on 726, supr. According to this reading the participial clause is explanatory of ἤλαυνε, and μέν points forward, opposing the position of Orestes before and after he saw that the Athenian alone was left. Some MSS. read ὑστέρας δ', opposing ἔσχατος to ὑστέρας ἔχων πώλους. He was last, indeed, but was holding back.'

736. mvp-comment-342-1 When Orestes saw that the Athenian remained alone.' So Mr. Paley, rightly.

737-738. mvp-comment-343-1 ὀξὺν . . διώκει] • He urged his swift steeds vehemently with shouts that pierced their ears, and makes for him.' ἐνσείειν is a vivid word (Essay on L. § 56. p. 102) which is more properly applicable to hurling hounds at game, throwing an attacking force into a town, etc. Cp. Eur. Or. 255, 6, ὦ μῆτερ, ἱκετεύω σε, μὴ πίσειε μοι | τὰς αἱματωποὺς καὶ δρακοντώδεις κόρας.

738-739. mvp-comment-344-1 κἀξισώσαντε ζυγὰ | ἠλαυνέτην] 'And now they were yoke by yoke, and on they drave.'

739-740. mvp-comment-345-1 τότ᾿ ἄλλος . . ὀχημάτων] 'Now one, and then the other drawing ahead.' κάρα is used analogically of man, car, and steeds, considered as one object; and the genitive ἱππικῶν ὀχημάτων is added to make this clear. (Not 'Putting his head forth from the car.') For the variation of the language in τότε-ἄλλοτε, ἄλλος - ἅτερος, cp. Trach. 457, δέδοικας . . ταρβεῖς.

741. mvp-comment-346-1 It is implied that Orestes' fall took place in the middle of the twelfth and last course.

742. mvp-comment-347-1 The ill-starred youth stood safely on a steady car.'

743-745. mvp-comment-348-1 Then in slackening the left-hand rein while the horse was making the turn, unawares he struck the edge of the goal and splintered the end of his axle-tree.' Cp. supr. 721, 2, and note. The horse making the turn is ὁ προσκείμενος.

746-747. mvp-comment-349-1 κἀξ ἀντύγων .. τμητοῖς ἱμᾶσι] And in a moment he had slipped over the rim of the chariot, and was rolled along together with it by means of the sharp-cut thongs.' Here it must be borne in mind that the reins were passed round the body of the charioteer, as, for instance, in the marble reliefs in the 'Sala della Biga' in the Vatican. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1221, 2. This point has not escaped Mr. Browning :-' The prince around his body flung the rein.' Artemis Prologizes. Hence, when the body of the chariot was arrested by some sudden obstacle, instead of being jerked from his grasp, they would pull him over the ἄντυξ, and would drag him when the car was again in motion. σύν, sc. ταῖς ἵπποις οι τῷ ἅρματι. ἱμᾶσι is dative of the instrument. τμητοῖς, lit. 'cut,' is suggestive of the sharp edges of the reins. Cp. infr. 862, τμητοῖς ὁλκοῖς ἐγκύρσαι.

748. mvp-comment-350-1 διεσπάρησαν ἐς μέσον δρόμον]

748. mvp-comment-350-2 'Plunged wildly about the course.' μέσον, SC. ἐν μέσῳ τῶν θεατῶν, vaguely distinguishes the field generally from the line of running. διεσπάρησαν, lit. 'were scattered,' is used inaccurately to suggest aimless movement.

749. mvp-comment-351-1 στρατός] 'The assembly.' Cp. Aesch. Eum. 762, χώρᾳ τῇδε καὶ τῷ σῷ στρατῷ.

752-753. mvp-comment-352-1 φορούμενος προφαίνων] 'As he was dragged upon the ground, and now and then his legs were pointed to the sky.' The opposition with ἄλλοτε is suggested as the description proceeds. Hence not ἄλλοτε ἄλλοτε.

753. mvp-comment-353-1 διφρηλάται] Some of the charioteers from the other chariots, who had been thrown, but not seriously hurt.

758. mvp-comment-354-1 μέγιστον σῶμα δειλαίας σποδοῦ] His mighty frame reduced to' (lit. consisting of) hapless dust.' See E. on L. § 10. p. 17, 6. On the supposed great stature of Orestes, see Hdt. 1. 68, where his bones are found at Tegea :-ἐπέτυχον σόρῳ ἑπταπήχεϊ .. καὶ εἶδον τὸν νεκρὸν μήκεϊ ἴσον ἔοντα τῷ σόρῳ.

760. mvp-comment-355-1 ἐκλάχοι] The mood depends on the idea of past time contained either in φέρουσι . . τεταγμένοι, i.e. ἐτάχθησαν φέρειν, or in the whole of the previous sentence.

761. mvp-comment-356-1 τοιαῦτα . . ἐστίν] Cp. Ant. 37, οὕτως ἔχει σοι ταῦτα, and note. ὡς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ] 'In description, indeed;' ὡς is pleonastic. Cp. О. С. 15, ὡς ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων.

764. mvp-comment-357-1 δεσπόταισι] δεσπότης is not used elsewhere of an Hellenic ruler. Can Sophocles have forgotten for a moment that the Chorus were freewomen ( infr. 1227)? Or should the speech be given to an οἰκέτης?

765. mvp-comment-358-1 Cp. Hdt. 6. 86, Γλαύκου νῦν οὔτε ἀπόγονόν ἐστι οὐδέν,.. ἐκτέτριπταί τε πρόρριζος ἐκ Σπάρτης.

766-768. mvp-comment-359-1 Clytemnestra is awed for the moment, and her profound relief is mingled with a pang of sorrow.

770. mvp-comment-360-1 δεινὸν . . ἐστίν] 'Motherhood has strange power.'

770-771. mvp-comment-361-1 κακῶς | πάσχοντι] She regards herself as ill-treated by Orestes, because she knew that he would avenge his father if he could. Cp. supr. 293 foll., 603 foll., infr. 779.

771. mvp-comment-362-1 ὧν τέκῃ] ἄv is omitted. See Essay on L. § 27. P. 45.

772. mvp-comment-363-1 μάτην .. ἥκομεν] 'I have made a mistake in coming;' i.e. I see that I have given no satisfaction, and therefore shall receive no reward.

775. mvp-comment-364-1 τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς γεγώς] 'Sprung from my very life.' For this pathetic use of ψυχή, cp. Aesch. Cho. 749, τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς τριβήν. Το mark the horror of the situation she expresses Orestes' original nearness to her in the strongest manner. Cp. Shak. Macbeth, 2. 3, 'The near in blood, The nearer bloody.'

776. mvp-comment-365-1 μαστῶν . . ἐμῆς] 'Going aloof from my breast that gave him suck.' The words μαστῶν καὶ τροφῆς are used figuratively for the debt of obligation due from a son to his mother. Orestes at the time of Agamemnon's death must have been at least ten years old.

780-781. mvp-comment-366-1 ὥστ᾽ οὔτε νυκτός. . ἡδύν] 'So that I have no rest by night, nor can I snatch from the day a sweet moment of repose to enfold me.' στεγάζειν is adapted to ἐξ ἡμέρας-some more general word, such as ἴσχειν, being understood with νυκτός. ἐξ implies that the time is taken from the day, and would not naturally be given to sleep. ἡδύν means, if I do fall asleep, I am terrified with dreams;' i.e. I can neither sleep comfortably at night, nor take a quiet nap in the day-time.

781-782. mvp-comment-367-1 ἀλλ᾽ ὁ προστατῶν.. θανουμένην] But Time ever standing over me was a jailor who conducted me to death. The inversion (for χρόνον διῆ-

782-784. mvp-comment-368-1 yov, see Essay on L. § 42. p. 80 ß) is here forcible in personifying χρόνος. For προστατῶν, instans, cp. Aesch. Agam. 976, δείγμα προστατήριον.

783-784. mvp-comment-369-1 But then, to-day's event has rid me once for all of fears from him and her.' The suppressed or deferred apodosis is resumed in 1. 786. In τῆσδ᾽ ἐκείνου θ' the more emphatic pronoun is put first.

784-785. mvp-comment-370-1 ἥδε γὰρ . . ἦν μοι] For she, dwelling under the same roof, has been a greater bane to me.' οὖσα must be supplied either with βλάβη or with ξύνοικος, and μοι belongs to both.

785-786. mvp-comment-371-1 τοὐμὸν αἷμα] 'Incessantly draining my very life-blood.' ἄκρατον πιεῖν, 'to drink wine unqualified,' seems to have become a synonym for hard drinking. Cp. Od. 9. 297, ἀνδρόμεα κρέ᾽ ἔδων καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἄκρητον γάλα πίνων: Aesch. Cho. 577, 8, φόνου δ' Ἐρινὺς οὐχ ὑπεσπανισμένη | ἄκρατον αἷμα πίεται, τρίτην πόσιν. The force of the adjective here is simply intensive. The addition of ψυχῆς marks the figurative nature of the expression.

791. mvp-comment-372-1 οὔτοι σύ] Sc. ἔχεις καλῶς. 'You are not as I would wish you,'- viz. dead.

792. mvp-comment-373-1 Either (1) Clytemnestra takes the word Νέμεσι alone, ignoring the qualification, 'Nemesis' (the spirit of just allotment) has heard those whom she ought to hear and has nobly ratified their prayer.' Or (2) she implies a different use of the genitive, as the ἀλάστωρ ᾿Ατρέως in Aesch. Ag. 1501, 2, is the Spirit of Vengeance for the crime of Atreus; so here the Νέμεσις τοῦ θανόντος might be the Spirit which has paid him what was due. But (1) is more probable.

795. mvp-comment-374-1 Mr. Paley reads οὔκουν with a full stop after τάδε. But the reply of Electra suits better with the ironical question, 'You and Orestes will stop my insolence, will you not?'

797-798. mvp-comment-375-1 Your coming, stranger, is like to prove most worthy of reward, if you have indeed put an end to her loud outcry.' ἂν ἥκοις = ἥκεις, ὡς

798-803. mvp-comment-376-1 ἔοικαs, an objective being put for a subjective probability, as in the well. known idiom with μέλλω. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1182, τὰ πάντ᾽ ἂν ἐξήκοι σαφῆ: Aj. 186, ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος, -and notes, - infr. 1372, 3. εἰ is here used with the aor. indicative (aor. of immediate past) as elsewhere with the present, to introduce a supposition that is regarded as certain. For el with aor. indicative, of that which is granted or assumed, cp. Aesch. Pers. 217, εἴ τι φλαῦρον εἶδες. (So Ellendt, 'Siquidem effecisti, etc.')

800. mvp-comment-377-1 ἐπείπερ] Ο. C. 75, 6, ἐπείπερ εἶ | γενναῖος, ὡς ἰδόντι. καταξίως] The use of the optative without av may be defended by supposing a resumption from the preceding line. Paley's ἐπεὶ τὰν .. καταξίως is preferable to Bothe's κατάξι ἄν. Another MS. reading, κατ᾿ ἀξίαν, is also possible.

803. mvp-comment-378-1 φίλων] Orestes, including perhaps the death of Agamemnon.' Paley. Rather, including the destruction of the remaining hope that Agamemnon might be avenged. At this point Clytemnestra and the Paedagogus enter the house, and Electra is left alone upon the stage.

809. mvp-comment-379-1 ἀποσπάσας . οἴχει] 'In thy departure thou hast torn away.' For the familiar phrase, cp. O. C. 866, ψιλὸν ὄμμ᾽ ἀποσπάσας . . ἐξοίχει.

811. mvp-comment-380-1 Orestes was to come to the aid both of his father and sister:-i.e. to avenge his father and reinstate his sister. But the notions are not distinguished, for vengeance is regarded as a kind of aid. Cp. infr. 1392, ἀρωγός.

812. mvp-comment-381-1 ποῖ με χρὴ μολεῖν] ‘Whither must I turn?' Cp. Aj. 1006, ποῖ γὰρ μολεῖν μοι δυνατόν, εἰς ποίους βροτούς;

814-816. mvp-comment-382-1 Cp. supr. 263 foll., infr. 1190 foll.

816. mvp-comment-383-1 ἀράμοι καλῶς ἔχει] 'Isit well with me, then?' The repetition of the words used above, 1. 790, may be accidental (Essay on L. § 44. p. 82), but may also, as Mr. Paley suggests, refer to supr. 791. This is rather confirmed by the repetition of ξύνοικος in what follows, echoing supr. 785; i.e. 'I wonder if they will be contented now I am reduced to this! But at all events I will not trouble them henceforth by dwelling with them.'

817. mvp-comment-384-1 τοῦ λοιποῦ χρόνου] ‘For any portion of the time to come.' Essay on L. § 10. p. 17, 5.

818. mvp-comment-385-1 Hermann's suggestion, adopted in the text, affords a probable, though by no means certain, emendation of this line. ξύνοικος must be taken in a slightly pregnant or proleptic sense= ὥστε ξύνοικος εἶναι.

818-819. mvp-comment-386-1 τῇδε πρὸς πύλῃ βίον] ' I will let myself drop beside the gate and, without a friend, here wither my life away. She sinks into a half-recumbent attitude and remains so until the beginning of the commos. Sappho, Fr. 17, παρ δ᾽ ἱεῖσαι πτερά: Tennyson's Elaine, 'She slipped like water to the floor.' Mr. Paley calls this sensational.' But it is not more so than the death of Ajax, than Heracles (Trach. 1079, 80) unveiling his wounds than Oedipus appearing with eyes still bleeding, etc. The question is whether 11. 820-2, being spoken in this posture, may not be appropriate to this critical moment of darkness before dawn.'

820. mvp-comment-387-1 εἰ βαρύνεται] Clytemnestra had spoken impatiently of the vexation of having Electra in the house with her, supr. 784. 5. Electra now says, 'If her lying at the gate is a vexation to any one, let them put her out of the way, and welcome!'

823-869. mvp-comment-388-1 In this short commos, in which the broken lines are expressive of intense feeling, the several members of the Chorus, with the exception of the Coryphaeus, who, having spoken in 11. 764, 5, remains in silent sympathy with Electra, attempt to rouse her from her utter despair, partly with consolation and partly with expressions of pity. But she is, if possible, more inconsolable than before. The metres are as follows:-

823-826. mvp-comment-389-1 Orestes being dead and his father unavenged, the Powers of Heaven themselves must interfere. The sun must surely see this iniquity, the lightning must descend to punish it.

826. mvp-comment-390-1 κρύπτουσιν] Either (1) sc. ἑαυτούς, 'They They hide themselves.' Cp. κεύθω. Or (2) sc. τὸ ἐφορᾶν: i.e. 'If seeing this they make as if they saw not, and remain unmoved.' Cp. Hom. H. 26. 7, where there is a similar doubt.

828-830. mvp-comment-391-1 The words intended for consolation only wring a cry from Electra, and when asked the reason, she answers with a louder cry: on which the Chorus deprecate this excess of sorrow. μηδέν is adverbial, and μέγα cognate accusative. Cp. Aj. 1066, μηδὲν δεινὸν ἐξάρῃς μένος.

831. mvp-comment-392-1 ἀπολεῖς] Electra, when asked the reason of her weeping, and told not to cry aloud, can only understand this as a suggestion that Orestes is alive.

834-836. mvp-comment-393-1 If you will suggest a hope concerning one who is manifestly gone below, you will but press with heavier weight against my pining soul.' For the genitive τῶν.. οἰχομένων, see Essay on L. § 9. p. 13, 3, and ib. p. 12, 2. In ὑποίσεις, ὑπο is used as in ὑπεῖπον, - φέρω as in προφέρω.

836. mvp-comment-394-1 ἐπεμβάσει contains a metaphor from trampling on the fallen. Cp. supr. 456: Aj. 1348, οὐ γὰρ θανόντι καὶ προσεμβῆναί σε χρή : and κατά, 'against,' gives additional point to the expression. Essay on L. § 19. p. 27.

837-838. mvp-comment-395-1 The Chorus adduce another reason for taking comfort even if Orestes be no more. The gods have not forgotten Amphiaraus, and they will not forget Agamemnon. The sudden disappearance of the prophet during the flight of the Argive host from Thebes, would naturally make a strong impression upon the Argive people.

837. mvp-comment-396-1 ἄνακτ] Cp. Ο. Τ. 284, ἄνακτ᾿ ἄνακτι ταῦθ᾽ ὁρῶντ᾽ ἐπίσταμαι, κ.τ.λ.

838-839. mvp-comment-397-1 χρυσοδέτοις . . γυναικών] 'Lost to sight through female snares depending on a golden chain.' χρυσοδέτοις ἔρκεσι is a condensed expression (Essay on L. pp. 39, 81) in which ἕρκεσι suggests both the entangling influence of Eriphyle and the necklace given to her by Adrastus. (So Wecklein.) In this case ἕρκεσι denotes that the necklace was indirectly an instrument of Adrastus' cunning. But it may be questioned whether such a complex association is possible. Perhaps ἔρμασι should be read, in the general sense of a woman's ornament. Cp. Od. 18. 297, ἔρματα δ᾽ Εὐρυδάμαντι δύω θεράποντες ἔνεικαν | τρίγληνα μορόεντα· χάρις δ' ἀπελάμπετο πολλή. See L. and S. s. v. ἔρμα ΙΙΙ.

840. mvp-comment-398-1 Here Electra thinks of both her father and Orestes.

841. mvp-comment-399-1 πάμψυχος ἀνάσσει] ‘He wields authority with mighty spirit unimpaired.' The prophet Amphiaraus is imagined as, like the prophet Teiresias, retaining all his faculties in the under-world. (So Wecklein: 'Unter der Erde aber lebte er mit vollem Leben und Bewusztsein fort und offenbarte dies durch Orakel und Heilung von Kranken. Cic. de Div. 1. 40.') From this the Chorus argue that the spirit of Agamemnon too will yet make his power to be felt.

843. mvp-comment-400-1 φεῦ δῆτ᾽.. ὀλοὰ γάρ] The connection is difficult, and Wecklein reads μάν for γάρ. If γάρ is retained, the Chorus must be supposed to give a different turn to the interjection. Electra, thinking of her father, dwells on the sadness of Amphiaraus' death. The Choreutes, who interposes, reflects on the sadness of the whole story, including the death of Eriphyle by the hand of her son Alcmaeon (which Sophocles made the subject of a tragedy). 'Woe, indeed, you may cry! For the wretched (or baneful) woman-' Electra instantly perceives the drift, and quickly interrupts, in a tone of momentary triumph, -' Was overpowered!' Then, recollecting that he who should have done Alcmaeon's part for her is now no more, she relapses into despair.

846. mvp-comment-401-1 μελέτωρ ἀμφὶ τὸν ἐν πένθει] 'One to care for him who was then mourned for.' ἐν πένθει is here used passively, not as supr. 290. Cp. ἐν λόγοις.

848. mvp-comment-402-1 φροῦδος ἀναρπασθείς] Is snatched away from the earth.' See note on Aj. 1192, ὄφελεν αἰθέρα δῦναι μέγαν, and note.

849. mvp-comment-403-1 New misery finds thee in thy misery.'

850-852. mvp-comment-404-1 I know that all too well, taught by a weight of fearful horror, that month by month accumulates.' Time is conceived as drawing in his train an ever-increasing burden of pollution and grief. For δεινῶν . . ἀχέων, which is unmetrical, Hermann proposed δεινῶν στυγνῶν τ᾽ αἰῶνι,-Prof. Lushington has suggested δεινῶν* τε στυγνῶν τ' *ἄχθει, which is adopted in the text. Hermann's reading means, 'In a life which month by month accumulates horror and pollution.'

854-855. mvp-comment-405-1 μή . . παραγάγῃς] 'Draw me not aside,' as they had done for a moment by reminding her of the fate of Eriphyle.

855. mvp-comment-406-1 ἵν'] ‘In a state of things wherein- Cp. supr. 22, ἵν᾿ οὐκέτ᾽ ὀκνεῖν καιρός.

857-858. mvp-comment-407-1 (οὐ) πάρεισιν .. ἀρωγαί] 'There is no longer within call the aid of hopes that rest on common birth from a most noble sire.' The language is much condensed: i.e. ἀρωγαὶ ἐν ἐλπίδι γιγνόμεναι ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐπατρίδου καὶ κοινοτόκου, sc. Ὀρέστου. See Essay on L. § 43. p. 81.

859. mvp-comment-408-1 ἔφυ] « Is ordained by Nature.' For φῦναι, of divine appointment, cp. Ο. C. 1443, 4, ταῦτα δ' ἐν τῷ δαίμονι | καὶ τῇδε φῦναι χἀτέρᾳ.

861-863. mvp-comment-409-1 'Is it likewise decreed by Nature to fall, as my poor brother did, on a sharp dragging-instrument amid swift-racing hoofs? For the lyrical use of the abstract word ὁλκός, cp. Eur. Ion 144, 5, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκπαύσω γὰρ μόχθους | δάφνας ὁλκοῖς. On τμητοῖς see above, note on 747.

864. mvp-comment-410-1 ἄσκοπος ὁ λώβα] ‘The ruin is beyond thought; ' i.e. either (1) 'greater than can be conceived,' or (2) 'greater than could have been imagined beforehand.' For ἄσκοπος, cp. Aj. 21, and note; and see Essay on L. § 51. p. 96. The Scholiast says ἀπροόρατος ὁ θάνατος, and with this some interpreters are satisfied.

865-870. mvp-comment-411-1 'Indeed it is unimaginable :- to think that he is hidden from the light of day, without my hands-Cho. Alas!-El. to deck his corpse and bury him, without our voices to lament for him!'

866. mvp-comment-412-1 ἄτερ ἐμᾶν χερῶν] Cp. infr. 1141, ἐν ξέναισι χερσὶ κηδευθείς: Ant. 900-3 (Antigone had the consolation which is denied to Electra).

871. mvp-comment-413-1 What seems the illusion of Chrysothemis only adds poignancy to Electra's sorrow. Sophocles here modifies the well-known incident of the curl found at the tomb. The Electra of Aeschylus is moved by seeing the hair and the other signs of Orestes, but is incredulous when he himself appears. The Electra of Sophocles has heard and believed the news of his death, and disbelieves the signs of him, which her weaker sister has seen. Chrysothemis holding the lock from Orestes' head before Electra, who believes him to be no more, makes one of those contrasts by which Sophocles impresses the situation on the mind of the spectator.

871. mvp-comment-413-2 διώκομαι] 'I am driven,' or 'impelled.' See L. and S. s. ν. διώκω, III. 1.

874. mvp-comment-414-1 εἶχες] Αj. 203, ἔχομεν στοναχάς.

875-876. mvp-comment-415-1 And where should you find relief for my woes, in which no possibility of healing is to be found?' 'σύ, always emphatic,.. with something of contemptuous incredulity.' Paley. Chrysothemis is the last person from whom Electra looks for real help.

878. mvp-comment-416-1 ἐναργῶς.. ἐμέ] 'Unmistakably, even as you see me before you.' ἐναργῶς is stronger than σαφῶς.

879. mvp-comment-417-1 For ἐπί, cp. infr. 1230, 1, ὁρῶμεν, ὦ παῖ, κἀπὶ συμφοραῖσί μοι | γεγηθός ἔρπει δάκρυον ὀμμάτων ἄπο. Electra supposes that Chrysothemis must have heard of Orestes' death. This, she reminds her sister, is a sorrow common to them both.

882. mvp-comment-418-1 ὡς παρόντα νῷν] Sc. λέγω. Cp. supr. 317, 18, and note.

883. mvp-comment-419-1 καὶ τίνος . . ἄγαν] • Who then in the world has told you this, that you believe in it so firmly?'-i.e. in spite of all that we have heard. καί introduces the question with indignant surprise, as in καὶ πῶς. Cp. Αj. 462, 3, καὶ ποῖον ὄμμα, κ.τ.λ.

885. mvp-comment-420-1 The attraction of gender in

885-886. mvp-comment-421-1 ἄλλης is no sufficient reason for rejecting the Laurentian reading here. With ἐξ ἐμοῦ in the answer of Chrysothemis ἰδοῦσα takes the place of εἰσακούσασα.

887-888. mvp-comment-422-1 ἐς τί μοι.. πυρί] 'On what object have you fixed your gaze that has infected you with this fatal fever?' (Mr. Paley doubts whether is τι.. βλέψ. means, What hope have you conceived?' or 'What object have you seen?' But, surely, both meanings are included:What have you seen that has led you to conceive hope?') For fire as an image of passionate illusion, cp. Pind. Pyth. 4. 388, 9. ὄφρα Μηδείας τοκίων ἀφέλοιτ' αἰδῶ, ποθεινὰ δ᾽ Ἑλλὰς αὐτὰν | ἐν φρεσὶ καιομέναν δονέοι μάστιγι πειθούς.

891. mvp-comment-423-1 εἴ σοι ἡδονή] i. e. εἴ πως ἥδει τῷ λέγειν. This is spoken in a tone of languid and supreme indifference.

893. mvp-comment-424-1 πατρὸς ἀρχαῖον τάφον] 'The ancient sepulchre, where our father is laid.' The word ἀρχαῖος properly applies to the burial place of the kings of Argos, in which Agamemnon was laid. Sophocles seems to conceive of this as a mound with a κρηπίς of stone, of which a certain portion (θήκη) was marked off as containing the body of Agamemnon. The libation was poured high up on the mound, so as to flow down over this portion of the πυρά, or burial-site; the flowers were arranged so as to decorate the θήκη ᾿Αγαμέμνονος; the lock of hair was placed near the edge of the πυρά. But in explaining the details of the description we are left almost entirely to conjecture.

894. mvp-comment-425-1 κολώνης ἐξ ἄκρας] Either (1) flowing from the summit, or (2) just below the summit, -cp. Ant. 411, ἄκρων ἐκ πάγων.

895. mvp-comment-426-1 For πηγάς, cp. O. C. 479,- (χέω τάδε;) τρισσάς γε πηγάς.

895-896. mvp-comment-427-1 περιστεφῆ.. ἀνθέων] Cp.О.Т. 83, πολυστεφὴς.. δάφνης, and note.

898. mvp-comment-428-1 · ἐγχρίμπτει, which has some authority, is an equally good reading.' Paley. The subjunctive is more expressive of apprehension.

899. mvp-comment-429-1 ἐν γαλήνῃ] Sc. οὖσαν. Essay on L. § 23. p. 38. For the sense, cp. Hdt. 1. 45. § 4, ἐπεί τε ἡσυχίη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο περὶ τὸ σῆμα.

900-901. mvp-comment-430-1 ἐσχάτης.. πυρᾶς] ‘Towards the edge of the grave.' For this genitive = πρὸς .. πυρᾶς, cp. supr. 78, 324, and notes, and see Essay on L. § 10. p. 15.46. It is difficult to give a more particular explanation of its use in this passage. Either the curl showed itself from the edge, where it lay; or it lay somewhere near the edge, not exactly on it.

901. mvp-comment-431-1 νεώρη . . τετμημένον] Α fresh curl newly shorn.' The participle is added in further definition of νεώρη.

902-904. mvp-comment-432-1 ἐμπαίει.. τεκμήριον] 'A familiar sight' or 'image struck upon my soul, (and told me) that I saw in this a certain token of Orestes, dearest of mankind.' ὄμμα (see Essay on L. § 54. p. 99) is here the active impression of the object of vision. ὁρᾶν depends on the general notion, 'I felt,' implied in the preceding words.

905. mvp-comment-433-1 βαστάσασα] 'When I held it.' Cp. infr. 1129. δυσφημῶ μὲν οὔ] ‘I uttered no ill-omened cry.' Reverence dictated silence in the immediate neighbourhood of that ancient tomb.

906. mvp-comment-434-1 πίμπλημ᾽.. ὄμμα] ‘My eye was filled.' Essay on L. $ 30. p. 52 d.

908. mvp-comment-435-1 τόδ᾽ ἀγλάϊσμα] ίσμα] Cp. Aesch. Cho. 193, 4, εἶναι τόδ᾽ ἀγλάϊσμα μοι τοῦ φιλτάτου | βροτῶν Ὀρέστον. The genitive is one of possession, as in this passage of the Choephori, but is also resumed with μολεῖν as a genitive of derivation. μή, not oὐ, because that which is denied is not the fact merely, but the possibility of the fact.

909. mvp-comment-436-1 τόδε] This act of offering hair, which belongs only to the nearest relatives of the dead.

911. mvp-comment-437-1 μηδὲ πρὸς θεούς] Religious duties formed an occasional exception to the seclusion of women in Attica. See Bernhardy, Grundriss, Part i. p. 55.

914. mvp-comment-438-1 ἐλάνθανεν] Sc. ἡ μήτηρ. There is a slight change of construction. The omission of ar is rightly defended by Wecklein : 'ελάνθανεν statt ἐλάνθανεν ἄν bezeichnet die unausbleibliche Folge.'

915. mvp-comment-439-1 ἔστ᾽ Ὀρέστου ταῦτα τἀπιτίμια] 'It is Orestes who has paid these dues. ἐπιτίμια occurs nowhere else with this exact meaning, and Dindorf, following

915-916. mvp-comment-440-1 Wunder, reads τἀπιτύμβια. But such a substantive use of ἐπιτύμβιος is not found elsewhere, and ἐπιτίμια will bear the meaning required.

916. mvp-comment-441-1 This is the only place in which θαρσύνειν is intransitive. See E. on L. §53. p. 98, 9. The use of the active verb is more energetic. Cp. παθε.

916-917. mvp-comment-442-1 τοῖς αὐτοῖσί τοι, κ.τ.λ.] Cp. esp. Trach. 132-5, μένει γάρ, κ.τ.λ.

918. mvp-comment-443-1 στυγνός here is rather gloomy' than 'hateful.' Cр. О. Т. 673.

919. mvp-comment-444-1 ὑπάρξει κῦρος.. καλῶν] Either (1) Will be the consummation of much good,' or (2) Will lead the way to,' etc. i. e. ὑπάρξει καλῶν, ὥστε κῦρος ἔχειν τὰ καλά. For the accusative after ὑπάρχω, see L. and S. s. v. A 4. For (1) cp. Eur. Hec. 1229, θησαυρὸς ἄν σοι παῖς ὑπῆρχ᾽ οὔτος μέγας.

920. mvp-comment-445-1 Wecklein punctuates differently, φεῦ τῆς ἀνοίας, ὥς σ᾽ ἐποικτείρω πάλαι.

922. mvp-comment-446-1 'You know not where you are, nor what you say.' The metaphorical ὅποι γῆς is explained by the more literal ὅποι γνώμης.

923. mvp-comment-447-1 Cp. supr. 878.

927. mvp-comment-448-1 τοῦ . . παρόντος] The individualizing article, by adding a touch of ἐνάργεια, helps to mark the certainty of Electra's belief. Cp. supr. 424.

929. mvp-comment-449-1 μητρί is added with the second clause to mark the unnaturalness of Clytemnestra. A welcome messenger, not displeasing to the mother there.'

930. mvp-comment-450-1 γάρ = ' then,' asks for explanation. The death of Orestes is certain. The offerings came then from another. Who can this be? Cp. Phil. 327, 8, εὐ γ', ὦ τέκνον, τίνος γὰρ ὧδε τὸν μέγαν | χόλον κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλῶν ἐλήλυθas;

931. mvp-comment-451-1 πρὸς τάφον] The accusative, because of the notion of 'bringing' implied in κτερίσματα.

934. mvp-comment-452-1 ὦ δυστυχής] Sc. ἐγώ.

935. mvp-comment-453-1 τοιούσδ'] 'Such,' ie. So full of joy.

938. mvp-comment-454-1 οὕτως.. ταῦτ᾽] Electra says this with the quietness of despair.

941. mvp-comment-455-1 Electra ironically waives rejoinder to the frigid question which is ⚫ strangely distasteful to her, and makes it felt that she has something of real practical importance in her mind. γε implies, Be that as it may, it was not my meaning.' Some read ἐς τόδ' with M.

943. mvp-comment-456-1 τλῆναι.. δρῶσαν] The participle, as with πειρᾶσθαι.

945-946. mvp-comment-457-1 ὅρα.. ὁρῶ.] Consider -.' 'I see that clearly.' Cp. Phil. 589, ὅρα τί ποιεῖς, παῖ. ΝΕ. σκοπῶ κἀγὼ πάλαι : and for the γνώμη, Fr. 364, οὗτοι ποθ' ἅψει τῶν ἄκρων ἄνευ πόνου.

948. mvp-comment-458-1 The hopelessness of the present situation, which Ismene in the Antigone (Ant. 49 foll.) dwells upon as a ground of inaction, is urged by Electra as a reason for doing what ought to be done. Cp. the words of Henry V in Shakspeare, 4. 1. 1, 'Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger:-The greater therefore should our courage be.'

951-952. mvp-comment-459-1 βίῳ | θάλλοντ᾽ * ἔτ'] The correction (see v. rr.) is necessary. as βίῳ for ἐν βίῳ ὄντα would be too harsh an ellipse.

954. mvp-comment-460-1 εἰς σὲ δὴ βλέπω] Electra knows this to be a forlorn hope, - infr. 1017, 8, but to speak confidently is her only chance of success.

956. mvp-comment-461-1 ξὺν τῇδ᾽ ἀδελφῇ] She adds her own claim of sisterhood to the guilt of Aegisthus, as a reason why Chrysothemis should help her.

957. mvp-comment-462-1 The motive of this line, which has been suspected by some critics, is sufficiently explained by comparing supr. 126, ὁ τάδε πορών, and note. The name which the chorus there suppressed, out of habitual fear, Electra now fearlessly pronounces. She need use no concealment with Chrysothemis, for whether with or without her help, she means to act so as to anticipate prevention.

958. mvp-comment-463-1 ποῖ μενεῖς ῥαθυμος] Το what point will you remain inert?' i.e. How far must things go before you are roused to action? See Essay on L. § 24. p. 41, and cp. esp. O. С. 383, 4, τοὺς δὲ σοὺς ὅποι θεοὶ | πόνους κατοικτιοῦσιν, οὐκ ἔχω μαθεῖν.

959. mvp-comment-464-1 ἔτ᾿ ὀρθήν] 'That is not already thrown down.'

960. mvp-comment-465-1 The accusative is probably occasioned by στένειν, i.e. στένειν κτῆσιν, ἐστερημένῃ αὐτῆς, -οι αὐτήν, -though the simple verb is not elsewhere found with the accusative.

963. mvp-comment-466-1 τῶνδε] λέκτρων ὑμεναίων τε.

968. mvp-comment-467-1 εὐσέβειαν] Cp. supr. 345, 6, and note, Ant. 924. κάτω] Sc. ὄντος, absorbed in θανόντος.

971. mvp-comment-468-1 καλεῖ] Future middle for passive.

973. mvp-comment-469-1 λόγων γε μὴν . . οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅσην] 'Do you not see how great, at all events, will be the glory of renown?' etc. γε μήν emphasizes what is certain as distinguished from the hope last spoken of, in which there was necessarily some uncertainty.

976. mvp-comment-470-1 Will not point to us with such words of praise?' δεξιοῦσθαι is to extend the right hand towards a person in token of greeting or admiration. Cp. esp. Hom. H. 5. 15, 16, ἦγον ἐς ἀθανάτους, οἱ δ᾽ ἠσπάζοντο ἰδόντες, | χερσί τ' ἐδεξιόωντο.

977. mvp-comment-471-1 On the use of the masculine here, see Essay on L. § 20. p. 30, 2. It is dropped infr. 985, where Electra is speaking more familiarly and in her own person.

979. mvp-comment-472-1 εὐ βεβηκόσιν] 'When in high prosperity. The phrase literally means, Standing firmly." Cp. esp. Archil. Fr. 58, πολλάκις της ἀνατρέπουσι ανατο καὶ μάλ᾽ εὖ βεβηκότας | ὑπτίους κλίνουσι.

980. mvp-comment-473-1 προὐστήτην φόνου] 'Stood forth (1) to slay,' or (2) as avengers of blood.' The genitive is difficult, and is hardly explained by comparing Aj. 803, Eur. Andr. 221. Either (1) it expresses purpose, as in Thuc. 1. 36, καλῶς παράπλου κεῖται, and similar expressions, or (2) the phrase is equivalent to προστάται φόνου ἐγένοντο, 'Became ministers of the blood-feud.'

986. mvp-comment-474-1 συμπόνει πατρί] 'Labour in thy father's cause,-vindicate thy brother's name. As observed above in note on l. 811, the ideas of vengeance and of succour are inseparable. So συγκάμνειν is used of honouring the dead in Aj. 988.

987-988. mvp-comment-475-1 The wild and desperate hope on which this rests, and which has been suggested by the previous lines, is that, when Aegisthus is slain, the people will immediately rise in favor of the surviving representatives of the Atreidae.

991. mvp-comment-476-1 On the non-repetition of the article here see Essay on L. § 21. p. 33, b.

992-993. mvp-comment-477-1 εἰ φρενῶν.. μὴ κακῶν] If her thoughts had not been perverted.' μή belongs to the whole sentence, but its position emphasizes both the negation and the epithet κακῶν.

996. mvp-comment-478-1 As elsewhere, when αὐτός τε καί is introduced after the beginning of a sentence, the second clause has an independent construction. Plat. Rep. 4. Ρ. 427 C, αὐτός τε καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν παρακάλει.

999. mvp-comment-479-1 εὐτυχής is equally probable.

1000. mvp-comment-480-1 κἀπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται] Cp. Fr. 786. 1.8, πάλιν διαρρεῖ κἀπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται. The use of μή rather than oὐ is to be explained by the abstract expression, - 'nothingness' rather than 'nothing.'

1005. mvp-comment-481-1 λύει .. ἡμᾶς οὐδέν] It brings us no release.' λύειν is not here = λυσιτελεῖν, as it is sometimes in Euripides. See O. T. 316, 7, and note.

1007-1008. mvp-comment-482-1 It is conceivable, as some editors have suggested, that these two lines may have come in from elsewhere. Cp. Aj. 554 and note. If they are part of the text, the connection is somewhat as follows: We should gain nothing by doing what, although applauded for the moment, would bring us to an ignominious death. Not death merely, but the lingering misery that might precede it, is what we should have most to dread.' We may suppose that the imagination of Chrysothemis has been impressed by the threat of immurement, which she reported supr. 379-82.

1009. mvp-comment-483-1 πανωλέθρους τὸ πᾶν . . ὀλέσθαι] Perish utterly and irredeemably.' The repetition of τὸ πᾶν, already implied in πανωλέθρους, anticipates the notion which is more fully expressed by the antithesis in the succeeding verse, -'Ere we perish in an utter destruction, in which we should involve not ourselves only but our whole race'-(since Orestes is no more).

1010. mvp-comment-484-1 κἀξερημῶσαι γένος] Cp. Ant. 58, 9, νῦν αὖ μόνα δὴ νὰ λελειμμένα σκόπει | ὅσῳ κάκιστ᾽ ὀλούμεθ'. Iphianassa ( supr. 157) seems to be forgotten.

1011. mvp-comment-485-1 κατάσχες ὀργήν] Cp. Pind. Isthm. 3. 3, (εἴ τις) σθένει πλούτου κατέχει φρεσὶν αἰανῆ κόρον.

1018. mvp-comment-486-1 ἁπηγγελλόμην] The interpretation preserved by Hesychius, -ἐπηγγελλόμην· παρεκάλουν, ἐπέστελλον, – is hardly adequate. A better meaning is obtained if the word is allowed to retain its usual force, 'The offer which I made.' In proposing that they should together compass the death of Aegisthus, Electra thinks that she has given Chrysothemis a glorious opportunity.

1020. mvp-comment-487-1 κενόν] i.e. ἀργόν, 'Unperformed.'

1022. mvp-comment-488-1 πάντα γὰρ κατειργάσω] 'You had effected everything;' i.e. would have prevented the accomplishment of the murder. For the ellipse of av here, cp. esp. Thuc. 8. 86, ἐν ᾧ σαφέστατα Ἰωνίαν καὶ Ἑλλήσποντον εὐθὺς εἶχον οἱ πολέμιοι. It deserves to be considered, whether euphony may not have been sometimes consulted in the omission of av. Certainly πᾶν γὰρ ἄν has not a pleasant sound. Cp. supr. 914: Ant. 604, 5, τίς ἀνδρῶν . . κατάσχοι; Aesch. Ag. 1163, νεογνὸς ἀνθρώπων μάθοι. For πάντα = 'Anything and everything,' cp. Trach. 17, πᾶν τοίνυν . κλύοι τις ἄν: Ο. C. 1503, 4, πάντα γὰρ . . εἰκάσαι πάρα.

1026. mvp-comment-489-1 'No, for in making the attempt one is likely to have ill success.' The masculine gender of the participle and the present tense of the infinitive give generality to the expression :-i.e. εἰκός ἐστι κακῶς πράσσειν τινά, εἰ ἐγχειροίη. καί marks correlation of act and consequence.

1028. mvp-comment-490-1 'I will listen with the same equanimity when you shall praise me;' i.e. 'As I am indifferent to your censure, so I will be to your commendation, when you have learned the truth.' The slight harshness of this, to which av in infr. 1034 is opposed, shows the rising impatience of Chrysothemis. Cp. supr. 430, inf. 1044. 1057. This interpretation is confirmed by l. 1030, μακρὸς χρόνος, ‘A long time, even all the future, is in store to determine that,' where καί is used as elsewhere in adding an equivalent or explanatory phrase. For the article with the epexegetic infinitive = ὥστε, κ.τ.λ., cp. Ο. Τ. 1417, and note.

1033. mvp-comment-491-1 σῇ] i.e. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐμῇ. Cp. Ant. 549, Κρέοντ᾽ ἐρώτα· τοῦδε γὰρ σὺ κηδεμών.

1034. mvp-comment-492-1 Nay but I do not hate thee to that extent'-i. e. though I am vexed with you.

1035. mvp-comment-493-1 But at least you should understand into what dishonour you would bring me.' Electra's tone is softened for the moment by the affectionate tone of the previous line.

1036. mvp-comment-494-1 It is not dishonour I intend, but rather care for thee.' προμηθίας follows the case of ἀτιμίας, without having any definite construction with the preceding words. See Essay on L. $ 35. p. 60 с. The bisection of the line here and in 1038 helps to mark the earnestness of Chrysothemis, and has something of a lyric effect.

1039. mvp-comment-495-1 How strange and sad it is that she who speaks so fairly should thus err!' The phra phrase εὐ λέγουσαν refers not to any single speech of Chrysothemis, but to the general tone of complacent superiority with which she utters her sentences of prudential morality.

1040. mvp-comment-496-1 ᾧ σὺ πρόσκεισαι] Cp. supr. 240, and note.

1043. mvp-comment-497-1 Electra is revolted by the suggestion of tempering justice with expediency. Cp. supr. 397, οὐκ ἐμοὺς τρόπους λέγεις. For τούτοις.. νόμοις, cp. Ant. 191, τοιοῖσδ᾽ ἐγὼ νόμοισι τήνδ' αὔξω πόλιν.

1044. mvp-comment-498-1 Cp. infr. 1057.

1046. mvp-comment-499-1 καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἀληθές] ‘And is this real?' i.e. an intention which you will execute. Cp. Phil. 921, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ δρᾶν νοεῖς; οὐδὲ βουλεύσει πάλιν] 'And will you not alter your resolve?' Cp. Phil. 961, εἰ καὶ πάλιν | γνώμην μετοίσεις.

1048. mvp-comment-500-1 Nothing that I say seems to make any impression on your mind.' φρονεῖν is here to be receptive of wisdom.' The prudence of Chrysothemis is more calculating than the timidity of Ismene.

1051. mvp-comment-501-1 τολμᾷς] 'Can bring yourself.' For a similar periphrasis with τολμάω, cp. Aesch. Prom. 999, 1000, τόλμησον, ὦ μάταιε, τόλμησόν ποτε | πρὸς τὰς παρούσας πημονὰς ὀρθῶς φρονεῖν.

1053. mvp-comment-502-1 Cp. Ant. 69, 70, οὔτ᾽ ἄν, εἰ θέλοις ἔτι | πράσσειν, ἐμοῦ γ᾽ ἂν ἡδέως δρῴης μέτα.

1054. mvp-comment-503-1 θηρᾶσθαι κενά] ‘Το seek for what is vain,' as the sympathy of Chrysothemis has proved itself to be.

1058-1097. mvp-comment-504-1 The Chorus lament, for Agamemnon's sake, over the quarrel between his daughters, which is added to the other troubles of his house, including the supposed death of Orestes, and express their admiration of Electra's attitude. Addressing her in the second strophe, they encourage her with words of sympathy and commendation. While Orestes lived, they bade her hope and trust. Now that they believe him to be dead, they are carried away by the heroism of her despair. That Electra remains upon the stage appears from infr. 1105.

1058-1065. mvp-comment-505-1 Agamemnon is forgotten by his daughter Chrysothemis, and by others who owed him gratitude. In this the human race shows itself inferior to the prudent stork. But though men forget, the gods remember, and will soon exact the penalty.

1058. mvp-comment-506-1 φρονιμωτάτους] Cp. esp. Plat. Polit. 263 D, οἷον δοκεῖ τὸ τῶν γεράνων, where, in a similar spirit of bitterness, the stork is again preferred to man. The expression (οιωνούς) is generalized, as elsewhere in Sophocles.

1059-1060. mvp-comment-507-1 τροφᾶς.. εὕρωσι] ‘Caring in respect of nurture for those from whom they are sprung, and from whom they have experienced good.' For the double genitive, cp. Trach. 108, ἀνδρὸς δεῖμα φέρουσαν ὁδοῦ, and for the subjunctive, cp. supr. 771, μίσος ὧν τέκῃ.

1060. mvp-comment-508-1 τάδ᾽ οὐκ ἐπ᾽ ἴσας τελοῦμεν] 'Do we not equally fulfil this duty?' For the adverbial expression (ἐπ᾽ ἴσας, sc. μοίρας), cp. Trach. 727, ἐξ ἑκουσίας.

1061. mvp-comment-509-1 ἀλλ᾽ οὐ *τάν] For the omission of μά, which the MSS. insert against the metre, cp. Ant. 758, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ, τόνδ' Ὄλυμπον : infr. 1239.

1064. mvp-comment-510-1 οὐρανίαν] Cp. Ο. Τ. 865-7, νόμοι . . οὐρανίαν | δι' αἰθέρα τεκνωθέντες.

1065. mvp-comment-511-1 δαρὸν οὐκ ἀπόνητοι] Sc. οὐ τελοῦμεν ταῦτα. The subject is ἡμεῖς, i.e. οἱ ἄνθρωποι, but the sentence, although general in form, is pointed at

1065-1066. mvp-comment-512-1 those who take part with Aegisthus. (In failing thus) 'we do not long escape from trouble.' For the passive form in ἀπόνητοι, see Essay on L. § 31. pp. 53. 4, § 53. p. 98 a, and cp. esp. Trach. 102, ποθουμένᾳ, and note.

1066. mvp-comment-513-1 ὦ χθονία.. φάμα] Ο human voice that piercest underground!' βροτοῖσι is really equivalent to a genitive, depending on the verbal notion in φάμα. More literally, Rumour on the part of mortals.' The language presupposes a communion of the living and the dead, so that the power of Rumour about things on earth is believed to extend to the world below.

1067. mvp-comment-514-1 οἰκτρὰν ὅπα] 'With lamentable sound.' ὅπα is cogn. acc. Compare with ll. 1066-8, Aesch. Pers. 639 foll. ἀχόρευτα φέρουσ᾽ ὀνείδη] · With saddening reproachful news.'

1070. mvp-comment-515-1 Various corrections of νοσεῖ have been attempted, of which Wecklein's ὀνοστά is the most ingenious. Others are νοσεῖ δή, νοσεῖται, νοσεύει, to which one more may be added, νοσώδη. The point especially indicated in this line is the supposed death of Orestes, which leaves the house of Agamemnon apparently without hope of healing or purgation.

1071-1072. mvp-comment-516-1 τὰ δὲ πρὸς τέκνων . . διαίτᾳ] (1) Most editors agree in understanding this to mean, 'While between his two children a quarrel has arisen that puts an end to the harmony of loving intercourse.' But (a) would Sophocles put φύλοπις for a private quarrel? Or (b) can φ. οὐκέτ᾽ ἐξισοῦται be construed so as to mean νείκει διίστανται? Another interpretation seems possible, if we may suppose the Chorus to have been carried away by the visionary hopes of Electra. Then (2) διπλή φύλοπις might be taken to mean the 'two-fold war-cry,' i.e. the combination of the two sisters for hostile purposes, which had seemed possible, supr. 448-71 (note esp. ll. 453-6), and which Electra had depicted in such glowing colours in supr. 967-89. This combination 'is no longer evenly maintained in concord,' since Chrysothemis has renounced her part in it. Or (3) φύλοπις may have lost its hostile association and be used etymologically (Essay on L. $ 54. p. 100 d) for 'the combined voice of the family' as a symbol of fraternal concord. The two sisters no longer 'speak the same thing.' This explanation may be further modified by taking διπλῆ τo mean 'divided.' 'The voices of their children are disparted and no longer harmoniously sustained in a life of affection.'

1072. mvp-comment-517-1 σαλεύει] 'Endures the storm.' Essay on L. § 58. p. 105.

1075-1076. mvp-comment-518-1 τὸν ἀεὶ .. στενάχουσ] Everlastingly mourning for her sire (πατρός, gen. of cause), unhappy maiden.' τὸν ἀεί, sc. χρόνον. Cp. Ο. C. 1584, 1701, and notes. If this 'idiotism' is rejected, it is necessary to have recourse to conjecture here, as well as to a forced explanation of the passages in the Oedipus Coloneus. Schndw. conjectures Ηλέκτρα πότμον ἀεὶ πατρός (retaining μá in the strophe): and this is adopted by Wecklein. Paley, Ἠλ. τὸν ἀεὶ πότμον (‘The irrevocable fate of death'). Dind., τὸν ἑὸν πότμον.

1077. mvp-comment-519-1 For the correction, *πάνδυρτος for πανόδυρτος, cp. Ο. Τ. 1219, *δύρομαι

1077-1080. mvp-comment-520-1 (MSS. ὀδύρομαι). And for the sense, cp. supr. 148 foll.

1078-1080. mvp-comment-521-1 οὔτε. Ἐρινύν] ‘Not avoiding death, but willing to die, if she may but destroy the twofold Evil Power.' Cp. supr. 399, 956, 7. Electra has only spoken of killing Aegisthus. But see note on supr. 987 foll. There is here a reminiscence of Aesch. Cho. 438, ἔπειτ' ἐγὼ νοσφίσας ὀλοίμαν.

1081. mvp-comment-522-1 τίς ἂν.. βλάστοι] When shall one' (i. e. another) arise, so worthy of a noble sire?'-i. e. Noble at once in birth and nature. Cp. Ant. 38, εἴτ᾿ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας, εἴτ᾿ ἐσθλῶν κακή. And see the strained use of the same word in supr. 858 (ἐλπίδων) εὐπατρίδων.

1082-1086. mvp-comment-523-1 οὐδεὶς.. εἵλου] (1) According to Hermann's explanation of these lines, they state with greater calmness the reason of Electra's action, for which the preceding words express unbounded admiration. It would be hard to find a parallel for Electra's conduct, and yet it is that which every noble mind would choose. The truth is (γάρ), no one of noble strain is willing to live on in misery, degradation, and oblivion. Even so thou, O my daughter, didst choose the lot which all men share and all lament' (viz. death), 'so as, arming' (against thyself acc. to Herm. acc. to Schol. 'subduing'-) 'the power of wrong, to win a twofold renown, in being celebrated for wisdom as well as for the highest filial duty.' Cp. Trach. 721, 2, ζῆν γὰρ κακῶς κλύουσαν οὐκ ἀνασχετόν, | ἥτις προτιμᾷ μὴ κακὴ πεφυκέναι : Αj. 479, 80, ἀλλ᾿ ἡ καλῶς ζῆν ἢ καλῶς τεθνηκέναι τὸν εὐγενῆ χρή. Two points in this interpretation admit of doubt, the use of αἰῶνα for the state of the dead, and the meaning given to καθοπλίσασα. For the former, cp. O. С. 1551, 2, τὸν τελευταῖον βίον κρύψων ἐς "Αιδην, and note. Hermann's explanation of καθοπλίσασα, sc. κατὰ σεαυτοῦ, was an expedient which he adopted in order to avoid that of the Scholiast, καταπολεμήσασα καὶ νικήσασα, which appeared impossible. Either (2) the Scholiast should be followed in spite of analogy, or there is some corruption. Herm. doubtfully suggested καθιππάσασα. Other conjectures are καθυπνίσασα, καταπτύσασα. Qy. καθαγνίσασα (?), i.e. ' purging away as if by fire;' cp. supr. 70, δίκῃ καθαρτὴς πρὸς θεῶν ὡρμημένος : Eur. Or. 39, 40. ἐξ ὅτου σφαγαῖς θανοῦσα μήτηρ πυρὶ καθήγνισται δέμας, According to another line of interpretation (3), the connection is to this effect :- Electra is peerless, for none amongst the nobly-born are found to allow their glory to be soiled in a life of misery, as Electra does, choosing to share the common lot of affliction, if only she may subdue the criminals, etc. But εὔκλεια cannot =ἀγλαΐα ( supr. 211), and although the sentiment that the greater number of mankind are born to trouble is not un-Greek, it is hardly Sophoclean or appropriate here. Others would read κλεινὸν for κοινόν.

1089. mvp-comment-524-1 σοφά τ᾿ ἀρίστα τε] 'Wise, as well as bravest,' or 'best, Wise, i. e. because holding fast the higher law. Cp. l. 1094.

1089. mvp-comment-524-2 Enter Orestes and Pylades, with attendants, as the ἄνδρες Φωκέων τεταγμένοι of supr. 759. The urn is carried, not by Orestes as might be expected from supr. 54. but by one of the attendants ( infr. 1123).

1090. mvp-comment-525-1 'Mayest thou live, I pray, as far superior to thy foes in wealth and might as now thou art fallen beneath them!' Cp. Hdt. 8. 60, τῶν ἐχθρῶν κατύπερθε γενέσθαι: ΙΙ. 16. 722.

1091. mvp-comment-526-1 *τεῶν is Hermann's correction of τῶν. Others (Lange, Wecklein) read τοσόνδ'.

1093. mvp-comment-527-1 ὑπὸ †χεῖρα] Hermann's conjecture, ὑπόχειρ (cp. ἐπίχειρ), has been received by subsequent editors. But, although it gives regularity to the metre, the word is not found elsewhere, and ὑπὸ χεῖρα appears idiomatic. Hermann himself (1839) read ὑπὸ χέρα.

1094-1095. mvp-comment-528-1 μοίρᾳ . . βεβῶσαν] Not placed in happy fortune.' Cр. О. С. 1358, 59, ὅτ᾽ ἐν πόνῳ | ταὐτῷ βεβηκὼς τυγχάνεις κακῶν ἐμοί.

1095-1097. mvp-comment-529-1 ἃ δὲ μέγιστ᾽ ἔβλαστε.. εὐσεβεία] Either (1) But prospering most highly, through Zeus-loved piety, in respect of those laws that are mightiest in their origin,' or (2) But endowed with the noblest gifts from those laws which are of mightiest origin, because of thy piety to Zeus.' For μέγιστ' ἔβλαστε, ср. О. Т. 865-72, Ant. 454-7. For the genitive τῶνδε in (2), see Essay on L. § 10. p. 14 b. And for τᾷ Ζηνὸς εὐσεβείᾳ in (1), cp. Phil. 1442, 3, ὡς τἄλλα πάντα δεύτερ᾽ ἡγεῖται πατὴρ | Ζεύς· ἡ γὰρ εὐσέβεια συνθνήσκει βροτοῖς. Wecklein reads ἄριστον αἶνον δι' εὐσέβειαν, Nauck, ἄριστα τὰν σὰν δι᾽ εὐσέβειαν.

1101. mvp-comment-530-1 ᾤκηκεν] Hath his abode.' The perfect tense ironically suggests the supposed permanence of Aegisthus' rule.

1104. mvp-comment-531-1 ποθεινήν] ‘Wishful, i. e. with desire to see them. It is a courteous phrase, for which cp. Shak. Mids. N. D. 1. 1, 'With duty and desire we follow you,'-but may have suggested to the spectators Orestes longing for his home and Electra's longing for him. For the active use of ποθεινός, cp. Eur. Phoen. 1737, ποθεινὰ δάκρυα.

1105. mvp-comment-532-1 τὸν ἄγχιστον] 'Nearest,' i.e. as daughter to the Queen. But the word is calculated to move Orestes, to whom Electra is indeed nearest. The masculine gives generality. Cp. supr. 1026, and note.

1110. mvp-comment-533-1 οὐκ οἶδα .. κληδόν] ‘I know not what report you speak of.' Orestes must seem ignorant of the coming of the Paedagogus, who professed to have been sent by Phanoteus, and had therefore nothing to do with Strophius, from whom Orestes is supposed to come. The evidence appears to flow through two channels, which are independent of each other.

1115. mvp-comment-534-1 Some editors punctuate after ἐκεῖνο, some do not punctuate at all between τοῦτ᾽ .. ἄχθος. The pause at σαφές seems on the whole most probable. Ah! here is that we heard of now made clear. I see the burden ready (as it would seem) to my hand.'

1116. mvp-comment-535-1 πρόχειρον may either mean (1) 'Before my hand,' i. e. ready to be taken up; or (2) Held in the hand' of another.'

1117. mvp-comment-536-1 τι .. τῶν Ὀρεστείων κακῶν] The litotes suggests not only his death, but the ruin of his house. Cp. ll. 1121, 2.

1123-1124. mvp-comment-537-1 οὐ γὰρ οὐσ'] The form of expression may be simply occasioned by antithesis. But friends of Strophius might have reason to suspect those about Aegisthus of being unfriendly to Orestes.

1125. mvp-comment-538-1 ἢ.. φύσιν] ‘Or of his natural kin.' For πρὸς αἵματος, cp. Aj. 1305, τοὺς πρὸς αἵματος, and for φύσιν, see Essay on L. § 17. p. 25. 4, and cp. supr. 325-

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.

1160-1162. mvp-comment-552-1 For this short lyric (anapaestic) outburst, cp. especially Trach. 1085, 6, ὦναξ ᾿Αίδη, κ.τ.λ.

1161. mvp-comment-553-1 ὦ δέμας οἰκτρόν] ‘Poor form!' She sees in imagination the mangled body of Orestes: supr. 756.

1162-1163. mvp-comment-554-1 δεινοτάτας κελεύθους] Sent on a terrible journey;' i.e. dismissed from life by a calamitous death. Cp. Trach. 874, 5, βέβηκε Δῃάνειρα τὴν πανυστάτην | ὁδῶν ἁπασῶν ἐξ ἀκινήτου ποδός. Others explain this of the bringing of the ashes from Phocis to Argos.

1164. mvp-comment-555-1 Still gazing at the urn, she calls her brother by the most endearing name: Ant. 899, 915.

1169. mvp-comment-556-1 To die and share thy burial.'

1170. mvp-comment-557-1 She contrasts the tranquillity of the lifeless ashes before her with her own sorrow.

1171-1173. mvp-comment-558-1 Unable to give real consolation, the Chorus fall back on the common-place that loss is common to the race.' Ср. О. Т. 1319, 20, and note. For a speech of three lines in a similar position, cp. Aj. 784-6.

1174. mvp-comment-559-1 Orestes is overcome by compassion in witnessing Electra's grief for him, and, contrary to his first intention, now prepares to disclose himself to her.

1174-1175. mvp-comment-560-1 ποῖ .. ἔλθω] «Το what words must I have recourse, when I know not what to say?' Cp. Phil. 897-9, Ν. οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅποι χρὴ τάπορον τρέ τρέπειν ἔπος. Φ. ἀπορεῖς δὲ τοῦ σύ; μὴ λέγ', ὦ τέκνον, τάδε. Ν. ἀλλ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἤδη τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους κυρῶ.

1176. mvp-comment-561-1 Some omit the point after ἄλγος. Cp. supr. 316. In that case the pronoun í is again supposed to be equivalent to ὅ, τι.

1179-1187. mvp-comment-562-1 Before revealing himself, Orestes gazes fixedly at Electra, as if to realize by actual observation the depth of her misery, and in doing so utters brief ejaculations, to which she replies amazedly.

1181-1182. mvp-comment-563-1 O ruined form, disowned both of men and gods! ! El. Those inauspicious words of yours, O Stranger, can apply to none but me.'

1183. mvp-comment-564-1 'Alas, for thy forlorn and ill-starred life! For ἀνύμφου, cp. supr. 961, 2, πάρεστι δ᾽ ἀλγεῖν ἐς τοσόνδε τοῦ χρόνου | ἄλεκτρα γηράσκουσαν ἀνυμέναιά τε. And for τροφῆς = ' Condition,' cp. Ο. C. 362, ζητοῦσα τὴν σήν, ποῦ κατοικοίης, τροφήν.

1184. mvp-comment-565-1 Why, I pray thee, Stranger, dost thou thus look steadfastly and groan?' ἐπισκοπῶν] · With fixed look,'-as if studying something deeply.

1185. mvp-comment-566-1 How utterly ignorant was I of my own sorrow!'

1186. mvp-comment-567-1 ἐν τῷ .. τῶν εἰρημένων] · In what that has been said did you discern this?' τῶν εἰρημένων marks Electra's unconsciousness that it is the sight of herself and her condition, and not any word spoken, that has moved the 'stranger.'

1187. mvp-comment-568-1 In seeing the sight of thee clothed with many sorrows.' Perhaps a reminiscence of Aesch. Cho. 16-18, καὶ γὰρ Ἠλέκτραν δοκῶ | στείχειν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἐμὴν πένθει λυγρῷ | πρέπουσαν. Cp. Eur. Suppl. 1056, πένθιμος πρέπεις ὁρᾶν.

1191. mvp-comment-569-1 πόθεν .. κακόν] Orestes, still maintaining his disguise, professes amazement at the sudden mention of a murder. In what quarter can have arisen the mischief you thus make known to me?' i. e. What crime is this, with the knowledge of which you seem so familiar? (Not, 'By whom perpetrated?' with which the answer of Electra does not correspond.)

1193. mvp-comment-570-1 Either (1) 'Who drives you into this bondage?' the dative being equivalent to εἰς with the acc.; cp. ἄχεϊ προτραπέσθαι. Or (2) 'Who thus compels you?'— ἀνάγκῃ, instr. dat. The former (1) is best. See Essay on L. § 11. p. 18, 3.

1194. mvp-comment-571-1 οὐδὲν ἐξισοῖ = οὐδὲν ποιεῖ ἴσον : οὐδέν, cogn. acc.

1195. mvp-comment-572-1 χερσίν, ἢ λύμῃ βίου] 'By violence, or oppression?'

1198. mvp-comment-573-1 ὃς ἦν] Cp. supr. 847. σποδόν] Sc. (1) τούτου, or (2) τοῦτον.

1200. mvp-comment-574-1 μόνος ποτέ] i.e. οὐδείς ποτε ἄλλος ἐπῴκτειρεν.

1201. mvp-comment-575-1 (1) 'I am the only one who brings with him a feeling of the same misfortunes.' τοῖς ἴσοις, like τῶν ἴσων, supr. 1168, implies rather 'identity' than 'equality.' Orestes does not mean that his personal sufferings have been like Electra's, but first that in the essential point, viz. that their father has been murdered and is unavenged, they share equally in the same sorrow, and also that her sorrows are felt by him as his own. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 222, 3, ΗΛ. ἀλλ᾽ ἐν κακοῖσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς γελᾶν θέλεις. ΟΡ. κἀν τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἄρ᾽, εἴπερ ἔν γε τοῖσι σοῖς ( ubi τοῖς ἴσοις M. pr.). This parallel favours the other reading here, (2) τοῖσι σοῖς, which, as Prof. Paley argues, gives a simpler meaning, and may also be thought more pathetic. But it is less in keeping with the subtle gradations of this recognition-scene.

1206. mvp-comment-576-1 μὴ.. τοῦτό μ' ἐργάσῃ] Orestes has reached forth his hand to take the urn from her.

1209. mvp-comment-577-1 Orestes again offers to take away the urn.

1210. mvp-comment-578-1 ὦ.. σέθεν] Cp. especially Trach. 972, ὤμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ μέλεος.

1211. mvp-comment-579-1 εὔφημα φώνει] 'Speak no such ill-omened words,'—as to mention a tomb in connection with the living: infr. 1219.

1213-1214. mvp-comment-580-1 The language by which Orestes tries to undeceive his sister is so worded as to seem cruel to her, as if she were unworthy to hold her brother's urn.

1215. mvp-comment-581-1 οὐδενός] The pronoun (masc.) has a strong pathetic emphasis. 'Dishonoured in no way!' See Essay on L. § 22. p. 36 fin.