Sophocles Electra 64

mvp-comment-219-1 μηδὲν ¹ πρὸς ὀργὴν ²

mvp-comment-220-1 ἀμφοῖν ³ τοῖς λόγοις ⁴

mvp-comment-221-1 τῆσδε … αὕτη ⁵ πάλιν ⁶

mvp-comment-222-1 ἐγὼ μὲν ⁷

mvp-comment-222-2 πως ⁸

mvp-comment-222-3 μύθων ⁹

mvp-comment-223-1 οὐδ’ ¹⁰ κοὐδ’ ¹¹ ποτέ ¹²

mvp-comment-224-1 ἰὸν ¹³

mvp-comment-224-2 σχήσει ¹⁴

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν ¹⁵

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι ¹⁶ εἰ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ ¹⁸

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων ¹⁹ λόγων ²⁰

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα ²¹

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει ²²

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα ²³

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ ²⁴

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς ²⁵

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις ²⁶

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα ²⁷

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ ²⁸ καί ²⁹

mvp-comment-228-3

schol.: H. 4. 3. 5 : so, too, Eur. Heracl. 971 , etc. Cp. ( )= in Soph. Ph. 1155 ; and = in O.T. 78.

mvp-comment-229-1 ἦ ταῦτα δὴ ³⁰ ἦ … δὴ ³¹ ἦ … γὰρ ³²

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται ³³

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο ³⁴

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ ³⁵

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ ³⁶

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα ³⁷

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε ³⁸

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν ³⁹

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως ⁴⁰ ὑμῶν ⁴¹

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ ⁴² προσωτάτω φύγω ⁴³

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα ⁴⁹ οὐκ ἐμοὺς ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-240-1 γε ⁵¹ μέντοι ⁵²

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ ⁵³

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν ⁵⁴

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

.

mvp-comment-241-1 συγγνώμην ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα ⁶¹

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς ⁶²

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν ⁶³

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή ⁶⁴ ὅν γ’ ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν ⁷¹

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε ⁷²

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ⁷³ ἐπὶ σμικρῶν ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι ⁷⁸

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 ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε ⁸⁰ ἐκ δὲ ⁸¹

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα ⁸²

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι ⁸³

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 ⁸⁴ τοῦ ⁸⁵ παρόντος ⁸⁶ του ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη ⁹⁰

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 ⁹¹

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ ⁹²

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ ⁹³

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη ⁹⁶ τούτων μὲν ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις ⁹⁸ οὐδ’ ὅσιον ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ¹⁰³ ῥοαῖσιν ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ ¹⁰⁷ ἔνθεν ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν ¹¹¹ ὅταν ¹¹² σῳζέσθω ¹¹³

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν ¹¹⁵ τλημονεστάτη ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι ¹²¹

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι ¹²² δέξασθαι ¹²³

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη ¹²⁵

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 ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ ¹²⁸

369. mvp-comment-156-1 μηδὲν πρὸς ὀργήν] Sc. λέξης. Say nothing in anger,'-lit. 'tending that way. Cp. infr. 464.

373. mvp-comment-157-1 οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐμνήσθην ποτέ) 'And would never have mentioned the subject. This refers to supr. 330, 1.

376. mvp-comment-158-1 Exceptions to the rule of the Porsonic pause are not infrequent where γάρ comes in the first place of the fifth foot: e.g. O. C. 115, ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθεῖν.

376-377. mvp-comment-159-1 Electra will not admit that any trouble can be greater than what she endures already in seeing the insults that are heaped upon her father.

382. mvp-comment-160-1 χθονὸς τῆσδ᾽ ἐκτός] Beyond the Argive boundary, so as not to bring pollution upon the state. Cp. Ant. 773, ἄγων ἔρημος ἔνθ᾽ ἂν ᾖ βροτῶν στίβος κρύψω πετρώδει ζῶσαν ἐν κατώρυχι : Ο. C. 399, 400, ὥς σ' ἄγχι γῆς στήσωσι Καδμείας, ὅπως | κρατῶσι μέν σου, γῆς δὲ μὴ ᾿μβαίνῃς ὅρων. ὑμνήσεις κακά] 'You shall chant your song of woe.' Cp. infr. 802, 3, τήνδε δ᾽ ἔκτοθεν βοᾶν | ἔα τά θ᾽ αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ τῶν φίλων κακά.

383-384. mvp-comment-161-1 καί με . μέμψῃ] Being warned, Electra will have no cause to blame Chrysothemis. Cp. infr. 1056, 7, ὅταν γὰρ ἐν κακοῖς | ἤδη βεβήκῃς, τἄμ᾽ ἐπαινέσεις ἔπη.

384. mvp-comment-162-1 νῦν γὰρ .. φρονεῖν] ‘For now you have a good opportunity of adopting the wiser course.' Cp. Plat. Rep. Β. 9. p. 571 Β, τὸ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν .. οὔ μοι δοκοῦμεν ἱκανῶς διῃρῆσθαι. . οὐκοῦν, ἢ δ᾽ ὅς, ἔτ᾽ ἐν καλῷ;

385. mvp-comment-163-1 And have they really determined to do this to me?' καί adds a sarcastic emphasis.

390. mvp-comment-164-1 ποῦ ποτ᾽ εἰ φρενῶν;] 'What are you thinking of?' Cp. Ant. 42, ποῦ γνώμης ποτ' εἶ; There is the same doubt in both cases, whether el is from εἰμί or εἶμι. For the latter, which gives greater liveliness, cp. Eur. Iph. Α. 479, 80, καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν ἐξαφίσταμαι λόγων, | οὐκ εἰς σὲ δεινός· εἶμι δ᾽ οὗπερ εἶ σὺ νῦν. On the other hand it may be urged that ποῖ would be more natural with the verb of motion. Electra in supra l. 354 has said, οὐ ζῶ; κακῶς μὲν, οἶδ᾽, ἐπαρκούντως δ᾽ ἐμοί. Chrysothemis interprets this as if she had meant that she had something to lose.

395. mvp-comment-165-1 τοῖς φίλοις] Viz. τῷ πατρί.

397. mvp-comment-166-1 ταῦτα is an adverbial accusative. οὐκ ἐμοὺς τρόπους λέγεις] 'You speak not of my ways; i.e. Your words indicate a line of conduct that can never be mine.

399. mvp-comment-167-1 τιμωρούμενοι] Cp. supr. 349.

400. mvp-comment-168-1 τούτων.. συγγνώμην] For this genitive, see Essay on L. § 9. p. 12, d 2, and cp. esp. Trach. 250, τοῦ λόγου .. φθόνον.

401. mvp-comment-169-1 Such words are for the base to approve.' Although, grammatically speaking, ἔπη is the subject of the sentence, and ἐπαινέσαι is epexegetic infinitive, the real meaning is, πρὸς κακῶν ἐστὶ τὸ ἐπαινέσai ταῦτα τὰ ἔπη. As constantly happens in Greek, an attribute which belongs to the verb is attached to the noun.

403. mvp-comment-170-1 μή πω .. κενή] 'I trust I may not prove so void of understanding!' For this use of πω, in which the temporal meaning has disappeared, cp; Ο. Τ. 105, οὐ γὰρ εἰσεῖδόν γέ πω, and note. The adverbial use of τοσόνδε is an Epic touch; cp. Od. 21. 253, 4, ἀλλ᾽ ἐἰ δὴ τοσσόνδε βίης ἐπιδευέες εἰμὲν | ἀντιθέου Ὀδυσῆος, ὅτ᾽ οὐ δυνάμεσθα, κ.τ.λ.

404. mvp-comment-171-1 οἶπερ ἐστάλην ὁδοῦ] ‘To the place whither I was sent upon my way.' For the idiomatic partitive genitive, cp. supr. 390, ποῦ ποτ' εἶ φρενῶν ; Phil. 899, ἀλλ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἤδη τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους κυρῶ.

405. mvp-comment-172-1 τῷ] 'For whom?' i.e. 'To be offered to whom?'

406. mvp-comment-173-1 τυμβεῦσai χοάς] Το pour libation on his tomb;' i.e. ἐπιτυμβίους χέαι χοάς,-the attribute of the noun being attached to the verb. See Essay on L. § 17. p. 25 с.

409. mvp-comment-174-1 τῷ τοῦτ᾽ ἤρεσεν] 'Whose pleasure was this?' Cp. Aj. 1243, & τοῖς πολλοῖσιν ἤρεσκεν κριταῖς.

410. mvp-comment-175-1 ἐκ δείματος] Sc. πεισθεῖσα.

411. mvp-comment-176-1 At the mention of 'nightly fear,' Electra instantly rushes to the conclusion that Clytemnestra has had some Divine warning. Her hope at once revives, and she looks up to heaven. For ἀλλὰ νῦν, 'now, though not heretofore,' cp. Ant. 552, τί δῆτ᾽ ἂν ἀλλὰ νῦν σ᾽ ἔτ᾿ ὠφελοῖμ᾽ ἐγώ. And for the connection, cp. Aesch. Cho. 515, 6, ΟΡ. πόθεν χοὰς ἔπεμψεν, ἐκ τίνος λόγου | μεθύστερον τιμῶσ᾽ ἀνήκεστον πάθος; ib. 523-5, ΧΟ. οἶδ', ὦ τέκνον· παρῆ γάρ. ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνειράτων | καὶ νυκτιπλάγκτων δειμάτων πεπαλμένη | χοὰς ἔπεμψε τάσδε δύσθεος γυνή. In this line and supr. 345 γε belongs in sense to the word that follows it. Or rather, the particle emphasizes the whole sentence as a comment on the preceding words. 'Ay, now, at last, come to our aid!'

413. mvp-comment-177-1 Electra is eager to know the vision, and will not confess her hopes till she has heard it.

414. mvp-comment-178-1 ἐπὶ σμικρόν is to be resumed with φράσai, which is epexegetic infinitive.

415. mvp-comment-179-1 λέγ᾽ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο] 'Tell me but this;'-this little, if nothing more. Cp. Trach. 320, εἴπ', ὦ τάλαιν', ἀλλ᾽ ἡμὶν ἐκ σαυτῆς. πολλά τοι κ.τ.λ.] Cp. Aesch. Cho. 204, σμικροῦ γένοιτ' ἂν σπέρματος μέγας πυθμήν: Ο. Τ. 120, 1, ἓν γὰρ πόλλ᾽ ἂν ἐξεύροι μαθεῖν, | ἀρχὴν βραχεῖαν εἰ λάβοιμεν ἐλπίδος.

417. mvp-comment-180-1 λόγος τις.. ἐστιν] It is said,' viz. by the attendant who heard her tell her vision to the Sun, infr. 424, 5.

417-419. mvp-comment-181-1 πατρὸς ἐς φῶς] Our father again amongst us, revisiting the realm of light; i.e. τὸν πατέρα δεύτερον ὁμιλοῦντα (τοῖς ἐνθάδε), -abstract for concrete.

419. mvp-comment-182-1 εἶτα, κ.τ.λ.] These words depend immediately on λόγος τίς ἐστιν. Chrysothemis proceeds to narrate the vision as a matter of fact.

421. mvp-comment-183-1 τανῦν δ᾽ Αἴγισθος] Sc. φέρει.

424. mvp-comment-184-1 τοῦ παρόντος] 'The one who was present.' As a matter of course Clytemnestra was not wholly unattended in the day-time. Hence the article. Some editors have preferred the indefinite του; but the use of παρόντος = παραγενομένου is less natural in this case, and the double predicate παρόντος, ἐξηγουμένου, is awkward. A female attendant is meant, the masculine form being used, as in Trach. 151, etc. See Essay on L. § 20. p. 30. 2.

428. mvp-comment-185-1 πρὸς . . θεῶν τῶν ἐγγενῶν] · By the gods of our race,' i.e. the gods who are not only the protectors of our race, but also its progenitors, Inachus, etc. Chrysothemis in her solemn adjuration uses τὸν ἐπιχώριον ὅρκον τὸν μέγιστον (Thuc. 5. 18. § 9). Cp. Ant. 938, θεοὶ προγενεῖς, and note.

430. mvp-comment-186-1 σὺν κακῷ μέτει πάλιν] 'You will seek me another day, when the evil has overtaken you.'

431. mvp-comment-187-1 Electra scarcely hears the concluding words of Chrysothemis. Her attention is absorbed by the vision and the hopes which it has aroused in her mind, and she is determined to prevent the offering of the libation, which she represents to her sister as at once an offence to Agamemnon and useless to Clytemnestra. The former is her own feeling, the latter (ll. 446-8) occurs to her as a rhetorical argument. She also takes the opportunity of sending an offering to the tomb, as if to remind her father that the hour of vengeance for him was at hand. ὦ φίλη] 'She tries affectionate persuasion, and no longer reproaches.' Paley. Or rather, her resentment is forgotten in the revival of hope. Cp. supr. 367.

433-434. mvp-comment-188-1 ἱστάναι | κτερίσματα] Το (institute or) perform funereal rights.'

435-438. mvp-comment-189-1 Not κρύψον from l. 436, but some more general word, such as ἀφάνισον, is to be supplied with πνοαίσιν. For the form of sentence, cp. О. Т. 1410-2, ἔξω μέ που | καλύψατ', ἢ φονεύσατ', ἢ θαλάσσιον | ἐκρίψατ᾽, ἔνθα μήποτ᾽ εἰσόψεσθ᾽ ἔτι. βαθυσκαφεῖ κόνει] 'In deeply hollowed dust,' i.e. buried deep in the ground.

437-438. mvp-comment-190-1 ἀλλ᾿ ὅταν θάνῃ . . κάτω] 'But let this be treasured underground for her, against the day when she shall die.' σωζέσθω is passive, and there is an ellipse οἱ εἰς ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον or the like words.

441. mvp-comment-191-1 οὐκ ἄν.. ἐπέστεφε] 'She would not have sought to give by way of honour.' Cp. Ant. 431, χοαῖσι τρισπόνδοισι τὸν νέκυν στέφει.