Sophocles Electra 91

mvp-comment-225-1 τὸ δεινὸν ¹

mvp-comment-225-2 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι ² εἰ ³

mvp-comment-226-1 γὰρ ⁴

mvp-comment-226-2 γόων ⁵ λόγων ⁶

mvp-comment-227-1 ἐνταῦθα ⁷

mvp-comment-227-2 ἔνθα μή ποτε … προσόψει ⁸

mvp-comment-227-3 ζῶσα ⁹

mvp-comment-227-4 κατηρεφεῖ ¹⁰

mvp-comment-227-5 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκτὸς ¹¹

mvp-comment-227-6 ὑμνήσεις ¹²

mvp-comment-228-1 πρὸς ταῦτα ¹³

mvp-comment-228-2 Nauck reads κοὔ ¹⁴ καί ¹⁵

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 ¹⁶ ἦ … δὴ ¹⁷ ἦ … γὰρ ¹⁸

mvp-comment-229-2 καὶ βεβούλευνται ¹⁹

mvp-comment-230-1 ἀλλ’ ἐξίκοιτο ²⁰

mvp-comment-230-2 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκ’ ²¹

mvp-comment-231-1 τίνα … τόνδ’ ²²

mvp-comment-231-2 τάλαινα ²³

mvp-comment-232-1 εἴ τι τῶνδε ²⁴

mvp-comment-233-1 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν ²⁵

mvp-comment-234-1 ὅπως ²⁶ ὑμῶν ²⁷

mvp-comment-234-2 προσώτατ’ ²⁸ προσωτάτω φύγω ²⁹

mvp-comment-235-1 βίου … τοῦ παρόντος ³⁰

mvp-comment-236-1 καλὸς γὰρ ³¹

mvp-comment-236-2 θαυμάσαι ³²

mvp-comment-237-1 τοῖς φίλοις ³³

mvp-comment-238-1 εἰκαθεῖν ³⁴

mvp-comment-239-1 ταῦτα ³⁵ οὐκ ἐμοὺς ³⁶

mvp-comment-240-1 γε ³⁷ μέντοι ³⁸

mvp-comment-240-2 μὴ )ξ ³⁹

mvp-comment-240-3 πεσεῖν ⁴⁰

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

.

mvp-comment-241-1 συγγνώμην ⁴¹

mvp-comment-242-1 τἄπη ⁴²

mvp-comment-242-2 πρὸς κακῶν ⁴³

mvp-comment-243-1 μή πω ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-244-1 οἷπερ … ὁδοῦ ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-245-1 τῷ φέρεις ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-245-2 ἔμπυρα ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-246-1 τυμβεῦσαι χοάς ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-247-1 βροτῶν ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-248-1 ὃν ἔκταν’ αὐτή ⁵⁰ ὅν γ’ ⁵¹

mvp-comment-249-1 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ⁵²

mvp-comment-250-1 δείματος ⁵³

mvp-comment-250-2 δοκεῖν ἐμοί ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-251-1 θεοὶ πατρῷοι ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-251-2 συγγένεσθέ γ’ ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-251-3 ἀλλὰ νῦν ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-252-1 εἴποιμ’ ἂν τότε ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-253-1 ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ⁵⁹ ἐπὶ σμικρῶν ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-253-2 φράσαι ⁶¹

mvp-comment-254-1 σμικροὶ λόγοι ⁶²

mvp-comment-255-1 πατρὸς … δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν ⁶³

mvp-comment-255-2 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι ⁶⁴

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 ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-256-1 ἔκ τε ⁶⁶ ἐκ δὲ ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-256-2 βρύοντα ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-256-3 ᾧ … γενέσθαι ⁶⁹

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 ⁷⁰ τοῦ ⁷¹ παρόντος ⁷² του ⁷³

mvp-comment-257-2 Ἡλίῳ δείκνυσι τοὖναρ ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-258-1 οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-258-2 πέμπει με κείνη ⁷⁶

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 ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-260-1 ἀβουλίᾳ ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-260-2 σὺν κακῷ ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-260-3 μέτει ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-261-1 ἀλλ’ ⁸¹

mvp-comment-261-2 ὦ φίλη ⁸² τούτων μὲν ⁸³

mvp-comment-262-1 οὐ … θέμις ⁸⁴ οὐδ’ ὅσιον ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-262-2 ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-262-3 κτερίσματ’ ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-262-4 λουτρὰ ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-263-1 ἀλλ’ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ⁸⁹ ῥοαῖσιν ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-263-2 κρύψον ⁹¹

mvp-comment-263-3 νιν ⁹²

mvp-comment-263-4 ἔνθα μή ποτ’ ⁹³ ἔνθεν ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-263-5 εὐνὴν ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-264-1 ἀλλ’ ὅταν θάῃν ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-264-2 The conjecture ἔστ’ ἂν ⁹⁷ ὅταν ⁹⁸ σῳζέσθω ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-264-3 κειμήλἰ ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-265-1 ἀρχὴν ¹⁰¹ τλημονεστάτη ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-266-1 ἔβλαστε ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-267-1 ὅν γ’ … τῷδ’ ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-267-2 ἐπέστεφε ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-267-3 442 f. The position of αὐτῇ ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-267-4 δέξεσθαι ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-267-5 It seems, then, a reasonable inference that here, where the reference is to future time, he would have written δέξεσθαι ¹⁰⁸ δέξασθαι ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-267-6 444 ff. Join θανὼν ἄτιμος ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-267-7 ἐμασχαλίσθη ¹¹¹

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 ¹¹²

mvp-comment-267-10 ἐξέμαξ ν ¹¹³

mvp-comment-267-11 ἆρα μὴ ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-268-1 οὐκ ἔστιν ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-268-2 ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-269-1 βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-269-2 κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-270-1 †ἀλιπαρῆ ¹¹⁹ λιπαρῆ ¹²⁰

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

may conceal some corruption: ought possibly to be τήνδε τ’ ¹²¹ ἀλίπαρον ¹²²

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 ¹²³

mvp-comment-271-2 χλιδαῖς ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-272-1 προσπίτνουσα ¹²⁵ αὐτὸν ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-273-1 ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερός ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-273-2 ζῶντ’ ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-274-1 ἀφνεωτέραις ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-274-2 στέφωμεν ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-274-3 δωρούμεθα ¹³¹

mvp-comment-275-1 οἶμαι μὲν οὖν ¹³²

mvp-comment-275-2 If μέλον ¹³³ μέλειν ¹³⁴ μέλον ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-276-1 σοί ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-277-1 βροτῶν ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-278-1 πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-279-1 δράσω ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-279-2 τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον ¹⁴⁰

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 ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-280-1 παρ’ ὑμῶν ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-281-1 πικρὰν ¹⁴³ δοκῶ με … τολμήσειν ¹⁴⁴ ἔτι ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-282-1 εἰ μὴ )γὼ ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-282-2 γνώμας λειπομένα ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-283-1 ἁ πρόμαντις Δίκα ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-283-2 δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-284-1 μέτεισιν ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-284-2 οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-285-1 ὕπεστί μοι θράσος ¹⁵² κλύουσαν ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-285-2 ἁδυπνόων … ὀνειράτων ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-286-1 ἀμναστεῖ γ’ ὁ φύσας ς’ ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-287-1 χαλκόπλακτος ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-287-2 γένυς ¹⁵⁷

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 ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-289-1 καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-290-1 λόχοις ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-290-2 χαλκόπους ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-291-1 ἄλεκτρ’ ἄνυμφα ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-291-2 γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ’ ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-291-3 ἐπέβα ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-292-1 πρὸ τῶνδέ τοι … συνδρῶσιν ¹⁶⁵

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 ¹⁶⁶

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 ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-293-1 ἀψεγές ¹⁶⁸ ἀψεφές ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-293-2 πελᾶν ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-294-1 τοῖς δρῶσι ¹⁷¹ τοῖς συνδρῶσιν ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-295-1 μαντεῖαι βροτῶν ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-296-1 εὖ κατασχήσει ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-297-1 ἱππεία ¹⁷⁵

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 ¹⁷⁶

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 ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-299-2 ὁ ποντισθεὶς Μυρτίλος ¹⁷⁸

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 ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-300-1 παγχρυσέων δίφρων ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-301-1 πρόρριζος ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-301-2 ἐκριφθείς ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-302-1 ἔλειπεν ¹⁸³ ἔλιπεν ¹⁸⁴ οἴκου ¹⁸⁵ οἴκους ¹⁸⁶ πω ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-303-1 πολύπονος ¹⁸⁸ αἰκία ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-304-1 ἀνειμένη ¹⁹⁰ μέν ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-304-2 ὡς ἔοικας ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-304-3 στρέφει ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-304-4 Clytaemnestra begins in the same strain as Chrysothemis, who likewise emphasised her reproof by the word αὖ ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-305-1 μή τοι θυραίαν γ’ ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-305-2 αἰσχύνειν φίλους ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-306-1 καίτοι ¹⁹⁷

mvp-comment-306-2 δὴ ¹⁹⁸ πολλούς ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-306-3 ἐξεῖπάς με … ὡς ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-306-4 θρασεῖα ²⁰¹ τραχεῖα ²⁰²

mvp-comment-306-5 ἄρχω ²⁰³

mvp-comment-307-1 ὕβριν … οὐκ ἔχω ²⁰⁴ κακῶς κλύουσα ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-308-1 πατὴρ γάρ ²⁰⁶

mvp-comment-308-2 πρόσχημα ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-309-1 ἡ γὰρ Δίκη ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-310-1 ᾗ χρῆν σ’ ἀρήγειν ²⁰⁹

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 ²¹⁰ Ἑλλήνων ²¹¹

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 ²¹²

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 ²¹³

mvp-comment-315-1 ἀλλ’ ἀντ’ ἀδελφοῦ δῆτα ²¹⁴ κτανὼν ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-315-2 ἀντὶ ἀδελφοῦ ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-315-3 τἄμ’ ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-316-1 παῖδες … διπλοῖ ²¹⁸

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

.

mvp-comment-317-1 ἢ ²¹⁹

mvp-comment-317-2 ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν Ἅιδης ²²⁰

mvp-comment-318-1 δαίσασθαι ²²¹

mvp-comment-318-2 The conj. λῄσασθαι ²²²

mvp-comment-319-1 πανώλει ²²³

mvp-comment-319-2 παρεῖτο ²²⁴

mvp-comment-319-3 The sense does not absolutely require us to take Μενέλεω δ’ ²²⁵

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀβούλου ²²⁶

mvp-comment-320-2 κακοῦ γνώμην ²²⁷

mvp-comment-321-1 δοκῶ μέν ²²⁸

mvp-comment-321-2 εἰ καὶ ²²⁹

mvp-comment-322-1 εἰ φωνὴν λάβοι ²³⁰

mvp-comment-323-1 τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ²³¹

mvp-comment-324-1 γνώμην δικαίαν σχοῦσα ²³²

mvp-comment-325-1 ἐρεῖς μὲν οὐχὶ ²³³ ἐρεῖς ²³⁴ ἐρεῖς … μ’ ὡς ²³⁵

mvp-comment-325-2 ἄρξασά τι λυπηρὸν ²³⁶

mvp-comment-325-3 τάδ’ ἐξήκους’ ²³⁷

mvp-comment-326-1 τοῦ τεθνηκότος θ’ ὕπερ ²³⁸

mvp-comment-327-1 καὶ μὴν ²³⁹

mvp-comment-327-2 λόγους ἐξῆρχές με ²⁴⁰

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 ²⁴¹ πατέρα ²⁴² φὴς ²⁴³

mvp-comment-329-1 εἴτ’ οὖν … εἴτε ²⁴⁴

mvp-comment-329-2 λέξω ²⁴⁵ δείξω ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-330-1 ὡς οὐ δίκῃ γ’ ²⁴⁷ ἔσπασεν ²⁴⁸ πειθὼ ²⁴⁹

mvp-comment-331-1 κυναγὸν ²⁵⁰

mvp-comment-331-2 ποινὰς ²⁵¹

mvp-comment-331-3 τὰ πολλὰ πνεύματ’ ἔσχ’ ²⁵² τὰ πολλὰ ²⁵³ ἔσχε ²⁵⁴

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 ²⁵⁵

mvp-comment-331-8 Αὐλίδι ²⁵⁶

mvp-comment-332-1 ἢ )γὼ φράσω ²⁵⁷ κείνης ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-333-1 ὡς ἐγὼ κλύω ²⁵⁹

mvp-comment-333-2 θεᾶς … κατ’ ἄλσος ²⁶⁰

mvp-comment-333-3 παίζων ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-333-4 ποδοῖν ²⁶²

mvp-comment-334-1 ἔλαφον ²⁶³

mvp-comment-334-2 στικτὸν ²⁶⁴

mvp-comment-334-3 κεράστην ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-334-4 οὗ κατὰ σφαγὰς ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-335-1 ἐκκομπάσας ἔπος τι τυγχάνει ²⁶⁷ βαλών ²⁶⁸

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 ²⁶⁹ ἔπος ²⁷⁰

mvp-comment-335-4 Monk, with Musgrave, took σφαγὰς ²⁷¹

mvp-comment-336-1 ἐκ τοῦδε ²⁷²

mvp-comment-336-2 μηνίσασα ²⁷³

mvp-comment-336-3 Λητῴα κόρη ²⁷⁴

mvp-comment-337-1 ὡς ²⁷⁵ ἀντίσταθμον ²⁷⁶

mvp-comment-337-2 ἐκθύσειε ²⁷⁷

mvp-comment-338-1 ὧδ’ ἦν ²⁷⁸

mvp-comment-338-2 τὰ … θύματ’ ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-338-3 λύσις ²⁸⁰

mvp-comment-338-4 πρὸς οἶκον ²⁸¹

mvp-comment-339-1 πολλὰ ²⁸²

mvp-comment-339-2 ἀντιβὰς ²⁸³

mvp-comment-339-3 μόλις ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-340-1 εἰ δ’ οὖν ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-340-2 ἐρῶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ σόν ²⁸⁶

mvp-comment-341-1 τούτου … οὕνεκ’ ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-341-2 νόμῳ ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-342-1 ὅρα ²⁸⁹ μὴ … τιθῇς ²⁹⁰ τίθης ²⁹¹

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 ²⁹²

mvp-comment-343-1 εἰ γὰρ κτενοῦμεν ²⁹³

mvp-comment-343-2 πρώτη ²⁹⁴

mvp-comment-344-1 εἰσόρα ²⁹⁵

mvp-comment-344-2 οὐκ οὖσαν ²⁹⁶

mvp-comment-344-3 τίθης ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-344-4 εἰ … θέλεις ²⁹⁸

mvp-comment-345-1 τῷ παλαμναίῳ ²⁹⁹

mvp-comment-345-2 πρόσθεν ἐξαπώλεσας ³⁰⁰

mvp-comment-346-1 παιδοποιεῖς ³⁰¹

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 ³⁰²

mvp-comment-346-4 κἀξ εὐσεβῶν ³⁰³

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 ³⁰⁴

mvp-comment-346-7 ἐκβαλοῦσ’ ἔχεις ³⁰⁵

mvp-comment-347-1 πῶς ταῦτ’ ἐπαινέσαιμ’ ἄν ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-347-2 ἢ ³⁰⁷ ἦ ³⁰⁸ καὶ τοῦτ’ ³⁰⁹ ἄποινα ³¹⁰

mvp-comment-348-1 αἰσχρῶς δ’ ³¹¹ δ’ ³¹²

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐάν περ καὶ λέγῃς ³¹³

mvp-comment-348-3 ἐχθροῖς γαμεῖσθαι ³¹⁴

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 ³¹⁵

mvp-comment-349-2 πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν ³¹⁶

mvp-comment-350-1 κακοστομοῦμεν ³¹⁷

mvp-comment-350-2 καί σ’ ἔγωγε δεσπότιν ³¹⁸

mvp-comment-350-3 εἰς ἡμᾶς ³¹⁹ ἣ ³²⁰

mvp-comment-351-1 βίον μοχθηρόν ³²¹

mvp-comment-351-2 ἔκ τε σοῦ ³²² κακοῖς … ξυνοῦσα ³²³

mvp-comment-351-3 συννόμου ³²⁴

mvp-comment-352-1 ὁ δ’ ἄλλος ³²⁵

mvp-comment-352-2 χεῖρα σὴν ³²⁶

mvp-comment-352-3 τρίβει βίον ³²⁷

mvp-comment-352-4 603 The reason for writing δή με σοὶ ³²⁸ δή μέ σοι ³²⁹

mvp-comment-352-5 μιάστορα ³³⁰

mvp-comment-353-1 τοῦδέ γ’ οὕνεκα ³³¹

mvp-comment-354-1 εἰς ἅπαντας ³³²

mvp-comment-354-2 χρῇς ³³³

mvp-comment-354-3 στόμαργον ³³⁴

mvp-comment-355-1 τῶνδε τῶν ἔ|ργων ἴδρις ³³⁵

mvp-comment-355-2 σχεδόν τι ³³⁶

mvp-comment-355-3 οὐ καταισχύνω ³³⁷

mvp-comment-356-1 ὁρῶ μένος πνέουσαν ³³⁸ μένος πνέουσαν ³³⁹

mvp-comment-356-2 σὺν δίκῃ ξύνεστι ³⁴⁰

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 ³⁴¹ ἐμοὶ ³⁴² μοι ³⁴³ δεῖ ³⁴⁴

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 ³⁴⁵

mvp-comment-358-2 τηλικοῦτος ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-358-3 ἆρα ³⁴⁷

mvp-comment-358-4 χωρεῖν ἂν ³⁴⁸ εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-359-1 εὖ νυν ἐπίστω ³⁵⁰

mvp-comment-359-2 ἔξωρα ³⁵¹

mvp-comment-359-3 προσεικότα ³⁵²

mvp-comment-360-1 ἀλλὰ … γὰρ ³⁵³

mvp-comment-360-2 ἡ … ἐκ σοῦ δυσμένεια ³⁵⁴

mvp-comment-360-3 ἐξαναγκάζει ³⁵⁵ αἰσχροῖς ³⁵⁶

mvp-comment-360-4 622 f. The word θρέμμα ³⁵⁷

mvp-comment-360-5 ἦ σ’ ἐγὼ ³⁵⁸

mvp-comment-361-1 νιν ³⁵⁹

mvp-comment-361-2 εὑρίσκεται ³⁶⁰

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 ³⁶¹

mvp-comment-362-2 δέσποιναν ³⁶²

mvp-comment-362-3 Ἄρτεμιν ³⁶³

mvp-comment-362-4 θράσους τοῦδ’ οὐκ ἀλύξεις ³⁶⁴ μόλῃ ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-363-1 ὁρᾷς ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-363-2 ἐκφέρει ³⁶⁷

mvp-comment-363-3 The v. l. παρεῖσα ³⁶⁸

mvp-comment-364-1 οὐδὲ ³⁶⁹

mvp-comment-364-2 ὑπ’ εὐφήμου βοῆς ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-364-3 ἐπειδὴ σοί γ’ ³⁷¹

mvp-comment-364-4 πᾶν λέγειν ³⁷²

mvp-comment-365-1 κελεύω ³⁷³

mvp-comment-365-2 τοὐμὸν στόμ’ ³⁷⁴

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 ³⁷⁵

mvp-comment-365-4 ἡ παροῦσά μοι ³⁷⁶

mvp-comment-365-5 θύματα … πάγκαρπα ³⁷⁷

mvp-comment-366-1 λυτηρίους … δειμάτων ³⁷⁸

mvp-comment-366-2 ἀνάσχω ³⁷⁹

mvp-comment-367-1 κλύοις ἂν ³⁸⁰

mvp-comment-367-2 προστατήριε ³⁸¹

mvp-comment-368-1 κεκρυμμένην ³⁸²

mvp-comment-368-2 οὐ γὰρ ἐν φίλοις ³⁸³

mvp-comment-369-1 πρὸς φῶς ³⁸⁴

mvp-comment-370-1 πολυγλώσσῳ ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-370-2 σπείρῃ ³⁸⁶

mvp-comment-370-3 ματαίαν ³⁸⁷

mvp-comment-371-1 ὧδ’ ³⁸⁸

mvp-comment-372-1 γὰρ ³⁸⁹

mvp-comment-372-2 δισσῶν ὀνείρων ³⁹⁰

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 ³⁹¹

mvp-comment-373-1 ἐσθλά … ἐχθρά ³⁹²

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 ³⁹³

mvp-comment-374-1 εἴ τινες ³⁹⁴

mvp-comment-375-1 ἀλλ’ ὧδε ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-375-2 ἀβλαβεῖ βίῳ ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-376-1 δόμους ³⁹⁷

mvp-comment-376-2 ἀμφέπειν ³⁹⁸

mvp-comment-376-3 φίλοισι ³⁹⁹

mvp-comment-377-1 εὐημεροῦσαν ⁴⁰⁰

mvp-comment-377-2 καὶ τέκνων ⁴⁰¹ ὅσων ⁴⁰²

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 ⁴⁰³

mvp-comment-378-1 πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ⁴⁰⁴

mvp-comment-379-1 τὰ δ’ ἄλλα πάντα ⁴⁰⁵

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 ⁴⁰⁶

mvp-comment-380-1 ἦ καὶ ⁴⁰⁷

mvp-comment-380-2 ἐπεικάζων κυρῶ ⁴⁰⁸

mvp-comment-380-3 πρέπ<*> γὰρ ⁴⁰⁹

mvp-comment-381-1 μάλιστα πάντων ⁴¹⁰

mvp-comment-381-2 ἥδε σοι κείνη πάρα ⁴¹¹

mvp-comment-381-3 666 f. The ὦ ⁴¹² χαῖρε ⁴¹³

mvp-comment-382-1 ἐδεξάμην τὸ ῥηθέν ⁴¹⁴

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 ⁴¹⁵

mvp-comment-383-1 Φανοτεὺς ⁴¹⁶

mvp-comment-383-2 πρᾶγμα πορσύνων μέγα ⁴¹⁷

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.

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.