Lewis Campbell Philoctetes 1

ed. Lewis Campbell

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Philoctetes. Lewis Campbell. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

Current edition Experimental

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

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1 focus
᾿ΑΚΤῊ μὲν ἥδε τῆς περιρρύτου χθονὸς
1
Λήμνου, βροτοῖς ἄστιπτος οὐδ᾽ οἰκουμένη οἰκουμένην,
ἔνθ᾽, ὦ κρατίστου πατρὸς ῾Ελλήνων τραφεὶς
᾿Αχιλλέως παῖ Νεοπτόλεμε, τὸν Μηλιᾶ
Ποίαντος υἱὸν ἐξέθηκ᾽ ἐγώ ποτε,
5
ταχθεὶς τόδ᾽ ἔρδειν τῶν ἀνασσόντων ὕπο,
νόσῳ καταστάζοντα διαβόρῳ πόδα·
ὅτ᾽ οὔτε λοιβῆς ἡμὶν ἦμιν ἡμὶν οὔτε θυμάτων
παρῆν ἑκήλοις προσθιγεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγρίαις
κατεῖχ᾽ κατείχετ' κατεῖχ᾿ ἀεὶ πᾶν στρατόπεδον δυσφημίαις,
10
βοῶν, στενάζων. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν τί δεῖ
ἄναξ ᾿Ὀδυσσεῦ, τοὔργον οὐ μακρὰν λέγεις.
δοκῶ γὰρ οἷον εἶπας ἄντρον εἰσορᾶν.
ΝΕ. τί δῆτ᾽ ἄνωγας ;
ἐγὼ μὲν οὓς ἂν τῶν λόγων ἀλγῶ κλύων,
σὺ μὲν μένων νυν νῦν om. κεῖνον ἐκεῖνον ἐνθάδ᾽ ἐκδέχου,
ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἄπειμι, μὴ κατοπτευθῶ παρών,
καὶ τὸν σκοπὸν πρὸς ναῦν ἀποστελῶ πάλιν.
125
καὶ δεῦρ᾽, ἐάν μοι τοῦ χρόνου τοῦ χρόνου(σ) τοῦ χρόνου δοκῆτέ τι δοκῆτ᾽ ἔτι
κατασχολάζειν, αὖθις αὖτις αὖθις ἐκπέμψω ἐκπέμπω ἐκπέμπω ἐκπέμψω πάλιν
τοῦτον τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνδρα, ναυκλήρου τρόποις
μορφὴν δολώσας, ὡς ἂν ἀγνοία προσῇ·
οὗ δῆτα, τέκνον, ποικίλως αὐδωμένου αὐδὴν μένον αὐδωμένου αὐδουμένω
130
δέχου τὰ συμφέροντα τῶν ἀεὶ λόγων.
ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς ναῦν εἶμι, σοὶ παρεὶς τάδε·
῾Ἑρμῆς δ᾽ ὁ πέμπων πέμπων δόλιος ἡγήσαιτο νῷν
Νίκη τ᾿ ᾿Αθάνα ἀθηνᾶ Πολιάς om., ἢ σώζει μ' ἀεί.
Τί χρὴ τί χρή με, δέσποτ᾽ δέσποτα μ', ἐν ξένᾳ ξένον
135
στέγειν, ἢ τί λέγειν πρὸς ἄνδρ᾽ ὑπόπταν ;
φράζε μοι.
τέχνα γὰρ τέχνας ἑτέρας προὔχει
καὶ γνώμα, παρ᾿ ὅτῳ τὸ θεῖον
Διὸς σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσεται.
140
σὲ δ᾽, ὦ τέκνον, τόδ᾽ ἐλήλυθεν
πᾶν κράτος ὠγύγιον· τό μοι ἔννεπε,
τί σοι χρεὼν ὑπουργεῖν.
Νῦν μὲν ἴσως γὰρ γὰρ ἴσως τόπον τόπον τόπον ἐσχατιαῖς
προσιδεῖν ἐθέλεις ἐθέλεις ἐθέλεις ἐθέλοις ὅντινα κεῖται,
145
δέρκου θαρσῶν· ὁπόταν δὲ μόλῃ
δεινὸς ὁδίτης τῶνδ᾽ ἐκ μελάθρων,
πρὸς ἐμὴν αἰεὶ χεῖρα προχωρῶν
πειρῶ τὸ παρὸν θεραπεύειν.
Μέλον πάλαι μέλημά μοι λέγεις, ἄναξ,* Μέλον πάλαι μέλημά μοι λέγεις ἄναξ τὸ σὸν
150
φρουρεῖν φρορεῖν φρουρεῖν ὄμμ᾽ ἐπὶ σῷ μάλιστα καιρῷ·
νῦν δέ μοι
λέγ᾽ αὐλὰς αὐλᾶσ αὐλὰς ποίας ἔνεδρος ναίει
καὶ χῶρον τίν' ἔχει. τὸ γάρ μοι
μαθεῖν οὐκ ἀποκαίριον,
155
μὴ προσπεσών με λάθῃ μὴ με λάθῃ προσπεσών ποθέν,
τίς τόπος, ἢ τίς ἕδρα, τίν' ἔχει στίβον,
ἔναυλον, ἢ θυραῖον.
Οἶκον μὲν ὁρᾷς τόνδ᾽ ἀμφίθυρον
πετρίνης κοίτης.
160
Οἰκτείρω νιν ἔγωγ᾽, ὅπως,
μή του κηδομένου μὴ τοὺς κηδομένους μή του κηδομένου βροτῶν
170
μηδὲ μὴ μηδὲ σύντροφον ὄμμ᾽ ἔχων,
δύστανος, μόνος αἰεί ἀεὶ,
Οὗτος πρωτογόνων ἴσως
οἴκων οὐδενὸς ὕστερος,
180
πάντων ἄμμορος ἐν βίῳ
κεῖται μοῦνος ἀπ᾿ ἄλλων
στικτῶν ἢ λασίων μετὰ μέτα
θηρῶν, ἔν τ᾿ ὀδύναις ὁμοῦ
λιμῷ τ᾽ οἰκτρός, ἀνήκεστα μεριμνήματ᾽ ἔχων * βάρει. ἔχων βαρεία δ' ἔχων βαρεῖ· βαρεία δ'
185
ὁ δ᾽ ἀθυρόστομος ἀθυρύστομος
ἀχὼ τηλεφανὴς πικρᾶς
οἰμωγᾶς ὑπόκειται.
Οὐδὲν τούτων θαυμαστὸν ἐμοί εμοί·
θεῖα γάρ, εἴπερ κἀγώ τι φρονῶ,
190
καὶ τὰ παθήματα κεῖνα παθήματ᾿ ἐκεῖνα πρὸς αὐτὸν
τῆς ὠμόφρονος Χρύσης χρυσης χρύσης ἐπέβη,
καὶ νῦν ἃ πονεῖ δίχα κηδεμόνων,
οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ *ὡς ὅπως οὐ θεῶν του του μελέτῃ,
τοῦ μὴ πρότερον τόνδ᾽ ἐπὶ Τροίᾳ
195
τεῖναι τὰ θεῶν ἀμάχητα βέλη,
πρὶν ὅδ᾽ ἐξήκοι χρόνος, ᾧ λέγεται ὧιλεται ᾧ λέγεται
χρῆναί χρήν χρῆν χρῆναί σφ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶνδε δαμῆναι.
Εὔστομ᾽ ἔχε, παῖ.
᾿Αλλ᾽ ἔχε, τέκνον,
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1-134 focus
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1 focus
This coast of sea-girt Lemnos, where we stand,
1
Is uninhabited, untrodden of men.
1
And here, O noble son of noblest sire,
1
Achilles-born Neoptolemus, I erewhile,—
Ordered by those who had command,—cast forth
Trachinian Philoctetes, Poeas’ son,
His foot dark-dripping with a rankling wound;
When with wild cries, that frighted holy rest,
Filling the camp, he troubled every rite,
That none might handle sacrifice, or pour
Wine-offering, but his noise disturbed our peace.
5
But why these words? No moment this for talk,
5
Lest he discern my coming, and I lose
The scheme, wherewith I think to catch him soon.
Now most behoves thy service, to explore
This headland for a cave with double mouth,
Whose twofold aperture, on wintry days,
Gives choice of sunshine, and in summer noons
The breeze wafts slumber through the airy cell.
Then, something lower down, upon the left,
Unless ’tis dried, thine eye may note a spring.
Go near now silently, and make me know
If still he persevere, and hold this spot,
10
Or have roamed elsewhere, that informed of this
10
I may proceed with what remains to say,
And we may act in concert.
Lord Odysseus,
Thy foremost errand will not task me far.
Methinks I see the cave whereof thou speakest.
Thy just demand to have thy father’s arms,
But, e’er thy coming, wrongly gave them o’er
Unto Odysseus: and thereon launch forth
With boundless execration against me.
That will not pain me, but if thou reject
This counsel, thou wilt trouble all our host,
Since, if his bow shall not be ta’en, thy life
Will ne’er be crowned through Troy’s discomfiture.
Now let me show, why thine approach to him
Is safe and trustful as mine cannot be
Thou didst sail forth, not to redeem thine oath,
Nor by constraint, nor with the foremost band.
All which reproaches I must bear: and he,
But seeing me, while master of his bow,
Will slay me, and my ruin will be thine.
This point then craves our cunning, to acquire
By subtle means the irresistible bow—
Thy nature was not framed, I know it well,
For speaking falsehood, or contriving harm.
Yet, since the prize of victory is so dear,
Endure it—We’ll be just another day
But now, for one brief hour, devote thyself
To serve me without shame, and then for aye
Hereafter be the pearl of righteousness.
The thing that, being named, revolts mine ear,
Son of Laërtes, I abhor to do
’Tis not my nature, no, nor, as they tell,
My father’s, to work aught by craft and guile.
I’ll undertake to bring him in by force,
Not by deceit. For, sure, with his one foot,
He cannot be a match for all our crew
Being sent, my lord, to serve thee, I am loth
To seem rebellious. But I rather choose
To offend with honour, than to win by wrong.
Thou, then, await him here. I will retire,
For fear my hated presence should be known,
And take back our attendant to the ship.
And then once more, should ye appear to waste
125
The time unduly, I will send again
This same man hither in disguise, transformed
To the strange semblance of a merchantman;
From dark suggestion of whose crafty tongue,
Thou, O my son, shalt gather timely counsel.
130
Now to my ship. This charge I leave to thee.
May secret Hermes guide us to our end,
And civic Pallas, named of victory,
The sure protectress of my devious way.
Strange in the stranger land,
135
What shall I speak? What hide
From a heart suspicious of ill?
Tell me, O master mine!
Wise above all is the man,
140
Peerless in searching thought,
Who with the Zeus-given wand
Wieldeth a Heaven-sent power.
This unto thee, dear son,
Fraught with ancestral might,
This to thy life hath come.
Wherefore I bid thee declare,
What must I do for thy need?
Even now methinks thou longest to espy
Near ocean’s marge the place where he doth lie.
Gaze without fear. But when the traveller stern,
Who from this roof is parted, shall return,
Advancing still as I the signal give,
145
To serve each moment’s mission thou shalt strive.
145
That, O my son, from of old
145
Hath been my care, to take note
What by thy beck’ning is told;
Still thy success to promote.
But for our errand to-day
Behoves thee, master, to say
Where is the hearth of his home;
Or where even now doth he roam?
O tell me, lest all unaware
He spring like a wolf from his lair
And I by surprise should be ta’en,
Where doth he move or remain,
Here lodging, or wandering away?
Thou seëst yon double doorway of his cell,
Poor habitation of the rock.
160
Where is the pain-worn wight himself abroad?
To me ’tis clear, that, in his quest for food,
Here, not far off, he trails yon furrowed path.
For, so ’tis told, this mode the sufferer hath
Of sustenance, oh hardness! bringing low
Wild creatures with wing’d arrows from his bow;
Nor findeth healer for his troublous woe.
I feel his misery.
With no companion eye,
Far from all human care,
He pines with fell disease;
Each want he hourly sees
Awakening new despair.
How can he bear it still?
165
O cruel Heavens! O pain
165
Of that afflicted mortal train
165
Whose life sharp sorrows fill!
Born in a princely hall,
Highest, perchance, of all,
Now lies he comfortless
Alone in deep distress,
’Mongst rough and dappled brutes,
With pangs and hunger worn;
While from far distance shoots,
On airy pinion borne,
The unbridled Echo, still replying
To his most bitter crying.
At nought of this I marvel—for if I
Judge rightly, there assailed him from on high
190
That former plague through Chrysa’s cruel sting:
And if to-day he suffer anything
With none to soothe, it must be from the will
Of some great God, so caring to fulfil
The word of prophecy, lest he should bend
195
On Troy the shaft no mortal may forfend,
Before the arrival of Troy’s destined hour,
When she must fall, o’er-mastered by their power.
Hush, my son!
From far it peals. But thou, my son!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1 focus
Das ist der Strand von Lemnos' ringsumfloss'nen Gau'n, 1 2
1
Stets unbetreten, unbewohnt von Sterblichen.
Hier, Sohn Achillens, edler Sproß des tapfersten
Hellenen, o Neoptolemos, hier hab' ich einst
Den Sohn des Pöas ausgesezt, den Melier, 3
5
Wie durch des Heeres Fürsten mir geboten ward,
Weil ihm von eklem Eiter troff der wunde Fuß,
Da ruhig weder Räucherwerk noch Spenden wir 4
Anrühren konnten: also füllt er ohne Rast
Mit grauser Töne wildem Ruf das Lager an,
10
Und heulte, stöhnte. Doch wozu dies Alles noch
Erwähnen? Lang zu reden ist hier keine Zeit;
Er könnte mich bemerken und mein ganzer Plan
Zerrinnen, der, ich hoffe, bald ihn fahen soll.
Sezt ist es deine Sache, mir hülfreich zu sein,
15
Und auszuspähen, wo der doppelmündige
Fels ist, in welchem Winters für die Sonne sich
Zwiefach die Einkehr öffnet, und im Sommer Schlaf
Die kühlen Lüfte durch die offne Grotte weh'n.
Ein wenig tiefer, links hinab, erblickst du wohl
20
Den Born zum Trinken, wenn er nicht versiegen ging.
Tritt leise näher und bedeute mir sofort,
Ob dort die Grotte wirklich ist, ob anderwärts,
Daß du vernehmest, was ich sonst anordne noch,
Und ich's dir sage; denn gemeinsam sei das Werk!
25
O Fürst Odysseus, was du suchst, ist nahe dir:
Die Höhle glaub' ich schon zu seh'n, von der du sprachst.
Und was begehrst du?
Strebe Philoktetes' Geist
Mir schlau zu hintergehen durch der Rede Kunst.
55
Sobald er anfragt, wer du seist, aus welchem Land,
So sprich: „Achilleus' Sohn"; in diesem rede wahr:
Du schiffest heimwärts, habest dort der Danaer
Schiffsheer verlassen, dem du zürnst in schwerem Zorn,
Das aus der Heimat dich gelockt durch langes Fleh'n,
60
Weil, Ilion zu stürzen, so nur möglich sei,
Und doch dich nicht gewürdigt, dir des Vaters Wehr
Zu geben, die du kommend als dein Recht begehrt,
Nein, ich, Odysseus, habe sie: und sage dann
Von mir das Aergste, Schmach um Schmach, so viel du willst.
65
Mich kränkst du damit nimmermehr; doch, thust du's nicht,
So bringst du Sammer über Argos' ganzes Heer.
Denn wird des Mannes Bogen nicht entwandt von uns,
So kannst du Troja's Veste nicht bewältigen.
Warum ich selbst nicht, sondern du allein dich ihm
70
Getrost und sicher nähern kannst, das höre nun.
Du schifftest, Keinem zugethan durch Eidesschwur, 5
Nach Troja, nicht gezwungen, nicht im ersten Zug; 6
Mir steht von allem diesem Nichts zu läugnen an.
Drum wenn er, seines Bogens Herr, mich hier gewahrt,
75
Bin ich verloren und verderbe dich mit mir.
Hier also gilt es eine List, wir müssen spähn,
Wie du der unbesiegten Wehr den Mann beraubst.
Wohl hat, ich weiß es, die Natur dich nicht gemacht
Zu solchen Reden, noch zu Trug und Hinterlist;
80
Doch reizend ist es, einzufah'n des Sieges Glück;
So wag' es; künftig handeln wir dann wieder gut.
Sezt gib dich nur für eines Tages kurze Frist
Mir hin zu dreister Lüge; für die Folge dann
Laß dich den Frömmsten nennen, der auf Erden ist!
85
Was immer ich nicht ohne Grauen hören kann,
Sohn Laertens, dieses hass' ich auch zu thun.
Denn nicht geschaffen bin ich, traun, für Hinterlist,
So wenig, als es (sagen sie) mein Vater war. 7
Ich bin bereit, ihn wegzuführen mit Gewalt,
90
Doch nie mit Arglist; denn mit Einem Fuße wird
Er uns, so Viele, nimmerdar bewältigen.
Zwar dir ein Helfer zog ich aus und möchte nicht
Verräther heißen; aber lieber wünsch' ich mir
Der edlen That Mißlingen, als unedlen Sieg.
95
So bleibe hier und harre, bis der Mann erscheint;
Ich aber gehe, daß er mich nicht hier erspürt,
Und sende wieder an das Schiff den Späher hin.
125
Und später will ich, wenn ihr allzulange mir
Zu säumen scheinet, wiederum denselben Mann
Hieher dir senden, trügerisch in falsche Tracht
Gehüllt als Schiffsherr, daß er nicht erkennbar sei.
Wenn dieser dann verschmizte Neden führt, o Sohn,
130
So greife davon immer auf, was taugen mag.
Ich, nun zum Schiffe gehend, stell' es dir auheim.
Führ' uns, o schlauer Hermes und Athene du, 8
Siegsgöttin, Hort der Städte, die mich stets beschirmt!
(Odysseus geht ab. Der Chor der Schiffsleute, der Gefährten des Neoptolemos, tritt auf.) Neoptolemos. Der Chor. Erste Strophe.
Was soll ich, Herr, was soll ich, fremd im fremden Land, 9
135
Dem Argwöhnenden bergen oder kundthun?
Sage mir's: denn hoch ragt vor anderer Kunst hervor
Eines Königes Kunst,
Der, klug waltend, Zeus' göttliches Scepter lenkt. 10
Auf dich, Sohn, erbte der ältesten 11
140
Ahnen gesamte Gewalt; so verkünde mir:
Wie soll ich nun dir dienen?
Jezt, weil du vielleicht zu schauen verlangst
Den entlegenen Ort, der jenen verbirgt,
Blick' hin furchtlos: doch wann er erscheint,
145
Der Entsezliche, der in der Kluft hier wohnt, 12
Komni immer sogleich an die Hand mir heran,
Zu jeglichem Dienste gerüstet.
Erste Gegenstrophe.
Du mahnst, o Herr, an Sorgen, die mich längst erfüllt,
Waches Auges zu sein für deinen Vortheil.
150
Aber sage mir nun, welches Haus er einsam bewohnt,
Welcher Ort ihn verbirgt.
Denn wohl thut es noth, daß ich erkundige,
(Sonst fällt er unvermerkt mich an,)
Wo er verweilt und verkehrt und sich lagerte,
155
Ob innen oder draußen.
Hier siehst du sein Haus, dies Felsengemach
Mit doppelter Thür.
Wo weilt denn der Unglückselige selbst?
Ich glaube gewiß, er schleppte sich fort,
160
Auf Nahrung aus, in die Nähe wohin.
Denn diese Gewohnheit pflegt er stets,
So sagt man: mühvoll müht er sich ab,
Mit beschwingtem Geschoß zu erlegen das Wild,
Und nirgend erscheint 13
165
Ihm aus der Bedrängniß ein Retter.
Zweite Strophe.
Innig jammert des Mannes mich,
Den kein menschliches Auge, das
Seiner hütet und wacht, erquickt,
Wie er, ewig allein, ach !
170
Am wildwühlenden Schmerze krankt
Und Noth leidet an Allem, was
Heischt des Lebens Bedarf. Wie nur, o wie trägt es der Arme nur?
Furchtbare Götterhand! 14
Weh, unseliges Staubgeschlecht,
175
Maßlos duldend im Leben!
Zweite Gegenstrophe.
Er, der sicherlich keinem Sohn
Altberühmter Geschlechter weicht,
Er liegt, alles Bedarfs entblößt,
Einsam, ohne Genossen,
180
Wo nur buntes und zottiges
Wild haust, liegt, sich verzehrend in
Schmerz und Hunger, von unheilbaren Grams Sorgen ge=
Von dem geschwäzigen,
Fernhindröhnenden Widerhall quält, und rings
185
Bittern Jammers umlagert.
Mir scheint hier Nichts der Verwunderung werth:
Denn ward mir einige Weisheit auch,
Ist dieses Geschick von den Göttern verhängt,
Brach über ihn ein durch Chryse's Zorn; 15
190
Auch was er, freundlicher Pflege beraubt,
Jezt duldet, geschieht nach der Ewigen Rath,
Daß nicht auf Ilions Veste zu früh
Er spanne des Gott's unbezwinglich Geschoß, 16
Eh nahte die Zeit, da sie diesem erliegt,
195
Wie's ihr nach der Sage verhängt ist.
Dritte Strophe.
Schweige still, mein Sohn!
Denke, Sohn
205
Dritte Gegenstrophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1 focus
At length, my noble friend, thou bravest son
1
Of a brave father — father of us all,
1
The great Achilles — we have reached the shore
1
Of sea-girt Lemnos, desert and forlorn,
Where never tread of human step is seen.
Or voice of mortal heard, save his alone,
Whom here I left ; for such were my commands
From Grecia's chiefs, when by his fatal wound
Oppressed, his groans and execrations dreadful
Alarmed our hosts, our sacred rites profaned,
And interrupted holy sacrifice.
But why should I repeat the tale 1 The time
5
Admits not of delay. We must not linger.
5
Lest he discover our arrival here,
And all our purposed fraud to draw him hence
Be ineffectual. Lend me then thy aid.
Surv'eying round thee, canst thou see a rock
With double entrance — to the sun's warm rays
In winter open, and in summer's heat
Giving free pasj^age to the welcome breeze ?
A little to the left there is a fountain
Of li\-ing water, where, if yet he breathes.
He slakes his thirst. If aught thou seest of this
Inform me \ so shall each to each impart
10
Council mast fit, and serve our common cause.
10
Ned. ]}iaiing Ulysses a little behind /dm]. If I
10
mistake not, I behold a cave,
E'en such as thou describst.
Dost thou ? which way ?
He's gone to guard each avenue ; and now,
If thou hast aught of moment to impart
Touching our purpose, say it ; I attend
Here then remain thou ; I must not be seen.
If thou stay long, I'll send a faithful spy.
Who in a sailor's habit well disguised
May pass unknown ; of him, from time to time,
What best may suit our purpose thou shalt know.
I'll to the ship. Farewell ! and may the god
Who brought us here, the fraudful Mercury,
And great Minerva, guardian of our countr}^,
And ever kind to me, protect us still ! \ExtvMt.
Neopiolemus.
135
Chok. Master, instruct us, strangers as we are,
135
"What we may utter, what we must conceal.
Doubtless the man we seek \vill entertain
Suspicion of us ; how are we to act ?
To those alone belongs the art to rule
W ho bear the sceptre from the hand of Jove ;
140
To thee of right devolves the power supreme.
From thy great ancestors delivered down \
Speak then, our royal lord, and we obey.
If you would penetrate yon deep recess
Go forward ; but remember to return
When the poor wanderer comes this way, prepared
To aid our purpose here if need require.
O king ! we ever meant to fix our eyes
150
On thee, and wait attentive to thy will ;
But, tell us, in what part is he concealed?
'Tis fit we know the place, lest unobserved
He rush upon us. Which way doth it lie?
155
Seest thou his footsteps leading from the cave,
Or hither bent ?
\advanGing toicards the cave\. Behold the double
door
Of his poor dwelling, and the flinty bed.
160
Alas ! 1 pity him. Without a friend.
Without a fellow-sufferer, left alone,
Deprived of all the mutual joys that flow
From sweet society — distempered too !
How can he bear it ? O unhappy race
170
Of mortal man ! doomed to an endless round
170
Of sorrows, and immeasurable woe !
170
Second to none in fair nobility
170
Yet here he lies, from every human aid
Far off removed, in dreadful solitude,
And mingles with the wild and savage herd ;
With them in famine and in misery
Consumes his days, and weeps their common fate.
Unheeded, save when babbling echo mourns
In bitterest notes responsive to his woe.
And yet I wonder not ; for if aright
I judge, from angry heaven the sentence came,
190
And Chrysa was the cruel source of all ;
Nor doth this sad disease inflict him still
Incurable, without assenting gods ]
For so they have decreed, lest Troy should fall
195
Beneath his arrows ere th' appointed time
Of its destruction come.
No more, my son !
E'en now
I hear it, and the sound as of some step
Slow-moving this way. He is not far from us.
His plaints are louder now. Prepare, my son !
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1 focus
THIS is the shore of Lemnos, sea-girt isle;
1
No human footstep marks the ground: no hut,
1
Which man inhabits, rises to the eye :
1
Here, Neoptolemus, thou noble son
Of the most valiant of the Grecian Chiefs,
In times long past, commanded by the kings
To do this deed; for from his wounded foot
A rankling ulcer oozed, and undisturb'd
Nor victim nor libation could our hands
Present; through all the camp his dismal groans
And horrid cries resounded. But these things
5
Why should I now relate? This is no time
5
For long discourse, lest, my arrival known,
5
I frustrate all my subtle trains, in which
I think to take him soon. Thine now the task..
To act as I direct thee, and observe
If here the pierced rock to the winter's sun
Presents on either side a cheerful seat;
But in the summer through the pervious cleft
The gently-passing gale leads sleep along.
A little lower, on the left, perchance
A fountain thou may'st see, of whose pure stream,
If living yet, he drinks: with silent step
Advance, and tell me in, that place if still
10
He holds his habitation, or elsewhere.
10
Further instructions then thou may'st receive,
And I may give them: mutual be our toil.
Not distant, king Ulysses, lies this task;
I think I see the cave by thee described.
But if aught new, if aught unheard before c
Thou hear, assist: for therefore art thou come.
What then wou'dst thou command me
zh iblondro: Peta Shio. Totallurei
With fraudful words the unsuspecting heart
Of Philoctetes: when he asks thee whooo.T
And whence thou art, tell him thow art the sono
Of great Achilles; fraud were useless: here 3.0
To Seyros say thy vessel ploughs the main, M
And bears thee from th' associate Chiefs of Greece,
Indignant at thy wrongs; for when their pray'rs
Won thee to join their naval force (that hope
To storm the tow'rs of Troy alone remain'd)
Abide thou here expecting his returnier OT
I now must leave thee, to avoid his sight,
And the attendant, who observes his steps,
Will order to the bark. If your delay
125
Exceeds my expectation, I will send to di
The same man back in such habiliments
As to appear the master of some bark,
That he may come not known in such a garb:
Artful and various thou wilt find his words.
But gather from them to the presenticause
What is of highest import: to the shipm
130
I go, these things committing to thy charge.
May Hermes, god of wiles, who led us forth,
Be now our guide, and the victorious queen,
Pallas, protectress of the rampired town,
Who always shields me with her guardian care!
In a strange land a stranger, potent lord,
What truths must I conceal, what may I speak,
When to our sight this man presents himself?
Instruct me, for in knowledge he excels
All others, and in prudence, who from Jove
Receives the sacred sceptre; all this pow'r
To thee, my son, is from a noble line
Of ancestors derived. Inform me then
What service from my hand is now required.
Now, if thou hast a wish to see the place
Through all its deep recesses where he lies,
With freedom view it; but when he returns,
The painful traveller, quit these caves, be near
My hand, prepared to act as need requires.
Where absent is the wretched dweller now?..
The want of food hath doubtless drawn him forth
To toil with painful step, not distant fari
For he sustains his miserable life
By miserably piercing with his shafts
The beasts that haunt these wilds; nor for his wound
Finds he a cure, or to his pains relief.
I pity him, no mortal's lenient aid
Tending around him, and no social friend
Near him to sooth his solitary hours.
Alone, and with the anguish of his wound
For ever tortured, while each cheerless want
Daily scowls round him, how supports he life?
Alas, to what hard toils are mortal men
Reduced, whose lives, unhappy sufferers, want
What to sustain them! So this man, perchance
In noble blood and high-traced ancestry
Rank'd with the greatest, destitute of all
That life requires, alone 'midst shaggy beasts
And birds of various wing his lodging finds;
And pierced with pain and hunger here endures
Immedicable anguish, whilst around
The rock's rude Echo with unceasing voice
In sullen notes returns his dismal groans.
The voice of one acquainted long with pain.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1-130 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-1-1 ἀκτὴ μὲν ἥδε 1

mvp-comment-2-1 ἄστιπτος 2 στιπτή 3

mvp-comment-2-2 οὐδ’ οἰκουμένη 4

mvp-comment-3-1 κρατίστου … τραφείς 5 πατρὸς 6 τραφείς 7

mvp-comment-4-1 Νεοπτόλεμε 8

mvp-comment-4-2 τὸν Μηλιᾶ 9

mvp-comment-5-1 ἐξέθηκ’ 10

mvp-comment-5-2 6 f. Nauck's transposition of these two verses effaces a delicate touch. Odysseus is anxious to present his conduct in the best light. After

ἐξέθηκ’ ἐγώ
, he hastens to add that he was merely obeying his chiefs (v. 6). And then, in vv. 7 ff., he palliates their conduct by describing how unendurable Philoctetes was.

mvp-comment-6-1 καταστάζοντα 11 πόδα 12

mvp-comment-6-2 διαβόρῳ 13

mvp-comment-7-1 λοιβῆς … θυμάτων 14

mvp-comment-7-2 προσθιγεῖν 15

mvp-comment-7-3 δυσφημίαις 16

mvp-comment-7-4 The sacrifice which the cries of Philoctetes interrupted must be that which an oracle had commanded the Greeks to offer at Chrysè's altar, in the islet Chrysè. Thence they sailed to Lemnos, which was close by, and put him ashore (270). The word

στρατόπεδον
could be said of a fleet (Thuc. 1. 117); but the reference in vv. 8 f. can hardly include attempts at sacrifice made between Chrysè and Lemnos.

mvp-comment-8-1 ἀκμὴ … λόγων 17

mvp-comment-9-1 μὴ καὶ 18

mvp-comment-9-2 ἐκχέω 19

mvp-comment-9-3 τῷ 20

mvp-comment-10-1 ἔργον … σὸν 21

mvp-comment-11-1 ὅπου )στ’ 22

mvp-comment-11-2 ὅπου … ἐνταῦθα 23

mvp-comment-12-1 τοιάδ’, ἵν’ 24

mvp-comment-12-2 ἡλίου διπλῆ … ἐνθάκησις 25

mvp-comment-12-3 ἀμφιτρῆτος 26

mvp-comment-12-4 αὐλίου 27

mvp-comment-13-1 εἴπερ ἐστὶ σῶν 28

mvp-comment-14-1 ἅ μοι προσελθὼν … κυρεῖ 29 μοι 30 μοι 31 σήμαιν’ εἵτ’ ἔχει 32 ἔχει 33 τόνδ’ ἔτ’, εἴτ’ 34

mvp-comment-15-1 τἀπίλοιπα τῶν λόγων 35

mvp-comment-15-2 κοινὰ 36

mvp-comment-15-3 ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ἴῃ 37

mvp-comment-16-1 τοὔργον οὐ μακρὰν λέγεις 38

mvp-comment-17-1 ἄνωθεν, ἢ κάτωθεν 39

mvp-comment-18-1 καὶ στίβου γ’ οὐδεὶς κτύπος 40 γε 41

mvp-comment-18-2 στίβου 42 κτύπος 43 τύπος 44

mvp-comment-19-1 καθ’ ὕπνον 45

mvp-comment-19-2 καταυλισθεὶς 46 κατακλιθεὶς 47

mvp-comment-19-3 κυρῇ 48 κυρεῖ 49

mvp-comment-20-1 ὁρῶ 50 κενὴν 51 ἀνθρώπων δίχα 52

mvp-comment-21-1 οἰκοποιός … τις τροφή 53 τροφή 54 τρυφή 55

mvp-comment-22-1 στιπτή γε 56 γε 57 στιπτή 58 στρωτή 59 στρωτή 60 στιπτή 61 στρωτή 62 ὡς 63

mvp-comment-23-1 τὰ δ’ ἄλλ’ 64 ἔρημα 65 κοὐδέν 66

mvp-comment-24-1 αὐτόξυλον 67

mvp-comment-24-2 φλαυρουργοῦ 68

mvp-comment-25-1 τεχνήματ’ 69

mvp-comment-25-2 πυρεῖα 70

mvp-comment-26-1 κείνου 71

mvp-comment-26-2 θησαύρισμα 72

mvp-comment-27-1 ἰοὺ ἰού 73

mvp-comment-27-2 καὶ ταῦτά γ’ 74 καί … γε 75

mvp-comment-27-3 ἄλλα 76

mvp-comment-27-4 θάλπεται 77

mvp-comment-28-1 βαρείας 78

mvp-comment-28-2 νοσηλείας 79

mvp-comment-28-3 πλέα 80

mvp-comment-29-1 οὐχ ἑκάς που 81

mvp-comment-29-2 κηρὶ 82

mvp-comment-29-3 προσβαίη 83 προσκάζοι 84 προσκάζοι 85

mvp-comment-30-1 φορβῆς νόστον 86

mvp-comment-31-1 ἢ φύλλον 87

mvp-comment-31-2 νώδυνον 88

mvp-comment-32-1 τὸν … παρόντα 89

mvp-comment-33-1 μὴ καὶ 90

mvp-comment-33-2 προσπεσών 91

mvp-comment-34-1 ἕλοιτό μ’ 92 με 93 λαβεῖν 94 μολεῖν 95 μ’ ἑλεῖν 96 βαλεῖν 97

mvp-comment-35-1 ἀλλ’ 98

mvp-comment-35-2 ἔρχεται 99 τε καὶ 100

mvp-comment-35-3 φυλάξεται 101

mvp-comment-35-4 δευτέρῳ λόγῳ 102

mvp-comment-36-1 ἐφ’ οἷς 103 ὑπουργεῖν 104

mvp-comment-36-2 γενναῖον 105

mvp-comment-36-3 τῷ σώματι 106

mvp-comment-36-4 καινόν 107

mvp-comment-36-5 ὧν 108 πρὶν οὐκ ἀκήκοας 109

mvp-comment-37-1 ὑπηρέτης 110

mvp-comment-38-1 τί δῆτ’ ἄνωγας 111

mvp-comment-38-2 σε δεῖ 112 λέγων 113 λέγων 114

mvp-comment-38-3 ἐκκλέψεις 115

mvp-comment-39-1 λέγειν 116

mvp-comment-39-2 τόδ’ οὐχὶ κλεπτέον 117

mvp-comment-40-1 πλεῖς 118 πλεῖν 119

mvp-comment-40-2 ὡς πρὸς οἶκον 120

mvp-comment-40-3 ἔχθος ἐχθήρας μέγα 121

mvp-comment-41-1 οἵ 122

mvp-comment-41-2 ἐν λιταῖς 123 στείλαντες … μολεῖν 124

mvp-comment-42-1 μόνην 125

mvp-comment-42-2 ἅλωσιν 126

mvp-comment-43-1 τῶν Ἀχιλλείων ὅπλων 127 ἠξίωσαν 128 δοῦναι 129 δοῦναι 130 κυρίως 131

mvp-comment-44-1 παρέδοσαν 132

mvp-comment-44-2 λέγων 133

mvp-comment-44-3 καθ’ ἡμῶν 134 με 135

mvp-comment-44-4 ἔσχατ’ ἐσχάτων 136

mvp-comment-44-5 66 *

τούτῳ γὰρ
κ.τ.λ.
The reading τούτων γὰρ οὐδέν μ’ ἀλγυνεῖς 137 τούτων γὰρ οὐδέν’ ἀλγυνεῖς 138 τούτων γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀλγυνεῖ μ’ 139 τούτῳ γὰρ οὐδέν μ’ ἀλγυνεῖς 140 τούτωι 141 τούτων 142

mvp-comment-45-1 μὴ 143 βαλεῖς 144

mvp-comment-46-1 εἰ 145 μὴ ληφθήσεται, οὐκ ἔστι 146

mvp-comment-46-2 οὐκ ἔστι πέρσαι σοι 147 σοι 148 σοὶ 149 σοὶ 150 σοι 151

mvp-comment-46-3 τὸ Δαρδάνου πέδον 152

mvp-comment-47-1 ὡς δ’ ἔστ’ ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐχί 153

mvp-comment-47-2 ὁμιλία 154

mvp-comment-47-3 πιστὴ 155 βέβαιος 156

mvp-comment-48-1 ἔνορκος 157

mvp-comment-48-2 ἐξ ἀνάγκης 158

mvp-comment-49-1 ἐγκρατὴς 159

mvp-comment-49-2 ὄλωλα 160

mvp-comment-49-3 προσδιαφθερῶ 161 προσδιαφθείρω 162

mvp-comment-50-1 αὐτὸ τοῦτο 163 κλοπεὺς 164

mvp-comment-50-2 σοφισθῆναι 165

mvp-comment-50-3 κλοπεὺς … γενήσει 166

mvp-comment-51-1 ἔξοιδα, Παῖ 167 καὶ 168 παῖ 169 καὶ 170

mvp-comment-51-2 φύσει 171 πεφυκότα 172

mvp-comment-51-3 φωνεῖν 173

mvp-comment-52-1 ἡδὺ γάρ τι κτῆμα 174 τῆς νίκης λαβεῖν 175 τι 176 τι 177 τοι 178 τι 179 τι 180 τῆς vίκης 181

mvp-comment-52-2 λαβεῖν 182 λαχεῖν 183

mvp-comment-53-1 τόλμα 184

mvp-comment-53-2 δίκαιοι … ἐκφανούμεθα 185

mvp-comment-53-3 αὖθις 186

mvp-comment-54-1 νῦν δ’ 187 αὖθις 188

mvp-comment-54-2 εἰς ἀναιδὲς ἡμέρας μέρος βραχὺ 189 μέρος 190 ἀναιδὲς 191 εἰς 192 εἰς ἀναιδὲς 193 εἰς ἀναιδὲς 194

mvp-comment-55-1 δός μοι σεαυτόν 195

mvp-comment-55-2 κἐκλησο 196

mvp-comment-56-1 μὲν 197

mvp-comment-56-2 Λαερτίου 198 α 199

mvp-comment-56-3 τούσδε 200 οὓς ἂν 201 τοὺς δὲ 202

mvp-comment-56-4

πράσσειν λόγους
, as meaning, ‘to put words into acts,’ is not a strictly correct phrase, but the verb is used here, with some poetical freedom, as if
οὓς ἂν τῶν λόγων...τούσδε
were
ἃ ἂν λεγόμενα...τάδε
: i.e.
λόγοι
are virtually ‘proposed deeds.’ The prose equivalent of this
πράσσειν
would be
ἔργῳ ἐπιτελεῖν
( Thuc. 1. 70 ). Distinguish Eur. H. F. 1305
ἔπραξε γὰρ βούλησιν ἣν ἐβούλετο
, where the verb=
ἐξέπραξε
, ‘effected.’— Isocr. or. 1 § 15 has the converse maxim,
ἃ ποιεῖν αἰσχρόν, ταῦτα νόμιζε μηδὲ λέγειν εἶναι καλόν
(cp. Soph. O. T. 1409 ).

mvp-comment-57-1 ἐκ τέχνης 203

mvp-comment-57-2 πράσσειν 204

mvp-comment-57-3 οὔτ’ αὐτὸς 205

mvp-comment-57-4 οὔθ’, ὡς φασίν, οὑκφύσας 206

mvp-comment-58-1 πρὸς βίαν 207 ἄγειν 208

mvp-comment-58-2 οὐ γὰρ 209 ἐξ ἑνὸς ποδὸς 210

mvp-comment-58-3 τοσούσδε 211

mvp-comment-59-1 πεμφθείς γε μέντοι 212

mvp-comment-59-2 προδότης 213

mvp-comment-59-3 ἐξαμαρτεῖν 214 νικᾶν 215

mvp-comment-60-1 ἀργόν 216

mvp-comment-61-1 εἰς ἔλεγχον ἐξιὼν 217

mvp-comment-61-2 βροτοῖς 218 πάνθ’ ἡγουμένην 219

mvp-comment-62-1 τί μ’ οὖν 220 τί οὖν μ’ 221

mvp-comment-62-2 τί … ἄλλο 222

mvp-comment-63-1 λέγω σ’ … λαβεῖν 223

mvp-comment-64-1 ἐν δόλῳ 224

mvp-comment-64-2 πείσαντ’ 225

mvp-comment-65-1 οὐ μὴ πίθηται 226

mvp-comment-65-2 πρὸς βίαν δ’ 227

mvp-comment-66-1 οὕτως 228 τι δεινὸν 229

mvp-comment-66-2 ἰσχύος θράσος 230 κράτος 231 οὐ μὴ πίθηται 232

mvp-comment-67-1 ἰοὺς 233 ἰούς γ’ 234 τι 235 τί 236 γ’ 237 γ’ 238

mvp-comment-68-1 ἐκείνῳ γ’ 239

mvp-comment-68-2 προσμεῖξαι 240

mvp-comment-68-3 θρασύ 241

mvp-comment-69-1 μὴ δόλῳ λαβόντα 242

mvp-comment-70-1 τὰ ψευδῆ 243 δῆτα τὰ 244 δηλαδὴ 245

mvp-comment-71-1 τὸ σωθῆναι 246

mvp-comment-72-1 πῶς οὖν βλέπων 247 πῶς οὖν 248 πῶς … βλέπων 249

mvp-comment-72-2 λακεῖν 250

mvp-comment-73-1 εἰς κέρδος 251

mvp-comment-74-1 αἱρεῖ 252

mvp-comment-75-1 ὡς ἐφάσκετ’ 253

mvp-comment-76-1 οὔτ’ ἂν 254

mvp-comment-77-1 θηρατἔ οὖν γίγνοιτ’ ἄν 255 γίγνοιτ’ 256 γένοιτ’ 257

mvp-comment-77-2 οὖν 258

mvp-comment-78-1 ὡς … φέρει 259

mvp-comment-78-2 φέρει 260

mvp-comment-79-1 τὸ δρᾶν 261

mvp-comment-80-1 σοφός τ|) … κἀγαθός 262

mvp-comment-80-2 αὑτὸς 263

mvp-comment-80-3 κεκλᾖ 264

mvp-comment-81-1 ἴτω 265

mvp-comment-81-2 ποήσω 266 ι 267 ι 268 ποήσω 269

mvp-comment-81-3 πᾶσαν αἰσχύνην ἀφείς 270

mvp-comment-82-1 μνημονεύεις 271 μνημονεύσεις 272 σάφ’ ἴσθ’ 273

mvp-comment-82-2 ἅ … παρῄνεσα 274

mvp-comment-82-3 συνῄνεσα 275

mvp-comment-83-1 ἐκδέχου 276

mvp-comment-84-1 κατοπτευθῶ 277

mvp-comment-84-2 καὶ τὸν σκοπὸν 278 ναῦν 279

mvp-comment-85-1 καὶ δεῦῤ 280

mvp-comment-85-2 τοῦ χρόνου … τι κατασχολάζειν 281

mvp-comment-85-3 ἐκπέμψω 282

mvp-comment-86-1 ναυκλήρου 283

mvp-comment-86-2 τρόποις 284 τρόπον 285

mvp-comment-87-1 ἀγνοία 286 προσῇ 287 ἀγνοίᾳ 288

mvp-comment-88-1 οὗ δῆτα 289 οὗ δὴ σύ 290 οὗ 291 δέχου 292

mvp-comment-88-2 ποικίλως 293

mvp-comment-88-3 αὐδωμένου 294

mvp-comment-88-4 τὰ συμφέροντα 295 τῶν ἀεὶ λόγων 296

mvp-comment-88-5 σοὶ παρεὶς τάδε 297

mvp-comment-89-1 Ἑρμῆς ὁ πέμπων δόλιος 298

mvp-comment-89-2 ὁ πέμπων 299

mvp-comment-89-3 δόλιος 300

mvp-comment-89-4 νῷν 301

mvp-comment-90-1 Νίκη τ’ Ἀθάνα Πολιάς 302

mvp-comment-90-2 The same remark applies to the name Πολιάς 303

mvp-comment-90-3 ἣ σῴζει μ’ ἀεί 304

mvp-comment-91-1 ἐν ξένᾳ ξένον 305

mvp-comment-91-2 στέγειν … λέγειν 306

mvp-comment-91-3 ὑπόπταν 307

mvp-comment-92-1 τέχνα 308

mvp-comment-92-2 ἑτέρας 309

mvp-comment-92-3 γνώμα 310 γνώμας 311

mvp-comment-92-4 παρ’ ὅτῳ 312

mvp-comment-92-5 τὸ θεῖον Διὸς σκῆπτρον 313

mvp-comment-92-6 ἀνάσσεται 314

mvp-comment-93-1 σὲ … ἐλήλυθεν 315 σοὶ δ’ 316 σὲ δ’ 317

mvp-comment-93-2 πᾶν κράτος 318

mvp-comment-93-3 ὠγύγιον 319

mvp-comment-93-4 τὸ 320

mvp-comment-93-5 144 f. The Chorus has asked, How are we to help? He replies, in effect, ‘The moment for you to help has not come yet. Meanwhile you can approach, and look at the cave. When Philoctetes returns, then you must be guided by the signs that I shall give you.’ The Chorus are supposed to be on the shore, below the cave, and at a point from which they have not a clear view of it. Invited by Neoptolemus, they now advance nearer. The word

ἀμφίθυρον
(159) implies that, having approached the seaward mouth of the cave, they can see right through it; and v. 161 (
ποῦ γὰρ ὁ τλήμων
...;) confirms this; their own eyes now assure them that the cave is empty. But nothing indicates that they actually enter it.

mvp-comment-93-6 ἐσχατιαῖς 321

mvp-comment-93-7 ὅντινα κεῖται 322

mvp-comment-94-1 τῶνδ’ Οὑκ μελάθρων 323 ὁδίτης 324 μόλῃ 325 τῶνδε ὁ ἐκ μελάθρων 326 ἐκ 327 ἐκ 328 μόλῃ 329 ἐκ 330 προχωρῶν 331

mvp-comment-95-1 πρὸς ἐμὴν αἰεὶ χεῖρα προχωρῶν 332 προχωρῶν 333 πρὸς ἐμὴν … χεῖρα 334

mvp-comment-96-1 τὸ παρὸν θεραπεύειν 335

mvp-comment-97-1 μέλον … μέλημα 336 ὄμμα 337 φρουρεῖν 338

mvp-comment-97-2 ἐπὶ σῷ καιρῷ 339

mvp-comment-98-1 αὐλὰς ποίας 340

mvp-comment-98-2 ἔνεδρος 341 ναίει 342

mvp-comment-98-3 χῶρον τίν’ ἔχει 343

mvp-comment-98-4 τὸ γὰρ οὐκ ἀποκ. μοί 344 μαθεῖν 345 προσπεσών 346

mvp-comment-99-1 τίς τόπος … θυραῖον 347

mvp-comment-99-2 ἔχει στίβον 348 ἔναυλον 349

mvp-comment-100-1 οἶκον … κοίτης 350

mvp-comment-100-2 ἀμφίθυρον 351 μὲν 352 ποῦ γὰρ 353

mvp-comment-101-1 φορβῆς 354

mvp-comment-101-2 τῇδε 355 τόνδε 356

mvp-comment-102-1 ταύτην 357

mvp-comment-102-2 φύσιν 358

mvp-comment-103-1 στυγερὸν στυγερῶς 359 σμυγερὸν σμυγερῶς 360

mvp-comment-104-1 ἐπινωμᾶν 361

mvp-comment-105-1 οἰκτίρω 362

mvp-comment-105-2 ὅπως 363

mvp-comment-106-1 μή του 364

mvp-comment-106-2 μηδὲ 365 σύντροφον 366 ξύντροφον 367

mvp-comment-106-3 ξυντρ. ὄμμ’ 368

mvp-comment-107-1 ἀλύει 369

mvp-comment-107-2 παντί τῳ χρείας 370 ἱσταμένῳ 371

mvp-comment-108-1 ὦ παλάμαι Θεῶν 372 θεῶν 373 θνητῶν 374 θνητῶν 375

mvp-comment-109-1 γένη 376

mvp-comment-110-1 οἷς μὴ μέτριος αἰών 377 μὴ 378 μὴ μέτριος 379 γένη 380

mvp-comment-111-1 πρωτογόνων 381 εὐγενῶν 382

mvp-comment-111-2 ἴσως 383 ἴσως 384 γεγὼς 385

mvp-comment-111-3 οὐδενὸς 386 ἥκων 387 οἴκων 388 οἴκων 389 οὐδενὸς ὕστερος 390

mvp-comment-112-1 ἐν βίῳ 391 ἄμμορος 392 πάντων 393

mvp-comment-113-1 μοῦνος ἀπ’ ἄλλων 394

mvp-comment-113-2 στικτῶν 395 ἔλαφος 396 λασίων 397 στικτῶν 398

mvp-comment-113-3 μετὰ 399

mvp-comment-113-4 ἔν τ’ ὀδύναις 400

mvp-comment-114-1 Ὀρεία δ’ 401 βαρεῖα δ’ 402 ὀρεία 403

mvp-comment-114-2 ἀθυρόστομος 404 ἀθυροστομοῦς’ 405

mvp-comment-115-1 Ἀχὼ τηλεφανὴς 406

mvp-comment-115-2 πικραῖς | οἰμωγαῖς ὑπακούει 407 πικρᾶς οἰμωγᾶς ὑπόκειται 408 ὑπακούει 409

mvp-comment-116-1 θεῖα 410

mvp-comment-116-2 κἀγώ 411

mvp-comment-116-3 καὶ τὰ παθήμ. κεῖνα 412

mvp-comment-116-4 τῆς ὠμόφρ. Χρύσης 413 ἐπέβη 414 παθήματα … Χρύσης 415

mvp-comment-116-5 ὠμόφρονος 416

mvp-comment-117-1 οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὡς οὐ 417

mvp-comment-118-1 τοῦ μὴ … τεῖναι 418

mvp-comment-118-2 τεῖναι … βέλη 419 τὰ θεῶν 420

mvp-comment-119-1 πρὶν...ἐξήκοι 421 πρὶν ἂν ἐξήκῃ 422

mvp-comment-119-2 λέγεται 423

mvp-comment-120-1 εὔστομ’ ἔχε 424

mvp-comment-120-2 τί τόδε 425

mvp-comment-120-3 προὐφάνη 426

mvp-comment-121-1 σύντροφος 427 φωτὸς 428

mvp-comment-122-1 ἤ που 429 ἦ που 430 τῇδ’ … τῇδε 431 τόπων 432

mvp-comment-122-2 βάλλει 433

mvp-comment-122-3 ἐτύμα 434

mvp-comment-123-1 στίβον … ἕρποντος 435

mvp-comment-123-2 κατ’ ἀνάγκαν 436 στίβου κατ’ ἀνάγκαν 437 στίβον 438

mvp-comment-124-1 οὐδέ με λάθει 439

mvp-comment-124-2 βαρεῖα 440 τρυσάνωρ 441

mvp-comment-124-3 διάσημα γὰρ θροεῖ 442

mvp-comment-125-1 ἀλλ’ ἔχε 443

mvp-comment-125-2 ἀλλ’ 444 ἔχε … φροντίδας vέας 445 λέγ’ ὅ τι 446

mvp-comment-126-1 οὐκ ἔξεδρος 447

mvp-comment-126-2 μολπὰν … ἔχων 448

mvp-comment-126-3 σύριγγος 449

mvp-comment-126-4 ποιμὰν 450

mvp-comment-126-5 ἀγροβότας, ἐν ἀγρῷ βόσκων 451

mvp-comment-127-1 ἀλλ’ ἤ που 452 βοᾷ 453 ὑπ’ ἀνάγκας 454 πταίων 455 βοᾷ 456

mvp-comment-127-2 τηλωπὸν ἰωάν 457

mvp-comment-128-1 ναὸς ἄξενον … ὅρμον 458

mvp-comment-128-2 προβοᾷ τι γἀρ δεινόν 459 δεινόν 460 θροεῖ 461

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

1ff. mvp-comment-1-1 Odysseus and Neoptolemus with one attendant (infr. 45) enter from the spectators' left. The scene represents a rocky place, with a mountain in the background.

1. mvp-comment-2-1 ᾿Ακτὴ . . Λήμνου] 'This coast belongs to Lemnos, that wave-surrounded land.' μέν opposes the preliminary statement to what follows, especially ἀλλά, κ.τ.λ., in ll. 11 ff.

2. mvp-comment-3-1 βροτοῖς . . οἰκουμένη] The intention of this line is to mark the complete solitude of Philoctetes: and from the same motive no mention of any inhabitants of Lemnos is made throughout the play. But it is improbable (see Introd. p. 363) that Sophocles meant to speak of Lemnos as an entirely desert island, and the language here does not imply so much. It appears from 1001, 2 that the scene, although below the cave, is considerably above the sea.

3-11. mvp-comment-4-1 Odysseus, who knows the nature of Neoptolemus, approaches the subject cautiously, addressing him with the honourable title which appeals most to his ambition, and putting forward promptly the reasons or excuses for his own previous act, (1) as commanded by authority, (2) as required by the necessity for quiet in the army when religious ceremonies were performed.

3-4. mvp-comment-5-1 τραφείς] The slight periphrasis, by which τραφείς is substituted for γεγώς may or may not convey an allusion to the nurture of Neoptolemus in Scyros while Achilles was at Troy. Cp. Il. 19. 326, ἠὲ τὸν ὃς Σκυρῷ μοι ἐνὶ τρέφεται φίλος υἷος: infr. 243, θρέμμα Λυκομήδους.

4. mvp-comment-6-1 Νεοπτόλεμε] Νεοπτόλεμε.

5. mvp-comment-7-1 Odysseus thus suggests his own example to Neoptolemus.

11. mvp-comment-8-1 μέν opposes ταῦτα, κ.τ.λ. to ἀλλ᾽ ἔργον, κ.τ.λ. in l. 15.

12. mvp-comment-9-1 ἀκμὴ . . λόγων] ‘For now is the time not for many words.' For the sudden introduction of the negative. cp. infr. 961, ὄλοιο μήπω, κ.τ.λ. It is no time for nice consideration of the past. The present crisis must be practically met. Thus Odysseus obviates further discussion.

13. mvp-comment-10-1 μὴ καί] Cp. infr. 46, and see Essay on L. § 25. p. 40. κἀκχέω] · And so I lose.' For καί implying consequence, cp. infr. 286, 490, 1061. ἐκχεῖν signifies the sudden loss by inadvertence of something held in store. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 824-6, μηδέ τις . . ἄλλων ἐρασθεὶς ὄλβον ἐκχέῃ μέγαν, (ἐκχέω is aor.).

15. mvp-comment-11-1 τὰ λοίφ᾽ ὑπηρετεῖν] Το serve' (infr. 53) 'in what remains.'

16. mvp-comment-12-1 ὅπου . . ἐνταῦθα] ‘At what point hereabouts.' Odysseus has a vivid recollection of the place. But the cave and its adjacent spring are not immediately visible.

17. mvp-comment-13-1 ἡλίου . . ἐνθάκησις] ‘On both sides one may sit in the sun.' ἡλίου ἐνθάκησις = θάκησις ἐν ἡλίῳ, Essay on L. § 9. p. 11. For the use of ἥλιος = ' Sunshine,' cp. Plat. Phaed. 116 E, ἔτι ἥλιον εἶναι ἐπὶ τοῖς ὄρεσιν.

18-19. mvp-comment-14-1 ἐν θέρει ... πνοή] 'And in summertime the breeze wafts slumber through the pervious cell.'

21. mvp-comment-15-1 εἴπερ ἐστὶ σῶν] ‘If it be not destroyed; '-explaining the uncertainty implied in τάχ᾽ ἄν.

22. mvp-comment-16-1 The comparison of Aj. 1101 and other places where there is elision shows that l. 23 need not have been suspected because of the apparent breach of the rule about the cretic ending. But ἔχει is difficult and the force of ye is not obvious. It is also doubted whether the subject of ἔχει is Philoctetes, or the cave and spring. The first agrees better with what follows in ll. 29-40, the other with the previous context, ll. 16 foll. Either (1) making Philoctetes the subject, we may render, Whereto, I pray thee, silently go near, and let me know concerning them, whether he still keeps to this very same spot, or is gone somewhere else:'- γε emphasizing the expansion of ἐνταῦθα (l. 16) in the words χῶρον πρὸς αὐτὸν τόνδε, ‘At this very place where we are.' Elmsley conjectured τώνδ' ἔτ'. Or, (2) making the antecedent of ἃ the subject of ἔχει, 'Go near, I pray thee silently, and let me know respecting these things, whether they are, as I imagine (ye), just in this direction, or he is' (or (3) 'they are') 'elsewhere.' For ἔχει in (1) cp. Il. 13. 679, ἀλλ᾿ ἔχεν, ἢ τὰ πρῶτα πύλας καὶ τεῖχος ἐσᾶλτο: Ο. C. 1169, σχὲς οὗπερ εἶ: Xen. An. 5: for ἔχει in (2) cp. Hdt. 2. 17, ἡ δὲ ἑτέρη τῶν ὁδῶν πρὸς ἑσπέρην ἔχει. Proposed alterations of this difficult place are (α) ἐκεῖ for ἔχει, conjectured by Canter and finally approved by Hermann, 'Whether they are yonder (where you stand), even close to this very spot.' But the conjunction of ἐκεῖ with τόνδε is harsh, and the accusative after πρός requires a different verb from κυρεῖ: (b) χῶρον τὸν αὐτόν, conjectured by Blaydes, giving the same sense as the first of the above renderings.

23-25. mvp-comment-17-1 γ'] om. εἴτ'] ἤτ᾿ εἴτ' κλύῃς] κλύοις That I may intimate and you may hear, what yet remains to be spoken of, and our proceeding may be in concert. *ἴῃ] This reading is implied in the Scholiast's explanation προβαίνοι.

26. mvp-comment-18-1 τοὔργον οὐ μακρὰν λέγεις] 'The task you speak of requires no long journey,' i. e. I have not far to go to do your will. μακράν, sc. περανθησόμενον. Essay on L. § 24. p. 49.

28. mvp-comment-19-1 ἄνωθεν] Sc. φαινόμενον. Neoptolemus is clambering amongst the rocks. Odysseus asks if he sees the cave above him or beneath. It is above him. He listens for a footfall, and when all is silent, at the suggestion of Odysseus, ventures to climb further and look in. The reply of Odysseus in l. 30 exactly suits the text of l. 29, to which needless exception has been taken. In l. 22, according to the interpretation we have preferred, Neoptolemus was told to ascertain whether Philoctetes still inhabited the cave. One sign of his doing so is wanting. No footsteps can be heard. στίβος occurs several times in the Philoctetes in the sense of 'walking;' see especially 157, 207. στίβου . . τύπος, the reading of L'TAº, was accepted by Hermann; and Bergk, supposing it necessary that some positive sign of Philoctetes' presence should be at once discovered, ingeniously conjectured καὶ στίβου γ' οὔδει τύπος.

30. mvp-comment-20-1 ὅρα .. κυρῇ] 'See whether he be not within and asleep.' For καταυλισθείς some MSS. give κατακλιθείς, a natural variation.

31. mvp-comment-21-1 Cp. Aj. 464, γυμνὸν . . τῶν ἀριστείων ἄτερ.

32. mvp-comment-22-1 οὐδ᾽.. τροφή] 'But is there not within it some of the provision that makes a home?' Hermann rightly explains τροφή, 'Utensilia quibus locus aliquis in modum domus instruitur.' Others conjectured τρυφή, the irony of which would be misplaced; others ἐστ' ἐπιστροφή. For uses of τροφή in Sophocles, see Essay on L. § 50, 1. p. 94. Cp. also Plat. Polit. 288 E-299 B.

33. mvp-comment-23-1 στιπτὴ . . τῳ] (1) 'Yes, there is leafage pressed as by one inhabiting here.' For the dative, see Essay on L. § 14. pp. 19, 20. Or, (2) Yes, a couch of leaves pressed down as if for some one who takes his rest in the place.' (1) is best.

35. mvp-comment-24-1 αὐτόξυλον] 'Of mere unpolished wood.'

36. mvp-comment-25-1 τεχνήματ'] (Cp. Eur. Hipp. 11, Πιτθέως παιδεύματα.) The contrivance.' Cp. infr. 295, ἐμηχανώμην. There is a slight oxymoron in φλαυρουργοῦ ἀνδ. τεχνήμ., 'The skill of one unskilled.' πυρεῖα are the means of lighting a fire. Some embers were left covered up (cp. θησαύρισμα), or Neoptolemus sees the stones mentioned infr. l. 296, with sticks to be kindled from them.

37. mvp-comment-26-1 σημαίνεις τόδε] ‘In telling me of this hoard, you give me a token of his presence.'

38. mvp-comment-27-1 ἰού, ἰού] An exclamation of discovery mixed with dislike. Ср. О. Т. 1071, 1182. ἄλλα] ‘Besides.' See Essay on L. § 23, δ. ρ. 39. θάλπεται] 'Are being warmed or dried in the sun.'

39. mvp-comment-28-1 βαρείας] 'Grievous,' with the implied notion of 'offensive,' 'repulsive.' νοσηλεία is properly 'attendance on disease,' and v. πλ. means not simply full of purulence, but 'infected through ministration to some grievous sore.' Cp. infr. 520, ὅταν δὲ πλησθῇς τῆς νόσον ξυνουσία.

41. mvp-comment-29-1 που] (1) 'Somewhere.' Cp. infr. 163: or, (2) 'Methinks.'

42. mvp-comment-30-1 κηρί] Misfortune, viz. that which befell him at Chrysa. προσβαίη] · Advance.' This use of προσβαίνω, without a dative or an accusative with a preposition, is rare. But the adverb μακράν helps to supplement the expression.

43. mvp-comment-31-1 ἐπὶ φορβῆς νόστον] (1) ‘For the purpose of a return with food;' i. e. To bring home provender. Or, (2) φορβῆς νόστον may mean, as the Scholiast thought, simply a foraging expedition. Cp. Eur. I. A. 966, 1261. (Parallels from Euripides are more pertinent to the Philoctetes and O. C. than to other plays of Sophocles.)

43-44. mvp-comment-32-1 ἢ εἰ.. που] Sc. ἐκεῖσε ἐξελήλυθεν.

45. mvp-comment-33-1 Hereupon the one attendant, the Έμπορος of 542 foll., withdraws to a distance, and Odysseus and Neoptolemus are left alone. For τὸν παρόντα, cp. Εl. 424, τοῦ παρόντος, ἡνίχ᾽ Ἠλίῳ | δείκνυσι τοὔναρ.

47. mvp-comment-34-1 ἕλοιτό ἕλοιτο ἕλοιτό λαβεῖν μολεῖν ἕλοιτό μ] It is unnecessary to read ἔλοιτ᾽ ἔμ', although this is suggested by the first hand of L. The meaning is, He would rather get me than the whole Argive host into his hands.' μᾶλλον ἕλοιτο is an imperfect expression for βούλοιτο ἑλεῖν. See E. on L. § 36. p. 63. That is to say, the meaning 'choose' is suggested, while the other meaning, 'Take for his own,' is chiefly meant. Hence λαβεῖν is added with the second clause for the sake of clearness.

48. mvp-comment-35-1 φυλάξεται στίβος] 'The approach (of Philoctetes) shall be watched.' φυλάξεται is fut. mid. with passive meaning. Οη στίβos, see above, note on l. 28.

49. mvp-comment-36-1 Χρήζεις] Sc. γενέσθαι. δευτέρῳ λόγῳ] 'Renewing thy discourse,' according to the promise in 24, 25. Gedike conjectured ἐλευθέρῳ λ.

50-54. mvp-comment-37-1 τῷ σώματι follows γενναῖος εἶναι, κατὰ σύνεσιν, as if it were ὑπουργεῖν, for which it has been substituted as more pleasing. ἤν is equivalent to κἄν (see Essay on L. § 28. p. 47). Nauck thinks that ὑπηρέτης is too low a word for the position of Neoptolemus, who only acknowledges himself to have been sent as ξυνεργάτης to Odysseus (l.93). But ὑπηρέτης is applied by Xenophon to officers in attendance on a general as aides-de-camp, and Odysseus may think it necessary at the end of his speech to assert his authority in its full strength, adding fortiter to suaviter. Neoptolemus shows his sense of this in the brief question τί δῆτ᾽ ἄνωγας?

55. mvp-comment-38-1 λόγοισιν . . λέγων] The pleonasm helps to emphasize the unwelcome lesson that words and not deeds are required of Neoptolemus. Cp. infr. 90, 1. 'You must wrest to your purpose, by deceitful words, the mind of Philoctetes.' Neoptolemus is to wind himself into the very soul of Philoctetes and deceive him there.

56. mvp-comment-39-1 ὅταν . . παῖς] These words are in apposition to ὅπως . . λέγων.

57. mvp-comment-40-1 τόδ᾽ οὐχὶ κλεπτέον] ‘This is not to be dissembled.' κλέπτειν is repeated in a slightly different sense. The change to κρυπτέον, proposed by some edd., is unnecessary.

58. mvp-comment-41-1 πλεῖς] Sc. ὡς φήσεις λέγων. Odysseus puts before Neoptolemus the situation which he is to assume. This is more vivid than πλεῖν, which in some edd. has been substituted for πλεῖς as more grammatical. But cp. Trach. 1137, δρᾷ, and note. The whole speech is purposely cast in an easy conversational style. Cp. λέγων, infr. 64. Hence also the frequent asyndeta, 56, 72, 79. πλεῖς ὡς πρὸς οἶκον] ‘Your voyage is homeward-bound.' For ὡs, cp. Thuc. 5.3, περιέπλει τὸν᾿ Αθων ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αμφίπολιν : Trach. 532, ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἐξόδῳ.

59. mvp-comment-42-1 ἔχθος ἐχθήρας μέγα] For the effect to be produced by this part of the lie, cp. infr. 322 foll., 403 foll.

60. mvp-comment-43-1 οἵ] The antecedent (αὐτούς) is suppressed, as elsewhere, in expressing indignation. Cp. esp. O. C. 263 foll., οἵτινες βάθρων, κ.τ.λ. ἐν λιταῖς] For ἐν of the instrument, see Essay on L. § 19. p. 28, and cp. ἐν δόλῳ, infr. 103. 'Ita ut vis adducendi in precibus sita esset,' Dind.

61. mvp-comment-44-1 μόνην] Essay on L. § 51. p. 96. 'Having no way but this for taking Troy.'

62. mvp-comment-45-1 οὐκ ἠξίωσαν.. αἰτουμένῳ] 'Refused to grace thee with Achilles' arms, or give them to thee, when thou didst come to Troy and claim them with full right.' 'Conflata oratio ex duabus locutionibus, una οὐκ ἠξίωσάν σε τῶν ᾿Αχιλλείων ὅπλων, et altera, οὐκ ἠξίωσάν σοι δοῦναι τὰ ὅπλα.' (Herm.) The imperfect expression is supplemented by epexegesis. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 67. For κυρίως, cp. Αj. 734, τοῖς κυρίοις γὰρ πάντα χρὴ δηλοῦν λόγον.

64. mvp-comment-46-1 Ὀδυσσεῖ] The name, so hateful to Philoctetes, must not be omitted. παρέδοσαν] ‘Gave away. On comparing infr. 399, it appears that παρά in composition has here the special meaning of 'wrongly,' as in παραγιγνώσκειν. λέγων] λέγειν in l. 57 was equivalent to an imperative, and parallel to ὅπως ἐκκλέψεις, supr. λέγων agrees with the general subject of these verbs. For the detached participle, cp. Ο. Τ. 1289, τὸν μητρός, αὐδῶν ἀνόσι᾽ οὐδὲ ῥητά μοι.

65. mvp-comment-47-1 ἡμῶν = ἐμοῦ.

66. mvp-comment-48-1 τούτων.. οὐδέν] In nought of this.' Sc. λέγων or ποιῶν. Cp. infr. 1021, 2, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀλγύνομαι | τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό, where the accusative similarly expresses the cause.

66-67. mvp-comment-49-1 For μή emphatically postponed, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. βαλεῖς = προσβαλεῖς. See Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 4, and cp. Eur. Phoen. 1535, σκότον ὄμμασι βαλών.

69. mvp-comment-50-1 σοί] This (σοί, not σοι) is the reading of L., and agrees with the emphatic pleading of Odysseus.

71. mvp-comment-51-1 πιστή] «With mutual confidence.' βέβαιος] Without danger.'

72-74. mvp-comment-52-1 Odysseus anticipates the reproaches which Philoctetes would cast on him; which would be inapplicable to Neoptolemus, as he had not made one of the original expedition.

72. mvp-comment-53-1 πέπλευκας] πλεῖν is used here and elsewhere without further definition to denote the voyage to Troy. ἔνορκος] All those chiefs who took part in the war at its commencement had been bound to each other by an oath: Aj. 1113. Odysseus, in casting Philoctetes forth, was therefore guilty of perjury against him.

73. mvp-comment-54-1 For ἐξ ἀνάγκης, cp. infr. 1025, 6, καίτοι σὺ μὲν κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγεὶς ἔπλεις ἅμ᾽ αὐτοῖς: Aesch. Ag. 841.

74. mvp-comment-55-1 οὐδέν οὐδέν

77. mvp-comment-56-1 αὐτὸ τοῦτο] This very point is to be gained by craft,' viz. that suggested in the words τόξων ἐγκρατής.

78. mvp-comment-57-1 κλοπεύς] This word has no such mean associations as κλέπτης; and ἀνικήτων, which follows, is calculated to stir Neoptolemus' ambition.

79. mvp-comment-58-1 ἔξοιδα καί] 'I am well aware.' καί, which Linwood rightly defends, has a reassuring emphasis. • In urging this on you, I know all the while.' Cp. Thuc. 8. 91, ἦν δέ τι καὶ τοιοῦτον ἀπὸ τῶν τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐχόντων, καὶ οὐ πάνυ διαβολὴ μόνον τοῦ λόγου, and 5. 43, ᾧ ἐδόκει μὲν καὶ ἄμεινον εἶναι. The same idiomatic use occurs in Electra 1251, ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ', where see note. The conjectures, παῖ, μέν, δή, τοι are unnecessary; but if a change were required, ἔξοιδά τοι would be the most probable emendation. For the meaning of 79, 80, cp. infr. 88, 9, Il. 9. 312, where Achilles says, ἐχθρὸς γάρ μοι κεῖνος ὁμῶς ᾿Αΐδαο πύλησιν, κ.τ.λ.

81. mvp-comment-59-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἡδὺ λαβεῖν] The construction is analogous to that so frequent with χρήμα, e.g. Eur. Andr. 181, ἐπίφθονόν τι χρῆμα θηλειῶν ἔφυ. - (Sc. τὸ τῆς νίκης, or the genitive of definition takes the place of the nominative ἡ νίκη.) λαβεῖν is added to define ἡδύ. γάρ τοι (see v. rr.) is plausible, but cp. Eur. l. c.

82. mvp-comment-60-1 ἐκφανούμεθα] i. e. Our justice shall shine forth, as from a passing cloud. αὖθις, 'another day.'

83. mvp-comment-61-1 εἰς ἀναιδές] 'To shamelessness.' For the abstract neuter without the article, cp. Plat. Gorg. 504 C, ταῖς μὲν τοῦ σώματος τάξεσιν ὄνομα εἶναι ὑγιεινόν.. ταῖς δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τάξεσι.. νόμιμόν τε καὶ νόμος: Thuc. 5. 18. § 4, δικαίῳ χρήσθων καὶ ὅρκοις.

86. mvp-comment-62-1 κλύων] (1) i. e. ὀνειδιζόμενος. So Musgrave. This agrees well with κέκλησο, supr., -' I hate to be called false, and I hate to act falsely.' (2) Others take the words to mean, 'As I hate to hear lies told, so I hate to tell them;' or (3) As it irks me to be practised on with lies, so I hate to practise them."

87. mvp-comment-63-1 τούσδε .. στυγῶ] 'I abhor the same in action.' τούσδε sc. τοὺς λόγους. For λόγος, implying πρᾶξις, cp.eg. Trach. 78, τὸν λόγον γὰρ ἁγνός: ib. 250, 1, τοῦ λόγου.. Ζεὺς ὅτου πράκτωρ φανῇ. And for the expressed antecedent, cp. Ant. 463, 4, ὅστις γὰρ ἐν πολλοῖσιν, ὡς ἐγὼ, κακοῖς ζῇ, πῶς ὅδ' οὐχὶ κατθανὼν κέρδος φέρει;

88. mvp-comment-64-1 ἔφυν.. πράσσειν] 'It is not in my nature to do anything through base artifice.'

89. mvp-comment-65-1 οὔτ᾽ αὐτός, κ.τ.λ.] For this frequent form of expression, cp. especially Plat. Prot. 324 B. ἵνα μὴ αὖθις ἀδικήσῃ μήτε αὐτὸς μήτε ἄλλος ὁ τοῦτον ἰδών.

91. mvp-comment-66-1 δόλοισιν] Οdysseus, supr. 55, had said λόγοισιν. Neoptolemus is more plain-spoken. ἐξ ἑνὸς ποδός] 'With only one foot to rely on.' Neoptolemus argues a fortiori. Philoctetes is not only one against many, but a lame man against strong men.

92. mvp-comment-67-1 τοσούσδε] i. e. not only the three who have advanced, but the whole crew. Infr. 549, 50.

93-94. mvp-comment-68-1 'It is true indeed that having been sent to be your adjutant I shrink from the imputation of disloyalty, but I would rather, my lord, offend in acting nobly than basely win.'

94. mvp-comment-69-1 προδότης καλεῖσθαι] 'To be accused of treason towards the Argives who have sent me to assist you). Cp. infr. 1250, ΟΔ. στρατὸν δ' Ἀχαιῶν οὐ φοβεῖ, πρασσων τάδε; ΝΕ. σὺν τῷ δικαίῳ τὸν σὸν οὐ ταρβῶ φόβον. καλεῖσθαι] Cp. supr. 85, κέκλησο: infr. 119, κεκλῇς: Trach. 453, 4. ὡς ἐλευθέρῳ ψευδεῖ καλεῖσθαι κὴρ πρόσεστιν οὐ καλή. The Greek sensitiveness to praise and blame is perceptible in this idiom.

95. mvp-comment-70-1 ἐξαμαρτεῖν] (1) To fail: opposed to νικᾶν; or (2) To be in the wrong' = προδότης καλεῖσθαι. Cp. Ant. 1024, κοινόν ἐστι τοὐξαμαρτάνειν. νικᾶν κακῶς] To win a base victory;' i.e. v. κακῶς δρῶν.

96. mvp-comment-71-1 ἐσθλοῦ πατρὸς παῖ] Cp supr. 3. 89.

98. mvp-comment-72-1 εἰς ἔλεγχον ἐξιὼν] i e. in proving the world, and bringing words and actions to the test of experience.

98-99. mvp-comment-73-1 ὁρῶ ... ἡγουμένην] I find that wherever mortals are concerned words and not actions have always the chief influence.' βροτοῖς is dative of reference not βροτοὺς ἡγουμένην = Leading mankind').

100. mvp-comment-74-1 τί οὖν . . λέγειν] Neoptolemus says curtly, I see you want me to tell a lie: have you any further commands?' He is indignant; but his curiosity is awakened. Cp. Ant. 497, θέλεις τι μεῖζον ἢ κατακτεῖναί μ᾽ ἑλών.

101. mvp-comment-75-1 λέγω σ] 'I repeat that you must.' λέγω resumes the force of ἄνωγας. Odysseus repeats his first command.

104. mvp-comment-76-1 Join οὕτως with δεινόν. ἰσχύος θράσος] · Boldness consisting in strength; i.e. an emboldening strength. Cp. Thuc. 5. 14, οὐκ ἔχοντες τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς ῥώμης πιστὴν ἔτι.

106. mvp-comment-77-1 θρασύ] i. e. θαρσάλεον, ἄνευ φόβου. Cp. Pind. Nem. 7. 50, θρασύ μοι τόδ' εἰπεῖν,

110. mvp-comment-78-1 πῶς.. βλέπων] 'With what countenance?' i. e. How shall I look him in the face while saying it? Cp. О. Т. 1371, ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὄμμασιν ποίοις βλέπων, κ.τ.λ. λακεῖν] This is a more curious, but also a more forcible reading than λαλεῖν, expressing Neoptolemus' abhorrence of the sound of a lie.

112. mvp-comment-79-1 There is a certain inconsistency (as Cavallin remarks) in Neoptolemus' ignorance of that which in l.69 Odysseus had mentioned as well known. We must imagine him to have been passive hitherto, and only now to have his attention roused to the object that is to work on his ambition. This makes the change of mind in him more conceivable.

113-115. mvp-comment-80-1 Odysseus speaks of the bow, but not of Philoctetes' share in the victory.

116. mvp-comment-81-1 οὖν, the Triclinian reading, is possibly right. Some change from the reading of L is necessary. Hermann read, as in the text, θηρατέ᾽ ἄν, explaining the second ἄν as belonging to εἴπερ, κ.τ.λ., -in other words, as emphasizing Neoptolemus' hesitation and doubtfulness.

117. mvp-comment-82-1 δύο .. δωρήματα] Cp. El. 1088, δύο φέρειν ἐν ἑνὶ λόγῳ, σόφα τ' ἀρίστα τε παῖς κεκλῆσθαι.

119. mvp-comment-83-1 αὑτός] This seems better here than αὐτός, ‘In your own person.' But cp. Ο. Τ. 458, ἀδελφὸς αὐτὸς καὶ πατήρ, i. e. Your taking Troy will be a proof of bravery, and your having first obtained the bow, of wisdom.

122. mvp-comment-84-1 Neoptolemus makes the decision with sudden impulsiveness, and having once taken his course, continues it with apparent firmness to infr. 810.

125. mvp-comment-85-1 τὸν σκοπόν] The attendant who has been set to watch for Philoctetes, supr. 45. This guard is no longer necessary when Odysseus withdraws.

126-127. mvp-comment-86-1 ἐάν μοι.. κατασχολάζειν] If I find at all that you are wasting time.' τοῦ χρόνου τι is put by λιτότης for τὸν χρόνον ας τούτων τι for ταῦτα in Ant. 35, and κατασχολάζειν is used actively like other compounds of κατά, e.g. καταρ γυροῦν, κατοκνεῖν, καταστασιάζειν, καταυλεῖν, καταστρατηγεῖν, κατασιωπᾶν, καταληρεῖν, κατακερδαίνειν, καταδαπανᾶν.

128-129. mvp-comment-87-1 ναυκλήρου τρόποις .. προσῇ] Having craftily disguised him after the fashion of a sea-captain, that he may not be known.' Cp. El. 654, Trach. 350.

130. mvp-comment-88-1 From whose mouth, my son, I pray thee, as he utters cunningly-devised words, thou shalt be ready to take whatever in his speech from time to time is profitable.' 'The genitive οὗ is (a) genitive after δέχου, (b) after λόγων, (c) genitive absolute. αὐδᾶσθαι is mid. not passive here and in Aj. 772. δέχεσθαι implies attentive expectation.

132. mvp-comment-89-1 σοὶ παρεὶς τάδε] · Leaving matters here under thy charge.'

133. mvp-comment-90-1 'But may secret Hermes,' (1) 'the conductor,' or (2), 'who speeds us hither, be our good guide, and Athena, protectress of cities, goddess of Victory, she who is evermore my saviour.' Cp. Od. 13. 300, ἥτε τοι αἰὲν | ἐν πάντεσσι πόνοισι παρίσταμαι ἠδὲ φυλάσσω: Αj. 14 foll., ib. 34, 5, πάντα γὰρ .. σῇ κυβερνῶμαι χερί. For Νίκη ᾿Αθάνα, cp. Eur. Ion 1529. The goddess of cities is rightly invoked by Odysseus, whose motive is the public good. For the general meaning of ὁ πέμπων = ὁ πομπός, in (1), see Essay on L. § 32. p. 55, 4.

135-218. mvp-comment-91-1 We have here a commatic parados (cp. El., O. C.), in which Neoptolemus responds in anapaests to lyric measures chanted apparently by single members of the Chorus, as they take their places in the orchestra. Their entrance must be subsequent to l. 134, for the conversation in ll. 50 foll. would lose its effect if Odysseus and Philoctetes were not alone. The anapaests of Neoptolemus and l. 161, chanted by the coryphaeus, accompany movements of the Chorus, who at l. 169 have already taken up their position. The metres of the lyric part are as follows:- α΄. Glyc. β'. Glyc. γ. Glyc. It is evident that the lyric strains were accompanied with gesticulation, especially in στρ. and ἀντ. γ'. The fact that the Chorus at entering have some knowledge of that which has just been made known upon the stage, is not a sufficient reason for supposing them to have been present during any part of the previous scene. Similarly, in the O. T. the Chorus have been gathered by the news of the arrival of Creon from Delphi, which happens in the midst of the prologos, l. 87; and in the Ajax, the mariners speak of the slanders of Ulysses, which could only be disseminated after his exit. It is best, therefore, to suppose, as above, that the Chorus enter as usual after the prologos, and that the first strophe is begun as soon as they are well within hearing of the stage. The whole passage is meant to interest the spectator in Philoctetes, and to prepare for the effect to be produced by his entrance, infr. 219. Cp. Aj. 201-332.

135. mvp-comment-92-1 The correction of this line by Triclinius has been retained by most editors.

136. mvp-comment-93-1 στέγειν] 'To keep close.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 341, κἂν ἐγὼ σιγῇ στέγω. πρὸς ἄνδρ᾽ ὑπόπταν ἁποπταν] 'In my intercourse with one who is full of suspicion.' They feel that he must have been made so by ill-treatment and solitude.

138. mvp-comment-94-1 τέχνα . . ἀνάσσεται] ‘For the skill and wisdom of him who holds the sceptre divine given by Zeus surpasses that of another.' Cp. O. T. 380, καὶ τέχνη τέχνης | ὑπερφέρουσα: ib. 398, γνώμῃ κυρήσας, where τέχνη and γνώμη are used of practical wisdom. The reading γνώμας is probably due to an interlinear explanation of γνώμα.

139. mvp-comment-95-1 γνώμα] γνώμασ γνώμας γνώμα παρ᾿ ὅτῳ] Sc. παρ' ἐκείνῳ, παρ᾿ ᾧ (or simply ᾧ).

140. mvp-comment-96-1 For σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσεται ἀνά·::· σσεται ἀνάσσεται, cp. Ο. C. 449, σκῆπτρα κραίνειν. The expression Διὸς σκῆπτρον recalls the monarchical feeling of heroic times.

141. mvp-comment-97-1 σὲ δ᾽ ὦ Wunder and others have conjectured σοί, which agrees better with the antistrophe (l. 156); but the Attic accusative is more expressive = Hath descended on thee,' viz. through the death of Achilles. τόδ'.. ὠγύγιον] This absolute power with immemorial right.'

142. mvp-comment-98-1 πᾶν is intensive, as often in composition: cp. πᾶσα ἀνάγκη, and similar expressions. See especially Plat. Legg. 6. 762 C, ἢ πάσης τινὸς ἀνάγκης ἐμπεσούσης. ὠγύγιον is attributive, not predicative. See Essay on L. § 23. p. 38. τό] 'Wherefore.' Epicè. Cp. Il. 17. 404, τό μιν οὔποτε ἔλπετο θυμῷ | τεθνάμεν. See Essay on L. § 21. 3, p. 32. ἔννεπε] ἔννεπε(ν?) ἔννεπε

143. mvp-comment-99-1 ὑπουργεῖν υπουργεῖν

144-146. mvp-comment-100-1 νῦν.. θαρσών] Some editors insert a comma after μέν, but although νῦν is not to be separated from δέρκου, it belongs to both clauses. Cp. infr. 1020, 1, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ οὐδὲν θεοὶ νέμουσιν ἡδύ μοι, κ.τ.λ., where a comma after ἀλλ' would be obviously inconvenient. τόπον . . ὅντινα κεῖται] 'What place he makes his lair.' The relative follows the case of τόπον, which is accusative after προσιδεῖν. But the construction of ὅντινα κεῖται may also be explained as cognate, like αὐτάρκη θέσιν κειμένη in Thuc. 1. 37. ἐσχατιαῖς] Cp. Od. 9. 182, ἐπ᾿ ἐσχατιῇ σπέος εἴδομεν ἄγχι θαλάσσης. The dative of place is perhaps assisted by the neighbourhood of πρός in προσιδεῖν (Essay on L. § 54. p. 99. and also p. 62). For the plural, cp. τρόποις, supr. 128: infr. 153, αὐλάς: Pind. Isthm. 6. 12, ἐσχατιαῖς ἤδη πρὸς ὄλβου.

147. mvp-comment-101-1 δεινός] Dread,' reflecting the impression produced on Neoptolemus by 75, 6, 105, and the timid expressions of the Chorus in 135 foll. Philoctetes is terrible because of his bow, and the fear of him is enhanced by the mystery of his solitude.

147-148. mvp-comment-102-1 ὁδίτης] Cp. supr. 43, 4, infr. 162, 3. τῶνδ᾽ ἐκ μελάθρων] Who inhabits here.' Sc. ὁρμώμενος. The form of expression is suggested by the verbal notion in ὁδίτης. Some, including the διορθωτής of L, have wrongly connected τ. ἐ. μ. with προχωρῶν, Avoiding this habitation.' τῶν μελάθρων ἀποστάς, Schol. For μέλαθρον of the cave, cp infr. 1262, ἀμείψας τάσδε πετρήρεις στέγας. πρὸς ἐμὴν.. χεῖρα] ‘At my hand;' i. e. At the signals which I shall give, as to a hound in approaching game. Cp. infr. 865, and note; also Aesch. Suppl. 507, καὶ δή σφε λείπω χειρὶ καὶ λόγοις σέθεν (' At your signal and behest').

149. mvp-comment-103-1 τὸ παρὸν θεραπεύειν] (1) Το meet each occasion duly.' Cp. Thuc. 3.56, τὸ δὲ ξυμφέρον μᾶλλον θεραπεύοντες: Εl. 1305, 6, οὐ γὰρ ἂν καλῶς | ὑπηρετοίην τῷ παρόντι δαίμονι. Or rather, (2) To do the service immediately required.'

150. mvp-comment-104-1 The MS. reading here has two syllables too many. Hermann dropped μέλον and retained τὸ σόν, connecting πάλαι with the verbal notion in μέλημα. But it is more probable that τὸ σόν is a mistaken gloss on ὄμμα. μοι] om.

151. mvp-comment-105-1 φρουρεῖν . . καιρῷ] 'That I should fix a watchful glance on what is most opportune for thee.' For the use of the adverb in σῷ μ. καιρῷ τῷ μάλιστα ἐν καιρῷ ὄντι σοί, see Essay on L. § 24. p. 41. And for φρουρεῖν ὄμμα, cp. Τr. 914, κἀγὼ λαθραῖον ὄμμ᾽ ἐπεσκιασμένη | φρούρουν (where ὄμμα has the verbal meaning and in part at least depends on φρούρουν).

153. mvp-comment-106-1 αὐλὰς .. ἔχει] What home does he inhabit, and where is the place of his abode?' The Chorus, through the coryphaeus, ask two questions in one. Neoptolemus replies to either separately.

157. mvp-comment-107-1 τίς τόπος, ἢ τίς ἕδρα] Sc. ἐστὴν αὐτῷ. στίβον] Cp. supr. 29.

159-161. mvp-comment-108-1 These lines break the antistrophic effect. Cp O C. 197 foll., El. 1403-5, and notes.

159. mvp-comment-109-1 οἶκον.. κοίτης] 'Thou seest the home with a door either way where he makes his bed upon the rock.' For the genitive, see Essay on L. § 10. p. 15.

160. mvp-comment-110-1 The coryphaeus, with one or more of the other choreutae, has mounted to the stage during the recitation of 144-9. He advances further while his companion recites 150-8, and Neoptolemus points out the cave to him. He turns to Neoptolemus with this question and then rejoins his comrades. While Neoptolemus recites 162-68, the Chorus take up their regular position in the orchestra in front of the stage.

161. mvp-comment-111-1 ὁ τλήμων] This expression is prompted by the sight of Philoctetes' 'homeless dwelling-place.'

163. mvp-comment-112-1 στίβον ὀγμεύει] • He tracks his way.' The metaphor is taken from ploughing, and expresses the difficult motion of the lame man dragging his foot, and as it were harrowing the ground. For ὄγμος, ‘A furrow, cp. Il. 18. 546, Archil. 115. τόνδε πέλας που] 'This way, somewhere not far off.' With τόνδε Neoptolemus points to the way which Philoctetes must have taken. In πέλας he echoes what Odysseus had said in 41.

166. mvp-comment-113-1 στυγερὸν στυγερώς] The gloss ἐπιπόνως, compared with Hesych. σμυγερών : ἐπίπονον, οἰκτρών, μοχθηρόν, σμυγερῶς: ἐπιπόνως, certainly favours Brunck's emendation, σμυγερὸν σμυγε- ρῶς. But σμυγερός occurs nowhere else in Tragedy, μογερός being the form regularly used. And in iterative phrases like μόνος μόνοις, Αj. 467 : καινῷ καινὸν ἐν πεπλώματι, Τr. 613, it often happens that both words are not equally significant. Neoptolemus, in his horror of the solitary life, may also feel beforehand a natural horror of the solitary man. Philoctetes himself apprehends this, infr. 225, 6, καὶ μή μ᾿ ὀκνῳ | δείσαντες ἐκπλαγῆτ᾽ ἀπηγριωμένον. Cp. Od. 13. 399, 400, ἀμφὶ δὲ λαίφος | ἕσσω, ὅ κεν στυγέῃσιν ἰδῶν ἄνθρωπος ἔχοντα: ib. 11. 81, νῶῖ μὲν ὡς ἐπέεσσιν ἀμειβομένω στυγεροῖσιν | ἥμεθα.

167-168. mvp-comment-114-1 οὐδέ τιν᾿ αὐτῷ . . ἐπινωμᾶν] (1) Nor brings to his relief any healer of his woe;' so the Scholiast: i.e. 'No healer comes to him.' See E. on L. §30. p. 52, d. Or (2) reading αὑτῷ. • Nor does any healer of his woes approach him. But there is no clear instance in early Greek of νωμᾶν being used absolutely = To move.' See note on infr. 717. (3) Linwood prefers, 'Nor does any man bring him a healer.'

169. mvp-comment-115-1 ὅπως] As after θαυμάζω.

170. mvp-comment-116-1 The reading of the first hand of L, τοὺς κηδομένους, admits of a possible construction with ἔχων, but is probably an error arising from the change of construction.

171. mvp-comment-117-1 μηδὲ σύντροφον ὄμμα] Nor any soul to live with him.' ὄμμα is the act of eye meeting eye, and so is transferred to the object of affectionate intercourse. See E. on L. § 54, a. p. 99. σύντροφον, i. e. Partaking of the same circumstances and means of life.' For μή, see E. on L. p. 48, 2, 6.

173. mvp-comment-118-1 ἀγρίαν] 'Cruel,' 'intractable.' The disease is personified, as elsewhere throughout the play. There may also be an association from the medical use of the word as applied to a wound 'Angry.' See L. and S.s. v. ἄγριος, II. 4.

174. mvp-comment-119-1 ἀλύει . . ἱσταμένῳ] And is distracted at each need, as it arises.' τῳ, 'Whatever it be,' is better than τῷ, for the article would come awkwardly at the end of the line.

176. mvp-comment-120-1 ὦ παλάμαι θνητῶν] 'O strange devices of men,' that can produce such misery. Hermann and others have defended the long syllable here. But Lachmann's conjecture, θεῶν, has been widely accepted. Cp. Pind. Ol. 11. 21, θεοῦ σὺν παλάμᾳ : Pyth. 1. 48, εὑρίσκοντο θεῶν παλάμαις τιμάν: Nem. 10. 65, καὶ πάθον δεινὸν παλάμαις Ἀφαρητίδαι Διός. The Scholiast and others interpret ὦ παλάμαι θνητῶν as said in admiration of the power of resource shown by Philoctetes.

178. mvp-comment-121-1 οἷς μὴ μέτριος αἰών] Το whom life is not tolerable.' Cp. Ant. 582, εὐδαίμονες οἷσι κακῶν ἄγευστος αἰών: ib. 584, 5, ἄτας οὐδὲν ἐλλείπει γενεᾶς ἐπὶ πλῆθος ἕρπον. It is assumed that misfortune runs in families. Others take μέτριος αἰών to be the life that is 'seated in the mean,' as if all who rose to distinction must be unfortunate. But the lot of Philoctetes in receiving the bow of Heracles is not alluded to here, and without this such a statement of the doctrine of Νέμεσις would be too crude.

180. mvp-comment-122-1 πρωτογόνων . . ὕστερος] Inferior to no man of noblest family." ἥκων is a curious variant in some MSS. of Suidas. Cp. Aj. 636. ἴσως] 'I imagine.' The Scyriote sailors know of Philoctetes only by report. πρωτογόνων οἴκων is partitive gen. with οὐδενός.

181. mvp-comment-123-1 ἐν βίῳ is joined with κεῖται, as if it were κείται ἐν βίῳ πάντων ἀμμόρῳ.

183. mvp-comment-124-1 μοῦνος ἀπ' ἄλλων] Hom. H. Merc. 193, ὁ δὲ ταῦρος ἐβόσκετο μοῦνος ἀπ᾿ ἄλλων. This line responds in meaning as well as metre to l. 172.

184. mvp-comment-125-1 στικτῶν] As the deer. λασίων] As the wolf and boar.

185. mvp-comment-126-1 ἔν τ᾽ ὀδύναις.. οἰκτρός] 'Pitiable for the hunger and also for the pain in which he lives.' For the addition of ἐν, see Essay on L. § 19, 1. p. 27.

186. mvp-comment-127-1 ἀνήκεστα.. *βάρει] 'Thoughts irremediable in their oppressive weight.' The dative appears to drag a little, but affords the simplest and best emendation of a corrupt place. Others read βάρη.

187. mvp-comment-128-1 ὁ δ᾽ ἀθυρόστομος,] For the article, cp. O. C. 670 2, ἔνθ' | ἁ λίγεια .. ἀηδών. For ἀθυρόστομος, ‘Irrepressible,' cp. ἀθυρόγλωσσος, Eur. Or. 903, and Theogn. 421, πολλοῖς ἀνθρώπων γλώσσῃ θύραι οὐκ ἐπίκεινται | ἁρμόδιαι. Echo is personified, as in Ar. Thesm. 1059.

189. mvp-comment-129-1 τηλεφανής] 'Coming from afar.' Cp. infr. 202, προὐφάνη κτύπος: 216, τηλωπὸν ἰωάν.

189-190. mvp-comment-130-1 πικρᾶς.. ὑπόκειται ὑπὸ κειται ὑπόκειται ὑποκεῖται] ὑπόκειται, if genuine, means, Lies close to,' i. e. Keeps following upon.' Cp. Plat. Gorg. 465 Α, τῇ μὲν οὖν ἰατρικῇ.. ἡ ὀψοποιικὴ κολακεία ὑπόκειται. Brunck conjectured ὑπακούει, ' Answers,' as it were a summons. Hermann, ὕπ᾿ ὀχεῖται. And ἐποχεῖται seems possible, though too uncertain an emendation to be admitted into the text.

192. mvp-comment-131-1 θεῖα is predicative. Ant. 593.

193. mvp-comment-132-1 τὰ παθήματα κεῖνα] 'His troubles in that former time.'

194. mvp-comment-133-1 τῆς ὠμόφρονος Χρύσης] Genitive of the cause. It was the nymph Chrysa, whose shrine was guarded by the serpent who bit Philoctetes. Sophocles conceives of the offence as accidental: infr. 1326, 7.

195-196. mvp-comment-134-1 καὶ νῦν . . μελέτῃ] Sc. πονεῖ. Neoptolemus here shows himself better informed than supr. 112, where Odysseus in his reply does not say more than that the bow of Philoctetes is necessary for the taking of Troy. Cp. also infr. 1326 foll. See Introd. p. 363.

197. mvp-comment-135-1 τοῦ = ἕνεκα τοῦ, explaining μελέτῃ. Cp. Thuc. 1. 23, τὰς αἰτίας προέγραψα πρῶτον καὶ τὰς διαφοράς, τοῦ μή τινα ζητῆσαί ποτε ἐξ ὅτου τοσοῦτος πόλεμος τοῖς Ἕλλησι κατέστη.

197-200. mvp-comment-136-1 Ср. О. C. 1405 foll., and for ὅδε.., supr. 87.

198. mvp-comment-137-1 τὰ θεῶν] “The divine.' Cp. Ant. 607, θεῶν μῆνες, and note. The bow of Heracles, now himself a god, was an instrument of the divine purposes.

201. mvp-comment-138-1 εὔστομ᾽ ἔχε] 'Speak no rash words.' Cp. Hdt. 2. 171, καὶ ταύτης εἰδότι μοι πέρι εὔστομα κείσθω: infr. 258, γελῶσι σῖγ᾽ ἔχοντες. For the metre of 201, 210, cp. Aj. 905, 951. In the present case the pause is probably in the fourth foot, thus:-

204. mvp-comment-139-1 σύντροφος] 'Habitual.' A cry which tells of misery in the being from whose breast it issues.

206. mvp-comment-140-1 ἐτύμα] «Unmistakable.' Expanded in οὐδὲ με λάθει, infr. 208. The cry when repeated leaves no doubt as to the quarter from whence it comes.

207. mvp-comment-141-1 στίβου κατ᾿ ἀνάγκαν ἕρποντος] 'Moving with extreme difficulty of gait.' A similar adverbial expression is καθ' ὁρμήν, infr. 566: cp. Thuc. 7.57, κατὰ ξυμφορὰν ἐμάχοντο. στίβου κατ᾿ ἀνάγκαν = ἀναγκαίῳ στίβῳ. βαρεῖα is not 'deep,' but rather grievous,' causing painful feelings.

208. mvp-comment-142-1 τηλόθεν] Heard from afar.'

209. mvp-comment-143-1 τρυσάνωρ] 'Of a man in pain;' ἀνδρὸς τρυχομένου. For this unusual force of the compound adjective, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 39, S.

211ff. mvp-comment-144-1 There are echoes of the strophe in the words ἔχε, τέκνον, πταίων, ὑπ᾿ ἀνάγκας, τηλωπὸν ἰωάν, προβοᾷ γάρ.

212. mvp-comment-145-1 ἔξεδρος] Cp. Ar. Av. 275, ἔξεδρον χώραν ἔχων, where the phrase is imitated, according to the Scholiast, from the Tyro of Sophocles.

213. mvp-comment-146-1 ἔχων] Cp. Aj. 320 and note: Il. 18. 495, αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον.

215. mvp-comment-147-1 ὑπ᾿ ἀνάγκας is to be joined with Boᾷ. He cries aloud because of the pain.' The cry is forced from him in stumbling. Not, Stumbling by reason of difficulty, he cries out.'

216. mvp-comment-148-1 ἰωάν] Cp. infr. 219, ἰώ, ξένοι.

217-218. mvp-comment-149-1 ἢ . . αὐγάζων] 'Or eyeing the inhospitable moorage of our ship,' i.e. seeing a vessel moored on so inhospitable a coast. The moorage was only possible because of the S. W. wind, infr. 639, 1450, 1. The transposition of ὅρμον αὐγάζων is a slight change, and secures an exact correspondence of rhythm.

218. mvp-comment-150-1 προβοᾷ] 'Shouts forth' = Sends a shout before him. His cry rings terribly forth. After all this preparation the entrance of Philoctetes has a thrilling effect.