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301–450

ὅρμος] Cp. Aesch. Phil. fr. 246, ἔνθ᾽ οὔτε μίμνειν ἄνεμος οὔτε πλεῖν ἐᾷ, where, however, the language may be metaphorical.

ἐξεμπολήσει] Sc. ἐκεῖθεν. ἢ ξενώσεται] «Or be well received.' Fut. mid. with passive meaning.

†τάχ᾽ οὖν τις ἄκων ἔσχε] 'Well, it may be, one did put in here against his will.' τάχα used as in τάχ᾽ ἄν. Cp. Plat. Legg. B. 4. 711 Α, ὑμεῖς δὲ τάχα οὐδὲ τεθέασθε τυραννουμένην πόλιν. οὖν introduces a modification or admission. 'No one puts in here willingly; unwillingly. however, some one may have brought his ship this way.' ἔσχε] For the aor., cp. supr. 297, ἔφην. ἔσχε = κατέσχε, the simple verb for the compound. But query *κατ᾽ οὖν τις ἄκων ἔσχε (i. e. κατέσχε τις οὖν ἄκων)? (For a case of tmesis in the senarii, cp. infr. 817). πολλὰ γὰρ . . χρόνῳ] 'Such incidents might happen many times in the long course of human history.' πολλά is predicative and τάδε = τοιάδε. For this, cp. Aj. 1246, ἐκ τῶνδε μέντοι τῶν τρόπων οὐκ ἄν ποτε | κατάστασις γένοιτ᾽ ἂν οὐδενὸς νόμου. It may be doubted whether ἀνθρώπων is to be taken with τάδε = 'Such human accidents,' or with χρόνῳ = ' The time during which men have existed.' For the latter, cp. Hdt. 6. 109, μνημόσυνα λιπέσθαι ἐς τὸν ἅπαντα ἀνθρώπων βίον. And for the idea, cp. Hdt. 5. 9, γένοιτο δ᾽ ἂν πᾶν ἐν τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ: Agathon, Fr. 9. τάχ᾿ ἄν τις εἰκὸς αὐτὸ τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι λέγοι | βροτοῖσι πολλὰ τυγχάνειν οὐκ εἰκότα.

ἄν om add

μέν] Νo doubt,' belonging in sense rather to λόγοις than to ἐλεοῦσι. καί που .. προσέδοσαν] ‘And perchance have gone so far (προσ-) as to impart to me some portion of food.' The gnomic aorist is used of that which happens now and again. 'They always express pity, they sometimes give.'

οἰκτείραντες, Touched with compassion, 'is also in the 'momentary' tense.

ἐκεῖνο] «That which is always in my thoughts.' Cp. Ar. Nub. 657, ἐκεῖν, ἐκεῖνο, τὸν ἀδικώτερον λόγον. The pronoun here stands in the place of an infinitive.

σῶσαι] Cp. infr. 488, 496.

ἔτος .. δέκατον] These words are to be joined with ἀπόλλυμαι and resumed with βόσκων.

βόσκων] 'Supporting.' Philoctetes only lived to suffer. Cp. infr. 795, 1167. ἀδηφάγον] Cp. infr. 756-8.

ἤ τ᾿ Οδυσσέως βία] ‘And great Odysseus.' Cp. infr. 321, 344. The Epic phrase is used with a touch of sarcastic irony, but probably (unlike Virgil's 'violentia Turni') without direct reference to the violence of the act.

Whom may the Olympian gods some day cause to suffer in their own persons (αὐτοῖς) full requital for my wrong!' So Brunck, Linwood, Paley, rightly. For the emphatic αὐτοῖς here opposed to ἐμοῦ, cp. supr. 275. In order to avoid this Porson conjectured οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι θεοί.

ἔοικα] It would seem that I.' Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1007, λέγων ἔοικα πολλὰ καὶ μάτην ἐρεῖν.

The Chorus express pity for Philoctetes, but tacitly remind themselves that their pity will not be shown in action.

Neoptolemus. But I do more than pity him, for I am a witness on his side.' καί with the whole sentence. For ἐν, ὢν has been conjectured. But ἐν may well express that Neoptolemus enters into the cause of Philoctetes, and is not merely an auditor of his case. Myself a witness in this plea, I know it to be well-founded.'

συντυχών] συντυχεῖν is generally construed with a dative, and the preposition has therefore here a separate meaning. Having in like manner found. So the Scholiast and Nauck.

May it be mine one day to satiate my wrathful soul with violent action!' There can be little doubt that the correction is right. For a similar confusion in all the MSS., cp. O. Т. 376.

εὖ γ᾽, ὦ τέκνον] 'Well said, my son!' Philoctetes' delight in Neoptolemus is further heightened by this supposed discovery of a common resentment. τίνος . . ἐλήλυθας] ‘For what cause do you thus bring against them the accusation of your violent anger?' τίνος, genitive of the reason (Essay on L. § 10. p. 15). Cp. Ο. Τ. 698, ὅτου μῆνιν τοσήνδε πράγματος στήσας ἔχεις. γάρ asks for explanation. ἐλήλυθας is redundant (Essay on L. § 40. p. 75). τὸν μέγαν χόλον] The mighty anger which you now evince.' For the slight inexactness in ἐγκαλεῖν χόλον, cp. О. Т. 702, λέγ', εἰ σαφῶς τὸ νεῖκος ἐγκαλῶν ἐρεῖς.

μόλις δ᾽ ἐρῶ] 'Though I shall find it hard to speak of it, i.e. To command myself sufficiently to do so. Schol. ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς. Cp. Ο. C. 326, λύπῃ . . μόλις βλέπω.

ἐπεὶ γάρ] These words introduce the occasion of his coming, in explanation of μολών. ἔσχε.. θανεῖν] 'The fate of death overtook Achilles.' θανεῖν, epexegetic inf. For ἔσχε, cp. Eur. Hec. 5, ἐπεὶ Φρυγῶν πόλιν | κίνδυνος ἔσχε δορὶ πεσεῖν Ἑλληνικῷ.

This brief digression and the longer one below (410-460), have the effect (a) of showing the generous nature of Philoctetes, who, beneath his apparently obdurate resentment, really retains an unabated interest in the affairs of the army, and (b) of giving opportunity for the growth of friendly feeling between him and Neoptolemus. The news of Achilles' death so affects him as to make him for a moment forget his own suffering (339-40).

ἀνδρός is genitive of cause, for which ὕπο afterwards supplies a more distinct construction.

τοξευτὸς .. δαμείς] Subdued, so they tell the tale, with an arrow from the bow of Phoebus.' τοξευτός is a subsidiary predicate to δαμείς, for which word in this connection, cp. Il. 19. 417, θεῷ τε καὶ ἀνέρι ἶφι δαμῆναι. ἐκ rather than ὑπό, because the arrow came from the hand of Apollo. Cp. Il. 21. 277, 8, ἥ μ᾿ ἔφατο Τρώων ὑπὸ τείχεϊ θωρηκτάων | λαιψηροῖς ὀλέεσθαι᾿ Απόλλωνος βελέεσσιν. Or, if the arrow were that of Paris, ἐκ denotes the remote agent, and Neoptolemus must be supposed to avoid mentioning the slight man' who had been the immediate author of Achilles' death.

Cp. Il. 21. 280, τῷ κ᾿ ἀγαθὸς μὲν ἔπεφν᾽, ἀγαθὸν δέ κεν ἐξενάριξεν.

The delicate courtesy of these lines is no less obvious than their self-forgetfulness.

ὅτῳ σ᾽ ἐνύβρισαν] ὅτῳ (governed by ἐν in ἐνύβρισαν) is best taken separate from τὸ σὸν πρᾶγμα. ‘Tell me your own affair; what was the point in which they insulted you?'

ἦλθον.. μέτα = μετῆλθον. ποικιλοστόλῳ] = σὺν ποικιλίαις ἐσταλμένῃ, 'Decked out with ornament,' as being sent on an honorific mission. Others, With variegated prow' (στόλος); but in this less poetical sense it would be better to read ποικιλοστόμῳ. See v. rr.

δῖος] The constant Homeric title, which Neoptolemus uses out of habit. χώ τροφεύς] Phoenix.

μάτην] 'Groundlessly.'

ὡς . . γίγνοιτ'] 'That it came to be a thing irreconcileable with destiny.' Cp. Ant. 260, κἂν ἐγίγνετο, and note.

οὐ πολὺν .. ταχύ] · They did not long restrain me, but that I set forth with speed.' On the indirectness of this way of saying, 'Their words were like a goad inciting me,' see Essay on L. § 42, a. p. 79. For μή we should rather expect μὴ οὐ. But though the addition of οὐ is permissible in such cases, there is no absolute rule. And ὦ ξένε, by suggesting 'You may imagine,' gives an hypothetical turn to the expression.

οὐ γὰρ εἰδόμην] 'For I had not seen my father.' Schol. ζῶντα. It is objected to this that when Achilles went to Troy from Scyros, Neoptolemus must have been old enough to remember him. But this is one of those improbabilities which are external to the action and were it otherwise, there is no proof that Sophocles in the Philoctetes follows the version of the story which made Scyros Achilles' starting-point for Troy. Nor would there be anything unnatural in Neoptolemus saying, 'I had not seen him,' without adding, for so long.' Cp. Aj. 570, εἰσαεί, and note; Eur. Troad. 377, οὐ παῖδας εἶδον, sc. πάλιν. Seyffert reads, οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἰδόμην, and Prof. Jebb has suggested εἰ γὰρ εἰδόμην. But (a), as Mr. Blaydes remarks, it is natural to infer from 359 that Neoptolemus did see the body of Achilles: and (b) does not such an ejaculation unduly interrupt the flow of the narrative? Neoptolemus is not speaking from real feeling, and there is no occasion for him to 'daub it so far, nor for the poet to invent the circumstance of his failing to see the body. The language resembles that of Od. 4. 200, 1, οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγε | ἤντησ᾽ οὐδὲ ἴδον, said by Peisistratus of his eldest brother Antilochus. But Peisistratus (Od. 3. 401) would be a mere infant at the time of the departure for Troy.

However, besides this, the proposal had a fair colour given to it in their declaration that, if I came (ἰών), Ι should take the citadel that commanded Troy.' For ὁ λόγος, cp. supr. 345-7. προσῆν] Cp. supr. 129, ὡς ἂν ἀγνοία προσῇ.

For εἰ.. αἱρήσοιμι, see Essay on L. § 28. p. 46.

πικρὸν Σίγειον] 'Cruel Sigeum,' i. e. where I was destined to find so much vexation: the mourning for his father, who was buried there, being embittered by the refusal of the arms. Cp. Rhes. 734, ὦ στυγνοτάτην Τροίαν ἐσιδών. To this, however, some editors prefer the conjecture of Burges, 'π' ἄκρον Σίγειον ! οὐρίῳ πλάτῃ] · With favourable voyage.' This is objected to, apparently because oars would not be used under a fair wind. But πλάτη often occurs in Tragedy in the general sense of making way at sea. Cp. Eur. Hel. 192, Ι. Τ. 242. And as the vessel drew near shore the sail would of course be lowered, and the oars brought into play.

κατηγόμην, | καὶ καὶ . . εὐθὺς .. ἐκβάντα] The narrative is condensed.

'Achilles, who no longer lived, alive again.' Cp. the Trag. fr. quoted by Plutarch, Alc. 203 D, οὐ παῖς ᾿Αχιλλέως ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνος αὐτὸς εἶ.

ἔκειτ'] 'Lay low.' The most natural way of understanding this is to suppose that Neoptolemus saw his father laid out and buried, without being burned. Cp. Aj. sub fin. (from 1402). It might also mean that Achilles was already buried when Neoptolemus arrived. But, as Hermann observes, there is nothing to indicate that the hope expressed in supr. 351 was thus disappointed. The fiction of Neoptolemus is rather that after the funeral the question of the arms was quickly disposed of whilst he was absorbed in his grief.

οὐ μακρῷ χρόνῳ] • Before long.' These words are connected with what follows, and imply that the mourning did not long detain him from the object of his ambition.

πρὸς φίλους, ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν] i. e. πρὸς ᾿Ατρ. ὡς πρὸς φίλους, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς εἶναι φίλους. For the omission of ὡς with ὡς following, see Essay on L. § 39. p. 73, 5, a. 'Assuming their friendship, as I had reason to do.'

ὅσ᾽ ἦν] Sc. τοῦ πατρός.

οἴμοι expresses not only personal disappointment (infr. 368, καταλγήσας), but also grieved astonishment that men could be so hardened.

τἄλλα .. πατρῷ᾽ ἑλέσθαι] Cp. Αj. 572, μήθ᾽ ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός. In ordinary Greek the article would be repeated with πατρῷα, which, however, is here resumed in close connection with ἑλέσθαι. 'To take in right of your father the other things:' i. e. To take the other things which are yours in right of your father.

κείνων] "Those well-known arms,' viz. τῶν Ἡφαιστοτεύκτων.

Then tears burst from me, and I straightway rose in grievous wrath, and broke forth on them indignantly, and said.' καταλγήσας, sc. κατ᾿ αὐτῶν.

ὦ σχέτλι', ἢ τολμήσατ᾽] The voc. sing. σχέτλιε is addressed to Agamemnon, or whichever was the spokesman of the Atreidae. It is unnecessary to suppose a crasis of σχέτλιοι ἦ. For ἀντ' ἐμοῦ, cp. Αj. 444, οὐκ ἄν τις αὔτ᾽ ἔμαρψεν ἄλλος ἀντ᾿ ἐμοῦ.

τὰ τεύχη τἀμά] The repeated article here emphasizes both words. 'Those arms, my arms, without consulting me!' πρὶν μαθεῖν ἐμοῦ] 'Before understanding from me,' sc. my will concerning them.

ὁ δ᾽ εἰπ᾿ Ὀδυσσεύς] The order of words is in the Epic manner (see Essay on L. § 21. p. 33, 5), the noun being placed in apposition to the article as a demonstrative pronoun. 'Then spake that other, Odysseus, for he was at hand.' ὢν κύρει] The omission of the augment, Epicè, in narrative ῥήσεις is proved by the crucial instance τινὸς | θώϋξεν in O. C. 1623, 4. It was therefore unnecessary to resort to conjectural emendation here. (ἦν κυρῶν, Brunck.)

ναί, παῖ] 'Yea, child!' Odysseus is supposed to treat the youth with insolent condescension.

This achievement of Odysseus is alluded to in Od. 5. 309, ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μοι πλεῖστοι χαλκήρεα δοῦρα | Τρώες ἐπέρριψαν περὶ Πηλείωνι θανόντι. It was doubtless fully narrated in the Ilias Minor, from which Ovid probably derived it, Met. 13. 284, (quoted by Gedike): 'His humeris, his, inquam, humeris ego corpus Achillis | Et simul arma tuli, quae nunc quoque ferre laboro.' παρών hints the reproach which comes out afterwards, l. 379.

ἤρασσον] 'I laid it on ;' ἀράσσω is here used absolutely. Cp. Ar. Nub. 1373, ἐξαράττω. And for the meaning, 'To assail with violent words,' cp. also Aj. 725, (αὐτὸν . . ὀνείδεσιν) ἤρασσον ἔνθεν κἄνθεν.

οὐδὲν ἐνδεὲς ποιούμενος, εἰ] The clause with εἰ (for which see Essay on L. § 28, 1. p. 46), depends on the notion of the middle voice in ποιούμενος. Not caring to make any omission' (sparing no abuse) 'when I thought how my arms were to be taken from me by Odysseus.' Cp. Od. 21. 170, (νεμεσσῶμαι δέ τ᾽ ἀκούων) εἰ δὴ τοῦτό γε τόξον ἀριστῆας κεκαδήσει | θυμοῦ καὶ ψυχῆς. ποιούμενος is subj. middle, - for my part.'

κεῖνος] i. e. ὁ κακὸς κἀκ κακῶν Ὀδυσσεύς, infr. 384.

ἐνθάδ᾽ ἥκων] 'At this pass,' i. e. when he found himself resisted by a boy.

δηχθεὶς πρὸς ἁξήκουσεν] ‘Stung at what he heard.' πρός with accusative, as in πρὸς ταῦτα. πρὸς ἀξ. should be joined in the first instance with δηχθείς, and resumed with ἠμείψατο.

ἵν᾿ οὐ σ᾽ ἔδει] Sc. ἀπεῖναι. 'Where you ought to have been present.' The reproach is not that Neoptolemus was at Scyros, but that he was not in the battle field at Troy at the time when his father fell. Schol., οὐ παρῆς, ἔνθα ἔδει σε παρεῖναι. Infr. 429.

The language is not perfectly exact; ταῦτα is primarily the object of ἔχων, but is to be resumed with λέγεις in a different sense. For such ellipse, see E. on L. § 39. p. 73, and cp. supr. 361, and note.

κἀκ κακῶν] Alluding to the supposed Sisyphian parentage, which threw suspicion on the nobility of δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς. To this extent Neoptolemus follows the suggestion of Odysseus, supr. 64, 5.

ὡς = τοσοῦτον ὅσον, cp. Aj. 679, 80, Ant. 775.

'For a city or army depends wholly upon those who govern.' ἔστι with the genitive here means, 'Is determined by,' i. e. Takes its character from.' πᾶσα = σύμπασα, Wholly, rather than 'Every city.'

διδασκάλων.. κακοί] Have teachers from whose instruction their badness flows.' This remark is not immediately relevant to Odysseus, but rather to the vote of the army by which the arms were awarded to him, and which is supposed to have been instigated by the Atreidae. Schndw. conjectured δ. τρόποισι.

ἐμοί θ᾽ ὁμοίως... φίλος] The sentence in being expanded is changed from an assertion to a wish; i.e. ἐμοί τέ ἐστι φίλος καὶ ὁμοίως εἴη καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς φίλος. Cp. Ant. 686, οὔτ᾽ ἂν δυναίμην, μήτ' ἐπισταίμην λέγειν.

The Chorus show their interest and support Neoptolemus by these strains, which are interwoven with the action, like those in O. T. 660 foll., 689 foll., О. С. 1447-1456, 1477-1485. They wish to assist their master by simulating hatred of the Atreidae and sympathy with Philoctetes. That both feelings are merely assumed, and that the Chorus really understand the situation, is obvious from the exaggerated strength of expression in 510, εἰ δὲ πικρούς, ἄναξ, ἔχθεις ᾿Ατρείδας. Their feigned excitement, to which the mixture of dochmiac and iambo-bacchic metre is well suited, was no doubt expressed with gestures accompanying the recitation, by the two half-choruses, of strophe and antistrophe severally.

The Great Mother, who is here invoked, is said to have been worshipped at Lemnos as well as in Phrygia Steph. Byz. s. ν. Λήμνος, quoted by Gedike). And there is besides a special appropriateness in the invocation of this primal power of nature upon a desert shore, where no temples were to be seen. Bernhardy's remark, that the invocation of Rhea confirms the late date of the Philoctetes, is hardly warranted.

ἃ . . νέμεις) 'That givest the mighty river Pactolus to be rich in gold.' For νέμω, meaning, 'To dispense or give forth,' cp. O. C. 687, Κηφισοῦ νομάδες ῥεέθρων. εὔχρυσον is a supplementary predicate = ὥστε εὔχρυσον εἶναι οἱ ῥεῖν. μέγας is, 'Deserving awe and reverence.' Cp. Plato, Phaedo, 62 Β, ὁ . . ἐν ἀπορρήτοις λόγος . . μέγας τέ τίς μοι φαίνεται καὶ οὐ ῥάδιος διϊδεῖν. The Pactolus comes from the mountains of Phrygia, and its peculiar virtue is attributed to the bounty of the universal mother, whose home was there.

ἐπηυδώμαν ἐπηυδώμαν The middle voice expresses, 'I invoked for my behoof.'

ὕβρις πᾶσα] 'The boundless insolence.' For πᾶς intensive, see E. on L. § 55. p. 101, 6. The bacchic rhythm shows that πᾶσα is not to be taken predicatively with ἐχώρει.

παρεδίδοσαν] 'They were wrongfully giving away from him.' Cp. supr. 64, παρέδοσαν, and note.

ἰὼ . . ἔφεδρε] This long parenthesis belongs to the wild nature of the strain, and would be assisted with significant gestures. λεόντων ἔφεδρε, 'Thou that sittest above the lions,' that draw thy car. Cp. the use of ἵπποι as equivalent to ἅρμα in Epic Greek.

τῷ Λαρτίου . . ὑπέρτατον] 'Investing the son of Laertes with supreme glory.' The accusative, σέβας ὑπέρτατον, is in apposition either (1) to τεύχεα, or (2) to the action of παρεδίδοσαν. The dative is not to be taken with παρεδίδοσαν, but with σέβας ὑπέρτατον, sc. γενέσθαι, i. e. ὥστε τὸν Λ. ὑπέρτατον σέβας ἔχειν, (Ant. 304.)

A point of rest has now been gained, and the action remains stationary for a little while. Neoptolemus has completely won the friendship of Philoctetes, and is confident of the attainment of his purpose. Cp. О. С. 631, 667.

ἔχοντες σύμβολον σαφές | λύπης . . πεπλεύκατε] 'The grief ye have brought with you in sailing forth is a token which clearly commends itself to me.' Cp. Aristid. vol. 1. p. 416, ἱκανόν ἐστι πρὸς αὐτήν, ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι σύμβολον, αὐτὸ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ἀτυχίας, a passage which shows that πρὸς ἡμᾶς should be taken with ἔχοντες σύμβολον rather than with πεπλεύκατε. The participle has the chief emphasis: see Essay on L. § 41. p. 77. β.

καί μοι προσᾴδεθ'] 'And your words strike on a note that is in unison with my experience.' For a similar metaphor, cp O. T. 1112, 3, ἔν τε γὰρ μακρῷ γήρᾳ ξυνάδει τῷδε τἀνδρὶ σύμμετρος.

ἂν . . θιγόντα] I know that he would not refrain his tongue from any mischievous word or from any villany.' The effect of ἄν here is to mark that the supposed fact is in accordance with general probability.

ἀφ᾿ ἧς . . ποιεῖν] 'Whereof the issue in his hands was likely to be some great iniquity.' For the indirect form of expression, see E. on L. § 42. p. 79.

δίκαιον δὲ βαιον δίκαιον μηδέν] μή, because of the hypothetical nature of the sentence implied in ἂν θιγόντα. ἐς τέλος] 'In the end.' Cp. Eur. Ion 1615, χρόνια μὲν τὰ τῶν θεῶν πως, εἰς τέλος δ᾽ οὐκ ἀσθενῆ. μέλλοι] The optative because ἂν θιγόντα = ὅτι ἂν θίγοι.

ἀλλ᾽ εἰ . . ἠνείχετο] Sc. θαυμάζω. 'But' (it does seem marvellous) 'if the taller Ajax, being there, endured to see this done.' παρών] i. e. supposing him to be at Troy, and not absent on some expedition. ὁ μείζων] The son of Telamon is so distinguished from the Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς Αἴας.

Editors have raised the question whether the award of the arms and the death of Ajax are supposed to precede or follow the arrival of Neoptolemus at Troy. But the Greek drama is not careful of such minute adjustments of time, especially in what the audience know to be a fictitious tale. The true story about Ajax in relation to the arms was not suited for Neoptolemus' purpose. The supposition which best suits the context is that, according to Neoptolemus, the award of the arms took place immediately after the funeral of Achilles, while he, the chief mourner, was still absorbed in his grief; and that the death of Ajax is not connected by him with the arms at all.

νόει κεῖνον ὡς μηκέτ' ὄντα ἐν φάει] μή, because of the subjective meaning of νόει.

'Nor the son whom Laertes bought of Sisyphus.' (The other reading, Λαερτίου, would mean, Laertes' son whom he bought from Sisyphus.' But the two genitives are here extremely improbable).

τί δ᾽ ὃς.. ἔστιν] ‘But what of him who was an old man, and a good man, and a friend of mine, Nestor the Pylian? Is he yet alive?' ὃς has been much questioned, but appears sound.

Here the question is raised, whether Philoctetes had been at all at Troy. But this point also is ἔξω τοῦ μυθεύματος, and is not necessarily determined by the poet. Philoctetes had been long enough with the host, at Tenedos or elsewhere, to know the characteristics of the chief men.

κεῖνός γε ‘Ay, he.' γε gives a modified assent to the meaning of the question.

The words ὅσπερ ἦν γόνος, '(The son whom he had') are slightly wanting in point, but they are commended by their simplicity, and no thoroughly satisfactory alternative has been proposed. The Scholiast mentions μόνος as having been read for γόνος. But although this reading, ὅσπερ ἦν μόνος, 'His only son,' affords a possible context (supposing the ellipse of υἱός), it involves (as the Scholiast felt) too great a departure from the common tradition, according to which Nestor had other sons remaining when Antilochus was no more. The conjectures most deserving mention are ὃς παρῆν γόνος, Herm. ('His son who was with him,') ὃς παρῆν μόνος, Musgr., and ὃς παρῆν πόνοις, Arndt., ('Who supported him in toils of war').

δύ᾽ αὕτως δείν᾽ ἔλεξας] (1) In those few words (αὕτως), you have told me a twofold calamity, (affecting those) of whom, etc.' Or, (2) 'In those few words you tell me sad news of two, of whose misfortune, etc.' (δεινά being cognate and almost adverbial, as if it were δεινῶς ἔχοντε). The alternative reading, δύ' αὖ τώδ' ἐξέδειξας (inferred by Porson from the Scholia, see v. rr.), although more plausible than some others recorded by the διορθωτής of L, is not really better. It is slightly improved upon by Prof. Jebb and Mr. Blaydes, who propose to read, δύ᾽ αὖ τώδ᾽ ἄνδρ᾽ ἔλεξας: (the letters erased after δεὶν' in L. were said by Dübner to be ἄν).-It has been commonly assumed that Ajax and Antilochus are the persons meant. But line 415 is too remote to allow of this, whether αὕτως or αὖ τώδ' is the reading chosen. The meaning is that the death of Antilochus is a twofold calamity, destroying the life of one good man (Antilochus) and the happiness of another (Nestor). But οἵδε in l. 428 infr. includes not only Ajax and Antilochus, but also Achilles. The doubt remains, whether δεινά is not too strong a word for the connection. (Qu. δύ᾽ αὐτ᾿ ἀλγείν᾽ ἔλεξας?)

For ὀλωλότοιν, including Nestor's desolation, cp. Aj. 896, El. 674.

τί δῆτα δεῖ σκοπεῖν] i. e. ποῖ βλέπωμεν εἰς σωτηρίαν; Το what must we look, when Providence so manifestly fails us?' Cp. Ant. 922, 3, τί χρή με τὴν δύστηνον εἰς θεοὺς ἔτι | βλέπειν; Ο. Τ. 964, El. 924, 5, τἀκείνου δέ σοι | σωτήρι ἔρρει· μηδὲν εἰς κεῖνών γ᾽ ὅρα. Ὀδυσσεὺς δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ] But Odysseus, on the contrary, is alive.'

κἀνταῦθ᾽] 'And in such a juncture of affairs.' The crisis implied in the narrative of Neoptolemus (viz. the exigency which led to his being brought from Scyros) required that the mischievous Odysseus should be replaced by better men. Philoctetes again involuntarily shows his interest in the success of the army. Hermann's way of joining the words, Ulysses is found to be alive, as in other emergencies, so again in this,' is not satisfactory. Nor is there any real ground for his objection to Buttmann's rendering of αὖ, - Av si, ut Buttmanno videtur, ex altera parte significaret, deberet statim post Ὀδυσσεύς positum esse. As if there were not also an antithesis between τεθνᾶσιν and ἔστιν! The notion of Odysseus always turning up at critical moments, as lively as ever, is pleasant enough, but αὖ should have something to refer to, and ἵνα must be correlative to ἐνταῦθα, and cannot mean 'whereas.'

αὐτόν = eum, not ipsum, though with a certain emphasis. αὐδᾶσθαι indicates the desire of Philoctetes to hear of Odysseus' death.

Neoptolemus says this to humour Philoctetes, and encourage him to hope that his wish may be some day realized. But to the audience the words also suggest an anticipation of the complications which follow.

γάρ is used with conversational freedom. ποῦ . . ἐνταῦθα] 'Where, then, in the circumstances which you describe?'

τοῦτ᾽] 'This truth: i. e. the general truth of which these facts are instances. πόλεμος, κ.τ.λ.] This, like the preceding τί δεῖ σκοπεῖν, is a bit of commonplace pessimism. Cp. Aesch. Fr. 94, ἀλλ᾿ ῎Αρης φιλεῖ | ἀεὶ τὰ λῷστα πάντα τἀνθρώπων στρατοῦ: Soph. fr. 652, ῎Αρης γὰρ οὐδὲν τῶν κακῶν *λωτίζεται. ἑκὼν αἱρεῖ = φιλεῖ αἱρεῖν.

κατ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο] ‘In connection with this very point,' viz. Your observation that the bad survive.

ἀναξίου .. φωτός] Sc. πέρι. For this genitive, see E. on L. § 8. p. 13, 3. ἀναξίου = οὐδενὸς ἀξίου.

τί= πῶς : cp. Εl. 1424, πῶς κυρεῖτε, E. on L. § 22. p. 36.

'Ay? Who may that be, if you can mean any one but Odysseus?' The syntax of the previous sentence is continued. E. on L. § 35. p. 60.

οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον] In the spirit of ll. 64, 5, supr. Neoptolemus professes to be impatient of the very name of Odysseus. Cp. infr. 1400, 1.

'I meant not him. But there was one Thersites, who would never be content with speaking once, where all cried, Silence.' This, like supr. 348, 9, is a strong instance of ironical indirectness of expression. For ὅπου μηδεὶς ἐψη, cp. esp. Plat. Symp. 175 Β, ἐπειδάν τις ὑμῖν μὴ ἐφεστήκῃ. Also Aj. 1184, κἂν μηδεὶς ἐᾷ, 'Though all say, You shall not.'

ἂν εἴλετο is a singular instance of ἄν with the aor. ' of custom.' Cp. the curious use of the imperfect with ἄν, Ant. 260, κἂν ἐγίγνετο | πληγὴτελευτῶσ᾽, and note. Dobree conjectured ἀνείχετ'.

αὐτόν] Burges conjectured αὐτός. ἔτ᾿ ὄντα νιν] The Scholiast, whose account agrees in the main with that of Quintus Smyrnaeus (1. 741, foll.), finds here another departure from the Epic tradition, according to which Thersites had been killed by Achilles with a blow of his fist.

'I was sure of it. For never evil perished yet.' The reading οὐδέπω κακόν may be defended by comparing supr. 83, εἰς ἀναιδές, and note. The correction οὐδέν πω (Herm.) has been generally adopted.

εὐ περιστέλλουσιν αὐτά] ‘Carefully defend them from harm.' αὐτά] Sc. τὰ κακά, which, like τὰ .. πανούργα καὶ παλιντριβῆ refers to persons. Cp. τὰ μέσα τῶν πολιτῶν and similar expressions.

καί πως] Cp. Eur. Med. 119. παλιντριβή] • Froward.' The notion in παλιντριβής is that of something which resists treatment: cp. ἀντίτυπος.

ἀναστρέφοντες ἐξ "Αιδου] “In turning back, i. e. when on their way thither. Like his father Sisyphus, who intrigued himself out of Hades (infr. 625), Odysseus bears a charmed life.

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)) — 317 focus

ἔοικα κἀγὼ τοῖς ἀφιγμένοις ἴσα

ξένοις ἐποικτείρειν σε, Ποίαντος τέκνον.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΝΕ.

ἐγὼ δὲ καὐτὸς τοῖσδε μάρτυς ἐν λόγοις λόγοισ λόγοις,

ὡς εἴσ᾿ ἀληθεῖς ἀληθεῖς ἀληθεῖς οἶδα, συντυχὼν κακῶν
320

ἀνδρῶν ᾿Ατρειδῶν τῆς τ᾿ Οδυσσέως βίας.

ΦΙ.

ἢ γάρ τι καὶ σὺ τοῖς πανωλέθροις ἔχεις

ἔγκλημ᾽ ᾿Ατρείδαις ᾿Ατρείδ(..) ᾿Ατρείδαις, ὥστε θυμοῦσθαι παθών;

ΝΕ.

θυμὸν γένοιτο χειρὶ θυμῷ.. χεῖρα πληρῶσαί ποτε,

ἵν αἱ Μυκῆναι γνοῖεν ἡ Σπάρτη θ᾽ ὅτι
325

χή Σκῦρος ἀνδρῶν ἀλκίμων μήτηρ ἔφυ.

ΦΙ.

εὖ γ᾽, ὦ τέκνον· τίνος γὰρ ὧδε τὸν μέγαν

χόλον κατ᾿ αὐτῶν καυτῶν κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλῶν ἐλήλυθας;

ΝΕ.

ὦ παῖ Ποίαντος, ἐξερῶ ἐξερῶ ἐξερῶ, μόλις δ᾽ ἐρῶ,

ἅγωγ᾽ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐξελωβήθην μολών.
330

ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔσχε μοῖρ᾽ ᾿Αχιλλέα θανεῖν,

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΦΙ.

οἴμοι· φράσῃς μοι μὴ πέρα, πρὶν ἂν μάθω

πρῶτον τόδ᾽· ἢ εἰ ή τέθνηχ᾽ ὁ Πηλέως γόνος;

ΝΕ.

τέθνηκεν, ἀνδρὸς οὐδενός, θεοῦ δ᾽ ὕπο,

τοξευτός, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἐκ Φοίβου δαμείς.
335

ΦΙ.

ἀλλ᾽ εὐγενὴς ευγενὴς μὲν ὁ κτανών τε χώ θανών.

ἀμηχανῶ δὲ πότερον, ὦ τέκνον, τὸ σὸν

πάθημ᾽ ἐλέγχω πρῶτον, ἢ κεῖνον στένω.

ΝΕ.

οἶμαι μὲν ἀρκεῖν σοί γε καὶ τὰ σ᾽, ὦ τάλας,

ἀλγήμαθ᾽, ὥστε μὴ τὰ τῶν πέλας στένειν.
340

ΦΙ.

ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας. τοιγαροῦν τοιγὰροῦν τὸ σὸν φράσον

αὖθις πάλιν μοι πρᾶγμ᾽, ὅτῳ σ᾽ ἐνύβρισαν.

ΝΕ.

ἦλθόν με νηὶ ποικιλοστόλῳ ποικιλοστόλῳ ποικιλοστόμῳ ποικιλοστόλῳ ποικίλῳ στόλῳ μέτα

διός τ᾽ Ὀδυσσεὺς χώ τροφεὺς τοὐμοῦ πατρός,

λέγοντες, εἴτ᾿ ἀληθὲς εἴτ᾿ ἄρ᾽ οὖν μάτην,
345

ὡς οὐ θέμις γίγνοιτ' γίνοιτ', ἐπεὶ κατέφθιτο

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

πατὴρ ἐμός, τὰ πέργαμ᾽ ἄλλον ἢ ἐμ᾽ ἢ μ' ἢ 'μ' ἢ 'μ' ἑλεῖν.

ταῦτ᾽, ὦ ξέν', οὕτως ἐννέποντες οὐ πολὺν

χρόνον μ᾽ ἐπέσχον ἐπάσχον μή με ναυστολεῖν ταχύ,

μάλιστα μὲν δὴ τοῦ θανόντος ἱμέρῳ,
350

ὅπως ἴδοιμ᾽ ἄθαπτον· οὐ γὰρ εἰδόμην·

ἔπειτα μέντοι χώ λόγος καλὸς προσῆν,

εἰ τἀπὶ Τροίᾳ πέργαμ᾽ αἱρήσοιμ᾿ ἰών.

ἦν δ᾽ ἦμαρ ἤδη δεύτερον πλέοντί μοι,

κἀγὼ πικρὸν Σίγειον οὐρίῳ πλάτῃ
355

κατηγόμην· καί μ᾽ εὐθὺς ἐν κύκλῳ στρατὸς

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ἐκβάντα πᾶς ἠσπάζετ' ἠσπάζετο·, ὀμνύντες βλέπειν

τὸν οὐκέτ᾽ ὄντα ζῶντ᾿ ᾿Αχιλλέα πάλιν.

κεῖνος μὲν οὖν ἔκειτ· ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὁ δύσμορος,

ἐπεὶ δάκρυσα κεῖνον οὐ μακρῷ χρόνῳ
360

ἐλθὼν ᾿Ατρείδας πρὸς φίλους, ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν,

τά θ᾽ ὅπλ᾽ ἀπῄτουν τοῦ πατρὸς τά τ' ἄλλ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἦν.

οἱ δ᾽ εἶπον, οἴμοι οἱ μοι οἴμοι, τλημονέστατον λόγον,

ὦ σπέρμ᾽ ᾿Αχιλλέως, τἄλλα μὲν πάρεστί σοι

πατρῷ᾽ ἑλέσθαι, τῶν δ᾽ ὅπλων κείνων ἀνὴρ
365

ἄλλος κρατύνει νῦν, ὁ Λαέρτου γόνος.

κἀγὼ δακρύσας εὐθὺς ἐξανίσταμαι

ὀργῇ βαρείᾳ, καὶ καταλγήσας λέγω,

ὦ σχέτλι, ἡ 'τολμήσατ' τολμήσατ' τολμήσ᾽ ἀντ᾿ ἐμοῦ τινι

δοῦναι τὰ τεύχη τἀμά, πρὶν μαθεῖν ἐμοῦ;
370

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ὁ δ᾽ ὅδ' εἶπ᾿ Ὀδυσσεύς Ὀδυσσεύς, πλησίον γὰρ ἂν κύρει,

ναί, παῖ, δεδώκασ᾽ ἐνδίκως οὗτοι τάδε.

ἐγὼ γὰρ αὔτ᾽ ἔσωσα κἀκεῖνον παρών.

κἀγὼ χολωθεὶς εὐθὺς ἤρασσον κακοῖς

τοῖς πᾶσιν, οὐδὲν ἐνδεὲς ποιούμενος,
375

εἰ τἀμὰ κεῖνος ὅπλ᾽ ἀφαιρήσοιτό ἀφαιρήσοιτό ἀφαιρήσοιτο με.

ὁ δ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἥκων ἥκων, καίπερ οὐ δύσοργος ὤν,

δηχθεὶς πρὸς ἁξήκουσεν ὧδ᾽ ἡμείψατο,

οὐκ ἦσθ᾽ ἵν ἡμεῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπῆσθ᾽ ἵν οὔ σ᾽ ἔδει.

καὶ ταῦτ᾽, ἐπειδὴ καὶ λέγεις θρασυστομῶν,
380

οὐ μήποτ᾽ ἐς τὴν μήποτ᾽ ἐσ τὴν Σκῦρον ἐκπλεύσῃς ἔχων.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

τοιαῦτ᾽ ἀκούσας κάξονειδισθεὶς κακὰ

πλέω πρὸς οἴκους, τῶν ἐμῶν τητώμενος

πρὸς τοῦ κακίστου κἀκ κακῶν ᾿Οδυσσέως.

κοὐκ αἰτιῶμαι κεῖνον αἰτιῶμ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ὡς τοὺς ἐν τέλει.
385

πόλις γάρ ἐστι πᾶσα τῶν ἡγουμένων

στρατός τε σύμπας· οἱ δ᾽ ἀκοσμοῦντες βροτῶν

διδασκάλων λόγοισι γίγνονται κακοί.

λόγος λέλεκται πᾶς. ὁ δ᾽ ᾿Ατρείδας στυγῶν

ἐμοί θ᾽ ὁμοίως καὶ θεοῖς εἴη φίλος φίλος.
390

ΧΟ.
στρ.

Ὀρεστέρα παμβῶτι Γᾶ ya yᾷ γὰ, μᾶτερ αὐτοῦ Διός,

ἃ τὸν μέγαν Πακτωλὸν εὔχρυσον νέμεις,

σὲ κἀκεῖ, μᾶτερ πότνι, ἐπηυδώμαν,

ὅτ᾽ ἐς τόνδ᾽ ᾿Ατρειδᾶν ὕβρις πᾶσ᾽ ἐχώρει,

ὅτε τὰ πάτρια τεύχεα τεύ(χ)χεα παρεδίδοσαν παραδίδοσαν παρεδίδοσαν,
395

ἰὼ μάκαιρα ταυροκτόνων

λεόντων ἔφεδρε, τῷ Λαρτίου λαερτίου λαρτίου

σέβας ὑπέρτατον.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙ.

ἔχοντες, ὡς ἔοικε, σύμβολον σαφές

λύπης πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὦ ξένοι, πεπλεύκατε,
400

καί μοι προσᾴδεθ᾽ ὥστε γιγνώσκειν γινώσκειν ὅτι

ταῦτ᾽ ἐξ᾿ Ατρειδῶν ἔργα· κἀξ᾿Οδυσσέως.

ἔξοιδα γάρ νιν παντὸς ἂν λόγου κακοῦ

γλώσσῃ θιγόντα καὶ πανουργίας, ἀφ᾿ ἧς

μηδὲν δίκαιον ἐς τέλος μέλλοι ποιεῖν.
405

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τι τοῦτο θαῦμ᾽ ἔμοιγ', ἀλλ᾽ εἰ παρὼν

Αίας ὁ μείζων ταῦθ᾽ ὁρῶν ἠνείχετο,

ΝΕ.

οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν, ὦ ξén· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε

ζῶντός γ'᾽ ἐκείνου ταῦτ᾽ ἐσυλήθην ἐγώ.

ΦΙ.

πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλ᾽ om. ἀλλ' ἡ χοὗτος οἴχεται οἴχεται θανών;
410

ΝΕ.

ὡς μηκέτ᾽ ὄντα κεῖνον ἐν φάει νόει.

ΦΙ.

οἴμοι τάλας. ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὁ Τυδέως γόνος

οὐδ᾽ οὑμπολητὸς οὐδ᾽ ὁ ᾿μπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ Λαερτίου Λαρτίου Λαερτίῳ,

οὐ μὴ θάνωσι. τούσδε γὰр μὴ ζῆν ἔδει.

ΝΕ.

οὐ δῆτ᾽· ἐπίστω ἐπίστω τοῦτό γ· ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγα
415

θάλλοντές εἰσι νῦν ἐν ᾿Αργείων ἀργείωι ἀργειών στρατῷ.

ΦΙ.

τί δ᾽ ὃς ὁ ὃ ὁς ὃs παλαιὸς κἀγαθὸς φίλος τ᾿ ἐμός,

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

Νέστωρ ὁ Πύλιος, ἔστιν πύλιόσ ἐστιν? οὗτος γὰρ τά γε

κείνων κάκ᾽ ἐξήρυκε κἀξεκήρυξε, βουλεύων σοφά σοφῶς.

ΝΕ.

κεῖνός γε πράσσει νῦν κακῶς, ἐπεὶ θανὼν
420

᾿Αντίλοχος αὐτῷ φροῦδος ὅσπερ ἦν γόνος.

ΦΙ.

οἴμοι, δύ αὕτως δείν᾽ ἔλεξας δύ' αὕτως δεὶν.. ἔλεξας δύ' αὐτὼ δ᾽ ἐξέδειξας δύ' αὕτως δείν᾽ ἔλεξας δύ᾽ αὕτως δεῖν᾽ ἔλεξας δύ᾽ ἄυτως δείν᾽ ἔλεξας δ᾽ αὕτως δείν᾽ ἔλεξας, οἷν ἐγὼ

ἥκιστ᾽ ἂν ἠθέλησ᾽ ὀλωλότοιν κλύειν.

φεῦ φεῦ· τί δῆτα δεῖ σκοπεῖν, ὅθ᾽ οἵδε μὲν

τεθνᾶσ᾽, ᾿Ὀδυσσεὺς δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ, κἀνταῦθ᾽ ἵνα
425

χρῆν χρὴν χρῆν ἀντὶ τούτων αὐτὸν αὐδᾶσθαι νεκρόν ;

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΝΕ.

σοφὸς παλαιστὴς κεῖνος, ἀλλὰ χαί σοφαὶ

γνῶμαι, Φιλοκτῆτ᾽, ἐμποδίζονται θαμά.

ΦΙ.

φέρ᾽ εἰπὲ πρὸς θεῶν, ποῦ γὰρ ἦν ἐνταῦθά σοι

Πάτροκλος, ὅς σοι πατρὸς ἦν τὰ φίλτατα;
430

ΝΕ.

χοῦτος τεθνηκὼς τεθνηκὼ τεθνηκώς ἦν· λόγῳ δέ σ' * ἐν βραχεῖ σε βραχεῖ

τοῦτ᾽ ἐκδιδάξω. πόλεμος οὐδέν᾽ ἄνδρ᾽ ἑκὼν

αἱρεῖ αἴρει πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς χρηστοὺς ἀεί.

ΦΙ.

ξυμμαρτυρῶ σοι· καὶ κατ᾿ αὐτὸ κατ᾿ αὐτὸ κατ᾿ αὐτὸ κατὰ τ᾿ αὐτὸ τοῦτό γε

ἀναξίου μὲν φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι,
435

γλώσσῃ δὲ τε δὲ γε δεινοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ, τί νῦν κυρεῖ.

ΝΕ.

ποίου γε τούτου πλήν γ' Ὀδυσσέως ἐρεῖς;

ΦΙ.

οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον, ἀλλὰ Θερσίτης τις ἦν,

ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἴλετ᾽ εἰσάπαξ εἰσάπαξ εἰπεῖν, ὅπου

μηδεὶς ἐῴη ἐὼν ἐώη ? ἐψη· τοῦτον οἶσθ᾽ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ;
440

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΝΕ.

οὐκ εἶδον αὐτόν, ἠσθόμην δ᾽ ἔτ᾽ δέ τ' δ᾽ ἔτ' ὄντα νιν.

ΦΙ.

ἔμελλ᾽· ἐπεὶ οὐδέπω κακόν γ᾿ ἀπώλετο,

ἀλλ᾽ εὐ περιστέλλουσιν αὐτὰ δαίμονες,

καί πως καὶ πῶσ καί πως τὰ μὲν πανοῦργα καὶ παλιντριβῆ παλιντριβῆ(ς) παλιντριβῆ

χαίρουσ᾽ ἀναστρέφοντες ἐξ "Αιδου, τὰ δὲ
445

δίκαια καὶ τὰ χρήστ᾽ χρῆστ᾽ χρήστ᾽ ἀποστέλλουσ᾽ ἀεί.

ποῦ χρὴ χρῆ χρὴ τίθεσθαι ταῦτα, ποῦ δ᾽ αἰνεῖν, ὅταν

τὰ θεῖ᾽ ἐπαινῶν τοὺς θεοὺς εὕρω κακούς;

ΝΕ.

ἐγὼ μέν, ὦ γένεθλον Οἰταίου πατρός,

τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη τηλόθεν τό τ᾿ Ἴλιον
450

καὶ τοὺς ᾿Ατρείδας εἰσορῶν φυλάξομαι·

ὅπου θ᾽ θ' θ' ὁ χείρων τἀγαθοῦ μεῖζον σθένει

κἀποφθίνει τὰ χρηστὰ χώ δεινὸς κρατεῖ,

τούτους ἐγὼ τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ στέρξω ποτέ.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἡ πετραία Σκῦρος ἐξαρκοῦσά μοι
455

ἔσται τὸ λοιπόν, ὥστε τέρπεσθαι δόμῳ.

νῦν δ᾽ εἶμι πρὸς ναῦν. καὶ σύ, Ποίαντος τέκνον,

χαῖρ᾽ ὡς μέγιστα, χαῖρε· καί σε δαίμονες

νόσου μεταστήσειαν, ὡς αὐτὸς θέλεις.

ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἴωμεν, ὡς ὁπηνίκ᾽ ἂν θεὸς
460

πλοῦν ἡμὶν εἴκῃ ἥκη εἴκῃ ἥκει, τηνικαῦθ᾽ ὁρμώμεθα.

ΦΙ.

ἤδη, τέκνον, στέλλεσθε στέλεσθε στέλλεσθε?

NE.

καιρὸς γὰρ καλεῖ

πλοῦν μὴ ἐξ ἀπόπτου μᾶλλον ἢ ἐγγύθεν σκοπεῖν.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙ.

πρός νύν νῦν σε πατρός, πρός τε μητρός, ὦ τέκνον,
465

πρός τ' εἴ τί σοι κατ' οἰκόν ἐστι προσφιλές,

ἱκέτης ἱκνοῦμαι, μὴ λίπῃς λείπηισ λίπης μ' οὕτω μόνον,

ἔρημον ἐν κακοῖσι τοῖσδ᾽ οἷοις ὁρᾷς

ὅσοισί τ᾽ ἐξήκουσας ἐνναίοντά ἐννέοντα ἐννέοντα ἐνναίοντα ἐννέποντα με·

ἀλλ᾽ ἐν παρέργῳ θοῦ με. δυσχέρεια μέν,
470

ἔξοιδα, πολλὴ τοῦδε τοῦ φορήματος·

ὅμως δέ δὲ τλῆθι, τοῖσι γενναίοισί τοι

τό τ' αἰσχρὸν ἐχθρὸν καὶ τὸ χρηστὸν εὐκλεές.

σοὶ δ᾽, ἐκλιπόντι τοῦτ᾽, ὄνειδος οὐ καλόν,

δράσαντι δ᾽, ὦ παῖ, πλεῖστον εὐκλείας γέρας,
475

ἐὰν μόλωἐγὼ ζῶν πρὸς Οἰταίαν χθόνα.

ἴθ᾽· ἡμέρας τοι μόχθος οὐχ ὅλης μιᾶς.

τόλμησον, ἐμβαλοῦ ἐκβαλοῦ ἐμβαλοῦ μ᾿ ὅπῃ θέλεις ἄγων,

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΧΟ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

εἰς ἀντλίαν, εἰς πρῷραν, εἰς πρύμνην πρύμναν, ὅποι

ἥκιστα μέλλω τοὺς ξυνόντας ἀλγυνεῖν.
480

νεῦσον, πρὸς αὐτοῦ Ζηνὸς ἱκεσίου, τέκνον,

πείσθητι. προσπίτνω προσπίτνῶ σε γόνασι γούνασι, καίπερ ὢν

ἀκράτωρ ὁ τλήμων, χωλός. ἀλλὰ μή μ᾿ ἀφῇς

ἔρημον οὕτω χωρὶς ἀνθρώπων στίβου·

ἀλλ᾽ ἢ πρὸς οἶκον τὸν σὸν ἔκσωσόν μ᾿ ἄγων,
485

ἢ πρὸς τὰ Χαλκώδοντος Εὐβοίας σταθμά σταθμά,

κἀκεῖθεν οὔ μοι μακρὸς εἰς Οἴτην στόλος

Τραχινίαν τε *δεράδα δειράδα καὶ τὸν εὔροον

Σπερχειὸν ἔσται, πατρί μ᾿ ὡς δείξῃς φίλῳ,

ὃν δὴ παλαί᾽ ἂν παλαιὰν πάλαι ἂν πάλαι ἂν ἐξότου δέδοικ᾽ ἐγὼ
490

μή μοι βεβήκῃ βεβήκοι βεβήκῃ. πολλὰ γὰρ τοῖς ἱγμένοις ἱκμένοισ

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ἔστελλον αὐτὸν ἱκεσίους πέμπων λιτάς,

αὐτόστολον πέμψαντά μ᾽ ἐκσῶσαι δόμοις.

ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τέθνηκεν, ἢ τὰ τῶν διακόνων,

ὡς εἰκός, οἶμαι, τοὐμὸν ἐν σμικρῷ μέρος
495

ποιούμενοι τὸν οἴκαδ᾽ ἤπειγον στόλον.

νῦν δ᾽ εἰς σὲ γὰρ γὰρ πομπόν τε καὐτὸν ἄγγελον

ἥκω, σὺ σῶσον, σύ μ᾽ ἐλέησον, εἰσορῶν

ὡς πάντα δεινὰ κἀπικινδύνως βροτοῖς

κεῖται παθεῖν μὲν εὖ, παθεῖν δὲ θἄτερα.
500

χρὴ δ᾽ ἐκτὸς ὄντα πημάτων τὰ δείν ὁρᾶν,

χὤταν τις εὖ ζῇ, τηνικαῦτα τὸν βίον

σκοπεῖν μάλιστα, μὴ διαφθαρεὶς λάθῃ.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΧΟ.
ἀντ.

Οἴκτειρ᾽, ἄναξ· πολλῶν ἔλεξεν ἔλεξε δυσοίστων πόνων

ἆθλ᾽, ὅσσα μηδεὶς τῶν ἐμῶν τύχοι φίλων.
505

εἰ δὲ πικρούς πικρούς, ἄναξ, ἔχθεις ᾿Ατρείδας,

ἐγὼ μέν, τὸ κείνων κακὸν τῷδε κέρδος

μετατιθέμενος μέγα τιθέμενος μετατιθέμενος, ἔνθαπερ ἐπιμέμονεν ἐπεὶ μέμονεν ἐπεὶ μέμηνεν,

ἐπ᾿ εὐστόλου ταχείας νεὼς

πορεύσαιμ᾽ ἂν ἐς δόμους, τὰν * θεῶν τὰν ἐκ θεῶν
510

νέμεσιν ἐκφυγών.

ΝΕ.

ὅρα σὺ μὴ νῦν μέν τις εὐχερὴς παρῇς,

ὅταν δὲ πλησθῇς τῆς νόσου ξυνουσίᾳ,

τότ᾽ τόθ᾽ τότ' οὐκέθ᾽ αὑτὸς οὐκέθ᾽ αὐτὸσ οὐκ᾿ ἔθ᾽ ὡὐτὸσ τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις φανῇς.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΧΟ.

ἥκιστα. τοῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπως ποτ᾽ εἰς ἐμὲ
515

τοὔνειδος ἕξεις ἕξεις ἔξεις ἐνδίκως ὀνειδίσαι.

ΝΕ.

ἀλλ᾽ αἰσχρὰ αισχρὰ μέντοι σοῦ γέ μ᾽ ἐνδεέστερον

ξένῳ φανῆναι πρὸς τὸ καίριον πονεῖν.

ἀλλ᾽, εἰ δοκεῖ, πλέωμεν, ὁρμάσθω ταχύς·

χή ναῦς γὰρ ἄξει κοὐκ ἀπαρνηθήσεται.
520

μόνον θεοὶ σώζοιεν ἔκ *τε ἔκ δέ ἔκ γε ἐκ δὲ τῆσδε γῆς

ἡμᾶς ὅποι τ᾽ ἐνθένδε βουλοίμεσθα πλεῖν.

ΦΙ.

ὦ φίλτατον μὲν ἦμαρ, ἥδιστος ἥδιστος δ᾽ ἀνήρ,

φίλοι δὲ ναῦται, πῶς ἂν ὑμὶν ἐμφανὴς

ἔργῳ γενοίμην, ὥς μ᾽ ἔθεσθε προσφιλῆ.
525

ἴωμεν, ὦ παῖ, * προσκύσαντε προσκύσαντεσ προσκύσοντες τὴν ἔσω

ἄοικον εἰσοίκησιν, ὥς με καὶ μάθῃς

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ἀφ᾽ ὧν διέζων, ὥς τ᾽ ἔφυν εὐκάρδιος.

οἶμαι γὰρ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὄμμασιν μόνην θέαν

ἄλλον λαβόντα πλὴν ἐμοῦ τλῆναι τάδε·
530

ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀνάγκῃ προὔμαθον στέργειν κακά τάδε.

ΧΟ.

ἐπίσχετον, μάθωμεν. ἄνδρε γὰρ δύο δύω,

ὁ μὲν νεὼς νεὼ νεὼς σῆς ναυβάτης, ὁ δ᾽ ἀλλόθρους,

χωρεῖτον, ὧν μαθόντες αὖθις αὖτις αὖθις εἴσιτον.

ΕΜΠΟΡΟΣ.

᾿Αχιλλέως παῖ, τόνδε τὸν ξυνέμπορον,
535

ὃς ἦν νεὼς σῆς σὺν δυοῖν ἄλλοιν φύλαξ,

ἐκέλευσ᾽ ἐμοί σε ποῦ κυρῶν εἴης φράσαι,

ἐπείπερ ἀντέκυρσα, δοξάζων μὲν οὔ οὖν,

τύχῃ δέ πως πρὸς ταὐτὸν πρὸσ αὐτὸν πρὸστ αὐτὸν πρὸς ταὐτὸν ὁρμισθεὶς πέδον.

πλέων γάρ, ὡς ναύκληρος, οὐ πολλῷ στόλῳ
540

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ἀπ᾿ ἐξ ᾿Ιλίου πρὸς οἶκον ἐς τὴν εὔβοτρυν

Πεπάρηθον, ὡς ἤκουσα τοὺς ναύτας, ὅτι

σοὶ πάντες εἶεν οἱ νεναυστοληκότες,

ἔδοξέ μοι μὴ σίγα, πρὶν φράσαιμί σοι,

τὸν πλοῦν ποιεῖσθαι ποεῖσθαι ποιεῖσθαι, προστυχόντι τῶν ἴσων τὸν ἴσον τῶν ἴσων.
545

οὐδὲν σύ σύ σύ που κάτοισθα τῶν σαυτοῦ πέρι,

ἃ τοῖσιν ᾿Αργείοισιν ἀμφὶ σοῦ *νέα σ' ούνεκα σούνεκα ἀμφὶς εἴνεκα

βουλεύματ᾽ ἐστί ἔστι ἐστὶ, κοὐ μόνον βουλεύματα,

ἀλλ᾽ ἔργα δρώμεν', οὐκέτ᾽ ἐξαργούμενα.

ΝΕ.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 391-402 focus

Χορός

ὀρεστέρα παμβῶτι Γᾶ, μᾶτερ αὐτοῦ Διός,

ἃ τὸν μέγαν Πακτωλὸν εὔχρυσον νέμεις,

σὲ κἀκεῖ, μᾶτερ πότνιʼ, ἐπηυδώμαν,
395

ὅτʼ ἐς τόνδʼ Ἀτρειδᾶν ὕβρις πᾶσʼ ἐχώρει,

ὅτε τὰ πάτρια τεύχεα παρεδίδοσαν,

ἰὼ μάκαιρα ταυροκτόνων
400

λεόντων ἔφεδρε, τῷ Λαρτίου

σέβας ὑπέρτατον.

Φιλοκτήτης

ἔχοντες, ὡς ἔοικε, σύμβολον σαφὲς

λύπης πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὦ ξένοι, πεπλεύκατε,

καί μοι προσᾴδεθʼ ὥστε γιγνώσκειν ὅτι
405

ταῦτʼ ἐξ Ἀτρειδῶν ἔργα κἀξ Ὀδυσσέως.

ἔξοιδα γάρ νιν παντὸς ἂν λόγου κακοῦ

γλώσσῃ θιγόντα καὶ πανουργίας, ἀφʼ ἧς

μηδὲν δίκαιον ἐς τέλος μέλλοι ποεῖν.

ἀλλʼ οὔ τι τοῦτο θαῦμʼ ἔμοιγʼ, ἀλλʼ εἰ παρὼν
410

Αἴας ὁ μείζων ταῦθʼ ὁρῶν ἠνείχετο.

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν, ὦ ξένʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε

ζῶντός γʼ ἐκείνου ταῦτʼ ἐσυλήθην ἐγώ.

Φιλοκτήτης

πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλʼ ἦ χοὖτος οἴχεται θανών;

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὡς μηκέτʼ ὄντα κεῖνον ἐν φάει νόει.
415

Φιλοκτήτης

οἴμοι τάλας. ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὁ Τυδέως γόνος

οὐδʼ οὑμπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ,

οὐ μὴ θάνωσι· τούσδε γὰρ μὴ ζῆν ἔδει.

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐ δῆτʼ· ἐπίστω τοῦτό γʼ· ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγα

θάλλοντές εἰσι νῦν ἐν Ἀργείων στρατῷ.
420

Φιλοκτήτης

τί δʼ; οὐ παλαιὸς κἀγαθὸς φίλος τʼ ἐμός,

Νέστωρ ὁ Πύλιος, ἔστιν; οὗτος γὰρ τά γε

κείνων κάκʼ ἐξήρυκε, βουλεύων σοφά.

Νεοπτόλεμος

κεῖνός γε πράσσει νῦν κακῶς, ἐπεὶ θανὼν

Ἀντίλοχος αὐτῷ φροῦδος, ὃς παρῆν, γόνος.
425

Φιλοκτήτης

οἴμοι, δύʼ αὖ τώδʼ ἄνδρʼ ἔλεξας, οἷν ἐγὼ

ἥκιστʼ ἂν ἠθέλησʼ ὀλωλότοιν κλύειν.

φεῦ φεῦ· τί δῆτα δεῖ σκοπεῖν, ὅθʼ οἵδε μὲν

τεθνᾶσʼ, Ὀδυσσεὺς δʼ ἔστιν αὖ κἀνταῦθʼ ἵνα

χρῆν ἀντὶ τούτων αὐτὸν αὐδᾶσθαι νεκρόν;
430

Νεοπτόλεμος

σοφὸς παλαιστὴς κεῖνος· ἀλλὰ χαἰ σοφαὶ

γνῶμαι, Φιλοκτῆτʼ, ἐμποδίζονται θαμά.

Φιλοκτήτης

φέρʼ εἰπὲ πρὸς θεῶν, ποῦ γὰρ ἦν ἐνταῦθά σοι

Πάτροκλος, ὃς σοῦ πατρὸς ἦν τὰ φίλτατα;

Νεοπτόλεμος

χοὖτος τεθνηκὼς ἦν· λόγῳ δέ σʼ ἐν βραχεῖ
435

τοῦτʼ ἐκδιδάξω· πόλεμος οὐδένʼ ἄνδρʼ ἑκὼν

αἱρεῖ πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς χρηστοὺς ἀεί.

Φιλοκτήτης

ξυμμαρτυρῶ σοι· καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτό γε

ἀναξίου μὲν φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι,

γλώσσῃ δὲ δεινοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ, τί νῦν κυρεῖ.
440

441

Νεοπτόλεμος

ποίου δὲ τούτου πλήν γʼ Ὀδυσσέως ἐρεῖς;

Φιλοκτήτης

οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον, ἀλλὰ Θερσίτης τις ἦν,

ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἵλετʼ εἰσάπαξ εἰπεῖν, ὅπου

μηδεὶς ἐῴη· τοῦτον οἶσθʼ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ;

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκ εἶδον αὐτόν, ᾐσθόμην δʼ ἔτʼ ὄντα νιν.
445

Φιλοκτήτης

ἔμελλʼ· ἐπεὶ οὐδέν πω κακόν γʼ ἀπώλετο,

ἀλλʼ εὖ περιστέλλουσιν αὐτὰ δαίμονες,

καί πως τὰ μὲν πανοῦργα καὶ παλιντριβῆ

χαίρουσʼ ἀναστρέφοντες ἐξ Ἅιδου, τὰ δὲ

δίκαια καὶ τὰ χρήστʼ ἀποστέλλουσʼ ἀεί.
450

ποῦ χρὴ τίθεσθαι ταῦτα, ποῦ δʼ αἰνεῖν, ὅταν

τὰ θεῖʼ ἐπαινῶν τοὺς θεοὺς εὕρω κακούς;

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἐγὼ μέν, ὦ γένεθλον Οἰταίου πατρός,

τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη τηλόθεν τό τʼ Ἴλιον

καὶ τοὺς Ἀτρείδας εἰσορῶν φυλάξομαι·
455

ὅπου δʼ ὁ χείρων τἀγαθοῦ μεῖζον σθένει

κἀποφθίνει τὰ χρηστὰ χὠ δειλὸς κρατεῖ,

τούτους ἐγὼ τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ στέρξω ποτέ·

ἀλλʼ ἡ πετραία Σκῦρος ἐξαρκοῦσά μοι

ἔσται τὸ λοιπόν, ὥστε τέρπεσθαι δόμῳ.
460

νῦν δʼ εἶμι πρὸς ναῦν· καὶ σύ, Ποίαντος τέκνον,

χαῖρʼ ὡς μέγιστα, χαῖρε· καί σε δαίμονες

νόσου μεταστήσειαν, ὡς αὐτὸς θέλεις.

ἡμεῖς δʼ ἴωμεν, ὡς ὁπηνίκʼ ἂν θεὸς

πλοῦν ἡμὶν εἴκῃ, τηνικαῦθʼ ὁρμώμεθα.
465

Φιλοκτήτης

ἤδη, τέκνον, στέλλεσθε;

Νεοπτόλεμος

καιρὸς γὰρ καλεῖ

πλοῦν μὴ ʼξ ἀπόπτου μᾶλλον ἢ ʼγγύθεν σκοπεῖν.

468

Φιλοκτήτης

πρός νύν σε πατρὸς πρός τε μητρός, ὦ τέκνον,

πρός τʼ εἴ τί σοι κατʼ οἶκόν ἐστι προσφιλές,

ἱκέτης ἱκνοῦμαι, μὴ λίπῃς μʼ οὕτω μόνον,
470

ἔρημον ἐν κακοῖσι τοῖσδʼ οἵοις ὁρᾷς

ὅσοισί τʼ ἐξήκουσας ἐνναίοντά με·

ἀλλʼ ἐν παρέργῳ θοῦ με. δυσχέρεια μέν,

ἔξοιδα, πολλὴ τοῦδε τοῦ φορήματος·

ὅμως δὲ τλῆθι· τοῖσι γενναίοισί τοι
475

τό τʼ αἰσχρὸν ἐχθρὸν καὶ τὸ χρηστὸν εὐκλεές.

σοὶ δʼ ἐκλιπόντι τοῦτʼ ὄνειδος οὐ καλόν,

δράσαντι δʼ, ὦ παῖ, πλεῖστον εὐκλείας γέρας,

ἐὰν μόλω ʼγὼ ζῶν πρὸς Οὐταίαν χθόνα.

ἴθʼ· ἡμέρας τοι μόχθος οὐχ ὅλης μιᾶς.
480

τόλμησον. ἐμβαλοῦ μʼ ὅπῃ θέλεις ἄγων,

εἰς ἀντλίαν, εἰς πρῷραν, εἰς πρύμνην, ὅποι

ἥκιστα μέλλω τοὺς ξυνόντας ἀλγυνεῖν.

νεῦσον, πρὸς αὐτοῦ Ζηνὸς ἱκεσίου, τέκνον,

πείσθητι· προσπίτνω σε γόνασι, καίπερ ὢν
485

ἀκράτωρ ὁ τλήμων, χωλός. ἀλλὰ μή μʼ ἀφῇς

ἔρημον οὕτω χωρὶς ἀνθρώπων στίβου,

ἀλλʼ ἢ πρὸς οἶκον τὸν σὸν ἔκσωσόν μʼ ἄγων

ἢ πρὸς τὰ Χαλκώδοντος Εὐβοίας σταθμά·

κἀκεῖθεν οὔ μοι μακρὸς εἰς Οἴτην στόλος
490

Τραχινίαν τε δειράδʼ ἠδʼ ἐς εὔροον

Σπερχειὸν ἔσται· πατρί μʼ ὡς δείξῃς φίλῳ,

ὃν δὴ παλαιὸν ἐξ ὅτου δέδοικʼ ἐγὼ

μή μοι βεβήκῃ. πολλὰ γὰρ τοῖς ἱγμένοις

ἔστελλον αὐτὸν ἱκεσίους πέμπων λιτάς,
495

αὐτόστολον πέμψαντά μʼ ἐκσῶσαι δόμους.

ἀλλʼ ἢ τέθνηκεν ἢ τὰ τῶν διακόνων,

ὡς εἰκός, οἶμαι, τοὐμὸν ἐν σμικρῷ μέρος

ποιούμενοι τὸν οἴκαδʼ ἤπειγον στόλον.

νῦν δʼ, εἰς σὲ γὰρ πομπόν τε καὐτὸν ἄγγελον
500

ἥκω, σὺ σῶσον, σύ μʼ ἐλέησον, εἰσορῶν

ὡς πάντα δεινὰ κἀπικινδύνως βροτοῖς

κεῖται παθεῖν μὲν εὖ, παθεῖν δὲ θάτερα.

χρὴ δʼ ἐκτὸς ὄντα πημάτων τὰ δείνʼ ὁρᾶν,

χὤταν τις εὖ ζῇ, τηνικαῦτα τὸν βίον
505

σκοπεῖν μάλιστα, μὴ διαφθαρεὶς λάθῃ.

Χορός

οἴκτιρʼ, ἄναξ· πολλῶν ἔλεξεν δυσοίστων πόνων

ἆθλʼ, οἷα μηδεὶς τῶν ἐμῶν τύχοι φίλων.

εἰ δὲ πικρούς, ἄναξ, ἔχθεις Ἀτρείδας,
510

ἐγὼ μέν, τὸ κείνων κακὸν τῷδε κέρδος

μετατιθέμενος, ἔνθαπερ ἐπιμέμονεν,
515

ἐπʼ εὐστόλου ταχείας νεὼς

πορεύσαιμʼ ἂν ἐς δόμους, τὰν θεῶν

νέμεσιν ἐκφυγών.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὅρα σὺ μὴ νῦν μέν τις εὐχερὴς παρῇς,

ὅταν δὲ πλησθῇς τῆς νόσου ξυνουσίᾳ,
520

τότʼ οὐκέθʼ αὑτὸς τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις φανῇς.

Χορός

ἥκιστα· τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅπως ποτʼ εἰς ἐμὲ

τοὔνειδος ἕξεις ἐνδίκως ὀνειδίσαι.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἀλλʼ αἰσχρὰ μέντοι σοῦ γέ μʼ ἐνδεέστερον

ξένῳ φανῆναι πρὸς τὸ καίριον πονεῖν.
525

ἀλλʼ εἰ δοκεῖ, πλέωμεν, ὁρμάσθω ταχύς·

χἠ ναῦς γὰρ ἄξει κοὐκ ἀπαρνηθήσεται.

μόνον θεοὶ σῴζοιεν ἔκ τε τῆσδε γῆς

ἡμᾶς ὅποι τʼ ἐνθένδε βουλοίμεσθα πλεῖν.

Φιλοκτήτης

ὦ φίλτατον μὲν ἦμαρ, ἥδιστος δʼ ἀνήρ,
530

φίλοι δὲ ναῦται, πῶς ἂν ὑμὶν ἐμφανὴς

ἔργῳ γενοίμην, ὥς μʼ ἔθεσθε προσφιλῆ;

ἴωμεν, ὦ παῖ, προσκύσαντε τὴν ἔσω

ἄοικον εἰσοίκησιν, ὥς με καὶ μάθῃς

ἀφʼ ὧν διέζων ὥς τʼ ἔφυν εὐκάρδιος.
535

οἶμαι γὰρ οὐδʼ ἂν ὄμμασιν μόνην θέαν

ἄλλον λαβόντα πλὴν ἐμοῦ τλῆναι τάδε·

ἐγὼ δʼ ἀνάγκῃ προύμαθον στέργειν κακά.

Χορός

ἐπίσχετον, μάθωμεν· ἄνδρε γὰρ δύο,

ὁ μὲν νεὼς σῆς ναυβάτης, ὁ δʼ ἀλλόθρους,
540

χωρεῖτον, ὧν μαθόντες αὖθις εἴσιτον.

Ἔμπορος

Ἀχιλλέως παῖ, τόνδε τὸν ξυνέμπορον,

ὃς ἦν νεὼς σῆς σὺν δυοῖν ἄλλοιν φύλαξ,

ἐκέλευσʼ ἐμοί σε ποῦ κυρῶν εἴης φράσαι,

ἐπείπερ ἀντέκυρσα, δοξάζων μὲν οὔ,
545

τύχῃ δέ πως πρὸς ταὐτὸν ὁρμισθεὶς πέδον.

πλέων γὰρ ὡς ναύκληρος οὐ πολλῷ στόλῳ

ἀπʼ Ἰλίου πρὸς οἶκον ἐς τὴν εὔβοτρυν

Πεπάρηθον, ὡς ἤκουσα τοὺς ναύτας ὅτι

σοὶ πάντες εἶεν συννεναυστοληκότες,
550

ἔδοξέ μοι μὴ σῖγα, πρὶν φράσαιμί σοι,

τὸν πλοῦν ποεῖσθαι, προστυχόντι τῶν ἴσων.

οὐδὲν σύ που κάτοισθα τῶν σαυτοῦ πέρι,

ἃ τοῖσιν Ἀργείοισιν ἀμφὶ σοῦ νέα

βουλεύματʼ ἐστί, κοὐ μόνον βουλεύματα,
555

ἀλλʼ ἔργα δρώμενʼ, οὐκέτʼ ἐξαργούμενα.

557

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἀλλʼ ἡ χάρις μὲν τῆς προμηθίας, ξένε,

εἰ μὴ κακὸς πέφυκα, προσφιλὴς μενεῖ·

φράσον δʼ ἅπερ, γʼ ἔλεξας, ὡς μάθω τί μοι

νεώτερον, βούλευμʼ ἀπʼ Ἀργείων ἔχεις.
560

Ἔμπορος

φροῦδοι διώκοντές σε ναυτικῷ στόλῳ

Φοῖνιξ ὁ πρέσβυς οἵ τε Θησέως κόροι.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὡς ἐκ βίας μʼ ἄξοντες ἢ λόγοις πάλιν;

Ἔμπορος

οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἀκούσας δʼ ἄγγελος πάρειμί σοι.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἦ ταῦτα δὴ Φοῖνίξ τε χοἰ ξυνναυβάται
565

οὕτω καθʼ ὁρμὴν δρῶσιν Ἀτρειδῶν χάριν;

Ἔμπορος

ὡς ταῦτʼ ἐπίστω δρώμενʼ, οὐ μέλλοντʼ ἔτι.

Νεοπτόλεμος

πῶς οὖν Ὀδυσσεὺς πρὸς τάδʼ οὐκ αὐτάγγελος

πλεῖν ἦν ἕτοιμος; ἢ φόβος τις εἶργέ νιν;

Ἔμπορος

κεῖνός γʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλον ἄνδρʼ ὁ Τυδέως τε παῖς
570

ἔστελλον, ἡνίκʼ ἐξανηγόμην ἐγώ.

Νεοπτόλεμος

πρὸς ποῖον αὖ τόνδʼ αὐτὸς Οὑδυσσεὺς ἔπλει;

Ἔμπορος

ἦν δή τις—ἀλλὰ τόνδε μοι πρῶτον φράσον

τίς ἐστίν· ἃν λέγῃς δὲ μὴ φώνει μέγα.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὅδʼ ἔσθʼ ὁ κλεινός σοι Φιλοκτήτης, ξένε.
575

Ἔμπορος

μή νύν μʼ ἔρῃ τὰ πλείονʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅσον τάχος

ἔκπλει σεαυτὸν ξυλλαβὼν ἐκ τῆσδε γῆς.

Φιλοκτήτης

τί φησιν, ὦ παῖ; τί με κατὰ σκότον ποτὲ

διεμπολᾷ λόγοισι πρός σʼ ὁ ναυβάτης;

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκ οἶδά πω τί φησι· δεῖ δʼ αὐτὸν λέγειν
580

εἰς φῶς ὃ λέξει, πρὸς σὲ κἀμὲ τούσδε τε.

Ἔμπορος

ὦ σπέρμʼ Ἀχιλλέως, μή με διαβάλῃς στρατῷ

λέγονθʼ ἃ μὴ δεῖ· πόλλʼ ἐγὼ κείνων ὕπο

δρῶν ἀντιπάσχω χρηστά θʼ, οἷʼ ἀνὴρ πένης.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἐγώ εἰμʼ Ἀτρείδαις δυσμενής· οὗτος δέ μοι
585

φίλος μέγιστος, οὕνεκʼ Ἀτρείδας στυγεῖ.

δεῖ δή σʼ ἔμοιγʼ ἐλθόντα προσφιλῆ, λόγων

κρύψαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς μηδένʼ ὧν ἀκήκοας.

Ἔμπορος

ὅρα τί ποιεῖς, παῖ.

Νεοπτόλεμος

σκοπῶ κἀγὼ πάλαι.

Ἔμπορος

σὲ θήσομαι τῶνδʼ αἴτιον.
590

Νεοπτόλεμος

ποιοῦ λέγων.

591

Ἔμπορος

λέγω. ʼπὶ τοῦτον ἄνδρε τώδʼ ὥπερ κλύεις,

ὁ Τυδέως παῖς ἥ τʼ Ὀδυσσέως βία,

διώμοτοι πλέουσιν ἦ μὴν ἢ λόγῳ

πείσαντες ἄξειν ἢ πρὸς ἰσχύος κράτος.

καὶ ταῦτʼ Ἀχαιοὶ πάντες ἤκουον σαφῶς
595

Ὀδυσσέως λέγοντος· οὗτος γὰρ πλέον

τὸ θάρσος εἶχε θατέρου δράσειν τάδε.

Νεοπτόλεμος

τίνος δʼ Ἀτρεῖδαι τοῦδʼ ἄγαν οὕτω χρόνῳ

τοσῷδʼ ἐπεστρέφοντο πράγματος χάριν,

ὅν γʼ εἶχον ἤδη χρόνιον ἐκβεβληκότες;
600

τίς ὁ πόθος αὐτοὺς ἵκετʼ; ἢ θεῶν βία

καὶ νέμεσις, οἵπερ ἔργʼ ἀμύνουσιν κακά;

Ἔμπορος

ἐγώ σε τοῦτʼ, ἴσως γὰρ οὐκ ἀκήκοας,

πᾶν ἐκδιδάξω. μάντις ἦν τις εὐγενής,

Πριάμου μὲν υἱός, ὄνομα δʼ ὠνομάζετο
605

Ἕλενος, ὃν οὗτος νυκτὸς ἐξελθὼν μόνος,

ὁ πάντʼ ἀκούων αἰσχρὰ καὶ λωβήτʼ ἔπη

δόλιος Ὀδυσσεὺς εἷλε· δέσμιόν τʼ ἄγων

ἔδειξʼ Ἀχαιοῖς ἐς μέσον, θήραν καλήν·

ὃς δὴ τά τʼ ἄλλʼ αὐτοῖσι πάντʼ ἐθέσπισεν
610

καὶ τἀπὶ Τροίᾳ πέργαμʼ ὡς οὐ μή ποτε

πέρσοιεν, εἰ μὴ τόνδε πείσαντες λόγῳ

ἄγοιντο νήσου τῆσδʼ ἐφʼ ἧς ναίει τανῦν.

καὶ ταῦθʼ ὅπως ἤκουσʼ ὁ Λαέρτου τόκος

τὸν μάντιν εἰπόντʼ, εὐθέως ὑπέσχετο
615

τὸν ἄνδρʼ Ἀχαιοῖς τόνδε δηλώσειν ἄγων·

οἴοιτο μὲν μάλισθʼ ἑκούσιον λαβών,

εἰ μὴ θέλοι δʼ, ἄκοντα· καὶ τούτων κάρα

τέμνειν ἐφεῖτο τῷ θέλοντι μὴ τυχών.

ἤκουσας, ὦ παῖ, πάντα· τὸ σπεύδειν δέ σοι
620

καὐτῷ παραινῶ κεἴ τινος κήδει πέρι.

Φιλοκτήτης

οἴμοι τάλας· ἦ κεῖνος, ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη,

ἔμʼ εἰς Ἀχαιοὺς ὤμοσεν πείσας στελεῖν;

πεισθήσομαι γὰρ ὧδε κἀξ Ἅιδου θανὼν

πρὸς φῶς ἀνελθεῖν, ὥσπερ οὑκείνου πατήρ.
625

Ἔμπορος

οὐκ οἶδʼ ἐγὼ ταῦτʼ· ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ μὲν εἶμʼ ἐπὶ

ναῦν, σφῷν δʼ ὅπως ἄριστα συμφέροι θεός.

628

Φιλοκτήτης

οὔκουν τάδʼ, ὦ παῖ, δεινά, τὸν Λαερτίου

ἔμʼ ἐλπίσαι ποτʼ ἂν λόγοισι μαλθακοῖς

δεῖξαι νεὼς ἄγοντʼ ἐν Ἀργείοις μέσοις;
630

οὔ· θᾶσσον ἂν τῆς πλεῖστον ἐχθίστης ἐμοὶ

κλύοιμʼ ἐχίδνης, ἥ μʼ ἔθηκεν ὧδʼ ἄπουν.

ἀλλʼ ἔστʼ ἐκείνῳ πάντα λεκτά, πάντα δὲ

τολμητά· καὶ νῦν οἶδʼ ὁθούνεχʼ ἵξεται.

ἀλλʼ, ὦ τέκνον, χωρῶμεν, ὡς ἡμᾶς πολὺ
635

πέλαγος ὁρίζῃ τῆς Ὀδυσσέως νεώς.

ἴωμεν· ἥ τοι καίριος σπουδὴ πόνου

λήξαντος ὕπνον κἀνάπαυλαν ἤγαγεν.

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὰν πνεῦμα τοὐκ πρῴρας ἀνῇ,

τότε στελοῦμεν· νῦν γὰρ ἀντιοστατεῖ.
640

Φιλοκτήτης

ἀεὶ καλὸς πλοῦς ἔσθʼ, ὅταν φεύγῃς κακά.

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὔκ, ἀλλὰ κἀκείνοισι ταῦτʼ ἐναντία.

Φιλοκτήτης

οὐκ ἔστι λῃσταῖς πνεῦμʼ ἐναντιούμενον,

ὅταν παρῇ κλέψαι τι χἀρπάσαι βίᾳ.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἀλλʼ εἰ δοκεῖ, χωρῶμεν, ἔνδοθεν λαβὼν
645

ὅτου σε χρεία καὶ πόθος μάλιστʼ ἔχει.

Φιλοκτήτης

ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ὧν δεῖ, καίπερ οὐ πολλῶν ἄπο.

Νεοπτόλεμος

τί τοῦθʼ ὃ μὴ νεώς γε τῆς ἐμῆς ἔπι;

Φιλοκτήτης

φύλλον τί μοι πάρεστιν, ᾧ μάλιστʼ ἀεὶ

κοιμῶ τόδʼ ἕλκος, ὥστε πραΰνειν πάνυ.
650

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἀλλʼ ἔκφερʼ αὐτό. τί γὰρ ἔτʼ ἄλλʼ ἐρᾷς λαβεῖν;

Φιλοκτήτης

εἴ μοί τι τόξων τῶνδʼ ἀπημελημένον

παρερρύηκεν, ὡς λίπω μή τῳ λαβεῖν.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἦ ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ κλεινὰ τόξʼ ἃ νῦν ἔχεις;

Φιλοκτήτης

ταῦτʼ, οὐ γὰρ ἄλλʼ ἔστʼ, ἀλλʼ ἃ βαστάζω χεροῖν.
655

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἆρʼ ἔστιν ὥστε κἀγγύθεν θέαν λαβεῖν

καὶ βαστάσαι με προσκύσαι θʼ ὥσπερ θεόν;

Φιλοκτήτης

σοί γʼ, ὦ τέκνον, καὶ τοῦτο κἄλλο τῶν ἐμῶν

ὁποῖον ἄν σοι ξυμφέρῃ γενήσεται.

Νεοπτόλεμος

καὶ μὴν ἐρῶ γε, τὸν δʼ ἔρωθʼ οὕτως ἔχω·
660

εἴ μοι θέμις, θέλοιμʼ ἄν· εἰ δὲ μή, πάρες.

Φιλοκτήτης

ὅσιά τε φωνεῖς ἔστι τʼ, ὦ τέκνον, θέμις,

ὅς γʼ ἡλίου τόδʼ εἰσορᾶν ἐμοὶ φάος

μόνος δέδωκας, ὃς χθόνʼ Οἰταίαν ἰδεῖν,

ὃς πατέρα πρέσβυν, ὃς φίλους, ὃς τῶν ἐμῶν
665

ἐχθρῶν μʼ ἔνερθεν ὄντʼ ἀνέστησας πέρα.

θάρσει, παρέσται ταῦτά σοι καὶ θιγγάνειν

καὶ δόντι δοῦναι κἀξεπεύξασθαι βροτῶν

ἀρετῆς ἕκατι τῶνδʼ ἐπιψαῦσαι μόνον·

εὐεργετῶν γὰρ καὐτὸς αὔτʼ ἐκτησάμην.
670

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκ ἄχθομαί σʼ ἰδών τε καὶ λαβὼν φίλον·

ὅστις γὰρ εὖ δρᾶν εὖ παθὼν ἐπίσταται,

παντὸς γένοιτʼ ἂν κτήματος κρείσσων φίλος. χωροῖς ἂν εἴσω.

Φιλοκτήτης

καὶ σέ γʼ εἰσάξω· τὸ γὰρ

νοσοῦν ποθεῖ σε ξυμπαραστάτην λαβεῖν.
675

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 317 focus

Methinks my feeling for thee, Poeas’ child,

Is like that of thy former visitants.

NEO

I, too, a witness to confirm his words,

Know them for verities, since I have found
320

The Atridae and Odysseus evil men.

PHI

Art thou, too, wroth with the all-pestilent sons

Of Atreus? Have they given thee cause to grieve?

NEO

Would that my hand might ease the wrath I feel!

Then Sparta and Mycenae should be ware
325

That Scyros too breeds valiant sons for war.

PHI

Brave youth! I love thee. Tell me the great cause

Why thou inveighest against them with such heat?

NEO

O son of Poeas, hardly shall I tell

What outrage I endured when I had come;

Yet I will speak it. When the fate of death
330

O’ertook Achilles—

PHI

Out, alas! no more!

Hold, till thou first hast made me clearly know,

Is Peleus’ offspring dead?

NEO

Alas! he is,

Slain by no mortal, felled by Phoebus’ shaft:

So men reported—
335

PHI

Well, right princely was he!

And princely is he who slew him. Shall I mourn

Him first, or wait till I have heard thy tale?

NEO

Methinks thou hast thyself enough to mourn,

Without the burden of another’s woe.
340

PHI

Well spoken. Then renew thine own complaint,

And tell once more wherein they insulted thee.

NEO

There came to fetch me, in a gallant ship,

Odysseus and the fosterer of my sire,

Saying, whether soothly, or in idle show,

That, since my father perished, it was known

None else but I should take Troy’s citadel.

Such words from them, my friend, thou may’st believe,

Held me not long from making voyage with speed,

Chiefly through longing for my father’s corse,

To see him yet unburied,—for I ne’er

Had seen him. Then, besides, ’twas a fair cause,

If, by my going, I should vanquish Troy.

One day I had sailed, and on the second came

To sad Sigeum with wind-favoured speed,

When straightway all the host, surrounding me

As I set foot on shore, saluted me,

And swore the dead Achilles was in life,

Their eyes being witness, when they looked on me.

He lay there in his shroud: but I, unhappy,

Soon ending lamentation for the dead,

Went near to those Atridae, as to friends,

To obtain my father’s armour and all else

That had been his. And then,—alas the while,

That men should be so hard!—they spake this word:

‘Seed of Achilles, thou may’st freely take

All else thy father owned, but for those arms,

Another wields them now, Laërtes’ son.’

Tears rushed into mine eyes, and in hot wrath

I straightway rose, and bitterly outspake:

‘O miscreant! What? And have ye dared to give

Mine arms to some man else, unknown to me?’

Then said Odysseus, for he chanced to be near,

‘Yea, child, and justly have they given me these.
345

I saved them and their master in the field.’
345

Then in fierce anger all at once I launched
345

All terms of execration at his head,
345

Bating no word, being maddened by the thought
345

That I should lose this heirloom,—and to him!
345

He, at this pass, though not of wrathful mood,
345

Stung by such utterance, made rejoinder thus:
345

‘Thou wast not with us here, but wrongfully
345

Didst bide afar. And, since thou mak’st so bold,
345

I tell thee, never shalt thou, as thou sayest,
345

Sail with these arms to Scyros.’—Thus reviled,
345

With such an evil echo in mine ear,
345

I voyage homeward, robbed of mine own right
345

By that vile offset of an evil tree.
345

Yet less I blame him than the men in power.
345

For every multitude, be it army or state,

Takes tone from those who rule it, and all taint

Of disobedience from bad counsel springs.

I have spoken. May the Atridae’s enemy

Be dear to Heaven, as he is loved by me!

Mother of mightiest Zeus,

Feeder of all that live,

Who from thy mountainous breast

Rivers of gold dost give!

To thee, O Earth, I cried that shameful day,

When insolence from Atreus’ sons went forth

Full on our lord: when they bestowed away

His father’s arms to crown Odysseus’ worth;

Thou, whom bull-slaughtering lions yoked bear,

O mighty mother, hear!

PHI

Your coming is commended by a grief

That makes you kindly welcome. For I feel

A chord that vibrates to your voice, and tells,
400

Thus have Odysseus and the Atridae wrought.

Full well I know, Odysseus’ poisoned tongue

Shrinks from no mischief nor no guileful word

That leads to bad achievement in the end.

This moves not my main marvel, but if one

Saw this and bore it,—Aias of the shield.
405

NEO

Ah, friend, he was no more. Had he but lived,

This robbery had ne’er been wrought on me.

PHI

What? Is he too departed?
410

NEO

He is dead.

The light no more beholds him.

PHI

Oh! alas!

But Tydeus’ offspring, and the rascal birth

Laërtes bought of Sisyphus, they live:

I know it. For their death were to be wished.

NEO

Yea, be assured, they live and flourish high
415

Exalted in the host of Argive men.

PHI

And Nestor, my old friend, good aged man,

Is he yet living? Oft he would prevent

Their evils, by the wisdom of his thought.

NEO

He too is now in trouble, having lost
420

Antilochus, the comfort of his age.

PHI

There, there! In one brief word thou hast revealed

The mournful case of twain, whom I would last

Have chosen to hear of as undone. Ah me!

Where must one look? when these are dead, and he,

Odysseus, lives,—and in a time like this,
425

That craves their presence, and his death for theirs.

NEO

He wrestles cleverly; but, O my friend,

Even ablest wits are ofttimes snared at last.

PHI

Tell me, I pray, what was become of him,

Patroclus, whom thy father loved so well?
430

NEO

He, too, was gone. I’ll teach thee in a word

One truth for all. War doth not willingly

Snatch off the wicked, but still takes the good.

PHI

True! and to prove thy saying, I will inquire

The fate of a poor dastard, of mean worth,
435

But ever shrewd and nimble with his tongue.

NEO

Whom but Odysseus canst thou mean by this?

PHI

I meant not him. But there was one Thersites,

Who ne’er made conscience to stint speech, where all

Cried ‘Silence!’ Is he living, dost thou know?
440

NEO

I saw him not, but knew he was alive.

PHI

He must be: for no evil yet was crushed.

The Heavens will ever shield it. ’Tis their sport

To turn back all things rancorous and malign

From going down to the grave, and send instead
445

The good and true. Oh, how shall we commend

Such dealings, how defend them? When I praise

Things god-like, I find evil in the Gods.

NEO

I, O thou child of a Trachinian sire,

Henceforth will take good care, from far away

To look on Troy and Atreus’ children twain.

Yea, where the trickster lords it o’er the just,
450

And goodness languishes and rascals rule,
450

—Such courses I will nevermore endure.

But rock-bound Scyros henceforth shall suffice

To yield me full contentment in my home.

Now, to my vessel! And thou, Poeas’ child,

Farewell, right heartily farewell! May Heaven

Grant thy desire, and rid thee of thy plague!

Let us be going, that when God shall give

Fair voyage, that moment we may launch away.

PHI

My son, are ye now setting forth?

NEO

Our time

Bids us go near and look to sail erelong.

PHI

Now, by thy father, by thy mother,—nay,
465

By all thy love e’er cherished in thy home,
465

Suppliant I beg thee, leave me not thus lone,
465

Forlorn in all my misery which thou seest,
465

In all thou hast heard of here surrounding me!

Stow me with other freightage. Full of care,

I know, and burdensome the charge may prove.

Yet venture! Surely to the noble mind

All shame is hateful and all kindness blest.

And shame would be thy meed, didst thou fail here

But, doing this, thou shalt have glorious fame,

When I return alive to Oeta’s vale.

Come, ’tis the labour not of one whole day.

So thou durst take me, fling me where thou wilt

O’ the ship, in hold, prow, stern, or wheresoe’er

I least may trouble those on board with me.

Ah! by great Zeus, the suppliant’s friend, comply,

My son, be softened! See, where I am fall’n

Thus on my knees before thee, though so weak,
470

Crippled and powerless. Ah! forsake me not
470

Thus far from human footstep. Take me, take me!
470

If only to thy home, or to the town
470

Of old Chalcodon in Euboea.—From thence

I have not far to Oeta, and the ridge

Of Trachis, and Spercheius’ lordly flood.

So thou shalt bless my father with my sight.

And yet long since I fear he may be gone.

For oft I sent him suppliant prayers by men

Who touched this isle, entreating him to fetch

And bear me safely home with his own crew.

But either he is dead, or else, methinks,

It well may be, my messengers made light

Of my concerns, and hastened onward home.

But now in thee I find both messenger

And convoy, thou wilt pity me and save.

For, well thou knowest, danger never sleeps,

And fear of dark reverse is always nigh.
475

Mortals, when free, should look where mischief lurks,
475

And in their happiest hour consider well
475

Their life, lest ruin unsuspected come.
475

Pity him, O my king!

Many a crushing woe

He telleth, such as I pray

None of my friends may know.

And if, dear master, thou mislikest sore

Yon cruel-hearted lordly pair, I would,

Turning their plan of evil to his good,

On swift ship bear him to his native shore,

Meeting his heart’s desire; and free thy path

From fear of heavenly wrath.

NEO

Thou mak’st small scruple here; but be advised:

Lest, when this plague on board shall weary thee,

Thy voice should alter from this liberal tone.

CH

No, truly! Fear not thou shalt ever have

Just cause to utter such reproach on me.

NEO

Then sure ’twere shame, should I more backward prove

Than thou, to labour for the stranger’s need.

Come, if thou wilt, let us make voyage, and he,

Let him set forth with speed. Our ship shall take him.
520

He shall not be refused. Only may Heaven

Lead safely hence and to our destined port!

PHI

O morning full of brightness! Kindest friend,

Sweet mariners, how can I make you feel,

In act, how dearly from my heart I love you!

Ye have won my soul. Let us be gone, my son,—

First having said farewell to this poor cave,
525

My homeless dwelling-place, that thou may’st know,
525

How barely I have lived, how firm my heart!

Methinks another could not have endured

The very sight of what I bore. But I

Through strong necessity have conquered pain.

CH

Stay: let us understand. There come two men

A stranger, with a shipmate of thy crew.

When ye have heard them, ye may then go in.

MERCHANTMAN
Enter Messenger , disguised as a merchantman.

Son of Achilles, my companion here,
535

Who with two more remained to guard thy ship,
535

Agreed to help me find thee where thou wert,
535

Since unexpectedly, through fortune’s will,

I meet thee, mooring by the self-same shore.

For like a merchantman, with no great sail,

Making my course from Ilion to my home,

Grape-clustered Peparethos, when I heard

The mariners declare that one and all

Were of thy crew, I would not launch again,

Without a word, till we had told our news.—

Methinks thou knowest nought of thine own case,

What new devices of the Argive chiefs

Surround thee; nor devices only now,
540

But active deeds, no longer unperformed.
540

NEO

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 317 focus

Auch ich beklage billig, Sohn des Pöas, dich

Gleich jenen Fremden, welche hier gelandet sind.

Neoptolemos.

Und deine Worte muß auch ich bestätigen.

Wahr sind sie, wahr, das weiß ich, weil ich selbst erfuhr,

Wie frech Odysseus, srech des Atreus Söhne sind.
315

Philoktetes.

So hätten Atreus' Söhne denn auch wider dich

Gefrevelt, daß du diesen Allverderbern zürnst?

Neoptolemos.

könnt' ich sättigen meinen Groll mit dieser Hand,

Daß noch Mykenä, Sparta noch erkennte, wie

Auch Skyros tapf're Männer großgezogen hat!
320

Philoktetes.

Recht, lieber Sohn: doch was verbrachen jene denn,

Das, deinen Zorn entflammend, dich von Troja trieb?

Neoptolemos.

O Sohn des Pöas, sag' ich's denn, - doch kann ich's kaum

Was die mich höhnten, als ich kam vor Ilion.

Nachdem Achillen dort ereilt des Todes Loos
325

Philoktetes.

Weh mir! O rede weiter nicht, bevor ich erst

Vernommen: Peleus' Sprößling, ist er wirklich todt?

Neoptolemos.

Ja, todt, von keinem Menschen, nein, von Götterhand

Erlegt, getroffen, sagen sie, durch Phöbos' Pfeil.¹

Philoktetes.

Ein Edler war denn Sieger und Gefallener!
330

Doch schwank' ich zweifelnd, ob ich deine Schmach, o Sohu,

Zuerst erkunden, oder ihn beklagen soll.

Neoptolemos.

Ich dächte, dein Leid, Armer, wäre dir genug,

Daß nicht um fremde Leiden du zu klagen brauchst.

Philoktetes.

Du redest Wahrheit. Sage denn noch Einmal mir
335

Von deinem Leide, wie dich höhnt' ihr Uebermuth.

Neoptolemos.

Um mich zu holen, kam Laertes' edler Sohn

Und meines Vaters Pfleger an auf buntem Schiff;

Sie sagten, ob wahrhaftig oder ohne Grund,

Unmöglich sei es, daß ein Andrer Pergamos,²
340

Als ich, erob're, nun dahin mein Vater sei.

Und also redend, stimmten sie mich bald dahin,

O Fremdling, daß ich ungesäumt zu Schiffe ging,

Sehnsüchtig wünschend, ihn zu seh'n, den Todten, eh

Man ihn begrübe; denn ich hatt' ihn nie geseh'n:
345

Daun trieb mich auch des Ruhmes stolzes Wort hinaus,

Wenn ich die Zinnen Ilions erobere.

Die zweite Sonne glänzte schon auf meiner Fahrt,

Und an Sigeions Trauerport trieb heller Wind³

Mein Segel; schnell umringte mich das ganze Heer,
350

Sobald ich ausstieg, grüßte, schwur, des Thetis Sohn,

Der Todte, stehe neubelebt vor ihrem Blick.

Der lag noch unbestattet dort; ich Armer ging,

Nachdem ich ihn betrauert, schnell den Freunden zu,

Den Söhnen Atreus', und erbat, wie's billig war,
355

Mir meines Vaters Waffen und sein andres Gut.

Doch jene, weh mir! sagten dies verweg'ne Wort:

„O Sohn Achillens, alles Andre magst du dir

Von deinem Vater nehmen; doch das Wehrgeräth

Nennt schon ein andrer Krieger sein, Laertes' Sohu."
360

Und ich, in Thränen schwimmend, sprang alsbald empor

In schwerem Unmuth, und erwiedre schmerzerfüllt :

„Ihr wagtet, Freche, meine Wehr an meiner Statt

Iemanden auszuliefern, eh ihr mich gefragt?"

Da rief Odysseus, denn er stand nicht fern von uns:
365

„Sa, Knabe, mir, mir gaben sie mit Recht die Wehr;

Denn ich entriß die Waffen und ihn selbst dem Feind."⁴

Und ich, erzürnt, rief alle nur erdenkbaren

Schmachworte, jeden Nachefluch auf sie herab,

Wenn jener mir entreiße meinen Waffeuschmuck.
370

Er, sonst zum Zorne langsam, fand durch solches Wort

Sich schwer getroffen, daß er stolz entgegnete:

„Du standest, wo wir standen, nicht, bliebst seig daheim;

Und weil du so voll Trozes sprichst, erklär' ich dir:

Mit diesen Waffen sollst du nie gen Skyros zieh'n!"
375

Nach solcher Antwort, so geschmäht auf's Bitterste,

Segl' ich nach Hause, meines Eigenthums beraubt

Vom schlimmsten Kinde schlimmer Art, Laertes' Sohn.⁵

Doch diesen klag' ich minder als die Herrscher an.

Denn Stadt und Heer, sie folgen beide ganz und gar
380

Den Worten ihrer Führer; wer das Schlechte liebt,

Wird durch des Meisters Lehre nur ein Bösewicht.

Nun sagt' ich Alles. Wer des Atreus Söhne haßt,

Der sei so lieb den Göttern, wie er mir es ist!

Strophe.

Der Chor.

Bergmutter, Erd', Alnährerin, welcher Zeus selbst entsproß,⁶
385

Die waltet bei Paktolos' großem, goldnem Strom!

Schon dort, hehre Mutter, dort rief ich zu dir,

Da schmachvollen Hohn ihm des Atreus Geschlecht bot,

Da sie des Vaters Wehr ihm an Laertes' Sohn

Hingaben, als des Ruhms höchsten Preis,
390

du Sel'ge, die auf Berglöwen hoch,

Den Stierwürgern, thront!

Philoktetes.

Ich sehe wohl, o Freunde, mit dem deutlichen

Merkmal des Schmerzes kommt ihr hergeschifft zu mir;

Zu meinem Lied stimmt eures; so erkenn' ich klar:
395

Das ist Odysseus' und der Atreussöhne Werk.

Der leiht ja seine Zunge, wie ich's wohl erfuhr,

Zu jedem Trug, zu jeder argen Tücke, daß

Er Nichts am Ende schaffen mag, was edel ist.

Doch wundert das mich minder, als daß Ajas auch,
400

Der größ're, solches ruhig anzuseh'n ertrug.⁷

Neoptolemos.

Er lebte nicht mehr; freilich, wenn der lebte, Freund,

Dann hätte man mich meiner Waffen nie beraubt.

Philoktetes.

Wie sagst du? Ging denn dieser auch des Todes Weg?

Neoptolemos.

Ja, wisse, nicht mehr athmet er im Sonnenlicht.
405

Philoktetes.

O Jammer, weh mir! Aber Tydeus' Sohn und er,⁸

Den sich Laertes einst erkauft von Sisyphos,⁹

Die sollten nicht mehr leben, und sie starben nicht!

Neoptolemos.

Nein, wahrlich, dessen sei gewiß, sie blüh'n sogar

In hohem Anseh'n eben jezt in Argos' Heer.
410

Philoktetes.

Wie aber? Lebt der alte, biedre Pyler noch,

Mein theurer Nestor? Hat doch er die schädlichen

Anschläge jener oft gehemmt durch weisen Rath.

Neoptolemos.

Er lebt, gebeugt von Trauer; sein Antilochos

Schied hin im Tode, der des Vaters Stüze war.¹⁰
415

Philoktetes.

Weh mir! Du nanntest Zweie da, von deren Tod¹¹

Zu hören, mehr als alles Andre mich betrübt.

Wohin die Blicke wenden, hah! wenn die der Tod

Hinrafft, Odysseus aber lebt, wo, traun, der Ruf

Von seinem Tode melden sollt' an ihrer Statt?
420

Neoptolemos.

Das ist ein schlauer Ringer; doch nicht selten auch,

Philoktetes, wird verstrict ein schlauer Sinn.

Philoktetes.

Bei allen Göttern, sage doch, wo war dir da

Patroklos, deines Vaters heißgeliebter Freund?

Neoptolemos.

Auch dieser war gestorben. Nimm die Lehre dir
425

In kurzem Worte: nimmer raubt des Krieges Wuth

Die Schlechten gerne, sondern stets die Besten nur.

Philoktetes.

Wohl hast du Recht; und ebendarum will ich noch

Nach einem Manne, fragen, der unwürdig war,

Doch klug und kühner Zunge, wie's mit diesem ist.
430

Neoptolemos.

Wer, als Odysseus, wäre der, nach dem du fragst?

Philoktetes.

Nicht diesen meint' ich; nein, Thersites hieß ein Mann,¹²

Dem's nie genug war, Einmal nur zu sagen, was

Ungern gehört ward: weißt du nicht, ob dieser lebt?

Neoptolemos.

Ich sah ihn selbst nicht; wie ich hörte, lebt er noch.
435

Philoktetes.

Wohl muß er leben, weil ja noch nichts Böses starb.

Mit zarter Sorgfalt hegen das die Himmlischen;

Sie lieben, Tückevolles und Verschlagenes¹³

Zurückzuführen aus des Hades Nacht, und stets

Hinabzusenden, was gerecht und edel ist.
440

Wie nenn' ich's? Soll ich's loben, wenn ich, Götterthun

Bereit zu loben, Götter selbst als schlecht erfand?

Neoptolemos.

O Sohn des Vaters, der an Deta's Höh'n gebeut!

Ich will hinfort mich hüten, auch von ferne nicht

Die Stadt der Troer und des Atreus Söhne seh'n.
445

Denn wo der Schlechte höher als der Tapfre gilt,

Das Edle schmachvoll untergeht, der Feige siegt,

Nein, solchen Männern werd' ich nie befreundet sein.

An Skyros Felseilande will ich fürder mir

Genügen lassen und der Heimat mich erfreu'n.
450

Ich gehe nun zum Schiffe. Lebe, lebe wohl,

O Sohn des Pöas! Mögen dich die Himmlischen

Von deiner Qual erlösen, wie dein Herz es wünscht!

Wir eilen weiter; denn sobald uns guten Wind

Ein Gott gewährte, wollen wir von dannen zieh'n.
455

Ihr rüstet schon zur Reise, Kind?

Die Stunde mahut,

Auf Wind im Schiff zu harren, nicht vom User fern.

Philoktetes.

Bei deinem Vater, bei der Mutter, liebes Kind,

Und allem Andern, was daheim dir theuer ist,

Beschwör' ich dich und flehe, laß nicht so allein,
460

Hülflos in meinem Leide mich, das, wie du siehst,

Und wie du hörtest, grauenvoll mich hier umringt:

Als Nebenlast nur nimm mich! Zwar, ich weiß es wohl,

Vielfach beschwerlich wird dir solche Bürde sein;

Doch wag' es muthvoll! Hochgesinnte finden nur
465

Das Edle rühmlich, hassenswerth das Schändliche.

Dir, Jüngling, bringt es keinen Nuhm, versagst du mir's;

Und thust du's, ist der höchste Lohn der Ehre dein,

Wenn lebend heim ich kehre nach dem Detaland.

Auf! Keines vollen Tages Frist währt solche Noth:
470

So wag' es, nimm und wirf mich hin, wo dir's gefällt,

In den Bauch des Schiffes, hinten oder vorne, wo

Ich euch, die Fahrtgenossen, nicht belästige.

Bei Zeus, dem Gott der Fleh'nden, Sohn, gewähre mir's,

Erhöre mich! An deine Kniee sink' ich hier,
475

Ich Armer, wenn auch schwach und lahm; o laß mich nicht

In solcher Dede, die der Menschen Tritte flieh'n!

Zu deiner Heimat rette mich, ach, oder hin

In's reiche Land Euböa, wo Chalkodon herrscht.¹⁴

Von dort zum Deta führte mich kein weiter Weg,
480

Zu Trachis' Hügeln und dem stolzhinrollenden¹⁵

Spercheios: wieder bringe mich dem Vater dort,

Um den die Sorge lange schon mich quält, er sei

Dahingegangen. Alle, die hier landeten,

Hab' ich mit heißen Bitten oft an ihn gesandt,
485

Selbst herzusegeln und mich heim zu retten: doch

Er ist gestorben, oder meine Boten sind,

So muß ich leider glauben, weil sie meine Noth

Für klein geachtet, ihrer Heimat zugeschifft.

Nun fleh' ich, sei du Bote, sei du Führer mir,
490

Erbarm dich meiner, rette mich; du siehest ja,

Wie drohend Alles, voll Gefahr, der Menschen Pfad

Umlagert, hier das Ungemach und dort das Glück.

Wer frei von Leid ist, blicke fürchtend auf das Leid,

Und wer das Glück hat, schaue frei mit wachem Blick
495

In's Leben, daß nicht ungeahnt der Fluch ihn trifft.

Gegenstrophe.

Der Chor.

Erbarmen, Herr! Vielfachen Kampf, herbe Noth klagt er uns,

Wie keinen unsrer Freunde je sie treffen soll!

Hassest du, Herr, Atreus' feindlich Geschlecht so sehr,

So würd' ich das Unheil, das Werk ihres Frevels,
500

Wandeln in Heil ihm, führt' in schnellsegelndem,

Geschmücktem Schiff zu dem ersehnten Port

Der Heimat ihn hin, flöhe den Nachefluch,

Der von den Göttern droht.

Neoptolemos.

Sieh, daß du jezt nicht allzuleicht dich willig zeigst,
505

Und, wann der Krankheit Nähe dich mit Ekel füllt,

Nicht als derselbe mehr erscheinst, der dieses sprach.

Der Chor.

Mit nichten: niemals soll der Tag erscheinen, wo

Du solchen Vorwurf wider mich mit Grund erhebſt.

Neoptolemos.

Traun, Schande wär' es, fände man mich säumiger,
510

Als euch, dem Fremdling beizusteh'n zur guten Zeit.

Drum wenn's gefällt, so geh'n wir; schnell bereit' er sich;

Auch wird das Schiff ihn tragen ohne Weigerung.

Daß nur die Götter rettend uns aus diesem Land

Dorthin an unsrer Wünsche Ziel geleiteten!
515

Philoktetes.

meiner Tage schönster, du mein bester Mann,

Ihr theuren Schiffer, könnt' ich euch doch durch die That

Darthun, wie eure Liebe mich verpflichtet hat!

Wir geh'n, o Jüngling, wenn wir mein unwohnliches

Wohnhaus zuvor begrüßten, daß dir Kunde wird,
520

Wovon ich lebte, wie beherzt mein Leben trug.

Ein Andrer, glaub' ich, außer mir, ertrüg' es nicht,

Auch nur mit Augen dieses Elend anzuseh'n:

Der Noth mich fügen, lehrte mich die strenge Noth.

Der Chor.

Verweilt, wir wollen hören: denn zwei Männer nah'n,
525

Ein Schiffer deines Schiffes und der Andre fremd;

Die mögt ihr hören, eh' ihr euch hinein verfügt.

Der Späher, als Schiffsherr verkleidet. Ein Schiffer.

Die Vorigen.

Der Schiffsherr.

O Sohn Achillens, diesem Fahrtgenossen hier,

Der deines Schiffes Wächter mit zwei andern war,

Gebot ich, mir zu sagen, wo du selbst verweilst,
530

Nachdem ich euch begegnet, nicht mit Willen zwar,

Nein, wohl vom Zufall hergelenkt zum gleichen Strand.

Ich bin ein Schiffsherr, segle, nicht mit großem Zug,

Von Troja heim zu Peparethos' Nebenland;¹⁶

Und weil ich hörte, daß die Schiffer allzumal
535

Dir angehören, welche hier gelandet sind,

Schien mir's, ich dürfe schweigend, eh' ich sprach mit dir,

Nicht weiter segeln, müss' empfah'n des Boten Lohn.

Wohl hast du nicht erfahren, was dich nah berührt,

Welch neuen Anschlag über dich die Danaer
540

Ersonnen haben, aber nicht Anschläge bloß,

Vielmehr bereits vollbrachte, nicht verschob'ne That.

Neoptolemos.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 317 focus

How dreadful, thinkst thou, was that waking to me,

When from my sleep I rose and saw them not !

How did I weep ! and mourn my wretched state !

When not a ship remained of all the fleet

That brought me here — no kind companion left

To minister or needful food or balm

To my sad wounds. On every side I looked,

And nothing saw but woe ; of that indeed

Measure too fuU. For day succeeded day.

And still no comfort came ; myself alone

Could to myself the means of life afford,

In this poor grotto. On my bow I lived :

The winged dove, which my sharp arrow slew,

With pain I brought into my little hut,

And feasted there ; then from the broken ico

1 slaked my thirst, or crept into the woocl

For useful fuel ; from the stricken flint

I drew the latent spark, that warms me still

And still revives. This with my humble roof

Preserve me, son. But, oh ! my wounds remain.

Thou seest an island desolate and waste ;

No friendly port nor hopes of gain to tenjpt,

Nor host to welcome in the traveller ;

Few seek the wild inhospitable shore.

By adverse winds, sometimes th' unwilling guests,

As well thou mayst suppose, were hither driven ;

But when they came, they only pitied me.

Gave me a little food, or better garb

To shield me from the cold ; in vain 1 prayed

That they would bear me to my native soil,

For none would listen. Here for ten long years

Have 1 remained, whilst misery and famine

Keep fresh my wounds, and double my misfortune.

This have th' Atridae and Ulysses done.

And may the gods with equal woes repay them !

Chorus

0, son of Paean ! well might those, who came

And saw thee thus, in kind compassion weep ;

I too must pity thee — I can no more.

Neoptolemus

I can bear witness to thee, for I know

By sad experience what th' Atridae are,

And what Ulysses.
335

Philoctetes

Hast thou suflfered then ?

And dost thou hate them too ?

Neoptolemus

Oh ! that these hands

Could vindicate my wrongs ! Mycenae then

And Sparta should confess that Scyros boasts
340

Of sons as brave and valiant as their own.
340

Philoctetes

O noble youth ! But wherefore cam'st thou

hither?

Whence this resentment ?

Neoptolemus

I will tell thee all,

If I can bear to tell it. Know then, soon

As great Achilles died

Philoctetes

Oh, stay, my son !

Is then Achilles dead?

Neoptolemus

He is, and not

By mortal hand, but by Apollo's shaft

Fell glorious.

Philoctetes

Oh ! most worthy of each other,
410

The slayer and the slain ! Permit me, son,
410

To mourn his fate, ere I attend to thine. [lie weeps.
410

Neoptolemus

Alas ! thou needst not weep for others' woes,

Thou hast enough already of thy own.

Philoctetes

'Tis very true ; and therefore to thy tale.

Neoptolemus

Thus then it was. Soon as Achilles died.
415

Phoenix, the guardian of his tender years,
415

Instant sailed forth, and sought me out at Scyros ;
415

With him the wary chief Ulysses came.
415

They told me then (or true or false I know not),
415

My father dead, by me, and me alone
415

Proud Troy must fall. I yielded to their prayers ;
415

I hoped to see at least the dear remains
415

Of him whom living I had long in vain
415

Wished to behold. Safe at Sigeum's port
415

Soon we arrived. In crowds the numerous host
415

Thronged to embrace me, called the gods to witness
415

In me once more they saw their loved Achilles
415

To life restored ; but he, alas ! was gone.
415

I shed the duteous tear, then sought my friends
415

Th' Atridse — friends I thought 'em ! — claimed the arms
415

Of my dead father, and what else remained
415

His late possession : when — O cruel words !

And wretched I to hear them — thus they answered :

" Son of Achilles, thou in vain demandst

Those arms already to Ulysses given ;

The rest be thine." I wept. " And is it thus,"

Indignant I replied, "ye dare to give

My right away?" " Know, boy," Ulysses cried,

" That right was mine, and therefore they bestowed

The boon on me : me who preserved the arms,

And him who bore them too." With anger fired

At this proud speech, I threatened all that rage

Could dictate to me if he not returned them.

Stung with my words, yet calm, he answered me :

*' Thou wert not with us ; thou wert in a place,

Where thou shouldst not have been ; and since thou

meanst

To brave ns tluis, Ivnow, lliou shalt never bear
420

Those arms \^^th thee to Scyros; 'tis resolved."
420

Thus injured, thus deprived of all I held
420

Most precious, by the worst of men, 1 left
420

The hateful place, and seek my native soil.
420

Nor do 1 blame so much the proud IHysses
420

As his base masters — army, city, all
420

Depend on those who rule. When men grow vile
420

The guilt is theirs who taught them to be wicked.
420

I've told thee all, and liim who hates the Atridre
420

I liold a friend to me and to the gods.
420

O Earth ! thou mother of great Jove,
420

Embracing all with universal love,
420

Author l^enign of every good.
420

Through whom Pactolus rolls his golden flood !
420

To thee, whom in thy rapid car
420

Fierce lions draw, I rose and made my prayer-

To thee I made my sorrows known,

When from Achilles' injured son

Th' Atridse gave the prize, that fatal day

When proud Ulysses bore his arms away.

PniL. I wonder not, my friend, to see you here,

And I believe the tale ; for well 1 know

The man who wronged you, know the base Ulysses

Falsehood and fraud dwell on his lips, and nought

That's just or good can be expected from him.

He dare attempt it.

I had ne'er been spoiled

Had he been living.

Thus of my right.

Is he then dead ?

He is.

Philoctetes
Strophe.

Alas ! the son of Tydeus, .and that slave.

Sold by his father Sisyphus, they live,

Unworthy as they are.

JSTeo. Alas ! they do.

And flourish still.

Philoctetes

My old and worthy friend

The Pylian sage, how is he ? He could see

Their arts, and would have given them better counsels.

Neoptolemus

Weighed down with grief he lives, but most

unliappy.

Weeps his lost son, his dear Antilochus.

Philoctetes

O double woe ! whom I could most have wished

To live and to be happy, those to perish !

Ulysses to survive ! It should not be.
430

Neoptolemus

Oh ! tis a subtle foe ; but deepest plans

May sometimes fail.

Philoctetes

Where was Patroclus then,

Thy father's dearest friend ]

Neoptolemus

He too was dead.

In war, alas — so fate ordains it ever —

The coward 'scapes, the brave and virtuous fall.

Philoctetes

It is too true ; and now thou talkst of cowards.

Where is that worthless wretch, of readiest tongue,

Subtle and voluble ?
440

Neoptolemus

Ulysses ?

Philoctetes

No ;

Thersites ; ever talking, never heard.

Neoptolemus

I have not seen him, but I hear he lives.

Philoctetes

I did not doubt it : evil never dies ;

The gods take care of that. If aught there be

Fraudful and vile, 'tis safe ; the good and just

Perish unpitied by them. Wherefore is it 1

When gods do ill, why should we worship them ?

Neoptolemus

Since thus it is, since virtue is oppressed,

And vice triumphant, who deserve to live

Are doomed to perish, and the guilty reign.

Henceforth, O son of Psean ! far from Troy

And the Atridse will I live remote.

I would not see the man I cannot love.

My barren Scyros shall afford me refuge,

And home-felt joys delight my future days.

So, fare thee well, and may th' indulgent gods

no

Heal thy sad wound, and grant thee every wish

Thy soul can form ! Once more, farewell ! I go,

The first propitious gale.

PjiiL. What ! now, my son ?
520

So soon?

Meg. Immediately; the time demands

Wo should be near, and ready to depart.

Philoctetes

Now, by the memory of thy lionoured sire,
465

By thy loved mother, ])y whate'er remains
465

On earth most dear to thee, oh ! hear me now.
465

Thy suppliant ! Do not, do not thus forsake me,

Alone, oppressed, deserted, as thou seest.

In this sad place. I shall, I know it must, be

A burthen to thee. But, oh ! bear it kindly \

For ever doth the noble mind abhor

Th' ungenerous deed, and loves humanity ;

Disgrace attends thee if thou dost forsake me.

If not, immortal fame rewards thy goodness.

Thou mayst convey me safe to CEta's shores

In one short day ; I'll trouble you no longer.
470

Hide mo in any part where I may least
470

Molest you. Hear me ! By the guardian god
470

Of the poor suppliant, all protecting Jove,

I beg. Behold me at thy feet, infirm,

And wretched as I am, I clasp thy knees.

Leave me not here then, where there is no mark

Of human footstep — take me to thy home !

Or to Eubooa's port, to CEta, thence

Of Sperchius' gentle stream, to meet my father,

If yet he lives ; for, oh ! I begged him oft

By those who hither came, to fetch me hence —

Or is he dead, or they neglectful bent
475

Their hasty course to their own native soil.
475

Be thou my better guide ! Pity and save

The poor and wretched. Think, my son, how frail

And full of danger is the state of man —

Now prosperous, now adverse. Who feels no ills

Should therefore fear them ; and when fortune smiles

Be doubly cautious, lest destruction come

Remorseless on him, and he fall unpitied.

Chorus

Oh, pity him, my lord, for bitterest woes

And trials most severe he hath recounted ;

Far be such sad distress from those I love !
505

Oh ! if thou hat'st the base Atridae, now

Revenge thee on them, serve their deadliest foe ;

Bear the poor suppliant to his native soil ;

So shalt thou bless thy friend, and 'scape the wrath

Of the just gods, who still protect the wretched.

Ned. Your proffered kindness, friends, may cost you

dear ;
510

When you shall feel his dreadful malady
510

Oppress you sore, you will repent it.

Chorus

Never
515

Shall that reproach be ours.
515

Ned. In generous pity
515

Of the afflicted thus to be o'ercome
515

Were most disgraceful to me ; he shall go.

May the kind gods speed our departure hence,

And guide our vessels to the wished-for shore !

Philoctetes

O happy hour ! O kindest, best of men !

And you my dearest friends ! how shall I thank you ?

What shall I do to show my grateful heart ?

Let us be gone ! But, oh ! permit me first

To take a last farewell of my poor hut,
525

Where 1 so long have lived. Perhaps you'll say
525

I must have had a noble mind to bear it.

The very sight to any eyes but mine

Were horrible, but sad necessity

At length prevailed, and made it pleasing to me

Chorus

One from our ship, my lord, and with him

Son of great Acliilles,
535

Know, chance alone hath brought me hither, driven
535

By adverse winds to where thy vessels lay,

As home I sailed from Troy. There did I meet

This my companion, who informed me where

Thou mightst be found. Hence to pursue my course

And not to tell thee what concerns thee near

Had been ungenerous, thou perhaps meantime
540

Of Greece and of her counsels naught suspecting.
540

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 317 focus

Like others, who have visited this isle,

I too, O son of Peas, pity thee.

Neoptolemus

I can bear witness to thy words, by proof

I know them true: Ulysses I have found
320

Unfeeling, and the sons of Atreus base.

Philoctetes

Hast thou too suffer'd from them? Is thy rage

'Gainst their destructive guilt, like mine, inflamed ?

Neoptolemus

Oh that my hand had pow'r t' avenge my wrongs!

Then should Mycenæ and proud Sparta know
325

And feel that Scyros to the brave gives birth.

Philoctetes

This shows a noble spirit: but, my son,

What mighty wrongs to Lemnos urged thy sails?

Neoptolemus

I will inform thee, if my soul can bear

To speak my wrongs; for since Achilles died.......

Philoctetes

Ah, let me check thy speech: of this event

First tell me. Is the son of Peleus dead?

Neoptolemus

And by no mortal hand, but by the bow

Of Phœbus, such the voice of fame, subdued.
335

Philoctetes

Illustrious he that slew, and he that fell!

But what behoves me now? Should I first ask

What thou hast suffer'd, or lament his fate?

Neoptolemus

Griefs of thy own, I think thou hast enough,

Unhappy man, unmix'd with foreign ills.
340

Philoctetes

Thy words are wise: return then to thy tale,

My son, and say what wrongs thou hast received.

Neoptolemus

In a tall bark with all her sails unfurl'd

The great Ulysses, and the sage who train'd

May father's youth, came to me, and declared

(The truth yet doubtful) that, my father dead,

No arm but mine could raze the tow'rs of Troy.

I heard them, nor detain'd them long, but soon

Mounted the bark; for ardent my desire

To see the dead, whom I had never seen,

Ere in the earth entomb'd: their plea besides

Had honour in it, that the tow'rs of Troy

Should, if I join'd them, fall beneath my arm.

One day our vessel plough'd the foaming main,

And on the second with a favouring gale

I reach'd Sigæum, scene of bitter woe.

Soon as I landed, all the army round

Enclosing me with salutations greet,

And swear they see Achilles, now no more,

Living again; but he was stretch'd in death.

O'er him in all the anguish of my grief

I shed the pious tears; nor mourn'd him long,

But hasted to th' Atridæ, as my friends,

For such I deem'd them, and my father's arms

Demanded, and besides whateʼer was his.

In words that pierced my heart they thus replied,

Son of Achilles, thine be all the stores,

The treasures of thy father, save his arms;

Of these another now is lord, the son

Of old Laertes. Strait the swelling tear
345

Burst from my eye; and roused to ardent rage
345

Indignant I replied, Have you then dared,
345

Injurious men, to give my arms away,
345

My leave not ask'd? Ulysses, who was nigh,
345

Address'd me thus, To me, young man, these arms
345

With justice they have giv'n, for from the foe
345

I saved them, and their slaughter'd lord. Incensed
345

I pour'd a torrent of reproachful words
345

Against him, should he bear my arms away.
345

Stung with my words, though train'd to curb his rage,
345

Thus far to rising passion he gave way,
345

Thou wast not where we were, but distant far
345

From danger and from glory: but these arms,

Since in so high a strain thy tongue breaks loose,

To Scyros sailing never shalt thou bear.i

Thus slighted, thus insulted, of my right,

Robb'd by the vile Ulysses, of a race

As vile descended, I to Scyros steer

My homeward course; yet less with him enraged

Than with the potent kings; for every state,

And every army from their Chiefs are form'd.

And they, who mock at honour's dictates, learn

Their baseness from their lords. Thou hast heard all:

But know, whoe'er the sons of Atreus hates,

Must be to me, and to the gods, most dear.

Chorus

Thou all-sustaining parent, mighty queen,

Delighting in the mountain's wood-crown'd height,

Mother of Jove, who feed'st the golden stream

Of rich Pactolus, pow'r revered, to thee

My vows I then address'd, when all these wrongs

Burst from the sons of Atreus, when they gave
395

His father's arms (O thou, whose car sublime,

Blest as thou art, bull-rending lions draw!) :

To grace Ulysses, an illustrious prize.

Philoctetes

With marks of grief imprinted deep, I ween,

Strangers, to me you steer'd your course, with mine

Your voice according; for, with me, the sons
400

Of Atreus, and Ulysses you have felt :

These are their deeds: I know him well; his tongue

To subtile blandishment and wicked guile

Is always smooth'd, whence nothing just was e'er

Brought to effect. I marvel not at this,

But much, if this the greater Ajax saw,

How his high soul such deeds of baseness brook'd.
405

Neoptolemus

He, stranger, was no more; for had he lived,

I had not of my arms been plunder'd thus.

Philoctetes

Dead, say'st thou? Is the noble Ajax dead?
410

Neoptolemus

No more he views the sun's ethereal light.

I mourn his fate. But tell me lives the son

Of Tydeus? Lives that wretch, who ere his birth

By Sisyphus was to Laertes sold?

Philoctetes

Are not they dead? Such wretches should not live.

Neoptolemus

No: be thou well assured of that: they live,
415

And flourish now amidst the Argive host.

Philoctetes

Where is my honour'd good, and aged friend,

The Pylian, Nestor? Well his sage advice

The baseness of their actions might have curb'd.

Neoptolemus

He lives indeed, but sinks beneath his grief,
420

Mourning Antilochus, his loved, lost son.

Philoctetes

Twice have thy words with sorrow pierced my heart,

To hear, what least I wish'd to hear, the death,

Of two brave friends. Ah, what must be our thought,

When such men perish, and Ulysses lives,
425

Whose death, instead of theirs, should be announced!

Neoptolemus

He is a wary combatant; but craft

Is oft entangled in the nets it spreads.

Philoctetes

Now, by the gods inform me where was then

Patroclus, to thy father once most dear?
430

Neoptolemus

He too was dead. In one brief sentence hear

This truth, that never willingly doth war

Cut off the base, and never spares the brave.

Philoctetes

To show thee that my thoughts accord with thine,

Now let me ask thee of a worthless man,
435

But passing shrewd, and voluble of tongue.

Neoptolemus

Of other than Ulysses dost thou speak?

Philoctetes

I meant not him: but in the Grecian camp

Was one Thersites, who wish'd oft to speak

What no man would hear once: is he alive?
440

Neoptolemus

I saw him not, but heard that yet he lives.

Philoctetes

Yes, he will live; for never have I known

That the base perish; such the gods protect,

Delighting from the realms of death to snatch

The crafty and the guileful; but the just

And generous they in ruin always sink.
445

How for these things shall we account, or how

Approve them? When I find the gods unjust,

How can I praise their heavenly governance ?

Neoptolemus

Son of tean Peas, I will guard

My future life from Ilium distant far,

Far from the sons of Atreus. O'er the brave
450

Where the vile lords it, and illustrious worth
450

Is doom'd to perish by oppressive pow'r,

I with such men will never live a friend.

But me the rocks of Scyros shall henceforth

Content, not undelighted with my home.

Now to my bark I go: farewell, thou son

Of Poœas; be each blessing thine, farewell;

May the gods heal thy wound! We must go hence,

That when the gale springs favouring we may sail.

Philoctetes

Would you now spread your sails, my son?

Neoptolemus

The time

Now calls us near the bark to watch the gale.

Philoctetes

Now by thy father's honour'd shade, my son,
465

And by thy mother, by whate'er thy house.
465

Holds dear to thee, thy suppliant I implore
465

Thy pity, do not leave me thus alone,

Abandon'd in these ills, which now thou seest,

And with which thou hast heard I long have had

My dwelling here. Receive me in thy bark,

Allow me there a place; this freight, I know;

Will be offensive; yet disdain it not:

Whate'er is base the noble mind abhors,

But glories in the kind and generous deed.

Not to perform this kindness were reproach.

To thee, and shame; but granting my request,

High honour waits thee. If I reach alive

The land of Eta, I shall burden thee

Not one whole day; refuse not my request;
470

Throw me where'er thou wilt, into the hold,
470

The prow, the stern, where least I may annoy!".
470

The mariners; assent, my son, by Jove

Protector of the suppliant, grant my pray'r.

Infirm, and lame, and wretched as I am,

Low at thy knees I fall; forsake me not

Far from the haunt of men abandon'd thus

But save me, bear me to thy friendly shore,

Or to Chalcodon's ports that deep indenti

Euboœa; thence the passage is not long

To Eta, and to Trachin's rocky heights,

And to Sperchius, beauteous-rolling stream.

Show me to my loved father; yet long since

The tomb, I fear, received him; for to those,

Who reach'd this coast, I oft gave charge, and oft
475

Sent my request that he would speed a bark.
475

To bear me hence in safety to my home.
475

But he is dead, or they perchance, (for this

Might be expected) on whose promised aid

I built my hopes, of my disastrous state

Made small account, and steer'd their onward course

To their own ports. But now I come to thee

To bear my message, nay, to bear me hence. 1.

Save me, have pity on me; for thou seest.

The dangers, and the horrible events

Attendant

prosperous now, anon

In misery sunk. Behoves it then the man,

A stranger now to ill, on ills to come

Forward to look; then most when fortune smiles,

To have a sense of man's uncertain state,

Lest ruin steal upon him, and he fall.

Chorus

Have pity on him, king; for he hath told

Of hard encounters with severest toils

Beyond man's sufferance: ne'er may one I love
505

Endure the like! And if, O king, thou hate

The stern Atridæ, I would turn their ill

To his great good; and since his wish is urged

So strongly, in my swift well-furnish'd bark

Convey him to his mansion, and avoid
510

The righteous vengeance of th' offended gods..

Neoptolemus

Take heed lest now too gentle be thy mind,

But when, embark'd together, his diseasejut

Long time annoys thee, other be thy thoughts.

Chorus

Never, oh never: nor shalt thou have cause
515

To charge my stedfast mind wtth such reproach.

Neoptolemus

Nay, I should blush indeed, should I appear

Less prompt than thou with generous toil to aid

In his distress a stranger. We will sail,

Neoptolemus

O welcome day! Most courteous thou of men!

And you, ye friendly mariners, what thanks

Can I return you? With what words express

The gratitude that glows within my heart?...

But let us go, my son, and pay within "

A farewell greeting to this cheerless cave,id
525

Dwelling unmeet for man; that thou may'st know
525

Where I have lived, and what I have sustain'd

With a firm heart: the sight alone, I think,

Horror on others must impress; but me

Necessity hath taught to love e'en this.

Chorus

Restrain your steps awhile: two men advance, , . ,

One to thy bark belongs, a stranger oneli

es podt of IC

First hear their tidings; visit then the cave.)

MERC. Son of Achilles, to this mariner,

Who with two others guarded thy tall bark,

I made request that he would show me where

Merchant

Thou might'st be found; since thus I light on thee THIA
535

Where least expected, driv'n by chance to land
535

On the same shore'; for I, as master, steer'd
535

My little galley homeward from the coast

Of Troy to Peparethus cloth'd with vines

Rich with the purple grape. But when I heard

That all thy naval train was waiting here,d

I deem'd it meet in silence not to sail,

But first to tell thee things perchance to thee

Unknown, and much importing thee to know;

What late resolves the Grecian Chiefs have form'd

Against thee; not resolves alone, but acts
540

With vigour and without delay enforced. T
540

Neoptolemus
MERCHANT, MARINER, NEOPTOLEMUS, PHILOCTETES, CHORUS.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 391-400 focus

Chorus

Goddess of the hills, Earth all-nourishing, mother of Zeus himself, you through whose realm the great Pactolus

rolls golden sands! There, there also, dread Mother, I called upon your name, when all the insults of the Atreids landed upon this man, when they handed over his father’s armor, that sublime marvel,
395

to the son of Laertes . Hear it, blessed queen, who rides on bull-slaughtering lions!
400

Philoctetes

It seems that you have come to me, friends, well commended by a grief that matches my own.

Your story is in harmony with mine, so that I can recognize the work of the Atreids and of Odysseus. For well I know that he would put his tongue to any base tale and to any mischief-making, if thereby he could hope to accomplish something criminal in the end.
405

No, that is not at all a wonder to me, but rather that the elder Ajax, if he was there, could bear to see this.
410

Neoptolemus

Ah, friend, he was no longer alive—I would never have been plundered like that while he lived.

Philoctetes

What do you say? Is he, too, dead and gone?

Neoptolemus

Think of him as of one who sees the sun’s light no more.
415

Philoctetes

Oh, no! But the son of Tydeus, and Sisyphus’ offspring that was bought by Laertes—they will not die, since they do not deserve to live!

Neoptolemus

No, indeed, be sure of it. On the contrary, they prosper now

—yes, and greatly—in the Argive army.
420

Philoctetes

And what of my brave old friend, Nestor of Pylos—is he not alive? He often checked the crimes of those two, if not others, by his sage counsels.

Neoptolemus

He has his own troubles now, since Antilochus,

the son that was at his side, left him for Hades.
425

Philoctetes

Ah, me! These two, again, whom you have named, are men of whose death I had least wished to hear. Gods! What are we to look for, when these men have died, but Odysseus here again lives, when

in their place he should have been announced as dead?
430

Neoptolemus

The man is a clever wrestler. But even clever schemes, Philoctetes, are often blocked.

Philoctetes

Now, by the gods, tell me—where was Patroclus when you needed him, he whom your father loved beyond all others?

Neoptolemus

He, too, was dead. And in a brief maxim I would teach you this: War takes no evil man by choice, but always the good men.
435

Philoctetes

I will attest to that, and with that very truth in mind, I will ask you how fares a man of little worth, but sharp of tongue and clever.

Neoptolemus

Surely the man of whom you ask is no one but Odysseus?
440

441

Philoctetes

I did not mean him; there was one Thersites, who could never be content to speak once and briefly, even though no one wanted him to speak at all. Do you know if he is alive?

Neoptolemus

I never saw him, but I heard that he is still alive.
445

Philoctetes

He would be—no evil thing has ever been known to perish. No, the gods take excellent care of their kind. They find a strange joy in turning back from Hades all things criminal

and crooked, while they are always dispatching the just and the good from life. How am I to regard these doings? How can I praise them, when in the very act of praising the ways of the gods, I find that the gods are evil?
450

Neoptolemus

I, at least, son of Oetean Poeas, will be on my guard hereafter against Ilium

and the Atreids, and look on them only from afar. And where the worse man is stronger than the good, where nobility goes to ruin and the vile man dominates—among such men I will never make my friends. No, rocky Scyros shall suffice for me
455

from now on to make me delight in my home. Now to my ship! And you, son of Poeas, farewell—as best you can, farewell! May the gods free you of your disease, just as you wish! But we must be going, so that we
460

may set sail whenever the god permits our voyage.
465

Philoctetes

Are you setting out already, son?

Neoptolemus

Yes, since opportunity bids us watch near our ship for a fair wind, rather than from afar.

468

Philoctetes

Now by your father and by your mother, son, by all that you cherish at home—

I solemnly supplicate you, do not leave me alone like this, helpless amid these miseries in which I live, so harsh as you see, and so numerous as I have said! Consider me a small side-task. Great is
470

your disgust, well I know, at such a cargo. Yet bear with it all the same—to noble minds baseness is hateful, and a good deed is glorious. If you forsake this task, you will have a stain on your honor; but if you perform it, boy, you will win the prize of highest honor—if I return alive to Oeta’s soil.
475

Come, the trouble will not last one full day. Endure it, take me and throw me where you will—in the hold, the prow, the stern, wherever I will least annoy my shipmates. Say yes, by the great god of suppliants, son;
480

be persuaded! I supplicate you at your knees, I am an infirm wretch, and lame! Do not leave me desolate like this, far from the paths of mankind! No, bring me safely to your own home, or to Euboea , Chalcodon’s seat;
485

and from there it will be no long journey for me to Oeta and the Trachinian heights, and fair-flowing Spercheius, so that you may show me to my beloved father, though long I have feared that he may have departed me. For often
490

did I summon him by means of those who came here, sending imploring prayers that he would himself send a ship and get me safely home. But either he is dead, or else, as I think is likely, my messengers thought my concerns of little account and hurried on their homeward voyage.
495

Now, however, since in you I have found one who can be both an escort and a messenger, save me and show me mercy, keeping in mind that all human destiny is full of the fear and the danger that prosperity may be followed by its opposite. He who stands clear of trouble must beware of dangers,
500

and when a man lives at ease, then it is that he must look most closely to his livelihood, lest it secretly suffer ruin.
505

Chorus

Have pity, my king! He has told of a struggle with sufferings manifold and oppressive—may the like befall no friend of mine!

And if, my king, you hate the hateful Atreids, then, turning their wrongdoing to this man’s gain,
510

I would take him in your swift, well-rigged ship to the home for which he longs, and so escape the god’s just wrath.
515

Neoptolemus

Though now as a casual spectator you are compliant,

beware lest later, when filled with his disease by its constant company, you prove no longer constant to these sentiments.
520

Chorus

That will not happen. You will never have just cause to rebuke me for that!

Neoptolemus

Well, then, it would shame me if the stranger were to find

me less ready than you are to toil for his good. Come, if it pleases you, let us sail. Let the man set out at once; our ship, for her part, will carry him, and will not refuse. Only may the gods give us safe passage from this land, and from here to whatever destination we choose!
525

Philoctetes

O day of joy unsurpassed! Most delightful man, and you good sailors! If only I could show you in deeds what a true friend you have made in me! Let us be going, my son, when we two have made a solemn farewell to my homeless home inside, so that you may also learn
530

by what means I sustained my life, and how stout of heart I was born. For I believe that the mere sight would have deterred any other man but me from enduring these sufferings. But I have been slowly schooled by necessity to endure misery. Neoptolemus is about to follow Philoctetes into the cave.
535

Chorus

Wait, let us listen to the two men who are coming!

One is a crewman of your ship, the other a stranger. Go in after you hear their report.
540

Enter the Merchant, on the spectators’ left, accompanied by a Sailor.

Merchant

Son of Achilles, I asked my companion here, when he was guarding your ship with two others, to tell me where you might be found,

since I have chanced upon you unexpectedly by the good fortune of coming to anchor off this very coast. With no great company I am homeward bound on my trader’s voyage from Ilium to Peparethus with its cluster-laden vines, but when I heard that the sailors
545

were all of your crew, I resolved not to continue my voyage in silence, without first giving you my news and getting the due reward. You know nothing, I suspect, of your own affairs: the new designs the Greeks
550

have regarding you, and not only designs, but deeds in progress and no longer postponed.
555

557

Neoptolemus

The service you have done me by your forethought, sir, unless I am unworthy, will remain in my grateful thoughts. But tell me just what the designs are that you mentioned, so that I may understand

what is the strange plan of the Greeks that you know.
560

Merchant

Pursuers are on the way in search of you with a fleet. They are the aged Phoenix and the sons of Theseus.

Neoptolemus

To bring me back by force, or through persuasion?

Merchant

I do not know; but I have come to tell you what I did hear.

Neoptolemus

Are Phoenix and his comrades really so eager to do this favor for the Atreids?
565

Merchant

Be sure that it is being done, and without delay.

Neoptolemus

Then why was Odysseus not ready to sail on this mission, and bring the message himself? Or did some fear hold him back?

Merchant

Oh, he and the son of Tydeus were readying for pursuit of another man, just as I was leaving port.
570

Neoptolemus

Who is this other after whom Odysseus himself was sailing?

Merchant

There was a man. . . . But tell me first who that is over there. And whatever you say, do speak quietly.

Neoptolemus

There, sir, before your eyes is the renowned Philoctetes.
575

Merchant

Then do not question me further, but get yourself out of here as quickly as possible and sail away.

Philoctetes

What is he saying, boy? Why does the sailor traffic with you about me in these dark whispers?

Neoptolemus

His meaning yet eludes me. But, whatever he will say, he must say openly—to you, me and my men here.
580

Merchant

Seed of Achilles, do not stir the army’s resentment against me for saying what I should not. I receive many benefits for what services I do them, as a poor man may.

Neoptolemus

I am the enemy of the Atreids, and this man is my closest friend precisely because he hates them. Since, then, you have come kindly disposed towards me, you must not hide from us any part of their plans that you have heard.
585

Merchant

Beware of what you are doing, boy.

Neoptolemus

I am well aware.

Merchant

I will hold you accountable.
590

Neoptolemus

Do so, but speak.

591

Merchant

I will. It is after this man that those two whom I named to you, Diomedes and forceful Odysseus, are sailing. They are oath-bound to retrieve him, either by winning words or by overpowering might.

And all the Achaeans heard this clearly from the mouth Odysseus, for his confidence of success in this action was higher than his comrade’s.
595

Neoptolemus

And for the sake of what did the Atreids after so long a time turn their thoughts so urgently towards this man,

whom they were long since keeping an outcast? What was the desire that came over them, or what force? What avenging spirit sent by the gods to exact payment for evil deeds?
600

Merchant

I will inform you of all that, since it seems that you have not heard. There was a seer of noble birth,

a son of Priam, called Helenus, whom that man, out on a solitary night raid—that deceitful Odysseus, whose repute is all shame and dishonor—captured. Leading him back in bonds, he displayed him publicly to the Achaeans as his glorious prey.
605

Helenus then prophesied for them whatever matter they asked, and, pertaining to Troy , he foretold that they would never sack its towers, unless by winning words they should bring Philoctetes here from the island where he now dwells. And, as soon as he heard the seer prophecy this, Laertes ’ son
610

immediately promised that he would bring the man and show him to the Achaeans. He thought it most likely that he would get him willingly, but, if unwilling, then by force, and he added that, were he to fail in this, whoever wished it might sever his head.
615

You have heard everything, boy, and I advise speed for you, and for any man for whom you care.
620

Philoctetes

Alas! Has he, the utter plague, sworn to fetch me back to the Achaeans by persuasion? For if that were to happen, I could be persuaded, when dead, to come back up

from Hades into the light, as his father did!
625

Merchant

I know nothing about that. But for my part I must return to ship, while for you I pray that god may help you in every possible way. Exit Merchant.

628

Philoctetes

Now is it not astounding, boy, that Odysseus would ever have expected by means of soft words

to lead me from his ship and show me in the middle of the Greeks? No! I would sooner listen to that greatest and worst of my enemies, the viper which made me crippled as I am! But there is nothing that he would not say or dare. And now I know that he is coming here.
630

Come, son, let us be moving, so that a wide sea may part us from the ship of Odysseus. Let us go! Good speed in good season brings sleep and rest when toil is finished.
635

Neoptolemus

Then as soon as the wind is not at our prow,

we will sail. At present it blows against us.
640

Philoctetes

The sailing is always fair, when you flee trouble.

Neoptolemus

Not so; this weather is against them also.

Philoctetes

No wind stands in the way of pirates who sense a chance to steal and plunder by force.

Neoptolemus

Well, if you are so resolved, let us go, once you have taken from the cave whatever you need or desire most.
645

Philoctetes

Yes, there are some things that I need, though the choice is not large.

Neoptolemus

What is there that will not be available on board my ship?

Philoctetes

I have a store of a certain herb, whereby I can always

best lull this wound, until it is wholly tamed.
650

Neoptolemus

Fetch it, then. Now, what else do you wish to take?

Philoctetes

Any of these arrows that may have been forgotten, and may have slipped away from me, so that I not leave it for another to take.

Neoptolemus

Is that indeed the famous bow which you hold?

Philoctetes

This, and no other, that I carry in my hand.
655

Neoptolemus

Is there any way that I might have a closer view of it—and handle it, and salute it as divine?

Philoctetes

To you alone, my son, this shall be granted, along with anything else in my power that is in your interest.

Neoptolemus

I do indeed crave to touch it, but my craving takes this form: if it is lawful, I would be glad. If not, think no more of it.
660

Philoctetes

Your words are reverent, son, and your wish is lawful. For you alone have given to my eyes the light of life and the hope of seeing the land of Oeta, of seeing

my aged father and my friends; and you alone, when I lay beneath the feet of my enemies, have lifted me beyond their reach. Be bold. The bow shall be yours to handle and to return to the hand that gave it, and you will be able to boast aloud that in reward for your goodness, you alone of mortals have touched it.
665

Yes, it was by a good deed that I myself won it.
670

Neoptolemus

I am not sorry that I found you and have gained your friendship, since whoever knows how to render benefit for a benefit received must prove a friend more valuable than any possession. Please, do go inside.

Philoctetes

Agreed, and I will bring you also.

My sickness craves the comfort of your presence. Philoctetes and Neoptolemus enter the cave.
675

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-176-1 οὐ γάρ τις ὅρμος ἐστίν ¹

mvp-comment-176-2 οὐδ’ ὅποι πλέων ² ἐξεμπολήσει κέρδος ³

mvp-comment-176-3 ξενώσεται ⁴

mvp-comment-177-1 ἐνθάδ’ ⁵

mvp-comment-177-2 πλοῖ ⁶ σώφροσι ⁷

mvp-comment-177-3 βροτῶν ⁸

mvp-comment-178-1 τάχ’ οὖν τις … ἔσχε ⁹

mvp-comment-178-2 ἔσχε ¹⁰

mvp-comment-178-3 πολλὰ γὰρ ¹¹

mvp-comment-179-1 οὗτοι ¹²

mvp-comment-179-2 λόγοις ἐλεοῦσι … οἰκτίραντες ¹³

mvp-comment-179-3 καί πού τι ¹⁴

mvp-comment-179-4 στολήν ¹⁵

mvp-comment-179-5 ἐκεῖνο … θέλει ¹⁶

mvp-comment-180-1 σῶσαί μ’ ἐς οἴκους ¹⁷

mvp-comment-180-2 ἐν λιμῷ τε καὶ κακοῖσι ¹⁸ καί ¹⁹

mvp-comment-180-3 βόσκων ²⁰ ἀδηφάγον ²¹

mvp-comment-181-1 βία ²²

mvp-comment-181-2 οἷ’ ²³ οἷς ²⁴

mvp-comment-181-3 ἐμοῦ ²⁵

mvp-comment-182-1 ἴσα ²⁶

mvp-comment-182-2 ἐποικτίρειν ²⁷ ἐποικτιρεῖν ²⁸

mvp-comment-183-1 ἐν λόγοις ²⁹ ὢν ³⁰

mvp-comment-183-2 συντυχὼν ³¹

mvp-comment-184-1 ἦ γάρ ³²

mvp-comment-184-2 τοῖς πανωλέθροις ³³

mvp-comment-184-3 παθών ³⁴

mvp-comment-184-4 324 f. The corruption in the MSS.,

θυμῷ...χεῖρα

, is of the same nature as that in O. T. 376 (

με...σοῦ

for

σε ἐμοῦ

). Cp. Plat. Rep. 465A

εἴ πού τίς τῳ θυμοῖτο, ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ πληρῶν τὸν θυμὸν

(sating his wrath)

ἧττον ἐπὶ μείζους ἂν ἴοι στάσεις.

mvp-comment-184-5 Μυκῆναι ³⁵ Σπάρτη ³⁶ γνοῖεν ³⁷

mvp-comment-185-1 εὖ γ’ ³⁸

mvp-comment-185-2 τίνος γὰρ ³⁹ τίνος ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-185-3 ὧδε ⁴¹ τίνος ⁴²

mvp-comment-186-1 ἐξερῶ, μόλις δ’ ἐρῶ ⁴³

mvp-comment-186-2 μολών ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-187-1 ἔσχε ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-188-1 φράσῃς … μὴ πέρα ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-189-1 τοξευτὸς … δαμείς ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-189-2 ὡς λέγουσιν ⁴⁸ ἐκ ⁴⁹ ὑπό ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-190-1 ἀλλ’ εὐγενὴς μὲν ⁵¹ δέ ⁵² κτανών … θανών ⁵³

mvp-comment-191-1 ἐλέγχω … στένω ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-192-1 οἶμαι μὲν ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-192-2 καὶ τὰ ς’ ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-193-1 τοιγαροῦν ⁵⁷ αὖθις πάλιν ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-193-2 ὅτῳ ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-194-1 ποικιλοστόλῳ ⁶⁰ ποικιλοστόμῳ ⁶¹

mvp-comment-195-1 δῖός τ’ Ὀδυσσεὺς ⁶²

mvp-comment-195-2 χὡ τροφεὺς ⁶³

mvp-comment-196-1 εἴτ’ ἄρ’ οὖν ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-196-2 ἀληθὲς ⁶⁵ λέγοντες ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-196-3 γίγνοιτ’ ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-197-1 ἄλλον ἢ )μ’ ⁶⁸ ἢ )μ’ ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-198-1 οὐ πολὺν ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-198-2 Instead of

μή με ναυστολεῖν

, we might well prefer, with Blaydes,

μὴ οὐχὶ ναυστολεῖν

, were it not that palaeographically it is so improbable. And for

μή

where

μὴ οὐ

might be expected, cp. O. T. 1387

οὐκ ἂν ἐσχόμην

τὸ μὴ )ποκλῇσαι

, n. The repetition of με ⁷¹

mvp-comment-199-1 οὐ γὰρ εἰδόμην ⁷² εἰδόμην ⁷³

mvp-comment-200-1 ἔπειτα μέντοι ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-200-2 χὡ λόγος καλὸς προσῆν ⁷⁵ ὁ λόγος ⁷⁶ προσῆν ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-200-3 εἰ … αἱρήσοιμ’ ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-200-4 τἀπὶ Τροίᾳ πέργαμ’ ⁷⁹ ἐπί ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-200-5 ἰών ⁸¹

mvp-comment-201-1 πλέοντί μοι ⁸²

mvp-comment-201-2 κἀγὼ ⁸³

mvp-comment-201-3 πικρὸν Σίγειον ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-201-4 οὐρίῳ πλάτῃ ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-201-5 κατηγόμην ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-202-1 ὀμνύντες ⁸⁷ στρατός ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-202-2 ζῶντ’ Ἀχ. πάλιν ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-203-1 ἔκειτ’ ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-203-2 )δάκρυσα ⁹¹

mvp-comment-203-3 οὐ μακρῷ χρόνῳ ⁹²

mvp-comment-204-1 ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν ⁹³ φίλους ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-204-2 τά τ’ ἄλλ’ ὅσ’ ἦν ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-205-1 τλημονέστατον λόγον ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-206-1 πάρεστί σοι ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-206-2 Λαέρτου ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-207-1 δακρύσας ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-207-2 ἐξανίσταμαι ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-207-3 ὀργῇ ¹⁰¹ βαρείᾳ ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-207-4 κᾳταλγήσας ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-208-1 ὦ σχέτλἰ ¹⁰⁴ ἦ )τολμήσατ’ ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-208-2 πρὶν μαθεῖν ἐμοῦ ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-209-1 ὁ δ’ εἶπ’ Ὀδυσσεύς ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-209-2 ὢν κυρεῖ ¹⁰⁸ ἦν κυρῶν ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-209-3 τάδε ¹¹⁰ δεδράκας’ ¹¹¹

mvp-comment-210-1 παρών ¹¹²

mvp-comment-211-1 ἤρασσον ¹¹³

mvp-comment-211-2 κακοῖς τοῖς πᾶσιν ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-211-3 οὐδὲν ἐνδεὲς ποιούμενος ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-211-4 εἰ … ἀφαιρήσοιτο ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-212-1 ἐνθάδ’ ἥκων ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-212-2 οὐ δύσοργος ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-212-3 πρὸς ἁξήκουσεν ¹¹⁹ δηχθείς ¹²⁰ ἠμείψατο ¹²¹

mvp-comment-212-4 ἃ ἐξήκουσεν ¹²²

mvp-comment-213-1 ἐπειδὴ καὶ λέγεις ¹²³

mvp-comment-213-2 οὐ μήποτ’ ¹²⁴ τὴν Σκῦρον ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-213-3 ἐκπλεύσῃς ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-213-4 382 ff. The words ἀκούσας κἀξονειδισθείς ¹²⁷ κακά ¹²⁸ κἀξονειδίσας ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-213-5 πρὸς οἴκους ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-213-6 τητώμενος ¹³¹

mvp-comment-213-7 κἀκ κακῶν ¹³²

mvp-comment-214-1 τοὺς ἐν τέλει ¹³³

mvp-comment-214-2 πᾶσα ¹³⁴ σύμπας ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-214-3 ἔστι … τῶν ἡγουμένων ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-214-4 στρατός ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-214-5 οἱ δ’ ἀκοσμοῦντες βροτῶν ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-214-6 διδασκάλων λόγοισι ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-215-1 λόγος λέλεκται πᾶς ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-215-2 Ἀτρείδας ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-215-3 φίλος ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-216-1 Mindful of their young chief's precept—

πειρῶ τὸ παρὸν θεραπεύειν

(149)—the Chorus seize this moment in order to deepen the impression left on the mind of Philoctetes. It was in the land of the Trojans—often called ‘Phrygians’ —that Neoptolemus was wronged by the Atreidae. ‘Then and there’—say the Chorus—‘we invoked the most awful deity of the land, the great Earth Mother, the Phrygian Cybele—to punish our prince's wrong.’ The interposition of the Chorus is admirably effective for the purpose of making their master's indignation appear genuine.

mvp-comment-216-2 This strophe, to which vv. 507—518 form the antistrophe, is a

ὑπόρχημα

, or ‘dance-song’ ( O. T. 1086 n.). The dochmiacs of which it is mainly composed (see Metrical Analysis) are accompanied by animated movement, expressive of the lively resentment which these memories suggest.

mvp-comment-216-3 From a mythological point of view the verses are of singular interest. The attributes given to the goddess belong to three groups. (1)

παμβῶτι Γᾶ

recognises her in the primary character of an Elemental power. (2)

μᾶτερ...Διός

identifies her with Rhea. (3)

ὀρεστέρα, λεόντων ἔφεδρε

, and the mention of the Pactolus, present her as the specially Phrygian Cybele. But these three characters are completely fused in the unity of the

μάτηρ πότνια

mvp-comment-217-1 ὀρεστέρα ¹⁴³ παμβῶτι ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-217-2 μᾶτερ αὐτοῦ Διός ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-218-1 Πακτωλὸν ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-218-2 εὔχρυσον ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-219-1 κἀκεῖ ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-219-2 ἐπηυδώμαν ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-219-3 Ἀτρειδᾶν ὕβρις πᾶς’ ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-220-1 τὰ πάτρια ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-221-1 ἰὼ ¹⁵² μάκαιρα ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-221-2 ταυροκτόνων ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-221-3 λεόντων ἔφεδρε ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-222-1 σέβας ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-222-2 We should not, then, change σέβας ¹⁵⁷ γέρας ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-223-1 σύμβολον … λύπης ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-224-1 προσᾴδεθ’ ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-224-2 ταῦτ’ … ἔργα ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-225-1 ἂν … θιγόντα ¹⁶² πανουργίας ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-225-2 ἀφ’ ἧς μηδὲν … ποεῖν ¹⁶⁴ μέλλοι ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-225-3 μηδὲν ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-225-4 ἐς τέλος ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-225-5 ποεῖν ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-226-1 ὁ μείζων ¹⁶⁹ οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-227-1 ἀλλ’ ἦ ¹⁷¹ ἦ γάρ ¹⁷² πῶς εἶπας ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-228-1 ὡς μηκέτ’ ὄντα ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-229-1 οἴμοι τάλας ¹⁷⁵ ἀλλ’ οὐχ ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-230-1 οὑμπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-230-2 The legend is not Homeric, but is already known to Aesch. (fr. 169), and is congenial to the spirit in which the dramatists often conceive Odysseus; cp. Soph. Ai. 190 , fr. 143 (

ὡς ὁ Σίσυφος πολὺς

ἔνδηλος ἐν σοί

): I. A. 524, Cycl. 104 : Lycophron 344 (

τῆς Σισυφείας δ’ ἀγκύλης λαμπουρίδος

, ‘crafty fox’): Ov. Met. 13. 31

sanguine cretus | Sisyphio, furtisque et fraude simillimus illi.

mvp-comment-230-3 With regard to the order of words, note:—(1)

ὁ ἐμπολητὸς Σισύφου

ὁ ἐμπ. Σισυφίδης

, the simple gen. of origin being placed as

Σισύφου παῖς

would have been; though usually such a simple gen. comes immediately after the art. (as Ai. 450

ἡ Διὸς γοργῶπις ἀδάματος θεά

). (2)

Λαερτίῳ

merely supplements

ἐμπολητός

, and hence can be placed as though it were an afterthought; the principle is the same as in O. C. 1514

αἱ πολλὰ βρονταὶ διατελεῖς

: cp. n. on O. T. 1245. —The genit. Λαερτίου ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-231-1 ἔδει ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-232-1 καὶ μέγα θάλλοντες ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-233-1 τί δ’ ¹⁸¹ ὠ ¹⁸² οὐ ¹⁸³ αὖ ¹⁸⁴ οὐ ¹⁸⁵ τί δ’ ¹⁸⁶ τί δ’ ὃς ¹⁸⁷ ὃς ¹⁸⁸ ὁ ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-233-2 παλαιός ¹⁹⁰ καί … τε ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-233-3 τά γε κείνων κακά ¹⁹² γε ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-233-4 ἐξήρυκε ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-234-1 Ἀντίλοχος ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-234-2 ὃς παρῆν γόνος ¹⁹⁶ ὅσπερ ἦν γόνος ¹⁹⁷ ὅς γ’ ἔτ’ ἦν ¹⁹⁸ ὅς ποτ’ ἦν ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-235-1 δὔ αὖ τώδ’ ἄνδρ’ ἔλεξας ²⁰⁰ δὔ αὖ τώδ’ ἐξέδειξας ²⁰¹ ἔλεξας ²⁰² δὔ αὔτως δείν’ ἔλεξας ²⁰³

mvp-comment-235-2 As to the reading δὔ αὕτως δείν’ ἔλεξας ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-235-3 δὔ … ἄνδρε ²⁰⁵ ὀλωλότοιν ²⁰⁶ οἵδε ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-235-4 ἂν ἠθέλης’ ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-236-1 σκοπεῖν ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-236-2 οἵδε ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-237-1 Ὀδυσσεὺς δ’ ἔστιν αὖ κἀνταῦθ’ ²¹¹

mvp-comment-238-1 αὐτὸν ²¹² αὐδᾶσθαι ²¹³

mvp-comment-239-1 παλαιστὴς ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-239-2 ἐμποδίζονται ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-240-1 θεῶν ²¹⁶

mvp-comment-240-2 ποῦ γὰρ ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-240-3 σοι ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-240-4 τὰ φίλτατα ²¹⁹

mvp-comment-241-1 λόγῳ … ἐν βραχεῖ ²²⁰

mvp-comment-241-2 τοῦτ’ ²²¹

mvp-comment-241-3 πόλεμος ²²²

mvp-comment-241-4 ἑκὼν ²²³

mvp-comment-242-1 κατ’ αὐτὸ τοῦτό γε ²²⁴

mvp-comment-243-1 φωτὸς ²²⁵ κυρεῖ ²²⁶ τί ²²⁷

mvp-comment-244-1 ποίου δὲ τούτου ²²⁸

mvp-comment-244-2 ἐρεῖς ²²⁹

mvp-comment-244-3 Brunck's conjecture, τοῦτο ²³⁰ τούτου ²³¹

mvp-comment-245-1 Θερσίτης ²³²

mvp-comment-246-1 ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἵλετ’ ²³³ ὅπου μηδεὶς ἐῴη ²³⁴

mvp-comment-246-2 Sophocles here reproduces the two salient traits of the Homeric Thersites: (1) he is irrepressible: Il. 2. 212

Θερσίτης δ’ ἔτι μοῦνος ἀμετροεπὴς ἐκολῴα

, |

ὅς ῥ) ἔπεα φρεσὶν ᾗσιν ἄκοσμά τε πολλά τε ᾔδη

: (2) he disgusts those whom his bluster was intended to amuse or flatter; ib. 222

τῷ δ’ ἄρ’ Ἀχαιοὶ

ἐκπάγλως κοτέοντο

.— τοῦτον οἶσθ’ ²³⁵

mvp-comment-247-1 αὐτόν ²³⁶ αὐτός ²³⁷ νιν ²³⁸

mvp-comment-248-1 ἔμελλ’ ²³⁹

mvp-comment-248-2 ἐπεὶ οὐδέν ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-248-3 περιστέλλουσιν ²⁴¹

mvp-comment-249-1 τὰ πανοῦργα ²⁴²

mvp-comment-249-2 παλιντριβῆ ²⁴³

mvp-comment-249-3 ἀναστρέφοντες ²⁴⁴

mvp-comment-249-4 τὰ δὲ ²⁴⁵ τὰ χρήστ’ ²⁴⁶ ἀποστέλλους’ ²⁴⁷ προυσελοῦς’ ²⁴⁸

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

302. mvp-comment-218-1 ὅρμος] Cp. Aesch. Phil. fr. 246, ἔνθ᾽ οὔτε μίμνειν ἄνεμος οὔτε πλεῖν ἐᾷ, where, however, the language may be metaphorical.

302. mvp-comment-218-2 ὅρμος] Cp. Aesch. Phil. fr. 246, ἔνθ᾽ οὔτε μίμνειν ἄνεμος οὔτε πλεῖν ἐᾷ, where, however, the language may be metaphorical.

303. mvp-comment-219-1 ἐξεμπολήσει] Sc. ἐκεῖθεν. ἢ ξενώσεται] «Or be well received.' Fut. mid. with passive meaning.

303. mvp-comment-219-2 ἐξεμπολήσει] Sc. ἐκεῖθεν. ἢ ξενώσεται] «Or be well received.' Fut. mid. with passive meaning.

305. mvp-comment-220-1 †τάχ᾽ οὖν τις ἄκων ἔσχε] 'Well, it may be, one did put in here against his will.' τάχα used as in τάχ᾽ ἄν. Cp. Plat. Legg. B. 4. 711 Α, ὑμεῖς δὲ τάχα οὐδὲ τεθέασθε τυραννουμένην πόλιν. οὖν introduces a modification or admission. 'No one puts in here willingly; unwillingly. however, some one may have brought his ship this way.' ἔσχε] For the aor., cp. supr. 297, ἔφην. ἔσχε = κατέσχε, the simple verb for the compound. But query *κατ᾽ οὖν τις ἄκων ἔσχε (i. e. κατέσχε τις οὖν ἄκων)? (For a case of tmesis in the senarii, cp. infr. 817). πολλὰ γὰρ . . χρόνῳ] 'Such incidents might happen many times in the long course of human history.' πολλά is predicative and τάδε = τοιάδε. For this, cp. Aj. 1246, ἐκ τῶνδε μέντοι τῶν τρόπων οὐκ ἄν ποτε | κατάστασις γένοιτ᾽ ἂν οὐδενὸς νόμου. It may be doubted whether ἀνθρώπων is to be taken with τάδε = 'Such human accidents,' or with χρόνῳ = ' The time during which men have existed.' For the latter, cp. Hdt. 6. 109, μνημόσυνα λιπέσθαι ἐς τὸν ἅπαντα ἀνθρώπων βίον. And for the idea, cp. Hdt. 5. 9, γένοιτο δ᾽ ἂν πᾶν ἐν τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ: Agathon, Fr. 9. τάχ᾿ ἄν τις εἰκὸς αὐτὸ τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι λέγοι | βροτοῖσι πολλὰ τυγχάνειν οὐκ εἰκότα.

305. mvp-comment-220-2 †τάχ᾽ οὖν τις ἄκων ἔσχε] 'Well, it may be, one did put in here against his will.' τάχα used as in τάχ᾽ ἄν. Cp. Plat. Legg. B. 4. 711 Α, ὑμεῖς δὲ τάχα οὐδὲ τεθέασθε τυραννουμένην πόλιν. οὖν introduces a modification or admission. 'No one puts in here willingly; unwillingly. however, some one may have brought his ship this way.' ἔσχε] For the aor., cp. supr. 297, ἔφην. ἔσχε = κατέσχε, the simple verb for the compound. But query *κατ᾽ οὖν τις ἄκων ἔσχε (i. e. κατέσχε τις οὖν ἄκων)? (For a case of tmesis in the senarii, cp. infr. 817). πολλὰ γὰρ . . χρόνῳ] 'Such incidents might happen many times in the long course of human history.' πολλά is predicative and τάδε = τοιάδε. For this, cp. Aj. 1246, ἐκ τῶνδε μέντοι τῶν τρόπων οὐκ ἄν ποτε | κατάστασις γένοιτ᾽ ἂν οὐδενὸς νόμου. It may be doubted whether ἀνθρώπων is to be taken with τάδε = 'Such human accidents,' or with χρόνῳ = ' The time during which men have existed.' For the latter, cp. Hdt. 6. 109, μνημόσυνα λιπέσθαι ἐς τὸν ἅπαντα ἀνθρώπων βίον. And for the idea, cp. Hdt. 5. 9, γένοιτο δ᾽ ἂν πᾶν ἐν τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ: Agathon, Fr. 9. τάχ᾿ ἄν τις εἰκὸς αὐτὸ τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι λέγοι | βροτοῖσι πολλὰ τυγχάνειν οὐκ εἰκότα.

306. mvp-comment-221-1 ἄν om add

306. mvp-comment-221-2 ἄν om add

308. mvp-comment-222-1 μέν] Νo doubt,' belonging in sense rather to λόγοις than to ἐλεοῦσι. καί που .. προσέδοσαν] ‘And perchance have gone so far (προσ-) as to impart to me some portion of food.' The gnomic aorist is used of that which happens now and again. 'They always express pity, they sometimes give.'

308. mvp-comment-222-2 μέν] Νo doubt,' belonging in sense rather to λόγοις than to ἐλεοῦσι. καί που .. προσέδοσαν] ‘And perchance have gone so far (προσ-) as to impart to me some portion of food.' The gnomic aorist is used of that which happens now and again. 'They always express pity, they sometimes give.'

309. mvp-comment-223-1 οἰκτείραντες, Touched with compassion, 'is also in the 'momentary' tense.

309. mvp-comment-223-2 οἰκτείραντες, Touched with compassion, 'is also in the 'momentary' tense.

310. mvp-comment-224-1 ἐκεῖνο] «That which is always in my thoughts.' Cp. Ar. Nub. 657, ἐκεῖν, ἐκεῖνο, τὸν ἀδικώτερον λόγον. The pronoun here stands in the place of an infinitive.

310. mvp-comment-224-2 ἐκεῖνο] «That which is always in my thoughts.' Cp. Ar. Nub. 657, ἐκεῖν, ἐκεῖνο, τὸν ἀδικώτερον λόγον. The pronoun here stands in the place of an infinitive.

311. mvp-comment-225-1 σῶσαι] Cp. infr. 488, 496.

311. mvp-comment-225-2 σῶσαι] Cp. infr. 488, 496.

312. mvp-comment-226-1 ἔτος .. δέκατον] These words are to be joined with ἀπόλλυμαι and resumed with βόσκων.

312. mvp-comment-226-2 ἔτος .. δέκατον] These words are to be joined with ἀπόλλυμαι and resumed with βόσκων.

313. mvp-comment-227-1 βόσκων] 'Supporting.' Philoctetes only lived to suffer. Cp. infr. 795, 1167. ἀδηφάγον] Cp. infr. 756-8.

313. mvp-comment-227-2 βόσκων] 'Supporting.' Philoctetes only lived to suffer. Cp. infr. 795, 1167. ἀδηφάγον] Cp. infr. 756-8.

314. mvp-comment-228-1 ἤ τ᾿ Οδυσσέως βία] ‘And great Odysseus.' Cp. infr. 321, 344. The Epic phrase is used with a touch of sarcastic irony, but probably (unlike Virgil's 'violentia Turni') without direct reference to the violence of the act.

314. mvp-comment-228-2 ἤ τ᾿ Οδυσσέως βία] ‘And great Odysseus.' Cp. infr. 321, 344. The Epic phrase is used with a touch of sarcastic irony, but probably (unlike Virgil's 'violentia Turni') without direct reference to the violence of the act.

315. mvp-comment-229-1 Whom may the Olympian gods some day cause to suffer in their own persons (αὐτοῖς) full requital for my wrong!' So Brunck, Linwood, Paley, rightly. For the emphatic αὐτοῖς here opposed to ἐμοῦ, cp. supr. 275. In order to avoid this Porson conjectured οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι θεοί.

315. mvp-comment-229-2 Whom may the Olympian gods some day cause to suffer in their own persons (αὐτοῖς) full requital for my wrong!' So Brunck, Linwood, Paley, rightly. For the emphatic αὐτοῖς here opposed to ἐμοῦ, cp. supr. 275. In order to avoid this Porson conjectured οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι θεοί.

317. mvp-comment-230-1 ἔοικα] It would seem that I.' Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1007, λέγων ἔοικα πολλὰ καὶ μάτην ἐρεῖν.

317. mvp-comment-230-2 ἔοικα] It would seem that I.' Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1007, λέγων ἔοικα πολλὰ καὶ μάτην ἐρεῖν.

317-318. mvp-comment-231-1 The Chorus express pity for Philoctetes, but tacitly remind themselves that their pity will not be shown in action.

317-318. mvp-comment-231-2 The Chorus express pity for Philoctetes, but tacitly remind themselves that their pity will not be shown in action.

319. mvp-comment-232-1 Neoptolemus. But I do more than pity him, for I am a witness on his side.' καί with the whole sentence. For ἐν, ὢν has been conjectured. But ἐν may well express that Neoptolemus enters into the cause of Philoctetes, and is not merely an auditor of his case. Myself a witness in this plea, I know it to be well-founded.'

319. mvp-comment-232-2 Neoptolemus. But I do more than pity him, for I am a witness on his side.' καί with the whole sentence. For ἐν, ὢν has been conjectured. But ἐν may well express that Neoptolemus enters into the cause of Philoctetes, and is not merely an auditor of his case. Myself a witness in this plea, I know it to be well-founded.'

320. mvp-comment-233-1 συντυχών] συντυχεῖν is generally construed with a dative, and the preposition has therefore here a separate meaning. Having in like manner found. So the Scholiast and Nauck.

320. mvp-comment-233-2 συντυχών] συντυχεῖν is generally construed with a dative, and the preposition has therefore here a separate meaning. Having in like manner found. So the Scholiast and Nauck.

324. mvp-comment-234-1 May it be mine one day to satiate my wrathful soul with violent action!' There can be little doubt that the correction is right. For a similar confusion in all the MSS., cp. O. Т. 376.

324. mvp-comment-234-2 May it be mine one day to satiate my wrathful soul with violent action!' There can be little doubt that the correction is right. For a similar confusion in all the MSS., cp. O. Т. 376.

327. mvp-comment-235-1 εὖ γ᾽, ὦ τέκνον] 'Well said, my son!' Philoctetes' delight in Neoptolemus is further heightened by this supposed discovery of a common resentment. τίνος . . ἐλήλυθας] ‘For what cause do you thus bring against them the accusation of your violent anger?' τίνος, genitive of the reason (Essay on L. § 10. p. 15). Cp. Ο. Τ. 698, ὅτου μῆνιν τοσήνδε πράγματος στήσας ἔχεις. γάρ asks for explanation. ἐλήλυθας is redundant (Essay on L. § 40. p. 75). τὸν μέγαν χόλον] The mighty anger which you now evince.' For the slight inexactness in ἐγκαλεῖν χόλον, cp. О. Т. 702, λέγ', εἰ σαφῶς τὸ νεῖκος ἐγκαλῶν ἐρεῖς.

327. mvp-comment-235-2 εὖ γ᾽, ὦ τέκνον] 'Well said, my son!' Philoctetes' delight in Neoptolemus is further heightened by this supposed discovery of a common resentment. τίνος . . ἐλήλυθας] ‘For what cause do you thus bring against them the accusation of your violent anger?' τίνος, genitive of the reason (Essay on L. § 10. p. 15). Cp. Ο. Τ. 698, ὅτου μῆνιν τοσήνδε πράγματος στήσας ἔχεις. γάρ asks for explanation. ἐλήλυθας is redundant (Essay on L. § 40. p. 75). τὸν μέγαν χόλον] The mighty anger which you now evince.' For the slight inexactness in ἐγκαλεῖν χόλον, cp. О. Т. 702, λέγ', εἰ σαφῶς τὸ νεῖκος ἐγκαλῶν ἐρεῖς.

329. mvp-comment-236-1 μόλις δ᾽ ἐρῶ] 'Though I shall find it hard to speak of it, i.e. To command myself sufficiently to do so. Schol. ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς. Cp. Ο. C. 326, λύπῃ . . μόλις βλέπω.

329. mvp-comment-236-2 μόλις δ᾽ ἐρῶ] 'Though I shall find it hard to speak of it, i.e. To command myself sufficiently to do so. Schol. ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς. Cp. Ο. C. 326, λύπῃ . . μόλις βλέπω.

331. mvp-comment-237-1 ἐπεὶ γάρ] These words introduce the occasion of his coming, in explanation of μολών. ἔσχε.. θανεῖν] 'The fate of death overtook Achilles.' θανεῖν, epexegetic inf. For ἔσχε, cp. Eur. Hec. 5, ἐπεὶ Φρυγῶν πόλιν | κίνδυνος ἔσχε δορὶ πεσεῖν Ἑλληνικῷ.

331. mvp-comment-237-2 ἐπεὶ γάρ] These words introduce the occasion of his coming, in explanation of μολών. ἔσχε.. θανεῖν] 'The fate of death overtook Achilles.' θανεῖν, epexegetic inf. For ἔσχε, cp. Eur. Hec. 5, ἐπεὶ Φρυγῶν πόλιν | κίνδυνος ἔσχε δορὶ πεσεῖν Ἑλληνικῷ.

332-339. mvp-comment-238-1 This brief digression and the longer one below (410-460), have the effect (a) of showing the generous nature of Philoctetes, who, beneath his apparently obdurate resentment, really retains an unabated interest in the affairs of the army, and (b) of giving opportunity for the growth of friendly feeling between him and Neoptolemus. The news of Achilles' death so affects him as to make him for a moment forget his own suffering (339-40).

332-339. mvp-comment-238-2 This brief digression and the longer one below (410-460), have the effect (a) of showing the generous nature of Philoctetes, who, beneath his apparently obdurate resentment, really retains an unabated interest in the affairs of the army, and (b) of giving opportunity for the growth of friendly feeling between him and Neoptolemus. The news of Achilles' death so affects him as to make him for a moment forget his own suffering (339-40).

334. mvp-comment-239-1 ἀνδρός is genitive of cause, for which ὕπο afterwards supplies a more distinct construction.

334. mvp-comment-239-2 ἀνδρός is genitive of cause, for which ὕπο afterwards supplies a more distinct construction.

335. mvp-comment-240-1 τοξευτὸς .. δαμείς] Subdued, so they tell the tale, with an arrow from the bow of Phoebus.' τοξευτός is a subsidiary predicate to δαμείς, for which word in this connection, cp. Il. 19. 417, θεῷ τε καὶ ἀνέρι ἶφι δαμῆναι. ἐκ rather than ὑπό, because the arrow came from the hand of Apollo. Cp. Il. 21. 277, 8, ἥ μ᾿ ἔφατο Τρώων ὑπὸ τείχεϊ θωρηκτάων | λαιψηροῖς ὀλέεσθαι᾿ Απόλλωνος βελέεσσιν. Or, if the arrow were that of Paris, ἐκ denotes the remote agent, and Neoptolemus must be supposed to avoid mentioning the slight man' who had been the immediate author of Achilles' death.

335. mvp-comment-240-2 τοξευτὸς .. δαμείς] Subdued, so they tell the tale, with an arrow from the bow of Phoebus.' τοξευτός is a subsidiary predicate to δαμείς, for which word in this connection, cp. Il. 19. 417, θεῷ τε καὶ ἀνέρι ἶφι δαμῆναι. ἐκ rather than ὑπό, because the arrow came from the hand of Apollo. Cp. Il. 21. 277, 8, ἥ μ᾿ ἔφατο Τρώων ὑπὸ τείχεϊ θωρηκτάων | λαιψηροῖς ὀλέεσθαι᾿ Απόλλωνος βελέεσσιν. Or, if the arrow were that of Paris, ἐκ denotes the remote agent, and Neoptolemus must be supposed to avoid mentioning the slight man' who had been the immediate author of Achilles' death.

336. mvp-comment-241-1 Cp. Il. 21. 280, τῷ κ᾿ ἀγαθὸς μὲν ἔπεφν᾽, ἀγαθὸν δέ κεν ἐξενάριξεν.

336. mvp-comment-241-2 Cp. Il. 21. 280, τῷ κ᾿ ἀγαθὸς μὲν ἔπεφν᾽, ἀγαθὸν δέ κεν ἐξενάριξεν.

337-338. mvp-comment-242-1 The delicate courtesy of these lines is no less obvious than their self-forgetfulness.

337-338. mvp-comment-242-2 The delicate courtesy of these lines is no less obvious than their self-forgetfulness.

342. mvp-comment-243-1 ὅτῳ σ᾽ ἐνύβρισαν] ὅτῳ (governed by ἐν in ἐνύβρισαν) is best taken separate from τὸ σὸν πρᾶγμα. ‘Tell me your own affair; what was the point in which they insulted you?'

342. mvp-comment-243-2 ὅτῳ σ᾽ ἐνύβρισαν] ὅτῳ (governed by ἐν in ἐνύβρισαν) is best taken separate from τὸ σὸν πρᾶγμα. ‘Tell me your own affair; what was the point in which they insulted you?'

343. mvp-comment-244-1 ἦλθον.. μέτα = μετῆλθον. ποικιλοστόλῳ] = σὺν ποικιλίαις ἐσταλμένῃ, 'Decked out with ornament,' as being sent on an honorific mission. Others, With variegated prow' (στόλος); but in this less poetical sense it would be better to read ποικιλοστόμῳ. See v. rr.

343. mvp-comment-244-2 ἦλθον.. μέτα = μετῆλθον. ποικιλοστόλῳ] = σὺν ποικιλίαις ἐσταλμένῃ, 'Decked out with ornament,' as being sent on an honorific mission. Others, With variegated prow' (στόλος); but in this less poetical sense it would be better to read ποικιλοστόμῳ. See v. rr.

344. mvp-comment-245-1 δῖος] The constant Homeric title, which Neoptolemus uses out of habit. χώ τροφεύς] Phoenix.

344. mvp-comment-245-2 δῖος] The constant Homeric title, which Neoptolemus uses out of habit. χώ τροφεύς] Phoenix.

345. mvp-comment-246-1 μάτην] 'Groundlessly.'

345. mvp-comment-246-2 μάτην] 'Groundlessly.'

346. mvp-comment-247-1 ὡς . . γίγνοιτ'] 'That it came to be a thing irreconcileable with destiny.' Cp. Ant. 260, κἂν ἐγίγνετο, and note.

346. mvp-comment-247-2 ὡς . . γίγνοιτ'] 'That it came to be a thing irreconcileable with destiny.' Cp. Ant. 260, κἂν ἐγίγνετο, and note.

348-349. mvp-comment-248-1 οὐ πολὺν .. ταχύ] · They did not long restrain me, but that I set forth with speed.' On the indirectness of this way of saying, 'Their words were like a goad inciting me,' see Essay on L. § 42, a. p. 79. For μή we should rather expect μὴ οὐ. But though the addition of οὐ is permissible in such cases, there is no absolute rule. And ὦ ξένε, by suggesting 'You may imagine,' gives an hypothetical turn to the expression.

348-349. mvp-comment-248-2 οὐ πολὺν .. ταχύ] · They did not long restrain me, but that I set forth with speed.' On the indirectness of this way of saying, 'Their words were like a goad inciting me,' see Essay on L. § 42, a. p. 79. For μή we should rather expect μὴ οὐ. But though the addition of οὐ is permissible in such cases, there is no absolute rule. And ὦ ξένε, by suggesting 'You may imagine,' gives an hypothetical turn to the expression.

351. mvp-comment-249-1 οὐ γὰρ εἰδόμην] 'For I had not seen my father.' Schol. ζῶντα. It is objected to this that when Achilles went to Troy from Scyros, Neoptolemus must have been old enough to remember him. But this is one of those improbabilities which are external to the action and were it otherwise, there is no proof that Sophocles in the Philoctetes follows the version of the story which made Scyros Achilles' starting-point for Troy. Nor would there be anything unnatural in Neoptolemus saying, 'I had not seen him,' without adding, for so long.' Cp. Aj. 570, εἰσαεί, and note; Eur. Troad. 377, οὐ παῖδας εἶδον, sc. πάλιν. Seyffert reads, οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἰδόμην, and Prof. Jebb has suggested εἰ γὰρ εἰδόμην. But (a), as Mr. Blaydes remarks, it is natural to infer from 359 that Neoptolemus did see the body of Achilles: and (b) does not such an ejaculation unduly interrupt the flow of the narrative? Neoptolemus is not speaking from real feeling, and there is no occasion for him to 'daub it so far, nor for the poet to invent the circumstance of his failing to see the body. The language resembles that of Od. 4. 200, 1, οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγε | ἤντησ᾽ οὐδὲ ἴδον, said by Peisistratus of his eldest brother Antilochus. But Peisistratus (Od. 3. 401) would be a mere infant at the time of the departure for Troy.

351. mvp-comment-249-2 οὐ γὰρ εἰδόμην] 'For I had not seen my father.' Schol. ζῶντα. It is objected to this that when Achilles went to Troy from Scyros, Neoptolemus must have been old enough to remember him. But this is one of those improbabilities which are external to the action and were it otherwise, there is no proof that Sophocles in the Philoctetes follows the version of the story which made Scyros Achilles' starting-point for Troy. Nor would there be anything unnatural in Neoptolemus saying, 'I had not seen him,' without adding, for so long.' Cp. Aj. 570, εἰσαεί, and note; Eur. Troad. 377, οὐ παῖδας εἶδον, sc. πάλιν. Seyffert reads, οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἰδόμην, and Prof. Jebb has suggested εἰ γὰρ εἰδόμην. But (a), as Mr. Blaydes remarks, it is natural to infer from 359 that Neoptolemus did see the body of Achilles: and (b) does not such an ejaculation unduly interrupt the flow of the narrative? Neoptolemus is not speaking from real feeling, and there is no occasion for him to 'daub it so far, nor for the poet to invent the circumstance of his failing to see the body. The language resembles that of Od. 4. 200, 1, οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγε | ἤντησ᾽ οὐδὲ ἴδον, said by Peisistratus of his eldest brother Antilochus. But Peisistratus (Od. 3. 401) would be a mere infant at the time of the departure for Troy.

352-353. mvp-comment-250-1 However, besides this, the proposal had a fair colour given to it in their declaration that, if I came (ἰών), Ι should take the citadel that commanded Troy.' For ὁ λόγος, cp. supr. 345-7. προσῆν] Cp. supr. 129, ὡς ἂν ἀγνοία προσῇ.

352-353. mvp-comment-250-2 However, besides this, the proposal had a fair colour given to it in their declaration that, if I came (ἰών), Ι should take the citadel that commanded Troy.' For ὁ λόγος, cp. supr. 345-7. προσῆν] Cp. supr. 129, ὡς ἂν ἀγνοία προσῇ.

353. mvp-comment-251-1 For εἰ.. αἱρήσοιμι, see Essay on L. § 28. p. 46.

353. mvp-comment-251-2 For εἰ.. αἱρήσοιμι, see Essay on L. § 28. p. 46.

355. mvp-comment-252-1 πικρὸν Σίγειον] 'Cruel Sigeum,' i. e. where I was destined to find so much vexation: the mourning for his father, who was buried there, being embittered by the refusal of the arms. Cp. Rhes. 734, ὦ στυγνοτάτην Τροίαν ἐσιδών. To this, however, some editors prefer the conjecture of Burges, 'π' ἄκρον Σίγειον ! οὐρίῳ πλάτῃ] · With favourable voyage.' This is objected to, apparently because oars would not be used under a fair wind. But πλάτη often occurs in Tragedy in the general sense of making way at sea. Cp. Eur. Hel. 192, Ι. Τ. 242. And as the vessel drew near shore the sail would of course be lowered, and the oars brought into play.

355. mvp-comment-252-2 πικρὸν Σίγειον] 'Cruel Sigeum,' i. e. where I was destined to find so much vexation: the mourning for his father, who was buried there, being embittered by the refusal of the arms. Cp. Rhes. 734, ὦ στυγνοτάτην Τροίαν ἐσιδών. To this, however, some editors prefer the conjecture of Burges, 'π' ἄκρον Σίγειον ! οὐρίῳ πλάτῃ] · With favourable voyage.' This is objected to, apparently because oars would not be used under a fair wind. But πλάτη often occurs in Tragedy in the general sense of making way at sea. Cp. Eur. Hel. 192, Ι. Τ. 242. And as the vessel drew near shore the sail would of course be lowered, and the oars brought into play.

356-357. mvp-comment-253-1 κατηγόμην, | καὶ καὶ . . εὐθὺς .. ἐκβάντα] The narrative is condensed.

356-357. mvp-comment-253-2 κατηγόμην, | καὶ καὶ . . εὐθὺς .. ἐκβάντα] The narrative is condensed.

358. mvp-comment-254-1 'Achilles, who no longer lived, alive again.' Cp. the Trag. fr. quoted by Plutarch, Alc. 203 D, οὐ παῖς ᾿Αχιλλέως ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνος αὐτὸς εἶ.

359. mvp-comment-255-1 ἔκειτ'] 'Lay low.' The most natural way of understanding this is to suppose that Neoptolemus saw his father laid out and buried, without being burned. Cp. Aj. sub fin. (from 1402). It might also mean that Achilles was already buried when Neoptolemus arrived. But, as Hermann observes, there is nothing to indicate that the hope expressed in supr. 351 was thus disappointed. The fiction of Neoptolemus is rather that after the funeral the question of the arms was quickly disposed of whilst he was absorbed in his grief.

360. mvp-comment-256-1 οὐ μακρῷ χρόνῳ] • Before long.' These words are connected with what follows, and imply that the mourning did not long detain him from the object of his ambition.

361. mvp-comment-257-1 πρὸς φίλους, ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν] i. e. πρὸς ᾿Ατρ. ὡς πρὸς φίλους, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς εἶναι φίλους. For the omission of ὡς with ὡς following, see Essay on L. § 39. p. 73, 5, a. 'Assuming their friendship, as I had reason to do.'

362. mvp-comment-258-1 ὅσ᾽ ἦν] Sc. τοῦ πατρός.

363. mvp-comment-259-1 οἴμοι expresses not only personal disappointment (infr. 368, καταλγήσας), but also grieved astonishment that men could be so hardened.

364-365. mvp-comment-260-1 τἄλλα .. πατρῷ᾽ ἑλέσθαι] Cp. Αj. 572, μήθ᾽ ὁ λυμεὼν ἐμός. In ordinary Greek the article would be repeated with πατρῷα, which, however, is here resumed in close connection with ἑλέσθαι. 'To take in right of your father the other things:' i. e. To take the other things which are yours in right of your father.

365. mvp-comment-261-1 κείνων] "Those well-known arms,' viz. τῶν Ἡφαιστοτεύκτων.

367-368. mvp-comment-262-1 Then tears burst from me, and I straightway rose in grievous wrath, and broke forth on them indignantly, and said.' καταλγήσας, sc. κατ᾿ αὐτῶν.

369. mvp-comment-263-1 ὦ σχέτλι', ἢ τολμήσατ᾽] The voc. sing. σχέτλιε is addressed to Agamemnon, or whichever was the spokesman of the Atreidae. It is unnecessary to suppose a crasis of σχέτλιοι ἦ. For ἀντ' ἐμοῦ, cp. Αj. 444, οὐκ ἄν τις αὔτ᾽ ἔμαρψεν ἄλλος ἀντ᾿ ἐμοῦ.

370. mvp-comment-264-1 τὰ τεύχη τἀμά] The repeated article here emphasizes both words. 'Those arms, my arms, without consulting me!' πρὶν μαθεῖν ἐμοῦ] 'Before understanding from me,' sc. my will concerning them.

371. mvp-comment-265-1 ὁ δ᾽ εἰπ᾿ Ὀδυσσεύς] The order of words is in the Epic manner (see Essay on L. § 21. p. 33, 5), the noun being placed in apposition to the article as a demonstrative pronoun. 'Then spake that other, Odysseus, for he was at hand.' ὢν κύρει] The omission of the augment, Epicè, in narrative ῥήσεις is proved by the crucial instance τινὸς | θώϋξεν in O. C. 1623, 4. It was therefore unnecessary to resort to conjectural emendation here. (ἦν κυρῶν, Brunck.)

372. mvp-comment-266-1 ναί, παῖ] 'Yea, child!' Odysseus is supposed to treat the youth with insolent condescension.

373. mvp-comment-267-1 This achievement of Odysseus is alluded to in Od. 5. 309, ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μοι πλεῖστοι χαλκήρεα δοῦρα | Τρώες ἐπέρριψαν περὶ Πηλείωνι θανόντι. It was doubtless fully narrated in the Ilias Minor, from which Ovid probably derived it, Met. 13. 284, (quoted by Gedike): 'His humeris, his, inquam, humeris ego corpus Achillis | Et simul arma tuli, quae nunc quoque ferre laboro.' παρών hints the reproach which comes out afterwards, l. 379.

374. mvp-comment-268-1 ἤρασσον] 'I laid it on ;' ἀράσσω is here used absolutely. Cp. Ar. Nub. 1373, ἐξαράττω. And for the meaning, 'To assail with violent words,' cp. also Aj. 725, (αὐτὸν . . ὀνείδεσιν) ἤρασσον ἔνθεν κἄνθεν.

375. mvp-comment-269-1 οὐδὲν ἐνδεὲς ποιούμενος, εἰ] The clause with εἰ (for which see Essay on L. § 28, 1. p. 46), depends on the notion of the middle voice in ποιούμενος. Not caring to make any omission' (sparing no abuse) 'when I thought how my arms were to be taken from me by Odysseus.' Cp. Od. 21. 170, (νεμεσσῶμαι δέ τ᾽ ἀκούων) εἰ δὴ τοῦτό γε τόξον ἀριστῆας κεκαδήσει | θυμοῦ καὶ ψυχῆς. ποιούμενος is subj. middle, - for my part.'

376. mvp-comment-270-1 κεῖνος] i. e. ὁ κακὸς κἀκ κακῶν Ὀδυσσεύς, infr. 384.

377. mvp-comment-271-1 ἐνθάδ᾽ ἥκων] 'At this pass,' i. e. when he found himself resisted by a boy.

378. mvp-comment-272-1 δηχθεὶς πρὸς ἁξήκουσεν] ‘Stung at what he heard.' πρός with accusative, as in πρὸς ταῦτα. πρὸς ἀξ. should be joined in the first instance with δηχθείς, and resumed with ἠμείψατο.

379. mvp-comment-273-1 ἵν᾿ οὐ σ᾽ ἔδει] Sc. ἀπεῖναι. 'Where you ought to have been present.' The reproach is not that Neoptolemus was at Scyros, but that he was not in the battle field at Troy at the time when his father fell. Schol., οὐ παρῆς, ἔνθα ἔδει σε παρεῖναι. Infr. 429.

380. mvp-comment-274-1 The language is not perfectly exact; ταῦτα is primarily the object of ἔχων, but is to be resumed with λέγεις in a different sense. For such ellipse, see E. on L. § 39. p. 73, and cp. supr. 361, and note.

384. mvp-comment-275-1 κἀκ κακῶν] Alluding to the supposed Sisyphian parentage, which threw suspicion on the nobility of δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς. To this extent Neoptolemus follows the suggestion of Odysseus, supr. 64, 5.

385. mvp-comment-276-1 ὡς = τοσοῦτον ὅσον, cp. Aj. 679, 80, Ant. 775.

386-387. mvp-comment-277-1 'For a city or army depends wholly upon those who govern.' ἔστι with the genitive here means, 'Is determined by,' i. e. Takes its character from.' πᾶσα = σύμπασα, Wholly, rather than 'Every city.'

388. mvp-comment-278-1 διδασκάλων.. κακοί] Have teachers from whose instruction their badness flows.' This remark is not immediately relevant to Odysseus, but rather to the vote of the army by which the arms were awarded to him, and which is supposed to have been instigated by the Atreidae. Schndw. conjectured δ. τρόποισι.

390. mvp-comment-279-1 ἐμοί θ᾽ ὁμοίως... φίλος] The sentence in being expanded is changed from an assertion to a wish; i.e. ἐμοί τέ ἐστι φίλος καὶ ὁμοίως εἴη καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς φίλος. Cp. Ant. 686, οὔτ᾽ ἂν δυναίμην, μήτ' ἐπισταίμην λέγειν.

391-402;507-518. mvp-comment-280-1 The Chorus show their interest and support Neoptolemus by these strains, which are interwoven with the action, like those in O. T. 660 foll., 689 foll., О. С. 1447-1456, 1477-1485. They wish to assist their master by simulating hatred of the Atreidae and sympathy with Philoctetes. That both feelings are merely assumed, and that the Chorus really understand the situation, is obvious from the exaggerated strength of expression in 510, εἰ δὲ πικρούς, ἄναξ, ἔχθεις ᾿Ατρείδας. Their feigned excitement, to which the mixture of dochmiac and iambo-bacchic metre is well suited, was no doubt expressed with gestures accompanying the recitation, by the two half-choruses, of strophe and antistrophe severally.

391. mvp-comment-281-1 The Great Mother, who is here invoked, is said to have been worshipped at Lemnos as well as in Phrygia Steph. Byz. s. ν. Λήμνος, quoted by Gedike). And there is besides a special appropriateness in the invocation of this primal power of nature upon a desert shore, where no temples were to be seen. Bernhardy's remark, that the invocation of Rhea confirms the late date of the Philoctetes, is hardly warranted.

392. mvp-comment-282-1 ἃ . . νέμεις) 'That givest the mighty river Pactolus to be rich in gold.' For νέμω, meaning, 'To dispense or give forth,' cp. O. C. 687, Κηφισοῦ νομάδες ῥεέθρων. εὔχρυσον is a supplementary predicate = ὥστε εὔχρυσον εἶναι οἱ ῥεῖν. μέγας is, 'Deserving awe and reverence.' Cp. Plato, Phaedo, 62 Β, ὁ . . ἐν ἀπορρήτοις λόγος . . μέγας τέ τίς μοι φαίνεται καὶ οὐ ῥάδιος διϊδεῖν. The Pactolus comes from the mountains of Phrygia, and its peculiar virtue is attributed to the bounty of the universal mother, whose home was there.

395. mvp-comment-283-1 ἐπηυδώμαν ἐπηυδώμαν The middle voice expresses, 'I invoked for my behoof.'

396. mvp-comment-284-1 ὕβρις πᾶσα] 'The boundless insolence.' For πᾶς intensive, see E. on L. § 55. p. 101, 6. The bacchic rhythm shows that πᾶσα is not to be taken predicatively with ἐχώρει.

397. mvp-comment-285-1 παρεδίδοσαν] 'They were wrongfully giving away from him.' Cp. supr. 64, παρέδοσαν, and note.

400. mvp-comment-286-1 ἰὼ . . ἔφεδρε] This long parenthesis belongs to the wild nature of the strain, and would be assisted with significant gestures. λεόντων ἔφεδρε, 'Thou that sittest above the lions,' that draw thy car. Cp. the use of ἵπποι as equivalent to ἅρμα in Epic Greek.

401. mvp-comment-287-1 τῷ Λαρτίου . . ὑπέρτατον] 'Investing the son of Laertes with supreme glory.' The accusative, σέβας ὑπέρτατον, is in apposition either (1) to τεύχεα, or (2) to the action of παρεδίδοσαν. The dative is not to be taken with παρεδίδοσαν, but with σέβας ὑπέρτατον, sc. γενέσθαι, i. e. ὥστε τὸν Λ. ὑπέρτατον σέβας ἔχειν, (Ant. 304.)

402ff. mvp-comment-288-1 A point of rest has now been gained, and the action remains stationary for a little while. Neoptolemus has completely won the friendship of Philoctetes, and is confident of the attainment of his purpose. Cp. О. С. 631, 667.

402-403. mvp-comment-289-1 ἔχοντες σύμβολον σαφές | λύπης . . πεπλεύκατε] 'The grief ye have brought with you in sailing forth is a token which clearly commends itself to me.' Cp. Aristid. vol. 1. p. 416, ἱκανόν ἐστι πρὸς αὐτήν, ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι σύμβολον, αὐτὸ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ἀτυχίας, a passage which shows that πρὸς ἡμᾶς should be taken with ἔχοντες σύμβολον rather than with πεπλεύκατε. The participle has the chief emphasis: see Essay on L. § 41. p. 77. β.

405. mvp-comment-290-1 καί μοι προσᾴδεθ'] 'And your words strike on a note that is in unison with my experience.' For a similar metaphor, cp O. T. 1112, 3, ἔν τε γὰρ μακρῷ γήρᾳ ξυνάδει τῷδε τἀνδρὶ σύμμετρος.

407. mvp-comment-291-1 ἂν . . θιγόντα] I know that he would not refrain his tongue from any mischievous word or from any villany.' The effect of ἄν here is to mark that the supposed fact is in accordance with general probability.

408. mvp-comment-292-1 ἀφ᾿ ἧς . . ποιεῖν] 'Whereof the issue in his hands was likely to be some great iniquity.' For the indirect form of expression, see E. on L. § 42. p. 79.

409. mvp-comment-293-1 δίκαιον δὲ βαιον δίκαιον μηδέν] μή, because of the hypothetical nature of the sentence implied in ἂν θιγόντα. ἐς τέλος] 'In the end.' Cp. Eur. Ion 1615, χρόνια μὲν τὰ τῶν θεῶν πως, εἰς τέλος δ᾽ οὐκ ἀσθενῆ. μέλλοι] The optative because ἂν θιγόντα = ὅτι ἂν θίγοι.

410-411. mvp-comment-294-1 ἀλλ᾽ εἰ . . ἠνείχετο] Sc. θαυμάζω. 'But' (it does seem marvellous) 'if the taller Ajax, being there, endured to see this done.' παρών] i. e. supposing him to be at Troy, and not absent on some expedition. ὁ μείζων] The son of Telamon is so distinguished from the Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς Αἴας.

412. mvp-comment-295-1 Editors have raised the question whether the award of the arms and the death of Ajax are supposed to precede or follow the arrival of Neoptolemus at Troy. But the Greek drama is not careful of such minute adjustments of time, especially in what the audience know to be a fictitious tale. The true story about Ajax in relation to the arms was not suited for Neoptolemus' purpose. The supposition which best suits the context is that, according to Neoptolemus, the award of the arms took place immediately after the funeral of Achilles, while he, the chief mourner, was still absorbed in his grief; and that the death of Ajax is not connected by him with the arms at all.

415. mvp-comment-296-1 νόει κεῖνον ὡς μηκέτ' ὄντα ἐν φάει] μή, because of the subjective meaning of νόει.

417. mvp-comment-297-1 'Nor the son whom Laertes bought of Sisyphus.' (The other reading, Λαερτίου, would mean, Laertes' son whom he bought from Sisyphus.' But the two genitives are here extremely improbable).

421-422. mvp-comment-298-1 τί δ᾽ ὃς.. ἔστιν] ‘But what of him who was an old man, and a good man, and a friend of mine, Nestor the Pylian? Is he yet alive?' ὃς has been much questioned, but appears sound.

422-423. mvp-comment-299-1 Here the question is raised, whether Philoctetes had been at all at Troy. But this point also is ἔξω τοῦ μυθεύματος, and is not necessarily determined by the poet. Philoctetes had been long enough with the host, at Tenedos or elsewhere, to know the characteristics of the chief men.

424. mvp-comment-300-1 κεῖνός γε ‘Ay, he.' γε gives a modified assent to the meaning of the question.

425. mvp-comment-301-1 The words ὅσπερ ἦν γόνος, '(The son whom he had') are slightly wanting in point, but they are commended by their simplicity, and no thoroughly satisfactory alternative has been proposed. The Scholiast mentions μόνος as having been read for γόνος. But although this reading, ὅσπερ ἦν μόνος, 'His only son,' affords a possible context (supposing the ellipse of υἱός), it involves (as the Scholiast felt) too great a departure from the common tradition, according to which Nestor had other sons remaining when Antilochus was no more. The conjectures most deserving mention are ὃς παρῆν γόνος, Herm. ('His son who was with him,') ὃς παρῆν μόνος, Musgr., and ὃς παρῆν πόνοις, Arndt., ('Who supported him in toils of war').

426. mvp-comment-302-1 δύ᾽ αὕτως δείν᾽ ἔλεξας] (1) In those few words (αὕτως), you have told me a twofold calamity, (affecting those) of whom, etc.' Or, (2) 'In those few words you tell me sad news of two, of whose misfortune, etc.' (δεινά being cognate and almost adverbial, as if it were δεινῶς ἔχοντε). The alternative reading, δύ' αὖ τώδ' ἐξέδειξας (inferred by Porson from the Scholia, see v. rr.), although more plausible than some others recorded by the διορθωτής of L, is not really better. It is slightly improved upon by Prof. Jebb and Mr. Blaydes, who propose to read, δύ᾽ αὖ τώδ᾽ ἄνδρ᾽ ἔλεξας: (the letters erased after δεὶν' in L. were said by Dübner to be ἄν).-It has been commonly assumed that Ajax and Antilochus are the persons meant. But line 415 is too remote to allow of this, whether αὕτως or αὖ τώδ' is the reading chosen. The meaning is that the death of Antilochus is a twofold calamity, destroying the life of one good man (Antilochus) and the happiness of another (Nestor). But οἵδε in l. 428 infr. includes not only Ajax and Antilochus, but also Achilles. The doubt remains, whether δεινά is not too strong a word for the connection. (Qu. δύ᾽ αὐτ᾿ ἀλγείν᾽ ἔλεξας?)

427. mvp-comment-303-1 For ὀλωλότοιν, including Nestor's desolation, cp. Aj. 896, El. 674.

428. mvp-comment-304-1 τί δῆτα δεῖ σκοπεῖν] i. e. ποῖ βλέπωμεν εἰς σωτηρίαν; Το what must we look, when Providence so manifestly fails us?' Cp. Ant. 922, 3, τί χρή με τὴν δύστηνον εἰς θεοὺς ἔτι | βλέπειν; Ο. Τ. 964, El. 924, 5, τἀκείνου δέ σοι | σωτήρι ἔρρει· μηδὲν εἰς κεῖνών γ᾽ ὅρα. Ὀδυσσεὺς δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ] But Odysseus, on the contrary, is alive.'

429. mvp-comment-305-1 κἀνταῦθ᾽] 'And in such a juncture of affairs.' The crisis implied in the narrative of Neoptolemus (viz. the exigency which led to his being brought from Scyros) required that the mischievous Odysseus should be replaced by better men. Philoctetes again involuntarily shows his interest in the success of the army. Hermann's way of joining the words, Ulysses is found to be alive, as in other emergencies, so again in this,' is not satisfactory. Nor is there any real ground for his objection to Buttmann's rendering of αὖ, - Av si, ut Buttmanno videtur, ex altera parte significaret, deberet statim post Ὀδυσσεύς positum esse. As if there were not also an antithesis between τεθνᾶσιν and ἔστιν! The notion of Odysseus always turning up at critical moments, as lively as ever, is pleasant enough, but αὖ should have something to refer to, and ἵνα must be correlative to ἐνταῦθα, and cannot mean 'whereas.'

430. mvp-comment-306-1 αὐτόν = eum, not ipsum, though with a certain emphasis. αὐδᾶσθαι indicates the desire of Philoctetes to hear of Odysseus' death.

431-432. mvp-comment-307-1 Neoptolemus says this to humour Philoctetes, and encourage him to hope that his wish may be some day realized. But to the audience the words also suggest an anticipation of the complications which follow.

433. mvp-comment-308-1 γάρ is used with conversational freedom. ποῦ . . ἐνταῦθα] 'Where, then, in the circumstances which you describe?'

436. mvp-comment-309-1 τοῦτ᾽] 'This truth: i. e. the general truth of which these facts are instances. πόλεμος, κ.τ.λ.] This, like the preceding τί δεῖ σκοπεῖν, is a bit of commonplace pessimism. Cp. Aesch. Fr. 94, ἀλλ᾿ ῎Αρης φιλεῖ | ἀεὶ τὰ λῷστα πάντα τἀνθρώπων στρατοῦ: Soph. fr. 652, ῎Αρης γὰρ οὐδὲν τῶν κακῶν *λωτίζεται. ἑκὼν αἱρεῖ = φιλεῖ αἱρεῖν.

438. mvp-comment-310-1 κατ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο] ‘In connection with this very point,' viz. Your observation that the bad survive.

439. mvp-comment-311-1 ἀναξίου .. φωτός] Sc. πέρι. For this genitive, see E. on L. § 8. p. 13, 3. ἀναξίου = οὐδενὸς ἀξίου.

440. mvp-comment-312-1 τί= πῶς : cp. Εl. 1424, πῶς κυρεῖτε, E. on L. § 22. p. 36.

441. mvp-comment-313-1 'Ay? Who may that be, if you can mean any one but Odysseus?' The syntax of the previous sentence is continued. E. on L. § 35. p. 60.

442. mvp-comment-314-1 οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον] In the spirit of ll. 64, 5, supr. Neoptolemus professes to be impatient of the very name of Odysseus. Cp. infr. 1400, 1.

442-444. mvp-comment-315-1 'I meant not him. But there was one Thersites, who would never be content with speaking once, where all cried, Silence.' This, like supr. 348, 9, is a strong instance of ironical indirectness of expression. For ὅπου μηδεὶς ἐψη, cp. esp. Plat. Symp. 175 Β, ἐπειδάν τις ὑμῖν μὴ ἐφεστήκῃ. Also Aj. 1184, κἂν μηδεὶς ἐᾷ, 'Though all say, You shall not.'

443. mvp-comment-316-1 ἂν εἴλετο is a singular instance of ἄν with the aor. ' of custom.' Cp. the curious use of the imperfect with ἄν, Ant. 260, κἂν ἐγίγνετο | πληγὴτελευτῶσ᾽, and note. Dobree conjectured ἀνείχετ'.

445. mvp-comment-317-1 αὐτόν] Burges conjectured αὐτός. ἔτ᾿ ὄντα νιν] The Scholiast, whose account agrees in the main with that of Quintus Smyrnaeus (1. 741, foll.), finds here another departure from the Epic tradition, according to which Thersites had been killed by Achilles with a blow of his fist.

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ἔοικα κἀγὼ τοῖς ἀφιγμένοις ἴσα ξένοις ἐποικτείρειν σε, Ποίαντος τέκνον.

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ΝΕ. ἐγὼ δὲ καὐτὸς τοῖσδε μάρτυς ἐν λόγοις λόγοισ λόγοις, ὡς εἴσ᾿ ἀληθεῖς ἀληθεῖς ἀληθεῖς οἶδα, συντυχὼν κακῶν 320 ἀνδρῶν ᾿Ατρειδῶν τῆς τ᾿ Οδυσσέως βίας.

ΦΙ. ἢ γάρ τι καὶ σὺ τοῖς πανωλέθροις ἔχεις ἔγκλημ᾽ ᾿Ατρείδαις ᾿Ατρείδ(..) ᾿Ατρείδαις, ὥστε θυμοῦσθαι παθών;

ΝΕ. *θυμὸν γένοιτο *χειρὶ θυμῷ.. χεῖρα πληρῶσαί ποτε, ἵν αἱ Μυκῆναι γνοῖεν ἡ Σπάρτη θ᾽ ὅτι 325 χή Σκῦρος ἀνδρῶν ἀλκίμων μήτηρ ἔφυ.

ΦΙ. εὖ γ᾽, ὦ τέκνον· τίνος γὰρ ὧδε τὸν μέγαν χόλον κατ᾿ αὐτῶν καυτῶν κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλῶν ἐλήλυθας;

ΝΕ. ὦ παῖ Ποίαντος, ἐξερῶ ἐξερῶ ἐξερῶ, μόλις δ᾽ ἐρῶ, ἅγωγ᾽ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐξελωβήθην μολών. 330 ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔσχε μοῖρ᾽ ᾿Αχιλλέα θανεῖν,

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΦΙ. οἴμοι· φράσῃς μοι μὴ πέρα, πρὶν ἂν μάθω πρῶτον τόδ᾽· ἢ εἰ ή τέθνηχ᾽ ὁ Πηλέως γόνος;

ΝΕ. τέθνηκεν, ἀνδρὸς οὐδενός, θεοῦ δ᾽ ὕπο, τοξευτός, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἐκ Φοίβου δαμείς. 335

ΦΙ. ἀλλ᾽ εὐγενὴς ευγενὴς μὲν ὁ κτανών τε χώ θανών. ἀμηχανῶ δὲ πότερον, ὦ τέκνον, τὸ σὸν πάθημ᾽ ἐλέγχω πρῶτον, ἢ κεῖνον στένω.

ΝΕ. οἶμαι μὲν ἀρκεῖν σοί γε καὶ τὰ σ᾽, ὦ τάλας, ἀλγήμαθ᾽, ὥστε μὴ τὰ τῶν πέλας στένειν. 340

ΦΙ. ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας. τοιγαροῦν τοιγὰροῦν τὸ σὸν φράσον αὖθις πάλιν μοι πρᾶγμ᾽, ὅτῳ σ᾽ ἐνύβρισαν.

ΝΕ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΧΟ. στρ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙ.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τι τοῦτο θαῦμ᾽ ἔμοιγ', ἀλλ᾽ εἰ παρὼν Αίας ὁ μείζων ταῦθ᾽ ὁρῶν ἠνείχετο,

ΝΕ. οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν, ὦ ξén· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε ζῶντός γ'᾽ ἐκείνου ταῦτ᾽ ἐσυλήθην ἐγώ.

ΦΙ. πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλ᾽ om. ἀλλ' ἡ χοὗτος οἴχεται οἴχεται θανών; 410

ΝΕ. ὡς μηκέτ᾽ ὄντα κεῖνον ἐν φάει νόει.

ΦΙ. οἴμοι τάλας. ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὁ Τυδέως γόνος οὐδ᾽ οὑμπολητὸς οὐδ᾽ ὁ ᾿μπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ Λαερτίου Λαρτίου Λαερτίῳ, οὐ μὴ θάνωσι. τούσδε γὰр μὴ ζῆν ἔδει.

ΝΕ. οὐ δῆτ᾽· ἐπίστω ἐπίστω τοῦτό γ· ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγα 415 θάλλοντές εἰσι νῦν ἐν ᾿Αργείων ἀργείωι ἀργειών στρατῷ.

ΦΙ. τί δ᾽ ὃς ὁ ὃ ὁς ὃs παλαιὸς κἀγαθὸς φίλος τ᾿ ἐμός,

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

Νέστωρ ὁ Πύλιος, ἔστιν πύλιόσ ἐστιν? οὗτος γὰρ τά γε κείνων κάκ᾽ ἐξήρυκε κἀξεκήρυξε, βουλεύων σοφά σοφῶς.

ΝΕ. κεῖνός γε πράσσει νῦν κακῶς, ἐπεὶ θανὼν 420 ᾿Αντίλοχος αὐτῷ φροῦδος ὅσπερ ἦν γόνος.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΝΕ. σοφὸς παλαιστὴς κεῖνος, ἀλλὰ χαί σοφαὶ γνῶμαι, Φιλοκτῆτ᾽, ἐμποδίζονται θαμά.

ΦΙ. φέρ᾽ εἰπὲ πρὸς θεῶν, ποῦ γὰρ ἦν ἐνταῦθά σοι Πάτροκλος, ὅς σοι πατρὸς ἦν τὰ φίλτατα; 430

ΝΕ.

ποίου γε τούτου πλήν γ' Ὀδυσσέως ἐρεῖς;

ΦΙ. οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον, ἀλλὰ Θερσίτης τις ἦν, ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἴλετ᾽ εἰσάπαξ εἰσάπαξ εἰπεῖν, ὅπου μηδεὶς ἐῴη ἐὼν ἐώη ? ἐψη· τοῦτον οἶσθ᾽ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ; 440

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΝΕ. οὐκ εἶδον αὐτόν, ἠσθόμην δ᾽ ἔτ᾽ δέ τ' δ᾽ ἔτ' ὄντα νιν.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΦΙ. ἤδη, τέκνον, στέλλεσθε στέλεσθε στέλλεσθε?

NE. καιρὸς γὰρ καλεῖ πλοῦν μὴ ἐξ ἀπόπτου μᾶλλον ἢ ἐγγύθεν σκοπεῖν.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙ.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΧΟ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΦΙ.

ΝΕ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΧΟ. ἀντ.

ΝΕ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΧΟ. ἥκιστα. τοῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπως ποτ᾽ εἰς ἐμὲ 515 τοὔνειδος ἕξεις ἕξεις ἔξεις ἐνδίκως ὀνειδίσαι.

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ΧΟ. ἐπίσχετον, μάθωμεν. ἄνδρε γὰρ δύο δύω, ὁ μὲν νεὼς νεὼ νεὼς σῆς ναυβάτης, ὁ δ᾽ ἀλλόθρους, χωρεῖτον, ὧν μαθόντες αὖθις αὖτις αὖθις εἴσιτον.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΝΕ.

Νεοπτόλεμος οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν, ὦ ξένʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε ζῶντός γʼ ἐκείνου ταῦτʼ ἐσυλήθην ἐγώ.

Φιλοκτήτης πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλʼ ἦ χοὖτος οἴχεται θανών;

ἔοικα κἀγὼ τοῖς ἀφιγμένοις ἴσα

ξένοις ἐποικτείρειν σε, Ποίαντος τέκνον.

ΦΙ.

ἢ γάρ τι καὶ σὺ τοῖς πανωλέθροις ἔχεις

ἔγκλημ᾽ ᾿Ατρείδαις ᾿Ατρείδ(..) ᾿Ατρείδαις, ὥστε θυμοῦσθαι παθών;

ΝΕ.

θυμὸν γένοιτο χειρὶ θυμῷ.. χεῖρα πληρῶσαί ποτε,

ἵν αἱ Μυκῆναι γνοῖεν ἡ Σπάρτη θ᾽ ὅτι
325

χή Σκῦρος ἀνδρῶν ἀλκίμων μήτηρ ἔφυ.

ΦΙ.

εὖ γ᾽, ὦ τέκνον· τίνος γὰρ ὧδε τὸν μέγαν

χόλον κατ᾿ αὐτῶν καυτῶν κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλῶν ἐλήλυθας;

ΝΕ.

ὦ παῖ Ποίαντος, ἐξερῶ ἐξερῶ ἐξερῶ, μόλις δ᾽ ἐρῶ,

ἅγωγ᾽ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐξελωβήθην μολών.
330

ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔσχε μοῖρ᾽ ᾿Αχιλλέα θανεῖν,

ΦΙ.

οἴμοι· φράσῃς μοι μὴ πέρα, πρὶν ἂν μάθω

πρῶτον τόδ᾽· ἢ εἰ ή τέθνηχ᾽ ὁ Πηλέως γόνος;

ΝΕ.

τέθνηκεν, ἀνδρὸς οὐδενός, θεοῦ δ᾽ ὕπο,

τοξευτός, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἐκ Φοίβου δαμείς.
335

ΦΙ.

ἀλλ᾽ εὐγενὴς ευγενὴς μὲν ὁ κτανών τε χώ θανών.

ἀμηχανῶ δὲ πότερον, ὦ τέκνον, τὸ σὸν

πάθημ᾽ ἐλέγχω πρῶτον, ἢ κεῖνον στένω.

ΝΕ.

οἶμαι μὲν ἀρκεῖν σοί γε καὶ τὰ σ᾽, ὦ τάλας,

ἀλγήμαθ᾽, ὥστε μὴ τὰ τῶν πέλας στένειν.
340

ΦΙ.

ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας. τοιγαροῦν τοιγὰροῦν τὸ σὸν φράσον

αὖθις πάλιν μοι πρᾶγμ᾽, ὅτῳ σ᾽ ἐνύβρισαν.

ΧΟ.
στρ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τι τοῦτο θαῦμ᾽ ἔμοιγ', ἀλλ᾽ εἰ παρὼν

Αίας ὁ μείζων ταῦθ᾽ ὁρῶν ἠνείχετο,

ΝΕ.

οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν, ὦ ξén· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε

ζῶντός γ'᾽ ἐκείνου ταῦτ᾽ ἐσυλήθην ἐγώ.

ΦΙ.

πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλ᾽ om. ἀλλ' ἡ χοὗτος οἴχεται οἴχεται θανών;
410

ΝΕ.

ὡς μηκέτ᾽ ὄντα κεῖνον ἐν φάει νόει.

ΝΕ.

οὐ δῆτ᾽· ἐπίστω ἐπίστω τοῦτό γ· ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγα
415

θάλλοντές εἰσι νῦν ἐν ᾿Αργείων ἀργείωι ἀργειών στρατῷ.

ΦΙ.

τί δ᾽ ὃς ὁ ὃ ὁς ὃs παλαιὸς κἀγαθὸς φίλος τ᾿ ἐμός,

Νέστωρ ὁ Πύλιος, ἔστιν πύλιόσ ἐστιν? οὗτος γὰρ τά γε

κείνων κάκ᾽ ἐξήρυκε κἀξεκήρυξε, βουλεύων σοφά σοφῶς.

ΝΕ.

κεῖνός γε πράσσει νῦν κακῶς, ἐπεὶ θανὼν
420

᾿Αντίλοχος αὐτῷ φροῦδος ὅσπερ ἦν γόνος.

ΝΕ.

σοφὸς παλαιστὴς κεῖνος, ἀλλὰ χαί σοφαὶ

γνῶμαι, Φιλοκτῆτ᾽, ἐμποδίζονται θαμά.

ΦΙ.

φέρ᾽ εἰπὲ πρὸς θεῶν, ποῦ γὰρ ἦν ἐνταῦθά σοι

Πάτροκλος, ὅς σοι πατρὸς ἦν τὰ φίλτατα;
430

ΦΙ.

οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον, ἀλλὰ Θερσίτης τις ἦν,

ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἴλετ᾽ εἰσάπαξ εἰσάπαξ εἰπεῖν, ὅπου

μηδεὶς ἐῴη ἐὼν ἐώη ? ἐψη· τοῦτον οἶσθ᾽ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ;
440

ΝΕ.

οὐκ εἶδον αὐτόν, ἠσθόμην δ᾽ ἔτ᾽ δέ τ' δ᾽ ἔτ' ὄντα νιν.

ΦΙ.

ἤδη, τέκνον, στέλλεσθε στέλεσθε στέλλεσθε?

NE.

καιρὸς γὰρ καλεῖ

πλοῦν μὴ ἐξ ἀπόπτου μᾶλλον ἢ ἐγγύθεν σκοπεῖν.

ΧΟ.
ἀντ.

ΧΟ.

ἥκιστα. τοῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπως ποτ᾽ εἰς ἐμὲ
515

τοὔνειδος ἕξεις ἕξεις ἔξεις ἐνδίκως ὀνειδίσαι.

ΧΟ.

ἐπίσχετον, μάθωμεν. ἄνδρε γὰρ δύο δύω,

ὁ μὲν νεὼς νεὼ νεὼς σῆς ναυβάτης, ὁ δ᾽ ἀλλόθρους,

χωρεῖτον, ὧν μαθόντες αὖθις αὖτις αὖθις εἴσιτον.

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν, ὦ ξένʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε

ζῶντός γʼ ἐκείνου ταῦτʼ ἐσυλήθην ἐγώ.

Φιλοκτήτης

πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλʼ ἦ χοὖτος οἴχεται θανών;

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὡς μηκέτʼ ὄντα κεῖνον ἐν φάει νόει.
415

Φιλοκτήτης

οἴμοι τάλας. ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὁ Τυδέως γόνος

οὐδʼ οὑμπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ,

οὐ μὴ θάνωσι· τούσδε γὰρ μὴ ζῆν ἔδει.

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐ δῆτʼ· ἐπίστω τοῦτό γʼ· ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγα

θάλλοντές εἰσι νῦν ἐν Ἀργείων στρατῷ.
420

Φιλοκτήτης

τί δʼ; οὐ παλαιὸς κἀγαθὸς φίλος τʼ ἐμός,

Νέστωρ ὁ Πύλιος, ἔστιν; οὗτος γὰρ τά γε

κείνων κάκʼ ἐξήρυκε, βουλεύων σοφά.

Νεοπτόλεμος

κεῖνός γε πράσσει νῦν κακῶς, ἐπεὶ θανὼν

Ἀντίλοχος αὐτῷ φροῦδος, ὃς παρῆν, γόνος.
425

Νεοπτόλεμος

σοφὸς παλαιστὴς κεῖνος· ἀλλὰ χαἰ σοφαὶ

γνῶμαι, Φιλοκτῆτʼ, ἐμποδίζονται θαμά.

Φιλοκτήτης

φέρʼ εἰπὲ πρὸς θεῶν, ποῦ γὰρ ἦν ἐνταῦθά σοι

Πάτροκλος, ὃς σοῦ πατρὸς ἦν τὰ φίλτατα;

Νεοπτόλεμος

χοὖτος τεθνηκὼς ἦν· λόγῳ δέ σʼ ἐν βραχεῖ
435

τοῦτʼ ἐκδιδάξω· πόλεμος οὐδένʼ ἄνδρʼ ἑκὼν

αἱρεῖ πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς χρηστοὺς ἀεί.

Φιλοκτήτης

ξυμμαρτυρῶ σοι· καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτό γε

ἀναξίου μὲν φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι,

γλώσσῃ δὲ δεινοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ, τί νῦν κυρεῖ.
440

Νεοπτόλεμος

ποίου δὲ τούτου πλήν γʼ Ὀδυσσέως ἐρεῖς;

Φιλοκτήτης

οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον, ἀλλὰ Θερσίτης τις ἦν,

ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἵλετʼ εἰσάπαξ εἰπεῖν, ὅπου

μηδεὶς ἐῴη· τοῦτον οἶσθʼ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ;

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκ εἶδον αὐτόν, ᾐσθόμην δʼ ἔτʼ ὄντα νιν.
445

Φιλοκτήτης

ἤδη, τέκνον, στέλλεσθε;

Νεοπτόλεμος

καιρὸς γὰρ καλεῖ

πλοῦν μὴ ʼξ ἀπόπτου μᾶλλον ἢ ʼγγύθεν σκοπεῖν.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὅρα σὺ μὴ νῦν μέν τις εὐχερὴς παρῇς,

ὅταν δὲ πλησθῇς τῆς νόσου ξυνουσίᾳ,
520

τότʼ οὐκέθʼ αὑτὸς τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις φανῇς.

Χορός

ἥκιστα· τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅπως ποτʼ εἰς ἐμὲ

τοὔνειδος ἕξεις ἐνδίκως ὀνειδίσαι.

Χορός

ἐπίσχετον, μάθωμεν· ἄνδρε γὰρ δύο,

ὁ μὲν νεὼς σῆς ναυβάτης, ὁ δʼ ἀλλόθρους,
540

χωρεῖτον, ὧν μαθόντες αὖθις εἴσιτον.

Ἔμπορος

φροῦδοι διώκοντές σε ναυτικῷ στόλῳ

Φοῖνιξ ὁ πρέσβυς οἵ τε Θησέως κόροι.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὡς ἐκ βίας μʼ ἄξοντες ἢ λόγοις πάλιν;

Ἔμπορος

οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἀκούσας δʼ ἄγγελος πάρειμί σοι.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ἦ ταῦτα δὴ Φοῖνίξ τε χοἰ ξυνναυβάται
565

οὕτω καθʼ ὁρμὴν δρῶσιν Ἀτρειδῶν χάριν;

Ἔμπορος

ὡς ταῦτʼ ἐπίστω δρώμενʼ, οὐ μέλλοντʼ ἔτι.

Νεοπτόλεμος

πῶς οὖν Ὀδυσσεὺς πρὸς τάδʼ οὐκ αὐτάγγελος

πλεῖν ἦν ἕτοιμος; ἢ φόβος τις εἶργέ νιν;

Ἔμπορος

κεῖνός γʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλον ἄνδρʼ ὁ Τυδέως τε παῖς
570

ἔστελλον, ἡνίκʼ ἐξανηγόμην ἐγώ.

Νεοπτόλεμος

πρὸς ποῖον αὖ τόνδʼ αὐτὸς Οὑδυσσεὺς ἔπλει;

Ἔμπορος

ἦν δή τις—ἀλλὰ τόνδε μοι πρῶτον φράσον

τίς ἐστίν· ἃν λέγῃς δὲ μὴ φώνει μέγα.

Νεοπτόλεμος

ὅδʼ ἔσθʼ ὁ κλεινός σοι Φιλοκτήτης, ξένε.
575

Ἔμπορος

μή νύν μʼ ἔρῃ τὰ πλείονʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅσον τάχος

ἔκπλει σεαυτὸν ξυλλαβὼν ἐκ τῆσδε γῆς.

Φιλοκτήτης

τί φησιν, ὦ παῖ; τί με κατὰ σκότον ποτὲ

διεμπολᾷ λόγοισι πρός σʼ ὁ ναυβάτης;

Νεοπτόλεμος

οὐκ οἶδά πω τί φησι· δεῖ δʼ αὐτὸν λέγειν
580

εἰς φῶς ὃ λέξει, πρὸς σὲ κἀμὲ τούσδε τε.