1ff.
mvp-comment-1-1
Odysseus and Neoptolemus with one attendant (infr. 45) enter from the spectators' left. The scene represents a rocky place, with a mountain in the background.
1.
mvp-comment-2-1
᾿Ακτὴ . . Λήμνου] 'This coast belongs to Lemnos, that wave-surrounded land.' μέν opposes the preliminary statement to what follows, especially ἀλλά, κ.τ.λ., in ll. 11 ff.
2.
mvp-comment-3-1
βροτοῖς . . οἰκουμένη] The intention of this line is to mark the complete solitude of Philoctetes: and from the same motive no mention of any inhabitants of Lemnos is made throughout the play. But it is improbable (see Introd. p. 363) that Sophocles meant to speak of Lemnos as an entirely desert island, and the language here does not imply so much. It appears from 1001, 2 that the scene, although below the cave, is considerably above the sea.
3-11.
mvp-comment-4-1
Odysseus, who knows the nature of Neoptolemus, approaches the subject cautiously, addressing him with the honourable title which appeals most to his ambition, and putting forward promptly the reasons or excuses for his own previous act, (1) as commanded by authority, (2) as required by the necessity for quiet in the army when religious ceremonies were performed.
3-4.
mvp-comment-5-1
τραφείς] The slight periphrasis, by which τραφείς is substituted for γεγώς may or may not convey an allusion to the nurture of Neoptolemus in Scyros while Achilles was at Troy. Cp. Il. 19. 326, ἠὲ τὸν ὃς Σκυρῷ μοι ἐνὶ τρέφεται φίλος υἷος: infr. 243, θρέμμα Λυκομήδους.
4.
mvp-comment-6-1
Νεοπτόλεμε] Νεοπτόλεμε.
5.
mvp-comment-7-1
Odysseus thus suggests his own example to Neoptolemus.
11.
mvp-comment-8-1
μέν opposes ταῦτα, κ.τ.λ. to ἀλλ᾽ ἔργον, κ.τ.λ. in l. 15.
12.
mvp-comment-9-1
ἀκμὴ . . λόγων] ‘For now is the time not for many words.' For the sudden introduction of the negative. cp. infr. 961, ὄλοιο μήπω, κ.τ.λ. It is no time for nice consideration of the past. The present crisis must be practically met. Thus Odysseus obviates further discussion.
13.
mvp-comment-10-1
μὴ καί] Cp. infr. 46, and see Essay on L. § 25. p. 40. κἀκχέω] · And so I lose.' For καί implying consequence, cp. infr. 286, 490, 1061. ἐκχεῖν signifies the sudden loss by inadvertence of something held in store. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 824-6, μηδέ τις . . ἄλλων ἐρασθεὶς ὄλβον ἐκχέῃ μέγαν, (ἐκχέω is aor.).
15.
mvp-comment-11-1
τὰ λοίφ᾽ ὑπηρετεῖν] Το serve' (infr. 53) 'in what remains.'
16.
mvp-comment-12-1
ὅπου . . ἐνταῦθα] ‘At what point hereabouts.' Odysseus has a vivid recollection of the place. But the cave and its adjacent spring are not immediately visible.
17.
mvp-comment-13-1
ἡλίου . . ἐνθάκησις] ‘On both sides one may sit in the sun.' ἡλίου ἐνθάκησις = θάκησις ἐν ἡλίῳ, Essay on L. § 9. p. 11. For the use of ἥλιος = ' Sunshine,' cp. Plat. Phaed. 116 E, ἔτι ἥλιον εἶναι ἐπὶ τοῖς ὄρεσιν.
18-19.
mvp-comment-14-1
ἐν θέρει ... πνοή] 'And in summertime the breeze wafts slumber through the pervious cell.'
21.
mvp-comment-15-1
εἴπερ ἐστὶ σῶν] ‘If it be not destroyed; '-explaining the uncertainty implied in τάχ᾽ ἄν.
22.
mvp-comment-16-1
The comparison of Aj. 1101 and other places where there is elision shows that l. 23 need not have been suspected because of the apparent breach of the rule about the cretic ending. But ἔχει is difficult and the force of ye is not obvious. It is also doubted whether the subject of ἔχει is Philoctetes, or the cave and spring. The first agrees better with what follows in ll. 29-40, the other with the previous context, ll. 16 foll. Either (1) making Philoctetes the subject, we may render, Whereto, I pray thee, silently go near, and let me know concerning them, whether he still keeps to this very same spot, or is gone somewhere else:'- γε emphasizing the expansion of ἐνταῦθα (l. 16) in the words χῶρον πρὸς αὐτὸν τόνδε, ‘At this very place where we are.' Elmsley conjectured τώνδ' ἔτ'. Or, (2) making the antecedent of ἃ the subject of ἔχει, 'Go near, I pray thee silently, and let me know respecting these things, whether they are, as I imagine (ye), just in this direction, or he is' (or (3) 'they are') 'elsewhere.' For ἔχει in (1) cp. Il. 13. 679, ἀλλ᾿ ἔχεν, ἢ τὰ πρῶτα πύλας καὶ τεῖχος ἐσᾶλτο: Ο. C. 1169, σχὲς οὗπερ εἶ: Xen. An. 5: for ἔχει in (2) cp. Hdt. 2. 17, ἡ δὲ ἑτέρη τῶν ὁδῶν πρὸς ἑσπέρην ἔχει. Proposed alterations of this difficult place are (α) ἐκεῖ for ἔχει, conjectured by Canter and finally approved by Hermann, 'Whether they are yonder (where you stand), even close to this very spot.' But the conjunction of ἐκεῖ with τόνδε is harsh, and the accusative after πρός requires a different verb from κυρεῖ: (b) χῶρον τὸν αὐτόν, conjectured by Blaydes, giving the same sense as the first of the above renderings.
23-25.
mvp-comment-17-1
γ']
om.
εἴτ']
ἤτ᾿
εἴτ'
κλύῃς]
κλύοις That I may intimate and you may hear, what yet remains to be spoken of, and our proceeding may be in concert. *ἴῃ] This reading is implied in the Scholiast's explanation προβαίνοι.
26.
mvp-comment-18-1
τοὔργον οὐ μακρὰν λέγεις] 'The task you speak of requires no long journey,' i. e. I have not far to go to do your will. μακράν, sc. περανθησόμενον. Essay on L. § 24. p. 49.
28.
mvp-comment-19-1
ἄνωθεν] Sc. φαινόμενον. Neoptolemus is clambering amongst the rocks. Odysseus asks if he sees the cave above him or beneath. It is above him. He listens for a footfall, and when all is silent, at the suggestion of Odysseus, ventures to climb further and look in. The reply of Odysseus in l. 30 exactly suits the text of l. 29, to which needless exception has been taken. In l. 22, according to the interpretation we have preferred, Neoptolemus was told to ascertain whether Philoctetes still inhabited the cave. One sign of his doing so is wanting. No footsteps can be heard. στίβος occurs several times in the Philoctetes in the sense of 'walking;' see especially 157, 207. στίβου . . τύπος, the reading of L'TAº, was accepted by Hermann; and Bergk, supposing it necessary that some positive sign of Philoctetes' presence should be at once discovered, ingeniously conjectured καὶ στίβου γ' οὔδει τύπος.
30.
mvp-comment-20-1
ὅρα .. κυρῇ] 'See whether he be not within and asleep.' For καταυλισθείς some MSS. give κατακλιθείς, a natural variation.
31.
mvp-comment-21-1
Cp. Aj. 464, γυμνὸν . . τῶν ἀριστείων ἄτερ.
32.
mvp-comment-22-1
οὐδ᾽.. τροφή] 'But is there not within it some of the provision that makes a home?' Hermann rightly explains τροφή, 'Utensilia quibus locus aliquis in modum domus instruitur.' Others conjectured τρυφή, the irony of which would be misplaced; others ἐστ' ἐπιστροφή. For uses of τροφή in Sophocles, see Essay on L. § 50, 1. p. 94. Cp. also Plat. Polit. 288 E-299 B.
33.
mvp-comment-23-1
στιπτὴ . . τῳ] (1) 'Yes, there is leafage pressed as by one inhabiting here.' For the dative, see Essay on L. § 14. pp. 19, 20. Or, (2) Yes, a couch of leaves pressed down as if for some one who takes his rest in the place.' (1) is best.
35.
mvp-comment-24-1
αὐτόξυλον] 'Of mere unpolished wood.'
36.
mvp-comment-25-1
τεχνήματ'] (Cp. Eur. Hipp. 11, Πιτθέως παιδεύματα.) The contrivance.' Cp. infr. 295, ἐμηχανώμην. There is a slight oxymoron in φλαυρουργοῦ ἀνδ. τεχνήμ., 'The skill of one unskilled.' πυρεῖα are the means of lighting a fire. Some embers were left covered up (cp. θησαύρισμα), or Neoptolemus sees the stones mentioned infr. l. 296, with sticks to be kindled from them.
37.
mvp-comment-26-1
σημαίνεις τόδε] ‘In telling me of this hoard, you give me a token of his presence.'
38.
mvp-comment-27-1
ἰού, ἰού] An exclamation of discovery mixed with dislike. Ср. О. Т. 1071, 1182. ἄλλα] ‘Besides.' See Essay on L. § 23, δ. ρ. 39. θάλπεται] 'Are being warmed or dried in the sun.'
39.
mvp-comment-28-1
βαρείας] 'Grievous,' with the implied notion of 'offensive,' 'repulsive.' νοσηλεία is properly 'attendance on disease,' and v. πλ. means not simply full of purulence, but 'infected through ministration to some grievous sore.' Cp. infr. 520, ὅταν δὲ πλησθῇς τῆς νόσον ξυνουσία.
41.
mvp-comment-29-1
που] (1) 'Somewhere.' Cp. infr. 163: or, (2) 'Methinks.'
42.
mvp-comment-30-1
κηρί] Misfortune, viz. that which befell him at Chrysa. προσβαίη] · Advance.' This use of προσβαίνω, without a dative or an accusative with a preposition, is rare. But the adverb μακράν helps to supplement the expression.
43.
mvp-comment-31-1
ἐπὶ φορβῆς νόστον] (1) ‘For the purpose of a return with food;' i. e. To bring home provender. Or, (2) φορβῆς νόστον may mean, as the Scholiast thought, simply a foraging expedition. Cp. Eur. I. A. 966, 1261. (Parallels from Euripides are more pertinent to the Philoctetes and O. C. than to other plays of Sophocles.)
43-44.
mvp-comment-32-1
ἢ εἰ.. που] Sc. ἐκεῖσε ἐξελήλυθεν.
45.
mvp-comment-33-1
Hereupon the one attendant, the Έμπορος of 542 foll., withdraws to a distance, and Odysseus and Neoptolemus are left alone. For τὸν παρόντα, cp. Εl. 424, τοῦ παρόντος, ἡνίχ᾽ Ἠλίῳ | δείκνυσι τοὔναρ.
47.
mvp-comment-34-1
ἕλοιτό
ἕλοιτο
ἕλοιτό
λαβεῖν
μολεῖν ἕλοιτό μ] It is unnecessary to read ἔλοιτ᾽ ἔμ', although this is suggested by the first hand of L. The meaning is, He would rather get me than the whole Argive host into his hands.' μᾶλλον ἕλοιτο is an imperfect expression for βούλοιτο ἑλεῖν. See E. on L. § 36. p. 63. That is to say, the meaning 'choose' is suggested, while the other meaning, 'Take for his own,' is chiefly meant. Hence λαβεῖν is added with the second clause for the sake of clearness.
48.
mvp-comment-35-1
φυλάξεται στίβος] 'The approach (of Philoctetes) shall be watched.' φυλάξεται is fut. mid. with passive meaning. Οη στίβos, see above, note on l. 28.
49.
mvp-comment-36-1
Χρήζεις] Sc. γενέσθαι. δευτέρῳ λόγῳ] 'Renewing thy discourse,' according to the promise in 24, 25. Gedike conjectured ἐλευθέρῳ λ.
50-54.
mvp-comment-37-1
τῷ σώματι follows γενναῖος εἶναι, κατὰ σύνεσιν, as if it were ὑπουργεῖν, for which it has been substituted as more pleasing. ἤν is equivalent to κἄν (see Essay on L. § 28. p. 47). Nauck thinks that ὑπηρέτης is too low a word for the position of Neoptolemus, who only acknowledges himself to have been sent as ξυνεργάτης to Odysseus (l.93). But ὑπηρέτης is applied by Xenophon to officers in attendance on a general as aides-de-camp, and Odysseus may think it necessary at the end of his speech to assert his authority in its full strength, adding fortiter to suaviter. Neoptolemus shows his sense of this in the brief question τί δῆτ᾽ ἄνωγας?
55.
mvp-comment-38-1
λόγοισιν . . λέγων] The pleonasm helps to emphasize the unwelcome lesson that words and not deeds are required of Neoptolemus. Cp. infr. 90, 1. 'You must wrest to your purpose, by deceitful words, the mind of Philoctetes.' Neoptolemus is to wind himself into the very soul of Philoctetes and deceive him there.
56.
mvp-comment-39-1
ὅταν . . παῖς] These words are in apposition to ὅπως . . λέγων.
57.
mvp-comment-40-1
τόδ᾽ οὐχὶ κλεπτέον] ‘This is not to be dissembled.' κλέπτειν is repeated in a slightly different sense. The change to κρυπτέον, proposed by some edd., is unnecessary.
58.
mvp-comment-41-1
πλεῖς] Sc. ὡς φήσεις λέγων. Odysseus puts before Neoptolemus the situation which he is to assume. This is more vivid than πλεῖν, which in some edd. has been substituted for πλεῖς as more grammatical. But cp. Trach. 1137, δρᾷ, and note. The whole speech is purposely cast in an easy conversational style. Cp. λέγων, infr. 64. Hence also the frequent asyndeta, 56, 72, 79. πλεῖς ὡς πρὸς οἶκον] ‘Your voyage is homeward-bound.' For ὡs, cp. Thuc. 5.3, περιέπλει τὸν᾿ Αθων ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αμφίπολιν : Trach. 532, ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἐξόδῳ.
59.
mvp-comment-42-1
ἔχθος ἐχθήρας μέγα] For the effect to be produced by this part of the lie, cp. infr. 322 foll., 403 foll.
60.
mvp-comment-43-1
οἵ] The antecedent (αὐτούς) is suppressed, as elsewhere, in expressing indignation. Cp. esp. O. C. 263 foll., οἵτινες βάθρων, κ.τ.λ. ἐν λιταῖς] For ἐν of the instrument, see Essay on L. § 19. p. 28, and cp. ἐν δόλῳ, infr. 103. 'Ita ut vis adducendi in precibus sita esset,' Dind.
61.
mvp-comment-44-1
μόνην] Essay on L. § 51. p. 96. 'Having no way but this for taking Troy.'
62.
mvp-comment-45-1
οὐκ ἠξίωσαν.. αἰτουμένῳ] 'Refused to grace thee with Achilles' arms, or give them to thee, when thou didst come to Troy and claim them with full right.' 'Conflata oratio ex duabus locutionibus, una οὐκ ἠξίωσάν σε τῶν ᾿Αχιλλείων ὅπλων, et altera, οὐκ ἠξίωσάν σοι δοῦναι τὰ ὅπλα.' (Herm.) The imperfect expression is supplemented by epexegesis. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 67. For κυρίως, cp. Αj. 734, τοῖς κυρίοις γὰρ πάντα χρὴ δηλοῦν λόγον.
64.
mvp-comment-46-1
Ὀδυσσεῖ] The name, so hateful to Philoctetes, must not be omitted. παρέδοσαν] ‘Gave away. On comparing infr. 399, it appears that παρά in composition has here the special meaning of 'wrongly,' as in παραγιγνώσκειν. λέγων] λέγειν in l. 57 was equivalent to an imperative, and parallel to ὅπως ἐκκλέψεις, supr. λέγων agrees with the general subject of these verbs. For the detached participle, cp. Ο. Τ. 1289, τὸν μητρός, αὐδῶν ἀνόσι᾽ οὐδὲ ῥητά μοι.
65.
mvp-comment-47-1
ἡμῶν = ἐμοῦ.
66.
mvp-comment-48-1
τούτων.. οὐδέν] In nought of this.' Sc. λέγων or ποιῶν. Cp. infr. 1021, 2, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀλγύνομαι | τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό, where the accusative similarly expresses the cause.
66-67.
mvp-comment-49-1
For μή emphatically postponed, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. βαλεῖς = προσβαλεῖς. See Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 4, and cp. Eur. Phoen. 1535, σκότον ὄμμασι βαλών.
69.
mvp-comment-50-1
σοί] This (σοί, not σοι) is the reading of L., and agrees with the emphatic pleading of Odysseus.
71.
mvp-comment-51-1
πιστή] «With mutual confidence.' βέβαιος] Without danger.'
72-74.
mvp-comment-52-1
Odysseus anticipates the reproaches which Philoctetes would cast on him; which would be inapplicable to Neoptolemus, as he had not made one of the original expedition.
72.
mvp-comment-53-1
πέπλευκας] πλεῖν is used here and elsewhere without further definition to denote the voyage to Troy. ἔνορκος] All those chiefs who took part in the war at its commencement had been bound to each other by an oath: Aj. 1113. Odysseus, in casting Philoctetes forth, was therefore guilty of perjury against him.
73.
mvp-comment-54-1
For ἐξ ἀνάγκης, cp. infr. 1025, 6, καίτοι σὺ μὲν κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγεὶς ἔπλεις ἅμ᾽ αὐτοῖς: Aesch. Ag. 841.
74.
mvp-comment-55-1
οὐδέν
οὐδέν
77.
mvp-comment-56-1
αὐτὸ τοῦτο] This very point is to be gained by craft,' viz. that suggested in the words τόξων ἐγκρατής.
78.
mvp-comment-57-1
κλοπεύς] This word has no such mean associations as κλέπτης; and ἀνικήτων, which follows, is calculated to stir Neoptolemus' ambition.
79.
mvp-comment-58-1
ἔξοιδα καί] 'I am well aware.' καί, which Linwood rightly defends, has a reassuring emphasis. • In urging this on you, I know all the while.' Cp. Thuc. 8. 91, ἦν δέ τι καὶ τοιοῦτον ἀπὸ τῶν τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐχόντων, καὶ οὐ πάνυ διαβολὴ μόνον τοῦ λόγου, and 5. 43, ᾧ ἐδόκει μὲν καὶ ἄμεινον εἶναι. The same idiomatic use occurs in Electra 1251, ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ', where see note. The conjectures, παῖ, μέν, δή, τοι are unnecessary; but if a change were required, ἔξοιδά τοι would be the most probable emendation. For the meaning of 79, 80, cp. infr. 88, 9, Il. 9. 312, where Achilles says, ἐχθρὸς γάρ μοι κεῖνος ὁμῶς ᾿Αΐδαο πύλησιν, κ.τ.λ.
81.
mvp-comment-59-1
ἀλλ᾽ ἡδὺ λαβεῖν] The construction is analogous to that so frequent with χρήμα, e.g. Eur. Andr. 181, ἐπίφθονόν τι χρῆμα θηλειῶν ἔφυ. - (Sc. τὸ τῆς νίκης, or the genitive of definition takes the place of the nominative ἡ νίκη.) λαβεῖν is added to define ἡδύ. γάρ τοι (see v. rr.) is plausible, but cp. Eur. l. c.
82.
mvp-comment-60-1
ἐκφανούμεθα] i. e. Our justice shall shine forth, as from a passing cloud. αὖθις, 'another day.'
83.
mvp-comment-61-1
εἰς ἀναιδές] 'To shamelessness.' For the abstract neuter without the article, cp. Plat. Gorg. 504 C, ταῖς μὲν τοῦ σώματος τάξεσιν ὄνομα εἶναι ὑγιεινόν.. ταῖς δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τάξεσι.. νόμιμόν τε καὶ νόμος: Thuc. 5. 18. § 4, δικαίῳ χρήσθων καὶ ὅρκοις.
86.
mvp-comment-62-1
κλύων] (1) i. e. ὀνειδιζόμενος. So Musgrave. This agrees well with κέκλησο, supr., -' I hate to be called false, and I hate to act falsely.' (2) Others take the words to mean, 'As I hate to hear lies told, so I hate to tell them;' or (3) As it irks me to be practised on with lies, so I hate to practise them."
87.
mvp-comment-63-1
τούσδε .. στυγῶ] 'I abhor the same in action.' τούσδε sc. τοὺς λόγους. For λόγος, implying πρᾶξις, cp.eg. Trach. 78, τὸν λόγον γὰρ ἁγνός: ib. 250, 1, τοῦ λόγου.. Ζεὺς ὅτου πράκτωρ φανῇ. And for the expressed antecedent, cp. Ant. 463, 4, ὅστις γὰρ ἐν πολλοῖσιν, ὡς ἐγὼ, κακοῖς ζῇ, πῶς ὅδ' οὐχὶ κατθανὼν κέρδος φέρει;
88.
mvp-comment-64-1
ἔφυν.. πράσσειν] 'It is not in my nature to do anything through base artifice.'
89.
mvp-comment-65-1
οὔτ᾽ αὐτός, κ.τ.λ.] For this frequent form of expression, cp. especially Plat. Prot. 324 B. ἵνα μὴ αὖθις ἀδικήσῃ μήτε αὐτὸς μήτε ἄλλος ὁ τοῦτον ἰδών.
91.
mvp-comment-66-1
δόλοισιν] Οdysseus, supr. 55, had said λόγοισιν. Neoptolemus is more plain-spoken. ἐξ ἑνὸς ποδός] 'With only one foot to rely on.' Neoptolemus argues a fortiori. Philoctetes is not only one against many, but a lame man against strong men.
92.
mvp-comment-67-1
τοσούσδε] i. e. not only the three who have advanced, but the whole crew. Infr. 549, 50.
93-94.
mvp-comment-68-1
'It is true indeed that having been sent to be your adjutant I shrink from the imputation of disloyalty, but I would rather, my lord, offend in acting nobly than basely win.'
94.
mvp-comment-69-1
προδότης καλεῖσθαι] 'To be accused of treason towards the Argives who have sent me to assist you). Cp. infr. 1250, ΟΔ. στρατὸν δ' Ἀχαιῶν οὐ φοβεῖ, πρασσων τάδε; ΝΕ. σὺν τῷ δικαίῳ τὸν σὸν οὐ ταρβῶ φόβον. καλεῖσθαι] Cp. supr. 85, κέκλησο: infr. 119, κεκλῇς: Trach. 453, 4. ὡς ἐλευθέρῳ ψευδεῖ καλεῖσθαι κὴρ πρόσεστιν οὐ καλή. The Greek sensitiveness to praise and blame is perceptible in this idiom.
95.
mvp-comment-70-1
ἐξαμαρτεῖν] (1) To fail: opposed to νικᾶν; or (2) To be in the wrong' = προδότης καλεῖσθαι. Cp. Ant. 1024, κοινόν ἐστι τοὐξαμαρτάνειν. νικᾶν κακῶς] To win a base victory;' i.e. v. κακῶς δρῶν.
96.
mvp-comment-71-1
ἐσθλοῦ πατρὸς παῖ] Cp supr. 3. 89.
98.
mvp-comment-72-1
εἰς ἔλεγχον ἐξιὼν] i e. in proving the world, and bringing words and actions to the test of experience.
98-99.
mvp-comment-73-1
ὁρῶ ... ἡγουμένην] I find that wherever mortals are concerned words and not actions have always the chief influence.' βροτοῖς is dative of reference not βροτοὺς ἡγουμένην = Leading mankind').
100.
mvp-comment-74-1
τί οὖν . . λέγειν] Neoptolemus says curtly, I see you want me to tell a lie: have you any further commands?' He is indignant; but his curiosity is awakened. Cp. Ant. 497, θέλεις τι μεῖζον ἢ κατακτεῖναί μ᾽ ἑλών.
101.
mvp-comment-75-1
λέγω σ] 'I repeat that you must.' λέγω resumes the force of ἄνωγας. Odysseus repeats his first command.
104.
mvp-comment-76-1
Join οὕτως with δεινόν. ἰσχύος θράσος] · Boldness consisting in strength; i.e. an emboldening strength. Cp. Thuc. 5. 14, οὐκ ἔχοντες τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς ῥώμης πιστὴν ἔτι.
106.
mvp-comment-77-1
θρασύ] i. e. θαρσάλεον, ἄνευ φόβου. Cp. Pind. Nem. 7. 50, θρασύ μοι τόδ' εἰπεῖν,
110.
mvp-comment-78-1
πῶς.. βλέπων] 'With what countenance?' i. e. How shall I look him in the face while saying it? Cp. О. Т. 1371, ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὄμμασιν ποίοις βλέπων, κ.τ.λ. λακεῖν] This is a more curious, but also a more forcible reading than λαλεῖν, expressing Neoptolemus' abhorrence of the sound of a lie.
112.
mvp-comment-79-1
There is a certain inconsistency (as Cavallin remarks) in Neoptolemus' ignorance of that which in l.69 Odysseus had mentioned as well known. We must imagine him to have been passive hitherto, and only now to have his attention roused to the object that is to work on his ambition. This makes the change of mind in him more conceivable.
113-115.
mvp-comment-80-1
Odysseus speaks of the bow, but not of Philoctetes' share in the victory.
116.
mvp-comment-81-1
οὖν, the Triclinian reading, is possibly right. Some change from the reading of L is necessary. Hermann read, as in the text, θηρατέ᾽ ἄν, explaining the second ἄν as belonging to εἴπερ, κ.τ.λ., -in other words, as emphasizing Neoptolemus' hesitation and doubtfulness.
117.
mvp-comment-82-1
δύο .. δωρήματα] Cp. El. 1088, δύο φέρειν ἐν ἑνὶ λόγῳ, σόφα τ' ἀρίστα τε παῖς κεκλῆσθαι.
119.
mvp-comment-83-1
αὑτός] This seems better here than αὐτός, ‘In your own person.' But cp. Ο. Τ. 458, ἀδελφὸς αὐτὸς καὶ πατήρ, i. e. Your taking Troy will be a proof of bravery, and your having first obtained the bow, of wisdom.
122.
mvp-comment-84-1
Neoptolemus makes the decision with sudden impulsiveness, and having once taken his course, continues it with apparent firmness to infr. 810.
125.
mvp-comment-85-1
τὸν σκοπόν] The attendant who has been set to watch for Philoctetes, supr. 45. This guard is no longer necessary when Odysseus withdraws.
126-127.
mvp-comment-86-1
ἐάν μοι.. κατασχολάζειν] If I find at all that you are wasting time.' τοῦ χρόνου τι is put by λιτότης for τὸν χρόνον ας τούτων τι for ταῦτα in Ant. 35, and κατασχολάζειν is used actively like other compounds of κατά, e.g. καταρ γυροῦν, κατοκνεῖν, καταστασιάζειν, καταυλεῖν, καταστρατηγεῖν, κατασιωπᾶν, καταληρεῖν, κατακερδαίνειν, καταδαπανᾶν.
128-129.
mvp-comment-87-1
ναυκλήρου τρόποις .. προσῇ] Having craftily disguised him after the fashion of a sea-captain, that he may not be known.' Cp. El. 654, Trach. 350.
130.
mvp-comment-88-1
From whose mouth, my son, I pray thee, as he utters cunningly-devised words, thou shalt be ready to take whatever in his speech from time to time is profitable.' 'The genitive οὗ is (a) genitive after δέχου, (b) after λόγων, (c) genitive absolute. αὐδᾶσθαι is mid. not passive here and in Aj. 772. δέχεσθαι implies attentive expectation.
132.
mvp-comment-89-1
σοὶ παρεὶς τάδε] · Leaving matters here under thy charge.'
133.
mvp-comment-90-1
'But may secret Hermes,' (1) 'the conductor,' or (2), 'who speeds us hither, be our good guide, and Athena, protectress of cities, goddess of Victory, she who is evermore my saviour.' Cp. Od. 13. 300, ἥτε τοι αἰὲν | ἐν πάντεσσι πόνοισι παρίσταμαι ἠδὲ φυλάσσω: Αj. 14 foll., ib. 34, 5, πάντα γὰρ .. σῇ κυβερνῶμαι χερί. For Νίκη ᾿Αθάνα, cp. Eur. Ion 1529. The goddess of cities is rightly invoked by Odysseus, whose motive is the public good. For the general meaning of ὁ πέμπων = ὁ πομπός, in (1), see Essay on L. § 32. p. 55, 4.
135-218.
mvp-comment-91-1
We have here a commatic parados (cp. El., O. C.), in which Neoptolemus responds in anapaests to lyric measures chanted apparently by single members of the Chorus, as they take their places in the orchestra. Their entrance must be subsequent to l. 134, for the conversation in ll. 50 foll. would lose its effect if Odysseus and Philoctetes were not alone. The anapaests of Neoptolemus and l. 161, chanted by the coryphaeus, accompany movements of the Chorus, who at l. 169 have already taken up their position. The metres of the lyric part are as follows:- α΄. Glyc. β'. Glyc. γ. Glyc. It is evident that the lyric strains were accompanied with gesticulation, especially in στρ. and ἀντ. γ'. The fact that the Chorus at entering have some knowledge of that which has just been made known upon the stage, is not a sufficient reason for supposing them to have been present during any part of the previous scene. Similarly, in the O. T. the Chorus have been gathered by the news of the arrival of Creon from Delphi, which happens in the midst of the prologos, l. 87; and in the Ajax, the mariners speak of the slanders of Ulysses, which could only be disseminated after his exit. It is best, therefore, to suppose, as above, that the Chorus enter as usual after the prologos, and that the first strophe is begun as soon as they are well within hearing of the stage. The whole passage is meant to interest the spectator in Philoctetes, and to prepare for the effect to be produced by his entrance, infr. 219. Cp. Aj. 201-332.
135.
mvp-comment-92-1
The correction of this line by Triclinius has been retained by most editors.
136.
mvp-comment-93-1
στέγειν] 'To keep close.' Cp. Ο. Τ. 341, κἂν ἐγὼ σιγῇ στέγω. πρὸς ἄνδρ᾽
ὑπόπταν
ἁποπταν] 'In my intercourse with one who is full of suspicion.' They feel that he must have been made so by ill-treatment and solitude.
138.
mvp-comment-94-1
τέχνα . . ἀνάσσεται] ‘For the skill and wisdom of him who holds the sceptre divine given by Zeus surpasses that of another.' Cp. O. T. 380, καὶ τέχνη τέχνης | ὑπερφέρουσα: ib. 398, γνώμῃ κυρήσας, where τέχνη and γνώμη are used of practical wisdom. The reading γνώμας is probably due to an interlinear explanation of γνώμα.
139.
mvp-comment-95-1
γνώμα]
γνώμασ
γνώμας
γνώμα παρ᾿ ὅτῳ] Sc. παρ' ἐκείνῳ, παρ᾿ ᾧ (or simply ᾧ).
140.
mvp-comment-96-1
For σκῆπτρον
ἀνάσσεται
ἀνά·::· σσεται
ἀνάσσεται, cp. Ο. C. 449, σκῆπτρα κραίνειν. The expression Διὸς σκῆπτρον recalls the monarchical feeling of heroic times.
141.
mvp-comment-97-1
σὲ δ᾽ ὦ Wunder and others have conjectured σοί, which agrees better with the antistrophe (l. 156); but the Attic accusative is more expressive = Hath descended on thee,' viz. through the death of Achilles. τόδ'.. ὠγύγιον] This absolute power with immemorial right.'
142.
mvp-comment-98-1
πᾶν is intensive, as often in composition: cp. πᾶσα ἀνάγκη, and similar expressions. See especially Plat. Legg. 6. 762 C, ἢ πάσης τινὸς ἀνάγκης ἐμπεσούσης. ὠγύγιον is attributive, not predicative. See Essay on L. § 23. p. 38. τό] 'Wherefore.' Epicè. Cp. Il. 17. 404, τό μιν οὔποτε ἔλπετο θυμῷ | τεθνάμεν. See Essay on L. § 21. 3, p. 32.
ἔννεπε]
ἔννεπε(ν?)
ἔννεπε
