Sophocles Philoctetes 239

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Philoctetes
{They seize him. 1004
Manacled ! O hands !
How helpless are you now ! those arms, which once
Protected, thus torn from you ! [To Ulys«es.
1005
Thou abandoned,
Thou shameless wretch ! from whom nor truth nor
justice,
Naught that becomes the generous mind, can flow,
How hast thou used me ! how betrayed ! Suborned
This stranger, this poor youth, who, worthier far
1010
To be my friend than thine, was only here
Thy instrument ; he knew not what he did,
And now, thou seest, repents him of the crime
Which brought such guilt on him, such woes on me.
But thy foul soul, which from its dai-k recess
Trembling looks forth, beheld him void of art,
1015
Unwilling as he wms, instructed him.
And made him soon a master in deceit.
I am thy prisoner now ; e'en now thou meanst
To drag me hence, from this unhappy shore.
Where first thy malice left me, a poor exile,
Deserted, fiiendless, and though living, dead
To all mankind. Perish the vile betrayer !
1020
Oh ! I have cursed thee often, but the gods
Life and its joys are thine, whilst I, unhapjiy,
Am but the scorn of thee, and the Atiidie,
Thy haughty masters. Fraud and force compelled
thee.
Or thou hadst never sailed with them to Troy.
1025
I lent my willing aid ; with seven brave ships
I ploughed the main to serve them. In return
They cast me forth, disgraced me, left me here.
Thou sayst they did it ; they impute the crime
To thee. And what will you do with me now ?
And whither must I go ? What end, what purpose
1030
Could urge thee to it ? I am nothing, lost
And dead already. Wherefore — tell me, wherefore ?-
Am I not still the same detested burthen.
Disturb your holy rites ? If I am with you
How can you make libations ? That was once
Your vile j^retence for inhumanity.
1035
Oh ! may you perish for the deed ! The gods
Will grant it sure, if justice be their care —
And that it is I know. You had not left
Your native soil to seek a wretch like me
Had not some impulse from the powers above.
Spite of yourselves, ordained it. O my country !
1040
And you, O gods ! who look upon this deed,
Punish, in pity to me, punish all
The guilty band ! Could I behold them perish,
My wounds were nothing ; that would heal them all.

Philoctetes. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.

Current edition Experimental

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 239 focus
ἐγὼ γένος μέν εἰμι τῆς περιρρύτου περιρρύτου
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 219-390 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 239 focus
ODYSSEUS
Enter ODYSSEUS .
What art thou doing, knave?
Give me that bow, and haste thee back again.
975
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 254 focus
Weh mir, dem vielgequälten, gottverhaßten Mann,
Von dessen Leide nicht ein Ruf nach Hause, noch
Sonst irgend hin gedrungen im Hellenenland!
250
Und jene, die mich frevelnd ausgeworfen hier,
Hohulachen mein im Stillen: doch in voller Kraft
Blüht meine Krankheit, und gewinnt an Stärke ſtets.
Kind, Achillens, eines edlen Vaters, Sohn!
Ich, wisse, bin derselbe, den dir wohl der Ruf
255
Als den genannt hat, der Herakles' Wehr empfing,
Bin Philoktetes, Pöas' Sohn, den jene zwei
Heerfürsten und der Kephallenenkönig einst 1
Schmachvoll in diese Wüste warfen, weil an ihm
Die grimme Krankheit zehrte, seit der wilde Biß
260
Der mordbewehrten Natter ihn verwundete.
Mit ihr, o Jüngling, haben sie mich ausgesezt,
Mich einsam hier gelassen, als der Schiffe Zug
Von Chryse's Meereilande sich hieher gewandt.
Da froh gewahrend, wie ich matt vom Meergetos
265
Am Strande schlief im wohlgewölbten Felsenhaus,
Entfloh'n sie treulos, ließen wenig Lumpen mir,
Wie einem Bettler, und der Kost armseligen
Bedarf zurück: o werde Gleiches ihnen auch!
Doch welch Erwachen dünkt es dir, zu welchem ich
270
Nach ihrem Abzug aus dem Schlaf erstand, o Kind?
Wie bitter weint' ich? Wie beklagt' ich meine Noth?
Ich sah die Schiffe, welche mich hieher geführt,
All' abgezogen, keinen Mann am Orte mehr,
Nicht Einen, der mir hülse, der mich Leidenden
275
In meiner Qual erquickte: ringsum späht' ich nach;
Doch nichts entdeckt' ich überall, als Sammer nur;
Und dessen fand ich eine große Fülle, Kind.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 239 focus
Ulysses
It was my deed, I own it, mine alone.
980
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 219-390 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-549-1 ὦ χεῖρες 1

mvp-comment-549-2 ἐν χρείᾳ 2

mvp-comment-549-3 συνθηρώμεναι 3

mvp-comment-550-1 ὦ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς … φρονῶν 4

mvp-comment-550-2 μηδὲν ὑγιές 5

mvp-comment-550-3 ἐλεύθερον 6

mvp-comment-551-1 οἷ’ αὖ μ’ ὑπῆλθες 7

mvp-comment-551-2 ὑπῆλθες 8

mvp-comment-552-1 πρόβλημα 9

mvp-comment-553-1 ἀνάξιον μὲν σοῦ 10 σοῦ 11

mvp-comment-553-2 οὐδὲν ᾔδει πλὴν 12

mvp-comment-554-1 καὶ νῦν 13

mvp-comment-554-2 οἷς 14

mvp-comment-555-1 διὰ μυχῶν βλέπους’ 15

mvp-comment-555-2 ἀφυᾶ 16 ‐εα 17 ε 18 ‐εᾶ 19 ι 20 υ 21 ‐ιᾶ 22 ‐λῆ; ‐υᾶ 23 ‐υῆ 24 ᾶ 25 ῆ 26

mvp-comment-555-3 προὐδίδαξεν 27

mvp-comment-556-1 συνδήσας 28 ἄγειν 29

mvp-comment-556-2 προὐβάλου 30

mvp-comment-556-3 ἄπολιν 31

mvp-comment-557-1 θεοὶ 32

mvp-comment-557-2 1022 ff. Seyffert puts a comma after ζῶ 33 σὺν κακοῖς πολλοῖς 34 γελώμενος 35 σὺν κακοῖς πολλοῖς 36 ζῶ 37 σὺν κακοῖς πολλοῖς 38 ζῶ 39

mvp-comment-557-3 τῶν Ἀτρέως … στρατηγῶν 40

mvp-comment-558-1 κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγεὶς 41 ζυγεὶς 42

mvp-comment-559-1 ἑπτὰ ναυσὶ 43

mvp-comment-560-1 ἔβαλον 44 ὡς σὺ φής 45

mvp-comment-561-1 ἄγετε 46 ἀπάγεσθε 47

mvp-comment-561-2 οὐδέν εἰμι 48 τέθνηχ’ ὑμῖν 49

mvp-comment-562-1 σοι 50

mvp-comment-562-2 δυσώδης 51

mvp-comment-562-3 πῶς … ἔξεσθ’, ὁμοῦ 52 πῶς … εὔξεσθ’, ἐμοῦ 53 εὔξεσθ’ 54 εὔξεσθ’ 55 ἔξεσθ’ 56 ὁμοῦ 57 ἐμοῦ 58 εὔξεσθ’ ἐμοῦ 59 ἔξεστ’ ἐμοῦ 60 ἔξεσθ’ ὁμοῦ 61 θ’ 62 θεοῖς 63

mvp-comment-562-4 Against ἔξεσθ’ 64

mvp-comment-563-1 ὄλοισθ)· ὀλεῖσθε δ’ 65

mvp-comment-564-1 μέλει γ’ 66

mvp-comment-564-2 ἐπεὶ οὔποτ’ 67 ἀνδρὸς ἀθλίου 68

mvp-comment-564-3 1039 For the place of τι 69

mvp-comment-564-4 κέντρον … ἐμοῦ 70

mvp-comment-565-1 θεοί τ’ ἐπόψιοι 71

mvp-comment-565-2 Thus the invocation of πατρῴα γῆ 72 ἐπόψιοι 73

mvp-comment-566-1 τείσασθε 74

mvp-comment-566-2 ἀλλὰ τῷ χρόνῳ 75

mvp-comment-567-1 κἄμ’ 76

mvp-comment-568-1 τῆς vόσου 77

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

1005. mvp-comment-698-1 ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε] 'Odysseus,' said with bitter emphasis. Cp. supr. 376, εἰ τἀμὰ κεῖνος ὅπλ᾽ ἀφαιρήσοιτό με. συνθηρώμεναι is at once 'caught' and 'bound.'

1007. mvp-comment-699-1 οἷ᾽ αὖ] This seems a more probable correction of οἷα than οἷον, which, though found in some MSS., may have arisen from a gloss. *αὖ] 'Again,' as you did ten years ago, when you took advantage of me sleeping; supr. 271 foll.

1008. mvp-comment-700-1 πρόβλημα σαυτοῦ] ‘As your stalking-horse.' πρόβλημα is in apposition to παῖδα. For προβάλλεσθαι, as a word of blame, cp. Thuc. 1. 37, τὸ εὐπρεπὲς ἄσπονδον . . προβέβληνται.

1009. mvp-comment-701-1 ἀνάξιον.. ἐμοῦ] 'Who does not deserve to be thy minister, but well deserves to be my friend.'

1012. mvp-comment-702-1 For the dative after ἀλγεινῶς φέρων = ἀχθόμενος, see Essay on L. § 14. p. 21, and § 36. p. 64.

1013. mvp-comment-703-1 διὰ μυχῶν βλέπουσ᾽] This is differently explained, (1) 'Spying into hidden places' (so Musgrave, who compares Philo J. 2. p. 78, τὸν ἀεὶ βλέποντα καὶ τὰ ἐν μυχοῖς τῆς διανοίας). For this cp. Αj. 11, καί σ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴσω τῆσδε παπταίνειν πύλης | ἔτ᾽ ἔργον ἐστίν. Or (2) 'Spying out of hiding holes' ('per latebras prospiciens,' Schndw.). The latter (2) is preferable. For the point here is, not that Philoctetes was hidden in his cave, but that Odysseus himself keeps out of sight, while he watches the proceedings of Neoptolemus. This also gives a better meaning. ‘By διά is meant looking through the intervening darkness.' (Paley.) Cp. Aj. 381, κακοπινέστατόν τ᾿ ἄλημα στρατοῦ: ib. 390, and note.

1014. mvp-comment-704-1 ἀφυῆ] ‘Unapt,' sc. πρὸς τὸ τοιοῦτὸν τι ποιεῖν: or, as Seyffert puts it, ἐπὶ τὸ σοφὸν εἶναι ἐν κακοῖς. Cp. supr. 79, 80, ἔξοιδα καὶ φύσει σε μὴ πεφυκότα τοιαῦτα φωνεῖν, μηδὲ τεχνᾶσθαι κακά.

1015. mvp-comment-705-1 προὐδίδαξεν] ‘Has instructed him.' Cp. supr. 538, προϋμαθον, and note.

1016. mvp-comment-706-1 δύστηνε] Cp. Aj. 1290, δύστηνε, ποῖ βλέπων ποτ' αὐτὰ καὶ θροεῖς; συνδήσας agrees with the subject of ἄγειν. The intention here mentioned is spoken of in the more passionate phrase, supr. 979, as a finished act; cp. Aj. 1126, δίκαια γὰρ τόνδ᾽ εὐτυχεῖν κτείναντά με;

1017. mvp-comment-707-1 ἀκτῆς] Supr. 1, 272. προὐβάλου] • You contrived to cast me forth.' The (subjective) middle throws on Odysseus the prime responsibility of the act.

1018. mvp-comment-708-1 ἄπολιν] 'Outcast.' Cp. the Homeric ἀφρήτωρ, ἀθέμιστος, ἀνέστιος. ἐν ζῶσιν νεκρόν] 'Among the living, but not alive.'

1019. mvp-comment-709-1 καί] 'And indeed.' For the stress on καί, cp. Εl. 597 ( ὡς τὴν μητέρα | κακοστομοῦμεν.) καί σ᾽ ἔγωγε δεσπότιν | ἢ μητέρ᾽ οὐκ ἔλασσον εἰς ἡμᾶς νέμω. Philoctetes adds this, not correcting himself, but as feeling painfully the impotence of his curse.

1022. mvp-comment-710-1 τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό is cognate accusative, expressing the cause. The pronoun refers both to ζῶν preceding, and to ὅτι following. Cp. supr. 797, Ant. 463, 4, ὅστις γὰρ ἐν πολλοῖσιν ὡς ἐγὼ κακοῖς | ζῇ, πῶς ὅδ᾽ οὐχὶ κατθανὼν κέρδος φέρει;

1025. mvp-comment-711-1 κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγείς] 'Through being kidnapped, and bound under compulsion.' Cp. supr. 73, and note. For the metaphor in ζυγείς, cp. Αj. 24, κἀγὼ ᾿θελοντὴς τῷδ᾽ ὑπεζύγην πόνῳ.

1027. mvp-comment-712-1 ἑπτὰ ναυσί] ΙΙ. 2. 718, τῶν δὲ Φιλοκτήτης ἦρχεν, τόξων εὖ εἰδώς, ἑπτὰ νεῶν.

1028. mvp-comment-713-1 ἄτιμον ἔβαλον] ‘Flung away dishonoured.' For the use of the simple verb = ἐξέβαλον, see E. on L. § 55. p. 101, 4. κεῖνοι δὲ σέ] Sc. ἐκβαλεῖν μέ φασιν. Dindorf wrongly quotes ἔκβαλον as the reading of L.

1029. mvp-comment-714-1 'And now why take me, why force me away?' For the repetition and redundancy, cp. supr. 236. and note. ἀπάγειν is the word for taking a criminal to execution, and the middle voice conveys more of personal feeling. ( Cp. supr. 613.) The agitation of Philoctetes is again marked by two tribrachs following each other. Cp. supr. 932.

1030. mvp-comment-715-1 τέθνηχ᾽ ὑμῖν] Cp. O. C. 1366, ἢ τὰν οὐκ ἂν ἢ τὸ σὸν μέρος. And for the dative, ib. 444, φυγάς σφιν ἔξω πτωχὸς ἠλώμην ἀεί.

1032-1033. mvp-comment-716-1 πῶς θεοῖς εὔξεσθ' . . ἔτι] 'How shall ye declare to Heaven that ye will sacrifice or pour libation to the gods any more?' εὔχεσθαι is properly to say aloud in presence of a god, and so (a) 'To pray,' (b) 'To vow,' (c) 'To glory.' Here the meaning is somewhere between (c) and (b), 'To vaunt' and 'To promise.' Cp. Eur. Alc. 334, where eὔχομαι is, 'I thankfully profess.' θεοῖς is (a) dative after εὔξεσθε, (b) in a secondary construction with the infinitives αἴθειν ἱερά and σπένδειν. 'How shall ye vaunt before the gods that ye will burn sacrifice to them, or make drink-offerings?' There is no ground whatever for suspecting the reading.

1034. mvp-comment-717-1 αὕτη .. ἐμέ] Cp. supr. 8. It may be observed that Philoctetes here knows what he had not suspected at the time described by him, supr. 271. ἐκβαλεῖν] Sc. ὥστε ἐκβαλεῖν. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 62.

1039. mvp-comment-718-1 εἰ μή τι .. ἐμοῦ] 'Were ye not pricked to it by some divine power reminding you of me.' κέντρον is (a) literally, 'The prick of a goad.' (b) metaphorically, 'A sharp thought' ( θεῖον, ‘implanted by a god'); in which sense ἐμοῦ is joined to it as an objective genitive. The religious feeling of these lines is very similar to Oed. Col. 96-105. Philoctetes' hope in the gods, which at supr. 1020 had sunk very low, is revived by the reflection that some Divine Providence must have caused the wish for his return to Troy. But he appeals only in the first instance to the gods of his fatherland, and to the gods of vengeance. The θεοὶ ἐπόψιοι are either (1) the Ερινύες. Cp. Aj. 835, 6, τὰς ἀεί τε παρθένους | ἀεί θ᾽ ὁρώσας πάντα τὰν βροτοῖς πάθη Or (2), as elsewhere, Zeus and Apollo. Cp. Εl. 175, Ζεύς, ὃς ἐφορᾷ πάντα καὶ κρατύνει.

1042. mvp-comment-719-1 κἄμ᾽] καί belongs to the verb. Cp. Ant. 280, παῦσαι, πρὶν ὀργῆς κἀμὲ μεστῶσαι λέγων, and note.

1044. mvp-comment-720-1 τῆς νόσου] Sc. ἐκ. See Essay on L. § 8. p. 11. Cp. Od. 1. 18, πεφυγμένος ἦεν ἀέθλων: Ant. 488, 9, οὐκ ἀλύξετον | μόρου κακίστου. For the relief afforded by vengeance, cp. Εl. 939, τῆς νῦν παρούσης πημονῆς λύσεις βάρος: ib. 1489, 90, ὡς ἐμοὶ τύδ᾽ ἂν κακῶν | μόνον γένοιτο τῶν πάλαι λυτήριον.