Sophocles Philoctetes 78

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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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. 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)) — 78 focus
ὅπως γενήσει τῶν γενηισι . στὼν γενήσηι τῶν ἀνικήτων ὅπλων.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 135-217 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 78 focus
NEO
Methinks thou hast thyself enough to mourn,
Without the burden of another’s woe.
340
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 86 focus
Was immer ich nicht ohne Grauen hören kann,
Sohn Laertens, dieses hass' ich auch zu thun.
Denn nicht geschaffen bin ich, traun, für Hinterlist,
So wenig, als es (sagen sie) mein Vater war. 1
Ich bin bereit, ihn wegzuführen mit Gewalt,
90
Doch nie mit Arglist; denn mit Einem Fuße wird
Er uns, so Viele, nimmerdar bewältigen.
Zwar dir ein Helfer zog ich aus und möchte nicht
Verräther heißen; aber lieber wünsch' ich mir
Der edlen That Mißlingen, als unedlen Sieg.
95
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 78 focus
Neoptolemus
He, stranger, was no more; for had he lived,
I had not of my arms been plunder'd thus.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 135-215 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-228-1 ὡς μηκέτ’ ὄντα 1

mvp-comment-229-1 οἴμοι τάλας 2 ἀλλ’ οὐχ 3

mvp-comment-230-1 οὑμπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ 4

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 5

mvp-comment-231-1 ἔδει 6

mvp-comment-232-1 καὶ μέγα θάλλοντες 7

mvp-comment-233-1 τί δ’ 8 ὠ 9 οὐ 10 αὖ 11 οὐ 12 τί δ’ 13 τί δ’ ὃς 14 ὃς 15 ὁ 16

mvp-comment-233-2 παλαιός 17 καί … τε 18

mvp-comment-233-3 τά γε κείνων κακά 19 γε 20

mvp-comment-233-4 ἐξήρυκε 21

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

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.

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).