Sophocles Philoctetes 1402

Richard Jebb (Translator)

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Philoctetes. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1898.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Philoctetes (English) (Sophocles the plays and fragments, Part 4: The Philoctetes. Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, Sir, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1898. (Modernized by Perseus.))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1402 focus
εἰ δοκεῖ, στείχωμεν στίχωμεν στείχωμεν στείχω μὲν.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1402 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1402 focus
Hard is my fortune, then, if by no sleight
Of reasoning I can draw thee to my mind.
For me, ’twere easiest to end speech, that thou
Might’st live on as thou livest in hopeless pain.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1402 focus
Sohn, du sprachst ein edles Wort.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1402 focus
What 's to be done ?
Since I can ne'er persuade thee, I submit ;
Live on in misery.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1402 focus
What can I do, since all that I can urge
Moves not thy mind? An easier part remains,
To urge my plea no more, but let thee live,
As now thou livest, thy disease unheal'd.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-748-1 εἰ δοκεῖ, στείχωμεν 1 στείχωμεν 2

mvp-comment-748-2 A reference to the critical note will show how unsatisfactory have been the attempts to alter the words, ὦ γενναῖον εἰρηκὼς ἔπος 3 εἰ δοκεῖ 4

mvp-comment-748-3 But the real difficulty in Porson's view arises from a consideration of the whole context. The transition from iambic to trochaic metre marks, as usual, a stirring moment,—here, the moment of setting out for the ship. I<*> seems clear, then, that the words which first announce the departure should open the trochaics, rather than close the iambics. So in Eur. Phoen. 588 , after the iambic dialogue between Iocasta and Eteocles, the first trochaic verse spoken by the latter is the sign that his fatal resolve is taken,—

μῆτερ, οὐ λόγων ἔθ’ ἁγών κ.τ.λ.
Cp. also Soph. O. T. 1515 ff.

mvp-comment-749-1 ἀντέρειδε 5

mvp-comment-750-1 τί γάρ, ἐὰν 6

mvp-comment-750-2 ἐγὼ παρὼν 7

mvp-comment-751-1 προσωφέλησιν 8

mvp-comment-751-2 ἔρξεις 9

mvp-comment-751-3 1407 After πελάζειν 10 στεῖχε 11

mvp-comment-751-4 προσκύσας χθόνα 12

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

1403. mvp-comment-928-1 ἀντέρειδε.. σήν] (1) 'Lean now thy steps on mine.' Sc. τῇ ἐμῇ βάσει. Neoptolemus gives his arm to the lame man. Cp. supr. 893, καὐτὸς ἀντέχου, and note. Others (2) explain ἀντέρειδε, sc. πρὸς τὸ οὖδας, ‘Press thy foot against the ground,' i.e. 'Step firmly.' But although this accords more exactly with the response of Philoctetes, εἰς ὅσον γ᾽ ἐγὼ σθένω, the expression itself in this sense is hardly natural here, and the interpretation given above agrees better with the situation. The idiomatic uses of ἐρείδω, however, are such as to leave it doubtful whether Neoptolemus bids Philoctetes lean upon him, or simply encourages him to move. εἰς ὅσον .. σθένω] If the former interpretation of the first part of the line (1) is right, Philoctetes takes only the general sense, as if it were βάδιζε ἀντερειδόμενος (ἐμοί).

1407. mvp-comment-929-1 The superfluous words in the MSS. (see v. rr.) are probably the remains of an early interpolation, viz. [ σῆς πάτρας *πορθήτορας. ΝΕ. εἰ δὲ δρᾷς ταῦθ᾽, ὥσπερ αὐδᾷς,].