Sophocles Philoctetes 191

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)) — 191 focus
Οὐδὲν τούτων θαυμαστὸν ἐμοί εμοί·
θεῖα γάρ, εἴπερ κἀγώ τι φρονῶ,
190
καὶ τὰ παθήματα κεῖνα παθήματ᾿ ἐκεῖνα πρὸς αὐτὸν
τῆς ὠμόφρονος Χρύσης χρυσης χρύσης ἐπέβη,
καὶ νῦν ἃ πονεῖ δίχα κηδεμόνων,
οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ *ὡς ὅπως οὐ θεῶν του του μελέτῃ,
τοῦ μὴ πρότερον τόνδ᾽ ἐπὶ Τροίᾳ
195
τεῖναι τὰ θεῶν ἀμάχητα βέλη,
πρὶν ὅδ᾽ ἐξήκοι χρόνος, ᾧ λέγεται ὧιλεται ᾧ λέγεται
χρῆναί χρήν χρῆν χρῆναί σφ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶνδε δαμῆναι.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 191 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 191 focus
At nought of this I marvel—for if I
Judge rightly, there assailed him from on high
190
That former plague through Chrysa’s cruel sting:
And if to-day he suffer anything
With none to soothe, it must be from the will
Of some great God, so caring to fulfil
The word of prophecy, lest he should bend
195
On Troy the shaft no mortal may forfend,
Before the arrival of Troy’s destined hour,
When she must fall, o’er-mastered by their power.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 191 focus
Mir scheint hier Nichts der Verwunderung werth:
Denn ward mir einige Weisheit auch,
Ist dieses Geschick von den Göttern verhängt,
Brach über ihn ein durch Chryse's Zorn; 1
190
Auch was er, freundlicher Pflege beraubt,
Jezt duldet, geschieht nach der Ewigen Rath,
Daß nicht auf Ilions Veste zu früh
Er spanne des Gott's unbezwinglich Geschoß, 2
Eh nahte die Zeit, da sie diesem erliegt,
195
Wie's ihr nach der Sage verhängt ist.
Dritte Strophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 191 focus
And yet I wonder not ; for if aright
I judge, from angry heaven the sentence came,
190
And Chrysa was the cruel source of all ;
Nor doth this sad disease inflict him still
Incurable, without assenting gods ]
For so they have decreed, lest Troy should fall
195
Beneath his arrows ere th' appointed time
Of its destruction come.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 191 focus
The want of food hath doubtless drawn him forth
To toil with painful step, not distant fari
For he sustains his miserable life
By miserably piercing with his shafts
The beasts that haunt these wilds; nor for his wound
Finds he a cure, or to his pains relief.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-116-1 θεῖα 1

mvp-comment-116-2 κἀγώ 2

mvp-comment-116-3 καὶ τὰ παθήμ. κεῖνα 3

mvp-comment-116-4 τῆς ὠμόφρ. Χρύσης 4 ἐπέβη 5 παθήματα … Χρύσης 6

mvp-comment-116-5 ὠμόφρονος 7

mvp-comment-117-1 οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὡς οὐ 8

mvp-comment-118-1 τοῦ μὴ … τεῖναι 9

mvp-comment-118-2 τεῖναι … βέλη 10 τὰ θεῶν 11

mvp-comment-119-1 πρὶν...ἐξήκοι 12 πρὶν ἂν ἐξήκῃ 13

mvp-comment-119-2 λέγεται 14

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

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.

189. mvp-comment-129-1 τηλεφανής] 'Coming from afar.' Cp. infr. 202, προὐφάνη κτύπος: 216, τηλωπὸν ἰωάν.

189-190. mvp-comment-130-1 πικρᾶς.. ὑπόκειται ὑπὸ κειται ὑπόκειται ὑποκεῖται] ὑπόκειται, if genuine, means, Lies close to,' i. e. Keeps following upon.' Cp. Plat. Gorg. 465 Α, τῇ μὲν οὖν ἰατρικῇ.. ἡ ὀψοποιικὴ κολακεία ὑπόκειται. Brunck conjectured ὑπακούει, ' Answers,' as it were a summons. Hermann, ὕπ᾿ ὀχεῖται. And ἐποχεῖται seems possible, though too uncertain an emendation to be admitted into the text.

192. mvp-comment-131-1 θεῖα is predicative. Ant. 593.

193. mvp-comment-132-1 τὰ παθήματα κεῖνα] 'His troubles in that former time.'

194. mvp-comment-133-1 τῆς ὠμόφρονος Χρύσης] Genitive of the cause. It was the nymph Chrysa, whose shrine was guarded by the serpent who bit Philoctetes. Sophocles conceives of the offence as accidental: infr. 1326, 7.

195-196. mvp-comment-134-1 καὶ νῦν . . μελέτῃ] Sc. πονεῖ. Neoptolemus here shows himself better informed than supr. 112, where Odysseus in his reply does not say more than that the bow of Philoctetes is necessary for the taking of Troy. Cp. also infr. 1326 foll. See Introd. p. 363.

197. mvp-comment-135-1 τοῦ = ἕνεκα τοῦ, explaining μελέτῃ. Cp. Thuc. 1. 23, τὰς αἰτίας προέγραψα πρῶτον καὶ τὰς διαφοράς, τοῦ μή τινα ζητῆσαί ποτε ἐξ ὅτου τοσοῦτος πόλεμος τοῖς Ἕλλησι κατέστη.

197-200. mvp-comment-136-1 Ср. О. C. 1405 foll., and for ὅδε.., supr. 87.

198. mvp-comment-137-1 τὰ θεῶν] “The divine.' Cp. Ant. 607, θεῶν μῆνες, and note. The bow of Heracles, now himself a god, was an instrument of the divine purposes.