Sophocles Philoctetes 843

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)) — 843 focus
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 843 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 843 focus
God shall determine the end—
But for thine answer, friend,
Waft soft words low!
All sick men’s sleep, we know,
845
Hath open eye;
Their quickly ruffling mind
Quivers in lightest wind,
Sleepless in slumber new danger to spy.
Think, O my lord, of thy path,
Secretly look forth afar,
850
What wilt thou do for thy need?
How with the wise wilt thou care?
If toward the nameless thy heart
Chooseth this merciful part,
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 843 focus
Solches, o Jüngling, ordnen die Ewigen:
Doch, gibst du mir Antwort wieder,
815
Ganz leise nur, leise nur (hörst du, Kind?)
Sende zu mir dein Wort.
Denn schlaflos ist ja der Kranken Schlaf,
Und lauscht, und sieht Alles.
Doch suche, wähl' aufs Beste,
820
Spähe still und heimlich, sorgsam spähe
Mir, was du thun willst, aus.
Von wem ich hier rede,
Das weißt du ja: stimmt dein Wille zu seinem,
Entwirrt selbst ein Kluger solch Wirrsal kaum.
825
Schlußgesang.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 843 focus
This is the hour. At such a time, my son.
The wisest err. But mark me, the wind's fair.
And Philoctctes sleeps, void of all help —
Lame, impotent, unable to resist,
He is as one among the dead. E'en now
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 843 focus
These things, my son, the god will make his care.
But when to me thy mandates thou shalt give,
Low be thy voice; for sleep in the diseased
845
Is ever on the watch, nor seals the eyes.
What now is in thy pow'r with caution act,
And silence: if with his thy thoughts accord,
Thou know'st of whom I speak, thou seest his state,
850
Let prudence judge, unable to resist.
The gale, my son, the fav'ring gale now breathes;
He sees not, helpless as in night's dark hour
He lies, and sleep, which all his senses locks,

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-460-1 ἀλλά, τέκνον 1

mvp-comment-460-2 ὀψεται 2

mvp-comment-461-1 ὧν 3 λόγων 4 ἀμείβῃ 5

mvp-comment-462-1 πάντων 6 λεύσσειν 7 εὐδρακὴς 8

mvp-comment-463-1 ἀλλ’ ὅτι δύνᾳ 9 λάθρᾳ 10

mvp-comment-463-2 δύνᾳ 11

mvp-comment-463-3 κεῖνο … κεῖνο 12 δή 13

mvp-comment-463-4 μοι 14

mvp-comment-463-5 ὅτι δ. μάκιστον 15 ἐξιδοῦ 16

mvp-comment-463-6 ὅπᾳ 17 ὅπως 18

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

827-862. mvp-comment-578-1 Odysseus ( supr. 77, 115), whose words appear in some way to have reached the Chorus ( supr. 136 foll.), spoke only of the necessity of obtaining the bow. For this the Chorus now see the opportunity, and cannot understand the inaction of Neoptolemus, who is better informed (839-42, cp. infr. 1329-43), and is moreover chained to the spot by remorseful sympathy with Philoctetes. This passage, which does the work of a stasimon in separating two episodia, is in so far of the nature of a commos that it contains a lyrical interchange between the Chorus and one of the persons on the stage. The text is imperfect in several places, and Bergk conjectures that four lines of Neoptolemus', answering to 839-42, have dropped out between 854, 5. It seems most probable that ll. 827-32 were sung by one half-chorus, and ll. 843-48 by the other, in subdued tones; that 833-8, 849-54 were recited severally by two of the chief choreutae, and that 855-64 were recited by the coryphaeus, or, possibly, sung by the whole Chorus. The metres of this irregular strain are dactylic, anapaestic, trochaic, iambic, and choriambic. The following is an approximate scheme of them :- στρ. and ἀντ.
Logaoedic 1 _UU_UU_UU_U_
(?)
Anapaestic { __ | __
Choriambic _UU_ __
Logaoedic 5 __UU_U_
Iambic U_U_ __
Iambic U_U_U_
Trochaic
Iambic U_ U_U_ __
Iambic 10 U_ U_U_ __
Iambic U_U_U_U_
Paracelèusmatic, { _ UU _ UU _
with logaoedic close (?)

The strophe is followed by four dactylic hexameters, the antistrophe by an epode, of which this is the scheme:-
Logaoedic {: __
Dactylic {: _UU_UU__ | _UU_UU_ _ (?)
Iambo-trochaic 5 _U_U_U_ _ (?)
Dactylic _UU_UU_UU_UU_
Iambic U_U_U_
For νύχιος, l. 858, cp. Eur. Hel. 1479, Suppl. 280.

843. mvp-comment-594-1 τάδε.. θεὸς ὄψεται] The completion of the work achieved so far may be left to Divine providence, notwithstanding what is mysterious in the oracle. Cp. Aj. 1165, κοίλην κάπετόν τιν᾿ ἰδεῖν, and note: O. C. 1454, ὁρᾷ, ὁρᾷ ταῦτ᾽ ἀεὶ χρόνος : Thuc. 5. 27, ὁρᾶν τοὺς ᾿Αργείους ὅπως σωθήσεται ἡ Πελοπόννησος.

844. mvp-comment-595-1 ὧν .. αὖθις] The metre of the MS. reading ὧν δ᾽ ἂν ἀμείβῃ μ᾽ αὖθις (U_U_U_U) does not correspond to the strophe, and is not very probable. Possibly ἀμείβῃ was a gloss explaining προσφωνῇ.. αὖθις, and we might read, ὧν δ᾽ ἂν προσφωνῇ μ᾽ αὖθις. Cp. ll. 1. 223, Πηλείδης δ᾽ ἐξαῦτις ἀταρτηροῖς ἐπέεσσιν | ᾿Ατρείδην προσέειπε, κ.τ.λ. Hermann's conjecture is provisionally adopted in the text.

847. mvp-comment-596-1 ὡς .. λεύσσειν] 'Since ever in disease Sleep, which slumbers not, is quick to perceive.' πάντων ἐν νόσῳ, sc. ὄντων. ' Of all men, when they are sick.' (Others join πάντων εὐδρακής, ‘Having quick sight of all things.") λεύσσειν is epexegetic of εὐδρακής. Sleep is personified, and 'sight' used for perception in general. Cp. Trach. 1019.

850. mvp-comment-597-1 The text is defective, as the metre shows. κεῖνο is opposed to τάδε in 843, and means, therefore, not the abduction of Philoctetes, but the carrying away of the bow and arrows. The Chorus urge Neoptolemus not to be absorbed in gazing on Philoctetes, but to take a wider survey of the situation, that he may secure the object set before him by Odysseus. For λάθρα, σκοπῶν λαθραίως might be substituted to complete the line, which answers to supr. 834.