Sophocles Philoctetes 507-515

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)) — 507 focus
Οἴκτειρ᾽, ἄναξ· πολλῶν ἔλεξεν ἔλεξε δυσοίστων πόνων
ἆθλ᾽, ὅσσα μηδεὶς τῶν ἐμῶν τύχοι φίλων.
505
εἰ δὲ πικρούς πικρούς, ἄναξ, ἔχθεις ᾿Ατρείδας,
ἐγὼ μέν, τὸ κείνων κακὸν τῷδε κέρδος
μετατιθέμενος μέγα τιθέμενος μετατιθέμενος, ἔνθαπερ ἐπιμέμονεν ἐπεὶ μέμονεν ἐπεὶ μέμηνεν,
ἐπ᾿ εὐστόλου ταχείας νεὼς
πορεύσαιμ᾽ ἂν ἐς δόμους, τὰν * θεῶν τὰν ἐκ θεῶν
510
νέμεσιν ἐκφυγών.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 507-518 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 507 focus
No, truly! Fear not thou shalt ever have
Just cause to utter such reproach on me.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 507 focus
Erbarmen, Herr! Vielfachen Kampf, herbe Noth klagt er uns,
Wie keinen unsrer Freunde je sie treffen soll!
Hassest du, Herr, Atreus' feindlich Geschlecht so sehr,
So würd' ich das Unheil, das Werk ihres Frevels,
500
Wandeln in Heil ihm, führt' in schnellsegelndem,
Geschmücktem Schiff zu dem ersehnten Port
Der Heimat ihn hin, flöhe den Nachefluch,
Der von den Göttern droht.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 507 focus
Oh, pity him, my lord, for bitterest woes
And trials most severe he hath recounted ;
Far be such sad distress from those I love !
505
Oh ! if thou hat'st the base Atridae, now
Revenge thee on them, serve their deadliest foe ;
Bear the poor suppliant to his native soil ;
So shalt thou bless thy friend, and 'scape the wrath
Of the just gods, who still protect the wretched.
Ned. Your proffered kindness, friends, may cost you
dear ;
510
When you shall feel his dreadful malady
510
Oppress you sore, you will repent it.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 507 focus
Have pity on him, king; for he hath told
Of hard encounters with severest toils
Beyond man's sufferance: ne'er may one I love
505
Endure the like! And if, O king, thou hate
The stern Atridæ, I would turn their ill
To his great good; and since his wish is urged
So strongly, in my swift well-furnish'd bark
Convey him to his mansion, and avoid
510
The righteous vengeance of th' offended gods..

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-282-1 : antistrophe to 391—402. The pity expressed by the Chorus may well be sincere; but in this utterance of it, their first aim is to aid their master's design. Verse 510 shows this.

mvp-comment-282-2 πόνων ἆθλα 1

mvp-comment-282-3 οἷα 2 οἷα 3 ἅσσα 4 τύχοι 5 λάχοι 6

mvp-comment-283-1 πικρούς 7

mvp-comment-284-1 ἐγὼ μὲν 8 πορεύσαιμ’ ἂν 9

mvp-comment-284-2 τὸ κείνων κακὸν 10

mvp-comment-284-3 μετατιθέμενος 11

mvp-comment-284-4 ἐπιμέμονεν 12

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.

504. mvp-comment-362-1 ὁρᾶν] Το be ware of. Schol. εὐλαβεῖσθαι. Cp. Aj. 1313, ὅρα μὴ τοὐμόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ σόν.

506. mvp-comment-363-1 διαφθαρείς] Sc. ὁ βίος. Cp. Thuc. 8. 91, λήσειν διαφθαρέντας (sc. ἔφη Θηραμένης τοὺς τειχίζοντας τὴν Ἠετιώνειαν τοῖς ᾿Αθηναίοις).

507-518. mvp-comment-364-1 In the strophe supr. 391-402, the one half-chorus echoed the falsehood of Neoptolemus. The other half-chorus now in similar measures professedly responds to the appeal of Philoctetes, and recommends him to the kindness of Neoptolemus. L. 510 is equivalent, although not identical in metre, with l. 395: Each consists of two dochmiacs.

508-509. mvp-comment-365-1 πόνων ἆθλ'] Cp. Trach. 506, ἄεθλ᾽ ἀγώνων. ὅσσα] Porson's conjecture, οἷα, has been adopted by several editors. Other proposed corrections are ἄσσα and ἄθλους ἅ (Dobree). ὅσσα is at once, So many as,' and 'So great as.' τύχοι] λάχοι, which Nauck reads, would be in a more usual construction. But the change is unnecessary.