Sophocles Philoctetes 1004

ed. Francis Storr

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Philoctetes. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Φιλοκτήτης (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 2. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1913.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1004 focus
ὦ χεῖρες, οἷα πάσχετ᾽ ἐν χρείᾳ φίλης
νευρᾶς, ὑπ᾿ ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε συνθηρώμεναι.
1005

ΦΙΛΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ.

ὦ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς μηδ᾽ ἐλεύθερον φρονῶν,
οἷ᾽ αὖ οἷα διά οῖμ' ἀπῆλθες οἴως μ᾽ ὑπῆλθες, ὥς μ᾽ ἐθηράσω, λαβὼν
πρόβλημα σαυτοῦ παῖδα τόνδ᾽ ἀγνῶτ᾽ ἐμοί,
ἀνάξιον μὲν σοῦ, κατάξιον δ᾽ ἐμοῦ,
ὃς οὐδὲν ἤδη πλὴν τὸ προσταχθὲν ποιεῖν ποεῖν ποιεῖν·
1010
δῆλος δὲ καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ἐστὶν ἐστιν ἀλγεινῶς φέρων
οἷς τ᾿ αὐτὸς ἐξήμαρτεν οἷς τ᾽ ἐγὼ ἔπαθον.
ἀλλ᾽ ἡ κακὴ σὴ διὰ μυχῶν βλέπουσ᾽ ἀεὶ
ψυχή νιν ἀφυῆ τ᾿ ὄντα κοὐ θέλονθ᾽ θέλον θ' θέλων θ' θέλονθ' ὅμως
εὖ προὐδίδαξεν ἐν κακοῖς εἶναι σοφόν.
1015
καὶ νῦν ἔμ᾽, ὦ δύστηνε, συνδήσας νοεῖς
ἄγειν ἀπ᾿ ἀκτῆς τῆσδ', ἐν ᾗ με προὐβάλου
ἄφιλον ἔρημον ἄπολιν, ἐν ζῶσιν νεκρόν.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1004 focus
Poor hands, for lack of your beloved string,
Caught by this craven! O corrupted soul!
How thou hast undermined me, having taken
1005
To screen thy quest this youth to me unknown,
Far worthier of my friendship than of thine,
Who knew no better than to obey command.
Even now ’tis manifest he burns within
With pain for his own error and my wrong.
1010
But, though unwilling and mapt for ill,
Thy crafty, mean, and cranny spying soul
Too well hath lessoned him in sinful lore.
Now thou hast bound me, O thou wretch, and thinkest
To take me from this coast, where thou didst cast me
1015
Outlawed and desolate, a corpse ’mongst men.
Oh!
I curse thee now, as ofttimes in the past:
But since Heaven yields me nought but bitterness,
Thou livest and art blithe, while ’tis my pain
To live on in my misery, laughed to scorn
1020
By thee and Atreus’ sons, those generals twain
Whom thou art serving in this chase. But thou
With strong compulsion and deceit was driven
Troyward, whilst I, poor victim, of free will
Took my seven ships and sailed there, yet was thrown
1025
Far from all honour,—as thou sayest, by them,
But, as they turn the tale, by thee.—And now
Why fetch me hence and take me? To what end?
I am nothing, dead to you this many a year.
How, O thou Heaven-abhorred! am I not now
1030
Lame and of evil smell? how shall ye vaunt
Before the gods drink-offering or the fat
Of victims, if I sail among your crew?
For this, as ye professed, was the chief cause
Why ye disowned me. Perish!—So ye shall,
1035
For the wrong done me, if the Heavens be just.
And that they are, I know. Else had ye ne’er
Sailed on this errand for an outcast wretch,
Had they not pricked your heart with thoughts of me.
Oh, if ye pity me, chastising powers,
1040
And thou, the Genius of my land, revenge,
Revenge this crime on all their heads at once!
My life is pitiable; but if I saw
Their ruin, I would think me well and strong.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1004 focus
Hände, was erduldet ihr, die nun, beraubt
Der trauten Sehne, dieser Mann gebunden hält!
975
Du, welcher nie das Reine, nie das Edle denkt,
Wie hast du mich beschlichen, wie gefangen und
Den Knaben vorgeschoben, der mir unbekannt,
Unwürdig deiner, aber mein wohl würdig war,
Der Nichts gewußt hat, als zu thun, was du befahlst,
980
Der aber jezt schon offenbar mit Schmerzen fühlt,
Was er verschuldet, und das Leid, das ich erfuhr.
Dein böser Sinn nur, welcher stets im Winkel lauscht,
Hat ihn, den arglos Blöden, Widerstrebenden
Wohl unterwiesen, klug zu sein in arger List.
985
Nun denkst du mich gebunden weg von diesem Strand
Zu führen, Frevler, wo du mich einst ausgesezt
Freundlos, verlassen, fern von Haus, im Leben todt!
Weh!
Tod dir! Ich flehte dieses oft auf dich herab;
Doch nichts Erwünschtes theilen mir die Götter zu;
990
Du lebst in Freuden, aber ich empfinde Schmerz
Darüber, daß ich lebe, leb' in schwerer Dual,
Von dir verspottet und den zwei Heerfürsten dort,
Den Söhnen Atreus', welchen du dies Werk bestellst.
Du wurdest gleichwohl mitzuzieh'n durch Zwang und List 1
995
Genöthigt; mich Verlor'nen, der freiwillig zog
Mit sieben Masten, warfen sie mit Schmach hinaus, 2
Wie du behauptest; jene geben dir die Schuld.
Und nun wozu, was bindet, was entführt ihr mich,
Mich, der ein Nichts ist und für euch schon lange todt?
1000
Was hältst du, Gottverhaßter, nun mich nicht für lahm,
Für übelriechend? Wie, von mir begleitet, könnt
Ihr noch den Göttern opfern, wie noch Spenden weih'n?
Mich auszustoßen, hast du dies ja vorgewandt.
Tod euch! ja, Tod wird treffen euch, die so verrucht
1005
An mir gefrevelt, wenn das Recht vor Göttern gilt.
Ich weiß, es gilt vor ihnen; niemals wärt ihr ja
Den Weg gezogen nach dem Unglückseligen,
Wenn nicht ein Götterstachel euch hertrieb zu mir.
O Vatererde, Götter, ihr allsehenden,
1010
So strafet endlich, endlich doch, o strafet sie,
Sie alle, wenn ihr meiner euch erbarmen wollt!
Wohl leb' ich elend; aber säh' ich diese nur
Vernichtet, glaubt' ich meiner Qual entfloh'n zu sein.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1004 focus
Manacled ! O hands !
How helpless are you now ! those arms, which once
Protected, thus torn from you ! [To Ulys«es.
1005
Thou abandoned,
Thou shameless wretch ! from whom nor truth nor
justice,
Naught that becomes the generous mind, can flow,
How hast thou used me ! how betrayed ! Suborned
This stranger, this poor youth, who, worthier far
1010
To be my friend than thine, was only here
Thy instrument ; he knew not what he did,
And now, thou seest, repents him of the crime
Which brought such guilt on him, such woes on me.
But thy foul soul, which from its dai-k recess
Trembling looks forth, beheld him void of art,
1015
Unwilling as he wms, instructed him.
And made him soon a master in deceit.
I am thy prisoner now ; e'en now thou meanst
To drag me hence, from this unhappy shore.
Where first thy malice left me, a poor exile,
Deserted, fiiendless, and though living, dead
To all mankind. Perish the vile betrayer !
1020
Oh ! I have cursed thee often, but the gods
Life and its joys are thine, whilst I, unhapjiy,
Am but the scorn of thee, and the Atiidie,
Thy haughty masters. Fraud and force compelled
thee.
Or thou hadst never sailed with them to Troy.
1025
I lent my willing aid ; with seven brave ships
I ploughed the main to serve them. In return
They cast me forth, disgraced me, left me here.
Thou sayst they did it ; they impute the crime
To thee. And what will you do with me now ?
And whither must I go ? What end, what purpose
1030
Could urge thee to it ? I am nothing, lost
And dead already. Wherefore — tell me, wherefore ?-
Am I not still the same detested burthen.
Disturb your holy rites ? If I am with you
How can you make libations ? That was once
Your vile j^retence for inhumanity.
1035
Oh ! may you perish for the deed ! The gods
Will grant it sure, if justice be their care —
And that it is I know. You had not left
Your native soil to seek a wretch like me
Had not some impulse from the powers above.
Spite of yourselves, ordained it. O my country !
1040
And you, O gods ! who look upon this deed,
Punish, in pity to me, punish all
The guilty band ! Could I behold them perish,
My wounds were nothing ; that would heal them all.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1004 focus
Alas, ye hands, deprived of your loved bow,
What vile indignity do you sustain !
O thou, whose soul ne'er harbour'd generous thought,
Or upright purpose, how hast thou beguiled,
With what base arts ensnared me in thy toils,
1005
Skulking behind this youth to me unknown,
1005
Not meriting to share thy fraudful guilt,
1005
But worthy of my love! He nothing knew,
He but performs his orders: see his brow
Clouded with grief for what he has misdone,
And I have suffer'd. But thy treacherous soul,
For ever peeping from its lurking-place,
Hath taught his noble nature 'gainst his will.
To be expert in mischief; and, thou wretch,
My hands thus bound, thy purpose is declared
To drag me from this shore, on which long since
Thou didst expose me with unpitying heart
Friendless, abandon'd, out-cast, whilst alive
Rank'd with the dead. Perdition seize thee ! Oft
Have I made this my pray'r; but to my pray'rs
1010
The gods grant nothing that delights my soul.
1010
To live is thine, and to exult; with grief
1010
My heart is rent, that 'midst my various ills
I am by thee derided, and the Chiefs
The sons of Atreus, who command these things,
And thou art to their lordly will a slave.
Yet didst thou join their arms compell'd by force,
Thy wiles detected. Me, unhappy me,
The willing leader of sev'n gallant ships,
They with disgrace cast out; the guilty deed
Thou on their baseness chargest, they on thine.
Why lead me now away? Why drag me hence ?
What cause impels you? I am nothing now,
To you for ten long years I have been dead.
Base and detested wretch, is not my foot
1015
Now lame? Is not its stench offensive now?.
1015
How, if I mount the bark, will you present
1015
Your victims, your libations to the gods?....
This was thy plea to leave me on these rocks!
An out-cast. May the vengeance of the gods
Pour ruin on you all who wrong'd this wretch,
If justice rules their thoughts; it does, it does,
I know it well; for never had your sails ::
Stretch'd o'er the ocean for a wretch like me,
But that remorse, heav'n-sent, hath pierced your hearts.
But, O my country, O ye gods who view
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1004 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-549-1 ὦ χεῖρες 1

mvp-comment-549-2 ἐν χρείᾳ 2

mvp-comment-549-3 συνθηρώμεναι 3

mvp-comment-550-1 ὦ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς … φρονῶν 4

mvp-comment-550-2 μηδὲν ὑγιές 5

mvp-comment-550-3 ἐλεύθερον 6

mvp-comment-551-1 οἷ’ αὖ μ’ ὑπῆλθες 7

mvp-comment-551-2 ὑπῆλθες 8

mvp-comment-552-1 πρόβλημα 9

mvp-comment-553-1 ἀνάξιον μὲν σοῦ 10 σοῦ 11

mvp-comment-553-2 οὐδὲν ᾔδει πλὴν 12

mvp-comment-554-1 καὶ νῦν 13

mvp-comment-554-2 οἷς 14

mvp-comment-555-1 διὰ μυχῶν βλέπους’ 15

mvp-comment-555-2 ἀφυᾶ 16 ‐εα 17 ε 18 ‐εᾶ 19 ι 20 υ 21 ‐ιᾶ 22 ‐λῆ; ‐υᾶ 23 ‐υῆ 24 ᾶ 25 ῆ 26

mvp-comment-555-3 προὐδίδαξεν 27

mvp-comment-556-1 συνδήσας 28 ἄγειν 29

mvp-comment-556-2 προὐβάλου 30

mvp-comment-556-3 ἄπολιν 31

mvp-comment-557-1 θεοὶ 32

mvp-comment-557-2 1022 ff. Seyffert puts a comma after ζῶ 33 σὺν κακοῖς πολλοῖς 34 γελώμενος 35 σὺν κακοῖς πολλοῖς 36 ζῶ 37 σὺν κακοῖς πολλοῖς 38 ζῶ 39

mvp-comment-557-3 τῶν Ἀτρέως … στρατηγῶν 40

mvp-comment-558-1 κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγεὶς 41 ζυγεὶς 42

mvp-comment-559-1 ἑπτὰ ναυσὶ 43

mvp-comment-560-1 ἔβαλον 44 ὡς σὺ φής 45

mvp-comment-561-1 ἄγετε 46 ἀπάγεσθε 47

mvp-comment-561-2 οὐδέν εἰμι 48 τέθνηχ’ ὑμῖν 49

mvp-comment-562-1 σοι 50

mvp-comment-562-2 δυσώδης 51

mvp-comment-562-3 πῶς … ἔξεσθ’, ὁμοῦ 52 πῶς … εὔξεσθ’, ἐμοῦ 53 εὔξεσθ’ 54 εὔξεσθ’ 55 ἔξεσθ’ 56 ὁμοῦ 57 ἐμοῦ 58 εὔξεσθ’ ἐμοῦ 59 ἔξεστ’ ἐμοῦ 60 ἔξεσθ’ ὁμοῦ 61 θ’ 62 θεοῖς 63

mvp-comment-562-4 Against ἔξεσθ’ 64

mvp-comment-563-1 ὄλοισθ)· ὀλεῖσθε δ’ 65

mvp-comment-564-1 μέλει γ’ 66

mvp-comment-564-2 ἐπεὶ οὔποτ’ 67 ἀνδρὸς ἀθλίου 68

mvp-comment-564-3 1039 For the place of τι 69

mvp-comment-564-4 κέντρον … ἐμοῦ 70

mvp-comment-565-1 θεοί τ’ ἐπόψιοι 71

mvp-comment-565-2 Thus the invocation of πατρῴα γῆ 72 ἐπόψιοι 73

mvp-comment-566-1 τείσασθε 74

mvp-comment-566-2 ἀλλὰ τῷ χρόνῳ 75

mvp-comment-567-1 κἄμ’ 76

mvp-comment-568-1 τῆς vόσου 77

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

1005. mvp-comment-698-1 ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε] 'Odysseus,' said with bitter emphasis. Cp. supr. 376, εἰ τἀμὰ κεῖνος ὅπλ᾽ ἀφαιρήσοιτό με. συνθηρώμεναι is at once 'caught' and 'bound.'

1007. mvp-comment-699-1 οἷ᾽ αὖ] This seems a more probable correction of οἷα than οἷον, which, though found in some MSS., may have arisen from a gloss. *αὖ] 'Again,' as you did ten years ago, when you took advantage of me sleeping; supr. 271 foll.

1008. mvp-comment-700-1 πρόβλημα σαυτοῦ] ‘As your stalking-horse.' πρόβλημα is in apposition to παῖδα. For προβάλλεσθαι, as a word of blame, cp. Thuc. 1. 37, τὸ εὐπρεπὲς ἄσπονδον . . προβέβληνται.

1009. mvp-comment-701-1 ἀνάξιον.. ἐμοῦ] 'Who does not deserve to be thy minister, but well deserves to be my friend.'

1012. mvp-comment-702-1 For the dative after ἀλγεινῶς φέρων = ἀχθόμενος, see Essay on L. § 14. p. 21, and § 36. p. 64.

1013. mvp-comment-703-1 διὰ μυχῶν βλέπουσ᾽] This is differently explained, (1) 'Spying into hidden places' (so Musgrave, who compares Philo J. 2. p. 78, τὸν ἀεὶ βλέποντα καὶ τὰ ἐν μυχοῖς τῆς διανοίας). For this cp. Αj. 11, καί σ᾽ οὐδὲν εἴσω τῆσδε παπταίνειν πύλης | ἔτ᾽ ἔργον ἐστίν. Or (2) 'Spying out of hiding holes' ('per latebras prospiciens,' Schndw.). The latter (2) is preferable. For the point here is, not that Philoctetes was hidden in his cave, but that Odysseus himself keeps out of sight, while he watches the proceedings of Neoptolemus. This also gives a better meaning. ‘By διά is meant looking through the intervening darkness.' (Paley.) Cp. Aj. 381, κακοπινέστατόν τ᾿ ἄλημα στρατοῦ: ib. 390, and note.

1014. mvp-comment-704-1 ἀφυῆ] ‘Unapt,' sc. πρὸς τὸ τοιοῦτὸν τι ποιεῖν: or, as Seyffert puts it, ἐπὶ τὸ σοφὸν εἶναι ἐν κακοῖς. Cp. supr. 79, 80, ἔξοιδα καὶ φύσει σε μὴ πεφυκότα τοιαῦτα φωνεῖν, μηδὲ τεχνᾶσθαι κακά.

1015. mvp-comment-705-1 προὐδίδαξεν] ‘Has instructed him.' Cp. supr. 538, προϋμαθον, and note.

1016. mvp-comment-706-1 δύστηνε] Cp. Aj. 1290, δύστηνε, ποῖ βλέπων ποτ' αὐτὰ καὶ θροεῖς; συνδήσας agrees with the subject of ἄγειν. The intention here mentioned is spoken of in the more passionate phrase, supr. 979, as a finished act; cp. Aj. 1126, δίκαια γὰρ τόνδ᾽ εὐτυχεῖν κτείναντά με;

1017. mvp-comment-707-1 ἀκτῆς] Supr. 1, 272. προὐβάλου] • You contrived to cast me forth.' The (subjective) middle throws on Odysseus the prime responsibility of the act.

1018. mvp-comment-708-1 ἄπολιν] 'Outcast.' Cp. the Homeric ἀφρήτωρ, ἀθέμιστος, ἀνέστιος. ἐν ζῶσιν νεκρόν] 'Among the living, but not alive.'

1019. mvp-comment-709-1 καί] 'And indeed.' For the stress on καί, cp. Εl. 597 ( ὡς τὴν μητέρα | κακοστομοῦμεν.) καί σ᾽ ἔγωγε δεσπότιν | ἢ μητέρ᾽ οὐκ ἔλασσον εἰς ἡμᾶς νέμω. Philoctetes adds this, not correcting himself, but as feeling painfully the impotence of his curse.

1022. mvp-comment-710-1 τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό is cognate accusative, expressing the cause. The pronoun refers both to ζῶν preceding, and to ὅτι following. Cp. supr. 797, Ant. 463, 4, ὅστις γὰρ ἐν πολλοῖσιν ὡς ἐγὼ κακοῖς | ζῇ, πῶς ὅδ᾽ οὐχὶ κατθανὼν κέρδος φέρει;

1025. mvp-comment-711-1 κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγείς] 'Through being kidnapped, and bound under compulsion.' Cp. supr. 73, and note. For the metaphor in ζυγείς, cp. Αj. 24, κἀγὼ ᾿θελοντὴς τῷδ᾽ ὑπεζύγην πόνῳ.

1027. mvp-comment-712-1 ἑπτὰ ναυσί] ΙΙ. 2. 718, τῶν δὲ Φιλοκτήτης ἦρχεν, τόξων εὖ εἰδώς, ἑπτὰ νεῶν.

1028. mvp-comment-713-1 ἄτιμον ἔβαλον] ‘Flung away dishonoured.' For the use of the simple verb = ἐξέβαλον, see E. on L. § 55. p. 101, 4. κεῖνοι δὲ σέ] Sc. ἐκβαλεῖν μέ φασιν. Dindorf wrongly quotes ἔκβαλον as the reading of L.

1029. mvp-comment-714-1 'And now why take me, why force me away?' For the repetition and redundancy, cp. supr. 236. and note. ἀπάγειν is the word for taking a criminal to execution, and the middle voice conveys more of personal feeling. ( Cp. supr. 613.) The agitation of Philoctetes is again marked by two tribrachs following each other. Cp. supr. 932.

1030. mvp-comment-715-1 τέθνηχ᾽ ὑμῖν] Cp. O. C. 1366, ἢ τὰν οὐκ ἂν ἢ τὸ σὸν μέρος. And for the dative, ib. 444, φυγάς σφιν ἔξω πτωχὸς ἠλώμην ἀεί.

1032-1033. mvp-comment-716-1 πῶς θεοῖς εὔξεσθ' . . ἔτι] 'How shall ye declare to Heaven that ye will sacrifice or pour libation to the gods any more?' εὔχεσθαι is properly to say aloud in presence of a god, and so (a) 'To pray,' (b) 'To vow,' (c) 'To glory.' Here the meaning is somewhere between (c) and (b), 'To vaunt' and 'To promise.' Cp. Eur. Alc. 334, where eὔχομαι is, 'I thankfully profess.' θεοῖς is (a) dative after εὔξεσθε, (b) in a secondary construction with the infinitives αἴθειν ἱερά and σπένδειν. 'How shall ye vaunt before the gods that ye will burn sacrifice to them, or make drink-offerings?' There is no ground whatever for suspecting the reading.

1034. mvp-comment-717-1 αὕτη .. ἐμέ] Cp. supr. 8. It may be observed that Philoctetes here knows what he had not suspected at the time described by him, supr. 271. ἐκβαλεῖν] Sc. ὥστε ἐκβαλεῖν. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 62.

1039. mvp-comment-718-1 εἰ μή τι .. ἐμοῦ] 'Were ye not pricked to it by some divine power reminding you of me.' κέντρον is (a) literally, 'The prick of a goad.' (b) metaphorically, 'A sharp thought' ( θεῖον, ‘implanted by a god'); in which sense ἐμοῦ is joined to it as an objective genitive. The religious feeling of these lines is very similar to Oed. Col. 96-105. Philoctetes' hope in the gods, which at supr. 1020 had sunk very low, is revived by the reflection that some Divine Providence must have caused the wish for his return to Troy. But he appeals only in the first instance to the gods of his fatherland, and to the gods of vengeance. The θεοὶ ἐπόψιοι are either (1) the Ερινύες. Cp. Aj. 835, 6, τὰς ἀεί τε παρθένους | ἀεί θ᾽ ὁρώσας πάντα τὰν βροτοῖς πάθη Or (2), as elsewhere, Zeus and Apollo. Cp. Εl. 175, Ζεύς, ὃς ἐφορᾷ πάντα καὶ κρατύνει.

1042. mvp-comment-719-1 κἄμ᾽] καί belongs to the verb. Cp. Ant. 280, παῦσαι, πρὶν ὀργῆς κἀμὲ μεστῶσαι λέγων, and note.

1044. mvp-comment-720-1 τῆς νόσου] Sc. ἐκ. See Essay on L. § 8. p. 11. Cp. Od. 1. 18, πεφυγμένος ἦεν ἀέθλων: Ant. 488, 9, οὐκ ἀλύξετον | μόρου κακίστου. For the relief afforded by vengeance, cp. Εl. 939, τῆς νῦν παρούσης πημονῆς λύσεις βάρος: ib. 1489, 90, ὡς ἐμοὶ τύδ᾽ ἂν κακῶν | μόνον γένοιτο τῶν πάλαι λυτήριον.