1445.
mvp-comment-955-1
πέμψας]
Cp. supr. 846, and for
φθέγμα, of a Divine utterance, Aj. 14: Aristoph. Nub. 320, 364,
ὦ γῆ τοῦ φθέγματος, ὡς ἱερὸν καὶ σεμνὸν καὶ τερατώδες.
1446.
mvp-comment-956-1
χρόνιος] 'At last, after so long' (adjective).
Cp. O. C. 441,
ἤλαυνέ μ᾽ ἐκ γῆς χρόνιον. See
Essay on L. § 23, €. p. 39.
1448.
mvp-comment-957-1
γνώμῃ ταύτῃ τίθεμαι] ‘Determine likewise in my thought.' Various changes have been needlessly proposed, of which the most plausible is
γνώμην ταὐτῇ τίθεμαι, 'Give my vote the selfsame way,' quoted by Lamb. as a v. r.
1449.
mvp-comment-958-1
For
χρόνιοι with
χρόνιος preceding in a different sense, see
Essay on L. § 44. pp. 83, 84.
1450.
mvp-comment-959-1
καιρός] 'The right moment.'
Cp. supr. 466,
καιρὸς γὰρ καλεῖ.
πλοῦς] Here nearly =
οὗρος.
Cp. supr. 464, 5,
ὁπηνίκ᾽ ἂν θεὸς | πλοῦν ἡμὶν εἴκῃ.
1451.
mvp-comment-960-1
ἐπείγει] 'Counsels you to haste.'
Cp. καλεῖ, supr. 466: O. C. 1540,
ἐπείγει γάρ με τοὐκ θεοῦ παρόν. For the position of
γάρ, see
Essay on L. § 26. p. 44.
κατὰ πρύμναν]
Cp. Thuc. 2. 97,
ἦν ἀεὶ κατὰ πρύμναν ἱστῆται τὸ πνεῦμα. Heracles is now withdrawn.
1452.
mvp-comment-961-1
στείχων] In departing.'
Cp. supr. 1408: O. T. 1521,
στεῖχέ νυν, τέκνων δ᾽ ἀφοῦ.
καλέσω] · Let me address.' The word is used with some association from the frequent use of 'addressing a deity,' as in O. C. 1389 foll. Another somewhat singular use of
καλεῖν occurs in O. T. 780,
καλεῖ.. πλαστὸς ὡς εἴην, κ.τ.λ.
1453.
mvp-comment-962-1
ξύμφρουρον ἐμοί] 'Sole comrade of my watch.' In the absence of companionship, the homeless cave was more than a dwelling-place to Philoctetes,
supr. 298, 9, 533, 952, 1081 foll. The low roof of rock (his
μέλαθρον) reflecting the feeble light of his fire, was all the society that cheered him through the watches of the night.
1454.
mvp-comment-963-1
'And water-nymphs of the green meadow.' The bit of moist ground about his spring (
supr. 21), or the standing-pool (
supr. 716, 7), was peculiarly sacred to Philoctetes.
1455.
mvp-comment-964-1
ἄρσην] ‘Bass.'
Cp. the use of
ἀνδρεῖος and
γυναικεῖος for bass and treble in Hdt. 1.17,-and Shak. Tempest, 3. 3, 'Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it; | The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder, | That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounced | The name of Prosper: it did bass my trespass.'
πόντου *προβολῆς] ‘Of the bluff that juts into the deep.' This conjectural emendation of Hermann is more probable than
πόντου προβλής θ'. For, though the latter involves a slighter change, it leaves
κτύπος ἄρσην too indistinct.
πόντου is objective genitive: sc.
εἰς τὸν πόντον προβεβλημένου.
1456.
mvp-comment-965-1
οὗ refers either generally to the whole region described in the preceding lines, or to the last word only, the 'jutting foreland' being no other than the
ἀκτή of l. 1, in which the cave was situated.
1456-1457.
mvp-comment-966-1
'My head withdrawn into the deepest nook was (notwithstanding) wetted by the lashing wind.'
νότος is here the south-east. See Introduction.
1458.
mvp-comment-967-1
φωνῆς .. ἡμετέρας] The genitive follows
ἀντίτυπον, for which word,
cp. supr. 693.
1459.
mvp-comment-968-1
Ἑρμαῖον]
Cp. Aesch. Ag. 283,
Ἑρμαῖον λέπας | Λήμνου.
1460.
mvp-comment-969-1
χειμαζομένῳ] 'In tempest of my woe.' If there were storms without, so too was there a storm within. For a metaphorical use of
χειμάζεσθαι, cp. esp. Aesch. Prom. 562,
τόνδε χαλινοῖς ἐν πετρίνοισιν | χειμαζόμενον.
Cp. also Shak. Lear, 3. 4, 'Thou think'st it much that this contentious storm | Invades us to the skin: so 'tis to thee; But where the greater malady is fixed, The lesser is scarce felt... When the mind's free, The body 's delicate: the tempest in my mind | Doth from my senses take all feeling else Save what beats there.'
1461.
mvp-comment-970-1
Λύκιον] This, like '
Ἑρμαῖον supr., is probably a name actually associated with Lemnos, though we cannot pretend to know more than the Scholiast respecting its origin:
ἢ οὕτω καλουμένη κρήνη ἐν Λήμνῳ Λυκίου ᾿Απόλλωνος, ἢ οἷον ἐν ἐρημίᾳ ὑπὸ λύκων πινόμενον. Possibly Sophocles himself could not have determined this.
1463.
mvp-comment-971-1
δόξης. ἐπιβάντες] 'Though we never embarked upon this thought,' i. e. 'never entertained it, never thought of doing so.' He refers partly to his steady refusal to go to Troy, and partly to his abnegation of all hope. For the expression,
cp. O. C. 189, and note: Hdt. 3. 67,
ἐπιβατεύων τοῦ ὁμωνύμου Σμέρδιος τοῦ Κύρου: Plat. Legg. 3.699 B.
ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἐλπίδος ὀχούμενοι ταύτης εὕρισκον καταφυγὴν αὑτοῖς εἰς αὐτοὺς μόνους εἶναι καὶ τοὺς θεούς.
1464.
mvp-comment-972-1
ὦ.. ἀμφίαλον] He sums up the preceding invocations in one expression.
1465.
mvp-comment-973-1
καὶ.. ἀμέμπτως] ‘And speed me with good voyage to heart's content.' The fair wind, blowing off-shore, is regarded as the breath of the land. Seyffert takes
ἀμέμπτως to mean, 'Without grudging,' as if Philoctetes apprehended that the isle might resent his leaving it. But this fancy is too finely spun.
1466.
mvp-comment-974-1
ἡ μεγάλη Μοίρα] Referring to
supr. 1337-47.
1467.
mvp-comment-975-1
γνώμη τε φίλων]
Supr. 1374, 1381, 1389.
χώ πανδαμάτωρ | δαίμων] This refers to the intervention of Heracles, to whom the epithet
πανδαμάτωρ is, in the mouth of Philoctetes at least, sufficiently appropriate.
Cp. Trach. 1102,
κοὐδεὶς τροπαῖ᾽ ἔστησε τῶν ἐμῶν χερῶν.
1468.
mvp-comment-976-1
The compound
ἐπέκρανεν, ‘Consummated,' exactly describes the action of Heracles here. Others understand the words of Zeus. But it is very unlikely both that Zeus should be alluded to in Sophocles and not named, and that the word
δαίμων should be applied to Zeus in Attic Greek of this period.
1469.
mvp-comment-977-1
πάντες ἀολλεῖς] ‘All, viz. Neoptolemus, Philoctetes, Odysseus, and mariners.' The language implies that the peace has been made.
1470.
mvp-comment-978-1
Philoctetes had invoked the 'Genius of the shore.' The mariners now invoke the nymphs of the sea.
1471.
mvp-comment-979-1
σωτήρας] (1) 'To come and aid us in our return.' There is no reason why this word should not be feminine.
Cp. O. T. 80, 81,
τύχῃ.. σωτῆρι, and see
Essay on L. § 20. p. 30.
But possibly (2)
σωτῆρες should be read, 'That we may arrive and make safe our return;'
cp. Trach. 85,
κείνου βίον σώσαντος : Od. 23. 68,
ὤλεσε τηλοῦ νόστον.
