Sophocles Philoctetes 54

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)) — 54 focus
ΝΕ. τί δῆτ᾽ ἄνωγας ;
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 54 focus
Thy just demand to have thy father’s arms,
But, e’er thy coming, wrongly gave them o’er
Unto Odysseus: and thereon launch forth
With boundless execration against me.
That will not pain me, but if thou reject
This counsel, thou wilt trouble all our host,
Since, if his bow shall not be ta’en, thy life
Will ne’er be crowned through Troy’s discomfiture.
Now let me show, why thine approach to him
Is safe and trustful as mine cannot be
Thou didst sail forth, not to redeem thine oath,
Nor by constraint, nor with the foremost band.
All which reproaches I must bear: and he,
But seeing me, while master of his bow,
Will slay me, and my ruin will be thine.
This point then craves our cunning, to acquire
By subtle means the irresistible bow—
Thy nature was not framed, I know it well,
For speaking falsehood, or contriving harm.
Yet, since the prize of victory is so dear,
Endure it—We’ll be just another day
But now, for one brief hour, devote thyself
To serve me without shame, and then for aye
Hereafter be the pearl of righteousness.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 54 focus
Und was begehrst du?
Strebe Philoktetes' Geist
Mir schlau zu hintergehen durch der Rede Kunst.
55
Sobald er anfragt, wer du seist, aus welchem Land,
So sprich: „Achilleus' Sohn"; in diesem rede wahr:
Du schiffest heimwärts, habest dort der Danaer
Schiffsheer verlassen, dem du zürnst in schwerem Zorn,
Das aus der Heimat dich gelockt durch langes Fleh'n,
60
Weil, Ilion zu stürzen, so nur möglich sei,
Und doch dich nicht gewürdigt, dir des Vaters Wehr
Zu geben, die du kommend als dein Recht begehrt,
Nein, ich, Odysseus, habe sie: und sage dann
Von mir das Aergste, Schmach um Schmach, so viel du willst.
65
Mich kränkst du damit nimmermehr; doch, thust du's nicht,
So bringst du Sammer über Argos' ganzes Heer.
Denn wird des Mannes Bogen nicht entwandt von uns,
So kannst du Troja's Veste nicht bewältigen.
Warum ich selbst nicht, sondern du allein dich ihm
70
Getrost und sicher nähern kannst, das höre nun.
Du schifftest, Keinem zugethan durch Eidesschwur, 1
Nach Troja, nicht gezwungen, nicht im ersten Zug; 2
Mir steht von allem diesem Nichts zu läugnen an.
Drum wenn er, seines Bogens Herr, mich hier gewahrt,
75
Bin ich verloren und verderbe dich mit mir.
Hier also gilt es eine List, wir müssen spähn,
Wie du der unbesiegten Wehr den Mann beraubst.
Wohl hat, ich weiß es, die Natur dich nicht gemacht
Zu solchen Reden, noch zu Trug und Hinterlist;
80
Doch reizend ist es, einzufah'n des Sieges Glück;
So wag' es; künftig handeln wir dann wieder gut.
Sezt gib dich nur für eines Tages kurze Frist
Mir hin zu dreister Lüge; für die Folge dann
Laß dich den Frömmsten nennen, der auf Erden ist!
85
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 26 focus
Dost thou ? which way ?
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 54 focus
But if aught new, if aught unheard before c
Thou hear, assist: for therefore art thou come.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 54 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-38-1 τί δῆτ’ ἄνωγας 1

mvp-comment-38-2 σε δεῖ 2 λέγων 3 λέγων 4

mvp-comment-38-3 ἐκκλέψεις 5

mvp-comment-39-1 λέγειν 6

mvp-comment-39-2 τόδ’ οὐχὶ κλεπτέον 7

mvp-comment-40-1 πλεῖς 8 πλεῖν 9

mvp-comment-40-2 ὡς πρὸς οἶκον 10

mvp-comment-40-3 ἔχθος ἐχθήρας μέγα 11

mvp-comment-41-1 οἵ 12

mvp-comment-41-2 ἐν λιταῖς 13 στείλαντες … μολεῖν 14

mvp-comment-42-1 μόνην 15

mvp-comment-42-2 ἅλωσιν 16

mvp-comment-43-1 τῶν Ἀχιλλείων ὅπλων 17 ἠξίωσαν 18 δοῦναι 19 δοῦναι 20 κυρίως 21

mvp-comment-44-1 παρέδοσαν 22

mvp-comment-44-2 λέγων 23

mvp-comment-44-3 καθ’ ἡμῶν 24 με 25

mvp-comment-44-4 ἔσχατ’ ἐσχάτων 26

mvp-comment-44-5 66 *

τούτῳ γὰρ
κ.τ.λ.
The reading τούτων γὰρ οὐδέν μ’ ἀλγυνεῖς 27 τούτων γὰρ οὐδέν’ ἀλγυνεῖς 28 τούτων γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀλγυνεῖ μ’ 29 τούτῳ γὰρ οὐδέν μ’ ἀλγυνεῖς 30 τούτωι 31 τούτων 32

mvp-comment-45-1 μὴ 33 βαλεῖς 34

mvp-comment-46-1 εἰ 35 μὴ ληφθήσεται, οὐκ ἔστι 36

mvp-comment-46-2 οὐκ ἔστι πέρσαι σοι 37 σοι 38 σοὶ 39 σοὶ 40 σοι 41

mvp-comment-46-3 τὸ Δαρδάνου πέδον 42

mvp-comment-47-1 ὡς δ’ ἔστ’ ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐχί 43

mvp-comment-47-2 ὁμιλία 44

mvp-comment-47-3 πιστὴ 45 βέβαιος 46

mvp-comment-48-1 ἔνορκος 47

mvp-comment-48-2 ἐξ ἀνάγκης 48

mvp-comment-49-1 ἐγκρατὴς 49

mvp-comment-49-2 ὄλωλα 50

mvp-comment-49-3 προσδιαφθερῶ 51 προσδιαφθείρω 52

mvp-comment-50-1 αὐτὸ τοῦτο 53 κλοπεὺς 54

mvp-comment-50-2 σοφισθῆναι 55

mvp-comment-50-3 κλοπεὺς … γενήσει 56

mvp-comment-51-1 ἔξοιδα, Παῖ 57 καὶ 58 παῖ 59 καὶ 60

mvp-comment-51-2 φύσει 61 πεφυκότα 62

mvp-comment-51-3 φωνεῖν 63

mvp-comment-52-1 ἡδὺ γάρ τι κτῆμα 64 τῆς νίκης λαβεῖν 65 τι 66 τι 67 τοι 68 τι 69 τι 70 τῆς vίκης 71

mvp-comment-52-2 λαβεῖν 72 λαχεῖν 73

mvp-comment-53-1 τόλμα 74

mvp-comment-53-2 δίκαιοι … ἐκφανούμεθα 75

mvp-comment-53-3 αὖθις 76

mvp-comment-54-1 νῦν δ’ 77 αὖθις 78

mvp-comment-54-2 εἰς ἀναιδὲς ἡμέρας μέρος βραχὺ 79 μέρος 80 ἀναιδὲς 81 εἰς 82 εἰς ἀναιδὲς 83 εἰς ἀναιδὲς 84

mvp-comment-55-1 δός μοι σεαυτόν 85

mvp-comment-55-2 κἐκλησο 86

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

50-54. mvp-comment-37-1 τῷ σώματι follows γενναῖος εἶναι, κατὰ σύνεσιν, as if it were ὑπουργεῖν, for which it has been substituted as more pleasing. ἤν is equivalent to κἄν (see Essay on L. § 28. p. 47). Nauck thinks that ὑπηρέτης is too low a word for the position of Neoptolemus, who only acknowledges himself to have been sent as ξυνεργάτης to Odysseus (l.93). But ὑπηρέτης is applied by Xenophon to officers in attendance on a general as aides-de-camp, and Odysseus may think it necessary at the end of his speech to assert his authority in its full strength, adding fortiter to suaviter. Neoptolemus shows his sense of this in the brief question τί δῆτ᾽ ἄνωγας?

55. mvp-comment-38-1 λόγοισιν . . λέγων] The pleonasm helps to emphasize the unwelcome lesson that words and not deeds are required of Neoptolemus. Cp. infr. 90, 1. 'You must wrest to your purpose, by deceitful words, the mind of Philoctetes.' Neoptolemus is to wind himself into the very soul of Philoctetes and deceive him there.

56. mvp-comment-39-1 ὅταν . . παῖς] These words are in apposition to ὅπως . . λέγων.

57. mvp-comment-40-1 τόδ᾽ οὐχὶ κλεπτέον] ‘This is not to be dissembled.' κλέπτειν is repeated in a slightly different sense. The change to κρυπτέον, proposed by some edd., is unnecessary.

58. mvp-comment-41-1 πλεῖς] Sc. ὡς φήσεις λέγων. Odysseus puts before Neoptolemus the situation which he is to assume. This is more vivid than πλεῖν, which in some edd. has been substituted for πλεῖς as more grammatical. But cp. Trach. 1137, δρᾷ, and note. The whole speech is purposely cast in an easy conversational style. Cp. λέγων, infr. 64. Hence also the frequent asyndeta, 56, 72, 79. πλεῖς ὡς πρὸς οἶκον] ‘Your voyage is homeward-bound.' For ὡs, cp. Thuc. 5.3, περιέπλει τὸν᾿ Αθων ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αμφίπολιν : Trach. 532, ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἐξόδῳ.

59. mvp-comment-42-1 ἔχθος ἐχθήρας μέγα] For the effect to be produced by this part of the lie, cp. infr. 322 foll., 403 foll.

60. mvp-comment-43-1 οἵ] The antecedent (αὐτούς) is suppressed, as elsewhere, in expressing indignation. Cp. esp. O. C. 263 foll., οἵτινες βάθρων, κ.τ.λ. ἐν λιταῖς] For ἐν of the instrument, see Essay on L. § 19. p. 28, and cp. ἐν δόλῳ, infr. 103. 'Ita ut vis adducendi in precibus sita esset,' Dind.

61. mvp-comment-44-1 μόνην] Essay on L. § 51. p. 96. 'Having no way but this for taking Troy.'

62. mvp-comment-45-1 οὐκ ἠξίωσαν.. αἰτουμένῳ] 'Refused to grace thee with Achilles' arms, or give them to thee, when thou didst come to Troy and claim them with full right.' 'Conflata oratio ex duabus locutionibus, una οὐκ ἠξίωσάν σε τῶν ᾿Αχιλλείων ὅπλων, et altera, οὐκ ἠξίωσάν σοι δοῦναι τὰ ὅπλα.' (Herm.) The imperfect expression is supplemented by epexegesis. See Essay on L. § 36. p. 67. For κυρίως, cp. Αj. 734, τοῖς κυρίοις γὰρ πάντα χρὴ δηλοῦν λόγον.

64. mvp-comment-46-1 Ὀδυσσεῖ] The name, so hateful to Philoctetes, must not be omitted. παρέδοσαν] ‘Gave away. On comparing infr. 399, it appears that παρά in composition has here the special meaning of 'wrongly,' as in παραγιγνώσκειν. λέγων] λέγειν in l. 57 was equivalent to an imperative, and parallel to ὅπως ἐκκλέψεις, supr. λέγων agrees with the general subject of these verbs. For the detached participle, cp. Ο. Τ. 1289, τὸν μητρός, αὐδῶν ἀνόσι᾽ οὐδὲ ῥητά μοι.

65. mvp-comment-47-1 ἡμῶν = ἐμοῦ.

66. mvp-comment-48-1 τούτων.. οὐδέν] In nought of this.' Sc. λέγων or ποιῶν. Cp. infr. 1021, 2, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀλγύνομαι | τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό, where the accusative similarly expresses the cause.

66-67. mvp-comment-49-1 For μή emphatically postponed, see Essay on L. § 41. p. 78. βαλεῖς = προσβαλεῖς. See Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 4, and cp. Eur. Phoen. 1535, σκότον ὄμμασι βαλών.

69. mvp-comment-50-1 σοί] This (σοί, not σοι) is the reading of L., and agrees with the emphatic pleading of Odysseus.

71. mvp-comment-51-1 πιστή] «With mutual confidence.' βέβαιος] Without danger.'

72-74. mvp-comment-52-1 Odysseus anticipates the reproaches which Philoctetes would cast on him; which would be inapplicable to Neoptolemus, as he had not made one of the original expedition.

72. mvp-comment-53-1 πέπλευκας] πλεῖν is used here and elsewhere without further definition to denote the voyage to Troy. ἔνορκος] All those chiefs who took part in the war at its commencement had been bound to each other by an oath: Aj. 1113. Odysseus, in casting Philoctetes forth, was therefore guilty of perjury against him.

73. mvp-comment-54-1 For ἐξ ἀνάγκης, cp. infr. 1025, 6, καίτοι σὺ μὲν κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγεὶς ἔπλεις ἅμ᾽ αὐτοῖς: Aesch. Ag. 841.

74. mvp-comment-55-1 οὐδέν οὐδέν

77. mvp-comment-56-1 αὐτὸ τοῦτο] This very point is to be gained by craft,' viz. that suggested in the words τόξων ἐγκρατής.

78. mvp-comment-57-1 κλοπεύς] This word has no such mean associations as κλέπτης; and ἀνικήτων, which follows, is calculated to stir Neoptolemus' ambition.

79. mvp-comment-58-1 ἔξοιδα καί] 'I am well aware.' καί, which Linwood rightly defends, has a reassuring emphasis. • In urging this on you, I know all the while.' Cp. Thuc. 8. 91, ἦν δέ τι καὶ τοιοῦτον ἀπὸ τῶν τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐχόντων, καὶ οὐ πάνυ διαβολὴ μόνον τοῦ λόγου, and 5. 43, ᾧ ἐδόκει μὲν καὶ ἄμεινον εἶναι. The same idiomatic use occurs in Electra 1251, ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ', where see note. The conjectures, παῖ, μέν, δή, τοι are unnecessary; but if a change were required, ἔξοιδά τοι would be the most probable emendation. For the meaning of 79, 80, cp. infr. 88, 9, Il. 9. 312, where Achilles says, ἐχθρὸς γάρ μοι κεῖνος ὁμῶς ᾿Αΐδαο πύλησιν, κ.τ.λ.

81. mvp-comment-59-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἡδὺ λαβεῖν] The construction is analogous to that so frequent with χρήμα, e.g. Eur. Andr. 181, ἐπίφθονόν τι χρῆμα θηλειῶν ἔφυ. - (Sc. τὸ τῆς νίκης, or the genitive of definition takes the place of the nominative ἡ νίκη.) λαβεῖν is added to define ἡδύ. γάρ τοι (see v. rr.) is plausible, but cp. Eur. l. c.

82. mvp-comment-60-1 ἐκφανούμεθα] i. e. Our justice shall shine forth, as from a passing cloud. αὖθις, 'another day.'

83. mvp-comment-61-1 εἰς ἀναιδές] 'To shamelessness.' For the abstract neuter without the article, cp. Plat. Gorg. 504 C, ταῖς μὲν τοῦ σώματος τάξεσιν ὄνομα εἶναι ὑγιεινόν.. ταῖς δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τάξεσι.. νόμιμόν τε καὶ νόμος: Thuc. 5. 18. § 4, δικαίῳ χρήσθων καὶ ὅρκοις.