mvp-comment-399-1 εἰ θέλεις ¹

mvp-comment-400-1 ἀπόπληκτος ἔχει ²

mvp-comment-401-1 τί δ’ ἔστιν ³ τί ἔστιν ⁴

mvp-comment-402-1 τῆς παρεστώσης ⁵

mvp-comment-402-2 735 The intrans. κουφίζειν ⁶

mvp-comment-402-3 736 f. I follow A here (see cr. n.), for a reason which was felt by Hermann, but which has not been sufficiently considered by some other editors,—viz., that ἰὼ θεοί ⁷ ἰὼ θεοί ⁸

mvp-comment-402-4 τί θεοὺς ἀναστένων καλεῖς ⁹ θεοὺς ¹⁰

mvp-comment-403-1 κυρῶν ¹¹

mvp-comment-404-1 διέρχεται ¹²

mvp-comment-404-2 βρύκομαι ¹³

mvp-comment-404-3 746 Written as above, the exclamations represent three successive cries of pain, each longer than the last, as the agony becomes sharper; they seem to suggest the convulsive movement of the lips from which the sounds are wrung.

mvp-comment-405-1 εἴ τί σοι ξίφος πρόχειρον ¹⁴ χεροῖν ¹⁵

mvp-comment-405-2 πάταξον εἰς ἄκρον πόδα ¹⁶

mvp-comment-406-1 ἴθ’ ὦ παῖ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-407-1 νεοχμὸν ἐξαίφνης ¹⁸ σαυτοῦ ¹⁹ ἰυγήν ²⁰ ποεῖ ²¹

mvp-comment-408-1 τί σοί ²² ἔστιν ²³

mvp-comment-409-1 τοὐπίσαγμα ²⁴ τοὐπείσαγμα ²⁵ τοὐπίσιγμα ²⁶

mvp-comment-410-1 γὰρ ²⁷

mvp-comment-410-2 δράσω ²⁸

mvp-comment-411-1 ἥκει … ἐξεπλήσθη ²⁹ αὕτη ³⁰ διὰ χρόνου ³¹ ἥκει ³² διὰ χρόνου ³³ πλάνοις ³⁴ ἥκει ³⁵ πλάνοις ³⁶

mvp-comment-411-2 ἐξεπλήσθη. — ἰώ ³⁷ φεῦ ³⁸ ἰώ ³⁹ ἐξέπλης ⁴⁰ πλάνους ⁴¹

mvp-comment-411-3 760 There is an error in the traditional numbering here, as the fourth verse after this is called 765. The origin of this error is explained in the Appendix. To avoid changing the usual numeration throughout the rest of the play, I designate the next verse as 762.

mvp-comment-411-4 δῆτα ⁴²

mvp-comment-411-5 δύστηνε … φανείς ⁴³

mvp-comment-411-6 διὰ πόνων πάντων ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-412-1 βούλει λάβωμαι ⁴⁵ δῆτα ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-413-1 μοι ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-414-1 ἕως ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-414-2 ἀνῇ ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-415-1 τὸ πῆμα … τῆς νόσου ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-416-1 γὰρ οὖν ⁵¹

mvp-comment-416-2 ἐξίῃ ⁵²

mvp-comment-417-1 λῆξαι ⁵³

mvp-comment-418-1 ἕκηλον εὕδειν ⁵⁴ τῷδε τῷ χρόνῳ ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-418-2 ἐκεῖνοι ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-419-1 ἑκόντα μήτ’ ἄκοντα ⁵⁷ μήτ’ ⁵⁸ μηδ’ ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-419-2 μήτε τῳ τέχνῃ ⁶⁰ μηδέ ⁶¹ μήτε ⁶² τέχνῃ ⁶³

mvp-comment-420-1 πρόστροπον ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-420-2 κτείνας γένῃ ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-421-1 προνοίας οὕνεκ’ ⁶⁶ γ’ ⁶⁷ οὕνεκα ⁶⁸ γε ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-421-2 πλὴν σοί τε κἀμοί ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-421-3 ξὺν τύχῃ ⁷¹

mvp-comment-422-1 τὸν φθόνον δὲ πρόσκυσον ⁷²

mvp-comment-423-1 μή … γενέσθαι ⁷³

mvp-comment-423-2 πολύπονα ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-423-3 μηδ’ ὅπως ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-424-1 θεοί ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-424-2 γένοιτο … γένοιτο δὲ ⁷⁷ ταῦτα νῷν ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-424-3 κεὐσταλής ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-424-4 ὅποι ποτὲ ⁸⁰

715-716. mvp-comment-513-1 The last antistrophe was intended for the hearing of Philoctetes, and it is probable that, before it ended, he and Neoptolemus had already appeared from the cave. He now suddenly becomes motionless and speechless. εἰ θέλεις] 'Will you?' Neoptolemus professes unconsciousness of the cause of Philoctetes' apparent change of purpose. ἐξ οὐδενὸς λόγου] 'With no apparent cause.' 'Without assigning a reason.' Cp. O. C. 620, ἐκ σμικροῦ λόγου.

716. mvp-comment-514-1 ἀπόπληκτος . . ἔχει] 'Stand stupefied and caught.' Cp. Aj. 1144, 5, ἡνίκ᾽ ἐν κακῷ | χειμῶνος εἴχετο.

717. mvp-comment-515-1 The agony which he has in vain endeavoured to suppress forces a cry from Philoctetes against his will. Presently (ll. 733-5), he again assumes indifference, but is again overpowered, and cries to the gods for help.

719. mvp-comment-516-1 οὐδὲν δεινόν] 'No matter for alarm.' Cp. Trach. 459, τὸ δ᾽ εἰδέναι τί δεινόν; and cp. esp. O. C. 1200.

720. mvp-comment-517-1 τῆς παρεστώσης νόσου] i. e. τῆς νόσου παρεστώσης σοι. Cp. infr. 765.

721. mvp-comment-518-1 κουφίζειν] Sc. τὴν νόσον.

723. mvp-comment-519-1 In some MSS. οὕτως is read after θεούς, and Seidler and others have suggested that ὦ θεοί· τί τοὺς θεοὺς ὧδ᾽ ἀναστένων καλεῖς; should be read. But cp. Aj. 588, 9. It must be admitted however that the want of caesura is a reason for suspecting something wrong.

724. mvp-comment-520-1 'That they should interpose mercifully to save us.' (αὐτούς unemphatic.) Even here the suffering of Philoctetes is not merely physical. This attack of pain is threatening him with the frustration of his hopes.

727. mvp-comment-521-1 This passage, like El. 610, 1, O. T. 746, indicates the use of significant action by the person who is not speaking.

728. mvp-comment-522-1 For the omission of the article before κακόν, cp. supr. 83, and note, and see E. on L. § 21. p. 33, b.

729. mvp-comment-523-1 διέρχεται] 'It pierces.' Cp. infr. 791, 2.

731. mvp-comment-524-1 βρύκομαι] 'I am torn as with teeth.' Cp. Trach. 987, ἡ δ᾽ αὖ μιαρὰ βρύκει.

732. mvp-comment-525-1 παπαῖ] This exclamation of pain expresses the effort to close the lips alternating with the utterance of an involuntary cry.

733. mvp-comment-526-1 πρόχειρον] 'Ready to your hand.' πρόχειρος is one of the words which are used etymologically' in tragedy. ( Essay on L. § 54. pp. 99, 100. ) Cp. Eur. Hel. 1563, 4, φάσγανόν θ᾽ ἅμα | πρόχειρον ὤθει.

734. mvp-comment-527-1 εἰς ἄκρον πόδα] The force of ἄκρος in such phrases is not to be pressed. But cp. infr. 824.

736. mvp-comment-528-1 ἴθ᾽, ὦ παῖ] 'Do so, I pray thee, my son.' (Not, as supr. 733, where ἴθι is, 'Go on.')

737. mvp-comment-529-1 ἐξαίφνης is joined with veοχμόν as = νεωστί γενόμενον. ὅτου] «Wherefore.' Genitive of cause. Essay on L. § 10. p. 14.

738. mvp-comment-530-1 σαυτοῦ] 'Over thyself,' is genitive of the object after στόνον.

743. mvp-comment-531-1 Hermann in 1841 defended the MS. distribution of the persons (see v. rr.), supposing Philoctetes to evade inquiry first by saying οἶσθα, ‘You know as well as I do,' and then οὐκ οἶδα, ‘I do not know,' with the inconsistency of one distracted by pain and avoiding question. And there is nothing unnatural in this. But the words πῶς οὐκ οἶσθα are very clumsy in the mouth of Neoptolemus, whereas, if uttered by Philoctetes, they convey a touching expostulation against the cruelty of pressing him with questions when the case is so obvious. According to Bothe's arrangement, which is here retained, Neoptolemus at first affects ignorance, but is presently overcome with pity. For τί σοί, · What is the matter with you?' Hermann conjectured τί τοι;

745. mvp-comment-532-1 ἀλλ᾽ οἴκτειρέ με] The mental anxiety of the sufferer is greater than his pain.

747. mvp-comment-533-1 ταρβήσας] According to the story of the supposed Έμπορος, Neoptolemus was in twofold danger in Lemnos, both from Phoenix and the Theseidae, who were pursuing himself ( supr. 561,2), and still more from Odysseus and Diomed, who were on their way to fetch Philoctetes, and if they fled together would pursue them both.

748-749. mvp-comment-534-1 ἥκει.. ἐξεπλήσθη] (1) ‘For this plague in its wanderings is come after an interval in no less strength than when it sated itself.' A recurrent malady is imagined as going out of a man, making a circuit, and returning. Cp. infr. 808: Tennyson, Aylmer's field, p. 80. For ἥκειν in a somewhat similar connection, cp. Plat. Gorg 518 D, ὅταν δὴ αὐτοῖς ἥκῃ ἡ τότε πλησμονὴ νόσον φέρουσα συχνῷ ὕστερον χρόνῳ. For the dative πλάνοις (almost = πλανωμένη, Aesch. Prom. 275), see Essay on L. § 14. p. 20, 2 . ἴσως = οὐχ ἧττον ἰσχυρῶς. See Essay on L. § 24, α. p. 40 . ὡς ἐξεπλήσθη, i. e. ὡς τὸ πρὶν ἥκουσα ἐξεπλήσθη. It might be thought to have exhausted itself, or to have satisfied its hunger; but no, it returns with all its former violence. (2) The Scholiast explains, π. ἴ. ὡ. ἐ., 'I suppose when it has had enough of wandering. For other interpretations, see Ellendt's Lexicon, and Blaydes and Paley in loco. Arndt's emendation, ὡς ἐξεπλήσθη φλέψ. ΝΕ. ἰὼ δ. σ., is worth recording for its prosaic oddity.

751. mvp-comment-535-1 διὰ πόνων πάντων] ‘In passing through all (i. e. extreme) woe.' πάντων is virtually intensive. Others would render, 'Beyond all sufferings' that have been.

754. mvp-comment-536-1 ἕως ἀνῇ] For the omission of av, see Essay on L. § 27, 1. p. 45.

755. mvp-comment-537-1 τὸ πῆμα .. παρόν] ‘This present fit of pain.’ Cp. O. C. 78, 9, for the epexegesis.

756-757. mvp-comment-538-1 λαμβάνει γὰρ οὖν | ὕπνος μ᾽] 'For, you must know, sleep is wont to seize me.' For the present tense, cp. supr. 308, ἐλεοῦσι μέν.

757. mvp-comment-539-1 ἐξίῃ] · Is passing off.'

758. mvp-comment-540-1 λῆξαι] Sc. τὸ κακόν.

758-759. mvp-comment-541-1 ἀλλ᾽ . . εὕδειν] με is easily supplied: see v. rr. Cp. infr. 801: О. Т. 461, κἂν λάβῃς ἐψευσμένον.

759. mvp-comment-542-1 τῷδε τῷ χρόνῳ] 'While I am asleep.' Essay on L. § 11. pp. 17, 18.

761. mvp-comment-543-1 Several editors prefer μηδ' ἄκοντα. μηδέ τῳ τέχνη] Hdt. 1. 112, έχρῇζε μηδεμιῇ τέχνῃ ἐκθεῖναί μιν.

763. mvp-comment-544-1 πρόστροπον] This word has an especially sacred and compelling force. Cp. O. Τ. 41, ἱκετεύομέν σε πάντες οἵδε πρόστροποι. κτείνας γένῃ] Cp. especially Aj. 588, μὴ προδοὺς ἡμᾶς γένῃ.

765. mvp-comment-545-1 οὐ δοθήσεται .. κάμοί] 'They shall be given to no one (and no one shall have them) besides us two.' Neoptolemus has in mind the real ground for this. Supr. 115.

766. mvp-comment-546-1 Philoctetes, even amidst his pain, feels the gravity of the moment when he gives the bow out of his hands. The common feeling about the Divine envy appears also in El. 1466.

767. mvp-comment-547-1 μηδ' ὅπως] For the disjunctive form of expression, cp. supr. 80, τοιαῦτα φωνεῖν, μηδὲ τεχνᾶσθαι κακά.

768. mvp-comment-548-1 Heracles and Philoctetes, both owners of the bow, had both had more than the usual share of trouble. The troubles of Heracles might even be traced to the weapon with which he had slain Nessus and provoked the sons of Eurytus to strife.

769-771. mvp-comment-549-1 Neoptolemus also feels the gravity of the moment, but dissembles his gladness under the cover of a heart-felt though ambiguous prayer.

770. mvp-comment-550-1 εὐσταλής] 'Happily conducted' = εὐτυχῶς ἐσταλμένος : said with reference to other dangers than those of winds and waves; e. g. a mutiny arising from Philoctetes' malady. Cp. supr. 520, 1, infr. 890 foll.

771. mvp-comment-551-1 ὅποι ποτέ, κ.τ.λ.] The formality of the prayer renders its ambiguous vagueness less suspicious. Neoptolemus trusts that, in spite of apparent difficulties, the will of the gods, as expressed in prophecy, is on the side of his ambition.