mvp-comment-1-1
314 l ff. Hunt supplies
πᾶσιν θεοῖς καὶ πᾶσιν as the opening words of Apollo's speech, comparing vv. 10 and 14: somewhat less abrupt would be
ἀκούετ᾿ ἤδη· πᾶσιω. But since the conditions seem to demand that the new clause, of which
ὐπισχνοῦμαι is the principal verb, should commence at the beginning of v. 2 (
τῷ τ᾿ ἐξιχνεντῇ Mekler). it is more likely that the object of
ἀγγέλλω (
καινὸν μῶθον or the like) found its place in v. 1. The opening of the Alcestis shows that it is not necessary to suppose that the name of Apollo appeared in v. 3, and
ἀπόπροθεν rather requires some such supplement as Mekler's
χρυσᾶ κλαπεισῶν μοι βοῦν. Rossbach, accepting v. 1 as restored in the ed. pr., supplies
τόδ᾿ ἔργον ἠδὲ δ. in 2, and
εῖτ᾿ ἐγγύθεν τις εῖδεν εἴτ᾿ in 3. But the result is unsatisfactory. It is not absolutely certain that v. 1 was the first of the play (see cr. n. on v. 94); but Hunt gives good reasons for considering it probable.
mvp-comment-2-1
4 ff. Something like
δεινὸν γὰρ ἔστ' ἐμῇ δὲ δύσλοφον may have stood in l. 4' (Hunt). But the connexion with the following line is doubtful, and the acc.
βοῦς seems to require for its government a verb of stealing or losing. The latter is perhaps the easier to work in: e.g.
δεινὸν γὰρ ἄλγος ἠδὲ δύσλοφον φρενὶ (so Mekler) |
ἔπεστ' ἀφαιρεθέντι. Hunt is probably right in supposing that the cattle are divided as 'milch-kine,' calves, and heifers, but the restoration of v. 6 is not easy. The conjectures of Wilamowitz
τε καὶ νέων νόμευμα (perhaps too long) and
νεανίευμα are condemned by their halting metre, and Mekler's
τε πίόν τ᾽ ἀγλάισμα is not convincing.
mvp-comment-3-1
7 ff. are restored by Wilamowitz thus:
ἅπαντα φροῦδα καὶ μάτην... |
λαθραῖ ἰόντα τῆλε. Murray suggests
τάφρων ὕπερθε νῦν in v. 7. I should prefer
ἔπειτ' ἀφρούρων ἁρπαγήν (cf. Ovid's incustoditae). Hunt supplies
τέχναισιν· ὡς in v. 9, but the dative is somewhat harsh without any previous mention of the agents. Perhaps we should read
λαθραΐ' ἰόντων...
τεχνάσματ'· ἀλλ', and render: 'the stealthy artifices of men who have travelled unseen far from the byre.'
ἀλλά is more suitable than
ὡς to the sequence of thought.-
ἂν ᾠόμην |
οὔτ᾽ ἂν...
πεσεῖν. It may be that the first av belongs to
ᾠόμην, and the second to
πεσεῖν, but it is certain that both do not belong to
ᾠόμην, although both may belong to
πεσεῖν. Cf.
Ar. Thesm. 524
τάδε γὰρ εἰπεῖν τὴν πανοῦργον
...
οὐκ ἂν ᾠόμην ἐν ἡμῖν |
οὐδὲ τολμησαί ποτ' ἄν. See the discussion of this question in the n. on
Eur. Hel. 1619
. In Lys. 31. 1
ἄν clearly goes with the infinitive; and
O. C. 748
, Antiph. 3 y 1, id. 5. 69,
Thuc. 8. 66
,
Xen. mem. 3. 4. 7
,
Dem. 9. 68
,
Plat. Theaet. 144 A
, as well as
Eur. Her. 1355
, seem to require a similar explanation. But I would again put forward the suggestion that in such cases the influence of äv may extend to both verbs; and this must be so in
Plat. rep. 443
Ε εἰ δέοι ἡμᾶς ἀνομολογεῖσθαι
...
τίν᾽ ἂν οἴει οἰηθῆναι τοῦτο αὐτὸν δρᾶσαι; and in
Xen. mem. 1. 5. 1
, unless we are prepared to admit that
οἴομαι may be followed by an aorist infinitive representing future time.
mvp-comment-4-1
11
τόλμαν: see cr. n. The evidence of our MSS is strongly in favour of the forms
τόλμα and
τόλμαν in tragedy, and they are confirmed by metre. On the other hand
τόλμην is unsupported, although it was recognized by Phrynichus (p. 114, 20 de B.= Bekk. anecd. p. 66, 23). -
πεσεῖν. The nearest parallel in Sophocles is
Trach. 705
ὥστ᾽ οὐκ ἔχω τάλαινα ποῖ γνώμης πέσω
. Euripides uses
πεσεῖν ἐς c. acc. more freely, generally as a periphrasis expressing somewhat more forcibly what might have been rendered by the aor. inf. of the verb corresponding to the abstract noun (
τολμῆσαι,
ἐρασθῆναι, etc.). So
εἰς ἔρωτα πίπτειν (= ' to fall in love')
Eur. fr. 138
, and c. gen.
I. T. 1172
,
Bacch. 812
;
ἐς φόβον πεσόντε
Phoen. 69
;
εἰς ἔριν πίπτειν fr. 578. Occasionally it may be held that
πεσεῖν retains the sense of to yield or give way, as in
Eur. El. 982
εἰς ἀνανδρίαν πεσεῖν οι
Or. 696
εἰς ὀργὴν πεσεῖν (contrast Tr. fr. adesp. 80).
mvp-comment-5-1
13
ζητῶ ματεύω: for the rhetorical asyndeton see on
Eur. Phoen. 1193
. Diehl, quoting
O. C. 211
, thinks that
ματεύων (cr. n.) may be right.-
παντελές is perhaps rather authoritative than universal: that is to say, it may be compared with
Ant. 1163
λαβών τε χώρας παντελή μοναρχίαν
.
κήρυγμ᾽ ἔχων =
κηρύσσων: see on fr. 210, 48. As a verb of commanding it is followed by the inf. with
μή: the form of the proclamation was
μηδεὶς ἀγνοείτω. Cf.
Ant. 192
ff.
mvp-comment-6-1
15 Wilamowitz ingeniously supplied
ἀκολουθίᾳ from fr. 990, as if
ἀκολουθία were the equivalent of
δίωξις. The use of the word in hunting may be inferred from
Xen. Cyneg. 10. 5
, where reading and interpretation are alike doubtful. So far as the sense goes, Murray's
δυσπευθίᾳ is to be preferred.
πολυμυθίᾳ might also be suggested: 'distracted by varying rumours.' 16-30 described Apollo's journey to Cyllene. Accident has preserved the geographical names which establish this, and little or nothing beyond. The remnants of vv. 18-23 are contained in two separate fragments: for their position see Hunt's note. The herds of the god which Hermes plundered were grazing in Pieria, according to
h. Herm. 70
and Apollod. 3. 112. At any rate, Thessaly was the traditional scene, and Anton. Lib. 23 describes them as being in the same pastures as the herds of Admetus. Therefore it is extremely unlikely that Sophocles put them anywhere else. If so, there does not seem to be any good reason for introducing the name of Thrace or of the Thracians into these lines, and I hesitate to accept Wilamowitz's
Θρᾳκῶν in 16
΄ with
ἀλλ' οὔτις in 17, or Hunt's alternative
Θρῃκιο- in 19 with
σπεύδων in 16. In any case, the combination
Θρακῶν φύλα τοῦ π.
στρατοῦ, 'the tribes of the whole host of Thracians,' is a clumsy one, and I should prefer to begin with
ἀνδρῶν (or
βροτῶν) and to take
τοῦ παντὸς στρατοῦ with what follows, adopting (ex. gr.) Murray's
ζητῶν τίς. For
στρατός =
λεώς see Jebb on
Trach. 795
.
mvp-comment-7-1
21 f. Hunt printed the supplements of Wilamowitz
Θεσσαλῶν τ' ἔγκαρπα πεδί' and
γῆς πολυκτήτους.
mvp-comment-8-1
28
Δωρικο- no doubt marks the passage to the Peloponnese. Similarly
mvp-comment-8-2
Anton. Lib. 23, after making Hermes pass through Boeotia (v. 22) and Megaris, brings him directly to the Peloponnese by way of Corinth. For the adjective cf.
O. C. 695
ἐν τᾷ μεγάλᾳ Δωρίδι νάσῳ Πέλοπος
. The schol. on
O. T. 775
interprets
Δωρίς as
Πελοποννησιακή.
mvp-comment-9-1
30 Mekler plausibly suggests
ξὺν τάχει.
mvp-comment-10-1
32 f. Wilamowitz was scarcely justified in altering
ἐς to
εἰ:
εἰ δ᾽ ὑληβάτης ἐνταῦθα ποιμήν. Unless, however, d' is an error for
θ', which the marginal comment (cr. n.) by no means proves, a new sentence must begin here, which it is not easy to adjust agreeably with the context. Some case or compound of
ὕλη seems inevitable, but would require a qualification. There does not seem to be enough room in 33 for
ἐς δ᾽ ὕλην μολὼν |
τήνδ' εἴτε κτέ. -It is unnecessary to omit the
σ οἱ ἀγρωστήρων, although there is no other example of the form. For
ἀγρώστης:
ἀγρώτης see on fr. 94.
mvp-comment-11-1
34
μαριλοκαυτών, a brilliant conjecture of Wilamowitz from fr. 1067.-
ἐν λόγῳ παρίσταται, 'is at hand to hear my words,' supports the soundness of the MS reading in
Phil. 319
τοῖσδε μάρτυς ἐν λόγοις
, which has been the object of some suspicion.
mvp-comment-12-1
35
νυμφογεννήτου. For the relationship between nymphs and satyrs see
Hes. fr. 44
Rz.
ἐξ ὧν (sc. the daughters of Hekateros [?] and the daughter of Phoroneus)
οὔρειαι Νύμφαι θεαὶ ἐξεγένοντο, |
καὶ γένος οὐτιδανῶν Σατύρων καὶ ἀμηχανοεργῶν. Here satyrs and nymphs are children of the same parents, but the anonymous satyr-play published in Ox. Pap. VIII 63 (fr. 1, 7) agrees with the present passage, describing the satyrs as
παῖδες δὲ νυμφῶν,
Βακχίου δ' ὑπηρέται. Silenus, the lover of the nymphs (inf. 149), is their father. Yet satyrs are sometimes themselves joined in wedlock with nymphs (Ov. Fast. 3. 409); while the Sileni are children of the Naiads (
Xen. symp. 5. 7
). In Nonn. 14. 113 the satyrs are the sons of Hermes and Iphthime, the daughter of Dorus. See further on 218 ff.
mvp-comment-13-1
37 The obvious supplement
τὸν φῶρα does not fit
τοῦ Παιῶνος, and Wilamowitz substituted
τῶν for
τοῦ in consequence. But it is not satisfactory to alter the text in order to justify even so plausible a restoration of the lost letters. Hunt suggests
τὰ δῶρα...
ἄρνυται as an alternative, but admits that
τὰ δῶρα scarcely fills the gap. It is perhaps possible that
θάλωρα (written
τὰ ἕλωρα) might stand here: cf. Hom.
Σ 93.-
Παιών as well as
Παιάν (
O. T. 154
) is a familiar
ἐπίκλησις of Apollo: for an attempt to connect it with Paeonia see C. R. XXVI 249. It is worth remarking that Usener (Götternamen, p. 154) found in Sophocles the earliest identification of Paion and Apollo. But it is curious that Apollo should refer to himself by this title, especially as the circumstances have no connexion with his functions as the Healer. ,
mvp-comment-14-1
38
τῷδ᾽ αὐτόχρημα was restored by Hunt, but
αὐτόχρημα does not mean forthwith, and is not obviously appropriate to the context. For its special use to mark a pun (like
ἐτύμως etc.) see Neil on
Ar. Eq. 78
. Probably then we should recognize another instance of
τὸ χρῆμα, used vaguely as in 44 and 136, and preceded by a participle such as
ἀνύσας or even
εὑρών.
mvp-comment-15-1
39
ἔα· τά. I have accepted Mekler's supplement (see cr. n.), since
ὦ Φοῖβε of the ed. pr. is admittedly too long, and is not required so shortly before 42. For the unusual position of the pronoun see Kuehner-Gerth § 464, 4 anm. 2.
mvp-comment-16-1
41
σπουδῇ with its relative clause belongs to
ἐπεσσύθην, and the hyperbaton of
τάδε, which of course goes with
μαθών, need cause no difficulty. There is a similar case in
O. T. 1251
χώπως μὲν ἐκ τῶνδ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ οἶδ᾽ ἀπόλλυται
: see also on
Eur. Hel. 719
.
mvp-comment-17-1
44
κυνηγέσω : cf. 75
ἐκκυνηγέσαι. If these forms come from
κυνηγεῖν, a verb not found in any text earlier than Aristotle, the short vowel is very remarkable, and they must be added to the list which contains
αἰνέσω,
καλέσω,
ποθέσω,
πονέσω and others. Several of these are usually explained as analogical products (
ἐκάλεσα:
ἐτέλεσα) : see Weir Smyth, Ionic Dialect, p. 489 ff., Brugmann, Comp. Gr. Iv pp. 296, 380. Another suggestion, however, has been put forward by P. Maas (B. ph. W. 1912, 1075) on the strength of two statements by grammarians, which Lobeck (Paralip. p. 438) refused to credit. See Phryn. praep. soph. p. 84, I de B.
κυνηγεττεῖν (rightly, as it now seems, corrected to
κυνηγέττειν by Buttmann)·
διὰ δυοῖν το λέγουσιν. Theognost. ap. Cram. anecd. Ox. II p. 143, 20
τὰ διὰ τοῦ εσσω ῥήματα,
πυρέσσω,
ἐρέσσω,
ἀηθέσσω,
κυνηγέσσω. Maas points out the exact parallelism between
ἐρέσαι (Hom.
μ 444):
ἐρέτης,
εἰρεσίη :
ἐρέσσειν and
κυνηγέσαι :
κυνηγέτης,
κυνηγέσιον :
κυνηγέσσειν. We must, therefore, conclude that Sophocles employed the older
κυνηγέσσειν as well as the newer formation
κυνηγετεῖν (
Ai. 5
), which in its turn gave way to
κυνηγεῖν.
mvp-comment-18-1
45 ff. The sequence of thought appears to be, 'I am ready to assist; for I expect my services to be well rewarded. And my sons shall aid..., if only you will keep your promise.' The speaker's object is to bring Apollo to business. In this sense I have endeavoured to restore 45 f.;
τὸ γὰρ γέρας was admitted by Hunt to be a possible reading, but was rejected as unsuitable. For the palaeographical details his note must be consulted. 47 f. are a puzzling problem: if the elision mark in 48 is rightly deciphered, an optative (e.g.
στείλαιμ' ἄν) is possible. - Above all, your behests must be enlarged by the secure reward for me of a golden crown.'
κείμενον : the word must be understood as in
Ant. 485
εἰ ταῦτ᾽ ἀνατὶ τῇδε κείσεται κράτη
(Jebb's n.). The prize was fixed or secured for the winner:
Pind. Isth. 1. 26
ἀλλ' ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστῳ ἔργματι κεῖτο τέλος
, where
τέλος is equivalent to
γέρας here. The text of the Ms xp[.]. [..]
τεφε (and the possibility that another letter follows) perhaps represents an original
χρυσεοστεφές,
ας χρυσεοστεφάνων appears in some MSS of
Pind. Ol. 8. 1
. In that passage
χρυσο- is figurative, i.e. it expresses the supreme worth of the not intrinsically valuable prizes. Here
χρυσοῖς literal, and the second member of the compound figurative: the satyrs looked for some reward more solid than a wreath. The ironical application of the compound is well suited to the tone of the passage : cf. 72, 156, 202.-
ἐπ᾿ ἐντολαῖσι is also possible: cf.
Trach. 1253
.
mvp-comment-19-1
49
σπουδὴν ἐπαινῶ might give the sense required.--Observe the Sophoclean
μοῦνον (fr. 852 n.).
mvp-comment-20-1
50
δόσιν : H. Richards conjectures
λόγον, which would correspond to
ὅρκον ἐμπεδώσομεν in 1. T. 790. Some less obvious restoration is then required in 51.
mvp-comment-21-1
51
ἑτοῖμα, without definite reference ('everything is prepared'), is idiomatic. See
Thuc. 2. 3
, 10, 98 etc.
mvp-comment-22-1
56
ποίαν δωρεὰν ἄλλην is supplied by Hunt (ed. min.).
mvp-comment-23-1
57 For the servitude of the chorus see Introductory Note.
