mvp-comment-181-1
344 f. The gaps are well filled by Mekler with
πονηρέ σ' ἐγχάσκοντα and
δρᾷς δ᾽ ὑγιὲς οὐδέν. He supposes that a new sentence begins with
ἄρτι in 343.
mvp-comment-182-1
346
εἰς ἔμ᾿ εὐδίαν ἔχων : at your ease so far as I am concerned, i.e. I shan't interfere with you. Cf. Protag. fr. 9 (Diels, Vorsokr.2 p. 540, 3)
εὐδίης γὰρ εἴχετο = 'he remained undisturbed.' For eis cf.
O.C. 1121
τήνδε τὴν ἐς τάσδε μοι
|
τέρψιν. Jebb on 0.7. 706.
mvp-comment-183-1
348
κάχαζε:
Ai. 199
.
mvp-comment-184-1
350
μὴ βλάπτε κινῶν. I have preferred this to Hunt's
μὴ σκῶπτε ποιῶν, because to accuse a god of theft is fitly described as an injurious slander, and
κινῶν is somewhat more apt (see Blaydes on
Ar. Nub. 1397
) than
ποιῶν. 'Stirring up a new charge against a new-born child.' Note the careless repetition of
λόγον in a somewhat different sense, and see Jebb on
O.C. 554
. For
ἐν (= in relation to) cf.
Ant. 551
ἐν σοὶ γελῶ
.
Ai. 1092
μὴ
...
ἐν θανοῦσιν ὑβριστὴς γένῃ. ib. 1315
ἐν ἐμοὶ θρασύς.
Eur. Med. 206
τὸν ἐν λέχει προδόταν
.
mvp-comment-185-1
351
πρὸς πατρός. So
πρὸς αἵματος
El. 1125
,
Ai. 1305
.
mvp-comment-186-1
352
ἐγγενής follows
El. 1328
. Wilamowitz supplied
οὔτ᾽ αὐτις ἐν.-
κρατεῖ: prevails, i.e. maintains itself. Cf.
Thuc. 1.71
ἀνάγκη δὲ ὥσπερ τέχνης ἀεὶ τὰ ἐπιγιγνόμενα κρατεῖν
.
mvp-comment-187-1
353 Hunt's
εἰ δὴ κλοπή τίς ἐστι leaves the sentence incomplete.
ἄλλοσε was suggested by
El. 1474
μηκέτ' ἄλλοσε σκόπει
.
mvp-comment-188-1
354
καὶ γῆν ἄκαρπον: or perhaps
ἄγρον τ' ἄκαρπον. Hunt reads
ἄπορον ἄκαρπον, but
ἄκαρπον can scarcely be the epithet of a person, and the grammatical relation of the adjectives is obscure.-
τοῦδε κτέ.: see cr. n. If the disappearance of A before A was due to haplography, the reading given in the text is closer to the original than the conjecture of Wilamowitz, which Hunt adopts. The rough breathing (ov) may, of course, have been an error, but that is less likely to have occurred in a text where smooth breathings are not recorded. Lastly,
γένος, whether preceded by
ἄθρει or by
αἴνει, is undoubtedly clearer if combined with
τοῦδε than if isolated. On the other hand, Philostr. imag. 1 25.
Ι οὔ τι πω ταῦτα πενίᾳ δρῶν ὁ θεός may be quoted in favour of
πεινῇ.
mvp-comment-189-1
355
αἴνει; see cr. n. I formerly suggested
ὅκνει, but
αἴνει ‘respect' is much better, and may be recommended independently of the reading adopted in the last line. Cf.
Eur. fr. 395
τὴν μὲν γὰρ εὐγένειαν αἰνοῦσιν βροτοί
. Theodect. fr. 15 (Nauck, p. 806)
ἐγὼ μὲν οὔποτ᾽ εὐγένειαν ἤνεσα.
Aesch. fr. 300
γένος μὲν αἰνεῖν ἐκμαθὼν ἐπίσταμαι
|
Αἰθιοπίδος γῆς.
mvp-comment-190-1
356
ἥκει (=
προσήκει), comes fittingly, as in
O.C. 738
οὕνεχ᾿ ἧκέ μοι γένει
|
τὰ τοῦδε πενθεῖν πήματ᾽ ἐς πλεῖστον πόλεως, where, as Ellendt has pointed out, the passages usually quoted in illustration are not really parallel. In
Ar. Plut. 919
(quoted by Hunt)
ἥκει = 'devolves upon.' -
πρέπει : sc.
προσἀπτειν τὴν πονηρίαν.
mvp-comment-191-1
357 f. The connexion of thought appears to be as follows. But, instead of bidding you to desist, I ought to remember that this ridiculous charge is characteristic of you. You never cease your childish ways: though a full-grown man' (so
νεανίαν in fr. 210, 73) 'with a thick beard' (i.e. no longer
μειράκιον or
ἀγένειος) 'you are as wanton as a goat surfeited with thistles.' Wilamowitz, reading
κνηκῷ, understands you swagger with your yellow goat-beard'; but the simile is exactly on a line with fr. 848
σὺ δὲ σφαδάζεις πῶλος ὡς εὐφορβίᾳ, and the comparison of wanton conduct to the skittishness of an overfed animal was evidently familiar. Cf.
Ar. Vesp. 1305
ἀνήλλετ᾽
,
ἐσκίρτα, '
πεπόρδει κἀγέλα |
ὥσπερ καχρύων ὀνίδιον εὐωχημένον. Theogn. 1249
παῖ,
σὺ μὲν αὕτως ἵππος,
ἐπεὶ κριθῶν ἐκορέσθης, |
αὖθις ἐπὶ σταθμοὺς
mvp-comment-191-2
ἤλυθες ἡμετέρους. The correction
εἱ σύ seems inevitable; but Wilamowitz, who insists that Silenus is still on the stage and must be the person addressed, makes the violent alteration of véos to
πάλαι. Hunt has shown that the young satyrs are often represented as bald-headed and that the taunt may be quite well addressed to the chorus. Cf.
Eur. Cycl. 434
νεανίας γὰρ εἶ
.
mvp-comment-192-1
359 Hunt renders 'cease courting pleasure with your bald pate,' but does not explain the peculiarity of the language. No satisfactory result can be deduced from the interpretation of
πιτνάς either as spreading or strewing (
Hes. Scut. 291
). It is suggested, therefore, that
πίτνημι is used here in the figurative sense of to flutter or excite, a meaning which is perhaps justified by Hom.
σ 160
ὅπως πετάσειε μάλιστα |
θυμὸν μνηστήρων, and by
φρένας ἐκπεπετασμένος if that is read ib. 327.
mvp-comment-193-1
360 f. See cr. n. 'Take care that the gods don't punish your foolish jests, and give me cause to laugh at the tears that will follow.' The order of the words shows that considerable stress is laid on
ἐκ θεῶν, for which see n. on fr. 326. The final clause
ὡς ἐγὼ γελῶ ironically represents the natural result of an action as the purpose of the agent. Cf. e.g. Hom.
Β 359,
ἁπτέσθω ἧς νηὸς...
ὄφρα πρόσθ' ἄλλων θάνατον καὶ πότμον ἐπίσπῃ. The addition of o' improves the antithesis, and is scarcely a ponderable alteration. Hunt, putting a question after
ὕστερ', reads
ὣς ἐγὼ λέγω, and suggests that
σ' should be added after
κλαίειν. Wilamowitz alters
ἐκ θεῶν to
εἰς θεούς, and ends the sentence with
ὑστέρως,
ἐγὼ λέγω (coll.
Eur. fr. 499
). For the adverbial acc.
ὕστερα see Kuehner-Gerth 1 310.
