1-127.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-1
1-127: Prologue
(πρόλογος).
88-127.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-69
88-127. Second Scene. Pro- metheus alone. With this invocation of the elements cp. Il. iii. 277
ἠέλιός
θ'
ὃς
πάντ᾽
ἐφορᾶς
καὶ
πάντ᾽
ἐπακούεις,
καὶ
ποταμοὶ
καὶ
γαῖα, Soph. Phil. 936&
λιμένες,
ὦ
προβλῆτες,
ὦ
ξυνουσίαι
θηρῶν
ὀρείων,
ὦ
καταρρῶγες
πέτραι,
ὑμῖν
τάδ',
οὐ
γὰρ
ἄλλον
οἶδ᾽
ὅτῳ
λέγω,
ἀνακλαίομαι. Apsines (Rhet. Gr. ed. Spengel I. p. 400) says:
κινεῖ
δὲ
ἔλεον
καὶ
λόγος
πρὸς
τόπον
τινὰ
γινόμενος.
107.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-83
107.
γέρα: see on
τιμάς, 30. — Here and in 821 we find the thesis of the fifth foot formed by the long final syllable of a word of more than one
syllable
(θνη-τοῖς). This is very rare in tragedy (H.
1091,5). It is excusa- ble when, as here, a distinct pause, in connexion with the caesura of the fourth foot (hephthemimeris), imme- diately precedes. See also on 648. ...
108.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-84
108.
ἀνάγκαις : said like
αἰκίαι 93. –
ἐνέζευγμαι : a favorite metaphor of Aeschylus. Cp. 578, 1009; Ag. 1639
τὸν
δὲ
μὴ
πειθάνορα
ζεύξω
βαρείαις (sc.
ζεύγλαις), 841
μόνος
δ᾽
Ὀδυσσεὺς
ζευχθεὶς
ἕτοιμος
ἦν
ἐμοὶ
σειραφόρος, Cho. 795
ζυγέντ᾽
ἐν
ἅρμασιν
πημάτων, also Ag. 218
ἀνάγκας
ἔδυ
λέπαδνον. Figures and comparisons drawn from husbandry and rural life are frequent in the tra- gedians. With our passage cp. Eur.
Οr. 1330
ἀνάγκης
εἰς
ζυγὸν
καθέσταμεν, Hipp. 1389
οἵαις
συμφοραῖς
συνεζύγης.
109.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-85
109.
ναρθηκοπλήρωτον:
τὴν
ἐν
νάρ-
θηκι
θησαυρισθεῖσαν,
παρόσον
τῷ
νάρθηκι
ἐχρῶντο
πρὸς
τὰς
ἐκζωπυρώσεις
τοῦ
πυρός, Hesych. The
νάρθηξ (ferula communis, in modern Greek
ἀνάρθη- kas) is an umbelliferous
reed-like plant, about four feet high; its stalk is filled with an acrid milky juice (habent fungosam intus me- dullam ut sambuci: Plin.). When dried it readily catches and preserves a spark of fire; the peas- ants of southern Italy use it as tinder. Cp. Phanias, Anthol. vi. 294
νάρθηξ
πυρικοίτας, also Theophr. Hist. Pl. vi. 2, 7, Plin. H. N. xiii. 22. 42. On the mythical significance of the narthex, see Introduction, p. 2. - This clause is properly explanatory of what goes before, nevertheless it is introduced by de as if it were a new and distinct statement. The scholiasts often ren- der this dé by
yap; an example is Cho. 239
προσαυδᾶν
δ᾽
ἔστ᾽
ἀναγκαίως
ἔχον, which is explanatory of the foregoing words
τέσσαρας
μοίρας
ἔχον
ἐμοί. –
θηρῶμαι: historical present. Krüger I. § 53, 1, 11; GMT. 33.
110.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-86
110 f.
διδάσκαλος
τέχνης
πάσης : see on 7. -
πόρος : absolute, as in 477.
112.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-87
112.
τοιώνδε
ποινὰς
ἀμπλακημάτων: ср. 564, 620.
113.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-88
113.
ὑπαιθρίοις: explains
προυσε-
λούμενος; the insult of the punish- ment consists in its publicity, See also 158. Prometheus lays stress on the ignominious nature of his punish- ment, 97, 177, 195, 227, 256, 438, 525. For the connexion of
ὑπαιθρίοις and
δεσμοῖσι, see on
ἀφεγγής 115. –
πρου-
σελούμενος: this word recurs 438; it is found elsewhere only in Ar. Ran. 730
(προυσελοῦμεν). Cp. Etym. Mag. p. 690, 11
προυσελεῖν
λέγουσι
τὸ
ὑβρί-
ζειν. It is therefore equivalent to
αἰκίζομαι, the word employed in most of the similar passages of this play (cp. Hesych.
προυγελεῖν·
προπηλακί-
ζειν,
ὑβρίζειν). The etymology of the word is unknown: it has been proposed to derive it from
προσεέλ-
λειν, on the supposition that the digamma, falling out after o, has lengthened the preceding syllable, as in
θεουδής
(θεοδρής).
114-127 announce the approach of the chorus and accompany (from 120 on) the movements of the winged chariot. Similarly in the Electra of Sophocles anapaests of Electra ac- company the entrance of the chorus.
114.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-89
114. A rush or whir is heard in the air. -ad:
ἐκπλήξεως
ἐπιρρήματα, Schol. Ce mélange de douleur et d'effroi, de faiblesse et de fermeté me paraît tout à fait admirable' (Patin).
115.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-90
115. The bacchic rhythms express surprise and amazement.
·ὀδμά: an odor of the sea is supposed to pre- cede the nymphs, in whose costume seaweed, shells, etc., may well have been prominent. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1391
ἔα·
ὦ
θεῖον
ὀδμῆς
πνεῦμα·...
ἔστ᾽
ἐν
τόποισι
τοισίδ᾽
῎Αρτεμις
θεά, Verg. Aen. i. 403 ambrosiaeque comae di- vinum vertice odorem spira- vere. -
προσέπτα: cp. Plaut. Amphitr. 325 vox mi ad auris advo- lavit. The verb, in a somewhat different sense, is joined with the da- tive in 555 and 644. –
ἀφεγγής: (here nearly =
ἀφανής) is, by a figure com- mon in the poets, connected with
ἀχώ and
ὀδμά, whereas it is properly an epithet of the object from which they emanate. - For the situation cp. Soph. Phil. 203
προυφάνη
κτύπος
βάλλει
μ᾽
ἐτύμα
φθογγά
του.
116.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-91
116.
θεόσυτος: the tribrach in the first foot generally, in Aeschylus, con- sists of a single word of three sylla- bles, as in 666. Here and 817 it is the first part of a longer word: the remaining cases of this are Sept. 272
πεδιονόμοις,
Eum. 806
λιπαροθρόνοισιν, Frg. 195, 2
βορεάδας. - Compounds in
-συτος and in -puros either double the medial o or p, or do not double it, according to the requirements of the verse: cp. 643. With
θεόσυτος
ή
βρότειος cp. 765. –
κεκραμένη :
ἡμιθέων, Schol. Demigods according to the later conception are not meant, but beings who, like the Oceanids, stand midway between the higher (celestial) gods and the human race: cp. 529 f., 902. For the expression cp. Eur. Cycl. 218
μήλειον
ἢ
βόειον
ἢ
μεμιγμένον ;
117.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-92
117. The rhythm (dochmius and cretic) indicates painful emotion. The question "Who can it be" (115, 116) is followed by the conjecture that the person in question comes as an unwel- come spectator of his sufferings. The reason of this conjecture is suggested by the opening words,
ἵκετο
τερμόνιον
ἐπὶ
πάγον (“a cliff at the end of the world"). –
ἵκετο : is he come; the sub- ject is the unknown newcomer; not
θεωρός, which expresses the motive of the coming. -
τερμόνιον: this adjective occurs only here: it is formed from
τέρμων, while
τέρμιος is from
τέρμα.
118.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-93
118.
ἢ
τί
δὴ
θέλων : cp. Soph. Trach. 390
ἡμεῖς
δὲ
προσμένωμεν;
ἢ
τί
χρὴ
ποιεῖν;
119.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-94
119.
ετάρο: said with reference to
<ε
θεωρός. The imperative has the sense of
ὁρᾶν
πάρα.
