N. Wecklein Libation Bearers 1-2.comm-1-2

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Libation Bearers. N. Wecklein. . 2026-09-07.

Current edition Experimental

Wecklein’s commentary on Choephoroi / Libation Bearers (1888; German; OCR draft) (German) (Explanatory commentary, pp. 163–234; single HW42J8 OCR witness, conservatively retained. Unresolved OCR and provisional reference mappings are explicitly marked.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (8)
Χοηφóρoι First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 1-21 focus
Χοηφóρoι Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.) — 1-21 focus
Χοηφόροι (OCR draft) Experimental (Χοηφόροι. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 1 focus
Χοηφόροι (OCR draft) Experimental (Χοηφόροι. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 1 focus
ΧΟΗΦΟΡΟΙ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΧΟΗΦΟΡΟΙ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 1 focus
Χοηφόροι (OCR draft) Experimental (Χοηφόροι. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 1 focus
Ἑρμῆ χθόνιε, πατρῷ ἐποπτεύων κράτη
1
σωτὴρ γενοῦ μοι σύμμαχός τ' αἰτουμένῳ·
ἥκω γὰρ ἐς γῆν τήνδε καὶ κατέρχομαι
τύμβου δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ὄχθῳ τῷδε κηρύσσω πατρὶ
κλύειν, ἀκοῦσαι·
5
πλόκαμον Ἰνάχῳ θρεπτήριον,
τὸν δεύτερον δὲ τόνδε πενθητήριον
οὐ γὰρ παρὼν ᾤμωξα σόν, πάτερ, μύρον
οὐδ᾽ ἐξέτεινα χεῖρ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἐκφορᾷ νεκροῦ.
τί χρῆμα λεύσσω; τίς ποθ᾽ ἦδ᾽ ὁμήγυρις
10
στείχει γυναικῶν φάρεσιν μελαγχίμοις
πρέπουσα; ποίᾳ ξυμφορᾷ προσεικάσω;
πότερα δόμοισι πῆμα προσκυρεῖ νέον;
ἢ πατρὶ τὠμῷ τάσδ᾽ ἐπεικάσας τύχω
χοὰς φερούσας νερτέροις μειλίγματα;
15
οὐδέν ποτ᾽ ἄλλο· καὶ γὰρ Ἠλέκτραν δοκῶ
στείχειν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἐμὴν πένθει λυγρῷ
Χοηφόροι (OCR draft) Experimental (Χοηφόροι. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 1 focus
Aeschyli Choephori (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Choephori. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 1 focus
Translations (10)
Libation Bearers Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 1-20 focus
The Libation Bearers (OCR draft) Experimental (The Libation Bearers. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 1 focus
MERCURY of the shades! presiding over the power delegated from the sire 1
, be thou a saviour and ally to me beseeching it; for I am come into this land, and I return from exile 2
. And over this mound of his sepulchre too I call upon my father to listen, to give ear 3
. * * * * * * * * * * * * * a ringlet cherished in honour of Inachus 1
and this, the second, expressive of my sorrow. * * * * * * * * * * * * * What is it that I see? what is this concourse of women [coming] hither conspicuous in sable weeds? To what calamity shall I refer it? Is it that a new death 2
hath happened in the palace? or am I right in guessing that these maidens are conveying libations to my father-a propitiation for the departed 3
? It is nothing else; for I think I see my sister Electra advancing, distinguished by grievous sorrow. O Jupiter! grant me to avenge the fate of my father, and be thou a willing ally to me! Pylades, stand we apart, that I may clearly learn what means this suppliant procession of women.
LES CHOÉPHORES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES CHOÉPHORES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 1 focus
Hermès Infernal, attache ton regard sur mon père abattu, et deviens le sauveur, l'allié que j'implore. Je rentre en ce pays, et je reviens d'exil 1 ...
The Choephoræ (OCR draft) Experimental (The Choephoræ. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 1 focus
THOU, that to the regions of the dead *
1
Bearest thy father's high beheſts, O hear,
Hear, Mercury, thy ſupplicant, protect,
And
Eschilo, Le Coefore: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Coefore: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 1 focus
O tu che vegli, Ermète sotterraneo,
1
del padre mio la sorte, a me che imploro
dà tu salvezza, al fianco mio combatti:
ché a questo suolo io giungo: io sono qui.
E lancio un bando al padre mio, sul clivo
5
di questa tomba, ch'ei m'oda, e m'ascolti.
L'Inaco il primo mio ricciolo s'ebbe,
che nutrito m'avea: questo secondo,
segno di lutto, io qui recido, o padre,
ché lungi, alla tua morte, ero, e non piansi,
10
né le man sovra la tua spoglia io tesi.
Che cosa scorgo? Quale accolta avanza
vêr noi di donne, in negri manti avvolte?
E quale evento io debbo indurre?
Forse
15
Aeschylus, Choephori: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Choephori: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 1 focus
Quam rem uideo, quæ tandem hæc caterua,
1
Et mulierum uestibus
Ornata, cui calamitati aſsimilabo?
Vtrum nocumentum contigit domui nouum?
Aut patri meo has coniectabo
5
Libamina ferentes ſanctis placamentis.
Nihil tandem aliud. etenim Electram uideo
Videre sororem meam luctu graui
Ornatam.
O Iupiter da mihi ulcisci mortem
10
Patris, esto uolens mihi auxiliator.
Pylade recedamus, ut manifeſte
Discam que'nam sit hæc mulierum supplicatio.
Aeschylus, Die Totenspende: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Totenspende: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 1 focus
Du Herr der Erdentiefe, meines Vaters Macht
2 ist deines Reiches, Hermes: steh' mir rettend bei.
3 Ich fleh' dich an, erbarm' dich meiner. Heimgekehrt
bin ich nach Argos, stehe hier im Vaterland,
doch niemand grüfst Orestes, Agamemnons Sohn,
dem mörderische Hinterlist den Vater schlug
und königlichen Erbes Scepter vorenthält..
Fern am Parnassos hat das gastverwandte Haus
des Strophios der Kindheit Tage mir beschützt,
und du Genosse meiner Jugend, Pylades,
bist einziger Gefährte mir auch auf dem Weg,
den ich verstohlen in die Heimat mir gesucht,
berufen durch Apollon zu dem schweren Werk.
Allein die Nacht des Todes, da der Vater schläft,
durchwanderst von den Göttern, Hermes, du allein,
himmlischer Herold: gönne deinen Beistand mir.
Auf seines Grabes Hügel tönt der Heroldsruf
5 dem Vater, dring' er denn zu ihm, ins Ohr, ins Herz,
The Libation Bearers (OCR draft) Experimental (The Libation Bearers. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 1 focus
ORESTES
THEE, shade-escorting Hermes, I invoke,
In Hades guardian of my royal sire,—
To me, thy suppliant, be saviour thou,
My firm ally, for to this land I come
Exile no more ;-on this sepulchral mound
Father I call thee,-hearken to my cry!—
* * * * *
A primal lock, as nurture-gift, I vowed
To Inachos, and now this second lock,
Grief's token, Father, I devote to thee,-
For, absent from thy funeral obsequies,
I could not then as mourner weep thy death,
Nor speed with outstretched hand thy royal bicr.
Chorus
STROPHE I.
Sent from the palace, forth I tread,
Libations bearing to the dead,
With hands swift-clapped and shrill, a doleful train.
Marred is my cheek with many a gory stain,
Nail-ploughed the new-cut furrows bleed,
The while on sateless cries my heart doth feed.
Rending my flaxen-tissued vest,
With smileless passion, uncontrolled,
Grief doth my sorrow-stricken breast
Dismantle of the garment's decent fold.
ANTISTROPHE I.
30 For thrilling, ay hair-bristling Fear,
In Atreus' home dream-prophet-seer,
32
Breathing forth rage in sleep,—at dead of night
From the recesses of these royal halls,
Rang out a cry of wild affright
That heavy on the women's chambers falls.
And dream-interpreters proclaim
Pledged to the truth, in Heaven's name,
That unavenged 'neath earth, the slain
Against their slayers wrathfully complain.
STROPHE II.
40 Such graceless grace, against the threatened ill
Devising cure, (oh fostering earth!)
42
The godless woman sends me to fulfil.
To speak the words prescribed I dread;
For ah! when blood hath once been shed,
Falling to earth, what ransom can be paid?
Woe for the sorrow-stricken hearth,
The home in ruin laid!
By mortals still abhorr'd a cloud,
To sunless darkness wed,
50 Doth through the master's fall the dwelling shroud.
ANTISTROPHE II.
The majesty invincible of old,
Matchless, supreme, who filled the ear
Of faithful lieges, and their heart controlled,
Standeth aloof;-Fear reigneth now,
55
For to Prosperity men bow,
Which they as God, ay more than God, revere.
But Justice' stroke some swift doth whelm
In light who dwell elate ;-
While woes from Darkness' glimmering realm
60 †Lingering on others wait;-
Others sheer Night enshrouds in blackest fate.
STROPHE III.
When nurturing earth is blood-drenched, lo
Fixed is for aye the vengeance-crying gore ;—
And he who shed it, paying Atè's score,
†Doth burgeon out in all-entangling woe.
ANTISTROPHE III.
The bridal couch if man profane,
66
†Hopeless is cure;
though in one common flood,
To purify the hand defiled by blood,
All streams commingling flow, they flow in vain.
EPODE.
70 But for myself, through Heaven's command,
The captured city's doom I share ;-
71
Led hither from my native land,
'Tis mine the menial's lot to bear.
Their acts, whose will my fortune sways,
Just or unjust, I needs must praise:
†Beneath my vest grief's anguished throes
Shrouding, I quell my bitter hate;-
While numbed in heart by secret woes,
75
Of my true lords I weep the hapless fate.
English (E. D. A. Morshead, 1889, second edition) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, The Libation-Bearers — Morshead translation. Wikisource transcription; speech corresp and card milestones aligned to Smyth perseus-grc2.) — 1 focus
Lord of the shades and patron of the realm
1
That erst my father swayed, list now my prayer,
Hermes, and save me with thine aiding arm,
Me who from banishment returning stand
On this my country; lo, my foot is set
5
On this grave-mound, and herald-like, as thou,
Once and again, I bid my father hear.
And these twin locks from mine head shorn I bring,
And one to Inachus the river-god,
My young life's nurturer, I dedicate,
10
And one in sign of mourning unfulfilled
I lay, though late, on this my father's grave.
For O my father, not beside thy corse
Stood I to wail thy death, nor was my hand
Stretched out to bear thee forth to burial.
15
What sight is yonder? what this woman-throng
Hitherward coming, by their sable garb
Made manifest as mourners? What hath chanced?
Doth some new sorrow hap within the home?
Or rightly may I deem that they draw near
20
Bearing libations, such as soothe the ire
Of dead men angered, to my father's grave?
Nay, such they are indeed; for I descry
Electra mine own sister pacing hither,
In moody grief conspicuous. Grant, O Zeus,
25
Grant me my father's murder to avenge—
Be thou my willing champion!
Pylades,
Pass we aside, till rightly I descry
Wherefore these women throng in suppliance.
30
[ Exeunt Pylades and Orestes; enter the Chorus bearing vessels for libation; Electra follows them; they pace slowly towards the tomb of Agamemnon.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1854; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylos. Deutsch in den Versmaßen der Urschrift. Stuttgart: Hoffmann, 1854. Native Donner line citations, Smyth card correspondence, selected textual readings and metrical facsimiles. Remaining OCR differences and unattributed reading notes are documented in the linked review inventory.) — 1 focus
Hermes im Abgrund, der des Amtes wahrt von Zeus, 1
1
Sei Retter, sei mir Kampfgenoß, dem Flehenden!
Denn aus dem Banne kehr' ich heim in dieses Land,
Und trat, ich Armer, heimlich auf die Schwelle dort,
Wo mein geliebter Vater einst von Frauenhand
5
Durch arge List gewaltsam hingeopfert sank.
Am Grabeshügel ruf' ich hier den Vater an:
Er höre mich, vernehme meines Mundes Schwur!
Dein Blut zu rächen, Vater, bin ich heimgekehrt,
Von Loxias gesendet, dessen Spruch gebot,
10
Daß dir die Mörder fallen durch Orestes' Hand.
So höre mich, mein Vater, steh mich gnädig an;
Denn jetzt erschien die Stunde, die der Gott bestimmt,
Wo diese Rechte krönen soll der Nache Werk!
O nimm von mir die thränenreiche Spende hier:
15
Die erste Locke schnitt ich ab dem Inachos
Als Pflegedank, und diese zweite weih' ich dir
Als meines Grames treuen Gruß auf deine Gruft!
Denn nicht im Hause war ich, um dein Jammerloos
Zu klagen, Vater, streckte nicht die Hand empor,
20
Dir Lebewohl zu rufen, als man dich begrub.
(Aus der Gesindewohnung kommt der Chor in schwarzen Gewanden und Trauerschleiern, um am Grabmal Agamemnons ein Opfer zu bringen; in gleicher Tracht erscheint Elektra als die letzte des Zuges.)
Ha! Was erblick' ich? Was bedeutet diese Schaar
Von Frauen, die dort schwarzverhüllt in düsteren
Gewanden nah'n? Auf welchen Unfall deut' ich das?
Ob eine neue Trauer wohl das Haus betraf?
Ob meinem Vater diese Fraun, vermuth' ich recht,
25
Trankopfer bringen, Sühne für die Todtenwelt?
Nicht anders ist es; wandelt doch, so dünkt mir, auch
Elektra, meine Schwester, dort, in herbes Leid
Versunken. Laß, Kronide, laß des Vaters Tod
Mich rächen, hilf mir holdgesinnt in diesem Kampf!
30
Gehn wir zur Seite, Pylades, damit ich klar
Erkenne, was der Frauenzug bedeuten mag!
(Orestes und Pylades verbergen sich in der Nähe.)

Notes on the current edition

Libation Bearers

1. Single-witness OCR: uncollated; flagged readings require scan review.

Commentary

Critical apparatus to The Libation Bearers (OCR draft) (Latin and Greek critical apparatus to Gottfried Hermann's 1852 edition of The Libation Bearers.) focus

1-5. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg006-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-1

NA Initium Choephororum, quo codices et veteres editiones Aeschyli carent, Stanleius exhibuit ex Ranis Aristophanis v. 1155. seqq. indicatum iam a Cantero. Haec verba,
πατρῷ' ἐποπτεύων κράτη
, quae ipse Aeschylus apud Aristophanem sic interpretatur,
τὸν ἐριούνιον Ἑρμῆν προςεῖπε, κἀδήλου λέγων ὁτιὴ πατρῷον τοῦτο κέκτηται γέρας
, sic debent accipi ut ea ibidem Euripides intelligit,
τὸν Ἑρμῆν, ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ἀπώλετο αὐτοῦ βιαίως ἐκ γυναικείας χερὸς δόλοις λαθραίοις, ταῦτ᾽ ἐποπτεύων ἔφη
. Scholiastes Aristophanis
Ἀρίσταρχος δέ φησι τῶν ἐξηγήσεων τοῦ στίχου τὴν προτέραν κατὰ τὸν ποιητὴν εἶναι, ἣν ὁ Εὐριπίδης ἔφη· τὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ πατρὸς κράτη ἐποπτεύων, ὃς κρατηθεὶs ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ Αἴγισθον ἀπώλετο.

2. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg006-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-2

ξύμμαχος
σύμμαχος
est apud Thomam Magistrum, qui hunc versum p. 41, 6. ed. Ritsch. affert.
2

Wecklein’s commentary on Choephoroi / Libation Bearers (1888; German; OCR draft) (Explanatory commentary, pp. 163–234; single HW42J8 OCR witness, conservatively retained. Unresolved OCR and provisional reference mappings are explicitly marked.) focus

1-21. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg006-wecklein1888-com-ger1-1

1
Prolog Orestes und Pylades stehen am Grabe des Agamemnon, welches, wie es scheint, an der Grenze von Bühne und Orchestra seitwärts angebracht ist. Bei V. 10 kommt Elektra mit dem Chore aus dem Atridenpalaste, welchen die Hauptdekoration vorstellt. Orestes und Pylades treten zur Seite. Während der Chor in die Orchestra hinabsteigt und sich dort bei dem Grabe aufstellt, nähert sich Elektra dem Grabhügel auf der Bühne. - V. 18 f. wird das aufregende Moment der Handlung angegeben.

1-2. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg006-wecklein1888-com-ger1-2

2
Hermes χθόνιος (Soph. Αi. 832, Eur. Alk. 743) hat als ψυχοπομπός das Amt, die Sache der abgeschiedenen Seelen auf der Oberwelt zu wahren. Vgl. 124. Auf dem Grabmal war vielleicht eine Säule ( Ερμής) angebracht. Vgl. Cic. de legg. 11 26. - χθόνιε : zu Ag. 1590 . ἐποπτεύειν wie Ag. 1579 , Cho. 983 , Eum. 220 , ἐπωπᾶν Cho. 689 , Eum. 275 , ἐπισκόπους Cho. 126 , ἐφορᾶν Soph. El. 175 von dem zornigen Blicke strafgerechter Götter. Vgl. ἔπις θεῶν. Die richtige Erklärung ,in unwilligem Hinblick auf die Vergewaltigung meines Vaters (vgl. 126) werde mir Retter" u. s. w. legt Aristophanes Frö. 1141 dem Euripides in den Mund: πότερ᾽ οὖν τὸν Ἑρμῆν, ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ἀπώλετο αὐτοῦ βιαίως ἐκ γυναικείας χερὸς δόλοις λαθραίοις, ταῦτ᾽ ἐποπτεύειν ἔφης während er zum Scherze Aschylos selbst eine falsche Erklärung geben lafst: οὐ δῆτ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐριούνιον Ἑρμῆν χθόνιον προσείπε, κἀδήλου λέγων ὁτιὴ πατρῷον τοῦτο κέκτηται γέρας. Vgl. Schol. zu d. St. Αρίσταρχος δέ φησι τῶν ἐξηγή σεων τοῦ στίχου τὴν προτέραν κατὰ τὸν ποιητὴν εἶναι, ἣν ὁ Εὐριπίδης ἔφη· τὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ πατρὸς κράτη ἐποπτεύων, ὃς κρατηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ Αἴγισθον ἀπώλετο.