Aeschylus Eumenides 381

Gottfried Hermann (Editor)

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μένει γάρ· εὐμήχανοι
τε καὶ τέλειοι, κακῶν
1
τε μνήμονες, σεμναὶ
375
καὶ δυςπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς,
ἄτιμ᾽ ἀτίετα διόμεναι
λάχη, θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ᾽
ἀνηλίῳ λάμπα, δυςοδοπαίπαλα
δερκομένοισι καὶ δυςομμάτοις ὁμῶς.
380
2

Eumenides. Aeschylus. Gottfried Hermann (Editor). Lipsiae. 1852.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Schmidt Sciences.

Current edition Experimental

Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) (Greek) (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (11)
Εὐμενίδες First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 397-489 focus
Εὐμενίδες Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.) — 397-489 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 381 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 381 focus
μένει γάρ· εὐμήχανοι δὲ καὶ τέλειοι, κακῶν
τε μνήμονες, σεμναὶ
καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς,
ἄτιμ᾿ ἀτίετα διόμεναι
385
λάχη θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ᾽
ἀναλίῳ λάπα, δυσοδοπαίπαλα
δερκομένοισι καὶ δυσομμάτοις ὁμῶς.
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 381 focus
Μένει γάρ· εὐμήχανοι
τε καὶ δὲ καὶ τέλειοι κακῶν
τε μνήμονες Σεμναὶ
καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι -ράγωγοι βροτοῖς,
ἄτιμ' ἀτίετα ἀτίεται -ετον διόμεναι
380
λάχη θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ'
ἀνηλίῳ λάμπᾳ λαμπαὶ (sine acc.),
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 381 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 381 focus
μένει γάρ. εὐμήχανοι
τε καὶ τέλειοι κακῶν
385
τε μνήμονες, σεμναὶ
καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς,
ἄτιμ᾽ ἀτίετα διέπομεν
λάχη θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ᾽
ἀνηλίῳ λάμπα, δυσοδοπαίπαλα
390
δερκομένοισι καὶ δυσομμάτοις ὁμῶς.
4
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 381 focus
μέλει γάρ, εὐμήχανοι
δὲ καὶ τέλειοι, κακῶν
τε μνάμονες, σεμναὶ
καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς,
{ἄτιμα} ἀτίετα διόμεναι λάχη
385
θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ᾽ ἀναλίωι λάπαι,
†δυσοδοπαίπαλα† δερχομένοισι
καὶ δυσομμάτοις ὁμῶς.
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 381 focus
μένει γάρ. εὐμήχανοι
δὲ καὶ τέλειοι κακών
τε μνήμονες Σεμναί,
καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς
ἄτιμ᾿ ἀτίετα διόμεναι
390
λάχη θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ᾽ ἀνηλίωι
λάμπαι, δυσοδοπαίπαλα δερκομένοισι
καὶ δυσομμάτοις ὁμῶς. –
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 381 focus
μένει γάρ· εὐμήχανοι
δὲ καὶ τέλειοι, κακῶν
360
τε μνήμονες Σεμναὶ,
καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς,
ἄτιμ᾿ ἀτίετα διόμεναι
λάχη, θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ᾽,
ἀνηλίῳ λάμπᾳ, δυσοδοπαίπαλα
365
δερκομένοισι καὶ δυσομμάτοις ὁμῶς.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 381 focus
μένει γάρ· εὐμήχανοί
τε καὶ τέλειοι, κακῶν
τε μνήμονες Σεμναί,
καὶ δυσπαρήγοροι βροτοῖς,
ἄτιμ᾿ ἀτίετα διέπομεν
385
λάχη θεῶν διχοστατοῦντ᾽
ἀνηλίωι λάμπᾶι,
δυσποροπαίπαλα δερκομένοισι
καὶ δυσομμάτοις ὁμῶς.
Translations (10)
Eumenides Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 397-485 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 381 focus
For 'tis fixed 4
. But we 5
both quick of contrivance and persevering in accomplishing it, and awfully mindful of evil deeds, and impla­ cable to mortals, executing an office ignoble and unhonoured. apart from gods with a sunless torch, in a way alike difficult to be trodden by those who see and by the blind 6
.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 381 focus
est la nuit que sa souillure, volant autour de lui, étend sur ses yeux — cependant qu'une nuée sombre s'abat sur sa
maison, ainsi que le proclame une douloureuse rumeur 1 .
((Fiévreux) D'un pied puissant au plus haut je bondis, pour retomber d'un poids plus lourd et fugitifs de chanceler sous le faix pesant du malheur.)
Plus vif.
Mon lot reste immuable : adresse et ténacité, mémoire fidèle des crimes et cœur insensible aux pleurs des humains, tout cela a été donné aux Redoutables 2 pour leur permettre
de poursuivre la tâche humble et méprisée, qui les tient éloi-
The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 381 focus
But ſhall ſhelt'ring wall or gloom
That from dark'ning guilt is ſpread,
Hide him from his rigorous doom,
425
Or protect his deſtin’d head?
Mine the vengeance to deſign,
And to ſtamp it deep is mine.
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 381 focus
e al nostro fine agevoli
troviamo i mezzi. Memori
e severe ai mortali, e inesorabili,
senza onore né pregio,
420
viviam lunge dai Numi,
dove non s'apre tramite
né ai vivi, né ai defunti, ove non brillano
giammai del sole i lumi.
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 381 focus
Et perfectè malorumq; memores atroces,
Et conſolatione carentes mortalibus
Ignominioſe iniuſte furentes.
Sortis deorum diſsentiere faciunt,
Et ſine ſole lucere difficiles acceſsu
370
Reſpicientibus & uidentibus malè ſimul.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 381 focus
Er wartet auf uns;
wir wissen den Weg,
wir finden das Ziel,
vergessen nie die Schuld.
Wir sind die Erhab'nen.
Uns rührt kein menschliches Bitten.
Wir üben ein Amt
ohn' Ehren und Würde
385 verbannt von den Göttern
in brauende Dünste
des ewigen Dunkels,
unnahbar, unerfindlich
wackerem Auge wie blödem.
English (E. D. A. Morshead, 1889, second edition) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, The Furies — Morshead translation. Wikisource transcription; speech corresp and card milestones aligned to Smyth perseus-grc2.) — 381 focus
Stern and fixed the law is; we have hands t' achieve it,
Cunning to devise.
Queens are we and mindful of our solemn vengeance;
Not by tear or prayer
Shall a man avert it. In unhonoured darkness,
455
Far from gods, we fare,
Lit unto our task with torch of sunless regions,
And o'er a deadly way—
Deadly to the living as to those who see not
Life and light of day—
460
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.) — 381 focus
So bleibt es steh'n: Mittel stets,
Die Bahn zum Ziel finden wir,
Graunvoll der Schuld Rächer;
Kein Menschenfleh'n besänftigt uns.
360
Ein ungeehrt, verachtet Amt
Verwalten wir, das, Göttern fern, der Sonne Glanz fliehet,
Schwer zu erklimmen den Menschen im Lichte,
Wie dem blinden Volk der Nacht.
Vierte Gegenstrophe.
English (Smyth; revised Bannon and Nagy, CHS) (OCR draft) Experimental (CHS Primary Sources revision of Herbert Weir Smyth’s translation by Cynthia Bannon and Gregory Nagy, with transliterated Greek terms tagged and aligned to the Smyth edition.)

No corresponding passage available

Notes on the current edition

Eumenides

1. στρ. δ'.
2. ἀντ. δ'.

Commentary

Commentary on Aeschylus: Eumenides (Aeschylus. Eumenides. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1887.)

374. κατὰ γᾶν , on earth, is the MS. reading: but as Hermann said, the sense below the earth, κατὰ γᾶs, is required in antithesis to ὑπ᾿ αἰθέρι. The same mistake occurs again 11. 838, 871. 11. 375, 376. Bold and imaginative expressions :

Before our black-robed assault,
And the vengeful measures of our foot;
i.e. [their human glories come to naught] when we the Furies attack them and weave these magic dances which make them our captive (as we are doing to Orestes).

377. λυμή is the destruction which attacks his mind, and blinds him to the threatening evil;

377. τόδε is best taken (not of the fall as many edd., which would be simply

377. πίπτων οὐκ οἶδεν , but) of the presence and power of the Furies.

378. κνέφας . is in apposition to

378. μύσος , and is predicative: we should say, So dark a cloud of pollution hovereth over him .

378. ἐπί , Epic adverbial use (tmesis) of the preposition, going with the verb.

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

mvp-comment-266-1 πίπτων δ᾽ οὐκ οἶδεν ... λύμα: πίπτον Αld. οἶδεν M. G. Ald. Rob. οἶδε Ven. Flor. Turn. λυμα Ald. Turn.

mvp-comment-267-1 ποῖον ἐπὶ ... μύσος πεπόταται: τοῖον ἐπὶ Heathius. Libri τοῖον γὰρ ἐπί. Deinde μύσος Victorius. μύσος M. Ven. Rob. Turn. μῖσος G. Ald. Denique επιπόταται Rob.

mvp-comment-268-1 δνοφεράν ... ἀχλὺν κατὰ δώματος: κεδνοφεράν et καταδύματος Rob. ἀχλήν Αld.

Commentary on the Eumenides (OCR draft) (Brief English notes on Aeschylus' Eumenides by F. A. Paley, 1885.) focus

mvp-comment-116-1 It is easy however to read σπευδομένα. Between τάσδε and τᾶσδε there is a further doubt; a gloss in the Med. explains the latter of Clytemnestra. We may perhaps (comparing inf. 808) translate, 'and in my eagerness to remove another (i.e. Apollo) from this care, -for the gods can only prevent prayers to me from being fulfilled, but they must not come to a dispute with me, since Zeus disowns, as unworthy of converse, this blood-dripping and accursed race, -in doing this, I say ( γὰρ οὖν), I bring down from far above the heavy-falling force of my foot, my nimble limbs which trip up in the end even runners in a long course, a calamity hard for them to bear. That is, that Apollo may not rescue him, I now pursue him. The Schol. seems here right, τοῖς τανυδρόμοις αὐτῶν ἐπάγουσα τὰ σφαλερά μου κῶλα, οἷον, καὶ οἱ ταχυδρόμοι οὐ δύνανταί με ἐκφυγεῖν. For the notion of a demon leaping down see on 4--2 v. 169. As to ἀτέλειαν, ‘non-fulfilment,' the doctrine is held in view, that the gods do not directly thwart or interfere with each other's designs: see Eur. Hipp. 1330 .

mvp-comment-117-1 δόξαι κ.τ.λ.] Even the proud and high conceits of men are brought low in the other world in those who come under the spell of our weird dance. Schol.

καὶ τοὺς ὑψηλοὺς καθαιροῦμεν.

mvp-comment-118-1 οὐκ οἶδεν] The proud man is for long unconscious that we have him in our grasp. Like the physical pining by blood-draining (v. 257), so the moral and social descent of the family is gradual and unperceived; a gloom comes over the house, and evil things are said of it: it is under a cloud, as we express it.

mvp-comment-119-1 Schol.

αὐτὸ τὸ μύσος κνέφας εἴρηκεν.
Id. κακὴ δὲ φήμη περὶ τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ λέγεται. Perhaps he read δνοφερὰ ἀχλὺς, by which this sentence more nearly fits the syntax of the preceding. Cf. Eur. Phoen. 125
οὗτος Μυκηναῖος μὲν αὐδᾶται γένος.
 Hesych.
αὐδᾶται: λέγεται.
 But αὐδᾶται may be the middle voice, or ἀχλὺν may stand in apposition to the sentence. Pers. 666
Στυγία γάρ τις ἐπ᾿ ἀχλὺς πεπόταται.

Selected scholia accompanying Blass's Eumenides (OCR draft) (The mixed Greek, Latin, and German scholia register printed with Friedrich Blass's 1907 edition, aligned to O. L. Smith's later recensional editions.) focus

mvp-comment-149-1 τοῖς τανυδρόμοις αὐτῶν κώλοις ἐπάγουσα τὰ σφαλερά μου κῶλα. ἢ ἀπ᾿ ἄλλης ἀρχῆς, καὶ τοῖς τανυδρόμοις γίνεται σφαλερὰ τὰ κῶλα διὰ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν αὐτοῖς ἄτην δύσφορον ὑπ᾿ ἐμοῦ. οἷον, καὶ οἱ ταχυδρόμοι οὐ δύνανταί με ἐκφυγεῖν.

mvp-comment-150-1 παραφρονῶν (Steph. f. περιφρ.) γὰρ οὐκ αἰσθάνεται τοῦ κακοῦ.

mvp-comment-151-1 σκότος φρενῶν. λείπειν φασὶ διά, διὰ (Kirchh. f. δὲ) μύσος· οὐκ ἔστι δέ, αὐτὸ γὰρ τὸ μύσος κνέφας εἴρηκεν.

mvp-comment-152-1 κακὴ δὲ φήμη περὶ τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ λέγεται.

Wecklein’s commentary on Eumenides (1888; German; OCR draft) (Explanatory commentary, pp. 251–322; HW42J8 and HXJHA8 OCR collated, with missing comparison pages 294–295 explicitly marked. Unresolved OCR and provisional reference mappings are explicitly marked.) focus

mvp-comment-191-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 276

mvp-comment-191-2 erstes Stasimon, welches besonders in den Ephymnien den Charakter des ὕμνος δέσμιος hat. ,, Apollon beraubt uns unseres Rechtes, indem er uns diesen Flüchtling entzieht, der uns zur Sühne des Muttermords zukommt und dem unser grauser Gesang gilt. Denn SO hat das Schicksal bestimmt, dafs wir die Mörder verfolgen und peinigen. Drum weil Umsturz von Häusern unser Los ist, haben die Götter des Lichts keine Gemeinschaft mit uns und Feste der Freude sind uns versagt. Dafür sind die Götter dieser traurigen Sorge überhoben und brauchen sich nicht mit Blutbefleckten zu befassen. Wir verfolgen den Mörder und stürzen ihn von der Höhe seines Ruhms. Er wird, ohne dessen in seiner Geistesnacht inne zu werden, von der Stimme des Volkes verurteilt und allgemeine Mifsachtung umnachtet sein Haus (vgl. Cho. 53 ff. , Ag. 463 ff. ). So steht es fest: Geniessen wir auch nicht die Ehre, den oberen Göttern gesellt zu sein, so haben doch die Sterblichen die vom Schicksal gegebene Satzung, auf der unser altheiliges Amt beruht, zu fürchten und zu verehren." Wenn man aus den drei Ephymnien schliefsen darf, wird jedes der drei ersten Strophenpaare von einem Stoichos, die Ephymnien und das vierte Strophenpaar von dem Gesamtchore vorgetragen.

mvp-comment-211-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 279

mvp-comment-211-2 Mit gewaltigem Sprunge setze ich von oben auf ihn nieder die schwer auf ihn fallende Spitze des Fufses, die ihn um so sicherer zum Falle bringt, als den Weitausholenden die Fülse leicht ausgleiten. ποδὸς ἀκμάν wie Pers. 1061

πέπλον δ᾽ ἔρεικε κολπίαν ἀκμῇ χερῶν
(mit den Fingerspitzen), Soph. Oed. T. 1243
κόμην σπῶσ᾽ ἀμφιδεξίοις ἀκ μαῖς. σφαλερὰ (γάρ ἐστι τανυδρόμοις καλα
 steht als Zwischensatz und als Begründung zu δύσ φορον ἄταν (schwer zu tragendes Unheil), welches Apposition zu βαρυπεσῆ ποδὸς ἀκμάν ist. δρόμοις, weil sie mir entrinnen wollen. τανυ

mvp-comment-212-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 279

mvp-comment-212-2 Er stürzt ohne sich dessen zu versehen infolge verderblichen Wahnsinns; so grofs ist die Dunkelheit, welche mit der Befleckung auf dem Manne gelagert ist, wie auf seinem Hause schwarze Finsternis ruht, welche die vielen Klagen des Volkes auf dasselbe werfen. τοῖον κνέφας steht prädikativ zu dem Subjekt μύσος. — ἐπιπεπότα ται ebenso Pers. 672

Στυγία γάρ τις ἐπ᾽ ἀχλὺς πεπόταται. Ζη δνοφερὰν αὐδᾶται
(med.) πολύστονος φάτις vgl. Ag. 463 , Cho. 51
δνόφοι καλύ πτουσι δόμους
.

Commentary (Arthur Sidgwick, 1887) (OCR draft) (Arthur Sidgwick's commentary on the Eumenides, aligned to the canonical Greek text.) focus

ὑπ᾿ αἰθέρι , beneath the sky, i.e. when they are living on earth.

κατὰ γᾶν , on earth, is the MS. reading: but as Hermann said, the sense below the earth, κατὰ γᾶs, is required in antithesis to ὑπ᾿ αἰθέρι. The same mistake occurs again ll. 838, 871

. ll. 375, 376
. Bold and imaginative expressions :
Before our black-robed assault,
And the vengeful measures of our foot;
 i.e. [their human glories come to naught] when we the Furies attack them and weave these magic dances which make them our captive (as we are doing to Orestes).

mvp-sidgwick-177-1-1 After this line in the MSS. comes μάλα γὰρ οὖν . . . μάταν ( ll. 367-371

). It is possible that the words are repeated as a refrain both here and after l. 380
.

λυμή is the destruction which attacks his mind, and blinds him to the threatening evil;

τόδε is best taken (not of the fall as many edd., which would be simply

πίπτων οὐκ οἶδεν , but) of the presence and power of the Furies.

κνέφας . is in apposition to

μύσος , and is predicative: we should say, So dark a cloud of pollution hovereth over him.

ἐπί , Epic adverbial use (tmesis) of the preposition, going with the verb.

mvp-sidgwick-180-1-1 Again a highly imaginative and picturesque phrase which needs no alteration:

And the voice of many a groan
Proclaims against the house a mist of gloom.
The groans of the past victims are heard as it were making a horror of gloom about the house of wickedness.