Aeschylus Eumenides 321

Edmund Doidge Anderson Morshead (Translator)

Night, Mother Night, who brought me forth, a torment
To living men and dead,
Hear me, O hear! by Leto's stripling son
I am dishonourèd:
380
He hath ta'en from me him who cowers in refuge,
To me made consecrate,—
A rightful victim, him who slew his mother,
Given o'er to me and fate.

Eumenides. Aeschylus. Edmund Doidge Anderson Morshead (Translator). . .

Current edition Experimental

English (E. D. A. Morshead, 1889, second edition) (OCR draft) (English) (Aeschylus, The Furies — Morshead translation. Wikisource transcription; speech corresp and card milestones aligned to Smyth perseus-grc2.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (12)
Εὐμενίδες First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 299-396 focus
Εὐμενίδες Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.) — 299-396 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 321 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 321 focus
μᾶτερ ἃ μ᾽ ἔτικτες, ὦ μᾶτερ
Νὺξ, ἀλαοῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν
ποινὰν, κλῦθ᾽. ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ἶνίς μ' άτιμον
τίθησι
τόνδ᾽ ἀφαιρούμενος πτῶκα, ματρῷον ἅγνισμα
325
κύριον φόνου.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 321 focus
μᾶτερ, ἃ μὲ ἔτικτες, ὦ μᾶτερ
Νύξ, ἀλαοῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν ποινάν,
320
κλῦθι· ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ἰ-
νίς μ' ἄτιμον τίθησιν,
τόνδ᾽ ἀφαιρούμενος
πτῶκα, ματρῷον ἅ-
γνισμα κύριον φόνου.
325
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 321 focus
Μᾶτερ ἃ μ' ἔτικτες, ὦ μᾶτερ
Νύξ, ἀλαοῖσι -οῖσιν -οις καὶ δεδορκόσιν
ποινάν, κλῦθ᾽· ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ΐ- 1
νίς μ' ἄτιμον τίθησι -σιν
τόνδ' ἀφαιρούμενος
325
πτῶκα πτᾶκα (πτάκα Μ1), ματρῷον ἅ-
γνισμα κύριον φόνου.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 321 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 321 focus
μᾶτερ, ἃ μ᾽ ἔτικτες, ὦ μᾶτερ
Νύξ, ἀλαοῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν
ποινάν, κλῦθ᾽. ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ἶ-
νίς μ᾽ ἄτιμον τίθησιν,
325
τόνδ᾽ ἀφαιρούμενος
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 321 focus
μᾶτερ ἅ μ᾽ ἔτικτες, ὦ
μᾶτερ Νύξ, ἀλαοῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν ποινάν,
κλῦθ’· ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ἶνίς μ᾽ ἄτιμον τίθησιν
τόνδ’ ἀφαιρούμενος πτῶκα, ματρῶιον ἅγ-
325
νισμα κύριον φόνου.
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 321 focus
μᾶτερ, ἅ μ᾿ ἔτικτες, ὦ
μᾶτερ Νύξ, ἀλαοῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν
ποινάν, κλῦθ᾽· ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ἰ-
νίς μ᾿ ἄτιμον τίθησι,
τόνδ᾽ ἀφαιρούμενος
325
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 321 focus
μᾶτερ ἃ μ᾿ ἔτικτες, ὦ μᾶτερ
Νὺξ, ἀλαοῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν
ποινὰν, κλῦθ᾽· ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ἶνίς μ᾿ ἄτιμον τιθησιν,
τόνδ᾽ ἀφαιρούμενος
πτῶκα, ματρῷον ἄγνισμα κύριον φόνου.
315
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 321 focus
μᾶτερ ἃ μ᾽ ἔτικτες, ὦ μᾶτερ
στρ. α
Νύξ, ἀμαυροῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν ποινάν,
κλῦθ᾽. ὁ Λατοῦς γὰρ ἶνίς μ᾿ ἄτιμον τίθησι
τόνδ᾽ ἀφαιρούμενος πτῶκα, ματρῶιον ἁγνισμα
325
κύριον φόνου.
Translations (9)
Eumenides Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 299-395 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 321 focus
Mother, O mother Night! thou who brought me forth a punishment 3 to the dead and the living, hear! for the son of Latona makes me disho­ noured, taking away this timid animal, our own victim to expiate a mother's murder 4 .
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 321 focus
pour qu'il paie sa dette de sang, implacables, nous surgissons.
The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 321 focus
Hear me, dread parent, ſable-veſted Night,
O hear th' avenger of each impious deed;
360
Whether we lie in ſhades conceal'd,
Or to the eye of day reveal'd!
Seeſt thou how Phœbus robs me of my right
From my juſt rage the trembling victim freed,
Deſtin'd his mother's death t' atone,
365
And for her blood to ſhed his own!
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 321 focus
O mia madre, o tu che m'hai
generata, Notte madre,
a punir vivi e defunti,
355
tu m'ascolta:
ch'ora Febo
me d'ogni onore priva, e m'invola
questo fuggiasco, che la sua madre
scannò, ch'è sozzo di sangue ancora!
360
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 321 focus
Mater simul peperiſti, mater
Nox imprudentibus, & uidentibus,
Pœnam audi. Latonæ filius me ignominioſam facit.
315
Hunc auferens timidum, purgationem
Propriam cædis.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 321 focus
Mutter Nacht,
höre mich,
Mutter Nacht, du gebarst
mich der Welt des Lichtes,
mich der Welt der Finsternis
zum Gericht.
325 Letos Sohn kränkt dein Recht,
330 raubt das Wild. Mir gehört's
mutterblutbesudelt.
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.) — 321 focus
Mutter, die du mich gebarst, Urnacht,
Mich, der verblich'nen wie der lichten Welt Strafgeist,
Höre mich! Leto's Sohn beut mir Hohn, spottet meiner;
Dieses Wild raubt er uns, dessen Blut fließen muß,
Abzubüßen Muttermord.
315
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

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.

381. μένει γάρ , for the law abides: so μίμνει Ag. 1563. But it is obscure and abrupt: and possibly corrupted.

382. ἐσμέν is easily understood: Crafty are we, and unfailing to accomplish.

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.

mvp-comment-269-1 μένει γάρ: μένει γάρ, manet enim firmum hoc: sumus promptae, i. e. nos esse promptas. Ag. v. 1530. μίμνει δὲ μίμνοντος ἐν θρόνῳ Διὸς παθεῖν τὸν ἔρξαντα. V. Opusc. VI. 2. p. 74.

mvp-comment-270-1 τε: τε recte et necessario Wakefieldius. Libri δέ. Particulae τε και etiam in antistropha in eodem loco sunt.

mvp-comment-271-1 τε μνήμονες, σεμναὶ: τε τλήμονες σεμναὶ Par. τε μνήμονες τε σεμναὶ Ven. Flor.

mvp-comment-272-1 δυςπαρήγοροι: δυσπαράγωγοι Farn.

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

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.

mvp-comment-120-1 μένει γάρ] 'For 'tis an abiding law. If we compare Ag. 1540

μίμνει δὲ, μίμνοντος ἐν χρόνῳ Διὸς, παθεῖν τὸν ἔρξαντα, θέσμιον γὰρ,
we shall conclude that the poet means to say that the fate he has described is inevitable. It is called a θεσμός, inf. 369. And the Furies go on to declare that they have means to work out their will, never forget and never forgive either in this world or the next. Cf. Prom. 524
Μοῖραι τρίμορφοι μνήμονές τ᾿ ᾿Ερινύες.
Αjax 1390
μνήμων τ᾽᾽ Ερινὺς καὶ τελεσφόρος Δίκη.

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-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.

mvp-comment-153-1 λείπει τὸ ἐσμέν. ἡμεῖς γὰρ εὐμήχανοι ἐσμεν καὶ ἐπιτελεστικαὶ καὶ τῶν κακῶν μνήμονες.

mvp-comment-154-1 οὐ ταχέως παρηγορούμεναι ὑπὸ βροτῶν.

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-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
.

mvp-comment-213-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 279

mvp-comment-213-2 μένει γάρ wie Ag. 1562 . Der Gesamtchor fafst das von den einzelnen Reihen Vorgetragene zusammen. εὐμήχανοι τε καὶ τέλειοι ( οὖσαι), d. i. die wir (die uns zufallende Rache) vollbringen und dazu viele Mittel und Wege haben. τε vor μνήμονες braucht nicht als lange Silbe betrachtet zu werden, zu Ag. 980 . μνήμονες wie Prom. 532

Μοϊραι τρίμορφοι μνή
- μονές τ' Ερινύες. σεμναί, unnahbar. ἄτιμ᾽ ἀτίετα κτέ, das Amt, dessen wir walten, ist nicht geehrt, nicht geachtet, insofern wir fern von den Göttern in sonnenlosem Moder unsere Stelle haben. διέπομεν wie 932. διχοστα τοῦντα, vgl. 350. ἀνηλίω λάπα das gleiche wie ζόφω ευρώεντι Hymn. auf Demeter 482. λάχη δυσοδοπαίπαλα κτἑ., Schol. δυσπαράβατα καὶ τραχέα ζῶσι καὶ τεθνηκόσιν. Schwer wandeln den rauhen Pfad zu mir Lebende wie Tote. Vgl. Hom. ω 10 ευρώεντα κέλευθα, Verg. Aen. VI 462 per loca senta situ noctemque profundam. Also,,ich habe meinen Wohnsitz fern von den Göttern an dunkler, unzugänglicher Stätte". Indes ist δυσοδοπαίπαλα wegen mangelhafter Responsion mit καίπερ ὑπὸ χθόνα (398) zu beanstanden. Heimsöth vermutet δυσποροπαίπαλα, Weil δυσποδοπαίπαλα, Oberdick δύσβατα, παίπαλα, Davies δυσβατοπαίπαλα. δερκομένοισι καὶ δυσομμάτοις wie ἀλαοῖσι καὶ δεδορκόσιν 323.

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

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.

μένει γάρ , for the law abides: so

μίμνει
Ag. 1563 . But it is obscure and abrupt: and possibly corrupted.

ἐσμέν is easily understood: Crafty are we, and unfailing to accomplish.