Aeschylus Eumenides 538

Edmund Doidge Anderson Morshead (Translator)

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →
Yea, whatsoe'er befal, hold thou this word of mine:
Bow down at Justice' shrine,
625
Turn thou thine eyes away from earthly lure,
Nor with a godless foot that altar spurn.
For as thou dost shall Fate do in return,
And the great doom is sure.
Therefore let each adore a parent's trust,
630
And each with loyalty revere the guest
That in his halls doth rest.

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.) — 566-777 focus
Εὐμενίδες Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.) — 566-777 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 538 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 538 focus
ἐς τὸ πᾶν δέ σοι λέγω,
βωμὸν αἴδεσαι δίκας·
μηδέ νιν κέρδος ἰδὼν ἀθέῳ ποδὶ λὰξ ἀτίσῃς·
540
ποινὰ γὰρ ἐπέσται.
κύριον μένει τέλος.
πρὸς τάδε τις τοκέων σέβας εὖ προτίων
545
καὶ ξενοτίμους
ἐπιστροφὰς δωμάτων
αἰδόμενός τις ἔστω.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 538 focus
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 538 focus
Ἐς τὸ πᾶν δέ σοι λέγω,
βωμὸν αἴδεσαι Δίκας
μηδέ νιν
κέρδος ἰδὼν ἀθέῳ ποδὶ
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 538 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 538 focus
ἐς τὸ πᾶν δέ σοι λέγω·
βωμὸν αἴδεσαι δίκας,
μηδέ νιν
κέρδος ἰδὼν ἀθέῳ
ποδὶ λὰξ ἀτίσῃς·
545
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 538 focus
εἰς τὸ πᾶν {δέ} σοι λέγω·
βωμὸν αἴδεσαι Δίκας,
μηδέ νιν
κέρδος ἰδὼν ἀθέωι ποδὶ λάξ ἀτί-
σηις, ποινὰ γὰρ ἐπέσται·
540
κύριον μένει τέλος.
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 538 focus
ἐς τὸ πᾶν δέ σοι λέγω,
βωμὸν αἴδεσαι δίκας·
μηδέ νιν
535
κέρδος ἰδὼν ἀθέωι ποδὶ λὰξ ἀτίσηις· ποι-
νὰ γὰρ ἐπέσται.
κύριον μένει τέλος.
πρὸς τάδε τις τοκέων σέβας εὖ προτίων
καὶ ξενοτίμους
540
ἐπιστροφὰς δωμάτων αἰδόμενός τις ἔστω. =
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 538 focus
ἐς τὸ πᾶν δέ σοι λέγω,
510
βωμὸν αἴδεσαι δίκας·
μηδέ νιν,
κέρδος ἰδὼν, ἀθέῳ ποδὶ λὰξ ἀτί-
σῃς· ποινὰ γὰρ ἐπέσται·
κύριον μένει τέλος.
515
πρὸς τάδε τις τοκέων σέβας εὖ προτίων,
καὶ ξενοτίμους
ἐπιστροφὰς δωμάτων
αἰδόμενός τις ἔστω.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 538 focus
ἐς τὸ πᾶν δέ σοι λέγω,
ἀντ. γ
βωμὸν αἴδεσαι Δίκας·
μηδέ νιν
540
κέρδος ἰδὼν ἀθέωι ποδὶ λὰξ ἀτίσηις· ποινὰ
γὰρ ἐπέσται,
κύριον μένει τέλος.
πρὸς τάδε τις τοκέων σέβας εὖ προτίων
545
καὶ ξενοτίμους
ἐπιστροφὰς δωμάτων
αἰδόμενός τις ἔστω.
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.)) — 566-775 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 538 focus
But altogether I say to you, revere the altar of Justice, nor, looking to gain, dishonour it by trampling on it with godless foot. For punishment will follow: a deci­ sive end awaits. Therefore let every one honour duly the sanctity of parents, and reverence the intercourse of hos­ pitable abodes.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 538 focus
la saine raison au contraire a pour fils le bonheur aimé qu'appellent tous les vœux humains.
Je le répète aussi, et c'est la loi suprême : vénère l'autel
de la Justice 1 ; ne va pas outrageusement, séduit par quelque gain, le renverser d'un pied impie 2 . Le châtiment viendra :
The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 538 focus
Nor dare, allur'd by curſed gold,
With foot profane and bold
To ſpurn her altars: vengeance waits the crime,
"And arm'd with terrors knows her deſtin'd time.
595
EPODE.
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 538 focus
Non lodar vita servile,
né che sciolto abbia ogni freno.
Ogni possanza nel mezzo locar volle il Nume, che vigile
or qui l'occhio volge, ora altrove.
570
lo dico in verità,
ch'è Tracotanza figliuola d'Empiezza;
ma dal pensier prudente
nasce Beatitudine,
diletta ad ogni gente.
575
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 538 focus
Multum optata felicitas, omnino ſanè dico
505
Reuereri iuſticiæ aram, neq; ipſum
Videns lucrum impio
Pede calcando uilipendas.
Pœna ſequitur,
Proprius manet finis.
510
Ad hæc quilibet parentum
Cultum bene primariorum
Et hoſpitales domuum curas
Reuereatur.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 538 focus
Das beherz'ge für und für:
scheu' dich vor dem Thron des Rechts.
540 Wag' es nie
frevlen Fuſses ihn zu treten, weil Gewinnesgier dich
lockt.
Denn du muſst die Strafe zahlen; nimmermehr ver-
fällt die Schuld.
545 Darum übe der Ehrfurcht Pflicht, zuerst an den
gehorsam ihnen unterthan,
Eltern,
und auch am Fremdling unter deinem Dache.
550
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.) — 538 focus
Und für immer gilt mein Spruch:
510
Ehre fromm des Rechts Altar!
Tritt ihn nicht,
Lüstern nach schnödem Gewinne, mit frevelndem
Fuß; denn Strafe verfolgt dich,
Deiner harrt ein würdig Ziel!
515
Darum verehre der Aeltern geheiligtes Haupt
Jeder, und achte,
Wenn seinem Haus Fremde nah'n,
Heilig das Recht des Gastes!
Vierte Strophe.
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.)

624. πράξαντα , prop. exacting, a favourite word of Aeschylus, often for avenging: ἀτίμωσιν πρασσομένα, avenging the dishonour, Ag. 705, χερὶ πράκτορι ib. 111. See Eum. 319.

628. ὥστε , Epic, common in Trag. for ὡς.

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

mvp-comment-410-1 NA: Hi versus desunt in Ven. Flor. Farn.

mvp-comment-439-1 θανεῖν: Male Auratus et Musgravius

κτανεῖν
scribendum esse putaverunt.

mvp-comment-440-1 σκήπτροισι:

σκέπτοισι
Rob.

mvp-comment-441-1 τιμαλφούμενον: Ad

τιμαλφούμενον
scholiastes haec adnotavit,
συνεχὲς τὸ ὄνομα παρ' Αισχύλῳ· δι᾿ ὃ σκώπτει αὐτὸν 'Ἐπίχαρμος
. Vsus est hoc verbo Aeschylus Ag. v. 889. Eum. v. 15. 796. et adiectivo
τιμαλφὴς
in Epigonis, fragm. 57.

mvp-comment-442-1 ἀκούσει: Libri

ἀκούσῃ
.

mvp-comment-443-1 νιν:

νιν
Porsonus. Libri
μιν
.

mvp-comment-444-1 ἄμεινον ... δροίτῃ περῶντι λουτρά:

ἄμεινον
recte G. Ald.
ἀμείνον'
sic M.
ἀμείνον'
Rob. Turn. Hoc dicit, rebus plerisque bene gestis. Deinde v. 624.
δροίτῃ
M. G. Ald.
δροίτῃ
Par. Aug. Rob. Turn.
Δροίτῃ
, ut Robortellus in corrigendis scribi iussit, Victorius. V. ad Ag. v. 1506. Deinde
κἀπὶ τέρμασι
G. sed mutatum ab eadem manu in
κἀπὶ τέρματι
, ut Aug. Rob. habent.
κἀπιτέρματι
Ald. Turn. Non recte Schoemannus, ut antea G. Bernhardy in Syntaxi p. 83.
δροίτῃ
masculinum esse putat, comparans Soph. Ant. v. 904.
καίτοι σ᾽ ἐγὼ τίμησα τοῖς φρονοῦσιν εὖ
. Non potest dubitari quin
εὔφροσιν
cum
δεδεγμένη
sit coniungendum. Mihi olim
εὐφρόσιν
dictum esse videbatur ut
μειλιχίοισιν, κερτομίοισιν
, ut esset blandis verbis:
καί
autem in
κἀπί
eo modo post participium positum esse putabam, de quo dictum est ad Ag. v. 97. Linwoodius scripsit
δροίτης περῶντι λουτρά
, et post haec verba huiusmodi aliquid excidisse putavit,
συνθέτοις λόγοις θέλγει φρένας κλέπτουσα
. Immo recte intellexit Dindorfius post v. 622. lacunam esse indicandam. In eo versu qui excidit, nisi plures fuerunt, substantivum fuisse videtur, ad quod
εὔφροσιν
pertinebat, et hic fere sententiarum nexus,
adstitit, ferrum celans, operam datura (exeunti e labro, δροίτῃς περῶντι λουτρά)
. Itaque sic scripsi
ἀπὸ στρατείας γάρ νιν ἠμποληκότα τὰ πλεῖστ᾽ ἄμεινον εὔφροσιν δεδεγμένη ... δροίτῃς περῶντι λουτρά, κἀπὶ τέρματι
etc.

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

mvp-comment-199-1 ὥστ᾽᾽ Αμαζόνος] ‘As if he had been slain in war by some Amazon.' Amazons in the Homer of Aeschylus, now preserved in the epics of Q. Smyrnaeus Bk. 1 . The genitive is used as in Ag. 1353

ἄπειρον ἀμφίβληστρον ὥσπερ ἰχθύων.
Ashishe been in war

mvp-comment-200-1 ἠμποληκότα] ‘When he had returned from the expedition with the greatest success, lit. after having made the greatest profits (or, more profits than losses) in the trade of war. For the metaphor cf. Theb. 540 , ἐλθὼν δ ἔοικεν οὐ καπηλεύσειν μάχην.— ἅμ' αἴνοις, ‘with praises.' The editor's correction of ἄμείνον' (so MS. Med.), which is unintelligible. Cf. Ag. 890

ἀλλ' ἐναισίμως αἰνεῖν, παρ᾿ ἄλλων χρὴ τόδ' ἔρχεσθαι γέρας.

mvp-comment-201-1 It is better to construe δεδεγμένη δροίτῃ, after receiving him with (or in) a bath. See on ν. 453. –περῶντι, as he was passing out of the bath and just at the end of it. In this case δροίτη must mean the bath-room. But ἐπὶ τέρματι may mean that she threw the garment, like a tentcover, completely over the bath to the very end of it, so as to leave him no escape. - The reading of the Med. and the Schol. is περεσκήνωσεν, as if περισκηνοῦν were meant, to inclose as in a tent. But we should thus expect φάρει, with a mantle.' It is likely that the poet had in mind some well-known painting of the event.

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-250-1 ἐκδικήσαντα.

mvp-comment-251-1 συνεχὲς τὸ ὄνομα παρ᾽ Αἰσχύλωι, διὸ σκώπτει αὐτὸν Ἐπίχαρμος.

mvp-comment-252-1 βελτίονα πλεῖστα ηὐτυχηκότα ἀπὸ στρατείας.

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-312-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 292

mvp-comment-312-2 viertes Epeisodion: Vor dem neu eingesetzten Gerichtshof, dem Athena als ἡγεμών und εἰσαγωγεύς vorsteht (583), bringen die Erinyen ihre Anklage vor, Apollon legt Zeugnis ab und tritt den Erinyen als Vertreter der Sache des Orestes, die zugleich seine eigene ist, entgegen. Darauf fällen die Areopagiten das Urteil. Athena tritt rechts auf. Ein Herold und ein Trompetenbläser schreiten voraus, Bürger von Athen folgen ihr. κήρυσσε scil. σίγα ( Eur. Phoen. 1224

σίγα κηρύξαι στρατῷ
). Der Schol. :
ὅρα πῶς τὰ νέων ἔθη ἀναχρονίζει. ἃ γὰρ νῦν γίνε ται, ταῦτα τὴν ᾿Αθηνῶν εἰσήγαγε λέγουσαν. ἐχρῶντο γὰρ τῇ σάλ πιγγι ἀνείργειν τὸ πλῆθος θέλοντες
. στρατόν: natürlich ist das Volk nur gedacht.

mvp-comment-344-1 1

mvp-comment-344-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-344-3 Der Spruch konnte nur lauten τὸν πατρὸς φόνον πρᾶξαι. Mit πράξαντα . . νέμειν hebt sie das Widerrechtliche hervor. μητρὸς τιμὰς νέμειν wie Soph. Trach. 56 εἰ πατρὸς νέμοι τιν᾽ ὤραν.

mvp-comment-345-1 2

mvp-comment-345-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-345-3 ἄνδρα . . θανεῖν: das durch ταὐτόν ἐστι geforderte καὶ γυναῖκα ergänzt sich von selbst.

mvp-comment-346-1 3

mvp-comment-346-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-346-3 διοσδότοις σκήπτροισι nach Hom. B 100 ff.

mvp-comment-347-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 296

mvp-comment-347-2 Cho. 344 f. Nicht auf ehrenvolle Weise wurde er durch ein Weib getötet, etwa in der Schlacht durch die Pfeile einer Amazone, sondern auf ganz niederträchtige Art, die du vernehmen sollst.

mvp-comment-348-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 296

mvp-comment-348-2 ἐφήμενοι διαιρεῖν: zu 491.

mvp-comment-349-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 296

mvp-comment-349-2 Hesych. ἐμπολῇ· περιέρ χεται, πραγματεύεται. Soph. Ai. 978

ἆρ᾽ ἠμπόληκας
; (s. v. a. πέπραγας). Schol. πλεῖστα ηὐτυχηκότα, rebus plerisque bene gestis (Stanley). Vgl. Anbang. – Zu εὔφροσιν vermifst man ein Substantiv wie λόγοις (gemeint ist die Begrüfsung Ag. 846 f.), zu δροίτῃ περῶντι λουτρά fehlt das Verbum. Es könnte etwa geheifsen haben: λόγοις ὀρέξουσ᾽ ὠλένην ἐχρίμπτετο, so dafs δροίτῃ von ἐχρίμπτετο (sie stand an der Badewanne), περῶντι λουτρά von ὀρέξουσ᾽ ὠλένην (scheinbar um ihm den Arm zu reichen, wenn er aus dem Bade stiege) abhängig wäre. ἐπὶ τέρματι, am Ende.

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

πράξαντα , prop. exacting, a favourite word of Aeschylus, often for avenging: ἀτίμωσιν πρασσομένα, avenging the dishonour, Ag. 705 ,

χερὶ πράκτορι
ib. 111 . See Eum. 319.

mvp-sidgwick-287-1-1 Here and l. 657

Apollo acts in the character of the ἐξηγητής or expounder of the law, usually consulted about ancient or sacred customs. See Introd. p. 16.

mvp-sidgwick-288-1-1 Schol. tells us that Epicharmos (comic poet 540-450, who knew Aeschylus and lived with him some time at the court of Hiero) criticised him for his fondness for this word τιμαλφεῖν.

ὥστε , Epic, common in Trag. for ὡς.

mvp-sidgwick-290-1-1 A passage of well-known difficulty. The MSS. reading (with slight corrections, see critical notes) is substantially the following:

ἀπὸ στρατείας γάρ νιν ἠμποληκότα
τὰ πλεῖστ᾽ ἄμεινον εὔφροσιν δεδεγμένη
δροίτῃ περῶντι λουτρὰ κἀπὶ τέρματι
φᾶρος παρεσκήνωσεν, ἐν δ᾽ ἀτέρμονι
κόπτει πεδήσασ᾽ ἄνδρα δαιδάλῳ πέπλῳ·
which it is possible to translate, as follows:
For him from the wars (returning) having dealt
In most things prosperously, she welcomed with kindly words,
And over the bath, as he stepped from the water, and on the edge,
She threw a cloak for covering, and entangling her lord
In a broidered robe inextricable, she smote him...
 This makes good sense, and is in substance no doubt what the poet meant. But several things are at least suspicious: ἠμποληκότα τὰ πλεῖστ᾽ ἄμειvov is a harsh phrase, even if we justify the rather flat τὰ πλεῖστα and the comparative ἄμειvov by supposing an intentional understatement: εὔφροσιν without substantive is very harsh, and is hardly supported by the Homeric κερτομίοισιν and μειλιχίοισιν which are special idioms: δροίτῃ governed by παρεσκήνωσε, and λουτρά separate from it, is clumsy: κἀπὶ τέρματι is not smooth, and is suspiciously like ἀτέρμονι in the line below: finally most of the MSS. and Schol. read περεσκήνωσεν, for περιεσ-, unexampled in Attic. Corruption is almost certain: but as sense can be made, and no suggestions are really satisfactory¹, it is best to leave it.