Aeschylus Eumenides 307

Herbert Weir Smyth (Translator)

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Eumenides. Aeschylus. Herbert Weir Smyth (Translator). New York. 1926.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Eumenides (English) (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. (Modernized by Perseus.))

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.) — 307 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 307 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 307 focus
ἄγε δὴ καὶ χορὸν ἅψωμεν, ἐπεὶ
μοῦσαν στυγερὰν
᾿ αποφαίνεσθαι δεδόκηκεν,
λέξαι τε λάχη τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους
310
ὡς ἐπινωμᾷ στάσις ἁμά.
εὐθυδίκαιοι δ᾽ ἡδόμεθ᾽ εἶναι·
τὸν μὲν καθαρὰς χεῖρας προνέμοντ᾽
οὔτις ἐφέρπει μῆνις ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν,
ἀσινὴς δ᾽ αἰῶνα διοιχνεῖ·
315
ὅστις δ᾽ ἀλιτὼν ὥσπερ ὅδ᾽ ἁνὴρ
χεῖρας φονίας ἐπικρύπτει,
μάρτυρες ὀρθαὶ τοῖσι θανοῦσιν
παραγιγνόμεναι πράκτορες αἵματος
αὐτῷ τελέως ἐφάνημεν.
320
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 307 focus
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 307 focus
Ἄγε δὴ καὶ χορὸν ἅψωμεν, ἐπεὶ
μοῦσαν στυγερὰν
ἀποφαίνεσθαι δεδόκηκεν,
λέξαι τε λάχη τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους
310
ὡς ἐπινωμᾷ στάσις ἁμή ἅμα.
Εὐθυδίκαιοι δ' οἰόμεθ' εἶναι· εὐθυδίκαι θ᾽ οἶδ᾽ οίμεθ᾽ εἶναι εὐθυδίκαι τ᾽ οἶδ' οἶμαι θεῖναι
τὸν... προνέμοντ' τοὺς... προνέμοντας (προσνέμ- Μ) μὲν καθαρὰς χεῖρας
οὔτις ἐφέρπει μῆνις ἀφ' ἡμῶν ἀφ' ἡμῶν μῆνις ἐφέρπει,
ἀσινὴς δ' αἰῶνα διοιχνεῖ·
315
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 307 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 307 focus
ἄγε δὴ καὶ χορὸν ἅψωμεν, ἐπεὶ
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 307 focus
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 307 focus
ἄγε δὴ καὶ χορὸν ἅψωμεν, ἐπεὶ
μοῦσαν στυγεράν
ἀποφαίνεσθαι δεδόκηκεν,
λέξαι τε λάχη τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους
ὡς ἐπινωμᾶι στάσις ἁμά.
310
εὐθυδίκαιοι δ᾽ εὐχόμεθ᾽ εἶναι·
τοὺς μὲν (καθαρῶς)
καθαρὰς χεῖρας προνέμοντας
οὔτις ἐφέρπει μῆνις ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν,
ἀσινὴς δ᾽ αἰῶνα διοιχνεῖ·
315
ὅστις δ᾽ ἀλιτὼν ὥσπερ ὅδ᾽ ἁνὴρ
χεῖρας φονίας ἐπικρύπτει,
μάρτυρες ὀρθαὶ τοῖσι θανοῦσιν
παραγιγνόμεναι πράκτορες αἵματος
αὐτῶι τελέως ἐφάνημεν. ξ
320
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 307 focus
ἄγε δὴ καὶ χορὸν ἅψωμεν, ἐπεὶ
μοῦσαν στυγερὰν
ἀποφαίνεσθαι δεδόκηκεν,
λέξαι τε λάχη τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους
300
ὡς ἐπινωμᾷ στάσις ἁμά·
εὐθυδίκαιοι δ᾽ οἰόμεθ᾽ εἶναι.
τὸν μὲν καθαρὰς χεῖρας προνέμοντ᾽
οὔτις ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν μῆνις ἐφέρπει,
ἀσινὴς δ᾽ αἰῶνα διοιχνεῖ·
305
ὅστις δ᾽ ἀλιτών, ὥσπερ ὅδ᾽ ἀνὴρ,
χεῖρας φονίας ἐπικρύπτει,
μάρτυρες ὀρθαὶ τοῖσι θανοῦσιν
παραγιγνόμεναι πράκτορες αἵματος
αὐτῷ τελέως ἐφάνημεν.
310
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 307 focus
ἄγε δὴ καὶ χορὸν ἅψωμεν, ἐπεὶ
μοῦσαν στυγερὰν
ἀποφαίνεσθαι δεδόκηκεν,
λέξαι τε λάχη τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους
310
ὡς ἐπινωμᾶι στάσις ἁμή.
εὐθυδίκαιοι δ᾽ οἰόμεθ᾽ εἶναι·
τὸν μὲν καθαρὰς χεῖρας προνέμοντ᾽
οὔτις ἐφέρπει μῆνις ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν,
ἀσινὴς δ᾽ αἰῶνα διοιχνεῖ·
315
ὅστις δ᾽ ἀλιτὼν ὥσπερ ὅδ᾽ ἁνὴρ
χεῖρας φονίας ἐπικρύπτει,
μάρτυρες ὀρθαὶ τοῖσι θανοῦσιν
παραγιγνόμεναι πράκτορες αἵματος
αὐτῶι τελέως ἐφάνημεν.
320
Translations (10)
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 307 focus
Come then, let us also join the dance, since it has seemed good to us to pour forth the hated song, and to declare how our band distributes its lots among men; and we delight in being upright [ministers] of justice. On him indeed who possesses pure hands no wrath from us steals, but free from harm he passes his life: but whoever, committing crime, like this man, conceals his bloody hands, close at hand as true witnesses to the dead, we appear effectually as avengers of blood to him.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 307 focus
vas entendre l'hymne qui t'enchaînera.
The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 307 focus
Hear now the potent ſtrain, that charms thee mine.
340
PROSODE.
Quickly, ſiſters, ſtand around,
Raiſe your choral warblings high;
Since, the guilty ſoul to wound,
Swells the horrid harmony.
Since to mortal man we ſhow
345
How we give his fate to flow;
Since our will his doom ordains,
Show that juſtice 'mongſt us reigns.
He, whoſe hands from guilt are pure,
Stands in innocence ſecure;
350
And from youth to honour'd age
Fears not our vindictive rage.
To the wretch, that ſtrives to hide
Ruffian hands with murder died,
Cloath'd in terrors we appear,
355
Unrelentingly ſevere;
And, faithful to the injur'd dead,
Pour our vengeance on his head.
STROPHE 1.
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 307 focus
Su via, dunque, la danza s'intrecci,
poiché la ferale
canzone vogliamo intonare,
340
e dire la sorte che agli uomini
comparte la nostra congrega.
Ci vantiam di seguire Giustizia.
Chi pure ha le mani,
nessuna vendetta
345
spirata da noi su lui repe,
e illeso trascorre sua vita.
Ma se un reo, come l'uomo ch'or fugge,
nasconde le mani cruente,
noi, vindici giuste a chi cadde,
350
dinanzi apparendogli,
del sangue il riscatto esigiamo.
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 307 focus
Age iam & chorum tangamus, poſtq; muſa odioſam
300
Apparere dedit,
Dicere ſortes contra homines,
Vt distribuat ſeditio ſimul
Statim pœnæ ſciemus eſse.
Hos quidem impuras manus adijcientes.
305
Nulla à nobis ira aſserpit
Innocuos uerò uitam agit,
Quiſquis iniuſtorum, tanquam uir
Manus cruentas occultat,
Teſtes rectæ mortuis his
310
Accedentes uindices ſanguinis,
Ipſi perfectè apparuimus,
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 307 focus
Auf denn, reicht zum Reigen euch die Hände,
singen wollen wir das grause Lied.
310 unsres Amtes Pflichten zu verkünden,
das wir üben in der Menschenwelt.
Unser Ruhm ist grades Recht zu schaffen.
Wo der Wandel rein, die Hände rein,
kommen nimmer wir mit Zorn und Rache,
315 und in Frieden fliefst das Leben hin.
Aber wer in Sündenschuld wie dieser
eine blut'ge Mörderhand verbirgt,
dem erscheinen wir. Für den Erschlag'nen
zeugen wir in Treuen, von dem Mörder
320 fordern unerbittlich wir sein Blut.
Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Eumenides. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 307 focus
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.) — 307 focus
Weave the weird dance,—behold the hour
To utter forth the chant of hell,
360
Our sway among mankind to tell,
The guidance of our power.
Of Justice are we ministers,
And whosoe'er of men may stand
Lifting a pure unsullied hand,
365
That man no doom of ours incurs,
And walks thro' all his mortal path
Untouched by woe, unharmed by wrath.
But if, as yonder man, he hath
Blood-dropping hands he strives to hide,
370
We stand avengers at his side,
Decreeing, Thou hast wronged the dead:
We are doom's witnesses to thee.
The price of blood, his hands have shed,
We wring from him; in life, in death,
375
Hard at his side are we!
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.) — 307 focus
Wohlauf denn, laßt uns schlingen den Reih'n,
Da den grausen Gesang
Wir laut zu verkünden beschlossen,
Und zu nennen die Loos' in der Menschen Geschlecht,
Wie unsere Schaar sie vertheilte!
300
Wir schüßen das Recht nach stetem Gesey:
Wer lauter die Hand
Mit lauterem Herzen emporhebt,
Nie trifft ihn von uns der vergeltende Zorn;
Harmlos durchwallt er das Leben.
305
Doch wer sich, wie Der, durch Frevel entweiht,
Und die blutigen Hände zurückzieht,
Da treten wir kühn als Zeugen des Rechts
Der Gemordeten auf, und fordern von ihm
Vollständige Sühne der Blutthat.
310
Erste 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.)

309. δεδόκηκεν , 'tis our resolve, poetic form for regular δέδοκται.

310. λάχη might be the office of the Furies, as Cho. 360: but with ἐπινωμᾷ it makes better sense to refer it to ἀνθρώπους. How our troop assigns the lots of men.

310. στάσις , as Choeph. 114, 458.

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).

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

mvp-comment-218-1 ἄγε δὴ: Chori nota adscripta est in M. G. Ven. Flor. Ald. Rob. Turn. Hos anapaestos constare ex systemate et antisystemate atque epodo ostendi in Opusc. VI. 2. p. 63.

mvp-comment-219-1 δεδόκηκεν: δεδόκηκεν Μ. G. δεδόκηκε Turn. δεδόκημεν Ven. Flor. Farn. Ald. Rob.

mvp-comment-220-1 λάχη τὰ: λάχητα κατ' Αld.

mvp-comment-221-1 ὡς ἐπινωμᾷ ... ἀμά: ὡς ἐπὶ νωμᾷ G. ὡς ἐπὶ νομᾶ Ald. In fine versus libri ἅμα, Canteri emendatio est αμά.

mvp-comment-222-1 εὐθυδίκαιοí θ᾽ ἡδόμεθ᾽ εἶναι: εὐθυδίκαι θ᾽ οἶδ' οίμεθ᾽ εἶναι Μ. ut Franzius dicit. εὐθυδίκαι θ' οἱδοίμεθ᾽ εἶναι G. Rob. et, ut alii dicunt, M. εὐθυδίκα θ' οἱ δοίμεσθ᾽ εἶναι Ald. εὐθυδίκαι δ᾽ ἐδοίμεθ᾽ εἶναι Par. εὐθυδίκαι τ᾽ οἶδ᾽ οἶμαι θεῖναι Ven. Flor. Farn. εὐθύδικαί ' εὐθυδίκαι Viel.) ἡδόμεσθ' είναι Turn. Vict. εύθυδίκαι δ᾽ ἡδόμεθ' είναι Canterus. Scribendum erat εὐθυδίκαιοι δ᾽ ἡδόμεθ᾽ εἶναι. Illud Casaubonus viderat, 9' in δ' esse mutandum. εὐθυδίκαιοι simile verbum est atque ὀρθοδίκαιοι infra v. 976.

mvp-comment-223-1 τοὺς μὲν καθαρὰς ... χεῖρας προνέμοντας: τοὺς μὲν καθαρὰς | χεῖρας προσνέμοντας M. G. Ald. Rob. Turn. nisi quod Ald. πρὸς νέμοντας habet. τοὺς μὲν καθαρὰς (καθαρᾷ Farn.) χεῖρας προνέμοντας Ven. Flor. Farn. Quod Turnebus inter τὰ ἄλλως εὑρεθέντα ἐν τισὶν ἀντιγράφοις affert, χεῖρας ἔχοντας, id, quum ille in Orestea nullo codice praeter Aldinam editionem usus sit, non dubito quin coniectura sit, quam in textum non ausus est recipere. Bis tantum ille in Eumenidibus aliam scripturam adnotavit, hie et mox v. 358. sed etiam hoc altero loco talem quae coniecturae speciem prae se ferat. Non recte olim scripsi τὸν μὲν καθαρὰς χεῖρας προνέμοντο. Etenim non veri simile est librarios pluralem posuisse, quum singulari numero sequatur ἀσινὴς δ᾽ αἰῶνα διοιχνεῖ. Sed, ut strophica horum anapaestorum ratio docet, scribendum potius est, τοὺς μὲν καθαρὰς * καθαρῶς* χεῖρας προνέμοντας.

mvp-comment-224-1 οὔτις ἐφέρπει μῆνις ἀφ᾿ ἡμῶν: Libri οὔτις ἀφ᾿ ἡμῶν μῆνις ἐφέρπει. Hiatum, qui ita inter hunc et sequentem versum est, Porsonus emendata verborum collocatione removit.

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

mvp-comment-106-1 ἄψωμεν] This clearly shows that dancing movements accompanied the music and singing. -ἐπεὶ κ.τ.λ., since we have resolved to show what we can do in doleful music, lit. to make a display of a hateful (joyless) strain. An Ionic form is used in place of the Attic δέδοκται (see Veitch, Gr. V. p. 199 ). -στυγερὰν, Schol.

ὡς ἐπὶ νεκρῷ.

mvp-comment-107-1 στάσις] 'our company, Ag. 1086 , Cho. 106 . —ἐπινωμᾷ, allots, distributes, the various fortunes that prevail among man. The Schol. explains ἐπισκοπεῖ.

mvp-comment-108-1 Ας προνέμειν is to hold out, for all to see, 8ο ἐπικρύπτειν is to muffle a blood-stained hand within a garment in order to conceal the crime.

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-123-1 ὡς ἐπὶ νεκρῶι.

mvp-comment-124-1 τοὺς κλήρους ἡμῶν (Vict. f. ὑμῶν). ἀπὸ κοινοῦ δὲ τὸ δεδόκηκεν.

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-161-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 272

mvp-comment-161-2 zweites Epeisodion. Orestes ruft Athena zu Hilfe. Die Chorführerin weist jeden Beistand zurück.

mvp-comment-182-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 275

mvp-comment-182-2 Unter der Begleitung der Anapäste, welche der Koryphaios vorträgt, ordnet sich der Chor in Reih und Glied, um sein Bannlied (322 ff.) zu singen und mit entsprechendem Tanz zu begleiten, indem die Figuren ( σχήματα) des Reigens, besonders bei den Ephymnien, die Idee des Bannenden und Bestrickenden zum Ausdruck bringen.

mvp-comment-183-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 275

mvp-comment-183-2 δεδόκηκεν wie Prom. 402

δοκήσει
, Sept. 1027
δοκησάτω
, Eur. Med. 763
δεδόκησαι
 u. a.

mvp-comment-184-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 275

mvp-comment-184-2 Schol. δεδόκηκεν ἡμῖν λέξαι τίνα τρόπον τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους λάχη ἐφοδεύομεν. Vielmehr steht λάχη (,,das mir zugefallene Amt) wie 335, 348, 389, wie es 931 τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους ἔλαχον διέπειν heifst. - ἐπινωμᾷ: ἐπισκοπεῖ und στάσις: σύστημα Schol.

mvp-comment-185-1 1

mvp-comment-185-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 275

mvp-comment-185-3 Mit εὐθυδίκαιοι (gerecht richtend) vgl. ὀρθοδίκαιος 995. μαιόμεθα (wir bestreben uns wie μαιομένοις Cho. 782

ἐμαίετο
Soph. Ai. 287 .

mvp-comment-186-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 275

mvp-comment-186-2 ,,Wohl dem, der frei von Schuld und Fehle" u. s. w.

mvp-comment-187-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 275

mvp-comment-187-2 ἀσινὴς . . διοιχνεί scil. ἕκα στος wie 340. Vgl. Plat. Prot. p. 324

Β οὐδεὶς γὰρ κολάζει τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας τούτου ἕνεκα ὅτι ἠδίκησεν u. ὅ.

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

δεδόκηκεν , 'tis our resolve, poetic form for regular δέδοκται.

λάχη might be the office of the Furies, as Cho. 360 : but with ἐπινωμᾷ it makes better sense to refer it to ἀνθρώπους. How our troop assigns the lots of men.

στάσις , as Choeph. 114, 458 .

mvp-sidgwick-159-1-1 I take Hermann's original correction προνέμοντα, that puts forth for all to see: opposed to the action of the guilty man who hides ( l. 317

) his bloody hands.

mvp-sidgwick-160-1-1 I take Hermann's corr. εὐθυδίκαιοι (justified by

ὀρθοδίκαιοι
l. 994 ) and H. L. Ahrens' οἰόμεθ'.