Aeschylus Eumenides 927

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.) — 916-1020 focus
Εὐμενίδες Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.) — 927 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 927 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 927 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 927 focus
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 927 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 927 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 927 focus
τάδ᾽ ἐγὼ προφρόνως τοῖσδε πολίταις
πράσσω, μεγάλας καὶ δυσαρέστους
δαίμονας αὐτοῦ κατανασσαμένη.
930
πάντα γὰρ αὗται τὰ κατ᾽ ἀνθρώπους
ἔλαχον διέπειν.
ὁ δὲ μὴ κύρσας βαρέων τούτων
οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν πληγαὶ βιότου.
τὰ γὰρ ἐκ προτέρων ἀπλακήματά νιν
935
πρὸς τάσδ᾽ ἀπάγει· σιγῶν δ᾽ ὄλεθρος
καὶ μέγα φωνοῦντ᾽
ἐχθραῖς ὀργαῖς ἀμαθύνει.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 927 focus
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 927 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 927 focus
τάδ᾽ ἐγὼ προφρόνως τοῖσδε πολίταις σύστ. α΄.
πράσσω, μεγάλας καὶ δυσαρέστους
δαίμονας αὐτοῦ κατανασσαμένη.
890
πάντα γὰρ αὗται τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους
ἔλαχον διέπειν· ὁ δὲ μὴ κύρσας
βαρέων τούτων οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν
πληγαὶ βιότου * προσέπαισαν.
τὰ γὰρ ἐκ προτέρων ἀπλακήματά νιν
895
πρὸς τάσδ᾽ ἀπάγει, σιγῶν ὄλεθρος,
καὶ μέγα φωνοῦντ᾽
ἐχθραῖς ὀργαῖς ἀμαθύνει.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 927 focus
τάδ᾽ ἐγὼ προφρόνως τοῖσδε πολίταις
πράσσω, μεγάλας καὶ δυσαρέστους
δαίμονας αὐτοῦ κατανασσαμένη.
πάντα γὰρ αὗται τὰ κατ᾿ ἀνθρώπους
930
ἔλαχον διέπειν.
ὁ γε μὴν κύρσας βαρεῶν τούτων
οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν
πληγαὶ βιότου - -).
τὰ γὰρ ἐκ προτέρων ἀπλακήματά νιν
πρὸς τᾶσδ᾽ ἀπάγει, σιγῶν (δ᾽ ὄλεθρος
935
καὶ μέγα φωνοῦντ᾽
ἐχθραῖς ὀργαῖς ἀμαθύνει.
Translations (10)
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 927 focus
I willingly do these things for these my citizens, having settled in this place these mighty deities, and hard to be appeased: for they have obtained by lot to administer all things regarding men. But he who has not found them gentle, knows not whence come the ills of life: for the sins of his forefathers lead him away to these, and silent destruction with hostile wrath lays him low even while talking big.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 927 focus
jaillissent en foule à la clarté d'un soleil resplendissant 1 !
The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 927 focus
For my lov'd city with a willing mind
This do I, ſeating here theſe aweful pow'rs e
That yield with much reluctance;
for o'er man
The Fates aſſign them a deſpotic ſway.
1060
And he, that feels their terrors, often knows not
Whence ſprings the vengeful wrath, whoſe iron
ſcourge
Embitters life:
for the fire's long-paſs'd crimes
1065
Draw to their chaſt'ning hand the ſuff'ring ſon;
And, 'midſt his thoughts of greatneſs, ſilent ruin
With ruthleſs hate purſues, and cruſhes him.
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 927 focus
Lieta sono che ai miei cittadini
tanto ben procacciai: che qui restino
queste Dive possenti e implacabili.
975
Tutte quante le sorti fra gli uomini
spetta ad esse partir. Chi non mai
s'imbatté ne le Dive terribili,
della vita gli strazî non sa.
I delitti che gli avi compierono
980
te le spingono contro; e Rovina,
senza voce, mentre alto tu gridi,
con infesto furore ti stermina.
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 927 focus
Hæc uerò ego promptè meis ciuibus
Faciam magnos & implacabiles
Dæmonas ipſa ſubigens.
Omnia ipſæ enim adminiſtrare ſortitæ ſum ſecundæ.
870
Ille uerò non aſsecutus hæc grauia
Non nouit unde plagæ uitæ ſunt.
Errata enim ex prioribus ipſum
Ad has deſerunt tacens pernicioſus,
Et clamosos
875
Inimicis iris conſumit.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 927 focus
Wohl gesorgt hab' ich für meine Bürger,
wenn ich hier ansiedle diese grofsen
schwierig zu gewinnenden Gewalten.
930 Ihnen ist das ganze Glück der Menschen
anvertraut, und wessen Seele niemals
lastend ihre Gegenwart empfunden,
ahnt nicht, was das Lebensglück zertrümmert.
Denn die Sünden seiner Väter treiben
935 ihn den Rächerinnen zu, und lautlos
kommt, so trotzig er auch lärmt, das Unheil,
und der grimme Groll zerschmettert ihn.
Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Eumenides. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 927 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.) — 927 focus
Behold, with gracious heart well pleased
I for my citizens do grant
Fulfilment of this covenant:
And here, their wrath at length appeased,
These mighty deities shall stay.
1065
For theirs it is by right to sway
The lot that rules our mortal day,
And he who hath not inly felt
Their stern decree, ere long on him,
Not knowing why and whence, the grim
1070
Life-crushing blow is dealt.
The father's sin upon the child
Descends, and sin is silent death,
And leads him on the downward path,
By stealth beguiled,
1075
Unto the Furies: though his state
On earth were high, and loud his boast,
Victim of silent ire and hate
He dwells among the Lost.
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.) — 927 focus
Den Segen gewähr' ich gnädig dem Volk,
Daß hier, ich im Land sie zu wohnen bewog,
Die gewaltige, schwerzuversöhnende Schaar.
885
Denn alles Geschick zu verwalten der Welt,
Fiel ihnen zum Loos. Doch wen ihr Groll
Schwerlastend ereilt, nicht weiß er, woher
Ihn trafen die Schläge des Lebens.
Denn die Sünde, vererbt von den Vätern, sie treibt
890
Ihn den Schrecklichen zu, und so laut er auch prahlt,
Stumm faßt ihn der Fluch,
Und zermalmt ihn feindlichen Grimmes.
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.)

929. κατανασσαμένη , middle, housing in my city. 11. 932, 933. The MSS. read

ὁ δὲ μὴ κύρσας βαρέων τούτων
οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν πληγαὶ βιότου.
Now τούτων here must refer to the Furies, as αὗται above and τάσδε below: and consequently βαρέων must be wrong, as (1) it is the wrong gender: (2) even if we suppose (with D.) a fem. form βαρεῶν, it clearly is the wrong sense. What Aeschylus means to say is, He who incurs the wrath of the Furies meets with unexpected calamity: the sins of his fathers bring him into their power.

964. ἐπιβριθής , lit. weighing down upon, falling heavily on: i. e. grievous .

1034. παῖδες ἄπαιδες , the MSS. reading, could hardly mean childless children, which seems pointless: it might mean evil children, like vᾶes ἄναες: but the real objection to any such word as ἄπαιδες is that here the words in which the Chorus are addressed are specially reverent and honourable. It is best to reject it and then we get rid also of τύχᾳ τε, meaningless and unmetrical, at the end of 1. 1037.

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

mvp-comment-707-1 δυςαρέστους:

δυσαρέτους
Ald.

mvp-comment-708-1 κατανασσαμένη:

κατανασαμένη
Αld.

mvp-comment-709-1 ὁ δὲ μὴ κύρσας βαρέων τούτων οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν πληγαὶ βιότου προςέπαισαν: Libri

ὁ δὲ μὴ κύρσας βαρέων τούτων οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν πληγαὶ βιότου
. Multa mirabilia de his versibus prolata sunt. Non discedendum esse putavi ab ea sententia, quam in Opusc. VI. 2. Ρ. 109. seqq. exposui. Itaque scripsi
ὁ δὲ μὴ κύρσας βαρέων τέκτων οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν πληγαὶ βιότου * προςέπαισαν. *
Excidisse enim aliquid, quo paroemiacus explebatur, antisystema docet. Aptum autem videtur
προςέπαισαν
. Sic dicuntur
πρόςπαια κακά
Ag. ν. 332. et
θολεροὶ δὲ λόγοι παίουσ' εἰκῇ στυγνῆς πρὸς κύμασιν ἀτης
Prom. v. 887. Neque tantum
κυρέω
, sed etiam antiquior verbi forma cum nomine vel participio iungi potest, ut in Soph. Oed. Col. v. 1159.
θύων ἔκυρον
. Sententiarum nexus hic est, hae enim deae omnia quae ad homines pertinent administrant: si quis autem non commisil delictum, is nescit unde affligatur: nam priorum peccata his eum tradunt, et tacitum exilium etiam magna sonantem (i. e. superbientem et de felicitate sua gloriantem) pessumdat.

mvp-comment-710-1 ἀπλακήματά νιν:

ἀπλακήματά νιν
Pauwius.
ἀμπλακήματά νιν
Μ. Par. Aug. G. Ald. Rob. Turn.
ἁμαρτήματα
, omisso
νιν
, Ven. (sic Ven. teste Bekkero) Flor. et, ut videtur, Farn.

mvp-comment-711-1 σιγῶν δ᾽ ὄλεθρος: Libri

σιγῶν ὄλεθρος
, nisi quod
σιγὼν ὄλεθρος
est in Ald. Scribendum erat
σιγῶν δ᾽ ὄλεθρος
. Nam quod sequitur
και
non est et, sed etiam, omninoque qui poeticae dictionis naturam et vim norit, non dubitabit quin
δέ
addi post
σιγῶν
debeat.

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

mvp-comment-284-1 βαρέων] Supply λαχέων from ἔλαχον. 'He who has not met with a hard lot in life (who has not gained wisdom by misfortune, Ag. 169 ) has yet to learn the great truth, that ancestral crime, as well as actual sins committed, are often the secret causes of woe. —προσέπαισαν is supplied on Hermann's conjecture.

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-487-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 314

mvp-comment-487-2 Kommos. Der Chor erfleht oder weissagt alles Gute (Wachstum und Gedeihen der Früchte und Herden Gesundheit des Volkes und bürgerliche Eintracht Wohlwollen und Segen der Götter) für Athen und wird darob von Athena belobt und geehrt. · ξυνοικίαν: zu 836.

mvp-comment-491-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 315

mvp-comment-491-2 πράσσω αὐτοῦ κατανασ σαμένη, erwirke ich dadurch, dafs ich sie hier Wohnung zu nehmen bestimmt babe. Den aktiven Aor. κατένασσα braucht in der Bedentung,,ansiedeln" Hesiod W. u. T. 166, Theog. 329, 620.

mvp-comment-492-1 1

mvp-comment-492-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 315

mvp-comment-492-3 Denjenigen, der sich ihrer Huld nicht erfreut, treffen unversehens Schläge des Unglücks. χαροπός mit hell und freudig strahlendem Blicke.

mvp-comment-493-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 315

mvp-comment-493-2 Vgl. Cho. 401 ff.

mvp-comment-494-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 315

mvp-comment-494-2 σιγῶν als Gegensatz zu μέγα φωνοῦντα, um das κάλλος και κῶν ὕπουλον, die Ironie, mit welcher hinter dem laut prahlenden Glanze das Verderben lauert, zu bezeichnen. Ζυ μέγα φωνοῦντα ( μεγαλαυχοῦντα) vgl. μεγάλης γλώσ σης κόμπους Soph. Ant. 127 , μεγάλοι λόγοι ebd. 1349.

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

κατανασσαμένη , middle, housing in my city. ll. 932, 933

. The MSS. read
ὁ δὲ μὴ κύρσας βαρέων τούτων
οὐκ οἶδεν ὅθεν πληγαὶ βιότου.
 Now τούτων here must refer to the Furies, as αὗται above and τάσδε below: and consequently βαρέων must be wrong, as (1) it is the wrong gender: (2) even if we suppose (with D.) a fem. form βαρεῶν, it clearly is the wrong sense. What Aeschylus means to say is, He who incurs the wrath of the Furies meets with unexpected calamity: the sins of his fathers bring him into their power.

mvp-sidgwick-430-2-1 We must take therefore some emendation like ἱλαρῶν (Weil.), χαροπῶν (Weck.), τῶνδ᾽ εὐμενέων (Hart.): of which I have preferred the former. βαρέων will perhaps have arisen from confusion of β- and ιλ-: or perhaps from a gloss. Another question arises about the metre. Hermann, followed by most edd. (Lachm. Franz. Pal. Hart. Merkel. Weil.), has assumed that Athena's anapaestic stanzas, which alternate with the lyrics, correspond. There are five such stanzas: the three middle ones (at ll. 949, 968, 988

) are all the same length: and the first and the last would be exactly equal, if after βιύτου we read some words like προσέπαισαν (H.). The practice is not uniform: thus in the κομμός in the Choephoroi the anapaestic alternating stanzas do not correspond, though roughly about the same length: on the other hand in Agamemnon (11. 1448-1577) the anapaests do correspond.

mvp-sidgwick-430-3-1 It is on the whole more probable that the latter is the case here: and I have accordingly adopted H.'s προσέπαισαν.

mvp-sidgwick-430-4-1 The sense then is, He who finds them not propitious is stricken with calamities he knows not whence: and μὴ ἱλαρῶν κύρσας is really a euphemism for offended.

mvp-sidgwick-431-1-1 Note the effective antithesis between the silence of the ruin and the loud boasts of the unfortunate man.