Aeschylus Eumenides 178

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

Εὐμενίδες (Greek) (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.)

Editions (11)
Εὐμενίδες First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 178-298 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 178 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 178 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 178 focus
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 178 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 178 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 178 focus
ἔξω, κελεύω, τῶνδε δωμάτων τάχος
χωρεῖτ᾽, ἀπαλλάσσεσθε μαντικῶν μυχῶν,
180
μὴ καὶ λαβοῦσα πτηνὸν ἀργηστὴν ὄφιν,
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 178 focus
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 178 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 178 focus
ἔξω, κελεύω, τῶνδε δωμάτων τάχος
170
χωρεῖτ᾽, ἀπαλλάσσεσθε μαντικῶν μυχῶν
μὴ καὶ λαβούσα πτηνὸν ἀργηστὴν ὄφιν,
χρυσηλάτου θώμιγγος ἐξορμώμενον,
ἀνῆς ὑπ᾿ ἄλγους μέλαν᾿ ἀπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων ἀφρὸν,
ἐμοῦσα θρόμβους οὓς ἀφείλκυσας φόνου.
175
οὔτοι δόμοισι τοῖσδε χρίμπτεσθαι πρέπει·
ἀλλ᾽ οὗ καρανιστῆρες ὀφθαλμωρύχοι
δίκαι, σφαγαί τε, σπέρματός τ᾿ ἀποφθορᾷ
παίδων κακοῦται χλοῦνις, ἠδ᾽ ἀκρωνία
λευσμοί τε, καὶ μύζουσιν οἰκτισμὸν πολὺν
180
ὑπὸ ῥάχιν παγέντες. ἆρ᾿ ἀκούετε
οἷας ἑορτῆς ἔστ᾽ ἀπόπτυστοι θεοῖς
στέργηθρ᾽ ἔχουσαι; πᾶς δ᾽ ὑφηγεῖται τρόπος
μορφῆς. λέοντος ἄντρον αἱματορρόφου
οἰκεῖν τοιαύτας εἰκὸς, οὐ χρηστηρίοις
185
ἐν τοῖσδε πλησίοισι τρίβεσθαι μύσος.
χωρεῖτ᾽ ἄνευ βοτῆρος αἰπολούμεναι·
ποίμνης τοιαύτης δ᾽ οὔτις εὐφιλὴς θεῶν.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 178 focus
ἔξω, κελεύω, τῶνδε δωμάτων τάχος
χωρεῖτ᾽, ἀπαλλάσσεσθε μαντικῶν μυχῶν,
180
μὴ καὶ λαβοῦσα πτηνὸν ἀργηστὴν ὄφιν,
χρυσηλάτου θώμιγγος ἐξορμώμενον,
ἀνῆις ὑπ᾽ ἄλγους μέλαν᾿ ἀπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων ἀφρόν,
ἐμοῦσα θρόμβους οὓς ἀφείλκυσας φόνου.
οὔτοι δόμοισι τοῖσδε χρίμπτεσθαι πρέπει·
185
ἀλλ᾽ οὗ καρανιστῆρες ὀφθαλμωρύχοι
δίκαι, σφαγαί τε, σπέρματός τ᾽ ἀποφθοραὶ
παίδων, κακοῦ τε χλοῦνις ἠδ᾽ ἀκρωνιά,
λευσμός τε, καὶ μύζουσιν οἰκτισμὸν πολὺν
ὑπὸ ῥάχιν παγέντες. ἆρ᾽ ἀκούετε
190
οἵας ἑορτῆς ἔστ᾽ ἀπόπτυστοι θεοῖς
στέργηθρ᾽ ἔχουσαι; πᾶς δ᾽ ὑφηγεῖται τρόπος
μορφῆς. λέοντος ἄντρον αἱματορρόφου
οἰκεῖν τοιαύτας εἰκός, οὐ χρηστηρίοις
ἐν τοῖσδε κληισίοισι τρίβεσθαι μύσος.
195
χωρεῖτ᾽ ἄνευ βοτῆρος αἰπολούμεναι.
ποίμνης τοιαύτης δ᾽ οὔτις εὐφιλὴς θεῶν.
Translations (11)
Eumenides Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 178 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 178 focus
Out, I bid you depart with speed from these abodes; begone from the prophetic shrines, lest even having received the winged swift snake 2
, hurled from the golden string, you send forth through pain the black foam [sucked] from men, vomiting the clots of gore which you have drawn. By no means is it fitting to approach these abodes, but where there are head-cutting, eye-digging 3
revenges and slaughters, and the vigour of boys is injured, and destruction of the seed, and maiming, and stoning, [and where] those impaled by the spine groan with much wailing. Hear, you, abhorred by the gods, of what a feast you have the delight? but the whole fashion of your form leads to this. It is fit that such should inhabit the cave of the blood-sucking lion, not to tarry 4
in these oracular seats, an abomination to the neighbours. Be­ gone, you who feed without a keeper; but none of the gods has regard for such an herd.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 178 focus
je l'ordonne; vite, hors de chez
moi! Débarrasse le sanctuaire prophétique, si tu ne veux que t'atteigne le serpent à l'aile blanche, qui, bondissant de
The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 178 focus
Hence, I command you, from my hallow'd ſeat
Begone with ſpeed; quit this oracular ſhrine:
205
This is no place to ſnatch your winged ſerpents,
And hurl them from your golden-twifted ſſtring,
To wring the black blood from the human heart
With torture, then diſgorge your horrid feaſt
Of clotted gore: Such guests my houſe abhors.
210
Begone where vengeance with terrific rage
Digs out the eyes, or from the mangled trunk
Remorſeleſs rends the head; to flaughters go,
Abortions, lurking ambush, rampir'd force,
To ſuff'rings, to impalements, where the wretch
215
Writhes on the ſtake in tortures, yelling loud
With many' a ſhriek: In feaſts like these, ye hags
Abhorr'd, is your delight; ſufficient proof
That execrable form: the deſert wild,
Where the blood-rav'ning lion makes his den,
220
Such ſhou'd inhabit; nor with impure tread
Pollute theſe golden ſhrines: begone, and graze
Without a keeper; for of ſuc an herd
Th' indignant Gods diſdain to take the charge.
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 178 focus
piombare dovrebbe sul cérebro.
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 178 focus
Inquinantem illius paſcet caput.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 178 focus
Hinaus mit euch. Aus meinem Tempel weis' ich euch.
180 Fort auf der Stelle, trollt euch von dem Sehersitz,
sonst lass' ich von der goldnen Sehne windesschnell
losschwirren den beschwingten Drachen, und er soll
dich beifsen, dafs vor Schmerzen du den schwarzen
Schaum
Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Eumenides. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 178 focus
†Avenger stern, shall light upon his head.
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.) — 178 focus
Out! I command you. Out from this my home—
Haste, tarry not! Out from the mystic shrine,
Lest thy lot be to take into thy breast 1
The winged bright dart that from my golden string
205
Speeds hissing as a snake,—lest, pierced and thrilled
With agony, thou shouldst spew forth again
Black frothy heart's-blood, drawn from mortal men,
Belching the gory clots sucked forth from wounds.
These be no halls where such as you can prowl—
210
Go where men lay on men the doom of blood,
Heads lopped from necks, eyes from their spheres plucked out,
Hacked flesh, the flower of youthful seed crushed out,
Feet hewn away, and hands, and death beneath
The smiting stone, low moans and piteous
215
Of men impaled—Hark, hear ye for what feast
Ye hanker ever, and the loathing gods
Do spit upon your craving? Lo, your shape
Is all too fitted to your greed; the cave
Where lurks some lion, lapping gore, were home
220
More meet for you. Avaunt from sacred shrines,
Nor bring pollution by your touch on all
That nears you. Hence! and roam unshepherded—
No god there is to tend such herd as you.
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.) — 178 focus
Hinaus, gebiet' ich, ungesäumt verlaßt das Haus,
170
Hinweg, entfernt euch aus dem Seherheiligthum,
Daß nicht beschwingt die Silberschlange dich ereilt,
Von goldgewirkter Bogenschnur hinausgesandt,
Und du vor Schmerz des Menschenblutes dunklen Schaum
Ausspeist in Klumpen, die du Leichen ausgeschlürft!
175
Zu diesem Heiligthume dürft ihr nicht heran.
Hin, wo man köpft und blendet, geht zum Hochgericht,
Hin, wo man Menschen schlachtet, wo man Kindermord
Verübt, Entmannung, Steinigung, Verstümmelung,
Wo laut zum Himmel grauenvolles Wehgeheul
180
Der Aufgespießten jammert! Ha, vernahmet ihr,
An welchen Festesfreuden ihr Scheuseligen
Das Herz erlabet? So verkündet's schon an euch
Die ganze Bildung. Euch geziemt, im Felsenhaus
Blutdürst'ger Leu'n zu wohnen; nicht dem Sehersiz
185
In diesen Räumen nahe sich ein solcher Gräul!
So zieht von hinnen, ohne Hirten schwärmt hinaus!
Denn solcher Heerde freut sich kein Unsterblicher.
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.)

186. καρανιστῆρες ὀφθαλμώρυχοι δίκαι , dooms that shear off the head and tear out the eyes. The horror is intensified both by the extraordinary weight and force of the lines, and by the abstract: the Furies are banished to a land of ghastly things. For the masc. form καρανιστήρ with fem. word δίκη compare σωτήρ τύχη Ag. 664, λαμπὰς πορευτής ib. 287, θέλκτωρ πειθώ Suppl. 1040, παραγιγνόμεναι πράκτορες below 319, βρωτῆρας αἰχμάς 803.

189. μύζουσιν οἰκτισμὸν πολύν , ‘make sore and piteous moaning,' a terribly graphic expression for the slow torture of impalement.

191. ἑορτῆς . depends on στέργηθρα: what manner of feast it is ye love, loathed of the gods [lit. what... loving, ye are loathed ...].

192. ὑφηγεῖται , lit. leads to it: i. e. shews it.

195. πλησίοισι , ‘close at hand,' seems rather a feeble word and is perhaps corrupt: though none of the suggestions (πλουσίοισι Pauw., πανθύτοισι Mein., Πυθίοισι Mart., and many others worse) are convincing: Πυθίοισι perhaps the best.

195. τρίβεσθαι μύσος , rub off their foul pollution, a forcible and contemptuous phrase.

201. τοσοῦτο , i. e. as to explain.

203. πρᾶξαι , to exact, plainly the right word here: MSS. read πέμψαι, ‘to send, which is explained as meaning to Agamemnon: but that would surely require τῷ πατρί. τί μήν; lit. 'what then?' i. e. 'why not?' So, e. g. Plat. Theaet. 145 ἢ οὐχ ἅπερ οἱ ἐπιστήμονες ταῦτα καὶ σοφοί ; (answer) τί μήν;

209. κόμπασον γέρας καλόν , ironical: 'go boast thy glorious office!'

211. ἥτις νοσφίσῃ , a woman who slays: the subjunctive indefinite, because, as frequently, the special case is (rhetorically) put in general terms. The absence of av is Epic usage, common in Trag. and found even in Attic prose, οὗ βραχεῖς ἀρκῶσι Thuc. 4. 17, οἵτινες νομίσωσι 4. 18, ᾧ μὴ ᾖ Plat. Phaedr. 247 B.

212. αὐθέντης φόνος , ‘the murder of a kinsman; ' the most fearful pollution according to the Greek view: so much so that a sharp distinction was drawn (as here) between the murder of a husband (not an ὅμαιμος) and the murder of a mother.

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

mvp-comment-131-1 κελεύω: κενεύω Αld.

mvp-comment-132-1 μέλαν: μέλαν G. Ald. Rob.

mvp-comment-133-1 χρίμπτεσθαι: Wakefieldius et ante eum vir doetus in margine Askewiana δόμοις σε scribendum putarunt. χρίμπεται G. Ald.

mvp-comment-134-1 ἀλλ᾽ οὗ καρανιστῆρες: ἀλλ᾽ οὗ καρανιστήρες Stanleius. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ καρανηστήρες M. G. et commate post or posito Rob. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀρανητῆρες Αld. αλλ' οὐκ ἄρ᾽ ἀνήστῆρες Ven. Flor. Farn. ἀλλ᾽ οὗ καρανηστῆρες Turn. Scholiastes αἱ ἀποκεφαλίζουσαι. In Rheso v. 817. legitur καρανιστής μόρος. Conf. Lob. Paralip. p. 449.

mvp-comment-135-1 παίδων τε χλοῦνις, ἠδ᾽ ἀκρωνία, λευσμόν: παίδων κακοῦται χλοῦνις ἠδ᾽ (ἡδ᾽ Rob.) ἀκρωνία M. G. Par. Ven. Flor. Rob. et haud dubie etiam Farn. παίδων κακοῦ τελλοῦνις ἠδ᾽ ἀκρωνία Ald. παίδων, κακοῦ τε χλοῦνις ἠδ᾽, ἀκρωνία Turn. Scholia in M. haec adscripta sunt χλοῦνις ἀκρωνία (sic M. G.). ἀκμαῖα ἀποκοπή, παρὰ τὴν χλόην, ἢ ἐπεὶ χλοῦνις ὁ σᾶς· κάπροι δὲ συνεχῶς εὐνουχίζονται· διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἀποκοπὴν συϊκὴν εἶπεν, οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνην. Deinde ad ακρωνία adscriptum ἐκτομή μορίων, et in alia parte marginis κακῶν ἄθροισις, ἢ λιθοβολίας (sic M.). Ηρωδιανός δὲ τὸ σύστημα καὶ ἄθροισμα. Fuerunt quibus ακρωνία idem esse videretur atque ἀκρωτηριασμός. Sed haec interpretatio idoneo auctore caret. Contra cum Herodiani explicatione consentiunt fere aliorum grammaticorum testimonia. Lexicon Seguerianum in Bekkeri Anecd. p. 372, 2. ἀκρωνία, τὰ ἀθροίσματα. καὶ ἡ ἀκρότης. καὶ ἡ ἀκμή. καὶ τὸ ἐπίλεκτον σύστημα. Εtym. Μ. p. 53, 41. ἀκρώνα (sic scriptum), τὰ ἀθροίσματα, καὶ ἡ ἀκρότης, καὶ ἡ ἀκμή, τὸ ἐπίλεκτον σύστημα. Hesychius ακρώνια (sic), αθροίσματα, παράστασις, πλῆθος, οἱ ἀκρώvva (sic codex), άθροισμός. Alterum illud vocabulum χλοῦνις diffcillimum est. Quod apud Homerum est ll. ΙΧ. 539. χλούνην σῦν, recte sane ita videtur explicari ut χλούνης ad χλόην referatur. Hesychius χλούνην, τὸν ἐν τῇ χλόῃ εὐναζόμενον. χλοῦναι, λωποδύται, οἱ ἐν τῇ χλόῃ εὐναζόμενοι. Sed Aristoteles Hist. an. VI. 28. p. 578. ed. Bekk. χλούνην putavit esse castratum. Τῶν δὲ ἀρρένων καὶ ἀγρίων, inquit, οἱ τομίαι μείζους γίνονται καὶ χαλεπώτεροι, ὥςπερ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐποίησεν “τρέψεν (libri θρέψει) ἔπι χλούνην σῦν ἄγριον· οὐδὲ ἐῴκει θηρί γε σιτοφάγῳ, ἀλλὰ ῥίῳ υλήεντι.” γίνονται δὲ τομίαι διὰ τὸ νέοις οὖσιν ἐμπίπτειν νόσημα κνησμὸν εἰς τοὺς ὄρχεις· εἶτα ξυόμενοι πρὸς τὰ δένδρα ἐκθλίβουσι τοὺς ὄρχεις. Eustathius p. 772, 53. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἐκτομίαν ὁ χλούνης δηλοῖ, οὐ μόνον Αἰσχύλος δίδωσι χρῆσιν (pertinet hoc ad versum ex Edonis, fr. 60.), ἀλλὰ καὶ Αιλιανὸς μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς περὶ προνοίας χλούνην λέγων τὸν ἀπόκοπον· καὶ Αριστοτέλης δὲ κατὰ τὸν γεωγράφον χλούνην σῦν τὸν τομίαν λέγει. Schol. ad II. IX. 539. οἱ μὲν τὸν ἐντομίαν· κνώμενοι γὰρ πρὸς τὰ φυτὰ παρατρίβονται καὶ ἀγριώτεροι γίνονται. Reiecit hanc interpretationem Aristophanes grammaticus: v. Nauckium Aristoph. Byz. fragm. p. 118. seqq. Illud tamen ex hac Aristotelis interpretatione iure colligi videtur, potuisse fieri ut ab Aeschylo similiter χλοῦνις diceretur castratio. Non facile res ad liquidum perduci poterit: sed ut veri simillimam recepi Fritzschii emendationem, δίκαι, σφαγαί τε, σπέρματός τ' ἀποφθοραί, παίδων τε χλοῦνες, ἠδ᾽ ἀκρωνία κακοῦ. Σπέρματος αποφθοραί partus abaetos significant.

mvp-comment-136-1 λευσμόν,: Casaubonus aliique λευσμός τε vel λευσμοί τε scribendum esse putaverunt. Et potest scholiastes nominativum legisse videri. Servandum tamen puto λευσμόν τε, quum accusativus a μύζουσιν recte pendere videatur.

mvp-comment-137-1 ὑπὸ ῥάχιν: ὑπὸ ράχιν Μ. Ald. Rob. ὑποβάχιν G. ὑπόρραχιν Ven. Flor. Farn. υποβράχιν Turn. ug' G. Ald. Rob.

mvp-comment-138-1 οἵας ... ἀπόπτυστοι: οἷας G. Ald. ολας Rob. ἐπ' ἀπόπυστοι Ald.

mvp-comment-139-1 στέργηθρ᾽: στέργηθ' Αld.

mvp-comment-140-1 αἱματορρόφου: αἱματορόφου Rob.

mvp-comment-141-1 γείτοσι ... μύσος: πλησίοισι Ven. Flor. Rob. Turn. et ita haud dubie etiam Farn. πλησίοις M. G. Ald. Quum πλησίοισι supervacaneum esse videretur, fuerunt qui Pauwio, πλουσίοισι scribendum esse coniicienti, assentirentur. Ea vero mala coniectura est. Nam antro leonis opulentum maxime templum non recte opponitur. Neque mutandum est πλησίοισι. Ex templo egressus Apollo increpat Furias, quae ab umbra Clytaemnestrae expergefactae se proripuerant ex templo atque in orchestram descenderant. In orchestra autem commorantes intelliguntur esse in περιβόλῳ templi. Itaque πλησία χρηστήρια vicinum templum sunt, ante quod Furiae commorantur. Neque enim putandum est illa, quae v. 178. dicit Apollo, ἔξω, κελεύω, τῶνδε δωμάτων τάχος χωρεῖν, ἀπαλλάσσεσθε μαντικῶν μυχῶν, tam accurate et curiose interpretanda esse, ut aut omnes Furias aut partem earum in ipso templo remansisse statuamus: quorum neutrum fieri potuit. Dictum est de hac re in Opusc. VI. 2. p. 164. seq. et in Annalium Vindobonensium vol. CXI. p. 249. seq. In fine versus μύσος Ven. Flor. Turn. et, ut videtur, M. Farn. μίσος Rob. μίσος Ald. et hoc in G. ex μύσος factum est.

mvp-comment-142-1 εὐφιλὴs: ἐμφιλὴς Par.

mvp-comment-143-1 ἄναξ Ἄπολλον: Personae index in M. G. est χορὸς εὐμενίδων. In Ven. Flor. Rob. χορός. In Ald. Turn. εύμ.

mvp-comment-144-1 αὐτὸς ... πέλει: αὐτὸς γάρ σὺ Flor. Libri πέλῃ, praeter Rob. quae πέλει habet.

mvp-comment-145-1 εἷς ... ὡς: εἷς Canterus. Libri εἰς. Praeterea Wakefieldius ὡς in ὢν mutavit. Id non videtur esse necessarium. Hoc enim recte dicitur, quare omnem culpam sustines.

mvp-comment-146-1 πῶς δή; τοσοῦτο ... λόγου: πῶς δὴ· τοσοῦτο M. G. Turn. πῶς δὴ τοσαῦτο Ald. πῶς δὴ· τοσοῦτον Par. L. πῶς δῆτα τοῦτο Ven. Flor. Farn. Rob. De formis τοσοῦτο et τοσοῦτον v. ad Prom. v. 802. In fine versus a Schutzio et a me olim λόγον scriptum est. Multum praestat λόγου, quod libri habent.

mvp-comment-147-1 ἔχρησας: χο. Ven. Flor. Rob. ε. Μ. G. Ald. Turn.

mvp-comment-148-1 τί μήν;: Hinc in M. personae lineolis praefixis discernuntur. In Ven. Flor. Rob. Apollinis et chori, in G. Ald. Turn. Apollinis et Eumenidum nomina siglis significantur. τιμὴν M. G. Ven. Ald. Rob. Turn. τί μή Flor. ut Cantero scribendum videbatur. Recte Abreschius τί μήν; V. ad Ag. v. 14.

mvp-comment-149-1 δέκτωρ: δ᾽ ἔκταρ G. Ald. δ' έκτωρ sic Rob. δ᾽ ἔκτωρ ex Farn. affertur. δ' έκτωρ Ven. Emendate δέκτωρ Turn. De M. Flor. mihi non constat. Videtur autem M. δ᾽ ἔκτωρ vel δ᾽ ἕκτωρ habere: nam in margine adscriptum est οἶμαι δέκτωρ.

mvp-comment-150-1 τί γάρ; ... νοσφίσῃ: τί γὰρ Μ. G. Ald. Rob. Τurn. τίς γὰρ Ven. Flor. Farn. νοσφίσῃ M. G. Ald. Rob. Turn. νοσφίσει Ven. Flor. Farn. Scholiastes τί προςτέταχθε ποιεῖν παρὰ (ser. περὶ ἀνδροφόνου γυναικός;

mvp-comment-151-1 αὐθέντης: Hic versus Apollini continuatur in M. G. Ven. Flor. Farn. Ald. χο. Rob. Ευ. Turn. Chori hunc versum esse non potest dubitari. Iterat hanc sententiam chorus v. 595. οὐκ ἦν ὅμαιμος φωτὸς ὃν κατέκτανεν. Intellexit etiam scholiastes hunc versum a choro proferri: haec enim adnotavit, ὁ τοῦ ᾿Αγαμέμνονος φόνος οὐκ ἦν αὐθέντης, ὅ ἐστι μιαρός. In Flor., ut Linwoodius dicit, scriptum est αὐθέντης.

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

mvp-comment-65-1 Apollo reappears, and orders the loathsome band to leave his shrine, under threat of an arrow from his unerring bow, with which he is seen armed. This is a very fine passage. Go, he says, where tortures and mutilations, impaling and other horrors are practised, as ἐν βαρβάροις. The arrow is called a glistening winged serpent, both from the ambiguous sense of lòs and from the feathering, πτέρωμα (Schol.).

mvp-comment-66-1 χλοῦνις, virility. The Schol. seems rightly to refer this to the castration of boys. A wild boar was called χλούνης, probably from the large size of the testes. The word ἀκρωνία seems corrupt; the Schol. explains it by κακῶν ἄθροισις, which is evidently impossible. Pollux (II. 137) gives a medical term ἀκρωμία, for the muscle at the top of the shoulder; but this does not help us, unless we suppose a verse lost describing the cutting off of limbs, noses, ears, &c. The poet might have written ἠδ' ἀκρωμίας ποδῶν τε φόνια καὶ χερῶν σπαράγματα, λευσμοί τε, κ.τ.λ. (The comment of the Schol.

ἡ ἀκμαία ἀποκοπὴ,
‘the cutting off of extremities,' may have referred to this.) Cf. Lysias, Andoc. 26
οἰόμενος τὰ ἀκρωτήρια ζῶν ἀποτμηθήσεσθαι.

mvp-comment-67-1 πᾶς τρόπος] The whole style of your appearance leads to this, viz. that you are hateful to the gods because you are fond of feasting on scenes of blood. Xen. Cyr. VIII. 7, 15

μὴ ἃ οἱ θεοὶ ὑφήγηνται ἀγαθὰ μάταιά ποτε ποίησητε.

mvp-comment-68-1 τρίβεσθαι] Schol.

προστρίβεσθαι.
See Prom. 337 .

mvp-comment-69-1 πέμψαι] Doubtless we should read πρᾶξαι. 'What 1 did order was (not expressly 'to kill his mother, but) to exact punishment for his father. Anticipating the sense of the next verse, the Schol. here rightly adds, ὥστε δέξασθαι τὸν φονέα. See v. 84.

mvp-comment-70-1 With δέκτωρ we may supply εἶναι.

mvp-comment-71-1 προπομπούς] This is ironical. If you bade him to go to Delphi, do you blame us for conducting him thither?' Schol. recent. rὰς διωκτρίας.

mvp-comment-72-1 γέρας καλόν] Some office or duty that is honourable, and worth the boasting of.

mvp-comment-73-1 τί γάρ;] What! Would you chase the slayer of a woman who has killed her own husband? That would not be, replies the chorus, the murder of a blood relation (and therefore the offence is not so heinous as to justify retribution by the hand of a son). The Schol. understood this rightly, the murder of Agamemnon was not of the same degree of guilt.' Both epithets, ὅμαιμος and αὐθέντης, combine to distinguish the murder of one's own kin, husband and wife being viewed as aliens in blood, though bound by other ties, πιστώματα, which, Apollo tells the Furies, they are setting at naught by thus acquitting a wife from the higher degree of criminality.

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-79-1 τραγικώτερον ὄφιν εἶπεν τὸ βέλος διὰ τὸν ἰόν, πτηνὸν δὲ διὰ τὸ ἐπτερῶσθαι. τὸ μὲν πρῶτον πρὸς πάσας ὁ λόγος, πρὸς μίαν δὲ ἑκάστην νῦν.

mvp-comment-80-1 νευρᾶς.

mvp-comment-81-1 τὸ αἷμα μέλανα ἀφρὸν εἶπεν, οὐ δήπου τὸ ἔμφυτον αὐτῶν· ἀναίμονες γάρ εἰσιν οἱ θεοί· ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων ἠθροισμένον (ήθρ. Μ), ὡς τούτωι τροφῆι χρωμένων αὐτῶν.

mvp-comment-82-1 τὰς πήξεις τοῦ αἵματος.

mvp-comment-83-1 αἱ ἀποκεφαλίζουσαι.

mvp-comment-84-1 χλοῦνις ἀκρωνία. ἡ ἀκμαία ἀποκοπή (χλοῦνιν λέγει τὴν ἀκμαίαν ἀποκοπήν f), παρὰ τὴν χλόην· ἢ ἐπεὶ χλούνης (χλοῦνις f) ὁ σῦς, κάπροι δὲ συνεχῶς εὐνουχίζονται (soweit auch f), διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἀποκοπὴν συϊκὴν εἶπεν, οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνην. ἡ ἐκτομὴ μορίων.

mvp-comment-85-1 ἀντὶ τοῦ διὰ τῆς μορφῆς ὑμῶν ἡ κακία τῶν τρόπων ὑμῶν διαδεί-

mvp-comment-86-1 μύσος προστρίβεσθαι.

mvp-comment-87-1 μόναι, ὡς ἀνήμερα θηρία.

mvp-comment-88-1 οὐκ κνυται. ἐπικοινωνῶν τῆι αἰτίᾶι, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παντὸς σὺ αἴτιος.

mvp-comment-89-1 ὥστε δέξασθαι τὸν φονέα.

mvp-comment-90-1 ἠθικεύσαντο τὰς διωκτρίας προπομποὺς εἰποῦσαι. προστέταχθε ποιεῖν περὶ (Abresch f. παρὰ) ἀνδροφόνου γυναικός; τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος φόνος οὐκ ἦν αὐθέντης, ὅ ἐστι μιαρός.

mvp-comment-91-1 τί

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-104-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 265

mvp-comment-104-2 erstes Epeisodion. Apollon tritt wieder hervor und jagt nachher die Erinyen aus seinem Tempel: der Chor tritt also auf die Bühne heraus und Apollon folgt ihnen. Damit wird die zu 63 erwähnte Maschinerie zurückgedreht.

mvp-comment-105-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 265

mvp-comment-105-2 Schol. τραγικώτερον ὄφιν εἶπεν τὸ βέλος διὰ τὸν ιόν (Gift, Pfeil), πτηνὸν δὲ διὰ τὸ ἐπτερώσθαι. Hom. Π 773 ιοί τε πτερόεν τες ἀπὸ νευρῆφι θορόντες. σηλάτου, weil Apollon χρυσότοξος ( Pind. O1. XIV 10 , vgl. Soph. Oed. T. χρυσ

mvp-comment-106-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 265

mvp-comment-106-2 θρόμβους φόνου οὓς ἀφείλ κυσας, wie 264 die Erinyen dem Orestes das Blut aussaugen wollen.

mvp-comment-107-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 265

mvp-comment-107-2 ,,Wo kopfabschneidende, augenausgrabende blutige Gerichte gehalten werden." καρανιστήρες δίκαι wie τύχη σωτήρ Ag. 669 . Vgl. auch λευστῆρα μόρον Sept. 181

καρανιστὴς μόρος
Eur. Rhes. 817 . wird."

mvp-comment-107-3 1

mvp-comment-108-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 266

mvp-comment-108-2 χλοῦνις ist nur aus dieser Stelle bekannt. Es scheint mit χλόη, χλόος zusammenzuhängen und wie χλούνης mit ἀφριστής erklärt wurde: χλουδεῖν γὰρ τὸ ἀφρίζειν τινὲς Δωριέων ἔλεγον (Schol. zu Hom. I 539 ), so dürfte χλοῦνις den Schaum des männlichen Samens bezeichnen, der Sinn also sein: ,Wo durch Entmannung der Saft der Kinderzeugung geschädigt Unsicher ist auch die Bedeutung des Wortes ακρωνία. Das Schol. :

κακῶν ἄθροισις ἢ λιθοβολίας. Ηρωδιανὸς δὲ τὸ σύστημα καὶ ἄθροισμα
soll wohl lauten: κακῶν ἄθροισις ἡ λιθοβολία. Darnach erhielte man den Sinn: „,Wo als Krönung der Qualen die Steinigung stattfindet." Auch anderswo ( Bekk. Anecd. p. 372, 2 , Etym. M. p. 53, 41 , Hesych.) findet sich die Erklärung άθροισμα und σύστημα neben ἀκρότης, ἀκμή, παράστασις, πλῆθος. Aber sie scheint blofs aus unserer Stelle gewonnen sein und das folgende te muſs und" bedeuten, ἀκρωνία also eine Marter bezeichnen. Deshalb ist die von H. Stephanus angenommene Bedeutung ἀκρωτηριασμός (Verstümmelung an Händen und Fülsen) wahrscheinlich, wie ein Schol., welcher χλοῦνις ἀκρωνία verbindet, dieses mit ἡ ἀκμαία ἀποκοπή erklärt. Davies vermutet ἄκρων του μαί. μύζουσιν οἰκτισμὸν πολύν d. i. das Stöhnen der Gepfählten ist herzzerreifsend. Eine ähnzu liche Zusammenstellung der ärgsten Qualen kommt Plat. Gorg. p. 473 C vor: ἐὰν στρεβλῶται καὶ ἐκτέμνηται καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκκάηται καὶ τὸ ἔσχατον ἀνασταυρωθῇ καὶ καταπιττωθῇ. Vgl. Eur. Iph. Τ. 1429 ὡς ἢ κατὰ στύφλου πέτρας ῥίψωμεν ἢ 'ν σκόλοψι πήξωμεν δέμας. Als eine nur Barbaren zukommende Strafart wird das Pfählen Herod. IX 79
τὰ πρέπει μᾶλλον βαρβάροισι ποιέειν ἤπερ Ελλησι,
 bezeichnet: sagt Pausanias zu dem Tegeaten, welcher die Leiche des Mardonios zur Sühne für Leonidas aufzuspielsen vorschlägt.

mvp-comment-108-3 2

mvp-comment-109-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 266

mvp-comment-109-2 ὑπὸ ῥάχιν ist in der Handschrift vielleicht mit Recht ὑπόρραχιν geschrieben. Wenigstens entspricht dieses der Aussprache.

mvp-comment-110-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 266

mvp-comment-110-2 οἵας ἑορτῆς (ironisch) στέργηθρα ἔχουσαι θεοὶς ἀπόπτυστοί ἐστε. ὑφηγεῖται, führt (weist) darauf hin. Prom. 98

ὅμοια μορφῇ γλῶσσά σου γηρύεται
, Catull. LXIV

mvp-comment-111-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 266

mvp-comment-111-2 Eumenides, quibus anguino redimita capillo frons exspirantis praeportat pectoris iras.

mvp-comment-112-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 266

mvp-comment-112-2 ἐν χρηστηρίοις τρίβεσθαι μύσος s. v. a. χρηστηρίοις ἐντρίβεσθαι (Schol. προστρίβεσθαι) μύ σος, eigentlich von sich Greuel auf das Heiligtum abreiben" d. h. durch Berührung das Heiligtum mit Greuel besudeln. πλουσίοισι: die Pracht des Tempels steht in Widerspruch mit der ekelhaften Gestalt der Erinyen. Vgl. Soph. Oed. T. 151 τᾶς πολυχρύσου Πυθῶνος, Hom. I 404 .

mvp-comment-113-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-113-2 Schol. μόναι, ὡς ἀνήμερα θηρία. Vielmehr wird ἄνευ βοτῆgos durch den folgenden Vers erklärt: sein." ,Kein Gott mag euer Hirte So spricht Apollon als vóUber δὲ zu Ag. 437 . μιος.

mvp-comment-113-3 3

mvp-comment-114-1 4

mvp-comment-114-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-114-3 πῶς δή, zu Ag. 548 .

mvp-comment-115-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-115-2 ἔχρησας ὥστε: zu Ag. 1394 f.

mvp-comment-116-1 5

mvp-comment-116-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-116-3 κλέψαι (mit List bewerkstelligen) wie Soph. El. 37 der dem Orestes erteilte Auftrag des Phöbos lautet: δόλοισι κλέψαι χειρὸς ἐνδίκους σφαγάς. τί μήν: zu Ag. 14 .

mvp-comment-117-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-117-2 Und dann nahmst du es auf dich, dem frischen Morde eine Zuflucht zu bieten. Vgl. Plat. Phil. p. 19A

ἐμὲ τοῦ λόγου διάδοχον παντελῶς ὑποστάντα. νέου
: es ist nicht so schlimm, wenn nach längerer Zeit infolge von Sühnungen und Reinigungen die Blutschuld abgeschwächt ist. Vgl. 238 f.

mvp-comment-118-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-118-2 τὰς προπομπούς: wenn du den Orestes hieher bestellt hast, so müssen auch seine Geleiterinnen hieher kommen.

mvp-comment-119-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-119-2 πρόσφορον (dienlich, zuträglich) (ἐστὶ τὰς προπομποὺς oder ὑμᾶς μολεῖν. Stanley vermutet πρόσφοροι.

mvp-comment-120-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-120-2 τοῦτο hat Bezug auf τὰς προπομπούς, also τὸ προπέμπειν d. i. διώκειν τοὺς μητροκτόνους.

mvp-comment-121-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-121-2 τιμή und γέρας wie 422 (Ehrenamt). Doch klingt γέρας καλόν spättisch.

mvp-comment-122-1 6

mvp-comment-122-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-122-3 τί γὰρ γυναῖκας ποιεῖτε; Denn aus ἐλαύνομεν ergänzt sich der allgemeine Begriff des Anthuens. ἥτις nach γυναῖκας wie Hom. Τ 260 ἐρινύες, αἵ τ᾽ ὑπὸ γαῖαν ἀνθρώπους τίνυνται, ὅ τίς κ᾿ ἐπίορκον ομόσσῃ, Soph. El. 1506 τοῖς πᾶσιν, ὅστις πέρα πράσσειν γε τῶν νόμων θέλει, Ai. 760 , Eur. Hek. 359

δεσποτῶν ὠμῶν φρένας τύχοιμ᾽ ἂν ὅστις ἀργύρου μ' ὠνήσε ται,
Med. 220 , Androm. 180, El. 934 , Hel. 942, frg. 347, 778. Über den Konjunktiv ohne άv vgl. 234, 337, 664, zu Ag. 762 und Krüger I § 54,

mvp-comment-123-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 267

mvp-comment-123-2 αὐθέντης wie αὐτόχειρ, wer sein eigenes Blut vergiefst, indem er Blutsverwandte umbringt. Vgl. Ag. 1572 , Eur. Herc. 839 . Es verstärkt also die Bedeutung von ὅμαιμος. Dafs nur derjenige, der Blutsverwandte tötet, der Rache der Erinyen verfällt, bringen die Erinyen auch 608 vor, um sich wegen der unterlassenen Verfolgung der Klytämestra zu rechtfertigen.

mvp-comment-123-3 7

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

mvp-sidgwick-96-1-1 A winged glancing snake, a bold and splendid image for an arrow.

mvp-sidgwick-97-1-1 The black foam sucked from men, is explained in the next line.

καρανιστῆρες ὀφθαλμώρυχοι δίκαι , dooms that shear off the head and tear out the eyes. The horror is intensified both by the extraordinary weight and force of the lines, and by the abstract: the Furies are banished to a land of ghastly things. For the masc. form καρανιστήρ with fem. word δίκη compare

σωτήρ τύχη
Ag. 664 ,
λαμπὰς πορευτής
ib. 287 ,
θέλκτωρ πειθώ
Suppl. 1040 , παραγιγνόμεναι πράκτορες below 319, βρωτῆρας αἰχμάς 803.

mvp-sidgwick-99-1-1 A corrupt and difficult line: MSS. read-

... σπέρματός τ᾽ ἀποφθοραὶ
παίδων κακοῦται χλοῦνις ἠδ᾽ ἀκρωνία.
The explanation turns on the meaning of χλοῦνις. (1) One of the Schol. understands it to mean castration: and this is supported by Aristotle (Hist. An. 6. 28), who says distinctly τῶν δὲ ἀρρένων καὶ ἀγρίων οἱ τομίαι μείζους γίγνονται καὶ χαλεπώτεροι, ὥσπερ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐποίησεν (11. 9. 539), Τρέψεν ἔπι χλούνην σῦν ἄγριον : which proves that Arist. took χλούνης=τομίας: ΕEustathius (772), who quotes the authority of Aeschylus, Aelian, and Aristotle for this int.: and Aeschylus himself, who (Frag. 62) has χλούνης apparently meaning eunuch; but (2) others reply that Homer cannot have meant a σûς τομίας but the opposite : and hence χλοῦνις = virility. These retain κακοῦται and read ἀποφθορᾷ, translating 'and by the destruction of the seed the virility of boys is ruined.' So Dind. Pal. Weil.

mvp-sidgwick-99-2-1 In favour of (1) is the very strong evidence of Aristotle, backed by Schol. and Eustathius, and further the run of the lines, which consists of a heap of abstract nouns which would be very harshly broken by a finished sentence. We must therefore assume κακοῦται corrupt: though no satisfactory emendation has been suggested. We may add that those who support (2) assume that Aeschylus must have used the word in the Homeric sense: but it is quite possible that he may have misused an old word, and made the same mistake as Aristotle: and the evidence of Frag. 62 confirms this.

μύζουσιν οἰκτισμὸν πολύν , make sore and piteous moaning, a terribly graphic expression for the slow torture of impalement.

ἑορτῆς . depends on στέργηθρα: what manner of feast it is ye love, loathed of the gods [lit. what... loving, ye are loathed ...].

ὑφηγεῖται , lit. leads to it: i. e. shews it.

πλησίοισι , close at hand, seems rather a feeble word and is perhaps corrupt: though none of the suggestions (πλουσίοισι Pauw., πανθύτοισι Mein., Πυθίοισι Mart., and many others worse) are convincing: Πυθίοισι perhaps the best.

τρίβεσθαι μύσος , rub off their foul pollution, a forcible and contemptuous phrase.

mvp-sidgwick-104-1-1 Observe the fine sudden figure, after his manner: Begone, ye flock without a shepherd: no god loves such a herd.

mvp-sidgwick-105-1-1 MSS. read εἰς τὸ πᾶν, the copyists having fallen into the common Aeschylean phrase, here very flat and inappropriate: Canter's εἷς τὸ πᾶν makes it at once forcible and right.

τοσοῦτο , i. e. as to explain.

mvp-sidgwick-107-1-1 Note the idiomatic use of ὥστε instead of simple acc. and infin. So Thuc. 1. 119 δεηθέντες ὥστε ψηφίσασθαι, 5. 17 ψηφισαμένων ὥστε καταλύεσθαι, Eur. Hipp. 1327

ἤθελ᾽ ὥστε γίγνεσθαι,
Soph. Phil. 656
ἆρ᾽ ἔστιν ὥστε . . . λαβεῖν.

πρᾶξαι , to exact, plainly the right word here: MSS. read πέμψαι, ‘to send, which is explained as meaning to Agamemnon: but that would surely require τῷ πατρί. τί μήν; lit. what then? i. e. why not? So, e. g. Plat. Theaet. 145 ἢ οὐχ ἅπερ οἱ ἐπιστήμονες ταῦτα καὶ σοφοί ; (answer) τί μήν;

mvp-sidgwick-109-1-1 To welcome blood new-shed is a bold and vivid phrase for received the murderer red-handed.

mvp-sidgwick-110-1-1 Certainly to be written a question.

κόμπασον γέρας καλόν , ironical: go boast thy glorious office!

ἥτις νοσφίσῃ , a woman who slays: the subjunctive indefinite, because, as frequently, the special case is (rhetorically) put in general terms. The absence of av is Epic usage, common in Trag. and found even in Attic prose, οὗ βραχεῖς ἀρκῶσι Thuc. 4. 17, οἵτινες νομίσωσι 4. 18, ᾧ μὴ ᾖ Plat. Phaedr. 247 B.

αὐθέντης φόνος , the murder of a kinsman; the most fearful pollution according to the Greek view: so much so that a sharp distinction was drawn (as here) between the murder of a husband (not an ὅμαιμος) and the murder of a mother.