Aeschylus Eumenides 607

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.) — 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.) — 607 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 607 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 607 focus
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 607 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 607 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 607 focus
πῶς γάρ σ᾽ ἔθρεψεν ἐντός, ὦ μιαιφόνε,
610
ζώνης; ἀπεύχῃ μητρὸς αἷμα φίλτατον;
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 607 focus
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 607 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 607 focus
πῶς γάρ σ᾽ ἔθρεψεν ἐντὸς, ὦ μιαίφονε,
ζώνης; ἀπεύχει μητρὸς αἷμα φίλτατον ;
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 607 focus
ἡ ιβ΄ πῶς γάρ σ᾽ ἔθρεψ᾽ ἂν ἐντός, ὦ μιαιφόνε,
ζώνης; ἀπεύχηι μητρὸς αἷμα φίλτατον;
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.)) — 607 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 607 focus
Yes, for did she not nourish you within her zone, O blood-stained? do you disown the most dear blood of your mother?
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 607 focus
tandis qu'elle, de son meurtre, elle est quitte.
The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 607 focus
How elſe, before thy birth, did ſhe ſuſtain,
How nouriſh thee? The murd'rous wretch diſs-
owns
670
That dearest of all ties, a mother's blood.
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 607 focus
odano, ed equa la sentenza diano.
610
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 607 focus
Quomodo te nutriuit ò ſcelerate intra
Singulum, contemnis matris carum ſanguinem?
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 607 focus
Mordbube, die dich unter ihrem Herzen trug?
Des Mutterblutes Lebensquell verläugnest du?
Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Eumenides. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 607 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.) — 607 focus
O cursed with murder's guilt, how else wert thou
The burden of her womb? Dost thou forswear
Thy mother's kinship, closest bond of love?
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.) — 607 focus
Wie? Hat sie nicht, o Mörder, dich in ihrem Schooß
Genährt? Der Mutter theures Blut verläugnest du?
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.)

611. ὥσπερ ἐστίν , i. e. as done it is.

615. θεσμόν , ordinance, means here (as in 1. 484) the court of Areiopagos; and so the Scholiast explains it. It is therefore in apposition to ὑμᾶς.

618. μή . generic, with the indef. opt. κελεύσαι: nothing which Zeus bade not, nothing save what Zeus bade.

620. πιφαύσκω , I bid : nearly all the words of speaking can be so used, λέγω, εἶπον, etc. The displacement of the δέ is common.

620. ὔμμε , Aeolic form of ὑμᾶς found several times in Homer. So ἄμμι (ἡμῖν) Theb. 156, ὔμμε Antig. 846, both however in lyric passages.

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.

638. ταύτην , Klytaimnestra.

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-427-1 πῶς γάρ σ᾽ ἔθρεψεν: Libri

πῶς γάρ σ' ἔθρεψεν
, nisi quod
πῶς γάρ τ' ἔθρεψεν
Ald. habet. Robortellus in corrigendis
πῶς γ' εἰ σ'
(sic). Nihil omnino mutandum est.

mvp-comment-428-1 ἀπεύχει: Libri

ἀπεύχῃ
.

mvp-comment-429-1 αἷμα φίλτατον:

αἷμα φίλτατον
Turn.
τὸ αἷμα φίλτατον
Μ.
αἷμα τὸ φίλτατον
G. Aug. Ald. Rob.

mvp-comment-430-1 ὡςπερ ἐστὶν:

ὣς πέρεστιν
Αld.

mvp-comment-431-1 δοκεῖ, τόδ' αἷμα κρῖνον: Recte G. Ald. Rob. post

δοκεῖ
interpungunt. Post
αἷμα
Turnebus.

mvp-comment-432-1 δικαίως:

δικαίως
M. Aug. Rob.
δικαίας
G. Ald. Turn.

mvp-comment-433-1 μάντις ὢν δ᾽:

μάντις ὢν
emendatio est Canteri. Libri
μάντις δ᾽ ὤν
. Turnebus
δ'
omisit. Ennius Eumenidibus apud Nonium in v. expedibo p. 505.
id ego aequum ac ius fuisse expedibo atque eloquar
.

mvp-comment-434-1 ὃ μὴ κελεύσαι: Libri

ὃ μὴ κελεύσει
. Robortellus in corrigendis
οὐ
. Porsonus
ὃ μὴ κέλευσε
, quum Stanleius
κέλευσε
vel
κελεύει
coniecisset. Non recte olim scripsi
ἃ μὴ κελεύσῃ
. Scribendum erat
ἃ μὴ κελεύσαι
.

mvp-comment-435-1 τὸ μὲν δίκαιον τοῦθ': Pro librorum lectione,

Τοῦ
, olim dederam
τοῦδ'
. Id ut potuerit dici, non est eo tamen opus. Post
τοῦθ'
nulla interpunctio in M. Rob. Plene interpunctum in G. Ald. Turn. Male scholiastes
ἀντὶ τοῦ μάθε ὦ βουλή
.

mvp-comment-436-1 βουλῇ:

βουλῇ
Turn. Vict. et sic fortasse M.
βουλῆ
G. Ald. et sic in corrigendis Rob. in cuius textu
Βουλῆ
est.
Βουλὴ
legit scholiastes ille, cuius verba modo attuli,
Βουλῇ
alius, cuius haec est adnotatio,
κελεύω δὲ ὑμᾶς πεισθῆναι τῇ βουλῇ τοῦ Διός
.

mvp-comment-437-1 ἐπισπέσθαι:

ἐπίσπεσθαι
G. Ald. Turn.
ἐπισπάσθαι
Rob. sed in corrigendis
ἐπισπέσθαι
scribi iubetur, atque ita recte Victorius et reliqui.

mvp-comment-438-1 ὤπασεν:

σοι
in
σοὶ
mutavit Burgesius, non male. Deinde libri
ὤπασε
.

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.

mvp-comment-445-1 περεσκήνωσεν:

περἐσκήνωσεν
Μ. G. Rob.
παρεσκήνωσεν
Aug. (sic Aug.) Ald.
παρεσκήνησεν
Turn.
περεσκήνωσεν
agnoscit scholiastes, qui haec adscripsit
πρὸς τὴν συναλοιφὴν τῆς περί καὶ τὴν συζυγίαν τοῦ ῥήματος
. V. ad Ag. v. 1106.

mvp-comment-446-1 πεδήσασ':

πεδήσας
Ald. Turn.

mvp-comment-447-1 οὗτος:

οὗτος
Μ. G. Aug. Rob.
οὕτως
Ald. Turn.

mvp-comment-448-1 δ᾽: addidit Pauwius.

mvp-comment-449-1 δηχθῇ:

ὡς περ
Rob.
δειχθῇ
M. Rob. sed in M.
η
in
η
mutatum est.

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

mvp-comment-194-1 ἀπεύχει] Do you disown?

mvp-comment-195-1 ἤδη] At this point of the bear witness for me, and declare for me whether I killed her with justice on my side.' The fact, he adds, being admitted, the question of right alone remains. - δικαίως, supply πεπράχθαι from δρᾶσαι.

mvp-comment-196-1 ὁ μὴ κελεύσαι] quod non jussisset. Schol.

οὐκ ἄνευ Διὸς οὖν τὸ γενόμενον.

mvp-comment-197-1 πατρός] As Zeus was the real adviser of the deed, I tell you not to thwart or gainsay his counsel.

mvp-comment-198-1 Again there is irony in the rejoinder of the chorus. 'Let us understand you clearly. According to you, who delivered the oracle, it was Zeus who was the real author of it; you were but his mouth-piece. So then Zeus tells sons to avenge their fathers and not to care about their mothers at all. Apollo is rather in a fix, and replies that Clytemnestra's crime was greatly aggravated by killing a king and a warrior with every circumstance of treachery and ignominy.

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.

mvp-comment-202-1 ταύτην] This is not rightly used, since in the legal sense it should mean the defendant. Moreover, δὲ is wanting after the μέν. Hence Pauw proposed τοιαύτην δ', Weist, τὴν δ᾽ αὖ τοιαύτην.

mvp-comment-203-1 ὅσπερ] Perhaps ᾧ προστέτακται, since ὅσπερ is not the same as os.

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-244-1 ἀπαρνῆι.

mvp-comment-245-1 ὡς ἀπορῶν τῆς ἀποκρίσεως. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν διάκρισιν τοῦ δικαίως ἢ μὴ ἀνηιρηκέναι τὴν μητέρα, ἐπὶ τὸν συμβουλεύσαντα θεὸν καταφεύγει. τραγικὸν οὖν καὶ πρέπον (Vict. f. τρέπον)· ὁμοειδές τε τὸ (αὐτὸν) πάντα λέγειν.

mvp-comment-246-1 τὸν Ἀρεοπαγιτικόν.

mvp-comment-247-1 ὥστε ἐμοὶ μὲν Ζείς, ἐγὼ δὲ τούτωι προσέταξα. οὐκ ἄνευ Διὸς οὖν τὸ γενόμενον.

mvp-comment-248-1 ἀντὶ τοῦ μάθε ὦ βουλή.

mvp-comment-249-1 κελεύω δὲ ὑμᾶς πεισθῆναι τῆι βουλῆι τοῦ Διός.

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.

mvp-comment-253-1 πυέλωι', τῆι ὡς σορῶι αὐτῶι γενομένηι. παρὰ τὴν δρῦν· ξύλιναι γὰρ αὗται. τῶν λουτρῶν δῆλον ὅτι.

mvp-comment-254-1 παρεσκήνησεν. πρὸς (d. i. τὸ Χ πρὸς, Weckl.) τὴν συναλοιφὴν (-λιφὴν Μ) τῆς περί καὶ τὴν συζυγίαν τοῦ ῥήματος. ἀτραχήλωι.

mvp-comment-255-1 τὴν Κλυταιμήστραν. οἱ δικασταί.

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-336-1 1

mvp-comment-336-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 294

mvp-comment-336-3 ἐντὸς ζώνης: Cho.990

τέκνων ἤνεγχ᾽ ὑπὸ ζώνην βάρος
.

mvp-comment-337-1 2

mvp-comment-337-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-337-3 ἐξηγοῦ κτέ. steht als Erläuterung zu μαρτύρησον. Man darf also nicht mit O. Müller (Eumen. S.162.) aus ἐξηγοῦ schliefsen, dafs der Dichter dem Apollon das Amt eines ἐξηγητής ( τῶν πατρίων, τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ ὁσίων) gegeben habe.

mvp-comment-338-1 3

mvp-comment-338-2 4

mvp-comment-338-3 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-338-4 δοκῶ scil. δρᾶσαι. Vgl. 471. δρᾶσαι τόδ' αἷμα wie Eur. Or. 406

ὁ συνδρῶν αἷμα καὶ μητρὸς φόνον
, 284 εἴργασται δ᾽ ἐμοὶ μητρώον αἷμα, 1139 κακῆς γυναικὸς αἷμ᾽ ἐπράξαμεν.

mvp-comment-339-1 5

mvp-comment-339-2 6

mvp-comment-339-3 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-339-4 λέγω .. δικαίως: aufgefordert zu sagen, ob mit Recht oder Unrecht, erkläre ich: mit Recht. Vgl. Enn. Eum. frg. III Id ego aecum fecisse expedibo atque eloquar. τόνδε .. Θεσμόν: der Rat ist die grofse Stiftung der Göttin. - Als Seher bin ich untrüglich. Vgl. Cho. 557

μάντις ἀψευδὴς τὸ πρίν
. Diese Beteuerung vertritt gleichsam den Zeugeneid.

mvp-comment-340-1 7

mvp-comment-340-2 8

mvp-comment-340-3 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-340-4 Also stammt auch der Bescheid, den ich dem Orestes gegeben habe, von Zeus.

mvp-comment-341-1 9

mvp-comment-341-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-341-3 τὸ δίκαιον τοῦτο, diese Erklärung, dafs es δικαίως geschehen, diese Rechtfertigung. Ζη μαθεῖν gehört auch πιφαύσκω ὄμμε. - Über die Stellung von δέ zu Ag. 744 . Die epische ( Hom. Λ 781 κελεύων ὄμμ᾽ ἅμ᾽ ἕπεσθαι) und lyrische Form vuus findet sich auch Soph. Ant. 846 in einer melischen Partie. Vgl. ἄμμι Sept. 141 .

mvp-comment-342-1 10

mvp-comment-342-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-342-3 Nach dem Gesetz, auf welches ihr beeidigt seid, müfst ihr ihn als Mörder verurteilen; der Umstand aber, dafs er in meinem Auftrag d. h. im Auftrage des Zeus gehandelt hat, nimmt alle moralische Schuld von ihm.

mvp-comment-343-1 11

mvp-comment-343-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 295

mvp-comment-343-3 ὡς λέγεις σύ, wie du sagen willst d. i. wenn ich deine Worte recht verstehe.

mvp-comment-344-1 12

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 13

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 14

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.

mvp-comment-350-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 296

mvp-comment-350-2 περεσκήνωσεν: zu Ag. 1144 . ἀτέρμονι wie Ag. 1381

ἄπειρον ἀμφίβληστρον
.

mvp-comment-351-1 15

mvp-comment-351-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 296

mvp-comment-351-3 δηχθῇ: Hom. E 493 ὣς φάτο Σαρπηδών, δάκε δὲ φρένας Ἕκτορι μύθος, Soph. Phil. 1358

οὐ γάρ με τἄλγος τῶν παρελθόντων δάκνει
u. ϋ.

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

ὥσπερ ἐστίν , i. e. as done it is.

θεσμόν , ordinance, means here (as in l. 484

) the court of Areiopagos; and so the Scholiast explains it. It is therefore in apposition to ὑμᾶς.

μή . generic, with the indef. opt. κελεύσαι: nothing which Zeus bade not, nothing save what Zeus bade.

πιφαύσκω , I bid : nearly all the words of speaking can be so used, λέγω, εἶπον, etc. The displacement of the δέ is common.

ὔμμε , Aeolic form of ὑμᾶς found several times in Homer. So

ἄμμι (ἡμῖν)
Theb. 156 ,
ὔμμε
Antig. 846 , both however in lyric passages.

mvp-sidgwick-284-3-1 [There is no need of alterations, as Hartung thinks.]

mvp-sidgwick-285-1-1 i.e. follow Zeus' will [even if you think it unjust]: for no oath [such as you swore, l. 489

, to do justice] is stronger than Zeus.

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.

ταύτην , Klytaimnestra.