Aeschylus Eumenides 299

Robert Potter (Translator)

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No: not Apollo, nor Minerva's pow'r
Shall ſet thee free, but that an abject outcaſt
Thou drag thy ſteps, ſeeking in vain to find
Reſt to thy joyleſs ſoul, exhausted, worn,
A lifeleſs ſhadow.
335
Yet thy pride replies not,
Me, and my threats deſpiſing, tho' to me
Devoted, my rich victim, and alive
To feed my rage, not offer'd on the altar.

Eumenides. Aeschylus. Robert Potter (Translator). London. 1779.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

The Furies (OCR draft) (English) (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

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.) — 299-396 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 299 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 299 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 299 focus
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 299 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 299 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 299 focus
οὔτοι σ᾽ Ἀπόλλων οὐδ᾽ Ἀθηναίας σθένος
ῥύσαιτ᾽ ἂν ὥστε μὴ οὐ παρημελημένον
300
ἔρρειν, τὸ χαίρειν μὴ μαθόνθ᾽ ὅπου φρενῶν,
ἀναίματον βόσκημα δαιμόνων σκιά·
οὐδ᾽ ἀντιφωνεῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποπτύεις λόγους,
ἐμοί τραφείς τε καὶ καθιερωμένος;
καὶ ζῶν με δαίσεις οὐδὲ πρὸς βωμῷ σφαγείς·
305
ὕμνον δ᾽ ἀκούσῃ τόνδε δέσμιον σέθεν.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 299 focus
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 299 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 299 focus
οὔτοι σ᾽ ᾿Απόλλων οὐδ᾽ ᾿Αθηναίας σθένος
ῥύσαιτ᾽ ἂν, ὥστε μὴ οὐ παρημελημένον
290
ἔρρειν, τὸ χαίρειν μὴ μαθόνθ᾽ ὅπου φρενών,
ἀναίματον βόσκημα δαιμόνων, σκιάν.
οὐδ᾽ ἀντιφωνεῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποπτύεις λόγους,
ἐμοὶ τραφείς τε καὶ καθιερωμένος;
καὶ ζῶν με δαίσεις, οὐδὲ πρὸς βωμῷ σφαγείς·
295
ὕμνον δ᾽ ἀκούσει τόνδε δέσμιον σέθεν.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 299 focus
οὔτις σ᾽ Ἀπόλλων οὐδ᾽ Ἀθηναίας σθένος
ῥύσαιτ᾽ ἄν, ὥστε μὴ οὐ παρημελημένον
300
ἔρρειν, τὸ χαίρειν μὴ μαθόνθ᾽ ὅπου φρενῶν,
ἀναιμάτωι βόσκημα δαιμόνων σκιᾶι.
σὺ δ᾽ ἀντιφωνεῖς; ἀλλ᾽ ἀποπτύσηι λόγους
ἐμοὶ τραφείς τε καὶ καθιερωμένος,
καὶ ζῶν με δαίσεις οὐδὲ πρὸς βωμῶι σφαγείς·
305
ὕμνον δ᾽ ἀκούσηι τόνδε δέσμιον σέθεν.
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.)) — 299-395 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 299 focus
By no means shall Apollo, or the might of Minerva set you free, so as not to perish neglected, not having learnt where in your mind to rejoice, the bloodless food of demons, a shadow. Dost thou not reply, but dost thou disdain my words, thou who art both nourished for, and devoted to me 2
. And alive you shall feed me, not slain at the altar, and you shall hear this hymn that charms you.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 299 focus
enfin!
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 299 focus
Apollo non potrà, non la possanza
potrà d'Atena farti salvo.
Andrai
330
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 299 focus
Ne te Apollo neq; Minerue robur
Liberet, ut neglectus
Euaneſcas, gaudium nesciens mentis.
Sine ſanguine cibus dæmonum tenebræ,
295
Neq; contrà clames, ſed expuas uerba,
Mihi conuerſus, & conſecratus.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 299 focus
Nicht soll Apollon noch Athenas starke Hand
300 dich retten. Weichen werden sie von dir. Du musst
hinunter, wo der Seele jedes Lustgefühl
abstirbt, der Leib zum Schatten ausgemergelt wird:
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.) — 299 focus
Thee not Apollo nor Athena's strength
Can save from perishing, a castaway
350
Amid the Lost, where no delight shall meet
Thy soul—a bloodless prey of nether powers,
A shadow among shadows. Answerest thou
Nothing? dost cast away my words with scorn,
Thou, prey prepared and dedicate to me?
355
Not as a victim slain upon the shrine,
But living shalt thou see thy flesh my food.
Hear now the binding chant that makes thee mine.
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.) — 299 focus
Nicht soll Apollon, nicht Athene's hohe Macht
Dir Schuß gewähren, daß du nicht verlassen einst
Hinfährst, vergessend, wo im Herzen Freude wohnt,
290
Blutleer, von Göttern aufgezehrt, ein Schattenbild! -
Nichts widersprichst du, dir erstirbt das Wort im Mund,
Du mir genährtes, mir geweihtes Opferthier?
Du labst mich lebend, nicht am Herd geschlachtet erst.
Nun höre meinen Reigen, der dich bannen soll!
295
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.)

329-332. αὐονά is also found (Simon. Iamb. vii. 20) in the sense of cry, [from root αϝ, shout] and it may be so taken here by joining it with

329-332. ἀφόρμικτος , a cry unmusical to men: but the other sense from

329-332. αὐαίνω , to wither or waste, is more forcible, and so the Schol. Med. takes it: ὁ ξηραίνων τοὺς βροτούς.

334. διανταία , piercing, deadly, a favourite word of Aeschylus, usually of wounding: δ. πεπλαγμένους [πλαγάν] Theb. 894, δ. βέλει Cho. 184, and again δ. οὐτῷ ib. 640.

336-340. ξυμπέσωσιν is suspected by some edd.: why, they ask, should Furies pursue those whom murder falls in with, i. e. who are accidentally guilty of murder?

336-340. ξυμπέσωσι , befall, for a deliberate murder, we have μάταιοι (lit. vain, foolish,) for wicked: ὁμαρτεῖν (lit. to attend on), for the relentless pursuit of the Furies: οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος meaning he is never quit of us.

336-340. τοῖσιν for relative, so, e. g. Ag. 526, 642, Cho. 604, Eum. 918, Theb. 519, etc.: (2)

336-340. ξυμπέσωσιν , indef. subj. with no ἄν attached to the relative,-both common survivals in tragedy : and (3)

336-340. ὄφρα ἄν for until.

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-238-1 Ἐρινύων: ἐρινύων Μ. G. Ald. Rob. ἐριννύων Ven. Flor. Turn.

mvp-comment-239-1 αὐονὰ βροτοῖς: αὐονὰ βροτοῖς M. G. Par. Ald. Rob. Turn. αὔονα βροτοῖς Ven. Flor. Farn. Scholion in M. nullo praefixo lemmate, ὁ ξηραίνων τοὺς βροτούς. Hinc Victorius αὔων βροτούς. Εtym. Μ. p. 170. 45. αυόνη, ή ξηρότης, παρὰ τὸ αὔω, τὸ ξηραίνω, αυόνη, ὡς ἔχω ἐχόνη καὶ ἀμπεχόνη, καὶ πείρω περόνη, καὶ βάλλω βελόνη. Idem p. 171, 52. αὐόνη, λύπη, κραυγή, αυχμός, φθορά, κακοπάθεια, ξηρασία. Strepitum hoc vocabulum significat apud Simonidem in carmine de mulieribus v. 20. ἀλλ' ἐμπεδῶς ἄπρηκτον αὐονὴν ἔχει. Eam significationem si hic admittimus, ἀφάρμακτος αὐονὰ βροτοῖς hymnus dicetur dissonus clamor mortalibus. Sed illa significatio lonica esse videtur, ut apud Atticum poetam alteri posthaberi debeat. Et multo gravius ὕμνος ἀφόρμικτος dicitur esse tabes mortalibus.

mvp-comment-240-1 ἐμπέδως ἔχειν, θνατῶν: ἐκπέδως ἔχειν Ald. Deinde libri θανάτων. Emendavit Canterus.

mvp-comment-241-1 αὐτουργίαι: αυτουργία Turnebus. αὐτουργίαις M. G. Ven. Flor. Farn. Ald. Rob.

mvp-comment-242-1 ξυμπέσωσιν: ξυμπέσωσιν Τurnebus, ξύμπασωσιν Μ. ξύμπας ὦσιν G. Ven. Ald. ξύμπας ὦσι Flor. σύμπας ὦσιν Farn. ξύμπασωσεν Rob. In Farn. ad haec verba ἔχειν θανάτων τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαις | σύμπας ὦσιν μάταιοι, adscriptum est περισσὰ β'.

mvp-comment-243-1 τοῖς: τοῖσιν Ven. Flor. Farn.

mvp-comment-244-1 ὑπέλθῃ: ὑπέλθοι Ven. Flor. Farn. ὑπέλθη ut ceteri Ald.

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

mvp-comment-111-1 διανταία] All-pervading destiny has allotted to us this office to hold for all time, that whenever mortal men are implicated in murders of relations without due cause, these we should pursue till (the fugitive) reaches the world below; and even when dead he is not by any means free.' See sup. 167. Properly, a person would be said ξυμπίπτειν φόνῳ, τύχῃ, &c. but here, by a slight inversion, φόνος ξυμπίπτει τινι. The passage appears sound, and gives a good sense.

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-130-1 ὁ δεσμεύων αὐτοῦ τὰς φρένας.

mvp-comment-131-1 ὁ ξηραίνων τοὺς βροτούς.

mvp-comment-132-1 ἡ διαμπὰξ τιμωρουμένη.

mvp-comment-133-1 αὐτοφονίαις.

mvp-comment-134-1 τούτοις ἡμᾶς ἀκολουθεῖν, ἕως ἀποθάνηι ὁ τοιοῦτος.

mvp-comment-146-1 τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαις ξύμπασ ωσιν (ὦσι f): ξυμπέσωσιν Turn., ders. αὐτουργίαι (τοὶ σὺν -ίαις Meineke Weil mit verschiedener Fortsetzung).

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-191-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 276

mvp-comment-191-2 erstes Stasimon, welches besonders in den Ephymnien den Charakter des ὕμνος δέσμιος hat. ,, Apollon beraubt uns unseres Rechtes, indem er uns diesen Flüchtling entzieht, der uns zur Sühne des Muttermords zukommt und dem unser grauser Gesang gilt. Denn SO hat das Schicksal bestimmt, dafs wir die Mörder verfolgen und peinigen. Drum weil Umsturz von Häusern unser Los ist, haben die Götter des Lichts keine Gemeinschaft mit uns und Feste der Freude sind uns versagt. Dafür sind die Götter dieser traurigen Sorge überhoben und brauchen sich nicht mit Blutbefleckten zu befassen. Wir verfolgen den Mörder und stürzen ihn von der Höhe seines Ruhms. Er wird, ohne dessen in seiner Geistesnacht inne zu werden, von der Stimme des Volkes verurteilt und allgemeine Mifsachtung umnachtet sein Haus (vgl. Cho. 53 ff. , Ag. 463 ff. ). So steht es fest: Geniessen wir auch nicht die Ehre, den oberen Göttern gesellt zu sein, so haben doch die Sterblichen die vom Schicksal gegebene Satzung, auf der unser altheiliges Amt beruht, zu fürchten und zu verehren." Wenn man aus den drei Ephymnien schliefsen darf, wird jedes der drei ersten Strophenpaare von einem Stoichos, die Ephymnien und das vierte Strophenpaar von dem Gesamtchore vorgetragen.

mvp-comment-198-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 277

mvp-comment-198-2 ἀφορμικτος (duldet nicht der Leier Klang"): zu_Ag. 980. αὐονά (Ausdörrung): Schol. ὁ ξηραίνων τοὺς βροτούς. Vgl. 138, 267.

mvp-comment-199-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 277

mvp-comment-199-2 διανταία, Schol. ἡ διαμπαξ τιμωρουμένη. Es bedeutet durchdringend" d. h.,,unnachgiebig, unwiderstehlich".

mvp-comment-199-3 1

mvp-comment-200-1 2

mvp-comment-200-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 277

mvp-comment-200-3 θνατῶν ist gen. part. zu τοῖσιν (οἷσιν): „Von den Sterblichen denjenigen, welchen es zustöfst, verwegen Hand an einen anderen anzulegen." τοΐσιν ξυμπέσωσιν ohne άv: zu 211. αὐτουργίαι wie αὐτοχειρίαι. μάταιοι gen. comm. wie Ag. 1149 , Cho. 81 . Die Bedeutung (frivol) wie Suppl. 770

ματαίων ἀνοσίων τε κνωδάλων
, 235 ματαίων αἰτίας.

mvp-comment-201-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 277

mvp-comment-201-2 τοῖς (zu 137) κτἑ.: Schol. τούτοις ἡμᾶς ἀκολουθεῖν, ἕως ἀποθάνῃ ὁ τοιοῦτος. So jagen wir ihn . . fort und fort bis zu den Schatten und geben ihn auch dort nicht frei." Zu 175 f. In anderem Sinne heifst es Hom. Ο 204 οἶσθ᾽ ὡς πρεσβυτέροισιν ἐρινύες αν ἕπονται. Über den Singular nach dem Plural zu 316.

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

αὐονά is also found (Simon. Iamb. vii. 20) in the sense of cry, [from root αϝ, shout] and it may be so taken here by joining it with

ἀφόρμικτος , a cry unmusical to men: but the other sense from

αὐαίνω , to wither or waste, is more forcible, and so the Schol. Med. takes it: ὁ ξηραίνων τοὺς βροτούς.

διανταία , piercing, deadly, a favourite word of Aeschylus, usually of wounding:

δ. πεπλαγμένους [πλαγάν]
Theb. 894 ,
δ. βέλει
Cho. 184 , and again
δ. οὐτῷ
ib. 640 .

mvp-sidgwick-166-2-1 This is far more Aeschylean and forcible than the common rendering all pervading (Lin. Pal. Hart. Mors. etc., following Schol.).

mvp-sidgwick-167-1-1 Taking the old corrections of the corrupt text, which are much the simplest and best, we get a good sense:

To those mortals who light upon sinful deeds of blood,
To cling to them, until
He [the guilty man] pass beneath the earth:
And [even] in death he is not over-free.

ξυμπέσωσιν is suspected by some edd.: why, they ask, should Furies pursue those whom murder falls in with, i. e. who are accidentally guilty of murder?

ξυμπέσωσι , befall, for a deliberate murder, we have μάταιοι (lit. vain, foolish,) for wicked: ὁμαρτεῖν (lit. to attend on), for the relentless pursuit of the Furies: οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος meaning he is never quit of us.

τοῖσιν for relative, so, e. g. Ag. 526, 642 , Cho. 604 , Eum. 918, Theb. 519 , etc.: (2)

ξυμπέσωσιν , indef. subj. with no ἄν attached to the relative,-both common survivals in tragedy : and (3)

ὄφρα ἄν for until.