Aeschylus Eumenides 490

Robert Potter (Translator)

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Confuſion on theſe upſtart laws!
Havoc with haughty ſtride
Shall march, and wave her banner wide,
550
If venial be this bloody caitiff's cauſe.
Impunity ſhall mortals lead
To ev'ry ſavage deed,
And prompt the ſon with rage unbleſt
To plant the dagger in the parents' breaſt.
555

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.) — 490-565 focus
Εὐμενίδες Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.) — 490-565 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 490 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 490 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 490 focus
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 490 focus
Νῦν καταστροφαὶ νέων
490
θεσμίων, εἰ κρατή-
σει δίκα (τε) καὶ βλάβα
τοῦδε μητροκτόνου·
πάντας ἤδη τόδ' ἔργον εὐχερείᾳ εὐχερίαι εὐχαρίᾳ
συναρμόσει βροτούς,
495
πολλὰ δ' ἔτυμα παιδότρωτα
πάθεα προσμένει τοκεῦ-
σιν μεταῦθις ἐν χρόνῳ.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 490 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 490 focus
νῦν καταστροφαὶ νέων
θεσμίων, εἰ κρατή-
σει δίκα τε καὶ βλάβα
495
τοῦδε μητροκτόνου.
πάντας ἤδη τόδ᾽ ἔργον εὐχερεί-
ᾳ συναρμόσει βροτούς,
πολλὰ δ᾽ ἔτυμα παιδότρωτα
πάθεα προσμένει τοκεῦ-
500
σιν μεταὖθις ἐν χρόνῳ.
1
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 490 focus
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 490 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 490 focus
νῦν καταστροφαὶ νέων
θεσμίων, εἰ κρατήσει δίκα τε καὶ βλάβα
τοῦδε μητροκτόνου.
470
πάντας ἤδη τόδ᾽ ἔργον εὐχερείᾳ ξυναρμόσει βροτούς.
πολλὰ δ᾽ ἔτυμα παιδότρωτα
πάθεα προσμένει τοκεῦσιν μεταῦθις ἐν χρόνῳ.
475
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 490 focus
νῦν μεταστροφαὶ νέων
490
θεσμίων, ἢ κρατήσει δίκα (τε) καὶ βλάβα
τοῦδε ματροκτόνου.
πάντας ἤδη τόδ᾽ ἔργον εὐχερείᾶι συναρμόσει
στρ. α
βροτούς.
495
πολλὰ δ᾽ ἔτυμα παιδότρωτα
πάθεα προσμένει τοκεῦσιν μεταῦθις ἐν χρόνωι.
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.)) — 490-565 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 490 focus
Now [will] there be a revolution of 6
new laws, if the cause and guilt of this matricide shall prevail. This deed now by its facility 7
will prompt all mortals to [the same] and many certain sufferings from wounds inflicted by children, await parents in time hereafter.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 490 focus
Ce jour verra donc l'avènement de lois nouvelles, si la cause — le crime de ce parricide doit ici triompher! A tous les mortels un si bel exploit va donner
désormais le ton des licences permises. Mille bonnes blessures, taillées dans leur chair par leurs propres fils, voilà le lot réservé aux parents dans l'avenir qui vient!
Et cela,
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 490 focus
Leggi novelle sconvolgeranno
535
la terra tutta, se questo scempio, se questa causa
del matricida trionferà.
Per tal sentenza, la man degli uomini
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 490 focus
Nunc euerſiones nouarum legum, ſi
Tenuerit iuſticia, uel detrimentum huius parricidæ
Omnes iam opus opportunitate conſociabit mortales.
Multæ uerò peſses adhærebunt uerè puerorum leſiones
475
Parentibus, poſtea in tempore rurſum ſpeculatorum
Menadum horum aſserpet ira mortalium.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 490 focus
Neues Recht bricht herein,
wenn die Sache, wenn die Sünde
dieses Muttermörders siegt.
Kommt's dazu, mögen alle Menschen
495 sonder Scheu losen Leichtsinn üben.
Und den Eltern bringt die Zukunft
manchen Schlag des schwersten Schmerzes:
denn ihn schlägt des Sohnes Hand.
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.) — 490 focus
Now are they all undone, the ancient laws,
If here the slayer's cause
Prevail; new wrong for ancient right shall be,
If matricide go free.
Henceforth a deed like his by all shall stand,
580
Too ready to the hand:
Too oft shall parents in the aftertime
Rue and lament this crime,—
Taught, not in false imagining, to feel
Their children's thrusting steel:
585
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.) — 490 focus
Neues bricht herein und stürzt
Altes um, wenn die Schuld,
Wenn des Muttermordes Gräul
Im Gericht siegen soll.
Solch ein Sieg lockt die Menschen überall
470
Leicht heraus zu gleicher That!
Blutig droht von Kindeshänden
Mancher Stoß der Aelternbrust
Einst im langen Lauf der Zeit.
Erste Gegenstrophe.
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.)

529. παντὶ μέσῳ , ever to the mean god gives success: a common Greek maxim: so Ag. 378 ἔστω δ᾽ ἀπήμαντον ὥστ᾽ ἀπαρκεῖν, ib. 466 τὸ δ᾽ ὑπερκόπως εὖ κλύειν βαρὺ κρίνω δ᾽ ἄφθονον ὄλβον, etc., the idea being that excess was dangerous: so Eur. Fr. 80 τὰ μείζω τῶν μέσων τίκτει νόσους.

551. οὐκ ἄνολβος ἔσται , understatement such as is natural and common in Greek, shall not fail to prosper. 11. 553, 4. If the reading is right, the acc. τὰ πολλὰ παντόφυρτ᾽ is governed by the verbal idea in παραιβάταν: The man who dares to resist and commits all manner of transgressions, swerving from Right: such accusatives after verbals are rather in the manner of Aeschylus : θυμοβόρου φρένα Ag. 103, πολλὰ συνίστορα ib. 1090, ἄπορα πόριμος Prom. 904, χοὰς προπομπός Cho. 23, ἀπότροπον ἄγος ib. 155. (So Schol.) Of the corrections proposed Pauw's is the best ... παντόφυρτ᾽ ἄγοντ᾽ ἄνευ (reading παρβάταν for καὶ παραιβάταν), bringing much confusion : but though the grammar is smoother, the sense is weaker.

555. βιαίως , perforce, i. e. the storm shall compel him. καθήσειν, shall lower sail, i. e. shall be made humble and submissive; so ὑφέσθαι is used Ar. Ran. 1220 ὑφέσθαι μοι δοκεῖ, Soph. Εl. 335 πλεῖν ὑφειμένῃ δοκεῖ. [It is far better to make καθήσειν absolute, and make λαῖφος governed by λάβῃ, than with H. to write καθήσειν λαῖφος, ὅταν λάβῃ, κ.τ.λ. The metaphor is then more gradually and naturally introduced: the rhythm is more effective: and also the Schol. clearly takes καθήσειν by itself, for he explains it ταπεινωθήσεται. Such curtailments are common in technical expressions, e. g. in English, luff , put about, lower away.]

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

mvp-comment-378-1 δωμάτων ἐπιστροφὰς:

δώματαν ἐπιστροφὰς
G.
δώματ' ἀνεπιστροφὰς
Ald. Ceteri
δωμάτων ἐπιστροφάς
, quorum verborum ordinem mutaverat Heathius. V. ad v. 527.

mvp-comment-379-1 αἰδόμενός τις ἔστω:

αιδούμενός τις ἔστω
Ven.

mvp-comment-380-1 ἑκὼν δ᾽ ἀνάγκας ἄτερ: Libri

ἐκ τῶνδ᾽ ἀνάγκας ἄτερ
. Recipienda erat Wieseleri emendatio,
ἑκὼν δ᾽ ἀνάγκας ἄτερ
.

mvp-comment-381-1 ὢν: omittit Farn.

mvp-comment-382-1 πανώλεθρος δ᾽:

πανόλεθρος
Ald. Rob. Post
πανώλεθρος
Pauwius
δ'
inseruit.

mvp-comment-383-1 παραβάταν:

φαμὶ περαιβάδων
M. G. Ald. Rob. In G. tamen prius
παραιβάδαν
scriptum fuerat.
φαμὶ περβάδαν
Ven. Farn.
φαμὶ παρβάδαν
Flor.
φαμὶ παραβάταν
Turn.
φαμε παραιβάδαν
Victorius. Scholiastes adscripsit παραβεβηκότα. Olim
φαμὶ παρβάταν
scripseram. Nunc melius visum est quod in Opusc. VI. 2. p. 84. proposui,
τὸν ἀντίτολμον δέ φαμι καὶ παραιβάταν
.

mvp-comment-384-1 τὰ πολλὰ παντόφυρτ᾽ ἄνευ δίκας:

τὰ πολλὰ παντόφυρτ᾽ ἄνευ δίκης
M. Rob. et sic Ven. Flor. nisi quod
δίκας
habent.
ἄνευ τινος
pro
ἄνευ
Farn.
τὰ πολλὰ παντόφυρτον ἄνευ δίκης
G. Ald. Turn. sed in G. scriptum prius fuerat
δίκας
. Pauwio scribendum videbatur
τὰ πολλὰ παντόφυρτ᾽ ἄγοντ᾽ ἄνευ δίκης
. Hoc si probandum esset, in antistrophico versu 551. scribi posset
λαπαδνόν, οὐδὲ κῦμ᾽ ὑπερθέοντ᾽ ἄκρον
. Sed non opus est ut
άγοντ'
addatur.
Τὸν ἀντίτολμον καὶ παραιβάταν τὰ πολλὰ παντόφυρτ᾽ ἄνευ δίκας
idem est ac si dixisset
τὸν οὕτω πολλὰ τολμήσαντα
.

mvp-comment-385-1 βιαίως:

βιαίῳ
vitium Ald. Turn. Cohaerent
καθήσειν λαίφος
. Male post
καθήσειν
interpungebatur.

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

mvp-comment-172-1 αἰδόμενος] This may stand alone as the predicate, for αἰδήμων, ‘let him show respect by honouring parents and guest,' or we may construe let him honour parents and show a due regard to hospitality, lit. 'to the guesthonouring management of his house. Compare δωμάτων ἐπιστροφὰς in Theb. 645 .

mvp-comment-173-1 ἐκών] The doctrine of voluntary justice, i.e. acting from a sense of right and not merely through fear of punishment, a very advanced principle of morality, was enunciated by Simonides quoted by Plato, Protag. p. 345 D . See also Resp. 11. p. 360 c

οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν δίκαιος ἀλλ᾽ ἀναγκαζόμενος.
Such a man, says the poet, will not be unblessed; wholly ruined he never can be, though he may meet with some reverses in life. We should read with real interest such expressions of faith in the reward of virtue; the doctrine is alike profound and sublime. He goes on to say that the sinner who recklessly confuses right with wrong will suffer a shipwreck in the end, and the gods will not bear him in his distress.

mvp-comment-174-1 τὸν ἀντίτολμον] Schol.

τὸν τὰ ἐναντία τοῖς εἰρημένοις τολμῶντα.
Cf. Ag. 366
ἀτολμήτως ἄρη πνεόντων.
 Here, perhaps, the adversary of justice is described. In the next verse ἄγοντα is added on the conjecture of Pauw. Construe βιαίως ἄγοντα, a metaphor, perhaps, from the forcible abduction of slaves or captives.

mvp-comment-175-1 καθήσειν] He will take down his sail when it is too late, and when the yard-arm is being broken by the gale.

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-215-1 ὁ χωρὶς ἀνάγκης δίκαιος ὤν.

mvp-comment-216-1 τὸν τὰ ἐναντία τοῖς εἰρημένοις τολμῶντα. ἀντὶ τοῦ) τὸν ἄδικον. παραβεβηκότα.

mvp-comment-217-1 πάντοθεν συνηγμένα.

mvp-comment-218-1 ἀπὸ τῶν χειμαζομένων, τροπικῶς. ἀντὶ τοῦ ταπεινωθήσεται.

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-277-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 287

mvp-comment-277-2 zweites Stasimon: Der Umsturz der alten Satzungen durch den Sieg des Muttermörders müfste schreckliche Zügellosigkeit und sittliche Verwilderung zur Folge haben, da man für Mord und blu- tige Mifshandlungen keinen Rächer mehr zu fürchten hätte. Furcht mufs herrschen; ohne Furcht kann kein Recht bestehen. Keine Gewaltherrschaft, aber auch keine Gesetzlosigkeit! Das Richtige liegt in der Mitte. Diese rechte Mitte hängt zusammen mit Gesundheit des Geistes, während Gottlosigkeit des Sinnes Übermut und damit Zuchtlosigkeit oder Gewaltherrschaft erzeugt ( ὕβρις φυτεύει τύραννον Soph. Oed. T.873 ). Drum übe man Recht, ehre die Eltern und achte das Gastrecht. Wem diese Rechtlichkeit aus innerer Überzeugung hervorgeht, der wird nicht unbeglückt sein; jedenfalls wird er nie ganz zu Grunde gehen. Für den Frevler aber wird über kurz oder lang die Stunde der Demütigung kommen; dann wird niemand sein Flehen erhören; die Gottheit wird sich vielmehr seines Untergangs freuen und sein früherer Glanz wird für alle Zeit verschollen und vergessen sein.

mvp-comment-301-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 290

mvp-comment-301-2 ξενοτίμους proleptisch wie Soph. El. 242 γονέων ἐκτίμους ἴσχουσα πτέρυγας ὀξυτόνων γόων: man achte den Aufenthalt Fremder im Hause, indem man sie ehrt.

mvp-comment-301-3 1

mvp-comment-302-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 290

mvp-comment-302-2 Die Form αιδόμενος auch Suppl. 367 . τις wiederholt wie Suppl. 58

εἰ δὲ κυρεῖ τις .. δοξάσει τις ἀκούειν. ἔστω
: zu Cho. 136 .

mvp-comment-303-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 291

mvp-comment-303-2 ἀνάγκας ἄτερ verstärkt ἑκών wie in den Wendungen κατ' αἶσαν οὐδ᾽ ὑπὲρ αἶσαν, ἑκόντα κοὐκ ἄκοντα, βίᾳ τε κοὐχ ἑκών, πρὸς χάριν τε κου βίᾳ, γνῶτα κοὐκ ἄγνωτα, πολλάκις τε κοὐχ ἅπαξ, πάλαι κοὐ νεωστί, βαιοῦ κοὐχὶ μυρίου χρόνου u. a. Der Dichter schliefst damit die Scheinheiligkeit aus. Hor. epist. I 16 oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore.

mvp-comment-304-1 2

mvp-comment-304-2 Wecklein 1888, p. 291

mvp-comment-304-3 τὸν ἀντίτολμον, τὸν τὰ ἐναν τία τοῖς εἰρημένοις τολμῶντα. Im Folgenden ist an die Stelle des eigentlichen Ausdrucks ohne weiteres das Gleichnis gesetzt und deshalb auch das gesetzlose Handeln des Frevlers mit dem vom Schiffer entlehnten Ausdruck ἄγοντα πολλὰ παντόφυρτα wie nachher (567) der Grund des Untergangs mit ἕρμα δίκης bezeichnet: ,,von dem, der gegen diese Gebote (542 ff.) frevelt, behaupte ich, dafs er ein Schiffer, der vieles mit sich führt, was er widerrechtlich von allen Seiten zusammengerafft hat, mit der Zeit gezwungen die Segel streichen wird, wenn Sturmesnot erfafst die zerschellenden Segelstangen" d. h. ,,der Frevler, der rücksichtslos seine Begierde befriedigt, wird schon noch einmal durch Not gedemütigt werden." βαρίβαν: Bekk. Anekd. p. 84, 10 Σοφοκλῆς ἐν Ποιμέσι βαρίβαν λέγει τὸν ναύτην. Βάρις (Schiff) kommt öfters in den Persern und Schutzfl. vor. Nach Herod. II 96 ist das Wort ägyptisch, vgl. Eur. Iph. A. 249 βαρβάρους βάριδας.

mvp-comment-305-1 Wecklein 1888, p. 291

mvp-comment-305-2 παντόφυρτα: Schol. πάντοθεν συνηγμένα. Diese Bedeutung erfordert jedenfalls der Sinn; wahrscheinlich ist deshalb, wie Meineke vermutet, παντόσυρτα zu schreiben. Vgl. Eur. frg. 423

κτᾶσθε πλοῦτον πάντοθεν θηρώμενοι σύμμικτα μὴ δίκαια καὶ δίκαι᾽ ὁμοῦ. καθή σειν,
die Segel einziehen und ins Schiff legen, vgl. Hom. ι 72 ἱστία δέ σφιν τριχθά τε καὶ τετραχθὰ διέσχισε ὃς ἀνέμοιο. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐς νῆας κάθεμεν δείσαντες ὄλεθρον. Schol. ἀντὶ τοῦ ταπεινωθήσεται. Durch θραυομένας wird πόνος näher bestimmt.

mvp-comment-305-3 3

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

οὐκ ἄνολβος ἔσται , understatement such as is natural and common in Greek, shall not fail to prosper. ll. 553-554

. If the reading is right, the acc. τὰ πολλὰ παντόφυρτ᾽ is governed by the verbal idea in παραιβάταν: The man who dares to resist and commits all manner of transgressions, swerving from Right: such accusatives after verbals are rather in the manner of Aeschylus :
θυμοβόρου φρένα
Ag. 103 ,
πολλὰ συνίστορα
ib. 1090 ,
ἄπορα πόριμος
Prom. 904 ,
χοὰς προπομπός
Cho. 23 ,
ἀπότροπον ἄγος
ib. 155 . (So Schol.) Of the corrections proposed Pauw's is the best ... παντόφυρτ᾽ ἄγοντ᾽ ἄνευ (reading παρβάταν for καὶ παραιβάταν), bringing much confusion : but though the grammar is smoother, the sense is weaker.

βιαίως , perforce, i. e. the storm shall compel him. καθήσειν, shall lower sail, i. e. shall be made humble and submissive; so ὑφέσθαι is used Ar. Ran. 1220 ὑφέσθαι μοι δοκεῖ, Soph. Εl. 335 πλεῖν ὑφειμένῃ δοκεῖ. [It is far better to make καθήσειν absolute, and make λαῖφος governed by λάβῃ, than with H. to write καθήσειν λαῖφος, ὅταν λάβῃ, κ.τ.λ. The metaphor is then more gradually and naturally introduced: the rhythm is more effective: and also the Schol. clearly takes καθήσειν by itself, for he explains it ταπεινωθήσεται. Such curtailments are common in technical expressions, e. g. in English, luff, put about, lower away.]