Aeschylus Eumenides 334

Anna Swanwick (Translator)

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Men's homes to destroy is the Furies' employ.
When Ares in strife
Robs a brother of life,
†Relentless, the blood-dripping caitiff we chase ;-
Though girded with strength, he must falter at length,
And falls, overpowered in the race.
ANTISTROPHE II.
No partner brook wé in our time-honoured cares,
340

Eumenides. Aeschylus. Anna Swanwick (Translator). London. 1886.

Sponsored by University of Leipzig.

Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.

Current edition Experimental

Eumenides (OCR draft) (English) (Eumenides. Anna Swanwick, 1886.)

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.) — 334 focus
Εὐμενίδες (1518 edition; OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 1518 edition. VLM-assisted OCR with native lineation and automated correspondence to the Smyth edition.) — 334 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 334 focus
τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διανταία
Μοῖρ᾽ ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν,
335
θνατῶν τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαι ξυμπέσωσιν μάταιοι,
τοῖς ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν γᾶν ὑπέλθῃ· θανὼν δ᾽
οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος.
340
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 334 focus
τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διανταία
Μοῖρ᾽ ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν, θνατῶν
τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαι
ξυμπέσωσιν μάταιοι,
335
τοῖς ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν
γᾶν ὑπέλθῃ· θανὼν δ᾽
οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος.
ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΥΜΕΝΙΔΕΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 334 focus
Τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διανταία
Μοῖρ' ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν,
335
θνατῶν θανάτων τοὶ σὺν τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαις
ξυμπέσωσιν ξύμπασ ωσιν ξυμ- (sine acc.) ὦσιν μάταιοι,
τοῖς ἁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν
γἂν ὑπέλθῃ -θη -θοι· θανὼν δ'
οὐκ ἄγαν ἄγαν γ' ἐλεύθερος.
340
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Arthur Sidgwick, 1887.) — 334 focus
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 334 focus
τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διανταία
335
Μοῖρ᾽ ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν,
θνατῶν τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαις
ξύμπασ᾽ ὦσιν μάταιοι,
τοῖς ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν
γᾶν ὑπέλθῃ· θανὼν δ᾽
340
οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Εὐμενίδες. Martin L. West, 1990.) — 334 focus
τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διαν-
ταία Μοῖρ᾽ ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν· θνατῶν
335
τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαι ξυμπαγῶσιν μάταιοι,
τοῖς ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ’ ἂν γᾶν ὑπέλθηι· θανὼν δ’
οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος.
340
Aeschyli Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Eumenides. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 334 focus
τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διαν-
ταία Μοῖρ᾽ ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν,
335
θνατῶν τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαι
ξύμπεσωσιν μάταιοι,
τοῖς ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν
γᾶν ὑπέλθηι· θανὼν
δ᾽ οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος.
340
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by F. A. Paley, 1885.) — 334 focus
τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διανταία
320
μοῖρ᾽ ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν,
θνατῶν τοῖσιν αὐτουργίαι ξυμπέσωσιν μάταιοι,
τοῖς ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν
γἂν ὑπέλθῃ· θανὼν δ᾽ οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος.
Εὐμενίδες (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek text of Aeschylus' Eumenides, edited by Friedrich Blass, 1907.) — 334 focus
τοῦτο γὰρ λάχος διανταία
ἀντ. α
Μοῖρ᾽ ἐπέκλωσεν ἐμπέδως ἔχειν, θνατῶν
335
τοὶ σὺν αὐτουργίαις ξυμπέσωσιν μάταιοι,
τοῖς ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν γᾶν ὑπέλθηι· θανὼν δ᾽ οὐκ
ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος.
340
Translations (10)
Eumenides Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 334 focus
The Eumenides (OCR draft) Experimental (The Eumenides. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 334 focus
For prevailing fate has destined to us firmly to hold this office, to pursue those of mortals by whom wicked murders are committed, until [the murderer] hath gone below the earth; and when dead he is not quite free.
LES EUMÉNIDES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES EUMÉNIDES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 334 focus
Le lot que pour jamais m'a filé la Parque inflexible, c'est
de faire escorte au mortel qu'une fureur a jeté dans les voies du meurtre, jusqu'à ce qu'il descende aux enfers; et, pour lui, la mort même ne sera pas — tant s'en faut! — la délivrance.
(Fiévreux.)

The Furies (OCR draft) Experimental (The Furies. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 334 focus
Avenging Fate, as bending o'er the loom
375
She wove the web, to us this part aſſign'd,
"Whoe'er the laws ſhall dare diſdain,
"And his rude hand with murder ſtain,
"Purſue him Furies, urge his rigorous doom,
"Till refuge in the realms below he find."
380
Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Le Eumenidi: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 334 focus
Tale a noi perenne cómpito
die' la Parca inesorabile:
al mortale temerario
che le man' di strage macchia,
sempre seguire le sue vestigia,
370
sin che la terra non lo ricopra ;
né dopo morto libero è ancora.
Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Eumenides: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 334 focus
Hanc enim ſortem contrariam
Parca neuit fortiter habere,
Mortis his operationes
325
Incidunt stultæ,
Hos ſequi, donec ſub terram uenerint
Moriens non ualde liber.
Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Die Eumeniden: German translation. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1919–1923.) — 334 focus
Mir beschied diesem Amt
unbeschränkt
335 vorzustehn
ew'ge Weltenordnung.
Wo ein Mensch im Sündenrausch
Blut vergiefst, folg' ich ihm.
Selbst der Tod giebt ihm nicht
340 seine Freiheit wieder.
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.) — 334 focus
Fate, all-pervading Fate, this service spun, commanding
That I should bide therein:
Whosoe'er of mortals, made perverse and lawless,
395
Is stained with blood of kin,
By his side are we, and hunt him ever onward,
Till to the Silent Land,
The realm of death, he cometh; neither yonder
In freedom shall he stand.
400
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.) — 334 focus
Denn des Schicksals Allgewalt theilte
320
Unserm Geschlecht für ew'ge Zeiten dies Loos zu :
Wessen Haupt frevelhaft grause Blutschuld sich auflud,
Dessen Spur geh'n wir nach, bis ihn deckt Grabesnacht;
Auch der Tod befreit ihn nicht.
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.)

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-245-1 ἄγαν: άγαν γ' Farn.

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.

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

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.