λάχη
. here, as
l. 334
,
office.
ἐκράνθη
,
assigned: so
Suppl. 943
ψῆφος κέκρανται,
fixed,
settled.
ἀθανάτων δ᾽ ἀπέχειν χέρας
,
but from the immortals to keep away. The ἀθανάτων δέ is opposed to the θνατῶν of the previous stanza
l. 336
. Their
office is to pursue the guilty man, but they have nothing to do with gods.
mvp-sidgwick-170-1-1
This line does not correspond to the antistrophic line,
Ζεὺς γὰρ αἱματοσταγὲς ἀξιόμισον ἔθνος τόδε λέσχας,
but both make good sense, and there is no specially suspicious word in either. Under these circumstances it is quite easy to make them correspond in numerous different ways, by changing one, or the other, or both. But the best correction is to read ἀνέορτον for ἄμοιρον here, and in the antistrophe to read δ' αἱμοσταγές for γὰρ αἱματοσταγές.
In pure white robes I have no festal part.
mvp-sidgwick-170-2-1
The Eumenides as nether and evil powers had
no lot nor part in the festivals of gods where white robes were worn: they were μελανεί- μονες,
black-robed,
l. 376
,
μέλαιναι,
l. 52
, φαιοχίτωνες,
dusky in garb,
Cho. 1048
, as became daughters of Night.
mvp-sidgwick-171-1-1
Whenever the Wargod is tamed and slays a friend, an imaginative phrase, obscure from its very boldness: he means
when Strife in the house sheds a kinsman's blood.
διόμεναι
, Epic word,
pursuing. Homer has it always transitive: here it seems best to take it intrans. with prep.
pursuing after him. [It might be tmesis for ἐπιδιόμεναι : but ὦ makes this less likely. Perhaps E. A. Ahrens' ὧδ' ἱέμεναι, which is certainly very ingenious, is the true reading.]
τόν
, Epic demonst. use. [Others read ἐπιτόνως: but Schol. had our reading, for he remarks on the position of ὦ.]
mvp-sidgwick-172-3-1
ll. 358-359
are read in the MSS. :
μαυροῦμεν ὑφ᾽ [or ἐφ᾽] αἵματος νέου,
and in the antistrophe :
The best emendation seems to be Weil's:
κρατερὸν ὄνθ᾽ ὅμως ἀμαυρ-
and in the antistrophe:
mvp-sidgwick-172-4-1
The meaning of the passage before us will then be:
Mighty though he be, we waste him away
For the new deed of blood.
mvp-sidgwick-172-5-1
The genitive will then be a genitive of the cause (like θράσους τοῦδ᾽ οὐκ ἀλύξεις Soph. Εl. 627,
for this daring thou shalt not escape) or perhaps the more special gen. of the charge (like ἁλῶναι κλοπῆς, διώκειν φόνου, etc.).
mvp-sidgwick-172-6-1
For a fuller discussion see Appendix.
mvp-sidgwick-173-1-1
Again an obscure passage. MSS. read :
σπευδόμεναι δ᾽ ἀφελεῖν τινὰ τάσδε μερίμνας
θεῶν δ᾽ ἀτέλειαν ἐμαῖσι λιταῖς ἐπικραίνειν
Ζεὺς γὰρ αἱματοσταγὲς ἀξιόμισον ἔθνος τόδε λέσχας
And then should follow what has got displaced in the MSS.:
μάλα γὰρ οὖν ἁλομένα, κ.τ.λ.
mvp-sidgwick-173-2-1
Where the general drift seems to be:
[I pursue the guilty] and am eager to relieve another (the gods) of this charge, and set the gods free, and prevent the crime from coming to trial-for Zeus has banished the guilty from his sight, etc.
mvp-sidgwick-173-3-1
This seems to make a fair sense, and it is best with most editors to suppose the nom. pendens σπευδόμεναι to be taken up again by μάλα γὰρ οὖν, so that the sentence is only grammatically completed when we reach καταφέρω.
mvp-sidgwick-173-4-1
[This anacoluthon is rather harsh: Wecklein and Kirchhoff take Döderlein's suggestion σπεύδομεν αΐδ',
we here are eager. But the phrase is then abrupt and unnatural.]
mvp-sidgwick-173-5-1
The points that remain are:
mvp-sidgwick-173-6-1
(1) 362 ἐμαῖσι λιταῖς, which, if right, must be referred to the prayer of the Eumenides to Apollo not to interfere. But the passage is too general to refer specially to Orestes, though he is of course in their minds. So that perhaps ἐμαῖς μελέταις is better, and
by my labour to set the gods free (lit.
to bring about the freedom or immunity of the gods, i. e. freedom from the duty of punishing the criminal).
mvp-sidgwick-173-7-1
(2) 363 μηδ' εἰς ἄγκρισιν ἐλθεῖν: i. e. to take the guilty into my own hands and prevent the matter from being tried by the gods;the very thing they feared was going to be done with Orestes. ἄγκρισις or ἀνάκρισις is the technical term for the preliminary investigation by a magistrate.
mvp-sidgwick-173-8-1
(3)
Bloody hateful race, i.e. as Schol. explains,
the race of murderers: the whole passage from
l. 348
being a general description of the office of the Furies and their relation to the gods. [H. P. and others refer ἔθνοs to Furies: but they would hardly call themselves ἀξιώμισον.]
mvp-sidgwick-173-9-1
The whole passage may then be translated as follows:
And eager to lighten another of this charge,
And by our care to set free the gods,
And that [it] come not to trial:
For with this bloody hateful troop
Zeus deigns not to commune.
