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633-662

Second

στ<*>ον

. 1st strophe, 633—639,=1st an<*> 640— 646, 2nd strophe, 647—654,=2nd antistr., 655—662. For the <*>res see Metrical Analysis.

A joyous music will presen<*> be heard by the dwellers around Tr<*>s. The victorious Heracles will soon <*>rn, filled with new love for Deianeira, inder the spell of the robe.

633—

<*> ναύλοχα

κ.τ.λ.

Wishing to call up a general picture of the whole region, the poet takes Thermopylae as his central point. From the cliffs of Oeta, which overhang that pass, his thought passes to the highlands (

<*>ους Οἴτας

) of Malis, and thence descends to the seaboard,—bringing us back to Thermopylae by the mention of the Amphictyons.

θερμὰ λουτρὰ : the wa<*>m springs at Thermopylae are situated between the Malian gulf on the N. ( να<*>λοχα ), and the cliffs of Oeta on the south ( πετραῖα ). They gush from the foot of the mountain,—that spur of Oeta which Livy and Strabo call Callidromus,—a little west of the point where the pass is narrowest. They were locally called

χ<*>ροι

, from the natural basins of rock; and near them was an altar of Heracles, for whose use Athena was said to have called them forth ( Her.7. 176 : Peisander ap. schol. Nub. 1050).

ναύλοχα : Strabo 9. 428 speaks of a

λιμὴν μέγας

near Thermopylae. Here the word suggests the expected landing of Heracles.

πάγους Οἴτας : the

Τρηχινιαι πέτραι

of Her.7. 198 , spurs from the main range of Oeta, which enclose the plain of Malis on s. and w.: see Introd. to the Philoctetes, pp. ix. f.

παραναιετάοντες with acc.: cp. Isocr. or. 4 § 162

Ἕλληνες τὴν Ἀσίαν παροικοῦσιν

, dwell along its coasts.

οἵ (art.) τε , sc.

ναιετάονρες

, following the direct vocative (633): cp. Xen. Cyr.3. 3. 20

ὦ Κῦρε καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι <*>ρσαι.— μέσσαν Μηλίδα … λί<*>ναν

, the part of the gulf between the two extremities, i.e., the innermost part of the deep <*> which it forms. It is in this part that the shores of the gulf belonged to Malis,—viz., from the neighbourhood of Thermopylae to that of Anticyra.

χρυσαλακάτου τ’ ἀκτὰν κόρας : merely another way of describing the same seaboard: they live by the

λίμνη

, and on the

ἀκτή

. Artemis, one of whose attributes was

λιμενοσκόπος

, was worshipped all along these eastern coasts, since the whole maritime life of Greece Proper looked mainly towards the Aegaean. Apoll. Rhod. 1. 571 (referring to the coasts about Pagasae and Iolcus in Magnesia),

Ἄρτεμιν, ἣ κείνας σκοπιὰς ἁλὸς ἀμφιέπεσκεν

. Cp. 212 f.—The schol. wrongly takes

ἀκτὰν

here as meaning that

αἰγιαλός

in the N.W. of Euboea which was called

Ἀρτεμίσιον

( Her.7. 176 ).

χρυσαλακάτου : this Homeric epithet of the goddess ( Il.16. 183 ) is rightly explained by Hesych. as=

καλλίτοξος· ἠλακάτη γὰρ ὁ τοξικὸς κάλαμος

. Cp.

ἄτρακτος

οἰστός

. Artemis had nothing to do with a distaff.

ἔνθ’ Ἑλλάνων

κ.τ.λ.

Meetings of the Amphictyonic Council were held at the town of Anthela, close to Thermopylae on the west,—where was the sacred precinct of

Δημήτηρ Ἀμφικτυονίς

, containing seats (

ἕδραι

) for the Council, and also a shrine of its legendary founder, Amphictyon ( Her.7. 200 ). Anachronisms were tolerated by Attic Tragedy, but this is hardly one, from the Greek point of view. The Thessalian and Dorian nucleus of what became the ‘Delphic’ Amphictyony was of immemorial age; Amphictyon was called the son of Deucalion; Acrisius of Argos figured in tradition as an early organiser of the league ( Strabo 9.420 ).

Ἑλλάνων , implying a Panhellenic character, reflects the regular phraseology of the poet's day. The Delphic Amphictyony never actually represented the whole even of Greece Proper; thus it never included the Acarnanians, Arcadians, or Eleans. Yet Her.7. 214 speaks of

οἱ τῶν Ἑλλάνων Πυλαγόροι

: an Argive inscr., older than 416 B.C., calls the Council

τὸ συνέδριον τῶν Ἑλλάνων

(Lebas, Revue Archéol. XI. 577): and Hypereides Epitaph. c. 8. 25 describes those attending it as

οἱ Ἕλληνες ἅπαντες

ἀγοραὶ Πυλάτιδες :

ἀγορὰ πυλᾶτις

πυλαία

( sc.

σύνοδος

), the name for a meeting of the Amphictyons, whether at Pylae or at Delphi,—one of several proofs that the former place was the League's older centre.

κλέονται , not ‘are called together,’ but, ‘are famous’: cp. O.T. 1451

ἔνθα κλῄζεται

οὑμὸς Κιθαιρών

(n.).—See Appendix.

ἀναρσίαν , ‘unkindly’ ( cp. 853 ), ‘harsh,’—referring to the use of the flute in wild or mournful music. Cp. Sextus Empiricus Adv. Math. 6. 22

διὸ καὶ τοῖς πενθοῦσιν αὐλοὶ μελῳδοῦσιν οἱ τὴν λύπην αὐτῶν ἐπικουφίζοντες

. Lucian De Luct. § 19

ἡ πρὸς τὸν αὐλὸν αὕτη στερνοτυπία

. Plato Legg. 800 E,

Καρικῇ τινι μούσῃ προπέμπουσι τοὺς τελευτήσαντας

, alludes to

αὐλῳδοί

(cp. Pollux 4. 75).

ἐπάνεισιν , ‘return,’ but also with the notion of sound rising.

θείας … μούσας , sc.

καναχάν

, a sound of music made to the gods (in thanksgiving): ἀντίλυρον , like that of the lyre: schol.

ἰσόλυρον

. This is simpler than to understand, ‘ responsive’ to it (as if both instruments were used). The lyre, ‘common treasure of Apollo and the Muses’ ( Pind. P.1. 1 ), was peculiarly associated with joyous worship. Cp. O.C. 1222 n.

ἀχῶν , as a correction of ἰάχων , is hardly doubtful, since a resolution of the long syllable would impair the rhythm ( cp. 635

Οἴτας

ὁ Διὸς … Ἀλκμήνας κόρος : objection has been taken to the double gen., but needlessly: the second gen. practically forms a single notion with

κόρος

,—‘Zeus's Alcmena-son,’=the son of Zeus by Alcmena. To a Greek ear the effect would be nearly the same as when the first gen. is replaced by an adj.; e.g., Aesch. Suppl.313

ὁ Δῖος πόρτις...βοός

, Pind. O.2. 13

<*> Κρόνιε παῖ Ῥέας

σοῦται , instead of the MS. σεῦται , is now generally read here. Cp. Ai.1414

σούσθω

: Aesch. Pers.25

σοῦν<*> ται

: Vesp. 209

σοῦ

. On the other hand,

σεῦται

has no nearer <*>arallel than the Homeric

στεῦται

: which some, indeed, regard as syncopated (Curtius, Gk. Verb, ch. iv. I. C), but others as a genuine non-thematic form (Leaf, Il.18. 191 ).

πάσας , complete: cp. Ai.436

πᾶσαν εὔκλειαν.— ἀρετᾶς λάφυρα

(like

<*>θλα

), ‘things won by’

ἀρετή

(root

λαβ

ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν : ‘whom we had absent’=‘whose absence we had to endure’: schol.

ὃν ἐκτὸς εἴχομεν τῆς πόλεως

. (Paley would join

εἴχομεν ἀμμένουσαι

, ‘whom we had been waiting for’: this seems inadmissible.)

παντᾷ , ‘utterly,’ goes with ἀπόπτολιν : it implies a contrast between this long unbroken absence and his former expeditions. Cp. Eur. fr. 966

ἀκόλαστα πάντῃ

. (The Doric form was written

παντᾷ

.) The adv. could mean also, ‘in all directions,’ but that sense is less fitting.

δυοκαιδεκάμηνον … χρόνον : more exactly, fifteen months (44 f.).

πελάγιον : they imagined him as wandering on the sea, before or after his Lydian bondage: cp. 100 ff., Ant.785

φοιτᾷς δ’ ὑπερπόντιος

(n.).

ἁ δέ οἱ … δάμαρ . The art. is here a pron., in apposition with

δάμαρ

, and serves to contrast the wife with the husband: the dat.

οἱ

is equiv. to a possessive pron.: cp. Il.13. 616

λάκε δ’ ὀστέα, τὼ δέ οἱ ὄσσε κ.τ.λ.

Note also the epic hiatus before οἱ (

vοἱ

): cp. El.196

ὅτε οἱ

(Herm. , for

ὅτε σοι

): where Dindorf cp. Aesch. Ag.1147

περιεβάλοντό οἱ

, and Cratinus ap. Plut. Per.24

Ἥραν τε οἱ

. In Eur. Phoen.637 , however,

ἔθετό σοι

(not

οἱ

) is clearly right.

τάλαιναν (for the MS. τάλαινα ) is required by the metre ( cp. 659

ἀμείψας

ὤλλυτο =

ἐτήκετο

: cp. El.140

ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τῶν μετρίων ἐπ’ ἀμήχανον

ἄλγος ἀεὶ στενάχουσα διόλλυσαι

Ἄρης . The first syll. might be long (as it is in some other lyric passages, Ant.139 , El.96 , Ai.254 Ai., 614 ): but more probably it is short, and the first syll. of

πειθοῦς

in 661 is ‘irrational’ (see Anal.).

οἰστρηθεὶς : the sudden rage of Ares symbolises the furious impulse which sent Heracles against Oechalia. Cp. Eur. Bacch.119

οἰστρηθε<*>ς Διονύσῳ

. The conject. αὖ (or οἱ ) στρωθεὶς would suggest the subsidence of a storm ( Her.7. 193

τὸ κῦμα ἔστρωτο

). This is less suitable, when, as here, Ares is a personified deliverer.

ἐξέλυσ’ ἐπίπονονἁμέραν , has ‘resolved,’ ‘cleared away,’ the day of sorrow. The notion of untying a knot passes into that of dissipating a trouble. Cp. O. T.35

ἐξέλυσας...δασμὸν

(n.). The image is more clearly developed in Ai.706

ἔλυσεν αἰνὸν ἄχος ἀπ’ ὀμμάτων Ἄρης

.—For ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν , cp. Eur. Phoen.540

ἐχθρᾶς... ἡμέρας

, Eur. Hec.364

λυπρὰν...ἡμέραν

. In the Athamas Sophocles had

λευκὴν ἡμέραν

as=

τὴν ἀγαθήν

(Bekk. Anecd. p. 106. 33).

ὄχημα ναὸς : it may be doubted whether this means more than ‘the ship which conveys him.’ I. T. 410

νάϊον ὄχημα

is similar. Cp. Hipp. ma. 295 D

τὰ ὀχήματα, τά τ<*> πεζὰ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ πλοῖα

. But in

ναυτίλων ὀχήματα

( P.V. 468) the metaphor of the chariot is distinct, as in Eur. Med.1122

ναΐαν

| ...

ἀπήνην.— πολύκωπον

agrees with the compound phrase: cp. Soph. Ant. 794 n.

πρὶν … ἀνύσειε : the opt. is due to the preceding opt.,

σταίη

: cp. Ph.961

ὄλοιο μήπω, πρὶν μάθοιμ’

ἑστίαν , altar: O. C.1495

βούθυτον ἑστίαν

(n.).

ἀμείψας , having quitted: Ph.1262 n.

κλῄζεται θυτήρ , is said by rumour to be sacrificing: cp. 237 , 287: and for the verb, 1268.

πανίμερος : Anthol. 2. 169

χαλκῷ κόσμον ἔδωκε πανίμερον

. Here, however, the act. sense, ‘full of love’ (for Deianeira), is fitter than the pass., ‘alldesired.’ This is Mudge's correction of the MS. πανάμερος , which admits of no satisfactory explanation. It has been interpreted: (1) ‘travelling all day’: ‘Thence may he come, | A long day's journey without pause’ (Whitelaw). (2) ‘Today.’ One schol. paraphrases it,

τὴν σήμερον ἡμέραν

: another,

ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ

. How this sense was extorted from the word, I do not know. (3) Taking it with what follows: ‘re-united to Deianeira for all his days to come.’

τᾶς πειθοῦς παγχρίστῳ

κ.τ.λ.

The corresponding verses of the strophe (653 f.) appear sound:

νῦν δ’ Ἄρης οἰστρηθεὶς

ἐξέλυσ’ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν

. The traditional text here,

τᾶς πειθοῦς παγχρίστῳ

συγκραθεὶς ἐπὶ προφάσει θηρός

, makes a long syllable answer to the second of

ἐξέλυσ’

, and to the second of

ἁμέραν

Let us now examine the text in detail.

(1) παγχρίστῳ does not look like a gloss. Dindorf, who thinks it one, can only suggest that it arose from

πάγχριστος

, a gloss upon

συγκραθείς

. This is hardly probable. Sophocles is fond of intensive compounds with

πᾶς

: cp. 505 , 652: El.851

πανσύρτῳ, παμμήνῳ

: Ant.1282

παμμήτωρ

: fr. 347

πάγξενος

, etc. As an epithet for the robe,

παγχρίστῳ

, ‘thoroughly anointed,’ is suitable. (Cp. Deianeira's words in 580.) But it cannot be a subst., as the schol. on 663 would make it (

λείπει τῷ πέπλῳ

(2) The words ἐπὶ προφάσει θηρός =

ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν

in 654. Besides being unmetrical,

θηρός

requires an unexampled sense for

προφάσει

, viz., ‘precept.’ Hence Dindorf reads

προφάνσει

(a word which is not extant), and in 654

ἐπιπόνων ἁμερᾶν

. For

θηρός

, M. Haupt conjectured φάρους (

ΘΗΡΟΣ, ΦΑΡΟΣ

): for the

α^

, cp. 916 . The words

ἐπὶ προφάσει φάρους

then mean, ‘on the pretext of the robe.’ The robe was the

πρόφασις

for using the love-charm.

παγχρίστῳ

can be retained in the dat., agreeing with

προφάσει

(cp. Ant.794 n.).

(3) For συγκραθεὶς , cp. Ant.1311

δειλαίᾳ δὲ συγκέκραμαι δύᾳ

(‘steeped in’ it): Ai.895

οἴκτῳ τῷδε συγκεκραμένην

(‘steeped in this lament,’— i.e., in the anguish of it). Plut. 853

οὕτω πολυφόρῳ συγκέκραμαι δαίμονι

. Thus the primary sense of mixture, or fusion, led to that of intimate union. If we accept

φάρους

, then

συγκραθεὶς

would be most naturally taken in the sense which

πανίμερος

, just before it, could suggest,— ‘made one in heart’ with Deianeira.

There remains, however, the metrical discrepancy between συγκραθεὶς and ἐξέλυς’ in 654. Hermann read ἐξείλυς’ (‘unrolled,’ meaning, ‘disentangled,’ ‘brought to a smooth close’). But

ἐξέλυσ’

seems genuine. It is possible, however, that

συγκραθεὶς

was an explanation of συντακεὶς (suggested by Paley), which would give the same sense. Cp. Aesch. Suppl.1029

γαμέτας

συντηχθεὶς αὔραις ἀδόλοις

γενναίας ἀλόχῳ ψυχᾶς

, ‘husband made one with wife in the sincere spirit of a loyal soul.’ So

συντακείς τινι

, of close attachment, Plat. Symp. 183E Plat. Symp., 192

Either

συγκραθείς

συντακείς

would here admit a secondary sense, unconsciously prophetic of the dire event (833

προστακέντος ἰοῦ

: 836

προστετακώς

),— like

προσαρμόσαι

in 494.—For other views, see Appendix.

Commentary on Sophocles: Trachiniae. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. 1932.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (English) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 633 focus

ὦ ναύλοχα ναύλοχοσ καὶ πετραῖα

θερμὰ λουτρὰ καὶ πάγους

Οἴτας παραναιετάοντες, οἵ τε μέσσαν μέσαν
635

Μηλίδα πὰρ λίμναν παραλίμναν

χρυσαλακάτου τ᾿ ἀκτὰν κόρας,

ἔνθ᾽ ῾Ελλάνων ᾿Αλλάνων ἀγοραὶ

Πυλάτιδες *κλέονται καλέονται,

ὁ καλλιβόας τάχ᾽ ὑμῖν υμῖν

640

αὐλὸς οὐκ ἀναρσίαν

ἰάχων καναχὰν ἐπάνεισιν, ἀλλὰ θείας

ἀντίλυρον μούσας.

ὁ γὰρ Διὸς ᾿Αλκμήνας κόρος τε κόρος τε κούρος

σεῦται πάσας ἀρετᾶς

645

λάφυρ᾽ ἔχων ἐπ᾿ οἴκους a·

ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν, πάντα

δυοκαιδεκάμηνον ἀμμένουσαι

χρόνον, πελάγιον, ἴδριες οὐδέν·

ὁ ἁ δὲ οἱ φίλα δάμαρ δάμαρ

650

τάλαιναν τάλαινα δυστάλαινα καρδίαν

πάγκλαυτος v πάγκλαυτος αἰὲν ὤλλυτο·

νῦν δ᾽ Ἄρης οἰστρηθεὶs

ἐξέλυσ᾽ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν.

ἀφίκοιτ᾿ ἀφίκοιτο· μὴ σταίη

655

πολύκωπον ὄχημα ναὸς αὐτῷ,

πρὶν τάνδε ταίδε πρὸς πόλιν ἀνύσειε ἀνύσεισ ἀνύσεισ ἀνύσειε,

νασιῶτιν ἑστίαν

ἀμείψας, ἔνθα κλῄζεται θυτήρ θυτήρ·

ὅθεν μόλοι πανάμερος παναμερος,
660

τᾶς πειθοῦς παγχρίστῳ γ from v

συγκραθεὶς ἐπὶ προφάσει θηρός.

ΔΗ.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 633-662 focus

Χορός

ὦ ναύλοχα καὶ πετραῖα

θερμὰ λουτρὰ καὶ πάγους

Οἴτας παραναιετάοντες, οἵ τε μέσσαν Μηλίδα πὰρ λίμναν
635

χρυσαλακάτου τʼ ἀκτὰν κόρας,

ἔνθʼ Ἑλλάνων ἀγοραὶ

Πυλάτιδες κλέονται·

640

Χορός

ὁ καλλιβόας τάχʼ ὑμῖν
640

αὐλὸς οὐκ ἀναρσίαν

ἀχῶν καναχὰν ἐπάνεισιν, ἀλλὰ θείας ἀντίλυρον μούσας.

ὁ γὰρ Διὸς Ἀλκμήνας κόρος

σοῦται πάσας ἀρετᾶς
645

λάφυρʼ ἔχων ἐπʼ οἴκους·

647

Χορός

ὃν ἀπόπτολιν εἴχομεν παντᾷ,

δυοκαιδεκάμηνον ἀμμένουσαι

χρόνον, πελάγιον, ἴδριες οὐδέν·

ἁ δέ οἱ φίλα δάμαρ
650

τάλαιναν δυστάλαινα καρδίαν

πάγκλαυτος αἰὲν ὤλλυτο·

νῦν δʼ Ἄρης οἰστρηθεὶς

ἐξέλυσʼ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν.

655

Χορός

ἀφίκοιτʼ ἀφίκοιτο· μὴ σταίη
655

πολύκωπον ὄχημα ναὸς αὐτῷ,

πρὶν τάνδε πρὸς πόλιν ἀνύσειε,

νασιῶτιν ἑστίαν

ἀμείψας, ἔνθα κλῄζεται θυτήρ·

ὅθεν μόλοι πανίμερος,
660

τᾶς πειθοῦς παγχρίστῳ

συγκραθεὶς ἐπὶ προφάσει φάρους.

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 633 focus

O ye that haunt the strand

Where ships in quiet land

Near Oeta’s height and the warm rock-drawn well,

And ye round Melis’ inland gulf who dwell,

Worshipping her who wields the golden wand,—

(There Hellas’ wisest meet in council strong):

Soon shall the flute arise

With sound of glad surprise,

Thrilling your sense with no unwelcome song,

But tones that to the harp of Heavenly Muse belong.

Zeus’ and Alcmena’s son,—

All deeds of glory done,—

Speeds now triumphant to his home, whom we

Twelve weary months of blind expectancy

Lost in vast distance, from our country gone.

While, sadly languishing, his loving wife,

Still flowing down with tears,

Pined with unnumbered fears.

But Ares, lately stung to furious strife,

Frees him for ever from the toilsome life.

O let him come to-day!

Ne’er may his vessel stay,

But glide with feathery sweep of many an oar,

Till from his altar by yon island shore

Even to our town he wind his prosperous way,

In mien returning mild,

And inly reconciled,

With that anointing in his heart ingrained,

Which the dark Centaur’s wizard lips ordained.

DÊ
Enter DÊANIRA .

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 633 focus

Ihr, die ihr die felsumragten,

Heißen Bäder, nah dem Port,¹

Und Deta's Hügel umwohnet, ihr, inmitten

Melischer Bucht, auch ihr
625

Am Strande der Göttin mit goldnem Pfeil.²

Wo Hellas' pylischer Rath

Vom Ruhme weit genannt wird!

Erste Gegenstrophe.

Süßhallende Flöten kehren³

Bald zurück an euren Strand,
630

Kein feindliches Jauchzen erhebend, nein, der Lyra

Göttlichen Feierklang.

Denn Zeus' und Alkmene's erhab'ner Sohu

Eilt her, mit jeglichem Preis

Des Muths gekrönt, zur Heimat:
635
Zweite Strophe.

Er, dessen wir volle zwölf Monden,⁴

Da er ferne vom Haus im Meer umhertrieb,

Sehnsüchtig harrten, ohne Kunde.

Aber sein geliebtes Weib, die Arme,

(Armes Herz, von Gram verzehrt!)
640

Sie schwand in ewigem Jammer hin.

Doch jezt nahm, kaum noch in Wuth,

Ares nahm den traurigen Tag von ihr.⁵

Zweite Gegenstrophe.

Er erschein', er erscheine! Nie raste

In der Eile des Laufes ihm das Fahrzeug,
645

Bis unsre Stadt er glücklich erreiche,

Vom Altar der Insel heim sich wendend,

Wo er, heißt es, Opfer bringt.

Von dort erschein' er diesen Tag,

Von Peitho's Salbe getränkt,⁶
650

Deren Zauber das Ungeheuer pries!

Deianeira. Der Chor.

Deianeira.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 633 focus

What canst thou tell him more ? Alas ! I fear

He'll know too well the love I bear to him.

Would I could be as certain he'd return it ! [Exeunt.

You who on (Eta's craggy summit dwell,

Or from the rock, whence gushing riv'lets flow,

Bathe in the warmer springs below.

You who near the Melian bay

To golden-shafted Diana hymn the lay.

Now haste to string the Ip^e, and tune the vocal shell,

No mournful theme demands your pensive strain,

But such as, kindled by the sacred fire.

The Muses might themselves admire —

A loud and cheerful song. For see.

The son of Jove returns with victory,

And richest spoils reward a life of toil and pain.

Far from his native land he took his way :

For twelve long moons, uncertain of his fate.

Did we lament his exiled state.

What time his anxious wife deplored,

With never-ceasing tears her absent lord ;

But Mars at last hath closed his long laborious day.

Let him from fair Euboea's isle appear.

Let winds and raging seas oppose no more.

But waft him to the wished-for shore.

Th' anointed vest's persuasive charms

Shall bring him soon to Deianira's arms.

Soon shall we see the great the loved Alcides here.

Deianira
Scene III. Stroplie I. Antistrophe i. Strophe 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT IV. Scene I.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 633 focus

You, on the cliffs, whose jutting brow

O'erhangs the dashing wave,

At whose soft foot the warm springs flow

The weary limbs to lave;

On Œta's summits rudely piled

Who fix your habitations wild;

You, who the Melian bay command,

The golden-quiver'd Virgin's strand,

Or near the rocky straits reside

Where Greece her Chiefs in council views with pride;

Soon shall you hear the pipe's sweet sound;

To you it comes again;

No mournful notes it breathes around

But sprightly is the strain;

And, with such airs as joy inspire,

Rivals the Muses' heav'nly lyre.

The winged hours the hero bring,

Son of Alcmena and heav'n's king;

He comes, he chases all our fears,

And the rich spoils of every virtue bears.

The hero absent from our state

Twelve tedious moons we mourn,

Whilst anxious Expectation sate,

And watch'd his wish'd return,

Unknown what seas he ploughs with pain,

What shores his lingering steps detain.

Meanwhile his fond wife melts in tears, '

And yields her heart a prey to fears :

But Mars now bids his fury cease,

And closes his long day of toils in peace.

ANTIS. 2. May he arrive, e'en now arrive

Nor let the lab'ring oar

Forbear his welcome bark to drive

On Trachin's shouting shore,

But bring him from the island shrine,

Where now he offers rites divine.

Yes, let him come with all the fire

Of eager love and fond desire;

Come, as the Centaur's words profest,

Wrapt in persuasion's medicated vest !

Deianira
ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. DEIANIRA, CHORUS.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 633-660 focus

Chorus

O you who dwell by the warm springs near ships’ haven and rocky cliff, and you who live by

the crags of Oeta! And you dwellers by the land-locked waters of the Malian gulf, and the headland sacred to the virgin-goddess of the golden shuttle, where are the famed councils of the Greeks at the gates!
635

640

Chorus

Soon the glorious voice of the flute will go up for you again, sounding no bothersome, strident notes, but divine music worthy of the lyre! For the son whom Alcmena bore to Zeus
640

is hurrying homeward, with spoils won by supreme valor.
645

647

Chorus

We thought him lost utterly to our land, a wanderer over sea, while we waited through twelve long months and knew nothing.

She, his loving wife, miserable, was ever pining in her miserable heart, always weeping. But now Ares, stung to rage, has freed her days from their toil.
650

655

Chorus

May he come, may he come! Let him not halt the many-oared ship that carries him before he has reached this town, leaving the island altar where he is reported to be sacrificing!
655

May he come from there full of desire, steeped in love on the pretext of the robe by Persuasion’s all-powerful ointment!
660

Sir Richard C. Jebb Commentary on Sophocles: Trachiniae 6

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

633-662

Current edition Experimental

λάφυρ᾽ ἔχων ἐπ᾿ οἴκους a·

ΔΗ.

DÊ
Enter DÊANIRA .

Ihr, die ihr die felsumragten,

Heißen Bäder, nah dem Port,¹

Und Deta's Hügel umwohnet, ihr, inmitten

Melischer Bucht, auch ihr
625

Am Strande der Göttin mit goldnem Pfeil.²

Wo Hellas' pylischer Rath

Vom Ruhme weit genannt wird!

Erste Gegenstrophe.

Süßhallende Flöten kehren³

Bald zurück an euren Strand,
630

Kein feindliches Jauchzen erhebend, nein, der Lyra

Göttlichen Feierklang.

Denn Zeus' und Alkmene's erhab'ner Sohu

Eilt her, mit jeglichem Preis

Des Muths gekrönt, zur Heimat:
635
Zweite Strophe.

Deianeira.

Deianira
Scene III. Stroplie I. Antistrophe i. Strophe 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT IV. Scene I.

Deianira
ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. DEIANIRA, CHORUS.

Chorus

Soon the glorious voice of the flute will go up for you again, sounding no bothersome, strident notes, but divine music worthy of the lyre! For the son whom Alcmena bore to Zeus
640

is hurrying homeward, with spoils won by supreme valor.
645

Chorus

We thought him lost utterly to our land, a wanderer over sea, while we waited through twelve long months and knew nothing.

She, his loving wife, miserable, was ever pining in her miserable heart, always weeping. But now Ares, stung to rage, has freed her days from their toil.
650

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

633-662

Current edition Experimental

λάφυρ᾽ ἔχων ἐπ᾿ οἴκους a·

ΔΗ.

DÊ Enter DÊANIRA .

Ihr, die ihr die felsumragten, Heißen Bäder, nah dem Port, 1 Und Deta's Hügel umwohnet, ihr, inmitten Melischer Bucht, auch ihr 625 Am Strande der Göttin mit goldnem Pfeil. 2 Wo Hellas' pylischer Rath Vom Ruhme weit genannt wird! Erste Gegenstrophe.

Süßhallende Flöten kehren 3 Bald zurück an euren Strand, 630 Kein feindliches Jauchzen erhebend, nein, der Lyra Göttlichen Feierklang. Denn Zeus' und Alkmene's erhab'ner Sohu Eilt her, mit jeglichem Preis Des Muths gekrönt, zur Heimat: 635 Zweite Strophe.

Deianeira.

Deianira Scene III. Stroplie I. Antistrophe i. Strophe 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT IV. Scene I.

Deianira ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. DEIANIRA, CHORUS.

Chorus Soon the glorious voice of the flute will go up for you again, sounding no bothersome, strident notes, but divine music worthy of the lyre! For the son whom Alcmena bore to Zeus 640 is hurrying homeward, with spoils won by supreme valor. 645

Chorus We thought him lost utterly to our land, a wanderer over sea, while we waited through twelve long months and knew nothing. She, his loving wife, miserable, was ever pining in her miserable heart, always weeping. But now Ares, stung to rage, has freed her days from their toil. 650

Stable identifiers

DÊ
Enter DÊANIRA .

Ihr, die ihr die felsumragten,

Heißen Bäder, nah dem Port,¹

Und Deta's Hügel umwohnet, ihr, inmitten

Melischer Bucht, auch ihr
625

Am Strande der Göttin mit goldnem Pfeil.²

Wo Hellas' pylischer Rath

Vom Ruhme weit genannt wird!

Erste Gegenstrophe.

Süßhallende Flöten kehren³

Bald zurück an euren Strand,
630

Kein feindliches Jauchzen erhebend, nein, der Lyra

Göttlichen Feierklang.

Denn Zeus' und Alkmene's erhab'ner Sohu

Eilt her, mit jeglichem Preis

Des Muths gekrönt, zur Heimat:
635
Zweite Strophe.

Deianira
Scene III. Stroplie I. Antistrophe i. Strophe 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT IV. Scene I.

Deianira
ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. DEIANIRA, CHORUS.

Chorus

Soon the glorious voice of the flute will go up for you again, sounding no bothersome, strident notes, but divine music worthy of the lyre! For the son whom Alcmena bore to Zeus
640

is hurrying homeward, with spoils won by supreme valor.
645

Chorus

We thought him lost utterly to our land, a wanderer over sea, while we waited through twelve long months and knew nothing.

She, his loving wife, miserable, was ever pining in her miserable heart, always weeping. But now Ares, stung to rage, has freed her days from their toil.
650